All rights to Fairy Tail belong to Hiro Mashima.
The woods, Natsu found, were an ideal place to practice swordsmanship. He practiced on the stubs of trees that were formerly cut down. He made sure not to strain himself, not only for his own benefit but also so Lucy didn't have to go through the trouble to nurse him back to health.
He had still yet to ask her why she was being so nice to him. It was not like he didn't appreciate it, because he had never been given this much kindness since he was a young boy, but he felt undeserving considering his status in society. He was supposed to be serving her as a warrior, not the other way around. Maybe the society that he was in right now was different, but from what he knew, every village had the same kind of social hierarchy as his. There were the peasants, the merchants, the nobles, the lord, and the warriors that worked under the lord. It wasn't like warriors like him were considered a low class, if anything, they are respected, but their main purpose in life was to serve their lord or lady, and that is why it was so odd that a woman like Lucy would be so nice to him.
Natsu looked up at the sky. He didn't know how long he had been in the forest, probably a couple of hours if he had to take a guess. He had started searching for his sword or looking for any clues as to which direction he came from. He might be able to find out where his village was if he asked Lucy, but he didn't want to leave just yet, and he hated himself for that. He cursed himself for indulging in the leisure that his hostess had granted him.
The sun had risen to it's highest peak, but the canopy of greenery shaded him from the protruding rays. He looked around the forest once again; lush greenery, a calm stream, and the sight of a few animals truly made it serene. The only noise that he could hear other than the quiet sound of his footsteps, which only his highly-trained ears could hear, was the calm chirping of a few birds.
Natsu gripped the sword's hilt again, and continued to slash at the tree stub. With a couple sharp slashes, the tree was broken in half. He then bowed to the tree, thanking it for the sacrifice it has made so he could improve his skills. It was a common ritual practiced by warriors such as himself.
"Please Mavis, bless the spirit of this noble life form." He said with his head bowed low. He then straightened himself and placed the sword back in it's scabbard, and went to return to Lucy. He memorized the path he had taken to get where he was now, an important tactic if you get separated from your regiment. He crossed the stream and jumped over the towering log to reach the brink of the forest. Once he stepped foot out of his shelter, the harsh rays of the sun blinded him, making him squint. The fact that there were no clouds in the sky didn't help his predicament. Once his eyes had adjusted to the light, he made his way back to Lucy's house, which was a lone building in the middle of a grassy field. However, there was something odd leading to it.
There was some sort of black dirt paving the way to the front of her restaurant. It could have been gravel, but Natsu has never in his life seen rocks that have been one consistent color of black. There were also these bright yellow lines on the edges. He had never seen a paint color so vibrant before. Back home, Reedus, the local artisan, painted using various colors, but none of them comparing to the vividness of the color he was seeing here.
What was this place?
It was around one in the afternoon when Lucy decided to take her lunch break. Luckily there wasn't a big rush today, so that would give Yukino less trouble. She asked Yukino if she wanted her to help out more, but Yukino just smiled and said that she had her work under control. Lucy would have asked again, just to be supportive, but she knew more than to doubt Yukino's skill.
Lucy made two bowls of vegetable soba noodles, considering that if Natsu was resting or still in the house, he would be hungry. She put them on a nice apple wood tray and brought it to the back of the restaurant. Lucy made her way through the corridors and to her room, softly knocking on the door. "Natsu?" She called. When she didn't hear an answer, she pushed open the door, thinking he was asleep. However, when she peered into the room, she saw that Natsu was nowhere to be found. She set the tray of food on her desk and skimmed her house, wondering if he was just wandering around. However, her search drew close when she saw that his presence was not there anymore. She felt a cool autumn breeze slip through the room, the cause being the opened window.
To say Lucy was disappointed was an understatement. She knew that he needed to leave at some point, but she wanted him to fully rest before he went on his way. But what did she expect? He probably had family out there that was worried about him, and what right did she have to keep him from them? It was true, she really enjoyed his company, and found his way of acting and speaking fascinating, but she knew that he wasn't supposed to stay here. She kind of just wished that he would have said good bye.
But... she thought, going down the hall towards the laundry room. ...his shirt is still here. He isn't really walking around the street without a shirt off, is he? Lucy thought, a little perplexed at the thought. She didn't know what she was supposed to do with his shirt. Should she keep it? Would that be creepy? Lucy just shrugged.
Lucy returned to the room before her soba got cold. However, upon her arrival in her room, she was met by a slurping sound. Sitting on the floor with crisscrossed legs was Natsu Dragneel. His bare chest was shiny with sweat and his hair and forehead were wet, signifying that he had been exercising. He had two wooden chopsticks in his hand as he ate his meal in a mannerly, almost reserved, way.
