Hello, minna! ♥
The final is super long, oops... hehe, but I hope you like! ^^
I don't really have much more to say, so...
ENJOY THE LAST CHAPTER!
//тнeвιѕcυιтqυeen♥
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Magnolia came crawling in the horizon, growing in the distance. The group was walking down the the road, looking at the bright city, cheerful as ever. Lucy was still sleeping, now on Natsu's back. The exceeds had regained their energy on the train, so they were good to fly. Wendy walked just under the exceeds, jumping lightly on her feet as she took a step. Erza was pulling her cart with luggage and Gray and Juvia walked side by side - hand in hand. Gajeel carried Levy on his back too, though she had protested at first. She had afterwards fallen asleep on his back, just like Lucy had on Natsu's.
Though they all had high spirits and had smiles plastered on their faces, their injuries weren't mild and their clothes were tattered. But it didn't matter, they were home.
Erza smiled by the sight of her friends. They were all lovey dovey, and that would give Erza the perfect opportunity to tease them. She was just happy to bring them all home - all close to be in one piece. They only had one problem to worry about. Lucy's memories. Erza frowned of the thought of Lucy not being able regain her memories.
"Erza-san," Wendy said, slowing down so she could walk besides Erza. "Are you okay?"
Erza the closed her eyes and smiled. "Hai," she replied, looking up again. "I'm just happy to be home. I bet you're exited to go home to. To see Romeo, or what?" She teasingly elbowed the blushing Wendy in the side. Afterwards, she looked up from Wendy, enjoying the sight of the town.
"Ah, I can't wait to come home," she exclaimed, making the others smirk, showing that they agreed. "I miss everybody."
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"Ah, Team Natsu plus three!" Master Makarov exclaimed as the team entered the guild. Everybody was in a great mood, seeing the strongest team enter the guild once again - with Lucy safe. "I see. The mission was a victory, yes?"
"Hai," Gray replied, stripping down, making his teammates sweatdrop. "But unfortunately, Zeref got away. He's still out there, but I doubt he'll go after Lucy again." Erza had told the whole story to the guild. About Zeref's involving, about the machine and Lucy's "death" and about what Elimar had done to Lucy's memories. The others had gasped and looked shocked, but seeing Lucy being alright - or close to that.
Makarov cleared his throat, turning the attention to him. "Get Lucy to infirmary, please," he commanded, pointing at the infirmary door. "She needs all the rest she can get. I looks like she's been through a lot." Natsu nodded, and walked into the infirmary, Lucy still sleeping on his back. The others followed carefully behind him.
Makarov and Mira watched as they entered the infirmary, both happy and worried.
"I'm glad they are finally home," Mira noted, looking down at Makarov, who sat on the counter of the bar. "But... after what that Elimar guy did to Lucy's memories... how will we ever get them back?"
Makarov chuckled, which made Mira send him a puzzled look. "As soon as Levy showed me that piece of paper, I knew what it said." he muttered, a little smirk plastering his face.
"M-Master, you do?" Mira whispered, folding her hands, sending a dreamy look to him.
"Hai, but..." he said, looking up at her, grinning sneaky. "I want them to figure it out themselves." Mira had given up understanding his logic, so she just tilted her head.
"But what does it say, master? Which language is it in?"
Makarov clapped his hands once, intertwining his fingers. "You'll know soon enough!"
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It had been two days since the team had gotten back. The guild had gotten back to it's normal rowdy self, except for one mage, who was spending all of his awake moments in the infirmary, waiting for the blonde mage to wake up. She had been sleeping non-stop in two days, but he couldn't blame her. Her soul had been detached from her body, and her body was terrible fragile. Her insides were probably messed up too!
Natsu sighed, holding Lucy's hand. He was sitting on a chair, besides the bed. That's the position he had been in for two days straight, when he didn't get food from Mira. The funny thing was, that he wasn't bored out of his mind yet.
The door suddenly opened and the blue exceed flew in. "Natsuu~" he exclaimed, landing on Lucy's lap. "Don't you want to go on a mission as we wait on Lushe to get better?"
Natsu shook his head, glancing down on Lucy's face. "No," he replied, receiving a disappointed look from his partner. "My first priority is to get Lucy's memories back. I promised her that. Also, I don't want her to wake up when I'm not here. She needs someone right now."
