Chapter 7: Trial Part II
There were shouts and screaming as people ran out of the courtroom.
Natsu stayed firm and gripped his neck tighter but he left enough room for him to speak.
"Any last words?" He said mockingly.
"This is what drives you to kill a man," he coughed, "the Great Salamander finally snaps." He mocked.
"SHUT UP YOU BASTARD!"
"I remember the words you told her that night... that special night... the night you saw her future self die... do you remember?"
Natsu remained silent as the memory resurfaced in his head. It was the worst day of his life, the day he let Lucy die in front of him. He wanted to forget, he kept it buried, but here he is remembering it all again. For some reason, he had forced himself to forget all these years and now, this man recalls the only day he wanted to forget.
"I see that you do... you told her that you wouldn't let anything happen to her again... right?"
Natsu's grip loosened and the man could freely talk without the pressure around his throat.
"But here she is, with no memory of you... you failed her Salamander. Now your price for failing to protect her, was her not knowing you at all... hahahahahaha." His evil laugh roared.
Natsu was in a trance, his hands started to tighten around his neck. His body was engulfed in flames.
"NATSU! NATSU PLEASE LISTEN TO ME!"
There was a voice amidst the crackles of the fire or the cries of the maniac, a small voice that was calling to him.
"But those are our memories... you have no business in our relationship." He mumbled darkly.
"STOP NATSU, YOU GOTTA STOP. PLEASE JUST COME BACK TO ME!"
He snapped out of his trance and followed the voice. His eyes landed on his wife, who was crying and waving her hands. The fire died down around him and he finally let go of the man. He dropped to the floor, unmoving. Natsu walked over to Lucy and she was the one comforting him. His forehead was on her shoulder and she was rubbing his back.
"It's okay... he's not dead... we're going to go home now. It's okay."
After all the commotion, the trial had restarted the next day. Unfortunately, the defendant was not present for his verdict. He was charged guilty for all accounts and no chance for parole. The judge did warn Natsu that if he ever pulled a stunt like that again then the Magic Council will have to hear about it. The defendant's lawyer was trying to argue an insanity plea but the judge would not hear of it. The man was crazy and he deserved to be locked away.
On the way home, Gray was sitting with Lucy across from Erza and Natsu.
"Idiot flame head. You shouldn't have let that guy get to you... I mean you kind of did what we all wanted to but ... damn once the Master hears about your stunt, he's going to make you babysit his kids... and they are a handful." Gray shrugged.
"I agree with Gray. But we're kind of glad you did it though." Erza folded her arms.
Lucy remained quiet. Natsu's eyes kept shifting up to her and then back down to the floor. He also did not say a word.
"Aren't you supposed to feel sick right now?" Gray asked.
"Uh, someone at the council put a troia spell on me before we left." He answered.
"Yo dude, what's wrong with you..." Gray, obviously, was unaware of the awkward tension.
"Aye, Natsu you're acting weird like Lucy." Happy teased.
"HEY!" Lucy pinched his cheeks. "I'm happy that this is all over." She looked up at Natsu and gave a small smile.
He smiled back sheepishly. She had never seen him snap before so she must have been shocked. Oh well, it was better that she knew that he could snap than thinking he was perfect all the time. The two of them kept giving each other secret glances. Gray looked at Natsu to Lucy then back to Natsu. His eyes twitched.
"SERIOUSLY, THIS ALL OVER AGAIN!?" He threw his hands in the air. "WE KNOW YOU TWO LIKE EACH OTHER! I am NOT going through this again. We're too old for this!"
He almost ran out of the cart. Natsu chuckled. He remembered the first time he and Lucy were starting out. The secret glances and the shy smiles... Gray didn't want to be part of the team if they kept beating around the bush. He heard an uncomfortable cough from his side, oh yeah Erza was next to him.
"I'll leave you two to talk..." Erza grabbed Happy and walked out of the cart.
"What are those two going on about?" Lucy asked annoyed.
"They did that to us before... when we were unsure about going out... it was when we liked each other but didn't know if the other one liked us back..." He blushed.
"OH HAHA..." Lucy laughed awkwardly. "You know my feelings and I know yours..."
"You know mine... I'm unsure of yours... to be honest... I want to give you time." He admitted.
"Natsu... no matter how long it takes... it's going to be the same result. I know it's weird because it's been less than a year but you know... I don't know how to explain it..." Lucy sighed.
Natsu smiled at her and nodded. She loved him and that much he knew. It didn't take a genius to figure out how each other felt but it was about timing. Their relationship wasn't built in a day; this was over a decade of knowing each other... that's what he wants her to know.
