Lucy was on her bed, writing before she went to bed for the night when a certain blue Exceed flew through her window. Happy landed on Lucy's bed, and gave her a panicked glance before saying, "There's something wrong with Natsu!"
That made Lucy sit up straight, before thoughts of Natsu being attacked and hurt ran through her head. But she forced herself to calm down before she hurried over there; Happy could be playing a trick on her, but she knew the little cat wasn't that great of an actor.
"What's wrong with him exactly, Happy?" Lucy questioned.
"He went in his room without me earlier, and told me to get him so we could come over tonight, but when I went into his room, he was sleeping, and I couldn't wake him up!" Happy explained.
Lucy shot out of her bed, and slammed her shoes on her feet, not even bothering to consider that she was in her pajamas, before she was out of the door with her Celestial keys, her book in the other hand, and shooting down the street and to Happy and Natsu's house.
She ran for what seemed like forever, not even looking back to see if Happy had followed her, even though he had, and finally arrived at their home. She ignored the prospect of knocking, before opening the never locked door, and bursting into Natsu's room.
She saw him on his bed, facing the wall, and walked over to him quietly, seeing him almost dispersing her unease. Lucy leaned over him, and was immediately aware of how hot it was in here. She laid a hand on his forehead, trying to figure out if his temperature was more elevated than normal, but the comparison was hard for her. But she knew Happy was almost overreacted.
Still, she began to softly shake him, saying, "Natsu, wake up, please."
It took a little longer than Lucy thought it would before he turned to face her, groaning in the process, his eyebrows pressed together as he opened one eye to stare at her. "Lucy?" he asked, his voice a hoarse whisper. "What-what are you doing here?"
Lucy ignored his question, and looked at him, feeling like maybe she shouldn't have come.
But Natsu interpreted her silence as something different. He struggled to sit up, eyes blazing with something Lucy didn't know how to respond to. "Are you in trouble?" A pause as he still tried to get up. "Give me a second. No one messes with my guild and gets away with it."
Lucy moved to sit beside him on the bed, and pushed him gently back down. She brushed a p ece of his bang out of his eyes, fingers lingering for longer than necessary. "I'm fine. Happy said he couldn't wake you up. I came over as fast as I could."
Natsu closed his eyes, and leaned into the pillow more. "I'm fine," Natsu tried to insist.
"You are not fine!" argued Lucy. "You can barely sit up, Natsu! Face it, you're sick."
"I'm not," Natsu said forcibly, and then proceeded to succumb to a coughing fit that left him gasping for breath. He tried to pull air into his lungs, and that left him sputtering. Lucy shook her head at him trying to say he was fine when he obviously was not.
"Let me find a thermometer," Lucy said, getting to her feet.
"Bathroom," Natsu was able to choke out.
Lucy went into the bathroom to check, and sure enough, there was one in the bottom drawer. She walked back to Natsu, feeling bad for him that he was sick. She stuck the thermometer into his mouth and waited for it to beep. When it did, her eyes bulged at the reading it gave. She knew Natsu's body temperature was higher than most people's but… she didn't know it was this much higher.
"Umm… Natsu, what's your normal body temperature?"
"I don't know. I've never thought about it."
Lucy sighed. Well he definitely had a fever, no matter what he insisted; she could feel that he was hotter than normal. That combined with the coughing, and probably sore throat because he sounded hoarse…
"Sounds like the flu," Lucy said to herself.
Natsu started snoring, but it was different than normal. There was a slight rumbling that seemed to come from deep in his chest. He was congested as well. Lucy looked at him with sadness in her eyes, but there was nothing she could do about it except try to help.
Finding a clean washcloth, she doused it in cold water, and returned to Natsu's tossing and turning body to place it carefully on his forehead. His eyes squinted together when it made contact. She sat down next to him on the bed, careful not to shift him too much. Natsu grabbed her hand unconsciously, and even though he wasn't watching, Lucy blushed.
Don't freak out. Don't freak out, she chanted to herself.
