Wow that took a long time!
I know it's been a long time since I last updated the story, honestly I did not have too much time to work on it as I wanted. But now it will be a bit different. I will continue to update and write and stay at this pace as much as I can!.
Anyway enjoy the chap and don't forget to respond to me! As always it helps a lot!.
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Lucy's eyes opened slowly as a sunbeam was shining in through her window, she moves right and left on the bed desperately trying to find the most comfortable pose and hide her face from the sun that had been bothering her more and more with each passing moment. This was not the way she was used to every morning because after all she was always used to get up later when her maids woke her up when she was little and it was a hard habit she had to get rid of. She'd like to think that her spirit Virgo was helping help her with this little problem of her's. But the maid spirit would 'accidentally' forgotten this tiny detail to get a punishment from her blonde master.
She wiped her eyes several times to try to wake herself more, "Mmm ..." she murmured as she felt something on her hand that did not belong, she saw something white beside her and covered her arms. "What is-" She recognized the bandages on her hand from the corner of her eye and saw that both her hands were bandaged up to her elbows, 'I don't remember being injured in the last mission... with a minute...'. She thought as her head began to clear, and she remembered the night before when she went in the middle of the night to Natsu that slept in the hill and then... 'the moment with Natsu' the celestial spirit mage tried to get up quickly from the bed while streams of pain passed through her hands, causing her to fall on her back on her back and look in surprise as yesterday's memory returned to her.
"Princess are you okay?" She could hear the calm and concerned voice of Virgo who opened the door which was opposite of the bed.
Lucy tried to sit down on the bed again, and this time was careful not to hurt her hands who were more sensitive to the pain this time. "Yes I'm fine..." she replied with a weak voice as the door opened and the pink haired maid came into the room with a silver tray full of bandages and disinfectants Various.
Virgo put the tray on a table next to the side of the bed and began to remove the bandages that were already in Lucy's hands, "I'm going to replace the pads on your arms princess, tell me if something hurts," she immediately began to work as soon as Lucy nodded for approval and presented her arms forward.
The blonde girl could finally see her hands without the pads, the whole area between the wrist to the elbow was a shade of pink and red and made little Lucy remember the night before.
...A few hours earlier...
Lucy was still hugging Natsu after the attack and had held him close to her, she kept stroking his head kindly to help him relax. The cool night air felt pleasant on her hands as they began to show the injury she received from him. She decided to call Virgo to take Natsu back to the village where they were staying after the mission, she managed somehow to bring the Natsu to his room without waking the Ice Mage who already slept. And then immediately returned to her room and asked Virgo to tack care of her damaged hands without involving anyone.
x-=-=-=-=-=-x
"Does it still hurts princess?" The pink haired spirit maid asked after she finished applying the bandages on her master's hands.
Lucy smiled weakly and looked at her bandaged hands, "it's a bit itchy and I can feel it pulsing but that's okay..." she replied while thinking of what happened yesterday as it was still fresh in her mind.
Virgo began to pant heavily, "does that means you will punish me, princess?" The spirit's face became a little red when she thought what she could get for her punishment.
Lucy smiled slightly, "Are you sure it will not be a prize for you?" She asked her spirit as her face changed back to its normal expression, "Will it be everything princess?" The pink haired maid questioned her master.
Lucy nodded positively as she begun to replace the pajamas she wore to her usual skirt and then her gaze returned to her bandaged hands who were exposed to the air and all to see, "what could I do with this?" She muttered to herself as she decided to try and wear a long-sleeved shirt and cover it as much as she could. Once she felt ready enough she left the room she got and hoped her team members will receive her new fashion statement without too many questions.
"Oh, so you are awake Lucy" the voice of the sword mistress drew Lucy's eyes to her team's red-haired member. She set on a wooden table as a simple piece of paper was in her hand that Lucy identified as the details of the mission, the village chief sat at her side with a smile.
"I had a bit difficult time to sleep," Lucy replied to her team member who nodded and smiled at the blond girl in return, "Where's Natsu and Gray? Still sleeping in?" She asked, looking around to find the other members of their team.
Without looking back Erza pointed to where the to slept "Natsu is still asleep and will not wake up... even though I told him that we should leave as soon as we get up!" Erza began to show a little anger and caused the celestial spirit mage to worry about the safety of the pink haired dragon slayer.
" A-And what about Gray? Even he is still sleeping?" Lucy tried to divert the anger of titania from Natsu, but surprisingly the redhead moved her head and pointed to another table where he sat the ice mage with a few of the village girls who spoke to him with enthusiasm.
