AN: Yay we are on chapter 10 now! :D I just wanna take the time to say that I really appreciate everyone who follows/favorites and especially those that review :) You guys really make my day! Thanks a lot! :D
Chapter 10
"Natsu, where are we going exactly?" Lucy asked as she walked behind her former partner.
"It's a surprise!" the dragon slayer answered with a grin.
The two had been walking for not too long in a comfortable silence, passing many vendors on the way. Lucy could swear people thought they were a couple or something with the way they were staring at them. A lady even tried to get Natsu to buy her flowers, which made the celestial mage nearly pass out from embarrassment. Finally, they were approaching their destination.
"You want to go to Crocus Garden?" Lucy asked with a bright smile on her face. She had always wanted to go but never had anyone to accompany her. "This is the place Wendy was kidnapped by Ivan's helpers, right?"
"Yep! But ain't nothing going to happen this time around!" Natsu happily said as he led the way. "Not with me around!"
Lucy giggled and ran forward, eager to see the beautiful plants that awaited the two. Her eyes widened at the sight of the endless sea of flowers, their petals varying in color. The aroma was fresh and sweet, just as the girl had expected. The breeze was warm and gentle, causing them all sway side to side, making the flowers look like rainbow waves. Lucy stared in complete awe and content. Everything was so perfect and she was glad to be spending the day with Natsu, though she did wonder what Happy was up to.
Natsu felt his cheeks gaining a familiar warmth, and it wasn't due to his magic. No, instead it was because of the sight of his partner, standing in front of the many flowers with a dazzling smile spread across her face. He felt proud of himself for bringing her here and being the one to make her smile. Sure, plants weren't his thing and he would rather be burning the place down, but if it meant seeing Lucy smile like that, he didn't care what they were doing.
Natsu shook his head to try and regain his thoughts. Clearing his throat, he said, "Oi, let's get moving! There's a bunch more to see!"
The two continued to walk, Natsu's heartrate increasing by the second. He had been preparing himself for this moment all day, but he couldn't fight the anxious feeling in his gut. The boy's feet began to feel heavy and he could feel sweat dripping down his forehead.
"Damn I hope she says yes."
"N-Natsu, look!" he heard Lucy cry out, bringing him out of his thoughts once again.
When the mage looked in her direction, he immediately regretted it as the warm feeling erupted throughout his body. Lucy was standing in front of a rainbow cherry blossom tree, the multicolored petals falling gracefully by her. Her golden locks of hair was swaying with the breeze, along with her dress. Natsu mentally cursed himself as he caught himself staring at her in awe. Then it hit him. They were finally here. It was time to set his plan into motion.
"Oi, Lucy," he started as he leaned on the railing next to her, "do you remember when you were sick and you couldn't see this kind of tree even though you really wanted to?"
Lucy smiled and nodded her head. "Yep. Then some wonderful person uprooted the tree and let it float down the canal outside of my apartment so that I could see it. I wonder who that was." The girl had to fight back a laugh, for she knew all along it was Natsu. Who else could it have been?
"Well, that person was me!"
The celestial mage hung her mouth open in fake shock. "Whatever do you mean it was you? You did that for me?"
"Yep! Because I wanted you to be able to see it!"
Natsu's bright smile faltered for a second and Lucy could tell he was nervous.
"Did you have something you wanted to say, Natsu?" she asked, hoping it would be a love confession. Who was she kidding? It was Natsu, as if she would be getting one of those anytime soon. However, she remained hopeful and ignored the increasing heartrate in her chest.
"Actually, yeah… Remember when we were on Tenrou Island and we were fighting that one weirdo with the doll?"
"Yeah…" Lucy answered, unsure as to where he was going with this.
"Do you remember when I told you to run and leave me behind because I was trapped under some rocks? Remember when you refused to? You said that it's more fun when we're together. Well, Luce, I agree with you! It is more fun when we're together! But I belong in Fairy Tail, and so do you. So what do you say, Luce? Wanna come back with me? We're better together."
Lucy gulped painfully and fought back tears that were gathering in her eyes. She refused to cry when she felt so happy. Sure, it wasn't a love confession like she originally wanted, but this was even better. Just hearing him ask her to come back made her body feel light as a feather. Nodding her head, the girl thrust herself into Natsu's unsuspecting arms.
"Of course I'll come back with you!" the girl exclaimed, tears falling from her eyes like waterfalls. "I just have to tell Jason, oh gosh I feel terrible just leaving him-"
"Don't," Natsu interrupted, irritated just hearing the reporter's name.
"Well that's easy for you to say. He offered me a job and everything, of course I'll feel bad just suddenly leaving. We were working on an article together too. Oh well, I'm sure he'll be fine. Oh, I have to pack up my apartment! Do you think my old one is still available?"
