She spun once, twice and once again on her toes. The song was foreign to her, but the old routine she used happened to pair well with it. If anything the tempo was a bit faster. It had been Erza's suggestion to wear tights underneath their skirts and she was glad to have done so. Her routine wouldn't have been as grand if she couldn't bend or spin.
She rolled her arms and pushed them to the right, folding her body with the flow of the movement before rolling back up and twisting to the right. Her hands ran through the air and touched the opposite shoulder. She paused, and then repeated the same steps on the other side of the floor space. A few bracelets littered the square, Lucy wondered if they were rejections. Then, she wondered bitterly if any of the cast out bracelets had come from Dean, despite knowing that he had yet to show his face tonight.
She fought to keep that bitterness from showing on her face as she leaned backwards and stretched out her right leg for balance. She felt a flash of anxiousness, still not knowing what had happened to the guy. Natsu and Gray were physically capable of doing things she couldn't even imagine. There was already a good amount of tension between them so who knows what happened that night. Her arms swooped to the left, giving her enough force to spin once and then she used the strength in her support foot to give one, two, three more turns...each one slower than the last.
Lucy took four pointed steps to the left before pushing off the ground and cart wheeled mid-air. she landed on the tips of her feet. A wave of gasps and 'Ooohs' reached her ears, reminding her that she had an audience.
When she was a girl her mother and father always sat in the front row at her recitals. She was clumsy then, often tripping over her own feet.
"I don't wanna dance anymore." A young Lucy pouted, her tiny fists buried in the flouncy pink tutu. She sat in the back of her family's luxury car, her father and mother sat on either side of her.
"But you danced so beautifully tonight?" Layla Heartfilia assured her. "Didn't she dear?"
"I was very proud." Jude Heartfilia swore.
Lucy slumped in her seat. "I tripped and knocked down Ira, she won't be my friend now."
"She'll forgive you. Besides..." Layla reached up to fix Lucy's pigtail. "You picked yourself back up and kept going, that's all that matters."
"You just need more practice." Jude dug through the tutu to hold Lucy's little hand. "If you give up now then you'll never become a ballerina. That is your dream, right?"
"Yeah." Lucy muttered, kicking her feet.
"In ten years time," Layla mused. "Imagine where you'll be."
"Performing in front of an adoring crowd," Jude painted the scene for her. "Your grace and beauty moving them to tears..."
Layla found Lucy's other hand and gave it a loving squeeze. "We'll be right there in the front row, smiling up at our darling ballerina."
Lucy bit her cheek hard to counter the wave of sorrow that tried to overcome her. The tears that welled in her eyes made the lights appear to dance along side her. She was able to quickly blink them away.
It was a little over ten years now, and She never stopped practicing even when her father isolated her from the outside world. Now here she was performing in another country. She couldn't say whether or not the onlookers were exactly an adoring audience...but leaning on a rail close to the square was someone who mattered to her nearly as deeply as her own mother. She saw Natsu looking up at her, watching every movement as if he were trying to memorize the steps. His known presence burned away the lasting remnants sorrow.
The music slowed, coming to an end. Lucy froze in her final position, before slowly letting her outreached arms float down to her sides.
The crowd was painfully silent at first. She blinked and threw her gaze around to see blank stares aimed at her.
"Yeah Lucy!" She heard Happy cheer.
Then a loud whistle broke the silence and a couple scattered claps begun an avalanche of applause.
Lucy exhaled and exited the square. The crowd parted for her as she found her way back to her friends. Natsu fell into step behind her.
"You made that look so easy."
Behind her the music started back up as the next dancer took her place in the middle of the square.
Lucy wiped sweat off of her forehead. "Years of practice."
Happy flew around her head like a house fly. "That was amazing!"
"Thank you." She sat down at their table.
"Brava!" Erza clapped.
Gray nodded.
Natsu sat in the chair opposite of her and she felt every foot between them. She wanted to go back to the moment when he was touching her hand. How far would that have gone without Gray's sudden appearance. Lucy filled her lungs with air and exhaled.
"We better go to bed soon." Erza suggested. "We'll want to be on our way by noon."
"Good." Natsu said, shuffling in his seat. "I say we leave before dawn."
"What?" Happy complained. "We'll be so tired!"
"Yeah Natsu." Gray smirked. "What's the hurry, it's been too long since the last time we've been to a party. We don't want to leave yet."
Natsu glared at Gray for a short second before looking away. "I'm just ready to get going again."
Erza's eyes narrowed. "This doesn't have anything to do with Dean, does it?" She asked in a dry tone.
Natsu looked down at the table. "Nope."
Lucy leaned forward. "He's missing. You didn't hurt him did you?"
"He's alive." Gray confirmed, with a dark chuckle.
Natsu leaned back in his seat with ease. "Don't worry about it."
