Day Twenty-One (9 + 10, eh?)

He Was There

Lucy didn't know what to think.

She was standing in front of the huge cliff, her mind whirling, a sickening twisting feeling in her stomach.

She could hardly feel. Her mind was numb. Her hands wouldn't stop shaking. Her whole body was cold.

"Natsu," she whispered, horrified, her voice trembling.

She dropped to her knees, staring down the cliff face, then turning to gaze back at the spot where he had been standing moments before. Before that man had aimed a dagger at Lucy's heart from behind her. Before Natsu had seen it, reacted immediately, and tackled the man to the ground, saving Lucy's life.

Before the ground had crumbled beneath them both, giving way to the cliff below, and Natsu and the man had tumbled deep into the abyss.

He was gone.

The thought hit her like a ton of bricks. Natsu was gone.

"No," she murmured, tears forming in her eyes. "Please no..."

She stared down into the void - she couldn't even see the bottom, but maybe was a good thing. If she could see the bottom, that would've meant...

Lucy let out a choked sob as she realized what it would have meant. It would have meant seeing Natsu's broken body lying there.

That was a sight she knew she'd never be able to handle.

More sobs racked Lucy's body. Natsu had just died to save her life. That meant it was because of her that he was gone. And Lucy knew in her heart that she would have given anything to have taken that knife, if only so that Natsu wouldn't have ended up down that cliff. Maybe she should have been grateful to be alive, but...

How was she even going to live without Natsu there?

"You idiot," she whispered to the air. She hoped he could hear her - wherever he was now. "You idiot! Y-you should've just let me take that knife! You weren't supposed to die! Why couldn't it have been me instead, huh? Why'd you have to go and leave me like that?!"

She stayed there for who knows how long - just crying, sobbing, and repeating herself over and over. She should have died. Not him. That idiot...

"Aw, Luce..."

Lucy froze up instantly.

"Stop cryin'. I'm here. I'm right here. I'm okay."

A pair of strong arms wrapped around her from behind. Lucy hardly dared to believe it.

"N-Natsu...?"

"The one and only," he laughed.

"H-how did you - ?"

She could feel him shrug. "Caught hold of the cliff face and climbed my way up. Took forever. To be honest, for a moment there I wasn't sure I was gonna make it." He laughed again, and Lucy's shoulders tensed.

"Don't laugh," she said sharply, her voice still choked with tears. "You - you almost died, Natsu! Because of me! You should have just let me take that knife, I - "

Immediately, Natsu tensed up. He grabbed her by the shoulders, spinning her around to face him. The look in his face was dead serious.

"No," he said harshly. "Don't you dare say that, Lucy. Your death will never be worth me staying alive, do you hear me? Never."

"Wh-what?"

"Lucy, you are my whole world. Don't you see that? If you died, I - I wouldn't have anything left to live for." His voice was so broken, Lucy found herself relenting.

"Okay," she murmured. "Okay. But... but remember, you're my whole world, too, okay? Please... Please don't ever scare me like that again..."

He chuckled softly. "You got it, Luce."

And then suddenly she was sobbing harder than ever, burying her face into him, because he was there. He was there, and he was alive, and they were both pretty much okay.

And that was all that mattered right then.

... ... ...

Ooo, did I scare you guys? Thought I killed him again, didn'tcha? ;D

Mira: YES.

Gray: YES.

Well, I didn't. :P I'm such a troll.

Mira: Well, no. Not really. I'm not sure that qualifies as trolling.

Gray: I have to agree with Mira.

Oh, shut up... anyway, guys, if you haven't already, go check out What Makes Us, my relatively new fanfiction! You might like it! :D It doesn't update as often as this one (I quite honestly would NEVER manage that) but I've decided to have a schedule of Wednesday/Saturday updates, and that means I'm updating in about an hour! ;) So I hope you read that.

See you tomorrow! :3