C is for Conviction

A man with conviction can weather any dilemma.

Team Natsu had just returned to 玉兰, 木兰 from a mission destroying the dark guild Witches Six. They were completely exhausted, none 更多 than Lucy. While everyone was laughing and reminiscing about the mission, the Stellar Spirit mage was 更多 reserved, only talking when she was prompted.

Natsu turned to his quiet girlfriend and smiled. "So what do 你 want to do now, Luce?" He asked. Then he noticed her face.

Lucy's eyes were downcast and her expression grim.

"What's wrong, Lucy?" Happy asked. "You haven't 说 anything since we came back."

Lucy jumped to attention at someone addressing her. "Huh, sorry Happy." She apologized. "I guess I am just exhausted."

Natsu regarded her seriously. He had a niggling feeling that Lucy wasn't being completely honest. She had barely 说 anything since the train ride back to Magnolia. But he didn't want to press the issue. She would tell him when she was good and ready.

"Alright, Luce." He 说 softly. "I'll take 你 home."

With that, Natsu lifted Lucy and carried her bridal-style to her apartment. The Stellar Spirit mage didn't protest which was unusual. She was really out of it, Natsu noted.

Natsu opened the door to her apartment quietly and gently laid Lucy on her bed. He took off the 带, 皮带 which housed her Keys and placed it on the nightstand 下一个 to her bed.

"Is Lucy going to be okay, Natsu?" Happy asked, concerned about his friend.

"Of course she is." Natsu smiled. It wasn't one of his childish bright grins 或者 his battle loving smirks. It was one that he only used whenever the subject of Lucy was brought up. It was a small but very real and true smile that lit up his face. "She's Fairy Tail strong, after all."

Happy smiled as well. "Aye."

Natsu turned to his flying friend. "Happy, why don't 你 head 首页 and guard the house?" He said.

The blue Exceed looked like he was going to protest but the look on Natsu face sealed it for him. He was worried about Lucy. "Ayesir." He agreed.

Happy nuzzled his cheek against Lucy's before he left. "Feel better, Lucy." He whispered and flew out of the apartment.

Natsu watched his girlfriend's sleeping form. Her beautiful blond hair that flowed like a golden river. Her cute mouth that was opened just a tiny bit. Her adorable nose that scrunched up sometimes whenever she felt that there was something disturbing her sleep. Her gorgeous face which was peaceful, devoid of all worries and fear. Her flat stomach that rose and fell with each inhale and exhale of breath.

His 心 swelled. Lucy was downright beautiful. She was the object of many men's desires, a 幻想 made reality. She could have any guy she wanted. But she chose him. Natsu Dragneel, the firebrand. Why she chose him, Natsu had no idea. But he would make sure to cherish every moment with her.

"Goodnight, Luce." He whispered to her sleeping body. "When 你 are ready to tell me, I'll listen."

He leaned down towards the 床, 床上 and kissed her softly on the cheek. Natsu figured that Lucy wouldn't like sleeping in her dirty clothes so he took them off and replaced them with an oversize 衬衫 and pajama bottoms. He chuckled. Normally, the Dragon Slayer would want to play with her a little before 床, 床上 but his girlfriend seemed so exhausted. Done with his task, he made his way to the 长椅, 沙发 in the living room. Putting his stuff on it, Natsu packed out the stuff he took for the trip and laid it down.

Deciding that he didn't want a hassle, Natsu made himself a bowl of cereal and ate it in silence. When he was done, the dragon slayer took the couch. Normally, he would sleep with Lucy in her 床, 床上 but she was very choosy about when he could sleep with her and when he couldn't. Natsu respected that, well sometimes. Although the 长椅, 沙发 wasn't as comfortable as Lucy's bed, he fell asleep quickly.


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Lucy could feel the anger at her opponent, a man 由 the name of Jadeite. He was what Lucy would call a pretty boy. His hair was long and wavy, his body lean and lanky. But it was his eyes that Lucy hated. Such malevolent green eyes.

