Sorry for the long wait!

*.*.*.*

*Natsu POV*

When I say a girl can fight its because she can, and Lucy can fight. I stand a few feet behind her just watching as she catches her breath. We obliterated all those ugly little spider shits, I took half and Lucy the other, I didn't think she could handle so many but I didn't hear her complain once, her movements were clean and graceful.

"Lucy you good?" I watch her chest heave rapidly, greedy for oxygen. She just nods her head and stays silent; the silence drags on but it's mainly because we're afraid to attract any more weird experiments, at least that's what I tell myself.

"Let's keep going," she whispers and slowly bends down to pick up the yarn. I watch her movements carefully, they're forced and she seems much more exhausted then I thought. There has to be something wrong.

"Lucy are yo-" her head shoots to the left and she tenses up; her sword falls from her fingers, landing on the floor with a loud clang.

"Who's there? Come out already!" she yells in desperation, her voice cracking in fear. She falls to her knees and clutches at her side. I swiftly make my way towards her and bend down to face her.

"There's no one here Luce, it's just us," I whisper cautiously afraid of startling her further. She weakly lifts her hand and points straight ahead, her eyes locked on a figure that apparently I can't make out, all I see is darkness and a mess of junk.

"Luce there's no one there! You're really worrying me," I lower her shaking hand with one final glance at the supposed figure. I look down at her left hand, its still clutching at her side. I carefully remove it and suck in a breath; she's heavily wounded with a broken spider leg protruding from the side of her stomach. How did I overlook this before?

"Lucy why didn't you say anything?" I groan as I lay her on her back.

"I'm gonna look for some medicine or something," Happy calls softly from a pile of what seems to be medical supplies mixed in with other random objects. I turn back to Lucy and see the terror in her eyes, so what ever she saw scared her enough to render her speechless.

"I'm here, you don't have to be scared," I try my best to sooth her, I know for a fact that all this pent up fear is only gonna make her wound worse, she needs to relax. I rub circles into her hands and feel her breathing slow down.

"I'm gonna take a look at the wound okay?" she nods slowly as I lift her shirt above the wound. The blood is running freely down her side and pooling onto the ground, it's going to need immediate attention.

"Happy, any luck?" I turn towards him and feel my heart drop when I see his grim face followed with a final shake of the head.

"Check again!" I turn back to Lucy; she's losing too much blood.

"Okay this is probably the worst thing to do but I'm gonna take the leg out and I'm gonna cauterize your wound okay? This is going to hurt a lot but I need you to trust me, okay?" my hand trails up to her cheek where I softly skim her skin with my thumb.

"Okay. I trust you," her eyes bore into mine and I can't tell if she's talking about the situation at hand or something more. I shake my head and clear the thought, I need to concentrate on helping her.

"Okay I'm gonna pull it out on three… one… two… three…"

*Lucy POV*

"AAAAHHHH! OH MY GOD! THAT HURTS!" I clutch at the nearest thing to me, which just happens to be Natsu's hand.

"I'm sorry, I'm gonna need you to hold on for a bit longer okay? This is the worst part," his eyes are so incredibly intense that all I can do to respond is nod silently. He squeezes my hand in reassurance before igniting his free hand in flames.

"Here I go, Happy hold down her feet as best as you can," I feel a small weight on my legs and I know Happy is sitting on me, trying his best to keep me under control. I'm gonna handle the pain, I can't cause them anymore trouble. I promised myself I wouldn't need protecting anymore, but look at me, in Natsu's debt once again. I close my eyes and calm my breathing as the heat intensifies. His hand never leaves mine and I squeeze as I feel the flames singeing my skin. Tears escape my eyes but I have yet to scream or thrash around, I refuse to make this harder for them. I involuntarily begin to whimper and lose focus of Natsu's face, his once concentrated expression now replaced with an odd arrangement of contorted features and lopsided limbs.

"Natsu?... Na..tsu…" Why can't he hear me? Why aren't any sounds coming out of my mouth? This pain is so unbearable; I manage to squeeze his hand one more time before it falls limply to the ground.

I can't breathe. The air feels like blood, thick and hot. My hands reach for my throat and I begin to scream when I feel things crawling all over my body. I look down and see spiders running up and down my arms and legs. My scream comes out more like strained gargling and my lack of air throws me into a deeper state of panic. The spiders mingle with the bloody air and I feel their legs skimming the walls of my throat.

"Lucy…" my eyes search for the owner of the voice in the darkness but find nothing. I attempt to call out into the emptiness, but my heart drops further into my stomach when I realize that I've failed miserably yet again, a low-throated groan is all that comes out of my dry mouth.

"Lucy…" this time the source is closer; I feel a hand on my shoulder and swiftly spin around, coming face to face with a large pair of brown eyes.

"Breathe," she whispers into my ear. Suddenly the thick air is gone, the spiders quickly following suit. I fall to my knees and put my hands out to steady myself, my head hanging low in defeat. My chest heaves in relief, greedily taking in all the oxygen it was lacking seconds before.

"Thank you," I whisper weakly; I feel another tap on my shoulder and gasp when I meet the eyes of my savior once again.

"Wendy?"

"There is no time, you will be awakening soon. I came to remind you about the prophecy, don't forget it! The fate of Fiore is in your hands, please don't let Fairy Tail's deaths be in vain, you must kill the Dragon King! Do not trust Natsu, he's lying to you!" the urgency in her voice takes me aback.

"Wendy who's Fairy Tail? And who is that person I kept seeing in the storage room? Why are they following me? Why can't I trust Natsu? I still don't understand the whole prophecy! Wendy I don't know what I'm doing!" my hands fall helplessly to my sides and I hold back a sob, I will not cry. Wendy just shakes her head sympathetically.

