"Burned out flames should never reignite"
Lucy woke with a jolt, falling to the ground.
Her clothes were soaked with sweat and she was breathing hard. Shutting her eyes, she gripped her chest and stayed on the floor for a few moments.
She hated nightmares.
Usually she never dreamt when she slept, but lately all her mind could conjure up was memories from her life with him.
Looking around she registered that she fell asleep on her ledge. Noticing the sun coming up, she quickly glanced at the clock above her couch. She had two hours until she had to go to school. Grateful she woke up with extra time, she got up and went into the bathroom.
Turning on the lights, she cringed at the sight of her current state. Her hair was matted to her forehead by sweat and she looked ghostly. Her eyes had serious bags under them and her skin was glistening with sweat.
'Man, you look like a mess' her shadow friend stated. She looked at him through the mirror and only rolled her eyes in response.
"What're you talking about, I look like a queen" she mocked.
Quickly stripping herself from her clothes and removing her bandages, she hopped into the shower and basked in it's warmth. She still never got over how good a shower felt.
She let the hot water hit the scars on her back as well as the rest of her injuries. It always made her feel better when she washed them.
Leaning her head against the shower wall, she looked down at her wrist. The flesh was growing back weirdly because of how much she managed to tear off. It was a pinkish color and it reached from the middle of her wrist, to parts of her palm. It went all the way around to the front of her wrist and parts of her hand as well. Realizing that it would probably look weird for the rest of her life, she sighed and turned off the shower.
She was going to have many scars that lasted for ever.
Grabbing her towel, she wrapped herself up and jumped into her room to get ready for school. Other than her awkwardness she was able to make it through the first day alright. She came to the conclusion that it really was her mind that made him up. She blamed it on her lack of sleep.
Today, she hoped, would be better. She would actually try to interact with her new friends. She really enjoyed having them sit with her and they made her smile.
Tossing the towel on her closet door to dry, she grabbed a pair of under garments and pulled out her uniform and a fresh pair of leggings. The girls didn't wear leggings with their uniforms, but considering how gruesome her legs looked at the moment, she decided it'd be best not to have people staring at her.
Lucy decided to let her hair dry for a bit before putting it in a side braid. It had gotten really long and she enjoyed putting it in a braid because it made it easier to manage. It didn't get in her way as much when she was at work or doing other things.
Before putting on the rest of her clothes, she grabbed a few bandages to reapply onto her body.
She started with her stomach, mainly because that was her biggest wound with the most stitches. Occasionally it would hurt, but the pain killers did wonders in preventing it from really irritating her. Lucy managed to deal with the small bursts of pain lately, but not searing pain that came from time to time.
Finishing up her stomach she went to her upper arm, just below her shoulder. She had a nasty cut there that would most likely leave a scar. It was getting smaller, but every now and then she'd shiver while looking at it. Lucy couldn't exactly remember how she managed to get that injury, but like a lot of her other ones through out her years down there, she'd been knocked out a lot of times.
Then she went to wrist and quickly wrapped it up. It didn't really need any bandages at this point, but because the flesh growing back was still fresh, accidentally hurting it would not be the best idea. A few days ago she'd accidentally bumped her wrist into the edge of the counter and her little friend made sure to laugh the entire time Lucy moaned in pain.
Deciding that the cut on her cheek didn't need a bandage anymore, she quickly put all her medical things away and finished getting dressed.
Putting her hair in a quick braid after letting it dry for a bit, she grabbed her bag and left her house.
Walking down the street, she realized it was a little chilly, but it didn't bother her much because the school was only five minutes away from where lived.
Lucy had left a little early but she was alright with that. It would give her time to sit in the class and read in quiet. She wasn't able to in the library but she didn't mind that. But she was a little grumpy about not being able to read at home. She ended up having a lot of school work.
The work wasn't hard considering she'd done it all before, it was just that there was so much and by the time she finished she just wanted to watch the stars.
Before she knew it she was entering her class and zooming her way to the corner seat in the back of the class. She realized sitting there, drew the attention away from her and she liked that.
Pulling out her newest read, 13 Reasons Why, she sat cross legged in her desk and began to read.
