The guild hall was silent. People could be heard talking outside the guild hall as they walked by from how quiet it was. Everyone stood shocked, staring up at the mater as his words slowly began to sink into the mages ears.

Mira dropped the glass she was drying off, letting it fall to the floor with a loud crash, finally breaking the silence that had hung in the air.

"WHAT?!" Came a loud, put together scream from the entire guild.

Happy and Natsu looked at each other in horror before glancing back up at the master. Nodding solemnly at his children who cried below him. He could feel their hearts break and his broke along with them. The news from Porlyusica had left Makarov stunned into silence, but he knew he had to remain strong, for his children, and for Lucy, who was still suffering a great deal.

Makarov could only watch in sadness as his once boisterous guild hall filled with hugs of consolidation and tears of pain for their beloved new guild member. He knew he should say something to his family, something empowering, but no words could escape his trembling mouth since he was on the verge of breaking himself.

Makarov's tightened fists trembled as he clenched them harder, preparing himself to speak again. Begging the tears that were threatening to escape down his cheeks to stay where they were. He heard several gasps and glanced up from the view he had of the ground in front of him., noticing that most of his children stood, mouths agape and staring at something next to him. Before Makarov could turn he heard a fiery voice from below mutter a name he wasn't expecting to hear.

"Luce...?"

!

Porlyusica and Makarov turned to look at the girl that stood near them. To the guild she looked completely different, standing there with her arms crossed over her stomach and she trembled. They could all see that moving around was exhausting to her since she was pressed up against a wall, breathing a little hard from just walking out of the infirmary a few feet behind her.

Natsu practically ran up the stairs, wanting to be near Lucy and help her out since she looked about ready to fall over. As soon as he reached her he went to touch her shoulder, since she was staring down at the floor. But as he touched her shoulder she jerked back, letting out a bloodcurdling scream that made all the dragon slayers in the room cover their ears in pain.

Natsu keeled over on his knees as he held his hands to his head in pain. To him and all the other slayers it sounded like a dragon, screaming in agony. And he never wanted to hear it again. He never wanted it to come from Lucy's lips again, nor did he want to be the one to make that sound come from her lungs.

When she finally stopped all of the slayers were on their sides, crying in agony as their eardrums rung and threatened to rupture. They all slowly stood back up, Happy rushing to help his best friend up. Natsu looked to Lucy, who sat against the wall, trembling and shaking while she had her arms wrapped around her drawn knees.

He noticed blood dripping from one of her ears and clenched his fists to his side. Wendy and Porlyusica pushed passed Natsu, checking Lucy over quickly and efficiently. He was still affected by her scream so he couldn't hear what she was mumbling as she repeated something over and over again.

Natsu felt a hand test on his shoulder and looked back to see his team, along with Sting and Rogue, behind him. They all held solemn, heavy looks on their faces as Gray dragged Natsu away from Lucy, who still cowered at the wall. Natsu kicked and scream, wanting to go back to her,

"Let me go damn it!"

"Luce! Lucy! Come on! It's Natsu, your best friend!"

"Look at me!"

Natsu's scream died on his lips as he froze, staring into big chocolate brown eyes. Gray and the rest of the team stopped but didn't let him go.

"Natsu?" Lucy whispered.

Even though Natsu still couldn't hear very well, he could tell by the way her lips formed the word that she had said his name. His world froze as his name fell from his lips.

"Yes! Yes it's me Natsu!" He cried out , trying desperately to get back to her, but Gray still held him back, and even Erza had a hand on his shoulder to prevent him from running forward. He growled in anger at them before looking back at Lucy.

He could only watch as she stood, her knees wobbling as she took painstakingly slow steps towards where Natsu was being held back. She staggered towards him, flinching in pain with each step she took. He thought Wendy had healed all her wounds and he glanced over at the blue-haired slayer with a questioning look.

'I'll ask her later,' he thought and returned his gaze to Lucy. She was right in front of him now and he could tell how exhausted she was, her breathing was labored and she placed a hand out for something to steady herself on, finding Natsu's shoulder. It was then that Natsu realized he had been released by his teammates.

When he looked back he saw that they all looked at him, their mouths slightly open in shock and confusion. He slowly turned his head back to Lucy, careful not to make too sudden of a movement and freak her out again. He looked down at where her tiny hand rested on his shoulder, noticing how much it shook.

He looked back at Lucy's face he saw I shed tears swim in her eyes. With the last remaining ounce of her strength she pulled him forward, falling into his open, confused arms as she passed out.

"Natsu..." her voice fluttered up to his ears as she caught him in his arms.

He looked down at the tiny blonde in his grasp and picked her up, carrying her bridle style back to the bed of the infirmary, ignoring the voices that swarmed around him and throughout the guildhall.

Natsu laud Lucy down on the bed, watching as her hair spread out around her and flowed over the pillow she laid on. Natsu caressed her soft cheek, unable to help himself.

The feelings he felt fluttering in his stomach were completely new to him. And even though he didn't particularly mind them, he didn't like the little 'doki doki' movements that his heart made when he looked at Lucy. He leaned forward, not really knowing what he was doing until he planted his lips against the soft skin of her forehead. With that he turned around, ready to leave the room and let her rest, suddenly wanting to get out of the stuffy room and the crowded guild hall.

His hand was around the door handle, ready to pull it open when her heard a rustling of sheets behind him. Turning to look he saw that Lucy was sitting up, looking straight at the wall in front of her. Her eyes were wide and she shook uncontrollably.

"H-hey, Luce?" Natsu cringed to himself as he heard his voice break.

When she didn't turn to look at him he walked forward, moving carefully to her side.

"Lucy?" He whispered, kneeling next to her bed. He went to place a hand on her arm, stopping and putting it back down before he could reach her as he remembered what had happened the last time he had touched her.

She didn't seem to notice he was there, didn't even register that he was speaking to her. It was as if she was in a trance, causing Natsu to take in her beaten features all the more.

"Natsu?" Lucy's voice croaked out, causing Natsu to snap out of is thoughts quickly.

Lucy still wasn't looking at him, making him frown in confusion. 'What was going on with her?' His mind worked to find the answer as he thought over everything.

He reached out again and slowly placed a slightly trembling hand on her arm, ready to pull it back the second she looked troubled. However, touching her now seemed to have the opposite reaction as she visibly relaxed and blinked for the first time, focusing on her surroundings again.

"How you doing Lucy?" Natsu's voice was barely a whisper. He couldn't help but stare at the blonde girls eyes as she looked at him.

"I-I'm fine," she responded, nodding her head slowly and then winced slightly in pain.

'She seems to be acting like her old self.' Natsu relaxed, smiling softly at the girl as his thumb made slight strokes over her porcelain skin.

Lucy looked down at where his hand rested on her arm, being drawn by the movement of his thumb against her skin.

"Excuse me?" Lucy mumbled, looking up into Natsu's dark eyes. Natsu nodded for her to continue, waiting for her to speak again.

"W-who are you...? A-and who's Natsu..?"

!X!

Whoops! Sorry guys! I'm leaving it here for now! Guess you'll just have to find out what happens next time! Anyway, a new Nalu fic will be posted real soon, and I mean REAL soon, like in the next few minutes so I hope you check it out! It's called The Cursed Princess. ;) Thanks guys!