Fire is catching
Chapter 35
Author's Note: Hey guys, even though I'm a little late I just wanted to say HAPPY EASTER! Due to the special occasion, I wrote a (extra-long) chapter with a lot of hidden Easter eggs if you know what I mean ;-) So let's see if you can find them all!
It is cold, very cold. A thick layer of snow is covering the ground, reflecting the sunlight and making everything sparkle. I find myself in a mountainous region, high snowcapped mountains surrounding me. Despite the biting cold, I'm only wearing a short sleeved white blouse with blue trimming and a blue plaid skirt. I shiver and hug myself, trying to fight the cold. As my teeth clatter heavily I notice that somebody is walking in front of me, a boy with salmon hair and a short black vest. My eyes widen incredulously: "Natsu?" I shout. The boy turns around and yells back: "Come on Lucy! Hurry up!" Utterly confused about where I am and what I'm doing here I decide that it's the best option to just catch up to him and make sure I don't get lost in this icy snow desert.
When I finally reach him he looks at me a little confused: "Are you okay? You look a little funny."
"I'm…j…just.. ..cold" I say with chattering teeth "D..didn't expect it to be th..this cold here"
"I told you we were going to , of course it's going to be cold, gee"
"Actually you'd think that all her body fat would keep her warm" I look up in surprise as an unknown voice addresses me. I spot nobody new though, except for a blue cat with tiny white wings.
"Haha good one Happy" chuckles Natsu "We need to move on, I can't let Romeo down, we have to find Macao!"
"AYE SIIIIIIIR!" says the blue cat and starts flying ahead of us.
A talking and flying cat? Makao? Romeo? I don't understand a thing…what is happening?
"Come on Lucy, you're going to fall behind" shouts Natsu from far away.
"But..but" I exclaim still completely befuddled.
"Quit the whining Lucy, we have to be strong! After all, we are Fairy Tail mages!"
My eyes widen at the sound of the words "Fairy Tail mages". Fairy Tail…I clasp my hands over my mouth as I remember and millions of images start raining down on me…
Suddenly everything around me starts to spin, faster and faster until single images merge into a blur of colors that starts sucking me up. As I open my eyes again the mountains around me are gone. Instead I find myself laying on the dry and hard ground, a heavy weight pressing me down. The air smells of iron and rusted nails.
Iron…
A cold rush goes down my spine as I look up, directly into the vicious eyes of Gajeel Redfox. His mouth is twisted into an evil grin as he gets out two shining blades that sparkle in the sunlight.
This makes cold fear rush through every part of my body, but oddly enough it's not the strongest emotion I feel. Instead of being frightened to death, worried about my shrinking lifespan, I feel betrayed. As if he had once been a friend that now turned into a traitor.
"Why Gajeel?" I shout. The words were out before I could even think about them, and I can't explain why I even spoke them out loud.
The grin is wiped off his face in an instant, replaced by a startled expression.
Now tears start dwelling up and I scream, still unaware of where these words come from: "Why are you doing this? I thought you were on our side now! I thought you had left the whole Phantom Lord thing behind and belonged to us now! So tell me, why are you doing this again?!"
His face turns into a hard mask but I can see the deep sorrow behind it: "I wish I had a choice" he says and starts bringing down the knife.
Even if I could've defended myself, I wouldn't have, I wouldn't have been able to hurt him.
Thoughts that are not mine but feel like them race through my mind.
He would never do something like this, I can trust him. After all, Gajeel Redfox is my friend, he's a member of Fairy Tail just like I am, he would never…
A sharp scream escapes my throat as the knife pierces my skin.
I wake up bathed in cold sweat. My clothes and hair stick to my wet body and I breathe heavily as I'm gasping for air. My whole body is shaking heavily and goose bumps cover my skin. I'm in the arena, in the valley Natsu took me to, it's in the middle of the night and the temperature has dropped down to an icy cold.
I try to remember the dream I just had, it was so weird, it didn't feel like a dream but more like an actual part of my life, a memory. I was in the mountains, Natsu, a flying cat named Happy and, a sequence of Gajeel torturing me, but this time it was different, didn't feel like all the other times I had relived the horrible experience in my dreams, something was odd and then there was this other thing, Fairy Tail. This name feels so familiar, as if a million memories are connected to it, but I can't access them.
No, it was just a dream. The cold temperatures around me must've made me dream about a cold region and the rest was just a weird mixture of painful memories and gibberish, that's the only logical explanation.
I turn around and pull the thin blanket over my head, try to warm myself up and go back to sleep, but it doesn't work. Bits and pieces of my dream just keep flashing up and no matter how hard I try, I just can't put them together.
"Lucy? Are you still awake?" whispers a voice that by now is very familiar.
"Yes, I can't sleep. What about you?" I murmur back.
