Disclaimer: Fairy Tail belongs to Hiro Mashima

ACT VI: Reverberation Time – Gathering what's left

Approximately X793

~ o ~ O ~ o ~

Chapter 42: Emotional train

The graveyard was well kept and the same could be said for the tombstone, that had all of their fallen comrade's names written on it. All around the stone a lot of flowers had been neatly arranged so it looked absolutely dazzling for the beholder visiting the place.

Natsu didn't care about it though, for him it actually seemed silly that it was decorated so goddamn much. Seriously who wanted to waste so much effort on placing ridiculous stuff on something like that? It wasn't like the corpses would appreciate it, nor would it somehow bring them back to life.

Silly... it was a silly gesture and one he didn't truly understand or appreciate...

The fact that it was all so new to him, did nothing to improve his mood.

Placing flowers just seemed like they accepted their deaths... right?

Lucy was praying silently in front of the grave, while he was standing behind her, his back leaning against another tombstone, so he didn't need the girl's support to keep himself standing straight.

"I just don't get it..." he said once the blonde unfolded her hands, signifying she was finished.

"Mmm?" she hummed in response.

"It's just silly..." he took a shaking breath before continuing "... I mean yeah I knew it wouldn't be easy.. that stuff might happen, but not like this..."

"I know..." Lucy turned her head to stare at the tombstone "... it doesn't feel right"

Not answering her, Natsu bit down his lip as he took in the wide range of emotions that rushed through his system. Pain, sorrow, anger... all of them fluctuated inside of him, making him uncertain how to act.

It just seemed impossible... it wasn't real and yet there the stone was, with their names written on it... no... they couldn't be gone, not forever... this was a really bad joke, they would come back no matter what! But... they never would, would they?

The sound of Lucy sniffling made his back stiffen in shock, which was quickly replaced with sorrow as he watched her sulking body, shake with emotions.

No... her tears made the situation seem all too real, making him gulp loudly before his anger intensified in volume.

He wouldn't accept it... the sight of Lucy being all emotional, made something snap inside of him. It was purely on instinct but he wanted nothing more than to eradicate the thing that made her suffer, even if that meant denying the truth.

"This isn't right..." he muttered in an angry tone "... it can't be"

"I'm sorry..." the celestial mage answered, before wiping away a few tears.

"Don't apologize, it ain't your fault" Natsu growled "I mean they were all strong mages so why?"

"I don't know" she answered honestly.

"Well who knows?!" he shot her a piercing stare, which caused her to flinch.

"I... uhm..."

"This is just unacceptable, you know?" the Dragon Slayer spat, his voice fuming with anger "None of this should have happened... if it weren't for that pathetic brother of mine and that idiotic dragon, then they wouldn't be dead right now"

"Please calm down..." Lucy tried appealing.

"Why should I do that?!" he shouted angrily, sending saliva flying. The outburst made his throat hurt incredibly much from the strain he was pulling on his vocal chords, but he didn't care.

"Because..." not coming up with an answer she just shook her head.

"This is just stupid!" he continued his rant "Dying is just selfish..."

"What?!" Lucy snapped her head up to send him a bewildered look "Show some respect! They sacrificed their lives for peace!"

"That's no excuse!" he gritted his teeth hard against each other, knowing all to well that he had crossed the line with that remark.

"How can you say that?!" she asked looking outraged.

"Easy, I opened my mouth!" he countered childishly.

"You're being so annoying and unreasonable right now!" Lucy snapped back in anger "Sometimes the only solution is sacrificing everything or at least an important part of your life to get victory!"

"That's never a real choice! There's always a better way than to make such a sacrifice"

"How can you be so ignorant?"

"I'm not, you're just being pessimistic"

"Ohh yeah? Then please tell me, what do you think about Igneel's death, didn't he fight with all his might but lost?"

"How DARE you..." he hissed his eyes narrowing with fury.

"I dare this, because you don't get it!" she screamed her eyes tearing up once more with both anger and sorrow "Sometimes... sometimes you can get so desperate that the only solution is either choosing death or to give up someone you hold dear..."

