Lucy eyes shot open, revealing herself to be where? She didn't know. All she could see around her was white. The only thing she could touch was the floor, which was also a blinding white. Looking all around her, there seemed to be no end in sight.
She began walking. Minutes turned to hours, and Lucy found herself feeling as though she was exactly where she'd been when she woke up. In a never ending, all white space. The part of her that didn't want to believe what might have happened actually did happen began to surface.
"Am I dead?"
The words left her mouth, but Lucy wasn't surprised when she didn't receive an answer. She kept walking. What else could she do? It didn't take long for her feet to tire while boredom overtook her. Was tiredness a good sign?
The last thing she remembered was seeing Natsu's face. She smiled at the thought. Lucy recalled stabbing herself to break free from Xeno's body link, as well as the pain that followed. Could the wound have been worse than she thought? Wendy was there, attempting to heal her, so that had to mean something. It had to mean there was a chance, otherwise the small dragon slayer wouldn't have wasted her efforts trying.
Despite the new ache in her legs from walking for so long, Lucy kept at it. But no matter how long she traveled, nothing changed. Wherever she was, the blond wasn't sure if finding an exit was possible. Cluelessness turned to frustration, and Lucy momentarily gave up. She sank to the floor, her body lying flat on the ground as she stared into the stark white… was it even a sky?
She sighed. Lying down wasn't going to help her get out of here. But the ache spread from her legs to her entire body. Fatigue engulfed the celestial wizard. Even if she wanted to, Lucy wasn't sure she could move right now. Her eyes slowly shut, and she was unable to reopen them. The tiredness grew. Lucy tried fighting it, tried to get her body to move, to open her eyes. She tried talking, shouting, screaming—anything!
Nothing worked.
The urge to fulfill her body's request was becoming impossible to put off. Yet somehow Lucy felt as though if she gave in, she might not be able to come back. But it felt so good to be lying down. It felt so good to have her eyes closed…
The darkness was so much more relaxing than the blinding white.
Lucy jolted awake. Her eyes snapped open and began scanning the room. Her daze left her unable to focus on where she was, or what was happening. She was lying down, like she had been in the white space. Was it a dream then? She felt soft hands press against her shoulders.
"Easy," the voice said.
Lucy's eyes followed the arms connected to the person who had gently pushed her back down. Natsu, of course. Had she really expected it to be anyone else? He had a small smile on his face, but she could see he was also a bit worried.
"You're okay," he encouraged.
His words made her realize how ragged her breathing was. Her body was slightly shaking. She didn't know why. Lucy let herself relax, sinking deeper into the bed in the infirmary. A different infirmary than the one from the guild. Lucy remembered how much it had been damaged in the battle.
Natsu removed his right hand but kept his left on her shoulder as she let herself relax. Her eyes wandered from Natsu, finding them to not be alone as she thought they were.
Erza, Gray, Mira, Wendy, Levy, Cana, Happy, and even Gramps all surrounded her bed. Embarrassment immediately became evident on Lucy's face, her cheeks a bright red. Everybody shared a knowing look, and Mira and Levy seemed as though they were a second away from screaming like a couple of fangirls. Natsu's hand stayed on her shoulder. Lucy wouldn't admit how much she liked it.
"Are we interrupting something?" Happy was all too prepared to ask, hiding a giggle behind his paws.
"It's not like that and you know it, cat!" Lucy shouted.
Her heart stuttered when Natsu removed his hand at her words. It wasn't like that… right? At least, that's what Lucy had convinced herself that Natsu believed. A stinging pain in her stomach reminded Lucy why she was in a hospital bed. Her hand hovered over the bandaged wound.
"How long was I out?" she asked.
"Not as long as we thought you'd be," Gray said. He handed Lucy a cup of water that she took gratefully.
"You're a true fighter. The attack on the guild was only last night. It has been nearly twelve hours, and you're already awake. I have no doubt that your recovery will be just as swift," Erza stated.
Lucy looked back down the gauze on her stomach. The battle was only last night? That would explain why it still hurt like hell. She was just thankful to have Wendy to help speed up the healing process.
"What all happened then?" Lucy questioned.
"We kicked their butts!" Natsu said, smashing his fist into his hand.
"Flame brain went dragon force on the one guy," Gray said as he subconsciously removed his shirt.
Lucy nodded while Cana demanded Gray put his clothes back on. "I remember that."
Natsu slightly winced at her words. She'd have to talk to him privately after this, and something told her he wouldn't leave her side even if he was ordered by Erza to.
