Found & Forgotten

Chapter 17

Natsu stared at Lucy for a minute or two in what could only be described as utter bewilderment. He had seen Lucy in formal dresses before, sure, for jobs, dances and other such similar situations. But those dresses had always had something distinctly Lucy about them. This one did not. And Natsu was certain that that was the reason why he was currently unable to form a coherent sentence.

The dress itself was made of white and light blue fabrics. The bodice was fitted exactly to Lucy's curves, decorated with frills and ribbons that seemed most unlike her. From the hips down the dress flowed outwards. The main skirt was white, decorated with blue lace, and a blue wrap around thing. It looked kind of old fashioned.

Moving his eyes back up to Lucy's face, he saw she was blushing, which was also most unlike his Lucy, who was almost never embarrassed. Her hair, at least, was unchanged, still tied up in it's typical side ponytail.

"It's vintage," Lucy explained quietly. "It was my mother's. She was wearing this when my father proposed."

Natsu's throat suddenly went dry for no real reason. He could feel his own cheeks heating up slightly, which was no mean feat for a fire dragon slayer. Happy, noticing this, immediately employed his refined teasing skills by turning to Lucy with a grin on his face.

"He llllllikes you!" He told her triumphantly.

Lucy flushed a deeper shade of red, which was only accentuated by the subtle shades she was wearing.

"Baka cat!" She muttered, but her show of not being affected was ruined as she pointedly kept her gaze off Natsu.

"Hey, Luce," Natsu said.

"Hai?" She turned to him.

"I think..." Natsu muttered very quietly, which was out of character for him.

Happy, who was actually quite capable of reading the mood, but just took delight in spoiling the moment, sensed that this was a time when Natsu and Lucy needed to be left in relative privacy. Of course, he couldn't leave them completely alone, otherwise who would protect them if evil struck? So, like the good friend he was, Happy went to stand guard a little way off, partially hidden by a dress rack, the perfect spot for spying on the pair.

Meanwhile, Lucy tilted her head as Natsu's blush became visible.

"Gomen, I didn't catch that," she told him. "Could you repeat it?"

Natsu looked her in the eyes. "Beautiful." He stated.

Relieved that the statement was something that simple, Lucy chuckled a bit.

"I know," she replied. "I've always loved this dress. I've been saving it for a special occasion."

"I wasn't talking about the dress, Luce." Natsu interjected when Lucy stopped her rambling to take a breath.

"What do you mean?" Lucy asked sharply, caught off guard again by the nickname and startled into taking a step back by Natsu's sudden intensity.

"I mean-" Natsu was cut off as a buzzing noise filled the air.

Reaching into his pocket, he pulled out a small portable communications lachryma and glancing cursorily at the display.

"Dammit. They have the worst timing." He closed his eyes and took a deep breath. "Lucy, we have to get back to Magnolia as soon as we can. Did you need to pack anything?"

Lucy, sensing not to argue or protest, grabbed a selection of dresses and books and a few other bits and pieces, hastily shoving them into a bag. Natsu, without a word, took the bag from her and swung it onto his shoulder.

"Right, let's go." He said and strode purposefully downstairs.

"Gomenasai, Akira-san," Lucy apologised to the bewildered man. "Something really important has come up. Arigato for letting us invade y- the house." Try as she might, Lucy could not think of the house as belonging to Akira.

Natsu, noticing this, concealed a smile.

"It is not a problem, Lucy-san, Dragneel-san," Akira replied bowing. "You are welcome to return at any time, I do not wish to keep you from places that are important to you."

"Arigato! Matta ne! Arigato!" Lucy repeated, bowing back, before running after Natsu and Happy.

"You're planning on going back, then?" Natsu asked, a little curtly.

Lucy peered at him, confused at his tone. "Of course. I'd still like to visit my mother and father, and I think Akira-san will make a good friend."

Natsu hmphed a bit, but didn't reply.

"Where are we going?" Lucy asked, lengthening her stride in an attempt to keep up without having to resort to trotting through the streets.

"Back to the Guild. Something important has come up." Natsu explained. "I don't know what, exactly," he added, cutting off her next question.

"Oh, right," Lucy nodded. "And why is it that they have the worst timing?"

Natsu had the impertinence to look confused.

"Upstairs, when you got the call, you said they had the worst timing." Lucy reminded him. "We were just getting clothes. Weren't we?"

She left the implications of that sentence open to interpretation as to what Natsu would answer about. Personally, Lucy wanted him to explain about his beautiful comment. She knew where he had been going with it, she wasn't stupid, but she wanted him to say it. Once she knew if he really was interested, she would proceed from there.

"I don't know what you're talking about, Luce." Natsu replied. "What were we doing if we weren't getting clothes?"

"Aye!" Happy agreed cheerily.

"Oh, of course, how silly of me to suggest anything else." Lucy replied, narrowing her eyes slightly at Natsu.

"It's OK, Luce, I'll stick around even if you're silly." Natsu grinned down at her.

"Damn you..." Lucy muttered under her breath, as the combined effect of the nickname and grin sent a shiver down her spine and caused her cheeks to flush. She blamed her shortness of breath on the fact that she'd just been running to catch him up.

Natsu only grinned wider as he heard Lucy's muttered curse. It looked like no matter how many of her memories Lucy lost, she still felt the same way about him as she had before the accident.

Ohaiyo minna-san!

Mostly Nalu fluff this chapter. Some sarcasm from Happy that was not very well written. A picture of a beautiful vintage dress at the top of the chapter (it's the one Lucy is wearing, because I didn't do it justice in the description). An urgent call back to the guild.

So, what do you think the call is about? Good news or bad news? Also, what do you guys think about Akira-san (or Suzuki-san, as Natsu calls him)? I know what I intended to portray with their attitudes towards him, but I don't know how well I succeeded...

Anyways, have a great time reading and please leave a COMMENT so that I know what you thought of the chapter!

Matta ne minna-san!

AA

EDIT: the picture at the top is now a drawing I did of Lucy wearing the dress (don't worry, the original dress is to the side, along with the pic of Lucy I used, as a reference), so that you can hopefully imagine her in it better :3