Chapter 21: Protection

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NATSU'S POV

I'm such an idiotic, moronic, shit head. I can't believe I didn't remember that Lucy doesn't have her whip or keys. Keys. The magic she uses for her health. The magic she uses for her safety. I forgot she doesn't have that. And I was about to let her fight. No. I can't have that. I have to protect her! I have to protect Lucy.

Lucy just stared into my eyes, looking down sadly. "Lucy" I mumbled. She didn't look up. "Lucy" I said louder and more forceful, but she still did not look up. I huffed in annoyance. We don't have much time and yet here she was, being difficult. I grab her chin and force her to look into my eyes. "Next time" I started. "Tell me you don't have your whip or keys" I said with narrowed eyes. I could see that this frightened her a bit, but she needed to know that this was important.

I took a deep breath and let her go.

"Ok Lucy. Stay behind me. I'll protect you"

LUCY'S POV

"Ok Lucy. Stay behind me. I'll protect you." This one statement almost ended my life. Keyword being almost. I had gotten distracted. Natsu had once again successfully distracted me. Granted, he usually only distracts me at the guild or my house, but this time it was right before a battle. A battle that was life-or-death.

I felt my face burning up. I only had eyes or Natsu, so I didn't sense an object come flying my way. I didn't sense the way Natsu tensed up. It all seemed to play in slow motion for me.

I was shaken out of my thoughts when Natsu quickly turned and was facing me. His eyes were slowly getting bigger as he stared at something behind me. I saw his hands move toward me. And then it all crashed down hill.

Natsu pushed me as fast as he could. He had pushed me as hard as he could. Except, he didn't make it. It had hit me. It was a sword. Someone had once again thrown a sword. This time they hit their mark.

Just under my ribs, there was a gash. Crimson blood flowed out of it. I gasped in pain, keeping my scream inside me. I didn't want to worry Natsu even more now. He already looked like he was crushed. The sword hadn't gotten stuck in my stomach, but it had created a deep gash on the side.

"Natsu..." I whispered. He stared at me with wide eyes, yet not seeing anything. He was in shock.

"I... I..." He stuttered, breathing quickly. "Nat-" I didn't get to finish because Natsu interrupted. "I didn't... I didn't keep my..." he was having trouble finishing his sentence. He was so shaken up. I painfully push myself up, so I could stare straight into his eyes. I took his cheek in one hand and caressed it. "I'm fine, Natsu" I said, forcing a smile on my lips. He shook his head, looking at my wound. I sighed loudly, thinking of a way to get him to agree. That's when I thought of it.

I gently smile and lean toward him. He's always the one to keep me stable. He's the one to always save me. He's the one that never lets me fall. I think of all the good and bad times I've had at Fairy Tail. He was in every single one of them. There was none without him. He was my nakama. My family. The love of my life. And that's when our foreheads met. I closed my eyes and kept my head there for a minute. The people weren't attacking us. I guess they wanted to see how this played out.

"I believe in you Natsu" I whispered and then I pressed my lips to his.

NATSU'S POV

I felt her caress my cheek. She was trying to reassure me. I felt so broken. I couldn't protect Lucy. I said I would but immediately failed right after. I could only stare at her and stutter my way through the sentences I was trying to force out. "I'm fine, Natsu" She said. I didn't believe her though. Who would? I could see the pain in her eyes. I shook my head, looking at the huge gash on her side. I was too slow to prevent that. It was all my fault. I heard Lucy sigh loudly. She slowly leaned down and touched her forehead to mine. Her eyes were closed and she stayed like that for a minute. "I believe in you" she said. And then I felt the most amazing feeling ever.

I felt her lips on top of mine. She kissed me! I was in shock for about 2 seconds until I came to my sense. I kissed back. There was no way I wouldn't. My mate had just kissed me. I was not going to let her think I don't like her.

She ended the kiss. She had pulled back and took deep breaths to catch her breath. I leaned forward, to once again kiss her, when she shook her head. "Are you fired up, Natsu?" She asked, looking at me. I looked around and saw seven people starring at us. I looked at Lucy. "I'm all fired up" I responded, getting up.

I let my anger get the better of me now. One of them had hurt Lucy, and I bet I know who. I looked toward the guy who had almost killed her the day they captured me. "Will" I growled out. He flinched but looked straight at me, trying to cover up his fear. I let fire cover my entire body. "I'm going to beat the shit out of you now" I said in complete seriousness. My head was tilted, like I was pondering about something. But my eyes stayed on Will. The one who had thrown the sword.

