Lucy rarely got ill. When she was a little girl her father would often tell her that "Only the weak get sick!" with this in her mind she would suppress any illness that tried to infect her. However, when she found out about the death of her father she broke down and caught a terrible cold. Not wanting to worry her friends she tried to conceal it until one day…

"Oh god I feel awful" Lucy sighed bringing her hand to her mouth as she coughed

"Oi Lucy!" shouted Natsu "We have a new job! I hope you're ready for some troll huntin'!" he smiled at her but his expression suddenly changed "L-Lucy what's wrong" she looked at his worried face and her heart sank, she hated seeing him in pain.

"Ah nothing I'm fine" she replied smiling back

"Hhmmmm alright if you say so" he said and sighed "right! I will meet you at your place in an hour. Lets go Happy!"

"Aye sir!" Happy eagerly shouted back and they ran off. Lucy sighed and started making her way back towards her apartment clutching her stomach tightly.

"I feel terrible but I cant let Natsu down, he looked so excited, and he's been ever so good to me since…" her voice grew quieter as she thought of her late father and a tear crept down her face. She coughed violently as she began to search for her keys. As she opened the door to her apartment she froze, her head began to feel heavy and her vision became blurred. As she staggered through the door towards her bed "maybe a quick nap is what I need" she thought to her self. Her body felt hot and she tried to undo her shirt yet her hands kept fumbling as her vision got worse and worse until she suddenly collapsed.

"…L….Lu…..Lucy…..LUCY!" she opened her eyes slowly and saw Natsu looking down at her, his arms clasped tightly around her.

"Na-" she tried to talk but ended up spluttering, every cough jerked her body violently

"Don't try and talk Lucy!" Natsu said desperately as he picked her up and gently placed her on her bed. "I've sent Happy to get a doctor, he should be here any minute! Just err… lie there for a bit!" he said staring at her intensely "…what should I do now?" he said. Lucy mouthed the word "water" and slowly gestured towards her kitchen "right got it!" Natsu sprinted over to the sink poured Lucy a glass of water and ran back tripping over the rug as he did so, spilling a majority of the water onto Lucy who lay on her bed angrily. "Oh shit I'm sorry!" Natsu shouted and hastily took off his scarf to dry her face as he gently wiped her face she noticed the scar on his neck and suddenly felt her left hand rising up and stroking it. Natsu froze at her touch and gulped, his heart began beating erratically. Her hand felt so soft as it caressed the scar. Lucy suddenly noticed his apparent unease and her hand dropped.

"Sorry" she whispered "I just…" her voice cut out.

"…it's fine…" he said looking down at her hand and smiling slightly. "….hey…Lucy I-" Natsu began but as he looked up he noticed she had fallen asleep. He smiled and slowly pressed his lips against her forehead.

Lucy opened her eyes but had to shut them soon after as the sun glared down on her. When her eyes had adjusted to the light she noticed that she was in a desert with nothing but sand stretching out before her in each direction. Suddenly out of the corner of her eye she saw someone, and began running towards them. As she got closer she realized it was Natsu, she smiled and called his name, but he didn't turn around. That's strange she thought to herself and walked towards him, however every time she got near him he would move away from her. "Natsu…wait!" she said and began to run after him. She ran for what seemed like forever yet he would not stop. Her body was getting hotter and hotter and she had to stop running as she bent down to catch her breath, she looked up only to see Natsu disappearing into the horizon. "Natsu…no…don't go!" she sobbed. The tears streamed down her face and her legs buckled. As she lay on the floor sobbing the desert around her began to vanish until nothing was left. She was floating in a dark space, suddenly her body temperature dropped dramatically and she clutched herself shaking at the ice cold wind that blew around her. "Natsu…" she sobbed again. All of a sudden she saw a flickering of a flame and heard Natsu's voice.

"Its ok, I'm here" and suddenly she felt her body warm up from head to toe, her breathing became more relaxed and she yawned closing her eyes.

When Lucy opened her eyes again she was back in her apartment, lying in her bed. She sighed a great sigh of relief "just a dream, huh?" she said smiling, she felt her forehead "oh, my fever's gone" she thought surprised. She yawned and tried to turn over when she suddenly realized that there was something over her legs and stomach. She lifted up the covers and screamed as she saw Natsu with his arm and leg wrapped around her body, Natsu didn't wake at her scream he just stirred and began mumbling something. Lucy lent in closer and stared at his serene expression, he began to smile and chuckled. She smiled; he's actually quite a cute sleeper she thought to herself.

"…hmmm…Lu…mm…Lucy" he mumbled. Lucy jolted back to the corner of her bed blushing.

"He…he's not dreaming about me is he?" she gasped "wait…I FORGOT HE WAS IN MY BED" she screamed and kicked him violently onto the floor.

"UWAHHH! LUCY WHAT THE HELL!" he shouted at her rubbing his head

"WHAT THE HELL? YOU WERE IN MY BED!" she yelled back at him still blushing "WHAT WERE YOU THINKING?"

"I…I…" he began but turned away embarrassed.

"what?" Lucy began.

"Well…its just…in the middle of the night you began to toss and turn and started saying my name so I grabbed your hand to wake you but it was ice cold and then you began shaking and shivering and so I…well I…got in the bed to warm you up…if you haven't noticed I am a fire dragon slayer. My body is a lot warmer than an average persons" he nervously rambled avoiding eye contact, Lucy stared at him as his face got redder and redder. "The doctor visited you last night shortly after you passed out and told me you had a fever, he gave you some medicine and said you would be fine in the morning…but I decided to stay the night to make sure…you know that you were ok. I sent Happy home to get some sleep." At this point he looked up at Lucy who was smiling and staring at him affectionately, he turned a deeper shade of red as Lucy came and sat opposite him on the floor.

"Natsu" she began and stroked his scar again. His heart began to beat quickly. "I know you didn't have to stay with me, and I really appreciate you looking after me like that" she said moving in closer "when I was asleep I had a horrible dream, I was chasing you through a desert yet I could never reach you…and then you just left me there. I was there alone in the dark, then suddenly I heard your voice calling to me and I felt so warm and at ease" she wrapped both arms around his neck and embraced him tightly, "Thank you" she said in his ear. As she began to pull away he suddenly grabbed her arm "huh? Natsu wha-" she started saying but was cut off as Natsu put his hand under her chin and kissed her. She put her hands on his shoulders about to push him away but found herself putting her arms back around his neck. As they slowly pulled apart Natsu rested his forehead against hers and smiled, Lucy blushed looking down.

"Don't worry" Natsu said "I will always look after you"