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Lucy had been sitting in the Fairy Tail guild hall for over half an hour. The mug of coffee clutched between her hands was beginning to go cold and the continuous ticking of the clock on the guild wall behind her was beginning to induce a migraine.
Since the Grand Magic Games had ended, Fairy Tail had had job requests flooding in the doors faster than they could complete them, and Natsu, Happy and Lucy had been working almost non-stop. For the first time in a while Lucy did not have to fret over having enough money for food, and her rent had been paid in advance.
After being worked off their feet for months they had all been looking forward to a break. This is why Lucy could not understand why Natsu was late. Happy had been talking not stop about this trip all week.
Natsu had agreed to meet her at the guild at eight o'clock in the morning and the plan was to take Happy fishing. It was now pushing quarter to nine and both boys were still a no show. Lucy internally vowed to give the pink haired loon a serious pummelling if he had left without her.
Grumbling with discontent she glanced around the guild hall once again, hoping to catch a glimpse of either one of her teammates, however she had no luck. Even with the lack of members present the guild hall was still bustling. The sound of overlapping conversations filled the air as guild mates engaged in mindless chatter.
From her perch in the back corner she could see Juvia and Gray seated next to each other, Juvia's head resting on Gray's shoulder as they talked to one another and for once, there were no complaints coming from the ice-make mage. Lucy was more than glad to see them slowly working through their 'issues'. Juvia deserved a little love of her own for all that she freely gave, and it was nice to see Gray letting down the walls he had built around his heart since he was a child, even just a little bit. She liked to think the whole near-death experience in Crocus had made him think about his priorities. Lucy smiled lightly to herself.
In that moment she caught a flash of blue out of the corner of her eye and turned to see the very exceed she had been waiting for streaking across the guild hall towards her. After a moment however, she notices that his usual pink haired other half was not in tow.
"Lucy!" Happy yelled as he neared her seat, a look of relief crossing fluffy features as he caught sight of her.
"Hey Happy, what took you so long? You were supposed to meet me here nearly an hour ago." Lucy scolded as he landed on the table in front of her. She vowed again to buy Natsu an alarm clock for Christmas. He would most likely break it within a month but it was worth a try.
"Lucy, you have to come quickly. Natsu's burning up!" He sounded panicked as if that was not an everyday occurrence.
"Happy," Lucy began, "he's a fire wizard. He tends to 'burn' occasionally." She tried not to sound too sarcastic or demeaning, but she could swear that the cat's memory got worse every time she saw him.
"That's not what I meant." Happy replied, sounding mildly exasperated. "I think he's sick."
"Sick?" Lucy questioned, now he had her attention. As far as she knew Natsu could not get sick. Something to do with his higher than normal body temperature tended to kill most bacteria before it could make him sick. Mira had tried to explain it to her once but she regrettably had not been paying very close attention. Regardless, aside from motion sickness, she had never seen him come down with anything more than a sneeze.
"Yes, sick." Happy continued, "I came to get Wendy to see if she could help him but she's on a job with Erza. You're my last hope."
"Wow. I feel really appreciated." Lucy mumbled under her breath, but she knew that he had heard her.
"Please Lucy." Happy gave a heavy sigh. "I'm worried about him. He hasn't been sleeping much recently and now this."
Lucy's interest peaked again. This was new information to her. As long as she had known him, Natsu had liked his sleep almost as much as food.
"Okay, I'll come have a look at him." She relented, pushing herself off her seat, abandoning the already forgotten coffee and following Happy out of the guild doors.
It took the two of them nearly fifteen minutes to reach Happy and Natsu's 'house', which was more of a half-collapsed shack in desperate need of some TLC. The exterior stone work was beginning to crumble in places and a weaving ivy plant had taken over most of one side. Lucy would not have been surprised if those vines were all that was holding the wall together.
However, as they walked up the footpath she could not help but smile. Regardless of how dilapidated it may look, she had to give them credit where credit was due. The footpath was not overgrown with weeds as she would have expected, and a lopsided wooden sign was nailed to a post outside reading; Natsu + Happy's House , in wonky, hand painted lettering. It almost looked homely.
