Priorities
What am I doing? Why am I even here? Lucy Heartfilia wasn't pondering life's deepest questions. That was something she did when she was working on her stories and trying to get inside her characters' heads. No, she was asking herself very practical questions. And she was about to ask the boy with her those very questions?
"Why are we even on this job?" Lucy groaned. "It's freezing!"
"Oh, really?" Natsu shrugged casually. "I don't mind it."
Lucy glared at him from behind. Of course Natsu wasn't cold. He had fire magic; he was always warm. That was why he was able to get away with wearing just a navy blue shirt with one sleeve and white pants that blended in well with their snowy surroundings. And the fact that he wore sandals! Lucy was shivering in her winter clothes: a pure white coat with brown fur around the hood and white pants. Her brown boots matched the fur perfectly, but she was hardly concerned about her wardrobe right now. After all, there was nobody up in these mountains to see her.
"What kind of a job is this anyway?" Lucy shivered. Natsu just showed up at her apartment one day, told her to put on her winter clothes, and dragged her away.
"Does it matter?" Natsu asked again. "It's a job and your rent's due in a week."
Lucy bit down on her lip. "Yeah, but…"
"This reminds me of one of our first missions!" Happy said cheerfully as he hovered between Natsu and Lucy. "Remember Natsu?"
"Huh?"
"You kicked Taurus!"
Lucy wrapped her arms around her torso more tightly. "Taurus was knocked right out of that fight…" Though she was saddened by her Spirit's weakness (and herself as his summoner), she was proud of the progress both of them made over the years. Even in the middle of the snow and the storm, she found herself smiling.
Unfortunately for her, Happy caught that expression. "That's when you fell in love with Natsu, right Lucy?"
"Heh?" she said blankly, still trapped in her own memories. But when the words registered, her eyes widened. "As if!" Happy always harped on that kind of thing—probably to get on her nerves and make her blush. That wasn't going to happen during this storm though. Both to distract Happy and to pursue the truth, she asked again: "What type of job are we even on?"
"A job?! Somebody got my request!" a male voice called from above. Lucy, Natsu, and Happy all looked up the top of one of the cliffs and beheld the man standing there. He certainly wasn't dressed for the cold weather either: there he was in just a black tank-top and jeans. His dark blue hair was spiked up in a mohawk and firm despite the raging winds and falling snow that threatened to ruin it.
Lucy looked from Natsu to Happy, the former being who she stopped walking next to. "Heh? We came all this way to talk to the requester?" Why would a person want to hang out in the mountains anyway?
"Natsu came looking for a fight!" Happy burst in.
"Heh?!"
The mohawk proudly pressed his fists into his stick-then waist. "I put in a request for a challenger! I summoned anyone who could defeat me to this mountain for a match."
"I like your style," Natsu smirked. "I'm Natsu. Natsu Dragneel of Fairy Tail."
"Diwn. Unaffiliated," the requester returned with grin. "I've heard much about you, Dragon Slayer."
"You have any other challengers up here?"
"Not at the moment—I beat all of them."
"Killed them?" Lucy asked with worry.
"No," Diwn laughed. "I just stole all of their possessions and shoved them down the side of the mountain."
"That's totally murder!" Lucy protested.
"I assume you read my poster, Natsu Dragneel."
"Totally ignored!" Lucy sighed in exasperation.
"Yeah, I read it," Natsu said. "And?"
"And it said that I'll only fight one person."
Lucy frowned at Natsu this time. "Let me get this straight…" she started. "You took on a job that specifically asked for one person and you invited me along?"
"Yeah…" Is that a problem? his tone seemed to say.
"And you brought me along knowing that this job was pointless fighting?"
"It's not pointless!" Happy protested. "It's to protect the name of Fairy Tail!"
"Wrong!" Lucy cried. "You're missing the point!" It's a one person job, so why am I actually here?
