a/n: Before anything else, I would just like to thank you all for reading this fic and commenting, reviewing, or whatever you wanna call it. I read all your reviews and I really appreciate it. I just wanna say that I love you all and yep, i'm kinda cheesy. sorry.

I still don't own any content from Fairy Tail and all the credit goes to the great Hiro Mashima.


CHAPTER VII

"Lost and Found"

Natsu's P.O.V:

Some people say, well, my bandmates especially, that there's actually something I unintentionally do when I'm seriously working on a song, and that is becoming oblivious to my surroundings. I don't even know whether I should call it a gift or a curse. Like really. They always say that it's as if there's no one around me. I would just sing or hum out of the blue. There's just no stopping me. My mind would focus solely on writing the song. It'd take a lot of effort to actually snap me out of it. Or, maybe, if someone would in fact take time to smack some sense out of me, well, maybe that might just actually work.

On the other hand, they'd also tell me that it always amazes them whenever they see me genuinely work on a song. They say that it's like I'm a different person. My ability to tune out everyone and everything around me is something exceptional and admirable.

But I see nothing extraordinary about it. I'm just simply letting all my emotions out, pouring everything into a song and allowing music to take over me. Like any other musician would.

Pfft. As if I would write a song half-heartedly. Never.

It's just that, sometimes, it can be a little inconvenient.

Like, at this moment, I could feel my phone vibrate through my pocket, and I seriously wanna answer it. But I'm on a roll right now. The words and melodies are all coming to me in a rush and I just don't want to let go of this feeling or this moment yet.

Seriously, what is it with phones? They're so annoying, always ringing when I'm doing something important. Well, maybe not all the time, but most of the time. I swear every person who calls me always has the perfect timing, really.

I sighed.

Well, maybe it's just the timing of the texts and the calls that's annoying me. Like, right now. It's vibrating annoyingly. It's really getting hard for me every second to ignore it. So I opened my eyes defeatedly and stopped playing. I fished my phone out of my pocket then swiped the screen without even looking at it. I doubt that this was the first call they've made and I kinda felt bad for not answering immediately, but all these ringing was starting to get on my nerves. I just wanted to get this call over with.

I brought my phone to my ear and was greeted by a slightly irritated Gajeel.

I instantly froze in my seat, Gajeel's voice suddenly forgotten, when my eyes glanced around the café. My eyes widened at the sight before me. Almost every customer is now regarding me with curious eyes. Some of them were even recording me, only stopping when my eyes caught them. My heart hammered inside my chest and I started to panic a bit.

Shit. I thought, snapping out of my trance. Did they recognize me?

I quickly adjusted my hood then winced when my guitar accidentally bumped the side of the table.

"Shit." I said rather loudly, vocalizing the word that was in my head only a second ago.

This is bad. I'm drawing too much attention right now. I thought while I brought my phone back to my ear.

I was exasperatedly trying to place my guitar back to its case with my free hand when I heard Gajeel speak again.

"Oi, Salamander. Ya there?" The voice grunted.

"What the actual fuck, Lug nuts." I retorted breathlessly while still struggling to place my guitar. "You just had to disturb me while I was in the middle of—."

"I hate to break your rambling but Gray here is starting to act a little like Erza." He interrupted. "He's getting pissed at you again, ya know. Gi-hee."

"What!? What did I do this time?" I asked incredulously while still trying—yes, I'm still trying—to put my guitar back to its case.

"Nah. Ya did nothing wrong Salamander. You just forgot our band meeting again." He replied before his booming laugh assaulted my ear.

"Oh shit. The meeting." I whispered then shoved my phone back in my pocket without even ending the call. Surely, I would get an earful about this from that guy later, but I couldn't care any less. I just need to get to the studio now.

Fortunately, my guitar was now back in its case, so I let it go momentarily before hastily shoving all my things inside my bag. I picked it up a moment later then stood up and glanced around the café. I was hoping to find Levy and thank her for letting me spend some time in her café, but I couldn't see her anywhere. Instead, my eyes fell on a clock of some sort that was hanging on the wall near the counter.

1:25 P.M. it displayed. My mind suddenly replayed the conversation I had with my bandmates earlier.

"We'll adjust the time just for you flamebrain."

"Be here at exactly 1:00 P.M. You hear me?"

"We really need to work hard for those new songs. All right guys? Natsu?"

"And don't forget, 1:00 o'clock P.M. Natsu."

"Studio. One o'clock. Don't be late."

1:00…

1:00…

1:00…

I sighed defeatedly.

