Okay, so it's sort of been a week, even though I said I would be back with another story in a couple of days... I had everything ready, and then our internet just decides to stop working!

Then all of Saturday I was in the car or some place without a computer (but it was actually totally worth it!) and then my brother came home for the Thanksgiving holiday two days later, so the beginning of the week was pretty hectic.

After that, all I can say is that my confidence in my writing went down again... But I promised myself I would put it up before I went back to school, so here it is! This one is my favorite out of the the three Fairy Tail stories I have, so I'm pretty excited for everyone to read it!

Disclaimer: I do not own Fairy Tail. All rights go to Hiro Mashima!

Enjoy!~

Bad Dreams
by KyuubixChocolateCake

It was a warm sunny day in Magnolia. Lucy had somehow found her way outside, along with the rest of her rambunctious guild mates. Everyone was crowded around a sandy volleyball court by the pool behind the guildhall (when that particular addition had gotten there, she wasn't sure), cheering on whoever was playing , though she caught flashes of pink, black, and scarlet hair and assumed it was another challenge issued by Gray and Natsu.

Suddenly, from between the stomping feet of the mob in front of her, she caught sight of a sleek yellow body with a rusty red diamond pattern winding down its back. Brown eyes widening in surprise, Lucy watched as the muscled body of the snake slithered out in front of her. A low hiss rumbled from its mouth and sent shivers shaking down her spine as she began to back away slowly, unsettled by the way its cold, golden eyes focused on her and her alone.

Its jaws separated, revealing lengthy fangs, the tips of which seemed to be dripping. Lucy watched in horror as the reptile slunk towards her, coiled and ready to strike. She looked around desperately, and made a grab for her keys, only to snatch at thin air.

'What the – Where are my keys?!' she screamed in her head. Her throat closed up and she tripped over a rock in her haste to escape, stumbling onto her behind and leaving her ankles open for attack.

The most-likely-poisonous snake's head reared back before snapping forward, fangs flashing and she braced herself for the pain.

…

Snapping upright and panting harshly, Lucy woke up from her dream. Her skin burned and she trembled, her heart pounding away in her chest. Sweat began to build on her pale skin and her hair hung in a wild mess around her face, presumably from her tossing and turning as she slept, and she glanced around in shock.

"Wha…? It was a dream?" she breathed to herself. Scrambling around for a moment, she clawed the blankets away from her feet, letting out a sigh of relief as she realized the skin was smooth and unmarked as usual.

A disgruntled groan from beside her made her jump, and her head snapped over to stare at the suspicious mass of blankets beside her, a noticeable lump beneath them. She froze in fear – had someone broken into her apartment?

A large, tan hand slid out from under the comforter and wound around her waist before giving a hard tug, sending her flying into a solid and warm body with a squeak.

"Luce?" came the muffled voice, thick with sleep. "Wha's goin' on?" Her cheeks flushed in embarrassment and rage.

"NATSU?!" she screeched, yanking the blankets away from her obnoxious pink haired partner. "What the hell are you doing here?!" Said dragon slayer blinked up at her with tired onyx eyes, his pink hair messy and falling across his (adorably) confused face.

"Sleeping?" he mumbled questioningly, looking at her as though she were stupid.

"Why are you in my bed?" she snarled, pulling her pillow out from underneath his head and bringing it over her head to smack him in the face with it.

"Oof!" A resounding thud sounded from the impact and he whimpered pitifully, clutching at his nose as soon as she pulled the offending item away. "Lushi," he whined, wide eyes watering slightly, half from pain and half for effect, "Why'd you do that? That hurt!"

"Stop breaking into my apartment and sleeping in my bed – while I'm in it!"

"But your bed is so comfortable!"

"I don't care! It's not appropriate! You can't just sleep in the same bed as a girl you're not even dating!" As soon as the words left her mouth, she blushed furiously, and looked away, arms crossing over her busty chest. She could feel his eyes boring into the side of her face calculatingly and prayed that he wouldn't say something stupid.

"What was your dream about?" he finally asked, settling onto his side with one hand holding his head up, looking completely at home with her blankets pushed down to his waist and his body stretched comfortably across her mattress, on what he had deemed his half of the bed. She blinked in surprise.

"My dream?" she repeated, looking at him. He shrugged slightly.

