Disclaimer: I don't own Fairy Tail. I never will, so there's no point in trying… It all belongs to Hiro Mashima (except this story, of course), so yeah.

Hope you enjoy! :)

"Not again," she cried out shakily, covering her ears like she always did every time this happened. "Please make it stop!"

Life truly was cruel to her.

She didn't – doesn't – deserve this. What had she done to make the world hate her, enough to make her go through this nearly every night.

She only wanted to be happy. That was her wish when she found a tiny ladybug on the grass during her father's funeral.

The only red in the vast sea of black suits and dresses. Even the sky was gray, much to her bitter amusement. The sounds of throaty sobs and snotty noses filled the otherwise empty void of silence.

But she blocked all the noise that day. She could only stare at the black coffin as static filled her ears, the noise as jumbled as her own thoughts.

So after her wish, she only hoped that things would get better soon.

And they did, even if for a little while.

She met Gajeel for the first time at school.

Though she didn't talk to him much in the beginning, he encouraged her to see that despite her father's death, she could still live a life of happiness. Despite the hollow feeling in her chest, she pushed herself to do better in school, to make new friends, to be outgoing.

Soon after, her mother had met this nice man, and Levy herself had thought he was decent enough. Not her father, but a good replacement, though nobody could replace the bottomless pit of emptiness that was left behind after his death.

But still, decent.

And she believed that maybe everything was going to be all right. Her mother was smiling more, the house seemed slightly warmer, and Levy was doing great in school.

Of course, as the saying goes, all good things must come to an end.

She remembers when the arguments had started. Levy would hear their arguments through the walls and doors, hoping that they would resolve quickly so that everything could go back to normal again.

He would call her mother worthless, a whore, a thing that was only useful for a good fuck.

She and her mother would usually sleep together on nights when he was being particularly nasty. Her mother would soothe the young girl and tell her everything was okay.

And they managed to continue living without any problems. The insults became worse over time, sometimes directed to the innocent girl, but she took it with no problem.

She wouldn't show him how his words affected her as the days passed by.

But she knew they did.

She started falling a bit behind class, distracted by the sound of muffled screams in her mother's bedroom instead of doing her homework or studying for a test.

Her friends started to drift away from her when she started to hang out with Gajeel more than before. She had always talked to him, but it was usually a nod from the boy and a small smile with a shy wave of the hand as their eyes occasionally met on the playground.

Her friends would give her strange looks though, so she would stop almost immediately. That didn't stop her from looking back, but was only rewarded with an empty space where he was once standing.

She would brush it off as one of his weird habits. Even before, when they were closer and talked to each other more often, he would occasionally vanish out of thin air.

Well, he didn't vanish, he just wasn't there anymore if she got distracted by other people coming over to talk to the little girl.

But the day when Levy saw her mother being thrown across the room as she screamed for the horror to stop, the girl knew that the world really hated her.

After that, she abandoned her other friends and walked alongside Gajeel. People started calling her Crazy Levy, mocking and laughing at her whenever she talked with Gajeel.

She didn't care though. She was going through worse. She knew that she only needed Gajeel to be able to go through life.

And honestly, she started to get better. Gajeel was always there when she was forced to watch as her stepfather punched her dear mother, giving her new bruises and more cuts all over her body.

She found something to look forward to whenever she left her house and went to school. Just being around Gajeel soothed her and made her forget about everything else.

Unfortunately, the moment Levy saw her mother being raped on the dirty floor one day after coming back from school, she and her mother were never the same again.

The girl's mother would do her best in avoiding Levy's eyes whenever they passed by each other. They no longer slept together in the same bed on especially bad days.

Her mother's touch was nonexistent and Levy felt herself spiraling into a dark abyss as depression slowly creeped into her soul.

She didn't let it consume her completely. Gajeel made sure of that, making sure to tell her that she was going to be okay.

She met Gray and Erza around that time. Gajeel introduced them to her, and the three of them clicked instantly.

