The Story of Us
They'd known each other for quite a while. Ever since birth, her mother had been there for his birth, he and his mother had been there for her birth. They were "diaper buddies", best friends, and to everyone else, lovers. In everyone else's eyes, they were perfect.
"Do you regret it?" she's often asked.
No, is her reply, because with that reply, it brings the sharp tang of bittersweet memories.
/
"Eeeeek!" a seven-year-old Lucy shrieks.
She's being chased around by the eight-year-old Natsu, running and giggling like any seven-year-old should.
"I've almost got you!" Natsu exclaims happily.
As they run, Lucy trips on a rock and stumbles. Natsu, who's right behind her, ends up tripping as well. They end up rolling into a ball-like position, with Natsu on top, straddling Lucy at the waist. Even as innocent little seven-year-olds, they know that in this proximity, something wasn't exactly right.
Quickly, they jumped off of each other blushing furiously.
"I-it was your fault!" an extremely flustered Natsu yelled, pointing at an equally flustered Lucy.
"N-no, you fell on top of me first!" Lucy yells back.
Lucy, being an embarrassed seven-year-old, knows nothing else but to take a swipe at Natsu in an attempt to shut him up.
"Ha! Missed me, missed, now you gotta kiss me!" Natsu exclaims triumphantly.
"Ok, fine." Lucy leans forward on her toes and pecks Natsu on the cheek.
After she pulls away, the two are very, very red and suddenly shy.
"Natsu! Lucy! Time to go!" a voice calls.
The two of them whip around to avoid looking at each other. Lucy decides that she likes kissing, and Natsu decides he likes Lucy.
/
They're eleven when she has to move.
"Promise you won't forget me?"
"Promise."
And with that, the only thing she leaves behind is wisps of hair and bittersweet memories.
/
They're thirteen when he sees her on lacrima television. She adorned with jewels and looking gorgeous in a flowing pink gown, making some grand speech. But he doesn't care, he's amazed, he'd never expected her to look so amazing. He goes out on a whim, thinking about her and how much he misses her. When he looks up, he sees her face all over, on magazines, newspapers, and on billboards. How had he missed it? Well, it was alright, he knew she was safe.
"Did you see Heartfillia-san today!? She was smoking hot, her rack is HUGE! But she's such a whore. How many suitors has she had? Ten already? "
"I heard that she spends a night in bed with all of them at least once."
Natsu's head whips to face the direction of the voice. He sees a man his age talking animatedly with another man. Both are nodding their heads, faces buried in a magazine with Lucy's face on it.
"Hey." Natsu says.
One man looks up, "What the hell do you want?"
Natsu doesn't say a word, simply takes the magazine, burns it, and proceeds to punch the man in the face.
That night, when Natsu gets home, Happy sees a face that frowns, furrowed eyebrows, and blood-spattered clothes.
"Natsu! What in the world did you do!?" Happy asks, extremely worried.
"Some perverts were trash-talking Lucy, I don't know what came over me, I just, got really angry, I don't know…"
Happy's eyes softened with understanding. He'd met Lucy a few times before, and for all he knew, she was kind but weird. Happy liked her from the beginning, even if they weren't that familiar. But he also knew that Natsu was extremely fond of the girl, always hanging around her and protecting her.
"Well, I can't blame you, just make sure you clean up, ok?"
Natsu nods slightly and grunts his consent.
/
They're fifteen when they finally see each other again. She's a runaway heiress, struggling to survive in Haregon, he's a world-famous wizard, visiting for a job. Just as she's leaving the line at a coffee stand with a cup of piping-hot black coffee, he bumps her, causing her to spill coffee all over him. She grabs wads of napkins while apologizing profusely and wiping up her mess. As she looks up, she freezes, not believing her eyes. There, before her, stands the man that she'd wanted to see for years now.
"Hey."
"H-hey…"
"So, what's up?"
"Ah, nothing much, I guess…" She obviously wasn't expecting him to approach her so boldly.
"Oh, I see, so how's life been treating you?"
"Better, I suppose, it's been better these past couple of years."
