Dark Days

by KyuubixChocolateCake

Lucy's worrying about Natsu: he hasn't been acting like himself recently! He hasn't even broken into her apartment once in the last week. However, where she fears he's grown tired of her, he's really just extremely vulnerable. After all, it is THAT time of year... Sad one shot, with teasing hints of NaLu! K for language!

Wow, I can't believe I'm back already! I don't know if I've ever posted two days in a row before, so maybe this is a first for me! Of course, not only do I have the wonderful people who favorite my first NaLu story to thank, but also a good friend of mine who encouraged me to upload yesterday's story as well! You know who you are (;

Also, I just want to let everyone know that I did change my pen name. It hasn't really changed on my profile, but hopefully it will show up for this story; it is now officially KyuubixChocolateCake.

This is another NatsuxLucy one shot, though it's a lot darker than the last one. If this trend continues, I might have something fluffy up for you all later this week (or even tomorrow!) though to balance it out. I feel bad every time I say this, but a sad and vulnerable Natsu just pulls on my heartstrings in all the right ways. Hopefully, he's not too unbelievably OOC. I just wanted to show how much he's really hurting on the inside (in my head at least). I guess this would be my head cannon. Lucy is probably pretty noticeably OOC though. PLEASE FORGIVE ME!

Disclaimer: I don't own Fairy Tail. All rights go to Hiro Mashima for this amazing series of adventures.

Dark Days
by KyuubixChocolateCake

8: 53 A.M., July 6, X792

"My, my, Lucy. You look tired!" Lucy sighed and rubbed a fist against one closed, brown eye.

"Is it that obvious?" she mumbled to Mirajane. The white-haired barmaid finished drying off a glass, and set it down on the countertop along with the slightly damp towel.

"What's wrong?" the older woman asked kindly.

"Natsu's been acting weird," Lucy muttered, folding her arms on the bar counter and resting her chin on top of them.

"How so?"

"He's been kind of… bipolar for the last few days, I guess. Early on, he'd just follow me around like a puppy, but now he won't even come within 20 feet of me!" Mirajane blinked in surprise. Was this really Natsu they were talking about? Sure, his lost puppy behavior was a little weird, but it wasn't an outrageous thing for him to do. But avoiding Lucy? Mira didn't think he was capable of going more than 15 minutes without pestering or talking to his partner – unless he was fighting if course.

"And when we went on a mission the other day, he was really quiet. He refused to tell me anything and he barely even spoke to Happy! I've just been so worried about him that I haven't been able to sleep," Lucy finished, turning her head to cast her eyes across the guild.

Mira followed the blonde's gaze. The pinkette in question was picking a fight with Gray, as per usual, but he somehow seemed subdued. Natsu was a very passionate person: he gave everything he did 120% effort, and so, to see him with the usual fire in his eyes missing was unnerving. Mira frowned at the sight, before brightening with an idea.

"Isn't your rent due in a few days Lucy? Why don't you ask him if he wants to go on a job? Maybe that'll get him out of his funk." Lucy looked back at her for a moment, before a small smile grew on her face.

"Yeah, maybe you're right!" She pushed away from the bar and stood, wearing a determined expression as she made her way to her partner. "Natsu?" she began as she reached him. He seemed to flinch for a second before turning to face her.

"Hey, Luce!" he said brightly, but she saw the flash of pain in his eyes and felt her heart drop.

"Do you – do you wanna go on a job?" she asked hesitantly.

"Uh…" he said, raising a hand to the back of his head and looking away. "Not really. How about in a… few days?" Lucy felt her heart crumble, and saw Gray standing behind Natsu, his pale face shocked.

"Are you sure?" she tried again. "You can pick the request! I won't even complain…" Natsu winced and sighed, pulling his hand away from his hair and rubbing at his cheek uncomfortably.

"Yeah. Yeah I'm sure." She looked down at her feet, her throat closing and the backs of her eyes burning. He really was avoiding her. Why? Did he not like her anymore? Did he realize that she was a burden, so weak that he constantly had to save her? Did he – did he not want to be friends anymore? Partners?

