That's it now for the Epilogue of Never Let Go, it's all over :( But I suppose this can be a Christmas gift to you guys. You best enjoy it, you'll get no more for this story, but feel free to check out my other ones :)

Never Let Go: Epilogue
People Change: Natsu 3

LUCY

"ICE MAKE: SHIELD!" Gray's voice yelled, his body appearing in front of her.

She watched as everyone moved around, as if she was watching from afar, her conciousness somewhere safely buried inside of her. She could move and her emotions were dull at best as she watched her friends protect her.

An ice sculpture formed from the air just as the monster's face smashed into the glass and let out a roar as it staggered back. It had no time to orientate itself as Erza descended from the air in her heaven's armour, her swords accompanying her own one as they crashed into the back of the beast. The force didn't break his scales but the weight shoved him to the ground with a quashed screech.

Makarov rose out of the trees in his full height and glory as his hands slammed down over the beast to keep it pinned as the Raijinshuu raced out of the foliage.

Levy and Freed began scripting into the air, a barrier rising up out of the ground as Makarov jerked his hands back. They were black and the burnt skin was peeling away from the welts covering them as he shrunk to normal size.

Wendy came running towards Lucy, her eyes focused on her but as a rock caught under her foot, she tripped forwards, turning to land on her side. She skidded before beginning to pull herself to her feet when she stopped. Her eyes jerked to Natsu, her whole body going still.

Lucy thought it was the shock as many of the guild members stood wide-eyed. But as she looked around, she noticed Wendy wasn't the only dragon slayer stunned at the sight. Gajeel and Laxus both stood facing Natsu, their eyes too unfocused and still to be natural. It was unnerving. Frightening.

"Dragon...sla..."

"Don't talk, Lucy." Gray snapped, his sheild still covering the both of them from the rays of heat the monster was releases, as he rose up out of the ground. It saw the shield around it and lowered to the ground.

It launched itself at the barrier, the one they thought would keep it contained, and broke straight throught the wall. Purple glass-like material dissolved into the earth as the beast broke free, turning straight towards the guild members.

"Dragon slayers!" Lucy hissed harder, watching the way Gajeel, Wendy and Laxus stood to attention at the sight of the freed monster.

"What?" Gray yelled, as the faintest sound of whistling air began to grow louder and louder and louder.

A gust of wind shook the trees with such a force, everyone faught to stay standing. A cut off screech caught Lucy's attention as her eyes glided towards the monster...except it wasn't there. A trail of destruction lay in the wake of where the beast was sent flying. Chunkes of the earth were flown and scattered up at the great canyon left.

Dante dropped to his feet from the sky, his shoulders falling up and down, his hand shaking as it fought to hold onto the long blade with his clawed hands-

...clawed?

Dante turned to look at the direction the monster was sent flying, and Lucy's mind stirred. Dark green scales rose up and out of his skin, the woven bracelette he always wore straining against the thickening of his wrist. Two small canine stuck out like prongs out of his mouth, stark white against the darkned colour of his face.

A gasp echoed somewhere and Dante turned to face them, and all the scales were gone. His skin was clear, hand steady. Lucy would have thought she was mistaken before, perhaps the result of the concussion if not for that faint glimmer of dark green fading from his eyes.

His eyes ran across them all, pausing momentarily on the faces of the dragon slayer's that seemed to have broken out of whatever trance they were in, but as they fell on Lucy's they stopped. Something flashed past his famous blank mask, and Lucy didn't recognise it.

Dante nodded in her direction before he turned to look at the group. "Don't follow me any further than this." Dante warned. "Especially those three." He said, pointing the tip of his blade in each direction of the dragon slayers.

"That's Natsu." Gray growled. "We get to go."

"That's not Natsu." Dante said, looking back out in the direction. "Not any longer."

"But-"

Before Gray could argue anymore, or Erza who had started to walk towards them with Happy clinging to her shoulder, a horrifying screech overtook the air with a boom that shook the very ground they stood on.

Dante turned and without further argument, seemed to disappear in a blink of an eye.

Tension hung in the air. Do they stay or do they fight? The answer would be clear, but that wasn't the reason they were stood at this impasse. Should they fight, they would believe Natsu could be brought back, and if they stayed, they accepted fate and they accepted the fact that Natsu was gone.

A scuffle of dirt broke the suffering silence as Gray turned to look in the direction of destruction. His steps were slow but they began to move faster and faster as they moved into a jog, then a run and soon he was sprinting to catch up with them.

Gray slammed into a hard wall and bounced back to where he stumbled and fell. "What the hell, Laxus?" Gray growled.

