Fallen Leaves

Ten thousand dragons were flying in the sky, which was now the shade of fiery red and scarlet. Firebombs from these dragons erupted everywhere, leaving the capital city, Crocus, in chaos and destruction. In the middle of the ruins, a lone figure with a scarf was still standing; his determined eyes, filled with despair and at the same time, courage, looked up at the enormous, red dragon in front of him.

“NATSU!”

Her desperate voice seemed to linger in the air; her tears were flowing uncontrollably on her face. She doesn’t care about her being heard by the dragons, she only cared for the person who is just a few meters in front of her.

“NATSU!!!”

She shouted again, louder this time. She could not lose him, right now that they were the only ones left.

He showed no signs that he heard her.

“Fire Dragon’s Roar!”

A huge explosion was heard and bright red-orange flames filled her vision as Natsu and the dragon attacked each other. The broken rocks from the structure of buildings hit her head, and she suddenly lost her consciousness.

There was silence.

Lucy slowly opened her eyes, and for a moment, she wondered what had happened. She removed the rocks on top of her, tried to stand up, and looked above her as few remaining dragons still flew at the red sky. Then, remembering Natsu and the bright explosion before she passed out, she frantically searched her best friend. Her eyes saw the thing that she didn’t ever want to see the most.

“NATSU!!!”

.
.
.

A young lad with spiky rose-colored hair, his white scarf billowing with the wind, was walking leisurely as he stepped on the leaves that now covered the sidewalk. The autumn air felt good for him after having his regular therapy sessions with his doctor today. Two years had passed since he woke up with no memories at all, and his family and friends filled him on who he was and his life before he got into coma. He was slowly regaining his memories, he told his family, but the truth was he did not remember anything at all before he had gotten into ‘sleep’.

He felt that a certain part of him is missing, yet he didn’t know why.

Some of the things did not make sense. For instance, he had this red mark which was like a symbol on his upper right arm. He asked his father, Igneel, about this, but the only reply he got was, “Oh, have you forgotten? It was a birthmark, you silly.”

Another mystery was a blonde girl he kept seeing in his dreams. One night, he dreamed about her showing him the same birthmark, except that it was pink, on her right hand. Her face was blurred, but he got the feeling that she was smiling happily at him. In this vision, he had a bored look, but deep inside, he was happy.

In other nights, he dreamed that he and the blonde went to adventures with a flying cat that looks like his pet Happy at home (‘I must have imagined weird things,’ he thought) and there were also his childhood friends, Erza (the student council president in their school) and Gray (his frenemy), with them. They had laughed, fought, cried, and stayed with each other in those dreams. There were also numerous people in the background, but he didn’t recognize them. He wake up each morning thinking that his dreams had happened in the past, but he knew that these were not real. His family and friends told him he never met the blonde girl for once.

He suddenly felt guilty; he shouldn’t think of any girl other than his childhood crush, Lisanna. His father told him that he was certainly in love with her and they even promised to marry each other someday, but he wondered why they rarely interacted with each other at school these two long years. He watched her every day, and tried to remember his feelings for her but he failed every time. Sure, Lisanna is a good friend to him, but she also treats everyone like that. Like her sister, she has a kind heart. He never tried to ask her how they end up as friends.