~Fairy Tail One-Shots~

Friendship (NaLu)

~Friendship~

Their friendship hadn't always been this complicated or heartbreaking.

Natsu could remember.

Natsu remembered a time where he was happy that she was his friend at all. He remembered a time where it was easy to touch her or to look at her without hesitation. But now...every move he made, he thought twice about. Natsu remembered a time where he didn't have to hide his emotions.

He had to hide all the time now.

He recalled a time where his heart hadn't always pounded in his chest whenever she appeared in his vision.
He recalled a time where he didn't yearn to make her smile or laugh.
Just to sate his eagerness to see or hear the sound. Hell, he even remembered what it was like before he had caught this deadly emotion that had coiled around his heart and soul.

The emotion called "Love".

Oh yes, Natsu could remember very clearly. He remembered what it was like before he had fallen in love with his partner. His partner...that had quickly became so much more.

He couldn't really blame himself though. With only one glance, any fool would take the plunge if it meant being with her. And that was one of the things that most worried him.
What if, one day, Natsu walked into the Guild, already looking for his favorite Mage, when his eyes took in a new person beside her. A person, that was not himself.
A young man, Natsu would imagine.
Handsome, a writer, smart, and utterly perfect for his star.

Then, as he would watch them from far away, a thought would struck him like Laxus' lightning...
Natsu had missed his chance.
His chance with the love of his life.
His chance with true happiness.
His chance...with the most beautiful, perfect, kindest woman in the world.
And what would have been the cause of his greatest loss?

The friendship that he had with her that was so dear to him.

Natsu was afraid.
That's right, Natsu Dragneel, the Fire Dragon Slayer of Fairy Tail, was afraid.
Afraid; of losing the one thing that he never wanted to ever lose. And that was his friendship with her. The friendship that ran so deep, that with one slight mistake of words, or a confession of unrequited feelings, could obliterate the whole thing.

Natsu couldn't have that.

Even though Natsu loved her and wanted nothing more to tell her just that. He cared about their friendship more. Because without their friendship, he would no longer have her, as close to having her as he could get anyway. And her, yay, she was all that really mattered. She was the only thing that mattered to him besides the Guild. So, he would put aside his feelings. He would set aside his burning emotions just for her.

Because without her, Natsu would be lonely...heartbreakingly lonely...and without the only person that made his heart catch fire.

So, there he sat, at one of his Guild's booths. His eyes closed and his head laying across his crossed arms.
Just waiting for her.
Just waiting...for the next time that she needed him.
And he would wait.
He would wait forever for her.
Because, for him, she was the one, and only one for him.

"Natsu?"
He cracked open an eye.
"I got a mission for us!"
He grinned.
"Then let's go on another adventure," his grin grew into a fanged toothed smile.

"Lucy!"

~The End~

This One-shot is dedicated to

nightmare798
I hope you all enjoyed this one-shot!
Tell me what you all thought!
Hopefully it didn't break that many hearts...
Why must I do this to my heart?