"Okay," she whispered, watching him turn back to Gray before dejectedly turning and walking away in the direction of the request board. Stopping in front of it, she studied the sheets tacked to its surface, looking for one she could do on her own. Even if Natsu didn't want to go with her, she still had rent to pay.

Besides if he really did want to dissolve their partnership, she supposed that she should get used to working solo.

"Lushi!" A warm weight suddenly dropped onto her head, and Lucy glanced up to see Happy smiling down at her. "Lushi, Lushi! Are you picking a job for us?" he asked excitedly. "Be sure to get one with lots of fish!" She reached up and pulled Happy from her head. His big eyes watched her in confusion as she set him on the floor. "Lucy?"

"Sorry, Happy," she said, giving him a small, sad smile. "I'm heading out on my own this time." He watched her glance sadly behind him and turned to see Natsu arguing, strangely quietly, with Gray.

"Why?" he questioned as he looked back to her. She had a small sheet in her hands and was seemingly content with the request, as she turned and began to walk over to Mirajane. "What about our team?" He padded after her insistently.

"I don't know anymore, Happy. It might just be you and Natsu again." The little blue exceed froze as she continued to walk away, fear filling his small body. Lucy was leaving the team? Why? Was it because he called her heavy? Or stupid? He didn't mean it! Didn't she know that?

Meanwhile, Lucy handed the flier to Mira, not meeting her eyes as she fought back her tears. "So you found a job for you and Natsu?" Mira asked cheerfully, searching for her approval stamp.

"Uh, no," the blonde murmured. "Just me." Mira froze with the stamp hovering just over the surface of the paper, her blue eyes wide.

"What? Why?"

"Natsu… He didn't want to go on a mission." 'With me,' the celestial spirit mage added silently in her head.

"Oh, Lucy," Mira said sorrowfully. "I'm so sorry." She leaned over the countertop to hug her friend. "Are you okay? Why are you crying?" she added in a whisper.

"I don't think he wants to be partners anymore!" Lucy cried in her shoulder. "What do I do Mira? I don't want to go without him, but he looked like he was in pain the whole time I was trying to talk to him and he could barely even look at me!" Mira hushed her soothingly, rubbing her back gently before pulling away and wiping the younger girl's tears off.

"Don't say that Lucy!" she encouraged. I'm sure he still wants to be friends and partners. You guys are the best team, together." Lucy continued to sniffle, but pushed the flier forward.

"Maybe. But, please Mira, I just need to do this." The eldest take-over mage hesitated but ultimately approved the mission, not looking at the sheet. Lucy gave her a small smile, picked up the paper, and left the guild to return to her apartment and pack. "I'll be back in a few days," she told herself reassuringly. "Maybe he just needs some space."

With that thought, Lucy felt hope rise in her chest. 'Yeah, in a few days, I'll be back, and Natsu will be back to normal! And I'll give him a good 'ole Lucy Kick for treating me like this!'

5 MINUTES EARLIER

Natsu felt his heart clench as he turned away from Lucy, guilt settling heavily in his stomach at her downtrodden expression. He hated hurting Lucy in any way, shape, or form, more than anything! But… he just needed some space right now. He knew that, in a few days' time, he'd be ready to face her again, to barge into her home, and to go on jobs. But he didn't want her to see him like this. It was already hard enough to come to the guild, but if Lucy knew what was really going on, she'd think he was weak for sure.

Holding his breath as she walked away, he stared at the ground until he was sure she was gone, and then sighed in mild relief, looking back up at Gray. The Ice Make mage gave him an angry look. "What?" he asked, eyebrows raised.

"What the hell was that, Dragneel?" the other man spat. Natsu flinched, but looked away, shoving his hands into the pockets of his pants.

"I don't know what you're talking about," he muttered stubbornly.

"Like hell you don't," Gray hissed. "How could you treat Lucy like that?!"

"Shut up!" the pinkette retaliated, glaring back at his rival. "You have no idea what you're talking about okay?! So leave me alone."

"You just broke her heart!" Gray whispered furiously, unwilling to draw attention to their actually-serious-argument. "Why have you been acting like there's a stick up your ass? That girl has been worrying about you for days, even since her birthday!"

