Nashi looked at her mother as she lay down for bed, "Mommy? How did you and Daddy meet?"
Lucy had sat in a chair next to the young seven year old's bed. A question was asked of her and she wasn't sure how to approach it. As a young child she new that she had a creative mind, but this story was something out of a fairy tale. Of course, the child would believe the story, but even sometimes looking back at the outskirts of town made her smile. At first she had believed that it was a dream, but today as a married woman with a family at age twenty-eight, she knew that it was real.
Time seemed to go back as Lucy remembered all her days trapped in the town bakery. She was just an average girl who just wanted to go on adventures. She had a boring life baking pastries for the towns people, but if she wanted to keep her apartment she had to keep a job. She was eighteen and had just moved out of her fathers house. Unfortunately, her father didn't approve of her choice of wanting to become a writer, so the financial support that would have come from him was completely cut off. She left with the small amount of money that was given to her. It was enough to move into town and start out, but that was it.
On weekends, Lucy would take walks through the forest on the outskirts of town. This would prove to be the first adventure of many that she would experience for the span of a month. The tall trees surrounding her fueled her creative spirit and make her forget that she led a boring life as a baker. Sometimes she would hear cracks from the squirrels jumping through the trees or birds flying around. The wind would push through her blonde hair that she kept up in a pony tail on nice spring days like this one. Flowers seemed to bloom where she walked and new life seemed to be everywhere. She looked to her life and saw a family of deer on her right a flowing river. The water lead to the town's own water system, but Lucy always found the river in the forest to be more beautiful than they could have ever made it look encased with cement banks back in town.
She took her usual stop along the river to lean against a tree and listen to all the sounds around her. This was the closest she could ever be to nature and she would give anything to just know if there was anything more to the world that was just as beautiful. The blue skies, the warm sun, the trickling water, the rustling leaves, and the cry of birds. They all worked together to make the music of the world around them. At least it was music to her ears. Her father would do anything to get rid of everything to do with nature and she knew a few other people who weren't fans either. It made her question why people like that existed.
"I'll never understand people who want to chop down forests and take resources for themselves. It's too bad that it's ruining everything and taking away the animals homes." Lucy stated, looking up at the birds that were in a nest feeding their young above her head.
She found the image to be almost bittersweet memory of her mother who had died from illness when she was a child. It wasn't exactly an easy time in her life, but it motivated her to start getting her own life in order. Once she was done with her break she started walking up the river, farther into the forest. This is when she had come across something that she had never seen before in her walks. An open meadow with a circle of all different types of flowers surrounding a center of grass. Right in the middle was a mound of dirt that seemed to be smoking. She walked into the meadow to investigate since she had been through here and had never seen this meadow before.
In the center of the mound something was sparkling. It was a white rock that seemed to have a rainbow buried inside of it. Lucy knelt down and inspected the dirt and the stone in the center of it, not knowing what it was she picked it up and thought that maybe her jeweler friend would be able to tell her what it was. On her way out she dug up a flower with her hands and replanted the plant right in the center where she had found the stone. She figured she'd also write a note with paper.
The note read:
If you lost a precious stone. I have picked it up. Please come to the town at the bottom of the river and ask directions to the bakery. I will have it for you there. Thank you and please stay safe.
-Lucy
P.S. This is a lovely meadow, so I replaced the stone with a flower. I will come back to water it and nurture the plants that deserve so much respect.
Lucy put some of the dirt on top of the note to keep it from blowing away. When she was done with that she got up and started following the river back down to town. It was getting late and she still had to talk to her friend about the stone. So instead of walking back she went at more of a run. She was hardly the athletic type, but she was filled with wonder and new ideas to write about and this friend also loved her crazy ideas for stories and often read her work.
When she got back to town it was around 8 PM and the shop would be closed, but Lucy always knew where to find her friend. Levy usually hung out around at the library after a long hard days work to get rid of her work day stress. She was always busy with something, but she was also always willing to help a friend out.
Nashi interrupted at this point to ask a question, "Mommy, what does this have to do with you meeting daddy?"
Always impatient. She got it from her father no doubt. Natsu had no patience when it came to Lucy explaining things, but there was always that deep love there. It was always hidden in his beast like eyes. It was like the demon of his past was still trapped with in his body.
"You will see, honey. Just listen and I'll get there. I promise." Lucy smiled and continued on with the story.
