Natsu staggered into his small hut house. Everything was just as he had left it, his things scattered meticulously across the place in organized chaos. He clutches the wall for support as his body protests loudly at the abuse he had put it through just to get home. His knuckles turn white from the effort to keep his weak, frail form upright as black dots swim across his vision. His mind was getting fuzzy. The pull of exhaustion tugged insistently, trying to coax him into unconsciousness. He stumbled towards his tiny corner bed before collapsing into an ungraceful heap. Dust danced in a thick cloud of swirling patterns around him as he shifts, with difficulty, to a more comfortable position. His sore muscles scream in protest at the movement and a twinge of pain shoots through him. He lets out a hiss through clenched teeth and quakes as the blinding pain, that seemed to have no beginning nor any end, raked through him relentlessly. He flinches at the stark familiar sound of his pain echoing in the crushing silence.

The silence...

He let out a ragged breath. Natsu had never been comfortable with silence. Frankly, he could have said that he hated it. Silence had always meant that there was no one there, that he was alone. It reminded him of a time when the only company he had was his own voice and the crippling agony of abandonment. He was always his best in crowds, with the commotion, the clamor, the noise. So, it was with a faint hint of manic amusement that he acknowledged his present need for it. Oh, the beautiful irony. The silence, now, greeted him like an old friend. It meant that he was safe.

Natsu closed his eyes. With a heavy sigh, he burrows deep into the mattress. To think that he had once complained about it being too hard and lumpy. He longed for sleep, the ability to not think for a while, lest he bury himself into the chasms of his misery. But, his mind be damned if it would grant him the peace of precious slumber. It was determined to run rampant with anxious, fretful, thoughts that only served to make him agitated. He stared long and hard at the ceiling, willing his mind to quell the disquiet fear that lingered like a bad cold. Time ticked by slowly and his lids started to feel heavy. Eventually his need for sleep overtook him. His last thought before he submerged fully to the feeling was of fear of what would await him in the dreamscape.

…

It was cold, so cold. The cool harsh earth that surrounded him seeped through his clothes and chilled him all the way to his core. He had tried to tap into the hearth that resided in his heart but even that seemed to freeze over in the unrelenting frosty temperatures. Natsu had stopped shivering ages ago in favor of just laying numb in the glacial cavern.

It was dark. He had tried, effortlessly, to measure the days, not that he had any way of telling the time. He tried counting the minutes but quickly lost count with each attempt. The shadows around him seemed to close in, as if alive, and shrouded him in the ever present darkness. He couldn't even see his hand in front of him.

He lay on his side in a corner of the small pit, curled up into a ball. He tried to preserve some heat within his body, but all he could feel was the cold that permeated the stale frequently used air. It was by some unforgiving miracle that he did not die of lack of oxygen. He was buried someplace under the ground where no one would find him. Natsu inhaled shakily and shut his eyes tight against the oppressive darkness. He prayed to every higher being he could think of to forgive him for whatever sins he committed. Whatever he did to deserve this, he begged profusely for penance. The gods stayed silent. Natsu was... alone, abandoned once again.

Suddenly a warm familiar hand was touching his cheek. He knew what it was. Fear beat through him like a drum, but he could not help but lean into the welcome feeling of warmth the body provided. He held onto it like a drug. "Oh, Natsu. It's okay, everything is going to be okay. I'm here now." Lucy's voice weighed heavily against the silence that he was accustomed to. It wasn't her. He knew it wasn't her. It was all a part of the game. He had played many times since he was captured. The game was rigged, set up so he was always the loser.

He shook with the intensity of his conflicting emotions. The need for the warmth warred against his need to get away from the source of it. When the hand started to stroke his hair in the way that she used to, he flinched away to the farthest reach of the hole. His breath left him in quick rapid tufts, his arms wrapping around his middle, as he struggled to stop his body from gravitating back towards the compelling heat.

"Natsu," fake Lucy sounded hurt. "Are you not happy to see me? I'm here to rescue you." He pulled his knees to his chest and buried his face in the crevice. She wasn't here. She wasn't here! SHE WASN'T HERE! He tried, in vain, to suppress the rising hysteria that caught in his throat. The heat returned and a small calloused hand rubbed at his back soothingly. It was anything but. He whimpered at the feeling. It was so warm. Her breath tickled his ear as she laughed softly at his obvious anguish. "Oh my little Salamander." He trembled at the demented tones in Lucy's voice. "I do hope you didn't get your hopes up too high." The hands that, up until moments ago were brushing against his spine, now squeezed his throat maliciously. "No one is coming to save you. No one cares about you. I didn't love you, none of your nakama did, and not even daddy dearest loved you. That's why he left you. That's why you will die here all alone. They were all glad to finally be rid of you. You are nothing. You're existence means nothing."

