Summary: Rewrite of the second 'What do I look like?' scene in Dragon Cry in which Natsu still has his scales.

Pairings: Natsu/Lucy

Author's Note: THANK YOU ALL FOR GIVING ME OVER THIRTEEN THOUSAND REVIEWS!

The scales on his skin itched.

He didn't know how the hell that had happened.

One minute he had been fighting the bad guy then he felt the usual surge of fury, power, and love for his friends that always drove him to victory, and then that next minute he was suddenly half a monster. Literally half a monster as half of his body was made of ruby red scales as wings forced themselves out of his back and some sort of creepy guttural voice tore out of his throat.

He couldn't see his reflection but he had no doubt he looked horrifyingly monstrous.

He had annihilated the bad guy in no time though as the Dragon possessing the girl faded away and his deranged plans for world destruction were halted to a stop. They were three steps away from the usual Fairy Tail happy ever after, mass destruction and all.

The scales, however, were still there.

He was still a monster.

The adrenalin that had pumped his blood so furiously mere moments ago had faded away and in its place was a slow, icy, dread that flooded his stomach. If he didn't know better he would accuse Gray of sneak attacking him. But Natsu has spent enough time stuck in his own head to know when he was actually feeling fear and doubt and a horrible sinking sensation that maybe, just maybe, he wasn't entirely human.

Zeref's parting words in Tartarus still rings in his ears.

There is a clattering sound as Lucy raced up behind him. Natsu would recognise her weird, wobbly, steps from her silly shoes, and her strange, enticing scent, anywhere. He kept his head ducked down unable to bring himself to look into her eyes while he looked like this but her startled gasp forced him to look up and met Lucy' ashen, terrified, face.

Her eyes were round and wide with horror and her whole body was stiff and tense as if she was prepared to fight for her life.

She was scared of him.

She had to be scared of him.

He was a monster.

He tried to grin regardless though it probably came out as a gormless grimace to top the monstrous look. Much to his relief Lucy's shoulders relaxed at that and she smiled back with one of her super magical soft, small, smiles that always made him feel like the world's biggest winners.

He took a hesitant step towards her.

Her smile didn't waver for an instant nor did she step away from him. So he took another step. And another. And another and another until he was close enough to reach out and touch her.

He gazed deeply into her eyes and almost jumped back when he saw his lopsided, scaly, monstrous form reflected back in her dark orbs.

Still, he was a Fairy Tail mage, and he wasn't going to back down from asking the one thing that niggled away at him.

"What do I look like, Lucy?"

Am I a monster, Lucy?

She stepped closer to him bridging the gap between them. They stood so close that a bug couldn't squeeze between them. He was virtually drowning in her body heat and scent as she reached out and cupped his scaly cheek.

"Like yourself," she smiled softly, "obviously."

He felt the scales recede beneath her warm touch.