She wasn't very far in the book but she absolutely loved it. Levy had suggested it and she instantly 'borrowed' it from the book store. Technically, her boss didn't know, but Levy said it would be fine to do.
Lucy graciously helped herself to quite a few books, including a few manga's. Lucy was never interested in manga or anime before she started working there, but Levy said there were actually quite a few amazing story lines and Lucy agreed.
Lucy didn't realize that the students began piling into the room. She was so engrossed into the book, she didn't hear Natsu, Levy, and Gray sit down around her.
"Hehehe, I'm getting her obsessed with these books" Levy stated from beside Lucy as she watched her read.
Lucy finally registered everyone around her when Gray was about to poke her cheek. Lucy managed to back up a bit before he was able to and she gave him a weird look, to which he returned as well.
They eventually smiled at each other.
They were all dressed in their uniforms, except Natsu and Gray didn't have their ties on them. Lucy didn't know how she didn't notice before but Natsu was wearing a scarf. It was a scaly white scarf that looked a little tattered and old. She never really liked scarves in her opinion, but looking at Natsu now, she realized how good it looked on him.
Gray on the other hand had on a silver necklace that resembled that of a sword, but it was slightly covered by his shirt, so she couldn't see it very well.
"When did everyone get here?" Lucy innocently asked, looking around the room. Looking around she saw everyone was here and it was actually quite noisy in the room.
"Around five minutes ago" Natsu chuckled form his seat behind her. "You should've seen your face, it was all scrunched up and funny looking" he laughed innocently. Lucy could feel her face heat up as he said that and quickly looked the other way, feeling embarrassed.
"Don't listen to him, he's cra-" Gray started but was cut off by a meowing sound.
"Oh Mavis, please tell me you didn't." Levy suddenly whispered, looking down at Natsu's backpack.
Lucy whirled around to see Natsu pulling a blue cat out of his backpack and placing him on the desk.
"You know what happened the last time you did that, ash for brains." Gray stated, while reaching over and petting the cat. Natsu immediately swatted Gray away.
"If you're going to insult me, then you can't pet Happy." He simple stated, cuddling the cat.
Lucy stared in bewilderment as everyone in the room seemed fine with what was going on.
"You better not let some of your teachers see you. Mr. Conbolt and Makarov don't care but the rest of the school sure as hell do." Levy simply stated while pulling out her notebook.
Suddenly, the cat looked at Lucy and stared at her for a moment. It then leaped out of Natsu's clutch and pranced over Lucy, hopping into her lap.
"No way," Gray breathed watching the cat purr in her lap.
"Aw Happy likes you!" Natsu said while suddenly grinning like a three year old boy. Lucy came to the conclusion that she liked Natsu's smile and she didn't really understand why.
"Wow, he's never done that before," Levy inquired while reaching over the pet Happy.
Lucy only gave a small smile as she began to scratch Happy behind the ears. This seemed to make him happy as he purred more and rubbed his head against her stomach.
"Why's he blue?" She suddenly asked, looking up to see Natsu smiling at her.
"Uh, lets just say I lost a bet with someone..." Natsu nervously said, scratching the back of his head. "Happy wouldn't come near me for weeks after that," he mumbled quietly to himself.
Lucy only giggled in response.
"Alright class, lets get ready. Surprise, surprise we have a pop quiz!" Mr. Conbolt suddenly said while entering the room. The class erupted in groans and Natsu immediately tried to sneak out of the class along with Gray, but Levy pulled them back, shaking her head and mouthing 'Erza'.
Happy let out a meow and the teacher's head snapped up and stared at Natsu.
"You did not," he stated, pinching his nose and letting out a sigh.
"This is the last time I PROMISE," Natsu said while standing up, as if ready to fight anyone who was going to take his cat away.
"My mouth is shut," he simply stated, while winking at Natsu. Natsu let out a whoop and sat back in his seat. "Alright get ready, it's on last nights homework, so if you did it you're fine, if not then all I can say is, not my fault" he finished while passing out the quizzes.
When he came to Lucy's desk he hesitated and asked, "Do you want to take this? You don't have to since it's only your second day"
"Don't worry about me, I'll be fine!" She happily said while take the quiz from his hands. Lucy really didn't mind quizzes and tests. Her tutor used to give them to her almost every day so she was fine with this.
