The nightly walks had become so habitual to Wendy, she now found herself practically nocturnal. On Fairy Tail's rowdier nights, she would simply wait longer before setting out, not wanting to encounter any members. Despite her hope that the time to herself would cool her temper and nerves, the lack of contact only served to deepen her resentment, as it was left to only boil inside of her with no refuge. She had a strong desire to march into the guild and prove herself, but was too embarrassed by her actions to follow through; a particularly ridiculous notion, as most members were oblivious to her plight.

She had long since memorized the streets since her initial walk. So well, in fact, that she could complete it without an ounce of her heightened senses, and blindfolded to boot. The nights in Magnolia were monotonous, never changing. The only thing that ever varied was the amount of time she'd spend each night, which was not a particularly exciting change.

The monotony muddled her mind, so when something finally happened, the switch into overdrive had her stumbling in shock. A scent had caught her attention via a rare gust of wind and hit her full-force out of the blue. Had it not persisted, she would have sworn it was her imagination, because what she had just smelled was impossible, wasn't it? What would Lucy be doing, wandering these streets so late at night? Had the long-lost blonde escaped whatever had been holding her—had she finally, after all of these years, come home? It seemed an impossible dream.

After a moment of stilled shock, Wendy dared to follow the scent, albeit slowly. As she moved, her muddled mind fought to conjure an explanation that would counter her hopefulness. Even so, not one of her halfhearted conclusions came close to what she discovered at the end of her trail. Kicked aside over the curb of the street, sitting in the gutter, was a relic now infamous in the Fairy Tail guild, belonging to their newest member.

Wendy reaches for the doll unthinkingly, turning left and right as if she would see the little girl nearby. Pausing in her position just inches from the doll, she was surprised to see no trace of Nashi, or rather, surprised to see the doll abandoned. Wendy had been under the impression that the doll and daughter were inseparable. As her mind was steadily clearing, Wendy was also overwhelmed by the realization that such a strong, persistent scent was coming from a mere doll. The Sky Dragon Slayer has always supposed that the smell came from Nashi, as it had always been on her hip if not in her arms. And yet, even more shocking was the revelation that, separated from Nashi, it was without question: the scent now was 100% genuine Lucy Heartfilia.

Wendy's heart began it's descent into her stomach as she considered the facts. Thanks to her dragon's senses, she was well aware that people's scents never linger for long, so the indisputable fact that it stuck to such a doll that Lucy had never even held was more than troublesome. And another thought—did Natsu know? He must have. That must be why he was so distant to Nashi. Wendy considered that she might take it to Master Laxus, or perhaps Makarov would know what to do in this situation, but—wait, weren't they away? Having kept her distance from the guild, she wasn't sure. With her reluctance to go and the late hour what it was, she decided not to bother. Maybe . . . maybe she should take the doll to Porlyusica? But alone in the night, Wendy shook her head as if to shake away the mere thought of it, Porlyusica's previous "Get out," echoing in her head. What other options did she have, though? Maybe, in spite of everything—their fight, her embarrassment—she should ask Romeo what he thinks she should do . . .

Standing there in the dimly lit street with no one else around, Wendy relapsed into all of her negative feelings. She wanted to prove herself. Screw everyone else. She could figure this out. She was no failure. She would succeed, and without anyone else's help. Or were they all forgetting who she was? She was Wendy Marvell, Sky Dragon Slayer and perfectly proficient in healing magic. That one mistake on her last job didn't mean anything. Nope. Nothing at all. And Wendy was going to prove it.

With her new suspicions regarding the doll and misguided determination, Wendy grabbed it in her clutches, immediately going to brush off the dirt from the street. As she did so, she felt something stirring from the object in her hands. She had never picked it up before today. Could it be? Was that even possible?

She reviewed the facts. Nashi was no healer, so she wouldn't sense this. She didn't have the magic to call on Lucy's stronger, smarter spirits, nor did she share the same bond with them. Any information that any of the spirits might've had was unattainable if she couldn't casually summon them. And Nashi didn't have the nose of a dragon slayer, either. There's no way she could sense the resemblance. Her inclination to steal the doll was simply because it appeared to look like her mother. That made sense.

What didn't make sense was why such a doll even existed in the first place.

