The second part of the bookstore chapter! BWAHAHA!

So, I've made some edits to make it just a little longer, but it still ended up falling short of the length of my usual chapters. It comes really close, though, so I hope you'll be satisfied with it! Hehe.

I want to say thanks to all of you guys for still reading! You're the driving force! So, again, THANK YOU. So much.

I think I'm going to dedicate this chapter to aphrodite931 (again) because you have been a marvelous beta, putting up with me since what, chapter three? So thanks goes to you!

Now, here's chapter nine of USHA. Sorry for the delay :)

My reaction to Natsu's gift had been a bit strong, but I really had never expected him to buy it for me. I might have been staring at it longingly, but I didn't think he'd pick up on that. I had taken for granted the fact that Natsu was sometimes dense, and I had let my guard down.

I think that was when I fully accepted the fact that I might, just might, have pretty much fallen for him.

Wasn't I just such a lovestruck fool?

The thought that crossed my mind made my eyes widen, but I didn't rebut myself. Because really, what else had I been in that happy moment but a girl who was too shy to tell the guy she liked the truth, too shy to confess? And was I really any different from that Lucy now, three years later? I was still too afraid to tell them the truth, and definitely too afraid to confess to Natsu the feelings that coursed through me. So really, I hadn't changed much at all, for all the strength that I had attained.

With a small frown, I glanced at all the books around me, and was hit with my usual urge to browse.

I had finally given into my reading fetish when in Reason for a little over a year. In the past, while under the influence of my various personas, I had let myself look at books and meander just outside of bookstores, but I had never let myself indulge in my obsession. But somehow, when I became Layla and found myself in such an out-of-the-way place, I'd come to terms with the fact that, no matter who I was on the outside, I was still Lucy Heartfilia on the inside. The girl who loved to read, and even to write, so much that it was draining to pretend I didn't. I had given in and returned to my bookish self, and that side of me was once more taking over.

Before I walked into the shop, however, I pulled a small object from a magically protected pouch at my side and gazed at it for a moment, not letting the tender smile I wanted to show come to my lips. In my hand, shrunk by a charm that was attached to it by a string, was the book that he had bought me.

For a moment, the most fleeting of seconds, I wanted to turn, to run and find them, but then I shoved the miniature book back in my pouch and nodded to the clerk who was watching me, before dropping my suitcase near her desk and telling her, "I'm going to look around. Watch my things for a while, would you?"

"Yes!" she piped up as I walked away, making my way toward the shelves upon shelves of reading material.

In my exploration of the shop, I followed the same path I had the first time I'd visited here, when I'd had Natsu in tow. I did so less leisurely on this instance, but did pause on occasion to look at a few books I'd heard of. There were many new titles than the last time, but that was to be expected. It was over a year and a half ago that I'd been here on my own.

Despite not being as leisurely as I had the first time I'd been to the bookstore, it was still a good thirty minutes before I was done browsing in the lower section of the shop. And even then, I spent a few minutes more, looking closely at the books I passed for the second time as I returned to the set of stairs that would take me up.

Finally, though, I made my way up the stairs and through the first few areas, to the corner that had held my interest so well on my first visit here. The first thing that I saw was the Kemu Zaleon display, and then I went to looking around the section. My eyes ghosted across the numerous titles or displays rather quickly, not lingering, until they passed a certain one and my eyes snapped back to it without even a second's hesitation. A few quick steps across the room brought me to stand in front of the book that had caught my eye, and I stared at the blown-up portion of the front cover above the display. I knew, without a doubt in my mind, that this person so boldly painted on the front cover was the author herself.

I had completely missed the gentle footsteps ascending the stairs in a place somewhere behind me, so focused was I on the enlarged portion of the front cover of the book that had caught my eye.

"It's a good book," I heard a voice behind me that damn near made me jump out of my skin. I resisted the urge to wheel around to face him, because I felt like I already knew who it was. Instead, I stared at the image in front of me and my companion continued, "That's the one we told you about, Layla. That's Luce."

I already knew that, I wanted to say. And why does it have to be you? I silently added, silently screamed. Instead, I opted for reflecting on the words he had just said. The dragonslayer had unknowingly just shown me a picture of me. His voice held such strong undertones of desperation that I could feel my heart rip from my chest as I wondered, Natsu, what would you do if I could tell you that I'm right here?

