Chapter 21

Bright Starlight

Alu found Aquarius on the edge of the forest. The Water Bearer Spirit was leaning up against a large tree and staring up at the night sky. Although she heard Alu approaching her, Aquarius made no notion of acknowledgement. Alu simply came up and leaned against a tree opposite of Aquarius. She was unsure of how to break the unsettling silence between them, so she just stared up at the sky. The moon shone down on the landscape in a wonder of silvery light, and the stars twinkled in the endless bluish black space high above the world. Alu's eyes drifted over the constellations, her mind subconsciously naming all of them.

Finally, Aquarius glanced over.

"What do you want?" she asked sourly.

Alu glared back for a brief moment before looking back up at the sky.

"I'm only here because Aries asked me," she stated. "And I can never turn her down when she gives me the puppy-dog eyes. I guess I'm suppose to try and make amends with you. Although honestly, I don't really want to."

"Well, neither do I." Aquarius snubbed. "I don't see why I should have to apologize to you."

"You don't?!" Alu whipped around fiercely. "Geez, you are so infuriating! You've got plenty to apologize for!"

"Really?" Aquarius narrowed her eyes. "Name a few reasons."

Alu clenched her fists.

"Fine!" she snapped. "One, you called me a love-child and insulted my mom! Two, you insulted my dad by calling my flame's pathetic! Three, you called my parents a bunch of freaks! And four, you've been nothing by ungrateful this whole time!"

Aquarius glanced at Alu with a bitter look in her eyes.

"Well, aren't you going to say sorry?!" Alu demanded.

"Only if you apologize first." Aquarius replied.

"What have I done?!" Alu shrieked.

"Let's see," Aquarius raised her index finger like she was counting, "you've failed to thank me for saving your butt from Ivan. You ignored me when I told you to run away. And you nearly got yourself killed when you came back to fight that maniac in the first place."

"That's pathetic!" Alu shouted, her ire rising even. "You insult my family and you expect ME to say sorry just for not obeying you?! You've got to be the most selfish person I've ever met! How did you get to be this way in the first place?! Or have you always been like this?! You don't care about anyone else!"

Finally, Aquarius flinched and gritted her teeth. Before Alu knew what was happening, the Water Spirit spun around and grabbed her by her vest. She then yanked Alu close so that she was forced to look into her blazing eyes. Alu only gave a brief look of fearful surprise before glaring back at Aquarius.

"You don't know what you're talking about, scruff munchkin!" Aquarius yelled. "You don't know what it's like being a Celestial Spirit! Knowing you will live on when every mortal around you will die! Watching your key-holder die right before your eyes, knowing that you can't do anything to save her! Do you know how painful it is to say good-bye to someone you care about know you will never see again?! The only way to avoid that is to pretend you DON'T CARE!"

Alu's widened her eyes in shock. She caught her breath when she saw that tears were beginning to appear in Aquarius's eyes. Alu also felt Aquarius's hand shaking, but it wasn't out of rage. It was out of pain.

"You're talking about my grandma, Layla, aren't you?" Alu said in a soft voice.

Aquarius grimaced as she slowly let Alu go. She then shrunk back and covered her eyes with her hand.

"Layla was one of few Celestial Wizards I came to care for." Aquarius admitted, her voice shaky and weak. "Most Celestial Wizards just treated me and my kin like we were slaves and tools. But she was one of the very few who didn't. And she died, my key was given to your mother. She was so much Layla. But…But I couldn't…"

Alu watched with an open mouth as Aquarius fell to the ground. She gripped the grass and soil with her left hand, and she tightened her right hand around her face. She shivered uncontrollably as she tried to prevent the tears in her eyes from falling. But she couldn't hold them back. They spilled from her eyes.

"It killed me to see Layla die!" Aquarius confessed in a heart-broken voice. "I was there when she passed away! It was too much, knowing she was gone forever! And my key was given to her daughter! She was just like Layla! I didn't want to feel that pain again! I hated Lucy…because I cared about her too much to admit it to myself! It was only after she broke my key that I could finally admit that! How can we Celestial Spirits become so close to a mortal, knowing that one day they will be GONE?!"

For the first time in a long time, Aquarius let herself cry without restraint. Her shoulders heaved with uncontainable sobs and she trembled with emotion.

