AN: The moment you've all been waiting for is here! Lucy and Natsu finally talk to each other! Hope I meet your expectations :)

Chapter 6

Just as Erza predicted, the boys came back soon after Lucy's crying fest. Natsu stood near the door, never taking his eyes off of her while Gray awkwardly shuffled towards the couch. At least the ice mage wasn't too upset with her. Lucy's gaze then fell downward to look at Happy. He stood by Natsu with his tail limp on the floor. She could tell he was upset. Lucy quickly walked to her fridge, ignoring the curious- and one angry- pair of eyes locked on her as she pulled out a fresh salmon she was going to cook for dinner. The girl then knelt in front of the blue cat, offering him the fish to hopefully cheer him up. Happy gave her a very small smile in response and accepted the fish, then looked up towards Natsu to see his own reaction. His smile disappeared after seeing his partner's anger evident on his face still.

Erza saved the day once again by saying, "C'mon, Gray. Let's leave these three to talk for a little bit."

The ice mage frowned and replied, "Oi! Why don't I get to talk to her? I missed her too, you know!"

The red-head then grabbed Gray by the collar and began to drag him after her. Before she left, however, she glared at Natsu and warned, "Watch what you say." With that said, she closed the door and left with Gray, leaving the three best friends- or former best friends- standing awkwardly in silence.

"H-Hi, Happy," Lucy started with a tense smile on her face. Her determination to talk to Natsu from before practically dissolved into nothing but fear once again. "Do you like the salmon?"

"A-Aye…" the blue cat replied.

Lucy walked towards her couch and plopped onto it with a sigh. This kind of stress was not good for her. "Natsu," she quietly started, keeping her eyes glued onto her lap, "are we going to talk now?"

"Sure," the boy replied, his arms crossed and a scowl plastered on his face. "Why don't you start with why you betrayed Fairy Tail?"

Lucy's jaw dropped and her anger began to bubble inside of her. "I didn't betray Fairy Tail! I moved on! If anything, you betrayed me!"

"What the hell are you talking about!?"

"Oh, I don't know," the celestial mage answered sarcastically. "Maybe the fact that you just left me without saying goodbye!"

"Hey! We left a note!"

"Not even a good note! It was like two sentences with no emotion or anything! And you think a note is enough? I thought we were friends!"

"We are!"

"No, we were," Lucy corrected, venom lacing her words. "You think you can just leave me for over a year without saying goodbye and just come and get me when you are ready? I don't think so!" The girl then felt something plop against her lap. Looking down she saw it was Happy snuggling in for a hug.

"I'm sorry, Lucy! Can I still be your friend?" the blue cat asked, tears streaming down his face as he dug his claws into her tank top.

Lucy smiled gently at the exceed and stroked his fur. "Yeah, Happy. You can still be my friend."

"Oi, Happy left too, you know!" Natsu exclaimed, fire making its way out of his mouth. "Why do you forgive him and not me?"

Lucy glared at the dragonslayer icily and answered, "Happy apologized, you just came here accusing me! And I know Happy just went along because you suggested it."

Natsu huffed in reply. He could no longer look her in the eyes. Maybe he should have said goodbye in person after all.

"Alright, I'm sorry, Luce," he finally said, taking a seat next to her on the couch. "I guess I should've done it in person." His tone then became more serious as he continued, "After Igneel died I wasn't sure on how to face everyone. I mean, it happened in front of everyone, I guess I didn't want everyone to look at me different."

Lucy stared sympathetically at her old friend. She recalled her conversation with Erza and sighed. She was right in the end, people handle loss differently. "I'm sorry about Igneel."

Natsu chuckled and replied, "See, it's that face! I didn't wanna see people pitying me like that! Or telling me they're sorry or something."

"Well, it's better than having to deal with a loss that nobody knows about all by yourself," the girl muttered, hugging Happy tightly.

"Lucy?" the cat worriedly said.

The celestial mage then placed Happy on the couch and stood up. Raising her arms above her head, she stretched her achy body in content. She did it. She talked to Natsu. Lucy then smiled at the two boys on her couch, who were looking at her suspiciously after her last comment.

"It's nothing, don't worry about it," Lucy said, continuing to smile. "It's good to see you guys again. I heard you've been destroying stuff lately, idiot."

"Lucy," Natsu started seriously, "did something happen during the battle with Tartaros?"

"Nope!"

