The site refreshed itself... and erased my A/N. Uuuggghhh.
Long story short, I had a funny story, I feel entitled to use 'back in the day' even though I'm not yet 30, and I didn't wanna write a fight scene with the whole guild involved.
As always, thanks for all the love and happy reading!
Lucy skidded to a stop in front of Dragneel's enclosure and dropped the runes. Dragneel, surprised by her sudden appearance, blinked up at her slowly as he woke from a nap.
"Natsu…" She tried to catch her breath as she knelt in front of the dragon. "I know you're in there. I don't know what happened, but I know you're in there somewhere, and I'm going to pull you out!" She laid the scarf over his nose, just above his nostrils so he could see and smell it. "I have your scarf, see? You got this from Igneel when you were younger. It's made from his scales."
"You and I met after you saved me from a charm spell… Our first job together we had to collect a book, do you remember?... We saved Macao from Mt. Hakobe… We used to be on a team with Erza and Jellal… You once destroyed an entire forest trying to find me after I'd been captured by an underground dark guild. Erza beat you nearly to death for doing that, but you still carried me out of the cave after you found me… You liked to sneak into my bedroom through the window, even after we moved in together and it became our room…
"The first time we said we loved each other, we were at the guild… You and I got married out by your house in the woods…" Anything that Lucy thought might help him remember, she told him.
Levy and Leo watched silently nearby as she spoke, becoming more and more frantic as she tried desperately to find the memory that would get him to snap out of whatever was happening and remember who she was.
"We need to stop her," Levy whispered.
"It won't do any good." Leo clenched his fists. "She won't listen to us. She needs to figure it out on her own."
"What do you think this is? Why do you think he has Igneel's scales?" Levy looked up at him and took an involuntary step back when she saw the look of rage on his face. She'd never seen him so angry.
"I don't know," Leo growled quietly, "but whatever it is, Lucy isn't going to give up on this silly dream. Even though I don't believe it's him, I don't think she'll listen to me, which means she'll fight to keep him when Zeref comes." His voice was cold as he said, "And I won't let Zeref anywhere near Lucy. Which means we'll need help to stop him."
"You think he's going to fight to get the dragon back?"
"I know he will." Leo's face suddenly fell, the anger melting away as tears filled his eyes. "I can't watch this anymore. I want to help her, but she's my master and she's made her opinion on the matter perfectly clear- she isn't going to listen to me right now. And I don't want to have to feel her heartache and watch it, too." He looked at Levy. "I'll be back later, before Zeref arrives." With that, he was gone, with no flash and no sound.
Lucy pressed closer to Dragneel, rattling off facts as the dragon slowly backed away. "You and Gajeel used to fight all the time! You guys first met after you attacked Phantom Lord to try and get me back when they kidnapped me." Why wasn't it working? Why wasn't he remembering? Her voice began to crack and tears slowly trickled down her cheeks as she tried again and again to reach Natsu, wherever he was inside that thick dragon skull. "Natsu… please. Please come back to me."
No cry.
Remember?
No remember.
Familiar.
Don't cry.
Too much.
Can't make happy.
Failing.
My fault.
My fault.
My fault.
No cry!
My fault!
Lucy fell forward onto his nose and squeezed. "Please, Natsu… please remember for me." She kissed his nose and hung on with everything that she had.
Levy could sense the dragon's distress as he continued to slowly back up as Lucy babbled on and on. It hurt her to see her friend so upset, and she wanted more than anything to help, but she didn't know what to say. "Lucy-"
"Why won't he just remember already?" Lucy yelled, startling the poor dragon so much, he yanked away, causing Lucy to fall to her knees. He shuffled on his feet, not sure what to do, but he eventually moved towards the back of the enclosure and curled up on himself, watching with wide, worried eyes.
The blonde slammed her fists into the ground once as she began to cry in earnest. "It's him! It has to be him! Why won't he just answer me already?! Why won't he come back?!"
Levy walked back towards the dragon, speaking quietly to him to reassure him that he wasn't in trouble, that everything was okay. She led him to the door and then outside, warning him to stay close by, before closing the door and returning to Lucy's side.
Levy rubbed small circles on her back, murmuring quietly to her. Lucy had no idea what the blue haired woman said, but her voice was enough to help make her feel better. It took a long time but eventually Lucy lifted her head again to wipe her eyes. "Feeling better?" Levy asked.
"No," Lucy answered miserably. "I don't know what to do."
"Well, taking out your frustration on Dragneel is definitely not it."
Lucy slowly looked around. "Where is he?"
"Outside," Levy answered as she moved to kneel in front of her friend. "He was getting upset watching you cry, so I thought it was best to give you both some space."
The blonde groaned out loud. "This is so dumb." She pressed the heels of her palms against her eyes. In the quiet, Levy stopped rubbing Lucy's back in favor of fixing her hair. She carefully slid her fingers through the long tresses as Lucy collected herself.
"Do you think… Do you think Igneel might have given up his scales? Do you think Dragneel has those scales because he really is a drake?"
Levy tilted her head. "Maybe. After all, we haven't seen too many drakes. Maybe it's possible for a drake to have a physique that's more like a dragon than we've seen so far."
Lucy wrapped her arms around herself and leaned forward. "Am I just blowing this all out of proportion?" she asked.
Instead of answering right away, Levy hugged her friend. "I'm sorry about what I said last night."
"Don't be," Lucy said. She reached up and squeezed her friend's arm. "You're just trying to help. You all are." Her vision began to blur and no matter how hard she fought to keep them in, tears began to fall. "But I can't give up on him. I can't."
