Chapter 4

Natsu absentmindedly wiped the dishes, looking straight into the wall as if there was a TV, but there was nothing. But mentally there was one, and it replayed the recent events that had happened to him.

Lisanna crying.

Lucy smirking.

Loke…he had no idea what he was doing right now.

"WIPE THAT FASTER!" A voice barked into his ear, kicking out his thoughts. He flinched in response and came face to face with a red-headed woman, who looked like she was about to headbutt Natsu.

"Y-y-yea." And so he did, now clearing 10 dishes per minute.

"FASTER!" She roared.

"YES!" He went up to 15 dishes per minute.

"FASTER, WEAKLING!"

"YESS!" Now 25 dishes per minute. His hands were flying across the dishwasher, scrambling back and forth, almost as if he was juggling them. Am I Cinderella or something? He muttered in his mind.

Oblivious to his thoughts, Erza Scarlet looked satisfied, but a poor blue-haired man ran into her, grabbing her attention.

"LOOK WHERE YOU'RE GOING, PUNK!" Her voice bellowed throughout the restaurant.

"Sorry, I didn—wait….Erza?" The man looked at the restaurant manager in shock as she suddenly flushed a deep crimson color in realization of him. Everyone including the customers fell silent.

"OH GOD, JELLAL! UHM….UH…I meant…"

"I asked Erza to help me on a school play. She's re-enacting the part as a gangster," Natsu cut in. He didn't mind though; he needed an excuse for a break—even a five second one. "Right Erza?"

"YEA!" she squeaked, a little stiff as a steady flow of red crept into her cheeks again.

But Jellal seemed obliviously satisfied. "Oh..wow Erza, you were really good." And he clapped, wondering why he was the only one clapping as everyone else shuffled uneasily, fearing the woman's wrath.

"Yep!" she squeaked again.

"Oh, perfect timing! I remembered. I have two tickets to the new amusement park. None of my friends are available. Do you want to come with me?"

"Oh my gosh. Uh..I don't know…isn't..that..like…" The menacing woman suddenly transformed into a shy schoolgirl. "Isn't…that like…oh I don't—"

"Sure, I'll go with you, Jellal," the raven-haired waiter replied, appearing out of nowhere while grabbing one of the tickets. Natsu almost face-palmed. That ice-princess had a thicker skull than he did.

"Wait but I w-w-was..asking…." Jellal stuttered.

"Can we appoint it on Saturday? That's the only day that the blue-haired chick doesn't stalk me…not you Jellal..but yea…" Gray continued, completely oblivious to Jellal's helpless confusion and Erza's growing wrath, "But you know how she is. She'll probably kill you, and imagine something weird between us. You get me, man?"

"S-s-sure but uh I really meant it for—"

"Ok. How about 10:30 A.M.? I haven't been to the amusement park for awhile so thanks for inviting me! Really apprecia-!" A fist contacted the side of Gray's temple and sent him flying across the room. He finally crashed into the booth in the back and slipped into unconsciousness.

Erza then turned back to Jellal, innocently smiling. "Sorry, I got too into my role as the gangster. So when do you want to schedule the event?"

"How about what Gray said?" He smiled, and both of them blushed slightly at the thought of a date. "So I guess I'll see you later?" he offered shyly.

"Y-y-yea…" she shuffled, embarrassed. "Drive home safely, ok?"

"Ok. Don't get too exhausted after work…" he whispered, brushing aside a stray hair strand from her face. "Bye."

"Bye," she squeaked, looking like she was about to faint.

As Jellal closed the door and headed for the parking lot, Erza suddenly changed demeanor and swept a threatening glare across the silent room. "What are you staring at, pricks?!" she barked.

Everyone shuffled back to position and continued what they were doing.

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He hissed in pain as he bandaged his fingers. They were sore, cramped, and even bleeding for some. Even though Erza tried to seem hostile, she secretly had apologized and allowed him to take the rest of the day off—even though it was only 11 A.M.

On the other hand, Gray had to take both shifts today (cough cough), and he seemed to have lost some of his memories. The red-headed manager convinced him that he had slept the entire day, avoiding anything that would cause him to gain back his memories, and the black-haired idiot had accepted it, although reluctantly.

