Author's Notes: Everyone! I AM SO SORRY FOR NOT UPDATING FOR THE PAST THREE YEARS T_T I have no reasons to say for my actions but I promise to make it up to you all now. To be honest I am also lost as to where I want to point this story to despite reading the entire 26 chapters myself but I think I'll be able to pick up from where I last left you all hanging. As usual, please forgive me for any typo errors and if you feel the need to comment, please feel free to PM me or leave a review for the story. Enjoy! ;)

CHAPTER 27: Eyes on you

On a lone bed inside a hospital room, a blonde young woman rests peacefully. Despite the ordeal she has gone through just mere moments ago, her pale face shows a serene expression making her look holy under the dim light. Beside her, a young man with tanned hands and salmon-colored hair holds her left hand in a firm but loving grip. For the past hour, he has done nothing but stare at the beauty resting in front of him while rubbing his thumb over her hand.

A gentle knock came from the door and another young man but with blonde hair walked in.

"Has she woken up yet?" Sting asked.

Natsu silently shook his head without looking at him and just continued to stare at Lucy's face.

"The doctor said she's all right now. The burns will hopefully heal away in due time without leaving a scar but her body is too fatigued so she may wake up tomorrow morning," Natsu answered.

"I need to talk to you about something," Sting said in a serious tone. Natsu quirked a brow at him.

"Well what is it?" Natsu asked.

"Let's talk outside. I don't want Lucy hearing this should she suddenly wake up," Sting replied and went out of the room.

For a moment, Lucy's hands tightened and Natsu looked at her face. She was still asleep but her face shows worry and pain, as if caught in a nightmare. He rubbed his thumb over to Lucy's hands while coaxing her with his other hand to try to make her feel better.

"It's alright Luce I'm here. You're safe," he whispered.

Lucy sighed and she was back to sleeping peacefully on the bed. Natsu heard a gentle knock but no one entered. He thought it must have been Sting trying to silently tell him that he's waiting for him outside. Natsu stood up from his seat and slowly let go of Lucy's hand. He kissed her forehead and muttered a silent 'I'll be back' before he too stepped out the room.

Outside, Sting stood waiting while speaking with Rogue in hushed voices. Natsu approached them both and asked, "So what was it that you wanted to talk about that is so important?"

Sting and Rogue both glanced at each other before Sting decided to break the silence.

"We believe the fire was not an accident," Sting said in a sure tone.

Natsu looked at him doubtingly before he asked again, "So you're telling me someone wanted Lucy and Natsuki dead? What makes you say that?"

"We searched the house as soon as the fire was out and found an empty gasoline can near the doorstep. That gives us enough suspicion this was planned to happen," Sting answered.

"That doesn't make sense," Natsu stated, "an empty gas can is not convincing enough to prove this is not an accident. For all we know, it could have been Lucy's and it just so happened to be there after the fire broke out."

"We seriously doubt that," Rogue answered, "Lucy never had a gas canister stored in there house. A year ago, they had a similar accident happen to them. Natsuki was trying to help Lucy with their house and decided to burn the dried leaves from their yard. She almost set their house on fire that day because the fire escalated quickly but we were able to extinguish it. Since that day, Lucy made sure no flammable substance will be within Natsuki's reach. She would always buy a small bottle of it only when she needs it but to store that large amount in a gas can?"

"I also don't think Lucy would be so reckless to put that upfront in their porch or near the doorstep," Sting added.

"Alright I'm convinced," Natsu answered, "But who would do it?"

"We have no idea," Sting replied, "We thought you might know someone who would hold a grudge against her that's why we told you. No one in the neighborhood would do that if that's what you're asking."

"You can't be sure of that," Natsu objected.

"I'm sure. Lucy is friends with almost everyone in the neighborhood and we all adore Natsuki," Sting retorted.

Natsu clenched his fists. The thought of anyone trying to harm Lucy or Natsuki irked him. Whoever was responsible will personally get not just a word from him but from his fists as well.

From the corner of the corridor where Natsu, Sting and Rogue stood, a lone man stood as he watched them through the corner mirror on the hallway. He has been carefully watching over them to get an opportunity to finish the job that they had started. He wasn't really aware of what they had been discussing but from the looks of it, it was something that really pissed the pink-haired man.

A tanned nurse walked past him and headed straight to the trio. The man suddenly heightened his alertness and readied himself for his next move.

