Lucy ate her soup slowly as she sat at the table with everyone else. She tried to follow along with all the conversations that were going on around her, but it was a little difficult. She kept her eyes on the top of the table most of the time, since she would catch them looking at her every now and then. Jellal and Cobra had been wholly surprised when they'd returned to the house and seen her awake and staring back at them. She was shocked at how much they seemed to care and how relieved Jellal seemed to be. She didn't think she'd ever really spoken to the man much before. She wondered if he'd told Erza yet. She had a strong urge to talk to her red haired friend. Erza could be so hard on herself, even when it wasn't her fault, and she had been able to see the pain in her eyes when the woman had looked after her a few times. She also wished she could see Gray and Natsu... but Gray never came to see her and Natsu... Natsu was gone now. She frowned as she thought about them. She missed them all so much, but she wasn't even sure if she could hold a full conversation with them, or they might not understand that she wasn't fully operational yet, as she liked to think of it.
"Is the food alright, miss Lucy?" Freed asked from beside her, noticing that she'd stopped eating.
She slowly turned to him and nodded with a faint smile, trying to ignore how they all tried to inconspicuously look at her.
He leaned towards her to whisper to her. "Do you need anything? Would you like to return to your room?"
She swallowed thickly as she looked at him. He was so eager to help her, it made her heart beat faster. "I want..." she frowned as her voice tried to cut out on her. Freed placed a hand on her knee, encouraging her to take her time. "E-Erza."
Freed gave her knee a gentle squeeze and looked up to ask Jellal, but the man just nodded at him and excused himself from the table. He sighed through his nose and turned back to the blonde girl beside him. "She will be here soon, miss Lucy."
She swallowed thickly, and spoke slowly. "Thank you." Erza would be here soon. There were so many things she wanted to talk to her about, and yet she could only think of one thing to say, but would it be enough? Could she keep her from being hard on herself with just a few words?
Evergreen's chewing slowed when she noticed the blonde girl across the table. Her expression was blank, much like recently, and it sent an unpleasant shiver through her. Swallowing slowly, she asked with trepidation, "... Lucy?" All eyes snapped to the girl in question, Freed's eyebrows scrunching when she didn't seem to have heard Evergreen.
"You okay, blondie?" Laxus asked softly, his food long forgotten as uneasiness washed over him. She look eerily similar to how she'd been before she woke up.
Freed placed a hand on her knee and leaned in to whisper in her ear. "Miss, Lucy? Are you alright?"
Lucy blinked as her eyes refocused, acutely aware of his breath on her ear. She swallowed thickly and nodded. She heard the table collectively sigh in relief, and she blushed in embarrassment. "S-Sorry."
"Oh, no worries, Lucy." Evergreen sighed out as she waved her hand. "We're just glad our favorite girl is okay." And shit were they ever. Cobra had been listening the whole time, so he'd already known she was fine, but Bickslow had been sweating under his visor.
Lucy's eyes dropped down and to the side, her cheeks red as she felt the familiar burning of tears behind her eyes. Lexus was about to go over to her, but stopped when Freed leaned into her again. With a sigh, he continued eating, Freed had it under control, even though all he wanted to do was wrap her in a big bear hug. "Would you like to go upstairs?" Lucy heard Freed's smooth voice in her ear, and after a moment of hesitation, she nodded, her lower lip trembling in disappointment in herself. Without question, Freed gathered Lucy in his arms and stood up from his seat. They all watched with frowns on their faces as the two disappeared up the stairs, but they all knew she wouldn't be better in a day, no matter how badly they wanted her to be.
There were about half as many faces as Jellal was used to seeing when he slipped through the Fairy Tail guild doors. He instantly sought out the two heads of hair he wanted to see, and upon deciding who to go to first, he made his way over. He noticed a few eyes widen as he walked close to the wall, but no one made his presence known, to which he was grateful. He frowned as he got closer to the lone table Erza was sitting at. She didn't even notice when he was standing right beside her, absent-mindedly chewing on a piece of cake with her eyes unfocused on the table. "Erza," he spoke softly.
She inhaled a crumb in shock, immediately succumbing to a coughing fit. Jellal's eyes widened and he sat down to pat her back. As her coughing began to calm down, she glanced at him out of the corner of her eye, her entire face reddening in embarrassment. "J-Jellal... what are you doing here?"
"Well, first of all, are you okay?"
"Y-Yes." She turned her head to the side and let out a small cough. "I'm fine."
He smiled at her in amusement and grabbed her hand, placing a kiss on the back of it. Her head whipped around to stare at him in surprise. "Also..." he rubbed the back of her hand with his thumb. "Lucy's awake."
"What do you mea-" her eyes widened in realization, "she's awake?"
He nodded. "And she's asking for you."
Her eyes immediately hardened and she shot up out of her seat. "Then I must go to her at once."
"Wait, Erza." He grabbed her arm before she could run off, and stood up to face her. "Freed and Laxus got injured last night, I need to ask Wendy if she'll come too."
"Jellal, what happened?" Erza's eyebrows scrunched in concern.
"I'll tell you everything on the way." He reassured as he gave her arm a gentle squeeze then made his way towards Wendy.
Erza closed her eyes for a moment, a hope igniting inside her that felt almost foreign as of late. When her eyes opened, they landed on a severely solemn Gray on the other side of the guild, a downcast Juvia beside him. With a frown, she made her way over.
"Gray."
Said man looked up when his redheaded teammate approached the table. "Hey, Erza."
