A/N: It's almost the 14th here in England so here you go! I'll try to update on time again next week but things could get a little hectic (since I fly back to the USA on the 22nd, all being well). Worst case scenario I drop to one update a week until things are more stable for me. I wish I had time to edit the chapters but hopefully you're enjoying them anyway! Haha.

CHAPTER FOUR: WORDS UNSPOKEN

The moment I close my eyes, it's black.
I'm left all alone.
I open my eyes again; I wake up from my dreams.
But my reality isn't different.
Like a fire, fire, fire.
Like easy words, words, words.
Nothing goes my way, way, way.
Time will probably solve it all.
This moment endlessly repeats.
I'm lost and wandering.
But if I can reach you...

Being here again reminded Natsu of Igneel.

It was deep in this place that Natsu had grieved his father, and in these woods that he had overcome his physical boundaries, learned to harness the pain and use it against those who might hurt his friends.

The battle with Tartaros had cost him everything. His purpose. His strength. His guild. It had been so easy to make excuses for running away. And that's exactly what he'd done. Natsu had packed up his things, sealed tight with a bow of misery, and then he'd vanished.

Back then, he couldn't even say goodbye. He'd know his actions would hurt Lucy. He'd known she would cry, but he'd done it anyway. Left her that stupid letter. And now, no matter how much he tried to excuse it, Natsu was reaping the consequences of his cowardice. Every time he looked at Lucy, whenever she smiled, he had to wonder just how much of it was real, and how much of it was a disguise.

Natsu had come to learn that time didn't heal anything. Time could not abate their pain or regrets. Every sin was a scar that would last forever, and only by acknowledging the wounds could he ever hope to find forgiveness.

Even now, when he closed his eyes, Natsu regretted seeing how Lucy had lived all alone. He still saw that board in her Crocus apartment, pinned with images of all their friends, articles of the lives they'd lived without her.

Reuniting the guild wasn't enough. He was simply too late. The damage was done, and every passing day made it harder to broach the subject. To tell her the truth. He wanted to apologise sincerely. He wanted to explain why he left her that letter...

"Are you sure this is the right way?" Lucy asked.

She followed close behind him, her footsteps muted by the underbrush, her breathing heavy. He could hear her wrestling with trees, the snap and pop of broken branches playing an unwelcome melody in his brain.

The cool spring air danced through the treetops, rustling leaves, carrying with it the sound of running water. He knew they were close. They had to be. Natsu honed his senses and listened, following the roar of rushing water.

Happy stayed close to Lucy, the trees too low for him to fly, branches tangling low and thick above their heads. Where the trees impacted their walk, Natsu cleared a path, following his instincts and nothing else.

"Natsu?" she pressed. "We've been walking for hours."

"I offered to carry you."

Natsu had put her down when they'd reached the woods, and only because Lucy had complained so loudly. She didn't seem to realise it, but she'd hurt her ankle during the fight in Clover Town and had been partially limping ever since.

"I hear it." Natsu stopped suddenly, changing direction. "Here, this way."

"You said that last time."

"Come on. Hurry."

They moved deeper into the woods, Natsu stopping only to help Lucy climb over huge tree roots in the ground. They emerged between a channel of large oaks to find a spacious outcrop, the grass thinning to rock and soil, wet shrubbery bordering the edge of a low cliff. And there, in all the glory he remembered, was the grand waterfall.

Lucy expelled a breath beside him. "It's beautiful."

The trees were sparse here, their rustling a soft melody compared to the bristling of leaves behind them. It was suddenly quiet.

Natsu dropped his pack and Lucy did the same, spreading a blanket on the softer part of ground. She collapsed to her knees with an exaggerated sigh, Aquarius's key clinking low between her breasts. The golden chain sat delicately on her skin. It really did suit her.

"My feet hurt so much," she complained, rubbing her thighs and shins.

"You should've stayed on my back."

"If only you had wings instead of those big thighs, Lucy," Happy quipped.