I really wanted to say it. I wanted it so much that there was, in fact, nothing more at that moment that could defeat that desire. It was so strong that my hands were shaking, so I clasped them to temporarily stop it. With much effort on my behalf, I controlled my voice so I could speak.

"What are you doing in a bookshop? You don't seem the type."

Dammit, Lucy, are you becoming almost masochistic? It might not be physical pain, but it sure as hell is the emotional equivalent!

"I visit this store every time we're in town and have for about three years," came the reply. "I've only been back here four times since Luce left us, but I came to this shop every time."

Does he come here because of that one time I dragged him here…? I couldn't help but wonder. And if he did, perhaps it was in the hope of finding me again, or even just to feel a little closer to me…? Whatever the case, it would prove what I'd said to Happy; I'm not nice.

"You didn't really answer my question, Dragneel," I said, kind of stiffly. The words hurt to say, even if they weren't particularly vindictive. "You're not exactly the bookish sort, if I've labeled you right. So what's the deal?"

"Why are you so nosy?" he retorted, but I heard him shift his weight and he said, "I'll tell you, though. It's because I came here once with Lucy. She dragged me here, really. But anyway, there was this one book she really wanted, and I could tell that she did. That she wanted it, I mean. You should have heard the way she was talking about it and you'd know that she was really excited to have found it. All of the sudden, though, she just stopped talking about it, and she put it back on the shelf, and said that we should leave. It cost about as much as her rent…or maybe more? I can't exactly remember. But the thing is, I bought it for her."

"Nice of you," I remarked dryly. "What, pray tell, was the reason you went ahead and told me this?"

I was growing to loathe the almost contemptuous, or condescending tone that Layla used with him. But at least I, so far, had kept to my façade. The fact that my Layla persona was surviving was of little consequence at the moment, though, when what I really needed to worry about was getting the hell out of there, away from Natsu. So why can't I make my feet move?

"I trust you for some reason," was the answer that I was given, and I could tell he was shrugging by the tone of his voice. "And besides, this is the last place I bought her something before she left. I dunno why I still come, really. But it makes me feel closer to her, somehow."

Damn it all, Natsu!

So part of it was because it made him feel closer to me, really. And knowing that just made my chest hurt worse. Really, why did he make this all so hard on me?

Biting my lower lip to keep my wandering mind in check, I let my eyes turn to the figure on the front cover of the book that I had written. The novel that I had slavishly penned for a year and a half of my time in Fairy Tail, going back and revising things often to incorporate the stories of all of my nakama. I caught the blonde hair first, but then focused on it closer.

It was me, a fact that I had already noticed prior to the dragonslayer's appearance. I was painted like a fairy, with a crown of leaves and gorgeous blue and purple wings that would look like a butterfly's wings if only they weren't pretty transparent. The fairy me sat on a gorgeous throne of flowers and vines, and from under the floral patterned skirt behind her came a delicate sort of tail, almost like I had always imagined a dragon's tail but much cuter. It was the same color as the wings. And there beside me, a hand on my shoulder, was a fairy version of Natsu with wings that looked almost like flames, and a tail that really did look more like a dragon's did. Two short, twisted horns poked out of his unruly pink hair at the corners of his forehead, making him seem even more like a dragon than the tail and the fiery wings did. He was dressed elegantly, so much different from the kind of ragged Natsu I was used to seeing. The binding was embossed with gold and silver designs that looked a lot like vines. The border on the front was much the same. Across the top of the cover ran the title in silver; Do Fairies Have Tales?

My play on the question do fairies have tails? That ever-present question that the members of the guild had asked, the question that made Fairy Tail an everlasting adventure in the search for the elusive answer.

On the bottom of the cover, in gold, ran the legend; by Lucy, of Fairy Tail.

My novel. My novel, the one I'd given to Levy, was sitting right there on the shelf in front of me, ten or twenty copies of it, an adorable purple-blue hue covering where the cover image and the silver and gold of the vines and the title and my name did not. And they hadn't put my last name! They still called me Lucy of Fairy Tail, so did that mean that I was still accepted among them?

