Lucy ran the entire way to Gajeel and Levy's. Not bothering to knock, she burst into the house and ran directly to the living room. Gajeel was there pacing the floor. When he turned to look at her, his eyes were wide, and his entire body was trembling. Upstairs, Lucy heard a scream come from the bedroom. Gajeel looked up the stairs, running a hand through his hair. He had to yank his hand out as it got caught in a nest of knots that must have been caused by him repeatedly doing the same action.
"Gajeel!" Lucy cried, going over to him. He looked down at her, his hands clenching and unclenching at his sides, "What's happening?"
"Lily went an' got Porlyusica. They just went upstairs." Gajeel spoke as if he were in a daze.
Lucy smiled at him in encouragement, "And why are you down here?"
Gajeel looked back up the stairs before looking back at Lucy. His eyes like saucers in his head as another scream came from upstairs. "Uh."
Loke came running up behind Lucy. In his hands he had her coat, gloves and scarf. With a shock, Lucy realized that she hadn't put her coat on when she went out into the blistery cold. She hadn't even noticed the chill of the air. In fact, she felt rather comfortable for the first time since waking up in the infirmary. She laid a hand over her abdomen in wonderment.
"Lucy!" Loke gasped, slightly out of breath from trying to keep up with her, "You shouldn't go outside in this weather without your coat."
"Sorry, Loke." Lucy replied before returning her focus to Gajeel who was looking between them without saying anything. "Gajeel, I think Levy would really like you to be with her." She reached out and gently pat him on the arm, "Wouldn't you agree?"
Gajeel looked pained, "Its just-" He flinched at another short scream, "She's in so much pain. I can barely stand it."
Rubbing his arm in comfort, Lucy guided him towards the stairs, "She'll be in less pain if you're there to comfort her." Pushing him up the stairs, she called after him as he slowly made his way up the rest, "Make sure to send Lily down. This is a moment for you and Levy with Porlyusica's help, no one else."
Gajeel nodded slightly. A determined look passing over his face as he went into the bedroom. A few moments later Lily, in his battle form, exited the room closing the door softly behind him. He looked down at Lucy and gave her a grin and a thumbs up before transforming to his smaller size and flying down the stairs.
"I wasn't sure he was going to enter the room at all. Thanks for convincing him." Lily said as he landed on the back of the couch.
"He seems pretty lost." Lucy laughed, "Terrified even."
"Well its not every day you become a father." Loke said from the living room door. He himself had a look of terror on his face, clearly uncomfortable at being in the same house as a woman in labour.
The front door opened and closed, a moment later Mirajane entered the living room bundled in a coat and carrying a box filled with various containers. Her face was flushed from the cold weather. "Oh good, you're here Lucy." She walked over to the couch, setting the box against the back. Lucy, curious as to what she had, peeked at the contents. Lily next to the box put his paws over the edge and peered inside as well. "Its food and supplies for the next couple of days. I'll be bringing more along later too. Levy and I arranged it so she and Gajeel could focus on being parents." Mira smiled; her face bright with happiness. "Oh, isn't it exciting? A new little one being born into the guild. Who would have guessed we would be standing here in this house a couple years ago?"
Lily chuckled, jumping off the back of the couch to land on the cushions, "They've come a long way since they first met. Gajeel has changed a lot since even I met him."
Mira turned her smile to Lily, "He sure has." She hefted the box off the couch, "Loke, can you help me unload this in the kitchen?"
Loke walked over, draping Lucy's winter apparel over the back of the couch. He took the box from Mira. "Lead the way." He said. He followed the whitehaired woman into the kitchen, leaving Lucy and Lily alone.
Lucy walked around the couch and took a seat on the opposite end from Lily. The living room was in slight disarray. Levy's books were scattered around on various surfaces. The chain she had shown Lucy recently was sitting in a shell dish on the coffee table. Lucy smiled at the thought of how caring Gajeel was towards her friend.
