Chapter 1: Aurora Borealis
The night was perfect. The sky was clear of clouds the air held no humidity even though It was a tad cold. A salmon-haired man lay with a woman who wanted to be his wife. Their bodies entwined together under a thick wool blanket to keep the cold from entering them. He leaned his head on to hers, his salmon hair mixing with her short snowy hair.
"I love you Natsu." Said his girlfriend.
"You too, Lis" Natsu replied not repeating her words. He had learned a long time ago that these were words to be taken seriously. His father and mother were in love or at least that was what he was told by his godfather Igneel. They loved each other so much that when his mother died of cancer, his father could not continue. He grabbed his boys and took him to Igneel's house and immediately joined his dead wife. Natsu was two when that happened, but he had been told the story so many times that it was his guideline to what love was. To be in love was not to be able to live without his other half.
Natsu looked down at Lisanna's head for what seemed like the millionth time in their relationship. He knew what she wanted him to say, that he loves her too, and he does love her to a point. She was beautiful, kind, attentive, and funny, but something was missing, he didn't have that fire toward her, and he was afraid he never would. He wanted to, he really wanted to feel the same way she felt toward him, but whenever he thought he might be able to, thoughts of the great romances filled his head Romeo and Juliet, Tristan and Isolde, Orpheus and Eurydice, and finally his parents. He wanted that kind of love, and he felt selfish for wanting to experience something that would set his soul on fire especially when he had a dream girl that most men in Magnolia wished were theirs'.
"Oh, wow look at that!" Lis's clear voice interrupted his current thought spiral. He looked away from the top of her head to see that she was pointing at the sky. His eyes followed her finger to a part of the sky that began to glow. A pink and gold light stretched across the night's horizon. Then all at once, shooting stars began to fly away from the colors. It was one of the most amazing things he had ever seen.
"It's the most amazing thing, I've ever seen." Lisanna echoed his thoughts. "I didn't know we could see the Aurora Borealis in Crocus!" Lis chirped as she clapped her hands together with glee. He paused still staring at the lights in the sky. They shouldn't be able to see the Aurora Borealis this far south. Then he noticed something strange; the Aurora Borealis drifted down like a funnel. He followed the funnel with his eyes toward a dark wooded area nearby, and he watched as the gold and pink lights flowed through the tops of the trees. Suddenly, bursts of white lights escaped the darkened trees as if the shooting stars they had seen were coming from the ground. No way! It was impossible. He was so focused on the improbability of the lights that he almost missed it.
Lost one
Tell me if you want to be found
You caught me
Moments before I hit the ground
And I hear
Voices screaming to run away
Yet I see
Not in black and white but silver and gray
I don't trust you
But I want to
Please don't let me fall
Immediately, He felt a spark; then he felt it grow into a scolding fire. It continued to grow within him. The voice was the most beautiful thing he had ever heard. He looked down at Lis and noticed her eyes were closed. He poked her but nothing. "Lis, Lis!" he yelled as he tried to wake her. But still, nothing happened. Then the voice began again:
I gaze up at the midnight sky
Can't find a single star
There are times where I miss the light
But I'm not afraid of the dark
I'm not afraid of the dark
The melody was enchanting and compelling. He felt his chest lurch for it. He was on his feet before he noticed. He looked down at his hopefully sleeping girlfriend and paused. He knew he shouldn't just leave her here she might freeze, so he sat down next to Lis and placed the blanket back over the both of them bringing her body to rest on his. He didn't know what had come over him. He almost left Lis by herself. He couldn't do that to her. She was his girlfriend.
Your whispers
Follow me when I try to leave
I fight for
A love that I don't fully believe
In my heart
You're a risk I'm willing to take
But my head
It's telling me there's too much at stake
I don't trust you
But I want to
Please don't let me fall
Her voice was louder this time and filled with so much longing and sadness that he felt the earth shift from the sound of it. He felt the fire in his chest, and it quickly spread over his entire body. His only thought at that moment was "It's Her" he jumped to his feet and promptly wrapped Lis in his winter jacket and the blanket efficiently wrapping her into a burrito. Then He knelt down and kissed the top of her head.
"I'm sorry, Lis. I promise you'll find someone who truly deserves you." He whispered into her hair. He did not know why but he felt that if he followed this voice, he wouldn't be coming back and if he did come back everything would have had changed. He stood up and glanced down at the girl he had grown up with. Flashes of their shared memories came before his eyes. The two of them playing house as kids. The day they had found Happy his cat in the wood by his house. Their first date. Their first day at university. In all respects, she should have been the one who made him burn they knew everything about each other, but he could feel the woman's voice run through his blood into his heart. So, he ran.
He followed the voice as she continued to sing her haunted and beautiful song. His feet pounded on the frozen earth beneath them, and though the air around him was cold, he could not feel it even though his arms were bare. He dodged, jumped, and hurtled his way around the trees, branches, and roots while trying to watch the sky. He had a feeling that he would find her at the end of the colors. He ran until the forest was a glow of pink and gold. He slowed not wanting to scare whomever this woman was, so he crept to the edge of a clearing and stopped.
A woman no older than Lisanna and himself stood in the middle of the clearing; the Aurora Borealis danced around her. Natsu looked at her profile. She was wearing a white dress that wrapped around her enhancing body, the dress's two ends tied around her neck leaving the collar to dip into a deep v. He forced himself to take his eyes away from her chest moving them slowly to her face. His breath caught. Everything else about her faded into the background as he worshiped her beauty. She stared into the sky her long blonde hair pulled back into a ribbon leaving her face free of obstruction, her plump lips were slightly open, though he could see the shape of her eyes he was too far to see their color. He decided to step closer in hopes to see her better but stopped when she raised a golden bow to the sky, but instead of reaching behind her for an arrow she drew back the drawstring and released. Within seconds five beams of light flew into the air. Amazed he began to walk toward her again. He watched her smile, and then she started to sing:
Lost one
Tell me do you want to be found
You caught me
Moments before I hit the ground
And I hear
Voices screaming to run away
Yet I see
Not in black and white but silver and grey
I don't trust you
But I want to
Please don't let me fall
As she sang she began to glow gold; her skin, her blonde hair, her dress, everywhere but the spot over her heart. That place burned pink. He continued to walk to her like a moth to a flame. She hadn't noticed him yet. As the verse of her song faded so did the light, she lifted the bow again and repeated the action. She watched as the white lights flew off into the night. She smiled as she placed her arm through the bow.
Natsu was almost upon her when he felt his foot land on a twig, and before he could backpedal, he heard the snap of it as it crushed beneath him. Mortified he came to a halt and held his breath. He glanced over at the woman, but she was still faced away from him. He saw her body tense from the sound. The woman then turned around slowly. That's when he saw them. Golden brown orbs stared into his emerald green eyes. He felt the flames roar within him as he watched her head tilt to the side. She did not seem afraid. In fact, she grinned at him. He could feel his heartbeat race as she walked to him, her milky white legs swayed and glimmered in the moonlight.
"What a handsome creature," Natsu noted that even her talking voice was enchanting. She was right in front of him when she spoke again. "He must have wandered out here to see the lights." She smiled. "Well, man creature I hoped you enjoyed them." She winked then turned and walked away from him.
"I did, but I enjoyed your song much more." He replied shaking off his shock. Her body tensed again as if she had not expected a reply. She turned around to face him and really looked at him this time. She took a step back toward him and halted.
"You can see me?"