Lucy watched Natsu's calm and peaceful demeanour as he examined her neck, from how close he was standing, she could smell his natural smoky scent and feel his intense body heat. With how sick she was feeling, it brought her a sense of comfort, so much so that she couldn't help but close her eyes.
Just as she began to enjoy his rough fingers on her neck, a sudden burst of tiredness hit her. She felt heavy and sick, but she was thankful Natsu was there as she wasn't there to deal with it on her own.
However, as he continued, he remained deadly silent and it was beginning to make her nervous.
Truthfully, what she had hoped from revealing the mark was that he would admit it was nothing, that Porlyusica was mistaken. That all of this could easily be explained away.
In the midst of her thoughts, Natsu suddenly stepped back and let go of her neck. She opened her eyes to look at him and almost immediately spotted the dread on his face. "Natsu? What happened? Did you figure it out?" She nervously asked.
Natsu avoided her eyes and continued to think to himself which annoyed her. "Natsu? Please answer me." She said, leaning her head forward and to the side attempting to meet his eyes.
He sighed and finally looked at her, he opened his mouth to respond but no words came out. Lucy's heart dropped, what was he so afraid to tell her?
Lucy was so scared, so frustrated and utterly exhausted, she didn't know how much more she could take. Natsu not saying anything wasn't helping either and the growing throbbing she felt throughout her body left her feeling pathetic. It was all becoming too much for her and before she knew it tears were falling from her large doe-eyes, trickling off her face.
Lucy's head dropped into her hands as she brushed away the overflowing tears, a small sob escaped her mouth as the situation seemed to finally dwell on her. As her cries became louder and more expressive, the more and more panicked Natsu became.
The second her tears began to flow, Natsu's eyes went wide, he hadn't said anything yet and she was already crying, how was he going to deal with this? He wasn't someone who dealt with situations like this. Unsure of whether he would freak her out more, he pensively stepped forward.
Part of him wanted to run and hide but the other part of him told him to help her, perhaps it was the guilt of knowing what he had done to her or perhaps it was weird tingling feeling he felt deep in his stomach.
Instead of doing what most people would do, which was hug the crying person in comfort, he kneeled on the ground in front of her and placed a warm hand on her knee startling her. She ignored it and continued crying. He sighed, what does he do now?
He thought back to when he was younger and although the memories before Fairy Tail were hazy, he remembered an action which he felt brought comfort. Slowly standing up he carefully placed his hand on top of her head, she flinched at the suddenness but the tears still fell, and the soft sobbing continued.
He then gently stroked her head, raising his hand back up to the top of her head he repeated the action. After some time, he heard her sobbing stop but the tears continued to gently fell onto her lap. He wasn't sure of how long he was supposed to continue for, but when she finally stopped crying, he decided that was probably good enough, just as he was about to pull away, he felt a cold soft grip around his arm indicating he stop, confirming his previous thoughts. So, he let go and stepped back.
Natsu watched as she grabbed a tissue and wiped away stray tears, her eyes red. She looked up at him and spoke softly, "Thanks," he shrugged and waited again, "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to burst out crying like that." Her voice was quiet but he heard her clearly through his sharp ears. Instead of acting impatient like before he waited until she was ready to start speaking again.
She sighed and took a deep breath, "Natsu… I can't deal with any more suspense. If you know what's wrong with me, then please just tell me. I can't take it anymore."
Natsu observed her sad expression and saw how well matched her aura was. The blue haze around her body was growing bigger and flicked out of control. Natsu for the first time in a long time felt sorry for the girl in front of him, with her quivering pouting lips and sniffling button nose she looked up at him hoping for an answer.
He gulped and raised a hand to the back of his neck, where does he even begin? He thought an apology was finally due, "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to make you cry and I didn't mean for ANY of this to happen, I wasn't even sure I had the ability to do something like this."
Lucy looked at him suddenly as if she was surprised he actually answered her and with a concerned look, she bit her lip anxiously not enjoying the words that left his mouth.
He continued speaking hoping it would make this whole ordeal end quicker. "I… accidently injected you with a piece of my darkness…" Crossing his arms, he closed his eyes and let out a breath he didn't realise he was holding. He felt uncomfortable and worried which was an unusual occurrence for him. However, he guessed he shouldn't be too surprised as Lucy seemed to be unearthing emotions he hadn't felt for a long time.
Then Lucy let out a pathetic laugh as if she thought this was all a joke, "Natsu, what the hell does that even mean?" She had an annoyed expression now.
He paused, this was something he hated having to do, telling people about his horrible truth, it had been quite a while since he's had to do this yet the feelings that came with the event came flooding, would she gag and vomit or would she scream in terror. With his heart beating fast, he cleared his throat, "I guess I should tell you that I'm part Demon…"
Lucy flinched and blinked at him confused, he watched as she processed his words in her head before shaking her head, "that's- that's not possible…" she denied.
She locked eyes with him briefly and then looked down in thought, while her puffy round doe eyes held tears, he saw that there was no fear, no disgust and no malice.
Most of the time people would believe him immediately claiming that all his actions made sense, they would then avoid him in fear. But her unusual reaction, weirdly, eased him somewhat and made him feel more comfortable with her.
