Story 2

Title: Last Chance

Summary: AU. "Please…just let me hold your hand…for a little while." NaLu.

Writer's Note: Yo! It's been such a long time. Hahaha! :D

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LUCY's POV

I stood alone at the corner of the town square, shivering as the cold night breeze touched my bare skin. The light feather-like material of the knee-length white dress I was wearing gently danced below me as the wind swept by. Anxiously, I brushed a stray of hair and tucked it behind my ear as I watched the scene before me.

I probably shouldn't be here.

Lights of different colors – sky blue, yellow, red, pink, green, violet, among others – decorated the trees surrounding the area, making the atmosphere a little too romantic. Slow, soft music played by a band filled the evening air.

A number of couples danced before me. Some of them were young adults, and the others had already had their golden anniversary.

They all looked so lovey-dovey, and bright smiles were painted on their faces.

I felt a little bit of jealousy.

I unconsciously shook my head no.

Because five years ago, I used to be one of them.

My thoughts were cut off when I felt a hand brushed across mine, and held it so that our fingers were locked together alternately, just like a jigsaw puzzle.

Quickly turning my head, I gasped aloud as my eyes widened. I felt my cheeks flushed as I looked at the person behind me.

He stared at the distance and did not even try to look at me. A knowing smile spread across the features of his handsome face.

"I'm glad you're here, Lucy," his familiar voice entered my ears.

He still looked the same, with his messy, spiky pink hair that never failed to amaze me (they were like the swirling galaxies in the skies above), his onyx eyes that could pierce through my soul (they shone more brightly than millions of stars), and his reassuring smile that brought a ray of light to the hopeless situation we had been (the one made me fall in love with him over and over again). He wore a black tuxedo that made him a bit formal.

Even today, I still felt the electricity at our joined hands.

But, this . . .

Worry clouding my eyes, I gazed down at my feet.

. . . this. . . is . . .

I tenderly let go of his hand, which surprised him.

"Hey, what's wrong?" he asked, and I fought back the tears that would surely fall if I didn't calm myself.

He faced me and cupping my cheek with his right hand, he held it tenderly. Just as slightly, he lifted it up so that he could see through my eyes.

My eyes turned glassy as I looked at him.

"T-This, Natsu," I said, my voice shook. "This . . . is wrong."

When a tear cascaded down my cheek, I felt the familiar warmth of his hand as he gently brushed it away.

"Love is never wrong, Lucy," he told me, his eyes staring unto mine. "I . . . I always hoped that we would be together someday."

Me, too.

I shook my head no. This is not the time for that. I needed to control myself.

"We couldn't be. You know that." I glanced away from him.

Silence and tension filled the air between us. Neither of us spoke for the next few minutes. Memories of the past filled my head – the first time I met him, the times I had secretly watched him from afar, those precious times that we accidentally looked at each other's eyes, our first dance, and the reason why we were in this situation now.

"Let's run away, Lucy," he said, determination in his eyes.

I felt my mouth gaped open. "What are you -"

"I'm serious. I could book a ticket for the flight abroad tomorrow and we could stay in my villa there. Nobody knows about that place except my most trusted friends and-"

"Natsu!" I nearly shouted at him. "Don't say such absurd things!"

He looked surprisingly at me. "But why-"

I heaved a sigh. "Don't…leave her like that."

His shifted his gaze from mine. "I couldn't bring myself to love her."

"Natsu, she needs you," I pleaded. "And as her bestfriend, I -" he cut me off.

"- would give up our love for her sake?!" he said with a little venom in his voice. "Would you, Lucy?!"

He stared accusingly at me.

He . . . he never had gotten this mad at me before.

I closed my fists, and had gotten carried away with my anger.

"Yes, I would, Natsu!" I replied back at him. "I would do anything just for her to heal! I was the one who made her like that. I . . ." fighting back the tears, I continued, "… I should be the one lying in that bed, unable to walk or even stand!"

Before I realized what happened, he brought his arms around me and hugged me tightly. He tenderly patted my head, just as he always did whenever I was crying.

"I should be the one who would be hit by the car…" I continued, sobbing in his chest.

"No, Lucy. It was all an accident."

"If she hadn't seen us, she'll never be in this state."

"Lucy, don't blame yourself."

"And how dumb I was to not realize that she loves you, too! She just teased me, all those years we've been together, and every time she smiled and laughed aloud, it didn't reach her eyes. Soon I noticed that she was slowly getting uncomfortable around me and as time went by, she drifted away from me."

"Lucy…"

"We've been best friends ever since we're still kids, but…that thing happened and we're strangers now." I got out from his embrace, and looked straightly at him. "Please stay by her side," I said, a serious expression on my face. "Promise me you'll be with her from the time you decided to walk her in the aisle - "

"Lucy . . ." he cut me off. "I . . ."

"- and you promised "I do" to her –"

He lowered his head, and his face slowly darkened.

"Lucy, I'm not going to promise you anything," he softly said, "…because I'm not the one who decided that."

He stared at me, and I managed to see my mistake. "You did."

I was taken aback of what he said. "Natsu-"

"You made me feel guilty for breaking your friendship with her, and how coward I was to oblige to your selfish request!" he snapped, and my eyes widened as tears escaped from his eyes.

"Natsu…I'm sorry…"

"No!" he nearly shouted. "If I didn't do it, we would be happy now, Lucy! We would be married, have our own family just like we have always dreamed, and we would not be in this situation now that we were arguing about the wrong decisions we had in the past!"

