Authors Notes

Thanks 1,000,000,000,000,000,000 for the favorites, follows and reviews! Hope you like this chapter, it's import and lots of stuff happens...

In answer to reviews: The package does in fact contain... Oh, wait never mind, on with story... ;)

When they finally stopped walking, it was dark out. Lucy had wanted to keep walking to the nearest town so they could have a real place to sleep, but Natsu had insisted, pointing out the fact they wouldn't make it until midnight at the pace they were going. They left the path, and finding a clearing, set up camp. Natsu had started a fire, and they had made the remarkable discovery of how good roasted apples are.

Lucy yawed, and before she even had time to say good night, she was asleep. Her head hit the ground, landing on a pile of moss, but even if it had bean a rock it wouldn't have woken her. She was locked fast in a dream.

Lucy's dream

Lucy's dream was different than normal, well as normal as a dream can be. She wasn't standing with Natsu, she was hiding. Natsu sat alone, hunched over, salmon hair obscuring his face, his scarf nowhere to be seen. Lucy looked down, only to see she was holding it tight in her clenched fist.

"Natsu!" Lucy called out.

Slowly he looked over to where she was, his face devoid of any emotion, save a deep sadness.

"Look Natsu, I found your scarf!" Lucy called. Pushing through the bush she had been hiding behind, she started toward him. Her feet pounded against the ground as she ran getting close and closer. Wind pulled at the scarf in her hand, and when she looked at it she realized it was slowly being pulled apart.

Natsu called out her, "Lucy what are doing, I thought I said leave me alone." His voice broke slightly at the end of the sentence, and he turned away.

Not being able to come closer Lucy had to yell instead,"Natsu wait... Please!"

He turned to look at her, and she could see tears on his face. They streamed down his face like liquid moonlight. "You already know, so why say it again." He called back to her.

"N..na..nat..su" She stuttered.

He started walking away, but his voice filled with hurt said, "Lucy... I..I.." He paused, then forced out what he was trying to say, "Lucy... I love you..."

Stars shone brightly above Lucy when she woke, their pinpricks of light blurred by the tears in her eyes. Silently, she got up and wiped them away. The fire had burnt down to coals, but still gave out enough warmth so that when she picked up a stick and held it to them it lit without problem. Carful to keep the flame burning she pulled the stick out of the fire, and moved it so it worked a torch. Then silent as a midwinter snowfall she left.

A short while later Natsu woke up. He too had been dreaming, just not the same dream. His dreams had been memories of his past, his life before finding Igneel. He had once had parents just like everyone, parents that were all to human.

Memories washed over him, and thinking Lucy was still sound asleep, he let them pull him in. He closed his eyes, letting the darkness found there set the stage. As the first flash of memory came, he sat up, wanting to be able to face it head on.

Lucy had been walking for only a minute before she came to a good place to sit. Now she was away from their camp site, her mind had begun to clear allowing her to form complete thoughts.

It was just a simple dream, she thinks, nothing like that would really happen. Natsu would never take off his scarf, much less lose it. Why would he be so sad? So sad, it hurt to see in a dream... Sad enough to make it feel like my heart was being twisted into knots... And it was my fault. A small voice spoke at the back of her mind, whispering, Didn't you want it to be like that? Isn't that what you want... Nastu no longer you problem, him knowing...

"Aaaagg!" Lucy said aloud, "That's not what I want, not at all!" Then, almost whispering, "I care more than that... I... I love him, I think."

Slowly, as if her realization had real weight, Lucy stood up and started back toward their camp. The going was slow, but she was lucky enough to see where she had come from.

When she arrived she was greeted with a terrible sight, Natsu crying. Quickly she ran over to him. Silent sobs shook his body, tears leaking from beneath closed eyes. Lucy sat down, wrapping her arms around him. Holding him close enough she could feel the heat come from him body, and damp tears staining her shoulder. She might not be positive she loved him, but she did know one thing, she would protect him, she never wanted him to need to cry.

So what do you think? PLEASE REVIEW