*A/N- I would like to thank all my wonderful readers who have liked and subscribed to my story. This started off as a sort of extended drabble that I was going to conclude after three chapters or so, just a gift for the LFT Secret Santa 2014, that I wouldn't have to spend a year finishing off, but after the response to the story I've started thinking about long term plots that I could use to keep this going for a little while longer than that. After everything that has been happening recently in the manga, I think I need this story to help me cope with all the losses and stuff. Maybe that sounds weird, but Fairy Tail real to me.
Next I would like to say in advance, despite being a teenage girl, I have never done many teenage girl things, because I'm not girly. I had a lot of trouble with the scene where Lucy confesses her feelings to Natsu, not so much with Natsu's dialogue, because I sort of share his, "whatever works" attitude, with a little bit of, romantic anxiety is the only way I can think to put it, but Lucy's girl point of view is completely foreign to me. I think it turned out alright though, and I have hopes for this chapter. The whole idea of what happens in this chapter is completely weird to me, but I think that it's normal for other girls, so I tried.
Also, I am so pissed at chapter 416. It made me so mad. The best thing about it was the Gruvia moment, and I don't even ship Gruvia. Was that supposed to be the thing that 'people already suspect'? I have been in a bad mood all day because the chapter pissed me off so much. And I swear if sensei just skips a year to when Natsu is coming back I'm going to flip my shit. I may or may not remain angry depending on how the next few weeks go.
It's been a while since I've done a disclaimer, so here goes:
I do not own Fairy Tail, that honor goes to the wonderful, talented Hiro Mashima -sensei, who apparently likes nothing more than to crush our hearts and dance on the remains of our happiness. That's okay though, I still love you sensei.
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I watched everyone work to re-build the guild hall. Yukino summoned Libra, who reversed gravity on some if the larger pieces of stone for the walls because no one could lift them. I wanted to summon some of my spirits to help, but it would be unfair to ask them to work if I didn't do anything, and I wasn't ready to summon them after the battle, they had taken a lot of hits, and needed their rest. Loke said he was fine, but I knew that even if he wasn't, he wouldn't tell me.
Everyone cycled by individually to chat and ask me how I felt. Levy told me that she was coming over that night, so I invited Erza too, because I knew she would want to hear the story, too. To be so terrifying, she was surprisingly girly. Pantherlily came over and praised my bravery, and said that he was proud to fight alongside me, and he also asked how I was feeling. Mirajane said she knew about everything that happened, and that if I ever needed to talk, I could talk to her, and I thought that I just might take her up on that. She knew what it was like to lose someone.
Wendy came over and cast another pain killer spell on me, and a few people from Sabertooth came over and offered awkward well-wishes. The day passed pleasantly, despite the rather sad beginning. Master and I talked about the plans for the new and improved pool and movie theater, and the plans for an expanded hospital wing, since we seemed to be accident prone. I told him what everyone had thought he would add this time, since last time the guild hall changed so much, and he chuckled at Natsu's idea of a fire buffet.
He confessed that he thought seriously about adding a regular buffet and a sauna during the initial cleanup and reconstruction. I wasn't actually surprised. Master had always had a flare for the dramatic.
At the end of the day, it seemed like lots of progress had been made.
"So, where are the people from Sabertooth staying at?" I asked Master as people began to head home.
"They have been put up in open rooms in Fairy Hills," Master told me.
"I thought that boys weren't allowed in Fairy Hills," I said.
"We are making a temporary exception, for our friends at Sabertooth."
"What do you think of Sting," I asked, "Sabertooth's guild master?"
"He is young and energetic, but also immature." He said, watching as Sting started aggravating Rogue, Rogue got unnecessarily angry, and they started wrestling next to a precariously stacked pile of lumber. As we watched Rogue threw Sting into the pile, sending it crashing down over both of them. Master started to get to his feet, to dig them out of the pile, then scold them, but Erza, who had just finished what she had been working on, beat him to it. She stomped over to them and threw the lumber to the side, then picked them both up by the hair.
"What do you think you are doing?" She snarled.
"U-um," Rogue stuttered.
Master sat back down in his chair and folded his hands, enjoying the show.
"They remind me of Natsu and Gray, in a way," I said, and he laughed.
"Who reminds you of us?" Gray asked. I looked over my shoulder, to see Natsu and Gray walking over to me. I gestured over at Sting, Rogue, and Erza.
"Those two idiots remind you of us?" Natsu asked resting his hands gently on my shoulders. He looked over my head at the trio of people standing on the pile of lumber.
"Doesn't that scene look familiar to you?" I asked, looking at him upside down. He shivered and nodded.
"Leave it to Erza to bully another Guild's Guild Master."
