Author's Notes: Sorry if I took too long to update. I was so busy with work that I barely had time to type this chapter. Anyway, just a warning along the end it will be a bit M-rated so if you're uncomfortable with it, please skip it and if there are kids reading this I strongly recommend you to skip it. I'll be putting a warning before hand so you will know. It's not that long, it's actually really really short but just a precaution though. Thank you.

isclaimer: I do not own Fairy Tail or any of its characters.


Chapter 7: Convergence

The sound of plates breaking on the floor made the noisy 8 island diner quiet for a moment. All eyes turned to the blonde waitress, who was paler than she should be, bend over to pick up the shattered pieces of dinnerware. The diners all returned back to whatever they were doing ealier as if nothing had happened. A silver-haired girl went over to Lucy helping her out in cleaning the mess with a broom and dustpan.

"Lucy-san are you alright? Let me help you," Yukino said and swept the shards off the floor while Lucy picked up the larger pieces.

"Thank you Yukino-san. I'm sorry for troubling you," Lucy said apologetically. The girl in a similar waitress uniform as hers smiled back.

"No problem. You should rest for a bit at the back. I'll take care of the rest of the tables for now," Yukino replied. She finished sweeping and guided Lucy at the back as they dumped the broken plates in the garbage bin.

"But it's about to get crowded. It will start getting busy here in a few minutes - "

"Don't worry. I've got it under control. Besides, Sting-kun and Rogue-kun are about to arrive any moment now," Yukino argued. As soon as she said those, the two young men arrived dressed in casual t-shirts and dark jeans. Sting immediately noticed Lucy who was looking paler than yesterday and he frowned.

"Ah, there you two are. Lucy-san needs to rest for a little so I'll be needing help from you two for the dinner rush," Yukino said and shoved Lucy to sit on a chair, "Now you rest there for now 'kay?" She winked and went back outside.

"You look pale," Rogue commented as he put his bag down and opened his locker to change.

"I'm fine," Lucy replied putting up a front.

"Quit playing tough. If Rogue says you're pale then that's worrying. You know he barely says anything unless he's really worried," Sting scolded. He placed his bag down and sat beside Lucy. The blonde woman just looked down and heaved a sigh.

"I'm just tired. I'll rest a bit then I'll go out and help afterwards," Lucy answered. Sting just looked at her. He didn't really plan on asking any further but the blonde woman just answered his unspoken question which made him smirk a bit.

"What're you smirking for?" Lucy asked when she saw Sting beside her looking at her and even smirking.

"Nothing," Sting replied.

"It's creepy," Rogue said as he made his way towards the two blondes, "You should get dressed. Yukino will throw a fit at you if you don't help out. Take your time resting Lucy, don't worry about us," He went out after he said that leaving the two alone.

"...jerk..." Sting muttered which made Lucy giggle.

"You two really get along well," Lucy commented.

"Well we've been together since kids you know. He's a prick but he's like a brother to me," Sting said.

"Funny, that's exactly what he told me before about you," Lucy replied as she put a finger on her bottom lip and looked up.

"Really? How'd you even make him talk in the first place?" Sting asked to which Lucy just shrugged.

"He just started talking when I asked him. You should probably go out now and help them. The people seems to be piling up now," Lucy said which made Sting sigh and go to his locker. He pulled up a fresh batch of work clothes and took off his shirt to change. Lucy blushed and politely looked away from him.

"Hey Lucy, I just remembered - why are you looking away like that?" Sting asked raising a brow at her.

"Y-you idiot, your clothes..." Lucy muttered and pointedly continued to look away.

"What? I'm changing? You like what you see don't you?" Sting teased and Lucy blushed further.

"Well I don't mind. I'd rather have you see me naked than some other girl or pervert," Sting said and pulled down his shirt and put on his apron. He approached Lucy who was now looking at him and he put his face mere inches away from Lucy's. She was blushing again and he was just smirking at her.

"W-what now?" Lucy asked.

Suddenly, Sting put his hand on her head and ruffled her hair, "Stay grounded for now blondie."

He walked out after waving a hand at Lucy to which Lucy just pouted. She dropped the pout after a few seconds and smiled warmly at the door.

"Thank you Sting," she whispered silently. Everyone's really looking after me, she thought. Her thoughts went back to three nights ago when she poured her heart out to Sting.

flashback

Lucy and Sting decided not to head straight home. Instead, Sting brought Lucy to the nearby park. They each sat on a swing while Sting waited for Lucy to open up a little.

