Growing Pains
Chapter 9
"Woo! Seven days down and I'm free!" Natsu shot his hands into the air as if victorious from battle. In some ways, though, Lucy supposed he was. He did face death and come out on top, after all. She thought as they meandered down the forest path together, leaving Porlyusica's cabin for what she hoped would be the last time for a long while.
It was just her and Natsu making their way through the woods. Happy had been with them at first but not long after saying their goodbye's to the old healer, he had flown off ahead, muttering something about 'needing to catch fish' and 'impressing Carla.'
"Geesh, Natsu. You talk about the last week like we held you down and tortured you the whole time!" Lucy said, though she couldn't help but smile at the dragon slayer's back as he skipped ahead enthusiastically. His scale scarf and knee length jacket with the missing right sleeve flapped behind him as he plowed forward. Porlyusica had kindly mended the overcoat and a few T-shirts for Natsu to fit around his wings properly so he'd have something to wear. Lucy thought the healer had done a pretty good job, too. The jacket fit him perfectly.
Natsu pivoted to face her, walking backwards the next few strides. "Felt that way to me. At least yesterday did. You guys treated me like I was gonna keel over any second all day and you wouldn't even let me go out flying. I was so dang bored!"
"Well can you really blame us? We were worried about you!"
Yesterday had been the day Makarov had warned them about. Fate day. The day that the scientist's previous test subject had died. Both Lucy and Happy had hovered over Natsu relentlessly from dawn until dusk while Porlyusica ambushed him at random intervals to press her stethoscope against his chest, prod his belly, and point a flashlight down his throat. Natsu had found the whole thing quite unpleasant and Lucy couldn't blame him, but to her, it was worth every second.
It had given them all peace of mind, but best of all, nothing had happened.
There were no surprises. Natsu was fine and Lucy couldn't have been happier.
"Don't worry. I forgive you guys. I'm too stoked to get back to the guild to be angry. I'm gonna get back to action and fighting and going on jobs!" Natsu leaped a few feet off the ground before his wings splayed out behind him, beating to keep airborne. The gust of wind from the motion nearly knocked Lucy off her feet and stirred dust into her hair and face.
She spat angrily as some grit found its way past her lips. She caught hold of Natsu's jacket hem and gave it an insistent tug. "Earth to Natsu! I'm right next to you! You trying to turn my hair into a bird's nest, or what?!"
"My bad!" He let his wings curl back up and landed down beside her with a grin. The feat was amazing to watch really, dirt and all.
Natsu had caught onto using his wings quickly after his first few practice runs. He'd stayed out training until the sun disappeared beneath the tree line and the stars cropped up overhead both days, obsessed with his new abilities. He spent hours furling and unfurling, waving and flapping, falling, flailing, and finally, flying. By mid afternoon of his second day with the wings, he had mastered lift off, landing, gliding and hovering, not say he didn't crash a few times more over. His matching scraped knees and elbows proved testament to that.
But still, he'd caught on well, and he'd caught on quickly. Quicker than what the book had allotted, anyway.
Lucy contently listed to Natsu yabber on excitedly about everything and anything until the forest thinned and the town came upon them. As they walked through the streets and towards the guild, Lucy couldn't help but notice the stares that followed them. One woman stopped sweeping her store front to shamelessly gawk, while a man pushing a dolly full of boxes became so distracted when Natsu walked by, he crashed into the side of his carriage and dumped the whole load, startling his horse so badly it nearly ran off cart and all.
A group of children openly pointed, their ball game forgotten as their supervising parents rushed forward to corral them, eyes weary and mistrustful as she and Natsu passed the park green. A series of harsh whispers and fearful glances plagued them like flies on a mare.
"Good morning! How's it going?" Natsu said cheerfully as they passed the baker's stand. The woman working it dropped a whole case of rolls on the ground and didn't even seem to notice, much to busy staring after them to give it a second thought.
Lucy cringed and picked up her stride to keep pace with Natsu as he blithely strolled along, not a care in the world, or a single clue that he was startling near half of Magnolia to death.
These people are used to magic because of the guild, but they're not accustomed to seeing dragon wings on a full grown man in broad daylight. Lucy thought, considering Natsu's lean muscular form with the sharp lizard-like sails added into the mix.
"Uh, why don't we go this way, Natsu," She pulled his elbow and guided them both down a narrow opening between two buildings just before they reached the bustling open market square.
