"NATSU! LUSHIE!" Happy shouted as he barreled into the pair. The two caught him easily, and held him as he cried. For a long moment, that was the only sound anyone heard. At least, until his sobs turned into snickers."Say Natsu, shouldn't you take her on a date first?" Happy asked. He looked confused for a moment, then realized his state of dress, or rather, the lack of. "Why the hell are we naked?!" He exclaimed. Lucy didn't appear to be as panicked. "Oh hey, look at that. Why ARE we naked?" She asked as she requipped herself into what appeared to a copy of Tsubaki's outfit. Similarly, Natsu wore an outfit like Black*Stars'.
"Sorry about that. You were freezing over, so we lit you on fire. Your clothes are upstairs. That aside, why do you have Tsubaki and Black*Star's clothes in your requip?" Mira asked. "As a rule, I keep changes of clothes for everyone on the team. And all of my clothes have been destroyed at some point or another, so these will have to do for now." Lucy replied. "Alright, but why Tsubaki's? Nothing against her style, I'm just curious." Erza asked. "Oh! Well, Tsubaki's body type is the closest to mine. The same applies for Black*Star and Natsu. Soul and Kid aren't as...muscular." Lucy explained. "What's that supposed to mean?!" Soul exclaimed. "It means you need to work out more, idiot." Maka scowled. Cana cackled in the background. "Anyway...let's head upstairs. You two must be hungry." Mira said cheerfully.
After breakfast, and getting their clothes back, Lucy and Natsu sat in a corner of the guild with Professor Stein and explained what happened in Lucy's mind. He looked thoughtful as he turned the screw in his head. "Hmm. That doesn't sound very different from what Maka and Soul went through. I'll do a psychological scan on you both later, but for now tell me if anything seems off." He said. "Death knows that's dangerous...In the mean time, we have an attack plan to come up with." Lucy said as she stood up and walked away. Natsu went to follow her, but was stopped by a hand on the shoulder. "A word of advice, Natsu. When we find the Kishin, keep a close eye on Lucy. She's a Death, so she'll throw caution to the wind if it means saving everyone. Then again, I have a feeling she won't be leaving your sight anytime soon, will she?" Stein asked. Natsu looked over to where said blonde stood. She was giving out commands as people bustled around the room. "No, she won't." He said more to himself than Stein, but the Professor heard him nonetheless.
As Natsu walked away, Professor Stein smiled knowingly to himself, watching silently as souls connected themselves to others, forming new bonds as time passed. He was about to go and suggest some strategy ideas, until an the guild hall seemed to explode on itself, and all he knew was darkness.
Hehe...cliffhanger? This has to be my shortest chapter to date. But I figured you all would want something over nothing, so here it is, in it's short-story glory! (Pun intended)
*Awkward cough* Anyways, I got an Ao3! I should be posting these stories on there at some point, along with the new Voltron fic I'm working on, titled: 'And I'd Do It All Again', under the same name. I'll also be posting concept art on Deviant Art, under the name NanamiTakatsuki. (Forgive the terrible art from 2015ish, I had horrible resources and not-as good drawing as I do now. But what's practice for, right?)
Anyways, remember kids, stay in school, tell the bitchy writers block to go f*ck itself, (I'm an angry person, don't judge me) and until next time,
Your fashionably late author,
~Dragon-Sensei