The 7 Stages of Love
Stage 2 – Déjà Vu
Summary: Her heart was beating too too too wildly. His heart was going to explode because it was beating so damn fast.
WARNING: Please understand that this is based off the old Fairy Tail. However you vision how old I meant, it's up to you. But please do know that I'm not updated about Fairy Tail's latest chapter/episodes. Thank you.
And there will be many changes in the POV (like it keeps on alternating); intended.
You should read Chapter One before you read this. (Which I assume is obvious, lol.)
DISCLAIMER: Kleia does not own Fairy Tail. Hiro Mashima does.
"Pssssst,"
Lucy's ears perked up. She heard that from somewhere, from someone. From a time she forgot, but she knew she was there and she had experienced it. She was there but how come she had forgotten? She looked to her left then to her right, scanning the area for the person who had indirectly called her. It was Levy, waving at her from a short distance, along with Erza and Lisanna, their short blue skirts dancing with the wind, the blue ribbon on their sailor's uniform joining in on the dance.
"Lucy! Hurry up!" She shouted in between their gap of a few meters, causing a blush to form on Lucy's cheeks due to sheer embarrassment. They were both aware that they were earning eyes from the other students.
But her mind simply cannot wander off from the thought of hearing that same way of calling. She furrowed her eyebrows, taking her time to walk towards her group of friends. From where had she heard that? She just can't point it out. It was as if she was stuck on a single item in a test, knowing full-well that she had studied about that particular question, but her mind had been blocked by fog.
But slowly, as if gathering the puzzle pieces one by one, she started to hear a familiar voice, calling out to her, telling her to hide or else they'll get caught.
Hide from what?
School has ended, finally.
Gray sighed through his nose, walking out of their school building aimlessly, inwardly looking forward to go straight home and simply relish in his solitude. He adjusted his school bag, then his black Chinese collar, then he ironed out his black uniform—
"Ouch!"
Someone had bumped into him.
And that someone was Natsu.
Apparently, he ran around without looking like the idiot he was. Behind him was a breathless Loki, his face so red Gray almost mistook him as a breathing tomato. He stifled a laugh, composing himself and glaring at Natsu, who simply eyed him weirdly.
"I said that hurt." Gray repeated, expecting an apology from the pink-haired idiot.
Natsu clicked his tongue and ruffled his hair, walking once again. "I'm sorry, okay?"
Something had hit him.
Why did that sound so painfully familiar? Why did he hear a little girl's voice echoing those same words at the back of his mind? He hadn't encountered a little girl recently. More so, no little girl had bumped into him lately. None. So why did the feeling of something so familiar had struck him? But he just knew it. He just knew that it had happened. Those words. He knew those were said. But who said those?
"Hey, Droopy Eyes, are you dead or what?" Natsu asked, chuckling some as he waved his hand in front of his face to snap him out of his stupor.
They all proceeded to walking. "Hey, Natsu," he called out, looking straight ahead in a daze as Natsu hummed in acknowledgement. "Do you remember a little girl apologizing to me?" he wrapped his hands around the straps of his bag.
Natsu suddenly burst out laughing, causing Gray to glare at him. He took a short glance at Loki, who simply shrugged at him and continued walking. When Natsu had composed himself, he patted Gray hard on the shoulder. "Are you out of your mind, Snowman? What kind of memory do you have?" he joked, resting his elbow on Gray's shoulder. "But seriously? I don't remember any. Why?"
He hesitated. Natsu would definitely make fun of him again. But still, he was his best friend. "I don't know… Déjà vu, I guess?" he shrugged nonchalantly. Maybe Natsu was right. Maybe he really was losing his mind.
"Maybe you had a dream about it," Loke guessed, earning another boisterous laugh from Natsu.
Gray glared at Loki, mentally sending him a message which was along the lines of Yeah, nice guess, I really am some creepy dude who dreams about little girls apologizing to me. Way to go, Loki. Just really. You're so rad, earning a nervous and dismissive chuckle from Loki.
