Chapter 43
Lucy found herself staring at the roof as she sat on her bed, she couldn't believe it, she was being awarded the Kem Zaleon Award for the Best New Author of the year, though her Novel Iris' Adventure hadn't really sold that many copies, her work was still recognized and she was amazed that she had been nominated let alone managed to win the award.
Lucy lay on her bed thinking about Natsu and if he was okay before shaking herself out of the stupor "I don't care how he is, the least he could have done is inform me personally that he had other trivial thing's come up, that he, as the Emperor couldn't ignore. It's like he doesn't even care anymore" Lucy thought to herself "Wait, what am I doing ?.This day is important to you Lucy, don't waste it thinking about that idiot" she declared to herself as she decided to get ready for the award ceremony.
As she got dressed she felt someone enter her apartment she turned around half anxious and half excited when she saw Happy sitting on her bed chewing on a fish. She felt bad for the exceed, If Natsu's absence was taking a toll on her, it was even more hard on Happy who once again resorted to staying with either Lisanna or Wendy or at her apartment. "So Happy how are you holding up…?" Lucy questioned him as he turned to stare at her chewing on the fish happily, "Wendy said Carla saved this fish for me, I think I am making progress with her" he replied ecstatic about it.
Lucy was convinced that Carla had nothing to do with the fish, but she decided to keep it to herself. "Well are you here to support me…?" Lucy asked him smiling and sitting beside him as Happy stared back at her with a confused expression. "Why… are you participating in the S class Exams ?" Happy questioned back. Lucy clenched her fists controlling her anger as she replied "I am receiving a award for the novel I wrote, remember…" with a sweet but chilling smile on her face, as Happy stopped chewing the fish and looked apologetically at her "I'm sorry I completely forgot about your award ceremony, here you can have this fish" he replied. "I don't want the fish Happy, it's okay" Lucy replied "So, if you aren't here because of the ceremony why are you here…?" she asked him.
Happy began to mumble "I need the Lacrima that Natsu gave you". Lucy raised an eyebrow in question "Why do you need the Lacrima..?" she asked him. "What do you mean why ?, I want to talk to Natsu, you didn't let me speak to him for about a week now" Happy replied. "That's because I haven't spoken to him as well" Lucy replied "Why did you think I was so angry in the guild the other day…?" she questioned him. "You were angry ?, I didn't find anything different in your behavior" Happy replied. Lucy felt her temper flaring, "The Lacrima is on my desk Happy" she replied gritting her teeth as she left the room.
Happy began to call Natsu, when suddenly Lucy heard Happy yell "Hey Natsu….miss me…?", she left what she was doing and barged back into the room to find Happy holding the blank Lacrima and snickering "You fell for it" he replied roaring with laughter. "Why…would you do that….?" Lucy demanded furiously, she knew Happy missed Natsu, but the exceed was getting on her nerves. Happy's face fell as he saw the mixture of hurt and fury on Lucy's face "I'm sorry, Natsu didn't answer and I didn't know what to do" he replied "Is this how you've been feeling all this time…?" he asked her as he flew and sat on her lap.
"Well, what can I say, it's not like I can blame him completely for it, he has the responsibility of a kingdom now and to think our Master was hesitant about leaving the guild under his care" she laughed "So, I guess I don't blame him for it, but I wish we could just speak to him" she replied hugging Happy. "You miss him.." Happy teased her as she smiled back at him "What do you mean ?, I obviously miss him and I clearly heard you say, you missed him too" she replied. "Well, I was obviously acting…" Happy replied as Lucy smiled and agreed with him.
"So…will you be leaving then…?" Lucy asked Happy as he smiled back at her "No, I guess I'm going to accompany you to this ceremony" Happy replied. "So you're taking Natsu's place and keeping me company at the ceremony huh ?" Lucy asked him, Happy stared at her aghast "Lucy, I can't be your boyfriend, I don't think Carla would like that" Happy replied. "That's obviously not what I meant" Lucy growled at him.
