Shadows Chapter 6: Ours, a fairy tail fanfic

Shadows
Chapter 6: Ours

Happy appeared a while later with the entire guild at his heels. By then, Lucy had cried herself to sleep, confused and exhausted, clinging to the dragon slayer's warmth.

Natsu brought Lucy to the guild, keeping her close as he explained everything that happened. Lucy slept, clinging tightly to the dragon slayer as he sat at the guild tables. Her blond hair sprawled down his back as her head rested on his shoulder, nestled into his neck. Tear tracks on her cheeks were fading and the smell of salt was growing faint. Dark onyx eyes couldn't bear seeing the black and blue bruises along her neck. Dragging the white, scaled scarf off, he wrapped it softly and snugly around her neck, hiding them from view.

Natsu was glad she was sleeping so at least she wasn't crying. It hurt so much seeing her cry. He absoloutely hated it. But worst of all, he felt powerless, unable to do anything to protect her from those tears. What kind of friend was he if all he could do was hold her when she cried?

Happy's eyes drifted from the group of mages surrounding him, falling onto the pink haired dragon slayer. He was huddled up in a guild booth with Lucy by his side, under his strong, protective arm, far away from discussion. Leaving the Fairy Tail mage circle, he made a cautious move over to where he sat. It was obvious on his face, the emotion; anger, frustration, pain, sorrow, grief and fear. After hearing what happened, Happy understood that Lucy could have been seriously hurt, and that bothered Natsu like the plague.

"Natsu," a voice called softly from behind the blue furry cat. Gently, a hand rested on Happy's narrow shoulder as a silver- haired mage passed. Mira gave Happy a reassuring smile and sat down across from the dragon slayer. Happy nodded and floated back to the stratifying guild members.

Natsu's head rested on Lucy's, his eyes slowly acknowledging the bar maids prescense. When he realised, he lifted his head and yawned. Before replying, he checked if Lucy was awake, which she wasn't, and then turned to Mira.

"Hey, Mira." Natsu groggily whispered, cautious not to wake Lucy up.

"Sorry, did I wake you?" Mira apologised simpathetically, keeping her voice low.

"No. Just a little tired s'all." Natsu replied, gentle dropping his head back onto Lucy's soft, golden hair.

"You must be." Mira empathised, placing a flat, pale hand on the table. Natsu made a small gesture for a nod and let his eyes droop, dozing off into a world basked in strawberry and vanilla. Mira smiled softly, turning to look at the large group of bickering mages, coming up with crazy ideas.

"It's not your fault Natsu." Mira spoke, not looking at him. Dark eyes flickered over to her, watching Mira's distant gaze. His heart jumped, squeezing and aching in his chest.

"Yeah," Natsu blandly replied. Turning a pale face, Mira's eyes looked at Lucy softly. A gap peaked in the scarf, showing the darkening bruises of fingertips decorating her neck. Natsu gently pulled the white scarf up to her chin, covering the bruises.

"Natsu." Mira whispered softly. A long silence stretched, turning empty and cold.

"She could have died," Natsu finally spoke. "Right there and then. And I wouldn't have been able to do anything about it. Nothing."

"Nat-" Mira tried to interrupt but the dragon slayer cut her off.

"I let my friend get hurt. And that's on me. So, I will take responsibility, and I will find this guy, whoever the heck he is," Natsu's voice turned into a threatening, determined growl, lifting higher than a whisper, catching the ears of the guild members. "and I will beat him ten-fold for what he's done. He has hurt our irreplaceable friend and made himself an enemy of Fairy Tail. We will not let him get away with hurting our nakama!"

For a long moment, the guild was quiet. It was Happy who broke the silence. "AYE SIR!" he yelled. Suddenly, the guild roared like a chain reaction, cheering with determination and anger. They all wanted to help Lucy, and they would die trying. Natsu wouldn't let that guy get away with what he's done, and nor would Fairy Tail. Mira looked among the rallied mages with surprise, and then a small twang of love. This was her guild. This was Fairy Tail. And this, is what nakama are. Mira turned to Natsu, seeing his eyes ablaze with dark anguish.

Suddenly, the guild doors exploded open letting cold air burst in with winte's chilling bite. Stood in the open doorway, was Erza, Gray and Gajeel. The three mages burst into the guild, faces teased in worry and anxiety.

