#hermadnessmac

[obsesive-poltergeist]

Hey I think the sasusaku fic you were talking about is this: Poison Brings Out the Best in Me by HerMadnessMac

YOu are a god and desserve everything good in life. THANK YOU!

[ao3feed-izch]

Smirks, Quirks, and Other Perks of Friendship

by HerMadnessMac

Growing up without a Quirk marked Izuku more than anyone has even taken the time to think about. Some things are obvious, like his abysmal self-esteem, martyr-complex, and general disbelief that there are people who want to be his friend. There are other things that even Izuku has no idea he's missed out on--like the chance to use his Quirk for reasons that aren't directly related to being a Hero.

Luckily, he has friends who are ready to accept him for who he is, and guide him through all the little things he missed out on a long the way.

A story of Quirks, friendly competition, baby's first attempt at trash-talk, and the other perks of friendship.

Words: 11763, Chapters: 1/1, Language: English

Fandoms: 僕のヒーローアカデミア | Boku no Hero Academia | My Hero Academia (Anime & Manga)

Rating: Teen And Up Audiences

Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply

Characters: Class 1-A (My Hero Academia)

Relationships: Midoriya Izuku/Uraraka Ochako, Midoriya Izuku & Todoroki Shouto, Ashido Mina & Uraraka Ochako

Additional Tags: Fluff, Slice of Life, Teenage Dorks, Quirk Shenanigans (My Hero Academia), Playgrounds, Friendship, Friendship/Love, No plot just happy, Acceptance, being accepted for who you are, Platonic Cuddling

source: https://archiveofourown.org/works/52709968

[lindwyrmrelinquished]

Just saw your tags about my writing, and it honestly made my day. Thanks so much!

Np! You're the person who made the Naruto Team 7 painting nails thing, right? It was very nice :3

[romionesecretsanta]

Happy holidays @hermadnessmac! I hope you’ve had a lovely December so far and may the new year bring you only the best of times <3 

[hermadnessmacwrites]

Automatic Lights and Delayed Realizations

The recent installation of motion-activated light sensors across UA caused more chaos that Class 2-A originally intended.

They activated off at the drop of a hat, literally. When Jirou suggested blaming the hypersensitive lights on a fabled rock ghost, the oversensitive lights suddenly weren't as worrisome. They quickly became another quirk of dorm life — like the stolen snacks and shower sandals and soft snores that echoed through the walls at night.

It was all in good fun.

Until it wasn't.

Izuku looked up as the hall light clicked on again, pencil clenched tightly in his grip.

“Bet'cha one answer that there’s someone in the hall this time,” Ochako said, not giving Izuku a chance to respond before bounding from her bed to the doorway. He lurched from his seat as Uraraka poked her head into the hall, heart lodged somewhere in his throat. It was dumb. There was no reason for him to this worked up over wonky electricity connections, but—

“Aw, man. No one again,” Uraraka whined dramatically, wilting against the door frame. She recovered quickly — spinning around and clapping her hands enthusiastically — but the tightness around her eyes belied her mutual unease. “So! Stuck on anything?”

Izuku let Uraraka snatch his physics homework without resistance, mind still somewhere in the hallway.

When all was said and done, everyone agreed that the automatic lights in the 2-A dormitory hallways and staircases were a terrible idea.

A conclusion made only more painful by the fact that the students themselves had advocated for their installation. It was a trivial thing to get up in arms about, in retrospect. UA certainly had the funding to keep all their buildings lit, if their ever increasing defenses were any indication, but Kaminari gave a presentation on the widespread effects of commercial energy waste one day, and it snowballed from there.

The widespread negligence horrified Class 2-A into action. Maybe they were nosy Hero students. Maybe, as a generation, they were particularly sensitive to letting issues fester these days. Maybe they were bored. In the end, it didn't matter. They cared, suddenly and ferociously, about driving down UA's contribution to the issue. The presentation kicked off two months of research, campaigns, and presentations to Board members that culminated in the installation of over five hundred motion activated light sensors across the entirety of UA's campus.

And they worked!

...for the most part.

Because of the range of Quirks and body types UA catered to, the motion sensors the school purchased were designed with an extremely low limit of detection. The good news was the sensors were as sensitive as advertised. Hagakure boasted she was able to activate the hall lights wearing nothing but a pair of bangle bracelets. Questions as to when or why Hagakure conducted such experiments were neatly and summarily dodged.

The bad news was that the lights were as sensitive as advertised.

