Finished - April 25, 2020

Word Count - 1284

Music - Billie Eilish - i love you

Summary:
Lucy returns home from a journey to find Aquarius's Key. Instead of rejoicing her return, Natsu notices that Lucy looks very depressed. He immediately tends to her wounds and is determined to find out what happened.

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Lucy couldn't feel her body and she didn't notice any of her actions. Her mind was completely dazed and she couldn't focus on anything. Her eyes didn't see where she was walking as her legs unconsciously took her home.

Everything felt dark, as if there was no sunlight in her life. Even the moon seemed to fade into the night sky. Wading slowly through the empty streets the woman trudged, her mind completely numb. Even past midnight the lamp lights flickered, yet they held no hope for the depressed blonde.

However, the late hour held one wide awake person. Buzzing with anticipation, he waited for his partner to return. Natsu sat on Lucy's couch, eyes glued to the front door. He knew she would return from her search today, she had told him so.

So there he had sat all day, expecting her appearence at any moment. His fury companion passed out in the seat next to him, deciding to actually sleep through the night. Natsu's heart leapt in his chest when he heard soft footsteps climb up the stairs.  A few clicks later and the door slowly creaked open, Lucy was finally back!

Upon seeing her, instead of joy; Natsu's grin fell. Lucy looked awful. Her hair was down and clothes slightly tattered. Yet, what conceded him the most was her expression.

Lucy's gaze starred through the floor and didn't look up to him. Her chin pointed downwards as her lips hung open loosely, showing the slightest bit of her front teeth. She looked extremely vacant, as if she was a walking corpse. Her eyes had lost their shine and her arms hung limply at her sides. She didn't even acknowledge Natsu's presence.

"Luce?" Natsu took a step forward nervously.

She didn't respond to him and simply stood frozen, her gaze unmoving from the carpet.

Natsu drew closer and placed a hand on her shoulder, but he immediately retracted it when he felt something wet. Looking at his fingers he saw blood, upon second glance he noticed that her shoulder was violently torn.

Eyes wide, he looked back to Lucy's stone face and dropped his shoulders. Taking her hand gently Natsu lead her to the couch and sat her down. Quickly he turned back to her dresser and retrieved some pajamas.

"Luce, you need to put these on." Natsu placed the material in her lap. Lucy seemed to understand and nodded as her body moved on its own.

Natsu turned around and gave her the privacy she needed to change. He knew she had finished when he no longer heard the rustling of fabric. Pivoting, he returned his attention to his partner. She sat on the floor lazily her eyes not focused on anything particular.

Seeing Lucy in such a state pained Natsu, he needed to find out what happened to make her look so incredibly depressed. However, first he needed to take care of her. Therefore he strode into the bathroom and opened the cupboard, inside he grabbed the first-aid kit. He took a wash cloth and held it under the water until it was warm. When satisfied he returned to Lucy, who had not moved an inch.

Sighing sadly, Natsu positioned himself behind her. Since she was leaning her back against the couch, Natsu simply sat on that cushion. He set to work and cleaned her shoulder wound. Lucy didn't flinch even when he washed and disinfected the deepest parts. This worried him greatly.

Carefully he wrapped bandages under her armpit and around her bicep, even around her ribs by her collarbone for better support. Lucy would always care for his wounds and Natsu hers. This was a normal and frequent occurrence.

Natsu tucked the end of the bandage within itself and finished. In her dazed state, Lucy acknowledged his kind actions and rested her forehead against the side of his knee. He was glad that Lucy was responding and relaxed a bit. Taking the brush from the side table he started to untangle the knots in her hair slowly.

He didn't want to rush Lucy into telling him what troubled her, but he was dying to know what happened.

"Hey, do wanna talk about it?" He asked softly, continuing his combing of her long locks.

Natsu didn't expect an answer from her, therefor was surprised when he heard her voice for the first time all evening. "I failed."

He halted his brushing for a moment to process her words, he stayed silent and waited for her to continue the story.

"That was the last lead to finding Aquarius's Key. There was nothing there. I don't think I'll ever find her. She is gone forever." Her voice trembled.

The cloth covering his thigh dampened as he knew tears fell from her eyes. Natsu's heart ached to see her cry, he hated seeing her sad. Yet he knew exactly how she felt.

Natsu stroked her hair as she cried, he knew what a horrible feeling it was to fail in searching for something so important. For he spent most of his childhood looking for Igneel and always came back empty.

"Hey, look at me." He gently turned Lucy around to face him. She sat on the floor and peered up at him through glassy eyes. "It's gonna be okay."

Lucy's face scrunched in sorrow and reached out her hands towards him for comfort. Natsu reacted accordingly and wrapped his arms around her head and shoulders. He could feel Lucy thread her arms around his torso and lay her head against his belly.

They stayed in that position for several minutes as Lucy let out her tears, sobbing greatly. All-the-while Natsu soothed her by petting her hair and rubbing her back.

Once she seemed calm Natsu retracted his grip and stood from his place on the couch. "I'll give you some space now. I'll come back again tomorrow to check up on you."

Lucy watched him as he picked up the sleeping exceed and made his way towards the window. Even in these few moments, the area he held her felt cold and abandoned.

"Please don't leave!" She stretched her arm out. "Thats the last thing I want you to do."

Natsu stopped and looked back to her surprised. He definitely didn't accept her to ask him to stay, usually he would be the one to sneak in and over stay his welcome. However his expression softened and he closed the window.

Placing Happy back on the sofa he kneeled down to Lucy who still sat on the floor. Her face looked embarrassed and slightly red in the dim moonlight. Attempting to avoid his gaze she looked down at her fingers.

Once they made eye contact, Lucy saw that Natsu was smiling tenderly, an expression she rarely saw from him. Natsu lowered his arms and considerately pick her up, Lucy wrapped her hands around his neck, trying to help as much as she could.

Together they walked to the bed, as Natsu placed her down they situated themselves under the covers. Lucy didn't let go of Natsu's hand, not wanting his positive warmth to leave her dismal cold. Even in their sleep the two mages clutched onto each other.

As the long night continued the small family laid peacefully. For the sun would bring a new day and with it; new opportunities. Neither Natsu nor Lucy would forget this tender eve.