You're Part of My Crew Now, Princess

A New Member On Board

Lucy woke up slowly, enjoying as the boat rocked slightly, as if coaxing her to stay asleep. She felt rather well rested as her eyes slowly opened. Natsu was lying beside her, in the same position she had laid him down in. He was still sleeping, though now his eyebrows were stitched together as he did so. Sometime along the way she had slid down and slept on her back beside him from her curled up spot on the bed. For a while, she enjoyed the calmness of the situation. There was no one screaming, no fires, no panic. Just quiet. Just Natsu sleeping away peacefully.

It was nice actually.

Natsu groaned, bringing Lucy out of her thoughts. She sat up and watched as his eyelids fluttered slightly, eventually opening a crack to squint at the ceiling.

Lucy was almost amused at how sleepy he looked, he had been drugged immensely though. It was reasonable if he was drowsy for a while after. He blinked over and over and licked his lips. Staring up at the ceiling. His eyes slid over to where she was sitting and stared at her. After a while, Lucy started to become uncomfortable under his gaze. He was obviously still not fully awake but it made her uncomfortable nonetheless. His lips were slightly parted as he stared right through her, blinking slowly. When he closed his eyes she had thought he had fallen asleep again, until he suddenly sat upright.

"W-whoa!" She squeaked, his eyes were fully open now.

He didn't seem to know where he was, he frantically looked around, his eyes scanning around her like she wasn't even there.

"Hey, Natsu! Hello?" She waved her hand in front of his face. Just a few moments ago he was staring at her, had he not seen her? That was a little offending.

"C-Conner?" were the first words he spoke, his voice rough and raspy but his eyes connected with hers now. It was enough to make her heart drop. They were wide and awake now, almost hopeful looking.

How much did he remember?

She shook her head sadly, it was all probably all still foggy to him. Lucy felt her bottom lip quiver slightly at the fact she had to retell him the news.

Then she saw Natsu do something she had never expected him to do. He drew his legs up to his chest and buried his head in his knees. Lucy was stunned by the almost vulnerable state he was showing.

"N-Natsu? Hey, are you alright?" She reached out, which wasn't a far distance because he was right beside her.

Her hand rested on his shoulder, she held it there for a while unsure of what to do exactly. She had hardly ever been comforted in her life, other than from her own mother. She wasn't exactly thinking that embracing Natsu at this time was really appropriate.

So she waited, for him to start when he needed to. It was weird seeing someone like Natsu look so...upset over something. Eventually, after a few minutes of silence, he turned his face so it was no longer buried in his knees, instead, it was facing her. His head still resting on his knees.

He looked sad, genuinely distraught.

"I couldn't save him..." was all he said. A small inflection at the end of his words made it sound like it had been a question. But the look in his eyes said he already knew.

Lucy stared at him, confusion shown on her face clearly.

"None of us could. None of us knew what was going on, if we did he would be fine. That's just not how it happened. It's not your fault at all and it's ridiculous to think it is. No one blames you, not even Conner would have. It's the doctor's fault and theirs alone." Lucy blurted, hoping somewhere along the way he would understand what she meant.

His eyes just drifted down to the bedding, it didn't seem like what she had said made much of a difference. It was downright preposterous to think it was Natsu's fault in any way.