Lucy felt a cold chill, nudging her awake.
Did I leave the window open?
She stretched her arms slightly, blinking, to find that her blankets were no longer snugly tucked around her. In fact, they didn't appear to exist at all. She yawned, crinkling her eyebrows in confusion.
As the fog of sleep dissipated from her mind, she registered quiet but shallow breathing – almost a pant. Fearing a break in she scrambled into a seated position. The moonlight leaking in through the window, however, revealed the room to be empty. She let out a sigh of relief. She took a look around the bed, trying to find her covers.
Instead of curling them around her and going back to sleep, she let out a gasp. Tangled uncomfortably in her sheets was a shaky and sickly Natsu. He lay on his stomach, still fully dressed in his usual one-sleeved coat, pink hair ruffled in some places and plastered to his head in others. One hand gripped Lucy's fitted sheet tightly, the other pinned awkwardly under his chest as he convulsed. He was drenched in sweat, breathing raggedly through his nose.
Memories of the day before flooded into her mind. Ever since the Eclipse debacle after the Grand Magic Games, Natsu had been pestering anybody and everybody to let him try eating their magic. He insisted getting used to other elements would come in handy and had even begged her to summon Loke so he could have a taste of Regulus Light. She had refused, but Loke had shown up anyway. Natsu had gone home soon after that. She knew it had made him sick, but not this sick. Though he often snuck in to her room, it was a rare and desperate occasion that he snuck into her bed in the middle of the night.
"Natsu, wake up," she said, shifting his head and putting a hand to his forehead. She immediately wrenched it away. He was burning up – very literally. His skin was so hot it left a slight scald mark on her palm. Even for Natsu this fever was incredible. She quickly clambered to the bathroom, pulling out a washcloth and soaking it in cold water. She delicately climbed back onto the bed, careful not to shift the mattress much, and laid the cool cloth over his forehead. He gasped, tensing further at the contact.
"Shh, it's okay, Natsu," she whispered. After disentangling the blankets and sheets from him, she carefully unwound his scarf from his neck. She couldn't tell if he was asleep or just in too much pain to show otherwise. "You're gonna be okay. Breathe."
He let out a pitiful whimper, shakily grasping at the bed. Lucy checked the washcloth and found the cold had completely evaporated off of it, making it useless. She peeled it off of his forehead and made toward the kitchen to get a bucket of ice and several more cloths. Knowing how things had gone when he had eaten Etherion, she decided to grab an extra bucket as well.
Natsu made a sort of choked retching sound and Lucy picked up her pace, hauling her equipment back into the room much less quietly than she had intended. She wrapped several ice cubes in a washcloth and dabbed it against his forehead. Thank goodness he didn't vomit. He'd be covered in it. Horror stories of people having seizures and suffocating in their own puke flashed through her mind and she was suddenly very glad she hadn't upgraded her window locks.
"L-Lucy…" Natsu's eyes were still glued shut, his jaw so tense Lucy was afraid he might crack his teeth.
"I'm right here," she assured, scooping more ice into her rag. "It'll be okay. Deep breaths, Natsu."
Whether at her command or coincidentally he attempted a deeper inhale, shuddering and whimpering with the exhale. The pained look on his face grew sharper and more desperate. He tried again but gave up almost immediately. She wrung the cloth over his head and scooped up more ice as his shallow breaths gave way into small, fearful cries. She had never seen him like this – not even on trains.
Laying the cloth over his head and wrapping two more around her hands, she began to shift him onto his side. When the movement triggered another half-retch she decided against it, but she had to get his clothes off of him. If she didn't soon they might burst into flame all on their own anyway. Carefully she inched her arm under his burning torso until she found the clasp of the belt he had buckled over his coat. Wincing at the heat she awkwardly undid it and pulled it off of him. She replaced the cloth on his forehead and continued, tugging at the zipper of his coat. She peeled the soaked garment off of him, his sweat-drenched skin glistening in the moonlight. If the situation weren't so horrible – and if it were anyone but her best friend – she might have been turned on.
She scooped more ice into washcloths and began laying them over his bare back. His toned muscles twitched at the sudden cold.
"Breathe, Natsu," she coaxed, dabbing at his face. He didn't show any signs of having heard her.
She was somewhat surprised at herself. For non-wizards a situation like this would have been life or death, and even with magic this could have been something to panic about. Instead, she was cool and collected. Maybe Natsu was rubbing off on her; he was usually the one to stay sane when things went south.
She piled more ice onto his back and began tugging at his shoes. If it weren't two in the morning she would have rushed to Gray to get his help with this. Even then, though, the stories of seizures were still present in her mind and she wasn't sure she could have left him unattended for that long. Once his shoes were gone she took a deep breath and slipped her fingers over the edge of his pants. She couldn't count the number of times she had seen Natsu in just his boxers (though it didn't compare to the number of times she'd seen Gray), but seeing your friend stripped down and doing the stripping, for whatever reason, were totally different things. Natsu gagged again, so she forced her reservations aside and began tugging at his waistband.
"Natsu, I promise I'm not doing anything weird," she gulped, "This is just to help your fever."
She squeaked and pinched her eyes shut as she pulled his trousers the rest of the way off. She tried desperately not to think about the line she had just crossed and instead turned her attention to icing his back and forehead.
Suddenly he seized up, curling in on himself and heaving repeatedly.
"Natsu!" she squeaked. Ignoring the burns his skin left on her bare hands she pulled him to the edge of the bed, sliding the empty bucket next to his face. He made a few more strained noises before vomiting off the edge of the mattress. Faintly glowing bile spattered into the bucket with a splosh.
