Two Worlds Collide
Chapter 21
Last day.
The final day of the tournament is finally here, and Lucy takes in a deep breath. The rain from the day before had already perished, leaving behind a sunny environment that brings her happiness. Confetti and balloons fly everywhere, as the audience continues to scream, watching all the contestants take place in front of the stage, instead of the designated balconies.
She feels a shadow appear next to her, and turning around, her cheeks turn a bit rosy, seeing who it is.
He sits with his legs crossed on the floor next to her, his knees touching hers. The event did not start yet, leaving the two plenty of time to speak to one another.
"Are you ready?"
Lucy laughs. "More than ever!"
"That's good because I ain't holding back! You know, I never actually imagined meeting Blondie, but turns out you were right there in front of me and I never even noticed," he says, staring into the distance.
She didn't know what compelled her to do it, but suddenly she finds herself wrapping an arm around Natsu's shoulders, and leaning against him, feeling the warmth of his arm wrap around her waist. His fingers play around with the ends of her golden blonde hair, as she stares at him, content with the position.
"...And here we have two competitors going all lovey dovey with one another. I wonder if today's event will start a war between the two lovers! Then again, all's fair in love and war!" The voice booming in the microphone says, before Gray bursts out laughing. Staring around in confusion, Lucy and Natsu blinks, before realizing the implications of the speech.
Quickly, they pull away from one another, hearts accelerating fast and cheeks burning red.
"I-I don't know what you're talking about, w-we're not lovers!" Lucy shouts, earning chuckles in the audiences.
"Y-yeah, what she said!" Natsu quickly shouts.
The host shrugs. "And coming up, we have our last event before deciding our winners of the NYC Art Festival! Everyone, let's give a round of applause for our participants starting with first place, Blondie, with a total of 12,398 votes excluding the elimination round!"
With a smile, Lucy waves her hands towards the audience, feeling the warmth of the spotlight shine on her for dramatic effect.
"Standing in second place, we have Black Steel with a total of 11,091 votes!"
Strumming his electric guitar, Gajeel stands proudly, bowing to the audience, as a few cover their ears from his reckless music.
"Why the fuc-fudge did you bring a guitar?!" Natsu shouts, watching his mouth for the little kids in the audience.
"Ya jealous of my musical talent? I can sing too, everyone!"
"NO!"
"In third place, we have an artist named Reedus Jonah, coming in very close with a total of 10,987 votes!"
"WHAT?!" Gajeel shouts. "No way am I losing to someone else!"
"In forth place we have two best friends, Salamander and Frostbite, with a total of 10,579 votes!" The host shouts on the microphone.
"NO WAY ARE WE BEST FRIENDS!" Natsu and Gray shouts, earning a sigh from Lucy at their denial.
"HA! I'm better because he said my name first!" Natsu smirks, crossing his arms.
Gray scoffs. "Please. They obviously save the best for last which means I'M better!" He shouts.
"You know Erza's in the audience, making sure you guys don't fight, right?" Lucy points out with an amused smile.
"Shit..." They whisper under their breath.
Laughing at their immaturity, Lucy can't help but dread the feeling that once she leaves, she's going to miss them dearly. Things aren't going to be the same, she knows, but sometimes change allows for oneself to grow.
The host continues to list the participants in order, but Lucy pays them no mind, as she discreetly stares at Natsu, watching his eyes light up in excitement, admiring the golden specks that dance in tune with the sunlight. Her eyes soften, as she watches him perform the simplest tasks like breathing, as his hair flutters in the wind, and a radiant aurora glows around him.
"Are you staring at me...?"
Lucy blinks. "S-staring? Of course not!"
"You're weird, Luce. Admit it, you were staring at my amazingly awesome face!"
"I'm not weird! I'm just thinking on ways to ruin your stupid face!" She says in a huff, crossing her arms.
Natsu chuckles. "Yeah, sure, whatever."
Once the participants have all been named, the audience erupts in cheers, excited to see the final event.
