Chapter 9
"Lucy, it's time to get up," a voice whispered in her ear.
Lucy shook her head in response and snuggled closer to the warmth she felt. A shiver ran through her body as she suddenly went cold.
"Her fever is back up," Natsu sighed as he lifted her into his arms.
"Lets get her home so she can rest up," Erza replied, "I'll see if Mira could stop by with her famous soup and medicine."
"It's so cold," Lucy mumbled.
"I know," Nastu whispered.
Nastu carried Lucy through the streets to her apartment. When he saw her landlady he waved to her and she gave a courtesy nod before rushing out the building. Holding her with one arm he opened her door before carrying her inside. He knew that she would probably want to bathe and change into her pajamas once Mira got here so he set her down on her bed before turning to her dresser. Even though she has yelled at him in the past when he's gone through her clothes he figured she wouldn't mind since she would need clean clothes and that they were dating. Once he had chosen her clothes he started to run the bath water.
"No…stop…hurts…no!" Lucy screamed sitting up.
Tears filled her eyes as she hugged her body tight. She couldn't tell if her shivers were from her nightmare or from her fever.
"Hey, are you okay?" Natsu said poking his head out the bathroom door.
"Yeah, I just remembered something I wish I didn't."
Natsu was about to say something when there was a knock on the door. Mira didn't wait for an answer as she poked her head through the door. In her hands was a big bag that she set on the kitchen table.
"Knock knock," Mira said at the bedroom door, "I hope you don't mind if I take over your kitchen for a while so I can make you my soup."
"Sure go ahead Mira," Lucy mumbled.
"Hey, why are you so down?" Mira asked sitting on the bed.
"Just had a bad dream about one of the things that happened to me while they had me," Lucy replied.
"Do you want to talk about it?" she asked rubbing her back.
"Can you help me bathe first? I feel really gross and I don't think I have the energy to not fall asleep in the water."
"Of course, let me—"
"I've already grabbed her clothes and got the bath ready," Natsu said leaving the bathroom. "If you don't mind I think I'll take a nap while the two of you are in there."
Once Lucy was in the bath Mira leaned against the tub and sighed. She wanted to know what happened to Lucy and help her but didn't want to push her.
"The scars on my body is what I remembered," Lucy whispered into the bubbles of her bath. "It's just hard to try and talk about it without breaking down or seeing the anger and regret in Natsu's eyes. He just blames himself too much for what happened."
"So what did you remember?" Mira asked.
"How I got the majority of the scars," Lucy replied. "One of the times they wanted to used me I didn't know who it was so I fought him and nailed him pretty good in a certain area. It was then that I noticed that it was the boss and that he was broadcasting it to someone else on the lacrima vision. He was so mad that to teach me a lesson on to not fight he grabbed something to beat me with and when that wasn't enough he grabbed a knife and went at my body. He said it was to remind me that the only people that would want my body were the people who paid him to have sex with me or the people that work for him. It was useless to try and love someone because I was his and no one would be able to find and rescue me. That was the last day I fought, after that I just gave up and did what they wanted until I heard Natsu and the other's in the surrounding forest. That's my biggest regret, giving up but it's hard when they keep saying things like that and when they're starving you."
"Oh sweetie, don't blame yourself. Be proud of the fact that you survived and that you're moving past that. Sure you're still getting nightmares and you're still not a hundred percent comfortable around the opposite sex but you've grown stronger. You haven't let that tragedy destroy you and that's why I'm so proud of you."
"Thanks," Lucy said hugging her. "You should have seen me on the mission. It felt like the old me was back."
"I'm glad to hear it."
Mira helped Lucy out of the tub then left to go get her soup ready. Once Lucy was dressed she hobbled back to her bed since her ankle still hurt. Lucy smiled when she pulled back the covers and saw Natsu sleeping soundly. She snuggled her body close to his so that his warmth would envelope her. A sigh escaped her lips when she felt him wrap his arms around her waist.
"You're fever's still pretty high," Natsu mumbled kissing her head.
"I guess," Lucy responded taking a deep breath and enjoyed the campfire and forest scent that always seemed to come off of him.
"And even with your scars both inside and out I still find you beautiful."
Lucy stiffened a bit before her eyes filled up with tears. "You heard?"
"Dragon slayer hearing remember?"
She nodded her head before she gave him a quick peck on the lips. They knew better than to try to do anything since Mira was in the kitchen. Lucy closed her eyes and let sleep overtake her as she waited for her hot meal to be made.
