Hi guys!
I've recently release a new story. I genuinely hope you get to read it!
But enjoy this one - ish.
Lucy mustered up the courage to force a smile on her face. As each second passed, her heart was breaking slowly - bit by painful bit. There wasn't much she could except stand on the sidelines and watch the entire scene unfold before her eyes.
Besides the fact that they had overcome one of the greatest battles known to Fairy Tail, they still managed to stand their ground and proudly wave the Fairy Tail Emblem on its post to mark the greatest achievement.
Well - it all went crashing down just a few days before the night party that Mira had set up to celebrate the guild's success.
She and Natsu weren't on...friendly terms as of lately. Despite their little fights now and then, the latest argument really had taken a toll on the celestial mage who hadn't had the greatest time isolating herself in her apartment and locking everything to avoid contact with a certain dragon slayer.
It only started as of late when Lucy thought that maybe there was something, some kind of spark, happening between the both of them. She felt the chemistry pulling them together and somehow, she knew that this time, she was ready to kick her pride aside and take their friendship to the next step. It was about time too.
That was the plan - until Natsu started distancing himself from her. Every attempt to try and be alone with the fire mage, the blonde watched dejectedly as he turned heels and escape. Even trying to talk to him and starting a conversation based on the missions that she looked forward to - he only mumbled ever so quickly before making a dash to Gray or someone else.
Eventually, they spoke but in large settings. Every time she did something, he would only say a sentence that could just ruin her forever. The first comment, she thought it was purely a thought mentioned. She had finished fighting her opponents, who she had underestimated but nevertheless, gave it her all and managed to complete her share of enemies. At this point, she reduced her dependence on Natsu, as she was wanting to show how much she had improved. The Dragon Slayer jumped beside her as she was lying with her back against a tree trunk. He sat beside her and let out a chuckle. Instantly, the blonde turned her tired eyes to form a weak glare,
"What's so funny?" He shook his head in response before turning to face her fully with full interest in his eyes. Under his heated gaze, Lucy inwardly squirmed,
"Nothing - you just kinda reminded me of Lisanna." Her heard throbbed painfully. Before the tears could fall, her body moved on its own. Lucy stood up almost awkwardly, mumbled a line of words before escaping into the forest, limping in the process. Unfortunately, the dragon slayer followed shortly after - in the short time she had, the celestial mage had wiped away the tears and cleaned her face of any teary evidence,
"Are you okay?" Natsu asked, eyeing her worryingly but Lucy looked up to force the growing sadness down,
"I'm fine - I just wanted to thank my zodiac friends before it slips my mind. A-and I wanted to do it alone. Y'know - key holder to key thing." Regardless of the bullshit that slipped out of her mouth, it seemed as if fire mage accepted the excuse. The pink-haired teen sighed disappointingly whilst folding his arms.
"Shoulda just told me. I would have left you to do your thing."
Eventually after that, the comments just kept on slipping now and then.
"If only you could transform into a bird, Luce."
"You're pretty heavy, might need to tone down on the meat. Hey - I heard Lis started this doing diet thing. You should do it, Luce."
"If only you had shorter hair, then maybe it wouldn't get all tangled in knots."
Lucy tried her best to fight off the nagging feeling in the pits of her stomach. But at one point, thats when all the bundled up feelings that she saved in her heart became undone and not even she could see how their friendship would ever remain the same.
She had walked into Natsu's house in an attempt to find the dragon slayer. After waiting for him at the guild so that they could begin another mission, his absence clearly rang red flags - especially after waiting the entire afternoon. The blonde mage knew that Happy had left with Wendy and Charle and they only would be out for a day. Natsu? He still never showed up. Even the night before, he had failed to show up in the middle of the night at her apartment, regardless that even though Lucy kicks him out, she still left the windows unlocked every night for him. Yet last night, he didn't show up at all. Not even in the morning. At times, Lucy would probably kiss the ground for this daily blessing, but everything around the two just felt off.
