A/N: Because I was inspired to do this by the song Little Lady by Ed Sheeran ft. MiKill Pane.

This was so long. It was like 40 pages, 20k+ words. I didn't realize how much I had written until I was done. It was originally suppose to be a long one shot, but it ended up being too long for a one shot, so now it's a two shot.

The next part will be uploaded once I'm done going over the revisions and what not.

You should check out my other FT stories, Christmas Blues and Beauty and the Dragon, while you're at it.

I don't own FairyTail or any of it's contents.

"Speech"
'Thoughts'
"Flashbacks/Dreams"

Fallen Star

-O-

"She is like a falling star who has finally found
her place next to another in a lovely constellation,
where they will sparkle in the heavens forever."
- Amy Tan

-O-

He remembered the first time he saw her. She was wearing the elementary school uniform. She had short, blonde hair the reached up to her shoulders, and these innocent brown eyes. She had one of the prettiest smiles he had ever seen, albeit, he was only six then.

The teacher introduced her to the class and she was overly excited to meet everyone.

"Hi! I'm Lucy Heartfilia! I'm excited to meet you all!"

She adapted easily at the primary level at Fairy Tail Academy. She practically was friends with everyone in his class the moment she sat down. He remembered that her and the bookworm Levy got along instantly. He remembered how easily she got along with the scary Erza. And how she just laughed at his arch enemy's stripping habit.

Everyone loved her. She was kind, smart, and funny. She light up the world with her laughter and never once did he ever see her smile falter.

He remembered the first time he had actually met her. They were in class, writing their letters to Santa because it was Christmas time. Back when he was in elementary school, he was somewhat of a quiet child. He never really spoke and when he did, he was mean. He didn't like to get along with people. But it was all because of his problems at home.

And one day, she just jumped into his life.

"Hi! You're Natsu right? Natsu Dragneel?"

The pink haired boy looked over at the blonde haired girl. He scoffed, covering his mouth with his favorite white scarf he always wore and turned away from her, trying to hide his letter. He gave her a glare, hoping she would go away just like everyone else.

"Go away." He spat at her.

"I'm Lucy! Lucy Heartfilia!"

He rolled his eyes as he turned back towards her. He gave her this dead panned look and had this sudden urge to flick her.

"I know who you are, Luigi. Now go away." He went back to his letter and continued writing.

"That's not my name!" She smacked him, which caused a few people to turn around and gasp at her.

He had a reputation for being somewhat aggressive and starting fights. People often picked on him because of his pink hair, which he always said was salmon colored when he was younger. So, when people hit them, his first instinct was to hit them back.

"What the hell?" He turned towards the blonde haired girl and who was looking at him with fire in her usually joyous brown eyes.

"My name is Lucy. LUCY. Get it right!" She put her hands at her hips and stuck her tongue out at him. His urge to hit her was coming back again.

"I don't care." He glared back at her but she didn't budge. At this point, people usually scrambled away from him.

But she didn't.

"Does it look like I care that you don't care?"

And that was when he first started hating Lucy Heartfilia. Everything she did, from talking to breathing to eating bugged him. He was irritated by every small little thing. He would pull at her hair and dirty her uniform on purpose. He was such a brat to her.

He remembered that she also, did not go down easy. No. She fought him back. She was stubborn and never gave up. And he hated that about her. Because he was the same exact way. He teased her, fought with her, and made her look like a fool in front of people, but she never cried, never pouted, never gave up. She just gave him this cute little glare and fired insults back at him all the time.

The stripper used to laugh at him for always getting teased by Lucy and he would always fight back with him and they would go back and forth until Erza broke them up. When Erza got involved, that's when you knew that things got serious.

It wasn't until a certain incident that he realized he had judged Lucy for all the wrong reasons.

Natsu was sitting in detention for hitting a few kids who teased him about his pink hair. He didn't understand why he was getting in trouble when it was obviously the other kids fault. But of course, everyone blamed Natsu.

Just like his parents.

His parents always blamed him for everything that went wrong in their life. He bit his lip to stop himself from crying. Boys didn't cry. So he did what he always did when he was upset. He took out a piece of paper and drew. For some odd reason, he loved to draw, especially dragons.

He was absolutely fascinated by dragons. He thought that dragons were the most amazing creatures on earth. He thought it was so cool how they breathed fire and were so humongous and strong. He wanted to grow up to be a dragon.

Dragons and the white scarf wrapped around his neck were the only thing that he held valuable to him.

"Whoa, that's really good!"

He went wide eyed as he heard a voice right next to his ear. He jumped back, hiding his drawing from the stranger who invaded his privacy. He pressed his drawing to his chest and glared at the person who disturbed him from his art.

But instead, he went wide eyed at the person standing in front of him.

It was none other than the girl he hated the most: Lucy Heartfilia.

"What are you doing here!" He yelled at her. But instead of glaring at him or yelling at him like she usually did, she shifted uncomfortably and blushed slightly. He was utterly confused.

"I just came to see if you were okay." She mumbled really fast, really quietly. But he heard it. He blushed also, confused to why she out of all people came to see if he was okay.

"I'm fine!" He yelled back at her. He turned away from her, still hiding his drawing. Dragons and drawing were his way of escaping the pain and it was very personal for him.

"Are you sure? Those guys looked big."

She had saw? She saw him get beat up?

"Yeah so what! I could handle them easily! They just cheated that's all!" He countered, his rash and aggressive behavior beginning to come out. At this point, people would flinch and run away, but again, she stayed.