'Why is he only wearing his underwear again? And why don't they care?' The questions came and went in the blonde's head as she recalled she forget about her new team. "By the way, I have not seen where Juvia is-" The celestial spirit mage began before she felt something cold on her shoulder and made her jump with a little fear and surprise. She squealed slightly and turned around to find the one she just looking for.
Juvia looked at her with her usual expression "Good Morning Lucy-san did to sleep well?" The water Mage asked innocently.
Lucy smiled at Juvia despite the near heart attacks the blue haired girl caused her "yes I'm fine, despite the fact that I had to sleep differently I'm not used to," she said, touching her shoulder gently where Juvia touched her.
Juvia's eyes changed to one of concern "Lucy-san are you injured?" This prompted Lucy to look at her in confusion as to what she meant. The blue haired pointed to the bandaged hand as lucy saw a piece of the bandage picking from one of the long shirt's sleeves.
Panic moved in Lucy's head, but she responded quickly enough and simply smiled at her new team member "oh it's nothing, it's fine" Lucy tried to sound normal but feared that her voice betrayed her and exposed her. She did not want the fact that Natsu hurt her known to him even if he was not aware of it, she did not want to think about how he would feel if he found out what he did. But luckily it seemed like Juvia bought her excuse and return nodded with a smile.
The blue haired mage was looking around for a few seconds and finally looked back at Lucy "Juvia wondered where Natsu-Sama is? Were we not supposed to be on the way to the ship by now?" The water Mage asked innocently.
Lucy smiled at her, "Oh Natsu? Well, Erza said... eh?" Lucy heard her say as the words died in her throat at that moment, she heard Juvia adds Natsu the special finish that belonged only to Gray. 'Why did she call Natsu like that? She should only use that name for Gray?' Lucy thought anxiously.
"Natsu has not woke up yet... I thought I could be nice and gave him more time, but if he thinks I'm going to let this one slid...he's dead wrong". The redheaded Erza said and emphasized the word dead. "I think I will him to teach a lesson..." hissed Erza through her teeth and made some of the villagers around her shake from the wrath of the redhead equip mage.
Lucy began to fear more and more for the safety of the dragon slayer and was trying to stop Erza. "Erza-san, let Juvia wake Natsu-sama. Juvia will make sure Natsu-sama will be ready soon!" Lucy heard her new crew member managed to volunteer before she could, causing her fears to become bigger.
X - = - = - = - = - = - = - = - = - = - = - = X
Team Fairy Tail began to move toward the area where the ship that brought them to the island docked after all the team members were ready to move. Everyone would love to return to their beloved guild, but not all were happy about the way they had to get there, specifically Natsu. The villagers led by the chief escorted the team to the ship as Natsu kept asking to find another way to get back to Magnolia, which did not include another trip on the ship, But unfortunately, there had been no other way to go home as he just kept his mouth shut, Shivered and hoped that at least the voyage back to Magnolia will be a short one.
Lucy was on the deck and could see each of the members of the team was somewhere else on the ship and was busy with his on stuff. Erza like her was on board and spoke with the captain on the mission they just completed and the night they spent on the island. Gray leaned on the edge of the deck and watched the water and it was clear to the celestial spirit mage he thought of something and did not want to upset the ice mage. The last two deck area was the newest addition to their team Juvia and the pink haired dragon slayer Natsu. The fact that Natsu was not on deck showed he was inside the ship in an attempt to deal with his weaknesses and chances are that he was not alone. Lucy sigh in disappointment, she hoped she could be the one to help Natsu cope with his bad feelings, but the fear it will reveal the marks on her hands was stronger than her desire. 'But maybe I'll just... I'll see how he feels, j-just for a moment.' The blond girl thought as she began to move rapidly with every step she took.
She came to the same wooden door leading to the room where Natsu was supposed to be, it was the same room where she sat with the pink haired dragon slayer and helped him cope with the first sailing when they just started the job. Her hand reached the handle and she took it with a lot of caution from her bandaged hands. The celestial spirit mage did not know how, but she felt that there were two people behind the door and had a clear idea who they were. Just thinking about the fact that Natsu was suffering from his illness made her want to get into the room running and worry about him as much as she can. But the fact that the beautiful water mage was there with him had made her falter and lose the power to hold the handle.
"M-maybe this was not a good idea after all..." she whispered to herself and began to move away from the door.