Lucy silently was grateful that Natsu never locked his doors so eventually, she slipped silently into the house and her annoyance spiked to the roof.
There he was sleeping in his hammock without the slightest care in the world. Usually, she would accept that he's tired and probably head back to her apartment and wait until further notice. But somehow, the nagging feeling inside her just made her mad. She went over to his hammock and shook him awake. Eventually, the sleeping dragon slayer awoke with tired eyes, getting up but still leaning on his elbows.
"Lisanna-? Oh, hey Luce." Something tore inside of the blonde mage. Thankfully, there was a nearby chair in which the celestial mage stumbled numbly backwards and collapsed onto the wooden chair.
"Luce-?"
"What do you want from me, Natsu? Why are you being so cruel?" Lucy mumbled underneath her breath but the dragon slayers' ear picked it up sharply. Rubbing his eyes from its tired haze, he turned on his hammock to face her.
"What's wrong? What happened?" His worried voice reached her ears and her heart throbbed painfully,
"Aren't I enough? Tell me, Natsu. Will I ever be enough?" Lucy inwardly kicked herself as the tears started building up, however, she refused to show him to tears as she used the back of her sleeve to wipe them away. At this point, the fire mage jumped out of his hammock and dashed to kneel in front of her. He gathered her small hands into his large ones and rubbed his thumbs soothingly over hers.
Inside, Lucy wanted to draw her arms back but couldn't find the strength to do so - instead, she just sat there with tears falling freely down her face. She really done it this time.
"Luce - talk to me. What wrong?" At this point, the blonde slowly lifted her head and stared through the tears to see the mage in front of her. Was it worth it?
"Tell me, Natsu. Are you just using me?" The said pink-haired mage looked stricken. His jaw dropped at the mere mention of "using" and his mouth started sputtering,
"Using? Luce- where on earthland? What are you talking about? I can never do that to you - Mavis what are you-"
"Just tell me Natsu." Lucy interrupted. Wiping away the last bunch of tears before they fell. Instead, hot anger started to dwell within her the more she watched him.
"Am I not enough for a partner? Not enough that you never failed to remind me of the characteristics Lisanna has that I don't. Am I not enough?" This time, Natsu was shocked beyond his sleep. The sudden accusation had definitely woken him from his slumber and his caress on her stopped abruptly.
"Luce - why would you bring Lisanna into this? Where is this come from-" Immediately, Lucy shoved his hands away, stood up and stomped her way across to the door. A hand reached out to grab her wrist, in which she snatched it out only to glare at the male who attempted for her wrist again and managed successfully,
"Get the hell away from me." Lucy snarled, with full anger in throttle and nothing was holding back. The reciever of the harsh sentence still stayed firm.
"No. Not until you tell me why you've gotten sour back there. I still don't understand this thing with Lisanna." The blonde attempted one more pull on her wrist but it was still in vain. Looking up, she glared with all her intentions and anger.
"So many times Natsu, so many times. You had done nothing but compare me to Lisanna. My abilities, my characteristics, my hair, my clothes and my lifestyle. Am I not enough for you?" The tears started welling and her vision became blur,
"Am I not good enough to be your partner? I just feel so... Neglected, Natsu. I feel that you only used me to fulfill that emptiness within you - to fill that void when Lisanna died-"
A resounding echo bounced off the walls and the red hand imprint on Lucy's face told the silent story. Immediately, a hand encircled the blonde mage who had her face turned in shock. Natsu was no different either - his hand stayed deadly still in the air, afraid and waiting.
"How dare you." The newcomer spoke with intense hate. Lucy opened her mouth to speak but the words just wouldn't come out. The tears once again built in the corner of her eyes and some fell over scathing red mark. Natsu unconsciously had released his grip on her wrist, letting his hand fall limply to his side.
"Lucy- I'm... What happened there...my hand.. Luce-oh.."A sharp object was raised against Natsu's throat. Another person had appeared and another as well. Three of them was standing between him and Lucy.
