Whoops totally forgot to give the name of the song from the last chapter, that was Windswept by Crywolf which is just another thing I don't own *cries* I was gonna bring it in later but I found myself with it on repeat while writing the last chapter so I worked it in. Anyways, I know its not Sunday but I suppose I might have been feeling a little guilty about being silent for like a month so here's the third installment in What The Heart Wants! Without further ado...

Chp 3: Unlikely Friends

Lucy really had no idea how long she had been floating through this darkness. It was soft and peaceful. And as time crept on the quiet, slow tendrils of her conscious thought had decided that she was, in fact, dead.

She must be, right? If she hadn't perished in the fall then why on Earth was she still unable to wake her body? This thought bothered her and so she quickly abandoned it for silence instead. Truthfully she didn't much care if she had died. It wasn't as if she had anything she desperately wanted to return to anyways. Her mother had already passed, her father was a cruel beast of a man, and she had no friends she could recall.

Friends...

The word made a deep, slow pain thud somewhere at the edge of her black abyss. It annoyed her and she desperately willed it to stop. She had no one to return to.

Right?

Suddenly an image started to trickle into the black. A color of some sort. It was light and demanding. And beyond frustrating. What was this? The hue was bright, almost too bright in the pitch black. What was it called again? The word was on the tip of her tongue but every time she strained too hard to recall it, it danced away to a further corner where she couldn't reach. She growled at the darkness in frustration.

Think. Think. Think!

Oh...pink. Sudden confusion swept through her weary mind. Why was she remembering the color pink, of all things? She liked this color, she mused, but the persistent nagging connected to it felt like it was due to more pressing matters. And it had all come about because her mind had muttered the word 'friends'. But she had none! She hadn't been around any other children since her mother passed. How could she have a friend with this being the case?

She tried to return to the thoughtless floating black. It was easier than attempting to decipher what her mind was trying to tell her. She felt herself sinking further into the depths. An unknown weight dragging her down but she didn't care enough to fight it. It was sort of peaceful. Like she was sinking to the bottom of a deep lake but she was able to breathe in the water. Wait, was she breathing? She wasn't sure. She wasn't sure it mattered. Her mind grew heavy, the previously persistent color whose name she had once again forgotten slowly fading away back to black at the edges.

It was about to fade completely when she suddenly had the sensation that her entire world was being shaken. Like a massive earthquake. The black began to waver and white light crept in to take its place. It was bright, so bright that it was quickly becoming uncomfortable. The shaking increased. Becoming almost ferocious in its nature. The white tendrils encroaching on her black blanket became blinding. Painful. Then suddenly there was pink again, and a blue so deep it was almost black, deep green and lighter green. Shapes moving before her so quickly that it was difficult to make them out. Her head pounded. The black crept in once again from the edges but she was shaken even harder and then as sudden as there had been color, there was also sound.

"Lucy! Lucy!"

'Lucy?' She thought groggily. 'What's that?'

"Common Lucy! Wake up!"

She groaned. The noise sounded strange to her. Where was it coming from? It sounded like it was surrounding her. She tried to block out the uncomfortable sensations but suddenly she felt something wet. What was going on?

"Lucy!" A far away sound wailed. The sound pained her. But not as the previous sounds had, this pain radiated from somewhere else in her. This pain had her clawing at the blackness trying desperately to cling more to the light.

The sound was getting weaker and a sudden panic overtook her.

'Wait! Wait! I'm coming! Please, don't leave me behind!'

She wanted to cry but her voice was somewhere far away. She no longer cared to float in the blackness. She had somewhere she needed to be. Something she had to get back to.

There was pressure somewhere in her. It was pulsing rhythmically. Almost painfully but she welcomed the pain. It felt necessary. Then there was a new pressure, but it was lighter. Softer. This pressure pushed something into her. Something she hadn't realized she was missing but suddenly felt greedy to get more of. As if answering her prays the sensation graced her again. Now she felt she needed it so badly it burned a raging trail of fire through the darkness.

What was this sensation? She knew it from somewhere. Her body burned and it made her cringe. She needed something desperately. In her desperation she tried to create the sensation by herself but something heavy and thick was in the way. She felt the heavier pressure again and it seemed to move the thickness so that it sloshed against the darkness in a sickening way. The gentle pressure was back again, providing the sweet feeling. But she knew it could be better, she was being given this feeling but maybe she should try taking it for herself again. Something in her opened and she tried to seek out the light that pushed down the thickness in her body. Suddenly the pressure was back, more aggressive this time and it made the black shatter. She coughed her body heaving and without the warning the heavy sensation came pouring forth from her.