"I shared my cupcake with you, cat."

Lucy fell onto her back, Happy sprawling across her stomach, and together they absorbed the warm sun like beacons of light meant to refocus Natsu's thoughts and shatter the darkness entirely. A growing sense of gratitude filled him with love.

He stared at the low cliff overlooking the plunge pool far below, remembering Gildarts's advice from back then. He'd told Natsu to be honest with himself. That it was okay to smile even though his heart was aching.

He'd promised to get stronger as they sat together near the waterfall, reminiscing and sharing their heart's deepest secrets.

Future Lucy... Igneel...

He couldn't stand to lose anyone else. He'd watched them both die. Too slow. Too weak. Just a spectator in Fate's cruel game, watching as Death swung His gavel and judged the souls he loved the most, taking them far, far away.

"Are you okay, Natsu?"

Lucy had sat up on the blanket, Happy nestled against her lap.

"Yeah, you haven't mentioned food once," Happy said.

"I was just thinking about something Gildarts said to me before."

"Oh?" Lucy coaxed. "What about him?"

"See that steam?" Natsu deflected, not ready to share remnants of his most vulnerable conversations with her yet. Lucy nodded that she did. "According to Gildarts, the water heats up because of the lacrima buried underground. That's why the plunge pool is warm enough to swim in."

Lucy stepped to the edge of the cliff, peering down at the pool below. It wasn't a long drop, he knew, though it certainly looked it from the highest point where she stood.

"So the water is really warm?" she asked.

Natsu and Happy shared a knowing look, the kind of look that would definitely get them into trouble. With an approving nod from Happy, Natsu tiptoed towards Lucy. She didn't suspect a thing.

"Should we find out?" Natsu asked, sneaking up behind her.

And then he pushed her off the cliff.

Lucy's screams plunged into the water below, Natsu's laughter chasing after her. She burst from the pool a moment later, hair plastered to her face, hands flailing. She must've found something to stand on, because Lucy stopped struggling to throw her fists in the air.

Happy joined Natsu's side and together they watched her burst with anger.

"Natsu Dragneel!" she cursed, the words clear to his heightened senses.

"How is it, Lucy?" he yelled down to her.

"You jerk!" she went on, smacking the water. "My clothes are drenched! This is all I have!"

"She's really mad," Happy said.

Yeah, she really was. And somehow that got Natsu smiling. It was starting to feel a lot like old times, before the Alvarez War. Before all this talk of demons and sacrifice.

She disappeared from sight and reappeared a moment later, no longer wearing her clothes or keys. He saw the faintest silhouette of her body wading through water, clouded by the waterfall's disturbing force. She'd never admit it after he pushed her, but Lucy liked the water, and was clearly enjoying herself just a little bit.

She swam into the centre of the pool, staring long and hard at the waterfall. He could tell by her silence that she couldn't see any spirit. Natsu had a feeling they wouldn't find anything, but he'd wanted to give her more hope after Clover Town's market was a bust.

"We shouldn't let Lucy have all the fun, right?" Natsu said, stripping out of his clothes.

"Aye, sir!"

Together, Natsu and Happy leapt from the cliff, Happy spreading his wings to skirt the water at the very last second. Natsu dropped into the pool with a mighty splosh.

Sunlight rippled across the surface, colours coalescing in the deep waters. It was almost mystical. Holding his breath, Natsu let himself sink a little deeper, embracing the warmth and the distracting crash of the waterfall overhead.

He spotted Lucy's legs moving closer. Unable to resist, Natsu grabbed her ankle, pulling her down into the water. Colours burst against her back, illuminating her naked form in a halo of light and dark. Lucy's eyes widened when she saw him floating there. Naked.

They surfaced together, Lucy coughing out the water she'd swallowed, and Natsu barely choking out his laughter.

"Why are you naked?" she gasped out.

"It seemed kinda mean to let you suffer alone," he said, but really he'd just wanted to feel the hot water on his skin, immerse himself in the crystal calm of it.

