A/N: I'm sooooo sooorrrry! It's been like what, a whole week. I was going to update after 3 days but just got a little side-tracked. I decided from myself and a couple reviews that I got, that I should go on with the story (plus, I'm just really bored) and well that's about it. If you enjoyed (or not) please leave a review, it'll really help. So anyways… on with the chapter.

Disclaimer: I don't own Fairy Tail. If I did, I wouldn't writing fanfiction would I?

A Dragon's Heart

Chapter 2: The Longest Ride

By JJay

The morning sun leisurely breached from the edge of the sky, its brilliant rays beaming through the gaping window above Lucy's bed.

Lucy began to stir from the light breeze that made its way in. Her vision was filled with a shining beam of sunlight, so bright she encased her face with the soft comforter. She was just jerked out of an amazing dream and tried to go back, but sleep wouldn't come.

Facing defeat, Lucy groaned and rubbed her sleepy eyes. She gave a short yawn and made and an attempt to get out of bed, but something held her back.

"What the-" Lucy squirmed a little, but still remained on her side. Her gaze slowly lowered to her stomach. Crimson red shot up her cheeks.

There, wrapped around her abdomen, were two muscular arms. The slightly calloused hands, gently gripped her waistline.

Unexpectedly, a breath of hot air steamed on the left side of Lucy's neck, she swung her line of sight to the uninvited guest.

His eyes were shut tight in a tranquil sleep. He looked so peaceful, completely different from that of his usual self. Lucy looked on, closer to his wandering expressions.

Natsu wore an adorning smile, and his eyebrows curled tight in a look of frustration. Soon, his face lowered from its frustrated state, but his brows turned upward in a look of worry, but something else that Lucy couldn't recognize.

A muffled snicker could be heard from the other side of the bed.

"You loooove him…" She saw Happy staring at her from the area near the window.

Slightly confused, Lucy looked back at her and Natsu's current position. She completely forgot. Lucy's face turned a whole new shade of red.

"N-nn-n," she started to stutter, seething with anger. "NATSU, YOU PERVERT!"

Her fist instinctively swung, connecting to his jawline. Forcing him to flail out of the window, blanket in hand.

. . . . . . .

Natsu rubbed the tender, swollen cheek in his hand. "Did you really have to hit me, what did I do!?" He pouted as the blonde glared at him.

"Do you really want the answer to that?" Lucy shot back bitterly, then a light pink tint creeped onto her cheeks. Her mind wandered to the image that refrained from leaving. She was so embarrassed, she almost felt the steam pouring from her ears.

"Earth to Lucy, come in Lucy." Natsu waved his free hand in front of her face. "Are you okay? You don't look so good."

"I'm fine, thanks." Lucy practically spit out. Obviously still irritated by the early predicament.

"Don't worry, Natsu," Happy waved his paw in the air before cuffing it to his mouth. "She's just fantasizing about your early morning cuddle!" he lost it and burst out in a fit of giggles.

"SHUT UP YOU STUPID FELINE! I WAS NOT!" Lucy began to chase Happy around the room, swatting when she got close.

Natsu sunk a little in his scarf, fighting back the blush that threatened to spill out. He now remembered that little stunt he pulled early this morning. He definitely wasn't thinking, probably too tired.

'Speaking of which, aren't we taking a job today? What time is i-'Natsu looked at the clock and paled.

"AW CRAP! ERZA'S GONNA KILL US!" The clock read 8:30, a whole hour and a half later then the time they were supposed to meet.

"What do you mean?" Lucy looked over at Natsu who grabbed her alarm clock and shoved it in her face.

"IT'S 8:30!" Natsu's face scrunched up in thought. "If we leave right now, Erza might just spare us, but if she doesn't, at least it'll be painless right? Right?" Natsu looked over at Lucy with a pleading look, hoping for reassurance, but none was given. Lucy grabbed some clothes and headed to the bathroom without another word.

"Maybe we shouldn't go today, I mean, there are other jobs right?!" Happy shrieked and turned his gaze to the bathroom door, where Lucy had entered only a moment before.

"Maybe if we pretend we're sick, she won't kill us." Natsu attempted to come up with an excuse not to go, but before he could say anything else, Lucy emerged from the bathroom with her usual clothes.

She shook her head and giggled at the two who continued to freak out. In bewilderment, they stared at Lucy who continued to get ready. She simply turned to them with a grin.

"We have to be there by 9, what were you guys thinking?" She looked in the mirror, fixing her single, long ponytail and put on her earrings.

The boys gave a deep sigh and slumped down, practically melting on the floor. "What a relief." They said in unison. "To think you were scared of nothing. Stupid Natsu." Happy sighed.

"Hey, what did I do? You were scared to!" Natsu seethed but Lucy started to talk. "Hey Guys, we still need to go. It takes about 20 minutes to get there, but I was hoping we could get some breakfast." As soon as Lucy finished her sentence, Natsu and Happy's stomachs emitted a loud growl, signifying that they were hungry, too.

"Alright, let's go! I'm starving!" Natsu jumped up and out of the window calling out to Lucy as he went.

"Are you coming or not?!" Lucy, who just grabbed her keys, shot back her usual remark.

"Could you at least use the door?!" As they ran off in the direction of the train station. Lucy decided to catch a ride to a café near the station.

. . . . . . .

Natsu's sickly green face hung out of the train window. He was obviously in pure motion-sick agony. Lucy gently rubbed his back while, at the same time, tried to comfort Wendy. She felt awful due to the Troia spell not working like it should.

"Just grin and bear it Natsu, no need to be a wuss about it," Gray scoffed at the pathetic puke machine. He got up and walked to another cabin, not wanting to see it anymore.

