Hello! I've finished another Request Fic. This time for the lovely, Otakuanna95 ! I'm sorry I didn't post it sooner, but I just couldn't come up with something that hadn't really been done before... and then with the new Manga updates with Chapter 414 (-sobs-) I fell into even more of a jam!
Anywhere, here it is, please enjoy!
Request Prompt: Lucy Consoling Natsu over Igneel.
Also, as usual- I own nothing, just my own heart broken feels.
Sun in the Rain
It was raining. Not in the way you see the sky open up and unleash its fury- but in a mist of dark skies that came and hovered over the very mind for days. The overcast skies made the green of Fiore dampened in gloom even as children danced and giggled in the puddles.
For Natsu, the rain hadn't stopped in weeks. Not since then. Not since that day. Time had stopped and even as he walked his mind screamed to stay standing- but the Dragon Slayer was tired. Not from a lack of sleep- though the dark circles around his eyes would say otherwise, but from the rain. It came from him in a steady downpour that left his eyes swollen and heart torn bare. It had beat against his defenses until he was ready to crumble. Natsu Dragneel was, for once, ready to fall.
His feet kept on walking. He didn't hear the worried voice of Happy or the quiet tone of Lucy silencing the Exceed. He only saw gray rain as he followed the slim waist of his golden haired partner. Even she seemed lack luster- consumed in the constant depressing rain.
"We're almost there." She said after a time- steps heavy in the prevailing silence.
He grunted his ascent- acknowledging her words, but refusing to look up. He knew where they were going and he wasn't sure if he could handle seeing it. Not just yet, how could he focus on the graves of her parents when his own loss was still so fresh? There was never a time he had felt so uncertain before then, but now, it gripped him like Dragon Talons.
The scent of flowers wafted through the windows- a testament of Lucy's devotion to her parents nestled tightly in her arms. Soon, they would be face to face with the graves of Jude and Layla Heartfilia and the silence would engulf them.
And even more rain.
Feeling the weight of his furry companion settle on his head, Natsu's ch est swelled in a miz of gratitude and pain. Like a band aide covering half a wound still being cut. He pet Happy's ears absentmindedly in assurance even as the murky skies devoured his voice. Happy was now solemn, lost on what to do or say for his two favorite team mates. But then- he gasped and his once limp tail thrashed in excited thumps that caught the scaly scarf around Natsu's neck.
"Look, Natsu, look!" He exclaimed, now digging his paws into the slayer's scalp.
"What is it Happy?" Hissing from feline claws, Natsu finally realized that Lucy was no longer in front of him. Instead, she was kneeling by the graves- how were they there already?- and placing the bouquet down gently. Quietly, she removed the Broken Key of Aquarius from her belt and also placed it along smooth marble. Its resounding clang echoed in Natsu's ears like a gong and his heart clenched.
For that wasn't Layla's grave she had placed it on, nor Jude's, but on a third, much smaller monument. Engraved upon its surface was the symbol of Fairy Tail and Dragon Wings.
'In Memory of Igneel'
'A loving Father until the End.'
"Lu-lucy?" His words caught in the air as he choked. Eyed wide at the words now burning themselves into his retinas. There was no date on the marker, but it wasn't needed. Instead, his eyes lost focused and a lump formed in his throat making it hard to breathe even as his chest heaved.
The Celestial Wizard did not turn to look at him, instead she sat on her knees as her shoulders shook from tears that wracked her body. Nervous anxiety permeated the air as she spoke in a small voice, "I hope you don't mind..." She stuttered, voice just as thick from emotion as his own. "Maybe you would have preferred it at home or.. or not at all, but... I wanted.. I just wanted...to do this for you."
Sniffling, she wiped her eyes and added, "Th-that way... we can grieve together."
Natsu didn't know when he started moving or when his own tears began a steady stream down his cheeks, but his arms were around his team mate in moments as he buried his nose into her hair. He took in her scent, her tears, her lithe frame pressed against him and his sight blurred. She had done this for him- with money she may have took from her own rent funds, but she had done it.
"Thank you, Lucy." He finally rasped against the nape of her neck, semi-aware of her squirming in his embrace and turning to envelope him in her arms. Above them, Happy clung to his hair, wailing in tears that matched their own while a watery smile shown out between the two.
"Natsu-" She hiccuped, hiding her red-rimmed eyes in his scarf as they melted together in a heap of sorrow and mending hearts.
"It's perfect."
The rain continued to fall, but finally, Natsu could see the sun.