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Hey, Readers! So, yeah, I'm watching Heroes, for the sake of the mighty Zachary Quinto, and then, suddenly, BOOM! Chapter Idea! I was dancing like a fool! Sometimes I wonder, Is there really something wrong? And then I realize, Yeah, pretty much. Get a Doctor.  Lol Anyhoo, here's Chapter 23, ENJOY!!!!

P.S- SORRYSORRYSORRYSORRYSORRYSORRYSORRYSORRYSORRYSORRY! FINALS ARE A PAIN IN THE ASS! That's the reason why I haven't updated in a while.

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Natsu P.O.V

When I woke up this morning, it was Christmas. How could I tell? Because my little sister barged into my rooms carrying Happy and Carla coverd in ribbons. She jumped on top of my bed and squealed to the top of her lungs, "IT'S CHRISTMAS!"

I remembered how I used to be so excited for this holiday. I mean, there were presents, snow, cookies and milk, Santa, and so many things in red, green, and white. I remember how this used to be my favorite holiday in the whole world. But like most teenagers, the holiday just became...well, a holiday to me. I slowly got up from bed and groaned. I looked over at my clock and saw thaat it was only nine thirty. "Why'd you wake me up so early?"

"Because there are stacks of presents with my name on it and I want to open them NOW," Wendy growled. She jumped off my bed and ran down the stairs while the cats cried for mercy. I sighed and slowly walked down stairs in nothing but sweatpants. By the time I got to the livingroom, I could already see my mother and sister ripping through the wrapping paper. Sometimes I wondered how I was related to these people. "Waaah, rollerskates from Dad!"

"I got a nice bracelet from your father too! Even when he's far away he stills sends me nice things," my mother swooned. I laughed and joined my female family members and the sea of wrapping paper. I opened a few of them and got some alright gifts: some jeans, sweaters, t-shirts from some aunts, the usual. But when I found Dad's present, it caught my eye. It was a pretty small box covered in nothing but in brown paper packages tied up in string. I picked it up with one hand and slowly pulled the string. I opened it to find a key. I looked back at my mom, and she simply simled. My eyes widened when I realized what I thought it was. "You're kidding."

"Yup," my mother smiled. "You're new car is sitting out by the curb as we speak. Excitement arose within me. I rushed over to the window to see that she was right. A shiny black grey car was parked on the side of the curb in front of our house. I literally jumped up and down with excitement. I gave my mom a huge hug and kept repeating, "Thank you!" 

"Aw, you deserve it. Think of it as both a Christmas and a graduation present from me and your father."

"How did you guys even afford this?"

"Let's just say that being a principal and an executive detective has it's advantages. Just don't go crashing that car."

"Do you really trust him with a car?" Wendy asked. "He might make everything go KABLOOEY!"

"Shaddup, Wendy," I laughed. I gave my mom a kiss on the cheek and ran upstairs. I ran into my room  and grabbed a shirt for me to wear. When I opened my closet door, the first thing that fell was Juliet. She plopped onto the ground,  making a squeak sound. I picked it up and examined from ears to paws. 

Then, an idea burned bright in my head.

"Hey Mom," I called out from my room, "can I borrow some wrapping paper!"

Later that day, I took Juliet in a wrapped up box and drove my way to the hospital. The car was reallly nice. Leather seating, satalite stereo, awesome milage, and it had bluetooth. For a while I even thought that my parents stole the car. But for some reason, I was more excited about Juliet. It had been such a long time since Lucy had seen her, and I think today was the perfect day for them to meet again. I parked my car in the parking lot and made my way into the hospital.

The minute I entered the hospital, I could hear christmas music everywhere. There were at least five groups of carolers singing around the whole hospital, which was decorated in red and green streemers. I found Mirajane by the front desk, who welcomed me with a warm, "Merry Christmas, child!"

"Merry Christmas, Aunt Mira," I greeted, giving her a hug. She noticed the giant present and gave me a playful wink. "Let me guess: for Lucy?"

I blushed a little. "Yeah. It's something that I found. She used to play with it when we were little."

"Well, I'm sure she'll appreciate it." I nodded and made my way through the halls of the hospital. I then suddenly collided with another person, knocking my present to the ground. The person quickly bent down and picked up the present with a bried, "I'm sorry." Before I could thank the person, they had already left. I looked back to see it was a girl wearing our school unifrom. From what I could see, her hair was short and black. Have I seen her before? I shrugged off the question and just walked to Lucy's room. When I opened the door, I found her asleep on her bed, wrapped like a cocoon. I smiled and slowly walked up to her bed side, gently putting the present down. I climbed onto her bed and just sat there for a while. She looked stunning when she was asleep. A couple strands of hair covered her face, and you could hear the sound of her voice when she breathed. Her skin especially shined in the sun light. I gently shoved her shoulder and whispered, "Wake up, beautiful."

