. Paranormal .


She was still crying an hour later despite the panicking ghost's attempts to get her to calm down, and it was only when Natsu moaned about choosing the stupidest girl in the building to haunt that she began to calm down. She didn't need a goddamn poltergeist telling her that she was being ridiculous!

Still, by the end of it, her eyes were puffy and her throat parched to the point that she'd drained a water bottle. Her face was red, and she sniffled a few times as she simply forced herself to come to a conclusion, the only one that she could make at the moment.

She, Lucy Heartfilia, had nearly died and was now seeing things she certainly hadn't seen before.

She was going to have some sharp words with everyone tonight.

Lucy sniffed one more time before rasping, "Well. I can see you now."

"Thought as much when you started freaking out," he drawled in response.

Silence.

Lucy was hunched over painfully in her wheelchair, ignoring the throbbing and stabbing pains in her back. She wanted to sit up - needed to sit up - but couldn't bring herself to do it. She wiped at her eye before glancing up at him. Natsu was seated on the edge of her table, bare feet dangling, onyx eyes watching her every movement. Heat sweltered around the pair, radiating off of him, and Lucy could practically feel the emotions that came off of him. Pain, sorrow, fury, terror, rage, danger. The list went on and on.

But for the most part, she could feel a happy relief that came from him, filling her own body with an elation she didn't understand. She struggled to damper it as she choked out, "I...you threw knives at Gray's head?"

Natsu burst into loud laughter, his face taking on an excitedly evil look. "Hell yeah, I threw knives at the bastard! Left me alone here. Deserved it. Not like I was intending to hit him. I was pretty proud of my work you know."

"You shouldn't be," Lucy said with a faint laugh. Her lip quivered again suddenly and he began to glare at her warningly.

"Don't you dare," he growled, "Don't you dare start crying again! I can't handle it!"

She gave a slightly hysterical laugh, a choked sob bubbling from her lips. "Tell me that again when you start seeing ghosts like it's normal, okay?

"Uh, hello?" He waved a hand in front of his own face with a fairly annoyed face. "It kinda is normal for some of us, you know? And let me tell ya, Luce, I've seen some ugly suckers walk past the building with whoever they were tracking." Natsu made a face in disgust at the memory before kicking a foot boredly. "Glad you're back," he told her suddenly. "Been boring as hell around here without your TV shows going."

She pinched the bridge of her nose, swallowing thickly. "What TV shows do I possibly get to watch when you're too busy switching the channels around?"

He cracked a grin that was nearly childish, his white teeth flashing. "If you turned on the right shows, maybe I wouldn't!"

"Jerk," she sighed exhausted, finally sitting up. She cringed when pain snapped through her, warning her that she'd been doing too much. She had to rest. Or she'd end up right back in the hospital, that was Porlyusica's deal with her. She winced, glancing back to where she'd left the medication that had been sent home with her. "...you can grab things, right?"

"Yep." He hopped down, not making a sound when his feet hit the ground. He seemed to know what she'd wanted and snatched up the bag of medicine before bringing it over to her and dropping it into her lap. She winced at the heat that came off of the bag, but uttered a thanks and went to work on figuring out what she needed to take.

Natsu watched closely as she did so, his onyx eyes burning with some emotion that Lucy couldn't place when she glanced up at him. The emotions coming off of him switched so quickly, it made her dizzy, but she said nothing, focusing on what she needed to do.

She was tilting her head back carefully to take a pill when Natsu suddenly said, his voice emotionless and quiet, "They said you were hit by a car."

"Apparently," she answered with a sigh. She rested her head back and closed her eyes, her breath catching painfully in her throat every now and then. "I don't remember much. Hit my head really hard, was knocked out for a few weeks. There were some other injuries, but…at least I'm alive."

Natsu only grunted, seemingly uninterested as he padded silently away. Lucy watched him go with a look of confusion, wheeling curiously after him. But by the time she reached the small area that led to her living room, he was gone, having disappeared into thin air. "...Natsu?" she muttered in confusion, not feeling any heat for the moment.

A moment later, the door opened, and Levy bustled in, a bag tucked under her arm. A gentle smile was on her face as she dropped it on the couch, catching sight of Lucy. "Sorry, turns out there were some people who noticed you coming in and wanted to know how you were doing...everything okay?"

Lucy contemplated the idea of admitting that she'd seen Natsu for the first time ever despite living with him for so long, but declined the idea almost immediately. She wanted to talk to Juvia first. "Yeah...just had to take some medicine. Help me onto the couch?"

Levy beamed and hurried over to grab the handles on the back of her wheelchair, pushing her over to the couch. "Sure thing," she agreed, rolling up her sleeves. "You get some sleep or just chill and watch some TV, okay? Juvia and I are going to go out and do some things, and I'll stop by with Happy before we start setting up for your party."

"Thanks." Lucy grinned at the thought of getting to see her cat, shifting an arm around Levy's shoulders. She grimaced in pain as the smaller woman helped her onto the couch, but somehow managed to get around the pain without a sound. "Natsu shouldn't be causing any issues in your apartment for the time being, I don't think," she told her hesitantly.

