*Disclaimer: I do not own the story or the characters from Fairy Tail, Hiro Mashima owns them.*

CHAPTER 10

Natsu woke up with the rays of the sun peeking through his ruffled salmon colored hair. He let out a low groan as he began to stretch his wary muscles, but then he stopped abruptly. He felt something on his right arm and shoulder. Peering over, he almost jumped. Lucy was snuggling against his shoulder and his arm; before he started stretching it, his arm must have been wrapped around her. He looked around, bewildered. They were in the forest next to a large stream. Their supplies lay on the other side of Natsu.

He heard a branch snap several hundred yards ahead. While slipping his arm out from under Lucy, Natsu looks up to see Gray and Erza walk into the small clearing. Natsu saw Happy's little form in Erza's hands. Natsu sat all the way up with his arms stretched out as Happy leaped from Erza's arms into his own.

"Hey little buddy." He smiled down at Happy. Happy looked up at Natsu, eyes full of tears. "Hey, it's all okay now." He hugged him tenderly, still smelling Happy's blood from under the bandages. "I'm sorry I had to throw you. I knew you could handle it.

Happy let out a small, "Aye . . S . . Sir."

Natsu looked up to Erza and Gray's blank expressions. He stared back confused. Gray put his hand over his face, looking exasperated and looked away. Erza's face started to get as red as her hair and her eyes seemed to be bugging out. Her gaze went back between Lucy and him. He glanced over at Lucy and finally saw how it looked. They both looked disheveled and exhausted and were practically snuggling under one blanket.

Natsu leapt up, away from Lucy, and put his hand behind his head. A small blush appeared on his cheeks. Happy, unaware of the present confusing situation, limped over to Lucy and nudged her with his small blue paw.

"N . . NATSU! WHAT WERE YOU D . . DOING WITH L . . LUCY?!" Erza stammered out, almost yelling.

"NOTHING!"

Gray stepped closer. "It didn't look like nothing!"

Natsu eyed him warily. He recounted the details in his head that had happened the night before.

"Lucy went unconscious and when I tried to wake her, I realized she was freezing. I pulled out the blanket, but that didn't seem to help. I couldn't build a fire in case it would attract the enemies' attention, so I pulled her in closer to me because of my higher body heat. Within minutes her shivering stopped." He didn't want to include that he was lulled to sleep by the sound of her soft breathing and intoxicating scent.

Gray looked unconvinced and Erza seemed to accept the story. Happy was still trying to wake Lucy. "Guys . ." Their attention turned back to the blue cat. "She's not waking and she seems to be getting cold."

Natsu rusheed to her side and puts the back of his hand over her cheek. She felt cold. Erza crouched on the other side and felt her forehead before looking seriously to Natsu. "We must return to the guild immediately." Erza grabbed Natsu's supply pack and stalked off westbound with Gray hesitantly following.

Natsu scoops up Lucy carefully and follows. Happy carefully flew and almost collapsed on Natsu's shoulder. Natsu looked over to him with concern. Happy sadly informed Natsu, "I think I sprained my wing when I landed."

Natsu leaned his head caringly against Happy's. "I'm sorry Happy." Happy tried to tell him it wasn't his fault but is lulled to sleep by the walking motion.

After walking a long distance, Erza stops before a clearing and set down Natsu's pack. She abruptly turned and faced Natsu. In a sweet and utterly unnaturally caring voice, she gently spoke to Natsu. "Natsu, you look exhausted, let's have you regain your strength. I'll carry Lucy and Gray can carry your pack."

Before Gray can utter a protest, Erza steps forward and carefully takes Lucy out of his arms. She then proceeds to turn towards Gray. "Gray, can you hold Lucy for just a minute?"

Natsu, confused, is about to ask what is going on until Erza steps away and he sees that directly behind her is a carriage. He feels his stomach churn and his face start to turn green. As he turns, preparing to protest against the transportation, everything goes black.

"ERZA!" Gray yells. "Why'd you knock him out?"

She swiftly turns around and plucked Lucy out of Gray's hands. "This will be easier to deal with on the way home." She hastily walked to the carriage and stretches Lucy out on one of the seats. Gray picks up the pack and drags Natsu behind him by the vest color with Happy slowly following. Gray propped Natsu on the seat adjacent to Lucy and sits down next to him. Happy climbs up on top of Lucy and lays next to her face.

The car lurches forward as Erza forces her magic into the machine to make it drive top speed. Gray struggles for the next 3 hours trying to keep everyone in the back in their own spots. Natsu ended up falling out of the seat so much, Gray laid him down and sat on the floor in between his two unconscious comrades. He had to repeatedly tell Erza to slow down or else she was going to run out of magic, he even offered to drive but she insisted on doing it herself. He put his back on Natsu's pack and let out a relieved sigh when Erza finally announced that they were in Magnolia.

Soon, they came to an abrupt halt in front of the Fairy Tail guild hall. Gray bounced out of the back and went to give Erza a piece of his mind about her driving until he saw her. Her whole body was slumped forward with her eyes closed and she was breathing hard. "Erza . . ." She warily looked over at Gray, giving him a weak smile. "You pushed yourself too hard. I told you I could have taken over for a while."

She lightly chuckled before slowly replying. "Oh, but that would have taken away precious time. Lucy needs to have medical attention."

"Gray! Erza!" They turned and saw Mira walking towards them from the guild with a slow trail of the members following. "Did you find Natsu and Happy?" She paused for a second before asking, "That is where you went right?"

"Yea. We found them." Gray replied shortly, looking back to the door that sat slightly ajar.

Mira looked around slowly. "Did . . Did Lucy go with you?"

Gray clenched his fists and looked down. Erza glanced around at the guild members starting to mill around the vehicle. "She's in the back. Can someone please send for the master and we need Wendy as well." Her gaze stopped as she saw Lisanna standing in the guild's doorway with guilt and uncertainty.

Warren used his telepathy to contact the master and Wendy as Mira slowly made her way towards to doors of the vehicle. She gasped. "What happened?!"

Gray walked over to where Mira was gaping. "It's a bit of a long story . ."

Mira looked at Gray. "Is Lucy okay?"

"We . .We don't know. She's been unconscious since we found her and Natsu."

"What about Natsu?"

Erza slowly slid off of the front seat. "I knocked him out to help with his motion sickness."

Mira's worry seemed to lighten by then. Gray stepped in and carefully carried Lucy out while Elfman scooped up Natsu. Happy jumped into Erza's arms and they walked into the guild. Erza watched Lisanna's horrified face as she saw everyone being carried in and soon disappeared. She felt bad for the young girl, knowing that she clearly must be blaming herself for this.

I hope you all liked this chapter, I really don't want Lisanna to be made out as a bad character. She is just a young mage who not only wanted to spend some time with a childhood friend, but to earn some independence from her overbearing and overprotective siblings. I will try to add more about that in a future chapter.