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Strange Bedfellows	By : stellabomb Category: +. to F > Fairy Tail Views: 9473 -:- Recommendations : 1 -:- Currently Reading : 0
Disclaimer: I do not own Fairy Tail and am not making any money off of this work.

Chapter List
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Chapter 12: Choices

Lucy remained on the ground next to the crack. She couldn't do much about a surprise attack in their sleep, but she couldn't shake off the feeling that she was responsible. Sting was the vulnerable one? She couldn't quite figure it out.

Lucy turned to where Erza and Gray were sitting in chairs across from the bed. They were supposed to be guarding Lucy, Sting, and Natsu, but they didn't seem to notice the giant crack on the ground that was oozing with black lava-like goop. Lucy, Sting, and Natsu's bodies were still on the beds, sleeping peacefully.

Lucy walked over to Erza and Gray. "Hey!" she said as loudly as she could. She began waving her arms wildly, stomping her feet, and anything else she could think of to get their attention, to no avail. "You guys!" she yelled again, this time reaching to nudge Erza on the shoulder, but her hand went completely through the scarlet haired mage. Lucy let out a gasp of surprise. Her eyes darted to where her body was. She dashed over and tried to reach for her keys, which were hidden under the pillow. Her hand went through the material of the pillow. Lucy's heart sank. What was she without her keys?

Something in the air shifted. Lucy took a few steps back from the bed and looked around the room. She noticed that the colors in the room were becoming muted, everything was slowing down. Erza, Gray, and the three sleeping bodies felt distant. It was as if she were looking at another world.

As Lucy began to piece together what was going on, she felt a presence behind her. Looking over her shoulder was Natsu, who was also looking at the crack in the ground.

"Did you see what happened?" Lucy asked.

"No," Natsu answered. "I just woke up."

They both looked over the row of beds where Natsu, Lucy, and Sting's bodies were still sleeping.

"I think we're dreaming," Lucy said. "And those bodies over there are our bodies in real life." Lucy turned towards Natsu. "Sting..." she said. "He was taken and dragged through that crack... Natsu, we have to go get him."

Natsu said nothing for a long time.

"Natsu," Lucy said again. "We need to go help Sting."

Natsu's silence was telling. With Erza and Gray completely unaware of what was going on, Natsu was the only one who could help her right now. Besides, he was always the first person she would depend on. Despite his lack of common sense, Lucy knew he was completely dependable, especially when it came to this kind of situation. However, she also knew Natsu had no reason to rescue to Sting. The two could barely be in the same room as each other. Getting Natsu to help her find Sting would be too much to ask of him... Lucy also couldn't shake off the feeling that what was happening was her fault.

Lucy turned away from Natsu and looked at the crack again. "I'll... I'll go," she said as she stood up. "Stay here just in case something else happens with our bodies..."

Natsu watched Lucy as she thought about how she was going to rescue Sting on her own. Under any other circumstance, he would have gone with her, if that was what she wanted. But Sting... Natsu couldn't find it in himself to volunteer to save Sting. He had no desire to do so.

On the other hand, whatever was beyond the crack in the ground was probably dangerous. Lucy also didn't have her keys. Despite all of that, the concern on Lucy's face was clear. She was absolutely going to try and help Sting.

Natsu sighed. No matter how much he resented Sting, Natsu just couldn't say no to her.

The world beyond the crack in the ground was a rocky, barren terrain. They found themselves on a single path wedged in-between two parallel cliffs that were about ten feet apart. Above them brilliant streams of color showered across a darkened sky. The air felt thick, everything was in a haze. Time seemed to move in slow motion. Lucy and Natsu didn't know exactly where to go or what they would do when they go there. But they did know that Tilus was probably expecting them.

Natsu made clear to Lucy that he wasn't really there to save Sting, but he wanted to make sure she was safe. Natsu lead the way so he could be on the lookout for danger ahead of them. They walked and they walked and they walked. Time and space felt different here. Lucy wasn't sure how much time had passed or how far they had walked. Where were they going, exactly? Lucy didn't know, but she felt like they were going towards the right place.

There was something else that was odd about being in this world. Her emotions felt... It felt like they were more than real. The apprehension and worry she was feeling right now seemed to sink deeper than normal. It felt like it spread all over her skin and latched onto every cell in her body. She was very aware of her own emotions. It was as if they were screaming at her, wanting to be noticed.

Natsu seemed to notice that she was worried because he turned back towards her and reached for her hand, holding on tightly. The feel of their skin touching caused Lucy to jolt with surprise. Resentment, confusion, doubt, and affection came rippling through her body. These emotions weren't her own. Were they Natsu's?

Lucy snatched her hand back in response, holding onto it as though she'd just been burned. She looked at Natsu, eyes wide with an expression that looked like fear.

Lucy's sudden movements surprised Natsu. He looked at her, unsure about what just happened, his heart sinking at Lucy's reaction to his touch.

