Cold Embrace

Erza wrapped her arms around Lucy and the young girl trembled in her arms. She kissed Lucy's forehead and felt the fever burning. Lucy opened her eyes to look up at Erza. She saw the worry in her eyes and lifted a hand up to her face.

"I'll be okay." Lucy murmured.

"I know. I won't let anything else happen to you. We will make it home." Erza rubbed Lucy's back and the younger girl tried to get closer to Erza for warmth.

"It's so cold."

"I know and I'm sorry."

"We should have brought Natsu and Gray..." Lucy mumbled into Erza's shoulder. She looked outside and watched the blizzard. Yes they should have brought help. Now they were stuck in a blizzard and things were not looking so good for them. They had gone on a job and Lucy had fallen into a frozen lake. Erza had saved her and carried her to a small cave. It was the only shelter she could find. Lucy had been soaked and freezing so Erza had started a fire and undressed Lucy so she could dry the clothes. She tried to warm Lucy up as much as possible.

"I know." Erza looked at Lucy and noticed how tired she was. "Go ahead and get some sleep. I'll watch over you."

"Mmm..." Lucy closed her eyes and tried to get even closer to the knight mage as she drifted off to sleep. Erza leaned her head back and thought back to what had happened.

…...

"So a mission in the mountains? What do we have to do?"

"All we need to do is get rid of a couple monsters."

"Okay, but are we bringing the boys?"

"We can handle it on our own Lucy."

"Okay then Erza. If you say so." Lucy looked back at the guild as her and Erza departed for the mountains. It would be a long trip and a cold one.

…...

Once they arrived at the base of the mountain, Lucy hugged her arms to her chest and sighed. It was cold. She looked at Erza and noticed that she wasn't being affected by the cold wind.

"How can you stand this weather Erza?"

"It's all in the mind. Ignore it and you will be fine."

"Easy for you to say..." Lucy mumbled. Erza turned and looked at Lucy who was shivering. She walked over to her and wrapped an arm around her. Lucy murmured a thanks and pressed herself closer to Erza. They started walking up the mountain to hunt for the monsters. The land went from smooth to bumpy. It annoyed Lucy because she kept slipping on the ice. Erza had a firm grasp on her though so she never fell. Erza made them stop when she heard a noise. Lucy turned in the direction that Erza looked at. She didn't see anything, but she could hear something walking towards them. Lucy put a hand on her keys and Erza re-quipped two swords. They waited for whatever was in the trees to approach them. A monster walked out and ran towards them. Erza stepped in front of Lucy and got ready to attack as well. Lucy summoned Taurus to help.

"Looking good miss Luuuuuucy!"

"Just help Erza Taurus." Lucy face palmed. She would have the perverted spirits. Even Taurus was helpful though. He ran into the fight wielding his ax and helped Ezra take down the monster. It seemed easy enough to take down for the two of them. Erza walked back over to Lucy with a smile on her face. Lucy sent Taurus back to the spirit world and the girls continued their hunt. From what they heard there was at least two monsters roaming the mountain. All they had to do was find the last one and then they would be done. Lucy saw something move in the trees and grabbed another key. This time she summoned Loke. Erza saw this and had her sword out fast.

"What is it Lucy?"

"I saw something move in the trees."

"I don't see anything."

"I know I saw something." Lucy said. Out of nowhere, something ran past them and Lucy was knocked on the ground. She held her side and lifted her head to look at Erza. "Told you."

"Are you okay Lucy?" Erza and Loke prepared for another attack.

"Yeah." She pushed herself off the ground and looked ahead of her. She knew that she had been hit from whatever ran at them. She could feel the warm liquid seeping out. Her hand was pressed against it. Erza stepped up beside her and glanced at her. Lucy saw the anger in her eyes. "It's nothing but a scratch."

"Tell me that when you're not bleeding."

"Guys. Up ahead." Loke said. They looked where he had pointed and saw a monster emerging from the trees. Erza started walking towards it.

"Loke stay with Lucy."

