Author's Notes
Hello! Second NaLu fanfic… came out a little later than I anticipated… oh well… Anyways… there's a bit of NaLi in the beginning… but don't worry… it's called a NaLu fanfic for a reason ^.^ (BTW the story is told from Lisanna's point of view… I don't really know why I just thought it'd be interesting…) For some reason, I really like killing Natsu but not Lucy… oh well… enjoy! Reviewing is also appreciated! I do not own Fairy Tail or the characters in any way.
"Hey, Natsu," I called, walking over to where he stood, a smile upon my face.
"Oh, Lisanna! What's up?" Natsu replied energetically as always.
"Remember when we were little? And we agreed to get married when we grew up?" I prompted, looking up at Natsu from his right.
"Eh? Ah, that's right," Natsu said, rubbing the back of his head, "But now…" he paused and I watched his eyes flicker over to someone before looking down at me. Lucy Heartfilia. Natsu turned to face me directly and smiled broadly before saying, "Sorry."
"Well it's okay. After all, we were just kids," I replied cheerfully. But inside, I wasn't cheerful. Why did he like Lucy? What did he see in Lucy? When I was in Edolas, how did this girl, so different from Lucy Ashley (Edo Lucy), bust her way into Natsu's life? What did she do? "Anyways, I've got to go talk with Mira-nee. See you around!" I turned around, waving over my shoulder before running off.
"Hey Lucy," I heard Mira-nee say, "I think Natsu has a crush on you!" She smiled as usual.
"Eh? No way," Lucy replied, taking a sip of the drink in front of her. But her eyes showed through to her heart.
"Yeah," I agreed, walking up to stand next to Lucy, "Natsu just thinks of you as a friend."
"Eh?" For an instant, her face froze in a look of sadness, surprise, and utter disappointment. "You're right. Why would I like an idiot like him?" Her face transformed, a mask covering over her heart. Deep down, I couldn't help but pause and question myself. What was I doing? Lucy was my friend. But… even if she is my friend, I can't give Natsu over to her. With Natsu, I could live with this guilt.
"Jeez, Mira-nee, you have to stop teasing or else someone will take you seriously one day," I told Mira-nee. Her smile didn't break but something changed on her face.
"Anyways, I'm going back to my apartment for a nice bath," Lucy said, spinning around and stretching, "See you!" She waved before running off. I watched her retreating back. Was she hiding tears as she smiled?
"I-I'm going too. See you later Mira-nee," I quickly turned and ran over to a group of people, waving and yelling at them. They turned and waved back.
"Ah, Lisa-" I ignored Mira-nee's call and her voice disappeared into the chatter of the guild.
"Ha? Why do I have to work with this idiot?" Natsu's angry voice yelled, his voice reaching each corner of the guild.
"That's my line, you idiot!" Gray yelled back, arms crossed, shirt off.
"Ha? I don't want to hear that from you, stripper!" His hand flamed up.
"What'd you call me, Flame Brain?" The two were know millimeters from each other as they argued.
"Oi! Calm down you two," Erza yelled at them over their argument, arms crossed.
"We are calm!" they yelled in unison, turning their heads to glare at Erza.
"What was that? You dare talk back to me?" Erza threatened as her eyes glowed evilly. Gray and Natsu froze.
"B-but why do I have to work with him?" Natsu finally quietly asked.
"Huh?!" Erza yelled, "You will work together you hear me?" Natsu and Gray stared at each other before looking away, unable to stand looking at each other.
"Erza," I said, walking up to her.
"Huh?" she turned to look at me, evil written all over her face, "Ah, Lisanna." Erza's expression softened.
"Why don't you let someone go with them, that way someone will be able to keep them in check," I suggested, glancing at the duo that still weren't looking at each other.
"Actually," Erza said, also watching the two, "The employer requested that no one else come along."
"Eh? Ah, so that's it," I sighed. I walked over to where the two were glaring away from each other. I walked around to stand in front of Natsu.
"Ah, Lisanna."
