Evading Destiny Chapter 2

Natsu was nervous, an emotion he had rarely, if ever, felt. He kept glancing from the road to the ridiculously beautiful woman sitting in the passenger's seat beside him. He had seen beautiful women before, Erza, Mirajane, Levy and Juvia, hell even Cana was gorgeous, but this woman…this woman was even more beautiful, and he honestly didn't know what he was doing sitting in his car next to her. He could barely believe his luck that she had agreed to come home with him.

Natsu really wasn't sure, though, what he had been doing since the moment he had seen her sitting on the side of the road in the middle of the night. He had not even stopped to think about what he was doing for a moment; he had just done it. He had executed a U-turn and parked some feet from the girl. Something about her had just called to him…something about this Lucy had made him stop and see if he could help.

Right now, in this moment, Natsu couldn't seem to believe what had happened. He, Natsu Dragneel, a man people considered beyond dense and an idiot, had the single most beautiful woman in the world sitting in the seat beside him, ready to go to Fairy Tail with him. Holy crap he couldn't wait to shove that fact in Gray's face! He could just see the icy bastard's expression when he walked through the doors of their home… It was going to be priceless.

With a triumphant smirk, Natsu turned to look at Lucy once again, only to notice her faraway gaze. Suddenly, he started wondering why she had been sitting, crying, on the side of the road in the middle of the night, as his smirk gave way to a look of concern. She had appeared to be completely alone and desperate, and Natsu had not been able to look away from her or walk away without knowing she was all right. As he looked at her from the corner of his eye, he wondered what had brought her out there in the first place. What could leave a woman like her so upset?

"Hey," Natsu said rather softly, startling Lucy from her ruminations, "So…are you okay? You uh…didn't exactly tell me much about why you're out here in the middle of nowhere."

Lucy bit her lip as Natsu's question registered in her mind while she continued to stare out the window. Absent mindedly, she twirled the horribly gaudy ruby ring on her finger, a gesture Natsu didn't miss and one that caused him to raise an eyebrow.

"What's that?" he asked curiously, gesturing towards her ring. Startled from her automatic reaction, Lucy glanced down at the atrocious piece of jewelry and sighed.

"It's a ring I got from someone," she said quietly, "They didn't know me very well though and I don't plan on keeping it."

"Is that someone the same reason you're dressed like that?" Natsu asked with a toothy grin, waving a hand at her, now, extremely tattered dress. With a high-pitched shriek, Lucy realized her clothes were in literal tatters and exposing even more of her body than it initially had.

"DON'T LOOK!" Lucy yelped as she crossed her legs and tried to cover her bust with her hands.

"Whatcha yelling for!" Natsu responded, jumping slightly in his seat at her sudden outburst. "It's not like you're naked!"

"PERVERT!" Lucy yelled, punching him on his arm as she glared at him, causing him to grimace from the force of the blow. For being such a petite woman, she sure could pack a punch.

"What the hell you weirdo!" Natsu grumbled as he stared at her from the corner of his eye, "I ain't lookin' at nothin'…" Lucy just glared at him as she, very firmly, re-crossed her arms over her breasts. Natsu just rolled his eyes at her antics. It really wasn't like he could see all she had to offer; she was still mostly covered. Although judging by the look of the dress…when she had initially put it on it was pretty revealing anyway.

"I'm not a weirdo!" Lucy huffed indignantly, keeping her limbs crossed in an attempt to preserve her virtue. "I wasn't the one who picked this dress. It was chosen for me."

"How old are you?" Natsu asked with a snort, "You look like you're old enough to pick your own clothes."

Lucy's eye twitched as she stared at Natsu's amused profile. Why had she agreed to go with this guy again? He was so annoying…and hot…and sweet…and genuinely interested in her well being…and dammit she needed to not get side tracked; he was annoying!

"I'm twenty-three, thank you very much! And you don't know my situation so stop judging!" Lucy barked at him before she stuck her tongue out at him, proving her maturity. Natsu just chuckled as he kept on driving, trees flashing past the car.