"Excuse me Dragneel-sama," a nurse with tanned skin and long silver hair approached Natsu and smiled brightly at him. Natsu looked at her waiting for her to continue speaking.

"Your daughter has been cleared by the doctor and we will be needing you to sign her discharge papers," the nurse added.

"All right," Natsu answered and looked back to Sting and Rogue, "I'll be back but please keep an eye on Lucy for me."

"Keh you don't need to ask I was planning to do just that," Sting answered smugly and Rogue just nodded.

"Don't get too comfortable with my wife," Natsu added with a smirk.

"You're not married," Sting retorted to which Natsu immediately added.

"Not yet," and Natsu walked off to follow the nurse.

Sting scowled at this and stuck his tongue out at Natsu. Rogue rolled his eyes at him and uttered, "real mature Sting."

"Shut up!" the blonde answered back and glared at the opposite direction while his hands were in his pockets.

The man at the corner saw Natsu follow the nurse at the opposite direction and saw this as an opportunity. 'Less people for me to worry about' he thought. As soon as Natsu was out of sight and earshot, he slowly approached Sting and Rogue who were still talking amongst themselves. Both young men noticed him but did not pay too much attention to him. As soon as he walked behind Sting, he started to slide out the syringe he hid from under his sleeves. Rogue who was sitting in front of Sting caught a glimpse of something shining just from behind his blonde friend. The man who walked a bit past Sting had his arms raised now and about to strike his friend's neck and he quickly stood and tackled him to the floor.

"What the hell Rogue?!" Sting exclaimed as he was tackled by his best friend but noticed him go limp as they were sprawled on the floor.

"Rogue! What happened to you?" Sting shook him to wake him up but he did not budge. He was now kneeling beside his friend and saw a syringe stuck on his shoulders. Just when he was about to pull it out, he saw from the corner of his eyes another shadow and instantly dodged sideways and stood to get a good look at the assailant.

He saw the guy that was just about to walk past them earlier holding another syringe on his right hand and staring straight at him. He clenched his teeth and bawled his fists ready to strike down this bastard who attacked his best friend. The assailant saw this and chuckled in amusement.

"What's so funny?" Sting asked glaring at his attacker.

"I can hear it. You're mad that I took down your friend but you don't need to worry, he's only sleeping and won't be awake until a couple of hours. You need to worry more about yourself though," the man answered and stared him down.

"You're the one who's going to sleep next if you don't tell me who you are and why you're attacking us," Sting asked further.

"You're not our targets but you're getting in our way," the attacker answered and started to charge straight at Sting with a left hook to which Sting dodged easily.

"You'll need to do better than that," Sting said and returned a right jab.

The man ducked and lunged forward while holding the syringe. He was about to strike Sting with it on the abdomen but Sting raised his left knee and knocked the syringe from the attacker's hand letting it fall to the floor. The blonde balled his fists together and brought it down hard to the attacker's back like a hammer. It effectively knocked the guy down and Sting grabbed him by the collar with a fist raised to strike him with. However, the man smiled and with a handkerchief that he kept from his pocket, he held it straight to Sting's face.

'What the- this is-!' Sting thought as he sniffed the handkerchief. He immediately tried to pull away from the attacker's hand but the attacker used his legs to hold down Sting's right arm while his left hand that was holding onto the attacker's collar was being held down by the man's right arm. Sting's vision started to blur and his strength was leaving him slowly. Just before his eyes were about to close, he got another good look at the attacker who was now snickering as he whispered to the blonde's ear.

"The name's Cobra. Remember the name of the guy that beat you today," and with that Sting's vision went black.

Natsu followed the nurse who called him out earlier. She said that he only needed to sign Natsuki's release papers but never thought that they had to go through a different wing just to get the papers.

"I'm very sorry Dragneel-sama," the nurse spoke apologetically, "I left the papers at the storage room earlier because I hurried to see you as soon as Doctor Freed told me to come get you to sign them. I'm very sorry."

"It's fine. Let's just go get them so I can have it signed," Natsu answered and smiled to assure the nurse that he wasn't mad at her.

He looked at the nurse closely. She seemed to be new at her job considering how she barely greets the other nurses that walk by them. For some reason, he felt something very odd about the nurse.

