A/N: I know I haven't posted in FOREVER, but my laptop broke and I'm finally getting the opportunity to write! Thanks for being patient! Hope you like this chapter, please review J

Lucy awoke to the sound of a jackhammer. She cringed in place, choosing to snuggle further into her pillow rather than face the day; she hadn't even stretched, but she could feel the exhaustion in her limbs, in her bones. But, as much as she would have loved to keep her eyes shut and drift back into a deep sleep, the rude sound that had initially forced her from her dreams only got worse.

Lucy's left eye snapped open, her face twisting into a look of utter madness once she recognized where the sound was coming from.

It was no jackhammer, she'd noted. Just a pink haired dragon slayer strewn across her bed—his lean legs were scattered across hers, essentially pinning her bottom half to the mattress—with his mouth wide open, snoring directly into her face.

Of course, before she'd come to terms with the fact that Natsu had in fact awoken her with his intense snoring, she'd nearly had a panic attack. The second she'd opened her eyes, her heart had practically stopped out of fear. She hadn't known the stranger in the bed, hadn't known the bed she was in, hadn't remembered that this place was in fact hers.

She'd forgotten again, if only for a split second, the memories she'd made in the previous day. And this, of course, had made her body go still with fear and horror.

Being unaware of where she was, not being sure of who the person was beside her, if only for the tiniest fraction of a moment, had reminded her of her reality.

She had forgotten everything. She didn't know herself, didn't know her closest friends, didn't know her entire life. Every moment of happiness, of joy, of sadness and anger…she'd lost them all. The only things she knew were the things Natsu had told her, the things she'd picked up in the few hours since she'd woken. And it wasn't enough. She still felt incomplete.

And right there, in that bed, with a boy snoring so loud she thought her brain might burst, Lucy realized that she wanted it all back. She wanted the memories, the friendships, the bonds she'd created throughout her life. She was determined to get it all back. She had to. She hated feeling like a stranger to herself.

So, Lucy figured she had a lot of work to do: re-introduce herself to her friends and family, learn as much about herself from these people as possible, and try to find who she really was.

But her first plan of action was to get Natsu to shut up.

Lucy narrowed her eyes at the sleeping boy; she poked her hand out from under the soft blankets and leaned over, pinching his nose. She waited patiently for a few seconds, watching as the sleeping mage responded to her action.

The snoring continued for a few long seconds, then faltered; silence flushed over the room, his mouth still gaping open, but no breath entering his lungs. For whatever reason, Natsu's natural instinct to breathe through his mouth had not kicked in; Lucy found this rather curious. A few seconds passed before Natsu's eyes snapped open and he began choking for breath, slapping Lucy's hand away so he could finally get a gasp of air.

Lucy smiled to herself as Natsu grumpily stuffed his head back under the pillow, trying to block the sunlight from his groggy eyes.

"Morning, sunshine," Lucy said with a grin.

"Too early." He responded, voice deep and rocky. "Go away."

Lucy was rather amused. "C'mon—get up. I've got a lot I want to do today."

Natsu's voice was still muffled, quiet. "Like…what?" He murmured, hesitant. Sure, he wanted Lucy to get out and do things despite her condition, but he was sort of running low on activities to do that didn't involve anyone she knew.

Lucy blinked, a little unsure. She ran her initial idea through her head a couple more times, trying to make sense of it. Her motivation to remember herself was taking full force, and she was feeling rather brave. "I want to go to the guild. See everyone." She nodded to herself afterwards, like she was confirming that she wanted to do it.

Natsu was quiet for a second, then turned his head; his right eye peaked out from under the pillows, searching the blonde's face. "You sure?" His eyebrows tugged down lower in concern. "Luce, we don't have to do anything you don't want. You know that."

Her brown eyes met his gaze. "I want to." Maybe it was silly, but she had a hope deep down in her heart that seeing everyone would bring the memories back to the surface. Maybe she just needed a little reminder, and that was all. "I promise."

Natsu didn't seem so convinced. "Okay…" He trailed off. "If that's what you want."