"What...?!" he paused briefly because there was something utterly suspicious about her sudden change in behaviour.

"I know about sacrifices and the consequences it has..." Lucy said in a low voice her body shaking uncontrollably "You... have no idea what I had to give up because I wasn't strong enough... what I had to do to save everyone..."

Her face changed and he could literally see how her heart seemed to splinter, before she spun around on her heals in order to flee from the situation.

"You..." her voice cracked as multiple tears started to stream down her face "... you know nothing and you don't care... you never did, did you? That's why it was so easy for you to leave me back then wasn't it...?"

"Wha...?" his jaw dropped visibly, because he did not expect her to say something so heartfelt, nor did he truly realise why she suddenly broke down.

Feeling baffled and confused, he stood frozen in his position as she spun around on her heels and ran away.

"What the...?" the Dragon Slayer stood questioning everything as he watched her body vanish, which caused him to shake his head and snap back to reality after a minute of standing like a motionless idiot.

"Ohhh no you don't!" Natsu growled with the intention of persuading the girl, but unfortunately he didn't take more than a few steps, before his legs gave up underneath him, making him fall flat on his face with a moan.

"Damn it!" he complained, before a fit coughs overwhelmed him, his throat feeling like he had consumed something with acid in it, as he eventually was out of breath making him gasp for air through his mouth.

Feeling determined he started crawling ever so slowly, his fingers digging into the ground as he tried pulling his body along, not at all disheartened by the fact that he didn't cover a lot of distance.

Natsu didn't know how long he struggled with this, when he felt something wet hitting the back of his neck.

"You've got to be kidding me" his eyes narrowed in suspicion and sure enough a moment later it started pouring down, like the skies themselves wanted to punish him for being an idiot.

Natsu didn't know for how long he tried dragging his body along the surface, getting him absolutely nowhere as the ground became muddy and super slippery, making it even harder to use his already limited strength to pull himself further.

"God damn it!" he cursed loudly, as a lightning flickered across the sky followed by a huge bang "Great... this is just great!"

It didn't take long before his entire body was drenched in both water and mud, making him growl as his fingers managed to create two huge holes in the ground, from where he had tried to pull himself forwards.

The Dragon Slayer wasn't sure how long he laid like that when he spotted a figure approaching him, which he immediately recognised.

"Luce!" he called making the girl momentarily stop in her tracks "I..." he started but a sudden lightning burst made him flinch slightly in surprise.

"I know..." the girl replied in a low voice as she approached him "I'm sorry..."

"Huh?"

"I shouldn't have left you alone like this..." she said in a neutral tone while hunching down in front of him "... I'm sorry"

"Lucy?"

"Please, just leave it for now okay" the blonde shook her head.

"What?!" feeling outraged he snapped his neck backwards to look at Lucy and to his surprise she looked completely emotionless. Especially her eyes looked so dull like she was staring into another world he couldn't see.

"I don't want to talk about it right now..." the girl continued in her monotone voice "... now let's get back home, you look like you could use a shower..."

"... again..." he pouted feeling slightly annoyed, but that feeling quickly vanished especially when he looked at Lucy seeming so... well cold and indifferent.

Not saying anything to his little remark, the celestial mage took a deep breath as she got up on her feet to find her keys. Finding the one she needed she summoned Capricorn, who bowed before her when he appeared.

"What seems to be the problem?" the spirit asked as he took in the situation.

"I'm sorry to ask you this, but could you carry him back to my apartment?"

"Of course, I'll make haste" Capricorn nodded before throwing the squealing Dragon Slayer over his shoulder.

"Thank you" Lucy said with a hint of sadness, earning a sceptic look from her spirit, before he stormed off.

"Will you stop running like that?!" Natsu complained "It feels like I'm on a bouncing... ugh... castle" his eyes started to twirl as his motion sickness kicked in.

"I do not follow your order young sir" Capricorn stated while keeping his fast pace.

