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Hey guys I'm sorry for not updating much. I've been very busy and don't have time. So this is a chapter to make up for it. And also... HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!

It's finally 2016. Thank you all so much and have fun in the future.

Lucy fingered the piece of paper in her hand, smoothing her thumb over the long-ago written words. Her eyes burned as she, without realizing it, began reading those words again for what seemed like the thousandth time since she'd discovered it on her coffee table fourteen months prior. Fourteen months; a year and two months without Natsu, or the guild... Fourteen months without her family.

Lucy sighed.

Sure, the girls all gathered once a week for a get-together, and yes she saw Levy almost all the time, and of course she ran into some of the guys every once in a while... But they had no guild, no home. And as if that weren't bad enough, they had no Natsu-or Happy, for that matter.

As she'd found out a few days after his departure, he hadn't bothered to tell anyone else in the guild about his plans to travel-except for Makarov. He'd only told her-which Gray and Gajeel were undoubtedly still bitter about-and he hadn't even done so face-to-face. No, he'd left her a scraggily handwritten note on her coffee table and then left.

Eyeing the letter again, Lucy closed her eyes.

She'd been both sad and angry for weeks. How could he just leave her, after all they'd been through together, and only tell her through a letter? A piece of paper that he hadn't even had the good grace to hand to her in person. And to be so nonchalant about it all? As if leaving for a year was completely normal, or planned. Many times, she had seriously contemplated throwing the stupid piece of paper away...but each time she'd crumpled it up with anger, she'd been overcome with guilt and longing within the next second and smoothed it out as best she could.

That was why the letter in her hands was so wrinkled and now had tiny tears at the corners. She'd never had the heart to toss away his parting words.

With a bittersweet smile on her face, Lucy traced the sloppily-written words with her index finger. His handwriting in the letter really was awful, something which she could now chuckle about. He'd never had the best of handwriting, even on his best days, but this had hardly been legible. The letters were sloppy at best, thicker and darker than usual, and there were so many eraser smears on the page that the paper looked more grey than white. Lucy had studied those eraser marks countless times, trying to decipher what Natsu had written and then thought better of; she'd never been able to do so, however. The smudges were too...smudgy.

But, one thing was clear, as she now knew. He'd been so hesitant to leave her, had probably worked on this letter-as short and simple as it was-for hours before deciding on the words he'd written. He'd put so much time and effort into the measly thing, and angry or not, Lucy couldn't help but appreciate that.

Besides, it had taken her months to notice, but she'd eventually seen the little distorted spots on the paper, where the lines and letters blurred and smeared together. Sprinkles of water, she'd realized...or rather, the remnants of tears.

He'd...cried while writing this.

Even though it didn't seem like much, Natsu had poured his feelings into the letter she was currently holding with both hands. Feelings of regret, sorrow, and longing. Feelings of determination, love, and hope.

Take care of everyone, all right? See ya, Lucy...

He really was so simple. But, she wouldn't have him any other way.

Lucy smiled to herself again as she folded the familiar piece of paper into a little square and tucked it back into its envelope, still with its wax seal on the lip. "Yeah... Hurry back soon, you idiot," she whispered, staring out the kitchen window at the especially gorgeous sunset. The sunset that she knew he was seeing too, wherever he was.

Come back home soon, Natsu...

...

"Hey, Natsu, what're you looking at?"

Turning away from the sunset, Natsu shook his head with a grin. "Nothin', Happy. Just the sunset."

"The sunset?" echoed the cat, fluttering by Natsu's shoulders to gaze upon the sky that was filled with orange and pink and purple and every color in between. "It's really pretty today."

The wonder in Happy's voice urged Natsu to nod. "Yeah," he murmured.

Blinking up at the sky, Natsu inhaled deeply. The scent of wildflowers and sweet grass filled his nose, reminding him of a time and a town long ago-more specifically, of a person who would have been fawning over the beauty of the sunset and the fresh daisies underneath his sandals. Yeah, he thought then, she'd probably love it here. Seemed just like the sort of place that she'd want to go to.

As if reading his mind, Happy sighed and said, "I wonder if Lucy's watching the sunset too..."

Lucy...

The thought of her still made him pause, even after a year of being apart.

Swallowing past the lump in his throat, Natsu reached out and ruffled the top of Happy's head. "I bet she is."

"Do you miss her?" Happy asked.

"'Course I do," Natsu replied. "It's been hard without her with us..."

That wasn't the least bit a lie-the two had gotten into insurmountable trouble during their travels, usually over silly things like forgetting to pay for food. Silly things that Lucy had once kept in check for them before.

Happy's head bobbed in a short nod. "I miss her tons," he admitted with a little wobble in his voice. "What about you, Natsu? Do you miss Lucy, too?"

"Yeah, I do," Natsu said. He glanced at the sunset again-burning orange melting into sweet, candy pink and then into plum; those were the words she'd use to describe it, he was sure.

And suddenly, as if spurred by the thought of her, he was struck with the need to see her again. Though he'd always longed to see her during the past fourteen months, today that longing was overpowering. He....missed her. Missed her smile, her warm eyes, and that pretty pink blush of hers that never ceased to make men halt mid-stride and gawk with jaws unhinged.

Before that thought had a chance to sour, Natsu knelt in the grass and scooped up a small flower; a daisy. "She always liked these things," he said to himself, twiddling the stem between his calloused fingers.

There was a small pause then, in which Natsu sat on his haunches and blinked at the tiny daisy, and Happy watched the sky slowly darken.

"Hey, Natsu..." the exceed murmured after a while. "It's been a year and we've gotten a lot stronger... Shouldn't we head back soon?" Happy looked over his blue furry shoulder with wide, dark eyes that spoke of a heartfelt yearning for home and family.

The dragonslayer couldn't deny the yearning in his own heart as he rose to his feet. Rolling his shoulders, Natsu put on a hearty grin and said, "Yeah, we've been gone a while, huh? It's about time we headed back home."

"Aye, sir!" Happy exclaimed, his face brightening and his grin nearly splitting his cheeks. His wings ruffled as he floated higher and higher in his excitement. "Back home to Lucy!"

As the exceed darted forward, east towards the direction Magnolia lay, Natsu felt his own mouth tug up into a small smile. "Yeah," he murmured, glancing back down at the daisy he held so gingerly. "To Lucy."

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