Lucy had celebrated her 19th birthday five days ago, and the guild had gone wild for the occasion. Natsu faltered at his words. She'd noticed that he'd been off all week? How? Now he felt like a jerk (even more so than before, actually); he'd probably ruined what was supposed to be an awesome week for her. Not only had it been her birthday, but this week was also the anniversary of when she'd joined the guild. And today was…

"Shit!" he cursed, clutching at his pink hair in frustration. "Oh god, how could I forget?" he seethed. Gray took a step back in surprise.

"What, flame brain?" the icy man asked cautiously.

"Today was our anniversary," Natsu moaned in despair. Gray blinked.

"Come again?"

"Our anniversary! Today was the day I asked her to join our team!" Lucy probably hadn't remembered, but he had a knack for remembering important dates, and he usually tried to make an effort to be extra good and nice to her on this day. And now, he'd completely ruined it, all because he'd been worrying over tomorrow…

"Hey Natsu." The sad voice that arrived surprised Natsu out of his mental beat down, and he turned to see a sniffling Happy floating over to him.

"Happy? What's wrong, buddy?" His flying blue companion locked gazes with him, before spontaneously bursting into tears and rocketing into his arms. "Hey! What's going on? Did Carla shut you down again?"

"L-Lucy said she was gonna leave the team!" Happy wailed into his chest. Natsu froze and felt the blood drain from his face as he absorbed his best friend's words. Lucy was leaving the team? Why? Was it his fault? Why was she leaving him?

"W-what?" he stammered. Letting Happy go, he raced toward Mirajane, having seen Lucy talking to her earlier. "Mira!" he exclaimed. "Mira, where's Lucy?" The white-haired woman looked at him disapprovingly.

"Why Natsu, I didn't know you cared," she replied, one eyebrow raised. "I'm very disappointed in you though. All she did was worry over you this week. Did you know she's been having trouble sleeping because of you?" He was silenced by her words. Why hadn't he known? Lucy was his partner, he was supposed to make sure she was always okay, always smiling. But instead, he'd ignored her for the better part of the week, hurt her, and made her suffer all because he'd caught sight of a calendar a week ago.

"No," he whimpered, his onyx eyes finding another one of the infernal contraptions pinned up behind Mirajane, the number seven bearing down on him. "Don't leave me. Please… don't leave me." Tears filled his eyes as memories of a certain red dragon flashed though his brain, before settling on a particular scene.

The sun was streaming in through the open mouth of the cave, falling onto a young Natsu's sleeping face. Scrunching his features in irritation, the little pinkette grumbled in his sleep, rolling over and stubbornly attempting to hold onto his dream, where he'd been devouring the greatest feast he'd ever laid his wide eyes on. However, when pure determination and willfulness didn't grant his wish, he sighed and blinked slowly, taking in his surroundings.

Sitting up, he rubbed his tiny fists into his eyes, and looked around. "Igneel?" he called loudly. "Igneel, I'm hungry! Have you caught breakfast yet?" There was no response, and he shrugged, clambering to his feet and stretching his limbs. "Oh, well," he said to himself. "Might as well get some training in." Running out to the clearing in front of the home he shared with his father-like dragon, little Natsu began to practice the new move Igneel had taught him the other day.

"Fire Dragon Wing Attack!" Continuing like this for a few more hours, he eventually went through all of the moves he could accomplish with his limited supply of magic energy, collapsing to the ground, panting heavily. Looking around at the otherwise silent forest, he finally realized that his father had yet to return. "Igneel should've been back by now," he muttered uncertainly. Getting back to his feet, he wandered back to the cave and closed his eyes, opening his senses fully and searching out Igneel's scent, the way he'd been taught. However, when he finally caught it, he realized with a start that it was stale by at least eight hours.

"Igneel?" he called again. Igneel had never been gone this long before. Usually, he only left Natsu alone for a couple of hours. "Igneel!" he yelled. Glancing wildly about the cave, he spotted something white fluttering underneath a small rock. Lifting the stone away, he uncovered a scarf that looked to be made out of dragon scales, and a note, written in crude hand writing. Squinting at it through steadily blurring eyes as he clutched the warm cloth to his chest, Natsu struggled through the message. However, eventually he understood the gist of it.