He backed away a little. He could see that I was serious. I crouched in my fighting stance, ready to attack. My body was still completely covered in my flames. Will back away at a fast pace. I smirked. "Don't run. I just wanna play" I teased. I slowly walked toward him. "Natsu" I heard Lucy whisper. I look over at her.

I couldn't leave her. She was my mate. My family. She helped me stay stable. Lucy needed my protection.

GRAY'S POV

The ash cleared just a bit. Now we could see where we were going. Wendy and I were running to find the others. "GRAY! WENDY!" I heard Erza shouting. "I guess she saw Natsu" I muttered to Wendy, who nodded, thinking the same thing. We ran threw some bushes, pushing our way through. Well, I pushed and Wendy stayed close behind me. We popped out to where the others were standing.

"Oh, Gray-sama! I was so worried!" Juvia shouted, tackling me in hug. "We have no time! We have to go!" Erza commanded. Juvia and I stared up at her nodding our heads very fast. It looked as though Erza was very agitated.

"Let's go help Natsu" I said seriously, facing the way I saw the fire coming from. Everyone cheered. "We are gonna go get Salamander and Bunnygirl!" Gajeel shouts, shoving his hand into the air. His pointer finger was pointing toward the sky and his thumb was out, making it look like a "L". Everyone followed his lead, doing the Fairy Tail sign they do with their hands.

Erza looked forward in determination. "We can do this" she said determinedly.

ROSE'S POV

I ran as fast as I could through the woods. Lucy had pushed me in this direction, so I was going to keep going in this direction. I got a couple scratches from the branches that were hanging low but I never once stopped. Lucy and Natsu need help.

I ra into an opening to see a group of people facing the other way. "OI! You friends with Natsu and Lucy?" I asked, breathing deeply. There were a few feet away. A girl with red hair turned. She had a scowl on her face. "Why?" She asked, although it sounded more like a demand. "They need help. Come on!" I said and grabbed onto the girl's arm and pulled her in the direction I just came. "Hold up! What's your name?" the girl asked. "I'm Rose. I'm an earth dragon slayer" I said before they got the chance to ask about my magic.

"Ok. I'm Erza" she said. "That's Juvia, Gray, Wendy, Charla, Lily, and Gajeel." She pointed to each one as she introduced them. "Now that you know everyone, we can go" she said. And with that, she ran. I shrugged at the questioning glances I got and ran after her to make sure she was going the right way. The rest followed soon after.

ERZA'S POV

Natsu looked like he was full of rage. We have to hurry. I'm so glad Rose showed up when she did. We were about to go off in the wrong direction. That would have messed everything up. I ran in front of everyone, hoping to be quick about finding the place. "I'm going the right way, right?" I called out to Rose. She nodded, looking ahead of me. I looked ahead and gasped.

There were pieces of building all over. Dust and ash were just clearing up. A little even got in my eye. "What made Natsu so mad?" I muttered in concern. Usually, Natsu only gets this mad when a nakama... LUCY! She was hurt, wasn't she? "Hey Rose?" I called out. "Yeah?" Rose asked, catching up to me. I had slowed down. "Is Lucy alright?" I asked. She better be. "When she pushed me in your direction, she was still able to run" Rose said, not looking into my eyes. "But..." I pressed. Rose looked down. Gray and Gajeel had caught up to us. "But the master, Codin, had whipped her a few times, right after she had been beaten and taken over by him." Rose confessed.

My eyes widened and I looked at Gray and Gajeel. I could tell they were angry. I could tell they wanted revenge. Gajeel had a scowl on his face and had transformed into his iron scale body already. Gray was shaking in anger and muttering about killing some bastard. If this is how Gray and Gajeel react from just hearing about it, it's no wonder how Natsu reacted.

"One more question Rose" I said. She looked toward me. "Was Natsu watching any part of that?" I asked. I wish Codin good luck with getting out of this alive if Natsu had seen any part. Rose nodded. "The part about Lucy being controlled for a bit and when the Master whipped her" Rose answered. "Why?" she asked. I shook my head and muttered "Don't do anything you'll regret Natsu"

Then, we had finally reached the place. My eyes immediately locked on Natsu. He was looking at Lucy and then a guy. I wonder what he did. Then I saw the blood coming out of Lucy's side. My eyes narrowed. Natsu must have smelt us because he turned toward us. He smirked. "You keep the others busy and take care of Luce. I wanna beat this guy" he said, facing back toward the guy who he was looking at before.

And that's when he attacked.

AN: Please comment!

WARNING: I'm almost done with this story. I'm thinking about doing a sequel. What do you think?