I have no idea when I will next update this story or if I ever will but I wrote this a while ago and decided to post it. This takes place after the war against Zeref and the effects the battle has on our fairy tail friends.
Weeks had passed since the battle against Zeref and all of Alvarez had ended. Eight months to be exact. The lives of those who were affected by the war slowly returned to normal, though for some their 'normal' changed. Many people were hurt, especially Master Makarov who was now confined to a wheelchair. At the beginning the guild was heart broken at his crippled body but he was alive, a miracle that they embraced in these tough times. Still, even after everything that happened, some things never changed.
"NATSU! What the hell are you doing in my apartment!" Came a cry that most of Lucy Heartfilia's neighbors were rather familiar with after all these years. The blonde mentioned however, was glaring at the pink haired man hogging up her couch along with his feline companion. She felt her nostrils flare slightly as her eyes zeroed in on his feet kicked up on her table, noticing how he hadn't even bothered to take off his dirty sandals that were probably now scuffing up the glass that protected the table, which she just scrubbed clean the day prior.
"Oh, hey Luce! Me and Happy ran outta food at our place and we were hungry so we came here to eat your food!" Natsu answered brightly, giving her a good-natured smile while he munched on some sort of meat. After taking another glance, she was almost positive that it was the chicken she had been planning to use for her dinner.
"You ate my food too?!" Lucy shot another icy glare at him and she watched as he simply waved her off.
"I'll pay ya back, Luce. Geez, you didn't have to burst my eardrum for just a little food," he rolled his eyes, sticking his pinky in his ear as if to stop the ringing her screaming left him with.
A soft snort came from the blonde haired mage. "You better," was all she mumbled but the heat was gone from her voice. Lucy figured it was not worth it to argue and she was tired from taking a small job in town. With a sigh, she flopped down on the couch besides her partner, curling her legs up on the couch. Her knees were touching his thigh but neither seemed to mind the contact.
It was only quiet for a little over a minute until they were both tired of the lack of talking. Lucy was too tired to think of a topic but thankfully Natsu wasn't. "How was the job you took?"
"Not too bad. It was pretty easy," the young woman shrugged her shoulders slightly. "It was pretty boring, you wouldn't have liked it very much. There was nothing to destroy."
"H-hey! I do not just go on jobs to destroy things!" Natsu protested weakly, trying to guilt her with a pout which she didn't fall victim to. By now she was used to it, for the most part at least.
A small smile graced her lips as she knocked her shoulder against his playfully. "Whatever makes you sleep at night."
Natsu puffed out his cheeks in annoyance and tried to come up with a comeback. Coming up empty, the man let out a noise between a grumble and a whine as he slid down in his seat.
Lucy laughed easily, the sound filling up the small yet cozy apartment. Soon Happy had joined his giggles with her and it didn't take long for Natsu to join in with them. It really seemed like some things didn't change.
"It's ok, I still love you anyways," she patted his knee and stood up, stretching her sore legs from all the walking around town she had done that day. She went to walk away but felt a light tug on her skirt right as Natsu asked where she was going. "I'm just going to my desk. I have an idea for my story and I want to write it down while it's still fresh."
"Oh, okay," The dragon slayer nodded in understanding. He knew she was getting close to the end of her novel so she had been writing almost every single time he was over this week as she tried to push forward to the end. "Tell me when you get hungry for dinner and then I'll start whipping up something for us with whatever food I haven't eaten yet."
The blonde only shook her head a little at him, trying her best to hide the smile growing on her pink lips. "Only if you promise that you don't burn down my kitchen."
A snort of protest came from Natsu in response. "Hey, if I start a fire I'll eat it before it can even leave a scorch mark on the counter."
"I guess that's true," she leaned down a little so that she matched his height and pressed a light kiss to his lips which he gladly returned with a bit more luster, his hand moving to cup her thigh. The pads of his fingers danced along her sensitive skin briefly. When he pulled away, Lucy couldn't help but be a little disappointed. The feeling didn't last for long at his next words.
