Disclaimer:

Fairy Tail, I do not own

But this Gumbo... Is mine *Laughs maniacally*


"I hate life sometimes", the young dragon slayer thought to himself while chilling rain dripped down his face. After Igneel left he had no one to talk to anyway, no one who cared about his spiraling depression or his pessimistic comments on life. Despite him being in a guild now not many people took him seriously… except her… He heard footsteps headed his way and braced for more insults. Instead he was presented with beautiful blue eyes, amazing white hair, and a comforting conversation. It was that day he found his new best friend, Lisanna. She taught him how to smile again, how to laugh again, how to love again… and he knew that they would be together forever…

*End Flashback*

"Natsu…. Naatttsuuu.. NATSU!"

"LISANNA!" Natsu's eyes shot open.

'Just a dream?' Natsu thought in his head after he took in his surroundings, after confirming that his thought was true he struggled to hold back the tears

"Natsu?" The blonde celestial mage switched from a biting, wrathful tone to a soft and sympathetic one in an instant.

" Sorry... I..." A tear nearly escaped.

Lucy tried to find soothing words for her friend, "I-I'm sorry Natsu…" she couldn't help but feel a little guilty for yelling at him earlier.

"It's ok Lucy, Besides she wouldn't want me to be sad, I have to smile… for her", he said, quickly wiping away the lone tear that got away before flashing his signature toothy grin. "Come on, let's go get your rent mone- Wait a second… Are we on… A train?"

"Yes", Erza said calmly, making sure to guide her strawberry cake filled fork to her mouth with God-like precision after uttering her short statement.

"Shouldn't you be puki-", Gray couldn't even finish his sentence before Natsu felt his motion sickness kick in after his nap.

"Sh-sh-Shut up gray..." Natsu mumbled before he fell face-first into Lucy's lap

"EEEEK!", Lucy turned red as soon as it happened, %33 out of sheer embarrassment, %33 from aggression at Natsu's pervy intentions, and %34 from shaming herself on how she actually, kinda enjoyed it a little… He was extremely warm and surreptitiously she didn't want him to move. After the glares from passengers reverted the train's movement forced Natsu to face Lucy, even though he was fast asleep. She looked down at the pink haired dragon slayer and couldn't help but smile a little, he was one of her best friends after all, and he did introduce her to the guild, hell he practically made her dream come true.

'He does look really peaceful like this... So innocent' Lucy said to herself, while playing with his hair for a while.

*coughs* "Ahem", the scarlet haired woman brought Lucy back to reality, causing her to blush slightly

"We're here" Lucy looked around confirming Erza's statement. She quickly stood up, making an unconscious Natsu fall on the hard floor.

"Ugggghhhhhh I hate trains!" Natsu said as he wobbled outside to caress the outside ground, " Mwahh I'm never leaving you again ground, mmm." Lucy shook her head at his reaction.

"Aww, Lucy's Jeeaalouuss!" happy made his first appearance of the day.

"Am not! " Lucy stuck her tongue out, quite the debater she was.

"Surrrre you aren't", happy made his sarcasm obvious.

"Enough, we need to get to this job done, we're at the Onibus train station now sooooo, we head this way", Erza pointed and the group followed.

"So what are we supposed to be doing here anyway? Is it another one of those crappy plays?" Natsu said, already regretting his decision to come along.

"Ugggghhhh I hate those!" Gray chimed in

"First off, those plays are not crappy, they're beautiful..." Erza paused to reminisce on her stellar performance with stars in her eyes, She quickly came back to earth to respond to the duo. "Secondly, no, we are not here to perform a play, and if you keep complaining I will BEAT THE FUCK OUT OF YOU!" The fire and ice mages trembled at her words and decided to keep their mouths shut for a while.

"Well let's just hurry and get this job done, you better not screw this up cold cunt."

"Shut it flame fag!"

Erza gave both of them a death-glare, they quickly hugged each other.

Lucy and happy chuckled at the sight of the two.

"Here we are"

Everyone looked up to see a beautifully aged building with bricks of multiple tones. There was an intricate design at the top of the building and a long line stretching down the road.

"Wait … This is the theater… *gasps* YOU LIAR!" Gray and Natsu shouted simultaneously.

