T_T I know it's been months and I feel awful for this..delay?! Hiatus?! I have a hundred excuses but none that any of you want to hear or deserve T_T Just know I'm so sorry! And I PROMISE I'm still in this! I challenged myself to these hundred chapters and if I do nothing worthwhile with my life, I at least hope to see this through!
It's been a VERY long time since I visited this story, but I plan to pick it up right where I left off!
That said, I should warn; due to the direction the recent chapters in the manga have been gonig towards, this story is officially, if it wasn't clear before, an AU!
Disclaimer: I own nothing!
Lucy rubbed her eyes, having just awoken from her short nap on the train ride. Hibiki had lightly shaken her awake, and as grateful as she was to comfortably be seated in first class again, and to have Hibiki beside her though that particular detail she was less inclined to admit, she could have done without the blaring sun rays that filtered through the window.
"We're here," Hibiki added, and as Lucy's vision adjusted she was able to more clearly make out the view.
The first thing to come to mind for Lucy was color. When the images solidified to actually form objects, she identified it as flowers.
Flowers everywhere.
"Crocas?!" Lucy gawked, her eyes darting between flowers and statues covered in flowers and buildings hidden by flowers-
Hibiki shrugged.
"I just thought, you didn't exactly get the chance to take in everything the capital has to offer the last time you were here...A day isn't enough to take in everything this city has to offer."
Lucy smiled coyly.
"And...?"
He shrugged.
"So, think of this as your second day in the city."
"We spent almost a week here during the Grand Magic-"
"Yes, but you spent the majority of each day after the first at the arena, and even then where'd you go each night? A bar?"
Lucy sheepishly didn't argue. Hibiki knew Fairy Tail too well.
"Besides," He added more to himself than to Lucy, "It's not like that experience was the best..."
"So, you're going to show me everything I missed?" Lucy asked again.
Hibiki shook his head.
"The capital is too grand, too big for that. Every time I come here, I find something I missed. I'm going to show you the best parts of this city that I know of that I know you missed."
Lucy laughed, but didn't disagree. She let Hibiki tug her off the train, trusting his judgment as she was showered with petals like confetti in greeting.
"So, first stop?"
"First stop is...not enough flowers," He motioned to her.
Because being rained on with petals wasn't enough for Crocas.
Laughing, Lucy gave in.
"Alright, lead the way, tour guide Hibiki."
True to his promise, Hibiki led Lucy to the nearest (And coincidentally grandest) flower arrangement booth. She didn't even have a moment to register what was happening as suddenly an elderly woman had tugged her behind a curtain, threading flowers into her hair and looping vines of weaved floral ropes around her arms and waists. When she emerged from the dressing booth, she wasn't even aware her clothes from the train had been shed, but she knew she most certainly had not boarded the train in a floral bikini and skirt of weaved grasses with a train.
"Is this the fashion of Crocas?"
Hibiki was about to laugh, until said woman suddenly pulled him into the booth, trading Lucy for the man.
Lucy, in sweet retribution, giggled when Hibiki emerged in...well, nothing she'd imagined he'd wear on a daily basis. The best she could describe it was lots of lavender.
"I think it looks fitting," She added, rubbing it in. Hibiki audibly was weeping.
"M-my pride..."
The streets were busy but everyone appeared friendly. Lucy had feared that with such a large city, the tension or sense of urgency would have escalated in comparison to the good natured and humble Magnolia, where everyone seemed to know each other well enough to ask the well being of a twice removed cousin.
Crocas appeared nearly, if not just as, friendly as Magnolia.
"S-sorry, I didn't mean to bump into you like tha-"
"Nonsense, dear! Here, have a flower, good day to you!"
Lucy looked questioningly at the now flower in hand, curious as to whether all people were like this or just the stranger she'd happened to bump into.
Hibiki, however, seemed not to notice nor worry, and ushered her along.
"You have to be thirsty. The train ride was pretty long-"
Before Lucy could protest, she found herself seated at an outside cafe.
"Do you...do you think we could stop by the fountain?"
Hibiki lowered his menu to eye Lucy.
"I know I've seen it before, and I don't mean to interrupt your tour, but I-"
"Lucy."
"Hn?"
"This isn't about my tour...it's about you," Hibiki smirked. A blush spread across Lucy's face, and she'd sworn she had stopped that.
"It's always been about you."
His eyes lingered a bit too long and suddenly Lucy found herself recalling that night under the stars, when the lighting had been dimmer and his face had been closer. Words caught in her throat and she really hoped Hibiki didn't see her now deepening blush, though she knew he could.
Lucy coughed to break the silence.
The fountain hadn't changed. Everyone around it either seemed to be admiring it in as much awe as Lucy (Tourists) or dancing (Natives). Those actions were the only differing trait as everyone was dressed as ceremoniously and as much like a flower bush as Lucy and Hibiki were. She suspected that hospitality trait had not been reserved for her alone...
Lucy leaned towards the fountain, catching her reflection in the pristine water. A shadow cast itself over her and suddenly Hibiki's reflection was beside her.
On instinct, she jumped back.
"Not this time, Hibiki!"
Hibiki threw his hands up in surrender, but gave Lucy a playful smile.