She giggled. "I know, Natsu. You're really tough!"

He blushed ten shades of red as she tilted her head at him. Why was she being so nice to him? All he ever did was be mean to her. All he ever did was insult her, tease her, hurt her. Why?

"Ye-yeah I am!" He wasn't sure how to handle this situation. He had never experienced this before. His parents never acted like this with him. Nobody at school even gave him a chance. He was always alone.

"By the way, Natsu. I like your pink hair." She smiled at him and his heart was beating loudly in his chest. "And, you'd make an awesome dragon!"

And from that day on, he fell completely in love with Lucy Heartfilia. Of course, he didn't know it then because he was only six years old, but she changed his whole world. No one had ever, ever complimented his hair the way she did. Of course, he got all defensive about it and shoved her away, but from then on, their entire relationship/friendship changed.

He was a changed boy. He started to smile more. He started to hang out with other people more. He stopped fighting so much, though his aggressive nature didn't really go away. He started to actually love life. And it was all because of Lucy.

He never really let people in. He put up walls and locked himself away deep in his own hole. His parents never really helped him open up. If anything, they always made him feel useless and nothing but scum. They constantly left him alone and when they were home, they called him awful words like 'shit head' or 'piece of shit.' They never really hit him or anything, except one or two slaps here and there, but they never loved him. They were always saying how he ruined them and made their life hell.

The only good thing that ever came from home was the white scarf he always wore. One day, his father had come home sober. Actually sober and coherent. He gave him a sweet smile and ruffled his pink hair and gave him something that he cherished always.

Natsu heard the heavy footsteps of his father and immediately stilled. His father was home. That meant that he was going to reprimand him again, probably degrade him like he always had. The pink boy who was already emotionally damaged mentally prepared himself for a possible lecture as the door opened.

But the dragon obsessor was surprised at what came next.

"Oh hey Natsu!"

"D-Dad?" His father was staring at him with the same onyx eyes as his. He had dark, red hair and a smile on his face. Natsu's eyes almost bulged out of his eyes as he realized his father was actually not drunk.

"I have something for you, son." He walked over to Natsu, who was sitting on his bed. He sat down next to him and pulled a white scarf. Natsu marveled at it. This was the first time he had ever gotten anything from his father. EVER.

"Here you go. I saw it and I figured you'd want it." He wrapped it around Natsu's neck. The pink haired boy snuggle into the warmness of the scarf. He wanted to cry. His father had never done things like this before. And he really liked this feeling.

"Th-thanks Dad! I like it a lot!"

And for once in Natsu's short life, Natsu's father gave him an actual smile. One that Natsu gladly smiled back at.

To say he was disappointed when his father woke up the next day and patronized him was an understatement. Natsu felt his heart being ripped apart as his father glared over at him with those dark, black eyes. He just wanted his father back. He wanted the nice man that gave him the scarf back.

The only reason he kept the scarf was because it was a reminder that the gentle, caring man that had given him the scarf was in there somewhere. And it gave him hope that he would come back some day.

But that day never came.

He hated being home and Lucy knew it. He didn't know how, but she knew it. She didn't know anything about his home life. Well, he never told her anything, but somehow, she knew.

It was summer in Magnolia and the elementary school children of Fairy Tail Academy were out and about causing trouble as always. They were eight years old now, being two years since the blonde haired girl arrived at Fairy Tail.

Erza led a group of children into the small forest to see who was the bravest of them all. Of course, Natsu was the first to volunteer and spew out his signature saying "I'm all fired up!" Gray Fullbuster, aka the stripper, teased him as usual and the two began fighting until Erza had to split them up.

Erza told Natsu to stay behind and she would take him when she got back, to which he was not happy about. It wasn't until Lucy had grabbed his ear and pulled him away towards a bench that he complied. She sat him down and nagged at him for being reckless, to which he argued about how he wanted to show that he was the strongest out of all of them.

"Neh, Natsu?"

"What's up, Luce?" Luce had been the nickname he had given her a year and a half ago after they became friends; best friends actually.

"Why do you always want to be the strongest?" Her voice was really low and she looked at him with those same concerned eyes she had always given him when he was getting himself in trouble.

"Because I'm Natsu Dragneel! And I'm going to be a dragon when I grow up so I have to be the strongest!" He smiled at her as he fist pumped the air. She giggled a bit, putting a hand on his shoulder.

"Natsu, is everything okay at home?"

At the instance, he froze. Fear washed over him and he bit down on his lip. He felt exposed, invaded, vulnerable. This was the first time anybody had asked him about his home life. And he wasn't sure he was ready to let anybody in about it.

"What? Stop being a weirdo, Luce!" He laughed, nervously. He shrugged her hand off her shoulder. She looked at him with concern and he turned away from her.

"It's just- it's just, your mom and dad are never around. And, when people talk about their parents, you never really do. Even on parent nights, I never see you there."

The pink haired boy remained quiet. He bit down on his lip and clenched his fist in his hands. Why was Lucy so curious about his home life all of a sudden? Why did it matter? He didn't want her to know. He didn't want her to know how dysfunctional everything was. He didn't want her to know how broken he truly was. She put him back together. Why was she trying to dig into something he already locked away?

"It's none of your business." He spat, wincing at how harsh his own words were. He didn't dare look at her. He didn't want to see hurt in those brown eyes of hers.

"Natsu… I just-just want to help you." He heard her mumble.

He shut his eyes and stood up abruptly. "I don't need your help!"

He could hear her stand up behind him and grab onto his arm. "Natsu… I just want to know so I can understand you better."