Her eyes snapped wide as water gushed from her mouth. Splattering with a sickening sound on the grass next to her. Quickly followed by all of the contents of her stomach. Lucy gasped desperately for air. Recognizing shortly after she managed to get a lungful that this was what she had been searching for in the blackness that had been consuming her only moments before.

"Lucy!"

She blinked her eyes rapidly. Tears blurring her vision as she groaned and tried to roll away from the mess she had created in the grass besides her.

"No!" She now recognized the noise she had been hearing before as the voice that was coming from behind her. It was shaking. "Don't lay on your back, there might still be water in your lungs!"

Lucy groaned again as a pressure pushed her face closer to the grass and the mess. She strained against it but she was far too weak. Then there was a pounding sensation on her back. She tried to gasp in shock but more water made its way up her throat before spilling onto the ground in front of her. She coughed violently but no more liquid came up. After a few moments of lying lifelessly on the grass her strength slowly began to creep back into her weary limbs.

She groaned and gave her head a shake, trying to make sense of her surroundings. There were tall trees everywhere and she was lying on a river bank. The water swirled by at a lazy pace and she watched it as something sparked in the back of her mind. Bleary eyes followed the flow of the river as she pushed herself up before they met the bottom of a waterfall. The force of the falling water created a never ending spray as it met the river below.

Then suddenly it came back to her.

She had just fallen over that. Her eyes widened in shock…Just how far had she dropped? And by what miracle had she missed the rocks at the bottom?

Her body shook as her memories returned. She whipped around to face a soaking wet boy who was staring at her incredulously. Her mouth opened but no words came out. Her eyes raked over him, searching for any sign of injury but truth be told he looked completely unharmed. Lucy was unsure of how much time passed with them sitting there and simply staring at each other.

"Well," He said suddenly. "Ya sure do bounce back fast, dontcha?"

She sensed that he might be mocking her a bit but she couldn't make her mind move fast enough to snap at him.

Instead she blinked at him owlishly. Once. Twice. Then she spoke. Her words were slow and rough from having just expelled what must have been a gallon of water.

"How…are you alright?" Her voice was laced with disbelief.

He released a small 'tch' before looking away with a shake of his head.

"I dunno," He grumbled petulantly. There was a moment of silence before he spoke again. "You're welcome for savin ya by the way." His eyebrows drew together as he stared at the damp grass.

For a moment she was left completely in awe as she stared up at him. Despite the fact that she was sitting next to the contents of her stomach she was in a place that she didn't recognize at all, which meant she had made it off of her father's estate alive. A small giggle erupted from her lips which quickly morphed into full blown laughter. Her shoulders shook with the motion as she fell on her back and rolled to face Natsu. Her eyes were closed from her efforts however so she couldn't actually see him. More laughter spilled from her lips.

She had run for her life, only to be swept away by a river before falling from Gods only knows how high and still actually managed to escape from her father's grip somehow.

She was free!

Her eyes cracked open to meet the disbelieving look of the boy before her. Her laughter died in her throat as suddenly as it had begun before she sat upright and guiltily looked away.

"Um, sorry," She began nervously as she worried her bottom lip. "I realize it's impolite to laugh in front of people you don't know. I didn't mean to offend you."

She peeked at him, internally cringing as she waited to be chastised for her behavior. When he didn't speak she began to ramble. Another nervous habit of hers.

"Sorry, sorry." She stuttered out, rubbing her left arm awkwardly. "I don't laugh often it kinda just slipped out..."

His brows furrowed even more, nearly hidden by his still-wet locks.

"You don't…laugh?" He asked, having momentarily forgotten his previous annoyance. Confusion clearly evident on his face. The way he asked made it seem as though he didn't trust the words he was speaking.

She shook her head but didn't speak. Suddenly feeling far too shy under his gaze.

"Why?" His voice was so soft it was almost a whisper. Her eyes widened in shock.

"I…I don't know." She lied. Hoping he would leave well enough alone. But as she would come to learn Natsu wouldn't stand for her lies. No matter how small they may be. His eyes narrowed.

"Lucy…"

His voice stirred something in her. It was a foreign feeling and she desperately pushed it away, far down in her body where she hoped it wouldn't resurface anytime soon.

"Because!" She wailed before stopping to draw a shaky breath to steady herself, keeping her eyes carefully trained on the ground in front of her. "There's nothing in my life to laugh about."

'Or anyone to laugh with.'She added silently to herself.