"Moohh... mmph!" the Dragon Slayer gulped as a metallic saliva spawned in his mouth.

"I will however slow down my pace if you provide me with some information"

"... kay..." he agreed in a pathetic sound, making the spirit slow down into a walk, which helped a lot on his sickness. Sure it wasn't gone, but it wasn't as bad as it was at first.

"Why was she sad?" he asked in a voice, which was filled with restricted anger.

"I don't know" he inhaled a huge amount of air before exhaling it "We had an argument about... well about dying and something about sacrifices... I've never seen her so angry before"

"Mmm..." Capricorn mulled "That makes sense..."

"No it doesn't!" Natsu shook his head "She made it sound like she had to give up something in order to overcome something and she would never do something like that! It's not in her nature!"

"So she hasn't told you about it" the spirit sighed loudly.

"Told me what?"

"It's not in my jurisdiction to provide you with that information" he hoisted the Dragon Slayer into a new position against his shoulder "Thank you for the information"

"Wait I... ggghhh!" he gulped as Capricorn sprinted down the streets making his motion sickness intensify in volume.

Stupid spirit... Natsu thought inwardly cursing it all, as they eventually reached their destination.

~ o ~ O ~ o ~

After being dumped on the floor in her apartment, the fire mage found himself left in the living room, while the lightning occasionally struck outside.

Some people might call Natsu an idiot and sure enough, sometimes he could be rather slow compared to other people. Which was true especially when it came to emotions, which was why he couldn't really figure out what was with Lucy's attitude, but there was something about it that spoke volumes about an incident that must have happened to her, when he wasn't around.

But what?

"Gosh..." exhaling a shaking breath he used his fire to dry his clothes, making some of the mud crumble and fall down on the ground, where it turned into dust.

I know about sacrifices and the consequences it has... You... have no idea what I had to give up because I wasn't strong enough... what I had to do to save everyone.... Lucy's voice echoed in his mind.

"So she sacrificed something but what...?" he mulled to himself when he had a flashback to the war, where Lucy had thought against a demon that had a lava like ability... knowing she was a smart girl he had questioned why she didn't summon Aquarius since that spirit would have been a perfect opponent against the hot creature. She had dodged the question and said something about not being able to do it, but he never received a direct answer.

"Ohhh..." his mouth turned into a circle when he finally realised what it all implied "... that's why Capricorn knew about it... gosh I'm so stupid!" he weakly facepalmed himself and in the same moment the door opened, revealing a soaked blonde.

She didn't say anything, but just quietly entered the living room before closing the door. Once that was done, Lucy just stood perfectly still like she was having a staring contest with the door, or she had found a spot on it that was particularly interesting.

"Luce I know" he stated but didn't get any reaction from her.

"Turn around" Natsu tried but that didn't work either.

"Jeez!" he complained "I know about Aquarius"

"What?" she spun around on her heels and gave him a sceptic look "Did Capricorn tell you?"

"No, I kinda worked it out myself, from the stuff you said earlier" his eyes narrowed "I'm sorry I didn't know that..."

"Well how could you?" she smiled sadly, not moving from her position "After all I didn't tell anyone about it..."

"Why not?" the Dragon Slayer tilted his head to the sight feeling confused.

"I'm not sure..." she admitted before making her way over to him, where she placed herself on the ground "... maybe I didn't want to admit that she's gone"

"But that's just silly"

"Yeah... I know"

None of them said anything for a few seconds, as the revelation really sank in.

"It must have been lonely..." Natsu finally broke the silence "... when did it happen?"

"Back when we fought against Tartarus..."

"That's like ages ago!" his eyes widened in surprise, especially because she had managed to keep that a secret so long.

"I know..."

"But how?! Why?!"

"I wasn't strong enough" she answered while leaning forwards to cover her eyes with her hair "I had to sacrifice her key, in order to get enough power to win... if not all of you guys would have... you would have..."

"Died..."

"Yeah..."

"Damn... I'm sorry..."

"Don't be..." she chuckled in a weird and sad way "... it was my own fault..."