"Oh boy." Erza slapped her hand over her face.
"On a more important note," Gray changed the subject. "How are we gonna get back in the room?"
"Through the window," Erza told him. "When the coast is clear."
Lucy tensed up, frustrated that they were keeping something from her.
-0-
After about an hour the Maiden Circle came to an end and the villagers found partners. The square was covered once again with people swaying, spinning and swinging each other around. There was one fist fight, but it was quickly disbanded.
Natsu laid his head on the table and fake sobbed. "That makes me miss home."
Gray patted his friend's back roughly. "There there."
"I need a good fight right now." Natsu sniffed.
"You're a beautiful dancer." A young girl stepped up to Lucy.
Lucy stared at the girl, wondering who she was until Mabel and Uriah stepped up. Neville was asleep in his grandmother's arms.
"Slow down Ellie." Uriah chastised.
Ellie took a step back, but opened her mouth to speak. "How long did it take to learn how to flip in the air like that?"
Lucy turned in her seat to face the girl. "I started gymnastics when I was six, but I have been dancing since I was three."
"My aunt is teaching me." Ellie told her, "I can do this."
Ellie proudly swung her arms and wrapped them around her shoulders to gain momentum. She spun once, and twice before stopping to beam up at Lucy.
Lucy and Mabel clapped. "Very good."
"We don't have official instructors here." Mable said, sounding a little dismayed. "Everything taught is passed down."
"None of the people here have seen anything like what you did." Uriah said.
"Was dancing a big deal in Old Cyrene?" Lucy asked, trying to get the attention off of her.
"Oh yes." Uriah said nostalgically. "The square in this village is a near exact replica of Cyrenity Square in the old one. It's a tribute to Cyrene's dancing culture. Dance is used for everything, funerals, weddings, birthdays, courtship..."
"Storytelling." Mabel added.
"That." Uriah confirmed.
"My Great Grandmother was a famous dancer." Mabel told them. "She and my Great Aunts performed for the King at his wedding."
"The King wanted to marry her to his younger brother." Said Uriah.
"But she was already engaged to my Great Grandfather." Mabel laughed.
"I want to perform for a King one day." Ellie dreamed.
"Just keep practicing and you just might." Lucy promised.
Ellie nodded and completed more turns.
Uriah pulled the chair out for Mabel and then sat down next to her. They were joined by a man that closely resembled Uriah with his square jaw and long nose. His eyes were most like Mabel's, round and up turned.
"Dylan!" Mabel greeted.
Dylan nodded. "Hey mom."
"Dad!" Ellie cheered. "I was practicing my turns, see!"
"That's great sweetie." He sat down next to Uriah.
"Where's Georgia?" Uriah asked.
"She took the other kids home, she's tired."
Uriah went around the table to introduce everybody.
"You look stressed Honey." Mabel pointed out."
Dylan leaned back in his chair and scratched the back of his head. "There's talk going around about leading an attack against Spartanville. The young guys are riling eachother up."
"Not Kenny, right?" Mabel asked in a strained voice. "Please tell me your brother doesn't have a part in this."
"Kenny too." Dylan confirmed.
"Who the hell is the brains behind this stupidity?" Uriah grumbled.
Lucy threw a quick look at Natsu. He looked back at her and then away real quick.
"Gunner." Dylan spat.
"What?" Uriah said in disbelief. "That boy is scared of his own shadow?"
Dylan shrugged. "I don't know how they think they'll pull this off."
"We just need to put our faith in the Parliment." Mabel stroked Neville's nervously. "They're the only ones that can do any good."
"They have too much going on with Bosco, mother." Dylan said, looking down at his hands.
"What's going on with Bosco?" Erza asked.
"Slave trade." Dylan answered. "There has been enough word of mouth to convince all of Ishgar that the women are being taken somewhere in Bosco. Nobody knows where or what for."
"Glamor models." Natsu piped in.
"Oh yeah." Lucy leaned forward in her seat. "I was almost taken by a guy from Bosco. He was hired to find potential glamor models."
"Did you tell anyone about that?" Dylan asked her pointedly.
Lucy felt shame wash over her like syrup. "No, I didn't."
"That's a pretty big piece of information." Mabel frowned. "You should have."
"Where's that guy now?" Uriah asked.
"In Fiore." Lucy answered. "We ran into him before we helped put on that play."
"You need to tell someone as soon as possible." Mabel stressed.
"I will." Lucy promised, mentally kicking herself. She had naively believed that the incident wasn't that big.
I've been sitting on that information for years while countless women and girls have been kidnapped and missing for years.
"Countless wizards have been hired to track them down, but to no avail." Dylan said.
"How many women have disappeared from here?" Gray asked.
"None." Uriah said cheerfully.
"Well that's good." Erza muttered.
"For us." Mabel said sadly. "Thousands of girls have gone missing over the years."
