The Cliffhanger ch.2
Lost
A/N: Originally, I was going to leave the story on the cliffhanger, but I got a lot of requests to continue the story! Yay! I'm glad you guy's liked it! :D So I'm doing my best to finish this story within this month, because I have another idea for a Nalu fanfic (It's a Halloween one!) I hope you guy's enjoy this second chapter, I'm definitely considering in continuing this story especially with the ending I gave. Thanks again for the feedback and the great reviews! Till next time! :D
Rated: T
Summary: Now driven with his emotions, Natsu takes on Rowan to avenge Lucy. However, the fire mage can't power through his thoughts on if his partner is alive or dead.
Recap: The tension immediately grew between them. Natsu and Lucy knew what had to be said now, and it had to be at this moment. His heart pounded tremendously as he prepared the words he was about to say. Natsu gripped tightly to Lucy's delicate hand. The hand that held her emblem mark.
"Lucy…" Natsu lightly said, the two still dangled over the cliff as Rowan stood above them. "Lucy, I-"
"EARTH SHATTER GROUND!"
And with that, Rowan smashed his foot on the remaining terrain causing the ground to shake once more. Natsu could feel the warmth of the hand that held Lucy disappear. The struggling weight that motivated him to hang on was now gone. "No…it can't be…"
He looked down beneath him only to see that she was nowhere in sight.
"LUCY!"
Chapter two
Lost
"L-Lucy…"
The fire mage let out a loud cry as he let the tears fall from his eyes. "LUCY!" Natsu screamed, "COME BACK! PLEASE!"
From above him, the earth-shatter mage cackled over Salamander's loss. "Oh no!" Rowan teased, "Did lil Salamander lose his girlfriend?"
Natsu clenched his jaw and tightened his fist. His veins popped with every heated thought he had against his opponent. He killed Lucy. He made her fall to her death. If it wasn't for his stubborn thoughts of bringing 'Justice', Lucy would be alive right now. But, she wasn't…and for that, he had to pay.
The Dragonslayer powered all his strength to lifting himself back up. "I'll kill you." He muttered under his breath. Natsu's eyes were rosy from the tears he shed, but his eyebrows furrowed and his jaw clenched. His facial expression was nothing Rowan had ever seen before. Clearly, he could see that Natsu was beyond pissed off, but some sort of darkness entity waltzed with the dragonslayer.
Natsu slowly began to close the distance the two wizards had between them. Flames erupted under the fire mage's feet and fists. Rowan nervously chuckled over his opponent's power. "Up for more, Dragonslayer?—"
"Shut up." Natsu sharply interrupted. His voice was ice-cracking and it made Rowan's spine stiffen. The earth mage tightened at his words, but did everything he could to show no fear. "You forced the one I love to fall to slip from my hands…for that, you will pay."
Rowan gave a sly smile at his opponent, Natsu had a weakness and now he was going to use it against him. "She deserved it." He blurted, "She was a spoiled brat who didn't share her fortune, for that, justice needed to be served."
Natsu's eyes widened. "JUSTICE?!" He raised his voice, "YOU CALL THAT JUSTICE?! You sent an innocent girl to her death and you call that Justice?!"
Rowan simply laughed over the fire mage's loss. He didn't care what he did, or whose life it cost. The man was a stubborn fool who would only see his way.
"I'll burn your justice to a crisp." Natsu screamed as he began to strike at his enemy, "FOR LUCY'S SAKE!"
He grunted as he attacked the earth mage, punching him to the ground. Rowan, in turn, began to throw and hurtling boulders to towards the dragonslayer, but Natsu punched right through them without any expression of pain.
"You talk about avenging those who are unfortunate, but kill the others who are innocent!" Natsu growled, "That's not Justice, its sick!"
Rowan scoffed at his opponent's assumptions. "How would you know, Salamander?! Have you ever seen the faces of those who are homeless? Have you ever scrounged around for food? Have you?!"
With that, the earth-shatter mage shattered the ground below Natsu, causing him to slip once more. However, Natsu got back on his feet and began to attack his enemy. "I have been in that situation, and it sucks, but I'd rather be on the streets than see a whole village in ruble because of some asshole's opinion on justice!"