Natsu closed his eyes, his body going slack in defeat. The words from Lucy's mouth ringing despondently in his ears. He couldn't help but believe that maybe they were true. Maybe he was worthless. He lay beneath the curvy body of fake Lucy and accepted that he should probably die here. That was to be his fate. The hand released his throat and he looked around him wildly wondering why he was not dead. Maybe he was. He couldn't be sure. He still couldn't see anything in front of him. That was why he didn't see the fist that landed swiftly and sharply at his abdomen causing him to double over and vomit bile. He couldn't remember the last time he ate. Natsu bent over in two, his arms coming around to wrap around his middle as he rested his head against the packed dirt. A boot rested on top of his head and pressed down slightly. His mind started to blank as he attempted to pass out.

"No, no, not yet my little pet. You see, I still want to play with you." The boot pressed his face further into the ground before the petite hand pulled his head back by his hair. His face landed on a lap that he was well acquainted with. How many times had his head rested on these very legs when the motion sickness got to him? How many times did these same fingers stroke through his hair calmly? He shivered, unable to fight back any longer. He let himself get lost in the phantasm of comfort. He closed his eyes to the sound of Lucy humming a song. He was lulled slowly to sleep as fake Lucy rocked him lightly. Right before he passed out Lucy spoke one last time. "Don't you wish I was real Natsu? That it is actually me here and that this was all just a bad dream?" She chuckled. "Sweet naive little Salamander. You will never wake up from this nightmare and I will always be there to remind you of who you really are. Insignificant, useless, unimportant, and unloved. Always remember dear Natsu that no one loves you, no one will love you, and no one ever did."

…

Natsu gasped awake, his hands clawing at his throat trying to pry off fingers that felt all too real. He raked trembling fingers through his hair, flinching when his hair shifted in a way that reminded him of counterfeit Lucy and her twisted form of comfort. He breathed unevenly, trying to get back his hold on reality. He ripped the covers off his body and made haste towards the front door. He couldn't breathe as his heart threatened to pound out of his chest. His head spun and his eyes filled with unshed tears. He needed out and he needed out now. It was all too dark, too confining. He threw open his door and eagerly breathed in the morning air. He tried desperately to grasp at his ever-fleeting sanity. He looked up at the blue sky and willed his mind to accept the fact that he was free now. He escaped, so why did he still feel trapped?

He managed to make his way to the tall tree next to his house and slid down the trunk roughly, thankful for the slight pain at his back grounding him further into the present. He pulled his knees up to his chin and curled up within himself. The slight morning breeze made him shiver as he pulled his knees impossibly closer to him. Maybe if he curled up tight enough, he would disappear.

He sat and watched patiently as the cobalt blue of night slowly transitioned to the soft lavender of morning. He took in the sights and sounds greedily. It was a double-edged sword. Everything around him was a reminder that he was alive, that he had been through hell and had survived to tell the tale. But was he truly alive? Was he truly living? Did he even want to be alive?

His thoughts came to a slamming halt at the sound of that hauntingly familiar voice. "N- Natsu?" He clenched his eyes shut and attempted to block it out. Was he still dreaming? Was this all some new twisted way for that bastard to have his fun? Make the stupid idiotic Dragon Slayer think he's escaped only to find that he was still trapped and alone. Was this the game now? Natsu felt like throwing up. It had to be true! He had to have escaped! All of this couldn't possibly be in his mind. It all felt... it… he felt everything. It couldn't be his imagination. IT HAD TO BE REAL!

He was afraid to open his eyes, even as he heard the footsteps come closer. He clenched his eyes shut even tighter. She was in front of him. He could feel that insidious heat from her body and heard the crunch of a twig as she crouched in front of him. He resisted the urge to whimper, to escape from this personal hell that he found himself in. His mind was a turbulent mess as his heart threatened to burst.

"Natsu?" The voice. His body betrayed him as it froze when he told it to flee. "Natsu, please, is that you? Can you hear me? Tell me what's wrong?" He heard a strange sound. An odd sort strangled gurgling. "Natsu! Shit! Are you okay? Please answer me!"

