The sun is already high up in the sky when Lucy wakes up. Still mostly asleep she lays in her warm bed, half opened eyes staring at nothing.

Just another day in her lonely life, the thought flits through her fuzzy brain and she clenches her eyes shut again. What was even the point in waking up? It's not like anyone would wonder where she was if she stayed in her bed the whole day.

There was no one, after all. Once again Lucy Heartfilia was all alone in this world. That thought is almost enough to force her to full wakefulness, but she fights it.

No more, she'd told herself that countless times. No more feeling sorry for herself, no more crying, no more lamenting her fate. No more missing him.

Most of the time this was stronger than her. When Natsu had up and left with only a half-illegible note and the guild disbanded, Lucy had been forced to her knees. At first she'd tried and tried and tried to pick herself up. But eventually the loneliness and the terrible painful emptiness in her chest had worn down her strength.

She had no more will to fight. She had no more hope left. After a year of suffering all alone, Lucy was beaten and down.

Keeping track of all the Fairy Tail members she could get information on had kept her going for almost a year. But recently she'd come to realize that even knowing where everyone was didn't help her at all.

She had no courage to reach out to them.

And she had no idea where the most important one of them all was. Her partner, her best friend, the person that meant absolutely everything to Lucy.

Natsu was gone without a trace and Lucy was afraid that without him she'd never find her way back home.

That was the worst part of it all.

Only when Natsu left had Lucy realized that her life had kickstarted when she'd met him and Happy. They'd brought her to Fairy Tail. Given her purpose, given her a home and most of all a family.

When the pink-haired fire breather had wormed his way under her skin was still a mystery to Lucy, but he was there. And when he left, Lucy had felt like half of her soul was gone. Just ripped from her body.

With every day that passed without him, the place where he still lived in her heart hurt more and more.

Suddenly something shifted behind her and Lucy stirred from her haze, disoriented and still not fully awake.

When a muscular, scorching hot arm wrapped around her waist she stiffened and almost whimpered. She hated when this happened. Every time her mind played this cruel trick on her, making her think Natsu was there with her she ended up crying so much that she couldn't leave her room for days before the swelling in her face finally went down.

He's not here, she told herself. You know he's not here. It's just your imagination. Wake up, Lucy and face reality. Natsu's not coming back.

Almost crying at her own resolve she tried to focus on getting the feeling of his arm around her to disappear and opened her eyes wide.

Then all her thoughts came to a stuttering halt when she didn't look upon her bedroom in Crocus, but at the familiar, much loved home in Magnolia.

For a moment she was completely confused, mind still not awake all the way. First when the arm around her waist tightened and the face she'd thought she imagined pressed in her hair nestled closer did it dawn on Lucy.

She wasn't in her lonely apartment in a city far from everyone she loved.

Natsu had come back. And just like the first time they'd met he'd grabbed her by the hand and dragged her home. Only this time Lucy had dragged everyone home with them.

That also meant that the hard, warm chest behind her was not only her imagination and Natsu was truly there in bed with her.

He proved his irrevocably true when he raised up on an elbow and whispered in her ear, "Good morning, Luce."

His voice was sleepy, but the grin in it was unmistakable and Lucy smiled through the tears gathered in her eyes.

"Good morning, Natsu," she whispered back, then she turned around and wrapped her arms as tightly around him as she could.

Natsu was probably expecting her to kick him out and almost yelped when she hugged him. But after a few moments he hugged her back, just as tightly.

This was the best feeling in the world, she thought.

Now that she had him back, she was definitely never letting him go again. And if he tried to leave, well she'd just tag along. They belonged together after all.

Natsu, Happy and her, they were a family. Natsu had said it himself. And a family stayed together no matter what.

But she also had a feeling that Natsu wouldn't try to leave her behind again. The year they'd spent apart had marked him as well. This was obvious with how he clung to her since he'd found her again.

Lucy's world was whole again and if only for a brief moment in time she was completely happy.