Being In Love Is Never Easy!

By: Sailorjj07

6. ...Poor Natalie!

A/n: It's been a while huh? No, I didn't fall off the face of the earth, but life got to me and I couldn't post. Now, I'm gonna finish this fic and get to work on MORE! YAYY! Anyway, now for the long awaited chappy!

Disclaimer: I don't own, so stop reminding me!

"Talking"

'Thinking'

Actions

(Me!)

Ages:

Yai, Maylu, and Natalie: 12

Lan, Chaud, and Tory: 13

Tory could've sworn his house was burning down around him when he woke up. He sat up almost immediately and looked around the room, alarmed and afraid that his house WAS actually burning down.

"Tory, are you okay," Iceman asked from the computer, watching his OP look around the room frantically.

"Iceman, is the house alright?"

"Yeah...Last time I checked it was. What's up?"

"It's really hot over here..." Tory glanced around him and then it dawned on him like the sunlight was doing outside his window. It wasn't himself who was hot, it was Natalie! (Such an observant child, huh?) Tory looked down at the girl snuggled into his arm, and found her face flushed and red, "Iceman, it's Natalie. She has a fever."

"Should I call your mom?"

"What time is it?"

"It's 6:00 in the morning."

"We'll wait until 7 to call Mom. For now, I'll just have to try and fix it myself...I guess." Tory got out of bed and went into the bathroom, running a cloth under the cold tap water, before wringing it out and walking back towards his bed with it. When he walked up, Natalie was squirming and moving, looking like the ill person that she indeed was. Tory placed the cloth on her forehead and watched as she calmed slightly, and even some of the sickly paleness faded from her face, simply from the change in temperature.

"Lia, Natalie's sick...wake up." Iceman poked the female navi sleeping near him and then watched with a smile as she yawned and stretched.

"Wha-?" Nadalia yawned out, rubbing one eye with a fist.

"Natalie's sick...what should we do?"

"Let us sleep..." Nadalia said, yawning again and laying back down. She pulled her purple cyberblanket tighter around her and closed her eyes again, almost instantly going back to sleep. Iceman watched with a laugh and then turned back to Tory.

"You heard the girl. Let her sleep." Iceman reported with an amused look. Tory nodded and laid back down, turning to put his arms around Natalie and hold her closer. He wanted to keep a close watch on her temperature, but he was sleepy after their last night therapy session. Natalie had cried hard and long over the many aches and pains caused by Dex and Tory found himself almost hating his old friend for putting such a wonderful girl through so much. He held her tighter against him, as he thought about it a little more, and then glanced down Anastasia, making sure she was still sleeping.

"Natalie...I'll protect you...against anything and everything...I promise..."

At 7 o'clock in the Morning

"Tory, honey, you and Natalie are going to be late if you don't-...Tory?" Tory's mother had walked into his room, only to find Natalie still asleep and still in bed. She looked around the room and saw Nadalia and Iceman playing cards together, but she didn't see Tory anywhere. Finally, he came out of the bathroom, the same cold cloth from before in hand.

"Hey Mom...Natalie's sick." Tory told her, sitting on his bed and placing the cloth on Natalie's forehead again. She released a sigh, in her sleep, and Tory turned to face his mother.

"Well Tory, honey, I can't stay here to take care of her. Your father needs me to help him out at work today. I won't be able to stay with her."

"We can't just leave her here by herself, Mom."

"Yes, yes, I know...How about...you stay with her?"

"Me? You'd let me do that?"

"Yes, but JUST this once, and you have to promise not to tell your father."

"Mom, I promise! Thanks." Tory smiled at his mother, happy that she was willing to let him stay with Natalie. He knew if he went to school he'd be so worried about her, he wouldn't be any good for anything.

"Now, there's some soup in the pantry. Make it for her around noon, in case she wakes up. And make sure she drinks LOTS of liquids, okay?"

"Yes ma'am."

"Good. Now be good and behave. I love you, Tory." Tory's mom kissed his cheek and then winked at Iceman and Nadalia,"You two better behave as well."

"Yes ma'am!"

"Good. See you later!" With a smile, Tory's mom left his room and Tory laid back down in his bed, hoping that Natalie's temperature would fall soon. Anastasia wasn't going to be a very happy camper when she woke up, either. Tory gave a sigh and simply watched Natalie sleep, wondering when the baby was going to wake up.

"Ya know, Natalie rarely ever gets sick..." Nadalia watched her OP with a worried expression, but it calmed when Iceman put his arms around her, and hugged her gently. Nadalia smiled slightly, and turned around, almost surprised at his actions.

"She'll be fine. Tory can take care of her. I know it." Iceman grinned, happy that he was taller than Nadalia know and could see the top of her head. It was the only time he had ever been glad that his height had been changed, since before it didn't 't even matter much.

"I bet you're right!" Nadalia cheered up immediately, grinning madly. Iceman smiled as well, and then released her, laughing at her sudden change in attitude. It was the only thing they could do to make the situation better, and they smiled wider as Tory grinned and laughed at the two. He shook his head and then turned back to Natalie, reaching out and holding her overly warm hand. He gave it a slight squeeze and then closed his eyes, drifting off with Natalie the last thought on his mind.

At Noon

"OH NO!"

Tory bolted up to find Natalie in a nearly mad panic. He stared wide-eyed at her before blinking slowly, "Nat, what are you doing?"