Juvia appeared a year after.

Levy had seen Gray standing with another blue haired girl, who seemed to be looking at him with a loving gaze. The boy introduced them to each other and soon enough, their group of four turned into the group of five.

People still sent her strange looks, but she wasn't fazed at all. She didn't care because all she needed were her friends.

And a few months after that, Levy had the courage to invite Lucy, the girl who always sat by herself during lunch constantly reading, to join her group of friends.

And oh, she could never feel happier being with all her friends. Lucy was the only person who ever talked to the blue haired girl's friends and never gave her strange looks when she talked with the rest of the group.

Levy was sure that nothing could get worse, but she once again got her hopes up.

Her stepfather would hit not only her mother, but also throw a few punches towards the young girl as well. She would get fresh bruises everyday, trying her best to hide the bigger ones on her arms or legs.

Levy would steal her mother's makeup when necessary.

Gajeel was the only one who knew, but Levy was sure that the others caught on her façade over time.

Every time they asked her if she was okay, she would brush it off and tell them that nothing was wrong.

And this continued on until she put an end to everything on her sixteenth year.

Waking with a scream, Lucy shivered as a familiar cold settled onto her. The room was dark as always, the same tree swaying with the violent wind outside. The clock on the wall ticked with each second, filling her with dread as cold sweat formed on her skin.

Static filled the air, its sound invading her ears and making it seem like she was in an empty space. She wasn't sure if what she was seeing was real.

Wasn't sure if what she was hearing was real.

"He's coming for yooouuu," they sang in her ear, cackling at the shuddering gasps she let out when she felt what seemed like lips brush against her ear.

Thunder suddenly boomed through the air, and the teenager let out a terrified scream, covering her ears to block it out.

Block out the thunder, block out the voices.

They had haunted her throughout these six years, louder during the night, making her wake up from the nightmares of being dragged to the one with red eyes and wide smile filled with rows of sharp teeth stained with dark, fresh blood.

She never got to see the face of the owner of those eyes because she would manage to break free from the hands that grabbed at her and would run until she let out a piercing scream as mangled faces appeared before her, eyes not present in their sockets and skin peeling off of their hands and arms as they reached out for her with manic smiles directed towards her.

And that was when she would wake.

She had awoken from the same dream every night for six years. There was never a night where she wouldn't scream and one of her maids wouldn't run to her room in panic and fear.

They would shake her when she wouldn't answer their questions. The voices would keep whispering in her ear, saying that she will be one of them, doomed and forgotten.

"Are you scared, little girl?"

She shook her head violently, blonde locks tickling her face as tears travelled down her cheeks and falling heavily onto her sheets, leaving dark splotches. Her body spasmed as chills ran down her back, the rain pounding harder on the window beside her as she felt a finger trace her spine.

"I'm not, I'm not, I'm not!" she rasped out, willing the voices to just leave already. They only intensified, still clawing at her skin with their nails, trying to pry her hands away from her ears.

She didn't even hear the pounding of feet running down the hall towards her room, too concentrated in trying to block the voices out to pay attention to everything else.

"Don't listen to them."

Her eyes snapped open, only to come face to face with Natsu. His eyes were glowing a blood red, his face slightly shadowed from his hair, but she didn't care.

"They were the unlucky ones," he calmly said, carefully grabbing her wrists and pulling her hands away from her ears. "Trust me."

She heard furious knocks on her door, but she never looked away from his gaze.

His mouth was stained with something, and his fingers wrapped around her wrists looked like claws. His skin was hot and rough against hers this time, almost burning. She saw something pointed stick out of his hair, but she couldn't tell in the dark.

"Do you feel safe with that monster?" they hissed, and Lucy saw shadows behind Natsu's head, growing larger with each passing second. His grip tightened, and she was sure she would have bruises in the morning.

