I'm proud to present one of my fastest updates, and I hope this trend continues. I had a very hard time setting up this story with the first few chapters but I'm happy that now we're really getting into the story.

I hope to continue this story for a long time so please look forward to it!

Disclaimer: As always, I own nothing, only Hiro Mashima owns Fairy Tail.

Natsu couldn't believe what had happened to him, but all he knew was that he wanted to help this girl.

He sat there for he didn't know how long just holding her. He didn't say anything to Igneel after he was told that he had to wait for her to wake up. He just wanted to see her eyes that belonged to this girl, but he was almost afraid.

He was afraid that she was far too broken for him to fix. But at the same time he wanted to be the person who would save her, at the moment he first saw her something changed in him. It sparked a light in him that for so long been put out.

So he sat, listening to her breathing, in out, in out. He thought the sound was so calming and couldn't wait to see what her voice sounded like.

By the time she started to squirm a little bit in his arms, the sun was setting. Natsu felt all the air leave his lungs. And his fear skyrocketed because he was so unsure about how she was gonna act.

As slowly opened her eyes it was one of the most horrific things he had ever seen.

Her eyes had no light in them, it was completely blank.

It was as if she wasn't seeing what was around her at all.

Natsu had felt that many emotions in his life. He felt angry at the people who had done this to her, and so sad for the girl who had the light completely escape her eyes.

She didn't even speak, she just stared blankly in front of her.

Natsu swallowed back the sobs that were threatening to escape at the sight of Lucy. But he held back his fear and gently said, "Lucy?"

Lucy immediately flinched and looked up at him and for fast that Natsu barely even believed he saw it, he saw the brightness that was dying out inside of her.

And that's when he made his decision. He was going to help bring back the light in her life. If it was the last thing he did.

He didn't know why but he felt such a strong connection to this girl, and he felt that he had to do this, for her.

But leaving as fast as it came, Lucy's blank expression came back and she just seemed like a statue or a shell of her former self.

Natsu knew Igneel was coming towards him, most likely to speak to Lucy, but Natsu didn't make any move to acknowledge that Igneel was there. He was too focused on Lucy and how to possibly help her.

"Lucy, it's me, Igneel." Igneel said softly to her, afraid to frighten her, even though it seemed that she wasn't able of processing emotion right now.

Lucy just stared blankly at Igneel, unable to process anything in that moment. The only thing she could do was sit there and stare at the dragon she knew had saved her, but couldn't do anything about it.

"Lucy, this is Natsu, he's my son, I told you about him, remember?" Igneel comforted trying to get some reaction out of Lucy.

But it was futile, Lucy was almost completely broken.

Natsu then slowly turned to Igneel and said "I got this, Dad."

Igneel was so shocked at the protectiveness Natsu was showing towards Lucy. But he says the want and desire to protect and help her, so he just silently nodded his head and padded over to the other side of the clearing and laid down facing away from the two children.

Natsu and Igneel both knew that Igneel could hear everything, but Natsu couldn't have cared less at that moment, he just wanted to try to help her without his dad hovering over his shoulder.

Natsu softly picked Lucy up and brought her over to the clearing so Natsu could lean up again one of the trees. The whole while feeling more helpless than he ever had in his short 9 years of life.

But Natsu did what he knew made him feel better when he was upset, he wrapped his scarf that he had gotten from Igneel, when he first succeeding at his Fire Dragon's Roar. He wrapped it around Lucy, and slowly rocked her back and forth while whispering comforting things in her ear.

But mainly all he was saying was, "It's going to be ok, it's going to be ok, it's going to be ok…," Over and over again like a mantra, hoping that it could help her even the tiniest bit.

And he slowly saw after what felt like centuries of doing it he felt Lucy loosen up, and almost completely fall against him.

Eventually, Lucy started to speak, and when she did he kept up his rocking, but didn't say anything, because he had wanted to hear her voice so badly.

"I… don't… want… to be… alone… I don't want to be alone anymore. I'm always alone. And my father hates me. I have no one left… no one…"

Even though Lucy was talking, her expression didn't change. It was as blank as ever, but just by the fact that she was now talking meant that she was coming out of this hardship, even if just slightly.

Eventually Natsu realized that Lucy's body couldn't take the pressure that this stress was putting on her.

So he slowly slid down to the ground. With Lucy and held her close to him on their sides.

And he said the one thing that sparked the smallest bit of light inside Lucy's heart.

"It's ok, I'm here."

Lucy slowly felt herself waking up from what she hoped would end her nightmare, but all it did was bring her crashing back to reality.

She couldn't see anything, her entire world was covered in darkness, there was no more colors around her. She couldn't feel anything, she just felt like she was floating in space.

Even the sky looked so gray.

But she couldn't do anything. All she could hear was the sound of her father yelling at her. Over and over again, never ending.

"Lucy"

She froze in that moment afraid that her father was going to hit her again, but as she looked up all she saw was a boy her age. But she couldn't move, she was scared, and sad, and the world just didn't make sense to her. As she stared at the world it just seemed to get darker and darker

So she sat there, but this time she didn't hear anything. All she heard was a deafening silence around her.

She just wanted it all to end…

"It's ok, it's ok, it's ok…" She didn't make any movements but she heard the boys voice, and she started to feel his arms around her pulling her closer to him.

But more than anything, he felt warm. Compared to frozen abyss that was the world around her.

But just as she started to enjoy the warmth that he was offering to her, she remembered how truly alone she was. She had nothing anymore.

And then she remembered to speak, and it just came out broken, but that's how she felt on the inside, "I… don't… want… to be… alone… I don't want to be alone anymore. I'm always alone. And my father hates me. I have no one left… no one…"

And the cold was back and enveloping her. She just wanted it to end…

But then she felt him move and lay her down next to him, and utter the four words that changed her whole world.

"It's ok, I'm here."

And at that moment all crumbled apart, even though it was small, she saw color, and heard his voice so clearly, inside of the muffled sounds she had been hearing before.

And that was all it took.

Lucy held onto Natsu sobbing into his chest, wanting to feel closer to him. She didn't want to feel alone.

She just cried out her frustration that her father didn't pay attention to her, her sadness that her beloved mother was gone, and the harsh loneliness that she has felt every single day since her mother's death.

But when her sobbing started to die down, she felt lighter than she had in so long. And so she muttered two short words right before she fell asleep again, to the boy who had started to save her from her darkness.

"Thank you"

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