Erza paid no attention to their comments and did a few vocal exercises.

"SURPRISE FAIRY TAIL MAGES!" a short purple haired man shouted to the group, "For all the work you all have done for me in the past, I invited you here to see a famous play, free of charge Doumo arigatou gozaimashita!"

"…"

"…"

"…"

"…"

"…"

"Oh and I'll give you 100,000 jewel each… except for the cat."

Everyone except Happy celebrated how easy this job was.

"That's racist", happy frowned

"You get all you can eat fish while you're here Arigatou gozaimashita"

"Aye Siiiir!"

"So what play are we watching?" Gray asked, breaking a momentary silence.

"Romeo & Juliet", Rabian (Labian?) answered as quickly as Gray asked.

"Oi, Romeo's here? Macao mustve sent him for some reason, but alone? Did he decide to come here alone? I hope he isn't leaving the guild…Who is Juliet though? She might be controlling his mind or something." Natsu said, pondering the apparent conundrum with a finger on his chin.

The entire group facepalmed.

"Its the name of a play you jackass." Gray shouted angrily.

"Shut up man-whore! What kind of play is this though, I've never heard of it" Lucy jumped at the chance to explain the play.

"It's a very famous Shakespeare play, Natsu. A man falls in love with a woman that doesn't love him back, So he goes to a party just to see her and instead he finds love at first sight in Juliet, a young woman that's a descendant of a rival family, They share a kiss without even learning each other's names. Despite adversity their love grows stronger, Him, a Montague, and her, A Capulet... They form a bond of true love. Then the-"

"Lucy calm down with the fangirling sheesh...", Gray interrupted Lucy's plot synopsis.

The group shared a laugh.

"Alright well lets go find some seats then"

"Aye Siir"

The group finds seats on the front row. Erza sat on the edge of the row with Gray, Happy, Natsu, and Lucy sitting next to her respectively.

"When is this play gonna start?" Natsu whined, gaining the attention of some fellow patrons.

"Natsu keep it down please, I don't want to obliterate you right now."

Gray laughed silently

"Shh Gray it's starting", Happy said silently.

"We present to you Romeo & Juliet", applause followed the man's statement, The play started after the applause settled down.


A few laughs, screams, and tears later, the play was over, leaving the cast to accept a standing ovation for their amazing performance. Natsu's reactions changed throughout the play, In the beginning he indulged in child-like mischief, shouting " That's what she said" and enjoying silent laughter with his best friend and rival Gray, but later on it was… different. The group went to collect their reward.

They all thanked the short man before heading back on the train station.

A discussion arose about the play while they walked, almost everyone had an equal part in it, Happy claimed he's Romeo and Carla is Juliet, without the tragic double-suicide of course, he thought that the ending should be the two flying off into the sunset with two kids and grilled fish. Erza thought that they were both too weak mentally, and claimed had it been her and some random blue-haired guy things could've gone better. Lucy claimed they didn't know each other enough to fall in love, now had he introduced her to all of his friends, and took her on misadventures it would've been more realistic. Gray responded to everyone's input comically, but provided none of his own.

Natsu walked ahead of the rest, silent the entire time.

"Oi, flame brain! What did you think of the play?"

Natsu shrugged, his unusually listless eyes were enough to signal something was wrong.

"Natsu... What's up with you?" Lucy stepped up, matching his walking speed.

He didn't respond, he quickened his pace to distance himself further.

"Erza, The play broke Natsu…" Happy began to show concern as well.

Erza walked up to Natsu, but before she could speak he was already seated on the train, They were all so involved in the conversation that they hadn't noticed that they were in the train station.

It was a quiet train ride back to Magnolia. No one bothered starting a conversation with Natsu, due to his motion sickness. He leaned onto the glass instead of Lucy's lap, watching the terrain pass by while he fought to hold his lunch down.

Once the train came to a halt, Natsu was the first one to hobble out before quickly walking in the direction of his house. He was stopped after his guild mates surrounded him.

"Flame Brain, We can't help you unless you tell us what's wrong…"

"Gray's right Natsu… Unless you're just giving us the silent treatment as a joke, then I'll just pummel you." Erza crossed her arms.

"I-I…" The dragon slayer had no words in response, he looked down, his hair covering his eyes while he sighed deeply.