"There's nothing you can do." Laxus said, holding his position firm. "We've lost one guild member today, we don't need to lose another." His gaze, although meant for Gray, flickered over towards where Lucy laid beneath the tree, her breathing soft, barely there.

At that thought, Wendy came running over to where Lucy laid prone on the floor, turning her over onto her back when she rose her hands up and over her chest, a blue light beginning to emitting from them.

Lucy looked into the blue of the sky, the leaves rustling just in the corner of her eyes. The branches seemed to build up in a spiral around the trunk of the tree, small shadows covering her right side. She was faintly aware of someone calling her name, but it seemed to mix into the sounds of the wind billowing through the tree tops.

She looked at the lowest branch and saw Natsu sitting on it, looking down at her. It wasn't really Natsu, she knew that. But somehow he seemed to battle away the darkness encroaching on the edges of her vision. He smiled his goofy smile, and her heart pinched with pain. He didn't say anything to her, neither did she. They seemed to used to talk about everything, but when it came down to it, they didn't really need to. Moments like this, real or not, where all they really needed. Just the comfort of each other.

Natsu hopped down from the tree in one graceful jump as he landed by her side. He dropped to his knees beside her, before placing his hands on either side of her head and leaning down to place a soft kiss on her cheek. A single tear raced down her face but she wasn't sure why. She felt at peace, comforted, loved and as Natsu reached down and held onto her hand within his, she felt grounded.

Natsu would never let him go.

The words were like a cavern swallowing her whole. Memories flashed past her eyes too fast and too many; every single piece of their life they'd built together like a tidal wave drowning her until she'd swallowed every single emotion choking her throat. They tears poured out, overflowing down her cheeks as she tried to retain everything but it was slipping away. In her tears, their life was flowing out and she was loosing it.

She tried to make it stop, cupping her tears in her palms but there was too much water...she couldn't...she was losing him.

She gasped and looked up from where she laid on the floor, the tree swaying above her, the faint tingling of Natsu's hand on hers.

"LUCY!" Gray yelled, looking down at her. Her mind seemed to swim for a moment as she clutched her hand tighter to her. At that moment, she couldn't be sure if it was the concious, but her mind seemed to filter out everything unnecessary. She didn't need sound. She didn't need communication. She didn't even need words.

She just needed him.

Lucy pushed herself to her feet, staggering as she moved forwards across dirt land and burnt grass. A wall placed itself in her way, and her body removed it.

Then she ran, ran harder and faster than her body could cope with. Her mind was inside a tunnel and her body was a separate part of her. She didn't feel the earth under her feet, or the ache of her bruised muscles and probably broken ribs, nor the burn of her lungs begging for oxygen. She was on auto drive and nothing would stop her.

She saw the edge of the cliff come up but didn't stop. The end of the track and the broken dirt of the fight passed beneath her feet.

They were nowhere to be seen.

But she didn't need to seem them.

All he had to do was see her.

"NATSU!" She screamed as she leapt.

For that one tiny moment as she slowed in the air, a wave of confidence made any fear disappear from her body. She felt calm, she felt relieved. Her eyes closed as her body stopped rising and slowed to a stop.

And then came the fall.

…

NARRATOR

Lucy's arms held onto him with all her could. Their hole in the wall began to crumble with the weight of the cliff ready to collapse in around them. She ignored the burning heat rippling over her skin, turning it red and raw. She ignored the sharp pain of the needle-like claws buried into her skin. She ignored the echoing sounds of the monster's growling. She hung tight, and although she couldn't reach all the way around its neck, her arms still wouldn't loosen.

"Natsu." She whispered, a single tear running down her cheek. The small drop fell from her chin and landed against the hard scales of the beast, hissing as it met the hot bone and evaporating. It gave a low growl and gave a small tug but didn't pull hard enough to hurt her.

It struggled with the confines of the space their bodies were trapped in, moving would force the rocks to fall and would crush the human child, but the monster would be able to break free.

The monster didn't move. Despite all its instincts probably telling it to cause destruction and mayhem, it stayed still.

"Natsu," Lucy whispered. "Natsu, I know you're in there. You're scared and you want to protect us. You think that if you show us how dangerous you are, we'll stay away and we'll be safe." Lucy sobbed, a bitter chuckle breaking past her lips. "But it doesn't work that way." She shook her head and buried her face deeper under its jaw. "You don't get to leave us like this. You don't get to leave me."

"No matter who, or what you are Natsu, I'll accept it all." Her voice was soft and broken by her endless sobs, and her ribs, broken and bruised made way as her lungs took one last shallow breath.

"I'll never let you go."

The beast roared, the cry turning deep and guttural. It hurt to hear it, but not because of the volume or the ferocity. This one was pained. So deeply pained that it wounded the hearts of everyone who heard it. And those within a fifty mile radius was brought to their knees.

