Chapter 10
(Hello my lovelies! I am so sorry again, I really am the worst T-T But I have now officially planned the ending for this story so hopefully you will all be with me til the end! Again thankyou for being so patient and lovely with your reviews and hope you have a beautiful day and smile ^-^)
"Fire Dragons Roar!".
"Ice Make Shield!".
Flames and ice collided with each other, and with their impact a spray of mist clouded the beach. Amongst the mist the two battling mages continued aiming flames and ice at each other, failing to notice the demonic aura stalking towards them.
"NATSU! GRAY!".
Both boys froze instantly as the shadow of their scarlet haired comrade loomed over them and along with the fact she was clad in armour and was clearly furious, Natsu and Gray knew they were domed.
" YOU BOTH DESTROYED THE ENTIRE BEACH!" Erza declared.
Around them the boys realized that where previously stood palm trees with relaxing hammocks, the small shack where various items were stored and even the little sand castles built by Wendy with Charle and Happy were completely obliterated, either burning or frozen solid. Realizing what came next, Natsu decided it was now or never to make his escape. Quickly shoving Gray into Erza, Natsu took her brief distraction as his exit and dove into the mangroves that surrounded the beach. Behind him he could hear the furious roars and threats of the terrifying requip mage, along with satisfying painful screams of Gray. On instinct Natsu inhaled to gather the scents around him. Instantly a powerful wave of strawberries and vanilla consumed his thoughts. Lucy. The overwhelming urge to see her spurred his feet towards her direction. Somewhere the thought voiced itself that he was currently distancing himself from Lucy but it was soon crushed when he caught sight of a golden stream of hair through the gaps in the trees that could only even belong to Lucy. Then there she was, through the gaps in the trees, clad only in her swimwear. Natsu could not tear his gaze from the reveal of her milky skin, the curves of her body and sound of her voice as she conversed with Wendy,who currently walked beside her. Lucy's hair he noticed was naturally down and slightly damp and it clung around her neck. Many times Natsu had seen Lucy in such revealing attire, but never had he realised how truly beautiful she was.
"The last time I saw Natsu-san, he was down at the beach" the young dragonslayer replied.
"Oh right thank you Wendy" Lucy smiled gently down at the younger girl. She was utterly conscious of the mark on her neck, it felt like a giant sign, screaming what had passed between her and Natsu the previous night. Especially with a dragonslayer now accompanying her, Lucy kept her hair firmly down,covering the flame mark. Even with Wendy being at a innocent age Lucy was unsure and what Wendy's own dragon mother may have informed her about what takes place between a dragonslayer and their mates. The word "mate" had been a constant annoyance to Lucy ever since she discovered the mark. Was she now Natsu's mate? He had said a dragonslayer would only ever have one mate, and that the mark linked them for life. Did Natsu even remember what he had done? What happens to a mate who was accidently marked?
"Lucy-san I am just going ahead to see if Charle is still with Happy" Wendy said as she quickly ran ahead, with her blue pigtails trailing behind her in the wind.
Alone with her thought Lucy thought of Natsu and how she knew she could never be his and he could never be her's, but somewhere deep inside her a tiny flicker of hope that her and Natsu would be together for the rest of their lives warmed her. Quickly Lucy squashed the idea, Natsu would eventually be with Lisanna like they promised and Lucy would be happy for them. Small tears pricked at the corner of her eyes threatening to fall and as Lucy hastily blinked them away someone grabbed her arm.
As the trees got thicker Natsu completely lost sight of Lucy. Her scent still remained, agonisingly close but the thick branches of the trees became a wall blocking him. Natsu didn't even understand why he was following Lucy, just that he knew that he wanted to be by her, to see her face and warm eyes that were always full of emotion. These intrusive thoughts drove his frustration at the trees even further.
"MOVE!" he shouted towards them while igniting his fist.
"Natsuuuuuuu!"
Natsu spun around in time see a flying ball of fur hurtling towards him.
"Happy?" Natsu said. "What's wrong?"
"Natsu, it's horrible! You have to help!" the blue cat cried.
Frantically Natsu asked "What, tell me happy!". The little exceed continued to sob and Natsu affectionately picked him up held him close.
"Shh it's okay happy" he said. "Just tell me". Happy looked up at him, tears streaking down his furry face.
"It's , it's really really t-terrible" he moaned. Natsu waited, patiently stroking the exceed.
"Natsu.." Happy said. "LILY STOLE MY FISH!" he cried out as a waterfall of tears ran down his face again. Nearly dropping Happy in astonishment, Natsu stared at his friend incredulously. With an exasperated sigh, Natsu set the cat down, trying to suppress his own amusement.
"Happy.." he began, but was interrupted by the sound of Lucy's voice shouting "GET OFF ME!".
Before his mind registered what his body was doing Natsu had already scorched his way through the trees. His view was now of a narrow cobble-stoned path, where he saw Lucy surrounded by a group of five males. Instantly he zeroed in on one of the males hands , that was gripping Lucy's wrist. Natsu looked at them through slitted eyes, looking utterly menacing. Stalking towards them he heard Lucy murmur his name in surprise.
"What d'hell d'you want?" the male with his hand still on Lucy questioned. He was shorter than Natsu and had sky blue light hair spiked in various directions. His grin was plastered on his face, as if he thought himself superior to Natsu. The others,Natsu noticed began to back away, as they were facing him from the right and had a clear view of his Fairy tail mark. Natsu smiled inwardly, they did not matter to him anyway, only the one that dared touch Lucy was the one that boiled his blood.
"I was ere first, so she's mine kay? So get lost" he leered towards Lucy and she in clear disgust moved away, trying to pry her wrist free. Clenching his fist, Natsu ignited his flames and in an uncharacteristically stiff voice said, "Let her go now before I burn your arm off".
"Oh really?" the other male said, voice dripping with sarcasm as he raised his hand with now seemed to be dripping with a foul, mold colored substance that when touched the ground sizzled and corroded. Acid magic. Natsu deciding this was turning out be a better fight than he hoped for lunged forward towards the male, yanking at his hand away so Lucy was free.
"Lucy get out of here now" Natsu said.
"Natsu I ... NATSU!" Lucy shouted toward him. Natsu at the sound of her warning turned in time to barely miss the acid slime directed at his head. Hitting the tree that would have been Natsu, the slime ate it's way through the bark, and the tree tumbled to the ground in half. Turning slowly back to opponent Natsu grinned at the other boy who was stood in a superior stance, doubting Natsu's ability to pummel him into the ground. The heat of hatred for this male who thought he could have Lucy rose up again, and Natsu charged roaring "FIRE DRAGONS IRON FIST!".
As his fist made a satisfying connection with the opponents face sending him hurtling into a great oak tree Natsu let out a feral roar , that felt alien to his own ears. Even though the other male clearly beaten by only one punch, Natsu didn't want to stop. He wanted to hurt him, make it known to him that he could never touch, hear and even see Lucy again. Charging at him again Natsu pulled the boy roughly by the collar of his shirt so he was now leaning against the tree and connected his blazing fist with the male's stomach over and over again. The screams from the male sounded through the forest and after various pleas of mercy he went silent. Somewhere inside his mind Natsu knew this was utterly wrong and that he was tarnishing the Fairy Tail name but he didn't care. It was only when a pair of delicate ivory arms embraced him from behind that he froze.
"Natsu..stop please" Lucy sobbed into his back. It was as if she had thrown a bucket of water to wake him from his dreams, and as all the fight and fury drained from him Natsu slowly sank to the ground with Lucy still clinging to him.