~Chapter 3 - Should I Join?~
"What should we do first?" I asked Natsu as we entered Magnolia Town. We decided, overriding Natsu's opinion, to just take a train back. It took him a few minutes, but he eventually recovered from his motion sickness. I felt bad for the guy. "Take them to Nelenna or talk this Makarov person?"
"We"re going to Fairy Tail first," he said with a smile. "I want to make sure every end is tied before we reunite them."
I nodded, matching his smile. There was just something about him; whenever he smiled, I was happy.
"What do you think the others are doing?" I asked, keeping my eyes ahead of us.
"What do you mean?"
"You had another mission planned, before you asked to join up with me. Do you think they went ahead, are they waiting for you?" Why was I asking? God, now I'm acting like him...
He laughed lightly, shrugging, "I don't know. It'd probably be better if they went ahead and left."
"Why?"
His face grew serious and grim, "Because Erza didn't want me to follow you. If she's at the guild, she'll kill me."
Is he joking?
"She's scary," Happy added. "I'm still surprised you left in the first place, Natsu. You're terrified of Erza."
He shrugged again, "This was more important."
"Uh-huh," Happy said. He had on a knowing smile.
"What's that for?" Natsu shouted. "That's all I swear!"
Happy laughed, "I believe ya Natsu."
I giggle lightly.
"Now what are you laughing for?" His cheeks were growing pinker.
I shook my head, "No reason." I hooked my fingers behind my back, walking forward.
"You're clueless," I heard Caden say.
"Wha—?"
I rolled my eyes as the familiar building came into view.
"Here we are!" Natsu declared.
And so we were. It was a pretty standard guildhall, the most prominent feature; the purple letters proclaiming the name.
"Pretty cool huh?" Natsu asked, nudging my arm with his elbow.
I shrugged, hiding my smile, "Whatever."
"Lets head inside!" he said, pushing the large, orange doors.
"Look who's back," the black haired boy from yesterday said once him, Happy, Caden and his dad stepped inside. I followed behind slowly, taking in the sights. Again, a longing stung my chest. This was the first time I'd ever stepped foot in the Fairy Tail guildhall, but something buried deep in my memory was saying otherwise.
"I assume the mission went well," Erza said.
"It was easy," Natsu boasted, but I saw him shiver.
"Who's your friend?" the blond asked, looked past Natsu. All eyes turned to me. Now, I'm not one for attention. I like to keep of the radar, so the staring made me uneasy.
Natsu walked over to me, putting his arm around my shoulder, "This is Asana. She's going to join."
His gesture brought me comfort, but I shrugged away from his grasp, "I never said anything like that."
He shrugged, "Hey Erza, where's gramps?"
"He;s here," she said, nodding to her right.
The crowd parted and an extremely short, elderly man stepped through. He had black eyes with white hair and a thick white mustache. He was wearing a white shirt with a black Fairy Tail symbol on his chest with an orange hooded jacket, along with matching orange shorts and an orange and blue jester hat. "Is there a problem?"
Both Natsu and Happy looked to me. My eyes widened, "What?"
"It is your mission," Natsu said, with a sly smile.
"Aye."
"But—" Makarov looked at me expectantly. I sighed, "Caleb's dad has collected a debt and left his family to make sure they weren't hurt. Happy made the suggestion that you would be willing to have him work for you. That way he could pay the money and his kids wouldn't be without their father."
The old man looked over me for awhile. There was something critical in his gaze. Before I could go farther, his expression grew soft, and he nodded, "I like that idea. Good job Happy."
"Yay!" Caleb cried.
"Thank you so much," their dad said.
"You!" The celebrating and happy cheers was cut short. I turned, facing the voice with the others. A group of four was standing just outside the guild hall entrance. The leader was pointing into the building, at me. Something about him looked familiar.
"You're the guy from yesterday," Natsu said, standing next to me. He crossed his arms over his bare chest, a smirk forming, "I was wondering when you'd come looking for payback."
"Natsu," Erza said, her voice hard, "What happened?"
"Nothing—" Natsu began.
The guy interrupted, "You don't toss me into a spring and walk away without punishment. So come out girly, or are you too scared?"