And another thing. This doll came from a magic shop, did it not? She struggled to remember Nashi's story. Wendy grew frustrated that she hadn't stuck around to greet Natsu when he'd returned the other night instead of storming out. With the doll in her hands radiating subtle signs of life, she now craved to know if he'd found any new information while away. Being Natsu, she was certain he must've found something of value or he wouldn't have returned. Even so, if he'd known about the doll, why wouldn't he take it? Then again, he didn't have her healing abilities, so that couldn't be it. So the question begged, what could it possibly be?

Caught between all of this and the outrageously familiar smell still assaulting her senses, Wendy worked her way to an old building out on the edge of town, where she might have some privacy. It was abandoned, just at the edge of the woods. She and Romeo had discovered it ages ago, and there they would occasionally rendezvous. Considering this and the fact that he was currently out of town, Wendy was confident it would be empty and available for what she was about to do.

After making her way into the small abandoned building and locking the door behind her, the young healer of Fairy Tail headed to a backroom, where she knew a bed would be waiting for her. She laid the doll onto the bed, handling it much more gingerly than she imagined Nashi ever had because of her newfound theory. Once the doll was situated with plenty of space surrounding it, the dragon slayer craving to prove herself and drowning in self doubt and determination immediately went to work.

Wendy stood over the doll for an innumerable amount of hours, casting a wide variety spells in the hope that some might catch and maintaining a steady stream of magic energy in an attempt to infuse some energy into the doll simultaneously. She was still working when she fell over, utterly exhausted and depleted. Without Carla present to pace her, she fell to the floor unconscious, and the floor is where she stayed as the moon cycled over repeatedly. Because of her recent frequent absences from the guild, no one knew of her location or suspected her to be missing. Added to that, Romeo was still on his job, and no one else knew of their abandoned hideaway hidden on the edge of town. There was no one who would find her to help her recover, so she slept for a whole four days before finally waking on her own. Her eyes took their time blinking open, adjusting to the daylight that leaked through the small window. Her blue hair was in unusual disarray and her magic energy was completely and utterly drained. It would take quite a while to properly replenish.

The young woman's memory of the events leading up to her small coma was foggy, so Wendy's breath hitched as her eyes landed on the bed and she barely managed to catch herself from falling right back over. It was all she could do to stare at the dull blonde hair falling from the pillow. The dragon slayer moved her gaze from the top of the blonde head, sweeping over the pale skin and malnourished physical frame that followed. Her eyes followed the gentle rise and fall of the chest, down to the faded pink insignia on the top of the figure's hand.

Her clothes were the same, down to the blue ribbon in her hair. It was simultaneously astounding and terrifying. Wendy almost couldn't believe it. She had done it. She had found Lucy Heartfilia. And she had healed her. She might have stood for minutes, or an hour, simply staring at her sleeping friend, both of them completely immobile. And then it happened, like a snap. Realization dawned, and Wendy found herself overwhelmed with the sudden urge to cry. The tears poured as she hunched over Lucy, their Lucy, ecstatic that she was here and breathing and alive. Because she was—breathing, alive. All of the negativity that had been plaguing Wendy was dismissed in a flash, and she suddenly couldn't care less of her past mistakes. She just had to tell someone! Oh, she had to tell Natsu. Immediately, as soon as possible, she's got to race to the guild now, but—should she leave Lucy?

The fact was that Wendy, though she had woken up, was much too exhausted to carry Lucy to the guild, and also afraid of hurting her from the movement. Lucy's body was frail in the bed. On one hand, Wendy was reluctant to leave when Lucy's health could take a turn for the worse at any instant. On the other, how long would it be before someone came looking for her? Again, Romeo, of course, was still on his solo job, and her visits to the guild hall had been short and infrequent. On top of all of that, Carla was probably worried about her. Wendy herself did not know how long she'd been out, and she hadn't exactly brought any lacrima with her. When she had left her room, it had been with the intention of a mere nightly walk; a few hours, tops. But then again, they knew she was acting temperamental. On top of that, her guildmates knew she could—at least more often than not—take care of herself. It was doubtful that they would send out a search party. Not like if she'd been on a job.

Squaring her shoulder with another look at the blonde in the bed, Wendy marched off to the Guild hall, intent on finding someone. Anyone.

Erm, probably Natsu.

And when she did, she couldn't help her smile.

