. Paranormal .
"I can't believe this!"
Lucy looked up from the book she'd been reading as Levy exploded into the hospital room she'd been living in for the past month with a dark look on her face. Sighing at the sight of an equally as cranky Gajeel behind her, Lucy put her book aside and expectantly raised her gaze. "What happened this time?" she sighed, already knowing who was the cause of Levy's rage.
"He did it again," Levy seethed. "Natsu tore my apartment apart, Lucy! That's the tenth time this week!" Tears appeared in her hazel eyes, desperation flooding her. "I can't do this anymore, Lu-chan, I really can't!"
Lucy sighed, shaking her head. "I can't exactly leave yet," she said with an apologetic look. "I mean, I know he's frustrated about not being able to leave, but...has Juvia talked with him again?"
"Yesterday, and he's pissed," Gajeel grunted. Lucy's lips twitched into a smile. The dark-haired man was fond of Juvia, amused with her devotion towards Gray. "Said the fucker is threatening to do more than what he's doing if you don't get your ass home soon."
Lucy couldn't help the giggle before she apologized, "I'm sorry, Levy-chan! I really want to leave, but…" She waved at herself with a frustrated look. "I can't yet." At least my hair is starting to grow back…
Levy's breath gusted out in a huge whoosh. "We know, we know...it's just...everything's getting really bad in the building. Everyone's been so aggressive, and we think it's because of him. Three apartments have been emptied, I get complaints all the time about the noise he makes from mine, and-" She winced as she tenderly poked her own head. "He's been yanking my hair when I don't pay attention to him. Thank the heavens Gajeel lives in a separate place, or I'd never sleep."
Lucy arched an eyebrow. "Oh? Are you living together now?"
Levy flushed, and Lucy smirked in relief at the change of subject. "N-no, that's...Gajeel!" she yelped when he suddenly used her as someone to rest his elbow on. He snickered with a gleam in his red eyes.
"Every now and then. Won't tell ya what we do, Bunny Girl."
"Okay, ew," Lucy muttered, making a face. "Did not need to know that, Gajeel. Look." She scrubbed a hand down her face before giving a wry smile. She was glad the bruises were nearly gone. "I'm trying to see how long until I can be released. I'll have to be in a wheelchair until my back heals - I'm lucky I'm not paralyzed. But my ribs are almost good, my arm's on the mend, and...yeah. I'm getting there. Okay? I have a while before I get out, though, so just...try to hold him off for me? Tell him that I miss him or something, see if that helps."
"Lucy," Levy said carefully. "Listen to me. I know that you care greatly for Natsu, but...maybe it's time we try to get him exorcised-"
"No," Lucy bit out angrily. "Don't you dare. He's fine, he's just angry that I'm not there."
"He was hurting you, too," Levy said quietly. "It's only getting worse, and you know it."
Lucy's hands trembled with rage at the thought. "No."
"Lu-chan-"
"If you do anything to Natsu," Lucy spat, her dark eyes glaring furiously at her friend. "I won't ever forgive you, Levy. You, too, Gajeel. Don't you dare try anything. I will take care of the problem when I get out of here, do you hear me? He's just...lonely. Sure, he hurt me, but he never meant to, okay? Have you even tried to keep him company?"
Levy pressed her lips together, searching Lucy's eyes before shaking her head and turning away. "Lu-chan...he's not going to get better. He's just going to get worse and there's going to be a day that you regret not doing anything about it."
For the first time since meeting Levy, Lucy found herself truly upset and angry with the blue-haired bookworm. "Maybe not," she said hotly, her breath hitching painfully in her chest and resulting in a cough that had pain racing through her chest. She hissed in pain. "But I'm going to help him. He's my friend."
Levy snorted. "He's going to kill you eventually, Lucy. And I don't want to just stand around until that happens."
Without another word, she stalked out of the hospital room, and Lucy scowled nervously after her, worried that she'd go back and do something to her currently angry poltergeist friend. Another cough left her lips, and she winced.
