Natsu Dragneel

My heart just seems to stop. My arms around Lucy are shaking and my heart is pounding hard. Did… Did Lucy just… confess her love to me? To me? My head seems to be spinning round and round, making me dizzy. The pounding of my heart is so hard that it hurts.

"W-Wah… Ah… Er…" I open my mouth but all that comes out is gibberish. All of this information is too much for me to handle.

Lucy looks down and releases herself from my embrace. Her face is flushed. She tucks her angelic blond hair behind her ear and stares at the ground. "But… of course you wouldn't feel the same about me right…? I mean, I'm immortal and older than even your grandmother…" She looks at me and tries to force a laugh. Oh my gosh… I feel my heart beat again. That laugh that sounds like the silver bells that jingle in Christmas time.

"I guess I'm what the modern people call an old hag!" she exclaims, trying to get by with a joke. "I-I'm sorry… I never meant to tell you about my feelings… it… it just slipped out-"

"No!" I shout loudly. "Luce, that's not it!" I hold her cheek gently and push it lightly to face towards me. Her skin is smooth, like a baby's, and her new royal blue eyes seem to pierce through me. "I… I uh…" Whenever she looks at me with those eyes, I can't act like the straightforward self I always am. Usually, whatever I do works out, but in front of her, everything is messed up. Nothing goes as plan.

"W-What's wrong…? Natsu?" she says, tilting her head slightly.

My heart thumps again. I can feel blood rush into my cheeks. Her eyes look up at me like a newborn fawn and her royal blue eyes really match her complexion… Whenever she does that it's just so damn cute.

"Luce… I really don't care about your age! Whether you are seventeen or even centuries of years old…" I say. "I know that someday, I will die before you because I am only a mere mortal, but even so… even so, I still have these feelings for you."

"N-Natsu?" Lucy says.

"Luce, listen," I say. "I also lov-"

"Natsu!" a familiar voice suddenly interrupts me.

Quickly, I let go of Lucy's cheek and turn around to see that Lisanna and her best friend Minerva are behind us. "Li-Lisanna!" I say, stuttering. Well, I just got caught in an awkward moment… I try to force a laugh to make myself less awkward. "Ahaha… What are you doing here?"

"Taking a walk," Lisanna says. "What cha' doing, Natsu?" She sits in between Lucy and me, despite there being barely any room between us, and gives me one of her bright innocent smiles. She hooks her arm with mine and rests her head on my shoulder, making me feel awkward. I think she's acting a lot more… er… touchy than usual.

"Uh… I was just chatting, that's all," I say, trying to steal glances at Lucy, but Lisanna's face is in the way.

"Oh yeah!" I say. "By the way Lisanna! Did you also collapse earlier?"

"Hm..?" Lisanna says. "Yeah, I did. It was weird, I got all dizzy and got a headache too! Then I fainted along with the other people. The investigators said it was due to the exposure of too much smoke from the fire earlier though."

"N-No way…" I suddenly hear Lucy say.

"What's wrong Luce?" I ask, turning my head to look at Lucy. Eh? She looks afraid…? Why? There's nothing to be afraid of. It is just Lisanna and Minerva. We are all in the same math class.

"You… You're that Minerva!" she screams, pointing at Minerva. "Minerva Orlando!"

Minerva smirks and laughs. Then she looks at Lisanna with a smile. "Let's go Lisanna," she says. "We have work to do."

"Aw…" Lisanna says, pouting. "Oh well, see you later Natsu!" Then she jumps off of the bench and follows Minerva.

I look at Lucy. For some reason she keeps staring at Minerva. Her eyes are wide, like she just saw a deadly ghost. She breaths in and out, loudly. "No… No way!" she says in between breaths. I can hear the fear in her voice. "Minerva… that's… she's…" She seems so scared that she can't even complete her sentences.

"What's wrong Luce?" I say. I pat her back worriedly. She looks extremely pale and frightened. "You look like you just saw a ghost! You okay?"

"Natsu… remember how I told you about how Rogue, Sting, and I were made immortal and were enslaved for hundreds of years by a certain woman?" she says.

Again… She is talking about the two guys I don't know or remember. Who is this Rogue guy especially…? The way she always talks about him sounds like a girl in love or something. Apparently Sting is her twin brother, so I don't have to worry or be jealous whenever she talks about him.

"I don't remember anything about Rogue and Sting, but I do remember you telling me that you were enslaved," I reply.

"That's her," she says. "Minerva… Minerva Orlando! I remember now… Four-hundred-years ago! She was the one who made me immortal! She was the one who gave suffering to Rogue! And the one Sting wanted to avenge Rogue and me for!" Tears appear on her eyes.

Wait a second… Minerva was Lisanna's best friend. She transferred to Fairy High during my freshmen year, just like Lucy did… That's strange… Lucy's thinking seems to be accurate. The timeline seems to be right at least.

"Wait a second, Luce!" I shout. "What about Lisanna?!" Lisanna grew up with me. I remember her when we were in preschool and everything together. So there is no way she is immortal like Lucy or Minerva. So… why is Minerva with Lisanna?

Suddenly, Lucy's eyes flare up in fear. She looks at me, frightened. "N-Natsu! I think Lisanna is in danger!" she exclaims. "We need to save her!"

No way… Lisanna? In danger?! I gulp. What should I do? To me, Lisanna is just a pestering childhood friend who likes hugging me randomly for some reason, but when I hear that she is in danger, I am worried. Even though Lisanna is an annoying brat, she is still my special childhood friend. I have to save her. Minerva, an immortal person with only one weak spot… How am I suppose to find that weak spot? In order to save her, I have to find it...

"Natsu! Hurry! We have to chase after them!" Lucy shouts, her eyes full of tears maybe from fear and shock. "Minerva… she… She might be targeting Lisanna as her next immortal slave!"

"Tsk," I say. "Damn it!" Lucy and I begin to run towards Minerva and Lisanna. I have to get there as fast as I can. I can't allow Lisanna to become immortal. By seeing how much Lucy suffers daily, I can't allow another person important to me experience the same.

"Wait a moment, Natsu," a familiar voice behind me says.

That voice… It can't be. I stop in my tracks and slowly turn around. I gasp at who I see. That dark blue hair and those brown eyes that resemble my mother Grandine so much. I haven't seen her for years. It is her! My precious younger twin sister…

"Wendy!" I exclaim.

- End of Chapter 26 -

~ Metallic Snow