"A school trip?" Lucy asked, looking down at her daughter with a raised eyebrow. "But you're out of high school!"
Nashi nodded patiently. "Yeah. Sylvia, Storm, and Jay have this school trip and they're allowed to bring a friend. I'm going along with Lester and Tagg."
"Oh," Lucy said, looking thoughtful. "Can I see the papers?"
Nashi pulled out the select documents Lester had given her earlier that day. The group had scanned them multiple times for any errors before finally deciding to go speak with their parents about it.
Lucy took them into her hands, showing them to Natsu so the two could read over them.
"Holy moly that's a lotta words," Natsu said instantly, looking at the small font and huge paragraphs.
Nashi internally swelled with pride at her friend's amazing work.
"California… you guys are going to America," Lucy breathed. "I've always wanted to go abroad. Never got the chance to, though."
"So can I go?" Nashi asked, nervously playing with her fingers.
"I mean, yes, it isn't really our decision. You are a legal adult after all," Lucy said. "But I'm guessing that we're gonna be the ones who pay for all of this, right?"
"Pretty much," Nashi giggled, happy that the plan was working. "You can attach the check on the next page, and I'll give it to Sylvia so she can give in her form to the school too."
"You guys are gonna go on a plane…" Natsu said, his stomach lurching. His face suddenly became a bright green as he quickly looked away. "Sweet Mavis now I'm thinking about it."
"What is already paid for?" Lucy asked, ignoring her husband's antics.
"Uh… nothing. We're going for a month, and-"
"A month?" Lucy said, her eyes flitting back to the papers in her hands. "Wow that's a long trip. Are you sure you want to go, Nashi?"
"Yes, Mom, I'm sure," Nashi said firmly. "It's already been decided, after all."
"Alrighty then," Natsu said, clapping his hands together. "I'm gonna help you pack, and Luce is gonna give you that whole speech about being careful!"
"Natsu, don't be so blunt," Lucy said, unamused. "Though I think this trip will be good for you. I'm gonna miss you like crazy though, Nashi."
"I am too, Mom," Nashi smiled softly.
"I'd still like to talk to the others about this. Juvia, Erza, Mira, and Lyon. I want their opinion on this whole trip thing," Lucy said, going to pick up her phone to make the call.
Nashi bit her lip nervously. Hopefully, everyone had already talked to their parents about the whole thing and everything was good to go.
"Hello, Juvia?" Lucy spoke, smiling into her phone. "Yes, it's me. I'm assuming you already heard about the America thing? Yeah, I told Nashi she could go but I wanted to talk to you about it too. Yes, that's good. Yeah Nashi told me that too. I wonder how much it's going to end up costing. Yeah, probably for the airplane ticket and hotel costs. That's a good idea. I'll give her some extra money too. A month! I know! Nashi seems really excited though. Yeah. Mhm. I understand. Haha yes I'm going to miss her like crazy too! I think the six of them, right, Nashi?" Lucy turned to her daughter with an expectant look.
Nashi seemed to know what she was talking about. "Me, Storm, Sylvia, Tagg, Lester, and Jay."
"Yeah," Lucy said. "The six of them. I'm surprised Velza isn't going too. He goes to their high school, right?"
Nashi then remembered what Jay and Lester said if they asked about Velza.
"I already told Velza about all of this," Jay said. "He understands and he won't tell anyone."
"If anyone asks why he isn't going, we've made up a pretty reasonable excuse," Lester said. "Since he and Sylvia are in the same year, we said that the trip is only for student in the year above theirs, but special exceptions were granted since she is the top of her class."
"The trip is only for people in the grade above Velza's. Sylvia can come because she's the top of her class," Nashi hastily explained.
Lucy looked skeptical, but thankfully seemed to buy it.
"It's because Sylvia's the top in her year," Lucy said slowly. "Yeah. Congrats to her. I'm proud too. Yes. Mhm. Cool. Okay bye, Juvia." She then hung up and turned to Nashi. "I hope you have a reasonable explanation for your brother. He won't be too happy about this."
