Lucy huffed as sweat slowly rolled down her body while Leo finished off the rest of the kidnappers. Leo looked over his shoulder at her, smirking in delight.
"Been a while since we had a good fight, hey Lucy?"
Lucy couldn't help but agree. She glanced down at the star dress that clung to her form. Leo's star dress always seemed particularly spectacular. It reminded her of the ballgowns that her father had forced her to wear, yet it also represented her freedom. It had a large slit on one side that reached her hip which allowed her free range of movement. She leaned her neck to the side, cracking it. "Yea, it did feel good." She took a deep breath and stilled her rapidly beating heart. The group of kidnappers had actually been quite large. Lucy had taken on about ten of them while Erza had re-quipped in order to take on the remaining twenty. Lucy turned to look at Erza's progress, only to see that she was grinding her heel into the back of their final enemy.
"Thanks for your help, Leo." She smiled at her celestial friend.
"Anytime, Lucy." He waved at her before disappearing back through his celestial gate. Lucy paused for a moment as she felt her celestial dress disappear and her original clothes reappear on her body. It was always such a weird sensation. In her mind, she assumed it was what Erza felt every time that she re-quipped her armor.
Erza lifted her head from their fallen enemy and looked at her. "Have you found the doctor yet?"
Her question rattled Lucy, who immediately shook her head and began to rummage through the knocked-out men until she found him. Dr. Oberon was staring up at her in wonder, his mouth slightly agape. He was young, much younger than she had assumed, maybe only a few years older than herself. He had shaggy, black hair that slightly covered his emerald eyes. He was lean and tan, his skin slightly browned from the sun. Even beneath the bulky lab coat that he was wearing, she could tell that he had well-defined muscles. Not nearly as defined as Natsu's, but still…
Lucy's mouth suddenly went dry before she set into action.
"Dr. Oberon?" Lucy questioned as she reached out her hand. He nodded and grabbed it, allowing her to help pull him up. In his other arm, he desperately clutched a large pile of wrinkled papers.
"Thank you, for saving me." His voice was soft, like velvet. His eyes were still glued on her, and she suddenly felt very aware of how dirty she was. Thankfully, Erza bounded up behind her breaking the doctor's trance.
"Dr. Oberon, we're so happy to see that you're okay."
The doctor's smile grew and he stood up a bit straighter. "Once again, thank you so much for saving me and my research. I don't know what I would have done if I had lost this…" His gaze traveled to the papers that he clutched before he raked in a shaky breath. He looked back up at Erza and Lucy, his emerald eyes sparkling in the last remaining rays of sunlight. "Please, call me Hikaru. Now, who do I owe my rescue to?"
Erza proudly placed her hands on her hips, looking a lot like a warrior princess. "We're from the Fairy Tail guild. I'm Erza and that's Lucy." She nodded in Lucy's direction, and Lucy beamed at Hikaru. "We would be happy to escort you back to the hospital. However…" Erza's eyes narrowed as she analyzed the falling sun. "I don't think that we will make it all the way back to Magnolia today. We are quite far away."
"Do you have anything you need, Dr. Oberon?"
He rolled his eyes. "It's Hikaru, please. Not Dr. Oberon. The both of you saved my life, I don't care for formalities." He quickly looked around him, clutching his pile of papers even tighter. "I have everything, I'm sure. Even when they threatened me, I wouldn't give them these."
Erza nodded. "Good, then let's get going. We should almost be able to make it to town before making camp. By tomorrow morning, you will be back home."
With those words, they left the kidnapper's campsite. They hurried through the woods, not talking much, as they focused on beating the sun. When night had finally fallen and they were coated in impenetrable darkness, they stopped. Erza built a fire while Lucy grabbed the last of the sweet potatoes from her bag and set about roasting them. They talked softly between each other as they simply enjoyed the night. It was becoming increasingly colder, and Lucy reveled in the heat from the fire. Before long, Erza was fast asleep and it was just Lucy and the doctor left awake. They sat in silence for a long time as the doctor stared down at his precious papers.
"Can I ask what your is research about?"
Hikaru looked up slowly, as if he was emerging from a fog, before a slow smile spread across his face. "I've been working on this for nearly ten years, ever since I started at medical school. It has been my private vendetta. I just moved to Magnolia a few months ago, actually, because this hospital wanted to fund my research." He sighed as he leaned back to look at the stars. "They actually believe in me, in my work…" He shook his head, as if he was still amazed by what he had just said. "I study diseases born from magic."