Suddenly Happy got a sneaky idea. "You lllliiikeee her~"
Natsu sweatdropped, looking back down at Lucy. It looked like she was just sleeping now. She could wake up in any moment now. Her face was beautifully calm, and there wasn't a worry painted on her face.
"But, Natsuu..." Happy muttered, his eyes a little worried as he flew up to his friend. "We are going to go on missions again with Lushe, right? Just like before, right?"
Looking rather touched, Natsu rubbed Happy's head and smiled. "Ah, of course," he assured him, showing no worry. "When Lucy get her memories back, we'll go on more missions that we've ever done. I promise you that!"
Beaming and smiling, Happy flew out the door, probably to brag about Natsu's promise. Natsu smiled of the smile, nearly forgetting the blonde laying in the bed just beside of him. And he did not notice that she stirred a little bit either. A tired groan enacted from her mouth.
Natsu turned his head to see if he was just extremely tired, or if Lucy actually was waking up. To his relieve, it was Lucy. Her eyes were contracted due to the light in the room, probably shining through her eyelids.
"Luce," Natsu muttered, shaking her arm lightly, trying not to scare her. He would probably receive a "Lucy Kick" if he scared her - if she knew what a "Lucy Kick" was. "Wake up, sleepyhead. I think you've gotten enough sleep now."
Lucy first opened her left eye, though it was narrowed due to light, and gazed around in the room. The first thing she saw was the grinning, pink haired Dragon slayer in front of her.
"Natsu..." she whispered. Natsu could see, that she felt sore due to her flinching when she moved. Sitting down on the side of her bed, he squeezed her hand lightly, showing her that she was out of danger.
"Yeah, I'm here," he replied. "And you are safe now."
Lucy nodded, sighing out in relief. Then the whole experience came back to her in a flash, and she realized... it was her fault completely. Gasping, she sat up to fast, resulting a sharp pain shooting through her body. She was so sore in her whole body that she couldn't even sit up without aches.
"What's wrong, Luce?" Natsu asked, raising his one eyebrow in confusion.
"I-It was my fault," Lucy mumbled, causing Natsu to look even more confused. "If... I just had trusted you guys that day, then I wouldn't have been captured." The last sentence had come out as a whisper. "Gomen'nasai!"
Natsu just starred at her for a minute. She had put her hands across her eyes, covering them as a single tear made its way down to her chin.
"But... no," he said, a little firmly, making her remove her hands. "Lucy, it wasn't your fault. You didn't know who to trust, and... it just wasn't your fault."
"But," she whispered, biting her fingertips, looking down. "You could've died. The others thought you were dead."
She... knew about that? Natsu asked himself in his head.
Shaking his head, Natsu grinned. "But you nearly died too," Natsu reminded her, rubbing his back awkwardly. "And that was my fault. I shouldn't have tried tricking him. Now you're so... fragile!"
The silence felt over them again, and they just sat there, spacing out. The noise from the guild, was still loud through the door. People were talking and laughing, though they didn't sound as enthusiastic as before. They didn't know that Lucy was awake yet.
Clearing his throat, Natsu looked down at Lucy again. "Are you ready to see the guild again?"
"Actually," she replied, looking a little nervous. "I want to go to the... my apartment."
Natsu looked a little shocked. She wasn't exited to go meet the guild again, but she wanted to go see an apartment she had slept in once. Grinning, Natsu rubbed Lucy's hair, much to her annoyance.
"You weirdo, Lucy," he exclaimed. Afterwards, he ripped Lucy's blanket of, making her squeal in surprise and hug herself. She was dressed in a loose lace top and a pair cream colored shorts. Goosebumps soon covered her pale body and Natsu chuckled of the sight. "Come on. Let's go the your apartment."
Making Lucy squeal in surprise again, Natsu picked up - bridal style.
"N-Natsu, I can walk myself!" Lucy exclaimed, grabbing Natsu's shoulder as he proceeded forwards, towards the door.
"Nope," he replied, grinning victorious. "Too late. You are injured, and I can walk perfectly!" Before Lucy could protest even more, Natsu opened the door, and headed into the guild hall.
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"Lushee~" Happy exclaimed, slamming into Lucy's chest, hugging her tightly. "You're awake!!"