"Got it," Nashi nodded, turning on her heel and running out the door.
Natsu turned to Lucy.
"Why'd you agree so easily?" he asked.
"Because we need to sort all of this out," Lucy said. "We can't do that if she's always here. This is good for all of us."
"I guess," Natsu said under his breath. "What are we gonna do about it."
"They're going to America," Lucy said. "California, to be precise. Do you know what else is there?"
"Yeah," Natsu said. "Flam & Tee Restaurants."
"Exactly," Lucy said. "Which means we our plan is also a little crumbled."
"Why? We can still go there to talk to them, right?"
"What if the kids see us?" Lucy asked. "They'll want an explanation!"
"A vacation?" Natsu suggested.
"No, they'll think we followed them because we're overprotective, which we're not," Lucy said, shaking her head. She sighed. "Whatever. We'll have to send them an email and go there once Nashi and her friends come home."
"Are ya' sure you're okay?" Natsu asked, reaching over to take her hand. "I mean, you kinda stormed out on me the other day."
"Yeah. For good reasons," Lucy said. "Anyway, that's in the past now. I still want to keep trying to fix this."
"Yeah."
"You do realize, don't you," Lucy started, "that if we can't do anything about this, we'll have to close down."
"Yeah," Natsu said, crossing his arms and looking away. "I don't know. That isn't gonna happen."
"We need a distraction," Lucy said firmly, getting out of the seat and walking to the stairs. "I'm going to go help Nashi. You go get yourself a drink or something."
"Okay," Natsu nodded, grabbing his things and quickly exiting out the front door.
Natsu ran through the town, heading straight for Gray and Juvia's house. He jogged in place as he waited for someone to answer.
"You look horrible," Gray commented when he answered. He leaned against the doorframe casually, watching as Natsu tried to calm himself down. "What're you doing here, anyway?"
"Wanted to chat," Natsu said simply, inviting himself in and instantly going to the kitchen. "Got anything strong?"
"Second door on the top cabinet," Gray said, going to the couch and taking a seat. "Take your pick."
Natsu nodded. When he finished, he sat across Gray. Gray stared at him with a peculiar gaze.
"Sooo… what's up?" he asked.
"Gotta tell you something," Natsu said, getting up to pour himself another.
"Alright," Gray said, watching as the pink-haired man kept repeating this process.
"Okay I'm gonna tell you something."
Gulp.
He stood up, going back to the kitchen.
"Gotta say something to you."
Gulp.
He stood up again, making his way back to the kitchen.
"Need to explain."
Gulp.
"Buddy, I think you've had enough," Gray said as Natsu began to rise again. "You okay?"
"Fine," Natsu said, grabbing his head and looking at the floor. "Gray, I'm a mess."
"I can tell," Gray said, noticing Juvia about to walk into the room. He quickly gestured for her to stay back. Juvia got the message, standing back in the hallway as she listened in intently.
"I've let everyone down," Natsu continued.
"Why?" Gray asked.
"I lost everything," Natsu said.
This time, Gray kept quiet.
"You don't have to tell me if you don't want to," he said.
"No, I've lied for long enough," Natsu said. "Gray. I lost all my money."
Gray's eyes widened. He sprung out of his seat and landed his gaze on the man sitting before him.
"WHAT?!" he yelled. Natsu winced.
"I'm bankrupt."
"No way," Gray said. "No way. No no way."
"Haven't ya' ever wondered why no one's ever at Fairy Tail anymore?" Natsu said, shooting him a glare. He then proceeded to grab his head from the pain. "That's because I messed up. I messed up really really badly."
"I…"
"I used up all my money on stupid things, and now that I have them, I have nothing more. I tried raising my prices so I could earn it back, but now no one wants to step inside the blasted building."
"Dude," Gray said, putting his hands on Natsu's shoulder. "How long has this been going on for?"
"A long time," was Natsu's only reply.
"And why did you not tell me about this before?"