"Your scream woke me up. Did you have a bad dream?"
"Yeah, kind of…it was really weird. I guess the cold made me dream nonsense"
"It's cold for you?"
"Yeah, it's freezing!"
"Oh really? I don't feel a thing…"
"Maybe it's because of all your body fat" I chuckle remembering what the blue cat had said in my dream.
"Could be…or maybe it's just the fact that I'm a fire dragon slayer and I pretty much never get cold."
"Well good for you" I say with pursed lips and turn over again, trying to find a comfortable position but failing miserably. If only I had my backpack with the thick cozy blankets in it…
"I could make it warmer if you want to"
"Oh don't bother using your magic, we shouldn't waste the coins" I say, letting my reasonable side trump over the selfish need for warmth.
"I don't have to use magic, it's kind of a natural thing. My body radiates heat, people say it's like I always have a fever but it's not unpleasant for me at all…you can just come here"
I squint my eyes in order to be able to see better. Natsu lays a few meters opposite me a blanket even thinner as mine covering him.
I bite my lip undecided what to do. On the one hand I'm not really comfortable sleeping close to other people, actually I'm not really comfortable being close to people at all, I need my personal space. Wendy is, was, kind of an exception because she was more like a little sister to me, I had the need to protect her, but other people, especially in the hunger games? I don't know…On the other had it really is freaking cold and I don't want to get sick on top of all the trouble I'm in anyway. What did the coach at the training center say: "Most tributes die due to infections or sicknesses" I really don't want to become one of them, so I guess I'll have to get over my uncomfortableness.
Still wrapped up in my blanket cocoon I crawl over like a caterpillar and settle down next to him. What Natsu said is really true. Even though I didn't notice it during the day because it was pretty warm anyway, now at night it's clearly noticeable that his body sends of an unusual amount of heat.
It's really pleasant so I get a little closer until only inches part us. "Good night" I mumble and turn over, glad that the dark hides my flushed cheeks. Due to the lack of answers I guess he already fell asleep anyways.
Still unable to find sleep I turn over again only to find myself face to face with Natsu. He looks so peaceful when he sleeps, a few strands of his pink hair falling over his forehead, his chest rising and falling calmly, regularly.
Natsu…I still can't figure him out. Why did he save me? Why didn't he do what every other tribute would've done? Why do I feel so comfortable around him, why is it so natural to talk to and laugh with him as if we had been friends for years?
I'll just have to find out on another day…
Just as I'm about to close my eyes I hear him whisper something in his sleep. The words are spoken quietly, nothing more than a silent breath, but there's no doubt that I heard them and that makes my blood freeze in my veins: Fairy Tail.
What does this mean? Why does he know Fairy Tail and more importantly, what is this whole Fairy Tail thing anyway? I definitely have to ask him about it next morning.
After some more time of lying awake and overthinking everything I finally drift off to sleep.
As I wake up the next morning I find myself with my back against something. Something warm and soft…and then there's something else, something heavy flung over my waist. As I try to lift it, I realize what it is, an arm. A big, heavy, muscular, male arm. I turn around only to look directly into the face of a sleeping (and on top of that drooling) Natsu Dragneel. I screech as I realize that I must've been huddled against him the whole night and squirm trying to get out of the human cage.
"Wake up..you idiot…" I say as I kick around wildly, trying to get up.
"Morning…" he yawns scratching his head which finally allows me to stand.
"Pfft..you creep! Aren't you ashamed of yourself? Sneaking up on me like that while I'm asleep, really" I snap while shaking off some imaginary dust.
"Huh? What are you talking about? You were the one that was complaining about it being cold…"
"Oh whatever just forget about it. You're still an idiot you know?"
"If that's what you say…"
"It's true. And besides, you drool in your sleep…" I state, flip my hair back and stamp off.
I'm not really angry though and actually smile unconsciously. Again it feels like it's not the first time that I kick him out of bed (if you can even call this a bed), those memory snippets and this odd feeling of recognition are really starting to bother me.
"At least it seems like your wounds are feeling better" he calls over as I make breakfast.
I didn't actually realize it until now, but they're still hurting a lot even though it has gotten much better.
"Yeah" I say as I walk over and we eat breakfast together "I'm feeling a lot better, I can go and get water right after we finish breakfast okay?"
At that a doubtful and worried expression appears on Natsu's face which doesn't suit him at all. "I don't know Lucy, don't you think it's a little early? I mean, you're still hurt, I think it's a little dangerous to just get back into the game and all…"
My mouth is set into a straight line as a serious and determined expression settles on my face: "The game never stops, this is not how it works. Without you, I would be dead. You saved my life and for that, I am grateful. But I can't just continue living on your costs and only being a burden, I have to give something back. So it's not a matter of whether or not I want to get back into the game, I have to. I always was a part of it, it's just that I have to become an active player again."
