Chapter 9

This is a really long chapter, like 5 times as long as my usual chapters, but I hope you enjoy it.


Almost an hour after beginning the surgery, Kain stepped back an placed his instruments down on the tray at his side. Removing the mask over his mouth and nose, he turned to Crystal. "Your brother is stable for now. I've repaired most of the damage as best I can, but he will need at least three weeks of bed rest, and the full recovery period will be at least three months." He said, taking off his blue-stained red- gloves as he began to pack up his things.

Crystal let out a dry chuckle, "He's going to hate being stuck that long." She said still staring at the unconscious raven.

Gray lay still on the bed, an oxygen mask over his lower face and a hurriedly set up IV and blood bag connected to his arm. His entire torso was wrapped in bandages, thick gauze around his back and chest, while his skin almost matched the stark white sheets beneath him.

"Now, let's have a look at you." The doctor said as he turned to the girl and put on a new pair of gloves.

"Most of my cuts are minor with a few deeper ones, they are on my arms with a couple on my legs. I'm not sure how bad my feet are. He injected some sort of nerve enhancer into me, so when he cut me and burned my feet I felt it everywhere. I'm pretty sure my nervous system is a mess." Crystal mumbled with a frown as she thought back to what they went through.

Kain nodded, retrieving gauze and some ointment before he grimaced. "Ah. Silvana. I've dealt with the stuff before, recently. If I'm remembering correctly..." He paused as he searched inside his bag. "Ah. There we go." He produced a small vial filled with a strange blue liquid, offering it to her. "Take this every ten minutes for the next hour. It should fix that particular problem." He said gently as he set more small vials of the same liquid to the side. He then grabbed some ointment out of his bag and began to smear the burn cream on her butchered feet.

"Thank you." Crystal said as she took the liquid and drank it. A shiver ran down her spine and goosebumps raised on her arms at the strong taste. "...When do you think I'll be able to walk on my own?" She asked.

Kain frowned, gently beginning to bandage her burned feet. "I would suggest a week, at least. Keep them clean and preferably bandaged. No shoes, socks, etcetera, and try to take things slowly. Your feet should start peeling tomorrow, so I'll come back and help remove the dead skin before putting more ointment on it." He said before standing. "I've left instructions with Lacus, she can help you as Gray should not be moved from here until he is properly stabilized, after about three days." He continued as he started packing away his things.

Crystal nodded, "Thank you so much for everything." She said slightly bowing her head. "I do have two questions before you leave. When will he wake up?" She asked nodding towards Gray.

Kain looked back to Gray as he shut his bag. "Well, there was an awful amount of stress on his body and I wouldn't think he'd slept properly in days. The surgery would also exhaust the body, so I would say a day, maybe more."

Crystal nodded expecting that much. "Okay, so my second question. "What are you guys going to do about a mayor now?" She asked.

Kain's expression grew dark. "Alex has gone too far over the line this time. He shall face his crimes and serve whatever punishment is given him, though none can account for this, not truly." He said coldly, folding his arms over his chest.

Crystal nodded, "So who's going to be in charge now?"

Kain shook his head. "That is up to the people. Now, if you'll excuse me I have another patient to check on across town. I wish you luck, Miss Fullbuster." He said gently before moving towards the door.

Crystal nodded, "Thank you again. Goodbye, doctor."

Kain nodded and gave a light wave back before he left the room. Shortly after he left, a blonde and pinkette rushed into the room.

Crystal heard the footsteps and looked away from her brother and smiled, "Hey guys."

Lucy came in and sat next to her on the edge of the bed. "Hey, how are you feeling?" She asked.

"A little better," Crystal responded.

Natsu walked over to the raven as well with a large glass of water and a plate with a simple sandwiching on it. "Here, Lacus sent this up for you and I figured you haven't had anything to eat or drink for a while." He said, proffering the refreshments.

"Yeah, thanks." Crystal said taking the food and water, immediately drinking half of it and then taking a bite out of her sandwich. "Oh I just remembered, how'd you guys know we were here, or in trouble?" She asked looking up at the two.

