Author's Note: OMFG. This took so long to make. What you need for this fanfic is: Sad Song by We The Kings, Payphone by Maroon Five, and 7 Years by Lukas Graham (optional). There are a lot of musical references in here, just warning you.
"Karyu no-koen!" Natsu yelled out as he continuously pressed the attack button on his PS4 when his avatar attacked a bad guy. "Hell yeah! Beat 'em up good!" Natsu said gleefully while stuffing his face in potato chips. Natsu is a fifteen year old living with his friends, currently, he is a fireman intern and this is one of his days off. Unfortunately, most of his friends don't agree with his off day rituals.
"You need a life." Gray retorted when Natsu yelled out another 'karyu no-tekken!' and the policeman intern sat comfy at the dinner table reading the newspaper. Natsu paused the game and looked at Gray incredulously.
"But I'm living! How do I need-?"
Gray sighed at the dumbass. "I don't mean a literal life. I mean like something to do in your life." Natsu picked up the controller to show Gray, the Gray cut Natsu's attempted protest. "Besides video games, and homework." Then the raven haired intern, skimmed the newspaper. "Ah, like playing an instrument. Maybe it'll help you in life!"
Natsu scratched his head. "How's an instrument going to help me in life?" Then the pinkie thought of all the possibilities. "I really don't know. It's not like my very existence is on an instrument. How about pro-gamer?" Then a better idea appeared in Natsu's head. "Or a game teacher. That way I can be great any way!"
"Those all have to do with gaming, flame-brain." Gray said bluntly. "You need to do something other than gaming in your life. This is coming from a…" Gray thought for a moment. "...friend, to another friend." Natsu growled.
"I'm your friend?"
"Forget that part. But really, if you were to play an instrument, what would it be?" Gray asked, as he read a survey on the newspaper. The newspaper said, 'If you were to play an instrument, what would it be? A) Guitar, B) Piano, C) Violin.' and if Natsu could get a life, then the apartment would be a bit more empty, leaving Gray some alone time.
Gray giggled at his evil plan.
Natsu said without hesitation. "Drums-"
"Out of guitar, piano, or violin." Gray finished hastily. Natsu raised an eyebrow towards Gray. Did Gray just change the question? Gray shrugged and gave Natsu a look that obviously said, 'Answer the damn question,' so Natsu did.
"Uh, guitar?" Natsu said with doubt heavily laced in his voice. What type of fucked up thing did Gray do now? I mean, he did a lot of fucked up things, but asking Natsu to do a fucked up thing? That's way over the border of fucked up.
Gray filled in the poll, and it suggested many guitar places to learn guitar. "It's official, Natsu. You're learning the guitar." Natsu doubled back, making him hit the unpause button. "Yup! Do you want… Bob's Guitar Place? Or… Guitars for Stars?"
"I'm what?!" Natsu yelled out. "I'm learning the guitar?" Gray blinked, and Natsu's video game suddenly had a 'YOU LOSE' on its screen. "What?!" Natsu dropped his controller. "Why would you do that, Gray?" Natsu pulled at his pink hair. "You just jacked up my life even more!"
"Whatever. Let's go to Guitar for Stars. Sounds cooler. Plus, I have difficulties with men named Bob." Gray shouldered off Natsu's complaints. Then he grabbed his hand, and dragged him out the door. "Do you want your coat?"
"NO! LET ME GO!"
Five Minutes Later…
"Ara ara~! You two are pretty hot!" A girl said. Apparently, she was going to teach Natsu how to play the guitar. "Looking forward to impress somebody?" The girl said with a wink, "She's one lucky girl then. Now, are the two of you playing?"
Gray shook his head. "Not me, only him. This idiot needs to get out and enjoy life." Natsu looked at Gray with his best glare he had in awhile ever since he has gotten off the couch and actually had done something. That's a first.
"I told you pro-gamer-"
The raven haired guy put his hand over Natsu's mouth. "So then I decided, maybe this guy should learn to play the guitar. So, I took him over here and voila! So, can you teach this idiot?" Natsu bit on Gray's hand.
Natsu spit out the 'Gray Germs'. "You taste gross." The girl made a tut-tut sound, like she disapproved. "So, I really am learning the guitar…" Natsu looked at the selection of guitars. "Meh, I guess I could learn."
The girl squealed. "I'm Mira… MiraJane Strauss, I work at Fairy Tail cafe, and here for a part time job. Nice to meet you!" Natsu coughed, and nudged Gray, then Gray looked at Natsu, then got the message. So Gray said their names while Natsu just was in a bad mood and didn't say anything else.
"Oh, I'm Gray, and this is Natsu."
"Now, if you and the girl you're trying to impress had a ship name, what would it be?" Gray and Natsu sweat dropped. She's that into ships? Mira smiled sweetly and waited for an answer, oh she always got an answer.
"Ahem!" A brunette yelled from across the room. "I'm Cana Alberona, the local card reader, and I can answer your question, Ms. Strauss!" Cana said while making herself comfy on a guitar stool. "I just need a small fee." Mira perked up.
"Oh? And what would that fee be?"
Cana looked at her cards. "A tequila." Gray wrinkled his nose. Where were they going to find a tequila in a guitar shop? Unless if Mira didn't have a bottle of tequila, this place was totally ordinary, and why was a nice young lady, in nothing but a bra, asking for a tequila?
Mira pulled out a bottle of tequila under the counter. "Here you go! Now, what's the ship name?"
Cana shuffled her deck, and plucked three cards out, and flipped them over on the stool she used to be sitting on. Cana then retracted one of the cards and put it back in her deck, leaving her with only two cards. Then she flipped over one card.
"This says NA. Obviously, this comes from Natsu."
Cana flipped over the other card.
"This says LU. If you don't know a person with a 'Lu' in their name, you'll probably meet them. Sooner or later." Cana said casually while taking a sip of tequila. "Now, if you don't mind me, I'll be making my way to the new bar downtown. See you boys later!" Cana left with a wink.
