Natsu twiddled his thumbs in his lap. Even after his short moment of reprieve with Lucy during their little excursion, he was still unbelievable tired. He knew that if he sat still, he'd be claimed by the tug of sleep instantly. And the fact that he was lying in a half-inclined examination bed only made the pull of unconsciousness more intense. But he wanted to hear his diagnosis, and so he did all he could to keep himself awake, like tapping his fingers on his lap and refusing to let his eyelids fall shut by constantly shifting the subject of his focus.

With heavy eyelids half-lidding his eyes, he pursed his lips as his head lolled to the right.

In the bed next to him, Gray's eyes were scrunched tightly closed and his teeth were grit as his flesh and skin were regenerated by the healing ointment one of the medics had applied generously over the injury on his thigh. It seemed that even though the Amerans had a decent stock of medical supplies and tools, pain killers were something they'd run short of.

Lucy had curled up on the floor between their beds, the white fabric she'd secured over her nose and mouth to act as a mask gently puffing in and out with her heavy breathing as she let herself sleep some more.

Natsu had offered her his bed so she could sleep somewhere comfortable, but she'd refused, her soft voice barely audible over Erza's as the redhead reprimanded him for even daring to try and get out of his examination, even if that hadn't been his intention.

Finding no source of entertainment in Gray and Lucy, Natsu shifted his head in the other direction. He may not have been at all fond of the mechanic, but that didn't mean that he found amusement in watching him writhe in pain.

On the other side of his bed stood Erza, her arms folded over her chest and her lips pressed into a grim line as she waited to hear from the two Ameran girls who stood near the screen that was monitoring and scanning the drowsy pilot. Natsu vaguely recognized them both, though he'd seen them each only once before. The young teen with the pink hair who'd been caught in the grasp of the man he'd fought earlier had had her own injuries tended to and now she was looking him over. The other, blue haired girl had told him that she was there to translate for him and Erza, and while that seemed like a perfectly logical reason to him, even through his drowsiness he picked up on the way she would glance over at his raven haired crewmate every now and then, which gave him the idea that maybe she had other reasons for insisting on staying in the already crowded med bay.

With the state he was in, Natsu didn't really bother with trying to figure out the girls' names. He'd heard Gray refer to the blue haired girl by name several times since he'd made his way back down to the planet, but it hadn't really stuck in his head. His mind was too languid and muddled to be bothered with remembering things at the moment.

He'd realized whatever was plaguing him wasn't just regular and simple exhaustion when he'd awoken from his little nap in the ship he'd borrowed to take Lucy up to Ameri's central star and only felt more tired and heavy. Though, part of how crappy he'd felt could likely have been attributed to the panic that'd consumed him when he'd found out that nearly thirty minutes had passed. In his rush to get back to the planet as quickly as possible so as to avoid Erza's anger, he'd forgotten that Lucy's head had been resting in his lap, only remembering that the blonde was there when her head thudded against the floor after he shoved himself to his feet.

He'd immediately crouched down at her side and apologized profusely, but the blonde had just lied where she'd fallen, pressing a hand to the back of her head as she breathily laughed, obviously still half asleep.

Eventually, he'd managed to pull her to her feet, the blonde assuring him that she'd be just fine until they could return to their ship and set out once more.

What a sight the two of them must've been, both of them stumbling to their seats and fumbling to secure the straps across their shoulders and hips.

Understandably, Lucy had been a bit concerned about him piloting the space craft in his condition, but he'd assured her that he could pilot a dinky little ship like the one they were in now in his sleep.

And, true to his words, they'd made it back down to the compound just fine, though his landing definitely hadn't been his smoothest.

Erza was waiting for them in the hanger, and after briefly expressing her relief over Lucy's recovery, she'd demanded that they make their way to the med bay so Natsu could be looked over. He hadn't had much of a say in the matter as the redhead dragged him along, throwing him into the bed beside the one Gray already occupied once they reached destination.

There were at least another dozen people in the med bay, all getting patched up or treating others who had been hurt in the somewhat brief, but difficult battle for control. None of the Amerans were paying the four foreigners much mind, their presence getting lost in the hustle of tending to the injured and dragging the unconscious bodies of the Alliance loyalists into cells.

