Chapter 41

{Okay first off, I'd like to apologize for not writing in a LONG time. This chapter is way overdue. It's just that I had so much to do when second semester started. I also got a job so that's also been taking up my time. Not only that but in my spare time I've been with my friends, so I do sincerely apologize! Anyways, I hope you like this chapter! Enjoy}

Natsu POV

-30 minutes before Lucy woke up-

"Natsu!" An annoying voice said once I opened the door to the café. I flinched as I saw all eyes turn to me; it was packet to the brim with all the guilds. "There you are." Gray got up from his seat and ran up in front of me, followed by Erza and Happy. "You know we planned to meet up here a while ago?" Happy said from next to Gray.

"You're late." Erza said as she pulled her hands up to cross her arms over her chest in disappointment. I rolled my eyes and walked past them, not telling them what happened right away. They turned around and their eyes followed me as I strolled up to the bar and sat on a stool.

I heard the legs of a chair scratch the floor as I heard Minerva ask, "Did you find Lucy anywhere?" Her worried voice surprised me, causing me to turn to the side and look at the table where Sabertooth sat. They all looked puzzled, almost concerned. But it seemed like Minerva was the most stressed out about this whole thing.

I blinked away my surprise and sighed, turning to face the ground just as I heard Cana's voice coming in from the door. "We sure did find her." She said, immediately grabbing everyone's attention. She stood in the door frame with her hands on her hips, Gildarts behind her, and Gramps standing next to Cana with his eyes to the floor in thought.

Erza, Gray and Happy, who were still in front of the door, spun on their heels as they caught Cana's emotional eyes. "You found her? Where is she? Is she alright? Did you ask her what happened?" Erza asked as she surprisingly grabbed Cana's shoulders. "Is she safe?" She whispered in concern.

"Well, she sort of found us. Not the other way around." Gildarts said calmly, forcing everyone's eyes to widen. "What?" Gray asked astonished. "Did she tell you anything?" Happy asked desperately. I bit my lip as I looked up completely and looked over to the door.

Cana shrugged her shoulders and looked up at the celling, "Sorta…" Her gaze fell from the celling onto me, "She probably would have told us if someone didn't put her in a bad mood." She said so utterly pissed, her piercing glare forcing me to look at the floor again in shame.

"He even made her cry and laugh at the same time; I have never seen her that way in my whole life. You put even more stress on her Natsu, you idiot." She said furious. I flinched as everyone turned their stunned and angered gazes to me. "What?" Erza asked violently as she turned around to glare daggers at me.

"Is this true Natsu?" The angered re-quip mage asked. I looked up at her with guilty eyes and slowly nodded my head. Her eyes narrowed even more into slits as she stomped her way to me. "You are an IDIOT!" She yelled as she grabbed me by the collar and lifted my body off the stool easily. I started to shake as I stared in her eyes, her glare deepening.

Cana, Gildarts, and Makarov walked in fully, Cana taking a seat at a table with Gildarts while Gramps sat next to Laxus. I sighed and looked to the ground, letting my limbs free. Erza's eyes softened a little as she saw my limp body in her hand, seeing how shamefaced I was. She sighed and let me down onto my feet.

"And what is this stress you're talking about? What stress is Lucy going through?" Erza asked softly. I shrugged my shoulders, "I don't know…" I whispered with a pitiful voice. The woman in front of me raised an eye brow in confusion, "What do you mean 'you don't know'? She didn't tell you?" She asked and I nodded my head. "She seemed to finally start explaining to us what happened but…" I sighed and looked up from the ground to face Erza. "I miss heard something and assumed something. I said something's I regret now." I explained.

"I still wonder what happened during the games, she was acted so unlike herself…" I heard Coco say her thoughts out loud. The question everyone in the room did not know.

"She's sick. That's the answer to all your questions."

A male voice came from the door way, surprising everyone to look up at the two figures. My eyes widened to see that the two mages were Jellal and Meredy, soon remembering he asked Lucy to join his group with Meredy.

