Chapter 11

Fairy Tail had flourished in the past decade. Master Makarov had passed leadership of the guild to Erza, who because the first female master in all guild history. Lucy was second in command to her and took great pride in her work. Happy had stayed with her every day, and she was grateful for the little blue cat. Several of the mages had come and gone, but all those that were there when Lucy joined were still around. Gajeel, to everyone's surprise, had lightened up a bit and was going steadily with Levy. Gray had finally admitted his feelings for Juvia and had somewhat gained control of his stripping habit. Romeo and Wendy were an official little couple and Mirajane and Laxus had hit it off and kept a close eye on the now-teenage couple. Erza was still waiting on Jellal to come to his senses.
Lucy hasn't seen him since that day. Erza couldn't find him anywhere.

She hasn't forgotten him either. She had just forgiven him, and had decided that should she see him again, she would just say hello and be on her way. She knew it wouldn't work that way, though. Happy wanted to find him and bite him for leaving.
Most of the guild wanted him back. Most, not all. Gray wanted him back, as did Levy and Gajeel. Juvia was still angry, even after ten years. Erza shared her sentiments, as did Mirajane and Laxus. Lucy didn't mind, but she was fairly certain that he wouldn't want to come back.

She was on a job, chasing after a rogue thief with Happy. The job had come from an annoyed mayor several towns away, and the pay for the job was enough to last the guild for months. Apparently this thief was no naïve teenager. Gray was waiting for her signal to blast the thief with ice. Erza was following from further behind for backup. Lucy chased the shadow over the rooftops, just keeping it in sight until she could get close enough to give Gray the signal. Before she could get that close, the shadow changed direction and leapt back over her head. She watched it as if in slow motion and caught a glimpse of green eyes. Happy launched himself at the figure from her shoulder and hit it square in the back. The thief gave a low, snarling cry of pain and pulled Happy away, throwing him back at Lucy. She caught the little exceed and put on an extra burst of speed. She recognized those eyes.
"Wait!" She called, trying to catch up to the thief. "I know you! Who are you?" The thief jumped to the next rooftop and stopped. She stopped as well, looking up at them. The figure kept its back to her, then sighed. Its shoulders slumped-well, one slumped. The other was already down. "Are you hurt? I can help you; just stop and let me help you." The thief tensed visibly.
"Happened a long time ago. Go away." He growled. Lucy frowned.
"But doesn't it hurt?"
"Not like it used to." His voice was rough, low. Almost as if he hadn't spoken in years.
"Why are you stealing?"
"Rather steal than get food for being cruel."
"Being cruel? What did you do that was cruel?"
"I hurt the girl I loved." His voice cracked and he darted away. Lucy ran after him.
"Wait! Please!" She cried. He stopped again, and this time she stopped a few feet away.
"Why aren't you calling them?" he asked bluntly.
"What?"
"Your friends. The black-haired guy and the redheaded chick. Why haven't you called them in yet? You've as good as caught me now." He bit out. Lucy frowned and stepped closer. She reached out and touched his left shoulder. He flinched and his shoulders tensed, but he didn't move away. Lucy walked around him so she could face him and she immediately noticed that his right arm was bandaged from his wrist to his shoulder. The black jacket he wore hung open and she could see that the bandages went across the side of his chest and partially across his neck. They looked worn and old.
"You're hurt," she murmured, "Badly. Did you get in a fight?" He took a step back and froze when she grabbed his bandaged wrist gently. "Let me see." He remained stiff, but didn't pull his hand away. She would have let him go and just captured him, but something about the thief drew her attention. She started to unwrap the bandage on his shoulder, pausing every time he winced. Finally it fell away and she gasped. His skin was discolored and blotchy. Patches of white and pink mixed with blackened, charred flesh and muscle and his tanned skin. She saw something that resembled a tattoo, but couldn't make out what it was. What bothered her, though, was that where the worst damage to his skin was, the injury was shaped vaguely like a hand. Like someone had branded him with a white-hot iron over and over. She unwrapped the bandages further down his arm and saw that the skin was pitted with smaller scars and scorch marks stretched down his arms. She took his other wrist and unwrapped it. His hand was scarred, and she could see minor scars from burns crisscrossing over older scars, like he'd punched something, like a window- "Wha-" He yanked his arm away from her and jumped off the rooftop. He looked up at her and spoke softly, just enough for her to hear.
"I want you to promise me something."
"What?"
"Don't come after me. I'll leave here, but don't come after me."
Lucy weighed her options.
"Fine." The thief looked down at the ground, then reached inside his jacket and pulled something out. He threw it up to her and she caught it. A light bundle rested in her hands. She removed the gray fabric from the object and gasped. His scarf sat in her hands, as white and warm as she remembered it. She looked back at the thief, who lifted his left hand and pulled his hood away from his face. He unwound the black scarf from his head and she gasped, tears filling her eyes.
Moonlight reflected off his hair, still the same pink as it had been the day he left. It was longer, not as unruly and spiky, but still the same. Happy sniffled and jumped down in front of him. He stepped back, away from the little exceed.
"N-Natsu?" Happy mumbled, disbelieving. The pink-haired mage crouched down and looked at the blue cat.
"Hey, Happy." The exceed gasped and threw himself into Natsu's arms, wailing. The dragon mage sat back on the ground and wrapped his good arm around Happy's shaking form.

