A Star Removed from the Sky

Brief Reunion

Lucy's smile fell and her heart rate picked up, bringing with it pain worse than she'd suffered through in months. Her knees began to wobble, and she almost fell over trying to breathe. "What does he mean who am I? He can see me and talk to me again... but he's still out of my reach?" She thought to herself as pain rushed through her heart like acid in her bloodstream.

"Woah are you okay?" Jamie bolted up from her seat and stood next to Lucy so she could lean against her. Natsu looked at Lucy with confliction in his eyes, as though he couldn't see her well enough to register her as a person. Happy rolled over in his blankets, revealing his face as he mumbled in his sleep.

Lucy's heart clenched as a tear slipped down her cheek. "Happy..."

Natsu moved the blanket back onto Happy before asking, "You know Happy too?"

"Of course I do... better than anyone knows." Lucy leaned against Jamie more as the pain grew.

Antonio was about to burst from all the tension. "Just remember her already! Your beloved is here in front of you, break the curse keeping the two of you apart and mend Lucy's broken heart!" Antonio tried to project his thoughts to Natsu through facial expressions and a sparkle in his eyes. His efforts were answered with Natsu raising an eyebrow at him, clearly not understanding what was going on.

"Um... so you're another member of Stellar Luna? Are you one of the two that no one's seen before?" Natsu asked curiously, not understanding at all why this woman was crying or why her friends were all looking at him as though he was missing something big.

Lucy couldn't speak. If she opened her mouth, she was going to start sobbing like a fool. But if she just left, she wouldn't be able to figure out how the curse had changed. There was obviously something new to this; he could see her, he could hear her, but he couldn't recognize her. That meant the caster of the spell was watching and had messed up. They let Natsu and Lucy get close enough together that he couldn't pretend she didn't exist anymore. The caster wasn't perfect, and what this meant was that she still had a chance to get her life back.

But it hurt to be so close to Natsu again. She could feel his warmth from where she stood. His hair was a little longer, he was still in his usual clothes, but the blanket he had Happy sleeping in was new. She wanted to jump into his arms and hide from all her worries, but for now... Lucy pushed all her pain aside and turned her anger towards the curse into strength. She leaned away from Jamie and put on a smile, wiping the tear from her cheek. Jamie looked surprised, and also like she was going to punch Natsu across the room.

"You could say that. The other member is sleeping and so is our master. We all prefer to stay here and learn while these three here go out and handle the missions. I'm surprised you know so much about our guild, we're not exactly Fairy Tail or anything." Lucy's voice cracked saying Fairy Tail, but she was baiting Natsu for information. She didn't have long before she was either going to jump into his arms or collapse on the floor.

"Hey I'm in Fairy Tail! I love my guild, we're here to keep up our reputation as the best in Fiore!" Natsu exclaimed, before lowering his voice when Happy almost woke up. "Actually, I didn't know much about your guild until today. I heard you guys were competing in the Games, so I asked around a bit. The mystery of the two members is popular with the citizens."

Lucy couldn't stand it anymore. She walked to the booth and sat across from Natsu, where Jamie had been sitting. Jess scooted over as much as possible, squeezing Antonio against the wall. Lucy spoke, "It's an honor to be spoken of so much. So, what brings you here with my guildmates? They're usually not so trusting; you never can tell what kind of a person someone is."

"I can tell when people are good or bad. You guys are good. I was walking with my friend Happy to set up our tent for the night when your friends invited me in to talk about guilds. They're all very nice people, I want to be friends." Natsu kept an eye on Happy to make sure he was staying asleep.