Gray's voice was low and laced with hurt.
"I… I didn't," Natsu started, shuddering slightly, "I didn't mean to."
"Oh yeah, sure you didn't."
"Gray-sama," Juvia's firm voice interrupted. Both men turned to see the lovely bluenette enter the room with a shake of her head. Her hands rested on her hips as she gave her husband a hard glare. "Don't be rude."
"What?" Gray said, dumbfounded.
"Natsu is clearly going through a lot right now," she said, walking up to sit next to Natsu. She offered him a small smile, rubbing his shoulders. "Juvia is sorry this is happening, Natsu."
"Don't be," Natsu muttered, going back to holding his head between his hands. "I'm already completely screwed. Nothing worse than adding pity to that giant pile of self-regret."
"He's speaking in proper, full sentences," Juvia said, giving Gray a worried look. "Is he going to be alright?"
"Yeah," Gray said, "he's just drunk."
"Ahh my head hurtsss," Natsu hissed, rubbing his temples. "What am I gonna doooo…"
"Well first, you're going to go to bed," Gray said, going closer to the man and heaving him up by the shoulders. "And don't think you're off the hook just because you're like this. I expect proper answers by tomorrow morning."
"Okaaayy."
And with that, Gray threw his friend onto the bed in his bedroom, and quickly turned around to return to his wife.
"I'm just really really done with him," he muttered, taking a seat opposite Juvia.
Juvia cringed. "Juvia didn't expect that," she said quietly.
"Gray didn't expect that either, Juvia," Gray said, shaking his head and closing his eyes. "Gray didn't expect that either."
…
"Mmm… guh," Natsu said, shaking out of his sleep. He slowly opened his eyes to stare straight at Gray and Juvia, who were currently cowering over him.
"Is he dead?" Gray questioned.
"Juvia thinks so," Juvia replied under her breath.
"Welcome to the afterlife, Natsu," Gray said, crossing his arms and prompting the pink-haired man to sit up. Natsu did, and rubbed his eyes, before a shot of pain soared through his head and his hands flew to his forehead.
"Owww," he grumbled. "Got anything to help?"
"Yeah," Gray said, handing him a glass of water. "You're gonna be feeling that for a while."
"You have a visitor," Juvia added softly.
"A visitor?" Natsu asked, climbing out of bed while sipping the water he was offered. "Who is it?"
"Natsu?!"
Natsu exited the bedroom to see his wife standing there with a stricken look. Lucy rushed over to him, wrapping her arms around his figure and sighing deeply.
"L-Luce?" Natsu asked, stumbling backwards.
"I was so worried!" Lucy exclaimed. "You didn't call, text, or say anything to me about spending the night here!"
"Just drowning in my worries," Natsu muttered, pulling apart from her and going to the couch. He turned to Gray. "Well, might as well come clean right here right now."
Gray nodded. "That would be nice."
"Where do I begin," Natsu said, rubbing his hands together. "Okay. So I decided ta' do renovations for Fairy Tail. I appealed to the company in America to see if they can open up a few more restaurants for me, but they said no. I kept doing more renovations every month, and soon, my bank balance went completely null. To try and earn money, I raised the menu prices, but then everyone stopped coming to the restaurant. Case closed. Story over. Please review. Hope you enjoyed."
Gray bit his lip.
"You should have told me. I could have helped you," he started.
"I don't want your money!" Natsu exclaimed. "I never wanted anyone's money! If I did, I would have made a big deal about it and asked everyone for their money. But I didn't!"
"Then what did you expect to happen?" Gray demanded.
Natsu quickly turned away. "Does a miracle count?"
"Miracles don't exist," Gray said, crossing his arms. "You have to be an idiot to think something like that could ever happen out of the blue."
"Whatever."
"This is partially my fault too," Lucy said quietly, raising her hand.
"No, it isn't," Natsu said instantly. "You didn't do anything."
"I didn't want to tell anyone either, Natsu…"
"Yeah, but at least you realized it before I did."
