Keeping a Piece of Me

Chapter 4: Lucy Ashley

Everything was so dark, also everything seemed to hurt as well. Her brain was having trouble processing her thoughts, as well as her memory it seemed. How had she gotten to this place?

Her shoulder was really starting to annoy her. Her back was too. Why does it feel like her insides are burning? It was really uncomfortable, and she really didn't want to feel it anymore.

Now her hand felt really warm, was that normal? It felt as though it was being squeezed now, and the strangely familiar feeling sent a shiver down her spine.

Was someone holding her hand? If someone was then, who? Can they make the pain go away? It was starting to intensify, making a small whimper escape her lips.

Her body started to feel heavier, and she could feel more pain radiating in her shoulder and her back. Not to mention it felt as though her lung were on fire.

"Lucy…"

She recognized that name… wait! That's her name, right? The person probably holding her hand was calling to her. Lucy Heartfilia.

A sudden wave of disgust washed over body- so much in fact, that it blocked out the pain for a moment. No… that wasn't her name. Her name is Lucy Ashley.

More pain slammed into her chest like a train, making her gasp for air. The pressure in her hand increased, the person holding her hand like a life-line.

All the memories of the last night came back to her in a flash. The ambush, the two 'assassins', Loki, apologies, Fairy Hills, the excruciating pain. That wasn't just a dream, like she thought it was. It was real, it happened.

How had she even allowed it to happen?

"Luce!"

There was that voice again! Who was it? Why are they calling out to her?

She took another deep breath, her lung screaming in protest- but only her left lung. Not her right.

"C'mon, wake up."

The voice almost seemed desperate. It was so familiar and just so… warm. Maybe if she woke up, she could see who it was?

She wanted to tell the voice to stop worrying- that she would wake up. With that thought in mind, the blonde pulled out of her sleep.

Natsu stared at the sleeping woman, seeing her face twist in confusion or pain every few minutes. He clutched her hand tightly, Wendy and Porlyusica working quickly in the small hut.

It had been no picnic for the Dragon Slayer to enter her hut. In fact, it was downright awful. The mean old healer lady- as Natsu calls her –threw him out the first three times he got in. The fourth time, she just complained very loudly about his 'predictable human ways'.

Luckily, she let him stay, but told him he had to be quiet. Happy was sitting on Lucy's stomach, watching her chest rise and fall gently.

After a while after experimentally saying her name, he had gotten a reaction out of her, making his chest flutter with hope. He noticed how she looked incredibly confused, he could practically hear the gears turning in her brain.

His heart nearly leapt out of his chest when one of her eyes cracked open, before groaning and blinked feverishly.

"She's awake!" The Dragon Slayer exclaimed excitedly, seeing her struggling to keep her eyes open. She looked over to him, her brown eyes dull as she saw him. She suddenly smiled, though it was weak, recognition flashing in her eyes.

"N-Natsu." She whispered, her voice raspy. She looked down to her belly to see Happy who had now wrapped his arms around her as he wept loudly.

"H-Happy." She murmured.

"Lucy-san, please don't talk! Your vocal cords were put under tremendous stress yesterday." Wendy reprimanded, earning a small nod from the blonde. Natsu saw as her eyes suddenly flickered in pain, but she bit down quickly on her tongue to suppress a yell.

The pink haired male felt his stomach drop at the sight of her in pain, he also felt the need to kill whoever put her through this. But that could wait until she was better.

He hated to see his friends in pain, but it always angered him the most when it was Lucy in pain.

She let out a shaky sigh, her eyes closing tightly before Porlyusica came over to her bedside, holding a small cup of frothy, pink liquid. Lucy struggled to open her eyes as the healer helped her sit up, ignoring how she was obviously in pain.

"Dragon Slayer, help her drink this. And make sure she gets all of it down." She said, handing the cup to Natsu. He looked down into the liquid, grimacing at the smell.

"What is it?" He asked, looking up towards the older woman.

"Just something to get any excess poison out of her body." She responded, now sounding annoyed. Natsu visibly tensed at the mention of poison. She was poisoned?

Natsu would make sure that whoever did this to her would go straight to hell.

Lucy looked over to the male and gave him a questioning glance. He gave her a small smile as the healer went back to Wendy to help her with another potion.

Natsu scooted closer to the blonde, bringing the potion to her lips. She also cringed at the smell, shooting him a look that read, do-I-really-have-to-do-this? He gave her an apologetic look in response, a small groan escaping her mouth.

The woman then complied, her eyes closing as the liquid went down her throat. She gripped the bedsheets, her eyes closing tightly. The liquid was practically burning her throat, but it all went down alright.

When the cup was empty, the blonde let out a heavy sigh of relief. She could feel the pain dribbling away, leaving her with a small satisfied smile on her face. Natsu set the cup down, smiling.

Happy crawled onto Lucy's lap, the blonde stroking his soft, blue fur. Natsu reached out and grabbed her free hand, feeling his heart thump when she accepted him whole-heartedly, intertwining their fingers. She sent him a soft look before looking towards the door with an uncertain expression. A single question now plagued her mind, now that she had time to think.

Did they find her?

Makarov and Erza looked around Lucy's apartment, searching for any clues the assassins may have left. The landlady was not happy about having people in her building, especially after what had happened the night before.

They were trying to convince her to let them in when Natsu and Happy had come along, but it all worked out in the end.

Erza examined the shattered window, cringing at the power of the bullets. If Lucy had been hit by a bullet this powerful… not to mention she was shot 3 times.

"Erza." Makarov called weakly, standing by the blonde's dresser. He held a small white note in his hands, staring at it with an intense and solemn expression.

The red head went over to him, taking the note from his hands. Her eyes flew open as she read it.

Found you.

-The Heartfilia Family

"Th-The Heartfilias?" Erza murmured, looking down at the Master.

"Yes, this situation is much worse than we originally thought it was." He said, his anger and frustration slowly starting to show. "Either Lucy had been a prisoner there, or she had worked for them. And neither of those are good options."

Shaking her head, Erza gave the note back to him, a feeling of betrayal rising within her.

"How could she not tell about this?" She asked quietly, her fists clenching. Makarov held up a hand to stop her from saying anything more, seeing his now impassive face.

"Once she is well, we will talk to her." He says, his eyes falling to the floor. "I know she will have a good explanation. I trust her decision not to tell us. We will get our answers, but until then, this stays between us."

With a reluctant nod, Erza agreed.

Yo. Whew, chapter 4 status: complete!

This chapter was sorta good, although I hope I didn't twist you're minds too much with the whole 'Lucy Ashley' thing. I wanted to get it in earlier that she had a different name than 'Lucy Heartfilia' but I couldn't find the right place to put it. So I thought: "Here's nice." and threw it in there.

So yup, the Heartfilia family is pretty great, huh? Yeah... right...

Anyhow, have a terrific day/afternoon/night!

Until next time my loves!