"Come on, don't say that"

"But it's true... and because of that I had to sacrifice her key... you said it yourself, that there's always a solution other than sacrificing something, so what does that make me? A pathetic mage, who had to break her own key as her last resort?"

"I didn't mean it like that..." he tried defending when he noticed that her body was trembling.

"I know..." Lucy sniffled before a sneeze overwhelmed her, making her body bounce slightly from the ground.

"Bless you"

"Thanks..."

"Eyy... you're still drenched aren't ya?" he realised feeling somewhat stupid all of a sudden.

"Uh-huh"

"Come here, I'll warm you up" the Dragon Slayer raised his arms encouraging her to accept his embrace, which she did right away, as she hugged his torso tightly.

"Easy now, you might break my spine" he chuckled warmly, making her loosen her hold.

"... sorry..."

"It's okay" he smiled warmly before raising his own temperature, to heat the wet girl "Jeez you're freakishly cold!" Natsu winced when he noticed how cold her body felt against him, making him rub her arms with his hands in order to provide some heat to them.

It didn't take long before the celestial mage was dry, which caused her to slump more sluggishly against him.

"Natsu..."

"Yeah?"

"You should go take a shower... you're filled with mud"

"Come on" he groaned loudly "I took a bath this morning thanks to you"

"Suit yourself" Lucy yawned loudly as she got on her feet "But you're not allowed on the couch, when you're that filthy"

"It's just a little dirt..." he complained knowing fully well that it was no use arguing with her.

"Mmm..." she yawned again while stretching her arms above her body "... gosh I'm beat..."

"Me too..." he nodded more to himself than to her.

"Is it okay if we just relax today and perhaps watch a few movies?"

"Yeah that's fine"

"Neat..." the blonde yawned again "... okay I'm gonna go take a quick hot shower, will you be okay on your own?"

"Of course" he rolled with his eyes "It's not like I'm a baby you know"

"Uh-huh" Lucy smirked before she found her pyjamas, she then brought with her into the bathroom. Shortly after that the Dragon Slayer heard the sound of the shower turning on, signifying she was taking her bath.

"Ahh..." exhaling he leaned backwards until he hid the floor, where he laid perfectly while staring at the ceiling. Not thinking about anything in particularly he just laid there until Lucy eventually finished her bath and came back to the living room.

"That was great" the blonde exhaled loudly, making him turn to look at her where he noticed that her skin had turned slightly pink.

"Mmm... that isn't really convincing..." he grumbled, earning a confused look from Lucy.

"What do you mean?" she asked while using a towel to dry her hair.

"It ain't convincing me to take a shower"

"Ohhh..." she smiled somewhat teasingly "... well if you don't I decide what movies we're gonna watch"

"What?!" rolling over on his side he sent her a bewildered look "You can't be serious?!"

"Ohh but I am... only people on the couch has a saying in what we're gonna watch"

"... you can be such a bully sometimes..." his eyebrow twitched in annoyance.

Not answering him Lucy just smiled warmly, before she strolled over and placed herself on the couch.

"Mmm..." she hummed to herself "I think I want to watch some chick flicks..."

"Not that! Anything but that!" his eyes widened in horror "Fine, I'm taking a shower!" he shouted in determination, as he quickly crawled out to the bathroom, where he somewhat awkwardly managed to take his clothes of before getting under the shower.

"... stupid bath..!" he complained childishly as the water removed the mud from his body, until he was eventually clean. Determining that was good enough, he used his fire once more to dry himself, before he weakly crawled over to his pile of clothes.

"Mmm..." he rummaged through it, until he found his boxers which fortunately wasn't muddy or dirty.

Well it was better than nothing... Natsu shrugged before manoeuvring them on and drying them with his heat. Once that was over with he immediately crawled into the living room, his target being the couch which he reached rather quickly. Which Lucy didn't notice, so she screamed in surprise when the half naked guy suddenly sat beside her.

"Yo-yo-you!" she blushed fiercely and snapped her head the other way.

"What?" he asked feeling confused.

