Wander
The guild's heavy wooden doors swung open, colliding with the inside walls with a terrific bang. The sound went unnoticed due to the usual noise level of the chaotic guild. A flying chair barely missed the head of the fire dragon slayer as he walked up to the bar, the ever present blue exceed hovering faithfully beside him.
"Morning Mira!" he called cheerily to the white haired bartender. She smiled in response, and placed his usual plate of fire chicken in front of him as she continued her conversation with her sister, Lissana. Natsu happily dug in, food flying in every direction as he cleaned the plate in seconds. He sat back with a satisfied sigh, before he suddenly frowned. Something was missing.
Natsu rested his elbows on the bar as he surveyed the guild. Something was off… He sat up straight as he realized what was wrong. Where was his blonde haired partner? She was usually here by now. "Mira!" he called. "Yes Natsu?" she asked. "Do you know where Lucy is? She's normally here by now." Mira frowned as she realized the blonde celestial mage was indeed absent.
"I don't know" she replied. "I haven't seen her today". Natsu felt like he was forgetting something, something important about this day. His brow furrowed in deep thought. Mira turned back to Lissana, and when she glanced back a second later, Natsu was gone. Happy was still in the guild, talking to Carla. The Mira remembered what day it was. It was the day Lucy's mother died.
•••
Lucy walked past yet another trader, bragging about the items on sale today. She smiled politely, but didn't stop to look. She kept walking, wondering where to go next. She visited her mother's grave, placed flowers on both hers and her fathers, and sat with them for a while, talking aloud. The people who heard her must have thought she was insane.
She didn't feel like going to the guild hall. Her guild mates could always cheer her up, but today…she just wanted to be alone. So here she was, wandering around Hargeon. She must have walked past this market place five times already. She just kept walking, with no direction in mind. She looked up and stopped as she realized she recognised the restaurant in front of her. It was the one she went to with Natsu, when they first met.
Warmth blossomed in her chest as she smiled at the fond memories. How her life had changed on that fateful day. She laughed softly as she thought back on every adventure she'd had with the fire dragon slayer since they'd first met. It hadn't been easy, with him destroying absolutely everything – including her clothes – but she couldn't image her life without him. And she couldn't help but feel that her best friend was becoming something more than a friend to her.
"It's been a long time, hasn't it?" Lucy jumped at the voice, turning to find said destructive dragon slayer standing right behind her. "How did you know I was here?" she asked. "A hunch. Then I just took a train and followed my nose" he said, his face turning slightly green at the thought of the train. Lucy turned back to look at the restaurant, sighing slightly. "Where's Happy?" she asked, noticing he wasn't there.
"Back at the guild" Natsu replied. "We should probably head back, shouldn't we?" she said, watching as a flock of birds flew past. "We could just hang out here" Natsu said with a shrug. "I can go if you want" he added softly. "I know you prefer to be alone on this day"
"No" Lucy said shaking her head. "I want you to stay". Natsu grinned brightly and grabbed her hand. "Then we start with food!" he yelled as he dragged her towards the restaurant. She did prefer being alone on this day. But Natsu always managed to find a way to make this day seem so much brighter.