For the rest of the day, he had complained about a headache. No one dared to respond.

Natsu opened the back door of the restaurant, shifting into his jacket and snuggling into the warms of his white-plaid scarf to brace against the bitter cold of the fall. He now had officially nothing to do, and he paused at the windows of a flower shop. His eyes had caught on the flower that resembled the head of a dragon and a patch of golden bells. Golden...blonde.

A visit doesn't hurt. He thought.

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Natsu passed by the school since it was on the way to the bus stop. The building looked lifeless without its students as it ominously loomed over the dull-green grass.

However—as he squinted his eyes—two figures appeared in view. To his shock, it was Lisanna and Loke, and it seemed like they were in the middle of a serious conversation. He gripped the bouquets tighter and found a tree to hide behind, easing his way over noiselessly. Shuffling to his side while squatting, he peeked from a safe distance, even though he was unable to hear anything.

He spied on the couple, trailing his eyes mainly towards the slender figure of the girl. She seemed to be raising her voice at Loke, and he was only listening. His narrow, blue glasses covered his eyes. He then was about to slap her as Natsu felt himself instinctively go forward.

No. She's not a part of you anymore. He said to himself and stepped back.

But Loke's slap never came. He was restraining himself, shakily placing his hand back to his side.

Lisanna only screamed something, "GO AHEAD!" She bashed her fists weakly against the football player. "GO AHEAD! I DON'T CARE ANYMORE!" It was loud enough to reach his ears, but he only waited to see what was next.

Slowly, Loke grasped Lisanna's fists as she struggled helplessly. Natsu's heart sunk as he pulled her in, locking her lips with his, and her struggles gradually disappeared. Her arms now snaked around his neck, and he only pulled her in closer, gripping her back.

You liar…

He smiled bitterly. Without hesitation, he got up and continued to walk towards the bus-stop, his lips quivering. He sat down, letting out a shaky breath as he settled the two bouquets next to him.

"Did you forget me already?" A small voice teased him playfully. He looked up to see a woman's face warmly smiling.

"Oh. It's you. Sorry, I had a lot on my mind." He let out a small laugh.

"It's fine. Don't worry about it," she chirped playfully. When Natsu didn't answer, she tried something, probably noticing something was wrong. "Who are those flowers for?"

"Oh these?" He picked up the dragon flowers and the golden bell flowers. "Just two people who I know."

The woman paused. Then she smiled mischievously. "For someone you like?"

Laughing again, Natsu waved his hand back and forth. "No, she's just someone who I befriended. She's pretty though."

"Ah ah~" she took a finger and shook it at him. "You sure about that?"

"I'm serious!"

Letting out a pout, she sighed. "Fine." They sat in silence, with the breeze billowing past. The bus annoying puttered in traffic from a distance away.

"What should I call you, by the way? I never got your name," he suddenly recalled.

"Whatever you want to call me," the woman replied, giving a small smirk.

"So you want a nickname?"

"HEY MISS RIELA, SHOULD I TAKE OVER YOUR SHIFT TODAY?" Both of them turned around to see a small, blue-haired girl panting as she raced across. "I'LL MAKE IT UP FOR YESTERDAY!" she yelled.

"Wendy!" The older woman blinked. "You sure? You have a study session tomorrow."

The little girl cheerfully giggled. "I'm fine! It's not that big of a deal!"

"But—" She began.

"No buts, Faith!" Wendy then gasped and covered her mouth. "I'm sorry! I'm so disrespectful! I meant Miss Riela!"

"It's fine, Wendy. Don't wor-!"

"But your name is so pretty! I wish I had a name like that!..." she sighed dreamily, but then snapped back as she eyed a familiar indigo head bobbing towards the store. "THERE HE IS, OH GOSH! SORRY MISS RIELA!" Wendy made a small bow as she tilted her head down in respect to Natsu. After doing so, she sped through the intersection and barreled into the clueless boy.

The two watched from a distance.

"…Well…Miss Riela…" He emphasized her name. "How are you?"

Rolling her eyes, she smirked. "Okay..you win."

