Okay, so...Imma rant now. Any Young Justice fans out there? If so...may I please rant about my anger? Well. I'm going to, even if you said no. Beware: spoilers if you have not seen the last episode.
*SPOILER *Okay so wtaf was with THAT SHIT? What. What? WHAT? They...I can't believe that they would... UGH. Thank you, Greg, for blowing up my ship. Into little bitty pieces, like the rest of my heart. Seriously, you ass. NOT COOL. You can't just go off and KILL my favorite character on some lame-ass excuse like that after he and the love of his life had JUST been reunited! NO. It was just too sudden, there was no proper built up, and hell, they didn't even get to say goodbye. THIS SUCKS. I shall obstinately believe that the last episode was just a very bad dream and that it NEVER HAPPENED. EVER. I shall continue to ship Spitfire, and Wally shall be alive. Forever. No room for argument. Period. *END SPOILER.*
Anyway...uhm...yeah. I've heard that there's no plans for a third season. But I'm telling you now...there BETTER be a third one. Because the ending of the second was absolutely crummy and it made me want to cry (and not in a good way).
My heart hurts now. But I guess that's what happens when your OTP is suddenly blown sky-high and back again.
On a better note...I heard that FT is simply going on break? I think it was on Mashima-sensei's twitter, he said that it would start up again in April, I believe; which is glorious. So, hopefully, I'll still have one thing to look forward to on the weekends, starting in April (LOK and FT :D) If anyone has further information on the matter, please, LET ME KNOW! :3
Enough of my ranting...read and enjoy, my lovelies~
Oh! And before I forget! SPECIAL SHOUT OUT TO Aquesa FOR BEING THE 600TH REVIEWER! Over 600 reviews, guys! I can't believe this! Keep it up!
Adherence
o0o
The Return
As soon as the doors slammed shut in Lucy's wake, the entire guild erupted into a fit of voices and other noises. Stunned exclamations, startled murmurs, shocked gasps filled the smoky air of Fairy Tail and nearly everyone fixed their questioning gazes upon Gajeel, the equally stunned dragonslayer. Said stunned dragonslayer was frozen by the double doors, bulking muscles rigid, red eyes glazed over as he simply stared outward at the crowd.
"Gajeel, did you just say that…?"
"Is Lucy really…?"
"Is this a joke?"
The questions flew by him. He didn't know what to say, how to respond—which irked him more than it should have. He was a dragonslayer, dammit, good with his hands and not with his words. He'd messed up—he comprehended that much—and it was all because he couldn't keep his mouth shut.
Shrimp was going to bludgeon him with an encyclopedia.
She'd given him the secret of the year, asking him to hold his tongue, and he'd begrudgingly agreed…only to spoil it anyway with his brash temper. That in itself was enough to annoy him, the fact that he couldn't keep a secret even if he tried… She really was going to bludgeon him. He was counting on it as soon as the word spread—and undoubtedly, it would like a wildfire. But there was nothing he could do about it at this point, because no matter how much he denied it, no matter how hard Bunny-girl protested, the guild would be forever steadfast in the conclusion that Lucy was pregnant.
They were well past the point of no return now.
Erza was the fastest to recover and respond from the sudden news, her dark eyes flashing dangerously as a murderous aura enveloped her form. Her gloved hand twitched by her sword, mouth grating out through clenched teeth, "Who dared to violate her?" She dragged her gaze around the room.
Many men in the guild shrank back, feebly protesting. None of them were stupid enough to induce her wrath willingly… But, just as it seemed that Erza would fly into a rage in order to find and emasculate, whom she deemed, the perpetrator, there was a high-pitched squeal of what sounded like utter delight.
"Isn't that wonderful?"
It came from none other than Mirajane, behind the counter and holding her rag between clasped hands as she sighed dreamily. This exclamation, of course, induced silence from the entire rest of the guild as they all blinked at her, Erza included—she calmed briefly, much to the relief of the other members in the guild.
"Lucy's going to be a mother!" Mira elaborated happily with a large smile. "Isn't that amazing?"
