Inspired by the events of Chapter 345, so semi-spoilers for that. He can bury the memory as deep as he likes, but when Lucy's attacked while Natsu's trapped in the form of a child, it brings him right back to that day with alarming clarity. And there are some experiences that simply aren't meant to be repeated.

... Honestly, I just wanted to write some Natsu completely flipping out because Lucy's in danger. You can not tell me he isn't gonna have issues about Lucy being in danger after what happened with the Dragon Festival.

NaLu: Buried But Never Forgotten

Onyx eyes widened with horror, and his mouth trembled out the two syllables of her name as she began to fall. Not for the first time that day, Natsu cursed the childlike body he'd been confined to – Fumbling hands that didn't understand where they were meant to hit, or the flames they were supposed to wield, and awkward legs that gave out beneath him each time he tried to run.

As the dust began to settle and Lucy didn't stir though, the fact that he was in the body of a younger self was driven far from his mind. Lucy's blonde hair was falling across her alarmingly pallid face, shadowing her eyes, and the sight made Natsu feel as if somebody had cut off his air supply.

Suddenly, he was standing in the crumbling pathways under a palace, watching as another blonde fall to the floor. A floor she'd never rise from again, and the thought of it happening again, the very idea of losing this Lucy too…

Natsu couldn't hear the shouts of "Lucy! Get up! Lucy!" that were being torn up his throat, neither could he hear the amused laughter from their masked enemy. The only thing he was aware of in that moment was the blood pounding in his ears, and that the that enemy was now standing next to Lucy's still motionless body, looking over at him with vindictive pleasure in his eyes.

The world seemed to slow as Natsu's eyes widened further, watching as the enemy raised a foot to dangle precariously over where Lucy lay, a barely visible eyebrow cocking challengingly. The Fire Dragon Slayer didn't hear the taunt that had just been thrown his way, he just knew he was shifting his clumsy childlike feet as he willed fire to well up in his heels.

"Don't touch her," he snarled at the masked man. The laughter the enemy replied with reverberated mockingly in Natsu's ears, and even though his body was trembling in a way he didn't care to notice, Natsu pushed fire out from the bottom of his feet, sending him hurtling through the air towards the masked man as he roared, "Don't fucking touch her!" before barrelling head first into the masked enemy, sending him flying towards the building's nearby.

Then, before he'd made the conscious decision to do so, Natsu was chasing after the enemy, feet no longer clumsy and awkward, but determined and powerful, and driving him to where he could smell the man. With the image of Lucy's lifeless body lingering behind his eyes, Natsu moved on instinct alone as he dodged the man's counter attack, only to drive a flame swallowed fist into his stomach, and quickly followed that up by a kick to the underside of his chin, sending him flying into the nearby walls once more.

Or, he would have flown into them, had Natsu not caught him by the ankle and thrown him to the ground at his feet instead. Eyes still wide, and with the thundering of his blood in his ears, Natsu didn't even realise he had pinned the masked man there, and had started repeatedly punching the now exposed face.

He was so caught up in his single-minded determination to stop this enemy that wanted to hurt his Lucy, that Natsu didn't hear the increasingly frenzied calls of his name. Neither did he hear another's approach, until a hand settled on his shoulder just as he went to punch the masked man again, and Natsu almost changed the trajectory of his attack, until the sound of their voice made him freeze.

"Natsu! Natsu, it's alright!" Lucy gasped, and, breathing heavily, Natsu's world gradually expanded to more than the man pinned to the ground beneath him.

Natsu was momentarily taken aback to see the sorry state the man was in – He'd been knocked unconscious and his lip was split, his nose looked like it was broken and was, understandably enough, bleeding, and then there were the several bruises that had already starting to form on his cheeks and eye. Although he frowned at the unexpected amount of damage on the man, Natsu's attention was drawn by the hand gripping his shoulder. And, as he followed the arm it belonged to, only to find Lucy standing there, dirty and slightly bruised, but breathing and alive, suddenly the man at his feet just didn't seem to matter.

"Lucy," Natsu breathed, an unexpected quaver to his voice as he rose, and it wasn't until he had to look down to meet Lucy's eyes that he realised he'd returned to his regular form at some point.

The fact that he had hardly seemed to matter though as he wrapped his arms around Lucy's back, pulling her tight against him as his nose buried in the crook of her neck, drawing in shuddering, shaking breaths, and swallowing her scent as he did so. Alive. Fine. Alive, his mind was repeating, and the thoughts made him squeeze Lucy just that little bit tighter.

He could sense they were going to talk about what had just happened later, but, in that moment, Lucy was thankfully silent as she tentatively wound one arm around Natsu's waist, as the other rose to thread into his hair comfortingly. And, if her shoulder was a little damp as Natsu gathered himself enough to pull back some time later, Lucy didn't mention it, even though Natsu could smell the salt that was there.