She slunk behind another pillar, hoping that the camouflage of night would be enough to avoid getting caught. The reason she had to hide, though, was her fault. It was just supposed to be a simple mission.
"The name's Natsu!"
Go down to earth. Collect one thousand souls. Return to heaven and be hailed as the newest archangel. It was supposed to be so damn simple.
"Lucy? That's a strange name," he stared curiously behind her and she tucked her wings in subconsciously. Humans shouldn't have been able to see her wings, so why did she feel like he was staring at them?
But she met him. And every moment spent with him was another moment the intent of her mission slipped away. He had a bright smile, penetrating black eyes, and the most curious pink hair. He was a physical anomaly to begin with, but his personality was even more confusing. He would go from teasing her one minute, to piercing her with a gaze that made her go warm all over the next.
"These are my friends, Gray, Erza," he shivered slightly as he said the second name, continuing to point out the people in the picture. "my cat, Happy; Mira, Gajeel, and everybody else! Gajeel and Gray are both idiots, but they're sometimes okay people."
She giggled, finding his animation at describing each person entirely too amusing. He got very excited whenever he talked about his friends on earth. She looked forward to meeting them. After all, she still had hundreds of souls to collect. There was plenty of time.
The friendship they had so easily set up was quickly knocked down when he brazenly invited her to get something to eat. The date itself had ended disastrously, but he managed to atone for the horrible meal by setting up a blanket in one of the parks that littered the earth.
They were sitting under the night sky. She pointed out the stars and gave them names, gave them stories. She pretended not to miss them and her home. Her wings throbbed underneath her sweatshirt like they always did when she thought about flying back up. She never wore them out after that first encounter, when she felt like Natsu saw them.
She hadn't even noticed that he turned on his side and was looking intently at her. She laughed slightly to fill the silence she hadn't noticed was even there. Finally, he spoke. "Luce, you're an angel."
She somehow managed to stay calm despite his all-too-accurate words, "Weirdo, what are you even talking about?"
He grinned at her, "You're my angel!"
She relaxed at his easy going manner. He clearly didn't know and was just messing around. Just being his normal, strange self. Now, when she thought about it, the angel comment made her cheeks heat up.
"Lucy Heartfilia," a voice boomed, shattering her hope of returning to say goodbye. She looked up, her body filling with dread as she met eyes with the archangel looming over her.
"N-Natsu," she started, trying to gather her courage. He stared at her curiously and she couldn't help the restless flutter of her wings underneath her jacket. They hadn't stopped moving since she unintentionally collected her thousandth soul the previous night. She had been trying to put it off for as long as possible, but the girl was so desperate. All she wanted was peace, and Lucy couldn't deny anybody that wish.
"What is it, Luce?" he grinned at her, grabbing her hand and squeezing it encouragingly.
"I-I'm moving," she said softly, looking down. She didn't want to, couldn't, meet his gaze.
"So you reached one thousand, huh?" he muttered under his breath, probably figuring she couldn't hear him.
"What? What are you talking about?" her eyes snapped up to meet his and she caught his onyx eyes widening as he realized what he'd said.
"Ah, shit. This isn't how I wanted you to find out," he caught his pink hair in his hands, anxiously tugging on it.
"Find out what, Natsu?" she grabbed his hands out of his hair, forcing him to concentrate on her.
He paused for a moment before smiling weakly, "I'll show you mine if you show me yours."
For some reason, she knew exactly what he was talking about. She barely managed a discernible nod before starting to slip out of her jacket, her eyes trained on his every movement. She shed the clothing, shaking her pure white wings to get out the stiffness. He stilled for a moment, entranced. He shook his head before taking off his shirt, and Lucy backed up against the wall of her apartment when he did.
His wings weren't white and serene like hers. They were a dark red and black with a blatant lack of feathers; an ugliness only creatures from the underworld were born with. She brought her hand to her mouth, unable to stop her tears.
He was a demon.
They shoved her in the middle of the council room with the butts of their swords, the forty archangels already assembled to decide her fate. She stood up and looked around for any face, to provide some sort of comfort, and managed to find Levy. She gave the blue-haired female a weak smile before the guards kicked her back down, refusing to touch her with their hands. Their disgust was blatant, ill-disguised. She couldn't blame them; just a week or so ago she herself shared their views. That she was contaminated.
"Lucy, calm down!" he grabbed her hands as she clawed at her body. His filth was everywhere. His demonic stench was all over her body. How could she ever return to heaven when she had committed one of the greatest taboos known to her species? Why, though, when she looked at him, did she still only feel affection?
Another sob ripped from her chest. She displayed her arms to him, not even seeing the blood that trickled down from her self-inflicted injuries. "Don't you see my condemnation?! It's all over me! Dirty, dirty, dirty!"
She barely noticed Natsu's heartbroken look. He stared at her wounds, his eyes hard before pulling her into his arms. She kicked and shrieked, but he refused to let go. He held on and eventually her wails died down. She buried her head in his chest, not sure if she could accept the obvious. That she loved him. Despite the fact that his existence was blasphemous, she couldn't help the fact that he had full control over her heart.