"Natsu…" Lucy stepped toward him, she quickly noticed that talking about things like this, potentially emotional things that he couldn't be solved with brute strength or magical prowess, was not the dragon slayer's strong point. "We don't have to talk about that… How about you come over, we can watch movi-"

"No Lucy… All of you get out my face…" Lucy jumped at his words, Sure he had cut her off before but only jokingly. There was nothing funny about this situation though: his body movements were rigid, there was no goofy smile on his face, no child-like innocence in his eyes; His voice was cold and unloving, kind of like how her Dad sounded when she was a child, this realization chilled her to the bone. Does Natsu hate me now? Did I do something wrong? Am I going to cry? No, I'm not a little girl anymore, Besides something is clearly wrong with him… Something serious, Because he never acts like this. A thousand thoughts ran through the celestial mage's mind in a matter of seconds. She reached her hand out to grab Natsu but he wasn't there, his retreating figure was shrinking, the setting sun leaving a shadow, reminding her that he was actually there, and that that actually happened. Her emotions ranged from depression, worry for Natsu, to anger directed at Natsu, Hate for Natsu? Maybe…

"Damn Lucy… Even I thought that was cold." Gray snickered.

*Wakata Wakata Wakata Wakata*

Lucy was finally pulled out of her thoughts, she looked to Gray, and before she could scold him she noticed Erza was smacking him, making him look like a bobble-head.

"BAKA! You're making it worse!" Erza quickly threw the Ice mage onto the ground before confronting Lucy. "You alright? I don't know what's gotten into him."

"Hm? O-oh…. Yeah, sure. I'm gonna go home." The blonde headed home. It was dark outside, and the streets of Magnolia were not as bustling as they usually were. Sure there were a few people here and there, some on late-night dates, others preparing for night-shift jobs, some children playing games - most likely on borrowed time until their parents found out they weren't in bed. It didn't seem like it but this city never slept, There was always someone on the streets... She stepped up to her door and unlocked it, as she walked in she locked it back.

"Ughhh… All things aside, That was an easy month's rent." She was sitting at her table, she activated her lacrima powered projection television and switched through some channels before deciding to watch some movies... alone. She was now watching some film about a guy stranded in a forest or something, he was talking to animals, and it was pretty funny so she left it on.

"I have to talk to Natsu about this tomorrow..." She looked down into the latte that Virgo had prepared for her.

'That wasn't like him at all...' she got into bed.

"Natsu… Are you gonna tell me what's wrong?" She fell asleep.


The next day.

The blonde celestial took a morning shower, melting away her troubles. She let her body relax, her mind unwinding through the heated liquid. She knew she had to talk to someone about something today, she couldn't remember what or who exactly.

She didn't really care at the moment.

She lathered soap all over her body, more giving herself a massage than cleaning. Her hands approached the task methodically, caressing her body in circular motions. She'd turn around, let the shower water douse her back while she lathered up her front, then she'd turn again, rinsing her front while she employed a few awkward arm movements to clean her back.

The struggle was real.

But after a while she decided she could only stay in the shower for so long. She put on a dragon t-shirt, a black skirt and some black knee high boots. She didn't care much of her appearance at the moment. She called out Cancer to do her hair a little, giving her a casual, partially messy look that she adored.

She looked in the mirror and steeled herself.

"Interrogation time!" she clapped her hands and headed to her favorite guild in the world.

She pushed open the doors, Saying hello to her fellow mages but diligently searching the sea of faces for pink hair.

A teasing barmaid brought her back to reality.

"Lucy! Looking for Natsu?" She winked, she asks Lucy that nearly everyday.

But today she was right.

"Actually yes, Have you seen him?"

"Oooohhhhhhhhh, but No I haven't seen your lover recently... Maybe check out his house... You've probably been there recently anyway." She teased.

"He is not my lover! And I should've thought of that... Ok, I'll see you later!"

Mirajane waved at her retreating figure. "Remember Lucy! Breathe through your nose!"


She walked through the forest, barely remembering where Natsu and Happy slept.

She saw the sign 'Natsu & Happy' and knew she was in the right place instantly.