"Please," I called back, "I didn't toss you. Besides, it's your own fault."
"You gonna fight him?" Natsu asked, his voice low, his breath ticking my ear.
I looked at him, "Why? He's running on ego. There's no reason to fight someone like that, they're so focused on beating the other person that they don't worry about strategy. And when it got down to the last moments, his buddies would join in. How's that fair?"
"If that does happen, I'll jump in," he said. Natsu shrugged, "He's calling you out Asana, no self-respecting person would turn down a challenge."
"Fine." I stepped out of the guildhall, walking towards the challenger.
"It's a shame to have to do this, after all you are a pretty one."
I simply smiled, "Are you ready, or are you going to try sweet talking me to surrender?"
He slapped his palms together, a blue circle appeared. He pointed both his index fingers at me. "Acid shot."
Steaming hot water shot from his fingers. I threw my right hand in front of me, whispering, "Broken Steel." An ice blue circle appeared at the base of my outstretched hand. The circle lifted into the air following my hand, my hand clasping on the handle of a sword. I brought is down just in time to block the incoming attack. Boiling water splashed around me, sizzling as it touched the dirt.
Whispered murmurs enclosed around me. A look of disbelief was on his face, "But how? How could you have possibly blocked that?"
I charged at him. Not giving him a chance to run, much less attack again. I brought the gunblade down, swinging at his chest. I dropped behind him, turned and planted my foot into his back, propelling him forward. He sailed straight past the Fairy Tail bunch, slamming into the farthest wall.
All three of his teammates were standing off to the side, watching in horror as their leader was defeated. They all looked to me, "Y-You beat him." My body tensed as I readied myself for them to attack.
"I don't think so," he said loudly, drawing everyone's attention.
I rolled my eyes. He's persistent, I'll give him that. I swung my gunblade onto my shoulder, "I'm glad you're not down, the fun can continue."
He smacked his hands together again, "Acid Slash."
This time, I wasn't going to wait for his attack to reach me. I ran towards him, my weapon pulled behind me. I jumped through the water. Using the side of the blade, I knocked him sideways, narrowly missing the support beams outside the building.
"I don't get it," he mumbled, lifting himself up, "She ran right through it without a single injury. No ones ever been able to do that." He prepared himself for another attack.
My hands clenched into fists. I dug my sword into the ground, "Stop."
He shook his head, his eyes filling with tears, "No! You need to pay—"
"Look at you!" I yelled, interrupting him. I stopped, taking a calming breath. I walked towards him, "You're going to end up getting yourself hurt over something as trivial as being flipped by a girl."
He shook his head rapidly, "You don't get it."
I shrugged, placing my hand on his shoulder. My voice was calmer as I spoke, "Maybe not, but wasting your life worrying about trivial things is only going to slow you down. You won't become stronger, and the ones you care about will suffer the most."
He looked at me, tears still lingering in his eyes. His gaze drifted to his team. "I let them down didn't I?" he asked, quietly.
"No," I said.
He nodded, sighing heavily, "You know I'm going to challenge you again."
I shrugged, "If you can find me, sure."
He laughed, walking to meet his friends. I walked to my weapon, pulling it from the ground. Applause and cheers broke out from the bystanders.
"That was awesome!" Natsu cried, running up to me, the guild not far behind him.
"You can use requip?" the black haired boy asked.
"Use what?"
"That sword- or whatever it is," he said, pointing at the gunblade. "During the fight, you used requip to make it appear."
"It's called requip?"
"It's your own magic, and you don't know what it's called?" someone from within the guild asked.
I shrugged, the gunblade disappearing.
"What else can you do?" Happy asked. "Erza's magic is requip too and she has a bunch of really cool armors to change from."
"Broken Steel is all I've ever had. I don't know if there's any others." I gave another shrug, leaving the questioning. I faced Caden and his dad, "Now that we've got your debt situation covered, it's time for you to be with your family."
He nodded, "I've been away from them for too long."
I gave him a nod, following him away from the group. I linked my fingers behind my head, "You coming Natsu?" I turned half my body, keeping my legs in place.