"Don't you come over here," she protested, extending an arm to block his approach. "Stay on your side of the pool."

"Why is this my side?" he asked.

Happy floated to the platform beside them, where Lucy had spread out her clothes to dry on the stone formations close by.

"The sun is really bright here," she said, squinting, clearly trying to avoid talks of how naked they were.

Natsu grinned. "It's great, right?"

Between the warm sun on his back and the soothing water on his skin, Natsu felt his tensions melting away like snow in spring. Enduring nightmare after nightmare took its toll, even on him. He just wanted to forget for a while.

He didn't want to see Lucy dying every time he closed his eyes. He had to focus on this Lucy, his Lucy, the one that existed right now. But it was so hard to forget his mistakes. He should've been faster then. Smarter. He should've saved her too.

"So you and Gildarts were here together, huh?" She paused for a long moment. "Back then."

Back then. It seemed the memories of Fairy Tail's disbandment were still fresh in Lucy's heart. But of course they were. For an entire year, every day, every night, Lucy had lived her life alone. Isolated. No matter how he looked at it, no matter how many excuses he made, Natsu had done exactly what he'd set out to prevent: he'd failed her. Again.

"Lucy, I—"

"I'm so relieved," she said, tears dripping onto her cheeks.

"W-wait, why are you crying?!"

"Don't cry, Lucy!" Happy yelled behind them. "Your clothes will dry soon. We're sorry!"

"I was so worried about you both," she confessed. "But knowing you weren't alone..." She wiped her face with wet hands. "I'm so happy."

No. No, this wasn't right. It wasn't fair! She couldn't be the candle lighting his way all the time, cleansing him of darkness. He wanted to ease her burdens too, her fears and doubts, her loneliness, her heartache. Past or present, Natsu wanted to be her light too.

All these unspoken feelings boiled to the surface, spilling over the edges of his heart and leaving hot blisters. "Listen, Lucy, I have something to tell you. It's about..."

She didn't seem to hear him. Something in the waterfall had caught Lucy's attention, and now she wasn't listening to him at all. She stared, transfixed, her legs barely kicking beneath the water. He registered no fear in her face.

Happy appeared at Natsu's side. "W-what is that?"

They all saw it then—the figure standing behind the waterfall. It looked almost like a woman.

Lucy moved first, breaking through the waterfall with the ease of a knife carving butter. Her silhouette undulated behind the wall of water and disappeared.

"Lucy!" Happy called, soaring after her.

Natsu followed quickly, breaching the waterfall to access a narrow cave. Nothing but spiraling darkness awaited. He gazed into the black maw, suddenly alone in that damned room, Zeref's voice a nuisance in his ear.

Natsu hesitated.

Frigid air lashed his naked skin, but Natsu called his flames to smother the chill immediately. He wouldn't let his demons best him. Unlike his dreams, the fire here didn't burn, nor did it extinguish in the darkness. He banished the cold and forced himself to move.

"Don't be scared, Lucy," Happy was saying up ahead.

"I'm not scared. I'm cold."

"You pointed that out already."

"I will murder you, cat. Just wait."

Happy's nervous laughter rang out like signals in the shadows.

Natsu followed the sound of their voices.

A rotten smell greeted him as the cave narrowed, the bite of speleothem diverting his path. He squeezed through the stalagmites and cast his flames forward. He found Lucy and Happy standing at a dead end, their backs to him. They were looking at an odd statue.

Soda straws hung in multi-coloured spikes from the ceiling, splintered in fragments around the statue's head like a crown, thorns puncturing the woman's eyes. She held an empty lacrima in her hands.

"A person," Happy said, and the chill of his tone left Natsu hollow.

"It's one of the Wise Mages," Lucy said, never missing an opportunity to showcase her huge brain. "Hitomi, the Seeress. Some people said she was a Goddess."

"Creepy," Happy said.

