Scene: Natsu has just found out who he really is and at first has trouble controlling his sanity. Zeref wants him to kill him, but Natsu refuses, stating that Zeref was his new-found nakama, and he would never hurt him. Acnologia rebels and fires a death blow at Zeref, but Natsu takes it full on, falling to the ground after doing so. Lucy is nearby, and this is where it begins.
The battlefield. It was a place that Lucy wanted to be whisked away from as far as possible. But she couldn't, not now. She couldn't leave him.
Natsu...... Her weakened legs carried her toward him as fast as she could, and her knees buckled when her eyes beheld the sight before her. Tears filled in her chocolate orbs, and began to fall, one by one onto Natsu's broken body.
His tattered black cloak, that nostalgic Gildarts aura now gone, was splattered in red blotches. Everywhere was red- from the top of his head to the tip of his toes. The marks had faded; the bandage that had once been wrapped comfortably around his arm now lay on the floor in shreds. The shirt he wore, edged with gold; a deep diagonal gash ran from his chest to his abdomen. His eyes had returned to their original onyx.
Those eyes... she couldn't help getting mesmerized in them, even now. Natsu coughed; blood splattered on the ground filled with ashes and embers. Then, he managed a grin- a grin that used to reassure the blonde that no matter what happened to them, everything would be okay. But she could not trust his smile. Not now.
She bent over, stomach hurting due to the gaping hole in her side, but she ignored it when she knew he was more in pain than she was. The horns on his head, they were broken and splayed, and she once again ran her fingers through those familiar pink tufts.
"Natsu..." She let out a shaky breath, placing a hand right where his heart was, not trying to make the pain disappear, but to make it more bearable. She knew in her soul that it was coming- slowly, but coming.
"Hey, Luce." Her head jerked up at his voice, so comforting, so protective. "So... how's things?"
She couldn't believe he just said that. Of all things, he...! "Natsu, why are you so insensitive about yourself?!" she blurted in a frenzy of fury, every word sucking out every bit of what remained of her life. "Here I am, trying to ease your pain, and you're here, talking to me like nothing happened, when you're about to-"
Her voice caught in her throat. "-die." she squeaked.
Natsu gave a throaty chuckle, and coughed more blood. "Lucy," he mumbled. Lucy could feel it coming closer now, and perhaps faster by a little. "Remember what I said to you when you were afraid of being left alone once?" It came out as a rush, he had to catch his breath.
"I know... you're with me, even if you're not by my side." Fat teardrops splashed onto her hand; she turned away in fear that they would get into his wounds and cause him to wince, and also in fear that he would see her crying.
"Exactly," Natsu replied cheerfully, reaching out with effort and placing a hand under her chin and moving her face toward him. "Don't cry. You know I'll be with you, no matter how far. And I'll always be watching you."