"I wasn't judging," Natsu said, rolling his eyes again at her. "Just teasing. So you're the same age as I am. Cool!" This time Lucy rolled her eyes at the pink haired man. How he could be so cheerful all of the time kind of threw her, especially when she had not only called him a pervert but also punched him.

"So where is this Fairy Tail?" Lucy asked a few moments later, reaching up to pull the ridiculous tulle out of her bun. Natsu raised an eyebrow at her as she rolled the window down and threw it out of the window with a somewhat vicious smile.

"Magnolia," Natsu said with a wide grin, "It's the best place on earth, I promise! You'll totally love it. There's lots of people there who will like you; I just know it! Especially Levy and Mirajane; they're some of the nicest people there!"

Lucy laughed as she listened to Natsu begin to describe his home and all of the people who worked there and lived there. Apparently, Natsu had his own home in Magnolia, so he did not need to rely on Fairy Tail having an open space in their dormitories. He explained that most of the people at Fairy Tail had their own places to live, but they still came together and spent time with one another and looked for work with one another, like a family. The way he described it, it seemed like Fairy Tail had a "headquarters" of sorts in Magnolia and the people who worked there and lived around it would just congregate there whenever they felt like it. To her, it sounded just like what she had always wanted her family to be like, what her life had not been like since her mother had passed away, and it sounded amazing.

"It sounds wonderful," Lucy whispered wistfully, her eyes glittering as she turned to look at Natsu fully. He grinned back at her.

"It is," he said with a nod, "Everyone is really…really like family at Fairy Tail. We do everything for one another. We support one another and take care of each other."

Lucy nodded enthusiastically; her eyes glistening with unshed tears. She wanted that, so, so badly. She had not had a real family in ages, thirteen years in fact… She had a bunch of great friends in Loke, Virgo, Capricorn, Aries, Aquarius, Taurus, Gemini, Scorpio, Sagittarius, and Cancer, but there was something about having a family… It appealed to her greatly; it was all she had ever wanted after her mother had died. If she…if she went to Fairy Tail…would they accept her? Treat her the way Natsu said they would? Would they love her and care for her the way she would them?

"I…do you think that…" Lucy started, her voice wavering with her uncertainty, "Would your family…would they let me join?" Natsu slowed down the vehicle, pulling it off the road as he stared at her with wide, astonished eyes. She wanted to…join his family?

"Hell yeah I think they'd let you join!" Natsu practically shouted, turning to face Lucy now that the car was pulled off to the side of the road. "You really want to join?"

"I do!" Lucy said ecstatically, reaching out to clasp Natsu's hands in hers. She gasped as she felt an electric shock run up her arm at his touch. Unsure of what had just happened, she looked up to Natsu, who was staring at her with an equally shocked expression on his face as he stared from their still linked hands to her face. Shaking his head as though to clear it, Natsu looked away from Lucy as she let his hands drop from hers before he grinned.

"Just wait until you meet Happy!" he began to gush, studiously ignoring the blush that had risen not only on Lucy's cheeks, but his own.

"Who's Happy?" Lucy asked, also choosing to ignore the slight blush that tainted both of their cheeks. Hey…if he wasn't going to acknowledge the weird electric feeling, she wasn't going to either. No sense in rocking the boat right?

"Happy's my cat!" Natsu said…well…happily. "He's the best cat ever! He's blue and he has wings!"

"Your cat…has wings?" Lucy asked, completely astonished. She had never heard, or read of, a creature that was a cat, with wings, except for a sphinx. Natsu…he couldn't possibly be implying he owned a sphinx could he?

"Yeah he has wings! Cute white ones! And Lily and Carla have wings too! The hell if any of us at Fairy Tail know what kind of creatures they are, but they're just like regular housecats I guess, except for the wings and the fact they can talk. Gramps say they aren't sphinxes or anything like that since they're so little and both Lily and Carla have larger forms," Natsu completely ignored Lucy's incredulous look as her eyes widened to almost comical proportions. Cats, with wings, the ability to talk, and who also can transform into larger forms, are just like regular housecats?!