A sob escaped her before she could stop it. Another one followed, and soon tears were streaming down her face in rivers as the sobs racked her body. Levy wrapped her arms around her friend, trying to comfort her, but it was no use.
Lucy tried to deny it. She'd tried again and again, but she was afraid the part of her that still believed was breaking.
Natsu was Natsu. He was her partner. He was her husband. He had promised. She believed in him.
And still, she could feel it, try as she might not to let it happen.
She could feel herself losing hope.
Leo had expected it, but still he gasped as the pain exploded in his chest. Around him, he heard several of Lucy's other spirits cry out. Even Aquarius flinched as she wrapped her arms around herself.
Aries began to cry nearby, drawing Leo's attention. He stood and went to sit with her. She leaned into him as he wrapped his arms around her and Mink, who was sitting in her lap shivering violently. Leo tried to reassure them. "It'll be okay."
"What's happening?" Aries asked, fear coating her voice. Leo had to grit his teeth for a moment before he could speak.
"Lucy is losing hope that Natsu will come home."
It was a long time later that Lucy finally began to pull herself together.
She could feel it, even though she would continue to deny it. Part of her had given up. She wanted to believe, she wanted to hope, but a big part of her had lost that faith.
"You okay?" Levy asked.
"No," Lucy answered miserably, but she still gave Levy a smile. "I'm sorry for worrying you."
"I can only imagine how big of a wreck I would be under the same circumstances," Levy said as she pulled away to give Lucy some room to breathe. "So don't worry about it."
"Still, we don't have time for this today." She quickly wiped her face and then stood up, surprised to find Natsu's scarf in her hand. Levy gave her a knowing smile and then wrapped the garment around her friend's neck.
"I think you should keep this on today."
"Why is that?"
Levy gave her a soft smile. "Because I think it's going to be a tough evening, and if you ever even think about giving in to that man, this will give you courage, and perhaps help you channel your inner Natsu." Her friend squeezed her arm. "He would be proud of you, Lucy. For what you're doing here, and also for fighting for this dragon's freedom. I know it."
"Thanks Levy." Lucy quickly hugged her friend and then pulled away with a deep breath. "Okay. I need to go call Porlyusica and Erza. We have to make sure we're ready for Zeref's arrival."
As they left the building, Levy looped her arm through Lucy's. "What are you going to do about what Leo said?"
"Which part?"
"The part about Zeref controlling his demons. If he's right, and Dragneel is infected with whatever would cause that, how are you going to get him to stay? What if he chooses to leave?"
"It's not a choice if he's being forced," Lucy said firmly, "soI will do whatever I can to help him." She glanced down. "Are you sure you want to stay and help? This will be dangerous, I suspect, if the man can control demons."
"Of course I do! This is my facility, too," Levy reminded her. "I can't just walk away when it's in danger. And you know Gajeel would never back down from a fight."
"Nor would we."
Levy and Lucy turned to find Erza and Jellal had already arrived. Dragneel was laying on the ground looking dizzy with Erza's foot resting on his nose while Jellal stood nearby with a small smile on his face.
"Dragneel, what did you do?" Lucy asked.
The dragon's eyes turned her way, but he seemed to be having trouble focusing. "I apologize, Lucy, but he was being rather rude so I had to teach him a lesson," Erza informed her.
"Why does that not surprise me?" Lucy gave Jellal a quick hug before joining Erza, who pulled her into a tight embrace. "Do you mind letting him up now?" Lucy asked as she gasped for breath.
"Of course." Erza gave the dragon a firm look before she raised her foot and moved away.
"I'm surprised we didn't hear you show up," Levy said.
"Erza didn't give the dragon much of a chance to fight," Jellal said. "I think she might have actually knocked him unconscious for a little bit."
Dragneel grumbled a little as he shook his head and tried to rise. After he fell over the second time, he just slithered his head over to hide behind Lucy, who laughed. "Did you get yourself in trouble?" Lucy found herself staring hard at the scales on his side, missing some of the conversation. She managed to pay attention again in time for Levy to finish telling Erza what was going on.
"So there's going to be a fight?" Erza smiled. "Good. I should come out here more often. It seems your place is much more interesting than I gave it credit for."
Lucy and Jellal shared a smile as Erza began to wonder out loud which armor she should use. "I'm glad you came along this time," Lucy said.
"You know I won't be able to reign her in, right?"
"I meant because I haven't seen you in a while."
Jellal smiled. "I know. I'm sorry I haven't been around more. We've been rather…"
"Busy?"
He smiled again, looking sheepish. "Yes, more than I'd like to admit. But things have been slowing down some recently. It hasn't been as easy with half the team gone. Not that I'm blaming you," he rushed to reassure her.
"I know." Lucy looked at Levy who gave her a reassuring smile. "Actually…" She turned back to Jellal. "I was wondering if you might be up for having me back for a job soon?"
Erza fell silent at her words and Levy's smile softened. Jellal glanced at Erza before answering. "Are you planning to return?"
"No," Lucy said. "I think where I am is exactly where I need to be, but I miss you guys." Erza moved to stand beside Jellal with a warm smile. "I'd like to start going on jobs again. I don't think I've had enough adventures yet. And I… I know Natsu didn't either. I want to keep working, to keep going out and helping people. For him." Her friends all smiled at her, and she felt that part of her heart that had splintered start to feel a little better.
Even if Natsu wasn't here, she still was. She was still living, and she could still help people. She could still go on adventures.
And Natsu would want her to do that.
*Insert Evil Laugh* Didn't go where you expected, did it? Gihi.