"What's wrong? Afraid of water?"
"I know you choose to ignore this fact, because I know you know it, but it's actually illegal to step in public fountains-!"
"A Fairy Tail mage afraid of the law?"
Lucy pouted, "Such a bad reputation...it's not all of us!"
"Really?" Hibiki paused, accusing truthfully.
Lucy bit her lip, thinking through half to roster of names of Fairy Tail mages before giving in.
"I-I'm not that way!"
"You're the worst of them!" Hibiki laughed, challenging.
"E-excuse me?! I don't destroy whole towns or piers or-"
"But you trespass. Frequently. You break into-"
"-I don't!"
"Everlue's mansion. That Edolas castle. Your own house-"
"Th-those were missions, they were important-! Besides, that last one was with you-!"
"My point is, you and the Rune Knights don't exactly get along, I bet."
Lucy balled her fists, threateningly pointing at Hibiki.
"I actually don't encounter them much, mind you! And what about you?! It's not like you're on the greatest terms with them-"
Hibiki shrugged, "Eve put in a good word for me, we have a mild connection."
Lucy, exasperated, threw her arms to her side.
"W-well, I'm not the one that breaks into people's gardens, or punches chefs, or-or steps into fountains!"
"When you put it that way, I really do sound like a Fairy Tail mage, huh?"
"Don't flatter yourself!"
"If I recall, you were my accomplice in all of those-"
"L-leave me out of it!"
Hibiki took a step towards Lucy, who held her ground.
"So, essentially, you're calling me a bad guy?"
Lucy dropped her voice, "W-well, you're not a bad guy..."
"That's not what you're saying. You think I'm a criminal-a villain."
"Hold on-"
"You might just have to turn me in," He smirked, stepping directly in front of Lucy, his face leaning into her own. Shying away, Lucy looked at her feet.
"That's not-you haven't done anything wrong..."
"You just said-"
"-I mean right now, you haven't-"
Hibiki smirked victoriously.
"So, if I did something illegal now, you'd turn me in?"
"Hibiki-!"
Before Lucy could answer, Hibiki had gripped her wrists and vaulted them over the edge, into the fountain.
Emerging into a upright seated position, Lucy threw down her hands in a mock tantrum.
"Oh, come on!"
A few muffled shouts and the clanking of indefinite Rune Knight armor had Hibiki bolted into a standing position, laughing as he yanked Lucy up.
"Come on, accomplice. You might, but I won't sell you out-"
"Hibiki, I'm going to-!"
It took three blocks and a quick dive into an alleyway corner to loose the guard. By then, most flowers that were loose to begin with had slipped off, but on the bright side the ones that remained had dried quickly.
Lucy shook out her hair, wringing her skirt out as Hibiki looked around the corner, trying to suppress his own smile (Lucy herself wasn't in such a smiling mood).
"Was this apart of your tour?"
Hibiki shirked away sheepishly.
"Spontaneity, Lucy."
This, naturally, was the last thing she wanted to hear.
"Hibiki, you Ba-"
"Over there! I heard shouting!"
"We need to run, come on-!"
"Hibiki, wai-!"
Sighing, Lucy finally caught her breadth, sitting upright from her position on a stone. The sun was beginning to set and they'd some how been chased to the outskirts of the city, overlooking the capital from a viewpoint not far from the grounds of the Arena.
The view was well worth all the running in vegetation, but Lucy wasn't about to admit as much. She side glanced at Hibiki, who was just as occupied with the setting sun as she was.
"Sorry we didn't actually get to see anywhere..." He finally admitted, rubbing the back of his neck in shame. He looked cute, Lucy thought bravely, when dejected. Not that she'd admit that to him, either.
"I-it's alright. We're seeing it all now."
She looked away, but not before she caught the coy smirk of Hibiki's.
A/N: About this chapter...It was written back in the summer, and has been sitting on my computer all this time and I feel awful because of that T_T Crocas looked like an amazing, beautiful city and I'd meant to make a detailed date going through all the sites and whatnot that Crocas had to offfer; cept, at the time when I wrote this, not a lot of Crocas had been shown, and I'd written this during that brief time where I was unsure where the manga was heading and was still teetering with the idea of how close to canon I could keep this story.
Due to the latest developments (I won't spoil), it's kinda no lnoger an option of trying to follow the manga as much as I'd wanted, so I'm just going to accept this is an AU and I'm gonig to hand-wave any details about the game and what not. I'm focusing on the relationship between these two characters and so continuity will be sacrificed :/ Sorry..
That all said, as I mentioned, I meant for this to be a really fluffy piece around a great city! But I hate frabricating histories and I couldn't think up any interesting sites to visit (Is it obvious I don't site see often?) So I did a cop-out and fell back to my comfort zone of a fountian scene T_T Sorry...Think of it as~ A familiarity, like a welcome back to the story from such a long hiatus! ...IDK I'm sorry!
Anyway, I hope whoever has stayed with the story through all this and this long enjoyed this, and even to any newcomers! I'm sorry if it's not what you'd have liked or expected after such a long break, but as always, I promise to do better! (I need to stop making promises I cannot keep!)
