Author's Note: Welcome back, everyone. I apologise once again for a "late" update, I've been quite busy lately and sometimes just sitting down and writing this story can be difficult. I'd really appreciate how many of you actually want me to continue writing this story, as it feels like not too many people are as interested as they were ten or so chapters ago, when this story was growing really fast. Even if you won't write a review, at least let me know if you find this story entertaining to read at the very least, it'd be a huge help for me.
Chapter 14: Yukino Dragneel
The members of Ordina Alba Rosa trembled in fear at the sight of the electrical powerhouse standing before them, the air crackling with the sound of static as Laxus radiated an aura of pure anger.
"Hmph," the leader of their guild said with a smirk, "so our Prince's henchman has come to get his sweetheart back?"
"I don't like it when people fuck with my family." Laxus growled, outstretching his hand and opening his palm, "now give her back to me. Now."
"Boss, we can't beat him." another member whispered into the man's ear. "Maybe it would be best just to-"
"That won't be necessary. We might not be able to beat this man, but we can at least eliminate the evidence of our involvement in this operation." the leader replied, taking the jar containing Yukino's life essence and holding it by it's lid as it dangled in the air.
"Goodbye, Mrs. Dragneel." the man uttered with a sick grin, dropping the jar from his hand as it appeared to fall towards the wooden floor in slow motion, as Laxus screamed in protest and willed himself to move faster than he ever had before, rushing forward at the literal speed of lightning as he dove and caught the jar in his cupped hands with a relieved sigh. Covering the delicate glass jar with his hands, Laxus quickly got to his feet and let out a burst of speed, completely blowing through the wall of their inn and out in to the crowded streets where the onlookers screamed in horror.
Gotta go fast! Laxus proclaimed in his head, blasting off down the winding paths of Crocus in the form of a bolt of energy, whizzing by pedestrians as he singed their hair and burned an old lady's bread, determined to make it back to his Master with Yukino intact.
I can't believe that someone could do something so underhanded and dirty to someone that they called their "Prince"? What kind of subordinates are those? Anyway, I need to take our Guild Mistress to Natsu right away, who knows how long she's able to survive in this wispy little form. Laxus thought as he ascended onto the rooftops of Crocus and jumped from building to building, still clutching the jar like it was the most valuable thing in the world.
What were they going on about, talking about some "Dragon Essence" and "restoring the Rose kingdom?" The Rose kingdom might have been something to admire many years ago, but aren't they even aware that all of it's citizens died in the dragon attack? What kind of nonsense was that guy spouting? Maybe Natsu or Alexia might have an idea about what's going on, Laxus thought to himself.
It was night time in Crocus, and his bright Lightning Dragon Slaying magic lit up the black sky as he sped onwards, ascending the clocktower in the centre of town and scouring the landscape for the inn that bore their guild banner on it's roof. Using his acute eyesight, Laxus located the building that was just a few streets away as he dove from the top of the clocktower and zipped up and over the remaining buildings before landing on the roof of his guild inn. Dropping down to the outside of the inn, Laxus burst through the door as he stopped to catch his breath, leaning over and breathing heavily.
"Laxus!" Mirajane called, dropping what she was doing and rushing over to help him. "What's wrong?!"
"Where's... Natsu..." Laxus heaved, beads of sweat raining onto the floor from his face.
"I'm right here. Laxus, what's the matter?" Natsu said, walking over to him and putting a hand on his shoulder.
"Natsu... this. Yukino." Laxus replied, uncupping his palms that had been tightly locked on the jar and handing it to Natsu.
"Wait, what do you-" Natsu began, but his eyes widened and he lost the ability to speak when he looked at the contents of the small glass jar.
"What… did you say?" Natsu questioned, his palms beginning to sweat as he looked at Laxus' outstretched hands which held the precious object.
"She's still alive… Natsu. I got a bad vibe from those guys from the beginning of the Games, and I took the liberty to tailing them today after Erik's match. I'm not sure exactly what it is they're planning, but they needed Yukino's 'Dragon Essence' for their endgame. They also mentioned something about slipping her a pheromone the day she attacked you, and I figure that's why she got so uncharacteristically enraged at you." Laxus replied as Mira helped him to his feet.
"You mean all this dust is… Yu-chan?" Natsu whispered, taking the jar in his hand and holding it gently.
"Natsu…" Lucy said, putting a hand on his arm.
"How- how do we bring her back?!" Natsu asked desperately.
"I… I don't know. They never mentioned how it could be done." Laxus replied sadly, looking at the ground.
She's still alive… Lucy thought silently. I… I don't…
"We can't just give up now! There has to be some way to bring her back!" Natsu frantically shouted.
"Natsu, calm down. We'll figure something out." Lucy said.