Natsu had heard bits and pieces of the situation as the blue haired girl explained things to Erza. Irritation and anger had briefly registered in his head when he learned that all of this had happened because the council sent him and Erza to the wrong place. He resolved that when he was all patched up and well rested, they'd definitely be getting a piece of his mind.

It was a simple mistake that could've easily been avoided, and now, because that mistake, he and Gray were injured, their jumper was gone, and Lucy had put herself at risk of being found out. He still wasn't entirely sure of what it was that she'd done to drive herself into such an energy-deprived state, but he knew that whatever it was, it'd probably drawn a lot of unwanted attention to her and her abilities.

He supposed they were lucky that so much else was going on in the compound, because no one seemed to paying the three-man crew and blonde any mind.

Well, except for the blue haired girl.

Her glances found the sleeping blonde every now and then, too, curiosity and suspicion in her eyes.

Natsu was more than well aware of the fact that they probably wouldn't be allowed to leave until they'd answered some questions, and all the pilot could do was hope that the blue haired girl would be the one put in charge of their fate. Gray had said that she was a friend, after all, and if his crewmate trusted her, then Natsu supposed he could, too.

The pink hair teen suddenly dismissed herself from his bedside with a few words in Ameran, and the blue haired girl was left to talk to them on her own. She read over the information on the screen a few times to get it in her head before she turned to the pilot, "It seems that you have acute respiratory distress syndrome."

Natsu stared at her in silence for a moment, his confusion due to both his exhaustion and the fact that he had no idea what the hell that was. His brows furrowed as he bluntly mumbled, "What?"

The blue haired girl let out a heavy sigh, "Basically, you nearly drowned, so there's a lot of fluid built up in your lungs. This leads to confusion and exhaustion, shortness of breath and rapid breathing, on top of a few other things."

Natsu shrunk into himself a bit, his gaze dropping to his lap, "Yeah, that…that sounds about right."

"You made it all worse by fighting," she reprimanded, "not to mention your other injuries. Apart from bruises, you agitated the old stab wound on your shoulder, you must've hit your head at some point, and your ribs took quite the beating."

Natsu didn't miss the guilt in Erza's eyes as her gaze briefly snapped to him following the blue haired girl's last words. His ribs had still been healing from that fight with the tentacle alien thing in their greenhouse, but CPR was also a pretty intense process that put a lot of pressure on the ribs. He had no doubt that whatever fractures had remained in his bones had been made worse by Erza's compressions on his chest.

But she'd saved his life, so of course he wasn't going to be upset or angry with her.

"And how do we treat all that?" Erza questioned, unable to keep the tinge of worry out of her voice.

"We'll hook him up to a ventilator to put some oxygen back into his body and force the fluid out of his lungs," the blue haired girl explained simply. "Chelia left to go find it. The rest can be taken care of pretty easily with ointments and reparation tools."

Natsu did his best to let out a relieved sigh with his aching lungs, glancing between both Erza and the blue haired girl for permission as he tiredly slurred, "Can I sleep now?"

For the first time, the blue haired girl gave him a little smile, as if she was amused by his drowsiness, "Yes. I'll tell Chelia to try not to wake you, but she'll back with the ventilator soon. Don't freak out if you wake up with a breathing mask on."

"Noted," he hummed, his eyes falling shut

Erza stared at him in silence for a moment as he quickly drifted off in the matter of only a few moments, the redhead content that her crew had been taken care of and Lucy was getting some rest after whatever it was that the blonde had pulled.

So as not to disturb her crewmates, her voice was barely above a whisper as she turned to the blue haired girl who was still lingering beside her, "Thank you. After all you and your people have been through, we never expected you to help us. But we're incredibly grateful, nonetheless."

"Of course," the girl nodded. She gestured in Gray and Lucy's direction with her head, "Those two helped us take control of the compound, and I don't think it's an over-exaggeration to say that we couldn't have done it without them."

Erza didn't miss the curiosity in the girl's gaze as she stared at Lucy for a moment, nor the way her features softened as she lifted her focus to Gray.

The blue haired girl gently cleared her throat and shook her head, her focus dropping to the floor for a moment, "Now that they're taken care of," she lifted her gaze once more, her previously soft and gentle features now resilient, "We have some things we need to discuss."

Erza nodded in understanding, her lips pressed into a thin line, "Lead the way."

