Finished - August 9, 2021

Word Count - 6222

Music - Efisio Cross - A Sacrifice to Save You

Summary:
Natsu, Lucy and Happy and on a Mission to retrieve a special artifact for "The Collector" when something goes wrong. Natsu and Lucy walk into a trap and are caught! Will they be able to escape? What do their captors want?

**********************************

How could she have been so blind? How did she not see the obvious warnings?! They waltzed head on without any precaution and now they were paying the price.

The job seemed easy, therefore there was no need for weariness. A humble collector requested the retrieval of an ancient relic. The only dangers they faced were endless tunnels and bearing each others company for a few hours in the dark. However, a much greater threat awoke from inside those caves.

Lucy had overlooked the position of the relic and exactly what the relic was. She had been more focused on how to find it, rather than what it did. This was their downfall.

The relic was called the "Living Glass"; a porcelain basin, hand painted and extremely delicate. The large fragile bowl held dozens of living memories of fallen Mages from hundreds of years ago. All collected by wizards and preserved in the magical vessel.

What Natsu and Lucy found out too late, was the great ability the simple bowl held. As the two mages were about to complete their task and claim the relic, something unexpected happened.

Natsu was about to touch the glossy surface, but before he could even lay a finger on it, hell broke loose.

Firstly; their only light source (being Natsu's flame) suddenly went out. Leaving he, Lucy and Happy in complete darkness.

Secondly; the ground started to shake and their foundation shook so violently that no one could keep their balance.

They soon realized why Natsu's fire disappeared, for Lucy couldn't use her Spirits and Happy couldn't fly. None of them could use their magic.

In the darkness Lucy smelled something sour, her eyes stung and started to water violently. She couldn't see anything but she knew that her vision was going dark because the odd gas was making harder to breathe and her hearing was becoming fuzzy.

Everything happened so quickly and Lucy barely remembered any of it. But at the moment she was less focused on what had happened and more worried about what was in store for them.

Because when Lucy woke up, she found herself somewhere unfamiliar. She was strapped up against a brick wall, her wrists already numb from their tight restrictions. Her legs spread about a foot apart and her arms stretched out on either side of her, each appendage bolted to the wall behind her.

Natsu was in the same position, directly next to her. Since he was taller his left arm hovered just above her right. He had not woken up yet and it looked like he was injured. Blood from a wound ran down his face and met with a large spot on his left side.

Lucy considered herself lucky, finding herself unharmed upon her arrival. However she waited to count her blessings for she had not yet seen their captors, nor learned of their intentions. Lucy took advantage of the solitary silence and looked for signs of weakness in their small prision room.

Unfortunately, not many imperfections were found. Four solid walls of concrete held no windows, one heavy metal door with no handle on the inside. The floor was barren save for one empty table tucked in the far corner. One lonely light fixture hung from the high ceiling, every so often it would flicker, sending the room into momentary darkness.

During one of these electrical fits, the flashing light seemed to wake up Natsu. For Lucy heard him groan and noticed his head moving from side to side. The waking boy gained his senses and immediately noticed the pain in his head and abdomen. Secondly he realized his situation and tugged against his restraints, attempting to use his fire to break the bonds. However, nothing seemed fruitful and he stopped using up his energy.

Turning he saw Lucy next to him, his shoulders slumped. She had been caught too, at least she didn't look hurt.

"Lucy, are you alright?" He asked wanting to make sure she was truly unharmed.

"I should be asking you that question." Lucy moved her head towards him and Natsu almost laughed. Of corse she was worried about him, Lucy was always an incredibly kind soul.

"Oh come on, this is nothin Luce. You know I can take more than this." Natsu scoffed and grinned.

Just from that one sentence Lucy's hopes rose, his confidence and gave her strength. Plus, his smile always made her happy, therefore she couldn't let him down.

However, their short conversation was interrupted. A clicking noise captured their attention as both Natsu and Lucy looked straight ahead to the opening door. Through the frame stepped someone Natsu never expected to see. However, Lucy had figured it out and she knew exactly who was approaching.

The man was dressed very clean, wearing dress pants and a vest with a tie tucked in. The air surrounding him was full of cockiness and elegance. His grey hair slicked back and a walking stick held in his left hand. He obviously didn't need this stick to walk, but the gem stone mounted atop of the slender cane made it an accent piece.

