* I hope one day Hiro Mashima will read my story and like it so much that he will give me permission to use Fairy Tail and its characters, but until then I don't own them.

** This is a shout out to The Evil Stick, thank you for all your comments and encouragement! This chapter might have been a little boring if you hadn't inspired me. Thank You!

Normal POV

Lucy laughed maliciously as she yanked the sword out of Natsu's stomach and watched him collapse to the ground. His hands pressed to the wound as he coughed up blood.

"That was easier than I thought it would be," she taunted. Lucy knelt down beside him, roughly grabbing his chin between her fingers and digging her nails into her skin. "I was hoping for a real fight, but all I had to do was show you some of that pathetic girl's memories to soften you up. It's like you wanted me to run you through."

Natsu felt sick as he watched Lucy lift the sword to her mouth and run her tongue down the broad side of the blade, licking off the blood. He wanted to turn away, but she still had a hold on his chin. He had already lost too much blood to fight her off.

"Hmm, I was expecting your blood to taste hot, maybe spicy," she mused. "But it tastes just like normal blood. Guess that means there isn't anything special about you after all. You're nothing but an over-grown lizard!" She released his chin but slashed his face with her sharp nails. He felt his cheek split open in two places and it stung like a bitch.

"Lucy, don't do this," Natsu mumbled as he kept loosing blood. "You snapped out of it before, I know you can…" A kick to his shoulder sent him rolling across the ground, he groaned in pain as he came to a stop. I thought Loke said I couldn't get hurt, but here I am bleeding! I could actually die from this!

"You might have woken that weak, little bitch before, but she won't wake up again." Lucy walked over to Natsu; her black eyes narrowed on his form, and stabbed him in his right thigh. She laughed as he screamed. "I've got a really good hold on her mind this time. Her body and her magic belong to me now and I will not give them up."

Natsu growled as he fought down the pain. "If you're not Lucy, then who are you?"

She laughed again as she pulled the sword from his leg. "I'm Lucy, but I'm not." She stabbed him in his left shoulder and he screamed again. "I'm the part that she never let anyone see. I'm the part that wanted to kill our father for treating us like property to be sold to the highest bidder. I'm the part that wants to make our opponent suffer and bleed every time we fight. I don't run away or cower in a corner and cry. The girl you knew was weak. She didn't deserve this life, so it's mine now."

"She's not weak!" Natsu yelled before she twisted the blade in his shoulder. His injuries were getting to him. He barely had the strength to keep his eyes open anymore. He never would have guessed that Lucy could be so sadistic and cruel, these injuries were even worse than the ones she had given him when they were awake…

His eyes shot open. That's it! Loke said I couldn't get physically hurt because it's all in our heads! Concentrating on the stab wound at his gut, he told himself over and over that it wasn't real. In an instant, the pain and the blood that had been there was gone. If this is how it works in our minds, I might have a way to fight back now.

Lucy was shocked when Natsu suddenly grabbed the blade of the sword and it melted away in his hand until the only thing that remained was the handle she was holding. She also noticed that the all wounds she had inflicted were gone. When he smiled at her, she smiled back. "I was wondering if you would ever figure that out," she sneered at him. "Thought I would have more time before you did, considering how stupid you are. I really wanted to play with you some more. It doesn't matter though. I'll never let that weakling beat me."

"You're wrong," Natsu said as he stood, his strength fully returned to him. "Lucy has never been weak. She's stronger than anyone I know."

She laughed. "That girl was never strong. She cried, she ran away, she expected everyone else to take care of her. Me, on the other hand, I know how to take care of myself!" A knife materialized in Lucy's hand and she threw it at Natsu.

He didn't even try to dodge it. Natsu opened his mouth wide and imagined the knife turning into a fireball. It immediately changed and he swallowed in down. "For claiming that you're part of Lucy, you don't seem to know much about her," Natsu said as he stared her down. He knew that attacking her wouldn't do any good since it was all in their heads. He'd already proven that she couldn't hurt him anymore and he couldn't bring himself to attack her. That left him with only one option, and it had worked before…

"And you think you know her?" She sneered. Ropes lashed out of the darkness, wrapping around Natsu's ankles, wrists, torso and throat.

