(I reaaaaly should be working on my women of the otherworld fic, but as im still waiting to see where Kelley Armstrong goes with the new book in the coming months, I'm going to hold off. I've been getting back to anime and just figured now was a good time to write a bit more. Enjoy, read and review.)
The sun began to peek through the shutters of my window in the wee hours of the early morning. It should have been a time where I was still asleep, but I had bigger things to worry about then sleeping. It was rent day…and I was still short, and Hilda was unforgiving. Bad enough it had been 7 years and she'd been kind enough to keep my room as it was and only steal some of my clothing, but what could I do now?
I rose with a loud sigh, moving from my bed towards my desk and chair. Jobs had been not forthcoming since we'd come back from Tenrou island. Fairy tail had lost so much of the credit it had built up no one ever really bothered to send jobs to us anymore. I sighed again, looking at my collection of eclectic things. My novel that had a large 7 year gap in it, my belt with my keys of my celestial spirits, pictures of my team and I. collections of our past successful missions, all catalogued in my novel. To come to a head here, ending in me, being bankrupt, unable to pay my rent… what was I to do?
A soft snore roused me from my nostalgic thoughts. There was someone in my apartment! I grabbed the nearest weapon like thing I could find, a wooden box from my father, one of the many gifts he'd sent me during the time I was missing. It had contained some things of my mother's, Layla. A gemstone necklace, a photograph of our family, and a hand written letter from my mother. The box was sturdy cedar, and it was liable to give whomever was invading my home a good lump.
"I'm armed and dangerous! Show yourself, and we can end this peacefully!" I cried out, my heart pounding, making my voice quaver. The snorer grunted, and snorted, and then a form began to rise from my bed. With a scream, I ran at the shadowy form, blinded partly y the new morning light, swinging my box wildly.
"Owwww! LUCY!" a familiar voice wined. I opened my eyes, the crumbled bits of box in my hands. There, a small lump forming on his head was Natsu, hiding partially hidden in the folds of my large comforter, with me now straddled in his lap. I gave a low groan, lifting the crumbling bits of box from his head and putting it upon the empty side of my bed.
"What have I told you about sneaking into my house, Natsu!" I gave a low sigh, blowing a piece of my golden hair from my eye. Natsu just smirked, His eyes shifted from my form though, resting on the shattered box in my hand. My eyes were cast down, however, a blush creeping along my cheeks. I should have been furious he was sneaking into my room and sleeping in my bed, but I liked it, deep down. "What…what are you staring at?" I asked, a small frown on my lips.
"Look." He said, moving to grab the box. As I opened my mouth to protest, he broke the rest of the box apart, a slip of paper fluttering onto the bed. We both looked at one another, and moved to scoop up the paper. I was faster, so I began to read it aloud to him.
"Lucy, if you are reading this then I'm already gone, but there are things you need to know. There is a connection between celestial spirits and dragons, and one spirit holds the key to that connection. Part of my life's work revolved around finding Pisces' key. Every lead I found became a dead end, but I never gave up hope. One of the final leads I received was promising, but I was not well enough to follow up with. Below you'll find a map, located in the wastelands close to Waas forest I heard rumour of someone who claimed to have knowledge of Pisces' key. I can't promise you this will be helpful, or even that you'll find this as intriguing or important as I do, but I know there are many others searching for all 12 keys, and the secrets they can unlock. Be safe and careful Lucy, and if this finds you, I hope it finds you well. Your loving mother, Layla."
I'll admit, by the last few words, I was in tears. My mother had written this. The ink curled and swayed in her hand, the paper had been touched by her, placed lovingly, and secretly into this cedar box especially for me. I hadn't even realized that Natsu's arm was around me. His hand stroking my back comfortingly. The letter was held tight, close to my heart. It took me some time for the words written there to process. Some kind of connection between my powers and the dragons. How could that be? Though, there was some connection already. The year my mom died, Natsu, Gajeel and Wendy all agreed their dragons vanished.
"You know what this means, right Lucy?" Natsu asked. I`d calmed down enough for him to release me. I wiped my eyes with the back of my hand, looking over to him. I shook my head, more often than not I had no clue what Natsu was thinking. "we have a map, let's go find that clue. Your mom would have wanted us to get you that key and find out the connection!" I could do nothing but nod, he'd already decided for us. He stood, making me fall backwards off the bed with a loud smack.
"Ouch, Natsu! What was that for?" I muttered, rubbing my butt. He smiled moving towards the window. God forbid he should use the front door like a normal person.
"Pack your stuff Lucy! Tonight we're heading to Waas Forest!" Natsu, there was no bringing him down, ever. That was part of why he meant so much to me. No matter where life found us, so long as we were together, I knew we could get through it. I knew we'd come out of it somehow. I hurried and pack lightly, bringing the letter and placing the gemstone necklace on as well. Hilda chased me halfway to the guild yelling about rent, but luckily, she's slow in heels. I'd pay her as soon as I got back.
"Lucy, are you sure you don't want the rest of us to come?" Gray asked. He, Erza and Wendy had gathered at the guild hall with myself and Natsu.
"Yea, we're not getting paid anyway, its just a suspicion. Anyway, while Natsu and I are away, we'll need you three to try and find some jobs…Hilda is really going to kill me if my rent is any later, and seeing as MOST of you use my house, you should all chip in this month." I smiled triumphantly, the three of them gave way. Happy was adamant he should come, but Natsu insisted he stay and protect Charla and Wendy.
And so Natsu and I headed out. I don't think that he realized quite how far it was to the Waas Forest. We'd need to go further then we'd gone before, because chances were that this lead we were following from mom wasn't going to end there. Thankfully there were some familiar stops along the way.
"Natsu." I said as we began the journey, electing to walk, at first, outside of Magnolia. He turned, his salmon hued hair blowing in the wind, his large pack seemingly weightless on his strong shoulders. Sometimes, I wondered how he could be so carefree, through all of the things we'd been through.
"Yea?" he replied, moving closer to me, reaching out to tuck a strand of my golden hair behind my ear.
"Thanks for coming with me, it really means a lot to me" I said, smiling. I moved to give him a hug, but he beat me to it, wrapping me tight in his arms and whirling me around, making my blush creep further along my cheeks, almost to my ears. "ack Natsu! Put me down!" I said flailing in his iron like grip.
"Wouldn't have you do this with anyone else, Lucy." Little did we know this would be the ultimate test of our friendship, our feelings for one another. We were starting of on an adventure that would change us more then we could possibly comprehend. I'm still not sure we were prepared for it.