Lucy felt a pulse under her skin and as she opened her eyes she felt her body lowering and her arms moving further and further around the width of the beast's neck. The cave gave out a roar and the chunks of rock began dropping down in growing size. It was unable to hold them up any more.

Lucy tightened her hold around the beast neck, her fingers managing to interlock around it now, and held on. Even if the cave crashed down around them, she'd never let them go.

Never again.

She took one last breath and braced against the beast's body.

The cave collapsed.

…

LUCY

Darkness.

Coldness.

Hardness.

Lucy could feel the dull pain down her arms but it was dulled. Both her arms were being crushed between rocks and something equally as solid and painful. Her legs were in a similar position. Something hard dug into her shoulder but her stomach and her chest were numb, as if there was nothing push on them.

She took a deep breath to test the pain but her ribs protested and she ended up choking on the dryness of her throat. The air felt thin and her body broke out into small, shallow pants. Her face shifted and she felt softness brush against her cheek. She gasped and tried to move but a sharp awareness of pain shot through her system and everything began to throb. Big mistake.

"Don't...move." A rough voice growled.

Lucy stilled.

She recognised that voice.

Emotion filled her chest, making it even harder to breath and even harder to think.

"...Natsu?"

"Yeah, Luce." Natsu whispered back, the sound coming from right besides her ear. "I'm back."

"But-" Lucy tried to hold back her sobs and failed. "How?"

"I happen to have this very stubborn girl of mine that wouldn't let me stay where I belonged." Natsu whispered back. She couldn't see him but she began all too aware of what it was keeping the stones from crushing her chest and stomach. Natsu's body was above her and her crushed arms were pressed against his back where her arms wrapped around his shoulders, her legs in a mangled mess with his, his face above hers.

"You don't belong inside a monster, Natsu." Lucy whispered, pressing her face towards his until their cheeks pressed against each other. His felt cold to the touch and she was aware that her own skin musn't have been much warmer.

"...Agree to disagree." Natsu suggested. "We can talk about this later."

"Considering we're trapped inside a cliff and the only air we have is the one running out between us, now may be our only chance." Lucy whispered. "How did you break free?"

"I love you." Natsu whispered so quiet Lucy almost missed it. "I love you so much it hurts. And to think I could hurt you or kill you, it kills me too. It was too scared to tell you but too selfish to let you go and if I couldn't live you, I-"

Natsu's voice fell into silence and Lucy moved her cheek against his to encourage him to talk. He nuzzled back against hers but for a while, he still didn't speak.

Then out of nowhere, he spoke. "It wouldn't matter if I was a monster or not. I'd be dead inside."

"Natsu-"

"I know you said you accept me Lucy, even it. But even we were to get out of here, I'm not safe. Not anymore. I can't stay with you."

Panic bloomed in her chest and she tried to summon any strength she had to tighten her hold on him but she couldn't. "You can't leave me, Natsu."

"I can. And I will, Luce. Maybe not right now, but soon. I'm leaving. And unless I get this power under control, I won't be coming back. Even if that means I stay away forever."

"No!" Lucy cried. "No, I won't let you."

"I love you, Luce." Natsu whispered.

"No..." Lucy's voice fell into a broken sob. "...don't leave me."

"I love you." Natsu just repeated and Lucy felt her heart break. No matter what would she allow him to leave her. But no matter what she'd say, Natsu wouldn't change his mind.

He'd leave her.

And there was nothing she could do to change that.

Lucy cried and even as the air grew thinner she just cried harder, sucking up all the oxygen. Their consciousnesses faded long before the air did, and just as the air all but disappeared, they were found, bound to each other in a pile of rubble.

As if they'd never let each other go.

…

LUCY

Ten months later...

The wind brushed through her hair, standing on the balcony overlook Magnolia city. A door opened behind her, on fresh new hinges that didn't creak or wobble on loose screws. The new guild building allowed for a little splurging and Lucy still didn't want to give up her apartment for a new room.

She just like to stand here sometimes, looking out on the view on the docks as if she might spot him as a tiny speck on the harbour, and be able to run and greet him.

"Still nothing?" Gray said as he stepped up to the balcony beside her. Lucy shook her head.

Natsu had been true to his word.

As soon as he felt that power stirring inside of him, he'd left.

He still hadn't returned.

"Maybe he'll be back soon." Gray suggested.

"Maybe." Lucy said, but her voice portrayed no confidence.

But even if he wasn't back soon.

She knew he'd be back.

One day.

END

Damn, I miss this story. There's also more potential for another story going on from this one...Hmmm... Guess you'll guys will just have to wait and see :)