Murmurs were exchanged again as people looked back and forth at each other, the initial shock wearing off. It was a good thing, most of them supposed. They were increasing the size of their family by one, and that could never be a bad thing, right? Plus, if the child had Lucy as its mother, there would be no doubt about its absolutely adorable appearance, boy or girl. Not to mention, there had been a shortage of guild-kids as of late—Asuka was the youngest at just eight and she was starting to get impatient with her parents' friends.
On more than one occasion, little Asuka had blatantly demanded couples in the guild to produce children; this was mostly because she wanted friends to play with. Either way, this was good news…for well, everyone.
Small trickles of laughter bubbled through the whispers of conversation. The trickles flowed into a steady stream, and then that stream gave way to an entire sea of smiles, grins, chuckles and happy shouts.
"That's awesome!"
"I'm so happy for her!"
"Oh, the baby'll be so cute!"
"The next generation, ne?"
"This is…" Erza started slowly, "…good for Lucy, it will help her mature."
"Oh, hell, I just called a pregnant girl chubby…" Gray moaned, his expression truly sour.
A breath escaped Gajeel and he closed his eyes, not realizing that he had been stifling his breathing in the first place. At least the guild was happy about it, he supposed, and not upset or disgusted like he knew Blondie feared. It only went to show that her fears were such meager things—worrying about the reaction of her own nakama. The thought almost made him scoff.
"Oh…but," came a voice then, full of honest-to-goodness curiosity, "who's the father, then?"
"She's not dating anyone," Gray announced from his spot at the bar as he tried to shake off the reality that pregnant women, when insulted, basically turned into beasts that ripped men apart. Unlike he had been just five minutes ago, he was now topless, his thumbs hooking themselves into the waistband of his trousers to pull them down.
"It's obvious, isn't it?" Macao chuckled. "I think we all might have a guess as to who the father is…"
At this, Gajeel felt his spine stiffen. He suddenly felt a little cold, his hands a little clammy—the reaction was strange to him as he'd only ever reacted that way during an adrenaline rush. Anxiety, he named the feeling after twisting his mouth in mild distaste, was fixing its grip on him. Tightly.
Mira giggled, a twinkle in her eye as she finished wiping down another mug and placed it gently on the countertop. "Natsu, right?"
Noises of agreement flitted through Fairy Tail, some members nodding their heads at the prospect.
"He's really the only logical choice," Wakaba mused. "They spend so much time together, and according to our very own Mira-chan, he sneaks into Lucy's house on a regular basis." An eyebrow of his waggled suggestively as he blew out a long puff of smoke that curled into the air and vanished moments later.
"Yeah," Evergreen scoffed. "Those two are full of so much sexual tension that I was beginning to worry they might explode and jump each other in the guild." She made a huffing sound, her head of dirty-blonde curls shaking from side to side.
"Right?" Mirajane laughed, the sound a little tinkle that could have been mistaken for the giggle of a fairy.
From somewhere in the crowd came a strange sound, a grunt from the back of the throat. It was a sound that almost came off as doubtful, or dismissive. "I don't mean to burst your bubble, but, haven't the two of them been a little…strange lately?" Warren, it was, suggested hesitantly.
"Now that you mention it," Wendy's soft voice interjected, "I think the two of them might be fighting…" The little dragonslayer's face melted into a worried frown, her small lips turning downward, chocolate eyes dimming as little fingers began twiddling.
"Fighting?" Gray grumped. His pants were long gone by now as he leaned back against the bar, spreading his legs open for comfort as his sat on his seat. "They're always nit-picking at each other, that's nothing new."
The sky dragonslayer shook her head, blue locks flying this way and that. "No," she said. "I don't think it was a simple spat… I think they had a real fight… Before Natsu-san left, Lucy-san gave off this tense feeling, like she stressed about something… Maybe they've been fighting for a while and it got worse three weeks ago…" Her small hands started clenching together, anxiously twisting fingers in a nervous habit. "Maybe we just didn't notice…"
Looks were exchanged, some doubtful, others more believing.
"Well…it would explain Natsu's sudden need for isolation," Freed commented leisurely from his table that housed Evergreen, Bixlow, and Elfman.
