Hey Dark Gothic Lolita here!
Now I know what you guys must all be thinking. 'Lolita-chan wrote a NaLi story?!' Well yes, indeed I did! You see, as well as Juvia being like my favourite character, Lisanna is another favourite of mine too! I just hate the way people treat her in their stories, making her the bad guy and Lucy leaves because she's been kicked out of the team blah-blah-blah. Like guys, let's get original, loads of people are writing those stories right now! Like think a little bit, Natsu and Lisanna barely interact!
Okay, so mini rant done! But yeah, I've been meaning to write a NaLi for like AGES and I never really had an idea until flaredragon117 requested that I make one, so I did! I'm sorry if it's not good enough because it is my first NaLi, but their compliments really made my day, along with everyone's whenever you guys review! You guys are like just the best!
So if you guys feel like I died off the face of the Earth, I have actually just finished my exams like a while ago, then I worked like ALL of last week, then I was on a mini holiday with my friends for the weekend until Monday, then when I woke up on Tuesday morning, I woke up sick -_- Like I don't deserve this lol. In all of my 18 years of life, I have NEVER lost my voice, and that's something I take pride in! Until now. I can't talk and it's shocking everyone lol. Can you believe I haven't eaten since Monday? I'm that sick! Oh well, how is everyone doing?
I don't own Fairy Tail or any of their characters, only the palm reader and the farmer and his wife! I apologize for any lame spelling and grammar as well, like I tried my best this time around!
ENJOY!
Forever and always
Oneshot
"Ooof."
Lisanna sighed as she came back from her fifth job in the past two weeks. She walked over to the board to grab another job and she avoided Mira's worried eyes as she searched the board for another job. Maybe a job that could last for a week. She just needed to clear her head for a while.
Her hand reached out when she saw the perfect job for her. Her tired eyes managed to shine at how easy the job was, yet the pay was great. That was until a hand stopped hers and she jumped in surprise, looking at the hand as though she was trying to guess who it was stopping her. She shut her eyes tightly when she realised that this hand was releasing more heat than a normal person.
"Lisanna, don't you think that you've taken enough jobs for a while? Don't you wanna take a rest?"
"Coming from you? Nah, I need to try and get as many jobs done, y'know, boost up my job count. I did miss two years after all."
She pulled her hand away from his hold and tried to smile before turning her back on him, her shoulders sagging a little bit. It was almost like she was turning her back on all the memories that they had shared together, turning her back on all the promises that they made. So much for being husband and wife. Lisanna laughed internally at herself. How young and foolish she was.
"Hey come on Lis, don't be like that, I'm only looking out for ya!"
"Well I don't need looking after! Go look after Lucy or something, isn't that what you're good at these days?"
Lisanna had turned her head slightly and she caught the look of pain and hurt running through his eyes and she felt so bad. But then again, the pain and hurt was in her own eyes 24/7, so what did it matter that she was making him feel what she felt?
Then his anger came burning through his irises. "Just what is your problem? You're hardly ever here these days and now that I'm trying to talk to you, you're shoving me off! Are we not friends anymore?"
"Me?! ME?! No Natsu, I've been trying to talk to YOU, but you're never focusing on me! You're always so distracted and most times it's because of Lucy! I'm not being bitter towards her, I'm just stating what I see, which is that you hang around a lot with Lucy and barely ever even BREATHE in my direction! Why is it that when you feel like talking to me, I should suddenly leave everything that I'm doing, when whenever I want to talk to you, you brush me off! Just leave me alone so that I can go and do my job!"
She growled under her breath as she made her way quite angrily towards Mira who just blinked owlishly and checked that the job was still available. She nodded and Lisanna made her way out, not even bothering to look at Natsu who was glaring holes into the back of her head. They were lucky that the whole guild was noisy, so their argument hadn't been heard at all otherwise everyone would be talking about it and that was the last thing they both wanted.
Lisanna made her way out of the guild and sighed before the tears started falling silently. Lucy and Natsu were like the ultimate pair, be it a couple who were just naive in love, not knowing that they both liked each other, or the best partnership when it came to jobs. It was them and Happy, then Gray and Erza just tagged along to make the team even stronger. They were all great, and she was nothing. She was just a guild member that they found out wasn't actually dead.