Wendy rubbed her eyes and looked at Natsu in defeat. She sighed, "I'm sorry, I use it so much on you, and I guess you're immune to it now." Natsu replied with a groan. "It's okay, it's not you're fa-" He was cut off when a wave of vomit poured from his mouth and out of the cabin window.

Erza stood from her seat and looked at Natsu. "I'll go to the kitchen and see if there's anything that Natsu can take for his motion sickness. Wendy, can you come with me?" Wendy instantly bounded from her seat at the offer.

"No, problem. It's the least I can do." She looked back at Natsu with a look of worry. "Just hold on a little longer, okay?" Carla followed and Happy instinctively came too, leaving Lucy and Natsu by themselves in the room.

Natsu blew chunks out the window as Lucy tried to accompany him. Suddenly, the train jerked, flinging Natsu right onto Lucy's lap. He was out cold.

"Are you kidding me? He's already asleep?!" Lucy sighed and let him lay there, not wanting him to suffer from the moving train. Subconsciously, she began to gently massage his pink locks. She had never noticed how soft they were, and soon acknowledged that she never had the chance to find out.

Her eyes scanned to his features for the second time that day. Although he was out cold, she could see he was no longer in pain. He was completely peaceful, and calm, something that she never really saw when he was awake.

Something fluttered in her stomach, making her feel warm and content. Her gaze lowered to that of his scarf, and lowered even more to that scar. His scarf was looser than normal, making it fairly easy to see that strange scar. Without noticing, she began to caress his face with her fingers, outlining his jawline and inching closer to that scar.

Lucy's fingers hovered over the mark before lightly skimming it. Natsu's breath hitched instantly under Lucy's bare touch. It wasn't the feeling of pain or of being uncomfortable, but it sounded like Natsu liked it. There was only two things, which Lucy knew, could be distinguished by that sound. It was either want, or lust.

Lucy chuckled inwardly, 'as if Natsu was smart enough to understand those kind of things.' Her fingers ran through those salmon locks once more. 'He looks so cute when he sleeps.'

Lucy couldn't understand exactly what she felt, but she never thought much of it. She knew what it was like to have a crush, or like someone but, she would always brush it off. For Lucy, it was like things would never work out. Always having doubts, love was not her forte. She'd never really been on a single date, let alone have a boyfriend. After a while, she gave up on love and let nature take its course.

Without a doubt. She knew she had a crush, on Natsu, actually, that was an understatement. Lucy used her index finger to draw a circle around a patch of hair. She knew her feelings were a lot more than a little crush, and that was one of her problems. When, was the question? When had her feelings started? Was it during Tartaros, or was it before that? They could've started during Tenrou, but then again. They could've started even before that.

Lucy knew it didn't matter, but she also knew that it wouldn't work out. They were best friends, partners, teammates, and she didn't want to end that because of a stupid little crush. Besides, he didn't love her back. That was certain.

Lucy didn't notice the pairs of eyes, gawking at the scene in front of them. Erza decided to clear her throat, making Lucy jump out of her skin. A shade of red leaking onto her features. "Surprisingly, the kitchen had an herb that stops motion sickness. They made it into a tea for us." Wendy looked at Natsu who began to stir a little.

Quickly she grabbed the cup and asked Natsu to drink from it. As soon as he did, the effects of the sickness faded. Leaving Natsu to his normal self.

"Aww right! I'm back! Yeah that's right, not even a train can stop me now!" Natsu punched the air and looked at Wendy, "What is that stuff, it's awesome."

Wendy looked down at the remaining thick, gray liquid in the tea cup. "They said it's a mix of peppermint, ginger and dragon fruit, they call it Dragon Ash."

"Cool! I'm so bringing that next time!" Natsu smirked and Happy laughed. "He'll probably forget all about it when we get off the train."

After the cab crowded a bit and Gray returned, Erza pulled out the mission to read it. Assuring everyone knew what they were doing when the left the train.

Erza started. "The mission says that there's a dangerous mage that's taken over a nearby town. We have to report to the mayor at 8 tomorrow morning, he'll give us more details once we meet. And again, the reward is 10 million jewel, easy to split between the 5 of us. Natsu and Wendy will share their earnings with Happy and Charle." Lucy perked at the thought of having enough money to pay her rent for a while, but something bugged her to no end once Erza started reading. She couldn't seem to put her finger on what it was. Maybe just a bad feeling. Nothing serious.

"Does it say anything about the mage we're looking for?" Erza nodded and handed the paper to Lucy.

Lucy began to read it, thinking to herself in the process. 'Okay, let's see. Female. Black hair. Purple eyes? That's strange, then again Natsu has pink hair so I shouldn't question it. Age unknown, presumably… 10!? That can't be right.'

Lucy looked at Erza with shock. "Are we seriously going to have to beat up a 10-year-old?!"

Erza replied blandly. "Keep reading." Lucy turned her gaze back to the paper to continue. 'Knows many types of magic including Precognition and Aging magic. Eye witness reports claim she appears in a different "form," telling people their fortunes.' Lucy nodded to Erza, showing she understood.

Lucy suddenly felt intrigued by the mysterious women they were after. 'The ability to see the future, huh?' Lucy sighed and turned her gaze to Natsu, who started picking a fight with Gray. She returned to her thoughts, 'seems like a curse to me.'

~End~

A/N: Sorry for the wait and (*sigh) giving you a halfhearted 2nd chapter. I tried my best to get it updated on time but, here's your 4th of July present I guess. I promise I'll upload the next chapter soon. I'm planning on making a one-shot soon to take the load off of this single series. As usual, if you enjoyed (or not) please leave a review, it helps me a lot. I guess that's it. Thanks for reading.