I do not own Fairy Tail, Hiro Mashima does.

February X791

Looking into the mirror Natsu couldn't help but sigh. The feelings he felt for her were no stronger than they had ever been, yet they clouded his mind with persistently. He could not get her out of his head, the near death experience they had just gotten through backing up his decision. If they were getting a second chance, he would have to live with no regrets; he would have to make her realize his feelings for her once and for all.

How could he though, the fear that she would reject him would always be there. He could deal with the fact that she did not feel the same way, as long as he could stay around her. As long as she knew about his feelings for her and did not shut him out completely, he could deal with that.

Shaking himself, he quickly splashed water onto his face inside the Guild's bathroom to snap him out of the mood he was in. As he stepped out of the restroom he looked around the guild, the homecoming party still ensuing, as it had been for the past week. Cheering loudly and thrusting his hands into the air he made his way over to the bar, taking an open seat before calling out to Mirajane, "Two fire whiskey shots!"

Mira casually flipped her white hair over her shoulder with a laugh before bringing over Natsu's shots, leaning on the bar in front of him while he took the shots. "Ne, Mira." Natsu said after he downed the shots, "Have you seen Lucy?" Mirajane perked up upon his question, smiling sweetly, "Got something to confess to her?" She asked teasingly, hoping for a reaction out of the salmon-haired Dragon Slayer. But, she didn't get what she had hoped for as he simply smiled to himself staring off into the crowd of people, searching intently for the blonde. "Is it that obvious?" He asked in a near whisper, barely loud enough for Mirajane to hear.

Before she had a chance to gasp at his statement, Natsu caught the familiar scent of vanilla that caused his heart to race. The sounds around him seemed to drown out as he stood up and pushed his way through the crowd. Subconsciously he heard the white haired barmaid say something, but he already had his sights on his target. His mouth spread into his large signature grin as he called out to her over the crowd.

Lucy turned in time to see him walk towards her and smiled back, shifting the celestial dog in her arms as not to drop him. She could see that he had changed since coming back from the island, but then again, they all had. The Guild had never been closer than they were at that moment, everyone was simply happy to be alive and together. Reality came flooding back to her as Natsu grabbed her hand and began to pull her with him back out the door she had just come through. "Natsu?" She asked confused.

Natsu looked back over his shoulder at her and simply smiled and pulled her along once more. "Just come on for a moment, I have something to say." While his exterior appeared to be calm and easygoing, he fought his racing heart with every breath he took. Every step further only hindered his actions, his breathing getting caught in this throat every few moments.

The dark sky met them as he pulled them outside and a small distance away from the guild. The scent of her filled his senses, overloading his racing heart. When they stopped, he put his back to a tree and slid down, looking up at the stars in the sky. He didn't have to look over at her to see the confusion on her face. Minutes passed as she sighed and sat next to him, looking up as well. Feeling his eyes on her, she rolled her head to the side and smiled at him. "We really haven't had any time to ourselves since we got back from the island have we?" She asked as her hand subconsciously rubbed over Plue's head. "It feels like nothing will go back to the way it was before we disappeared for seven years…"

"What if I told you that I didn't want it to go back to the way things were?" He asked quietly, which was uncharacteristically calm for him. "What if I told you that I never wanted things to be the same again, that I wanted to keep what I know now, to only move forward from here?" His black eyes turned serious for a moment, staring deep into her large brown eyes. He felt himself being pulled into them, never wanting to look away. He was beginning to have second thoughts about telling her, though he had already gone this far, he couldn't turn back now. "I need to tell you… I don't want to play around anymore; I want you to know how I feel."

Lucy sat there, frozen while she stared deep into his eyes, searching for what he meant. With a laugh, she pushed his shoulder and shook her head. "For a minute there I thought you were going to confess to me." She said closing her eyes and leaning her head back against the tree. 'Like he could ever have any feelings for anyone more than his nakama.' She thought to herself. 'He is too naïve to even have any idea what any other feelings are.' All was well though, she had come to the realization that he would never care for her in that way and had long ago abandoned such feelings for him, simply accepting the friendship that they had together.

That was before he grabbed her shoulders and turned her towards him roughly, causing her eyes to flash open to look back at him, his eyes piercing into hers. She opened her mouth to ask him what the matter was and found that she didn't have the words to say it, seeing the serious look in his eyes. "Natsu…?" She asked quietly. He couldn't hold it back anymore, he had to say something, and before he knew it, the words were out of his mouth. "I want to be more than friends… I want to mean more to you than that."

Lucy saw how much it had meant to him to say such a thing, but couldn't bring herself to say anything for a time, simply breaking eye contact from him and pulling herself away from his hands. "I used to hope to hear those words from you… And while it makes me happy to hear them from you, I can't say I feel the same way anymore…" She said quietly. Her heart broke to say it to him, but she had spent long enough waiting for him to reciprocate her feelings for him that she had given up and they had faded away.