"I don't think she gets it, Natsu…"
"You're the one who doesn't get it!"
"You can explain it to her, Happy," Natsu recommended. "In the mean time, I'm gonna finish the job."
"Oh?" Diwn laughed. "You truly think it'll be that easy?"
"I'm fired up."
Lucy stopped listening after Natsu's trademark (and possibly copyrighted) line. Happy started chattering in her ear about the importance of this job, but she didn't care. She tuned it all out as she plopped herself down in the snow. Natsu's fight started immediately with Natsu going on the offensive and burning some of the snow away. Diwn retaliated with wind attacks that knocked snow in her general direction.
She thought about summoning Horologium so that she could hide inside the clock for warmth, but he was unavailable. Many of her celestial spirits were—apparently there was a holiday in there world today. She wasn't sure how that corresponded to time in Earthland, but she agreed not to summon most of them unless there was a dire emergency. Even when coming on this job, she was prepared to only summon the few available to her. Or she was going to use Fleuve d'étoiles. At least her dilemma was solved: there would be no need for summoning on this mission.
Lucy wasn't sure how long she was reflecting on her spirits—five minutes, ten—maybe even twenty, because when she became more aware of her surroundings again, she realized just how chilled she was. And Happy was still talking. He moved on to the topic of fish, and that was when she had enough.
"Hey, Natsu!" she whined, seeing her friend jump over his enemy and send a fiery kick his way. "Would you hurry it up already? It's freezing!"
Natsu didn't land his kick; a gust of wind knocked him backwards, into a snow pile that still existed…well, until his fire melted it away. Although he didn't speak to her, he seemed to take her words into account as he spoke to his opponent.
"You're pretty good," he confessed as he stood up. "But not good enough. Give it up—you're exhausted."
Truly, Diwn did look awful. Part of his Mohawk had been burned away by Natsu's fire, and his clothes were disheveled. Natsu looked perfectly fine, as she expected.
"I suppose that I cannot win," Diwn agreed with a pant. "But fear not, Drazzilb, we still won't need to hand over the reward money."
Only Lucy and Happy were confused at Diwn's words to an unspoken person. Natsu, however, looked directly over at another pile of snow as a person rose out of it. He had white hair (which was gorgeously flowing down to the center of his back), icy blue eyes and clothes that were the same shade. While Lucy and Happy exclaimed in surprise, Natsu just stared at him.
"I knew I smelled someone else here," he said in disgust. "So this was your plan? Take me down so that you don't have to give up the money?"
"Oh, I'll pay you the money," Drazzilb said coyly. He lowered a hand to his side, pulling up a small brown pouch. "If you can beat both of us."
"Alright fine. Lucy!"
Even if she wasn't in favor of this job, Lucy rose to her feet and reached for her whip.
"What do you think you're doing?!" Diwn shouted.
"What?" Natsu said, genuinely confused. "There's two of you. Now there's two of us."
"Uh-uh," Drazzilb disagreed. "I said you need to beat both of us."
"That's not fair!" Happy burst. "I want Lucy to summon Taurus!"
"Taurus?" she blinked. Where did that come from?
Before she could wonder further at the oddity of this mission, she noticed Drazzilb raise his hand. As soon as it curled into a fist, she knew that it was trouble. But he was way too far away for her to stop with her whip, and at that moment, she was reminded of her vow to the Spirits. She couldn't call, not unless it was an emergency.
A strong gust of wind came right at her, blasting right through her coat so that she was chilled to the bone. Her face froze and her eyes dried entirely because of the bitter wind. She thought the wind was going to knock her backwards. Then in a moment of horror, she realized that this wind wasn't even directed at her.
"Aaahhh!" Happy cried. Already in the air, he didn't have any thing to keep him from flying away. He shot back, towards the edge of the cliff. As Lucy and Natsu both cried out his name, he curved one of his wings in to try and control his forced flight. Unfortunately that just made it worse. He blasted off towards the side, into one of the nearby rocks.
