Hello, everybody! I know this is overdue a couple days, but it was hard to wite this chapter actually because the timing for the climax wasn't quite this chapter, but the story needed to progress anyway, so this is what I came up with. Hopefully, things will start to happen quicker by next chapter! I'm actually excited for what's next, but it's going to be hard to write I think, so I welcome the challenge! So without further ado--

Mira: here is chapter 41!

Meena: Hey, you're here! Long time no see!

Mira: Hey, you seem to have had a good vacation!

Meena: Yup! The beach was great!

Mira: Great! Ah, we forgot about the readers. 

Meena: Crap! Alright, back to the story!

            Lucy was back in the hallway leading to her parents' room. She had just had a nightmare, and wanted her mother's comfort. Subconsciously, she knew she was dreaming, but it didn't make it any less real. She clutched her favorite doll to her chest just as a heart-wrenching scream echoed through the air. She willed her younger self not to run to the room, not to open the door, but before her very eyes, her tiny, pudgy hand reached out and grasped the knob, twisting it and pushing it open. She knew what she was going to see. Knew that it she would find her mother's dead corpse on the floor with a gaping hole in her chest, but this time, the scene was different. Her mother was standing, quite alive, in the middle of her room. The strange thing was that a dark vortex was open in the air in front of her. Her mother seemed to be speaking to it.

             "I'll never let you—" Layla was saying.

            "Ma—" she heard herself say, but Layla whirled around, cutting her off.

           She had a panicked look in her eyes, and hurried to clamp a hand over her mouth.

            "Who's there?" a gravelly voice boomed.

            "No one," Layla hurried to say, holding Lucy behind her.

            Just as Lucy was about to peek around Layla's skirt to get a glimpse of what lay in the vortex, the scene became blurry, and Lucy was ripped from her mother, spinning in what seemed to be nothingness. Except that suddenly the nothingness formed into shapes and colors, and finally into images she recognized, all from that night. Scenes from the only version she knew and the new one she'd just dreamed mixed together, whirling around. What the hell was happening?

            As her thoughts ran rampant in her mind, she could feel her consciousness pushing through, and knew she was waking up. She tried hard to hold on to the dream, wanting desperately to know what it meant, but it slipped right through her fingers, and she jolted awake, banging her head against something leathery.

            "Ow!" a voice underneath her exclaimed.

            Wings unfurled, and a head of pink hair and curious onyx/green eyes were revealed to her.

           "What's wrong, Luce?" he asked, his forehead now creasing with worry. "You're sweating and trembling."

            She looked down at her hands that were pressed against his bare chest. They were indeed trembling, and now that she paid attention, she could feel cold sweat covering her body.

            "It's nothing, I—"

            She looked around to see Wendy, Romeo, Gajeel, Levy, Sting, and Rogue all scrunched up against her and Natsu. Oh, and interspersed in their big group cuddle were four colored balls of fur corresponding to the four exceeds that had been missing from their group until recently: Panther Lily (Gajeel's), Carla (Wendy's), Lector (Sting's), and Frosch (Rogue's).

            The events of yesterday rushed back to her: how she and Levy had crazily ran off to see Acnologia, how Natsu and Gajeel had given them both an earful, how when they had calmed down they had been introduced to the exceeds, and how after the long day, they had all just crashed down together after introductions were over with and zonked straight out.

            "Lucy?" Natsu's voice said again, and a warm hand was placed against her cheek.

            "Sorry," she said dismissively. "It's nothing, just a bad dream."

            He opened his mouth to probably inquire more, but she smashed her lips onto his, just wanting to feel him, the one who made her feel at home when she was with him. He grabbed her by her waist, responding roughly to her kiss. She tangled her trembling hands in his hair, his unnatural warmth sinking into her skin as she drove her hips against him. She reached up and grabbed his horns, tugging him against her. As they started to vibrate, the same numbness as before settled in her mind, and Natsu quickly broke away. They both panted, their hot breath mixing in the air between them.

            Natsu looked down at her, his eyes dark with want.

            "One day," he breathed. "One day."

            She nodded as he rested his forehead against hers.

            The others woke an hour after them, and by that time, Lucy and Natsu had prepared breakfast. Well, Lucy prepared breakfast while Natsu ate behind her back every now and then. They now had more food because the exceeds had been out getting food, so it was no problem feeding eight regular-sized people, and five exceeds. By the time they all woke up, Lucy had masked her worry and fear from her dream quite well, though she caught Natsu looking at her with concern once or twice.

