Disclaimer: I do not own Fairy Tail, nor do I own the rights to the song, It's All Coming Back To Me Now. Now, without further ado, last chapter.

Chapter 6

~We forgive and forget, and it's all coming back to me~

Gajeel groaned as he stood outside his teammate's room, glaring at the door. How the hell did allow himself to get caught up in this? He didn't care about the drama, and, honestly, he probably should just fold all his cards now and walk away. Not his monkey; not his circus - it's what his old man always used to say. Then again, that man was about as selfish as one could be, and Gajeel inherited that trait.

Sighing, he turned to walk back towards his own room, but the sound of the door he was just standing in front of opening stopped him.

"Gajeel? What are you doing here?"

He bit his lip in irritation, mumbling something to himself about no woman being worth this. He cleared his throat and turned back to the now open door. His mind drew a blank, he was too embarrassed to tell him what that chick wanted him to say, but nothing else was coming to mind. He inwardly shrugged and decided that he didn't care about the results, he was not going to share with his male friend what that girl wanted him to say. Hell, he was going to tell the truth.

He smirked and pushed his friend into the room, closing the door behind him. He could see the unease Natsu was feeling, but he didn't care.

"So guess what I just found out?" Gajeel asked, crossing his arms over his chest.

Natsu blinked up at him, rolled his eyes, and turned away from him, falling face first onto his bed. "I don't care what her name is, her boob size, her butt size, or what strip club she works at." Natsu had heard too many stories about Gajeel's late night romps, and he was done listening to them. He wasn't in the mood, especially since he was back home and he had just stepped foot on her property. The last thing he wanted to hear about was someone else's love life when his was - and always will be - nonexistent.

Gajeel gave his signature two-syllable chuckle as he strode up to Natsu's bed and nudged the other man with his foot.

"You don't even want to know what her friend's name is?"

"No." Natsu sat up and nudged back with his own foot. "I already give up my right to her, you can have them both. Have fun, don't call me in the morning."

"Okay, you don't want to listen, but I'm going to tell you anyway. It's just too good to keep to myself."

"Then go tell Lyon or someone. I don't care."

Gajeel hopped onto Natsu's dresser. "So that blue haired chick back at the pool admitted to not being anyone's mistress."

Natsu groaned and fell onto his back. "Damn it, metalhead!" He grabbed his pillow and held it over his face.

"She's actually a guest there, staying until she starts her big shot doctor job next week." He went on, ignoring Natsu's many vocalized protests. "She's friends with the daughter of that old guy next door."

That shut Natsu up. Gajeel took a break from his story, knowing how he felt about the girl next door from various hints from his friend's parents, and what the girl from earlier told him. Natsu pushed a portion of his pillow off his face, showing only an interested eye.

"Friends from school?" he muttered quietly.

"Yup. Guess what else she told me?" He wiggled his eyebrows. Sure, he wanted to see the other man happy, but there was no shame in torturing him a little.

Natsu sat up, letting the pillow fall from his face. "What?" His expression was attentive, his heart thumping so loud in his chest. A million different things ran through his mind. This was big news; a friend of Lucy's was living there? Surely she wasn't living there without Lucy. He knew her father, and he in no way would he allow some random person to stay on his property without some sort of rent payment.

"She's twenty-five, not fifteen. Totally legal!" He jumped off the dresser to dodge the pillow that had come flying at him.

"I told you I didn't care about that!" All of Natsu's eagerness turned to absolute anger as Gajeel pushed his buttons. Did that idiot even think about anyone but himself, or anything but sex? He was worse than half the boys he knew in high school, and everyone knew how high school boys could be about that sort of thing.

"She even invited me to that guest house she's staying in. Here's the best part." Gajeel grabbed Natsu's shoulders. "She's going to hold a party and we're invited!"

Natsu blinked at him and shook his head. "Why would I want to go there?"

"You like parties, don't you?"

"Not there, I don't."

"What's the big deal? She got permission and everything. The old guy isn't even going to be there. They don't really know anyone around here, so she asked me to tell the guys, and have them spread the word...it's going to be a disaster, but it's going to be fun."

"I'm not going to go, but you have fun." Natsu tried to end the conversation by laying down and turned on his side, away from his guest.

"You don't even want to know when it's going to be or who's coming?"

"You just said you didn't know who was coming other than the guys, so no...I don't care."

Gajeel shrugged and walked to the door, opening it. Before stepping out, though he paused and glanced back at his friend, giving him the one and only time he'd ever do anything to make him happy...on purpose.

"She said Lucy would really like for you to be there."

