What up y'all? Been a while... again. Nice long one for you this time! I sort of got part of the idea for this one from my brother (we had a brainstorming session, haha), and I wasn't entirely sure where I was gonna go with it or how it would turn out, but I actually really like what I ended up coming up with. Hope you all enjoy it too!

Thanks again to all my readers and reviewers! I'm done with my hectic con month and as soon as I finishing moving this weekend I should have more free time... I know better than to make promises with my track record, but I'm hoping I can be a bit more attentive with this series in coming months.

Enjoy this nice long update! (And look, I even updated the image for this story to one of the icons I use on LJ! Cute, huh? haha)

#18 Point

It's dark. I look around and all I see on any side is darkness. No sound. No light. No anything. Where am I? Everyone, everything is gone, lost in the seeping blackness that surrounds me. I want to scream but my voice isn't working. So instead I do the only thing I can do – I run.

There's no ground below me, but still I push myself forward, pumping my legs and slamming my feet on the ground, my arms swinging wildly and my chest heaving with every breath. Where am I going? What am I running from? What am I running to? What's my purpose? What's the point? Why can't I stop?

How long have I been running now? It feels like my whole life, I've been trying to escape something. My family, my future, my friends, my fears. And now I think I've lost it all, and there's nothing I can do except keep on running.

As I run, suddenly the darkness begins to lighten and take form. The ground beneath my pounding feet feels earthy and soft. Twigs catch at my legs. Leaves blur my vision. Wind whips at my hair. Thick, impassable walls of foliage appear on either side of me, leading me in a straight and narrow path between them. I've seen this before, in books I used to read as a child. It's a giant hedge maze, and somehow I've landed in the middle of it.

It looks like sunlight is trying to come through the tightly-grown branches of the hedges, and tiny patches of light appear on the ground every few inches, casting odd shadows around my feet, but the sky far above me is dark – I can even see stars dotting its blackness. The air around me is thick and warm, like a jungle, but so empty I'm almost choking on my own breath. It's deadly quiet around me, but my ears are ringing with the sounds of leaves rustling, branches breaking, wind howling, and my own feet thumping on the dirt. I reach a turn in the maze and have no choice but to head to my left, though that leads quickly to a fork in the road. Without slowing down I take the right path, anxiety growing all the while. Where am I going? How am I going to get out of here?

More turns, more forks, more decisions, I still don't know how long I've been running, taking whichever path seems easier and not stopping to think things through. I try and remember a time when things were different, but I can't see anything but this endless maze.

Finally I slow to a halt, breathing fast, legs aching. There's a wall of hedge in front of me. I can go left or I can go right, but for the life of me I can't make myself choose. I'm tired of running. I just want some help.

As if on cue, I feel the weight of something touch my hand. I look down and realize I'm holding a compass. I lift it to eye level and watch as the needle steadies itself. It's pointing to the left path. Not questioning, I take a step to the left, but stop when the needle on the compass starts to move very slowly and evenly toward the right.

I freeze and stare open-mouthed, wondering what's going on and what I should do. Compasses are supposed to point north. 'North' can't be moving. Does that mean I'm actually moving? It doesn't feel that way. But then again, I can hardly tell which way is up in this maze, and anything is possible.

This time when the needle begins to move back to the left, I think I can hear something from that direction. Twigs breaking, leaves shifting, feet pounding. Someone is drawing closer, and it looks as though the compass is following them. I start to get scared—well, more scared than before. Should I run? Then if I do, which way? Toward the sounds or away from them?

I want to make a decision, but I still can't. It doesn't matter, though, there's no time. In seconds the approaching sounds are almost deafening to my muddled brain, but my feet remain rooted as a dark shape rounds the corner far to my left.

"Lucy!" a familiar voice calls my name. It sounds urgent, almost afraid. Something is wrong. This voice is never afraid.

As the figure draws near, my eyes confirm his appearance. Natsu. I want to say his name, ask him what's going on, but still my voice won't come. I can't even move. I can only wait for him to reach me.

When he does, I can see the frantic expression on his face. My compass is going wild, spinning around and around as though a magnet had been placed on top of it, confusing its sense of direction. And why can't I move? Why can't I speak? I feel so useless and it's driving me mad.