He was a member of Witches Six. They made their headquarters in a hollowed out cave. The others were involved with their own battles, leaving her to fight this man.

"Ahh, 你 are the beautiful Lucy Heartfilia." He greeted in a mocking manner. He bowed courteously. "I am Jadeite. It is such an honor to be in the presence of a noble lady."

Lucy was not fooled. She pulled out her keys, reaching for one of them. But then she saw something out of the corner of her eyes. It was a long red energy beam snaked out towards her. She jumped out of the way.

"No, no, no, milady." Jadeite clicked his tongue. "A lady must never dirty herself fighting."

"Shut up." She spat.

"Such uncouth language." He mocked. "Have 你 even gone to finishing school? 你 should remember your charm lessons."

Lucy's response was to snap her whip at Jadeite who dodged it with ease.

"Ahh, such a foolish girl." The man teased viciously. "Delicate women such as yourself shouldn't be on the battlefield."

Lucy tried her best not to take this man seriously. She grabbed her keys.

Open the gate of the lion, Loke

Loke appeared from the Spirit World in full regalia. "Your prince has arrived, my princess." Loke teased, a smile on his face. "Leave the fighting to me. I'll 显示 你 how much better I am than your boyfriend."

Lucy bristled at the comment. "Just go." She shouted.

Jadeite sighed and put his forefinger and middle finger to his forehead. "How unsightly, princess." He ridiculed Lucy. "You have become 更多 disgusting trying to fight."

Loke glared viciously at his enemy. "Don't 你 dare speak about my master like that." He grounded out. "I won't go easy on 你 now." The Lion Spirit adjusted his ring.

REGULUS IMPACT

Loke cast his magic to hit Jadeite but the pretty boy dodged easily.

"How could 你 serve such a weak woman?" Jadeite whistled.

"Lucy isn't weak." Loke roared.

"Isn't she?" The enemy drawled. "I mean she used the one magic that doesn't require much work."

Jadeite was hit with the crack of the whip in his face. Blood stained his cheek.

"Such an ugly woman." Jadeite derided. He wiped his cheek and threw the blood in Lucy's direction. "How can 你 fight? 你 are so weak."

Lucy believe what she was hearing. "I'll 显示 你 who is weak and ugly." She growled, her face contorting in anger.

"Such a disgusting face." Jadeite smiled maliciously. "A lady must always smile in order to make others feel better."

Lucy snapped her whip again but this time Jadeite grabbed her whip and pulled her in.

"Lucy." Loke shouted.

The enemy smiled and put some of his blood on Lucy's forehead.

"Now listen to me." Jadeite whispered in her ears.

Lucy's brown eyes became blank.

"Lucy, what's wrong?" Loke asked.

"You are weak." Jadeite told her.

"I am weak." Lucy repeated.

"Lucy, snap out of it." Loke pleaded.

"You are delicate." Jadeite prompted.

"I am delicate." Lucy repeated again.

"What the hell is going on?" Loke growled.

"You do not belong on the battlefield. 你 belong at home." Jadeite cooed maliciously.

"I do not belong on the battlefield. I belong at home." Lucy repeated with the same listlessness as before.

Loke realized what was happening. "Demotivational magic." He gasped. "Magic that goes after the heart."

Jadeite smirked at the lion. "That's correct, Celestial Spirit. My magic steals the conviction from an individual." He explained. "I am sure that that 你 understand that a person's magic is determined 由 the conviction in their hearts. When they are determined to battle, their magic is strong and vice versa."

Loke gasped. "And since Stellar Spirit magic is determined 由 the conviction in their hearts, if they feel weak, the Spirit becomes weak."

"Very good." Jadeite mockingly congratulated. "You see, normally I can demotivate a mage with my words. But with stronger willed mages, putting my blood on my enemies makes the magic stronger."

Loke glared at Jadeite. "Then I'll defeat 你 now."

REGULUS BLAST

Loke launched a Regulus Blast aimed at Jadeite. But he put Lucy in the line of fire.

"Lucy!" Loke shouted and pulled the magic upwards, hitting the ceiling with the magic. It caused some of the rocks to fall down. It was heading down on Jadeite and Lucy.

