~Prologue~
A young, blonde haired girl sat at the corner of the road, the sight of her mother's death. It was a calm and dark night, with only a street light shedding its light on her. Suddenly, she heard a rustling behind her and she turned around, her blue eyes that were previously glazed over with unshed tears now widened with foolish hope as she called out, "Mommy?"
"Sorry, but I'm not your mommy," a boy's voice, not yet touched by puberty, replied calmly. He looked about her age, but slightly taller, with flaming red hair and soft black eyes. The girl's face once again contorted in sadness as her fragile, naïve hope was crushed and she turned back to the street, not even bothering to care who the boy behind her was while she was in her stupor. He watched the scene before him, pity in his eyes.
"You know, you don't have to bear the burden alone."
Once again, she turned to look at him, and brown eyes met black as she scrutinized him, her alert eyes searching for even a glimmer of a lie. All she found was sincerity staring back at her.
"Who are you?" she asked cautiously, her voice slightly cracking.
"I'm your friend."
The distrust was evident in her eyes and voice as she replied curtly, "Says who?"
"You do, or at least, you will."
"How do you know?"
"I can tell." He smiled, reaching out a hand to help her up. After a moment's hesitation, she took it.
"You'll be my friend?"
"We'll be friends forever."
~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~
Since that dark gloomy day, Natsu and Lucy had become the best of friends, despite their many differences. Natsu was an outgoing, yet kind boy, whereas Lucy was more of a quiet and reserved girl. Even so, they became inseparable to the point that Lucy's dad began to worry about her.
"I'm concerned about Lucy," her dad whispered to Lucy's nanny, unaware of the two people listening at the door.
"Why is that?"
Her dad shook his head. "She's been spend way too much time with that imaginary friend of hers lately. What was his name again? Natsu or something like that? I never see her talking to any kids her age."
Her nanny shook her head. "Give Lucy some time. She's only six-years-old. It's natural for kids her age to have imaginary friends."
Lucy shook with anger as she heard them talking about her friend like that. She was about to walk in and defend Natsu, but he held her back. "Don't worry about it," he whispered to her.
"But they are calling you imaginary! You aren't imaginary!" she whispered back, but Natsu just shook his head at her, and pulled her away so they could play something else. After all, her dad and nanny were partially right. Who wouldn't think that he was a figment of Lucy's imagination, especially since she was the only one who could see, hear, and feel him? But he wasn't imaginary, not really. Natsu was something called a protector, a departed soul devoted to helping depressed children find happiness. They would take on a form that was most pleasing to the child who they were assigned to. Sometimes it was a stuffed bear, other times a mother or father figure to take care of him or her. For Lucy, it was a young kid her own age that could be her friend and help her interact with other people her own age. For a professional like Natsu, this was a typical job. But what he didn't know was that this assignment that would change his life forever.
A.N.: Heyy Hoshi No Nai Yoru here. This is my first time writing a Fairy Tail fic. Sorry that the characters are so ooc. I'll try to get the next chapter out as soon as possible! So in the meantime, review, review, review!