She blew out some air from her mouth before walking off to her job. She hated talking to him like that, but it needed to be done. She needed to cause a rift between them to make sure that when him and Lucy DO finally get together and stop dancing around each other, she would be able to bear it.
"Let's just go and get the job done and then you can find yourself another job again, okay?"
That's right, she had been prepping herself more and more these days to help her get by everything that has literally gone wrong in her life.
~x~
"Oooooh, darling ~ Come closer, come closer!"
Lisanna had already gone to see her client who had hired her. Her job was pretty simple, she had to go and kill the beast that was torturing the farmer's cattle and the rest of the animals on the farm. She knew that it was more of a job for Elfman, seeing as he was the beast soul, but she knew that she could do this, after all, her siblings had to get strong somehow.
Right now, she had attracted the attention of some young and beautiful woman who must be some sort of palm reader. Lisanna looked behind her to make sure that she wasn't calling out to someone else, but she was looking dead into her eyes, so she made her way to her hesitantly. She sat down in the seat opposite her and held out her palm making the woman jump back a little bit in her chair.
"Eyeyeye! Darling, I have NEVER seen someone as young as you go through so MANY conflicts at once! Talk to me darling, tell me why all these issues of love, wanting to get stronger and feeling so invisible?"
"I don't need to talk if you already know, aren't you going to tell me what happens in the future?"
"I could, but that wouldn't relieve you of your burden, would it? You haven't spoken to anyone about how you feel and just today, you blew up at the one who makes you laugh, yet makes you cry silently at night while your siblings sleep. So talk to me then. Seeing as I already know how to make it better, what have you got to lose?"
Lisanna weight out the argument and found that she really has nothing to lose. Well, except for her money.
"Ah, how much?"
"No, no darling. REAL palm readers and fortune tellers will either ask for payment at the END of the reading or not at all. That's how you can tell the real from the fakes and you my darling, go for free. Just talk to me."
So Lisanna did. She spoke of how she felt like she wasn't missed when she was gone and then came back, how the love of her life had moved on and how she just wanted to be strong because she wasted 2 years of her life. The tears came pouring out of her eyes and the woman passed her a tissue, watching her with concern in her eyes.
"Yet you know what's so bad? I can't bring myself to hate them. I don't know why I would want to hate them, but either way, I just can't bring myself to do it! I especially don't hate Lucy even though every bit of me says I should! I just love him so much that if Lucy makes him happy, then so be it!"
She bawled her eyes out and the woman patted her shoulder and quietened her down. "It's okay my darling, things will look up. The hardships in life are always to test you and see if you deserve the better things. I'm also not about to tell you the typical line of letting something go if you love it so much, because that's a bunch of rubbish. If you love someone, grab them before it's too late."
Lisanna nodded her head like a child as she wiped her tears. "So...I should apologize?"
"Why yes! Child, your fear of being forgotten was no reason to shout at him before you left. You have to make things better. Natsu is a forgiving guy, I'm sure if you went to go and speak to him he will understand and not hold a grudge against you, trust me."
The woman smiled at the mage and Lisanna sighed before shrugging her shoulders. At least that was one thing that hadn't changed since she was gone. Natsu was still the same forgiving idiot that she had fallen in love with all those years ago, it was just with another girl by his side, that's all that changed. Lisanna also wanted to be shocked at how she knew it was Natsu, but she remembered that it was a palm reader she was dealing with.
"Anyway, I best let you go, you have a job to do, don't you? Word of advice, the beast you're looking for is actually a black bear, not a beast, so lure it out with some honey. They're incredibly stupid but extremely strong. Use a net to capture it somewhere nearby the farm and use your animal soul. That should drive it away. Oh and the colour red scares them away."
Lisanna bowed down thankfully to the woman. "Thank you, thank you, thank you! I don't know how I can repay you for everything!"
"Oh don't worry about it. I used to have a younger sister just like you, you reminded me of her. She's gone, y'know? Just come back and tell me how everything goes with Natsu. I mean, I'll probably already know by the time you get within 10 metres of me, but talking is a good way to let it all out. I'm still one for old fashion gossip."
