FOR OTAKUPRINCESS 28...THANKS FOR ALL YOUR HELP!
Natsu and Lucy were lying on the grass at the top of a hill in the beautiful City of Crocus, just having toured the mall and marketplace. They needed a break.
"That cloud looks like a mushroom," Lucy pointed.
Natsu strained to see the mushroom, "I don't see it."
She grabbed his hand and pointed it to the mushroom cloud.
"It's like the cloud is making a picture!"she grinned, "What do you see, Natsu?"
He searched the skies, looking for something drawn in the sky by a cloud.
"An ostrich!" he announced, taking her hand much she took his a moment ago and pointing upward.
"That's...not a ostrich," she laughed, "You don't really see it either, do you?"
He grinned, "Okay, maybe not. Let me try again."
He glanced at the sky, trying to pick images out of the clouds again.
"There!" he pointed, "Look - it's a fishy!"
"A fishy?" she asked, following his gaze.
"Like those little cheesy crackers you gave me on the plane that I didn't want to eat because they were so cute!" he exclaimed, "See it? It's a fishy cloud!"
She giggled, trying to see the cloud. Natsu was so adorable. She hoped he'd never lose his child-like exuberance.
"Oh Mavis! You're totally right!" Lucy gasped, seeing the fish-shaped cloud Natsu pointed to, "I think this place must be magical! It's even tinted orange!"
He grinned ear-to-ear, thrilled that she could see it too.
"I'm glad we decided to come to Crocus," Lucy sighed, leaning over to nuzzle his neck.
"Maybe we should never go back," Natsu chuckled, "There's something magical about being alone with you in a city I've never been to. I bet there's more places neither of us have been to."
"You like the idea of running away," Lucy poked him in the ribs, "You keep bringing it up."
Natsu stopped walking, pulling her into his arms and kissing her gently, "I just want to be with you. I don't care where we are. As long as we're free to be together."
She kissed him back with a smile on her lips, "I hope we get lots of alone time the entire time we're here. I mean, I guess we have to socialize sometimes…but let's make sure we get out alone a bit too."
He nodded, "Maybe we should take a vacation of our own sometime. I like not having to sneak around."
She giggled, "They know, Natsu."
He tilted his head, confused.
"They know. Every last one of them. Levy…Gray…Erza…Gajeel…Juvia. They all know. We haven't fooled anyone."
Natsu's eyes widened, "How? We've been so careful!"
Lucy brushed his cheek with her hand, "Apparently we've been unbelievably obvious. Levy was shocked to see us in bed together because she didn't think we'd progressed that far, but she knew we've been sneaking around."
"But Gray hasn't been teasing me!" Natsu insisted, "He can't know. He wouldn't let a golden opportunity like that slide!"
"He knows," Lucy assured him, "But in his defense, Gray has really changed a lot. He's not cold like he was. I think he's turned into a really good friend for you."
Natsu couldn't deny that. He found himself less and less apprehensive about Gray every day. He was no longer afraid to ask questions in fear of how Gray would tease him. Maybe it was one of the things Erza had accomplished – she'd made Gray and Natsu work together, respect each other, and learn together. And they'd both come a long ways. Natsu would consider Gray his friend.
Natsu had a half-cocked grin on his face, "Well, that should make things interesting."
"What do you mean?" Lucy asked.
They resumed walking, arm in arm.
"If they know, then we don't have to pretend!" Natsu grinned, "I can be with you openly! I can do this anytime I want!"
He kissed her gently.
Lucy squeezed his arm a little tighter, her grin as wide as his, "Oh c'mon, Natsu! We both know you can barely touch me in private. There's no way that you'd be able to do it publicly."
"Maybe if I learn to touch you in private, I would be better at public affections," he said innocently.
Her face flushed.
"Natsu," she said softly, stopping their walk again, "There's no one at the hotel for the rest of the day."
He glanced at her, his head tilting in question.
"We can be alone for the whole afternoon," Lucy explained, "I don't care about being with you openly. I'm craving private time. Do you…want to go back?"
He spun on his heel, dragging her with him through the crowd.
