Fairy in the Woods
The house where they were staying was clearly not expecting them so soon, or that was what Lucy guessed.
It was a mess, with clothes and whatsoever laying everywhere and a pile of dirty dishes waiting to be washed. Lucy's eyes scanned over the place as she secretly hoped she wouldn't have to be the one to clean it up during three months.
Living with three men in a house was going to be hard work.
"So that's the first floor," Natsu said. "There's a guest room for each of you. Old man, yours is over there," he pointed to the wooden door at the end of the corridor, the one between the bathroom and Igneel's room, as Lucy remembered.
"Oh, okay." Jude said, and by the tone of his voice, Lucy could tell he didn't like one bit that Natsu gained the habit of calling him old man.
She giggled. "And yours is up," Natsu smiled at her. "Let's go,"
Lucy smiled back at his contagious grin, "Okay."
Just as they were about to go upstairs, a red haired man with glasses stood there, a wild grin as he looked down at them. He wore a red shirt with worn out jeans, matching the reddish beard in his face. As he went downstairs, Lucy spotted the kind brown eyes of the man.
"Igneel!" her father's voice exclaimed behind her, excitement and joy dripping off it.
The man opened his arms in a hug gesture, and Lucy stepped aside to let the two men reunite after several years. She watched with a soft smile in her face, happy to see Jude experiment true content after Layla's death.
Natsu chuckled beside her, "Well, they'll be like that for a while, I think so." His green eyes met hers, a smile playing in his lips. "Let's go to your room."
"Okay," she said, before following him up the stairs, leaving the two old friends behind.
The second floor was similar to the other, much to Lucy's dismay.
Natsu showed her the bathroom and Igneel's working room before he stopped in front of one that had a small sing that read Natsu in a childish letter, painted with red Sharpie, a little but detailed dragon decorating it.
"That's my room," Natsu said, a proud spark in his eyes.
"I see," Lucy giggled, following him as he continued his path. Once again, he stood in front of a normal door.
He opened it, revealing a single bed with a white, simple mattress, a nightstand with a lamp, one wardrobe, a desk and a big window that let her see green fields and the shadow of buildings, far away.
"And this is yours," he said. "Dad just finished cleaning it up."
"Great," she smiled. "Thank you so much for everything."
He blinked at her before scratching the back of his head and smiling, "No prob. I'm glad you're spending time with your old man."
"I'm really happy too. Thanks."
"You'll like here," he continued. "Magnolia is full of great people! And you definitely must go to Fairy Tail! There's Gramps, and Gildarts! I'm sure you'll like Erza, and Mira even if they're scary. Juvia's kind of creepy, but she's really kind too!"
"Fairy Tail?" she asked, a frown adorning her face.
Natsu's cheeks turned pink, matching his hair. "Oh, right. Sometimes I forget there are people that don't know it."
"Fairy Tail is a bar, the number one on the city!" he smiled brightly.
Even if she couldn't fully understand what got him so excited about a bar, she tried to reciprocate his enthusiasm. He looked too adorable, like a little kid.
"That sounds awesome," she said. "I'd like to go there someday,"
The happiness on his eyes were worth it. "Why don't go now?"
She gave him an apologetic smile, "I'd like to shower now, actually."
"Oh." His own grin didn't hesistate. "Okay then."
"Hey Lucy!" Her father's voice echoed through the house as it came from downstairs. It wasn't difficult to sense the happiness that followed his words.
Natsu blinked a couple of times, "Old Man's calling you."
"I know." Lucy rolled her eyes, but a smile tugged at her lips. She didn't believe she had smiled so much since her mother's death. Should she give credits to this adventure?
"Where are you from?" Natsu asked her. It seemed he didn't have any intentions of letting her go to Jude. Not that she minded, anyways.
"Hargeon," she asnwered.
"That city where there are lots of fish?"
Lucy slapped her hand to her forehead. "Yeah," she said. "My dad runs the company that lets the city have lots of fish."
"Really?" Natsu asked, his eyes wide with pure curiosity. "Do you think he'll handle me free fish? Or with a cheaper prize. 'Cause you know, Happy loves it."
Lucy gasped at him, shocked and amused at the same time. She wasn't very sure why, though. "Eh... Who's Happy?"
His face lit up like a child, "He's my cat!" he exclaimed, and Lucy didn't believe him until he ran to his room and came back with a blue little thing in his arms.
The cat purred, looked at her with lazy eyes and went all the way up over Natsu's pink hair, where it continued to sleep. It surely made a nice contrast, blue and baby pink.
"See? He's adorable, right? You'll love him!" Natsu grinned widely, showing off his whole teeth.
"He is," Lucy said, despite the fact that she rather preffered dogs over cats. "Why is it blue?"
"Oh." His cheeks suddenly matched his locks, pink dust making him look all the more adorable. "It's a long story, actually. Maybe I'll tell you someday."
"I really can't imagine a story with a cat ending up blue." Lucy chuckled. Even with her writer imagination, she couldn't think of a credible and feasible story of why, of all things, a cat would end with blue fur.
"I'm pretty sure you wouldn't believe it when I tell you," Natsu laughed, though his face was still pink and a cat was over his head.
"Natsu!" Igneel's voice shouted this time, "Stop being annoying and let Lucy come here!"
The boy growled, rolling his eyes and taking the animal back in his arms. "He's the annoying one," he murmured.
Lucy put a hand over her mouth and giggled, watching the boy struggle with an angry cat.
"Need help?" she said.
Natsu dedicated her another reassuring smile, "Nah, I got it covered up." he said, though it was obviously a lie. Happy seemed very angry for being taken away from his soft mattress over his head, and was fighting to get there again, his little claws making small bruises on his muscles.
"Are you sure?" Lucy asked, biting back another laugh. It was indeed a very amusing view.
"Yeah, yeah," he said, finally giving up on the animal and letting it on the floor after some more time on the battle, and they watched the cat walk to a corner and continue to sleep there. Natsu frowned at it, "Guess he was just tired... He's funnier than this, usually..."
"It's okay," Lucy smiled. If this continued to go on like this the whole summer, Lucy was sure she would spend a good time. Maybe she wouldn't miss her boyfriend as she expected to...
"Natsu! Lucy!" Igneel called them again, this time with a more stern voice. "Come down already, we need to talk!"
They both shared a look, their eyes meeting. It sent a shiver down Lucy's spine, but before she could get lost in the intensity of his dark, green pools, he broke the eye contact.
She didn't miss how his cheeks turned a darker shade of pink, and she also noticed how her own face was probably matching his.
"I wonder what they want," Natsu said, curiosity written over his face.
Lucy's rational side wondered the same, "No idea," she replied.
Sighing, they both made their ways down the stairs again, and followed the noises into the kitchen. What they found was two men sitting at the table with awkward expressions, both of them tapping the wooden surface with their rough fingers.
Lucy's stomach twirled as she already guessed what this conversation was about.
I'm really sorry for the long wait, and I want to apologize for this short and bad chapter. I'm kinda occupied with school and I totally forgot about this story for a while. Luckily now the updates will be more often, but notice that I still have another two on-going stories too and a lot of ideas for new one-shots, so I can't promise anything. Thank you so much for all of your kind words, and for favoriting and following it! It really makes me happy!
Shouts-out to: Zekri - taboadayvonn - flamefairyx777 - fairy tail nalu for life - Mangaka Shuzen - ArouraJean - HappyOwl - Stavroula99 - midnighthnb. Love you all!