Lisanna laughed and waved the fortune teller goodbye and headed back down to the farm. If there was one thing that she knew about black bears, it was that they liked to take an evening stroll to then attack. She had already bought a lot of red material to hang it in the trees where she would pull a string for it all to flow down when she wanted to scare the bear away. She left the honey a bit away from the pen as she lay in the bushes, waiting for the animal to come.
It finally showed up, running straight towards the honey, its back towards her. She grinned at how easy this was going to be. She jumped the animal, surprising it to no end as it screamed out and tried to shake her off. She held her hands on it's neck as she absorbed all the properties of the bear, making her gain magic and information on the bear. She could feel the strength running through her veins as she flipped off its back and kicked it into a tree. She smiled, but not evilly. It was a smile of how right the palm reader was.
She then tugged on the string that brought the material tumbling down from all the trees around and she could hear the confused and scared cry of the bear as it bumbled its way through, trying to find a way out. It eventually found it's way out into the trees and far back down the path. With her new sense of smell in her bear form, added with her Tigress form as well, the bear was getting further and further than where it had probably been hiding.
She skipped over to the farmer's house feeling happier than she had been feeling in a while. "Sir, the bear will not be coming back any time soon! If she does, I have hidden red material in your trees, just hang them down whenever there are black bears, they're frightened of them!"
The man sighed in relief, thanking her. "I would usually go hunting, but everytime I wait for the bear, it never comes and it strikes without me knowing! Thank you! I know it's not on your job description, but I was wondering if you could help me build a stronger fence? I'm old and my son owns his own farm elsewhere. I don't know why though, he should have just stayed here! Oh well, will you do it for me please?"
"Sure thing!"
"Oh thank you! You must have some lucky fella waiting for you at home! Guys, especially mages from what I hear love the company of a strong girl and trust me, he must love you to pieces!" The farmer started humming out a tune as he went to go and get his tools to fix up their fence before his wife came home from the market.
He missed the sad look that came upon the female mage's face as she thought about Natsu. There was no way he would be waiting for her because knowing him, he probably grabbed a job off the board when she left in order to go and do it with Lucy or something. The farmer turned around with his tool kit and she had to brighten up.
"The wood is in the shed, let's go and get it. You strong enough to hold them?" Now that she had her bear soul, she nodded confidently, her head held high. So what if Natsu loved Lucy at the end of the day? She was strong and she could overcome this! She was strong now and she could do anything she put her mind to!
She hauled up the picket fences as the farmer watched in awe as she placed them on her shoulder and walked out to where the cattle were grazing. They spent the rest of the evening sorting it out as Lisanna catching the bear had only taken ten minutes. The farmer's wife came back, a grateful look on her face.
"Oh thank you for helping out sweetie! I don't know why all the neighbours were telling us not to put the ad in Fairy Tail, I'm sure it's not all of you that's destructive!"
"No, from what I heard, it's that pink haired boy, the one they call 'Salamander.' He's the real terror." The man spoke to his wife as they chuckled a little bit and Lisanna hammered in one of the nails.
"Well, it's getting late and there's no way we're sending you back home at this time of the night! Come, I'll set up a room for you and you can join us for dinner. That can be extra payment along with getting rid of the bear for us! Please say you'll accept it."
The farmer's wife looked at her expectantly and Lisanna felt like it would be rude for her to decline. Besides, as much as Mira would have wanted her to be back by the end of the day, it was kind of too late to start travelling which would make the white haired beauty even more worried, so this was the best way to go about it. She nodded her head and the woman started heading indoors, ready to go and prepare the food.
She looked back at the farmer who was straightening up his back and he smiled at her. "Well, now we have stronger fences, thank you for that! Let's just go and put the supplies away and then head back inside. I'm sure you would love to have a shower after sweating so much today. I'm curious to know though, how are you so strong?"
Lisanna had gone and picked up the remaining bits of wood so effortlessly and she grinned. "My magic is animal soul take over, so I absorb animal spirits, the same way my older sister absorbs demons and my older brother absorbs beasts. The black bear is extremely strong, which in turn has also made me strong as well."
