DISCLAIMER: I DO NOT OWN FT

A Reason to Live

"Shh-It's time, Natsu," The take-over mage reminded. At the ruins of the guild, stood tents with different colors and sizes. The giant guild was gone along with some of the members. Blood spilling everyday, it was the worst case scenario. The Magic Council was broken, well, why wouldn't they be?

It was Zeref they're facing.

One day, Zeref appeared with a new creature; the most powerful one yet. The creature wasn't big like the others, more like...puny. Tiny. In fact, instead of a creature, it was more like germs. But, germs are creatures too. Once they bite, you'll never see daylight again. In a second, you'll be blind. In a minute, you'll be paralized. In an hour, you won't be able to breath.

You might think it isn't dangerous since they're so tiny. But to them, them being tiny makes it scarier. You'll never know when they'll strike, when they'll bite. Every second of the day you're never safe. It makes you paranoid every time. Maybe after you bathe, they'll strike, or maybe when you're sleeping. You'll never know.

Then it gets worse. These creatures evolve. They grew larger, and smarter. Not only that, they grew wings. Every day, they would fly above the city and terrorizes peole with big flame balls. But the tiny ones are still there, too, lurking around, searching for people to kill.

These creatures are called ONITO. Coming from "akuno" and "petto", ONITO means "Demon's Pet"

Natsu looked at Lisanna and nodded emotionlessly. It wasn't like Natsu at all, but he was thinking. Well, who wouldn't be? Happy died in the war. Natsu and Happy were disobeying orders as usual. On a seemingly bright morning, they walked around Fiore and suddenly-it happened.

Onitos were seen everywhere, their roars heard everywhere, too. Soon enough, screams of terror and pain filled Magnolia. After hearing a few blood-chilling screams, Natsu's eyes widened as he realized Happy wasn't next to him. Happy was in front of him, blood spilling everywhere around him.

And the worst thing about it was that, he wasn't even breathing anymore. Natsu screamed, a loud scream that put those onitos to shame. It was so loud everyone heard it. The guild members did, and they were all worried in an instant. The onitos heard him, too, and all came to him. Natsu was gonna die. Supposedly. But at the last moment, Happy muttered a powerful magic spell no one knew he knew and saved the day.

Natsu tapped Lisanna's shoulders and grinned. It was a big grin, the only grin he could muster after Happy's death. Lisanna smiled a little smile. If Natsu's still grinning, then there's still hope. "Natsu, you know what I'm talking about, right?" Lisanna voiced her anxiousness.

"Yes." Natsu said, looking ahead. "It's time for the daily patrol." The daily patrol is an activity Fairy Tail members did ever since onitos appeared. Everyday, they would do the daily patrol and make sure no one gets hurt when the onitos shower fire balls.

"Oh, and Lisanna?"

"Yeah?"

"Make sure you stay by my side, ok?"

Lisanna nodded weakly, noticing that spark on Natsu's eyes. The spark he always had when he's "all fired up". Lisanna and Natsu looked at each other as they walked out of the tent. Natsu held Lisanna's hand tightly, afraid of what would come next. No matter what, he swore he would protect the survivors.

No matter what...

"Remember how we used to walk like this before Zeref attacked?" Lisanna asked, not really noticing the situation. The nostalgic feeling made their way to Natsu and Lisanna's body, making Lisanna smile and Natsu even more worried.

"Yeah.." Natsu whispered. His voice was hollow, shadowed and so far away. He was there, but his mind wasn't. In a way, it feels kinda creepy. It's like talking with a body, yet Lisanna decided it was just her feelings.

"Uwaa~! Uwaa~!" Came that horrible, glass-breaking sound. Both Lisanna and Natsu looked up in alert, knowing what it was. As they expected, a couple of onitos were flying, holding the giant fireballs on their chicken-like claws. It didn't take a genius to figure out the giant fireballs were gonna fall anytime soon.

Lisanna and Natsu immediatly went to meddle with the crowd, deciding it was the safest spot for both them and the citizens. The onitos, one by one started dropping fire balls. Lisanna transformed into a bird to rescue the citizens, while Natsu ate the fires.

Lisanna gathered the citizens at a little green hill near the city. So close, yet far away. Lots of hideouts, too. Perfect for a hiding place "So stay here. Onee-san will be back soon!" Lisanna chirped as she dropped off the last batch of kids. Leaving to find Natsu, the little kids were left alone.

The beautiful silver-haired teen came back with a salmon-haired fire dragon slayer. Lisanna started collecting apples and gave them to the kids one by one. "16...17..." Lisanna said, counting the line of kids. "Wait, only 17?! Who's not here?" Lisanna realized as her sky blue eyes searched the forest.

"Natsu, I'll go search for him!" Lisanna informed as she turned towards the deeper side of the forest. Natsu turned his attention to Lisanna and before he could say "Wait!", it happened. An onito flew just above the forest and dropped a fireball right on top of Lisanna.

In a flash, the world turned black for Lisanna. Laying on the ground, eyes opened wide, it was clear that she was dead. Natsu ran to his side, burned arms and legs were visible. Natsu didn't even dare to imagine what was hidden behind her clothing.

