Part 2...
What do you feel?
FLASHBACK~
07:00 hrs,
8th July X791,
Café Magnolia…
"I'll take this then!" the blonde smiled across to the waiter who was taking their order.
Her dragon slayer partner was all fired up for his meal. So was the blue feline who was already chewing on the most delicious fish, wishing someday he could offer the fish from this newly opened café. But first why were these three team mates in the same café? Fairytail has won the Grand Magic games and this was Lucy treat! And how could Natsu say no to good food?!
"Hey did you hear?" a man whispered behind Lucy's back. Two men sitting on the table directly beside theirs' and talking about a random stuff, which sure did make the curiosity etch in the blonde spirit mage.
"Yeah" the other man said. Lucy tried to maintain the same facial expression as she paid more attention to their discussion.
"Rumours are that yesterday, a fire breathing dragon flew across the sky. Reports say that it was seen in various cities. It roared, which caused a few buildings to collapse and mix with the dirt" the first man said.
"Yeah, And now I believe that dragons do exists… But Dragons are really scary!" the other man said.
Lucy suddenly had a change of feelings. For some strange reason, she couldn't digest this new piece of information.
Her eyes darted from the two men to her fired up partner, who now wore a sworn. Did he hear that? It must be Igneel, right? So, He'll go searching for him again, won't he?
This thought pained her. He'll go searching for him. That means he'll leave her behind…
Lucy's eyes softened as they held back the horror that welled up in her. He was her best friend. She couldn't imagine the life without him. That's true. But she couldn't bind him. He was as free to take his decisions and she didn't want to force him to stay when he wanted to fly away.
She slowly grabbed his hand and gently rested her head on his shoulders.
"Huh?" the dragon slayer snapped back into the reality and found the blonde resting her head on his shoulder with her eyes closed.
"Oi, weirdo! I'm not a pillow. Food will be coming soon… Wake up will ya?" he said, but he didn't get a response.
"May be she's asleep… I'd better take her home" he thought to himself.
He carried the blonde in his hands in a bridal style, her face tuck perfectly upon his shoulders; her breath struck his face as he carried her back to her home with the blue feline following him.
~0~
07:30 hrs,
8th July, X791,
Lucy's apartment…
He gently placed her on her bed, their faces too close.
"Would I be able to leave her?!..." he thought as he looked at her sleeping figure.
She trembled and caught hold of his shirt and clenching it even tighter.
Surprise filled him as he stepped back. Did she know what he was going to do? Why was this sudden feeling of regret that was filling his heart and soul to even think about leaving her?
Her hand fell from his shirt as if she left him to do what he wanted to, puzzling moreover his choice.
"Why don't you wake up, Luce? At the time I require you the most…" he thought, his eyes wet unknown to him.
Would he be able to say goodbye?
He took a step back. May be, he'll just leave before she gets up and notices he's gone. He took the usual window exit out. As the blue feline joined him, he said "Happy?"
"Aye!" the cat responded.
"We're leaving!"
"But to where?"
"To find Igneel!"
~0~
16:00 hrs…
16th August, X791….
At Fairytail guild….
"You're hunch was right then" Mira quivered thinking how the spirit mage bore it all along, alone.
"Why didn't you let us know before?" Gray asked.
"You all knew it when he was gone…Besides he waved you all a good bye… It was only me, who didn't deserve one," her tone became serious while her face still was adored by a smile. "Even when I think about it, even how hard I try to feel his absence… Tears won't come. I guess it's fine with me! I always lose the things before I realise I love them! First my beloved Mama, then my Papa, Then Michelle, and now…" She gulped the lump forming in her throat.
"I'm glad I'm still in Fairytail though. I don't want to lose it for the world!" she smiled at her comrades. Everyone was reduced to tears. Even Gajeel and Laxus had their eyes wet.
"I'm sad… I'm lonely….Still the tears won't come to me…After all, I guess I didn't hold any special feelings for him…" she said.
"That's not true. I don't know how to put this. But I don't think it's about whether you cry or not" she remembered his words when she lost her father.
"But still the tears won't come out and this feeling of loneliness wouldn't subside within me, despite I'm with you all," she said, still smiling, looking at the guild members' tears smitten faces.
"Cheer up, minna. I'm not sad. I'm not crying either. I'm glad I have you all despite…err… I think I wouldn't like to bring this thing up any other time. Let's get back to work shall we?" she said putting up a brave face, but only earning an embrace from her friends.
"Natsu, thanks to you. I got to meet the best people in the world," she thought as she smiled amidst their tears.
~0~
00:00 hrs,
16th August, X794,
Somewhere in the mountains surrounding Crocus….
