AUTHOR'S NOTE:

Happy New Year! I'm kicking off 2016 strong with this awesome new chapter. Oh, and someone was asking whether or not Natsu and company are able to use magic and the answer is YES, America isn't like Edolas. Anyway, please please keep reviewing and enjoying the story. I hope everyone has a fantastic year.

Chapter 13

Prom

Lucy looked at herself in the mirror. She normally wasn't picky about the way she looked, but tonight was special. She took a deep breath and smiled at her reflection. She was wearing a light peach gown that flowed effortlessly to the floor. The bodice had a sweetheart neckline that was covered by a fitted sheer lacy fabric studded with silvery jewels, creating a more elegant and angelic visage that accentuated the length of her neck and attractive figure. When she walked, her sparkly silver heels peeked out beneath the silky dress and gave an edge to her look. She wore her blond hair in a fancy up due that her hair stylist, Cancer, designed special for her.

Lucy Heartfilia was ready for prom.

Well with one exception; she was lacking a date. For months now, she had been dreaming about going to the senior dance with Natsu. Thoughts of dancing and laughing with the pink haired boy had actually made her excited to attend, but that simply wasn't an option anymore. She didn't know what to think of him these days. Was he really just messing with her heart the whole time or was there something much more complicated going on?

She was determined to put the whole situation out of her mind for at least the night. Yes, she was going by herself to prom, and yes, the whole school pretty much hated her, but she was still determined to have fun. She had come so close to not going at all, but her mom had talked her out of it, saying that Prom was a crucial experience for all senior girls and she would regret it for the rest of her life if she skipped. Lucy wasn't completely sure she bought that, but the point was she said yes to make her mom happy and she was determined to make the most of it.

She walked down the stairs, feeling nervous for some reason. She smiled when she saw that her parents and Pierre were at the bottom, waiting for her. A little shot of disappointment invaded her heart from the fact that she didn't have a handsome date to accompany her, but she quickly brushed that aside. Family was more important.

"You look absolutely beautiful." Her mom gushed, her smile broad and pearly white. Her father nodded stiffly in agreement. Lucy stifled a giggle upon seeing her dad's discomfort in the situation. Supporting his teenage daughter in these seemingly trivial matters wasn't his forte, but Lucy was grateful for his effort.

"Your mother is right, Miss Lucy." Pierre said warmly. "You look stunning."

"Thank you guys." Lucy blushed.

"Have fun tonight, Lucy." Her mom said warmly, wrapping her daughter up in a tight hug. "I hope it turns into the night of your dreams."

"I will." Lucy said determined.

"Lucy." Her father said, taking a step forward as he cleared his throat. "I know I've put a lot of pressure on you this past year, but I just want you to know that I just want you to be happy. Enjoy your dance."

Lucy smiled and was on the verge of tears. Her father had never spoken to her like that before. With him it was only ever about money and business and until the conversation she had with Pierre the other day, she thought that was because her father didn't respect what she wanted. It warmed her heart to know that her father did care about her and did value her happiness. Business was such a large part of his life that she couldn't blame him for wanting to pass his legacy onto his only daughter. It hadn't taken many words, but the pair had reached an understanding.

"Thank you, dad." She said. "That means the world to me."

"May I escort you out, Miss Lucy?" Pierre said offering her his arm, giving her a knowing smile.

"Yes, thank you." She said, still trying not to cry. "Bye, mom and dad. I'll see you soon."

"See you soon, darling." Her mom said, a single tear trickling down her cheek. "Make some wonderful memories for me."

Her dad simply nodded, unable to speak any more words. However, coming from her father, that simple gesture seemed like the warmest hug.

It was a warm, happy moment between parents and their only child. That was why Lucy couldn't explain the feeling of sadness deep inside her chest. They were only saying goodbye for the night, so why did that moment weigh so heavily on her heart?

XXX

"Thank you, Pierre." Lucy said from the back seat in the limo right before she got out.

"It's my pleasure, Lucy." Pierre replied. "For the past ten years it had been my pleasure."

"I'm so lucky to have you." Lucy said, feeling her eyes well up again.

"It is I who has been lucky to have you." He assured her. "Now, get out there and have some fun"

She smiled her best smile at him and then got out of the limo, waving goodbye to him as she stood on the sidewalk by herself. As he drove away, she couldn't quite remember a time that she felt so alone.

Time to change that. Lucy told herself firmly. Who knows? I might even make some new friends tonight.