She groaned a little and slowly opened her eyes. When her sparkling eyes met mine, she smiled. "Good morning."

"Don't you mean good afternoon? It's already noon, and it's Christmas."

"It's already noon?" Lucy asked sleepily, trying to get up. I simply pushed her down and gently kissed her forhead. "You don't need to worry about the time of day. It's Christmas."

She smiled, kissing the tip of my nose. "Merry Christmas, Natsu."

"Merry Christmas, Princess." I laid to my side and held Lucy tightly. I noticed how Lucy's skin was very cold. "They aren't giving you enough blankets in this hospital. You're body is so cold." 

"The weather's getting harsher, that's all. They're giving me all that I need," Lucy chuckled. I then realized that I had almost forgotten Lucy's present. I got up, grabbed Lucy's  present, and presented it to her. "Here. For you."

Lucy got up and stared at the present with amazement. "Natsu...You didn't have to-"

"Believe  me, you'll love this present." She slowly touched the box and pulled the ribbon off. The wrapping paper fall off, and she slowly lifted the lid. She looked inside and gasped. She reached down and picked up the stuffed rabbit. Tears immediately fell from her face. "N...Natsu...It's...It's..."

"I've kept this for years...as a momentum of what should've been...Merry Christmas, Lucy." She squeezed Juliet tightly against her chest and continued to cry. I smiled and gently rubbed away the tears. She looked up at me and gave me the biggest hug. She buried her face in my shirt and whispered the words, "Thank you...I love you."

I chuckled. "I love you too." She looked up at me and attempted to wipe away the tears, but more kept coming out of her eyes. I helped her out, though she was an emotional mess. She lifted Juliet in the air and said to me, "I can feel the ten years old me coming back again."

"Is that a good thing?" I asked.

She nodded. "Yeah, it is." Her eyes flickered and she suddenly pressed her hand against her chest. She cried out a little, which startled me. "H-Hey! Are you alright?"

"O-o yeah. It's just been going on for a while. It will go away soon." She took a few breathes, and then a big relieving sigh. She gave a reassuring smile. "See, all gone."

I sighed with relief, holding her hand. "Don't do that to me. I care about you too much." She smiled and nodded. She grabbed her glasses, put it on, and once again her eyes flickered, but not with pain. She pointed to something and asked, "What's that?" I looked behind me and found a present sitting right beside the TV. I walked out of the bed and went over to pick it up and shook it around. The box was covered in a red and green wrapping paper with a green and white ribbon. "I don't know. I didn't get it for you?"

"Open it. See what it is." I ripped up the wrapping paper and lifted the lid open.

It was a magnet. 

"What the hell," I muttered. I picked it up and found a little note on the bottom:

Merry Christmas, Honeybee. 

Furious, I went over to the window and chucked the magnet out the window. "Natsu, what was it?"

"Another magnet," I hissed. I looked over at the note again and waved it in front of Lucy's face. "Do you know anything about this?" She took the note from my hand and examined the note. Her face remained expressionless. She put the paper down and sighed. "I've gotten another one before."

My eyes widened. "And you didn't bother to tell me?"

"I didn't mind of it! I thought it was just a fan of yours  or something; someone with a crush!" 

"You still should've told me, Luce! You almost died with a magnet, remember!"

"I know, I-" Lucy then stopped. She grabbed her chest once again, and began to gasp. She tried taking a few deep breathes, but for some reasonn she was still wheezing. "N...Nat...su...I...I..."

And then, she passed out.

My heart stopped. "Lucy?" I walked up to her and shook her shoulders. "Lucy! LUCY!" I pressed my ear against my heart.

It was beating too fast. Panicking, I ran over and pressed the Code Blue button. Immediately, people came rushing in. They all pushed me away and began to surround Lucy. Aunt Mira was there as well. "Natsu, you have to get out."

"W-What's happening to Lucy?" 

"It could be that mysterious something I was talking about a few weeks back. It might be effecting her heart. Right now, you need to go, now!"

"She needs to go to in ER now!" A doctor called out. They then pushed her bed out of the door and rushed her into an ER. My heart fell. It was now just Aunt Mira and me. My body was shaking. Just a moment ago we were holding each other, and now she was in surgery. Aunt Mira sighed, a tear traveling down her face. "Let's go outside and wait."