"Lucy," Natsu says again, grabbing my arm and staring into my eyes. "We've gotta get out of here. You've been stuck here too long. You're in danger!"

Danger? I wonder, my eyes widening. What kind of danger? What does he know that I don't?

"Let's go!" he yells, grabbing my hand and running back the way he came. Finally my feet allow me to run again, but still I have trouble keeping up with Natsu, who continues to pull me along at an alarming speed. His fear only makes mine increase. What could possibly have him this afraid?

We run through what seems like the wildest part of the maze. The hedges are less trimmed and we're forced to jump and dodge to avoid the jagged, protruding branches. I feel sharp twigs grab at my arms and legs, making tiny cuts and bruises appear on my skin. The wind whips my hair about, obscuring my vision. I trip and fall once, landing hard on the uneven ground. Natsu grinds to a halt a few yards ahead of me. "Come on!" he says urgently. "I'm not gonna lose you!" He reaches toward me, but I can't reach him. I wonder briefly why he doesn't come back, but then for some reason I feel like this is something I can—no, have to do myself. My desire to be back beside him and not alone and lost proves strong enough for me to pull myself to my feet and close the small distance between us, grabbing his hand once more and allowing him to lead me onward. "Don't turn back, okay?" he grunts through gritted teeth, and I wonder how I could ever do such a thing when what awaits me in the past is nothing but darkness and confusion. Still, with how difficult this forward path has become, I don't know what to do anymore.

Finally we round a corner and the maze opens up. I gasp when we stop suddenly, our path barred by a great wall of fire stretching as far as my eyes can see in either direction. I can feel an intense heat burning my skin from the proximity, and I actually consider turning heel and dashing back into the maze rather than face the fire. But Natsu's firm grip on my hand keeps me in place. He squares his shoulders and I expect him to turn and head alongside the burning barricade, in search of a new path. He surprises me by striding heavily straight for it.

After a few frantic steps I dig my heels into the ground and yank my fingers from his hold, still unable to speak. He turns to face me in wonder. "You can't go back!" he shouts over the roar of the flames. It's not an order, more like he's pleading with me. There's… desperation in his eyes. Would he rather I be burned alive than wander lost in the maze forever? Would I? Do I take this dangerous path in the hopes that it'll somehow free me from the maze and whatever is threatening to trap me there? Again, I still just don't know what to do.

Natsu growls in frustration and reaches for my hand again. He tries to pull me toward the fire, but I don't move. I can't move. I can't want to move. So he grabs my shoulders and shakes me hard, attempting to snap me out of my dangerous thoughts. I glance up into his eyes, which are boring into mine with such an intense expression that all other thoughts momentarily vanish from my mind. There's no terrorizing maze behind me. There's no threatening wall of flame in front of me. There's him, and there's me. There's what I've faced alone, and what we've yet to face together. And that's all.

"You trust me, don't you?" he asks me carefully, so I understand every word.

It's not a choice, because there's only one answer. I don't have to think about it, it's there on the edge of my mind and the tip of my tongue before I even need to register the question. If there's one thing in this world that I believe in without any doubt, it's Natsu. Finally my voice breaks free and I whisper, "Yes."

He smiles and releases my shoulders. He steps beside me and I take his hand, both of us facing the biting flames. The compass that's still in my right hand has stopped spinning, and is now pointing directly to my left. I look to the side to see Natsu shoot a glance over his shoulder into the maze. "Now!" he screams, and we take off toward the heat. I'm still afraid, and it's taking all I have to force each step closer to the looming wall of fire. It's frightening, but exhilarating. For the first time I feel as though I'm deciding for myself how my life will turn. Natsu may have led me here, but he didn't force me. He just gave me the incentive to finally stop running with no direction.

We've almost reached the flames now. I can feel my skin burning. The raging heat and blinding light are finally too much for my senses, and I shut my eyes and take a deep breath, knowing we're only inches away from the inferno…

With a gasp, Lucy sat bolt upright, breathing hard. After a beat, she realized she was sitting on a bed (that wasn't hers), blankets twisted uncomfortably around her shaking body. Her skin was covered in a sheen of sweat from head to toe, and her damp clothes were clinging to her like static electricity. The room was dimly-lit, with only one lamp in the corner and the night sky visible through a window along the back wall. She thought of getting up and going to find out where she was, but realized soon after how weak and tired her limbs were.

