Dealing With Dragons
In Which Lucy Takes a Bath
Disclaimer: As usual I own nothing. Neither Fairy Tail nor the plot of Dealing with Dragons. It is a very good book though and I would recommend reading it.
Author's Note: Firstly, a bajillion tanks to my reviewers. I always love to hear that people enjoy my story. Well it would be pretty silly if I thought no one read my story and kept writing anyways wouldn't it? So thank you, thank you, thank you for the reviews.
There were several people who requested more Lucy/Natsu moments so I tried to oblige. As for Natsu blushing he and another dragon have done so in other chapters but it may be a bit more obvious in this one.
I have been watching and reading the Manga and Anime and I have come to the conclusion that Lucy is Fairy Tail's version of Princess Peach. That girl gets kidnapped always, or is some other sort of world ending thingy. Seriously though if she really dies in the manga I will be b**** pissed.
Thanks to Emcronia who pointed out a few of my spelling errors in chapter 6 for me. Sometimes spell-check doesn't catch these things.
So on with the story.
…
Natsu and Happy slept in late the next morning. This wasn't unusual but Lucy was worried that he would leave before she got a chance to talk to him about the night before.
As a result she spent the rest of the morning keeping an ear out for any signs of draconian awakening. As she waited Lucy prepared breakfast for herself and her companions, she knew Natsu would be hungry when he finally woke up. She hoped that he would be in a chattier mood if plied with food.
By the time Lucy had finished eating and tidying up, Natsu was still lay abed. With a growl of frustration she marched into the treasure room and set to work.
Soon she was drawn into the relaxing repetition of her task. Diligently she made her way through a large pile of potion bottles, carefully sorting the labeled and unlabeled ones into separate piles.
Unfortunately as she cleaned Lucy grabbed one particular bottle with a very loose lid. As she lifted it, the lid came off entirely, covering Lucy's lap in a faint mauve liquid. A quick check of the label relieved any worry from Lucy's mind. The bottle was filled with Emilan Vein, a type of honey from the Emilan flower. It was harmless but very sticky.
With a sigh she gathered up the bottles she had sorted and placed the labeled ones on the shelf. It was time for a bath, Lucy decided happily as she gathered the necessary items.
Hopefully she wouldn't miss Natsu while she was bathing, but it was a risk she was willing to take.
Lucy spent a moment staring at the wooden door to the hot springs. After a moment of indecision she stripped the sticky fabric from her body and wrapped a towel around herself like a short dress. The dress was going to have to be thrown out and since had brought a chance of clothes there was no reason to drag it inside with her.
Arms full of bottles of soaps and lotions, Lucy made her way into the softly lit hot spring. Her body was weary from yesterday's strain but the soothing humidity in the air had already started to work its magic.
"Hey look, Lucy's here too."
A squeaky voice caused Lucy to jump, nearly making her drop her bottles. Glancing up she found a familiar blue shape circling the air above her head.
As she turned to face forward Lucy sent up a silent prayer that it was only the cat in the room. Unfortunately her prayer was in vain as she caught sight of the hulking black form that was Natsu.
Lucy realized that she had two options. She could either turn and walk out of the bathing room, or she could continue with her bathing plans.
Suddenly the sensible part of Lucy's brain, the part that had temporarily frozen in shock, piped up. Why should she worry about bathing with a cat and a dragon? They were totally different species. She was in a towel anyways and even if she wasn't she had nothing they would be interested in.
With this thought in mind Lucy sauntered over to the edge of the spring. Arranging her bottles on the edge, Lucy slipped into the water with a happy groan.
Glancing up she found Natsu staring at her, a confused look on his face. His horn's emanated a bright gold glow that lit the darkened corners of the room. Lucy checked to see that nothing was showing that shouldn't be, but her towel was firmly in place.
"So," Lucy said finally, uncomfortable with the silence, "what was that dragon Metalicana talking about last night? Something about a King's Crystal?"
Natsu blinked, as though just waking up.
"Oh, that's one of the magical items that belong to the king of the dragons."
"Well Metalicana seemed to think it was pretty powerful." Lucy said as she rubbed some soap into her hair. "What does it do?"
"The Crystal shows stuff that's going on at different times and places." Natsu said nonchalantly as he cleaned one of his claws.
Lucy's eyes widened at the prospect.
"Like a crystal ball? Then why wouldn't he want to use it?"
Natsu shrugged.
"King Ryu is a stubborn old geezer. Using the King's Crystal is kind of hard and it takes a lot of energy. As much as I hate to admit it Metalicana was right. Ryu isn't going to use it unless we have a lot more evidence then we do now."
As she rinsed the soap from her hair Lucy thought more deeply on the conversation from the night before.
"Everyone was really upset when I mentioned the wizard." Lucy said thoughtfully. "Are they worried he was trying to steal the King's Crystal? Was that what Metalicana meant when he said you were going to lose half your magic before you know it? I never heard of wizards stealing magic rings and swords."
Natsu gave one of his snuffling chuckles.
"Wizards don't steal stuff, they steal magic. That's where they get their power from."
"How can they steal magic?" Lucy asked sceptically.
She rinsed the last of the soap from her hair and popped open another bottle. Pouring a small amount of liquid into her palm Lucy set about washing her arms and face with the floral scented liquid.
"It's those damn staffs they carry," Natsu grunted gruffly. "They suck the magic out of whatever is close by. Which is why they hang around the Mountains of Morning and the Enchanted Forest. More magic to soak up."