"Natsu…I-"

I felt guilt for making the only man I ever loved cry in front of me. I brought a hand to his cheek and wiped his tears away. He froze for a second, and I prepared myself for his rejection, but gladly, it didn't came.

"I-I'm… sorry…" I said. "I truly am. Every day, for these past years, I had never forgiven myself for letting you go. But, we can't be together now, Natsu."

"…" He looked away from me.

Gently turning his face so that he could see how I really felt, I stared at his eyes. I fought a smile as I thought how I get lost to the depths of them.

"Please, understand. We can't make mistakes again. I…I'm just…glad to see you again after such a long time."

His gaze unto mine softened.

"I have always loved you, Lucy." He said, emotions playing in his eyes. "I just want you to know that I still do."

I unconsciously shook my head no, a warm smile played on my lips.

"I do, too."

-.*.-.*.-.*.-

"Do you remember that time when we were stargazing?" he asked me, great enthusiasm in his voice. "We saw a shooting star, and when I looked at you, you were like-" he stopped, and mimicked the familiar expression on my face a long time ago, my mouth wide open and my eyes forming like giant saucers.

He laughed cheerfully as I rolled my eyes and pretended to be angry.

"I didn't make that expression; you're exaggerating things!"

I lightly punched him at his chest.

His hands were wrapped around my waist, mine around his neck, as we were swaying gently with the music.

"This is our last chance"

"We would never make mistakes again"

A few couples were smiling brightly at us and I hear them whisper to their partners, "Young couples these days…" or things like, "they just looked like us when we were young, don't they?" Feeling amused, Natsu and I just smiled at each other.

"'Cause there's no tomorrow"

"We'll stay this way because this is our last"

"And we need to go home soon"

"Lucy…"

"Hmm?"

"You're as beautiful as ever."

"Don't flatter me up, Spiky Pink."

He chuckled. "It's true, Wise Blonde."

I blushed.

"Hold my hand for a little while"

"Before we would part ways"

"Let's give our all, our all."

"Natsu?"

"Hmm?"

"You're still not good at dancing, ne? You always stepped out of rhythm."

"That's because my dancing partner has been escaping from me for the past five years."

He smiled warmly at me.

"Oh…"

"Let's say goodbye to our last dance"

"I realized that the sky, too, has a limit."

I didn't know how long we stared at each other, smiling, wishing that that moment would last forever.

I would do anything . . .

For time to stop now.

"And that's why, we'll let go of each other's hands together"

"In our last dance."

When the music ended, I loosened my hand around his neck and brought them to my sides. The next moment, he gently held it.

I chuckled. "Natsu, the song itself says that we would let go of -"

"Please…just let me hold your hand…for a little while," he pleaded.

I blinked at him, and red blush creeping on my cheeks, I gave in.

I looked at our joined hands.

Maybe this is our last chance of seeing each other.

When I lifted my head up, my eyes widened as I felt his face so close to mine that he managed to stole a kiss from me. I blushed furiously at his actions.

It was a quick one, but the feeling lasted.

When I regained my composure, I told him, "That's illegal, you know."

"Yeah," he calmly replied. "And I would do it a thousand times if that would make you happy." He ruffled my hair.

"It wouldn't!" I shouted, then laughed.

"Lucy… we'll meet again someday, right?"

"Natsu, I think it's not a good idea-"

"No-" he said, stopping me. "I mean, I just want to know how you were doing. I also want you to be happy."

I looked at his eyes as he continued, "My heart only belongs to you, Lucy, right from the very start."

"Natsu…"

"Just be happy, okay? I… I would really get jealous if you would like someone else. Heck, I bet I would kill him right away." He laughed. "But, when you would realize that you're happy being with him, then, that's fine with me."

He smiled, but his eyes, showing the pain he felt right now, betrayed it.

"Natsu…" I trailed off.

Did he mean that I should forget him and move on?

"I'm very happy to love you. You are worth my happiness, my tears, my life. You're a dream to me, Lucy," he said, his sincere eyes staring down unto mine. "You'll always be right here." He placed my right hand above his heart.

"But if loving me caused you sadness…this is hard for me to say this, but…move on, okay?"

.

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No….

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"I would stay by Lisanna's side, just like you wanted."

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No…

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"I -" he stopped, and took a step away from me. "I hope that you'll be happy."

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No.

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"Because if you're happy, I would be fine, too." He took another step away.

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Natsu…no…

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Our hands were still joined, and I unconsciously took a step toward him.

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"This is our last chance, and I'm glad that I got to see you again."

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Please…

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"I - " he softly said, his eyes looking at the dark moonless sky above. ". . . I have decided that I will take care of her and try to love her . . ."

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By this time he took another step, our fingers were dangerously being separated.

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No…

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I closed my eyes as tears rolled down my cheeks.

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I knew that this would happen, so I have always prepared myself for it.

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But,

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it really hurts!

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One step away from me. . .

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was all it takes

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for his hand

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to slowly let go of mine ...

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He looked at me, and I saw his onyx eyes glassy with tears.

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"I will always love you, Lucy,"

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His voice echoed in my ears.

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He turned around, and . . .

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walked away.

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I…

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I will …

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always be…

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in love with you, too

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But I must…

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let you go…

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My fingers froze in the mid-air after I felt his last touch.

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Slowly,

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just as slowly…

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as tears cascaded down my cheeks,

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I held it tenderly in my chest.

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End.

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Writer's Note: I know, I'm into angst (hahahaha!) and I don't even know why. XD This story was inspired by Kamikaze's "Huling Sayaw". The lyrics above were translated from the original ones.

Well, then, see you next time! :D