Scorpio's teeth clenched. Never before had his master been so openly struck by anyone, not even by her own guild, let alone, her own best friend. As he held the stinger drenched in deadly poison to the Dragon Slayers neck, he would gladly thrust the weapon into the fire mages heart over and over until his body rotted.
"That's enough."Aquarius commanded. She stood beside Scorpio with heavy killing intent dripping around her. Behind, Leo scooped the celestial mage into his arms - who still remained shocked.
"Look - I can explain-! I just-"
"Natsu Dragneel." Aquarius firmly interrupted, signalling the other two to leave with their master in Leo's arms. Just as quickly they had appeared, they disappeared with Lucy. The fire mage watched the entire thing unfold before turning his attention back to the zodiac spirit,
"Where are you taking her?" Aquarius raised an eyebrow.
"I'm afraid you no longer qualify to have that question answered anymore." The mermaid spirit responded, lifting a finger to create a water vortex.
"What?" The zodiac spirit turned her back on the fire mage.
"What you've done, Natsu Dragneel, was the utmost disgrace on not only the Spirit Realm, but on Fairy Tail's reputation." As she started heading towards the vortex, Natsu darted in front of her, therefore stalling her movements.
"Please. I need to explain everything to her. I need to-Mavis please- it was a mistake. I didn't mean to do..." the desperation in his eyes screamed for a second chance but the mermaid still maintained her usual composure. She leant down to the fire mage and evidently, his words failed him once again.
"I think that is quite enough, Dragneel." And quickly, water came out of the vortex to contain the dragon slayer in a water bubble, in which just the inside had air but the magic emitting from the water caused his powers to nullify in a small time.
"Lucy is someone that I vowed to protect. When she started associating herself with Fairy Tail, I passed that responsibility to you - granted, I thought she has finally found something - no, someone that she can finally depend on." Slowly, her blue eyes looked down with sadness,
"Unfortunately, I thought wrong and it was a choice that I deeply regret." As if something shocked her, Aquarius raised her head and turned to look at the fire mage with pity,
"Lucy Heartfilia will never return to Earth land nor Fairy Tail until three years. That, is something I vowed." With a quick change, the water vortex swallowed the zodiac spirit, therefore removing the water bindings on the dragon slayer.
And here she was. Three years later. Sitting in the deep comfort of her apartment. Enjoying the similar atmosphere when she first moved to Magnolia. Nostalgic memories flowed freely, but Lucy was quicker to clear her mind.
Admittedly, she was quite nervous to step outside. A few hours ago, Leo had moved all her things from the Spirit Realm to her apartment, already settling the rent bond with her previous landlord and also paying for practically everything. Lucy lifted her brown eyes to the window as her senses started picking up something approaching - but a bird perched itself just on the edge of her window-sill.
"I guess I should probably get out of my shell." Lucy chuckled nervously, before standing up and getting ready to head out to the guild. After her shower, she stepped out with the towel tucked neatly under the fold at the top of her breasts.
"Man that feels good." Lucy smiled warmly, walking over to the closet and pulling out a set of clothes. Ten minutes later, she brushed her hair one last time before slipping her keys into her pockets.
Her long hair flowed at the low dip of her back. Lucy had considered many times to snip the blonde locks but after many thoughts, had decided to keep it.
Lucy wore a plain grey dress shirt, with a black sash that encircled her waist. Her arms was taped heavily to hide the marks inflicted during her trainings in the past three years. She slipped her brown boots on before heading out the door.
"I'm sure everything will be the same."
She couldn't do it. Despite standing just outside the gates, she still couldn't muster the strength or the courage to take another step. With this in mind, she turned around and made her way back to her apartment. What was she thinking? Walking into the guild with a smile on her face as if three years didn't happen at all. Lucy felt her legs wobbling before it eventually gave way. However, just as quickly, arms had circled around her waist to catch her during her fall.