"Where are your clothes?"

"In the bathroom" blinking he continued "You said no mud on your couch right?"

"Right..."

"And my boxers aren't muddy, but if it's such a big deal I can take them off..."

"No-no-no! It's fine!" Lucy smiled awkwardly before she bounced off the couch.

"Where are you going?"

"Just a second..." she answered before coming back with her duvet, she then offered him "... here"

"Thanks!" taking it from her hands Natsu snuggled it against it.

"You're welcome" she answered before placing herself next to him.

Not saying anything he offered her some of the duvet, which she accepted and placed above her legs.

"So what do you want to see?" Lucy asked before snatching the rather expensive lacrima that could play movies. It had cost a fortune and he secretly wanted to play with it.

"Something with action!" he suggested while fist bumping the air.

"Mmm..." she swiped the surface of the lacrima, looking through the movies that the stone contained "... how about The Secret Samurai?"

"Sounds good" Natsu answered while getting comfortable on the couch, as Lucy placed the lacrima on the table.

As the movie played it didn't take long before the blonde was snoring peacefully curled into a small ball on her end of the couch.

"Heh..." smiling to himself he turned his attention away from the girl and back to the movie. Or well sort of, he did sometimes look at her through the corner of his eyes, just to make sure she was doing okay, especially because she would make this little jerk with her body, where her eyebrows would squint together as if she was experiencing something uncomfortable in her mind.

It was during one of her fits, that he noticed that she was silently crying in her sleep which caused his heart to clench painfully inside his chest.

"Come on..." Natsu very gently placed his arm across her shoulder, before maneuvering her head to lay on his lap "... it's gonna be okay"

She seemed to be somewhat content in her sleep after that, making him sigh loudly before he started stroking her hair.

"Good girl..." he smiled to himself before turning his attention back to the movie. Or whatever was left of his attention, because the day's events was starting to pull a toll on him too, making him yawn loudly.

Feeling the drowsiness starting to overwhelm him, he leaned his head backwards against the couch in order to sit in a more comfortable position.

"Mmm..." the Dragon Slayer hummed in content and closed his eyes. It didn't take more than a few minutes before he drifted into sleep as well, where he sat with a stream of saliva running down his chin.

~ o ~ O ~ o ~

Lucy knew she was dreaming, the minute she walked into her kitchen and saw Natsu stand at her stove making perfectly fired pancakes.

"It's about time you woke up" he smiled widely while flipping the pan.

"Ohh... sorry" she answered him with a confused expression on her face.

"You better be..." he raised one of his hands up in front of him, where black flames suddenly emerged from his palm before it grew in volume making it lick up his arm.

"Ahh!" squealing in surprise the blonde quickly found a bottle of water she poured over the fire but it didn't extinguish.

"You need another substance to turn off this fire" he growled in a voice filled with malicious intentions, his eyes changing into a red colour "It needs your blood"

"No..." she gulped loudly as Natsu slowly turned into his demonic version, only this time he had Acnologia's markings spread all over his body as well.

"Yes..." Natsu licked his lips as he took a step towards her "... it's time you die for your sins"

Standing frozen in fear she just watched as the black flames grew in intensity until it was all over the majority of her kitchen, making her shiver uncontrollably.

"This way!" Gray's voice suddenly shouted before she felt someone grab her hand. As he did the scene completely changed making her suddenly run down the streets of Magnolia.

"Come on we don't have much time" he encouraged her to run faster before they made their way into a back alley.

"... he'll find us" she whispered having this foreboding feeling that once the demon found them, he would shred them to pieces.

"Shh..." the ice mage pushed her against the wall, where they both stood listening in silence.

He was coming... she could feel how the fear made her heart slam against her ribcage, almost as if it could sense his presence coming closer.

Looking out on the street she watched as a tiny amount of flames suddenly emerged from the ground. At first it was just a tiny streak but eventually it grew into a huge wave that looked like an insane type of storm, that only contained raging black fire.