He smiled at her. "I know that you call her weak but she was strong enough to break free of you. According to Loke, no one has ever done that before."

"Nothing but a fluke," she snapped as the course ropes tightened around him, leaving rope burns on his skin.

The ropes turned to fire a moment later and Natsu sucked down the flames, healing his wounds. He grinned at her after he swallowed. "It could have been a fluke, except she did it twice. Lucy's stronger than you want to admit. And since you claim to be the same person, let me tell you about yourself."

"No!" A bed of glass appeared between Natsu and Lucy as she backed a few steps away from him. Her reaction spurred him on, she was getting scared which meant that he was on the right track.

Imagining the glass as being nothing but feathers, he slowly walked toward her. "You prefer sweet food to greasy food. Your favorite drink at the guild is a hot chai tea with lots of sugar."

"So you pay attention to what I eat, big deal!"

"When you lived at your father's home, you always wore long dresses that you hated. So now you always wear miniskirts even when pants would be better for a mission."

"Shut up!" Twenty knives flew at Natsu as she screamed. They turned into wisps of smoke as he continued to walk toward her.

"You do get scared when you come up against an enemy that you think is stronger than you, but you keep fighting. Especially if a friend is in danger, you fight to protect them."

Natsu suddenly found himself completely incased in ice, he melted it a moment later with his fire. Her hands were shaking, he wasn't sure if that was a good or bad thing. Hoping that it meant the real Lucy was trying to take back control, he kept going.

"You're a celestial spirit wizard like your mom and she taught you that celestial spirits were more than just tools to be used. You treat your spirits like friends and they love you for that. You call your friends at the guild your family and they think of you the same way. Right now, everyone is worried sick about you and they want you to come back…"

"STOP!"

Swords flew out of the darkness from every direction too fast for Natsu to dodge or imagine them differently. He felt himself being stabbed all over his body before collapsing. Blood dripped from his wounds as he struggled to think clearly.

Okay… that one hurt a bit. If it was the real world I would probably be dead. But this isn't real, and I am not going to die! His fire flared, melting the swords and healing his wounds at the same time. I won't stop until I save Lucy!

Natsu was still breathing heavily as he stood back up. "You won't scare me away, Luce. I would never leave you."

"I don't need your pity! I don't need you at all," she screamed as she backed away from him.

"Yes, you do. You depend on me more than anyone else in the guild."

"LIAR!"

"Whenever you get cold in your sleep and I come by your apartment, I climb in bed with you to keep you warm. When you jumped from Phantom Lord's tower, you knew I would be there to catch you. Whenever you need to make your rent, you take a job with me. And when you got poisoned, you trusted me to keep your spirits and our family safe from you."

Lucy pulled her hair as she shook her head. Natsu had been sure that last part would have snapped her back to her old self, but she wasn't there yet. Not sure what else to do, he kept talking.

"You're a weirdo but you're also smart, kind, funny and brave. You dance like a fairy even when I step on your feet. You make the best food, which is why Happy and I are always asking you to make us something. I don't read much but I want to read your book because I know it'll be amazing. Plus, you have the best scent in the world, strawberries and honey. Whenever I feel like I'm going stir-crazy or I just need to relax, I go over to your apartment or I find you. Your scent calms me down and makes me happy like nothing else; but since you got poisoned, that scent is gone."

Natsu was close enough now that he was able to grab her by her arms. She struggled against his hold but he didn't let her go. She looked panicked, like a trapped animal, and knowing that he was the one that was scaring her so much hurt. But he had to do this, he had to get through to his Lucy.

"It's like all the things that I identify as being parts of you are slipping away. I'm too selfish to let that happen. You need me but I need you more. I'm in love with you, Luce, and I refuse to live without you."