"Natsu?" She asked, gaining his attention. Natsu immediately put the bowl down and bowed his head.
"Milady, I am sorry if I have eaten your food. I also deeply apologize for taking your sword without permission." He said, his tone full of remorse as he held the sword out to her. Lucy shook her head, took the sword from him, and set it above her desk once again. She then took the other bowl of soba noodles and sat down next to him.
"Natsu, I made this for you. And don't worry about my sword, because I barely noticed it was gone. Besides, I can now sit here and enjoy my break with you." Lucy said as she ate some of her noodles as well.
"Break?" Natsu asked. He hadn't heard a term like that before.
"Yeah, you know. When you rest a little bit from work so you can eat and do other things?" She stated. How did he not know what a break was? Natsu still looked confused, but nodded his head anyway. He then went back to eating his noodles. Lucy opened her mouth, about to ask him where he was and why he looked so worn out, but she figured that it was his business and she shouldn't pry into his life. She ate her noodles along with him. They shared a silence that was in between comfortable and awkward. Lucy knew that it was probably more awkward for her than Natsu, considering that he was oblivious to her (sort of) staring. When he finally looked up, she averted her eyes.
"...Lady Lucy?" Natsu asked. Lucy then looked at him once again.
"I told you that you don't have to call me that." She sighed quietly to herself. "What's up?" She asked.
Natsu looked above him and saw the odd white ceiling. Had she painted every inch of the wood of her ceiling white?
"Natsu...is something wrong?" Lucy asked, narrowing her eyes suspiciously.
"Oh, nothing. You just asked me what was up, so I looked above me so I could answer your question." Natsu replied. Lucy raised an eyebrow, but then burst out laughing. Natsu's eyes widened at first, because he was foreign to that sort of laugh from a girl. Most girls in his village were told to swallow their laughs unless they were at home, while the men that he grew up with were definitely the rambunctious type. However, his eyes returned to normal and he let a small smile adorn his face. But once Lucy had finished her wave of laughter, his face quickly morphed back to a stoic one.
"No, Natsu. I mean what did you want to ask." Lucy said.
"Oh." Now he just felt stupid, but he was happy to make her smile and laugh. It was a charming sound. "I wanted to ask...why you were being so nice to me." Natsu said, but he mumbled the last part. Most people like him did not show that kind of weakness but as he said before, Lucy had a very disarming quality about her.
One thing that was a irked Lucy a little bit was when she couldn't hear people. She didn't know why, but it was something that really set her off. If it was someone she was familiar with, she would have snapped at them to 'speak up', but since Natsu was a new friend, she just replied with a, "Sorry, what?"
Natsu looked at her face this time, wanting to make himself heard. "I was wondering, milady, why are you being so nice to me?" He finally asked.
Lucy looked at him weirdly. "Why wouldn't I be? You're my friend, aren't you?" She asked.
"Yes, of course. But most people would just brush off people of my class." Natsu said.
"Your class? Natsu, there are no classes in society anymore. Well...that's not completely true, but we don't really have a hierarchical system anymore."
"There are no classes in this society? No lords and ladies?" Natsu asked, very confused.
"Not anymore. Where have you been living all of your life?" Lucy asked. She hoped that she didn't sound rude, because she didn't mean to, but it was a question that was prodding her mind for quite some time now.
"In my village, Magnolia." Natsu answered.
Lucy's eyes widened once she processed his words. Magnolia? That's where she lived! It is possible that there is another town called Magnolia or something, but not to her knowledge.
"Speaking of which, if you would not mind milady, I must get back home. Do you think you can point me in the direction I must go in. It would be truly helpful." Natsu asked, bowing his head.
"Um...Natsu?" Lucy asked, not really sure how to word her next sentence. "What...what year is it?" Lucy asked.
"Why do you ask?"
"I-I'm just wondering." Lucy replied quickly.
"Well, to my knowledge, it is the end of the year 1615." Natsu said.
Well...
Ahem...
That explained a lot.
The clothes, the mannerisms, and the way he acted reminded her of the lifestyle of the ancient Fiorians. But...how in the world did he jump 400 years into the future!? He didn't go through some Captain America thing, did he? No. Lucy thought. The chance of that happening is very low. But really, what other explanations were there.
"Is everything alright?" Natsu asked.
"Ah, yes, everything's fine. Hey, Natsu?" He hummed as he ate his noodles, showing that she had his attention. "Since I've taken you in, have there been any things that you've seen here that confuse you? Like...things you have never seen before?"