'You should at least tell the cat what's going on in your life. Maybe then, you could sleep at night.' The voice mumbled from within her head.
"I'm fine," she whispered.
"Alright, class you have the entire class period. Begin"
Lucy flew through it quite quickly actually and managed to have thirty minutes to read. This pleased Lucy as she pulled out her book and began to read again.
This however only lasted a few moments before Makarov appeared in the doorway.
"Macao, mind if I steal Lucy for a moment?" Makarov asked, waving Lucy over.
Everyone looked at her as she slowly got up and made her way to the door. Makarov seemed happy to see her and he signaled for Mr. Conbolt to close the door.
"Err, a-am I in any t-trouble?" Lucy hesitantly asked while following Makarov to wherever he was leading her.
"Oh, no no. Not at all," he began. "Porlylusica just wanted to check up on you, considering you're still injured and all. This was her only free time."
"Oh," was all Lucy could reply.
Walking into Makarov's office, she saw Porlyusica standing by his desk playing around with some of her equipment. When she spotted Lucy she immediately grabbed her stethoscope and chart and pointed for Lucy to sit on the edge of the desk, back facing the door. Makarov had left them alone to some privacy, closing the door on his way out.
"Sit," she said and Lucy, not wanting to anger the woman anymore than she already was. "How're you feeling now that you've been by yourself these past two weeks?" She asked.
"F-Fine" she simply stated.
"Take off your shirt so I can look at your wounds," She mumbled while writing down some things after taking her pulse.
Lucy did as she was told, unbuttoning her jacket and taking off her shirt. She was hoping that Porlyusica wouldn't ask her to take off her bra and sighed in relief when she continued with her work without asking.
Suddenly feeling cold hands trace the scars on her back, she went still, tensing up.
"Do these bother you at all?" She mumbled while poking and touching each whip mark that went down her back.
"N-No," she whispered, gripping her hands together. She was grateful Porylusica didn't ask her where she got her scars from.
"Oh, good" was all she said before moving on to her arms and front side. Lucy kept her shirt off for Porlyusica to examen her stomach and arms. "Have you been eating? You look sickly." She blanched and Lucy only stared at her, blinking a few times.
"W-Well, n-not as m-much but lately I-I have," she answered while silently cursing her stutter.
"Well, you need to ea-"
She wasn't able to finish her sentence because the door suddenly burst open and Lucy stilled, eyes widening as she stared at the wall in front of her, back completely exposed.
"Hey Lucy? You left your stuff in the room and I just... Lu-cy?" She heard Natsu's voice crack as he said her name the second time and it made Lucy cringe.
She could feel Natsu's eyes burn into her back. Lucy didn't turn around and only gripped the edge of her skirt to prevent tears from spilling. Lucy didn't want anyone to see her, not like this. Not while she was so vulnerable.
There were a few moments of silence and Lucy just wanted it to end. She wanted him to just call her a freak already and be on his way. Because that's what she looked like.
A broken case.
"Natsu. Get. Out." Porylusica said with every word louder than the last. She bounded over to him and mumbled something about knocking on doors and slammed the door in his face.
Lucy started hyperventilating. It was one thing to let her doctor see her in this state but for people she barely knew? Lucy gripped her chest and shut her eyes. She couldn't stop whatever it was that was happening to her and she couldn't even remember when it began. 'Where am I' she thought. 'What time is it?' 'What is happening to me?'
'You're having a panic attack' the voice answered.
And then her brain stopped functioning.
A hand suddenly rested on her should. "Lucy, just breathe. You're fine." A voice soothed.
Lucy tried to slow her breathing but for some reason she couldn't. It just kept getting worse and worse.
"Lucy. For Mavis' sake open your eyes and breathe," it continued.
'You're going to end up dead if you don't tell someone soon.' Her shadow friend mumbled from somewhere to her left.
Lucy wasn't able to respond because suddenly she felt herself falling and before she knew it, she blacked out.
When Lucy woke up, she found herself on the couch in Makarov's room with a blanket covering her. Slowly getting up, she rubbed her eyes and looked around the room.