"Ah here we are Dragneel-sama. I'll go get them inside just please wait for me here for a bit," the nurse bowed and left to retrieve the release forms in the storage room. Only a few moments passed before Natsu heard a scream and a few boxes falling inside the room. He ran inside to quickly check on what happened to the nurse.

"Nurse, what happened? Are you okay?" Natsu asked. The lights in the storage room were off except for the lone lamp sitting on top of a small desk at the far corner of the room. Just below it were a couple of boxes that had paper in them haphazardly strewn all over the floor. Those were probably the boxes that I heard earlier, Natsu thought. His eyes wandered further to them as he walked closer while looking for the nurse and as he approached, he saw a tanned hand from beneath the pile of paper and boxes. His eyes widened and he rushed forward to clear the pile.

"Nurse, are you okay? Just hold on I'll help you," Natsu said and when he removed the box that toppled above the hand, he saw a tanned anatomical arm but no nurse.

"You're so sweet Dragneel-sama," a woman's voice spoke from behind and when Natsu turned around, he felt lips claim his while a hand firmly gripped his nape to avoid him from looking away. From that kiss, something was shoved down his throat when the woman's tongue slipped past Natsu's shocked lips. As soon as he was able to break free, he saw the face of the nurse smiling sweetly at him.

"What's wrong with you?!" Natsu asked in an angry voice but when he was about to stand up from kneeling on the floor, his feet wobbled and he fell back. On weak arms, he supported himself on the desk and glared at the nurse in front of him.

"W-what the h-hell did you-u do to me?" Natsu asked.

"Be grateful that you kissed the lips of an angel. For now, we need you out of our hair while we finish our work," Angel answered and she blew a kiss to Natsu who at that moment fell to his knees and slowly slumped to the ground. The sound of heels clicking on the floor as Angel walked off were the last sounds he heard before completely falling unconscious.

On a bright sunny day, two children, both age five, were running through a field full of sweet smelling Gardenias. A girl with vibrant blonde hair that reached her shoulders ran through the field. Her pink dress flowing through the wind as her laughter filled the air, cheeks tinged pink from mirth. Following close behind her, a boy with unruly spiky pink hair chased her and had an equally huge grin plastered on his face as he tried to catch the girl in front of him, his own laughter mixing with the girl's own laughter.

The girl grew tired and she fell down in one fell swoop with her back on the green grass of the plains while trying to catch her breath. The boy stared at her and she looked at him with a smile which was gladly returned by the boy. He sat down beside the girl and watched as her chest filled her lungs with air.

"I swear Natsu, you are the most energetic kid I have ever known," Lucy said as she heaved heavy breaths of air.

"That's because I'm the only kid you know around here," Natsu replied.

"True," Lucy grinned and they both laughed. Lucy sat up after catching her breath.

"I wish we could always be together," Lucy said distantly as she looked straight ahead to the expanse of the plains watching the grass and flowers dance with the wind. Natsu looked at Lucy with a blush staining his cheeks.

"O-of course! Why wouldn't we be?" Natsu uttered nervously. Why am I nervous? Natsu thought.

"Nothing. You're just so fun to be with so I want to be together with you always," Lucy said and turned to face Natsu giving him a smile that rivaled the brilliance of the sun.

Natsu tooth-grinned and said, "Then from now on I'll always be by your side, Luce." He extended his right hand with his pinky raised up.

The blonde replied with a smile and extended her left hand connecting her pinky with Natsu's and they pinky swore on this promise.

"You promise?" Lucy innocently asked.

An older Natsu looked stern and happily replied, "I promise..."

Fire suddenly engulfed the fields from where an older Lucy stood and Natsu who was in front of him continued, "...but you broke my heart Luce. I'll never forgive you."

Lucy saw Natsu with an intense glare directed towards her and the fire around her intensified.

"Natsu I'm sorry I didn't mean - " Lucy was cut off by Natsu as he suddenly held a young girl in front of him who was crying.

"You took away my father from me. Now I'll take away your daughter from you," Natsu finished.

"N-no Natsu. Please not Natsuki. It was my fault but please don't take her from me," Lucy cried out and tried to reach for Natsuki but no matter how hard she reached them, they just seem to go farther away.

"Mommy... Why did you lie to Daddy? Why did you hurt him? I hate you Mommy!" Natsuki yelled and Lucy cried after hearing this.

"No Natsuki, please just listen to me first," she said to Natsuki and turned her gaze to Natsu while tears ran down her eyes, "Natsu I'm begging you. You don't understand. I'll explain everything just please listen to me."