"You have…three…cats with wings…that can also talk?" she inquired haltingly. She just must not be hearing him right, right? There was no way…

"Well Lily and Carla aren't my cats," Natsu replied with a shrug. "Lily belongs to Metal Face and Carla belongs to Wendy. Although don't let them hear you say they belong to someone else!" Natsu's voice suddenly seemed to crack up an octave as he turned imploring eyes upon her face for a moment, "Lily and Carla don't really…they won't really take kindly to someone saying they belong to someone else like they're possessions." He grinned rather sheepishly at Lucy's raised eyebrow before turning his attention back to the road. Some cars were beginning to pop up here and there as they travelled further and Lucy was beginning to make out lights in the distance. Her heart rate suddenly sped up as she thought about how close they might be to Magnolia, to Fairy Tail.

"Is there anything else I should know about Fairy Tail before we get there?" Lucy asked with a smile, even as her heart threatened to pound out of her chest. Natsu turned to her with a curious expression on his face, one eyebrow raised, but Lucy ignored it. She was having a minor meltdown about Fairy Tail and whether or not they would accept her. She knew barely anything about the place besides what Natsu had been telling her, and yet she desperately wanted to join them. Everything he had been telling her, about his cat, his friends, his family, appealed to her and she wanted to discover what Fairy Tail was like on her own. But now she was freaking out about whether or not they would accept her!

"Macao and Wakaba are dirty old men and stay away from them," Natsu said, blushing furiously, while studiously avoiding her suddenly amused gaze. He had very effectively taken her mind off of her panic without even trying.

"Dirty old men, huh?" Lucy said with a chortle, shaking her head in disbelief at Natsu's warning. "Anything else, or rather should I say, anyone else I should be wary of?" Natsu looked at her sly grin from the corner of his eye as he took the off ramp to Magnolia. Only about twenty minutes now before they would be reaching the outskirts of town…a grin appeared on his face as he thought about it. Pretty soon he would be introducing Lucy to everyone in Fairy Tail!

"Gramps is a dirty old man too…" he mumbled as he realized there were a lot of people in Fairy Tail who would appreciate Lucy's…assets. For some reason he was unsure of, he felt like his blood was boiling at the very thought and he gripped the steering wheel tightly between his hands as he grit his teeth. Just the thought of some of the other Fairy Tail men ogling Lucy…

Lucy let out a full-bodied laugh at that as she asked, "Is Fairy Tail a home for perverts?"

"What!" Natsu yelled, tearing his eyes away from the road for a moment to stare disbelievingly at Lucy. "We aren't a bunch of perverts! Well…maybe stupid Gray, but that's only because he strips all the time! And Gramps…and Macao…and Wakaba…probably Cana too but the rest of us are normal I swear!" Lucy couldn't contain her giggles as Natsu continued to name people who might be perverts. When Lucy heard Cana's name, a woman, she couldn't help but laugh harder; most women were pretty secretive about their "perverted-ness" so for Cana to be listed, she must be pretty bad.

"Oi! It's not funny, alright!" Natsu said indignantly. "They're just dirty old men and Cana's a drunk and Gray's just a stupid icy stripper!" Lucy couldn't help but giggle some more at that, smiling at Natsu's somewhat furious expression.

"Okay, okay, I'm done," she gasped, clutching her stomach as a few more giggles shook her. Natsu's piqued state just tickled her. "So when will we be there?" she asked when she was finally done chuckling at Natsu's expense. His expression told her he wasn't nearly as amused as she was, but he answered her question anyway.

"Fifteen minutes until we reach Magnolia, give or take a few depending on traffic," Natsu replied grumpily. Did Lucy seriously think Fairy Tail was a home for perverts? The very thought upset him; Fairy Tail was awesome, not perverted! It wasn't his fault the old guys and Cana and Gray had dirty minds!