Mira squealed. "Remember anybody that has a 'lu' in their name for me, will you Natsu?" Then she set Natsu up with an acoustic guitar. "Okay, this is the C string, this is the D string, and this is the E string. Just try to play those notes." Instead, Natsu played an A string and an F string. "Um, that's good for a starter."
"I d'wanna be here!"
"Shut up, Natsu." Gray said with a smirk. "Continue the lesson, Mira-san." And she did.
Continuously, Natsu did horribly. He loathed being taught. Why was Gray doing this anyway? Mira attempted to teach Natsu, and he just didn't listen. He played all the wrong notes, and did nothing at all when Mira was instructing him.
Gray growled. "Just imagine if guitar were a videogame. If you play the wrong note, you die." This got Natsu's attention. "Let's say the A string was the attacking button. You would play that, but you also need defense, so let's say the B string was the defense."
Natsu blinked. Suddenly, the guitar looked more than just a guitar. Mira could see the change in Natsu's eyes. This was good, finally, Natsu could see a guitar more that just a separate instrument. Natsu could see it as something he loved. Mira clasped her hands together, there was one trick she wanted to work on. If Natsu was a prodigy, then this would be no problem at all. "Ne, Natsu? Can you play 'Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star'?"
Gray raised an eyebrow. "Isn't that too complex for a beginner-?"
The pyro frowned. "That's too childish." He ended up playing 'Seven Years Old By Lukas Graham'. Gray nearly doubled over, and Mira smiled. "See! That is the exact same rhythm as my new video game!" Natsu laughed to himself. "I enjoy this! I wanna keep on playing."
It was official. Natsu was a prodigy.
Levy and Lucy were shopping. They've gone everywhere that this town can offer for awesome books. Lucy and Levy trudged in the cold snow, while Levy wore a leather jacket, Lucy wore a green parka, making her stand out. The both wore jeans, so they were freezing in their leg area.
But they managed to score some hot chocolate.
"Haha, no!" Lucy said as she was laughing. Levy cracked a joke about their least favorite book. "Maybe it would've been better if they fell in the snow instead!" Lucy offered, they both were laughing their heads off.
Levy asked Lucy, "Have you heard of the new prodigy? Natsu Dragneel? I heard he can play the guitar very well!" The blue head smiled. "It was just two months ago, and now everybody is begging to meet him!" Levy smiled. "He certainly has got all the girls surrounding him!"
"Oh? Well, I'm sure he's good." Lucy said, uninterested.
"Hey, Lu-chan? Do you play an instrument?" Levy asked. "I mean, since you grew up in a wealthy community, I bet you played an instrument." Lucy grew up as a Heartfilia. A rich girl, with everything at her fingertips - which she refused. But her parents grew bankrupt, and her mother died of an illness, and her father unfortunately passed away a couple of months ago. Levy and Lucy therefore shared an apartment.
A tiny snowflake floated down on Lucy's nose, and Lucy looked at it. "Well, I suppose." Lucy blew the snowflake away. "I used to play the piano. My mother taught me." Lucy laughed. "She was the best mom I could ever ask for, to be honest." Lucy looked at Levy. "Do you want to hear me play the piano?"
Levy laughed. "OMG, YAS!" The bookworm latched onto Lucy's arm. "I know a great place where there's a piano that you can play for free." Then Levy fished out a poster from her bag. "And you know what's great about it?" She shoved the poster in Lucy's face. "Natsu Dragneel is signing there! You really can get famous overnight!" Levy then launched into shipper mode. "Perhaps you guys will meet and-ah!" Levy sighed in happiness.
Lucy snorted. "It's not like we're going to bond over instruments and fall in love!"
"Maybe you will…" Levy hummed. "It will be the best story ever!"
The blonde laughed and sipped her hot cocoa. "Sure it will. Now, where's the piano?" Levy tugged on Lucy's arm. Then Levy pointed at a huge building just about two blocks away from where the duo was standing.
"At Music Institute, of course!" Levy said with a wink. "Now, let's get going, slowpoke!" The bookworm took Lucy's arm and lead the way to the institute. "Come on, Lu-chan! I'm sure people will love your playing! You did have the best teacher." Levy smiled. "Your mother." Lucy looked at Levy.
"Remember Levy-chan. I haven't played in a long time!" She said, while allowing Levy to drag her to the institute. "So I really might be not as well a player as before!" And Lucy confessed. "I needed motivation to play the piano anyways."
Levy put finger to her chin and thought of a devious way for Lucy to get motivation, against her protests. "Perhaps getting a signature from Mr. Dragneel will be motivating enough!" Lucy raised an eyebrow.
"...What the actual hell, Levy-chan?" Scoffed Lucy.
The bookworm sighed. "It's true that you aren't that caught up with the times!"
"I am caught up in the times! Or whatever!" Lucy protested. Levy chuckled as if to say, 'Sure you are.' and dragged Lucy all the way to the institute. The blonde just sighed and shook her head as she let Levy drag her all the way to the music institute.
When they arrived at the institute, Levy was shaking with excitement for hearing her best friend play an instrument. She looked at Lucy and smiled a wide smile. The key collector - Lucy collected keys, by the way - looked at the building with great interest. "Wow… It almost looks like a recital hall."
The building was made of glass and smooth quartz. It measured up to be about three stories big and most of the walls were practically glass, while the quartz was just there for support. It was so modern, and a bunch of fangirls gathered around the building, holding signs and posters that obviously had the new guitarist, Natsu Dragneel.
Lucy and Levy managed to cut through the fangirls, with many protests. One of the fangirls asked, "Where's your poster of the hot Natsu Dragneel?" Lucy answered with bluntness, "He's that famous guitarist dude, right?"
This angered many of the girls and more asked, "Are you a fan of Natsu Dragneel?"
"Um, not really." Lucy asked. Just because you go to an institute with music and a famous guitarist is there, and you're a girl, you are a fan? Yeah… This really confused Lucy.