Lucy chuckled, still in Natsu's arms. Her other guild mates soon surrounded her and talking to her. The weird warm feeling spread across her chest, making her smile. It had been some time since that had happened.
"Lucy wants to go to her apartment," Natsu exclaimed, trying to push away the guild mates around them - kind of like a bodyguard. "So I'm taking her there. Oi, why did you bump into me, Pop circle?!"
Lucy closed her eyes in fear when Natsu started a fight with Gray, still carrying her, but to her luck, Erza stopped them before they even started.
"C'mon, Lucy," Natsu muttered, a little grumpy about the unstarted fight with Gray. Lucy sweatdropped. "I'll take you to you apartment in no time."
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When they made their way to Lucy's apartment, Natsu put her down on her bed to rest, but Lucy quickly sat up in protest, showing him that she wasn't tired anymore.
"You really wanna fight me?" Natsu asked, grinning as he sat down besides her, giving up on trying to make her lie down. Another comfortable silence fell over them as their gazes locked on each other. They had both been so close to death, and thought scared them both. Also, the thought of Lucy's memories being locked away scared him even more. Natsu knew that he wasn't that... smart. Not as Lucy, but her knowledge was also locked away, and this language was weird! Not even Levy, nor Freed, knew what it said.
Also... he missed Lucy. His Lucy. The noisy, mood sick and cute girl he knew before. It had been fun trying to get Lucy's memories back, but he was tired of seeing her like this. All... helpless.
Natsu sighed, grabbing both Lucy's hands in his. Lucy blushed, looking questioning at him.
"Natsu?" Lucy whispered, looking up at his face to be met by a sad expression. It was not something she would see everyday. Natsu being sad. "What's wrong?
Squeezing her hands, Natsu tsk'd. "I just..." he tried finding the right words, but what could he say? That he wanted to help her? She already knew that. "I just really... miss you, that's all."
Lucy raised her one eyebrow. "But, Natsu, I'm right here," but then she realized what he meant. "Oh... right... I'm sure Lucy misses you too."
Natsu looked at her with a pained expression. "But that's just it," he exclaimed, a little to loud. "You are Lucy, but you don't remember me, and I want you to, because-" He cut himself before he could even say anymore. "I'm sorry."
"What are you trying to say?"
Natsu had clenched his teeth by now. Was he really going to do what he desired the most?
"Lucy," he said, firmly, looking into her eyes. "I love you, and I know you don't remember me, but I just need to do this, just in case I never get the chance again." And then he did it. It all went so quickly. Putting his right hand on her cheek, he used his left hand to pull her closer just to collide their lips together.
Lucy's eyes widened as she realized what was going on, but after just a few seconds, she kissed him back, moving her hand to his hair, grabbing a big handful of hair.
Suddenly a weird feeling shot through Lucy's body, making her pull back from the now panting Natsu.
"Natsu..." she gasped, holding her hand on her head.
"I know," he muttered, looking down. "I just... had to. In case that-"
"No, Natsu I-" suddenly a lot of pictures flashed through her brain in a flash. Her eyes widened, making Natsu worry just a bit.
"You want to join a guild? Then come with me!"
"No! Running away by myself? No way. It's always more fun when we are together!"
"Don't cry, Lucy. Let's save the tears for when we win."
"I made a promise... I swore that I would protect the future!"
Gasping, Lucy put a hand on her chest, feeling her heart beat fast. Natsu had now grabbed Lucy's wrist, shaking her lightly, trying to make her react.
"Natsu," she whispered, looking up at his terrified face. "I... I remember it... I remember it all now!" Tears of happiness streamed down of her cheeks.
Natsu's jar dropped, his grip around Lucy's wrist tightening. Excitement and happiness pumped through his veins, but that was replaced with shock when golden light shone from just above Lucy's chest, shooting up in the air.
Strange words and sentence formed in the air. To Natsu's surprise the well-known sentence: "Majhi ghoul mahna kowai no maj li kichi so mi." The sentence that Lucy's spirits had told her was the password. The words began turning into some kind of glitter, but just as the glitter disappeared, new words appeared, this time it was understandable.
"Only the love of your life can break this lock..." Lucy read out loud. Immediately her cheeks turned pink as she looked at Natsu, who had put on a victorious grin.