Lucy thought about how easily she and the other girls had ended up on Bora's boat. By luck she had been able to recognize his charms over her. Otherwise, Lucy had no doubt that she would still be missing.
"The good news," Dylan said in a terse tone. "Is that nobody is going anywhere without Paul and Dean and neither of them have been seen in the last hour."
"They better stay gone." Uriah grumbled. "If they start a war I'll beat them before the Joyans get to them!"
"I was with Paul about an hour ago." Erza admitted. "He said he was going to run home for a minute."
"Did he come back?"
"Not that I know of."
"Dean and Paul are usually the loudest ones at these celebrations." Dylan muttered. "It's too quiet without them."
"No kidding." Uriah looked around at the crowd for their faces.
"Maybe they felt like they had already proposed to everyone this year?" Dylan joked, twisting Lucy's stomach.
"Actually." Erza raised her wrist.
"That's not coming in my house." Uriah warned.
Erza laughed. "I'll leave it outside, I promise."
Dylan groaned.
"What is it son?" Uriah asked.
"Just how chaotic everything is," Dylan tapped his fingers on the table. "There is so much political unrest and I'm afraid we're right in the middle."
"I think it sounds messed up that the Parliament won't do anything about Joya." Erza said flatly. "Surely they could at least create a base or something. I mean Cyrene is a part of Iceburg."
"I'm sure they just care about the land." Uriah rolled his eyes.
"It's all about resources." Dylan spat.
"All the monarchies are playing coy." Uriah shook his finger. "They don't want to make the first move. All it's gonna take is a wrong move on someone's part and then woosh!" Uriah moved his arms upward. "Everything hits the fan."
Lucy frowned, wondering if he believed Fiore to be a part of this.
"Queen Hisui isn't like that." Natsu shook his head. "She's peaceful."
"She's naive." Uriah said bitterly. "Fiore is infamous for keeping to itself."
"That's not true though." Natsu countered.
"We can attest to that." Erza swore. "Our guild has been a part of several battles that left the fate of the world swinging in the balance."
"Because they happened on Fiorian soil." Dylan said. "If it happened anywhere else there's no telling when Fiore would step in."
"Either way," Gray said with cold eyes. "We fought to the end of our strength to save Ishgar."
"All of humanity was set to be annihilated." Lucy muttered.
"I just don't know if I believe it." Uriah shook his head. "Demons and dragons"
"A black wizard of death." Mabel threw in.
Gray narrowed his eyes. "His name was-"
Natsu shot his hand out and hovered it an inch away from Gray's chest. "We don't need to defend ourselves." Natsu scowled. "We know what happened and that's all that matters."
"E.N.D.?" Uriah guessed.
The name froze the table like a spell.
"Not even close." Erza shook her head, breaking the ice.
"That's the name that got back to us." Mabel told them in a cautious tone.
"You said the Black Wizard of Death right?" Dylan questioned.
"That wasn't E.N.D." Erza informed them.
"We've heard about this before." Dylan reminded his parents. "The Book of Zeref."
"Ah." Mabel sighed. "That's right, the father of demons."
"Stories." Uriah spat.
"The Demon and the Maiden of the Sea." Mabel recounted. "That's the most popular one, at least around here. I can hardly remember how it went..."
"The fall of Charlotte." Dylan threw out there.
"What are those about?" Lucy asked.
"It's fiction." Mabel half rolled her eyes. "
"Children's tales." Uriah agreed.
"About what?" Erza pressed.
"A Demon falling in love with an island girl." Uriah said vaguely.
"The girl belonged to a Dragon." Mabel added. "The Dragon was so angry when she fell in love with the demon that he destroyed her home with one breath."
"I wonder if the Dragon was a human?" Erza said aloud, trying to rationalize the story.
"That used Dragon slayer magic?" Lucy added.
"That would explain why she 'belonged' to him." Erza nodded.
"What's that?" Uriah asked.
"It's a magic taught by dragons or...implanted with a lacrima. Eventually a human that uses it turns into a dragon." Erza explained. "Maybe this 'Dragon' knew the girl beforehand."
"And destroyed the island out of grief?" Mabel put together.
"Does the story mention that?" Gray asked.
"Uh..." Mabel looked at Uriah.
"I don't remember anything about a human dragon." Uriah shrugged.
"Maybe ask Sue." Mabel suggested. "She's the reader of the family."
"Sue stayed home." Dylan told them. "Rallie is sick."
"Oh, my poor grandbaby." Mabel cooed.
"Who was E.N.D. then." Uriah asked. "You sound affiliated with him or something."
"The Demon to end all demons." Dylan said. "The most evil and powerful of all."
"Yikes." Mabel shuddered.
Natsu pushed out of his seat.
"Natsu-" Lucy gasped.
