Chapter 5

~If you want me like this, and if you need me like that, it was dead long ago, but it's all coming back to me~

Lucy hugged her pillow close to her body, her eyes closed tightly. She had just gotten a call from Wendy, letting her know that Natsu was okay, like she knew he was. She didn't question how Wendy knew she was watching the game, but she was grateful the girl made sure to get a hold of her. Apparently her and her parents had travelled to Crocus to watch the game, and she could only imagine how frantic Auntie Grandine must have been.

They had all seen him suffer worse falls, but it was still heart wrenching whenever he took his time to get up from a fall. There were only a couple times he had to have someone help him off the court, but this was the first time he's had to have someone carry him out on a stretcher, as far as she knew; this was the first game she's watched in over ten years. He only had a minor concussion, and his shoulder was sprained, but he was healthy, and she was grateful for it.

She lay in her bed, hugging her pillow tightly, waiting for sleep to come. After she had gone to bed, and calmed down from Wendy's call, she was able to let herself get a little embarrassed by her behaviour during the game. Again, it was the first game she'd seen in ten years, and she was just as excited about it now as she was when she watching him play during high school games. She had even managed to become a cheerleader, just so she could publicly cheer him on without anyone thinking she was a little too over excited. The last time she truly enjoyed cheering while watching him play was the day she found out that her mother was sick.

Sighing, she rolled onto her back, and stared at her ceiling, the long forgotten shame of how she treated him crashing back into her. Natsu had done nothing be supportive to her, always by her side, doing everything in his power to make sure she never felt lonely. And what had she done? Pretty much threw his help in his face and called him an idiot. There was no way she'd be able to face him now, especially with the knowledge that she had purposefully forgotten about him while she was in school. He wouldn't have forgotten about her, she was sure of it. Had she heard anything from him in all those years? No, but she hadn't exactly given him her contact information, either. Her dad knew where she was, and knew how to get a hold of her, but letters from him were almost nonexistent.

Thank goodness she and Levy would be long gone again before he returned home. Just three more days, and the girls would be off to their new careers at the hospital. She would buy herself a new place to live, be it either a house or apartment - apartment preferably - and she would have no other reason to visit this house. Her father wouldn't mind, and she would, once again, revel in her freedom.

Just three more days and she could put all this stress and heartbreak behind her.

~.~

~It's so hard to resist, and it's all coming back to me. I can barely recall, but it's all coming back to me now~

"Come on, boys! We only have six months until the next season starts. I'm not going to let those lousy Wizards to hold onto the championship!"

"Jeeze. You'd think after recovering from a concussion he'd want to relax more."

Natsu ignored his teammates as he marched out the doors to his home and onto the court. Yes, he did get a concussion, and his shoulder was still a little sore, but what better way to recover than to continuously keep going? He didn't want his body to become stiff and his skills to become lazy if all he did was lay around and wait for his body to heal.

The basketball court was surrounded by a fifteen foot high chain-link fence, which was on the border between his parents' house and the neighbor. He paused before stepping onto the court, holding the ball tightly between his hands. Beyond the fence of the court was another barrier between the two homes, and, thankfully, his mother had allowed the ivy to overgrow, completely covering the fence so they could no longer see what lay beyond, even though they still knew what it was that sat over there.

He never forgot. How could he? He was pretty much staring at the empty bedroom for ten years, regret constantly building up inside him. Yes, he regretted how they parted. Deep inside, he knew her leaving was best for her future, but he had been selfish at the time, and unable to accept that she was leaving. He was happy for her, going off to bigger and better things. There was no way she'd be able to have a successful future if she had stayed in Magnolia, and attended the community college, like he had planned. She moved on, without him, and he just had to accept that.

Except, even now, after ten years, he still couldn't let himself let go of her. After she left, he drowned himself in training, which had paid off. He was drafted right out of high school, and, in just two years, became the number one player in the league, and, a year after that, he had been able to lead his team to winning the championship four years in a row. If it hadn't been for that mistake, they would have five championships to their name.

Taking a deep breath, he moved around the court, regaining his focus and joining his friends to a game. He couldn't afford to think of her right now. Like he had stated earlier, only six months until they could work on revenge. He smiled and felt his body warm up, the flames of competition roaring to the challenge.

"I'm all fired up! Let's get playing!" He dunked the ball with ease, and only one of his teammates was as pumped up as he was.