"All in due time Lucy! I need to go for you are awakening, but remember…

The Dragon King must be slain,

Or Fairy Tail will die in vain.

The Cherry Blossoms will bloom too late,

And the golden girl denies her fate.

The Seven Keys will be at grasp,

But will the gate unlock its clasp.

Love will mend and sow the seams,

But beware the figure of dark cloaked dreams."

Now that I think about it, I kind of understand most of it. Kill the Dragon King. I still have no clue what Fairy Tail is. Cherry Blossoms… Natsu? Golden Girl… Me? So we're going to get the seven keys but the gate still might not open? That's bullshit. Love will mend? I hope that doesn't mean Natsu and me. The figure of dark cloaked dreams has to be that person I kept seeing in the storage room; I just don't know who they are.

"Wendy I st-" her absence startles me and I glance around the now white void and receive nothing but the echo of my own voice, she's gone.

"Wendy!" the echo drags on into an intolerable shrieking and I slap my hands over my ears. The hairs on my neck begin a frantic dance, moving restlessly to the screeching music that resonates through the empty vacuum. I feel a sudden warmth spread through my body and the shrieking cries cease to bounce off the walls.

"Lucy… C'mon Luce please…" the warmth intensifies and I feel soft flames liking my skin tenderly. The heat is incredible but I have yet to feel it cause me any harm. It feels right. I rest my forehead into the palms of my hands and let my eyelids fall, my breathing slowing down and fully taking in the bliss of the familiar heat.

*.*.*.*

*Natsu*

"Lucy… C'mon Luce please…" I squeeze her hand and lay my forehead on hers. I need you to wake up, please.

"Natsu let's finish wrapping her up," Happy mumbles. I nod and begin to wrap her wound in some gauze that we found. She tried so hard to handle the pain without causing a scene, she didn't scream or struggle, she just took it. Once she started whimpering I knew it was too much for her, but I couldn't stop yet, I needed to close the wound for her sake. She's been out for 2 hours and I'm worried we've been in the same spot for too long, we're completely exposed to whatever is lurking out there. I really need her to be okay.

"Happy can you get some water from my pack?" he nods and walks over to my backpack a few feet away, pulling out a canister of water. I reach for it, never letting go of Lucy's small hand. I drop the canister to the floor when I feel a weak squeeze; I turn back to look at her as her eyes flutter open. I'm greeted with a soft grateful smile and I can feel my heart beating in my throat. My nerves get the best of me and my hand begins to sweat so I pull away before she can feel it.

"Can you stand?" she responds with a soft nod and points at the fallen canister of water. I quickly reach for it and pull her up slightly, so she's sitting up and can drink without choking on the water. She leans her back against my chest for support as I cautiously bring the canister up to her lips. She gulps it down greedily but shoves it away after a second, turning her head into my arm.

"We… need… to save… water," she croaks out between heavy breaths. I grab her chin and turn her face towards my own so she can see me clearly.

"You need to get better, I have more water in my bag," her eyes are dull and I can see the exhaustion in them, but she just nods and turns back to the canister. I push it up to her mouth and tip it slightly letting the contents spill into her.

A strand of blond hair slips from her ponytail and falls into her eyes; I subconsciously grab it between my fingers and begin to twirl it. She pushes the canister away and I let go of her hair, a small blush on my cheeks; I feel her panting and I put the canister down next to me. My fingers trace patterns into her shoulder in an attempt to calm her down; she stiffens at first but then sinks into my chest. Her breaths become deeper and I can tell she's much better, I can feel her heartbeat matching my own, fast and impossibly hard. Is this as intoxicating and exciting for her as it is for me?

"I hate to interrupt your moment but we need to keep moving if we're gonna find this globe," Happy smiles knowingly. My cheeks begin to burn and I turn my face away. What am I doing? I'm supposed to be pushing her away! I'm the biggest moron in Earthland!

"I'm sorry for causing so much trouble!" she shouts in surprise and stands swiftly. Bad idea. She nearly falls over but I grab her wrist so she can steady herself. She's facing the floor but I can see the deep blush on her face and it makes me feel so much better about my own. I'm not the only one that feels this way then.

"Thank you guys for everything, I hate being so much trouble," she whispers at the floor. I scratch the back of my neck and struggle to find what to say.

"It's no trouble Lucy! We like you, especially Natsu!" Happy calls as he rubs his face against her leg. Lucy reaches down and picks him up tenderly then buries her face into his fur.

"I do not!" I stomp my foot on the ground and reach out to flick Happy, but stop mid action when the extra large pile of shit next to us starts shake dangerously.

"Natsu! Look what you did! You hothead, you can't just stomp your foot down with that much force and not expect this to happen!" Lucy yells at me in disapproval, her finger inches from my face. From the top of the mound something catches my attention, but I notice it too late because within seconds it lands on my head with a nasty thud; as it bounces off it lands perfectly into Lucy's open palm.

"How?" Our mouths hang open in disbelief; in Lucy's hand is the globe, perfectly intact.

"YOU SEE!? I'M AWESOME!" I laugh and give her a sarcastic smirk. Never underestimate my strength and plans of action!

"Oh shut up!" she laughs and slaps my shoulder gingerly with her free hand, sending jolts of electricity through my whole body, her smile is contagious.

"Let's steady this thing," I grab the globe and begin to move it around until the miniature city is basking in a cloudless sky. She's still smiling and its so distracting that I almost drop the globe, but her smile doesn't last. Its replaced with a fearful expression and I look behind me, something back there scared her.

So she wasn't lying, because I know I saw the end of a cloak flutter off behind a corner.

*.*.*.*

I know it was short and I took long to update! I'll try harder next time! Love you guys, goodnight! Xx

-Bella