Lucy groaned over the toilet, wiping her mouth and flushing the toilet. Since their date last night, she'd been throwing up about two to three times an hour. Despite the gross factor and his enhanced sense of smell, he stayed in the bathroom with her and rubbed her back. Lucy cried every time she threw up.

This time wasn't an exception. She turned to him, tears streaming down her cheeks in steady rivers. Forcibly, he crushed her against his chest. Her forehead fell weakly against his collarbone and she sobbed into his chest. He pressed his lips to the top of head in a drawn out kiss and rocked her.

"I hate being sick," she said.

"I know," he said, his lips moving against her hair. "I hate it, too."

"I wish Wendy were here," Lucy whined. He tightened his grip on her. Even if Wendy couldn't completely heal her, the young dragonslayer could at least alleviate the symptoms. She was unfortunately out on a mission and wasn't expected to be back for two more days.

Eventually, Lucy's cries calmed down and her breath was slow against the skin of his chest. She'd cried herself to sleep. It gave him this awful feeling of helplessness that he'd only felt a few times before. Like when his guildmates had been caught in the lacrima or when those rocks had fallen on him and he had to watch Lucy get beat up. The difference, in both of those situations, was that he'd been able to figure out how to fix things. He'd gotten to beat the bad guys.

This time, the bad guys were inside of Lucy and the only thing he could do is tend to her while she slowly slipped away from him. He was so afraid. His instincts told him to clutch tighter to her and he knew that when the end did come he would be completely devastated.

Hopefully that end would come many years from now. Even though her sickness was making everything more depressingly real than before, he would still cling to that hope. If not for his own sake, for Lucy's.

He carried to her bed and tucked her in, watching her for several long moments before going back to the couch he'd claimed.

#Helplessness