Lucy wasn't sure if she felt elated or pissed.
Ever since Natsu's bold confession, she had been an absolute mess, and had been unable to sleep the entire three day voyage, always spending her nights romanticizing the pink haired man. Her brain seriously needed a break.
Natsu had thankfully managed to find some meds for his motion sickness, but it could also be a bad thing, as he was coherent enough now to point out the fact she looks like she hasn't slept for two days. Which she hadn't.
He had been rather to himself throughout the whole trip, and almost seemed like he was avoiding her. But it was probably because whenever he was around her, Lucy couldn't stop herself from asking another question about why he was there.
Of course, he refused to disclose any information, and told her that if she insisted on knowing anything, she'd have to show him she could protect herself, and use her magic.
And that's where Lucy was now, standing on the deck of the ship, trying to 'magic' a penny, even if she had no clue what she was doing. How did Natsu do this so easily? And what was magic even supposed to look like? Was she supposed to set herself on fire as well?
"Why are you glaring at a penny?" Natsu's unique tone of cocky/sarcastic sounded from a lounge chair from behind her. He had a leg propped up, and arms folded behind his head, and his shirt not tucked in his belt, leaving it open to his chest. And Lucy swore he had gotten darker.
Lucy huffed lightly, turning to face the man fully, placing a hand on her hip "I'm trying to figure out how to use stupid magic! I don't even know what I'm doing!" she cried in frustration, throwing the bronze coin at Natsu's face.
Natsu caught the penny between two fingers, before it melted into a puddle on the wood floor "You mean like that?" he teased, smirking as Lucy glared more.
"I don't even know how to do 'that'" She bit out, walking over to sit on the chair beside him "Seriously, what am I doing..."
The chair creaked as Natsu sat up fully to look at her, as if debating if he should help her, before he pushed himself up.
"Your magic will reveal who you are on the inside, Lucy, just think about you, and you should figure it out" He finally said, walking away.
"Like how you turn into a lizard?" Lucy asked, smiling as he stilled, shoulders straightening before he turned on his heel, marching up to her.
"Excuse you, but it's not a lizard, it is a dragon. Do you think this-" His body changed, skin turning deep red as scales covered his arms and legs first, before spreading up to his torso and eventually to his jaw and face, his fangs growing sharper, tail snaking around behind him, and two flames that looked like horns dancing in his hair "-look like a lizard to you?!" He growled deeply, clenching his clawed hands.
Lucy gasped lightly, staring in shock for awhile, before a thought crossed her mind "W-Wait, can you turn into an actual dragon?" she stammered.
Natsu let out a huff of smoke "Well duh. But if I did that here the ship would sink." he growled out, as his skin returned to normal.
Silence, blanketed by awe, washed between them, and Lucy imagined him turning into a full sized dragon, and making the whole ship go under. But he didn't deny her question before, meaning... did she have another form that she didn't know about?
"If you ever get stuck, Lucy..." Natsu started, apparently seeing the worry on her face. His hand was outstretched to touch her, but he froze, expression tightening "Just look to the skies, as you always have..." he finished, turning and shoving his hands in his pockets.
Natsu couldn't place his finger on it, but he felt a hell of a lot more nervous recently, and being stuck on his worst nightmare, even with the medicine, didn't help one bit. He was more on edge of the fact that they knew he knew. They already came for him once... And was his presence only putting Lucy in more danger?
He felt a chill run down his spin at the thought. The only way to make sure she was 100% safe was for her to learn magic!
... Sadly she didn't seem to have the knack. Well, not yet, Lucy always had the knack. She always bold, beautiful, powerful, kind...
"What's with the weird look? We're here!" A voice cut through his thoughts, and he was face to face with the girl he had just been daydreaming about.
"Lucy..." He said quietly, and she merely raised a brow, before hefting up her bag and going to exit the ship. Natsu sighed softly, following after her, unable to keep himself from staring.
It and brought absolute chaos on his heart, knowing how many times he had lost this girl, while at the same time remembering all the kisses, loving touches, hand holding, smiles, caring gazes, heated nights (when they were lucky enough to make it that far), and so so much more.
His hands clenched and unclenched, his emotions threatening to take control again. Lucy had been speaking, talking about the island they had stopped at, and the star mangoes which were popular here, but Natsu had directed all his attention to just not breaking down. He had to remain firm if he wished to protect her.
Natsu had to put away all these human emotions, if he wished to make a difference.
"Natsu... You've been staring out that window for awhile" Lucy pointed out. He had been sitting there watching the rain hit the glass for the past hour, not uttering a word. Not even making fun of her for failing at using magic again.
"hm?" Was all he said, raising his head to look at her fully "Do what?"
Lucy looked at him like he had grown a second head. This was probably strange behavior in her book, but he had quickly turned his head to look out the window again. Just looking at her was making his heart ache painfully, and he couldn't stand much more of this.
Something brushed up beside him, and he realized Lucy had taken a seat next to him, making him clench his teeth. Why did his mind decide to show him all these pleasant memories now? Couldn't it wait until later?