This was the Client who had hired them to find the relic, he called himself "The Collector". The founder of a famous Museum full of ancient artifacts from all ends of the world.

"Welcome Fairytail." The polished man opened his arms wide and greeted his guests.

"What the hell?!" Natsu exclaimed, more to himself than anyone else.

"Did you enjoy my little adventure?" He asked, almost laughing their predicament.

"You hired us just so you could use us!" Lucy spat at him.

"Of corse." The Collector smiled smugly. "It wasn't that hard either. No doubt I had to do some research on you and some digging on your personal lives. But it was worth it in the end. You are here."

"That was a dirty trick." Natsu growled.

"But it worked." He strode up to Natsu and looked him closely in the eye. "Natsu Dragneel, Salamander, END, Son of Igneel, Dragon Slayer; you are known by many names. You are feared across the nation and known to wipe out all your enemies. You hold your friends in high esteem and fight for them. Your loyalty is unmatched."

Natsu didn't know if he should be flattered by this or worried, but mostly he felt uncomfortable that his strange man knew so much about him. But his thoughts focused back to the present when The Collector moved away from Natsu and stepped in front of Lucy.

"Lucy Heartfilia, Daughter of Jude Heartfilia, single heir to the Heartfilia Konzern company. Celestial Spirit Mage, you treat your Spirits like friends and family. You hold one of the three Fairy Spells, Fairy Sphere. You are clever and outwit your opponents using your brain or sometimes even befriending them. Your heart is large and open to forgiveness." The Collector glanced over to Natsu and aimed his next words at him. "Even to those who have left you."

Natsu's eyes widened at his comment. This man knew that Natsu felt the Guild for a year to train and how it affected his relationship with Lucy. Hardly anyone knew about his departure! For Natsu left directly after a war and the Guild immediately disbanded, separating everyone. But this man knew what Natsu had done, only people in the Guild knew. How did he find out?

"Something all Fairytail mages share is an entitled scenes of loyalty to one another, a trait I quite envy." The Collector backed away and leaned against the empty table, crossing his arms. "However this characteristic is extremely annoying when I need information."

"You won't get anything out of us!" Natsu smirked.

"I know." The Collector sighed. "Looking into your profiles I realized there would be no way to get either of you to talk. Natsu Dragneel jumps into fights and isn't scared of pain and prides himself on the physical limits of his own body."

Lucy's heart skipped when she heard this description, she always hated it when Natsu thoughtlessly ran into conflict. He forgets that he is human and he is not indestructible.

"Lucy Heartfilia, calls the Guild family and loves them with all her being. She would never betray the people who gave her a home. She would never talk, for her mind is strong."

"Ha!" Natsu boasted. "Looks like you are stuck."

Lucy silently scolded him for speaking out, only agitating their captor.

"I calculated everything out, I knew how every moment would play. But somehow your little pet escaped. Now I must adjust my plans."

"Thats was your plan? Use us to get Happy and force him to talk? You think too little of him." Lucy defended her friend, glad that Happy was able to escape and send help their way.

"You think too little of me." The Collector straightened and smirked, his scruffy beard moving with his lifted cheeks. "I have my ways of making you two talk."

"Unlikely." Natsu growled.

"Here's what I want to know." The Collector lifted his walking stick and started to examine the jewel upon it. "Mavis Vermillion, your first Master. I know that she is still alive, but only members of your guild are able to see her. How is this possible. She was born over one hundred years ago, yet she keeps her youth. How is this possible?"

The Collector's question was met with silence and determined expressions.

"Alright, let's begin the real fun." The man pulled up his collared sleeves and loosened his tie. Turning around he pulled a sheet off the table in the corner of the room. Hidden under the blanket laid an assortment of tools. Multiple kinds of knives, pliers, hooks, needles and sharp utensil's.

The sight of these objects churned Lucy's stomach and elevated her heart beat, this guy was no joke.

The Collector passed his hand over his many tools, slowly deciding which to use first. He settled upon surgical scalpel and flipped it around in his fingers.

Natsu stood up as straight as he could in his predicament, readying himself for the next moments. He maintained eye contact with the Collector, his grimace never failing.

"Lets put that Fairytail loyalty to the test, shall we?"

