I really enjoyed writing this chapter! There was a lot more character interaction, and I just love Erza's personality!
Anyways, I hope you all are enjoying this lovely day and thank you for reading!
The library that surrounded her was enormous, filling her senses with the smell of parchment. She sat upon a throne made entirely of books, surrounded in all directions by a mass of people that eagerly held out novels and pens towards her. She giggled as she signed each one with her autograph, relishing in the praise and compliments she was receiving for her work. It was a dream come true.
Or at least she thought it was, until a voice suddenly echoed through the library. "Lucyyy." The voice drew out her name, and the world around her began to fade.
She gave a little grunt, then rolled over in an attempt to get away from the noise and melt back into her fantasy.
"Luce? Aw, c'mon, I know you hear me!" The person persisted. "Luiiigiii."
What? Her eyes slowly pried open. "Whats'di'you call me?" Lucy slurred, still partially asleep. She reluctantly pushed herself into a sitting position and turned her head to the side to find the culprit that had ruined her nap. He was squatting beside her, hands casually resting on his knees and a mischievous smile on his lips. She blinked at him a few times, then rubbed her eyes with the back of her hands and proceeded to yawn loudly.
Natsu laughed, puffing his cheeks out at her. "Knew that name'd probably wake ya up. You look hilarious, by the way."
She grumbled while stretching, extending her arms towards the sky. "How so?" She managed to say now that she felt more awake.
"You just looked so lost and out of it. Don't worry, it was hilarious in a good way." He gave her his best wide toothed grin.
She quirked a brow at him. "I looked hilarious in a good way? You could just come right out and say that I looked cute." She said with a teasing smirk.
He scoffed and averted his eyes. "Psh, yeah right." He then gave her a pointed look. "So what were you dreamin' about anyway? You seemed real into it, whatever it was."
Lucy's eyes widened when she remembered the dream, then her face turned into a pout. "Ughhh, it was heaven! Why'd you have to wake me up from the best dream I've ever had?!" If all of her dreams were that awesome, she would gladly trade places with Sleeping Beauty any day. Falling asleep for eternity wouldn't be so bad if she got to live the rest of her time in slumberland as a best selling author.
His head tilted to the side and his expression was one of amusement. "Whatever ya say, weirdo." He then stood with surprising grace and reached down to pull Lucy to her feet as well. "C'mon, we got places to be!"
She accepted his help up, her back stiffly protesting from laying on the hard ground. She noticed that the sun was already setting and realized that this had to have been considered the longest day of her life. She stretched again to loosen up her spine while she pondered where these places were that they needed to be. She opened her mouth to ask but he cut her off before she could say anything.
"Don't bother askin'. It's a surprise."
She rolled her eyes at him, but smiled nonetheless. She felt wide awake now, fully re-energized from their little snooze. "Thanks for the nap. I really needed it. I'm all fired up now." She said teasingly, giving him a smile.
He grinned back at her, thoroughly amused by her choice of words. "Ditto" was all he said before he turned around and led them back towards the guild.
Once they reached the entrance, he placed his hands on her shoulders and stopped her from entering. "Okay, wait here. Don't move."
She looked at him with round eyes, more curious now than ever before. "O-okay." What is going on?
He walked right up to the huge doors and rapped a special sequence of knocks on them. He then glanced back at her from over his shoulders, a wild glint in his eyes.
He waited a few seconds, then motioned her forward as he threw open the doors.
Lucy wasn't sure what to expect when she stumbled through the archway, but she definitely expected to see something. Instead, what surprised her the most was that she saw nothing. The guildhall appeared empty, no chairs flying or glasses breaking. No people laughing hysterically or passionately arguing. Just nothing.
She was about to ask Natsu what the deal was when-
"SURPRISE!"
Lucy screamed. She could have sworn she jumped ten feet in the air and landed with her hand clutching her chest from shock.
"HAPPY BIRTHDAY, LUCY!"
What Lucy assumed was different types of magic exploded all around the hall as people emerged from under tables and chairs and from behind the bar. There were different colored clouds of smoke, sparkles, and streamers that seemed to burst simultaneously.
Lucy sputtered incoherently, so shocked she couldn't comprehend what was happening. "W-wah. H-how-I don't-"
She was interrupted by Cana diving towards her. "Why didn't you tell us earlier that today's your birthday?! C'mon, we have to take a birthday shot!"
Lucy's eyes bulged. "I-I'm not old enough!" She spouted out dumbly.
The brunette rolled her eyes. "Ah, who cares! C'mon!" Cana steered her towards the bar, but didn't make it very far before they were stopped by Erza.
"Happy birthday, Lucy." She said warmly, while extending her hands out. "I would like to share this strawberry cheesecake with you." Erza's eyes then darkened and she looked around suspiciously, as if expecting a predator to attack. "But only with you. If anyone else tries to touch it, they will face my wrath."
A confused giggle bubbled up from Lucy and she thanked Erza before she was whisked away by an impatient Cana. She continued to lead Lucy, now followed by Erza, to the bar, annoyed about having to stop every other foot so someone could come greet Lucy and wish her a happy birthday.