Natsu shrugged, as he dragged up a chair and sat on it backwards so he could lean his arms on the top of the backrest. "Lacus told us about Alex's past and that you guys had disappeared. She's pretty smart, figuring Alex had you two." He said softly, resting his chin on his arms.

Crystal nodded, "Yeah, she's been really helpful since we've been here. But I meant how did you guys know we were in this town?" she asked.

Natsu smiled slightly, "I tried to take the request you and ice geek took a few days back, but Gray beat me to it. Obviously, Alexander was trying to get me and Erza to come to his little torture show as well because he resent it. When I saw it I got a bad feeling and, well, the rest is history." He explained.

"So I guess your rivalry is a good thing after all." Crystal said with a smile.

"I guess." Natsu laughed a bit as he rubbed the back of his head.

Crystal chuckled lightly at that. She then blinked like she remembered something, then reached over and grabbed the vial of blue liquid before drinking it and shivered.

"What's that?" Lucy asked. "It's something the doctor gave me to help my nerves regulate." Crystal explained

Natsu hummed lightly before yawning. "Man. Fighting with that weird energy glove thing really took it outta me." He mumbled, rubbing his eyes wearily.

Crystal looked at Natsu with concern, "Are you okay since he hit you with that?"

Natsu nodded, "Yeah. I just need a nap." He said with a slight grin before grabbing a bedroll off of his pack and rolling it out between Crystal and Gray's bed. He then promptly threw himself onto the bedroll and was snoring within seconds.

Crystal giggled at him then looked at Lucy. "Are you alright?"

Lucy nodded, "Yeah I'm not hurt at all."

Crystal yawned and rubbed her eyes. "That's good."

Lucy smiled, "You should get some sleep."

"Don't you wanna know more about his condition?" Crystal said nodding towards Gray.

Lucy nodded, "I do, but that can wait, you probably haven't had a good sleep in a while. Get some rest."

Crystal nodded before lying down. "Thanks, Lucy."

"No problem, goodnight." The blonde said as she stood up from the raven's bed and went to turn off the lights.

After a few hours of reading by a lamp in the corner of the room, Lucy looked around the room seeing that everyone was still asleep, and decided to go to the bathroom to shower. As she moved to leave, a small change in breathing accompanied a pained grimace in Gray's features as his eyes moved under closed lids.

Lucy entered the bathroom and placed her things down. Remembering she forgot something she went back into the room and started to rummage through her bag.

A low groan floated through the room, slightly muffled by the oxygen mask placed over Gray's lower face.

Lucy's head snapped up when she heard the groan, it was too low to be Crystal's and she could still hear Natsu's distant snores. She quickly stood up and walked around carefully stepping over Natsu and looked down at Gray.

Slowly, foggy midnight eyes cracked open tiredly, wincing at the light before finding Lucy's gaze. "H-hey." It was a bare whisper, easily caught in a breeze, but there.

A bright smile spread across Lucy's face when her teammate woke up. "Hey." She whispered. "Are you okay? Do you need anything?" She asked.

The raven blinked slowly, trying to clear his blurry vision. Turning his head to the side, he smiled slowly when he saw Crystal sleeping. "...Water?" He croaked.

Lucy nodded and grabbed a glass before walking into the bathroom and filled it with water. She walked back over to Gray and handed it to him. "You probably shouldn't sit up too much, you might reopen something."

"Thanks," Gray whispered, taking the glass in a slightly shaking hand. He pulled off the mask over his face and took a short sip before replacing the oxygen-giving device, his lungs still too weak to draw in much air on their own. "...how?"

Lucy smiled and gently sat on the edge of Gray's bed. "Natsu and I were about to take a mission when he noticed the flier you stole from him was back up on the request board. We figured something was up, so we came here. We met Lacus and she told us everything that happened. We broke into Alex's mansion and started looking around when Natsu heard Crystal, he found where you were. I had Loke bring you to the doctor while we continued to fight." She explained.

Gray nodded slowly, his expression darkening. "Alex?"

"Natsu rendered him unconscious after beating him. He's now with the police waiting for the Magic Council to come to get him." Lucy answered.

