For Eternity

Sleep Tight, Lucy Part II

Natsu

I wipe away my tears, sniffing and sobbing. Ugh, why is it always Lucy? Why is it always us?

Why can't we live a normal life with no enemies?

But, nature has to do us like that.

"Natsu..." 

I look up to see Gray wearing a black suit, holding a white rose in his hand.

"Uh. Hey." I said, wiping away my tears.

"So, how are you handling it?"

"Uh, I don't know. Everything just seems to be falling apart around me." I said, sniffing.

"It'll get better."

"It's only getting worse, Gray. I still have to stay with Zeref–"

"Fuck Zeref! You need to fight him back no matter what! You have to stay with the kids! Your kids!! Natsu, family comes first!"

"I'm doing this to protect family, Gray! To protect the people that I love! Zeref is strong and powerful and if I don't do what he tells me to do, he'll hurt my family! I don't want that!"

"Then kill him!! We'll both fight Zeref and after that, we can live happily ever after as a family again! Don't you want to be happy!?"

"Of course I do! Who doesn't want to be happy!? But...sometimes, I just want to end this life I have. I have lived for 612 years already! All I want is to die. I lived too long, Gray. Don't you feel the same?"

"Yes, I do. But, with the new people we met now, with the new people that we love now, we fight for them. We want to be with them. If someone wants to interfere with our happiness, we fight them! We can't always let it slide, Natsu. Never." Gray says, comforting me.

"Yeah, I guess you're right. So, Gray...you and I will defeat Zeref once and for all. Sounds good?"

"Yeah, brother. Sounds good. Now c'mon, let's go and say our goodbyes to Lucy." Gray says, and I nodded.

"Okay."

***

As we both get inside the small church, Max and Luna were already finished saying their goodbyes to their Mom.

They turn around, small tears falling down their cheeks. They both look at me as their lips quiver.

Max and Luna run toward me and I kneel down, hugging them both.

"Will she ever...come back, Daddy?" Luna asks, sniffing and sobbing.

"Yeah, she will, Luna. I promise that Mommy will come back and we'll be the happiest family. Mark my words." I said, trying to hold back tears.

"Dad...you're gonna be taking care of us, right? You're not leaving?" Max asks.

"Uh...yeah. I'm gonna do the best I can to stay with you guys. For now on, just don't worry." I replied, letting go of the hug.

"Yeah, okay."

They both nodded and I kiss both of their foreheads. I get up and they go with Mira.

I look forward and saw Erza looking at me, signaling me to come and say my goodbyes to Lucy.

I smile in acknowledgement and approach Lucy, who was inside a coffin wearing a beautiful pink dress.

Once I got to her, I saw that she was still wearing the necklace I gave her.

I smile and grab her hand. I close my eyes and I suddenly enter into another world.

I open my eyes and saw that I was at a bridge in a river with beautiful flowers sticking in the bushes.

Leaves were falling from the trees and I look around, smiling.

Suddenly, I spotted a blonde girl sitting down on a bench, writing things down on her diary.

A huge smile appears in my lips and I blush, yelling her name out.

"Lucy!"

She turns her head and gasps, surprised to see me.

"Natsu!"

She closes her diary and sets it to the side of the bench, getting up and running toward me.

I softly run towards her as well and I bring her into a tight embrace, spinning her around once.

"Oh my God, it's so good to see you again!" She says, as I set her down.

"It is! Wow, I forgot just how beautiful you are, Luce. Remember when we first met at school? We bumped into each other and you came from the guy's bathroom? That was pretty funny." I said, chuckling.

"Yeah...it was! Wow, just looking back at when we were in high school and looking at us today...it really has been so long." Lucy says, and I can tell that she's looking back through all of the memories from last year.

"How time flies..." I commented, and she nodded.

"Yeah. So, what do you want to do on our last moments?" She asks, and I smile.

"Hmm...I don't know. Let's see. Do you ever wanted to jump off a river and splash into the water?" I ask.

"No...but I would like to try! Are you meaning to tell me that we both can jump off the river together?"

"Yeah. Why not?"

"Okay! But we gotta hurry! Your time with me is just two minutes." Lucy says, grabbing my hand and guiding me to the side of the bridge.

Once we get there, we get on top of the small cobblestone wall, holding hands and looking down at the water.

"Natsu...your time is almost up. Ready to jump down?" Lucy asks, tears running down her cheeks.

"Yeah...I love you, Lucy."

"I love you, too Natsu. I swear to love you with all of my life." She says, and I nodded.

"Me too, Sunshine. Me too."

I breathe in as I let the small tears run down my face.

"Goodbye, Lucy."

"Goodbye, Natsu."

We jump down but before I could even touch the water, I faded away and I went back to reality.

I open my eyes and look down at Lucy, who was still unconscious.

I rub her hand with my thumb and I gently put it down on her stomach again.

"How was it?" Erza asks, smiling.

"It was good...I'm glad I got to see her again, Erza." I said, smiling back.

I sniff and turn around, walking away.

Gray looks at me, getting ready to say his goodbyes to Lucy.

"She'll be back...okay?" He says, patting my back.

"Yeah, I know." I said, patting his shoulder.

I go toward Mira and the twins, smiling at them.

"Did you see Mommy, Daddy?" Luna asks, and I nodded.

"Yeah...and she was really beautiful." I said, chuckling.

She smiles and grabs my hand.

"Don't worry, Daddy. You still have Max and I."

"Mmh...and I'll protect you two no matter what."

TO BE CONTINUED IN CHAPTER 12:

Welcome to Magnolia, Gods