FunFact! Powerbank is a portable device that can supply USB power using stored energy in its built-in batteries.
power[ ]bank
.: hotairballooness :.
Chapter 1 : Oh!
–
"I've had enough of him."
Levy stared at her, all incredulous and frowns. She sighed at the behavior of her friend who sat in front of her, eyes puffy, holding a cup of hot chocolate and dressed in pink and blue stripes pajamas with bed hair sticking out like a lion mane. She was the personification of mess in a nutshell.
"I mean, seriously? He already has me and he flirted– "
"He was only talking– "
"–with that effin' b-word!"
The blue-haired writer narrowed her eyes. The fuming blonde definitely had a nasty tongue than the drunken one. But she couldn't intervene with her when she was on her monthly PMS. Levy knew very well what kind of nasty thing that could come out of her mouth.
"You sure have the guts for bad-mouthing her, Lu-chan. But Miki isn't a…bitch… yeah. As much as the victoria's secret sexy lingerie suits her well, I don't think she is."
"That photo shoots! I was the model but she... she…" Lucy sighed, quickly drinking the hot chocolate, ignoring how it burned her throat and wiped her mouth with the back of her hand. "Well, too bad, Levy-chan, but I do."
In all honesty, Levy had grown tired with her tantrum.
"Lu-chan you know how stupid your fight is," Levy sighed, drinking her hot chocolate that was no longer hot. She glanced around her turquoise colored room. She had her best friend's winter coat on the hanger, her purple heels and her undies on the floor. All of those amidst the sea of papers and books and sticky notes reminding her of deadlines.
Speaking of deadlines, she got no more time to console the hormonal girl – young woman but, meh, whatever – and she should get started if she wanted to finish before the deadlines. She made a beeline from her bed to her working table. Ignoring the plea her friend made (Levy-chan…) she put the cup aside and turned on her laptop.
Now she could finally make a use of her friend.
"Lu-chan," she called, typing password and immediately clicking a folder open, "you have two choices. First, help me out with this chapter– "
"No way!"
"Or second, stay on your temper tantrum and I'll throw you out of my room."
The girl in question puffed her cheek, eyebrows knitted in annoyance. Running a hand on her golden tresses, she fell back to the bed, either contemplating the choices or deciding to go back sleeping, Levy didn't know. Three microsoft word documents opened and Levy leaned to her chair and glanced back at the girl.
"Fine, I'll help," she finally answered, flailing her arms in the process.
"Good, now, come here."
Lucy rolled her eyes. Moving her hurting feet – coming from wearing heels for hours last night – she then plopped herself on a magenta beanbag beside the smaller girl. Her doe-like eyes, still red and watery, scanned through each character before moving to the next paragraph.
Levy had moved her chair and Lucy gained more access to the white laptop. Fingers typing in pink colored font between words, underlining it and highlighted another. She moved to the next sentence and resolutely deleting more words.
Past her peripheral vision, Levy stared at her in awe. She was right on asking Lucy to help her with her story. Lucy was an aspiring writer, even Ms. Laki approved it, but she didn't get the gist of her side-tracking to modeling.
The two would be majoring in English linguistic in Magnolia University as they had always dreamed of being an author; publishing their own books, press conference, seminar, all those author-thing, they desperately wanted it. It was one fine day on summer that Lucy met some pretty boy their age and immediately stating that she fell in love with him and two weeks later she told her they were a pair.
Now, who was the first to say that having a boyfriend was a drag?
"You know, Lu-chan, you can work as my editor and I'll pay you with hearing out your PMS tantrum."
Lucy snorted in a very un-lady-like. "Sure, that's what am I doing now."
Levy grinned. The annoyance was still there, but she caught the glimpse of enjoyment as she read through her edited paragraph. It had been a long time since they wasted their time together, working on college tasks or simply talking about the latest writing contest.
Then an idea popped in her head. Though, Lucy might not like it but she knew it was the best thing for her.
"Say, Lu-chan, you know the writing contest on this WordlyPen website, don't you?" she asked, playing with her pen out of nervousness.
"Aa."
"Don't you have any desire to participate it? It's been a really long time since you last participate one."
Lucy bit her lower lips. Fingers stopped typing and tapped her chin instead with eyes looked upwards. She was certainly thinking over it, much to Levy's relief. But then her eyes turned back to her laptop then reading and typing at the same time.