"As it would Lucy's irritation on the subject of his disappearance," piped another guild member from the back.
Elfman, beside Evergreen with his bulking arm hooked around her petit waist, let out a sound of frustration, his dark eyes rolling. "Well, if Natsu isn't the man, then who is?" he demanded a bit impatiently. All this back and forth, wishy-washy nonsense irritated him; being wishy-washy wasn't being part of a man!
"Who else is Lucy particularly close to?"
Not even two seconds flashed by before there was a startled gasp from Mira, her hands clasping themselves over her heart as her face flushed. "No…" she whispered dramatically, eyes shining, sparkling, as if she had just discovered the single most juicy, scandalous gossip of the year. "No, that can't be…but it makes sense," the barista murmured to herself. Then, she squealed. "This…development," she sighed, "it's so fantastic!"
"Hah? What development?" inquired Gray as he pinned the suspicious-acting girl with a hard, decisive stare.
"This love-triangle!" Mira giggled as her cheeks colored more.
"Love-triangle?" The ice mage wrinkled his nose in disgust at the term. It was a phrase he was all-too familiar with, unfortunately, as Mira and Erza had pointed out—on more than one occasion—his…situation with Juvia and Lyon. According to the two women, he, himself, was currently in the middle of some messed up love-triangle-thing…
"Yes, yes, love-triangle." The barmaid smiled heartily. "Between Lucy, Natsu, and Galahad."
"…Galahad?" was Gray's only response.
A noncommittal grunt. "Well…he does talk about her a lot."
"I've heard that Galahad and Lucy have gone out on a few dates…"
"Have you seen the way he looks at Lucy?"
"Yeah, it should be a given then, ne?"
Nodding sagely, Mira continued with a grin. "The dashing new member sweeps our very own Lucy Heartfilia off her feet, wanting to whisk her away into the sunset... But, then there's Natsu, her closest friend with whom she shares a lot of her past with, who arrives on the scene… It's so…scandalous!"
A cough interrupted Mira's fantasy. "Maybe Galahad's the father?" Warren proposed.
"No, no way," Evergreen scoffed again. "Even if they're fighting, Natsu and Lucy are practically made for each other, it's ridiculous to even suggest something else." She whipped out her fan with a flick of her wrist, snorting her amusement behind it in a lady-like fashion as she fanned herself slowly, long eyelashes blinking and daring anyone to counter her.
"It's obvious that Galahad and Lucy have more chemistry," a brave soul said blandly, the voice sounding suspiciously like Bixlow.
"More chemistry, more chemistry, more chemistry!" And, of course, his babies.
Erza, then, flicked a long lock of crimson hair over her plated shoulder. "I beg to differ," she stated. "Natsu and Lucy are far more compatible." As much as the prospect of Natsu fathering a child with Lucy—before they were married—irked the swordswoman, she could not argue this fact. Like Evergreen had stated, Natsu and Lucy were basically two halves of one whole; they fit together. Even if they were utterly oblivious to it.
"More compatible?" Gray snorted, being the only one brave, or stupid, enough to bat away Erza's opinion as though it were a mere fly. "That flame-brain is more compatible with a piece of toast," he snickered to himself.
Erza, as though she had been insulted, withdrew her sword.
"Now, now," Mirajane soothed, stepping out from around the bar with both hands held out. "Let's not fight, ne? How about we make bets instead?" In her eyes was the tell-tale twinkling that usually meant that a large, large bet was about to take place.
Casting glances at one another, eyes narrowing, the call was unanimous, "Bring it!"
Trotting behind the bar counter, her heels clicking against the wooden floor, Mira dug up her notebook, flipped to a fresh page, and then waved the rest of her guild over. Waving her hand enticingly, a bright smile on her pale, but beautiful face, Mira called, "Come place your bets! Who's the father of Lucy's baby? Natsu? Galahad? Or even someone else? Winners take all!"
She was swarmed instantly, many guild members raising their voices, pointing, dropping Jewels onto the counter as they pushed and shoved one another. It was as if they believed that the closer they got to Mirajane, the better chance they had at winning the pot. The pushing and shoving increased, toes were stepped on, and the volume in the beer hall skyrocketed so drastically that Gajeel, still standing by the doors, had the urge to wince. He stifled that urge, though, and instead, turned to leave—he had some explaining to do, and more than likely, Levy already knew what he had done.
