Natsu stood beside Lucy as she looked around the empty apartment. It was small with two bedrooms and a kitchen that combined with the lounge room.
"I can't believe this is all mine!" Lucy squealed and jumped up and down.
"It looks great Lucy." Natsu smiled gently at her, enjoying the smile on her face. "I still can't believe you got it so quickly."
"It probably helped that I handed my landlady a years rent up front. Money talks after all." Lucy shrugged. "I am just really lucky that mum thought to set me up before she passed. I don't know what I would have done otherwise." Lucy looked down at the floor for a moment and Natsu could tell it was hard for her to talk about her mum. It always was.
"She would have been so proud of you Lucy. She loved you so much." Natsu put his hand on her shoulder but Lucy pulled away, shook her head and smiled.
"I am just glad you got to meet her. I bet she liked you a lot. She wouldn't want me to be sad so I won't be."
"I'm glad I got to meet her too." Natsu smiled before changing the subject. He still couldn't help the guilt that settled in the pit of his stomach. "Will you be okay living in such a small space though? You're old room was bigger than this entire apartment."
"Yeah, I love my new apartment. My old room was too big and it just made me feel lonely when you weren't around. This is much more cosy. I'm getting furniture delivered today and tomorrow, then it will really feel like home."
"You get things done fast."
"The power of the internet and money. I have more money then I could ever spend."
"Remind me why you still bother going to school with awful people?"
"Because I still want to be educated and be able to work for things in life."
"Mmm" Natsu mumbled before shrugging his shoulders. It wasn't up to him to decide what Lucy could or couldn't do with her life either way.
"Natsu I don't wanna be rude or anything but I have a few things I wanna get sorted out over the next week. It's kind of a surprise so could you maybe not pop around? Just for a week!" Lucy was looking at the ground and have an almost regretful look on her face. The thought of not seeing her for a week made his stomach churn and his throat close.
"Sure Luce, I can do that." He nodded, hoping he sounded more confident then he felt.
Lucy nodded thoughtfully before smiling. "Luce? I like it."
"Good. Bye Luce" Natsu waved before disappearing. He didn't see the sad look on Lucy's face or her arms reaching out to hug him before he left.
Day one without seeing Lucy.
Natsu threw himself into his work and managed to send five souls into the after life. He sat on a roof staring at the stars just as he had so many times before. He didn't believe they were once people or that when someone died they became a star. Lucy did, stars were important to Lucy.
To him? They were just flaming balls of gas.
Day two without seeing Lucy.
Natsu was feeling rather proud of himself. He had dealt with a rather difficult soul and managed to not get angry or call for help. He wanted to tell Lucy about it. He decided to write it down in the back of his notebook- where no names would be written- so he wouldn't forget to tell her.
Day three without Lucy.
Natsu was starting to over think. He tried not to but he couldn't help it. On one hand Lucy's behavior was a bit suspicious while she was apartment hunting. She was insistent that she needed at least two bedrooms. Why would Lucy need two bedrooms when there was only one Lucy? When she had decided to move out she had said that she wanted him around. She wanted him to stay with her. So why did she ask him to stay away?
He didn't like staying away. She made him feel normal. When he wasn't with her he felt just like he did before he met her. Like there was nothing to look forward to. Only an empty existence. He felt like he was losing her. The thought left a sour taste in his mouth, only he couldn't taste. He couldn't feel warmth or cold or anything.
Day four without Lucy.
He was more then halfway there. Did she miss him too? Or was she glad that he wasn't around? Natsu was lonely. There was no other way to put it.
That's how he ended up hanging out with Gray. Lisanna was apparently busy and Gajeel was a bit of a downer. So Gray it was.
"Not that I am complaining or anything but why aren't you hanging out with Lucy? You're usually glued to her or following her around like a lost puppy." Gray shrugged as they walked through the streets.
"I don't wanna talk about it."
"Trouble in paradise?" Gray smirked and Natsu shot him a glare. "Okay okay, no talking about Lucy." Gray held up his hands but kept his smirk regardless.
The walked silently for a while but Gray let out a sigh before opening his big mouth yet again.
"You know, it would be a lot easier for you in the long run if you just gave up on the whole 'Lucy' thing."
"Why does everybody keep saying that? What's so bad about me being friends with Lucy?" Natsu threw his hands in the air.
"Honestly? I like Lucy. She is really nice and I am glad you saved her but, what future can you possibly have with her. You won't give up. I get it. Just prepare yourself for the hurt that is going to come your way. Because it will come, there is nothing you can do to stop it. It's inevitable."
"Why do you sound like you are talking from experience?"
"Because I am. That's all you need to know." Gray's face held a pained expression. A sad smile and broken eyes.
Natsu developed a whole lot of respect for Gray in that moment.
