All rights to Hiro Mashima

~ Twentieth ~

-Lucy-

Gasping, I shoot up into a seated position.

'Where the fuck am I? What is going on?'

Images flood through my brain in fast forward, Mystogan, Master's office, Porlyusica's glowering red eyes, Romeo with a purple flame, Levy and Freed bent over a table, a glowing red lacrima, a blue magic circle…Natsu with red eyes and scales.

Natsu. Natsu.

I creak open my eyes and blink in the bright lacrima lights of the infirmary of Fairy Tail.

I don't see anyone around my bed, and the sky is dark outside, a few stars have come out already, twinkling away. This calms me down a little.

I jump out of my bed and fall flat on my face. My legs feel like jelly and everything is super sore.

"Son of a bitch. That fucking hurt." Groaning like a petulant child I get back onto my feet and glance down at my clothes. T-shirt. Shorts.

I've never seen these clothes before. But it doesn't matter right now. There are way more important things to figure out. They're probably from Virgo anyways.

Stumbling out of the infirmary door in my bare feet, I run out to the balcony on the second floor of the mall guild hall.

Even though it's late at night – I think – everyone is here still. I search frantically for a hint of pink hair in the brawling bodies.

But I can't spot it. I can't see Natsu anywhere.

Anxiety engulfs my entire being. My hands start to sweat and my breathing becomes very shallow.

I close my eyes and try to steady myself. I can freak out later when I know all the information. I need to get someone's attention. So I do the first thing that comes to mind.

Leaning over the balcony I plant my feet firmly beneath myself. I latch onto my uncertainty and sheer annoyance that Natsu might not remember me at all. So I let it out.

"WHAT IN THE ACTUAL FUCK IS GOING ON? Someone needs to tell me something right now or so help me I'll run you all through with Erza's bluntest sword."

All commotion downstairs has stopped and everyone turns towards me and just…stares.

I know I must look like crap, my hair like a bird's nest and maybe a little spit on my chin, but come on. I wasn't kidding about the sword thing.

Wendy runs up the stairs and grasps one of my hands. "Lucy, calm down please. I will tell you everything you need to know, but I need to give you one last check up to make sure you are perfectly healthy. Let's go back to the infirmary, it's much quieter there."

I nod and shoot a withering glace at all the pussies downstairs. Many of them have the good sense to look sheepish. Others, like Erza, don't seem to be paying attention at all. She's more engrossed in her cake at the moment.

I shake my head and let Wendy drag me back to the bed I woke up in.

Wendy's hands glow a light green and she closes her eyes, concentrating on the task before her.

Sighing and smiling, she lowers her hands. "You are perfectly healthy Lucy. You only fainted due to all the emotional stress that has been building up of these last two weeks."

I nod and pull her down to sit next to me. "Tell me everything that happened after I fainted."

"It wasn't much actually. Natsu got kind of violent after you fainted. I think it was due to all the stimulus around him – people and such – when he woke up. Also, his dragon was reasserting itself. That in itself is bound to cause serious problems. So naturally, Erza decided to knock his ass out."

I stare at her incredulously. Not at the fact Erza knocked Natsu out, because honestly that happened way more than it should, but because my baby Wendy swore.

It just sounded so…dirty and wrong coming from her. It was kind of cute.

Giggling at my stupefied face she gestures at the last bed in the room, the one with the curtain drawn around it. "Natsu still hasn't woken up yet, so we put him there. Freed put some runes around the bed so that if he did get more violent, he wouldn't burn the guild down. You can go through the runes, but his fire can't."

"Huh, well, that's a good plan. Thank you Wendy. I think I'm going to stay in here until he wakes up. I want to be the first one he sees when he opens his eyes." I slowly make my way towards the bed, apprehension making me drag my feet.

"You must love him very much, don't you?" Wendy's soft voice drifts over to me from near the door.

And like a lightning bolt straight through my nervous system, I realize the truth.

I love him. Him. Natsu.

I probably always have, it just took me a while to figure it out. Of all the ironic ways to realize it, he loses his memories, again. And this time he might not make it back to me.

