let's play a game called "how many 'natsu is e.n.d.' theories can we write before we find out if natsu is e.n.d."
because holy hot tamale natsu is totally e.n.d.
"The war has been waged for three days now. Eventually, one of them will fall."
Lucy drew her knees up, trying to curl up and disappear into the shadows under the building wreckage. The tiny fire flickered, but she couldn't look at it. None of them could.
Makarov's voice was gravelly, and for the first time, he sounded old. Truly old, and weary, and defeated. Lucy wanted to cover her ears and scream at him to shut up. She hated the way he sounded – she wanted to run and cry and hit him in the face. She wanted to kick the fire to ashes.
Lucy did none of those things. Instead, she wrapped her arms around her knees and closed her eyes.
In the last three days, none of them had slept. They had been too busy – first trying to stop the fight, and when that proved as useless as it was dangerous, collecting bodies and bringing them somewhere safe. None had died, yet – and it was that yet that Lucy clang to, the one word she repeated over in her head like a mantra. Wendy raced around the injured in a frenzy, although wounds were appearing as fast as she healed them. She was losing her strength, on the verge of exhaustion, but kept going. Lucy knew she had to. If Wendy stopped, even for a moment, her thoughts would overtake her.
Erza moved, shifting carefully. She was heavily bandaged, and leaned on a sword like a crutch. Both her legs were broken – although being steadily healed by Wendy, she couldn't walk, or stand. She sat with her legs crossed, and the look of pain on her face could not be erased.
Lucy understood, though, Erza's pain – she imagined it was rather like a mother seeing her two sons fight each other to the death.
"There has to be something we can do," Erza said. She kept saying it, much like Lucy kept repeating to herself, not yet. Maybe they all had a mantra. Maybe you needed one to keep going through horror like this.
It might have been day, or night, Lucy couldn't tell anymore. Thick smoke clouded the sky, a burning red haze bathed them all in a soft glow, like an eternal sunset. But it wasn't beautiful. Lucy had read once, in an old book, about the ancient mythical city of Pompeii. Fire burst from the mountain, lava rushed down into the city, but the people were already dead by the time the fire hit – the ash flow had turned them all into husks of cinder.
Lucy felt like a husk of cinder.
"We've been over this." Gajeel's voice cut through them all like a steel blade. "There's nothing we can do."
Lucy winced. Everyone winced. Wendy, from where she was running around her makeshift nurse's station, winced – Gajeel's voice had carried.
It was hard, hearing things like that from Gajeel. He was many things, but a defeatist wasn't one of them – Gajeel was supposed be solid, strong and unbreakable. But then, he certainly hadn't been able to stop the battle. When he breathed, his lungs rattled. And surely the pretty girl with the blue hair hovering on the edge of death had something to do with his change in attitude –
Lucy flinched, and tucked her head into her knees. Levy wasn't dead yet, she reminded herself fiercely. Not yet.
From here, she couldn't see their little campfire. It was better this way. Here, there was only the blessed darkness. Lucy could just sink into it. Maybe here, she could forget about-
"Don't say that, Gajeel!" Lisanna's voice was loud over the crackling of the fire. She startled Lucy out of her reverie, and Lucy looked up at her. Lisanna's arms were wrapped around the shuddering form of Juvia – Juvia, who hadn't stopped crying in three days. But it hadn't rained yet, not once. Something might have broken inside of Juvia; something might have broken in all of them. Maybe Juvia was just a husk of cinder, too.
That was all that remained - Erza, not strong enough to stand; Gajeel, eyes reflected by the firelight, dull as lead; Lisanna and Juvia, holding onto each other so desperately it was like the world would rip away if they didn't; Makarov, old and ready to close his eyes and die; and Lucy. They gathered around the little campfire, with nothing but tears and harsh words and misplaced hopes.
Lisanna was still speaking. "Tell me it's not true," she demanded, turning to Makarov. "Tell me there's still something we can do. I refuse to just sit here and wait for us to die!"
"If Gray wins, we won't die," Erza said softly. Lucy hated her for saying it, and Erza looked like she hated herself more for thinking it. She bit her lip hard, drawing blood. It welled up quickly, and dropped down her chin.
"There may be a way."
Jellal appeared behind her, crouching down and crossing his legs, a mirror to Erza. He was still heavily wounded, red seeping through his bandages. When he sat, Erza leaned into him, and they became a mutual support system. In the days that had passed, Jellal and Erza had given up on whatever held them apart. Maybe, in the face of so much tragedy, they realised that whatever it was, it was so much smaller.
