Natsu was suddenly jolted awake. He was greeted by a sight he had seen too many times, the blank walls of his dorm room. He was still stuck in the loop; he hadn't even been able to escape it when the outcome had changed, when Lucy was the one who died.
Scrambling out of bed he checked the clock before letting out a small sigh of relief, he wasn't going to be late to class. Tugging on a shirt Natsu went over his plan in his head, there was obviously no chance of getting out of the time loop unless the act that caused the loop to happen stopped, he needed to figure out how to stop the accident from happening.
Tugging on his bag he headed out for his class, the sounds of his feet hitting the pavement kept him focused. He needed to make sure that this time neither of them went to the train station that day, and the only way of doing that would have to be telling Lucy everything. There was a chance that she wouldn't believe him, but if he waited to befriend her for the umpteenth time than maybe, just maybe, he could convince her that he was telling the truth.
All the other times before this he had held back from going down that path, telling Lucy she would possibly die in the future would probably freak her out and she'd probably also think Natsu might be a murderer plotting her death or something. So he needed to wait for her to trust him again then he could tell her everything that was going on, and maybe she would believe him.
Taking a seat right behind Lucy he half listened to the professor as he looked at the back of Lucy's head as he concocted his plan. Scribbling something down on a piece of paper, he spent the rest of the class slowly folding it up and smoothing out the creases over and over.
When the bell rang he got up quickly and plopped the note down on top of Lucy's books.
She glanced up at him with a single eyebrow raised and Natsu gave her a small smile in response before trotting out of the class.
He was halfway across the quad when she caught up to him.
"Hey Na-um, you" Lucy yelled as she ran towards him with the note gripped tightly in her hand.
When she caught up to him she waved the paper around with one hand while the other rested on her knee as she caught her breath.
"Oh hey" Natsu said, stuffing his hands into his pocket. "What's up?"
"What's up?" Lucy wheezed as she shoved the note in his face. "This is what's up pal."
"You don't like my note?" Natsu asked as he raised his brow.
"You literally just wrote on it 'coffee? 2' and then you added a winky face" Lucy said, deadpan at him as Natsu began to sweat internally.
"I put the winky face there to be playful, not flirty" Natsu said as he held a hand up trying to defend himself. "I'm looking for a study buddy for the class. I'm absolute shit at psychology. I can't get into people's heads or anything. I was hoping you might be good at it since you are sitting right in front of me."
"I see" Lucy said as she pulled the note away from his face. "I suppose I'm not too bad at the subject." Lucy seemed to be mulling over the idea before letting out a loud sigh. "I guess it wouldn't hurt to get a study partner in the class."
"Great" Natsu said with a little more enthusiasm then he had planned. "So see you Friday at two?"
"Which coffee house?" Lucy asked as she tucked a strand of loose hair behind her ear.
"The coffee shop across from the laundromat, I think it's called Any Beans Necessary or something."
"Oh, okay, see you then I guess" Lucy said before turning around and heading off, giving him a wave from over her shoulder.
Letting his body relax, Natsu thanked whatever god was out there that the first phase of the plan had worked. Now he just needed to get Lucy to trust him enough so when he told her that she might die she wouldn't look at him like he had three heads.
/
"Okay, so am I supposed to show you the ink blots first or should I be asking you about any dreams you had last night?" Lucy asked as she kept her eyes down on her notebook, her eyes raking over all the requirements they had for their project is phycology. It was the one that they were always paired up together, and as usual they had been designated partners.
"Dreams first I think" Natsu said as he tapped his pencil on the table. The quaint setting of the coffee house set a relaxed mood with soft jazz playing in the background with the soft murmuring of other customers; it was a perfect place to study.
"Okay them" Lucy said as she clicked her pen open before resting her head in one hand. "What did you dream about last night?"
"I don't remember" Natsu said with a shrug before taking a sip of his coffee. That was lie, he could remember perfectly what he had dreamed about with almost every detail burned into his mind. It wasn't exactly a dream though; it was more of a memory. He had dreamed of Lucy's death again, a recurring dream he was all too familiar with.
"Oh come on Natsu" Lucy said, adding extra emphasis to his name. "We literally have to keep dream diaries for this. Just make something up if you need to, you can't just say nope didn't have a dream."