“I think you’re off by a factor of two here somewhere.” Uraraka tapped his homework, drawing Izuku back from his musings. He blinked, then focused on the scrawl of equations under Uraraka's fingertip.

Ah. This question.

“Really?” He’d been so confident in his workflow. “What’d you get?”

“Fourteen.” She offered him her notebook so he could look over her work. His eyes bounced between the two papers.

It surprised him at first. For someone so cute, he'd expected Uraraka's handwriting to be…neater. Not that he could talk. Iida was perpetually annoyed with them both. Anyway, he had enough practice reading her handwriting that he could tell their work was identical right up until…

“Ugh,” Izuku groaned, dragging the eraser over the second half of his work. “I totally did.” But fourteen was a weird answer for this problem, considering the — aha. “You forgot to account for the acceleration, though.”

“Acceleration?” She frowned, more at her notebook than him, then leaned over the desk to read the problem out of his open textbook.

“I forgot gravity!”

He snorted. This recurring problem for Uraraka — common enough that it'd become something of an inside joke among the class — was even more entertaining considering her Quirk.

“Oh hush,” Uraraka huffed, puffing out her cheeks in annoyance. It only made her look cuter, though Izuku had no intention of telling her. She snapped her notebook closed and spun on her heel to stomp back to her bed. “No more physics help for you!”

“I could say the same thing,” he found himself teasing back. Everything was easier with Uraraka.

Light vanished from the hallway, darkening Ochako’s doorway once more. Both students’ attention immediately flicked to it, the sudden darkness, searching for an answer that never appeared. The easy atmosphere vanished entirely, vacuumed up as if the inky blackness waiting just outside the door was the void of space itself.

Ridiculous to think that two Heroes in training could be shaken so quickly. They’d argued for this. They’d fought for these dark hallways because it felt like the right thing to do, but … this wasn’t right. Unease dripped down his spine like a continuous shiver, and Izuku couldn’t shake the feeling that he wasn’t safe to turn his back on the hallway. He didn’t miss the way Uraraka’s jaw clenched, either.

The darkness itself wasn't the issue. Izuku knew these halls well enough to navigate them without a flicker of light as his guide, they all did, but it served as an insistent reminder of the mysteries lurking just out of sight.

After all, three different electricians spent a week on site, and none of them found any issues with the lights. As far as anyone could tell, everything was wired perfectly.

“Koda thinks insects could be triggering the lights,” Izuku offered, still watching the doorway. “Not flies or anything, but — like, moths and spiders.” It would certainly explain the number of times he’d watched a light click on — in the stairwell, in the hallway — only for no one to appear around the corner.

“I like that better’n Mina’s theory, anyway.” Uraraka abandoned her homework and wrapped her arms loosely around her knees. “Why would a new construction have ghosts?”

Izuku chuckled, but it felt hollow. He couldn’t quite summon the same amusement from earlier. “Wouldn’t someone had to have died here…?”

“Exactly!” Uraraka exclaimed, pointing at him like he’d made her point for her. “Why would a ghost start hauntin’ UA now all the sudden?”

They launched into an avid discussion of the reasons Mina’s theory was ridiculous. UA had never suffered rumors of hauntings, even as long lived as the campus was, and it wasn’t like the school was built on a cemetery or anything. Probably. And anyway, why would a ghost start haunting them months after construction was finished? They raised and countered every argument they could think to offer with a single-minded focus that undermined their dismissiveness. Neither stopped to consider why they were both so determined to disprove this explanation in particular. They ignored the creeping sensation that peeked its head up and hummed, Something here is not quite right.

No, it had to be the bugs.

Read the rest on Ao3

[hermadnessmac]

Here I was, missing my own business, when I heard the line "teach me how to fight/I'll show you how to win" and now I'm over here, half feral about a "Sasuke never leaves"/"Team 7 gets trained together" UA that I'll probably never write

[ortiies]

A lovely team 7 commissioned by @hermadnessmac based on her writings. The trio is picking up plants and emotions ensue 🌿

[hermadnessmac]

I love it! I can see the Korra expression on Sakura, and Naruto's confused (and slightly belligerent!) expression is great!

Thanks so much for drawing this. I'm screaming over the fact that someone enjoyed my writing enough to do art of it.