Gajeel huffed. "Oi, Bunny Girl. Calm yerself, or you're gonna make it worse and stay here longer."
Lucy shot him a glare in response. "Don't touch Natsu, and maybe I wouldn't have to get like this," she retorted furiously.
"Ain't nobody touchin' that fucker," Gajeel sighed in exasperation. Crimson eyes glanced towards the doorway. "'Sides, that kinda thing requires my permission. While I hate the bastard for fuckin' up my building, s'not my decision to make. S'up to you what happens to him."
Lucy blinked and then relaxed, giving a hesitant smile. "Thanks, Gajeel. Now go find her and tell her she's right and whatnot, or she's going to blow a gasket." Lucy grumbled. "I need a nap after that…"
It was a while before Lucy saw Levy again. Clearly, she was too angry to even think of coming back to talk, and while Lucy knew she was just worried, it drove the blonde crazy. Natsu wasn't intentionally like he was. It wasn't his fault he was beginning to get more destructive in his violence.
It was the day that Lucy was finally allowed to wheel herself out of the hospital with Juvia's help that she finally got to go home. Everyone that had come to visit was just as excited as she was about the whole matter.
Juvia lightly chattered with the blonde as she carefully drove her home, saying that Levy had agreed to check on her between shifts, and Lucy had grumbled before shrugging. She wouldn't be doing much besides sitting on the floor in front of the TV. And she supposed Levy might be in a better mood if Natsu decided to stop being an ass.
"Natsu is excited," Juvia suddenly mused, glancing at Lucy out of the corner of her eye to see the blonde's reaction. Lucy's lips merely curved into a smile. "Juvia told him last night that you were coming home and Juvia thought he was going to tear the building down when he started running around. He was still fairly upset though. Juvia thinks it'll be a while before the anger clears up completely."
Lucy nodded slowly in thought, wincing as she was jarred by a bump. "Got it. I'll be home a lot. Maybe I can keep him entertained. Can ghosts play Monopoly, Juvia?"
Juvia burst into giggles, flicking on her blinker and turning into the parking lot of their apartment. "If it's Natsu...maybe! That reminds Juvia." She glanced at Lucy. "We weren't able to find anything on Natsu's death."
Lucy sighed but accepted that without so much as batting an eye. "Alright. I'll see what I can find. Who knows, maybe I can further my writing since I have so much time. I'd be fun to write a book on all of this when it's good and done."
"Juvia thinks it would sell and Juvia would make Gray-sama buy it," the young woman promised before pulling into a parking space and shutting the car off. She hauled herself out of it before setting to work on getting Lucy out as well. "Careful, Lucy," Juvia warned as the blonde slowly but surely shifted from the car and to the wheelchair that Juvia had pulled out for her.
It took a few minutes of hard work before Lucy had been successfully removed from the car and she took a few minutes to let the pain fade before musing with a hoarse voice, "Okay, so that hurt like hell."
"Sorry," Juvia apologized. "Juvia tried to be careful."
"I know," Lucy reassured before looking up at the building with thoughtful eyes. "...huh," she muttered, shivering. She could feel something in the air, she realized, frowning in utter confusion. It pierced at her, threatening to drag her down with it and pull her into some kind of unending darkness full of anger and grief and doubt. "That's…"
"Natsu." Juvia gave a wry smile as she began to push Lucy towards the building. "That's Natsu, Lucy. He's gotten...he's ridiculously upset at the moment, Juvia thinks." She paused when the air suddenly seemed to shift, the aura darkening further before lightening just barely as they entered the apartment complex. "Natsu knows you're home."
"Home," Lucy whispered excitedly, her lips spreading into a grin. It was nice to be home. Really nice. She'd missed the building, with its familiarity and comfort. Another resident paused to greet her on his way out, and several others did as well as the pair made their way towards the elevator that would get them to where they needed to go.
As they reached the top, Juvia pushed Lucy out of the elevator and Lucy's heart swelled with excitement upon craning her head with care to look down the hall at her own apartment.
