Rated M
M is for MATURE, people.
If I can pretend to be, then you can too!

DISCLAIMER: I OWN NOTHING! *sob* However sometimes I wonder if Mashima-sama used to follow me and my friends around to help him dream up a few of his characters!

At least let a girl dream!

The Lost and the Found

Waking in tall grass, moist from morning's greeting, was nothing new to members of the Mad Tea Party. More than half the time, the Hatter and March Hare would drift off under the weight of their drink and tumble down from their respective chairs once captured within the Sandman's embrace. No, even the painful thumps Natsu felt raging beneath his skull weren't particularly new. Gajeel and he argued often, and the physical abuse was a natural piece of their partnership. Hey, if the occasional jarring sorted some of the mishmashed, disorderly, and deranged disarray swimming about your head now and again, perhaps you'd think it was a fair trade as well.

Never having been a creature willing to embrace change, one might even be proud of how the Hatter welcomed the sounds and smells of the awe-inspiring being making quiet snores next to him. His Juicy's arm pressed against his, forcing him to realize that despite the fire his father passed down to him—he'd never felt truly warm until her first gaze. Her first touch.

Too many footsteps. That's the new thing Natsu wasn't welcoming at the moment. Begrudgingly, he sat up, running a hand through salmon spikes and glancing about through squinted eyes.

Gajeel sat on a tree stump a few feet from them. Lucy darted by with a damp towel, handing it to Levy, who was kneeling next to the Lucy on the ground next to him. All the while, another Lucy brewed a pot of tea at the table, humming to herself. Natsu's eyebrow twitched, and a low growl began to grow in his throat.

"Hey! Ain't you listenin' Salamander?" Barked Gajeel, perturbed that Hatter wasn't already fully coherent. "Ya snoozed enough. We got problems. Jest how didja make three of these humans anyway? What, one wasn't enough? Greedy bastard."

Natsu sat there, eyes darting from Lucy, to Lucy, to Lucy. Memories from the night before slowly beginning to fill in blanks, and right when he started tallying up numbers with his fingers, one of the blondes brought him a steaming cup of tea that made numbers slip from his mind again. "Uhh..."

"SALAMANDER!"

Tea slopped onto his sleeve and Hatter jerked his head to a displeased partner, "WHAT?!"

"Wake up already man! I left that damn party dragging both your sorry asses all the way back, only to have two other human chicks pop into our hideout after I dumped yall here! What the fuck-"

"We're not human, piri," the Lucy who'd handed Natsu tea interrupted.

Gajeel groaned and hung his head between his knees and murmured menacingly, "Then what are you?"

"Does it matter?" Squeaked Levy, wiping ground-Lucy's brow. "They aren't bothering us—they're actually helping! I just wanna know why Juicy hasn't woken up!"

"Oh she'll wake up," smiled the Lucy next to her as she squatted down to peer at her twin. "It takes a lot of energy to summon. She's just put out from it, piri."

"Then get outta here already!" Natsu blurted out, spilling more tea.

Both the not/Lucys frowned at him, though the one next to Levy did murmur, "It's not that simple."

"Well it ain't that hard either!" Natsu bit back, anger filling him.

"Natsu..." Levy frowned, mouse ears wilting.

When the sleeping Lucy moaned and raised a hand to swat the cloth from her forehead, all eyes turned to her. Natsu dropped the teacup and snatched her from the Dormouse (and did a wonderful job ignoring Gajeel's growl), "Juicy! You alright? Why are there three of you?"

"...Three?" Lucy sat up with Natsu's help and blinked at her Gemini Spirits. "You guys...? What... why?"

"We were hoping you could tell us, piri piri," The two of them said in unison. "Was our task not complete?"

"Of course it was..." Lucy started to rub her temples, "I didn't need you to stay the night."

The two Gemini twins frowned at each other before looking back at their master, "Then why can't we go home?"

"What?" Concern for her beloved spirits flooded the star maiden's senses. Rising to stand, she faltered into the Hatter's arms, squeezed them as a quick thanks and looked back up at Gemini through groggy eyes. "Of course you can!"

The two Lucys before her just kept frowning.

"Juju..." Levy nibbled her lips, "I don't think they can."

"Piri piri! The second we felt you pass out, we ditched our dates and ran to catch up to you—to make sure you were safe."

"And when you saw that I was fine?" Lucy sighed.