"How can you tell me to calm down at a time like this?! Yu-chan is right here, and she needs my help! How can you act so nonchalant?!" Natsu yelled.
"I'm not being nonchalant! If anything, you're overreacting to the situation! How do you think I feel about this?!" Lucy shouted back.
"What are you talking about?" Natsu asked.
"What am I talking about?! What's going to happen when you bring Yukino back, Natsu? Are you going to kiss and make up, and then forget everything that happened up until now?!" Lucy roared, letting go of his arm and stepping back with tears in her eyes.
"You said you loved me! I understand why you would want to bring her back, but what kind of situation does that put me in?! I've already had to let you go once, and I could barely keep it together then. Do I even mean anything to you, Natsu?! Was I just a toy of your affection, only to be played with in her absence?!" Lucy shrieked, taking a finger and pointing to her fiery mating mark on her neck.
"Does this mean ANYTHING to you?! Or this?!" Lucy said, running her hand through her pink hair. "I can't say I understand what's been going on in your head the past few days, but try to sympathise with me a little! I've loved you for what felt like an eternity, and when you finally told me you loved me too… it felt like I was walking on air. I really thought that you loved me, Natsu. We were going to be together forever." Lucy sobbed, rubbing her pink guild mark with her free hand.
"Lucy…" Natsu began, setting the jar down on the table as Mira grabbed it quickly to keep it safe.
In that moment, Natsu felt as if the world around him began to slow down, decelerating to the point where the only person or object that wasn't frozen in place was Natsu himself.
"Have you seen enough?" a familiar voice asked, seeming to echo on the inside of his very being.
The next thing he knew, he was right back where he had once started, sitting on the same bench next to the same white-haired man who had told him to choose between the past and the present. So long ago had Natsu felt the odd feeling of being suspended in air in the odd little kingdom in the clouds that he nearly forgot where it was he currently resided.
"W-W-What? Where, Why...?!" Natsu stammered, unable to form a coherent sentence while his blood father smiled with that wily grin of his.
"You didn't think I would actually let you make such an important life decision without a... what do you kids call it, a trial run?" his father asked him.
"T-Trial run?!" Natsu shouted in disbelief. "Then you mean... none of that was real?!"
"More or less. It felt real, didn't it? Just because it was an alternate reality... who's to say it wasn't just as real as anything else?" his father replied, getting up off the bench and taking a few long strides to the centre of the room.
"Son, what did you take away from your time in that life? Is a future with Lucy what you really desired, with the knowledge that your wife was manipulated into attacking you? I allowed you to choose between those very two doors for a reason." his father asked him, his back turned to Natsu as he looked at the three doorways in the front of the room that had begun to glow once more.
Natsu wasn't sure how to respond to such a question. It was like his feelings for both women were playing tug-of-war with his heartstrings, threatening to tear him in two.
Did he really love Lucy? Sure, he treasured all the memories the two had made, and she was one of his best friends, there was something about her that just didn't sit right with him. It was if part of Natsu really did want to be with her, but the combined forces of his mating instincts and common sense screamed otherwise.
"I... I don't know what I've been doing, Dad. Is everything that I did with Lucy... is that wrong? Was it any better than adultering?" Natsu questioned.
"You know, Abel, I'm not all too sure I can give you a clear answer to that. I don't know what goes on in your head, and I don't know exactly how you feel about the two of them as well as you do. However, I think we both know the sensible decision here, after all you've come to learn and experience this alternate reality of yours." his father said, turning to look him in the eye.
"Don't you recall your wedding vows you wrote for her, Abel?" his father asked him.
"Yeah... 'To cherish and protect you as my only goal, our lives are now one, both in mind, body and soul, with unwavering loyalty only shared by those with the likeness of a true dragon. Forever, before and after, any time or place, I'll keep only you by my side...'" Natsu recited to himself, clenching his fists.
"It would seem like you had forgotten those fateful words, wouldn't it, Abel?" his father said.
"I've... I've been so... just what have I done?" Natsu growled.
"You thought your wife had passed on, son. Everyone deals with grief differently, some better than others. Do not berate yourself, Abel, nothing you've done has affected anyone in the present. Would you like to go b-" his father consoled, Natsu cutting him off at the end.
"Send me back now!" Natsu shouted with urgency.
"Aren't you eager to correct your mistakes?" Natsu's father asked with a hearty laugh. "Well, I won't keep you here any longer."
With that, Natsu's father stepped to the side to present to Natsu the real second door, the one that would return him to the present.
"I'm sure you'll continue to make your mother and I very proud, Abel. Treasure your wife, your family and your friends, and continue to be a role model for all those under you. Although the time of the Rose Kingdom has come to an end, it's refreshing to know the qualities which once made us great continues to live on in you and your sister." his father praised, grinning the famous grin that appeared to run in the family as Natsu felt his eyes water, before running forward and giving his father one last hug.
