Fairy Tail: Journeyman

Chapter 9: Belief

"Lucy... come on Lucy, you gotta wake up!" I groaned, lifting a hand to my pounding head. Slowly I let my eyes flutter open.

Through blurry vision I could see a distinct set of brimstone eyes and pink hair. "That's it! Come on!"

"Natsu?" Slowly, I forced myself into a sitting position. "What's going on?"

He smiled brightly at me. "Thank God! You passed out, I think you might've hit your head pretty hard. Come on, let's get you to a hospital."

I felt as his arms wrapped around me, preparing to lift me and carry my full weight.

"But your fight!" I shifted quickly away from him, hoping that the movement would deter him from actually lifting me. The sudden jolt however further enumerated my headache. I let out a whimper as I pressed my palm to my forehead.

His expression hardened. "I don't care about that. Come on."

With no room for further objection, he proceeded to lift me from the risers and towards the main entrance.

I saw as everyone in the gym watched the spectacle, their mouths open in shock, and whispers of gossip pervading the air. My cheeks flushed.

The sunlight made me wince as we exited the building, my head taking a second to adjust to the dramatic change.

Overall, the trip to the clinic didn't take more than an hour or so. Porlyusica took a light, flashing it directly in my eyes causing me to wince and look away.

"You have a concussion alright." She sounded almost exasperated with me.

"Here take this." The old woman handed me a small orange pill bottle. "You can take one of these every four hours for that headache. Otherwise, all I can do is prescribe rest."

Natsu stood next to me as I sat on the examination table. She looked at him directly. "You will be required to watch her for the next 24 hours to make sure her symptoms don't worsen and that sleeping patterns aren't irregular."

I flailed my arms out in front of me weakly. "Wait, no I'm sure he's much too busy to-"

"Got it." Natsu cut me off, his arms crossed in front of his body.

I blinked at him. He stared straight ahead at the pink haired healer. Not a single ounce of hesitation in him.

"Natsu..." the word leaked out from my surprise.

"And don't you dare even think about going to work." Porlyusica directed the command towards me as she shuffled things in her desk, her white coat falling slightly in front of her.

I sighed. "Yes ma'am."

"Now go home and rest. I have a lot to do."

With the support of Natsu's arm, I slid off the table and stumbled out of the office.

I was grateful that the town was small and my apartment relatively nearby, as I had very little energy remaining by the time we reached my apartment door.

Walking in, we were both greeted with the familiar meow of our favorite blue cat.

"Hey there Happy!" Natsu picked up the cat excitedly, immediately petting his fur.

I smiled weakly before sighing. "I guess make yourself at home. I'm gonna go take a bath."

The warm water was exactly what I needed, but I couldn't help but play the days events over and over in my head.

I stared at my reflection in the water half expecting a blue haired, blue eyed goddess to be staring back at me.

The hallucinations were getting so much worse. So bad that I passed out and gave myself a concussion.

I groaned.

What was I supposed to do?

Slowly, so as not to aggravate my head any further, I got out of the tub. The medication was helping, but the migraine was still present, showing itself in dull aches and sensitivity to light and sudden movement.

When I got out of the bathroom, I saw Natsu sprawled out on the couch with Happy, his chest rising and falling slowly with the call of sleep. The voices on the T.V spoke softly as the drama played out.

So much for watching me, huh?

I went over to the T.V and switched it off. Sighing, I pressed my hand to my head again.

"What's wrong?" With a slight gasp I looked over at Natsu, now very much awake. I hadn't realized he was such a light sleeper.

"Oh, nothing." I laughed offering up a small smile.

"No... really." His eyes were serious, searching me for answers. "What's wrong?"

I bit my lip.

"I don't think you'd believe me if I told you." I mean, I don't even believe me.

"Try me." He stood up from the couch walking closer to me, the moonlight from the window casting small shadows along his frame, sturdy and sure.

I looked deeply into his eyes, illuminated by the window and some strange inner fire. I don't know if it was the concussion, or the pain pills, or even a combination of both. But looking up at him I had no more energy to pretend.

"I'm...I'm seeing things." I fidgeted nervously.

His eyes looked on with concern. "Since the concussion? Did you tell the doc?"

I shook my head. "No... before that. I've been... hallucinating."

I clenched my fist, my nails digging into the skin of my palm.

"In the gym... that's why I passed out" I swallowed, afraid to admit the feelings I had kept buried. "It's like they are flashes of memories, or maybe dreams, of people and things that don't exist." My lip tremored. "But the really crazy thing..." I chuckled slightly bringing my palm to my forehead as tears stung the corners of my eyes. "Is I think that they should. Or maybe I just want them to so bad that I'm confusing myself."

I laughed at my pain, trying to stop the tears from coming.

"It all feels like... home. Like it's calling out to me from some unknown void." I shut my eyes. I was being ridiculous. "I know it's crazy. I know I'm crazy but-"

I stopped, my eyes shooting open as I felt warm hands wrap around me. One wrapping itself around my waist and pulling me into his chest where the other rested softly on the top of my head.

"You're not." His chest rose and fell as my head pressed against his ribs. "You're not crazy. I believe you."

My breath halted.

"You do?"

I felt as the warmth dripped down the outline of my jaw.

"Of course." His words were low and soothing.

As I sat there, wrapped in his arms and weeping, it felt as if the world had stopped. For a moment, there was no judgement. No hesitation. No conditions or complications. Just shear unadulterated faith. And I realized, it's always easy to tell yourself you're crazy. It's harder to believe.