~.~

"Do you want to go for a swim?" Levy stood up and stretched her arms across her body. It had been an amazing week, and she wanted to enjoy one last swim before they headed out for the city in the morning.

Lucy smiled from her spot on her lounge chair. "Maybe later. My tan isn't nearly acceptable yet, since this could be the last time I'd get to lay out in the sun like this."

"Don't say that. I'm sure, after we get settled in, we'll still have time to relax." Levy didn't wait for a response, and jumped in the water. Of course she knew Lucy was right, but she had to stay optimistic for now. She's worked hard all her life, and this week was the first time she actually got to sit back and relax.

Upon resurfacing, she noticed Lucy had stood up and had begun stretching her arms over her body. Maybe she changed her mind, after all?

"Actually, I think I'm a little hungry," her blonde friend stated, slipping her sandals on. "I'm going to make myself a sandwich. Do you want anything?"

"Nah, I'll go make something after I've done a few more laps." She began swimming around the pool as Lucy walked inside the guest house where Levy had been staying.

The guest house was built closer to the pool than the main house was, so Lucy found herself occupying the little home more often than she was in her own home. She didn't mind it, though...there were less memories in the guest house than there was in her room.

As Levy flipped underwater to change directions, she felt a large splash that erupted in front of her, causing her to squeal and pull herself out of her concentration. She backed up until she was against the wall, and stared at the object that had created the splash, missing her head by mere inches. Had she been seriously swimming laps, she would have gotten hit for sure. Thankfully she was only swimming for leisure, and taking her time.

The object itself was round, bigger than her head, and orange...and it floated in front of her menacingly. She reached out to poke the ball, wondering where on earth it could have come from. She pushed it down into the water and giggled when it popped back up, splashing her again. She grabbed the ball and tossed it out of the pool, climbing out and picking it back up. She looked around, wondering where it would have come from. She contemplated calling Lucy, opening her mouth to shout out and she began making her way to the house, but something stopped her.

She looked down at the basketball, and then toward the direction where she knew to be the Dragneels' home. She wasn't stupid...there had to be only one explanation, and she was going to quickly come up with a plan to get Lucy to return the ball.

Little did she know, there were two pairs of eyes watching her from the thick hedge that separated Lucy's home and her neighbor's home. A soft chuckle could be heard from the larger figure on the left.

"Who is that?"

"I don't know."

"Didn't you say there was a girl who used to live here?"

"That isn't her though. Maybe her dad got himself a new mistress?"

"Well, he certainly has wonderful taste in women."

"Gajeel, that girl looks like she's fifteen."

"There's no way that body belongs to a fifteen year-old."

Natsu bit his tongue and continued watching the strange blue haired woman as she played with their ball. He knew someone who had an amazing body at fifteen, and she probably only grew to be more amazing now. Who he wouldn't kill to see her in her fully grown-glory. Now, though, they had a dilemma of getting their ball back. How the damn object even managed to fly this far was still a mystery to him. He blocked a shot, but he must have hit it harder than he thought, since it flew above the fence, the ivy, and bounced along the ground, and into the pool. He felt his body run cold as he realized that he may have lost a perfectly good basketball - not wanting to risk his life sneaking onto that old man's property. If her dad caught him, he'd kill him, and that was no lie. He tried once already.

Luckily for them, the secret passage he and Lucy made through the hedges was still there, and the two of them were able to sneak onto the Heartfilia property unseen.

"Well, there's no other choice but to go get her - I mean - get the ball." Gajeel cleared his throat. Natsu knew his slip up wasn't an accident; let's just say that his comment about the woman's fifteen year old body didn't really surprise Natsu in the least. Gajeel was the man who didn't care how old - okay, he really did, he still had standards to uphold - as long as the girl was pretty and willing.

"Oh! Look! She's going into that building. Now's our chance!"

"Our chance for what? Gajeel!"

Natsu's protest fell on deaf ears as the taller man crawled out from the hedge and silently trudged around the pool's edge towards the guest house. Natsu bit his bottom lip, going over two possible outcomes of this predicament. One: Gajeel could end up with a gunshot wound to his back if Jude Heartfilia happened to walk outside at that exact moment. Two: Gajeel would make it into the guest house, alive, and would probably be busy for the next hour or so.

