"W-What..? Is that you..?" someone muttered under their chin in disbelief.

A tall man stood in front of her with golden keys in his hands, spinning them between his dirty fingers. His clothes were ripped from the constant fighting that happened in past days. His eyes were covered by darkness of his bangs. Big and creepy horns sticked out of his dirty pink hair while his features had a evil smug on them.

"Natsu..? That can't be you..." She whispered as every muscle in her body trembled. A tear escaped from her eyes as she forcefully closed them when the bolt of pain shot through her rib.

- earlier -

"Where the hell do you think this monster might be, Luce?" The pink haired mage asked while sniffing around in hopes of finding a beast required from their job request.

"I dunno... it could be anywhere, honestly.." the blonde sighed while still looking around.

The forest they were in was dark and terrifying. Small wind blew between the branches and it made scratching noises. Lucy's tiny body trembled when she noticed the scary looking place around them.

"What are you doing?" The Dragon Slayer asked when Celestial mage gripped on his arm, looking for comfort.

"This place is scary.." she whined as cold chill went down her spine.

"Don't worry, I'm here.. you know I would never let anything happen to you." He encouraged her as he pointed to himself like a cocky jerk.

But, Natsu's eyebrows suddenly furrowed at the rustling noise from a bush near by. Then, a monster with exact features as the picture from the job request showed up looking ready to slaughter anyone who dared to be on its way.

The beast was pretty tall, its eyes were glowing red, like blood in the place of pupils. The fur on its body was grayish with some dirt. Saliva dripped from between its canines as the mouth remained open.

Natsu wasn't impressed by the thing. He had a bored expression on his face before he saw the monster rush in Lucy's direction.

Its legs stomped on the ground in hope to squish her, but she was quick to dodge. Lucy took out her Taurus key and transformed into her star dress.

She was ready to punch the ugly thing away but Natsu was quicker and he violently punched its jaw with his fiery fist. The monster flew few meters away, unconscious and defeated.

"Hey! I wanted to fo that" Lucy yelled annoyingly, but Natsu just shrugged it off and grinned at the girl.

"You defeated that monster with quite ease, Natsu.." someone said while clapping their hands and walking towards the two.

Natsu looked up to the mysterious man walking and his eyes suddenly widened from sensing his strong magic power.

"Who are you?!" Dragon Slayer yelled angrily and put his arm in front of the blonde in protective manner.

"Calm down, I'm not going to hurt you... yet." he muttered the last word.

"How do you know my name?!"

"My name is Zeref, I am someone you knew very well in the past," black haired wizard spoke as Natsu's flames faded.

"Huh?" he lifted an eyebrow at black haired wizard with confusion written all around his features. Zeref only smiled while talking to Natsu, not even looking at Lucy.

"You're waisting your time protecting that girl, she's not the one I'm after. You're coming with me!" He snapped his fingers and in less than second both he and Fire mage disappeared without a trace, leaving Lucy completely alone.

"Shit!" Blonde cursed and sprinted towards the guild.

- few days later -

"So?!"

"Nothing, I'm sorry, Lu-chan..." blunette whispered with teary eyes as guilt and feelings of not being good enough were slowly getting to her.

"Damn it! I'll go look for him myself!" Upset Stellar mage was about to walk out of the guilds door but a hand on her shoulder stopped her.

"Lucy... don't. I'm sure we'll find out some information about all of this soon, don't be reckless." Requip mage said calmly before Gray walked up to Lucy as well.

"Erza's right. After all, you're kinda acting like Natsu right now..." he slightly laughed.

"What..?"

"He was acting exactly like this whenever you were captured. When you were taken with Yukino at the time of Grand Magic Games for example."

"Really?"

"Yeah..."

A soft smile spread across Lucy's face as she felt flattered. She placed her palm on her chest, she could totally imagine Natsu being like this.

"Still... I have to go," she raised her head with determination.

"Then, we'll come with you..."

"No, I-"

Lucy was cut off by the guilds wall exploding, revealing a well known Dragon Slayer. Everyone were about to celebrate but they stopped once they noticed something odd about him. His presence was kinda... intimidating.

"Natsu?" Blonde asked as she stepped towards him. He glared at everyone in the guild, waiting for his next order.

'Attack them, Natsu.'

And he did. He attacked them with full force.

After some time of holding back, the Team Natsu was left with no choice but to fight their own friend.

"This i-isn't you..." Blonde muttered under her chin in disbelief.

As scary looking Natsu stood in front of her with her golden keys in his hands, spinning them between his fingers. His clothes were ripped from the constant fighting. His eyes were covered by darkness of his bangs. Big and creepy horns sticked out of his dirty pink hair while his features had a evil smug on them.

"Natsu..? Is that really you?" She whispered as every muscle in her body trembled. A tear escaped from her eyes as she forcefully closed them when the bolt of pain shot through her rib.

"Natsu, we don't wanna fight! What's gotten into you?!" Gray yelled out with wounds covering his body. As soon as he got E.N.D.'s attention he didn't hesitate to attack him.

His black flames shot an incredible amount of power that even Gray couldn't deflect. He was hit by full power and was sent flying to the nearest wall. The color left his face as he hit the floor, unconscious.

