Characters: Lucy Heartfilia, Natsu Dragneel, Team Natsu, Porlyusica

Genre: Angst, fluff

Rating: K

Summary: Where fire, smoke and debris render Lucy breathless and Natsu blames himself.

Request: 'I was wondering if perhaps you could write a one-shot about Lucy getting bronchitis due to the smoke from Natsu's flames and Natsu feels really bad.'

It had been the usual fun and games post a burn down.

There had been the typical yelling, some scolding and some cheeky laughter on his part (with some unspoken prayers of Erza being in a good mood) while everyone coughed and sneezed a bit as a result of the debris.

The usual.

That is, he realised, until Lucy's coughing wouldn't stop.

Long after they had been reprimanded by the city Mayor, the citizens and even some of the burglars and quite some time after being thrown out of the city, Lucy was still coughing.

"You alright there Lucy?" asked Gray, mildly concerned, rubbing her back in an attempt to help.

"Oh yeah," she said, her voice slightly raspy. "Probably got something stuck in there."

Natsu watched from over his shoulder, suddenly aware of how she seemed to be far more tired than she should have been, her posture hunched over, belying her fatigue.

And how her breathing was so audibly laboured.

A few minutes later, he began picking up an awful coarse whistling noise as well. Natsu felt his heart pang painfully when he realised the horrid sound was coming from Lucy's lungs.

She was wheezing.

Resting her hands on her waist, hunched over, she desperately pulled in air, having stopped any attempt at walking in favour of trying to catch her breath.

"Lucy!" Natsu called worriedly, running over to her side. "You okay?"

"Yeah," she wheezed out. "Just..just a bit breathless."

"It may be the smoke you inhaled," Erza voiced. "You were pretty close to the fallen building."

Lucy nodded weakly, not able to reply and Natsu felt an overwhelming wave of guilt.

He caused this.

Suddenly memories of an exasperated Lucy scolding him for setting buildings on fire wasn't funny anymore.

Shaking his head, he below her offering his back.

"Hop on, it'll be easier."

Lucy limply draped herself on his back, allowing him to carry her.

With the new proximity, her laboured breathing was even more audible, each incident of the sound driving new barbs of hurt and guilt straight through him.

Wendy was with Porlyusica and Happy had stayed back with her and Carla. He had rejected the use of the magic-fuelled automobile and so now the fastest way to get Lucy well was to bring her to the healing lady. In Magnolia. On foot.

Which made even the overnight distance of the town from Magnolia seem too much.

'Damn it all!' Natsu cursed, gritting his teeth in anguish.

The whole team had ensured a brisk pace, everyone in a hurry to get Lucy the treatment she needed, but come dusk and Lucy insisted everyone rested and leave in the morning.

And much to Natsu's chagrin, she did make sense.

So he set her down against a tree, while the rest set up a fire, the sleeping bags and got dinner ready.

Lucy didn't eat much, claiming to be full but fooling nobody.

With dinner ready, Erza moved to where Lucy was sitting, gently brushing a blond lock away from her face.

"Are you certain about making this halt, Lucy? One night of walking won't be too hard on any of us."

"That's alright Erza. It's been a long day."

Neither Erza nor the boys were fully convinced, but decided to trust her judgement as she and everyone else crawled into their sleeping bags.

But sleep did not come easy to Natsu. Not when he could hear how much more difficult breathing was for Lucy while lying down.

He nearly got up to pick her up himself when he heard the tell-tale rustling of her sleeping bag, as she sat up, scooching over back to her tree, sighing as she finally rested her back against it.

It bothered him to see her suffering like that, especially with something as basic as breathing. And it wasn't like this was a visible wound that could be treated with cleaning or bandages before they could get a trained medical eye to take a look at it. Heck, he wasn't even sure what was happening to Lucy and why.

Despite all of which, she was focused on doing her best to stifle coughs to ensure she didn't trouble the team. He wasn't sure if he should be proud or downright pissed.

Natsu was tempted to get up and give her company, but realised that it would probably worry her that he wasn't sleeping, forcing him to stay on his travel futon.

And thus, much like Lucy, not sleeping a wink that night.

When the sky finally showed the smallest sign of lightening, Natsu was on his feet, and woke up the rest of the team, before hauling Lucy on his back once again.

"You guys wrap things up here. I'm going ahead with Lucy."

He didn't even wait for a response before taking off towards Magnolia even faster than the day before.

"Aren't you ah..going to complain about my weight?" asked Lucy, trying to lighten his mood.

"There's absolutely nothing wrong with it," Natsu responded gruffly.

Lucy didn't speak after that, which was something Natsu was actually grateful for, glad that she was no longer straining herself.

His pace only increased as Magnolia came into view and he broke out into a full fledged run to Porlyusica's cottage in the forest.

He couldn't care less for how grumpy the healer would be, slamming her door open when he reached. "Lucy can't breathe!"

"Sit her down on the bed," came her voice, all business, just as Wendy entered the room.

"I thought I smelled -"

"Little girl, she needs clean air."

Nodding firmly, Wendy stepped closer to Lucy who offered her a small smile, before she concentrated her magic into creating a bubble around Lucy's head, immediately helping her breathe better.

Natsu himself began breathing better as Lucy's seemed to ease, her entire self relaxing as air finally made it within her.

Wendy nudged her shoulder guiding her to lie down, which the blonde did gladly, relieved when it didn't feel like the weight of her lungs were smothering her.

Natsu felt Happy land on his shoulder.

"Hey Natsu. Is Lucy going to be okay?" the furball asked worriedly.