"The final event is the hardest of them all," the host begins. "There is no theme, but all artworks must be accomplished within 6 hours. That is all."
Lucy blinks.
Nothing.
There is nothing to prove, but while it seems like the easiest task, it is actually the hardest to accomplish. At least with a given theme, there can be answers in the question. But without a theme, it is up to the mind to create an illusion of some sorts to come to life.
"Don't overthink it, Bunny Girl. It's like street art. You don't think, you just do," Gajeel says, passing by her to grab some supplies.
All art supplies are located in the center of where the contestants sit, in a circle on the floor. Cameras are pointed towards each participant, showing their actions on the big projector.
Don't think, Lucy says to herself. Just do. After all, in a way, this whole competition's basically testing her on what she's been doing her whole life, just this time, she's out in the spotlight and not so anonymous anymore. For the first time in a long time, she's making a name of herself, yet she isn't ready to live up to the expectations.
Its not street art anymore, she realizes. Now it's a game of emotions, unsure of which is correct. It's not just painting a simple picture on paper, but rather, learning how to paint with the colors of the wind.
She's learned a lot, after spending time with Natsu and the rest of Fairy Tail. She figured out partially how the world works, but at the same time, she's still just one person blending in with 7 million others. Being a silhouette was simply masking who she could be, and once she's put under the spotlight, she still finds herself creating shadows from the tint from the lights.
But at the same time, something inside her has changed, though she can't exactly pinpoint what it is exactly. She feels it too, inside herself, and the strange feeling made her feel more...radiant. Almost happy, or at least, something close.
And she can't help but feel Natsu had a large part of this, whatever she's feeling inside.
She takes her hands in her pocket, bringing out a lighter. Fingering the intricate dragon designs given to her by Natsu himself, she absentmindedly traced the fire along the sides of the paper, creating a black, shadowy glow.
Satisfied, she blows the remaining ashes from the paper, and stares at it. Looking in the pile of art supplies, she runs her finger over every object, before settling on something that caught her eye, and takes the delicate item into her workspace, before smashing it in pieces.
She knows what she wants now, and is in full control of her life. Sick of being a silhouette, it's time to let it go.
He stares at her, curiosity present in his eyes, as he watches her careful actions, as her golden blonde hair flutters softly in the wind. He stares at her figure, creating a faint shadow from the stage lights, as she smashes the delicate object to the ground.
He jumps, startled, and he sees that a few contestants around her turns to stare at her. Yet he can tell she doesn't care, and rather, ignores the curious stares behind her back, deciding to mind her own business.
He stares at her, watching her content face staring at her art, not knowing what she's going to do next. Or perhaps, he decides, perhaps she's visualizing her creation in her head.
"What's wrong with you, man?" Gray asks, shaking Natsu out of his daze.
"Nothing! I don't know what you're talking about!"
"Psh, nothing my ass! Get to thinking, we've gotta win this damn thing!"
"We've just gotta crush Gajeel and rub it in his face!" Natsu says, crossing his arms.
"Well get to thinking!"
"Let's make a dragon! A fire and ice dragon!" Natsu shouts, an idea coming to his head.
"Not bad, man, not bad."
Dipping the paintbrushes into the paint swirled with different colors, the two of them sit next to one another, silently working on their part of the sculpture. Using a knife, they continue to scrape the materials, creating something unique.
Using special glue, Natsu continues to stick pieces of coal together, in the shape of a dragon. This way, when he lights it up, it'll give off the appearance of a dragon covered in fire. Meanwhile, Gray continues to scrape the block of ice, until making an illusion of an ice dragon.
He looks at the time.
15 minutes left.
She feels the tension in the air, and finds herself straightening her back, unable to relax. Tapping her foot unconsciously, Lucy Heartfilia stares at the pieces lying around her, unsure of what to expect.
The host introduces the event once more, before calling the contestants one by one, to showcase their talent. She stares at the emotionless artworks lying around her, and then looks at her own.
