Lucy and Natsu walked along the path towards the guild with Happy hovering slightly above them. Their last job had been a fantastic success, and apart from not destroying any of the city (and therefore not forgoing any of their reward), they were done in record time! Granted, the job was only the next town over, but still, their sense of pride and accomplishment had reigned supreme, with lots of high fives and congratulations exchanged. After a while, their congratulatory high plateaued and they found themselves walking almost silently. Though, just because Natsu had been silent, did not mean to say he was not thinking things over in his head. His mind had been focussed on something Gramps had said to both him and Lucy a few days ago. Something about time looping, being a circle. He couldn't remember exactly what had been said.
"Hey, Lucy?" He said, turning to her as they walked.
"Mmm?"
"What was that thing Gramps said about… the time? Time being a circle or somethin'?"
Lucy slowed to a stop and frowned. "When he said "time circles and so will you", that thing?"
Natsu stopped in line with her and nodded. "Yeah, I can't get it out of my head." He said, smacking his head gently.
Lucy nodded. "I feel the same way. It was so cryptic, wasn't it!" She paused. "Maybe we should ask him to explain it when we get to the guild."
Natsu hummed a reply and resumed walking, intermittently puzzling over the Master's words as they continued their journey home.
X360
"Zeref?" The young pink haired boy yelled. "Where are you?" A pause. "Zeref?"
A small blonde girl followed him, almost walking on tip toes. "Natsu, be quiet! You know the monks hate loud noises in the library!" She said, pulling at the back of his shirt.
The boy, Natsu, rolled his eyes. "You worry too much, Lucy. Besides, if they have a problem with it, they can come fight me!" He stopped in his tracks and put his hands on his hips resolutely, a smug grin on his face. "I'll win, too!"
Lucy ran around in front of him and struck her hands firmly on her hips. "Natsu, you can't fight them." She said sternly. "They're like our parents. They're raising us. It would be mean." A firmly concerned face shadowed her normal features.
Natsu grinned toothily at her. "Yeah, but I'd still win."
Lucy began to reply, a finger wagging at him, but was interrupted.
"Hey you two! What are you doing here?" A soft voice called.
Natsu and Lucy both spun on their heels, trying to find the origin of the voice. They craned their necks and looked hawkeyed for the intruder.
Suddenly, two strong arms came in and wrapped themselves around the two children. They were lifted into the air, and felt their small bodies squeezed and a kiss on the top of their heads.
"Zeref!" Natsu cried, hugging his older brother back.
"Put us down, Zeref! I don't like heights!" Lucy wailed.
Smiling gently, he let the two children down and crouched to their level.
He ruffled their hair, enjoying the grins from both of them. "Trust you two to be sneaking around."
The soft glint in his eyes changed for a more authoritarian one. "Now, what are you two doing here? You know you're not to come to the library when the monks are studying."
Natsu watched Lucy as she kicked bashfully at the ground and bit her bottom lip. "We… we wanted to ask a question." She looked to him from under her fringe, a nervous smile on her lips.
Zeref stood up from his crouching position and smiled lightly. He remembered being curious at her age too. Supposing there was no harm in a quick answer to his younger brother and adoptive sister, he engaged. "What is it, Lucy?"
"Um." She motioned to the necklace Natsu had around his neck. "When I made that using the special star Taurus…. Did I make it out of the star? Or out of magic?"
"Can I see it?" Zeref replied, holding his hand out to Natsu expectantly.
Natsu fingered it warily, not wanting to part with it for even a moment. Zeref raised his eyebrows at him and cocked his head.
Natsu felt a nudge on his arm. "Come on, Natsu. We're wasting Zeref's time!"
Natsu frowned and nodded, reaching around and undoing the necklace before placing it on Zeref's waiting palm.
The robed young man studied it for a few moments, before he grasped it and a bright, green light shone from his closed palm.
"Ah, there's your answer." He said, pleased.
"Wh…what is the answer, Zeref?" Lucy asked, confused and mesmerised by the fading light.
Zeref unclutched his palm, as the fading green light disappeared completely. "It was made because of your connection with the star, Lucy."
Natsu took the necklace from Zeref's hand and fastened it once again around his neck. "So it's made out of the star, then?"
"Not quite. It's made out of Lucy."
Both Natsu and Lucy cocked their heads. "huh?" They replied in unison.
"Lucy has a special bond with the Taurus. He's a living creation, and granted Lucy a little bit of extra power to make this." Zeref said, motioning to the stone.
Lucy piped up. "But that means it wasn't made out of me?"
Zeref handed the necklace back to Natsu and straightened up. "Magic is special and unique. It starts and ends here" he said, pointing to his chest. "Lucy's love for you was what created your present, Natsu. Taurus just gave her a bit of help."
Natsu wrinkled up his nose as looked at the necklace. "Lucy loves me?" He paused, then with all of the grace and tact of a five-year-old boy, added; "Gross!"
As Zeref began to reply, Lucy interjected, voice wobbling. "Stupid! It was just a birthday present!" She turned on her heel and shoved past Natsu, running out of the library.
Shocked by her reaction, Natsu stood and watched as her sniffling faded with her footsteps.
"Lucy, wait!" Natsu called after her, beginning to turn and follow her.
He was halted by a firm hand on his shoulder. "Natsu. You and Lucy have a very special bond. Make sure you care for her, okay?"