"-I'm going to bed." He turned and walked through the crowd.
Lucy scrambled to chase after Natsu to make sure he was okay, but Gray stopped her.
"Someone needs to go after him!" Lucy growled.
"Let me Lucy." Gray said, looking into her eyes firmly.
Lucy bit her cheek, wondering why it felt like Gray was trying to protect her from Natsu.
"You boys would be better off grabbing your things from The Walker's house and staying over at our place tonight." Uriah offered.
"You sure?" Gray asked.
"Yeah." Uriah nodded. "No telling what's going on over there."
"You know where the house key is?" Mabel asked.
"Yes ma'am." Gray nodded, and turned away to follow Natsu.
"What was that about?" Mabel looked at Erza with wide eyes.
Lucy watched Gray weave through the crowd and fade from sight.
"E.N.D. isn't evil." Lucy said in a tight voice. "Far from it."
Uriah's brow was furrowed in thought. "You sound like you knew him personally."
"I did." Lucy confirmed. "But E.N.D. doesn't exist anymore. I made sure of it."
"If he wasn't evil," Uriah questioned. "Then why did you need to get rid of him?"
"It's hard to explain." Erza drummed her fingers on the table. "It's too late to get into that tale."
Uriah and his family stared up Erza, the air was thick with questions.
"Thank you for telling us." Mabel said finally. "And please give our appologies to Natsu for us, we didn't mean to insult anybody. We are very grateful for your help."
"Truly grateful." Uriah emphasized.
"We will." Erza promised.
Lucy looked up and saw Wendy approaching with a sleepy Happy and Carla in her arms. "I'm gonna take them home." Wendy said.
"Let's all go." Erza said, standing.
"I'll make breakfast in the morning." Mabel said. "Before you go."
"Thank you." Wendy bowed.
"Goodnight." Lucy called as she hurried through the crowd.
"Wait up." Wendy's voice reached her.
Lucy slowed her pace and the two girls caught up.
"Where's the guys?" Wendy asked.
"They went home already." Lucy filled her in. "Uriah is letting them stay with us."
"That's a relief." Wendy sighed. "I didn't like sneaking them in."
"Me either." Erza agreed.
"We still don't know what they did to get kicked out." Lucy grumbled.
"Clearly Dean did something to piss Natsu off." Erza reasoned.
"Or Gray." Wendy threw in.
"It was Natsu." Erza and Lucy said together.
"How do you know?"
Erza chuckled. "I could tell by the way Gray looked at me last night, it was a classic 'Natsu did something dumb and/or impulsive' look."
"Sounds about right." Lucy huffed.
They made it to the house and Erza used the spare key to let themselves in. They could hear Gray and Natsu's laughter echoing through the halls.
Lucy pushed her way in.
Natsu laid on his back with his right leg crossed over his knee.
"What's so funny?" Lucy asked. Happy to see a smile on Natsu's face.
"Juvia called," Gray filled them in. "They found out the baby is a girl and Gajeel fainted."
"Hahaha!" Natsu gasped for air. "What a wimp!"
"A girl!" Erza squealed.
Lucy and Wendy grabbed hands and looked at eachother with wide eyes.
"Have they thought of names yet!" Erza had folded her hands together and brought it up to her face.
"Uh..." Gray put the lacrima back to his ear. "Baby, did they mention names...no."
"Gajeelia?" Natsu suggested.
Lucy laughed and plopped down her bed. "You just add 'ia' to any name and think it's great."
"Gajeelia!" Erza gushed. "I love it."
"How far along is she?" Wendy asked.
"How far along is she?" Gray asked. "Four months...due in December."
"Five more months!" Erza cheered.
"We need to hurry and get home." Lucy fell back on the bed. "I'm ready to be an Aunt!"
"First we need to get the hell out of here." Natsu muttered.
"We'll get up in the morning, eat breakfast, and then hit the road." Erza chattered. "I'm going to take a shower." She practically ran out of the room.
Lucy smiled, glad that some happy news had busted the negative energy set upon them by their host's lack of knowledge. She dug through her clothes to find something clean and cool to change into for bed, deciding she'd shower in the morning.
"Guys, do you have enough blankets?" Lucy asked Gray and Natsu. "It's kind of chilly tonight."
"I'm good." Gray told her.
"Yep." Natsu yawned.
"I know." Gray murmured to Juvia. "I'm sorry for the delay...more and more everyday. We'll go on a quest. Just the two of us...Anywhere you want. I miss you too..."
"Trying to sleep here." Natsu grumbled.
Wham!
"Ow!" Natsu howled. "What'd you throw at me?"
"I miss you more babe."
Wham!
"Nastu!" Gray sneered.
Lucy sat up and saw Gray squeezing a pillow in his hand.
"You threw it first."
"You were being rude."
"You're the one keeping us awake."