"Dammit." Jadeite cursed and abandoned Lucy to dodge the rocks.

"Lucy, get out of the way." Loke shouted at her. But she didn't respond.

He was too far to 移动 Lucy out of the way but still he ran towards her.

Suddenly, from out of the ether, Capricorn appeared and grab Lucy in his arms.

"Lucy-sama." Capricorn greeted his master. "My apologies. I had to open my own gate to get here."

Lucy didn't respond. Capricorn looked into her eyes.

"Remove the blood from her forehead, Capricorn." Loke told his fellow spirit.

Capricorn did as Loke commanded. With that, the light in Lucy's eyes returned.

"Capricorn?" Lucy questioned. "What happened? How did 你 appear?"

"Leo will explain. Right now we need to defeat this man." Capricorn told her.

With their combined strength, Lucy was able to overcome Jadeite. As she was about to tie up the enemy, Jadeite chuckled.

"You should realize 由 now. A team is only as strong as its weakest link." Jadeite chided. "In your team, 你 are the weakest link. And forever 你 will remain. 你 should just give up now. 你 aren't cut out to be a mage."

With that Jadeite cackled malevolently.


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Lucy woke up with a start, breathing heavily. She regarded her surroundings quickly and sighed in relief. She was back in her room. The sun was peeking over the horizon, signifying the dawn. The blonde looked down and saw that she was in her nightclothes.

"It was a dream." She whispered to herself. Then Lucy shook her head. "No, not a dream. It was what happened yesterday."

Lucy felt something on her face. She put her hand on her cheek and felt something wet that was in the process of drying.

"Tears." She murmured. "I was crying."

Everything started to come back to her. Though she wouldn't admit it to herself, what Jadeite 说 really cut her deep. The reason was simple. She had these feelings of powerlessness all along. Her friends, her nakama, they were extremely strong. Gray, Erza and her boyfriend Natsu, all of them were powerful beyond her wildest imagination. Sometimes she felt inadequate compared to them. Lucy knew she shouldn't feel this way. She was strong. But the blonde couldn't get Jadeite's words out of her head.

你 are weak.

你 are delicate.

你 do not belong on the battlefield.

Lucy wanted to scream in frustration but she knew that it would do no good. (And also the landlady would probably scold her.)

The Stellar Spirit mage felt the overwhelming need to get up. She didn't want to stay in 床, 床上 any longer. When she got out of bed, Lucy felt so weak that she nearly fell over. Why was that?

Lucy headed to the bathroom via the living room. She saw Natsu sleeping on the 长椅, 沙发 and smiled. So he was the one who changed her. Lucy would have to thank him for that eventually.

Normally, Lucy would take a 淋浴 so she could get a start on the 日 but today, she felt like a bath to wash away everything that she was feeling. As the tub filled and she stepped in, she recounted everything that happened to her that day. The blonde still felt awful. She couldn't stop hearing Jadeite's words. They taunted her, teased her and tormented her.

Lucy couldn't take it anymore. She had to get away and do something, anything to keep her mind from thinking about that horrible man.

Finishing with her bath, she dried herself off and headed to her bedroom, one again passing 由 her sleeping boyfriend. She would have admired him a bit longer but Lucy was in a towel and she kinda didn't want a repeat of their first time, at least not today. Today she had something to do.

She got dressed quickly. Normally, she would meticulously plan out what she was going to wear for that 日 but today she put on the first thing that she grabbed. Today was going to be a long 日 for her, she knew.

Now dressed, she left her apartment, leaving Natsu alone.


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Natsu felt something poking his cheek. At first, he wanted to ignore it but the poking continued. His eyes opened to see his flying friend continually poking him.

"Morning, Happy." Natsu mumbled sleepily.

"Morning, Natsu." Happy smiled. "Where's Lucy?"

Natsu cocked his head curiously. "Isn't she in her room?"

The blue Exceed shook his head. "I came though the window and I didn't see her."

