Disclaimer: I do not own the Characters or Fairy Tail, everything belongs to its rightful owner!

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Open Water

The wind ruffled their hair. Blond, blue and deep red. They stood on the platform of the ship which took them back to the port of Hargeon. Lucy's eyes sparkled from the great view they got. The ship took another route from the one which brought them to the island first so that the group could finish the mission. It was a simple task, only catching a few bandits so it was fast done. And now the girls stood at the railing, taking in their surroundings. The sun was setting and the water was in a deep blue, the sky in a wonderful red. Wendy and Erza were happy, too that they could relax now a bit.

Gray was on the other side and enjoyed the boat trip as much as the rest of the team. The two Exceeds sat next to him on the ground chatting about fish, well more Happy was chatting about fish and Charla listened with a bit amusement. Only one person didn't enjoyed the trip. Natsu lay on the ground in the shadows, curled up to a ball, hugging his knees tightly. He was near the railing, just for when had to throw up. His face changed from blue to green when the ship smashed against a bit bigger wave. The rest of the group knew his sickness but they didn't want to lose the great sight and time they had at the moment. Furthermore, Wendy offered to cast Troja on him but he didn't wanted that. When the sun finally set and the blue sky dove everything into darkness, they decided to go back into their cabins. Erza and Wendy shared a cabin, Lucy had one alone.

Gray went to bed even before the girls and Natsu was still lying on the ground on deck. Lucy recognized that he was missing and felt bad so she went outside again. His position didn't changed but now he rested his head on his one arm. The celestial magician was smiling when the thought of the unbeatable Dragon-Salyer crossed her mind. No one would believe that he would be the same person. She slowly bent down sitting next to him. Natsu felt her dress slightly touch his arm when she sat down. ''It got pretty cold... Don't you want to come inside?'' He only shook his head. Again Lucy smiled a bit.

''You know, my mom always stroke my head when I was feeling ill... If you want to...'' When Natsu looked up he saw Lucy stretching out her legs and patting her tights, showing him that he can lay down on her lap. He smiled a bit and moved forward. When her hands run through his hair he felt a bit better. Lucy made little circles and played a bit with one strand of his pink hair. He fell asleep after some minutes, something Lucy actually wanted to prevent.

Now she sat there under the stars on a ship and all of this could be so romantic, if there wouldn't be the sick Natsu and the coldness which slowly approached her. She was only in her summer dress and she had a bikini under it. No jacket, no blanket. Yep, she was cold and started to shiver. ''Why don't you go inside when you're cold...?'' His voice was still darker than normally and his eyes shut a few times. Lucy shook her head.

''Well, my plan was to get you inside and then go to bed, but then you fell asleep...'' He chuckled. Lucy was just Lucy. Always kind and big-hearted, especially when it was connected with her friends. ''Thanks... But I'm felling better now, so you can go inside. You're gonna catch a cold.'' Lucy sighed, knowing it was pointless to argue with him.

She slowly stood up and smiled when he tried to stand up, too. The problem was he was to dizzy and he supported himself at the railing, not seeing Lucy, he pinned her between him and the railing, making Lucy yelp from shock. It wasn't that she didn't like Natsu, it was more that she actually never was in such a close contact with him. Right now he was tightly pressed against her and her mind went wild.

She had a little crush on him and this now was too much for her. It got even worse when Natsu tripped and pushed her more against the railing, making her lose her balance and she fell. To all bad luck she pulled Natsu with her and then they crushed into the water. Lucy was dizzy, to mind fogged to comprehend what just happened.

It was dark and cold and she couldn't make out where she was. Her body hurt, movement hurt. She couldn't move, the pressure from the water and the waves, the coldness inside of her, the headache from the cold air, it was all too much. She slowly shut her eyes and sank deeper to the ground.

Natsu felt fast that he was completely wet. When he appeared over water again the ship was moving forward and he was falling back. A longer distance got between him and the ship with every second and he tried to swim it up again. Then he remembered probably the most important thing, Lucy! She fell over board, too. Natsu turned around trying to find his friend but she wasn't there. No blond hair, no hand with a pink Fairy Tail emblem.

No, no, no... And he dove under water again. He didn't swam that far before he recognized that Lucy was missing. He dove deeper and deeper but he couldn't see her. It was to dark and breathing, so he could make out her scent, was impossible under water. A burning sensation in his lungs made him realize that he needed air.