The tone at the end of her sentence closed any possibility for further discussion on the matter. For being such a young child she was awfully somber the pinkette noted to himself. He accepted her answer silently, somehow knowing that she wasn't lying. For a long time the pair were quiet. Only the sound of the river lazily winding by could be heard.

Suddenly, as if startled, Natsu rose.

"We probably shouldn't stay here too much longer." He murmured glancing down at her. "They could still be looking for you."

Lucy's eyes widened in response as she turned to face the waterfall. Her gaze searching for any way her father's men could descend to continue their search for the prized Heartfilia child. Turning back she noticed that he had held one of his hands out to her. Tentatively her gaze found his.

"Here." He grumbled, his eyes cast off to the side.

Without another thought Lucy reached out one tiny hand to grasp his larger one. With a grunt he pulled her to her feet and quickly released his grip once she was steady. A small smile graced her face but he was already turned around so he couldn't see it. For some reason Lucy was glad. It felt strange to smile at someone she didn't know. But something about this boy pulled it out of her and as they walked away from the river bank her tiny smile grew into an all-out grin.

After they had walked for a few minutes, all the while Lucy trailing a few feet behind, she suddenly seemed to remember something and moved up to trot by his side. Embarrassment was clear on the young girl's face, her cheeks burning a pretty pink color.

"Hey…Natsu," She whispered softly, causing said boy to slow his pace a bit and glance at her from the corner of his eye. "Thank you." A soft smile curved the edges of her mouth.

Her words were so genuine that it startled him, causing him to stumble a bit which resulted in a rosy dusting that was evident on his tan cheeks. Natsu had never heard those two words said with such sincerity, and with the way her large brown eyes were watching him he had the sudden feeling she wasn't used to being helped out. None the less saved. He stopped and turned to face her. She stumbled a bit but caught herself and gazed up at him curiously.

"Don't mention it."

He lifted an arm to scratch at the back of his head before he began walking again. She continued on besides him in silence and even though it was nearly pitch black he couldn't miss that tiny smile on her face. He absentmindedly thought to himself that he never wanted to see her without a smile.

They walked along like that for a long time before he noticed that she was starting to lag behind. When he paused to ask if she was getting tired she bumped into his back and released a startled squeak. A sideways smirk erupted on his face as he decided that was a good enough answer for him.

"We should stop for the night and rest." Natsu declared, casting a glance back at her. "Our clothes should be dry enough now that we can sleep in them."

Lucy gave him a sleepy nod before she suddenly seemed to remember that they were in the middle of the woods. Far away from the only place she had ever known. The realization made the blonde incredibly nervous as her eyes started to dart around at the trees that surrounded them.

"Um…" She mumbled still looking around. "Is it safe to stay here for the night?"

She peeked at him when he chuckled. His eyes held an amusement that she couldn't understand and for some unknown reason it caused her to puff her cheeks out in annoyance. She had no idea where she was. How could she possibly know if these woods were safe or not?

"Relatively," He mused, enjoying the way her eyes widened a bit. "Don't worry, I'll make a fire to keep the animals away while we sleep!"

"And just how exactly do you plan on doing that in the pitch black?" She snapped. Not at all enjoying that this strange boy seemed to be finding her concerns amusing.

He only offered a shrug as an answer.

"Done it plenya' times before."

Lucy shifted uncomfortably before letting out a little sigh as she settled herself on the forest floor, continuing to cast weary glances around them. Natsu stopped in his pursuit of fire kindling just long enough to peer at the fidgety blonde. Her nervousness was almost palpable and he felt his normally blank expression soften.

She caught his eye as she turned her head back and he watched as she tugged her bottom lip between her teeth. Warm brown gaze seeking something from his own dark orbs.

"Hey," Natsu started, his voice adopting a warmer tone. "No need to look so nervous Luce, I won't let anything happen to ya!"

He pounded his chest with a closed fist as he finished speaking. His eyes were closed and a wide grin had broken out across his features.

'Luce?'The endearing nick name made her brow furrow for a moment but it quickly melted away as she peered at him. A strange warmth building up in her chest as she watched him collect wood for their fire. Once again she found the corners of her mouth tugging up into a smile and her lips parted.

"I know…" She whispered it so quietly it was more like she was talking to herself. Sure he hadn't heard her she kept her gaze on the scuffs on her shoes as she smiled into her knees.

She would never know it, but he had heard her and a great pride swelled inside of him that would last for years to come.

Well there you are! Some NaLu fluff! I enjoy fluff as much as I enjoy angst. Roller coastersof emotions of everyone!

Lemme know what your thoughts are on this chapter, I love hearing everyone's feedback it makes my insides tingly ne~

As always

Best, SB