"Really?" Levy beamed. "Did he show up?"

Lucy's eyebrow twitched. "In a way. If you call lights flickering showing up."

Levy hummed. "I see. Well, I'll go get Gajeel and Happy. If you need anything, give someone a call, okay? We'll be here as soon as possible."

"Thanks, Levy-chan," Lucy said honestly, grabbing Levy's wrist before she could leave and squeezing it gently in gratitude. She felt a twinge of guilt for lying to her friend, but silently promised to tell her as soon as she'd had her chat with Juvia.

"No problem. See you in a bit, Lu-chan!" Levy moved to leave as soon as Lucy was comfortable, then paused and sighed heavily, "Natsu, if you want to come and join the party then you can, okay? Just...be careful, other people will be there."

Lucy nearly jumped out of her skin when hot breath washed over the back of her neck. Natsu had draped himself over the back of the couch, hanging there awkwardly. His piercing gaze rested on Levy as he muttered, "No shit. 'Cause I want some weirdo bringing exorcists after me." Lucy tensed, but Levy didn't seem to notice, waving before leaving.

As soon as she was gone, Lucy whipped her hand around to swat at Natsu until he moved. She could feel the heat, the strange twist of the air where he'd been, but she felt no solid flesh, and it made her pause. Unable to turn to look at him, she demanded, "Where'd you run off to?"

"Book woman's pissed at me." His onyx eyes watched something that Lucy couldn't see. "I got mad and may have ripped up a few books."

"Natsu," Lucy scolded, but it came out more as an exasperated sigh. She jumped when he carelessly dropped onto the couch, her eyes studying the way he seemed to not create an indent in the cushion. Interested yet wary, the blonde cautiously asked, "Natsu?" He glanced at her. "How can you sit like this when you're not…" She fought for the word before finishing. "Solid?"

Natsu blinked and then gave a wide grin that told her of trouble. "I dunno. Just happens. It's like when I do this." He reached out, ignoring the way she flinched away from the heat that roiled off of him. He gently rested his fingers against her arm, and her eyes went wide at the realization that she could actually feel the pressure. "Depends on how much energy I use, I guess. Takes a lot of hard thinking to actually physically touch things. I don't get tired, but I get pissed off about it."

Which explained the vicious yanking on her hair. Lucy felt a flash of guilt; he'd tried hard to get her attention, and she'd only ignored him.

Not that he could do it now. Subconsciously, Lucy reached up to touch what little hair had grown back, her gaze darkening with grief. Her hair was something important to her. Shaking the thoughts off, Lucy looked back at her poltergeist friend. "Are you going to join us later? At Levy's?"

He snorted. "Of course." The spirit hopped to his feet and Lucy blinked when the lights flickered for a moment. His gaze darted this way and that, searching for something she didn't see.

She took the moment to watch him closely.

Natsu was friendly, she knew. Sometimes violent, sometimes cranky depending on the day, but she'd never call him an evil spirit that needed to be exorcised. Who wouldn't get violent at times like this? It must suck, being a ghost. Never able to move on. He could sense anything and everything that went on in what he had probably claimed as his building despite Gajeel's ownership.

Tears gathered in the young woman's eyes at the thought.

He couldn't go on to whatever came after death. He was stuck here. The question, then, was why.

Suddenly, Lucy asked, "Natsu. Why don't you want us to figure out how you died?"

He went still, very still. Still enough that she began to feel like she shouldn't have asked the question especially when the lights flickered and her TV switched on before flipping through channels. A book or two flew off of her bookshelves, and Lucy bit her lip to hide her fear when Natsu slowly turned to give her a piercing look, scrutinizing every reaction and emotion that crossed her face.

Finally, he answered. His voice was blank as he spoke, hard and gruff.

"I don't remember how I died," he told her with a scowl, looking her straight in the eye and unnerving her as he did so. "Kinda like your amnesia with getting run over. I don't remember a lot of things. I remember Gray and Erza and Juvia, I remember my father and how I felt for years after he just up and disappeared on me. I remember the long term things. But I don't remember how I died. And I…" He shook his head. "Something bad happened. I can sense danger and it has to do with this." As if proving what he meant, Lucy felt the heat rise in the room. "All of the other ghosts I've seen are cold. I'm fired up, all the damn time."

Lucy listened with care before murmuring, "So you don't want us looking into it because-"

"I think it'll get you killed." He was curt, a hiss in his throat at the thought. "And I won't let that happen. Try and find out, Lucy, and it won't end well for anyone, got it?"

"...sure." Lucy bit her lip, looking away.

How had he gone from a friendly and grinning ghost to this? It was like someone had flipped a switch on his personality! And it made her uncomfortable. So she took a deep breath and came up with a solution.

She'd figure it out whether he liked it or not.

She'd just make sure he didn't find out.

Suddenly, Natsu was cheerful again. The darkness around him lifted, filling her own body with an elation she was startled by. The pink-haired spirit seemed to launch himself into the air and landed lightly on the couch cushion beside her, his onyx eyes gleaming as he said eagerly, "So since we can talk now...I wanna know how you found that ice-obsessed stripper. And Erza. Then you can help me figure out how to piss off that weird iron freak when he comes to visit the book woman-"

"You're as bad as he is when it comes to names," Lucy whined. "Levy has a name you know!"