He nods, as though he's satisfied with the answer, and then, "How about some lunch? My treat."
With that, they're off. No protests, nothing. Just off to a restaurant where they can eat and talk. They warm up, like old friends should, but that doesn't shake the feeling of awkwardness between them. She heads off to party she's been invited to. As he watches her go, he makes her promise that they'll meet again. It turns out that her host is his target, and as they're fleeing the scene that they made, he makes an offer.
"Why don't you come to Fairy Tail?"
She looks at him like he's crazy, but he's not. He's really offering her a place with him. She accepts whole-heartedly.
/
They're eighteen when he decides to take off again, when they have their first argument. He wants to go find his father, she wants him to think logically and realize that if Igneel hadn't shown up for eleven years, he most likely didn't want to be found. But he won't listen. He yells horrible things, calls her names he would never in a million years want to say to her. But when he comes to, she's already crying and storming out the guild with a month long mission in hand. With no other choice, he leaves for home, determined to wait until she gets back to sort things out.
When she gets back, though, he's gone, tired of waiting. She's heartbroken, but of course, she knows better than to go and search for him. She writes him a note,
I hope you're happy now.
Have a nice life.
Asshole.
She shoves the note under his doorstep and leaves once again, and this time, she hopes that it's for good.
/
They're twenty years old when they meet once again. This time, much like the first, she bumps into him holding yet another piping hot cup of coffee. He doesn't mind, though, because he's desperately missed that blonde head, and plus, he's a fire dragonslayer. He can handle that little bit of heat. She, on the other hand, is not so happy. This time, when he offers to take her out to lunch, she refuses.
"You know, we could have been so happy." Her voice cracks, "We didn't have to say good bye so abruptly, you and I could have lived together, done so many more things together. But you made your decision. I can't stop you, can I? Because I'm not the most important person. You've made your choice, Natsu,we can't ever go back."
"I chose wrong, Lucy."
And in one swift motion, she's somehow in his arms and kissing him. Not only that, but she finds herself kissing him back.
/
She's twenty-four, and it's right before their wedding. She's looking down at him, crimson staining his dress shirt.
"Please! Somebody! Help him! Oh please, just somebody, STOP THE BLEEDING, LET HIM LIVE! PLEASE, I'M BEGGING YOU!" She's screaming, pleading, begging, for someone, someone to just help them. His life is flowing away with the blood and yet, "Don't cry Lucy, I hate it when… you… c-cry…" his voice fades away into the night.
"NOOOOOOOOOOOOO!"
/
She's twenty-four, and it's his funeral. She watches silently as his coffin is buried. She will not cry, she wills herself. She won't cry, for him, her son, and for herself. She won't.
And as the funeral crowd disperses, she's left standing at his grave. Freshly dug, still smelling of dirt. She looks up at the sky, huh, funny. Normally it's supposed to rain, isn't it? So why is it sunny out?
/
She's twenty-nine, standing back at his grave with her son, that tiny, innocent little boy who never knew his father. It's yet another sunny day, and she says, "What a horrible day for rain…" Her eyes shadowed by her bangs.
Her son, Igneel, looks up at her, "Momma, it's not…" He breaks off as he sees his mother crying, "Y-yeah, it's a really bad day for rain."
/
Her son is now twenty-four, about to marry the love of his life. She looks proudly at him. Yet she's swept away by bitter memories of her wedding, the wedding that never happened.
Levy glances at her, "Lu-chan, do you regret it?"
Lucy looks at her good friend, "Never."- Just as Igneel says to the bride, "I do."
Lucy looks up at the sky. It's a sunny day. She smiles, and whispers to the heavens, "I love you, Natsu."
And somewhere unearthly, he whispers back, "I love you too, always have, always will."
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Fin.
Author's note: So actually, this story kind of came up randomly. Strange, huh? Well, basically, I suppose this is the longest one-shot I've ever written (probably my only one). Oh yeah, while you're reading this one-shot, you should listen to the Cinematic Orchestra, Arrival of the Birds and Transformation. It makes it all the more fun. Well, peace out everyone!
Until next time,
-Panda