It wasn't polite to read somebody's diary. Yet in the middle of the battle, it was the one thing that she believed would allow them to win the fight, for it was something from the future, an extra bit of knowledge that could change everything - to allow them to take the advantage in the fight. At that point of time, the Celestial Mage, upon sighting the book she knew so well, did not stop to think about the consequences. There were always one too many deaths, and it broke her heart to see Natsu crying over the body of her future self.
But the pages revealed a future that they did not see, and the blonde who read through the diary, hid the painful future deep within her heart. Even when the war was won, the gates destroyed, and the dragons returned to their time, even when the journal of the future her vanished into nothing, Lucy would always remember the words that trembling hands scribbled onto paper, ink marred by blots of tears; of how there was no one left but herself, of how….he died.
No one else knew of the future that was written, no one else but the her who triggered Natsu's rage. And she was glad that no one else would have to deal with knowing the frightening words.
Perhaps it was because she was a writer, and her words painted a future that was so vivid, that Lucy dreamt about it often, after their return, and it was always with tears that she would awaken, voice hoarse from crying as mind replayed the scene over and over again, offering the blonde no relief from her terrible nightmares.
It turned her paler than she was, as proper and peaceful rest eluded her repeatedly.
That night, the Dragon Slayer had hopped in through her window, before dropping himself onto her bed with a lazy yawn, already claiming it for his own. She, could only shake a fist at the man as she sighed from her perch upon the chair, shutting the book that she was browsing absentmindedly, and stowing it away for another day.
Reluctantly, she would come by the bed, wondering if she would be able to shove the pink head off so that she could get her sleep on a comfortable surface instead of the ground once more, but he made the decision for her, tugging her down by fingers around slender wrist, and then wrapping his arms around her waist so that she could neither flee nor escape from what burned her cheeks.
"Natssuuu!" Wiggling and flushing in his 'embrace', the embarrassed blonde would attempt to reason, but it seems that the dense man would never quite understand how…inappropriate such a position was. "Are you going to sleep like that?!" Huffing blonde out of her eyes, the Celestial Mage would jab at what of the male she could reach; which was no more than the man's solid side - how on earth does he keep so fit when he ate like an animal?! Well, she needed no answer. The numerous fights in the guild was more than enough exercise for anyone.
"Oh! You're right!"
A glimmer of hope! Perhaps he was not as daft as one thought!
Yet it was hope that was dashed right in front of the blonde's eyes, as her cheeks turned crimson at the man's movements — stripping off his top and tossing it aside, before he caught her once more, and lazily tugged the covers over them. "Go to sleep, Lucy. Stop moving so much."
"This is my bed! You sho-"
Her complaints met with a snore, all she could do was to sigh and attempt to relax with those warm arms around her torso, glad that she had worn proper pajamas today, instead of one of those silky sleeping gowns she sometimes liked to wear. How on earth did the Dragon Slayer fall asleep that quickly, as though a sleeping spell struck him straight between the brows?
One day, she would lock that window, one day.
But for now, the woman would drift off into a peaceful slumber, the few she had since the return from the Grand Magic Games. Perhaps it was the arms of the man, the man she accidentally fell in love with, around her, perhaps it was the feeling of security that he gave her.
Yet it did not last.
She wasn't sure how long she had slept, but when the terrifying nightmare began, the woman begged her mind for mercy, for it played the words she read in that journal, it played it with vivid images that made it seem all too real, and she watched; because there was nothing she could do but to watch; to watch him die. She screamed, because her limbs would not move; it was as though she was watching through glass that she could not break; even though she pounded with all her might. But her voice did not come, and it was a soundless scream that she repeated, his name upon her lips.
Snapping out of her slumber, the woman could not hold back the word that escaped, but it seemed that the man was not even there to hear his name, so desperately screamed, for the bed was empty, even though bits of warmth lingered. Instinctively curling up, Lucy hugged her knees, sobbing as she attempted to force the nightmare out of her head; the images of pink against bloody ground, moving no more. Natsu…Natsu was dead….no, this….he was alive….he went to bed with her!