            They all sat down and had breakfast in silence, the events of yesterday weighing on all of them. Well, except for Rogue and Sting who were still sound asleep, but they didn't look good. They seemed to still have a fever last Lucy had checked, so she had covered them in blankets, and had decided to just keep a close eye on them for the time being. Their condition was actually concerning; even Natsu hadn't been this badly maimed, though they had been the only two left for more than a week.

             She sat on her knees by their side, checking their temperature at regular intervals. The other ryus would periodically look over in worry, but the others mostly minded their own business. Everyone seemed to be either deep in thought or in a bad mood. Levy was sitting in a corner sharpening her daggers while Wendy sat next to her, twirling a small vortex of wind on the ground with her finger as Romeo was zoned out beside her. The exceeds were all curled up in the middle of the cave since they were all exhausted from worry apparently, and Gajeel and Natsu were standing off to the side speaking in low voices. To top off the gloom in the air, it was pouring outside. Lucy knew because she had gone to check, accompanied closely by Natsu of course, who now wouldn't let her anywhere near even the exit route if he wasn't with her.

            She placed her hand against Rogue's forehead, and his eyelids fluttered open, revealing bright crimson eyes not unlike Gajeel's. His eyes crinkled at the corners as he smiled at her, and he whispered, "Thank you."

            Everyone seemed too engulfed in their own world to notice that Rogue had spoken, even with the ryus' enhanced hearing.

            "You're welcome," Lucy whispered back as she placed a cool towel on his forehead.

             "You must quite a girl," he said.

            "Excuse me?" she asked uncomprehendingly.

            "Natsu-san's not one to fall in love easily; it's not really what he's interested in," he explained.

             Lucy blushed at the words "in love", and stuttered, "W-Well, I-I don't know about that..."

            But then Natsu's words came back to her: No, you're not special, in the grand scheme of things, but you're special to me.

            "I think I'm just special to him," she said, smiling as she reminisced.

            His eyes softened.

            "Well said," he said gently.

            Just then, Lucy spotted a sudden movement from the corner of her eye, and turned to see Natsu staring down the exit tunnel intensely, his nose twitching as he sniffed the air. Lucy stood, and took a protective stance in front of Sting and Rogue, her hand hovering over Étoile Fleuve at her belt as the others got to their feet in apprehension. The echoing sound of footsteps made its way into the main part of the cave, and the hairs on the back of Lucy's neck raised.

            Wendy sniffed the air now, and a relieved expression broke onto her face.

            "Guys, it's—" she started, but the person who walked into the cave needed no introduction.

            There stood Porlyusica in all her wet glory. Her hair was plastered against her face, her clothes dark and dripping with water. Her red eyes burned with irritation as she gazed at all of them. The cave was completely silent, no one daring to move. It seemed the ryus knew how terrifying Porlyusica could be too. They all watched her as she threw her cloak to the ground, revealing a brown rucksack on her back.

            "Well? Isn't anyone going to help me?" she snapped.

             Wendy was the first to respond as she ran to hug the woman, saying "Porlyusica-san!"

            What a brave soul!

            Surprisingly, Porlyusica did nothing to her, and actually smiled down at her, patting her on the head as she said, "You really shouldn't hug me, you know. You'll catch a cold."

            Lucy gaped at the woman. Who was this impostor and what had she done to Porlyusica?

            When Wendy pulled away it was like a switch had been flipped, and Porlyusica was back to glaring at all of them.

            "What's it going to take for you to help an old woman, you buffoons? This is why I hate humans!" she yelled.

            Lucy wanted to tell her that more than half the present company wasn't human, but refrained from doing so because she wanted to live long enough to have children. All the men currently in good physical condition rushed to her, helping her, and Natsu lit flames in his hands to warm her up. Lucy still had no idea what the hell Porlyusica was doing there, or how everyone knew her, so she bent down next to Rogue, and whispered, "How do you know Porlyusica?"

            He furrowed his brows at her.

            "How do you know Porlyusica-san?" he asked.

            "She's the royal healer," Lucy said matter-of-factly.

            "What? But she's our healer. She comes almost every month to help us. She's known us since we were kids," Rogue said.

            "Oh..."

            Well, that would explain all her disappearances. She was never really at the castle. So this is where she went off. All this time, she had grown up in the castle and Natsu had grown up here. There had been a connection between them this whole time, yet they hadn't met until now. Funny how things worked out.