She knocked on the door, waiting patiently for the dragon slayer, hoping that he was here so they could talk about what was bugging him the other day, and maybe even get a few punches in for him being such a jerk. The door swung open and she was glad that he came, for a half of a second that is.

"Heyy Lusheee!" She looked down to see Happy, dressed in one of Natsu's shirts, she laughed at how outrageous he looked, but only for a while, she was here on serious business.

"Tell Natsu to come here..." she looked away so she wouldn't laugh anymore.

"Hmm.. ok" He closed the door and she could hear him flying around for a few minutes.

The door opened again, her fallacious happiness returned.

Happy looked up at her, " Natsu's not here..." He scratched his head.

"-_- You couldn't tell me that before!?" She shouted and ran back to guild to continue to look for him.

After she was gone, Happy turned around and shut the door.

"She gone?" Natsu was lying in his hammock (technically in two ways).

"Yes... But you're gonna have to talk to people soon, you can't stay here forever you know?." Happy hopped onto the couch, Using Natsu's shirt as a blanket.

"Watch me..."


5 Days Later

It's been about a week since the Onibus job, and no one in the guild has seen Natsu since, everyone was at the guild except for him, people had varied reactions.

From 'Ohh nooo, I hope he's okay...'

To 'Fuckkk yeaaah! Vacation from Flame-Brain! Whoop Whoop! Lalalalalaaala Hai Hai hai Haaiiii!'

And even the occasional...

"Where's Salamander!? I haven't fought him in a while, he's overdue for an ass-kickin'!" Gajeel was getting a bit more rowdy than usual, maybe it was the universe's way of supplementing Natsu's absence.

Lucy shook her head and continued to drink her milkshake.

"We haven't seen him either Gajeel. Fire fag's probably at his house feasting on some chicken and steak right now."

"Eh, Fuck em... LITTLE GIRL! COME AT ME!" He pointed to Wendy, who quickly shook her hands vigorously.

"Don't fight Wendy! FIGHT A MAN!" Elfman uppercut the Iron Dragon slayer, sending him flying backwards.

"Calm down you two." Mirajane spoke from behind the bar, hoping to contain the fight before anyone else joined in.

"TURN DOWN FOR WHAT!?" Elfman threw a chair at Gray, pissing the ice mage off enough to get him to join the two.

A few punches, kicks, beast arms, ice make moves, and iron clubs later, they decided to recruit more fighters.

" Aye DROY! JET!" The dragon slayer shouted, gaining their attention.

"What steel-face?" Droy turned to him.

"Wassup Gajeel?" Jet did the same.

The iron dragon slayer sprinted to the two, bringing his voice down to a whisper so only they could hear.

"Levy is never gonna love you two, You might as well settle for each other..." His comment was more than enough to get them both involved in the battle royale taking place.

Everyone expected Erze to shout " ENOUGH!" when she stood on the table, instead she had a different announcement. "ARE YOU NOT ENTERTAINED!? ARE YOU NOT ENTERTAINED!? IS THIS NOT WHY YOU ARE HERE!?" She then drop-kicked the iron dragon slayer before landing swift punches on the other "contestants".

"Now... I'm leaving for a job, You all behave yourselves." Erza walked out of the guild and due to recent fist-to-face destruction, no one dared swing a punch at the moment.

A few minutes of pain later...

"So... You all wanna play Cloak, Sword, Boulder? (Paper,scissors, Rock)" Gajeel stood up, barely though, When Erza kicks ass she does so thoroughly.

"Sure, I won't lose! I'm a strategic MAN!" Elfman got into postion, Gajeel did the same.

"Cloak, Sword, Boulder!" They yelled simultaneously with closed eyes. Elfman raised both hands over his head as if he were holding a large boulder over his head, Gajeel took a sword-fighting stance. "FIGHT!" They both yelled and opened their eyes.

"Tch..." Gajeel prepared for what was to come, Elfman punched him in the face twice as hard as he could.

"Is a Man ready to go again?"

"Phrasing Elfman... Phrasing." Cana laughed before drinking some more.

"SCREW THIS GAME! I WANT SALAMANDER!" Gajeel raged, ready to fight the rival dragon slayer.

"Forget Spark sissy! He'll be back soon enough... Until then fight me!" Gray spoke up, causing the second round of the brawl to commence, despite Erza's previous warnings.