Juvia giggled as Lucy eagerly grabbed her keys from her jacket pocket. "Juvia will push you to your apartment and then go back to get your - oh! Levy-san!"
The small woman had appeared, exiting her apartment with a suspicious look on her face. She paused, hesitant when she saw the pair of them, but then seemed to shake off her wariness and marched her way over. "Hi, Juvia...Lucy. I didn't know you were coming home today."
Lucy cringed at the lack of affectionate honorific and decided that it was as good a time as any to apologize for her attitude. Giving a faint smile, she said, "Well, you haven't exactly stopped by in a while. Gajeel said you were busy."
She shrugged. "Work. Some more people asking for orders at Gajeel's place and then the library's gotten new books in recently."
"For a month and a half?" Lucy muttered, frowning to herself, slightly hurt. Honestly, Lucy knew that it had been a first for the two of them. They'd never fought, and never over Natsu, as Levy was as curious as she was. But… "Anyways, I wanted to apologize." She forced herself to offer a smile. "I didn't mean to get as defensive as I did about the matter, and it was wrong of me to not take what you might have been feeling and thinking into consideration."
Levy paused in surprise, having been prepared to keep on going towards the stairs that she usually took. She blinked once, and then twice before hesitantly responding, her cheeks flushing. "Yes, well...I suppose I might have overreacted about the matter. I know someone," she glared at the ceiling above their head, and Lucy shifted uncomfortably when there was a sudden change in the air again. "Was just freaking out about it all...so I suppose I should apologize as well."
Lucy beamed, relieved. "I'm glad. Apology accepted."
"Same goes here," Levy giggled.
Juvia smiled happily before explaining, "Spirits affect the space around them. Juvia believes you were merely dealing with a backlash of anger from Natsu."
Lucy curiously tilted her head as the air around them seemed to churn the second his name left the young blue-haired woman's lips. "...is that what I'm feeling?" she questioned with a look of utter astonishment. "I mean, I knew I was feeling funny, but I thought it was just the pains meds."
There was a moment of startled silence as both Levy and Juvia stared at the blonde in the wheelchair for a few moments. And then Levy asked with careful words and wide eyes, "You...are feeling what's...Juvia? What is that about?"
Juvia studied Lucy's face for a moment with a knowing look that gave Lucy a feeling of discomfort before shaking her head. She turned to Levy with a thoughtful look. "Do you want to help Juvia go get Lucy's things? Juvia left them in the car because Juvia was too busy helping Lucy...we could get some take out to eat as well since Lucy's only had hospital food for a while."
Suspicious, Lucy snatched at Juvia's arm. "Juvia," she snapped, "What are you not-"
Levy shook her head, blue hair tumbling around her cheeks. "Nah, Gajeel's going to cook. Why don't we go pick him up from the shop? We can grab Sting, Rogue, and Yukino-chan, too!" The small pixie-like girl beamed. "In fact, why don't we throw a welcome home party? You go pick up some supplies, I'll call everyone and invite them. I know no one has anything to do tonight."
"Gray-sama will be Juvia's duty," Juvia decided, "It will be hard to get Gray-sama here; he doesn't like coming over anymore."
"Juvia-"
"Gajeel could bring Happy home, too!" Levy decided with a huge smile, beaming at the thought. "He says Happy's been feeling kind of depressed lately and stopped eating a few days ago."
That effectively distracted the young woman. "Happy?" she demanded, not noticing the rush of relieved sighs that left her pair of friends. "What's wrong with Happy? Damn it, Levy, what happened to my freaking cat?"
"He's just upset, we think, he probably misses you," Levy soothed, patting Lucy's shoulder with care. "Why don't you go get some rest, Lucy? We'll be back to help you out with anything and set up your welcome back party, okay? Just...relax. You need a lot more rest if you want to get up and walk anytime soon."
"I'm not going to be walking around anytime soon," Lucy muttered in protest, though she did agree. A nap and her next dose of medication sounded like a great idea. Her back and other injuries were beginning to throb. "...you guys will come back for sure?"