"Happy!" Lucy cried, running the distance between them when the wind disappeared. Running without the wind hindering her made it easy for her to reach her cat friend. She collapsed on her knees next to him, automatically reaching and pulling him into her arms? "Happy?"
"Lucy! Is he okay?!" Natsu shouted from his spot.
"H-he's okay," she said. "He's unconscious, but…" But still alive. It made sense, considering how many times Happy hit his head in the past. At the same time though, his unconsciousness was doubly disconcerting. He was used to taking hits, so if this one was enough to knock it out, it was a pretty hard hit.
Natsu understood that as well. Brighter orange flames surrounded his hands and arms as he stared down his two foes. This fight was no longer just for fun or "for the sake of Fairy Tail's pride." Natsu was going to fight for his friend, and now Dwin and Drazzilb were going to pay the price for messing with them.
"Lucy," Natsu said in his serious voice. "Take care of Happy."
"Mm," she hummed. Louder, so he could hear her, she spoke up again. "I got him, Natsu." She wouldn't let anything hurt him.
As Natsu leaped into battle, Lucy hugged Happy to her chest and rose to her feet. Poor Happy. All this just because he protested that it wasn't fair if it was two on one. Well, there was no need to worry anyway. Natsu could have handled them alone before, and he definitely could handle them now while he was emotional. Unlike others, emotions made Fairy Tail mages strong, not weak.
Lucy stepped as far away from the battle as she could, though she was careful of the edge of the cliff. Happy was unfortunate enough to hit his head on the rock; the last thing that he needed was to fall off the cliff too. She looked down at him in her arms once again, seeing his expression the same. Happy… She lifted her gaze to the two enemies, glaring at them with fierce blue eyes. They were going to pay for this. Natsu was making sure of that even now.
As he used his wing attack, both enemies were sent reeling. Dwin landed quickly and sent a gush of frozen snow to bury Natsu. He avoided it easily, jumping out of the way instead of melting it. In the midst of all the chaos, Lucy realized even further the foolishness of this whole endeavor. Dwin was an anagram for "wind", yet Drazzilb used the wind magic. And Drazzilb was an anagram for "blizzard", but Dwin used that type of magic. Stupid. So stupid.
Suddenly, the battle became even worse. Drazzilb gathered all of his strength, raising his hand as he did the first time he hit Happy. "Natsu!" she cried in warning. He understood, but it was too late to do anything but brace himself. He planted his feet and lifted his arms, shielding his face from the harsh wind. Even Lucy, who was pretty far away from the blast, clung tighter to Happy in an attempt to brace both of them. She squeezed her eyes shut for only a brief moment before she looked back to Natsu, just in time to see tragedy strike.
Natsu's scarf was caught away in the wind.
Lucy sprinted for it. Even with Happy tightly in her arms, she didn't slow down or miss her aim. She didn't hesitate for even a moment. When Natsu's scarf was dangling in front of her, she reached out an arm and snatched it from the gust.
At first, she was stunned that she actually caught it. She stumbled through the snow and caught her footing, looking down at both the cat and the scarf. I caught it? I caught it! She lifted her gaze, briefly catching Natsu's panicked eyes. Just as she opened her mouth to tell him that everything was okay, she noticed another set of eyes on her. Drazzilb was staring right at her too, with hand extended towards her.
The wind hit her next and sent her flying backwards. It was in that horrifying moment that she realized that in her pursuit of the scarf, she wandered dangerously close to the edge of the cliff. Even without the wind, she would have been in danger of stumbling. With the wind, she was over the edge and falling.
Blustery cold, ice and wind blasted against her face as she fell towards the ground. In the vastness of the mountains, she thought that she heard Natsu shout her name. As amazing as he was, she knew that there was no way he could help her now.
