Hello!
So, this came to me when seeing the exchange of glances between Natsu and August (and a lot of frustrations coming from the lack of communication between Natsu and Lucy. Which is why we could say that the things in italics are some kind of body language). There may be already some stories about Lucy leaving to find Aquarius, but I decided to give it a try. Feel free to recommand me some. Let me know what you think about my version :) I hope the characters aren't OOC, for I know that there is some times when I can't help but put romance in a awkward way :D
It may be a little cliché, but for that point, I don't really care :)
I do not own neither Fairy Tail or the picture used to illustrate the story, they're all Hiro Mashima's!
I hope you will enjoy it!
Still NotObsessionnalYet
Come Back Home Already!
It was over. They somehow won the war. Natsu was safe. Somehow. All of this seemed unreal to Lucy. Yet, here she was, in the ruins of her appartment, standing in front of what was once her desk.
She sighed, hesitant to take another step. She had an idea of what awaited her, but still, she wasn't ready to face it.
Natsu...
Before the events of Tartaros occured, Lucy had always been proud to say that she could predict her partner's intentions just by looking at him. As a man of action, he wore his heart on his sleeves and was willing to fight for the ones he cared. And she was glad she was one of them.
But then, wars happened. Some friends stayed, others were forced to leave her. Aquarius did. And after Tartaros, he too left discretly, then came back, like some boomerang in her life that just kept being thrown at her. And it hurt. So much...
It was not that she didn't understand the reason of his departure, because she did. Even with their lack of clear discussion about it. She understood that it was something that he wanted to do on his own. With Happy. The one with whom he had shared his knowledge about his foster father. It was the original duo. And she tried to accept it. She really did.
When he came back, she was so happy. But confused. And angry. How would he react to the changes? Would he even notice? (he did)
Then he promised. To make things back to the way they were before. All of the sincerity in his eyes made her accept everything. He was Natsu, she could trust him, nothing could resist him.
And he did. Well, almost. Every piece was coming into place. Her friends were back, unchanged even after that long amount of time.
Then the war between Alvarez and Fiore took place. As always, he decided to go defeat the villain by himself with Happy. She let him. He was Natsu, he would always come back.
And here again, he did. But not in the way she wanted him to. She felt the fear overcame her. He was leaving her.
But he couldn't! Not when she had finally a chance to find Aquarius again! There were so many adventures to live for!
Of course, he didn't. Yet. They found a way to bring him back. And at the next second, here he was, saving her life once again. Of course, she had been willing to show him her strength, but it seemed that wasn't the right time to. But that's also during that time that she noticed that something was troubling him. She did not insist, believing that he would tell her when he was ready.
But he didn't. She discovered it in the heat of the battle. The link that he had with Zeref, Igneel, END... Her mother. And when the revelations went out, he did not look at her. His head was down. She felt him leaving again.
Then, his brother had been defeated, and his body locked up in some cristal. However, Natsu seemed to be just the same as before, in all of his carefree and goofy glory. Yet, there were changes she could see. Subtle, but still here. It was all in his silences that lingered a little more than before, in the way he would walk, as if something was burdening him, in his eyes that failed sometimes to focus.
She was unsettled about these changes. And she didn't like it. Yet, it was breaking her heart to leave it like this. But she had to. Or she felt that he would leave. Again.
She took a step forward, this time determined that what she would find would determine her choice. She looked at the broken desk.
The letters to her mother were gone. Burned to crisps...
Then it was settled. It was time to go on.
...
...
"Are you sure you want to do it?" Erza said once again with tears in her eyes.
Lucy stared, then looked away.
"I have to. "
Erza hugged her.
"I won't stop you."
Lucy gave her a relieved smile and returned the hug. It wasn't the end.
...
...
Natsu wasn't one to talk much about what he was feeling. He was more a "act before you think" kind of guy. It was his way, and it always satisfied him. He took no time for lingering on emotions and their causes, for he wasn't one to make mistakes about it. He knew what he was feeling.