As his words settled over her, a cold chill raced down Lucy's spine, making her hands curl into tight fists. "Diseases born from magic?"
He turned to look at her fully now, the curiosity in her voice evident to him. "Magic is amazing. Truly, I wish that I possessed even a modicum of talent for it. But, I don't. However, magic puts a strain on the body and certain kinds of magic can do terrible damage that may not be able to be seen until years later. You've heard of Magical Barrier Particles, right?"
Lucy nodded her head as memories of the accursed particles filtered through her brain. They had nearly killed Laxus… They weren't something to be taken lightly.
"I've studied them, too. While those are anti-Magic particles, it is important to understand what aids and hurts the production of magic in the user." He laughed softly and rolled his eyes. "Look at me, boring you with all this stuff." He angled his face to look at her, sincerity dripping from his features.
"It's not boring…" Lucy mumbled. "I find it interesting, that you research things like that." Her gaze traveled down to her fingertips before she quickly looked back at Hikaru.
"There are so many diseases out there that have been caused by magic, yet we barely know anything about them. I want to help these people. I want to save them. Magic is amazing, in so many ways. People like you and Erza… You risk your lives to save others…"
"Well, we do usually get paid…" Lucy cut in. He simply laughed and continued.
"Even if you get paid for it, you put yourself at risk. You go up against enemies with unknown magic. If you got sick because of an aftereffect of that magic… Well, I think there should be some kind of treatment for it. I've seen at least fifteen wizards since I got here. No one nearly as talented as you guys, just people who use magic for basic things… But, even they seem to have become ill. Some have permanent headaches. Others, are always cold or blistering hot. The symptoms range as widely as I predict that there are kinds of magic. Yet, no one is studying it." A look of annoyance crossed his face. "Finally, finally, I found a solution that I think will work and those bastards were trying to take it from me."
"Well, I'm glad we saved you, so that you can save all of us."
He blushed slightly. "So, Lucy, I never caught your last name…"
"It's Heartfilia."
His jaw dropped slightly. "As in Lucy Heartfilia? The award winning author?"
Lucy's face turned bright red and she quickly hid it with her hair as she idly stared at the fire. "Um, yea."
"I can't believe this… Taki would freak out if she knew." His voice was breathy, as if he was truly shocked that he had gotten to meet her.
"You've read my book?" Lucy questioned softly, still not daring to look at him. Everyone at the guild had pretty much read it, but that was different. They were like family. She turned just enough to peer over at him. Hikaru… This man was a stranger and, for some reason, the thought of him in particular reading her book and being a fan of her writing sent a thrill throughout her body.
"It was great. I really enjoyed it, actually… With my work I don't usually have time to read anything other than reports and medical journals. But, for your book, I made a special exception." He winked at her and laughed when her face flushed more.
"I'm glad you liked it." She mumbled. Her heart sped in her chest at the thought of someone, someone that she didn't know, reading her book and actually enjoying it. "Well, we better get some sleep too. We want to get you back safely as quickly as possible tomorrow." She was about to lay down when he reached over and gently placed his warm hand upon her own, stilling her.
"Thank you, again. I know it was a job and everything… But, still… If you two hadn't come for me. I don't know what would have happened. I owe you everything. If you ever need anything, anything at all, just ask."
Lucy nodded numbly. His words echoed the sincerity that laced his face. He quickly whispered goodnight, withdrew his hand, and laid down to go to sleep.
Lucy just sat there, staring at his back as a smile spread across her face. She really was glad that they had taken this job. Maybe, just maybe, they had just saved the man who would save countless wizards in the future. Maybe, even…
Lucy grunted and laid down before looking at her hand. She stared at her palm in the flickering firelight as she slowly opened and closed her fist.
Maybe, he could even help her.
With a frustrated huff, Lucy closed her eyes and forced herself to fall into a nightmare riddled sleep.
Natsu.
Where was he?
Blackness surrounded her and her hand felt like it was on fire. She gripped her wrist as her face steeled over in pain. She fell to her knees as a silent scream ripped through her throat. The earth rumbled beneath her and she was suddenly aware that she was falling.
Her dissent was never-ending.
She tumbled through space and time, the stars swirling around her in a constant blur. She saw each of her celestial friends. They tried to catch her, their arms stretching out towards her, but they never reached her.
She just watched them with vacant, pain-filled eyes.
Then, out of the darkness, a streak of light appeared. With horror, Lucy saw sinewy black tendrils crawling up her arm and reaching for her heart.