With her head held high, she walked into the fancy five star hotel inside which Martin High was having their prom. She was escorted to the ball room, where all the action was taking place. Prom was already in full swing; teens were dancing far too close to one and other, laughing like there was no tomorrow, and having the time of their lives. Lucy walked in, trying to look at least more confident that she felt.

The lighting was dim in the ball room except for the blinding strobe lights flashing about from above. Lucy walked around the edges of the dance floor, feeling unsure of where she was supposed to go. In the end, she decided to take a seat at one of the tables.

The night passed very slowly. Lucy would alternate between walking around, dancing by herself, and sitting at her table. Feeling absolutely pathetic after doing this for a while, she checked the time and found that only 45 minutes had passed. How much longer before it was appropriate to leave? She wanted her parents to think she had fun so maybe she would stay for about another hour? Or was that too fast?

Anyway, she was getting a lot of odd looks from people seeing her all by herself. It wasn't the most socially acceptable thing to do and being the resident high school pariah, she found herself at the root of much amusement. Nevertheless, she had resolved her issues with the jerks at her high school a long time ago and wasn't bothered much by it at all. Around the hour mark, she decided to prove her indifference by trying to make some friends. She went up to a group of girls sitting around a table and asked if she could join them. They reluctantly said yes, but they quickly made it clear that she was not welcome. Getting the hint, Lucy excused herself to the bathroom and never returned to their table. Next, she found another girl all by herself, except she was crying her eyes out. Ugly smears of mascara were dripping from the thick black rings around her eyes and down her face, leaving streaks of gray on her cheeks. Her prom date must have dumped her or something.

"What's wrong?" Lucy had asked her gently, placing a comforting hand on the girl's shoulder.

"Get away from me you bitch!" The girl screamed back at her.

That was strike two at making friends.

Strike three occurred when a boy actually asked her to dance. Lucy was overwhelmed with relief and said yes, but about three minutes into their dance, the boy's date came up to her and cussed her out. Lucy left the couple alone to argue.

Dejected, Lucy went back over to her table and sat down. The night was not going well at all. Lucy let out a deep sigh and then took a sip of the punch. Suddenly, the sharp taste of hard liquor hit her lips.

Looks like someone spiked the punch. Lucy thought. She spit the drink back into her cup and set it on the table.

"Not a fan of the punch?" At first Lucy thought she had hallucinated the voice, but when she looked up she saw that it had come from a real boy. For a heartbeat, her wild imagination caused her to believe it was Natsu, but she quickly realized that this guy's voice was much too deep. And so she looked at this person closer to see who she was dealing with. He wasn't drop dead gorgeous, but he wasn't bad on the eyes either. He had dark hair, warm brown eyes, and a friendly smile.

"I just think the alcohol to fruit juice ratio was a bit off." Lucy said with a laugh.

"Wow, someone who finally agrees with me!" He said as he took a seat next to her.

"We might just be the only two sober people here." She said.

"Whoa, I never said I was sober." The boy joked, holding his hands up defensively. Lucy laughed genuinely for the first time that night. Quickly, however, her smile faded. The boy didn't miss the sad look in her eyes. "Having a rough night?" He asked.

"Yeah." Lucy said, not caring to elaborate. "How about you?"

"Not that great." He said. "My date ditched me to dance with another dude."

"Well I'm sure she'll come back." Lucy assured him.

"That was over an hour ago."

"Oh." She said, her face cracking into another smile. "Then maybe not."

"Yeah." He agreed. "But I'm determined not to let it ruin the night. And then I saw a beautiful girl sitting all by herself and I almost couldn't believe my luck. So what do you say? How about we turn this night around with a dance?"

Lucy continued to grin, thinking she was the lucky one. What were the odds that she would find such a sweet boy here tonight? It was almost like a fairytale, meeting a prince at the ball. So why was she hesitating? She should be jumping at the opportunity. She should be grateful to finally meet someone friendly.

Something just doesn't feel right. She didn't want to but her thoughts immediately went to Natsu. She thought of how good it felt to be in his presence, how her skin tingled when they touched, and how his crooked goofy smile compared to this boy's sweet soft one. She felt another pain in her chest as she wished that she was here with Natsu.

You can't be picky, Lucy. She scolded herself. Look, this is your golden opportunity to get over Natsu. This could be the best night of your life if you just forget about-

And the she saw Natsu. Not the imaginary Natsu that constantly danced around in her head, but the real living Natsu that broke her heart. At first she thought she had dreamt the whole thing up, but on closer inspection, she clearly sighted a mop of pink hair that could only belong to one person.