"She's the book woman," Natsu said with a shrug. "I don't think anyone's ever owned as many books as she does. Dunno how the hell she keeps 'em organized...but tell me!"

Lucy's lips spread into a warm smile and she rolled her eyes playfully. Tired and wanting to get some rest before she had the party later that evening, Lucy settled down to chat with her friend, trying to ignore the panic that still filled her every now and then when she thought of the fact that she could look at him.


From where he was comfortably resting on top of a cabinet, Natsu watched.

He'd joined the welcoming party, eager to see and watch the other people there, especially Lucy. He needed to keep an eye on her. He refused to let her leave the building at all. Not ever, not when there was a risk of something like this happening again.

It was hilarious. Juvia was there, glancing at him every now and then. Natsu knew that Lucy needed to and wanted to speak with her about seeing him. He'd listen in, of course, see what Lucy's thoughts on him were to try and stay on her good side. It'd be a bit harder though; now that Lucy could see him, he couldn't just show up in front of them.

The rest of them, however, were clueless. Gajeel looked around suspiciously as if hoping that he'd get a reason to have the poltergeist exorcised, Gray keeping close to Juvia in hopes that if knives started flying that she'd put a stop to it. Natsu grinned; he liked screwing around with Gray just as much as he'd enjoyed the banter in life. There was a group of three that Natsu didn't recognize enjoying themselves. A girl was giggling at their antics and he immediately liked her young and innocent face.

The Strauss siblings were there, too, and Natsu smiled brightly at the sight of his childhood friend. He hadn't seen Lisanna and her siblings since nearly a year before his death if he remembered correctly. Then again, it might have been longer. Time seemed to shift when you were dead.

And then there was Erza. He wasn't sure of the calm man behind her. The strange red mark on his face only added to the mystery, but Natsu thought the chilled man to be a good match for his violent red-haired friend. He remembered messing with her and then getting the hell beat out of him for it, and Natsu found himself upset, the air around him changing with how he felt.

Lucy...well. His Lucy was in pain if the grimace she gave was anything to go by. The book woman asked if she was okay and she lied, telling her that she was much to Natsu's annoyance. If she wanted to go home, why not say so? He'd take care of her. But she smiled brightly, only laughing at something that idiotic blond said.

He could tell that she was bothered. Lucy wasn't a vain person, but she'd always taken pride in her appearance. To see the scars that would mar her skin forever, and the missing blonde hair...he knew it upset her. She hid it from the others, but he knew. She couldn't hide it from him.

Natsu jumped from his spot without a care in the world, eyes ablaze with curiosity as he meandered among those gathered. Gajeel snarled under his breath and Levy smiled beautifully. Erza cocked her head to the side, her fiancé questioning if she was okay. Erza nodded. The others didn't seem to care, though Juvia gave a little wave when no one was looking, and Natsu came to a halt beside his Lucy.

She was pretty. Even without her hair and dressed in some comfortable clothing, she was pretty. He stood easily beside her to listen in on their conversation, earning a glare from the blonde. She'd taken the idea of seeing him pretty well.

The silver-haired woman paused to ask if Lucy was doing okay, if she needed anything, and Lucy reassured her that she was fine before smiling kindly at the dark-haired one's offer to get her something to drink and accepting.

Natsu frowned; he wished he could join in, drinking and eating and laughing with them. He wanted to be able to wrap his arms around his still grieved friends and laugh at their ridiculousness.

"Something bad happened. I can sense danger and it has to do with this." As if proving what he meant, Lucy felt the heat rise in the room. "All of the other ghosts I've seen are cold. I'm fired up, all the damn time."

Lucy listened with care before murmuring, "So you don't want us looking into it because-"

"I think it'll get you killed." He was curt, a hiss in his throat at the thought. "And I won't let that happen. Try and find out, Lucy, and it won't end well for anyone, got it?"

He hadn't been lying despite the harshness of the way he'd spoken. He wouldn't mind the idea of Lucy helping him move on if he wasn't worried about her. As long as Lucy wasn't in danger, then the rest of them could do whatever they wanted. His gaze darkened as he thought of this.

He didn't give a damn about the rest of them.

Lucy was his warmth.

His warmth...his light...his.

Lucy was his.

And she had better damn well live a life that involved him in it, because otherwise...he wasn't entirely sure he'd be able to stay the "friendly poltergeist" that she'd labeled him as.


And now we get to learn some more about Natsu! :D Still being a cranky little jerk at the end there, of course, but... Thanks for the many reviews (KaUiA, luv it, MehKitty, NaLu x Buckets, Moon Stone Tiger Lily, Trevie, Haus of Lexy, ilftnatsu, Yami-The Lord of Darkness, Maiokoe, uvsns, maalikdb, CuteKitty264, PinkFireandGoldenStars, Kinsutenekochan, dolphintale204, Guest, AFallenAngel1221, OwlChaser113, NaLuFTfanatic, kat5552, Mechanical-Rose-Sama, and silver light of dawn!) as well as those who favorited and followed!