"Let's introduce ourselves and pretend that never happened. I'm Natsu." He took out his hand to shake with hers.

"Okayy Mr. Natsu. I'm Faith." She grasped his hand to shake, her soft skin contrasted with his calloused, rough palm. Finally, Faith released his hand to face the building across the street.

"The bus is coming. I should leave." Grunting as she patted her back, her fingers waved a small goodbye to Natsu.

Automatically, he waved back. But then something struck his mind as she watched her figure grow smaller.

Why does she sit here if she doesn't take the bus?

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Whistling happily, Natsu walked down the familiar hallway after visiting his father. The doctor had told him Igneel's wounds were recovering faster—the only bad thing was that they couldn't estimate how much longer his coma would last. But he kept his head up. His father was getting better, and that was all that mattered.

He appeared in front of Lucy's window, and she did the regular routine—reading Fairy Tail. Smiling, he knocked on the window, catching her attention.

This time, she closed her book with a blank face and took out her paper and pen from her nightstand. She then walked over and settled in a chair that was already placed in front of Natsu.

'What?' she wrote.

He didn't reply, but only sat down to show her golden-bell flowers. He edged them closer to the window, replacing her head with flowers in his perspective. Nothing happened, and Natsu lowered them, worried that she didn't like them.

Instead of seeing her face, he saw the paper, reading 'Thank you, Natsu.'

He blushed to a small extent and nodded his head.

'Why can't you write today?' she wrote again. Smiling crookedly, he showed her his fingers, and she widened her eyes.

'Are you ok?' He nodded.

Lucy let out a small pout. 'How can we communicate now?' It read.

He shrugged to her annoyance, and she slowly tapped her chin, finally writing, 'Fine. We're playing 20 questions today. I ask. You nod for yes and shake for no.'

In response, he nodded as she smiled in satisfaction and returned to her notepad, thinking of what to write. With nothing to do, he decided to creepily stare at her, but in doing so, he couldn't help but notice how much skinnier she was in comparison to four weeks ago. Her cheeks had lost the roundness, emphasizing her cheekbone, and her face made a pointed instead of a rounded V. Her fingers only showed bone and skin, losing the small amount of fat she once had, and they weakly wrapped around the pen. Greenish brown bruises, that she never had, randomly appeared on her arms. Her legs were covered by her long pajama pants, but he concluded that there were more. Natsu bit his lips.

How sick was Lucy?

He heard a sharp rap on the window and saw her notepad.

'Are you secretly a pedophile?' It read. Natsu almost fell off his chair and shook his head wildly.

'Are you happy?' It came next. Natsu shrugged, not knowing what to feel. She frowned but went onto the next question.

'You don't like being with me?' He shook his head and placed the golden bells on his lap, forming a heart with his hands. Lucy rolled her eyes as they trailed back to the paper.

'Ok…since you asked me this last time, are you single?' Nod. He then gave her a small smirk which she noticed. 'I don't think of you that way, weirdo.' She shot back for defense. He only laughed and innocently grinned at her.

Whatever. He could imagine her saying that. Without realizing it, his eyes trailed back to her arms where the random distorted bruises formed.

'Are you staring at my bruises?' Natsu noticed the paper and looked away sheepishly. He gave a slight nod, trying to be honest. Worried at her reaction, he rotated his onyx orbs to peek at her.

She didn't look mad though, and a new message appeared, reading 'It's ok.' Sighing in relief, he turned to face her again.

'Do you know my condition?' He shook his head.

'You couldn't figure it out from my symptoms?' It struck him in the head as an insult, but he still shook his head while frowning.

She finished writing and paused. She then ripped the paper out of the notepad and placed it next to her on the ground, writing a new one. 'Do you want to know?'

How sick is she? Was it better for him to know or to not? He couldn't hold back his curiosity as he slowly nodded. Lucy bit her lips and looked down, writing something that made him freeze.

'Promise me you'll understand and not visit me again.'

What? Almost immediately, Natsu shook his head. Lucy was his friend. Why would he leave just because of that?

'Please.' She added at the end. Natsu gripped the flowers tighter as he stubbornly shook his head again. Why?

