Flash Forward

Chapter 10

DISCLAIMER: I DO NOT OWN FAIRY TAIL

Fear.

That was the only thing Lucy felt as she ran between pants. Her eyes focused on the door in the farthest corner of the room, insecurities still creeping to her spine. Without any second thought, she opened the door hastily, focusing her attention to the beeping sound of heartbeats in a machine and how the tempo slowed each second, gradually turned into a thin line that turned blurry with the tears pouring heavily on her face.

"NO, MOM!"

"-cy, Lucyyy, Oi, Lucy?"

The said girl slowly opened her eyes, meeting the stare of onyx eyes. It was hard to breathe, and she felt her throat dry.

"Geez, you're such a weirdo. I thought only idiots catch colds in summer. You're one of the smartest in our grade, you know."

Her eyes darted towards the surrounding of her place; consciousness began to drawl in her.

"Natsu?" She asked, "What are you doing here?"

The pink haired snorted at the question, "I'm here for our Sunday Natsu-and-Lucy time but apparently, you caught a fever." He explained, "And you seemed to be having a nightmare."

Oh, right. That dream.

Lucy said nothing and Natsu sighed at the lack of response. "Well, whatever. It's still our quality time so I'm taking care of you."

"You're taking care of me?" Incredulous painted on the blonde's expression, causing the white scarfed guy showed a fake-mocked look.

"Hey! Although I may not look at it, I'm a good doctor!"

Lucy gave a laugh at his justification, "Alright, alright. I'm counting on you then, doctor Dragneel."

"Sure, you do." Natsu mumbled, drifting away from the bed. "You need a glass of water."

Lucy arches an eyebrow in amusement at his consideration, "I can't believe you actually know what to do in this situation."

"Meh, not really. Just thought your breath smells bad." Natsu smirked at his teasing, while the sick blonde gasped at the accusation.

"Take those words back now!"

Natsu laughs, "No way, you weirdo." He pulled his tongue out in mock and flicked her forehead.

It was a normal Sunday for Juvia. She was humming a certain song as she skipped at her steps, taking her groceries back home and deciding the next lunchbox she should give to Gray-sama tomorrow. That was until she heard her phone vibrated and a certain ringtone came to play.

"Hello?" She rang cheerfully, not even bothering to look at the caller's name.

"Uh… Juvia? Thank God you answered."

Juvia stopped at her step, confusion written on her face as she contemplated the possibilities.

"Natsu-san? What is wrong?"

There were seconds of hesitation crept up on the other dial, and a deep inhale before Natsu speaks. "Um, right. So here's the problem. Uh… I crashed into Lucy's place today and apparently, she's still asleep, so I wanted to wake her up but I felt her body's- what's the word? Oh right, burning. Yeah, that. And when I checked her forehead, she has a very high fever and- Crap. Just-"

Natsu rambled about a lot of confusing things, but Juvia soon got the hang of it. "Does Natsu-san want to ask Juvia how to take care of a sick person?"

"Noooo- I mean, yes?" It sounds more like a question than an answer. "But specifically, taking care of a person sick of fever. 'Cause I never really had one. I mean, I had a fever once, I think, but maybe that was when I was two-"

"Juvia understands." The blunette cut Natsu's sentence as he was turning more and more perplexing, grinning as she might win the bet. Just wait until Levy-san hear about this.

"You've got to be kidding me."

Natsu rolled his eyes at the childish antics Lucy was trying to pull, a blanket hovering her figure from head to toe, her body curled up on the bed while she hid herself from her best friend's sight.

"No, I'm not," Natsu answered, "you have to drink your medicine to get better." He explained while trying to get Lucy up from her curled position and rid of the cover.

"Noooo." Lucy wailed, holding the blanket tighter but to no avail. Natsu was stronger from her physically and it shows as the covers were pulled by the pink haired completely, not giving any coverage or warmth Lucy wanted.

Lucy pouts, "meanie."

"Aw, come on, Luigi." Natsu smirked, shoving her the bitter looking medicine and a glass of water. "The sooner, the better."

"Ugh," Lucy scrunched her face in disgusts, "why can't I just take the pill?"

"Wendy made this," Natsu replied, "she said you will surely recover in a day with this."

Wendy always had the talent in medical abilities. Catching this hidden capability since her small age, a specialist recruited her to train as an apprentice. If Wendy was confident enough to send this to Natsu, it is proof that her teacher had given an okay for Wendy's creation.

Reluctantly, Lucy opened her mouth and drank the whole thing. Her nose squeezed and she groaned at the distaste, quickly shoving it away from her face and gulped the glass of water to relieve her tongue. "That tastes disgusting."

Natsu grins, finding her reaction cute. "Keep it as a reminder to not get sick anymore, weirdo."

"Not everyone is a superhuman like you." The blonde grumbled before resting her head on the pillow, fully covering herself with the blanket and attempting to get more sleep.