"That soon?" Lucy's breath hitched when she heard how close Magnolia was; she bit her lip as she stared out the window. She wasn't ready! What if Fairy Tail didn't like her? What if they didn't accept vampires? Oh gosh…would she actually have to tell them she was a vampire?! Would they figure out she was Princess Lucy Heartfilia of the vampires?! She wasn't even sure she wanted anyone to know she was a vampire, let alone the extent of her position as one! What was she going to do?!

"Hey there," Natsu said, eyeing Lucy warily as he heard her heart start racing again and he noticed her hands trembling in her lap, "What's up?"

"Does," Lucy began, licking her dry lips as she turned her gaze back to Natsu nervously, "Does Fairy Tail accept any…supernatural beings?" Natsu turned incredulous eyes on Lucy momentarily before redirecting his gaze to the road. Was she serious? Did she not realize he was one of those beings? And what about what he had told her about Happy and the other two? Why was her heart racing like that and why would she be asking that question anyway?

"Uh yeah we do," Natsu said as he scratched his head, trying his hardest to figure out exactly what was up with her as he watched the city lights draw ever nearer, "Why?"

"Just want to know what to expect," Lucy lied smoothly as she released the tension she had been building up in herself since she had heard how close they were. So even if they did find out she was a vampire, it wouldn't matter because they accepted people like her! What a relief! "So…could we maybe…stop somewhere before we get there? I would really like to change out of this torn up dress," Lucy said with an elated smile. She wouldn't have to tell anyone what she was unless she wanted to, and they would accept her despite her being a vampire! It was so good to know that! Now if she could just keep her identity as the princess of the ruling house…that would be amazing.

"Sure!" Natsu said brightly as the car started slowing down to accommodate the lower speed limit as the first few buildings of Magnolia started flashing by, "There's this little shop I really like going to that has clothes and stuff for reasonable prices." Lucy smiled at Natsu's concern for her having little money, since it was in fact true at that moment. For a moment, Lucy wondered where she was going to live and how she was going to work, but figured since that was something people found out at Fairy Tail, she would be able to find something.

"Could we stop at a jewelry store first?" Lucy asked, twisting the tungsten steel ring upon her hand, "I have something I need to get rid of before I can go clothes' shopping."

Natsu glared down at the ring upon her hand. He wasn't as dense as his family thought he was; he knew what that ring was supposed to represent. He also knew that Lucy, looking the way she did, had probably run away from a wedding. He figured she was running away from her own wedding (and if she wasn't, he would do something crazy, like tell Gray he loved him). Watching her twist that ring around her finger filled him with a rage the likes of which he had never felt before. Something about seeing a ring someone else had put there just bothered him on some fundamental level. To know she wanted to get rid of it though…that put a very smug, self-satisfied smirk on his face.

"Sure, Luce," he said with that rather vicious sense of satisfaction still flowing through him, "Whatever you want."

Natsu could not believe how utterly boring the jewelry shop was. Lucy had insisted, after he had stupidly agreed, that she couldn't go to the clothing store until she had some money, despite him having offered to pay for her with his, admittedly, limited funds. There was just nothing to do in a jewelry shop but look at the stupid jewelry and watch Lucy flirt with the owner… Wait…Lucy was flirting with the owner! Natsu felt his eye twitch as he watched the two more closely, glaring furiously at the old man whom had his eyes firmly set on Lucy's cleavage rather than the ring he was supposed to be appraising. Natsu held back the growl he wanted to release, but just barely, as he began to listen to their conversation.

"Please, sir," Lucy practically purred at the older gentleman, "I've recently found myself in a bit of a situation and I need to sell this ring…I just know it is more valuable than 75,000 jewel." She batted her eyelashes at the older gentleman as she used her arms to push her breasts closer together, knowing the move would emphasize her cleavage even more in the low cut gown. She knew Bora had not skimped on her ring; her father wouldn't have allowed it. The shop owner was trying to scam her out of her money and she would be damned if she let him.

"I…I may have been mistaken, miss," the man said as he swallowed, hard, at her flirtations. With a shaky glance at Natsu, who now had his unwavering, and rather furious, attention on the shop owner, the man reached out to take Lucy's ring. Once more, with Lucy's sweet stare and Natsu's angry glare upon him, he examined the ring to determine its value. With a rather comical widening of his eyes, he realized that this ring was in fact the real deal, not the fake stuff he had thought the girl was trying to peddle off on him.

