Natsu sat alone. Normally, in his house, Happy was with him. They'd talk and joke and argue about every tiny thing, but not today. Happy, being more perceptive than most thought, knew that today Natsu wanted to be alone. So, he went and hung around Carla, Lily, Wendy, and Romeo. Gray had taken a similar cue and was with his newlywed wife, Juvia, and their nine-year-old son, Kaito. Erza was with Jellal and their twins, Seraph and Carlos.
And everyone left him alone.
Because today was the tenth anniversary of when Lucy went missing. And it was one of the hardest days of the year for Natsu, who had searched high and low for his long lost girlfriend. He had spent months following every lead, sniffing out her scent, going from town to town to ask if she had passed through.
Each time, she was just out of his reach. There were even times he swore he saw a woman who looked like her, even for a moment.
It burnt him that he couldn't find the two who were the most important to him, Igneel and Lucy.
So, after spending the month leading up to this month exhausting past leads and following false rumors of Fairy Tail's 'Phantom Fairy' (after Lucy left, all of Fairy Tail set out to find her and news spread until it seemed like she was everywhere), Natsu returned with a heavy heart and a need to drink and fight. "No news, huh," Mirajane came up and refilled his glass. She, like her guildmates, had also gone out a few times to see if she could locate Lucy to no avail.
"...She left Oak Town before I could get there. She doesn't even live there," Natsu grumbled. "It's like she already knows when I'm coming and just runs. It's as if she's avoiding us," Natsu couldn't blame her. It took them a couple days to realize she was gone and, with that heartbreaking goodbye letter, they were made to understand how they were ignoring the beloved celestial mage.
"She can't move around so much without a steady source of income."
"And she never quit the guild, so she's probably still working under the Fairy Tail name," Carla walked up, keeping a sharp eye of her flying toddler, Angel. Angel snickered as she dropped small water balloons on the unsuspecting guild members before she heard Carla snap out her name. "Honestly, she can be as irksome as her father...anyway, so Lucy is obviously still working as a mage, much like Mystogan," Carla sighed.
"But, Mystogan at least came and spoke to Master," Mirajane reminded them. "From what I can tell, Master doesn't know her whereabouts either." Natsu groaned. Ten years and they were no closer to finding Lucy than before. He still wished he had decided to visit Lucy the day before, he could have stopped her from leaving town.
From leaving the guild.
From leaving their team.
From leaving him.
Mirajane and Carla noticed Natsu's mood worsen and immediately tried to cheer him up. An angry Natsu was never a good thing. A depressed Natsu was even worse. "Well, maybe she has a town she lives in. After all, Gildarts still, technically, lives in Magnolia. So, what's to say Lucy doesn't have a place she lives in a lot?" Carla nodded, not taking note of how the guild was starting to listen in. Theories of where Lucy could be were always a popular subject.
"Now that Juvia thinks about it," the water mage piped in from a few tables over, "we only hear a few rumors at a time. And usually, they're a few months apart." Gray nodded.
"True, or Flame Brain could just be slow. After all, idiot, you walk to every place. She's probably passed you on the train and you never noticed." That pissed him off. He stormed over quicker than Elfman could even begin to say 'blank blank is man' and got in Gray's face, fists burning.
"What was that, Ice Prick? I'd hate to have to crush you with your son watching."
"Ha! Watch this, Kaito, Dad's about to teach Lizard Breath here a whole new lesson in pain!" Kaito sighed and looked up from his small ice sculpture.
"Dad, you're not wearing pants again."
"Sh**!" Gray frantically began searching for his clothes as Juvia sighed, "why does this always happen!?" Kaito was basically a tiny version of Gray, except with Juvia's blue hair. He looked at his mom.
"Mom, please don't let me be weird like Dad."
"Don't worry, Mama will never let you strip in public." Natsu cracked up.
"Look, the Ice Fairy got owned by his own son!"
"So, didja find Lucy, Fire Brain!?"
"You. Are. So. Dead!"
"A...ano...?" No one seemed to notice a tiny girl in a tattered tutu, ripped tights, and dirty ballet slippers had wondered in. Her strawberry blonde hair was laying in curls falling down her back and her big eyes were wide as she watched these powerful mages go back and forth, snarling and cussing at each other. One was not wearing pants.
One was smiling as if watching puppies play with each other.
One was a cat...there were several cats.
One was shouting out things that were man.
One was drinking something from a barrel.
And one was cheering out "yay, Gray-sama!"
Kaito noticed the girl and went to her. "Hey, who are you?" That caught their attention as everyone spotted their resident mini-Gray talk to this...random tiny ballerina. "You lost or something?"
"Ah, sorry, I am. I don't know how I got here...I think I was kidnapped."
...
...
...Silence...
"Errr..you...think?"
"Well, actually, I'm positive I was. What I mean is, I have no clue how to get home." The entire guild responded with a collective
"OOOH!"
"A-anyway, while I was walking around to see if I could find some help, I noticed that...this is Fairy Tail. That famous guild, right?" She looked like she could barely contain her excitement. Natsu sat back down as Happy floated over to the girl.
"Aye, Sir! This is the Fairy Tail Guild, the strongest guild in Fiore. But, you have to be at least twelve to sign up for it or you need your parents' signature." Or else every runaway or child would be signing up. They are a guild...not an orphanage. The girl shook her head frantically.
"Oh no, that's not it. I'm looking for Salamander..." Natsu then went to her, crouched down, and smiled.
"That's me, the name's Natsu Dragneel. Ya need me to help you get home?" The girl stared for a long time, then teared up and hugged him. Surprised, Natsu barely registered what she said next.
"I can't believe it! I actually found you! I thought I'd have to wait until I was older, but I guess the stars led me here because I had wished and wished to meet you and find you, so Mommy can come back home and be happy and I can't believe it," she squealed. The girl was surprisingly strong for such a thin thing and kind of loud. Natsu stumbled onto his back and sat up, pulling her off. Looking at her, she looked incredibly familiar.
"Umm...I really don't know who you are." She blinked and gasped.
"That's right! Mommy left before I was born. If I remember correctly, my birthday is five months after Mommy left. How silly of me, no wonder you don't know me." Okay, now it was beginning to sound as if she knew Natsu for reasons other than his slight tendency to kind of burn entire towns to the ground. The girl smiled shyly, "my name is Lulu Heartifilia. I'm nine. I always knew I'd find you..." The next word might as well of punched him in the gut, "Papa."