"You can bruise me, kill me, but I will never betray my friends." Natsu spat.

"Oh I am fully aware of that." The Collector smiled, an expression Natsu was not expecting. "Remember, I know all about you. I know your history, your friendships and your determination is strong. However, it is your loyalty will be your downfall."

"As if!" Natsu scoffed.

"You would die for your friends, but would you let them die for you?"

Natsu's heart stopped for a moment and dread filled his mind as he watched the Collector turn away from Natsu and place himself infront of Lucy. The man lifted the sharp knife and slowly started to break the skin on Lucy's right forearm.

Lucy bit her lip to hold back from screaming, the pain elongated as he gradually dragged the small blade across her skin.

The Collector didn't look away from Natsu's horrified face, enjoying the tense expression. He watched as Natsu pulled against his metal restraints, trying to help his partner. The collector knew all about their "relationship". How close they had become over the years, This was something constant that he had found in his research. The fact that Natsu always came to Lucy's aid, always helped her when she was in trouble. So much to even put himself in harms way. This is how he planned on getting information from the couple.

After about ten seconds, he finally lifted his blade away from Lucy's arm. She took in a shaking breath, trying to maintain her focus. A new deep slash about six inches long dripped blood on the floor.

"You're going to pay for that." Natsu was so angry, he could had to control his voice.

"That?" The Collector laughed. "That was just the beginning."

Lucy couldn't help but let out an exclamation as the Collector grabbed her arm and squeezed the blood out of her fresh cut.

"You stay so strong for others, but what about each other?" The man taunted. "I've been keeping a close eye on you and I see how you interact. I know your secrets. You can fool each other, but you cant fool me."

Both Natsu and Lucy made eye contact, they knew exactly what he was talking about. They never had this conversation, but they knew very well the situation. The obvious unspoken, longing they both held for each other.

Even with out speaking, they both knew that they loved each other, but no one wanted to be the first one to say it. Since they both obviously knew, it didn't hold a huge importance and was never pushed forward.

In every situation their tight relationship always served as an asset. Their close partnership made them an amazing team during missions and fights. However, now this served as a problem.

The collector specifically turned to Natsu and gave him a pitiful expression. "Didn't you promise you would protect her?"

Natsu tensed and froze at the mans words, how could he know about that?

Before Natsu had time to retaliate The Collector pulled something from his pocket and jabbed it into Lucy's side. The Collector wickedly smiled as Lucy screamed out in pain as some kind of yellow crystal sent waves of electricity through her body.

"Stop!" Natsu yelled in protest, his wrists starting to bleed from pulling on his restraints.

"Come on boy, you can save her. Tell me Mavis's secret to eternal youth." The Collector was enjoying both Lucy's torment and Natsu's mental torture.

Not able to watch anymore Natsu hung his head and simply listened to Lucy's wails, the sound staining his mind.

**********************************

Time seemed unimportant and meaningless, neither Natsu or Lucy had any idea how long they had been there. Days could be hours and minutes could be weeks. They had given up trying to figure it out, their mental energy hanging on by a thread.

Countless times the Collector had come to interrogate them. Each session of torture upon one person at a time, only stopping when The Collector had gotten some kind of satisfaction from the watching prisoner.

In their moments of peace, they barely spoke, each trying to sleep as much as they could before a new pain was added to their long list of injuries.

Natsu was missing a few fingernails and one of his sharp canines, plus a broken femur.

Lucy held one of her eyes closed, due to a slash over her eyelid. Her hair was cut short for humiliation and a large open stomach wound.

All these injuries were surrounded by bruises, abrasions and even some burns from the electric crystal. All around they looked as terrible as they felt.

"What are we going to do?" Lucy barely recognized Natsu's voice, his depressed tone unfamiliar to her.

Looking over to him she saw his head hung down as if he had no hope left in him. It broke her heart to see him so mentally destroyed.

"Hey." Her voice called out to him gently. "Happy is out there; he, Erza and Gray are looking for us right now."

"Why aren't they here yet?" He turned his head slightly towards her.

"You aren't very accustom to being the damsel, are you?" Lucy laughed slightly.

"I guess not."

"You never were patient."

"No." He chuckled softly. "I don't know how much longer I can do this." He sighed, his mind slumping again. "I can't stand watching. Just watching you, while he..."

