Prompt 12- "I lost our child." (NaLu)
The first time Lucy was pregnant with Natsu's child was the worst. Worst, a word meaning that of all the bad things, something out of those bad things was the baddest thing, here used as a simile for "the most agonizing loss Lucy and Natsu had ever felt."
Another evil, dark lord of magic or whatever had emerged, trying to take over the world with countless minions, a dastardly plan, and magic strong enough to beat Team Natsu at its best. And still, Lucy had gone into the battle, knowing full-well that she was pregnant with her and Natsu's first child. Natsu hadn't been happy with the idea, but he had also known that there would be no stopping Lucy if she wanted to help.
So she was pregnant when the only one left standing in the battle against the bad guy was Lucy. The bad guy had proceeded to beat the utter tar out of her. And Lucy really would have been fine if she wasn't pregnant, or if it had even just been at a different time of day. But she was already feeling sick so soon into her pregnancy, and a wave of nausea had hit her at the most inopportune time. And the dark wizard had used it to his advantage, and wiped the floor with Lucy.
Which, again, would have been fine any other day a month beforehand. But around the fifth or sixth time the wizard flung her around the battlefield, pummeling her from the inside out with an exotic kind of magic she'd never seen before, Lucy felt something break inside her. Not a bone, you understand. In fact, the only thing Lucy really felt was a kind of numbness, or even, emptiness. But she felt it in her heart all the same. She had the awful, terrifying feeling that the flicker of life inside her had just gone out. And she knew, in her heart of hearts, that she was right.
And Natsu knew it as well. He knew. He knew the instant it happened, because he was so well-attuned to his beautiful girlfriend, his amazing Lucy. Natsu had staggered to his feet, death raging in his dark eyes. He finished the dark wizard and ended his short life in two minutes flat.
It was ironic, Lucy thought, almost hysterically. The motivation to be able to defeat the enemy had been the premature death of his baby. Lucy sobbed, and Natsu's arms were around her instantly.
"I-I lost our b-baby, Natsu."
"I know, Luce. I know."
"I-I'm s-sorry, Natsu, I'm sorry I-I shouldn't ha-have come I'm so, so sorry, y-you were right-" Lucy sobbed uncontrollably into his shoulder, and Natsu held her tightly, though gently, as though he was afraid she would break.
"Shh, Luce, shh. I don't blame ya, okay? It ain't your fault." It was a miracle he kept his voice steady enough to try and calm her like he was doing. Tears ran down his cheeks even while he spoke those would-be comforting words, and his own body shook with suppressed emotion.
Natsu didn't try to tell Lucy it was okay, because it clearly was not. And he truly did not believe it was her fault, he truly did not blame her. The only person at fault here was the dark wizard, and he had already paid dearly for the death of the dragon slayer's baby.
All Natsu could do was hold his beautiful Lucy close while heart-wrenching sobs echoed over the still battlefield. She curled into him, burying her face in his scarf and gasping until she couldn't breathe, crying until there was nothing left and even then she still sobbed, choking out misery and breathless, heartbroken apology after breathless, heartbroken apology, and through it all, Natsu could do nothing except sit there and try to calm her, bearing it with her.
But they were both strong, and they would move past this.
A/N: A bit of explanation, then. The other day, I found out my mom was pregnant twice before me, and both babies died. The second was a year before me, and miscarried because doctors are idiots. If that baby had been born, I wouldn't have been. Food for thought.
The first time my mother was pregnant, she was 16 and stuck with an abusive boyfriend and parents who have never understood her. When she told him, he proceeded to violently beat the shit out of her until the baby died. She didn't tell her parents or the police, so this asshole got away scott-free, and is, to this day, living the good life with not a care in the world, completely ignoring the fact that he basically murdered his first (probably) child and my would-be oldest brother/sister. It's been 25 years since the first one, but I can tell it still makes her sad.
I have many emotions because of this new-found knowledge. So instead of going to this douchebag's house and attempting to beat the shit out of him, I decided to write something. Because this is how I deal with things.
Anyway, enough angst! You guys didn't come here for that! I hope you enjoyed (enjoyed's the wrong word) the story! And if you didn't, I hope (hope's also the wrong word) you cried, because a reaction like that is better than no reaction at all!
Next chapter coming soon!