One of the girls then asked with disgust. "Why are you here?"
"I want to play the piano." Lucy deadpanned. Really. Can they now let her go inside? This was getting boring really fast.
"Oh, so you're a beginner! Good luck!" Some of the nicer girls cheered.
Levy shrugged and paid for their admission fee and ran inside with Lucy in tow. Lucy opened the glass doors and a gust of welcoming wind blew into their faces. Many musicians were walking from hall to hall, room to room, and so forth. One room said, 'Natsu Dragneel Signing.' The room right next to it had, 'Piano Room.'
"Ne, Levy-chan, that's it, right?" Lucy asked, pointing to the piano room. Levy nodded, and Lucy looked at all the fangirls rushing into the Natsu Dragneel room. "Wow, who knew that Natsu was famous with the ladies?" Lucy said while walking into the piano room.
Lucy pushed open the door to the piano room, and smelled the rusty piano keys and freshened up seats. It was obvious that none other pianists were here, it was just Lucy. And only Lucy was going to play the piano today. I haven't been here in a while, Lucy thought to herself.
Lucy's boot made a clip-clop sound as the noise echoed throughout the hall. She felt her mother, carefully guiding her to the piano, very gracefully, but alas, there was no mother, and Lucy was alone - the exception of Levy - and she took a moment to view her surroundings, like a battlefield, in which everything was her enemy.
The piano room was like a recital hall. There were seats arranged in rows, all looking at a grand piano, which proudly read, "Steinway and Sons." Lucy went up to the piano and pressed on of the keys, which she knew was a Middle C key. It held a long and rich sound to it, like a voice in nothing.
The blonde sat down slowly on the bench, and the keys carefully were placed under her fingers. This was familiar, Lucy thought in her head. I can do this, I can show Levy-chan that I can play the piano, Lucy chanted in her head.
"Go on, Lu-chan!" Levy looked at the wall, that was separating them and Natsu Dragneel. "Lu-chan, be sure to be quiet, I don't think these walls are soundproof-"
Lucy wasn't paying attention to her best friend. Yes, Lucy used to play, but she did it her own special way. Lucy saw the piano as help to let her feelings out. All prodigies have their strategies, and with feelings inside of Lucy, she used those feelings to play her heart out.
The blonde's head wasn't in the crowd. She could no longer hear Levy, all she saw was the piano. The piano that she could play, that Lucy could play. Currently, she was feeling a mix of sadness and happiness. Lucy dearly missed her mother, but she's happy that she has friends.
Lucy chose a song… Sad Song, By We The Kings.
Natsu saw all his fangirls and nearly peed his pants.
The hall he was in was nearly as big a football court, which was pretty huge, and tables decorated the floor, this was where the fangirls would be sitting and listening to him play. Natsu saw each and every girl that walked through the door in the auditorium. They smiled, and waved at him.
He attempted to wave back, but after a while, his arm started to hurt.
"When did I get so goddamn famous?" He questioned himself. "I could be at home right now. Playing video games. Instead of at a stupid signing, I could be at home, strumming my guitar." Natsu moaned and groaned.
Gray stripped. His evil plan didn't work. Now, he was Natsu's right hand man and had to travel everywhere with him. EVERYWHERE! Meaning no time to himself. Gray looked at Natsu.. "Well, look at it like this, you get money for the signing, and the money goes to your guitar and your video games."
"Keep your pants on." Natsu grumbled. "I honestly love my guitar. Can I go back to it now?"
"Fuck no. Stay in your seat until all the fangirls are out."
The girls lined up in a line and when they got their (sloppy)autograph they squealed. Natsu's hand was close to breaking. "Pervy Popsicle, take over!" Natsu perfectly well knew that Gray couldn't because the girls want a Natsu and not a Gray.
The fangirls squealed.
They squealed some more.
Natsu groaned. "Will you shut up if I play a song for you guys?" The girls screamed louder. This could possibly mean yes, or yes, yes, yes! Natsu took this as a yes. "Okay, okay. Ice ass, hand me my guitar." Gray handed Natsu a guitar, and a punch to the arm.
Natsu checked out his acoustic guitar, it was a nice rich brown color, and it's strings were thick enough for them to pull, and the strings wouldn't break. Ever since Gray got him obsessed with the guitar, it was a four way love triangle between food, guitar, video games, and sleep.
"Don't screw up." Gray said as he made himself comfy on a chair.
The pinkie ignored the ice dude and focused on his guitar. Natsu looked at the guitar is if it were a videogame. All the G strings were attack, and the F strings were defense, if he could pull of a B string, it would be like a special ability.
The fireman intern looked at his sheet music, as he shuffled through the pages, the pages made a crinkling sound, that Natsu loved dearly. He looked at all the fangirls one last time, and heard an eerie silence. Then he chose Sad Song by We The Kings.
Lucy, who was in the other room, started to play her feelings into the piano. When she was confused about her mother dying, she did a deep tone, where everything starts. The beginning. Lucy slowly taps her fingers on each key, and each key was making their own sounds.
Natsu, was strumming his guitar, he let his "Destiny" instincts take over, with each correct strum, he took out a bad guy, and each chord, he took out an army. He had decided not to sing, and let his music take over.
Both could've sworn that they heard music coming, from the other room.
Lucy perked her head up to look at the room across from her. The Natsu Dragneel Room. He couldn't be playing the same song, right? Lucy carefully plucked different notes, making hers a bit more dramatic, to see if it were different. Her fingers slenderly moved across every eighty-eight keys.
Natsu turned his head to the other room. Was there music coming from that room? The Piano room? Natsu decided to make his more pop song-ish. Where you could almost imagine the drum playing along with his guitar. Natsu's chip was moving along to his strums, which were going a bit more fast-paced.
