Forever by his side (nalu)

Friends

Natsu POV

Her asking me to train her was really surprising. I never expected that. I mean, people run away from me or try to kill me when they learn who I am, and this little girl wanted me to train her? Pushing past my surprise, I consider her request seriously. I was fine alone. She would surely be a burden at first. But, having company could be... nice? Also, for now, she didn't seem afraid of me. More importantly, the idea of abandoning her leaves a bad taste in my mouth. But, can I really let her stay without knowing what was in her past?

I tell her so, and when I see all color and expression draining out of her face, I almost tell her I don't care, that it's alright, I don't mind not knowing. But she starts recounting her story. It's horrible. And after that, they call Acnologia a monster? They are a thousand times worst. Acnologia was rough with me, but he never deliberately mistreated me. When she talks about her eye and how it identifies her as a monster, I expect something horrifying. I have an irrepressible curiosity about it, and when she falls silent, I can't help but ask to see it. What could be so gruesome as to make people scared of her at the mere sight of it? Then she shows her eye to me, and I'm struck speechless. I'm fascinated, engrossed in the sight of her eye. I've never seen anything like it before. There was only one adjective that came to my stunned mind.

"Beautiful," I breathe out. And she bursts into tears.

When she starts to cry, I don't know what to do. How do you handle a crying girl? But first, what did I do or say that made her cry? I just said her left eye was beautiful because it is. It's mesmerizing. Her iris is a bright blood red, lost in the sea of black that is her sclera. Under her eye runs a tribal-looking mark, going all the way to her temple. It's beautiful and unique and special, and I don't know why anyone ever told her the contrary. Anger burns in me at that thought, but I put it aside because she is still crying.

"Hey," I tell her softly, getting closer to her. What's with me? I'm acting weird around her. But I don't want to see her cry. I wipe her tears, feeling awkward. "Don't cry. Strong people don't cry. That's what Acnologia always said. And you are strong."

At that, she cries even harder. I'm at a loss. What did I do again? I don't show anything on my face, but inside, I'm panicking. What do I do? What do I do? What do I do? I don't know! So I stay there, by her side, waiting for her to do or say something.

"I'm... sniff... I'm so s-s-sorry," she finally says between sobs when she starts to calm down. "N-no one e-ever called my eye b-beautiful. Or called me strong. Thank you."

Then, she does something completely unexpected. She hugs me. Huh? How do I respond to that? I decide patting her head is the best I can do. After a few minutes, she stops crying and lets me go, her cheeks all red when she straightens out. She stares at the flames again, avoiding meeting my gaze. What did I do now? Girls are so difficult to understand! With a sigh, I also turn to look at the fire. That's when I remember the hares. Oh shit! They might be overcooked at this point. I hurry and check the cooking of the meat. It is, indeed, slightly burnt, but still edible. I give one stick to her and start eating my own. We stay by the fire, eating silently as the night falls. I'm the one who finally breaks the silence when I remember her request.

"I will train you," I declare. I stare her in the eyes (she still hasn't put her hair back in front the left one) before continuing, "I will make you strong enough to stand on your own and never let anyone else hurt you."

It is a vow I make, and I will keep it. I see tears pooling in her brown eye, and she must have seen fear on my face because she chuckles. Thank god. I really don't know what to do with a crying girl. Suddenly, she falls silent, and her cheeks turn beet red. What's that? Then she starts to stammer, "Hum. I wondered, hum, would you, hum, of course only if you want to, not that I can force you to do anything. You are stronger than me, after all. Not that it is something that could be forced with strength."

As she stutters her way through her verbal diarrhea, I can only stare at her, not understanding at all what she want to say. Finally, she stops talking, takes a deep breath and quickly says,

"Wouldyouliketobemyfriend?"

"Huh?" is the best answer I can make because I couldn't decipher anything she just said.
Looking all nervous, she repeats slower, "Would you like to be my friend?" What's with her and surprising me like that? I stare at her with what must be a dumbfounded expression on my face. Before my lack of reaction, she gets even more nervous and continues, "I mean, I never really had a friend. Well, a human friend." She winces at her words. "Okay, lets say a friend who is not a spirit contracted to me, and probably you neither, and we are going to travel together, so I was thinking that, maybe, being friend would be great?"

The more she talks, the lower her voice gets, and she ends what was probably supposed to be an affirmation with a questioning tone. I... don't know how to respond. Do I want that? A friend? Acnologia always said friends were for the weak, those who can't trample everything and everyone with their own strength. That friendship, just like feelings, were weaknesses. But was it really that bad? Having someone by your side, supporting you? Sharing life with you?

I guess even I could get lonely. Acnologia has his hatred to keep him company, but I didn't have that. So maybe, that girl, Lucy, could fill the void I wasn't even aware existed before today. Looking in her eyes, I can see hope, hope that was slowly dying the longer I remained silent. Seeing that hope die was almost physically painful for me. I don't understand why. I've known that girl a total of what? Two, three hours? How could she have gotten under my skin so easily?

Whatever the reason, I couldn't bear to see her disappointed.

"I guess it could be nice, having a friend."

I look away from her, into the darkening woods, too embarrassed by my admission of maybe needing someone in my life. Acnologia would be ashamed of me, showing weakness like that, but I couldn't help it. I'm pretty sure I... want that girl by my side. She is... intriguing. And that 'demonborn' thing is interesting.

Her reaction to my agreement to a friendship is once again a shock to me. She hugs me. A second time, hiding her face in the hollow of my neck. She is whispering something, the same thing, over and over again. Something wet running down my neck.

"Thank you. Thank you. Thank you," she whispers while silent tears wet her cheeks.

I can hear the relief in her tone—so much relief and gratitude in her voice. I think my heart broke a little bit for her. I didn't know it could do that. And I don't like that at all. I want it to stop. So I do the only thing I can think of. I hug Lucy back and swear to myself that I will never let anyone harm her ever again.