Hey guys! I thought I'd write you guys a Nalu with no strings attached since I know some of you are confused about "The Symposium." I apologize for the confusion, but if you're patient, everything will make sense soon enough in that story, I promise. I hope you guys enjoy this, and let me know what you think! I don't own the characters of Fairy Tail, though I wish I did.
The doors of the guild slammed open, in tune with Lucy's ire.
"It wasn't a big deal Natsu!" Her companion strode in after her, a slight discoloration of his jaw apparent on the right side of his face. He glared lightly at the back of her head.
"I heard you scream, Lucy." She spun to give him the full force of her glare.
"I was in the shower!" She exclaimed. To the people in the guild, it was obvious enough with her still wet hair that was thrown up in a messy bun, and her thrown together outfit. This was also an argument that they had heard before, although there seemed to be something off about Natsu. Lucy was slightly unnerved of the intensity in Natsu's olive gaze. After a moment, the look passed, and he responded.
"I just reacted...it was instinct." The celestial mage watched Natsu for a moment, her chocolate gaze narrowed, before she sighed and walked away, heading over to her usual seat at the bar.
"And he just slammed the door open and tore back the curtain!"
"Sounds like the beginning of a chapter in 50 Shades of Gray." Levy murmured, glancing at her best friend over the rim of her glass. Lucy's gaze snapped to the blunette, who nearly chocked on her drink from her friend's surprised and slightly angered expression. Lucy pursed her lips and glared good-naturedly at Levy.
"And you'd know this, why?" The response was blasé, but it caused Levy's face to turn red, up into the tips of her ears, making Lucy laugh. The blonde clutched her stomach from laughing so hard before trying to get her breathing under control. Hearing Natsu throwing insults with Gray, she sobered up a bit.
"But seriously...he has no concept of privacy." Levy shrugged.
"Well he is a creature of instinct." Lucy snorted rather unladylike.
"He's a creature alright." Her gaze fell back to her two friends brawling, just in time to catching Natsu breathing fire. He's a dragon.
After Levy left her for a mission with team Shadowgear, Lucy went in search of someone who would be best for the other perspective.
"And you're over here, why, blondie?" said blonde eyed the dragon slayer curiously.
"Have you ever...behaved like Natsu?" Gajeel snorted.
"As if. Salamander has the maturity of an 8 year old. The kid runs on instincts." Lucy frowned. There was that word again. Gajeel noticed, and scowled slightly. "What? Don't know what it means?"
"Of course I do," she stated distractedly. "a natural or intuitive way of acting or thinking." she spout off. There was a beat of silence before Gajeel chuckled lowly. The noise immediately caught Lucy's attention, causing her to frown again. I'm gonna have frown lines by the time I'm 20. "What?" she snapped. Gajeel smirked, his teeth menacing-looking.
"Maybe that's what it means for normal people, but what about dragons?"
"But the dragons left years ago." Lucy protested. Gajeel raised a studded eyebrow.
"Me, Wendy, and Salamander were raised by and as dragons. We were taught their morals, their beliefs. Our instinct...is that of a dragon's, a wild beast, a huge monster. Our instinct is that of an animal's, the basic human desires, because humans really only play themselves off as sophisticated beasts. We were raised as predators."
For the first time, since her lethal confrontation with Gajeel, she feared him. He truly terrified her when he put it that way, making things much more serious. I mean...it's Natsu we're talking about. Him? Raised as a predator? Unbelievable. Gajeel could see the disbelief on her face, could smell the fear inkling into her scent, turning the normally sweet scent bitter. "And you've seen it yourself, bunny-girl." Confusion overtook her scent, and the older dragon slayer spoke again. "Every battle Salamander has had, it involves instinct; the way he moves, what he uses to attack, to defend. In no situation is a dragon prey. When we fight with such a narrow-minded focus, our instincts tell us to protect, to defend...to destroy." Lucy watched the red-eyed dragon in front of her.
"Of course...when it comes to nakama, Natsu always wants to protect them." Gajeel stood up, towering over the celestial mage, only adding to his intimidation.
"Not only protect."
"Lucy?" The blonde started at her own name, and looked up into the familiar blue eyes of Mirajane.
"Mira-san..." she smiled easily. "Was there something you needed?"
"The master was looking for you." Lucy nodded and stood up, walking upstairs. Worry flashed over the white-haired barmaid's face.
"What's bothering you, Lucy-chan?" she murmured.
After knocking, she only had to wait a moment.
"Come in Lucy." She opened the door, but when she saw Natsu, some of her original annoyance came back. Happy was standing on Makarov's desk, who must've seen the annoyance on her face, because he quickly spoke.
"I have a mission for you three."
"What's the mission, jii-san?" Natsu asked, excitement filling his voice. A seriousness covered Makarov.
"Around the town of Brunewell, teenage girls and young women are going missing, only to show up dead." Lucy gasped, her hand flying to her chest. Anger pulsed easily off of Natsu. "And most of them have been found raped." Lucy felt the temperature in the room skyrocket. She looked to her partner. He was completely rigid, his muscles tightening, his jaw clenching. His olive eyes had practically darkened to onyx. After making sure that neither of his children would speak, Makarov continued. "I have had three charms made to fit each one of you. It will change your physical appearance to everyone else but you three." Happy was given a collar, and his blue fur turned grey before flashing back to blue every time Lucy focused on him. Natsu was given a silver band that fit on his middle finger of his right hand. The dragon slayer had hair as black as Gajeel's, and piercing blue eyes. Only if she focused on him, could she see the pink hair and green eyes. Finally, Makarov gave her a gold necklace in the shape of a key. She watched her hair turn brown, before turning back into its golden color almost immediately.
"Umm...master, my necklace didn't work. My hair is the same." The old man smiled, and held up a mirror.
"Look for yourself." In it, Lucy saw a green-eyed brunette.
"Wow..." she mouthed. "And your marks have also been covered. This is a complete, undercover mission, and Lucy...you will be bait."
If she though Natsu was angry earlier, he was furious now. He turned on Makarov, blue eyes blazing like fire.
"NO!" he roared. Makarov's gaze narrowed.
"Lucy is a very capable mage. Besides, she has you, correct?" It only appeased the dragon slayer slightly. Before he could oppose again, Lucy spoke, turning to her best friend.
"Natsu, I need to do this." He looked at her, betrayal flashing over his features. "Think of all those girls who didn't have anyone to save them." She met his gaze unflinchingly, emerald orbs blazing. "I can save the ones yet to be taken!" Lucy bit her lip, lowering her voice to barely a whisper. "I can give closure to those we couldn't."
So this is the beginning of my story. I don't believe that this will be as long as the others are going to, but then again, these stories have a mind of their own. Please, once again, leave reviews! :)