             As soon as she was warm and dry, Porlyusica stomped straight over to where Rogue and Sting were lying, and bent down to inspect them.

             "Tch, acceptable," she muttered.

             Lucy straightened her back in pride.

             "But still amateur," she said.

            Lucy's head dropped, and she sighed in defeat. No one could ever win with this lady.

            "Move over!" she said. "Let me handle things, since no one seems to know the most important thing in life: medicine!"

            Lucy hurried to scuttle away, and found herself by Natsu's side to find him shaking.

            "You're scared of her too, aren't you?" she said.

            "Wha—no—"

            She looked at him with a look that said, "Do you think I'm stupid?"

            "Yeah..." he admitted.

            Lucy sat against Natsu as they waited, thinking of everyone she'd left behind. It would probably be a long time before she would get to have another long conversation with Juvia, or train and eat cake with Erza, or joke around with Gray and tease him about his stripping habit... Not to mention, she'd miss Mira's matchmaker scandals, Laxus calling her Blondie, spending afternoons with Levy in the library just fangirling about the new book they'd read. She'd even miss Virgo with her masochistic desires and calling her princess. She had left all of them without giving any explanation, and they had trusted her blindly. She didn't even know if she'd ever see them again after seeing Acnologia. She'd thought on some level that they'd be able to defeat the dragon, and they'd all live happily ever after. How naïve. This wasn't a storybook where the prince just stabbed the dragon, and all was well in the world. This was real life where the dragon was actually powerful and lethal.

            She grabbed Étoile Fleuve, running her fingers along the soft grip. She had found herself touching it every time she was worried now, it provided her a sense of security. She had yet to try to use it, but she had the feeling she would know when the time came. Her mind wandered to her dream, and she gripped the weapon tightly. She was certain that this was her real memory, but why hadn't she remembered until now? Had her younger self suppressed those memories somehow? Or... had someone else suppressed them? She knew that she would have that same dream tonight, but the question was, would she make it to the end of it?

             "There," Porlyusica said, snapping Lucy back to reality. "You should be as good as new tomorrow."

            "Tomorrow?" Levy asked incredulously.

            "Yes," Porlyusica said, raising her head high. "I just made a salve in higher concentration than the one I gave you. My salve simply boosts the regenerative capability of an individual. It is energy consuming though, so even if the injuries are healed, the person needs rest."

             "That's amazing!" Levy said, the recognizable flame of curiosity in her eyes.

            Lucy smiled; despite everything Levy was still the same knowledge-obsessed bookworm. Some things never changed.

            "Yes, well since I made it, of course it's amazing," she boasted, and walked over to her rucksack. She rummaged around for a second before she pulled out a large white-wrapped packet. Remembering the ryus' hyper senses, Lucy turned to Natsu to see his mouth watering as he looked at the packet with hunger. As soon as Porlyusica unwrapped it, Lucy saw why: in her hands was a giant hunk of raw red meat.

             "Yay!" Everybody cheered loudly.

             That night was a night of joy for their rebellious group, and even Lucy forgot her troubles and enjoyed herself. Little did she know, however, that the dream she would have that night would reveal a truth beyond her wildest imagination. 

Meena: So! How was the chapter? It's a bit of a darker tone than the rest of the story, but this second half where we leave the confines of Lucy's little world is a complete turn around for her. 

Mira: *with hearts in her eyes* That make out scene was so intense! You've never written anything so steamy!

Meena: *straightens in pride* Well, I'm trying my hardest, but of course this story will never go into smut because that makes me very uncomfortable. 

Mira: *mutters* Well, that's a shame...

Meena: What? 

Mira: Nothing, I just said Erza likes those things. 

Meena: I know... Well, on that awkward note, I think it's time to wrap things up as I am going to go back to rewatching FRIENDS and reading the manga for Boku no Hero Academia from the beginning. 

Mira: Very productive. *gives a thumbs up*

Meena: Haha, very funny. 

Mira: I'm serious actually. That's my kind of night!

Meena: Right on, sister! *high five* Well, Mira, I'll let you do the honors as always now...

Mira: Well, Meena doesn't own Fairy Tail or its characters, Hiro Mashima does, but the story line is hers. We thank you as always for joining us, and we ask you to please vote, comment, and share to support the author and the whole of Nalu fanfiction. Thank you and tune in next time!

Meena: It's not a TV show...

Mira: Quiet! We'll see you next time! Ja ne!

Meena: Bye!!