"Enough of this serious talk. Fight me Flame Brain!" Gray shouted with his fist in raised. Natsu grinned and without warning, punched Gray in the face.
"Bring it on Ice Prick!"
Day five without Lucy.
Natsu sat on the edge of the roof, in comfortable silence beside Lisanna. Well that wasn't entirely true because he wasn't entirely comfortable. He had been thinking far too much over the past days to feel completely comfortable.
Could anyone blame him though? All he had to do was helping souls move on, hang out with his friends, and think. So much time to think but all that did was raise more questions in his scattered mind.
He looked at Lisanna and noticed that is was different. It didn't feel the same as when he looked at Lucy. Looking at Lucy made him feel as though he was invincible and vulnerable all at once. Like he could take on the world but if she touched him she could make him fall apart.
Why didn't he notice it before?
"Natsu? Earth to Natsu?" Natsu shook his head and realized that Lisanna was looking at him.
"What's up?"
"You were staring at me weird, its creepy. I hope you don't stare at Lucy like that, you might freak her out."
"I haven't seen Lucy in a few days. She wanted me to stay away for a few days."
"Don't be so melodramatic. Lucy is doing something really important but she misses you loads."
Natsu narrowed his eyes at Lisanna. "How would you know that?"
"You aren't the only one who Lucy is friends with you know? I hang out with her too." She shrugged her shoulders.
"When?"
"Often enough. We are best friends!"
"Nah ahh. No way. I am Lucy's best friend." Natsu pointed to himself with his thumb, grinning smugly.
"You're her best guy friend. I am her best girl friend. We are like sisters, she told me so!" Lisanna crossed her arms and smiled.
"Lucy has never said I am like her brother." Natsu frowned. Was Lisanna closer to Lucy than he was?
"Would you even want Lucy to think of you like a brother? That would be pretty gross."
"I am not gross!"
"I didn't mean it like that, you really are dense some times. Lucy likes you idiot!" Lisanna shook her head.
"Well of course she likes me. We are best friends after all."
"Not like that. You know what? Never mind. You'll find out sooner or later."
"Find out what?"
Lisanna smirked wickedly. "What that thing between your legs is for."
Natsu felt more confused then ever. He knew that humans used the things between their legs for things like urination. He also knew that Personifications existed in an exact likeness to humans so they wouldn't freak out when they saw them. What did that have to do with him or the thing between his legs? It's not like it was good for anything.
Lisanna must have seen the confusion written on his face because she commented. "You really haven't heard about the birds and the bees yet have you?"
"I know that bees make honey and that birds fly. You're just being confusing." He frowned. First she wanted to talk about his 'thing' then she wanted to talk about random animals.
"You really should have read your guide book before now. Do you really not know how babies are made? Its literally in the second chapter."
"Why do I need to know how they are made? I collect souls, I don't make them."
"Natsu. This conversation is about to become really awkward. Can you assure me you won't run off?"
"No."
Lisanna shook her head, looking amused.
"When humans are in love, they have sex. Sometimes they aren't actually in love, they just do it because it feels good. That's how babies are made." She said matter of factly .
"What's sex?" Natsu had heard about sex before, or rather he had heard the word.
Lisanna put her face in her hands and shook her head.
"This is going to be a longer conversation than I originally thought."
After about an hour of Lisanna explaining things, Natsu was feeling an array of emotions. Confusion was a big one but there was also awkwardness, embarrassment and the faintest hint of curiosity.
"Of course since us Personifications have no need to reproduce most of us are asexual or at least all somewhere on that spectrum. Sex can still feel enjoyable to some of us, but still not the same as it is for humans. It's more the emotional connection that feels good, or at least that's how it was for me when-"
"Okay I think I've heard enough for one day." Natsu stood up. He was confused enough as it was, he didn't need more questions added into the mix. Besides, it's not like he even needed to know all this stuff anyway. It's not like he was ever planning on having sex.
Unwillingly, an image of Lucy forced it's way into his brain. One that he very much doubted that she would approve of. Her moaning as she moved her hips against him, her eyes filled with emotions he couldn't quite place.
Natsu shook his head to clear it. No. He cared about Lucy too much to have those kind thoughts of her. She would tear his head off if she found out about it. It would ruin everything if she found out.
She didn't see him that way, so he couldn't see her that way.
By the time Natsu had finished his internal battle Lisanna was already gone and Natsu was alone with thoughts trying to invade his mind. He wouldn't let them. If he ignored them long enough they would go away. They would.
Day six without Lucy.
The sunrise was prettier than usual. The colours and the light the sun gave the world really seemed amazing when he actually thought about it. How could something that looked so small light up the entire world the way it did? The sun brought so much joy to the world. It gifted the earth with warmth and light. The sun was something he could appreciate... not like the useless stars.