"Well they were acting stupid," I said, "they could have gotten seriously hurt. Anyway, I need to get home, Levy, Erza, and I are going to have a girls night. Levy is probably already waiting on me."
"Alright," Natsu said. He walked around my chair and crouched down. I slid onto his back.
"Hey Erza!" I called, waving, "We're heading to the house now, you can come to my place when you finish up over there!" She glanced back at Sting and Rogue, said something to them, and then abruptly dropped them on the ground.
"I'm done here, I'll come with you now!" She jogged over to where we were at, leaving two whimpering dragon slayers in her wake. We walked for a few minutes before anyone spoke again.
"What are you doing still hanging around with us?" Natsu asked Gray.
"What do you mean? I thought we were all going to hang out at Lucy's house," He said, looking at Erza and me. "You said you were having a 'Girls Night'."
"Yah, Gray, a Girls night is for girls. No boys allowed."
"Ha ha!" Natsu said mockingly.
"You can't stay either!" I exclaimed, "you're a guy too!"
"What?" Natsu replied, "Aw come on , Luce."
"No way!" I said.
"Sorry, Natsu!" Happy chimed. "You can't hang out with the ladies like me!"
"Neither can you!" I shot at him.
"But I'm a cat!" He stated.
"Not happening. You have to leave with Natsu and Gray," I said.
"Come on, Lucy, Gimme a break!" Gray protested, "what's the big deal?"
"The big deal," I replied, "is that we're going to be talking about girl things, so you can't come!" They both looked affronted, so I said, "Look, you both can come over and hang out as much as you want, later this week, but just not tonight." They both grumbled unhappily at that, but didn't say anything more.
"So what sort of girl things are you going to be talking about?" Natsu asked.
"The kind that are none of your business, and that you wouldn't understand, because you're boys," I said. I didn't want to tell him we would be talking about him, because it would be too embarrassing.
"Like what?" He prodded. Erza jumped in to save me from this line of questions.
"For instance, we will be comparing the number of enemies we slayed in battle, and the attractiveness of each enemy that we defeated, and how sweet the looks of defeat on their faces were the instant they realized they were going to lose," she said, staring off into the distance with a wistful look in her eye, holding her fist up passionately. Natsu and Gray both moved as far away from Erza as they could on and gave her disgusted looks.
"Girls are weird," Natsu said.
"Yah," Gray agreed. I was in between laughter and being really creeped out. I hoped that she had been just kidding, and that she had just said that to freak the boys out. We arrived at my house shortly after that, and Gray departed from us, but Natsu continued on inside to carry me in.
"Is this the first time you have ever used my front door?" I asked, and he shrugged.
"Dunno."
I wasn't entirely surprised to see the light in my bedroom was on. My friends in Fairy Tail had a habit of breaking into my house that was hard to break. However, I was surprised to see more than just Levy sitting in my room. Juvia and Wendy were there, and as we entered the room, Cana walked in wearing a towel.
"What are all of you doing here?" I asked, looking around.
"Well I heard Levy telling Gajeel about your girls night," Cana said, "So I decided to come because I've got nothing better to do."
"And I invited Wendy and Juvia," Erza said, "and Mirajane, but she said she didn't think that she'd be able to make it." I sighed. I had planned on it just being Levy and Erza, but I couldn't ask the others to leave, now that they were here.
Natsu set me down on the bed and opened the window to leave.
"Why don't you use the door?" I asked, only half-heartedly.
"Nah," he said. He leaned down from the window sill and kissed me briefly on the lips before he jumped down, and was closely followed by a gaping Happy. I leaned over and closed the window so my friends wouldn't see the blush that had appeared on my cheeks, but when I turned back around I was attacked with questions.
"I knew I saw him kiss you earlier!" Levy exclaimed, "How long have you been dating?"
"I didn't know you like Natsu!" Wendy said incredulously.
"I have always suspected there was something between you and Natsu," Erza said.
"So you finally got a boyfriend, did ya?" Cana asked.
"Are you and Natsu really together?" Juvia asked. The were all looking at me expectantly, and I just didn't know where to start.
"How about you start from the beginning," Erza said helpfully.
"Okay," I said. "I guess I always sort of admired him," I confessed, "But not romantically. I don't know when I realized that I liked him, but I know I didn't accept it until I realized that I had to use the One Magic to break E.N.D.'s hold on Natsu."
"What's the One Magic?" Wendy asked.
"It's love," I explained, feeling my cheeks heat up.
"Really?" Cana asked, "It took you that long to accept that you had feelings for the guy?" Cana asked.
"Yah, I guess. I just didn't want to like him." I said. "I wanted a knight in shining armour, who had manners, and who didn't eat fire," I said. Everyone chuckled, and I smiled.