"Lu-chan!"
The girl turned at her slowly, but frustration was far apparent than before as she put on a deep frown. That moment Levy realized she had pulled the wrong string.
"I'm not going to participate, and you know why, don't you, Levy-chan?"
"Well, it's says that the first winner will get trophy, certificate and 500,000 jewels," the blue haired girl sighed, although hidden by her hand, a smirk bloomed. "But that's fine if you don't want to participate, Lu-chan. I won't force you."
"I'm done," Lucy said suddenly. Stretching her hands, she stood up and went to the bathroom. Levy stared at her, feeling dumbfounded and a little confused. She pulled her chair and examined her friend's work. There were some corrections, some words added and highlighted in a way she understood very well. Upon reading the once-rigid chapter of hers, she realized how much it had changed in Lucy's hand.
Smiling in content, Levy worked to dispose the highlight ones and edited them. It was then Lucy came back already dressed in her clothes of blue jeans and white crop-tee with a picture of silhouette of cats. She examined her clothes and mumbled to herself, "No wonder I caught a cold last night."
"Now that you realized it you still wear it, really," Levy commented but didn't remove her eyes from the screen. "You're going home?"
"Uh-uh. Still got a lot of Ms. Laki's assignment. Knowing I would stay here, I would've brought my laptop along," she sat on the bean bag after buttoning up the peach colored winter coat, reaching for heels and put them on.
"You remember we have an assignment of analyzing some poem, right?"
Lucy's hand froze on her way reaching for the left heels. Slowly facing Levy, she had narrowed eyes on her face with an eyebrow slightly raised. "Yes? I've read Dante's Inferno so it's…alright."
"It's due tomorrow," Levy drank the remaining of her hot chocolate and put the cup aside, "tomorrow morning."
Like a little girl looking at her favorite candy, Lucy had her eyes widened but with the total opposite reason. Scrambling on her feet, she quickly gathered her bag and tossed in her cellphone and purse. Rushing to the door, Lucy stopped and went back to Levy, hugging her before rushing again out of the room, probably stumbling her way to the first floor of the apartment.
Levy stared at the door that was unceremoniously closed with a loud bang. It was a miracle that it hadn't fall from its hinges yet. But all in all, she was happy, and relieved. Looking at her best friend got all worked up over an assignment was far more refreshing than her jumpiness on her first date.
Saving her word documents, Levy stretched her stiff back and decided to walk around her room to get some fresh mind back to her. Her heart told her to read some book as a reference, and she did obey what her heart wanted. Kind of lame, but it gave her the best result. Reaching for a book on the floor, Levy barely held a nervous laugh when she read its title.
Dante Alighieri's Inferno.
Surely Lu-chan will not be fine without this.
Levy's word about the competition kept on ringing in her ears. Sure the last time she participated in a writing contest was, like, months ago but she wasn't sure she was ready for another one. But the prizes! It took all of her willpower to not dropping her jaw and wiggling out her tail in front of Levy.
The problem wasn't about Levy seeing her acting like that – she had seen it over than a hundred already and Lucy was sure she was tired of it. It was only that she hadn't got over her stupid trauma and she wasn't ready to go for it. Rubbish was the only thing she would write if she forced herself and, surely, she would hate herself for writing such a story.
As a bus came to a stop in front of her, Lucy shut her cellphone and get on the bus. And much to her trouble, it was already packed. It was Sunday morning, so Lucy couldn't help but wondering where these people heading to.
A little luck for her, she spotted an empty seat beside a sleeping guy with black hoodie flung over his head. But he was definitely asleep. Lucy made her way beside her slowly, afraid he would be annoyed if she woke him, and sat by the window.
Leaning slightly to the window, Lucy opened her cellphone, went to google chrome and typed WordlyPen then left to wait while it loaded. She glanced to the sleeping hooded guy, curious as why he could sleep in the bus. Did anyone know where he head to? He could miss the stop and had to repeat the route and that would be so troublesome if she was on his shoes.
Then, to the sound of someone coughing, he lifted his head, forcing Lucy to spin her head back to her cellphone. The website had stopped loading, and Lucy immediately searched the competition info through the words and paragraph. Shuffling sound on her left side made her glance, but found an elderly woman with a handkerchief sitting instead of the guy.
