Prompt: "Who wouldn't be angry? You ate all of my cereal and faked your death for three years!"

"Nooooo!" Levy flipped the page over to check the back and then looked up at Lucy with wide eyes. "Where's the rest! Don't tell me this is all there is!"

Lucy laughed. "I told you I'm not done yet."

"Lucy Heartfilia, how dare you tease me like this!" Levy groaned. "This is so good… I don't want to wait! Tell me what happens!"

"I can't," Lucy chuckled. "I'm not done yet."

"Surely you have some idea!"

Instead of answering, Lucy pushed her plate forward, offering her cookies. "What one?"

"Lucy!"

"I kind of know, but I want to finish writing it before I say anything. I'm still working through some details, okay?"

"Fine…" Levy stuck out her lower lip. "You're such a tease, Lu."

"I'm sorry," she answered without any remorse. "I need another tea. You want one? I'm buying."

"It's the least you can do for me," Levy said, a smile starting to show.

Lucy got up and moved into the line. She dug into her purse for her wallet and ended up dropping her sunglasses case. They bounced off the ground and landed in front of the foot of the man in front of her. He glanced down just as she cursed under her breath.

"I'm so sorry," she said as she secured her purse in one hand so she could retrieve them.

"No problem," he said as he bent down to grab the case. He handed it to her with a smile. "Here you go."

"Thanks," she said with a smile. As she looked at him, she couldn't help but feel as though she'd seen him before.

"It's not a problem," he said before turning around again.

Lucy pulled out her phone and responded to a message from her father. As she was looking down, she became distracted by a loud voice. "Oy, what are you doing?"

The man in front of her moved a little, stepping back close enough he almost bumped her phone. "I'm grabbing a cup for Juvia, what does it look like?"

"Why didn't you already get one? We're going to be late!"

Lucy's heart stuttered and her fingers froze. No… it couldn't be.

"You know what, Flamebrain, maybe if you were a little more considerate of people, you'd be able to land a girlfriend and you would understand."

"Not interested," the voice said.

Lucy's hands shook slightly as she began to lift her head. Another man had joined the one in front of her, wearing a worn pair of jeans and a red shirt. An achingly familiar white scarf was hanging down his back and as her eyes finally reached the stock of pink hair on his head, she wasn't sure if she was even still standing. A noise left her throat, a cross between a gasp and a moan. The new man turned her way and her suspicions were confirmed.

"Natsu…"

He was equally shocked as he slowly turned and stared at her. "Lucy?"

Her phone dropped from her hands and she stepped back, completing oblivious of her phone bouncing across the floor. It managed to bounce into the other man in front of her. He turned around with a grin, but that grin vanished as he looked between her and his friend.

If he said anything, the pair didn't notice. Lucy's eyes filled with tears as Natsu's face paled. Without a word, Lucy suddenly ripped her phone out of his hand and turned away. Natsu lifted a hand but she was already out the door. A short woman with blue hair watched her go with a frown and then quickly grabbed her things to follow.

"What the hell was that?" Gray asked.

Natsu couldn't answer. Could it really be her? After all this time?

Lucy…

He didn't answer his friend. Instead, he followed Lucy out the door. When he exited the shop, he looked both ways but didn't see her. On a hunch, he turned left and began to walk. He'd always had an uncanny ability to find her when she was upset, and he was reasonably surprised to find that he still had that ability. There was a bookstore on the corner, and through the window, he could see tables set up along the back wall.

He let himself into the store and with a short wave at the person behind the counter, he made his way to the back of the shop. As he passed the last row of books, he found what he expected to find.

Lucy was sitting at the table in the corner, her head in her hands and her shoulders shaking. Natsu came to a stop as he racked his brain, trying to figure out what he could say.

Before he could find the right words, she sat up to wipe at her face, but stopped as she spotted him. Readying himself for more tears, he made his way towards her. He stopped when he made it to her table. He glanced at the counter, and noticed that the worker had conveniently disappeared. "Lucy-"

Natsu grunted as he slammed into the wall. In a daze, he crumbled to the ground with no idea how he'd gotten there.

"How dare you." He looked up and found Lucy standing over him.

"Lucy-"

"Why?" she asked. "Tell me why you did it."

Natsu sighed as he slowly got to his feet. "I can see you're angry."

"Of course I am! Who wouldn't be angry? You ate all of my cereal and faked your death for three years!"

He itched the back of his head. "Well, I wouldn't say I faked my death."

"Your car went into a river and you and your brother disappeared! What else would you call that? We knew you two were in it together, so everyone assumed you both drowned!"

