"Natsu!" A familiar voice called out, and Lucy felt her body grow heavier.
They were now at the guild's entrance, and it was the same scene that happened every morning. The dragon slayer would cheerily hum his way to the guild she had grown to love, and she'd be there, walking as fast as she can to keep up with his pace. Natsu would slam the door open and challenge the ice mage to a duel, but of course, all of that would be saved for later.
Lisanna would always, always, be there to greet him a 'great' morning. Lucy would be momentarily forgotten, but none of that mattered. Lucy knew she shouldn't feel that way. She shouldn't feel selfish, jealous, and… scared.
In a few day's time, she and her best friend, her partner, would be married. She should be happy.
'I should be happy.' Lucy repeated the thought on her mind, and desperately clung to the word 'happy.'
"Lisanna!" The pink haired slayer gathered the takeover mage and swung her around.
Gray, out of the corner his eye, noticed the Celestial mage's mood dampen. He, unlike his rather ignorant rival, was not a dense idiot. They were going to be married soon, and yet the Lucy he knows was nowhere to be found. The cheerful blonde he had grown close to was nothing more than a shell who had perfected showing empty smiles.
If Natsu was not going to straighten up his act, then he'd make sure to pummel sense into the dragon slayer's head.
The shirtless mage walked over the three, and interrupted the dense couple. "Oi! Flamehead! Fight me!"
He knew he looked childish, striking a fight with the idiot but he didn't care. He'd rather look like a fool rather than see Lucy miserable.
Natsu boisterously laughed, "Whatever ice stripper, you asked for it."
Thus began their usual brawl.
Lucy sighed, and slipped a small smile. 'At least now, he's not fawning over Lisanna…' As silly as it sounds, she'd rather have Natsu and Gray fight than see Natsu and Lisanna playfully fight with each other. The two would have inside jokes, and Lucy's stomach would twist in discomfort. She felt like she was a stranger to the two.
Lucy felt like an outsider, who had swooped in and broke their romance. She was the evil stepsister in a Cinderella story, who pushed away poor Lisanna from her one true love.
She hoped that was not the case.
The ex heiress sat herself on one of the barstools and let out a heavy sigh which caught the attention of the white haired barmaid. Mirajane took in Lucy's appearance and noticed dark circles around the usually perky blonde's eyes.
"Ara, ara- Lucy? Have you been sleeping well these past few days?" Mirajane inquired, putting down the glass she had been cleaning.
Lucy shook her head, "I've been…" the blonde girl found herself unable to finish her sentence. She didn't know how she felt anymore. Tired, heavy, tired, tired,-
The barmaid noticed her discomfort and decided to change the topic. "Anyway! I can't wait 'til your wedding! Nalu babies~" Hearts formed in her eyes and she truly felt this way. It was about time that the two tied the knot! She's been waiting for this since the first day Natsu had brought Lucy to the guild.
"Me too." Lucy took a deep breath, "Mira, I-"
"Luce!" Natsu sauntered his way over the bar counter, and wrapped an arm around his fiancee. The very gesture made the blonde celestial mage blush beet red, and cheer up. Lucy leaned into his embrace and inhaled his scent.
The fire dragon slayer chuckled, and rested his head on top of Lucy's. "Let's go on a mission." He proposed.
Lucy brightened at the sound of his proposal. It's been long since they've gone on a mission! She truly missed the thrill of chasing bandits, taking down dark guilds, and well, the reward money, of course. She had missed all of this. She missed combing through the dragon slayer's hair on a train, when he felt sick.
"Finally!" She broke from his embrace, and squealed. "When? Will it be just the two of us this time?"
He answered, "Tomorrow morning! We'll be dealing with a bunch of rogues. Nothing we're not used to. And Lisanna will be coming with us!"
Lucy paled, of course Lisanna was going to come with them. Of course.
At the very same moment, Gray joined in on the conversation, "Huh? A mission? I'll be joining you three then."
Natsu whined and pouted, "Fine. Just don't strip while on the mission, aight? We've had enough of your exhibitionist tendencies."
The raven haired man said, "No promises." And then as quickly as he appeared, he left.
Lucy sent him a grateful look, but he had his back turned to her, so he didn't notice. He had a bad feeling about this mission, and as much as he had trusted Natsu, he couldn't trust him with Lucy, not when the dense idiot's feelings were fickle.
"Hang in there, Lucy." He whispered to himself, before he heard someone shout 'Gray- sama' from a distance.
—-
What will happen during the mission~?
Thanks for the reviews on the last chapter!
Thank you for reading this! Reviews would always be lovely 333
-imaisenpai