Natsu punched the earth-mage up in the air and kicked him back to the ground. The dust around them flew up in the air as Rowan laid limp on the ground. The earth wizard let out a cry as he smashed into the ground. He could feel his body ache and burn up from Natus's attacks. "This…this is the power of a dragonslayer?" he thought to himself. He had heard many things about the dragonslayer, but he never thought he would see him as powerful as this. "N-No…this is the power of someone driven by feelings. The power of someone who lost something dear to them."
Rowan tried getting back up, but Natsu slammed his back down, causing the earth-mage to knock out. His mouth hung open as his body laid there limp.
"From ash to ash, from dust to dust."
His task was done, he defeated the Earth shatter wizard for Lucy. He would no longer bring fear to towns and villages and crush them to the ground. His lesson had been learned.
Natsu's heart began to beat fast as he thought of his partner again. "Lucy…" he gasped, "LUCY!"
Imminently he ran through the trail that led him to the bottom of the cliff. He fought back tears as he sprinted through the forest. "Please be alive," Natsu begged, "Please be alive…" He had seen Lucy dead before and he couldn't bear to see her like that ever again. However, he had to see if she there was any chance of her being alive. As he dashed through the trail, Natsu prepared himself to see Lucy laying on the ground, but he didn't prepare himself to run into a soft pink fluffy cloud. "What the –". The fire mage tried lifting his feet from the sticky suffocating pink cloud but couldn't break free. "I don't have time for this! I have to find Lucy!" he yelled out of frustration.
"NATSU!" the dragonslayer heard a familiar voice call to him.
"Who's there?!"
He searched all around him but couldn't see where the disembodied voice was coming from. The voice was soft and light, but still continued calling his name.
"It's Aries!"
"Aries?" he puzzled
Suddenly, the pink cloud dispersed from him and he could see again. From several feet away, Natsu could see the celestial spirit, nervously shaking. She looked traumatized and stricken with fear. "She has to know where Lucy is." He thought to himself.
Natsu cupped his hands and yelled at her. "Where's Lucy?!"
The celestial spirit looked down as tears began to fall from her face. "She behind me…" she sniffled
Natsu quickly ran over to her side only to see Lucy laying on the ground. As he kneeled to his partner's side, he could see Lucy wasn't okay. She was cut up and severely bruised. Her body laid limp as Natsu brought her body closer to him. Tears began to pool in his eyes again. "L-Lucy…" he cracked, "I-I'm so sorry….This is all my fault…"
Aries knelt beside the dragonslayer and put a gentle hand on his shoulder. "I summoned myself at the last second…" she whispered to him. She looked down at her summoner and felt an ache in her chest. "I managed to use a quick spell to break her fall, but I fear that she fell to hard…"
"You did what you could…"Natsu reassured the spirit. He hadn't checked for a heartbeat, so he nestled his ear along her chest. He listened intensely as he heard a very subtle thump.
"SHE'S ALIVE!" Natsu beamed. He could feel the heavy weight leave from his shoulders as he thanked the heavens for Lucy's safety. "She's alright…she'll get to live."
"She's not out of the woods just yet…" Another voice appeared from behind. Natsu and Aries spun around to see Loke walk towards them. "She's alive, but if we don't get her any medical treatment right away, she could lose her life."
The ache returned back to Natsu's chest. He had just danced in joy that his partner was still alive, and now Loke was telling him there might be a chance she could die? "No…" he muttered, "I won't let that happen."
The fire mage scooped up the blonde and held her bridal style. "We'll go to see Porlyusica, she can help us."
The two spirts nodded in agreement. "Right." Loke agreed, "We need to leave now, let's go."
With that, the three of them sprinted to Porlyusica's home.
The elderly mage was sipping on her warm tea as she read the headlines of today's paper.
"EARTH-SHATTER MAGE STRIKES AGAIN!" it read. Porlyusica shook her head. "Such a disappointment." She mumbled as she sipped her tea. The young generation we're so impulsive with their motives. They never once thought about the outcomes or charges they could face. "Fairytail will take care of him, I'm sure."
She sipped on her tea once more, just before her door swung open.