"Okay fine" Natsu said, sitting back in his chair and crossing his arms he pondered whether or not to actually tell her about the dream. She might think he was crazy if he told her he had a dream about her dying, but it also might plant a seed for when he actually tries to tell her what's going on. "I guess I'll tell you what my dream was."
"Thank you" Lucy said with a small nod before her face scrunched up slightly. "It's not something weird right?"
"Hey you're the one who wants to know what my dreams are" Natsu said with a shrug.
"I don't want to hear about any dreams you have that are….inappropriate" Lucy said, her nose crinkled as she looked at him as if he was going to be telling her about his wet dreams or something.
"What do you mean by inappropriate?" Natsu asked as innocently as possibly, he was going to put it off this dream show and tell as long as he could. She always had some normal dream that just meant she probably had some sort of stress, his were always a little more out there.
"You know what I mean" Lucy hissed as her face brightened.
"You wanna know what my R rated dreams are Lucy? I didn't take you for that type" Natsu said as he tried to hold back a snicker as Lucy lit up as red as a firetruck.
"I swear to god Natsu if you don't shut up I'm going to reach across this table and strangle you!" Lucy cried. "Just tell me your dream."
"Okay, okay, sorry" Natsu said before leaning forward. "Uh, well, were to start. I'm at a train station and, um." Natsu paused for a second to look over at Lucy. She was watching him intently with her pen pressed down to the paper. "There's a big commotion and a trains coming, the noise is really loud in my ear and I feel almost like I'm right by the train. But, um, someone falls onto the tracks and I'm so close to them that I try to reach out and grab them. I know I can reach them and pull them back up but then all of a sudden it's like were miles away and the train is just getting louder and louder in my head and soon it just….comes by me with the person down on the tracks." Natsu took a deep breath before looking up at Lucy who is staring at him with wide eyes.
"Do you, uh, do you know who was falling down onto the tracks?" Lucy asked, a slight tinge of fear edged into her voice.
"You're ,uh, going to find this a bit weird probably but it was you" Natsu said, averting his eyes away from her.
"Me?" Lucy asked as she pointed at herself.
"Uh yeah, so um, what does my dream mean?" Natsu asked in hopes of quickly getting off the situation, it didn't look like Lucy had taken it too well.
"I, um, I don't know" Lucy said as she stared at him. "I assume it might mean that you're worried about losing a relationship close to you, presumably yours and mine."
"Oh, okay" Natsu said with a curt nod before shifting uncomfortably his seat.
"Natsu do you perhaps-" Lucy began before abruptly cutting off.
"What?" Natsu asked, perking up slightly.
"Nothing" Lucy said quickly, shaking her head. "So, I guess it's mine turn now huh?"
"Yeah, looks like it" Natsu said as he opened up his notebook. He learned one thing from this; he wasn't going to be telling Lucy about the accident anytime soon.
/
Natsu crammed the fourth and final box into the back of his beat-up old rust bucket of a car when he heard someone come up from behind him. Turning his head over his shoulder as he slammed the trunk shut he saw it was Lucy.
"Hey Lucy" Natsu said offering her a small smile. "You about to head out?"
"Oh, um, yeah I am" Lucy said as she wrung her hands and avoided his gaze. "I just, um, I wanted to say goodbye." She looked over at him before taking a deep breath. "Goodbye."
"Oh, well, goodbye yourself" Natsu said as she shoved his hands in his pockets. "I really enjoyed being partners in phycology, you were amazing. It was almost like you've taken the class before."
Lucy let out an awkward laugh as she let her hands fall to her side. "Yeah, it was great working with you. I, um, I really enjoyed your company, even after the class ended."
"Huh, same" Natsu said, his smile softening along with his heart. He really did love this girl, he wanted nothing more than for the two of them to just live a normal life, one that didn't reset itself. "Listen" Natsu said as he rubbed the back of his neck as he took a step closer to Lucy. "Do you want to keep in contact over the summer? I might need someone to analyze my cryptic dreams or something."
Lucy covered her mouth as soft laughter escaped from her. "I would like that; you do have some weird dreams. I wouldn't want you acquire insomnia without me there to decipher your dreams."