"I didn't want our friendship to be messed up, either," I said. "I had no clue that he might like me back, until our fight with E.N.D. Right before I passed out, I had the faintest inkling of a pressure on my lips, and I sort of thought that he was kissing me back."
"And was he?" Levy asked excitedly.
"Well, I asked him about it, and he said that he did."
"When did you ask him?" Wendy asked.
"When we went outside together at Porlyusica's. I asked him to take me outside so that we could talk in private."
"Ohh! That must be why Erza lied about having a back pain!" She said, looking at Erza. She nodded.
"Indeed, I could tell that you wanted to be alone. I thought something like that was going to happen."
"You did?" I asked.
"Mhm." Erza said. "I could tell something had happened between you two by the way he was treating you. I've never seen him look so… tender before." She paused, looking for the right word.
"I noticed that too!" Juvia said.
"Yeah, It kind of freaked me out," I confessed. "I thought there was something wrong with him. He seemed so sad, but of course, it was guilt." Erza and Juvia nodded, and the others just looked at me.
"What do you mean, why would he feel guilty? It wasn't his fault you got hurt!" Wendy said.
"I know that, and I think that he knows that, but since E.N.D. took hold of Natsu, and he hurt me, Natsu feels that if he had been stronger and fought off E.N.D. on his own, then I wouldn't have gotten hurt."
"But that's ridiculous," Levy said, and I shrugged.
"To us it is, but to Natsu it only makes since. But I do think that deep down he knows there was nothing he could have done. It's just a matter of getting him to accept that part of him. I'm not worried. I know he feels better about it since Porlyusica let him help tend to my wounds, so the more he totes me around until my leg heals, the better."
"I could heal your leg some more now!" Wendy offered but I shook my head.
"As much as I would love that, and want to be able to walk on my own, I think it would be better to let it heal on it's own. It might be slower, but Natsu needs to help me to clear his conscience."
"That's so nice of you!" Wendy said.
"Alright, that's enough of this boring talk!" Cana said, "Get back to the good stuff! What happened when you and Natsu talked all alone?" Everyone else nodded in agreement.
"Well, at first I didn't want to come right out and ask, so I beat around the bush a bit, but he didn't catch on, so I had to swallow my pride and ask him if he was kissing me back. He said that he was, and I asked him if he liked me, romantically, and he said that he did. Then he asked me, and I told him I did, and he said, 'Then I guess it's settled then.'" Everyone in the group let out an exasperated groan.
"I know. Then when I asked him what he wanted to do now, he asked what I meant." Another groan. "Then I explained to him that we couldn't just stay the way we were, and I asked him if he wanted to be together, or if he wanted to just be friends, and he said he didn't care, whatever made me happy."
"That sounds like him," Levy said, and I agreed with her.
"I know but it was so frustrating! But a bit after that he kissed me, so I think he wants to be together. I mean, he kissed me just now, then earlier at the guild, he kissed me on the forehead." Erza and Levy nodded. "So I think we are just going to wing it, and see where it goes."
"That plan sounds so you," Levy said, "It's the kind of thing I would expect you and Natsu to come up with." Everyone agreed with that, apparently.
"I don't know what else to do, like, I'm sure he has his own idea of how he wants things to go, but he won't tell me."
"Perhaps not," Erza said. "He might have been sincere when he said he was fine with whatever makes you happy. Natsu's not the type to conceal how he feels. He did just come right out and say he was kissing you back when you asked him didn't he?" I nodded. "I suspect that had you asked him if he had romantic feelings towards you prior to this he would have given you the same answer. He was never trying to hide it, he just never told you because it never came up."
"I guess you're right," I said. "He is pretty straight forward."
"And he's just a little childish like that too," Levy said. I nodded again. Childish he was.
"So what about you and Gajeel, Levy?" I asked, and her cheeks flared up red.
"W-what do you mean?" She asked nervously.
"Well I couldn't help but notice that you two have been very friendly recently," I said, grinning evilly at her.
"W-we're just friends, that's all!" She said.
"If that's the truth, then why are you blushing so hard?" Erza asked.
"Because the questions surprised me," she said.
"Surprised you so much you turned the same color as Erza's hair?" Cana asked. Everyone chuckled as Levy turned even darker red.
"Ok, so spill," I said. "I know that you like him, I can tell!" I said. She sighed, and began slowly turning back to a slightly less alarming shade of pink.
"Alright, maybe I do!" Everyone squealed girlishly, except for Erza, who smiled, and Cana, who hiccuped.
"So when did you start to like him?" I asked.
"I don't really know when it started, but I sort of realized it during the s-class trials when he offered to be my partner."
"I think you two make a cute couple," I said, and everyone nodded.
We spent the rest of the night chatting, talking about boys, and Erza did in fact bring up some of her more attractive enemies, but the subject changed quickly.
