Hey people! Pika's back! -I don't own Fairy Tail-

It was dark.

That was the first thing the little boy noticed when he opened his eyes, cheek pressed against the cold stone floor. Struggling to his hands and knees, his head raised slightly, eyebrows pressed together and eyes squinting. "M-Momma? ... Daddy?"

He was scared. It was pitch-black and freezing, and his clothes had been changed to an uncomfortable pinstripe suit. Where was he? What had happened? He could only remember the blackness and... Where was his family?

His eyes began to fill with tears, his body wracked with small trembles. He hiccupped, when a voice came out from the darkness. "Newbie, don't cry."

The voice sounded gruff and distinctly male, like the person had something stuck in their throat. The little boy flinched and started whimpering louder.

"Gosh, what does a man have to do—!" The man cut himself off. "... Come'ere, kid, it's gonna be alright." The figure moved, making himself a little clearer in the darkness. He was tall and built like a football player, but the boy couldn't see anything else.

"Where's your family?" the man asked. The tinier figure sniffled.

"... I-I don't know..."

"Must'a gotten sold off to somewhere else... Look, kid, better cry yourself out now cause tomorrow you'll have to be ready. Bad stuff gonna happen, but you gotta be strong, 'kay?"

The little boy was very unsure. "B-But, what happened to my mommy and daddy?" he shouted in an outburst. More figures, one unnoticed in the darkness, stirred, scaring the little boy into silence. They were asleep, and luckily didn't wake up.

After a few seconds of absolute silence, the figure scooted closer to the little boy, "Shh... they wouldn't be happy if they were woken up." He warned. The boy sniffled and went quiet.

"Look, you gotta be strong. Whatever you do, don't stop. Don't look them in the eye. Don't show them that you still have hope."

The boy didn't understand his words that night, but it quickly because his motto in the later, many years he would be stuck here imprisoned.

8 years later.

"Get up, you pathetic slave."

The boy named Natsu struggled up on his hands and knees, only to be stuck down again. He groaned and closed his eyes, feeling the heavy boot on his side, hearing the laughter above him. Not far from him was a towering, dark-haired man, and a small little girl hiding behind him, trying to watch impassively but failing.

"I said... GET UP!" Another kick.

The boy ignored the kicks and stood up on his feet, knowing that the blows would continue if he didn't listen. He looked down at the floor, trying to appear small and innocent. Tears prickled in the corners of his eyes, but he couldn't let them fall. "Good, you piece of useless sh—"

Natsu cringed at the words, but kept his gaze low. The lead guard narrowed his beady eyes at him before slapping him hard. The unexpected move made Natsu's head snap sideways. The guards snickered at the teen, shoving him once more onto the ground before leaving.

The two figures watching went up to him. "Natsu, are you okay?" The little girl peered at him with wide chocolate eyes, with dirty, uncombed sky-coloured hair, the dirt caking in it turning the colour darker. She was small and cute, maybe nine-years old.

Natsu held his stinging cheek and ignored the pain in his sides when he lifted his arm. "I-I'm fine, Wendy." He tried to be hopeful for the little girl, but the pain was fierce and tears of pain refused to hide behind dry eyes. He looked up at the older man.

"Let's get those patched up." Gajeel said gruffly. "Our shift's over." The oldest of the three, a man in his thirties, was tall and broad shouldered. His hair was raven-black and wild, about shoulder length. His dark eyes looked over Natsu.

The pink haired boy limped after Gajeel, Wendy helping his steps. They melted into a crowd of striped-wearing slaves heading back to their cells, all skinny and sullen eyed. There were children, adults, and seniors. The group walked for a bit, flanked by gun-carrying soldiers.

The slaves were shoved roughly into a low shack made of brick and caving in roof, all moving into smaller groups and going into their cells. Natsu, Wendy, and Gajeel squeezed into a cell, a few other people being forced in there too. It smelled heavily of sweat and mold, the walls made of thick grey brick and one wall was made of rusted bronze bars holding them there. There was no light, except a single kerosene lamp flickering and the light from the open doors.

Natsu watched as the final few slaves got pushed inside the cells, with the butts of guns or rough words.

"I refuse!"

The slaves looked up at the defiant words at an old man wearing the same striped clothing as them, glaring at a guard through wrinkles and bushy eyebrows. The guard remained impassive.

"I refuse to listen to you damn bastards again, we don't deserve being treated like this and we should fi—" His strong words were cut off when the guard put the gun to his head and fired. The old man crumbled to the ground, blood pooling around him, but there wasn't the smallest change of expression on the nameless guards face. Natsu heard a strangled cry, looking over at the next cell.

"GRANDPA, GRANDPA!" It was a little girl and her mother. The older woman had the little fighting child in her arms, trying to pull her away from the bars. The child was crying, looking over her dead relative on the ground.