"Well we weren't sure that you were..." One of the twins murmured, eyeing Gajeel sideways. Then the other piped up, "But something about this—wherever you are—isn't allowing us to leave! We're stuck!"

"We thought that maybe, piri, it was that you still needed us."

"Oh man." Lucy slumped against the Hatter, she felt so bone weary from using her celestial energies for so long. "So that means..."

The Gemini Lucy twins nodded sadly.

A moment of silence was a moment too long for Natsu. "What? Means what? Juicy? What does that mean?!"

"NaaaaaaaaaaaaatsuuuuUUUUUUUUUUU!" The blue cat/White Rabbit dived through the trees' canopy right into Lucy and Natsu, sending all three of them into the ground.

"Happy!" Natsu grinned brightly while prying the little guy from his face. Lucy rolled off, clutching her head while he continued, all attention suddenly on the White Rabbit. However, the two spoke over each other, so the conversation was hard to decipher.

Natsu: "Lemme guess, ya finally came to your senses and came to rejoin the Nakama!

Happy: Natsu! Natsu! Everything's a mess! After the Juicy disappeared last night—

Natsu: Hehe! So what happened? Carle give ya one cold shoulder too many?"

Happy scoffed, "Carle! Oh no! I'm gonna be late!" And just like that, he took flight again.

"Oh no you don't, Rabbit!" Smirked the Dormouse, already writing words into the air, "TASTY FISH!"

Lucy yelped when a fish suddenly manifested from the letters to tumble right onto Happy's head, sending him careening right back onto the Hatter's head; who landed right back into the grass, twitching. "...Ouch"

Enter the March Hare. Right when Happy was merrily going for the fish, Gajeel lifted him up by the tail, keeping the fish tantalizingly out of reach. "You're 'bout to be a lot more late if ya don't tell us whatcha came ta tell us, cat."

Levy bounced up and bent down to be eye level with the blue kitty/rabbit. "What kind of mess, Happy?"

Pawing at the fish while dangling, Happy's eyes watered. "It's the queen. She thinks the Juicy was kidnapped! She's getting her armor on and everything!"

"Shit." The March Hare dropped the miniature White Rabbit, who happily pounced on the waiting fish.

"Oh man, oh man... Gaajie... this is bad. You guys really left without saying goodbye?" Levy's round ears drooped.

"Far as I can tell, that was their job." Gajeel used his thumb to motion over his shoulder at Gemini.

"Thanks for the fish!" Happy floated contently back into the air. "Since I got promoted, they don't ever lemme have fish. That was yuuuuuummy!"

Through a stifled yawn, the Dormouse waved goodbye to the retreating White Rabbit while Gajeel prodded the Hatter with his foot. "Yo. Stop loafin' around. We got problems. Hey Levy! Wouldja—uhh..."

Levy was already stretching, yawning, and shrinking back into her furry state. "Yeah, yeah Gaajie, I'll get right on that," and crawled onto the once again sleeping Lucy to take a nap on her tummy in a neat, tiny mouse curl.

Gajeel groaned, "Damnit! Why the hell do I gotta do everything around here!?"

^.^

Brown eyes finally opened again around midday. Vision slowly faded into a white ceiling and the feel of a soft mattress and clean sheets left Lucy curious. Was she in some sort of infirmary? Had... had everything been nothing more than a feverish dream...? Noticing that her arms didn't feel quite as heavy as they had earlier, she dared to sit up—gasping at the realization that most of her comfort had to do with the fact that someone had stripped her down. Honestly! There was nothing to hide her nudity from anyone coming through that door but the thin sheet she now clung to! "Okay... easy girl..." Lucy whispered to herself. "Nothing to fret about... I'm sure father would have allowed only the most professional of professionals to examine me like this. ...I'm sure they were just being thorough."

A glass of water sat on a small table next to the bed. From the condensation all over, it was likely still cold. Her throat suddenly felt incredibly dry. With one hand firmly holding the blanket up, the other reached for it, unknowingly disturbing the tiny mouse snoozing next to her hip. As Lucy drank from the glass, the mouse made a petite yawn and stood up on its haunches, "You're awake!" She squeaked, "are you feeling better?"

Lucy gagged on the liquid, raining some down on the tiny creature, "Hey!"