She was laughing as he pulled her, then stopped to pick her up and throw her over his shoulder. He broke out into a run, thrilled that he had the ability to make her laugh. It truly was the reason the world spun on its' axis. He loved her sooo much. Half of the excitement of heading back to the hotel was the gales of laughter that shook her body as he raced with her in his arms. He didn't know why she'd want to be at the hotel all day instead of out in the town. But he couldn't argue with her logic either… alone time was exactly what the doctor ordered.
Back in Magnolia, Erza was on the move again, following Dan and Samuel as they made their round throughout their neighbourhood.
She was having fun making their lives miserable. Twice now, she had managed to make Dan fall backward onto his butt. The first time, Dan was showing Lucy's picture to a woman. She'd nudged the woman to be suspicious and she started asking Dan some very awkward questions…why would he want to find this young girl? Who was he to her? Didn't he know asking random strangers on the street questions like that was suspicious. She had him retreating with every question to the point that he fell backwards on a parking bumper. The woman had laughed at him, then carried on her way. The second time, Erza kicked a stick he was walking over up so that it entwined with his legs and sent him down. Samuel watched with amused anger. Amused because it was rather humorous that Dan was being so clumsy. Anger because they were getting nowhere fast.
To be fair, Erza played her share of tricks on Samuel too. She pulled back a branch and let it thwack him in the face when he started walking in the direction of the apartment. She had also grabbed a passing woman's buttocks, then just about died of laughter when the woman told Samuel what a pervert he was, slapping him across the face. She bumped into another person with hot coffee. It spilled all the way down his shirt. Samuel had screamed in the man's face, earning him a punch to the gut.
"We're not getting anywhere," Dan said in frustration.
"Maybe she's not in this end of the city. No one knows her," Samuel sighed.
Yes! Go somewhere else! Lucy is not in this part of the city!
"I ran into a girl yesterday," Dan lamented, "She had a dog that looked remarkably like Plue."
Samuel looked up, "There are lots of dogs like Plue."
Dan nodded. He knew that. But she stuck in his head anyway.
"Let's go back to the library," Samuel suggested, "I don't think they're in this neighbourhood. We'll check again tomorrow to be sure."
He led the way back to the car.
At 8-Island, Cana sat down to do the Tarot reading.
"What does it say?" Lisanna asked, anxiousness lining her voice.
"They're aren't friends of Lucy's," Cana said slowly, flipping another card, "I was right. They want to hurt her. Distance – she's been running for a long time."
Lisanna was placing an order of burgers on plates.
"Friendship – Lucy is forming strong bonds with the people around her," she paused, glancing to Lisanna, "I hope that means us too."
Cana gasped as she turned the next card.
"What is it?" Lisanna asked as she portioned the fries.
Cana was staring at the cards in front of her. When she didn't get an answer, Lisanna came over to see for herself, not that she could read the cards on her own.
"I don't know why the Angel came up. It's like someone is watching over her. It's like a completely random card... I can't explain it," Cana said slowly, "But the Death Card..." Cana looked up at Lisanna, worry clouding her pretty face, "Lis…Lucy's in real trouble."
Levy and Gajeel were searching for the right warehouse that held the storage room in question. Levy played with the keys in her hand. Again, it hadn't been easy to get the keys from Lucy. Levy knew that Lucy had handled them recently since they weren't in the same place that she'd left them. This time, Levy made note of the position the keys were in under the mattress so she could be sure to put it back in the right place.
"Quit playing with the keys," Gajeel snapped, "You're jingling them. You'll draw suspicion that we're not supposed to be here."
"We aren't," Levy said nervously, but she stuck the keys in her pocket anyway. She would have to enter the warehouse in solid form this time. Her anxiousness was beginning to take over. She really wished she could take to the shadows now. She hated feeling exposed like this.
She felt a comforting hand on her shoulder.
Gray.
It was hard to remember that he was there at times. She didn't envy him on having to stay in shadow all the time. She realized he'd used presence on her as calmness washed over her. She was thankful. Levy was feeling awkward for a lot of reasons. Gray was just reminding her that he would be there to help her.
"This is it," Levy said as the warehouse came into view, "How are we going to get in?"
Gajeel surveyed the area, eyeing each door and window.
"Through the front door," he said finally, "We check in at the front desk like regular customers. It's better than sneaking around."
Levy's eyes widened, "Are you nuts? No one has asked for access to that room in 14 or 15 years! As far as they're concerned, no one has been there since Layla stashed everything there!"