Lucy had met up with her friend in the library. It took a minute to get Levy to pay any attention to anything that she was saying, but young Levy also seemed to understand the urgency of the situation. She had gotten the call earlier as Lucy was on her way to the library, so she had already started studying up on different rocks to try and help Lucy in her time of need. Besides, Lucy had let her read her writing that she was in no way confident about.
"Alright, Lucy. Show it to me." Levy stated, opening the book that she had previously been looking at.
"Alright, thanks again." Lucy bowed her head as she pulled the pendant like stone out of her pocket and softly handed it over to her friend. It looked so fragile like just dropping it would break it.
Lucy sat in silence as her friend took the time to inspect the precious stone, a look of concentration on her face as she looked at the stone and then back at her book. She was wondering if she should put the pendant back onto a necklace, but she didn't know if someone would actually come looking for it or not. She figured she'd look for the owner for a week and if no one showed up she would keep it for herself.
"Whoa, cool find, Lu. Turns out what you found was an Ethiopian Opal. Not rare by any means, but can still be valuable given the right treatment. Who ever owned one this big must be rich." Levy said in absolute awe, "Where did you say you found it again?"
Lucy blinked in surprise, "I found it in the forest. I left a note in case anyone went looking for it. I told them to follow the river to town." She explained, not sure if it was a great idea to be telling her imaginative friend about this, "It was sitting in a mound of smoking dirt."
"Smoking dirt, huh? That's odd." Levy thought for a moment, "No one else was there?"
"No, it was just me. It wasn't even hot, which I found odd. I thought someone had originally started a fire, but I guess not. I'd never even seen that meadow before." Lucy shrugged.
Levy looked like she had remembered something, "Lu, do you remember that story that your mother told you as a child? The one you told me about?"
"Yeah, but what does that have to do with anything, Lev? It's just a story." Lucy raised an eyebrow. What crazy idea had her friend come up with now.
"Well, she said that the princess found a hidden meadow, right? When she found a key in the center the world had began to change. The things that were once alive died and smoke rose from the direction of the meadow." Levy explained, "What if this stone is the key and you are the princess. What if that story was about you and your mother was just telling you what was going to happen?"
"Levy, you are insane. There is no way that dragons exist. Those are just made up for children's stories. There is no way." Lucy's eyes shifted as she looked at the stone in her hand, "If no one comes to get it in a week, do you think you could make it into a necklace for me?" she asked, tilting her head.
Part of her wanted there to be something more to this Opal, but she would be okay if there wasn't. Compared to freeing a dragon from a curse her boring life was okay. She would be fine without the fear of meeting her death in a forest because she angered a fire breathing dragon.
"Sure, Lu. I'll make it into a beautiful necklace for you. It's already in a great teardrop shape. It'll be fantastic." Levy responded, getting excited for the adventure that her best friend had ahead of her if no one came for the stone, "You have an early start tomorrow, don't you? It's a Monday, right?"
That was one of her favorite parts of her friend, she always asked the day like she didn't know when the sun was coming up, "You know, for someone who always keeps her nose shoved in a book, I'm surprised at how observant you are." The young blonde smiled at her friend, "You're right though. I should set up shop for tomorrow."
With that, Lucy left the library and left for home. She made herself dinner and went to writing, a bunch of new ideas about this stone giving her a lot of material to write about. She didn't go to sleep until she had written down everything that had happened today. Around 10 PM She had passed out in her bed, allowing her mind to slip off to dream land.
The following week was painstakingly slow. Lucy didn't want anything to do with the bakery this week. She just wanted the owner of this stone to come and get it. Around Wednesday, is when things started to change outside, the leaves were falling off of trees and flowers seemed to be wilting despite it being sunny and warm outside. Sometimes, Lucy thought it was too hot for it to be Spring. By the end of the week, everything was dead. It was horrifying to Lucy. Someone who enjoyed the nature around her so much watched it fall into what seemed like an endless sleep. The owner of this stone still hadn't come, so on Friday, Lucy went back to Levy who forged the most beautiful necklace that she had ever scene in her life. It was a rose gold chain with diamonds around the pendant. Of course, Levy didn't ask for payment, just for Lucy to enjoy her new found adventure.
"So, Aunt Levy made that necklace that you always wear around your neck?" Nashi asked, a playful smile on her face as she looked at the necklace that hung around her mothers neck.
"Yes, she made this necklace. I call it a gift from your father though. It keeps both of us grounded when we look at it." Lucy smiled at her daughter, not knowing how to explain.