Neither option sounded good to Natsu. He wasn't going to sit back and let his friend get lucky when they were on a dangerous mission to get their ball back. He moved to follow Gajeel, but he froze when he realized he was about to place his foot officially on Heartfilia soil, a place where he hadn't gone since the day she left. He looked down at his feet, wondering why he couldn't fully cross the threshold. He couldn't understand why it was so hard. It's not like she was over there. She made it perfectly clear that she didn't want to come back, or see him again. Sure, those weren't her exact words, but how else was he supposed to explain the ten years of silence? Why would she not contact him at all if she had no intention of seeing him again? After all, it has been ten years - she had to have graduated school, gone to college, and began her life by now.

He found himself sinking back into the hedge, unable to make himself go farther.

Their separation was the best. Who knew where they would have ended up if they had still be together? He certainly wouldn't be playing for the Crocus Knights if she had stayed. She certainly wouldn't be working at a successful business, making lots of money, probably marrying a rich guy, and having two perfect children. What would they have if things turned out different? Maybe they would have become a couple. He was a year ahead of her, so he would have graduated first, and gone to the community college. She would have followed. They would work until they both graduated, then both would get a job. If things had stayed the same, they would have eventually gotten married, moved to a small home in the suburbs of Magnolia, adopted a dog, had a couple kids...And that was if they managed to stay together. They might have broken up along the way, and their story would have ended in heartbreak.

Well, at least, in that scenario, they would have had a story together. Sighing deeply, he ran his hand through his hair, turned around, and made his way out of the hedge, following the secret trail back to his property. Ignoring the questions from his team, he walked into his home.

Gajeel, on the other hand, felt like he had died and gone to Heaven. He peered into the window of the guest house and watched as the blue haired woman approached a busty blonde woman...and it didn't take long for his imagination to run wild. He smirked, and moved to make himself known, but the blonde woman shrieking stopped him. She caught sight of the ball, and he she stared at it, wide eyed. She looked frightened, almost, like the little one was holding onto a flesh-eating monster that was going to attack her at any second.

"Where did you get that?" Lucy whispered, backing away as if the thing was going to jump out of Levy's arms and attach itself to her face.

Levy shrugged. "I was swimming and it almost drowned me. I came in here to see if you knew where it came from." As if not reading Lucy's discomfort, Levy held the ball out towards her friend, following Lucy as she flinched away.

"I've been in here the whole time!" She jumped behind the table, working hard to keep her and Levy apart. "What makes you think I know where it came from?"

"Well, it's your house! Surely you've had something like this happen before, right? What do I do with it?"

"Get it away from me!" Lucy shrieked. She had been able to maneuver them so that she was the one by the open doors. She took that chance to run out of the guest house, and straight to the main home. Levy followed, only until she by the pool again, watching as Lucy slammed the door shut behind her.

Sighing, the bluenette bounced the ball on the ground. "Well, it was worth a shot. Now to get you back where you came from, little guy." She held the ball close to her chest and turned around, running into a hard body.

She gasped and jumped back, the ball falling from her arms. The body she ran into quickly grabbed the ball before it bounced back into the pool. The body's face held an amused smirk, and she was only surprised for a minute before she recognized who she ran into. The messy black hair and overly pierced face was a dead give away.

"Gajeel Redfox?" she gasped. "What are you doing here?" She had meant what he was doing in front of her, in person. It only took her a second to realize that he shouldn't be in Lucy's back yard. Well, that explained where the ball came from. "Oh!" She jumped before he could answer her. "You're on the same team as Natsu, right? Is he home?"

Shrugging, Gajeel glanced behind his back. Of course she would be more interested in Natsu. Just his luck. Well, maybe he could let his teammate have this little one while he chased after the blonde.

"If he wasn't I wouldn't be here," he grumbled, looking back at the blue haired woman, who seemed to be absolutely full to the brim with happiness. If he wasn't trying to flirt with her, he'd say this show of affection was going to make him vomit. Natsu could have this one...The moody blonde was definitely more his type.

"Oooh! This is perfect! I have the best idea!" Without warning, she grabbed Gajeel's hand, her earlier shyness forgotten. Right now, they were just two people trying to help their friends, and, whether he knew it or not, he was now part of Operation: Get Lucy and Natsu back together.

Gajeel, on the other hand, was nearly giddy with excitement as she pulled him into the guest house. Maybe this chick wasn't so bad after all?

~.~

AN: Okay, so I lied...I was going over the last chapter and realized how long it actually was...so I split it. Enjoy, then review/follow/fave. And I'll see you guys next time for the -for real this time- last chapter.