Alu stood where she was, her face showing stunned sadness. She had no idea that Aquarius was going through that. And seeing someone who always gave a strong presence in a heart-broken state struck Alu in the soul. She realized she had been wrong about Aquarius this whole time. She wasn't just a moody control-freak because she wanted others to bow to her will, she just didn't want them to see her suffering.

This whole time she had been suffering, and she had been doing it alone.

But Alu saw it. And seeing it made one tear form in her right eye and stream down her cheek.

Alu's compassionate side got the best her. She walked over, knelt down to Aquarius's level, and hugged her. Aquarius felt her embrace and tensed for a moment. Her eyes snapped open and she looked over at the teenaged girl with surprise.

"I'm sorry, Aquarius." Alu whispered with sincerity. "I can't imagine how hard that must've been. Or how much you've been hurting this whole time. Saying good-bye to someone you care about, or knowing that one day you'll never see them again. I know I can't stop that, because I'm mortal just like everyone else in this world. And I can't fix the pain your feeling. I honestly don't know what I can do to help. If I knew what to say, I would say it, but I don't. But I want you to know you're not alone. We're all here for you if you only let us help. And maybe you and I…can we start over?"

Aquarius blinked at that request.

"I don't want to keep fighting with you." Alu said. "I know I can't replace anyone you've cared for in the past, but I don't want to keep fight you. So will you give me another chance?"

Aquarius looked at Alu for a moment. Something in the way Alu spoke had made her stop and think. This was a side of her that she had never seen before. It was so different than what she had normally seen of Alu, that Aquarius wasn't sure if this girl was the same one she had been quarrelling with this entire time.

But it was. It was still the same Alu. The same Alu Layla Dragneel, daughter to Natsu and Lucy Dragneel.

"She's just like her." Aquarius thought to herself.

Finally, she closed her eyes and slowly raised her left arm. Although hesitant, she hugged Alu back.

"We can at least try to start over," she said. "And Alu, I'm sorry, too."

For a minute or two, Alu and Aquarius sat in the silence of the night in their embrace of friendship.

Finally, the two pulled away and looked each other straight in the eye. For the first time in forever, they looked at each other, not with contempt and resentment, but with kindness and equality.

"You know, Alu," Aquarius grinned, "you keep saying you're a lot like your father. But I think you've fail to see how much you're like your mother."

Alu blinked with surprise. That was the first time anyone had ever said that to her. Everyone always told her she was just like her father. No one ever told her she was like her mother.

"How so?" Alu asked.

"Well," Aquairus shrugged, "for one thing, you treat your Spirits like equals. And the way you teamed up with Aries is something that I could see Lucy doing. You're also very passionate about what you believe in. And if anyone gets in your way, you're not afraid to take them down."

Alu just stared.

"But most of all," Aquarius went on, "you have a big heart, just like her. You may be a Dragneel, but you also have Heartfilla blood flowing through you. Not to mention, while you have your father's eyes, you have your mother's face."

Alu smiled softly. Up until now, she didn't think she much in common with Lucy. The only thing she knew she had in common with her was that she was Celestial Wizard like her. But some reason, hearing that she had some more common traits with Lucy made her feel a little prouder than before. Especially since they came from someone who had known her mother better than anyone else.

"You know that's the first time anyone's ever told me that." Alu said.

"Well, now you know." Aquarius simply stated.

"Thanks." Alu grinned.

Alu and Aquarius then stood up and turned to look back up at the sky one last time.

"We better get back." Alu said tiredly. "We've got a long journey tomorrow and we're going to need our strength. And I'm sure Aries wants to see that we haven't bitten each other's heads off."

"Sure thing." Aquarius replied. "Let's go."

With that, the two friends began to walk back through the forest.

"Oh, one more thing." Aquarius said sharply.

"What's that?" Alu asked.

As Alu turned to look at Aquarius, she jolted and leaned back with a startled expression as the Water Spirit got up in her face with a serious scowl.

"Don't you dare tell anyone I cried!" she warned in a dark voice. "Or I'm going to make you wish you were never born!"

"Hey, don't worry." Alu replied casually. "I'm not sayin' anything."

"Good!" Aquarius said harshly.

Aquarius then backed away from Alu as if nothing happened. For a while, the two just walked silently through the forest. When were about to reach the campsite, a question suddenly popped into Aquarius's head.

"Hey, scruff munchkin," she said, "I got a question for ya."

"Yeah, what is it?" Alu asked.