Needless to say, Natsu was stunned. He had prepared to hear the worst from her, but this was more than he could have prepared for, and worse than he could have imagined as well. "I'm sorry." She whispered quietly before standing up and quickly walking back to the Guild, leaving Natsu sitting there alone in the moonlight.

He couldn't say for how long he sat there, simply staring off into space while replaying her words over and over in his head. None of it made sense, when had he missed the signs, how could he not have noticed her feelings. He couldn't just sit there and feel sorry for himself, he needed to go and talk to her. He needed to convey how much he needed her, how much he cared for her. Hopefully, just hopefully she would realize her feelings and come to her senses. Nothing could be buried forever, right?

It wasn't long before Natsu made his way back to the guild, stepping into a brawl as soon as the doors opened. Had he not been in the mood he was in, he would have joined in a heartbeat. But, he couldn't have fun, not when he could be this close to losing both the love of his life and his best friend.

Lucy sat down at the bar, feeling defeated. Why did he have to go and mess things up, why did he have to have feelings for her now of all times. She wanted to return his feelings, wanted to tell him how much she loved him, how much she needed him to be there for her, to be there with her. But she had given up on that a long time ago, long before they had gotten stuck on the island. She heard rather than saw Mirajane come bouncing up in front of her with a giggle. "So, have you had a chance to see Natsu? Did he confess his undying love for you?" The take-over mage asked with a smile. Lucy looked up and sighed, "Don't encourage him Mira. I told you before; I can't feel that way about him anymore, I just can't. It hurts too much knowing that I will never be strong enough to stand alongside him." She felt a tear slide down her cheek and stood up. "I'm going home, but please don't tell Natsu if he asks…" She didn't wait for Mirajane to say anything before she pushed her way out of the bustling crowd, staring intently at the floor as she went.

By the time Natsu had come back to the Guild, Lucy was nowhere to be found. He made his way back over to the bar and leaned over on it, "Mira? Has Lucy been here?" He asked as Mira smiled sadly before nodding. "I'm sorry Natsu, but I think she needs time to think about this. Give her some time to roll things around in her head before you start pressing her…" Natsu all but fell into the stool at the bar, staring down at the wood, feeling as if his world was being torn out from under him. "Can I get another shot?" He asked quietly trying to mask his pain.

The next week went by without Lucy showing up at the Guild, and Natsu not going over to her house, trying to give her time to herself and not force the issue. It ate away at him to do so, but he simply let it go in order to preserve what they had together. Then one day Lucy came back to the guild, smiling and chatting away with everyone, everyone except Natsu, whom she clearly avoided. Every time he came close to her, she got up and walked away or simply pretended he wasn't there. It felt easier that way for her, hoping that one day he would see that she wasn't rejecting him, but trying to not feel the pain she had felt for so long when he hadn't understood her feelings. It didn't take long for Natsu to start showing up less and less, taking solo jobs whenever he could so he wouldn't have to see Lucy, or be ignored by her. Mira tried to comfort him whenever he brought her a new job, but she couldn't get through to him, couldn't get him to stay long enough for a simple conversation. At first it was once every couple of days that he came in, then once a week, then he stopped coming at all, simply sending Happy to get him new jobs so he would have less of a chance of feeling the pain he harbored deep inside.

One day after happy had come back with their reward from the latest mission, only to take another out with him, he promptly returned crying. Only a few people noticed the erratic behavior of the Exceed, asking him what had happened, asking if Natsu was going to come by to see them soon. That only made the Exceed cry harder as he flew into Lucy's chest. People started to surround him, prodding about what was wrong, but he couldn't get the words out, couldn't even move from Lucy's lap until he dropped a letter onto the table. Lucy reached for it and opened it, only to find one two words written inside 'I'm sorry.' After a little while, the blue cat finally calmed down enough to talk, tears still dripping down his eyes. He explained how they had been going on missions and that Natsu would rarely even talk to him before he had come back to find that Natsu was nowhere to be found and only the note set on the door of the house.

February X793

No one believed that he would be gone for long that he simply needed to work out a few things alone, but as the weeks turned into months, they couldn't deny that they worried about the Dragon Slayer. On the second year anniversary that he had been gone, Lucy broke down to Mira, crying about how it had been her fault that he left. If only she had told him that she cared for him, that she needed his strength there for her, to protect the Guild, then he would still be around. She tried to fill the void with other men, trying to get that same feeling she had when he was around, but couldn't stay with anyone for more than a few days before she was repulsed at the thought. Eventually she gave up, hoping that one day he would come back and she could prove her love to him, prove that she had been wrong.