Lucy suddenly could hear murmurs that came through the door, and against the way, she always behaved she uncharacteristically put her ear to the door and tried to hear what the noise was.
...
...
yet she could hear the murmurs but did not understand what they mean or who said it, it was the second time she took the handle and opened it just enough so she can peek inside. Her eyes stopped when she saw the little bed that was there and saw pink hair peeking from under the blanket. 'Natsu' she thought happily as she saw him sleeping and relaxing by the way his chest rose and fell and because of the obvious reason that she did not see the blue-haired mage anywhere in the room. 'So she really did not feel anything for him after all!' the celestial spirit mage thought with a smile as she realized she must have been imagining things in her exhaustion.
return This caused Lucy to smile when she saw her beloved not suffering from his most known weakness. She moved closer to him and stroked his face with one hand, the blonde girl was surprised to feel Natsu was cooler than usual but still warm.
'He looks just like when he's sleeping in my room', she thought with a little smile and could feel her playful side that tells her to approach him more and more. With one look back to make sure the door was closed she picked up the little blanket and lay down beside the dragon slayer.
She could feel his heat directly when she moved her hand, a smile came to the face of the celestial spirit mage and grew as she felt his heart beating like a pleasant melody.
She could feel his hand as she hugged it and brought her closer to his chest. 'Natsu...' She thought with a smile. Lucy was clearly feeling visibly delighted, she just loved Natsu and to see him so calm and relaxed brought her immense happiness, especially during the cruise.
The blonde girl could feel her playful side returning to her again after she saw his face. 'Maybe I'll just...' She thought with a red face and lifted her head to his and started to get closer and closer until she could feel his breath on her face and caused her to vibrate with joy and move her body closer.
She was so close to him now, inches from the lips of the pink haired dragon slayer and the feeling that she so badly wanted to know.
"Mmm..." Lucy could hear a murmur that caused her to stop as her eyes opened with terror, she could feel a cold sweat and her face had turned white when she heard the voice that came
from Natsu's side.
The blond girl could see something moving on the other side of the dragon slayer, the covers stirred and exposed a long blue hair that was very well known to the celestial spirit mage.
Lucy finally realized where did Juvia vanish too, with her horror and fears materialized and looked even worse than she ever had imagined. She did not want to believe it, but she couldn't deny it anymore. She felt stupid that she believed that someone like Natsu will not be taken. She was jealous of her new team member in a manner that she did not think swore ever felt before, not only the water mage just joined the guild she also succeeds in charming the pink haired dragon slayer.
Lucy wanted to escape from the room that much was obvious, but she could not move at all. Natsu's hand was still on her and she remained in her place despite her mixed emotions. On the one hand, she wanted to stay with him as long as possible for as long as she could, and on the other side, she wanted to just run away and leave the bad feelings behind.
The blond girl began to move a bit and try to get away from Natsu and caused him to move.
Lucy could hear voices that did not belong to Natsu and to belonged to Juvia.
Lucy felt as her fear began to come out again, 'please don't wake up', she thought that the universe really hate her when she saw the water mage who moved and went to sit where she slept with him. She was glad to see that at least Juvia was fully clothed.
The water mage looked around and her eyes focused on Natsu before she noticed Lucy and focused on her.
Juvia's eyes opened wide, "Lucy-san?!" She said loudly and moved in the direction of the blonde. "W-why is Lucy-san with Natsu-Sama and Juvia?" She got up from the bed and refused to look away from Lucy.
The blond girl nervously tried to get up from her place despite the dragon slayer's action, she had tripped on the cold floor after she was released from pink haired grasp and stood up in front of Juvia.
Before the water mage could open her mouth Lucy marked the girl to follow her so they would not wake the dragon slayer's who was still sleeping peacefully and miraculously.
The two left the room and closed the door behind them, Lucy could see Juvia wanted answers but raised her hands to stop her from speaking. Lucy until, a deep breath before she began to speak again.
She looked directly into the water mage eyes "Juvia, I can only say that I am very sorry for what happened, I didn't know you... you and N-Natsu..." She said the words and the bad feeling came back to her with a vengeance.
Juvia just looked at her new team member with a confused look "w-what is Lucy-san talking about?" The blue haired Questioned.
Lucy was furious 'is she really going to make me say it?! ' Her gaze became offended as her voice. "I'm talking about you and... and Natsu as a couple..." she said through her teeth. The blond girl was expecting Juvia to smile at her or give approval of the fact that she and Natsu are together. But the silence she received was not something she expected.
