A/N: Hi~ This kind of based on a song. I'm not really good with oneshots so please bear with me :)
The song is called Leia, which means a girl made of lies. Well, that is what I found in the description anyway. Created by yuyoyuppe.
I hope that you guys will like it.
Cover found in Google.
Disclaimer: I do not own the characters nor the song.
Leia
.
[それは錯覚が、すべてのですか？]
On one of the many high hills of Magnolia, an old but strong villa stood on top of it.
One person, more accurately, an artist, stood alone in a room. The Art Room.
He had a goal – and that goal is to finish the portrait he spent days on.
It doesn't matter if he feels tired, he just need to get this portrait done.
He has to.
Almost…done…
Picking up the brown oil pastel, he proceeded to color the eyes of the person in the portrait. He gently put the finishing touches, and finally, adds some black for the shadows.
"…"
He backed away a few steps, scrutinizing the portrait he just finished.
The portrait featured a girl. She seems to be sitting on a bench and a bird landed on her leg.
But that doesn't mean anything to the artist. His eyes only focused on the girl.
Yellow for her blond hair that seems to shine in the sunlight.
Honey brown eyes that always stare deep in his soul.
Her skin that seems, no, absolute flawless.
The arch that curves upwards to indicates that she's smiling.
The belt with her set of key chains that she took it wherever she goes.
And last but not least, her ribbon that ties her hair to a side ponytail.
She is complete.
A masterpiece.
The sunlight shines through the glass wall of the room, lighting up the place with gentle lighting. Birds chirped as they flew to their home.
Calmness.
Peacefulness.
Life, in the past, present, or even the future, still continues for everybody.
Fate will always and always play a role on everyone's life.
But, to this artist, fate and life means nothing but uselessness to the artist.
Tick tock. Tick tock.
The artist remains silent.
"…Ahahahaha…AHAHAHAHAHAHA! IT'S DONE! IT'S FINALLY DONE!"
The artist dropped the pastel to the floor, slightly bending on his knees while laughing hollow laughs.
He couldn't laugh with true happiness, for there is a bleeding wound on his heart.
Then, the silence came yet again.
"…"
Just then, a cracked voice broke through the heavy silence.
"You're… finally back… Lucy…"
Natsu Dragneel was born as an orphan.
Nobody knows who his birth parents were.
Only a few knew that Natsu was found on the doorsteps of a newlyweds' house.
Seeing the infant was only a few months old, the Dragneel couple, Igneel and Grandine Dragneel, adopted him and treated him like their very own son.
The infant slowly grew up as a cheerful child, which has the widest grin you can find in the whole world.
Maybe a little exaggerating but it's true.
From the age of four, the child always holds a sketchbook. His passion for drawing is said to rival even his own mother, who was very talented in art, especially paintings and drawings.
The child can even by pass as their real son.
After a moment of discussion, his foster parents decided to keep the truth as a secret.
But as time passed by, the child himself noticed some differences.
It doesn't really matter to him; he can always say "I'm unique on my own way!"
But curiosity killed the cat.
Based on what he learned from a book filled with science knowledge, there is one thing that can tell you immediately if you're different from your parents.
Blood types.
"Mom, what's your blood type?" little Natsu asked.
Although she's slightly confused why her son would ask this question out of nowhere, she still answered truthfully.
"It's AB. Why did you ask sweetie?"
The young Dragneel's eyes were widened by a fraction, but the busy mother didn't notice.
When the child didn't answer, Grandine was worried and asked again.
"Is there something wrong sweetie?"
Natsu broke his trance upon his mother's calling, and when he turned to look at his mother…
He forced a cheerful grin on his face.
"N-Nothing, mom. Just curious."
That night, Igneel came home only to find a worried sick Grandine.
"Grandine? What's wrong?" Igneel asked with a little unease.
He had this dread feeling that something bad might be coming.
"It's Natsu. He didn't come out of his room when I call him out for dinner."
That is certainly strange. Natsu Dragneel never says 'no' to a meal.
"I'll go check on him. How about you rest for a while then we can have dinner together."
Grandine nodded, albeit a little reluctant.
Step by step, Igneel approached his son's bedroom.
Knock. Knock.
"C-Come in."
Igneel was greeted with darkness when he stepped inside the room.
"Natsu?"
First is silence. Then came a quiet sob.
He scrambled to Natsu's side and asked what is wrong.
But what came out of the child's mouth was something he did not expect.
At all.
"…My real parents were someone else right… Dad?"
"Silly child. Of course we're you're real parents," lgneel lied for his son's sake.
"…There's no need to lie Dad… There's no way that… a person with AB blood… can have a child… with O blood…"
The cheerful child finally knows the truth, two days before his 10th birthday.
"Remember the day we first met Lucy? Ha, you looked so weird that day."
The artist sat on the floor, still looking at the completed work of art while talking to his portrait.
If somebody else were to see this, they might say that he's crazy.
"But I'm not crazy since the one I'm talking to is a human being, neh?"
The Dragneel couple passed away in a car crash during his 14th year living in this cruel world.