"So where does Jellal fit on this ranking of your most attractive enemies?" I asked, at my own peril. Sometimes Erza didn't react well to personal questions.
"Jellal is no longer on the list, because he is no longer an enemy of Fairy Tail," Erza said, her cheeks turning a slight pink.
"But he was at one time!" Levy said, "So he had to have been on the list at one time!"
"Jellal is rather attractive," Erza said thoughtfully. "Probably one of my more powerful opponents as well, but since he was being manipulated by Ultear at the time, perhaps I should judge her attractiveness instead."
I sighed in exasperation. I guess it made sense in a way, but what we really wanted to hear about was how she felt about Jellal, not Ultear.
"Come on Erza, enough of this crap!" Cana said, "Tell us how you feel about Jellal!" Erza sighed, as if giving up on keeping it away from us.
"Jellal was a dear friend in my childhood, we were very close. After all, he did give me my name."
"Really?" I asked. "I didn't know that!" Erza looked at me funny, like she thought I was making a bad joke.
"Of course you do, I told you and Natsu and Gray all about my childhood in the Tower of Heaven."
"You never mentioned that!" I said.
"Oh, well, my mistake. Previous to my stay in the Tower of Heaven I had no last name. I was 'just Erza'. Once we were thrown into our cells with all the other children, we exchanged names and made friends. Jellal was complaining about how he would never remember everyone's names because they were so weird, especially Wally's name, which made Wally angry. 'Oh yeah, what kind of name is Jellal Fernandes?' Jellal ignored him and approached me. He asked me what my name was, so I told him. 'What about your last name?' I told him I didn't have one, so he decided to give me one. 'Scarlet, like your beautiful hair, that way I'll never forget it' he said."
"That's so romantic!" Wendy cried happily.
"Is it? I had never thought of it that way. Jellal was just like that, kind and brave. I could never bring myself to truly hate him, even when we were fighting in the Tower of Heaven, because when I looked at him all I could see was that sweet boy who named me."
"How does Erza feel about Jellal now?" Juvia asked.
"Well now he's back to his old self. He's just as kind as he always was. Even when he had no memories, he was still him. He's always been a terrible liar though." She said, half laughing.
"Why do you say that?" Levy asked.
"He can't make eye contact when he's lying, and he always looks so sad. It goes against his nature to lie."
"Okay, but why did you say it?" Cana asked, "Has he lied to you recently?"
"He tried to tell me he had a fiance after we kissed," she said.
"What?" We all shouted together. "You kissed him?" Erza nodded.
"Yah, it was before the Grand Magic Games, the night that Ultear unlocked everyones second origin. We were talking about Simon, and he said he didn't deserve to live, that he wasn't strong like me, so I slapped him."
"You slapped him?" I asked, halfway between amusement and exasperation.
"Yah, I pulled him to his feet my his cloak, then I lost my balance and fell into him, and we fell down a cliff together. Jellal landed on top of me and we kissed." A faint blush snuck onto her face as she spoke. "After that he pushed me away, and said he had a fiance. I could tell he was lying, of course, but I didn't call him out on it. No doubt he thinks I'd be happier without having romantic ties to a fugitive."
"What a stupid lie," Cana said, and Erza gave her a surprised look. "Did he honestly think you would believe that? He's on the run from the law, hows he supposed to pick up chicks like that?" Cana had a very good point about that.
After that we all decided to turn in, because there was a long day of work ahead of us.
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"Aquarius!" I cried. I ran to her side and knelt next to her bloodied body, cradling her head in my lap. "Aquarius, talk to me!" I sobbed. She opened her eyes slightly, and I reeled back in horror. They were streaming tears of blood, and glowing red with rage. She opened her mouth to speak, but blood poured out, muffling her words. What I could hear though, made my heart stop with guilt and grief.
"You couldn't save me, Lucy, you couldn't help me." I winced at the accusation in her voice. "You did this to me! You sacrificed me to save yourself and your friends!" She she shoved me roughly away from her and rose into the air so that she towered over me. "After all I have done for you, you killed me!"
"No!" I said desperately. "No! You said that breaking your key wouldn't kill you! You told me to! You said that you would be alright!"
"You should have known better!" She pointed an accusing finger at me. "You're supposed to be a Celestial Spirit Wizard! You should have known this would happen to me!"
"I'm sorry, Aquarius!" I apologized, "I'm so sorry! I never wanted to hurt you! I didn't want to sacrifice you, but there was no other way to save my friends!"
"There was another way! If you hadn't been so weak you could have defeated them on your own, without having to kill me! I could be alive right now!" Aquarius spat. Her blood sprayed everywhere, striking me on the face and burning me wherever it touched my skin. It was her hatred of me, burning into my flesh.
