The Princess and the Commoner

Chapter 11: Zeref

The stream of fire shot toward Lucy, but before it could hit her a wall of ice formed in front of her. Lucy looked over to Gray who was now standing and running at Natsu. Natsu looked over at Gray but reacted too late...his feet and arms were frozen to the ground and Lucy ran for her key. Natsu pulled and struggled as he tried breaking the ice but he couldn't break it, 

"I want you to return to normal Natsu. Please, come back..." Lucy took her golden key and tried scratching where Natsu's arm was, but she just poked the ground. Lucy looked around in confusion. Natsu was gone...and so was Erza. Lucy frantically looked around for anybody that ran off. But there was nobody. 

"They vanished..." Happy looked at Lucy and started crying, 

"Natsu..." Happy extended his wings and flew in a random direction. 

"Gajeel? Do you smell them?" Gajeel sniffed the air and looked where Happy flew off. He grinned and pointed, 

"Salamander's cat has a good nose. They're this way." Everyone ran and followed Gajeel through the forest towards Natsu and Erza. Wendy ran ahead with Romeo right on her tail, they got to a clearing and they looked around frantically. Wendy scanned the area, then she saw blue, red, and pink behind a bush. Romeo spotted it too and ran towards it. The two mages looked around the bush and saw Natsu, Erza, and Happy unconscious on the ground, 

"Guys? Are you ok?" Natsu looked like he was back to normal and he wasn't putting off heat anymore. Wendy set her hand on Happy's head. He had a fever and so did Natsu and Erza, 

"What happened to you three?" Suddenly, Lucy burst through the bush, and when she caught sight of her friends on the ground, she quickly sat down and looked at Wendy and Romeo, 

"What happened to them?" Wendy shrugged helplessly and Romeo gestured to them, 

"They were like this when we got here. It's strange that Happy's down too though because we were with him a second ago." Lucy nodded and looked at Erza who was now stirring, 

"Erza?" Erza looked up at Lucy then down to Natsu. She rolled him over and scanned his face. After an inspection, she sighed in relief, 

"Are you ok Erza?" Erza looked at Juvia and smiled lightly, 

"Yeah, I think so. But it's good to see you again Juvia." Juvia nodded and smiled,

"It's good to see you too Erza. And I'm glad that you're ok." Erza nodded and looked over at Natsu. She placed her hand on his head and looked at the ground, 

"But Natsu..." Suddenly, Natsu sat up and quickly looked around in panic. He looked at the faces of the people before him and calmed down a bit, 

"What's going on?" Happy woke up and looked around with groggy eyes. He groaned slightly and rubbed his eyes then looked at Natsu. His eyes widened and tears came to his eyes, 

"Natsu!" Natsu grinned and hugged Happy to his chest, 

"Hey buddy." Lucy smiled and looked at Natsu and Happy, 

"Are you ok Natsu?" Natsu looked up at Lucy and grinned, 

"Yeah, I'm fine Luce." Lucy slightly flinched. That is what Natsu used to call her when they were kids. Lucy slightly frowned and looked Natsu in the eyes, 

"Do you remember me Natsu?" Natsu smiled a toothy grin, 

"Sure do. Zeref returned my memories." Lucy's eyes widened in shock and she smiled with tears in her eyes, 

"I'm so glad..." Lucy threw herself at Natsu and hugged him tightly. And he hugged her just as close. Lucy smiled and pulled away from Natsu, 

"How was Zeref able to return your memories? He told me that they were lost and that they were gone forever." Natsu shrugged, 

"No idea but I have them now right?" Lucy smiled and nodded. Then all of the mages walked back to Fairy Tail with Romeo helping Natsu, Lucy helping Erza, and Juvia helping Gray. Wendy was also carrying Happy and Carla. They talked and joked the whole way there, and soon, it was night and they had to stop so that they could rest for the night. Romeo, Lucy and Juvia helped set up the camp and laid out the sleeping bags. Natsu slowly walked to one of the sleeping bags and collapsed on top of it, he was asleep in seconds. Gray laughed, 

"I guess Natsu's pretty tired after what happened today." Lucy nodded in agreement and looked at Natsu, 

"I know we saved you Erza and Natsu, but..." Lucy looked up at Gray with a worried face, "I have a bad feeling. Like something bad is going to happen." Gray scooted to Lucy and put his mouth to her ear, 

"Don't worry, you're not the only one. I have a bad feeling too." Gray pulled away from Lucy and looked her in the eyes, "But there's nothing we can do about it. We just have to wait and see what happens." Lucy nodded and looked down at her hands, 

"I hope that this isn't happening because of me..." Gray put his hand on Lucy's shoulder and smiled, 

"Don't worry. This would have happened with or without you." Lucy smiled and looked up at the starry sky, 

"You're right."