"Goodnight Juvia." Gray grumbled, ending the call. "Truce."
"Truce." Natsu rolled over on his mat.'
Lucy rolled her eyes and snuggled back into her blankets. Worry for Natsu swelled in her chest, but she was able to smooth it down. He was still raw from everything that had gone down over the last two years. She was too, and nothing helped better than being around her friends. She listened to her friends breathing and smiled, hoping they'd be together like this for a long time.
-0-
Lucy woke up to a sunlit room and felt something warm against her abdomen. Looking down she saw a ball of blue fur and smiled at how cute the little bastard was. Lucy loved how silky smooth his ears were, she ran one between her thumb and forefinger. She took care to move around him, not wanting to wake him up. As she finished tucking a blanket around him black marks on her hand caught Lucy's eyes.
Marker?
Confused, Lucy stepped around the bags on the floor. Natsu and Gray were already up and gone, but Erza, Wendy and Carla were still sleeping soundly in their beds. Lucy grabbed her clothes for the day and shut the bedroom door softlybehind her.
At the far end of the hallway she saw the back of Natsu's head, a pink tangle of hair. Gray peeked around Natsu and smirked. Lucy saw his mouth move, saying something to Natsu.
Lucy looked down at the door knob and reached her hand out to twist it open.
She heard Natsu snort.
Self-consciously she looked down, looking for the source. Nothing. Lucy pushed her way into the bathroom and closed the door behind her. Looking all around she didn't see anything weird. Lucy pulled her shirt over her head and caught a glimpse of herself in the mirror.
"Oh!" She shrieked.
Someone had drawn a mustache and goatee on her face. As well as a flower around her eye and a kitten nose.
"This had better wash off!" She threatened. She finished stripping down and hopped into the shower. It was freezing at first so she impatiently huddled in the corner. Eventually the water began to steam and she went to work scrubbing her face with soap and a loofah. The water turned her skin pink, but it didn't hurt her. Lucy turned the water off and stepped on the floor mat so she could check the status of her face. After wiping off the mirror Lucy could still see the faint black marks.
She growled and stepped back into the shower to scrub some more. Eventually the water ran cold and Lucy had to get out. She wrapped herself in a towel and patted her face dry. She could still barely see the lines, she figured it was Happy that did this.
I'm gonna shave his face, see how he likes that.
Lucy began her skin care routine, hoping it would knock off more of the permanent marker. After her skin was dry enough Lucy dressed in her shorts and tank top. Since they were hitting the road again, there was no need to dress modestly. Just for now, Lucy put a button up shirt over her tank top and buttoned it up to her collarbone. After brushing out her hair and wrapping it in a towel Lucy began to clean up the bathroom. She used a spare towel to mop up any water that had escaped the shower.
She could smell eggs and bacon reaching through the door towards her.
"After this it's back to fish and sandwiches." Lucy sighed.
"Good morning Lucy." Happy called out to her.
Lucy kept her head down and went to their bedroom.
She threw off the towel and looked in the mirror. Her face was good as new.
Lucky for him.
Not wanting to be in a bad mood, Lucy hung back for a minute. She made her bed and went around the room to gather her things. Erza and Wendy's beds were neatly made while the guys sleeping areas were a tangled mess of blankets and pillows. Her stomach growled and she couldn't hang back any longer.
-0-
"I'm sure going to miss you guys." Mabel admitted. They sat on her porch swing, waiting on the guys to finish packing and showering.
"It's been a great week." Erza smiled. "I really enjoyed playing a hand in rebuilding."
"It's becoming a knack of yours." Lucy pointed out.
Erza rubbed her chin with her hand in thought. "You're right."
Wendy sat on the ground, meditating. Lucy could feel the wind picking up around the girl, raising her pigtails.
"Try and come through on your way back." Mabel said in a somber tone.
Lucy threw an arm around her shoulder and hugged her host. "We will."
Mabel turned and hugged her back.
"Goodmorning." Erza called out to an approaching visitor.
Lucy looked up to see Paul Walker crossing the lawn to greet them. He had a goofy look on his face.
"What brings you here this early?" Mabel asked.
"I came to apologize on behalf of my brother."
He had Lucy's complete attention. "Is he okay?"
"Uh..." Paul looked up over their heads. "He's a bit shaken."
Lucy's stomach dropped. "What happened to him?"
Paul fumbled with an explanation. "You're friend...he, well...burned off my brother's eyebrows."
"WHAT!" Lucy shrieked.
"You're joking." Erza swayed.
"Why did he do that?" Lucy asked jumping to her feet.
"Are they completely gone?" Wendy asked.
"Yeah."
"Hopefully they'll grow back." Erza said, a smile playing at the corners of her mouth.
Lucy followed her guildmates lead and cracked a smile.