"Good." The raven said quietly, setting aside the glass of water to hide the shake in his hands. "How's Crys?"

Lucy looked over at the sleeping raven. "She's fine, although I don't know the condition of her feet. When the doctor left, she looked really tired so I told her to sleep and explain everything later. The doctor did give her something to help with her nervous system."

The raven nodded, blinking tiredly as just the small conversation seemed to be tiring him out. "That's...good."

"You should go back to sleep. Those two won't be awake for a few more hours, maybe even longer for Crys." Lucy said, seeing how tired he was.

"Thanks." He murmured, eyes already falling shut as a small smile touched the corners of his lips.

"You're welcome," Lucy whispered back with a small smile before standing up and going to the bathroom. Natsu continued to snore loudly while Gray drifted back to sleep.

The next morning, Crystal hummed lightly as she slowly woke up. She turned onto her back, cracked open her eyes and drowsily stared at the ceiling.

Natsu continued to snore beside Crystal's bed as Gray rested easily. The room was quiet aside from Natsu and all seemed to have finally gone back to normal.

Lucy looked up from her book and smiled at Crystal, "Good morning!"

"Mornin'," Crystal said as she sat up and rubbed her eyes.

"You hungry yet?" Lucy asked.

"A little bit. But I have to go to the bathroom first." Crystal said as she moved her blanket and swung her legs off the bed.

"W-wait!" Lucy said trying to stop her but it was too late. Crystal had forgotten that she couldn't walk, so as soon as she stood up she came crashing down on top of Natsu.

The dragon slayer let out an indignant screech as he was woken up by Crystal landing on him, blinking in surprise before he smiled awkwardly. "Uh. Hey Crys..." He said before gently moving her then sitting up, "What're you doing?"

"Sorry, I forgot I can't walk." Crystal grumbled as she pushed herself up and sat on her knees.

"Oh." Natsu said simply and chuckled before pushing himself to his feet and holding out a hand, "Come on, I'll help ya."

Crystal took his hand and let him lift her up, "Thank you, but I think Lucy should help me this time."

Natsu arched an eyebrow and glanced between her and Lucy obliviously.

"She has to go to the bathroom," Lucy said as she walked over and wrapped an arm around Crystal's waist, as Crystal put her arm around Lucy's shoulder.

"Oooooh," Natsu said, looking embarrassed as he stepped back and moved over to the window, throwing it open to let some air into the room.

Both girls giggled at Natsu's expression. "Come let's go," Lucy said as they walked into the bathroom.

Lucy and Crystal came out of the bathroom a few minutes later, and Lucy helped Crystal sit on the edge of the bed. The raven looked over at her brother, wondering when he's wake up. Lucy followed Crystal's gaze then spoke, "He woke up late last night."

Crystal quickly turned her head to Lucy, "Really?"

Natsu perked up at that, looking over curiously as he listened to the girls' conversation.

Lucy nodded, "He was only awake for only about five minutes before he went back to sleep."

"So he might be awake soon, right?" Crystal asked.

Lucy shrugged, "I don't know, he looked pretty tired. I'm surprised he didn't wake up when you fell and Natsu screamed."

"Hey!" Natsu said in a huff as a tick mark appeared on his forehead. "I did not scream!"

"Would screech be a better word?" Lucy asked as Crystal chuckled.

"It was a startled grunt! Not a scream." The pinkette argued irritably.

Crystal laughed at this and Lucy just smiled. "Okay, Natsu, whatever you say."

The dragon slayer huffed and crossed his arms over his chest, turning his back on the two sulkily.

"Hey Crystal, can you tell us what the doctor said yesterday?" Lucy asked.

Crystal slightly shook her head, "I'd rather wait until Gray wakes up so you can all hear it at once."

Natsu half turned to listen before sighing softly and turning to walk back to the small table in the room, sitting down at it with a surprisingly somber expression.

"Natsu, are you okay?" Crystal asked after watching him and noticing his expression.

Natsu sighed, running a hand through his messy hair. "I remember her."

Crystal and Lucy looked at each other and blinked. "Remember who?" Lucy asked.

