Previously on Resurrected Love

"Luce."

She jumped a little, before realizing it was Natsu. The blonde didn't reply, except kept on rubbing her wrists.

"You alright?" He asked as he reached his hand out to pat on her shoulder, but she seemed to flinch at his movement. Slightly pained his hand fell back to his side.

Natsu decided to not push her any further, and he wasn't in the greatest mood either after hearing what happened a few moments ago. He would definitely get Horito back for this.

Eyeing the food tray on the nightstand he walked over and grabbed the tray before sitting on the floor beside Lucy, munching on a piece of bread. It was still warm, and he appreciated it. Ripping the other half of the bread he handed it to Lucy, only to receive a shake of her head.

"Not hungry?" He asked, placing the bread back on the tray before taking the bowl of steaming soup.

"Yeah..."

"Lucy…"

Her hands shook around the hilt of the dagger that was pierced through Natsu's chest. He had that small smile he always had when he told her everything was going to be fine. But no, this time it was different. Nothing was fine. Absolutely nothing.

"N-Natsu.." Tears flowed freely down her cheeks as reality hits her hard. She was killing him, and for some reason, like her hands had a mind of it's own, it twisted the dagger deeper inside of him. Natsu's face scrunched up in pain as he let out a painful cry.

Her heart shattered, but she couldn't muster a scream. His blood had already formed a pool beneath them, and her hands were smeared with his. She could feel his rapid breaths fan across her face, once that smelt like firewood and cinnamon, but now reeked of death. His white shirt that had clung loosely on his upper body was cut and torn in all places, revealing fresh injures that seemed to have been made from the same dagger that Lucy was holding.

Despair and guilt washed over her. Natsu: warm, friendly, open, and sometimes the one with no conscious mind, but the one who always looked after her, was now bloody, beaten, and looking at the face of death, because of no one other than herself.

"I-I don't know what's happening, this-"

"I know…" Natsu whispered calmly, his hand gently rests upon hers and looking up. His tranquil eyes stared straight through hers, then suddenly he started cackling, surprising Lucy all the same.

After a while he sighed, before giving a sinister grin, "Man, Lucy. Your pretty gullible, you know?" His grip on my hands tightened, then forcing me to push it deeper within him. Lucy shook her head, trying to pull her hands out from under his. "Natsu! Stop! What are you doing?!"

"Doing what you should've done before." He opened his mouth showing sharp canines, and then lunged at her.

The scream that was suppressed within her finally managed to find it's way out.

Her eyes flew wide open, and she sat up straight, nearly out of breath. Her heart thumped against her chest wildly, and she looked around, scared to find the bloodied boy in front of her again. But it was only Natsu, who was already awake, sitting on the chair with his legs and arms crossed, and carefully watching her. And she sighed with relief when he looked perfect fine. "You've been crying in your sleep," He quietly indicated, "Again."

Her hand went to her cheek, feeling the moisture on it she quickly wiped it away. "I-it's nothing."

She heard him sigh, "I never really asked." He looked away, "You wouldn't tell me, and I won't push you any further until you're ready to."

"I don't think I'll be able to…" Lucy muttered, before laying back down and pulling the covers over her head.

She could feel the bed slightly tilt to one direction, and knew that Natsu wasn't going to end the discussion there.

"Is it about Horito?" His voice was evident with frustration. She would've laughed if she could. Instead, she made an exaggerated move of her head to say no, and they fell silent.

Slowly, Natsu pulled down the covers from her. His face was scrunched up in worry, and he opened his mouth like he wanted to say something, then shut it at the last minute.

"It's, really nothing, Natsu. It's just some silly dream." She laughed awkwardly, then averted her gaze.

"Alright then. You should get some rest, you haven't been sleeping well since… whatever''s been bothering you." He looked away, before standing up.

Without thinking, she reached out to grab him but missed, then swallowing down a groan of frustration with herself she called, "Wait, Natsu."

He paused, but didn't turn around to look at her.

She slowly sat back up and folded her hands neatly in front of her, "I was hoping if we could um, talk." She finished lamely. He chuckled, then glanced over at her with that same small smile he had in her dream. "Scoot over, Luce."

Not prepared for that comment, she blinked and didn't move.

"Well, shoo over Luce." He made the little gesture with his hand. "Since we're going to talk, I might as well lay on bed and get comfortable, huh?" He grinned.

Sighing at the obvious reason why he didn't understand her reluctance, she scooted over with him joining her on the bed soon.

"So, will you tell me about your dreams?" He glanced at her after he crossed his arms behind his head to make himself more comfortable. Lucy laid down and snuggled beneath her blankets, shaking her head again.