Paul's shoulders shook with laughter of his own. "My brother is a dick sometimes, can't say he didn't deserve it...excuse my language Mabel."
"Were you there?" Lucy asked.
"No, but I finally got an explanation out of him."
"And?" Erza asked.
"Apparently My brother tried to kiss Natsu."
"Ahh." The quiet scream emptied Lucy's lungs of air.
Erza froze and Wendy's hair swung like a whip as she turned to look at Erza with a look that asked. 'Are you hearing this?"
"That brute tried to kiss Natsu?" Carla chuckled.
Lucy fell backwards onto the brick wall.
All that time he was around me, trying to get my attention...was he really only trying to get to Natsu?
"Well...This is where is gets weird-"
"It get's weirder?" Erza choked.
"Apparently my brother thought Natsu was Lucy." Paul finished.
"How?!" Lucy begged. "I was here."
Paul put up his hands defensively. "No clue. Dean was delusional, clearly."
"So," Erza cut in. "Dean got close enough to Natsu to kiss him, but didn't realize it wasn't Lucy?"
"I gave him hell for that." Paul chuckled. "Dean swears up and down that he was looking at Lucy when he moved in."
Lucy's brain hurt. "Was he drunk?"
"That would explain a lot." Erza mumbled.
"Nobody drinks in Cyrene." Mabel put out there. Lucy noticed how lost Mabel looked.
"We need Natsu to fill in the gaps here." Erza said, flipping her hair behind her shoulder.
"Dean told me that night he was going to come over to Mabel's to speak to Lucy...and then Lucy happened to walk into the room half naked-.'
Lucy gasped, shaking her head like a mad woman. "He's lying!"
"Well, all I know that happened next is Dean tried to kiss you and then Natsu burned his eyebrows off."
"Why is he trying to humiliate me?" Lucy buried her face in her hands.
"Lucy." Erza called to her in a measured tone.
"What?" Lucy groaned.
"Doesn't Natsu have the ability to change into you?"
Lucy's hands dropped from her face as her strength left her body.
Lucy happened to walk in the room half naked...half naked...half naked...HaLf NaKeD.
A strangled noise escaped from Lucy's lips.
"I'm going to kill him!" Lucy swore.
The front door swung open and the guys happily spilled out, gear in tow.
"It's a beautiful day for traveling." Natsu sighed, following Gray out.
Gray saw Paul and stropped in his tracks, causing Natsu to bump into him.
"Oomph!"
"Hey Paul." Gray called, he found Lucy next and looked away from her just as quick.
"Uh." Natsu looked at Paul with wide eyes.
"Well, safe travels." Paul waved and turned on his heels to leave. "No hard feelings?"
Erza chuckled darkly. "None at all."
"What did Paul want?" Natsu asked innocently.
"Damn it Natsu!" Lucy squeezed her hands into fists. "What reason could you have possibly had to change into my body, again?"
Natsu gaped like a fish. Gray completely lost it, bending in half as laughter possesed him.
"You're not helping." Natsu punched Gray in the shoulder.
"He didn't have anything to do with this, this was all you!"
"Lucy, calm down." Natsu put his hands up in defense.
"Calm down!" Lucy spat.
"Shouldn't have said that!" Happy shook his head.
Lucy snapped and took two steps toward Natsu. She grabbed his shirt and squeezed. "You came here half naked last night, didn't you?"
Natsu's eyes widened as he shrunk back from her.
Lucy released him and half turned away. "He saw me naked, that pea brained lunatic saw me naked."
"No." Natsu tried explain. "It was me he saw."
Lucy gritted her teeth. "He doesn't know it was you. He saw my face, and my body!"
"He didn't see everything." Natsu swore. "I remembered to cover up." Natsu acted out covering his chest with one arm.
Lucy groaned.
"What I want to know," Erza cut in. "Is what made you turn into Lucy."
Gray spoke first. "Dean was going off about how sure he was that he could make Lucy fall in love with him. I told him to shut up and go to bed and it pissed him off. Said that he'd just come over and propose to her that night."
Natsu nodded, looking hopeful that Lucy would see the reasoning in those spoken words.
"And then?" Lucy demanded.
"Natsu left the room and came back as you, Dean lost his mind and- HA!" Gray smacked his hand over his face and rolled with laughter.
"Tried to kiss 'Lucy?" Erza finished.
Natsu shuddered, reliving the moment.
"He turned back so fast." Gray acted out the moment, flailing his arms like Natsu had.
Happy was the only one who laughed with Gray.
"That doesn't explain why you felt using MY body was acceptable!" Lucy glared at Natsu. "You gave him the idea that I was some cheap floozy, walking in...covering my bare chest with an arm-"
"-I thought that if he was rejected by you right then and there, Dean would shove off." Natsu muttered.
"Half naked?" Lucy questioned.