Lisanna halted in her tracks as she gasped loudly, making Lucy snap her attention to her, eyeing her curiously. "What's the ma—"
"It's him," she said, breathless. She craned her neck to Erza, Levy, and Lucy, her lineaments showing utter panic. "It'shimwebetterhide."
Lucy blinked, "Wha—"
She was cut-off once again by Lisanna rapidly grabbing hold of her wrist and pulling her toward a nearby bush, the leaves and the branches covering up their small frames. They all crouched down instinctively, eyeing the flushing Lisanna in deep confusion. From what Lucy knew, all of them were simply enjoying their walks to the café (which is also their hangout spot) to consume their time on more female bonding and Friday chitchat. But this? She never knew this was coming.
Heck, she didn't even know Lisanna had a crush of some sort.
She felt quite betrayed.
"Lisanna, care to explain the situation here?" Levy asked, a little bit irked, but it was obviously due to the fact that Lisanna had interfered with their Friday plan. They all eyed Lisanna intensely, forcing her to squeeze out the juice in which she had been hiding from them since she-knows-when.
Lisanna heaved out a whitewashed sigh, poking her head out the bush, squealing softly, before squatting back down and looking at them in sheer remorse. She fiddled with her fingers, her blush intensifying, as she searched for all the right words to say. "Well…" she trailed off, her eyes following the echo of her voice. She sighed once again. "Okay so I like this guy but he's not from our school but he's near our school and well one day we just sorta bumped into each other and I saw sparks and bam ever since then I had this crush on him." She burbled, taking in a lot of air afterwards, the relief washing over her once guilt-ridden face.
"Do you know his name?" Erza asked, still unsurprisingly calm.
"… Natsu…" she said in a tiny voice, blushing even more.
Lucy blinked.
Natsu Natsu Natsu.
A name which sounded so foreign but tasted so familiar at the tip her tongue.
"Natsu?" she had managed to blurt out, innocently, unconsciously, earning three other pairs of eyes.
Lisanna leaned over a tad, interest sparking in her blue blue eyes. "Do you know him, Lucy?"
She found herself shaking her head no.
"Well," Levy suddenly interfered, "I think it's about time we discuss this in a better place because my legs are killing me right now and aren't you guys aware that people are looking—"
"I think I hear something over there!" a voice reaching masculinity proclaimed.
They all knew it was a Friday. And Friday defined goofing off and going out to somewhere they don't even know to do something they'll do spontaneously until they have ran out of their weekly stipend. But Natsu, as he is, got hungry. So now here they were, walking down the streets of God-knows-where, hunting for a cheap restaurant selling burgers. (Because he had been craving for it this past week.)
"Why don't you just eat McDonald's?" Loki asked, already impatient due to the fact that Natsu had been wasting all of their valuable time looking for a restaurant which suits his tastes. (Which is quite a big surprise for Gray, since, judging Natsu and his over-the-top appetite, he thought that the nutcase would never even have standards on food.)
He shrugged, planting his hands behind his neck casually. "Eh, I wanna try something new,"
"Well you better hurry up Ashtray, you're wasting a lot of time here," Gray said with a purposed roll of his eyes. (In which Natsu finds it an unmanly thing to do. Said comment coming from their school mate, Elfman, who looks at everything as manly.)
But then Natsu had suddenly stopped in his tracks, much to Gray's and Loki's irritation and confusion. He was just staring straight ahead. He might have changed his mind. Gray waited for him to do so, but Natsu just stood there, as if he had been turned into a statue by someone out there. (Shivers ran down his spine. It could be true.)
Then he pointed at a random bush.
"I think I hear something over there!"
Gray's heart skipped a beat.
That was all too familiar.
His eyes ventured to the bush Natsu was pointing at. Could she be there? She could be there, hiding. But what was her name again? She never even introduced herself properly before, so how could he expect to remember her name now?
Those seven words were a little too familiar.
And much to their horror, they had two things coming for them: one, he was nearby, so he might be talking about them, and two, he was Natsu. The Natsu. The Natsu they had been talking about seconds ago. Lucy snapped her head toward Lisanna, who looked as if she were a deer caught in the headlights. She turned back to Natsu and the gang.
Her heart was beating fast. Too fast.