That's pretty nice of him, she thought to herself before continued her search. After opening and closing several tabs, and glancing around if she had arrived on her stop, she finally found the info. She told herself if the theme was pretty easy, she would participate.
But then, it changed to an incoming call screen.
"Levy-chan?" she asked to no one, but immediately tapped the answer button.
"Lu-chan, did you, by any chance, brought along your poem book to work last night?"
"Yes… wait, don't tell me it's– "
"Unfortunately, yes."
Lucy could hear a loud cracking sound inside her head.
"Levy-chan…" she slumped on her seat. "Tell me – what should I do?"
"It's either to go back to my apartment and get it or go to a library and find the copy."
Right, find the copy. A library should have one.
"Is it possible to love someone more than she already has? Love you to the end of earth, Levy-chan! I gotta go now!"
"Good luck, Lu-chan!"
The call ended and Lucy forced herself not to grief on her carelessness. She had to get off on the nearest stop – if she remembered correctly, there was a library around here, one that Levy once brought her to accompany her on volunteering.
But she couldn't take the risk of getting lost while she had assignments to do. Asking the lady should be not a problem. The thing was that she fell asleep. Lucy almost screamed in agony, not only that she missed the only chance, she wasn't sure she could get off without actually waking the lady.
Acacia Lane was the name of the stop she finally could get off, and, fortunately, along with the lady. There was a library around here it was called Acacia Library or something, that was the information Lucy could get from her. Lucy wasted no time and spun her heels to the direction the google maps directed. And when she arrived at the place, she couldn't help but sighed in relief and exhaustion.
Apparently, the library's name was Eight Island with Acacia Lane Library in a bracket. But Lucy cared no more; it was chilling since the snow had started to fall half on her way there. Pushing the door open, she could hear the jingling sound of bell. It was unexpectedly warm inside, with a fireplace and comfy-looking sofa near it.
"Hi! Can I help you, miss?"
Lucy whirled around and found a woman with silvery white long hair rubbing a cup. A smile on her face, but immediately changed when they came to face to face.
"Lucy?"
"Mira-san?"
"So, what bring you here?" Mira asked, offering her a hot coffee on the counter.
"I'm looking for a library. I asked a lady and she said there was one and I came to find this," she explained after taking a slow sip of her drink. Glancing around, she then said, "But it seems I go to the wrong one."
"No, no, you're just one step behind it!" Mira clapped her hand together and exited the counter. "You see, the first floor is a restaurant. The library you're looking for is on the second floor. C'mon here."
Putting the cup on the counter, Lucy followed her and found a stairs behind a big cupboard. Grinning, the blonde thanked her and quickly went upstairs while trying to ignore the squeaky sound the stairs made.
Upon reaching the second floor, the thing she first saw was a really tall bookshelf that full of books. The smell of ink and papers immediately filled her nose and Lucy smiled even wider. Aside Levy's place and her apartment, this one would be her favorite spot, she decided. A little bit dusty here and there, but she could get used to it.
Scanning the bookshelf on the poem section, she quickly found the exact copy of Dante's Inferno. Typing a short message to Levy the heartwarming news, she walked to find the librarian. And when she found him, she had her eyes widened for the second times that morning.
"Heya, miss!" he greeted casually, with a lopsided grin that seemed so careless. "Dante's Inferno, eh? Not bad."
"Aren't you the one who slept on the bus?" the word was stupidly blurted out without her realizing.
He laughed, pushing the hoodie off his head then stood with a hand asking for the book. "It's Natsu. Natsu Dragneel," he said as he wrote today's date and the name of the book on another book.
Lucy could only stare in disbelief. "It's pink."
"It's salmon not pink," he shot back, a pout formed. "Now, write your name and sign here then the book is all yours to read."
She wrote her name and signed on the column next to it. But not before she examined his writing. It wasn't messy, on the contrary, it was pretty good and readable. Tall and big character was the total opposite of hers that round and small.
"Lucy Heartfilia," he read out loud, almost startling her as to make the pen fell. "Pretty name. Nice meetin' ya, Luigi."
"It's Lucy!"
"Ssshh, it's a library, remember? Absolute rule of no loud voice is applied here," he said then laughed.
"Anyway, thanks for the book, Natsu. I'll return it tomorrow evening," Lucy put the book in her bag and proceed on the stairs, only to see snowstorm through the window next to the stairs. Blood drained from her face as she mumbled in a breathless voice, "You can't be serious."
