A certain someone told me that it would be a good idea to post this on Thanksgiving weekend, so I am. I think it's a good idea, what about you? Much more Lisanna and Natsu interactions! I CAN promise you that. So, here we go!

(Lisanna's POV)

Annoying beams of sunlight shone on the delicate face of the youngest Strauss. Lisanna groaned, irritated that her sleep had been so abruptly interrupted. Snuggling into a more comfortable position, she mumbled what was in a human's nature.

"Five more minutes…" After her said period of rest, she deemed herself ready with enough energy to open her eyes. It was a warm sunny day, with birds chirping, calling for mates. Cracking her eyes open, she stared straight-ahead… straight at something moving. Lisanna eyes were now wide-open, adrenaline shot straight through her, her heart already starting to thump in her ears. Slowly, ever so slowly, she stretched her neck, and raised her head. Upon closer examination, it was a tanned colour, warm, and it rose up, then down, up, then down. She carefully pushed her body away from the moving thing, and stood straight up, hands out, and legs bent. As soon as she had gotten herself up, she looked at what she had nearly awoken.

It was that thief, the pink haired one. The moment of danger over, Lisanna let out a deep breath, but guard was still somewhat raised. What was he doing here? Then the memories rushed back. The fight, the thunderstorm, the tree, and her recklessness when she dragged the boy back with her. She swept her gaze to her surroundings, and felt a tingle of wonder.

The tree had wet morning dew, clinging to moss, small bits of fungi sticking out at hundreds of different angles, small ants, going about their business with food on their backs. She took in all the details, and some loneliness crept into her. Elf-niichan would have loved this place. It was actually rather large, a hallow space inside a tree, around the size of two rooms, but the only thing inside was a comfortable mossy bed.

Lisanna considered her options. She could take her back to the mansion with him, and go back to her siblings… but how would she find her way? She wasn't all that tired now, but she had no idea where she was. On the other hand, the boy had known about this safe haven tree, maybe he knew more, or the way back. Seems like staying with him was the best choice. But there was no way she would just let him go free while she was with him.

Heading outside, she searched for some sort of material to tie his hands with. Soon, she ripped off a hanging plant that was long, and seemed sturdy.

"Alright then Mr. Thief, time to tie you up" She stretched the vine around his hands—

"ITEH!" Recoiling in pain, she fell on her backside, rubbing her hands.

"What was that?" Reaching carefully again for the boy's hands, she could feel the searing heat emanating from his skin. He had a serious fever.

"Oh no…" At first, the natural pity she would feel for anyone in his position crept over, but then she steeled herself. He was the enemy; there was no need to feel sorry for him. But wait… if he died…

'Then I can't get home…' The only chance back to her family would be gone. She wouldn't let that happen. For now, not because she felt sorry, but because she wanted to go home, she would heal him.

Throwing the vine to the side, as there was no way he could escape like this, and he would probably just burn through the ropes with his fever, she ran out, in search of a nearby river.

(Natsu's POV)

Natsu could feel himself lying helpless in a heap in his emergency hideout. It was a tree he had burned through as delicately as he could. Then he washed out the burns and threw a bunch of moss at the back, some buried food, and made sure the tree was near a river, and it had some big leaves to catch water when needed.

He'd made the tree on his father's advice in case something happened. It probably never would, but it was best to be safe. It additionally acted as a good rendezvous point.

'Thanks for this Tou-san…' He thought in his stupor. Suddenly, his upper body felt cooler, a relief that caused Natsu's body to relax and let out tension. A warbled voice garbled

"Whew…" He could make out a shape, but couldn't think straight. Who was it taking care of him? Whoever it was, he now owed a debt, and no matter what, he would definitely return it. But for now, he had to rest. Rest… The word itself acted as a drug, inducing the nagging need for sleep. Without realizing it, Natsu began to snore.

(Mirajane's POV)

"CHICKSHOU!" Slamming the sandbag with her fist, it erupted into a million pieces, countless amounts of sand flying in every direction, creating a sandy haze of mist.

Elfman stood there unflinchingly, simply closing his eyes to avoid being blinded. He too was worried, but he'd been taught that just cause you were angry with yourself that didn't mean he had to use all his energy into hitting things.

"THAT FLAMING BASTARD!" This time the angry sibling kicked around her so fast; it looked like she was creating a barrier against the falling sand. Jumping into the air, Mirajane had every intention to destroy the floor, but Elfman jumped into the way, arm already transformed into stone, so Mirajane pulled back. But not fast enough to stop all the attack. There was a solid boom to anyone outside the room, and the building shook, but otherwise nothing happened.

Inside the training room however, the walls were cracked, ground was split, and if Elfman had not been there to block it, Mirajane would have anything in a mile radius.