Even though he'd been told that his flesh was healed, Gray was still tentative as he slowly pushed himself to his feet, careful not to step on the blonde that was still curled up on the floor by his bed.

He allowed himself a quick grin of relief when there was no pain, only the slightest twinge of discomfort and soreness in his leg, his fingers running over where the wound had rested to test the pull of movement on his newly formed skin.

He wouldn't have expected a people that seemed to be so deprived and in need of aid to have such advanced medicines and medical tools. But when he considered the fact that Ameri was primarily a mining planet, he supposed it made sense. Mining was by no means a danger-free practice, so it was understandable that they were equipped with the means to deal with whatever injuries befell them.

"How's your leg?"

Gray lifted his gaze to find Erza approaching their allotted corner of the med bay, her eyes briefly running over Lucy and Natsu's sleeping forms, the pink haired pilot's complexion already returning to normal beneath the breathing mask that ran over his mouth and nose.

"Almost completely healed," as if to prove his words, Gray sat on the edge of his bed and twisted his leg to show her the wound through the hole the blast had made in his pants, the visible flesh striped with different shades of red and pink. "It's still just a bit tender, but they said it'd heal without a scar if I kept using the ointment they're letting me take with us."

To say the least, he'd been surprised when the little pinkette that'd been tending to everyone in the med bay had shoved the jar into his hands. The Amerans were being incredibly kind to him and his crewmates by patching them up, especially when he considered the fact that he and his crewmates were originally supposed be the ones offering up supplies.

But he supposed things were already beginning to change now that the anti-Alliance Amerans had officially taken control.

Relief quirked the corners of her lips upwards for a moment before her smile faded, her lips pressing into a grim line as she started, "I sent a message to the council telling them about the deal you made."

The grin Gray had allowed himself faded from his features. He expected disappointment and anger in response, and that was just on Erza's part. She hadn't reacted much at all when he'd briefly told her about the deal during the short span of time Natsu and Lucy had been gone, her face emotionless as she simply listened and processed before giving her response, just like she'd been trained to do. But now she'd had time to think things through, and he wasn't sure if he could handle the onslaught right now, after all the stress he'd just been through.

His fears regarding the council, however, were much more severe. Even though he was still kind of afraid of Erza in some regards, he'd learned to cope with her anger and disappointment by now given the fact that he and Natsu were often subject to her raging emotions. But the council held a lot more power, and the control they held over his life was kind of terrifying. He'd pledged the council to some steep terms without consulting anyone, and for his rash actions, he could be put on probation and removed from the ship, or, even worse, he could be removed from the crew entirely and exiled from the council, which meant his entire livelihood would be gone.

Despite those thoughts, he wasn't one to be controlled by his fears, so he lifted his focus, ready to take on whatever Erza was going to dump on him.

He was taken aback when he found that instead of anger hardening her features, there was a gentle grin instead.

"I think you did the right thing," she affirmed softly, her voice quiet so that she didn't wake the two sleeping nearby. "Not contacting the council until everything was resolved was good choice. You might have done it to have a better chance at saving me and Natsu, but you also gave these people a chance at rebuilding their society in a way that they see fit. They've already lived enough of their lives under someone else's control."

"And…" his gaze fell back to the floor despite her reassurances, "…what did the council think?"

She let out a heavy sigh, leaning her hip against the end of Natsu's bed, "They weren't too happy about being denied access to the resources they were after, but I assured them that the time would come for them to trade with the people of Ameri fairly. I fought for your side. Our side," she corrected after a moment. "They're irritated, but that's about the whole of it. It doesn't seem like they're going punish us in any way, since there was a mistake on their end, too."

"Thanks, Erza," Gray sighed heavily, giving her a small, grateful small.

"I should be the one thanking you," she hummed before tacking on one last matter, "The council's going to send Jura Neekis with a small team sometime in the next week since we weren't able to deliver the supplies we lost. They're also going to reassess the situation here since it's obviously not what they thought it was. I met with Lyon, and he's willing to accept what the council's offering so long as they uphold the rest of the terms of the deal."

"Jura, huh?" Gray quirked a brow at the name of the council's top members, folding his arms over his chest as he bitterly huffed out, "Guess the council's more interested in this planet than they originally let on."

"You know why they are. It should be no surprise," Erza spoke low, casting a cursory glance around the room to see if they had any unwanted listeners.