"I forgot about." Natsu circled his hand around her chest. "That..until the last second."
Lucy covered her chest self conciously, anger and embarrassment shot through her veins.
Mabel gave a low whistle.
Lucy turned away from Natsu and tried to breathe.
"Lucy-" Natsu laid his hand on her shoulder, she quickly shrugged it off.
"We should probably get going." Lucy suggested flatly.
Her friends didn't move.
"Be careful out there." Mabel told them. "Did you fill up your canteens?"
"Yeah." Gray answered, his voice still thick.
One by one her friends moved to leave. Lucy led them to the front gates where they had entered on the first night.
She struggled to forgive him, it just wasn't possible for Natsu to be oblivious to how she felt about him changing into her body. She was at his throat every time it happened. It was like he had no respect for her privacy. She wasn't there to read the mood, it could have all been a joke to Natsu for all she knew. Even if he swore it wasn't. He was just too damn impulsive at her expense.
"We'll head west for now."Erza decided. "We should reach another small town around mid noon. We can break there and then keep going.
"Okay." Gray responded.
"I'm sorry I drew on your face." Happy apologized.
"Happy-." Natsu warned.
"I forgive you." Lucy spoke. "It's not the worse thing you could have done."
She heard Natsu groan.
"I'm sure Natsu didn't mean to embarrass you." Erza defended. "I mean, Dean hasn't bothered you since right?"
"That's true." Wendy helped.
"For the rest of his life," Lucy said lowly. "Dean has the sight of my bare body burned into his mind for his viewing pleasure."
"He didn't see more than you usually show." Natsu promised. "I covered everything up."
"Bro," Gray whispered. "You're not helping yourself here."
Lucy squeezed her fists and picked up the pace.
-0-
"Do you want to light the fire?" Natsu asked Lucy, holding two flint stones out to her. They had all worked together to find enough firewood to last the night.
"Yeah." She reached over to take them from him, their fingers brushed.
She turned towards the pit they had dug in the middle of the campsite. She set up a pile of tinder and went to work brushing the stones against each other.
clack clack clack
She saw Natsu hang around at the corner of her peripheral. Lucy sighed.
clack clack clack
She didn't want this tension between the two of them, but she was still too frustrated to think straight. Mabel wanted them to come back through, but how could she ever stomach seeing Dean.
clack clack clack
I wonder if I'm overreacting? Maybe he really did mean well... he might be impulsive, but he has looked out for me quite a bit. still...
clack clack clack
That was so stupid...Lucy groaned internally.
The last hit produced enough sparks for Lucy to work with. She leaned down and blew air into the glowing heap, receiving smoke in return. She kept it up and a flame sprung to life.
Her mind wandered to Natsu touching her hand last night, they were getting closer... was this really a big enough reason to let that chance die?
It is if he doesn't respect my feelings. Lucy decided. I'm not that desperate.
She scooped the young flame in her hands and placed it under the logs. Natsu moved in and helped her stack enough twigs to keep the fire alive.
"Nice work." He praised her.
"Thanks." Lucy murmured, walking past him to sit down.
Happy and Carla had been missing for sometime, scoping out the landscape. Wendy and Erza were busy setting traps along the perimeter, just in case they had any unwanted company in the night. Gray was setting up the cooking grate over the campfire.
Lucy pulled out her keys, a rag, and a bottle of cleaner. One by one she took extra care to polish them and knock of any forming luster. Most of their food had spoiled so it was back to fish and crackers for dinner until they found a market in Bellum.
The top of Aquarius's key still hung from her key ring, she still polished it like the others. Digging her nails into the intricate designs until it shone like new. The sound of her key breaking echoed in Lucy's mind. She flinched involuntarily.
The crunching leaves alerted them of Wendy and Erza's return.
"Well," Erza said, knocking the dirt off of her hands. "No one is getting near us tonight."
Wendy and Erza high-fived.
"Nice." Gray said. "I'd welcome the fight, but I'd say we've had enough speed bumps this last week."
"Agreed." Erza snapped, fading her armor from existence. "When we get to Grand Forks, Bellum we'll rest for the night and that's when we get serious."
"How so?" Lucy asked.
"We'll use Grandpa Crux and gather as much information as we can." Erza said. "We already know the general area, we just need to know what mountain."
Gray rubbed his hands together. "I'm ready."
"Me too." Natsu smiled. "Whatever is protecting that treasure sounds pretty fierce."
"What if it's a dragon?" Wendy wondered aloud.
"Or a human that used too much Dragon Slayer magic." Erza through out there.
"We'll have to find out." Natsu sighed. "I hope it's not another dragon, anything but a dragon."
"You don't want to run into one?" Wendy asked. "What if they knew our parents?"
Natsu looked to the side. "That might be cool..."
"Yeah. It'd be like they came back to life for a moment." Wendy smiled.
