A/N (10/26/2015): This is a fanfic I wrote for last year's Halloween, and also my first FT fanfic ever. It was only posted in Tumblr since I didn't have this account at that time, so I'm uploading it here now. It's based on the song 'Pumpkin Syndrome' by PolyphonicBranch ft. Rin & Len Kagamine.

Hope you'll enjoy it!

The Space Time Dimensional Magic, Anima.
More than a passage between worlds, it's magic,
and would be nothing without feelings.
But even if you pour all your feelings into it, and make a wish,
not all wishes can be granted.

In the dark streets of somewhere that was probably a dream, a lonely girl walked by, confused. It was unusual for her to have a vivid and lucid dream like that.

Though despite the initial surprise, her blue eyes were now shining with excitement. Since this is happening, she might as well enjoy it, right? And so Lisanna kept walking through the unreal darkness, only stopping when a giant orange gate appeared in front of her.

"Huh? How didn't I notice this gate before?" The orange color was so vivid and bright, she should have seen it from a distance. Then she remembered this was a dream and didn't have to make sense. She touched the gate, feeling strange warmth from it. "I wonder where this leads to..."

"Then enter, and feel at home!" The girl almost jumped in surprise upon hearing the childish voice. She turned around, looking for its source, but without any light she couldn't see anyone. And the voice continued: "We were looking for you."

"Looking for me?" She started to feel scared, but also... a bit happy? As if she was glad they knew her. Thinking better now, the voice did sound familiar and... nostalgic. Like a childhood friend you haven't seen in a while. No, it couldn't be-

Lisanna's thoughts were cut short as the gate opened with a creaking sound. She felt an unknown person pass through and, not finding anything better to do, followed them.

The mansion greeted her with cold and smiling pumpkins.

How could it be so cold when the outside was fine? She recalled the warmth from the gate and touched it again. From this side, it felt like ice. She was suddenly glad to be wearing gloves.

"Wah! It's cold here!" Cried the voice from before. "Natsu, light a fire already!" And that was when the girl finally turned to take a good look at the other people in the room.

One of them was a young but muscular boy with spiky pink hair. He wore a black cape and fake horns on his head, giving him the appearance of a demon. And sitting on his shoulder, shivering with the cold, was the one that had done all the talking so far, a blue cat wearing an orange cape.

To anyone, they would look like freaks, or actors for a cheap horror play, at best.

But to the white-haired girl in front of them, they were like home.

"That's better now!" Happy celebrated as his human friend covered his own hand in flames to warm up the place a bit. "Lisanna, aren't you cold too? Come here!"

Still hesitant about this encounter, Lisanna didn't notice the way the boy flinched at the sound of her name. Though after getting closer, she did notice the way his eyes were fixed at her.

"Why are you looking so down, Natsu?" She teased, trying to dispel the tension. "Are you guys lost here? Or were you expecting me to hug you or something? Because I could do that if you wanted." The way his face turned red was priceless.

"W-w-what are you talking about, woman?!" He stuttered. "Man, we barely found you and you're already saying this weird stuff!" Lisanna merely giggled at his antics. Then she got back to the current situation.

"So, you guys were really looking for me?"

"Yeah. That's what the script said we should do." They replied at the same time.

"Script?"

"Aye! The dream's script."

"Dream..." It took a while for her to understand. "That's right, this is a dream." That's why she felt hesitant to approach the two at first. She didn't want to get worked up for a reunion when she knew it wasn't real. Still... "Now that you've mentioned it, I should be surprised to meet you two here, but I have a feeling this is all natural. Like we're supposed to be here together. Is this what you meant by 'script'?

"Aye! At least, we're calling it that. We know this is a dream, and we have an idea of what to do. But we don't remember how we got here, or what this place is."

"Or why I have a pair of cool horns." Natsu added with a playful smile. "Oh, and by the way, this is for you." He tossed some clothes on her: a gray jacket and a black and blue striped scarf. She thanked him and put them on over her blue dress that was sadly far from ideal for the current temperature.

"Now, since we're here, we better get the show started!" Natsu grabbed the white-haired girl's wrist and started to drag her around the mansion. "Let's go, Happy!"

"W-wait! Where are you guys taking me?" Lisanna questioned, struggling to keep up with the boy's pace through the pumpkin-filled corridors (why were there so many pumpkins, anyway?).

"You're not supposed to know." He grinned. "Because you're the guest, and we're the hosts."

"And this is a party!" Happy finished the sentence, jumping in joy as Natsu opened a door leading to a dining hall.

The large table was full of sweets, and despite that, there was only one chair. Was a single person supposed to eat all that? Lisanna wondered as Natsu pulled the chair for her.

"Now, sit down, and enjoy the treats!" He said, grinning. Lisanna sat as he asked, but felt uneasy.