It was about midday, Wendy deduced on her walk over. It had been quite a while since she had deigned to go out in daylight, and it felt good on her skin. The sun itself was shining bright in the sky, warming the streets. It was plenty late enough for Natsu to be causing his usual ruckus. Stepping into the guild affirmed that he was, but he was also doting all over Nashi, who—contrary to how Wendy would have expected the girl to act after losing her doll—was ripe with smiles and energy and infectious laughter. A quick look around told her all of her guild mates were smiling at the two, suddenly a loving father and daughter. Some, like Gray, wore smirks on their faces, but others like Mira were smiling ear to ear. Still, joy hung heavy in the air. It was a well welcome atmosphere.

Wendy waited as Natsu held Nashi up over his head, running around to simulate flying and surprising her with occasional spontaneous flips. The Sky Dragon Slayer was helpless to do anything but watch. Natsu just looked so happy.

"Good to see you, Wendy," Mira cheered from her place behind the bar, beckoning her over. After a scrutinizing look, Mirajane observed, "You look tired. Are you feeling okay?" Wendy's smile slipped a bit from her face as the younger girl faced suspicion sooner than she was prepared for. Leave it to Mira to notice everything. Wendy clutched her messy blue ponytail nervously as her eyes strayed away from the takeover mage. In truth, she hadn't payed a single thought to her appearance, but she was paying for it now.

"I'll be fine, I'm just tired from training." Close enough to the truth. Eyes straying back to Natsu, she asked "How long have they been like that?" Part of her question was out of genuine curiosity; the two had certainly not been so close during her last visit. The other reason she asked was to redirect Mira's attention.

"Arent they adorable? It's been at least a week, now. They've actually been getting closer since Natsu returned, but then Nashi disappeared overnight, and the two of them showed up together the next day, all over each other. I'm not entirely sure what happened, but I'm happy for them. It's really about time. And she's even staying with him now." They both turned their attention to watch as Natsu slowed to a stop, setting Nashi down once Storm appeared at his feet. Ever since Natsu accepted Nashi, her grudge against Storm had completely disappeared, much to the relief of the young boy. As they ran off to play on their own, Wendy excused herself as she approached the now-alone Natsu.

"Hey, Natsu?" She greeted, frowning slightly when her words came out more like a question. Her nerves were returning, it would seem. Evidently he either didn't notice or didn't care as he turned to face her, the biggest grin stretched across his cheeks.

"Hi Wendy! How ya been?" But even his newfound love for Nashi didn't dull his senses for long. before she could work out an answer for him, he countered with more questions.

"You look a little sick. Are you okay? Or—wait." Natsu narrowed his eyes and sniffed the air, looking around the hall before zeroing back in on Wendy, who was beginning to sweat. He lowered his voice, but could not keep out the accusatory tone as he asked her, point blank, "Why do you smell like Lucy?"

Cue slight panic. The young woman was temporarily stunned into silence.

After a brief moment of consideration on Natsu's part, he concluded that she must have found his daughters missing doll, though further inspection quickly proved that impossible, as he didn't see it on her person. Maybe she had it in her room? He thought that was probably it, the smell was too faint anyway now that he thought about it, she could return it to him later—

But for all that she was, Wendy was no mind reader. Regathering her courage, she told him all that she was willing to let slip in the crowded guild hall.

"I think… Maybe you'd better come with me, Natsu."

"To Fairy Hills? No thanks. You can bring us the doll later, Nashi's actually been pretty okay—"

"I don't have the doll in my room!" She exclaimed, before calming herself. Her nerves were quite a bit frayed. He looked at her oddly, unprepared for her outburst. "Come with me, Natsu." Wendy's tone turned unexpectedly serious and she was practically pleading at him now. "Please."

Somewhat stupefied at Wendy's behavior, Natsu nodded along, shouting to Gray to keep a close eye on his daughter until he got back. His curiosity was killing him as he trailed behind Wendy throughout most of Magnolia, only getting more and more intense, and her refusal to answer any of his questions just boggled him further. No, her weird behavior certainly was not helping.

They finally stopped outside of a small, slightly decrepit building in daylight, shrouded by a thin layer of trees. It looked to be abandoned, but as a gust of wind blew by, Natsu caught Lucy's scent even stronger than it had been before. Nashi was at the guild though—so why? The pink haired dragon slayer was overwhelmed by a fierce feeling stronger than his curiosity, one he could not seem to name. In true Natsu fashion, he slammed through the door, impatient enough with Wendy to let her even unlock and open it, and followed his nose to a room on the opposite side.

