Found & Forgotten

Chapter 1

Some time later, Lucy pulled back, wiping at her eyes and sniffling slightly.

"Sorry." she said, looking away.

"It's fine." Natsu mumbled. "I don't mind. And I probably should have told you better. I'm not very good at feelings and stuff." He ruffled his hair nervously.

"No, it's OK." Lucy reassured him. "It's just a shock, that's all." She smiled weakly at him.

"Is that all you wanted to know?" Natsu asked her.

"Well, I think so, except..." Lucy trailed off.

"Except?" Natsu prompted.

"Well, um, how did I manage to hit my head?" she asked, biting her lip slightly like she always did when she was trying to figure something out.

"We were attacked on the way back from a job. You fell from quite a height and hit your head on a rock. Gray and I couldn't catch you." Natsu clenched his fist. "I couldn't reach you in time. I'm so sorry, Lucy. I promised to protect you and I didn't. I've failed as your nakama."

"Hey, hey," Lucy soothed him, unclenching his fist. "I don't blame you. Consider the promise unbroken."

"Thanks, Luce," Natsu muttered, half-smiling at her.

"Luce?" she questioned, surprised.

"Oh, sorry - do you not want me to call you that? It's just that it's what I've called you since...since-" Natsu broke off, unwilling to finish the sentence.

"No, no, you can call me that." Lucy said hurriedly. "It's just, no one has ever called me that before, that's all. It caught me off-guard. Luce." She tried out. "I like it." She grinned at Natsu.

"There's the Lucy I know." he grinned back.

Lucy caught his eye and they stared at each other for a moment. Unsettled by the emotions she saw clearly displayed in his eyes, she blushed and looked away. Natsu frowned slightly - had he done something wrong?

"So, um," Lucy started, pushing a lock of her blonde hair behind her ear. "Do you know where my keys are?"

"Oh, um, here." Natsu fished the brown leather pouch containing Lucy's keys out of his pocket.

"Wait, there are too many keys here!" Lucy exclaimed. "There are 15 here! And ten golden keys! That's not right!"

Natsu chuckled. "You've expanded your collection, Luce."

After a few seconds spent recovering from her initial shock, Lucy joined him in laughing at her freak out. Then they both looked up as the door opened with a bang, Natsu quickly jerking back down to his original position at the end of Lucy's bed.

The newcomer raised an eyebrow at him. Natsu just shrugged.

"Get out, Dragneel. You've been hogging her for too long now." The bluenette's wink took the harshness out of her words.

Reluctantly, Natsu left the infirmary. Lucy felt a strange pang and half considered telling him to stay, before coming back to her senses and facing the newcomer.

"Uh...hi?" Lucy said nervously.

Konichiwa, minna-san!

Happy Christmas! (Or holiday, if you don't celebrate Christmas!) I hope you've all had a great day and that you all got exactly the presents you wanted from Father Christmas! And before anyone complains, I'm English therefore Father Christmas and not Santa Claus. Although I do use both :3

Anyway, I've rambled a little here. I meant to explain that this was like my Christmas present for my grand total of 0 followers...so I guess it's more of a Christmas present to me. No matter. I'll persevere with this and hopefully meet some really great people in the process :D

Whether you follow me or not, please comment! I promise to reply to everyone! Also, if you like, check out my deviantArt account. I've put the link on my profile.

Oh yeah, I meant to put this first. If you're reading this, I assume you know a little Japanese, like I do, picked up from watching anime, but in case you don't, here's a little guide of the stuff I'll use most often:

hai - yes, yep, yeah (and any variation, really)

konichiwa - hello

sayonara - goodbye

gomensai - sorry

arigato - thank you, thanks

minna - everyone

I'll put a little explanation of the main honorifics used as I understand them in the next chapter's author's note.

This has gone on far too long (gomenasai!) so sayonara, minna-san. Enjoy your Christmas/holidays!!