"Jellal?" Erza asked softly. The blue haired man smiled sweetly at the wide eyed Erza, "Hello Erza." He said kindly as him and Meredy started to walk in, closing the door behind them. "What are you doing here?" Makarov asked a bit annoyed.

"I'm here to answer your questions for Lucy." He said looking at the narrowed eyed Makarov. Gramps started to grumble and looked away with crossed arms. "Why should we believe you? You hardly even know her." Sting said in a disgusted voice. Jellal frowned and turned his attention to the light mage, "Well I know her just as much as you do, so please, let me continue explaining." He said in an exasperated tone.

Sting rolled his eyes and crossed his arms over his chest. "Oh ya!" Cana said as she eyed Meredy and Jellal. "I remember Lucy saying you guys asked her to join your group; I think that was part of all her pressure and stress, right?" She asked the two with a raised eye brow. Everyone but Gildarts, Makarov, and I had huge eyes at this.

"You what?" Erza and Gray asked at the same time.

Jellal sighed and nodded, "Yes, that's correct. I asked her to join." Soon after Jellal said this, Meredy explained, "But at the time we asked Lucy we only knew her as the Celestial Guardian. We didn't know that all this stress we caused her would make her ill…"

… Wait what?

"What are you saying? Lucy's sick?" Draco, who was quiet until now, asked in shock. Jellal nodded with guilt. My eyes widened with confusion. I didn't know Lucy was sick…

"How is she sick?" Wendy asked from nest to Draco. Both Meredy and Jellal glanced at each other quizzically, Jellal closed his eyes and sighed, "The way Lucy explained it was that all the stress that's been on her shoulders got the better of her and forced her ill. The illnesses side effect is hurting her in her weakest spot. Though it ended when she was reunited with Fairy Tail, the stress she experienced was put onto her shoulders again when we asked her to join our small guild..."

Everyone stayed quiet for a moment until Cana broke the silence, "Nice going Natsu!" She said in anger. I groaned and leaned back in my chair as I said, "Just kill me now.", "I'd be more than happy to do so." Erza said as she turned to me now with a sword in her hand.

"Please you guys, it's no one's fault but ours." Meredy said pleadingly. "Where's Lucy now?" Blacksmith asks. "She went back to the cabin to rest for a bit." Cana answers. "Well I'd advise you to go visit Lucy and apologize." Malinda says as she glares at me.

I spring to my feet and nod. "I'll go see her, this is my entire fault." Draco steps forward and explains, "If you're going I'm going with." Draco proclaims.

"Just don't wake her up when you guys get there." Cole says threateningly, mostly glaring at Draco. "Will do." I explain as we sprint through the door.

It only took me a few minutes to get to the cabin, but I wouldn't say the same for Draco.

When I finally get to the cottage, I freeze in my tracks...

I could hear an ear piercing scream.

My eyes widen as my palms start to sweat. I sprint up the stairs now hearing the screams dying down to my horror. I burst through the door forcing the wood off its hinges and yell Lucy's name. And when my eyes land on her figure spread out on the floor, guilt and panic fill me.

I ignore how it smells weird in here and run to her side, grabbing her shoulders, "Lucy! Lucy, wake up!" I shout as I try to shake her awake. But her eyes never open.

What's going on? Is this the sickness Jellal was taking about? How do I help her? Is she going to be okay?

All these questions pop into my head as tears fill my eyes. "Come on Lucy, you have to wake up." I exclaim in panic. I tighten my grip on her shoulders and close my eyes as one question pops into my mind…

Is she going to wake up?

Two hours later…

It's about the middle of the night now. I'm the only one sitting outside Lucy's room here in the infirmary. They said it's best to leave Lucy alone while she sleeps but I can't stop worrying about her.

The doctors say they don't know what's wrong with her. Even Draco, who threw a temper tantrum when Lilian dragged her away from here, didn't know about this sickness Jellal told us about. Though he didn't give us a lot of details, all that we know is that Lucy should take a break from the Training Games. We all agreed that it's best for her health.