"Magic eh? It's a rare but extremely beautiful thing when used in the right way. I guess that's why you all get these sort of jobs because you're the only ones who can deal with it aye?"
"That would be a logical reason, yes."
They headed inside and Lisanna caught a glimpse of the old couple being all fluffy and she found it so cute. "If only I could have a chance to be like that with Natsu."
She gasped a little bit before turning her back towards them and headed up the stairs. She had managed to throw Natsu out of her thoughts for the past few hours, ever since she spoke to the palm reader, but now that she had no work to distract her, her mind was going right back to him. It was crazy how much of her mind he took up.
She knew that the palm reader was right, she needed to apologize. Even if Natsu wasn't the one for her, there would be someone else out there who was and she basically just threw away her friendship. But then again, when was the last time she even hung out with Natsu as just friends? She couldn't remember, but sometimes, she felt like the bond that they once had was still there. Sometimes, their eyes would meet whenever Lucy was shouting at him and he would roll his eyes with a small smirk on his face and she would blush.
Lisanna even blushed now, just at the thought of it. So maybe they still had what they had nine years ago, if you count the years they spent frozen as well. It gave her hope for the apology that she had planned and she hoped that everything would be okay. She jumped out of the shower and got some fresh PJs before heading down to dinner where she could smell the most amazing stew brewing.
Lisanna bounced into the guild the next day and she knew that Mira would be watching her jump over to the board for a new job, like she had been doing for the past two weeks, but she decided to surprise her sister by walking straight over to her instead. She smiled at her sister who was thrown off a bit but then smiled back warmly.
"Morning Mira-nee! Can I just have some orange juice please, the couple that I helped already gave me breakfast before I left." Her sister nodded, still staring at her as though she was trying to figure out what had happened in the past 24 hours.
"So does this mean you're taking a rest then? It's like you haven't slept in your bed for the past two weeks."
"Yeah, I'm back for a while. I've just been trying to catch up to everyone else you know? Sharpen all my skills so that they're not dormant. I've barely been using my magic, so it's time to get back into the swings of things before even Romeo gets stronger than me! Can't have that now can I?"
She laughed as she took a sip and Mira shook her head, a fond smile on her face before her facial expressions became serious. "So this has nothing to do with Natsu then?"
Lisanna sighed and turned her head away. "Don't start Mira-nee."
"What do you mean 'don't start'?! I'll start if I damn well want to! You seemed to be pretty angry yesterday and you took it out on him! I never saw you as the hide your feelings type of person, especially not from me you don't! Why have you been drowning yourself in jobs instead of talking to anyone?"
"Because none of you understand! You just don't! Yes, I know, you and Elf-nii thought that I was dead, but so what? You didn't live in another dimension where everyone looks like your family but they're not! You didn't think about being so close to the one you loves lookalike, but it's not him and when you come back to the real one, he's moved on anyway! It's not like it matters anyway, I'm going to apologize to him today. Let me guess, he's on a job?"
Mira watched her sister for a while as Lisanna just swished her orange juice around in the glass, not even looking at her and Mira sighed before nodding her head. "Yep, all of team Natsu went out on a quick little job, but they should really be back today."
"Even better. Tell Natsu when he comes back to meet me at our little hut and if he can, not to bring Happy as well. This is something I need to do before I get myself hurt or something. I'll also be able to sense if anyone is peeking at us, so no one better do it because I gained a new animal soul and I don't feel like test running it on any guildmates, alright?"
Mira nodded her head, smiling a little bit. Her baby sister wasn't a baby anymore. She was growing up and taking charge of her own life. She now knew what parents go through whenever their children hit this stage in life and she knew that if their parents were still alive, they would be crying too.
"Fine, sure thing. But you can talk to me as well, you know that right?"
"Of course Mira-nee, it's just difficult because I know for a fact that you've been shipping Lucy and Natsu together."
Mira bowed her head, her heart feeling heavy for her younger sister. She knew that she had to back her sister whenever she wanted her to, but she had her reasons not to. "Lisanna, you were gone for a long time. Two years in fact. It would be evil of us to not encourage Natsu to move on and stay stuck in the past, we just couldn't do it. So when Lucy came along and gave him his spark back, we wanted it to happen. I'm sorry."
