Chapter 4
The first thing Lucy was aware of, was a steady beeping noise. Groaning, Lucy tried to turn over to put the pillow over her head, but her movement was halted when a bolt of pain came from her side. Gasping, Lucy's eyes flew open. Looking around, she realized she was in a hospital room. Groaning, she tried to sit up, when she noticed the pink haired man asleep in the chair next to her bed.
"Natsu?" She said, her voice sounding raspy. His eyes flew open, and widened when he saw she was awake.
"Lucy!" He said, rushing forward to help her sit upright.
"Ugh, I have the worst headache ever, what happened?" Lucy asked, touching her side, which she saw was bandaged. She tried to remember, but her memory was fuzzy. Shaking her head, she looks over to where Natsu sat.
The pink haired man sighed, and leaned forward, clasping his hands in his lap.
"You were hurt trying to save Juvia from Phantom Lord" He explained. Lucy blinked, slowly remembering.
"Oh," Lucy breathed. "Oh no, I went against Makarov's orders, he's going to be so mad"
Natsu smiled, "No, he's not mad, he's glad we saved Juvia before they could do any more harm"
"Jose got away though" Lucy said, clenching her fists. Natsu nodded. "Makarov's working overtime trying to find him, but until Juvia wakes up, we can't learn what she knows". At this, Lucy looks to her lap.
"How long was I out?" She asked.
"Only a few hours, you needed stitches for the wound, other than that you just have some burns and bruises from the bomb" Natsu explained. "Don't worry, I already briefed Makarov, and called Gray, he's in with Juvia now".
Lucy smiled. Gray was Juvia's fiancé, and another operative at Fairy Tail. Both he and Juvia were in her class as Fairy Tail Academy. "But Natsu, what are you doing here?" She wondered, looking at the face of her partner, who was clearly exhausted. Natsu looked at her with confusion.
"You are my partner Luce, plus, once upon a time, we used to be best friends, I'm here because I care" He said, leaning back in the chair. Lucy swallowed, looking back to her lap.
"That was a long time ago Natsu" She said softly.
She heard Natsu shift forward, and looked to see him reach out hesitantly, and take her hand.
"Lucy, I know I asked before, but I need to know. What happened? You ran off that one day and have avoided me since. I tried, but you are good at hiding. And then we graduated, and it was all I could do to find you"
Lucy let out a little laugh, then winced when it sent a jolt of pain through her body. "It was stupid, Natsu, it doesn't matter"
Natsu's grip on her hand tightened, "Yes it does!" He said firmly. Lucy shook her head, trying not to look him in the eyes. Natsu reached out a hand, and pressed it to her cheek, turning her head back towards him. "Why, Lucy?"
Swallowing, Lucy took a deep breath. "Because I was in love with you, okay!" She burst out, pulling her face out of his grip. "I saw you and Lisanna, and I just couldn't, so I ran away. Then we graduated, and life became so hectic and busy and then I felt that it was too late to try and find you again" She continued, closing her eyes.
"I'm so sorry Natsu, it was my fault. But don't worry, I am over it now, and I know what I did was cowardly and stupid, but I can't take it back" She said, her voice shaking. She didn't say it, but she had been extremely lonely the past few years. Sure, she had Levy, and Erza, and Juvia, but she didn't talk to them as much these days, or as much as she would have liked too. Natsu was silent, and Lucy dared to glance over at her partner. His face was puzzled, and his eyebrows pinched together.
"How is Lisanna by the way?" She asked, purely out of curiosity of course, not that she cared. She didn't care, not one bit. Lucy shook her head, who was she kidding, she had never forgotten her best friend.
Natsu's head shot up. "Lisanna?" He asked.
"Yeah, aren't you too still dating?" Lucy hesitantly asked. At this, Natsu started to laugh, he let go of her hand, so he could grasp at his stomach. Lucy smiled, God had she missed his laugh.
"Lucy, the only reason I had dated Lisanna was to try and make you jealous" He got out, in between his laught. "Look how that plan ended up" He laughed. Lucy looked at Natsu incredulously. "To make me jealous?" She asked, and Natsu nodded. Then Lucy began to laugh as well, even though each laugh sent a jolt of pain through her body.
"We really messed up big time didn't we?" Lucy said, once her giggles finally died down. Natsu reached out and took her hand again. "Yes, we really did, huh?"
"How about we start over?" Natsu said, his hand reaching back behind his head, looking sheepish. Lucy smiled, and stuck out her hand.
"Hi, I'm Lucy Heartfilia" She said. Natsu in turn reached out and grasped her hand in his warm one, and shook it. "I'm Natsu Dragneel, it's nice to meet you" He said seriously.
Once the doctor had looked over Lucy one more time, she was finally discharged. She was not allowed on any official missions for at least three weeks, to allow for her stab wound to heal. Though, Lucy was glad that that was the worst of her injuries. A few years back, she had taken a few bullets to the chest, and had been out of commission for almost two months. Natsu had brought a change of clothes from her apartment, so she had something to wear once she was discharged. Her stab wound made getting dressed complicated though, since it was painful to bend and stretch.
However, now Lucy found herself at the front desk, signing a few last forms, with Natsu beside her, a hand on her back. Scribbling her signature across the last piece of paper, Lucy handed the forms back to the nurse behind the desk, and then turned to look at Natsu.
"Would it be okay if I stopped in to see Juvia and Gray before I go?" She asked. Natsu nodded, "Yeah, Gray told me she was awake, and wanted to see you". Pressing his hand lightly against her back, Natsu guided her through the hospital, until they reached Juvia's room.
Lucy reached up to knock on the door frame, and peaked inside.