"We defeated all of the dark guild members. The magic council is going to deal with them now," Levy said. "Turns out the guy who used mind control on you was also the one responsible for controlling the council and getting them to send us a message about the formation we made."
Cana snorted. "Those jerks are screwed now. The magic council doesn't like us, and we've saved their butts plenty of times! I bet they can't wait to lock those guys up after knowing they were controlling them."
It was all starting to come back to Lucy and make sense again. She could even remember the blackouts she'd experienced during Xeno's spell. The lengths they went to get the serum for immortality, yet still they were unsuccessful. The staff, the omnicore…
Her keys!
"And my keys?"
Mirajane frowned. "They melted them to mold to the staff. We couldn't separate them, and even if we could… we didn't think we could split them back into all twelve keys."
Makarov's gaze fell. "I asked the magic council for permission to use the staff in order to go back in time, before they were melted, but I was not allowed to. They feared my actions might affect our present day."
Lucy felt tears pooling at the corners of her eyes.
"Luckily," Makarov's spirit lifted, "I had some time to spare before I had to surrender the staff and orb to the council."
He pulled the golden spirits from his pocket, extending them to their owner. Lucy hadn't realized how much she missed the jingle of her keys until now. She took her precious spirits from him, delicately holding them. She went through each one, admiring it and letting it glint in the light. Her tears of sadness turned into tears of joy.
"Oh, thank you, master!"
Makarov wasn't quick enough to dodge the bone crushing hug Lucy enveloped him in. He managed a laugh, patting her on the back while he told her 'you're welcome.' They pulled away, Makarov serious again.
"These words don't leave this room," he said, all eyes landing on Natsu.
"Why does everyone always look at me when things like that are said?!" Natsu asked defensively.
"It's nothing personal, Natsu," Wendy said, twiddling her fingers and keeping her eyes down. "It's just…" she trailed off.
"You're most likely to let it slip," Gray flatly finished for her.
Natsu shot up to butt heads with Gray before Erza interjected. She shoved them each back, pushing Natsu down into the chair next to Lucy's bed while Gray rebalanced himself. The dragon slayer huffed and crossed his arms while the ice wizard rolled his eyes.
"It's good to know you're doing better, my child," Makarov said, then turning to the others, "I think it's best we let her rest a bit more."
The other guild mates agreed, waving goodbye to Lucy before they all exited the room.
All but one.
The two patiently waited for everyone to be gone. A few comfortable minutes of silence passed while Lucy lay looking at the ceiling and Natsu sat fiddling with his scarf. Lucy felt a warm hand press to her forehead. She raised an eyebrow as Natsu placed his palm to her forehead, then turned and lay the back of his hand against it, then pulled away.
"What was that for?" Lucy asked.
"Just checking to make sure you're not fevered and delirious right now."
"You know what delirious means?" She sat up. "And would you even be able to tell if my forehead was hot? Since you're a fire user?"
Natsu placed his hand on the cool steel of his chair, noting how it did in fact felt the same as Lucy's forehead to him. "Apparently not."
Lucy gave him a questionable look. Natsu was sweating, which was unusual for him. He was also fidgeting more than usual, and his eyes seemed to look anywhere except for into hers. She placed her keys on the nightstand next to her bed.
"Are you okay?"
"Am I okay?!" Natsu quickly shot back, sarcasm evident in his voice. "Lucy, look at yourself!"
She'd already looked at her bandaged wound, but obeyed Natsu and peeked again. It looked the same to her. What was he making such a big deal for?
"I don't understand what the problem is. We won, we saved the day, and I'm going to be fine. Everything's okay, Natsu," Lucy comforted.
"It's not okay!" Natsu bickered. He stood, placing an annoyed hand to his face. Lucy's confusion only grew worse at his actions. He was far from acting like himself. "You got seriously hurt. I didn't—none of us knew if you were gonna be okay! And to find out that you did this to yourself? How could you do something so… something so stupid?!"
"Stupid?!" Lucy shouted back. "I'm sorry," her sarcasm matching his from a minute ago. "You think that me doing the only thing I could to try and save my best friend's life is stupid?"
"What are you talking about?!"
"Xeno was going to attack you, and I used his body link spell against him! I couldn't stand there and watch!"
"You did it… to save me?" Natsu's voice grew quiet before intensifying once more. "Well that's even more stupid! You shouldn't have done that for me!"
"Oh really?" Lucy leaned her back against the wall, crossing her arms. "You have no right to be mad at me for that. You always sacrifice yourself for the guild. You've done it for me plenty of times."
