This one is inspired by Mashima's latest Twitter Doodle! Tbh I'm totally in love with the story and how it turned out, and I hope you'll love it as much as me :3 People on tumblr were very excited about it and I hope you'll love it just as much! Enjoy! \(°o°)/

There is also absolutely amazing art for this fic on my tumblr, you should totally check all of them out!

It's a short little fairytale-style story and will end up with 4 or 5 parts! ^-^

Darkness had been lurking in the forest.

It was watching her from the shadows as she left the safety of her home, and Lucy felt the fur of her tail stand up against her will, felt as if something was crawling up her skin and waiting for her to make a mistake.

But she was the guardian of this forest, and those who inhabited it.

She had heard the outcry, felt the confusion and agitation of her home: something had crashed right into their middle. An intruder, who'd brought flames.

But no matter who this stranger was, she would be there to greet him; to offer help if it was needed, protection should he want it, and resistance if all kindness failed. Oh, she would be lying if she said she wasn't scared, but she was the keeper of peace, and the only one who could take care of this.

Everyone depended on her, like they always did, and she could not let them down more than she already had.

And so she marched on through the thick forest, feeling the soft, damp ground beneath her bare feet and silently thanking the branches and roots which parted for her. In the distance, she could see light flickering through the branches where there should have been nothing but darkness.

It got hotter the closer she came, singed treetrunks and slivered wood everything she encountered until she stepped into what was now a little clearing. It had been forest like everything in these parts, but now the ground was churned and the trees uprooted.

Lucy could feel their pain and confusion lingering in the earth and air, closing her eyes as she tried to reach out to them. She needed to take care of this fire.

Reopening her eyes, Lucy let them wander over the chaos in front of her. The fire was burning away at the ground, now only sizzling at the edges, but the center was still burning strong. She could feel the darkness at her back, and suddenly the fire's warmth seemed a lot more appealing. Even the forest itself seemed to be drawn to it now, with the danger creeping up on them from all sides. Lucy shivered, pulling one of her many cloaks tighter around herself.

That was when she felt it, though, as she concentrated her magic on the flames, feeling them consciously for the first time: it was alive. The fire was alive.

It burned curiously, though she could feel the confusion in the nervous flicker of its flames.

Lucy was nervous too, yet she took a hesitant step forward and took a deep breath. Smoke scratched at the inside of her throat, drying it up and making her voice the tiniest bit scratchy.

"Hello," she called out with as much calm as she managed, "Who are you?"

The flames flickered to new life, and Lucy felt as if something (the fire itself, perhaps) was watching her intently.

"I can help you," she tried again, "I am the spirit guardian of this forest, and I offer my protection if you desire it."

That was when something moved, right where the flames burned strongest. It seemed as if the fire was shrinking in on itself, drawing back from the earth to crawl back towards its source and tower upwards. In stunned silence, Lucy watched as the fire gained form, a human-like shape, yet it seemed unsure of what it was doing. Something that might have been a head turned towards her, and she felt its stare again, from an eye-less face of flame.

Hesitantly, she smiled – and the fire smiled back.

Her eyes grew wide, but she was not scared now, not anymore. Whatever the creature was that had appeared, its energy was not malicious. It seemed almost… new, for lack of a better word. Lucy wondered if it had just now been born, as it had crashed onto the forest floor.

A flaming arm lifted, and Lucy watched as fingers formed from the fiery tip. She felt as if it was trying to mirror her, and so she lifted a hand in greeting and watched it do the same.

Lucy giggled, and for a second the fire froze.

Then it flared up, more than it had ever before, so much that for a moment Lucy feared to be burned. But when she opened her eyes and lowered her hands, what she saw made her chin drop.

Where the fire had burned only seconds before, there now was… a boy?

A young man, rather, about her age, who stared at her with the same intensity of the flames that had danced around her.

He was still burning, just a little, tiny flames flicking in his hair and licking along his torso, his lower body concealed in a thin layer of flames in a way that made it seem like he was wearing pants made of pure fire. A fiery tail danced happily behind his back, much like the one that peeked out from beneath her robes.

Half-human, half-fire.

He grinned at her when their eyes locked.

"Hello," he spoke, voice a little unsure but gaining confidence with every word that left his lips, "Thank you for…coming. And for helping."

He grinned again, seeming satisfied with himself. Now that the fire had died down, his hair seemed pastel pink in the dim light that fell into the clearing.

Slowly breaking free of her trance, Lucy blinked in surprise before quickly shedding her thick brown overcoat, handing it to him with a slight blush.

The flame boy draped it around himself, and she was surprised to see the fabric did not burn even as it touched the flames.

"What's your name?" she asked.

Now it was the boy's turn to look flabbergasted. He thought about it for a moment, and then his eyes lit up as he seemed to find what he'd been looking for.

"Natsu," he answered, "Yours?"

"I'm Lucy," she said, bowing her head slightly in greeting. He didn't move. "Do you… would you like a meal? Rest? You can come with me, if you want."