He's here... this is it... tears streamed down her face and her bladder suddenly clenched together signifying that she was on the brink of peeing herself.

"You'll never end up like him..." Gray says in a mysterious tone, making her turn her head to look at the ice mage "... you just need the courage to fight"

"You really think so?" she questioned almost as if she knew what he was talking about.

"I do" Gray smiled as gave her a tight hug "Sometimes it's all just a little mixed up"

"I see"

Using his thumb to remove a stray tear from her cheek he lowered his head and placed his lips on hers. At first it confused her, but then she just let go of her own consciousness and engulfed herself in the kiss.

It felt... weird... but also oddly satisfying on some really bizarre level.

"You know sometimes it's better to let it all vanish..." Natsu suddenly stood beside them with a sad expression on his face "... to let it go..."

"This isn't..." she gasped, her stomach clenching in a sickening way as an overwhelming sorrow spawned in her body "... it's not..."

"I know..." he smiled sadly while raising his hand, making Gray vanishing completely "... that's why I'll be the sacrifice..."

"No!" she extended her arm towards him, but he was out of her reach "Please!"

Natsu didn't answer her as a huge wave suddenly spawned behind him.

"No..." she sank as the water grew in volume, before it suddenly fell down towards them. However it didn't hit the Dragon Slayer but ran past him, until it hit her making her wobble on her feet as more and more water seemed to come at her.

It didn't take long before she lost her balance making her follow the stream of water, away from the Dragon Slayer who stood with a cold expression on his face.

"Natsuuuu...!" Lucy shouted, but when she opened her mouth it was instantly filled with water.

She was helplessly stuck inside the huge stream of liquid, without control or any way to get away. It was frightful and unless something happened she would drown... she would actually die right then and there...

"I'm right here..." she heard Natsu saying from somewhere in the distance, making her eyes fly open.

Where... what? Lucy questioned as she laid staring with huge frightened eyes around her apartment. She knew it was a dream or rather a nightmare but still... taking a few shaking breaths a really uncomfortable shiver ran down her spine, making her realise that her entire body was covered in a thin layer of sweat. Lucy also felt how her stomach was like a tense knot of sadness that hurt her physically.

"Haaah..." the blonde exhaled loudly, noticing that someone was gently stroking her hair. It felt really nice and soothing as she tried to regain her mood, since her feelings were like a ball of strings that was flying randomly everywhere.

"You okay?" Natsu asked making her nod slightly against his lap where her head was still positioned. She didn't know how or why they had gotten into that position nor did she care, because him being there slowly made her mind more stable and calm. That was until Lucy remembered a certain kiss in her dream, making her stop breathing for a second as guilt overwhelmed her system.

Why did she do that? What was wrong with her?

Feeling incredibly sad she slowly got into a sitting position, where the fire mage sat watching her with a confused expression.

Moving sluggishly, like someone had drained all of the energy from her body Lucy made her way to the bathroom. After closing the door she leaned against it, before her body slid down until she was sitting on the floor.

"Why... I don't understand..." folding her legs up she wrapped her arms around them so she could hug them against her chest "... he's my friend..."

The emotional pain in her stomach seemed to spread up into her throat, before it seemed to rummage through the rest of her body into each cell, which made her tingle in a weird and really unpleasant way, like she was suddenly having a cold sweat.

Feeling terrible both mentally and physically Lucy started crying silently. She didn't understand where all of this was coming from, but it was like some sort of invisible wall had cracked and crumbled inside of her, releasing all of the sadness she had kept in check for over a year.

You'll always be alone with your sorrow... when you need them the most something will come to shatter it all, be it yourself or someone else...

"I don't want that.." she bit down her lips as the tears continued to stream down her cheeks.

"Luce...?" Natsu's voice suddenly spoke from the other side of the door "... you okay?"

"Yeah..." she managed to say in an even voice not revealing her fragile state "... I'll be out in a minute..."

Sighing loudly she very slowly got up on her feet before walking over to the sink. Which was fortunate for her, because a second later the door slammed open with a huge crash as it almost splintered against the wall.

