All rights to Hiro Mashima

~ Twenty-first ~

-Lucy-

"Luce, this might be a weird question, but…why am I in the infirmary? And where's Happy? Actually, screw those questions. What the hell is going on? My brain hurts more than usual and my skin is all tingly, like when I ate that Etherion at the Tower of Heaven."

This is good. He can remember important people and places in his life. A very, very good sign. But I need total and complete confirmation that he's back and his Dragon Slayer abilities have reasserted themselves.

"Damn Natsu. Calm down for a minute! I'll tell you the full story in a minute. Just…let me do something first and then ask you one question then you have me for the whole night to answer anything you want, okay?"

Natsu nods slowly looking slightly apprehensive as I put my book on the wooden chair beside his bed and lean over into his personal space.

I grasp his face lightly between his palms and look into his eyes. His are full of questions I know he's absolutely burning to ask me, like what the hell I'm doing to his face.

Probably.

I don't know what he was expecting me to do to him, but I bet it wasn't hooking my thumbs into his upper lip and raising it so that I could see all of his teeth.

With an indignant squawk on his part and satisfactory hum on mine I let his face go and smile at him again. Because I saw what I needed to confirm my suspicion that his magic is back in full force.

Those weirdo long ass canine teeth that make his smile all the more dangerous and exciting are back where they should be.

"What in Mavis' name are you doing you weirdo? And where the fuck have your fingers been!? They taste like moth balls and old ink. Which are both super gross to have inside your mouth, just so you know." Natsu quickly scrubs this tongue off with his scarf before he turns his gaze on me again.

I hold my hands up in a placating gesture. "Okay, geez, let me ask my one question."

Natsu crinkles his nose up a bit and whines a little in his throat. "Fine, but hurry it up Luce. I'm fucking hungry. It feels like I haven't eaten properly in a month. We gotta tell Mira she needs to fire up everything in the kitchen."

There he is. That's my Natsu. Lovable, weird, stomach-is-also-known-as-a-black-hole, idiot.

But not dense. Because whether he likes it or not, he accidentally gave himself up. There is no way I am letting him go back to that earlier version of Natsu, the one who made me explain sex to him when he already knew, probably from a very early age. I might still be a bit miffed about that.

Laughing lightly I lower myself into the chair by his bedside. "Sorry Natsu, Mira has gone home for the night. It's only me and you here. Maybe Master and Laxus if they decided to do some paperwork for once." I grimace. It's time to ask the serious questions now. I need to know where we stand so that we can move forward.

I steel myself for his answer. "Natsu," I take a deep breath and let it out slowly. "…what is the last thing that you remember?"

He sits and actually contemplates his answer. "Uhm…well, the last thing I remember that wasn't fuzzy or weird was you showing me a job listing."

I swear under my breath. "Damn it. Fucking shit!" I so wished that he remembered everything, but I can't pick and choose what happens with his mind…wait. "What do you mean by fuzzy exactly?"

"Well. I remember other things, but the images are a bit…weird. Fuzzy. Blurry I guess. Like waking up and seeing something warm and brown, the infirmary, oh gods…Gray and Cana fucking in a store room…ugh…a tidal wave of water in an office, and what the fuck was I doing sitting in the middle of a mini tornado?"

Okay. I can work with this. His memories of the last two weeks are still there…they're just hidden. Time to break the news to him about his magic.

"This is going to sound really strange but bear with me okay? About two weeks ago, an imposter that looked like Mystogan came into the guild and put us all to sleep. When we were all under, he used an ancient spell called 'Detach' and literally ripped your Dragon Slaying magic right out of your body and put it in a lacrima."

"What the hell. Are you serious? So I've been lying here for two weeks?" Natsu actually growled out the words. I could tell he was livid, his eyes practically slits and nostrils flared. 'Oh shit. If this is his reaction to his magic being stolen, how is he going to react when I tell him it was an accident?'

I shift the chair closer towards his bed and lay a comforting hand on his clenched fist. "Oi, Natsu. Calm down. I'm not done the story, there is still a lot to tell you, just…chill until the end okay?" He nods slowly and flips his hand over so that he can tangle our fingers together. I don't think he realizes that he's doing it himself.

"When the Mystogan imposter left, we all woke up no problem. Except for you. You woke up with no magic…and no memories. At all. You didn't remember me, or Happy, or Igneel, none of our jobs or anything to do with Tenrou or the Grand Magic Games. Nothing."

His face goes pale at that and he unconsciously squeezes my hand tighter.

"I was terrified. We got Porlyusica and Wendy to check you out. Turns out they had taken your ancient magic from Igneel, which left you as am ordinary fire mage, like Romeo and Macao. You sort of remembered the strong feelings that went along with certain people. Like your rivalry with Gray, or the fear of Erza, or your trust in me." I smile softly up at him. "Master had no idea what to do. So we gathered everyone up and we all had assignments. Gajeel went undercover and The Thunder Legion searched for Mystogan while we trained with Romeo. While we waited for everyone to come back, I told you stories of your past in the hopes that you would remember something, and we stayed at my place because you actually couldn't remember where your house was. When everyone got back and found Mystogan…I guess Jellal…we learned that there was a break out from the council's prison. Both Ivan Dreyer and the Oracion Seis escaped three months ago. Jellal actually found the Seis before we did, they all ended up at the guild hall three days after that discussion and are now members of Crime Sorciere. It turns out that Ivan is the one who wanted the ancient magic, and has been recruiting mages for months now from all the major dark guilds. But, the idiot that he sent made a mistake. He took the wrong magic. It was supposed to be from a mage with a pink guild mark, not pink hair."

"Oh Mavis Luce. Not again, we just got over someone trying to sacrifice you to a giant fish, what in the actual fuck is going on this time. Why does he need your magic?" While Natsu is panicking slightly he scoops me up on my chair and deposits me beside him, nestling me down in the crook of his arm and wraps his big warm hands around my waist while sticking his head into my hair. I think he's trying to calm himself down. It feels nice whatever he's doing.

"I don't know exactly. No one knows yet. Crime Sorciere is now looking out for anything suspicious with the help of Cobra. Gajeel is the one who found the lacrima that held your magic and brought it back from two mages from Ivan's guild who were trying to sell the damn thing. Levy found a seal on it, so we took it to Kageyama. You remember him right? Well, he dispelled the seal in under two hours and he has a kid now. A little girl, super cute. Anyway…Gildarts and Laxus did the reversal spell right after that to put your magic back in you. That's why you were in a mini tornado. You woke up after that and were a touch…unpredictable…gave us all another scare. All the emotional build up over the past couple of weeks hit me all at once and I fainted. I woke up in the infirmary two days later and learned that Erza knocked you out. I've been here waiting for you to wake up for a week."

"You're alright though? Wendy check you out when you fainted?" I smile at his concern. "Yah Natsu. She said I was just emotionally wiped out. I needed to recharge I guess."

He nuzzles my neck slightly and I can feel his grin against my skin. It sends shockwaves pulsing all over my body. "I'm glad I'm back Luce. And with my memories this time. I don't ever want to leave you."

I close my eyes and listen to his steady heartbeat. "I know Natsu."

We drift off to sleep again curled in each other's arms not even waking when Master comes to check on us hours later.