"Well, that was easy," Natsu said, stroking Lucy's flustered cheek. "So... does that mean that.... you..." Natsu looked away blushing, causing Lucy to laugh.
"Natsu embarrassed," she giggled. "That's not something you see everyday." Natsu looked up at her again, still blushing slightly. "Yes, I love you too, stupid!"
And with that, their lips crashed together again, needing each other oh so much. Lucy's hands had already snuck around Natsu's neck, placing her hand on his cheek. Natsu's hands were resting on Lucy's hips, holding her close as their lips moved in a heated dance.
Pulling a little back, Natsu rested his forehead against Lucy's forehead, a smile sneaking up on his lips.
"I guess I should ask you if you wanted to be my girlfriend?" Natsu asked, grinning. For that he received a playful hit in his chest, making him grin even wider.
"What do you think?" Lucy muttered, looking down.
Natsu chuckled lightly. "I'll take that as a yes then." And again, their lips collided in a passionate kiss.
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Lucy was awoken by the sunlight streaming through her window, but also by the muscular arm around her tightening its grip around her waist. Smiling of the thought, that Natsu actually had asked if he could sleep here, she began shaking his arm, trying to wake him up. A tired groan was all she received.
"Natsu," she muttered, sitting up a little, which she received a small wave of pain and soreness from. She glanced down on the sleeping Dragon Slayer, sleeping in her bed. His chest was exposed, though he still wore his scarf. "We have to get up. Haichi and Delora is stopping by to say goodbye."
The evening before, Happy had stopped by to tell them, that Haichi and Delora was stopping by, but when he saw Natsu and Lucy sleeping in the same bed, without Lucy freaking out, he had said his catchphrase instead. Natsu had afterwards kicked him out, in the gentlest way possible (out of the window), and gone back to sleep besides Lucy.
"Nah," Natsu mumbled, dragging Lucy down again, pulling her close. "I think I'll keep my princess hostage a little more." And with that Lucy's head turned bright red. She was grateful that he couldn't see her face.
"But really," she said, trying to pull away to get up. "We have to go to the guild, anyways... to tell them I got my memories back. I didn't think Happy got the memo." Natsu considered what Lucy said for just a moment or two, before sitting up again.
"Alright, alright," Natsu said, sighing. "But you make breakfast, right? I'm starving!"
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Hand in hand the two teens walked through the town, a few people looking after them. Lucy finally began to feel like herself again. She was wearing her blue, heart shaped crop top, with matching skirt and sleeves, and with her knee-long boots and matching belt. Her hair was up in two pigtails, and her Celestial keys jingled against her thighs.
The guild was taken shape in horizon, shadowed by the morning sunrise in the background. Lucy smiled by the sight. Though she just had lost her memories for a short time, it felt like she had been away from the familiarities she loved.
Natsu looked down at Lucy, smirking of the sight of her grin. "Ah, I see," he said, receiving a questioningly look. "You are exited to see the others again, aren't you?"
"Of course I am," she replied, looking back at the guild. "I don't know why, but it feels like I've been away from all of you for so long."
"I bet they are going to be exited when they here, that your memories are back!" Natsu exclaimed, pumping a fist into the air, earning a light chuckle from Lucy.
As they made their way to the guild front door, Natsu squeezed Lucy's hand a bit, which she returned just after. They gazed at each other before opening the guild doors. With a creaking, the doors went wide open and the otherwise noisy guild hall quieted down.
"Lucy!!" half of them exclaimed, happy to see her okay. She was soon attacked by several hugs, including Levy, Gray, Erza, Juvia and Wendy. Just after they let go, Happy slammed into Lucy's chest once again.
"I'm so glad you are okay Lushee!" Happy exclaimed, making the other laugh a little over his excitement. Under this whole scenario, Natsu still held Lucy's hand, to comfort her as she was attacked by all of the hugs.
"Ah, and Happy she's more than just okay," Natsu exclaimed so the whole guild could hear him. "Yesterday, Lucy got her memories back!" After that sentence the guild surrounded Natsu and Lucy, though they still just stood in the entrance of the guild, questioning how they did it, but Natsu just said "he knew a trick"
In the other end of the guild, Makarov sat on the bar counter, winking to Natsu, who immediately winked back, a big grin plastering his face.
