Missing Fairy Tail
Chapter One Pure Serenity
"GET OUT" Lucy screamed, throwing Happy and Natsu into the street before slamming her door and locking it, twice. It had been only two weeks since they had been staying together after their declaration of Fairy Tail's return and she was on her last wick. They had come back to Magnolia and were staying in Lucy's first apartment. She had constantly been cleaning, organizing and praying that they'd find somewhere else to stay for far too long now. Every time she came home something had been clawed to death or burned to a crisp. It was taking her copious amounts of self control not to murder them both. 'How had they lasted this long together without fighting?' She wondered, beginning the task of cleaning their last mess.
She looked away from her job for a moment, smiling, surveying the room. It felt like home, despite the fact that she didn't have a guild hall to find her friends. The lack of work had worried her initially as well. Thankfully she'd made a suitable sum of money working with Sorcerer Weekly. Lucy predicted that she'd still find it challenging to afford the food Natsu and Happy consumed for much longer. She sighed. 'Maybe I shouldn't have been so hard on them. They don't have a place to stay now, without a guild.' She pondered on the idea. All they had known for years had bean demolished. They had probably hoped of returning to their welcoming family rather than the empty frame of their old guild. She couldn't help wonder if the Fairy Tail would still be together if they hadn't taken off, so abruptly, to train. It had acted as the icing on the cake: the physical guild had been left and destroyed but without everyone being together it seemed like the bonds between the members were being left too. Fairy Tail had needed their support and persistence to stabilize its relationships. Lucy studied her rose emblem, on her hand, just as she did every day, remembering the many adventures they'd had, towns they'd destroyed and battles they'd won. She sighed once again, dwelling on her now peaceful life. To distract her from the overbearing weight that the past year's events had placed on her, she decided to take a bath.
Now in the candlelit room, submerged in the steamy water, Lucy could relax. Inhaling the strong scent of peony, she felt her worries softly drift away. She tried to think about her novel-it hadn't really progressed as much as she'd wanted it to-but she couldn't pull her thoughts away from Natsu. She had spent two very full on weeks with him and as much as he'd annoyed her incessantly, she felt as though their bond was strengthening. Happy had been notably absent during their time together. He'd taken to fishing and using his fast wings to try to gather information on their fellow guild mates from the locals. Her and Natsu had made little progress. Lucy suspected that everyone was 'laying low' the disbandment probably hit them harder than her and Natsu. He'd been busy for a year and he'd not even known. Plus, she'd only been at the guild for a year or so. Those who'd spent their entire lives there would probably be heart broken and dealing with it in their own ways.
She sank down deeper into the water closing her eyes. 'Where had Natsu gone?' She worried he'd walk in at the wrong time; it was one of his talents, along with burning down everything in sight. 'Was he mad at her? No. He never was.' He'd put up with numerous rants and screams from Lucy since their first encounter. He was used to it. 'What was he up to?' She thought for only a moment before realizing he'd be eating. ;Was he missing her?' Instantly, Lucy shot into a sitting position. she didn't understand why that mattered or why it had even crossed her mind. She guessed that she wasn't used to the quiet. there was no loud yelling, no snoring, no screaming with added fire, no anything. Nothing but the sounds of the water surrounding her and the dull flickering of her multiple candles. She flopped back down into the water and closed her eyes. After soaking for an additional ten minutes, thoroughly washing herself, she left her bath and dressed herself in a mint green tank top paired with a dark grey mini skirt and black boots.
Once her hair was completely dried she began a letter to her mother. She enthused about Natsu and their plans for the guild and how happy they'd both been on that day they'd reunited. She sealed the letter and set to making some dinner. she'd now have to make around ten times as much as ususal and there'd be no leftovers. Opening her fridge, she found an absence in ingredients. This was repeated in the cupboards. 'Of course.' She mused. She wrote Natsu a note, grabbed her handbag and began a leisurely journey to buy food.
