A/N: it's that time again... Day two, Vulnerable, for NaLu week. Enjoy!

Her hand loosely gripped a tree, using her speed to propel her around it for a sharp turn. The bark shredded at the soft skin of her hands, and her leg was cut by a pricker vine that had crept up the tree. But she would not stop here over these scrapes and cuts, because she knew that he wouldn't stop if he found something this important to her.

She knew the surrounding area well enough to know there was a short path through the woods that would take her to the next town, instead of going back and taking a train. She almost regretted it, but she saved nearly half an hour by going this way.

Lucy Heartfilia must have looked like hell, if she could go by the looks of passerby as indicators. Twigs in her hair, her face was blotchy and red from getting smacked by errant tree limbs. Panting heavily, she took a look around as she clutched a small piece of charred paper in her hands. The train had to be close, she could faintly remember the layout of the town.

She had to get back to Magnolia. She had to find Natsu right away.

"Lucy said she went to visit her mother's grave. She said she would be a few days."

Natsu slumped in his seat, his vigor drained by the news of his partner being out of town. Happy touched down on the counter of the bar and sighed unhappily before plopping down and grabbing the cup of juice Mira gave to him. She smiled reassuringly at Natsu and he returned the gesture, glancing over his shoulder to the request board. Should he pick up a mission while Lucy was gone? Maybe if there was a good one he would. Strolling over, he scanned the missions to find that they were the same as they were every single time he checked for the past month.

He groaned in anguish. Why was there nothing to do without Lucy around? He trudged back to his stool and sat down, laying his head on the counter. His eyes were soulless as they looked at the closed doors of the guild, hoping that maybe-

Lucy walked in -more like kicked down the doors- and looked desperately for her pink-haired teammate. He watched her eyes land on his form and brighten considerable as she made a beeline for him.

"Luce! I'm so glad you're back, let's do a mi- what's this?" in the middle of him getting up and talking, she shoved a piece of paper into his hands. It was hot and crumpled from her grip, a little damp from the sweat. He took in her appearence more fully now, not understanding. She was panting and a little scratched up, but her attention seemed to be on the scrap of paper in his confused grasp.

He got a whiff of soot. Something about it brought him to his senses and made him really look at it.

It was vellum, an odd substance to come across. The edges were burned and his eyes swore they saw one last hint of an ember. He quickly brought it to his lips, tasting the flame for himself. His eyes immediately flew to Lucy's face, and he grabbed her hand. The guild was gathered around them now, wondering about this strange paper.

"This tastes like... Igneel's flame."

Lucy's face was awash with relief, a sigh escaping from her dusty lips. She must have ran through a forest to accumulate that must dust and debris in her hair. Natsu clutched the paper harder and left the guild.

"Well, uh... That was unexpected."

They all slowly dispersed from the bar area, though Mirajane seemed just as concerned as Lucy. Natsu wouldn't just leave quietly after finding something of Igneel's; he would be raring to go. He would have run out with nothing but flame and smoke behind him. Mira and Lucy met eyes for a split second, and soon Lucy was on his trail.

It was probably about 1PM when I left to look for Natsu, and it had turned dark around five hours ago, and it gets dark at about 6PM Lucy was in a tizzy. She had lost count of the hours, she was cold, and she still hadn't found her best friend. Maybe he had gone to look for Igneel, afterall?

With a defeated sigh she walked the familiar way home and unlocked her door. A nice, hot bath would soothe her worried nerves and she would get up early and make sure everything would be ok. Lucy's shriek would have been heard by the neighboring towns if Natsu's hand hadn't clapped down over it, and she pushed it away with irritation.

"You've been hiding here all day? I've been looking for you for hours!"

"Yeah, Luce, I know-"

"You know!? You watched me look for you and you didn't think maybe I wanted to know if you were ok! Sheesh, Natsu, you really are trying to kill me."

The exasperated look he gave her shone through in the darkness of her house, and she flipped on the switch a little to her left.

He didn't look much better than she did. He looked like he had been crying the entire time, if she didn't know any better. Her bed was a mess, and it looked like he might have been trying to sleep. The piece of paper was nowhere in sight, but there looked like there might be something akin to a pile of ash beside her bed on the floor...

Looking between him and the ashes, Lucy was furious when she figured out what had transpired.

"You idiot, did you burn that paper? I went through a lot of trouble to get that - and it's information on Igneel! Why would you burn it! Don't you want to find your dad?"

"No."

"I can't believe you messed up, now we have no leads- what?" Her eyes were wide as she looked at Natsu, who almost seemed to hold himself back from giving her more of an answer.

"Natsu, you can't be serious? You don't want to find Igneel?"

He was quiet as he walked passed her and began to open the door to leave. He didn't want to talk about this, of all things, to someone who was just trying to help him out. He felt her grab his arm, making him stop. He turned to look at her and waited for whatever she had to say so he could just leave.

"Don't go. I just can't understand what's going on."

"You don't need to understand. Can we, can we just not talk about this?"

"Natsu, I'm your friend and you know I'm here for you, but we have to talk about this. Something is obviously not-"

He jerked away from her and for the first time, he felt angry with her. Why couldn't she understand that he didn't want to go into this? He couldn't just explain how he felt, because he didn't really understand it himself. He was scared of all of these emotions inside of him - how would Igneel feel about seeing him after so long? Would he be proud?

Or would he be disappointed? Would Igneel regret taking him in and teaching him all he could? Did Igneel regret him? The thought caused a shudder to go through Natsu and, with a determined light in her eyes, Lucy reached out and pulled him back into her apartment and told him to sit down. She handed him a tissue and he looked at her with more bewilderment in his eyes.

"You're crying," she wasn't looking at him and her voice was soft, but Natsu hurriedly wiped away his tears and cleared his throat. He didn't want anyone to see him like this. Lucy opened her mouth again, wanting to say something else, but he held up his hand.

"Luce, I don't know if I can explain it to you... But I don't think I'm ready to face Igneel yet."

Lucy was stunned - the statement had already sunk in, but his tone had not. It was gentle, almost a whisper. Like he was going to be afraid of her reaction, that she would freak out. After all, Natsu had made her and everyone else think he wanted nothing more than to see his father at all times.

Lucy knew it wasn't like Natsu to be scared of facing the man he looked up to - but she could almost make sense of it in her head. She knew Natsu, and she knew he was just as proud as any dragon would be. Her hand reached across the table and her hands took one of his. They sat there for a few minutes before either of them figured out what to say.

"Well, you didn't have to destroy the paper that told you where he was for when you ARE ready..." he looked at her, and there was a smile on her tired face. He remembered she went to visit her mom and she must have run almost all the way back to the guild. He rubbed the back of his head sheepishly, almost regretting for burning the piece of paper.

"None of us will be mad if you don't want to go for it. But we're here for when you're ready, ok?"

"Yeah... Thanks, Luce." Natsu turned his hand over in hers and gave it a squeeze before smiling brightly. She smiled wider and it lit up her face in the dim light. She was happy to see that he was back and his confidence was as well.

"Now, can you get the hell out so I can go to bed?"