"Of course!" Juvia cried, throwing her hands up. "We want to have a welcome back party, Lucy! Juvia swears that Gray-sama will be forced to attend."
"Let's see...we'll invite Gajeel, Sting, Rogue, Yukino-chan," Levy began, ticking each person off on a finger, "Myself, Juvia, Gray, Happy, Erza-chan, Jellal-san...oh! Wendy-chan!"
"Wendy-chan," Juvia agreed, "Would love to come! We can tell Mira-san and Lisanna-san to come, too, I bet Mira-san would make a really yummy cake for the party!"
Tired of the party talk, Lucy waved them off. "You guys go enjoy your party planning. When exactly are we having this party so I can be ready?"
"Tonight," Juvia told her without room for argument.
"Tonight is lovely," Levy agreed with a bright smile. "But we'll have to hurry if we want to have it then. We'll set up in my apartment so Lucy can sleep and enjoy some peace until it's time, sound good? What time?"
"Nothing past ten," Lucy pleaded, already feeling pity for the neighbors.
"Then five o'clock it is," Juvia decided with a hum. "Go and get some rest, Lucy, Juvia will come help you get ready when it's time for the party, kay?"
"...sure," Lucy sighed, shaking her head. She bid her two friends farewell, completely and utterly amused by their attempt to throw a party. It would probably result in a drunken adventure with her as the only sober one, unable to drink due to her medicine.
She carefully wheeled herself down the hall, ignoring the throbbing of her injured arm as she came to a halt beside her apartment door. She momentarily took a moment to dig out her keys, sweat dotting her forehead at the sweltering heat that had surrounded her. Suspicious that Natsu was nearby, she unlocked the door and tapped it open before rolling inside.
Lucy's lips twitched.
It was so clean, it was ridiculous, but she appreciated Juvia's efforts, knowing that the young woman had been put in charge of cleaning it alongside Levy and Erza. Tears suddenly welled in her eyes, and she found herself grinning at the fact that she was home.
Deciding it was time, Lucy shoved the door shut, and then wheeled herself further inside, looking around as she called, "Natsu! Are you here? I'm back!"
Silence.
She knew he was around, she thought with a frown appearing on her face. She could still feel the incredible heat that filled the apartment. She tried again, calling for him, seeking some kind of response, but then gave up with a disappointed sigh and wheeled herself into the kitchen, intending on seeking some sort of drink to quench the thirst that accompanied such heat. She'd barely been able to get a water bottle out and was sipping at it as she turned the chair around with her good hand when she saw it.
What she came across brought her to a screeching halt.
There, crouched on bare feet on top of her dining table, was a figure. A figure with a T-shirt that was frayed and fairly worn and a pair of cargo shorts, the pockets unbuttoned. His neck held a nasty looking scar that contrasted sharply with sun-kissed skin and Lucy felt should have been covered by something that she couldn't put her finger on. Pink hair lay in a tousled mess upon his head, sticking up in every direction and his piercing onyx eyes stared right into hers with an equally as horrified and shocked look.
There was one moment of stunned silence as they stared at one another, unable to tear their eyes away from each other.
Lucy could hear her breath coming and going in sharp gasps that pained her already sore sides and chest, but she couldn't help but hyperventilate at the situation that had arisen, because she knew the person before her as well as she knew her own face.
No one else had hair like that, and she knew that even if she'd only seen his picture once.
"Nat...su?" she breathed, her eyes wide.
His face changed into bewilderment before a look of raging anger and then one of excitement. "Hey, Luce!" he greeted with a grin.
That grin faded when Lucy began to cry.
At last does Lucy not only return home, but look who's finally up and talking! :D Thanks to reviewers (maalikdb, MehKitty, luv it, silver light of dawn, Alternative Angel, NaLu x Buckets, , ilftnatsu, lkityan, canorahagedoorn, Kinsutenekochan, CuteKitty164, Guest, Usweasil, and Mechanical-Rose-Sama!) as well as those who favorited and followed!