So as I told you a while ago, I was reading an amazing fic by @hermadnessmac called A Game of Puzzles (Making the Pieces fit) and I promised them I would draw the scene at the festival in chapter four. And well, now I did... I know it's far from being "good" but I just lived that scene so much. I took into credit of what you said about wanting Sakura in the iconic Korra meme so her pose is referenced from there (please don't ask where her right arm is, I couldn't figure out how to make it visible...). The sasunaru pose of course is also referenced. I might color it in the future but not today. Still gotta do my camp nano writing!

Well, I hope you like it, @hermadnessmac! Thanks again for your wonderful fic, I has brought me so much joy!

[narutobad]

hey can you do a rec of quality naruto blogs? im looking for ppl to follow :)

hey, sure! i'm also always on the lookout for good naruto blogs so if anyone has any recs, please share! because a couple of these aren't very active blogs, i'm afraid. also, some of them are personal blogs that just so happen to post naruto, you know how it is lol

@diwatafolk (beautiful ss fics) | @kaksh1 | @no-sasuke-rights | @uchihasasukes | @sesshomoru | @catflorist (fic author that i love) | @fuckyeahnarutolesbians | @sakrah | @harunoh (fellow ss enjoyer with critical thinking skills) | @hermadnessmac (um, polyamorous team 7? yes please. also amazing fics) | @shiikadai (love their meta) | @foreheadpoke | @kisugih | @hanarutos | @snow124-art (the most beautiful sns fanart!!!) | @jostenneil (also great meta)

[ao3feed-izch]

We're Coming Apart (and Falling Together)

by CitrineDiamondEyes, Encyclopika, guardiantoa, HerMadnessMac, SevenRenny

Growing apart and unsure of their future together, a prestigious opportunity for Izuku presents the ultimate test for the integrity of his and Ochako's relationship. He'll be gone for a full year in the United States fulfilling a hero exchange program most young heroes could only dream of attending. Unfortunately, this means leaving Ochako alone in Japan, a prospect that only exacerbates the cracks in their life together. Perhaps the time apart will make their hearts grow fonder, or, maybe, that distance will reveal the rotten foundation of what they once called love. It's all so confusing during the daytime – they both amble through the day-to-day trying to focus on other things. But, on a few very special nights, the universe pulls them together into fantastical dreams to explore how they have broken and how to rebuild what's been lost.

Words: 5731, Chapters: 1/9, Language: English

Fandoms: 僕のヒーローアカデミア | Boku no Hero Academia | My Hero Academia (Anime & Manga)

Rating: Explicit

Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply

Categories: F/M

Characters: Midoriya Izuku, Uraraka Ochako, Yagi Toshinori | All Might

Relationships: Midoriya Izuku/Uraraka Ochako

Additional Tags: Drama, Dreamscapes, Pro Hero Midoriya Izuku, Pro Hero Uraraka Ochako, Canon Compliant, Breaking Up & Making Up, Sex, Post-Canon, Aged-Up Character(s), Smut, Angst, Additional Tags in Author's Notes

source: https://archiveofourown.org/works/50419033

[rainbow-zebra-art]

Simple style commission for @hermadnessmac! Featuring Sakura Uchiha from Naruto, with her Strength of a Hundred Seal released. Call it my first ever Naruto fanart! And I finally figured out a convenient way to draw backgrounds~

[hermadnessmacwrites]

A Game of Puzzles (Making the Pieces Fit) Chapter 3

Summary: With the war over and Sasuke home again, Sakura is more hopeful for Team 7’s future than she has been in a long time. She’s quickly disappointed to find that nothing in the Village fits quite like it used to—not her old bedroom, not her clothes, and definitely not Team 7. Join Sakura as she scrambles to understand her place in this new team dynamic.

If she has a place there at all.

-OR-

It takes three dorks a painfully long time after moving in together to realize that they all belong together.

"Sakura-chaaaaaan!" a familiar voice echoes down the halls of the hospital.

The medics shadowing her do their best to stifle their giggles, or at least try to pass them off as a sudden bout of coughs, but their amusement is clear.

"That's all for now," Sakura declares, doing her best to ignore the knowing looks being passed back and forth like candy. The flush that rises to her cheeks is inescapable. "It looks like I'm needed in a last minute meeting."

No attempts are made to conceal their laughter now. Sakura graces them with a self-deprecating half-smile before departing from the group. Naruto's voice bounces off the walls again, and Sakura rolls her eyes fondly—heels clacking rapidly against tile floors as she picks up her pace. He's lucky she just wrapped up her examination.