"Alright then, what'cha wanna talk about?"

"Horito."

And then he tensed.

"I've read a few books about Horito's kingdom a few days back, and apparently it's known as The City of Illusions and Dreams…" Lucy recalled, trying to remember what she searched up the other day. "And what about his city?" His eyes were narrowed, though he didn't look at Lucy, he kept his eyes trained at the front. "I mean like," She whispered the next part, "Since you're a mage, I was wondering if you knew any mages out there at his city with the possibility of… surviving."

He stayed quiet for a moment, seeming to be gathering information before he sighed with frustration. "Sorry Lucy, I'm not sure."

She shook her head, "No, it's quite alright."

"Why?" He asked, finally looking at her. She held her breath as his intense gaze overwhelmed her. "Do you think your dreams are being caused by someone?"

She stayed quiet for a while, then finally clearing her throat and breaking their gaze she replied, "I just have a hunch, that's all."

"Well if it's okay," Natsu started, then paused. It was obvious that he was choosing his words carefully which was a rare sight of him, "Can I ask you a question about Horito?"

Lucy shrugged.

"What are you going to do, tomorrow." It was more like a statement, rather than a question. "It's the last day before the wedding, with Horito."

Unable to reply, she could only rethink of how calm Natsu was when he asked, though she could feel him tense up again beside her. "I can't do anything, Natsu. I've already pleaded my father and well, from the last time I checked, he said with every ounce of his anger, a 'Lucy Heartfilia, this is end of discussion. You are marrying Horito and uniting our land with the Land of Delliago.'" She had pretended to be her father, with his low and grumpy voice whenever he was angry. To be honest, she thought she sounded horrendous and ridiculous, but Natsu wasn't smiling. Her cheerful mood dissipating in an instant.

He looked away from her, and without moving he said, "Do you want to marry him?"

An unladylike snort escaped her mouth, "No."

"Then why marry him." He was still talking to her with his face turned.

"I don't have a choice, Natsu. I-"

"No. There's always a choice out there." He looked over and gave a sad smile.

At that moment Lucy was at lost for words.

"Sorry, go to sleep Lucy. Tomorrow's the last day to prepare for your big day. We shouldn't be talking about something like this." And with that he sat up, lingered there for a while before standing up and walking towards the front of her bed to lay down on the floor.

All of a sudden, Lucy felt cold and empty without Natsu beside her.

A thought arose in her mind.

Would it be like that every day, if I married Horito?

Then other disturbing thoughts came after that about Natsu's well-being. And suddenly, she just can't get over the fact that she was going to marry the one she hated most, and leave behind the one she cared for most.

"Are you alright, Lucy-san?" The fitter asked as she tightened Lucy's dress more than she would've liked. Honestly, how did anyone like wearing these dresses? Especially under either the blazing sun, or a rainy day? Till this moment, Lucy didn't understand. And most likely, she won't ever.

She shook her head, "I feel unwell today. Maybe I need to go take a rest for a bit." Lies.

The fitter nodded absent-mindedly, her focus mainly on Lucy's wedding dress.

Lucy's gaze swept across the 3 mirrors each reflecting a different perspective of herself. It was a bit disturbing how the mirrors reflected each of her actions, as if seeing right through her. She slightly shifted in her dress but instantly regretted it, giving it a pretty high 9 in top tight dresses.

Though even if it were unbearably tight, the dress was simplistic yet exquisite. The dress had white laces on the upper half, while the bottom of the dress slightly popped out a bit more. Around it were white roses with drapes connecting each flower. The dress was sleeveless, and as she recalls, she was to wear that crown that was heavy. Or so warned by her father.

"Alright then, Lucy-dono." The fitter took a step back to admire for a moment, before reluctantly undoing the knots to release Lucy from a choking spree.

"Please, tell my father that I will be in my room if he needs me." Lies, once again.

The fitter gave a small smile, "I had always waited for this day to come. With you and Prince Horito, the kingdoms will finally be united!"

She could only nod and smile.

It took nearly ages to take off the wedding gown, so before she knew it, it was already past noon. Hopefully Korin had given Natsu his lunch.

Back in her slightly-tight-but-comfortable ruby dress gown, she ran for her room. Knowing that Natsu would be in there. She had important things she needed to talk to him about. And whatever their choices are this afternoon, will change a lot of things for them.

Hopefully.

Lucy did a quick scan in the hall before barging into her room and closing the doors behind her. Natsu seemed surprised for a moment, his face lifting out of his food when she came in before realizing it was only Lucy, he went back to his food. "Lucy, I'm seriously in the mood for some hotter things." His mouth filled with food.

She couldn't help but tilt her head and raise her eyebrows, before joining him on the ground with his food.