I glare at the ground as I clench my fists.

I shouldn't have yelled at her like I did. I sigh and whisper, "I really am a jerk…" I close my eyes and sigh again.

"Ya, you are a jerk." A voice from beside me whispers back, forcing my eyes to burst open. I look up and see Lucy leaning on the doorframe of her room, a weak smile plastered on her lips. I jump to my feet with a grin on my face and proclaim, "Lucy, you're awake!" Her eyes widen as she 'shhh' me.

"Natsu, there's other patients here. You have to keep it down!" She whispers and I nod a smile still on my lips. I pull her in my arms and hug her to my chest. "You worried me…" I whisper causing her to laugh softly, "Sorry."

I blink a few times and shake my head, "I should be the one saying sorry." I say as I pull her away. She looks up in confusion, I sigh and look away. "Me yelling at you didn't help anything, I'm sorry."

Lucy calmly squeezes my hand making me look back at her. "It's fine Natsu, I've already forgiven you!" She whispers with a beautiful smile. I shake my head again and look her in the eyes, "Jellal told us about how you're sick." Her eyes widen when she hears this.

After a while she looks down, nods and whispers, "Oh…" I frown, "Why didn't you tell me?" It takes her a few moments to think before replying, "I just didn't want to worry you…" My frown deepens as I whisper, "Well I see how that turned out." She looks up and says, "Ya, I know. But now you know so everything's alright now."

I narrow my eyes as I say, "No it's not Lucy, it's not alright. You're not alright." I close my eyes and take a deep breath. I open my eyes and look at her, "We've decided that it's best for you to take a break from the Training Games."

When she hears this she starts to panic, "What?" She says a little louder than a whisper. My eyes widen, shocked that she's panicking about something like this.

"I-I can't quit!" She proclaims. "Lucy, don't you see what this illness is doing to you?" She blinks as sweats starts to cover her forehead. "I can't quit!" She says with a panicked voice. "But Lucy…", "No buts Natsu! I'm not going to quit!" She says, cutting off my sentence.

I blink in surprise. "I'm not giving up on the Training Games. I'm sorry Natsu but nothing will change my mind. Not even this cold can change that!" She says as I furrow my brows, "I wouldn't just call this a cold…"; "Well it is, because it'll go away sooner or later." She answers back with a frown.

I stare at her as she sighs, "I'll be fine." I take a pause before saying, "… Are you sure?" She smiles and nods, "I'm sure."

I honestly don't know what's going through her mind right now. I just don't understand why she doesn't want to take a break. But if she's fine with fighting in the games then I guess its fine to let her…

I groan and say, "I guess you can…" She smiles and hugs me. "Thanks." She whispers with relief as I wrap my arms around her. "Are you going to stay here or do you want to go back to the cabin with me?" I ask as we let go of each other. She bites her lip as she softly rubs her thumb over her stomach.

"I think I'll stay here for tonight, but I'll come back in the morning. Okay?" She asks with a smile. I nod and whisper, "Okay, that's fine with me. I just want you to get better!" Her smile widens, "Don't' worry, I'll get better! Anyways, you better get back." She whispers as she pushes me a little. I laugh and say, "Kicking me out already?" She laughs with me and nods, "Sure, but I don't think you want me to Lucy Kick you now!"

"You'd probably break all my bones if you did." I say as we finish laughing. After a while she pats my chest and whispers softly, "Good night." I smile and gentle plant a kiss on top of her head, "Good night."

I smile one more time before turning around and walking out the infirmary.

{YAY, I FINISHED THE CHAPTER! I hoped you liked it! I tried to make it a longer chapter but I'm not sure if it was enough. But I still hope you like it! Oh and with the next chapter, I hope to do it in a week or so. But like I said I've been so busy that I haven't found the time to write! But I'll try to write as soon as possible!}