"What kind of idiot yells in a hospital?" she shouts, fully aware of the hypocrisy of the statement. Answering Naruto any other way just feels lackluster. And anyway, this is her domain. Surely she can bend the rules on special occasions.

"Sakura!" He sounds even closer now. Sure enough, he rounds the corner a second later.

Any pretense of annoyance pops and fizzles out like a dispersed clone the moment Sakura lays eyes on him. A rosy tint covers all Naruto's exposed skin—a testament to the long hours spent away from them under the powerful summer sun. He's home. Excitement drives her forward, faster than she would normally condone for a place of healing.

Seeing her coming, Naruto stops his approach and braces himself instead. Open arms beckon and spur her forward, and Sakura doesn't try to resist their call. Hospital walls blur around her as she sprints the last twenty feet separating them, flinging herself into his waiting arms with approximately none of the decorum the Head of Hospital should possess.

Naruto grunts on impact but doesn't buckle. Instead he transfers her momentum into centripetal force, spinning her 'round and 'round in his arms like a couple of lovestruck teens. Sakura buries her face in his neck, allowing herself to breath him in and bask in the solid feel of him under her arms. Alive and unharmed. Maybe she deserves a free pass on this one.

All good things must eventually end, and this moment is no exception. Naruto slows them down, allowing Sakura's feet to float closer to the ground on every turn. Reality catches up to them when her heels click down onto the bleached tiles. Murmurs of the random nurse or medic in the hall reach her ears, and Sakura takes a moment to brush the imaginary lint off her lab coat. Now that she remembers people other than Naruto exist, Sakura's thankful they didn't knock anyone over with their antics.

The smug eyes following her promise not to let her forget this. Oh well.

Sakura clears her throat self-consciously and playfully slugs Naruto on the remaining portion of his arm. That's normal, right? "When did you get in? Konohamaru was supposed to let me know when you reached the gates."

"Ahhh, I might have convinced him to 'forget' to do that." At her raised eyebrow, he ducks his head and scratches the back of his head. "Wanted to surprise you."

Cute.

"It was a nice surprise."

Naruto's smile widens. "Yeah?"

"Yeah," Sakura confirms, "But I didn't have time to clear my schedule. I have one meeting I can't miss and a couple more patients to see before I can leave."

"You were going to cut out early for me?" he asks incredulously, "Usually it takes the act of a God to pry you out of here."

"Does not," she counters without heat. Sakura's willing to bet Naruto turns into just as much of a workaholic once he's wearing the hat. There's so much that needs to get done to keep Konoha moving forward. Knowing her work/life balance sucks and actually taking a step back are two entirely separate things. "Anyway, I'm still cutting out early. Just not as early as I wanted to." Speaking of—

Sakura's eyes dart to the clock close to the nurse's station before wincing. Six minutes is barely enough time to cross six floors before the meeting covering the funding for clinical trials the coming quarter starts. Normally this would be Administrative Sakura's domain, but her clone is swamped reviewing construction plans for the Hospital addition. Clinical trials for ninja products, like safer soldier pills, also happen to be something she's passionate about. If she can't design the experiments, she at least wants to ensure they're properly funded.

"Gotta run?" Naruto guesses when Sakura turns to him.

"Yep," she says, already backing away, "but I'll see you at home? Three hours tops."

"I'll hold you to that!" Naruto threatens with a smile.

By some miracle Sakura hasn't tripped over anything or anyone as she walks backwards, keeping a waving Naruto in her sights for as long as she can manage. It's so good to see him again. Still, Sakura knows she's pushing her luck. Waving goodbye to her teammate one last time, Sakura turns around to begin her race to the conference room in earnest.

It's not until Sakura's three floors down that she remembers Sasuke. Shit. He definitely deserves a heads up that Naruto is back in town. Now, how can she get the message to him without leaving the hospital...?

There's a nurses' station thirty feet up this hallway, but Sakura dismisses the idea as quickly as it occurs. Adding a personal chore to the nurses' already stacked plates would be incredibly rude—and unprofessional to boot.

The countdown in her head reminds her she has less than four minutes to solve this issue and get to her meeting before it starts. Times like this, Sakura wishes she had picked up a second summon. Lady Katsuya is the perfect compliment to her medical techniques, but slugs are pretty much incapable of delivering messages.

Three minutes. Crap.

Sakura makes for the emergency staircase, checking her chakra levels as she goes. About 40% left, and if she plans on leaving early—Sakura runs through calculations double time. She can spare 10% for a second clone.