"Lucy, what happened?" Sting asked looking dead straight at her waiting for an answer.

Lucy just looked down and rocked her swing gently to help her relax.

"I guess I got what was coming for me," Lucy answered without looking up.

"I don't understand," Sting said and furrowed his brows in confusion.

"It all happened seven years ago..." Lucy started. She told Sting everything that happened to her seven years ago. Sting just listened to her and held his tongue to comment on every single thing that she blamed herself for. He clenched his fists after hearing what Natsu did to her all those years and he inwardly cursed at the guy who suddenly showed up and decided to ruin her life again.

"...I don't understand myself but I guess one way or another," Lucy said as she started to break up, "I always knew I had at coming..." She broke down in tears after that. She placed her head on her palms and felt tears cascade down her cheeks drenching her palms and some down her arms. She suddenly felt two strong arms wrap around her as she cried and she looked up to see Sting looking at her with a serious gaze.

"Let it all out. Seven years of holding it in is enough," he said and Lucy let it all go after those words. She cried her heart out on Sting's chest as he tightened his hold on Lucy, whispering reassuring words.

"It's all right. I'll hold you 'till you calm down," were the words that came out of the blonde man's mouth.

end flashback

Lucy smiled a bit at the memory. She stood up and fixed her apron before heading back inside to help out at the diner. All negative thoughts gone for the moment as she focused on working.


Natsu was busy working on his laptop finishing up the work he took home to make some more time for himself in the upcoming days. He stopped typing for a moment and went to get something to drink in the fridge. He rummaged through the contents and took out the bottled water before he downed it halway and returned to his laptop. It has been three days since Lucy's contract took in effect and ever since their meeting at the carpark of the agency, he hasn't seen her yet. Whenever he came home, he would always see that his unit has already been tidied up. He had to give it to her, she does know how to do her work well. His unit was now a lot cleaner than before and whenever he went home, there would always be food ready on the table covered in cling wraps that he just needed to heat them up when he eats it. Happy is also well taken care of that he didn't even need to feed the cat when he got back from work.

He went back to his work deciding to not dwell to those thoughts any longer as he didn't want to feel any remorse to the girl who broke his heart a long time ago. No, it wasn't just my heart. She destroyed everything back then, Natsu bitterly thought. He crushed the bottle he was holding after emptying the contents and threw on the side not minding that he made another mess thinking that Lucy can always clean it up tomorrow.

Natsu's phone started ringing and once again his work was interrupted. He looked at his phone annoyed but suddenly smiled after seeing who was the caller. The screen of his phone displayed the face of a silver haired girl smiling back at the camera with the names Lisanna displayed on it. He picked up his phone and answered the call cheerfully.

"Hey sexy, how're you?" Natsu asked in a meant to tease tone.

"Not good. I miss my Natsu," Lisanna answered in an equal tone that earned a chuckle from Natsu.

"I can imagine why," Natsu replied hinting something

"Stupid! It's not like that. I just wanted you to know that I'm going back to Japan next week," Lisanna announced.

"Really? So you're finished with your runway show in Paris? That's great! When's your flight back? I'll pick you up," Natsu responded.

"Wednesday next week. I need to finish up some things here for Mira-nee. So how are things going there?" Lisanna asked. Natsu sat down his seat and twirled the pen on his desk.

"Nothing much. Just work and something to kill my time with," Natsu answered boredly.

"Really?You better not be cheating on me there or -

"Whoa easy there babe, I'm not cheating on you," Natsu said defensively, "You know I love only you, right?"

There was a long pause on the line before Natsu heard a slight giggle over the other line.

"All right I believe you. I really miss you right now. Well I need to go, I have to finish the paperwork I have or my sister will kill me," Lisanna said exaggeration heard on her voice that earned a chuckle from Natsu.

"Okay then, I have my own paperwork to battle here. Get a good night's rest okay?" Natsu said.

"I will. You as well. Love you," Lisanna said.

"Love you too," answered Natsu and the line went dead.

Natsu placed his phone back on his desk and went back to doing his reports and checking the plan proposals from the marketing department. He was really thankful for Lisanna because it was her who saved him and helped him reach where he is right now. His mind retraced back the days when he was saved by Lisanna.

flashback

It was a year after Igneel died. Natsu had been living with the Strauss siblings as a sponger after he decided to leave the land of the Heartfilias. He hated them until now especially Lucy who tricked him and played with his heart, but the biggest sin they have committed to him was when they took away his one and only blood relative, his father Igneel. Because of his naivety, he lost his father and watched as he died on his arms. He partly blamed himself for it but his father's blood are still all over the Heartfillias' hands.

