Natsu's POV

Last night was probably the worst night of my life, more worse than the time I got pounded hard by Gray, and then Erza. I barely got any sleep last night, spending too much time thinking. How am I going to face Lucy today? Was she really okay with our relationship now?

"I'm really sorry, Natsu," Happy apologized sympathetically, hovering over me as we walked together to the guild. "I really thought Lucy might like you."

"I thought so too, buddy," I sighed as we were about to enter through the doors. "But I guess we thought wrong."

I pushed a small crack open, peeking through to make sure if the coast was clear of any cute blondes. There was no sign of Lucy, thank goodness.

As I walked in, some people noticed my entrance. I just hope they don't see my groggy, miserable self.

"Hey, Natsu! Where were you last night? Did you leave the party early or what?" Macao laughed from one of the tables while sitting next to his best friend.

"Staying up at a party is manly!" Elfman exclaimed as he flexed his muscles underneath his tight shirt.

"It was a long day yesterday, that's all..." I replied as I walked up to the job board.

"Hey, Natsu. Hi, Happy." A girl's voice cheerfully greeted from behind me. I turned around to see the girl with blue eyes and short white hair, brightly smiling at us.

"Hey, Lisanna." I greeted back.

"So, what job are you going to take today?" She asked, tilting her head while batting her eyes.

"Hmm... I don't know. Today would be Lucy's turn to pick." Crap, just saying her name was making me sad now. Where was she anyway? She would usually already be here at this time.

"Oh," Lisanna said surprised. "Well actually, she already took a job this morning and left." I was dismayed. Lucy already took a job and she left without me? How could she do that? We're teammates, and we always do jobs together. Or... At least we were teammates. Did this mean Lucy left the team... Because of me? I guess she did feel awkward about one of us liking each other even though we're comrades. "Hey, here's an idea," Lisanna continued. "How about we both go on a mission together?"

"What do you think, Natsu?" The blue cat asked as he laid down on his stomach on my head. I scratched the back of my head. It sounded like a good idea, but it didn't feel right. It wouldn't be the same without Lucy.

"I don't know... what kind of job did Lucy take?"

"I think it had something to do with getting rid of a Crackernackle."

After she said that, the sound of falling books thudded against the wooden floor. We turned around to Levy standing over a pile of books with her hand over her mouth. "D-did you say Crackernackle?" she stuttered, shivering in cold fear.

"Yeah, why?" I asked, receiving a bad feeling from her expression.

"I-I thought she said kacker shuckle, as in the small marsh monster. The Crackernackle is a strong sea beast. If I had known, I wouldn't have..."

"Where is it?" I demanded without letting her finish.

"I think she said it was at Hargeon-"

"Hargeon, got it! Let's go, Happy."

"Aye, sir!"

Happy and I dashed through the doors outside, but before we got far, someone was calling my name. I turned around to see Lisanna running after me.

"Where are you going?" She asked.

"I'm going to save Lucy, of course!" I answered most obviously. "It's my fault that she went alone, so now I have to go fix it."

I was in a hurry, but Lisanna looked like she wasn't finished yet. She had her head down with her bangs covering her eyes, her shoulders shaking. "Natsu... I can't take it anymore," she choked suddenly. Why was she so distressed?

"Can't take what?" I asked confused.

"It's not you, and it's not Lucy... it was me..." Fresh tears began falling from her eyes.

"What are you talking about?"

Lisanna took a moment to breathe, then looked straight at me with those glossy eyes. "I was the one who rejected you last night, not Lucy!" she yelled.

"What?" I was confused, then shocked. I didn't want to believe it, but with Lisanna's Takeover magic, that would mean...

"I tookover as Lucy..." she said more quietly this time.

"But... why?"

"I heard your confession to her yesterday, and I couldn't... I thought that you would get over her if she rejected you... but I was wrong." She began wiping the tears out of her eyes with her arm. "I can see now how much you really love her."

"But Lisanna, why would you do that?"

"Because I... I..." She balled her hands into fists and gathered up all of her courage to answer. "Because I like you!"

My eyes widened as I gasped in surprise. "Gomen'nasai!" I bowed as I apologized. I never knew that Lisanna felt that way about me before. Sure we were best friends as kids, and I might've even gotten a thing for her in the past, but that was a long time ago. How long has she had these feelings? Boy was I a bigger idiot.

When I straightened my back, I saw that Lisanna has calmed down, but had a wide eyed expression. "Sorry... But I see you more like a sister than anything else. Sorry I can't return the same feelings to you."

More tears flushed out of Lisanna's eyes, but she smiled slightly as she wiped them away. "It's okay... After all, you really like her, don't ya?"

"Yeah..." I replied.

Lisanna sucked in some air to recomposed herself. "All right, then what are you waiting for? You got a train to catch!" She spoke more optimistically.

"Lisanna..."

"Hey, don't worry about me. There's still time to fix my mistake. You better hurry before it's too late," she encouraged with her usual smile, but I could tell from her eyes that she was still sad.

"Right," I nodded. Lisanna turned back to the guild, but I didn't move an inch. "Lisanna," I called out once more. She turned her head, looking at me unexpectedly. "Do you still wanna be friends?"

Lisanna spun her whole body around, completely surprised. "What?" was her response. "You mean... After what I just did, you still want to be friends?"

"Of course I do," I strongly replied. I then sheepishly scratched the back of my head. "I mean, I'm not too happy about what you did, but I can't stay mad at you forever." Lisanna was too close of a friend to lose, and frankly, I felt sorry for her. I recently knew the pain of being rejected, so I understood how she felt. "And besides, we're a part of Fairy Tail, so we're family no matter what!" As I exclaimed this, I raised my index finger to the sky, signaling our Fairy Tail trademark.

Lisanna cried again, but this time with tears of joy as she smiled brightly toward me. "Right," she agreed as raised her finger as well.

"Natsu!" I heard Happy's voice calling from behind me. I turned around to see him flying to my direction.

"What are you still doing here?" He asked me urgently. I didn't even noticed that he left ahead of me.

"You mean you didn't even notice that you left me behind?" I teased back. Although, it was a good thing that he unintentionally left me, otherwise he would've seen the drama. "Never mind that. Come on, we have to go save Lucy!"

Still to be continued....