Of course that's what it means, I told myself. It almost hurt that they could still have faith in me.

I reached forward with shaking hands to pick up the book in order to have something to do with them. This way, maybe the dragonslayer behind me wouldn't realize the twitching that was all too obvious.

"That's you, isn't it?" I gestured to the front cover, trailing my fingers over the vines on the border. "Beside her on the cover."

"Yeah," he said from his spot at the entrance to the section. He still hadn't moved from there.

"What are you doing on the cover of her book?"

You insensitive moron! the side of me that was still wholly in Lucy mode wailed at me, but I did my best to control her. The way I'd asked the question was cold, but I really wanted to know. The Lucy in me wanted to know.

"Mirajane's idea," he said, almost bluntly. I heard his footsteps come just a little nearer. "She told Reedus to paint me in there with Lucy. Mira thought-well, she still thinks that seeing me right beside her will bring Luce back to her senses and get her to come back to us. Basically, she said that if Lucy saw one of her closest nakama next to her, it would 'pull at her heart' or something, and she'd come back. Levy agreed, and so did Cana and Bisca and Lisanna and Wendy…and after that, the whole guild was in on it. So Reedus painted it that way."

Natsu never really had a way with words, or good descriptions, but the explanation was good enough for me. And it did just as Mira said; it pulled at my heartstrings, trying to tug me back to my home. The only true home that I'd ever really had.

In order to get my mind off of those thoughts, I flipped to the About the Author and read as I felt the pink haired man's eyes on the back of my head.

"Lucy of Fairy Tail, perhaps better known as the ex-heiress Lucy Heartfilia, is a cheerful girl. The blonde is a proud 'master' and friend to at least ten of the golden Zodiac keys, and a powerful Celestial mage. Lucy came to us at Fairy Tail four years ago after being rescued from the false Salamander by the real Salamander. She wrote 'Do Fairies Have Tales?' at age eighteen and gave it into the care of her friend, Levy McGarden of Fairy Tail, before mysteriously disappearing. Two years have passed since that day, and we of the guild still look forward to her return and still look for her whenever we are out. In the hopes that she might see this, we would all like to say just this; please come home, Lucy. We love you!

That being said, if anyone has any information on the whereabouts of Lucy Heartfilia, we at Fairy Tail in Magnolia, Fiore, would greatly appreciate it! Please help us find our nakama!

The Entire Fairy Tail Guild Thanks You For Your Support."

I nearly choked myself trying not to cry.

"You guys really want her back," I remarked, my voice not betraying my true feelings for a change. It took so much self control not to turn and run into his arms, sobbing and apologizing. So much more than I had thought it was possible to have, but it was possible, somehow.

"It's more than that," I felt, rather than saw, him step up beside me and take the book from my hands to flip to the pages preceding the About the Author (which hadn't been so much about me as about their search for me) before handing me the book back. My eyes widened even further than before at the section called, "Hey Lucy".

The entire section was composed of letters of varying lengths addressed me, from everyone. It took up about ten pages, the shorter letters in the beginning and the longer ones later. I read quickly, feeling Natsu's eyes lingering on me. It still took seven or eight minutes before I reached the last one. I hesitated at reading it, glancing over at the dragonslayer to see what he did. I turned my eyes back to the last letter, the only one that really did start off, "Hey Lucy" rather than "Dear Lucy" or just plain old "Lucy" or in Levy's case, "Lu-chan".

Hey Lucy,

If you're reading this, I guess you know that we got your book published. It was Levy's idea, and Gramps agreed to it without a hitch, and so we all decided to say something to you. I never read books, 'cause I think they're boring, but I read this one 'cause it's yours. Why did you keep something as awesome as this from all of us, Luce? You told everyone's story all in one. And it's not bad, you weirdo. If you had such a cool book, why didn't you tell me sooner? What about your other stories? Are you going to ever finish them? If no one else told you in their letters, I'll tell you and you can get mad at me, but we read all of them that you left with your stuff. Even me. You could almost make me like to read, Luce, almost.

You know everybody misses you by now, but I really do. Miss you, that is. Who else is supposed to yell at me for climbing in their window at night just 'cause I'm bored at home? Who else would complain about it but just groan and fix Happy and me a midnight snack anyway? And who would finally just sit up with us the rest of the night, laughing and playing Happy's Fishland?

