The Memory of You (Fairy Tail / Nalu)

Chapter Six: Back Home

Oops XP I should've updated yesterday, but I kept delaying it and ended up with no time to do it... So here!

The pic is sad but also relevant - and cute.

Hope you like it!!

"You mean to tell us, that Lucy was taken by a shadowy figure while you guys were on a mission to free a town from an epidemic?" said the master.

"That's what happened," affirmed Erza. The group had arrived in Magnolia a few hours ago, and had explained the entire story to the guild several times over, because somehow there was always someone who hadn't heard or understood. Natsu was pretty sure that if he had to explain one more time how Lucy was kidnapped right under his nose, he might blow the building.

Makarov sat back and stroked his chin. "And you have no idea who it was or where they took her?"

"No, Master," said Erza patiently.

"So they took Lucy... and you couldn't stop him, Natsu?"

Natsu gritted his teeth and refused to look at Cana. She had been one of the first to hear it, but she would not let go of the fact that Natsu hadn't beat the crap out of the kidnapper when he tried to take Lucy.

"Shut it, Cana," snapped Gray. Natsu glanced up at him in surprise, but he couldn't tell what the ice-make wizard was doing. There was that same knowing look in his eye that Natsu had seen in Wendy's and Carla's the previous day. It unnerved him slightly.

"What are we waiting for?" shouted Elfman. "They took Lucy, so we have to go get her back! It's what a man would do!"

"That is the obvious move," said Makarov, "but it is made quite difficult by the fact that we have no idea where or who the kidnappers are. We could be committing suicide by charging in unprepared."

"There's no better way to do it!" Natsu snarled, clenching his fist in front of his face, sending a small puff of fire out of either side. "We can deal with anything that comes our way! We'll get Lucy back for sure!"

"But we still don't know where they are," said Mirajane.

"Then I'll hunt 'em down myself!" Natsu screamed, getting so fired up that a few of the people around him had to pin him down. "Hey! Let me go!"

Makarov sighed heavily. "I'm very sorry to say this... but until we get more information, there is nothing we can do. We will have to send another team to deal with the epidemic and search the surrounding areas while everyone else tries to find any information on anyone who might want celestial wizards."

"We can go to the town," suggested Lisanna, her siblings nodding along.

Natsu growled, standing as he was released. "I wanna go, too! I have to get that guy back for what he did to me and Luce!"

"That isn't a good idea," said Gray. "Those guys said they were after 'the guy,' and that could be either of us. If we go back, we could be captured ourselves."

"I don't care! I wanna help! Ack-"

Before another word came out of his mouth, the master dropped his massive fist on him. "That's quite enough out of you! We do not have enough information to hunt them down!"

"Oh, c'mon! That's not fair! I'm the victim here!"

"We are all the victim! A member of our family has been taken away from us, to a place that we cannot find, by people we do not know! We all want to help her, but there is no way to! I'm sorry, Natsu, but we just can't help Lucy right now. You will have to wait."

Natsu scowled, but didn't say anything.

~❤~

"This is stupid," he muttered later, kicking the ground. He and Happy were wandering through Magnolia on their way home, but he wanted to be going anywhere but. He wanted to be blowing down the door of whoever took Lucy from him.

"If you think about it, the master's right," said Happy. "We don't even know where they are, or we'd go."

Natsu growled. He knew that very well, and it infuriated him even more. "I just want to be doing something to help. He could be doing anything to Lucy, and if we don't get there in time..."

Images flashed through his mind: Lucy suspended in a tank of fluid; her limp body hanging in Natsu's arms; her still chest. His steps faltered as he remembered his dream. He tipped his head to the sky, where the sun was setting. In a few hours, the stars would be out. He had gained an entirely new appreciation of stars since he met Lucy. He exhaled through his nose and dropped his gaze to his feet. He missed her, more than he would care to admit.

"Something wrong?"

"No. No, it's fine." He started walking again, ignoring Happy's concerned stare. "Let's just get home."

"Okay. By the way, how's your head?"

"Eh? It's fine, Wendy got it all healed up. Don't worry about it, buddy."

"Aye."

~❤~

Late that night, Natsu sat up abruptly. He couldn't sleep at all. He glanced at Happy, who was out cold in his bed. Shaking his head quickly, knowing what he was doing was crazy but he would regret it if he didn't, he leapt out of bed and began to pack his backpack, trying not to wake the Exceed but also not really trying to be quiet. He opened the door and heard behind him, "Unh? Natsu? Where're you going?"

The dragon slayer didn't turn around. "I'm going to get Lucy back. Are you coming?"

"Wha? By yourself?"

"No one else will go and I'm not letting her stay there by herself. Now, are you coming?"

"You're serious..." Happy breathed. Natsu turned his head just enough to see his friend, who shook his head roughly and grinned. "Aye, I'm coming!"

Natsu gave his signature smirk, and the two rushed outside. Happy grabbed Natsu's backpack in his paws and lifted into the air. "Where are we going?"

"Back to the town. If we keep exploring those mountains, I'm sure we'll find something."

"Aye!"

Natsu didn't even leave a note.

~❤~

At the guild, in the morning

"He didn't."

Erza sighed heavily and shrugged. "Where else would he have gone? We knew we couldn't hold him back, but we didn't think he'd go alone."

"That idiot's just going to get himself into trouble," said Gray irritably. "He'll either find them and get himself captured, or come back in a few days with no lead whatsoever."

"That brat!" Makarov roared. "What does he think he's doing?! There's no way he can do this on his own, he got beaten once and he thinks he'll win this time?! Is he stupid?!"

Gray and Erza looked at each other sidelong and decided not to answer that question. Wendy and Carla glanced at each other with tiny smiles.

The master exhaled slowly. "Well, I suppose there's no other choice. We'll have to leave it to him.

"Godspeed, Natsu. Bring Lucy back to us safely."

I did it.

Okayy, so what'd you think? I saw how outraged you were with Lucy's capture so I hope you feel better with Natsu en route to finding her! And I hope you liked the subtle bits of Nalu!! XP

See you next week, hopefully on time!

Bye!!