"Whoa - careful there, princess." Her heart throbbed painfully. It almost felt like it could just pound its way right through her chest and onto the brick ground. With uncertainty, she raised her eyes to look at the person who hooked their strong arm around her petite waist.
"S-Sting?!" The named dragon slayer looked down with surprise. Immediately, he broke out into a full grin.
"Hey! Lucy-was it? I didn't even recognize you." Carefully, he assisted the stellar mage back onto her feet before gently releasing her from his hold. The celestial mage let out a nervous laugh.
"I'm going to take that as a compliment for now. What are you doing here in Magnolia?" Lucy joked. But it was far from the truth. In all matter of fact, she didn't recognize herself either.
"I was just leaving actually - had some illegal business to do. What are you wearing-? You look like a civilian." Sting noted, taking a full view of the girl before him. Suddenly, his eyes caught the way her eyes saddened and he instantly knew something was wrong.
"Who was it?"
"H-huh? Who is what?"
"Don't play games with me, Heartfilia."
"I-I don't know what you're talking about."
"Who made you cry?"
Lucy's ears perked up and just as quickly, she forced a smile.
"W-what are you talking about?" She lied through her teeth, pushing a strand of blond hair behind her ear.
"Come." The light mage reached over and grabbed her hand, interlacing their fingers together.
Light appeared beneath their feet and before Lucy could comprehend what was happening, the guiding light soared with them following closely behind - following in utter silence. Eventually, they settled on a plain grass field just on the outskirts of Magnolia. Both mages seated themselves respectively on the rocks that barely stuck out but was competent as a make-shift chair.
"Talk to me, Heartfilia." Lucy looked at the dragon slayer before turning her head down. It was really no use. After all this time, she still couldn't hide the sadness in her heart. Even after three years of pure hard training and strict discipline from Aquarius - she was still hopeless.
"There's nothing to talk about." She reached out and plucked a dandelion. Dancing ever so gracefully in the wind. Eventually, the breeze picked up and blew the little parts of the dandelion - which almost painfully reminded Lucy of how much wind she had been through to eventually not being able to withstand it.
There was a sound of shuffling and boots walking on grass. Suddenly, her view became filled with piercing shade of blue and blonde - he was kneeling before her with one leg propped up to lean on. Taken by surprise, she reached out to push him away but his hands grabbed hers and held them.
"You don't need to hide it. For once, Heartfilia, you don't need to be strong. It's okay." Her vision was beginning to blur out. Her sight could only make out splotches of colours and shapes,
"Y-you - I don't know what you're talking about."
"The tears, Heartfilia. The mask. The pretence. I can see right through them all."
Unconsciously, she turned her head to blink the tears away and force the fresh droplets down. But the back of her head was grabbed and pushed into a solid yet warm chest. The hand started rubbing soothing circles on her neck and then made it way to her back.
"Its okay to cry, y'know. It's okay." The lump in her throat seemed much harder to swallow. Without realizing, her hands reached up and grabbed the back of his shirt - for comfort? For closure? Out of fear? She didn't know.
"I'm not even sure if I'm doing this properly - but I know that if Dragneel saw us, hell will break loose." He felt the blonde go stiff immediately after the mention of the fire mage.
"Hey, are you okay?" There was a mumble of words before the grip on his clothes tightened dangerously. He made a move to look at her but she stubbornly tightened her hold.
"Please."
They sat there for a few minutes before Lucy pulled away and sighed with defeat. With a heavy heart, she revealed her feelings and insecurities. The entire time she spoke, the dragon slayer held her in silence and listened to her.
"I don't know what's wrong with me. I've never felt so... Lonely. In a big, loud and rambunctious guild filled with disaster, it was as if I'm the only one that didn't fit in this perfect chaos."
Annnnd thats the first chapter done. I hope you enjoyed it as much as I did. Well, at certain parts.
Nevermind. I'm just making things worse.
Keep out for the next chapter. I shall be releasing the next on Friday.
Cheers!
B7K