She tried to pull her hand out of his grasp, but his hold even when sick was strong.
"Don't go, Lucy," Natsu muttered in his sleep. "Don't go."
That made Lucy smile, but she still pulled her hand from his, promising him that she would be back as soon as she had some medicine to give him. That reassurance seemed to calm Natsu down slightly, and she slipped out of his room, rummaging through his stuff looking for a certain thing. Then she found it: cough syrup.
She went back to Natsu, and shook him again, gently. He stared at her confused for a moment. "I just need you to drink this, and you can sleep."
Natsu opened his mouth and took the medicine, flinching as the horrid taste hit his tongue. "Water," he croaked out.
That croak caused Lucy to jump up and run to the kitchen for a glass of water. She gave it to Natsu when she returned, and he gulped it down.
"Thank you," he breathed, and his eyes drooped.
Happy walked in through the door. "Happy," Lucy said. "I need you to go find Wendy, and to bring her back here, please."
"Aye!" Happy saluted Lucy and flew out of the door.
Lucy sat down on the floor and waited.
It seemed like forever before Wendy was through the door wearing a nightgown, with Happy trailing behind. "I'm sorry to wake you this late," Lucy apologized. "But could you heal Natsu? He's sick."
"Sure," Wendy said cheerfully. "It's no problem at all. You guys are my friend. I'm happy to help."
Wendy healed Natsu to the best of her ability, and then told Lucy, "He should be fine around noon tomorrow. Just make sure he rests until then." Lucy nodded.
Wendy left, and Happy was sitting on the floor next to Lucy, but he didn't seem to be panicked for his best friend anymore.
"Happy, why don't you go find Carla and ask her to go late night fishing or something? That way you won't worry so much," Lucy suggested.
"Aye!" Then Happy left again, leaving Natsu and Lucy alone.
Lucy went into the bedroom to check on Natsu, and saw that he had the comforter pulled up to his chin even though he was sweating. Poor Natsu. What could Lucy do? She'd done all she could for now.
She picked up her half-written book, and went outside to the big oak tree that bordered Natsu's house. She climbed to a branch that would hold her, and leaned against the trunk of the tree, beginning to write the next scene.
And the lady knew that their love could never be darkened, not by jealous, nor anger, nor even by all the enemies that threatened them, for she knew he would protect them both from everything. She felt safe knowing he was looking out for her, even when he himself was battling a monster. But she felt as though she did not maybe do enough for him, for when he showed his love in great displays, she showed her love for him at home, by cooking his meals and simply being his. Sadly, the lady began to feel as though she weren't deserving of the knight who claimed to love her through everything.
Lucy looked up from her writing to see that hours had passed, and the dawn had come. She watched the sun rise for a bit, noting the reds and pinks and how they came together to make a picture perfect scene. She wished for a moment that she was a painter instead of a writer so she could capture the beauty of the sun for all time.
She was so caught up in her thoughts that when a voice called, "Luce! Lucy, where are you?" she almost fell out of the tree. She knew the voice. Natsu. But what was he doing out of bed so early? He should be sleeping still.
"Lucy," he yelled again, voice edged with underlying panic.
"Natsu?" Lucy called back, and she looked down to see he was right under the tree she was in. He looked up at the sound of his name, and his expression seemed to sigh, as if he was relieved she was alright.
"What are you doing up?!"
"I woke up, and you weren't there…" Natsu trailed off, realizing that she could have gone home. He cleared his throat and continued, "I thought you might be in trouble."
"Yeah, the tree kidnapped me," Lucy stated sarcastically. "Why didn't you just smell me?"
"I'm all stuffed up. I can't smell anything," Natsu said.
Lucy nodded like that made sense. "Hold on; I'll come down."
"Jump," Natsu told her.
"Are you out of your mind?" Lucy screeched.
"Jump, Luce. I promise I'll catch you. I would never drop you," Natsu said, suddenly serious.
"If you drop me…" Lucy threatened.