Once they reached home, Lucy collapsed on the couch. Happy flew in and dropped right next to her. Natsu lazily locked the door and sat on the canopy near the fireplace. Everyone was tired and drained from the travel. As Natsu rocked in his canopy, he felt Lucy's eyes stare at him. He didn't want to turn and face her because then she would end up turning away and blushing, so he left her to stare. Happy had already fallen asleep and the other two just kept quiet.
"Everyone else tells me about our times together, but you don't really talk about it much. Why?" She asked hesitantly.
He sighed. He dreaded this sort of conversation. "Because I don't want you to feel like you have to be that person right away. We're the type of couple that goes with the flow." He smiled with his eyes. She blushed, of course.
"But I do want to know some things. Not everything..." She sighed as she rolled over on the couch. "You shouldn't keep all those things to yourself."
Natsu realized that not telling her was having an adverse effect. He thought he was keeping her from feeling pressured but he was keeping her from knowing their history. He got up from the canopy and picked her up from the couch and sat on the couch with her in his arms.
"I'm sorry. What do you want to know?"
Her face was flushed and she was left a little speechless. Certainly, his assertiveness made her heart do laps. Her eyes averted his stare.
"Our first kiss... how did it happen?" She wrapped one arm around his neck and let her other fall across his chest.
"Uh... Mirajane made up a game of mistletoe. She placed them everywhere in the guild, I mean everywhere, I swear her main objective was to trap me since I was really good at dodging it. You, on the other hand, were the complete opposite. Falling into her runes, every step you took. Thank God no one else was stuck in there with you." He chuckled recalling the memory. Lucy could only stare at his face and realized how happy he was just reliving the memory. She let him continue without any interruptions.
"I was so good with dodging the mistletoes but I had to keep my eyes on you. I uh..." He blushed at what he was admitting to. If anything Lucy had no idea, even when she had the memories, that he was looking out for her. "I kept you by me..." His face turned red. Lucy stifled a giggle. "I held onto you and never let you go that night." He was too embarrassed to face her so he kept his gaze elsewhere.
"I think Mira figured it out so she kept having to rearrange the mistletoes in order to catch us. It was a fun game. But we lost in the end." He held his smile.
"How?" She was engrossed with his story. Even though it was less imaginative than her own story telling. But it added to how she viewed him.
"You were walking to get your present from the tree, alone. Mira put a mistletoe right above the Christmas tree and she pushed Gray into that area too. So I uh..." He placed his hand over his face to hide himself from embarrassment. "I pushed, actually punched, him and sent him flying but I got caught in her mistletoe. Then you can figure out the rest." He said quickly as he rubbed his face.
"Hahahaha... I'm sorry it's too cute." She admitted as she couldn't hold back her laughter any longer.
"I know, it was stupid really." He sheepishly answered. "I really didn't want you kissing any other guy, especially Gray. Although I did want to win."
After her laughing cooled down. She took heavy breaths to calm her giddy state. "Did I know this before?" She asked quietly.
"I don't know. If you did, you never told me. But I thought you thought I was just being competitive." He looked at her and held her gaze.
Her eyes mirrored the same way he felt, without thinking he took his hand and cupped her face. Slowly, he pulled her in, angling his head to fit hers. He could feel her breath touching his lips. They were only seconds away from kissing. Suddenly, their door swung open revealing a shadow of a largely built man and his cat. Natsu had already been a protective state as he hid Lucy and Happy behind him.
"Geeze man, can't you knock." Natsu relaxed as he realized the dark shadow was just Gajeel and Pantherlily.
"Oy, Salamander. There are requests at the guild for you. Laxus wants you on them as soon as possible."
"Was it necessary to bust in here Gajeel?" Lucy asked tentatively. "Where's Levy?"
"Doctor's... and I don't really care as much but apparently Natsu owes Laxus some missions because of the incident at the Magic Council." He eyed them suspiciously. "You got any food?" He headed towards their fridge.
Lucy ran over to the kitchen to help him look for food rather than chew on their appliances. Natsu sighed as her warmth left his. He had that dreading feeling again. Even though he still has the freedom he used to when Makarov was in charge, Laxus makes him do specific missions now. Sometimes it has to deal with taking care of his devilish kids. He shuddered at the thought.
As he was leaving to go to the guild, he caught a glimpse of Lucy scolding Gajeel about what food is and how their appliances were not food. He chuckled to himself, maybe sharing his memories with her was better. She winked and waved at him before he head out the door while keeping her toaster away from the metal eating dragon slayer. He nodded and left their home and headed to the guild where the Guild Master awaits with his requests, perfect.