"PORLYUSICA!" Natsu exclaimed as he barged through the door. Loke and Aries followed right behind him, as the approached the elderly mage.
"What's this?" She said now annoyed. "You can't just barge into my home and -."
"W-We need your help." The fire mage panted as he exposed Lucy to her. Porlyusica could immediately tell the girl was in bad shape. She could even tell with the way her spirits looked so tiresome.
"She's only got so much time…" Natsu grit his teeth as thought of those words. "We can't lose her again…Please help us."
"Natsu," Porlyusica calmly said. "I don't know if –"
"Please!" he begged. He bowed his head, exposing the back of his spikey pink hair. "I'll give you everything I have, Just please…please save Lucy…"
The medical mage now swayed by his gestures and emotions motioned the dragonslayer to step aside. "I'll need you to put her on that bed and leave." She ordered.
"I won't leave her." Natsu protested against her demands.
"I need room to work, Now do you want me to save her or not?"
Natsu furrowed his brows and swallowed his pride for a bit. "Alright."
He steadily put Lucy on the bed and tucked a blonde strand behind her ear. "I'll be right outside Lucy, Just keep fighting."
The elderly woman ushered the three outside and insisted for them to wait there. "I'll be back to inform you what's wrong."
"How long is that going to take?" Loke questioned
"Three hours…if not more."
"I'll go and get the others from the guild," The lion spirt said, "They deserve to know what's going on."
"Right." Natsu agreed.
"Aries, c'mon, we've got to head to fairytail."
The timid spirit nodded her head and left with her partner. Now alone, Natsu slumped his back over on the tree that made Porlyusica's house. He ran his fingers though his pink hair until a fractured pain stung his left hand.
"OW!"
He immedeintly scanned his hand and remembered the injuries he obtained during his fight with Rowan. He observed the rest of his body now seeing scratch marks and purple bruises. Natsu was pretty beat up, but nothing compared to the way Lucy looked.
"Lucy…" he mumbled under his breath
He slid his back down the tree until he felt the earthy dirt once more. "She'll be okay…She's in good hands." He tried to repeat to himself. The calming words let his eyelids close and have him wander to sleep.
"Lucy…"
"NATSU!"
The pinkette woke up to the sound of a familiar light voice. He found himself looking upon pink wallpaper and being covered by a warm fluffy blanket.
"C'mon Natsu, we're going to be late." The fire mage felt a gentle hand shake his shoulder. The voice was light and fun, just like his partners. The room he was in reminded him so much of her apartment's as well.
"L-Lucy? Is that you?" he said, now getting up.
"Duh, who else could it be?"
"B-But you're…"
"…late for the rainbow blossom festival? I know Natsu, that's what happens when you decide to sleep in."
"I didn't—"
The blonde tossed the dragonslayer his clothes and ordered him to get dressed. "Lunch is on the table, I'll meet you at the park!"
"Lucy, wait!" he yelled just before he heard the door close. "What's going on?" he muttered. Now, confused more than ever, he dressed in his clothes and made his way to the kitchen.
There, his blue exceed greeted him with a grin and raw fish on a plate.
"I left some fish for yah." Happy smiled, "I ate the sandwich Lucy left you, but you can have the fish!"
Natsu nodded his head and sat in front of his furry pal. "Happy, why are we in Lucy's apartment?" he questioned, still confused.
Happy raised his little furry brow at his friend. "We live here, don't you remember?"
Natsu shook his head, "No, I can't remember a thing…the last thing I remember was Lucy at Porlyusica's…"
Happy snorted at the fire mage's words. "She hasn't gone there since Wendy picked up those spells she gave her."
"You mean, she never fell and got hurt?"
"Well, there was that one time you tripped her on purpose, but that was it."
Natsu slumped back on his chair and folded his arms. "Huh…"
"Something wrong, Natsu?"
The dragonslayer shook his head. "No, just weird."
The blue exceed merely laughed, "Weird that we live here? Or weird that you're acting strange?"
"How long have we lived here?" The pink-haired mage asked
"Since you and Lucy started going out." Happy snickered, "You two reaaallllyy love each other."
