Jet arrived at Porlyuscia's house in record time. He raised a fist to knock on the door, but apparently, she already knew he was there. The door swung open, and Jet was met with the familiar anger filled wrinkles of the pink haired woman. Her eyes fell on Lucy, and her look changed from anger, to horror.

"Get her inside." Porlyuscia swung the front door open wide. She ran to a table full of mysterious potions, frantically searching for what she needed. Jet followed into the house.

"Lay her down on the bed. Gently." Porlyuscia commanded. Jet cautiously placed Lucy onto the bed. He took his time, not wanting to face Natsu's wrath if he hurt the girl any further.

Porlyuscia roughly pushed Jet aside as she got to work at cutting off what remained of Lucy's bloody clothing. Jet looked away, out of politeness, and fear of what he would see. Frankly, he didn't want to know how badly she'd been beat up underneath that nightgown.

"Go wait outside, I can't have any distractions." Porlyuscia commanded Jet.

Jet nodded and made for the door.

"When the others get here, don't let them inside unless I give them permission. That applies to all of them. Even Natsu." Porlyuscia's voice was firm and sure, leaving no room for argument.

Jet simply nodded again, ignoring the fear in his stomach when he thought about having to stop Natsu from seeing Lucy.

He stepped out the front door, shutting it behind him and leaning against it, as if that would somehow stop Natsu from entering when he arrived.

After a minute, Lucy screamed, ear-piercing and pain-filled.

It did nothing to help calm Jet's nerves.

Jet sat down, leaning against the outside of the house, and decided he could at least try and get some sleep. He watched the sunset for a moment, then shut his eyes tight. He tried his best to ignore the whimpers of pain Lucy made from inside the house, and pretended he didn't hear Lucy repeatedly asking for Natsu.

"Hurry your ass up, Natsu, she needs you." Jet whispered to the air. " And I know you need her too."

Eventually, Jet fell asleep.

Natsu sprinted through the woods, his enhanced eyesight helping him avoid trees and roots. The sun was beginning to rise, and he pushed himself forward, ignoring the calls of his friends telling him to wait for them.

Finally, he reached the clearing where Porlyuscia's house sat, only to see Jet standing in front of the door.

Natsu approached slowly. Jet tried to stand in a way that made him seem big and scary, but Natsu could see the anxiety in his eyes.

"Is Luce inside?" Natsu asked, stopping a few feet in front of Jet.

Jet nodded. "No one's allowed inside yet, Porlyuscia's orders."

"I'm different." Natsu said, glaring at Jet.

"I'm sorry, but Porlyuscia specified that the rule applied to you-"

"I have had a very, very bad couple of days, Jet." Natsu's voice began to raise, but he paused, forcing himself to take a breath. His voice reduced to a soft, icy tone, that was somehow worse. "I suggest that you don't push me around. I am going inside that house to make sure Lucy is okay, rules be damned. And you are not stopping me." Natsu lifted his chin, making himself look bigger as he approached the house, which should have been humorous, considering Jet was at least a foot taller. But it wasn't.

There was nothing funny about it.

As Natsu grew closer, Jet slowly stepped back, stammering excuses to try and keep the fire mage away.

"I'm not, I don't know Natsu, the old lady s-seemed pretty…pretty serious. Uh, if you, if you go in you might distract her while she's working, you might hurt L-Lucy. And after everything I would really just h-hate if, you, um, Lucy, and…"

Jet's back hit the door. Natsu was right in front of him.

Nowhere to run, this is how I die. The racer thought to himself.

Then, to his sweet relief, the door swung open.

Jet let out a sigh, all the fear washing away as he shot away from the doorway. He watched from the side as Natsu and Porlyuscia had the most intense three second staring contest he'd ever seen. Then, Porlyuscia simply sighed, and swung the door open wider.

Natsu looked in at Lucy, and Jet saw all the tension leave his body.

"Thank you." He heard Natsu whisper breathlessly to Porlyuscia as he entered the house. The lady quietly shut the door behind her, and Jet went back to sitting against the house, waiting for the rest of Natsu's team to show up.