Natsu's eyes shot open as he heard the door close, Gajeel's last comment repeating itself over and over in his brain. He had to have heard wrong, or at least misinterpreted the meaning. He was talking about her spirit that seemed to linger in that house. Okay, so she wasn't dead, and he wasn't going to treat her like she was dead, but even when he was there earlier he could almost feel her presence there like she was a ghost.

She wasn't really there. After their fight, she wasn't going to ever return. Sitting up in his bed, he stared out of his bedroom window. There was no harm in feeling her spirit again, was there? He shrugged as he climbed off his bed. After all, he was just going to reminisce. He nodded as he opened his window, climbing through it. Just for old time's sake. He grunted as he dropped down to the ground. There was nothing wrong with sneaking around his own backyard, swiping a spider out of the way from their secret passage, crawling around the pool so he didn't alert anyone, nervously climbing tree next to the house - something he hadn't done since he was a kid, and, since he'd grown a lot since then, he tried to assure himself the tree would hold his weight now - and there definitely wasn't anything disturbing about hopping onto her balcony and peering into the darkness of her room. This wasn't creepy at all!

He wanted to throw up.

~.~

~It was gone with the wind, but it's all coming back to me~

Lucy hugged her knees in the water, shivering. She had been sitting in her bath for so long now the water had long since past lukewarm, and she was actually starting to ache due to the cold. She sighed and told herself it was time to get out of the water. She stood up and grabbed her towel, wrapping it around her body.

Damn that Levy, sometimes. Lucy loved her like a sister, but, like a sister, that girl had a way to stick her nose in things that shouldn't have noses stuck in. Lucy tried so hard to forget everything for this one reason: the guilt. But now, with Levy's help, she was practically drowning in it.

"He lost the tournament, suffered an injury, and ended his streak all in one night. Imagine how he must feel."

Yes, she had imagined how he must have felt...many times. Thank you, Levy. But that was why she absolutely had to avoid seeing him. Even though she hadn't seen him physically, that basketball was a sign. No. It was an omen of major proportions! Just imagine how worse he would feel if he saw her and have everything come crashing back into him? He would hate her! There's no way he forgave her for their parting words, or the fact that she completely ignored him for ten years. Okay, so it was more of cutting him completely out of her life instead of just ignoring, and that was worse.

She wouldn't even forgive herself...she couldn't forgive herself.

She softly chuckled as she unplugged the tub and wrapped her hair in another towel.

Maybe that's what it was? She hated herself for how she treated him, so she automatically assumed he hated her as well. If she knew him at all, he'd suddenly appear out of nowhere and treat her like they hadn't just spent ten years apart.

She smiled softly as she made her way into her room, images of him playing ball the other night drifting into her mind. He was having fun, he was smiling, just like she remembered him. Maybe he had forgotten about her, like she had him? To stop the pain, he concentrated on his career in basketball, just like she concentrated on her school work. She sighed as she lay on her bed, not bothering with the light. She welcomed the darkness, feeling her body grow heavy as she realized how tired she suddenly found herself.

She grunted and rolled over to her side, knowing she had to get up and get changed so she didn't catch a cold. Though with the sudden warmth she felt on her bed, she doubted she would get a cold. Well, she was starting her new job soon, so she couldn't afford to be sick, whether she knew she would be or not.

She pushed herself up, and found herself smiling down at her pillow. Goodness, Lucy, you've been obsessing over him so much lately that you're even seeing him in the shadows, sleeping in your bed like he used to.

Hm...his illusion sure has gotten big, his feet are practically hanging off the edge.

Wait a minute.

Her stomach fluttered as she reached her hand out to the lump lying next to her. It was just an illusion, right? There was no way he'd actually be there. First the basketball, and now she was hallucinating...she was suddenly contemplating checking herself into a psychiatric hospital as her hand rested against something hard. She blinked rapidly as fear washed over her.

She shrieked and jumped off her bed. Without another thought, she lifted her leg and kicked the intruder off her bed, kicking with all her might, causing the intruder to groan and fall off the bed with a loud thud.

"Who are you and what the hell are you doing in my room?" she exclaimed. She raced to her desk, grabbed a letter opener, and switched on the little lamp, only casting a low glow in the room. She clutched her towel tighter against her body and held her opener toward the person who was laying on the floor on the other side of her bed, blocking him from view.

Again, he groaned, and she could see him sit up, rubbing his head. She gasped and dropped the little metal weapon. Luckily it barely missed her foot, but her attention wasn't on her near accident that could have severely hurt her foot.