He swallowed slightly, nervously rubbing his arms. "The girl. Alexander's fiancé.

Both of the girls' eyes widened, "You... remember her?" Lucy said softly trying to think, but couldn't remember seeing someone that looked like Crystal.

"Yeah." The pinkette answered quietly, "It was a few years ago before you joined the team. Erza convinced me and Gray to go on an A-class mission with her. It...ended badly."

"It's still not a real reason to blame you guys, especially if it was years ago. You guys probably already felt bad about it." Lucy said.

Crystal looked over at Gray. "Do you think Gray and Erza remember?" She asked.

Natsu nodded slowly at Lucy's words before shaking his head at Crystal, "No. I... I found out by accident. When it happened."

"So you guys really didn't know," Lucy mumbled as Crystal remained quiet.

Natsu simply nodded, his gaze drifting to his wounded friend before he ran a hand through his messy hair. "You know what, I'm going to go and find us something to eat." He said suddenly before standing and making a bolt for the door.

Both Lucy and Crystal frowned as they watched their friend leave. "Poor Natsu... Hey speaking for food are you hungry?" Lucy asked the raven who nodded. "Okay, I'll go get your food."

"But Natsu-" Crystal started to speak before Lucy shook her head.

"He probably won't be back for a while... Or will eat all the food. I'll be right back." Lucy said as she got up and walked out of the room.

The room was silent for a few minutes before a low breath of air escaped Gray, his eyelids fluttered as consciousness pulled at his mind.

Crystal's head snapped over when she heard Gray's breathing change and she saw him start to open his eyes. Her first reflex was to jump off the bed but she quickly stopped after remembering what happened earlier. She glared at her feet before looking at the gap between their beds. She crawled to the side closest to Gray and placed her fist in her palm. "Ice Make: Bridge." She said as a little ice bridge formed between their beds. Crystal then crawled across and sat on the bridge and watched Gray wake up.

Foggy blue-grey orbs slowly cracked open, his breathing a little less labored now then it had been the day before. "H-hey." He murmured quietly when he saw Crystal.

A huge smile spread across Crystal's face. "Hi!" She whisper yelled with a lot more enthusiasm then she meant to come out.

Gray chuckled slightly, wincing as his chest ached. "You, okay?"

Crystal nodded, "Yeah, the doctor told me I'll be able to walk again in a week or so. I forgot this morning though..."

The older raven arched an eyebrow, a small smile playing at his lips "Oh?"

"Yeah. I was trying to get up, and I fell before Lucy got to warn me... Natsu makes a good landing cushion." She said in all seriousness.

Gray laughed before coughing and grimacing. "Ha, ow, yeah. He does."

"Sorry I shouldn't make you laugh. Are you okay?" Crystal asked in concern.

"I'm okay. Well, as okay as I can be. Just, no more laughing." He said, smiling softly, "Thank you, though, for everything"

"Okay. You're welcome, just be sure to tell Lucy, and Natsu when they get back." Crystal said.

"Tell me what?" Lucy asked as she walked in, with two trays filled with food.

"No laughing." Gray supplied, smiling slightly as he turned his head to see Lucy. "Anything for me?"

Lucy raised an eyebrow at that but walked on over to them. "Yup, I figured you'd be awake soon so I grabbed extra." She said and looked at Crystal's bridge before handing her food. "I see you found a way to move around."

Crystal nodded and took the food. "Thank you." She said before turning to Gray. "I meant to tell them thank you, but that's a good one too."

He let out a huff of a laugh, "I know you did." He said before nodding his thanks to Lucy.

Crystal sighed at his way of showing gratitude, "What he meant to say was, 'Thank you for everything Lucy.'"

Lucy just laughed and handed Gray his food, and sat on the edge of Gray's bed with her food. "You're welcome."

Gray rolled his eyes, smiling all the same, as he picked up a small bite of his food and carefully ate it. "So, where's the flamebrain?" He queried after a few minutes.

"He said he went to get food but I didn't see him down there," Lucy said with a slight tone of concern.

"He probably went to take a walk he looked upset before he left." Crystal said, taking a bite of her food.