Lucy gasped. Her eyes began flashing back and forth from brown to black. "No… you're lying. You're only saying that to fight her back… fight me back…" She groaned and gripped her head as if she was in pain.

"You asked me why I kissed your neck that night in the hotel. It was because I couldn't hold back anymore. I didn't know how you felt about me, I still don't know, but I felt like it was my only chance." He wrapped one arm around her to press her body to his and cupped her cheek with his other hand. Her eyes continued to flash back and forth. "I'm begging you. Please, beat this thing. Don't leave me like Igneel did. You're my mate and I won't be able to survive losing you too. And if you can't fight for me, then fight for everyone waiting for you at Fairy Tail. Please, Luce. I love you."

Desperate, Natsu leaned forward and pressed his lips to hers. He felt her push against his chest to get away but he kept his hold. Even though it was only in their minds, he poured everything he could into that kiss. If he had to kiss her a thousand times until she realized how much he needed her, how much he loved her, he would do it so long as she came back to him.

Lucy gasped again as a sharp pain shot through her head, like something was ripped out of her. She felt herself falling as he legs gave out but Natsu caught her. Then the pain was gone.

Natsu looked at her and saw those beautiful brown eyes he had come to know. The acidic scent changed, surrounding him with the smell of strawberries and honey.

A flash of light surrounded them, blinding both of them for a moment. When they could see again, neither one of them could believe what they saw. They were surrounded by images and memories from both of their minds.

Lucy POV

I gripped Natsu's shirt as the images surrounded us. Immediately, I recognized a lot of them as my memories. Others, I didn't recognize at all until a feeling came over me and I knew that they were Natsu's memories. I could see and feel everything that he had experienced. How much he loved Igneel and how devastated he had been when the dragon had disappeared. The excitement he felt whenever he beat someone in a fight. How hurt he had been when Lisanna, his sister, had supposedly died and then how excited he was to find out that she was alive. And there was so much more.

What shocked me the most were all the memories and emotions that were tied to me. The day we met in Hargeon; when he thought I had gone home for good; when I appeared in Edolas; Kane attacking me during the S-class exams. I blushed when I saw the memory of Natsu coming to my apartment a few days ago and seeing me after I dropped the towel.

There wasn't a single thing I didn't know about Natsu or how he felt about me. He hadn't lied when he said that he loved me. I was everything to him. When I looked up at him, I was surprised to see him crying. Natsu never cried. Then I realized that he was going through the same thing as I was. He knew every memory and feeling I had about him.

Before I could do anything, he cupped my face between his hands and used his thumbs to wipe my tears away. We didn't speak to each other, we didn't need to. I was in love with him and he loved me back. I stood on my toes and kissed him with every bit of emotion I was feeling.

His hands were firm on my cheeks and his lips were demanding against mine. When I felt his tongue lick my lower lip, I opened my mouth to grant him entrance. He was so eager that it almost made me giggle. Natsu's tongue ran across my own and I sucked on it as I wrapped my arms around his neck. I heard him moan and was eager to see what other sounds he would make but he then drew his mouth away from mine. He hugged me to his chest with one arm around my waist and the other buried in my hair.

"It's time for us to wake up," he said.

"But I want to stay like this a little longer," I told him as I buried my face in his chest.

"I know, Luce. But I want to hold you and kiss you for real, not just in our heads. Plus, I want to let everyone know that you're mine."

"Aren't you getting a little ahead of yourself? I mean, you haven't even asked me out on a date yet and you think I'm your girlfriend," I teased.

"I don't think, I know. And I'm going to prove that you're so much more than that. You're my mate, Luce. So let's wake up and tell everyone."

Pulling away, she smiled up at him. "See you on the other side. I'm ready to wake up now."

A/N: This chapter was always meant to be a little bloody, but after some comments from one of my followers I was inspired to make it a lot more intense. I hoped you all liked it! Please review, I love hearing from all of you!