AN:

Hi everyone, for those of you who didn't get to the AN note I sent out sorry for the delay. I managed to get myself roped into helping my sister out with moving into her new apartment. Let me tell you... learned my lesson I'm never carrying heavy object up a small narrow staircase again! Lesson learned, call a moving company more experienced muscles needed! Anyways her move is done, and most of reorganizing her stuff around the house is done so I'm free now. :D (hears the church choir sing in background)

Have fun with the read guys, I'm going to try really hard to make this a slow burn story (never managed to pull it off before).

Natsu woke with a slow start, his palm reaching up to touch his cheek. He could still feel it… It was almost like she was actually here last night. Natsu smiled sadly, "You're a real idiot man." He muttered under his breath.

*BZZT*

Natsu jolted at the sound, slowly turning towards his nightstand, his cell phone vibrated lighting up with the name Dr. Micklee, Natsu released a breath he didn't realize he'd been holding, "H-Hello, Dr. Micklee is how is he doing?" he asked. He hadn't had him around so long due to back to back surgeries and the drama that's been happening that for a moment he'd almost forgotten about him.

Natsu's lips pulled back into a happy grin, "Hell yeah, I'll be there to get him!" he told the man on the phone before ending the call. Hanging up the phone he quickly slips it into his pocket, darting passed a tired Erza who was heading into the kitchen. She called out to him as he rushed out, but he was far too excited to care as he raced out to the garage to his family's car.

~oooOOOooo~

Lucy sat up in bed rubbing the sleep from her tired eyes as a soft yawn drifts from her open lips. Looking over the nightstand beside her bed to what she'd just recently found out was a clock thanks to asking Kylie yesterday. Her manager had looked at her strangely for asking to which Lucy truthfully admitted she didn't know what half of the things were that she was looking at. Nina and Mary looked mortified asking her if she knew what certain things were and when she looked at them completely clueless, they asked her if she'd been living the stone age.

Lucy sweatdropped, "At least I knew what they meant by stone age…" she huffed Mermaids had been around way more than long enough to know about that. She scooted to the side of the bed heading to the 'bathroom' they'd called it yesterday. Lucy chuckled remembering how she'd gotten so flustered about not knowing how to control the human trinkets that she summoned a rather angry Aquarius to help her, but when she exploded due to the nature of the call and being interrupted while she was with her boyfriend Lucy immediately sent her back beyond the Celestial Gates.

Lucy reached over turning the two round knobs on the wall, watching as water gushed out of a metallic silver pipe coming out of the wall. Lucy discarded her clothes, leaving them in a neat bunched up pile near the edge of the opposing wall, her bathroom towel hovering just over the top of them. Lucy climbed into the tub and as the water pooled at her feet despite her not flicking up the strange small piece of metal just under where the water was spewing out, she could feel her scales steadily coming through again.

Sitting down before she flicked the lever up causing the water to rise. It took no more than a few seconds of her body being submerged a bit for her tail to come back, it rested on the tub's edge and dangled. Lucy smiled slightly leaning her head back a bit as she remembered the night before.

Lucy turned to Loke flashing him a grateful smile as he aided her through Natsu's open window. The bright moonlight casting a highlight shadow amongst her feminine features as she walked around Natsu's bed, she found him sound asleep as she usually did when she visited face to face like this. She had to stifle a chuckle, he was laying sideways on his bed, his head leaning just a tad bit over the side as drool dripped down the corner of his mouth.

Kneeling beside his sleeping form, her arms folded up and resting on her upper thighs as she stared at him for a few collective minutes before she dared to do anything more. She couldn't help but find him cute as he laid there all sprawled out like that. A soft blush worked over her face as she reached out a nervous hand to cradle his cheek. For a less than a fraction of a second, he was unresponsive, but then he took in a deep breath in and slowly breathed out. As if knowing she was there despite his unconscious state his face leans into her warmth cuddling more into her open palm before her name slipped from his peaceful lips.