Natsu's body shook, not able to finish his sentence. She could tell that Natsu was crying, even though he hid his face from her. Even in situations like this he tried to stay strong, probably for her.

Knowing the real reason for his break down, Lucy knew that it was her turn next. Therefore Natsu was probably preparing himself to watch her torture.

"You know me, I'll be okay." Lucy tried to console his torn heart. "I can be strong like you, for you and for everyone else. We both promised each other that we wouldn't break. Not for ourselves but for the safety of everyone else."

The unwavering tone of Lucy's voice helped calm Natsu's nerves, yet he was still a wreck inside. He took a deep breath and wiped his tears on his shoulders. Lucy always knew exactly what to say to keep his spirits up. It was one of the many things he loved about her.

Day one; he had promised himself that after they conquered this battle, he would tell her how he felt. His new goal in life was to live, to live so he could spend his life with Lucy.

Just in time for Natsu to recover, the door in front of them opened sharply. The Collector entered the small room, however he looked off. His hair more disheveled than usual and his fancy accessories absent from his usually professional persona. Instead an angry, disoriented man burst through the doors.

The Collector strode immediately up to Natsu and pointed a finger in his face. "You are going to talk. Today."

Natsu didn't answer, instead he stared back blankly and rather confused. Thid was definitely a change in atmosphere for their interrogational meetings.

"I have waisted too much time on you both!" The man pulled at his hair in frustration. "I had it all planed out! How could I have miscalculated?"

"You doubted Fairytail, a mistake the wise only make once." Lucy held her chin high.

"Still fistey enough to talk back? I guess I've been too easy on you." The Collector grabs hold of a random knife from his collection on the table and plunges it into Lucy's left shoulder.

Unable to keep her voice down, Lucy roared in pain. The knife cutting so deep into her flesh, that when the man let go, the blade stuck inside her and stayed in place.

"Maybe I should make you my new pin cushion?" He took another blade and stabbed it into her thigh.

Lucy's vision started to blur, but she could still hear Natsu yell out in protest to her treatment.

Natsu couldn't bear to watch, yet he also couldn't tare his eyes away from the terrible sight.

"Stop! Leave her alone!" He almost begged.

"Awe. Is our little Dragon feeling left out?" The Collector teased, sticking one last knife into the wound of Lucy's stomach.

Blood squirted from Lucy's lips as her already torn stomach added a new whole, reversing any healing that had started.

"I said stop!" Natsu called out again, his mind going insane from not being able to stop the parade of pain upon his love.

Surprisingly, the man paused his assault upon Lucy and turned to Natsu.

"You want some fun too?" The Collector took two fingers and jabbed them inside a large wound on Natsu's side.

Natsu grunted in discomfort as he twisted them, moving his insides around. Natsu couldn't speak, he couldnt scream. Instead a blinding white pain erupted his senses.

"There." The man removed his fingers and Natsu caught his breath. His mind recovering from the overwhelming sensation of agony. "Satisfied now?"

The answer he received was a collected wad of blood and spit, Nasu shot the putrid contents of his mouth into the Collector's face.

The man stepped back in surprise and wiped his face off in disgust. "How dare you!?"

Instead of retaliating against Natsu, the man returned to Lucy and twisted the knife already inside her wounded stomach.

The exact reaction Natsu had to his predicament, was repeated with Lucy. Her voice caught in her throat and blood flowed down her abdomen.

This was much worse than getting hurt himself, instead he was forced to watch it happen to her.

"You can stop this." The Collector pushed. "Just tell me how Mavis is still alive!"

Natsu's mind froze, both he and Lucy had stayed so strong. They hadn't leaked any vital Fairytail information. Was he really willing to risk everyone else's safety on the hopes that this man might leave them alone?

"...don't N-Natsu..." A painful whisper danced off Lucy's bloodied lips. Her voice laced with utter agony, yet she was still hanging on.

In response to Lucy's strength, Natsu closed his eyes and tried to ignore her cries of pain. He knew these sounds and smells would haunt him for years. He simply prayed that it would be over soon.

"I've had enough of you two!" These words caught Natsu's attention and he turned back to see the Collector snatch a large serrated knife. "If you're not going to talk, I have no use for you."

"No!" Natsu yelled desperately as the man latched onto Lucy's right arm.

