A Night of Rain
Written for luffy fan
Fairy Tail writing contest
"Kyaa!" The thunder boomed throughout the city while the lightning lit up my dark apartment. I was sitting on my bed with the pink frilly covers wrapped tightly around me. Heavy rain poured over the town and beat down on the roof making everything seem that much more frightening.
I was never one to like thunder, but this storm was far worse than I had ever seen. Another thunder clap and I slapped my hand over my mouth to muffle the scream that escaped. It had been a long time since I have seen a thunder storm. I can remember it to this day.
"Shhh, it's okay sweetheart. It's just thunder. It won't hurt you." My mama said as she cradled me in her arms. The tears leaked from my eyes, soaking into her beautiful maroon dress that was as soft as silk. Her hand rubbed my back in soothing circles as we waited for the storm to pass.
My father had entered my room, smiling lightly at the two of us sitting on the bed. He sat down beside my mother and put his arm around both me and her.
"It's alright princess. Daddy and Mommy are here to protect you. We won't let the big bad thunder get to you." He smiled at me, it was one of the last times I had ever saw him smile. Not long after that was when everything changed. It was when I had lost my mother.
Just the memory brought tears to my eyes. Seeing the genuine love my father once held for me, feeling all the happiness that we used to share. Now I had no one. No one to sooth me like that, no one to brush away my tears or tell me that everything was going to be okay. I was all alone, in my apartment and I was too scared to move.
I could smell the rain that fell from the darkened sky. Feel the moisture that it created in the air. No matter how hot it was, no matter how much I was coated in sweat, I was unwilling to come out from under the covers to cool myself off. It made me feel safe, well safer. It was like a security blanket to me, helping me hide from the horrible thunder that rumbled every few moments.
I cursed myself for having such a weakness. It nearly immobilized me with fear. The only thing I had to be thankful for is that my friends had yet to find out. I didn't want them to think any lesser of me, or to know just how weak I truly was. The rain continued to pour down, showing no signs of letting up anytime soon.
Another roll of thunder had me gripping the blanket closer as my knuckles began to turn white. I wanted to light some candles, to add some light to this dark room but my fear had me rooted in my spot. That was another thing that I hated about storms. Black outs.
Lightning struck once more and lit up the dark room as I looked out the window. I jumped backwards when I noticed a dark figure standing there. I fell off the bed, blankets still wrapped tightly around me, and scrambled towards my bedside table. I fished for my keys that were sitting on the top and waited for the figure to move.
I held the key to my strongest spirit in my hand, ready to call him forth if the shadow were to attempt to break in. Could it be a stalker? A rapist, a murderer? I found myself starting to panic as all the different scenarios started to play out in my mind. The sound of my window being pried open fell over the room and I raised my hand ready to summon my spirit.
"Lucy?" OH MY GOD! The murderer knows my name! And he had a sexy yet oddly familiar voice too. I found myself crawling backwards, trying to get as far from the window as I could. This couldn't be happening! Why me? "Luce, are you there?"
Wait, Luce? I only know of one person who calls me that. Something began to glow as deep ember colors lit up the room, showing me the face of my would-be killer. I gasped and stood up, my eyes narrowing at the man in front of me.
"Natsu Dragneel! Do you have any idea how much you scared me?!" Natsu turned to look at me, his smile shining brightly as his eyes landed on me. They reflected the bright colors that his fire gave off making him seem even more handsome than normal. His hair hung low, falling flat onto his face from the rain that soaked it. His clothes were wet and dripping all over my freshly cleaned white rug.
"Oh, hey Luce!"
"Don't hey Luce me!" I walked closer and jabbed my index finger into his toned chest. His smile faded and was replaced with a pout. "You scared the crap out of me! Why can't you use the door like a normal person?"
The sudden appearance of my partner had me forgetting all about the storm that was waging wars on the town and it's people. Natsu seemed to think over my words for a moment before his smile reappeared with a snap of his fingers.
"It's no fun that way!" He seemed proud of the answer he had just given me. Fun? Really? Scaring the shit out of me is fun? My lips were stretched into a thin line as Natsu started to dry off his clothes. His intense body heat filled the room and even dried up the moisture in the air.
"Natsu you can-" A burst of lightning and a loud clap of thunder interrupted my words. A shriek escaped my lips and I threw my arms around the man in front of me. My body trembled against his back, my hands clutched at his vest for support. Dammit, now Natsu would know just how weak I really was. His head turned around and he looked at me from over his shoulder. His eyes were wide and full of concern as he looked down at me.
"Lucy, what's wrong?" The words were barely a whisper, but enough for me to hear. His deep onyx eyes tore at me, making me want to spill everything to him. Tell him all that I felt, even my deepest of secrets. I didn't answer him, I couldn't. I didn't want to see the disappointment in his eyes once he realized my fear.
He turned around in my arms, wrapping me in his warm embrace. Even if it was hot in the room, I still found his heat comforting, his strong embrace soothing and his presence was like a ray of sunshine through out this stormy night. "Luce, tell me what's wrong."
The gentleness in his voice surprised me. It's not often that I hear him like this. His usual playful demeanor completely gone and in it's place was one of concern. Once more, thunder rumbled the town and I stifled my scream by burying my face into his chest. My arms tightened around him and the trembling increased.
"Luce, a-are you scared of thunder?"
That's it. That's all it took. The image of the strong woman that I tried so hard to keep up came shattering down. Tears leaked from my eyes and a sob shook my body. Natsu placed his chin on top of my head as his hand ran over my back, trying to sooth my tears.
"Shhh, it's okay Luce. It's just thunder. It wont hurt you." His words rang through my ears and repeated inside my head. It's the same thing my mother told me as a child. How this man could know exactly what I needed to hear was unknown to me. A mystery. But that was Natsu. I pulled away from his chest and looked up at him through my red, tired eyes. His smiling face made my heart skip a beat, my stomach fill with butterflies, and my own lips to tug upward and return the smile.
"N-Natsu...can you stay...with me tonight?" I whispered the words, almost afraid to ask them. But his presence was too comforting for me to let him leave. His hands rose to cup my face as his thumbs wiped away the tears from my eyes.
"Of course Luce, I wouldn't be able to just leave you like this anyway." I never knew that this pyromaniac, who had no control over himself or his powers would be able to be so tender in such a situation. To be able to say something so sweet and just smile like it was normal. He moved and wrapped his arm around my shoulder, guiding me towards my bed.
He laid me down and pulled the blankets up to my chin. Smiling down at me, he pushed the bangs away from my face. Such a sweet gesture, something that I had never expected from him. How have I never seen this side of him before? He is my best friend yet I never knew he could be like this. He stood back up and turned around heading towards the couch. I reached up and my hand grabbed onto his wrist. He turned to face me with a brow rose, his adorable face raising a blush to my cheeks.
"Lay with me...please." The smile returned to his face and he quickly lifted the blankets and laid next to me. His heat poured over me as I felt my eyes instantly growing heavier. I could never explain just how happy I felt at this moment. Having him here with me made all the bad things bearable, and made the rain seem to disappear. I knew that as long as I had Natsu here with me, that the storm wouldn't seem so bad anymore. And maybe one day, I would finally be able to tell him just how I feel.