Something More ~ A NaLu Oneshot Collection

Crime and Punishment [Written at Age 14]

Title: Crime and Punishment
Summary: "I'm going." / "I won't let you go." / "I can't endanger you. I'm sorry."
Pairings/Characters: Blantantly Natsu/Lucy
Rating/Warnings: T+/I got a bit . . . enthusiastic when I wrote the kiss. 

This is written for the 2015 Writting Challenges: Sensory Perception (Week Six) on the Heart of Camelot.

IT'S over.

Lucy stares up at him, heart in her throat, as he stumbles away, his eyes turning from that burning white color to black again. His whole figure radiates horror, but his eyes are locked on hers and she can't look away.

"I—I . . ." Natsu's— Natsu Dragneel, not Etherious Natsu Dragneel, it's not END—it's just Natsu—voice is shaking. "Oh my god. I can't . . . I did that. Lucy, I almost—I could have killed you—I—I—"

"Natsu!" Gray's voice is harsh, but his breathing is labored. Lucy turns around to see the mangled form of one of her closest friends on the ground, and she stifles the small shriek that wants to escape. She didn't know it's so bad. "Stop panicking—I need you to cauterize my side. Before it bleeds out."

He groans then. Natsu steps forward, almost reluctantly, and then he takes another step. He collapses by Gray's side, and Lucy falls with him. She presses her hands against Gray's wound, not caring about the sticky, warm blood that's staining her hands red. She almost feels sick.

"Wendy—"

"No time," she says, her tone bordering desperate. She doesn't want to think. Doesn't want to remember. Doesn't want to look at the black horns protruding from his wild tangle of pink hair. Her hands shake. "He's lost more than half of the blood in his body."

Natsu's eyes are round, and his mouth opens a little, then it snaps shut and his gaze hardens in determination. She notices his hands are shaking as he holds them out, over the left side of Gray's abdomen and her hands. The pose reminds her a little of when Wendy heals someone.

"Get him something to bite on. It's gonna hurt real bad."

She casts her gaze over the clearing. There. Wood. She lunges over and grabs the thin branch, then tore some of the bottom off her already torn skirt off and wraps it around the branch. Her hands shake, and she nicks her knuckle against the wood, drawing blood, but she barely notices the pain. She puts it in Gray's open mouth, trying not to look at his eyes. She meets Natsu's gaze and nods.

"I'm sorry."

She closes her eyes to block the sight, but the sounds coming from Gray . . .

Bile rises in the back of her throat—or is it the front? The burning, bitter acid is in her mouth and she can't stop it from coming out. She feels weak, pathetic—she's not even the one in pain, and now she's sicking up. But she can't stop the retching.

Soft hands eventually press against her back, but she still can't stop heaving. When she finally is able to look up, she meets Erza's sad brown eyes, which look away. Her eyes fall on Natsu and Gray, the former ashen and the latter's eyes are closed.

"Is he . . . ?" she whispers. Erza shakes her head.

She swipes her hand against the back of her mouth and stumbles over to Natsu's side. She rests her hand on his back, and she can feel his trembling. He's cold too, not hot.

"I'm a monster," his voice is soft. "I could have killed him . . . I burnt him."

She wraps her arm around his back, but she can't find anything to say. For the first time in her life, she's honestly at a lost for words. She doesn't know how to comfort him.