Lucy stuttered through every conversation, still reeling with bewilderment. What is going on? She thought for the second time.
Cana breathed a sigh of relief once they reached the bar stools and she plopped herself happily onto one of the seats, patting the one beside her for Lucy to sit. She pulled herself onto the stool in a daze.
Gray leaned around Cana and smiled at Lucy, wishing her a happy birthday.
Lucy hoped she was wearing a normal looking smile and not just gaping at him when she answered. "Th-thank you, Gray. I don't really know what to say to all of this."
He shrugged nonchalantly with a grin. "You don't have to say anything. Just enjoy yourself. You've had a crazy ass birthday so far, that's for sure. It's the least we can do to at least make sure it ends well."
"Yeah," Cana agreed. "Everyone deserves to party on their birthday, whether they're on a different planet or not!" She then wriggled her eyebrows at Lucy. "You ready to try some intergalactic booze?"
Before Lucy could answer, the doors to the guildhall slammed open and a short little bluenette in an orange dress raced inside.
"Lucy, oh my God, Happy Birthday!" She ran all the way up to where the blonde sat at the bar and immediately grasped her hands with excitement. "Why didn't you tell us sooner?! We could have been celebrating all day! I was at my house reading through some books, trying to find something that I think I've read before that could possibly pertain to your situation. I didn't find it yet, unfortunately, but I'll keep looking, I promise! Anyways, I ran over as soon as Gajeel got to my place and told me what today was." The girl spoke a mile a minute, finishing with a huff and taking a few deep breaths to calm herself.
Lucy's confusion was starting to fade, slowly replaced by a warmth she wasn't sure she'd ever felt before. This group of semi-strangers were throwing her a surprise birthday party. She had never had this many birthday wishes in one day in her entire life. Something about the fact that these kindhearted souls had gone out of their way to do this for her made her want to cry. Tears of joy, of course.
Lucy's eyes glistened as she replied to Levy. "Thank you so much. You didn't have to run all the way here." Levy was still panting slightly from the strenuous burst of speed she had put herself through to get to the guild. "You guys are seriously the best. I've never had a birthday party before. This is amazing."
Erza gasped and looked as though she had been slapped. "You've never had a birthday party?" Her face turned into a look of horror and she thrust the cheesecake back into Lucy's face while bowing her head down low. "Then I want you to have the entire cake. Please. I i-insist." Her voice shook as she held the cake out with trembling hands.
Lucy chuckled, finding Erza's offer adorable; although she saw right through her. She knew without a doubt that it was taking every ounce of effort from Erza to not whisk the pastry away and devour it right then and there. "No, Erza, we can share it. I insist."
Erza's head shot up and she gazed at Lucy (or the cake, it was hard to tell) with wonder. "Well," she began gruffly and cleared her throat. "If you're insisting then I guess I can't refuse. It is your birthday after all."
Lucy giggled as she turned her attention back to Levy. The solid script mage had been watching with amusement. When the two girls looked at each other, they burst into a fit of laughter.
Once their laughing fit had subsided, Lucy wiped her eyes and looked at levy again. "So how did you guys know? You said Gajeel came and told you, but how did he know?"
To Lucy's surprise, it was Happy that answered when he flew down and sat on the bar in front of her, a fish grasped tightly in his little paws. "I told everyone about an hour ago!"
Lucy blinked at him. "Really? But how did you know?"
He chomped happily down on his fish and answered her with his mouth full. "'Caushe I came to fine yew guysh and-" he swallowed his food. "And Natsu was yelling about getting together something for your birthday because he looooov-ow!" Happy was cut off by a finger flicking his forehead.
"Oi! That is not how it happened!" Natsu said with frustration.
"Yeah-huh! You were like 'Happy, it's the crazy girl's birthday and the only way she'll like me is if we-eep!" This time, Happy cut himself off when he saw Natsu's fists light aflame.
"Is that how it happened Happy?" Natsu asked in an eerily calm voice. "Or did it happen a different way?"
"Aye sir!" Was all Happy said before snickering and flying away to find Charle, deciding not to answer either of Natsu's questions.
"Pahaha!" Lucy giggled uncontrollably, earning a sharp toothed smile from Natsu as his flames went out. When she stopped, she looked at him curiously with a dumb, happy look on her face. "So how did it happen then?"
Natsu, not looking the least bit embarrassed, said, "Well, right before you fell asleep I heard ya mention somethin' about your birthday. Then I woke up to Happy poking my face. I guess he had been lookin' for us and found us sleeping. That's when I told him we should do somethin' for ya. We made some plans and he said he'd fly back and tell the guild." He smirked at her then. "It's a good thing you're such a heavy sleeper. I thought for sure you'd wake up when we were talking about it. Happy ain't exactly the softest talker."
Gray scoffed at that. "That's funny, coming from you."
"What'd you say, ice fairy? You wanna go?" Natsu scowled at him.
"Bring it on, fire ant!"