She shucks her bright red heels and leans over the railing to make sure she's not about to land on anyone. The stairwell looks clear. Just in case, Sakura tosses a warning "heads up!" over the metal barrier before vaulting it herself. Cushioning her landing with chakra saves her joints, but the cement pays the price. Her hastily reapplied heel makes this discovery, catching in the newly formed crack and nearly sending her sprawling. Great. She'll have to put in a requisition to have that fixed.

It's a necessary sacrifice. Sakura wraps up the hand signs for her messenger clone just as the conference room door comes into view. Messenger Sakura pops into existence, throws up a lazy “victory” sign, and does an abrupt 360 towards their apartment. Hopefully no one tries to stop her on the way—her clone won't have the chakra to help with any emergency situations.

No time to worry about it.

Running a hand through her hair, Sakura squares her shoulders and strides into the conference room. Every head swivels towards her. The absolute attention she now commands still makes her uneasy, but she manages to keep her head high as she crosses the room.

Sakura slides into her seat as the synchronized hospital clocks chime to announce the top of the hour.

Just in time.

"Thank you for joining, everyone," she says, laying her arms on the table. "As you all know, our goal today is to allocate funding to the six applicants for the upcoming quarter. Natsuo has summarized the information for the proposed clinical trials on the handouts in front of you, so if you'll direct your attention to the first page…"

Read the rest of the chapter on ao3

[hermadnessmac]

My submission for IzuOcha Temple's 4th Anniversary Masquerade! The prompt was "constellation" so I did a subtle nod to Izuku by including his astrology sign (cancer) and because I did not have time to draw him into the piece

Had fun submitting my piece then trying to suss everyone else's anonymous entries. The most complicated game of sudoku/clue!

Just for funsies (and bc hubby dearest was creeped out by Galaxy eyes) I tried with normal eyes, too. Tbh, did NOT realize how large I'd drawn her eyes until I did this. I prefer galaxy eyes

[phoenix-before-the-flame]

The Journey Continues

@hermadnessmac haha! It was me all along! You don't really know me but it was still me all along either way 😆😆

Hope your having a good valentines and I hope you enjoy your present! (Lemme tag @fairytailvalentinesexchange just in case)

Happy reading!

'Whether it be written on pages or the heavens, we all have a story worth telling.'

"Can you show me again?" Natsu whispered " I don't think I see it up there."

He kept his voice low, a lightness to it that floated over the noises in the trees behind them and the fire's weak crackling as it started to wind down for the night, it's warm orange glow receding as cold, silvery moonlight took its place.

Lucy glanced at him, a pause in her stories about the starry sky to meet his innocent question. Easily she grabbed his hand and tugged it up, following her low sweeping motions with a silly grin as she carved out a piece of the sky.

"There, that one's Cygnus. The celestial bird that flies across the heavens and it always points south." Lucy scrunched up her nose, lowering their hands back after the constellation was outlined. "There's more to it but I don't think we should get into that. It's weird."

Natsu chuckled, bouncing her with his shoulder softly, reaching up to slowly unwrap his scarf. It pooled in his lap and draped messily over Happy who- despite being swaddled up in his blanket- still shivered at the chill in his sleep. "You're weird too, since you love 'em so much."

Soundlessly he tucked his scarf around the exceed, waiting until he stopped shivering to look back at Lucy who'd raised a slightly concerned brow.

"He'll be fine, just needs some rest is all." And Lucy nodded, scratching absently at one of Happy's ears and leaning into Natsu.

He really did, he had a rough time today after all. These days nothing much happened and everything just boiled down to 3 things- travel, eat, sleep, travel eat sleep- over and over again. But scouring continents for a rare golden key was bound to be arduous, and at times, hopeless. Yet still they'd trudged on.

There were a few setbacks here and there, thieves, rogue wyverns too far south to be normal, fear of locomotives (thank you Natsu) and days like this where Happy took one for the team and whisked them both away from danger.

Lucy hummed softly, trying to soak up more of Natsu's warmth as the fire sank lower. There was a slight chill in her bones after her dip in the icy river. It was only after her bid to get clean did she remember who she was travelling with and how he could've helped.

Despite everything though, she couldn't find it in herself to stressed, or even tired. There was no deadline, no drastic consequences, no horrible fate to befall her in the end. Just only a single goal in sight that she refuses to let slip past her.