"Go finish up your writing for tonight. If you finish the chapter I'll reward your hard work with a bit more of this," he grinned up at her, a mischievous twinkle in his green eyes.
Lucy's heart warmed at his simple words. Supportive, Natsu was so supportive of her and she couldn't be more grateful. Catching her bottom lip in her teeth, she nodded a bit, straightening. "Thanks, Natsu," she responded gently, fixing the strap of her tank top that had slid down in the heat of the moment. "I won't be too long," she added and turned around, her skirt swishing as she moved. The fabric mimicked the movement of her curvy hips, only stopping once she sat down and got to work. The writer didn't even notice how Natsu watched her with a smile while she scribbled away on her notepad.
It seems like some things did change.
"Finally! I'm finished," Lucy stood up from her hunched position at her desk, raising her arms above her head. The muscles popped in pleasure as the tension ebbed away from them.
Natsu's head popped out from the kitchen at her voice. "You done?" He asked, a spoon in hand accompanied by the scent of food sizzling on the stove.
Lucy nodded her head, lowering her arms back down to her sides. "Yeah..." She trailed off and turned back to her paper. "Actually, give me a second, I have to write myself a note real quick for the next chapter." When he didn't go back to cooking, she chuckled. "I'll be there in a minute."
"Okay, I'm just about finished up in here," he said and disappeared back to his work while Lucy returned to hers.
Grabbing a blank page and her pen, she began writing down her plans for the next chapter so she wouldn't forget anything in her excitement. Sometimes she got so lost in the story that she would forget to add things like a specific piece of dialogue she wanted to implement or even a character that she forgot was in the situation.
As the ink flowed onto the paper in one fluid movement, she got lost in her ideas once more. It might have taken Natsu's voice to break her out of the spell she was under if her hand hadn't suddenly seized up on her, causing her hand to jerk and mar the page with a nasty black splotch. Pain coursed up her arm, her pen clattering to the table, resulting in another much smaller mark to scar the paper. With her other hand, Lucy grabbed her right hand at the wrist, gritting her teeth. Strangely, as quickly as the pain came on, it disappeared like a shadow into the mist.
Confused and slightly alarmed, Lucy stared at her hand, slowly turning her arm over and giving it an examination. It appeared to look normal so she brushed it off as overworking herself. After all, it was probably only a cramp from writing so much.
Before she could dwell on the matter any longer, her name was being called by Natsu as dinner was being placed on the table. Her mind switched gears to her stomach at the smell of food and went to enjoy her homecooked meal with her boyfriend. The cramp in her hand was easily dismissed from her mind while laughter and the boy sitting across from her filled her thoughts instead.
That night Natsu slept over, much like he did most of the nights now that they started dating. The two were a bit slower than a few of the other couples in the guild but they didn't mind going at a slower pace. It felt natural to them. With that being said, they didn't start dating until about three months prior. Contrastingly, right after the war, Levy and Gajeel announced their relationship publicly to the guild, not that it was a surprise to Lucy. Levy was one of her best friend's and told her everything about her crush on the iron dragon slayer. She even knew that they had started dating officially a while before the war on Alvarez had even started.
Natsu and Lucy's relationship wasn't as lustful and rushed as the other couples. It took a few weeks before she let him sleep in her bed with her, and all they did was sleep. Now, she allowed him to sleep in bed with her, as long as he didn't hog up the bed, which he followed, for the most part. There were a few times in the beginning that Lucy found herself crammed between him and the wall. After Lucy woke up cranky multiple days in a row, Natsu got his bearings and straightened himself out. For him, that meant spooning her close to him, not that she minded one bit. He was her own personal furnace. One that came with a toned body and adorable smile she could kiss right off his face.
On this particular morning, Natsu was up before her surprisingly. Half the time he would sleep until late afternoon if she let him! Today, was not one of those days as she rolled over and found his warm arms having disappeared. Blinking her eyes open, Lucy scanned her bleary eyes around the room until they fixated on her boyfriend. "What are you doing?" she mumbled sleepily, her voice scratchy from sleep.
