Former Arrangements
By Genavere
Chapter Two
It was over, they had finally defeated Selene, Dragon of the Moon, but it had taken everything they had to do it. Littered across the ground, Team Natsu laid in various forms of injury and unconsciousness except for one.
Grunting, Natsu pushed himself up enough to look towards the fallen dragon and Lucy's still shimmering body. This star dress…it made her whole body reflect the night sky, and while dressed in it, he felt he had watched her control those very stars. The sight took his breath away more than the broken ribs he felt.
Not once had he ever felt his partner lacked in strength compared to the rest of them. If anything, he felt she was the reason they were considered the strongest team in Fairy Tail. And now, as her bruised and battered body came back into view and her clothing went back to her tattered clothes, he knew everyone else could see her strength, too.
When the rest of them had fallen, she had gathered the strength to push forward to defeat their enemy. It was fitting that their beloved Celestial Mage had taken out the possessed Moon Dragon God.
He began to push himself up. There was no point laying around, not when Lucy was over there looking like a strong breeze would knock her over. His wounds screamed, fresh blood trickled down his limbs and chest. Wendy could heal him later.
Lucy carefully turned around. Tired eyes met his and they both smiled in relief. They were alive.
"Natus, I—"
A familiar scent caught him off guard. His entire body stiffened. No… "Lucy!"
The ground shook as a massive form crashed just behind the exhausted woman. Dust and wind block any sight the others had, but they could hear the ominous laughter. With what strength they could, the rest of Team Natsu stood. What strength they could muster they willed to their limbs to fight this new foe.
Through the dust, two new scents hit Natsu: Blood and Lucy's tears.
"Lucy!" He rushed forward only to stop dead in his tracks as the dust settled…
"Stop—!" He sprang up in the bed, fighting the pink comforter as it choked and clung to his soaked body. Hands reached for the other side of the bed, to feel the body next to him, to know she was safe. Alive…!
A cold, empty space was the only thing he found. Blankets were thrown everywhere to search the bed for the missing wizard. Where was she?! "Lucy?!"
When his search turned up futile, the dark bathroom was next, then the closets—he did not even think of why she would hide in them, and then the kitchen. Each dark, empty room filled him with a looming dread he could not shake.
Breathes shortened. A pain gripped his chest.
She was gone. Missing! He had managed to rescue her in time before? Had it been a cruel dream?
The still body of the Lucy from the future crept unwelcome in his mind.
His vision blurred. Hands shook. A droplet tickled his forehead as it trailed down the side of his face.
The cold sensation of her unresponsive body in his arms. Blood covering her face. The raw grief that erupted through his entire being.
Hands gripped the table, bracing him and cracking under the immense pressure of his grip. Nothing around him registered, only those dark thoughts and the crushing fear.
The ghostly aroma of her blood and tears triggered something primal in his mind.
"No!" Cracking wood filled the silence of the apartment as his knees gave out on him. Memories of her hurt and still flashed before him at a speed he barely could fathom. Something in his throat caught any air that might have filled his lungs. Each beat of his heart sounded like the drums of war getting louder and closer in his ears.
"Stop!" Liquid burned his face and where it fell on his legs below.
Silence took over for a moment, then—
"Natsu?!"
A new scent filled his senses and he was able to finally breathe. He glanced up and watched his partner run towards him from the open doorway. Behind her, Loke carefully closed the door and locked it. The spirit's lips moved to unheard words and his head bowed as he disappeared in a shimmer of stars.
Hands carefully pulled his away from the broken table and then cupped his face. "Natsu, listen to me," her voice was quiet in his ears, almost drowned out by the drumming of his heart. "—safe. We're both safe. Take a slow breath in, that's it. Now hold it for a moment, a little longer…let it out now. Slowly."
Dark eyes held desperately onto brown. Tears flowed freely from both sets. His bloody hands—when had he injured them?—reached out an gripped her arms. "L-Luce…"
"I'm here," she let herself fall back so she sat on the floor and pulled him against her. "I am here, Natsu." Hands rubbed against his back, her words continued to repeat above him and he clung to her tightly.
"He—he hurt you."
"I know, but I am safe now." She leaned over him and kissed the back of his head. "I am safe because of you."
"He hurt you!" Heat began to roll heavier off his skin, his voice set in a deep growl. "No one's allowed to hurt you!"
