Hello there! NaLu is one of my favorite pairings, don't get me wrong, but this'll be sad... at least I hope it will be since that's what I'm going for. This is my first shot at writing something feely/tragedy-like so I'm not used to this kind of stuff. XD So warning to those who don't like sad things... it'll be sad. XD

Anyway, enjoy!

Weak

Of all the times Natsu'd seen Lucy hurt at the hands of another mage, none of them had felt like this. He watched, his body frozen and his eyes wide as she fell, her breath catching and her eyes blank as she tumbled backward, collapsing in a heap on the ground. He couldn't help her, his body unable to move, and his heart pounding.

It had been a harmless job they had taken, just for fun. Lucy needed rent money, Natsu was bored, and so they once again teamed up to complete a job together. It was everyday stuff, and yet it had gone so wrong. He wasn't sure if it was because he'd been goofing off, or if they truly had been blindsided, but either way he considered it his fault.

It was an easy job, so he wasn't taking it as seriously as most. He was more focused on playing around, joking with Happy, and making Lucy laugh, than actually concentrating on the job. They'd been walking across a large field to the next town, instead of taking the train, a sacrifice Lucy gave for Natsu's motion sickness. He'd been walking backwards, hands behind his head and a grin on his face as Lucy giggled at a joke he'd made. She'd told him he was funny, and to stop or she'd get the hiccups, and right after the last word had left her mouth, a man came from out of nowhere and turned Natsu's world upside down.

He hadn't seen the man before in his life, nor did he believe that the man had anything to do with the job request. Natsu couldn't place a single reason that the masked man would want to hurt them, especially someone as innocent as Lucy.

Whatever magic the man had, had made it unable for Natsu to move, his entire body seemingly disconnecting from his brain until he was unable to move even a finger. No matter how hard he tried, he couldn't move an inch, even when the man grabbed Lucy around the neck, smirking to himself as he placed a palm on the side of her head.

Natsu'd shouted to Happy to go get help, and the blue Exceed had complied, sending a nod before zooming away, his wings carrying him quickly toward a more populated area. The salmon-haired Dragon Slayer watched, his heart cracking, as Lucy looked at him, panic in her eyes, almost pleading with him to do something to help her. He couldn't.

The man had never said a word to Natsu or Lucy. He had never given any explanation of why he had arrived, or what he was going to do. He had simply stood there for a moment, eyeing Natsu as he struggled in vain to break whatever kind of curse he had been put under, and grinning when the Dragon Slayer was unable to crack it even a little.

Then, when the man had soaked up enough of the sight, he had pressed his palm to Lucy's head harder, whispering something to himself that Natsu couldn't decipher. A black and purple haze surrounded the man's hand before making a loud snapping sound. The haze dispersed, fizzling out of existence and for a moment Natsu wondered if the man had decided against hurting them, or if it had all been just some cruel joke.

And that's when Lucy screamed. A blood-curdling cry that shook Natsu to his core. Her back arched in agony as the man released her, her body falling and crumpling on the ground.

Natsu's body wasn't the only thing frozen, as he found out when he tried to call out to her, his mind a frenzy of panic, and his voice failing him.

Natsu in that moment felt as if his entire world came crashing down, bursting at the seams and collapsing into a pile of rubble. Lucy, the girl who had been his partner for so long, the girl who he knew better than anyone, and the one that knew him inside and out; the girl who he trusted with his life, the girl he'd vowed to himself to protect, and the girl he was irrevocably in love with. He'd have given his life for hers in an instant, and yet here he was, watching helplessly from the sidelines, unable to do anything, even to call out to her and express the anguish he felt.

Yes, this time when Lucy went falling to the ground, Natsu knew something was different. In the past, even if she'd been hurt, she was alright in the grand scheme of things, but this time she wasn't, and he knew it. He just knew it.

He searched her face, lying on the ground, for some sort of response, and found none. Her eyes were glassy, all of the light seemingly sucked out of those beautiful eyes that he loved so much. Her mouth was open slightly, and she was unmoving. She wasn't moving. She wasn't breathing.

Natsu struggled against his captor's bounds again to call out to her, and once again failed. He was horrified, his eyes wide and his soul quivering. This couldn't be happening. Lucy couldn't have gotten fatally injured while under his care. He was the one that was supposed to protect her from any harm, and yet here he was, his Exceed of more help at the moment than he could ever hope to be.

It was as if the man had read his mind, and realized the agony he was going through; the masked man snorted to himself, in a quick flick of his arm disappearing into thin air, the invisible binding around Natsu disappearing with him.