"Okay, okay, we'll go this afternoon" he says with his hands held up high "No need to make such a fuss about it. Still, great speech, very inspirational." he says with glinting eyes and a sarcastic smile.
"I-d-i-o-t" I yell but can't help cracking up a little.
We spend the rest of the day sitting together and talking. Telling each other stories and jokes. We talk about life in the different districts, the capitol, the government, everything. Even though we don't have the same opinion on everything, we mostly agree with each other and when that's not the case, we discuss it, trying to make the other one understand our point of view. I could've gone on for a long time, but as it slowly starts getting colder we head out, squeeze ourselves through the crack in the massive rock and enter the main part of the arena to get some water. As I find the precious fruit I try to explain the principle of picking them to him again, but he just doesn't get it. After a few more tries Natsu finally seems to get the hang of it and manages to pick a few of them while I observe him carefully. Then I pick a bunch of water fruit while he complains about me being so good at it and we head back home.
As this thought crosses my mind I cock my eyebrow in surprise. Home? How could I call a place like this…home? It's true that the hidden valley is quite comfortable, but home? How those games messed me up…
When night lays its dark blanket over the sky I decide to sleep close to Natsu again even though it makes my face turn the color of a tomato. It's just that the biting cold is too much for me to handle, so I can't resist the opportunity of nice, pleasant warmth. So, I snuggle up to him and enjoy the heat as I instantly doze off into a calm, nightmare free sleep.
I wake up to warm golden sunlight shining upon my face, tickling my skin with its brilliant warmth. My lips curl up as I sit up and stretch.
"You're finally awake" says Natsu. I stumble back as I see him squatting right in front of me, an impatient expression on his face. "I was hungry and you wouldn't wake up so I made breakfast" he says pointing to a pile of food next to me.
"How nice…" I say smiling and dig right in.
The day flies by quickly, quietly as we talk and joke around. Everything's fine until, in the late afternoon, two loud "booms" interrupt the funny anecdote Natsu was just telling me. It was the sound of two canons, which means that two tributes just died. Two people, teenagers even, just stopped breathing and we are sitting here, telling us funny stories?
I can feel the color leaving my face as I realize what this means. This has to stop. I can't do this anymore.
In the last days I've gotten too soft. I made the same mistake I already did once.
I've let an alliance become friendship.
I've become too fond of Natsu, it's so easy to be around him, he even made me forget that we were in the hunger games. I had fun, I even was happy, but this is no place for happiness. We've come to the point where there are less than 10 tributes left, which means that things will soon escalate.
I know that at this point, I would never be able to do him any harm, I would even do irrational things in order to help him and the same goes the other way around. What if somebody, a career maybe, used me in order to hurt Natsu? Or if I do something stupid again and got him into trouble?
No, I can't let this happen. I can't drag him down. I know that Natsu's strong, extremely strong and I'm sure that he has a chance of winning those games. But as long as I am around he hasn't. I know by now that he's the kind of guy that would do insane things in order to help his friends, but I don't want him to do that.
I have to leave, before I get too attached to him.
Whatever this strange connection towards him that makes me feel as if we had been friends for years is, I have to end it now, leave before I become his weakness.
"What is it Lucy? Are you okay?" he says and I just nod, fighting back the tears at the thought that I'll never see him again.
But I made my decision, it's better for him.
I'll leave tonight. Say goodbye to the boy that saved my life, that made me forget in what a horrible place I am, that made me happy, even if it was for only three days. I'm really glad that I got to meet him, and I really hope that if I can't survive this hell (which, let's face it, is predestined) then he should be the victor, he's the one that deserves it the most.
May the odds be ever in your favor, Natsu Dragneel.
Author's Note: Uuuuuuh, dramatic chapter ending! Find out whether Lucy really decides and manages to break up the alliance in the next chapter!
And to all those people that got the "You drool in your sleep" reference: You are awesome!
Thanks for reading guys!
Lucy: Gosh, this scene really was the worst to shoot.
Levy: Huh? Why?
Lucy: Oh well, because the stupid Author wanted us to really sleep so that the scene would look authentic and blah blah blah…*annoyed*
Levy: So? What's the problem? Natsu sneaks into your bed all the time because it's so comfortable, shouldn't you be used to it by now?"
Lucy: Yeah, but usually I'm already asleep when he joins me."
Levy: Yeah? Your point is…
Lucy: If I'm asleep I don't hear his terrible snoring!
Levy: He snores, really?
Lucy: Oh yes, it's horrible. And I had to stand it on set for like 5 hours, it was a nightmare!
Levy: Ugh, that doesn't sound too good…
Lucy: Yeah, sometimes I really wonder why I even took this job…
Levy: Because you need to pay your rent Lu-chan…
Lucy: Well thanks for reminding me *glare*