He sniffed the air repeatedly. His nose felt fuzzy from taking in all the cold air. But it was worth it. He was getting a scent of his foster parent!
He looked over to his feline comrade who was asleep. He didn't bother waking the cat but launched himself into the direction of the scent at full speed.
"It's got to be him!" he muttered to himself.
He took a sharp turn at the nearby mountain, squeezed himself through a narrow pass and finally, reached the top of a cliff.
"Igneel!" he roared into the cold winds of the valley.
There was no reply.
"Tch.." he cursed. He wanted it to finish. He wanted his search to finish. But why does his search always end up like this- unfruitful?
But he was the stubborn Natsu and he wouldn't give up. He wanted to get this done as fast as possible.
He turned around and just as he was about take to his heels, he heard a dragon's roar, making him flinch. It was somehow familiar. But yet it was different!
He could swear it was Igneel. But he couldn't sense his presence- his smell was only faint.
"Oi, why are you waking me up too early? The sun hasn't rose yet!" the dragon growled.
Natsu let out a chuckle. He finally did find his foster parent but something was different about him that made him stare at the red dragon, in front of him.
"What are you staring at flame idiot?!" he shouted at his son, snapping him into reality.
"It's you, Igneel?" he said, not believing the moment he has been waiting for all his life.
"Do you want me to put a board on my neck with 'I am Igneel' written on it and fly all over the world?" he said, annoyed. "Speak up, I don't have much time to chat with you. Tell me, where is my boy?"
"Huh?" Natsu blinked in confusion.
"I asked where is my son, Natsu?" the dragon roared again.
"Didn't you recognize? I'm Natsu, Natsu Dragneel!" the dragon slayer replied. "Are you really Igneel? If it is Igneel, he would recognised me!"
Natsu huffed.
"But if it was my son, he would have never broken a promise!" the dragon complained too.
"When did I break a promise?!" the teen whined.
"Did you not promise that spirit mage to protect her? How could you leave her side, only for your own selfishness? Would you be able to forgive yourself if something happened to her by the time you returned?" the dragon questioned.
A wave of guilt washed the dragon slayer's mind. He looked down to the ground beneath his feet as he remembered the celestial spirit mage. His happiness of finding his forest dwindled as the fear of something bad happening to her surfaced. It is true that Fairytail is with her. Even then… protecting her by himself and being with her… just gives him the feeling that she is safe.
"I hope she is safe…" he thought.
~0~
FLASHBACK~
21:00 hrs,
8th July, X791,
Lucy's apartment…
"Lucy…" he muttered as he saw the blonde still asleep in her bed.
"Gomen.." he said as his thoughts trailed to what he wanted to do next.
"But I won't be able to say goodbye to you…. Not today… I hope this will protect you in my absence…."He thought as he saw the sleeping blonde.
He wound his scarf around her neck, took a last glance of her and left her room through the window.
A single tear ran down her cheek as she felt the warmth of the scarf.
"So, you really decided to go…" she mumbled not wanting to open her eyes anymore.
END OF FLASHBACK~
~0~
"Where were you Igneel? I've been searching for you all this time!" the dragon slayer shouted at the image in front of her.
"As if you care! Tell me… did you really think about finding me all the time? Right from when I disappeared leaving you alone!" the dragon roared equally, fake pouting at the boy who squatted on the ground, his hands were on his knees and his eyebrows furrowed a little, depicting his getting annoyed by this chat.
"Don't talk as if you know all! I've been searching for you all the time… Right from the time you disappeared… I was searching for you like mad. Then I joined Fairytail in hope of getting stronger so that I could find you! And yet you wouldn't show yourself! How would you know how much I searched for you? How much I longed to see you?! When I heard about Salamander years after you disappeared, I went on a train to Hargeon and there! And there…" The dragon slayer got silent. He had no words to tell him what happened after.
"Lucy, is it? You met that celestial spirit mage didn't you? And then… did you still wanted to search for me?! Answer me! Did you still wanted to search for me and find me?!" the dragon questioned, narrowing its eye brows.
The fire mage remained silent. Memories of being together with the blonde flew in front of his eyes.