The two bickered back and forth, fists raised and ready to fight, until Erza put a stop to it, per usual. But all the while, Lucy had stared at Natsu with admiration. He had planned all of this for her? That was by far the nicest thing anyone had ever done for her and she was, quite frankly, dumbfounded. But she couldn't keep the gratitude off her face as she watched the rose haired boy.
He glanced over and saw her smiling warmly at him. Seemingly flustered, he mumbled, "W-what are you lookin' at?"
"Nothing. Just...Thank you, Natsu. That's the nicest thing anyone's ever done for me." Suddenly not caring who she expressed her appreciation around, she continued. "This made me so happy. You've been nothing less than amazing ever since you found me. And I'm glad that I made a friend like you." She heard Mira squeal and Happy snicker somewhere in the background.
Natsu, however, stared at her, gaping slightly. Then his face broke out into his signature smile and he enthusiastically replied, "No problem, Luce! Anytime! You're basically a part of Fairy Tail already in my book!"
Lucy hugged herself, smiling happily at his words. It felt so good to be considered apart of something, to be surrounded by people that she hoped she would soon be able to call her friends. She wasn't sure how long she would be here on Earthland, but she swore to enjoy every second of it; to enjoy every moment she had around these people.
She was distracted yet again by Cana calling over to her. "Natsu, quit hoggin' her! Lucyy, I got your shot ready!"
With one last grateful smile at Natsu, her attention was turned back towards the bar where Cana was holding out a tiny little glass with yellow liquid. "It's called a lemon drop!" The girl said with a wink. "You don't peg me for a drinker, so I had Mira make something that goes down easy."
Lucy eyed the citrus substance hesitantly. She'd only ever had a few sips of wine when her mom had allowed her to try some, so the thought of taking shots kind of made her nervous. Cana, however, clapped a hand on Lucy's back and said "Don't be scared, I got one for Natsu too! That way you can both take your first shot together!"
"Huh?" She heard Natsu's voice come from somewhere behind her. He must have wandered into the crowd after they had finished talking.
"His is fireball, 'cause he can handle the heat." She said to Lucy under her breath, then called to back to Natsu. "C'mon Natsu, don't leave the birthday girl hanging!"
Natsu appeared back at the bar with a disgruntled expression, eyeing the shot glass next to Lucy's that he presumed was for him. "Is this gonna turn me into a ragin' drunk like you?"
Cana's eye twitched but she responded by shoving the two glasses into their hands, then she raised her giant mug up to cheers them. "Bottoms up!" She happily cheered before chugging her booze.
Natsu and Lucy exchanged a look and shrugged simultaneously. "I guess one can't hurt, right?" Lucy murmured, more to reassure herself than anything.
He grinned and raised his glass up in a salute to her. "Happy birthday, Luce!" Then they gulped down their shots together.
Cana had been right, it was surprisingly easy for Lucy to swallow the mystery liquid because it tasted exactly like lemonade. The only difference was the immediate warming of the inside of her belly once she had swallowed it. That wasn't too bad, she thought as she glanced over at Natsu to see how he had handled his.
He was staring at his now empty shot glass with wide, round eyes. "That's what you drink all the time?!" He exclaimed to Cana. "That was awesome!"
Lucy chuckled and pinched his arm. "Let's not get too used to it, alright?" She said a little apprehensively.
He grinned down at her. "Don't worry, I'm around this loser" he jabbed his thumb over his shoulder towards a scowling Cana, "too much everyday to become an alcoholic. Ain't my thing!" Then his eyes gleamed with mischief. "Buuut, it is your birthday. And that drink is awesome, so let's celebrate some more!" He wiggled his eyebrows and slapped his hand down on the bar top. "Mira, two more of those!" Lucy noticed with amusement that his cheeks were already turning a slight shade of red and she wondered absentmindedly if she looked the same.
Cana hollered her approval and joined them for another drink. The entire guild joined in for the festivities and booming laughter filled the hall. For the second time that night, Lucy thought this is a dream come true, though this time she was actually awake rather than sleeping. She knew now, without a doubt, that she would never trade this away to take Sleeping Beauty's spot in eternal slumber. Why would she ever want to when she could have this instead?
And so, for the rest of the night Lucy had the most wonderful time, partying with everyone like it was the last night on Earthland, making the longest day of her life even longer. Somewhere in the back of her mind, no matter how much fun she was having now, she knew that her last night here really could be right around the corner. And she had promised herself that she was going to enjoy every second of it before her time here was up; so enjoy it she did.
Yay! Like I said, this was a fun little chapter to write:) I know it's pretty common to write a 'drunk' scene, but I couldn't help myself! It is her birthday after all;)
As I write more about these characters, I find myself wishing more and more that I could join Fairy Tail! That'd be the real dream come true, right?
Thank you for reading! Next chapter gets serious (uh-oh!) so stay tuned!
Also, if you're looking for something new to read, you should check out 'Beyond the Blindspot'! It's a new story written by MeadowofStars. It's absolutely breathtaking and tragic and it's ongoing, so be sure to follow it and stay updated!
Thanks again for reading my story, lovelies! Let me know what you think! Reviews make the world go world, isn't that how the saying goes?:p haha, thank you all!
xoxo!