Lucy opened her eyes slowly as they adjusted to the light. She tried to sit up but her shoulder hurt. She started to panic. 'Where am I? How did i get here? Did I die...am I dead?'

"Hey don't strain yourself there." A sweet voice warned. She didn't question the voice, she just laid back into the position she had woken up in. The voice continued, "You took quite a beating miss. You're real lucky that boy found you when he did."

"Boy?" She asked 'Loke? No he wouldn't have found me he was already there. Could Wayli have "found" me?' The voice was like silk running through Lucy. Maybe it was the fact that the tone its self reminded Lucy of her mothers.

A woman stepped into Lucy line of vision and asked her simple questions like the year and what her name was etc. Lucy answered each one but when she asked "Do you know how this happened?" the velvet tone rang in Lucy's ear.

"Ugh... no. I mean... I can't remember." She thought over her last few minutes of consciousness and could remember all after stumbling down an alley. She remembers Loke and Wayli but she doesn't really have the reason for why she was in this bed. "I remember my shoulder hurt and it was getting harder and harder to breath."

"You were shot in the shoulder and in your high stomach." The soft voice helped sooth Lucy through the rough words. "This boy found you in an alley near death." She pointed to Natsu who was asleep in a chair across the room. He looked so uncomfortable with his legs over one arm of the chair and this back bent over the other. His face was red from being upside down and Lucy thought it might be the closest thing to a blush she's ever seen on Natsu.

"He knocked on my door and luckily my mom was a healer when I was young so I did my best. I offered him a bed but he said he refused and instead sat in that chair watching you for hour after hour."

"Thank you." Lucy said trying to push herself up. "When he wakes up we'll get out of your hair."

"And this letter came for you." She handed Lucy a colorful envelope. "Please excuse me I'll go make some tea." and walked out of the room. The envelope was thick and had red striped running from the top left corner down to the bottom left. She tore it open at the top and pulled the letter out.

'Lucy,

I want to apologize for being so useless. I never should have let you get hurt. I hope you're okay and I want to see you as soon as possible. Last night Grubbing was arrested after someone called to complain about hearing gun fire. They tried to arrest me too but I just went back to my world. Anyway, I have some friends here who just got released from their contracts and want to meet you. Talk to you real soon.

Loke'

Lucy looked in the envelope and saw Wayli's keys. She placed the letter face down on her lap to inspect the keys. She saw a small note written on the papers back.

'P.s. Heribus key isn't there. So you should look out for it, like always.' Lucy could almost see Loke winking at her as she read this. She reached back into her pocket and her smile faded instantly. She felt around her whole body, in every pocket. She pushed herself side to side inspecting the bed. 'Crap crap crap!' She thought to herself. She pushed herself out of bed ignoring the pain and ran across the room to Natsu.

"Natsu, wake up we have to go!"

"What...why?" He asked groggily. She pulled him to his feet. "Lucy, are you okay? Should you be standing?"

"That's not important right now. We need to leave."

"Why?"

"Because tonight's the full moon." Natsu's eye widened but then he shook his head pushing that thought out of his mind. "But you need to rest, you shouldn't be wal-"

"Stop I'm fine, let's go." She ran over to the bed and grabbed the envelope and her belt off the side table. She turned to Natsu who reluctantly opened the door for her. They walked out on to the street. Natsu looked down the alley by the house. He had knocked on the door of the brick house that made up one of the walls of the alley.

After running up and down the block he decided to knock on some doors but the brick home was the first with someone who knew how to help. Lucy fastened her belt around her waist.

"Are you sure you're able to walk okay?" Natsu asked grabbing Lucy's shoulder. She winced and the pain rushed back in waves. She hit the ground on her knees holding her shoulder with one hand and her stomach with the other. She didn't know how she was still alive but she thought this pain alone would kill her.

She dropped the envelope and the keys spilled out onto the sidewalk. She keeled over in pain, pressing her forehead to the concrete hoping she didn't pass out from the pain.

"Oh my god, Lucy!" He dropped down to her side unsure what to do. Lucy gave way and collapsed unconscious. She fell over into Natsu's lap.