"But you're not dead!" Even as I said it though, I knew she was right. How could she look like this and be alive? Her entire body was covered in blood, seeping from cracks in her skin like cracks in porcelain. They must have been caused when I broke her key.
"How would you know? Leo only told you what you wanted to hear, that I was alright, to keep you from having a mental breakdown like the pathetic whelp you are. And you call yourself Layla's daughter. She would never be so weak that she would have to sacrifice one friend to save the rest. You are a disgrace to her name!" Aquarius shouted.
"I know!" I said, "I know I'm weak! I promise to you that I'll get stronger! I swear it! Nothing like this will ever happen again!"
"And what good will that do me?" She asked scornfully, "Nothing you do now will be enough to take back your weakness, nothing you do can bring me back. How pathetic are you, to wait until it's too late to try to get stronger? You disgu-" her voice cracked and broke, then cut off entirely.
She clutched at her throat and coughed, and blood sprayed everywhere, hitting me, but this time it didn't burn. Tears began spilling down her face again. Her lips moved, but no words came out.
"Help me," I realized suddenly what she was trying to say. I watched in horror as the cracks in her body began to creep up her neck and onto her face, growing ever deeper.
Little pieces of her began to crumble and fall off, and with each one, a piece of my heart died as well. She managed to find her voice again, but it was small, cracked and broken like her body.
"I thought that you loved me," she said, as one of her hands broke off and shattered on the ground.
"I do!" I cried.
"Then save me!" She cried. Her words sparked something in me, and I was finally able to move again. I leapt to my feet, but it was too late. A great light shone out of the cracks in her body, and then exploded outwards, knocking me back several feet. I hit the ground and slid painfully, before slamming into a large piece of rubble. I pushed myself up and tried to wipe the blood off my face with my hand, but something was in my hand. I looked down at it, and saw it was the shattered remains of Aquarius's key.
"How could you?" I looked up at the source of the voice to see Scorpio standing in front of me, looking shell shocked. "How could you just kill her like that! How could you just sit there while she died!" He asked angrily. He advanced on me menacingly, with murder in his eyes.
"No, Scorpio, it's not like that! I tried to help her, I swear!"
"Don't lie to me! I watched you sit there and let her die! You didn't do anything to help her! You killed her!" His face darkened so that all I could see of it was the glowing madness in his eyes. "Now I'm going to kill you!" He growled. I tried to get away, to escape, but I was backed up against a wall. Trapped. His tail reared back, preparing to strike, I screamed.
"Help me!" I screeched. I jerked upright and shielded my face with my hands. A pair of hands seized my arms and tried to pry them away from my face, but I struggled against them.
"Lucy!" I heard a voice say. It wasn't Scorpio. It must be one of my other spirits, here to watch Scorpio take his revenge on me.
I kicked out, and made contact with flesh. I heard a grunt of pain, but the hands didn't let go of me. Who would help me? I wondered. I could hear many voices calling my name. All of my spirits were there. If Scorpio hated me for what I did to Aquarius, then who wouldn't? She was all of their friends. All of them would hate me now, no doubt. All of them except for…
"Loke! Loke help me! Help me!" I cried. I fought hard against the hands that were trying to uncover my face and kicked out again, but this time my leg made contact with something hard and I cried out in pain.
"Lucy it's alright!" They must be trying to trick me now, I thought. They must really hate me.
"Open, Gate of the Lion, Loke!" I cried, trying to open his gate without the key in hand. I pushed out as much magic as I could to make up for it, and pictured him clearly in my mind. "Loke, please!" All of the sudden the hands let go of me, and Loke's voice filled my ears.
"It's alright, Lucy, you're safe now." He said gently. I opened my eyes and blinked away the tears that blurred my vision, to see him sitting next to me. I threw myself at him buried my face in his shirt.
"Loke, it's Scorpio, he's angry at me for killing Aquarius! You have to tell him it wasn't my fault!" He stiffened, and for a moment I thought he was going to shove me away, that he was angry at me as well, but he just pulled me tighter and began stroking my hair.
"Lucy, I've already I told you, Aquarius is fine, she's back home, with Scorpio, right now. She's probably having the time of her life."
"No, that's not possible!" I said, looking up at him. "I saw her die, I watched her die, there was so much blood, Loke, what do I do?" I asked desperately. He gave me a strange look, if I didn't know any better I would have said it was shock, but Loke already knew all this, didn't he? He took my face in his hands and wiped away the tears on my cheeks, although they were replaced by more at once.
"Lucy, you did not kill Aquarius, it was just a bad dream. There was no blood, she didn't die, Scorpio isn't upset. He's thrilled in fact, he's taken Aquarius on vacation to celebrate."
"Really?" I asked hopefully.
