Hey this is my first Fic in over 7 years, so be nice. I do not own Fairy tail or any characters.
****What 7 years can change.****

Natsu POV

Chapter 1: New beginning

When we got back to fairytail, it felt like everything had changed. Everyone was older, but we were the same. I wasn't sure what to think.

I fallowed Lucy to Love and Lucky to try to find her Dad. My chest hurt to see the vacant look in her eyes when she stood in front of her parents' graves. I stayed silent as she said good bye. I wasn't sure why but I felt sadder than she looked. I couldn't get the look in her eyes out of my head. I snapped at some stuck up girls. Lucy forced a smile...

I just wanted to do something to make her eyes go back to normal. Lucy told me to stop, she apologized. She started to let some of the weight off. She asked why she couldn't cry, accusing herself of hating her father. I couldn't let her.

"That's not true."

I tried to explain it the best that I could. That it doesn't matter if she cries, the feelings inside were what mattered. That got a weak smile. I watched her closely the rest of the way back to Magnolia, my chest still tight. When we got back, Happy and I went our separate way, maybe Lucy needed some time alone.

"We need to the find a job, that might cheer her up!" Happy nodded to my suggestion.

When we got to Strawberry street, we say Lucy's Land Lady. 'she does not look good in Lucy's cloths' I thought looking at the large woman in one of Lucy's favorite tops. She told us to take it easy on Lucy for a while, that her dad had paid her back rent. 'Now we need food money'

"Lucy" I called. "We're off to work!" Happy made his own comment.

"Wait up! I'm coming too!" She yelled in a shaky voice. I smiled to myself, 'bout time' I thought as Lucy came out. She smiled "Let's go!" She smiled. The tight feeling in my chest relaxed a little. And I smiled back, 'that's my Lucy.' I thought and headed for the train station. 'I hate trains!'

Slowly her smile came back, She told me about the letter from her dad. I tried to nod, to let her know I heard, but my motion sickness made it difficult. I decided to just listen quietly and let her talk. After a while the sound of her voice faded. I looked over weakly and saw she had fallen asleep. Her hair tickled my nose as I realized she had her head resting on my shoulder. The sick feeling left my stomach for awhile, leaving this warm tingle. I dunno why but I reached out a tucked a stray hair behind her ear. "Sorry I couldn't do much to make it better for you Luce." I muttered, looking at how peacefully she was sleeping. I didn't ever wanna see her like that again, I didn't understand why, but it hurt to much.

The mission was easy. I didn't even burn down any houses. I was happy to see Lucy smile when she got the reward. My chest felt warmer than usual, but I decided to ignore it.

"Neh, Natsu?" She asked as we walked.

"Huuh?" I stopped and looked at her, there was slight tint of pink on her cheeks.

"How bad is you're shack?" I looked at the ground and sighed. "that bad huh?"

"Aye. We almost couldn't find it." Happy chimed in also lowering his head.

"Well, do you want to crash on my couch till you guys can get it fixed up?" I looked at her wide eyed, mouth gaping. "What?" she was fidgeting, playing with her fingers.

A wide smile spread across my face. "Your the best Luce!" I gave her a quick hug and turned to head home, Happy fallowed close behind. After a minute I realized Lucy hadn't moved. I turned to look at her, her head was bowed sightly her bangs covering her eyes, I could see her face had gotten redder. "Are you ok Luce?" I started to walk back to her. I nearly fell over when she lunged wrapping her arms around my neck.

"Your my best friend" She sobbed, clinging tightly to me. Instinctively I wrapped my arms around her waist, pulling her close.

"Don't cry Luce, your mine too." I smiled, burying my head in her golden hair. We stood there for a while. I ignored Happy's calls of "She liiiiiiikes you." Lucy didn't bother to respond either. The warmth in my chest seemed to be spreading, sending little shocks through my body. I held tighter, enjoying this new feeling. "we should get moving or we'll miss the train." I coughed after what seemed like forever. I rubbed the back of my neck as I started to walk toward the station.

"Thank you." Lucy muttered then fell into step beside me. I smiled and nodded. For some reason I couldn't seem to bring myself to say anything else.

The ride home was just as comfortable. I was still sick, but it wasn't as bad. When we got back, we went to the guild. Everyone was laughing and recounting how Mira and Erza beat up the Twilight Orge guild. I listened, but didn't really pay much attention.

"Oi, Lucy, we don't have to take another mission for a while right?" I muttered low so only she could hear. She tilted her head giving me a questioning gaze, seeming satisfied she nodded. "Why don't you take a couple days to work on your book... you are seven years behind after all. Happy and I won't bug you cause we'll be trying to dig our house out." I gave her my best smile. Her eyes lit up a bit, and she agreed.

We spent a couple hours chatting with the friends who hadn't been on the island with us. I tried hard to focus on who all was there, and noticed some people acting strangle. Gajeel was in his usual spot, as far from every one as possible, but I noticed a stack of books piled up near by and blue hair peaking out over top. Lyon was still visiting with his guild, and I noticed he was sitting on one side of Juvia with Gray on her other side. Gray looked annoyed every time Lyon said something that resulted in Juvia's laughter. Lissanna was at the Bar with Mira-jane chattering about something that seemed important. Erza was at the bar, eating a slice of cake, but her armor was missing. Elfman wasn't any where around, and it seemed that Laxus and his team had gone off. A very thin Reedus was painting. Romeo was blushing as he talked to Wendy about some mission he had been on recently. Cana was sitting at a table not to far with her cards. I stopped to look at her.