"GRANDPA!" Natsu felt saddened, but he only blinked slowly before turning around, not letting the death hurt him. He had nothing to live for. One day that could be him. But if he stuck on the deaths, if he kept thinking about them... it would just stack and stack up and he'd break, just like that old man, and he'd end up exactly how the man was now. Dead.

The lead guard ordered the body be taken away, despite the screams from the little girl. Natsu felt tears prickling at his eyes but blinked them away. This was his life, he would just have to accept it.

The tiny fire inside him was burnt out, it had long ago. Natsu had no hope, no will to live. He was dead inside, a ghost of himself walking the filthy camp, living— no, surviving his life. He wished there was somewhere else, somewhere where he could be free, but...

He couldn't let himself raise his hopes, because there was absolutely nothing good in his life.

Natsu turned back, looking at Wendy and Gajeel. Almost nothing. They were there for him, and vice versa. Gajeel was the one who was there for him since the beginning, Wendy came years later, but they were all a family. When one of them stumbled, the others would help them up.

Natsu smiled, an ever-so slight twitch of his lips.

The guards hauled the old man's body away, and heavy metal doors shut behind them, leaving the slaves in darkness, except the single sputtering flame from the lamp. Wendy moved a loose brick and retrieved the bandages they scavenged around for, starting to wrap it around the sickly purple bruise forming on Natsu's stomach. He hissed, tears forming in his eyes again. Wendy stopped, looking up.

"I-It's okay, Wendy. Keep going." The boy told her. She frowned but returned her work. Natsu turned his head to Gajeel, who was watching them in the darkness, trying to remain impassive, even if the teen saw the worry hiding behind them. "I'm fine. I swear."

"That was quite a beatin'." Gajeel pointed out. Wendy finished tying up the bandages, pulling away.

Natsu ignored the statement. "You okay, Wendy?"

The girl bit her lip. "I'm fine." Natsu, knowing that she was the most sensitive of them all, wrapped his arms around her reassuringly. She smiled half-heartedly, squeezing a bit before nestling into the corner of the cell, getting comfy for the night.

"Goodnight, Big Brothers." The boys tucked themselves in close to her, closing their eyes.

"Goodnight."

"Get up, filthy slaves—"

The day started early today, as Natsu and the other slaves were woken up roughly, hassled out of their cells, going to the bathroom quickly before being rushed outside to the fields.

Natsu dug the tool into the ground, using momentum to dig it into the earth, creating a long path. He wiped sweat from his brow, his limbs already aching from swinging around a rusted metal hoe for the past hour.

The fierce sun beat down on the slaves and the bugs hummed, the sound of dull thuds when a hoe would hit the ground, or the grunts from one of the slaves. Natsu turned back to his work, casting his eyes down low, squinting in the sunlight.

He just wanted to escape. Even for a little bit. The teen noted Wendy beside him was having trouble with her hoe, much too big for her small body, being stuck in the ground; he let go of his for a moment before wrenching hers from the dirt.

"Thank you, Big Brother." The little girl smiled, forehead shiny from sweat, but she continued, knowing she couldn't stop just as much as her 'older brothers' did. Natsu smiled slightly before continuing turning dirt.

Why? He had no idea. His eyes glanced up at the endless expanse of malnourished, greyish dirt, small hills until, far, far away, the hazy outline of a fence was. That fence was what kept them here. It was electrified, guards patrolled the perimeter twenty-four/seven, and nobody got out. Ever.

The only thing other than dirt he saw was a small, patchy forest, the trees and bushes withering, turning yellow, but it was only a short run away. But he wouldn't be able to sneak in without the guards seeing him...

He was tired of all this crap. If he was shot... He didn't really care. Natsu slowly began to work his way over, slowly making his way further and further from the main area, away from Gajeel and Wendy, away from the guards. He glanced behind him.

The guards, supposed to be watching the slaves, were joking around with bottles of beer, singing songs loud enough for even Natsu to hear them from this distance. They were quite far away, clearly not paying attention to them, so making his final decision, Natsu snuck past the undergrowth.

The boy made sure to keep himself quiet, the forest— it couldn't have even been called that, more like a bunch of trees and scraggly excuses for bushes. He hid behind them fearfully, afraid there was going to be a guard standing post, he was gonna shoot and he'd be dead... but no one was here.

Natsu found a round, decent rock to lay back on, still tense and aware. While his conscious was screaming to run back to the plains, the guards were going to catch him, he was gonna get beaten, or even worse... he was too tired of this crap, this thing that they called life, that he honestly didn't care what happened to him.

I'd be glad if they shot me. It's endless, I'll always be treated badly, while watching the soldiers get warm food and clothes, and nice houses, and we'll be stuck here, squeezed into small cells that smell of sweat and gunk, we won't get warm food, or nice clothes—

His little mental rant ended abruptly when a voice stopped his thoughts.

"Hello."