"I said I would be out in a moment! And where did you get the strength to crash my door!" she said in what was supposed to sound like a thread, but came out utterly weak as she used her sleeve to dry her eyes.

"Knowing you and being in the bathroom a moment is more like thirty minutes" The Dragon Slayer argued as he gave her the elevator look.

"I wasn't taking a shower" she took a deep breath while placing the palm of her hands against her eyes, hoping it could somehow prevent the tears from coming, but she couldn't seem to stop them.

"What's wrong?" Natsu asked in a low voice, as he inspected the room to make sure there wasn't any physical things in there who could harm her.

"Nothing..."

"Uh-huh"

"Really it's nothing" she looked at him and was surprised to see him stare back with something that looked like sympathy, which caused her stomach to twitch even more in pain before tears unwillingly flowed down her cheeks again "It... really isn't"

Lucy's knees buckled underneath her, sending her down into a sitting position on the ground where she sat crying, no longer capable of keeping it under control.

Not saying anything Natsu walked over to her before he carefully scooped her up from the floor and into his arms, before he carried her back to the couch, where he gently sat down with the girl who was still curled up against his chest. She didn't know how on earth he got the strength to do this, but she presumed he had regained some of his strength after resting on the couch. Or perhaps it was some instinct thing, that was convenient for the plot, she couldn't tell for sure.

"I'm sorry..." Lucy whispered in a weak tone before her arms snaked around his torso.

"It's okay to cry you know..." he said while stroking her back with his hand.

"I..." she sucked in her breath, her arms tightening their hold on him almost as if she wanted to make sure he was real "... you'll never leave me will you?"

"Naaaw we're a team!" he chuckled warmly "I would never leave my partner all alone"

"You sure?" she asked in a shaking voice.

"It's a promise"

Her face distorted in pain and relief as she snuggled her head against his stomach, not at all caring that he was still shirtless as she started crying her heart out.

Lucy didn't know for how long they sat like that, but she could honestly say that it felt good letting it all out while getting comfort from another person. Sure she had done that before, but there had just been so much piled up inside of her, that she needed to unload and now it came pouring out with her salty tears, while her best friend was casually stroking her back.

Once she finished Lucy felt utterly tired mentally, like she had just used her brain to solve the biggest mathematical mystery in the world.

"You feel better?" Natsu asked as he removed some hair from her face, making her smile against his stomach.

"Yeah... thank you" she slowly removed her arms and sat looking at him, her cheeks blushing from her little outburst.

"Anytime" he smiled but suddenly turned all serious "All though if you say I'm gonna have to take a shower after you stained me with water I might reconsider that"

Lucy couldn't stop laughing at that as she placed her hands on his shoulders "You silly goose, of course I wouldn't force you to do that"

"Awesome!"

"Instead..." feeling bold she gently kissed his forehead which caused his shoulders to stiffen "... I'm gonna ask you to go wash your clothes, since it's still filled with mud"

"Oy!" his eyebrows twitched in annoyance, which caused her to wiggle her tongue teasingly at him before she quickly bounced into a standing position.

"I'm starving!" she smiled warmly while stretching both arms above her head.

"Me too!"

"Well I'm gonna go fetch us some dinner, I assume you want the kids menu, right?" she giggled childishly, making the Dragon Slayer's eyes widen in what looked like horror.

"Wait what?! Hell no!"

"Just kidding!" she winked at him, while putting her shoes on "I'll make sure to get you something nice. In the mean time I'll allow you to find the next movie on the lacrima, however!" she raised her index finger "If you break it, I will torture you all night!"

"That doesn't sound like a bad idea" his eyes narrowed as he took her in.

"... yeah you're definitely sleeping on the couch tonight..." she whispered to herself before exiting her apartment to go down and find some treats for the two of them.


A/N: Sorry for being absent, I just didn't feel like typing for some reason :(

Stupid mind is stupid *cries loudly*

Be prepared though there will soon be some... mmm... yummy stuff coming if you like a bit of romance *.*

/Hejmdal