"Nee-chan…" Mirajane fell, sitting down, hand to her face, holding in the tears that threatened to fall from her eyes.

"I know! I KNOW! Calm down right?" The elder sister sucked in a breath.

"Ah… Thanks Elfman" Elfman nodded in acknowledgment, and Mirajane inhaled another shaky breath.

"Now what should we do Elfman? Our little sister is gone, that kid probably the one who took her" She looks up, eyes read and head pounding from the many of hours of staying awake. "If we catch him… I'll kill him" Elfman normally would have stopped him, but his rage was still there. He nodded again, in wholehearted agreement.

(Lisanna's POV)

Grunting, Lisanna hauled a ton of water inside a plant leaf. It spilled in places, but the whole of it kept inside, as the shape-shifter was careful to balance it evenly.

"Oh-toh…" Gently setting it down, she began to dip the moss inside it, placing it on Natsu's forehead, and feeding him some berries she had in her pocket. Mirajane had forced her to learn all sorts of plants and their effects, at first Lisanna had cursed and hated the cruel lessons. But now, they were her saving grace.

"Mira-nee, I definitely take back all the things I said then…" Wiping her brow from the hours of sweat she had produced, she sighed. This was harder than she thought.

As soon as she felt she had done as much as she could for him, she plopped down beside him, breathing heavy.

"I hope you feel better. That was a lot of work" Obviously, there was no reply, but somehow, Lisanna felt the urge to talk to somebody. "You're my only hope you know? To get home, to see Mira-nee and Elf-niichan. That's the only reason I'm helping you," She let the pause continue for a while. "Do you have any family where you came from? Are they nice? I haven't met my parents, but I really hope I get to meet them someday" She turned to face the pink haired boy, and could see a few shooting stars in the starry night sky.

"OH!" Clasping her hands together, she quickly prayed "I wish to be able to see my family again" Staring outside, Lisanna wondered what would happen when the boy woke up. Would he try to escape? Was he prideful? Would he try to attack? Would he even thank her? She doubted it. Soon her thoughts swirled together and she fell asleep.

(Elfman's POV)

Elfman surveyed his work, a drawing of what cues he could find out about Mr. Morbis in his library of the orchard. Apparently, he had inherited it from his father or something, and was always a bit… ditzy. So, the boy had had to research himself. His sister was in no shape to do anything, and even in her top condition, she would never be able to do something so complicated as paperwork.

"Tea sir?" Elfman glanced up to see slightly older brunette maid smile at him. He gave a grunt, took a sip from the cup that had been set down, and continued flipping through books. When he could hear any indication that the maid had left, he looked up again, her smile unwavering. Elfman went straight to the point.

"Is there something you want?" The maid shook her head, but she spoke up.

"I was just admiring what a hard worker you were, you've been here for hours already. And you've completed quite a lot of the geographical area of this orchard, I'm very impressed" Elfman shrugged modestly, not honestly caring one way or another, and returned his attention to the books with a question.

"I don't suppose you have an already completed map already?" The answer was not the one Elfman had expected.

"Yes, yes, I do actually," She reached into her outfit into her pockets, wherever they were hidden, and took out what looked like a dusty parchment. "It's a bit old, but not much has really changed. You're welcome to use it" Elfman stared at the paper, then directly into the girl's eyes.

"What do you want for this?" The girl swished in a little twirl, and waked to the door.

"Oh, nothing really. I just hope you find your sister," She held the door open for a second, looked back, and before she walked out whispered "But I'll have to call on this little favor someday. But I doubt you'll remember me at that point" And the door clicked shut, Elfman still staring at the piece of paper which had been handed to him.

(Natsu's POV)

The silence was what woke him up, the cold, dreaded silence, in which the fact that nothing suspicious was happening was even more suspicious. He got up with surprising ease, but a twinge of pain still shot through his body. He winced, and shivered. It was a bit cloudy, with a chilly wind passing by. The fire mage attempted to summon the usual flame to his fist, but for some unfathomable reason, he was unable to. Trying and trying again, he shook his hand unsuccessful.

This time, he tried to light his feet, but the result was the same. Somehow, his flame was locked away, or stolen or something. How was that possible? Over and over again, he struggled summon any kind of spark, until he exhausted all his mental reserves, flopping back onto his mossy bed.

"What the heck?" Looking at his palm, turning it over, looking all over his body, he found no indication of any sort of spell that would stop him from using his magic. Who could have—?

The girl. It had to be her. A vein pulsed on Natsu's forehead. How dare she? She really shouldn't touch what wasn't hers! He hopped to his feet, intent on giving her a piece of his mind. Following her scent, he ran off into the forest.