"Gray-sama!!" Juvia cried out and ran to her beloved. She called to Wendy immediately and she began healing him, she was worried.

Wendy was already exhausted from healing mainly Erza, she's been burned pretty bad.

"Natsu! Please stop!!" Blonde ran up to him without any thought, she was the only one who hasn't been injured by directly him. She was injured mostly by bricks falling off and random attacks that hit her when she was protecting Natsu.

"Get away from me!" His voice sounded demonic, like it didn't belong to the dork they once knew. He shoved Lucy away and continued destroying the guildhall.

Celestial mage pulled out her most precious key that she kept around her neck and transformed.

"Star dress: Aquarius form!" She called out.

Natsu... I might be only one who's still able to stand and fight. I promise I'll pull you out from the dark, just wait for me!

Lucy was slowly standing back up on her feet and exchanged looks with E.N.D.

"Why are you still going? Just give up! You're such a weirdo." He commented. And with a single word he gave Lucy something precious... hope.

Weirdo? That's right! He used to call me that! That means he's still in there!

She smiled but it soon faded as she noticed something. A tear fell from Natsu's eye.

He must be feeling guilty... He probably feels weak since he can't stop E.N.D...

Lucy stood up on her feet and incurred Aquariuses water around her for protection. She walked closer to Natsu until he was right in front of her.

"Are you going to hide in that little bubble of yours forever, blondie?! If you're so tough then come out of it and fight me!" E.N.D. shouted, Lucy did nothing but gave him a nod.

The water around her disappeared and she was left defenseless. Demon was took by surprise for a second but he grinned sinisterly at Lucy.

He formed an attack in his hand and was ready to kill her but Lucy ran up to him and smashed their lips together.

Natsu...

Lucy felt her feelings get to Natsu, she could feel their hearts beating at the same peace.

His horns slowly began to fade away as well as his eyes and senses came back to normal. His eyes immediately poured down tears as he fully saw what he had done.

"Y-You're back..." Lucy breathed out as her legs became weak.

Natsu looked down, the fear consumed him and made him tremble. His hand was piercing through Lucy's stomach.

"N-No... Luce! S-Say something!! LUCY!!" He cried out as her lifeless body laid on the cold floor. Natsu carefully took her in his arms and cried. His desperate screams filled the guild as well as the streets of Magnolia.

"Lucy... please say something! Please! Let me make this right! Give me one more chance, I swear I'll... I'll take care of you properly!!" Natsu cried as if his brain was being shredded from the inside. The pain flowed out of his every pore. From his mouth came a cry from so raw that even the eyes of the guild mates who were still conscious around them were wet with tears.

He grabbed tightly onto Lucy to stop his violent shaking. From his eyes came a thicker flow of tears than he had cried for even his own father the previous year. The whole world had vanished for him, his whole life became meaningless without her.

"I'm sorry! I'm so sorry!!"

(A\N: i wanted to end it here so it would be a sad ending but I figured you would much rather have a happy one... so here you go)

- two weeks later -

"Natsu..." the blonde came from behind the Dragon Slayer as they now stood on the hill.

"L-Luce..." he turned around but kept his gaze on the ground. Lucy sighed sadly.

He hasn't looked at me since I woke up...

"Natsu, let's go celebrate with everyone.. it's Sakura tree festival, after all.." she tugged on his sleeve, however, Natsu flinched at her touch and quickly backed away.

"Natsu, please... look at me." She pleaded, if not even begged. He closed his eyes and gritted his teeth.

"I... can't." Every time he looked at her in the infirmary it just reminded him of what he's done, it made him feel awful so he didn't have the courage to look at her.

Lucy grew really annoyed at this point so she squished his face in her hands, forcing him to look at her. He glanced at her eyes but quickly broke away from her grip.

"N-No! Don't!"

"Can't you understand that it wasn't your fault?! Zeref controlled you and you couldn't do anything about it!"

"Exactly! I couldn't do anything! I was too weak! I hurt my friends and I almost killed you, Lucy! I can't let that happen ever again!"

"W-What do you mean by that..?"

"I'm leaving... and I don't know when I'll come back.."

"No... please, Natsu. Please don't put me through that again, I won't be able to handle it.." Lucy ran to Fire mage and strongly wrapped her arms around his torso. She was crying, desperate for him to stay.

"Lucy... please. You're making this harder. I can't stay here knowing what I did to them, I can't stay knowing what I did to you. Please understand..."

"I love you, Natsu!"

"Don't say that! I don't deserve your love!"

"You do!"

"I don't!"

Slap.

"Enough! I think I know better than you! I decide who I get to love and my heart says your name pretty fucking clear, so shut your damn mouth! Would you ever hurt your guild mates or me on purpose?"

"No!"

"See?! We all forgave you, so please... forgive yourself!"

"I... I'll try.. but I can't promise anything." He stepped closer and caressed Lucy's cheek, finally looking at her.

"Lucy..."

"Hm?"

"I love you, too.." he whispered in her ear and planted a kiss on her forehead.

———————————————————————

honestly, i think i should've made Natsu leave but eh.. this i what you call a 'happy ending' pff such a cliché

fun fact: this was meant to be a book but i lost inspiration to write the whole story so i summarized it into a one shot.

hope you liked this

have a wonderful day, bye bye