Natsu stared at the empty lacrima, and at the weird carvings scrawled along its fragile surface.

Lucy circled the statue and read, "'See no evil'. It's part of a saying used often today, but the meaning of the words is still up for debate."

Neither one of them seemed to notice the woman standing behind the statue, white hair flowing like gossamer silk at her back. Her eyes were nothing but hollow sockets spewing blood. Natsu's mind flashed back to his fight with Dimaria, and to the awful, awful things he had done. The things he'd forgotten. Until just now.

"Even today, there are scholars who argue that the words were used not against wrongdoers, but against those who turned a blind eye to the injustices in their world." Lucy spread her hands. "For some people, ignoring a wrongful act is just as bad as committing it."

"We had to be stopped," the woman said.

Natsu took a haggard step back. "They weren't mages."

He realised too late that he'd said the words aloud.

"What are you talking about?" Lucy asked.

His heart sank so deep it almost plunged through his boots. "She was a demon. They all were."

Happy visibly shivered.

"How could you possibly know that?" Lucy said, though he knew it was her fear that made her defensive and not her distrust in his words.

"Because she's here."

Lucy recoiled from the statue, fear and confusion giving her two left feet. She stumbled. Natsu extinguished his flames to catch her, casting them in darkness. Hitomi manifested in the shadows, her body sickly white and glowing. Lucy covered her mouth to suppress a scream. Happy latched onto her free arm.

"Long ago, Zeref Dragneel sought us to erase his sins and break his curse. Our powers were corrupted by those sins, and we began to wreak destruction on you humans. He did not care, for he had already abandoned his will to live, seeking only an end." The woman smiled sadly. "You were nothing but a babe, son of Igneel."

"How do you know Igneel?"

"Before my brothers and I were cursed to live as demons, we were Holy Mages, beloved by all creatures. It was our job to guide the natural order of magic. We could not change our fates."

Lucy clung to Natsu's arm now, clearly unsettled by the woman's words. "You asked Igneel to kill you?"

Hitomi laughed a sound that twinkled like small bells chiming in sync. "I asked only that he lend me his wings." She gestured to the cavern. "After I took my own life, he brought me here, and I became the statue you see now. This place is blessed. The water cannot cleanse your sins, but it can heal the spirit. And mine was too broken to die."

"But why..." Lucy stepped forward. "Why didn't you try? You could've done something. Anything!"

"We loved this world too much. All of you. The curse could not be undone, and the future I foresaw could only be changed by my death. The more you love, the more the curse takes away. It would have been the end."

Natsu didn't really understand why, but something in Lucy had changed. She looked defeated, distraught, her entire body quivering with some kind of untold grief.

"There had to be a way!"

"Not even Zeref could stop it." She pointed to Natsu. "You are living proof of his sins. The one called Natsu Dragneel was destined to die with his brother, but he deigned to live. Now only one contradiction remains."

Lucy scrubbed tears from her face. "You're wrong. He's not a contradiction! Natsu deserves to... He's just a..."

"Lucy, that's enough," Natsu said.

Hitomi caressed Lucy's cheek and whispered something so low, so haunting, not even Natsu could hear it. Lucy visibly stiffened.

Happy's voice rang out suddenly. "What do you want? Why are you upsetting Lucy?"

"I wanted to see for myself," she said. "The person who will put me to rest."

Lucy smashed the lacrima with her fists, the orb shattering in bloody shards at her feet. The statue crumbled to dust and the woman vanished in a cloud of ash and bone, her spirit finally released.

"Lucy?!"

"I've heard enough," she said, walking away in silence.

Lucy had been floating in the pool for almost an hour. Natsu watched her from the lower platform, his knees pulled to his chest, his eyes scanning for signs of anything weird. She hadn't said a word since they'd left the cave, but Lucy had been so shaken. So scared.

He wanted to ask her why, but Natsu didn't feel he had a right to.

