The Fire in My Soul

After Zeref

NATSU

I had once again broken into Lucy's apartment and fallen asleep there. After the battle with Zeref she'd been having a lot of nightmares and I'd taken to sleeping next to her until morning when she gave me a Lucy kick right in the stomach. I toughed it out though because I knew even if she didn't that she slept more soundly with me in bed next to her. I guess it was because my body put off a crazy amount of heat and it distracted her mind from the nightmares. I laid my vest down on the couch and walked towards her room. I could hear her breathing hitching in her sleep. She was whimpering and flinching like she was in pain. I crawled under the covers and rubbed her back, "Shhh, it's ok..." I told her and she relaxed into me. I opened my arms and let her press up against me. She almost instantly fell into a smoother sleep.

LUCY

I was having that same dream again. I was trying to rewrite the book of E.N.D. and the pain was excruciating but this time Gray wasn't there to cool me down. As Natsu's fire coursed through my veins I screamed in pain, it blurred my vision and I could barely see to write anymore. That's when the pain stopped and the book disappeared and Natsu was kneeling in front of me, "Shhh, it's ok..." he said and I relaxed into a blank and dreamless sleep. When I woke up something warm was against my back and draped over my side. Natsu was in my bed again.

He kept getting closer and closer each night. It'd been over a year since Zeref had been defeated but somehow the dreams kept getting worse and worse. Everyone else had gone back to normal but it was as if the trauma was finally settling in for me. The pain I went through while trying to rewrite Natsu's book was still living in my veins. The pure fear that threatened to consume me when we faced Acnologia and when we'd almost lost Natsu was ever present in my mind. It was like they were haunting me from the grave.

I finally decided it was time to get up which meant I had to kick Natsu out of my bed. I could never tell him how much him being here eased the pain though. He was my best friend and if he knew how I felt I would probably lose him. I was broken. Who wanted that? "Lucy kick!" I yelled as I kicked him onto the floor, he hit the ground with a groan, "Ugh! Do you have to hit me in the same spot every morning?" he said, rubbing his head as he sat up, "Oh I don't know do you have to keep breaking and entering every night?" he just shrugged, "Whatever, Luce." he said, stretching. Well he was in a sour mood today.

He threw on his vest that he'd laid on the couch and looked at the calendar, "Shit." he said quietly, "What is it?" I asked and he turned around with a typical Natsu grin, "Nothing! Come on let's get to the guild hall." Then he marched into the kitchen. I sighed and looked at the calendar, it was March, what was so special about March? I got up and got ready after a quick shower to find Happy and Natsu in my kitchen chowing down, "You want some, Luce?" Natsu asked with a mouth full of food and I rolled my eyes and face palmed, "You idiots!"

After a few hours at the guild Master called for some people to meet him in his office, "Natsu, Gajeel, Laxus, follow me to my office please." The three dragon slayers stood without a second glance and followed Makarov to his office, Gildarts and Erza following suit, "I wonder what that's all about?" I asked and Levy shrugged, "No idea."