The fire rose and covered Natsu and Natsuki and darkness covered Lucy as she started falling into a bottomless darkness. She started calling Natsu and Natsuki but only her voice echoed through the shadows.

"Natsu! Natsuki! Anyone! Please answer me," Lucy screamed as tears cascaded on her cheeks while loneliness seeped through her soul, "I don't want to be alone. Please listen. Don't leave me, I'm begging you. I'm sorry"

"Oh I'm not leaving you honey. I'll take good care of you," an eerily familiar voice said from the darkness.

Lucy's hair stood on end after hearing this voice. She knew who it was and she wished she had never heard it right. Her body trembled in fear and more tears swelled from her cheeks.

"N-no... Please don't... Stop this... JUST PLEASE STOP THIS!" Lucy screamed and she covered her ears with both hands as she started hearing the laughter from all around her coming from that wretched voice. A voice she wished she would never again hear.

"I don't think that's possible honey," the voice answered.

From the shadows, chains started binding Lucy down rendering her helpless and useless. Footsteps started to echo nearby and she cried harder knowing what is going to happen. She shook the chains that bound her but they only held on tighter.

"NO! NO! NO! Please get these off! Don't come near me! STAY AWAY!" Lucy was now frantic and beads of sweat mixed in with her tears as she saw the image of someone from her painful past emerge from the shadows wearing the same grin he had used on her on countless of times. The face of the man who violated her for more times than she can count. The face of Jose Porla.

Lucy woke up harshly from her sleep with beads of sweat running down her face. Her chest heaved deep breaths as she tried to regain herself from the awful nightmare she just had.

'It was a dream. It was just a dream' she kept repeating to herself and slowly, her breathing regained to normal.

She felt uncomfortable with the sweat on her forehead so she raised her hand to wipe it off but the moment she did, she felt resistance from her arms and heard a metallic sound. 'What?!' she thought. She tried to rise up from where she laid but more metal clattered and now she can feel resistance from all her limbs. As she looked at her arms, she saw that she was chained to steel railings on both sides of a bed while her feet were also chained to the footboard.

'What is going on?! Why am I chained to this bed? Where am I?' Lucy asked herself and looked frantically around her trying to figure out what happened and where she was. She remembered being in her house then fire and - 'oh God' Lucy remembered the fire at their house. She looked about trying to search for Natsuki if she was nearby but the room where she was at was too dark for her to see.

"Hello? Is anyone there? Please get me out of here. My daughter... I need to see my daughter," she begged as she tried once more to break free from the chains.

Silence replied to her question and she attempted to once more try to get someone to help her out.

"Anyone... Please let me out of here... Where am I? What do you want from me? Help," she called out once more but again no one answered. Her tears started to form from her eyes and she felt helpless once again the same way she was seven years ago.

"Help me..."

'I hear a voice,' Natsu said as he stood in the middle of what seemed like endless darkness.

'Where am I?' he asked himself while trying to remember what happened and looking around his whereabouts to figure out what was going on around him.

'Am I dreaming?' he asked again and then from in front of him, a soft glow started to emanate and form into a silhouette of what seemed like a woman.

"Help me..." the voice said again. This time Natsu was sure it came from the glowing woman in front of him.

"Who are you?!" he asked the light but it did not answer. Slowly, it started to take form and bit by bit facial features formed on the light in front of him. He squinted his eyes to focus on the form in front of him and he suddenly gasped in surprise as he saw Lucy crying in front of him.

"Lucy! Agh-!" Natsu was about to run to Lucy but he stopped midstep. The Lucy in front of him was crying but they weren't tears that ran down her eyes - it was blood. A pool of blood started to form around Lucy and Natsu and they were slowly sinking on it.

"Lucy! What happened? Wait for me!" Natsu yelled as he inched towards Lucy but the pool of blood just kept rising and made it difficult for him to reach Lucy. They were already neck deep in the pool of blood when suddenly Lucy stopped crying and stood emotionless for a moment while looking at Natsu.

"L-Lucy, what's - ?" Natsu's words caught in his throat as Lucy screamed in a very high tone deafening his ears. It was a scream of pain and agony and Natsu wanted it to stop. He called for Lucy but his voice drowned in Lucy's screams and he was again sinking slowly to the pool of blood until he completely drowned in it while screaming for Lucy's name.