Upon hearing her, Natsu's head swiveled around. He had been slipping on his sandals by the front door and looked ready to leave. "Sorry, Lucy. I didn't mean to wake you," he murmured, his eyes softening as he walked over to her bed and sat down on the edge of it. His hand came up to smooth her hair back lovingly. "Shhhh…go back to sleep," his soothing voice almost worked to lull her back into dreamland, but her curiosity overpowered the need for sleep.
"Where are you goin'?" the blonde slurred, her eyes closing again as he kept running his gentle fingers through her golden tresses.
She didn't have to open her eyes to know that he was smiling down on her. She could hear the fondness in his voice. "I was going to check the guild to see if there were any good jobs we could take in the next few days. That's all."
"Really?" she asked without cracking her eyes open.
"Really really," Natsu assured her, his hand pulling away along with his warmth. At this she finally opened her eyes again and grabbed his scarf, tugging on it gently. She loved the deep chuckle that rumbled in his chest. He knew what she wanted. "I'll be back in a few hours. I might go to town to get you some more food since I ate it all yesterday," he kissed her lips, satisfying her for the time being.
Lucy laid back down, pulling the covers back over her shoulders and watched him stand up. "Bye, Natsu," she called out to him softly as he made his way back towards the door. He paused when she did, his hand on the door knob.
"See ya later, Luce," he grinned at her and then disappeared out the door, his sandals slapping the back of his feet with each step.
She waited for a few minutes until she was sure he wouldn't come back before throwing the covers off her. While he was gone she had to get a few things done. Glancing at the clock, she noticed that it was eight. Even if he hadn't gotten up, she would have woken up on her own around this time anyways. She couldn't sleep in that late. Sleeping in would mean wasting half the day away and Lucy Heartfillia was not someone who liked to spend her entire day sleeping when she could be productive instead.
Her thoughts drifted to writing but she didn't have the motivation to work on it now, so she settled with starting off the morning easy. Her bare feet padded against the hard wood floor which was freezing in comparison to her warm blankets. Having just the idea, she walked over to her dresser and opened the top drawer, rummaging around in there until she found the desired item. The blonde plopped down on her bed, pulling one leg up and resting it on her opposite knee while she slid the pink fuzzy sucks on. After doing the same with the other foot, she hopped to her feet to make breakfast for herself.
Hopefully, Natsu had left her with enough edible food to make a meal with. Her wish was granted as she found a few eggs still left in their Styrofoam container. Pulling that out of the fridge, she set them aside on the counter so she could grab a pan. A soft hum of a tune began from her lips as she fluttered around the kitchen, her hips swaying slightly to the music in her head. A content smile filled her face as she poured tap water into her coffee maker. If Natsu were here she would just have him stick his finger into the water and it would be at the perfect temperature in seconds. Or he would make it too hot on purpose to mess with her, that dork.
As she waited for the coffee to brew, she worked on making scrambled eggs which didn't take long so by the time she finished that she already had her cream in her coffee, using a peppermint mocha flavor. Many people assumed that peppermint flavored anything was only acceptable around Christmas, but Lucy enjoyed the holiday flavored tea year-round. The crisp aroma that it gave off relaxed her body and mind, allowing her thoughts to become clearer with each sip she would take. Adding a little bit more cream in, she stirred the liquid around in its mug that read, "Best Dad." Natsu thought that it would be a funny gift for her, which in truth it was.
Sitting alone at the table she ate her eggs and quietly sipped her drink, her thoughts wandering as she stared out the window, watching the water ripple in the canal as boats disturbed its wake. Suddenly, a knock at the door jarred her out of her thoughts. She frowned, Natsu couldn't be back already, not to mention he came in through the window half of the time.
Shuffling on over in her fuzzy socks, she quickly remembered that she wasn't wearing a bra so she pulled on her robe that was lying on the couch before answering the door. After swinging it open, she blinked in surprise at the tall, dark haired male in front of her. "Gray? What are you doing here?"
