Copyright: I have in no way shape or form any ability to possess the awesomeness that is Fairy Tail. All hail Hiro Mashima!
Switched
Chapter 2: Which is better?
The only thing that Lucy could think of on the walk to the guild hall was how she could apologize to Natsu. She had to admit, what she said had to sound selfish to anyone's ears. Even Happy had to witness it, but Lucy wasn't really concerned about the cat's thoughts as she did the fire wizard's. Especially since he was the one offering this fun-awesome-whatever thing she was supposed to love.
She used the time walking to the guild to evaluate her actions…and at every conclusion, she was indeed guilty of being a sucky friend. It felt like she had just kicked a poor little puppy for absolutely no reason- and Natsu got the boot. Sure, she originally wanted to spend her short vacation relaxing at home but she had already spent a good seventeen years of her life relaxing as a spoiled rich girl, with the ability to get any item she could dream of from the power of her father's wallet- and that made her sicker than anything. She tried so many times to imagine herself on the outside of her family's mansion, living the life of a normal child. It was when she was a teenager, already all too used to the life of a rich girl, that she made the choice to run away. Sure, she was afraid to finally start life alone; however she still did it. She did it to be free from her father's grasp, to go on adventures, to live a life she always wanted… And now she was here, living on her own paycheck, a part of an amazing guild, and living with the family she never had.
She sighed happily, "I never would've thought this day would bring back so many memories..." Not memories of her past life...but how she felt when she finally left it behind. Free.
When Lucy reached the front doors of the guild she felt more pumped than ever to go on a mission. She knew she would still have to apologize to Natsu, but hoped he would be too excited to go on the mission to even try to get back at her for being wrong. At least she hoped he was that mature…Upon finding the nerve to finally enter the guild, Lucy began searching for the certain salmon-haired wizard. And to her disappointment (for all her preparation put to waste) she immediately noticed the lack of a fire dragon slayer. With a pout she surveyed the room. Other than there being no Natsu she also noticed that the groups of mages in the large room were relatively quiet compared to the normal (and frequent) commotion of Fairy Tail. And what was a Fairy Tail bar without some fights to excite and entertain?
Suddenly feeling less excited to be there Lucy spiritlessly made her way to the bar where she spotted a smaller group of her friends consisting of Gray, Mirajane, and Happy. "Hey guys." Lucy said while taking her seat. The others welcomed her but Mirajane had to serve some more guild-mates and couldn't stay, leaving Lucy with the rest of her team- minus Erza and Natsu. At the thought of the guy's absence she tried to figure out where he could be. She believed she was right to assume that he would go straight to the guild from her apartment, but apparently not. Although, since the guild was like a second home to him, she hoped that he would eventually show.
"So Gray, what's up?" Lucy asked while taking a sip of the drink Mira kindly left her. She decided to focus on her friends that were present.
He simply shrugged. "Not much, I'm waiting for that fire-breather to come back." The ice wizard made a fist over his cup and dropped in a few more ice cubes. "He said something like 'gotta get Erza for a mission' or something like that." He gulped down the rest of the drink. "…I doubt it's a good, well-paying mission though."
Lucy looked curiously at that last statement. "Hmm? Why's that?" Lucy wondered.
Happy took a mouthful of fish from his bag and spoke in a semi-understandable manner. "Behcusze dere rn't meny dobz mnow." Lucy face dropped at his lack of manners. Well he is a cat after all, and it's not like Natsu would teach him any.
Gray nodded in agreement. "Yeah, like he said. There are so many people out on jobs right now, it's tough to snag one before all the good ones are taken," he commented before making more ice cubes for his drink he started crunching down in his next gulp.
Lucy eyed him, "...is there anything liquid in that cup, Gray?"
"Nope." He continued to crunch away in content while Happy chewed hungrily at a fish; scales and all.
She sighed at her strange friends' antics. "You guys have the weirdest eating habits..."
Some hours later, a certain dragon slayer re-entered the guild but this time with a cheek equally pink as his hair. Happy was the first to notice Natsu, and Lucy was still just as eager to see him. Natsu nonchalantly took a seat at the bar and Happy flew over, pointing at his friend's cheek. "Hey, what happened to you, Natsu? What's that?"
He looked puzzled. "Huh? You mean my face? I've always had it."
"He means what happened to your cheek, moron," Gray retorted unamused, sitting next to the fire wizard.
"Hey, shuddup!" Natsu growled. "Always trying to start something with me…" he grumbled heatedly.
Lucy, just hearing the conversation, came over and sat down on his other side. "Anyway, go on, Natsu."
She still wanted to apologize but held her tongue. She wasn't about to kiss Natsu's feet in front of her friends. And plus she was also a bit curious about his pink cheek that was oddly in the shape of a hand.
"Oh heya, Lucy," He said in his usual friendly way.