It was then finally Lucy gave up to her trembling legs and let herself slumped. Tears threatened to fall but she held it – she just couldn't bring herself crying in a place aside her apartment or Levy's. So instead, she let out a yell of frustration.
"Whoa, whoa, what I just told you about keeping the peace? You shouldn't scream like that, Luigi!"
"I don't care," she snapped. The girl stood and walked to the chair across the counter. "And it's Lucy!"
"Snowstorm? Looks like we're trapped here, Luce," he rubbed his head.
"Luce?" she asked, gaining a shrug from him. "Whatever. Anyway, do you have papers and pen? Or pencil? I need to work on my college assignment."
She looked at her cellphone. It vibrated – the battery was only 15% remaining.
"Natsu, do you think you have a powerbank?"
"Luce," Natsu called, poking her cheek out of boredom with head slumped on the desk.
The said girl didn't bother to look at him. Her eyes focused to her cellphone screen then she wrote using the pencil. Sometimes she opened the book, checking if what she wrote was correct or if she was wrong on the spelling. While Lucy liked poem the least, she found Inferno to be somewhat interesting but confusing at the same time.
"Luce."
"Shut up, Natsu. I'm working."
"But I'm booooored," he moaned, rolling his tongue. Lucy would have thought of it as cute if only she wasn't in a sour mood.
"Find yourself a book and read it."
The sound of footsteps was loud in her ears, or maybe it was because the library was empty if she counted them out. Noticing the absence of the librarian, Lucy stretched her stiff back and arms before resumed her work.
And then Natsu came back and slumped again on the desk, forcing her to acknowledge his presence. But she kept on writing. She was almost finished, and she wondered if the snowstorm had subdued when she did.
And then, there was poke. Pokes.
"What the hell, Natsu?!"
"I've read them all! Do you have any reading material?"
"In here," she pointed to her cellphone, "but too bad I'm using it."
"Meanie!"
"Wait a little, I'm almost finished," she scribbled more to her paper. Writing the last part consisting of the conclusion and her opinion towards the poem and then she threw her arms upward and shouted banzai. "Here, it's on the browser. I've bookmarked all of the stories I have read and I promise they're all very good."
Like a child, Natsu nodded and grinned happily. He started opening her browser, opening five tabs on the same time. It was a good thing that she borrowed his power bank, or else she wouldn't be able to finish her assignment there.
"Natsu," she called him after a yawn. "Wake me up when the storm passed, 'kay?"
She was quick to close her eyes, either exhausted from working all out or the library's tranquil air or the warmth she felt ever since she started writing. Conscious slipped away fast, but she caught a glimpse of Natsu nodding his head.
Of all the bookmarked stories, Natsu could only finish three of them. If he had to comment them, they were all entertaining and easy to read, but it was all from the girl's point of view so he couldn't help but frowning each time the heroine called her boyfriend idiot. They were about romance – cheesy one, dramatic and angst and if Natsu guessed, Lucy liked the angst one the most.
Glancing to the window, he noticed the storm had subsided and was about to wake the girl up. But looking at her peaceful face, a little bit childish and undeniably innocent, he decided to let her sleep a bit longer as he watched her sleeping face.
There were moves on her eyelids and he was afraid if she woke up and caught him staring but all she did was mumbling some incoherent words. Her long golden locks fit her heart-shaped face perfectly. And then, there were her small lips – pink and so soft-looking.
The vibration of her cellphone was what brought Natsu back to reality. There was a message from whoever called Levy. Now it was time that Natsu contemplate whether he should reply the message out of mischievous or ignore it and let Lucy read once she woke up.
He chose the latter. Closing the pop-up, he found himself looking to the first tab on her browser. It was a writing contest, with prize that picked his interest. Scrolling down, he read the requirement and found himself grinning as he found its theme.
Snowstorm.
to be continued
Hello! A new story (and my first story!), yash! I'm new to this section but I've read many of Fairy Tail fanfiction here and I asked myself if I could make one and here it is! Pardon my grammar. English isn't my mother language, you see? I'm pretty positive of this story but should I continue this one or not? Please leave your thought of this story, 'kay? Critics and suggestions are accepted with all of my heart, but no flames, yeah?
~Air
Edit 7/24/2015: minor things; from Lucy and Levy already take their major to they haven't take the major. stupid me misunderstood it.