The blue-haired lowered her head and began to play with her fingers, "J-Juvia and Natsu-Sama...
are not in such a relationship despite the fact that Juvia..." She did not finish before Lucy approached her immediately.
"W-wait a minute! so you and Natsu are not? Then why were you with him in... like that?" the celestial spirit mage question, she could not stop herself because the situation was passing thoughts in her head and made her dizzy.
"N-Natsu-Sama had a hard to relax and Juvia was just trying to help, then Juvia put him to sleep and... w-what Lucy-san saw" Juvia was embarrassed and went on to explain to the blonde what happened leading up to the point where she fell asleep on the bed with the pink haired dragon slayer.
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Team Natsu finally returned to Magnolia after the boat docked at the port, all of them were happy to return to their city. But no one was as happy as Natsu, and as usual, as soon as his feet touched the ground he swore he will not get on any kind of transportation.
Everyone split up and want do different directions, Erza went directly back to the guild to report that the mission was successful and without needless destruction on Natsu's part for her delight. Gray simply planned to pass the time until evening and walk around the city to find a quiet place. It was not that he did not enjoy the company of his guild members, he just wanted to be alone at times and now that Juvia had stopped to follow him he had the time to be with his thoughts.
Unlike the ice make mage the one who did not like being alone was Lucy, and the only reason for her to be on her own was if she was trying to write whether it was a letter or one of her stories. She looked at her friends and to the direction where everyone went to but focused on the dragon slayer. He advanced towards the city and the shops there, 'probably to look for something to eat...' She thought with a little smile and began to advance towards him.
"Hey, Natsu! Wait for me!" She cried and started running toward him.
The pink haired turned in the direction of his team member with his usual smile, "what up Lucy? Do you need something?" He asked in confusion, it was unusual for her to want something from him right after they finished a mission. She usually would rather go back to her house to get then back to their Guild to talk with Levy or Mira. 'Did I do something wrong?' He scratched his head, trying to figure out what his blonde friend wanted until she had come closer.
"Actually yes, I wanted to look for some stuff for my apartment and then I wanted to eat something in the city" She took a small breath before she continued. "So I thought maybe we could go together, you know just the two of us?" She finished with hope in her voice and looked embarrassed.
"Oooh! Eat something? That's exactly what I wanted!" He responded with his winning smile.
'I knew it' she thought, but just smiled at him happily as they began to walk. They walked for a few minutes and just enjoyed the pleasant weather and the sights of the city. From time to time she looked at him as he walked beside her, he was so radiant and happy to return to town and chances are also put something in his stomach after their mission trip.
She, of course, was happy just to walk around places with him, she certainly did need to buy a few new things for her home. Of course, these were things she could get herself without a difficulty, but she preferred to take the opportunity and use it as an excuse to hang out with Natsu. She saw and felt somebody looking at her and she was used to it but after a few moments have passed, she noticed that she wasn't the target of stares. That one was the dragon slayer at her side. She could see a couple of girls and some saleswomen outside their store's and stared directly at Natsu with smiles she recognized very well. 'What are you looking at? bunch of fangirls' Jealousy began to flow through her body as she felt brave enough to do anything she wanted.
Natsu felt someone holding his hand and made him look into at his celestial spirit mage companion "What up Lucy?" He asked.
"Nothing..." she said with a small smile and looked the other way. She could hear him muttering "weird..." But her smile remained still. And an even bigger smile was on her face when she could see the many girls sighing in disappointment when they saw the two. 'Ah! Serves you right! " You could see the joy in her face.
"By the way Lucy," Natsu said suddenly, causing her to turn her head in surprise to him. "What happened to your hand? Are you hurt or something?".
"Oh? W-what makes you think that?" the celestial spirit mage stuttered in panic.
"Well, your hands are bandaged. So I just thought that maybe something happened to you," he pointed out her hands.
She could see her bandages were a little loose again and peered from under her shirt. That was not good. The last thing she wanted was to upset him and even worse if he found out that the cause of it was him. She just shook her head. "Oh, that? No, I didn't get hurt or anything. I-it's just something... well y-you know like wearing a kind of breastplate like Erza on some of her armors," she tried to explain in hope that he would not question her about it.
"Mmm..." the dragon slayer's eyes examined Lucy few seconds. "Are you sure you're okay, Lucy? You don't have to feel embarrassed from me," he said with a quiet but serious voice but still retained his smile.
This surprised the blonde mage, she was used to him to just accept her explanation and to not argue or simply ignore it and then laugh when she was upset, But this time was different, he looked ... worried.
