Disclaimer: I do not own Fairy Tail, Hiro Mashima does. It's All Coming Back to Me also belongs to Celine Dion, who I am not. Please enjoy the new chapter. n_n

Chapter 3

~I finished crying in the instant that you left, and I can't remember where or when or how, and I banished every memory you and I had ever made~

"Lucy, are you okay?"

The blonde looked up from her notes and glanced at her blue-haired friend next to her. They were in the back of the class, so the teacher couldn't hear their whispers.

"You haven't written anything in the last ten minutes," the girl continued. "Are you sick?"

Lucy glanced down at her notepad, but shook her head. She'd been in this school for a week now, and it was still a hard adjustment for her. She was so used to rambunctious students, overreacting teachers, and fights and parties almost every day. Mermaid Heel was so calm, yet strict, and she could hardly bear it. No one had time for play, or even to relax. It was constant work all the time.

She sighed, put on a happy smile, and turned back to her friend. "I'm okay, Levy. I just spaced out for a second."

The other girl nodded and looked back at the teacher, but with a last second glance to Lucy.

The blonde immediately started taking notes again. It was so easy to get lost in her work, and she sometimes found that she could allow herself a little bit of happiness. For the first couple of days in this new school, all she could think about was Natsu, and how horrible she'd treated him the last time they saw each other. She had wanted to apologize to him, but never got the chance.

She had gone to his house to say goodbye, but he wasn't home. She was able to say farewell to his parents and little sister, Wendy, but it broke her heart that he wouldn't be around to see her one last time.

It wasn't until she met Levy McGarden that she was able to allow herself other thoughts than those of Natsu. Levy helped her forget, promising to help her get caught up in classes, studying for tests, and just teaching her things she didn't know. The classes were so advanced for her age compared to where she was back at Fairy Tail, that she couldn't afford to think of anything else. She wasn't going to allow her father's money go to waste, and she wasn't going allow herself to roll over and die, either. This was where her path led her, and she was going to tackle it head on.

And if that meant she had to forget Natsu, her father, her mother, everything...she'd do so. If she was able to focus on succeeding here, then she'd be home sooner than she'd expect. That was, after all, the ultimate goal. She wanted to go home, but, in order to do that, she had to focus in this new school.

~.~

~But you were history with the slamming of the door, and I made myself so strong again somehow. And I never wasted any of my time on you since then.~

Her stomach flipped like it was the favorite contender in the olympics for gymnastics. Levy had noticed her anxiety, and gently placed a hand on her knee, giving her a reassuring smile. Lucy had to remember where they were going and why.

After making the difficult decision to study medicine at their school's college - their medicinal programs highly rated out of all the schools around the world - Lucy was finally going home. Her father had offered both her and Levy jobs at one of his hospitals, but they had to go to her home first. Lucy couldn't get her father to start them up immediately, so they had almost a whole week of nothing to do.

Levy was looking forward to relaxing at Lucy's home. She had heard so much about the peace and quiet of their neighborhood, how it was hardly cloudy - which meant long afternoons snoozing or reading by the pool. The pair of them had over worked themselves to almost near death in order to stay on top of their class, and now she just wanted to lay about and do nothing before they were thrown into the crazy life of working at a hospital.

Lucy, on the other hand, seemed more than willing to stay away from her home. She wasn't sure why, but as the car drove ever closer, she felt herself almost wanting to throw up. She had almost forgotten what her home looked like, or how to get there from the airport - her father had sent someone to drive the two of them home. She hadn't seen her father since the day she said goodbye to him at the airport when she left for school. She hadn't gone home once in the ten years she'd been gone, nor had he come to visit. He had only sent her a card for each of her graduations, not even bothering to sign the damn things.

She had thrown herself into her studies, at first wanting to catch up to what she had missed, but it turned into more than that after a short while. She and Levy pushed each other to do everything they possibly could to make sure they came out on top, every time.

The only time they were separated was when they both chose different medical careers: Levy chose to be a doctor while Lucy went with pharmaceuticals. They had shared a dorm room for ten years, and, since their majors were close enough, they were able to help each other study.

The car turned down her street, and her stomach clenched, ending its gold medal routine with a flourish of a finale. She gulped down whatever wanted to come up, and she bit her lip, willing herself not to vomit. Sure, she was excited to be home, to see her old room, but there was something in the back of her mind itching to show its face. Something that wanted her to remember why she's feeling sicker the closer to home she became.

The car pulled into the driveway, and she smiled as Levy gave an excited gasp. Her nerves settled down as she took pride in her home. The car pulled to a stop, and Levy was the first one out, taking in the house, the gardens, the large water fountain that the driveway circled around.

"I'm going to enjoy living here for a week," Levy exclaimed, grabbing Lucy as the girl climbed out of the car. "Thank you so much for inviting me!" She hugged Lucy and the girls jumped happily, completely forgetting that they were both twenty-six years old and supposed to be mature adults now.