Fishland. I remembered that game. In order to appease the annoying blue feline, I had found an old Candyland game board and asked Reedus to redesign it according to my suggestions. In the end, we had a masterfully painted piece of art…dedicated to fish. The game was played like Candyland, so it was simple enough, and the fish theme really pleased Happy. He wanted to play it every single day, but I had somehow talked him down to once a week-Fishland Friday.

I shook my head to wipe the memory, if only temporarily, and let my gaze fall back to the letter that had prompted the flashback. I found my place momentarily and continued to read.

I know you probably had some sort of reason for what you did, Luce, but we miss you. More than words could ever say, even though you always seemed to have words to describe things when you were writing. Really, I don't know how you knew what to say! But that's not really what this letter is about.

What I mean, Luce, is that we all want you to come back. Please.

I miss you.

Damn it, Luce, I'm not good with this sort of sentimental stuff, okay? So just please come back already so I can give you a hug, or something, all right? I'll even pay your rent for the rest of my life!

Your partner,

Natsu

I hadn't noticed that my expressions had changed as I'd read this particular letter, but I did feel my eyes filling up with tears. I reached up, surprised to find the moisture running down my cheeks, and hastened to stop them before they dripped on the pages of the book in my hands. I had choked out a laugh at the rent part, because only someone like him would bring it up in a 'please come back' sort of letter. I couldn't stop crying, though. It was a stupid thing. So stupid, to stand in front of Natsu Dragneel, the one I was most scared of, scared because I was afraid that he of all people would figure out my secret and yet here I was bawling at his letter. This was giving away more of my true self than I had to the others. I closed my–the novel–and put it aside, turning away from the dragonslayer and secretly placing the back of my hand to my mouth in a vain attempt to stifle my sobs. A warm hand descended on my shoulder.

"You're a lot like Lucy, aren't you?" Natsu asked gently, in a friendly manner. "Erza and Gray and Happy told me some of the things you guys talked about while on that…that stupid boat. You left your nakama behind because of your Overflow thing, right?"

I nodded, not trusting myself to attempt to speak. I was being such a crybaby lately. Not to mention, here Natsu was, comparing me to Lucy. Not only Erza, and Gray, and Happy, but Natsu, too. If I was most worried about him figuring me out, then why couldn't I stop crying?

"You said some pretty mean things to them," Natsu continued, and I cringed, "but we don't blame you. Gray's sorry for making you mad, even just a little. You remind them all of Lucy a bit because you cared more about your friends' feelings than about yours, you know that?"

"Y-yeah, I know," I said, stepping away but still not looking at him. Wouldn't he realize who I was if he got a good look at my face right now, when we were so close to a blown up image of the front cover of that book? That image of me? "Y-you guys must…r-really miss her. I can tell you c-care a lot about her."

"Yeah," came the reply. At the wistful sound, I forced myself to glance at him, and he was gazing at the large fairy image of the book's display. "Yeah…care about her…"

My heart thudded painfully in my chest and I looked away again, unable to take the look of utter heartbreak that showed on the indestructible Salamander's features at that moment. Really, his face was worse than the heart-wrenching expression Erza had showed me previously, and if he had more faces like that in his repertoire, I was doomed to failure in my endeavor to keep who I was a secret. I feared that I'd blurt it out if I just looked at him…but I looked anyway. His eyes were closed tightly, and he was taking a few deep breaths. It was a painful sight for me to witness, as the girl he was searching for, but I had to bear it. This was a burden I'd have to shoulder, some sort of cruel atonement for the wrongs I had dealt my friends by leaving them.

"Was there anything more than that?" I managed not to choke, turning away and wiping my eyes with the dark blue handkerchief that dangled from my back pocket. My contacts were irritating my eyes, but I would have to deal with it. I'd done so before, and if these few days were any indication, I'd have to do it again, so why not get used to it? I struggled to find more words to say to Natsu but the next thing I said seemed to flow naturally from my mouth, almost as if it was my heart finally speaking for me without my stubborn brain getting in the way, "I mean, you seem really attached to her. 'Care' almost seems weak."