The front door creaked as they entered, and at first glance Lucy could have sworn there was no one home except for the incoherent mumbling that was drifting through the house from the only bedroom.
"He's in here." Happy stated as Lucy followed him across the stone floor and into the bedroom. The room was not decorated, and the curtains were merely old bed sheets nailed to the corners of the wooden frame. In the middle of the small room was an even smaller metal framed single bed and laying lazily in the middle of it was Natsu.
Even from the doorway Lucy could tell that he was unwell. A thin sheen of perspiration coated his forehead causing the loose hairs of his fringe to stick to his clammy skin. He was pale, the milky white of his skin was a stark contrast to his usually tanned complexion. She felt her heart contract as she took in his appearance. He certainly did not look healthy.
Going into protective mamma mode, she started throwing commands in Happy's direction and moments later he disappeared from the room in search of water and a damp cloth. While she waited on the exceed's return, Lucy pulled up the chair from under the window and positioned it by the head of the bed. She hesitated briefly before reaching out a shaking hand to push Natsu's hair back from his forehead.
Although he was sweating cold, his skin was hot to the touch, more so than usual. In fact, she would have expected to burn herself if she held her hand in place too long. Thankfully Happy returned soon after with both the damp cloth and a glass of water. She set the glass on the ground before carefully folding the wash cloth and laying it gently across Natsu's forehead. At first, he mumbled and shifted at the contact but eventually he sighed lightly as if the cool cloth had brought him some relief.
Unsure what to do next, Lucy reached out once again to run her fingers through his hair so that none of it was caught under the cloth. It was softer than she had expected, if a little damp with sweat but as he sighed with content once again she decided that she could put up with a little gross to make him more comfortable.
For the next half an hour, Happy made trips to and from the kitchen to run cold water over fresh towelettes in the hopes of bringing Natsu's temperature down. After a while it must have worked because as Lucy was running her fingers through his hair again between changes his eyes flicked open and he groaned lightly as the light filtering through his makeshift curtains hit his eyes.
He blinked a couple of times as if unsure of his surroundings, then he turned his head and his eyes landed on Lucy beside him. His eyes widened slightly, as if in surprise to find her there, before he tried to speak only to start a coughing fit instead. Gently, Lucy placed her hands on his back and helped him sit up before quickly reaching down to retrieve the glass of water from earlier and guide it into his hands. He lifted it shakily to his lips and drew long deep gulps from its contents. Once the glass was drained he sent it down on the covers of his bed before glancing up at her once again.
Lucy could not speak as she took in his state of disarray. His salmon hair was sticking up on more unusual angles then usual from running her fingers through it and she could not help but notice how obviously shirtless he was as his broad chest heaved up and down in laboured breaths.
"Lucy?" He asked, sounding confused but also a little revealed.
"Hey, Happy came and got me from the guild. He said you were sick and so I came to see if I could help." Lucy explained as Happy returned to the bedroom and upon realizing that his friend had awoken, cuddled himself up against Natsu's chest, obviously glad that he was okay.
Natsu seemed to understand Lucy's explanation as he nodded to himself whilst cupping his hand around the back of Happy's blue head and stroking absently between his ears, cradling him against him. Natsu opened and closed his mouth a couple of times before he spoke quietly.
"What day is it?" He asked curiously and when Lucy told him it was Saturday his eyes widened considerably. "I'm so sorry Luce. We were supposed to meet you at the guild this morning, weren't we? You probably thought we ditched you."
"Well, for a start I did. You're just lucky the cat turned up and told me where you were otherwise I would have kicked you well into next week!" Lucy grumbled.
"I don't doubt that." Natsu agreed though Lucy was glad to hear that he sounded at least a little scared by her threat. "You really shouldn't be here though. You could get sick too."
"No, I'll be fine. I've already been sick this winter and I don't tend to get it twice." She explained. Natsu looked dubious but dismisses it anyway.
"Do you have any more water?" He asked carefully. His throat was already starting to sound scratchy again and was becoming obvious that it was going to take more than water and cold clothes to break his fever.
"Give me ten minutes and I'll have something even better than water."Lucy rose from the chair beside Natsu's bed. "Happy why don't you go back to the guild and wait for Erza and Wendy to return. They were supposed to be back sometime today. Don't worry, I'll look after him." I assured the small cat who looked unsure but eventually nodded his head, said goodbye to Natsu and flew out of the house. As she turned to leave the room Natsu spoke up again.