Lucy nodded then turned to Gray, "Oh right, Natsu said he remembers Alex's fiance."

Gray blinked, "Really? How?" He asked, pausing in his actions.

"He said he found her by accident." Crystal answered with a shrug.

Gray frowned, "huh. That's, weird. Thought he would have said something." He murmured.

"He probably didn't want to or wanted to forget about it." Crystal said now wondering why he didn't say anything about her to Gray and Erza.

Gray frowned but nodded, "Yeah, I guess. He murmured

Crystal took another bite of her food before asking, "So, should I wait til Natsu gets back, or tell you now what the doctor said?" She said and looked at Gray.

Gray frowned before sighing softly, "Tell me now. Get it over with."

Crystal let out a breath, "Okay. We can go back home in two days, you are bedridden for three weeks, and it'll take up to three months for you to fully heal." She explained.

Gray let out a slow breath. "Motherf- nope. I'm cool. It's cool." He said, spreading his hands in a faux calm gesture.

Crystal just stared at him before sighing, "Yeah, this is going to be the worst month of your life."

"No shitting." He ground before sighing, "Sorry. You're probably going to take a little while to heal too."

"Yeah, even though I can be on my feet in a week, I have to take it slow, and it will probably take a while before I can walk long distances or run. Which brings up another question. Should we stay in the guild infirmary, or stay at home and have someone take care of us? Because once I'm on my feet then I can help you out." Crystal said.

Lucy nodded, "That's true but at the guild, you'll get more help... Maybe even speed up the healing process if we find Wendy."

Gray shrugged, "Home's more comfortable though." He said, taking another bite of his food.

"That's what I was thinking too, we could just get Wendy to come to the house." Crystal said.

Lucy nodded as she listened to them, "And I could help you guys until Crystal can walk around. Then Natsu, Erza, and I can go on a mission for you guys since you won't be able to." Lucy offered.

"Really?" Crystal asked.

"Of course." Lucy nodded with a smile. "Thank you!" Crystal said hugging Lucy.

Gray nodded, smiling slightly. "Thank you, you guys. Really." He said.

Lucy waved it off, "It's no problem at all, you guys would do the same thing." She said.

"You bet," Gray said with a small smile. As Crystal pulled away, nodded, and continued eating her food.

Everybody had finished eating and was just talking when Natsu still hadn't come back. Lucy had looked at the door for the umpteen time before Crystal finally said, "Just go look for him, we're all kind of worried."

Lucy just nodded before collecting everyone's plates and walked out the door. Once she put the plates away she made her way to the front desk. "Hey Lacus, have you seen Natsu?" She asked.

The pinkette looked up with a start, "Hi Lucy, I didn't see you." She said, setting down her pen with a frown, "Uh, no. I haven't seen him since he left earlier. Is everything okay?"

"Yeah, he just looked kinda upset. I'll go look for him. Thanks." Lucy said before she headed to the door.

The other girl nodded, "Okay. Be careful!"

"I will," Lucy said before walking outside, she looked around and when she didn't see the dragon slayer, she picked a random direction and started walking.

Natsu was currently making himself comfortable in a large oak tree, legs stretched out into an adjacent branch from the one he sat on while his hands were folded loosely in his lap. The pinkette stared upwards, gaze lost in the green foliage above him as he simply listened to the easy creaks and groans of the tree beneath him.

Lucy made her way over the edge of the forest knowing Natsu liked forests. "Natsu." She called in her normal volume knowing he would hear her if he was around here.

Natsu jumped slightly as a familiar voice rang through the forest, turning his head to see Lucy about eighty yards away. Staying silent, he moved back into the tree slightly.

Lucy continued to walk into the forest, looking into the trees. "Natsu, where are you?"

The Dragon Slayer sighed when he saw that Lucy wasn't going to go away, letting his leg hang down so she would see him when she passed underneath the tree.

After walking a couple of feet Lucy finally spotted a foot and familiar sandal. She walked under the tree and looked up at the pinkette. "Hey, what's up?" She asked.

Natsu snorted dryly, "Me."