She screamed in anguish as the man started to slowly saw off her appendage. The pain lasted minutes as he slowly carved through her bone. Lucy so dizzy from blood loss, she started to loose feeling for the second half. Her head laid limply upon her chest as the the man still chiseled away her flesh.

Natsu just watched as her hand with her guild mark fell to the floor limply. The hand he had held in his own, the arm Lucy used to summon her Spirits now tossed aside like garbage. A literal, physical piece of her. Now removed and tossed aside.

He could hear his heart beat in his ears as he just stared at her fallen appendage. His mind was so lost, so angry, so sad. He didn't know how to react. He turned his eyes to Lucy. She was still. He didn't even know if she was still alive. She had become unresponsive and she was loosing massive amounts of blood.

The Collector removed his belt from his suit pants and tightened it around Lucy's stub.

"This will keep you from bleeding to death. At least quickly, its not tight enough to save you. Just to keep you alive. For now." The man spoke to Lucy, but his words were meant for Natsu. Obviously Lucy wasn't awake to hear his warning.

Nevertheless, his words made Natsu's situation much more dire.

The Collector picked up a cloth from the side table and washed the blood off his hands, feeling satisfied with himself.

"There. Do you have anything to tell me?" The man's voice left his lips cocky and smug, his face light and carefree, almost proud of his actions. However his countenance changed the moment he laid eyes upon Natsu.

The Collector immediately dropped the hand towel and took a reflexive step backwards. Fortunately (for the man), the magic sealing cuffs were doing their job. However Natsu's magic aura was spilling out over the wall, creating a massive visual fire spewing from his body. His flames embodying his rage and grief.

Reaching out tentatively, the Collector touched the flames and realized that they were nothing but an aura. A smoke screen, a gas. Nothing lethal. Therefore he laughed and decided to ignore it.

"Nice try Dragneel. Maybe you'll feel like talking later, hopefully before she dies." The Collector scoffed and left the room. 

Natsu didn't know he was capable of producing such an odd phenomenon, however, this was the least of his concerns at the moment. He turned his focus to Lucy directly next to him, she hadn't woken up yet. This didn't surprise him in the least, in fact she might not wake up at all...

No! He had to think positive! Lucy was strong! She could handle this, she would definitely pull through!

Just as Natsu was trying to encourage himself he heard the door nob to the front door slowly start turning, this was strange. The collector had just left. He never visits them hack to back.

Eyes glued to the door, breath stuck in his throat; Natsu watched as the door creaked open. However, even as the door swung wide open there was no one there. No person to indicate who had unlocked it.

Natsu cocked his head to the side in confusion and stared at the empty space inside the doorframe. However, his nose was not fooled. One sniff and he knew who was at the door. Even if he could not see them.

"Natsu!" A blue blue suddenly appeared from the empty space and flew right into him.

"Happy!" Natsu could hear Erza's voice hush the very relieved exceed, who was currently sobbing into Natsu's less torn shoulder. "Not too loud, we don't want Simeon to hear us."

"Erza, Gray, Happy." Natsu whispered, a great sense of hope filling his system. He easily identified the scents of his comrades as they entered there room, even of he couldn't see then. "You found us."

"I'm so sorry Natsu!" Thought his shirt, Natsu could feel tears. "I ran away." Happy cried.

Hearing these words broke Natsu's heart, did Happy really think that he had fled? Did he not see that he did it to save them?

"No Happy. You didn't run away with fear. You escaped and you got help! If you hadn't gotten away, you never would have gotten help." Natsu encouraged his small friend.

"He's right Happy. Erza appeared in the middle of the room and removed the weeping exceed in an attempt to calm him down, lest he give away their position.

"How are you guys invisible?" Natsu asked, noting Erza's sudden presence.

"One of Simeon's many toys." Both Gray also appeared and held up a type of wand.

Erza equipped one of her blades and started unscrewing the latches on his cuffs. Meanwhile, Gray watched the door.

"We found his "great collection", unfortunately for him, it's not so great anymore." Happy snickered.

"You destroyed them? Weren't they all priceless artifacts?" Natsu gasped, almost shocked at his teammates lack of consideration. Not that he was one to talk.

"Of course not!" Erza unclipped Natsu's last cuff and started working on Lucy. She was still unconscious after loosing her arm and so much blood. "I simply got a lot of new equipment."