He was confused.
"You said you wanted to see Lyra's face when we brought her brother and dad back. Don't tell me that was made up."
He smiled big, running up to me.
"Nelenna?" Caden's dad called, pushing their door open. "Lyra?"
"Daddy?" Lyra called. She ran out from a hallway, jumping into his arms. She looked at me, Natsu and Happy, "You did it. You brought daddy back."
"I promised didn't I?"
"I can't thank you enough," Nelenna cried, embracing her family. "I'll go get your reward."
"No, that's OK. We were happy to do this."
"But I must pay you somehow," she said. She went into one of the bedrooms, before standing in front of me. She reached for my hand, slipping something inside it. I looked down. It was a ring. The metal was a shiny silver with an ice blue diamond. Inside the jewel was a small rose. "Take this."
My breath caught in my throat. "Nelenna, I couldn't possibly," I began.
She silenced me, wrapping her arms around my neck, "You have done so much for me and my family. Please accept this as a token of our appreciation and our thanks."
I nodded, my hand enclosing around the small ring. She released me, holding me at arms length, "You two must be hungry. Come, supper is almost ready."
"I'm sorry, but I must decline. Thank you though, Nelenna. I'm glad I was able to help you." I walked out of their house, slipping the ring onto the middle finger of my right hand. The leather, fingerless gloves helped to hold it in place. The sun was in it's evening stage. It was amazing how quickly time passed.
"Asana, wait!" I made my legs move faster, but Natsu caught up with me. His hand wrapped around my bicep, "You're just going to leave?"
I moved my arm from his grasp. "Natsu, please just leave me alone," I asked, unable to bite back the overwhelming sadness anymore. Being in that house, feeling all the love the family had for each other; it was too much.
"What's wrong?"
I shook my head, "It doesn't matt—"
His hand was on my arm again, only it was my shoulder. He spun my rapidly, his other hand securing my other shoulder, forcing me to face him. He looked into my eyes, searching, "Asana, it matters if you're crying. What's wrong?"
I stared at him, unable to look away. Finally I sighed, "It's just a personal problem I need to sort out."
"Like what?" he pressured.
"I don't know," I cried, breaking from his gaze. I sank to my knees. "I don't know. I don't have any memories of my past. I try to remember, but I can't."
Natsu knelt in front of me. He tucked strands of my long hair behind my ear, "You don't have any memories?" I shook my head. The next thing I knew, Natsu wrapped his arms around my waist. He pulled me close to him. I sat there, momentarily stunned. First, I actually told him that I didn't have any memories, and second because I realized I wanted this. Maybe wanted wasn't the right word. Needed? He was the first person to continuously push me for answers. "You must"ve felt so alone," he whispered.
I hadn't realized my arms had lifted, sliding around his neck, and I had leaned into him until the soft material of his scarf brushed against my cheek. I tightened my arms, burying my face into his neck.
"Don't worry," he began, still whispering, "You won't be lonely anymore OK?"
I nodded. And then it happened; I started crying. The worst part? I couldn't stop. The walls were busted; everything was free to twist and torment.
Through the material of my shirt, I could feel Natsu's hands moving; stroking my hair. I felt my eyelids close. It was a simple action, but it had calmed me down considerably. I took a shaky breath, resting my cheek on his shoulder. We remained like that for awhile; him holding me, me trying to calm down. Soon, I had stopped crying altogether. I was left with quiet sniffles and a slight tremble. I half expected Natsu to push me away, but he didn't. He remained quiet, his hand running up and down my back. "Natsu?" my voice was raspy and weak.
"Yeah?"
Sniffle. "I want to join Fairy Tail."
"I convinced you." I could just see the smile on his face.
I laughed, "Yes, you did."
He pulled away from me carefully, nodding his head to the side, "Lets get going."
A/N: For those who are wondering... Her outfit resembles Lightnings from Final Fantasy XIII. and Broken Steel is the new gunblade she uses in FF XIII-2
this is a link to a picture: wiki/Gunblade?file=FFXIII-2_ #Final_Fantasy_XIII-2
(I do not own Final Fantasy, Lightning or her weapons...)