"Natsu, there's no way I can eat all this. I don't have the stomach of a dragon, you know." She tried to sound playful, but still felt her voice shake a bit. Something about her friend was off, but she couldn't tell what it was. "Why don't we all enjoy this together?"

"You're the guest, you're the one that has to choose, girl." He stated with a serious face, confusing her even more. What choice was he talking about? She decided to take a closer look at the food, trying to get some clue.

Somehow, all the treats had her name written on them. Part of her thought it was creepy, but the whole situation was so weird she didn't care as much as she normally would. Instead, an unpleasant suspicion slowly grew in her mind.

"Natsu," She stared at the boy darkly. "why did you called me 'girl' right now?" His eyes narrowed and she knew then she wasn't just being paranoid. "That's not like you. And I have a name, you know." She raised one of the creepy treats as if to strengthen her point.

As Natsu gritted his teeth in anger (or was it pain?), she felt she'd hit a nerve, and yet, she recognized sadness in his face too. However, soon he hid all of that with a wide grin, so forced and fake it reminded the girl of the carved pumpkins around there.

"That's it then." He announced in a false cheerful tone. "If you don't want the treats..."

"...Then a trick is it!" Finished Happy, while pulling a lever that surely wasn't there before. And so Lisanna fell through a hole that opened right under her feet.

The next moments were nothing but a repetition of pranks from Natsu and Happy. Every time, the boy would appear from somewhere, and offer the girl treats. She would refuse them, and then Happy would set up something fitting of a horror movie. From moving skeletons to hidden passageways, swarms of bats to moving stairways, Lisanna had seen everything by now.

Eventually, probably due to the dream's influence, she understood how their game worked:

Choose 'trick', and they keep messing with you.

Choose 'treat', and you can join them. Forever. Which made her shiver when she thought of what would happen to them in reality. Would they stay sleeping forever? Would they die? Or would a miracle happen, and the three would wake up together, once again living in the same world? The possibility sounded too good to be true, and besides, even so she wouldn't be able to go. She had another family to come back now. She had a farce to keep.

She smiled bitterly at the irony. She was angry at Natsu faking and hiding stuff from her, yet she was the greatest liar of all. No wonder they never got anywhere in their relationship. And never would.

Lisanna kept wandering aimlessly through the mansion, until Natsu came crashing through the ceiling. His hand extended towards her, full of sweets.

"Are you getting out of ideas? It's the tenth time you come like this. And coming from the floor wasn't much of a difference, also." He looked very insulted, and she resisted the impulse of giggling at such a childish reaction.

"So you're still not accepting them? What a pain you are, I wanted to solve this quickly."

"I'm sorry I'm annoying you." She approached him. "To be honest, I'd love to accept these sweets from you, Natsu. But I can't. And I would like some truthful answers from you too, anyway." He looked away.

"...Sorry. I didn't want to make you sad." His face was sorrowful now. "It's just that, this is just a dream, it doesn't matter what we do. In the end we'll leave and nothing will have changed. So why should we waste time here? Let's just follow this 'script' and be over with this already!"

For a moment, Lisanna didn't know how to react. She just stood there, drowning in guilt. Because this was all her fault.

Natsu had always been the kind of person that didn't focus on sad things. Whenever something bad happened, he would always try to cheer everyone up and either find a solution to it or ignore it. He was never good at facing inevitable sorrows. And she had disappeared and hurt him, when he already had a missing father to worry about. And to make things worse, now she was here in a dream with him. Impossible to be saved, but impossible to be ignored either. It was no wonder he didn't want to stay much longer, or even say her name. She was like a ghost, and wanting to stay with ghosts is just foolish. Everyone would be happier if they moved on from her.

Thinking like this made her want to cry, but she held it in. The situation was sad enough already. Besides, it wasn't the first time she considered how much pain she brought with her 'death'.

"Hey, are you alright?" Natsu started to worry about the quiet girl in front of her. She just stared at him, still deep in thought. She would be lying if she said she wasn't enjoying having him and Happy around here. Knowing they were fine and rowdy as always. Was there a way to make Natsu enjoy this moment too? Since there was no way to really fix things between them, couldn't a ghost like her at least give him a nice dream, for once?

When she thought that, an idea came to her mind and she smiled.

"You silly. Can't you see what else there is to do here?"

And before he could answer, the girl leaned forward and kissed his cheek.

"H-h-huh?" Taking advantage of his confusion and embarrassment, she kicked him, making him fall to the floor.

"And that's how you trick someone!" She laughed, winking at him. "Let's play evenly this time! Find me if you can!" And she disappeared through a door, leaving a confused boy and talking cat (Happy had been hiding so far waiting to trick Lisanna) behind.

"She likes you!" The teasing was expected but that didn't make Natsu any happier.

Soon, they returned to their game, but now Lisanna wasn't the only one being tricked. At some point, they completely forgot why they were doing all that, it became more of competition of who could do the best pranks.

Natsu would be lying if he said he wasn't having fun.