Lucy had only felt true despair three times in her life. First was when her mother died, second when she found out about her father's death while she was gone, and now it was the scene in front of her.

Natsu laid on a bed against the far wall. His left leg was wrapped in a cast and most of his outer extremities were wrapped in bandages. His eyes were closed and he seemed almost peaceful as his chest rose and fell in shallow increments. But what scared Lucy the most was seeing his head wrapped and a machine behind him pumping fluids into his arm. Lilith said he hadn't woken up in a few days.

Lucy legs gave out from under her and she fell to her knees. Tears fell from her eyes as she stared at her bestfriend laying there. She tried to call out to him but choked on her words, leaving the silence in the room undisturbed. A minute passed before a hand was pressed onto her shoulder, startling her. She looked up to see Makarov standing beside her, tears also pooling in his eyes. "C'mon Lucy" He said as he urged her to stand, which he obeyed. They shuffled over to the dragon slayer laying on the bed.

Makarov placed a gentle hand on Natsu's head, "I'm sorry Natsu, this is all my fault." Lucy just stared down at her bestfriend. She hesistantly reached for his hand. Erza had walked in and placed a chair so Lucy could sit next to him. The trio sat there, all with tears in their eyes, unable to speak.

Lucy could feel Natsu's familiar warmth as she interwove their fingers.

Time passed for her as she sat there staring at his damaged face. The guild members came and went, offering their words of strength and crying tears for their guildmate. When Gray had seen Natsu laying there, a grim feeling washed over him when he saw his friend in such a state.

An hour passed before Erza walked back in and laid a hand on Lucy's back. "Do you wanna stay with him Lucy?" The blonde just nodded yes. "We'll all be staying in town until he wakes up. Lilith said she'll help you with anything." And with that, the redhead left.

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Lilith had brought an extra blanket for her visitor, when she creaked open the door she saw Lucy slumped over the bed, asleep. She was holding Natsu's hand in both of hers. A small tear appeared in the elder's eye, the scene reminded her of when her husband died.

She snuck up and placed the blanket over the blonde.

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Lucy woke up in the middle of the night when she felt a pressure on her hand. When did I fall asleep? What time is it?

Suddenly she felt the pressure again. She looked up to find her hands holding Natsu's. Glancing up, she was met with the dragon slayer's onyx eyes staring down at hers.

"Natsu..." She whimpered.

"Hey beautiful."

Relief overwhelmed her as she jumped up and practically landed on Natsu.

"Natsu..." She whispered as she placed her head on his chest.

"Ow, that hurts ya know" He teased her. She just quietly laughed. He moved his head and placed a kiss on her forehead

"I missed you"

"Yeah, I missed ya too."

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"Lushee... wake up Lushee"

The blondes eyes fluttered open and she was met with the grin of a blue cat staring down at her. "oh happy... I'm glad you're okay." Happy giggled.

The rest of the day was filled with the guild coming through again since Natsu was awake. The reunions were filled with tears, laughter, and teasing (mainly from Gray and Gajeel).

"So Natsu, when will you be coming back home?" Erza questioned. "Probably not for a few more days, I'm still feeling pretty shitty" "You look like it too" Gray quipped. They all laughed at the well-needed joke.

"I'm gonna be staying with him and we'll head back together." Lucy mentioned, squeezing his hand.

"Okay well, most of us are heading out later today, so we'll see you two when you're back in Magnolia." Lucy and Natsu nodded as they left the room.

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Lilith kept the couple well-fed, rested, and entertained over the next few days as she recalled her life. Natsu would occasionally say something insensitive, which would be met with a pinch from Lucy, which delighted him. Eventually he was fit enough to return to Magnolia.

They said their goodbyes to Lilith, taking a quick photo with her as a keepsake.

"Lucy""Yeah.. what's up?"

"I'm in love with you."

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Authors Note:

Originally I planned to have Happy die in the crash, and when I was writing out Natsu telling everyone about Happy's death, I was tearing up. But I want this mainly to be ab Natsu and Lucy so I couldn't do it... but I might do a One Shot on it if people like the idea