"Next up, we have Blondie, with her piece entitled 'Shatter.' Please, introduce us to your lovely masterpiece!"
She stares at her artwork. Around the edges of the paper is black, shadowy dust, created from the simple touch of a flame. In the middle, was a mirror, completely shattered in pieces, but still making an oval to preserve it's original shape. A girl with blonde hair and signature pink dress is standing in front of the broken mirror, looking at herself through the glass. Her shadow can be seen behind her, and the background is just a night sky, a yellow moon and midnight blue water.
Just a little girl standing on the water, looking at herself in the shattered oval mirror floating next to her. Yet she doesn't see herself. Instead, she sees a silhouette figure, reaching out from the mirror, with it's hands out, trying to grab her, but not succeeding.
"It's about a girl reminiscing of her past through the broken mirror, but her past is long behind her, as shown by the shattered mirror. Her silhouette from the past is trying to bring her back to who she used to be, but at the end of the day, everyone changes, whether we realize it or not. We're not the same people as who we used to be, and her ability to stand on water shows how fearless she is now. The shadow shows that even though we all can change, a part of the past will always be with us, no matter what."
But it's not completely everything she had to say though. There's more to the artwork than a simple description. After all, words can't describe a picture in full, because they're two completely different things. There was more to say than what she had said, but she couldn't, because the words wouldn't form. Or perhaps, there's not enough words in the dictionary to describe the art.
You can look, but only a select few has the ability to see beyond the colors.
A dragon that's on fire, next to an ice sculpture of an ice dragon. Both fighting one another, as if there was a war going on. She hears the audience snap pictures, as Natsu and Gray proudly announce their masterpiece.
The physical appearance of her art will never compare to the physical appearance of the others around her, but she doesn't doubt her art holds the most weight in her hands. It's a reflection of who she used to be, as she finally broke free from a silhouette, looking into the past wondering where the time has gone.
So it doesn't surprise her that she left the final round in third place, but the overall competition in second place. This final round allowed Natsu and Gray to accumulate in points, high than ever before, letting them enter first place and her, second.
She took the reward, but refused the spot for the logo creation. After all, she isn't going to be in New York during the school year, so it's better off if they gave it to someone else. Looking over with her peripheral vision she sees Natsu and Gray fist bumping each other, occasionally mocking Gajeel. Confetti dance in the air, and music plays loudly over the speakers.
But she stares at her painting. In a room so crowded, she felt more lonely than ever.
It's over now. The competition. Things are finally starting to end, but she wonders where all this time went by.
Her only regret is waking up someday and knowing that she didn't try to make things right. She had to tell him the feelings inside her, so she can finally leave without any regrets. And if they don't work out, she'd rather have it at that, than regret the fact that she didn't tell him the truth.
She takes her painting, and just like a silhouette, slips away from the scene, and puts the painting in her backpack. Sliding into an alleyway, she decides she'll make her mark one last time as Blondie, before her final departure.
So she takes out her spray paint, and reverts to her past ways for the first time in a long time.
He scans the crowd, searching for the familiar tint of brown eyes, but she is nowhere to be found.
Slipping outside, unnoticed, he walks around the neighborhood, before landing his eyes on a pastel pink backpack. Making his way over without a sound, his eyes widen, watching her work.
He doesn't make a sound, and she doesn't notice, as the only sound that can be heard is the occasional honking of cars and the sound of the paint being sprayed onto the wall.
He sees a story coming into life. From the very first day to the day of the competition. He watches her paint a blonde haired girl with pink dress bumping into a guy with salmon pink hair. Then he watches her paint a picture of them eating and talking.
And then he sees the memories of Christmas, as she sprays a picture of the two of them kissing under the mistletoe. Then a plane with the girl holding a suitcase. But they meet again, but their backs are towards one another, both figures creating shadows. And then the boy offers his hand to the girl, and lastly, the boy in a confetti scene, while the girl stands by the side, smiling.
