Guys, sorry again for the long awaited update... February was not my month (no I don't mean it like that) and Once again, I want to thank you all for your encouraging comments!
prodicykilla , blueberry (:D), MaJorReader619 , Forgoten Werewolf , fairytailpirate , musume2006 , narutofan1091 , lilmissshortie1 , well thAnimefan111 , DayDreamer]xD , Lazybutt-Chan (:D extra, Extra thnx), anniecrystal , M.E Powers , nalu-nakamakids , FTNaLuHeart220 (I'm so sorry If Im missing anyone else)... It's about time I said thank you to all my awesome reviewers! Your thoughts and suggestions truly mean a lot to me, and your compliments make my week! It's like getting sugar high and I'm all hyped up on writing for you guys _
{vision}
Enjoy!
Unveiling Memories
Redeeming
Whisperers in our heads are the void of our hallucinations. Some call it their conscious, some say it's their guardian speaking to them. Some others think they just damn crazy!
I call it; My light of way.
"Lucy."
'Mama?'
"Luce…"
'I'm sorry Ma…'
"Lucy we're gonna be okay… Can you hear me? "
'You sound so sad, it's because of me again isn't? Please don't be sad, I promise, I'll behave this time, I'll be good. This time, I'll say it correctly I'll focus harder, Mama. It's cold…. Hold me tighter…. please…. It's cold… I'm scared.'
"Lucy…"
'I'm scared Ma….'
"Happy!"
'I'm so sca- wait; Happy?'
"Down here! Happy!"
'Happy? How did y-'
"Natsu!"
'Natsu? Wait! What the heck is going on here! Mama!'
Lucy's flushed face cringed as she slowly opened her eyes; she stared blankly at the familiar white ceiling, realizing that she was back at her apartment. Lying comfortably under her soft heavy blanket, she wondered, 'How in Magnolia's name did I get here?'
"You're awake." A familiar voice came from beside her bed. The ever so beautiful Erza, with her unmistakable steel armor and fiery red hair sat beside her bed; legs crossed sipping a strange smelling cup of tea.
"E-Erza?" She asked, still groggy from her sleep. For some reason, she felt very light headed; almost dizzy. It was the most oddest yet relieving sensation, as if a restraint placed upon her was slowly wearing off. Like a sticker slowly being peeled away.
"How are you feeling?" Her voice; usually cold and strict now carried a tone of genuine concern.
Lucy felt a strange sense of Déjà vu as her Nakama walked over to her. She brought her hands up to brush a stray of hair that fell out of place. The confused blond expected her hands to be cold and rough, but surprisingly, they were warm, soft and gentle.
"Your temperature hasn't gone down," she stated with a frown.
"Huh?" Lucy asked, positioning herself so she sat up straight on her fluffy bed.
"You don't remember, do you?"
"Erza...what are you-" All too suddenly, a flash of light, and an eerie roar resounded in her head. Breathing heavily, she brought her clammy hands up to her perspiring face. And came along was the sick tug iin her stomach. Something's not right...
"Lucy, are you feeling okay?" The famed Titania sounded upset. She reached her hand towards her dear friend.
"W-What happened?" The confused blond said almost immediately. 'What did happen?'
The red head stopped. She looked at her Nakama before dropping her hand. Hesitantly, she said, "After you and Natsu left the guild, a storm brew up. It's unusual for a storm that devastating to occur in the middle of spring."
She paused, and thought for a moment, 'Yes, it is quite strange for the weather to drastically change like that. It's just not normal. But then again... things haven't been normal around here lately... there's something unusual about the air in Magnolia... somehow, it feels wrong.'
"You and Natsu acted strange before you left... So we got worried and decided to check up on you."
Lucy raised an eyebrow, 'Don't you mean follow?'
"By the time we reached the three of you, you were all passed out on the bridge. We had to carry all three of you."
"By 'we' you mean You and-" Before she could finish her sentence, a shirtless mage entered the room.
"Yeah, you and that Stinky Breath were lucky that we came by." He stated smugly.
"Gray..."
"Who are you calling Stinky Breath, you block head?" An angry intruder stormed in the room.
"Tch!" Gray clucked his tongue, "Who else idiot! What the hell were you thinking? Sunbathing in the rain?" He stated, clearly annoyed.
"Oooohh! That sure means something coming from someone who bathes in ice!" The hot head replied sarcastically.