The Dragon Slayer furrowed his eyebrows. How was it that he was unable to notice when Lucy left? Even if he was knocked out, Natsu would have recognized Lucy's scent. But then again, the whole apartment smelled of her. "Maybe she's at the guild?" He wondered, barely able to convince himself.

"That's probably it." Happy mumbled.

Natsu wasn't happy. Lucy hadn't talked to him since yesterday and it bothered him. "Let's go there ourselves."

"Aye." Happy mumbled without his usual enthusiasm.


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Lucy found a place just outside Magnolia. It was a flat meadow devoid of trees and flowers. It was the perfect place to do this.

This morning, when she woke up, she felt weak. At the time, Lucy didn't know why that was. Now she did. She felt drained of magic. Whatever that bastard Jadeite did caused this. She felt disconnected to the magical world.

"I have to find out what's causing this so I can get stronger." Lucy resolved herself. "I can't have what happened yesterday to happen to me again, not when there are so many people depending on me."

She pulled out her keys.

Open the gate to the goat, Capricorn

From the ether, Capricorn appeared.

"You have summoned me, Lucy-sama." Capricorn stated matter-of-factly.

Instead of greeting her friend, Lucy dropped to one knee, causing Capricorn to rush to her side. She was breathing heavily.

"Lucy-sama, what is the matter?" He asked, concerned.

Lucy was trying to catch her breath. "I don't know." Lucy admitted. "I just tried summoning you."

"Perhaps 你 are not well." Capricorn said. "You should stay in 床, 床上 for now."

Lucy weakly glared at her friend. "I don't want to stay in bed." She said, conviction shining her brown eyes. "I need to do this."

Capricorn wanted to argue but his master looked so adamant. At that moment, Lucy just looked like her mother, Layla Heartfilia.

"I understand, Lucy-sama." Capricorn agreed. "What is it that 你 require of me?"

Lucy nodded. "I can't feel my magic." She admitted. "I don't know why but I feel empty."

Capricorn nodded in understanding. "Well, since 你 have slept yesterday, 你 should have recovered your magic." The goat instructed. "Perhaps what 你 are feeling is a side effect of the magic 你 were hit with yesterday."

"So what should I do?" Lucy asked.

"Perhaps 你 should try releasing some magic." He told his master.

Lucy got into a meditative state and prepared to release some magic. As soon as she did, she could hear someone's voice.

你 are weak.

你 are delicate.

你 do not belong on the battlefield.

Lucy fell supine on the ground. She felt like her eyes were tied to one ton weights. Her magic wasn't responding to her.

"Lucy-sama." Capricorn shouted.

"What's wrong with me?" Lucy asked in short breaths.

"Lucy? What's wrong?" A voice asked.

The Stellar Spirit mage knew that voice.

"Loke, how can 你 be here?" She asked.

"I opened my own gate." The lion told her. "But that isn't important. What is important is your health."

"I'll be fine." She tried to convince her Spirits. "I just need a short breather."


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"What do 你 mean Lucy isn't here?" Natsu yelled. "Did she take a mission 由 herself?"

Natsu had checked inside the guild to see if his girlfriend was there. Unfortunately for him, that wasn't the case.

Mira looked at Natsu in sadness. "Sorry, Natsu. Lucy hasn't been around today."

"Really?" The dragon slayer moaned dejectedly.

"I'm sorry." Mira sighed. She didn't when her 老友记 were sad.

Natsu faked a smile. "I'll go look for her. But if she comes around here, can 你 tell Lucy that I'm looking for her and to stay here?"

The barmaid nodded. "Of course, Natsu." She smiled.

With that, Natsu and Happy ran off to find Lucy.


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It was getting dark and Lucy felt like she wasn't making any progress. Capricorn had asked his master to close his gate so he may come out of his gate under his own magic. Next, he asked the mage to summon Cancer. When Lucy tried to do so, the door to Cancer didn't open.

Lucy breathed heavily. "I don't get it why isn't this working?" She yelled in frustration.

Loke looked to Capricorn who shrugged his shoulders. "Perhaps 你 should get some rest, Lucy-sama." The goat spirit told her.