What the hell is he doing here? Lucy thought instantly, but when she looked closer she saw that… Natsu was pinning Gordon Ronald against a wall! She blinked once to be sure of what she was witnessing, but there Natsu was, with Gordon's shirt crumpled in his fists as he held the bully against some very elegant wallpaper.

"You've got to be kidding me." Lucy murmured and then clapped her hand over her mouth when she realized she said that out loud.

"Well if you didn't want to-" The brown haired boy began to say, hurt showing on his face.

"No I do want to dance with you! I was talking about something else!" Lucy said quickly. Then she started improvising wildly. "There's a stain on my dress. I must have gotten punch on it! Let me go clean it off in the bathroom and then I can take you up on that dance!"

"Sounds good." The boy said, looking very pleased. "I'll wait for you here."

Lucy nodded and then hurried off through the crowd to where Natsu was. Getting closer, she saw that Natsu was hissing angry words at Gordon's face as the wrestler's toes were barely scraping the floor from his compromised position. Natsu looked as angry as she had ever seen him.

"Natsu, what the hell are you doing?!" Lucy shrilled. Natsu turned around and had an 'oh crap' expression when he saw her.

"Might be best just to go back to the dance floor, Luce. I got things under control here." Natsu said and then he winked at her. He had the nerve to wink at her! And why was he calling her 'Luce' again? Even though hearing her nickname sent a familiar shiver down her spine, he had no right!

"Why are you even here?" She said angrily. "Don't tell me it's to beat up Gordon again!"

"You really think that lowly of me, huh?" Natsu said, his tone surprisingly soft. Then he shook his head. "Well, I guess I don't blame yah, but seriously, you should just leave this alone."

"Leave it alone?" Lucy yelled back furiously. "I've tried to just leave it alone! I've tried to just forget about you but then you show up at my prom and beat up one of the students! How am I supposed to just leave that alone?"

Natsu was about to say something back when Gordon started to make a noise, but it didn't sound anything like his usual self. His eyes were emotionless and his face without expression. It was like he was in some sort of trance.

"I will take Lucy. I will bring her to my master. She will die…" Gordon chanted, as if Lucy wasn't standing right in front of him.

"Is he drunk?" Lucy said, confused. That was the only semi-logical explanation. He was making no sense.

"Yeah, let's go with that." Natsu said, nodding his head viciously.

"You still aren't telling me what is going on." Lucy reminded him, channeling her anger on the pink haired boy. Absentmindedly, she noticed that Natsu was wearing a tux. It was prom, but somehow it caught her off guard. He looked so good…

"Me and Ronaldo are just catching up." He replied easily with a cheeky smile.

"Stop lying to me!" Lucy shouted, forgetting about how handsome Natsu looked in a heartbeat.

"Can you just close your eyes for like five seconds?" Natsu pleaded.

"NO!" Lucy shot back.

"Fine, but I warned you." Natsu answered back begrudgingly.

Natsu pulled his fist back and then let it explode forward to punch Gordon square in the jaw, knocking him out cold.

"What was that for?!"

"Trust me it's for his own good."

Then he grabbed the large wrestler, slugging his 200 plus pound body over his shoulder and carried him to a storage closet along the side of the ball room. Natsu opened the closet and dumped Gordon inside. The pink haired boy grabbed some rope from inside the storage room and tied the larger boy's hands and feet together. Then Natsu shut the door, leaving Gordon inside.

Lucy just watched in disbelief.

"What are you? Some sort of serial killer?" Lucy said, her eyes fierce with rage. What the heck was he playing at?

Natsu didn't get a chance to answer. Suddenly, a small blue cat came bursting through the crowed, breathing heavily as though he'd been running for a long time. Natsu's eyes lit up in shock, although Lucy couldn't blame him. This was Happy, Natsu's pet cat, so how the heck did he get here?

Even stranger, Natsu bent down low enough so that the cat could whisper in his ear.

No that's not right. Lucy scolded herself, shaking her head. Cats can't whisper… can they? Because it looked a whole lot like Happy was moving his jaw, as if he was forming words.

Suddenly, Natsu stood up, a whole new expression on his face. It was hard and solid, void of any humor it used to have.