On a usual circumstance Natsu would have started an argument about how that was unfair, that she got such awesome new weapons.

However, he was much more focused on Lucy to be worried about anything else. As Erza unhooked the last of her restraints Natsu caught her limp body before she could fall. In his worry Natsu forgot about his own injuries, until he caught Lucy and they both fell to the ground.

Sitting up, he placed Lucy in his lap and examined her condition. This was the first time he had been able to get a good look at her since they had been taken captive. She looked tired, mentally and physically beat. Of course, she had every reason to be. Natsu probably looked just as bad.

Her distressed expression pained Natsu, her skin whitening every minute as she lost more blood. He took the belt around her arm and pinched it tight, stopping some of the blood, but not all of it. This action made Lucy wake up for a moment and flinch in pain. As she grew accustomed to the new tension she opened her eyes and saw her comrades.

"Gray...Happy...Erza...you came..." Lucy's voice soft and slow, but relieved.

Erza bent down and held her hand, squeezing it gently. "Of course we came. But we have to move."

"Natsu, you're hurt too." Gray crouched in front of Natsu, his back turned towards them. This signaled Natsu to put Lucy on Gray's back for carrying.

He didn't want to oblige, but did as requested and allowed Gray to carry Lucy. Natsu took Erza's hand as she helped him stand, his left femur still broken and extremely painful. He could barely put any pressure on it. Seeing this, Erza scooped her arm under Natsu's armpit and assisted him. 

"Everyone, hold hands and keep quiet." Erza pulled out the invisibility wand and grabbed Happpy's paw. Everyone made contact and the switch was flipped.

An odd sensation tingled over Natsu skin as he and his friends were all enveloped within the invisibility. Since they were all touching, they were all effected by the wands ability. Natsu could still see his partners as shadows, but they were unseen from anyone outside.

They silently walked down hallways and through doors, up several flights of stairs and finally into the sun. Sun light felt foreign to Natsu's eyes, how long had they been kept in the dark? How long had he breathed fresh air? Seen green? Far too long.

They exited the Collector's large Mansion Museum and headed off to the forest. This was when a thought popped into Natsu's mind and he stopped walking.

"Wait. We're just leaving?" He asked, bewildered.

"Yeah, now let's go before we are spotted." Erza tightened her grip on Natsu's wrist.

"So we're just letting him get away with all the things he did to us?" Natsu was getting angrier by the second.

"Thats not what I said." Erza stood her ground. "We are leaving because Simeon Coldwater,  The Collector is a powerful man."

"He doesn't even have magic, he just uses his fancy artifacts to do all his dirty work for him." Natsu flailed his arm around in frustration.

"Not that kind of power. He is a man of high social status. Therefore the best way to beat him is through the council."

Natsu stopped for a second, not understanding this line of thinking.

"If we beat him up physically, we would just go crying to all his supporters about how terrible Fairytail is. We would be hurting ourselves and start a corporate war!"

The best way to truly defeat him is from the inside, tell the council of his actions and let all of his trusted companions know who he really is." Grey chuckled.

Natsu didn't quite understand and definitely didn't feel satisfied, but they all seemed sold on this idea, so he dropped it. He would have to go on a few extra missions to beat up some bandits instead...after he healed of corse...maybe...

**********************************

A soft ringing hung in her ears as Lucy slowly became aware of each of her senses. Breathing deeply she filled her lungs, tasting the metallic dryness to her tongue. Her parched throat needed water, but was not desperately thirsty.

Heavy fingers felt soft sheets and slowly moved themselves up to rub her tired eyes. Eyes that opened and adjusted to the brightness of the familiar room. Covering her yawn, she looked around for a glass of water.

To her surprise she saw a different piece of furniture next to her bed. Instead of a bedside table, there was another bed scooted right next to hers. The next piece of the puzzle, however, was not a surprise. Because occupying this bed was Natsu.

This was no shock to her. He was always a physical touch person, using any and every excuse to be close to her. He must have woken up first and convinced Wendy to move their beds together, that or move them himself.

He was sleeping on the edge of the bed, as close as he could to her bed, without disturbing her. He looked peaceful.

Lucy smiled at him, extremely relieved that he was okay. The last thing she remembered was her arm getting cut off. His protests and yells still burned into her mind.