Why did she have to be so nice! Why did she have to be so caring? Why couldn't she just leave it!?

"I don't want you too!" He lashed out at her as he pushed her away from him. "I don't need you to fix me!"

"I'm not trying to fix you, baka! I just want you to let me in!" She argued with him, obviously. Lucy was his best friend and she meant everything to him. She was the only person who tried to get to know him. She was the only person who even bothered befriending him.

"I don't want to let you in! Don't you get that!"

He glared down at her with his dark, onyx eyes. Her eyes went wide, but not with fear, or repulsion, or anger.

But with hurt.

His eyes went wide at his own words. Did he really just say that to her? Of course he wanted to let her in. But he was afraid. He was afraid that she would just shut him out once she saw how terrible he really was.

And he really was a terrible person because he hurt the only person whoever gave a damn about him. He hurt the only person who got to know the real Natsu Dragneel. He hurt the only person who actually gave him a reason for the life he was living.

Not being able to face his words, he turned and ran from her. He ran far from her. He could have even swore he heard her call out to him. But he ignored it. Because he truly was a terrible person. Just like the kids at school who picked on him said. Just like the teachers use to say. Just like his parents use to say.

He remembered how he avoided her like the plague. Whenever he would see her from afar, he would walk the other way. In class, he sat on the opposite side of her. He could feel eyes on him all the time. People were constantly staring at him again. People were talking about him again.

The stripper yelled at him and told him to apologize to Lucy for whatever he did. Obviously, he just shot Gray down and punched him, telling him to mind his own business. Erza cornered him and told him that Lucy was good for him and he shouldn't push someone as good as her away. Levy didn't speak to him since they never really spoke all that much. But she would give him this unwavering look that made him feel uneasy.

He avoided her for days, but it was so hard. He remembered how he desperately wanted to run up to her and apologize for him being such a jerk. He wanted to tell her everything but he was so afraid. He was afraid of what she would think of him, of what she would say. He knew he was being a coward, even when he was eight years old. But he couldn't deal with it if Lucy looked at him with the same eyes that his teachers, that some kids at school did, that his parents did. Anybody but Lucy.

And then one day, Lucy missed school.

He remembered from the first day he met her, she had never missed school. He was so confused because even though he had been avoiding her, he would still make sure she was there. And one morning, she wasn't.

"I wonder where Lu-chan is." Lucy's other best friend, Levy McGarden asked with a sigh as she sat with her two friends, Jet and Droy. The pink haired boy heard her and he too was wondering the same thing. He buried his nose into his scarf as worry flashed through his mind.

"I'm sure she's fine Levy!" Jet said in assurance as he gave her the thumbs up.

"Yeah! She's probably just sick or something!" Droy added as he bit down on his sandwich.

Natsu could hear Levy say something along the lines of "You're probably right," and concerned washed over him. How sick was she? Was she really sick? Was she in the hospital? Was she dying? The onyx eyed boy was so caught up in his thoughts that he failed to realize the voice calling out to him.

"-tsu!"

The pink haired boy snapped out of his despairing thoughts and looked up to come face to face with a white haired girl. She had shiny blue eyes and short, white hair. This girl was Lisanna Strauss. She was famous around Fairy Tail Academy because of her two older siblings, Eflman Strauss and Mirajane Strauss.

He had met them before. Elfman was somewhat of a brute and always started off his sentences with "If you're a man!" But he was pretty cool when you got to know him better. Mirajane was the oldest of the three. She use to be really frightening, like Erza, when she was their age. Her and Erza use to fight all the time just like how he and the underwear freak fought. But one day, Mira changed into a totally different person after Lisanna got sick. He remembered that she was out for a few weeks because she caught a cold that turned into something bad and ever since then, Mira did a complete 180. She changed into the sweetest, most motherly person anybody could meet. Mira loved Lucy the instant she met her.

He didn't really talk to Lisanna until Lucy showed up. Before Lucy showed up, he ignored everyone. Except for the stripper and Erza, nobody talked to him. But once he broke out of his shell and began to talk to everyone, Lisanna became one of his many friends.

"What do you want?" He said, a little more forceful than he meant.

"Do you know where Lucy is? Mira-nee is worried about her."

At that question, he could feel everyone staring at him. Everybody was wondering where Lucy was. Everyone loved Lucy. And they probably hated him because of the way he was treating her.

"I don't know where she is." He mumbled under his breath with a glare.

"Oh. Well, okay." He felt the eyes leave him and could almost hear the disappointment in their sighs or voices.

Natsu thought Lisanna left, but instead, she remained in front of him. "Natsu?"

He looked up to her with a pout and his arms crossed. She smiled at him and all he could see was Lucy.

"If you need someone to talk too, I'm here for you." At that moment, the pink haired moment went wide eyed. He liked Lisanna, but she was not Lucy. Lucy was the person who brought him out of his darkness. If he couldn't even talk to Lucy, what made Lisanna think he would talk to her?

He got up and he could hear Lisanna ask him what was wrong. All the pink haired boy thought about was Lucy and if she was okay. He needed to make sure she was okay. He turned away from the white haired girl and walked out the classroom, going nowhere in particular.

"What's his problem?" The person Natsu deemed the stripper, Gray Fullbuster, asked.

The ferocious Erza Scarlet looked over at the door Natsu had just walked out of with concern. She cared for the boy like a little brother. She had grown a lot closer to him since the day Lucy had arrived. Both were very important to her.

