Chapter 2

Hey, so here's the next chapter. I've never seen the hits count go up so fast on one of my fanfictions before. Thank you to everyone who reviewed and favourited. I'll reply to the review as soon as I'm done with this, I was kinda hungover when I read it... Yeah, it was a good night though... My writing process for these chapters just seem to be really weird to me... it usually takes me a day to write them, inbetween about five or six cigarettes, a nice break halfway to see where I've gotten and where I'd like to go... Oh, well, writers are supposed to be strange, right? I was writing one with a packet of crisps and a bottle of Stella next to me... Anyway... moving on from the boring monologue xD Hope you enjoy this one!


"Natsu?" She asked, looking directly into the face in front of her. He seemed just as surprised to see her as she was to him.

"Lucy?" He asked hesitantly, his voice gruff and coarse.

"Natsu!" She shouted, jumping at him. She took careful observation of the flinch she felt as he held on to him. She felt him go stiff in her arms.

"Natsu!" Happy shouted, flying towards him. Natsu smiled. Erza and Gray watched from the background not wanting to interrupt the scene before them.

"What happened?" Lucy asked. "Where have you been?"

"We need to go. They could get here any minute."

"Who could be here any minute?" Erza asked, looking at Natsu cautiously.

"The people that got me. I broke out, but it won't be long before they come and get me again. We need to leave here. And quick." Natsu explained.


And so, they found themselves on the train once again, but something was off. The train had just departed, but Natsu didn't look sick. Lucy stared at him warily, and noticed that Erza and Gray had also noted the change. Another thing they noticed was that he kept looking around the train compartment and flinching, a memory dancing behind his eyes.

"Do you not get motion sick anymore, Natsu?" Happy asked, looking at his friend closely.

He didn't answer, just stared down at his hands. It was then they realised how beat up he really was, being too far into the happiness that they'd found him, they hadn't stopped to check for injuries. There was one thing that bothered them the most, it was a bracelet of some sort, attached to his wrist, and obviously causing discomfort from the raw and still slightly bleeding skin around it.

"What happened whilst you were gone?" Lucy asked silently, noticing everyone's attention was no directed at Natsu.

"I don't want to talk about it. We just need to get out of here." He replied, looking out the window. Natsu knew his friends were suspicious but there was nothing he could do. They just needed to get out of there before they came back to get him. He knew he was being tracked, he knew they'd know where to find him. But they stood more of a chance to fight back if they were all ganged together back at the guild.

Suddenly, Natsu grabbed the wrist with the wristband, and cringed in pain. His breath coming out in harsh gasps. "Gah!" He screamed as the pain intensified, blood starting to drip off his wrist. "Please, just leave me alone!" he begged as the pain grew more intense.

"Natsu!" Lucy screamed, grabbing a hold of him. Gray went up to Natsu and attempted to freeze the bracelet, but this only caused Natsu to writhe more in pain. Natsu suddenly stopped writhing and slumped over Lucy's lap, unconscious. His breathing irregular, leaving the four other members of the guild to stare at him in fear.

"What the hell was that?" Gray asked.

"It must be the bracelet; it's causing him pain somehow." Erza commented, staring at the bracelet on his wrist intensely.

"We need to get it off." Lucy said.

"I tried; my magic just caused him more pain." Gray said.

"The master needs to see this." Erza said leaving the group in a tense silence.

They arrived back at the guild to the shocked stars of the guild members. They all looked in surprise at their beaten and bruised lost comrade, Natsu Dragneel., dangling limply off the shoulder of his supposed enemy Gray Fullbuster None of them ever believed that they'd ever see their long lost friend again, let alone see him this beat up with no explanation.

"What happened?" Makarov questioned walking to the front of the guild.

"We got him; he was walking through the town. He's been really secretive, but the bracelet on his wrist. It was causing him a lot of pain and he collapsed." Lucy explained as quickly as she could.

"Get him to the infirmary. Quickly." Makarov ordered.

"Right." Gray said, running him to the infirmary. Wendy and Mirajane not too far behind.

The guild was silent, knowing that the two needed time to tend to their friend.

"We should be prepared for the worst." Makarov said silently, "we do not know what he has been through."

"Do you have any idea what they could have put him through? He was terrified of them on the train. He said that they would come for him." Erza informed Makarov.

"By the looks of it, it could have been some sort of torture. But it could have been anything. We need to be ready for them to come back and get him, if Natsu believes that they are following him, and then we should be prepared to stand up and fight for him." Makarov replied, looking sternly to the members of the guild. All of whom nodded in motivation for protecting their friend, as he would have done the same for him.