When Lucy caught the storeowner's eyes widening, she struggled to hide her triumphant smirk and keep her sweet façade up. She was actually going to get her money's worth for it, she knew. With a true smile now upon her face, she turned to look at Natsu, only to flinch as she saw the dark expression upon his face. He looked furious, and he was glaring at the man holding her ring. What was up with him? Before she could ask, though, the shop owner started talking once more.

"These are genuine rubies!" he gasped as he turned the ring this way and that under the light, "This may be the largest ruby I have ever seen! And you want to sell it to me?" Lucy smiled and nodded at the owner's incredulous expression. Spluttering out a very grateful, "Thank you!" the owner rushed to the back of the shop to get her the 450,000 jewel for the ring while Natsu glared at his back.

Once the owner was gone to collect the money, Lucy whirled on Natsu with an irritated expression and her hands on her hips. He arched an eyebrow at her as he turned in the swivel chair he was currently sitting in to fully face her.

"Stop glaring at him like you're going to attack him any second!" she hissed, keeping her voice low so as not to alert the owner to her chewing out her friend. "He's helping me out and is now giving me a fair price! If you glare at him like that he might just ask us to leave, like the last three store owners!"

Natsu knew if he let the smirk he wanted to give her out that he would be in trouble, so he just shrugged. But really it wasn't his fault the last three owners had kicked them out! If they weren't such disgusting old men who had tried to touch his Lucy, he wouldn't have had to punch them in the face…or set their hair on fire (in an "accident" he was sure Lucy knew was his fault even if she didn't know how).

"Don't mess this up!" Lucy grumbled at him as she plastered a smile back on her face as she heard the owner rushing back to the front of the store. The owner gave her the money with another grateful "Thank you!" before she and Natsu hurried out of the store and back to the car; Natsu because he was glad to finally be done with the jewelry stores and Lucy because she was beyond done wearing the stupid wedding dress.

Once they had finally reached the clothing store, Lucy didn't take long to gather up enough outfits for two weeks in Magnolia, choosing a plethora of short skirts and tight shirts as well as a few pairs of shoes. She was nervous as she brought all of the clothing up to the register, but she wasn't going to let her nerves stop her. She was buying all these clothes on the hope, the prayer, that Fairy Tail would accept her and she would start living here in Magnolia with them…and Natsu.

The poor guy seemed utterly bored as he gazed off into space, bouncing on the balls of his feet as he tapped his fingers upon his arms, but he had been a great sport as Lucy had rushed through the store gathering up the clothes she wanted to wear. He had only complained a few times, but had quickly silenced himself when Lucy had glared at him. Natsu watched Lucy as she paid for all of her clothes, wondering why girls had to have so many outfits. He had like three pairs of pants, all the same color and type, and maybe five shirts that he recycled over and over again once they were washed and that worked just fine for him. He huffed as the shopkeeper bagged up Lucy's clothes and they walked out of the store. He had been beyond done shopping back at the first jewelry store…

"So Fairy Tail isn't far now is it?" Lucy asked as she smoothed down her brand new blue skirt once they were in the car again. Her nerves were beginning to get the best of her as she stared at the bags full of clothes sitting in the backseat. Would they really accept her as she was?

"Yeah," Natsu said with a nonchalant shrug. "It's that building right there," he pointed to a very large building with the words "Fairy Tail" plastered across its front.

Lucy was unable to hide her gasp as she stared at the building while they drove through the gates. It was almost as large as her father's mansion and she found herself highly impressed by it. She gaped at the building as she and Natsu stepped out of the car and made their way to the door. With a huge grin at Lucy's reaction, Natsu turned from her, kicked in the door, and yelled, "I'M HOME!"

AUTHOR'S NOTE: Heh this was a fun chapter to write. Sorry it took so long to get posted and I hope everyone enjoys it! As always, I do not own Fairy Tail!