"Not like we can get there through the shadows," Gajeel muttered under his breath as he walked ahead of her.
Levy's mouth dropped open. That comment was…far too close to the mark.
Gray heard it too. He cringed in the shadows, eyebrows furrowing.
"Lev!" Gajeel hissed, "Let's go. Be my wife. Just go with it and follow my lead."
They entered the warehouse arm in arm, Gray following with a scowl on his face.
"Hello," Gajeel said pleasantly, "We've come to get into our storage unit."
The lady at the desk looked up, smacking her gum in her mouth, "Your names?"
"I'm Jacob Heartfilia. This is my wife, Chloe."
The lady kept eye contact with him as she brought out a large book, "You got ID?"
Gajeel pulled out his wallet, flipping to his driver's licence. Levy saw that it clearly said 'Gajeel Redfox' on the card. He waved his hand over the license and passed it to the lady.
She glanced at it, smacking her gum loudly, "Go ahead."
Levy and Gray were both trying to maintain their cool. What the hell had just happened? As Gajeel and Levy walked calmly toward the storage unit, Levy hadn't realized the death grip she had on Gajeel's hand.
"Shrimp," Gajeel said softly, "You're killing my hand."
She looked down in surprise, letting go of his hand completely.
"Trust me, Shrimp," Gajeel said simply.
They arrived at the door. Levy brought out the keys, pausing so she could remember what key went where and then proceeded to slide each key into place. The door opened without hesitation.
"Gajeel?" Levy asked in confusion once the door was safely closed behind them.
"I'll explain later, Shrimp. Let's get a good look at these bars."
He opened a box, withdrawing a bar and examining it closely, "This is a real bar. This must be the real box."
He opened the next box, taking out another bar.
"Do you want to read Lucy's mother's letter?" Levy asked, passing it to him.
He scanned the letter quickly, then set it aside, "You can take Lucy's keepsakes when we leave."
"Where will I keep them? Lucy doesn't know we're here."
"In my room," Gajeel replied, lifting the gold bar above his head, "I'll post it in the mail to myself tomorrow."
She nodded as he tested the bar by whacking it against the wall.
Gray was torn. He had always had doubts about Gajeel, but his mind was reeling with doubt now. Gajeel was not who he said he was. He watched as Gajeel put one knee up onto the box, then raised the gold bar over his head.
"What are you doing?!" Levy exclaimed.
"I'm gonna find out what's inside," Gajeel said as though it were obvious.
"On your knee?"
Gajeel lowered the bar slightly, making eye contact with her, "I know you've got questions, Shrimp. I'll answer them, I promise. Just know that I would never hurt you. I'm on your side."
She nodded slowly as he raised the bar above his head again and smashed it down onto his thigh. The fake gold brick split in half, papers tumbling out of the middle.
"What is that?" Levy asked, trying not to freak over the display of strength she'd just witnessed.
In the shadows, Gray was panicking. What the hell was Gajeel? No Angel was able to do that! What frightened him even more was that Gajeel seemed to know that Levy was an Angel…so he had the upper hand. He knew what Levy was, and apparently the powers that came with it. They had no clue what Gajeel was or what he was capable of.
Levy unrolled a paper.
"It's a photo," she said slowly, "Of Porla."
Gajeel took it from her, examining it carefully. Porla was standing in front of a humongous shipment of bagged cocaine. Levy was busy unrolling the next picture.
"These are shots taken from behind a bush," Levy said slowly, "Someone took these pictures with the intention of catching Porla in the act."
Gajeel nodded, "What we're looking at, Levy, is the missing evidence from before Porla went to jail. I'm willing to bet throughout these bars, we'll find evidence of everything Jude and Porla ever did to each other. They had quite the grudge war."
Gray's eyes widened. Gajeel knew way more than he let on.
"I don't understand," Levy said slowly.
"I can't tell you here," Gajeel repeated, "I'll tell you everything. I promise. When we leave."
He broke another brick, picking up the new photos. He was making a pile.
"You can't break every brick!" Levy panicked, "We need to get out of here. We're lucky they let us in!"
"I think we should take everything out of here," Gajeel was saying, completely ignoring Levy's anxious plead, "I can call my cousins and have them comb the rest of the bars for the evidence once we get it back to Magnolia."