"Hey Natsu, I was hoping that we could have a chat."

The pink haired looked up, in the middle of eating his pork.

"I've been thinking," She continued when he said nothing, "about what you've said last night. And I think I've come up with a better answer."

He gulped down his food before pushing the tray aside, "Look, you don't need to change anything about your life-style just because I asked you about it." Natsu shrugged, "It's been a year, things probably have changed."

Something inside of Lucy cracked.

"Though honestly," He beamed, "It would be nice if we had some more time together."

This dumbfounded Lucy, and she opened and closed her mouth like a fish out of the water. Regaining her posture she demanded, "What do you mean more time together?"

He shrugged again, "If you were to marry Horito, it would be hard for me to stick around, don't you think?" Silence. "And besides, as long as your happy, then I'm happy for you as well. It'll be hard to get out of the kingdom at first," He scratched his head, "But I'll manage. Besides, they have fire out there, don't they? Korin's already getting on my nerves as well. He just has… that look." His face scrunches up, before glancing at her direction.

"That's what I came to talk to you about." Lucy gave a soft smile, "Horito he's… not the man I thought I knew a year ago before… before what happened." Breath, breath, breath. But what if he doesn't want to come with you? What if he wants to go around by himself, since you would only be a burden to him? Great, that nagging voice in her head has started it's mission to doubt herself.

"Let's leave. No, run." Lucy said, pushing her doubt aside for just this instant. Time was running low, and she knew that she won't have long until her father would call down one of his servants to bring Lucy out of her room. And once she steps out of her room, her fate's sealed within an envelope and she can watch her dreams burn into ashes. "I'm not in love with Horito, and I'm sure he's not with me either." She was surprised her voice sounded so calm and excited, when in truth her insides were twisting, her gut screaming to shut the hell up.

"You know, just to sound foolish this once." She chuckled nervously, "I've always dreamed of loving the ones I love, you know? With my father and mother there to support my choices whether or not this gentleman was rich, ugly, heck even immature in all ways! I had always thought that they would always support love over power. But apparently ever since my mom passed away, my father was so set upon making his kingdom the very strongest, that he's forgotten what my mother strongly believed in."

Tears wouldn't find their way to her eyes. It was a topic that she'd normally not talk to in front of people, but for some reason Natsu's silent understanding was all she needed. "Therefor I choose love." Lucy couldn't tear her eyes away from his, as she continued, "I don't love Horito, and I'm not planning on marrying him. Whatever hardships follow if we leave, I'm ready. And Natsu, I-"

"Lucy, are you sure about leaving your father, and all that you've ever known, behind?" He suddenly asked after hearing her long speech. Natsu watched her, his foolish demeanor gone. She paused. Was she? Was she going to leave behind her father, her people, and all her knowledge, in order to venture into some place unknown? Was she physically, no even mentally prepared?

Nope. You'll die the minute you're out there. That stupid nagging voice.

Taking a deep breath she fiddled with her thumbs. What would her mother choose?

"I kind of made up my mind already." She smiled sheepishly, and Natsu's face lit up.

"Then I'd suggest you to eat and drink what you can." He stood up and took out his hand, "Cause you and I, we're heading out."

While Lucy tried to eat the remaining food Natsu hadn't eaten from his lunch, which were scraps and drops, Natsu scrambled around Lucy's room to find some kind of bag. Anything, that could hold food and water along the way, though it seems luck and fate had other ideas.

Pfft, fate? Really?

He fell to the ground and looked underneath the bed, took out nearly all of Lucy's clothing's and nearly got beaten to death when he had trekked upon private clothing, looked through her bathroom, and lastly in all of her drawers. Nothing. No items for traveling what-so-ever. But what did he expect? Hidden spears and backpacks and deer skin somewhere in her room?

Actually the deer skin would've been believable if someone had told him. Natsu felt a shiver down his spine when he relieved her shouts and beatings moments ago.

"Did you find anything?" She inquired, looking through her now messy closet to probably find appropriate clothing.

"Nope, I guess we'll have to do this the hard way." He sighed, scratching his head. "Hey, do you have any money?"

"It should be in between my dresser and bed." Lucy looked over her shoulder, indicating where it is. "I had always stocked them there in case of any emergency." She threw her nightgown across the room, along with a pair of heels. "Damn it, I don't have any shoes that won't hurt except for slippers."

"Well then, I guess slippers will have to do for the time being. We don't have any food, water, bags, maps, compasses-"

"Alright, alright. I get it. Though my bags are all inside my closet, around the back." She grumbled, before taking off her short heels. Then, eyeing the white nightgown in front of her she sighed, "Well, I guess I'll stick with my nightgown..?"

