Chapter III

His chest hurt. It felt like someone had dropped an elephant on top of him. There was a buzzing in his head and he knew if he opened his eyes that the earth would be spinning rapidly. The thought of the movement made him even queasier than before.

"Natsu?" He heard Happy's worried voice. He let out a groan to let him know that he was still alive. He'd obviously been hit in the head by the beast they were fighting and this was some sort of sick and twisted dream his mind had conjured up. Lucy could not physically be here. He had witnessed her death. Images of her bloodied and bruised laying on the cold hard ground flashed through his mind. He screamed inwardly as the nightmares closed in.

"Is he alright?" He heard the imaginary Lucy ask. Natsu turned his head slowly towards where the sound was coming from keeping his eyes closed. As much torture as this was causing him he also didn't want to lose her again and he would stay in this world where an imaginary Lucy existed for as long as he could. Her voice floated around in his head like a sweet bird melody. Natsu…the song bird sang over and over again.

"I'm sure he's just in shock." Erza's voice came unevenly.

"Oh." Was all the imaginary Lucy said, Natsu could hear fidgety shuffling feet.

"Alright Natsu come on and get up. We need answers and I doubt we'll get them with you still being asleep." Gray told him as he kicked the dragon slayers side. Natsu curled himself into a ball refusing to open his eyes. He watched the Lucy in his mind walk across a field of Magnolia flowers. She wore a white billowing dress that danced behind her in the wind. The sun cast a halo around her body. She looked like an angel. He wanted to stay here where she was. He wanted to never return to the world that she no longer occupied. Natsu pulled in on himself tighter.

"Erza," Gray said turning towards the red headed woman with a worried expression. Natsu hadn't been this bad since just after the accident. He was retreating into himself. He was going into his own world where Lucy still existed. Natsu was still somewhat functional in his day to day life. He went on jobs, he ate (though it was very little), and he could even hold an actual conversation on a good day. This was a vast improvement on what he had been after they had lost her. Natsu spent his days in the corner where they had found him earlier that day. He was unresponsive and would keep his eyes shut humming to himself. He would close in on himself. Once he told them that this was the only way he could be near Lucy again. He told them that in this world that he created Lucy was still alive and happy. He could hear her laugh and yell at him all he wanted in this world that he created. Erza looked to Gray, both realized that he may be in this world now.

"Okay Gray you take this Lucy back to where we killed the monster she was fighting and start with clean up. I will get Natsu to come out and we will meet you back there." Erza said to the two.

"Maybe I should just go back." Lucy told them taking a step away.

"You're not going anywhere without an explanation." Gray told her grabbing her arm lightly but firmly to lead her back through the forest. Lucy made note of the lack of trust.

It took a couple of hours but Erza was finally able to get Natsu to come out of his state. He sat up slowly swaying on the spot clutching his chest. He lifted his heavy lids and looked around. The night had grown lighter meaning sunrise wasn't far away. He stood shakily and turned towards the forest. There was a billow of smoke rising from the tree tops like a beacon. He took one step towards the forest, then another, and another before he finally broke out into a run. Erza followed behind with Happy. Natsu didn't stop until he reached the spot where the fire was coming from. He could see chunks of the beast they had fought fueling the flames. He saw Gray sitting next to the small creek next to a blonde haired woman. Natsu froze again. She turned her head slightly and he could see the curve of her cheeks and her soft eye lashes when she blinked. Her eyes weren't as bright as he remembered and this Lucy had heavy dark circles under her eyes similar to the ones he had. When the two mages realized that Natsu was standing there they both quickly jumped up to face him. Natsu took a step towards them and Lucy took a slight step back. Pain and fear were prominent in her eyes along with hope and love.

"Lucy?" Natsu questioned taking another step forward.

"Natsu, let me explain." she responded not taking another step back. When he realized that she hadn't retreated again he ran for her. He was within reach in two long strides. He wrapped his muscular strong arms around her tin frame. Sobs wracked both of their bodies as they fell to their knees. Natsu kissed the top of her head and buried his face in her hair. Lucy held on to him tightly.

"Where were you?" Natsu cried into the crook of her neck. Lucy let out a long sigh.

"It's difficult to explain." She said untangling herself from Natsu. She told the group to sit while she gathered her thoughts trying to figure out the best way to explain who she was.

"This is going to be long and complicated." She started with. "I am Lucy Heartfillia, but I am not your Lucy Heartfillia." She told them. Natsu's hands flamed up in anger and Lucy's did in defense.

"Calm down you two." Erza said moving in front of them. "Explain." She demanded of Lucy.

"Alright, let me finish though before you start throwing fire okay?" She said looking towards Natsu who had moved several feet away from her. "I am from a land called Kairos. It is a land that is parallel to your universe. All across my land there are portals." Lucy took a pause before she continued. "These portals lead to all other universes. There are rules however. We cannot travel to a universe where our parallel exist. This means either our doppelganger never existed, has not been born, or has passed. I assume of this world it is the latter." Erza and Gray nodded at her assumption but said nothing. "This is actually the first time I've gone to a world where all of you know Lucy." She informed them thoughtfully. "Usually I never existed or haven't been born yet. From what I've gathered though all universes are basically the same but with slight differences. For example this is the only universe that I've been able to go to that has you Natsu." She said softly and slowly lowering her eyes.