Somehow, girls had the uncanny ability to relay information to each other without talking. It was freaky, in his opinion. But, before he could even touch the door, much less shove it open, it flung inwards at him, smacking him clean in the face.
"Gah!" With a shout, he was knocked back, holding the underside of his now red chin and rubbing it with a gruff, meaty hand. Gajeel glowered menacingly at the new, and obviously ignorant, arrival that paraded through the door. And once he recognized the idiot, his glare faltered.
"Oi! I'm back!"
"Aye!"
Natsu. It was Natsu. …And Happy.
Gajeel snarled lowly in the back of his throat, sounding almost animalistic. Great. Perfect. Just fucking perfect. He had to show up now, of all times, when the rest of the guild was taking bets on or against his pending fatherhood? If this situation got any worse, not only would the shrimp beat him with her books, she would lug his body into the woods and bury it…not that he would ever let her even attempt to do something like that to him, but still, the threat was very realistic.
In front of the three, Natsu, Gajeel, and Happy, if the cat was counted, the entire crowd quieted before craning their necks to peer at them incredulously. Stray Jewels clattered to the floor and countertop, now forgotten, as the near entirety of Fairy Tail openly gawked at Natsu, to which he cocked his head to the side with a confused frown.
Mira was the first to recover, snapping her bet-book shut and stuffing it under the counter with an easy smile. "Natsu!" she exclaimed. "Welcome back, you've been gone for so long! Master was starting to worry about you, you know."
His signature grin stretched across his face as he reached up with a calloused hand to ruffle his dirty, caked-with-mud hair and fling it out of his eyes—it had gotten a bit longer during his short absence. Now that the people in the beer hall were paying attention to not only his presence, but his attire as well, his full appearance began to sink in…and by the heavens, was he filthy! The prodigal dragonslayer was covered from head to toe in dirt and grime, cuts and scrapes and bruises littering his arms, neck, face and legs as if he had taken a tumble through a thrush or two…or ten. His trousers were torn, in tatters from his knees down, and both of his overcoat sleeves were missing with a giant, gaping hole in the center. And yet, in all his disheveled state…he'd somehow managed to keep his sandals in mint condition.
His cat was in no better condition. Happy's blue fur almost looked grey due to the amount of dirt in his coat, and patches of said grey-blue fur clumped together in places like he'd rolled around in the garbage and hadn't bothered to bathe afterwards.
Natsu, feeling all the stares he was receiving, rocked back on his heels. "Ah? As if Happy and I couldn't take care of an army of Balkans on our own," he said, shrugging. Then, his eyes darted to the crowd and to Mira, taking note of the suspicious way the majority of the lot was eyeing him…as if they were trying to discern some sort of secret from him without being too obvious about it. "Watcha guys doing?" the fire mage asked curiously.
"Nothing, nothing," Mira assured him hurriedly. "Come and sit down, you and Happy must be starving, ne?" She leaned over the counter to pat a barstool enticingly, a warm, welcoming and inviting look on her sweet face.
The look was familiar to Elfman, standing off to the left now; he knew it was the look she used when she wanted a patron or other customer to suddenly forget about a question they had asked.
It was a damned good tactic too, Elfman thought. It worked on men quite well.
"Hell yeah!" the dragonslayer howled brashly, a smile cracking on his dried lips.
Behind him, Happy let out an equally ecstatic cheer of, "Aye, sir!" and leapt into the air, his white wings fluttering.
"Bring on the food!" Natsu held both hands up into the air, fists clenched, and dashed to the bar with thundering footsteps that were loud enough to wake and revive the deceased. "So, what's new?" he asked simply, resisting the urge to kick his feet up onto the counter—Mira hated when he did that.
Before anyone else could reply, Bixlow cut in. "Oi, oi," his low-pitched voice rumbled like a languid roll of thunder, "haven't you heard? About Lucy?"