"Well, it seemed more like a nightmare with the way you bolted up. Plus you were thrashing around a lot. I was just about to wake you up." She recalled the poison dripping from the cursed reptile's mouth and flinched in fear, clutching tightly at her arms.

"You'll laugh at me," she muttered, turning her chin stubbornly.

"No I won't!" he protested, pushing himself up and shifting so that he was sitting beside her. She gave him a doubtful look, one brow raised, and he smiled sheepishly, scratching the back of his head. "Or, well, I'll try not to," he promised instead. "C'mon Luce. You can tell me anything!" His earnest face and the honesty in his voice finally cracked her and she sighed.

"It was… it was stupid. We were all outside of the guild, by the pool, and you, Erza, and Gray were playing volleyball at the volleyball court."

"Volleyball court?" he interrupted. "We don't have a volleyball court!"

"Natsu."

"Right, sorry. Go ahead."

"As I was saying, you all were in the middle of a volleyball game, and the entire guild was watching, and then… out of nowhere, this snake just starts weaving in and out of people's feet. I was standing in the back, and it just – it was coming right at me, and-and I didn't have my keys and I fell, and -!" she cut off with a gasp, her heart pounding wildly as the fear she'd felt in her dream washed over her again. It was a few minutes before she realized that there was a warm arm wrapped around her shoulder pulling her against an even warmer chest, a voice shushing her soothingly.

"Hey, hey, it's okay. You're fine, I'm right here, Luce." She shuddered against him, leaning into him limply. Taking a few shallow breaths, she began to transition into longer and deeper ones in the hopes of calming her racing heart.

"Thanks," she mumbled eventually, her head tucked under his chin and her ear settled comfortably over his chest where his heart lay.

"You're welcome."

It was silent for a few more minutes before she pulled away, wiping off the stray tears that had spilled from her brown eyes. He watched her, leaning back on his hands as he waited for her to continue.

"Did anything else happen?" Natsu asked. She shook her head.

"No, I woke up just before it bit me. I don't even know where it came from; it was so random!" He hummed in agreement, and they both stared out at the room in silence. Then, there was a sigh and with a thump, he fell back against her bed, moving himself so that he was once again lying down, ready to sleep. She blushed, and said indignantly, "Hey! Just what do you think you're doing?"

Rolling his eyes, Natsu reached out and grasped her by her upper arm, tugging gently until she was lying beside him.

"N-Natsu!" He groaned, rolling her over so that her back was to him and moving up behind her, wrapping one arm securely around her slim waist as the other was used as a pillow for her head. Her face was burning hot, and she was glad he couldn't see the unsightly red hue it must have taken on.

"Go to sleep, Lucy," he muttered tiredly, nuzzling his nose into the silky blonde locks of her hair.

"B-but -!"

"I'll make sure you don't have any more nightmares."

Her protests were caught in her throat at the sincerity and tenderness in his voice and she froze before a small smile grew on her face. With his abnormal warmth and smoky scent surrounding her, her eyes began to droop, and she relaxed in his hold.

"Okay."

So this story was actually based off of a dream I had a few months ago! It was pretty much exactly the same as Lucy's, but with a few more insignificant details. I woke up and did the same thing she did too! But unfortunately, no warm and cuddly Natsu for me. :(

But that sort of inspired me! I mean, obviously, I couldn't have Natsu there, but she could! And voila! And yes, it might seem dumb that she's scared of getting bitten by a dumb old snake when she's gone through ordeals much worse, but snakes are creepy when you think about them for too long, and nightmares are just scary in general, no matter how unrealistic or simple they might be.

But hopefully, neither Natsu nor Lucy were too OOC. I didn't think they were when I wrote it, but hey! Someone might disagree. If you do, let me know! I'd love any feedback on this! Well, so long as it's not

"This was stupid and you suck. Get off of FanFiction."

Because yes, that has happened to me. Telling someone to get off off FanFiction is just rude, so please, don't say that to anyone! It's also very emotionally harmful. Or it just makes the author very, very, VERY angry.

Okay, that's all I have to say! Reviews are amazing, but so is support in general! I have some stuff cooking in my brain, so I hope it won't be too long before I'm back for Fairy Tail, but you may just see me pop in some other places, as I have stories in the works for Pokémon Adventures, Bleach, aaannnddd... Legend of Zelda? I think that's it! So keep an eye for me!

Until next time!
Kyuubi