. Damaged Healer .

*Warning: Shattered Souls is a spinoff of my NaLu fanfiction, Shattered Dreams. If you were consider reading SD, I would highly recommend you read it first, as SS will be spoiling the entire plot of SD. Thank you! :)

She was to blame.

How was she not? She should have been able to heal the woman before her, even if Porlyusica had quietly stated that there was nothing more that she could do. There were some things that magic couldn't fix, and this was one of them.

She should have been able to fix it.

Wendy sighed softly, her eyes latched on Lucy's peaceful expression as she watched over her. Every now and then, the celestial mage's breathing would hitch, or her face would twist into an expression of pain, but then it would go back to normal, as if she was merely sleeping.

The sky dragon slayer wanted to scream to the skies her mother had ruled. Why couldn't she heal her mind, too? Porlyusica had told her that while physical wounds could be and were easy to heal, the mind was a completely different matter. It was dangerous for even the most experienced mages to use their magic to delve into another's mind. One wrong move, and you could destroy the one you were trying to save.

So, they'd been told to do nothing but wait. Lucy would either realize she was dreaming and wake herself up or die. Wendy remembered the looks on her friend's faces when they'd been told that.

Erza had looked stricken.

Gray had looked beyond guilty.

Natsu…

It hurt Wendy's heart to think of the pure loss and desperation that had appeared on her fellow dragon slayer's expression. It hurt even more that it had stayed.

Charle had felt bad, too. She'd admitted when they'd gone home that first night after bringing Lucy to the guildhall that she'd had a vision the night before it had all happened, but she hadn't said anything, afraid to mention anything of the sorts to Erza and Natsu. Erza would have been furious.

Natsu would have tried everything in his power to tie the blonde up in a closet so she couldn't get herself into such trouble.

Wendy frowned to herself, patting Lucy's hand thoughtfully before climbing to her feet, wandering over to peer out the window of the room. Similar to the now missing Levy, she'd searched everything she could for a solution, for a way to help her friend. But she'd come up with nothing, and while everyone had told her it wasn't her fault, that it was only natural that she eventually come across something she couldn't heal…

How was this not her fault?

If she'd just healed Gray a little better, he wouldn't have said such rude words to Lucy. Lucy wouldn't have run off.

She wouldn't be near death, her heart just waiting to give out on her.

As if sensing the dragon slayer's line of thoughts, Wendy's sensitive ears picked up the lack of heartbeat in an instant, and she whirled around, diving for Lucy's side with wide eyes. Normally, she would have called for Natsu, but the other mage was downstairs, eating for the first time in a few days, and she didn't want to scare him into not eating for a while. So she waited, holding her breath.

When the blonde's heart suddenly began thumping in a reassuring rhythm, Wendy heaved a huge sigh of relief, hugging herself.

She was still only a girl.

Most girls her age would have no regrets.

Wendy found herself full of them...and fear, too. Fear that Lucy wouldn't wake up.

Seeing Lucy in this way...it hurt her so badly, it felt as if someone had beat her soul to hell and back. She wanted the celestial mage, who had always cared for her, who had been the one to officially invite them to be a member of Team Natsu, to be alright. And while Charle had scolded Wendy for beating herself up over it, she knew the white cat was just as worried.

Tears built in Wendy's eyes.

"I'm sorry I couldn't help more," she whispered, thinking of the nasty wound she'd tried to heal. The wound that had been carved into Lucy's back. "I'm sorry, Lucy. Please be okay."

Lucy didn't respond.

She never did anymore.

And Wendy was seriously afraid.

Seriously afraid that because she hadn't been able to heal what damage the demon had done, Lucy's life would cease to exist.

Yay! Shattered Souls is finally ready for you all to read! :D This was originally going to be massive one-shots about what each of Team Natsu did during the time Lucy was unconscious, but...change of plans. My goal was to get the main emotions each of them felt through. Hope you enjoyed and I'll see you all on Friday!