"That doesn't even make sense, you can't bathe in ice!"
"The water is super-duper cold, so it classifies as ice!"
"Stupid Fire Brain, do you even know what classify means?"
Their voices were getting louder and louder as they continued their banter.
"What, you wanna go Droopy Eyes?" Natsu challenged, head-butting his teammate.
"You finally figured it out, Squinty Eyes." Gray replied heat butting Natsu back.
Lightning struck, as thunder accompanied it in the background.
Gray aimed a punching at Natsu's face, only to have the Dragon Slayer dodge and swivel around him.
"Heh, I knew your aim was bad, but I didn't think I'd be that bad!" He taunted.
"Shut up!" Gray grunted, blocking Natsu's attack
"I wouldn't accept judgment from someone who can't even stand against a little water!"
"It's not judgment; it's fact." He said matter-of-factly before going for another blow.
"Tch, Cocky moron..." Taking a blow from Natsu's fiery fist, he responded with a round-house kick to his opponent's neck. "How are you supposed to protect her if you can't even stand a little rain?"
Natsu's response was painful punch in the face; he glared fiery chainsaws at his dark haired Nakama as he crashed onto the wooden floors.
He usually didn't take his brawls personally, but when it involved her, well- everything changes. Gray was quick to stand up on his feet, wiping the blood that spilled out from the corner of his mouth.
"She's better of protected by Juvia than the likes you!" He took another blow to the stomach. "Now that is fact." he panted.
They both stood there; glaring, unaware of the dangerous aura that accumulated around them. As they charged in for round 2, their fists met, not each other's faces, but; Cold. Hard. Metal.
Uh-oh.
"Natsu. Gray." Her voice getting more violent by the second. The boys squealed as they made an attempt to run for it.
Immediately, the knight grabbed Natsu's scarf and Gray's necke and raised them up as high as her arms reach.
"Listen," her voice dark and serious, "we are supposed to be here to comfort Lucy, NOT give her anymore things to be upset about!" Both boys flinched as she raised her tone.
"I don't want to hear anything from both of you, the rest of our stay here." She looked like a dog owner, scolding her two little puppies.
"AM I UNDERSTOOD?"
"Yes Ma'am!" Their high-pitched voices were wrung with fear. At least they can agree on something.
"You guys." A faint, shaky whisper came from the side of the room. "I don't know why you're all like this..." She managed to force a smile as she trailed off.
"I'm fine. You don't have to worry. You don't have to-" She cut herself off, afraid of the water works that will come if she didn't.
'I'm doing it again. Making them all worry to the point of stress, even Natsu…. I'm sorry Ma, I was hoping, when I came here, I would be able to become independent, self-sufficient; I was supposed to- Urgh! I don't even know what's happening to me!'
She squeezed her eyes shut, hoping to stop the tears of frustration from spilling out. "I'm Sorry."
The trio stared at her, eyes sad and down casted. Erza put the boys down, and walked over to the blond mage.
Lucy could hear the loud metal footfalls walking towards her. 'No.' She was afraid of that feeling, just as she was afraid of Natsu. The feeling Erza gave off whenever she comforted her; warm, gentle, sincere... motherly.
"Lucy...," she placed her hand on the blonds' shaking shoulder.
"We're teammates; we work as a team, and to do that we need to open up to one another. We need to trust each other." Lucy brought her hands up to her face, attempting to mask her un-tamed tears.
"Yeah Luce..." Gray stepped in. "You can't hide from us ya know..." He tried to sound cheery, but his heart failed him as his mind went back during the last couple of weeks.
"You're not acting like yourself these past few weeks…" Scenes re-played in his head over and over again as he tried to think of something encouraging to say.
He remembered Lucy sitting alone in the bar; unusually quite. Not being able to hear the rumble going on around her. And often times, a tear would escape her warm chocolate brown eyes, without her even noticing it. Occasionally, she would come to the guild dressed in her pajamas.
Happy would tease and taunt her, but she wouldn't hear it. Natsu would do something stupid in front of her, but she couldn't see it. She would forget the names of her Celestial Spirits.
It isn't right. As if she's drifting farther away from reality. She was becoming less and less like the Lucy they know. And the sad part about it was that they didn't know what to do about it.
She shouldn't be suffering alone, but that's exactly what's she's trying to do. She doesn't want involve anyone else in her problem... A problem she isn't even aware of!