"Don't worry about packing! I already had Happy start that with Sting and the others' help!"
Lucy's jaw dropped as she stared at the reckless boy in front of her. "You had them pack up my apartment before I even agreed to come back?"
"Yep! Isn't that smart-"
Lucy then slapped the dragon slayer upside the head before he could finish his sentence. "What if I said no you idiot!?"
"Well, then you would have no choice but to change your mind!" Natsu answered, laughing maniacally as he avoided Lucy's punches. He then ran out of the garden, still cackling, Lucy chasing after him. It truly was like old times.
Lucy sighed and plopped onto her now clear floor. Wiping sweat from her forehead, the girl glanced around her apartment. Everything was either gone, already on their way to Magnolia, or were packed into boxes. All of this was in the span of a day thanks to the help of Sabertooth. The mage then found her gaze locking onto Natsu, who was currently talking to Sting about something that probably wasn't important.
"You like him don't you, Lucy-san?" Yukino asked in a whisper as she sat by the celestial mage.
"W-What are you talking about, Yukino!?" Lucy sputtered, instantly feeling reenergized after hearing her question. "As if!"
"Why don't you just tell him?"
"You really are persistent and stubborn."
"Maybe it's a celestial mage thing since you are too."
Lucy sighed and smiled, returning her gaze back to the boy that occupied her thoughts. "He is too dense to know a thing about love. I doubt he's ever had a crush on a girl before. If I tell him it'll just ruin everything because he won't be able to return my feelings. It'll just be awkward and we would probably stop being friends."
"I don't know, I see the way he looks at you when you aren't looking. If I was experienced in that kind of stuff, I would tell you he likes you too."
"Yeah, yeah. What about you and Sting?"
Yukino's typically pale skin flushed immediately as she answered, "I'm working on it."
The two girls laughed together as Lucy replied, "Dragon slayers are dense, aren't they?"
"They sure are. So are you all ready to go back to Fairy Tail?"
"Almost. I just have to tell Jason."
Lucy walked towards Cool Publishing feeling anxious. How was her eccentric boss going to take this kind of news? Especially when he had apparently fallen for her. If only moving was as simple as she wished it was. Taking a deep breath, the girl walked into the building.
"Lucy? What are you doing here?" Jason asked with an eager smile. "You don't have any shifts today!"
"J-Jason," she started while playing with her fingers, "I need to tell you something."
"You are going back to Fairy Tail, right?" the reporter asked, though it was clear he knew the answer. His smile still remained.
"How did you know?"
"Like I said the other day when I confessed to you, you belong there. Not here in this dump. Don't worry about it, Lucy. I knew this was coming." The blonde reporter then made his way towards the girl, stopping just in front of her. "But is there a way to change your mind?" he asked as he leaned slowly for a kiss.
Lucy stepped back just in time and smiled sadly at her dear friend. Jason had always been so kind to her, making this much harder. "I'm sorry, Jason. I just-"
"I know, you don't want to be in a relationship or anything-"
"No. It's not that anymore. I realized something pretty recently that took me years to figure out. I do want to be in a relationship. I want it pretty badly actually. I want to hold hands, kiss, all the stuff my characters do in my stories. I just want it with a certain guy, who sadly can't return these feelings."
Jason smiled sympathetically at the girl and chuckled. "Sucks, huh? Well, you're a cool girl, Lucy. I'm sure he'll come around eventually."
"Hopefully."
The two then hugged before Lucy had to leave for Magnolia. She was finally going back to Fairy Tail.
Natsu stood outside Cool Publishing and listened intently to Lucy's conversation with Jason. He didn't know what prompted him to follow her, he just knew he couldn't let the two be alone together. Just the thought of it made his gut twist uncomfortably. It took everything he had not to barge in and destroy Jason when he saw her leaning in to kiss Lucy. Luckily, the girl rejected him in time, which made Natsu smirk proudly for some unknown reason.
Then all of his pride vanished as the boy heard Lucy admit she was in love with somebody. Who could she be in love with? Natsu's brows furrowed as he thought about it. Could it have been Sting? They did live in the same city after all and he was definitely no stranger to the ladies. Or perhaps it was Gray? Those two always were a little too buddy-buddy and he knew Gray used to have a thing for her.
"Wait, Lucy said her feelings aren't returned, so it can't be that idiot. Who the hell is it?"
Natsu growled as he saw Lucy and Jason hugging but decided not to interrupt. He figured it was OK since Lucy already made it clear she didn't like him. Now Natsu's jealousy- wait, no, there's no way he could be jealous, right? Well, Natsu's anger was now focused on this mysterious guy that had stolen Lucy's heart. Muttering curse words, he grumpily made his way back to the girl's apartment to finish everything.