Time came to a standstill. The world began to separate into opposite, but parallel directions with Lucy moving away from Natsu. Lucy was a distance away from Natsu. She was standing frozen, that same scared expression was still on her face. "Lucy!" Natsu yelled, reacting to the fact that they had been separated. Natsu moved to dash towards her, but that he couldn't move. "Lucy!" he yelled again. "I'm coming to get you!" Natsu struggled more, trying to push his body harder to get to Lucy. Why wasn't he moving?!

Natsu looked down at his body and noticed the silvery strands of a spider web wrapping around him. Although the threads of the web looked delicate, they were strong enough to keep him bound in his spot, away from Lucy.

"Your desire to be by the girl's side is quite considerable," Tilus said in one male voice.

Natsu looked up. Standing directly in front of him was Tilus, though the upper body only had the male portion of the creature.

"It's hardly a conscious desire," Tilus continued. "It's all instinct."

"What did you do?!" Natsu yelled. "Where's Lucy?"

Natsu asked the question despite the fact that he could clearly see Lucy a distance away. He could feel that she was somewhere entirely separate from where he currently was.

"In our realm," Tilus answered. "Just as you are."

"Is this a dream?"

"If you want to call it that. In the world that you inhabit-the material world, the rational world-we do not have the same powers. Our world-this immaterial world-runs on dreams, memories, emotions. Whether you want to consider this world real is up to you. You humans are the providers of the emotions, dreams, and memories that this world lives on."

Natsu glanced over to Lucy again, ignoring Tilus. It didn't look as though Lucy moved in all this time. She didn't appear to be in any danger, but he did not like that look on Lucy's face. He couldn't quite describe it, but he knew Lucy wasn't feeling happy and he hated to see Lucy feel anything but happy. Natsu needed to get to her as fast as possible. He made a move again towards her, but was forced down by an invisible force.

"Let me go!" Natsu yelled. "I need to get to Lucy!"

"Be patient, my friend-"

"Shut up!" Natsu interrupted in a sudden rage. He broke free from the webs, surprising even Tilus. Looking towards Tilus, Natsu drew in a large breath. "Fire dragon's roar!" He yelled, expecting a large explosion of fire to shoot out of his mouth. Instead, nothing happened. He fell to the ground feeling completely drained of his magic.

"Your magic will not work here," Tilus warned. "But do not worry, you'll join your friend soon enough."

"Lucy is worried," Natsu said, continuing to struggle. "I need to get to her now!"

"You act as though you are single-mindedly focusing on protecting her, but I know beneath that focus are your unsettled feelings." Tilus looked over to Lucy, who was still frozen in place. "You felt it, didn't you? When your hands touched, you felt her emotions. Yes, there was worry. Yes, there was fear. But there was something else that you felt, but you didn't want to acknowledge."

"Shut up!" Natsu yelled, closing his eyes tightly.

"Guilt," Tilus said in one decisive syllable. "You may have known that she has been feeling guilty, but what is this guilt all about? I think you don't want to explore the possibilities, so you don't think about it. You only think about her. And..."

Natsu growled, trying get out, but found himself forced down onto the ground by more spider webs. The things Tilus was suggesting was very close to the truth, which made Natsu feel very uneasy.

"That other man..." Tilus observed. "Your desire to get him out of the picture is almost as deep as your desire for the girl. You know that her guilt is in some way related to him. It is on that count that I wished to speak with you. Perhaps we can be of service."

"What do you mean?" Natsu asked.

"Tell the girl that you found him dead. We can even conjure an image of his death for her to see if she needs proof, but I doubt she would need that if the news was coming from you. He is out of your picture and the girl will be all yours."

"What do you want in return?" Natsu asked suspiciously.

"We get him," Tilus said simply.

"How can I be sure that I can trust you?" Natsu asked.

"You can't be sure," Tilus said. "But you know we have the power to make anything happen, especially while you're in our realm."

Natsu looked at Tilus, thinking seriously about the proposition. It was tempting. Very tempting. As far as Natsu was concerned, Sting was nothing but bad news. With him out of the picture, things can go back to the way they used to be. Natsu and Lucy would go back to being best friends. … And maybe Natsu can try having the relationship Lucy wants to have. At one point he would have given it a try, but Sting was obviously in the way...

Natsu could feel the word "Yes," sitting at the bottom of his throat ready to come out in an instinctive reply.

But then he thought about it.

He thought about Lucy.

If it hadn't been for Sting, Natsu never would have acknowledged that Lucy wanted something more than friendship. Natsu wouldn't have dared to respond to her physical needs, or his own needs for that matter. If something did happen to Sting, Lucy would probably blame herself and be sad for a long time. An image of a crying Lucy flashed in Natsu's mind. His insides twisted up in response. He couldn't do that to her...

Natsu didn't give a damn about Sting, but for Lucy's sake, he would let that chump live.

Just as Natsu came to that decision, the world converged again. Natsu quickly glanced over towards Lucy, but before he could lay eyes on her again, everything went black.

