I hope you all enjoy!

Disclaimer: I don't own Fairy Tail

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Eruption (Ch. 2)

It was still so hot that Lucy almost wanted to take off all her clothes in the middle of the forest, but she couldn't care less if she looked like a sweating pig. Even though she could hear all the screams and explosions behind her, she didn't look back. Even though her lungs were burning and her legs were begging her to stop, she wouldn't as tears streamed down her face.

"LUCY!"

As the loud scream echoed through the woods, Lucy let out a loud sob, but she continued pushing on, even though she knew exactly who that was. She was temped to stop, turn, and look back at the burning city that held her friends, her family, helpless townspeople, and her love, but Lucy knew that if she did that, she'd run back to them and Fairy Heart would go off.

So, instead, she pressed onward, picturing all their smiling faces in her mind and tried to pretend that they all weren't about to die. She knew this was Fairy Tail and that they don't easily go down, but…this is a volcano. Some of Fairy Tail, if not most of them – or all of them – were going to die.

And as much as she didn't want to admit it, Natsu might be one of the first people to die…

Lava always appeared to most people as fire, but in actuality, it's mostly water and Natsu couldn't eat it. He would most likely attempt to eat it, thinking it was his element, and it would kill him. Even if he knew better, he would put himself at risk to save others, meaning he could possibly die.

As much as Lucy didn't want to admit it, Natsu might not make it out of there…

Natsu was probably going to die…

There were screams of agony behind her and she choked on her tears as she continued to run through the forest.

"Hold on!" She exclaimed out loud, stopping her feet to observe her surrounding. She dried her tears so she could see: "I can cry later." Looking around her, she bit her lip, "I should be going to Hargeon! It's the closest town to Magnolia! Right now, I'm on the road to Bosco!"

Looking up the ash-filled sky, Lucy realized she couldn't go back. If she did, she'd be caught in the ash and Fairy Heart would self-activate. It looks like she'd be going to Bosco.

Lucy was panting hard, but she begun to run again anyway, going northwest toward Bosco.

When Lucy was well out of the range of the eruption, she slowed down to a walk. It was still hot out, but not as bad as before; she could still hear the explosions and screams from miles and miles away, but they were very faint. When night fell, Lucy hugged the backpack containing the Lumen Historie to her as she rested against the trunk of a tree.

As many times as she closed her eyes, she couldn't sleep. Natsu, screaming her name, echoed through her mind over and over as she let the tears run down her face again. Everyone she ever loved was gone and she was all alone.

"No! They can't be dead! They can't be! They're Fairy Tail! They've gotta be alive, Lucy! You can't keep thinking like this!"

She wiped her eyes, but the tears kept falling and she still couldn't sleep…

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When she reached Bosco the next day at noon, she was physically and mentally exhausted. Lucy hadn't eaten or drunk anything for one and a half days and it was finally taking a toll on her. Not to mention she probably stank and in dire need of a shower; plus, she was covered in sweat and dirt and looked half dead on the street.

Seeing her situation, Lucy was able to understand all the people staring at her, whispering:

"Woah! Look at her! What happened?!"

"Is she okay?"

"She looks like she's about to keel over."

"Was she attacked?"

"Should we help her?"

When she couldn't take another step, she collapsed onto the sidewalk, barely conscious.

"Woah! Miss! Are you okay?! Answer me!" Someone shook her.

"Is she breathing?!"

"Somebody get help!"

"Hold on! Look at the mark on her hand! She's a Fairy Tail mage!"

"Go get the wizards at the guild hall up ahead! Bring them here!"

Running feet and panicked voices were all she heard before she lost consciousness.

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Natsu had accidently inhaled a lot of ash, making it extremely difficult to breathe, but after drinking a potion Porlyusica handed to him, he ended up being okay.

Everyone had wounds, but surprisingly, all the Fairy Tail members made it out alive. However, only half of the Magnolia's townsfolk survived; they all mourned and licked their wounds.

Everyone was held up in Hargeon, having their wounds taken care of by the nurses and doctors from the local hospital who ran every which way. Everyone gave the survivors space, but stood at the sidelines to watch the aftermath.

Master Makarov was busy explaining everything to the mayor of Hargeon, who listened with horror inflicted in his eyes.

Wendy ran every which way, physically and mentally exhausted, but ignored Carla's protests as her wounded hands limply shook over Mira's body who was telling her to stop.

Porlyusica was making tonics after tonics as fast as she could to help people. Like Natsu, some people had inhaled ash, and would die if not treated with immediately. Erza was one of them, along with Gray, Laxus, Elfman, and many more.

"Wendy! You need to rest!"

This wasn't Carla or Mira who said this and when the sky dragon slayer looked up, she was delighted and surprised to see who it was:

"Shelia!"

"Hey there!" the sky god slayer smiled, "Lamia Scale heard what happened and we came as fast as we could to help you."

"G-great!" Wendy smiled, weakly. "Now everyone would be healed twice as fast!"

"You need to rest," Shelia repeated, sticking her hands over Cana's body to heal her as a nurse applied ointment to her burns. "Let me handle the healing, Wendy."

"If you're going to be that way," Wendy pouted, "fine, but I'm not sleeping. Heal me. That way, I'll have enough magic energy and strength to keep going."

Knowing she wasn't going to win, Shelia nodded, letting the nurse finish with Cana as she moved to Wendy.

Gray coughed and hacked with the ash in his lungs was disintegrating thanks to Porlyusica's potion. He could breathe now, but it was still difficult as the alchemy worked its magic.