"That's different," Natsu pouted, looking away.
Lucy's mouth slightly dropped in shock. She almost laughed. "Different? It's the exact same thing!"
"No it's not!"
"Why not?"
"Because it is!"
"No, tell me Natsu! Tell me why you think your sacrifices aren't the same as the one I made!"
"Because I'm me, and you're you!"
"What the hell is that supposed to mean? What are you trying to say?!"
"It's different because—" Natsu grabbed a fistful of his hair, "because I care about you!"
The tension in the room fell, replaced by silence. Natsu quit his pacing and stood still. His eyes were glued to the floor. It was the only thing keeping him from freaking out. He couldn't bring himself to look at Lucy. His words meant one thing, but he was hoping she'd take them for another.
"I care about you, too, Natsu," Lucy said.
"You do?"
He glanced at her. She was smiling softly at him. There wasn't a hint of surprise in her face, though. Natsu knew that meant she had understood his words to be merely friendly. Despite wanting her to have taken them that way, he couldn't help but feel disappointed.
"Of course I do. It's why I did what I did. Did you not think I cared about you too?" She asked.
"No, I knew that," Natsu sighed.
He sat next to her on the edge of the bed. Natsu looked at her. She was so beautiful to him. It didn't matter what condition she was in. Whether she wore a fancy dress and her hair done up nicely, or if she had just been covered in cuts and dirt from a battle, she looked just as beautiful to him in either setting. Natsu scooted closer to her.
"You're pretty."
The words left his mouth before he could consider speaking them. Surprised at himself, Natsu could only look at Lucy to see her reaction. She wore an expression similar to his. Her eyebrows slightly raised, cheeks already turning a shade of red. Unsure of whether to continue his train of thought or not, Natsu decided to take a leap of faith and continue.
"I like being with you. I like the way I feel when I'm around you."
Lucy could feel her breath hitch, her throat tighten. She'd thought Natsu didn't understand romantic feelings. Could she have been wrong? Was this?
"It's different to me when I'm the one sacrificing myself for you because… I care about you. A lot," Natsu continued.
Lucy understood the difference in meaning this time. Natsu could tell she did. And because she knew how he meant it this time, Natsu gently reached for her hands. He held them in his, locking eyes with her.
How he loved her brown eyes.
"Lucy?" Natsu asked. "Can I… try something?"
She swallowed, nodding slowly.
Natsu placed a hand on her neck, his thumb resting on her face. He leaned forward as the two closed their eyes. Their lips connected, sharing a soft kiss. It was the first for both of them. The sensation was strange, and new, but so fulfilling. After a few seconds, they slowly pulled away.
"I… really like you Lucy," Natsu breathed.
Lucy's smile grew wider than he'd ever seen it before. She laughed, the same laugh that he'd come to love so much. The blond practically flung herself at Natsu, nearly tipping them both over the edge of the bed. He squeezed her back tightly, still careful of her wounds.
Tears pricked at the corners of Lucy's eyes. After all this time… she hadn't thought this to be possible. She never would have guessed that oblivious Natsu would be the one to confess, either. She pulled away; her hands intertwined behind Natsu's neck while his lay delicately against her waist.
His smile was encapsulating. "Does this mean you feel the same way?" He asked.
She repeated his gesture, pressing her lips to his in a passionate kiss. This one held for a while longer before Lucy giggled and leaned back.
"I like you, too, Natsu. I might already even love you," she teased.
He laughed at her words. "How could you not—"
Their heads snapped to the door to the infirmary, that loudly flung open, smacking against the wall as their fellow guild mates who supposedly left moments ago crashed to the floor. They were all there, save Gramps, and had clearly been leaning against the door eavesdropping. Despite being caught, they smirked when they saw the way Lucy and Natsu were wrapped around each other.
They all got to their feet, dusting themselves off and awkwardly looking at each other. Gray uncomfortably scratched the back of his neck. He couldn't stand the silence, so he opted to break it.
"So, are you guys like dating now, or...?"
Lucy and Natsu shared a look, both grinning like a couple of idiots.
"I'd say so," Lucy said with a nod.
Girly screams, a million questions, and chaos followed.
X
And with this, the story has come to an end. Thank you so much to you all for joining me on the journey of this piece :)
I hope the ending is what you were hoping for. I don't know when my next fanfic will be, but I can guarantee more NaLu is to come, so if you'd like, feel free to follow for when I post more! Also, I would LOVE any story suggestions. If you have any, feel free to PM me. Love you all, have a good one!