Just like he knew that he would do anything for his family, even if it meant him losing his life. He was prepared to it.
And so just like he knew he was attracted to his partner Lucy, like a moth to a flame (the irony for a fire dragon slayer).
Until then, everything had been simple. Boy met girl, they became friends, even the best of the best. Some people tended to compare their relationship to the one he had with Lisanna, but both him and the latter knew it wasn't the same. Lisanna was Lisanna and Lucy was Lucy. Both were bubbly and nice, in their own way. The first was easy and simple, the other weird and more complex. But he didn't mind. At least, until it began to be more complicated.
He always knew she was pretty. That was a fact. She was also smart and soothing. That, he knew it too. The other girls at the guild were that too, in different ways. Yet, he couldn't bring himself to consider her like the others. He knew she was more than a simple companion to him. That he wanted more. That seeing some jerks he didn't know ogle her annoyed him. But then again, he didn't want their relationship to be awkward. And some times, it was better to do as if he did not think of these kind of things. Her reactions were so hilarious! He had to admit it, an embarrassed Lucy was very funny to watch.
But then, he lost Igneel. Again. What had he to do? He has received his father's strength as a gift, and a mission to fulfill. He had to fight again, for the ones he cared about. And he had to do it on his own, in order to remember how grateful he was to have his companions at his side. Because he knew that one only realizes the value of something when that thing is not here in front of him anymore. That was one thing he learned from Igneel. And he had to keep that in mind, in order not to let go. It made him stronger, enough to fight alongside his friends and maybe protect them.
With that will, he decided to go away for training. Happy followed him, of course, his little buddy never having left his side since his birth (except on some accidental circonstances). He left discretly, leaving only a note to Lucy, to make sure she knew he was OK.
He couldn't bring himself to face her, let alone bring her with him. She would understand, he reasoned. Lucy was Lucy, she was smart and knew better than to linger on his antics.
Until he realized she didn't. He felt it in her voice when he came back, and in her eyes that would send sad looks sometimes. He felt something was missing. So he promised to make things ok again.
And he did. And the trust came back again. They were Natsu and Lucy, the best partners, each one defending the back of the other in time of need. Of course, there was still something missing, but he couldn't bring himself to ask her about it. So he went on, with her by his side.
Then war went in the way, with all of its revelations. He had a brother, he was END, he would actually die if the enemy was defeated. Truth was that he didn't care of dying, for he had prepared himself. But what he couldn't face was his friends' reactions. Relationships would be shattered, as the one he had with Gray, who had sworn that he would avenge his father (and it almost did, until the ice mage realized that he couldn't bring himself to end his life, for he was still his friend, his brother). And so was the one he had with Lucy. How could he face her when he was part of the reason her mother died?
Natsu was prepared. He would fight until the end (the irony) and die a hero's death. No one needed to be burdened by his knowledge, for he should have been dead already. Until then, he would make the most of it (that, he did).
But then the truth went out, and just as fast, the war was over. And he didn't die. How unexpected. What was left to say? To do? He had to go on.
And he did and was almost certain that things had turned back to the way they were before. With Lucy, with the others. But he wasn't quite the same as before, as much as he tried.
So now here was he, sitting at Mirajane's bar and showing young Romeo some new move. Until Erza approached him, a solemn air on her face.
"I think you need to talk to Lucy", Erza said.
...
...
She was leaving. That fact was painfully plain as day as he saw her packing her things. One question remained.
"Why?"
She froze.
"I have to." was her answer. "I promised."
He shook his head. It cannot be. "To whom?"
As an author, she tended to imagine some scenarios, such as what she would tell him if he ever learned of her departure (she had secretly hoped him to). However, now that she was in front of him, she was lost for words. So she answered :
"Aquarius. Myself. My mother. As a celestial mage, I have to keep my promises. I have to do it myself, on my own. To prove them that they were right in trusting me."
