I Promise You

Chapter 3

Natsu is running at full speed to where Lucy is. He stays focused on her beating heart. That means that she is still alive. There is still hope. He flashes back to the Grand Magic Games. He already has seen Lucy die once. He does not want to go through that again. He had been so broken after that event. He still has random nightmares even now. But back then, Natsu promised that he will not let anything like that happen again. He promised that he will protect Lucy's future.

He shakes his head to clear his thoughts. No. She will be fine. She is Lucy after all. A Fairy Tail mage through and through. Besides, he will protect the one he loves. The love he feels for Lucy is different than what he feels for Happy and the rest of his guildmates. What he feels for her is special.

Her heartbeat is closer than ever, along with three others. Natsu leaps over a bush and comes to a stop when he enters a small clearing. Three bodies are lying on the ground, but his eyes stop on Lucy. She is on her back, arms and legs spread out. Her bookbag is by her side as though it had been cast away. "Luce!" Natsu shouts desperately as he makes his way towards her, fearing the worst. Did he fail her?

At the sound of her nickname only Natsu calls her, Lucy jolts into a sitting position and looks over at him. Not that she doubted he could not handle himself, but she is happy to see he is well. "Natsu!"

Relief washes over him. She is alive. Natsu drops to his knees by her side and hugs her tightly. He is touching the real Lucy. There is no way that she is a fake.

Happy calls their names from up above. "Natsuuu! Lucyyy!" He flies towards his friends and nearly crashes into them for a group hug. "I was worried!"

"We're all okay, buddy," Natsu assures him.

"Now that we're all back together," Lucy adds.

The trio breaks apart from their hug, and Happy stands on the ground. "Did you take them all out?" he asks, noticing the two unconscious ones nearby.

"I had some Celestial Spirits help me out," Lucy replies, thankful for their aid. "Loke and Gemini were helpful. Well, I called for Gemini, but Loke appeared shortly after that."

Speaking of her fighting... "What happened earlier?" Natsu questions. "I heard you scream."

"But I didn't scream..." Then something dawns on Lucy. "Oh, that was Gemini. As me. I guess when Gemini was hit by an attack, they sounded like me..."

Natsu sighs in relief. "Then you're okay."

"I'm tired. That's for sure."

Taking a deep breath, Natsu exhales loudly. "That's okay." Then he focuses on Lucy. He can hear her heartbeat and he can also hear the fainter heartbeat from earlier sounding from her lower torso. His breath hitches.

"You okay?" Happy asks, having heard his sharp intake.

Without putting much thought into his actions, Natsu places a hand against Lucy's belly. He knows what the source of the second heartbeat is now.

She blinks in surprise. "What are... you doing?"

"Don't you hear it?" Then he realizes that she cannot possibly hear it since she is not a Dragon Slayer.

"So what if my stomach sounds like some dying animal right now? I'm hungry!"

"That's not what I mean."

She is confuzzled. "Then what do you mean?"

He looks at his girlfriend closely. Then he sees it in her eyes. She is confused. She does not understand what he is talking about. "There's a heartbeat," he says. "It's not as loud as yours, but it still counts."