Well this counts as an emergency, she thought. She could summon Aries and she would give her a cushioned landing. Then panic struck once again. She had Happy in one hand and the scarf in the other. She had no free hands to summon a Spirit. But she still had her wits.
All her thoughts occurred within two seconds of falling. She noticed a branch jutting out of the side of the cliff, coming up quickly. She grasped the ends of Natsu's scarf and lunged it as close to the branch. By some miracle, the scarf got caught on it. There was a terrifying tug on the scarf and the twig. The twig somehow held her weight. Again, a miracle occurred—First she caught the scarf, then she saved herself and Happy from certain death while still clinging to the scarf. Guess I'm not called Lucky Lucy for nothing.
"Lucy!?" Natsu's voice echoed from above.
She lifted her head and saw him there, way above her. Way too far away to reach her.
"We're okay!" she shouted back up at him. Okay until this twig breaks anyway. "Go!" Finish the fight.
"Lucy-"
"This isn't my first pinch," she laughed nervously. "I'll get us out of it. I promised I'd take care of Happy, didn't I?"
Natsu didn't have a chance to respond; something above distracted him and he had to run away from the edge. She hoped that he would finish the fight now, for the sake of Happy and the guild. And maybe…for her too. She'd try to protect Happy until the very end, but below her, there was nothing else that could catch her when she fell. And she would fall. The twig in the cliff kept bending more and cracking on the interior. Three seconds was what she had. Three seconds was what could save her life.
The fight above involved wind that was shoving snow off the side of the cliff. When some drops of snow fell onto her face, she thought to look down. It was a big fall, but with the wind, a lot of snow built up below. Hopefully it would be enough for a cushion.
The twig holding her up snapped and she fell.
*…*…*…*…*…*
Lucy didn't realize she was unconscious until she was conscious again. Some of her senses were off; she couldn't hear well and her eyelids were too heavy to open. But she could smell something: fire. There was a fire nearby, but it wasn't enough to warm her. She was chilled to the bone.
Finally, she started becoming more aware. She could hear the cackling of the fire. Behind her closed eyelids, she could see some light in front of her. She slowly opened her eyes, blurred vision becoming clear as she saw the fire in front of her. It was a small fire, much like a campfire. Most people thought that all flames looked alike, but she knew otherwise. Those were Natsu's radiant flames.
"Lucyyyyy!"
Her ears rang with the cry, but she barely even grimaced. "Happy," she said quietly, relieved. He was visible from the top of her eye. Conscious and looking unhurt. "You okay?"
"I'm fine," he said. Why does he look so tearful? Lucy thought. "Are you okay?"
"I…think so." Nothing felt broken. She slowly began to sit herself up, her arm resting against what seemed to be a solid ground of stone as she rose. Fatigue overwhelmed her. She fell back down onto her side, hitting her head against something other than the stone. Fabric cushioned her head. It wasn't the hood of her coat; it was Natsu's scarf. The owner of the scarf sat across from her, on the other side of the fire. Though the flames stopped her from having a clear view of him, she could tell that his eyes were locked onto her. She offered him a weak, reassuring smile. He didn't return it.
"We were so worried," Happy continued. "I woke up and you were knocked out. And we were buried in snow. Natsu found us and almost cried."
"I did not," he said, though his tone was off.
Happy normally harped on Natsu for showing his emotions, but this time, he let it go. Whether it was purposeful or not, Lucy didn't know. He continued his story as if nothing hindered him in the first place. "There was a storm coming so now we're in a cave until it passes."
"What happened to the two guys?" Lucy asked them.
"Got away," Natsu said bitterly.
"So it was for nothing," she said in disappointment. All the heartache and fear of Happy getting hurt was unneeded.
"Not quite." Finally, Natsu smirked. He held up a small brown bag that Lucy recognized from earlier. The coin bag. He tossed it across the fire to Lucy, though she didn't catch it. It landed right in front of her face. "You earned it."
"Me?" She didn't even fight in that battle. "Why?"