"A back alley?" Natsu asked, raising a brow.
"Oh yeah, I take this shortcut all the time," She laughed nervously and skipped over a puddle, motioning for him to follow her further down the brick laid side street.
"Really?" Natsu said skeptically. "That's kind of weird, but if you insist, I guess,"
He shrugged and followed her without much fight, and for that, she breathed a sigh. She didn't quite have the heart to tell him his new appearance was upsetting the common folk, not that she thought it would deter him too much. Still, he looked so happy and she didn't want to ruin an inch of that.
"Lucy look out!"
She squealed as Natsu suddenly pulled her into his body, a wing unfurling and curving out above them, umbrella-like. Her face lit red-hot as it was shoved into his chest. No sooner had Natsu taken her under his wing (literally), did she see the falling bag of garbage that whistled down from above. It banked off Natsu's taught wing instead of Lucy's head and tumbled into the dumpster beside them.
"Hey!" Natsu cocked his head back and balled a fist at the man hanging out one of the second story windows overlooking the alley. "Watch where you're throwing things, Buddy!"
Lucy stole a shy glance at Natsu while he was distracted.
Is he..taller than before? She hadn't noticed until now, but standing so close, Lucy was almost certain the fire dragon slayer was at least a hand more vertical than he'd been before sprouting his wings. Her entire height was fitting comfortably beneath his chin, and she'd never had to look up to him so much in the past.
Maybe those wings weren't the only thing that changed about him. He's definitely taller, and are his muscles bigger too? She wondered, taking time to notice the bicep curled around her waist and the solid curves of his pecs and abs against her. From her angle his jaw and Adam's apple were cut and his hair was dark magenta in the shade of the buildings. It looked almost streaked with dark red shocks at the base of his skull and around his temples in the light.
She could have melted there. He's so...hot!
The man overhead caught one glimpse of Natsu and let out a little cry of surprise. He ducked back inside, window closing with a thwat behind him.
"What's that guy's problem," Natsu grumbled, placing both of his hands on Lucy's shoulders and setting her safely back where she'd been before he'd grabbed her. "That was a close one. Maybe this alley wasn't the best idea -hey, you feeling okay, Lucy? Your face is gettin all red like it did the other day when you had cabin fever," Natsu looked genuinely concerned as he leaned in to get a better look at her. This only made Lucy's blush more vibrant.
"I'm fine!"
Natsu didn't look convinced so she grabbed his hand and tugged him down the alley hurriedly to take the attention off herself. "Come on let's get going,"
Fuck, Lucy! Get your head back to normal! Since when have you ever thought Natsu was HOT!? That is so wrong! So totally wrong! Wong, wrong, wrong-
She continued her mental chant all the way to the guild, navigating them through less traveled streets and thankfully dodging any more unwanted attention from the towns folk. They finally came to a halt with the aged oak guild door before them. The steps were neatly swept and planter boxes in full bloom on either side of the entrance and all along the windows out front. Mira's work, no doubt.
"Actually, that way was pretty quick! Sorry for doubting you!" Natsu said obliviously, "Man I missed this place. It's good to be home," Natsu was about to push forward through the door but Lucy placed a hand on his forearm to stall him.
"Wait, Natsu,"
The midday sun was high overhead and it was just nearing lunch time. Lucy rolled up to her tip toes so she could peer in through the front window.
Just as she'd thought. It was packed. Peak rush hour for the guild's tavern.
"Are you sure you want to do it like this?"
"What do you mean, Luce?" He gave her a quizzical look.
"Don't you think you'll make a bit of a scene if you just waltz in like...this?" She waved her hands and gestured at the whole of him, but mostly to the wings. There was no beating around the bush, she supposed. He had to hear it at some point.
Natsu gave that a thought and turned to her. The crests of his wings were tall enough to shade her from the sun. "I don't see how else I'm supposed to do it." He shrugged and then his face broke out in a mischievous grin. "Besides, I don't mind making an entrance,"
Lucy crossed her arms but a smile ultimately pulled at her. "Of course you don't," I shouldn't be surprised. He charges headfirst into everything he does so why would this be any different? Typical Natsu. She couldn't help but admire him for it.
Natsu put his hand back on the door's metal push plate. "You ready?"