She was wearing her uniform again and she looked up to see Makarov sitting in his desk, writing some papers.
"Oh good, you're awake" he breathed out in relief, leaning back in his chair to look at her. She only stared at her hands in response. "You gave us quite the scare back there," he continued, jumping down from his chair to walk towards her and give her some water. She gratefully took it.
"U-Um, w-what t-time is-is it?" Lucy choked out after finishing her water.
"Err, it's around 11:30, your lunch period is about to start" Makarov informed her after checking his watch. "You don't have to go back to class, Lucy."
"N-No, I'd r-rather g-go," she cut him off, while picking up her things. Moving past that experience, she thought, would be better for her. Dwelling on it wasn't going to fix anything. What happened, happened.
"Thank you, Makarov," she said before opening the door and closing it behind her.
Lucy looked up and suddenly her eyes widened at the sight she saw. Natsu was leaning against the wall across from her and when he saw her, he smiled.
"Yo," he stated while walking towards her.
"N-Natsu?" she whispered, watching him.
"How're you feeling?" he simply asked, looking down at her.
Blinking, she answered. "I'm alright."
He smiled in response and handed her, her bag. "Sorry you didn't get this earlier, mean old lady kicked me out." Natsu grumbled while he scratched his head. Lucy only stared at him response.
"Anyway, lets go to the library! Everyone's waiting for us!" He rebounded, grabbing her hand.
Immediately closing her eyes in response to him grabbing her hand, she found that it wasn't as tight as she expected. It was gentle and soft.
And it made her feel safe and weirdly warm inside.
She expected him to never want to speak to her again and here was, doing the complete opposite and making her feel like a normal human being. Something that she longed for, for quite along time.
Her whole life people seemed to forget that buried deep within her, there was just a human.
He smiled back at her and pulled her along. "Come on!" He said and she found herself running beside him to the library.
Before entering the library to meet up with everyone she stopped him. She didn't know what she was doing but she went with it anyway.
"Thank you," she whispered, looking anywhere but him. "Thank you for not asking" she finished.
When she finally looked at him she saw him looking down at her, with a smile and a slight blush. She didn't remember the blush being there before, but she suddenly felt her own face heat up.
Lucy barely knew him and suddenly her whole world was changing.
"We've all got out demons Luce," he simply stated. She felt her face heat up even more when he called her Luce. "Just know that I'm here if you ever need someone," he softly offered, while looking away and pushing the doors open.
She could feel her eyes prickle a bit.
Nodding her head and quickly rubbing her eyes to get rid of any tears, she followed behind him.
Oh yay I finished my fourth chappy! This is so exciting, I actually did not expect to make it that far with this fic :P
Anyway thank you to everyone who is reading this! Sorry I didn't update yesterday, I got a really bad migraine and because I was fasting, I couldn't take any medicine. So going on my computer was definitely not an option for me. Anyway I hope you guys like this chapter! I decided to start all the NaLu interaction! After the ending things are gonna get better... for a little while muhahahahahaha!
The quote from the top is again by Daughter/Home.
Now to my lovely reviews :)
You guys are all SO SWEET OH MY GOSH I LOVE YOU ALL :D
Toastedweirdbrain: Wahh I'm so happy you're enjoying this!
Miss Fabulous 101: I'm happy you like it so far! And here you go, an update! I hope to be providing you with more. And guess we'll have to see... right?
Fairytailanimelover: Thank you! And yes I do want to address a lot of problems in my fic, and this is only the tip of it. I hope you enjoyed this chapter!
Astral Kitty: First of all, thank you so much! I actually love TG, it's one of my favorite animes. You may be on to something my fellow avid reader, but I guess we'll just have to wait and see! I have my own little twist for this story. And I hope I got in enough shipping here (of course it's NaLu for me). I want to progress their relationship as the story progresses. I also love your ideas, so don't worry about anything!
Bostontex24: Ahh thank you very very much :) I hope you enjoyed this chapter and I'm glad you liked my little hook in in the beginning!
Anyway that's all for reviews! Thank you guys for even reviewing in the first place, ily all!
Hope everyone has had an awesome day so far!
-Mad