"I was going to talk to you today at the guild but Natsu said you were sleeping in. Sorry if I woke you up but it's kinda important," came her guild mate's explanation as to why he was at her door step.
Lucy waved off his concern with a dismissive hand gesture. "I was already awake," she let her hand drop back to her side, her fingers fiddling with the bottoms of her shorts. "What did you need to talk to me about?"
Gray jerked his head forehead, asking permission if he could step inside which he immediately allowed him too. As he strode into her apartment, she closed and locked the door behind him, her palm lingering on the door as she looked back at him, watching how comfortable he was in her apartment. That was no surprise with the amount of times he and her other friends barged in unannounced. She remembered a time when the gang showed up while she was taking a bath. Let's just say she always kept a robe in her bathroom at all times after that.
"I just made coffee, do you want a cup?" the blonde offered him politely, already walking into her kitchen. Her apartment was an open layout so the living area connected right to the kitchen without a wall to separate them.
"Yeah, that's be great. Thanks," the ice wizard eased himself into her arm chair. "Just two-"
"Two teaspoons of sugar, no cream," Lucy finished his order for him with a smirk, reaching to the cabinet above her head to where her mugs were. She absolutely loved mugs and had an abundance of them, half of which she rarely ever used. Whenever she saw a cute one she always just had to buy it. Chuckling to herself, she picked out a light blue one decorated in white snowflakes. It was a Christmas mug but it was fitting for her friend.
Gray saw the mug she picked out from the couch and rolled his eyes. "Yeah yeah, do you make me coffee that much?"
"Almost every time you come over," Lucy shrugged, taking the pot of hot coffee and pouring it into his mug along with refilling her own. "And I have a good memory for these things," she added, scooping sugar into his while adding a sprinkle to hers. After finishing, she picked up a cup in each hand and carried it over to the living room, handing her friend's his appropriate coffee. She made a face as he raised a hand over his drink and made ice cubes out of thin air drop down into the hot liquid with small plunks.
"It's better iced," he responded to her face and like every time, she shook her head and smiled.
"Whatever you say." Together the two sat in silence for a few minutes, enjoying their coffee and the peaceful atmosphere of the morning. After about five minutes and a good quarter of their coffee had disappeared into their bellies, Gray spoke up.
"I'm worried about you, Lucy," the dark haired mage stared at her seriously, setting his cup down on the end table beside him.
Not having any clue as to why he would feel this way, Lucy sat up a bit in her seat, quirking a blonde brow at him in confusion. "Worried? About what?" her lips drew downward. "If this is another speech about how I should tell you if Natsu is ever mistreating me I told you hundreds of times that I'm perfectly fine. He's been really good to me."
Gray held up a hand to stop the stream off words bubbling from her mouth. "I'm not talking about that," he lowered his hand and nervously cracking his knuckles. "I've sensed something…off with you in the past few weeks."
Lucy scrunched up her face at his odd words. "I have no clue what you are talking about."
"I figured you wouldn't," her friend sighed, running a hand through his spiked hair. After Lucy urged him to continue, he stared at her seriously. "Ever since I…inherited my demon slaying powers from my father…I've gotten pretty good at sensing evil auras."
"Okay? That's great?" Lucy replied quizzically. "And this applies to me how?"
"In the past couple weeks, I've sensed something strange with you, Lucy," he finally admitted, concern glittering in his dark eyes.
"Strange how?"
"Have you felt any different lately?" Gray evaded answering her question by providing another. "Anything at all? Fatigued faster? Trouble remembering things? Sudden pains?"
Lucy shook her head at him slowly. "I mean I got a weird cramp in my hand last night but that was because I was writing for a while."
Gray stood up slowly from his seat, staring down at her worriedly. "I don't think that's what it was," he walked over to her and knelt in front of where she sat. "Which hand? You're right handed right?" After a nod of confirmation from her, he took her hand in his and closed his eyes. Black marks appeared on his face as he channeled his power from within. Power swirled around the two of them as he focused it on her arm.