It wasn't like they had to be discrete and secretive when they knew that the great majority of people in the compound didn't know English, but when they were talking about something that was so grim and intertwined with the fate of Ameri and its people, it was hard not to feel the need to be covert.

Gray let out a heavy breath, "And we're sure that the council is going to stick to the terms once they're here? It's not like they have much incentive to, given how little of a threat these guys are."

"They'll follow through," Erza reaffirmed. "They want the resources, but they don't have the manpower to spare nor do they possess the technology and knowledge they need to get them. Without its people, Ameri is useless."

The mechanic nodded to himself, content with the redhead's words. He was glad to know that things may work out for the Amerans, especially now that there was someone on the planet whom he considered a friend.

Gray's arms were folded over his chest and his lips were set in a glare as he stared across the way. His narrowed eyes were set on Natsu as the salmon haired boy told Lucy all of what had happened on his and Erza's end since they'd been shot down, which was really just a whole lot of sitting around in a cell with just a pinch of excitement at the end.

Unfortunately, the pilot already seemed to be back to his usual, exuberant, and ever-irritating self.

Despite the tale's lack of action, Lucy was still listening rather intently, though Gray had a feeling that she was doing so more to be nice rather than because she was actually enthralled. He noticed that her hands were nervously fingering the loose ends of the straps securing her in her seat next to Natsu, and he supposed she could also be using the pilot to distract herself from the fact that they were once again beneath an immeasurable amount of water in a ship whose walls were only a few inches thick.

He didn't know how she hadn't gotten over her fear yet when they'd practically walked across the ocean floor in nothing more than their EVA suits, but there was a lot about the girl that still remained a mystery to him. They weren't in the clear yet when it came to talking openly about what Lucy was though, so he resolved to hold off until it was just him and his crewmates alone with the blonde again, and then he could ask her all of the questions he'd been stowing away in the back of his head.

It wouldn't be long now until he had the opportunity to do so. An Ameran pilot was taking them back to the other compound so they could return to their ship and depart from the planet. It'd taken the mechanic a bit by surprise when Erza had told him that they were already being allowed to leave once Natsu was feeling well enough, and he figured that the redhead must've taken care of everything when she'd disappeared with Juvia earlier.

He was curious to know what all had gone on during this meeting Erza had had with Lyon and Juvia, but he wasn't getting any clues from the redhead. She was too preoccupied with watching Natsu like a hawk, even though the salmon haired pilot was functioning just fine now that his lungs had been cleared and he'd had a decent amount of sleep, along with the other work the Amerans had done to patch him up.

Juvia wasn't giving him any ideas about what had been said during that meeting either, the blue haired girl not whispering a single word more since she'd come to inform them that they could leave for the other compound any time they liked.

Gray cast a curious glance at where she was seated at his side, trying to gauge what had changed for her to be acting the way she was. She'd stuck close to him ever since they'd left the med bay, her hands shyly clasped in front of herself and her gaze devotedly attached to the floor.

He found her behavior odd given how passionate and determined she'd been during every interaction they'd had since they'd met, and though he didn't know her near well enough to judge her emotions based on her expression alone, he couldn't help but feel like something was wrong.

She'd been acting rather shy, so he cast a glance around the ship to see if anyone else was paying any attention to them before he started up a conversation. The Ameran pilot was focused on his duties, and after hearing a certain detail in the end of Natsu's story, Lucy had curiously asked Erza about her swordsmanship. That had set Erza off on one of her unnecessarily long and embellished monologues about the beauty of wielding a blade, and while Lucy was thoroughly intrigued by the redhead, Natsu spent his time trying to win the blonde over to his side, saying that talking about ships and piloting was a conversation that was far more worthwhile.

Finding that everyone else in the ship was focused on other things, he figured that Juvia would be more willing to converse since they likely wouldn't be heard by the others. So he turned to her, softly starting, "Hey. You okay?"

Her gaze shot up to his as if he'd surprised her, which he didn't know how he could have given how soft and slow he'd spoken.

"Yes, I'm fine," she answered quickly, turning her gaze away once more as if to hide her face from him. Her voice was barely audible as she softly and worriedly questioned, "Is…is your leg okay?"

"It's gonna be fine thanks to Chelia. That ointment works like a charm."