"Where are you going?" He asked, suddenly sounding panicked.
"Just to the kitchen. I'll be back in a minute and I'm right next door if you need anything." Lucy assured him and for a moment he seemed to relax slightly. She took that as an opportunity to leave the room. He was acting strange and she could not figure out why and to be honest it worried her. She liked to think that Natsu would tell her if something was bothering him but then again Natsu had never been good at letting himself rely on other people.
Lucy ducked into the kitchen and quickly set a kettle of water to boil over the fire as she prepared the drink she had in mind. She was glad that she had convinced Happy to fly over to her house earlier to collect some supplies and thankfully he had returned with everything she had asked for, as well as a small tin of pickles. She had no clue why he would think they would be helpful, but she had tried to not let her confusion show when she had thanked him. He had been so helpful even when she knew that he was worried about his friend.
A few minutes later the kettle whistled, and Lucy poured to hot water into the mug and mixed it with the lemon syrup she had already put in the bottom of the mug. Lemon drinks had always been her go to when she was sick, and she hoped they would make Natsu feel better as well. After stirring in a spoonful of honey and adding a little bit of cold water to the mug so that it would not be too hot to drink, she returned to Natsu's bedroom, walking carefully so as not to spill the contents of the mug. He perked up when she entered the room, his eyes getting bigger when he noticed the steaming mug in her hands.
"What that?" He asked as she took her seat beside the bed again and handed him the mug.
"It's a hot lemon and honey drink." She answered as he cupped the mug between his palms, carefully inspecting the steaming liquid. "It should help to sooth your throat."
He blew carefully across the top of the mug, causing small ripples to run across the surface of the liquid. Lucy was mesmerized by the way his lips puckered as he blew and the way his large hands almost engulfed the sides of the mug entirely. With a start she shook herself out of her thoughts and began to busy her hands collecting up all the used cloths and piling them tidily on the floor by the bed. She watched curiously as Natsu brought the mug to his mouth and took a small sip. She took notice if the way his lips curled over the rim of the mug and how his Adam's apple bobbed up and down as he swallowed. She caught herself before he noticed she was staring and looked down at her hands as she fiddled with the star charm bracelet on her wrist.
"This is so good." He broke her out of her wayward thoughts as he set the now half empty mug in his lap. "Thanks Lucy." He beamed at her, his wide toothy grin showing those sharp canines and the perfectly straight rows of pearly whites between them. How Lucy loved his smile and she was more than glad to see it adorning his face once again.
"You're welcome." She smiled back. "Now, you should get some sleep." She said as he finished his drink and she took the empty mug from his hands.
"I don't want to." He stated stubbornly.
"So, what if you don't want to. You're not going to get better without rest and besides, Happy said you haven't been sleeping much so exhaustion is probably why you got sick in the first place."
Natsu hesitated again, it almost looked like he was scared to go to sleep but he soon shuffled himself down under the covers once again. He slowly shut his eyes as if prolonging sleep for as long as he could before eventually exhaustion took over. She again stood up from her chair and took his mug to the kitchen to rinse it under the tap, deciding she would clean it properly later.
After stoking the fire and tying back the main curtains with the piece of string which was attached to the wall, Lucy got to work making herself a sandwich for lunch.
Lucy was no longer surprised that Natsu and Happy spent so much time at her apartment, they had barely any food in their own kitchen. However, now that she thought about it, they have not stayed at her house in a long time. Although they had been there during the day neither of them had spent the night in at least a month. Although she was glad for the privacy she hated to admit that I had gotten used to the dragon slayer sneaking in through her window at night. Natsu was like a life sized hot water bottle and waking up to a cold bed was unsettling after getting used to his constant warmth.
Once she had finally gathered enough food to constitute an acceptable lunch Lucy sat herself down it the lone wooden rocking chair that stood in the middle of the room. She was halfway through eating her sandwich when she heard noises coming from Natsu's room. At first, she thought that he was just mumbling in his sleep like he had been when she and Happy had first arrived, but as she listened again she could make out sounds that were more similar to distress than incoherent mumbling.