"Sure thing Erza." He turned to look at Lucy. "Let me see the wound."

"It's nothing Loke." Lucy stepped back a little and slipped. She went sliding down the hill they were on. Loke cursed to himself and glanced back at Erza who had just finished off the monster and saw Lucy fall. She ran towards him and he decided to slide down after Lucy, but what he saw made him pale. He turned to Erza.

"Don't come down here Erza! It's a frozen lake!"

"What about Lucy!?"

"I'll look for her." Loke managed to grab onto a tree to stop sliding. He looked around for any sign of Lucy. He finally saw the hole in the ice. "She fell in!"

When Erza heard those words she cursed and equipped into her black wing armor and flew down to the lake. She saw Lucy unconscious and floating in the water. Her coat had been caught on some ice. That was the only thing that kept her from drowning. Erza grabbed Lucy and held onto her. Loke followed Erza as she walked.

"Hey Erza...there is a small cave near here. You need to warm her up. I'm going to get help."

"Why can't we just go back now?"

"A storm is coming."

"How do you know?" Erza asked. Loke just pointed to the clouds. Erza cursed again. She just didn't seem to have any luck today. He and Loke parted ways and she trudged through the snow to the cave. She barely made it before the blizzard started. She set Lucy down long enough to start a fire. Erza walked over to Lucy and started undressing her. Lucy was shivering and Erza could already feel a fever starting to burn. She worked fast to get Lucy warm. She sat by the fire and held Lucy. The wound on Lucy's side had stopped bleeding at least. Erza sighed. She hoped Loke could get help quick.

…...

Erza took her coat off and wrapped it around Lucy. They had been here for a few hours now. At least Lucy was able to sleep a little bit. The blizzard hadn't let up any and they couldn't head back yet. Lucy started to wake and Erza kissed her forehead.

"Is the storm over yet?"

"Not yet."

Lucy tried to sit up. Erza helped her and Lucy realized that she was now wrapped in Erza's coat. "Erza you should wear your coat."

"I want to make sure you're warm right now Lucy. You have a burning fever."

"I'm fine."

"Say that when you're not burning up. I'm going to check on your clothes." Erza set Lucy down and made her way over to Lucy's clothes. She felt them and sighed in relief. They were dry. The coat was still wet though. She headed back to Lucy and set the clothes down. Lucy started to get dressed. She hissed in pain as she stretched her side.

'I completely forgot about this.'

"You okay Luce?"

"Yeah." She finished and sat back down beside Erza.

"Let me feel your fever." Erza put a hand on Lucy's forehead and sighed. It was still pretty hot. "We need to get you back. Where is Loke?"

"Calm down Erza." Lucy coughed and held a hand against her head. She felt dizzy all of a sudden. Erza noticed this and put Lucy back in her lap. Lucy took Erza's coat and laid it on both her and Erza so they could get a little warmer. They both drifted off to sleep a little later.

"Hey!..." Gray covered Natsu's mouth as he took in the sight before him. Both girls were wrapped in each others arms with smiles on their faces.

"Be quiet Natsu. Let them sleep."

"Fine."

…...

Erza awoke to laughter. She opened her eyes and stared at the two boys chatting near them.

"Natsu? Gray?"

"Oi! You're awake!" Natsu said happily.

"How long have you been here?"

"Half an hour I guess." Gray said. "How about we get home. Looks like Lucy could use it."

Erza looked down at the blonde and felt her forehead again. The fever was still pretty high. "Let's go then." She grabbed Lucy's coat and put it on the young girl. She then put hers on. Natsu ate the fire while Erza picked up Lucy and carried her on her back. They started the long walk home. Lucy woke up not long after that.

"Hey Lucy. We're heading back now. Natsu and Gray came."

"Thank you."

Erza smiled and kissed Lucy's hand. They would make it back safe and sound. Lucy would be taken care of and Erza would make sure to stay by her side. After all most of this mission seemed to be them holding each other. Even with all that happened to them, they managed to finish another job. Lucy held onto Erza tighter as the town came into view. Finally they were out of harms way.