"Lucy!" Gray exclaimed, standing up, and rushing over to give her a hug, lightly, as to be careful for her stab wound. "I'm so glad you are okay, and thank you so much for saving Juvia, if she had died…"He trailed off, and glanced back at his blue haired fiancé. Lucy patted Gray's back. "Of course, Gray. I'm glad Juvia is okay as well", she said, smiling, and turning to the blue haired woman, and walking over the take her hand.
"Juvia" She said, looking at her battered form. There were bruises covering her entire body, as well as bandages over her ribs, which she knew were broken, and bloody bandages covering where the guard had cut and stabbed her.
Juvia gripped her hand tightly. "Are you okay Lucy?" She asked, looking at Lucy. Lucy laughed, and clasped Juvia's hand in both of hers.
"Yeah, I am. I'm just so glad you are okay, I was worried that I was too late" Lucy smiled, her eyes getting misty.
"Juvia is okay, all thanks to you and Natsu" Juvia spoke. She sighed, and closed her eyes. "I'm afraid Juvia is tired, Juvia is sorry".
Lucy carefully set her hand down. "That's okay Juvia, you rest up and focus on healing okay?". Juvia nodded, and soon was snoring lightly.
Gray came over to where Lucy was standing, and put a hand on her shoulder. "The nurse gave her some sedatives, to help with the pain" He explained. Lucy nodded. Natsu came forward, and clasped Gray's arm.
"I should get Lucy home, but if you need anything, just call and I will be right over" Natsu said, squeezing his arm once, and dropping his hand. Gray nodded. "Thank you Natsu, and thank you Lucy" He said, running his hands tiredly through his hair. Natsu nodded, and out his hand back on Lucy's back, and walked out of the room, and to his car.
Lucy was thankful for Natsu's presence. She was so tired, she didn't think she would have been able to drive home, let alone navigate the hospital corridors. When they got outside, Lucy could see the sun setting, and sighed. What a day it had been. Reaching the black Suburban, Natsu opened the door, and helped Lucy into the passenger's seat. Each movement hurt, but she was slowly getting used to the pain.
Natsu shut the car door, and walked around the car to hop in the driver's seat.
"Are you hungry or anything?" He asked, as he pulled out onto the road. Lucy shook her head. "No, I'm just tired, I think I'll just go to bed right away". Natsu nodded, "Okay" he said, driving the short drive to her apartment.
When they finally had arrived at her apartment, Lucy greeted Plue tiredly, and told Natsu to make himself at home. After he sat down in the kitchen, she headed to her room to pull on a night gown. Looking in the mirror, she flinched. She had bruises, burns, and scraped covering her entire body. "I look like a mess" She whispered to Plue, who was laying on her bedroom floor. He just looked up at her, and wagged his tail. Smiling, she tiredly shuffled out into the kitchen.
"I'm going to head to bed, so you can head out if you want" She said to her partner.
Natsu turned and looked at her sharply.
"I think i'll crash here, just in case you need help with anything" He said, taking in her tired form. "Plus you need someone to help change your bandages" He added, hoping she would let him stay. He knew Lucy was trying to act strong, but he knew from personal experience that stab wounds hurt like hell. Lucy nodded.
"I don't have a guest room, but you can take the couch" She said, motioning at the spacious couch in her living room.
"I'll grab you some pillows and blankets" She said, moving to the closet in the hallway, but Natsu grabbed her arm.
"You need to get some sleep, I can grab that stuff, I already know where it is" He said. At Lucy's confused look, his face twisted into his roguish smile. "I did some reconnaissance earlier, for intel gathering" He said cheerfully. Lucy shook her head, and smiled wanly.
"Alright, good night Natsu, and thank you for the help" She said, touching his arm. Natsu nodded, and pushed her gently towards her bedroom.
Natsu watched her walk away, and enter her bedroom, with Plue following. Turning, he went to the closet in the hallway and pulled out a blanket and a pillow. When he found out he was being partnered with Lucy, he was given access to her files. He hadn't been able to access them before, because try as he might, he could never hack into Makarov's files successfully. Lucy's apartment had been hard to break into, but he found a way in. To his surprise, her apartment was nothing like how her room looked when they were younger. This apartment was all white, modern, and shiny, instead of a cluttered homey look that she used to love.
As Natsu lowered himself onto the couch with a quiet groan, he thought back to what Lucy had said earlier.
"Because I was in love with you, okay!"
Natsu grimaced. He should have tried harder to find Lucy after she had run out of the room, but he was a coward. He couldn't admit to Lucy that he had loved her, and because of that he lost his best friend. He still had Gray, and all the other guys, but Lucy was the person he spent the most time with. Lisanna was a great friend too, but she could never compare to Lucy, no matter how much he tried to move on.
After 4 years, he had to admit that Lucy looked even better than he remembered. He didn't think it was possible, but she still took his breath away. Somehow, he was given a second chance to fix his mistakes, and he wasn't going to let it go to waste. He had missed Lucy every day for the past 4 years, and he wasn't about to let her run away again. He was different too, he was not the same Natsu that she had known either. Especially after Lisanna had gotten hurt during a mission a year after they had graduated. They had been undercover and trying to infiltrate a ring of illegal animal traffickers, when their cover had been blown, and before he could do anything, they had shot her, and Natsu had gotten shot in the shoulder, leaving a scar. Natsu raised his arm, to touch the scar, then huffed and turned onto his side, punching the pillow and curling up in the blanket. It had been his fault that their cover had been blown, and she hadn't forgiven him since.
He had been terrified when Lucy had left in front of that knife, but miraculously, Lucy had been okay. He had been amazed by her strength and conviction to protect her friend, to the point where she charged head-on into a room full of Phantom Members. He smiled. He sure would have his hands full in the next few months, but he was excited. This was his chance with Lucy, after waiting for so long. He wouldn't give up, or run away this time, and he wouldn't let Lucy run way either, not again.