Lisanna took him in and invited him over to stay with her and her siblings which he gladly accepted. Mirajane Strauss, who was the eldest of the three and runs the entire clothing line company that their parents' left them with after a tragic accident, offered Natsu a chance to continue his study with all of the expenses paid without charge but Natsu refused and instead wanted to repay all his debts to them through labor. Mira had no choice but to agree since Natsu seemed pretty determined with it which gained a favorable response from Elfman, the second sibling, saying that Natsu was being a 'Man.'

Natsu did housework on his free time and he easily bonded with the servants of the household. On his spare time, he did a bit of self study since he didn't want to waste Mira's goodwill on him. He was a fine student back then but never really did good in making friends because he was afraid to trust people thinking that they will just pretend to be his friend and hurt him. The only friend he had was Lisanna and she helped him open up himself to other people. On his second year in college, he met Gajeel after he had a fight with him and Erza followed after she broke up the fight since she was the student council president. Lisanna and him always went home together regardless if Natsu stayed up late at school because of getting caught in detention. He really felt indebted to her because she always looked after her ever since he was orphaned.

"Natsu are you listening to me?" Lisanna asked looking annoyed that Natsu was ignoring her.

"Huh?" Natsu looked at Lisanna who was standing in front of him with her hands on her hips.

"I've been talking here for the last ten minutes and you weren't even listening to me?" Lisanna said annoyed.

"S-sorry Lisanna, I was just thinking..." Natsu trailed off. Lisanna glared at him for a few more seconds before she dropped it and softened her gaze at him.

"Is it about your father again?" Lisanna asked knowing already that by how he tensed at the question, she had hit the mark.

"...yes...but there are also a lot of other things," Natsu replied.

"Natsu," Lisanna said and approached him to take his hand and guided him on a bench under a Cherry Tree, "I'll listen to everything so don't hesitate to vent it out. It's always better to talk things out so they don't weigh you down too much. At least that's what Mira-nee always tell me."

Natsu looked at Lisanna as they sat on the bench. She was smiling at him and he sighed knowing that he already lost any chances of arguing to drop the subject.

"I'm just overthinking things I guess. I just can't seem to accept the reason why Lucy ditched me that day...and why did Father have to die? I just can't seem to forget it all... no matter how hard I try..." Natsu said clutching his pants in a tight grip as he turned his head down. He decided long ago that he will not cry any longer but even after a year of burying it all in his mind, he still is being haunted by the memory. Lisanna neared him and buried his head on her shoulder.

"It's all right Natsu. I'll be here to listen to you always. You can cry on my shoulder if you can't hold it in and if you don't want to then I will cry for you," Lisanna whispered as she coaxed him and rubbed circles on his back. Natsu didn't know why but when he heard those words, he just felt his eyes start to water and they stayed in that position until he felt like he had finished throwing away his vulnerability.

Three months after, Natsu decided to ask Lisanna out. Elfman was reluctant at first but Mira ushered her brother and let them do as they like. They were steadily going out on dates while on college and 5 months after, they officially became a couple. When they graduated, Natsu took apprenticeship from an old business acquiantance of the Strauss family, Makarov Dreyar. Lisanna arranged his apprenticeship for him under the old man who was reluctant at first but because of Lisanna's persuasion, he was given a chance by the old man. The apprenticeship was gruelling and he struggled to prove himself to the old man but he showed complete tenacity to whatever task that was given to him.

When everything was slowly getting good for him, a past that he didn't want to remember got back at him. On the company's steady rise, a lot of businesses decided to buy stocks from them. One company in particular was the Heartfilia Railways. He had never imagined that the day would come where that wretched family would swallow their pride to buy stocks on a small company compared to them. He figured that the rumors about the company being in dire financial staits are true. This was when his anger suddenly got the better of him. For Natsu, this was the opportunity that he was waiting for to get back at them for his father. He wanted them to suffer like they did and he was dead serious in accomplishing his revenge.