"But I won't," Natsu said with his signature smile in place.
Lucy jumped off the branch, and the wind seemed to whip against her face as she flew towards the ground. Then she felt a thump as she landed bridal style in Natsu's arms. He stumbled a bit when she flew down, and that made Lucy feel bad, but he didn't put her down. He stared at her intensely, so much so that Lucy squirmed uncomfortably.
He leaned down, and kissed her, and Lucy's brain went haywire. It wasn't passionate; it was short and sweet and simple, but to Lucy it was heaven. She blushed furiously, and gestured for Natsu to put her down, but he kept her in his arms, and walked back to the room, where he sat her down on the bed.
"What did you do that for?"
Natsu smirked at her. "Scoot over. I need some room, too."
"Why? I don't want to stay in the bed," Lucy protested.
Then, Natsu's expression turned pouty. "Please, Lucy? You make me feel better."
"Fine," agreed Lucy, but didn't sound happy about it, keeping the word short.
She moved as far away from Natsu as the bed would allow, until she was against the wall. She turned away from him to face the wall, wrapping her arms loosely around her legs, curling into a small ball.
Natsu sighed, realizing she was going to be difficult. "Come on, Luce. What's the matter?"
"You shouldn't have kissed me!" Lucy said rather forcibly.
"But-" Natsu sputtered. "I thought you wanted me to."
"I didn't say I didn't want you to. I said you shouldn't have. You shouldn't have even been outside. And if it wasn't for me, you wouldn't have been," Lucy explained, her logic not really making any sense.
Natsu opened his mouth to say something, but as if she sensed it, Lucy snapped, "Just go to sleep, Natsu. Just leave me alone."
That shut Natsu up quickly, who was taken aback by Lucy. He rolled to face Lucy's turned back, feeling a little rejected. He felt better, pretty much perfect, and she was making such a big deal out of it. Sure, he had been sick, but he was fine now. There was no reason to worry about him. He bit the inside of his cheek, and stared at Lucy as she fell asleep. She was beautiful, he thought suddenly.
A couple of hours later, when Lucy was still sleeping, and Natsu was still staring, Lucy began to shiver violently. Natsu was torn between pulling her to him to make her warm, or leaving her to shiver for fear of making her mad. He put his arms around her waist, and pulled her over to him, his body heat making her stop shivering for a while. If she wanted to yell at him for trying to help, let her. He was just happy knowing she was warm.
When the sun was overhead, Lucy awoke to find herself trapped in Natsu's arms. How did she get there? She shifted over so she was facing his very awake face, and blushed for no reason.
"Are you okay, Lucy?" Natsu asked nervously.
"I'm fine." She pushed away his concern even though her head was pounding. "How are you?"
"Perfect. Good as new."
"That's great," Lucy mumbled, her eyes harder to keep open. "I'm tired."
Natsu's eyebrows pulled together in confusion. "But you just woke up." Lucy looks pink, he thought, and put a hand on her forehead. She felt hot, even to him.
"I don't care! I'm tired." Lucy started to cough, and the sound was horrible; it went on for so long that Natsu began to grow worried.
"Hold on for just a minute, Luce. Okay? I need to check something." Lucy nodded wearily.
He sat up and found the thermometer where it was sitting from earlier. He put it in Lucy's mouth, and waited rather impatiently. Finally it beeped, and it read 101.8 degrees. She had a fever; a bad one.
"How do you feel?" Natsu asked suddenly.
Lucy moaned. "Horrible. I'm freezing, I'm tired, my head is pounding, and I feel like I just coughed up a lung, and-" She was cut off by another coughing fit that left Natsu scrambling to get back to her side.
"Yeah, you're sick."
"But how did I-" Suddenly it occurred to her. "You kissed me and got me sick!"
"Sorry! I'm sorry!"
"Natsu, you idiot!" Lucy yelled at him and smacked his arm weakly.
Natsu gave her attempt to hit him a smile. "Guess it's my turn to take care of you."
