Fire and Gold (Nalu)

Chapter 4 ~ Trapped

Lucy's POV:
    My head hurts. Like, really hurts. It's gotten worse, I think.
    I've had my fair share of rough-and-tumbling in the past and came out fine for the most part, but the gas must have weakened me, made me more susceptible to injury in a way that right now, I can't fathom. It doesn't bode well.

   I'm not sure how long we've been travelling for. The four-wheeler gives no real indication. There's no windows, no gaps in the doors for light to shine through, nothing. We could have been in here 2 hours or we could have been in here 20- I genuinely couldn't tell for the life of me.
    
    The muzzle is really starting to hurt now, it won't stop rubbing against my mouth. It's making the sides of it sore. Just add it to the list of my growing injuries, I guess.

    But, no matter how bad I feel, Natsu's bound to feel ten times worse. Not only does he have his own muzzle and the extra dose of gas to deal with, but hours upon hours of motion sickness stacked on top. 
   
    Despite knowing he'll feel better if he goes to sleep, he won't. I told him too, insisted even, but he wasn't having it.
    I got a little angry at him for being so stubborn, there was no need for him to continue feeling so awful. Every time I pestered him, I got the same, groggy reply.

    'Can't sleep n leave you alone.'
   
    Of course he wouldn't be leaving me alone, he'd be right there with me, but I knew what he meant. And though I rolled my eyes, I appreciated it. A lot. It made me feel very warm.
    
    I tried to make him as comfortable as possible in return, continuing to run my fingers through his hair in gentle strokes. He released a heavy sigh, gently pushing his head deeper into my lap and wrapping a large hand around my lower leg that hung off the edge of the seat.
    He squeezed it weakly, but enough that it had an impact.
   
    I once again caught myself blushing at his unprovoked intimate movements. Stop it Lucy. Not the time.
   
    I stole a glance at the soldier guarding us. He hasn't actually looked our way in ages, he's had his head buried in a book for the past few hours. He hasn't really bothered to check on us at all, apart from the off look of disgust aimed out way when Natsu gags.
    He can't help it, stop it.

    To be quite honest, I'm really scared. I'm well aware of Enca's reputation and the idea of being tried under their law makes me shiver. I remember having a conversation with Levy and Gajeel not too long ago about how Fiore's magic council wanted to investigate the goings on of Enca's branch and sent a team in to do a check. They were shooed away before they could even get through the front gates.
    To avoid cross-country dispute they stopped the investigation, meaning that whatever Enca was doing could continue happening without fear of being found out and challenged on it. That thought worries me.
   
    I've never been to Enca before and I highly doubt Natsu has either, meaning we're probably going in completely blind. However, in my time sat here, I've prepared a speech to give to the judge to defend ourselves.
   
    The only proof they think they have that we stole the sceptre is that we had hold of it. All I need to do is tell them to contact the guild so that the master can confirm that there was indeed a request sent to find and retrieve the sceptre and hopefully we should be in the clear.
    That's the idea, anyway.
   
    I'd guessed we were set up, either by that old wizard or by someone else. My suspicions were quickly confirmed when I heard Natsu mumbling into his muzzle about 'burning the fossilised fuck alive'.

    That could work in our favour, though. It not only clears us of any wrongdoing but puts another person in front of the judge instead.
    I'm probably going off of a lot of false hope here but you never know, it could work. You know, lucky Lucy Heartfilia and all that.

...

    What felt like another few hours passed and they found themselves on the shores of Enca. Natsu and Lucy were dragged out the four-wheeler and forced into a kneeling position on the ground, their hands tied behind their backs.
   
    Luckily, the effects of the gas had more or less worn off Natsu now and his senses were basically back to normal. Though, that made the hot, blinding sun that beat down on them as they got out of the trailer considerably worse.
    He winced at the sudden brightness, after being shrouded in near darkness bar one little light for hours on end, it was taking his eyes a while to adjust.
   
    He glanced over to Lucy. He'd been worried about her the entire journey, the injury to her head was bad and despite her playing it off like it was nothing, he knew it hurt her and it pained him to know he couldn't do anything to help.
   
    On top of that, if the solider had tried anything while they were stuck in there- he would have been powerless to stop it. He knew she could fend for herself, but not while tied to a seat with magic-cancelling cuffs on and a muzzle in her mouth.
   
    He shook his head. Nothing happened. Just being paranoid.
   
    While Natsu swam laps in his own thoughts, the squadron leader marched up to them with an air of cockiness about him.