Igneel was gone. No, Igneel had left him. And he wasn't coming back in a few hours, or even a few days. With tears spilling down his cheeks, the little Fire Dragon Slayer wrapped the only gift he had from his father around his neck with shaking hands and slowly wandered to the entrance of the cave.

"…Igneel?" he whispered. His voice caught and he tried to swallow around the lump in his throat. "Igneel, why did you leave me?" The sob broke from between his lips and he fell to the ground crying. "Don't leave me!" he screamed. "Don't leave me alone! Please! Come back!" Curling forward, he pressed his forehead to the hard dirt before him. "Come back."

11: 27 P.M., July 9, X792

When Lucy got home from her first solo mission three days after she'd left, she couldn't help but hope that she'd never have to go through one again. She'd been severely bored on the way to and from the mission, and missed her noisy and obnoxious partners the entire time. And now, as she unlocked the front door to her apartment, wearily pushing it open and trudging into her entryway, she felt tired, sore, and dirty as well. Dropping her house key into a small bowl on the countertop, she tugged her boots off and dropped them to the ground, wincing as the loud thud echoed around the empty room and back to her ears.

"Ah," she groaned, stretching her arms up into the air and making her way to her bedroom, tugging her hair out of the pigtails and running her fingers through the silky strands. However, once she got to the bedroom, she stopped dead in her tracks at the sight that greeted her.

The little bit of light that filtered in through her window from the overcast sky outside just barely allowed her to make out the sleeping form of her pink haired partner, who was curled up on his side, one hand tucked under his head and the other wrapped around himself as he murmured quietly in his slumber. She couldn't help but notice that Happy was nowhere in sight. A smile tugged at her lips at the warmth that rushed through her.

"Natsu," she murmured quietly, walking cautiously forward in her sock clad feet in an attempt to keep from waking him. Normally, she would've been furious at his disregard for personal space and for breaking into her home once again, but she felt nothing but relief at the realization that he'd obviously missed her enough to wait up for her. But as her eyes scanned over his form again, her smile slipped into a concerned frown at the way he was curled up into a small ball on top of her pink comforter. Normally, he'd splay out fully across the small space of her mattress, snoring noisily as he went about his way. Instead, he was completely quiet other than the occasional mumble, and eventually she was able to make out the puffy quality around his eyes and the redness that accompanied it, present in his cheeks and nose as well.

Had Natsu been crying?

She settled herself on the bed beside him, running a hesitant hand through his spiky, yet soft, hair, soothingly rubbing her fingertips into his scalp. "Natsu?" she called gently, trying to rouse him. He groaned slightly, shifting closer to her and curling up around her a bit. She blushed, but pulled her hand away from his head and settled it on his shoulder, shaking him insistently. "Natsu," she tried again, watching as he slowly woke up, blinking blearily and focusing his eyes on her face, allowing her to take in their bloodshot appearance.

She frowned and he finally realized that she was sitting in front of him, his onyx eyes widening before his face crumpled and he shot forward. She squeaked in surprise as his warm and muscular arms wrapped tightly around her small frame and he crushed her to him.

"Lucy!" he cried. "I'm sorry! I'm so sorry!"

"W-what's wrong?!" she exclaimed at his whimper. "Natsu?" Wet drops hit her shoulder and she jerked, startled by the realization that Natsu apparently had been crying recently, and he was also doing so now. "H-hey!"

"Don't leave me Lucy," he managed, his voice choked and his face nuzzling into the skin where her neck sloped into her shoulder, inhaling her soothing vanilla and lavender scent. She raised her arms and wrapped them just as tightly around him.

"What are you talking about?"

"Happy told me you were planning on leaving the team, and I know it's my fault. I'm sorry for ignoring you, I just… it hurts… it hurts so bad…" she managed to pull away from him, and took in the sight of the tears running down his tanned cheeks, the sight so wrong for his normally bright and smiling face that her heart twisted painfully in her chest. His eyes were downcast as he shook in his place, his mouth tight and trembling, hands clenching uselessly in her bedspread.

"Natsu," she cooed, cupping his cheek and wiping away his tears as he leaned into her palm, "Natsu, I'm not going anywhere." He looked up at her from under his bangs, his eyes so sad and heartbroken that she felt tears well up in her own eyes in response.