Levy could also hear the music coming from the other room. Then an ingenious idea popped into her head. She will make the dream of Natsu and Lucy falling in love come true! Sure, she didn't know the young lad, but Levy was sure that Lucy could fall in love with Natsu.
The bookworm slowly crept out the room, seeing that Lucy was focused on the piano. Levy slowly opened the door and walked out. The blue head saw a door that read, "Sound Room." She smirked and ran inside.
Buttons galore filled the room. But only two caught her eye. Due to her expertise in reading, she knew what these buttons did. Now, if Levy switched these two buttons, the music would be loud enough, so that Natsu and Lucy would hear each other clearly.
Natsu would hear Lucy's piano playing.
Lucy would hear Natsu's guitar playing.
Only if she pressed these two buttons, her dream would come true! Levy's hand itched to pull down the switches. Then she really did pull down the switches, and the whole Music Institute heard Natsu and Lucy's playing.
Really. Need me to repeat that?
The whole Music Institute heard Natsu and Lucy's playing.
The rich sounding piano keys filled the institute, and the light strums of the guitar as well. Together they made the most beautiful sound, and Natsu and Lucy heard each other. People from all over gathered, some went into each room, desperate to find which room made the noises.
Lucy looked everywhere, keeping her hands on the piano, still playing. One person yelled. "I found the pianist in this room!" They were pointing to Lucy. The blonde's eyes widened. People filed into the piano room, excited to hear Lucy's piano playing.
The fangirls looked around the whole room. "Where is the piano noise coming from?" Another asked, "Is it for Natsu-kun's guitar?" A girl replied. "It's very pretty and goes with the tune." The other fangirls couldn't help but agree. So could Natsu.
Natsu kept strumming, and strumming. The piano's sound was definitely coming from the piano room. For now, Natsu had to keep his calm, and strum on. But still, wondered the pink haired man, I want to know who's playing the piano.
The piano and the guitar finally reached its climax, and the ending happened. The guitar died down, and the piano was slowly making its way to the ending. With the last notes in place, the whole institute clapped, thunder loud. All of Magnolia, Fiore could hear the clapping.
Some cheered, some had tears in their eyes, from the beautiful sound the instruments made.
Lucy's boot stopped, and the girl rose up. The heiress remembered something in her past. Her mother and father arranged these meetings, and the opening to the meetings would be her. She would play the piano beautifully, and get a polite clapping in return.
But the clapping was loud, and it was untamed.
The blonde bowed, at the stage, and she heard Levy the loudest out of all of them. Lucy looked up and saw a crowd, Lucy remembered the manners her father told her about on stage. "When you are presented in front of a crowd, maintain your composure, and smile - like you want a hug - so you're friendly." The key collector - Lucy collects keys - did all of that.
Lucy had really attempted to walk out the door, really! But the crowd followed her out the door, and gathered around her. Lucy took a step forward, and the crowd followed, with cameras flashing, and voices roaring, leaving Lucy speechless at all the attention.
What the blonde really wanted was to find that guitarist. And she was going to find him.
She managed to get out of the crowd that enjoyed her playing, and find a place to where all the attention was going to die down, and all the commotion too. Lucy sighed as she left Levy to take care of all the 'fans' Lucy could call them. Lucy wrapped herself in a wool jacket and hurriedly left the music institute.
Natsu stopped his guitar and looked at the crowd of fangirls. The girls cheered him on, and attempted to run up to where Natsu was and do whatever. Girls ran up and cheered, tried to hug him, and Natsu was just uncomfy with all the girls crowding around him.
"Pervy Popsicle, fend them off for me." Natsu said with a wave, then he left Gray to his death, and ran backstage, where there was a door. Natsu slipped through the door, escaping the fangirls and out to find that pianist who played the piano.
In order to decrease all the attention, Natsu put on a beanie to hide some of his pink locks and a pair of sunglasses - which he stole from Loke (Don't tell!) - and walked his way to a cafe. Natsu looked around and saw snow falling around him.
His sneakers trudged against the snow, as he looked from shop to shop, people were walking back and forth, shivering from the cold and drinking hot chocolate. Natsu looked around, and his shoes made tracks.
He never really felt the cold anyway. (The cold never bothered me anyway!)
Natsu walked inside of the cafe, and all the tables were taken. He walked up to one of the baristas. "Hey, can I have hot sauce?" He asked nonchalantly. The barista blinked. "Can I have hot sauce?" He repeated. Did the girl not hear him the first time?
"Hot sauce?"
"Yeah. Tabasco sauce will also do. Doesn't matter where you put it. In a bottle or in a cup." Natsu said, and his stomach grumbling. "Or should I leave?" He threatened. He wanted his hot sauce! He complained inside of his brain.
"W-We'll get it, sir."
Natsu smirked and looked for a table. A nice young lady with blonde hair was sitting at a table, obviously out of breath. She was breathing in and out repeatedly, like she was chased by a mob of crazy fangirls, like him.
This girl wore casual wear, too skimpy for Winter. She wore jeans, and a t-shirt with a woolen jacket on top. Her hair was in a messy bun, a show that she works hard, and boots. The girl's cheeks were red, and her fingers were fidgeting.
The pink haired man slid into the seat right across from her, and the blonde looked up. Natsu saw the details on her face, brown doe eyes, and had pink lips, that would so often purse, like she was thinking. "May I help you?" She asked politely. Natsu shrugged.
"Can I sit here?" He asked, already sitting in the seat.
The girl frowned, that made her face looked incredibly cute. "Um, sure. I'm Lucy Heartfilia, you are?" So this was her attempt at conversation? She wasn't half bad. Lucy's fingers tapped at the tables like they were supposed to be doing something important.
"I'm Natsu, Natsu Dragneel, heard of me?" Natsu asked, hoping she wasn't a rabid fangirl. If she was, then Natsu could throw the chair, and grab some sauce, and dash out the left exit of the shop. Lucy looked at him with great interest, like she was remembering something.
