Work Text:
Lucy dreamed of fire. It raged around her, flames licking at her skin, but it didn't burn. She tried to peer through the smoke and flames, but they clouded her vision. She called out, but nothing seemed to leave her mouth. And yet, it only was a moment before Natsu appeared through the flames. He ran to her, holding her in his arms. The flames seemed to die down when he held her. Instead of what should have been a burning sensation that charred her being, his hug brought a soft warmth to her skin, like sitting next to a fire on a cold winter's evening. She welcomed the embrace, her head resting on his chest as the flames around them parted, encircling them. As Lucy opened her eyes to look over Natsu's shoulder, she could have sworn it seemed as if they almost bowed to Natsu; as if they were soldiers obeying their king. He would never let them harm her, no matter what.
Lucy sat alone in her room, flexing her hand slowly. It had been a few days since she had first spoken to Natsu about her injuries. The pain and irritation had started to settle not enough to keep the wound dressing off for more than a few hours at a time, but enough that she found herself stretching her hand and arm to try and help retain flexibility.
As she had expected, various of her spirits had stopped by on their own accord to come and check on her. She had assured each and every one of them, telling them how she would be able to do plenty on her own and she didn't need the help. Maybe she didn't believe her own words as much as they had, but she'd be damned if she didn't try before asking for help. All of her friends were doing their best, so she would try her best too.
"Whatcha thinking about?"
Lucy couldn't hold back a yelp of surprise as Natsu appeared in her window, Happy not far behind him. "Natsu, god! Give a girl some notice before you enter her home, would you?" She scoffed, turning to face him. Natsu hopped down from her windowsill, smiling apologetically.
"Sorry! Didn't think I was that scary!" he joked, walking over to where she sat at her desk. "How are you feeling?"
Lucy sighed, looking to her hand and then back to Natsu. "I feel like I'm doing okay. I've been trying to keep my hand moving, but I haven't really tried out doing anything other than flexing it so far."
"Then why don't we try out something else today?" Natsu offered, moving to stand behind her. "You do plenty of things with your hands, right? There's gotta be something you can try to do."
Lucy crossed her arms, biting her lip in thought. "I could write. I haven't tried that yet."
She reached over to a stack of blank pieces of paper, setting a piece in front of her and grabbing her quill. It felt foreign in her hand— as if she hadn't written an entire book with it, countless words sitting right next to her on the desk. How did she hold it again? Did her hand sit higher up from the tip of the quill? Where was that perfect angle she had taken ages to find?
The first thing she tried to write was her name. Her fist clenched the quill, knuckles white as she pressed down on the paper too hard. Lucy manages to write her name, but it hardly feels like her. The lines are messy, the letters disconnected. It's hardly legible; it doesn't even feel like she wrote it. She let out a frustrated groan, leaning her head back. "This feels impossible. Everything is so different. How can I be an author if I can't even write properly?"
Natsu had taken to sitting on her bed, watching her curiously. Happy had decided to go see Charle and Wendy to see if they needed help, so he had left soon after arriving once realizing Natsu had no intention of doing anything other than watch. Seeing her write as if for the first time reminded him of how Igneel had taught him so long ago. Writing in dirt wasn't anything like writing on paper, but he had mentors at Fairy Tail to help him. Maybe now he could be that mentor for Lucy.
"Why don't you let me help?" he offers, hopping off the bed and standing behind her. Lucy shakes her head, not looking up form the paper.
"I have to do this myself. I can't depend on anyone to do things for me," she insisted. She sat back up, grabbing her quill and focusing again. "I need to do it myself."
The next hour was filled with groans of frustration, crumpled paper and silent moments of Lucy wincing as she flexed and stretched her hand, her annoyance growing and her determination losing itself. Natsu watched on, having to restrain himself as he watched Lucy try again and again. After a while, Lucy didn't grab another paper after crumpling up the previous, setting her head down on the desk. Natsu couldn't let himself stay put after that. He knew Lucy, and Lucy would never want to give up like this. He hopped off the bed and went to crouch down next to where she sat. A gentle hand on her shoulder got her to finally lift her head.
"Hey. Just because you want to do everything on your own right away doesn't mean it's not okay to ask for help to start, or have someone help you get you on your feet. Sometimes you just need an extra hand to get you started." he said, speaking softly. His words were so gentle, it was hard to believe it was Natsu telling her this.
Lucy smiled, placing her hand on top of his. "Okay, Natsu. Where do I start?"
"Well first, you should fix the way you're holding your quill. You usually write with you hand a little lower than that," he started, standing up and moving over to her right side. He gently held the top of the quill with one hand, then moved her hand down with his other. "See? And then, you usually angle your hand like this..."
Lucy let Natsu reposition her hand and arm, her cheeks red with embarrassment but going unsaid. It was like he said— she can't go letting her pride get the better of her. "Okay... now what?"
Natsu leaned over her shoulder, resting his arm on top of hers so that he could hold her hand carefully. Lucy's face got even brighter red, but she pushed all her feelings down. She needed to focus!
