Chapter 6 | Losing You

Flashback to May, X795

It had taken them two hours of hiking through dense forest to reach the base of the mountain and another hour to climb the steep cliff to the top. Far at the top lived the dangerous monster that guarded a treasure stolen from the most powerful family in the nearby city. The team's mission was simple: slay its guardian and retrieve the item. Legend had it that this giant, canine-like monster had once been a powerful mage until he stole the item the team committed to retrieve. A curse fell upon the mage and turned him into a beast, confined to the mountains where the treasure had been hidden. Countless mages had tried and failed the mission, but the mages of Fairy Tail considered it to be just like any other mission. That is, until it was too late.

The sheer power of the monster had caught everyone off guard. No matter what attacks they used they barely made a scratch. The dark aura of the monster suddenly surged and Erza yelled for everyone to take cover. Natsu grabbed Lucy to shield her from the deadly swell of energy. The force sent them flying off to the south part of the island, while the rest of the group was scattered equal distances in different directions.

Natsu had laid unconscious with Lucy on top of him for a couple minutes until he came to. His head pounded and he wanted nothing more than to sleep, but he gently shook Lucy awake. "Lucy...wake up."

She groaned and pressed her face into his shoulder. "Imma let this slide now, but sneak into my bed again and I'm gonna kill you…"

He laughed and regretted it immediately as pain shot through his abdomen and back. Lucy heard him grunt in pain and snapped her eyes open. "Natsu?" She looked at her surroundings and then to the dragon slayer beneath her. "What happened?"

"We were hit by that attack. It looks like we were thrown pretty far away from where we were," he weakly pointed up to the mountain peak they had been fighting on.

Lucy slowly started to push herself up, but stopped moving immediately when she heard him suck in air painfully. Natsu saw the worry in her eyes and flashed his trademark smile when he recovered, "I'm fine, just a little bruised is all."

The lie was so obvious she felt compelled to roll her eyes. She refrained from doing so, but Natsu still knew what she was thinking. Neither said anything else on the matter. She gently pushed herself off him, and he spoke up again. "What about you?"

"I think I'm fine." Lucy said before glancing down to check just for his benefit. He glanced over her as well and their hearts stopped when their gaze fell upon a large blood stain on her shirt. "Lucy!" Natsu tried to sit up, but she stopped him. "I'm alright! Don't move." She looked to his black shirt and saw it soaked in a dark liquid. "You to stay still, I think you've been pretty badly injured."

"That's a relief," Natsu said as Lucy lifted his shirt to see the damage, "I thought you were really hurt."

The wound had started to bleed again without the pressure from her body being on top of him.

"It really doesn't hurt that much." He started to sit up, but she hastily pushed his shoulders back down. "Wait." She opened the small bag she brought with her and pulled out some bandages.

"Haha, I've had much worse than this. I told you I'm good."

"And I told you to wait." She effectively ended the argument and proceeded to bandage him up.

"Thanks," he smiled at her and grabbed her hand when reached out to him. She helped him to a sitting position. "It's all gonna come off when I kick that monster's ass though," Natsu said as confidently as he could manage and Lucy just rolled her eyes.

Natsu quickly forgot the pain he was in when he noticed the condition of Lucy's face and arms. She had tens of shallow lacerations along her arms like she had been cut with a knife. A very large bruise had already spread across her left shoulder and streak of blood had dried down the side of her face. The injuries had most likely resulted from falling through the trees and their rough landing.

"Luce, you said you weren't hurt." He frowned as he pushed her golden hair off her forehead to reveal an angry gash. He thought he had taken the brunt of the monster's blow and the fall, apparently not. As he tried to move again the pain came back full force and he was certain he had more than a couple cracked ribs. His leg was feeling oddly numb. The sight of his blood all over her was slightly unsettling as well. Natsu realized it wasn't crazy for Lucy to be so worried about him.

"I'm not, just some scrapes and bruises." Lucy reached with her left hand, to prevent him from noticing her shoulder injury, to gently grasp his calloused hand in hers. His eyes had betrayed all his concern when he had looked her over to access her injuries, but instead of seeing him relax she saw him get increasingly worried.

"Natsu, I'm alright," Lucy insisted.

"I wanted to make sure," he pouted.

"I know," she patted his head ever so slightly for fear of actually causing damage to what was normally an abnormally thick skull. Lucy stood up slowly and looked for shelter where they could safely recover in case the monster was nearby.

"Here let's get you under this tree." Lucy helped Natsu up carefully. Just when he seemed to get his footing, his leg muscles gave out and Lucy had to support his full weight on her right shoulder. He cursed under his breath and Lucy rushed to say something so he wouldn't get too pissed off about getting beat up.

"Geeze Natsu, how much did you eat at that buffet yesterday?!" She groaned and hunched over slightly for emphasis.

"I don't know, about as much as you I suppose," he said in a cheeky voice and Lucy stopped walking briefly. "Now what the hell is that supposed to mean?"

"Don't hurt me," he whined and Lucy wanted to smile but she couldn't quite make it. 'He can't even stand.' When she helped him up she had caught a glimpse of his back, and it made her arms look perfectly fine. His shirt was in tatters and exposed raw, deep cuts beneath. Lucy realized fearfully that the injury to his abdomen had been caused by a puncture through his back. She calmed her panic enough to move him, but the urge to cry slowly started to overtake her ability to stay in control. She couldn't stop thinking about how he was always protecting her at his own expense.

Before she laid him down again she patched his back as best she could. She sat beside him wordlessly, trying to think about what she needed to do next. Natsu suddenly grabbed her arm and pulled her down so that her head was resting on his chest and her body laid next to his. "I'm not dead, so quit looking at me like that." Lucy didn't say anything. She needed to get up and find Wendy. Natsu wouldn't have much time left like this. Lucy suspected the only reason he was still alive was because her body weight had pushed him against the ground just enough to prevent massive blood loss.

Natsu groaned again and pressed his hand over his abdomen. "Natsu?" Lucy looked down at his hand worriedly. She could see that blood had already soaked through the bandages. His breathing was labored and he seemed to be going pale.

"Natsu?" she called his name again, but he didn't respond.

She sat up on her elbow and tapped his face lightly. "Natsu!"

"Geeze, why are you shouting so much," he said slowly.

"Stay with me, Natsu." Lucy clung tightly to his body and pressed her face into his scarf. Her composure was just one more crack away from shattering.

"I'm with you Luce. I'll always be with you…" Natsu's voice faded out.