The Dragon and the Princess

Chapter 3*

When Lucy got home, she wasn't surprised when she found Natsu sitting next to her bed, half asleep. She gently woke him up and asked him about his dream.
They had went on a mission together, and she had gotten dragged down a hole by vines. He went down to save her, but he saw a man, and the man was torturing her, and he couldn't save her. By the time he did, she had almost all of her magic energy drained, and she was bruised, and her bones had been broken. He tried to pick her up, but it hurt her too much, so all he could do was wait and watch her die.

By the end of the recollection of the dream, Natsu was crying, and it scared Lucy, because she had never seen him cry. She hugged him, and got up to make some tea.

"So what happened last night? I saw you walking away from my house, and you looked relived." Lucy asked.

"I was worried, so I went to go check on you. I'm sorry." Natsu replied.

"Why are you sorry? It's sweet that you wanted to make sure that I was okay." She said. Clearly she was worried about him; her normal reaction would be to kick him or call him a perv. "It's getting dark, do you want to stay here tonight?" It was nice of her to offer.

"Okay, I guess." He said.

"What about Happy?" She asked. To be honest, Natsu wasn't quite sure.

"Um... I think he's at Wendy and Carla's. He and Carla have been hanging out a lot lately. He'll be fine." Lucy smiled.

"Okay. Come on, it's late, let's get to bed." Lucy climbed in to bed and wasn't surprised when she felt an unusually warm body crawl in next to her.

When Natsu was almost asleep, he whispered "Lucy? Can I tell you something?" Lucy moaned quietly, and he took that as a yes. "I love you" and Lucy opened her eyes and looked at him.

"I know" she whispered back. "I love you, too. Let's sleep. It's been a long day." And with that, they both fell into a deep sleep.