Lucy's stomach lurched with anxiety, but she ignored it. She had to do this eventually, right? Besides, what if this was the trigger that brought everything back? She'd remember the guild, her friends, her family, all of their adventures together…

She'd remember Natsu. She'd remember their spontaneous travels to other cities, remember the specific details of their intimate friendship. She'd be able to recall the night she first let him have her bed, when she'd found him crying; she'd remember every conversation they'd spoken.

Most importantly, she wouldn't feel so awful for forgetting someone that seemed so utterly unforgettable.

They'd gotten up. Natsu insisted on cooking Lucy breakfast; while he did, he told her about the guild, about their antics. He didn't go into specifics about the people—Lucy wanted to figure that out on her own—but talked about the adventures he'd been on.

Lucy learned a lot about Natsu in that short hour: he was quite the story teller, for one. He rambled and was at times fairly incoherent, but his stories were magnificent. He explained everything in so much detail, so extremely vividly, Lucy swore she could almost remember it. She learned that he'd travelled far and wide, that he was always accompanied by Happy, and now, never went anywhere without Lucy by his side. She'd learned that they were partners, that they worked together to complete missions all across the nation. She'd learned that he hated missions that were far away, because that meant they'd take the train, and he had awful motion sickness.

Lucy also learned that Natsu was a horrible cook. The eggs were charred and the bacon was extra crispy; the hashbrowns were barely edible. Her entire plate was steaming, each piece of food doused in char and soot.

But he had a grin on his face when he looked down at his meal, and Lucy figured that this was the way he liked it. And he seemed so happy that she didn't dare complain about it. So she ate it, the bacon cracking against her teeth, turning into dust the second she tried to chew it, and gave the boy a smile.

He was a fire mage, after all. What did she expect?

After breakfast, Natsu showed her where she put all of her clothes—he could smell the different fabrics (dragon slayer's nose, he'd said) and could tell where every type of clothing she owned was in her many drawers.

"How about a t-shirt and some jeans?" Lucy had suggested, but paused. "Wait, no. Just give me something that I would normally wear. Give me an average Lucy outfit, okay?"

Natsu nodded, obliging. He sniffed the air and headed towards her closet, tossing it open and leafing through the hangers until he found something appropriate; he chucked it at the blonde, letting the clothing fall over her head.

Lucy snorted, pulling it off her head, eyeing it. A pretty top and a skirt. "Thanks."

"Oh—these too."

Another couple pieces of fabric hit Lucy in the face gently: two knee length socks.

Natsu's face lit up again. "Panties."

Lucy blinked at him. "What?"

He began to dig through her top drawer. "You need 'em, don't ya?"

Her face flushed and she dove forwards, pushing him away from the drawer. "Knock it off!" Sure, he'd shown that they were pretty close friends, but she was sure they weren't that close. She began to rifle through the drawer herself, face hot as she poked through her fairly skimpy underwear. Once she'd decided on a pair, she stuffed it into the pile of clothes in her arms.

Lucy turned, looking towards the boy. "Shower?"

"Right," He nodded. "Through there."

"Thanks," Lucy mumbled back, still horribly embarrassed that Natsu had gotten a long glimpse at her panty drawer. She made her way to the bathroom, running the shower to get the water at the right temperature; she got out a towel and hung it, preparing for once her shower was over. She set her clothes on the counter and turned to the tub, watching the water soak the porcelain.

And for whatever reason, it was daunting.

She'd gone through the entire apartment, tried to find pieces of herself. And she had, sort of. The décor, the layout…it had all said something. She'd slept in her own bed, felt how alien the sheets felt against her skin. She'd stared up at her own ceiling, not recognizing it. But that hadn't really been that bad.

But for whatever reason, the shower was daunting. The clawfoot tub with the wraparound shower curtain made her veins buzz with fear. She was frozen in place, skin ice cold.

There was nothing about a bathroom that really said anything about a particular person. Everyone's bathroom was relatively the same: toilet, sink, tub. That's all. Lucy's bathroom was particularly bare; she didn't even have reading material beside the toilet. And that was what seemed to freak her out the most.