During their funeral, he never cried. Not even a drop of tears.
Many people said that it's because the boy doesn't have a heart for them since they're not his birth parents.
But they all misunderstood. And only one person understands.
Gildarts Clive, his uncle.
Tears are not necessarily needed when you're sad.
A deeply wounded heart couldn't cry even if it wants to.
Since then, he lives alone in that big house.
It's not really big, but anyone living inside a house alone would say the same thing right?
He doesn't want to go to another foster home, so he lied that he will be staying with Gildarts.
At first the police didn't fell for the trick, but luckily his uncle pitched in to help so that the police were able to leave Natsu alone.
Gildarts doesn't want his nephew to live alone in the house, but staring at the kid's puppy eyes is easier said than done.
The inheritance was given to Gildarts, and when Natsu turns eighteen, he will rightfully own the inheritance.
Natsu doesn't mind that much about inheritance, but he did request for a certain item.
The key for the villa.
The villa that he spent with his family.
The villa where he started to learn about art from his mother.
Where all the happy memories reside.
"Oi, pyromaniac! Did you hear me you pink-haired bastard?!"
A certain half-naked man walked behind the said pink-haired boy while shouting simultaneously. Many girls fainted upon seeing his abs, but the man himself didn't even know that he was naked.
At least, half-naked.
Why he was shouting at the pink-haired boy in the first place?
No, he wasn't angry at him.
He was just bored.
That's all.
A vein throbbed on the 'pyromaniac's forehead.
What supposed to be a peaceful morning for the teen turned into a trouble one.
And that stripper got something wrong.
He turned around to correct the icy minty fresh words angrily.
"It's salmon you bastard! Salmon!"
Bump.
Books and stationaries fell to the floor.
"Hah! Look what you d-"
And Gray Fullbuster was sent to the wall for a kiss, courtesy of Natsu's fist.
He looked down to see a blond girl picking up her things. Feeling a little bit guilty, he crouched down to help the girl.
He handed over the things that the girl owned, and when he looked up…
He didn't expect to see the girl smiling at him.
That's when he noticed it.
The eyes that seem to look through his soul.
"Thank you for helping me," the girl said.
"You're welcome. It was my fault anyways," Natsu confessed.
"Well, I didn't see you either since I was busy daydreaming," the girl laughed awkwardly.
Without his own realization, Natsu stared at the blond openly.
… "What?"
"I never see you around here before."
"I'm a transfer student, of course you never saw me."
"Oh," Natsu nod dumbly.
Natsu froze again when he heard the girl giggled.
"What's so funny?"
The giggling slowly stopped. "Nothing, it's just that, you looked a little bit dumb just now."
"…"
"Sorry. No offense."
"…"
"Err… I apologize?"
"…"
"… I'm sorry for being rude to you."
After a few more seconds silence…
"Look-"
"You're weird."
"I- … Wait, what did you just said?"
"You're weird."
"I am not weird."
"You certainly are weird."
"What gave you the right to say that I'm weird?"
"And what gave you the right to say that I'm dumb?"
.
.
.
.
.
.
"Pfft!"
Both of the students burst out laughing.
Gray, who was about to shout at Natsu again, stopped abruptly and blinked at the scene in front of him.
He rubbed his eyes for assurance.
Yep, the flaming bastard is still laughing.
He never saw Natsu laugh like this before.
Suddenly, he smirked.
He took a picture silently and left the scene.
Natsu pulled the girl up to her feet, and then patted the imaginary dust away.
"I think we can be friends. The name's Natsu."
"And I'm Lucy. Lucy Heartfilia. Please to make your acquaintance!"
"Are you doing business already? What's with the formal greeting?"
"That, Natsu, is called being polite."
"We were the best of friends in the blink of an eye. Isn't that strange?"
Lying down on the floor, he continued to talked to the portrait like it was nothing.
"Oh, I never mentioned this before, but you're cute when you blush. It's not like me to say these cheesy things right? You probably thought that I have a fever."
The wind slowly breeze past.
"Just… why wouldn't you answer me… Lucy…"
"I knew you can draw Natsu. But I never thought that you can draw this good." Lucy sat down on her best friend's bed. She was flipping through Natsu's sketchbook, which consists of drawings that she awed at.
Natsu sat beside her. "Gee, thanks for your words of encouragement."
The two of them had become the best of friends in mere six months. And to his friends' wonder, Natsu's wound is starting to heal, now smiling and laughing every day.
All because of the blonde.
"No need to go sarcastic on me," she punched lightly on Natsu's arm.
"Well you're the one who started it you weirdo."
"And for the hundredth time, I'm not a weirdo!"
"You are. You're just in denial."
"Am not!"
"You are."
"Am not!"
"You are."
"Am not!"
"You are."
"Am-… Never mind, this can go forever and ever if we don't stop."
"That means I win."
"You so did not win. I'll win the argument next time."
"Try me."
The room was filled with silence again, occasionally the sound of flipping pages can be heard when Lucy turns to the next page.