Natsu lifted his head at the sound of a voice, eyes a fraction wider. If the guards caught him—

But the owner of the voice, distinctively feminine, was on the other side of the fence. The boy blinked, taking in the appearance of the girl.

Something in his chest squeezed.

The girl had long, golden hair that shone in the sunlight, and wide, innocent doe eyes. Her figure was slim and curvy, but petite and cute at the same time, and perfectly set. She adorned a cute, frilly red dress, a little matching cap on her head, and carried a woven basket; something was inside it but was covered with a plaid cloth.

She was beautiful, Natsu thought in the dimmest recesses of his mind he could think through the shock. T-This girl-...

"Hello?" She repeated again, somewhat confused of why he didn't answer.

The boy blinked and somehow managed to reply. "U-Um... Hi."

"What's your name?" The girl asked.

The teen hesitated. "N-Natsu." The clothes she wore were bright, such an unlikely colour in his world, except for the rich scarlet of blood, that it was surprising. It looked soft, like velvet. Natsu had never felt velvet before, but he'd heard of it.

"Is your dress velvet?" He asked suddenly. The girl blinked, then laughed. Natsu thought it sounded beautiful.

"I thought you might ask me my name, Natsu, but no, I don't think it's velvet. Silk, maybe?" Natsu had heard of velvet but not of silk. His expression turned quizzical.

"Silk?" Then he remembered his manners and added, "A-And what is your name?"

She blinked, looking over his clothing for once. She definitely noticed the holes and dirt, but said nothing. It wasn't polite, and that was how she was raised. "Silk is a material, like velvet. And my name is Lucy." The blonde smiled.

Lucy. "It's nice to meet you, Lucy." Natsu liked the way it sounded, rolling off his tongue.

"You too." She giggled. "Why are you on the other side of the fence—" she stepped closer and Natsu shouted, reaching his hand out.

"No!" she faltered, stepping back in alarm, "T-The fence is electrified. It'll hurt if you touch it." The fence hummed, like an agreement, but Natsu had seen people try to escape, or kill themselves, and accidently touching the wire.

"U-Um, okay." Lucy slowly calmed down, and the brunet sighed in relief. "B-But why are you on the other side of the fence?"

Natsu answered honestly. "I don't know. I've been here for a long time." As long as he could remember, he had been stuck in this place. With no family, but he had made friends, at least. Two close friends that were everything to him.

"... Tell me about yourself, Natsu." She sat down, cross-legged, sitting on the material of her dress, setting the basket beside her. She appeared to be waiting earnestly for an answer. Natsu stared for a moment.

"You're going to ruin your dress." He stated. Lucy giggled a bit.

"I can get a maid to clean it after." She said it simply, like it was normal.

A maid? "What's a maid?"

The blonde blinked, then laughed. Once again, Natsu admired her. It made his chest feel warm. A small, almost unnoticeable smile started forming on his lips. "A maid is someone who... cleans stuff for you. And does other things, sometimes she can get you food, or help you tie the back of your dress when you can't reach, or..." she seemed to have run out of ideas. " That type of stuff."

Natsu was baffled. He had to do all of those things himself, and for other people. He wondered if that maid had a life like his, of if he even knew her. He decided not to voice it. "That sounds cool."

"Yeah, Virgo is a real help sometimes." Lucy smiled to herself.

"Virgo?"

"The name of my maid. She lives in the servant's quarters with the rest of the servants." That answered his question. They certainly didn't have a servants quarters here. "But enough about me, what about your life?" She asked.

Natsu bit his lip, unconsciously moving the sleeves of his baggy shirt down. "U-Um, it's fine, I guess." He didn't know why he said that, but he didn't want Lucy to worry for him, some odd instinct deep inside of him wanted to protect her.

"Anything else?" She asked, batting her eyelashes and doe-brown eyes innocently.

"It's not really anything special." He told her. Lucy pressed her lips together.

"Okay then." She looked over his dress, the dirt caked on his skin, how skinny he looked, and inwardly frowned, but her manners didn't let herself voice it. Besides, she couldn't get closer because of that fence. She kinda wished it wasn't there.

The blonde reached into her basket, feeling sorry for the boy across from her, and got out a fresh-baked chocolate-chip muffin, still warm. Natsu's eyes widened considerably, she noticed.

Lucy held it out, careful not to get too close to the fence. "U-Um, do you want it?"

Natsu couldn't even help himself from nodding and his stomach growled loudly. Lucy giggled, and his face got a little hot. The blonde looked at him and laughed, holding it out even more, then tossed it over the fence. The toss was a little short and Natsu leaned forwards slightly, catching the gift in his hand gratefully. He leaned back with his prize, glancing up at Lucy hesitantly, and took a bite.

His eyes were round marbles. "T-This is amazing." Compared to the slop they served here, it was. Natsu finished off the muffin fast, the ache in his stomach soothing a bit. "Why are you carrying a basket of muffins?" He asked.