"And, maybe, we could even meet up sometimes" Natsu said with a shrug, he really didn't know where he was going with this but he hoped whatever he was trying to do was working.
"I would really like that" Lucy said as she tucked a piece of hair behind her ear, a light blush dusting her face.
"G-great" Natsu said as he felt his ears heat up. "Let me get a pen."
After the two had exchanged numbers Natsu couldn't help but feel like he was floating as he looked down at the flowing numbers written carefully on his arm. It felt like he was back in the first loop all over again.
"I'll text you when I get home" Lucy said as she shifted her feet.
"Yeah, of course" Natsu said not even bothering to hide his wide smile. "I'll do the same."
Lucy was biting her lip as she watched Natsu; before he could say anything else she rushed over and placed her lips on his cheek. She pulled away almost as fast as she had gotten over to his side, her face blushing furiously.
"I'll be waiting" Lucy said before running off leaving Natsu stunned.
A shaking hand brought itself to his cheek. It felt warm under his skin, Natsu felt like he could die right then of pure happiness.
/
They had been dancing around their feelings for almost three years. After the kiss the summer after freshman year the two had avoided bringing up the topic. They pretended it didn't happen but every once in a while they slipped up, the occasional lingering touch or look that seemed to squeeze the heart.
Now as they stood in the auditorium with diplomas heavy in their hands and listening to the dean talk about how they were going to go out and change the world Natsu couldn't help but wish he was by Lucy. Unfortunately an alphabetical seating chart stood in his way. A few times he dared to look back her from the few rows back she was sitting, mostly he got a warm smile in response, one time he even got a small wave.
He needed to talk to her and all these feelings, maybe it was all in his head like it had been in a few loops before, but he couldn't help but feel that she felt the same this time.
Finally the dean finished talking and everyone had thrown up their hats and Natsu was by Lucy's side.
"Hey can you believe it! We're graduates-" Natsu began before being abruptly cut off by Lucy's finger to his mouth.
"I get that you have a lot to say Natsu but I'm going to talk first, okay?" Lucy said as she waited for Natsu's response.
Nodding his head, Natsu waited as Lucy took her finger away from his mouth before talking.
"I like you, like really really like you. I don't want to use the word love but that's pretty close to how I feel and I don't want to leave today to go off our separate ways without telling you because your important to me and I want you to be a part of my life even if we're broke and living off ramen noodles in a shitty apartment I just...I just want to be with you" Lucy said, taking a deep breath and bracing for Natsu's response after her quick explosion of feelings.
Natsu just stood there frozen for a few seconds after Lucy finished letting everything sink in. "Really?"
"Really?!" Lucy shrieked. "That's all you have to say?!"
"No, no, it's just, you like me too?" Natsu said as he pointed at himself. "Because I'm pretty sure I've been in love with you since freshman year."
"What?" Lucy squawked as her face reddened even more than it already was. "All this time?"
"Hey, you were pretty charming, well you still are and have I mentioned yet how pretty you are and how when you talk about something you love your eyes light up like stars and-"
"Oh shut up" Lucy said as she tugged Natsu's collar down so his lips met hers.
/
"Hey Lu, we've been together for a while right?" Natsu asked one night as he was resting his head on Lucy's thigh, half watching something on TV while she was worked on her book.
"Yes" Lucy answered, curiosity in her voice but not willing to actually ask what Natsu was playing at, "We've been together for almost three years now."
"And you trust me, right?" Natsu asked, looking up at her face.
"Yes of course" Lucy asked as she continued to clack away at the computer keys.
"Like really, really trust me? No matter how crazy it may sound?"
"Natsu what the hell did you do?" Lucy asked as she looked down at him, concern written all over her face.
"Remember that one dream I told you about back in freshman year during our project for phycology?"
"That's…specific, but maybe? You told me a lot of different dreams" Lucy asked as she closed her computer and pushed it off to the side.
"It was the one where you get hit by a train" Natsu said, he just stated it as plainly as he could. The date of the accident was only one month away; he needed to tell her now.
"Oh, well yes, I do remember that one" Lucy said, fidgeting slightly. "Why?"
Natsu sucked in a deep breath before continuing. "Well, it wasn't exactly a dream."