"Lucy!" Natsu yelled as he bolted up from the hospital bed where he laid. Pain shot up his head after doing so and he winced holding his head with his right hand to ease it.

"Natsu-san!" Levi approached Natsu when he woke up from his bed.

"You shouldn't push yourself. Try laying down for a while you're still sedated," Levi stated as she mildly pushed him back a bit to lay down on the bed.

"Wait sedated? What happened?" Natsu asked. He looked around the room he was in and saw that both Sting and Rogue were also in the room with him but are still unconscious. He suddenly widened his eyes in realization.

'If they're here, then who's guarding Lucy?' Natsu thought.

Levi saw Natsu's reaction and knew that he already sensed something wrong so she started to fill him in on what happened.

"Natsu-san, please calm down for a moment. I know everything's messed up right now but I have to tell you something," Levi said as she hung her head a bit as she bit back tears that started to form on her eyes.

"What's going on? Why are you with us? What happened to them? Is Lucy alright? How about Natsuki?" Natsu asked as he panicked.

"Natsuki's safe. All three of you were attacked earlier..." Levi answered. 'That's right. I remember the nurse making me swallow something. Was it a drug?' Natsu thought but somehow his panic never left him but continued to rise while he looked silently at Levi who was obviously trying to swallow her own tears.

"...and Lucy," Levi continued but trailed off a bit as she closed her eyes and tears started to flow from her eyes.

"Levi-san..." Natsu asked in a silent tone. It was a tone which hovered in between anger and fear and he did not like it and he continued, "... what happened to Lucy? Is she safe?"

Levi wiped her eyes before she answered looking straight into Natsu's eyes, "Lucy is gone."

With that statement, everything around Natsu collapsed. The rest of what Levi was saying was blocked out of his ears. The words 'Lucy is gone' echoed over and over in his ears and time appeared slow around him. He heard various thoughts that formed around in his head almost driving him insane with worry. Worried that something bad might happen to Lucy and that he might never be able to see her again and make up for lost time.

"We believe the fire was not an accident," Sting said in a sure tone.

"For now, we need you out of our hair while we finish our work," Angel answered.

"Help me..."

Natsu slammed his fist on his side and Levi flinched from surprise.

"Damn it... Damn it all... DAMN IT ALL!" Natsu said repeatedly as he continued to punch his bed and himself out of anger. Levi tried to stop him by holding onto his arms but he continued to let out his frustration as tears also started to form from his eyes.

'Why didn't I stay with her? Why didn't I protect her?! Damn it! This is my fault' Natsu thought and stopped bludgeoning the bed. His head hung low as he cried out of frustration of not being able to help Lucy. The feeling of helplessness washed over him and Levi only stared at him sympathizing how he is feeling. She then looked at Sting and Rogue who were still unconscious because of the effects of the drug used on them.

'Lu-chan, please be safe,' Levi hoped from the bottom of her heart.

Two individuals entered a lofty room where Jose was having a nice cup of coffee while listening to opera music.

"The job's done," Cobra stated and slumped on the nearby sofa as he let out his pet viper and started playing with it.

"I'm beat! I need a nice warm shower," Angel said as she untied her hair and sat on another couch and took a lollipop from the bowl of sweets nearby.

"Well done for a couple of losers like you. For a moment I thought that you wouldn't be able to get the job done right this time," Jose said as he threw the suitcase full of cash to Cobra.

"Keh. The job was pretty easy but why didn't you just let us kill the girl there? She was an easy prey at the hospital but you had to have us drag her here instead," Cobra asked.

"Well I had something else in mind. I think I'll have more fun with the former princess before I slit her throat," Jose answered while he smiled wickedly before taking a sip of his own coffee.

"Gross. You really are a pervert aren't you?" Angel commented as she made face from Jose's statement.

"Would you rather be in her place then? I can play with you if you want to," Jose answered back to which Angel stuck her tongue out for.

"No thanks. You're money is only good for my mercenary services but not for my special services," Angel retorted.

Jose just rolled his eyes and dismissed the matter. He took another sip of his coffee and grinned wildly thinking of things he will be doing to Lucy.

A/N: All right I'll cut it there for now guys. I'm really sorry for not updating in a LONG time but I will be posting up the next update probably by tomorrow. I'm going to be pulling up an all-nighter tonight for another chapter so wish me luck. Rate and review folks! :)