"Not yet." Lucy cried. "Not until I can get rid of those words."

"Words?" Loke asked, adjusting his sunglasses.

"Yeah." Lucy shut her eyes. "Every time I summon magic, I hear words. The words tell me that I am weak, I am delicate, and I don't belong on the battlefield. So I try to call on 更多 magic but I feel exhausted afterwards." The Stellar Spirit mage dropped to her knees in anguish. "What's wrong with me?"

Loke sighed. "Perhaps 你 should rest for now."

"Leo's right." Capricorn agreed. "Perhaps some rest will help 你 recover, Lucy-sama."

Lucy was about to protest but a loud yawn from her silenced any objections.

The lion spirit gently grabbed her hand. "Come on, I'll take 你 home." He told her. "Your boyfriend is probably worried." The leader of the Zodiac teased.

However Lucy didn't respond. Her eyes were blinking rapidly, like she was fighting to stay awake. Loke decided to take charge. He carried her on his back and took her back to her apartment. The lion frowned. Whatever problem Lucy had, it is affecting her greatly. He made a vow to get Lucy back to the way she was.


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Natsu probably went around the entire city of 玉兰, 木兰 looking for Lucy. But he found neither hide nor hair of her. The dragon slayer was getting worried. This was so unlike Lucy to just go off and not tell him anything that he immediately thought the worst.

"Where is Lucy?" He mumbled to himself.

Happy was worried too. Lucy was his friend. He could take no joy until his friend was found. "We will find Lucy, Natsu." The blue Exceed 说 mostly to cheer himself up.

After another quick trip to the guild to find that Lucy had not stopped by, Natsu had run out of ideas. It was getting dark and still no word from Lucy. The 粉, 粉色 haired man decided to camp out at Lucy's apartment to wait for her return.

When he did, he saw his girlfriend sleeping in her bed. It was the strangest thing.

"She wasn't here when I came in, Natsu." Happy told him.

"I believe you." Natsu replied.

In fact, the only indication that she had even moved at all was that she was in a change of clothes.

Natsu felt the need to put his fingers against her body to see if she were real. Sure enough, when he did so, the dragon slayer felt soft, warm flesh.

"She's real." He murmured. "So why was she gone the entire day?" Natsu furrowed his brow. "I'm going to stay here tonight." He 说 to no one in particular.

"Can I stay here too, Natsu?" Happy asked.

"Of course."

Once again, Natsu took the couch. Happy slept in his arms. Both decided to wait until morning. That way, they could be there when Lucy awoke in the morning.


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Lucy tossed and turned in her bed. She could still hear Jadeite's words.

你 are weak.

你 are delicate.

你 do not belong on the battlefield.

Every time she heard them, a tear was shed. It was like her entire body was trying to reject these words. But still they came.

Lucy woke up with a start for a 秒 time. Those words... those awful words.

Lucy needed to get stronger so that she didn't have to hear those words again. She needed her conviction back. Those words haunted her even in her dreams. Yesterday, every time she tried to summon magic, she would hear those words.

"Not today." Lucy thought. "Today, I will use magic without hearing those words.

She got out of bed. Forgoing the bath today (which was a rarity even for her), Lucy got dressed in a long t-shirt and some 黄褐色, 卡其色 shorts. Today, she didn't want to look good. She wanted to quickly return to her training.

As she was about to leave, Lucy saw Natsu and Happy sleeping on her couch. She smiled sadly. The blonde still hadn't talked to either of them since the mission. Although it pained her to do so, Lucy left without saying a word. She didn't want to worry them. And this was something she had to do on her own.


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Natsu woke up when he felt Happy struggling against him. His eyes quickly adjusted to the change in light. The first thing that he did was to check Lucy's room to see if his girlfriend was there. Once again, Lucy had disappeared without a word. This was starting to frustrate him.

"This time, I'll find you." He vowed.

Natsu woke Happy and began their search.

