Crushes

Moonlit Lake

"Bye, Mr. Yajima! Bye Ke-Yah-chan!" Lucy called, waving enthusiastically.

"Phew! I'm glad that's over~!" She said, as they walked out of sight, down the path into the looming forest.

The trio had decided to walk back to the guild hall, since the train ride was long, compared to the two day walk. Plus, it was the end of summer- almost a year marking the anniversary of Fairy Tail 2- and the weather was nice.

"Aye, sir! Mr. Yajima is a mean boss." Happy agreed.

"Happy! He isn't mean! A little tough and bossy, maybe..." Lucy defended.

"Tch. Whatever. Let's just get home so we can EAT!" Natsu said, pumping a fist in the air.

"Aye! I can't wait to have some of Miras yummy fish! Oh, and to see Charle, too!" Happy says, flying by with a half drooling half heart-eyes look on his face.

They charge ahead, leaving Lucy to roll her eyes.

As they draw closer to Magnolia, the sun draws closer to the horizon.

"It'll be dark, soon." Lucy points out.

"Aye!" Happy agrees.

"These woods are kinda creepy, don't you think? Maybe we should find a path out of here... before it gets pitch black outside." She says, sounding nervous.

"It's okay, I can light the way!" Natsu exclaims, lighting his fist and holding it out in front of him.

"That's great, Natsu..." Lucy says, offering him a weak smile "but I really think we should leave here by nightfall... I just have a bad feeling about it... something feels off..." she says the last part more to herself than anyone else.

The guys give Lucy a sideways glance as the continue walking, and then Happy and Natsu share a look.

Lucy does look on edge.

"Alright then!" Natsu declares, "Happy!"
"Aye, sir?"
"Go ahead of us and find the quickest path out to get us home, buddy."
"Aye, sir!" Happy says in his serious-voice, giving a salute before flying up and ahead of them, out of sight.

"Thank you," Lucy says after a long moment of silence.
"Its no problem," Natsu says, offering his genuine grin.
Lucy can't help but smile back.

It helps, having Natsu at her side.
With him there to help her, Lucy knows they can face anything.
But that doesn't stop her anxiety from occasionally getting in her way.
Hence, the unexplained fear of the dark woods at night.

*Twenty minutes later*

"Luceeee, my feet hurt!" Natsu complains, dragging his sandal clad feet across the dirt path.

"Well, what do you want me to do about it? I can't heal like Wendy can." Lucy replies, a little irritably.

They've been walking for hours, now.

"Besides, Happy should be back soon to lead us out of here... right?" Lucy says.

"Oh, right!" Natsu perks up, "Happy! He'll lead us home~. Then we can eat~ and sleep~ and fight~" Natsu says excitedly, mumbling in a dream-like state.

Lucy sighs, exhaling audibly. "Where is that dumb cat anyway?" She mumbles to herself, before tripping over a root and flailing to keep her balance.
"W-woah.. EEEY!...ah. Ha!"

She smiles victoriously as she manages to regain her composure, and smiles up at Natsu, who's looking at her funny. He's got a mixed expression, concern and amusement.

"You're weird." He says, but he's smiling as he reaches back to take her arm.

"W-what you you doing?" Lucy asks, her face heating up as he touches her.

He gives her a confused look, as he links their arms and starts to lead them onward, "I'll keep you steady, and this way you can see better." He says, lifting his free fist in the air and lighting it on fire.
"Oh. Y-yeah, that makes sense." Lucy nods, still too embarrassed to look him in the face.

As they continue on the path, it seems to get impossibly darker, and darker.

"N-natsu, look!" Lucy gasps, pointing to the trees and plants around them. They are all wilting and dead.
Even the ground underneath seems void of life.

"Zeref." Natsu growls, a low rumble in his chest.

Lucy's eyes are wide and terrified as she looks around, unconsciously holding tighter to Natsu's arm.

"Tch, the bastard may as well have scorched the place!" Natsu says angrily, stomping past the decay, dragging Lucy with him.

"His death magic..." Lucy mumbles "it looks like he released it in waves around here."

Natsu simply nods, his face set in anger and determination.

Finally, after a few minutes of walking in silence, the dead wood turns back to the living (albeit still dark) woods.

Lucy stumbles in her steps as her heartbeats erratically, harder, faster- Ba-Dum BaDum.
What is this feeling? She wonders, her free hand wandering up to her chest.

And then they see it.

There's a clearing up ahead, and as the walk closer, they can see that its bright.

Right smack in the middle is a clear lake, white moonlight illuminating the small space of dense forest.

"Wow..." Lucy whispers, taken aback by the beauty.

Natsu finally lets go of her arm, in order to cover up a yawn and run at his eyes.

Its got to be midnight by now.

Lucy takes the freedom and walks to the edge of the lake, taking in her surroundings.
There are cat tails and wild flowers growing alongside the shore, a few lilies even dot the lake. The last of the nights fireflies twinkle like stars, buzzing around the clearing.
Its absolutely stunning.

This lake is so... serene. Its so peaceful, here. This feeling...

"Hey, Lucy," Natsu calls to her, disrupting her thoughts.

"Eh?"

"Let's sleep here." Natsu mumbles, already pulling out a used sleeping bag from his sack and getting comfortable on the makeshift bedding.

"But-" she starts to complain, memories of the scary dead patch of the woods they'd walked through flashing before her minds eye, but then she looks around, and she sees Natsu- comfortable and already snoring safe and sound.

With a sigh, and a silent prayer that Happy finds them quickly in the morning, she too, lays out her bag and falls asleep beside the moonlit lake.