"What do you mean?" Happy asked her curiously.

"This is the only world that I've been able to find where Natsu exist without me." She told them not lifting her head. "Trust me I've tried."

"Not you." Natsu said with venom. "Her, I exist without her." He finished. Lucy didn't respond.

"So are the four of us not in your world?" Erza questioned.

"Actually all of us are really great friends." Lucy said looking up at Erza with a grand smile. Natsu's heart throbbed. This wasn't his Lucy but she looked exactly the same, right down to the smile. "You three actually helped me out a lot." She told them looking at Erza, Gray, and Happy.

"So what happened to your Natsu then?" Happy asked leaning forward. Lucy bit her lip as tears began to form in her eyes. She blinked them back several times before taking a deep breath.

"He died," She told them. "About a year ago." Happy flew over to sit in the young woman's lap to offer some sort of comfort. She wrapped her arms around him lightly.

"That's around the time we lost our Lucy." Gray told the woman. She nodded not saying a word.

"How did it happen?" Happy asked.

"Happy she doesn't seem to want to talk about it." Erza told him with a scowl. Natsu stared at the Lucy in front of him. Her body seemed to glow slightly from the fire within her. He noticed a single tear begin to drip down her left cheek as she clutched her fist together digging her nails in. Natsu knew what she was doing. He'd done it many times before. The pain reminded you that you were still alive. He smelled the iron in her blood as she created the puncher wounds on her palms. He could see the guilt and fear in her eyes.

"He did a full magical transference didn't he?" Natsu asked her. She lifted her eyes to his face but did not look him directly in the eye. He could see more tears threaten to take over and leave flooded rivers down her pale skin.

"He did." She confirmed trying to keep her shaky voice calm and regal but failing.

"I tried to do the same thing." Natsu said quietly after a long pause.

"Luckily we were able to stop him before he could complete it." Erza told Lucy

"Good." Lucy said simply. Natsu continued to look at her. She meant something much more in that simple word but he wasn't sure what it was.

"So is that why you have dragon slayer magic?" Happy asked hovering in the air in front of her. Lucy nodded her head.

"When you say this is the only world you have found that consist of a Natsu that exist without you I assume that means you went looking for him." Gray asked

"At first I did." She confirmed. "But as time went on I became less desperate to find him and became angry. Because even if I were to find him he is not my Natsu just as I am not his Lucy." She said firmly. She risked a glance at Natsu who narrowed his eyes at her to confirm her statement. Erza picked up on the fact that she did not want to speak on the subject anymore.

"How did you end up here fighting that giant beast?" Erza asked her.

"Oh, well you see we, me, my Erza, my Gray, and my Happy were in the midst of a battle with the creature on top of a mountain. I was being reckless and tried to take it on myself. There was a loud explosion and the beast and I went toppling over the edge and into a portal and we ended up here." Lucy said.

"An explosion?" Erza questioned.

"Yup, right as we fell in…" Lucy said trailing off at the end. Suddenly she jumped to her feet and took off down the path of destruction.

"Why the hell is everyone taking off without announcing it today?" Gray complained as the group got to their feet and took off after Lucy. Everyone except Natsu. He stood slowly his body shaking. He wanted so badly to reach out and embrace her. He wanted to kiss her soft lips and to run his fingers through her silken golden hair. His heart was racing still as he went through the list of all of the things he wanted to do. She was right though. She was not his Lucy. He did not know this woman who stole his Lucy's face. Natsu turned and angrily punched the tree nearest him. He turned to follow the others up the path of destruction. When he finally caught up to them the group was walking into a small clearing at the base of a small mountain outside of the town.

"What are we doing?" Happy asked flying around Lucy. Natsu watched as Lucy began to look panicked. He could hear her heart racing with his heightened hearing and could tell she was scared. His heart throbbed again and he involuntarily took a step towards her. She ended her frantic pacing once she saw him. She looked into his dark onyx eyes. These were the same eyes that she loved so much. Her breath hitched in her throat and Natsu took a step back not taking his eyes off of her. He could see then pain, confusion, and panic in them. He wanted to comfort her. He wanted to pull her to him and never let go, but this wasn't his Lucy. This was another Lucy from a land he'd never heard of. He would happy to see her go.

"Lucy, what's wrong?" Erza asked pulling her out of her dream like state. She walked up to the base of the mountain and began searching.

"You want to tell us what you're looking for?" Gray asked walking up beside her. Her shoulders slumped as she turned to face the group. She lifted her eyes to look at the familiar faces in front of her. When she got to Natsu she lowered them again.

"The portal." She said to a rock that had grabbed her attention. "The portal is gone, I can't get home." She told them falling to her knees, the fight draining out of her.

Okay so this chapter didn't fully play out how I was planning but it will benefit the next chapter. I want to thank everyone who took the time to comment. It really is good to get some feedback. Like I said last time I'm not entirely sure where this story is going so tag along to see what happens. Thank you all so much for your time.

Goodnight and good luck.