She stepped out into the crisp evening air. Taking her usual route on the edge of the river, she made her way along the water's edge. She teetered along receiving her usual remarks from the boaters warning her not to fall in. The streetlights illuminated the water's surface creating swirly patterns up Lucy's legs. She''d always liked them. They'd remind her of extremely warm days spent swimming in the sun. Nearing the marketplace she stepped down onto the footpath and thought about what to buy for food. It was late so she didn't want to make anything complicated or time consuming. 'What would Natsu like?' She wondered. 'Anything.' Lost in her thoughts, she didn't notice the smoke floating towards her. When it finally filled her view she was awoken to the marketplace half smoking and burned. "NATSU!" She yelled. She just knew he'd caused it. It was always him when it came to fire. Now they'd have nothing for dinner and shed left her house for nothing. Angry and scowling, she turned and decided to take a detour into the woods to let off steam and to make the journey less pointless.
After walking through a long row of trees, she settled in a secluded spot near the water, surrounded by trees. Her breathing began to slow as the crickets and still water soothed her annoyance. This had become a recurring theme. Something-usually Natsu-would irritate her resulting in her having to sit alone for a while to calm, so she didn't kill him. Her eyes scanned the surrounding area and began to watch a group of swans upon the water. This place was nice. She enjoyed how it was far away from anything that could annoy her. The moon slowly drifted through the sky casting its bright rays onto the water. 'Pure serenity.' She thought. Leaning down onto the soft, silky plants beneath her. Her mind swiftly found the topic of Natsu once again. Even when they were separate he was abundant in her life.
She lay on the grass for a further twenty minutes before getting up to return home. Once she made it back to her house, she was exhausted. She couldn't wait to crawl into bed to rest. However upon opening the door she was presented with a familiar site of a certain dragon slayer and a certain blue cat in her living room. Sighing, she said. "We don't have any food and I couldn't buy anyone because someone set the marketplace on fire." The looked puzzled. "Come on Natsu. When fire is involved it usually because of you." Eventually Natsu responded. "Hey Luce. I'm not sure what you're talking about the marketplace for but i know that we do have food. Happy and I went fishing. we even caught you some and cooked it up."
It had been two weeks and Lucy hadn't received any kind of help from either of them. 'Why now?' She let out a small "Thank you." And retrieved plates from her kitchen. They began their meal with Happy and Natsu eating ten times more than her as usual.
"Mmmm! That was delicious." Happy chided. Natsu and Lucy agreed with smiles, finishing their last bites.
'He's right. Thanks you guys."
'No problem" Natsu smiled. "I'm taking a bath."
This stopped Lucy. "You're taking a bath? By choice?" He nodded. "You never do that." Lucy exclaimed.
"He fell in the lake earlier." Happy explained.
"Ah" Lucy understood.
Natsu entered the bathroom leaving Lucy and Happy.
"I'm going back to our place tonight to get some sleep without being disturbed by Natsu's snoring." Happy said sprouting his wings.
"wait you've had your house this whole time and you've been staying here?" Lucy gasped.
"It's not like we didn't used to. You know, when fairy tail was around. We just like to spend time with you is all." Happy told her.
Lucy sighed as he flew out of the window. she missed the guild and having a place she knew they could still find people when she kicked them out.
she began clearing their plates while she wanted for Natsu. Once the house was clean she pulled over Some warm blue pajamas after checking he'd not emerge from the bathroom any time soon. It wouldn't surprise her if he'd called asleep. she didn't want to keep waiting so she crawled into bed and turned off the lights.
Inhaling the smoothie smell of clekan linen, she felt at home. She was happy. She'd had dinner made for her and she had on of the mess makers out of the house. Plus, Natsu was taking a bath. As she felt herself drifting into sleep, she prayed she wouldn't wake up to Natsu next to her as she usually did. She couldn't think about it for too long before she was engulfed into her dreams.
