AN: Italicized are quotes from the song "Her Diamonds" by Rob Thomas. All characters belong to Hiro Mashima

"Oh finally!" Natsu sighed as he tossed off his pack and fell onto one of the beds in the room. He was glad that the room came with the mission.

It really had been a long day.

So much has changed in the seven years they had been gone. Natsu remembered waking up in the guild hall after the three days of partying. Even if the guild hall wasn't as big, it was still a good place to party. He had overheard a conversation between Master Makarov, Macao, Erza, and Mira about how the guild was in financial trouble. Natsu figured that he could help out with the money he and Happy had saved away. Natsu was so excited to help that he grabbed Happy and ran straight home to get their savings only to find out that it was gone. Natsu was so upset that the safe was missing. Then when he went to tell Lucy that his savings had been stolen… Though now that he thought about it, nothing he had was ever exactly in the place he left it… maybe it wasn't stolen… He would have to look under the―

"I'm really tired, guys. I'm going to shower and get dressed for bed." Lucy said with a forced smile as she grabbed her bag and headed to the bathroom. She didn't wait for a response from Natsu or Happy.

"Is Lucy okay, Natsu?" Happy asked as he jumped up onto the bed where Natsu was laying.

"I'm sure she is little buddy." Natsu replied without hesitation and gave his exceed friend a big smile. Happy was easily reassured and it was not long before he had snuggled up to a pillow and fell asleep.

Honestly, Natsu wasn't so sure if Lucy was okay. When he had caught up with Lucy on her way to see her dad, Natsu didn't expect to hear the sad news. Natsu suspected that despite Lucy's doubts in her emotions about her father, she still deeply cared about the man. Natsu felt like Lucy was truly upset by the whole situation, but she wanted to put up a brave front. Natsu was going to let her, and there was no point in having Happy be upset over the whole thing either. Taking a mission seemed like the best way to give Lucy her space and keep Happy busy. Natsu didn't know what to think when Lucy asked to come along.

Natsu laid there for a while just listening to the water from the shower before he took a deep breath and sat up. He shrugged off his vest and baggy pants for the more comfortable pajama bottoms he had gotten as a gift from Lucy. She had gotten upset with him when he wore his regular clothes to sleep saying something about getting her sheets dirty. She was just as upset when he stripped off all of his clothes and hopped into her bed. She started yelling something about indecency and marriage which just confused Natsu more. It was the next day that Lucy had brought him a pair of pajama pants. Natsu thought it was odd that these were special clothes meant to only be slept in, but if it kept Lucy from screaming at him, then he would wear the pants whenever they slept near each other.

Natsu walked over to the bed and shed the large comforter off the bed. He used it to cover Happy, who would often get cold in the night. He then settled himself under the top sheet and closed his eyes. When he heard the water from the shower turn off, he quickly turned to his side ready to feign sleep when Lucy emerged from the bathroom. Natsu had a feeling that she would want to go straight to sleep and expected him to do the same.

Natsu closed his eyes when he heard the door to the bathroom open and listened closely to Lucy's movements. She padded softly across the room and placed her bag down with soft thud that only Natsu could hear. Nastu listened as Lucy opened the curtains at the window near her bed followed by the soft click that meant that the lights had been turned off. The soft sounds of the blankets being moved and mattress shifting to accommodate Lucy's weight came next, but Natsu still felt it was too soon to open his eyes. He needed to wait until he heard her breathing slow down to be sure that she was asleep. But that sound never came.

Natsu opened his eyes as soon as he heard her sobs. She was lying on her side facing away from Natsu, but he could clearly see her shoulders shudder with her sobs. Natsu never wanted to admit it, but any time he heard Lucy cry, it made him want to cry too. He didn't know why Lucy's tears made him so upset, but he was always trying to force the tears back whenever she cried.

Tonight though, he knew why he was so upset. Seven years had passed for everyone else, but for Lucy and everyone else that was on Tenrou Island, it was like no time had passed at all. Lucy woke up like it was any other day only to find that her father had died. Her dad was gone… Just like how he had woken up to find that Igneel was gone. Natsu knew how it felt to lose someone that way. He remembered how much it hurt. That was how Lucy felt now; she was hurting. Natsu didn't like when Lucy was hurt.