"Sorry!" Lucy sputtered, trying to recover from the fact that she was, indeed, still in this bizarre place where animals talked and even transformed. The little mouse had been nothing but kind to her and she genuinely regretted having doused her with her drink.

"No worries," the Dormouse shook out her fur and scampered up Lucy's sheet and rested on her shoulder, sniffing with mousy whiskers.

"Where are we?"

"Oh I dunno... I wake up in weird places a lotta of the time"

Lucy quirked a brow at that, but any reply was quickly cut off when multiple footsteps were heard, rushing to their door. Muffled, argumentative voices were next, followed by the door violently swinging open with a broken latch.

"No way, no how! Doc said she needed her rest!" The back of the March Hare was all they could see, trying to bar someone else's path.

"I don't give a crap what that quack says! I gotta know what she did ta Juicy!" There was no mistaking Natsu's voice.

The teeny Levy-mouse gasped when one Gajeel got pushed to the ground, allowing them to see yet another March Hare still struggling against the Hatter. "Damnit Hatter! She ain't ready to see nobody!"

"The day I start listening to doppelgangers is the day I hang my hat! Now move it!"

"Ta-ta-ta-ta-two Gaajies...?" Levy scampered into Lucy's hair, tickling her with tiny paws.

All commotion in the doorway froze when the star maiden giggled, and giggled more as Levy's whiskers shivered at the base of her neck. The two Gajeels blinked dubiously at her, while Natsu tried to peer over his shoulder.

"It's alright, Gemini. I'm alright, but I would like it if you'd uh, ya know, get me some clothes?"

"On it! Piri piri!" Both Gajeels snapped to attention and saluted.

"Don't bother." The Hatter smirked, sidestepping around them to stand at her bedside.

"I beg your pardon, Master Dragneel!" Lucy cursed her rising blush.

"Gem-Gem-Gemini?" Levy squeaked, poking her nose through blonde locks. "So... that's—they're—Gemini?"

Lucy giggled again, reminding Natsu of the sound of a bell, as she offered a hand to the mouse. Levy jumped onto it and sniffed at the twins, now in Gajeel form. Then she jumped from the hand, transforming to her larger form to more closely inspect Gemini. The blonde smiled at her friend, examining her spirit(s) so thoroughly. All the while, Natsu scanned Lucy, swearing if there was even one scrape, one evidence of an injection...

"So you can copy the way anyone looks?" Levy inquired, stroking not/Gajeel's cheek, then popping to the other and placing a firm palm on even firmer abs.

"Gehe. Yup. We do damn good impersonations of'em too."

Levy's hands were getting very curious, but right when her palm made it to not/Gajeel's chest, Gemini went up in a puff of white smoke, transfoming back into Lucys, complete with thin sheet.

iconic wooooooooooooooooooooooow*

"But this one's our favorite!"

Levy's eyes widened and a huge smile exploded onto her face.

Lucy slammed her hand onto her forehead.

And Natsu... well... Natsu just... froze. Eyes wide, getting two times the eyefull.

One of the Lucy's walked up to him, using one hand to bundle up her hair as she let the blanket slip treacherously lower and winked at him as his hat tumbled into the real Lucy's lap, "How could this not be our favorite?"

Both Lucy and Levy cried out at once. "WOULD YOU CUT THAT OUT GEMINI!" And Levy squealed, "DO ME DO ME DO MEEEE!"

Gemini chuckled and went up in a poof again, this time landing as Levy. "Eeeeeeeee!" Levy squeaked, "let's go find Gaajie!"

And just like that, the room emptied to leave only two.

Before the silence stretched long at all, Natsu was jarred from his stupor by Lucy falling back onto the bed with a moan, no, it was most likely a groan, but Natsu's thoughts were still consumed with ungentlemanly thoughts.

Feverish feeling notwithstanding, he managed to ask if she was feeling better.

"I feel... alright, I suppose. Better if I had some clothes..."

Natsu smirked and reached into his coat, but stopped when slender fingers reached for his arm. "Na-Natsu...? What... what happened? Why am I here? Where is here?"

The way Lucy looked up at him with those chocolate hued eyes made the Hatter's throat hitch. Unable to decide if the expression was more worried or frightened, he gave in to weakened knees and sat on the bed, enveloping the hand on his arm with his. "Why did the Red card split the Jack?"

"Huh?"

"Why did the Red card split the Jack?"