Lucy smiled. "They're for my Grandma Porlyusica. She lives up this path. I deliver muffins to her a lot, because they're really good and grandma needs someone to look over her. I pass by the fence every day, but it's my first time seeing someone." She smiled.

Natsu had never been on the other side of the fence. He imagined it scary, even more so than the inside... but seeing this innocent girl in front of him made him reconsider. "I've never seen anyone outside the fence." Other than the guards, he added silently. Lucy opened her mouth to reply, remembered something, standing up suddenly.

"I just realized, my grandma's expecting me to be at her house soon. I don't want her to worry." Natsu's expression saddened slightly. Lucy looked down at him.

"I like you Natsu. I want to talk to you again. What about..." She moved her hands behind her neck and unhooked the cerulean necklace placed between her breast, then gently tossed it over the fence at the boy. He caught it, surprised.

"What's this for?"

"It belonged to my grandmother." She said. "If you have it, I'll have to come back for it, right? Promise to keep it safe?" She winked at him, and before he could protest, the beautiful, playful blonde ran off.

Natsu looked down at the small red pendant, fastening it around his neck, under his shirt, where it would be safe and unseen.

I promise.

"Oi, where you been at?" Gajeel hissed at Natsu, who had parted the bushes and snuck in the crowd of working people. Wendy, beside him looked up at his arrival.

"Not even a hello? I've been around, by the way." Natsu said quietly and grinned, he tried not to, picking up a shovel.

"Cut it with the crap, Natsu, where've you been? You sneak back here looking happy as hell, you can barely wipe that smile off your god damned face." Natsu grinned even brighter at his words.

"Promise you won't tell?" Gajeel growled as confirmation, and Wendy halted her work to listen.

"I talked to someone on the Other Side." He told them gleefully. The girl gasped quietly, and even Gajeel's eyebrows lifted slightly.

"A guard?"

"No, no, a real person! A girl!" He grinned.

"Wow... what was she like?" the little girl asked, eyes wide. Gajeel frowned though, interrupting the teen's response.

"You gotta be careful, you know. You're found out—"

"Relax, relax. I'll be careful."

The next day, Natsu waited at the spot where he'd stumbled upon Lucy for what felt like hours. He was awfully impatient though. He knew if the guards found out he was talking to an outsider...

Finally, she appeared, holding another basket. The boy smiled, unclipping the necklace from around his neck. "Hey. You're back." He tossed it over the fence.

The blonde smiled back, catching it. "Course I am, silly."

"That's good." Lucy seemed to notice his twitchiness.

The girl frowned. "Are you okay, Natsu?"

He swallowed. "I... I have to be back soon. M... My parents don't let me out for too long." He lied, which made him feel guilty, but he didn't want her to worry.

She looked crestfallen. "O-Okay," then got an idea. "Here. Catch." She reached into her basket, and threw a long, sticklike object over the fence. Natsu caught it effortlessly this time, bringing his hand down and eyeing the object in his palm.

"A pencil?" He asked quizzically.

"That way, if you can't come, you can just stop by and send a paper airplane over. The next day, I'll read the letter and respond to yours, then vice versa."

He liked the idea. He could probably scrounge around for some paper... Plus it meant he could keep something of hers. Natsu inwardly smiled, "It's a deal."

Lucy beamed. "I got to go to my grandmothers now. See a paper airplane tomorrow!" Natsu waved, turning around and heading back to the camp quickly.

"What are you doing so late, scum?" The guard roared, kicking Natsu's side hard. He choked, curling in on himself in the endless kicks and enraged yells. Finally they slowed, and a guard fisted his shirt and hauled him up so his tiptoes were touching the ground.

"You're lucky you do a decent amount of work for a slave, kid. Half a portion for being late." He spat, shoving Natsu away roughly. The boy didn't dare lift his hands to wipe the saliva off his face, looking down at the ground and trying to look as innocent as possible. He trembled, trying to stay on his feet. One of the guards shoved him through the door with the barrel of his gun.

Natsu picked his half-portion of food up shakily, the serving woman clearly hearing the guards shouts over the slave's hushed whispers, sitting next to Gajeel and Wendy. The older man glared at Natsu, obviously irritated but worried. "We're gonna have to fix those up," he said, pointing to his freshly-opened wounds.

Natsu winced, taking a handful of slop. No tableware was ever given, but he took it gratefully. If he didn't eat, he would have starved. Gajeel, with a disgusted harrumph, leaned over Wendy, and poured a tiny bit of his food into Natsu's bowl. The younger boy opened his mouth to protest, but Gajeel cut him off.

"I don't need it." He growled, taking a bite messily. Natsu sighed, knowing that arguing against him was pointless.

As soon as Wendy wrapped up Natsu's wounds in their cell, the youngest and oldest went to bed. Natsu stayed awake, waiting for everyone to fall asleep so he could write up his paper airplane. As everyone's breaths turned deeper, he scooted closer to the single kerosene lamp, then got the paper he'd managed to steal from underneath his shirt.