Lucy grimaced as Natsu continued to retch, puking a second, third, and fourth time before nothing else would come up. He was most definitely awake now, gripping the bed frame with an almost frantic look in his eyes. She wished she could make the dry-heaves that racked his body stop. At least half-digested celestial spirit magic didn't smell horrible – with his sense of smell that would have made things infinitely worse.
She grabbed a cloth and began dabbing at his forehead again, forcing herself not to tear up. "You have to breathe, Natsu. It'll be okay. Breathe."
He nodded weakly, arms trembling from propping himself up over the bucket. He inhaled slowly but was interrupted by a convulsion, wrenching his stomach into his throat painfully and leaving him coughing. Knowing now that nothing else would be escaping his stomach for a while, Lucy moved the bucket away and gently lifted him all the way onto the bed. He was still quite hot, but this time her hands weren't instantly scalded when she touched him. She grabbed a cloth from her pile and wiped the residual vomit from his lips.
"Lu-Lucy…" he choked out, his tense muscles beginning to release, "w-water…"
"I've got you." She smiled at him kindly and rushed into the kitchen, quickly bringing back a pitcher and a small glass.
She handed it to him and guided his quavering hands to hold it to his lips. She watched him as he let the cool liquid slide into his mouth, savoring every drop as it passed over his tongue. When he'd finished she took the glass and set it next to the pitcher.
"Better?" she asked. He closed his eyes and gave her a pale nod.
She sighed in relief. He still seemed quite hot and very shaky, but at least the worst of the stomach ache seemed to have passed. Regardless, she was going to have to cancel all her plans for tomorrow. The Etherion had put him out of commission for a week – with Regulus Light and all the other random things he tried this time, who knew how long he would be sick?
Lucy watched as her teammate sunk into somewhat fitful sleep but sleep nonetheless. It was likely she wouldn't get any more sleep tonight. Sighing, she went to her closet and pulled out a spare pillow and blanket. She sat them down next to the bed before picking up the bucket of vomit and leaving for the kitchen to rinse it out. Cleaning out the glowing yellow puke was disgusting, but she'd cleaned up worse on some of their train rides. The time he had eaten a boatload of flying fish, for instance. Those nasty things were disgusting before he had eaten them. There weren't words to describe what they were like after they had escaped his stomach onto the floor of the train car.
She carried the bucket back into the bedroom and knelt down by the bed. Natsu had curled onto his side, clinging his knees to his chest. She lifted the washcloth from his forehead and tenderly replaced it with a cold one, the pained expression on his face lessening. She smiled through her worry. He'll be fine.
She let her hand linger on his cheek before curling up in her spare blanket and setting the extra pillow over the side of her bed frame. His breathing was shallow, and in order to hear it better, she decided to sleep slumped across the edge of her mattress. It wasn't terribly comfortable, but it worked. She settled in and laid her head on her arms.
A soft whimper called her attention. She sighed and lifted her head again. Are those… tears?
Lucy put a hand to his shoulder. "Natsu, wake up."
He buried his face further into the mattress. He wasn't convulsing anymore, but he still jerked about, fists clenching and unclenching at random.
"N-no… don't…" he mumbled. He must be dreaming.
"Natsu," she cooed, shaking him lightly, "You're dreaming. It's okay. Wake up."
He bit his lip and unconsciously shook his head. "D-don't… you c-can't… let her g-go…"
Lucy's eyebrows furrowed. Her? "Natsu, it's just a dream. You're safe."
"N-no… n-no…!" His murmurs grew into sobs. "Let Lucy g-go…! D-don't hurt her!"
Any hint of grogginess Lucy had been feeling was now gone. She quickly climbed onto the bed and began working Natsu's tight fingers open.
"Shh, Natsu, I'm right here." She managed to get a fist open. "You're safe. Breathe, Natsu."
He sobbed harder, twining the fingers of his open hand through hers and clenching desperately. The pressure nearly crushed her hand and the heat was scalding. Her wince was eaten up by his loud cry.
Instinctively she scooted closer and pulled him into an embrace. His bare skin scorched at hers through her silky pink pajamas, but she ignored it. She held his shaking form tighter, pinning his arms between their torsos.
"S-stop…"
Sobs racked his body as he cried into her chest. She continued to hold him, whispering into his ear.
"Shhh… it's okay, I'm right here. You're safe. Breath, Natsu. It's just a dream."
Ages seemed to pass, and his sobs began to die down. She couldn't tell if his skin had cooled or if she had just gotten used to the heat. At last she felt him inhale deeply before shuddering into a calmer breathing pattern. She sighed, relieved.
She felt his arm shift where it was pinned. She gasped as she felt his quivering hands slide around her waist and up her back, holding her just as tightly as she held him. A shivering sigh escaped his lips. He buried his face into her collar.
"You're alive…" he breathed, and then fell asleep.
Lucy lay there silently, eyes wide. He was drenched in sweat and burning under her touch – not particularly comfortable for her. Despite that, she felt as though she could drift off to sleep as well. Her eyes flickered over his drenched pink hair to his toned back. She had seen Natsu shirtless plenty of times – heck, when they had first met he had only worn a small open vest. But here, at two in the morning, after seeing him so vulnerable, she had a new appreciation for the defined muscles he sported all over his body. Lying this close she could see hundreds of tiny stretch marks striping his skin. He must have worked really hard for this. To get this strong.
The thought made her smile. That was so Natsu. The most important thing in the world to him were his friends – his guild. Not a day went by where he didn't mention something about protecting them all. These tiny stripes were a testament to that.
She settled into his strong arms, ignoring the uncomfortable heat, and sighed.
You're incredible, Natsu, she thought. I'm glad that this time, I got to protect you instead.
AN: I got stuck writing the second chapter of Scripted Wishes because this little idea wouldn't get out of my head. Might make it a two-shot if y'all liked it - already have some ideas. Enjoy while I finish Scripted Wishes Chapter 2.