It only took a second for Erza to see something had happened. They were too late. They were relieved to see Lucy asleep next to Natsu, hiding away in the guild corner. Other guild members were present and cluttered at the top of the guild. It must have been serious since alert was fixed hard on everyone of their faces.

"Erza, Gray, Gajeel." Master charged towards them. "What did you find?"

Erza explained in detail about what information they had found whilst talking to Issac Silver. She apologized for not arriving sooner, but the master snapped her back in line. Though it is easy to blame oneself, the truth is hard to accepted, but sometimes the hard path is the right one.

Natsu sat with Mira, Gray and Happy in silence, wondering what to do about their favorite celestial wizard, still asleep.

Warmth cooked her like a frosty winter's fire. A tense pounding strained her throat. A silky smoothness soothed over it, wrapped around her neck. Voice muttered distantly in her ear and footsteps paced up and drown across the wood pannelled floors. Soft breathing whispered closely in her ear, in sync with the rise and fall of her body. The soothing, rough smell of burnt toast tickled her nose. A hard, soft build supported her limp, weak body. Something rested on her head, gently letting her own head fit into the nape of their neck.

Lucy slowly cracked open her eyes, peaking at the surroundings. They felt dry and sore as they opened. At first, everything looked like colorful blurs, barely moving. Eventually, the images focused into the people she knew. Gray sat slouched back in the booth with his arms crossed over his bare chest, his eyes looking absently in the distance. Where did his shirt go?, Lucy thought numbly. Mira twiddled a thin piece of silver hair between her fingers, watching it with the same distracted gaze. A blue fur ball sat on the table picking at a fish bone with his sharp claws, picking meat out of the nooks and crannies. Her did it with slow, long turns of his talons, silent in deep thought.

Lucy watched them for a while, putting aside the distant muttering.

Slowly, she began to fade from her trance, half-asleep state. At the same time, a hard, burning pressure grabbed her throat. The harsh scratching set in rapidly, sending her lunging up from her seat. Everyone around her jumped in surprise as she let out a harsh rasp of coughs. "Lucy!" Happy gasped. Mira leapt up from the table and darted to the kitchen, returning with a glass of water. When Lucy had a gasp, she quickly swallowed down the water, temporarily soothing her sore throat. A second after, she almost began choking on the water. Gray jumped in to quickly swipe the glass out of her hand. Mira patted her on the back gently as she calmed.

When she finally did, Mira left to make her some honey laced tea. Lucy reached up and felt the silky, warm material around her neck. As she looked down, she realized what it was. She had wondered why it felt so familiar. Natsu's dragon scale scarf rested snugly round her aching neck. A flutter of her heart lead a small blush to rise on her cheeks. However, it all sank too quickly. Lucy's fingers clutched the fabric, feeling its delicate strength. She knew what would lay under there, but, she had to see. Slowly, she took a deep breath and tugged the fabric.

A strong, warm hand clasped gently, but firmly around hers, stopping it still. Eyes traced along the warm, tanned, strong arm. Soon, she found her gaze staring into a black abyss. It swarmed her like a fire, swallowing her into the guilt, sorrow and pain. Its dark hold, clasped around her heart, sticking like oil, getting heavier the longer she looked. Lucy stared at the dragon slayer, letting him pull her into his existence. But the weight of his hand felt heavy, holding her in reality. She couldn't hide in Natsu's existence forever. She wanted- No, needed, to see. With a gentle shake of her head, the raven eyes dropped, stuck with the hard oily blackness wallowing and bubbling inside of him. The stone weight of his hand slid softly away from hers. Dark eyes flickered back to her as she pulled the fabric again.

The silk scarf shifted and slid from her shoulders, falling into a weak pile on her lap. Next, she reached towards Mira who set down her tea and handed her a small pocket mirror. "Lucy, I don't think-" Mira tried to change her mind. But, Lucy went on, leaving the girl's voice to drift out of sound. Pink and white jewels decorated the reflective mirror in her hand. They glimmered and sparkled, refracting light as Lucy tilted it towards her.

