Title: She Died
Genre: Romance/Friendship
Pairing: Natsu D./ Lucy H.
Summary: He cleared his throat and looked at her with resolve. "You're the girl who's rumored to have a third eye and my friend just died and I really need to talk to her so can you please summon her for me?" She looked at him like he was crazy, and somehow, he did expect her reaction to be like that. NaLu AU. Death brought them closer, and soon tore them apart.
"Death is not the greatest loss in life.
The greatest loss is what dies inside us while we live."
-Norman Cousins
She died.
His friend, Lisanna, died.
He didn't want to believe it.
Just yesterday, she was smiling at him and now she's gone.
He wasn't even able to say goodbye.
Earlier that day he got a call from Gray, telling him that the Strauss siblings got into a car accident.
Elfman lost his right arm, Mira was in a coma... and Lisanna died 8 minutes after being rushed to the hospital.
It was too fast.
Everything happened too fast.
Gray said that it was a driver of a truck who bumped into them resulting the car to swivel and spin a few meters away before stopping.
He ended the call.
He didn't want to listen. He couldn't accept it.
Lisanna was too young too die. She was only 17.
He wiped his tears harshly and stride through the hallway of the school, faster.
Most people, having heard of the news about the Strauss siblings, were all giving him sympathetic looks and some even tried to give their condolences but he ignored them.
He didn't care about them.
They didn't know anything.
They didn't know how much he was hurting.
They didn't know how much he wanted to scream.
He took a sharp turn and his breath caught in his throat.
That's her. He finally found her.
Sweat dripped down his forehead and for once, he felt unsure of what he should do. He closed his eyes and with all the determination he could muster he took a step closer.
He needed to do this. He was so desperate.
He took bigger steps toward her and he grabbed her arm so that they would meet face to face.
He was taken aback by her appearance. With rumors circulating about her being a half-witch of some sorts who can talk to dead spirits, he half expected her to be on black or purple lipstick and heavy make up.
Or even have a lot of necklaces and bracelets made of wood or whatever witches wear for that matter.
But instead, he found her with a very light make up and single silver necklace hanging on her neck. Her uniform was neat, too neat for his taste, and she looked like an ordinary student.
Except for her weirdly bewitching brown eyes.
He cleared his throat and looked at her with resolve.
"You're the girl who's rumored to have a third eye and my friend just died and I really need to talk to her so can you please summon her for me?"
She looked at him like he was crazy, and somehow, he did expect her reaction to be like that.
"I heard it from a classmate. They were talking about your ability to talk to... the dead.", his breath caught and tears stung his eyes. Lisanna was dead.
"Please, remove your hand from my arm.", she murmured.
He was brought back to reality at the sound of her voice. Her eyes was cast downward and she gently rubbed her arm the moment he released it.
He felt guilty for he must have held it too tightly. He didn't mean to hurt her.
"I'm s-"
"No, it's not your fault, I was... anyway, you're Natsu Dragneel right? Lisanna was... she was a good person.", she paused, as if remembering she was recalling something in her head.
"I know it hurts to lose someone so dear without even saying goodbye but... I'm sorry, I can't help you."
She sounded so sincere. Somehow, he felt like she knew what it feels to be left behind. And somehow that just brought hot tears to his eyes.
The bell rang and the blonde took that as her cue to leave. Some students are still looking their way but he ignored them. Before he knew what was happening, his foot moved closer to her and his hand was entwined with hers.
If he was on his right mind he would beat himself up for suddenly dragging a girl he didn't even know to cut class.
She yelped at their speed and tried to tug her hand free.
"This is kidnapping.", he heard her murmur. He suddenly stopped to face her, cheeks a little flush at his stupidity.
"I just... I'm sorry, I just really need-"
"I really can't help. Those are just rumors. Sorry."
He didn't say anything back. He just started dragging her again and the girl just sighed.
"Bring me to my locker. I need to get something."
Natsu nodded and started heading towards the entrance of the building where the lockers are.
They stopped at locker 071 and he started to wonder how he never noticed her before, given that his locker, 077, was so close to hers.
He watched as she looked at their entwined hands. As if she was asking him to let go.
A part of him told him that he didn't want to.
She sighed once again.