"Tory, WE OVERSLEPT! We are so late for school! OMIGOSH, OMIGOSH, Ms. Mari's gonna kill us! Oh, what was I thinking! How did I oversleep! Tory!" Natalie was rushing toward her bag at the edge of the bed, but tripped over it and fell directly in the spot where she had been laying minutes before. She sat up, but Tory wrapped his arms around her small waist and yanked her back down, forcing her to be still and actually LOOK at him in the face.

"Natalie, you were sick. You woke up with a fever earlier this morning. We aren't going to school."

"I was sick? What're you talking about? I don't feel...Oh." As soon as Tory had told her that they weren't going to school, her sickness actually kicked in, and Natalie had to fight the urge to pass out from the heat that rushed to her head. Her cheeks were still flamed and even more so, now that she had ran around the room in a frantic mad rush to get dressed and get to school. Natalie leaned back on the pillow and then looked at Tory again, who had a small smile on his face.

"Now you remember?"

"I guess so..."

"Natalie, go back to sleep. We aren't going to school, there's no reason to worry, 'kay? Sleep."

"Mmmmhhhmmmm..." Natalie did as she was told, and soon, she was fast asleep again. Tory turned over to find the two navis snickering at the computer behind them, and as soon as Natalie's head hit the pillow, they burst into full-fledge laughter.

"Hahahhahahahahaaa! We tried to tell her, Tory! We really did!" Nadalia exclaimed, trying not to laugh as loudly as she was.

"Hahahaha, did you see her? She was running around like she was actually going somewhere! HAHAHAHAHA!" Iceman added, laughing about as hard as Nadalia was. Tory just rolled over, while rolling his eyes at the two navis, whom were still laughing madly.

"You guys..." Natalie threw a pillow at the computer and actually hit the screen, making Nadalia and Iceman shut up immediately. Tory snickered before bursting into laughter at the frightful look crossing both of their faces. He smirked at them both with a look that said, 'Serves you right', before getting out of bed and taking Anastasia to get something to eat.

"I'm going downstairs...Can you keep an eye on Natalie for me, you two? If anything happens, come get me."

"You got it boss!" Iceman waved as Tory left the room and watched as he closed the door. Nadalia giggled a bit more before turning to watch her OP. She heaved a sigh and sat down on a net chair, leaning her head back against the chair.

"I'm worried about her, Icy. I mean, what if this is just the first day of many? That's the first time she ever broke down like that, but what if it happens again tonight? Will she be sick again tomorrow? I don't want her to keep being sick because of stupid Dex. I'd hate for that to happen to her."

" 'Lia she won't stay sick. Tory won't let her." Iceman answered, sitting down next to the chair. He leaned his head against the armrest and Nadalia placed her arm near his head. His voice was soft, so that he wouldn't wake Natalie and so that Nadalia could tell he was very honest.

"How can you be so sure?"

"I've never seen Tory look so...careful about a girl in my life. I've never seen him get so upset about one person being sick and I've never seen him so happy to have that person smile at him. Tory cares about Natalie...A lot. I can tell."

"Hmmm, well, I could say the same for Natalie. And after that whole thing with Dex, someone like Tory is who she really needs. Me and Mom can only do so much. The same goes for Yai and the others."

"Exactly. So really, they're...um...what's the word I'm looking' for?"

"Good for each other?"

"Yeah, that's right. They're good for each other." Iceman looked up and grinned at Nadalia, who smiled softly in return, before turning back to watch Natalie, thinking to herself quietly.

In The Kitchen

"Lalalalalalalaaaaaaaaaa..." Tory was humming the tune from the TV as he made Anastasia's bottle and fed it to her. He held her close to him and rocked her gently, remembering to give her time to breath, before placing the bottle back in her mouth. By the time Anastasia was finished, Natalie's soup was done and he placed the sleeping child back in her crib before going back downstairs and putting it in two bowls. He ate first, then took a cup of orange juice on a tray with the soup and taking it upstairs to his room. Placing the soup on the nightstand, he cleared off his desk and placed the tray on it, deciding that now would be a good time for Natalie to eat, if she had any plans of recovery.

"Hey Nat."

"Mmmmmhhhhhh?"

"Natalie...Natalie, get up.."

"Hmmmm?"

"Get up, Nat."

"Mmmmmmmmmm, twenty more minutes please..."

"Nat, get up. You need to eat."

Natalie rolled over and opened one eye slowly, glancing at Tory,"Huh?"

"You need to eat something and then you can go back to sleep, I promise."

"Promise?"

"Yep."

"Kay...", Natalie said, yawning and stretching before she sat up completely. Tory held his hand out and helped her stand up, leading her to where the food was placed at his desk. She sat down and ate quickly, but slow enough so that she didn't get sick from it. Then when she was done, she let Tory help her lay back in bed, but when he tried to leave Natalie sat up, "Tory, come lay down with me...I'm cold..."

"Nat..."

"Pleaseeeee?" She looked so cute and so tired that Tory fought down a smile and obeyed. He laid down next to Natalie, who immediately snuggled up beside him, like a child would it's teddy bear. Tory sighed and watched the girl breathing, surprised that he was once again in the same position he had been in much earlier.

"Go ahead and sleep too, Tory. We'll wake you if Anastasia cries." Nadalia told him quietly, smiling gently at the young man laying with her OP. Tory nodded and was soon as fast asleep as the girl beside him was.

End Chapter 6