She looked over at Lisanna and saw the sadness in her eyes. She knew that Lisanna had a crush on Natsu and had one for the longest time, but she never approached him because she figured that Natsu and Lucy liked each other.

And speaking of Lucy, the scarlet titania worried for her profoundly. Lucy was like her little sister and she had grown very close to her. Lucy never missed school and if she was sick, she would have to go visit her.

Outside the classroom, Natsu was walking around, sulking over the fact that Lucy wasn't in school. He looked down at the ground as he thought about every reason she could not be at school. And as every reason got more worrisome, he grew more concerned. Natsu bit down on his lip, clutched onto his white scarf, and kicked the wall next to him. He wanted to see Lucy now more than ever.

Lucy didn't show up the next day or the day after that or the day after that. She was gone for a whole week. And everybody was worried. Nobody had heard from Lucy. Both Levy and Erza tried calling Lucy but she didn't answer. The underwear freak suggested they all showed up at her house and everyone like the idea.

He remembered the emptiness he felt without her. Without Lucy, he wasn't Natsu Dragneel. At least, not the one he was now. He was so worried, he couldn't sleep or eat. He was constantly thinking about her and what could make her be gone for a whole week. Even his parents who never put attention to him noticed his strange behavior.

Everyone was set to go to her house and make sure she was okay. They were going to go the next day. He wasn't sure at the time if he was going to go because he knew that he had hurt her and wasn't sure if she even wanted to see him. But he really wanted to see her to make sure she was okay.

But their plans got put to a halt because the headmaster of Fairy Tail Academy himself, Makarov Dreyar, came into their classroom for a special visit.

"As you brats might know, I am Makarov Dreyar, headmaster of Fairy Tail Academy!" His voice boomed into the room. But Natsu didn't think he was anything special. He was a short, as in very short, old man, with white hair and a white mustache.

"I am here to inform you all of your classmate, Lucy Heartfilia."

At the mention of Lucy's name, everyone in the class exploded with questions. The pink haired watched in awe as everyone was questioning the master. He had no idea that this many people cared for Lucy. He could see Levy shouting for answers, the stripper pounding on the table, demanding where Lucy was and others that he had no idea Lucy talked too.

"SILENCE!"

The class went deathly silent as the tiny headmaster boomed over the entire class. Even the pink haired boy went wide eyed at how quickly this classroom went quiet.

"Master Makarov." Natsu watched as Erza stood from her seat and with a confident gaze, stared at the headmaster with strong eyes.

"Please tell us, is Lucy okay?"

Natsu held his breath, waiting for the headmaster's answer. He heard the Makarov say something about Erza and her reputation and how she would aspire here at Fairy Tail but he really didn't put attention. Not until he heard him say his favorite blonde's name.

"Lucy is fine. She is just taking some personal time. Her family is currently undergoing something and as some of you might or might not know, Lucy's family is very well known around the country of Fiore."

The dragon obsessor sighed in relief, along with the rest of the class. Lucy was alright. She was fine. He hadn't ever felt so relief, so happy. As long as Lucy was fine, everything would be fine.

"She will return soon, but as of right now, let her be."

The headmaster left and everyone was happy with the news they received. Lucy was okay and everybody was happy. He remembered that Mira was ecstatic when Lisanna told her. Cana, another friend who was in Mira's age group that Lucy had gotten along with really well, was happy. Little did they know then that everything was going to change and the Lucy they knew was gone.

It had been about a week and half since Lucy was last seen. But everybody was okay because of the headmaster's message. But deep inside, Natsu felt that something was wrong. The blonde was gone a lot longer than he thought she would be. He wanted to go to her house and just see her already but he remembered that he wasn't talking to her and was ignoring her.

"Lucy!"

Natsu whipped his head towards the door and there was his best friend. In the flesh. She was back. She was finally back. He saw Levy rush up to her and hug her tightly. Erza was right behind her and Gray too. He was sure that Mira and Cana would come by later to greet her.

He couldn't see her fully, but he could see her blonde hair and part of her with the school uniform. He wanted to go up to her so badly. He wanted to stop ignoring her. But he couldn't. He had to protect her from the terrible person he was.

"Just go talk to her."

There was Lisanna again. She was encouraging him to stop being a coward and just tell her he was sorry.

"I know you've missed her. She's probably missed you too." His heart clenched at that. He bit down on the inside of his cheek and was having an internal war in his mind. Should he talk to her? Or should he just continue ignoring her? What if he lashed out on her again? What if he said something he didn't mean?

When people finally gave her room to walk, he watched her with fixed eyes. He watched as she stepped out of the crowd and when he finally saw her face, his heart dropped to his stomach.

Something was wrong.

Something was very wrong.

Lucy's bright, shining brown eyes were now lifeless and dull. Her smile was… broken. She was deathly pale and she had dark bags under her eyes. She wasn't smiling. Lucy was always smiling. How could anyone not notice this change?

What happened to his Lucy? What happened to that happy, go lucky, outgoing girl? How did anyone not notice this? He watched her as she sat down in her seat, on the other side of the room. She was smiling at Levy, who was saying something about missing her so much but it was so painful and forced. How was Levy missing it?!

She was only eight years old. Why was she looking like that?

It was then Lucy spoke that he caught a lump in his throat. Her voice was so hoarse, so dead. She was not at all sounding like the girl he had met two years ago. Where was that fierce verocity? That challenging, sweet voice? Where was it?

Where was Lucy Heartfilia?