"Yes, they are very happy to be able to spend more time together. Do you want me to send him so he can tell you himself?" I shook my head. If Loke said so, I believed him.
"No. I don't want to bother them if they're happy." I said. Loke smiled.
"Now that's the Lucy I know and love," he said, kissing my hair. "You had a bad dream, that's all. It wasn't your fault." I nodded, sniffling. "Do you want me to go and get Natsu for you?" He asked. "I don't think you should be alone right now." I shook my head.
"Don't bother Natsu, I'm fine now." I said, wiping my tears and releasing my death grip on Loke's shirt.
"Do you want me to stay with you until morning then?" He asked. I shook my head again.
"I'll be fine now, I promise. Thank you for coming, Loke." He nodded.
"Are you sure? I don't mind. You shouldn't be alone."
"She won't be alone," Erza said, and I was half surprised to see her there, my dream had made me forget I was having a sleepover. Loke nodded.
"Oh, and before I go," he said, looking stern now, "don't try to summon me without using my key again, you'll use up to much of your magical power and hurt yourself." I nodded guiltily. He reached out and brushed the tears of my face again.
"Sorry," I said. He smiled gently, then disappeared into soft golden light. I looked around the room, everyone was giving me looks of mixed surprise and concern.
"Is Lucy okay?" Juvia asked. I smiled at her.
"I'm fine now, Juvia, thanks. I was just a little freaked out. Sorry if I woke you." I said.
"Don't be ridiculous, Lucy, you don't have to apologize," Cana said.
"Do you want to talk about it?" Levy asked. I saw a flash of Scorpio, standing menacingly over me, with intent to kill all over his face, and shook my head.
"No, I'm fine now, I promise." I lied. "You should all just go to sleep again," Levy gave me a look of disbelief that was mimicked on the rest of their faces and I sighed. "I was a little confused at first, but it was just a nightmare. You don't have to look so worried!" One by one they went back to sleep. Erza and Levy were the last ones to Lay back down. Erza switched the lights off, but climbed into bed with me instead of back into her sleeping bag. I didn't say anything, but I was grateful. It was soothing to have her back pressed up against mine.
I didn't sleep for the rest of the night, however, I just stared out of the window and watched as the sky lightened bit by bit until everyone woke back up.
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"Hey Luce, are you ready?" Natsu asked as he opened the window. I turned to look at him as he hopped on the bed.
My apartment was empty, I had told the girls to go on to work without me, that Natsu would swing by on his way to pick me up.
I didn't tell them that I wanted to be alone for a while, because I didn't want them to worry. They could tell that I hadn't slept anymore that night, I think, but no one mentioned it. I tried to play it off like I wanted some alone time with Natsu, but I don't think that they bought that either.
"Yah," I said dully. "I'm ready."
"What's the matter?" He asked, moving further into the room.
"Yah, Lucy, you look terrible," Happy said, flying up and sitting on the arm of my chair.
"Thanks, cat." I said sarcastically. Natsu crouched in front of me so he could look up into my face.
"Luce," He said, "what's up?"
"Don't worry, I'm just tired. I didn't sleep well last night."
"Did Erza kick you in her sleep?" He asked knowingly.
"What? No, Erza didn't kick me in her sleep," I said, once again wondering what kind of weird childhood relationship he had with her.
"Did she snore then?" He asked, leaning back against the coffee table.
"Does she usually?" I asked, and he shook his head. "Then why did you ask?"
"There's a first time for everything," he said, grinning. "If it wasn't Erza, then what was it?" He asked.
"I had a nightmare," I said.
"You too, then?" He asked.
"Yeah, did you have a nightmare, too?" I asked disbelievingly.
"Yah," he said, scratching the back of his head and looking at the floor. He blushed faintly when he said it.
"Natsu woke up shouting and crying!" Happy said exuberantly. Natsu scoffed and blushed a little harder. "He was saying 'Lucy, Lucy, I'm sorry!'"
"Shut up Happy," Natsu said, standing up. He turned around so I could climb on his back, but I grabbed his shoulders and turned him around so he was facing me. I stood up, balancing myself on him, so that I could look into his face.
"Did you have a nightmare about hurting me?" I asked quietly. He blushed, but didn't look away this time.
"Yah, but it was no big deal, just a dream." Natsu said. I took his face in my hands and did for him what Loke did for me.
"Natsu, listen, it wasn't your fault, there was nothing you could have done. You don't need to feel guilty about it." I knew I was being hypocritical when said it, because I still felt guilty about Aquarius, but I still had to try. "I know how you feel," I said. His expression softened.
"Was your dream about Aquarius, Lucy?" He asked gently, and I nodded. He surprised me then by pulling me into a long hug. He held me tightly against his chest, and buried his nose in my hair.