Appearing over water again he took two deep breaths and then he dove under water again, swimming as fast as possible. Something caught his eye. It was dark, somehow outlines of a body. It didn't matter right now if he knew it was her or not but if it was her he needed to hurry. He was fast and approached the figure sinking deeper to the ground.

Natsu's one arm wrapped around the body and he swam to the surface again, taking in deep breaths. The cold air touching her skin was a shock at first but when her lungs were able to take in air she was more than relieved. The first things Lucy did when she could breathe again were struggling, coughing, gasping for air but the thing which bothered Natsu the most, not that the other things bothered him, was that she was crying.

He guessed she was still in shock but it bothered him. The ship was out of sight now and that meant that they were in the middle of nowhere without anything, no rocks, no little island or anything else, just nothing. He needed to calm her down, it was bad enough that even he was a bit shocked. But Lucy was in a close state on freaking out.

''Lucy? You okay?'' He earned a smack on the head and a death glare. ''Natsu!'' He flinched at the serious and stern tone in her voice. ''You!'' He swam back, away from her. She tried to catch him and the two swam in little circles. ''This is your fault!''

She reached out for him but he was fast swimming a little curve, sliding his arms under her arms and folding them behind her head. She was stuck in place but struggled to come free. ''Natsu! Let go of me!'' He smirked. ''Well, I guess you are okay, you seem to be still in the state where you'd love to kill me.'' Lucy kicked him in his leg, making him flinch slightly.

''I swear, when we get out of this alive, I am gonna kill you!'' Now the Dragon-Salyer gulped. One thing what was more scary than Erza, was defiantly a mad Lucy. ''Don't forget that I just saved your life.'' Slowly he let go of her and she turned around. She met his eyes and they were serious, she knew he saved her and she was more than grateful for that. But that didn't helped in their situation still she needed to thank him.

''Yeah, thanks.'' Natsu saw Lucy swim around him and then he felt her hands on his shoulders. He knew what would come next but he was to slow to take action. Fast Lucy dove him underwater and then she let go of him again. ''Lucy...'' He breathed out when he appeared over water again. She giggled. ''Sorry. I had the feeling that I just needed to do that.''

She stuck out her tongue what made him laugh. Sometimes she could be cute. Natsu shook his head to banish that thought. She was his best friend and he actually never really felt something like that for a girl. To come back to the point that Natsu actually is not interested in girls in that way.

It has been a few hours now since they fell over board and it was still night, so the water temperature wasn't really pleasant. For Natsu it was okay, he was always warm no matter what. ''Hey Natsu... You think the others already recognized that we're missing?'' Natsu watched his friend closely. There was fear in her eyes. ''Well I guess they will recognize when they wake up...''

Lucy nodded. It was still night and she had the feeling that it would be a long night. Suddenly she felt a body behind her own. Lucy startled slightly when Natsu tried to wrap his arms around her and she swam a few meters away from him. ''Lucy? What do you think... That I want to drown you?'' Natsu playfully wink at her what made Lucy blush more than she already did. ''W-What did you wanted to do?'' The teen didn't dared to look at him when he slowly approached her again.

''What do you think?'' Lucy had actually no idea, it was strange enough for Natsu to hug someone. ''You think I wouldn't realize?'' And he was right in front of her. Lucy found it incredible hard to breathe and when she looked up a bit she only saw Natsu's chest which was apparently very inviting at the moment for her. ''Y-You realize w-what?'' He grinned at her. ''That you're cold.''

Her blush increased. Sure he would recognize and her shivering wasn't really unobtrusively. His hand reached out for her's and he pulled her to his body. From one moment to another she felt safe. She was floating in the open water, in the middle of nowhere, during night and in the water could be god knows what, but she felt safe. Lucy held on to him, gripping his scarf, resting her head on his shoulder. Natsu held her close to his body, feeling her cold skin against his own warm one.

His one arm still moved in the water to keep them afloat, just like both their legs. She had never been this close to him before, and especially not in a situation like that. But she didn't felt uncomfortable, she felt good and he did the same. Holding her like that was different but he wanted her to be okay, he needed her to be okay. She snuggled a bit closer, pushing her body more against his, searching for his warmth and closeness. ''Better?''

The young mage only nodded and slowly closed her eyes. ''You should undress.'' Her eyes shot open in a second. ''What?! Natsu... I never thought you would think about things like that.'' Lucy smirked evilly. Natsu on the other hand had no idea what she meant with that. He hadn't thought about anything when he said that, just something he learned from Igneel. ''I mean, you should take off your dress. It is soaked with water, which is cold, so you're going to be even more cold.''