"I noticed a while back that you mention knocking down Taurus a few times." Aquarius said, sounding legitimately curious. "Are you the reason he kept coming back to the Celestial World with black eyes for a while?"

Alu turned to look at Aquarius with a seemingly innocent expression. However, it soon changed into a large, cheeky grin.

"Yep, it was me." Alu admitted, sounding rather proud of herself. "One time Taurus tried to flirt with Mom when Dad wasn't around. He got as far as saying my mom had a hot figure, and then the next thing he knew, he was seeing stars, figuratively and literally."

Aquarius stared at Alu with utter surprise.

"You mean you sent him flying?" she said, bewildered.

"To the moon." Alu replied smugly. "Ever since then, he's been afraid of me. Whenever I'm around he doesn't dare flirt with Mom or anyone else. Cause he knows I'm going to knock him out if he does."

Aquarius couldn't prevent herself from giving and impressed grin. It was about time someone put that pervert bull in his place. And Alu seemed to be the right one for the job.

"What about Leo?" Aquarius asked. "I know he used to flirt with your mom back then."

"Oh, he's fine." Alu shrugged, waving her hand dismissively. "He might comment on my mom's appearance once in a while, but he doesn't outright flirt with her anymore. He says it's because he doesn't flirt with committed women. But I think it's because he knows Dad will kill him if he tried to hit on Mom."

"Well, I guess that should be expected from the Lion Spirit." Aquarius replied. "He's fearless in battle, but cowardly when it comes to love."

Alu chuckled at the comment.

About half an hour later, Alu was lying flat on her back, staring up at the night sky above her. All around her, Aquarius, Aries, Violet, Frosch, and Rogue all slept soundly.

Alu had a hard time falling asleep. It wasn't just because the events of the night had left her with some things to think. It mostly because she found herself thinking of her parents. She figured that it must have been because she was thinking about Ivan threatening to steal her father's soul. After all, it was only then that she started to worry about Natsu again. And then after those conversations about her parents, Alu couldn't stop her mind from drifting back to them.

She didn't quite know why, but she suddenly found herself missing them. She had never been away from them this long before. Now she was almost wishing that they were here with her.

She also couldn't help but wonder where they were right now. Chances were that they were camping out somewhere, looking up at the same sky she was looking up at. And that they were watching all of the stars sparkle brightly in that endless void.

As Alu looked up at the stars, and saw their bright lights, reminded Alu of a song. It was one that her parents used to sing to her when she was very small.

Soon, she began to hum it to herself.

Natsu, still awake and sitting down at the base of the tree he had been leaning up against before, looked down at his wife. Lucy had fallen asleep earlier, snuggling up next to him for warmth and comfort. He had wrapped his scarf around the two of them, and now held her in a loving embrace as she slept against him. He couldn't help but smile at her as she breathed softly and peacefully.

Natsu then turned his head back up to the sky. He stared up at the stars as he thought of Alu. He was hoping that she was at least safe out there. And maybe even looking up at the sky like he was. His daughter might be a long way from him, but at least they were under the same sky. That alone was a comforting thought.

As he stared up at the twinkling stars, Natsu began to remember a song that Lucy used to sing to Alu when she was little. Although Natsu wasn't one for having the best memory in the world, he could remember that lullaby as clear as a bell. It just had the kind of melody that made it impossible for him to forget. He even sang it to Alu once or twice when Lucy had been called away on S-Class missions for the Guild. Back then, Alu used to get horrible nightmares that woke her up in panic. But this song always managed to calm her down.

And just humming it made Natsu feel calmer, too.

What neither Natsu or Alu knew was that they were both humming the same song at the same time. Soon, they both went form humming to singing it softly. Their voices, if they were singing it side-by-side, would've been in perfect harmony.

But right now, they sung together in spirit.

"When the darkness falls and it casts out the sky,

I'll be a bright starlight to guide you home,

You are not alone.

Though it's like all hope is gone inside,

I'll be a bright starlight to let you know

You are not alone."

When Alu had finished singing, she gave a small smile. That lullaby from her childhood had somehow refreshed her soul. It was one of the things that kept her close to her parents, even if was only in metaphorical way.

Finally, exhaustion took over and Alu rolled onto her side. With a sigh, she closed her eyes and drifted off to sleep.

At the same time, Natsu finally allowed himself to give into his fatigue. Resting his head on Lucy's and holding her close, he closed his eyes and fell asleep.