A dream… she thought breathlessly, shaking her head. It was a dream… It had been so vivid, so real that she still had a difficult time convincing herself that it hadn't been. But now when she looked back she couldn't deny how fantastical the events had been. It raised the question, though—what had it meant?

As Lucy attempted to remember how she'd gotten where she was, she heard what sounded like voices and footsteps outside in the hall. It was a moment before she could make out what they were saying.

"I told you, she needs rest. That's the only way she'll get over this."

"I know, I know, but I thought I heard something." The footsteps stopped and the door began to swing open. "I just wanna check—"

Lucy couldn't help but smile at the sight of Natsu frozen mid-sentence in the doorway, standing just in front of a surprised Erza, the latter of whom turned and shouted down the hallway, "Hey! She's awake!" This must be the guild hall, Lucy realized, finally recognizing the room and hallway.

In seconds Natsu had launched himself into the room and rested one knee on the bed, leaning toward Lucy and seemingly inspecting her. "Are you okay?" he asked seriously.

"I… don't know," Lucy answered truthfully. She was more than a little shaken from her dream, and still couldn't quite remember why she was there.

Natsu placed his hand over her forehead and his frown lessened. "Looks like your fever's gone down," he said, removing his hand and looking her in the eye (Lucy was sure the amount of cold sweat on her face must have bothered him, but if it had he didn't show it).

"What happened?" she asked in a hoarse voice as guild members began to congregate outside the room, peering in as best they could.

"You don't remember?" Natsu asked, a quizzical look on his face. When she shook her head, he continued, "You seemed really out of it yesterday. You kept saying you were fine, but then you just sort of… passed out. You had a really high fever and you kept shaking, Mira said you were having some kind of anxiety attack. I was…" he glanced over his shoulder briefly, "We were all really worried." Looking toward the door, Lucy noticed the relieved expressions on everyone's faces and didn't have to wonder if Natsu was telling the truth. As she thought about it and the haze from her fever cleared, her memory further corroborated the story. She'd done her best not to let it on, but lately she'd been under a lot of mental stress and confusion. It had now been almost two years since she'd joined Fairy Tail, and though they'd always accepted her with open arms, she'd never been able to shake the feeling that all she was doing was running away. Well, after all, she had run away from home at the start of it all. Had that been a cowardly thing to do, hiding from her problems instead of facing them? Or had running been her way of facing them all long? She thought of her dream, and suddenly it all made sense. The darkness, then the maze, the compass, and Natsu.

Ever since she'd met him, things in her life had gotten more and more complicated. But to her, he was something like a goal. He was everything she'd always wanted to be—his own person, free and in control. Sure, he had is darkness—who didn't?—but that didn't stop him from forging his own path in life. That was what she'd wanted to do when she'd decided to run away. She didn't want her life decided for her, she'd wanted to do the deciding. In her dream, Natsu had led her through the most difficult part of the maze that was her life. He was even willing to walk through the fire with her, knowing that what was on the other side would set her free. Okay, so it hadn't happened quite that literally in real life, but the effect and intentions were the same.

"Lucy. Hey, Lucy!"

Lucy blinked twice, shaking herself from her reverie to see a hand snapping its fingers in front of her face. She turned to her right to see Gray retract his arm and shake his head, saying, "You with us?"

"Sorry," she answered, her voice still tired and ragged. "Just… remembering what happened."

"Here, drink this," Mira said gently from beside Gray, handing Lucy a glass of water, which she drank gratefully. The liquid cooled her sore throat and relaxed her tired body. She took a deep breath, her mind still a bit foggy.

"I know you've been sleeping a while," Mira continued, "but you should get some rest. Now that the fever's gone down your body's probably exhausted." Lucy didn't argue with this suggestion.

