Lucy had woken up, utterly exhausted. Her eyes stung from all the crying and, for whatever reason, her limbs ached like she'd run a marathon the previous night. She sat up in the (still) unfamiliar bed, stretching out her arms, trying to ease the painful sensations tingling her muscles.

As she sat up, plates clattered on her knees; she looked down, lips twisting into a slight frown. To her surprise, there was a spread of relatively charred food set before her: two pancakes, two eggs, a couple slices of bacon, some breakfast sausage links, and a bowl of strawberries. The blonde's eyes softened, looking at the plates of food, already knowing how they'd gotten there.

Natsu.

Lucy glanced around, looking for the boy, but he wasn't around; she called out his name, but only silence echoed back to her. She was alone.

Panic shot through her, and her fingers instantly clamped down on the blankets, gripping the fabric tightly. She was alone—completely alone. Her breath began to quicken, her pace building fast; her brown eyes shot around the place, looking for something—anything—to calm her down.

Up until now, the apartment had been weird. Odd. A little daunting, even—but she hadn't been afraid, not really. The bathroom had stressed her out, but other than that, she'd been alright. But now, being here alone, without Natsu…she was terrified.

Her apartment—a place she most likely thought of as a place of solace, of peace—was now scary. The idea was mind boggling, honestly. It didn't make sense. How could her body not remember this place? How could her soul not be eased by being here, her home?

But her throat was still tight and her eyes had begun to sting even more and she'd noticed that her knuckles had gone white as bone as she gripped the blankets. She blinked, eyelashes fluttering against her cheekbones, as the realization hit her.

The apartment wasn't home anymore—Natsu was.

But he was gone and the apartment was cold and silent, and Lucy wasn't quite sure if she was breathing or not. She wanted to be back to normal, wanted to remember all of her friends, remember all the memories they'd shared so badly, but she couldn't. She couldn't remember, couldn't keep herself steady, couldn't stop herself from breaking down every ten seconds…

Her brown eyes filled up with tears and she cringed against her pillow, trying to fight the oncoming panic attack, trying to resist the feeling of terror that creeped up her neck. Lucy pulled her knees up a little, sending the plates of food on her lap tipping over; she let out a gasp, reaching out and grabbing the plates before the food could spill onto her sheets. As she did so, a little sticky note fluttered down, falling from one of the platters of food.

Lucy frowned at the little pink sticky note; she picked it up, eyes washing over the words written on it.

'Going to get more coffee,' the note said, the words sprawled across the small paper in the messiest writing Lucy had ever seen, 'Don't worry – I'll be back. Love, Natsu'

Lucy's lips turned up at the corners, a hint of a smile touching her cheeks; her heart seemed to slow, the aches in her chest subsiding. Her pulse calmed down, her muscles becoming less tense with every passing second. She ran her eyes over the last two words again, unable to stop her cheeks from glowing a soft blush.

Love, Natsu.

Amazing how he could calm her down so damn quickly without even being in the same room.

Lucy wasn't sure what it was about Natsu that eased her so much. Maybe because he was the only person she felt slightly comfortable with, considering he was the only person she'd been able to speak to without having a meltdown? Or was it because he'd been there right from the start, right from when she first woke up without any memories?

She slumped back in the bed, folding the little sticky note and tucking it under her pillow. She eyed the food, stomach growling now that her panic attack had passed without concern; she grabbed a piece of bacon and began to munch on it.

No, no—those weren't why Natsu eased her so much. It had nothing to with him being there at the right time or him walking her through the struggles of memory loss. It was something more than that.

Somewhere, deep inside of her—although she wasn't certain where—some part of Lucy knew the boy. Something inside of her remembered him just ever so slightly. There was something…familiar about him.

And that was all she needed, really.

When she'd first woken up, he'd said he was her best friend. She hadn't believed him. Now, she did. She could feel it in her gut. Natsu was her best friend. Without remembering a single thing about him, without remembering how they'd met, she could say that single sentence with confidence. Because even though her mind forgot him, her heart didn't.

The sound of her front door opening broke her train of thought, thrusted her back into reality. Lucy jumped in her bed, a little afraid, until she recognized a voice.

"You can't come," Natsu muttered, sounding rather grumpy. "She had a rough enough day yesterday, and I don't wanna freak her out even more, and—"

A high pitched voice responded, whining back. "C'mon, Natsu! Please let me see her. I won't even be annoying."

Lucy froze in position, shock bubbling through her blood. Someone else was here. Someone she didn't recognize—a person she didn't remember. Her heart began to hammer, slamming against her ribs. She couldn't see someone, not after the shit-show that was last night. She couldn't bear to see another forgotten face. It was too stressful, too much.

The voices were getting closer.

"No!" Natsu sighed. "Look—I know you miss her, but she's pretty stressed. I don't want to make it worse."

The high pitched voice was sad, now. "Is she okay? Y'know, after yesterday?"

A long silence, and then Natsu's voice mumbled out the words, cracking. "I don't know."

"Maybe I'll be able to cheer her up!"

"Hey—that's my job, and don't you forget it!"

"Just lemme see her," The stranger whined. "Maybe I'll make her smile or somethin'!"

Natsu hesitated, responding slowly. "Maybe. Let me…let me just check up on her, okay? Ask if it's alright."

"Good enough for me!" The voice cried with joy.

Natsu made his way to Lucy's room, clumsily banging through the house; he turned the knob and walked into the bedroom, letting out a cry once he realized Lucy was sitting up, staring at the door, awaiting his arrival. "Gah!" He'd hissed, nearly falling over. "Geez, Luce—scared the shit outta me."