Lisanna finished the rest of her orange juice without a care in the world and licked her lips, making sure none was on it. She placed the glass down and made sure that she had her purse which was bulging with all the money she had gained from over the two weeks, making her probably the richest person in the guild right now.
"I know. It would be pretty evil of me to think that Natsu would stay hoping for me and waiting for me to come back when even I had moved on in Edolas, coming to love the place as my own, thinking I would never come back here. That's why I need to talk to Natsu. To tell him everything is okay and that I've been acting petty. Just relay the message for me. Please."
The whole time she spoke, she had her back to her sister. Her voice was strong, her resolve resolute, but her face betrayed her. The tears ran down her face silently, there was a furrow in her brown and her lip was going to quiver if she spoke anymore. She walked away without another word and Mira sighed and took a deep breath, as though that was the most stressful thing she had ever done in her life and in all honesty, it was.
~x~
Lisanna had a few snacks in a basket that she had bought, just in case if things go well, they could have a picnic and reminisce about the good old days. She sat outside the hut, drawing her legs up to her chest and leaning her chin on her knees. She had no idea how long they would be, but she had prepared herself and left a blanket inside the hut. Knowing Team Natsu, it would take them a while to complete their job, especially when they usually destroy a whole bunch of stuff.
~x~
By the time Natsu came to find her, it was six in the evening and Lisanna was laying under the blanket, sleeping. A red looking Natsu came up to her and gently nudged her awake. She looked so cute and he didn't really want to disturb that. "Lisanna? Lis? Wake up, I'm here now."
The girl groaned as she sat up, her eyes yet to open, so she rubbed at them. They first thing she saw were those obsidian eyes that she had grown used to and she kept on staring, as though she were a deer caught in the headlights. They stared at each other in surprise, as though they were just noticing the eye colour of the other person. Natsu was the first to break away from the trance as he plopped himself down next to her.
"Mira told me that you wanted to meet me and I came here as soon as I could. I would have hurried up with the job if I knew about the meeting before hand and that way you wouldn't have had to fall asleep waiting for me."
"No, it's fine." She cleared her throat before trying again. There was still sleep laced in thick with her voice. "In fact, it should be me who is saying sorry. Natsu, me blowing up on you yesterday was out of order and I'm sorry for doing that to you. You didn't deserve it at all. I just have a few issues that I've been meaning to sort out and I've just been running away from them."
Natsu stood there silently as he waited for her to continue. He sat very close to her that the hair on both of their arms were literally brushing against one another and it was very distracting to Lisanna. She tried to move away slightly, but Natsu grabbed her to stop.
"You can tell me."
Just with that one look, that's when it all came pouring out.
"I know that at the time when I was saying it when were little, you must have been thinking that it was a joke and honestly, I thought it was a joke too, but when we grew up, I found myself actually wanting to become your wife for real when we grew up so basically, I'm trying to say that I love you, but obviously with me being gone for two years and then the seven year gap, we didn't have anytime to catch up and I know that you've probably moved on because you have Lucy in your life and she's stronger, better and prettier than me and I guess I was just jealous of that so I took out my anger on you and now I see it's evil of me to think that you wouldn't have moved on so I'm saying I'm ready to let you go and live your life now and I'll move on too."
She took a big deep breath after realising that she hadn't even paused once to breathe. She didn't have the guts to look at the person she loved in the eyes and when she felt his grip loosen on her, her heart broke a little inside.
"That's a...That's a lot to take in there."
She laughed weakly, settling her chin on her knees once more. She wanted to run away from the scene so badly, but she also wanted to hear what Natsu would have to say to that. She took a sneak peek at him from the corner of her eyes and found him looking extremely thoughtful.
"All I don't get is why you would be jealous."
Lisanna's head shot up so fast, she knew that she would feel the effects of whiplash once she got over her shock. Did he know what he was implying?! She tried to open her mouth for a reply, to see if she could pull one out of her mind, but nothing came up. She faltered a little bit before finding the words to say.
"What do you mean? I love you Natsu, always have and no matter how much I try to move on, I always will. It's clear that you've moved onto Lucy."