"I won't ranaway, if that's what you're worried about."
"I-I'm not..."
"Right, it would just take a sec."
He hesistantly let go, and he watched as she punched in the combination for her locker. She took a small pouch inside and a garden shovel.
He was curious to know what it was for. But she didn't ask him anything so he felt rude to do so.
This time, she held his hand while the other was holding on to her shoulder bag.
"You're skipping class?", he blurted out.
She raised an eyebrow at him.
"Didn't you drag me here to do that?"
"Ah... I really... wasn't thinking."
She gave him a tight smile and rummaged through her bag. He was surprised to see her held out a pink handkerchief and place it on his free hand.
"My mama told me to offer it to anyone who's crying."
"I'm not..."
She smiled at him.
"Yeah, you're just sweating through your eyes. Got it.", they continued walking hand in hand, until they reached the school's parking lot.
"You have a car.", Natsu said in awe.
"It's actually my cousin's car."
"Wait! You're driving?"
Lucy paused and shrugged.
"You kidnapped me, I kidnap you. Isn't it just fair? Now be a good hostage."
Natsu pouted at that and entered the car obediently.
This girl is weird.
"I'm not weird."
Did I say that out loud?
"Yes, you did. Now shut up."
Natsu rolled his eyes then tuned out his surrounding. He was supposed to be at the hospital. Crying his eyes out for his loss, but here he was, getting kidnapped by a girl he didn't know. Well, granted that he kidnapped her first but he just wanted to talk to Lisanna. There's a lot of things he still needed to tell her.
Starting with what happened last night at her goodbye party.
"We're here."
He was snapped out of his thoughts at the sound of his female companion. He didn't know how long he was zoning out and he was surprised to find them stopping at a small hill.
Right, he still didn't know her name.
Wait, he knew it. He heard it before.
L... something with starting with Lu...
Now, he was so curious. But it would feel weird to ask now, right?
"Where are we?"
"Hill of stars."
"Why?"
"You want to talk to her, right?"
"I- But you said that the rumors are not true."
"That's right. And I'm telling you again, they're not true."
"Then-"
"Stop talking. Get moving. You still need to go to the hospital after this."
"But-"
"No buts! Come on!"
Natsu tried to get rid of the lump forming in his throat and somehow, he found comfort with the way she grabbed his hand. She started to drag him to a big Sakura tree. It wasn't in bloom but it was still beautiful nonetheless.
Surrounding the tree were different plants and flowers. It was odd. Seeing that they were in different varieties and they didn't look like they had naturally sprouted there. But they were beautiful nonetheless. It made his heart flutter with ease.
"Today is my mother's death anniversary. Talking to her would be nice. I have a lot of things to say, lot of things I wanted to share with her..."
His eyes widened. He felt like an idiot. Today, she must be grieving over her mother's death and here he came, insisting that she had some sorcery that allowed her to talk to the dead.
She must have also wanted that, to be able to talk to the people who had already left.
"Here."
He stared at the paper and pen that she was handing to him. She rolled her eyes and looked impatient for a second.
"You said you wanted to talk to her, right?"
He took the paper from her hand. Not entirely sure what she was up to.
"Just write down everything you want to say."
He looked at the paper again then moved closer to sit next to her. She was also pulling out a piece of paper, a book and an extra pen.
She placed the paper on top of the book and started writing, and for a moment, Natsu was entranced by how she looked.
He took a deep breath and looked up the sky. Wondering, if Lisanna was there, watching over him. Was she disappointed that he didn't rush over to the hospital to see her one last time?
He shook the thoughts away.
He couldn't bear to see her cold body. No, not yet. He couldn't imagine the light leaving her kind blue eyes.
He started writing about what he felt. How much he was sorry. How much he wanted to see her alive.
How much he wanted to thank her for being his friend. For all the memories they shared. For being there when he lost Igneel. For tending to his wounds whenever he got involved in a fight.
He wanted to thank her for falling in love with him. That somehow, she saw all the good in him, despite his flaws.
And he wanted to apologize for leaving her last night. For not giving her an appropriate response after her confession.
For being scared of ruining their friendship because he didn't feel the same way about her.
For not saying goodbye as she left for Edolas this morning.
