A/N: Hey so here is the next chapter for The Choices We Make. I'm trying to update while I can because once my snow days are over I'll have to focus more on school and making sure I pass my classes so I can graduate. Anyway thanks to all those who have reviewed and to the ones who have recently favorite and followed this story. It gives me the confidence to keep writing and letting me know that my writing doesn't totally suck. Enjoy chapter 4! And please leave a review!

Chapter 4:

~Lucy's POV~

It was the next morning and Lucy and sat in the infirmary with the Master and Laxus. Both wizards had a worried look on their faces only confusing the blonde more. What was wrong with her that made them have those expressions? Who was this Natsu person that they kept bringing up? Lucy wondered.

"Are you ready Lucy?" Makarov asked.

"Yes, but I'm not sure what exactly I'm supposed to be ready for." She replied. Makarov nodded to Laxus who proceeded to help the celestial mage out of the bed. He let Lucy lean on him and use him as a crutch as they walked out of the infirmary together and to the balcony of the second floor.

"Listen up you brats!" Makarov shouted from on top of the railing. "Our precious Lucy has finally woken up last night!" The guild cheered as they saw Lucy come up to the railing with Laxus at her side. "However, there was a lasting effect from the injuries she had sustained. Lucy suffers from a type of amnesia so I expect all of you to all help Lucy out."

Amnesia? How could I have amnesia? I remember every bit of my life perfectly. Lucy thought. Could it have something to do with the one they call Natsu?

Laxus helped Lucy down the stairs and seated her in her usual seat at the bar where Mirajane had already prepared a strawberry milkshake for her. The blonde smiled at the silver-haired takeover mage in thanks and began to sip her drink. Lucy felt a tap on her shoulder and turned to see Gray, the one she saw as an older brother as well as the one who had saved her life.

"Gray!" Lucy exclaimed. She flung her arms around the ice-make wizard's neck and gave him a hug. "Thank you so much for saving me! I don't know where I'd be now if it weren't for you!"

Gray hesitantly placed his arms around her waist and returned the hug. He buried his face in her golden hair and tightened his hold on her. "I'm sorry Lucy. If I had gotten to you quicker you wouldn't have been in such a terrible condition!"

"What are you talking about Gray? I was the foolish one. I thought that I could take on the scarred guy by myself. I wanted to show that I wasn't the weak link in our team. You and Erza are both so strong that I felt I had to prove that I was too. And then when Lisanna joined our team for the mission I saw how strong she was. I should've put my pride aside and asked for help." Lucy said, trying to comfort the wizard in her arms.

"No, if anything it's that flame headed idiot who should be blamed. Natsu shouldn't have left you! I get that Lisanna needed help, but that doesn't give him the excuse of abandoning you when you needed help too!" Gray exclaimed.

"Huh? What are you talking about Gray?" Lucy asked pulling away from the raven-haired boy she held. "I wasn't abandoned. I was fighting alone the whole time, since we barged into Ghoul Spirit it was just me, you, Lisanna, and Erza. There was no one there by the name of Natsu. I don't even know who this Natsu person is that everyone seems to keep bringing up." Lucy had furrowed her brow in confusion.

"What…?" Gray said looking just as confused as the blonde. "What are you talking about? Natsu was there with us. He was the one who chose the job! Don't tell me you forgot about him?!"

"Gray." Makarov said calling the ice wizard's attention. "This is what I meant when I said she had amnesia. It seems that she has completely wiped Natsu from all of her memories. She remembers everything except for Natsu." Master explained.

"Will everyone stop acting like I'm not here?!" Lucy shouted. "You guys keep talking as if I'm not in the room! And will someone please tell me who this Natsu person is?!"

"We're sorry Lucy. It's just a shock for us that you don't remember who Natsu is. He was the one who brought you to Fairy Tail. He was your partner and best friend. He always got on your nerves and would break into your home and sleep in your bed and even after you Lucy kicked him you'd still treat his wounds and make him breakfast. You guys have been inseparable since the day he brought you to the guild." Gray explained.

"No, that can't be right. It was Happy who brought me to the guild and it's always been you who has been breaking into my home, well you and Erza. It's always been me, you, Happy, and Erza as a team. Together we were Team Gray, the guild's strongest team." Lucy said shaking her head.

"So you have completely forgotten about Natsu, huh?" Laxus said from beside the blonde. The guild had grown quiet while they were listening to Lucy explain what she remembered.

"What are we going to do when Natsu comes back from his mission…?" someone in the guild had asked. Just as the question was asked, the guild doors slammed open revealing Lisanna and Happy with a man with pink hair standing beside them.

~Natsu's POV~

The fire dragon slayer was excited to get back to the guild. He was hoping that his best friend and partner would be awake already. Lately he had been going on small jobs with Lisanna and was collecting money to pay off her rent. She was always complaining on how she had to pay so Natsu thought that he would get the money for her to make up for going to Lisanna when she needed him. He saw the guild up ahead and ran ahead, kicking the guild doors open with a hug smile on his face.

"WE'RE BACK!" he shouted to the guild. As Lisanna and Happy caught up to him, he saw how everyone was centered around the bar with varying expressions of either sadness, worry, or shock when they saw the dragon slayer. "What's everyone doing at the bar? IS IT A SURPRISE FOR ME?!"

Natsu ran towards the bar, pushing people out of the way to see what they were hiding. What he saw made a huge grin break out on his face.

"Luce! You're awake!" he exclaimed grabbing onto the girl and pulling her into a tight hug. He heard the girl gasp and struggle in his arms.

"Get off me!" she said continuing to try and escape his embrace. Natsu then felt two pairs of hands separate him from Lucy and pull him away from her.

"Laxus, Gray, what are you doing? I'm trying to give Luce my welcome back hug!" he said protesting the two wizards.