"What?! I'm a great swimmer, I would never drown!"

"Natsu, YOU DISAPPEARED AFTER YOUR CAR WAS IN AN ACCIDENT!" Tears streamed down Lucy's face as she finally stood, ignoring everything else around her. "WE ALL THOUGHT YOU DIED!"

"Well obviously I didn't."

Lucy slapped him. The crack sounded through the store but Lucy didn't seem to care. "We mourned you," she said with a broken voice. "Even my father… and you're still here." She pressed her lips together. "Why?"

"Did I eat the cereal? I was hungry! I can replace it if you want-"

"Not that," she growled

"Then what?"

"Why didn't you tell us you were still alive?!"

He rubbed the back of his head. "It's kind of a long story."

Lucy didn't say anything, she just glared at him.

"Okay! Well… the short version is there were people after Zeref and when we were on our way home that night, they ran us off the road. We managed to get out, but the guys were on the bank looking for us, so we swam to the other side. We got help from some friends of his, but we had to leave town. He was worried about my safety, since they'd seen me with him, so he insisted we both stay away until we figured things out.

"We still haven't," he said, "so I haven't been able to go home yet."

"You could have at least called and let us know you were okay."

Natsu shook his head. "I couldn't put any of you in danger like that. Leaving was hard, but I knew it would keep you all safe."

Lucy ignored the tears in her eyes as she glared at him. "You should have at least told me."

Natsu's head snapped up, his eyes bright. "I would never risk your safety like that. I wouldn't risk anyone's, but especially not yours, Luce. You know that."

She sucked in a breath, a little dazed by the intensity in his stare. Neither of them looked away as their glares dissolved. They both scanned the other, looking for any noticeable changes.

"You got a little taller," Lucy mused.

"And you got a little weirder." Lucy smacked him, but her anger had lessened considerably so it didn't hurt. Natsu grinned, but before he could say anything else, he watched as her face slowly crumbled. As her eyes squeezed shut and her tears leaked out again, he pulled her roughly against his chest. "Luce, you know I can't stand when you do that…"

"I'm sorry," she whispered. She clung to him, squeezing him so hard Natsu had to fight a little to breathe. "I thought you were gone…"

"I know." He moved closer, reveling in having his best friend once more in his arms. "I missed you."

"Not nearly as much as I missed you."

"I definitely missed you more."

"Did not."

"Did, too."

"Did not."

Natsu bit his tongue, allowing her to cry herself out. As much as he hated her tears, he knew they were necessary so he did his best to hide his discomfort. As he rubbed her back, he buried his nose in her hair, surprised and delighted to find it still smelled the same as the last time he'd seen her.

When she finally spoke again, Natsu almost missed it.

"I accept by the way."

Natsu pulled away slightly. "Accept what?"

"Your offer to replace the cereal."

He laughed as she pulled away and wiped her face. While she was distracted, Natsu wiped his own away before she could see. "Well I certainly owe you."

"You're damn right you do. You ate seven boxes!"

"Who keeps that many boxes on hand?"

"Someone with you for a best friend." As she stood, the store clerk conveniently came back out and busied herself at the front desk. Lucy took a deep breath and looked up at him with a small smile. "Are you up for a coffee? It'd be nice if we could catch up. Maybe I could get your number?"

"Luce-"

Her face instantly darkened. "I already know you're alive, Natsu, so there's no reason to hide from me anymore. Besides, I haven't been home since…" She looked away. "A long time."

"I was just going to say that I have to get ahold of Gray. We have plans." Natsu grinned. "On second thought, nevermind. The icy bastard deserves it after last weekend." He slung an arm around Lucy and he began to steer her towards the front door. "Although you should let your friend know what's going on."

"I already texted her. We're going to get together tomorrow." She waved to the woman behind the desk and then looked up at Natsu. "So what exactly did your friend do last weekend? And what plans are you bailing on?"

Natsu grinned as they exited the shop, his heart lighter than it had been in some time. He'd hated having to leave his hometown, but the thing that had hurt most was leaving Lucy. Now that she knew the truth, he didn't think there was anything that could ruin his mood.

They walked back towards the cafe as Natsu answered her questions, loudly and with overly exaggerated gestures. Neither paid any attention to anything around them… or anyone.

The clerk pulled out her phone and made a call.

"What is it? Your check-in isn't until next week."

"You'll never guess who I just found," she said with a slow smile.

"... Is it him?"

"Yes," she purred. "And you'll never guess who he was with."