"Juvia, would you mind excusing us for a moment?" Erza asked as she sat down.
Juvia puffed out her cheeks, restraining herself before she nodded. "Okay."
Erza leaned on her elbows as Juvia got up and went not too far away. Gray ran a hand through his hair and started unbuttoning his shirt, he had a feeling he wasn't gonna enjoy this conversation. "Gray... have you been to see Lucy?"
Gray sighed through his nose and looked to the side, clenching his jaw as he shook his head. "No."
Her eyebrows creased, her voice growing soft as she leaned forward slightly. "I think she'd want to see you."
"Erza, I..." he huffed and grabbed the back of his head, his forehead almost touching the top of the table. "I've seen her get hurt more times than I ever thought I would, but this... I don't want to see her like this, not when there's nothing I can do about it."
"I understand." And she really did, seeing Lucy for the first had almost broken her. "But, Gray... she has to get used to this even more than we do. She needs to know that she's going to be okay." He didn't respond and she didn't push it any further. "Jellal just told me that she's awake. We're going over there now and I think you should come."
He stared at her with wide eyes. "She's awake?"
Erza nodded, wanting to smile from the excitement building inside her, but also not wanting to get her hopes up. "I don't know much more than that, but he said that she was asking for me."
He could see a small sparkle in her eyes and he was glad for it. "Erza... I will go see her, just... not today."
She frowned as his eyes fell to the table once again, and with a sigh she stood up. "Whenever you're ready." He'd always been one to brood, so she would let him take it at his own pace. She wouldn't let him avoid Lucy for too long though. Spotting Jellal and Wendy at a secluded table, she made her way over. Her heart ached at the expression on the young dragonslayer's face. She stopped beside the girl and put a hand on her shoulder. When her sad, doe eyes peeked up at her from under her dark blue bangs, Erza gave her a small smile. "Let's go see her." Wendy nodded, and the three of them made their way out of the guild.
Once they were outside, Jellal spoke to them both. "I must warn you, she doesn't seem to be completely functional yet."
"What do you mean?" Erza frowned.
"This is her first day being able to move again," he responded. "I'm sure you can imagine."
"Has she been healed by magic yet?" Wendy asked, eyes shining with resolve.
"Not that I know of." Jellal shook his head. "An old woman named Porlyusica has come by a few times, using some kind of medicine."
"Jellal, what happened?" Erza urged, tired of wondering.
He breathed in through his nose, trying to think of how to describe that thing he'd seen last night. "Well..."
"Can I get you anything?" Freed softly asked as he placed Lucy on her bed. She kept her gaze on her lap as she shook her head. He had an overwhelming desire to shield her from every dark thought or memory in her mind. He knelt in front of her, just as he saw a teardrop fall on her hand, and gently pulled her head into his chest. Wrapping his arm around her shoulders, he could feel her body shaking as she tried to hold back her tears. He pressed his lips against the top of her head and closed his eyes. He knew she would have trouble saying what was bothering her, so he did the only thing he could think of and just held her.
After a while her breathing started evening out, and he almost pulled away until he heard her voice. "I w-want..." He dared not move, he hadn't thought she would try to talk to him. "To talk... laugh... I want... to be normal."
He pulled away and cupped her face in his hand, looking into her glistening and helpless eyes as his thumb caressed her wet cheek. A faint chuckle escaped him. "It hasn't even been half a day yet and you've already done so much. You really are a fighter."
"I cant..." she paused to take a deep breath. "... even walk."
"And you'll get there, miss Lucy." His head tilted slightly as he looked deeply into her eyes. "You couldn't even move yesterday, you have no idea how amazing it is to have you looking back at me." A blush rose on her cheeks as his thumb continued its gentle motions. "To hear your voice... it's beautiful." Her lips parted in surprise and he dropped his hand. "Forgive me..."
"I'm scared." His eyebrows creased at her whispered words. She pulled her right arm between her breasts, her eyes dropping to his injured hand, a pang rushing through her heart. "There's something... wrong... inside me."
"What do you mean?" Freed asked softly, instantly concerned that the clone hurt her in some way.
She shut her eyes and shook her head. "I can't... explain... it just... feels... I don't feel... like myself."
He grabbed her good hand and gave it a squeeze. "Did that... thing... do something to you?"
Her eyebrows scrunched and she shook her head, her mind blanking out as she tried to remember. She could feel a ghost of a shiver from the feeling of being invaded by that creature... something she didn't even want to think about. It had felt so familiar, but so strange and painful.
"Hey." Freed whispered, grabbing her face in his hands. Her face had contorted as she got lost in her thoughts. He didn't want to bring her pain, he would just have to figure this out another way. When her doe eyes blinked at him, he pressed his lips against her forehead. "Try to have some patience, miss Lucy. We'll figure this out."
Just looking into his eyes calmed her racing heart. She couldn't really convey her concerns, since she wasn't entirely sure they made sense. She felt like something inside her was missing, preventing her from doing things the way she wanted, but she didn't understand it or how to say it. She gave him a nod, deciding it would be best to take his advice. It would definitely be hard, but she would try... for him. "Thank you."
"Don't thank me." He smiled at her, giving her cheek one last caress until he dropped his hands. "Not until everything is okay again."
Her heartbeat picked up as his smile warmed her. He really wanted to stay with her through her entire recovery? "I don't know... what I'd do...without..." her head dropped to his shoulder and she let out a frustrated sigh that made him chuckle.
"You won't have to find out." He wrapped his arms around her again and they just sat there for a while, unaware of how much time passed.