Rings of Promise
Chapter One
Disclaimer: I don't own Fairy Tail
"Natsu, wait up!"
"Luce..."
"Where are you going?"
"...someplace far away."
"When are you coming back?"
"I don't know."
"You don't know?"
"Luce, don't cry."
"But I won't get to see you anymore."
"Here, I'll give you this."
"What is it?"
"It's a ring, the same one I have."
"You're giving it to me?"
"Yeah, so smile and remember me every time you look at it."
"Natsu..."
"I promise I'll be back, so please smile for me before I go."
"Promise?"
"Promise."
I woke up with a start as my alarm clock rang beside me. Clumsily reaching out, I pressed the snooze button before slowly getting up. Sunlight was peeking in through the windows and covered my room in a golden warmth as I swung my feet onto the floor. Standing up, I pulled down my shirt before stumbling to the closet. Grabbing a new set of clothes, I went to the bathroom to wash up.
While showering and brushing my teeth, I couldn't help but feel a constant nagging. It was like I had forgotten something, my dream perhaps? Speaking of which, I could only remember fragments of it. I did remember seeing a small boy and and an indistinguishable man. After that, everything became a blur until I woke up.
"Lucy, are you in there?" a voice called through the door.
"Yeah, just give me a minute," I said.
After combing through my hair and tying a portion of it up into a side pony tail, I grabbed my things and opened the bathroom door to reveal my roommate. Levy was yawning and rubbing her eyes as she stood there, leaning against the door frame a little. She smiled and offered a tired greeting when she saw me. I stepped aside to let her through before going back into my room. Throwing my night clothes into the laundry basket, I grabbed my bag before heading downstairs.
While Levy got ready, I spent the next few minutes cooking breakfast for us. It was a simple dish of toast and eggs along with a glass of juice. As I was setting the table, I heard soft footsteps coming from the living room. Levy came in and took a seat at the table, dropping her school bag on the floor.
"Good morning, Lu-chan," she said.
"Morning," I said.
"What's for breakfast today?" she asked.
"Food," I answered and gave her a plate.
We talked as we ate, filling the silence with light conversation. I listened as Levy talked about her club activities and classes, nodding as she went. As for me, there wasn't much to talk about, I wasn't very involved with school activities.
"Lu-chan, your necklace!" Levy exclaimed.
I looked down to see a part of my necklace floating in the glass of juice. Quickly fishing it out, I wrapped a napkin around the damaged section in hopes to dry it out. I worriedly dabbed every spot I could and sighed in discontent.
"Speaking of which, why do you always wear that particular necklace Lu-chan?" Levy asked.
"It was given to me a long time ago by a friend," I said.
"What were they like?" she asked.
"...I don't remember, it was so long ago," I said.
"Yet you've kept the necklace they gave you?" she asked.
"It's not a necklace, it's a ring," I said.
I held up the silver chain for Levy to see. A black and silver ring hung at the end, reflecting the morning light. As she excitedly studied it, I noticed that the chain was getting quite old and damaged. Considering that I've had it since I was little, it would only make sense. I'll have to get a new one.
"We better leave soon if we don't want to be late," I said.
"Let me finish this first," Levy said as she quickly stuffed the last piece of toast in her mouth.
Getting up, I brought our plates, cups, and utensils to the sink while Levy cleaned the table. We rushed to grab our bags and put on your shoes before leaving the house. As I waited for Levy to lock the door, I saw people leaving their houses as well. We lived in a secluded neighborhood right next to the school. Instead of living with our families, we were allowed to live with a roommate for a reduced fee. I chose to live away from home since my family was located in the next town. Levy was a close friend of mine so we decided rent a house together. There wasn't a lot of people that chose to live in the neighborhood but we did become friends with the few people who did.
"Morning Erza," I greeted as she passed by.
"Morning Lucy, Levy," she said.
Levy tucked the house key into her bag before we went to join Erza. During our short walk, we made light conversation about what was happening at school and the like.
"I heard there's a new transfer student coming in today," Erza said.
"Really? Who is it?" Levy asked.
"I don't know the details but I heard he's from Crocus," Erza said.
"He's from the capital?" Levy remarked.
I stayed quiet during their conversation, keeping to myself and staring at the scenery. Ever since this morning, there has been an empty feeling in my mind, it was as if I was forgetting something important. No matter how hard I tried to find out what it was, all I could see was darkness. It was frustrating to say the least.
"Lu-chan?" Levy said.
"Sorry, what?" I said.
"Erza was asking if you wanted to stop by a cafe after school," she said.
"Oh, sure," I said.
"Lu-chan, are you okay?" Levy asked worriedly.
"I'm fine, just thinking," I said.
"Tell me if anything is happens okay?" she said.
"Okay," I smiled.
When we reached the school, we said goodbye to Erza as she headed to her class while we went to ours. Once we entered the classroom, we immediately heard talk about the new student. Closing the door behind us, Levy and I walked to the back of the room where our seats and friends were. I sat next to the window while Levy sat in front of me. To the right of her was Juvia. Since we didn't have that many students in the class, the seat next to mine was empty. It wasn't all that bad since people would occasionally come by and occupy it during breaks.