"What do you mean it wasn't-"
"It was more of a memory, from something I've seen before, many times before" Natsu said as he waited to see how Lucy would respond, she was quiet. "You see, you almost die on the exact same day, at the exact same time, and the exact same way always. Normally I die but the last time this happened you died instead. I don't know how to explain this to you without sounding crazy but I seem to be stuck in some time loop that just keeps re-doing itself over on that same date. Nothing stops, but maybe if neither of us dies it'll stop."
Lucy was staring down at Natsu with wide eyes and an open mouth. This didn't seem to be going well.
"Listen, I know I sound crazy but-"
"No, no I believe you" Lucy said quickly as her features changed.
"Really?" Natsu asked, relief flowing through him.
"Yes, because I've been experiencing the same thing" Lucy said, her voice breathless.
"Wait you knew about this whole thing?" Natsu asked as he sat up and grabbed Lucy's shoulders. "Why didn't you tell me?"
"I didn't think you knew" Lucy said as tears began to well in her eyes. "You never told me either."
"I guess you do have a point."
"But still" Lucy said as she placed her hand on his arm, "We might be able to break this loop."
"I guess we'll just have to wait and see."
"No leaving the apartment at all that day, promise" Lucy said as she held out a pinkie.
"Promise" Natsu said as he linked his pinkie with hers.
/
"Can you believe my boss" Lucy said, letting out a loud huff as she fell back down onto the bed. "How long ago did I tell him that I wasn't going to be available today? I even lied and told him I'd be out of town! I swear, the universe is really hard pressed for you or me to die today."
"I take it you gave him a piece of your mind" Natsu said as he rolled over and looped his arms around Lucy.
"Oh you bet" Lucy said as nestled her head under his. "Honestly, how did he even have the nerve to call me when I know for a fact Kendall is in the office today."
"Well you are the best journalist" Natsu said, pressing a kiss into Lucy's hair.
Lucy hummed as she raked her fingers through the nape of his neck. "You're a sap."
"I know" Natsu murmured. "I lost cost of how many times you've called me one."
"At least once a day" Lucy said as she let out a sigh. "Hey, can I ask you something?"
"Sure" Natsu said as he rubbed circles onto her hips. "What's on your mind?"
"If we make it through today….can we get married?"
Time seemed to stop for a second after those words left Lucy's mouth, but Natsu was quick to recover.
"Of course" he said before leaning over enough to kiss her lightly on the mouth. "God, I've waited for our wedding day for years, or should I say loops?"
Lucy let out a small laugh before giving him a quick kiss. "I'll start looking for a dress tomorrow."
"And I'll look for a ring."
They made it through that day for the first time.
/
Lucy had almost never expected for this day to actually come, her wedding. As she sat at a table watching her friends dance she toed off her heels and felt relief for the first time that night.
Stretching out her toes and cracking her back she felt a feeling of just pure serene happiness. Her life wasn't centered around one day anymore, now she could worry about the future, she wasn't sure which one was scarier.
Looking down at the ring on her finger she felt a wide smile cross her face, she was really married to Natsu. Her name had changed to Dragneel and she knew she would forget all about the change for the next two months.
The sound of a chair being pulled next to her caught her attention. Looking over she saw Natsu plop himself down onto the chair before looking over at her with a lazy smile on his face.
"How you doing?" Natsu asked before reaching over and taking her hand in his.
"Tired, a little overwhelmed and already slightly buzzed, so not too bad" Lucy said as she rested her head on his shoulder. "How about you?"
"Very happy and past slightly buzzed" Natsu said with a chuckles. "So I'd say I'm doing pretty good."
"Can you even believe it?" Lucy asked as she squeezed Natsu's hand.
"Can I believe what?" Natsu asked as he squeezed back.
"That we're actually married" Lucy said.
"It only took what? Six loops?" Natsu asked with a soft laugh before quickly going silent.
"That sounds about right" Lucy said as she counted on her fingers. "But I'm pretty bad at math so I can't be too sure."
"We're doomed then if neither of us can count" Natsu said as he rubbed circles on Lucy's hand.
"Hey Natsu, I don't think I've said this enough during all those loops but, I love you."
Natsu was quiet for a second before pressing a kiss to her temple and whispering in her ear "Love you too."