He lifted the pencil, but honestly didn't know where to start. Dear Lucy...

...

...

...

Natsu dropped the pencil, lying down and silently groaning. He'd never written a letter! He decided to start with the obvious. He hardly knew anything about this girl. Slowly, his writing came more smooth and confident, until he finished up his letter.

.

Dear Lucy;

This is the first letter I've written, ever. I'm probably a horible speller and have bad hand writing, but bear with me! At first, I was wondering what too write and couldn't think abot anything, but I kinda wanted to know mor about you...

.

The next day, he ran over to the spot, folded the airplane quickly, and tossed it over the fence. It flew gracefully, landing in a patch of grass neatly. Natsu beamed, his first one in months showing each of his teeth, and ran back to the camp.

Lucy nibbled on the end of her pencil, back at home now after picking up the expected paper airplane. She had locked herself in her room, trying to write a letter back. She honestly didn't know what to write. About herself?

He didn't look like he knew about her rich life. It was something kinda handed to her by luck of birth, she got everything she wanted, even if she deemed it unnecessary. Clothes, accessories, food, it was all just given to her. She was pretty lucky.

But she felt bad when she saw Natsu. His clothes were ripped and baggy, and he didn't look like he ate a lot. She didn't know why he was treated that way, but she wanted it to stop. Nobody deserved to be treated like that.

The blonde put her pencil on the paper, but didn't move. Her mind was blank, but she reread the letter once more, and decided to be simple, answering the questions he asked and asking her own.

She started to write, not realizing the paper airplane from Natsu dropping to the ground in her focus.

.

Dear Natsu;

I write letters all the time. Sometimes to my grandfather, who we used to live close to, but then we moved here. It wasn't that long ago, actually. When I first saw you on the other side of the fence I was surprised, I had never seen someone on the other side, but you seemed surprised just as much as I was at that moment.

Before I start anything about me, could I ask you something? Is your hair naturally pink? I've only seen two pink haired people before, Aries my seamstress, and Meredy, a girl in my class before. Both were from far away... Are you from far away?

A little about me; I live in a big house, and have a nice family, I guess. My mom's name is Layla, and my father's Jude, my mom is a housewife but I don't know my father's job, he's always so secretive about it—

.

The next day, Natsu came back to Lucy about to throw her paper airplane over the fence. His wounds had healed a little; he couldn't run fast without aching too much now, at least. He looked up as his paper airplane soared over the fence and landed on the ground in a spiral dive. He picked it up, looking at Lucy with a small smirk on his face.

It was so different here. He could talk, and laugh, and smile with this girl. He was so grateful.

"Hey." Natsu said, holding the airplane up.

The blonde noticed his bandaged wounds then. "What happened?!" She almost shouted, ignoring his greeting. Natsu looked down, biting his lip.

"I fell, a-and landed in a thorny bush. I-It's better than it lo—"

"Cut it with the crap," Lucy snorted, reminding Natsu of Gajeel's sharp tongue, "Let me see." He hesitated before pushing the bandages away lightly. Lucy frowned deeply, inching closer to the fence.

Angry purple bruises, even brown in some places, some still-healing, but scarlet cuts, littered his skin. Lucy frowned deeply. "Those aren't bush-cuts, Natsu. What happened?"

He sighed. "The guards beat me up." Her eyes widened.

"Guards?! Why would they beat you up?"

"I don't know." They always had an excuse. He shifted the bandages back to cover the injuries. "But Lucy, I'm used to it, it's fi—"

She stood up angrily: "Used to it? Used to it! People are beating you up, Natsu, how can you not stand up for yourself?!"

Because if I did, they'd kill me. "B-Because."

Lucy looked enraged. While the whole fit was about as scary as a hissing kitten, Natsu smiled tightly at her trying to protect him. "Because?! They can't just beat you up, you're a good person and don't deserve that!" Slowly, her yells died down and her eyes looked wet. She wiped the tears away stubbornly while Natsu stared.

"You really don't deserve those, Natsu. I wish I was on your side so I could help you." No you don't. He didn't want her on this side. She was too pretty for a place like this. He unconsciously played with the wings of his new paper airplane, careful not to damage it in any way.

"Haven't you thought of escaping?" She asked, snapping him out of his stupor.

"... Yes." Many times. But he'd seen people who tried to escape, seen them tied to a post, whipped, and sometimes whipped then killed. All prisoners were forced to watch. Even little Wendy, who always cried. Natsu and Gajeel kept his tears in for her, but only barely. "But I have family here. I couldn't leave them in this place." He answered.

"Oh." Lucy looked down. "This fence and the guards keep you in?" He nodded sadly.

The girl bit her lip, then reached into her basket, retrieving two muffins and throwing them over the fence. Natsu caught them. "Here, give those to your family." He looked down at the muffins, looked up, then smiled.

"Thank you so much."