"But that's where you're wrong. You were my first friend and I have feelings for you as well. I love Lucy sure, but as a sister. She's always trying to get me to change or something, but you? You understand me. I can look at you from across the guild and you would know what I'm thinking and I would know what you're thinking! Even if we haven't done a job together or just hung out, you're still my number one girl."
The tears started pouring from her eyes as she was going to use the back of her hand to wipe her tears. Natsu's thumbs got there before her hand and he grinned while wiping her tears. "Hey, you're not a cry baby so what's going on?"
"Do you know how happy your words have made me? Well, in all honesty, I didn't think you were going to be so forward about it."
"What, and act like the ice Princess, pretending that he doesn't love Juvia? Nah, that's not my style, I don't wanna be like him in any way thanks." He smirked at her and she blushed, looking away from her. She then thought of a question.
"Okay, well if you've always loved me, why have you never stopped to talk to me, or at least go out on a job with me? You always have the chance to do so sometimes and you never seem to take it."
Natsu sighed and it was his turn to blush. He turned his head away from her as he waved his hands up and down, pointing at her body. Lisanna raised an eyebrow, a little confused as to what he was trying to say. What the hell was he even doing? Did he have a dead arm or something and he was trying to shake it back to life?
"Because of the way you look."
"Eh?" Lisanna looked down at herself. She looked pretty normal, so she didn't know what he was getting at. Sure her shorts were pretty short and she wore a simple tank top, but isn't that what Lucy wore everyday pretty much?
"Before you 'died', you didn't have boobs, or like a really curvy waistline and shit. Your body was like a boy's. So when you came back, looking all hot and shit, I kinda got embarrassed to talk to you because you probably got the attention of every other guy around you in Edolas."
His face went from pink to red as Lisanna had to stop herself from giggling. He still wasn't looking at her, but she could tell that he was pouting a lot. "But Lucy dresses like this more or less everyday, you're not embarrassed by her."
"Because she wasn't a friend that I had showers with or played with. Let's face it, compared to you, Lucy and I have no history. Back then, I didn't have to remember the fact that you were a girl, but with all this puberty stuff that Igneel was talking about, it makes girls look really womanly and seeing you like that..."
He broke off and Lisanna laughed as she jumped on his back, kissing his cheeks. She laughed out and Natsu couldn't help but feel so humiliated. It was like back when they were kids, she would say embarrassing stuff and Natsu and Happy would just freak out. A soft smile came up on his face and he held onto her hands, feeling the extra warmth that he had been missing all these years. He nuzzled her cheek and sighed in content.
"I've missed this, you know."
"I know. It killed me, seeing the Edolas you, but he wasn't you. I love you so much."
"I love you too, Lis. Forever and always. Don't you forget that."
She giggled as she kissed his cheek again and getting off of him as she pulled the basket out of the hut. "I won't this time. Guess who brought food, knowing that you would be rushing over here when Mira told you the message?"
He smirked at her, messing with her mind. He put on his best thinking face and shrugged. "I'm gonna go with Lucy?"
Lisanna threw a plate at his face as he just laughed out, pulling her by her waist so that she sat between his legs on the ground. She felt so safe around him. She grinned, mentally thanking the palm reader for her advice and she knew that she would have to go back the next day to tell her about what happened, even if she already knew.
She smiled up at Natsu fondly as he was excited about eating the food in front of him and she snuggled into him, making him pause a little, but his grip on her tightened.
"I love you Natsu. Forever and always."
So how was that everyone, did you enjoy my little oneshot? I hope you all did, especially because this is my first NaLi! This is also NOT going to be the last Lisanna story I write, I have a few more coming up TEEHEE!
But yeah, flaredragon117, this is dedicated to you as it is FOR you lol! I hope you enjoyed reading it as much as I enjoyed writing it! Everyone else, I hope you loved it too! Please bear in mind (I have no idea what bare/bear I'm supposed to use there, please forgive me) that if you request stories (like don't all rush at once please!) then I'll have to draft up an idea about it and see if I can do it. Sometimes, there are ideas that really don't come to me if I'm not so keen on the pairing. I hope you can forgive me!
Please don't forget to rate or hate, flames or floods! I love you guys a lot so leave reviews to appreciate please!
Lolita-chan