The first place he checked was the guild. It would make sense that she would stop here first. As soon as he opened the doors, Natsu scanned the hall to see if his girlfriend was here.

"Lucy!" He yelled.

The entire guild watched him as he yelled.

"Why are 你 yelling, Natsu?" Erza asked him.

The armored mage was eating breakfast when Natsu's yelling interrupted her. Everyone learned from experience that it wasn't a smart thing to interrupt Erza in the morning. She was especially scary in the morning.

"I can't find Lucy." Natsu told her.

The red-haired woman stopped eating and got up. "What do 你 mean?" She asked, now concerned for her friend and teammate.

"She's been 表演 off ever since we got back from our mission." The 粉, 粉色 haired man explained. "Yesterday, she left for the entire 日 and didn't tell me where she was going. And when I went back to her place at night, she was already asleep. So last night, I stayed over her apartment to make sure she's alright. But this morning, she left without a word."

Erza's gaze softened as Natsu explained what happened to Lucy. It wasn't like her to just leave without saying anything. If she was worried about Lucy, Natsu was probably going out of his mind.

"Okay." Erza said. "Everyone 粉丝 out and 搜索 for Lucy." She commanded. "Bring her back to the guild."

A loud yell of agreement resounded from every member of the guild as they poured out of Fairy Tail to 搜索 for their nakama.


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Lucy had returned to the meadow from yesterday, trying to summon her magic while Capricorn and Loke watched.

你 are weak.

你 are delicate.

你 do not belong on the battlefield.

Those words again. Lucy fell exhausted.

"I don't understand." Lucy banged the ground in frustration. "Why can't I summon my magic?" She growled.

"Your magic hasn't decreased in the slightest." Capricorn regarded.

"Then why?" Lucy cried.

"It seems as though something is limiting the magic 你 can summon." The goat spirit told her.

"Think of your magic like a garden hose watering a lawn." Loke explained. "Normally, when 你 summon your magic, it comes out at a flow that 你 can control. But now, something is bending the hose so your magic isn't coming out and the backstop is hurting 你 physically, making 你 tired.

"How do I remove the backstop?" Lucy asked.

But Loke had no answer for his master.


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Natsu decided to take the 搜索 outside Magnolia. With Happy taking him into the air, Natsu searched for his girlfriend from the sky.

Then he saw her. She was lying fainted on the ground with Loke and Capricorn.

"Happy." Natsu shouted at Happy.

"Ayesir." Happy agreed.

With that, Happy flew downward to where Lucy was.

"Lucy." Natsu shouted.

Loke and Capricorn looked to the sky to see Natsu and Happy rapidly descended to the meadow.

"Natsu." Loke greeted without a smile.

"Ahh, Natsu." Capricorn regarded the Dragon Slayer with respect.

Natsu didn't return their greeting. "What happened to Lucy?"

Loke sighed. "Well, ever since the mission the other day, Lucy hasn't been able to summon her magic properly. There's something blocking it."

"Like magic?" Happy asked, looking sadly at his friend.

"Actually, I'm beginning to think that the problem isn't physical 或者 magical." Capricorn 说 with finality. "It's psychological."

"Psycho-what?" Natsu asked, confused 由 the big word.

"Lucy-sama mentioned that every time she summoned magic, she could hear words telling that she is weak. It's sapping her conviction and making her magic power weak." The goat spirit told his master's boyfriend.

"But she isn't weak." Natsu growled. "She's one of the strongest people I know."

Loke looked at Natsu, regarding him quite intently. Then the lion spirit snapped his fingers. "I know what to do."

The dragon slayer looked at Loke, full of hope. "How do I help Lucy?"

"If the problem is that she's hearing that she's weak, then Lucy needs to hear how strong she is." Loke told everyone.

"That would work, Leo." Capricorn nodded. "But Lucy-sama needs to believe it as well."

"I'll make her believe it." Natsu growled. He turned to his feline friend. "Happy, tell the others I've found Lucy and I'll bring her back to the guild later."

"Ayesir." Happy responded and flew away to follow his orders.