"Lucy? Lucy..." Natsu looked over the limp blonde. He knew she'd be pissed if she woke up in the same bed. He gathered the keys again and lifted her. A lock of hair fell from her face to reveal the soft tones of Lucy's face. Her cheeks burned red from the pain and her lips now relaxed, opposite of their pursed position a few moments ago.

Her head rested against Natsu's chest and he held tight to her limp body. 'Now what?' he thought to himself. He looked down at her and saw her lips were pursed again and her brow was furrowed uncomfortably. Soon her face relaxed and then formed a sad expression. 'I hope it's not a nightmare.'

Natsu set a cup of hot tea on the coffee table in front of where Lucy lay. He dug in his pocket and pulled out a silver shining flower. He inspected it for a moment before shoving it back in his pocket as he heard someone coming from the other direction. The man carried a medium sized box that seemed to be more sentimentally valuable then actually worth a lot.

He looked over at the limp blonde and then to Natsu who stood near the center of the room.

"So what did you say happened to her?" The man asked.

"She had a bad night and now she has a hangover so I'm just letting her sleep it off." Natsu lied. "Do you have the key?"

"What exactly are you using it for?" Natsu asked. He knew if this man was planning to use it for something terrible and he just handed over the key, Lucy would never forgive him. He inspected the man closely. His white slacks did not match his dark brown sweater shirt that made his eyes seem an also black green he somehow looked...comfy.

His narrow dark eyes were prominent on his pale face. He had lighter, almost silver hair probably from age. Natsu thought him to be about 40 or so but not much older. He looked over at Happy, who had been sitting on the floor gnawing at a fish quietly.

"I want to save my daughter." He opened the box and pulled out a sack that seemed to ring when it moved. "Here you are. 800 jewel, just give me the key and its all yours."

"What's wrong with you?" Natsu asked flatly. "Excuse me?"

"Why are you going to kill your daughter tonight? What's a healer like her going to do?"

The man stood up and motioned for Natsu to follow. As they stared to the hall Natsu looked back at Happy and pointed to Lucy. Happy nodded and silently saluted as to say 'Aye sir' and fixed his eyes on her.

The man led Natsu to a door at the end of the hall. He then felt along the inner lining of his shoe and pulled out a small key. He dug it into the hole in the door handle and turned it forcefully. Natsu could hear the rusty door hinges start in shift and it sounded as if it had been forever since this door was last opened.

"Where are we going?" He was ignored but he continued to follow the man. through short narrow walk ways and down stairs just to go up stairs just around the corner. They finally arrived at a door and when the man slid it open cautiously. Natsu hadn't realized how dark it was in the hall until the bright light shined out from the cracked door. "What the?" Natsu said in confusion as he shielded his eyes from the light. "Where are we?"

Quietly the man stepped into the room. It seemed like a simple bedroom for a young girl. It had purple walls and hard wood flooring. A large white and purple area rug lay sprawled out across the floor.

"Daddy!" A high pitched squeal came from the room as he stepped all the way in. A small figure with long flowing brown hair ran at him. She collided with the man hugging him tightly as Natsu squeezed by to inspect the room.

"What took you so long daddy? You left like 3 naps ago." The girl explained. "Who's this?" The man pointed to Natsu explaining he was a mage from another town. The girl look confused and then intrigued and she spun around, whipping her hair as she did so, and faced him. She had soft features far from her father. Her long dark hair hung in strands framing her face.

She had thick eye lashes, medium lips that shined a light natural red. But to Natsu none of these features were as prominent as her left eye being yellow almost gold in color, and her right eye in which was an ocean blue. They both shined with interest at the flame mage.

Natsu looked up at the man unsure what to say. He remembered how the town kids picked on Romeo for having a father in the guild. He knew it wasn't the same thing but it was something but that probably made her feel different. He bent down so he was level with her and smiled. "What's your name?"

"Ana...Are you really not from here?" Natsu laugh widening his grin. "Yeah."

"Whoa! So you're like an adventurer! I read about people like you in the books daddy brings me."