He remembered being so confused. How could anyone not see what he saw? He remembered thinking. Were they so caught up with Lucy being back that they didn't see the change? That was all that ran through his mind. And while he was so busy worrying about Lucy, he was also worrying about if the selfish person he was would make her worse. He was fighting two battles in his mind and he was losing both. He was caught up in his own problems that he failed to be there for the person that needed him the most.

"Natsu."

Pulled out of his thoughts, Natsu looked up to see Erza standing next to him with this scary look on her face. He wasn't scared of anyone, not the bully Laxus with his stupid gang that had three others in it, some green haired freak named Freed, or some weirdo doll obsessor named Bixlow, or this sassy, mean girl named Evergreen. He wasn't the least scared of them, but Erza. No. Erza scared the hell out of him.

"Erza!" He gulped, wondering what she was going to do to him.

"I'm sure you've noticed."

Natsu stilled. So he wasn't the only one who noticed? Or was she even talking about that?

"Wh-what?" He stuttered.

"Don't play dumb, Natsu. You've noticed, haven't you?" She pounded her hand on the table, which scared the crap out of him. But he noticed this sort of… desperation in her voice. Erza seemed… confused? Lost?

"I-I have no idea what you're talking about!" He defended himself.

"You haven't noticed how strange Lucy has been acting?"

The air suddenly became very thin and he couldn't breathe. So he wasn't the only one who noticed. Of course he should have figured that Erza would realize it. She was Erza Scarlet. She was deadly and smart.

He frowned, pushing his brows together. He clenched his fist together, suddenly feeling very upset. He didn't know what to feel. He was only eight years old! He shouldn't be feeling all these things! He shouldn't have to worry about any of these things! The only thing he should be worrying about it what prank he would play on his teacher or friends next!

"Yeah… I noticed."

"You have to talk to her, Natsu." He went wide eyed at Erza's comment. "You're the only one who could possibly figure out what's going on with her. You're the only she trust wholeheartedly."

He wanted to tell Erza that she was wrong and Lucy probably never wanted to see him again. He wanted to tell her that he would only make things worse and that he was a bad person and someone like her or Mira should try and figure out what happened to her because they were better people.

"I don't know what happened between you two, but the bond you two share is much stronger than that, Natsu. You and Lucy have something special. You might think that you are bad, but you aren't. And Lucy knows that. It's like I said, Lucy is good for you. She was there for you when none of us weren't. Now it's time for you to be there for her."

The onyx eyed boy soaked in everything Erza said. He wondered how she was so wise at eight years old but that left his mind quickly. He was hanging onto every word Erza spoke. Lucy didn't think he was bad? Erza didn't know what he said to her! How would she possibly know what Lucy's feeling now? But Erza also did have a point. Lucy stayed by his side when nobody else did. The blonde haired girl turned him into who he was.

And he had to return the favor. He had to show Lucy that he wasn't going anywhere. He wasn't running away anymore. He would tell her everything. He would tell her everything she wanted to know and he would listen to everything she wanted him to know. He would make everything up to her.

He gave Erza one of his signature grins that light up the room. "Thanks Erza! I'm all fired up!" He ran off and left the scarlet girl behind him. He could hear her mumble something, but not clear enough. He shook it off and ran to find Lucy. He had to see her at this moment. Even if she wasn't at school anymore, he would go to her house and find her.

"Go, Natsu."

Lucy wasn't at school anymore. She had left. All he was thinking back then was "find Lucy!" He didn't care about anything else at the moment. All he wanted was to see Lucy. He left school and ran towards her house. He remembered he went over once when Lucy had invited them over for her seventh birthday party. It was such a big house. Her dad was kind of scary, but her mom was beautiful. And she was so nice. She was elegant and so motherly. He was so jealous of Lucy for having such a caring mother. And Lucy looked exactly like her.

He ran all the way towards Lucy's house. By the time he got there, the sun was setting. The gates were closed and the gigantic house was dark. There was only two lights on. One was downstairs and he could see a tall man walking back and forth. He figured it was Lucy's dad. The other was on the second story and it was dimly light. He pushed the gate open and ran sneakily across the yard to her window. He looked around to find something he could climb up to her window with.

At this point, he wished he was a dragon so he could use his wings to fly to her window. He sat in contemplation trying to figure out how he could possibly get to her window.

He looked up at the balcony. He could climb the vines on the side of the house. That was an idea. Or, he could just knock. But her parents would probably get really mad at him being over so late; especially her dad. Her dad was scary. He looked at him a lot with a mean look when he came over for the birthday party. He thinks it was because he was with Lucy like the entire time.

Shaking the idea from this thoughts, the pink haired boy then stood up, deciding he would climb up to the balcony with the vines. He grabbed a hold of one and tugged it, making sure it supported his weight. Luckily, it did. He knew if the vine were to snap or break, he was done for. He gulped to himself as that thought came to mind. He still had a lot to do in his life. He couldn't die.

With all the strength and courage he had, he hauled himself up and climbed the side of the house towards her balcony. With two or three slip ups, he made it carefully to the top. He was heaving and sweaty, thinking that with each step he would have fell to his death. He gripped tightly to the railing of the balcony and jumped over. Fixing himself, he walked over to the large window and peeked inside.

Lucy was sitting on a chair in front of a desk. She was resting her head in her arms. He could see a pen resting in her hand. Was she writing some sort of letter or something? He thought to himself. She was probably doing homework and fell asleep. He bit down on his lip, not sure if he should wake her up. But, he did come all the way here for her so he didn't want to make it not worth it.

He raised his fist and knocked on the window softly. She didn't move. He knocked harder. Still didn't move. He knocked a little harder. No movement.