"I've been going it over and over in my head," Jellal continued. "It's almost impossible, but – there may be a way to bring Natsu back."
At his name, a ripple went through them. Fear, loathing, and sickness welled up in Lucy's gut, and she turned her face away as the others leaned forward. "How?" Lisanna demanded.
"It was the demonic magic that caused E.N.D. to appear," Jellal stated. His voice was steady, calm, bland – but Lucy supposed it had to be. For so long, they'd spoken of the demon E.N.D., but without a face to put to the name – and now, they did.
"Supposedly, E.N.D. has been dormant inside him all this time. Arguably, he could go back to that state – maybe permanently," Jellal continued. "Perhaps – and this is only the smallest chance – perhaps we can eradicate E.N.D. from the world. Forever."
Erza stared at him with wide eyes. Everyone at the campfire was speechless, too terrified to even hope. "How?" Erza whispered, and she wasn't too terrified to hope – she was clinging to it.
"It would take the strongest magic in the world, the only magic capable of truly conquering a demon like him." Jellal's eyes roved around, and settled on Lucy. "The One Magic," he said softly, and understanding passed between the two of them like a wave.
"Love," Lucy whispered.
Her unused voice cracked and wheezed and it was a wonder anyone could hear her, but Jellal's eyes remained fixed on her and slowly, all the heads at the campfire turned to look at her. Her muscles, cramped though they may had been for curling up for so long, eased. There was something new spreading through Lucy. It was warm like embers, and soft like Natsu's scarf.
"Love?" Gajeel snorted. "That's such bullshit."
"No, that's the One Magic." Lucy's voice grew stronger. "I figured it out some time ago. The One Magic is just that – love."
"But how the hell is love going to defeat E.N.D.?" Gajeel demanded. "It's not a weapon, it's – it's an idea. A concept."
"It's not to defeat E.N.D.," Erza stated slowly, "but to save Natsu. Isn't that right, Jellal?"
He nodded. "And in the process of saving Natsu, of bringing him back, E.N.D. will sink deeper and deeper into the state he was in before. And it's my belief that if the One Magic is powerful enough, E.N.D. will sink so deep he will cease to exist."
The little campfire had started to crackle a little louder. "That's brilliant!" cried Lisanna. She might have leapt to her feet if Juvia wasn't holding her like an anchor.
"But it won't be easy." Jellal was still looking at Lucy. She met his gaze steadily – she knew what he was thinking. "It's like Gajeel said. The One Magic isn't a physical thing we can just throw at him. We have to send someone in there."
Everyone at the campfire slowly turned back to Lucy. She was grateful for the shadow.
"Why me?" she whispered. "I'm not strong enough."
"It's not about physical strength, Lucy." Erza's voice was soft. "You said it yourself – the One Magic is love. No one loves Natsu more than you."
"And no one loves you more than Natsu," Lisanna added firmly. "You're the only one who can save him, Lucy."
Her throat closed up, and for a moment, Lucy feared she couldn't speak. "I-..." she started. "I-I can't, I mean I – what would I even do?"
Lisanna's arms slipped from Juvia, and she crawled across the ground to crouch next to Lucy. "You know what," she stated, planting her hands on Lucy's shoulders. When Lucy made to argue, she cut across her. "Don't you want him back, Lucy?"
She felt her heat give a large clunk. "More than anything," she whispered, lips trembling.
"Then go and get him back." Lisanna's hands tightened. "Bring him back – for all of us."
Lucy shook, tears gathering in the corners of her eyes. Then they spilled over, dripping her cheeks, and she gritted her teeth as she sobbed out, "yes."
Lisanna smiled. So did Erza, and Jellal, but he still looked around. "She can't go in alone, though. With the battle raging like that, she'll be torn to shreds. Someone needs to get in there with her and stop Gray."
Juvia's body convulsed. A strangled noise escaped from her, and Lisanna left Lucy. She reached out with a cautious hand, but Juvia jerked away.
"Juvia," Erza murmured, "you should go."
More sobbing, and then Juvia shifted to reveal her face. Red, splotchy, stained with tears, her blue eyes so swollen she looked like she could barely see; Lucy thought her heart might break looking at her.
"I can't," Juvia said brokenly. "I'm the one – I killed Gray's father."