Speeding at high speeds, Natsu jumped onto a tree branch, to hide from others (Igneel trained him, it was a force of habit), and to check his progress. Sniffing the air, he could see the scent trail turning here, plus, the big arrow on the side of the tree was also a pretty good hint. He could even hear a river. Bouncing high, he landed with a thwump, right in front of the flowing water known as a river.

The scent trail was hers for sure, but she must have taken a bath or something, because the trail ended here. Great. Now where could she have gone?

A somewhat familiar scent wafted in his nose, but he couldn't quite place it. He tracked it across the river, fresh and strong. It was dung, and flies already began to crawl over it. Natsu was used to such sights, his father had forced him to get used to anything he had considered gross months ago.

But what was bothering him was the feeling he had had in the morning was getting stronger, like it was emanating from the remains of something's lunch. Natsu, not liking this one bit, was ready to stubbornly run in circles, searching for the girl, not sure for revenge or just to help her. How could one little girl make so much trouble for him? But just as he was leaving, a drop of rain splattered over his face. Then another, and another, till it began to rain, all scents washing away.

"Cheh," he spat. "Can't be helped. Guess I'll just go back to the tree and sleep—" A roar ofshrill scream, pierced the air, and Natsu covered his ears to avoid deafness. It was coming from the direction of the tree. Natsu grinned.

"Found~ you~"

(Lisanna's POV)

And… Done! That was the last mushroom, now she could go back and cook some stew. When the young girl had searched the tree, surprisingly, she'd find some bowls, pots, pans, and even some berries. Happily using the utensils, she predicted that the boy's healing time would rapidly decrease with some good food. So, over the past weeks she had been taking care of Lisanna, she'd dutifully go out breakfast, lunch and dinner, to look for food to eat. Any other time, and she would be trying to find a way back, mapping, searching, and getting back more cheerful than usual. Everyday was a little closer to getting home after all.

"Wonder what I should put inside my soup?" Deep in thought, she wasn't able to hear the rustling sounds behind her, until a loud

Snap

Was heard. Whirling around, she got ready to run, but any hope of escaping was crushed, as she realized who had snuck up on her. A large, black and white bunny, the size of a bear. From the textbooks she'd read at home, it was a Rabbit-bear. Was this it's territory? They'd been here for weeks, with no sign of it? So why now? The mammal reared its front hands, slamming into the ground. Roaring in challenge, Lisanna met its call with a scream of her own.

(Mirajane's POV)

Something tapped her. Half asleep, she tried lazily swatting it away, but it just kept jabbing, more and more consistently. Now she was angry. She twisted around, and punched however it was where his face would be. Instead, she struck muscle. It was Elfman, a finger to his lips.

"Elfman? What are you—?"

"Shhh…" He held a small lamp in his hands, and beckoned her to the bedside table. There was an old map there, and Mirajane took a closer look.

"You woke me just to look at some paper?" She hissed.

"No, I woke you so we could look for Lisanna" Mirajane was instantly awake. No questions asked, she got up, slipped her clothes on, and was out the door in 5 seconds.

"Well? What are you waiting for? Let's go already?" As Elfman hurried to catch up, he had to smile. His sister was so adorable in the way she cared for his sister. He allowed the smile to stay for another second, then wiped away all traces of it, business face on.

Reaching for the entrance door, they were stopped by a short figure who Mirajane bumped into, and sent them both to the floor, but Mirajane was caught by his brother, while the man landed with a toot sound.

"Iteh… I'm getting old, not even knowing you were behind that door" Both Mirajane and Elfman gasped.

"Old man!" Makarov dusted the dirt from his jacket, and gave his signature smile and hand.

"Yo! I heard about Lisanna" Mirajane's face clouded with confusion, but she forced it to clear.

"O-of course" Elfman raised an inquisitive eyebrow.

"When did you say that Nee-san?" Mirajane turned away, unable to look her brother in the face. The quiet boy took note, but did not press further. Her sister would drop unintentional clues anyway if he waited.

(Makarov's POV)

"So, she hasn't told his brother. Good, I'm glad she actually listened. But really, to think she hasn't defeated this young boy yet. If he hasn't already been corrupted… I wonder if he has a place to call home, or someone to call family… I wonder… Fire from the body…

Unfortunately, some bad news. My favourite Mac, which is about 6-7 years old, has just become unusable for now. Why? Well, it still works but problem is, that my recharger is also the same age, and has ceased to work. Getting a new one, but it'll still take a while to get here. Now, I do have other computers, but I definitely prefer the Mac's keyboard, so I'll just have to suck it up and keep writing. But, may take even a bit longer. Sorry.

-Justin, Lover of anime, enemy of haters, and family to all my otaku brothers and sisters. Welcome to my world! XD