So, by the end of this chapter some of you will probably want to kill me. Don't worry, no spoilers here, it's just that the chapter is very short. And why would the chapter be so sort after two months you may ask? Because, school, school, school, laziness, exhaustion, and finally a word document malfunction, which erased the three chapters I had ready for editing. Out of depression for myself and sympathy for you dedicated readers, I threw this chapter together. Sorry... Onward, to the new chapter!

Disclaimer: The heist on Hiro's safe has been cancelled due to a scheduling error.

Chapter 5 edited

Happy had given up all hope. It had been a week and still Lucy had not returned from her mission. Natsu seemed to only have gotten worse over that time, dark bags hung from his eyes and he slumped when he walked. Happy had asked him several times what it was exactly that he was dreaming about, but Natsu always shook him off. Natsu no longer left the house, except for at night, when he would slink back into the woods to be alone.

Out of desperation Happy tried to sneak sleeping medicines into Natsu's food and drink, in the hope that he would have a sound sleep, but Natsu wouldn't eat. His magic was suffering as well. Sometimes Natsu would break out into a sweat, and the temperature within the house would become unbearably hot. Other times Natsu would get cold flashes, and Happy would pile every blanket in the house on top of him. It was all beginning to look very bizarre, and Happy didn't know what to do with himself. He was completely useless.

Happy still persistently searched for ways to help his partner get a few more hours rest, (without tipping off the rest of the guild about his condition) no matter how ridiculous the idea. He had asked Cana for ideas, and she said to drink a few beer steins. Wakaba said a good smoke always put him to sleep, Bix Slow had his "babies" sing him to sleep and Juvia said that sleeping with a Gray plushy is bound to put anyone to sleep. Happy didn't think any of these were good ideas.

At the end of the day, Happy walked home alone for the third time in a row, completely dejected. He didn't even have a fish to cheer himself up. As the little Exceed rose slowly up the crest of the hill that led into the forest, he looked up just in time to see something all too disturbing. He quickly sprouted his angel-like wings and bolted behind a tree, careful not to make a single sound.

Just inside the entrance of the forest, a man stood quietly within the foliage, barely visible in the fading afternoon light. The man was tall, easily topping six feet. He wore a black cape, the hood covering his face. The faintest hint of yellow fabric peeked out from the cover of the long cape. There was an aura about the man that made Happy want to turn tail and run. A menacing cover of evil magic hung about him, and Happy wanted nothing to do with it.

He watched the man for several minutes, unmoving for fear of being caught. The man did not move either, and Happy quickly became unsure as to whether he was actually there at all. Suddenly, the man made a sharp turn, his cape billowing out behind him as he quickly slunk back into the shadows of the forest. Before Happy could even think of following him, he was gone.

Worried, Happy quickly flew back to the house that he and Natsu shared. When he arrived, he found the house empty, with no trace as to where Natsu could have gone. Panicking now, Happy flew to the Lake, the deep forest, the hut where Natsu had raised his egg with Lisanna, and the canal, and found Natsu nowhere.

Happy immediately flew for the guild, hoping against all odds that Natsu was there.

FT

Natsu panted as he dragged his exhausted body across the forest floor. His dazed mind was having trouble concentrating on all the sights, sounds, and smells of the forest. He wasn't even sure why he was stumbling around in the forest, but something was telling him to go forward, and not stop until he reached his destination. Natsu felt like crying, but he probably didn't have the energy to cry. He just wanted to sleep, but sleep would not come without nightmares.

His foot caught on a stick and he stumbled, he had nothing to hold onto and his arms lacked the strength to hold himself up, and he fell; his face digging into the hard forest floor. He laid there for some time, building the will to pick himself up, but it would not come, so he remained there for what felt like hours, days, years.

He closed his eyes, grasping at the sweet, smoky tendrils nipping at the edge of his consciousness. He embraced the darkness at the edge of his mind that was the realm of sleep, but something kept him from falling into its murky depths.

Fear. Fear of what lie waiting in his dreams, what kept him awake night after night, and haunted him in the waking hours. He sometimes wondered if one could die from sleep deprivation, and if it was possible, then he might very well spend the last few moments of his life begging for eternal sleep. The memories hiding in the darkness of his mind lashed out suddenly, besieging him with a multitude of images.

Blood, fire, people; twisted shapes and shadows danced as waves of gold spilled out onto a crimson floor. Pain, unbelievable pain washed over his broken body as he lied on the cold hard ground, watching as something monstrous shattered the sky, breaking its perfect façade into hundreds of tiny pieces.

Natsu cried out in horror, his heart quickening as he bolted to his feet, trying to escape the terrors of his mind. He wove madly through the trunks of the hundreds of these in the forest, unaware of where he was going, and he honestly didn't care, as long as he could get away from those memories.

He dashed around blindly for what seemed like ages, before he finally collapsed inside a clearing. He blinked; dazedly aware that night would soon come as he watched the sun disappear behind the trees. Natsu could faintly make out the trickle of a stream somewhere, and the call of a nightingale overhead. He turned over onto his back, groaning as he rubbed the sleep from his eyes. He knew he would get no rest tonight, even in a setting such as this. He closed his eyes and tried to calm his racing heart. He wanted to sleep so badly, to escape reality for a few short hours, but it was behind the darkness of his eyes that he found his reality. The dreams that haunted him were real, and everything struck him with biting detail.

Natsu shifted around in the cool grass until he was comfortable. He wouldn't be getting up for a while. Whether it was his exhaustion or his utter lack of will that confirmed this he was not sure, but even as he willed himself to stay awake, he felt his eyelids slowly sinking. The Nightingale seemed to sense his desperate need for sleep and quieted its call, but Natsu's keen ears could still faintly register the bird's low hum as it sung on, its music lulling him to sleep. Within a matter of seconds, Natsu eyes had closed, and a contented sigh escaped his lips. He was free from his exhausted body for now, nut his mind would continue its tirade.