"Scorpio tried to kill me," I whispered. "In my dream, Aquarius died. She didn't go back to the spirit world. She died. There was blood, and light, and her eyes burned with hatred."
"Lucy," Natsu breathed. I tried to stop there, to stop my voice from trembling and to stop myself from crying, but the words kept coming, and the tears started to flow.
"She exploded, and it knocked me back. Then all of the sudden I had her broken key in my hand, and Scorpio was looming over me, telling me he was going to kill me. I woke up right before he did it, but I didn't realize I woke up. I hid my face in my hands, and someone tried to pull them off, probably so I could see it wasn't real, but I thought they were one of my spirits, trying to get me to look Scorpio in the eyes as he killed me. Everyone elses voices turned into the voices of the rest of the spirits. I thought everyone was going to watch me die."
"How did you snap out of it?" Natsu asked carefully.
"I didn't know what else to do, so I summoned Loke, the only spirit I could think of that would never hate me, no matter what. He showed up and calmed me down, and the scolded me for summoning him without a key. He said I could hurt myself. Then he left." I said.
"He left?" Natsu asked, sounding angry. "He left you alone?" I looked up at him and shook my head.
"I wasn't alone, I had Erza and the others."
"You should have sent for me," he said, "you shouldn't have been alone."
"I wasn't alone! And besides, Loke offered to go and get you, but I told him not to. I didn't want to bother you."
"You never bother me, Lucy. Next time it happens I want you to send someone to come and get me, okay?" He said, surprising me. He looked deadly serious, so I nodded. He pulled me close again and buried his nose in my hair again. He was silent for a moment before he spoke again.
"It didn't work," was all he said.
"What didn't work?" I asked, confused.
"Your kiss, the one magic, whatever you want to call it. In my dream, it didn't work. It didn't break E.N.D.'s seal on me, and I killed you. Slowly." He said the last word slowly, like it pained him greatly to say it. I didn't ask him for details. I didn't want to know them, and he didn't want to give them. I pulled away slightly so I could look him in the eye, and he wiped away my tears absent mindedly.
"Well," I said, standing on my tip-toes so that I was closer to his eye level, "it worked in reality." I pressed my lips against his, and he responded, almost gratefully, with a sweet kiss that lasted for what seemed like an eternity. We stood in each others embrace for a long time, just hugging, once we stopped kissing.
"You know, none of your spirits could ever hate you, no matter what you do. Loke's not the only one." I nodded gratefully.
"I hate to interrupt, but we should really get to work on the guild!" Happy said. Natsu and I let go of each other reluctantly.
"Sorry Happy!" Natsu said, turning around again for me to climb on his back.
After Natsu jumped back out of the window and I finished yelling at him to take the door, and I told him how I hurt my foot kicking around last night, I noticed he wasn't heading to the guild hall, but to the forest.
"Where are we going, Natsu?" I asked.
"Igneel said he wanted to get to know my friends better, and since you can't work anyway, I'm taking you to where he and the other dragons are staying. Happy'll stay too, so he can carry you home if anything happens and I can't come get you." Natsu said.
"What might happen?" I asked.
"I might be busy kicking Sting's and Rogue's butts," Natsu said. I laughed.
"Are you sure you can't stay too? I don't want to stay all day with a bunch of people I don't know all by myself, don't you think it'll be awkward?" I asked. Not that I didn't want to get to know Igneel. I was quite looking forward to it, but I didn't want to left to my own devices with five dragons I knew next to nothing about. What if they didn't like me?
"Nah, Igneel's easy to get along with," Natsu said.
"You just think that because he's your dad!" I said, "What if he doesn't like me?" I asked.
"You'll be fine, Luce, he'll like you."
"How can you be sure?" I asked.
"Because he's my dad, and I know him," he said. "Relax, Luce, I'm sure all the other dragons are nice too."
"Are you sure? I mean, I don't know about Skiadrum or Veslogia, but Metalicana raised Gajeel, he's bound to be hard to get along with."
"So avoid Metalicana," Natsu said, like he thought that I was overthinking things.
"I can't just avoid him! That'd be rude!" I said.
"So don't!"
I groaned in frustration, which pried a response out of Natsu. "Lucy, you're overthinking this. Igneel won't let anyone give you a hard time, even if they are hard to get along with." I sighed loudly in his ear.
"I still think you should stay with me," I said.
"I was going to, but Dad said that he wanted to talk to you on his own, to get to know you better without me around. I don't know why."
"Maybe he want's to ask me about all the trouble that you've caused when he wasn't around, and he doesn't think that he could get an honest answer from you," I taunted. From what I could see of his face it looked like the thought hadn't occurred to him. He looked a little nervous, like he thought he was going to get in trouble for something. I giggled.
