Fairy Tail - Twilight Empire

Chapter 143 - Clouded Skies over Daybreak

For just a single, blissful moment, nothing was sore or ached. And then, as Natsu's body actually caught up with the passage of time and the wear of war, he found that he really could not move without either serious effort or serious pain.

"Oh, wow," he muttered, keeping his head on two pretty fluffy pillows.

He was in a room with a cracked roof. It was a tiny space, fit for his and two other beds haphazardly placed in it. Across the hall was another room like theirs. The beds were flimsy; one of them was even put together with spare planks of wood. The mattresses were dirty and beaten up. Natsu groaned as he shifted, and so did the bed.

The noise woke up the little blue Exceed at the foot of Natsu's bed, who'd been splayed out.

"Happy?"

Happy rolled over, his eyes sluggish. "You're finally awake? Finally!"

He quickly stood and leaped at Natsu, who caught the little guy with a grin on his face. "Finally awake? What do you mean, how long have I been asleep?"

"I don't know. A few days?'

"Days?"

"Yeah. It's been crazy! We moved you around all over the place, and you wouldn't wake up at all! First, we were all in the palace, and then that was unsafe, so we moved out to one of the apartments, but there were even more traps there, and so now we're out here. We're calling it a hospital, but you're the last patient here; everyone else is recovered or doesn't need to be here."

"Hardly looks like a hospital."

"It was made this morning."

Natsu pursed his lips. "So, the castle is unsafe?'

"Yeah, so," Happy said, sitting down, "turns out Zeref and August had a lot of contingencies in case there was an invasion. Jellal and the others have been working on defusing the traps but Zeref was pretty anal about keeping secrets."

Natsu nodded. He grabbed the sheets around him in tight fists. Happy waved to try and get Natsu's attention, but Natsu wasn't there at all. He was home—his first home. He was with Zeref in the palace; he was with Zeref in that weird dimension where they'd reunited a few days ago.

He was on Tenrou Island, face-to-face with the big brother he'd forgotten all about. What if Natsu had his memories back then? How would things have been different?

Natsu blinked as someone flashed by the room.

"Oh my god, you're awake!"

Natsu sat up a bit more. "Yeah! Bit sore but—"

Lucy rushed across the room in just a few steps and squeezed Natsu so tight he wasn't sure his ribs would make it. Tears eased onto his shoulder while she held onto his vest. She was trembling. Natsu brushed some hair away from her back and rubbed his hand along it slowly. Lucy curled into a ball, just squeezing onto the bed with Natsu and Happy, who nestled in with Lucy.

She was warm. So was Happy. Warmer, even, than the fire in Natsu's magic and his soul. He leaned his head and tapped his forehead against hers while he held tight to Happy's paws.

"We're okay, guys," Natsu said. "We did it. We beat the Twilight Empire."

Lucy sniffled and tried to sit back, but couldn't, and rested against Natsu one more time. She shut her eyes. She already seemed tired, and it was hardly midday. What all was going on outside that commanded so much of her attention? Or, had she been running around all over the place and was taking time to check in on Natsu all the time?

He looked her over. Healing, but several wounds were still visible. She'd looked completely beaten up when he briefly saw her during the war—when he wasn't consumed by the rage of the Etherious—and she had an arm and leg apiece that looked shattered. Clearly, she'd still been able to walk, but the scars were there. She had her arm bandaged a bit, like Natsu actually, and some patchwork on her legs.