She paused, "I-I've got to go to my grandmothers now, I'm already running late writing that." She ran off, face a tiny bit red.

He waved to her backside, and as soon as he could barely see her figure walking down the path, he ran back to camp.

Months passed, and the paper airplane tradition continued. Sometimes, either Natsu or Lucy found a simple paper airplane, and others, they would meet and chat for a bit before each going their separate ways. This was one of those days.

"So your dad fell into the lake?" Natsu laughed and slapped his knee. Lucy giggled, nodding.

"He climbed out covered in lakeweed and his clothes were all slimy and gross!"

"Eww!"

The two were having a great time, even being quiet. They never wanted to be too loud, of course, so the guards wouldn't be alerted of their presences.

Natsu beamed widely, admiring Lucy for a moment. She could always make him smile, take his grey days away. He was cheerful with her, something in his chest squeezed when he saw her. When she smiled, he felt happy. When she cried, he felt sad.

He knew all about her. They had talked about everything in the months they had met until now. Lucy knew about his 'family' and Natsu knew about hers. The blonde took no offense that Natsu had lied to her in the beginning, understanding how such things were not good to speak about when you had just met a person, and greatly enjoyed his company as her only close friend. ("Daddy had always brought friends to our house, but they were all drab and no fun at all. None of them could belch and then laugh about it like you!")

Their bond was indestructible.

Natsu was very, very happy these days. Even so much that the guards were getting suspicious.

Natsu heard something rustling behind him and Lucy's eyes widened. Natsu turned around, and punched the thing, heart skipping a beat. Its head made a cracking noise against a rock.

Oh no.

It was a guard, dressed in the usual green uniform, holding a gun in his hands. His eyes widened as a tiny bit of blood leaked onto the ground, and his face started to swell. He turned around; Lucy seemed to be hyperventilating.

"Oh my dear sweet Jesus is he dead? Are you okay Natsu is he okay there's blood a lot of blood, it's leaking out his head—" He shushed her, looking over the body.

The guard was breathing, but was knocked unconscious, luckily. Lucy spoke up, quiet. "He saw us." Natsu nodded.

"The guy's likely to get a concussion." Unfortunately, he knew the man. A guard that got drunk a lot, excused duties frequently and always acted mean to the prisoners.

"Natsu, go. If you go back I can get someone else to come and help him. If it's you they'll wonder why you were there in the first place. The guy won't even remember you. I'll pretend like I was just passing by and saw him." Natsu's eyebrows pushed together.

"But—"

Lucy looked up sharply. "Go, now!" He hesitated before Lucy ran off.

He would be caught if he stayed here... Damnit. With tears stinging in his eyes, he left, taking a paper airplane with him.

"You were talking with a prisoner!"

Lucy flinched, almost whimpering. "Y-Yes, Father."

The blonde was sitting firmly in a lone chair, feeling stranded as the only thing close to her was her enraged father. Lucy's dad was a tall, square-shouldered man, with slick, greased back hair and a clean, sharp moustache. His eyes were narrowed to slits and he glared at his daughter, still in his olive work uniform. Her mother was soft-eyed, the older Lucy with the same doe-brown eyes, long blonde hair, and face shape, stayed back, letting the father of the house do the talking.

"They're dangerous, and rough, and mean! I thought you were going to your grandmothers and YOU BETRAY MY TRUST!?' Lucy looked up at her father, eyes close to tears. Natsu wasn't dangerous, or rough, or mean. He could barely hit a fly, he may look a little dirty but it's not like he had a choice!

"Y-Y-Yes, Father. I talked with a prisoner boy."

"WHO?!" Her father roared.

Lucy didn't dare betray Natsu. "I didn't get his name."

Her father was enraged. "What did he look like!?"

But she didn't want anyone else killed by coincidence. "I cannot tell you, Father." His face was angry red.

"TO YOUR ROOM! I WILL NOT PROHIBIT GOING OUTSIDE IF YOU ARE TO BE SO STUBBORN AND RUDE, MY DISGRACE OF A DAUGHTER!" Lucy stopped, looking up at her Father with wide, tear-filled eyes, and ran off, bawling, going upstairs and slamming the door behind her, collapsing on her bed.

"Where is she?" Natsu whined, tucked into a ball in the corner of the cell. Gajeel glared at him irritably, a sleepy Wendy in his arms.

"I don't know, now get some sleep, Idiot." He growled. The girl yawned cutely, blinking with glazed over eyes.

"But ever since then—"

"Shaddup and go get some sleep. You haven't been getting much lately."

Yeah, because every time he fell asleep he'd have nightmares of the worst. Lucy was kidnapped, or shot, or even brought in the camp itself. There was an ache in his chest as he wrote his letter. Despite her not returning them, there was a small bundle waiting for her outside the fence, for when she came back, Natsu told himself.

The ache got worse every day of not seeing her beautiful face. His beatings with the guards got worse, but it was nothing compared to the thing eating at his heart, leaving an empty hole that just got bigger and bigger.