My face, my tears, did not fit my Layla personality, and neither did the words, but the way I said them did. I had spoken in a colder manner than one normally would, and in such a way that if the listener was quick to anger, he or she might think I was teasing them. The words themselves were reminiscent of something I might have said as Lucy, but the absolute ice in the tone was Layla's, and hers alone.

Ouch. My heart, I thought. It hurt to talk to Natsu like that. It hurt so much, but I had to use that tone. If I didn't, I would have sounded too much like Lucy. Being right by a giant blown-up picture of the front cover of Do Fairies Have Tales? and talking like the author would be close to a dead giveaway. And so I couldn't say comforting things, or even nice things, which was really hard when just being around the dragonslayer, or any of my other nakama, made my tongue loosen and words spill out.

I wanted to hit myself for all of my failures at keeping myself inconspicuous, and so intent was I on thoughts of self-loathing that I wasn't really expecting his answer to my inquiry when it came.

"Yeah."

The word was so soft that I almost didn't catch it, but I did, and I went rigid. I let it hang in the air for a few minutes until I thought that I had perhaps imagined that one word. And it would have been so much better for me, for the sake of my secret identity, if it really had been some sort of fluke, a trick my imagination had played on my hearing.

"There's more," Natsu's voice came, dashing the idea that his response might have been imaginary and almost sounding strangled. "So much more it hurts. Sure, Luce is important to us, to all of us, but sometimes I'm so sure that she's most important to me. That's why I can't stop until we find her. I want to tell her about it, about all of it. I know she had some sort of reason! She just had to have! And I know I sound like a kid and just really selfish, but I want her back. I need her back."

Need. I know the feeling, Natsu. I do. So much more than you should ever know.

"You might never see her again," I told him, taking the discarded book and bringing it tight against my chest. I closed my eyes and took a breath to prepare myself for the words I was going to say. The words that wouldn't just hurt the pink haired man standing nearby, but me as well. "I told at least Erza as much, and she didn't like it, so I know you won't, but you have to accept it. She could be dead out there somewhere and you'd never know. Maybe you should just stop searching before you get killed by an enemy, or worse; get yourself hurt by finding that she is dead. Get your head out of the clouds and face the reality, Salamander. She's dead. Dead. She ran off and got herself killed. You will never see her again! Face the facts!"

I sprinted off, the book in my arms and chest feeling as though it was going to rip into shreds. I stopped at the counter only long enough to drop fifty thousand jewel on the counter and show her the book, the cost of which was only thirty thousand, before taking up my suitcase and fleeing.

It all hurt so much that I wanted to stop when Natsu's shouts rang out behind me, heartbroken and furious, but I tuned them out and darted down the next street. I took various turns, to throw him off if he was trying to pursue me, and thus zigzagged throughout the town until I came to a bathhouse. I slipped inside, paid for some lavender scented soap and shampoo, which was different from the orchid ones I'd been using, and hurriedly rushed to bathe. Anything to keep him from finding me while I was still in town.

I left out the back door when I was done, just in case. I peered around each corner as I made my way to the kind of run down side of town. That's where I'd find the cheapest places to stay, I knew. They might not be the best hotels out there, but maybe being there would completely throw off the dragonslayer if he had it in mind to follow me.

I'd been looking for an hour before I found lodging in the cleanest dirt-cheap hotel in town and barricaded myself in the room for a good long cry.

In the course of the last two hours, I'd learned that Natsu was missing me as much as I was missing him. Or, heaven forbid, more than I was missing him. Now I knew that he felt almost as deeply for me as I did for him, and that knowledge could be harmful. Yet even as I cried, and mentally berated myself and whispered that I wouldn't stick to my plan to follow them, I knew that they were empty words. Now, more than ever, I felt the need to trail them, or maybe more specifically him, in order to ensure their safety.

And I couldn't help but wonder…

What was I getting myself into?

Confrontation with Natsu? Check. Lucy being painfully obvious…again? Check.

I own nothing but the plot! The wonderful characters mentioned belong to Hiro Mashima! (except for my OC's from Reason, and the girl in the bookshop, and any random people like that).

Thanks for reading! Review if you feel like it ;)