Natsu quickly rubbed his eyes to wipe away any tears that had formed there and quietly got out of his bed. As softly and quietly as he could, Natsu crawled across Lucy's bed and laid down behind her to pull her into a hug. If she was surprised at all by his actions, she didn't let it show. In fact, Natsu thought for a moment he had just made the situation worse because as soon as he had embraced his friend she began to cry harder almost in hysterics.

"Please don't cry Lucy. I don't like seeing you cry." Natsu whispered and hugged Lucy tighter to his body.

"I-I can't… h-hold it in… anymore." Lucy says through her sobs. When Lucy started to move, Natsu loosened his grip on her. Lucy sat up, bringing Natsu with her, and threw her arms around his neck. Natsu lifted her up so that Lucy sat in his lap and pulled her into a tight embrace while she cried.

Lucy cried for a long time. Natsu wasn't sure how long she cried. The entire time, Natsu tried his best to comfort his friend by rubbing her back or brushing his hand through her hair while whispering "it's okay". He's not sure if what he was doing was helping at all, but it was better than just sitting there not doing anything. Eventually Lucy's sobs slowed and gave way to silent tears and occasional sniffles. Lucy pulled away from Natsu only to rest her head against his chest. Natsu leaned back to rest against the headboard while holding on to Lucy lightly.

"He paid my rent." Lucy mumbled finally breaking the silence that had come over the room.

"What?" Natsu asked, confused.

"My landlady said a letter arrived today. It was from my father. It said how he was always thinking about me since we disappeared and he always knew that I wasn't dead. He sent with the letter enough money to pay all the rent I owed, seven years' worth of rent." Lucy whispered as she wiped away the remnants of her tears.

"He sent me a present for my birthday every year while we were gone." Lucy continued and sniffled as she stared off at nothing. "He changed. He said that he was going to change. He wanted to change to be a better father for me. He actually did it… and I missed it." Lucy sniffled before the tears started streaming from her eyes again. "I didn't get to tell him how proud I was that he changed. I was gone and he died. He's gone, Natsu. He's just gone."

Natsu sat up straight which forced Lucy to sit up as well. Natsu moved Lucy so that she sat next to him and gently cupped Lucy's face in his hands. He used his thumbs to wipe away her tears and held her face still.

"Lucy, just because you didn't get tell him doesn't mean that he didn't know. You are his daughter. He always loved you, even if he did some stupid stuff, he never stopped loving you. Just like you never stopped loving him and he knows that." Natsu whispered. Lucy began to tear up again as he spoke. Natsu wiped the tears away again and closed his eyes as he brought his forehead to touch Lucy's.

"Are you sure?" Lucy asked in a quiet voice.

"I'm sure." Natsu said and opened his eyes as he pulled away. He gave Lucy a reassuring smile.

"Thanks, Natsu." Lucy said and rested her head on his shoulder. Natsu started slowly rubbing her back again.

"...

If she can find daylight

She'll be alright

..."

"Natsu?" Lucy asked as she felt her eyes start to get tired from all of her crying.

"Yeah, Luce?"

"Will you stay with me tonight?" She whispered.

"I'm not going anywhere tonight, weirdo." Natsu replied.

"No, I mean will you stay in this bed… with me… just for tonight?" Lucy asked again.

"Oh… yeah, I can do that…" Natsu murmured and let go of Lucy to settle under the covers. Once Natsu had gotten settled on his side, Lucy laid down next to him. She cuddled up next to the dragon slayer and stilled for a moment. Natsu had barely closed his eyes when he felt Lucy grab his arm. He lifted his head in confusion only to watch Lucy guide his arm around her waist and letting his hand rest on her stomach.

"Night, Natsu." Lucy whispered and her voice cracked slightly with fatigue.

"Night, Luce." Natsu whispered back as he let his eyes finally close. He felt better with Lucy in his arms and he only hoped that it made Lucy feel better too.

*Edit*: It was brought to my attention that writing song-fics on this site is banned because of potential violation of Copyright Infringement. For this reason I have removed most of the lyrics from this story. It is my understanding after reading up on the laws that short phrases by any author or artist of any kind are not considered to be in violation of Copyright Infringement and fall under the Fair Use Limitations to Copyright Laws. Given that the recommended number of words/lyrics to remain protected by Fair Use is 10-15 words, the 8 words that I used should bear no threat of Legal Action against this site.

Yes, when I want to I can be a snarky little shit.

Yes, I do realize that this can be a character flaw.

No, I do not care.