The Huntress

■Chapter Fifteen-My Goodness in the World■

Natsu laid motionlessly on his bed, his thoughts being consumed by images of Lucy wriggling on the floor in pain. If she had warned him that she was going to be poisoned then he wouldn't have been able to do much, but at least he wouldn't worry as much if he knew she had been building up her immunity to poisons because she had seen the acid poison in hindsight. He gritted his teeth when he realized that she didn't think she did anything wrong. Perhaps she didn't think she was babying him but protecting him from practically anything. He might've been a helpless baby back on Paladon but he wasn't anymore and he just wished Lucy would see that. 

A knock sounded on his door and he rolled his eyes before saying, "Come in,"

The door slowly swung open and in came his father. He wore a crestfallen expression on his face as he made his way over to the bed to sit beside him. "Natsu, it's our fault that you never knew."

He shook his head. "Lucy should've told me. I thought we were friends, I can't believe she kept so much from me for so long."  He didn't call her by her nickname, this is bad...... Igneel could hear the sadness and feeling of betrayal in his words. He had to fix this. Ever since Natsu met Lucy he was more cheery and energetic. They'd never seen him so excited to go outside. Igneel wasn't ready to let his son relapse into the sunlight hating person he was before Lucy. He had to fix this.

"Tell me son, do you think she's proud of her past?" he asked his son slowly. 

"No..." 

"Do you think she wanted you to know about her becoming insane because she hurt you?" 

"No..."

"Don't you think that she didn't tell you everything because it wasn't just your past but her's too? And that maybe she liked to keep things private?"

Natsu remained silent. He hated when his father asked him questions like this. As soon as he asked his first question he knew he wouldn't stop until he proved his point and made it clear that he shouldn't be upset, mad, or moping. Couldn't he just let him be angry for once?

"Son," Igneel sighed. "We told Lucy not to tell you." 

Natsu shot up, his gaze immediately lining up with his father's. "Why?" he asked quietly. 

"Because as your parents we wanted to be the ones to tell you everything. We could tell from the conversation we had in the paladian room that she wanted nothing more than for you to know everything. But we could tell that she was scared of what you would think of her afterward so we told her not to fret and that we'd be the ones to tell you when the time was right." Igneel said, a look of shame molding onto his features. 

Natsu again said nothing, too flabbergasted that he just had a tantrum to Lucy about how she never told him anything when it was his parents that specifically asked her not to reveal anything. He looked out the window and saw his mother sending Romeo off. He furrowed his eyebrows when he realized that Lucy wasn't with him. Is something wrong? Did the poison have multiple spurts and she still wasn't fully ok? His heart pounded in his chest as he gulped, worry flooding through his senses.

He felt a rough hand plant itself on his shoulder. "Go to her son."

Natsu nodded, walking out of his room, he waited until he was out of his father's sight to run down the stairs like it was for his life. When he got into the room Lucy was laying on the rest bed, holding an arrow over her head and staring at it. His eyes trailed from her face down to her chest, where the blood dried and stuck to her brandages like left over pancake batter. His eyes softened when he noticed Lucy looking at him. 

"Don't feel bad," she said. "about the blood."

"I just wish that didn't have to happen to you." he said, walking over to the side of the bed and bringing a chair to sit in. When he was seated he took Lucy's hand in his and kissed it. "I'm sorry about what I said." he said into her skin.