Eventually, she spoke, her voice raspy from her cries, "I was raised, taught that demons are evil. Demons are the reason there is sin and sadness and hatred in this world," she looked up at him, surprised to see the devastation in his eyes and on his face.
He started to get up, "I understand, Luce. I'm going to leave and you're going to go back to heaven and get your archangel wings. I'm sorry for deceiving you."
She latched on to his arm, forcing him to stay, "You can't go! I may have been raised to hate demons, but I'm in love with you, dammit! You're going to stay, and we are going to talk this out because I'll be damned if I let you leave me."
"You'll be damned if you let me stay," his voice cracked.
"So be it," she launched herself at him, ready to live with her sins if it meant she could be with Natsu.
"Lucy Heartfilia during your time on earth, having been sent on a heavenly mission, is it true that you consorted with the devil's brood?"
"Yes," she whispered, staring at the ground.
"Is it true that your relations with this forsaken creature started after the capture of your 416th soul?"
"Yes."
"My fellow protectors of peace," the archangel that captured her jabbed his finger in her direction, "this harlot's actions started even prior to the completion of her mission. This means she infected more than half of the souls she collected with her sins!"
The room burst into low murmurs, each one a suggestion on the punishment for her shameful deeds.
"I propose that we strip her of her wings," the archangel leered down at her, a malevolent smile playing on his face, "and throw her down to the earth she loves so much. Whether she dies or lives will be of no consequence to us, for either way she can no longer taint the others that reside here with her wickedness."
"Luce, you can't go back!" Natsu pleaded with her as she devised a plan to get back home, say goodbye to Levy, and leave her home forever. "They'll find you and who knows what'll happen?"
"I have to. She deserves a goodbye, at the very least," she told him firmly, thinking about the odds of the archangels already knowing what she's done. Very high, she figured. They were probably hoping for her to come back so they could punish her. It didn't matter. She'd be able to avoid them.
"Natsu," she turned from her paper, notes jotted down all of the page. She slowly rubbed her thumb against one of his wings, smiling slightly at his shudder. She wondered how she could have ever thought they were ugly. They were strong, beautiful. "I'm going. I'm going to say goodbye, and I'm going to come back to you and you are finally going to introduce me to your friends."
"And my dad?" he asked in a small voice, sounding like a petulant child.
She squashed the voice that cried sacrilege at the thought of meeting his father. After seeing his wings, she found out not only was he a demon, but he was the demon prince. Otherwise known as the devil's son. "Sure. But only if you trust me to go and do this."
He slowly nodded, dropping his head in her lap while she continued to plan. "Hey, Luce?"
"What?"
"Love you."
She rolled her eyes, "Love you too, idiot."
She had heard stories of what it felt like to have your wings removed. The stories didn't even come close to the real thing.
She choked on the pain. While two men held her down, a woman slowly ripped off each wing. She didn't know if she could even scream. Noises of pain seemed too tame to be able to describe the magnitude of agony that was sweeping through her body.
Eventually, she didn't know when, they were done. Tears streamed down her face as she saw her bloodied wings on the floor. She wanted to curl up in them like she used to always do when she was scared. She didn't know what hurt worse. The excruciating pain throbbing in her back, or knowing she would never use her wings again. Never fly again. She let out another sob.
They picked her up and she stuffed her fist in her mouth. The arms touching the place where her wings used to be only made the wounds burn more. They brought her to the edge and tossed her on the ground. The archangel who proposed her punishment smirked down at her, before kicking her off of the platform.
The weightlessness, at first, comforted her. She'd had this experience plenty of times. But, the minute she started to try and flap her wings she realized there was nothing to keep her from hurtling into the ground.
"Natsu!" she screamed, the wind whipping in her face as she came closer and closer to earth. She shouted his name until her voice was hoarse and her hope was gone. She closed her eyes, awaiting her end, but a hard force slammed into her from the side, stopping her descent.
She knew it was him, so she threw her arms around his neck and held him tight so she would know he was real. He stroked her hair back, taking note of her lack of wings. Then taking note of the blood streaming from her back.
He flew down to the earth as fast as possible, planning on taking her to his cousin, Wendy. He looked down at Lucy and saw her staring pensively at the stars. His eyes widened, what if she was going into shock? "Lucy, stay with me. I'm going to bring you to somebody and she's going to make everything better."
Lucy looked at him, knowing she would never meet anybody quite like her demon. He could make everything better, without even thinking about it. Not even minutes after losing her wings, she was flying again.
So this is my first fairy tail story! Did you like it? Did you hate it? Have suggestions? Let me know! I had a lot of fun writing this and I said to myself, "Dammit, Lissa you are going to finish this today." Pretty sure this is just a one-shot. My Beta, or as she would like to be referred to as, Beta, edited this and I love her and everything she does for me! Thanks so much for reading!
Hugs and butterfly kisses,
Lissa