"You saved me," Happy reminded her. "And Natsu's scarf."
"Oh…right." Lucy sat up, this time having enough strength to do so. She sat with her legs off to the side, reaching down to the scarf that had protected her head. "Here," she said, offering the scarf to Happy. "Give it back to Natsu."
Happy extended his hands to receive the scarf. It was only Natsu's voice that hindered him. "Happy, don't. Lucy, hold onto it a while longer."
The cat and girl looked between each other. Natsu was never apart from his scarf. She wasn't even sure if he could part with it long enough to wash it sometimes. No—that didn't make sense; of course he washed it. It was always in great shape and it didn't reek or seem dirty. Even so, she wondered why he wouldn't want it back now.
"Get some rest, Lucy," he said. "You look like you need it."
Suddenly, she understood what he meant. "Hypothermia…" she guessed quietly, slowly lowering herself back onto her side as Happy wisely placed the scarf where her head would lay. She hadn't felt right since she woke up, and now those feelings were intensifying. She shut her eyes to stay the spinning cave, her other senses quickly fading away with her consciousness once more.
*…*…*…*…*…*
"Are you sure you're alright, Lucy-san?" the younger Wendy Marvel asked as she stood beside Lucy's bedside the very next day.
"Of course," Lucy said cheerfully, though her voice was tired. Truthfully, she was alright, though no better than that. It had been hours since she woke up in her own bed and after some time, Wendy and Charle stopped by. Wendy had healed sicknesses before with her magic, so that was why she came today. She already heard about the horrifying experience in the mountains; apparently Happy was telling everyone in the guild what a hero Lucy was and how she saved the day even without summoning her Spirits.
"Happy's really thankful, you know," Charle said as she stood on the end of the bed. She folded her arms across her chest comfortably, looking towards the head fo the bed and the blonde's face.
"I wish he would come here and say that himself," Lucy joked. "I haven't seen him since yesterday. It was yesterday, right?"
"It's eight in the morning, and Natsu brought you back around three this morning," Wendy informed her. "So I guess the last time you did see him was yesterday, late at night."
"Happy's acting strange," Charle said. "He's enthusiastic about you being a hero, but something's off about him. I think he feels guilty."
"Guilty? Why?" Lucy asked.
"You did fall off the side of a mountain for him," Wendy pointed out. "If somebody had to save me like that, I'd feel guilty too."
"You shouldn't, and neither should he. We're nakama—saving each other is what we do."
"Good point," Wendy smiled faintly. She took away her healing hands, which had been hovering over Lucy's body as she cast her spells. "Well? Do you feel any better?"
Lucy tried to sit up, but her head immediately started pinning. She didn't even get her head completely off the pillow either. She frowned, allowing it to drop again. "Not yet, but I know it'll work soon." A long time ago on the day of a festival, Wendy healed her. It took an hour for the sickness to go away, but when it did, she felt as good as new. "Thanks Wendy."
"Sure."
There was something else Lucy wanted to talk about. She could see Wendy and Charle share a look that meant that it was time to go, so that made her try to think even harder on what she needed to say. It was something about yesterday, and Happy and Natsu…
Suddenly, it clicked. "Hey, Wendy," she began. "Could you do me a favor and take this back to Natsu?" She lifted her hand, setting it atop the scarf that rested beside her pillow. When she woke up, it was draped over herself and the sheets. Why Natsu left it there was a mystery; she had her blankets, so there was no need to cover her with the scarf. She woke up and folded it by her head so that she could return it to him.
"Sorry Lucy-san," Wendy said as she shook her head. "Charle and I are going right on to a job. Maybe Natsu will come by for it later."
"Oh, okay, sure…" Lucy didn't think anything of Wendy and Charle going on a job; Wendy was increasing in her independence from the other guild members and becoming brave enough to do jobs only with her cat companion. She was proud of Wendy's growth since she came to the guild. They said their goodbyes and Wendy and Charle were on their way.