I blindly nodded, following her. I was praying in my head, and I wasn't the religious type. But I still continued to pray and pray.

Please God, I begged in my mind. Save her. 

Lucy P.O.V

Whenever I woke up from passing out, I always smelled bubblegum in the air. I didn't know why, I just did. When I did wake up the first person I saw was Natsu, sitting by the chair with his face buried in his hands. He looked so sad. Aunt Mira and Lisanna were next to him, and Len was in between them. "N...Natsu?"

Natsu looked up and quickly rushed over to my side. He held my hand and kissed it almost a hundred times. "Oh God, you're okay, you're okay, you're okay."

I smiled. "Of course...I'm okay...."

"Don't you ever do that ever again," Natsu hissed, pressing his forehead against mine. 

"I'll try not to," I smiled, kissing his hand slowly. Aunt Mira woke up and saw that I was awake and rushed over next to Natsu. "You troublesome child," Mira said. "You've got to stop messing with my frail heart."

"You're only...twenty-five," I reminded her.

"It's still frail!" Mira laughed. There was a knock on the door. It was my usual doctor, Dr. Samuels, by the door, holding a clipboard. "Rise and shine."

"Good afternoon, Dr. Samuels," I greeted. 

"I think you mean good evening. It's already midnight, Lucy."

"What?" I tried sitting up, but I was still in a little pain. Natsu helped me by supporting my back. I sighed with relief and asked, "How did my surgery go?"

His old face then saddened. He walked over to my bed and sat on th edge of the bed and sighed, which was "Doctor" for something went wrong. And then, he began to speak:

"Lucy...We've identified what's going on with you're heart. There is a moderate-sized tumor directly on your heart. We didn't  notice before because it was miniscule. But now it has grown tremendously."

My eyes widened. Tumor? But that meant cancer? I lowered my head and asked, "Is it...operable?"

"Your cancer is a rare case, but there is one person in the world who can operate on it. His name is Doctor Johnathon Thantos. He has agreed to operate on you as soon as he finishes his research in Aubos."

"What are...the success rates?" I dared to ask.

He was silent for a while. "With Dr. Thantos doing the operation...A good forty percent."

I gasped a little, but quickly replaced it with a cheerful smile. "That's way better than none if you ask me."

Dr. Samuels smiled. "Until the surgery, I want you hospitalized. If you want, I can make Acasia Mercinco move in here."

"That would be nice," I smiled. "But...I do have a question."

"What is it?"

"What about my transplant? Does that mean I'm moved up the list?"

"The board is discussing that as we speak. Now, I bid you a good night. Happy Christmas." And with that, he walked out of my room. 

Quiet. Dead silence. Aunt Mira rubbed my forehead and half-sobbed. "You poor girl...Oh, you poor girl."

"Does that mean that...Lucy is going to die?" Lisanna asked.

"Lisanna!" Mira hissed. She looked at me, and then at Natsu. "I think we should leave these two alone for a while. Lisanna, go pick up Len for me." She did what she was told and picked up Len, walking out of my room.

It was just Nastu and me.

He looked paralyzed. His body was shaking, and it looked like he wanted to speak. I looked up and sighed. Tears suddenly began to fall down my face. No, no , no. Not now. I wiped them off my face and whispered, "You don't have to stay."

"W-What?" He asked, his voice shooken up.

"You can just...forget about me. It's obviously I've been too much for you. If you want to walk away...and forget about me...I won't be angry. I'll understand."

Silence grew once again. I knew what he was going to do. He would walk out, forget about me, probably find another girl that could make him happy. It wasn't his fault.

It was mine. 

"Do you really think I'm that kind of guy?" My eyes widened. I looked over at him to see something I've never seen before. 

Natsu crying.

"I," he whispered, "I love you, Lucy! I love you so, so much. I'm not going to leave just because you have an extra piece of meat on your heart!"

"Natsu, I-"

"Let me finish!" He yelled. "Who cares if you have only 40% success rate! I will be with you, dead or alive!" He crawled on top of my bed and hovered over me. "I love you, Lucy Heartfilia. Ain't nothing going to change that."

I was loosing control. My tears were now flooding out of my eyes. "Natsu...I'm scared...I'm so scared."

"Shh," he whispered. "I know, I know."

"C...Can you sleep beside me tonight?" His eyes flickered, and his frown turned into a smile. He nodded and crawled under the covers with me. He wrapped his arms around my waist, holding on to my hand. He gently kissed the back of my head. "Goodnight, Lucy."

"Goodnight..Natsu." And with that, we fell asleep in each other's arms, not knowing the tremendous battle we would be fighting in the future.