Lucy was confused. No, beyond confused, the whole situation was bizarre enough but Natsu being a Demon… that really would take a lot to believe.
"It is. I'm part demon and part dragon" Natsu had spoken calmly but his face was dark and showed almost an embarrassed expression.
She blinked confused and gulped, all her life she had known demons to be evil, vile creatures but Natsu wasn't like that, not to her anyway. He hadn't hurt her, not intentionally anyway.
"I'm not like a real demon… so don't start freaking out on me." Natsu suddenly said, perhaps her lack of response was making it seem like she would react that way. She knew she should be more scared and frustrated; he was part demon after all, but she found herself feeling much more relieved to be finally gaining answers.
Lucy sighed and raised a hand to her head slightly rubbing her temple, looking back up at him she tilted her head, "So… you are part demon and dragon?" she asked, repeating his previous words.
He nodded and uncrossed his arms and stuffed them into his pockets, seemingly more relaxed than before.
Lucy slowly nodded, taking in the information, "okay… so what do you mean by darkness?" she asked nervously. The word darkness didn't exactly exude positive vibes.
He sighed, "I... uhm," It was clear he didn't know where to begin but she would be patient, she needed to know what was wrong with her.
"Part of my demon side allows me to sense a person's aura, mentally and emotionally." He looked at her to see if she was understanding.
Lucy nodded while she wasn't completely certain, she was following along.
"So, emotional auras are constantly changing and depend on what the person is experiencing and feeling, I can see all of that through colours which appear around the person," he explained.
Lucy's eyes widened, she would've never thought something was even possible and if he could see what she was feeling does that mean he can tell that she's feeling scared and sad right now?
He had paused to make sure she was still keeping up, Lucy looked up at him and blushed, "So… what am I feeling right now?"
He chuckled at her embarrassment for wanting to know what he could see, "Well, right now you have a strong blue mist around you so I'd say you're feeling pretty sad," He spoke calmly.
Lucy nodded, she knew she should be scared at his abilities but she couldn't help but be curious about him, "Isn't that annoying?" she suddenly asked.
He flinched at her question and she gasped and covered her mouth almost like she hadn't even expected those words to come out, "I'm sorry! I didn't- I- Uhm you don't have to answer that. I was just curious and I didn't think about it." She blushed and closed her eyes embarrassed.
He tried to hold back his laugh, her question didn't offend him at all rather it was the fact that she had wanted to ask questions and thought about how it affected him that surprised him. Her reaction was beyond cute to him, the way she immediately apologised and blushed made him feel funny.
Coughing, he felt a little embarrassed at his thoughts, but he shook his head, "It's fine, you can ask me anything… its better than you hating me." He said the latter half under his breath.
Lucy looked up through her fingers and sighed, "Are you sure? You don't have to…" She said meekly, lowering her arms back down to her lap.
He shrugged, "Yeah, I don't mind."
To be fair, he didn't mind, it was a million times better than the other reactions he's had in the past.
Blushing she thought for a second before shaking her head, "I think we should just move on…"
Natsu nodded before clearing his throat and trying to remember where he had left off, "Well then mental auras… are deeper seated and don't change. It's what a person is inherently like."
Lucy nodded in understanding, "So, how does that appear to you?"
"Oh well, words pop into my head when I first meet the person." He replied.
Nervously she fiddled with her hair and nodded before asking the question he knew she would ask, "Oh… so what am I?" she asked.
Natsu almost slapped his head when he remembered he would have to tell her she appeared as, 'heavenly'. Not only did that sound creepy, it was embarrassing. He then looked down at her expectant eyes and thought about the best way to word it. Clearing his throat, "Ah… well I guess: heavenly." He decided on and watched as her eyes widened before she blushed widely and raised her hands to her cheeks clearly flustered.
She blinked at him, "I- I- is that a common aura to have…?" She asked while trying to calm herself.
Natsu raised his hand nervously rubbing his neck and gulped, "Actually I had never sensed that before you…" He watched as she tilted her head.
"What makes it that way? How could I be… heavenly?"
Natsu shrugged, "Honestly I don't know, I don't understand how demons do it… we just do," he watched as she processed what he was saying, "what I do know, is that I know you're a good person…"
Lucy looked up suddenly and smiled bright and wide, his heart almost exploding out if his chest as he watched her face light up as she quickly took up a yellow mist around herself.
She tilted her head, "Thanks Natsu…" but her happiness didn't last long as she trailed off and looked down at her lap, her aura became less and less bright. "But what does that mean for me, I still don't understand what you did to me…"
Natsu looked away ashamed, "I somehow injected you with a part of me." He spoke, thinking being blunt would be best.
Lucy raised her legs up to her chest, wrapping her arms around her legs, she rested her chin slowly on top of her knees. "I still don't get it… earlier you said it was a 'darkness' and it's yours…" she shook her head confused.
Natsu gulped yet again, "Just like you have a mental aura, I have one too… it's the complete opposite to you. It's darkness."
Lucy made a worried face, "So does that mean you're evil?" She asked.