"Yes Wendy. I love him. More than anything, I think." My voice is strong and doesn't waver. I'm not ashamed of my revelation. I feel almost…relieved. I would shout it from the roof tops if I could.

And like that, I also realize that I won't let him get away. I will fight for this goddamn love until I die. He is mine. And I am his. I just know it.

Quietly, I move a chair to his bedside and observe him silently. Same pink hair. Same face, same scar on his neck, same everything. Same Natsu. My Natsu.

Nothing has really changed. He is still that stupid lovable idiot. And I am still me. I just hope to everything that is holy that we can work through this. We've been through so much together, I won't let this be the end.

I reach out and stroke his hair slowly. 'So soft.'

I hunker down in my chair and try to get more comfortable, I bet I will be in for a long night. That's for sure. I hope he wakes up soon, this waiting game is stupid and annoying.

"Come back to me soon, Natsu."

Three days. Three mother fucking days he's been unconscious.

Everyone has come to see us at one point or another. Gray and Erza the most. They sit with me and play cards sometimes or just chat to pass the time. Levy brings me interesting books from the library with Gajeel hulking over her shoulder usually. Mira or Lisanna stops by with hot meals for me. Wendy checks on his vitals periodically. But other than that, I'm alone with my thoughts.

Just staring at his prone form, looking so pale in that bed. He's moved more than once, a flicker of his eyes or a twitch of his finger, but he stays asleep.

Porlyusica thinks it's because of all the magic that ripped through his body all at once, and I would have to agree with her at that point. He just needs time to recuperate.

But, I'm so bored without him. I didn't really think about what my life would be like without him.

It's just…empty. There isn't any joy, no adventures.

So to stave off the impending and oppressive silence around me, I've taken to reading the books that Levy brings for me out loud to him. I think I'm hoping that he will recognize my voice and wake the hell up. Playing with the now empty lacrima in my right hand I complete a passage in a book about dragons.

Dragon's while being pack creatures, are monogamous. They take one other dragon, either male or female, and mate with them. This is much different than intercourse. For mating to occur, there must be an exchange of magic and bodily fluids. A mating mark will appear on the body when the deed is complete and the dragon's mate will be theirs for eternity. Both dragons will die at the same time and be more in tuned towards each other, both in needs and feelings.

The mate cannot be just any dragon, usually it is from the same pack and almost always there is a very deep emotional and physical connection. Mutual trust must also be there for the mating to be completed. Dragons will cherish their mate above all else, except for their offspring. Not every Dragon finds their mate, but when they do it is cause for celebration for there are no better match for the pair.

I sigh. "Damn Natsu. You're Papa Igneel had some crazy rituals didn't he? I know you miss him Natsu. I really hope you can still remember him. I will be okay if you don't remember me, but just know that I'll help you look for him with everything that I have."

It's been a full week.

I can tell he is going to wake up soon, call it woman's intuition if you want. But I just know.

I had run home earlier to get in a quick bath and a change of clothes and had just made it back to the guild hall. I pushed open the door carrying my next book and looked up towards Natsu's bed to navigate my way in the semi darkness of the evening, towards the stupid stiff wooden chair that had become my home lately.

But something had changed. Something wonderful. Something terrifying.

My gaze was trapped by obsidian. Deep and dark and familiar.

He's awake. Natsu's awake.

I can't move. I can't breathe. I'm rooted to the spot on the ground holding a book on the country Seven and Natsu's awake.

'Is he going to say anything? Should I say something? What should I say?'

"Hi" Ugh. That was the worst thing I could have said.

A grin splits his face in half. "Hi Luce."

I stare into his eyes and pray to Mavis that I can spot the one thing I had been missing the most. His fire.

Gasping slightly, I spot it. The dancing, wild, crazy fire in his eyes.

Blinking tears away, a grin finds its way onto my face.

He's back.

Due to everyone freaking out...I thought you deserved the next bit ahead of schedule! Thank you to everyone for the wonderful reviews!

Bring on the hunt for Ivan!