Natsu analyzed her and the situation. "And how old are you Ana?" The man's expression changed. With wide eyes he spoke up. "He means how many books have you read?"

"Oh, then I'm 17!" The girl giggled. Natsu knew she couldn't have been more than 5. He couldn't put together what the man was trying to tell him. "Well Ana, daddy has got to go. Say good bye to Natsu." She waved and then analyzed her stacks of books. The two of them were silent as they walked back through the maze of stairs and hall ways.

When they had made it back to where Lucy lay with happy they finally spoke. "Why is she locked away?" Natsu asked. The man was taken aback by the question. He guessed the first question would have something to do with her eye. He shook his head and looked down at his lap.

"Why doesn't she know her age? How old is she? How can she read already?" Natsu stood up as he raised his voice.

"She has a disorder known as Heterochromatic Synapse Displacement." The man explained. Natsu looked confused at the man. "It is like Heterochromia in that the person obtains eyes of two separate colors." He continued. "The differences in the two are that Heterochromatic Synapse Displacement affects the speed in which a person's brain develops."

"So she's a genius then?"

"Essentially, except while her mind has reached about the age of 16 years old, she herself is old 6."

"So why lock her away?" The man smiled a little at that. This pushed a knot into Natsu's stomach. There was obviously something wrong with this guy.

"So basically you want that spirit chick to heal your daughters disorder? But I still don't understand why it had to be by the next full moon. And also why would you kill her? Is it that bad being smart?"

"No her 7th birthday is coming up next month and her migraines are getting worse. She even vomited from the pain a couple weeks ago."

"I don't follow."

The man sighed hoping the conversation was nearly over. "Her body can't keep up with the rapid growth of her brain. It has started pushing against her skull causing her to have terrible migraines." He took a deep breath and Natsu saw him holding back the tears in his eyes.

"The closer she comes to her birthday the worse her condition seems to get. I could never see my little girl in so much pain. I decided that if I didn't cure her by the next full moon..."

Natsu just looked at the man as he took it all in. This little girl, she was in so much pain. His breathing sped up and his hands clenched tightly in fists. He could feel anger rising up inside him. "What the hell! Her pain tortures you? So you want to kill her?" He shouted. The man's eyes widened.

"Do you know what it would feel like? To have that kind of pressure in your head? With no way to get it out!? She asked me yesterday, if I would try to get the demons out of her mind!" The man sobbed angrily. Natsu understood but he didn't like it at all. His fist tightened more but then he felt his whole body go almost limp. He felt is mind clear, anger fizzle up and float away.

As he felt the soft, feathery, trembling skin against his. A hand gently tugged at his wrist. He spun around to see Lucy pushing herself to reach him. He stood a couple feet from the couch she was carefully perched on. She lost her balance and strength to stand, falling back where she laid on the couch just moments ago.

Her sudden movements caught Natsu off guard and she dragged him down with her. He quickly realized that he was laying atop of her and grabbed her waist, flipping her so he was covered by her weak body. He was afraid he had hurt her by landing on her. She blushed up at him when she realized the situation.

His face turned deep red and he carefully pushed her up off her and sat up. "How are you feeling?"

"Better..." She said as she felt her shoulder again. "Do you think you'll be able to do any magic? We could really use you right about now." She looked at him confused and reached for her keys. She saw them all there and then felt her pocket. She started to panic. "It was in my pocket! I can't believe this!" Natsu placed his hand on her other shoulder -careful to avoid her injury.

"Are you looking for this?" He held up a silver key and Lucy's eyes filled with joy. She quickly and without thinking, grabbed the key and sprung herself at him. He kept himself steady as he accepted her embrace. She turned to see the man still standing where he had a moment ago, watching the ecstatic mages.

"Why is it you wanted this key?" Natsu turned her to him and explained the situation best he could. The man had to help with a lot of the technical terms but Natsu did a great job explaining for the most part.

"So Heribus can do that?' Lucy asked looking amazed at the key in her hand. The man walked out of the room to retrieve his daughter. Lucy turned to Natsu and realized how close they were. She felt her face heat up as she blushed at him. "What?" He asked at her soft expression. "Thank you." She said simply.