Maybe she really was asleep?

He was going to try one more time.

He knocked again, harder and faster than the first few times. And when he was done, she rose her head. His heart rate sped up as she rubbed her eyes and he stopped himself from breathing. He was suddenly feeling very nervous. What would Lucy say to him? Would she make him leave? Did she even want to talk to him anymore? Did she even want to be his friend anymore?

The blonde haired girl pushed herself off her desk and jumped down. She was standing there, something that confused Natsu. Why was she just standing there? He didn't understand. Obviously, she didn't see him. So he decided to knock again.

And when he did, she turned towards the window. She went wide eyed, almost as if she was amazed he was there. He went goggle eyed at her also. She had red, puffy eyes. She was crying. Why was she crying? He had never seen Lucy cry before. He had never seen Lucy without a smile before.

There was a lot he didn't see Lucy do.

They both stared at each other, neither making a movement. Natsu decided to be courageous again and smiled sheepishly at her before waving. He hoped that would be enough to let Lucy know he was here to talk, to listen. The blonde walked towards him, reaching for the lock on the window, before opening it. When she did open it, she stepped back. He walked in and close the window shut behind him.

They both just looked at each other again, trying to figure out if this was really happening. Lucy was still looking at him with an incredulous gaze on her puffy face. She couldn't believe he was here. And it was all his fault for pushing her away.

"Natsu? What are you doing here?" She asked him, her voice low and hesitant.

"I-" but he stopped midway. What was he going to say? Why did he have to even think about this? He was just a little kid. He just wanted to run around and go play.

"I'm sorry, Luce." He started, "I'm sorry for yelling at you and saying those mean things! I didn't mean them! I was just mad and I don't really like talking about my parents, but now! Now I am! And whatever you wanna know, I'll tell you because you're my best friend Luce! And best friends stick together! We're a team you know? And I haven't really been a good teammate by ignoring you and all, but-"

But Natsu was cut off by Lucy, who enveloped him in a hug. The impact was so strong, they both fell to the floor. Natsu fell against the wall, with Lucy deep in his chest. She had her arms wrapped around his waist and he could hear her crying again. He was beginning to panic. This was not what he wanted. He didn't want to make her cry! He didn't know what to do and Lucy's sobs were getting louder. He didn't want her parents to come in and see him in her room. That would be terrible!

"Lucy! Don't cry! I'm sorry! I'll leave! If I'm just making you sadder! Please, don't cry!" He tried soothing her as he padded down on her shoulders. He could feel her move against him and she pulled back, tears still streaming down her face.

"Na-Natsu," she sobbed, "my Ma-Mama died."

And with that, Natsu's world came crashing down.

He could remember it like it was yesterday. He couldn't move. He couldn't breathe. He couldn't believe what Lucy was saying to him. He sat in shock while Lucy explained through her sobs about how her mother had gotten really sick and she had to go to the hospital because she was throwing up blood and one day, when Lucy was reading to her, she coded.

Lucy had watched the doctors stick needles in her arm, push drugs in her mother's body, and zap her as they tried bringing her back to life. She watched as they stuck a tube down her mouth and throw all these foreign words around. She couldn't understand what was going on. She was just a scared little eight year old girl who watched her mother die right in front of her.

He couldn't remember how long he sat there with Lucy while she cried in his arms. He remembered he held her tight and rubbed the back of her head while she desperately clutched onto him. And he even cried too, along with her. His shirt was soaked through the bone, but he didn't care either. Just like Erza had told him, how he told himself; he was going to be there for Lucy, no matter what. And that had never changed. Even after all these years.

And now that he was older, he understood perfectly well why Lucy was so broken. Lucy loved her mother with everything she had. She use to talk about her all the time. She always said how wonderful she was, how loving she was, how amazing she was. Lucy's whole world had came crashing down on her. Her whole world was flipped upside down. What was a little girl without a mother? Who would dress her? Play dress up with her? Do her make up? Dry her tears away when she was sad? Who would she talk about her first crush with? Who would help her get ready for dances? For her graduation? For her wedding?

Because of his complicated family life, he didn't really understand but even then, he knew Lucy lost something very precious to her.

But he didn't want to lose something precious to him either. He vowed at the time to always protect her and be there for her. And he did.

That night, everything changed between them.

When Lucy stopped crying, he told her everything. He told her everything about himself, about his family and how they didn't care for him and how they would rather drink and do drugs then take care of him. He told her about his white scarf and exactly why he held it so important to him. He told her about how insecure and afraid he was about she would look at him different and that was why he pushed her away. He told her about how much he missed her and he apologized over and over until she finally spoke after hours of silence.

"It's okay, Natsu. I forgive you." She said, shakily. "Thank you for telling me everything. It made me feel a lot better." She stopped talking, making the pink haired boy concerned. "I thought you hated me." She whispered. Natsu felt his chest tighten.

"I thought you hated me again and after Mama died, I felt so alone. Like I had no one."

And that was the last time he had ever wanted her to feel that way.

"I could never hate you, Lucy! You're my best friend and best friend's never leave each other behind! I will NEVER leave you alone, Luce. You will never be alone! EVER!" He gave her the most cheesiest, heartwarming smile she had ever seen.

And she smiled.

Even if it was a small smile, she had smiled genuinely.

Time obviously flew by and Lucy had gotten better. She returned back to the same loving, cheerful, go get em girl she was before. But he knew that a part of her was lost forever. He didn't blame her. She had lost someone who meant the world to her. He watched her carefully every day and stayed by her side always. She eventually ended up telling Levy and Erza, which ended up being a sob fest. He didn't stick around for that, but was near by just in case Lucy needed him.