"Hello. Hey, why don't you just work with Gray? It can't be that bad. If you succeed you'll get a lot of money for food!" I persuaded enthusiastically. Natsu looked at me, his expression softened a little at the prospect of food.
"But… what about Gray? I can't stand that guy."
"Just pretend he's Happy!" I replied, smiling, "C'mon, it won't be that bad."
"Tch, whatever," Natsu muttered.
"Okay then! Come back safely!" I told the two and pushed them both out of the guild before slamming them out.
"Problem solved!" I said cheerfully. Out of the corner of my eye, I spotted Lucy. She had been about to intervene between Natsu and Gray when I took action before her. She walked up to Erza and started chatting. They were too far away for me to make out their entire conversation but I heard one line from Lucy:
"I hope Natsu comes back soon."
"Hey Mira-nee," I said, stirring my drink with my straw, "Don't you think Natsu and Gray have been out a little too long?"
"Hm, you're right, it's been three months already," Mira replied, drying a glass, "I wonder if something happened to them… Huh? Who's that?" I turned around to see a figure slowly trudging into the guild, leaning on a stick, bandaged and clutching his wounds. A crowd slowly gathered around but the figure asked for one person, Lucy. She pushed her way forward and the figure told her something before collapsing into her arms. Her expression was a mask of terror, pain, and absolute misery. Her face frozen in shock, a tear silently slid down her cheek, followed by a stream of more.
"Natsu's…" her voice trailed off as she wrapped her arms around Gray, sliding down to the floor and crying into his hair. Her sobs and tears filled the silent guild as everyone else stood in shock.
"Natsu..?" I slid off my seat and ran over to the group. I pushed my way through, staring at each person's face as I went. "Natsu, what happened to Natsu? Tell me!"
"He's… dead," Erza whispered on the verge of tears. My eyes widened as I slowly comprehended the information. Dead? Natsu? Suddenly inside I felt completely empty. There's was nothing inside of me anymore. How could Natsu be dead? If anything, he's the most likely to survive. Thoughts whirled through my brain but one world kept repeating, over and over. Dead.
"How?" I finally asked, my voice uneven. I stared down at Gray, tears rushing down his face as Lucy cried into his hair. "How?" I cried in anger, but there was no helping the tears of sadness and pity in my eyes. But that wasn't the question I really wanted to ask. Why? Why had he chosen to tell Lucy first? Why Lucy? Why not me? After a long pause, Gray finally sat up.
"Lucy…" he murmured, reaching out a hand to touch her hands. She choked back her sobs and let go of Gray to listen.
"We finished our mission but just as we were going to head back, Acnologia showed up," Gray began slowly. At the mention of Acnologia, the guild fell completely silent. No one had forgotten the dragon who had taken away its best members for seven years, causing the guild to drop from the strongest in Fiore to the weakest. "At first we were going to run but it started chasing us. We didn't want the civilians to get involved so we decided to try and fight. It was a reckless idea," Gray continued, his voice cracking up as he was forced to remember what had happened. "But Natsu… he told me, 'Go. Go back. I'll take care of this.' When I told him that is was crazy he smiled and said, 'I'm a dragon slayer. Last time I couldn't do anything. But this time… I'll do my job as a dragon slayer.'" Gray's voice trailed off. Lucy reached out to touch his shoulder, silently encouraging him to finish the story. But everyone had already guessed what had happened. "I couldn't leave. It was awe-inspiring. He fought vigilantly. But… But it was in vain. He lost… And then Acnologia just… just flew away," Gray murmured, finishing the tale.
For an instant, the guild was completely silent. No one moved, no one spoke, no one cried, it was perfect silence. What would the guild be without him? What would we be without him? And the silence was broken as I clung to Erza, sobbing into her armor.
On the day of the funeral, the clouds covered the sky. We stood, hugging each other and crying into each other's arms. At the very back, Lucy stood alone, hugging herself as she silently cried. Not any one of us and gone a day without tears since Gray had come back.
Then the casket bearers arrived. As they passed her, Lucy looked up, staring at the casket. And suddenly, she couldn't hold it in anymore. She rushed forward, pushing everyone away to stand at the side of the casket.