"Lucy-"

"Natsu," the girl interrupted, her smile still on her face. "Don't worry about it. Besides, you and I still aren't friends! I still haven't forgiven you!"

Natsu smiled at the girl and quickly lunged towards her, wrapping his arms around her in a tight hug. "I guess I'll just have to make you forgive me! It's good to see you too, Luce!"

Happy put his paws over his mouth and said, "He liiiikes you!"

Lucy couldn't fight back the urge to laugh. It was just like old times, when things were much simpler and happier. Tears streamed down her face, both happy and sad. She was sure they were never going to see each other again, but here they were, hugging and laughing.

"Stop crying, Luce!" Natsu said as he wiped away the few tears that had escaped her eyes. "Gosh, you are such a baby!"

"Am not!" Lucy replied, playfully hitting him on the arm. It truly was like old times.

"I see you two have made up," Erza said as she entered the apartment followed by Gray.

"Yep!" Natsu exclaimed before Lucy had the chance to say anything. "Now let's get packing so that we can hurry up and go back to Fairy Tail! Crocus is too fancy for me."

"A-About that," Lucy started, staring at the floor, "I'm still not going back…"

Before Natsu could say anything, Erza punched him in the gut, causing him to pass out. Gray picked the poor dragonslayer up with a sigh.

"That is your choice," Erza stated with a warm smile. "Would it be alright if we came to visit every once in a while?"

"Yeah, since you and I didn't get a chance to talk," Gray added. Where did his pants go?

"Of course!" Lucy brightly answered. Feeling something run into her chest, she looked down to find Happy crying as he hugged her.

"I'm going to miss you, Lucy!" the cat cried out, wiping his tears on her tank top. "And so is Natsu! He's probably going to come back every day to convince you to come back!"

"I figured as much."

Soon after, the four other mages left, making the apartment much less cramped. Lucy sighed and plopped onto her bed. It had been a long day, one full of surprises and tears. Regardless, the girl was glad it happened. The guilt that was stored in her heart for not contacting any of them was now gone. She had told the truth and stuck with her decision. Not only that, but she was able to see her dear friends after so much time had passed, though she never got to talk to Gray. The blonde then began to think of her other friends in Fairy Tail.

"I wonder if Levy made any progress with Gajeel since the two left together. Oh, I wonder if Cana went with Gildarts. Probably not, considering he's like impossible to find. I hope Mira is doing alright. Who am I kidding, she's probably ecstatic now that she has all of these couples to ship together! Maybe I should take time off of work and visit them soon… Just a visit of course!"

With that, Lucy dozed off into a well-needed nap.

"So Lucy is not coming back, huh?" Makarov questioned once everyone was back in the guild hall. He glanced at Natsu, who was slouching grumpily by the bar. "That is alright. She can make her own decisions. I just hope you brats made it clear she can come back whenever she wants."

"Oh she'll know," Natsu said while playing with a ball of fire in his hand. "I'm going to go back there every day until she decides to come back."

"If anything that would make her glad she chose to stay in Crocus," Gray remarked with a proud smirk.

"What did you just say!?"

"BE QUIET!" Erza shouted, causing the two boys to cower in a corner far from her. "Natsu if you do anything to ruin our chances of getting her back I will kill you."

"Yeah, yeah," Natsu huffed as he began to walk out of the guild hall. "I ain't coming back until I got Lucy! Let's go pack, Happy!"

"Aye, sir!" the blue cat exclaimed as he flew towards his partner. They were going to get Lucy back no matter what. After all, the three musketeers of Fairy Tail isn't complete without her.

As soon as Natsu and Happy arrived at their small home, they immediately went to work on packing. Happy packed his small knapsack full of raw fish while Natsu filled his with a variety of things such as clothes, his toothbrush, and money. They didn't know how long they were going to be in Crocus so they packed what hopefully would be enough for a week.

"Do you think Lucy will let us stay with her?" Happy asked, nibbling on another fish.

Natsu grinned as he answered, "Of course she will! It's Lucy! There's no way she'll turn us away! We used to crash at her place at the time!"

"Hey, Natsu… We should've brought her with us."

"Yeah, I know that now. Well, there's no going back now! Let's go, Happy! I'm sure she's asleep by now!"

"Aye!"

Lucy shuffled in bed, trying to get comfortable again so as to not have to wake up. Flipping over to face the opposite direction, she felt a warmth travel over her backside. Scooching closer to it, the girl snuggled against a soft object- most likely a stuffed animal- and purred with delight. She hadn't slept this well since she moved to Crocus.