Lucy looked around, confused. Just a second ago she was walking next to Natsu. He held her hand, but she snatched it away. And then after that... Lucy's eyes immediately began searching for Natsu. First Sting, now Natsu? What good is she? She found Natsu at an indeterminable distance away from her. The landscape he was standing on was exactly like hers, but separate, in a different place.

Tilus appeared before her, the upper portion of its body was only the female form. Tilus watched Lucy carefully, expectantly. Lucy said nothing, but her eyes were fixed on the deity with narrowed eyes.

"Who will you ask for first?" Tilus asked, a slight smile on her face. "The man with the pink hair or the man with the blond hair?"

"Both," Lucy answered firmly.

"You say that, but we both know there's a deeper meaning to that question..."

Lucy only stared back at Tilus.

"Choose to be silent, if you must," Tilus said. "Just know that the more you struggle, the deeper into the trap you fall."

Lucy involuntarily looked straight into Tilus' eyes, as though Tilus itself willed Lucy to do it.

It will already be too late when you realize it.

Lucy could feel the world around her converge. She and Natsu were side by side again. They were barely able to look at each other before the ground began to shake. Tilus' final words had echoed directly into Lucy's mind. The voice was deep and foreboding: a warning.

"Natsu!" she called out as a warning, but it was too late.

In a matter of seconds, Tilus, who was back to its male/female form, appeared in between Lucy and Natsu. Long spidery legs sprung out, grabbing each mage by the neck and roughly pinned them against the sides of the cliffs opposite each other. Spider webs shot out as well and , wrapped around Lucy and Natsu's arms and legs.

The sound of Tilus' masculine and feminine laughter echoed through the sky.

"So much left unspoken between you two!" Tilus chuckled delightfully. "I can just eat it all up!"

Tilus' grip tightened around her neck. Lucy could feel her neck bruising. The webs the wrapped around her arms and legs got tighter and tighter as she struggled. From across the path she could see Natsu struggling. Blood streamed down from where the spider webs were cutting into his skin. Natsu couldn't use his magic, he couldn't muscle his way out of this one without having an arm or a leg sliced off by the spider webs. Lucy looked around helplessly. This was all her fault... But what could she do? If Natsu couldn't do anything, what could she possibly do?

Lucy's mind raced for answers. They couldn't fight their way through because this world was different. It was a world that fed off of emotions, dreams, and memories... Strong emotions... It was her strong emotions that got them ensnared with Tilus in the first place... Lucy realized what she had to do.

Lucy's mind finally wandered to the one conclusion that she did not want to make. The painful truth she didn't want to admit to anyone.

"Sting..." Lucy said gasping for breath. "I choose Sting."

Tilus' grip around Lucy's neck loosened and she fell to the ground. Natsu looked at her with wide eyes.

Lucy remained crumpled on the ground as tears steadily pushed their way through the back of her tightly shut eyes. "I'm sorry, Natsu..." Lucy croaked. "I'm sorry, Natsu..." she croaked. "I love you. Without a doubt, I love you. I think I loved you since the beginning... All I ever wanted was to be with you..."

Natsu walked up to her and pulled her up gently and held her in his arms.

"This whole time I've been telling myself that whatever I have with Sting is only temporary. I was just being with him because I was lonely and nothing more... But when you kissed me the first time, I think I knew it was already too late... I'm not in love with Sting, but my heart was already moving on..." Lucy wrapped her arms around Natsu, holding him as tightly as she could. Her sobbing became louder as it sank in that she was finally confessing to Natsu what she'd been holding back for a long time. "I'm sorry, Natsu... I've been stringing both of you along all this time... I just... I just didn't want to let you go... But I also don't want to string you two along... I need to stand by the choices I've made. I'm not asking you to wait for me if things don't work out with Sting. I don't deserve that..." Lucy paused, the vulnerability in her voice was clear. "I just hope we can still be friends..."

Natsu continued to embrace Lucy. The feel of her small, shaking body against his chest made his heart sank. Was he disappointed? Yes. He was finally getting used to the idea of Lucy as something more than a friend and now he has to go back to holding off. And on top of that, he still doesn't like that it's Sting, of all people, that she's choosing to stick by. Natsu can tell when he's being shafted... But he could never get himself to blame Lucy.

Of course he forgives her.

"We'll always be friends, Lucy," Natsu said without flinching. He pulled back to look Lucy in the face. His hand reached up to wipe away a tear. "No matter what... And I won't wait for you, if that's what you want... But the second he even thinks about hurting you, I'll kill him."

Lucy pulled out of Natsu's hug, smiling through her tears.

"Thank you," were the last words she said before everything was enveloped by darkness.

Comments: Sorry NaLu fans! I'll be first to say NaLu is my OTP, but I decided to make it StiCy because I labeled Sting and Lucy as Character A and B on the story details page. I also came to like StiCy because it's fun to write. It's nice to try something different. I'm planning a NaLu story to make up for it!

This was a hard chapter to write. Hope you enjoyed it. Thanks for reading and please review!
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Strange Bedfellows