"What if someone stole their staff?" Lucy replied thoughtfully, switching arms.
"Well, he couldn't do any magic till he got it back. If the wizard's not holding onto the staff then it won't suck up any magic."
"I can see why you wouldn't want them wandering around your mountain." Lucy nodded sagely.
"Do you?" Natsu asked seriously. He stared at her with his head tilted slightly to the side. Lucy found herself shrinking slightly under his intense stare.
"Do you know what it feels like to have your magic forcefully sucked out of you?"
"No I suppose not."
Natsu finally looked away and Lucy found herself able to breathe again.
"That's why King Ryu made that deal with the head of the Society of Wizard. Those idiots stay out of our parts of the mountain and they are allowed some access to the Caves of Fire and Night."
Lucy nodded in understanding. She had heard the Caves of Fire and Night mentioned before but had never seen them herself. She wondered what they looked like. As she tried to imagine the place Lucy began to wash her legs.
To her surprise she found that they had more muscle on them then when she had first arrived. Must have been from all the lifting and cleaning.
"Problem is," Lucy looked up to find Natsu looking away, a scowl on his scaly face, "Ryu is getting old and forgets things. Now there are wizards showing up in all sorts of places they aren't supposed to."
"Like that wizard Ivan?"
Natsu grunted and a small flame poofed from his mouth.
"I wonder what he really wanted?" Lucy asked thoughtfully. "Do you think he'll come back like he said he would?"
"If he does, then I'll take care of him." Natsu snapped his teeth dangerously.
There was an angry glint in his eye and his claws made a scratching sound against the stone floor of the hot spring as he flexed them.
"Oh, stop that." Lucy snapped, nervous at the show of aggression. "If he's as tricky as I think he is then he'll come when you're not here."
"Then act stupid," Happy chirped, causing Lucy to jump. She had forgotten he was there.
Natsu brightened at the suggestion and nodded enthusiastically.
"Yah, if you act like a normal dumb princess then maybe he will let his guard down and you can trick him into telling you what he wants. You're really smart so I bet you could do it."
The innocent smile Natsu sent Lucy caused her to relax. She very much preferred this Natsu to angry Natsu.
"Alright, I'm done." Lucy stretched happily. Though the hot spring felt wonderful if she stayed in any longer she would get all wrinkly. "Do you need any help before I go?"
Natsu shook his head but Happy chimed in helpfully.
"There is a spot on his neck, behind his right horn, that he can't reach by himself. He always makes me get it but I don't want to get wet."
Natsu glared at the feline but eventually nodded.
Clambering out of the water Lucy walked around the edge of the hot spring to stand beside the dragon's massive form. Carefully she climbed onto one of the small boulders but Natsu still had to lower his head so she could reach.
Grabbing the brush that Happy held out to her, Lucy set about scrubbing the aforementioned spot. She could see why it would be annoying. The steady golden glow from his horns made the afflicted area easy to see. The scales on top were a light grey and fell away easily as she scrubbed.
The last patch as just out of her reach so Lucy pressed herself against his side as firmly as she could. Lucy felt him twitch and heard his claws rasp on the floor again.
Climbing down carefully Lucy tossed the brush back on the floor.
"There we go." She said cheerfully. "Feel better?"
"Yah, much better."
There was a little too much tooth in Natsu's smile but Lucy shrugged it off. She caught sight of Natsu glaring at Happy as she turned to leave and shook her head.
They were so weird.
Later Natsu went off to inspect the ledge where Lucy had seen Ivan, to see if the two pieces were still invisible. Lucy decided it was as good a time as any to peruse the many books the library held.
The way some of the dragons had behaved the night before had made Lucy considerably nervous. So she decided to see if there was a spell to make her impervious to dragon magic. She hadn't realized that when a dragon lost his or her temper that they also lost control of their powers.
Not that she planned to make any of the dragons angry on purpose but, well…accidents happen. The dragons had been too annoyed to be careful and she didn't want to get hurt by accident, no matter how sorry the dragon was after.
At first Lucy didn't have much luck. She hadn't had a lot of free time to do much organizing in the library. Clearly Natsu hadn't used it in a while and most of the books and scrolls lay in hap-hazard, dusty piles. Many had fallen onto the floor and there were spiders everywhere.
She shivered as one scuttled dangerously close to her foot.
Lucy realized that if she wanted to find anything she was going to have to do some more cleaning first. With a sigh she went to get a bucket of water and some cloths for washing and dusting. She also grabbed a handkerchief to tie over her hair.
Then Lucy set to work. For hours she dusted books and manuscripts, whipped down the dirty bookshelves, and putting the books back on them when they were dry.
By the end she had found two books and five old scrolls that looked like they would be of interesting. She set them on top of one of the few tables scattered around library where she could look at them later.
Lucy had just pulled a small pile of yellowed pages out from behind the second to last bookshelf when she heard someone calling from outside.
"Now what?" Lucy grumbled
She set the papers on the table along with the rest of the books she was planning to look at later, and stalked off towards the entrance.
As she rounded the corner to the front entrance she caught sight of a figure dressed in a gown that appeared to be embroidered with row upon row of tiny pearls.
As she got closer Lucy heard a familiar voice call out to her.
"Lucy-nee-chan!"
The blue hair really should have been a dead giveaway, Lucy thought retrospectively.
"Levy-chan."
…
OMG bath time! Also Levy shows up. I hope you guys liked this chapter and remember review mixed up is viewer. The more viewers the faster chapters go up. Lotsa love TTFN~