Erza, Gray, Juvia,Wendy and Carla stood outside Lucy's door. "Erza-san I really think we should knock before entering and the mood that Lucy-san has been in the past few days, barging in wouldn't be ideal" Wendy replied as Erza just smiled back at her "If you're scared you can hide behind me Wendy" Erza replied. Carla glared at her "See…why can't you be more like Erza, Wendy.." she suggested as Wendy glared at her.
"Stay behind Juvia, Gray-sama she will protect you from Lucy's rage" Juvia replied stepping infront of Gray protectively, Gray just smiled to himself, though Juvia was overprotective at times, she definitely backed down when Gray asked her to and so to him these instances were much more cute than how others assessed it, although he was head over heels for her, so he wouldn't exactly be a fair judge here.
Erza barged into the room as the rest of the group followed, the scene that they were met with was of Lucy strangling Happy in a choke-hold. Wendy slowly moved behind Erza, while Juvia stood boldly infront of Gray as promised. "Carla help me…" Happy called out to her, Carla just scoffed and turned her head away "You must have done something to deserve this…" she replied. Happy felt his heart break when the realization struck him "She definitely want's me to overcome Lucy and her abnormally strong choke-hold, without the help of the other's and that's the reason she's behaving so cold to me, even though it's probably breaking her heart, that's so sweet of her" he thought to himself.
"What the hell guy's ?, how many times do I tell you not to barge in, you know what, that does it, I'm taking back the key that I gave you" Lucy replied letting go of Happy, who immediately ran to Carla. Carla just scoffed and moved away from Happy, while Happy just followed her around dotingly with love-struck eyes.
"How many time's do I tell you to knock before entering, what if I had been changing my dress…?" Lucy demanded as Gray froze completely "I didn't think of that, she has a good point Erza" he replied a pink flush appearing on his cheeks. Juvia turned towards Gray, "Gray-Sama stop thinking about Lucy changing" she screamed running upto him and hugging him. "Gray….what the hell ?, why would you think that…?" Lucy demanded. "I didn't, I just realized that, that was a possibility and that Erza had behaved in a very brash manner" Gray replied. Erza glared at him, Gray immediately began to guide Juvia to a secluded corner of the room avoiding Erza while consoling Juvia.
Erza looked at the ground a little embarrassed and ashamed "I'm sorry Lucy, I guess I didn't think that not everyone would be as carefree as I am and you're right, you deserve the right to your privacy" she replied. Lucy held her hand out as Erza stared at her confused "The key to the apartment, Erza" Lucy declared. Erza pouted as she relinquished the key back to Lucy, "Now, until you prove, you can be civil and keep other's privacy as a priority while visiting someone's home, I will keep this key with me" Lucy replied as Wendy stared at her in shock, Erza looked like she was proud of Lucy. "It is your home after all Lucy, do what you will" Erza replied smiling at her. "Alright now that, that's settled let's go to the ceremony and collect my award" Lucy declared grinning excitedly.
As the group reached the venue they were surprised to see a group of rich aristocrat's arguing with venue manager "What do you mean the venue's sold out, we always get entry" one of the men demanded. "I'm sorry sir, if you don't have a entry pass, we cannot allow you in" The manager responded apologetically. As Lucy and the others stood listening to the conversation Wendy reminded them that the ceremony was starting, as the group rushed inside.
Once the ceremony was over Lucy rushed to mingle with her friends as she had managed to invite all her friends from the guild to attend the ceremony, she began to wonder if maybe that was the reason for the venue selling out "Well there are plenty of other people that received awards today, I'm pretty sure I am not the one to be blamed" she justified. She was shocked to find Yukino, Sting and Rogue walking towards her, Yukino ran upto her congratulating her, Lucy was shocked to say the least "Hey you guys, I wasn't expecting you to be here, I mean…I don't mean that, I don't want you people here or anything, it's just that this is pleasantly surprising" Lucy replied.