Once Gajeel had rocked Wendy to sleep, he asked quietly; "Have you thought that maybe you love her?"

Love? Love was a myth, wasn't it? In this dull, bleak world that he called home, such an emotion didn't exist. "Love... Lucy?"

The
older man rolled his eyes. "Love. Like, you adore her and shit." Natsu stopped, blinking.

"I... love Lucy." He repeated.

Gajeel deadpanned. He knew his partner was brain dead. "Do you?"

In this bleak, colourless world, such an emotion never existed... until he met Lucy. She was the bright spot, the fire that called him out from the shadows. Not seeing her was hell for him. It didn't matter if they belonged to two different worlds, he...

He loved her.

Natsu ignored Gajeel and promptly scrunched the paper he was writing on into a wall, throwing it somewhere. It didn't matter anymore. There was a furious scratching on paper, and not long after, Natsu held up his work.

It looked right.

A couple days later.

Lucy was still stuck in her room. There was an ache in her chest that she couldn't describe, a dull gnawing and it was driving her insane. She worried for Natsu, was he okay, did he get caught, was he alive, was he safe—?

She stopped herself before the questions consumed her. The blonde looked out the window, sighing, seeing the electric fence and the seemingly endless expanse of dirt, small figures working a distance away. Lucy curled a loose strand around her finger, sitting at her desk, then her foot made a shuffling noise.

She backed up and looked at her feet; there was a white object on the ground. She picked it up, eyes widening when she realized what it was. One of Natsu's first paper airplanes. She unfolded it slowly, taking in the familiar chicken scratch of his writing. She didn't realize it, but her face was stretching into a grin.

"Dear Lucy. This is the first letter I've—" she read it quietly, but her smile was wide. She folded the airplane again, making sure no irregular folds were indented into the paper, glancing outside.

... Could she?

Just to make sure he was okay... maybe he was waiting for her. She longed to see him again, that bubble gum-haired funny idiot that she called her best friend... maybe even something more. Lucy stood up, opening her door, poking her head outside. The hallway was empty, so she closed the door behind her, and snuck out to the hall.

Natsu was ecstatic. He would finally get to propose his feelings, in the form on the sheet of paper tucked into his pinstriped suit, and tell Lucy how he felt. He would wait until she came here directly until he told her. Make it more personal, show her the letter and hope to any higher beings out there that she'd respond to them too.

His vigor was included in his work, a steady thud against the dirt as the hoe slammed against it. Natsu, in his excitement, didn't realize little Wendy was having trouble with her own tool, having it stuck in the dirt.

Gajeel glanced over, wiping sweat from his brow. "Wendy, you need some help?"

He didn't notice the guard eyeing their activity.

The little blonde smiled wearily, tired after hours of working. "Yes, please, big brother." Gajeel dug his tool in the dirt and wrenched out hers, even turning over some of the dirt for the girl.

The guard finally waved his friends over and called out. "Oi! What are you doing?"

All the slaves looked up fearfully, when they realized the guards were glaring at the trio. All eyes turned to them as the guards stomped over to them.

"What are you doing, you slave?" he said the word in disgust, grabbing Wendy's arm roughly, enough to make her cry out in pain, and pulling her towards him. Her eyes started to water, his sharp and uncaring.

"I-I needed help, my tool was st-stuck in the dirt a-an—"

"Worthless piece of sh—" He barked, making her flinch. "You're worthless, good for nothing except eating portions and making these two losers do your work." He gestured to Gajeel and Natsu, and disgusted, began pulling her away to the main buildings.

"Where are you taking her?!" Both shouted. Wendy cried, feet unable to grip the earth as she was tugged along. They didn't reply, only grinned back with cruel malice.

Gajeel acted first, rushing forwards and blocking their way. "Please..." He was almost begging. "What are you going to do to her?"

The guard pulling her along laughed, pushing his away roughly. "The gas chamber with the rest of the horrid slaves." Wendy struggled, shouting for her two brothers, and the guard squeezed tighter. Her cries of desperation turned into pain.

Natsu couldn't stand back and watch as his youngest family member was dragged away to be killed. He looked at the heavy metal hoe in his hand, and swung right into a guard's head. He dropped like a stone.

He dimly heard the gunshot through his anger, suddenly pain exploded in his leg and he crashed to the ground. He couldn't move his leg, oh my god I was just shot, it hurt—

He couldn't make many coherent thoughts in his pain, but he realized there was a gun pointed at his forehead. Slowly, he opened his eyes, seeing and feeling the cold barrel of the gun pressed right between the eyes.

"Useless pathetic thing." Natsu knew, at that moment, he was going to die. It felt like an invisible weight crashing on his shoulders, but he couldn't muster the energy to move. It felt like he was frozen there, through fear or terror, he didn't know.