"Natsu…"
"You both need to calm down," Gray interrupted, walking in front of the two. He then turned to Natsu with an almost accusing look. "It's okay. I don't really care anymore. If you really don't trust me, you should have just said so."
"It isn't that, Bastard!" Natsu screeched, jumping out of his seat and raising his fist. Gray inwardly flinched. Natsu's eyes widened as he realized what he was about to do, and he quickly backed away. "I… I didn't mean to do that."
"Yeah," Gray said, breathing heavily now. "I didn't mean to do this either." Gray raised his hand, levelling it just a little behind his head and moved it in so it hit Natsu's cheek with a hard slap.
Natsu stumbled back as the force of Gray's hand hit him. He looked at his friend with wide eyes and a shocked facial expression.
"You… you hit me!" he accused childishly. "Why'dya do that, huh?"
"I did it because you completely deserved it!" Gray retorted. "Baka. Baka baka baka."
"I know I did! Don't be so mean about it!"
"Baka!"
"Oi!"
"Baka!"
"Boys," Lucy and Juvia's stern voice interrupted their little banter. Both men turned to see the eyes of their respective wives boring holes into their skulls.
"I'm sorry," Natsu said, looking back at Gray who was looking a little down.
"I am too," Gray said. "For whatever reason you decided to keep this from me, I'm sorry."
"That was stupid of me," Natsu agreed.
Gray sighed, holding out his hand. "Truce?"
"Sure," Natsu said, taking the offered hand and shaking it firmly. "I still hate yer' guts, though."
"Likewise, Flame-brains," Gray smirked, ruffling a hand through his hair. "Likewise."
…
Nashi stared at the giant suitcase in the middle of the room, giving it the meanest glare she could muster.
"Who knew packing could be so hard," she muttered, looking around her room to see if she could find any other things she could possibly need.
"Nashi, you have visitors," she heard her mom call out from the bottom floor.
"Send them up," she yelled back.
Then, the doors to her bedroom swung open, revealing Tagg and Storm standing there with large smirks on their faces.
"What's up, Nash?" Storm said, walking up to her and seating himself on her bed.
"What are you two doing here?" Nashi asked with a less than amused look on her face. "As you can see, I'm very busy at the moment."
"Right right," Tagg said, eyeing her handiwork. "Which also explains why you're staring at your suitcase as if it was the most horrible thing you've ever seen."
"That's because it is," Nashi replied, crossing her arms and pouting. "Y'all are horrible."
"Nahh," Storm droned, picking up Nashi's laptop and looking at the screen with great interest. "You're working at this time?"
"Well," Nashi flushed, "we are going to be gone for a month! I don't wanna come back home to a pile of schoolwork! Plus, this is stuff for college. I wanna make it awesome."
"That's just like you," Storm snickered. "Heh, I don't have to worry about that for two years. Sucks to be you guys."
Tagg grinned, taking her laptop from Storm's grasp and beginning to highlight the text. "Hey you mind if I copy?" he asked cheekily.
"Oi!" Nashi immediately sprang out from her spot on the floor and snatched her computer from the boys' hold. "No way! That's dishonest!"
"Hmph," Tagg huffed, still smiling. "Still, I'm excited."
"I am too," Nashi said.
"Same," Storm agreed with a nod.
"I've never been abroad before," Nashi said, pulling her knees to her chest. "This is going to be so awesome!"
"I know," Tagg nodded. "America sounds so amazing."
"The United States of America," Storm breathed.
"Sounds united," Nashi snorted, giving him a light punch on the shoulder. "Maybe we'll all find that special someone there."
"That special someone?" Tagg quoted with a raised eyebrow.
"Yeah," Nashi said, sighing and leaning on her knees with a content smile. "That one special person who makes you feel like the best person in the entire world."
"Sounds like me," Storm teased.
Nashi rolled her eyes. "Uh huh."
"I dunno," Tagg said. "Maybe that person's closer than you think."
"Hey Tagg, what's your type?" Nashi suddenly asked.