"There was one up there that Igneel taught me." He murmured, gently pulling Lucy's hand up to point towards a small cluster of stars twinkling at her from just above the treetops.

"I think he called it 'the great draco', or something. Said that even though it was so little it was the spirit of the first dragon ever lived watching over us." Natsu's nose wrinkled and a whine keened in the back of his throat. "Said that it come back one day and haunt me if I didn't stop misbehaving." Natsu said grouchily, rubbing at his bare neck. "As if it'd come back for something like that......."

"I dunno if it's a real one, but it's the only one up there I remember he taught me."

With a groan he leaned back, carefully propped up on his elbows with something in his eyes that Lucy couldn't quite place as his head cocked slightly to the side, watching the sky intently.

He hadn't....spoken much of Igneel since his passing. And Lucy could understand why, the memory too fresh and the wound just not quite yet healed enough for it to be called a scar.

And the guilt.

The guilt that gnawed at him since that day and heavily dragged his shoulders down during their moments of rest. He could never be rid of it completely, always there enough to remind him even though he knew better.

Lucy sighed, drawing a leg up to her chest. She understood perfectly, having her own weights to bear when she was left alone too long with her thoughts. There was nothing to be done of them but to bear and to help each other bear the load.

Lucy squeezed her leg, fingers digging into her skin as they sat in silence. She still hadn't told him. Her bag rested heavily by her foot, it's weight a grim reminder.

"Natsu..." She started, voice coming out weaker than she intended but his head still swivelled her way, a question in his glance.

" I, I have something that belongs to you. I've had it since the war and I- I didn't know when was a good time to give it to you..." She turned away from him, fumbling wih the straps of her pack with shaky fingers. Finally she pulled the flap open taking into her hands an old tome held delicately and, almost fearfully despite its strong leather bindings that kept it together for so many years.

She gnawed at her bottom lip, teeth digging into the skin until she swore she tasted the copper taste of blood on her tongue.

Natsu sat up, shifting behind her and rested a comforting hand on Lucy's shoulder. "Lucy? What is it?"

She took a heavy breath and turned back to him, expression a mix of so many things as she glanced from the book and back to him. Fear, sorrow, regret, apprehension, all pulled together as she continued to gnaw on her lip. Natsu stiffened, hand clamped on her shoulder.

"I rewrote it to save you but your life is still attached to it. I shouldn't be to one to keep holding onto it. It's yours so, take it.'

Lucy kept her eyes on him expectantly but his dropped warily to it, the burn on its cover marred the title emblazoned across it and seemed to taunt him. Phantom pains sliced through his chest, still fresh as he remembered how Zeref had attacked him, toying with his life.

Hesitantly, he placed a hand on it, on his life, and fearfully marvelled at how fragile it seemed beneath his palm. The sturdy leather wrinkled with age but not cracked as his hand roamed curiously over it, still clutched in Lucy’s grasp as she waited for him to take it.

This was him, him in his simplest form. The 'him' that only she knew. Natsu pursed his lips, hand drifting over to cover hers and pushed it back at Lucy.

"You keep it." Natsu said firmly with a small nod. It took her a few seconds to process it, her mouth falling into a soft 'o' before she realized what he was doing.

"Natsu, I can't! This, this is yours! Take it!" Lucy tried to push back but his hand was firm, keeping it pressed close to her chest.

"You keep it." He repeated, releasing her shoulder to settle his second hand atop hers. Natsu squeezed Lucy's hands before letting go, a watery smile on his lips when she stuttered in disbelief.

"But Natsu this is your life." Lucy protested.

"And I'm trusting you with it." Natsu shot back. He rumbled out something she couldn’t understand and slouched, a low sigh leaving him.

"I trust you with my life, so there's no reason why you shouldn't be the one to hold onto it." He murmured. "I know you can keep it safer than I ever will."

"But....." Lucy started and trailed off, seeing the steely resolve in his tired eyes. She gulped and nodded, leaning back on him with the book clutched tightly to her chest with one hand and the other finding his to tangle with.

"I understand, and I promise to always look after you."

"Thank you." Natsu breathed softly. He drooped his head on her shoulder strands of pink hair tickling at her throat. Happy stirred in Natsu's lap but did not wake.

"And Natsu?" She whispered, looking back at the sky. The fire was all but cold cinders now. "Yeah?"

"For what it's worth, I trust you with my life too." She squeezed his hand reassuringly and he buried his nose in her shoulder, lips pressed against her skin.

"I know, and I promise to always look after you too."