"That's good," she nodded her head softly, still not making eye contact.

He supposed she probably felt guilty for the fact that he'd gotten injured while protecting her, but it wasn't like there had been anything she could've done to stop him from getting hurt. She'd been busy fighting someone else, and he'd been the one to decide that tackling her out of the way was the best way to save her. If him being injured was anyone's fault, it was his own.

He cleared his throat as he shifted the topic, dropping his voice even lower and leaning closer to her, "You know that you can't say anything to anyone about Lucy, right?"

"I understand," Juvia nodded, keeping her voice quiet to match his volume. "Erza explained that if the Alliance finds out about her, they'll have the advantage if another war breaks out." She finally lifted her gaze back to his, nothing but honesty and sincerity in her voice as she pledged, "I'd never do anything that benefits the Alliance, and I'll never betray you guys for what you've done."

Natsu let out a heavy sigh as they all rounded the corner and their ship came into view, a feeling of home washing over him at the sight. He was looking forward to collapsing onto his bed once they'd jumped into FTL towards wherever they were heading next, even though he already felt much better after getting a few hours of sleeping and being treated by the Ameran medic.

His experience with the pink haired girl had made him come to a final decision on a thought that he'd had for a while now. He would definitely have to talk to Erza and the council about finding a medic to join their crew, because having someone who knew extensively about healing the body made the whole process of treating injuries a whole lot easier and more seamless than anything their ragtag crew of three was capable of.

Ready to move on from the planet, Natsu strode right up to their ship, standing still for a moment as he waited for Gray to lower the ramp of their ship using the band on his wrist. The mechanic was the only one that had such a device on him at the moment since Natsu and Erza hadn't brought theirs with them considering they hadn't thought they would need them on their mission.

But after a few moments of nothing, the pilot turned back around, finding that Lucy and his two crewmates had all spun around to face the blue haired girl that had been trailing behind them.

Oh yeah. This chick was still with them. Usually, there wasn't anyone to say goodbye to after missions, so Natsu been ready to leave without any farewells. But it seemed like this girl had been quite involved with the process of their rescue on Gray and Lucy's end. Even though he didn't have anything to say, he decided to stick around for the goodbyes, knowing that there was nothing for him to do on the ship so long as Lucy and his crewmates were still on the ground.

Gray's voice echoed around the hanger as he tentatively started, "So, this is it, I guess?"

Lucy took a small step forward, her mask puffing in and out in rhythm with her soft speaking, "All of the loyalists that I flash-blinded need to be gentle on their eyes for the next little bit. Their vision should be back to normal by now, but they were exposed to a lot of light out of nowhere in a place that was pretty dark, so their eyes will be sensitive to light for a while."

Natsu's brows furrowed. Did she say 'flash-blinded?' That certainly didn't sound too pleasant. And given that the blonde knew so much about the after effects on those that had been subject to it, he guess that she'd be forced to do such a thing before.

"We'll see to it that they're properly taken care of," the blue haired girl nodded and smile softly in gratitude for a moment before her expression shifted, her focus jumping to Natsu and her voice becoming heavier as she quietly started, "The guy you were fighting with…his name's Gajeel…no one can find him, and one of the ships in the other compound is missing."

Fire rushed through Natsu's veins. The bastard had gotten away. He shouldn't have let his crewmates convince him that someone else would find and capture the guy.

But, then again, he'd abandoned the fight to help Lucy, so he felt no regret, only frustration.

"The ship he took isn't capable of jumping into FTL," the girl continued, "and he didn't take any supplies with him, so he can't go too far. We've sent word out to the surrounding planets." Her gaze dropped to the floor, her voice overflowing with solemnity as she asked, "But by any chance, if you run into him…please tell him to come home."

"We'll watch out for him, Juvia," Gray earnestly pledged.

Ah, so that was her name. Natsu took note of the information.

Juvia nodded her head, her lips quirking in a small smile after a moment more of solemn silence, "Maybe the council's not as bad as I thought it was. Or, at least, the people that work there aren't." Her gaze traveled over all of them once more, settling specifically between Gray and Lucy as she sincerely spoke, "Thank you. We won't forget what you did for us."

A few more simple exchanges of good tidings were exchanged between the group of five, but Natsu didn't bother with making anything seem too sentimental or final.