Lucy grabbed Levy's hand and made to pull her toward the house, but a voice stopped her.

~But when you touch me like this, and when you hold me like that I just have to admit that it's all coming back to me. When I touch you like this, when I hold you like that it's so hard to believe but it's all coming back to me~

"Lucy?"

She stopped and looked down by the street. A young woman was running up her drive, her deep blue hair flowing behind her as she ran. Almost at once memories hit her, making her physically stumble as she watched the woman run to her. She let go of Levy so she could hug the woman as she nearly pounced on her.

"Wendy?"

"Lucy! You're back, I can't believe it!" Wendy clutched Lucy tightly, the blonde feeling her shoulder slowly growing wet as Wendy shed silent tears. They pulled back for a moment. "What the hell took you so long?"

Lucy shrugged, and motioned to Levy to take the focus off her. "This is my friend from school, Levy. Levy, this girl is pretty much my little sister, Wendy."

The two women shook hands and greeted each other, but Wendy immediately snapped back to Lucy.

"Just wait until big brother hears about this," she said, clutching Lucy's shoulders tightly, for which Lucy was thankful. Had Wendy not been holding onto her, Lucy was sure she would have fallen the moment the girl mentioned her brother. "He's going to be so happy."

Lucy held on tightly to Wendy as images flashed through her mind, ten years worth of lost memories flooding into her. Pink hair, olive colored eyes, tanned skin, goofy smile…

But then...anger, hurt, sadness…Their fight. She could almost hear her hurtful words to him as if she had just spoken them a few moments ago instead of ten years ago. He was hurt that she was leaving, and he couldn't understand why she would do something like that...and she threw it in his face, called him an idiot, and accused him of holding her back.

She placed the back of her hand to her mouth as she fought to suppress the vomit from earlier, as well as a sob that wanted to force its way out as well. Levy placed a hand on her shoulder, asking if she was okay. All Lucy could do was nod, but her eyes held so many questions that she wanted to ask Wendy, but she couldn't voice them.

Wendy shook her head, almost as if she could hear Lucy's thoughts.

"Big brother's not home," she said, smiling sadly as Lucy visibly relaxed. "He's on the road with his team right now. He got drafted right out of high school! After you left he focused so hard on basketball that it was like he couldn't think of anything else. He became so good that Crocus Knights fought for him. Tomorrow is the last game of the playoffs, and if they win, that'd be the fifth straight year they became the champions because he started."

Lucy couldn't do anything but stare in wonder as Wendy boasted about her brother. It sounded like he did the same thing she did: bury himself in his sport to keep thoughts of her from his mind. Lucy's face scrunched as the thought of him fighting to forget her hurt her. She knew it was a little hypocritical for her to feel betrayed by his actions when he was doing the same thing she did to him.

Levy was the one to break the silence.

"Your brother starts for the Crocus Knights?" she asked. "How exciting! Does he own a huge mansion? Do you visit him often? Have you been able to meet the team? What's Gajeel Redfox like in real life?"

Wendy chuckled slightly, answering with a wide smile. "He's actually as cocky in real life as he is on the court. He might be pretty to look at, but that's all he has about him."

"Well that's a little disappointing." Levy crossed her arms over her chest.

Lucy forced out a chuckle. "I didn't know you paid so much attention to basketball, Levy. I always thought you said sports were nothing but fun ways to exercise, and people who played them professionally were all ignorant people who don't know what two plus two is."

Levy blushed and looked away. "Just because I had one bad experience with a jock doesn't mean I hate them all."

Wendy shrugged. "Well, Gajeel does have his own sense of charm when you talk to him. He just doesn't like to show it too much for fear of ruining his bad boy reputation." She clapped her hands and gasped. "You can meet him, if you want! A few guys from the team are coming home after the playoffs and a few award ceremonies. They should be here by the end of the week."

Lucy forced a smile as Levy blushed and gasped happily. After a few more words to each other, Wendy bid farewell, promising Lucy that she'd give her love to Uncle Igneel and Auntie Grandine.

As the pair walked into Lucy's home, Levy turned to her.

"So, who's her brother?"

Lucy paused in the doorway, biting her bottom lip. Taking a deep breath, she spoke the name that she hadn't even thought about in ten years. She couldn't speak louder than a whisper, but just saying his name filled her mind with images of his smiling face, and she felt the tears, that she fought so hard to keep at bay, fall.

"Natsu Dragneel."

~.~

AN: Now that you finished the chapter, you know what to do. :) Ah, such feels...Anyway, review, fave, follow (if you haven't already), and I'll put the next chapter up at some point when I've felt like I made you wait long enough. We're almost to the end...how does that make you feel? :D I promise this ends happily. As much as I love throwing Natsu and Lucy into drama-filled situations, they almost always end good.