Inseparable

Confused

Lucy screeched and rolled out of the way, the wolf's claws narrowly missing her. She scrambled backwards to her feet and darted her eyes around in search for her keys. She caught sight of them right next to the wolf's legs. Figured that she never had them when she actually needs her spirits.

The wolf turned around and snarled at her, its eyes glowing bright in the dark. Lucy raised her hands and slowly walked backwards, the wolf following her movements. Stalking its prey. She desperately looked around for anything that would be used to fend off the creature.

"Uh-Nice wolf... Good boy..." She said nervously, the wolf only growling in response.

Pink flashed in the corner of her vision, and suddenly there was a wall of flames between the wolf and her. Lucy instinctively covered her eyes at the brightness of the flames, stepping away from the intense heat. The wolf also didn't seem so keen on the flames - it whimpered before turning tail and fleeing into the trees.

"Lucy, are you alright?"

Lucy glanced to the side as the flames died down and saw Natsu hurrying towards her, Happy trailing after.

"Yeah, I'm fine. Thanks for scaring it away," She replied, offering him a smile. Her eyes widened when he grabbed her wrist, his eyes darting over her body as if to check for injuries.

"Are you sure?" He urged, his worried eyes finally finding hers.

Lucy couldn't help chuckling softly at his antics. They'd faced much more serious and dangerous things before, and yet he was getting so worked up over an animal. "Yes, Natsu, I'm sure. The wolf didn't even touch me." Lucy paused, remembering how it had been going through their supplies. Bits of food lay scattered nearby. "I don't think the same can be said about our food, though..."

Happy suddenly wailed, flying towards the mess. "No, my fish! That stupid dog took all my fish!"

Lucy rolled her eyes with a sigh, "Happy, your fish is in the other bag - the wolf didn't take it. Besides, we can easily catch more fish along the way." The blue cat blinked, then flew over to the other bag to rummage through it.

Lucy realised Natsu was still holding her wrist, and she glanced at him. His gaze was still on her as if he had zoned out. She was glad that it was too dark to make out the slight dust of pink on her cheeks. "Natsu? I said I'm fine, you can let go..."

The dragon slayer blinked, then hastily let go of her wrist, rubbing the back of his neck awkwardly. "Oh, right - Sorry. Just uh, wanted to make sure you were okay." He flashed her a brief smile, but it didn't last long. He turned away, a troubled look on his face. Lucy frowned, wondering what was wrong. She didn't pry, though. Maybe he was just tired? It must have been pretty early in the morning as it was still dark.

Lucy shook her head and went about trying to salvage all the bits of food that she could. Most of it was still intact. Only a few had the wolf actually tried to eat. She threw those bits into the trees - another animal would enjoy it later. She stored the rest of the food back into the bag, closing and tying it securely. Hopefully, that would keep any more unwanted animals out of their supplies.

She glanced around once she was done. Happy had already drifted back off to sleep, cuddling a fish. Natsu was still up, sitting beside the fire and poking the coals with a stick, the same troubled and brooding expression on his face. To be honest, it worried her. Natsu was always so cheerful, childish and carefree - such expressions didn't belong on his face.

Lucy walked over, resting a light hand on his shoulder. "Hey, you should probably get some more sleep before the sun rises..."

Natsu barely responded to her touch, in the end only shaking his head. "No, I'll keep watch. Don't want another animal stealing our stuff. Get some sleep," He said curtly, not even looking at her.

Lucy withdrew her hand, sighing lightly. It was obvious something was bothering him, but she couldn't figure out what. "Alright, fine. See you in the morning," She made her way over to her sleeping bag, snuggling into the warmth. Tiredness washed over her, and within seconds she was asleep.

***

Natsu stared at the bundle of blankets that housed the sleeping Lucy. Small tufts of blonde hair were visible sticking out, and the bundle slowly rose and fell in time with her breathing.

He was confused - Big time. When the dragon slayer had woken up to find Lucy in danger he had immediately jumped to her defence. He had been scared. He was never scared, and especially not over an animal. But he was scared for her. Scared to lose her again. It had felt like someone had stabbed a knife into his chest. His throat had closed up, and he'd panicked.

Natsu had never felt like this before - at least, not this strongly. Sure, he'd feared for the blonde girl when they'd come close to dying so many times in the past. But to get so worked up over this? He couldn't explain. He didn't know what to do. He was extremely confused.

The dragon slayer groaned, dropping his head into his hands. Now he couldn't get the blonde out of his mind. Her smiling face, her beautiful hair and her cheerful personality. Pain slashed across his vision as he saw an image of her body, laying broken on the ground in a pool of blood, her body still and devoided of life.

With a gasp he reeled back, instantly looking at Lucy to make sure she was safe. That she was still alive. With a small sigh of relief, he saw that she was still in a deep sleep.

Natsu laid back on the ground, closing his eyes. He needed sleep.

But he couldn't get the haunting image of her broken body out of his mind.