"I'm sorry, Luce but I don't have time to do this right now." Natsu said urgently, looking her straight in the eyes. Lucy saw the truth in them. For once he wasn't lying. "I got to go help out my friends. I promise I'll find you after I've finished and you can yell at me all you want, but I don't know when that's going to be. Please, please, please, just promise me that you'll stay here. I swear this is really important."

"I promise." Lucy said quietly, unsure of what to think. Things were happening so fast. She didn't know how she should be responding to any of it.

"Thank you." Natsu said. To Lucy's surprise he leaned down and kissed her on the cheek. It was fast and abrupt, but Lucy's skin felt like it was on fire just from the brief touch. Natsu had run away, closely followed by his cat before he could see her blush.

Lucy was now more confused than ever, but there was one thing at that moment she knew without a doubt. The way he spoke to her, the way he kissed her on the cheek, and the look in his eyes during their brief encounter, told her one thing. Natsu lied about their whole relationship being fake. That revelation didn't take away her underlying anger, but it did renew her desire for the truth. Something else was going on and she was going to find out what.

For a moment she thought about the sweet brown eyed boy she was about to leave behind, but Lucy knew she was doing the right thing. She had to find out the truth.

Sorry, Natsu, but you're not the only one who can lie.

XXX

Picking up her skirts, Lucy hurried out of the ball room, trying her best to keep up with Natsu's quick pace. Vaguely she wondered how she was supposed to follow him if he got in a car or something, but her question was quickly answered when Natsu raided a bicycle rack outside the hotel. To Lucy's disbelief, he stole it and began to peddle away fiercely.

Unable to believe what she was about to do, Lucy ripped off her heels and stole a bike as well. She probably looked absolutely ridiculous riding her bike in a prom dress, but she honestly didn't care. She felt wild and free as the cold wind brushed against her face, causing her peach dress to flutter wildly in its wake. Despite the circumstances, despite having just committed a felony, Lucy smiled. She couldn't remember the last time she felt this good.

She still had to focus, though. Natsu was way ahead of her and she was starting to lose sight of him. Boy, could that kid bike fast. Eventually, Lucy lost him completely. She couldn't tell which road he had turned down or where he was headed. Her high was starting to wear down. She had no idea where she was and her only mode of transportation was a bike. She tried to look around for places where Natsu might have gone but she was completely lost, right in the middle of nowhere.

Trying not to go into a full out panic mode, Lucy stopped pedaling and pulled her phone out of the small clutch purse she was carrying.

It was dead.

"Great." Lucy groaned. What was she going to do now? Her only hope was to somehow locate Natsu…

"Are you doing okay young lady?" A middle aged woman who was walking her dog stopped by Lucy along the side of the street. She knew she wasn't supposed to talk to strangers but-

"Have you seen a pink haired boy in a tux riding a bike anywhere?" Lucy asked desperately. To her surprise the lady let out a laugh.

"As a matter of fact, I have." She said and Lucy could not believe her luck. "I was walking my dog in the forest about a mile up when I saw him racing through on his bike."

"Thank you so much!" Lucy said breathlessly. Feeling hopeful again, she got back onto her stolen bike and sped off towards the forest.

Thanks to the bike, she reached the forest in no time at all. Deciding that she better not try to navigate her bike through all the trees and shrubbery, she discarded it and chose to go on foot.

Lucy didn't know what had possessed her. She didn't think she was the type of girl to steal a bike and venture barefoot into a forest by herself, but Natsu always made her crazy.

Or maybe he just brings out the crazy in me. A little voice said in the back of her head.

The point was that Lucy, a 17 year old girl was wondering through the forest all by herself in the middle of the night. She had no idea what time it was other than that it was very late. She started to think maybe this wasn't such a good idea. What was she saying, of course this wasn't a good idea! This was just about the worst idea she has ever had.

So why does it feel like I'm doing the right thing?

Her determination to find the truth welled up inside of her again. She was going to finally understand what was going through Natsu's head all this time. She didn't care what it took. Yes, she was probably going to scare her parents half to death and yes, they were going to be very angry with her tomorrow, but it would all be worth it.

She had said before that she wanted to have adventures like the characters in her books. She smiled a little bit. If this wasn't an adventure she didn't know what was.

Then she heard a twig snap. Was someone else there? Her heart started to pound faster and faster.

"Who's there?" She called out, hoping more than anything that Natsu would answer her.

But there was only silence.

Lucy tried to slow her breathing, she was probably just hearing things. She almost wanted to laugh at how cliché she must have sounded, calling out to no one in the middle of the woods. She shook her head at the irony. She had always scolded the characters in horror movies for wondering off to dangerous places in the middle of the night by themselves and here she was, doing the same exact thing.

