* Story has been reposted due to uploading/formatting error! Sorry for the inconvenience! *
"Natsu..," the voice so familiar was quiet.
Fifteen minutes ago, Happy returned Natsu back to the guild. Shame, guilt, and fear was scrawled across the young man's face. Refusing to look a single guild member in the eyes, Natsu hustled past everyone to anyroom that provided privacy.
Unlucky for Natsu, Lucy had followed him, now attempting to gain his attention.
"Natsu..," her voice was as sweet as ever, but chocked-full of concern. A light pressure pressed into his lower back, slowly skimming over his clothes till Lucy was before him. Shutting his eyes, Natsu turned his head away, unable to look at her directly. Out of everyone in the guild, she was the one he could never face after what happened between Zeref and him.
"Look at me, Natsu. What happened out there?" her voice shook slightly. Her angry act wouldn't work. At least, not in this moment. Too many emotions filled everyone, including her.
After moments passed without him saying a word or looking at her, Lucy placed both hands on his face, forcibly turning it to her.
"You left again, without saying a word only for us to discover you went to fight Zeref alone. We put our trust in you that you knew what you were doing. Only then..," she paused. Realization that her words sounded harsh faded to existence.
"Only for you to come back and Zeref is still out there..," another pause, her voice once again bleeding with concern for her best friend, "Natsu, what happened? I was so worried.., I still am.,"
His eyes opened, meeting hers as he brought one hand to cover one of her hands placed on his cheek. Pain, sorrow, and confusion swam freely in his slate eyes. Natsu noticed the tears that brimmed in Lucy's. She was trying to be strong for both of them, she knew he was suffering if he couldn't defeat Zeref. He wondered if she'd be able to keep those tears in check.
Not a word had been released from him yet. How could he speak? He trusted Lucy, but talking of his emotions and thoughts wasn't common of him to do. Instead, he pulled her hands from his face and wrapped his arms around her.
Surprised, Lucy stared at his chest for a moment, then tilted her face up to gaze at him.
"Natsu..," her own arms wrapped around him, returning the hug, "I promise, it's going to be alright. We're going to win, we'll find another way to defeat Zeref and his army,"
"Lucy..," Natsu choked on his own words.
"hm?"
"I'm E.N.D..,"
A heavy silence filled the room. What was Lucy to say at this? Natsu felt trust in Lucy, that she wouldn't abandon him over this. But the fear and paranoia of it lingered yet in the back of his mind. The thoughts of her leaving him grew stronger with the ticking minutes.
Her arms tightened around him after several long minutes of nothing.
"I'm sorry Luce.., I..," Lucy pushed Natsu away as he began to apologize. Guilt was swelling his stomach making him feel nausea. The celestial mage turned her back to him, covering her mouth and shifting her weight between her legs. Natsu studied his friend, by the way her shoulders fell, he could tell she was taking deep breaths to remain calm.
"We'll find a way around this if that's true," it had felt like eons to Natsu before Lucy spoke again. He was scared. He was terrified. He felt like everything up to this point had been his fault.
"But..," Lucy murmured, not daring to turn to face Natsu yet.
"But what?" he swallowed a lump of saliva. The room felt cold. Hell, Natsu felt cold for once and it was a horrifying feeling.
"We have to tell everyone else," Lucy turned herself around slowly, holding her arms together and close to her.
"No, no I can't..," he backed up, waving his arms in front of him as he denied the demand to tell the guild.
Lucy glared at Natsu, almost as if she was angry and disappointed that he would keep something so important from the guild.
"Gray will kill me, Lucy!" he felt frantic. If Gray found out, the ice make wizard would slaughter his ass right there and then. They would blame the deaths of their families on him, they would blame everything Tartarous did on him, they would blame Zeref on him. The most important thought that crossed Natsu's mind however, was that everyone would be absolutely pissed that he couldn't kill Zeref and because of that, he had doomed them all.
"Natsu, you are going to tell the guild! If you're E.N.D.., well, it's hard to take in..," Lucy retorted, "It's.., really really hard to take in but, we can't just.., I can't dump my best friend like that,"
Natsu raised an eyebrow at Lucy, confused by what she meant. Lucy noticed, clearing her throat and taking a deep breath to calm the anxiety that had been building since he told her he was E.N.D.
"You, Natsu Dragneel, are my best friend. You may be E.N.D but, we don't know that for sure. And if you are..," the girl paused, taking another deep breath, "Well, I've known you for over seven years if we add that gap from the island. You're not evil, you love your friends and life.., I know you're not a horrible person for being some supposed demon who has never been activated,"
Natsu smiled weakly. Of course Lucy would still trust him. She's known him for ages now, she knew that his feelings for his friends and family was stronger than anything. The trust between him and Lucy, as well as him and the guild, was deep and he knew that.
Feeling a moment of bliss, Natsu stepped forward and embraced Lucy. He enjoyed the comfort she brought to him and how much she trusted him gave him great joy.
"But..," Natsu spoke into his friends hair as he buried his face in it, "We're not telling Gray,"
"Oh yes we are," Lucy pushed herself out of Natsu's arms, giving him a deadly glare.
"No, I refuse, I am dead set on not letting Gray know,"
"Natsu,"
"NO LUCY," Natsu didn't realize he had yelled until he saw a look of shock on Lucy's face. Had he ever yelled at her like that? He couldn't remember and he felt his stomach sink as urgent footsteps grew close to the door.
