Italics are the thoughts of the POV

Chapter One: Nightmares

It is the year X791, the town of Magnolia is pretty quiet at this time of night. Most of the residents were sleeping by now, resting for whatever the next day brought them. Being the home city of Fairy Tail, there really was not any way to know what sort of chaos tomorrow may bring. However, despite this atmosphere, there were several people scattered across the city who were restless. All were from Fairy Tail, and all of them had only recently returned to Magnolia after being trapped for 7 years on Tenrou Island. None of them had been prepared for what the lost years would bring to them, and all were tormented by nightmares of the near fatal attack of Zeref, Grimoire Heart, and Acnologia.

One of the especially troubled souls is Fairy Tail wizard Natsu Dragneel. He lay in his hammock, breathing heavily, heart pounding wildly in his chest. He stared up at his ceiling in an attempt to calm his wild heart. What the heck is going on with me? It's been a week since I got back and instead of the nightmares going away, they are getting worse. He grabbed his head between his hands and growled in anger. If this was just some enemy, I could just knock him into Tuesday; but, I've been getting all fired up over my own overactive imagination.

He turned over onto his side, facing the window. His thoughts were becoming more jumbled and unclear by the second. It was then that he turned his thoughts towards the person who was most prominently present during said nightmare.

Lucy…

His heart spiked again at the thought of his blonde partner-in-crime. They had been through some of his best adventures together. While he never thought of her as weak like she did, he had given himself the task of protecting her when she needed it. It all started when the Phantom Lord guild attacked and kidnapped her. The thought of Lucy at the mercy of those creeps and life in Fairy Tail without her gave Natsu immense spirit and strength, enough to defeat Gajeel. Unfortunately, it took everything Natsu had so he couldn't burn Gajeel to a crisp for how badly Lucy had been tortured.

Natsu sighed lightly to himself. He wasn't going to try and fool himself, he knew he was in love with Lucy. At first it had been just a fierce protectiveness of his nakama, but at some point it turned into more. He had truly recognized it when he was about to lose Lucy on Tenrou Island.

NATSU POV *Flashback (Episode 109)*

Lucy, Happy and I were facing off against one of the Seven Kin of Purgatory, called himself Kain. He had this weird voodoo doll called Mr. Cursey, which he infused with Lucy's hair. Once Happy managed to get the doll away, I was going to attack when Kain trapped me under a bunch of boulders. I couldn't move and Lucy was about to summon one of her spirits, Virgo I think. Then this weird look crossed over her face and she paled drastically. She didn't need to speak to tell me that she was out of magic.

Kain approached her from behind and I screamed, "Run away!" But it was too late, Kain attacked her by slamming her face first into the ground. Hearing her strangled scream caused anger to flow through my veins. I yelled at Kain, "Leave her alone!" I pushed at the stone that was trapping me and I growled, "Come on!" Desperation was beginning to lace my voice.

Kain laughed and said something, but the word that caught my attention was "execution". I snarled in rage and screamed, "You bastard!" Happy flew in and tried to help Lucy but he only got knocked away into a stone wall. I heard Lucy murmur something and I gasped, "Get away Lucy!" I added quickly, "You've got to chase down that fraud or we'll lose her!" I didn't know who the woman with black hair was but she had taken Zeref, and that means she's going down.

I continued, "Don't worry about me just keep running and don't look back!" I had to protect her. Lucy was truly in danger if she stayed here. I still had a fight left in me, and I would be even stronger knowing that she was safe.

Lucy grimaced and muttered, "No way…" WHAT?! Doesn't she understand what is happening? If she stays then she will die! Kain stomped on her spine and another scream ripped its way from Lucy's throat. He did it twice more, while I could do nothing but watch with horror and…fear? Yes…this is what Gildarts was talking about. I'm…afraid…afraid of losing Lucy.

Kain wrapped his large and blocky hand around Lucy's head but she continued to speak, gaining strength with every word, "I refuse to run away. I won't do it!" Kain lifted her into the air now by her head. She chuckled, "I'd rather stay here with you." She flashed me one of her famous smiles, but I could tell that it was weak. Her entire body was quivering, most likely from her lack of strength and her body's fight to survive. "I can't think of anything that would make me happier."