Erza who was standing beside Lucy looked around "Minerva isn't here…?" she questioned Sting. "No, surprisingly we only received three passes and you know Rogue and I are a team so there was only one pass left and Yukino decided to come along, to make sure we don't do anything out of hand apparently" Sting replied. "I came here to keep an eye on you…" Yukino replied as both Erza and Lucy stared at her in shock, "That's not what I meant…." She replied blushing furiously "I came along to make sure that Sting remembers that he's the Master of the guild and behaves appropriately".
"Well do you know who gave you the passes…?" Lucy enquired. "Not a clue, I didn't even know what those passes were meant for" Sting replied casually as Yukino pinched his arm glaring at him and motioning towards Lucy, luckily for the two of them Rogue interjected "Yukino though remembered you telling her about the novel that you had written and published and how you were receiving an award for it, she put two and two together and figured the passes were for the award ceremony" he replied "She has been excited all day to see you receive the award and meet you". Lucy smiled and thanked Yukino as the guests and friends began to mingle and enjoy the party.
As Lucy,Levy and Yukino began to animatedly discuss her work, the three of them didn't notice a new appearance amongst them, suddenly Lucy found someone blindfolding her with their hands and on instinct Lucy aimed her patented Lucy kick at them, but what Lucy didn't know was that Erza and Gray had the same idea and had charged at the intruder, this resulted in huge commotion as the guests all froze looking at the scene unfolding.
The intruder was sent flying straight into the path of three very familiar faces, Lucy realized who they had inadvertently attacked as Natsu slammed into Larcade who caught him with surprising ease and set him back on the ground. "I told you to wait for us…" Larcade replied cooly as Brandish and Dimaria stood on either side, "Well….i remember telling you that I couldn't…" Natsu retorted.
Natsu turned to find Lucy staring back at him, before he could make a move Lucy ran towards him and hugged him as Happy flew upto them and squeezed himself between the two of them, "That was quite the welcome you gave me guy's" Natsu replied addressing Lucy and the others. "Why can't you just be normal for once" Gray groaned. In the meantime the crowd around them started murmuring "That's Salamander from Fairy Tail right and those people around him are the Spriggan" one of them stated. "No he goes by END now and he's the Emperor of Alvarez" the other corrected him. The crowd began to close in on them as Larcade, Brandish and Dimaria took defensive stances guarding Natsu and Lucy in the centre.
Natsu expected the crowd to be hostile towards him and the Spriggan but the crowd was beginning to cheer on Natsu, they began to chant END as they tried to catch a glimpse of him. "Uncle…you should leave now, we will catch up with you" Larcade stated. Natsu didn't hesitate for a second as he teleported out of there with Lucy and Happy.
The place that they had teleported to was dark as Natsu switched the lamps on Lucy and Happy realised that they were in the guild hall. Natsu and Lucy sat at one of the tables as Lucy watched Natsu talk to Happy with a smile on her face. Natsu turned towards Lucy "Uhh..Luce, if you want to shout or punch me, just do it" he said bracing himself for whatever was coming but Lucy just rested her head on his shoulder instead as Happy sat on his head. "I'm not mad at you" she finally said as the silence was becoming unbearable to Natsu.
"Really…?" Natsu asked her. Lucy nodded her head "I mean…I was mad at you don't get me wrong, but then you did come to the ceremony, which was really important to me" she replied as Natsu put his arm around her pulling her closer. "But, you came back and I realized, I wasn't mad anymore, I just missed you so much" she said pulling herself even closer to Natsu almost practically in his lap now. " I feel like I should be giving you two some privacy" Happy murmured staring at the couple as he sat on the table. "Well maybe you should then…" Lucy retorted. "No…if I do that you'll just end up making Natsu disappear for a long time again" Happy replied relaxing on Natsu's head comfortably.