Under the uproar, someone behind them coughed fakely, causing the attention to turn to them. It was Haichi and Delora! They both wore backpacks and had changed clothes. They didn't wear the white and red themed close anymore, no, Haichi had a pair of army green shorts on, with a white t-shirt, which a holes in the shoulders. Her hair was up in two pigtails, like Lucy's. Delora wore a dark purple dress, which cut on the middle of her thighs. Her hair dark hair hang loose down her back. Their hands were collided as well.
"Lucy-san," Haichi exclaimed, letting go of Delora's hand to hug Lucy. She slammed into Lucy's chest, just like Happy had done, due to her height. First Lucy didn't stir, but after a moment, she put her arms around Haichi's body as well. "We heard your memories are back! Congratulations!" Haichi pulled away, sending Lucy a big smile.
"Yeah," Delora said, walking up behind Haichi. "Feels good to be back, doesn't it?" A rare smile occurred on Delora's lips. Her smile was beautiful, maybe that was why she hid it so often?
"Hai," Lucy replied, squeezing Natsu's hand, reminding him how the memories came back. "It feels great! Now where this is over, everything can finally go back to the old." The other people, who weren't really familiar with Haichi and Delora, had gone back to their normal activities in the guild.
Erza stepped forwards, smiling in gratitude. "Thank you for helping us back then," she said, formally. "I'm sorry we couldn't save Elimar at last. I heard he switched to our side."
Delora nodded, looking down. "Yeah, he did," she muttered. "But we already took care of it. As the building stopped collapsing, we dug his body out. We're taking him back to our world to bury him. He was always so fascinated by it, plus... I don't think he wanted to go back to where he came from."
Erza nodded, stepping a step backwards as Delora stepped one forwards. Delora leaned forwards, close to Lucy's ear which quiet shocked her.
"Judging by the looks, it looks like you got a boyfriend yourself," Delora whispered, making Lucy blush madly over something as pity as the word boyfriend. "Congratulations, but be sure to keep him - it's not everybody who likes the noisy type."
"Gee, thanks!" Lucy said, sarcastically out loud, which caused her guild mates behind her to laugh, though they didn't know what Delora just said.
"Well, we better get going," Haichi exclaimed, grabbing Delora's hand once again. "We have to find a place to summon the portal!"
Natsu grinned, lifting his hand in the so he could wave. "Ah, thank you again!" he exclaimed as the two girls began walking, waving back at the guild.
"Have a safe trip home!" Wendy exclaimed, sitting on Gray's shoulder so she could see properly.
"Please visit again!" Juvia exclaimed, Gray's other arm around her waist.
As the rest of the group went inside the guild again, Natsu and Lucy stood outside, just a moment longer. They looked down at the rest of Magnolia as the the two girls made their way towards it.
"I'm happy to be home as well," Lucy muttered as Natsu put his arm around her shoulders. "I missed the noise, even if it's you and Gray fighting!"
Natsu grinned. "Hai, that's one of the thing I've missed too," he replied, turning to the guild, sending the building a dreamy look. "You know, beating Pop circle, cause I'd totally win, right?"
Lucy couldn't help but laugh. "Yeah, yeah sure!" she said, sarcastically, which Natsu pulled her closer for. He lowered his head to kiss her, but just as their lips touched, an annoying voice came interrupting.
"Natsu, Lushe, you are missing out on the-" Happy cut himself off as he saw what they had been about to do. "Ah, I see... you llllllllliiike each other!"
"Ah, that's right," Natsu confirmed, grabbing Lucy's hand as he began to walk towards the guild door. "So, what were we missing out on?"
"Gray surfed on three bottles of booze!" Happy exclaimed, sending Natsu a taunting look.
"Three?" Natsu spouted, superiorly. "I bet I can surf on at least four!" And with that he let go off Lucy's hand, storming in to compete with Gray.
Lucy let out a chuckle of her childish boyfriend. "Yeah... I'm defiantly home!"
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So that was "Don't Forget me".
I'M SORRY THAT I'M SO CLICHÈ WITH THAT "A TRUE LOVE" SOMETHING, but...
Did you like the ending? ^^
Please support my next works, which currently is going to be the Nalu fanfiction "The Lost Brother" which I'm starting on soon!
Until next time...
Take care and ship Nalu!