"I think my friend mentioned you or something. Weren't you at the music institute, as well?" She asked. Lucy crossed legs and let out a quiet huff. Pulling on her wool jacket lightly, she looked up at Natsu, and he responded.
"Yeah. You said, 'as well' so you were at the music institute too?" Natsu said while laying back on his chair. Maybe Lucy knew that pianist who played the exact song as him and at the exact same time. Hopefully. He really wants to meet the pianist.
"Oh yeah. I played an instrument there." Lucy said while looking up. Maybe she wasn't comfy with the conversation, but Natsu was desperate to get his answers, so he'll press for more. Natsu nodded, like 'that's cool' and said his part.
"As you might know, I play the guitar." Lucy looked at him with surprise evident on her face. Natsu continued. "Do you know who played the piano, earlier at the institute?" The pinkie kept talking. "The pianist was playing Sad Song, By We The Kings." Lucy nearly fell off her chair.
The blonde chuckled nervously. "I-I played the piano earlier today." Natsu looked at Lucy now. "I played the song, Sad Song, By We The Kings…" Lucy said weakly. No way, No way. "Did you play Sad Song too?!" Lucy pulled the sleeve of her jacket over her fingers. "I'm pretty sure I was the only pianist there…"
Natsu nodded. "I remember the instruments amplifying through the institute."
"A piano and a guitar…" Lucy finished with awe. "Y-You happen to know what I'm thinking, right?" She asked. Natsu and Lucy finally made eye contact. Not the eye contact they made before, but actual contact. Like, friend contact.
"IT'S YOU!" Natsu and Lucy yelled as they both stood up from their chairs and pointed at each other like they were looking at something wonderful and amazing. The chairs made a clanking noise as they skidded across the ground from the abrupt movement.
Loke's - I mean - Natsu's sunglasses fell off his eyes, and thus revealing his deep onyx eyes. The barista who was serving the hot sauce looked at Natsu Dragneel and screamed. "OH MY GOD! IT'S NATSU DRAGNEEL!" All the fangirls in the cafe ran towards Natsu, and Natsu had a look of fear on his face.
Lucy laughed, then Natsu grabbed her hand and pulled her away.
The blonde's eyes widened, as Natsu laughed like a maniac and kept a tight grip on her as he ran away from all the fangirls. Natsu opened the door to the outside of the cafe, and dragged Lucy out the door. Almost immediately, Lucy felt the cold brush her skin, making her shiver.
But Natsu was running at max speed.
"Woah! Natsu, slow down!" Lucy yelled as Natsu dragged her to somewhere. Over yonder perhaps. "Where are we going anyways?" The blonde asked, and Natsu shot her a grin that sent her heart to skip a beat.
"I want to hear your piano, and I'll show you my guitar. We can do a duet." Natsu said as his converse shoes were making tracks in the snow. "Back to the music institute?" Natsu suggested, even though that's where he was already heading there.
Lucy tugged her arm out of Natsu's grip - much to Natsu's disappointment - and rubbed her arm. "But aren't there people there, like the people that heard us?" Lucy asked, remembering almost being trampled by people who heard her piano playing. Poor Levy was there facing them all off with her book shield and pencil sword.
Natsu shrugged. "Let them. I bet we sound great together. How long have you been playing?" He asked. "I've been playing since the last two months." The pink haired man said. The duo had reduced the running to just casual walking.
The blonde counted her fingers. "One...Two...Three…" Lucy trailed off. Her mother taught her when she was five, then two years later, she died. But Lucy continued for three more years. In conclusion, Lucy had played for five years, and then she stopped. Due to sadness and the piano reminded her of her mother.
"Uh, five years." Lucy said after checking her math. "Really two months?" Natsu shrugged, as if to say, 'It's a given.' Lucy laughed. "Guess it can't be helped." Lucy thought about something for a second, then she added, "My mother taught me. But she passed away." Then the blonde quickly changed the subject, thinking that Natsu didn't catch that. "Tell me about yourself." Lucy said while looking at the snow slowly falling down.
Natsu looked up, as if to ponder on what to tell Lucy. He heard what Lucy said, but decided not to push her buttons. "Well, I love dragons! My father gave me that, and he gave me this scarf." Natsu pointed to the white and black scarf wound up around his neck. "I also love fighting, food, and sleep!" Natsu made a motion to eating. "But eating and fighting are the best. You?"
Lucy said, "I write, and I love reading!" She said this with extreme happiness.
"Bo~ring!" Natsu sing-songed, looking at her with a drawling stare.
Lucy got mad and punched him. "Totally not boring! I'm writing a story about mages! And magic! Definitely!" Natsu saw the beautiful gleam in Lucy's brown eyes. "Lynette is a mage, she has the power to summon spirits!"
Natsu asked, "Are there dragons?"
The blonde nodded. "Yes! I wrote a character, Nate, he's the foster son of a dragon. Ignatio! Ignatio is a fire dragon, and Nate can use fire dragon magic." This sparked Natsu's attention. "And there's the scarlet knight! And so many more characters!"
The pink haired man shook Lucy back and forth. "DRAGONS?! LET ME READ IT TOO!" He yelled as poor Lucy was being shook repeatedly. "I wish I were Nate!" Natsu dreamed out loud. "It would be cool to be a son of the dragon."
"But the dragon disappears."
"What did you say?"
"Um, any hobbies you have?" Lucy gulped to avoid that topic, if Natsu liked Nate so much. "I like looking at the stars. I can recite the twelve zodiac! So yeah, what do you do?" Lucy asked, smiling, already imagining the stars. Even though the stars are apart, they're always together in a constellation, like a family.
Natsu answered without hesitation. "I like playing video games, fighting, and eating." Lucy raised an eyebrow. This guy is redundant. "Oh, and I'm a fireman intern." Natsu added, before Lucy could think that he has no life. Natsu grinned, and took large steps, leaving Lucy almost jogging to keep up. "Wow, you really can't walk far, ya weirdo."
