Found & Forgotten

Chapter 13

It had been a few days since Lucy's operation, and she was finally being allowed out of the hospital. Natsu, who had only returned to his home to wash and put on fresh clothes when Mirajane came and forced him to, was again back at the hospital, waiting for Lucy to come out.

Lucy was finished pulling on her own clothes, which consisted of a short skirt and tank top. She still wasn't sure whether she liked this new style that she'd come up with in the time she'd forgotten about. Now, she just wanted to return to the Heartfilia Mansion and put on one of her full length dresses.

Sighing over the years she'd lost, she shouldered her duffle bag and pushed open the door to her room at the hospital.

"Ohayo!" Came a cheery greeting.

Lucy looked around. "Natsu-san," she replied.

Natsu frowned. "Just Natsu."

"Hai. Gomenasai." Lucy blushed. How many times would he have to remind her before she remembered to drop the honorific from his name?

"Here, let me take that." Natsu said, reaching for her bag.

Lucy handed it to him, knowing he would take it off of her anyway, and feeling quite grateful for the help, as her head still throbbed a little from her operation.

"Arigato," she told him.

"No problem," Natsu grinned. "Come on," he added, grabbed her hand and pulling her gently towards the reception area, "Happy's waiting for us!"

Lucy, still blushing as she looked at their linked hands, didn't reply, but gave herself a stern talking to instead. You don't know this boy, she reminded herself, he's practically a stranger! But some logical part of her mind reminded her that she had known Natsu for a lot longer than she could remember, and that this was completely normal.

"Natsu-san," Lucy started as they left the hospital having signed Lucy out, "can we go to my house?"

"Your apartment?" Natsu said, confused.

"We've already taken you there, Lucy." Happy, floating by their heads, pointed out.

"No, I mean the Heartfilia Mansion." Lucy corrected them.

"Why do you want to go there?" Natsu was even more confused now.

"Last time you went there everyone was sad." Happy remembered, his smile drooping a little.

"Oh. Why?" Lucy asked, perplexed.

"It's kind of a long story..." Natsu said.

"Well, why don't you tell me on the way there?" Lucy suggested.

"That might be a problem for Natsu." Happy said, sniggering.

Lucy scrunched her nose in confusion. "What do you mean?"

"I get travel sick. Side effect of being a Dragon Slayer." Natsu explained.

"Oh. Did you not want to go then?" Lucy asked.

"No, no, you want to go, so I'll take you," Natsu said. "See, we're at the train station now."

Lucy smiled widely at him, unable to express her gratitude that Natsu would take her, despite that fact that he obviously didn't want her to go and that he got travel sick.

"You don't know what you're letting yourself in for." Happy warned as Natsu went to buy tickets.

Half an hour later, Lucy was sat opposite Happy on the train heading towards the Heartfilia Mansion, with Natsu's head resting on her lap.