AN: 5/6/18 - Out of all the revisions, this one went under the most editing. Below I had commented that there "may be some tense changes here and there," but in actuality there were a lot. Like, a lot a lot! So yeah, heavy editing was a must. I also decided to add some more lines to make the story fit more with Natsu's POV. Hopefully the result is an improvement from 5 years ago.
Thanks again to those who have reviewed, favorited, followed, etc. Well, this one might not be as good as I was hoping it could be. I had to go with the "Farewell" prompt because–well, let's be real guys-I can't even write a proper kiss scene, much less something NSFW! Plus, I would have had to bump the rating to M and that would be stupid since it's just one chapter!
Also, something along the the lines of farewell means something sad or angsty. I knew it would give me a challenge because angst isn't something I'm talented in...so i ended up writing this.
I've always wanted to write something that looks into Natsu's psyche, so I took the liberty of writing in his perspective dealing with his abandonment issues as well as throw in his feelings toward Lucy. There may be some tense changes her and there (my weakness when it comes to writing) that I didn't catch but hopefully it doesn't bother anyone too much (if it does I'll try and edit as best as I can).
Anyways, sorry for the huge author note. Enjoy the story!
Disclaimer: I honeslty don't think Fairy Tail would have lasted this long if I owned it...
Natsu hated goodbyes.
The mere thought of one of his friends proclaiming to leave him and their guild made his stomach ache in turmoil.
Igneel had left him without saying goodbye. Then, a few years later, he told Lisanna that he would see her later—only to learn the next day that he would not, in fact, be seeing her later. He had almost shattered at that.
That day was when he decided that nobody was allowed to die—not now, not ever. At least, not while he was still alive and kicking.
He then met Lucy Heartfilia, and instantly his whole world changed. For some reason or another, he felt more attached to her than any other rookie mage the guild seemed to attract. He gave her an offer to make a team with him and Happy, practically made it a routine to barge into her home so he could hang out with her, and he could not get her out of his head.
Eventually, this fascination with the Celestial Mage quickly turned into infatuation. This became a problem. Not the fact that the Dragon Slayer was slowly but surely falling for the blonde—no, he actually didn't mind that in the least. The problem was that people who become attached to things instantly break once they lose them.
Natsu could not afford to lose Lucy.
While he loathed the idea of losing his comrades and made it his own personal mission to keep them alive and safe, he paid more attention to Lucy—making sure she didn't pull any crazy stunts that would cost her life.
He was doing a pretty good job…until Edolas.
Natsu and Wendy were captured by royal guards, but Lucy was nowhere in sight. When he demanded to know where his friend was, one guy named Hughes told him that the girl was of no use to them and therefore was to be executed.
Natsu was furious. How dare they try and kill her? If only he had his magic in this godforsaken world, then every single one of them would be smoldering piles of ashes.
Later on, he would be relieved to find out she was safe and all right, but that moment of slight fear and worry made him try and keep a closer eye on her.
But then the chaos that was the S-class Exams happened and Natsu's fear of losing Lucy intensified tenfold. ('Seriously?' Natsu wondered, 'Why was this girl such a danger magnet?!')
Grimoire Heart invaded the sacred ground of Fairy Tail and all out war begins. Natsu was trailing Ultear until he came across Lucy and a mage by the name of Kain Hikaru. He, Happy, and Lucy proceeded to reform their team and take on the oversized mage.
Natsu would admit that things could have gone more smoothly, considering Lucy's DNA was attached to some voodoo doll, forcing the two partners to fight each other. Later in the battle, before Natsu even knew it, he was under a large pile of rocks and Lucy was on the ground and about to get her skull crushed by Kain.
He practically felt chunks of his heart breaking every time his precious friend was brutally beaten. Her refusing to leave him and run away by herself added more salt to the wound.
"It's always more fun when we're together!" she had said. Natsu didn't feel as powerless as he did in that moment. He was losing her, and he didn't know what to do! Hell, he didn't even realize that could have just broken those damn boulders and save her from her torture. He did, thankfully, think of a plan and Lucy was once again safe and away from danger.
Despite this, Natsu knew something had changed. He knew he had finally fallen in love with his best friend and if another incident like with Kain happened again, he would be broken beyond repair. He absolutely refused to let that happen.
Everything on Tenrou Island eventually blow over and things seemed to go back to normal. However, Fate is a cruel mistress who just absolutely adored making Natsu's life more difficult for him.
Acnologia attacked the island and Mavis Vermillion the First Master put the core members of the guild into a seven-year sleep. Natsu was grateful to her. It was one thing to keep up with Lucy, but the rest of his family too? Against a rampaging dragon he—a fucking Dragon Slayer—couldn't defeat? That would have been a devastating blow to his pride had she not been there…
The Grand Magic Games happen next and life for Natsu and Lucy had spiraled down further and further, especially for the Celestial Mage. She lost the first day's match (on her birthday no less); was mercilessly tortured by Sabertooth's Minerva; had been thrown into prison; and on top of it all, met her future self who revealed the future would be in turmoil thanks to an apocalypse involving ten thousand dragons!
The poor girl couldn't catch a break! Did the universe have something against Lucy? Natsu wished the universe were a person so he could punch them in the face!
Everything got a lot harder to handle when Future Rogue showed up ready to kill Lucy; halfway completing his job thank to Future Lucy—who had trown herself in front of her past self in order to protect her. She died in her present self's arms, her last words begging for her friends to protect the future.
Natsu just stared at the scene in shock, mind reeling. Even though she wasn't his Lucy—even though this Lucy said that the present one would still live on and she would have disappeared anyway—it still hurt.
No, hurt was an understatement. He was absolutely distraught.
She was right there. Right there and he didn't do anything to try and stop the blade from impaling her! He couldn't even react properly as Happy and the present Lucy cried their eyes out for the fallen body. He wanted to scream at the world; he wanted to just let it all go and set everything on fire but he couldn't. all he could do was think about how much of a failure he was.
The girl he swore to protect, the one person he put above all the rest, the one he loves was dying and saying goodbye to everyone, and yet he just couldn't manage to say it back to her. To tell her everything that was on his mind.
He did get his bearings once Future Rogue started talking again, stating that the present Lucy should die as well.
Like fucking hell he'd let that happen!
He had lost her once and he'd be damned if he let it happen again. He would not witness another farewell from her!
These thoughts kept him going, even as Future Rogue's shadows try to eat away at his half conscious body and the voices of Ultear and Meredy beg him to wake up. He managed to regain consciousness and told them he made a promise to his best friend that he would protect the future. Her future.
Natsu hated goodbyes.
So he would try everything in his power to make sure his most precious person will never say it to him again.
AN: I'm so paranoid this was written weird. Was it written weird? I would really like some constructive criticism for future reference (as in, if Mashima keeps making his manga chapters sad and heartbreaking–which give me fic inspiration)
Anyways, review and tell me what you thought. See ya for actual NaLu Week!
Revised 4/26/18