Lucy hit Natsu's head hard. "I'm not a weirdo, and you're the one that takes long steps."
"Oh look, we're here at the institute." The once upset blonde said, as she pointed to the familiar building. Natsu grinned wider than the Cheshire Cat. "What's with that creepy smile?!" Lucy asked, clearly alarmed. The key collector touched her arm, to where Natsu touched her. It was still warm, and it was like cold repellant.
Natsu waved off the creepy smile part. "It's part of my evil plan!" The fireman intern said while rubbing his hands together, like he had formed the best scheme into taking over the world. "I'm gonna sneak in with Luce, here-"
"Who are you talking to?" Lucy asked, when Natsu was facing off to the building, and not to her.
"-then we proceed very quietly, and we quickly run to the main stage, which is directly in front of the piano room-"
"Seriously. I'm the only person with you!" Lucy exclaimed.
"-and you, Happy, will keep an eye out for the fangirls. You'll attract them with your cuteness and whatnot. With my tag on you, that says, 'Property of Natsu Dragneel' the fans will come straight to you-"
And that's when Lucy noticed the blue cat. She's not kidding. There was a blue cat with a green pouch slung on his back. There were even paper mache wings! And on his neck was a collar that said, 'Property of Natsu Dragneel'.
"-and we're going to ditch Gray, okay? Unless you want to get him. I don't care. Hey, maybe Luce has somebody that wants to come too. Bring 'em along too. Ya got all of that, Happy?" Natsu finished. The cat let out a meow of agreement, and ran off.
Natsu looked back at Lucy. "Okay, we have that settled. Since Happy has got that taken care of, we can go inside the institute together!" The pinkie grabbed Lucy's arm once again. "Now, be quiet Luce. I don't want people trampling you!"
"Yeah? Well, I don't want that either." Lucy retorted, and she went with Natsu and slipped inside the institute. Lucy and Natsu were slowly padding into the institute. Lucy smelled the old rusty scent of played instruments, and felt a wave of nostalgia coming towards her. Then Lucy asked, "So, which room are we playing in?"
Natsu pointed to a grand door, then Lucy's eyes widened. It was practically made of gold! It seemed like you had to pay, like, one million dollars to enter. "I-I don't think we can go in the Main Hall." Lucy said, like the golden plate read.
The guitarist held a membership card. "We can go in. I have this!" He waved it around Lucy's face and laughed. Lucy shrugged and followed the pink haired man's lead and Natsu went up to the main hall room, brimmed with confidence. "Can't wait to hear your playing along with mine!" Natsu said while opening the door.
Lucy walked in, and her boots made the same noise as they did before. "LU-CHAN!" yelled a familiar voice. The blonde stopped walking and was attacked with a big, and ferocious, totally frontal and unexpected…
...hug…
From Levy! "Ah, Levy-chan! I lost you about one hour ago! Where did you go?" Lucy asked, with a huge smile on her face, since her best friend had now arrived. "And how did you get here?" Lucy asked, once again. Levy lit up.
"Well, I was fending off people from your last performance." Levy explained, with hand motions, because as a real bookworm, she had to explain it with a flourish. "Then a nice man, Gray Fullbuster, was following a blue cat." Lucy raised an eyebrow, but surprisingly, she was not surprised. "And then, I followed them here!" Levy finished, with a show of hands to show Gray Fullbuster and Happy the blue cat.
Lucy shook hands with Gray. "Nice to meet you, Gray." Lucy said with a smile. "Hopefully Levy-chan wasn't too much trouble. She can talk too much sometimes." The blonde laughed as she said her friend's antics.
Gray shook his head. "No, no. She was just fine." He shook Lucy's hand as well. "And it was a pleasure to meet-oh shit!" Gray yelped as his clothes 'mysteriously' disappeared. "One second, this happens on a daily basis. I have this stripping habit-!"
"PUT SOME CLOTHES ON, YA PERVERT!" Lucy and Natsu yelled at the same time, except Natsu proceeded to punch Gray, and Gray responded with a swift kick to the gut. Natsu pounced on the stripper in return, and Gray tackled the fireman intern as well.
As the two continued to brawl, an usher came in to see what the racket was, then he looked at the brawl, and the two sweat-dropping girls, and the blue cat that was gnawing on the aquarium fish - that was on display outside - then the usher decided he valued his sanity and walked away very, very, slowly back outside.
Levy nudged Lucy. "Ne, did you and Natsu manage to get a romantic relationship?" Lucy sighed at her bookworm buddy's nudging. "I know you spent the one hour I left together… were you, on a date? Or maybe you were bonding over music? Learning about each other?" Levy prodded.
Lucy coughed. "No, we're just friends. And probably will be. I have a high school life, and he has his high school life. We're both busy." Lucy looked towards the brawling boys. "Plus, I don't think that Natsu and I will end up together." Levy frowned.
A shrill voice pierced the brawling. "AND WHO HAS THE RIGHT TO SAY THAT NALU WON'T EXIST?!" Lucy and Levy jumped up startled. Then the voice continued in a quieter voice. "Well, Nalu is the best obviously. You can't change that. But most relationships have to be mutual, if you know what I mean." Then the voice actually developed a body, when the person who screamed came closer and closer.
Levy and Lucy chorused at the same time, "Mira?!" Mira was a nice woman, on the verge of turning twenty and had beautiful white hair and a stunning body. She had a very very very big obsessions with ships. Mira can literally make opposites attract. Talk to Lisanna and Bickslow.
Lucy and Levy knew Mira through a cafe that they go to a lot. Fairy Tail Cafe. It's a branch cafe that's connected to their high school. Fairy Tail High. "Mira, what are you doing here?" Lucy asked, wanting the answer straightly.
Mira motioned to Erza, her siblings, the thunder god tribe, Laxus, Wendy, and the rest of the people behind her. "Oh, we were invited here, right Levy?" Lucy turned to stare on Levy, who had 'forgot' to say that she invited all the people and told Mira - of all people - about Natsu and her relationship.