Natsu swallowed his last noodle and then carefully drank the broth. Afterwards, he set the bowl down. "Well, I have seen many different candles or lanterns hanging from your ceiling. However, they don't flicker like regular fire does. And your room is very strange as well. Oh, I hope that is of no offense." He said the last part quickly as he bowed his head. Lucy just told him it was okay and urged him to continue. "Also, when I was walking back from the forest, I had seen this pathway of pure onyx color with these odd yellow and white stripes on the side. I have never seen any of these things in my life." He said truthfully, running a hand through his pink hair.
Lucy's head started to spin. It couldn't be true, could it? There was no such thing as time travel, and to such a degree as four hundred years was unfathomable. But there was something about Natsu that told her that he wasn't trying to play a prank. He was just so genuine that she couldn't help but believe him.
Lucy stood up and took a deep breath. "Stand, Natsu." Natsu stood up immediately, just as she ordered.
Okay, that was pretty cool.
But, Lucy wasn't going to stand and order him around like some princess, so she invited him to sit on her bed next to her. She saw his reluctance at first, but then she reassured him that it was fine. "Natsu, I'm going to tell you something. Will you hear me out?" Natsu nodded politely. "You are not in your time. It's not the year 1615, it's 2015, four hundred years in the future." Natsu looked at her weirdly, like he did not believe her, and she couldn't blame him. "Everything you see that is foreign to you are new innovations that have been created over those four hundred years. This bed that we are sitting on," she said as she touched the fabric of the bed cover. "is not like the one they had in Ancient Fiore."
Natsu's eyes widened. He knew that the world he was in was different than the one he used to live in. That explained all the things that he couldn't. Even though he had only known her for a short time, Lucy seemed like an honest person. In was in the warrior's code to not trust anyone unless proven trustworthy, but there was no way such a nice girl like Lucy could lead his mind astray.
"But then...what kind of witchcraft is this?" He asked quietly. Lucy looked up at him, but his eyes were focused on his hands.
"I'm not sure, and I can't explain it, but I'll figure out a way to get you home, okay? I promise." Lucy said as she touched his shoulder.
Natsu's lips were brought into a thin line. "Don't make promises you don't know you can keep, Lady Lucy." He said.
"Well, that's going to just make me try harder to keep it, now won't it?" Lucy asked as she grinned at him. He turned his head to face her, and even though his features remained stoic, she knew that she saw hope in his eyes. "Now, I have to go work now, but I'll be back as soon as I can, alright. You can take my sword again and...do whatever you were doing before to keep yourself occupied." Lucy said as she got off the bed and straightened the cover. She then made her way to the door, but before she left, she turned to face him. "Don't worry Natsu, I'll find a way to get you back to your family." And then she was gone.
Natsu just sat there, staring at the door. He would be more than happy to return to his family, but why was the thought of leaving her hurting so much?
A dark figure ran through the forest at night, a wound on his side and a busted lip. His dark hair was drenched with sweat from the battle he had just fought. The warriors had managed to drive back the enemy for another day, and there were only a few casualties, and none of them dead.
Or at least, that's what they thought.
The man's name was Gray Fullbuster. He was the first to notice that his pink-haired comrade was missing. He refused to believe that he was dead, so he took off in the woods in the direction that their master had sent him in. It didn't matter that he was wounded, his friends mattered more to him than that. It was true that he and Natsu got down each other's throats now and again (every day), but without him, he wouldn't have become the warrior he was that day. He owes everything to his rival.
His breathing became heavy as he sprinted past the trees, trying to locate any moving life. It would have been easier if Natsu had kept his hair his natural color. Before he heads off into battle, he covers his hair with mud for it to work like camouflage. The idea was recommended to him by one of the army's most prized tacticians, Natsu's own brother, Zeref.
Gray then saw something shiny reflecting the moonlight, and immediately went towards it, keeping one hand on his dagger. Once he was closer, he saw that it was a sword. However, he knew the intricate dragon designs anywhere. It was Natsu's sword.
Natsu had this little quirk about him that unless he had a sword with him, he wouldn't feel comfortable. He wouldn't show it, but he would tense up a little bit more. It didn't have to be his sword in particular, but just a sword in general. Natsu wouldn't have just carelessly dropped his sword. He was either captured or dead, but Gray refused to believe the latter.
He knew that he was starting to get dizzy from blood loss, so he decided to take the sword back to the base camp. He gripped the sword in one hand until his knuckles turned white. Natsu better be okay, or he was going to kick that pyro's ass.
Gray dreaded when he got back to camp. Zeref was going to go on a rampage.
Alright, so another chapter finished! Thank you all so much for supporting me and this story because it really means a lot. I was a little hesitant to post this story because before, I didn't know where it was going to go, but your nice feedback is keeping me going and I hope that I can make this interesting for all of you.
I hope that everyone is having an absolutely awesome day wherever they are! See you guys next time! :D
