AN: Hey, Y'all, this is my first one-shot, it's a CoLu pairing, and I hope you enjoy!
~Winded-Reaction
Chapter One
The once comforting heat of his flames was beginning to suffocate me, the smoke started to fill my lungs and I could barely muster the strength to cough it out. The carnage around me was devastating; even through the smoke and tears in my eyes I could see as much. Gray was off to the right, struggling to sit up, trying his damndest to launch one last ice-make attack at the monster in front of us. Erza was lying next to me, one eye shut against the smoke, her false eye taking in the destruction the yet-to-end battle had caused already. My keys were in my hand, but I had long-since run out of magic energy to call any of my friends out to save us. Happy was standing tall as he could without his wings, his aerial magic worn out halfway through the one-sided battle, blocking any stray attacks from hitting Carla and Wendy, who was trying desperately to support our last standing team member with her Vernier spell, but we could all see she was about to drop from the effort it took. The only member of Team Natsu left standing was Natsu himself, taking blow after blow, never backing down.
"Fire Dragon Iron Fist!" Natsu bellowed, throwing punch after seemingly useless punch at the beast. I cringed and flinched each time the smack of scales on flesh reached my ears. The creature was something out of this world- it was heard to believe Zeref hadn't created the nightmare standing before us.
Its name was unknown, as were its origins. All I knew was this; if someone didn't beat this thing soon, we were all going to die.
Just as the thought crossed my mind, red flashed in front of me, and instead of the burning heat I expected to accompany it, I felt something thick and warm slide down my face, getting into my eyes and obscuring my vision even more than the smoke already had. I raised my hand to my eyes to wipe the offending substance away, when I realized just what it was.
Blood… There was blood everywhere… I looked up in horror to see nothing but a sea of blood, my friends dead, lifeless, floating away from me, out of reach, out of range for me to save them.
A flash of pink caught my attention and then all I could see was Natsu, bright, happy, toothy-grin Natsu's dull, lightless, onyx eyes staring into my soul from across the battle field.
No, no, no, no, NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NOOOOOOOOOOOO
I repeated it like a mantra, as I crawled over to my best friend, pulling him into my lap.
"Nonono, Natsu, you have to wake up, you have to FINISH THIS. NATSU!"
I lifted my head and searched with my tear filled eyes for someone, anyone that could help us get out of this.
But there was no one, and there was nothing for me to do, and Natsu was dead, and Wendy and Erza and Gray and Happy and Carla were all floating away in a sea of red, and Natsu's blood was spreading all over me, covering me in that god-forsaken color and-
I woke up with a jolt, hyperventilating and flailing about, and the first thing I registered in my fright and sleep addled state was arms wrapped around me, holding me still, and keeping me from falling off the bed.
It took another few minutes of deep breathing to realize just whose arms were around me, and a few minutes more to relax into them.
I turned my head into his shoulder and sighed deeply, breathing in the scent of acid and nutmeg- the only scent that could calm me down whenever I relived the terrible memories as nightmares. He was the only one who could bring me back to reality, and make me feel safe.
"Hmmm, Erik…" I nuzzled further into his shoulder, trying my hardest to keep my tears at bay.
He hummed in response and pulled me closer to him, rubbing soothing circles over my arms with his thumbs. "It's alright, Belle, it's alright. You're here, with me, it was just a nightmare, and you're fine." He gently rocked us back and forth on our bed, knowing that it would be a while until I would be fully capable of responding without sobbing my heart out.
I smiled a watery smile at the sound of his nickname for me- our "Beauty and the Beast" relationship, as dubbed by Mira, had brought about the surprisingly sweet pet name, and it was just about the only thing Erik would address me as.
I pulled myself up into a sitting position, and turned to face my beloved fiancé. He looked at me with worried eyes, his fingers lacing with mine as he pulled our hands into his lap. As I gazed into his eyes, trying to think of what to say, I couldn't help but remember how we came together, how he saved me from the nightmare when it was actually happening.
He had found me among the ruins of the town our mission was in, an unmarked territory outside of Shirotsume, sobbing into my best friend's once-lively body, the rest of my team scattered about me, unconscious. The beast lay dead by my feet, slain by my Urano Metria spell I had cast out of anger and grief when Natsu fell. The monster had been about ready to fall when it struck Natsu down for good, nearly ripping him in half, splattering his blood over me. I somehow managed to gather enough magic to cast my spell, and it seemed to do the trick- the demon like thing was roasted and dead. Erik had been on a scouting mission for Jellal, as Crime Sorcier was planning on camping in the deepest parts of the forest that our mission was located in.
When he came upon them the stench of liquid rust and salt nearly overwhelmed him. He wasn't sure what overcame him, but when he laid eyes on me, Lucy Heartfilia, writhing in anguish over my fallen comrade, he couldn't stop himself from going to me and carrying me away from it all. The look of anguish on my face reminded him too much of himself when he had lost Kinana all those years ago.
Erik ended up calling the rest of Crime Sorcier over to help with the cleanup. He stayed by my side and let me sob into his shoulder the whole way home, back to Fairy Tail.
Natsu Dragneel was the only life lost on that mission. He sacrificed himself to defend his team, to protect us until the very end.
From the day after his funeral and onward I trained my hardest, every single day, so that I would never lose a friend in battle again.
Erik stood with me the whole way, especially once Crime Sorcier merged with Fairy Tail. He helped train me in hand-to-hand combat, along with Erza, so that if I lost my keys I could still defend myself. He also helped me hone and focus my magic usage so that I could keep more of my spirits out for longer amounts of time. 5 years into training I could call 6 Zodiac out at once, and keep them out for at least 2 hours at a time, and still have enough energy to cast Urano Metria with Gemini afterwards.
Somewhere along the way, Erik and I's friendly after training dinners turned into dates, and 6 years after Natsu died, Erik asked me to marry him. I happily said yes, and in just two weeks from now we will have our wedding.
But somehow, even in these 6 years of being together, the nightmares of the night I lost Natsu still haunt me. I might never get over it. Just like Erik might never get over the loss of his precious Cubelious. But I know, as long as he's by my side, everything will turn out just fine.
Erik smiled as he heard my thoughts, and leaned forward to place a chaste kiss on my lips.
"Forever and always, Belle."
I smiled and pulled him down to lay with me once more. As he faded into dreamless sleep, I followed him, but just before I let the peacefulness of slumber overtake me, I whispered as lovingly as I could,
"Forever and always, Beast."
And all was well again.
AN: Well, this was a lot of fun to write! I really enjoy crack ships, and CoLu has got to be one of my favorite "Out-there" ships. Let me know what y'all think!
~Winded-Reaction