It was days like these Erza wished she would remember to do the breathing exercises her therapist was always having her do, in the actual situations they were meant for. In hindsight, it was a very bad plan to throw whatever (her boot) was in her hand in the general direction of (directly at) Natsu (his head, specifically). At first, she thought it didn't hit him very hard.

As she watched him drop like a stone, she felt guilt eating away at the bottom of her stomach. She had done it again. Lost her temper and hurt someone.

God damnit.

Natsu woke up in one of the hospital beds, a throbbing headache sitting squarely in his temple. He groaned and curled in on himself, reaching a hand up to cradle his temple as his eyes squinted shut against the light searing bright red through his lids. He could smell the cleaner used to clean the on-site hospital, burning his lungs if he breathed to deeply. This was nothing new, but he was surprised by the faint smell of... vanilla... sugar... sunshine... wait. He KNEW that smell!

Lucy was NOT sure how to process the information that Natsu, the nerdy, skinny, bespectacled boy from the science fair, was the same person as the muscular man lying on the hospital bed in front of her. The obvious differences - the industrial piercing that ironically matched hers, the faded pink hair, the increased muscle mass - those weren't what startled her into silence, locked in a surprised eye-lock until Erza's boot had struck home. The overwhelming familiarity when seeing someone you haven't talked to in years, yet you know exactly who they were, and the fear you don't know who they are - that was what struck her dumb. The look in his eyes was the same (though there was less innocence there, that bothered her), the earbud hanging free ever-present to stave off the silence that would trigger his anxiety (she remembered him telling her that her voice was soothing when the fire alarm went off on the second day of the fair, sending him into a panic she talked him down from), and, more than anything else, the constantly being covered in grease was nothing new to her. She could still remember the look on his face when he had hugged her before they went home the first day, leaving smears of grease on her pretty floral dress. The next day she wore more practical clothes, and had worked with him to fix his project when it had inexplicably started fountaining motor oil (he blamed the only other person from his school at the fair, a person Natsu called Ice Princess).

Lucy had plenty of time to mull over this while she sat in an uncomfortable chair, waiting for Natsu to wake up. It was only her first day here, and she had already had enough excitement to last her a week.

First came the meeting with the management of the Fairy Ranch (Mr. Makarov was interesting to say the least, but he seemed a good man), then they gave her a wristband (a location device she assumed), and set her up with an online college, to be registered come fall semester. As it turns out, schooling is mandatory here, and they have a deal with Magnolia University that as long as the study continues, all participants are awarded full scholarships and access to a variety of majors able to be gained primarily online, although lab classes were offered in a side room off the hospital if deemed appropriate by the university and you were able to get Mr. Makarov to sign off on it.

It was noon by the time all of this had been handled, and then she was handed off to her dorm manager, Erza Scarlet. Although they hadn't hit it off right away, Erza warmed up as soon as Lucy mentioned her love for strawberries, and the patch she had at home. They had been discussing the finer points of growing strawberries when they walked into the dorm Lucy would be staying in and, as they say, the rest was history.

Lucy didn't realize she had been spacing out until Natsu made a small groaning noise, and began to move, curling into the fetal position, clutching his head. Lucy went silent, and she would swear until her dying day that Natsu's nostrils flared right before his eyes snapped open before squinting closed in the bright light.

"Luce?"

A.N.: Well well well look who we have here... ME! Back from the aether to deliver this chapter!

What is dialogue, amirite?!

This is 100% not edited or betaed, just total 10PM exhaused I-should-be-studying-for-the-finals-next-week-but-I-don't-have-the-energy-so-I'll-just-make-an-update madness.

Special thanks to ThatOneFriend-3, FlameDragonHime, and Autori Fantasia for reviewing! Your encouragement always helps, thank you for your time!:D

And a SUPER SPECIAL thanks to 4evrDorkly17, you're always supportive and I appreciate you so much! :D

Remember, reviews feed the beast! ;)

Rory