"Mr. Dragneel, I don't—" An incredibly warm finger landed on Lucy's lips.

The bed creaked as the Hatter leaned over her. His face was not even a hand span from her nose, anchoring her to the bed as his hand moved to cup Lucy's cheek. "Natsu. I toldja ta call me Natsu."

"Uh..."

"The joke's not meant to be funny, ya know. It's a code, to warn Inbetweeners. The Red card splits Jack cuz they can't catch the White. It..." Natsu trailed off for a moment, his eyes glazing before sharpening again. "It's why the March Hare brought us here, to White country."

"Umm... I don't understaa—" Lucy trailed off with a sharp inhalation when the madman lowered his head to breath deeply into the sweet skin of her neck.

Every muscle in the woman's body tensed, pulsed in ways she'd never known before. When he exhaled, his breath felt like provocative fire (two words she'd never thought could have coincided) that drifted far below the sheet hiding bare skin. "Mavis, but you smell delicious," the Hatter all but groaned, pulling himself back up reluctantly. "I... I uh, gotcha some clothes here." Then, even more reluctantly, he pulled clothes similar to the attire he'd first met her in from his coat. How had they fit in there? The skirt was complete with petticoats! With no words in Lucy's dry throat, Natsu stood up and walked to the door, feet shuffling. As he opened the door, he turned back to the bewitching star maiden forlornly whispering to himself. In fact, it was entirely possible he hadn't even realised the words were spoken aloud at all. "How the hell am I supposed to let her go?"

Lucy stared as the door closed, leaving her to dress in private.

…...

Silence wasn't something common, here in this strange place, and Lucy stared at the door the Hatter left through for some time before finding her feet.

~.~

The door from the infirmary opened to a hallway, which led to wooden stairs that—though taken well care of—were obviously very old. They creaked under her feet, which hushed the mirth heard down below. Three Levy's sat at a table together and the White Queen herself greeted Lucy at the bottom step. "So wonderful to see you walking! You're feeling better then, Juicy?"

"It's still Lucy... and yea—er, yes ma'am, thank you very much for your help. But how did you—"

"Juicy!" The real Levy bounced up, deftly dodged around Mirajane, and glomped Lucy in a tight hug. After nuzzling her cheek in a mousy way, she blinked curiously when she noticed what her friend carried. "Huh? You have Natsu's hat...?"

"Yea, uh, yes." The smallest of small smiles peeked through shy lips. "I guess he forgot it."

Levy scratched behind her orange ear. "Weird. He's never done that before. That hat is like, his pride and joy."

Mirajane smiled mischievously, "Oh my... our beloved Hatter must really be off his game today! I wonder what sort of other things must be on his mind?"

"Oh! OH! I know!" Levy bounced, jerking Lucy a bit, "It's his plus one huh?"

"Dear me, poor Dee must be upset, having lost her chance." Mirajane pouted coyly.

"Hey!" Lucy frowned, "It's not like that! He was just upset! He—" She trailed off when both the ladies raised a discerning brow at her. "Uhh... so where did the March Hare and he go anyway?"

Gemini popped up from their seats and spoke in unison in Levy's form, "They went out with Dum and Dee! Piri piri, to check the scene, piri piri!"

Levy started making a fuss over the clothes Lucy wore, but the part that made Lucy take pause was the comment she'd murmured about how long it had been since the Hatter had made anything for anyone. There was no time to think on it however, for Mirajane pulled Lucy to the table and sat her down, setting a tea cup in front of her. Then once she checked her temperature with a cheek to the forehead and well satisfied by the cool touch, she said, "Now drink up! Doctor's orders!"

Frowning at the funny concoction placed in front of her, Lucy asked, "What is it?"

Seating herself at the table in front of Lucy, Mirajane leaned her head into her hand. "Why it's the only thing keeping you on your feet at this point, dear girl!"

The Dormouse was all grins as she sat herself at the table too. "What you have there is the one and only Blue Caterpillar special!"

Mirejane clarified, "It's magically enhanced tea leaves, meant for restoring lost power. Porlyusica's been growing it right here in our little castle for a while now. She says one can never be too careful!"

"It sure came in handy for our newest party goer!" Levy giggled.

"Piri piri!" Gemini cheered.