"As ready as I'll every be,"
The smell of food and ale and spiced cakes wafted to greet them as they stepped into hall, as did the dyssynchronous chorus of voices, knives against plates, clinking glasses, and laughter.
"Oh hello there there, Nat-" Macao's greeting trailed off, his eyes going wide as he got a look at the dragon slayer. A good long look. Lucy was worried he would drop the two tankards of ale he was carrying, the way his hands loosened in shock.
Pretty soon, he was not the only one outright gaping at the fire wizard. Wakaba's cigar fell to the ground as his jaw went slack and Romeo froze mid bite, his food laden fork hovering in front of his open mouth. Levy, Bisca, Alzack, Gajeel, Lisana and Elfman were all having similar reactions. Lucy could even see Erza and Gray's face paling at a far booth near the bar.
A hush spread through the room as all attention turned to her and Natsu. The voices were snuffed out like a candle in the dark until all talking ceased and the guild hall was bathed in silence.
Oh God, this is exactly the reaction I was expecting. Lucy balked and blushed beneath the many eyes, but Natsu didn't seem to mind in the least.
"Hey guys! You miss me?" He said, his voice carrying throughout the entire tavern.
And just like that, the guild went into an uproar. Natsu was swarmed, a million questions and comments hurling in from all sides, most along the lines of "Where the HELL did you get those wings!?" Lucy felt like she were a celebrity surrounded by reporters, or maybe she was just the body guard. It was Natsu they were really interested in.
Their other teammates had to fight through the current of guild members to reach them. Erza was the first to shoulder her way through, being Erza and all.
"We'd heard you were injured but we never would have expected this! Why didn't you tell us sooner!?" She hooked Natsu by the back of his neck and shoved his face against her breast plate in an intense hug. Lucy had to smother a laugh as he let out a muffled groan of protest. "We were so worried!" The red haired re-quip mage declared tearfully, squeezing Natsu even tighter.
"These things are crazy. They permanent or what?" Gray asked circling Natsu and tugging at one of the scaled sails.
"They look like Mirajane's wings only more dragon-y!" Wendy said, bouncing up and down on her tiptoes to stroke the reptilian skin with the pads of her fingers.
Natsu managed to break free of Erza's hug and panted to catch his breath after being nearly suffocated by her bosom. "Hell yeah they're permanent! That scientist dude used me for his experiment, but if you ask me, the joke's on him! He just made me way cooler than before!"
"What? So you're a flying Salamander now?" Gajeel asked sarcastically, having also approached the dragon slayer. He crossed his arms over his chest and gave Natsu an unimpressed scan with his jet black eyes.
"You say that like it's supposed to be some kind of an insult!"
Gajeel shrugged. "Could be that it is,"
"You want me to show you just what a flying salamander can do?" Natsu raged, zero to ten in less than a minute.
"Bring it on, you scaley bastard! I'll still beat you, wings or not!" Gajeel unfolded his arms and sank into a fighting stance, a sharp grin peeling his lips apart.
It doesn't take much to bait Natsu. Lucy palmed her face as she watched Natsu spread his wings, nearly toppling a table over in the process and scattering the crowd that had swarmed to surround him with a serious of surprised gasped and squawks.
"Not in the guild hall, Natsu!" Lucy had to spit out a wad of hair as it was whipped by the wind of Natsu's wings. The air he stirred tipped cups and sent cutlery flying as he lifted himself a few feet upwards. Plates shattered as they hit the ground, mashed potatoes splattering and green peas rolling all over the floor boards.
"NATSU! Set your feet back on the ground this instant!" Makarov boomed from behind the bar. Reluctantly, the dragon slayer stilled his sails and taped back down. The wings folded up neatly behind him as he turned to face the guild master.
"In the week you were gone, I think I saved enough money in tavern damages to fund a year's vacation. Must you insist on negating my savings so soon?"
"Hey Gramps!" Natsu waved enthusiastically, clearly having forgotten he was angry with the man for holding him at Porlyusica's those last few days. "Check me out! I learned how to fly!"
"That you did, Natsu," Makarov said, shaking his head and grumbling. "Something tells me I better upgrade my insurance for this place,"
Natsu gave Makarov a broad smile. It was sheepish and innocent, but unapologetic and proud all at the same time. It was the cutest darn smile Lucy had ever seen. It was a winning smile. A Natsu smile.
She couldn't stop the laugh that bubbled up from watching the exchange.