Lucy's eyes were wide. "Whose here?"

Natsu met her gaze, expression crumbling. Clearly, the fact that someone was even in her house made her upset—and he'd allowed it to happen. He leaned against the doorway, eyes dropping to the floor. "It's Happy," He muttered. "He's my—our best friend."

That seemed to stun her. She had another best friend? The idea seemed preposterous, absurd. She'd asked Natsu not to talk about any of their friends because she wanted to figure everything out on her own, but this seemed weird. She'd had another best friend all along, but she'd forgotten them so completely that she hadn't even missed them?

Guilt flushed her.

"Happy?" Lucy blinked. "Their name is Happy?"

Natsu nodded. "Yeah, he wanted to see you." He paused. "If that's too much, if you're not ready, I'll boot him out, no problem—"

Lucy nodded. "Bring him in."

Natsu's eyes went wide. "What? Luce—"

"It's okay—I can do this."

The pink haired boy wasn't so convinced. "Are you sure?"

Honestly, she wasn't completely sure that she could handle seeing someone, especially after last night's fiasco, but she couldn't help it. She felt guilty for forgetting everyone she loved—especially someone she'd consider a best friend. So, she figured she'd suck it up, deal with it. If this Happy person was so important, he deserved to see her.

"Yes," Lucy responded, trying to hide the shake in her voice. "I can do this."

"Ooo-kay," Natsu replied. He wasn't about to control Lucy—she could make her own decisions—and tell her she shouldn't have visitors. "Happy—get in here!"

Lucy trained her eyes on the doorway, awaiting a person to step through, into her bedroom; to her surprise, a floating blue ball of fluff barreled its way into her bedroom, aimed directly at her. The thing was so damn fast that she didn't have the reflexes or reaction time to dodge out of the way; it flew directly at her and slammed into her chest, sending her knocking back against her headboard.

"Lucy!" The little blue things cried, little paws wrapped around her as it slammed its face into her breasts. "I missed you!"

"Ack!" Lucy cried as the fluff tumbled into her. She hesitated putting her hands on it; she stared down at the little thing, confused. "Whaa?"

"Ugh," Natsu groaned, "Happy—what did I say about taking it easy on her?"

"I don't care!" The little voice chimed in, muffled by her boobs. "I'm so glad you're okay, Lucy!"

Natsu grabbed the little thing's tail, holding him up in the air. "C'mon, buddy—give her some space."
Lucy peered at the little blue figure, coming to terms with what was before her. A cat. A blue cat—with wings. And a voice. Her head tilted to the side as she frowned at the cat, watching as the little guy began to sob before her, tears welling up in his eyes and streaming down his cheeks, hitting the blankets below.

Natsu rolled his eyes, letting out a huff. "You don't have to cry, Happy—Luce's fine."

"Says you!" Happy snapped out mid-sob. "When we first got Lucy's diagnosis you cried for two hours straight!"

Lucy's cheeks flushed slightly, and she smirked up at the pink haired boy. "Oh, really?"

"Pfffft," Natsu sputtered, cheeks nearly matching the color of his hair. "Did not."

"Did too," Happy muttered as Natsu set him down on the bed, wiping his eyes with his little paws. Happy's big eyes flickered up to the blonde, and he stuck his right paw out to her. "I'm Happy."

Lucy smiled, and surprisingly, there was no panic at all like she'd expected. It felt…natural with them. Lucy, Natsu, and Happy. She'd just met this little fellow, but it made sense. "Nice to meet you, Happy. I'm Lucy."

"How ya feelin'?"

"Tired," She answered honestly. "A little confused."

Natsu piped in. "But that breakfast was great, wasn't it?" He grinned at her, and it was nearly as bright as the sun.

"It was good," Lucy admitted. "Thanks a lot, Natsu."

She made a mental note to thank him later for the note he'd left. Without it, she'd be a sobbing mess on the floor right now.

The three continued to talk for quite a while, chatting about random things—Natsu asked about the guild, Happy told him who had left for jobs in the past two weeks or so. Happy asked Lucy if Natsu was being mean to her, and she'd said Natsu was being a perfect gentleman; Happy seemed surprised by that.

And the more they talked, the more Lucy realized that this was where she belonged. Right there, with her two best friends. She was glad that Happy had decided to come over. Without knowing it, he'd been a missing puzzle piece. She didn't remember him, and he wasn't nearly as familiar as Natsu, but he fit. They were a family, something that just made sense.

The more the conversations went on, the more Lucy began to ask questions about the guild. How many members? Who was the master? Who were her closest friends? Nothing too detailed, nothing too intense—just some light information help her understand a bit more.

After a couple hours, Lucy got up to make lunch—the boys helped, of course—and they all went and watched on the couch afterwards. Within twenty minutes, the boy on Lucy's right and the cat on Lucy's left had fallen asleep; they both hunched over, leaning on her. Within an hour, she was both the boys' pillow; they slobbered on her and snored over the film.

But she didn't care, not really. She watched them as they snored, smiling to herself as they mumbled in their sleep. And for the first time, Lucy thought that things would be okay, even if she didn't remember.

Because she had her two best friends, her boys. She had Natsu, her rock. Happy, a little light of joy. She had all she needed. She could get through anything. She could meet her friends again, stop crying every ten minutes. She could make it through, with them.

They made her feel whole, even when so much of her was missing.