She placed her hand absentmindedly on her lower belly, wondering at what sort of cravings, if any, Natsu's child would give her. Would she need to eat fire like Natsu in order to satisfy them? How would she satisfy cravings if he wasn't looking after her like Gajeel did for Levy? She laughed to herself. How, in the first place, am I supposed to eat fire anyways? She thought. The only flames that don't burn me are those that Natsu and I produce together. She blushed at the thought of Natsu having to make love to her in order to produce flames that could satisfy her cravings.
Make love? Lucy's blush deepened. Her cheeks a fiery red and just as hot. She placed a hand over one of them, attempting to cool it with her slightly cooler fingers. She didn't truly know how Natsu felt about her, how could she be thinking about him making love to her?
"Are you alright?" Lily asked, jolting Lucy from her thoughts.
"Uh, yeah." She said, lowering her hand to her lap where she clasped it with her other one. There had been no noise from upstairs since Gajeel had entered the room. "Porlyusica must have given Levy something for the pain."
Lily stood up on the couch, stretching his arms over his head. "Yeah. Levy was refusing to take anything, so Gajeel must have been able to convince her. I don't think he realizes how much sway he has over her." Lily chuckled. He glanced over at Lucy, "I'm going to go have a nap. There's no telling when the baby will come, so might as well pass the time sleeping while I can." He hoped off the couch and left the living room.
Lucy sat back on the couch, leaning her head so she was looking at the ceiling. She wasn't sure how she should pass the time herself. She was too awake to even think about sleeping, but she hadn't brought any work with her since she had been at the guild hall at the time she had received Gajeel's call.
Remembering the letter Rai had written her, Lucy pulled it out of her pouch and opened it. The writing inside was just as neat as her name on the front of the envelope.
Lucy,
After our conversation, I looked into renovations that occurred in the past two years at the scenes of the Freezings. All five locations had some form of repair or upgrade done to their heating.
I cannot confirm what form of heating source the houses all had, but I am sure you can guess.
Thus far, we have been unable to locate the business that completed the repairs ordered through Fairy Tail. Therefore, I would like to request a meeting with those responsible for arranging the repairs for the city of Magnolia after the ice storm.
You can find me at Magnolia Council Headquarters.
Signed, Rai
"Hmm, someone is acting very familiar with you." Mira's voice came from over Lucy's shoulder, causing her to jump and slightly crumple the letter in her hands. Mira straightened, placing a hand on her hip as she gave Lucy a questioning look.
"Uh, well. We had lunch?" Lucy offered; her voice small.
"One lunch and you are on first name basis with the Captain?" Mira questioned, walking around the couch to sit next to Lucy.
"He's a very nice man." Lucy folded the letter properly before replacing it in the envelope and then putting it back into her pouch. "Together we may have worked out the source of the Freezings."
Mira didn't say anything, just looked at Lucy. Her gaze seemed to be accusing Lucy of something. "Well, by any means," She said, turning to organize a stack of books on the coffee table, "Just be careful. The council still has its reservations about Fairy Tail, despite their reformation after the Tartaros incident."
"I really don't think Rai has any misgivings about Fairy Tail. He wants to work with us to discover the source of the Freezings." Lucy countered.
"I'm not worried about Rai." Mira replied. She stopped her organizing to look Lucy in the eyes, "I'm worried about what someone might do out of jealousy if he reads things the wrong way."
Lucy looked away. She knew Mira was talking about Natsu. Mira wasn't aware about the confusing situation Lucy had found herself in with Natsu, however, and she wasn't prepared to talk about it yet either. Not until she had spoken to him first at least.
"Loke said you hadn't had the chance to eat at the guild." Mira stood, offering her hand to Lucy, "I'll make you something to eat. C'mon."
Lucy took Mira's hand and followed her to the kitchen. Mira let go of Lucy and pointed to one of the stools at the island as she made her way to the cold box and started pulled out ingredients. As Lucy took a seat, she looked around the room. "Where is Loke?" She asked Mira.
Mira hummed quietly as she organized what she had pulled out, "He said he needed to return to the Spirit World to recharge, saying that he thought you'd be safe with me."