"Lucy, Lucy, Lucy!" his dolls chanted.
As Mirajane set down a piping hot plate of what looked like chicken legs, potatoes, corn, a slab of beef and a few sides of bacon, Natsu immediately began stuffing his mouth. He managed to fit nearly an entire chicken leg inside his mouth without gagging before he turned to Bixlow with a quirked brow. "Lucy?" he mumbled around his food, though it came out more like, "Rufi?"
"Yeah, yeah." Bixlow let loose a long, low whistle, his tongue lolling out of his mouth. Many of the other guild members close to the bar cringed—it was kind of gross, in the majority's opinion. "She's knocked up, man. Having a brat, you know?"
"A brat, a brat, a brat!"
Many people froze at this, their eyes widening—whether or not the subject of a pregnant Lucy was taboo or not for her very male best friend was still unknown to them; they were in uncharted waters, and seeing as Natsu had a tendency to be unpredictable…well… Seated at the bar, Natsu suddenly set down his plate, hiding his face from the rest of the guild as he looked down into his food—anyone could see that his back muscles were straining against the torn fabric of his overcoat, and his hands, though only those closest to him could see, were clenching. He was…unreadable, and that fact was a little troubling seeing as he valued Lucy more highly than anyone else.
"Oi, now, you gossip monger!" Macao called, his tone berating.
"Well she is," Bixlow defended. "I ain't gonna lie or nothing—he asked what's new, that's certainly new." And he laughed, the sound a mad cackle.
"Lucy's…having a baby?" the question was spoken softly, and many were surprised to find that the great Natsu Dragneel even had a soft voice that he could use. Usually, he much preferred his loud, cheeky and audacious way of speaking to people.
"U-um, Natsu-san," Wendy said, popping up next to her fellow dragonslayer with a nervous smile. "We just found out, she left a little while ago…" She pointed to the doors, as if asking him if he wanted to track his blonde teammate down or something.
But, then Natsu rounded on her with…a smile? His grin was electrifying, lighting up his entire face as it nearly stretched from ear to ear, his incisors showing. Though he was very obviously tired, his tanned face was alight, practically glowing. "That's awesome!"
"…Eh?" Macao's drink threatened to fall from his tight hands. "Awesome?" he echoed in disbelief.
"Yeah!" Natsu nodded. "I'm going to have to find her and congratulate her, ne, Happy?" he asked as he turned to his hovering Exceed, who flapped his wings excitedly.
Happy kneaded his paws in the air. "Ay, sir! We have to make sure that the baby doesn't turn out weird, like Lucy," the cat sniggered into a furry, dirty paw.
The comment brought forth and unleashed a set of snorting laughs from Natsu as he rocked back in his chair, only to nearly choke on his food. He spluttered a few times, pounding on his chest with a fist, before gasping and then laughing once again. He looked so…normal, like he always did, as if the news hadn't even fazed him. And this fact worried a few people in the guild, namely Erza and Gray as they knew the dragonslayer the best. Both knew that he should have had some other reaction, should have been a little shocked, should have been a little more curious, and should not have been as easy-going as he appeared…
There was something wrong with him.
A good distance from the bar, Erza sat with a small plate of strawberry tarts, a frown on her face. She picked up a single tart, popped it into her mouth, and catching the gaze of Gray, waved him over. She needed to know if she was the only one who found Natsu's behavior suspicious.
"What's up, Erza?" Gray asked, meandering over.
The female knight held out a hand, motioning for him to sit down. Her voice was low when she said, "Natsu's behavior is strange."
Gray blinked, settling into a seat quietly with an unreadable expression. "Ah, you thought so too?" Dark eyes travelled back to the bar where the subject of their conversation sat, cramming his face, laughing with the rest of the guild who didn't seem to suspect a thing.
Gray frowned, the look not going unnoticed by Erza as she cleared another sweet tart from her plate. She felt more confident now in her suspicion that there was something very wrong with Natsu Dragneel…very wrong indeed. And the source of it, Erza and Gray both knew, was a certain celestial spirit mage.
Natsu's back! But he's acting too cheery? And bets are being placed! Next time, chapter 22: The Admission!
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