Lucy scoffed knowing she set herself up for that one. "That's not what I meant and you know it. What's wrong? And don't you dare say nothing because that's a lie." She said leaning against the tree.

Natsu chuckled shortly, leaning he was back against the tree trunk as he swung his foot idly. "It's nothing." He said, a small smile touching the corners of his lips despite himself.

"Natsu..." Lucy said in a warning tone. "What did I just say? I'm not accepting that answer. Try again."

The dragon slayer let out a short huff, drawing his legs up to his chest and wrapping his arms around them loosely as he receded into a somber silence.

Lucy just stood at the bottom of the tree and waited patiently.

"You ever see someone snap, Lucy? Seen the exact moment their resolve breaks and they just give in to the insanity?"

Lucy frowned at that question but thought hard about it. "No, I can't say that I have."

He shifted slightly tightened his hold around his legs. "I saw that moment. Years ago. When I watched Alexander hold his dying fiancé. I wanted to help them, I really did. But...I couldn't even move. I was so scared because WE did that. We messed around like we always have, not taken anything seriously until it was too late. Erza and Gray never knew about him. I should have told them, but I never did. I didn't want to. Because I knew that the only reason she died was that I was too stupid to do what I was supposed to do."

Lucy sighed. "You sound like Gray. Don't blame yourself for something you couldn't prevent. Even if you didn't fool around there's no guarantee that she would still be alive, she still could've died the same death even if you took every last bit of that fight seriously. It also takes a lot to make a person snap like that, so there was something more wrong with Alexander even before his fiance died."

Natsu hid his eyes with his pink fringe, "Except it is my fault. We were supposed to take down the creature in the forest, nowhere near anyone so no one would get hurt. But I insisted we go to the town first. I'm the reason those people died. She wasn't the only one."

"We don't blame you Natsu. Alexander's the only one that does and that was after he went insane." Lucy said before pausing for a bit. "When Phantom Lord attacked the guild, no one blamed me except myself and my father. You guys didn't blame me once even though it was my fault. So none of us are going to blame you for this. Because everyone makes mistakes."

The dragon slayer shook his head slightly, opening his mouth to speak before he closed it sharply, letting out a short huff of air as he scrubbed at his face embarrassed, refusing to reply.

Lucy wasn't sure how to take his silence, so she said, "Everything will be okay, maybe it doesn't feel like it right now, but everything always ends up okay when we get in these types of situations."

Natsu simply stared into the foliage before him, almost invisible in the tree except for his pink hair.

Lucy closed her eyes and listened to the rustle of the leaves for a little bit before pushing herself off the tree. "I'm heading back, don't stay out here too long." She said deciding to let Natsu think by himself.

Natsu watched her go, tilting his head slightly back to stare upwards into the trees, enjoying the soft rustling of the winds as his eyes closed.

Lucy walked back into the room where Crystal and Gray rested. "I'm back!"

Gray looked up from the book he had been reading, closing it as he frowned. "Where's Natsu?"

"Sulking in a tree," Lucy answered honestly.

Gray snorted, opting for that over laughing as he shook his head at Natsu's behavior.

Lucy nodded then giggled when she saw Crystal's head on Gray's lap and her body sprawled across her bridge with one of her legs dangling off, the younger raven fast asleep. "What happened?"

"She didn't want to go back to bed, so I read aloud and, predictably, this happened." He said, smiling fondly at his sibling.

"Ah," Lucy said smiling, she grabbed her own book and sat in a chair. "Natsu should be back... maybe before it gets dark. He seemed pretty upset and deep in thought."

Gray arched an eyebrow, "Natsu?" He asked disbelievingly, though there was an evident note of worry to his voice.

"Exactly. He asked me a deep question and it threw me off guard. This whole thing is really bothering him." Lucy said with a sigh.

Gray set his book aside, folding his arms over his bandaged chest. "He'll snap out of it. This isn't the first time something like this has happened." He said, obviously trying to bolster her reassurances.

"I know, it's just weird seeing him quiet and saying still. You're right he'll be back to his normal goofy self in no time." Lucy said with a small smile.

