He stood there with eyes of a pained man; one who suffered to look upon the woman who lay in the bed he stood before. She lay on her back, arms at her sides. Blonde hair cascaded down her shoulders. Skin a sickly pale, making the darkened bags that had formed under her eyes stand out.
Guilt, anger, loneliness, sadness. It all hit him at once, welling inside of him at the sight of her weakened state. A once lively and happy girl reduced to an exhausted shell of what she once was. Her spark had faded, though not without a fight. But as she lay like a corpse upon the bed, she had clearly lost that battle.
He could just hear her shallow breath as she slept. He should've held her back, should've stopped her once her pain began. But he believed in her words when she said, "I can do this," all while she could barely stand.
"I believe it's time we involve more of your comrades," he didn't need to look to know it was a tall woman had spoken, with tan skin and powder blue hair and eyes, the same as the rest of the people in the village. Her pale eyes looked saddened as she spoke, looking down at the woman as well, "You can't protect her from him on your own anymore."
Her comment made him tighten his hands into a pair of fists, his jaw clenching as he thought of the one that did this to her. How he'd never thought he'd hold such rage and hatred towards another.
"It's your decision," the woman spoke again.
"She asked me once if we could really do this on our own," he chuckled lightly, but it seemed to only hurt him more, "I laughed and told her to believe in us."
"But no one knew this would happen," the woman lowered her gaze.
"I'll leave tonight."
"Your wounds haven't healed-"
"I don't care. The sooner the better."
The woman let out a sigh, "Better be careful. Lady Lucy would hate to hear about you over doing it."
"You'll tell her?" he jumped.
"Indeed."
He let out a soft chuckle, "Fine, I'll be careful."
The woman left with a satisfied nod. He leaned over the bed once he heard the door to room shut behind her; reaching out his hand, his fingers gently pushed the stray strands of hair that had fallen onto her face.
So frail her body had become, he couldn't stand watching her grow weaker by the day.
His body felt heavy, and head felt clouded the more she remained in her unresponsive state. The eyes that looked at him so kindly and so lively reduced to a pair of dull, glowing irises. He found himself unable to stare into her eyes, his chest tightening unbearably everytime he dared even a glance at those haunting orbs. He felt himself almost crack thinking she may stay in that state forever, but he refused to entertain that thought further.
Instead, he began to think of the days leading to her current state.

"Does your chest hurt again?" he asked as Lucy leaned against his arm. Her hand had been clutched to her chest just before they had sat down to rest from their walk.
She slowly nodded her head, "Just a little," she mumbled.
"Should we get back then?"
"No, it's only a small throb," she smiled up at him, it filled him with warmth as he smiled back at her, "Let's go explore some more!" she got up pulling on his arm, dragging him into the city's market place.
In a matter of days her 'small throb' in her chest would turn into an unbearable ache. Her pale and thin finger curled tightly into the blanket and the other clutching to her agonizing chest. Her eyes tightly shut but it didn't stop the waterfall of tears coming down her face. She grinded and clenched her teeth together in order to hold back her cries, but she lost her battle against her pain as she would be screaming and cry from the pain in mere hour or so. That became a tragic norm.
She'd either be fine one moment and the pain could knock her to the ground the next. Sometimes she'd wake to it, sometimes it would be a minor pain and grow throughout the day or a number of days before it reached to her screaming. She'd gotten better at holding back her cries, which he didn't like all that much cause she also got better at hiding it as to not worry him.
He was at her side if he wasn't at the border fighting the Li. He was there holding her hand or he'd hold her until the pain eased or she passed out. He was afraid the barrier would shatter at any moment, but it stayed strong for months despite Lucy's condition.
"Natsu," her voice dry from screaming and crying not too long ago. Small tears hanging from her lashes.
Natsu held her hand, squeezing it lightly in response to her calling his name. She took in a slow breath, hitching slightly before shakily exhaling.
"It hurts," the tears fell down her cherry red cheeks.
Natsu had wiped her cheek dry with his free hand, "I know," he frowned at his words.
What could he say? He couldn't make her pain go away, if he could he would've done so when she first mentioned her chest having a throb. She could only endure it until they could find a way to ease it. All they could do was a combination of different drugs and having a healing spell done daily. It helped only half of the time, other times it did next to nothing when she desperately needed it work.
Her body weakened every passing day, her movements slowed and her strength dwindled as her muscles shriveled up. Her legs barely able to hold the rest of her thin body up anymore.
"I can do it!" she yelled at him when he found her on the floor of her room one evening. He had tried to lift her until she snapped at him. He wanted to respect her and stood at a small distance where he watched her continously struggle to to lift herself. She couldn't make it past her knees no matter how hard she tried. The evening sun set before he kneeled before her, raising his hands up in front of her. Instead of just lifting her, helping her stand was the best he could do.
"I'm sorry," she kept her head hung.
"What are you apologizing for?" Natsu tilted his head.
"Snapping at you," she cried, "You're just trying to help me. But I just wanted to stand on my own," she wiped her oncoming tears with her sleeves, "At least once I wanted to stand with my own strength, but I can't!"
She was frustrated, she'd been frustrated since the first signs of her body weakening began.
"Use me as your strength," he suggested, much to her surprise, "Think of me as Lucy's Brute!"
Lucy burst into giggles at his words, "Brute is too fitting for you."
"What's that suppose to mean?"
She chuckled, "Alright my brute, let's get off the floor," she placed her hands on his. From there he slowly stood and she clutched to his hands. Slowly with his help she was able to stand using some of her own strength.
The look on her face looking down at her bare feet against the cool floor. She couldn't stop smiling, and he didn't want her to stop either.

He let out a sigh, gazing down at her pained expression that had morphed on her features within her slumber. Nothing was helping to reduce her suffering.
How could her body get so weak?
The ritual wasn't suppose to do this much damage to her. The elders said that with Lucy, she should've been fine.
"It's decided," he began, talking to her as if she was awake to respond. Maybe she could hear him, he wished that was the case. That thought made him feel less alone in the cold room, "I'm leaving for the guild tonight."
He slowly reached for her hand, holding it under his. Her skin was icy, she could've been mistaken for a corpse if he didn't see her chest rise and fall from her slow breathe.
"I thought when I left for the guild it'd be with you, and with this job complete," he frowned, his grip tightening for a moment, "I'll be back as soon as I can. All I ask is you be awake when I do."