Natsu felt a laugh escape and turned it into a cough as Lucy glared at the two of them. "Hey Luce…' Natsu addressed her as she turned to look at him her brown eyes staring into his own "Now that it's just the two of us, I was thinking…" Natsu began as Lucy felt her cheeks reddening she averted her gaze from Natsu looking at her hands "Natsu…we've met after all this time and that's the first thing you think about…?" Lucy whisper asked him as she felt her cheeks turn even more red if that was possible. Natsu completely oblivious to Lucy's plight continued "Why…there's no one around and we're not tired what's wrong in that…?".
Lucy felt like the air had been sucked out of the room, she couldn't believe how Natsu could be so casual discussing something like this. Happy interjected "Shi Shi Shi….I think Lucy's talking about something else entirely Natsu" he replied as Natsu looked at him confused "What…?, what else could she think I was talking about ?" Natsu asked Happy who was snickering to his heart's content "Why don't you tell her what you were talking about then…" Happy replied. "I was talking about having a battle to test each other's strength's out, I just wanted to see how much you've improved since the last time we battled" Natsu addressed Lucy, whose face was still tinted pink.
It was then that the realization dawned on Natsu as he turned red. Lucy had calmed down considerably as she moved towards Natsu "Natsu, I didn't mean to embarrass you it's just….i guess didn't really put any thought to it, before assuming what you were saying" she replied. Natsu raised his head looking back at her his cheeks red still, he scratched his neck nervously "I know….i guess…I never thought you would assume it that way, not that I didn't….i mean not right now.." he began to mumble. Lucy just took his hand smiling at him, as he seemingly calmed down as well.
Happy to Lucy's surprise hadn't interrupted them and was sitting at the bar suddenly interested in his half eaten fish, Lucy was thankful for this as she didn't want anyone interrupting this moment she was having with Natsu. Natsu seemed to be moving closer to Lucy as her breath hitched, Natsu smiled at her leaning towards her, when the guild doors burst open as Laxus and the others walked through holding barrels of drink and what looked like feast food.
The members that had entered the guild froze looking at Natsu and Lucy, who immediately moved away from each other blushing furiously. Cana was the first one to speak "Don't mind us please continue" she managed to say in a slurred voice. Mira began to smile apparently overjoyed at the scene, Elfman could be heard saying "It is not manly to invade their privacy" while Evergreen glared at him sticking to her "Like you'd know what privacy is.." she retorted". Erza seemed to be smiling as well, while Gray had a neutral expression as Juvia stared at him longingly still clinging to his arm. Gajeel stood to the side with one arm casually around Levy who seemed to be staring happily at the couple slightly blushing. Wendy who was looking anywhere, but at the couple, was approached by Romeo who grinned before whispering in her ear "You know Wendy…you're like older than Porlyusica, it's ok for you to see", Wendy growled furiously as Romeo began to run away from her, the commotion made the members realize that they were standing at the door staring at the couple and they began to move inside.
Laxus approached Natsu and Lucy "You know we're all happy that the two of you are together, but it will do you good to remember that this is the guild and I hope you'll make sure to behave appropriately while in here" he declared as Natsu and Lucy replied at the same time "Nothing happened…", Laxus just moved on responding "For now…." as the couple turned red once again. Wendy gained on Romeo and finally cornered him using her power to keep him down as he struggled "Apologise…" she demanded. "Never…" Romeo replied, "Get yourself out of there Romeo…you're my son, a former guild master's son…" Macao replied. "I..can't…" Romeo stated, "Why…?, are you not as strong enough as you believed yourself to be…?" Wendy taunted. "No…it's because you're a girl" Romeo stated "And…what does that have to do with anything…?" Wendy retorted.