Her eyes widened.
Pink hair. Squinty eyes. Toothy grin.
Natsu.
Of course.
She had felt this adrenaline some time before. The rushing of her blood through her veins in anticipation of what was yet to come, and the goosebumps which she dreaded having all over her body in fear of hearing those seven words of death—of being found by someone you don't want to. This had happened before.
"Déjà vu…" she mumbled under her breath, hopeful that none of her friends were able to hear.
She couldn't possibly be there. Natsu is an idiot. He could be hearing things.
"Eh, are you sure, Tobacco Freak? You're probably hearing things," Gray said in a deliberate uninterested tone, shrugging his shoulders at Natsu, who shot a glare at him. "It could be that your hunger is slowly taking over you. You could be hearing a hamburger talking right now. What, thought that was a juicy hamburger over there?" he teased, stopping the smirk from curving his lips.
That voice was familiar too familiar.
She heard him she heard him she heard him she just doesn't remember where and when she heard that voice and who owned that voice.
She got on her knees and peeked out the bush.
She ignored the silent protests of her friends.
"Are you picking a fight with me, huh, Elsa?" Natsu spat, bumping his head with Gray's. ("Guys… you're attracting attention…" Loki mumbled.)
It hurt a little.
But he will never admit it, of course.
"Too hungry to see the obvious, huh, Pinky?"
A grumble.
It was Natsu's stomach.
He withered away. And he blushed.
Aw, how cute.
Gray and Loki burst out laughing, pointing teasing fingers at Natsu, who shouted at them in defense. He was still blushing.
She knew one person who would call Natsu Pinky.
It was him. It was certainly him. Her heart was beating too too too wildly.
"Shut up, Snow Queen!"
"Awww, wittle Natsu's embawwassed!" Gray teased, earning a smack from the red Natsu. He yelped in pain, instantly holding the spot Natsu had hit. "Ouch! That was uncalled for, Squinty Eyes!"
"Yeah well you asked for it, Droopy Eyes!"
"You really are an idiot! I never asked for any—"
"Stop fighting!"
She covered her mouth. Her eyes were the size of the planets. She hid behind the bush.
What had she done?
Why did she shout that?
There was something deep deep deep down inside her which told her to do so. Because that was what she always does. And strangely, the moment she shouted that, she felt so at home. The memories of when they were kids flooding her whole body, déjà vu hitting her so hard she simply stood there in shock as she was brought back to her toddler days. This had happened before. And she knew it.
They conformed her order.
And all were quiet.
He stood frozen for many seconds.
Until his brain was suddenly commanding his feet to move toward the talking bush.
Until he was already in front of the bush, Natsu and Loki behind him, just as curious as he was.
His heart was going to explode because it was beating so damn fast.
He hoped he was imagining everything.
But if he was, wouldn't Natsu be laughing out loud by now?
This was definitely real.
He took in a deep and quiet breath, before bowing down and turning his head in search for the owner of the awfully familiar voice.
He found her.
She sat still in her position, with her knees tucked in her chest and her arms wrapped around her legs and her hands draped over her ankles. She was still breathing rapidly, still not believing what she had just done. Red painted her cheeks. That was definitely mortifying. She sighed through her nose.
She looked at Lisanna, Erza, and Levy.
They all looked like fish. They were gaping at something.
Or someone.
Her heart skipped a beat.
She dared to turn her head to the other direction.
In that moment, she didn't know what breathing was.
She looked at him in her big and brown brown brown eyes. Even in this slight darkness, he knows. He knows how chocolate those eyes are.
She gaped. And they both froze.
"… I found you,"
He spoke.
He spoke and she doesn't know what to do.
(His voice his voice his voice oh how much his voice had changed.)
She suddenly found herself on her feet.
"Gray,"
She found herself muttering his name.
They found themselves staring at each other. And she noticed just then that it was true; his eyes are droopy. She had to cover up her forming smile. His hair was still the same midnight shade. But he grew taller. They were of the same height when they were kids. And that was years back. Now, she stood right under his eyes. She felt rather small. Her confidence has been taken from her—
She was wrapped in his arms.