"I'm gonna guide your hand and keep it steady, okay? Grab a new piece of paper," he instructed. She listens, grabbing a piece of paper and setting it right where she had set dozens before it.
"Okay, let's try your name again! Just write it like you did before, okay?" Natsu offered. Lucy nodded, and carefully began to write. With Natsu steadying her hand, her writing was a lot smoother than before. With Natsu keeping her hand steady, she wrote more names and sentences. Time seemed to fly as they worked together, laughing over spelling errors and joking over how they write their friend's names. By the time Lucy was exhausted, they had filled multiple pages with cursive writing. While Lucy's handwriting still wasn't as legible as before, it was certainly better than it was without help.
Lucy leaned back, smiling at her work. She turned to Natsu, who stood with he arms crossed and a grin on his face.
"I told you it would help, didn't I?" Natsu exclaimed, clearly proud of himself and the work they did together.
"I know, I know! It's just hard to believe that you of all people helped me write," she joked, standing up.
"Hey! Don't think so little of me! I can be helpful at a lot of things if I want," he retorted, making a face at her. She laughed, raising her hands in defense.
"Well, I know that now! I'm sorry for underestimating you, Natsu," she said apologetically.
"You better be! Cause I'm gonna help you with other things, too," he stated. Lucy was taken aback for a moment, looking at him with confusion. "Like what?"
"Well, you gotta practice fighting and stuff, right? I can help you train! You've got your whip-thingy to use, and you gotta be able to summon your spirits still!" he said, clenching his fists with excitement. "I'll make you the strongest celestial wizard there ever was!"
Lucy considered this. She *had* said to her spirits that she wanted to be able to fight alongside them still. If writing had proved to be as difficult as this, she certainly was in no way as fluent with her whip as she was before.
After a moment of thinking it over, she finally nodded. "Okay. I'll need to think about how to balance my time for practicing and jobs and such," she mumbled, thinking over all the things she would need to relearn.
"Why make a schedule? We can do it as we go along!" Natsu chimed, bumping her with his shoulder playfully. "We'll just roll with the punches like we always do."
"But what about jobs, and my rent?" Lucy lamented, hitting him back gently with her fist. "If I'm always out working, I won't have time to practice."
"Then don't worry about rent! Happy and I will go on jobs and help ya pay," Natsu said, as if this was obviously the plan all along.
"No way, Natsu. I'm not making you go on jobs without me to pay MY rent," Lucy stated. She put her hands on her hips, shaking her head. "I'd feel terrible if I did that, jeez!"
Natsu looked at her, squinting his eyes as if he were trying his best to come up with a thought. "Then let me stay here."
Lucy's eyes went wide at that. She scoffed, as if it were insane to even consider the thought. "That's almost crazier than you paying my rent for me, Natsu!"
"Well, you said that it was crazy because it was your rent, right?" Natsu explained matter-of-factly. "So if it was also my rent, then there wouldn't be a problem, right?"
Lucy couldn't fight him there. But living with Natsu— not just him popping in and out, but living with him...
"There isn't a problem, right? So let's do it!" Natsu cheered. There was no changing his mind now. Lucy sighed, shaking her head.
"Okay, but rules need to be set. One, you need to respective of my space. No snooping or anything when I'm not here, or peeking in on me when I'm busy. Two, you need to not make a mess. I keep it tidy in here for a reason, so you have to keep it that way too," Lucy stated, holding up a finger for each rule. "Three... just... just don't do anything stupid, okay?"
"Got it!" Natsu agreed, nodding excitedly. "I can do that, easy!"
Lucy felt like in any other situation, she would be totally against this. If Natsu had asked her a few weeks ago, she would never have agreed. But having Natsu around for support, both financially and physically— it would be a great help. She watched him as he set his bed up again, laying down to look up at the ceiling. After a moment lost in thought, she went and got ready for bed herself.
As Lucy finally laid down in her bed, she looked over the side to where Natsu stared at the ceiling. Words danced at the edge of her mouth, but she wasn't sure how to say it.
"Natsu?"
"Yeah, Lucy?"
"...Why do you want to help me?"
The air is silent between them for a moment as Natsu looked back at her. For a moment she thought maybe he would ignore her question and go to sleep, but eventually he responded quietly.
"Because I hate seeing you lose your determination. And I know how strong you are, so I'm not gonna let something like this stop you even though you might want to give up some days."
Natsu smiles up at her, a look she didn't see from him often enough. It was soft, kind. Not careful or sorry, like a lot of people have been when they first saw her injuries. Natsu had never seemed to feel bad for her. he saw her potential, her strength. He didn't underestimate her, he kept her from getting in her own head.
Lucy turned back to say some form of thanks, but Natsu was already asleep. She smiled at his snoring figure, turning back over and curling up under own blankets. The stars shone down through her window, as if the sky itself was saying goodnight as Lucy fell asleep.