The day he met her at Hargeon; the day she came with them to save Macao without knowing the danger she was putting herself in; The day when he formed a team with her; the day when they went on the mission to Everlue Mansion, he cannot express in words how smart she was; the day when Gajeel was brutalising her and all he had on his mind was to protect her; the day when she left for her home, he was sad and crying; the day she was sick and couldn't attend the Rainbow Sakura festival, he was sad the entire time and thinking of a way she could be happy; the day when she was fighting Angel and he was stuck up on the board, she reached for him despite being all torn out by the fight; the day when in Edolas, he found out that she was going to be executed, he threatened them with their lives; the day when she was all drunk and clung to him like a child; the day when she was taken away by the new Oracian Seis and was offered as a sacrifice for the Infinity clock and he couldn't help her; the day when she was falling from the sky and he caught her, he was glad he protected her; the day when she lost to Flare, he cheered her; the day when she was taken as a prisoner for no offense, he was so furious that he acted without thinking(he never does though!) and fainted as a result; the day when he had only rescuing Lucy on his mind- All the time he was with her…. All he had on his mind was to protect her and hide her from this dangerous world as if she's a fragile thing, so delicate it'd break with no reason.
"Okay, now, if the entire world is in danger and Lucy's life is on stake too, what would you choose to save? Lucy or the world?" the dragon asked.
"Lucy!" the dragon slayer snapped, "And the world too…" he added. The dragon smirked as he saw the teen understanding the point of his lecture.
"Fine, you'll save both. But Lucy will be your first preference, right? You need not confirm, I already know it!" the dragon said smiling at his dumb son. Now will he make him say everything or what?
"Just think Natsu! Is Lucy just a friend? Is it all about you two? Did you not go wild when she's in danger? Do you not have protecting her on your mind even if it meant it'd risk your life? Does she not stop you from wrecking the things? Does she not make your heart flutter? Does her smile not make your day? Does her tears not make you punch the hell out of anyone who brought her to that state? Tell me, Natsu… Don't you… don't you love her?" the dragon inquired.
The dragon slayer gave a slight nod before realising what he was doing. But soon, he nodded his head in disagreement.
The dragon only smiled.
"Don't change the topic, Igneel! I came to find you now!"
"And I want you to find your answer! Okay?! Let us assume that you don't love her… Are you not worrying about her every second you're not with her? Am I more important to you than her? Wait! I can see something! Oh no! the spirit mage! Someone has a knife beneath her neck! And your so strong friends are busy with their own fights! I guess this is her end then! No one is there to protect her, is there?! You're here, trying to search for me! Too bad! Ahh… she's screaming! That knife is piercing her throat and look! A drop of blood is flowing down her neck!" Igneel exclaimed.
"Lucy!" the boy stood up, worry written all over his face.
"What happened to Lucy?! That bastard?! He's going to so pay for it!" he gritted his teeth, his hand already lit on fire. He seemed to realise this is a trick but still, if Lucy's in danger?….
"Well, if someone did that to her, what would you do? You even don't know if she's alive now!" the dragon remarked, breaking his lie.
"You dragon! What kind of things are you saying to me?! Just tell me where you are already!" he growled.
"Okay, I wouldn't beat around the bushes! If you want to come to me, you'll have to leave this world… That means, you'll have to leave Fairytail and Lucy too!" the dragon slayer stiffened at the dragon's words.
"You have only five minutes to make up your mind. And after that I'll be leaving," the dragon continued.
Thank you for reading this story! I'm too tired to type anything right now and I have to hurry now- have to catch up to something! Special thanks to:
GoldenRoseTanya;
leosladyforever;
ILoveAnimeGuys;
NaLuLoverNaLiHater;
Guest;
DesCreLi02NaLu;
Thank you for reviewing for the first chapter, guys! So, this was the second chapter! Since everyone was so kind to read it, I thought I wouldn't waste your time by writing at the start!
I've sent a reply to your reviews and i hope you all received them but to few whom i couldn't send, here they are!
Reply to reviews:
GoldenRoseTanya: Good to see you back, Sis! I'm glad you liked it!
Guest: Though i don't know who you are, but i want to let you know, you're review made me so happy! Arigatou! I hope you liked even this. And i have a request of you- Could write some name- not exactly your name but whatever you want to put it- it will make it easier for me to identify people. Even if you don't, no offence. Still Arigatou for reading it!
Special thanks to everyone who put this story on the alerts or in their fav list. Gomen, I couldn't mention their names! But I want you all to know that I love you all equally!
What do you all think Natsu would do? Do you think he understood whatever Igneel told him? Let me know. Can write to me or put your thoughts in the box below and post them! All critics are accepted.
Warning: I know warnings should be put at start. But my stories sometimes go OOC! I hope you all don't mind!
Disclaimer: I don't Own Fairytail! Hiro Mashima does! Well, This plot belongs to me! So, you can blame me for anything you don't like!
Note: Since I blabbered a lot in the last chapter, I didn't ramble a lot in it! Atleast I guess so! And my rambling will become less as the time will proceed! Getting Busy! College has started! Hopefully, I may update next Wednesday!
Arigatou! Bye for now!