"We're going out?!" Natsu yelled, with eyes wide open. His jaw hung from his face as he sat there in utter shock. "I finally asked her out?" he mumbled to himself. He kept his thoughts about Lucy to himself for a long time, but never did he think he would actually tell her.
"You guys have been going out for months." Happy informed his friend. "Once Erza and Jellal got hitched, everyone started dating each other."
"Oh yeah? What about you and Charla"?
The exceed stopped his nibbling on the raw fish and blushed. "You don't remember me telling you we're expecting kittens?"
"KITTENS?!"
The blue exceeded merely nodded his head. "Jeez Natsu, it's like you've been in a whole other world."
"Maybe I have…" the fire mage muttered
Natsu looked upon his furry friend, still trying to figure everything out. Lucy and him were going out, Jellal and Erza were married, and now Happy and Charla were having kittens. The dragonslayer let out a big exhale before he slumped back on his chair. "As long as Lucy was safe," he thought to himself, "That's all that matters."
"Natsu, I hate to break it to you, but you're going to be late for the festival." Happy chirped, "If you don't go now, Lucy is going to get mad!"
The fire mage sprung back up, "You're right!" he jumped to his feet frantically, "I've got to go! I'll see you in a bit, Happy!"
He saw her there waiting in front of the grand rainbow tree. Her blonde hair waved with the wind as her purple skirt swayed with it. She looked breath-taking. Like a beautiful paining in real life. Her eyebrows furrowed and lips curved to a subtle smile. She was lost in thought, perhaps maybe of a memory.
"Hey there, Luce." Natsu approached his newly-found out girlfriend.
"Natsu!" the blonde spun around and gave a small embrace. "I didn't think you'd make it!"
"Me? Not make it? There has never been a year where I didn't make it to this festival."
Lucy looked up at him with a raised eyebrow.
"Well, except Tenerou Island." He corrected
"Much better."
The fire mage wrapped his arms behind Lucy's waist and nestled his chin on top of her head. It felt odd that they we're finally together, but it felt right. Natsu waited for this moment. A chance for them to finally be together. Of course, there was no time for a romantic relationship, considering the countless battles they faced, but now here they were finally settling.
"Remember when you brought me this tree?" Lucy quietly said aloud. Natsu simply smiled as he recalled his actions from years ago. "Yepp, I remember. I got my ass chewed out by Gramps, but it was all worth it."
Lucy chuckled at the memory. "You really loved seeing me smile, didn't you?"
The dragonslayer hugged her tighter, "Still do."
Finally Lucy spun around to face her boyfriend. She remembered feeling a bit timid about the two getting together, but ever since the year they were apart, she never wanted to leave his side. Now that they're together, she felt safe and comfortable with him.
"Natsu…"
"Yeah, Lucy?"
The blonde's face flushed pink as she tried to come up with the words.
"I-I lov—"
"NATSU WAKE UP!"
A ponding voice shouted above him making Natsu snap out of his dream. "What the hell?!" he yelled to whoever, "I was sleeping."
"It's us, you idiot." The voice came from above him. He looked up only to see Gray, Erza, Wendy, Happy, and Charla.
"What were you dreaming about eh, Natsu?" Happy teased, "You had your lips puckered."
"Knock it off, Happy." Erza scolded, "We have other matters to discuss, Natsu…what happened to Lucy?"
Salamander's body stiffened at the question. He felt as if his body turned into heavy lead and didn't even want to go into explaining.
"Grandina needs to know too." Wendy chirped in, "For Lucy's sake."
Natsu gulped as he prepared to tell the team what had happened. "We we're fighting against Rowan when suddenly he had us hanging on the edge of a cliff." He choked out, "I was holding onto Lucy when suddenly Rowan smashed the ground, and the next thing I know, she was gone."
Erza could see his Onyx eyes turn glassy. He had seen so much in one day, and she didn't want to further any more questions. The scarlet haired mage relaxed her face and mumbled, "I'm sorry." to her close friend.
When she turned to Gray, he looked almost as pissed as when Natsu was fighting Rowan. "That Bastard…" he grumbled out, "I swear, if Lucy doesn't make it out of this, that asshole is going to pay."