It was then he realized the sound was coming from him. His voice, tarnished from disuse and screaming till he simply couldn't, distorted what should've been laughter. Was he okay? No he really wasn't. He was the farthest thing from okay and then some. What was wrong with him? Natsu didn't think he would even know where to begin to start on that tediously extensive list. He finally opened his eyes, slowly and one by one, ready to accept what fate would bestow on him.

Lucy looked different, slimmer. Her hair was longer, the ends brushing against her tiny waist. She had on a white fitted dress with a high neck. Natsu choked on another delirious laugh. Was she real? Could he even trust his eyes right now? "Natsu, your scaring me." Her voice. His eyes widened as all the air in his lungs seemed to leave and he feared he was having a heart attack. Her voice was the same. It wasn't her. No matter how different she looked it couldn't possibly be her. His breathing became laborious as his pulse raced. He was going to die. Finally. At least he got to see her one last time before his death, no matter if she was a figment of his imagination or not. He got to visit his house and sleep in his bed. Though all in his mind, it filled him with a sense of peace to die in a place that was familiar.

Then everything went black.

…

Natsu opened his eyes slowly. He groaned at the pain in his head and the brightness of the room. Where was he? Was he in heaven? Hell? He narrowed his eyes and took a peek around his lambent confines. It was a simple room. The walls were made out of wood and there was a generously sized window which sunlight streamed in through. Against the wall to his right was a simple, tidy desk with some books and bottles all arranged in neat rows. Above it was a small bookshelf full of more dusty tomes and mysterious glass jars. Right next to the bed he was occupying was a bedside table with a clay bowl full of water and a clean white towel hanging out of it.

The only door in the room, opposite of him, opened slightly and Natsu tensed. What was he going to see? Who was going to greet him? His tired eyes were confronted by the most fascinating sight of long raven hair and eyes like sparkly amethysts on a petite girl. He watched her close the door behind her gently and make her way to the desk. He wondered if his eyes were working properly. The girl was so graceful, elegant, in her long lilac dress that he could've sworn she was floating. Was he really dead? Maybe this mysterious woman was a goddess.

She set the book she was holding neatly onto a corner of the desk, muttering to herself as her dainty hands started to peruse the bottles and jars on the shelf. He gazed at the ethereal creature before him. She was so refreshingly unfamiliar that she had to be real. No one could possibly make up such a wondrous sight. She started to grind herbs together in the bowl in front of her with quick precision. Finally those unfailingly deep pools of purple looked over at him and widened in surprise.

"Oh!" Her breathy exclamation was like taking in air for the first time in a long time. He felt his overcrowded mind stutter and cease all activity and he was graced with some blessed silence. She was so refreshingly unfamiliar it almost hurt. Flashes of the blackness, familiar voices and hands, invaded his senses causing him to flinch harshly. The fairy was at his side in an instant with furrowed eyebrows. "Are you in pain?" She reached out a pale hand to his forehead but stopped halfway as if to ask for permission. With a nod from him, the back of her cool hand was resting against his sweaty forehead. He felt dizzy all of a sudden. A soft comforting green light engulfed his vision as she fussed over him. It felt nice to be looked after, to not pretend everything was okay. He had always laughed things off. Natsu was always pretending he wasn't suffering even if he was. But this, this he could get used to. He didn't have to put up a façade and it felt good.

"How's your throat," she asked in that same bell-like voice. Was she an angel? His guardian angel. Amusement filled him. He kind of liked the sound of that. "Does it still feel irritated? Here's some water, it will help. You've been unconscious for a couple of days so your throat might be dry. I've infused some chamomile in it, but you won't taste it. It's just something to help you with the pain. It's not going to take it away but it should help you relax a little." She smiled bashfully, a lovely rose tint staining her moon kissed skin, as the glass was lifted to his lips. "Sorry, I tend to babble when I'm nervous."

When he was finished drinking, he laid back onto the pillows with a wonderfully mellow feeling. She was right. He definitely felt more relaxed than he had in a while. He focused back on her as she flitted back over to her little worktable. "You gave everyone in the guild quite a heart attack. I must say it was all kind of amusing honestly." She glanced at him briefly then back at her table where a huge tome was now open. She hummed softly and he closed his eyes at the sound. It was all quite domestic and he couldn't find not a single qualm about it. "Your vitals look stable. You had an alarming amount of internal bleeding in the stomach area and your throat was rather inflamed. I managed to give you something for that. As for the internal bleeding, I had to get Wendy to help. There was a lot of damage to take care of aside from the bleeding." He opened one eye to find that beautiful color on her cheeks as she stared down at the concoction in the bowl.

"What's your name," Natsu managed to ask before his brain could talk him out of it.

