-What's this? Oh nothing, just a place for me to dump little romantic 1000-words-or-less things I write. When I say multiple pairings may appear, I mean it. Expect NaLu, GaLe, Gruvia, Jerza, ElfEver, MiFri, LiBix, Baccana, AlBi, RoWen, Charpy, Lily/Shagotte, StiYu, Kinabra, Ren/Sherry, LyTear, Lories, Scorparius, Hisui/Arcadios, Makarov/Porlyusica, Layla/Jude, Zervis, plus the Edolas-versions of all aforementioned pairs. Not saying I have it specifically planned, it's just a warning that I might. And if any new pairings appear in my ships, I'll be sure to make a note of it. I don't want anyone saying 'eww, why that pairing' well I told you so!

-This one is inspired by/dedicated to Hikari1127, who wrote this little thing called 'gone with the wind' that had me in tears.

-Let's just pretend Eclipse is still a cannon.


be stupid together - nalu


He is standing directly in the way of the cannon.

Her legs pound against the ground, she can feel the blood rushing through them as every muscle in her body screams at her to stop, except her heart. That tells her to push on, and she does, opening her mouth to scream at him because he is standing right in the way of the cannon and why doesn't he move?

His name is finally torn from her lips in a ragged gasp, because that's all she can manage in this half-alive state.

"Natsu!"

He cracks his neck over his shoulder, bones grinding together so loudly she can hear it over the din of the battle. He's about as alive as she is, but still he manages to spread his bleeding lips in a grin.

"Hiya, Luce."

She can't slow down by the time she reaches him, and instead grabs his arm, using her momentum to make him move. Or at least, she tries. His legs are rooted to the ground, and she is nearly thrown to her knees from the force.

"Natsu!" She screams again. "Move!"

He shakes his head. "I can't. Look."

And he points a trembling, mangled finger at the sky.

She sees it like a black dot, tiny, but hurtling towards them. It will be a few minutes before it arrives, but even from that distance she knows exactly what it is and exactly what it means.

"Acnologia."

The word tastes like battery acid on her tongue, and he nods. His eyes are fastened to the black spot on the sky. She knows without even asking what he plans to do. He is going to stay here and fight it, even though he knows he has no chance in hell of winning, just to buy their friends half a minute of extra time.

But how could she be expecting anything else? He's the dumbest, densest, stupidest person she knows.

"You idiot." She is gasping, heaving for air. Maybe she's punctured a lung. At this point, nothing seems to matter anymore. Almost all the others are dead, or dying, or somewhere in between. At some point, she lost grip with the reality of it all and stopped crying when their eyes closed.

But not right now. She's crying right now, because she can't lose Natsu. Not him.

Tears carve rivers down her cheeks, painful, stinging and mingling with the blood. But she still grips his arm tight. "Natsu, please," she begs, voice hoarse. "Please."

"You should probably go," he says, not tearing his eyes from the black spot in the sky, body tensing.

"No, I'm not leaving you." She can barely say it over her sobs. "Natsu, come on. You're being stupid-"

Then all of a sudden, it happens. The black dragon breaks the distance barrier like an explosion, shaking the sky and the earth with it. The already unstable ground gives way under Lucy's feet, and she falls, tumbling to the ground just out of Natsu's reach. She lands hard on her arm, twisting and snapping it. An animalistic cry escapes her, and it jolts Natsu out of his daze.

"Lucy!"

The world blackens for a moment. When it comes back, it's in slow motion. Natsu is standing, looking down at her, eyes wide as though only seeing her for the first time. As if only seeing just now that her arm is broken, probably beyond repair, and every inch of her skin is mottled with bruises, and she might not live to see another day.

Behind him, the dragon has landed in a roiling, coiling mass. It opens it mouth to roar, but it's slow. Too slow; for Natsu is looking at her and nothing but her. Her whole world has gone crackly and bright.

With his hand outstretched toward her and a great smile on his gaunt face, caked in blood and dirt and grime, Lucy thinks he has never looked more handsome.

"Then let's be stupid together," he says, voice loud and clear over the distant cries of war.

She takes his hand with her good arm, and he hauls to her to her feet. The dragon roars and the cannon fires, but none of that matters.

Because they are together.


-Also inspired by 'The Mark of Athena', page 568, where I've left my heart and may not get it back.