The sounds of beeping machine and her father's distressed expression next to the bed was the sight she hated the most. Jude was clutching his hair tightly between his palms, his wrinkles and eyebags getting more palpable each day as he stared at the figure on the bed lifelessly. Lucy was also there next to her father, but the blonde said nothing.

"Layla." The way her father called the name of her mother was heartbreaking. He sounded desperate, helpless, restless. Lucy wasn't sure how many mixed feelings could be read from the single word Jude had said as he clutched the hand of her mother tightly.

Lucy decided to go out for some fresh air, not even bothering to tell her father as she stood up from her seat. In her father's eyes, she wasn't even there to begin with.

"LUCY!" She gasped for air at the sudden shock from waking up, her heart beating erratically from the jolt of surprise and her eyes widened in realizations. She was greeted with a pair of concerned onyx eyes, staring at her as if attempting to see beyond her expression. "Are you okay? You were tossing and shaking a lot."

"I'm fine," Lucy said as she began to compose her breathing, feeling her heart started to settle while she tried to remind herself. "Calm down, Lucy. It's just a nightmare."

Natsu was definitely not buying it, the blonde thought as she saw Natsu staring at her with his face scrunched in distrust. "No, you're not, but I'm not forcing it out from you."

Lucy breathed a sigh of relief, thank goodness Natsu understands her. She smiles, "thanks, Natsu."

Natsu scoffs, "you're sick in the weirdest time possible, you know." He said as he folded his arms.

"Hey! For your information, not only idiots catch colds in summer." Lucy argued, huffing as she also folded her arms like Natsu does.

Natsu rolls his eyes, "I didn't mean that, although that one is also true." He snickered, earning a gap from the blonde in disbelief.

"What do you mean then?" Lucy grumbled as she felt heat rising to her head.

Natsu pauses, "nothing." He decided to answer and he could see from Lucy's expression that the blonde was not buying it. "It can wait." He stated with a tone that says he won't say anything more than that, so Lucy had to agree with him.

The room was silent for few moments before Lucy broke it. "It's school again tomorrow." The blonde sighed in realizations.

"You're right." Natsu agreed. "And it's always more fun when we're together so you better cure yourself before Monday, Luigi."

Lucy gives a friendly slap on his back, "Can't go a day without me, hm?" She teased, "If Wendy's medicine is doing its magic, I'd be good enough to go to school tomorrow, right?"

"Yeah, but you might catch another sickness," Natsu argued, "it's possible because you're such a weirdo. The viruses love you."

"Like you love me?"

Natsu huffs, "nobody beats me in that." He exclaimed arrogantly.

Sometimes, Lucy wonders whether Natsu was saying things on purpose or impulsively.

Monday.

The dreadful day for any student in the Earthland.

For some people, it means the same as come-early-to-copy-homework day. For other people, it is coming-in-last-minute-looking-like-a-zombie day. For Lucy, it means getting-up-early-because-Natsu-will-barge-to-her-apartment day. Their circle of friends found it endearing at first, but it's Natsu we're talking about. It was less of picking her up and more of a race towards school with the loser treating the winner ice cream. Sometimes, even Gray would join in if Natsu felt like bothering the raven haired first thing in the morning. Monday has become more exciting with the tradition.

Bracing herself for another race, Lucy had tied her hair locks into a ponytail with the hair tie Natsu gave her few days ago. He found a salmon colored hair tie that matches his hair one day and thought it was cool, but he can't possibly wear it so he bought it for Lucy because her scrunchie was turning ugly.

Lucy wanted to disagree, but he kind of had a point. She hadn't changed her hair tie for years. It's not that the scrunchie had any emotional linger, just that she had been using it since forever that she hadn't thought of changing it.

As if on cue, her windows were opened and her best friend was there with the carefree grin he was giving. "Yo, Luce! Ready for the race?" He asked as he went inside the room, right towards Lucy's bed.

Lucy sighs, she would say "stop coming in from the window!", but it was too early for the enthusiasm. Instead, she decided to follow Natsu's antics today.

"Sure, can you help me get my keys first though? It's on my desk." Her desk was practically next to her bed, and seeing Natsu was right next to it, he agreed. As he rose up from the bed and rummaged Lucy's desk for her keys, he heard the sound of a door closing which was weird because Lucy's door wasn't opened-

"Wha- Luce, you locked me inside?!" Natsu shouted, realizing he was tricked by his own best friend.

"You can climb down using the windows," The blonde retorted from outside as she headed towards the stairs, "see you in school!" Then she rushed towards the stairs to start their race first.

"Goddamnit," Natsu muttered, "I let my guard down."

Honestly, Lucy preferred not to do such petty tricks like getting the head start advantage if she could. She was quite athletic herself. Heck, she could basically do human pyramids while cheering and do other stunts after that which requires many stamina. She wouldn't had tricked her opponent on racing if it wasn't Natsu.