As soon as the two were outside, Charle spoke to her best friend about what just occurred. "So you decided not to tell her, eh?"
Wendy shook her head. "She doesn't need to know about it right now, Charle," she said. "Besides, how was I supposed to tell her about what even we weren't supposed to know?"
Wendy and Charle were at the guild an hour ago, as was over half the guild. Since most lived in the dorms nearby, they easily moved to the hall at the start of the day. Others came because they simply liked socializing and being with their Fairy Tail family. Wendy and Charle had come because they were determined to go on a job, just like they told Lucy-san. When they got there, Happy was telling the story for the fourth or fifth time by the time that they arrived.
The two were horrified to hear the story, but they were relieved to hear that Lucy was okay. But not everyone was just filled with relief. Erza was filled with rage.
Before Wendy could even comprehend what happened, she saw Erza grab Natsu by his shirt. She held him tightly with one hand before she pulled him back and then thrust him forward, sending him flying into a pillar.
"What?!" Wendy cried in shock. Erza didn't even let Natsu stand up on his own; she rushed over and picked him up by his shirt before she picked him up single-handedly and pressed his back against the same pillar.
"Idiot!" she yelled. "What were you thinking, taking Lucy on that mission? She even told you that she wouldn't summon her Spirits unless there was an emergency!"
"Erza!" Happy cried in protest.
Erza only cast the cat a warning look to stay out of the argument. "She could have summoned a Spirit to save herself from falling in the snow, but she was too busy covering for you! You let Happy, your nakama, get knocked out by your opponent! What do you have to say for yourself?"
Normally, Natsu would have yelled right back at Erza. He would have said that his opponent purposely targeted Happy, and that Happy brought it upon himself. As close as the two were, Natsu would do anything possible to save himself from Erza's wrath.
Today, he didn't. "Are you done?" he asked quietly without meeting her eye.
Wendy could see that there was something wrong, but Erza didn't get that hint. In fact, Natsu's mellow appearance was mistaken for apathy. "No, I'm not done!" she yelled. "It was a one person job and you dragged Lucy along. You knew she wouldn't approve of the job, that she hates snow, and that she would only be there to watch. Why would you take her with you?"
"Erza, please…" Happy said tearfully in Natsu's stead. Fortunately, Erza finally did look away from Natsu. Her gaze landed on the flying cat beside her—the one who had moisture in his eyes. As Erza let go of Natsu, Happy explained. "We just wanted to spend time with her…we wanted to go back to the same place where we went on our first mission together…"
Naturally Wendy knew that Happy and Natsu cared about Lucy, but she never pictured Natsu to be that sentimental. Yeah, Lucy told her that they collected souvenirs from missions, but actually wanting to revisit a snowy location and being excited enough about it to take Lucy up there without her knowledge was a new level of sentimentality. If she wasn't so worried about Natsu's abnormal silence and Happy's tears, she would have thought their affection was cute.
Finally, Erza let go of Natu's shirt. He leaned his back against the pillar even after Erza let him go. His eyes were downcast. "I'm…sorry," Erza said to the downtrodden Natsu. "I thought you were just being reckless."
Natsu simply turned and started walking away. Happy called after him in protest, prepared to follow. But Erza's following question kept him from pursuing. "Natsu…Where's your scarft?"
"I don't want to talk about it," Natsu finally mumbled.
"I thought you said Lucy saved it," she said, worried for Natsu now. "Did you…lose it?"
Wendy swallowed hard. That scarf was Natsu's last physical connection to Igneel. He treasured it so much that he wore it every single day since Igneel left him. No wonder he was down…
"Lucy has it," Natsu said simply as he continued walking away.
"Then why are you so sad?" Erza called after him, though she finally began to pursue him on foot since he continued walking away. "Natsu! You still have your scarf. Lucy and Happy are okay. What's wrong?"