"Good thing this isn't a movie." Lucy whispered to herself.

"It's about to get a whole lot worse darling."

An electric jolt traveled through Lucy's entire body, paralyzing her on the spot. She prayed that it was just her imagination that created the voice that rang out behind her.

Her prayers went unanswered.

She turned around to find a man standing about four yards away from her, menacing in his tall and bulky stature. Instinct told her he wasn't here to help her find her way out. She wanted to say something brave, like the heroes in her novels. Whenever she read or wrote she always had a bunch of one liners at the ready for any situation. But at the moment, fear took any words she might have had straight out of her mouth.

"Anyone ever tell you it's not safe to wonder the woods at night?" A different voice rang out from her right. There was another man. Two of them now.

"Master was right." A third voice said from her left. "Poor little Lucy's left all alone."

Slowly, more and more male figures emerged from the shadows to completely surround her from every angle. She couldn't bring herself to count how many. She couldn't bring herself to think much of anything. Dread captivated her soul as a terrifying prophecy came to pass. The only words that were running through her head came from Gordon Ronald of all people…

I will take Lucy. I will bring her to my master. She will die.

Was this it? Was she really going to die? The men started to close in on her, inching towards her with eager smirks etched across shadowy faces. She whirled around back and forth, searching for an escape path, but there was no way out.

She will die.

The circle enclosing her became smaller and smaller with every footstep. Lucy could no longer breathe. Tears welled up around her eyes.

She will die.

They were only a few feet away. They were smiling, close enough for her to see the crazed looks in their eyes. This was the end.

I'm sorry mom. I'm sorry dad. I'm sorry Pierre.

A hand was reaching out for her neck. She closed her eyes.

Natsu…

"LEAVE HER ALONE!"

That voice was her salvation. Her eyes snapped open just in time to see a blur of pink flash in front of her, fending off all of her attackers.

Natsu was here.

A tear trickled down her cheek.

The gang of men backed away from the two of them. She had no idea why the presence of another teenager would cause them to stop whatever they were about to do to her, but she didn't care at the moment. All she could do was gaze in relief at her savior. He looked pretty rough himself. He had discarded the jacket of the tux he had been wearing earlier and the left sleeve of the white shirt beneath it was ripped off, exposing a bloody gash on his arm.

"I'm sorry, Luce." Natsu said quietly to her. Even though Lucy was still standing behind him, Natsu didn't turn around to look at her. His eyes were concentrated on the enemy. Somehow in the moment he had appeared, Natsu managed to escape the encirclement of men. Now they were all clustered in a make shift semi-circle in front of him. Lucy felt slightly safer with no one at her back and even safer with Natsu at her front.

Even though it would all be in vain. She may feel safer now, but it was all just an illusion. Even if Natsu was stronger than most, this wasn't a high school fight anymore. These weren't over grown teenagers, these men were serious. Able to think more clearly now, she counted them. The total came up to a little over twenty and they all were ripped and muscular, probably straight out of the marines or army. And Lucy didn't fail to notice the guns strapped to their hips.

Why did Natsu come? Now they both were going to die. And she would be responsible for his death…

"No" Lucy whispered back to him. "It's my fault."

"How can it be your fault?" Natsu said confused. The tone of his voice changed drastically. It was totally casual, like they weren't facing their deaths. He turned around to look at her. Lucy was shocked to see not an ounce of fear on his face.

"I shouldn't have followed you." She whispered.

"Eh, don't worry about it!" He said cheerfully. "I would have done the same thing. I'm just happy I found you in time. I was just apologizing for not getting to yah sooner."

"What?" Lucy echoed in disbelief. She had no idea what was going on. They were about to die. Didn't Natsu get that? They were outnumbered by men with guns.

"I said don't worry about it, Luce. Now if you don't mind I gotta have a chat with my buddies here." Natsu said then spun back around to face the gang.

"Leave now." Natsu ordered them. "I know you aren't in your right minds, so I don't want to hurt you."

"How is he here?" One of the men said to another. "Master said the girl would be alone."

"What do we do? We never got orders for this."

"I said leave now!" Natsu said louder. "You haven't made me mad yet so this is your chance to leave. Do it while you still can. Trust me, you don't want to see me angry."