Lucy seemed tenser too, and she angrily scribbled something again, smacking the notepad against the window. He flinched at the sound, reading, 'I'm dying. Stop coming.' He was about to stop her when she suddenly closed the blinds. Again.

I'm dying.

"What happened?" he wondered out loud. He then saw the familiar nurse walk towards him.

"Hi Mirajane. Could you give this to Lucy?" Natsu handed her the flowers as she formed a surprised look on her face. "You probably have access into her room. She shut the blinds on me again."

Thankfully, she didn't question him why. "Ok. But we have to perform a check on the flowers to consider it safe for Lucy," she explained.

"That's fine. I have to go home now. Thanks Mirajane!" He waved her goodbye as his bandaged fingers trembled slightly at Lucy's note. He was going to go find out.

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He flicked open his laptop, and it buzzed, filling the room's silence with its hum. The screen flared a glow, appearing with the Microsoft logo, and blacked out, finally turning into a blue-green design background with his icon named Natsu. He clicked on it, and the typical song welcomed him.

Natsu waited for a bit, allowing the computer to connect to the wifi, and finally doubled clicked the icon of google chrome. It popped up with a "new tab" page, and his fingers flew across the keyboard, typing ' .'

The screen flashed white, forming the usual homepage of Google. Natsu then went to Microsoft Word to type the symptoms, and it appeared after a one minute wait. His fingers paused—stiffened—as he tried to recall what she had showed.

'Sudden weight loss,' he recalled as he typed. What else? Random bruises.

And that one time.. His fingers typed. Bloody noses.

That was all he knew for now. He pressed on the left button of his mouse and dragged it across the screen, copying and pasting it into the google search bar. He then hesitated as his pinky touched the surface of enter button. It then pushed down.

Immediately, the page changed, and his eyes traveled down to the first result.

'Easy Bruising and Nosebleed' He skimmed the summary as nothing caught his attention. Except for cirrhosis. But Lucy seemed to be in a hospital a good period of time…long enough for treatment. He went down another level as his breath was caught in his throat.

'Leukemia Symptoms –Diseases and Conditions—PDR….' No, it possibly couldn't be. He nervously laughed.

I'm dying.

NO! He ordered himself and looked down.

'Leukemia – Diagnosis & Treatment…' No..

'Bruises Easily – Healthline…' His eyes trailed to the summary. "..by Paul Aeurbach..Leukemia is a cancer of the—"

Stop coming.

'Acute Lymphocytic Leukemia Cancer…'

Go away.

'Early symptoms of Leukemia…'

Don't come back. Her note appeared in his mind again.

'Symptoms of chronic myeloid leukemia (CML)…'

Her angry look. Why she always closed the blinds on him. And tried pushing him away.

'Blood disorders..'

'Leukemia symptoms…'

'What are the symptoms of leukemia…'

'Why am I bleeding and bruising?...I'm scared.' He read a Yahoo answer. No.

'Warning signs of this cancer..'

'Stages of Leukemia...'

'Learn of treatment for Leukemia...'

"DAMN IT!" he screamed and slammed the laptop down. It wheezed at the sudden impact and blew to a halt. The room fell silent again as he clenched his teeth, balling his fists.

I'm dying. The notepad whispered in his ear.

And that's when Natsu Dragneel finally processed it.

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(A/N: Hi! Hope you guys enjoyed that chapter C: ….Who am I kidding? That was slightly depressing. I think. I'm pretty bad at writing this stuff (which is why my ign is 'therandomnoob'), but hope you enjoyed! The reviews really encouraged me to write more :D I was super happy when you guys gave me feedback. I was like omfg they actually like it ashfaoiwhgofgha :'DDD
So yea C: Sorry if I'm not responding to some of your questions. When I say questions I mean questions-about-the-plot. It's a secret C; so I'm not ignoring you guys at all 3 in fact, it makes me happy when you ask questions cuz I'm like ohh this is what they're expecting. Hehe. Thank you for your support 3 Happy reading!

I think I smushed up stuff a little too fast. IDK. too rushed maybe. I'm lazy hahaha.