Early morning, hours before sunrise. Natsu awoke from a nightmare, heart racing. He sat up, took a deep breath to calm down. Then he heard something that caught his attention.
Sniffle, sniffle, whimper.
The sight and sound of her crying broke his heart. He reached over, stroking his hand over her shoulder.
"Lucy...hey, baby, wake up."
She opened one eye, peeked up at him.
"Hmnh?"
"You're crying. Bad dream?"
Shaky nod.
"You left again. Only this time you didn't come b-back..." The floodgates broke down. He pulled her close, rocking her in his arms. "I...i don't want to lose you. I hate being alone."
"You won't. I'm never leaving you, never again. I promise." He brushed a hand over her hair. Kissed her forehead.
"Did...you have a nightmare too...?"
"Yeah. Everyone I loved was gone. No matter how much I yelled, nobody answered. Not even you."
Now it was Lucy's turn to be sympathetic. Lifted her hand to his cheek, touched her nose to his.
"I have an idea. How we can feel better, I mean."
"Sex?"
"No, not that!" Adorable blush. "Not this time, anyway. A while back, Capricorn taught me this breathing exercise. It's supposed to be good for getting calm and relaxing."
"Alright. Let's give it a shot."
"Follow my lead." A nod.
She went to the edge of the bed, gesturing for him to sit next to her. He followed, then immediately pulled her into his lap. Fanged grin, like he was daring her to object. She didn't. Gods only knew she loved being so close to her man, savored the connection.
She moved her hands down to his shoulders, then rested her forehead against his. "This is gonna sound weird, but breathe with me."
"Breathe with ya?"
"Yeah. Like, inhale, then exhale at the same time." She giggled. "That is, if you can stay focused long enough to do it right."
"I'll try." He stuck his tongue out for a second before smiling at her. "Kidding."
"I know. Now shhhh. Close your eyes."
Another nod.
The first few attempts backfired a bit.
Somehow Natsu ended up exhaling when he should have been inhaling...three different times.
"Natsuuu..."
"Oops. Sorry, Luce..." He had a rare sad look on his face, feeling like he let her down. She caught it, hugged him.
"No, it's fine. I know how we can make this work."
"Okay. How?"
"I'll squeeze your shoulder as a cue."
"Sounds good to me."
He held her close, one hand feeling her heartbeat on her back, forehead still resting against hers.
Inhale...exhale... each a little longer than the last. Her gentle squeezes were as soothing as their shared breaths.
This was intimacy on a level he had never imagined, as powerful as sex but... different. Connected. Whole.
Then, midway through an inhale, Lucy yawned. So did Natsu. Of course, they laughed in response.
"I guess yawns really are contagious, huh?"
"Yeah." Lucy shifted, letting her fingers stroke through her husband's hair. "I feel a lot better now."
"Me too." Huge yawn. He tilted his head, leaning into the touch. "You do know I'm gonna fall asleep if you keep that up, right?"
"Oh I know." She giggled. They laid back down, resumed their embrace.
"Lucy?"
"Hmm?"
"I meant what I said earlier. Y'know, about never leaving you. You're stuck with me forever." Eyes sleepy, grin goofy.
"In that case you're stuck with me too, dummy."
"Wouldn't want it any other way."
Kiss, cuddle. Both knew that being stuck together forever wasn't a bad thing. Not when it meant a lifetime of love and support, through bad and good.
Knowing that, they rested easily, not worried about anything else for the moment.
Peace.