Natsu's legs wobbled, tripping as he desperately lurched forward and toward the blonde lying motionless on the ground. He stumbled, scrambling as he rushed forward, dropping to his knees by her side. He grabbed her hopefully, turning her over in his arms until she was facing upwards, her emotionless face staring up past him and into the sky. He clutched her tighter.

"L-Lucy," he stuttered, shaking her lightly. "Lucy say something," he muttered, his eyes searching her face for any sort of movement and coming up empty.

He reached a thumb up to brush across her cheek, his hand beginning to shake in dread. No, this couldn't be happening. It was all too sudden; this was just a dream. Surely it was. Lucy would always be with him, by his side, laughing with him. She'd always be there; at least that's what he'd always thought. He thought he had all the time in the world with her, and so there was no rush for anything. He had years to do everything he wanted to do with her.

He could wait until he had enough money to take her to another country, one that had fancy museums and chic bookstores. He could wait until he had the information about her to surprise her on her birthday with something she loved most. He didn't have to rush, he could always just sit and wait, gathering all he could about her in good time. He could wait until he had enough courage to tell her how he really felt, and enough courage to ask her out on a proper date. He thought he had had all the time in the world for those things; and yet now, his time had been cut short, before he'd been able to do any of those things.

He felt himself begin to shake a little more violently, his breathing ragged as another round of panic set in. "No," he whispered to himself, "C'mon, Luce, wake up," he said, shaking her again, her eyes still just as lifeless as before. Natsu choked, a lump in his throat beginning to form.

"C'mon Luce, we still have so much to do," he breathed, "We gotta go get your rent money." His eyes fluttered, his brain and heart alike not wanting to comprehend the sight in front of him. "Your landlady is gonna be awfully mad if you don't get back soon with it," he squeaked.

He shook her again, barely even able to muster up enough strength to move her side to side. Her hair shifted, but her gaze did not. He couldn't feel a pulse in her arms and he was certain her chest wasn't rising and falling at all.

"Lucy," he whispered again, "I'll take you to that restaurant you've always wanted to go to," he nearly begged. "I know I said it was too fancy, but if you want to, we can." A bittersweet smile twitched at the corner of his mouth. She'd begged everyone at the guild, especially Natsu, to go with her, and yet everyone had said that it was too expensive and too posh for their tastes. Natsu desperately wished he would've agreed.

"We can go on a quest to find another key," he said quietly, trying desperately to swallow the lump in his throat that was slowly starting to burn. "I think I heard that the town to the east has a silver key in one of their shops." Nothing. He'd hoped beyond hope that maybe if he said something tempting enough that she'd somehow shudder back, but she didn't.

"C'mon Lucy," he said a little louder, and more desperately, his eyes prickling slightly. "We still have so much to do, so many people to meet," he choked, "I still have things I want to tell you."

He ground his teeth together as she once again didn't respond. His eyesight was steadily becoming blurrier and blurrier and he was grabbing onto her forearms tighter and tighter. This had to be some sort of sick nightmare, it just had to be.

"I love you, Luce," he whispered, his voice catching as a tear finally made it past the brink and trickled down his face, "I know I never told you that, but I do. I was always afraid you'd freak out if I told you," he said slowly, sniffing and blinking as another tear rolled down his cheek. "But I guess I should've just manned up and told ya," he choked, closing his eyes in denial.

He had been such a coward, and now it was too late. Maybe if he'd have told her, they'd have been off on a date now, instead of taking a mission. Or maybe she would've rejected him and they wouldn't have been doing anything together at all. Either way he decided it would've been better than this, because she would've still been there, at the guild, breathing, talking, laughing; anything was better than this.

And that was when his mind snapped, reality finally seeping in and causing another wave of grief to wash over him. This wasn't just some bad dream that he'd wake up from, and no matter what he said to her or how many times he shook her, she'd never say anything. She couldn't. He had somehow allowed her to be harmed, and now he couldn't do anything to make up for it.

The woman that was his life was now gone, her body lying on his lap in the middle of nowhere, with no one around to hear his words.

He leaned forward desperately, sliding an arm under her and wrapping the other one around her, his body still shaking uncontrollably as he gave her a weak hug, his forehead resting on hers.

His heart shattered in that moment, a heart-wrenching cry escaping from his lips as his reason for being was now gone. His other half was gone. Lucy was gone. His Lucy. And as he sat there, rocking back and forth, his forehead pressed against hers as he sobbed uncontrollably, the tears falling on her face, he knew he'd never be the same.

Random adjective generated for the type of hug/kiss: Weak

Was it sad? I hope so. Gah. Mashima better not ever kill off one of these two or he'll have an angry fangirl with pitchforks and torches at his house... that fangirl being me. I'll chuck a shoe at him. XD

~Foxtail-chan