A large, genuine smile spread across Natsu's face. "You're nice," he said cheerfully, stepping closer to sniff at her hair. Lucy stood very still, trying to keep her lips from quirking upwards.

"Where are you from?" she asked, "Are you from anywhere?"

"I don't know," he replied, now examining her face closely (too closely, making her move back a little when his nose bumped hers). "I'm here now."

"You are," she laughed softly, pushing him back (his skin was warm, but not as hot as she would have expected). "You're part of the forest."

Maybe it was the forest who had given him life when the comet had crashed into it, who had born him out of fire and magic. A shooting star turned human.

It could not have picked a better time. A little light in the darkness was just what she had needed, in more ways than one.

"Let me fix this," she whispered softly, tapping into her magic potential. She felt one with the nature around her whenever she used it, letting it merge her with the earth she belonged to. Her hands were warm, magic singing beneath her skin, and she let it flow out carefully, felt it sink into the bruised earth.

Life returned to the scorched ground, flowers raising their heads hesitantly and new roots burying into soft, fresh soil.

Natsu watched all of this silently, fascination and awe clear on his face.

Lucy smiled as she completed her work, and slowly opened her eyes. This little part of the forest seemed bright at last, unharmed by the darkness. For now.

Lucy knew her efforts would not last long, not anymore. The ground was healed, and it would stay so, but the darkness would return nonetheless.

"We should go," she spoke in a hushed voice, missing the way the boy called Natsu was staring at her again.

She could feel fear creeping up on her like a hungry animal watching her from behind the trees. Eyes were on them, maybe two, maybe a hundred, or more. Maybe none. But it was dark, and no one knew what waited in the shadows.

Natsu seemed to share, or at least feel, her discomfort. He nodded curtly.

"Follow me," she instructed as she began walking, trying to keep her breathing calm and her pace even. Her heart was hammering in her chest, an irrational fear driving her, threatening to swallow her whole if she didn't hurry.

A branch whipped into her face, and she jerked in fear, feeling the burn on her cheek but never once halting.

She only realized she'd been in a state of utter panic when a warm hand settled on her shoulder.

"What's wrong?" Natsu asked, and she stared at him as if she only now remembered he existed.

Slowly, she exhaled, feeling the fear leave her body as she concentrated on his innocent, concerned face.

She looked around. It was dark, too dark for it to be of natural origin, but the feeling of immediate threat was gone.

Maybe there never had been anything. Maybe there had.

The darkness liked to play, she knew, chasing her like a scared deer in a forest of wolves.

Lucy shook her head. "Nothing," she said, voice full of relieve.

Natsu puffed his cheeks, staring into the darkness around them.

"What's wrong with this forest?" he asked, "Something's not right."

"You can feel it too, huh?" She kept her voice down, turning towards him with a sad smile. Of course he felt it. Everybody felt it. The forest was sick.

And, even though it was her duty, she could not do anything to fix it.

The darkness had come and taken over, all-encompassing. She was not strong enough, all on her own. And her mother had left her a long, long time ago. This forest was under her protection, and she was failing it.

Natsu's scrutinizing eyes rested on her face, and this sensation washed over her again, the feeling that he was seeing right into her heart.

"Don't worry," he said with a reassuring smile, "I believe in you."

The words hit her right in the heart, heavy yet so very genuine, and Lucy felt her lips quiver.

"You don't even know me…" she whispered, "But you're kind, Natsu."

His face lit up when she spoke his name, and it was then that Lucy realized that he was quite literally shining. Taking a deep breath and puffing his cheeks, he formed a small flame in the palm of his hand, letting it grow and rise until they both were bathed in its shining glow.

"See," Natsu grinned, "It's much brighter already."

She wanted to hug him in that moment, feel the warmth that she had felt envelop her earlier, the warmth that was so uniquely his, but she held herself back. And so she settled for a warm smile, one that she knew reached him, conveying what she could not put into words.

A simple thankyou probably would not have sufficed.

"I'll tell you everything I know as soon as we get to my home," she promised, "But for now we should keep moving. It's not far now."

He took her hand into his, then. Her heart gave a surprsied little start, and she looked up at him from beneath long, light lashes. The fire in his other hand shone steadily, and the warm, orange light casted soft shadows on his face. His eyes were a brown as light as amber, glowing in the light of the flames, and he showed pointy canines as his grin spread even wider than before.

"Okay, let's go!" he called, and Lucy couldn't help the happy smile that spread across her face in response, nodding enthusiastically.

She was not alone now. Not anymore.

This was a forest of hungry wolves, but she almost had forgotten one crucial thing: she was just as hungry, for life and love and light, and the day she would give up protecting what she loved had yet to be born into existence.

Maybe the boy walking beside her was hungry too, yearning for a life he had just begun, for wonder, excitement and adventure.

Maybe they were kindred spirits, in that way.