I wrote this for the "Burns" prompt of HC-Bingo, on LJ!
Hope you all like it!
Disclaimer: FT belongs to Mashima Hiro-sensei.
Dragon's Fire
Lucy woke up feeling the worst pain of her entire life. The same pain she felt before losing conscious.
"Everything is alright, Lu-chan." Levy said, but her voice couldn't hide her tears. "Wendy-chan is working on a spell to heal you."
Slowly, she turned her face to her sweet friend. She remembered now. Wendy didn't manage to heal the burns that covered her whole body. She wasn't strong enough yet. Natsu's power was greater than hers.
"How... How is he?"
"He is not awake yet-"
But just as she finished her sentence, they heard screams and the sound of things breaking on the lower floor.
"Seems like he is now." Lucy tried to chuckle but it hurt too much. It was already a miracle that her face was the part of her body less affected by the fire. Her hair was half its usual length, though. But she wouldn't whine about it.
Everything happened so fast she barely remembered it all. The four of them had gone in a job together. They were supposed to find a hidden treasure in an abandoned castle. Getting there, they split. Natsu and her were responsible to check the dungeons. Once there, his magic went crazy and there was no place for her to hide. The fire spread and Natsu couldn't control it. He wasn't even in control of himself.
"What is it, Luce?" he asked, bored. He wanted to get in and find the damned thing, but Lucy had stopped to analyze some symbols on the wall.
"I'm trying to recognize those letters, but I just don't know. If only Levy was here..."
"Feh, it doesn't really matter, let's go!"
He pulled her by the hand, rushing her inside.
"But-! It can be dangerous, Natsu!"
He wasn't listening, though, and as soon as he crossed the door which held the inscriptions he let go of her hand. His body began to shake and his eyes turned red.
"Natsu? What's going on?"
She tried to go back, but the heavy door closed and, as much as she tried, she couldn't re-open it.
"Natsu!"
Suddenly, he was applying his Dragon's Roar for no apparent reason, as if he needed to burn the whole room down.
"Natsu, stop it!" she screamed, but it was to no avail.
He couldn't hear her. She kept shouting but he ignored her.
She kneeled on the floor, bracing herself. A flame touched her and she screamed in pain.
"Lucy!" Erza's voice screamed while banging on the door.
"Erza!" she screamed back, trying to come closer to the sound. "Help us, please."
Once again the flames licked her skin. She screamed louder than the first time. The pain was becoming too unbearable. She had no idea how much longer she would be able to take it. She tried to reach Horologium's key, but then she remembered that was dragon's fire. The clock would never survive such probation and she couldn't put her friend in such a position.
"Natsu..." she cried in a low voice. "Natsu, come on."
She knew it wasn't his fault, but... If only he could wake up from the trance...
"Let me see her!" Lucy heard Natsu's voice shout on the lower floor.
"You're not going up there until we figure out what happened to you at the castle." Erza's tone was as serious as they ever heard.
"You can't mean it! You know I would never hurt her on purpose! Let me see her, please!"
Lucy was once more on the verge of tears. It wasn't his fault. It was hers. She knew those symbols had to mean something, especially on a place like that. But she let him get inside. She should had insisted some more.
"Le-Levy-chan..." she called.
"Yes, Lu-chan?"
"Tell Erza... To let him come."
Levy frowned.
"Are you sure? I mean, we know he would never purposefully harm you, but we don't know what happened there."
"You can find out. It was some strange letters. If you get to the castle, you can find out. He is fine inside the guild. I'm not making that up, I promise."
Nodding, Levy got up from her chair.
Not much time passed until he appeared on the door. His eyes were scared, she could clearly see it, but what shocked the most were the watery corners. Was Natsu... crying? Slowly and carefully, he approached her bed and kneeled beside it.
"I am so, so, so sorry, Luce."
She could hear the tears on his voice and it broke her heart. Natsu was not a boy made to tears. He was made to grins and loud laughs.
"It was not your fault, Natsu."
"Of course it was!" he was nervous but managed not to raise his voice. "It was my fire. My fire burned you, Lucy. I... I always thought it couldn't hurt you, I swear. You are... I mean, I..."
Lucy tried to chuckle, but it hurt so much her grin was replaced by a pain grimace.
"I love you too, Natsu. It wasn't your fault."
"It was not supposed to hurt you, Luce. It was supposed to protect you. Always."
"It was a spell, don't worry about it."
"Erza told me Wendy wasn't able to heal you."
"She is devastated, the poor girl. She is blaming herself for not being as strong as you."
Natsu was shaking. Of fear, of rage, of guilt. Looking at her... Made him want to kill himself. How could he had done that to her? He promised he would protect her forever, not hurt her to no end.
"Lucy... there is something I can do." He started, unsure.
She tried to raise an eyebrow at him, but she felt her skin pull in a very strange manner, so she decided to just look at him and hoped her eyes were enough to tell him she didn't understand what he meant.
"Gajeel done it to Levy, you know. His iron can't hurt her anymore."
"Oh."
What he was suggesting... It was a big step. Levy had told her about it. The Dragon Slayer's mark. A Dragon Slayer could only mark one person, and that person would be his or her companion for a life time – bounded together forever.
"Are you sure, Natsu?"
At this point, he was already crying freely.
"It shouldn't be like this, but you need this now."
Lucy was nervous. She could hear her heart pounding in her chest. She loved him. She had loved him since the very first day they met, even though she wasn't aware of it. There was nothing in the world she could want more than be with him forever, however...
"If it's just to save me, Natsu... Don't do it."
Since she met Lisanna, after the Edolas issue, she thought she was the one he loved. The sweet Lisanna, the girl that helped him raise Happy, his childhood best friend. How could she compete with someone like Lisanna? She never tried.
"Are you out of your mind?" Natsu had already reached his edge. He couldn't bear see her like that. "Who else would I want to be with, you weirdo?"
Lucy just cried and nodded shortly.
Feeling relieved, Natsu delicately kissed her lips. She answered softly, afraid to make too sudden moves and be in even more unbearable pain. Letting go of her lips, he traced a line of soft kissed trough her cheeks and down her neck.
"This might hurt a little." He warned.
She felt like puffing. Whatever he was about to do, it couldn't be worse than the pain she was already feeling.
"It doesn't matter, Natsu." She managed to answer.
He sank his teeth on her neck, deep enough to draw some blood. She barely felt it, since she was already in so much pain. Immediately, she felt like the fire that had burned her was inside her body, burning her from the inside. She thought that was supposed to hurt, but it didn't. It actually felt... nice. It was warm and cosy. It really felt just like home. The fire spread to her arms, her belly, her legs, and when it reached her toes, the feeling disappeared as if had never existed.
The pain, however, disappeared along with the fire. Raising her hands, she saw it wasn't burned anymore. Nor were her arms, or her legs. She was healed, completely. That wasn't a single burn mark in her entire body.
Her brown eyes inundated with tears.
"Thank you, Natsu."
She jumped to hug him tightly.
"I'm sorry it had to be like that." He said, wiping his tears away from his eyes. "I love you, Lucy. Stay with me forever."
Laughing, she looked at him.
"It's not like I have much choice now."
His laugh echoed hers.
"I love you too, Natsu."
Smiling, he hugged her even more tightly. He would never be able to hurt her again. Even if another spell caught him, his fire was now a part of her, so it was unable to even bruise her. For now on, they were one, and there wasn't a single spell on Earthland that could change that.