It was then, with my head resting against his chest, and as sleep overcame me that I realised…. In my greatest times of sorrow and despair, it was my friends I could turn to. Even when they were not with me in flesh and blood, they were in my heart; a part of my own flesh and blood.
The dragon let out a fiery snort as he fell asleep beside me, and all I could do was clutch his paw tighter, with my head resting against his snout.
"Thank you, Igneel. You've shown me true friendship…"
Levy shut the book and glanced down at the exhausted kids at her footrest. Most of them were fast asleep, while others held on to the energy they had left to listen to the ending. The only one wide awake, was the odd one out; a teenager with wild pink hair, completely intent on the entire story.
Levy giggled as the black haired one named Lilly, a boy, snuggled closer to her at the end of the story. He too was fast asleep.
"Again," Natsu demanded. Levy blanched and almost laughed louder, had she not been trying to stifle her giggles.
"I'll read it tomorrow night. Help me get the kids to bed," Levy ordered. Natsu groaned. He loved story time, but taking the kids to bed was a whole different story. They were heavy and they never managed to stay asleep when he brought them to bed. It was mission, one that sometimes even Erza failed at, but the younger ones were too scared of her to bother at any sort of protest.
Speaking of which, where was the redhead?
Natsu stood up, practically shaking the kids on him, off. He stood up, grabbed Romeo and Wendy around the waists and dragged them to their respectful beds. One by one, Levy and Natsu managed to take the kids to their beds, tuck them in and make sure they were comfortable. Levy was quick to take the smaller kids and be gentler than Natsu was. He was reckless, but loving nonetheless. It was an appealing feature, had he not have the habit to burn things to the ground on a regular basis or .knock things to the floor or provoke Gray on a regular basis…. Oh well….
As Levy was saying her final goodnight to the youngest girl, Carla, Natsu pinched the flame dead with his fingers. All the candles were out, excluding the dull lamp in the middle of the room. They left it that way and left the room too.
"There you are flame-brain!" Gray exclaimed, his head peeking out of the roommates respectful room. His entire torso was visible and a closer inspection he was completely naked. Levy blushed like a respectful lady, hiding her face at the sight. It was a common occurrence to see the dark-haired male without clothes – he hated the stuffiness of it – but it remained unnerving to the women in the workhouse.
Gajeel, who came from the bathroom around the corner, noticed the exchange and shoved Gray into his room, grumbling about destroying women's innocence and putting on clothes.
Natsu rolled his eyes and walked into his room which he shared with Gray and Gajeel. Levy parted ways and went to her own room across from them, which she shared with Erza and Cana.
"Ye' really love strippin' naked fir the ladies, doncha, Ice-Princess?" Natsu teased, at a grumbling Gray who was busy straightening the sheets on his bed.
"How was I supposed the know Levy would be out there? I only heard your thundering footsteps," Gray mocked. "Nobody ever hears a princess when there's a monster around."
Both other men protested at that statement, but for various reasons.
"Did you just call Levy a princess, Popsicle pants?!" Gajeel exclaimed.
"I'm not a monster, Mr Yeti," Natsu shot back.
Gray didn't respond to Natsu, but smirked at Gajeel instead. "I did indeed call Levy a princess. She is very delicate after all."
"OI! Don't go flirting with my woman!" Gajeel growled and tackled Gray into his bed, in an attempt to put the bastard in-his-place. Wherever that was, Natsu thought with shrug. He gathered his night clothes and left to go take a shower.
Meanwhile at the castle….
"How is he?" Princess Lucy asked the medical practitioner. He had been in her father's room for a long time and the young girl was getting extremely worried. Her father had been ill for the past few weeks, and Lucy feared he may suffer the same fate as her late mother.
"Miss Lucy… I don't know how to say this, but… your father is under a lot of stress. That stroke you told me about was not a stroke, but a mild heart-attack. Your father doesn't have long to live, I'm sorry," the practitioner told her gravely. He turned his back and left the hallway; either due to embarrassment or his own heart ache, Lucy did not know.
She felt the grief in her heart before the tears fell. And with her tears, she fell to her knees as the anguish overtook her.
Lucy and her father had never been on good terms.
His only concern was marriage and money, neither intended for Lucy's own good. She shook as she rested on her knees, with her arms supporting her barely.
Lucy Heartfilia sobbed shamelessly.
A rush of adrenaline and a desperate seek of comfort led her outside, to where her mother's grave rested.
She stumbled over her dress, tripped and sobbed on her way there, and collapsed in a wave of anguish at her mother's grave.
Right now, she would mourn. Later she would talk.
Natsu winced for no apparent reason. Maybe he stepped in something sharp without noticing? The younger kids of Fairy Tail did have a habit of leaving things around….
Natsu shrugged off the feeling and went back to the room in the darkness. He had no trouble seeing with the help of the hearth in the hallway. The embers glowed softly and he almost wanted to get closer to it, to warm up.
He thought against it when he noticed the silence. The entire workhouse was quiet and the sky was dark with clouds. Everyone must have been fast asleep, whereas Natsu took his shower too seriously.
Natsu exhaled and snuck into his bedroom, careful not to awake the slumbering figures of his friends. That night, Natsu dreamed of a dragon named Igneel and a princess atop his back.