Nothing seemed to happen at first, his power feeling like a powerful but gentle wind sweeping inside of her. Suddenly, his eyes snapped open, blazing white. Along with it brought a burning pain in her fingers that raced from the tips to her shoulder, causing a gasp to escape from her parted lips. "G-gray…what are you doing?" she managed to grit out between clenched teeth as the pain seemed to vibrate to her very bones. "Gray!" she cried out, her back arching slightly but he forced her to stay seated. Black lines that resembled vines appeared on her hand, trailing half way up her arm. Before she could get a good look at them they disappeared along with the pain.
Everything reverted to normal, the black marks gone from both Gray and herself. Both mages panted heavily, regaining their bearings. "W-what…the hell…was that?!" the celestial mage bit out, glaring at her friend. Some friend he was.
Gray simply sat on the ground, shaking his head slowly. "I'm not exactly sure…but whatever it is…it's really bad."
"Wait…you didn't make those marks appear on me?" Lucy stared at him in confusion, her mind spinning on its axis.
"Not exactly. They are residing in your body, I only made them visible to our eyes," the tried to explain to her.
"So, what is it?" Lucy asked again impatiently, swiping her bangs behind her ear.
"Do you remember how during the war…you took the book of END and wrote in it? And those weird marks covered your arm? That's what that was. Instead of the demonic aura retreating into the book…some of it remained in your body, hibernating. Recently, it began to show itself."
"What does this all mean?" Lucy whispered, holding her breath as she waited for his solution.
"I'm not sure." She deflated at his unhelpful response. "But it's clear that it's beginning to affect you. It's only slightly so far but I'm afraid it will only increase," his ominous words made a shiver run down her spine, leaving behind a cold chill of dread. The foreboding feeling lingering weighed heavily on her chest.
Swallowing thickly, she stared down at her lap, her fingers nervously rubbing a small freckle on her thigh. "What do we do?"
"I'll begin researching it but for now I can continue drawing out some of the aura for you every week, just to keep it at bay. It's a temporary solution but it's better than not doing anything at all," he placed a strong hand on her shoulder, squeezing gently. "I won't let anything happen to you, Lucy. I promise," his eyes were serious as he spoke as well as determined.
Giving him a small smile in return she nodded and wrapped her arms around his neck, pulling him in closer. Despite his magic his skin was warm, not as warm as Natsu's but comforting all the same. "Thanks Gray," she whispered, burying her face into the crook of his shoulder. They stayed like that a moment before she pulled away. "You should get going. Natsu will be back soon."
"You aren't going to tell him." It wasn't a question, he already knew the answer.
"No, at least not now," she shook her head, her blond hair stirring at the motion around her face. "There's no use in worrying him. If it gets worse I'll tell him." She didn't have to ask him to keep this between them, she already knew he would. He was one of the few people who she could tell anything to and she didn't have to worry about him spilling her secrets. His lips remained sealed and that was one of the things she loved about him.
"I understand…" Gray nodded a bit, standing up and offering a hand to assist her. She took it graciously and walked him to the door, handing him his shirt he had discarded earlier without realizing. "So, I'll see you around?" he asked, taking his tee shirt from her and sliding the black material over his body. The shirt was tight, leaving little to the imagination.
"Yeah, I'll probably stop by the guild tomorrow," she smiled at him, unlocking and opening the front door from him.
"Should I sneak out the window in case Natsu is coming up?" her jerked his thumb in the direction of the kitchen window.
"Nah, that's the way he usually comes in from," she chuckled, shaking her head. "Thanks for helping me, Gray."
"No need to thank me. Friends look out for each other, yeah?"
"Yeah," she nodded, smiling more.
Gray stuffed his hands in his pockets after giving her a quick wave. "See ya around, Lucy."
"See ya," she watched him retreat out into the hallway, closing the door once he was out of sight, shutting out her worries as well on the war raging inside of her body.