When she at last began to swim again, the sun had shifted, purple splotches darkening the evening sky. Natsu joined her in the pool. She couldn't go on like this. It wasn't healthy. She needed to eat something. Or rest. Or both. He had to say something. Anything.

Natsu swam towards her, then around her. Lucy didn't notice him at all. She tread water silently. A ghost. Tendrils of steam gripped her naked shoulders, her skin flushed, her eyes hazy and far away. He wanted to reach her, but he knew it was too late. Wherever she was, the thoughts had already imprisoned her, and there was nothing he could do about it now.

Except…

Natsu grabbed her shoulder. Lucy screamed, kicking backwards until she'd reached shallow water. Her head whipped towards him. Natsu's eyes widened, both at the shrill cry of her voice and at the naked figure stood before him. He told himself not to look—he'd been hit far too many times for that—but his eyes wavered, betraying him. He glimpsed her naked upper body just once, and Lucy didn't move. Didn't so much as flinch.

She hadn't noticed.

There was a strange sensation within him now. It wasn't quite human. A hunger, deeper than anything he'd felt before. Almost possessive in nature. A voice echoed in his mind, a distorted version of his own that said, She's mine.

"Natsu!" she yelled. "You scared me!"

He swallowed the feeling down, heat gathering in his cheeks, frustration chewing at his thoughts. Just what was that?

"You were spacing out," he said.

Lucy huffed. He knew she was disappointed. They'd been promised a water spirit and she'd assumed it would be Aquarius. Instead all they'd found was that creepy statue, an ode to his brother, and a dark reminder of what she'd lost.

And there was something else, something about Hitomi's words that made Lucy so distant. It was as though she'd had all her dreams crumbled to dust and scattered in the wind, never to be seen or touched again.

He waded closer, rising from the water, his hands on her shoulders. "We'll find her," he promised.

"Natsu…" She placed her hands on his chest, her eyes alight with feeling once more. The way she gazed at him now made his heart ache.

Natsu's hands slid down her arms and he stepped closer. She looked like she wanted to say something, but the words didn't leave her mind. Her eyes shifted with every abandoned thought.

"Whatever's going on in your head, it's okay. There's nothing we can't do when we're together. Right?" he said.

"Natsu, if you had to make a difficult choice..."

Lucy buried her face against his chest. Natsu settled his hands on her waist, her soft skin warm and inviting.

She took his silence as an invitation to continue. "If you had to disappear to save somebody you loved, could you do it? Even knowing that it would hurt them?"

But he had done it. He'd walked away from her when she'd needed him the most.

"Would you die for them?" she asked him.

Natsu's blood ran cold. "Lucy, we don't die for our friends. We don't give up on living no matter what." He cupped her face in one hand. "Is this because of Hitomi?"

She shook her head, but something in her eyes confirmed that it was. He wouldn't let her spiral like this. Lucy was at her best when she was smiling and full of hope. He wouldn't let the words of some demonic spirit cause her pain. He had to distract her.

"Isn't this the second time?" he asked, lowering his gaze to her chest. He'd seen her naked two days in a row now.

This time she slapped him clean across the jaw.

"Ow! Damn, Lucy. That stings."

"You deserved it!" she yelled, but the remorse was clear in her eyes. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to hit you so hard. It's just... You know, I..." She averted her gaze. "You didn't have to stare like that."

Natsu blinked. "I'm a man too, you know."

Lucy's entire face burst with colour, red and pink and glowing so bright it could rival the sun. "I know that! You jerk!"

"Lucy Heartfilia, you dirty, dirty girl," a voice called from above.

Natsu craned his neck to see a group of cloaked figures standing at the cliff's edge. All but one had turned their backs to the pool. The woman lowered her hood to reveal a flash of silver hair and a sneaky, suspicious grin.

They gasped as one. "Sorano?!"

Song: Piri - Dreamcatcher.

AVAILABLE MARCH 18th—
CHAPTER FIVE: NAKED HEARTS