"You look so sad... What's wrong...?" Lucy's soft voice called to him, and he had to fight against smashing his head through the window in frustration "Natsu, please, you've saved me so many times, just talk to me-"
"Stop talking." He interrupted quickly. Was is just him or was the room shaking? Ah, yeah it was just him, fighting back the emotions of nearly 2,000 years. Wasn't life wonderful?
"Natsu, you're crying..."
Natsu froze, eyes widening as he realized she was right, and he felt wetness trailing down his cheeks. Slowly, he raised a hand, quickly wiping it away, sniffing lightly, as he noticed the rain clearing up, revealing the night sky, stars pulsing as if they were Lucy's own heart beat, which was probably closer to the truth than he liked to admit.
Was this woman of the galaxies be forever beyond his reach?
"I just really..." He started, trying to pick his words carefully "... Miss her"
Lucy looked confused, and Natsu groaned, ruffling his hair as he searched for words. "You, I mean, it's just... If I say anything it'll bad dangerous... Because I'm not supposed to know you but I do and damnit someone shut me up!" He ground out, lowering his face into his palms in anguish.
The girl beside him looked concerned, but didn't seem to know quite what to say "Natsu, just tell me what's-"
They were interrupted by a scream from the streets below, making the pair jump up as a crowd rushed by, closely followed by a group of shadows, taking the form of a small gang to the onlooking people.
"No time to explain." Natsu said, rushing out to stop the problem, and avoid anymore questions.
Lucy knew he was using this as an excuse to dash, but she couldn't argue with him at this point, since the safety of the public took priority over her questions, sadly. Her mind was racing, but this had to be done.
Of course though, her luck had to be awful, as Natsu was too fast, and she had lost him in a matter of seconds, and before she knew it she was standing in town square, completely alone.
"Natsu, you idiot!" She cried in frustration, kicking a fruit stand.
"The flame god won't help you now..." a voice hissed, and Lucy spun around, seeing... Natsu? No, this was another mimic. What did these guys want with her? And did it say 'flame god' just now?! Wasn't that a bit of a stretch?!
"What did you do with Natsu?" Lucy hissed, backing away from Natsu's advancing figure, who was smirking cruelly "And why bother taking on his appearence?!"
"Isn't it much more entertaining to take on the form of your lover when I kill you slowly...?" It felt so wrong hearing that in Natsu's warm, upbeat tone.
Lucy felt her heart race at the mention of love, but swallowed hard, back hitting a wall. Shit, she was out of options.
"What's the matter? Do you want me to make you feel whole again one last time, before I end you again, my queen?" It asked, cocking it's head like it had just said something cute. Fuckin' shadowy bastard.
But Lucy suddenly had multiple images (no, a memory?) flash through her mind, of her and Natsu together, sometimes doing simple things, like walking and shopping, sometimes fighting together, sometimes doing more... Risque... Things. All of these things seemed to transcend time.
But the thing which was burned into her mind was her, sitting on a bed, wearing a robe (sadly, nothing underneath it.) and Natsu in front of her, with her right hand pressed to his lips. She could clearly hear the words he spoke;
"Anything else, my queen?"
Lucy didn't even realize how much closer the fake Natsu had gotten until it was practically right in front of her.
"Ah, but you don't remember do you? Because you were a good girl, and didn't break the rules... Fate isn't happy with him, you know" Even though it was right in front of her, it kept talking. Did it just want her to feel horrible before it killed her? And where was Natsu?
"Would you like to see us rip him apart for trying to defy us?" Lucy wanted to tell it to shut up, but right now her mind was being assaulted by mental images that she couldn't erase , no matter how hard she tried. "Watch us destroy the man who has witnessed his love die before him so many countless times... I suppose maybe adding one more to that count would hurt him more..."
She couldn't take anymore. Emotionally or physically. She clenched her fist, and felt it close around something. Whatever it was she hoped it was sharp, and she struck out, sending the mimic flying into the wall.
But to her surprise, her weapon wasn't sharp. She was holding a luminescent whip of golden and blue colors, which shone brightly in the dark alleyway.
Gritting her teeth, Lucy lashed out again, the mysterious whip reacting to her will, as she struck her foe over and over, feeling tears well in her eyes as more forgotten memories flooded her.
But they were all of him... Of him smiling so brightly, eyes shining with the purest affection, and caring for her in a way no one has before. And Lucy hit harder as his face slowly turned sadder, until she was met with Natsu in a state she never wanted to see him; Kneeling on the ground, struggling to keep up right, horror painted on his face as so many tears ran down his cheeks that the lines might stay there forever.
She never wanted him to be that sad. She wanted them to be happy together. Why couldn't they just be happy?
"Don't! You! Ever! Try! To! Hurt! My! Stupid! Lizard! Again!" She yelled as loud as she could muster, gasping as something caught her whip, eyes widening to see it wrapped around Natsu's, the real Natsu's, forearm. His eyes hard, but not harsh or cold.
"Lucy..." He muttered, and she blushed, realizing the mimic was long dead.
"I-I'm sorry, I just-" She gasped again, a pull on her whip making her lose balance, and she fell into Natsu's arms, and not only that...
When did his lips get on hers? And why could she not bring herself to pull away?
Probably because of the unbelievable warmth that was currently spiraling throughout her entire body like a case of deja vu, but this was a good kind. A nice, warm, good kind.
'Natsu... I missed this...'