Day 3: Tears

Warning: Slight Blood/Gore


From his spot next to Lucy at the table, Natsu tensed.

It didn't go unnoticed by the blonde, who immediately grew nervous. It was rare that good things came after Natsu sensed something.

"Something wrong, Natsu?" Lucy asked quietly.

"Someone's coming." Natsu responded gruffly. He narrowed his eyes, focusing in on his dragon senses. He sniffed the air quickly. "The hell are they doing here?"

Before Lucy could ask who 'they' were, the guild hall doors burst open. In the doorway stood Rufus Lore and Minerva Orland, from the Sabertooth guild. The two we're flushed, sweating and panting as their eye's scanned the room.

Mira rushed over, gently placing a hand on Minerva's back.

"Are you okay? You two look like you ran here all the way from Sabertooth!" Mira asked with a worried tone.

The mages ignored the question, as Rufus' eyes landed on Natsu and Lucy.

"Lucy," Rufus panted, "we need Lucy."

Immediately, Natsu was on his feet. He stared at Rufus, suspicion in his eyes.

"What do you want her for?" Natsu demanded.

"Natsu…" Lucy whispered nervously, gently grabbing his forearm, "calm down, they may need help." She ignored the way her heart leaped at his usual over-protectiveness, as she stepped out from the table, and approached Minerva and Rufus.

She practically felt Natsu standing behind her, ready to pull her away from any sign of danger.

"What can I help you with?" Lucy asked politely.

Minerva straightened herself out as she finally caught her breath.

"It's Yukino." She explained. "She's dying."

Lucy felt as if the walls were crashing down around her as Minerva's words sunk in. Panic rose in her chest, as various anxious thoughts fought for control.

Yukino's dying? She's my friend, she can't die. What will I do without her? She taught me so much about Celestial magic. We've been through so much together. They came all this way to tell me I'll never get to see her again?

"Luce? Lucy!" Natsu called, his warm hand grabbed her shoulder, effectively snapping her out of her thoughts.

Lucy placed her hand on top of Natsu's, needed his warmth to ground her.

"What happened?" Lucy whispered.

"Attack on our guild, Sting and Rogue were, still are, out on a mission, Yukino pushed herself too far. We don't really have time to explain." Minerva summarized.

"She's suffering from a severe level of magic deficiency, unlike anything we've ever seen." Rufus continued, "We believe you are the only one who can save her."

"I'll do it, what do you need?" Lucy replied instantly.

"Well, this is going to sound strange." Minerva sighed.

"We need your tears." Rufus finished.

"Her tears?" Natsu asked.

Minerva nodded. "We spoke to our healer, he said the only hope for Yukino is some sort of potion he can make, but it require the tears of a celestial spirit mage. And it's not like we can use Yukino's, because she's unconscious."

"Okay, kind of weird, but sure, I guess I can give you some of my tears. I'm not sure I can really cry on demand though." Lucy said.

"It's fine, that's why I'm here." Rufus explained, as he made his way to the bar. He pulled out a chair from the nearest table, and set it in front of the bar, facing the guild hall doors. "I'll need you to sit in this chair, and from there, with your permission of course, I'll use my magic to create vivid images that will make you cry. We will then collect the tears, and bring them back to our healer."

"Okay, I think I understand." Lucy nodded slowly. She took a step towards the chair, only to have Natsu put an arm out to stop her.

When did he even get in front of me? Lucy wondered.

"Hold on, this isn't going to hurt her, is it?" Natsu asked, his tone becoming dark.

Rufus gave a small smile. "Of course not. I promise there will be no physical pain involved. However, while experiencing the…fake memories, of sorts, that I will be putting Lucy through, she will believe they're real. So of course, I cannot promise there won't be traumatic effects afterwords."

Natsu gave Lucy a serious look, gently grabbing her arm.

"Luce, you don't have to do this."

Lucy turned to face Rufus.

"This is the only way of saving Yukino's life, right?" Lucy asked.

Minerva came to stand next to Rufus, nodding her head. "It is, unfortunately. But know that should you agree to do it, Yukino, and Sting I'm sure, will be eternally great full."

Lucy gave a determined nod, yanking her arm out of Natsu's grasp.

"Then I'll do it."

By the time Lucy was comfortable in her chair, everyone in the guild hall had gathered to watch.

"Hey Gray, keep an eye on Natsu for me please? Make sure he doesn't do anything stupid." Lucy asked.

"Oi!" Natsu yelled.

But Gray just scoffed, and went to stand next to the dragon slayer, Wendy following close behind.

"Will do Lucy." He replied, understanding Lucy's unspoken message: If something happens to me, make sure Natsu doesn't lose it.

"I will begin with a quick scan of your memories Lucy, in order to understand what things you truly care for."

"Do whatever it takes." Lucy's voice was stern and sure.

Rufus stood behind Lucy's chair, touching an index finger to each side of her temple. He shut his eyes, and whispered a few words, and Lucy's body went limp. Though her eyes stayed open, they were glazed over, clearly not registering anything in front of her.

Gray heard Natsu let out a quiet growl as the fire mage tugged at his scarf nervously.

After a minute, Rufus opened his eyes, and took a deep breath.

"Okay, now I'll start creating memories. Minerva, you ready?"

