A Dragon's Promise

Careful to keep every step light, Natsu made his way through an endless maze of pitch black hallways. His destination: a place he'd visited more times than he could count, all in one extremely long, sleepless night. Relying more on memory than sight, he reached the end of the current hallway, and quietly opened a door shrouded in darkness.

Inside the all too familiar infirmary, he felt an even more familiar pain hit his chest. A bit reluctantly, he walked across the room, taking his regular seat at Lucy's bedside. Not much had changed since his last visit, although the girl had managed to (once again) kick away her blanket. With a soft sigh, he covered the sleeping mage best he could. In doing so, his hand gently brushed up against Lucy's shoulder.

'Damn it' he thought, immediately pulling his hand back. 'Her skin is freezing, she'll wake up with a cold sleeping like this.' In an attempt to warm the girls body, he brought a small flame to life around his hand, holding it cautiously still inches above her body. Along with providing a faint amount of light for him to see, his flames also caused a small giggle to sound from across the room.

"Aw, that's cute Natsu" a girlish voice said from inside the darkness, "makes me wish I thought of it."

"Huh?." Raising his flames to cast a wider arc of light, Natsu raised an eyebrow at the blue-haired girl who returned his gaze. "Levy?" he said in a confused tone, careful to keep his voice in a low whisper. "I didn't smell you when I came in."

Another giggle in reply, and Levy sat up in her chair against the back wall, rubbing a pair of bloodshot eyes in the process. "I'll take that as a compliment." By the sound of her voice, it was clear she hadn't gotten much sleep either, if any. "Sorry if I scared you, I tried to keep quiet during your last two visits."

Natsu offered a thin smile, "it's fine."

Levy tried her best to match the mans offer, but the effort came off as painfully forced. "I take it you can't sleep either" she said, walking across the room to stand by the beds opposite side. For a minute, the small girl looked silently down at her friend. When she finally did speak, her voice sounded almost broken, lacking its usual upbeat tone. "I feel so useless at times like this. All this magical power inside me, and I can't do a thing to help relieve her pain."

"That's not true" Natsu whispered solemnly, still using his flames to warm Lucy's body. "Just you being here, that's all the medicine she needs."

This time, Levy's smile was far from forced. "Thank you Natsu, that means a lot." As quietly as she could, the small girl pulled a chair over from the wall, taking Lucy's hand in her own as she sat down. "Look Natsu, I know how you feel right now, but you have to get some sleep. Without you, our chances of winning this thing go way down. Lucy wouldn't want you losing over her."

Still unwilling to relinquish his flame, Natsu switched his gaze to Lucy's face. Using his free hand, he placed his palm flat against the sleeping girls forehead. "You're right" he admitted, "will you stay with her tonight, keep an eye on her?."

"I already planned on it" Levy answered with a smile, "don't worry Natsu, she's gonna be fine."

Nodding to the small girl, Natsu turned for the door, only making it one step away before turning right back around. Lucy looked so fragile, her skin was pale, her hair a mess, and her magical power, nonexistent. He couldn't leave her when she was like this.

At least, not entirely.

Ignoring Levy's quick gasp at his actions, Natsu carefully removed his scarf, and placed the folded cloth gently into Lucy's arms. "Fairy Tail will win, I promise you that." Turning back to the door during his last few words, he left the room with only a wave of over his shoulder.

Fighting to accept what she'd just seen, Levy felt a wide smile spread despite her astonishment. "He really does care about you, more than I think he's ready to admit. But you know that already, don't you?."

Unable to keep her eyes shut any longer, Lucy turned to her side on the bed, holding Natsu's scarf tight against her chest. "Yes, I know."