Smoke. Lucy could smell smoke. She sat up on her bed and opened her eyes. Her room was filled with black smoke. Lucy coughed as the smoke invaded her lungs. Her eyes watered violently, her chest heaving as she got up. Her legs were weak and she could barely see. Everything was black. She saw flickers of orange and red in her kitchen. There must have been a malfunction.
Lucy looked around for the door to her apartment. She spotted it, but the flames were too fierce. The heat burned her skin, and her eyes filled with tears. She frantically raced back to her room. The window. But the fire had spread, orange danced on her pink covers and licked at the blue glass. She turned to the bathroom, but the doorway was alight with a roaring blaze. Lucy turned in a circle, eyes scanning frantically for something, an escape route. But there was nothing.
Tears stung her eyes as she sank to the floor. Her lungs burned fiercely. She was running out of oxygen. She coughed violently, her throat clogged with black. Her vision was wavering, flickering on and off. Lucy put her head back, tears streaming freely down her face now. She never thought she would die like this. Not to fire. Fire was something she had grown to love. Or a certain fire dragon slayer was someone she'd grown to love. As her vision faded and Lucy lost consciousness, there was a single name in her mind. Natsu.
Natsu ran through the streets, the stone hard beneath his feet. His lungs burned but he refused to stop. Lucy. He had seen the smoke rising from the rooftops from the guild. He knew it was the same street Lucy's apartment was on. And in that instant he knew something was terribly wrong. Natsu bolted around a corner and stopped dead. Lucy.
Her whole apartment was enveloped in roaring flames. People from the neighbouring buildings had evacuated, huddled together in their pyjamas outside. He could hear sirens and knew that help was coming. But it wasn't coming fast enough. He knew Lucy was still inside. Ignoring the shouts and screams for him to stop he raced inside.
He coughed as the thick smoke rolled around him. He knew the fire wouldn't hurt him, but smoke could. And he still needed oxygen. So he didn't have much time. He squinted through the clouds of black. "LUCY!" he yelled, searching for his blonde haired partner. "LUCY!" he screamed again. He could barely make out if he was in her kitchen or bedroom, everything was destroyed.
"LUCY!" he roared frantically. He wasn't leaving until he found her. His sharp eyes caught a flash of blonde. He ran over, finding Lucy's limp, immobile body covered with ash. Her pyjamas were in tatters. And she was breathing. Natsu scooped up her body and ran from the house, ducking under fallen beams and jumping huge pits of writhing flames. He burst out into the street gasping for air.
The fire engines had arrived. Men were racing around the building, water jumping from the mouths of the red snakes they carried. Natsu gently laid Lucy on the ground. "Luce?" he whispered, his voice hoarse. Tears ran down his face as streaked the ash on her face. Her eye remained closed, her blonde hair spread like a halo around her. Natsu shook his head in disbelief. NO. He wouldn't lose the love of his life. Not like this. Not when there still was so much left to do, so much he needed to tell her.
"Please Luce" he whispered, resting his forehead against hers. He gently opened her lips and pressed his on hers. He breathed out, trying to get air back into her lungs. A few minutes later, Lucy twitched. She rolled over and coughed violently, gulping the air in. She fell on her back and looked up at Natsu, her chest heaving. "Luce?" he asked. She smiled weakly at him.
Natsu fell on top of her and hugged her fiercely, burying his face in her shoulder. "I thought I lost you" he whispered. Lucy ran a sooty hand through his hair. "You aren't getting rid of me that easily" she laughed weakly. Natsu sniffed and wiped his cheeks quickly. "You need a hospital" Lucy didn't protest as he gently lifted her up, holding her close to his chest. "Natsu?" Lucy said. He hummed in response. "Thank you. You saved my life" Lucy reached up with the little strength she had left and kissed his cheek. "Always" Natsu whispered.