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Lucy woke up to feel that she was in a warm embrace. No, make that a fiery embrace. And there was only one person who could make her feel like she was on fire.

"Natsu?" Lucy mumbled sleepily.

"Hey, Luce." Natsu couldn't help but chuckle. For all of the worrying that he did when Lucy went out without telling him, she could still make him laugh.

"I guess you're mad at me for not telling 你 where I've been?" She mumbled softly.

"Nah, not mad. Just worried." Natsu told her. "I'm suppose to be there for 你 when you're hurting."

Lucy felt the tears stinging her eyes. She made Natsu worry. That last thing she wanted was to cause Natsu to worry. "I'm sorry."

The 粉, 粉色 haired man shook his head. "Wanna talk about it?" He asked.

And Lucy told him everything concerning her fight with Jadeite, her sleepless nights, the voice she keeps hearing whenever she summons magic, everything. Natsu didn't say a word. He just listened and held her.

When she was done, Lucy buried her face into Natsu's chest and cried, letting out all of her frustration, anger and sadness. Natsu rubbed her back comfortingly until she was done.

"Lucy Heartfilia, look at me." Natsu commanded.

Lucy, entranced 由 his commanding voice, did as she asked.

"You are not weak." He told her. "You are strong."

"Natsu?" Lucy whispered.

"Repeat after me." He commanded. "You are strong."

"I am strong." She hesitated.

"No, without the hesitation." The dragon slayer prodded.

"I am strong." She repeated 更多 confidently.

"No, yell it out." Natsu pounded the ground.

"I am strong." The blonde yelled

"You are tough." He told Lucy.

"I am tough." She shouted at the 最佳, 返回页首 of her voice.

"You can stand up to the best of mages." Natsu gave her a new prompt.

"I can stand up to the best of mages." Lucy screamed.

"I am the best mage ever." Natsu cheered.

"Natsu..." Lucy mumbled.

"Say it, Lucy." The Dragon Slayer goaded.

Lucy wanted to protest but Natsu wouldn't take no for an answer. "I am the best mage ever." Lucy mumbled.

"Louder."

"I am the best mage ever." The blonde 说 with 更多 conviction.

"Louder."

Lucy stood up suddenly, surprising the Spirits and Natsu. "I am the best freakin' mage EVER." She shouted to the heavens.

Loke, Capricorn and Natsu shared satisfied smiles when Lucy did that.

The most amazing thing happened. Lucy was bathed in warm golden light. All of her magic came out in one burst, freeing her from the confines of Jadeite's words. Now, she couldn't even hear the voice. Lucy pumped her fists into the air.

"The backstop. It's gone." Capricorn noted.

"Looks like things are back to normal." Loke smiled. "We'll take our leave, princess."

Lucy glowered. "Stop calling me princess."

The bespectacled Spirit laughed heartily. "That's the Lucy I know." With that, the Spirits disappeared into the ether.

Natsu and Lucy were left in the meadow 由 themselves. Lucy smiled at her boyfriend.

"Thank you, Natsu." She told him.

"And I'll be here to remind 你 every time 你 need it." The Dragon Slayer gave his girlfriend a thumbs up.

Natsu kissed Lucy's forehead. "Come on. Let's go the guild. They're waiting for us."

After that day, Lucy's conviction never wavered. Natsu would always remind her that she was strong, she was tough, she could stand on the front lines and she was the best mage ever.


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Word Count: 5000

I wasn't really happy with the ending. It didn't end the way I wanted. But this is the best I could do. Sorry. I'll try harder 下一个 chapter.

So... 爱情 it? Hate it? Have no opinion one way 或者 the other? Leave me a review. Don't worry. I'm a big boy. I can take the punishment.

Here's a 预览 of the 下一个 chapter.

In the stories, they were magnificent beasts who jealously guarded treasures, waiting for some foolish men to try and steal it from them. Well, for Natsu who was one of them, Lucy was his treasure and heaven help the fool who tried to take her away from him.

Any guesses for the D word here? I think this is pretty easy.

Anyways, I'm going to stop right here.

Til 下一个 time,