"Yep." Gray said dryly, "Back to blow up the nearest...everything."

Lucy nodded and laughed a bit before looking like she was thinking over something. "...He actually didn't blow up anything on this trip, other than the main and cellar door for the mansion." Lucy said slightly surprised.

Gray snorted, "How weird." He muttered, blinking slightly heavily as his eyes began to get tired.

Lucy smiled a little, "Are you going to be stubborn like your sister or actually go to sleep?"

"Mmhm." The raven grumbled, not able to withhold a yawn as he set his book on the table beside his bed and carefully shifted back so as not to strain his injuries. "I'm good." He said with a small smile.

"Would you like me to read to you too?" Lucy teased with a small smirk.

Gray snorted, "If you must." He said as he lay back on his pillows and closed his eyes

Lucy just shrugged and began reading to herself.

Lucy was so caught up in her book she hadn't noticed that hours had flown by and it had grown dark. She finally looked up from her book when she heard Crystal begin to wake up, and looked outside. "Oops,"

Crystal groggily opened her eyes and blinked a few times, "What's wrong?"

Lucy just shook her head and let out a short laugh. "Nothing I was just caught up in my book that I didn't realize how late it had gotten." She explained as she looked over at the girl and her brother.

Gray slept soundly, resting half on his right side and half on his back to take the pressure off his slashed up back and injured lung both.

"Oh." Crystal said sitting up, "Where's Natsu?" She said looking around the room. Lucy frowned she definitely would've noticed if he came in. "I don't know, he should've been back by now. I'll go check downstairs." Lucy said before standing up and walking out of the room. After walking around and not seeing the dragon slayer, Lucy decided to check with Lacus again. "Hey Lacus, have you seen Natsu since I came back?" She asked.

Lacus looked up, absorbed in a book of her own. "Hmm? Oh. Well, I didn't see him come in, but I've been reading or working for the last two hours so he might have slipped past me."

"Oh ok, thank you. I'll go check outside again." Lucy said as she walked out of the hotel.

Lacus nodded, knowing Lucy could take care of herself.

Lucy walked outside and saw the faint orange in the sky from the retreating sun. She immediately when to the forest and turned to the tree she found Natsu in before. "Natsu?" She called. The tree was empty, the surrounding forest blank and quiet as even the animals began to bed down for the night.

Lucy frowned when she didn't see or hear Natsu. 'Where'd he go?' She wondered as she turned around and walked through the village hoping to see the pinkette.

The village was mostly deserted, people already turning in for the night while others were all inside, resting easy now that they knew the witches were gone.

Lucy decided to walk around and ask some of the villagers if they had seen Natsu. With no luck, Lucy headed back to the hotel. Lucy was now beyond worried, Natsu wouldn't just up and disappear without saying anything. Okay, he would, but not while they were together on a mission like this. Lucy continued to ponder as she walked back into the hotel.

The lobby was abandoned, Lacus having gone from her usual seat behind the desk and leaving the room shrouded in darkness as the lights were all out.

Lucy sighed and as she began walking up the stairs and into their room. She walked in and closed the door with a sigh.

"Hey." Crystal said from her bed, seeing her walk in. Gray was still asleep and holding onto a pillow like a teddy bear.

"Hi." Lucy said before she shook her head, "I'm really worried, he might have gone deeper into the forest but it's too dark to go check."

Crystal blinked a few times before glancing off somewhere else in the room. "Ah, Lucy." The raven mumbled before pointing to a chair where the pinkette was curled up and sleep.

The blonde looked over and blinked incredulously at the pinkette. "What? When?" She questioned as she looked back at the raven.

"I don't know, I saw him there when I woke up." Crystal said with a shrug.

Lucy just sighed and nodded "Well at least he's back. How are you feeling?"

"A bit sore but I'll be fine." Crystal said softly as she turned her head and glanced out the window, "Just ready to go home."

"Don't worry, we'll be able to head out tomorrow," Lucy said as she went and grabbed both Crystal and Gray's glasses and went to refill them.

"I know." Crystal nodded, but tomorrow couldn't come fast enough.


Chapter End