"Your cousins are real?" Levy asked, "And how in the hell do you propose we move 7 or 8 boxes with gold bars in them to Magnolia without anyone noticing?"
Gajeel gave her a hurt glance, "Ya! I told you my cousins were real! Jeez…"
She gave a half-smile, despite her mounting anxiety, "They're cops too."
He nodded.
"We can't take anything now, but it's all here. Everything I thought would be in this storage locker is here," Gajeel took photos of the evidence he had been able to uncover. He wouldn't be able to put the gold bars back together, but he hid the evidence as best as he could between real bars.
"We can go, right?" Levy asked.
"Yeah," he agreed, noting her pained expression. She was beyond frazzled, so he grabbed the box with all Lucy's keepsakes in it. Levy was feeling very overwhelmed with the recent developments, "We'll come back to take the boxes tomorrow. This box can come with me now."
As the two of them left the room, Gray was torn once again. Should he go listen to whatever Gajeel had to say to explain the odd phenomena they'd just witnessed? Or break the rest of the gold bars to see what else was inside? He had a suspicion that there was more than just the evidence of Porla's events leading up to his arrest.
He watched as Gajeel took Levy's hand and squeezed it reassuringly. She leaned into his shoulder, accepting his comfort. She was falling for Gajeel. And Gray should let her. She was fighting her attraction to Gray, but not her attraction to Gajeel. To Gray, that pretty much said it all. And if Gajeel was not who he said he was, he might be from a different Heavenly division. There was a chance that they could be together. Gray would not stand in Levy's way if that were the case. Maybe he really was destined to be alone.
That pretty much made up his mind. The door shut behind Gajeel and Levy and he heard the locks snap into place.
Gray turned back to the gold bars, "Okay...what else are you babies hiding?"
He raised a gold bar over his head like Gajeel had done, but quickly acknowledged that would be a mistake. He didn't know how Gajeel had broken the bars on his thigh, but Gray was pretty sure the gold bars would break his thighs. He glanced around for a hammer...anything that might break a gold bar apart.
Rogue watched from his perch, fairly sure that something would happen soon. Laki sat beside him, thumping her knee nervously. They had been there all day, waiting for something to happen. More than once, they'd all thought about calling it quits. Rogue and Sting needed to identify who had been looking for Levy, however, in order to progress their investigation. Laki had agreed to work with them again that afternoon, hiding in the shadows with Rogue while Sting operated the front desk as the 'new hire librarian'. Freed was in the back completing the inventory he was unable to do while being 'stuck up front'.
It was busy in the library. A children's group was reading a book with their teacher in the corner of the library. High school kids were studying at various tables. Rogue secretly prayed that nothing would happen today either. There were far too many people in that library. But that would lessen the likelihood of another assault, right?
They exchanged glances as an ominous feeling fell throughout the library.
The door opened.
Laki's face turned white as all the blood drained from it, "That's him."
"We have positive ID, Sting," Rogue said into his com link. Sting scratched at his ear. It was their signal that he had heard the comment as he casually continued helping the client in front of him.
"Can I help you, sir?" Sting asked as the client before him finished his business and moved out of the line.
"I'm looking for a young girl who was working here the other day...purple hair? Or perhaps the other girl...Levy?"
He was shorter in stature with large, rounded glasses on his face and a bald head. Sting was actually shocked that a wiener like this could hold Laki up against anything. Laki was fit and no pushover, now that he'd had a chance to get to know her a bit.
"I'm sorry. I don't know either of those names," Sting said with a grin on his face, "Can I help you find something?"
"Actually, when I was here the other day, we had a long conversation about what I sell at work," the man said, "I brought her order. If I could just have her address, I'll bring the order straight to her."
"We don't give out personal addresses," Sting said flatly, "Perhaps you'd like to try to sell me whatever it is that you sell at your work."
The venom in Sting's voice did not get missed by the stranger.
"No thank you," the man said, "It's really a product only women would appreciate. I'll come back another day."
The man stalked out of the library.
Rogue and Laki joined Sting at the counter.
"We have a face to the assault now," Sting said, "Shall we go get 'im?"
"Hell ya," Rogue agreed, "Laki, whatever you do, don't leave this library until we come back for you."
Sting snickered, "And you might wanna tell Freed he needs employees again…I quit."