Soon everybody learned about what happened to Lucy and everybody at Fairy Tail that knew her ended up helping her recover in some ways. Obviously, he was there the most, but he was glad to see how many people actually cared for the blonde haired girl.

"Lucy! If you ever need anything, anything at all, just ask okay?" Mira consulted as she hugged Lucy. Natsu watched as the blonde wiped away tears from her eyes.

"I will. Thanks Mira!"

He remembered the first time he saw the bruises.

They were ten years old. They were outside playing for PE and when she reached for the soccer ball, he shirt rode up and there were dark, ugly purple bruises on her back. Being the stupid kid he was back then, he had no idea what they were. He figured it was like marker or something. He then saw them again, but on her arms the next time around. This time, he got really confused and wondered why she would write on her arms.

It was the summer time and it was really hot outside. Natsu was sitting under the vent where the cold air was blowing. He had fought off the stripper for this air vent just a little while ago and now it was all his.

The only thing that bugged him was why in the world was Lucy wearing her long sleeved shirt? And high knee socks? It was like a million degrees outside! What was she thinking?

"Luce! Are you crazy right now! Why are you wearing a long sleeved shirt and your high socks!" Natsu called out to her as he loosened his tie and took off his scarf so he wasn't suffocating.

"I'm not that hot!" She said. He looked over at her with a questioning glance. "Besides Natsu! You're such a pyro! You love this weather!"

"Lucy has a point, flame brain! Let me use the vent!" Gray commented as he jumped up from his chair, only in boxers. Gray's stripping habit had only gotten worse as they got older. Lucy laughed.

"No way droopy eyes! I won fair and square!" Natsu also jumped from his chair and clashed foreheads with the ink haired boy. They both growled at each other before Erza pulled them apart.

"Really though, Lu-chan," the pink haired boy perked at the mention of Lucy's name. "Why are you so covered up?"

"I'm just not hot, Levy! It's not too bad, really!" The pyromaniac watched suspiciously as Lucy tugged down on her uniform and smiled nervously. But, he nodded it off and went back to his confrontation with the stripper.

He was stupid. So stupid. How could he have been so stupid back then? How had he missed it? If he had paid attention to the signs, to her behavior, to the obvious, things could have ended better, things wouldn't have gotten to messy, things would have been okay.

He saw them occasionally, but his naive mind didn't make anything of it. They were on her arms a lot, sometimes on her back. He had never seen them on her face. If she ever did have them on her face, she did a good job on hiding them. And when he would question her about it, she would laugh it off and say she just clumsy and hurt herself.

Of course he believed her pitiful lie. He would just shrug them off and tell her to be more careful, to which she responded with an embarrassed smile and "yes mom."

The summer before they entered middle school, when they just turned thirteen, she had shown up to summer classes with a nasty bruise on her face. It was mainly around the eye but some of the bruising had spread to the midst of her cheek. To say he was furious was an understatement. He wanted to murder the person who did this to her.

"Luce, who the hell gave you that bruise? And you better tell me the truth!"

They were in the classroom, just the two of them. Their teacher, Gildarts, Natsu's favorite teacher and also Cana's father, had assigned them to clean up the class before leaving. Natsu had been glaring hre down all day since she first arrived. People gasped and asked her what happened, to which she merely replied she fell and his her eye at the end of the stairs.

He didn't believe it for a second.

Lucy jumped at the sound of his voice. She looked over at him with this frightened look, something that Natsu questioned heavily. Why would she look at him like that? It's almost as if she was afraid of him.

"What?"

Natsu glared at her and crossed his hands in front of him. "Don't what me. Lucy, that bruise on your eye looks like someone punched you. Trust me, I would know what that looks like!" He was fuming with anger. He had been very agile about it all day and now that it was just the two of them, he had no restraint holding him back, not that he ever really did.

The blonde haired girl laughed as she rubbed the back of her neck. Natsu was now puzzled. Why was she laughing? If somebody was hurting her, that shouldn't be anything to laugh at!

"Of course you would know!" Natsu felt his cheeks burn at Lucy's laugh. She had a really sweet laugh.

"Th-That's not the point, Luce! Who hurt you!" He quickly responded.

"I fell duh! I was running down the stairs so fast because I was running late for school that I tripped and fell!"

The onyx eyed boy eyed her carefully. He watched her closely. "Don't lie to me, Lucy. Tell me the truth!"

Lucy sighed, giving him a small smile. "Natsu, really. I tripped on the second stair. I stumbled my way down and at the edge of the staircase entrance, there's this metal rod that sticks out and I hit my eye on it. Really, it's fine."

The pink haired pyromaniac didn't feel comfortable with her answer. He felt like there was more going on. But Lucy didn't lie to him. She always told him what was going on. So if she claimed that was the truth, he would believe her.

"But thanks for worrying about me."

Natsu felt his face turn 100 degrees hotter as she placed a simple kiss on his cheek. His heart was racing and he felt his blood race. The blonde had never done that before. But Natsu thought it was nice and after Lucy left, he couldn't stop the grin from appearing on his face, completely forgetting that gut wrenching feeling in the midst of his stomach.

When they reached secondary level of Fairy Tail Academy, aka, middle school, a lot of things changed.

He was no longer living with his parents. In the beginning of his first year in middle school, his parents were arrested for selling drugs and apparently we're involved in this huge drug bust that was all over the news.