"A gift? Why, Mommy? I thought you just found it on the ground?" Nashi didn't know how to comprehend the new information, but Lucy was going to get to it in the story.
A hum left the sweet child's mother, "Well, you see. When dragon's cry, stones fall from their eyes, sweet pea. They stay warm for a while and that's why the ground was smoking. Apparently, no one had ever made your father feel guilty for his acts before. So, a single tear fell to the ground and that is all I needed."
"Okay, then why did everything start dying?" Nashi questioned pushing her mother to explain that.
"Well, Nashi, nothing actually died. You see, it was part of the curse. Based off the story that my mother once told me is that a man would burn down forests and because he had angered a witch was doomed to live with what he had done as a dragon until he changed his views on nature." Lucy explained to her daughter, hoping that would be enough explaining.
After receiving the necklace, Lucy noticed something that frightened her. There was an abnormal amount of smoke coming from the direction of the meadow in which she had last been to a week ago. She put the necklace around her neck and went on her trip into the now dark and dead forest. The sounds that were once there before were all gone. There were no birds chirping, no wind blowing, and no river trickling. Everything was so dead that it almost made her want to fall to he knees and sob, but she kept walking. This time she didn't make the stop on her way to the meadow.
When she arrived at the meadow, she was surprised to see a man standing above the flower that she had planted. He was holding what looked to be a chain, "Ah- Lucy, looks like you have returned as promised." The strange man said, looking down at the flower as if saying something. "My name is Loke. I am the guardian of the dragon of legend. We have much to talk about. Come." He waved her over.
"Dragon of Legend?" Lucy questioned, then she heard a roar above her head and saw fire shoot out across the sky. "Are you the owner of the Opal that I found last weekend?"
"No, dear Lucy. That stone belongs to none other than the dragon. For your words and actions, made him cry. However, only those with hearts as pure as their minds are allowed to see this meadow that is now the only place living in this dead forest. Your heart must be pure if you were able to see through the barrier in order to pick up that tear that you now wear around your neck." Loke states, "I have a quest for you in which no harm will come to you. You must make this beast see the errors of his ways. For if he cannot, life will not return to the forest and both of you will be doomed to live in what he has caused."
It was a pretty easy choice for Lucy after that. It was a choice between dead and dull, or bright and alive. She would gladly choose the latter. She wanted adventure and this is where it led her. She had to save this dragon from his curse or she was doomed to live his fate too and that's what she didn't want. She got an idea, "Alright, I'll require a pen and paper though. I can't make him appreciate something he doesn't want to see, but maybe if he sees how it affects others. I can't write when everything is dead."
With this agreement Lucy came back the day after with the story that she had been working on. The dragons circled, looking down the the female who had been there twice before. Now he was curious of why she came. No one had made him feel guilty for killing trees before and that was what set him off. She sat down next to her flower and looked around for what would be her inspiration, but her hand was toying with his tear. She started writing and then looked up to the dragon with a glare in her eye, "How am I supposed to listen to the calming sound around here if your wings are flapping and making this much wind?" She called up the dragon ducked down and landed in the grass.
Lucy bowed her head in thanks as the dragon slowly crept up to her. She had a look of concentration on her face, but it kept slipping in an out. Eventually she flopped back in the grass and starred at the sky which was now gray like it was about to rain. She picked up her pile of papers and looked around for a place that would keep them dry. There was a chest that wasn't there yesterday, but maybe Loke had put it there because he knew that she would be there with papers a lot. She smiled and gave a sigh of relief as she opened the box and found it empty. She placed the pages in the chest and shut it tightly not wanting the rain to leak in and ruin her work.
She felt eyes on her so she looked back and raised an eyebrow, "What, rain ruin paper. I'm planning on getting that story published one day." Lucy wasn't happy with the dragon just looking at her. His eyes were playful, but worried at the same time. It was about to rain after all, "What?" She questioned as he just starred at her.
Then what Lucy never expected, the dragon started talking, "So what if the rain ruins the paper. I don't care about that. I don't even care about these stupid flowers that I can't even kill. There is no point to the trees, or the wind, or the rain." Natsu said in a distasteful tone.
"You never went on nature walks much as a kid did you?" Lucy asked, sitting next to the dragon and looking up at him, "Did you know that plants are what gives us oxygen? Not to mention that they are homes to many animals that you have destroyed?" Lucy countered, "The wind and rain create music if you just care to listen. You can tell so much just by looking at the sky and smelling the air. You can smell when dinner is ready, the weather, the pastries that I make in the bakery." She finished as a speck of rain fell on her cheek.