The galaxy was a big place, but they'd probably meet the blue haired girl again, despite how unlikely it seemed. After all, tensions were high, and her planet held the resources to craft weapons of war. No matter how much Natsu hated the idea, he knew that in the coming years, they would probably need all of the weapons they could get.

"You landed the ship?!" Natsu hissed in response to the answer he'd received when he'd asked how the ship had ended up where it was, disbelief in his gaze as he stared at Gray, "How'd you manage that?!"

The mechanic shrugged nonchalantly, "Natural talent and ability? Fear of failure? Luck?"

Natsu pursed his lips as he swiveled in his pilot's seat, preparing the ship's systems for the transition from water to air as he reluctantly, but also somewhat smugly admitted, "Whale done, sir. Whale done."

Lucy spluttered out a quiet giggle from where she'd tucked herself into one of the spinny chairs off to the side of the bridge, and Erza's exasperation was practically audible in her heavy sigh.

Gray's voice was edging on irritation as he monotonously questioned, "Was that a pun?"

"Maybe."

"You're so fucking annoying," the mechanic growled as he sunk into a chair at one of the consoles on the edge of the bridge, on the opposite side as Lucy. The tone of his voice suddenly shifted to pompous, "You're also completely unnecessary, it seems. I was able to do your job just fine, but you don't have a snowball's chance at doing what I do. That means I'm better than you."

Natsu's focus immediately snapped to his rival in a glare, "You wanna say that again, ice princess?"

"Boys," Erza hissed as she set a hand on the back of Natsu's chair in warning, putting a stop to the fight before it could really even begin.

Lucy bit her bottom lip to contain her laughter as the two boys immediately shrunk into themselves, all thoughts of a fight obviously gone from their minds as Natsu lifted the steering yolk to guide the ship out of the water.

These three…she could definitely see herself getting used to and becoming friends with them. Natsu and Erza had been kind to her pretty much from the get-go, and she felt that with time, she could get Gray to soften up a bit, too. He was already significantly less harsh with her than he had been when they'd first met, and she was determined that the path she'd started down with him would only keep going, and, eventually, she'd earn his trust.

But…would they accept her in return? She didn't know exactly how long they'd been a crew of three, but maybe they didn't want that fact to change. And being her friend meant subjecting themselves to the all of the danger that she was already in, and she felt that the Alliance would stop at nothing to get her back.

If anyone were to die because of her…if Natsu, Erza, or Gray were to die, she wouldn't be able to forgive herself.

"Get ready to jump to FTL."

Lucy shook those thoughts out of her head as Natsu gave the warning, bracing her feet against where she'd pulled them up onto her seat and reaching out with both hands to grab onto a nearby console, just in case. During her month aboard their ship, she'd learned that jumping to FTL was sometimes coupled with a horrible lurch depending on where they were, and she knew that this jump was more than likely to have a little turbulence since they were departing from a place that had atmosphere.

Her eyes followed Natsu's hand as he wrapped his fingers around the thruster of the FTL drive, bracing herself as he shoved the thruster forward.

The blonde's eyes widened and her brows furrowed when there was a raucous noise that sounded like a mix of a hiss and a screech, the sound ending with a massive clunk.

Other than that, nothing happened.

The four all sat in silence for a moment before Natsu and Gray seemed to remember what was wrong at the same time, a curse slipping through the mechanic's lips while the pilot let out a little groan.

"Oh yeah," the salmon haired boy breathed, his hand still on the thruster as his head fell to clunk against the edge of his console and he miserably mumbled, "The engine room's still trashed."

AN

And thus marks the end of our beloved ocean puns…😢

Only resolution stuff this chapter, but we'll be right back into some excitement as we begin our next arc next chapter! Excuse me if I sound rather Marvel-ish while I write this, but: Juvia and Gajeel will return (one of them reeeeaaaalllly soon, too)

FTL means 'faster than light,' for those of you who don't know…idk if I've mentioned that before.

I uploaded the sketch of the ship to my deviantart since I wasn't sure where else would be accessible, so you can find me on there by the same username. The labels are kind of small in some places, but the resolution is pretty high, so you should be able to zoom in to read them more clearly. I also have a drawing of what the ship looks like from the outside, but I'm saving that for when we find out the ship's name 😉

Thank you so much for reading! As always, I'd love to hear your thoughts!