And yet his absence now only fretted the frazzled woman who could make no sense at such a point of time, so much so that when he exited the bathroom with a click of the door, the stellar mage had flown to her feet, slamming right into the man, a mess of tears and scrambled limbs, weeping on his bare chest.
"…Lucy…? What's wrong..?" He spoke but three words, yet he would always pull her close into an embrace, allowing the shaking female to cry her tears away. But it was not that easy to put a stop to tears of fear and sorrow, and the pink head would pull back slightly, to raise her head up by the chin, and then wiping the flowing tears with his thumbs. "..Lucy..?" Worried onyx would fix upon the pale female, brows furrowing in concern. What had caused such a disturbance within the Celestial Mage?
"You were dead. I saw you die. I saw you die in front of me. It was the future! The future! What if it still happened?! We might have changed a part of it, but what if you still died?!" While the gate had been destroyed, they had no clues on the consequences it had upon the alternate selves, their future selves in another timeline. By right, it should have all been changed, and they ought to live out their lives as it was...but...how true was that?
Taken aback by the outburst, Natsu would pull her in once again, a hand upon the small of her back, the other against the locks of flaxen gold, grunting against the top of her head. "Whatever you saw, that's not going to happen."
"How would you know that?!" Still she fought, even though her words came out muffled against his chest and body trembled.
"This is our future. If you're so worried about that happening, we'll just change things up here. As long as it's different from what we saw, it's going to be just fine, right?" Lowering his hands, the Dragon Slayer scoops the weeping female up in a bridal hold, taking her to her bed once more, and laying her down carefully.
She sniffled, wiping at the tears with shaking hands, hands that he soon trapped against the bed as he climbed over her, hovering with knees planted firmly at her sides. Pausing, Lucy would stare up at him with confused honeys oculars, not quite sure what he intended to do.
Natsu only grins his signature curve, before he lowered his lips to hers in a soft kiss, so unexpected from the male who usually played rough. A man who started fights as though it was no more than breathing air, a man who would raise fist before he used his brains, and yet, he was the man who stole the woman's first kiss with the gentleness so unforeseen. Startled, the woman did not react, not until his lips wandered down to her neck and a strange, not painful, but rather pleasant heat seared the spot where he laid his lips, and Lucy would only colour pink, and then red, when she realized that it was not a kiss he left upon her pale skin, nor one of those hickeys Cana sometimes spoke of. Instead, the man had bitten her.
"Natsu! What was that for?!"
"The future Lucy didn't have that. So it can't be the same future if you have it and she doesn't, because that won't fade."
"Won't fade?! What is that?!"
"…." At that, the sheepish male would scratch the back of his head, the words so softly muttered that she almost did not catch it, the faintest of a blush dusting over tanned cheeks. "…Mate mark.."
Flabbergasted, all the woman could do was to gape at him wordlessly, before she found her voice - a voice that came out in an almost squeak. "…So you just…?"
"Yes."
"And it's….forever…?"
"Yes." Again, the repeated word with that gaze she could not break free from, the pinkette not quite understanding the issue behind the woman's reaction.
"How could you?!" A decision like such, was it not one that two ought to make? How could he take things into his own hands like such?! What would happen if her heart yearned for another?! He would have ruined her life!
It was not true, of course, for the woman knew well, despite denying it to the entire world, that her heart had found its other half, but an important thing like this...what if the Dragon Slayer did not even know the meaning behind it?! He was the densest male she had ever met after all! It was a possibility!
"Because I know you won't mind…?"
"And how would you know that?" Almost snapping, the whip-user would huff, pearly whites flashing in annoyance, only for brown eyes to widen at the man's next words.
"I read your diary."
"NATSU DRAGNEEL!"