Her pain was impossible to put into words. Her body was coated in sweat and she shivered as her body was lit on fire from within.
This was going to be the death of her.
She leaned her head back and looked at the ground that was fast approaching her falling body. The stream of light had grown and ignited the land around her. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw a flash of pink and blue.
Natsu…
Happy…
She sighed and closed her eyes. They were too far away, they wouldn't be able to save her. She was only mere moments away from the ground now, only mere moments away from her sweet escape from the pain that was devouring her.
She heard Natsu call out to her. His voice sounded desperate. Like he was begging her to somehow learn how to fly.
She opened her eyes.
Three… Two…
Death was here.
One.
Lucy woke up with a start. Her hand shot to cover her rapidly beating heart.
"Is everything okay, Lucy?" Erza's worried voice forced Lucy into the present. She quickly looked at her hand and sighed in relief when the nasty black markings were nowhere to be seen.
"Yea…" Lucy took a deep breath before looking up at her red-haired friend. "I'm good. How long have you been up?" Lucy looked to the side and noted that Hikaru was gone.
"Not long, only about twenty minutes." Noting where Lucy was looking, Erza's face softened. "Don't worry, he just had to go relieve himself."
Lucy nodded at her words and moved to quickly pack up camp. She could feel Erza's eyes on her as she collected the few things that she had.
"Lucy, why did you move?"
The sincerity in Erza's voice made Lucy freeze. "I needed a fresh start." She turned and shot a big smile at Erza, trying to ease her worries. Erza only squinted at her. She was clearly about to say something, but Hikaru came back and her opened mouth snapped shut.
"We should get going." Erza declared. She motioned towards Hikaru who nodded, his face bright with his excitement. Within a few minutes, they were working their way through the woods and back to the hospital.
When Lucy had finally gotten back to her apartment later that night she was exhausted. They had returned the doctor and his research and promptly collected their reward. She felt as if a giant weight had been lifted off of her chest at the thought of money actually being in her bank account again. She sat at her desk in the living room, staring out of the large window above it. She loved having her desk facing outside. When writer's block would hit her, as it often did, she could look out and watch the parade of people on the street below. She gripped her pencil and forced her tired eyes back onto the journal before her.
She simply had to get something written today.
Her fast approaching deadline didn't care if she had to go on a job or that her heart was consumed with thoughts about a pink-haired dragon-slayer.
Her fingers dove into her hair as she rested her head against her palm, allowing herself to write freely from the emotions that were swirling inside of her.
Day was fading into night as Stella made her way into Sunrise Park. She could already see Blaise's silhouette. He was sitting on a swing, his heels in the dirt, slowly pushing himself back and forth.
She gulped and grabbed the bottom edge of her shirt, her fingers digging into the thin material.
Slowly, she walked towards him. When she finally sat down on the swing beside him, he didn't turn to look at her. He stopped moving all together, seemingly surprised by her appearance. When it was clear that he wasn't about to begin talking anytime soon, she turned to look at the setting sun and gently rocked the swing back and forth.
They sat like that for a while, the only noise the sound of small birds chirping and fluffy animals scurrying home. She was starting to wonder why he had even asked her to come if he hadn't planned on talking, when he finally began.
"There was a rumor…" He began. She immediately stopped rocking and turned to look at him. He was staring down at the dirt, his shoulders hunched. "… About my brother."
Stella gasped and he finally turned to look at her. His eyes seemed to glisten in the fading light, hinting at the pain that engulfed him. "Colby? Did you find him?"
He shook his head. "No… It was only rumors. I went running through the countryside for a whole damn year chasing a stupid rumor." His lips twisted into a scowl. "I left this town, this place, so fast that even my Dad hadn't been able to stop me. Not like he could have anyway, I'm old enough to leave home. He couldn't have stopped me. No one could have." He laughed, deep and fake. "I was so stupid to believe that I had found him, ya know? I ran off and I didn't even tell you why… How could I have been so stupid?" His face shape-shifted between bitter anger and grief before he turned away from her.
"Blaise…" His name was barely more than a whisper and, without even realizing it, she had reached out and placed her hand on his shoulder. He stiffened beneath her touch before relaxing. "You could have told me. I would have understood. It was about Colby, after all. I would have never gotten in your way."
He grunted. "I know."
"Then why?" Her voice cracked sharply and she quickly withdrew her hand. "Why didn't you tell me."
His knuckles turned white as he gripped the chains of the swing. "I couldn't."