Happy who was sitting silently now began to move towards Romeo "I'll help you Romeo…" he called out, but he found himself tackled by Carla who held him back preventing him from flying "Oh..no you're not, Wendy is standing up for herself and you're not interfering" she replied in a stern voice. Happy had a love-struck expression on his face "Carla….you're hugging me" he replied in a dazed tone, "That's not what this is…." Carla replied huffing "I'm stopping you from interfering.." she stated. Happy was starstruck to respond as he didn't move. As Wendy seemed to be increasing her force on him, Romeo yielded "Alright fine, I'm sorry…" he replied as Wendy let him go.
As Wendy began to walk away Romeo groaned standing up "This isn't over Wendy, I will avenge this day." He called out as Wendy smiled at him in response. Everyone in the crowd was amazed and scared at how she could go from being volatile to sweet in a second. Romeo seemed to have retreated to a corner of the guild fuming, while Wendy walked towards Natsu's group. "That was amazing Wendy..." Happy cheered, Lucy sweat-dropped "A second ago…you were cheering on Romeo…" she replied. "They're both in my guild, I can cheer for both of them" Happy responded. Wendy smiled "Thank you…Happy" she turned towards the others "You don't think I was too harsh on him was i…?" she asked. She got a plethora of responses "You went easy on him, infact I can teach you ways to punish him better, the next time" Erza replied. "You could have gone easier on him" Lucy replied. "Just out with your feelings already" Cana replied as Wendy looked confused and red at that response. "Erza seem's to be finally rubbing off on you, you should try to be more like you were today, everyday" Carla replied. "It's going to help him be fired up for the next time.." Natsu replied to which Wendy thought to herself " I hope this won't turn into a regular thing". "It was very manly, what you did…" Elfman replied "She's not a man…." Carla and Evergreen retorted.
"Should I go talk to him…?" Wendy asked deep in thought. "No someone else should talk to him first probably…" Mira answered. "Fine…I'll do it Natsu replied. "No, let me talk to him" Elfman replied as Evergreen turned to him a surprised look on her face. "What..?" Elfman asked her "Nothing never figured you to be the the talking it out type of person" she replied. "Well seems like you don't know much about me afterall, now do you…?" he asked as Evergreen blushed slightly averting her gaze from him. "And I have my fair share of losses against my sister" he motioned towards Mira who was busy serving the guild members once again " So I guess, I am the perfect guy to talk to him, you guy's catch up" he replied moving towards Romeo.
"So…now that Elfman is gone…" Cana replied smiling cheekily at Evergreen who scowled looking at her expression " Why is it that you hang around Elfman so much Eve…?" she questioned. "What are you getting at Cana…?" Evergreen demanded. "You seem to be spending an awful lot of time around Elfman apart from the Thunder Tribe, he's the only one you hang around" she replied. Evergreen scoffed "Yeah right, like that oaf stands a chance with me…" she replied making sure neither Elfman or Mira were anywhere near her "Beside's I'm a member of this guild I can hang out with anyone for that matter and Elfman isn't here and I'm still here" she replied. "Well the point is Elfman was here and you were here, not with the Master or the Thunder Tribe" Cana replied. "Uggh…you know what, I don't have to deal with this right now, I'm leaving" Evergreen retorted moving away from the group when Cana remarked "Sure, now that dear Elfman isn't here, you leave". Evergreen froze her eyes blazing with fury as she walked back to the group "Fine, I'll stay till the oaf get's back and then I'll leave" she stated.
"Alright, now that I'm done with Eve" Cana began as Evergreen glared at her "Happy, how about you tell me in detail, what these two have been upto since you three came here ?" she questioned. Happy immediately put on a serious face raising his hand to his head in Salute "Aye Ma'am" he replied looking at Natsu and Lucy who frankly looked exhausted. "Alright I'll be honest, nothing happened" Happy answered as Natsu and Lucy looked ecstatic, but Happy continued "I mean it's obvious with how badly inexperienced Lucy is with all this and with how dumb Natsu is, it's a miracle, they've reached where they are and it's all thanks to me" Happy replied proudly as Lucy growled "That's it, I'm killing that cat" Natsu sighed "You know what I won't even stop you…" he replied as Lucy caught a hold of Happy but he escaped and flew away to the rafters.