"Uh, right! Please don't kill me, Lu-chan! I just want them to appreciate your playing, that's all!" Levy waved her arms around frantically, in a rush to get Lucy off her back. "Please~! I just think that they'll like your playing!"
Lucy gave in. "Fine, but can somebody stop them?" Lucy pointed towards Natsu and Gray.
Mira looked at Natsu. "Wait, I teach Natsu in guitar playing. Oh how could I not piece this together before! Cana! C'mere. Lucy has a 'lu' in her name, correct?" Where were they leading to? Lucy had no idea, but Cana stepped up and had a smile that only meant trouble for her.
"U-Um, Cana? I know that you drink in school! I can blackmail you-" Lucy started with a stutter, already afraid of Cana's evil grin she was bearing. "You have alcohol!" Lucy ended, with a pointer finger at Cana, who was just raising an eyebrow.
Cana chuckled and swung her arm over Lucy's shoulder. "Girl! You and Natsu are like...fuck...what couples are in those thing-a-things you and Levy read?" Cana took a swig of her beer that was se tightly gripped in her other hand.
"Books." Lucy said unimpressed.
The drunkard nodded. "Books, as I was saying," Cana coughed loudly, and continued. "You and Natsu go together like a perfect couple! My cards read it. My tarot cards, that is." Cana looked at Lucy, like they share a secret. "And my tarot cards don't lie."
Lucy blushed, and stuttered. "I-I don't think that y-you should make assumptions out of the b-blue!" Mira made a tut-tut, and Erza had decided to join the conversation, and heard everything between Lucy and Cana.
Erza crossed her arms. "As a top rated policewoman, I can obviously see that you and Natsu would be like that." Then the redhead woman switched her police hat to a beanie. "I know both of you very well."
The blonde protested. "How does that have to do with being the top policeman?!" Mira and Cana giggled at Lucy's attempts to stop them. And they were going terrible, just to be fucking honest with you.
"ICE PANSY!"
"FIRE BASTARD!"
"ICE DICK!"
"FIRE ASS!"
Gray and Natsu continuously threw insults at each other. Erza was bothered by their fighting and brawling, and cussing at each other. So she left the conversation with the other girls. Erza went over to Gray and Natsu and banged their heads together. The clash rang through the Main Hall, making all the other people their silent and afraid of the one and only Erza Scarlet.
"Natsu. Gray. Stop fighting." Erza commanded. "Everybody. Get to your respective seats." She said, pointing to the seats in front of the stage. "Natsu. Lucy. Get on the stage and prepare your instruments." She looked to everybody. "And we're going to listen with our hearts, right?"
Everybody nodded in fear. Natsu and Lucy slowly edged away to the stage to start their instruments. The rest of the people slowly made their way to the seats, and Erza was making her way to the front row with a couple more shouts for people to get their asses moving.
Natsu and Lucy approached the stage, and since everybody was so quiet, you could hear every sound that Natsu and Lucy made. The squeak of Natsu's converse, the woolen jacket Lucy was wearing, whenever she moved quickly it would make a fluttery sound.
Lucy raised the lid of the piano and placed the lid prop under it, and Lucy examined the seat she was playing on. She wanted the seat to be perfect, not too high, not too low. She moved the stool closer to the piano so her legs could reach the pedal with ease, and Lucy tested out one of the keys. It made a rich and not too hollow tone. Lucy smiled. Perfect.
Natsu tuned his guitar, and with each turn, he felt more comfortable with everything. Natsu looked up at Lucy, who was proud at something she did with the piano, then Natsu looked back down at his guitar. He was going to play. And he was going to play good.
Lucy whispered to Natsu as he was setting up. "What are we going to play?" She asked. "Something pop?"
Natsu nodded. "It's always pop. Maybe we should do something from a band, like last time."
"Like Maroon Five?" Lucy suggested.
"Like Maroon Five." Natsu agreed. "Do you know Payphone?" He asked, it was a good song, and you could play a piano and a guitar with it. Plus he had the music sheet for guitar and piano. Natsu saw this at a store and decided to buy it because the piano sheet came with the package.
The blonde nodded. "Who doesn't? I can sing." She boasted a bit. "But do you have a sheet I can play from? I'm not a magical piano playing machine, ya know." She said, while motioning to the piano. Natsu nodded.
"Here," He handed her the paper. "And I can sing too. Have you heard the duet version before?" He inquired. Lucy nodded. "We'll do that, and maybe we can something a bit more special. You know." He winked at her. "It's our song, after all."
Cana yelled out. "WOULD YOU TWO STOP YAPPING LIKE LOVE-BIRDS AND GET ON WITH THE FUCKING SHOW?!"
The blonde blushed deeply, and Natsu chuckled awkwardly.
Lucy left Natsu and adjusted herself to the piano. Natsu did the same, and Natsu looked at Lucy, then got a smile in return. Lucy was ready. Her voice was okay, but she never tried. Her mother used to sing her to sleep sometimes. Natsu nodded for her to keep going. The blonde took a deep breath.
"I'm at a payphone, trying to call home. All of my change I spent on you." Lucy moved her fingers to a different spot on the piano. "Where have the times gone? Baby, it's all wrong, where are the plans we made for two?" Lucy ended her part, and stroked a couple of keys on her part. "Yeah."
Natsu took his part. "I know it's hard to remember." He looked at all the audience. Some people were filing in some more rows. "The people we used to be, it's even harder to picture, that you're not here next to me." Natsu brought his pick down on a couple more strings. "You say it's too late to make it." Some of his fangirls were loading through the doors, silent, but deadly. "But is it too late to try? And in that time that you wasted, all of our bridges burned down." He could hear the girls asking who Lucy was, and why she was up there.
But Lucy didn't care.