His face was so innocent that Lucy totally believed him. He really wouldn't think about something like that... She was kinda touched at that and pulled away. She slipped out of her dress, which already soaked at her skin and let go of it. It floated away after a few minutes and Lucy smiled even more.

She actually never really liked it but never had an excuse to throw it away, now she had one, and it felt good. One of her traits. ''Where did you knew that from?'' He approached her slowly. ''Igneel told me one time, I don't remember the context though...'' Then she felt herself being turned around, two hands at her waist, and she was pulled back into a warm embrace from Natsu.

He had recognized her tears, she didn't even knew herself she had. ''We're gonna die, aren't we?'' The girl gripped her friend's shoulders, holding on for life. She was completely overwhelmed with the situation. It was kind of hopeless to think that someone would find them. He held her more tight when he felt her unstoppable tears on his skin.

''I won't let anything happen to you.'' It was so certain and determined that Lucy knew he would never let anything happen to her. That calmed her down at least a bit. But then new ideas appeared in her mind when she thought about all the things which actually could happen. ''But... What if a shark comes by and eats us... Or what if a storm is appearing... Or strangers saving us and then we find out that they are cannibals and want to eat us... Or...'' ''Lucy, shut up!''

Said girl shut her eyes when Natsu's voice was actually pretty loud, he almost screamed at her. But then his voice softened when he recognized that he scared her a bit. ''How do you get those strange ideas?'' She shrugged. ''Writers mind.'' ''Creative.'' Natsu mumbled under his breath but Lucy heard it and started to laugh slightly. Then she tried to swim away from him, turning out of his arms. ''What's wrong?'' Lucy shook her head and swam in little circles around him.

''Nothing. But you can't hold me all the time. And when I'm moving I'm getting warm, so it's okay.'' Natsu eyed her a bit longer but decided to move for himself a bit when his muscles felt kind of stiff after being in the same position for so long. And now even he had to admit that the water slowly pissed him off.

Minutes past, maybe hours, they didn't knew and maybe they didn't care. Lucy decided to swim faster when she felt cold again the problem was that she actually had been swimming the whole time now and her arms felt heavy, the same way like her legs. And she was tired, so tired that she just closed her eyes and dove a bit under water.

Then she could feel an arm at her back and another under her legs. ''Lucy! Get it together!'' She was pale, her breathing fast and Natsu could see little clouds in front of her mouth when she breathed out. He turned her and held her firmly at her shoulders, inspecting her more closely. ''Lucy, you have to stay awake!'' The celestial mage on the other hand found it very tempting to fall asleep right now. His warm hands made her feel kind of comfortable.

But then something hit her memories, how her mom always told her that when she was cold the most important thing was not to fall asleep. ''I'm sorry, Natsu.'' Her whisper was so quiet and weak that Natsu had to lean forward to hear her although he had better ears than a normal human. ''Why?'' Now she started to shiver again and the Dragon-Salyer was just unable to make her feel better. ''I-I'm cold and tired. I j-just can't anymore...''

Her words trailed off and her head fell back. ''No. Lucy, hey! Look at me.'' Natsu took her head in both his hands, forced her to look at him. Her eyes opened a bit but they were still fluttering. ''Lucy. You have to stay awake! Do something, swim, or talk or do anything but you have to stay conciousness.'' Lucy nodded slowly not really understanding what he wanted to tell her.

Tears left her eyes and she slowly swam forward and leaned her forehead on his shoulder. Natsu wrapped his one arm around her shaking body and pulled her closer. ''I-I just c-can't any-more, N-Natsu... I'm s-sorry...'' He started stroking her hair. ''Shhh. Calm down. You don't have to be sorry. It's gonna be alright, I promise.'' Realizing more and more that she couldn't go on any longer he let her fall asleep, although he knew it was dangerous.

But he wouldn't let her die, even if he had to slap her to wake her up again. But he also knew that she needed rest. Her body wasn't built like his and after all these hours even the fire mage felt a bit cold. How cold did she had to feel? She was still shaking, her teeth chattering next to his ear and her breathing came out in little and sharp breaths. He needed to get her out of the water, she was to cold already and he was getting exhausted as well. A few more hours and they would... No! The teen shook his head. He couldn't let it come to that point.

His body started to move forward, he swam a few meters but then he stopped. It felt like a bright light appeared in his darkness. He saw the ship, he smelled his friends and he saw two cats with wings approaching him fast. ''Happy! Charla!'' The relief was clearly audible and Happy was shocked that he heard his friend like that. He was scared and Happy knew that, although Natsu normally doesn't get scared. ''Natsu!'' Said boy turned his attention to the girl in his arms.

