Date: July 7th, X784
Location: Magnolia
After escaping the army, Gray and Lucy had left the city borders of Hargeon, the flames of the crashing ship and ice covering the port left in their wake. Magnolia was but a half a day's walk away, so they decided to avoid boarding a train so they didn't attract any unwanted attention.
Gray seemed to be a little irritated during the whole trip back, so Lucy didn't bother to ask him too much about his mood. He kept muttering words about the fake Salamander, and Happy explained that Gray was probably upset about not being able to find their friend. Of course, Gray vehemently denied that the person they were looking for was their friend, instead opting to call him a flame-brained bastard.
Anyway, the trio had stopped at a two story building overlooking the sea behind Magnolia, Lucy taking in the majestic air that surrounded the building. She stared up at the flag hung above the double doors, the crest that she came to know all those years ago as the Fairy Tail mark. "Well, this is it" Gray said to her as he opened the doors, storming into the guild hall. Lucy and Happy followed on his tail. "I'm back" he hollered.
"Oh, that's lovely. How did it go" a voice called from behind the bar. The voice, Lucy recognized, belonged to one Mirajane Strauss, also known as one of her idols. Lucy had a quick fangirl moment before she walked up to the bar while trying to compose herself, taking deep breaths in and out.
"You okay Lucy? I think you're going crazy.." Happy said to her.
"Shut it cat" Lucy snapped at him.
Gray, ignoring the banter, continued toward Mirajane. "No good, the rumor was a crock of shit. It was some fake guy using his name to lure girls onto his boat for some slave trade thing" he explained to her.
Mira sighed. "I just hope that the worst hasn't happened to him."
"Don't worry Mira, this is Natsu we're talking about. He's gotta be okay" Happy reassured the sad woman.
Gray then perked up. "The trip wasn't a complete waste though. We met a talented wizard who wants to join the guild. She helped me out in dealimg with those slave traders quite a bit."
Mirajane looked at Lucy and smiled. "Well we'll have to wait for the master to get back but I don't think he'll have a problem with it." Mira then let a smirk show on her face. "Besides, Sorcerer Weekly has been bugging me to do a partner shoot with ome of the other wizards from our guild and she looks perfect for the job."
Lucy's jaw dropped at the statement. "You really mean that?"
"Of course silly!"
Just then a man with big buck teeth came walking up to Gray. "Was that rumor I heard right?"
Gray's eye twitched "That was just a rumor?"
"Well of course it was just a rumor. If Salamander was truly in Hargeon then I'm sure-" he didn't get to finish his sentence as Gray sent him flying into the wall opposite of the hall.
This action became the spark that sent into action what Lucy would come to know as a classic Fairy Tail guild brawl. Chairs, tables, mugs, and pretty much anything else in the hall became a projectile object use to knock each other out. Lucy watched as the guild hall was torn apart. "Is it always like this?"
Mirajane smiled again "Pretty much. Everyone here is very enthusiastic and always trying to prove who's the strongest." Mira and Lucy watched the brawl happen before a table came flying across the room at them, effectively knocking out the white haired beauty. "Besides, it's all in good fun" she said as she passed out on the floor.
Lucy sweatdropped as she continued to watch the antics of the guild. Gray strolled up to her as she was in a trance after watching the scene unfold in front of her. She then took notice that the man was completely naked. "Hey Lucy, since I was nice enough to bring you to Fairy Tail, do you think you could do me a solid and lend me your underwear?"
Lucy proceeded to kick the man across the hall. "PERVERT!"
The brawl went on for about five more seconds before the absolute titan of a man that was known as the guild's master made his way into the hall, stomping on the incapacitated ice wizard as he did so. "WHAT DO YOU BRATS THINK YOU'RE DOING?" The guild immediately fell silent and the giant master's eyes fell on Lucy, who's jaw was now against the floor. "Well well, it seems we have a new recruit" he said as he shrank back to his normal size, which could hardly be called normal. The dwarf of an old man waved his hand at her in greeting. "I'm Makarov and I'm the guild master here. Welcome to Fairy Tail" he said in a cheery voice. He then attempted to jump up onto the railing of the second floor and failed miserably, as the old man smacked his head off of the beam on the ceiling. "You brats have gone and done it again! Elfman, beating up the client that you were supposed to be escorting!"
"He doubted my manliness" he said as he hung his head.
"Loke, do you really have to flirt with every single, young female relative of the council members?"
"Only the cute ones" he murmured.