"Hey Lucy is something wrong with Cana?" I asked. She fallowed my line of sight to see Cana.

"I don't think so why?" She shrugged.

"She isn't drinking." I pointed out. Lucy stifled a laugh. "what's funny?" I looked at her curiously.

"I think Cana decided when she told Gildarts about being his daughter, that she decided she didn't need to drink the way she used to. I think she is happy that they have a relationship now." She sighed, and I could tell she was thinking of her dad. I patted her head.

"You may not have your parents anymore, but you still have your Nakama!" I was rewarded with a true smile. She nodded and got up to go over to Cana, and I went over to the bar.

"So what happened in Acrifa?" Mira and Lissanna looked at me with wide eyes. I noticed Erza shift her gaze as well.

"Lucy's Dad died last month." I looked down, not wanting to see the reactions. "and he sent the money to cover seven years of rent for Lucy." I shrugged. "She's better now, but for a little bit I wasn't sure." I looked up to see tears in their eyes. "Don't bug her about it ok? She just started smiling again." I warned. Mira gave me a small knowing smile, Lissanna nodded and Erza patted my back. I took the mug of fire whiskey Mira offered me, drinking it slowly. I mulled over what to do about my house, there were things that I wanted out of the rubble. It didn't feel like home anymore, just wood and dirt. Maybe I would need to rebuilt it from scratch. I groaned at the thought, so much work.

"I'm going to stay with Wendy tonight, Natsu!" Happy waved, leaving with Wendy and Charle.

There was a small tap on my shoulder, I turned to see Lucy. "I'm heading out." She said softly. I looked at my cup taking one last swig.

"Night Mira, Lissanna." I waved getting up.

I fallowed Lucy to her apartment. We went in through the front, a rare thing for me. I noticed the stack of presents on the table. "Hey Luce.." I trailed off, she seemed to have noticed what I was looking at.

"Father sent a present every year on my birthday. It's funny, when I was little I didn't even think he knew what my birthday was." She gave a sad smile.

"What are you going to do with them?" She shrugged, walking toward the closet. She tossed me a pillow and a towel.

"I'm going to use the bath first. Don't get everything messy while I'm in there ok." She sighed and went to get a change of clothes. I sat at the table in the small kitchen, eying up the presents on the table. A strange thought crossed my mind, 'when is my birthday' it occurred to me then that I wasn't even sure how old I actually was. I always guessed I was around the same age as Gray, but I didn't know for sure. I made a mental note to check with gramps.

I was so caught up in thought that I didn't notice Lucy came back. "Hey, Natsu your turn." she said waving a hand in front of my face. I shook off the weird feeling with a smile, and headed for the tub. I didn't bother with much, just washed the dirt off running my fingers through my hair. I sighed, drying off and putting my spare clothes on.

Lucy was sitting in front of the 'present table' I stopped in my tracks, I could see tears streaming down her cheeks. My chest tightened and I made my way over and sat next to her. She leaned her head on my shoulder. "I think you should open a least one of them." I put my arm around her protectively. She nodded and reached for a box. Inside was a finely crafted leather whip. Lucy choked up, I pulled her closer, letting her cry it out. "you don't have to do this all at once, but I think it might help." I combed my fingers nervously in her still wet hair.

She smiled up at me weakly, yet confidently. "I'll be ok so long as you stay with me." My heart skipped a beat. I nodded letting her know I wasn't going any where. She opened another box to reveal a new pair of knee high boots. Another had a knee length red leather jacket, that was decorated with white stars down the back. the button were gold keys. In yet another box there was an assortment of barrettes and ribbons. The sixth box held a small purse with 10,000 jewels, it had a new leather belt with attachments for her key pouch, whip and money purse. I was the final box, the one that had come with the letter that really got her. It was smaller than the others, but had a delicate box. She opened it slowly, and revealed a gold key, there was a small note inside.

'Lucy dear,

In my travels I came across an old Celestial mage, and when I began to speak to her of you, she decided to pass this on to you.
Use it well my beloved child. Make your Mama and me proud.
Love Always
your PaPa'

Lucy took the key and inspected it, "Libra" she breathed tears spilling over. I looked at it curiously. She just put it in her pouch, and yawned wiping at the tears. I chuckled and she shot me a tired glare.

"I'll head over there now." I pointed to the couch, getting up. She Yawned again and headed for her soft bed.

"Neh, Natsu?" She whispered. I turned to look. "You'll be here in the morning right?" Her cheeks flushed pink again. I nodded, plopping on the couch. "Neh, Natsu?" She said from under the blankets, I raised my eyebrow. "Could you sit with me till I fall asleep?" I smiled making my way to the bed and sat on the floor with my pillow. "Thank you." she murmured through the thick blanket. I chuckled, and leaned my head back letting the exhausting from the past couple days take me under.