Minerva nodded. She sat next to Lucy with a small vial in her hand, ready to catch falling tears.

"You're sure this isn't going to hurt her?" Natsu growled.

Rufus gave a more genuine smile this time, clearly picking up on Natsu's feeling for the blonde in front of him.

"I swear to you, Lucy will feel no physical pain."

Natsu chewed on his lip, his response hesitant.

"Okay, go ahead."

Rufus shut his eyes again, repositioning his fingers.

"Memory make, loss of a loved one."

Lucy looked around. Everyone was fighting. Who were they fighting? Why were they fighting? How had they gotten here? It didn't really seem to matter. Lucy's eyes scanned the battle grounds, searching for that familiar pink hair. Her skin began to tingle anxiously when she realized she couldn't find him. Where was he? It wasn't like him to be out of her eyesight, especially not while they were fighting. Suddenly, from behind her, Lucy heard what sounded like one of Bisca's guns going off. She turned, gasping as she saw a blast of magic heading straight for her. She got ready to duck or jump, but before she even moved, he was there. Natsu was standing in front of her, arms out, protecting her without a second of hesitation, like he always had. And Lucy could do nothing but watch in horror as the blast of magic hit him right in the chest.

"Who do you think she's losing?" Wendy whispered to Gray, hugging Carla tight for comfort.

"There's no way to know for sure, but I bet you I can give a pretty decent guess." Gray grumbled. Wendy followed his gaze to Natsu, who stood with his arms stiffly crossed, and his eyebrows furrowed in concern as he stared at Lucy.

"Yeah, that's what I think too." Her voice was full of sadness, as she went back to observing Lucy.

Their suspicions were confirmed just seconds later when Lucy let out a pain-filled scream.

"NATSU!"

"Natsu! NO! No, no no no no!" Lucy ran to his crumpled form. Blood spilled from the gash in his chest. His breathing was shallow, and he could barley keep his eyes open. Lucy dropped to her knees beside him, cradling his head in her arms.

"Why would you jump in front of that? Why didn't you try to block it?" Tears flooded her eyes, as Natsu smiled up at her.

"Lucy…" He rasped, only to be cut off as he broke into a coughing fit, blood spilling from his lips. He groaned, as his eyes began to flutter shut.

"No, Natsu hang on! Please! You can't leave me! I need you!" Lucy's voice became more and more panicked. Tears ran down her face like waterfalls, clouding her vision.

"WENDY!" She screeched desperately. "Wendy! Where are you? Natsu needs help!"

A few feet away from Lucy, the guild mates watched, as she screamed. She thrashed around, Minerva trying hard to restrain her while also capturing the tears that streamed down her face.

Natsu grit his teeth as Lucy's frantic screams became filled with more and more anguish, until finally he couldn't take it anymore.

"Stop it! You're hurting her!" He yelled. He tried to get to her, only to have Gray's arms grab him, holding him in a death grip.

Natsu thrashed, as Lucy kept screaming his name.

"Natsu! Someone help! NATSU!"

"Lucy!" He cried back, hoping she would hear him. They had enough tears, dammit, he couldn't watch her go through this any longer.

"LET HER GO! YOU'RE HURTING HER!" He roared.

Sensing the dragon slayer was about to explode, Rufus moved quickly.

"Minerva! Do we have enough?" He yelled, nodding to the vial of tears.

"Almost…almost…" Minerva muttered, as Lucy kept crying. "There! Pull her out now Rufus."

Rufus looked up at the other guild members.

"When I let her go, she'll be disoriented and frantic!" He shouted over the chaos. "She will believe everything she just witnessed has truly come to pass, and I have no idea how she will react to it, so keep your guards up!"

Rufus removed his fingers from Lucy temple, and Lucy went limp.

An eerie silence covered the guild.

Gray released his hold on Natsu, and the dragon slayer took a careful step forwards.

"Lucy?" He asked quietly.

Lucy's eyes shot open. She threw herself from the chair, landing hard on her hands and knees. She gasped for air, her shoulders heaving as leftover tears fell from her eyes, splattering on the floor.

Then, she growled. She jumped onto her feet, hand flying to her whip, as if getting ready to fight something. As if she was preparing for revenge.

But she froze as her eyes landed on Natsu.

"Lucy." He breathed, thankful that she was okay. He gave her a warm smile.

"Natsu?" She stuttered in shock. Then, it all came rushing back to her. Rufus and Minerva's arrival, their need for her tears, her sitting down. She breathed a sigh of relief, letting her whip fall to the ground as she realized it had all been fake.

Natsu was okay, he was standing right in front of her. Still needing conformation, Lucy slowly stepped towards him. Reaching out, she gently traced his jawline with her index finger. She let out a sob, more tears flooding her eyes, this time happy ones, as she accepted that he was real, and perfectly fine.

She pulled him into a rib-crushing hug, burying her face in his scarf.

"Oh God, I was so scared Natsu, I thought I lost you." She muttered loud enough for only him to hear.

Natsu wrapped his arms around her, squeezing her tighter to his chest. He buried his nose in her hair, breathing in the smell of her shampoo. He couldn't help but smile, happy to have the blonde safe and in his arms.

"Nah, don't worry Luce. I promise you, I'm not going anywhere."