She set her plate on the ground and quickly shuffled across the living room floor and back into Natsu's room.
The sight before her broke Lucy's heart in two. Natsu was tossing side to side, his legs tangled in his sheets, and yet the worst part was his face. Obvious tear tracks ran down his flushed cheeks as more spilled from his eyes, which were squeezed tightly shut, his face screwed up in a look of complete terror.
In a panic, Lucy hurried across the room and sat herself on the edge of his bed, her hands resting on his tense shoulders as she tried to shake him awake with no luck. Instead she tried another tactic, moving her hands to his face so that one was resting on his cheek, brushing away the still spilling tears whilst the other ran lazily through his hair as she remembered how that had calmed him earlier.
"Natsu? Natsu come on, wake up." She mumbled to him as she tried to pull his out of whatever nightmare he was currently living. "Natsu, come on it's just a dream. Wake up please." She continued to run her fingers across his checks, pushing the unwanted tears away as she ran the pads of the fingers on her other hand against his scalp, tugging gently on his hair. "Natsu, Wake up!" She cried. Her heart was slowly breaking as she watched him suffer.
Finally, he awoke with such a start that he sat up in one fluid movement. In his rush to sit up his face almost collided with Lucy's chin and would have if she had not moved out of the way as quickly as she had. He looked around the room, as if reaffirming his location, tears still running steadily down his cheeks as he glanced in Lucy's direction.
"Lucy?" He choked out in disbelief as if he was genuinely surprised to see her there.
"Hey, I'm right here." She assured him as she reached a palm up to cup his damp cheek. His eyes widened slightly before he threw his arms out in a rush, wrapping them tightly around Lucy's middle and drew her into his chest. He held her tightly against him, as if he was afraid that by loosening his grip she might slip away.
Lucy sat stock still for a moment, mildly shocked, before she too wrapped her arms around Natsu in return and he fell apart in her grasp. His shuttering sobs were muffled by Lucy's shoulder as he buried his face in the crook of her neck, his soft hair tickling the underside of her chin.
She reached one hand up and buried it in his fluffy locks, stroking slowly, trying to sooth his destress.
"Shh, it's okay." She mumbled in his ear as she lent her check against the side of his head. "I'm here. It's alright."
Lucy continued to whisper to him until his cries ceased. Even then he still clung to her, reluctant to let go. They stayed there for almost twenty minutes before eventfully he pulled back to look into Lucy's eyes. Natsu's eyes were red and slightly puffy. Lucy carefully reached her hand up once again to wipe the last of his tears away with the pad of her thumb.
"What happened?" She queried softly.
"Nothing, just a bad dream." Natsu tried to convince her, glancing away so that she could not see his eyes, but she used the hand on his cheek to turn him back to face her.
"Natsu, you can tell me, okay." She assured him. "Please let me help." She watched as Natsu took a deep breath, squeezing his eyes tightly shut briefly as if preparing himself.
"You were gone." He finally said.
"Gone? What do you mean gone?" Lucy asked confused.
"It was just like Crocus." He started, and she could already see where this was going. "Future Rouge and his magic, and Future You tried to save Real You but this time she was too late, and You got hit." He paused and took a deep breath as tears began to well in his dark eyes once again.
"You collapsed and then you stopped breathing. You died in my arms and there was nothing I could do to save you. And when you died, Future You disappeared and then your body started to fade away until I was just clutching at air."
"Oh, Natsu." Lucy sighed sadly as he finished. "You haven't been sleeping at all have you?" He shook his head slowly, looking up at her through his lashes. "No wonder you got sick. Why didn't you tell me?"
"I didn't want to worry you." He muttered as if he believed it would have been burdensome. "Besides, you seemed to have moved on from everythinf that happened there. I didn't want to bring up bad memories."
"Oh, Natsu." Lucy carefully ran her hand over the top of his head, brushing his fringe out of his eyes. "If something is bothering you, I want you to tell me. No matter what it is. I hate having to see you like this, and if I can I want to help. How long have you been having the dream?"
"A little over a month." He stated glumly. "I couldn't sleep because every time I did the dream would come back and when I woke up you wouldn't be there. You were just gone and there was nothing I could do." Natsu started to sob again as he pressed the heels of his palms against his eyes and Lucy pulled him towards her again.