"So…nothing really happened…?" Cana asked Natsu disappointed. "We told you….nothing happened" Lucy replied. "But you wanted something to happen right…?" Cana questioned. "I'm leaving Natsu..." she replied not bothering to address the others as she began to leave, "Wait…" Natsu blurted out as Lucy stopped in her tracks she turned to see that Natsu was looking at Gray and Juvia and Levy and Gajeel. "When did this happen…?" the question was directed more so towards Lucy. "Levy and I have been together since after the Tartaros incident, so in a sense I beat you…Salamander" Gajeel gloated. "You still haven't declared your love in front of other's like Natsu-san did though…" Levy retorted. "Don't take this away from me Levy…" Gajeel groaned. "No…not you two…" Natsu replied pointing at Gray and Juvia instead "The two of you… when did this happen…?" he asked surprised.
"Right….you weren't there when they got together" Lucy stated. "I should have phrased my question better…how did you get together…?" he asked them. "Remember when you called to tell me about Frosche…?" Lucy asked him. "Frosche…?" the other's asked confused, Lucy ignored them as Natsu nodded his head. "Well…Laxus thought he had information on Aquarius' key and wanted to send a team but Juvia was so worried about everyone including me that she went on the search alone, Gray went crazy when he couldn't find Juvia and when he finally did, well he confessed his feelings to her" Lucy finished retelling as Natsu stared at them as if he didn't really understand the story.
"Juvia and I had the most amazing and emotional declaration of love to each other" Gray remarked as Juvia hugged him in response. Levy turned to Gajeel "See even Gray did…it, why can't you…?" she questioned. "Drop it…Shrimp…I mean Levy" he said seeing the look on Levy's face. "Whatever Ice Prick….i had the most grand and heartfelt declaration ever" Natsu declared "Grand sure….emotional, I disagree Flame Brain" Gray remarked. "Is that a challenge…?" Natsu questioned. "You bet…" Gray answered. "Fine…let's do this the only way, we know how…" Natsu replied. "A Battle…" the two of them said in unison. "Although I was told not to get into a fight with how delicate thing's are between Alvarez and Ishgar" Natsu remarked. Gray scoffed "Are you that afraid…?" he mocked. Natsu growled "I'm not and I'll prove it, Lucy will fight in my place" Natsu replied as Lucy's face turned pale "What…?" she shrieked. "If Lucy- san is fighting then I will fight in your stead Gray-sama" Juvia replied. Gray grinned "Let's see whose girlfriend is the strongest" he declared as Gray and Natsu shook hands.
"Alright…I've had enough with all of you" Lucy looked around at the guild "And especially you…" she jammed a finger in Natsu's chest, "Hey…what did I do…?. It was Ice Prick that goaded me" Natsu groaned. "I don't care, we met after all this time, and all you can think is about either fighting me…or making me fight and today was supposed to be about a celebration of the award I won, but I let it go since you came back and yet you don't care about spending time with me" she replied glaring at him but tears were evident in her eyes.
Natsu froze he had seen her cry….but he couldn't remember if he had ever made her cry, he didn't know what to do. So he moved closer to her and took her hands in his "Lucy, I need to tell you something and this time it's not about a battle or testing my skill's or anything like that, this time I'm being serious" Natsu replied as he wiped the tears away from her eyes. "I know where Aquarius' key is and I came here to take you with me, so you can claim it back" Natsu replied.
AN : Hey guy's once again thank you for the favourites and follow's i appreciate it :D
I have a little request to make in this Author's note if you people don't mind, i have another story written it's called "Knight of Chaos" that sort of parallel's this story at the same time going in depth into some character's that i couldn't dwelve into in this one, so if you could give it a read and let me know what you think of it i would appreciate it as well.