She stops, staring at the work, and he isn't sure if she's finished or if she doesn't know what to use next.
He didn't bother to think, as he wrapped his arms around her waist from behind, breathing in the scent he loves so much. "N-Natsu?"
"You're a pretty amazing artist, Luce."
Letting go of her waist, he feels her turning around, before burying her head in his chest, wrapping her slender arms around his neck. Hugging her back, he smiles, feeling as if this is how it's supposed to be.
"This art is dedicated to the only and only, Natsu Dragneel," she says with a small smile.
He laughs. "You know I never stopped loving you."
He feels her freeze, and suddenly he regrets blurting out the truth, afraid that she might not reciprocate his feelings. True, they were once an item, but people change, just like her painting from the competition. Feelings don't always stay the same, and suddenly, it is as if time has stopped altogether, leaving nothing but the sound of his accelerating heart.
"Me too," she finally says, as he holds her waist a bit tighter.
"Are you... Are you going to leave again?" He asks in a small voice.
But he knew the answer. He knew she is going to leave, and didn't even know why he asked. Perhaps it is all just wishful thinking. Wishing on a future where she stayed with him for good, and they lived happily ever after.
"Yeah," she whispers, knowing fully well he could hear. "Natsu, before I leave, I wanted to tell you that I never stopped loving you no matter how hard I tried. And I'm... I'm sorry for everything, but for some reason I feel like I'll never love someone as much as I love you. So if we ever have kids someday in the future... I'll tell them about the memories we created and I hope you tell them about us," she says, her voice shaking.
Her teardrops begin to fall, and Natsu himself feels kailadoscopes in his eyes, as he shakily brush away a tear on her cheek. He doesn't know what to say, and the thought of loving another but Lucy brings an aching pain to his heart. It just didn't seem...right.
"Who says we'll never meet again? Lucy, I'm not letting you go that easily especially after that Christmas night. I'm not leaving you, and you'll always be right here," he says, taking her hand and pointing it to his heart.
"I don't think a relationship at this point will work out," Lucy says, truthfully.
Natsu grins. "We don't have to. We can still stay in touch and when you graduate high school, we'll meet once more. I really don't want to lose you, like I've lost everyone else in my life."
She stares at him, her eyes wet with tears, before his thumb brushes her tears away.
"Yeah, let's do that," she says, sniffing. And perhaps he's right, and they'll meet again someday. Someday in the future, maybe they will meet again and reminisce memories of the past. Perhaps someday the two of them will work out, but just not now. For now, they're more than friends, but are just waiting for the right moment to be together at last.
And then he kisses her, her eyes wide open, before she reciprocated the kiss. Holding each other close, their hearts beat steadily in unison, as she feels his lips on hers, his touch leaving behind goosebumps on her skin. Staring at him after they pulled apart for air, she blinks.
"I love you."
He hugs her closer, resting his head on her neck, leaving a small butterfly kiss, breathing in her scent. "I love you too, Lucy, and that's why I ain't gonna let you go. We'll stay in touch for sure, and when you come back, we can finally be together. Heck, if you wanna stay then I'll gladly move to Paris to be with you!"
She giggles. "I prefer it here. What if... What if we fall in love with someone else though?"
"Like I'm ever gonna let that happen! I'll make sure you don't Luce, but even if you do... If this bastard really makes you happier than with me then I guess I'll let you go..." He trails off, looking away.
She laughs, pecking his cheek. "You're actually really sweet at heart. Before I leave though, there's actually a few things I'd like to do," she says.
He grins. "Come with me!" He says, stretching his hand out for her to hold.
She grins back, taking his hand. "Yeah, let's go."
And to her, this moment was perfectly imperfect, but she wouldn't have it any other way.
I apologize for the lack of update. I have a summer job and I'm studying for my SATs, but I didn't forget this story and have been trying to squeeze this in my schedule as best as I can. Thanks for your support and I'll update soon. Have a good night everyone (or morning, depending on where you live)!