"Well, whoever it is isn't going to have a chance since I'm taking her back. Wait, why the hell do I care? Not like it has anything to do with me."
Or so he thought.
"Natsu, get up! We're in Magnolia!"
The dragon slayer grunted in reply, slouching on one of the train's seats. It took every ounce of his being to not throw up. Finally, he sprinted off of the death machine and kissed the solid ground beneath him.
"Finally! I can't stand being on that thing!" he exclaimed, feeling better instantly.
"You're so pathetic," Lucy said as she led the way. She took in all of her surroundings and sighed in content. Crocus was by far too fancy and regal for her taste, reminding her of the mansion she used to reside in. Magnolia was just right. She was finally home. "Where are we going, by the way? I haven't signed the lease to my old apartment, or any apartment for that matter…"
"You're coming with us, Luce!" Natsu answered as he grabbed her luggage from her. "Just until you find a place!"
"Aye!" Happy exclaimed as he munched on a raw fish.
"Ugh, I can only imagine how messy your house is," Lucy said with a shudder. She imagined piles of fish bones and trash covering the floor.
"Whatever," Natsu replied. "Let's go already so we can see everyone! They've been dying to see you again!"
"I've been excited to see them too!"
With that, the three were running towards Natsu's house to drop everything off. Luckily, Happy and the Sabertooth exceeds already got most of Lucy's stuff earlier that day so they didn't have to carry that much. They just threw the suitcase in the house and rushed towards the guildhall.
Lucy's heart beat frantically inside of her chest. She was finally going to see everyone again. Though she was happy, the girl was also worried. What if everyone was upset with her for not coming back right away? Or for not even saying hello? Shaking her head, the celestial mage erased those negative thoughts from her mind.
Finally arriving, Lucy breathed deeply as her shaky arm opened the door. It was dead silent at first when everyone saw her. All of the negative thoughts from before instantly came back and she wanted to turn and run. Finally, Mira walked towards her with a smile warm enough to melt Gray's ice.
"Welcome home, Lucy," she said as she wrapped her arms around the blonde.
Lucy could no longer fight the urge to cry as tears streamed down her face. Smiling, she brought her shaking arms and wrapped them around her dear friend, who she hadn't seen in over a year and a half. One of the first friends she made, besides Natsu and Happy.
"I-I'm home."
AN: Lucy is finally back in Fairy Tail! Now all that's left is getting these two to finally stop being dense :D Stick around! :)
MarSofTheGalaxies: Thank you :D It was very short of a date though, wasn't it? And yeah haha that was my first ever hate on one of my stories, I was very surprised when I read it haha! I should've expected it though with a popular pairing like nalu! And apparently he hates on almost every nalu story haha. Thanks for the review :)
J.C: Haha just made you wait a tad bit longer huh? :D And I'm so glad to inspire you :') I look forward to reading one of your own stories one day!
Satomi Rin: Why hello there :D nalu is my absolute fav pairing in Fairy Tail- though I ship so many people in that show haha! I'm glad I finally started writing for these two, they are so fun to write about! And thank you for the kind words! :D
Mavis Chase: Hello again! :D And thank you lol I couldn't just let them get away with spewing such nonsense haha! And thanks omg I had such a hard time thinking of what they should get her and eventually just settled with a book haha! Thank you for another kind review! :D
Kyouya Sata: Lol don't feel like a dumbnut! You aren't the only one confused about that, I got a couple messages about it haha! I definitely should've said so in the Author's Note hahaha!
Alexa: I can guarantee something big is going to happen eventually! :D And lol I will definitely have to put in argument in this story somewhere because for some reason I LOVE making my OTPS fight hahaha! You are a very creative person btw, you should definitely write a story! I would definitely read it :)
MirrorFlame: OMG I AM READING BETWEEN THE LINES. I LOVE THAT STORY. But I was actually referring to is an ulquihime story for Bleach (I don't remember the name and I think it was removed which is so sad because I loved that story! D:) It was a little over 100 chapters and it took years for the author to finish I remember being so amazed at their perseverance to finish haha! Is the story you're reading a nalu story because if so I wanna read it haha!
Sama775: Lol it's just a cliché love story! :D and omg nice I love getting questions. The answer is: YES. I totally think she would ship nalu if she read the manga if they had like different characters and whatnot. She just would be too dense to see the similarities between that relationship and the one with her and natsu I think haha!
LALALALALALALALA: THANK YOU SO MUCH! :D
12Rayne: He would've gotten an action-packed book if it weren't for Happy haha! :D AND OMG YES I REMEMBER THAT I DIDN'T EVEN REALIZE THAT! SUCKS FOR JASON! :D