Natsu was popular for his fast and agile strength while he was on the basketball competition. Many people from the track team practically begged for him to join them, but Natsu kept refusing because he personally liked basketball more. Which was true; he was very amazing in three pointers that Gildarts decided to put him as the shooting guard.

Lucy hated losing. Although she might give a submissive impression at first, the blonde was quite competitive regarding some things. That was one of the reasons she ran away from home at the first place. Something in her snapped when her dad inquired to arrange her marriage with another heir of a big corporation. She was stubborn about her decision which led to a big fight with her father.

Whether it was because of luck or her smart trick, Lucy managed to get into the classroom before Natsu does. It was the first time she won, causing her to grin as she satisfyingly sat on her seat.

Levy was quick to realize her appearance, "this is rare, Lu-chan. How come you arrived quicker than Natsu?"

Lucy smirks, "I have my ways."

Not long after, the door was busted open with the arrival of pink haired basketball player. The man scowled as he squinted his eyes towards his best friends. "That was low, Luigi!"

"Hey, you have to admit that was pretty smart!" Lucy beamed proudly.

It only earned a snort from her best friend as he sat on the seat next to her, "I still could've won if I didn't bump into Gray on the gate." Natsu defended.

Lucy snickers, "I still won, though." She reminded. "You have to buy me ice cream this week."

Levy giggles at their antics, "give her a break, Natsu. She's been buying you ice cream every week!"

Natsu casually slid his arms to the blonde's shoulder, "hey, I buy her crepes every week too!" Natsu reasoned, "And I cook her lunch every day!"

Lucy shrugs, "well, yeah, he's got a point there." Ever since Lucy lived independently, Natsu stubbornly urged that he had to make sure she eats enough by cooking her lunch, saying Igneel has been bugging him to do it too. That was why Lucy never minded the tradition of racing to school with Natsu each Monday. "But I'm feeling a little bit competitive today."

"OH MY GOD, GRAY, I AM SO PROUD OF YOU!" Their attention was darted towards the new source of voice, which was Cana literally screaming her lungs out as she hugged the almost-bone-crushed Fullbuster across them.

"You might want to loosen up if you still want Gray to be alive, Cana." Levy reminded.

"What's the deal, Cana?" Natsu decided to chime in, raising an eyebrow in curiosity.

"Oh hey there, Natsu. Already flirting in the morning?" Cana grinned as she waved cheerfully towards his direction.

"Not really how you put it." Lucy exclaimed, earning a nod from Natsu.

"She's drunk." Gray decided to inform them. "She's got a bad hangover this morning which she thought would disappear if she drinks more so she's drunk again."

Cana scoffs, "I'm not drunk, just tipsy." She rolled her eyes, hand on her hip. "And guess what guys?" The brunette said with a maniac laugh, patting Gray's back enthusiastically. "This stripper here is taken now!"

"WHAT?!"

Levy stood up from her seat, gaping at the newly-heard information.

Gray groans, "Cana, you just ruined the announcement!"

Lucy gawks, "wait, is this real?" She asked in disbelief.

"Gray, you do know Juvia will hunt whoever this girlfriend of yours is, right?" Levy reminded.

"That's the thing, hon." Cana smirked. "Apparently, Juvia won't kill anyone because her head is too in the clouds to do so."

"WHAT?!"

Levy nearly choked Gray in bewilderment as she shook the poor man in frenzy. "S-Since when?! I never heard from Juvia about this!"

"Lunch with the girls are going to be so hectic today," Lucy muttered under her breath, loud enough for her companion to hear.

Natsu laughs heartily, "aw, man. It's going to be so fun watching the girls teasing the ice princess today about his long-time denial crush!"

Author's Note: Oh My God, I actually updated after MONTHS. I know it's long delayed, I apologize for that. I wasn't really in the best condition in life right now, I didn't even get to reread the whole things and just decided to update this story because I owe it to you guys. I'm sorry this is short, the next chapter must be longer but it's going to have some Gruvia in it ;)

So I know you guys are going to ask: "What about the sudden development of Nalu? Why aren't they talking about their confessions?" Well, you guys know how these two roll. They don't often do heart-to-heart talks, so they're casual about their status and relationships. I'm trying to pace them like their charavterization in the manga. They're ALWAYS together so both of them have plenty of time to sort their feelings. I'm going to develop the official relationship slowly. The confession last chapter was like how they both knew they have feelings for each other, for their proximity development, it's gonna be more obvious as the chapters increase.

Another question you guys probably will ask: "WHEN WILL YOU UPDATE THE NEXT CHAPTER?!" Honestly, I don't know. But I'm trying my hardest here so please review to motivate me :"

FAVORITE, FOLLOW, AND REVIEW TO SUPPORT ME AND INCREASE MY MOTIVATION TO UPDATE!