Chapter four:

(A/N: I have a song recommendation! If you want to listen to it~ You probably already know this, but watch?v=2cBzMSPYKas You are my sunshine.)

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If Lucy could dream, she would dream of the first time she felt freedom.

She would dream of the first time Natsu asked her out on a date, under the cherry blossoms of Magnolia. She would dream of the first time she saw Natsu blush red, stutter- all because of her. She would dream of every "hello's" and "hi's" her dense dragon slayer had given her, his every "I love you's" and "I love you too's". She would dream of their wedding day, she would dream of them.

If Lucy could dream, she would dream of all her first times.

She wondered when she had started to think that her dreams would be better than reality.

The blonde mage was walking behind Natsu and Lisanna, silently musing. She gazed at the sight of the couple, and wondered if she hadn't ran away from her home, would the two have ended up together? Would Lisanna be the lucky girl?

But the moment her thoughts entered, she chided herself for even thinking about it. She shouldn't.

A warm hand touched her shoulder, and raven hair entered her line of sight. Gray had been observing Lucy for quite some time now. While Lisanna and Natsu were off having their usual playful banter with Happy floating around, he saw Lucy sigh and deflate.

"He chose you." Gray assured her, and gave her a tiny squeeze.

And in his words, Lucy found a bit of solace. What he said was the truth, an undeniable fact. In which, the cool metal ring around her finger served as proof, and their bond was solid- they were best friends, nakama, soon to be wed-

—

It all happened too fast.

If only Lucy had seen it coming. If only any of them saw it coming. BUt it was an event that couldn't be foreseen. They were not gifted with the ability to see the future, no, they were given no such gift. If only-

Lucy was drenched in the rain that fell on such an unfortunate time. Her vision was blurry, and she couldn't see through the sweat and blood that pooled on her forehead, which dripped down. She could hear Taurus's voice, and the sound of his axe swinging. It was an agonzing time- the mages they were up against were strong.

Natsu was fighting his own battles, and Gray was helping him. She saw Lisanna, from her peripheral vision, doing a great job holding on her own as well. Happy, of course, aided his dragon slayer with his fights.

The blonde celestial mage felt lightheaded, and suffocated. Her breaths came short, and heavy, there were weird fumes that enveloped her lungs. Their opponents were using poisoned gas, and she was the first victim. As quickly as she could, her hand slipped to cover her nose.

She pushed herself to fight, despite the nagging pain in every corner of her body. And with every movement that her body made, the closer she felt to passing out. It wasn't until when a pair of rough hands took hold of her neck, and held onto it harshly.

"A-argh-" She gasped as she flailed for breath, "N-Natsu-"

The dragon slayer was quick to the sound of her voice, and his onyx eyes, if possible, darkened even more. His fists light up in flames, as he charged for the man who had dared strangle his Lucy, but the moment he did, another scream of pain erupted from the white haired mage. It fell deaf on his ears though, as he was bent on helping Lucy out.

He delivered solid punches to the dark mage, and saw Lucy breathe in relief and watched the colors come back to her skin.

"Natsu!" Lisanna yelled, and Natsu's head turned to see his childhood friend, drenched in blood, with Gray taking on the mage who did damage to Lisanna. His blood boiled at the sight, and quickly rushed to the bloodied and beaten girl's side. Her breathing was really shallow, and her pulse, weak.

The fire dragon slayer mumbled, "No. No. No, no,"

He was going to watch her fade again. And after the promise he made with himself. He couldn't bear to see Lisanna die, no, if only-

If only he hadn't went for Lucy.

The ice mage had beaten up the rest of the mages, and they were finally safe. But the mission, was only the start of something darker.

"Lisanna," Natsu's voice cracked, "Stay with me, please."

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Hi! Thank you for the reviews! What do you guys think of this chapter? I'm not really good with action scenes.. :(

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-imaisenpai