notes: because i had some chapters finished i figured i'd update this already! a lot of stuff happens here so i hope you enjoy!


"Oi, you're back? That was pretty fast! W-wait, why do you guys look so beat up?"

Team Natsu returned to the guild solemnly, though Lucy was her usual self. Happy was waiting around, talking to some of the others, when he caught a glimpse of the guild's famed team returning. A smile crossed his small face when he saw his best friends walk through the door, but it dropped almost immediately when he noticed their condition.

The normally cacophonous guild turned quiet. With heavy faces (all but Lucy, of course), the atmosphere was noted, and Happy was the first to run to their side.

"Natsu? Natsu? What happened? Why aren't you guys smiling? Usually, you know, after jobs, we come in with a bang. But… this time? What's going on?" His large eyes were filled with confusion.

Lucy's grin widened when she saw Happy and the others. "Happy! Ah, it's so nice to see you again! I really wish you would've come with us on the job," she said to him, petting his blue fur. Natsu didn't utter a word.

Happy tried to loosen Lucy's grip on him and seemed to only be concerned with Natsu at this point. "Natsu! Answer me!" he yelled to his friend. "What is going on?" The entire guild was now silent, though Makarov was making his way towards the group.

Gray and Erza each displayed a pained expression on their faces. But, Erza bent down a bit towards Natsu, placed her hand on his shoulder, and looked into his eyes. She quietly whispered to him: "Natsu, if you want to fix this, then we need to tell them. Tell Happy. I don't care about the loss or what happen. Isn't Lucy more important?"

At the mention of her name, Natsu's whole body jumped. He gulped and took a deep breath, finally breaking his silence.

"We… we were attacked," he said thickly. "The mage Tomica. It was a trick. I had a feeling it was too good to be true. But … that's not the worst part." His voice became choked and anguished, but he pressed on. "He used a spell, some type of Lost Magic, on Lucy."

"A spell? Lost Magic?" asked Happy. "What's wrong with her? She seems fine to me." It was plain to see that she was acting somewhat normal with everyone else, and the only thing that confused her was as to why the guild had quieted down from its normal, boisterous self.

"Well, she seems fine to you, of course, because the spell didn't affect you," Natsu told him. "Tomica … took her memories of me away from her." When he choked out this line, Natsu's face fell. Lucy just stared at him quizzically again.

"Uh, Natsu, was it? I don't really understand what you're saying! This is my guild, this is Fairy Tail; this is my home! I'm really confused!" Lucy whimpered, letting Happy free from her arms and rising up. "You… you were just inquiring here, weren't you? Why can't I remember you? If you're telling the truth, what is going on?"

The guild was noticeably stunned. It was apparent that Tomica really did screw with her memories, and no one knew exactly how.

Makarov decided to break into the conversation. "Natsu, Gray, Erza, Lucy, are you injured?" He gestured towards their bruises. "It was Tomica, you said?"

"Yes," Gray told him. "Like Natsu said, it was a trap. We're not exactly sure what he wanted to accomplish, but he attacked Lucy at the very last moment before he walked away. That's really all we know about him so far, but …" His voice trailed off and he lost eye contact with Makarov. "He really did take Lucy's memories, though we're not sure why, either. She can't remember Natsu at all."

"Are you serious? What would he want with that?"

Gray shrugged.

Erza broke in. "Is there anything we can do, Master?"

"Could Porlyusica help?" Gray asked, echoing his earlier suggestion.

Makarov pondered for a moment, but Natsu barely gave him a chance to think. "Gramps," he begged, holding back tears, "please help … there's no way that she is supposed to forget me …"

"I'll think of something, kids, I promise. Right now, see if you can reaccustom Lucy to Natsu. That might give us a head start," he told them, then adopted a harsher tone. "This is… absolutely unacceptable. We might be able to report Tomica to the Magic Council for abuse of his magic powers, and to ask if he is found, to capture him. Until then, like I said, try to rack her brain for any remaining memories of Natsu. You never know what might trigger something."

The guild master turned away from the group and nudged the rest of the guild to go back to normal, pretending as if nothing was wrong. He probably didn't want to make Lucy uncomfortable, and Natsu respected him for that. Now, though, there was nothing they could do but wait or take some sort of action. And Natsu was definitely in favor of the latter.

He shook off his confused emotions and grabbed Lucy's arm. "Come on, Lucy. Just come with me. I'm going to try to make you remember me."

"Ehh? What? Where - where are you taking me?!" she demanded, as she was pulled out the guild's door with Natsu. "Erza, Gray, help!"

Erza and Gray didn't move from their spots. Natsu's heart was racing - he did have his arm around Lucy's after all - and he would try every trick in the book to get her to remember him. This was more riding on what he had to do, rather than any of the other guild members. After all, she remembered them - he really couldn't ask them to do much, unless something crossed his mind.

Finally, the duo arrived underneath a tree not too far from the front lawn of the guild. Natsu picked up on a somewhat awkward air, but, he did have Lucy alone, and decided to take a "talk" route first.

"OK, Lucy, you ready?"

Lucy's face seemed permanently quizzical. "Natsu, uh, why'd you bring me here? What's going on?"