"I said, I don't want to talk about it!" Natsu turned around and shouted. All of his guildmates were shocked at the anger that he directed at Erza—even Natsu was surprised when he realized what left his lips. He frowned, rubbing his hair as he turned around and started out of the guild. Not even Happy followed him. Charle asked him what that was all about, but Happy didn't know either. And it broke his heart to not be in tune with Natsu for the first time.
Back in the present, Wendy reflected on both the experiences: the one at the guild with Natsu and Lucy in her room. Lucy had no clue that Natsu was so worked up over something; if she had known, she would have asked how he was. No—it wasn't their place to tell Lucy how Erza attacked Natsu in the guild and scolded him for Lucy's sake. Lucy would have to figure it out whenever Natsu came to see her, or when she returned to the guild.
*…*…*…*…*…*
Natsu never came to Lucy's apartment. He never called, never sent over anyone else from Fairy Tail or asked about her. Lucy knew because when other nakama came over, she asked them. She figured out that Natsu's scarf must have been a forbidden subject, because whenever she asked someone to take it to him for her sake, they became flustered. They made excuses that they were going on jobs, going to other towns for some weird holidays they have (nonexistent holidays—she looked them up while in bed). Elfman just went on about a man being a man and that manly men don't need anything to prove that they're men—their manliness is enough to prove that they are men.
The next day, Lucy returned to the guild as good as new. She donned one of her favorite blue miniskirts, boots, and a white top. Thankfully the weather in Magnolia was much nicer than it was in the mountains yesterday; she was actually a little warm in these clothes. If it had been colder, she may have wrapped Natsu's scarf around her neck. But at the same time, this scarf wasn't hers to wear. In fact, she didn't think she ever saw anyone besides Natsu wear the scarf.
Lucy opened the doors to the guild and walked right in, seeing the normal people already at their tables, socializing with one another. She exchanged hellos with some of them, though her mind was elsewhere. Where was…?
"Good morning, Lucy," Mirajane said brightly. The she-demon set her mugs down on a table on a nearby table. Even though it was only nine in the morning, she was still serving beer.
"Morning, Mirajane," Lucy greeted. At least Mirajane was normal; she always met people with a bright and genuine smile on her lips. Everyone else was kind of looking at her weirdly…
"How are you today?"
"Much better, thanks. Hey, have you seen Natsu?"
"Natsu?" Mirajane acted as if the name was completely foreign to her. Or, at least, that it was a strange question to be asked.
"Yeah, Natsu," Lucy reinforced. "He left his scarf at my house yesterday…"
"He did?" Mirajane giggled. "That must mean…"
"Eh?"
"He liiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiikes you."
"Please don't say ridiculous things like that!" Lucy burst out. Why did everyone insist on making declarations like that? IT wasn't just with Natsu—Happy did it to her concerning Loke. Lucy sighed, holding the scarf more tightly to her chest. "Do you know where he is?"
"He's right over there, at the job board."
Of course. How couldn't she notice it before? His pink hair stood out against the board, and Happy's blue fur did the same. Neither of them were looking at her, even though Natsu must have known that she was there because of his sense of smell.
Lucy said her thanks to Mirajane and started over, stopping right beside Natsu. "Oy, Natsu, what are you doing?"
Natsu looked over at her, his gaze somehow blanker than usual. "Lucy…"
"You left your scarf at my apartment yesterday," she said as she pulled it away from her chest. "Here."
He looked at the scarf as if it were poisonous. "No."
"No?"
"Y-you keep it."
"Heh?"
"Yeah. You keep it." But he didn't sound like he meant it. He sounded like he wanted to reach out and grab that scarf more than anything else, but his hands remained curled into fists by his sides.
"Natsu, you're not making any sense. I can see that you want it so here…" She offered it again.
"No," he snapped. "I don't want it."
