Day 10: The Treasure Hunt (Part l)

"Lucy!" Happy flew on to Natsu's shoulder and leaned his head against his best friend's pink hair. "Natsu, maybe she's not home."

"Where else would she be, Happy?" Natsu knocked on the door again for the sixth time that afternoon. Worry was already settling in their stomach. She hadn't been around for a whole week. They had gone seven days without seeing her or hearing anything of, let alone from, her.

Maybe he was just being paranoid over the number seven, but what were the odds that she would just disappear for seven days without saying anything? It wasn't only him, it was everyone at the guild that was starting to fear the worst for the blonde headed girl.

"Do you think maybe she left the guild?" Happy tried to bury the sadness in his voice but it came out nonetheless.

The Salamander shook his head, "Lucy! If you're in there you better be dressed!" He sucked in the stale air of the dim hallway into his stomach and then blew it out. Fire took over the wooden door and then he kicked it down, the flames slowly dying into oblivion at his will.

"Lucy's going to be so mad," the blue cat flew into Lucy's apartment, sticking his head into cabinets and drawers and calling out for his friend.

But it was empty.

The apartment looked as if no one had been around for a week. The bed was made, there were no dishes in the sink, dust was starting to form on the table, and even Lucy's desk, which was always drowned under sheets of paper and ink, was straight.

He stepped over the dismantled door and peaked his head through the places Happy had already looked in, minus the cabinets and drawers.

She really wasn't there.

Happy looked up at him with watery eyes, "Natsu."

Natsu's mouth was in a straight line. He tried to relax himself and smiled down at his blue friend. Bending down and taking him into his arms, he said, "it's gonna be alright. We'll find her."

He snuggled his head into Natsu's chest and silently let the tears fall. Just where the hell did she go?

~Flashback~

"Natsu! Wait up!"

He turned toward where the voice was coming from, his right, but when he looked there was no one there. It was Lucy's voice. Hearing her shouts and his name in her mouth had become something so simple to distinguish for his ears, but she wasn't there when he turned to look.

The sun's lazy haze glazed across the concrete sidewalk, other than Natsu, no one's presence filled the air. When the shouts didn't call for him again, he turned back ready to go home, walking right into Lucy.

She fell on the ground rubbing her forehead, "ow! Watch it rock head."

He took her hand and helped her up, "you're the one that came out of nowhere."

Lucy shook the hair out of her face and walked alongside Natsu. "You're really quiet today, I was worried after you left the guild." Two stray cats ran in front of them and then into an alley. "Is something wrong?" she asked.

He didn't look at her, his eyes were straight ahead. She could tell where they were heading, or at least where he was heading and where she was just following: his house.

"Happy's sick."

She nodded in realization and dug her hands into her pockets, "well that's no fun." He barely lifted his head to agree, she went on. "You shouldn't let that bring you down you know."

Natsu's lips were pressed closed and he was barely answering her. They walked further in silence and although it didn't feel heavy or awkward, it felt foreign. Sometimes she hated hearing him talk because that's all he did, and loudly. But now she felt bad wishing he would stay quiet. She walked in front of him, a smile on her face.

She wasn't tall enough to block the orange glow that the sunset was setting, Natsu put a hand over the light and looked down at her. "What do you usually do with Happy?"

He looked confused but he answered, "um- treasure hunts."

"Perfect!" A pale hand landed on his shoulder and she squeezed lightly, "I have to go but I'll see you soon!" And then she was gone, running from the sun and running away from him. Where she was going was murky and clouded, what she planned to do was far from clear. But Natsu watched her go and if he had known that she would disappear, maybe-no, he would have chased after her.

~End of flashback~

The fist slammed down on her desk and the jar with pens and ink fell over on to her floor. "Shit," Natsu quickly bent down to pick up the things he spilled; a white sheet of paper landed in front of. It was blank and smooth like it had just been printed. He reached for it, his finger barely grazed it and then there were words flying around him. Different words, small words, big words. They skipped around Lucy's apartment and the two intruders stared in awe until the wild words and letters stamped themselves onto the clean piece of paper.

It was just like what he saw on his first mission with Lucy. The book Daybreak hadn't really been a book, the second its rightful owner touched the skin of the cover, it turned into a letter: Dear Kaby. But this time the words that had been dancing around the air were for him and his eyes only, no one else's. That's why the letters on the paper only showed themselves when his touch was present.

The words on the paper were in black ink, the professional calligraphy without a doubt Lucy's.

Author's Note: Wahh, I know. It's a short chapter and I didn't post yesterday (please don't hate me) AND DID YOU READ YESTERDAY'S CHAPTER *sobs* Jellal. Anyways, this is going to have maybe three or four parts, depending how I want to go about this little mini arc. There wasn't really any NaLu in this chapter but I mean after the last chatper I'm pretty sure you guys can hold off one more day. If I don't post next week it's because of exams (damn you school system for interfering) but I'll try to post more! Thank you for your feedback, especially after the previous chapter (you have no idea how nervous I was to post that, I was waiting for someone to say something) Okay, I'm done babbling. Until tomorrow!