Let the Rain Fall (Gale, Nalu, Jerza )

All Things Must Come to an End

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Hey, Readers!...So, I'm going to skip the long apologies and my long reason of excuses and just start with the chapter...Good? Good. Anyhoo, here's Chapter 38, ENJOY! :)

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Erza P.O.V

"Come on, Luce....Just a few more bites," I urged, bringing a spoon full of chicken soup closer to her mouth. Lucy, who had lost almost ten pounds in the past few days, simple moved her face to the side and declined the offer. "I told you...I'm not hungry," she breathed.  I frowned and urged a little more, bur she still kindly declined. I sighed with frustration. Lucy's health was slowly declining. It was now more difficult for her to breathe. She no longer watched her quirky, nerdy TV shows that would fill the room with positive noise. Instead, all you could hear is the sound of the heart rate monitor beeping, along with a few other machines whirring and screeching. And this wan't great with Natsu either. The more her health declined, the more depressed and worried he got. During the weekends, he would bring extra clothes and blankets so that he could spend more time with Lucy. I was afraid of Natsu's emotional health. If in the end Lucy did lose the battle, what would happen to Natsu?

Natsu then arrived to the hospital room, carrying his duffle bag full of clothes for the weekend. To my surprise, his mother AKA the principal walked in after him, looking quite casual in her blue jeans and blouse compared to her uptight pant suit that she always wore in the halls. I quickly got up and greeted the principal. "Good morning, Principal Dragneel."

"Morning Erza, morning Lucy," she greeted. "I'm glad the two of you are here, there's something that I wanted to talk to the two of you about.

"What is it?" I asked. I looked back at Lucy, but she was already fast asleep from the exhaustion of just being her. I looked back at Mrs. Dragneel, but she had a sad look in her eyes. She took a deep breath, straightened her back, and began to speak. "Due to Lucy being...ill, and us not being able to find a replacement...I'm afraid I have submitted a form of forfeit from the Tournament."

My eyes widened. "But the Academy?! What's going to happen to it?"

She shrugged. "We'll just have to beg for more sponsors. Everyone is already dealing with so much, I didn't want to add the Tournament  as pressure...I'm very sorry." I hated to admit it, but I saw this coming. Lucy wasn't going to just miraculously get better and sing to heart's content like nothing ever happened. Lucy was ill, and we couldn't do anything about it. Mrs. Dragneel walked over to Natsu and gave him a peck on the cheek. "I'll pick you up Monday morning, okay?" He nodded and gave his mom a hug before she left the room. I sighed and watched as Natsu threw his bag to the side, grabbed a chair, and sat alongside Natsu. For a while, it was quiet, the only noise being the sound of the heart monitor. "How was she?" He suddenly asked.

"She's...still the same," I said with a hint of guilt. "She hasn't eaten anything today. She refuses to eat."

"Of course she does," he muttered, rubbing the side of her face with such gentleness. "She's accepting the fact that she probably isn't going to survive this thing."

"Have you?"

"Fuck no," he cursed. "I have complete faith that Gajeel and Lev will come back with that doctor. And if they don't, I'll go over there and drag him here myself." I couldn't tell whether his determination was a good thing or a bad thing. All I knew was that in the end, out of all of us, it was Natsu who would be hurt the most. "I bought a ring."