Lucy jolted awake at the sound of a scream. Her head shot up off its previous position on Natsu's shoulder to see her future self sitting up and breathing heavily. She felt Natsu relax next to her as he saw the same thing, but he was still tense. She crept over quietly and sat near her, knowing Natsu was following by his noisy shuffling. Lucy took a moment to observe herself, since she was probably never going to get a third chance. This her, unlike Edolas her, was actually her. It hurt her brain if she thought too much, and it wasn't fully true. This Lucy was different somehow.
'At least she isn't trying to put Natsu in a headlock,' Lucy recalled.
"Hey Luce," Natsu murmured, and Lucy turned to look at him before realizing he was talking to her future self. The girl looked up and met his eyes, but that only seemed to make her cry harder. Her hand attempted to stifle her hiccuping sobs, but it wasn't working. Natsu was beginning to look anxious, and she smiled despite the situation. He always took care of her, ever since they met in Hargeon. And, no matter the situation, he always made her feel better.
She leaned over to grab her future self's hand, meeting her frightened eyes with her own. Lucy felt Natsu trying to gently nudge her out of the way, and she giggled when he hit a ticklish spot. His smile sharpened demonically, and Lucy's smile fell. "No Natsu, this is not the—" Her hiss quickly dissolved into a fit of giggles as he tickled her. She squirmed underneath him, knowing her spasming limbs had zero effect on him. Nevertheless, she smacked his chest in an effort to make him remember why they were awake in the middle of the night.
He stopped suddenly when a second set of laughter joined Lucy's. Her future self was still crying, but she was laughing half-heartedly at their display. Her tears showed no sign of stopping, but she was at least smiling. And since Lucy knew herself better than anyone, this meant they could pry now.
Lucy wiggled out from under Natsu, who had already moved his arm so she could. She knelt next to her future self, leaning against Natsu behind her. "So, I know you don't want to talk about it this soon, but I have to ask: What was that dream about? It seemed kinda scary." Her future self took in a shaky breath, exhaling before responding.
"It was just about what happened to—everyone." Future Lucy's eyes flickered up to her and Natsu before looking at the floor, and Lucy immediately knew she was lying. She got the sense that Natsu knew also, but by some miracle he stayed quiet. Then he nudged her elbow, and she figured out that he wanted her to work on herself. She rolled her eyes briefly before continuing. She loved the oaf, but he was so dense sometimes.
"You know, if you don't give him something to work with here he's gonna combust. Literally." Her future self's smile grew a little and the tears were finally slowing. Natsu poked her, definitely pouting. She chuckled under her breath, before noticing Future Lucy's watery eyes watching them fondly. Something flickered in Lucy's brain, and she tensed. 'Please Mavis, let me be wrong.'
"Um—"
"Hey, I just noticed something." Natsu interrupted her, and she knew what he was going to say. She tried to cover his mouth, but she was too late. "If you're here, in the future, then where am I—?"
There was perfect silence. Both Lucys teared up at his question. Future Lucy's face ran with silent tears, eyes now locked onto Natsu. Her lip trembled, but she didn't dissolve back into sobs. Lucy herself now clung to Natsu's arm, feeling bad about doing it in front of her future self but unable to help it. And poor Natsu still didn't quite understand.
But he tried. "Whoa, I'm sorry! Please stop crying, I'll shut up! Luce, fix—Shit. You, too? Ugh!" He heaved Lucy into his lap, then took the future Lucy's hand. He sat there as both girls cried, not saying another word.
Finally, Lucy stopped crying enough to waller out of Natsu's lap. "I'm—" she hiccuped. "I'm being selfish. You need him more than I do right now." She grabbed Natsu's other hand, but didn't do anything else.
Natsu had reached his limit, however. "Luce," he whined quietly. "I'm so confused. What happened?"
"I'll answer that for you, Natsu." Future Lucy took another shaky breath. "As you know, my reality was taken over by hoards of dragons. So, naturally, the dragon slayers were elected to battle them." Her voice was shaking badly, and tears were steadily flowing down her face. "I figured I'd help you, so I went with you. But—" She hiccuped. "There—There was a building, and a dragon, and you—" She snapped. "You idiot! I could've saved myself!" She retracted her hand from Natsu as if he'd burned her, sobs returning in full force. "I could've called Loke! Or hidden! You didn't have to—" Her screams faded back to crying, and Natsu finally seemed to understand what had happened. He squeezed Lucy's hand so tight she heard her fingers crack, and his lips tightened into a thin line.
While her future self continued crying and screaming, he looked at Lucy. "Luce, I want you to go up behind her and cover her eyes. Trust me," he said to her questioning look. She nodded, reluctant to let his hand go. She slipped her hands over her future self's eyes, and she immediately stopped making noise. "Let me go," she commanded, and Lucy realized just how not intimidating she was.
"Lucy." Natsu spoke, and Lucy felt Future Lucy's entire body stiffen. "N-Natsu?" Said man was currently aflame, just hot enough to feel the warmth but not to where they were uncomfortable. Natsu's voice sounded almost ethereal through the flames. Her body trembled, and she tried to lurch forward. "You idiot!" she screamed. "Why'd you leave me here? You—you…"
"You know I would never leave you on purpose." Lucy's breath caught in her throat. Natsu met her eyes and continued. "But I had to protect you. You or me is an easy choice." Lucy's heart was pounding, with fear and something else she wasn't ready to identify.
"It shouldn't have been!" Future Lucy retorted. "You had everyone to go back to! Happy, Erza, Gray! You should have thought about the consequences instead rushing up to save me!"
"When the hell have I ever done that?" Natsu sounded both confused and angry. The heat intensified slightly. "I'm not going to hesitate when you're in danger! I saved you so you could save us, and I don't regret it!"
"Well do you regret what happened afterwards?" Future Lucy yelled. "I had to find my way to the gate alone!" Natsu flinched, hard. "My valiant protector had gotten himself killed, so I had to wander around that dragon-infested hell alone, Natsu! Do you have any idea what that was like?"
Panic flashed over Natsu's features. "I—"
"No." Future Lucy exhaled, as if trying to let out all the pent up anger she had out in one go. "It's okay now. I found us again, only I'm not part of it." Lucy felt her face reddening. "I never knew we looked like that. It's like we're…Never mind." Natsu looked confused again, and Lucy was glad her future self had stopped herself. That wasn't something she felt like explaining to Natsu. "But I'll see you again soon, anyhow."
It was obvious Natsu didn't know how to respond to that, which didn't surprise either Lucy. Future Lucy smiled. "I miss you, Natsu." And with that, she slumped forward, asleep.
After lying her back down, Lucy and Natsu crawled back to their previous spot on the ground. Lucy laid her head back down on Natsu's shoulder and shut her eyes. "Hey, Natsu." He grunted his acknowledgement. "Promise you'll never sacrifice yourself for me."
Natsu was quiet for so long Lucy thought he'd gone to sleep. But just before she rolled over to do the same thing, he replied, "No way in hell. If I can save you, I will." With that, he tugged her closer to him and went to sleep. Lucy closed her eyes, a sad smile curling her lips.