Found & Forgotten

Chapter 31

The next day dawned bright and fresh, the sky a shade of swimming pool blue, and the small fluffy clouds reflecting the buttercup yellow of the sun. Birds chattered to themselves amongst the trees, the river burbled quietly, and Lucy hummed to herself as she walked along the bank towards the guild.

Natsu had stayed the night over at her house, unwilling to leave her alone after the events of the previous day - not that Lucy could blame him - and was walking alongside her, surreptitiously, or so he thought, keeping an eye out that she did not attempt to faint into the river as she had only a few days earlier.

It was strange, Lucy thought, how the time passed with the guild. She felt as though she'd been with Natsu and the others for weeks, but in reality it had only been 5 days since she'd woken up without her memories. Yet she wasn't exhausted, as she should have been, considering everything that had happened. Instead she felt alive, bursting with energy in a way she never had at the manor.

Face breaking out into a smile, Lucy hummed a little louder as she stepped off the embankment to make her way along the cobbled roads leading to the guild. As she did so, she linked her arm with Natsu's, marvelling at how familiar the action was. They hadn't spoken in any more detail about the kiss, or the ensuing conversation, but Lucy could sense that their relationship had shifted somehow. Natsu seemed less tense around her; his body, expression and entire manner seemed to relax into themselves a little, and he became more himself, if that was even possible.

Shaking her head slightly at her inner rambling, Lucy refocussed on the path in front of her. The cobblestones weren't always even, and goodness knows she'd had enough visits to the hospital recently without tripping and ending up back in A&E.

As Natsu pushed open the door to the guild, Lucy's jubilant mood did a 180. The air inside was so tense you could have cut it with a knife. On every face Lucy could see drawn lips, narrowed eyes, furrowed brows - even the air itself seemed danker, as if there were an invisible barrier preventing the sunlight from entering through the open windows. Lucy wrapped her arms around herself to prevent herself from shivering and followed closely behind Natsu, sitting a little closer to him that was strictly necessary. For warmth, she justified to herself, since the boy was like a walking furnace.

A few minutes later, Makarov walked into the room and stood on the bar, so that everyone could see him.

"Alright, brats, I'm sure you're all wondering why I've called you here this morning. I don't know how much you've heard - nothing in this guild remains a secret, after all! - but we have managed to track the location of Shin Uchu, the guild who have stolen the SunSphere.

"We have reason to believe that Shin Uchu are planning to launch a mass attack on not just Fiore, but the entire continent, perhaps even the entirety of Earthland. All this aside, it is also a personal matter for Fairy Tail, as they have attacked our own multiple times, and stolen from our guild.

"The counter attack will be launched beginning now. We will split into four teams. Team 1 will be offensive and will consist of Natsu, Happy, Gray, Erza and Lucy. Team 2 will also be offensive and will consist of Gajeel, Panther-Lily, Mirajane and Levy. The two teams will each take one of the new locations that Levy has pinpointed, and will be taking down any members of Shin Uchu they see, with the goal of recovering the SunSphere.

"Team 3 is reconnaissance. Laxus, Evergreen, Freed and Bickslow, you'll be heading to the area where Shin Uchu held Lucy and Levy, poke around and see what you can find: we may have missed something. Team 4 will be everyone else. We are going to remain at the guild to protect the building - I'm really fed up with rebuilding it every time we save the country from a dark guild - and as a base of communications.

"Erza, Mirajane and Laxus, you are in charge of your respective teams; get everyone sorted and ready to move out when I give the command. Warren, you're to be centre of communications, so I need you with me. Off you go, brats!"

As abruptly as Makarov had begun his monologue, he ended it, hopping off the bar and leaving the guild to organise themselves as instructed. Just as abruptly the guild was a bustle of movement. A black-haired man, whom Lucy assumed was Warren, threaded through the crowd to talk to the Master. Laxus and the Thunder God Tribe were gathered around a table in the corner, as were Gajeel, Lily, Mira and Levy; all were ignoring the general bustle that was now resounding round the room, a complete contrast to the atmosphere they'd walked into.

"..ucy! Lucy!" she blinked and turned to Natsu, who was called her name, rather loudly.

"Hai, Natsu?" she asked.

"Come on, Luce, we need to go meet up with Erza, Happy and ice princess," Natsu tugged on her arm, trying to get her to move. "We need to find out where we're going!"

Lucy allowed herself to be tugged over to where the others were already sat round a table with a map in front of them, discussing what possible plans Shin Uchu might have.

"...open, so we'll be to see them coming from a long way off," Erza was saying, pointing at a spot on the map.

"But here we'll have the high ground advantage," Gray argued, pointed at a spot a little to the right. "Not to mention they won't be able to attack from behind because of how the cliffs are shaped."

"They would easily be able to corner us there," Erza pointed out. "We'd have nowhere to run."

"What are you talking about?" Natsu cut in. "We're Fairy Tail; we don't run!"

"We need to be able to retreat safely if their numbers overwhelm us, Natsu," Erza pointed out. "Not," she hurriedly continued, seeing him about to protest, "to give up on the fight, just to regroup and talk tactics. We'll have a better chance at eliminating them if we know how we're going to fight."

Natsu had to admit she had a point. "Though it'll end up going wrong anyway, no matter how well we plan it," he muttered stubbornly.

Lucy, on the other hand, had slightly different concerns. "I don't think I should come with you guys," she told them. "I'm still recovering from hospital, and I don't really think I'll be much help to you whilst I'm in this state. I don't think I'd even be able to summon a silver spirit for long."

"Nonsense, Lucy," Erza shut her down. "You're far stronger than you think; you'll be more than capable of holding your own. Besides," she added briskly, "we need you there to control the golden keys. We're going to the area that the Master believes is more likely to be where Shin Uchu is, and you're the only one in the guild with the power to even try to stop the kasai jozai ritual."

Lucy opened her mouth to protest further, but shut it again after a few moments, unable to find a strong enough reason for her to stay behind. Natsu, noticing her unease, squeezed her hand softly. She sent him a small smile, and then realised Erza was still speaking.

"...meet back here in half an hour," Erza was saying. "That should be enough time for everyone to prepare to fight."

Ohaiyo minna-san!

 So, finally, finally, I'm back with an update for this story! I realise it's been over a year since I last updated, and for that I can only apologise, but I do come bearing good news! This story is now fully written! Yes, I have every single remaining chapter waiting in draft form to post! XD

I'm planning to post one chapter a day over the next few days, in order to avoid ridiculous amounts of spam. Thank you so much to everyone who has stuck with me over this year long gap in updates, and I hope these final chapters make up for it!

Have a lovely day!

~AA