He shrugged, "Honestly maybe, most demons are since our auras always show up as darkness."
Lucy flinched at his answer, "Why don't you know for sure? I didn't think you would say you're evil…" She sort of trailed off unsure of how to feel.
"I can't read my own aura; I just remember a long time ago being told that's what I had." He sighed, he didn't like being unsure but his childhood was always blurry and all the knowledge he had about himself came to him through choppy memories.
Lucy sighed, "So what does this mean? Deep down… your evil? Dark?" Pausing, she heard no response, "But, how and why did you inject me? Am I gonna get sicker?"
Natsu shook his head, "I don't know, Lucy. I don't know." He began to notice the anger in her rising and it was starting to get to him too.
The previously calm conversation was quickly becoming heated.
Suddenly, Lucy dropped her legs and sighed, "What do you mean you don't know…" she paused and gave him a furious look, standing up, "You did this to me!" her voice suddenly raised, surprising him.
And with that he could help the anger that bubbled up in him. He didn't do this on purpose, he didn't even know he could do this. If he was going to hurt someone, it definitely would not have been her and it frustrated him that he felt that way. He hadn't even really processed what happened.
He rolled his eyes, "Not on purpose." He grumbled out while crossing his arms.
Lucy scoffed and raised an eyebrow, "That doesn't take away from the fact that you did this to me!" she shouted back, "And you don't even know what's going to happen to me?" she said sitting back down and looking away.
"What do you want from me? I've already apologised and I'm sorry that I don't know what's gonna happen now." He told her.
"I don't know! I don't fucking know." She let out before covering her face with both her hands.
Tensions were clearly high and Natsu tried to stay calm but truthfully, he felt like punching a wall. It was hard being this calm and if it was anyone else, he would have blown a fiery hole through the person's body. Honestly, he didn't really know why he treated her differently than others but a part of him was glad he wasn't acting 'normally'.
It suddenly went quiet as he watched her hazy red aura, which represented her previous anger, turned blue. A sudden sniffle broke the silence, Lucy was crying again. Natsu sighed and brought a hand to his head, rubbing, unsure of what to do.
Looking at him, she wiped a stray tear from her eyes. They locked eyes for a moment before Natsu decided he had enough of upsetting her, clearing his throat he spoke, "I'm sorry I did this to you… But I didn't do that on purpose and I don't want to make you cry anymore." Natsu was actually surprised at his own gentleness, he almost laughed.
They stayed there in silence for a long while before Lucy sniffled again and pouted before clearing her throat, "I'm sorry for yelling at you… I just want answers, I'm nervous and scared and I feel sick…"
"Are you in pain right now?" He asked as he couldn't sense any discomfort coming from her.
Lucy paused for a second to think before rubbing her arm, "Actually, I'm not feeling as sick as I was before, which is strange…" She retreated back into her thoughts.
Natsu nodded, he agreed that she should be in some pain considering the new darkness inside of her would want to grow or return to its owner. There was clearly something going on that he wasn't aware could even happen. Before he could question her further on the pain and examine it himself, Lucy moved.
He looked down at her to see her gently patting her cheeks and shaking her head, he watched amused as her sad aura became white again. She then stood up, "We need to call Porlyusica, especially now that we've got you here." She said with enthusiasm.
Natsu nodded, "That's probably a good idea actually." He realised that would mean talking to the old man.
After some more self-motivation from herself, Lucy began to walk towards the door and Natsu watched as she headed to the door and paused. He almost laughed when she turned around with a blush on her face, she cleared her throat, "Do I look like I've been crying?" She asked shyly.
Natsu put his hands in his pocket, she was thankfully looking less teary eyed and her eyes weren't as puffy nor red so he shook his head, "No. You look fine."
She brushed down her clothes and thanked him. Looking back up, "Uhm also how do we get into contact with Porlyusica? I'm guessing you know."
Natsu nodded, "We need to talk to the Guild Master." He said displeased.
Lucy blinked surprised, "Hmm, I guess that's good. I had aimed to speak to him in the first place…" She said under her breath.
He wanted to ask her about what she meant but Lucy was already leaving the room. Just as the door was about to shut, she turned around and tilted her head, "Are you coming?" She asked smiling gently.
Natsu nodded and began walking towards the door trying to calm his racing heart.
Disclaimer: All credit to Hiro Mashima for creating Fairy Tail! I only own the plot to this story! Sorry for anyone I may have insulted with topics in this. Also don't mind the grammar, I'm not a professional writer I just do this for fun!
Hey! Thank you so much to the 106 followers for reading this chapter! Seriously thank you, it makes me feel so happy to see so many of you enjoying my story! I have really loved reading the amazing comments and I appreciate the support!
So, what do you think of this conversation? I know they're both presenting BIG mixed emotions but I have a reason for that later to come. Also, the subtle flirting and tension is crazyyy, I don't actually know why I did that but I kinda like it…
Anyway, I've got a conversation with Makarov planned in the next chapter which is going to be super revealing (in my opinion) about both Natsu and Lucy's past (mainly Lucy's) so be prepared for thattt.
Anyway, let me know what you thought, I love reading the comments because they're super helpful!