"Oi I need your help!" Natsu looked to his side to see Gajeel, only Gajeel looked strange. His eyes were wild and his long hair looked like he had been pulling at it.
"What's wrong?" Natsu started to stand but yanked him up and held both his shoulders.
"It's Levy. She's gone, I can't find her anywhere and I can't go to anyone else for help. I gotta find her, what if she is in trouble? She can't see of hear so she can't be alone but she is and I don't know where and-"
"Gajeel! Calm down. We will find her but standing here rambling isn't going to help."
Gajeel nodded, looking at the ground.
"If something happens to her... I'm not ready to lose her yet. I can't lose her. Not yet."
Natsu nodded. For someone so big, Gajeel looked so small. If it was Lucy would this be how he acted?
"We need to split up. We will cover more ground that way. She is still alive, if she were dead we would know about it. If I find her i'll call on you okay?"
"Yeah, you're right. We will do that."
Natsu decided it was best to walk while he looked for Levy, so he wouldn't accidentally miss anything. After a few hours of not finding her he decided to do the one thing he really didn't want to.
Lucy had asked him for a week and he had given her six days. This was an emergency and Lucy could actually talk to people and find out if they had seen her. She could ring the hospital and find out things he and Gajeel couldn't. She would understand.
Still as Natsu stood outside her apartment he was struggling to knock. He had decided that using her door would be more polite, the worst she could do was tell him to go away. Except he didn't want to be told to go away. Not by her.
If Lucy was missing he would want the others to help him. Gajeel had come to him for help and if this was the best way to help then he had to do it. That thought alone did not make knocking any easier. Could he even actually knock?
Natsu reached out to touch the door and it didn't make a sound. Nope he couldn't knock. He would have to call out.
He cleared his throat and forced out her name. "Lucy."
Within seconds the door swung open, Lucy standing there, wearing shorts and a T-shirt with her hair down. It had grown since her father had forced her to cut it. Not to the length it once was but it went to What he could only assume would be an inch or so above her belly button.
The smile on her face made him feel lighten and released a weight on his shoulder the he hadn't realised was there.
"Did you lose track of days Natsu? You're one day early." She smiled through the mock scolding.
"I was counting the days Luce." He whispered back. He wanted to pull her against him and hold her there. Tell her...No beg her, to never make him stay away that long again.
Instead he just said "I need your help."
Lucy stayed silent while he explained explained everything. He told her about Gajeel and how worried he was. About how Levy couldn't find her way around by herself and about how hard it was for him to look for her when he couldn't speak to anyone. He didn't know where she could be or where she may have already been. Lucy just stood in the door way, nodding her head with a furrowed brow. When he was finally finished he looked at her and she was fiddling nervously with her hands.
"I know I am here early but please help us."
"Natsu, I kind of already know where Levy is." She whispered and Natsu eyed her suspiciously wondering how she could possibly know.
"Luce, what's going on?"
"I think it's better if I show you." Lucy opened the door wider and gestured for him to follow her.
Her apartment was now fully furnished. She had shelves filled with books -which was unsurprising- and a large television mounted to the wall. She had a pink lounge with pillows. He could see into her bedroom and noticed that it was set up almost the same as her old room but much smaller. It wasn't until Lucy walked to the spare room and opened the door that he realized what she had been up to.
The spare room was the same size as Lucy's but the decor was very different. A bed, a desk and mountains of books. Books written in a strange bumpy language that Natsu didn't recognize. Sitting on the bed- holding one of the dotted books and touching the pages- was Levy. Natsu noticed she was smiling and there was a contraption attached to her ears that wasn't there last time.
"This was my surprise. She isn't alone in a hospital bed anymore. Everything is set up for her and a nurse will come by a few times a week to check on her." Lucy whispered.
"What's that thing on her head?" Natsu asked absent mindedly.
"A hearing aid. She still can't hear very well, but it helps. She can make out works if you talk really slow and kind of shout and she can hear bumps and things like that. I've been looking into different options for surgery to help regain some of her senses. She can get a transplant in her eyes to regain some of her vision but she has to wait for a doner and even then it could be a long shot. The nurse says she seems a lot happier here than at the hospital and she tells me she is."
"I asked you to go visit her so she wouldn't be so lonely, I didn't expect you to do this." Natsu spoke in an awestruck tone. Still looking around the room at the effort Lucy had gone to.
"I did visit her. I actually originally planned for this to be your room but when I visited Levy I just... I knew I couldn't leave her there. She had nothing to do all day long besides sit around and read the same book over and over. So I spoke to her doctors and got there advice and made sure everything was set up in a way that they approved of. She came here last night, or rather, the hospital dropped her off. I had Brail signs put through the apartment and she has a cane so she isn't just confined to the bed room but when she realized how many books she had she didn't want to explore until she had read a few." Lucy giggled. It was only when she laughed did Natsu realize she had been talking in a hushed tone. Levy raised her head clearly having just picked up on the noise.
