Tick... Tick...
" Where is she?," Natsu half yelled half screeched as he watched his clock strike nine. Lucy hadn't been answering any of his calls and she hated wandering the streets alone at night. He was also worried about this mysterious situation that came up which she told him nothing about. He was 99% sure that he was overreacting but the remaining 1% was starting to get to him.
Natsu took a deep breath and relaxed into Lucy's marshmallow chair, inhaling her vanilla scent, checking his phone every second to see if there was any reply to his gazillion calls. On seeing none, he returned back to the dejected state," Damn it, Lucy..."
" Hey, Natsu. Look what I found."
" You better had not been ruffling through my stuff, Gray, or I will burn your ass and hand it to you on a platter."
" Well, technically it's not your stuff... it's Lucy's," Gray added sheepishly. He felt a fist smash against his nose as flew in head first into one of Lucy's cute dustbins.
" U WENT THROUGH LUCY'S THINGS?... U FUCKING PERVERT!"
" Oh YOU IDIOT... That hurt!" Gray yelled rubbing his nose," It's not like I went through her underwear closet or anything. It was lying on your bed and I think it's important."
Natsu glared at him skeptically and took the book Gray handed to him...
" A photo album?"
Gray nodded," Of our college days... Lucy is a very immaculate person, so it did surprise me when this photo just flew out when I opened it. Well, the album being out, sprawled on your bed was a dead give away..."
Natsu glanced at the photo in Gray's grasp. Lucy was smiling brightly at the camera, her wet skin glistening in the afternoon sun. Her arms were wrapped tightly around a blue-haired young girl, with eyes so blue they rivaled that of the purest skies.
"You think Juvia has something to do with Lucy's mysterious emergency?"
"You know her?"
"Yes, of course, I know her... She was one of Luy's closest friends."
" How come I didn't know about her?"
"Maybe because Lucy thought you were a pervert?"
"What did u say, you slimy lizard!"
"Did you turn deaf too, stripper?"
"Knock it off for a second and pay attention, genius. This girl showed up at my hospital with an unconscious child covered with bruises. Didn't look so trustworthy."
Natsu couldn't help but scoff. Lucy had introduced Juvia to him at one of their girl's night out and he was positive he couldn't find a more sweet or innocent person.
"Gray... Knowing her she probably rescued the kid. "
Gray listened. But he could not believe it. That girl at the hospital was no social worker. She seemed like someone with a lot of street smarts, someone who, though innocent, had emerged from the dark side. One look at Natsu and he knew that he admired her... a typical trait of the Dragneel clan... Appreciation for those with a heart. But somehow ... he knew better.
"Natsu... call Gajeel and Levy and tell them to meet us here ASAP."
"Look, Gray, sure I'm concerned about Lucy, but I'm sure she is just a little late. And if she is with Juvia then she will be perfectly alright."
"How long have you known me," Gray asked Natsu, looking him straight in the eye.
Without any hesitation, Natsu put a certain metalhead on speed dial.
Within a few minutes, Gray, Natsu, and Gajeel stood around a tiny blue head who was typing furiously on her laptop. After a few more uneventful minutes, she slammed her lap to the table and let out a dejected sigh.
"Sorry guys, it seems like Juvia is totally off the radar. I can't track her or her current whereabouts and I'm the best on the entire police force."
"Its ok, shrimp," Gajeel said, patting her on the head," We'll figure out some other way to find her... that is IF she turns out to be missing."
Levy sighed. Juvia was back and she didn't know if that was a good thing. She had changed. She was no longer their old Juvia and Gray and Natsu had every right to be worried about Lucy's safety.
"Gray, you said that she was with a child right?"
" Ya, she said Wendy was her sister. I don't buy it though. But why did you ask, Levy?"
"Gajeel... Put Jet and Droy on high alert security for Wendy. Tell them to inform us in case anyone enters the room... especially Juvia. Send them her picture too."
"On it, "Gajeel mumbled and immediately conveyed the message. He didn't think that this was too serious but apparently that wasn't the case.
Gray and Natsu exchanged alarmed looks which caught Levy's eyes. Even though Gray didn't seem to trust Juvia, he had no idea how dangerous this could turn out to be. Levy knew. Lucy knew too. And knowing Lucy, she would go to any extent to help her friends.
"Levy?"
She turned to the source of the sound and found Natsu with a dangerous look in his eye.
"Yes, Natsu."
"Are you sure that Lucy didn't just lose track of time?"
Levy nodded, "Meeting up with Juvia as such is harmless. But she is surrounded by dangerous people and situations. Situations we can't afford to guess with."
"Explain."
She gulped, feeling a bit... no, really intimidated by him at the present. Levy had always wondered how sweet and reckless Natsu had taken over the multinational Dragneel corporation, but now... seeing him all serious with the no-nonsense look and sharp eye, she finally understood how he had topped Fiore's most influential men list.
"Lucy and I met Juvia on one of Lucy's swim clusters. She was one of Phantom University's elite four. Lucy didn't stand a chance. After a couple of meetings, we had become good friends. Then we had dinner dates... that's where Natsu met Juvia when he came to pick up Lucy. For a long time after that things were great, we became closer and then one fine day she told us that she got an offer from Mika Productions that would skyrocket her musical career. We had known that she could sing but we thought that her dream was to swim to her heart's content. I had warned her about the consequences of dropping out of college but she didn't listen. She wanted this. Lucy and I were shocked but we supported her to do what she wished to do. And so she left. Took on the stage name Rain and rocked the world with her music. "
"Wait!," Gray yelled," I know Rain. I've seen her on the Music Awards thing. The girl I saw at the hospital looked nothing like her."
"Let me finish, Gray! As I was saying, she became famous, released a lot of albums, had a huge fan following... but she never did a stage performance. Nobody knew who Rain was. Until the day she won the Grammy. She was excited to go get the award. Natsu and Lucy had gone to the function as well. ..."
"Yes...Luce acted super weird that day. She said she had a huge surprise and when Rain came to get the award, she just froze up and ran out. When I followed her out, she was on the phone with someone and when she finished she asked me to take her home."
Levy nodded, "That's because Juvia was the one who was supposed to be receiving the award but instead they established that Jenny Realight was the real Rain. Juvia went against them and filed a case but they got her arrested. I don't know what she has been doing after she got released but all I know is that if Lucy got involved, she might be in actual danger."
She jumped when Natsu, devoid of any emotion, got up and walked to the coffee table, his fists balled tightly, knuckles turning white at his anger and frustration. He picked up his phone and dialed," Dragneel. Get me Crime Sorciere, pronto..."
