If Time Permits
Part IV
Disclaimer: Don't own Fairy Tail or any of its characters
"Hey, Natsu?" Lucy asked, breaking the silence that had fallen over them. Natsu and Lucy were eating a rare lunch alone, just the two of them as the rest of their friends were busy cramming for a test that they had the next class. Lucy never studied because she was good in school and Natsu…well Natsu just never studied, period.
Said boy hummed in the back of his throat as he stuffed half of his hamburger into his mouth. Looking away in disgust, she looked down at her own sandwich. "Why do you always wear that scarf?"
Natsu looked at her in surprise. Managing to swallow all the food in his mouth, he grinned at her. Lifting an edge to the cloth wrapped around his throat, he ran his fingers over the material. "This? My dad gave this to me when I was born."
"Aren't you hot in it?" she asked.
He shrugged. "Sometimes, but most of the time I don't really notice."
"So why do you wear it all the time?"
He paused in the motion of bringing his soda to his lips and looked over at her. Setting it down next to him, he sighed a little. "It's a long story but basically, my dad got into some…trouble and had to leave. I wear this because…" he looked down at the scarf in his hands. "Because it reminds me of him. He left when I was ten and sometimes…sometimes I can't remember him like I used to. So when I can't hear his voice in my head or I can't remember exactly what he looks like, I look at this and…it all just comes back."
Lucy bit her lip and didn't know how to approach this sudden change in Natsu's character. The most serious she had ever seen him was whenever he fought Gray and even that isn't entirely serious. Seeing him this somber made her feel uncomfortable, like she didn't know what to do or say. He seemed to notice her unease and managed a small smile. "And it's also to hide that ugly scar I've got."
She blinked for a moment, distracted from her somber thoughts. "Scar? What scar?"
Reaching up, Natsu pulled the cloth from his neck, letting it pool into his lap. Turning his head, he bared the left side of his throat to her gaze for the first time since they'd met. "This one."
Along the column of his throat, a few inches above his shoulder, was a jagged piece of flesh about two inches long that was a few shades lighter than the rest of his tan skin, standing out in stark relief. Surprised, Lucy leaned forward to look at it closer. For the few months that Lucy had known Natsu, she had noticed just how flawless his skin was. Being a teenager, even she got break outs sometimes or had days where she was flushed and red. But she had never seen even the tiniest scratch on Natsu, not even after his fights with Gray and it had always made her jealous. And now, seeing this imperfection on his skin, it seemed so unnatural that she almost thought she was imagining it. Without thinking, she lifted her hand and skimmed her fingertips lightly along the raised skin. As soon as her skin touched his, she heard him suck in a sharp breath.
She pulled her hand back quickly and looked up at him with a small frown. "I'm sorry. Does it still hurt?"
Shaken at the feelings that her touch had brought, Natsu could only shake his head and look away.
Lucy turned her attention back at the scar for a moment before sitting back and leaving Natsu's personal space. She saw his shoulders relax once again.
"How did you get that?"
He ran a hand through his hair and blew a breath out of his lips. "I don't really remember. I've just always had it."
"You don't seem to very sensitive when talking about it. So why do you hide it?"
Once again, he only shrugged. "It stops people from asking so I don't have to explain, you know?"
Lucy nodded absently and turned back to her meal, but her mind was far from satisfied. When Natsu had been talking about his father, he had seemed so…sad. Where was his father? Was he some kind of criminal on the run from the police? Was…was his father the one who gave him that scar?
Shaking her thoughts away, she almost laughed at herself. Here she was, acting like she was in some novel or something, thinking that Natsu had a haunted past. And even if he did have a past, who was she to try and pry her way into it?
It would be best if she just put it from her mind. He would tell her if he wanted to.
And yet, she found herself sneaking glances at his profile as he messily ate his food and wondered…
Was there more to Natsu than the happy boy he let everyone see?
(AN: It's a little short, I know, but expect it from now on. I might post mutilple parts in one chapter if they are really short, but since this one was longer, I thought it would do fine to stand by itself. I was going to keep it going but it ended there naturally and I didn't want to change it. Thank you to those of you that reviewed! I adore you! Thanks for reading)
Jane