He was about to be sent to the foster care system but the headmaster of Fairy Tail, who had ended up taking a great liking to Natsu, ended up persuading social services to let Natsu stay in his own apartment under the guardianship of Master Makarov. He couldn't believe that the headmaster would do something so great for him. But he was so thankful for it. Not to mention how happy he was that he didn't have to live away from his friends, Fairy Tail, or Lucy.

Speaking of Lucy, he took notice that a lot more guys started talking about his best friend. And not talking as in just talking, but as in saying inappropriate things about and commenting about the physical parts of her body. To say that he was angry would have not been the case. He was livid with how they would talk about her. Especially in front of him.

Lucy was shy about her sudden development and covered herself up a lot, which he didn't oppose too. But even on hot days, just like back in primary school, she would wear long sleeved shirts and high socks. But he figured, she was just trying to hide herself.

If he had actually not been stupid back then, he would have realized the nervous smiles, the way she jumped when guys use to even lay a finger on her, the way she would tug on her clothing as if she was hiding something, the way she used to protect herself by covering her chest or the way she clung close to him when someone got a little too touchy.

He wasn't as stupid as people thought he was though. Yeah, he was stupid enough to not notice what was really going on, but he wasn't stupid enough to realize that his best friend was certainly growing into her figure alright. He noticed the change in her too but he wouldn't say it. Not if he wanted to stay alive. But he wasn't stupid.

And he was also changing too. His voice got a lot deeper and he was growing a lot taller. He wasn't the short kid anymore. And not so many people picked on him anymore, something he was very happy with.

"Natsu!"

The pink haired male was stuffing his useless homework that he never did into his backpack as the now busty blonde was running towards him. He gulped as he tried to steer his eyes away from his best friends chest. Ever since he heard the damn Loke talking about how "nice Lucy's rack" was, he hadn't been able to stop staring.

"What's up, Luce?" He grinned at her, trying to play off the obvious.

"I was going to go watch Erza compete in the kendo tournament. Want to come with me?"

"Oh Lucy! I will gladly go with you!"

Both now teenagers turned around to see Loke, an orange haired punk that got under Natsu's nerves a lot, come from behind and hang onto Lucy's shoulder. Natsu growled inwardly, wanting nothing more than to rip off Loke's arm from her shoulder.

"Oh hi Loke!" She greeted with a smile. Natsu definitely did not like that. Not at all. But, in his annoyance, he failed to notice the way Lucy's shoulders would tense at Loke's touch.

"Lucy, did you know you're the prettiest girl that had ever walked this earth?"

Natsu clenched his fist tightly as he bit down on the inside of his cheek. He heard Lucy giggle and it took everything inside him not to just strangle Loke. Was Lucy seriously falling for this crap? He heard the stupid orange head flirt with tons of girls all day! Lucy had to know by now that he was just playing her! Lucy was always smart and even though they were only fourteen years old, she had to know that Loke was just a shameless flirt!

"Hmm… I think that would be the tenth time you told me today." The blonde put a finger to her chin. She then peeled his hand off her shoulder and went to stand next to the pink haired boy. She stood a little too close but Natsu wasn't that bothered by it. If anything, he was smudged by it.

"But thanks for the compliment! I'm sure it has the same effect it does on all the other girls."

Natsu smirked as Loke's face turned red from embarrassment. He knew that the blonde was smart enough to see through Loke's lies. He had complete faith in her.

"But I only ever mean it to you, Lucy dear." Lucy laughed as Loke still tried to play suave.

"Don't you have other girls to attend too, bastard?" Natsu glared at Loke and the orange haired teenager glared back. He could feel Lucy attempt to slap his arm and hear her say "Natsu!"

"I don't see why Lucy hangs out with a heathen like you, but I do have business to attend too." He turned towards Lucy and could see the way Loke looked at her. And it disgusted him. If Natsu really put attention, he could see the way Lucy's eyes would flicker to fear instantly.

"See you later, beautiful."

With that, the orange haired boy left, leaving the two alone.

"Take the smug off your face before I do it for you!" Natsu looked down at Lucy in surprise. What had he done now?

"No way, Natsu Dragneel. Don't give me that look! You know exactly what you did! And for that, you are totally coming with me to Erza's kendo tournament!" She grabbed him by the ear and dragged him out of the classroom with Natsu in tow.

"Ow! Ow! Ow! Lucy! That hurts!"

Loke was just one of the many boys that attempted to flirt with Lucy all the time, though he was the worst of them all. He was constantly at Lucy's side and always trying to get her to become his girlfriend and it frustrated him all the time. But, Lucy, one way or another, had managed to put Loke in his place.

Lucy was really careful around the guys, something he appreciated. The only guys she was completely comfortable with were Gray and himself. Around other guys, she would be nice and polite with, but she always seemed nervous.

Obviously now he knew why.

But back then, he just figured it was something weird the blonde did.

Throughout middle school, he didn't really see a lot of bruises on Lucy, but sometimes, the ones he did see, were horrible and he use to get angry and ask her where she got them from and she would immediately reply with some excuse or lie.

He believed her again. He should never have.

A/N: Don't have much to say about this. This is part 1. Part 2 should be out either Saturday or Sunday, depending on the amount of feedback I get back. This is the half way point of the story. It's a lot. That's why I had to break it apart.

Anyway, let me know what you think. Excuse any OOCness. Still getting use to writing Fairy Tail characters! This is only my third story. But, reviews are appreciated.

Until next time!

-Dark Waffle