Her figure was against him and his arms were embracing her and (she liked it) she didn't know what to do. She stood there stupidly as Gray's arms tightened around her, suffocating her in a good way. She hoped he wouldn't feel her heart banging against her chest, begging to come out. She hoped he wouldn't feel how hot her face ears and neck were. She hoped he wouldn't feel her legs turning into jelly.
She hoped he would remember her name.
He was hugging her. And damn his heart was going bonkers.
He was hugging her. And he knew he thought about that seconds ago but damn this moment can't be any more surreal. She was small. She felt so fragile to hold. She smelled good. (Was it her or was it her hair? But damn she smelled good. He could smell her forever. And it sounded creepy.) She was warm and soft. Were all girls this soft to hold? He didn't know if it was his heart or hers that was beating so wildly. Or maybe it was both of their hearts.
"Dude, you're kinda freaking her out," Loki suddenly said. He just knew. "And you're gaining attention by the way. People are staring."
But he didn't let go. She didn't struggle to break free, either.
"And you're kinda freaking her friends out—" he was hushed, "—what?" Someone—Natsu—was whispering something. Loki understood, because he kept quiet after.
"I've finally found you,"
He whispered against her ear, and the breath he left on her ear turned into lava and she was melting away. Her heart couldn't beat any faster than this. But it did. And it was frightening yet welcoming at the same time—how she feels this warmth from a person she saw now after years.
It took her forever to chuckle against his neck. It took her forever to finally use her voice.
"Are we still playing thieves and cops?"
His hands were on her shoulders and he pushed her back gently. Her eyes were made of saucers as his own orbs stared deep into her soul.
"You still remember?"
She smiled. "If I didn't, wouldn't you be covered in my slaps and punches by now?"
He smiled. His hands were still on her shoulders. "I never thought I would see you again after you moved away,"
"Well, you did now, didn't you?"
He chuckled. And that was, by far, one of the best melodies she has ever heard.
"Hi'ya Luigi!" Natsu cheerily exclaimed, interrupting their rather intimate moment as he threw her his toothy grin which reminded her of their last encounter, which was years ago. (Lisanna, Erza, and Levy laughed behind her.) He draped his arm around her shoulder, laughing away, making the atmosphere so light and cheery. "Long time, no see, no?"
She chuckled. "Yeah," she nodded, until she remembered something. "And I'm Lucy, not Luigi. By the way," she added, not giving the pouting Natsu a chance to explain. She turned to her giggling friends. "They're my friends—Lisanna, Erza, and Levy. Guys, this is Natsu and Gray. We're childhood friends." They stood up and went to Natsu and Gray, giving them warm waves and grins.
Lisanna went up to her and cupped her hand to her mouth, leaning into Lucy's ear. "I thought you didn't know Natsu," she whispered, earning a shameful laugh from Lucy.
"Yeah, well, I didn't recognize the name at first, but when I saw him, it all clicked." She whispered back, and thankfully, Lisanna beamed and nodded in understanding.
Gray then blinked in realization and turned to his and Natsu's companion. "Ah, this is Loki," he gestured to Loki, who stepped forward and gave them warm smiles. "Loki, Lucy and friends. Lucy and friends, Loki."
"Anyway," Natsu emphasized, earning everyone's eyes. "I'm hungry, guys. We should continue this reunion and meet-and-greet somewhere else. I can't take it anymore. I'm so hungry. Aren't you guys hungry? 'Cause I am—"
"Damn, shut up, Natsu," Gray rolled his eyes.
Lucy chuckled, causing Natsu to stop answering back midway. "Why don't we have some ice cream?" she suggested, watching Natsu's and Gray's eyes flash in recognition and delight. She giggled.
"But shouldn't dinner go first?" Lisanna suddenly asked, making everyone nod in agreement.
Lucy shrugged. "Of course. Ice cream for dessert then. We better text our parents first, though. So who's in?"
Everyone raised their hands. Natsu enthusiastically raised his and jumped up and down childishly. "Count me in!" he exclaimed, grinning widely. He knew he had said it before, his eyes said so, and Lucy laughed. Such déjà vu.