"Hey."
"Hm?" She looked to her side.
Only to welcome a pair of lips touching her own.
"And after that, Cana won the bet. Heck, we didn't even know that they placed bets on us in the first place. You should look at your face when you found out Lucy."
Ring. Ring.
Natsu searched for his cellphone absent minded, but never tore his gaze away from the portrait.
"What?"
"Where were you bastard? We can't find you in your house."
"I never thought that you cared for me so much iron freak."
"I would have punched you right now but we need to find you. Spit the location."
"Never. I don't want you to interrupt my time with Lucy."
"…Natsu, I know that you missed her a lot but-"
"Why do I miss her? I'm spending my time with her now. She's right in front of me."
Natsu heard some noise over the phone and soon another voice spoke.
"Natsu, I also had a hard time accepting but that is the truth!"
"Oh, Levy. I don't know what you're talking about but Gajeel doesn't seem to believe me when I said that Lucy is in front of me."
"Natsu-"
"WAKE UP ALREADY!"
Natsu sat up due to the shock, and the angry woman's voice continued to boom.
"SHE'S GONE NATSU! GONE! YOU SAW THE SCENE YOURSELF! DON'T DENY THE TRUTH! WE'RE GOING TO FIND YOU AND DRAG YOUR ASS BACK AND THAT'S THAT!"
"Erza-"
Beep. Beep. Beep.
"…gone? Who's gone? They don't possibly mean it by you right Lucy?"
Silence ensured the art room.
"…tell me that you're here… Tell me…"
Just then, a wave of pain hit his head.
He clutched his head in pain, memories that should be buried deep resurfaced in his mind.
House. Fire. Burning. Screaming.
Lucy.
"She's not breathing! Quick, CPR!"
"We are sorry to say that Lucy Heartfilia had arrived too late…"
… Not breathing…
"…lies… Lies… LIIIIEEESSS!"
In the midst of fury, he searched for something sharp, and his hand had found a red color pencil.
"I DID NOT SEE THAT! LUCY IS STILL WITH ME!"
Stab.
"Erza, I know that you care for him but shouting over the phone is not necessary," Gray said with a frown.
"You should have heard him yourself exhibitionist. He kept on saying that bunny girl is still with him," Gajeel huffed.
The absence of sound made them feel more uncomfortable with the whole situation.
"We can't really blame him… his wound was almost fully recovered only to be hurt again…" Lisanna said in a soft voice.
…
"You don't think… that he will do something stupid right?"
All eyes looked at the one who spoke, Mirajane.
Jellal stared at Natsu's house, his words adding the doubt to his friends. "We can't guarantee that Natsu won't do anything stupid, that's why we need to find the place where he is now."
Then Cana snapped her fingers, grabbing the attention of everybody.
"I think I got an idea. Old man said that Natsu owns a key to his villa. Do you think that he's there?"
Everyone thought about it for a second, then Juvia-
"Don't just stand here, let's go already!"
Natsu stares at his bloody hand, which was covering his right eye not too long ago.
"No… no… no… it's not true…"
He was about to stab his other eye, but his train of thoughts momentarily stopped his actions.
"But… if it's true… then I should accompany you…"
His left eye gazed at the portrait, tears leaking from said eye.
"That's our promise, remember? No matter what, we won't be separated."
"Hurry up you iron freak! How slow can this car get?!"
"How about you drive?! Just shut up already popsicle!"
Unexpectedly Levy let out a gasp.
"What's wrong Levy?" Mirajane eyed her with worried eyes.
"T-There's smoke from t-that hill…"
And true to Levy's word, black smoke slowly made their way to the sky.
At the direction they're heading.
"Tell me that is an illusion…"
He lit up the corners of the villa after he poured the place with gasoline.
"Maybe I'm really a pyromaniac… normal people would shout for help… but I'm standing here… admiring the flames…"
The flames were catching up with him fast.
The artist swiftly headed to the Art Room.
Blood was dripping from his right eye to the floor, leaving a trail of bright red blood.
Drip. Drip. Splat.
When he reached his destination, he took off his white, scaly scarf that his parents gave him.
Natsu wrapped it around the portrait, and then wrapped one of the ends of the scarf around his wrist.
"I'll go with you."
The villa burned brightly.
"Natsu! NATSU!"
Arriving at the villa, they saw the once beautiful villa was already burnt down halfway.
Lisanna was the first one to rush forward, only to be stopped by Mirajane.
"It's too late…"
The flames licked the sky; the black smoke was never ending.
Words cannot describe the sadness that they are bearing now.
But life will continue for them; as they still live in the world.
The sunset disappeared as the villa continued to burn.
As they turned around, nobody noticed the ghost of a smile that belonged to the burning artist.
"Thank you… for being my friends…"
On the way back home, Gray took out his phone and searched a picture that he took.
Two laughing teens that was picking up the girl's stationaries.
The first day when Natsu and Lucy met and laughed together.
"Be happy together, salmon head."
.
[それは錯覚でしょうか？いいえ、そうではありません。]