"Now Juicy dear, don't you worry about a thing!" Mirajane reached over the table to take Lucy's hand. "Arrangements are being made to grow many, many more of these plants. So the way I see it, you and your lovely spirits are welcome to stay as long as you like!"

"Yaaay!" Cried out the Dormouse, "It's like we just got three Juicys for the price of one!"

Lucy could not share in her friend's cheers however. With a gaze that shifted to Gemini, she bit her lip. It wouldn't be fair to deny her spirits the choice to return to their realm. The contracts that bound them were supposed to be born from friendship; what right did she have to make them a captive here? It simply couldn't be the right course of action to take here.

It took more effort than Lucy wanted to keep her hands steady as she took the teacup and drank. The taste was bitter, with some kind of berries added to perhaps hide the taste. This was what was keeping her fatigue at bay? Lucy smiled at the queen and thanked her. "Though I hate to think of whatever lovely garden you must be sacrificing on my account."

"Think nothing of that dearie." The White Queen waved her hand in a dainty manner. "It's wonderful to be growing something so worthwhile! And the caterpillar loved gaining more space to grow!"

About to say more as to why they shouldn't make such a fuss on her behalf, Lucy bit her tongue when she saw the glimmer in the queen's eye. The subject was closed. Mirajane watched Lucy for a spell longer, to see that the girl would comply, then rose from her seat in a merry way and asked, "So. Who's hungry?"

It'd been surreal, being served by a queen. The meal was divine, and the company of her beloved spirit, Dormouse and her Majesty was even more so. Though Lucy did find it odd by how quickly she was shooed off back to bed. Unable to complain though, she simply complied. Magic tea, no magic tea, she was still very tired.

Upon entering the room in the infirmary, Lucy was greeted by a voice. "It's about time girl. Didn't anyone ever tell you that it's rude to keep your betters waiting?" The voice was feminine but gruff, not one to have much patience.

Lucy scanned the room, finding nothing the voice could have come from. "Umm, I'm very sorry... I did not know I had someone waiting."

"Yes well, only the Red's quack they call a doctor wouldn't follow up on their patient!" The voice tisked when Lucy started looking under her blanket. "Over here girl. On the window sill."

Lucy squinted at the moonlight's glare the window let in, and once eyes adjusted, saw a tiny blue caterpillar holding a cigarette in a long, slim holder on the window sill. She couldn't have been more than three inches in length. "No way..."

"Yes well, you're no spring chicken either there, girl." The creature huffed, taking a long drag from the cigarette. "Well?" It barked, impatiently, "tell me how you're feeling!"

"Oh! Umm, apologies, miss—er—ma'am, I'm feeling alright, just a bit tired."

"Mmhmm," the caterpillar hummed, taking another drag. "Well you should know that your lethargy will only grow worse." She blew out blue circles of smoke that drifted into Lucy's face. "My tea, as wonderful as it may be, will only ever be a crutch. It can never be the cure."

Seating herself on the bed facing the window, Lucy sighed.

"Oh please don't tell me you are just going to sit there and play a pity party," the caterpillar frowned. "What are you going to do about it?"

Why was this tiny bug being so mean to her? "I'm very sorry, er-um, ma'am, but have I offended you in some way?"

"Only in the same fashion everyone does, girl." The caterpillar shook her head. "Now I realize that all the young upstarts around here are hell bent on keeping the dreamer here on their turf, but as your doctor, I must tell you that the only way you are going to get your natural power back is by returning to your own world and sending that spirit of yours back to theirs. No way around it, it's simply what must be done."

"Home..." Lucy tasted the word on her mouth. It had been where she'd been trying to go ever since she'd left. Lucy contemplated the gravity of what leaving might mean. Would she ever again be able to visit this serendipitous world? It would be terrible to loose the friendships she'd made.

"Yes, yes, home." The multi-legged creature agreed, puffing more circles. "Fortunately for you, I've already sent for my daughter—Mavis knows why she has such a fascination for the land of Nobodies—who will take you right back to where you belong."

Lucy didn't notice how she was strangling her skirts into her fists.

"And perhaps this time, you will keep that nosy nose of yours out of our business! Little girls lost in the woods rarely have such an opportunity to be guided back home in such prestigious company." The caterpillar began inching under the window, "Now get what little rest you can, girl. Your escort will be here soon."

Much love to my lovelies.

Stay safe.
Never forget you are loved.

Seriphia
aka
Lick

*~.💟.~*