Black and blue bruises rested on her neck in a strange curved arc around her throat. the shape of the fingers were easy to make out against her pale skin tone. Lucy felt the throb of the bruises pound higher, aware of their presence inside and out. The mirror in her hand felt like a heavy rock, and Lucy's hand shook as she tried to set it gently on the table. "Lucy?" Gray asked, watching her hands retract to sit calmly on her lap. Muscles contracted and twitched under her skin, clenching her jaw. Brown eyes set hard on the mirror on the table with a burning intensity, but cold as ice.

"Luce?" Natsu whispered in her ear, his hand wavering to reach out and touch hers. Eye lids dropped down over her dark honey eyes, letting the silence sink in. Lucy stayed quiet for a long moment, waiting.

At last, she felt it pass and her fists relaxed and her shoulders fell back into the chair. A long loud sigh growled from her lips. The tense atmosphere rumbled and shattered. Pieces fell as the guild fell into relaxation. A small smile tugged at the edges of her lips into a steady curve. "It's okay. I'm okay." She whispered softly, more to herself than anyone. "I'm okay."

"But Luce-" Natsu interupted, his eyes burning with the pained flames of concern.

"Natsu." Lucy spoke softly, interrupting him with a firm precision. Natsu moved back an inch, staring achingly at her closed eyes facing up to the cieling. Slowly, those eyes opened, revealing big, brown pools. They rolled as she turned her head, lifting her body to sit straight. She watched Natsu full in the face, her eyes taking a strong hold on his. He found it impossible to move, to look away, to even breath. Something had a hold on Natsu, something in her eyes was gripping onto him with a force that made his heart squeeze. "I'm scared." She bluntly spoke. Small gasps escaped in a choir around them, glancing at her in surprise. "But, that's okay." her voice softened, but her eyes didn't blink or look away from the pinned dragon slayer. "It's okay to be scared, because I've got you." Lucy smiled. Natsu looked at Lucy in disbelief. It was like she was glowing, beaming with a pure, unnearving light. Natsu knew what it was in her that he saw; strength. Lucy was much stronger than anyone realised, maybe even stronger than himself. Lucy was strong in an entirely different way. It was all because she believed. In herself. In them...In him.

Natsu felt the entire atmosphere shift. Lucy made that happen and Natsu knew exactly what to do with it. "Lucy's right!" Natsu snapped. " We will protect Lucy because she is our fellow wizard, a member of our Fairy Tail, our nakama!" Natsu roared, setting onto the table. "LET'S KICK THIS GUY'S ASS!" Natsu set his fists into roaring flames, burning with the passion to fight.

"AYE SIR!" The guild rallied in response, the fight burning inside of them like Natsu's fists. Relieved and glowing with determination, the guild scattered about, rushing to find leads and clues.

Natsu nodded with a grunt of approval and jumped down from the table. A grin plastered Lucy's lips as Natsu turned to find her beside him. "Well done, Natsu." Lucy laughed. The celestial wizard stepped forward, reaching her arms around his neck. She leaned in, pushing around her tip toes. The silky fabric of the white, scaled scarf dropped around his neck, falling over his torso. "Much better." Lucy nodded with satisfaction, her hands sitting on her hips giving him a look up and down.

Swiftly, warm arm grabbed her shoulders and pulled her quickly into a hard, strong chest. Natsu's arms wrapped around her tightly like he never wanted to let go. "Don't worry, Luce; I'll protect you, I swear!" Natsu whispered his vow into her ear. The hushed words engraved like a plaque of gold into her heart, never to be broken, never to wear away, to be there, forever.

"N- Natsu." Lucy hushed in shock, finding that his name was all she was capable of saying. Warmth flushed over her entire body, her heart squeezed tightly and her existence tingled with an energy she had never felt before. A small, almost inaudible sigh escaped his lips, brushing across Lucy's neck, sending electricity jolting through her bones. Muscles in his arms relaxed, and to Lucy's hidden dismay, hesitantly slipped away. Dark eyes locked softly onto hers. At her bewildered expression, Natsu felt a small giggle arise. Confusion shifted into her beautiful, big eyes, looking up at him.

"We're nakama, right Luce?" Natsu smiled, baring his signature, mischievous and adoring grin.

A small voice in Lucy's head told her that maybe, they were more than what he claimed. But, right then, it was all Lucy needed.