Chapter 10

Nineteen-year-old Lucy giggled as she spotted Natsu victory dancing to himself in the middle of one of the corridors. The people walking by just eyed him warily before shrugging and continuing on; they were used to the pink-haired fellow's odd behavior.

"Natsu, what are you doing?" She giggled out as she neared him.

Hearing her voice, his movements froze, and his face morphed into a look a disbelief. It seemed as if he had just remembered something horrible.

"Natsu?" She frowned as she bent forward to look into his eyes.

When his eyes finally connected to hers, she could see a deep fear in them, and it made her heart rate pick up and her eyebrows scrunch in concern. "What's wrong?" She whispered as she gently placed her hand on his arm.

Her touch seemed to jolt him back into focus. "L-Lucy…"

"Natsu, you're scaring me." Her eyebrows pinch upwards and her lower lip trembled slightly.

Natsu closed his eyes a took a deep breath, before he grabbed her hand. "Let's go to the roof."

His voice held urgency, and as she was dragged behind him up to the roof, Lucy couldn't help but feel fear crawl through every vein in her body.

By the time Natsu opened the door to the roof, a tear managed to slide down her cheek, and when he finally turned to look at her, his eyes widened in panic. "No, no, no, don't cry!" He grabbed her face in both of his hands and wiped her tears with his thumbs. His face was pained, and it only served to make her cry harder.

"you're scaring me, Natsu." She whimpered. "Please don't tell me what I think you are."

He closed his eyes and placed his forehead against hers, her shaky hands coming up to grip his wrists. When he opened his eyes, a tear slid down his own cheek, and he whispered. "I passed."

Her tears stopped, her arms going slack as her face fell into a blank canvas. Her entire world was just ripped out from beneath her, and she could feel her legs wanting to give out as well. Before she could fall, she was crushed into Natsu's chest as he squeezed her tight; jaw and eyes clenched as he placed his hand over her head.

"I'm sorry." He hissed out. "I'm so sorry."

"W-Why are you sorry?" She whispered into his shoulder as she stared at the door to the roof. "This is what you've been working so hard for. C-Congratulations."

He squeezed her tighter and buried his face in the crook of her neck, letting his tear slid down her skin. Her own hands slowly came up to rest on the backs of his shoulders, her face pressing closer to him.

"How long?" She whispered.

"Three days." Was his choked out reply.

She whimpered, and he squeezed her even tighter.

Nothing else was said as they stayed there on the roof. Each knew why the other was sad, and each knew why this had to happen. They only hoped that they would see each other again.

Lucy sighed as she laid her head on Gajeel's shoulder; them both watching Yukino practice her sword skills. "She's pretty good."

Gajeel only grunted in reply as he popped a berry into his mouth.

It had been a week since they set out in their journey. They had been fortunate to find a good amount of food and water, and Yukino had even been able to slice a few cacti in half courtesy of Gajeel.

"Ya know, ya never did say how you got exiled."

Lucy remained silent, only shifting closer to the man acting as a heat source.

Gajeel sighed and popped another berry in his mouth. "So, who's this special someone from back then?"

Her gaze left Yukino's perfect battle form to stare at the ground. "His name Is Natsu…"

Gajeel shifted to look at the girl on his shoulder. "Love 'im?"

When she nodded, he wrapped his arm around her shoulder, and she snaked her arms around his waist. He was the best cuddle buddy, though she would never tell him that to his face. "He's in the Capitol now."

"So, he made it, huh?"

She nodded with a sad smile. "He did." After a moment of silence, she looked up at him. "What about you? You got anyone special?"

He snorted. "Nah. Who the hell would love a guy like me." He hissed when she squeezed him too tight. "The hell woman?"

Her glare was hard. "If you ever say that again, I'll take my detached metal pinkie and shove it somewhere very unpleasant."

He swallowed and nodded, warily eyeing the girl as she put her head back on his shoulder. As he looked back at a panting Yukino, an unfamiliar warmth spread through his chest.

A sharp yelp of pain from Yukino had the both on their feet in an instant.

"Yuki?!"

They both quickly ran over to see what was wrong. She was kneeling on the ground with her hand cradling her arm. In the corner of her eyes she saw something slither away, and her eyes widened in horror. "Gajeel!"

Said man look at where the blonde was pointing, and a curse slipped out of his mouth when he saw a snake slithering away; no doubt what had just happened.

"Yuki, let me see." Lucy demanded as she crouched in front of the girl.

"I-I don't want to see it." The girl whimpered as her teeth clenched in pain.

Lucy ignored Gajeel's frantic pacing behind the girl and made Yuki look at her. "You don't have to look, but I need to."

The girl nodded and closed her eyes as she released the grip on her arm.

Lucy was glad that the girl wasn't looking, because she knew her facial expression would have made her panic. There were two puncture wounds on the inside of her forearm, and her veins were already turning purple, starting from the bite.

Lucy looked up at Gajeel for help, but the man was looking at the bite in completely shock and horror. When his eyes made contact with hers, a tear fell out of her eye. His eyes were defeated, and she knew that there was nothing they would be able to do.

Thank you guys for being patient with me! My life is crazyyyy right now. But I will never give up on my stories, they will happen eventually. Thank you soooo much for your support even though my update time has been beyond horrible.

I love you guys soo much!