Natsu half smiled. "I guess."
The group sat and ate a small dinner together. Erza and Wendy chattered happily about the baby coming this December. Lucy joined in everyone in a while, but she felt a bit too exhausted to participate more than a few words here and there.
"It's crazy." Wendy marveled, pulling her knees up to her chest. "None of our kids should even be born in this era."
"Except mine and Lucy's." Gray corrected.
"Yours and Lucy's?" Happy guffawed.
"You know what he meant." Lucy rolled her eyes.
Gray looked at his communication lacrima. "I bet Juvia heard that somehow."
"She's gonna call and chew you out." Natsu laughed.
"It's funny for you..." Gray sighed.
"Think of the entire generations that will never be born because we weren't born hundreds of years ago." Erza continued.
"Natsu would be a great great great great great grandfather by now." Happy pointed out.
"That's..." Erza paused. "Insane."
Gray stood and went to tend to the fire.
"It's crazy how messing with the future changes everything." Wendy said, picking at her ankle. "In another universe I'm a great great grandmother too..."
It all started with one wizard. Lucy thought of Zeref. He let his life spiral out of control, because of grief.
Lucy bit her lip in thought. I forgive him. She decided. Nothing could ever be big enough to come in between me and my friends, even this. I'll tell him I forgive him in the morning, when it comes up.
That night Lucy dreamed that they had found the Legendary Hoard of Dragon's treasure.
"This is awesome!" Natsu cheered at the top of a mountain of gold and jewels. A ruby encrusted crown sat on his head.
Erza held a string of white pearls in one hand a string of pink pearls in the other. "I don't know which I like best."
Lucy held up a silver mirror to check out her reflection. She found a pair of emerald earrings that sparkled on her earlobes. Looking into the mirror, Lucy noticed that her hair was the same shade as Natsu's.
"Lucy!" Natsu jumped down beside her. "Put that down!"
"You're hair is blond!" Lucy pointed out.
Natsu ripped something from her hands, the book of E.N.D.
"You need to think before you go around picking things up!" Natsu told her through Lucy's body.
"Natsu!" He had transformed into her, this time not a single article of clothing covered her clone's body. "Where are your clothes?"
"I can transform into something else if you'd like?" Natsu's voice reached her ears. With her hands he opened up the book and ancient script spiraled out of it like a colony of bats. On Natsu's version of Lucy, his fingers elongated into claws and black and red scales formed up to his elbows. She stared at the form of Natsu she had never seen before. Only able to guess it was his E.N.D. form. His eyes were black as pitch and he smiled at her with his fangs.
"Quit playing around." Lucy snapped. She grabbed the book. "I'm gonna have to rewrite this all over again."
"No, you did enough."
The ancient script caught on fire, traveling down the spiral and igniting the book. Lucy let go of the book, but fire had already climbed up her arms.
"E.N.D. will live on, in one form or another."
"No!" Lucy cried. "Fire Dragon...TALON!" She blasted the demon with fire, but her fire resistance had begun to fade. It left her unprotected from the element. She madly thrashed about, trying to put out the flames.
Lucy woke, sitting up. She gasped and looked all around her. The only fire nearby had died down to a pile of glowing embers.
"What the hell?" She croaked. Looking around, all of her friends were still fast asleep. The sky was getting lighter, much to Lucy's relief. There's no way she'd be able to relax if it was still night time.
There was a movement in the corner of her eye. Lucy gasped and snapped her head to the left, expecting a person. There was nothing there but trees. Lucy groaned and rubbed her eyes.
It's just my imagination. She told herself.
She could feel a dull pain throbbing along each of her forearms. She rubbed them, thinking back to similar nightmares she had after the war against The Spriggan 12. Most of them were about finding Brandish in her bathtub, but every once in a while she dream of E.N.D. In those nightmares she would fail to rewrite his book. Sometimes he would crumble into dust and other times she would hopelessly search all over for him, waking up with tears running down her cheeks. Luckily, she'd usually see Natsu later that day and she'd calm down.
For comfort Lucy looked over at Natsu. He laid on his back, one arm covered his eyes and the other was laid out across the ground. His chest rose and fell with every breath.
Lucy swallowed the lump in her throat and curled back into her sleeping bag.
I hate nightmares.
Lemon-Moon
Thank you for the reviews.
-Bacchus In Vines
-Ashthenerdystargazer
I admit I had to look up the definition of 'Slow burn'.
I guess it's pretty obvious that I like slow burns too, It's nice for everything to happen in it's own time rather than right off the bat. I remember reading the end of Fairytail and being disappointed that NaLu was still up in the air... but to be honest Natsu's character didn't seem ready to settle down like the others. If they would have kissed, it would have seemed forced just because of the Manga ending rather than a smooth ending. I feel like his character still has a long way to go.
Have a good week!