Lucy tried to look for any hints of sarcasm in his tone but he was acting just as normal towards her as to the others. She wondered if he could have already forgotten about earlier or if he just didn't care anymore. But still something was a bit off when he saw her. He couldn't have forgotten it…for all she knew he was gone sulking this whole time…
"Yeah, well I guess Erza did hit me pretty hard." He pouted in remembrance and in an off-handed sort of way said, "But it's not like I meant to walk in the girl's bath."
Gray snorted at him, "That's what you get, pervert."
Natsu's fists collided with the counter, "Look who's talking, you pant-less Popsicle!"
Gray suddenly noticed his lack of clothing and panicked. "Crap!"
Natsu smirked in victory but returned back to what he was saying before that jerk interrupted him. "Yeah, but I'm lucky to have gotten out with just this though." He considered. "All of the girls were pretty mad."
Lucy only nodded at the choice of punishment he received. "That's understandable." She agreed with her fellow (but non-present) females. "Who wouldn't be mad for that?"
Natsu noticed her siding with the girls. "Hey, well, Levy was okay about it… I think..." Natsu pondered for a moment. "Well, she wasn't mad really..., but she made this squealing noise and ran away."
Lucy could've sworn she heard a growl emitting from another dragon slayer in the distance and more noticeably the said-girls team members were eyeing Natsu, their new rival, dangerously. Suddenly Elfman entered the group and on cue demanded a manly answer to his next question. "What kind of man are you, Natsu! Spying on a woman! For shame!" Lucy just rested her elbow on the table and watched the scene play out to her amusement.
At a nearby table Cana, who also overheard the conversation, finished her gallon of beer and wiped her mouth with an arm. "Puh-lease…," Cana waved him off. "What dude doesn't peek on girls, or at least wants to?"
Elfman continued to rant on about the values of a man to her but was basically ignored by the rest of the group who went on as if their guild mates hadn't interrupted. Lucy, already bored, decided to get the conversation back on track. "So, Natsu, did you convince Erza to go on the mission or not?" she asked absentmindedly.
He nodded happily. "Yep!"
Happy cheered while Gray looked skeptical and said, "Is that so? Then what's this so called mission you've been keeping secret?"
Natsu was about to speak until Mirajane decided to give Natsu an order of his favorite flaming foods. "One sec."
Lucy sighed crossly, eager to hear what so called mission she was supposed to be a part of. And Natsu was too busy gobbling his food to notice her watch him while impatiently tapping her index finger on the counter. "Jeez," she sighed and again put elbow on the counter. Gray was too busy chatting with Mira, and Happy had disappeared, leaving Lucy basically alone. She lit up though when she noticed a blue-haired girl enter the guild. Before she could wave Levy over, her team members jumped up and immediately crowded her. In unison they asked her questions regarding her well-being and she gently waved them off before approaching Lucy and the absentminded Natsu with no problem.
"Hi, Lu-chan!" she said happily and took a seat next to the blonde.
"Hey, Levy. So... how are you?" She whispered the second part cautiously.
"Hmm? What do you mean?" she asked and then noticed her friend pointing her thumb back to the distracted Natsu who was attacking a piece of fire chicken. "Oh, I'm fine. Now that I think about it, it was pretty funny. Anyway I came to see you! I brought a souvenir back from my last mission and I think you'll like it a lot!"
Lucy grinned and clapped her hands together excitedly. "Really? Can I see?"
"Yes, of course! I brought it with me! I have it right…" Levy looked to her side and after moment her face dropped. "…here?" And then she exploded into a panic. "Oh no! Where is it? I-I was sure I had it with me!" she then flipped Natsu's finished plate over (Lucy luckily caught it) and actually took Lucy's bag and dumped out its contents with no avail.
Lucy tried to assist the girl searching in vain. "Uh…maybe you left it at Fairy Hills? I'm sure it's not too far gone, Levy."
Levy agreed after looking around in anguish. "You're probably right, Lucy! But I absolutely need it back!" she began biting her thumb nail. "I-If it falls into the wrong hands…" She trailed off nervously and then bolted for the door and without a second thought yelled, "See you later, Lucy!"
Lucy waved her off (and the trail of dust Levy left floating in the air from her sprint). The blonde just hoped her friend would find whatever it was. And judging from Levy's heart attack, this "whatever it was" must've been valuable. Maybe it really would be dangerous in the wrong hands... whatever it was. She wished Levy would've at least told her what it was so she could help look for it...
Suddenly, Lucy noticed the sound of rustling from behind the counter. She leaned over, suspicious of the purring noise followed by "I found it!"
Lucy eyed him sharply. "Happy, what are you doing down there?" She already knew she wouldn't like his answer.
He didn't even look up as he hugged the item. "I found it! I found it! The pen!"
"...You're glad just because you found a pen?" Lucy asked unimpressed but still watched him apprehensively.
"Yeah, I want to write words and make them real like Levy does! I want to write a huge 'FISH."
Lucy nearly laughed at the thought but swallowed it. "Happy, you know you can't do that with any ordinary pen, right?"