"What…" she breathed out. She watched as he placed his hand on her bed and turned to her.

"Jeeze, what the hell?" he grumbled, pushing himself off the floor. He glared at her for only a split second before he broke out into a grin. "Hey." His eyes roamed her body, taking in her lack of clothing, enjoying the view of the towel barely covering her fully grown woman body. He couldn't move from his spot, just stare at her. She really was here, in the ever loving, brightly glowing flesh. Sure, the glow was probably from the desk lamp behind her, but it was heavenly either way.

He didn't even mind that she was looking at him like he actually was: an intruder who snuck into her room and fell asleep on her bed.

She was happy, but old habits die hard, and she found herself a little angry at him, not giving a rat's ass that he was invading her personal space.

"Natsu, you dummy!" she shrieked. "You can't just sneak into someone's room and crawl into their bed! I thought you were a robber, a murderer, a rapist!" She reached behind her and grabbed an object from her desk, and threw it at him, not bothering to see what it was.

It flew by him, not anywhere close to him, but it broke the spell he was in, and he found himself moving towards her. He was on her before she could force herself to move away, and he threw his arms around her, pulling her tightly against him, the towel on her head falling. She could feel the towel around her body start to slip, but she continued to hold it against her. He was probably crushing her with the strength he used to hold her. But, if he didn't, she would leave him again. He didn't want her to disappear from his life again.

Her anger immediately subsided, but she could feel her whole body flushing as she realized that he was holding her. She started shaking as she slowly raised her arms, her eyes quickly filling with tears, and she choked back a sob.

"I can't believe you're here," he whispered, rubbing his nose against the top of her hair, taking in her scent that he's only dreamt of until this moment. He smirked when he realized how tall he was compared to her now. He felt her whole body against his, and marvelled at how she had grown. She was a full grown woman now, and more beautiful than ever. "God, I missed you so much." His words were muffled as he spoke into her hair, but she heard every word, and it pierced her with guilt much stronger than she's felt all this time.

She gently wrapped her arms around him, fisting her hands in the back of his shirt, giving no more thought to her towel. She could feel her unshed tears start to roll down her cheeks, and she hiccuped, pushing her face into his chest, not wanting him to see her cry.

"I'm so sorry, Natsu," she whispered through her tears. She felt his body shake as he chuckled quietly.

"It's okay. I haven't been kicked out of bed in a really long time, but it was worth it -"

"No, that's not what I meant." She chanced looking up at him, biting her bottom lip to keep herself from losing control at the sight of his face. He was smiling down at her, his eyes only slightly teary. She closed her eyes as he brought his hand up to wipe her tears from her cheeks. "For what I said," she continued, leaning into his hand as it continued to caress her cheek.

"That you thought I was a rapist? I completely understand -"

"Natsu, could you shut up and think for a moment?" She blinked up at him and pushed away slightly. "I'm trying to apologize for the way I treated you all those years ago, and for ignoring you while I was gone. Could you take this seriously, please? I said terrible things, and I shouldn't have treated you that way. You had every right to hate me. I would blame you if you -"

He couldn't hear any more of it. As long as he loved hearing her voice, the words she was saying weren't what he wanted to hear. Without thinking, he placed his lips against hers, smirking a little when he felt her relax in his arms. He didn't care about that fight they had all those years ago, not when she was here in his arms now.

He pulled away and placed his forehead against hers. "I love you so much," he whispered. His eyes roamed over her body, now realizing that her towel had fallen and he could see every inch of her beautiful body, appreciating how much she has grown. His eyes made their way back to her own eyes, satisfied that he managed to stop her crying, caused her cheeks to burn bright red, and made her breath come out heavy and ragged. "I am never letting you go, ever again."

"Natsu…" her voice came out as a breathy whisper as her eyelids slowly closed. He chuckled softly again as he began running his hands up and down her sides, loving the shudder she let escape.

"I am going to keep my promise, and stay with you forever, whether you like it or not."

He kissed her again, and started to gently pull her towards her bed. They had ten years worth of intimate time to make up, and he was going make sure she enjoyed every bit of it.

~.~

But if I touch you like this, and if you kiss me like that, it was so long ago but it's all coming back to me. If you touch me like this, and if I kiss you like that, it was gone with the wind but it's all coming back to me now...

AN: Tada! The end. I hope you enjoyed it. I've been thinking of making an epilogue, but if I do write it, I'm not sure how long it would take for me to actually get it up. Let me know if you want one more, and I'll consider it. Until then, I'll see you guys in my other stories. Loves to all! 3