Promise Me Please

Childhood trauma

⚠️Trigger warning:
• child torture
• pedophilia
• talk of rape
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*flashback, 10 years ago*
{NO ONE'S POV}
"So you're really leaving then?"

"Yeah. Lucy's been crying all night. She insisted on coming, hoping for one last chance to see Natsu. She should be around here somewhere."

"It's a pity you have to go so soon, Jude."

The two businessmen exchanged pleasant conversation, unaware of their little eavesdropper. Natsu's eyes lit up when he heard Lucy's name.

'Lucy's here!' Natsu thought giddily, and he let out a squeal, then quickly cleared his throat and looked around to see if anyone had seen him.

With the intention now of going to look for Lucy, Natsu practically skipped down the hallway of his mansion home.

Natsu knew every corridor and cranny of the mansion like the back of his hand, but no matter where he looked, he couldn't find Lucy.

He had checked the whole interior, so all that was left was outside. Knowing how much Lucy loved flowers, Natsu went in the direction of the garden.

Who he found, however, was not Lucy, but three men dressed in all black. Instinctively, Natsu crouched. Something told him he shouldn't get caught by these people. One of them looked scary enough to crush rocks with his bare hands.

"You positive the little missy'll be here, Peatie?" The bodybuilder asked.

"I swear I heard the maids talking about it! She's definitely here tonight!" A short, stocky man responded vehemently.

"We'll swipe the princess right under his nose, and he'll have no choice but to blame the Dragneels." The last, a bean sprout of a man, chuckled.

"I can't wait to get my hands on her." Peatie licked his lip. "We can have some fun with the little missy before collecting the ransom right?"

The bean sprout sneered. "Some souvenir pictures could be sent as proof of life. Although the princess won't be able to marry after I'm done with her!"

"Ah, Lucy-sama! I'm gonna gobble you up! It's all your fault for being too cute and innocent!" Peatie said lustily.

"Peatie, George, shut up!" The bodybuilder snarled. "Unless you want to get caught."

From his hiding place behind a bush, Natsu covered his mouth with both hands to avoid shouting at the intruders. He wasn't scared, but angry. These people dared to break into his turf and mess with his friend? They needed to be taught a lesson.

Natsu wasn't an idiot though. He couldn't handle these bastards on his own. He'd go and get his dad and some guards. That butler Mr. Capricorn was super strong and protective of Lucy.

"There she is!"

The voice of bean sprout George made Natsu whirl around. Sure enough, Lucy had been in the garden. She was sitting on a bench, twirling something in her hands. It was the flower crown Natsu made her. A light blush dusted her cheeks.

The three pedophiles approached her silently. Natsu knew he had no time anymore. But he wasn't going to let them hurt Lucy.

So Natsu ran forward, and used the only weapon he had available: his teeth. They sunk into the calf of Peatie, who howled.

His leg jerked and nailed Natsu in the stomach. The force made him fly back, unlatching his teeth from Peatie's leg. But the damage was done.

"Who's there?" Lucy stared into the darkness. When she received no reply, she frowned and hurried toward the light of the mansion. Mr. Capricorn came out to greet her.

"Idiot! Fool! Dunderhead! You ruin everything! What were you thinking?" The bodybuilder hit Peatie hard.

Peatie cowered in terror. "I'm sorry Julien! But a wild animal bit me, I swear!"

"The hell you talking about?" Julien snapped. "Do we look like we're in the jungle? There are no wild animals here!"

"But there are wild kids." George pointed at Natsu, who lay on the stone path, still trying to recover from the blow to his stomach.

"Oh?" Julien smirked, walking over and grabbing Natsu by the hair. He lifted him into the air. Natsu bit his lip so he wouldn't give them the satisfaction of crying out in pain, and drew blood.

"This is the brat that caused us to lose our precious prey?" Julien punched Natsu, hard, multiple times before releasing his hair. Natsu felt to the ground, unable to move from all the pain.

The other men, who had been apprehensive about beating a child at first, slowly got in the mood. Peatie stepped on Natsu's arm and put his full weight on it. The snap of bone rang out into the silent night.

Tears welled up in Natsu's eyes. He curled into a ball, wanting to wake up from the nightmare. But it wouldn't end.

After a few long minutes of punching and kicking, the men decided to spice things up. They were taking perverse pleasure in Natsu's tears.

George dug in his pockets and found an unopened box of cigarettes. Peatie had a lighter, so they each grabbed one and took a long drag.

Julien was the first to have the idea to snuff the fire of the cigarette on Natsu's skin. He pressed it hard, and left a clean circular burn. The other two found great delight in this, and made it a competition on who could get the roundest circle.

Once they were out off cigarettes, Julien pulled out a knife. He licked the blade, then stabbed it into the ground an inch away from Natsu's face. He stared at it blankly.

Natsu's eyes were dead. To avoid feeling the pain, he had retreated so far within himself that he convinced himself it wasn't him. Some other child was being beaten and threatened with a knife. It wasn't him. He wasn't in pain.

"Want to know what I'm going to do with this knife, kiddo?" Julien smiled evilly. "I'm going to kill you. I'm going to slice your neck slowly."

He reclaimed the blade from the ground and brought it to the right side of Natsu's neck. A thin line of blood formed in the wake of the knife's tip. Right when he was about to hit the jugular, a bright flashlight illuminated the scene.

"Stop!" Igneel roared. His eyes were on his son, and they glowed bright red with fiery fury.

Julien, Peatie, and George all tried to run. Of course they were caught, and interrogated. When standing trial, they claimed to be tortured, but the videos of their interrogations mysteriously disappeared and no one batted an eye. They were sentenced to death row and pushed to the front of the waiting list.

Natsu was rushed to the hospital. He was put in a medically-induced coma for a week before barely stabilizing, and he ended up staying in the hospital for three months.
*end flashback*

{NATSU'S POV}
I have a massive headache. All my memories are flowing back to me now. I feel like an idiot. No wonder Lucy was so upset with me. I'd be pretty upset too if my childhood love sealed off all their memories of me.

"Are you okay?" Principal Makarov asks.

"No. I need to find Lucy."