"Lu-chan?" Levy's voice was very loud.
"Yes, it's me! Do you need anything." Lucy wasn't exactly shouting but she was definitely talking louder than usual.
"No. Thankyou so much Lu-chan. Is Gajeel coming today?" Levy again spoke way louder than he expected from the tiny girl.
Lucy looked a Natsu and Natsu nodded.
"Yes. He will be here soon!"
That reminded Natsu to actually summon the oaf. He was probably still worried sick.
It was less than a minute before Gajeel appeared in front of them.
"Where is she? Is she okay?"
Natsu answered by pointing to the bed.
"Levy!" Gajeel rushed to her side and knelt down beside her, putting her hands around his and doing gestures.
"Gajeel, I can hear things again!" Levy smiled and tears formed in her blank, pale eyes as she pointed the contraption of her head.
"We should give them some privacy." Lucy whispered before tugging his hand and shutting the door behind them.
They moved the lounge and Natsu sat beside her, his mind pulling in so many directions that he wasn't sure what to say first.
"Gajeel said her hearing was completely destroyed. I didn't think anything could heal that?"
Lucy looked at him sadly. "Nothing can heal her ears but it wasn't completely destroyed. She just didn't have access to the kind of money it takes to buy the things that can help with things like that. It's all very expensive and insurance can only cover so much."
Natsu nodded. So Lucy had clearly spent a small fortune just to arrange this. On a whim none the less.
"Luce, why did you do this?"
"Honestly, for a lot of reasons. One was to help your friend but I also done it for Levy. We got along really well and I didn't want to leave her there. She wasn't keen on the idea at first because she knew it would cost a lot of money but I can be pretty persuasive."
She acted like it was no big deal. She had just changed someone's entire life for the better and here she was, talking as though it was the only possible thing to do. Natsu stared at her, her eyes were brown and warm but did they always sparkle like that? He had noticed them sparkling before but this seemed different some how.
Natsu leaned in slightly and his eyes moved down to look at her nose. It was small and had a few small freckles sprinkled across it. Were they always there?
He leaned in s tiny bit more and his eyes moved to her lips. They looked so soft and plump. Her tounge darted out to wet them before she closed her mouth again. They looked shiny and he wondered if they felt as soft as they looked. He leaned in a little more and noticed that she hadn't tried to pull away. He was close enough that he could feel the moment when she held her breath. His eyes drifted shut and he held still. What would Lucy taste like? How would her lips feel against his?
He wanted to know and she wasn't telling him to stop.
He moved his hand to tangle it in her hair and was just about to close the distance between them when the sound of someone coughing forced them to jump back. Gajeel was standing in front of them. He looked at Natsu for a second, his expression sad but it changed immediately when he looked at Lucy.
"You done this for Levy? You took her away from that place and have made sure she is taken care of?"
Lucy nodded and Gajeel fell to his knees, his head bowed.
"Thankyou. Thankyou so much. I can never repay you for this but if there is ever anything you need that is in my power to give, ask and it's yours."
Natsu had never seen Gajeel like this. He looked like he would be crying if he could even cry. Lucy stood from the couch and pulled Gajeel up to stand.
"You know, I already have one Personification practically living here. If you wanted to stay here when you aren't at work to be closer to Levy, you are welcome to. Just stay out of mine and Natsu's room unless you knock first okay?" Lucy beamed and Natsu felt like he would choke.
Mine and Natsu's room. Their room. Our room. That's what she had meant right? It was his room too.
That thought alone filled Natsu with a warmth the past six days had been lacking. He had a room. A home with Lucy.
That was so much better than just having a spot.
A/N
So while I am writing this A/N I am currently a bit of a mess. As many of you know I live in Australia. More specifically I live in NSW Australia. As some of you may or may not know, NSW and QLD both are experiencing a lot of Bush fires. In the area I live the schools have been shut and when you go outside you can smell the smoke.
Many of the fires are completely out of control and emergency services have come from Tasmania and WA to help but many of them are spreading rapidly with the wind.
I have been told to stay on alert because if the fire gets much closer we will need to evacuate. Help won't come, there is no help because all the fire crews are busy in other areas working non-stop. I have bags packed and am prepared for the worst but if this does happen updating will be made impossible for quite some time
Hundreds have lost their homes already.
Thankyou for taking the time to read this. I wish safety and prayers to any readers who live in Aus and are also effected by the fires.
I will try to update as soon as I can xx love and well wishes to all of you