Wendy took stock of the situation as he stopped in the bedroom doorway. Neither spoke, and neither moved. Natsu could only stare at the figure in the bed, and Wendy, still outside by the front door, could only stare at him.

"Wendy," he rasped, breathless. "What have you done?"

It was all a blur from there.

She woke up to a variety of voices. Two were feminine, only one of them distinctly so, and while they both spoke quietly, the one male voice in the room was loud and clear, lacking the consideration for the sole seemingly-sleeping occupant of the room. She was confused and disoriented, and couldn't quite make our their conversation despite the volume. All of their words sounded jumbled. As she laid quietly on her bed, eyes still closed, pounding surfaced in her head, growing stronger in record time. Her head was in so much pain that she almost failed to register the aching in her limbs. Once she did, she released a small groan, alerting the room to her discomfort. All conversation immediately ceased around her and Lucy belatedly realized that it wasn't just her limbs. An odd mix of pain and numbness plagued the entirety of her body. Of course, she had not yet opened her eyes, and the other occupants of the room were left trying to work out whether or not she was awake.

Natsu stopped himself mid-speech the moment he heard the small noise emit from Lucy's lips and stared at her. While her vital organs seemed in working order, that was the first sign of life she had granted them since Wendy's . . . discovery. He had stayed by her side constantly and stubbornly, ignoring Porlyusica whenever she rotated in to take over for Wendy. It had been days since they had fetched the cranky old woman, and she was the only one they'd told. Now it was the three of them with Lucy in the room. After a moment of static silence, Wendy called out to her tentatively.

"Lucy?"

It was the distinctly feminine voice that broke the silence, but Lucy couldn't make out the short word. The pounding in her head continued to increase, and her body felt wrong. Foreign, almost. The fact that she couldn't name the feeling, even with her usually extensive vocabulary, frightened her. She had to clear her mind. Deep breaths.

More easily said than done, though. When she attempted to breathe in deeply and found she couldn't, she began to choke on air—and the accompanying panic certainly did not help the matter. Her eyes flew open through the shock of it as the poor blonde struggled to breathe normally.

Almost immediately the three people watching her flew into action, Porlyusica rushing out to fetch a potion and Wendy helping Lucy into a proper position that would help her breathe more easily. Natsu was hanging over the bed, desperate to help and uncertain how. He settled for resting his hands on either side of her face, moving them to brush back her hair as the blonde settled back, sitting up now.

Lucy's eyes widened as she registered hands touching her back and head. Though her vision remained fuzzy and unfocused, the sudden onslaught of human contact after so much time deprived of it sent chills through her body, despite Natsu's natural heat. Her foggy mind was consumed by disbelief, but she could feel their skin on hers. It was an overwhelming sensation.

The revelation that she had skin again almost sent Lucy into a full-blown anxiety attack. It took minutes to calm her, Wendy persistently rubbing slow circles into her back and Natsu speaking words to her in a soft voice that didn't suit him.

Despite taking her time, she eventually began to calm down. Just slightly, but enough to stop shaking and focus her gaze ahead of her. Finally she took in her surroundings, or what she could see of them. White walls reflecting sunlight from the window filled her peripheral, disturbed only by shelves of colorful bottles which seemed to glow in the light of the room mixed with her tired vision. Most of the room was blocked though, and as she focused her vision, the dark shape in front of her began to take form. There was a head, maybe about a foot away, and covering its eyes sat a familiar pile of pink. Thoughts still jumbled, Lucy mumbled out the only name that made sense to her in a cracked voice, rough from disuse and almost too quiet to hear. If not for their elevated dragon senses, the two others in the room may have missed it.

"Na…shi…"

Wendy's hand stilled on her back as she debated on what was best to say. Natsu raised his face to hers and moved closer, finally succeeding at catching her eyes.

"Hey, Lucy, hey. She's okay." His voice was louder this time, filled with wonder and what he hoped was reassurance. She was okay. Lucy was okay. She was alive, and she was awake, and she was here, and hearing her voice, disfigured as it was, is what made it clear. Natsu wanted to sing.

And then Lucy realized two things. Though she still couldn't grasp their words, the voice that emerged from below that pink hair was masculine, and after a moment of looking into his dark eyes, she understood. The realization that she was lying with Natsu in front of her—the Natsu she had been missing for years—is what sent her over the edge.