The blonde continued tapping at the keys with elegance. "I've wasted my nights." She sang like she was an expert, but Natsu could see the concentration on her face. "You turned out the lights." Lucy sang, and hit a chord. "Now I'm paralyzed. Still stuck in that time." The blonde heard whispers of the crowd and Erza's angry face for disrupting the show. "When we called it love, but even the sun sets in paradise…"
Natsu looked at Lucy to continue on. He continued playing more strings. Lucy looked at Natsu with confusion, but since there was an audience, Lucy couldn't stop playing, or she'd ruin the whole thing. "I'm at a payphone, trying to call home. All of my change I spent on you." She paraded on. "Where have the times gone? Baby it's all wrong, where are the plans we made for two?"
She laughed like she was having fun, and her fingers were almost flying. "If happy ever after did exist, I would still be holding you like this." Lucy spared a glance at the music sheet. "All those fairy tales are full of it. One more stupid love song, I'll be sick." She sang, "Yeah~! Turn your back on tomorrow, 'cause you forgot yesterday."
Natsu interceded for a bit, as Lucy stopped to take a breath. "I gave you my love to borrow." Most of the guys were looking at Lucy, and Natsu felt a pang in his heart, that made him want to snatch Lucy up while playing another video game. "But you just gave it away." Natsu sang.
Lucy took over again. "You can't expect me to be fine." Then she looked at the crowd that was overloading more and more. "I don't expect you to care." The key collector looked at Natsu, and Natsu knew what to do.
"I know I said it before, but all of our bridges burned down." Natsu sang as his head tilted down, looking at the guitar at times so he could strum at the right time. "I wasted my nights, you turned out the lights." He took a major strum. "Now I'm paralyzed. Still stuck in that time, when we called it love." Natsu blinked. Did the lights overhead get brighter over Luce? "But even the sun sets in paradise~!" He belted out.
Lucy nodded at Natsu. And Natsu kept going. "I'm at a payphone, trying to call home." He barely even looked at the audience. Then he kept singing. "All of my change I spent on you. Where have the times gone? Baby, it's all gone." Natsu's hand tightened on the pick. "Where have the times gone? Baby it's all wrong." Natsu looked at Lucy again, who was in deep concentration on the piano. "Where are the plans we made for two?"
Then Natsu belted out. "If happy ever after did exist, I would still be holding you like this." He sang, as his closest friends started clapping along, making a makeshift drum. "All those fairy tales are full of it. One more stupid love song, I'll be sick." Then he sang slowly, "Now I'm at a payphone."
Lucy looked at Natsu. "Don't hang up, so I can tell you what I need to know." She saw Natsu, looking deeply into the crowd, and not her. She felt disappointed. But why? She barely knew the young man. "Baby, I'm begging you, just please don't go." Then she sang, "So I can tell you what I need to know." Natsu finally looked her way, and they both grinned, Lucy's heart made another ka-bump. Lucy shook it off when Natsu nodded.
They both had the same plan in mind.
Then Natsu and Lucy, the best duo in the world, sang out to the world, their family, and friends. "I'm at a payphone, trying to call home." Lucy played another chord, and Natsu laughed, almost inaudibly, due to the clapping and the sound of their instruments. "All of my change I spent on you! Where have the times gone? Baby, it's all wrong. Where are the plans we made for two?"
Even most of the staff ran inside the main hall to listen to Natsu and Lucy play. "If happy ever after did exist~!" Lucy and Natsu chorused. "I would still be holding you like this, all those fairy tales are full of it." They grinned at each other, and Natsu felt truly happy.
"One more stupid love song, I'll be sick!" Natsu and Lucy sang. Lucy was smiling radiantly. Even though there was sweat dripping down her forehead, and she was near tears, and the sweat stung in her eyes, as her hands were near giving up. The blonde looked up at the light.
Lucy could swear that she saw her mother and father, proud of her.
Then the key collector sang at the ending, "I'm at a payphone."
The crowd went wild after that. Everybody in Magnolia had practically came to see Natsu and Lucy perform. It was a miracle. Not that Lucy finally showed her talent. Not that Natsu got a life outside Gray's apartment. Not that Lucy and Natsu were practically famous.
It was a miracle, that Natsu and Lucy met each other.
After that show…
"Natsu, you did really well." Lucy complemented Natsu, as his arm was over her shoulders. They grabbed some hot chocolate and went outside in the cold for a walk. Even though Lucy was wearing a thin jacket, Natsu's arm kept her warm.
Natsu looked at Lucy, "Luce, you did awesome. You were so concentrated." Lucy blushed. Then Natsu added, "we should do that more often. Ya know?" He looked at Lucy, as she nodded.
"Yeah, we should." Lucy said, then Natsu cracked a joke that was hilarious, that sent her into a fit of laughter. While two beady eyes watched in a bush. A blueberry bush. One had booze, the other had a notepad and binoculars.
Mira tut-tuted from afar. "Ara ara~!" She squealed in the bush she shared with Cana. "Obviously those two are in love. Why can't they just get together already?" She looked at Cana, who had bored, written all over her face. "Well, your tarot card readings were right, like always." The drunkard smiled.
Cana laughed. "I'm always right, Mira." Mira raised an eyebrow. "And soon we'll be called Aunt Cana and Aunt Mira, and babies will be popping out in no time." Cana said with a smirk.
The white head nodded. "And maybe Lucy will let us name them!"
"Yup." Cana said while popping the p. Then she yawned.
"Just wait until those two figure out that they go to the same high school."
Last Notes: ya. the ending's crappy. don't judge. Levy just loves breaking the fourth wall. this took so long because...well...because it did. constructive criticism, as always. Now excuse me, while i go play destiny.
Destiny: A video game
Pick: The thingy that you pluck the strings with on the guitar.
Piano lid: When lifted, you can amplify the piano's sound.
Lid prop: Props up the lid?
Call of Duty: Another game.
Chord: Multiple piano keys played at the same time.
Last Notes: I didn't do all of them. Read and Review. Tell me what you want to know if you didn't understand.
Ciao.