Happy snickered with a Cheshire grin, "This is no ordinary pen though…."
It took Lucy a moment to process what the weird cat was talking about before it clicked in her mind and within seconds she was suddenly pulling at the cat's cheeks. "I'VE TOLD YOU BEFORE NOT TO TAKE WHAT ISN'T YOURS, YOU CAT-BURGLAR!" She hissed, adding a few more tugs before snatching the pen out of his paws. "Now, go return it to Levy! She's busy enough without having to worry about where her magic items are! Now go!"
"Awww, Lucy, just one fish?"
"NO!"
Happy sadly took the pen back and dropped it in Levy's bag before flying away disappointed that he didn't get to write a single fish out before giving back the pen. Then he snickered. What Lucy didn't know wouldn't hurt her…
"DON'T USE IT!" a voice yelled after him as if the possessor could read his mind. He shivered and quickly flew out of the guild, afraid of what the girl was capable of.
Lucy let out a large breath and returned to a seat, far from Natsu and Gray who were now in another heated argument. She decided the better company to be Mirajane who was taking a break from serving the guild mates who weren't on missions. "Hiya, Lucy," Mira greeted as she rubbed a hand towel on a dish. "How's it going?"
"Not too great…" Lucy lazily let her head lie on the counter. "I can't believe the guild is so lively even with half the people gone. I'm already tired..." Her eyes then lit up with a curious thought. Actually, a question Mira would know the answer to, she hoped. "Hey, Mirajane, do you know why that is? Why the guild is more empty than usual?"
Mirajane smiled sweetly and said, "Well, I guess everyone needs to refill their pockets every once in a while."
Lucy sighed. "So you don't know either," she said blankly. "Gray said that it was hard to snag jobs lately."
Mira gestured to the request board quizzically. "There is a sudden group of people taking on jobs…I wonder why?"
Lucy looked even more worn down. "So you really don't know…" It seemed that just being in Fairy Tail seemed to wear her out.
"So, Lucy, didn't Natsu say something about "taking" you out for a mission?"
"Taking me out?" Lucy asked confused.
Mirajane winked and pointed her finger to her nose. "I bet its code for a date."
"Yeah, right," Lucy replied unamused and turned back to Natsu and called, "Hey, what was that mission you wanted to go on, Natsu?"
He looked back from his apparent argument furiously. "HEY, LUCY! WHO'S RIGHT ME OR GRAY?"
"Huh? What do you mean?" Lucy quizzed.
"It's me obviously, you idiot!" Gray said angrily walking over with Natsu head-to-head.
"NO! Defiantly not, you ice cube!"
"Of course winter's the better time of year, stupid salamander!"
"Only in your dreams! Everyone likes summer the best!"
"It's way too hot, then!"
"Yeah, well we all freeze in the winter!"
"If you can't take the heat get out of the kitchen, hot-head!"
"Me? I was born in the heat! And besides that doesn't even make sense!"
"It means if you can't take the cold then leave!"
"That's the exact opposite of heat! And you were talking about a kitchen before!"
"Do you really want to fight about this? Huh, you stupid fire-breather?"
"Bring it on, ice pop!"
Lucy finally waved her hand to regain what little attention she had in the first place. "Uh, guys…I'm still here y'know..."
"That's right! Lucy, tell this stripper I'm right!" Natsu said hotly.
"Don't listen to that idiot!"
Lucy finally pushed the guys out from invading her personal space, silencing them. "Look, I just want to know what mission we're going on, OK?" She faced the dragon slayer in hopes of getting him to focus. "So what is it, Natsu?"
His eyes lit up, distracted with excitement, "Oh yeah! Well it's…" he then looked all around him. "Where's Happy?"
Lucy crossed her arms, remembering the thieving little cat. "Happy? I sent him to-"
"Hold that thought, Luce. First, I gotta go find him. I want him to hear this." And with that he turned to run out of the guild.
"Y'know I was just about to tell you where he is right?!" The celestial spirit mage shouted after him, but it was no use. He was already gone and now Lucy was left to wait for him to return again. With another sigh she decided to go back to the bar and chat with Mira until then...just hoping he would be back before dark.
A/N: Hey all! Sorry this chapter is up a bit later than you (and I) wanted. This past couple of weeks I've just been busy getting ready for a convention. It was this Memorial Day weekend and I had a blast! On Friday I was Gray and went to a photoshoot and there was a great Natsu cosplayer! Only one but he was REALLY lively! Like he was really FIRED UP TO BE THERE!
I actually didn't know he was going to the photoshoot but I saw him before in dealers room and geeked out. I was so nervous but I eventually got to take a picture with him. I don't know how that happened...
AND there were plenty of Lucys throughout the convention. And I chatted with and Erza in her Tower of Heaven Arc clothes (sadly I wasn't dressed as Gray but I was Ed from FMA). So yeah... and by the way the Natsu I met before was always with a Lucy...tehehe I think they were dating!