Gray clenched his fists and gritted his teeth, unable to control his anger. "You can't do that to us!"
"Gray." Erza warned.
"How do you think we feel when you act like this!" He almost yelled, unable to tame his anger.
Quite sobbing came from the bed.
"Were friends, Nakama, whatever problem we face; we face it together!" His anger wasn't directed to her, rather directed to himself, his teammates.
"Don't you know, when you cry alone like that, when you keep your pain to yourself, we suffer too?"
She reached her breaking point.
I love you without knowing how, or when or from where.
I love you straightforwardly, without complexities or pride;
so I love you because I know no other way.
-Pablo Neruda
Unintentionally, the tears streamed down her flushed face. Though as hard as she tried, she couldn't prevent the painful sobs from escaping from her mouth.
Instinctively, the fire mage stepped up; he couldn't say anything. Lucy was stubborn in whatever state of mind she was in. They came here to comfort her, to give her a sense that she can talk to them freely without having to worry about a thing.
He wanted her to know, that whatever the problem is, or how bad things get, he will stand by her side; forever. He wanted to keep her. Natsu couldn't decipher whether or not his feelings towards Lucy were crossing the "friendship line", his always felt close to all his guilmates. Regardless of their gender, power, the amount of time his spent with them. It was all the same. To Natsu; they were all family. But... why do I feel the need to be closer to her? It's... different, not like me and Happy, or Erza.. and it's sure as hell isn't like me and that walking block of ice. And what the hell is a friendship line?
Dense as he was, he couldn't understand his feelings for her. Yet. But he does know this:
As long as her loving smile was still in place, there's hope. As long as her laughter can be heard, there's joy and as long as her heart was breathing, he could go on. Words can't even begin to explain how much he wanted to be by her side, so maybe, his actions will.
Dropping the idea of 'critical thinking', he gave into his instincts and let his body do whatever it wants. Letting go of his doubts, and living in the moment.
Courageously, he pushed Titania aside, leaned on her bed side, and engulfed her into a warm embrace. Lucy eyes widened, tears spilling from her eyes. He held her like there's no tomorrow, he held her like he was never letting go. He buried his face into her hair, taking in her sweet aroma.
Despite he's awareness of her fever; he planted his lips onto her hair, then her cheeks then her forehead. Natsu held her tightly, closing his eyes, allowing her to tremble as she cried into the crook of his neck.
'Natsu.' As she leaned into him, she thought of her haunting nightmares, how she feared facing it all alone. But at the same time, she thought of her family.
Fairy Tail; her true family. She could picture it now; their worried faces, their smiles, offering her comfort and a shoulder to cry on.
'Don't cha worry Lu-chan! We've got your back!' Levy would wink.
'Real MEN are not afraid to show their tears!' Elfman would bellow, loud and proud.
'You don't have to face this world alone kid... life's bitch, we can either own up to it, or be a jerk like it.' Cana would say- this time, sober.
'Please don't be sad my love... Your night and shining armor will always stand by your side' Loki would inevitably flirt.
'Don't forget Lu-Lu, you share with us, your happiness, and sadness. So when you smile, we smile. When you laugh, we laugh and when you cry, we cry. Your happiness, joy, pain, confusion... is ours as well.' Master Makarov would smile at her; genuinely, friendly, and fatherly.
All the hurt and confusion that welled up inside of her came pouring out. She didn't try to stop the salty tears than ran down her cheeks and onto Natsu's bare chest.
She didn't try to hold back her heart-wrenching screams.
Lucy unleashed everything she held back from the time she had her first nightmares to this day to where she was finally accepting reality.
She can't run away.
{A woman, with long blond hair smiled at her, despite the blood running down her forehead, and the burning embers that crashed around her}
She had to face this.
{'MAMA!' Lucy's childish screech pierced into the cold, crisp night}
But she doesn't have to do it alone.
'I'm not alone.
Erza...
Gray...
Fairy Tail'
She raised her hands and clung to Natsu's back, returning his embrace.
'Natsu.'
Something unlocked inside of her, releasing all that has been kept inside of her; it was a wonderful feeling.
She felt lighter, like she could fly. Or was it just because of Natsu?
'Hmm... I wonder..'.
Due to the emotional breakdown (and the fever certainly didn't help) our favorite Celestial mage past out in the arms of her beloved.
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