Erza briskly got up and turned to the ice-mage, "That's enough, Gray." She scolded, " What's done is done, I'm sure Natsu already took care of that menace…what we need to do now is wait for Lucy. We have to support her now."
Gray tch'd as he turned away from his comrade, she was right, Natsu probably beat the crap out of him, but still, he wanted to smash the guy who hurt Lucy.
Suddenly the four heard a creak of a door open. Natsu rose to his feet as they saw Porlyusica step outside, eyes tiresome.
"Is she okay?! How is she?!" Natsu immediately approached the wizard. The dragonslayer was itching to know what happened to his best friend and even more so if she was still alive.
The elderly mage shook her head and gave him sympathetic eyes. Natsu's heart dropped at her gestures. "S-She's gone?" he whimpered out
"She's in a coma right now," Porlyusica exhaled out, "She suffered a major head injury from her fall. I managed to get her heartbeat back to normal, however, I can't say when she'll be out of her coma."
"Can we see her?" chimed the little sky-dragonslayer
"You may, but only several at a time." She ordered. Natsu suggested the others go in first before him since he wanted to tell Porlyusica something.
As the others stepped inside, the elderly mage gave the dragonslayer her full attention. "What is it, boy?"
Natsu fiddled with his thumbs as he looked up at the old woman. "I-I just wanted to say thank you…" he quietly said, taking Porlyusica by surprise.
"You don't have to thank me," The woman said keeping her modesty, "besides, the look of passion you had for saving her, were the same eyes someone else had once for me."
Natsu raised a brow, "Really? Who?"
The elderly mage merely chuckled, "No one you know, c'mon now, your friend is waiting for you."
With that, Porlyusica escorted him inside her home. Potions and tissues covered with blood were all over the household. Lucy's blood. Natsu's stomach got tighter as he approached his partner bed. She was pale and deeply bruised from the fight, but she was breathing. His heart felt relieved as she saw her exhale.
"You can stay the night, but I don't want you making my house more into a mess." Porlyusica said from behind. "You're friends left a note saying they were going to camp out in the forest and we'll be back by sunrise."
Natsu gave the woman a gentle smile along with a thank you. He pulled up a chair and sat beside the blonde's bed. "I'm here Lucy, I'm not leaving you."
The elderly mage left the room giving the two some privacy. "To be young and in love…" she thought to herself.
As Lucy laid asleep in her bed, Natsu began to hold her hand. He stroked the warm ivory hand and began to recall the moment she got her emblem. Her cheerful voice haunted his mind as he remembered Lucy showing him her mark.
"I remember you we're so happy that day…" he whispered out, "I used to think you were kind and gentle…and kind of annoying, but a lot has changed, wouldn't you say Luce?"
"You've become so strong. You've become a fighter and you don't stick to the sidelines anymore. You've saved my ass more than countless times, and for that, I'm grateful….Lucy…You've got to make it out of this coma, for your friend's and spirits sake. We're missing you so much already. When you're ready, we'll all be right here waiting for yah."
Natsu brushed a strand behind her ear when suddenly he felt a strong grip from his hand.
"Lucy?!"
The blonde's eye fluttered open as she stared into the ceiling.
"Lucy! You're back!" Natsu grinned ear to ear. He quickly called for Porlyusica to which she came sprinting in. "You're awake, I'm so happy!"
Lucy slowly sat up from her bed, still dazed. The dragonslayer still clutched her hand, practically ready to give her a big hug. Finally Lucy looked over to the male holding her hand. When she realized he held onto her tightly she tried to break free, giving Natsu a cold look.
"Whoa, whoa, whoa. What's wrong? It's me, Natsu." He tried to calm her down.
"I don't know a Natsu, just who are you? And why we're you holding my hand?!"
Natsu's jaw dropped from utter shock. "No…she can't be…" he thought to himself.
"L-Lucy, d-do you know that you're a fairytail wizard?" he nervously asked.
The blonde raised a brow at him. "What's fairytail?"
So yeah, that's pretty much the second part. Sorry for a lot of fragment errors and grammatical mistakes. Natsu and Happy were a little out of character, but oh whale's….I hope you guys like and ill update as soon as I can on a next chapter! Thanks so much for the feedback! :D