There was nothing person about a bathroom, nothing that hinted to who she was. Her entire life was empty, but this specific spot was particularly blank. She couldn't even try to find herself in here. Her shoulders slumped slightly, and a feeling of dread spread over her. Maybe this quest to find herself was hopeless after all.

She stood there, staring at the clawfoot tub, glaring at its blank porcelain. She willed it to tell her something, willed it to give her any sort of hint. But it didn't, and nothing happened, and she just stood there for what felt like hours but was only seconds.

There was a knock on the door, bursting through her haze.

Natsu's muffled voice spoke out to her. "Hey, Luce, careful with the shower knobs—they're backwards." He paused for a quiet moment. "Don't want you to burn yourself."

His voice sort of broke through her, sort of touched her heart. Because yeah, she couldn't remember anything and she couldn't find herself in the fucking bathroom, but that was her friend out there, and he was trying to help. And that had to mean something, right? The fact that he was worried about her burning her skin and worried about her using the shower. That was important.

Maybe she didn't need to find herself in the bathroom. Maybe she didn't need any hints right now, right here. Maybe she just needed someone to guide her alone the way.

"Natsu?" Lucy's voice spoke, crackled and broken. It was clear she'd been on the verge of tears.

His voice was jumpy, suddenly aware that she was having some sort of struggle in here. "Yeah? Luce, you okay?"

She swallowed; her throat was tight. "Yeah, it's just…" She took a second to pause, to decide on the right words. "Could you come and sit in here with me?"

There was a long silence.

His voice was anxious, like he was so worried he might throw up. "In the bathroom?"

"Yeah, it's weird, I know, it's just—" Her words cut off for a split second. "Just come sit in here, on the floor or something, and talk to me while I shower."

"Is everything okay?"

Lucy sucked in a shaky breath. She was pretty pathetic—shaking and nearly sobbing because she didn't recognize her own damn bathroom. It was just a little thing, something that shouldn't matter, but it shook her. It made her eyes sting, her chest ache.

"I'm scared."

His voice was different, now. The fear, the anxiety…it had slipped away to leave room for strength. He had to be brave for the both of them. He couldn't even begin to imagine what was going through Lucy's head, but it didn't really matter to him. She was his best friend and she was afraid and she was crying in the bathroom, and he'd do just about anything to stop that. He'd do anything to make it better.

"I'm coming."

Natsu came in the bathroom, his presence instantly easing Lucy; he made his way over to her, big hands grabbing her little palms, dark eyes calmly staring into her brown ones. He was the epitome of comfort; he was like home.

Everything sort of went by in a blur for Lucy, but she remembered it. He'd asked her if she was okay, if she wanted to just go back to bed and lay down until she felt better. She'd insisted she was fine—she wanted to shower—but just need a little help.

"Well," Natsu had said with a little smile, "I'll always be here to help you."

He'd taken a seat on the floor, like Lucy had instructed, while she got in the shower, averting his eyes. And then, without her even telling him what to do, Natsu had done exactly what Lucy had needed.

He sat there and started to chat about some random thing, telling her about one prank he pulled on one of their guildmates in the baths one time. That topic lead into another silly topic, and Lucy soon found herself giggling at the boy's stories as she showered.

The fear bubbled away, now replaced by the easiness that Natsu had brought along with him.

Lucy was suddenly very aware of why she'd become friends with Natsu in the first place. She knew why past Lucy—the Lucy that remembered—was so close with this pink haired boy.

Natsu knew exactly what she needed. He knew exactly what to do. He replaced any ounce of fear with absolute joy, absolute light.

Natsu was home to Lucy. She'd figured it out.

And maybe she couldn't find any worthy hints about herself in her apartment. Maybe that was it—maybe she'd never find herself or figure out who she really was by looking at the details of the décor in the flat.

But she knew, right then and there, that she would absolutely find who she was in Natsu. He was the key to remembering. She could feel it.