"Yeah bud, she will." He then pulled him into his arms. "Can I you do something for me?"

"Aye!"

"Stay with Lucy will you? So that she won't be alone?"

Happy looked unsure, but agreed anyway, flying over to Lucy and curling next to her.

Natsu allowed himself a small smile at the one she shared with Happy before turning around and running home.

Fast enough to miss Lucy's whispered request for him to stay back with her.

Day turned into night and Natsu still hadn't left the safety of his hammock where he was currently busy slamming his face into his pillow repeatedly.

Unable to shake all of the guilt he was feeling.

What was making things worse though was the idea of the future. Was he going to do that to her again? He could try being careful but smoke did often follow fire...so did he have to avoid using his fire around Lucy in general? Did that mean she couldn't come along on fight-intensive missions anymore?

The idea wasn't in the least bit appealing – Lucy was supposed to go on missions with him, whether they were to take down monsters or to wait at cafés. No matter what they were partners.

And his flames were important to him too. He was a fire dragon slayer, and he'd be incomplete without it. Most importantly, that fire was Igneel's legacy burning through him.

He didn't ever want to have to choose between his best friend and Dad. That was just plain wrong.

And scary.

Natsu buried his face into his pillow once more, but just as he did, her scent hit.

Natsu immediately hopped off his hammock, turning towards his door as Lucy opened it hesitantly.

"Oh, so you are here," Lucy smiled.

"You should be resting Lucy," Natsu responded stiffly, but not without concern.

"I did rest. Wendy treated me and I'm much better now. See? I walked all the way here," Lucy indicated to herself, closing the door behind her.

"You didn't sleep all night," he argued.

"Neither did you," retorted Lucy flatly, much to his surprise.

"Why are you here?" he asked instead, unable to refute her observation.

Lucy sighed, and Natsu observed how effortless it was, relieved to note no bout of cough following it.

"You left Porlyusica's in such a hurry and no one's seen you around since, so I thought I'd come and see if you're okay."

"I'm fine," he said defensively.

"Clearly," Lucy rolled her eyes at the blatant lie. As if he wasn't standing before her disheveled and upset and painting the very picture of someone who wasn't fine. Her eyebrows furrowed and she let her worry show in her voice. "Natsu, what's wrong?" she asked softly.

Natsu chose to not respond, not even meeting her eye.

Lucy sighed, not wanting to push him either. "Alright. I'll go now. See you soon, okay?"

But as she opened the door to go, Natsu held her back by the wrist by sheer impulse.

"I'm sorry," he blurted.

Lucy shook her head. "You don't have to share anything you don't want to Natsu, so don't apologise."

"No," he said, his grip around her wrist tightening, "I'm sorry for putting you through all that."

"Oh Natsu," she breathed, his behaviour suddenly making perfect sense.

Stepping in and shutting the door behind her, Lucy made her inside the cottage. Natsu, though confused, didn't stop her, releasing her wrist to follow her to his couch and sitting next to her.

"Bronchiasthma," she said after a pause.

"Huh?"

"That's what Porlyusica called it. Apparently, my airways were too clogged up to let air in. So Wendy's bubble let me breathe pure air, and then she treated the clogging and opened up the airways."

Natsu listened carefully, glad at how well the treatment had gone, but also still wondering where Lucy was going with all of this.

"Porlyusica said that the way my system was, this was bound to happen sooner or later, even with exposure to simple dust, much less smoke and debris."

Natsu's eyes widened with understanding and Lucy smiled.

"So yes, this wasn't really your fault. It would have happened anyway, whether you brought down that building or not."

Natsu let that soak in. "D-does this mean you can't come out on missions anymore?" he asked hesitantly.

"Oh no, not at all!" Lucy said, alarmed even by that prospect. "Porlyusica has instructed me about how to take care of myself now and with a little more treatment, I should be a-okay for missions. I already feel like I am," she said flexing her biceps to prove it.

"So you're okay?" Natsu asked hopefully, to which Lucy smiled kindly.

"Yes, Natsu, I am."

The way Natsu's face lit up within seconds wiped away every sign of worry and fatigue that had been marring his handsome face.

Though Lucy only got a glimpse of it, because the next thing she new, she found herself off the sofa and on the floor, as a result of an exuberant tackle hug.

"N-Nat-"

"That's awesome, Lucy!" Natsu laughed aloud in happiness.

And that joy was why, despite her palpable blush and the mysterious skip of her heart, she returned the hug, joining in his laughter.

"Have you eaten dinner?" Natsu asked all of sudden, pulling away enough to see her face.

"N-no," said Lucy, the status of her empty stomach far away from her thoughts, which were currently far more preoccupied in taking in how close his face was to hers.

A weird expression - one she could only describe as amused - came fleetingly across his face, before he hopped onto his feet offering a hand to pull her up. "Let's make some then!"

"Sounds good to me!"

The rest of the evening was spent in cooking dinner and eating and more laughter and fun, the activities causing bigger messes than they typically would have, which Lucy was happily ignoring for once.

It had been something both of them had needed.

Which was why later that night, when Happy, Erza and Gray came looking for them, and happened to find them curled up and fast asleep on the sofa together, they had all decided to not to say a word.

Only after exchanging some knowing looks and sniggers though.

They were certain the two would figure it out eventually, anyway.

Long time no update but here we are! :D

Special thanks to Sayonari214, Dark Shining Light and Juliastes (yay! Thrilled you liked it!) for your reviews and to everyone who favourited and followed!