"You have weird views and wrong views of the world, Lucy." The dragon joked, "Don't you have a life to live?"
"Don't those animals who's homes you destroyed?" Lucy countered and then there was silence, "By the way, you know my name. What is yours? Maybe we can try to be friends. I want to help you."
The dragon was silent for what seemed like a while, but when he did answer it was in a more kind tone, "Natsu. My name is Natsu." He hadn't talked to anyone in a long time. Though he had watched people pass through the forest. None of them ever actually saw the meadow or him, "Why are you being so nice to something that took away something you cared about?" He asked.
"Simply because forgiveness is easier than wasting my energy being angry. Besides, I don't know your reasons, just like you don't know mine." She explained and looked up as it started pouring, "Let's continue this conversation next weekend?"
The dragon nodded, "Sure, I'll see you next weekend. I'll keep your work safe."
Lucy grinned and started her way back home after patting the dragon's leg, "Thanks a lot." She grinned running off, following the the river back to town where she once again shared the events with her friend Levy before laying down for bed.
The following week she noticed less smoke rising from the meadow and when he did it was from impatient fire licking the evening sky. Natsu must have been excited that she was going to be coming back. Lucy was glad to be going back that she packed food for them both. Berries and sandwiches were packed neatly into bags. When she arrived the dragon was on the grass, looking impatient to see her.
"Lucy! I've been waiting all we-" He was cut off by the scent of the food in bags, "You made food?"
"Of course, since nature provided all of this I assumed that it would help my point." Lucy smirked and tossed a handful of berries at him and he caught all of them in his mouth.
Natsu huffed happily, "Well, if you put it that way I guess I like nature. I haven't had anything that good in a long time."
"Well, that's one way to put it." Lucy mumbled, sitting in the grass and tossing a pie up into the air for him to catch which he gladly did so.
"Yummy! hard to believe that it's hand made." Natsu teased, using his tongue to lick his lips like some animal, "Thanks, Luce."
They ate lunch together and told each other stories from their pasts. It was a peaceful experience, but then she frowned as the memory of her father filled her head, "Well, you never knew your parents, but tragedy struck my family when I was very young. My mother died when I was young. She had fallen ill and once she died my father became cold towards me because I look just like her. I didn't get mad over it, but I never forgave my father for it." She explained, "But I wouldn't be the person I am today without it. So, I thank nature." She smiled.
"I'm sorry about your mother, Lucy." Natsu said, looking down and feeling guilty for hating nature again, "I guess I could be thankful for how I turned out too. Even if my parents abandoned me. Maybe you should go home and rest. I'll be okay if you want to get your emotions out alone." Natsu said, sounding caring and poking Lucy with his nose, "It's getting late anyways. I'll be okay."
Lucy shook her head, "I'm fine, Natsu. Don't worry about it. It doesn't matter now anyways. It happened when I was very young." She smiled and leaned against the dragon and laughed, "It is getting late though. Levy will want to hear about this. Mind looking after my work a little longer. I can't really write looking at death anyways. I just want the trees to be back and to hear the birds in the morning." She sighed, looking up at the sky, "I'll be back next weekend."
"Oh I'll see you next week." Natsu huffed happily.
It was around Wednesday of next week when the wind began to blow again. Life was starting to come back to the world and Lucy was grinning. She ended up calling in sick to work and running into the forest. She knew what had happened, he had changed his views. She watched as she ran as flowers, grass and leaves returned to the dead world. The birds chirped, the river rippled, everything was coming back and she was so excited. When she got to the meadow, Natsu was standing right in the center of it with the same flower that Lucy had planted there a month ago.
"Daddy was a dragon?" Nashi asked in a sleepy tone. It was way past her bed time.
"Yes, and mommy saved daddy. The end." Lucy chuckled out and kissed her daughters forehead.
"Mommy, what happened after you saved him?" Nashi pushed, not wanting to go to sleep.
"Well, two years after I met him in human form we got engaged. A year after that we married. Then a year after that, we started a family." Lucy explained with a smile, now go to sleep and hope that you find your own dragon some day, my little one."
Nashi slowly fell asleep and Natsu walked in, "Not telling her that story again, are you?" He whispered.
"Well, good sir, I'll have you know that she deserves to know that you aren't what you seem all the time." Lucy smirked and stood up so that they too could go to sleep.