"You killed a necromancer," Lucy said sharply. Something flared to life in her gut. "That's not the same thing."
"It is!" Juvia cried. "I'm the one responsible-"
"No one thinks that," Lucy assured her. "I don't think that, and I know Gray doesn't think that. You'd know that, if you went in there and talked to him about it."
Juvia shook her head, but Lucy didn't take it. She struggled to her feet, aching from sitting for so long, but the adrenaline had started pumping through her. "You love Gray," she said. "I love Natsu." And she did, oh, she did, and it had taken her too long to say it. But it wasn't too late. Not yet. "We have to get in there and tell them, or else this world is going to end and we'll never get the chance."
Juvia looked up at her. Lucy nodded, and held out her hand. "Come on, Juvia," she whispered. "I know you believe in the power of human love."
Fresh tears spilled from Juvia's eyes. Lucy was still crying, but her arm was steady. Juvia, quivering, reached up and took it.
Happy, and Levy, and all Lucy's friends lay dying, but none of them were dead, not yet. This war wasn't over yet. Natsu wasn't lost to her – not yet.
"I can get the door open," Gajeel said, as they stood by the large steel door that still stood. There were other ways into the battlefield, but they would have involved climbing over dangerous ruins and taking more time than they actually had. "But I can only hold it for a second, and I can't open it very far. You'll have to get in fast."
Lucy nodded. Her hand clutched tightly onto Juvia's. The tears had dried on both their faces, but Lucy didn't know if they'd actually stopped crying or if the scorching air was actually drying them faster than they appeared.
Gajeel crouched, forcing one iron hand under the door. It must have been heavy, it looked thick. Lucy tensed, Juvia right beside her. They crouched down next to Gajeel, coiled and ready to spring. He nodded. "One," Gajeel started, "two-"
He wrenched the door upwards. It lifted from the ground, and Lucy launched herself forward. Gajeel's strained cry echoed as they pulled themselves under, and then the door went slamming down, narrowly missing Lucy's foot.
"We did it," she gasped, "we're in." It occurred to her that, if this didn't work, that was the last she would ever see of Gajeel. She wished she'd have thanked him, or something.
Juvia was staring, open-mouthed, in front of them. Lucy followed her gaze, and her heart skipped several beats at what she saw.
The tattoo on Gray's arm was glowing, a blue so bright it was almost white, and Lucy had to look away lest she be blinded. The ice Gray threw also glowed, a bright silvery white unlike the ice he usually created. This ice was much, much colder – Lucy could feel it freezing the air from where she stood. Gray's eyes were white with fury, and he seemed to see almost nothing as he tossed blow after blow of demon-slaying ice at-
And there he was.
E.N.D.
He took every single shard of ice with a smirk, tossed a flame or bent his back at an impossible angle to dodge. While Gray was pulling from the deepest, darkest part of his soul to fight, E.N.D. seemed to be almost having fun with it. And the worst part, the absolute worst part was that terrible smile stretched across that face that Lucy knew so well – only it wasn't Natsu's smile. It was his body, and his face, but it wasn't Natsu's warm smile, and it wasn't his eyes.
Lucy felt almost dizzy with utter revulsion. She closed her eyes, and pressed her forehead into the gravel. You can do this, Lucy, she thought fiercely. You have to. The One Magic. Bring Natsu back.
Juvia's hand crept into her hers. "Are you ready?" she asked quietly.
"No," Lucy replied. She lifted her head from the ground. "But let's do this anyway."
She gave one last squeeze to Juvia's hand, before letting go and pulling herself to her feet. The two of them took off, racing to other ends of the battlefield.
Juvia reached them first. She threw herself in front of Gray, arms spread open. Still blinded by his rage, Gray struck without seeing, and Juvia froze on the spot. But the temperature of the ice and the force behind it caused Juvia to shatter into a hundred pieces, and the sound was so loud all three of them stopped.
Gray stilled, hands still thrown up. Slowly, his eyes came back into focus, and the tattoo on his arm faded slightly. "Juvia?" he whispered, voice loud in the quiet. Then his eyes fully focused on Lucy, and his face contorted. "What the fuck are you doing here?" he snarled. "You'll be killed!"
Behind them, E.N.D. laughed. "Here come the damsels in distress to save the day!" he crowed.
Movement on the floor caught their eye. The heat of E.N.D.'s flames had caused the ice shards of Juvia to melt back down to water, and now they slid across the ground to reform. Juvia rose, water dripping from her hair and fingers.