"You're hurting me," she whimpered, trying to pull her wrists away, but his hold on her was too tight. His eyes darkened considerably, teeth now bared as he loosened his hold on her.

"Lucy," he said calmly, hands releasing her wrists to slowly cup her face, "I could never hurt you. You mean too much to me."

He smiled now, the shadows that were creeping closer behind him were retreating to where they came from. His face was no longer stained with anything, and the prickling of his nails on her face was gone in an instant.

"Lucy!"

The blonde tilted her head, brows furrowed as a muffled voice tried to reach her ears. All she could see were his glowing green eyes staring intently at her.

"Open the door right now!"

"Natsu…" she murmured, her cold hand reaching up to touch his cheek, and upon contact, he felt so warm.

So very warm.

She could hear the slow beat of her heart, pumping with the seconds as she stared into his captivating eyes. The room darkened as she was completely focused on the man in front of her.

"How…?" she began, brows furrowed as questions flew in her mind. "How could you hear them?"

"It doesn't matter," he responded quickly, pulling her face closer to his to place his forehead on hers. It was hot, comforting her as she closed her eyes to let the warmth seep into her skin.

There was a pleasant hum in her ears, the noise from outside just a whisper compared to the sound of a woman's voice. She could smell grass, feel a hint of a breeze brush against her exposed skin, and a hand lovingly stroking her head.

Her eyes snapped open to see herself surrounded by tall grass that swayed with the wind around her. Natsu stared into her eyes, a small smile graced on his face. She could see small, faint freckles on the bridge of his nose, giving him an almost boyish look.

He opened his mouth, eyes never wavering, "There's no need to worry."

Tilting her head, her brows furrowed in confusion. The scenery changed, the sun no longer shining on them. It was like someone had shut the lights off and world turned dark. There was no sound other than the growing volume of static in her ears again.

But his eyes still glowed. They pierced through the dark and into her soul. Her chest felt heavy, breathing becoming frantic when she saw red beady eyes staring at her from behind him.

"N-Natsu?" she stuttered as his hands slid down, his thumb slowly running over her lips, pressing gently to pull down the bottom lip before releasing. "W-What's goi-MPH!"

Hands clamped over mouth and pulled her away from his hold. Her neck strained against the pulling, but it didn't really matter anyway. Her body was being pulled into the black abyss.

Claws dug into her skin as she tried to struggle free. It wasn't long until she heard splashing and then felt her ears fill with water. Everything was muffled.

Her screams.

Their taunts.

She opened her mouth, but nothing came out of her mouth except for small air bubbles.

"Lu…"

"Wak… u…!"

Her eyes were closing, her limited supply of air running out. Her clothes were in shreds, and pieces of her pajamas were floating above her as she was pulled deeper.

She tried to call for Natsu, but her screams were muffled and the hands once again sealed her mouth shut. Her movements slowed, and every time she tried to pull away, they were weak attempts that did nothing to throw off the hands.

"Lucy…" she heard whispered in her ear, eyes closed as she started fading into unconsciousness. "I'll protect you."

The multitude of hands finally released her, but it was too late. She was too deep and too weak to even try to swim back to the surface.

However, she felt something warm touch her cheek before the voice entered her ears again for a final time.

"I promise."

"You're really cold…"

A bitter laugh echoed through the room.

"And you're really warm…"

A/N: Hehehehehehe, sooooo, what's uuuuuuup peeps? It's been a while. I know. And I'm sorry, but it's really hard to write with stupid writer's block. But hey, managed to write a chapter! Yaaaaaayyy!

Anyway, thank you to everybody who took their time to review! I really appreciate them, they make me so happy! I really hope you enjoyed this chapter, and if you want to you could follow my Tumblr (don't have to) to talk to me or whatever, or you could just PM if you want to chat or whatever.

Gosh, I just sound tsundere there. ANYWAY, if you want, you could read my other story "Under Cold Skin" (also NaLu) in the meantime.

So, thanks for reading, and I'll hopefully see you soon!