"Natsu you need to calm down and let us explain what's going on." Gray said gripping his shoulder even tighter.

"Explain what?!"

"Laxus…who is that?" Natsu heard Lucy ask. Time seemed to stop for Natsu when he heard that one sentence.

"Luce…? " He asked eyes wide as he looked at the confused and slightly shaken blonde in front of him.

"Uh, yes?" she responded warily.

"You…were joking right? When you…asked who I was?"

"I'm sorry, but I don't know who you are. This is the first time we met." She replied. "My name is Lucy. Lucy Heartfilia. You're the one they've been telling me about right? Natsu Dragneel?"

"Uh, yeah." He said hesitantly. "We've met before. We met when I was in Hargeon looking for Igneel. After we defeated that fake Salamander I dragged you here to the guild. Then after you joined we went to Mt. Hakobe to rescue Macao because he got his stupid ass taken over by a Vulcan."

Lucy looked puzzled, as if she was trying to remember what he was saying. He brow furrowed and then she hunched over and gripped her head.

"AHH!"

"Lucy!"

"Blondie!"

Gray and Laxus immediately let go of Natsu, causing him to fall on his butt, as they rushed to Lucy's side. Natsu looked up from his spot on the ground to see that both Laxus and Gray were trying to comfort and soothe the celestial mage. It was normal to see Gray being close with Lucy, but what confused Natsu the most was how gentle Laxus was being toward Lucy. However, Natsu couldn't comment on it seeing as he was still shocked the Lucy couldn't remember him at all.

What happened Luce? Why don't you remember me? I thought we were partners….

~Gray's POV~

He let go of Natsu and rushed straight to Lucy. She was hunched over and gripping her head in pain. He saw Laxus let go of Natsu and head for Lucy as well. Both wizards tried to sooth and calm the girl down as she groaned in pain. Whatever was happening to her was causing her severe pain.

"Wendy!" Laxus called out. Gray looked towards the lightning dragon to see him looking for the young healer. He saw the blue head of hair heading for their position as she made her way through the crowd.

"I'm here, Laxus-oniisan!" Wendy replied. She immediately reached out for Lucy and tried to heal what was wrong with her head. Her brow furrowed as she continued to use her healing magic on the blonde.

"Anything, Wendy?" Gray asked the little girl.

She shook her head. "There are no injuries for me to heal. I think it's just her memories trying to resurface, but she's still subconsciously trying to repress all memories pertaining to Natsu-san."

"Pertaining to…me?" Natsu whispered.

"We think it's because Blondie was traumatized when you left her and she almost died. It's her way of trying to cope with the incident." Laxus explained. He reached down and cradled the girl, holding her bridal style as he made his way back up to the infirmary. Gray followed after Laxus leaving the fire dragon slayer on the ground behind him. When Gray reach infirmary he saw Laxus tuck Lucy, who was unconscious, back into the bed she had been occupying.

"You care for her…don't you?" Gray asked, leaning against the doorframe. He saw Laxus turn to look at him, with his eyes lingering on the sleeping girl.

"…I do. For a while now actually. After my exile I rethought what it meant to be in a guild. I thought about what it meant to protect my nakama. After the Tenrou incident and I was let back in the guild I saw how happy she was and how where ever she went she was always able to spread smiles around. She's smart, caring, funny, responsible, and not to mention has an awesome body." Laxus smirked. "Now I feel like I must protect her. When I see her smile I get this, sort of warm feeling in me."

Gray smiled at Laxus' confession.

"But don't you dare to tell anyone I said something so mushy!" Laxus said gruffly to Gray. He raised his hands, palms out to show that he wasn't planning on telling anyone.

"I understand why you want to protect her. She's worth protecting. I'd do anything to keep her safe, not in a romantic way, but more in a protective older brother kind of way. Just like you and Wendy." He said looking at the dragon slayer. Laxus raised an eyebrow when Gray had brought up Wendy.

"Don't give me that look. I heard what Wendy called you, 'Laxus-oniisan'." Gray said smirking at the man.

Laxus narrowed his eyes at the ice make mage.

"Sorry, sorry. Just trying to prove a point here." Gray said apologizing, before the slayer could zap him with lightning. "I'm trying to say that I see Lucy as my little sister just like how you see Wendy as yours. And we both know that it's the big brother's responsibility to protect their little sisters, right?"

"Yeah, I see what you're saying." Laxus replied. Just as Laxus was about to say something else, the master walked in to check on Lucy.

"How is she doing?" he asked.

"She fell asleep after the pain subsided. But Gramps, what are we going to do about Natsu?" Gray asked.

"It seems like whenever something triggers a memory with Natsu that she doesn't remember she will get these 'attacks'. Like Wendy had said earlier it's her memories trying to resurface, but she's suppressing it. For now we'll keep her and Natsu separated in order to prevent anymore mishaps and allow Lucy to regain her memories on her own terms. Until then I'd like one of you to be with Lucy at all times to keep an eye on her. Her attacks could become more frequent and increase in severity at any time and it'd be best if you helped her like you did today." Master explained.

"How does Natsu feel about being told to stay away?"

"He doesn't agree. I suspect that he'll keep trying to force Lucy to remember him so that is also another reason why I want the two of you to look after her. She needs to recover those memories on her own. I can't guarantee that she will though, It's her decision whether she wants to or not." He explained.

The two mages looked at each other and nodded. They decided to let Lucy sleep for the rest of the day and when she woke up they'd escort her back to her apartment. Gray already had a current job he was supposed to be going on so it was decided that Laxus would escort her home and take first watch. As Gray left the guild and headed to the train station he wished the slayer luck in pursuing Lucy.

I just hope Lucy makes the right choice in whether to remember Natsu or not…