Lucy's heart started beating again. She turned, levelling E.N.D. with her gaze. "You know very well I'm not a damsel in distress, Natsu," she said calmly. E.N.D.'s face fell, and he growled.
"Get outta the way!" Gray roared, lunging forward, but Juvia stopped him. She pushed herself at him, hands landing on his chest and shoving him backwards. Gray struggled, but Juvia held firm.
"Stay back, Gray," she ordered. He must have noticed the change in her speech pattern, because he paused. "Lucy needs to do this."
"Lucy," E.N.D. drawled out. "Hey, I remember you. You're the spirit mage, right?"
His voice sent shivers crawling u her spine, but she held firm. "Natsu," she said again. "I know you're in there. Come out."
"Natsu isn't here anymore," E.N.D. sang. Then he jumped at Lucy, landing directly in front of her. She could feel the heat coming off him in waves. Flames licked at his fingers. "You sure miss him, though, huh?"
"I do," Lucy said softly. "I do miss you, Natsu."
Behind her, she could vaguely hear Gray and Juvia shouting and arguing. Lucy didn't turn away. She stared into the deep, dark, endless pits of E.N.D.'s eyes – no, she stared past them. She didn't care what the demon said – Natsu wasn't gone yet.
She placed both her hands on his cheeks. He was burning hot, and her skin began to smoke and blister. E.N.D.'s eyes opened wide, and his face went slack. "What are you doing?"
Her palms screamed at her to let go. One time, when she was five, she had put her hand on the stovetop. She had shrieked and pulled her hand away, but even those few seconds of contact had stung for hours.
But she held firm. She pressed her face close to E.N.D., pushing past the pain in her hands and in her heart. "Natsu," she said. "Natsu, please, you have to come back. There's something I have to tell you."
E.N.D.'s face was rapidly filling with panic. His eyes darted around. "Stop," he commanded, voice rising steadily. "Stop, stop it, stop, you're burning up, stop, Lucy, stop!"
They toppled over, Lucy landing hard on her back, hands slipping free. But it wasn't E.N.D. who landed on top of her, bracing himself on his arms, panting heavily, and inches from her face.
It was Natsu.
He stared down at her, and Lucy almost wept in relief when she saw it was his eyes - wide, dark, warm, and brimming with tears. One landed on her face, and it sizzled.
"Lucy..." he whispered, voice cracking.
"Natsu." She put her hands on his cheeks again, and they were warm, but they didn't burn. She couldn't even feel the pain. "Natsu. I-"
Then he screamed, straightening and throwing his head back. He clasped at his hair, digging the heels of his hands into his eyes. She reached out, and he shoved her hand away. His eyes snapped open, and for a terrifying moment, Lucy didn't know whose eyes they were.
The he cried out again, pain ripping through his voice, and rolled away. And Lucy realised he was fighting – fighting E.N.D. with every last inch of his soul, every piece of him that wanted to return, that wanted to be saved. And this was what Lucy was here for, because anyone could have drawn him out – Lucy had to make him stay.
So she reached out. She crawled over to him, circling her arms around his shuddering form and drawing him closer to her chest. "Natsu," Lucy murmured, "I need you to come back."
"I can't." His voice was broken. "I can't, Lucy, I'm a monster."
"You're not. You're Natsu, and I love you." She tightened her arms. "I love you, Natsu, please. Please come back."
"I'll hurt you. I've already hurt everyone, I've – Erza, Happy, you – your hands," he sobbed. "I can't, Lucy, I can't, I can't..."
Lucy's heart was breaking, and she fought down a sob of her own. "Natsu, that wasn't you, that was him," she cried. "It was E.N.D.-"
His face turned up, and Lucy's stomach dropped when E.N.D.'s eyes looked back at her. "What about me?"
He launched forward, pinning Lucy underneath him, holding her arms down on each side. Lucy cried out and kicked, but he held firm. His laugh was terrible.
"I am going to enjoy killing you," he crowed. "So, so deeply. He's still here, you know? Just barely. I think once I kill you, he'll be gone for good."
Lucy looked at him, and for once, she looked at E.N.D., and not Natsu. "He's still there, huh?"
E.N.D. paused. His eyes narrowed. "What are you thinking, wench?" He asked.