"I'm right here." She assured him. "I'm not going to leave you alone."
"But you did!" He whimpered. "You died, your blood was all over my arms and then you were gone. I couldn't save you!"
"You don't need to. I'm right here. Look at me." Lucy said, lifting his head so that he was eye level with her. "I'm right here, okay? Do you see me."
"Yes, but-" He started to protest but Lucy cut him off.
"No! No 'buts'. I'm right here and I don't plan on going anywhere, anytime soon." She said sternly. "I'm not going to leave you alone, okay?" He seemed to accept it this time, nodding quietly against her shoulder as she held him close.
"You promise?" He asked looking up at her again. The swirl of emotions in his eyes showed her that he was inches away from believing her, he just needed proof.
"I promise." She assured him and finally he smiled. It was not his usual toothy grin, but it warmed her heart to see a little bit of life return to his face. He reached his hand up and rested it against Lucy's cheek as if to reassure himself one last time that she really was there. He smiled shyly at her before furrowing his eyebrows slightly as if contemplating something.
Moments later he shakes his head as if to affirm something as he looked Lucy in the eyes again. His dark onyx orbs met her wide brown ones and then with his hand that was resting on her cheek was pulling her towards him and he pressed his lips against hers.
Lucy froze, taken totally by surprise, and yet as quick as it had happened it was over. Natsu pulled away, his eyes wide.
"I'm so sorry. I-I didn't mean to." He stumbled through an apology Lucy really did not want to listen to as she grabbed the sides of his face, pulled him towards her once more.
This time she am prepared for his warm lips meet hers. A feather light touch at first, as if testing the waters before Natsu took control. His hand came around to cup the back of Lucy's head as he pulled her against him.
All at once Lucy feels stranded, completely consumed and drowning with no desire to reach the surface. They both pulled away, breathing heavily as he rested his forehead against hers.
"You have no idea how long I have wanted to do that." He mumbled, pressing another quick kiss to her swollen lips.
"Well that makes two of us." Lucy chuckled lightly, and he joined in and soon they were both rolling on his bed in complete hysterics for no particular reason. Once they eventually caught their breath, Lucy sat up as Natsu did the same as and Lucy pushed herself off the bed so that she was standing on the wooden floor boards beside it.
"Where are you going now?" Natsu asked, all previous confidence suddenly gone.
"To finish my lunch." Lucy told him. "Besides, you still need to get some rest."
He looked down at his fingers which were playing with the frayed edge of a blanket. He glanced up at Lucy, his eyes full of innocence and hope.
"Will you stay?" He asked quietly.
"Stay?"
"Here. With me." Natsu explained.
"Yeah sure, I'll sit here till you fall asleep." She told him, assuming that was what he meant.
"No. I mean here." He pats the bed beside him as if to indicate that he wanted her to lay there too.
"What? You mean? You want me to-, there with-, while you?" Lucy stumbled through a sentence even she struggled to understand, and Natsu chuckled softly.
"Please? If you're here with me, maybe the dream won't come back. And even if it does, you'll be there when I wake up and I'll know it wasn't real." He sounded so small, so broken. Lucy hesitated for just a moment before she pulled her shoes off and climbed onto the bed next to him. She pushed back the covers and climbed under them until she was sitting next to him in the tiny bed.
He glanced at her as if he was surprised that she agreed to his request before he beamed brightly at her. The toothy grin had returned, although a little sleepy, and Lucy could not have been happier. She shuffled down until she was lying with her head on his pillow and reached her arms out towards him.
"Come here." She said, and Natsu did not even hesitate this time as he lent down and planted a soft kiss on Lucy's mouth before snuggling in beside her. He rested his head in the crease between her shoulder and her neck and she tucked his head under her chin, pressing a light kiss to his forehead before pulling the covers up over the both of them and quickly falling asleep.
At some point during the night, Happy returned with Wendy, Carla and Erza only to find both Natsu and Lucy sound asleep, curled in each other’s embrace.
Erza smiled vibrantly at the scene in front of her as Wendy ' aww 'ed and Happy stifled a giggled, none of them wanting to wake the sleeping pair.