A cold hand landed on his shoulder and Gray turned around.

"It's going to be okay, Gray."

"L-Lyon?" His voice was hoarse and he coughed, drinking more of the potion.

Lyon created ice and rubbed it against his burns. Gray was probably the least wounded person – not counting the ash in his lungs – because they were only first degree burns.

"J-Juvia," Gray hacked, "I-is s-she?…"

"She's okay, Gray," with a squeeze of the shoulder, he pointed behind him. "She's over there with Sherry. She's taking care of her."

Gray tried to hide it, but a single tear leaked out of his eye as he coughed, "t-thank you…"

Lyon smirked, "you're such a crybaby, Gray." He chuckled.

Natsu sat against the wall silently with a blank expression on his face. The bottle of the potion had about a quarter left in it and the dragon slayer only brought it to his lips when his breath caught in his throat for a moment. Other than that, he wasn't moving. There were too many thoughts going through his head.

"N-Natsu?"

Slowly, the fire dragon slayer turned his head to his blue, furry companion whose wounds had been tended to, but he was just as exhausted as everyone else was.

Happy was crying, "a-are you okay?"

Natsu didn't say anything as he sipped on the potion again. There was no point to say anything. It was obvious he wasn't. A volcano just destroyed Magnolia and they all had their fair share of wounds. Of course, he wasn't okay.

However, Natsu knew that's not what Happy meant.

Looking down at the ground, Natsu mumbled honestly, "I…I don't know…"

He was torn and livid, disappointed and angry with himself. Lucy was gone and he never had the guts to return her feeling. He failed protecting her and now she's gone…but at the same time, he was so excited and eager to get on his feet and search every corner of Earthland for her if it took the rest of his life just so he could hold her in his arms and say three words to her.

"You never told her, did you?"

Looking over a few feet away against the wall, Gajeel, who also had inhaled ash, had spoken. He still had wounds, but he was talking clearly, which meant all the ash in his lungs were gone. The potion Porlyusica gave him lie empty next to him. Levy was completely healed thanks to Wendy and was sleeping peacefully against Gajeel's shoulder with his arm around her.

"We had a deal, Salamander."

A week ago, Natsu and Gajeel accidently told each other that they were in love with Lucy and Levy. Gajeel challenged that he had the guts to confess to Levy first, and of course, Natsu took the bet, but his knees shook every time he got near Lucy. When the party for Gajeel and Levy's relationship started, Natsu pulled the iron dragon slayer into a private room, grumpily paid Gajeel what he owed, and asked him how he did it:

"I've been having flashbacks lately," he had said, "I keep thinking about that day I crucified Shrimp on the Sola Tree in the middle of Southgate Park…It made me think that, one day, something disastrous could happen and one of us could die…I don't want to live the rest of my life knowing she never knew how I felt or visa versa. That's what drove me to do it. If I were you, Salamander, tell Bunny Girl before it's too late."

"It looks like its too late, Salamander," he scoffed, though there was no reason to rub it in his face. Gajeel was just…disappointed in him. "I warned you…I warned you."

If he had witnessed the kiss Natsu and Lucy shared and the celestial wizard's confession, his harsh words would be two-times worse. Knowing that Natsu never replied to her is just pitiful…at least that's what Gajeel would say.

Instead of snapping and picking a fight like he would usually do, Natsu just looked ashamed, "I know…I know…"

"She's dead now," Gajeel said with slight look of sympathy in his eyes, "and you never told her…"

Natsu bit his lip, not exactly understanding what he was feeling. It was a dark mixture of a healthy dose of anger and another one of sorrow.

Gajeel's last words made Happy's tears run faster as he looked in horror at his father-figure who was suddenly fascinated with the leftover liquid in his bottle.

"N-Natsu?…D-do you think…Lushee's…dead?" The last word was nearly a whisper, but Natsu heard it.

"No," he said immediately, but quietly, "Lucy is not dead."

Happy sniffed; it was taking every ounce of sanity the exceed had left to not explode in a sobbing mess. "T-then…what are you going to do?"

Natsu stood up with sudden determination in his eyes, but this determination was expected:

"I'm going to get her back."

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Lucy managed to slowly open her eyes. Her entire body ached all over, but the pain proved that she was still alive. If she was in Heaven, there wouldn't be any. Like her mother, Lucy didn't believe in a heaven with pain.

She was still tired, but it was bearable now. She begun to sit up until her stomach screamed at her causing her to yelp and lie back down.

"Take it easy, Lucy!" A sweet, soft, feminine voice sounded.

"O-ow…"

The blonde looked around the room, realizing she was in a warm, white, linen bed and she could smell soup.

"Food," Lucy licked her lips, hearing her stomach growl madly as it tried to eat itself. She was unbelievably thirsty too.

A glass of water met her lips first and a hand was placed on her back to help her sit up to drink. The glass was gone within moments, but Lucy was still thirsty. Before she could ask for some more from the woman helping her, a spoonful of soup met her lips. When the bowl was gone, Lucy was still hungry, but it was bearable now. She wasn't starving and dying of thirst anymore.

"Are you alright?"

Turning to her left, Lucy felt a relieved smile growing on her face, "Y-Yukino! W-where am I?"

"You're in the Sabertooth sickbay," Yukino replied. "Everyone's been worried sick! What happened?!"

As a reminder, Lucy began to tear up again, "There was a volcano eruption in Magnolia."

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And the pressure worsens…XD

-zEllie