She was starting to understand more and more how she accidentally fell in love with this pink-haired goof ball.
The Magnolia prison was located to the south of town, far from residential living and businesses alike. It was a block of a building, gray concrete walls with slits for windows. A wide birth of field and forest acted as an additional partition to the moat of fences and barbed wire surrounding the facility.
The magical forcefield encapsulating the property was invisible to casual onlookers, its only giveaway the birds who avoided its border smartly. The facility was fool proof. No one in or out without clearance through the single guarded entrance.
In a thicket of pine above the property, three figures stood in shadow.
"There she is. The impermeable bitch," The first man said. He wore a weathered gray jacket and black leather pants. The belt at his waist was heavy with knives, grenades, and handguns. He had chin length dark-brown hair and could have been considered handsome if not for the jagged ugly scar pocking his right cheek. The skin was bubbly and ridged, a burn of some kind, by the looks of it.
"She just hasn't met us yet, Dean. She'll open her legs," The second man said, a thin twenty-something year old with blond locks sheered short on the sides and left long and shaggy on top. He had a red bandana tied around his throat and wore a similar set of dark colored clothing. "We are the back up team after all. Best of the best. Perhaps if Haze had just sent us in the first place, Damien wouldn't have fucked up and landed Dr. Monson in lock down."
"Damn strait. All Damien managed to do was make our job harder, the idiot. That jack ass wouldn't know stealth if it snuck up behind him an' held a knife to his throat," The scarred man spit on the ground to attest his displeasure, "Why Haze wanted 'im to go in the first place is beyond me,"
"Oh come down from your high horse, Dean, you cocky bastard. You're no better than that gap-toothed fool," The third member of the bunch appeared form the thicket of forest and onto the grassy knoll, a bazooka sized riffle slung casually over her shoulder. The weapon further dwarfed her already slight form. She wore a black crop top that showed her flat stomach and a set of skin-tight leggings that came up to her belly button. Her hair was braided down her back, the color of muddied autumn leaves. "Why do you think Haze sent me to watch over you two, hmm?"
"To give us something cute to look at," Dean said, giving her a hungry once over. Before he had a moment to flinch there was a pistol cocked and readied by his temple.
"If even the thought of touching me glances through your stupid head, I will personally make sure you don't see tomorrow. Not so cute now, am I?"
"I think she likes you, Deano," Sap commented, giving a mocking thumbs up.
"Double goes for you blondey. I'll shove my cannon so far up your ass-"
"Easy Zoe, we do gotta work together here. If we don't deliver Monson to Haze by tomorrow, and he doesn't get his serum, its gonna be our heads rolling. I don't envy Damien's position, that's for sure. There's no telling what Haze will do to him for his fuck up,"
"You're lucky you have an excuse," Zoe disengaged the pistol and placed her hands on her narrow hips, surveying the prison below. "Well then, we might as well get started. What do you say, boys,"
"Shouldn't we wait till nighttime, babe?" Sap asked skeptically.
Zoe threw a playful glance over her shoulder and smiled, a subtle manic look to her features. "We should hit them when they least expect it." She pulled an iron ball from her hip satchel and tossed it to Sap.
"Coat her up good," Dean growled as magic flowed from Sap's fingers like pine pitch, slowly spreading to encompass the metal ball. Soon the oversized bullet was layered thick with adherent nullification magic and loaded into the cannon. Zoe slung the barrel over her shoulder and pointed it towards the forcefield.
She closed her right eye as she aimed the gun, a grin exposing her white shiny teeth.
"Let the fun begin," She said girlishly.
Boom!
The cannon blast that followed could be heard for at least a mile.
For those of you who are reading this story for the first time, welcome and thank you for coming this far! For those of you who have been reading this story since I first published it, thank you for sticking around and I apologize for the "update" a few days ago that didn't have any new content! I was editing the story a bit and didn't realize it was going to post as if I'd written a new chapter! Regardless, this chapter is new for everyone -woo! And guess what...this story actually has a plot line!
I got some OC bad guys and intend on there being action, angst, fluff, and lots of NaLu romance! I'm just getting started!
I have a bunch of content written out for many future chapters but there are lots of gaps to fill in too. If you have any suggestions of what you want to see, drop a comment and I'll consider it! Or just drop a comment to let me know what you think! I love any and all input!
Sorry for sentence/grammar/spelling issues!
Sincerely, A human trying their best.