He hated that they ended in a sad note. That before Lisanna died, he had ran away from her confession.
Somehow in the middle of writing, his tears started falling again and a loud sob racked through his throat, his body shaking, trembling upon realizing the truth he wanted to deny. It just hurts.
He lost a friend. A sister. A person he values with his life.
And as if some kind of healing magic spread over his heart, he felt a little better after finishing his letter.
Sure, the pain was still there, but his regrets felt like it was lifted off his chest.
He didn't know when, but soon, Lucy was in front of him. Her dainty hands were on his shoulder and he found himself engulfed in a warm hug.
Neither said a word, they just relished the feeling of being in each other's arms as they grieved over their loss.
They didn't know each other. Heck, he didn't even know her name. But at that time, Natsu couldn't imagine someone else whose hug could assure him that someday, everything would be alright.
He soon felt the blonde's hold loosening. He gave her a tight squeeze before letting go, as if to remind himself that this was true. It was real. It was really happening, and he needed to face reality soon.
She smiled, and somehow he found the strength to smile back.
She took his hand once again and brought her closer to the different plants near the tree.
She took her shovel out of her bag and started digging a hole.
"What are you doing?", he asked. Voice a little raspy from crying.
She didn't look at him, but a hint of smile was plastered on her face.
"I'm going to talk to my mom."
"How?"
"I'm going to bury my letter, and beside it I'll plant a seed.", he saw her peeked at him through her lashes, and her next words struck him.
"Today is my mom's 7th death anniversary. I'd like to believe that she's always up there watching me. But time comes that I asked why. She was still young. Not even 30. Why did she have to leave me alone. There are lot of evil people in this world, so why did someone who's good have to die? And I just couldn't move on."
She neatly folded her letter, and buried it in the rich soil.
"If lives were lost today... then today lives were also born. How important each and every day is... depends on how important you feel it is to you.", she looked up at him and smiled.
"I overheard someone saying that.", she added with a giggle.
"It wasn't meant for me or anything. I shouldn't have even heard it since it was a private conversation. But... it gave me strength. It saved me."
He watched as she paused, as if she was remembering the day she heard those words.
"Whoever she is. I want to thank her. Ever since that day, I realized that if I lost something, instead of grieving over it, I should bring a new life whenever I miss her. Something that could possibly make other people smile. It brought me peace. Maybe I'll never see her again but I'm pretty positive that she receives my letters. No matter how silly it may sound."
"I'm sure she does!", Natsu exclaimed. The blonde girl was shocked at his sudden outburst but soon, a smile grazed her lips.
"I'm sure she's reading it, everytime. And that she's happy you're moving on."
"Thanks, Natsu."
"Ugh... No problem, Luigi.", he guessed.
"IT'S LUCY!", she shouted. Her tiny hands delivering a swift punch to his shoulders.
"AWW! LUCEEE!"
"IT'S LUCY! Gee, way to ruin the mood."
She crossed her arms on her chest and Natsu laughed at the pout forming on her lips. Pretty soon, giggles escaped her lips, and laughter filled the air.
"There. It's done!", Natsu exclaimed as he finished burying his letter and planting a seed next to it.
"Great job.", Lucy praised with a smile.
Natsu smiled back and patted her head, "Great job, Lucy. And thank you."
He watched as Lucy nodded her head and reached an arm out to pat his head too.
"Now, go to her. Just walk a bit through that road and there's some buses that pass the hospital."
"You're not coming?"
"Nah. I'll stay here just a bit more."
"Okay, thank you, Lucy."
He shot her a grin and she returned it with a smile. Natsu turned around, feeling a small tug in his chest as he started to move forward. He kept looking straight, willing himself not to look back no matter how much he wanted to. Soon, he found himself with his friends. Most of them worried and angry at him for disappearing suddenly.
They cried for hours, and he thought that his tears dried up already, but a week later, as he watched Lisanna's coffin getting lowered into the ground, a burst of tears flowed in his eyes.
For the last time, he wanted to thank her for everything.
I finished this a long time ago but I don't know where to go next so I didn't post it yet. I just thought of a plot for it so maybe I'll work on it in the future. Maybe...
Oh well, did you liked it? Leave a review if you did, and don't forget to follow and fave! Haha.
