Bonus day 8 – Cold

Her apartment feels too cold without Natsu there. Lucy between chapters 416 and 419.

Lucy doesn't notice the first night they're gone, because she's crying too much to notice anything beside the tears streaming from her eyes. They left her behind. Just a letter, a small, little note really, and they're gone just like that. She didn't even get to say goodbye or give both Natsu and Happy a long hug if she can't come with them. The lingering of their (Natsu's, really) scent and warmth stings, but it also soothes the upset girl to sleep.

She starts to notice on the third night without them that it's not as warm in her room as it once was. She doesn't think too much about it at the time because Fairy Tail has disbanded and she couldn't care less about the temperature her apartment has. It won't bring Natsu and Happy back and it won't bring Fairy Tail back. On the third night, Lucy cries even more than on the first night, and this time there is no warmth left to soothe her.

On the seventh day, Lucy goes to sleep in a cold apartment with a lump forming in her throat. Normally Natsu would have come by now, sneaking in from the window, but now is not normally and Natsu is gone. He's not anywhere near, maybe not even in Fiore anymore, and her apartment feels cold as a result, because Natsu pretty much exudes heat wherever he goes and often unknowingly acts like the heater she never had. It's too cold without him, Lucy notices with a shiver.

A few weeks in and Lucy notices that it isn't just the physical temperature that's dropped. The streets are cold without Natsu beside her, her apartment is cold, her bed is cold, everything is cold. Being alone is cold. She's alone again and she hates it, so much. When she goes to sleep, she always hopes in vain that Natsu will return earlier. Return to Magnolia, to her. She falls asleep with the thought that when she sees Natsu and Happy again, she's going to let them crash at her place, if only to feel warm again.

Lucy has moved to Crocus after the first month and after a few misunderstandings she's finally a reporter. She starts out with high aspirations to find all of her friends and a little part of her feels just a bit warmer when she thinks that – maybe – she'll be able to find Natsu and Happy before the year is up and drag them back for a long, long hug. The warmth in her chest starts to slowly fade with time, because she doesn't find Natsu and Happy, can't find anything on them, not even the slightest rumour. It's getting colder again, this time a mental coldness, when she realizes that she probably won't find them until they find her. If the rambunctious duo of dragonslayer and flying cat has managed to stay under the radar so far, they'll continue to do so. They're stubborn like that. Lucy still feeds on every little bit of information on the members of Fairy Tail – her friends – that she can find. But internally, she resigns herself to not seeing Natsu and Happy (but mostly Natsu) for the rest of the year that they're planning to be away. Lucy feels even colder when she realizes that Natsu and Happy are so idiotic and forgetful that for them, two years or even five might pass before the notice that they're supposed to be home again.

The year passes and – despite her doubts – Natsu and Happy return almost on time, only a few days too late (seven days, she thinks quietly to herself, they're exactly seven days too late). They barrel into Crocus and the Grand Magic Games and her life, destroying everything in sight. It reminds Lucy of their first meeting and the big smile Natsu gives her does, too. She lets them sleep at her new place and they bow before her as if she's some sort of goddess (they did that the first time she bought them food the first time they met, too), but Lucy knows that it's really just a selfish wish of hers for them to stay near her, because she sure as hell won't let them out of her sight, not if she's just gotten them back.

This time, she falls asleep to an apartment that's all cozy and warm because of both her friends', but mostly Natsu's warmth. It's the first time since they left that she falls asleep with a smile on her face.

Lucy doesn't feel cold anymore.

Sorry that this took so freaking long, but I had a severe case of writer's block and didn't manage to write this one for a long time. I hope you enjoyed it anyway.

Libri