Her throat restricted. She couldn't breath properly. It felt as though someone had her whole upper body in a vice grip and kept squeezing tighter and her heart beat out of control. She still couldn't summon strength in her arms in order to wrap them around herself and that only served to terrify her further. She was too numb. She was in pain, and she couldn't move. It was all she could do when she cried out, and once she started, the sobs and tears simply wouldn't stop. In the end, Lucy cried herself to exhaustion with Wendy and Natsu virtually helpless at her sides, and fell off into sleep.

Neither of them could quite come up with something to say. Porlyusica had returned, of course. The older wizard was busying herself by tending to Lucy's pain, trying to ease her burden as she laid unconscious. She shook her head at the utter uselessness of the others in the room as they sat in a heavy haze of shock, relief and concern. But what could she do? Two great Dragon Slayers, sure. But evidently they were not so great with words. Before leaving the older healer sighed heavily, catching their attention as she moved to the door. After instructing them to give her space if she woke, and not to dare ask her questions, the woman made herself scarce.

It was late when Wendy called Natsu's name. Or early. Neither of them quite knew. And Lucy had not woken again.

"Natsu," Wendy repeated. He'd barely moved an inch since Lucy fell back asleep, just remained slumped in a chair and staring at her with unfocused eyes while Poryusica had done her work. "It was a panic attack. There's a good chance she doesn't know how she got here." She paused for a response, but Natsu continued to say nothing. "It's been two months of lost time for her, and its hard to tell what state her body is in until she can tell us."

She stared at him imploringly. Nothing. "I think… I think Lucy wasn't expecting to see us. If she really didn't experience the last two months at all, there's no rhyme or reason. For how she got here, or why she feels however she might feel. I think it might be best, or easier at least, if we… well, maybe we should bring Nashi."

At the sound of his daughter's name, Natsu did not look at Wendy, but instead buried his head in his hands. His sister-figure watched as he dropped his head deeper in his lap, running his hands up through his hair and then pulling tightly at the ends. He heaved his breath loudly before finally, finally shifting his gaze to the younger girl.

It took another, albeit shorter, moment before he said "No." Thankfully after a glance back at Lucy, he elaborated:

"Nashi doesn't know that Lucy was actually her doll. She might not understand why her mother doesn't remember the past two months with her, if that's even it. Or she might ask difficult questions, or if Lucy's not okay, I don't want to do that to her." His words left his mouth so clearly that Wendy inferred he had been brooding over this for a while. She almost didn't pick up on the slight break in his voice.

Natsu did not specify who 'her' was referring to. Wendy suspected that he meant both his daughter and Lucy, even if he wasn't sure himself.

"I'm happy she woke up," He continued, unbidden, "But I'm worried. Why didn't she move, or breathe, or… recognize me?" And suddenly Wendy could recognize that foreign emotion she heard in his voice. It was a whole new kind of heartbreak.

Though she doubted that he would respond well, Wendy spoke the next words that came to mind with conviction.

"You should go, Natsu." The look he shot her once those words slipped out was outraged, crazed, and accusing, but she cut him off before his retaliation. "I think you need to see Nashi. And she'll be missing you too, I bet. She just got you. And she's still little. Don't deprive her of both of her parents, okay?"

This clearly hadn't occurred to him, if his reaction was any indication. He stood, mouth agape with no words leaking out, before walking over to Lucy where she lay on the bed. He leaned over, careful not to touch her in fear of causing her pain, and brought his face to the side of hers. His whispered words were so low, even Wendy's sensitive hearing could not pick up on all of them. But she heard his resolve in his last two words before he righted himself, moving toward the door before disappearing back out into the rest of the world.

Despite the situation, the young woman pulled on her ponytail and smiled once the door closed, leaving her to continue to watch over Lucy. The words of her idol and self proclaimed brother lingered in her ears.

I promise, he'd said.

And Wendy never knew him to break a promise.

I know the mystery of the missing women just started, but it's gonna be taking a backseat. Surprise! Not well edited, so if you see mistakes feel free to let me know. Next chap we're gonna see how okay Lucy really is. How long do you think they can keep it under wraps? It's not like Wendy and Natsu are the only dragon slayers in the guild.

I love hearing what you all have to say! and thanks for the favs and follows, it's kind of wild and means a lot!