She turned to him with a panicked squeak and wide eyes. "I completely forgot! How rude of me! I'm Kiyomi," she said with a small shy smile that he was quickly growing fond of. He felt so at ease around her that he found himself fighting off sleep. He wanted to drink in more of her. He wanted to know more about her. What did she like? What did she hate? Where did she come from. But even as he fought against the tide, he was pulled under and that ever familiar blackness took over.

…

He woke once again with the feeling like he was floating. He was beginning to get tired of it.

"Where did you say he was for the past five years?" Kiyomi's hushed voice brought him into full consciousness.

"He went on a training expedition. That's where we all thought he was. Never in a million years would I have thought that he was held prisoner somewhere." Natsu felt his entire body still at the sound of the crackly old voice. He was terrified of opening his eyes. He could feel the tendrils of panic start to choke him. "He was supposed to be out there getting stronger and then strutting back in here with that unending ego of his. Am I a bad parent? I mean I should have known."

Kiyomi sighed. Natsu held onto the sound of her voice like a drowning man and managed to relax. "How could you possibly have known Shishou? Look, there is no point in torturing yourself. What's done is done. All we can do now is keep moving forward and heal. And if you keep worrying like you are, you'll get sick. I have enough on my hands," her voice was firm but teasing. "I know you're worried. But I think it's best that you not be in the room when he wakes up again. I will not have you stress out my patient. I've worked hard enough to get him as stable as he is."

Gramps chuckled lowly. "Alright. Alright. I'll get out of your hair. Take care of him for me, would you?"

"Of course, Shishou! I would have done it anyway." Natsu heard another throaty chuckle before the door clicked signaling Gramps' exit. Natsu let out a shaky breath that he didn't even know he was holding. "So, how are you feeling? Any pain, discomfort, headaches?"

He finally opened his eyes to find Kiyomi standing over her messy desk full of fresh herbs and empty jars. She glanced over at him with those purple crystal eyes. She smiled kindly as she sat down on the bed next to him, laying the back of her hand on his forehead. "You told him." He didn't want his nakama to know. He didn't want them to look at him like he was different. He didn't want them to treat him like he was different.

She frowned and retracted her small hand. "I had to. If you feel like I betrayed you, that was not my intention. I did what I thought was in your best interest. I... I didn't tell them everything. I said enough to ease their worry." She stared into his eyes with such a serious gaze that he couldn't look away. "They care about you so much. You're quite lucky. In fact, I'm a little jealous. Your nakama deserve to hear what happened from you, not me." With that she got up and went back to her table. "You still need to rest. I'll get you some broth. It will help you get some of your strength back."

"I don't know if I could ever face them again," he told her quietly.

He watched her as her hands stilled over a jar. His heart thumped loudly in his ear as she stayed silent. Would she run away from him now? He opened up a lot more than he meant to. There was something about her. Something about the way that she smiled at him that somehow made him feel like she maybe understood him in a way that no one else could. Finally, she looked up at him with haunted eyes. He would never forget the deep broken sadness that he saw there. He didn't like it. "I know you think that they will judge you, maybe even turn their back on you, but they are your family. Whenever the guild would tell a story about you, they would all just light up. They love you and nothing can change that."

"But, how can they love something that is broken. When something is broken, you throw it away. You don't keep it."

"When something is broken, then you try to fix it."

"What if it can't be fixed?"

Kiyomi hummed in thought as she started to finish tidying up her worktable. "You needn't fix what isn't broken Natsu. I know that it feels as if there is nothing but darkness in your life now, but here's something that someone told me a long time ago when I felt just as defeated as you do. Only in darkness can you see the stars. It means that there is hope even when you believe there is none. Hope is such a fleeting thing, but it is more powerful than you can even begin to fathom." Kiyomi turned to walk through the door. Right as she was about to exit she turned to look at him with the same sad, mauve eyes. "Before you think of giving up, instead, think of the reason you held on so long." And with that, she left. She came back only to give him a bowl of delicious broth and a promise to come back the next day. Natsu slept fitfully that night with Kiyomi's eyes and sage words plaguing his dreams.

A/N: Sorry if there are any mistakes in this chapter. I do edit these myself, and I'm most definitely not a grammar connoisseur.

"Only in darkness can you see the stars" is a quote from MLK.

Also, a little disclaimer even though we all know the truth. I do not own these characters and I lay no claim to these characters except Kiyomi and some others that you do not recognize. I make zero profits from this, yada yada blah blah blah.

With that out of the way, enjoy the journey. ~Riley~