Lucy didn't answer him. Instead, she turned her gaze again, past E.N.D., looking deeper, to where she knew Natsu could hear. "Natsu," she said, and the tears finally spilled over, her throat closed up and she almost couldn't strangle out the words. "Please don't leave me."
E.N.D.'s face twisted into something terrible. He raised his hand, pulled it into a fist, and it exploded into flame. Lucy didn't look away as he cocked his arm back, seconds away from striking. He started to move-
And then he stopped. His eyes, wide again, blinked slowly.
"Lucy," said Natsu, clear as day.
Then he pushed away, leaping off of her seconds before bursting into flame. Lucy screamed and curled away, covering her eyes. The column of flame rose higher and higher, until everything in Lucy's eyes was burning red and she thought the world might be ending.
Then it stopped. He stood in the middle of it, clothes burned, skin scraped, still standing whole. His eyes found hers, and she clapped her hands around her mouth in relief – because it was Natsu. No more E.N.D., no more demons. Just Natsu.
Lucy ran to him, throwing her arms around his waist. He flinched; but slowly, surely, his arms came up and clasped at her shoulders; and then he was hugging her so tightly it was like the world would end if he let go. For all Lucy knew, the world might.
"I love you, too, Lucy," Natsu managed to say. "I'm not leaving you. Never."
She choked, pressing her face into his shoulder and the fabric of his scarf.
They might have held onto each other forever, but something wet hit the top of Lucy's head. She pulled away, looking up. Coming from the sky, pouring through the layers of smoke and smog, was rain. It cleared the air, smothered the fires around them. Lucy held out a hand, and she laughed - a sound she hadn't made in days. Natsu was looking up, eyes closed, letting the rain wash over his skin, like he was being born anew.
Lucy looked over to Juvia - and sure enough, the rain woman was standing, arms out, concentrating. She had brought the rain, but this time it didn't mean gloom. It was like new life was pouring from the sky, washing into all of them. Lucy felt her husk of cinder washing off, and she was flesh and blood once again.
Gray stumbled to his feet. He pushed past Juvia, whose concentration broke. The rain pittered out as Gray reached Natsu, eyes burning. He held out his arm. His tattoo was no longer glowing - in fact, it was fading rapidly.
"E.N.D.'s gone?" he demanded, but it wasn't a question. Gray's powers had only ever been there to fight E.N.D., and now that threat was gone forever.
Natsu nodded slowly, apprehensively. He and Gray shared a guarded glance – then, slowly, clasped each other's hands.
"I'm glad you're back," Gray said.
"Thank you," Natsu said in return.
The toll of fighting for three days finally reached them, and both crumpled on the spot. Juvia scrambled forward to catch Gray, and Lucy let Natsu collapse backwards onto her, sinking to her knees and wrapping her arms around his shoulders.
Juvia used her water to calm some of the pain on Lucy's palms. Most of the skin had burned away and even with Wendy's healing, she would no doubt have scars for the rest of her life. Lucy didn't mind, though – it was a small price to pay for getting Natsu back.
They carried the boys over the rubble, moving slowly and cautiously, not able to open the steel door again. As they climbed the rock piles, occasionally slipping on ice and sometimes dropping their charges, the smoke above them began to clear.
"It's a new day," Lucy observed, smiling lightly. "Day four of the apocalypse."
"I need a nap." Juvia yawned. She was still talking in first person, and Lucy still neglected to mention it. "Preferably with Gray-sama."
"You talked to him, then?" Lucy asked, carefully stepping around a loose rock. Natsu's arms dangled loosely over her shoulder.
"It kept him occupied," Juvia answered. "We talked about his father, and his mother, and a lot of things." A smile played at her lips. "Things will get interesting when Gray-sama wakes up."
Lucy hummed in agreement. Things were about to get interesting for all of them.
Juvia cast a sideways glance at Lucy. "It's funny, though...I was expecting you to kiss Natsu to bring him back."
"Yeah, I wasn't willing to sacrifice these beautiful things," Lucy joked, puckering her lips at Juvia. The two laughed, and they reached the top of the rubble. A beam of sun broke through the smog, illuminating them. Lucy could just see, at the bottom of it all, their friends still sitting around their campfire.
"But you still haven't kissed Natsu, then?" Juvia continued. Lucy glanced at her slyly, and her arms tightened around Natsu's legs. It was a brand new day, the battle was over, no one was dead, and Natsu had come back to her.
"Not yet."
pm me if you wanna talk theories!