Shattered Dreams ||Nalu||

Chapter Two

Pain sliced through her as she pried her eyes open, blinking blurrily. Where was she? The last thing she remembered was-

Lucy shot straight up, panic making her move quickly despite the dampness she could feel spreading on her shoulder. Her hands grasped tightly at the blankets that covered her lap, her eyes wide with fear as she -

Wait. Blankets?

Her line of thinking was immediately diverted from its original path as she took in her surroundings, this time with more care. She was in their room at the inn, and had been tucked carefully into the bed. Her blonde hair had been carefully pulled out of her face, and it took her a few moments to realize that her wounds had been cleansed and bound with bandages, though she suspected she had torn them open again by her movement if the blood soaking them was anything to go by. She breathed a small sigh of relief.

So someone had heard her. She had heard someone call out her name before she'd lost consciousness. She grimaced, giving a soft gasp when pain suddenly slammed down on her hard, making her nearly pass out a second time.

So it was much to her relief that Wendy chose that moment to step into the room, eyes filling with absolute happiness when she saw her. "Lucy! You're awake!" she cried, darting over to give her a careful and gentle hug. Her hazel eyes became concerned. "You're bleeding again...stay right here! I'm going to go let the others know you're awake, and then I'll heal your wounds, okay?"

"Okay," Lucy agreed with a faint smile. She watched with amusement as Wendy scrambled out of the room, then came back only a few minutes later with a glass of water in her hands, as if knowing the celestial mage would be thirsty. She squeaked, however, when someone tried to shove into the room behind her and scolded in an almost adult-like voice, "I'm sorry, Natsu, but you can't come in yet. After I'm done." She promptly proceeded to slam the door shut in his face.

Lucy couldn't help it. She burst into hysterics - both laughing and crying at the same time. She'd been so sure she'd been about to die, yet here she was, listening to Wendy tell Natsu he couldn't come into her room. Sobbing into her hands, she barely heard Natsu shouting through the door, demanding to know what was wrong as Wendy comfortingly placed a hand on Lucy's arm before setting to work on tending to her wounds.

Wendy carefully stripped the bandages off, working quietly and thoughtfully with gentle hands. Lucy tried her best to keep still as Wendy probed and pried once she'd stopped crying though a laugh would escape her every now and then. As she worked, Wendy explained what had happened.

Erza had stopped Natsu from killing Gray and had been shouting at him herself when Natsu and Wendy had heard Lucy's scream. Natsu had been out the nearest exit - a window nearly three stories above the ground - in a matter of seconds, shouting for Happy to go with him. Wendy had quickly told Erza, then sprang lightly after him, pleading with Charle to help her catch up. Erza, uncertain, had stayed behind with Gray.

They'd arrived just as the creature had pinned her and was tearing into her shoulder and back, snarling and hissing with a gleeful joy as it spattered the ground with her blood. Natsu had been furious, Wendy told her, and had gone after it with a vengeance when it fled, not returning until she'd tried to move Lucy a bit and Lucy had given a cry of pain. Happy and Charle had kept an eye on Wendy until the fire mage had returned, his gaze set with rage. He'd told her that he wanted to kill Gray because Gray had been the reason Lucy was out and about.

So, after healing her as best as she could for the time being, Wendy had gone ahead with Charle to warn Erza what had happened. Erza left to try and track down the creature that had attacked their teammate, and it hadn't taken long for Natsu to arrive, carrying Lucy with great care.