"I'm really happy I got to meet you once more, Dad..." Natsu cried, his face buried in his father's clothing.
"It's not a goodbye son, it's simply a farewell for now. We'll meet again, I promise. Now go on, Abel. Protect the future, right?" his father said, releasing him and holding out his fist for Natsu to bump it.
"Right!" Natsu exclaimed, returning the gesture and giving his father one last fist bump before turning around and setting off.
"Watch me, Dad!" Natsu shouted, running eagerly into the second doorway as the world around him faded into a blinding white, the sight of his father waving goodbye disappearing among the sea of light.
When Natsu came to, his whole body ached with a pain the likes he had never felt before, and it hurt simply lying immobile on the bed. Cautiously cracking open an eyelid, he spied what looked like the interior of the same little infirmary he had known previously, only he was literally surrounded by as many members of his guild fit in the tiny windowless room, people pushing and trying to get a better look at their Master as everyone held their breath in fear.
Feeling a pressure on both his hands, Natsu spotted Yukino clutching one of them in both her own, his other hand occupied by Wendy and Alexia, who were both shaking like leaves and sobbing hysterically. He tried to make a sound, to alert one of them to his consciousness, but the unbearable pain made it impossible to formulate any type of noise in his throat or movement in his limbs.
"I think he just moved!" someone shouted, the three girls holding onto him snapping their heads up in desperation as they leant closer to him to see if the claim the person had made was true.
"Natsu-sama... please, come back to us..." Yukino said between tears, the warm drops falling on his bandaged chest.
"Onii-chan, can you hear us?!" Alexia frantically asked, squeezing his hand so tightly he thought it might break.
"Wendy, see if he's alright!" Yukino almost commanded her, and Wendy jumped a little at her tone but nodded and placed her hands over his chest as they lit up with a soft green glow.
"He's... His breathing is back to normal! Judging by his heart rate, he should be waking up anytime now!" Wendy exclaimed, causing the whole guild to crowd his bedside even more, leaving him almost no room.
Although it pained him to do so, Natsu weakly formed the Fairy Tail sign with his left hand, the entire room sighing in relief and screaming with joy.
"Natsu-sama... I'm so sorry, I'm so sorry, I'm so sorry..." Yukino repeatedly sobbed, her long silver hair brushing against his arm as teardrops fell and landed on his bare skin.
"Yu...ki...no..." Natsu mumbled, each syllable of her name sending jolts of pain through his body.
"Y-Yes?" Yukino stammered, ceasing her crying for a moment.
"Don't...cry...please." Natsu choked out, his voice box failing him as he lost consciousness, his eyes fluttering shut and his world fading once again into black.
Later that night...
When Natsu came to, the unbearable pain that seemed to radiate all throughout his body had all but completely disappeared, and he found that he was able to sit up in bed with relative ease. Surveying the room that was coated in darkness and lit only by a sliver of dim moonlight that seeped through the cracks of the blinds, Natsu found that he was alone, unlike earlier in the day. Sliding the bedsheets off of his body and getting to his feet, Natsu walked over to the door and turned the knob, the wooden door creaking loudly in the silent infirmary that was devoid of all commotion. Stepping into the hallway, Natsu peeked his head around the corner and almost shouted in surprise at the sight that beheld the young man. Lined up in two long lines along both sides of the hallway were as many guildmates of his that could fit outside his bedroom, all of them resting inside of sleeping bags in a neat queue which almost made him laugh at the level of organisation they put into their sleeping arrangements.
They actually slept in the hallway, just to wait to see if I was okay? Natsu thought in surprise. Man, what am I going to do with these guys?
Searching for his wife, he spotted her snoozing away soundly inside a sleeping bag with Happy clutched to her chest like a stuffed animal, a worried expression on her face, like she was having a bad dream.
I'll let her rest for now, God knows she's had a long day, Natsu thought, returning to the silence of his own bedroom, being careful not to disturb the others.
Sitting down on his bed, Natsu fell onto his back and stared at the ceiling, holding his tanned and scarred hand out in the air to examine. Turning it back and forth in front of him, Natsu felt his blood boil when he remembered the reason all this had happened to him: Ordina Alba Rosa. They had manipulated his wife into attacking him, almost depriving their guild of a Master and his future child a father, all to further their plot. He felt as if his blood was catching fire, his entire body began to tingle and feel oddly fuzzy, like the sensation of your leg falling asleep, and then... it stopped. Getting to his feet, Natsu raised the blinds to look at his reflection in the window, the moonlight shimmering against his jet-black hair, his one crimson-coloured pupil staring back at him with an eerie glow as the man staring back at him grinned a toothy smile, his shark-like teeth glinting under the pale light of the moon.
"It's been a while, Natsu." it said.