They will surely beat me up with their instruments later when I get there. I thought as I strode rapidly across the café, ignoring the puzzled looks some customers gave me. I just muttered some sorry's and excuse me's while I rush towards the door.

I don't know how or why, but thank the heavens, there's already a cab waiting outside.

I told the driver the place as I slipped inside the cab. Then I suddenly covered my nose and mouth with my free hand, nearly gagging when an awful smell flooded my nose.

I carefully placed my guitar beside me then leaned slightly towards the driver.

"Please, can you just…" I told him, my hand still covering my nose while pointing with my other hand the thing that was currently hanging in front of his cab's air-conditioner.

He looked at me dubiously, then at the pine-tree-shaped air-freshener, then back at me.

Oh for the love of all that is holy.

"Remove it." I hissed impatiently through clenched teeth while motioning my hand in a snatching gesture.

Unfortunately, even though he already discarded the abominable thing, the scent still lingered inside the cab making me gag and groan all throughout the ride as a result which was very pathetic. I saw the driver glance at me worriedly a few times. I don't even know if he's actually worried about my condition or worried about me puking inside his car. I don't care. I just want this ride to be over.

Thankfully, we arrived just before I could actually throw up in his car. I hastily opened the door once the car had skidded to a stop and then took huge gulps of fresh air before paying the driver. I took my guitar then slammed the door shut, mumbling to myself about how I hate the smell of those damn air fresheners. I was groggily walking towards our studio when I felt a hand on my shoulder. I looked back and saw Gajeel smirking at me.

"Well, 's about time ya got here Salamander." He said almost accusingly but then laughed when he saw the look on my face.

"What happened to ya? Ya look like shit." He commented while still laughing thunderously. "Got mobbed again?"

"Shut up Metal face. I didn't get mobbed." I retorted then swatted his hand away. "What are you even doing outside in the first place? Where's Gray?"

"I don't need to answer ya flame breath as to why I am outside but Gray went out and bought something. He said something about cooling his head. I guess ya really got to his nerves." He replied then started to walk inside the building.

I rubbed my free hand over my face then started walking too.

"And Jellal?" I asked when I caught up with him.

"He's inside." He said while jerking his head towards the direction of the door that lead to our studio/meeting room.

My hand was just about to grab the doorknob when I suddenly remembered a certain person.

"Well? Aren't you going in?" He asked when he saw the look of hesitation in my eyes.

"Yeah, well, there's no red-haired woman in there, right?"

"As far as I know, Jellal's the only one inside now. Erza had to be somewhere today. Why?" He asked and then realization dawned on him.

"Gi-hee. Don't tell me you're scared Salamander." He mocked while leaning against the door, a mischievous smile playing at his lips.

"Just shut the fuck up Lug nuts." I snapped at him then shoved his shoulder before opening the door.

To my relief, Jellal was the only one in the room, sitting on one of the stools while fiddling with his guitar and noted that there was no red-haired barbarian in sight. He suddenly looked up when he heard the door open. His gaze was stern but then softened a second later.

"I thought I heard some voices." He stated while lowering his guitar on the stand. He stood up then walked towards me. "Well, it's about time Natsu." We clasp our hands together then gave each other that awkward one hand bro hug, only releasing it after we patted each other's backs.

"Is it just me or is 'It's about time' suddenly became the catch phrase of the day?" I said jokingly while making little quotation marks with my fingers. "Now I only need to hear Gray say it."

Jellal only laughed good-naturedly at me even though there's a slight hint of confusion on his face.

"We were beginning to think that you're not gonna show up." He said while going back to his previous seat, grabbing his guitar then started to fiddle with it again.

"Mind telling us where you have been?" He asked while looking at me. It's clearly not a form of request on his part but a command.

It didn't look like he's a tiny bit annoyed at me but I have a gnawing feeling that I'm being interrogated right now. I just shrugged it and plopped down on one of the smaller sofas after placing my guitar beside me then raised my feet up on the center table.

"I just went at Book Dragon's and visited Levy for a free coffee and muffin and I didn't notice the time." I said then grinned as I saw Gajeel's ears visibly twitched.

"I was also writing some songs there." I told them a second later which earned me a pleased look from Jellal.

"I was really doing well until some Metal-mouthed bassist decided to ruin the moment by calling me." I said as I started to dig through my bag, only stopping to glare at Gajeel who's currently lying down on the larger sofas beside me, an arm slung over his head.

"I'm glad he did tho." Jellal stated, sliding his chair closer to mine. "Let's take a look at it then. We'll give it a go when Gray comes back."