Natsu again wrinkled up his nose and frowned. "Do I have to marry her?"
Zeref laughed softly, trust Natsu to pick the most dramatic option. "Not until you're a grown up." He released his hand from Natsu's shoulder and pushed him lightly. "Now go get her!"
Natsu nodded resolutely and ran after her, tearing out of the library and cutting through the garden.
"Lucy, wait!"
X884
Natsu and Lucy had quickly made their way back to his apartment, two and a half blocks away from the restaurant they had met at not even an hour before. The conversation was non-existent, simply the two of them huffing and puffing as they tried to reach his place all the sooner.
As they arrived at his door, Natsu fumbled with the key, jabbing it into the lock and turning it harshly before scrambling inside.
Lucy followed him, equally as desperate as Natsu, but unsure as to why. She followed him into the dark apartment, and frowned when she heard him flick a switch and see light flood the room. She blinked her eyes a few times to get them accustomed to the new light, before spying Natsu walk into another room.
It appeared to be his lounge room, a sofa and large TV with magazines scattered along a wooden coffee table. Natsu was off in the corner, rummaging through a chest of drawers, reprimanding himself for being so messy.
Lucy decided to stand at the entrance way of the lounge room, watching the pink haired man across from her. It suddenly dawned on her that this was a very, very risky move. How did she know this guy wasn't a complete psychopath? She had blindly gone along with him in a moment of all consuming curiosity. Still, she couldn't ignore the small, niggly feeling in the pit of her stomach. It seemed like it had an anxious flavour to it, but there was something else. Perhaps she could sum it up in a phrase she had heard during her university years. Obscurum per obscurius, as she understood it, an unhelpful explanation that is just as confusing than what it tries to explain. She bit the inside of her cheek, realising the perfection of the statement. She couldn't hope to explain the intricacies of her desire to find out what Natsu had to show her so desperately.
Natsu let out an "Ah-ha!" and produced a large book.
It was thick, with gold binding around the brown cover. It seemed a little… boring… for the amount of hype Natsu had given it.
Apparently sensing her less-than-thrilled attitude, he marched over to the sofa and plonked himself down. Splaying the book in front of him, and flipping to one of the pages he tapped it pointedly and looked at her.
"Well, come on! Don't you want to see why I bought you here?"
Lucy reluctantly took a seat on his sofa next to him and followed his gaze to the book.
Natsu began to narrate.
"In X375, The Magician, Lucy Heartfilia was known throughout the lands as the most powerful of her kind. Using the sheer force of her will, and the unknown magic's of the stars, she single-handedly crafted the first key of her magic- The Zodiac Key of Taurus. Using the key she crafted, she created a bond with the earthen star in exchange for her services in maintaining peace throughout the lands."
Lucy looked sideways at Natsu. Perhaps he really was crazy, is someone with the same name as her in an old book really worth dragging her away from dinner?
"The girl in the story had the same name as me." Lucy observed, trying to placate a bright-eyed Natsu.
The spark from his eyes fell and his mouth downturned. "You… the dreams? Taurus?"
Lucy frowned and cocked her head. "Dreams?"
Natsu withdrew from her, and shook his head. "Yeah, remember? Back at the restaurant?" He quizzed. Following the lack of response from Lucy, he dug into his shirt and pulled at the necklace, shoving it towards her. "This?"
Lucy's eyes suddenly glazed over. She felt the same sense of hazy confusion she had experienced in the restaurant earlier that evening.
She leant over to touch it, and though Natsu flinched it away from her, he allowed her to make contact with it. She made contact with the point of her index finger, touching it lightly as if it was an eggshell.
It was warm. Smooth.
As she withdrew her hand, the pendant began to glow. A deep, dark green emanated from the necklace still attached to Natsu, and they both gasped at the sight.
Natsu gulped down his nerves as he gently reached around to undo the necklace. He pulled it off his neck, and dangled it in front of their faces. The light became all the brighter, illuminating the room entirely, drowning out the light from the ceiling.
"What is this?" Lucy said, mesmerised. "It… seems so familiar."
Natsu nodded. "I know. But it's never done this before…"
All of a sudden, the light extinguished, and they were left in the apartment with the light from the ceiling. They both gasped at the absence of the green light, and realised they had been holding their breath. They panted as they looked at each other, confusion and awe staining their features.
"What was that!" Lucy panted, still regaining her breath.
"Magic"
Natsu and Lucy both scoffed. Magic wasn't real. The only time magic ever existed was in these old books, when the people of old couldn't explain phenomena. Not like now, with science. Magic was for little kids, and science was certainly awe inspiring enough as it was! There was no need to complicate life with a notion as foolish as magic.
As they grinned at each other, they both realised the most recent voice had not come from either of them, but from a third party. Terror struck them both equally
"Hello, Natsu and Lucy."
They spun around on the sofa, to see a man with dark hair and a robe standing behind them, grinning slightly.
AN: Hi everyone! Sorry for the very, very late delay in the second chapter! I've been so busy with life! But I'm here now, and this story is going to be one of my favorites, I think! Just to clarify, these three stories are all set in the same universe with different times. The first story is always current Natsu and Lucy. The second story is in X360 (about 400 years prior to the current Fairy Tail), and the third story is in the distant future of X880.
The rating is likely to change to "M" in a few chapters, when things get a little saucy ;).
Stay safe!
Ella xx