She stood up and stomped over to him, placing herself firmly in front of him. Her hands gripped her hips as she stared down at him. "Why couldn't you? Why?" She hated how shaky her voice sounded when she was trying to be strong.
He lifted his head to look at her, his face serious. "I couldn't, Stella." Her heart thumped when he said her name. "If I had told you… If I had seen you… Ugh…" He sighed in frustration and ran a hand down his face, his serious expression never once leaving. "If I had seen you I wouldn't have gone. I wouldn't have been able to leave."
Stella's eyes bulged. Her whole body tingled with a swarm of feelings that she didn't quite understand. "Why…" The words tumbled from her mouth. "Why wouldn't you have been able to leave."
"You know why."
His words shook her. The thing was, she didn't know why. She took a small step back and shook her head. "I… I don't know why."
His face shifted in surprise as he quickly stood up, the swing's chains rattling slightly from the sudden movement. He stepped towards her and lifted his hand until he was suddenly brushing her arm, sending tendrils of delight shooting through her body. His touch was feather-light, his fingers just barely touching her, yet he still made her breathless.
She bit her lip.
Her cheeks flushed a deep red.
Her heart hammered in her chest.
She felt like she was about to explode when he finally stepped away from her, his eyes lost in the reds and oranges of the sunset.
As soon as he wasn't looking at her, she quickly pinched her arm to make herself come back down to earth. In those few moments, she could have sworn that he… That he…
That he liked her.
No. She shouted in her head. Simply, no. Blaise didn't like her. They were best friends, that was all. They cared about each other, as friends. She didn't want to fool herself. She didn't want to let herself hope. Hope, after all, was a dangerous thing.
Once her heart had slowed to a somewhat normal speed, she turned and stood beside him, determined to change the topic. "What was the rumor?"
He shifted beside her, their shoulders nearly touching. "I shouldn't have believed it in the first place. I could have sworn that I saw him, in the newspaper. There was a picture and it was exactly what I imagined he would look like if he was still around. His name wasn't Colby in the article, it was Daryle. But, the picture…" He groaned before he continued. "I went running after a rumor, after a misunderstanding, from some damn newspaper article about a traveling bonsai salesman. How stupid could I be?"
She wrapped her arm around him, encircling him in a half hug as they watched the final tendrils of the sun sink into the horizon. "You weren't stupid. You just had hope."
Lucy smiled down at what she had written, the story slowly coming together in her mind. Her entire body felt numb from lack of energy and from the tingling swarm of emotions that relentlessly engulfed her body.
Natsu…
"Gah!" She basically screamed as she shoved away from her desk and bolted towards the kitchen. "Tea…" She mumbled. "I need tea…"
Great, now she was even talking to herself.
Absentmindedly, she grabbed Plue's silver key and called him. His presence immediately livened up her new home, temporarily helping her to forget about Natsu. Just as the kettle was boiling, the pain came back. She was so surprised that she dropped to her knees, clutching her wrist. Plue quickly rushed her, his small, paw-like hands coming to rest upon her knee as he looked up at her in concern.
"Plue, plue, plue…" He mumbled as her face twisted in pain.
"I'm okay, Plue." She grunted out as fear grew in her heart. "I'm okay."
She wanted to scream.
She wanted to crumble into dust.
She wanted to dive into a pool of ice-cold water.
Just as she thought that she couldn't handle the pain anymore, the ugly black color began to recede and the pain faded away. Sweat dripped off of her, making her entire body slick. She sucked in a few deep breaths before reaching over and petting Plue on his head, reassuring the adorable spirit.
The kettle was screaming at her now, so she stood up and carefully poured herself a cup of tea, her hands shaking the entire time. She slowly lifted the cup to her lips and took a small sip.
She needed help.
She couldn't wait anymore.
An image of Hikaru flashed through her mind. He was researching mysterious diseases like this. She knew that she should go talk to Porlyusica, but she lived so far away and for some reason the thought of the guild somehow finding out about it really bothered her. She didn't want them to worry.
It was settled. Tomorrow, she would go to the hospital and talk to Hikaru. She sat there for hours, absentmindedly rubbing her fingers, feeling like they had somehow betrayed her.
Dr. Oberon's eyebrows furrowed as he analyzed her test results. They were sitting in his small office. The entire space was cluttered with thick medical books and piles of manila folders. She had been there for hours already as they ran every test imaginable on her. Her hands were clamped together in her lap, her palms sweaty as she waited. With a soft sigh and a weary expression, he set the results down and looked at her.