My heart skipped a beat with those words and I felt some of the anger directed at her stubbornness fade into sadness. I could relate with her. I would do exactly the same thing. Her bruised face faded back into one of pain. Lucy groaned and whimpered as Kain lifted her even higher.

He said, "Well I guess that's one way of saying goodbye. I can't wait to pop that cute little head of yours off."

Rejuvenated anger towards Kain caused me to start my escape attempts anew. I cried out, "You let her go!"

Kain warned, "Careful. You'll break my concentration and I won't squeeze hard enough the first time." As a demonstration, he squeezed Lucy's skull harshly and a weak scream tore itself from her injured body.

I snarled angrily at Kain and was pushing at the rocks when I saw it: the voodoo doll from earlier in the fight. It still even had Lucy's hair on it. I picked it up and began to move it around in various positions. As I contorted the doll, Lucy herself fought against Kain and before long, Kain was lying on the ground, defeated. While it took me a while to get out of the rocks, I never felt better. I managed to protect Lucy in this nearly-impossible situation and we had won.

PRESENT DAY

While I may appear completely dense and pretty dumb most of the time, I do recognize a lot of the stuff that happens around me. I just don't really talk about what happens in my head. I do have a passion for fighting and being number one, and while it appears that that is all I care about, it isn't. Lucy is the first person since Lisanna to understand. I think that had Lisanna never gone to Edolas, I would have fallen hard for her. But since she disappeared, I can't think of myself with her in that way anymore, because now it is all about Lucy.

I turned away from the dark night sky outside my window and slowly raised myself out of the hammock. I glanced over to look at Happy before I remembered that he had stayed with Wendy and Carla tonight. I sighed again and stepped out the door into the night air.

I don't recall actually walking, but the next thing I knew, I was standing in front of Lucy's place. I looked up at the cozy little structure and smiled, remembering all of the funny memories Team Natsu has had here. With a pang, I also remembered that if it weren't for Lucy's father, this place would no longer be hers.

I knew what it was like to lose a parent. However, I wasn't sure which was worse: disappearing and not knowing what happened to the parent, or the parent dying and knowing they would never be seen again. I decided that Lucy was definitely going through the more difficult of the two. She lost her mother, and now she doesn't have a father either. Even though her father was responsible for the attack from Phantom Lord Guild, I could tell that Lucy was devastated at his demise. She didn't even get a chance to say goodbye.

Jumping high, I reached Lucy's window and glanced inside. She was sleeping on her side, her covers carelessly tossed off of the bed. As I watched her, she seemed to be shaking and reaching for something. I knew exactly what she was looking for and climbed through the window, entering the place where I always get Lucy-kicked out. I picked up the covers and draped them back over her body. While she grabbed them and cuddled deeper into the cocoon of warmth, I noticed a pained expression on Lucy's face.

I can't believe it…Luce's having a nightmare too…I guess that makes sense. She has been through a lot lately. Knowing that this would probably cause me a world full of hurt in the morning, I lay my body down next to hers. I wrapped my arms around her and pulled her close. Inhaling her sweet scent, I noticed that as I did this, I saw Lucy's face relax into a more peaceful one. This always seemed to do the trick before, at least that hasn't changed. Maybe someday I can do this with Lucy's permission. Maybe someday I could say something about I feel. I smiled slightly at the thought. The smile faded away quickly as I silently chastised myself. I can't say anything. There is no way she feels the same way about me. I can't ruin the friendship that we already have. Relaxing my body, I allowed my eyes to close.

Before I faded back into sleep, I hoped that I would not have those nightmares again, not with Lucy by my side. The nightmares showed the fight with Kain, except this time, I was forced to watch as she was killed again…..and again…..and again. This time, I couldn't save her.

This is my first ever Fairy Tail fanfic so I hope you enjoy! This is definitely going to be one of those longer series and hopefully I can update it every so often with a new chapter.

Also I have only watched the anime until the Key of the Starry Heavens arc and I haven't read the manga so please no spoilers!