Then he understood what was missing. Whad had been sacrificed. But he couldn't understand her leaving. He didn't want to.
"And you intended to leave without telling me?" Did you not want me to come along?
"You did." Why would you care?
He protested.
"I left..." I care!
"... a note, I know." How much?
A tense silence lingered. She sighed. Then smiled. "I wouldn't be gone forever, you know. And I will send news each month, so you don't have to worry..."
"How long?" He interrupted her.
"One year. Maybe a little more."
He stood still, frozen. She couldn't read his expression.
"Can you understand it?" she asked.
"Yes." was his answer.
"Can you accept it?" she continued.
...
He couldn't. So he left.
...
...
And so she left. He couldn't bring himself to watch her departure. More like, at the last second, he was tempted to kidnap her and persuade her not to leave him. He could have also sniffed her out and followed her. But he knew she wouldn't have liked it. She would have thought that he didn't trust her (which he did. Completely).
So he let her go. Happy did not come home that night.
He wasn't the jealous type. He didn't consider having a claim on her. But for the first time, he dreamt of Lucy finding another guy along the way. And it kind of... exasperated him.
...
...
She kept her promise, sending news of her journey each month. Hearing from her was always painful, as he could almost hear her say it. She wrote as she lived, with passion and affection. She didn't hide the bad moments she was living, but only to insist more on the happy ones. So was Lucy.
She would sometimes ask about him, say things that he would like, and that made him both happy that she cared and guilty for being angry at her at the same time.
(No talking about some guy she would have met during her travel was in her letter, which kind of satisfied him secretly.)
Each month, the guild would reunite itself to write her an answer. Each time, they asked him if he wanted to write something.
He couldn't.
But he always made sure to keep her letters, that he would place carefully with all of his precious memories, as a proof that she kept her promises, that she was still here somewhere.
...
...
The twefth month came, but she wasn't here. There was still a letter yet. She said that she had to delay her return, as news had come to her about some village that always seemed to suffer from floods.
Then came the thirteenth and the fourteenth months (with still no guy in the way). He still refused to write anything.
But at the beginning of the fifteenth month, he couldn't handle it anymore. He wrote only four words, but they were meaningful enough.
"Come back home already."
...
...
No letter arrived at the sixteenth month. He was worried. The whole guild was. They talked about sending people to find her. He told them not to. He told them to trust her to come back.
And they did.
He did too. She was a strong one, he knew she could handle anything.
(But then, he made another dream about her actually marrying the guy. That pissed him off.)
...
...
She came back at the beginning of the seventeenth month. He perceive her scent right away. But for the first time, he was apprehensive. So he waited at the guild for her to enter it.
And she did. Seeing her, all the guildmates gathered around her, welcoming her back. He felt he couldn't talk to her the way he wanted to. So he left. And waited in her old appartment, that he hadn't visited since.
When she came home, she didn't even seem surprised to see him. Much more like she was expecting him to.
"Hey Natsu."
They stared at each others.
"Did you find what you've been looking for?" Will you stay?
"Yes."
They smiled and hugged each other. Finally.
"I'm home."
"No." his hold of her loosened and he looked at her in the eyes.
"We are." Then I will stay too.
Saying that, he kissed her. As simple as that. It felt good, especially when she responded back. When they pulled away, they laughed. Who would have thought it was that easy?
"You're right." She grinned, her forehead against his. I love you.
They hugged each others tightly once again, never wanting to let go.
"Now that it is settled, I have something to tell you..." Natsu began, inhalating some of her sweet scent to give him some courage.
She gazed at him lovingly. "Mmmm... Do tell."
He suddenly took her by the shoulder, grinning mischievously.
"Don't you go marrying anyone else than me, you weirdo!"
...
...
...
"EEEEEHHH?"
And that signed the beginning of a new adventure.