"Am I… am I a bad person, Luce?" She gasped quietly, and shook her head vigorously, scooting forward and wrapping her arms around his middle, resting her head under his chin.

"Of course not," she denied vehemently. "Where the hell would you get that impression?" Natsu was probably the best person she knew. He was constantly looking out for everyone and putting others before himself. That wasn't even counting the number of times he'd saved his friends, her especially. He looked up at the ceiling, wrapping his arms around her once more.

"Why else would Igneel have left me?" he asked dully. "I must be a really bad person. That's obviously why whatever gods are out there took Lisanna away. And why Gray tried to leave me, on Galuna Island. Erza almost left too, at the Tower of Heaven. If everyone keeps trying to leave me behind, then it obviously means that I'm a horrible person. And that's why you… why you're thinking about leaving me as well."

"Shut up!" she snapped harshly. "Just stop it, Natsu! You're not a bad person, and there was no way you could have controlled what happened to Lisanna. Gray and Erza, they weren't trying to leave you either, they were just desperate to save everyone, and they couldn't see all of their options, until you showed them. Besides, I know Igneel would never have left you if he didn't have a really, super important reason. And as for me…" she trailed off, tightening her grip on him and pressing her face into his chest.

"As for me, I didn't think you wanted me anymore. You were avoiding me, you weren't stopping by anymore; you wouldn't even break in and sleep in my bed at night!"

"I'm sorry. It's just… The day before yesterday was the day Igneel left me, 9 years ago." She refrained from correcting him on how it had been 15 years because of the Tenrou Island incident, and sighed. "I normally don't notice, but I just sort of realized when everyone started talking about your birthday and I noticed it was coming up as well." They shifted on the bed until they were laying on their sides with about a foot in between them, facing each other and with their cheeks still wet and humid from their tears.

"Why didn't you just tell me Natsu?" she murmured, taking his larger and rougher palm in her own small hand, their skin tones contrasting in the dim and fading light. He squeezed her hand gently.

"I'm sorry," he apologized again, looking down.

"I know exactly how you feel, y'know. My parents are both gone now too, and I know I never had the greatest relationship with my father, but he really tried in the end and I appreciate that. When I lost him too, it just made it hurt even worse. So you can always come to me when… when you're feeling this way, alright? We can be sad together, and we can get happy together too." Lucy smiled softly at him, putting one hand under his chin and tilting his head up so he would look her in the eyes and see that she meant every word she had said. "Besides, we're partners: we're supposed to always be there for each other." He nodded mutely and tugged on her hand, silently asking her to move closer.

She obliged willingly, sighing happily as he settled his arms around her, resting his forehead on her own, their eyes sliding closed. "You'll stay with me, won't you Luce? Even when I'm like this?" Tilting her head, she pressed her lips lovingly into the skin of his cheek, relishing in the heat that bloomed beneath them and the way his hold on her tightened.

"Of course, silly. So long as you'll do the same for me." Opening her eyes, she watched as his mouth stretched into a familiar grin.

"I promise."

Thanks for reading! I hope that it was enjoyable (and not too insanely cheesy in the end) for anyone who read it! This idea has been floating around my cranium for a good month or so, and was inspired by Kelly Clarkson's Dark Side and Sam Smith's Stay With Me! They just really made me think of Natsu and Lucy, though I'm sure there's definitely more love in their relationship, hehe.

I'm a hopeless romantic, guys. Seriously.

As I said before, you're feedback would be lovely, but I also love seeing people favorite my stories as well! Feel free to make that decision on your own though! And before I forget, I just want to thank everyone who favorited and/or reviewed my previous story, Grocery Store Adventures!

TheSnowBlues
refindlove
nikkiw67
XxFairy-chanxX
karen699
ItzJewel-chan

I'm so glad that you enjoyed my story! Hopefully, if any of you read this one, you liked it as well! But, um, anyone who followed Grocery Store Adventures… It's just a one shot. I know it might be confusing because I mentioned possibly coming back to that AU, but if that happens, it would be in a completely different document of its own! I just don't want anyone to be disappointed because they're waiting for something that's never going to get updated.

Until next time!
Kyuubi