"Wait." I said, slightly panicking. I suddenly sat up then emptied the contents of my bag on the center table. All kinds of things including some of my trash spilled out of my bag but I don't care. I'm just staring at a pile of various things. No sign of a notebook in it.

Shit.

I looked at Jellal dubiously who looked at me skeptically in return, brows furrowed.

"Uhh… I think I dropped it somewhere." I said incredulously.

"Natsuuu…" Jellal said while rubbing his forehead like he's currently having a headache, before pinching the bridge of his nose. "You're not making this up, are you?"

"Of course not." I said with slight panic. "All the songs that I have written so far were there. I can't afford to lose it now." I added while rubbing a hand to my forehead much like Jellal.

"Wow. Ya really are an idiot." I heard Gajeel muttered behind his arm before sitting upright and laughing his 'gi-hee' laugh. "I wonder what will Gray think when he hears about this."

"Maybe I dropped it on my way here." I said, stating it more to myself than the two other guys around me, brushing off Gajeel's remark. "But I only went to Levy's, then the cab, then here. Ugh! I hate this. What if I had dropped it when I was in the cab? I don't even remember anything other than trying to survive the ride. I was pretty groggy that time due to that monstrous thing. Ahhhh! Curse you!" I pulled my hair and tried really hard to suppress the dread that's slowly creeping over me. All the songs that I've poured my heart and soul into… All the time that I've spent on writing them… I feel like dying now. Ugh. Pathetic.

"We still don't know if that's really the case Natsu." I heard Jellal spoke after a few seconds. "Let's check Book dragon first. And hope that it's actually there."

"Yeah, that would be best." I agreed. "Oi, Lug nuts..." I turned to Gajeel who's currently giving me peculiar looks.

"Call Levy." I told him.

"What!?" He barked. "Do it yourself. I don't take orders from idiots like you."

"My phone's dead." I lied.

"And I certainly don't have her number." Jellal interrupted. "I think you're the only one in this room who knows her number besides Natsu."

I looked at Jellal knowingly, thankful that he'd simply caught up to my antics in getting Gajeel and Levy together. Maybe he's also tired of those two playing hard to get.

"Just inform her that we'll be there in a few minutes to find a lost notebook, goddammit." I told him exasperatedly when I saw him hesitating. I quickly dumped all my things inside my bag again before heading for the door.

"I'll go with you Natsu." Jellal stated then stood up, placing his guitar over the stand again before looking at the very much troubled Gajeel a moment later. "And, uh, Gajeel… Just wait for Gray. Tell him what happened and wait for us here. Alright?" He instructed him before disappearing on the other room. Gajeel just grunted enough for Jellal to hear, his nose still on his phone.

Jellal emerged shortly after wearing a hooded jacket and sunglasses to hide some of the tattoos near his right eye. "Tell Gray no more dilly dallying." He said for the last time before we set out to find my much valuable notebook.


"You're really a lifesaver Lev. Seriously. Thanks." I repeated for the umpteenth time after she returned my notebook.

"Yes, thank you Levy. You really saved our butts." I heard Jellal say a second later.

We're now currently standing inside the back part of her café for our own safety. She had offered us some chairs shortly after we arrived but we politely declined it, knowing that we wouldn't probably stay that long.

"You do know that you two already thanked me a couple of times right?" She said teasingly before laughing slightly. "And I already told you that it was my friend who saw you drop your notebook in your haste." She added while pointing a finger at me. "Unfortunately, I was at the back when you decided to leave."

Jellal took the notebook from my hands and examined the songs that I wrote, nodding his head a little as he read though it before flipping to another page.

"Yeah yeah. Sorry about that." I said to Levy then sheepishly rubbed the back of my head. "I forgot to thank you for letting me spend some time here." I said to her apologetically before looking over at Jellal who was still studying the songs.

"It's no big deal Natsu. Don't worry about it." She said then smiled earnestly at me. But before I could even smile back at her, Jellal suddenly spoke up.

"Hey Natsu…" He interrupted then pointed something in my notebook. "You sure you wrote this?" he asked with an arched eyebrow.

"Of course." I replied quickly, not even bothering to look at what he's pointing.

"No, you don't understand. I'm talking about these lines here specifically." He said while tapping that part with his index finger.

I looked at him exasperatedly but the look he gave me clearly says that if I don't look at the damn notebook right this instant I would regret it.

I sighed defeatedly and examined the part he was talking about.