"Ahh the heater must be on," Lucy absentmindedly thought, enjoying the warmth and comfort. "Wait, heater? I don't have a heater."

The girl's eyes shot open as she heard quiet snores coming from behind her.

"Don't tell me it's who I think it is…"

Slowly turning to face the culprit, Lucy mentally face-palmed. Irritation coursed through her body, bringing back countless memories from her life in Magnolia. Instead of yelling like she would typically do, Lucy stared at the sleeping boy in front of her. His pink locks of hair were much longer now and he was a bit tanner than before. Though the girl didn't know what it was yet, something about him made him look older as well.

"Yet something about him is still childish," she thought, smiling with pleasure. "I'll admit, he's kinda cute when he's sleeping and not destroying everything."

The blonde mage then looked around on the bed to find his partner in crime. Finally, she found the blue cat sleeping above their heads on the pillow, purring with each snore. Lucy bit back a giggle at the two being so at peace. Then a mischievous grin masked the girl's face as she ever so carefully got out of bed, making sure not to wake the two up. Grabbing a black marker from her desk, she began to go to work on Happy first.

"It's my turn to draw on their faces while they're asleep!" she thought as she stifled her laughter.

Drawing a circle around one of the cat's eyes, Lucy then drew a curly mustache underneath his nose. Adding some random swirls, she completed her design and grinned at her masterpiece. The girl then snapped a picture so that she could show Charle next time she saw her.

Next was Natsu. Lucy carefully lifted her arm so that the marker was just above his sleeping face. Moving it closer ever so slowly, she was about to draw a crude picture using his face as a canvas. Just millimeters from his face, Lucy was startled when a hand grabbed her wrist as Natsu's eyes shot open. He pulled her closer to him and she lost her balance, landing on top of the boy.

"Gotcha, Luce!" Natsu said with a wide smile and bright eyes.

Their faces were in such close proximities, Lucy could feel his breath on her face. A warm feeling erupted in the pit of her stomach and made its way to her face. Her face quickly began to resemble a tomato with how red it became.

"N-Natsu!" she gasped once she gained mild control over the weird feelings in her stomach. "What are you doing!?"

"I should be asking you that question!"

Lucy stared into Natsu's eyes, her breath becoming hitched as she was drowning in them. The warmth in her stomach refused to go away. "I was going to draw on your face while you slept! How did you know!?"

"I'm a dragonslayer, Luce! I woke up the moment I heard you move when you moved closer to me!" Natsu then smirked at the girl.

"T-That's because you were warm and I thought you were a stuffed animal!"

"Whatever you say, Luce!"

Lucy stuck her tongue out at the boy as she strode into her bathroom. Shutting the door, the girl looked at herself in the mirror and noticed the blush that was spread across her face. Placing her hand over her chest, she realized how rapidly her heart was beating. The feeling of butterflies swarming around in her stomach was still apparent.

"What the hell is happening to me?"

AN: I know this might be moving too quickly for you guys, especially since she forgave him easily! But at least she isn't going back to Fairy Tail yet! See, I don't want this story to be too long, so I gotta get a move on with it! I hope there was enough drama and cuteness towards the end for all of you! Thanks for reading :)

Snakeboy33: Oh I completely agree with you that his was different than Gajeel's and Wendy's and that he probably figured she would be at the guild! But I still think he could've at least said goodbye haha! I think he just handles loss differently! Thanks for the review :)

Switchlolly007: Hello again! :D That is so true! She actually had to break the key just to be left all alone afterwards! D': So sad!

MirrorFlame: Thank you! :) Hope I didn't make you wait too long!

Alexa: Thank you for the continuous reviews! :D

Court818: Thank you! :D Hope this chapter lived up to your expectations :)

12Rayne: Oh thank goodness I was scared people weren't going to like the fact that I didn't have those two talk first haha! Thanks for the review :)

Thebooknerdgeek: Thank you so much! I think Aquarius' death being pushed away is one of the most irritating things about Fairy Tail honestly! Like it was one of the saddest moments for Lucy and NOBODY seems to know about the sacrifice it took to save them!

Sama775: Hahaha isn't it funny that they're worried and she's just chilling in Crocus!

J.C: I actually really love cliff hangers haha! Thanks for the review again :D

Guest: Don't worry, Natsu will definitely find out! Thanks for the review :)