Natsu's eyes glazed over as he pulled away from hugging Lucy. "In order to save Lucy, I have to defeat you." He said as if he was in a dreamlike state.
Lucy stepped away from him. "Natsu, it's me!"
Natsu's hand ignited and he moved toward her. His movements were sluggish as if they were being controled by someone else, so Lucy dodged him by ducking and rolling out of the way. There was glass scattered on the floor where she and Natsu had first made their way inside the empty room, far below the surface in a maze underground.
"Natsu! Please you have to listen to me!" He lunged again, but this time Lucy moved with her foot out to trip him. He landed with a crash, but he wouldn't stay down for long.
"Natsu, you know I can't beat you!" Suddenly, beside her, Virgo appeared.
"Princess, we knew you wouldn't call us on your own." She said moving in front of Lucy. As she did, Leo crashing in from above them, landing full force on Natsu and knocking him back down.
"Loke!" She cried "Please, he needs help!" We have to find that little girl and-" she stopped as she saw a shadow pass over by the door. "Virgo! There!"
Virgo dashed to the door while Lucy took on her Maiden Dress with Virgo's powers and followed, leaving Loke and Natsu. She knew Loke couldn't win because Natsu believed he was trying to save Lucy but this was the only way she could think to get away and follow the girl.
Virgo grabbed the child just as she seemed to pass through the wall. Lucy stepped through and saw a room filled with dolls. At her feet lay Juvia and Gray who were also lost somewhere in this maze, battling one of this girl's nightmarish monsters.
Around her were the other members who'd come with them. Erza and Wendy, Cana and Mira, Levy and Gajeel. Then in the middle, next to a little plastic house were two dolls, one with pink hair and one with blonde.
The girl giggled as Virgo held her tightly. "Have you come to play with me?" She asked in a singsong voice that chilled Lucy's spine.
"Give me back Natsu!" She demanded crouching next to the girl. "Why are you doing this?"
"They told me all my dreams could come true." She giggled and it sounded like a mixture between demented and depressed. "But they didn't think. Don't you know? Nightmares are dreams too!" She laughed again and her face quickly changed.
First, she was Natsu, then she was Lucy. Then she was a child that had long, pink hair and hazel eyes. She looked like a mix of her and Natsu before her eyes lit on fire and her mouth curved in a wicked smile. "Mommy, come play with me." She sang.
Lucy screamed and fell back, crawling away until she hit the wall. "Who are you?" She shrieked.
"Mommy come play." She touched Virgo's face and suddenly her eyes glazed over too.
"I close thee, gate of the maiden!" Lucy shouted before Virgo could attempt an attack. With the girl free, Lucy used her own power to bind her. She hadn't noticed, but she was crying and quickly wiped away her tears before Loke crashed through the fake wall, followed by Natsu. "I close thee, Gate of the Lion!" She said as Natsu's flame came down on him.
"Luce?" He said and for a second, his eyes were cleared. She had a glimmer of hope before the girl regained control of him. "I must defeat you to save Lucy."
Lucy fought as hard as she could without hurting him. At one point, she rolled into the plastic doll house and got a closer look at the two figures of her and Natsu. As she was distracted, Natsu brought down a full forced Wing attack, blinding her with pain. Lucy cried out and let her tears fall mercilessly, only stinging her burns.
The girl's bonds were released as Lucy's magic failed her. She was reverted to her tattered clothes from before and couldn't find the strength to move.
Natsu paused mid attack with the girl grabbed Lucy's doll. "You've lost." She said and stabbed through the doll's chest with a pin.
Natsu's eyes returned to normal and the first thing he saw were Lucy's clothes turning red and the burns all across her body. "Lucy..." he could barely whisper. The girl slid back and melded into the wall while Natsu fell to his knees beside Lucy.
She couldn't speak at first because the pain had rendered her completely speechless. By the time she could form the word "Na...tsu", he had already slammed his fists into the floor.
"Lucy, you can't die. Not again, not for real. You- you said we would have..." his voice hitched with his sobs as he pulled her onto his lap and cradled her into his chest.
"More... adven...tures." She finished. He stared into her brown eyes that she was having trouble keeping open.
"Don't make yourself a liar, Luce."
"But... we did... we had... so much... fun. And I- I fell... in love with... you."
"You can't say that now. That's like saying goodbye." He shook his head like if he did, maybe she'd pull through. Maybe he would make it back through the maze to save her. He gathered her up in his arms and made his way back up from where they came.
"A girl says... she loves you... and you can't say it... back?" She breathed heavily and coughed up blood.
"I will not let you die!" He screamed. "Prove that you love me by living!"
Lucy's breathing was more and more ragged as they got closer to the opening of the tunnel. She could finally see a little light far ahead of them when Natsu started talking. He rattled off all the places she hadn't seen yet, the things she hadn't done and the people she hadn't met.
His legs shivered as he got to the cave opening and laid Lucy out on the grass. Her chest no longer rose and fell, even a little. There was blood dripping from the side of her mouth.
"You'll never get to hear me say it now. But I loved you Lucy. I loved you more than anything in the world. I just couldn't accept that you were really gone." He brushed her hair off of her face and kissed her forehead.
"I know you can't hear me, but I'm still here. Alone now. And whenever I need help I come to you. So here I am. I've got this problem Luce." Natsu rubbed his eyes and sat back on his heels, watching the breeze through the trees before looking back at her. "There's this girl. And you see... I'm kind of madly in love with her. She's beautiful. And smart. And she puts up with me. But the thing is, we can't be together yet. Not yet." He sniffed. "But I will be with her. Someday. She'll wait for me won't she? Because I will wait for her. I will never forget her. I will die with her name on my lips. She is my Lucy of Fairy Tail. And she had to leave me. I won't fault her for it, it just means I'll have to wait a bit longer still to be with her properly. But don't you worry. I'll get to her again. I will see my Lucy again."