"I'm glad you came to me." The way that he was speaking made her even more nervous. His voice was soft and full of an emotion that she couldn't quite place. "I'm very sorry, Lucy, but you do appear to have contracted a serious illness. I've never seen anything quite like it. It's entirely unique, which isn't good. I'll have to run more experiments. I'll have to do a lot more research. It's clear that your disease was caused because of magic, yet I can't seem to pinpoint the exact cause yet."
Lucy stopped breathing.
She felt like she was choking on thin air.
He smiled sympathetically at her before he continued. "From what I've been able to gather so far, it seems that these 'black tendrils' are attacking your nervous system. I'm not going to lie to you, Lucy. I'm not going to hide anything from you. Honestly, at this rate, it doesn't look good." He sucked in his bottom lip, seemingly having a hard time saying what needed to be said.
She hated herself for the tears that she could feel stinging her eyes. She took a shaky breath and forced words through her numb lips. "How bad, exactly, is it?"
He leveled her with the most sincere look that she had ever seen. "You could die, Lucy."
At that, her entire world became a blur.
Natsu.
She wanted Natsu.
Lucy laid in her bed, clutching her knees to her chest, as Hikaru's voice echoed in her head. She could die… This nasty, black, whatever it was could kill her. They had no clue what it was, they had no clue how to treat it…The thing that was slowly crawling up her body was a complete and utter mystery.
Before she had left the hospital, she had agreed to return the next day for more tests. In fact, Hikaru wanted her to come by every single day so that he could monitor the disease's progress.
She understood why he wanted to do that, she really did, but…
But, if she did that people at the guild definitely would find out.
"Ugh!" She groaned and shoved her face into her pillow. Why was this happening? Most of her life was going amazing. She had been published, won an award, and had a deadline fast approaching for her second novel. She had a new apartment and amazing friends. She had even gotten to kiss Natsu, even though that hadn't really worked out the way that she wished it had. She was so close to having the life that she had always dreamed of, but now it was about to be ripped away from her. "It's not going to happen." She weakly declared, her voice shaky. "I won't die. No matter what, it won't happen." Natsu's infectious grin flashed through her mind and she felt her heart warm. She flopped onto her back, spread eagle on the bed, as she stared up at the plain white ceiling. "Come home already, don't you know that I need you?"
There was a tugging on Natsu's heart. A stupid, incessant tugging that wouldn't let up. All Natsu wanted to do was spin on his heel and sprint back to Magnolia, back to the guild, back to Lucy…
This stupid, stupid, stupid job. He wanted to leave, but he wouldn't leave it half done. He wasn't going to leave the client hanging. He wasn't like that. All that he knew was that he wanted to rush through this job. He wanted to get it done as quickly as possible, regardless of how rough it was on his body.
He had already given up sleeping except for a few hours here and there.
Happy was so exhausted that he mostly slept on his shoulder.
He just kept moving, like a robot, with a level of single-mindedness that he had never experienced before.
He was sick of this.
Sick of being away from her. Even if they would only ever be friends, he was sick of being away from her.
He needed her.
"I'm coming, Luce. As quick as I can."
Days rolled into weeks. Levy came over and sorted Lucy's books. Gray finally worked up the nerve to propose to Juvia, on accident. Erza and Jellal had gone out on several more dates. Levy looked like she was about to explode. Yet, Lucy felt stuck. She could see the world revolving around her, but she was glued down, unable to move. Every single day, she would sneak away from her friends and disappear for an hour to have more and more tests run on her. Every single day, she would sit there and talk with Hikaru. They talked about everything, not just about her medical issues. He would come and sit with her while the nurses poked and prodded her. He would distract her from the needles while she clutched Plue in her lap.
Hikaru… He was nice.
He was her sole savior in that cold, sterile place. He brought light to it. He was the friend that she needed. For some reason, she was able to share things with him that she couldn't seem to say to her friends from the guild.
Now, she sat in an uncomfortable beige chair as a nurse took several vials worth of blood from her. Hikaru sat by her side, his face grim as he watched the blood being extracted. He was completely zoned out, and Lucy couldn't resist… She reached over and poked him in the forehead, making him jump.
"Don't look so worried, it stresses me out." Lucy pouted, puffing out her bottom lip.
His grimace immediately split into a smile. "Sorry, Lucy. I just wished that I was making more progress…" His smile fell and Lucy's heart thundered. Without thinking, she reached out and yanked on a lock of his hair, making him yelp. The nurse looked up at them briefly before removing the needle and putting a bandage over the small hole.