"Gray! You destroyed seven houses on your last mission when you were supposed to be protecting the town. Not to mention the destruction you caused in Hargeon last night!"
Lucy hung her head at the master's statement, knowing that most of that was actually her fault. "The list goes on and on" the master continued to scold as he waved the stack of papers in his hand as evidence. "However" he started again as he burned the stack of papers in his hand. "Anything that surpasses reason must be born from reason. Magic is no different. If you continue to worry about what those blowhards from the council think then your magic will never grow. So I say damn the council! Become strong by practicing your magic in your own way, and treasure the friendships that you have, as that is the Fairy Tail way!" The end of the master's speech caused an uproar of cheering in the guild hall.
Lucy couldn't believe it. Master Makarov had just flat out told the members to ignore the words of the council. 'I guess the rumors about Fairy Tail really were true.'
"Come on" Mira, who was now fully conscious, tugged on Lucy's arm. "Let's get you all taken care of now that that's over."
...
Date: July 7th, X784
Location: Unknown
Natsu let out a huff as he strained against the cuffs that bound his wrists to the wall. Hungry and tired, he strained against the binds, once again failing. He growled as he couldn't believe the situation he was stuck in.
"Stupid magic sealing cuffs. Why the hell am I tied up again?" Natsu groaned in frustration with his predicament.
Every time he was left alone he was stuck tied up like this. Every time she needed to go somewhere he was left hanging like this, with no food of course. He sighed as the mental image of the woman entered his mind. They had been traveling together for two months now, yet she felt the need to randomly dissappear at times.
Like now. Natsu had met her at a bar a while back, maybe a year prior, while trying to gather information for a very difficult job when he met the woman. The woman who was now responsible for his predicament. The two of them quickly hit it off as they stayed together that night, and Natsu would often rendezvous with her under the guise of a mission.
Their secret get togethers often resulted in the two stripping each other's clothes off and ravishing each other's bodies, something Natsu was clueless about until he met her. Who knew getting naked with a girl and spending five or six hours at a time in a bed could be so fun?
But even that soon got boring for the hot headed dragon slayer, and she had noticed that too. That was what led to him being lured out on a mission by her. Guess he was a lot more gullible than he originally thought.
He took a breath of anticipation as he noticed the lock on the hotel door turning, signaling his companion's return. The dark haired woman stepped through the door and smiled at him.
"You know, I'm getting really sick of you tying me up like this" Natsu said to her.
"Well, I wouldn't want you leaving on me, would I?" Her mischievous grin met his hard gaze.
"You could at least leave some food out for me to get to. I'm starving over here."
"Don't worry, I'll cook us a nice dinner tonight."
"Really?" Natsu's eyes lit up. The woman had cooked all of their meals on the nights they wouldn't go out to eat, and he definitely enjoyed her meals.
"Of course, but I can't have you leaving on me now."
"Oh come on! You know I have to get going back to the guild soon. They probably all think I'm dead by now." He sighed in relief as the woman had finally released the cuffs on him. He walked over to the bed and plopped down on it back first as he stared at the ceiling, the woman he had spent the last two months with sitting next to his body before wrapping her arms around his waist and looking into his eyes.
"But I would miss you so much" she said as he continued to breathe. "Just a couple more days."
"The last time you said a couple more days it turned into a month" he deadpanned.
The girl stared at him in thought for a moment before speaking. "Travel with me until we reach Clover. Then we'll go our separate ways for a while."
Natsu frowned as he was deep in thought for a moment. He sighed and gave into her demands though. "Until we reach Clover. But then I'm going back to Magnolia."
She squeezed her hold on him tighter as she buried her face in his chest. "Just make sure that you come back to me. Promise me."
The man looked at her form sprawled out across his body. He loved her with all his heart, despite her flaws, despite the secrets that she kept from him, despite only being able to see her once in awhile, he would always come back for her. His heart started beating faster as the thoughts raced through his head. He knew he would be able to keep his promise, and so the words left his lips.
"Of course Ultear. I promise."
Ultear buried her head in his chest as she let an evil smirk play on her face, before preparing for the actions the night would bring.
...
A/N: Well not really much to say here. In case you're all wondering, yes, the main pairings of this story will be GraLu and NaTear. However, it's not going to be centered around the fluff aspect as much so don't expect a whole lot of it. There will be other pairings, however, and possibly harems if they fit into the story.
Anyway, leave a review and tell me what you think! I love all feedback after all. Have a great night!