Lucy turned off the bath water, letting herself dip into the water enough so that the water came to her nose, she could feel how flustered she was over the mere memory. It was foolish and silly… getting giddy over a boy's memory… Lucy was still smiling like an idiot over it. All this time she'd honestly thought he didn't remember her, 'I guess I was wrong…' she admitted still feeling her heart racing at the realization that he did remember her. Maybe… Just maybe she could meet up with him again real soon.

~oooOOOooo~

Natsu parked the car, jumped out and raced through the double doors for the building. In all honesty, he'd been moving so fast that he'd even forgotten about the doors retracting all together. It was a good thing the place was open if not he would have done a face plant into the doors. Rushing to the front counter he tapped the small metal bell rapidly to them know he was there.

"I'm comin! I'm comin!" he heard a crabby woman roar, the woman exited out of a back room looking tired, weary, and nowhere near ready to be greeting customers with a smile and light-hearted greeting. Her black bouncy curls messy and mangled with scratches adoring her face, hands, and wrists, as she rounded the corner catching sight of Natsu she began crying. "Oh, thank the gods, you're here!" she cried out dramatically running up to Natsu pulling him into a startling hug. She pulled away quickly her hands on either side of his shoulders, "Please tell me you're here to take him away and not to visit?!"

Natsu stared at the woman in surprise, "Uh yeah-yeah I am… why?" he questioned even more floored as the woman's face became even more cheerful despite the overwhelming redness of the scratch marks across her cheek.

The woman spun away from him beaming, "No reason!" she chirped skipping away to fetch him and get him out of her sight as quickly as possible. Returning not too long later with a large plastic cat carrier, "Look Happy your owners here! Now aren't you happy about that?" she beamed. Happy herself to be rid of this evil little demon who was mean when separated from his master for far too long.

At sight of Natsu the small kit rushed to the bars rubbing its back into the closed bars with a little difficulty due to the strange cone around his neck. The woman's eye noticeable twitched at the difference in reactions but smiled, nonetheless. Natsu snorted, "What's with the cone buddy? You trying to make sure we can get your HBO channel?" he teased causing the woman behind the counter to snort back laughter to which the blue-furred cat known as Happy pouted turning to walk to the back of the small plastic cage, his back turned to his master.

Natsu chuckled, "Oh, come on man I'm only teasin ya!" he said with a big grin, the kit looked at him only to shoot him a pointed traitorous stare.

"Ah, Mister Dragneel!" he heard the doctor's voice cry out as he stepped towards him speedily looking like he was suffering from the same ailments as the dark-haired woman that now stood beside him. Holding a clipboard, he flipped through quite a few papers, "Your feline friend should be alright now. If you see anything abnormal just bring him back in!" he said not noticing as the coworker beside him shot him a look.

Natsu sweatdropped, "How'd he do? I can see you two look a little worse for wear." He chuckled either unaware of the pointed look the comments caused, or he just ignored it.

"Your little friend can be… difficult." The doctor sugarcoated causing the aide beside him to roll her eyes.

"I don't think difficult is the word I'd use." She huffed turning on her heels heading back to the watch room to tend to other pets that weren't so master craze that they'd attack people… Or was just so picky that he wouldn't eat anything! She could only get this picky cat to eat fresh fish and that was come from her own income to get it! And if you tried to give him something else… the mess you would have on your hands!

She'd lost count of how many times she had to sweep and scrub the floors in the back because he kicked the bowls of food out of the cage and onto the once shining clean floor, or when she tried outsmarting him by putting up plastic bags along the front bottom portion of the cage. All she succeeded in doing was making her job exponentially harder because she had to clean his cage. What happened when she did this was the little stinker would take the time to go to other cages and open them releasing some of the animals.

The amount of running they had gone through to catch all of them and then him without reopening their wounds had been a difficult job. They'd even had to lock down the store portion of the store to ensure none of them got out and ran off! And even worse… was giving the little hellion a bath! He singles handily within the last week managed to injure four of there employees due to his antics. Not only that they'd had to pull him back into surgery more than twice because they decided to take the cone off once and the blue-furred rascal decided to pull his stitches… Or the other time where he managed to rip off the cone around his neck preventing him from pulling out his stitches.

The woman looked at Natsu, "I think little hellion sounds more fitting." She commented as she stepped into the back room.