A sensation welled up in her lower belly and spread like the heat from his skin. Licking her lips, she knew it was not the time to let these emotions well up, but after everything they had been through over the years. After how close they had become.
After her desperate confession when she thought it was the end for her and the equally desperate kiss between them when she had been healed enough to keep her from the golden fields of the afterlife after they rescued her.
It had been almost a year since they had been back, but the darkness of those events still clung to them both.
In the breath of a heartbeat, eyes met again and lips met. Desperate and needy, he pushed her back down to the floor. His lips attacked hers relentlessly, a hand gripped her face and intertwined in her hair as his other arm wrapped around her waist to pull her closer. There was too much space between them, even with their bodies pressed together.
Her own hands gripped him equally as tight, one hand tangling in his hair as the other dug nails into his bare back. Legs tangled with his, wrapping them between her own and hips pressed up against his boxer-covered lower region.
The smell of burning fabric barely registered in her mind before she felt him thrusting inside of her core. Arching back, her lips tore from his as she gave a needy cry. Lips trailed down her neck and teeth bit into the flesh where her neck and shoulder met as they moved in a frantic pace together.
When the hand that had held her face came to rub against her nub, she knew she was finished. She sobbed as her body clenched around him and brought his own grunts as he pulsed inside her. These desperate, frantic sessions never lasted long between them. They helped each other to come back to reality and ground themselves with physical contact.
Maybe it was not the best way to work through their emotional distress, but it worked for them. They had other times when they would spend hours together pleasuring and exploring each other. Those times were meant for them to learn what the other desired and what drove them to the greatest point of pleasure.
Tongue licked with flames ran over the fresh wound on her neck to match the other small dots on her throat. The only wounds she refused to let Wendy heal in hopes they would scar and his mark would last on her. After so many years of being friends, to best friends and partners, they had finally taken the next step by admitting to each other how they felt instead of just leaving everything unsaid. Having that physical proof for herself helped cement the change in their lives.
A whimper escaped her when she felt him pull out of her and his warmth disappeared from on top of her, but it was not long before she felt him lift her up and took them to her bed. She felt more than saw the state of the blankets in her tired state, but it helped it to realize what had cause this attack on her partner.
A wet warmth touched her lower regions and with some hesitation, she opened her eyes to watch him clean her of their earlier mess. Tossing the cloth into the bin, he carefully helped her undress completely and did the same to the rest of the clothes before he crawled onto the bed with her. She grabbed the covers and made sure they were tucked under them, then turned to curl into his side with a content sigh.
"Did you want to talk about it?" Her voice was merely a whisper in the dark room, but it felt louder to both of them in the silence.
After several minutes of nothing but his breathing and heartbeat as her answer, she wondered if he had heard her or if he was still lost in his own thoughts and flashbacks. Finally, she felt him release a shuddered breath. "It was after you took down Selene. Tha' one."
"…Oh." All too well, she knew that dream. It had haunted him several nights since they had come back, and she had her own version of it that had sent her into her own panic. After all the life-threatening missions and events, they had experienced together, it was that one that had seemed to push them over the edge mentally.
At least they had each other.
"Yeah," he let out a shaky breath, his arms tightened around her.
"But you saved me."
A humorless laugh shook his chest. "No, Wendy kept you alive. I made you a target." He rolled onto his side and gripped her face in his hands. "Fuck, Luce, if we had taken a day longer to get to you…"
Her hands rested on top of his and she gave him a soft smile. "But you didn't. All of you rushed to my aide even at the expense of yourselves. I owe all of you my life, especially you, Natsu."
"But if I—"
"No," she cut him off. "We both showed our feelings to each other. One way or another, he would have found something to exploit to entice you to fight with your everything." Her hands cupped his own face, running her thumbs over his features softly. "I am just glad I didn't lose you. It scared me that I wouldn't be able to pull you back like I did when you ate his flames that time."
"I couldn't lose myself, not when all I could smell was your blood." His hands moved to grip her neck and pulled her in for a soft kiss. Their foreheads pressed together. "Even without being there, you kept me sane."
A relieved laugh escaped her. "That's one good thing, then, with being injured how I was." A yawn caught the last of her words and she scooted closer to his warmth. "Never leave me."
"Never." His arms wrapped around her and pulled her close. "Now you promise."
"I promise."