That day, he discussed what he wanted with Lisanna and she agreed to the plan. They made the Heartfilias sign a waiver form that will waive their rights to the stocks they have purchased in the event that an occurence arises that foul play is made or they become the reason for dragging down the company, the agreement they have will be voided. Natsu created a false security for them while Lisanna instructed someone to plant a false rumor that the Heartfilias were doing an under the table transaction to stow some funds away from the company. The stock holders heard the rumors and it stirred an investigation that proved them guilty thanks to Lisanna who planted false evidence to pin them down. The last he heard of them was that they lost everything they owned since they set it all as collateral.

end flashback

Natsu's thought was broken when a red flag message appeared on his screen. It was an urgent mail that he had to respond to since it was from a business client they were working with. He opened the mail and read the contents before replying to the message and once sent, he went back to his previous work intent on finishing it up to get some sleep he deserved. Any other thoughts of the past that surrounded Lucy thrown back to the recesses of his mind.


Next day

Lucy was finishing up her cleaning duties in Natsu's unit. She was given a day off from her part time job in the diner so she had time to go home early. Before she went out, she made sure that dinner was covered and that Happy was fed. She took her apron off and hung it on the hook on the kitchen wall. The front door opened exactly as she went out the kitchen and Natsu entered inside looking tired.

"W-welcome home Natsu-san," Lucy greeted silently and bowed. Natsu looked at her with a scornful gaze and immediately correccted her.

"That's Natsu-sama for you," he hissed which made Lucy gulp while her head was down low.

"I'm sorry Natsu...sama," Lucy weakly said.

"I didn't hear you," Natsu said and approached her to pull her head up to look at her eyes. Soft brown eyes met scorching black orbs.

"I-I'm so-rry Natsu-sama," Lucy replied and instantly turned away from him. Natsu looked at her a couple more minutes before he walked past her and put his bag down on the sofa.

"I already prepared dinner on the table. If there's nothing else you need from me then I'll be go-

"Actually there is," Natsu replied and immediately cut her off. Lucy faced him with uncertainty in her eyes afraid of what was going on in Natsu's mind.

"Say Lucy-chan," Natsu said in a bit of a mocking tone, "Have you ever done it with another man again?" Lucy tensed to his question and Natsu advanced to Lucy.

"I don't know what you're talking about," Lucy said tight-lipped and her head facing down.

"Oh you know what I mean. You don't have to be shy I mean we did it in the lake before and you seemed to like it," as soon as Natsu said those words, Lucy raised her hands to slap him on the face but her hand was caught by Natsu and he smirked at her. He pulled her to the sofa making her lie down there and he instantly pinned her down to it. Lucy stared wide-eyed at him.

"Tell me Lucy, how many have you had after seven years? Don't tell me you've been wasting that hot body of yours," Natsu said as he took both of Lucy's wrists on his right hand while his left hand rubbed lewdly on her thigh, feeling it through her dress.

"S-stop this..." Lucy pleaded as she turned scared eyes on Natsu who looked at her impassionately. He widened his smirk and brought his mouth down to lick at Lucy's earlobe and bite it hard that made Lucy jump.

"I think I told you before already. I can pay you double depending upon how well you performn your duties to me," Natsu whispered on her ear and licked his way to her neck, "this was what I was talking about."

warning

After hearing those, Lucy widened her eyes and she started fighting Natsu off from her again. Natsu just laughed at her futile attempts and decided to snake his hand under her blouse and grabbed her breast from underneath it. He harshly bit on her neck and she creamed from it. Tears were starting to trickle down from her eyes and she begged once more to stop Natsu from going further. Before she could scream for help, the doorbell rang and Natsu had to stop to glare at his door. He clicked his tongue in annoyance and rose up from the sofa when the doorbell didn't cease. Lucy took this moment to rise up from the sofa and shakily took her bag and wiped her tears off. When Natsu opened his door, someone launched itself forward and tackled him to the ground.

end warning

"Natsu!"

(crash)

"Who the hell?!" Natsu yelled and looked at the mop of silver hair in front of his eyes. The figure rose a bit straddling him and a very giddy Lisanna smiled up at him.

"Lisanna?!" Natsu exclaimed, "I thought your flight wasn't due until next week?"

"Surprise! I wanted to surprise you so I lied," Lisanna said and got back up and helped Natsu stand up. Lucy who was still in the room stood up and saw Lisanna helping Natsu up.

"Lisanna..." Lucy whispered. Lisanna saw that there was someone else was in the room. She looked at the other person and she gasped in shock when she saw who it was.

"L-Lucy? What are you doing here?" Lisanna asked and Natsu turned back remembering Lucy was still here. The three of them looked at each other while covered inan awkward silence.


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