When Natsu saw Lucy lying on Porlyuscia's bed, he forgot how to breathe. It was this horrible ,mixture of rage, guilt, sadness, and relief. Relief that at the very least she was here safe and she finally got medical attention. And on top of it all, as he mumbled his thanks to Porlyuscia as he pushed his way inside, Natsu couldn't help but realize how stunningly beautiful Lucy was. Even as she laid there, unconscious, nothing covering her except layers of bandages and a thin blanket, her golden hair still blood stained, the bruise on her jaw still present, Natsu couldn't stop himself from thinking about what her smile looked like, how it shined and how desperately he wanted to see it again.

Porlyuscia pulled a chair over, placing it next to the bed and gesturing for Natsu to sit. His feet seemed to move of their own accord. He silently went to the chair, flopping down. He cautiously brought a hand up to Lucy's neck, finally letting himself completely relax when her felt her faint, but ever present pulse. Of course, he didn't doubt Porlyuscia, but he had needed to prove it to himself. Natsu had needed to feel that Lucy was truly safe next to him.

He was beginning to fear he would blink and she would be gone again.

Gently, Natsu pushed a piece of hair out of her face. Frowning as he felt the dried blood crusted into her usually well kept locks. He would have to wash it for her, he hated the way the blood drowned out her scent.

Natsu dropped the piece of hair, moving his hand to go on top of hers, mindlessly intertwining his fingers with her own.

"I'm so sorry I couldn't keep you safe Luce." He whispered to her, knowing she probably couldn't hear him. "I'll do better next time. I'll keep you close and never let you leave, okay?"

Natsu finally felt a slim amount of peace for the first time since he'd seen that stupid note on Lucy's desk. He relished in the serenity, even if it was tainted by the scent of blood and Lucy's too-still body.

Natsu's gaze never left Lucy. His mind unable to conjure thoughts about anything else. All he wanted was to see her smile, see her in clothes that weren't torn and bloodied, see her body bruise-free. All he wanted was her to be her lively self, shouting and throwing and kicking and causing a scene because she was Lucy and that's what Lucy did. He wanted her to go back to smelling like stardust and summertime, without the constant scent of blood in the background. He just wanted to hear her talk again. He wanted to hear her voice, untainted by sadness, vocal chords no longer rubbed raw from screaming out. The only yelling Lucy was supposed to be doing was yelling at Natsu to get out of her house or stop lighting things on fire. She was never supposed to scream in pain. She was never supposed to be in pain.

And Dear God, Natsu wanted to hear her laugh.

He could remember her laugh so well, how contagious it was. How it would echo through the guild, and it would always bring a smile to his face. Wether she was laughing at him or with him or at something entirely unrelated to him, he didn't care, he usually ended up chuckling too.

Ultimately, Natsu just wanted Lucy to be happy. Because he couldn't be happy until she was. And she couldn't be, wasn't happy like this. Natsu clutched her hand tighter, as he promised to himself that when she was better, his life mission would be to always make sure Lucy was happy. She deserved it.

Lucy deserved everything Natsu could give her.

Natsu was so wrapped up in these thoughts as he stared at the blonde, he didn't even notice as Porlyuscia began mending the stab wound in his shoulder. Nor did her hear her mumbling to herself as she worked, as she wondered aloud when young love had become so painful.


*screams* guess who isn't dead! I'm back! I am sosososo sorry for these taking so long. I really have no excuses except im being lazy and unmotivated. But thanks to some support from a few good friends of mine, the train has finally reached motivation station.

Thank you so much to everyone who continues to support me and this story even with the ridiculous update schedule. I know this chapter was short and probably a bit of a let down considering how long you've all been waiting, but i promise you, i have the ending firmly planned out now, I know where im going and I will continue to push myself forward and get. this. fic. done.

I really do enjoy writing this, i adore it actually. And no words can describe how much i love reading all the reviews you lovely leave me.

Oof, anyways, that got emotional.

Check out my Tumblr for info and updates on this fic: a-fairy-tail44

(Any posts will be tagged as #I will go home nalu and #IWGH nalu)

((or you can totally just hmu on Tumblr to chat about the ft sequel cause we're only three chapters in and im already in love))