When Natsu suddenly turned to walk away, Lucy stopped him. She didn't need to do much—all that it took was a hand on his shoulder and her soft voice. "Natsu," she said quietly. "Talk to me. You know you can always talk to me when you're upset."
Even with those comforting words, Natsu refused to look at her for a few more moments. "You'll be mad at me."
"And I'm so scary when I'm mad that you're scared of me?" Lucy joked. "C'mon, you know that I don't stay mad at you forever."
Natsu only looked at Lucy out of the corner of his eye. "Yesterday, I…was scared."
Lucy tilted her head to the side. "Alright, so you were scared," she said as she crossed her arms over her chest. "I think we all were for a little while. Those guys were a lot stronger than they looked."
"I wasn't scared of them, Lucy," he snapped. "I was scared because…I might have lost my scarf."
"Oh…"
"You don't get it. I saw you fall off that cliff and for one second…I was more afraid that I would lose my scarf than I was worried about losing you. I thought my scarf was more important than you…"
That was the explanation that Lucy least expected. So Natsu was upset that he prioritized the rescue of his scarf over her. But it was just for a second, and he obviously regretted it. He looked disgusted by himself. "I'm not mad, Natsu," she said gently. She dared to lift a hand, turning his face towards her. It was important that he met her eyes. "I get it. You were scared of losing your one connection to Igneel."
"I should have been more scared about losing my nakama."
"You didn't have to worry about your nakama," she smiled. "I thought it through and knew that the snow would be enough to cushion the fall. So you see, it's really not…"
"It is a big deal," he interrupted. "I never want to value my scarf more than my nakama. That's why…I want you to hold on to it. You'll keep it safe, won't you?"
"Natsu…"
"Please."
Lucy studied Natsu. He was serious about his convictions. Whether they were misguided or not, he seriously thought that letting her keep the scarf would save him from valuing it more than he did his nakama. "Sorry, Natsu, but I won't keep your scarf for you."
Clearly Natsu wasn't expecting any answer except "yes." He stood stunned as Lucy unfolded the scarf and wrapped it around his neck. She leaned close to his face, keeping eye-contact to assure him of the truth that she started speaking. "I trust you. I know that when it comes down to it, you'll put your nakama first."
Natsu waited until the scarf was completely wrapped around his neck. His body naturally relaxed with it safely on him, though his face was still filled with uncertainty. "How do you know that?"
"You're not the type of person to get trapped in the past. Moving forward is what Fairy Tail mages do, isn't it?" she beamed.
Finally, Natsu cracked a smile. It was as if that last sentence reminded him of who he truly was. Natsu wasn't someone who let the past hold him back. Instead, it spurred him forward. Yesterday was the past. Its events would spur him on in today. "…You're right. Thanks, Lucy."
"You're welcome," she smiled. In that moment, she noticed that Happy had retreated at some point in the conversation. He was over at a nearby table, sitting sill and looking uninterested in the conversation. But it was obvious enough that he was listening in—His expression was too relieved to have been caused by anything but Natsu's burden being lifted. "Happy, c'mon," she called. "Let's go out on a job."
Happy lifted his head and met Lucy's eyes. "Really?!"
"Of course," she said. "But this time, I get to pick the job. Ad we're going somewhere warm and sunny, okay!"
"Yay! We're going on a job!" Happy shouted with joy. He flew over to Lucy and hugged her, burying his face in his usual "pillow". "I'm glad you're all better Lucy."
Lucy just patted Happy on the head, smiling faintly to herself. She was all better, but she wasn't the only one. She was sick with hypothermia while Natsu was sick with heartache. Happy surely was too, since he was so close to Natsu. All of them were better today than yesterday, and they would keep getting better every day that they lived.
To be a Fairy Tail mage meant that you continue forward no matter what. And you move forward hand in hand with your nakama. As Lucy, Natsu and Happy exited Fairy Tail and went to ehir job, that was exactly what they did.