"Good morning Lucy," Juvia greeted.
"Morning Juvia," I said.
"What's up Lucy?" Gray said as he came by.
"Hey Gray," I smiled.
"Love rival!" Juvia exclaimed.
"Juvia, that's not it," I sighed.
We were interrupted by the sound of the bell. Everyone returned to their seat as the teacher came in. Ms. Evergreen walked to the front of the room, a stack of papers in her hand.
"Stand."
"Bow."
"Sit."
"As you may have heard, a new student is going to be joining us today," she said.
She turned to the door and motioned for him to come in. A guy with pink hair and tanned skin walked in, a smile on his face. As he introduced himself, I felt a nagging at my thoughts.
"The name is Natsu Dragneel, nice to meet ya," he said.
"Natsu, is it true that you're from the capital?" someone asked.
"No, I stayed there but was born somewhere else," he answered.
"Save your questions for later, class has started," Ms. Evergreen interrupted.
"Yes ma'am."
"Natsu, there's an open seat in the back of the room, it's right next to Lucy's," she pointed at me.
"Lucy?" Natsu said.
"Yes, now go sit down," Ms. Evergreen instructed.
While Natsu made his way to the back, the constant nagging I felt became increasingly irritating. I tried my best to ignore as Natsu sat down in the seat next to mine. Ms. Evergreen was up front, passing out papers and talking about an upcoming test.
"You're Lucy right?" Natsu asked.
""Yeah," I said.
"You have the same name as a friend of mine," he grinned.
"Is that so?" I said.
"You look kind of like her her too," Natsu remarked.
"Mr. Dragneel, talking already?" Ms. Evergreen said.
"Sorry," Natsu said sheepishly.
I giggled a bit as Natsu gave a sigh. He then looked over at me and gave a grin, making my heart beat a little faster. However, he quickly turned his attention to the front when Ms. Evergreen resumed talking.
"Take out your textbooks and turned to the next lesson," she instructed as she wrote the page number on the board.
"I don't have a book," Natsu raised his hand and said.
"Share with Lucy until you get your own," she said.
I looked up in surprise at her statement. It wasn't that I was uncomfortable with sharing my book, it was just filled with a bunch of my loose drawings. There wasn't any time to find and destroy them all before Natsu scooted his desk over. He was looking at me expectantly as I nervously gazed at my closed book.
"Do you not want to share?" he asked with a frown.
"No, it's not that," I said.
I grabbed the cover of the book and slowly turned it. So far, there were just pages and pages of Japanese text. That was, until I got to the most recently accessed pages. There, drawn on a little scrap of paper was a picture of a kitten. I blushed as I heard Natsu laugh a little.
"It's cute," he said.
"Lucy and Natsu, are you listening?" Ms. Evergreen asked.
"Yes," we answered in unison.
I quickly turned to the right page and began quickly taking notes of the passages. Because we had to work from the same book, Natsu and I had to be close to one another, too close. I could feel his soft breath every time he had to lean over to look at a page on my side. The close proximity was nerve wracking.
xxx
"That's all for today, class dismissed," Ms. Evergreen said.
I breathed out a sigh of relief as I leaned back on my chair. Natsu cheered a little as he slammed his notes shut. While we were given a short study period, a few people began gathering around Natsu.
"You guys looked really comfortable together during class," she teased.
"What's that supposed to mean?" I asked.
"I'm just saying, you two looked good together," she said.
"We just met!" I whisper yelled.
Levy giggled at my flustered expression and turned to stare at Natsu. I did the same and saw that he was talking with Gray and Gajeel. I looked over at Levy again and saw a faded pink staining her cheeks. A smirk came over my face as I reached over to lightly pinch her it.
"Looks like you have your eyes on someone," I said.
"I don't know what you're talking about," she huffed.
"Sure you don't," I laughed.
Class was soon over and students were free to leave. Natsu had already made lots of friends, a lot faster than anyone I've met. A lot of girls were also talking about him, not that it mattered. As I was leaving for my next class, I collided with someone at the door. Stepping back and bumping into Levy, I looked up to see none other than Dan Straight. Dread filled me as I knew what was about to happen.
"Hey, Lucy!" he exclaimed.
"H-hey Dan," I smiled weakly.
"Are you heading to your next class?" he asked.
"Yeah..." I answered.
"Let me escort you," he offered.
"That's fine Dan, I can go by myself," I said.
"It's no problem for me, come on," he said and grabbed my hand.
"Dan, really-"
"Lucy said she'll be fine by herself."
I was pulled back into a hard chest as Natsu's tanned arms appeared in front of me. He brushed Dan away and placed a hand on my shoulder. I turned and gave him a look of disbelief and was met with his smile. I could see Levy smirking out of the corner of my eyes and shot her a dirty look.
"Who are you?" Dan demanded.
"Natsu Dragneel, more importantly, leave Lucy alone," Natsu said.
"What gives you the right to say that?!" Dan asked angrily.
"It's because she's mine," he said.
"Eh?!"