But he didn't want to die, he had something to live for now! The once lifeless world he once lived in had blossomed to vivid and bright colors. Gold, like her hair, or red like the dress she wore when they met, or blue, like the necklace she promised she'd come back for... His world centered on her. She was his world.

Tears filled his eyes. Accepting death like this was pathetic. Even if he knew he was going to die right here, broken and bloody on the ground, he wanted to have the last laugh. He wouldn't avert his eyes, or stand down like he had all these years. He would die proudly.

"Go a-ahead." He choked out, but he smiled. "Kill me." Slowly, he reached inside his pinstriped suit, crumpling the piece of paper underneath into his hand. He was a little sad he wouldn't see her again, and neither did he want to accept his own death, but he was... content. His final wish was for his letter to get to her, if one good thing could ever happen to him, it was if his paper crumpled in his hand... Lucy could read it.

The guard smiled gruesomely. "With pleasure."

Lucy looked around worrisomely at the camp, determined to find Natsu. What she saw was sickly. People who were dangerously skinny, with sunken-in eyes all wearing pinstriped costumes. When one would look at her, she would avert her eyes.

She was afraid, slightly. She was afraid to see what they had been through. She was afraid of showing sympathy, wearing the fanciful clothes she was, with two guards flanking her sides dutifully. She had talked, no, demanded that she be let inside, and that is when she learned of her father's job.

.

"Miss Lucy, I am sorry to inform you, but you aren't even allowed to be in this room." The solider told her. "Your father told us you are under house arrest."

"My father? What does he have to do with all of this?"

"Your father is the owner of this camp, Lucy."

Instantly, the girl felt hatred and disgust forming in her stomach. Her father or mother never, ever told her of this... inhumane activity! What sort these people out from them?!"I demand to be let inside, no matter what my father told you!" She yelled, eyes narrowed to slits. "I do not care what he told you pathetic excuses for guards, I want in. NOW."

.

A small, hunched figure approaching her snapped her from her thoughts. A little girl, barely seven-years old, with dirt caked into her skin, her uniform bagging on her slim frame, went up to her shyly. "... Miss... do you have—"

"Get out of the way, filth." The guard to her left kicked the poor girl, and Lucy cried out. The girl sniffled, burst out crying and ran away. The blonde, enraged, turned on him.

"Why would you do that?!" She demanded. "She's badly treated here and was just asking!"

"They are filth. Dirty useless filth that deserves to die. They're lucky we're getting them to do something, the dumb animals that they are."

"No, they aren't, Nat—" Lucy heard a gunshot, stopping her rant, and her head whipped around to the sound. She burst into a run, the guards blinking but following her obediently.

She skid a bit by a bent, seeing the field, the slaves, and a band of soldiers and slaves alike huddled closer to the main buildings than the rest. A bad feeling settled in Lucy's chest.

Natsu smiled, eyes upwards, meeting the soldiers own. He wouldn't back down.

"With pleasure."

His hand tightened.

The gun shot.

Lucy screamed.

Natsu fell back.

And crimson splashed everywhere.

Lucy ran up to the scene, pushing the soldiers away with desperation, dropping to her knees when she saw. Her eyes filled up with tears, cradling Natsu's limp body to her chest.

"N-Natsu... N-Natsu..?" The girl couldn't believe it, in total denial that this was Natsu. She wanted to see his smile again, his happy personality... all she saw was a bloody corpse. Tears began running down her face, shaking her head.

"No... nonononono... Please, God, no... I-It's not fair..." She hugged Natsu closer to her, blood, dirt, and tears dirtying her dress, but she didn't care, she'd do anything to bring him back...

The warmth from his body was slowly fading and Lucy realized that this was the first time, after months of talking, that she had actually physically touched him. The fence that set them apart, their two vastly different lives, what set them apart? They were both human, both had feelings and emotions, what had he done to deserve this?

She heard a crunch, and slowly, she opened her eyes, seeing the paper crumbled in his closed palm. Hesitantly, she reached and took it from his loose hand, a sickly reminder that he was gone; with fumbling fingers she opened the letter.

She read it and only cried harder. The forgotten note dropped to the ground and she clutched Natsu closer, limbs shaking from her sobs. The letter, written in messy chicken-scratch, was beyond recognizable to the girl. On the paper were four words.

.

Lucy, I love you

.

SO... How was it? I entered this in a competition, I just edited it some and HERE I AM! I'm SOOOO sorry for the (*ahem*) since-October wait... seriously. And I'm kinda feeling awkward that my GRAND RETURN came with a sad story... um... sorry? (Summary of my life in the past few months: bored, foruming, no writing inspiration, draw, draw, foruming, draw... BUSY BUSY BUSY BUSY- I feel like posting... *POSTS*) AND FINALLY: GOOD news; I'm possibly starting a Mortal Instruments collab with my cousin, so one Multichap MAY be coming soon, so YAAY!

PLEASE, Relax, Read, and Review!