The next day...

           The occupants of cabin number 12 wake up early.  At least three of them do anyway while Lisanna remains fast asleep.  Happy does not say anything as Lucy gets up, enters the bathroom and changes into some dry clothes.  He remains silent as Natsu dresses in the room.  When he sees Natsu and Lucy leave together he decides not to tell Lisanna.  No use in making her more angry.  

        Lisanna wakes up a few hours later.  She sees Natsu is gone. She notices Lucy is no where nearby either.  She thinks, perhaps Lucy went on a walk and Natsu went down to breakfast.  Yes, that is it, she reasons to herself.  She has no reasons to believe otherwise. She thinks, after all they are all just friends, right?

       Meanwhile, Nalu, is at the breakfast table alone. They eat some fruit, pancakes and eggs with milk for Natsu to drink, and apple juice  for  Lucy.  The two finish sooner than usual since Natsu decides to stick closer to her ever since the accident last night.  He is just glad she did not die.  He shudders to think what would happen if he did not act right when he did.  He also ponders his decision to invite Lisanna to come as well.

       "N-Natsu, do you think Lisanna will mind that we did not wait up for her?"  Lucy ask.

      "Oh, do not be silly, Luce!  She will just fine.  She is a grown woman."  Natsu says.

      "Yes, but she does not seem to  like me."  Lucy says.

       "I think you worry about nothing.  She just does not want to admit she was afraid to try to help that is all."  Natsu says.

       "Okay, if you say so."  Lucy remarks.

      "Hey, you want to play some pool at the pool table with me?"  Natsu says.  

     "Sure that sounds like fun!"  Lucy says.

         "Good, let us go then!"  Natsu remarks, as he grabs her hand and runs towards the game room.  He does not let go of  her hand until they are near the pool table.

        "Goodness, you were in  rush to get here!"  Lucy responds.

       "Yes, well it is not everyday me and my best girl get to have some alone time." Natsu says.

          Lucy blushes at the compliment.  She is not sure what to think.  She smiles.  She watches Natsu set up the balls and lets him go first.  She waits until he hits the six, and four into place.  Wow, he is good at this!  She thinks.

        "Natsu, that is fantastic!"  Lucy squeals with delight.

          Natsu notices her eyes sparkle a bit. He smiles in amusement. He could get use to this. He thinks, man she is cute. He watches to see her take her turn at the game. 

         Lucy grabs up a long pole, puts chalk on the end, and aims.  She hits the number 2 and 5 and they land inside a goal.  She thinks, well, since it has been years since my sister and I last did this I suppose that is okay.

      "Luce, that is well it is amazing!"  Natsu says.  He gives her a high five.

         The whole time, Lisanna does not suspect  a thing, or so it seems.  She just relaxes out on a chair near the shuffel board game.  She sits there and reads while some other passengers play this silly old fashioned game.  She eventually takes a nap and ends up with a nice suntan.  She dreams that she and Natsu are away together without Lucy. 

        As  Lisanna dreams, Natsu and Lucy continue on with the pool game.  Natsu wins!  He lets Lucy decide what to do next.  He smiles, when she says,  "How about we go for a walk around the deck?  It would be nice and well, uh, we could just enjoy one another's c-company?   What do y-you s-say, N-Natsu?" 

       "Luce, that is sounds great to me!  Wow, it looks like we were closer to the island of Hawaii than we were yesterday!"  Natsu remarks.

      "Y-yeah, it d-does!"  Lucy mutters.  She thinks, I have no idea what awaits us as we approach our final destination.   She just knows that it is nice to spend time with Natsu without Lisanna's  glares, rude remarks and more.  

       Nalu holds hands the entire time as they walk to the second floor to the ship.  It seems they can see everything from here.  This sure is a nice scene one with a nice view, and one where no one else happens to be at the moment.  It is the place where Lucy wonders, will it happen?  Will I end up with him ?   

     Natsu does not know that Lucy feels anything more than friendship towards him. He is one clueless man.  He also, has no intentions to hurt her feelings.  He does not realize that Lisanna cares more for him than she lets on either.  What he does not know can it really be that bad?  

      "N-Natsu how do you feel about m-me?"  Lucy ask.

      "Wh-what do you mean?"  Natsu replies.

       "I mean what do think I am to you?"  Lucy ask. She is not sure why she ask this. She looks away.  She lets go of his hand.  She refuses to look his way.  

     "I honestly do not know, Luce.  I mean you are one special girl. I admit I did panic when I thought you would drown last night!  What else do you want from me?"  Natsu says.

      Lucy does not say anything more. She just stands their with a funny  look on her face. She does not smile.  She does not laugh. She does not know how to react.  She sighs. She thinks, it was a mistake to ask him how he feels since it turns how he rejects her.  She should know.  

      Natsu watches as Lucy walks away. He does not try to stop her.  He just lets her go.  He is not sure why he does this.  He is not quite sure of anything.  He sighs, puts his hands in his pockets and his head down.  He thinks, what did I do?  what should I do?   

      Lucy returns to the cabin without him.  She goes to the bathroom, prepares for bed, and puts on a fresh set of pajamas.  Why?  Why did everything have to go so well?  Why did he have to make her feel important only to brush her off when she tries to find out if he loves her?  Does this mean what she thinks it does?  She breaks down and cries.  She does not notice when Natsu enters the room.  She does not look to see Happy give Natsu a look of disapproval.  She does not see the smirk Lisanna gives her to show how happy she at her misery.

    Happy pulls his journal and writes, Well unknown to certain people, Nalu went out today. They seem to be happy together, but are they really?   Life has a funny way of doing things we never expect.  After all, yesterday Lucy nearly drowns only to have Natsu rescue her!  Then, this evening Lucy comes back her in tears. She tries to hide them from everyone.  Yet, I can tell something must have taken place to cause those.  It was recent too.  What was it?  What did Natsu do?   I give him a look of annoyance to show how I am not to happy that he made Lucy cry.  How could he?  How could Natsu do this to her?  He claims she is his best friend next to me yet he goes and pulls something like this.  Poor Lucy, I do hope the girl sleeps well, survives the trip and will be alright.  I also, hope Natsu finds out how he feels about her soon, because one never knows when or how it might be to late.

     Happy closes the notebook, hides and goes to sleep. He is worn out from all this back and forth stuff between Natsu and the woman.  Why on earth does Natsu think he can toy with their feelings?  He wonders what his buddy hopes to accomplish when it comes to this?   What does he hope to achieve with Lucy or Lisanna?  What if Lucy runs away, or even worse actually does drown?  He struggles with his own thoughts as Lucy cries herself to sleep, Lisanna smirks an evil girn and Natsu looks at Lucy with confusion.

    to be continued in Chapter  4  Nali Hang out?

      *Author's  Note: Until next time, Have a great day or night whichever time zone you get to read this in and do not copy this story line.    Happy Reading!   Thanks, Sincerely, Summer Cheng.