"Well because, after all, I've already seen everything!" He said aloud with a big smile, while the blonde's face became red in the second and she moved her head to the other side in confusion. She realized he was talking about all the times he had seen her body.
After Lucy hit Natsu a couple of times, Natsu accepted her explanation while the two went into one of the restaurants in the city and went inside. Lucy had to keep herself from laughing when she saw the look of the restaurant's owner that began to sweat when he saw one of the most destructive and powerful wizards of Fairy Tail. While the waitresses there were very glad to serve the pink haired dragon slayer. It was a very strange scene all in all. While the two have chosen their orders, they began to talk about their latest mission.
"So Lucy," Natsu said in between bites as he ate, "What do you think about Juvia as part of our team."
"To tell you the truth Natsu I thought she'd try to kill me or sometimes because she thought I was trying to steal Gray from her..." Lucy said jokingly
and made Natsu laugh.
"Juvia wouldn't do that, she is one of our friends!" He took another big bite, chewing happily.
"I know, but anyway Natsu where did you even got the idea for her to join us?" She had not forgotten that he still did not explain himself about the whole thing. When he presented the idea at all of them Erza chose just to accept it rather than to understand the real reason behind it, the only ones who had something to say about it were Lucy and Gray. And the Ice Mage had already talked to Natsu when they were alone.
She waited for an answer from him for a few seconds before she noticed he was not listening to her and completely concentrated on his meal, she would get upset about in the past but had learned to accept it as part of him.
"Is everything all right with you?" Asked someone came to the table.
"Oh yes, everything is fine," Lucy replied to the waitress who asked them.
"Good, how about you handsome? is the meal to your liking?" She asked and moved closer to the dragon slayer.
Lucy noticed as the waitress seemed to give him a good angle to her chest, but fortunately, he just smiled and did not notice the waitress's attempt to flirt with him.
"It's great!" He responded.
"I'm glad you-" She paused for a moment before she looked back, her face turned white before she smiled back at them both and then moved away from the table.
'what happened to her?' Lucy was glad to see the waitress walked away but felt a bit curious and looking at the same thing she saw the waitress. 'Gaa!' She was surprised that she had seen Juvia sitting at another table and looked at them with a frown.
"Mmm? What wrong Lucy?" Natsu asked when he saw Lucy's face.
"It's nothing Natsu, I just remembered I have to do something. I-I'll meet you back at the Guild o-okay?" She said and left the table.
X - = - = - = - = - = - = X
After several hours the celestial spirit mage returned back after she finished if the things she had to do after she left Natsu. She sat at the bar while Mira was holding some glasses and polished them while humming with pleasure and looked at Lucy once again with a worried look. The blonde mage's head was on the counter itself and made her look worn out and tired, she honestly did not know what to do in this situation.
"What happened Lucy-chan?" Mira finally asked when she couldn't stand to see her blonde friend in such a situation. It was unusual for her to see the celestial spirit mage without a smile or energy which was something that did not sit well with her.
"I'm fine Mira, no problem..." was Lucy's dry answer to Mira. The blond girl didn't believe in her own answer, so why should Mira believe her.
"Lucy-chan ... Is it about Natsu?" She did not have to wait for an answer when she saw the blonde's face. "I can guess what happened, but I prefer to hear it from you..." Mira replied with a kind and warm look.
Lucy took a few seconds before she took a deep breath and explained the situation.
'I thought as much...' Mira thought to herself as Lucy confirmed what she believed, "then it would be better that you hear it together ..." Mira finished.
'together?' the celestial spirit mage thought in confusion before someone sat down beside her and caused her to jump slightly. "J-Juvia-san..." Lucy said softly after she saw the blue-haired water mage who settled next to her and stared angrily.
"Juvia saw Lucy-san together with Natsu-sama..." was what the blue hair said in that tone she was using when she was thinking that Lucy was her rival for Gray's heart, only this time it was Natsu's heart.
"Great Juvia is already here, so now there is only one person left..." Mira murmured to herself, but loud enough for the two girls to hear.
"Someone else?" Lucy did not know who Mira meant until she saw who approached them. "W-what? Levy-chan?".
The little blue-haired looked at Lucy with an embarrassed grin, scratching her head in confusion, "Hey there Lu-chan..." Levy just sat alongside Lucy and smiled at her friend. She wanted to say something but did not know where to begin, but before she could Mira started talking.
"So who here likes our Natsu?" She asked with a smile.
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don't forget to R and R!