"I'm pretty sure that I was the one—" I said positively but trailed off, frowning as my eyes scanned the lines. "What the—" I took the notebook from Jellal and examined it closely. It definitely wasn't my handwriting. It was quite obvious really. These lines were so neat and simple yet so elegant, clearly written by someone who has really good penmanship. While the rest, which was surely my handwriting, was readable but looked like it had been written hastily.

"I-I didn't… I didn't write these." I whispered almost inaudibly at Jellal as I tapped the page once with the back of my hand.

"I thought so." He replied, taking hold of the right side of the notebook with his right hand then looked appreciatively at the lines again.

I looked back at it and frowned but decided to scan the words again like him. We were now both holding it and looking at it with awe and disbelief. We were awed that such words now filled the missing part but also in disbelief how such words now filled the missing part. It was perfect. That's all I can say.

I suddenly felt very exposed. Honestly, I based my lyrics either in a personal or a secondhand experience. All my lyrics were deep at some point. But this one, this unfinished one, this was really personal. And whoever filled the missing part of it really paid attention to my words, read it carefully, almost dissecting it to the point that that person knew the exact words I needed.

"Uhm…" Levy suddenly spoke making us both look at her.

I could see that she was going to say something but Jellal cut her off.

"Did you write these, Levy?" He asked, slightly tilting his head. "I'm sure these were written by a girl." He added, looking back at the said lines.

My breath hitched a little when Jellal asked that to Levy, now that he mentioned it, it does look like a handwriting of a girl, but his question seemed to catch her off guard.

"I don't know what you're talking about Jellal." She replied, looking quite lost in our conversation.

"Here." He said while approaching Levy, offering her my notebook and pointing the lines to her. She slowly arched her eyebrows while reading it before sighing and looking at Jellal. "I think its Lucy." She said in a barely audible voice.

"What?" I asked her skeptically.

She had almost face-palmed as soon as the words left my mouth.

"Lucy. She's the friend I was talking about awhile ago. The one who saw you accidentally drop your notebook." She stated.

"Oh." I said obtusely, still trying to process Levy's words.

So basically, this friend of hers decided to fill my missing lyrics out of the blue. And In all honesty, turned out pretty good.

"Excuse me Levy but what does your friend do?" Jellal asked, interrupting my trail of thought. "Is she a musician too, a writer, or maybe among those lines?"

"Yes, she's a writer so I'm not that surprised she could write these kinds of things but…" she stated, looking thoughtfully at the page, but trailed off. "It's not her habit to snoop in someone else's stuff, trust me, let alone write in it." She added a second later before handing the thing back to me then sighed.

"Well, that explains it." Jellal said before his phone rang. He simply fished it out of his pocket and studied the screen. "It's Erza." He stated then distanced himself to take the red-hair's call.

"I hope you're not mad at her Natsu." Levy said while looking at me with a slightly rueful expression.

"Mad!?" I asked then looked at her in disbelief. "Are you kidding me?"

She tried to say something but I cut her off.

"I'm fuckin' ecstatic!" I stated then laughed. "It's not every day I get to see something like this on my notebook. Seriously, I wanna meet her Lev and thank her for these." I grinned then waved a hand over the lines.

"Uhm, yeah, sure." She said then smiled at me. "I'll tell her that you want to meet her and thank her personally. But I'll keep your name a secret."

"And why is that?" I asked her, frowning.

"Well, you see… She's a fan of yours. Uhm, your band actually." she stated "I just don't want her to be shocked."

I just looked at her incredulously and frankly, a little speechless.

"She really loves your music Natsu." She added a second later and smiled.

I don't know why but knowing that the girl who wrote in my notebook was a fan of our band had an impact over me. She didn't even know that the notebook belonged to me, one of the members of the band she liked. A wide smile instantly made its way across my face. This would be interesting.

"Now I really want to meet this friend of yours Lev." I said, still smiling broadly.

"Hold that thought Natsu." I heard Jellal say behind me seriously but noticed that he too was smiling. I didn't even notice his presence until he laid his hand on my shoulder. "I have a better plan." He added when he saw the look on my face.

"You see… Erza called and informed me that we have a live performance on a TV show this coming week." He stated matter-of-factly.


After informing Levy of the plan, Jellal and I thanked her for the last time and casually strolled out of her café wearing our hoods and shades for his part. I looked at Jellal and noticed that he was currently dialing a number. He placed his phone in his ears when it connected.

"Is Gray there? Great. Now listen. Set up the instruments. No buts." He instructed to, who i think is Gajeel, before glancing at me. "Get ready guys. We have a song to practice." He said, smiling when he saw my elated expression.