**Happy's POV**

"Good Morning Natsu!" I flew around, doing what I do best, being happy, well no... I eat fish the best! But eating fish makes me happy, Whatever.

"Ugh...Morning..." Natsu rubbed his eyes.

"Let's go to the guild, It's so boring here..." I sat on his chest. "C'mon, Get up Natsu..." I try to pull him up.

I can't...

Have you seen me?

He's heavier than Lucy!

"No Happy... I'm staying here, Go if you want to."

"Ok Mr. Grumpy Pants, I'll bring you some food back." I flew out of the house reluctantly, Leaving Natsu alone with whatever it was he's been doing this past week. He's been acting so different lately...

Maybe he wants a fish dinner...

I flew around while thinking about him... and Carla, but mostly him.

I really do hope he does feel better soon.

I opened the guild doors, flying in to greet everyone, there was a big fight going on, so not many people noticed me.

Super heavy Lucy was not one of those people.

"Happy! Where's Natsu!?" She ran over to me, I hope she doesn't fall on me.

I haven't gotten to share a fish dinner with Carla yet.

I haven't been able to eat wing-fish correctly yet.

I haven't caught the world's biggest fish yet...

There's so much to do! I can't die here!

"Happy!" She screamed again, I forgot what she asked me before, It's hard to listen when your life is in danger.

"What did you say Lucy?"

"Where... Is... Natsu... I need to talk to him!" She was really anxious.

She lllikes him.

"You lllike him!"

"No I don't!"

Yes she does.

"Yes you do!"

She clearly likes Oto- I mean Natsu!

"No! I'm just worried, he was acting weird last week, and no one has seen him in a while..." She looks so sad.

Even heavy people shouldn't be sad.

I really wish I didn't have to make Lucy sad...

But what Natsu said...


"Wait a second Happy..." He walked up behind me.

"If you tell anyone I'm at our house...If you even THINK of it, I'll tie you down..." His eyes look red...

Natsu's scary...

"I'll lock you away, where no one will find you..."

Nooo, Don't hurt me Natsu, don't do this!

"Then... I'll become a Hardcore Mira-level 'Carly' shipper..."

I don't even wanna know what a Carly shipper is... It sounds so...

Malicious.

Evil.

Iniquitious...

Just all out wrong.

But my mouth...

My stupid, stupid mouth just had to ask...

"What's that?"

My soul isn't prepared for the next thing he says.

"That means I'll get Pantherlily and Carla together..." He smiled wickedly, his evil plan concocted out of pure hatred for mankind... A few shattered souls and hearts being the primary seasoning, His stirring spoon crafted purely out of despair... Served with a side of the fish of death. His dish, is so beyond comprehension, so outrageously befuddling that you can never understand the emptiness you'll feel... Not until you take a bite...

I'm not hungry right now...

"I-I w-w-wo-won't say anything!"


"Happy! Wake up!" Lucy shook me.

I need to lie, and do it fast.

"He left last week! I haven't seen him since then!"

Yes, Happy, Ya done good.

"Oh..." She looks so sad...

A tiny angel happy with white wings flew over my right shoulder.

You have to tell her Happy... he spoke in a soft voice.

A small and equally cute demon Happy appeared on the other side.

NO YOU DON'T Happy!

Yes you do! This is wrong! She's worried...

CARLA WON'T be worried when she kissin' Pantherlily! Do you want that!? HM!? Do YA!?

Lucy might cry Happy... Do it for Lucy.

Do it for Carla!

"Do it for the vine!" I screamed.

"You ok Happy?"

"Noooo" I shook my head

I hear voices in my head, They council me they understand...

They talk to meeee...

THEY TALK TO MEEE!

"What's wrong !?" Lucy is concerned.

She's as nice as she is heavy...

Her being sad makes me sad, I can't just watch this.

"I-I'm okay! I'll tell you when Natsu get's back! You'll be the first to know."

"Oh Thanks Happy! I have to kick his butt you know!" She hugged me, she's so Happy.

That makes me Happy.

I fly away from the guild and pick up some food.

If I'm Happy... Natsu will be happy too!


Finally got chapter one rewritten... Finally, Hope you enjoyed. Until next time.