This short story takes place after Tartarus attacks. It's fairly sad and I hope this ISN'T how this arc really ends, but for some reason I felt like writing a tragic ending.
P.s I'm one hundred percent a Nalu shipper, but remember this story is a tragedy, and things may turn out the way you don't want them to. So no hate please. (You hardcore nalu shippers will see what I'm saying when I finish this short story)
I hope you do enjoy, let the crying commense! (JK)((Natsu and Lucy forever!))
After the End: Part 1
What is left? Tartarus may be defeated, but at what cost? Lucy's knees melt into the burning earth as she remains paralyzed on the ground at the sight of what was their precious Magnolia. Now- once thriving country, filled with life, filled with hope and love- is nothing more than scorching remains of what she once held dear. This is the cost.
They're gone. All of them. Erza. Died in battle. Face may have annihilated magic but that didn't stop her from picking up a sword and charging head on. Her last breath screamed the strength of our bond and courage. Even after she bled to death Lucy could hear Erza's cries echoing in the crusade.
Mirajane. Lisanna. Elfman. All killed protecting one another until the end. Juvia. Lost to the clutches of silver, frozen in eternal ice and shattered to bits. Cana. Not even her father could save her. Acnalogia took them both in one fell swoop. And Wendy. Lucy cringes at the thought. Died with Carla clenched in her arms. Happy…
Her cut up hand slams into the ground as the disturbing images flash before her eyes.
"Natsu!" She mumbles, teeth clenched to the point of almost breaking.
"Lucy!" Natsu's voice creeps into her dark memories. His blood stained hands wrapped around her wrists as if to suffocate them while he dragged her behind.
"Natsu! What are you doing?" Lucy had cried, struggling as he forcefully lead her to where she did not know. "We can't abandon Erza! We can't!" She was unaware of the tears that were rushing down her cheeks as she shouted hysterically. Had they really left her there, to fight Zeref and the demons alone? There's no way she can survive, not even Erza. "We have to go back! We have to fight together! We can't abandon Erza!" She screamed, violently bashing Natsu's hand that clung to her with no intent of letting go. "Natsu!"
"Lucy!" He had suddenly roared, turning to her, digging his fingers into her shoulders and shaking her to a stop. "We have no other choice! Someone has to hold them off…" His eyes hide behind the dirty bangs of hair that droop over them. No matter how shaken up Lucy may have been, she could still recognize the uncontrollable trembling that ran through his body and transferred to her own. It's obvious that Natsu wished he didn't have to leave her behind. Any of them behind. "It's the only way…we have to go…"
A tear. Had one slipped down his cheek? "Come on!" He said not nearly as loud, and continued pulling Lucy along.
The earth was clinging onto its last few moments of life when Natsu and Lucy had arrived to the remains of their guild. Only cobble stones and bits of wood claimed to be their precious Fairy Tail. Walking past all the ruble and towards the middle of the grounds, Natsu finally came to a stop. One sniff confirmed that they were at the place.
"What are we doing here?" Lucy asked, still in complete shock and devastation, while somehow managing to speak clearly. But Natsu didn't reply. Instead he opened a secret door below their feet.
"Huh? What is this?" She questioned, the tears momentarily halting.
"It's our only chance of survival." He had said coldly, staring down into the blackness. "Lucy, look at it for yourself…"
Not sure what to expect, Lucy slowly did what he asked, but when she came close to the opening in the ground, she saw nothing that appeared to be their savior.
That's when the bitterly chilling cuffs snatched her wrist.
"Wha…?" Before she even had a chance to conceive what was happening, Natsu wrapped his arms around her and pushed them both down into the darkness.
The rest happened so fast. Blind in the black, she only felt his body break their fall. Then unexpectedly her arm was jerked to one side.
Clang! Click!
"Huh?" She huffed, tugging her wrist, but the cuff kept her powerless, unable to pull away.
"Natsu! What are you doing?!" Lucy screeched, jerking and jerking with all her might, not even acknowledging the cuts the cuffs started to dig into her wrist.
A spark appeared from the darkness. Then a small flame grew into a blazing fire. Natsu, standing a few feet away from Lucy, held a torch and stared at her with absolute emptiness.
"Why?" She murmured, as she noticed the hand cuffs clenched to one of her arms and the other locked to a metal pipe in the ground. He had locked her up like a prisoner. "Why are you doing this?"
He lifted the light up. Natsu's eyes reflected the burning flame held to his face, revealing the agony and pain buried inside them. How could she not have seen it before?
"Lucy…you have to stay here. You'll be safe…"
"What? And what about you?"
"I have to go back…Zeref will be waiting, and he won't stop unless someone stops him…"
"No!" Lucy's blood curdling cry interrupts him. "I won't let you fight him alone, I won't let you just throw your life away, not as long as I'm alive!"
"Lucy…" He whispered, dropping his gaze to the ground.
"You can't do this! We're a team!" Her arms pulled harder and harder, trying to reach him. "I won't let you go out there, not without me! Natsu!"
The impact between the stone ground and the fallen torch echoed in the blackness.
Lucy's body remained still, as her cries dissolved and efforts to escape paused. His warm arm wrapped around her body, pulling Lucy into his chest and placing her chin upon his shoulder. Breath heavy and grip growing tighter, Natsu shaked as he held her deep in his grasp, afraid with all his soul to let go.
"I'm sorry Lucy…" His voice trembles. Natsu's hand ran up her back and held her head steady as his fingers buried into her hair. "But I can't… I can't let you die…"
Unable to move, Lucy's thundering heart was the only moving part in her body. Like a doll her eyes stayed stitched to staring in one direction. The pitch black.
"…You don't know Lucy… you don't understand…" His hands drew away from her body and slipped up to her cheeks. "There's one thing that I've always held precious to me…one thing I've always fought to protect…and that is you…and I'm not about to lose you now."
"Natsu…" Lucy's lips uttered. Forcing the connection to return to her arm, she lifted up the unshackled hand and placed it against Natsu's battered face. "You don't understand…I can't lose you either… without you… I have nothing." A pathetic smile tried to form between her cheeks but couldn't stop quivering to do so. "Because of you I found happiness, I found Fairy Tail, and a life worth living. Don't take that away from me!"
Natsu's eyes remained consumed by hers, and her touch only grew warmer as she softly pressed her plam against his cheek. His own heart began to shake as he watched the tears fall, her arm shudder and lips tremor.
Taking a finger he brushed under her long lower lashes and removed the tears, but they kept coming. Softly he lowered his lips to her cheek and kissed the next one that fell, and then the next, and the next. He pecked at her face gently, riding all of the tears until there were no more, and Lucy finally became silent of sobs.
Her head fell into his neck as she clung to his scarf and Natsu's lips pressed against her head.
"Natsu…" Lucy whispered just for his ears and his ears alone to hear. "I can't let you go… I love you."
Holding the back of her neck Natsu kissed Lucy's head for a long while. His lips didn't leave her hair for what could have been minutes, an hour or a whole day. But when he finally did let go, a single tear escaped from his eye. "I love you too Lucy…"
Bam!
Knocked out cold from the punch to the stomach, Lucy lied unconscious in his arms. He could no longer hold back the flood in his eyes.
"I'm sorry Lucy. But I promised I'd protect your future. And I promise to you now, you will be happy again. You've become that strong, I know you will make it." As Natsu rose to his feet, he took his scarf, unwrapped it, and placed it around her own neck. "You're right though." He said brushing the bangs out of her eyes. "It is always more fun when we're together."
End of Part 1