"Arghbbll..." Natsu mumbled, his face turning purple.
Lucy sighed, shaking her head. "I swear. Natsu and transportation.."
Gray was staring out the window and was sitting next to Erza. Natsu was spread out on the seat beside Lucy. She rubbed his back, trying to make him feel better.
"Maybe it would have been a good idea to bring Wendy with us." Lucy asked, a sweat drop appearing on her head.
"Maybe, but Wendy and Carla went with Levy and her team on a mission to help with her experience." Erza replied.
They all sighed, and Natsu gurgled again.
"Erza?" Lucy asked. "How long will the ride be to the city the museum is located in?"
"About an hour," Erza huffed. "Might aswell save our strength until then." She rested her temple against her fist, closing her eyes.
Lucy looked out the window, watching the wilderness fly by. "Oh that's right!" She suddenly exclaimed, reaching into her bag.
"What are you scrabbling around for?" Gray asked.
Still looking through her bag, she smiled. "I remember looking through the library one day, and seeing a book on how to make medicine on curing motion sickness."
"Yeah, and?" Erza questioned, opening on eye to look at her.
"Inside was ingredients to create a pill that would cure motion sickness for a certain amount of time. I took the book home, thinking it would be a good idea to make these for Natsu." She rummaged through her bag some more. She pulled out a medium-sized vial, full of small purple berry-looking pills. "I can't believe I forgot about them!" Lucy exclaimed, popping open the top to set one in her palm. "Here Natsu, eat this. It'll make your motion sickness go away."
Happy, Gray, and Erza all stared intently as Lucy gave Natsu the pill. "Are you sure it'll work?" Gray murmered, watching Natsu.
Lucy nodded, putting away the vial. "It should. I followed everything exactly as the book was written."
They all watched Natsu as he popped the purple medicine into his mouth. A few seconds later, Natsu widened his eyes in surprise, completely fine.
Erza, Happy, and Gray gasped. "It worked!" Happy exclaimed.
"Alright!" Lucy exclaimed, patting herself on the back.
"Hey those things really work! Thanks Lucy!" Natsu replied, sitting up and leaning against the seat comfortably. Lucy smiled and gave him a thumbs up.
"So Lucy, how long are those supposed to last?" Gray asked, still looking at Natsu in awe.
Lucy raised a finger to explain. "The main ingredient was Appe berries. The powder is what sets the medicine in place. The more you use, the longer the cure will last. I added three to each pill, so it should last close to an hour."
"That was a good idea." Natsu replied, smiling. "I didn't know there was medicine for curing motion sickness!" Natsu put his hands behind his head, smiling. "I feel a lot better."
Lucy smiled happily. "I'm glad I could help."
"Who knew? Lucy is actually being helpful." Happy replied, sitting between Erza and Gray.
Lucy frowned. "Geez, thanks for the compliment Happy." She said sarcastically. Lucy looked out the window, frowning. Happy might be right, though. I'm not very helpful in fights or really anywhere else. Lucy narrowed her eyes sadly. I need to be able to help out the team more!
-------------------------------------------
After awhile, they were about twenty minutes away from reaching their destination.
"Oi, Lucy."
Lucy had been staring out of the window most of the way, thinking about how she needed to get better at being helpful. Now, the train had stopped for some weird reason, so Erza and Gray went to go check it out. Happy was asleep on the chair opposite of them. She turned her head.
Natsu was clutching his head, and making a sour face. "I think my motion sickness is coming back."
Lucy blinked. "Oh right, sorry." She pulled out the vial more faster than before, and opened it to give another pill to Natsu.
Natsu reached his hand out to take it, but Lucy pulled it away. "A-a-ah," She waved a finger at him.
"What?" Natsu asked.
"You need to drink some water first." She handed him a bottle, and Natsu took it, puzzled.
"Why do I need to drink water?" Natsu mumbled.
"You don't want to get sick or anything when you take this. Drink some water to make sure it goes through your system okay." As Natsu drank some of the water, Lucy put the vial back in the bag. "Here," She replied, handing him the pill.
"Thanks." Natsu replied, smiling.
Lucy blushed a little, but smiled, her eyes distant. Once Natsu ate the pill, he took a drink of the water and then gave it back to Lucy. "Better?" Lucy asked.
"Yeah." Natsu nodded.
"Good." Lucy nodded in approval and smiled. She put the water away, her face becoming impassive. Only time I'm useful. Lucy thought sadly. "Hey Natsu?" She asked after a minute.
"Yeah?"
"I have something else here that might help..." She reached into her bag again and pulled out a different object.
"What's that?" Natsu asked, looking at the box intently.
Lucy smiled endearingly at her creation. "I was experimenting after I finished making the motion sickness medicine; wondering if I could make anything else useful." She started. "I figured out, that Celestial Wizards can make certain spells in an object."
"Really?" Natsu murmered.
Lucy nodded. "So, I thought, why not make something to help fuel you up when you're fighting?" She opened up the box to reveal a paintbrush.
"A paintbrush?" Natsu replied lamely.
"Don't go thinking it's lame yet!" Lucy yelled at him. "I can put a rune on your arm, that can summon fire whenever you need it. I know it won't be the same as when you eat fire, but I just thought it could help." Lucy looked sadly down at it. "If you don't want it, I-"
"Sounds good to me!" Natsu exclaimed. Lucy looked up at him with surprise. "Go ahead and put it on!" Natsu encouraged.
Lucy hesitated for a second but then laughed and smiled. "Alright!" She pulled out the brush and pressed it to Natsu's skin. Concentrating, a yellow ring of magic symbols appeared around the brush. Lucy waved the brush in a certain pattern, and when she pulled the brush away, the symbol of flames rested on his skin.
"This is awesome!" Natsu replied, resting his hand on his right shoulder. "It feels really warm right there... And it feels just like when I eat fire!" He wrapped an arm around Lucy's shoulders. "Thanks a lot, Lucy!"
Lucy blinked, and blushed. "N-No problem."
"So how does it work?" Natsu replied, shrugging his shoulder to look at it.
"You have to tell me the code word you want to use in order to activate it, and I'll put it into the rune." Lucy replied, looking at the rune proudly. "For example, say you programmed it to say "Dragon". When you say it in your mind or out loud, it will active."
"Wow." Natsu thought for a moment. "How about Igneel?"
Lucy nodded. "Sounds good to me. I'll make so you will have to say it aloud to activate it." She rested her hand on top of the rune and mumbled a few words, causing her hand to glow. "There you go," She exclaimed happily.
"This is awesome!"
"But remember," She raised a finger in warning. "It only works once so don't say the code word on accident."
Natsu nodded, and smiled a huge smile at her. Lucy smiled back, but smaller. When she put the brush back, she looked back out the window.
"Lucy?" Natsu asked after a moments silence.
"Hm?"
"Why are you being so quiet? It's not like you to look out the window like this all the time. Usually you are talking a lot."
A sweat drop appeared on her head. Gee, thanks. Lucy sighed. "Just tired, I guess." She lied.
Natsu remained quiet, and not long after, Erza and Gray returned. Natsu eyed Lucy, and frowned. "Did you guys figure out what was wrong with the train?"
They nodded. "The wheel just got jammed, that's all." Gray sighed.
Natsu looked at Lucy again, who was still staring out the window silently, already lost in her thoughts.