We all knew that no body was inside as Natsu's body had been destroyed. But even so, Lucy hugged the casket and the bearers were forced to a stop. No one intervened. Lucy ripped open the casket and stared at the inside. She reached inside and pulled out Natsu's scarf.
Hugging it close to her, Lucy's tears fell on Natsu's scarf. The casket bearers fixed the casket back up and continued forward. Lucy slowly followed them, still hugging Natsu's scarf. I wanted to step forward. I wanted to demand she give the scarf to me. But somehow… I just couldn't.
The casket was buried in front of a gravestone. The casket bearers departed and Lucy stood alone in front of the gravestone. Everyone watched her, expecting her to say something about Natsu.
Instead, she lifted the scarf up. She offered it to the heavens for a moment. And then, she started to… dance. She spun around and guided the scarf with her hands. It dipped and flew in the wind as Lucy danced. Everyone watched in silence as the crying girl danced with the scarf in her hands. But no one saw a scarf. The crying girl danced with a pink-haired teen. The crying girl danced with a dragon.
When she finished dancing, Lucy kneeled in front of the gravestone, offering the scarf to it. A single ray of light fell upon the scarf as Lucy began to speak. "Here lays Natsu Dragneel, a dragon slayer who died in battle protecting his friend. He brought life to our guild, to my life… a true dragon," her shaky voice rang out among our sobs. Her voice was clear and curt but also quiet and soothing. For a moment, she knelt there, unmoving before standing up and wrapping the scarf around Natsu's gravestone. The guild silently approved of Lucy's short speech.
But only I had heard her last sentence: "I loved him." And as tears mourning the death of Natsu poured down our faces, on mine and mine alone, I cried with the sadness of losing the one you love to another. The sadness of knowing that you'll never be together because he had chosen someone else. Even if Natsu lived on, I would never be by his side. He would be right there, close enough to touch, but unbelievably far away. Next to me, Mira-nee turned and hugged me. She whispered into my ear, "You'll find someone else." I stared up at her. She… knew.
"Mira-nee," I clung to her and cried; these tears of pain, sadness, and guilt were absorbed into her black dress. She patted me on the head and hugged me, her arms silently comforting me.
Lucy's words were later added onto the gravestone. To the end, she never did let go of Natsu, keeping him alive in her heart.
"Hey, Grandma!" a small silver haired girl came running towards me, holding out a sheet of paper, "Who's this?" I took the paper from her hands, staring at the picture. In my hands I held a picture, drawn by Reedus, of Lucy dancing with Natsu's scarf. Tears welled up in my eyes as I remembered Natsu.
"Lucy Heartfilia," I replied.
"Lucy… Heartfilia," she repeated after me, "Why is she dancing with a scarf?" I smiled forlornly while staring at the picture.
"It's an important scarf," I whispered. I'm sorry Lucy, I thought, I'm so sorry. Because of me, you and Natsu were never happy together… You should have died together, entwined by the thread of love. If I hadn't been there, you and Natsu would have lived happily together. It's my fault. I'm sorry, Lucy, Natsu, I'm sorry. I wiped away the tears that I couldn't help but shed.
"Who gave it to her?" my granddaughter asked, taking the drawing from my hands. I stared at the picture over her shoulder. After a long pause I picked her up and set her in my lap, in her ear I whispered my response.
"…A dragon."
More Wonderful Notes from Yours Truly
Did you like it? Please review! Lucy did die in the end as well… I'm not saying who Lisanna married (because I just don't want to… It's like half NaLi half NaLu… but in the end it's a sad NaLu I guess… haha anyways! I've never been to a funeral so if that part is inaccurate or something... please forgive me... This was a random idea inspired by… well a scarf (that I made) and… I guess it's not that great… but I wanted to write it… I didn't edit it very much so don't bash on my grammar! Anyways… there's more to come (yes more than just one-shots… I'm working on it . though… I have time to write this but not that… sigh anyways… look forward to it!) and review? Please? Have a nice day