"Natsu what are you doing?" Lucy said in horror. Why was he provoking them? They hadn't tried to kill them yet so why was Natsu trying to order them around? How was he not freaking out? What the hell is going on? They keep mentioning this 'Master'? Does Natsu know?

Natsu ignored her for the moment. He was still staring down the group of men.

"Now!" One of the largest men called out. It was a signal. At the same time, all of the men reached into their belt and pulled out… bombs?! They all threw them at once, directly towards Natsu and Lucy. Lucy screamed, but she was unable to close her eyes.

"Big mistake." She thought she heard Natsu spit.

She felt a dull pain in her side. Natsu had shoved her out of the way. Her body bounded backwards with intense force. When she landed on the dirt she was outside the bombs' range, but Natsu hadn't moved an inch.

The bombs exploded into fiery blasts of smoke and flame, bursting out with a horrible banging noise. The night was lit up harshly by the fire and Lucy felt the heat of it evaporate her tears. Natsu was left right in the middle of the explosion. Lucy let out another high pitched scream. He was dead.

As horrifying and unbelievable that moment was, the next shocked Lucy even more. The flames stated to move. They thinned and started to spiral around one point at the center of the explosion. Natsu was still there. He was standing, perfectly unscathed. The flames traveled in loose lines towards in mouth and then were sucked down into his throat. The only noise in the clearing was a gentle slurping sound.

Natsu ate the flames.

Lucy's brown eyes were wide, unable to comprehend what she was witnessing. Her mouth hung open as she finished watching Natsu suck in every last speck of fire. Licking his lips, the boy wore a smile on his face.

"Thanks for the grub." He said. "It's been a while since I've had this big of a fire in my belly."

The men were in a shock equal to Lucy's. They were frozen stiff in fear. They were only human and clearly, they were facing something so much more.

"You should have listened to my warning." Natsu said, dropping into a lethal, serious tone. "I gave you a chance to leave and then you put Lucy in danger. You're going to regret that."

"Wha-what do we do?" One of the men stammered, taking a step backwards.

Another man pulled out his gun. Despite what she had just seen, Lucy still gasped in fear. The man pointed the gun directly and Natsu and fired.

"Idiot." Natsu said.

Another fire was lit in the forest, but it didn't come from any bomb. It was Natsu's fist. Somehow, in some ridiculous messed up way, his fist was on fire. And it wasn't burning him. No, Lucy got some ungrounded idea that Natsu chose to lite his fist on fire. And then, Natsu punched the speeding bullet with his fiery fist, incinerating the shot with a loud crack.

"No way." Lucy mouthed, her eyes still glued to Natsu from her place on the ground.

"Lucy wasn't supposed to see any of this." Natsu said, walking slowly and deliberately towards the gang, acting like what he just did was nothing. "I didn't want to show her any of this, but you gave me no choice. And now I'm angry."

"We didn't mean to-"

"Please, spare us-"

"Fire Dragon's Wing Attack!" Natsu roared over all the pleading and cowering. Two streams of bright red fire erupted from each of Natsu's arms, creating whips of flame that slashed out at the gang of men. They screamed as the attack hit them in full force. They were knocked backwards from the sheer force of the flames, skidding and rolling along the forest floor. Not a single one regained consciousness after the blow.

Natsu let out a breath.

"Pushovers." He spat. "I said you didn't want to see me angry."

Lucy was still quivering in fear from her spot on the ground. She hadn't blinked once since Natsu engulfed the flames.

What the hell did I just see?

She didn't understand. She didn't understand any of it. What did Natsu just do? What was he?

Questions overwhelmed her mind. Her brain couldn't even being to contemplate answers. Maybe this was all just a dream. It had to all just be a dream.

I can't- I can't-

Natsu turned around and tilted his head when he looked at her shivering on the ground.

"You okay, Luce?"

Lucy felt a sudden lightness in her brain and a blanket of black began to drop over her eyes. She welcomed it as she collapsed into the darkness.

AUTHOR'S NOTE:

Well, this chapter was just so big, I had to put in TWO author's notes! I know a lot of you have been waiting for the moment when Lucy finally learns Natsu's secret and now that the time has come, I want to know what you think about the reveal. Are you happy? Sad? Shocked? Disappointed? Pumped? Let me know what you think in your reviews. Secondly, this chapter probably left you asking a lot of questions and don't worry, you will find out much more about what really happened during Lucy's prom night next chapter where we will see things from Natsu's perspective. That's about it for now! The next chapter will be up before you know it. Stay awesome.