As quietly as she could, Wendy took Lucy's old seat in the chair beside the bed and got to work healing Natsu as best she could. Although, as his illness was mainly due to exhaustion she knew that sleep was going to do him more good than her magic. She still did all she could before Erza tucked the blankets around Natsu and Lucy once again, and the group left for the night. Happy decided to stay the night at Wendy and Carla's, though that may have more for his benefit than his partners'.
By the next morning Natsu's fever had broken and by the following Monday he was back to his usual self.
Lucy was overjoyed when she returned to the guild to find that Gray had finally relented and agreed to take Juvia on a date. Natsu refused to be out done by the 'Ice Princess', and so insisted on doing the same for Lucy. Not that she minded at all.
"So how long do you think it'll be before he actually catches anything?" Lucy asked Natsu as they sat on the bank of he and Happy's 'Secret Fishing Hole'. It is now the weekend following Natsu's illness and, thankfully, quick recovery. To thank Happy for being so helpful, Lucy had suggested they make up for the trip rhet missed and take him fishing that weekend. The only problem with that was that by taking another week off from going out on jobs Lucy was now officially broke once again.
"We could be here all day." Natsu replied with a laugh. "Happy may love fish, but he sucks at catching them." Lucy cannot help but laugh at that. Typical.
The weather was warm, and the light breeze tickled Lucy's bare toes as they bathed in the sunlight. It was a perfect day, and nothing could ruin it for her.
"Achoo!" A sudden tickle came up her nose followed by an almighty sneeze.
"What was that?" Natsu asks with a laugh.
"I dunno, maybe I'm getting Hay Fever." But that seemed unlikely as Lucy had never had Hay Fever, Why would it start now?
She glance out at the lake again watching as the breeze sent ripples across the glassy surface reminding her of Natsu and his lemon drink.
"ACHOO!" Lucy sneeze again. Suddenly her eyes widened in realization and she supposed that Natsu came to the same conclusion at the same time because moments later he was rolling around on the grass in fits of laughter. His shoulders were shaking, and his chest was heaving as he lost all self control.
"This isn't funny!" Lucy yelled at him.
"Of course, it is!" He replied, still laughing. "What was it you said? 'I don't get sick twice'"
"Shut up." Lucy grumbled, and Natsu managed to control himself enough to sit up again.
"Ohh, don't worry Luce. I'll return the favor and look after you this time." He assured her.
"Fine, but this is still your fault." She relented. She hated fighting with him, even over small things, so it is just easier to give up.
"I take full credit." He said proudly.
"Getting your girlfriend sick is not something to be proud of." Lucy reminded him as if he did not know that already.
"I know, but you love me anyway." Natsu mumbled, leaning over to press a playful kiss to Lucy's lips.
"Unfortunately." She grumbled lightly, leaning back against his shoulder.
"I love you." He sing-songed, nuzzling into her neck, knowing that it tickled. "I looove you."
"Okay fine, I love you too." Lucy relented whilst trying to hold in a giggle.
"Good. Because that's not allowed to change." Natsu stated as he put his arms out behind him for support, letting Lucy lean back against his chest. She had to admit that he was ridiculously comfortable.
"You're really cheesy, you know that?"
"You love it."
"Don't start that again!" Lucy warned, giving Natsu a light elbow in the stomach in response to which he collapsed against the dirt as if she had shot him.
"Ohh the pain! It burns!" He mocked. "Lucy, save me. I can see the light!"
"You're an idiot." Lucy laughed. Natsu looked like he was about to say something when Happy's excited yells came from further down the shore.
"I got one! I got one!" He yelled excitedly, completely forgetting to reel it in. "Natsu look I…it got away."
Lucy turned around to glance at Natsu who just shrugged his shoulders as if to say, I told you so .
Lucy laughed lightly under her breath as she watched Happy determinedly recast his line, mumbling to himself about catching a bigger one next time. However, for all they knew, the next time could be hours away. Content to just relax in the sun, Lucy leant back against Natsu once again and he brushed his lips against her temple. She smiled silently to herself and focused her gaze out across the lake again.
" ACHOO !" And that was all it takes for Natsu to lose his composure all over again.