Author's Note
Yes I know I promised the dirty pick up lines or one of your requests but that recent chapter came out and nalu head cannons blew into my brain like a machine gun so sit tight! For those who don't read the manga, IGNORE THIS FOR NOW. WE'LL BE COMING OUT WITH A NON MANGA ONE SHOT SOON.
The rest of you, carry on...

-Jason

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---Natsu's POV---

I've only been awake for a couple minutes, or... That's what it felt like. Unfortunately nobody knew I was awake for this whole time, because I seemed to have earned the horrible incapability to open my eyes.

But I could tell someone was sitting there... Lucy. I could smell her, I could hear her...

Talking out of nowhere would only scare her, right? I mean my eyes are closed... I'll look like a dead man talking.

Suddenly, I heard her sigh. Lucky for me I could open my eyes only a crack to see that she had sat up straight in her chair. Downside was that her eyes weren't even open, but I didn't see the look of concentration on her features, as well as the dots of tears shining on her eyelashes.

Admittedly, she did look kind of beautiful, but not the kind of beautiful that I prefer. She seemed too stressed, but a little hopeful maybe.

I hum somehow escaped my throat, causing her to snap her eyes open and look at me. "Natsu...?" She breathed, squinting her eyes down at me. Fortunately I managed to open my eyes a little bit more, but I never got to see her reaction for she threw her arms around me before I got the chance.

"Ah—" I winced at my wounds, wanting to say something more but my voice seemed kind of weak at the time being. "Lu—"

"Huh? Oh..." Lucy hesitantly broke away to inspect all my cuts. "Sorry I just... We were all kinda afraid because you were taking awhile to wake up and– err..."

"Happ—.... Wh—... Where—" I mentally cursed at my voice, it had to fail me right now, of all moments.

Lucy stared at me with confusion before her eyes brightened up in realization. "Happy? Don't worry he's just fine. He's in the other room being fed, he lost a lot of power so..."

I frowned and turned my head on my pillow to look at the door. When was the last time I've been hospitalized? Wait... Why was I even in the infirmary?

"What... Happened?" I forced out, looking up at Lucy with my eyebrows scrunched up. "I'm.... Fi—Fine."

Lucy blinked and put my head back down on the pillow. I didn't even realize I was trying to sit up. "You... Used up too much magic this entire year. They said you were forming a tumor."

My eyes widened. "That's...."

"Luckily it's fine for now... Don't worry. A friend—in some terms—helped you by shrinking it down." Lucy managed a smile and looked down at her hands. A single tear made its way down her cheek and off her chin. "But I was so scared... I couldn't hear your heartbeat at all."

I was silent, not even trying to talk, as I watched her.

"When happy started crying... It reminded me of when my future self had died right in front of me..."

"Lu—cy..." I choked out, moving my trembling hand to grasp onto her's, which took her by surprise. "I'm not... Dea—dead."

Lucy watched me intently. I hated seeing her cry like this.

"I'm here." I nodded, which made a bolt of pain shoot through my body. "I'm not.... Going t—to leave you..."

Lucy gripped onto my hand.

"Never again."

I watched as she wiped her tears away with her sleeve before giving me a more gentle hug this time. And even though I would usually be smiling right now, a frown was the only thing that appeared on my face.

Even after all that happened, what Zeref had said to me clung to my thoughts like a leech. E.N.D, Layla, Zeref's little brother, Anna, all the dragon slayer... All this information actually makes me want to roll up into a ball and stay in this bed for eternity. But I need to get up, I need to tell everyone what I know. I have to do my part in all this.

"Lucy...." I breathed, feeling tears slip down my cheeks. "I'm sorry. I didn't.... I didn't kn—know about Layla."

Lucy flinched slightly.

"I was the cause of her death. I'm sorr— I'm sorry."

Lucy broke away to stare at me. "What?"

More tears poured down my eyes and I felt my whole body begin to tremble. "She opened the g-gate. To let me and the dragon slayers in... It's all my— f... Faul—fault...."

I closed my eyes so I could see the hurt in her eyes.

"Natsu—"

"Zeref told me everything. He told me about Layla, Anna, the dragonslayers." I cried. "He even... He even told me about E.N.D."

Lucy's breathing hitched once I spoke of the demon, she wasn't at all fazed about the mention of her mother.

"Lucy... He told me... He told me I was his little brother." I gritted my teeth as I crack my eyes open to look at her again, but it was all blurry from my tears. "He told me.... That... That I am E.N.D."

"That's preposterous—"

"Etherious Natsu Dragneel."

"Natsu that doesn't prove anything."

"He stabbed the book in front of my eyes, and I received the same wound right when it happened!" I shouted. "Happy saw it! I'm the demon! I'm Zeref's little brother! I'm the one that Igneel couldn't defeat! Gray is devoting his life to kill me! I'm E.N.D!"

Lucy shut me up by suddenly slapping her hand on my cheek. At first I was shocked, but I knew I deserved it.

"okay what if you are E.N.D... You're still my Natsu. And... And..."

I nervously looked up at her.

"I already love you too much for there to be any hatred towards you... Even if you're the strongest demon in the world. I don't care. I love you."

I blink away my tears and reached both my hands up to wipe the tears off her face. Painfully, I pushed myself up into a sitting position and tugged her into another tight hug. "I'm sorry... I promise to protect you and stay by your side. I won't harm you but I fit does come to the point where what Zeref says is true and I am E.N.D... I want you to lock me up, or kill me if you need to."

"Natsu—"

"And I love you too. Damn it... I love you so much it hurts." I say, my voice cracking in the middle. "And I know that no one, not even you could come to love the demon I was created to be. So promise me you'll make rid of him whenever that time may come. Just know that I really love you Lucy. And I'll always be fighting for you, to get to you... Even if I may seem lost in everyone's eyes."

Lucy sniffled and nodded against the crook of my neck, leaving us in silence before everyone else in the guild finally would notice that I had awakened, bring the next stage in our battle coming forth.

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*not proofread*