"And you," Erza rounded on Natsu to Lucy's right, poking him hard in the chest, "should get to bed, too. I know you haven't slept since she passed out yesterday. You barely even left this room." Natsu shrugged, trying and failing to stifle a yawn. The fact that he'd been so attentive of her during her illness made Lucy smile to herself, thinking again on her dream and what it had meant.

Mira giggled lightly, before saying, "We should go, give you some time to get back on your feet."

Natsu placed his hand once again on Lucy's forehead. "Are you sure you're feeling better?" he asked.

She nodded. "Much better," she answered honestly. "Go on, you should sleep too."

He looked apprehensive, but nodded. She could tell by his eyes he was almost as tired as she was. And while she was grateful for his having stayed beside her while she'd slept, it may not have been the best thing for him to do. "Alright," he answered. "But I'll be back here to check on you first thing in the morning."

"No, not first thing in the morning," Lucy scolded him. "Afternoon. We both need rest." He opened his mouth to speak, but she went on, "Look, I don't want you waking me up before noon, okay?" she ordered, hoping that at least would give him enough of an excuse to catch up on sleep as well. She guessed right, and he closed his mouth and shook his head.

"Okay, okay," he conceded.

"Promise?" she asked, raising an eyebrow.

Natsu grinned. "Aw, come on. You trust me, don't you?"

Lucy froze at these words, the same words he'd spoken to her in her dream. He didn't know that, of course, but it just served to prove even more that the dream had been a reflection of her own life. She smiled to herself and answered, "You know I do."

As the four of them turned to leave (after Erza's having already shooed away the other guild members), Lucy said to no one in particular, "Wait." They all stopped and turned to face her. She glanced them over and said, "Thanks, guys. For always watching out for me." They all appeared somewhat surprised at this seemingly random gesture, and looked at each other in mild confusion.

"She might be delirious," Gray said aside to Erza, who punched him in the arm and glared at him. Lucy laughed.

"You're our friend," Mira answered kindly. "We always look after a friend."

"Just don't go doing that again, okay?" Natsu warned her in a voice somewhere between joking and serious. "Worrying about you really tires me out." He yawned again and once more Lucy felt a strong surge of emotion. She smiled and raised her hand to her forehead in a mock-salute. Then she looked Natsu in the eye and jerked her head, gesturing for him to come closer to her. He raised an eyebrow inquisitively, but obliged. He stood next to her bed and leaned toward her with a vaguely concerned expression, asking, "What is it? You need something?" She nodded with a small smile, before reaching for his scarf and using it to pull him forward. She just had time to laugh inwardly at the surprised expression on his face before touching her lips against his.

She heard a gasp from across the room and assumed it must have come from Mira. After a few seconds, Lucy let go of Natsu and sat back against her pillows, grinning at his blank expression as he slowly stood upright.

"She's definitely delirious," Gray scoffed incredulously, and Erza let out a kind of dumbfounded laugh in response. Maybe he was right, Lucy thought to herself. But maybe she was glad she was delirious from the fever. Kissing Natsu out of the blue like that probably wasn't something she'd have done if she'd been completely in her right mind, though she was sure she wouldn't want to do so any less.

Natsu blinked a few times before asking slowly, "What was that for?"

Lucy smiled softly, already feeling her eyes droop with exhaustion. "Thank you," she said quietly, "for staying with me." She wondered if he knew she hadn't only meant the past day, that she wanted more than anything to thank him for staying by her side through everything those past two years. She tried to let her eyes do the talking for her, and from the serious look on his face she thought she might have succeeded.

After a second he smiled back, saying, "What are friends for?" and just the same she could tell by his tone that he knew as well as she did that their friendship wasn't the same as any normal friendship.

As they all filed out of the room to give Lucy some time to rest, and as Natsu shot her one last grin as he shut the door, she couldn't help but feel thankful for this random illness she'd fallen victim to. It had brought her that strange dream, and had made her realize that she had everything she needed to set her life on the right path, the path she wanted to take.

All she'd needed from the start was someone to point her in the right direction.

And now it's late, so I'm off to bed! Review for me pretty please! This one took me literally a whole day to write since I was unsure about it... Love to hear your thoughts!

Later alligators!

-oMM