Chapter 7

An eleven-year-old Lucy whimpered as Wendy poured alcohol over the cut on her hand. "Sorry, Lucy." Wendy whispered as she wiped off the excess blood.

"Just squeeze my hand, kiddo." Cana said as she grabbed the crying girl's hand, cringing as the girl squeezed her hand tight.

"Aw, c'mon, Luce." Natsu strolled up with a baseball bat swung over his shoulder. "Don't be a wimp."

"Shut up, Natsu!" Gray shouted. "You're the wimp! The only reason she got hurt was because you chucked the ball too far!"

"Oi! Luce is strong, she can handle it. Besides, you're the biggest wimp of all!" Natsu shouted back.

Lucy couldn't help but giggle through her tears as they started a swordfight with their bats. Cana sighed as she rubbed soothing circles on Lucy's hand with her thumb. "Honestly, those two are worse than feral cats."

"I think they're funny." Wendy giggled, and Lucy nodded her head as she giggled too. "All done!"

"Thanks, Wendy!" Lucy cheered as she released Cana's hand and stretched out her other injured one. "You're an amazing healer."

"Yeah." Cana smirked as Wendy blushed. "There's no doubt that you'll the best healer in the whole country."

Wendy sputtered as she pressed her forefingers together. "W-well I don't know about that."

"We all believe in you, Wendy." Lucy smiled, making the little girl reciprocate it.

"And what do you think you're doing?" A chilling, authoritative voice ringed through their ears, making them all freeze.

"E-erza!" Natsu and Gray both shouted as their bats were frozen mere inches away from their faces.

"Are you two fighting?!

"N-no! Of course not!" They both shouted with nervous smiles, hugging each other tightly. "We're best friends!"

"Good to hear." Erza crossed her arms with a smile. "I would hate for either of you to be responsible for Lucy's tears."

Lucy couldn't control her giggles, Wendy and Cana both joining her giggle fit. Her friends were a tad crazy, but she loved them all the more for it.

Lucy groaned when she felt something wet touch her forehead. She opened her mouth as she realized whatever it was, was wet, meaning water. She cringed as she tried to open her eyes. She could feel her blood pumping through every vein in her body. Feeling something touch her arm, she reluctantly cracked an open to see Yukino's concerned eyes boring into hers.

"Hey, Lucy." She smiled softly. "It's about time you woke up."

Suddenly, memories of the night before ran through her, and she gasped, trying to sit up but failing miserably. "What happened?" She winced at her croaky voice as Yukino helped her sit it.

"You collapsed, and Gajeel carried you." She smiled as she looked over at something. "We're really lucky we ran into him."

Lucy followed her gaze, to see Gajeel sitting on the edge of the small rock enclosure they were in, sharpening what looked like a knife. "He carried me?"

"Mhm." Yukino hummed as she dug through her bag, and pulled out a flask. Handing it to Lucy, she smiled. "He seems like a genuine person. It makes me feel terrible."

"Why's that?" Lucy croaked as she gratefully accepted the water, humming as it hit her tongue.

"Because." Yukino's eyes saddened as she looked back at the man. "He knew all of the people in that market. They were friends. It must have been hard running like that."

Lucy looked at him, her eyebrows furrowing. "Why would he choose to save us over his friends?"

Yukino shrugged, averting her eyes when the man looked back at them. Her voice lowered to a whisper. "Maybe he considers us friends too."

Lucy shook her head slightly. "I doubt it." They had just met, it wouldn't make sense.

"Yer finally up, Bunny-girl." Gajeel gruffly observed as he sat next to her.

Lucy huffed. "Sticking with that name, I see. Seriously, what part of me reminds you of a bunny?"

He smirked. "Everything."

She stared at him, he stared back. Her lips pursed, his smirk widened. Her eyes narrowed, his glinted in challenge. After a full minute, she gave up with a sigh. "Whatever." She ignored his weird laugh of "gihi" and Yukino's giggle as she scanned their surroundings. "Where are we?"

"We ran west." Gajeel answered as he starter sharpening his knife again. "I heard tire tracks head north last night, so we should keep head west." He then pointed with his knife out towards two sand hills in the distance. "I know there's a trader's camp over there. Never dealt with 'em directly before, but they got supplies. That's all that matters."

Lucy looked at Gajeel in surprise. "You don't want to go back?"

He look at her weirdly. "Why would I wanna go back?"

"Don't you want to see if anyone survived?"

Gajeel huffed through his nose. "There weren't."

Lucy frowned. "Then, we should bury them."

He looked at her in surprise, before he ruffled the half of her head that had hair. "Thanks, but no point in risking our own lives for ones that are already gone."

"True, but..." Lucy paused to take another sip of water. "If we're gonna be going to another market, we're gonna need things to actually trade. There might be some things that the raiders didn't get, or just some rubble that could be used as material."

"That's smart, Lucy." Yukino patted her on the back.

Gajeel just stared at her. He knew what she was doing, she was making a logical excuse for him to put his friends to rest. His chest swelled at her gesture, and he sighed. "It could be dangerous."

"Just living out here is dangerous, Gajeel." She instantly retorted. "Besides, the raiders are probably far gone by now."

He grunted. "Then I guess we're going back."

"Good."

"So, how are you feeling now?" Yukino asked as she peered at Lucy's face.

"A bit dizzy and I feel like I weigh a ton, but I'll live." Lucy smiled at Yukino, then blinked when Gajeel grabbed her metal hand.

"Too bad I couldn't fix this for ya." He prodded where the pinkie used to be.

Lucy shrugged, "Not your fault." She then hissed when he prodded where the skin was attatched to the metal. "Watch it!"

He glared at red spot on her skin. "It's gonna get infected soon. The impact from when you bent the pinky jostled the joint point in your arm."

Lucy sighed. "Great." Infection only meant one thing out here, death.

"We'll find something for it at the trader's camp, right Gajeel?" Yukino sent him a look with her eyes, one that promised death if he didn't agree with her.

He cleared his throat. "Uh, yeah of course. Don't worry 'bout it, Bunny."

Lucy rolled her eyes, she wasn't stupid. "Well, let's get going while the sun's out."

Gajeel chuckled while they all stood up. "If you feel fallin' over, I'll carry you. You can be my very own Bunny-girl backpack."

Lucy swatted his arm. "You're not funny."

"I think he's kinda funny." Yukino giggled behind her hand.

Lucy rolled her eyes at Gajeel's smug look. "Only as funny as an iron pole can be."

"They can be funny, depending on how you use 'em."

"Oh, shut up. You're not funny!"

Thanks for all the support, guys! I know it's kind of an "outlandish" story...ha ha
This story isn't as well received as my other stories, so it's slightly discouraging. I guess that's why it takes me a little while to update. But, I still love this story, and I appreciate those of you who do ;} And my cat has been licked for you. There ya go.