''Hey, Lucy! Look the others are here now.'' Lucy didn't move a bit. First Natsu freaked out a bit but he saw her chest heaving slightly. She was still breathing. ''Happy! Hurry!'' And then the two Exceeds were next to him, Happy carrying Natsu, Charla carrying Lucy. On the way to the ship Natsu already dried himself so he was feeling a bit more warm.

When they approached the ship Natsu could see Erza and Gray holding a few blankets. Charla flew on deck lying Lucy's body carefully on one blanket, letting Erza wrap another one around her. ''Wendy! Cast Troia on me, please!'' Wendy was fast next to Natsu and her hands started to glow in a wonderful green. When Natsu felt okay standing on the ship he ran up to Lucy and knelt down beside her. She was pale and her breathing weak.

''How long have you been in the water?'' Erza's voice put him back to the ship. ''I... I don't know.'' When Natsu's hand rested on her forehead he slightly flinched. Her skin felt like ice and it worried him, like those blankets could keep her warm enough. Fast Natsu unwrapped the blankets from her. ''Natsu!? What are you doing?'' Gray wanted to stop him but then the fire mage hugged Lucy tightly. ''Skin to skin, like that it's more warm. And I always thought you would be the smart one.''

The ice mage swallowed one time and nodded. He had never seen his friend like that, so concerned about anything. ''Gray prepare the bed in Lucy's cabin, Wendy prepare something warm to drink. Natsu take Lucy to the cabin, make sure to stay close to her. Your body heat is higher than ours.'' Natsu only nodded and lifted Lucy up, carrying her to the cabin on the way he dried her bikini and her wet skin. He lay her down carefully and settled next to her, already crawling her into his arms. He felt her breathing getting faster again and that her face got more color.

The door opened and Wendy entered with a cub of warm chocolate. She put it on the little table and approached the two slowly. Natsu was a bit confused when she leaned over his body to take a closer look at Lucy. When she leaned back she smiled.

''It seems that she is already feeling better. She will be fine again when she stays warm.'' Natsu nodded again not able to say something. If they would have stayed longer in the water, Lucy would have certainly died. And he hated to think that. Wendy left the room and Natsu was left alone with Lucy. She stirred a bit and snuggled closer to his body. The teen rested his head on her's, taking in her scent. After some time he fell asleep out of exhaustion.

She felt warm, warmer than she usually did. More heat was running through her body, starting at her head following down to her legs. Her eyes slowly opened and she faced a chest raising and falling in a steady rhythm. Lucy turned her head a bit and was surprised to find Natsu smiling warmly at her. His dark eyes showing glee and guilt at the same time.

Why was he guilty? He kept her the whole time afloat and warm so she wouldn't die and she knew although he was strong that he was exhausted. But there was something in his eyes she couldn't read. A tingle feeling run over her skin and in her lower belly when she felt his lips in her hair, whispering slowly that he was glad that she was okay.

Lucy tried to grip his vest tighter only to find that he didn't wear one. Instead, her hand only rested on his bare chest and it was so warm. Then Natsu sat up slowly lifting Lucy's body automatically with him. The girl was confused but then she saw Natsu reaching out for the table and handed her a cub with chocolate. When Lucy nipped a bit on it she frowned a bit. ''Not warm anymore?'' Natsu's voice startled her a bit but he was right.

She wanted to answer but she couldn't when her voice gave in so she only nodded. The boy gently took the cup out of her hand and closed both his hands around it, closing his eyes heat erupted from his body to the cub and after some time smoke was raising. He handed it back to her and grinned his usual grin. Lucy smiled back and took two big gulps, letting the warm liquid flow down her throat. After some time she felt that she could talk again. ''Thanks.''

Natsu took the cub out of her hands again when he recognized that Lucy got tired again and already rested her head back on his shoulder. The blonde's eyelids felt heavy although she was sleeping the whole time and she slowly let them fall down, relaxing in Natsu's arms and drifting back to sleep. The Dragon-Salyer felt her relaxing and knew she fell back asleep.

He laid back down, smiling he leaned his head against her's and played a bit with one of her strands. He didn't felt strange right now, it was more a normal thing for him to do, to hold her close and take care of her. Even more it was a normal thing when she whispered the words 'thank you' against his chest. ''You dummy. I will always protect you.'' A nod was his answer and there he knew that she wanted him to protect her and he would always do that.

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Soooo, now it's easier to read^^

Hope you all liked it :3