Her eyes wandered over all his many bandages, her mind flashing back to each and every one. She felt incredibly guilty, yet she knew she none of it was her fault. Yet she still felt somehow responsible.

She would never forget anything that happened in that small room. Those frightful memories, sounds and pains would stick will her for the rest of her life. However, it did teach her something. An important lesson that helped her make a large decision, a decision she had been hesitating to make for a long time!

An opening of a door caught her attention and she locked eyes with Wendy, who held two glasses of water.

"Lucy! You're awake!" The small girl rushed into the room and tackled her in gentle hug.

Lucy's attention went straight to the water, which Wendy noticed and handed her one of the glasses. Lucy took the cup with a soft "thank you" and slowly started sipping the liquid.

Natsu seemed to have woken up by Wendy's outburst and sat up, his eyes glued to Lucy.

"I have some news for you both." Wendy's tone fell serious. "I'm not sure if it's good news or bad news."

Natsu and Lucy shared a worried glance, then turned their attention back to Wendy. The small mage continued.

"Thank's to you two. Simeon Coldwater's crimes and intentions were brought to light and he was demoted from all his positions. His entire Collection was taken away by Erza and given to the Council." Wendy paused for a moment, as if she needed to compose herself. "Therefore, Simeon believed he had lost everything. He saw no hope and no future. In the spur of his actions...he took his own life."

Wendy was barely able to finish her sentence. Her shoulder's shook and her palm covered her lips. Even such an evil person, Wendy held such a kind spirit.

"T-therefore, neither of you have to worry about The Collector anymore." She bowed and took her leave, not able to compose herself a moment more.

Lucy sat speechless, she didn't know what to feel. Relief? Sadness? Disappointment? Joy? Was she even allowed to feel happy that someone had ended their life? That was just too horrible a thought, she shouldn't be glad! This was a terrible thing! A life was just lost! Yet, she couldn't help but feel an immense sense of ease. This only made her feel sick.

However, Natsu didn't feel any remorse for the man. He could finally sleep easy knowing that the man who had hurt his love, was no longer a threat. He wouldn't be loosing any sleep over him. In fact, after today, Natsu wouldn't think about that man ever again. The memories and the events would definitely stay with him for years. But the man, he would not.

Yet, there was one thing Natsu needed to change. Something this experience had made him see. Helped him realize that he was not ready to die without telling Lucy how he felt. He didn't want to live his life not knowing what it was like to really love her. To live his life with her and His cherish every second with her. Now was the time to take that chance.

"Lucy." Natsu called out to her and took her hand, eyeing her missing appendage.

"Natsu, Im sorry!" Lucy interrupted him, however her intrusion left him utterly confused.

"What?"

"Im sorry!" She babbled as tears sporting from her eyes. "It's my fault we were caught by the Collector and I was only burden to you in there. He used me to get to you and I couldn't...and now I'm..." She held out her stump arm with sorrow.

"Hey." Natsu scooted over to her bed and held her shoulders gently. "None of this was your fault. We both fell for it. Don't you think I wanted to stop him too? Forced to watch what he did to you every day? That...that doesn't go away."

"I'm sorry." Lucy apologized again this time for him, not for herself.

Natsu tightened his grip around her shoulders and held her against him, he felt her one arm wrap around his waist. Together they simply soaked up each other's presence, their first moment of peace. They listened to each other's heart beats and drew in their scents.

"I can't loose you Luce." Natsu finally spoke.

Lucy pulled away, wanting to hear him better.

"I can't loose you." He repeated.

"You won't." She reassured.

"But I already lost you twice." His face fell. "I won't loose you again, not without..."

"Without what?" Lucy asked, curious why he stopped.

He took a deep breath and smiled. "Without telling you the I love you."

Lucy giggled, her cheeks glowing and heart happy to finally hear these words. "About time you said it."

"I guess I just needed a bit of encouragement." Natsu shrugged.

"A bit?!" She teased. "So dying twice doesn't count?"

"Well, technically you're still alive sooo..."

"You absolute numbskull." She rolled her eyes and kissed him.

Natsu happily leaned in and brought her closer to him. Their moment of peace turned into a time of affection. Where they each learned that even in the darkest of situations, something may come out brighter.