"My type?"
"Yeah!" Nashi said. "What kinds of things do you look for in a girl?"
Tagg blinked, but responded anyway. "Uh… I guess she has to have a good sense of humor," he said.
Nashi nodded. "Humor is good."
"She's a big softie on the inside," Tagg kept going.
"That's sweet," Nashi commented.
"Yeah, that too. She's a sweet person, personality wise," he said. "A little reckless at times, but can be responsible. She has her own problems, but doesn't let that get in the way of her relationships with others. She has a good heart, with good intentions, and needs someone to help her come out of her shell." He could only think of one girl. Her face was flooding his mind as he rambled on and on.
Tagg didn't know how long he had been talking for until he saw the dumbstruck faces the other two were making. He coughed, abruptly ending his speech and giving them a weak smile.
"Well, that's pretty specific," Storm said.
"Yeah," Nashi agreed, before turning to him. "What about you, Storm?"
"Oh, me?" Storm asked. He looked thoughtful for a moment, before putting his hands behind his head and leaning back on Nashi's bedframe. "I want a girl that's the exact opposite of you."
Nashi's smile instantly fell.
"What?" she asked under her breath.
"You're too uptight," Storm said. "You're also way too reckless, and focus too much on things that don't matter. You're way too serious about things that aren't worth being serious over, and when you're not serious, everyone else is."
Storm didn't notice the tears pooling around Nashi's eyes.
"You also have this thing about you," he continued, "it's like, whenever you meet someone, they have an obligation to befriend you because you're just so charming. I don't like that. People have to earn people's trust, it isn't just expected and given out like that."
"That's enough," Tagg said, holding out his hand in front of Storm's face. "Stop it. Can't you see what you're doing to her?"
It was then when Storm's gaze fell back on Nashi.
"After everything…" she started softly. "After everything I've done to get you to like me. After all the trust I've put in you…"
"Wait, Nash-"
"Do you really not like me that much?" Nashi demanded.
"No, of course I like you," Storm said. "But not romantically. Never romantically."
"Why not?" Nashi asked. "Not that I like you that way, but why not?"
"Because we're friends," Storm said quietly, fiddling with his fingers. "I wouldn't want to ruin our friendship because of something like that."
"That's a stupid reason," Nashi snorted, while tears threatened to spill. "Dammit. I'm sorry. I don't know why I'm crying so much."
Storm gave Tagg a meaningful look, signaling him to leave for just a moment. Tagg nodded, getting up and quietly making his exit. Once Storm and Nashi were completely alone, Storm turned back to Nashi.
"You don't understand," he said, causing Nashi to look up at him. "You don't know what I would do if I lost you as a friend."
Nashi sniffled, her eyes widening as she heard his words.
"Me too," she admitted.
"That's why I don't wanna like you like that," Storm said. "Gah, I really messed up this time, didn't I?"
"Yeah, just a bit," Nashi said with a small smile.
"Truce?" Storm asked, offering her his hand.
Instead of taking it, Nashi lept up and captured him in a bone-crushing hug.
"Okay," she said as she felt Storm's hands tightening around her.
…
Tagg observed the scene from outside the door. He bit his lip thoughtfully as he watched Nashi and Storm embrace.
"He likes her," he whispered under his breath. "He just hasn't realized it yet…"
Tagg shut his eyes tightly, not wanting to see anymore.
After all, the girl he loved was slowly being taken away from him right under his nose.
With a shaky breath, he finalized something to himself.
"I won't give up."
Gray and Natsu make a truce, and then their children make one. -*3*-
Ahh so I received some adorable fanart which really brightened my day!
nyliadelta drew a really cute picture of Nashi, Storm, and Tagg for me on Tumblr! (My tumblr username is flaminkomage).
And I also got a drawing of Tagg from chhun_chhun_happy on Instagram! (My insta user is also flaminkomage).
Thank you guys so much again!
Anyway, hope y'all enjoyed the chapter! I'm really excited for the next one!