"Dr. Oberon…" Lucy began before he reached out and flicked her in the forehead.
"What have I told you about calling me that?" He playfully chastised as she rubbed her forehead.
"What about 'do no harm', huh?" She teased before rolling her eyes. "Hikaru, maybe I'm getting better. It's been several days since the darkness appeared." Lucy flexed her hand and looked down at her fingers.
"Don't count on it, Lucy. I'd like to tell you otherwise, but we haven't really made any progress. You've been taking the herbal medication, but we still haven't pinpointed the exact kind of magic that's hurting you." He reached out and placed a comforting hand on top of her own. She blushed before slowly withdrawing her hand.
"Well, do I have any more tests that need to be done on me today?"
He shook his head. "We'd just like you to stay for observation, like usual."
Lucy squeezed Plue. "You don't have to sit here with me, ya know."
"I know." He stated bluntly. "But, I want to."
"There's no way you actually have time to sit here. I mean, you're a busy doctor discovering new amazing treatments for people like me." She motioned to herself, not quite able to stop the smile that flitted across her face.
"I don't have time. You're right. But, I'll make time. For you." His words washed over her in a pleasant wave.
Hikaru… He really was nice.
She leaned her head back and stared up at the paneled ceiling. "All this time that we have spent together here, we've talked a lot about me, but we haven't talked much about you. I know your name, that your favorite color is orange, that you love lobster thermidor, and that you just moved here shortly before I met you."
"Well, what else do you wanna know? I'm an open book." He spread his arms out wide, his grin contagious. Lucy smiled back and, for a brief moment, she was able to forget about the mysterious disease that threatened to claim her life.
They sat and talked for what felt like forever, but was only a bit more than a half hour. It was always in this small bit of time with him while they supposedly observed her that she felt the most relaxed. It was before this, and after this, that fear would creep back into her heart. She may not have known him for very long, but he had snuck into her heart. He had quickly maneuvered his way in due to his kindness and the way that he listened to her. He cared about what she was feeling. He didn't just care about the mystery that ran in her veins. He cared about everything. He wanted to know her favorite color. He wanted to know where she was born, when she learned to ride a bike, what it was like growing up in her hometown. He wanted to know about her parents. He wanted to know about her adventures.
Somehow, miraculously, he was fascinated by it all. Even more amazingly, she had been able to open up to him without thinking twice. She had simply stared up at that cold, hospital ceiling and spilled her guts to her would-be-savior.
Every time that she stepped foot back into the real world, she couldn't help but wonder why it was so easy to talk to him. Why had she been able to open up to, basically, a complete stranger?
Lucy sighed as she exited the hospital. The sun felt blindingly bright and she quickly shaded her eyes. Hikaru's stories were rolling through her head as she tried to stave off the fear that she knew was coming. He had told her about when he was six and wanted to be a bird, so he tried to live in a tree. He hadn't even been in the big willow tree for more than three hours before he fell out of it, breaking his leg in the process. It was because of that experience that he wanted to become a doctor. He had been so amazed by the doctor that had fixed his leg, transfixed was the word that he had used, that from that point forward he had been determined to be just like him.
Lucy smiled at the memory of Hikaru's face as he had told the story. She was completely lost in the memory, trying to stay within its happy confines for as long as possible, when she caught sight of the sun glinting off of a silver cross necklace.
Oh, shit.
"Lucy?" Gray's voice shook her. She was barely a few feet out of the hospital.
He had caught her.
She raised her head and sheepishly looked at Gray as she reached to cover the band-aid on her arm from where they had drawn blood. "Oh, hey Gray."
His eyes darted down to where she hid the band-aid before he looked up at her accusingly. "Did you just come out of the hospital?"
Lucy didn't answer. She couldn't answer. She looked away from him, unable to meet his gaze. They stood like that for several long moments before she felt him wrap his strong arms around her in a fierce hug.
"Lucy, why didn't you tell me that something was wrong?"
His whispered words broke her and before she could stop herself the tears that she had been holding back for weeks escaped and she collapsed into Gray's arms.
~ Author's Note ~
So, I know I did a bit of a time jump. I'm sorry about that. What do you think of Hikaru so far? There will be a lot more dialogue with him, but I didn't want to bore you with him and Lucy giving each other their backstories.
The story is really picking up now. A couple weeks have gone by and that means that Natsu is that much closer to being back. Thank you to everyone who reviewed the previous chapter.
Please, please review and let me know what you think. Your reviews are what keep me writing.
~ FeudalAi