Hidden Pain (Nalu Fanfic) Discontinued

Chapter 7

"She has to go with them!"

"We can't let her go back to them! We have to protect her! Erza, we have to keep her here!" Natsu yells. Everyone is in the Fairy Tail hq while Lucy stayed in the hospital for another day.

"Natsu, you don't understand! She can't come back to this life! She already had to go through so much! She didn't want to become the most wanted criminal in the nation! She didn't want to be away from her parents! She suffered so much and she doesn't even know it. We need to let her walk away from it!" Juvia says as she grabs Natsu by his collar.

"She loves you, that's the reason she gave herself up. She chose to give up her life over yours and everyone else's! If you really love her you won't ever bring her into this again. She got the job done. Stella Kardia found Lucy and gave her back to the Heartfilias," Juvia lets go and falls to her knees crying.

"You don't know what happened to here Natsu. Not even I know, and I was with her for most of her time in Phantom. She took everything she could because she wanted to see her family again. She finally can, let her." Gajeel walks out of the room leaving his words to sink in.

Natsu knew Lucy had suffered, he knew that Loosing Lisanna had hurt him. He knew what it was like to loose people he cared about, but so did Lucy. "She's going to safe.. right?" He asks in a sad voice.

"Gray already talked to Loke, his team is making sure the Heartfilia Manor is safe. She won't get hurt again," Erza says.

+++++++

She makes her way to her room. It's been a week since Lucy returned home, everything seems perfect. Her family greets her every morning. She can walk around in her fancy and expensive clothes without fear. She can buy good makeup to cover up her scars. 

She has what she always wanted, but everything seems so boring. She doesn't have Juvia, or Gajeel, or Levy. No Fairy Tail. No Natsu..

"Lucy!" Juvia rushes towards Lucy, her arms wrapping around her in a hug. "Juvia has missed you so much Lucy!" 

Lucy lets go and smiles, she had missed them all. "Is anyone else here?" Lucy asks. As if on cue, everyone rushes in to Lucy's bedroom. 

They all spend some time talking, no one brings up missions or bad memories. Natsu sits closely to Lucy the whole time. 

It gets dark and Lucy offers them to stay the night at her home. The girls agree immediately, the guys on the other hand are cautious about it. They know Erza can be a bit wild, but they reluctantly agree. 

As everyone is leaving her room to go to Lucy's movie room Natsu hugs Lucy. They stand there alone in Lucy's room for a couple of seconds. 

"I'm so sorry.. I shouldn't have allowed you to join us on that mission.. I'm sorry Luce.." Lucy grabs Natsu's face in between her hands. She leans in and places a gentle kiss on Natsu's lips. 

"You don't have to apologize for anything. You did nothing wrong, I really care about you Natsu, i also care about the rest of Fairy Tail. I would die for any of you. No hesitation, I would do it." She kisses his cheek and smiles. 

"Don't. I can't let you die for any of us... Live.. Live for us. We can't lose you, not again.. Please Lucy, we love you. I... I love you," His voice is sad and hushed. 

Lucy can't help but smile at Natsu. "I love you too," She says. 

+++++++

"Lucy! I can't believe you own a castle! This place is huge!" A tipsy Levy says as she clings onto Gajeel. 

"Who allowed her to drink? Where did she even get any alcohol? Lucy, explain!" Gajeel says as he picks Levy up and lays her down on the couch.  

"I don't know! No one else is dru- oh my.. She found the kitchen... Don't let her out of your sight." Lucy says. 

The night passes by, laughs and giggles calming them and allowing them to sleep peacefully in Lucy's room. 

"You're worthless!" A bright light shines above her. There's water all around her and her lungs have no more oxygen in them. "You're going to die alone! No one cares about you! Die! I could kill you right now and no one would care about it Kardia."

She feels pain everywhere. She's being punched, kicked, stabbed. There's needles in her arms and hot water splashes on her naked back. She can hear screams all around her. They're the only thing she can hear. It takes her a second  to realize the screaming is coming from her. Suddenly everything is quiet as she can only feel the burning sensation of ammonia in her throat. 

"Help! Help me! Kill me!! Stop this!" 

Lucy wakes up gasping for air. Her eyes shedding tears and her heart pounding in her chest. 

"I'm here, I have you. I'm here," She hears Natsu's soothing voice as his arms wrap around her in a warm and comforting embrace. 

She stays in his arms until she can feel sleepy again. She yawns and Natsu lets go of her. She refuses to let him go and falls asleep in his arms. 

He reluctantly sighs and gets in bed with her. Hugging her and making sure she's not cold. 

"I'll protect you Luce, I can't loose you too."