Natsu huffed a bit. "You say you can't remember me, right?"

Her eyes darted a bit, and he took that as a yes before she even opened her mouth. "Well, um, yeah. I… can't really remember you? I think if I knew a pink-haired guy, I'd remember him!" She laughed. God, when she laughs … it's like nothing was ever different. It's almost painful to think I'll never hear it the same way again.

"I'm going to make you remember me, Lucy. I'm not going to give up. So let's see…" Natsu put on his best thinking face, and he felt Lucy's radiating smile. I guess she's intrigued? he wondered.

"What do you think you're gonna do? At this point, you're just a stranger," she told him playfully, crossing her arms. Natsu figured she read the air that she wasn't in any danger of him and that she was just playing along. His anxiety was still heightened, though, and for some reason his heart was racing. He didn't really have a plan, but he figured he would probably think of something along the way. It was one aspect of himself that he slightly regretted - his impulsive thinking. He'll work on it eventually, he concluded.

Breaking the silence, Lucy furrowed her brows and spoke in a matter-of-fact voice. "Look, I really think we should get back to the guild, maybe we can do this another time, you know? You're still really beat up…"

"No! Wait!" Natsu exclaimed. "Uh… look, I just… well, I just want to let you know that…" Looking into her eyes was extremely difficult for him. And since he wasn't following a script, he had no idea what was even coming out of his mouth. Why should she stay? What was the point? There were so many questions he had, and he truly wished he planned something out.

Ah! Wait! That's it! he thought. I'm going to have to do something unexpected. See if she really doesn't remember me. It's the only way, I think. I mean, there's nothing else I can do right? At least not right now...

He guessed he must've been smiling, his thoughts running wild, which triggered Lucy to prompt him with questions. "Hey, Natsu, are you alright? You seem a bit off. Don't you think we should head back?" Her voice quivered a bit, but she didn't move from her spot.

He finally spoke. "Lucy. You seriously can't remember me at all?"

"No," she sighed.

"Well, if I do this, then… you should be fine, right?"

"Huh?"

Before she could fully ponder what he meant, Natsu inched towards her face and kissed her. She let out a stifled squeal, but didn't totally refuse his lips, either. It was most likely just from the mere shock of being kissed but what appeared to be a stranger claiming he knows you, of course.

When he let go, Natsu was trying to figure out how to rationalize why he did such a thing. But, he managed, Lucy would probably hit him really hard if she did remember him. There'd be no reason for him to do that, right? They were just friends, important to each other, but no in that way, right? But, if a stranger were to do that, how would she react? Would you hit a stranger? What were you supposed to do? Questions flew through his mind, but what was done was done. He had never really felt this way about anyone, in the sense that he cared so much for Lucy's well being (or at least he thought) and him being forgotten meant he lost a huge part of his life. And that was something he didn't want to stand for.

"Well?" he finally asked.

Lucy stood there, silent, her fingers delicately touching her lips. "You… you just kissed me?"

"Uh, yeah."

"Why… why would you do that? I don't… I don't know you!" she insisted. He noticed, however, she wasn't that angry or upset. She was just confused.

Natsu rubbed his head and felt his face growing hot. The only thing he could say was, "You're not going to hit me?"

"No… I'm just… confused, I guess," Lucy told him.

Natsu closed his eyes and sighed. "I guess it's really true, then," he remarked. "You really don't remember me. If you did, my face would probably in the ground by now and you'd call one of your spirits to take me out." He chuckled a bit, but in all honesty, he'd wish that she would've reacted the way he'd hoped. At least then, he'd know that she remembered a little bit of him.

Lucy took a deep breath. "Well, Natsu, I'm willing to hear you out. You really say that I used to know you very well. I'm not one to shoot down any ideas. So, let's see…" She pondered for a moment, and finally said, "I don't know what happened to me, and why I can't remember only you. But, maybe we could start over, you think?"

At the mention of "starting over," Natsu's originally calm demeanor changed. He was completely taken aback. Starting over? How can we?

He felt something well in his throat and his heart pounded. Frustration began to brim, and there was no way he wanted to start over, by any means. That was quite possibly the worst thing Lucy could've said, but of course, she wouldn't know that.

"I… I can't accept that, Lucy," he murmured. "I can't."

"Huh, why not?"

"It's just… there's too much… I can't…" His voice trailing off, Natsu couldn't face Lucy any longer. All of his fears confirmed, his world crashing down in an instant - it was too much for him to handle. And there was nothing else that he could do except walk away.

"Where are you going, Natsu? Are you going back to the guild?" Lucy called after him.

But he just kept walking. Soon picking up the pace and running. Running far away from the stranger he once knew. He didn't even want to see her face, or what she looked like now, but he couldn't get her face out of his mind. He closed his eyes, and he saw her. He saw her in everything thing he looked at. But she would never be able to see him anymore. She wouldn't understand his jokes, they wouldn't go on jobs, the wouldn't be together at the guild with everyone in the same way. She wouldn't understand. She couldn't remember any of the adventures they were on - absolutely nothing. And there was nothing he could do about it.

So he kept running, and he didn't look back.


after notes: hope you liked this chapter! (hope you squealed at least once!) next chapter coming very soon!