"I-I thou-ught y-you wer-re gone for-r-rever!" Happy blubbered. Lucy jumped down and faced him, his scarf still clutched carefully in her hands. He looked up at her and met her eyes, tears rolling down his face. She took a few steps and knelt down, setting the scarf on the ground. He released Happy, who took a couple steps back. Lucy reached out and cupped his face, wiping the tears away with her thumbs. She pressed her forehead to his and closed her eyes.
"I forgive you, Natsu." She whispered. The softest sigh escaped him and he leaned forward, burying his face in her shoulder. She slid her arms around him and pulled him close.

He broke down. His hand slid into her hair and he cried. She just held him, rubbing his back with one hand and stroking his head with the other. Happy crawled into Natsu's lap and wrapped his paws as far around Natsu's middle as he could. She held him like that for a long time, and soon he fell asleep. She quietly summoned Cancer, who helped her move him to a nearby inn. She bought a room for the night and Cancer laid him down on the bed. Happy climbed up onto Natsu's stomach and curled up, falling quickly to sleep. Lucy called Erza and Gray on her lacrima screen. "Change of plans, guys. Thief is dead. I repeat, the thief is dead." A soft hmph from Erza and a grunt from Gray echoed their acknowledgement. "Find a spot to bunk down for the night and I'll meet you guys at the mayor's house tomorrow morning, 'kay?" Both of them agreed and the connection ended. She turned to the sleeping mage and exceed and sighed. Cancer studied her from his perch on one of the chairs in the room and commented softly. "Miss Lucy, you should rest. You look exhausted."
"Not yet, Cancer. I need to come up with an excuse as to why the thief is 'dead' and collect the reward. I don't want to subject Natsu and Happy to this again." She glanced at the sleeping pair, a soft smile slipping onto her features.
"Miss Lucy. I know you want to keep him safe, but he's now a wanted thief. He's an outcast of the guild, and-"
"He isn't an outcast, Cancer. He left." The spirit frowned, then nodded in understanding and returned to the spirit realm. Lucy stood and walked over to the bed, kneeling beside it and watching Natsu sleep. She had missed him, she realized. Missed him terribly. She brushed her fingers along his cheek, almost wishing that she were dreaming. Her gaze was drawn to his arm, and she frowned. His skin was so discolored; grey, black, brown, pink, red, and white mixed disparately. She could barely see the Fairy Tail guild mark; had she not known it had been there, she would never have seen it. She traced the imprint of his hand, where he'd clamped pure blue fire down on his skin, and shuddered. Her fingers continued to move, down his arm, tracing the burn marks. She reached his hand and closed her fingers over his, interlocking them. She lifted their joined hands to her mouth and pressed a kiss to his knuckles. "Natsu," she whispered softly. She knew he could hear her, even in his sleep.
"I forgave you a long time ago. Ten years, in fact." She smiled to herself. "Ten years…today." She remembered it. Gajeel had explained it to her and hugged her when she cried. "I was never angry at you, Natsu. I never hated you for it." She looked at her arms. The marks were still there, faded and silvery, just reminders. She bore them proudly, unafraid to show them to anyone. The scars were just silver lines that stretched across her forearms. When her skin had blistered, they'd had to cut the blisters open to prevent infections and serious scarring.

"I was just afraid that day. I knew you were angry, and I knew you were just being defensive, just being you, but I couldn't help my reaction. It hurt, really, really badly, and I was afraid if you touched me that I would burn again. I was just afraid, Natsu. You didn't mean to do it, and I didn't mean to make you think that. It's been ten years, and I never gave up on you. I wanted to find you, tell you this, and…"
She trailed off, holding back tears. "I…I wanted to tell you I love you. I love you, Natsu. I never stopped loving you then and I won't stop loving you now." She brushed her lips over his hand again, then stood, releasing it. "I just can't stay with you…" She woke Happy, who crawled into her arms like a child and went back to sleep. He understood that they couldn't stay. He'd made his peace with his friend. He knew that Lucy was ready to go, and he didn't argue. The sun was rising, and they had to meet Erza and Gray.
Lucy leant down, kissed Natsu once, gently, then brushed her lips over his forehead and went to the door. She looked back at his sleeping form, a sad smile gracing her features. "Goodbye, Natsu." She whispered. She closed the door behind her and left, leaving a small purse filled with jewels on the table. She left the inn, carrying Happy in her arms and Natsu's scarf tied securely around her waist.

She met her teammates and the mayor, explained that the thief had fallen, hitting their head on a chimney, and fell from the roof of a building into the water, and that few people could survive such a fall. Gray and Erza explained that they had searched and could only find the black scarf the thief had worn. They presented it to the mayor, who was delighted to hear that the thief was no more. He paid them double what had been originally offered and sent them on their way with enough food to last them the whole trip home.