Natsu glanced over at Lucy, who was holding up her dress and eyeing it carefully, debating whether it was the best choice in her closet. He then returned his attention to the collection of shoulder bags that Lucy had said where it would be. Finally he dug out a medium-sized blue shoulder bag with crystals aligned across the bag. "Are you ready?" He asked, throwing the bag onto Lucy's bed.

"Yeah." She replied, already in her nightgown. "What will we do abou-"

There was a knock on the door, "Lucy-dono? King Heartfilia has called for you."

They both looked at each other in dismay. "Tell father I'll be right there." Lucy said as calmly as possible. No answer came after that, and Natsu took the chance to go over her room and open up the window. "Grab the bag."

Lucy quickly snatched the blue shoulder bag, and took Natsu's outstretched hand. "What are you do-ing..!" She screamed as Natsu hugged her tightly, then jumping out of the window.

She could hear him laugh as the wind slapped against them. Then all of a sudden it went quiet, and time seemed to slow before Natsu jumped in the air. Her grip on him tightened as the castle's garden grew a bit smaller then bigger as the pink haired leaped up and down towards the castle's walls. "Dammit.." He muttered.

A few shouts came from behind us, and she knew that her scream from before had brought the guards along. "Natsu…" She spoke, immediately unsure if their decision was the right one.

"Don't worry Lucy." He comforted as he gently landed upon a tree, his grip on her tightened. She looked up and saw that his face was no longer the laughing mage he was a few moments ago. His face was serious and focused, like he was debating what to do. "I'll protect you, and we'll get out of this alive." Finally he looked down at her and grinned, "That's a promise."

"That guy's got Princess Heartfilia!"

"Bring out the archers, now!"

"What if they hit the Princess by accident? We cannot risk that! The wedding's tomorrow!"

"Alert the guards at the front! Most of them are there!"

"Hey, isn't that guy.."

Immediately she panicked, and she could tell that Natsu had tensed up. Before she could say another word he pushed off the tree, soaring through the air before landing on another tree and again. When they were near the wall, she could hear more shouts and footsteps running towards them. Natsu jumped off the tree, allowed Lucy's feet to touch the ground and regain her balance before taking her hand and pulling her towards their destination. He made a sharp turn to the right, then kicked off the pavement and grabbed the lowest branch to help him up.

"Take aim!" Apparently the soldiers have decided to take the risk.

He stretched out his arm and grabbed a hold of hers before pulling her up. Without wasting another second her hugged her tightly, and took a jump for the wall.

"Fire!"

Lucy watched over Natsu's shoulder as the guards released their arrows. Atleast ten arrows were coming straight for them. Praying, she closed her eyes. Then she felt a gentle hand slightly push her head down, and she buried her face into his shoulder, taking in the firewood and cinnamon scent. Coming later, she heard a thud, a grunt, before her eyes flew wide open. "Natsu!"

He landed on the wall and jumped down just before the other arrows swished overhead. But what came after wasn't what Lucy had in mind at all. In an instant they seemed to be stumbling downwards, with sounds of waves crashing nearby.

"Ah!" She gave in a sharp breath as rocks dug beneath her back as they rolled down the mountain of rocks that held the castle upright. Her whole world blurred around her, but she couldn't help but worry about Natsu. His arms had gone slack the moment they went tumbling, and she had heard the snap of the arrow from his back, but somehow she was sure that the arrowhead was still behind him.

She could see the small cliff coming closer to them.

They had to stop tumbling before-

The rocks below them were gone, and time slowed once more. Then suddenly she realized, she couldn't swim.

Never did anyone taught her how to swim. She knew how to ride horses, tend to the flowers, play some sports that didn't require any running. But never swimming.

Lucy's arms that were wrapped around Natsu tightened, scared for her life as she had never been outside of her castle in such harsh conditions. Then something seemed to whisper in her ear, "Don't worry."

His arms tightened around her, making her feel a bit safer. He shifted around so that he would take the impact of the water. Natsu was determined that this decision that they had made together, won't be regretted by either of them. They will get out of this alive, and survive. After all, he had promised.

Cold water engulfed them the next second.

Wow… It's been a long while… *dodges a few things*

I'm really sorry DX but I had a long writer's block and then school was a bit overwhelming for a while so I had to drop this as much as I wanted to continue. I know this chappy is a bit choppy and short. I feel like my writing skills have slackened since before ARGH sorry :( This chapter is currently unedited so I'll edit a few things along the way.

I'll write a longer chapter soon so looking forward to it!

Don't forget to Comment any Suggestions and what You like and don't like about it!

Looking forward to next time!

Iz