"Nah," He said unsurely. "He probably just wants to get to know you." I giggled at the slight anxiety in his voice, and he chuckled along with me, still sounding nervous.
The walk, well for me it was a ride, to the forest was a pleasent one. Natsu told me a story about him and Happy going on their first mission together to run off some monster that was scaring villagers. The monster had almost got the drop on Natsu, and he would have died had it not been for Happy, who swooped down and carried Natsu out of danger just in time. It was this mission that cemented their friendship and their partnership. It was also the first time they fought together as a team. It was the beginning of their trademark fighting style. I laughed as he told me about how angry Makarov was when he got the bills for the several small homes Natsu and Happy managed to destroy in the fight. As it turns out, Natsu had always been reckless.
I told him some stories from when I was little, before my mother died, about me summoning spirits for the first time. He laughed at how I used to summon Aquarius when I was taking baths, and my initial reaction to Taurus.
We were both laughing loudly when we finally made it to the clearing where the dragons were staying. Natsu glanced around, spotted Igneel sitting amongst the other dragons, and headed over to him.
"Hey Igneel! I brought Lucy like you wanted me too!" He called shifting my weight to one arm and waving at his father.
"I can see that," Igneel said, turning to look at us and smiling. I had always thought that dragons, even the nice ones like Igneel, would be terrifying. I had no idea that their faces could be so expressive and gentle looking. Igneel's smile actually put me at ease a bit. He smiled and laughed easily, just like Natsu did. "I've been able to hear you two laughing ever since you entered the forest. It's good to know at least someone can tolerate this nuisance of a son I've got." I laughed loudly as Natsu shouted in indignation.
"Whaddya mean nuisance you old sac' a' scales?" I snorted loudly in amusement. The relationship Natsu had with his father was wonderful. Natsu glanced over his shoulder at me and grinned, apparently pleased with my reaction.
"What did you just call me you little meat sack?" Igneel retorted, lowering his head so that it was almost touching the ground and looking aggravatedly at Natsu.
"I called you a sorry old sac' a' scales, and what do you mean by meat sack?"
"I mean you're a disrespectful little meat sack who needs to be taught a lesson!" Igneel said, sitting back on his haunches and looking down on the two of us with a mixture of amusement and irritation on his face. He had that expression a lot when he was dealing with Natsu.
"Oh yah, old man? Bring it on!" Natsu said, waving one of his fists in the air at Igneel, and almost dropping me in the process.
"Natsu!" I said as I lost my balance and almost fell. He reached back and caught me just before I lost my grip completely.
"Umm, can you put me down before picking a fight with your father?" I asked.
"Yah, sorry Luce," he said sheepishly, walking over to a chair by the fire that had apparently been set out for me, as the other five residents of the clearing were much too big and heavy to sit there. Natsu set me gently on the chair and leaned down to kiss me sweetly on the lips. Happy made an irritating "oooo" sound, and a few of the dragons who were looking on chuckled. "I had better be going," He said as he straightened up. "I can't let those guys from Sabertooth out do me at building my own guild hall."
"At least you can help," I said bitterly, looking down at my hurt foot.
"Don't worry about it, Luce," He said, rumpling my hair. "Just focus on getting better." I smiled up at him and rolled my eyes, and he grinned.
"Say hello to my daughter for me, if you don't mind," Grandeeney said. Natsu nodded.
"Yes, tell Rogue I said hello as well," Skiadrum said, and the rest of the dragons also made requests for their children to be greeted on their behalfs.
"Sure thing guys," Natsu said turning away. He lifted a hand over his head to wave goodbye as he walked away, when a thought hit me and I called after him.
"Wait, Natsu, what am I supposed to do for lunch?"
"I'm sure you'll figure something out," he called over his shoulder before disappearing into the trees, leaving me alone with the dragons.
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*A/N- I hope you enjoyed this chapter, because it took forever and it was really hard for me to write. I apologize if the dialogue in the scene with the girls was a little weird, I've never actually just sat around like that and talked about boys. I've sat and listened to my friends, but I was only half listening, because stuff like that bores me. Anyway I hope it wasn't too bad. I'm really looking forward to this upcoming chapter. I think it will be a lot of fun to write, and a lot of fun for you to read!
I would like to ask for prayers for my Papa. He has been committed to the ICU because his nose was bleeding profusely, and he was crying tears of blood. I'm not quite sure what's going on because no one ever tells me anything, and it's not because they are trying to protect me. My mom is a nurse she knows better than to hide the truth, that not knowing is worse than knowing, but I would appreciate your prayers. Depending on how it goes I may or may not have the next chapter up soon. I like to try and post new chappies that day of particularly upsetting chapters to make my readers happy. I hope it works! See you next time!