Lucy rolled her eyes, "More like he didn't want to be here with Levy giving birth. I could see he was just as terrified, or even more so, as Gajeel." Lucy started laughing as she remembered the look on his face, "I wonder if he was worried if he had any illegitimate children."
Mira laughed with her briefly, "Can celestials even have children?"
"You know, I don't even know. I'll have to ask Loke when he returns." Lucy said, wiping a tear out of her eye.
Mira set a finished sandwich in front of her, placing the vial of pink liquid next to it. "Loke gave me this before he left, saying you might need it. I thought you weren't feeling any affects from the magic seal anymore?" She asked as she sat down next to Lucy.
"I'm not." Lucy said as she took a bite of the sandwich. As with most of Mira's cooking, even a simple sandwich tasted like heaven. Swallowing her mouthful, she wiped her mouth with a napkin, "Well, more like now the reverse is happening."
Mira gasped and clapped her hands excitedly, "Mavis! Your magic is back?" She exclaimed.
Lucy nodded, smiling at Mira's reaction. "Its not fully recovered yet. More like, bit by bit, its coming back."
"I was wondering why Loke just suddenly reappeared, though I and everyone else were too afraid to ask."
"He was here on his own magic." Lucy frowned, remembering the night that the man ran into her, his skin brushing against her own, "I had a weird encounter and Loke suddenly showed up after it, detecting my distress."
"When was this?" Mira asked, she pulled a bowl of grapes on the island over to herself, picking a few of them off their stems and eating them one at a time.
"A couple nights ago. It was almost as if my magic reacted to the touch of another's." A thought attempted to dig its way out of Lucy's head, though it wasn't fully formed. Shaking her head, Lucy pulled herself out of her thoughts before she really went diving deep into them.
When Lucy finished her sandwich, Mira took the plate cleaned it along with wiping down the kitchen. A habit picked up from her waitress position at the Guild. When the kitchen was clean, and each woman had a cup of tea, they retreated back to the living room to await news. They chatted about different recipes that Lucy could try making as the night wore on. Eventually, both of them drifted to sleep sitting next to each other on the couch.
The next thing Lucy knew was being suddenly awoken by the sound of crying. Mira had sat up on the couch next to her, both of them looking towards the stairs for a moment before turning to each other and falling into the other's arms, crying happily. Lily came into the living room from wherever he had gone to rest, rubbing sleep from his eyes.
The sun was just beginning to rise, the sky a dusty rose, as Gajeel made his way down the stairs, a tiny bundle in his arms. He looked tired, with dark circles under his eyes, but he had a beaming smile on his face. "Everyone," He spoke quietly, looking down at the tiny baby, "Come meet my daughter. Come meet Koemi."
Lucy stood with Mira, both women making their way quietly over to Gajeel. Lily jumped up onto Gajeel's back to look over his shoulder. Tears came to her eyes as Lucy looked at Koemi. She had a full head of black hair, and her face was scrunched as if annoyed at the sudden brightness of the room after spending nearly nine months in her mother's belly. She squirmed and whined in Gajeel's arms; her little hands, clenched into fists.
"She's beautiful." Mira cooed. Softly petting the baby's hair with her finger.
Lucy touched Koemi's tiny fingers, marveling as the size of her. She glanced up at Gajeel who hadn't taken his eyes off of his daughter. "How's Levy?"
"Tired but doing well. She's resting now." He whispered.
Porlyusica came out of the bedroom and leaned over the rail, calling softly to Gajeel, "Gajeel. Bring Koemi here. Levy needs to try to feed her before she falls asleep." Gajeel obliged, taking the squirming bundle back upstairs and disappeared into the room, Porlyusica following him. Lily went with him, saying he wanted to check on Levy himself.
Mira sighed, clasping her hands in front of her heart. She was beaming. "Oh, now I can't wait to have a little one of my own." She sighed again, her hands falling limply to her sides before she turned to Lucy, her face slightly dejected, "Do you think Laxus wants kids?"
Lucy gave her a small, wavering smile, placing her hand discretely over her belly. "I couldn't tell you."