Natsu didn't even blink when it happened. He didn't even have the chance to. Lisanna wasn't even smiling at the end of her life. It all seemed so unreal to Natsu. The girl who was beside him, smiling, laughing, was gone in an instant. They didn't even get the chance to say goodbye.

"-and finally let's all pray for Dearest Lisanna." Master Makarov ended his speech. The entire guild turned their heads down and prayed for their Lisanna. Lucy was there, crying about how she should've gone with her. It happened again. But this time, they all know Lisanna's not coming back.

Including Natsu.

Natsu wasn't even at Lisanna's funeral. He was on his own, wondering to heck-knows-where. Lucy was the first one to notice Natsu's disappearence. Noticing his odd behavior, Lucy decided to follow her gutt that told her the only place he could be at.

While stumbling to the little cottage Lisanna and Natsu made when they were little, Lucy could've sworn he heard monsterly screams. Screams scarier than the onitos' screams. The thought of seeing monsters scared the celestial mage but she knew she had to find Natsu. Because Natsu needed someone, anyone, even if it's not Lisanna.

Finally reaching the used-to-be-filled-with-love cottage, Lucy breathed a sigh of relief. Natsu's shadow was seen. He was at the spot where he used to watch sunsets with Lisanna. Moving closer to the light, Lucy noticed Natsu's eyes weren't firery. They were blank, empty.

"Tell me, Lucy." Natsu suddenly whispered, making Lucy jolted in surprise. Natsu didn't move an inch, yet he knew Lucy was there. Lucy decided that she was too loud and decided to sit beside him. "Natsu...?"

"Lucy. Tell me. What use am I if I can't protect my nakamas?" His voice was cracking. Natsu was really on edge, Lucy could tell.

"What do you mean?"

"Lucy..." Natsu started. "Happy died. Lisanna died, too. I couldn't protect them. When they were right in front of me, I couldn't protect them. Having to move on, knowing that you could've save someone but you didn't... Do you know how that feels like?"

"Tell me, Lucy." Natsu turned and faced Lucy. Emotionless onyx met chocolate brown. Lucy didn't know what to say. The Natsu beside her wasn't the Natsu everyone knew. He was trapped on despair. He was lost, and he didn't know what to do. "Do we even need to stay alive? The onitos are gonna kill us one day anyway."

"Natsu... I may not be Lisanna, but I'm still here. I get it. Your family died, how can you... Move on? But Natsu, like I said, I'm still here. It's not always gonna be fun and stuff but I...I believe we can defeat Zeref if we try!"

"..."

"We lost so much already and I don't want more. A-and I can't bear the thought of you not being there, Natsu."

"Lu-"

"And for cucumbers' sake, Natsu! You're asking for a reason to live? I don't know what you were thinking and I don't know what-or who was your reason but now, make me-make the rest of us your reason, Natsu!" Lucy shook Natsu's shoulders.

Natsu slapped her hands of his shoulders and hid his eyes under his bangs. "Reason?" He started. "I have countless of reasons for me to die! I lost Happy and Lisanna! What if the same thing with Happy and Lisanna happened again?! I have countless of reasons!"

Lucy's eyes widened as Natsu's voice softened. "But mostly, I don't wanna lose anyone else."

Lucy hugged Natsu and didn't let go. She tried reasoning again. "Natsu.. Please... We need the you that brings fire to everyone. Please... You told me once, that, everything is gonna be okay. So why are you the one trapped in despair now..? Natsu... Please.." Lucy pleaded. Her voice was cracked up as she tried not to cough. Her cheeks were wet from tears running down trough it.

"We have to... Fight for a better future!" She screamed. Natsu's eyes widened. Flashbacks made their way trough his head.

[We're like a family weren't we? You're the daddy, I'm the mommy and the egg is the kid!]

[It's like this kitten brings happiness to the guild, doesn't it?]
[Let's name it Happy!]
[Aye!]

[I think she would like being here better. After all, she loved sunsets]

[Natsu, let's catch fish together!]

[I wanna be your wife when I grow up~!]

[Natsu, I don't think we should do this. The onitos are said to be flying around at this time of day.]

Tears rolled down Natsu's cheeks as he looked at Lucy, who gritted her teeth while closing her eyes. Natsu could tell Lucy was trying hard not to cry, not realizing her wet cheeks. Natsu grinned and pat Lucy's back.

"You're right, Lucy!"

"Nat...su?"

"Let's save this world together!"

YESS! Finally finished it! *breaths a sigh of relief* Man, that was probably the longest one-shot I have ever made. Now, anyway, what did YOU think? Do you think it was NaLu or NaLi? I don't know. Halloweens coming up, isn't it?

Wow, that was random. What I said, I mean. I'm so weird sometimes. Actually, scratch that, most of the time. Oh, and for Biggest Mistake readers, I'M WORKING ON CHAPTER 3! =3 *SPOILER ALERT* Chapter 3 has GrayLu fluff in it even I'M squealing! XD

Don't forget to leave a review! If not, I'll take all those chocolate bars you have on the fridge! *drools* Wait, you don't have them? Cookies? Gummy bears? JELLY BEANS?! Just kidding, I hate jelly beans. And I'm not stealing anything from you if you don't review. Reviews are highly appreciated, thou.

Signed,

Skye