Enjoy!
Chapter 10
"I was brought up to respect my elders, so now I don't have to respect anybody."― George Burns
"Bosco, seriously?" Lucy grimaced while giggling, taking care not to spill her drink as they walked from the bar to their seating.
"Yeah," Natsu laughed with her, slinging an arm around her as they took their places in a booth, sitting across from Gray and his girlfriend. "The press thinks you're currently gambling the Heartfilia fortune away in some grotty, over-commercialized casino. I've no idea why."
Letting their friends join in on the conversation, Natsu handed them his phone, showing a preppy tabloid article, one that was previously hung on his 'Igneel board'. The report was poorly written at best and featured a picture of an unknown woman. The girl was supposed to be Miss Lucy Heartfilia, grand heiress turned scandalous party girl. However, the resemblance wasn't exactly striking.
"The girl they think is you looks nothing like you, Lucy," Gray commented, laughing at the distasteful image of the poor drunk girl. Her blonde hair was ashier than Lucy's stunning golden, and the proportions of her body were way off. Lucy had a big chest where this girl had very little to call a parcel shelf, and the girl's ass was about five times bigger than Lucy's. Lucy wasn't very 'blessed' in that department if that was your sort of thing. The photo showed the twenty-five-year-old looking girl in the lap of a way older, more business-oriented man, with a mustache as big as a broom. Lucy hated mustaches. The most facial hair she could stomach was a few days of missed shaving at most. The stubble or cleanshaven look that Natsu usually wore was more her preference.
The blunette water mage spoke up, also giggling at the picture. "Juvia doesn't think that girl is even half that man's age."
"Some girls like that, I guess." Lucy shrugged, taking a sip of her lemonade.
"Not your thing?" Gray snickered.
She shook her head, letting the ice mage continue reading the article aloud. Lucy's little secret, her family name, wasn't such a secret anymore, and she was glad. She and Natsu had agreed that it was okay to let a few of their closer friends in on it, trusting that none of them were stupid enough to spill it. They'd only told the couple in front of them, Levy, Gajeel, Mira, Cana, and Erza- all of whom Lucy had grown close to over the two-ish months she'd known them.
"Miss Heartfilia continues to spend an estimated one million on her current gambling run, having spent just over three million on last year's run." They all grinned at the exaggerated details. Lucy certainly didn't have that sort of money. Her entire inheritance had gone into MagMa and making investments in the stock market that would help keep the school afloat. She could only dream of being that rich now!
Juvia took the phone, continuing in place of Gray, whose giggles had got the better of him. "Lucy has been seen many times with an older gentleman, Mr. Banaboster. Mr. Banaboster, 76, is the owner of several major businesses, including popular headphone company 'Twighlight Ogre'. There is significant evidence that Banaboster is supporting Miss Heartfilia financially while she begins her summer in Bosco, perhaps in return for sexual favors."
"Great," Lucy mumbled sarcastically. "The last thing I need is the press projecting some weird daddy issues onto me."
The table laughed, continuing the conversation for another ten minutes before Natsu got up to refill his and Lucy's drinks.
"So when do you need him out by?" Lucy asked the couple as soon as Natsu was out of earshot.
Gray answered. "Within the next twenty minutes would be great. We should be set up by five, so you'll only need to keep him occupied for three hours."
"That's great." Lucy bounced excitedly in her seat. Today, June 6th x795, was Natsu's birthday, and Lucy couldn't have been more delighted. It was the first birthday she'd be spending with her boyfriend, and the guild had delegated her the responsibility of keeping Natsu away from the bar whilst they set up the surprise party. Okay, well, it wasn't much of a surprise. This fact, the guild didn't know, was specifically good. Lucy was a terrible liar. Had she had to keep the secret from Natsu the entire afternoon, the whole operation would've been a bust. "Natsu's sister's flight is due in at three. We've got to get going soon to pick her up."
"Wow. I haven't seen little Wendy in ages. I suppose she's not so little anymore."
"Juvia hasn't either. Juvia has missed Natsu's sister."
Juvia's input made Lucy curious. "What's Wendy like? I've seen a few photos, but I haven't had the time to ask."
"She's the nicest kid," Gray assured her. "Wouldn't hurt a fly."
Natsu slipped back into his seat, returning his arm around Lucy, sliding their drinks onto the table. "Who we talking about?"
"Wendy. Lucy was asking about her."
"Chill, Luce. She's gonna love you."
"It doesn't hurt to get some details, though," Lucy said, finally shaking off his grip.
"Fine." He indulged her persistence. "She's a Capricorn. Her favourite color's blue. She adores the movie Parent Trap, and she plays the clarinet."
"That's all? C'mon dragon boy, I need more dirt than that."
"You're not being tested on this. Relax. You'll get to know her when she's here. Speaking of which, we should get going if we want to beat airport traffic." They got up, grabbing their belongings, and headed out with a quick goodbye to Gray and Juvia. "Do you mind if we take your car? Wendy always gets motion sick in my truck."
"Yeah, of course." Lucy led them over to her parking space, creaking- yes, creaking- the driver's side door open.
"Oh no." he stopped her. "I drive."
She stared at him blankly. "What kind of patriarchal bullshit is that?"
"No, I didn't mean it like that." Natsu's hand ran to the back of his neck in awkwardness. "I get motion sick if I'm not driving. I don't think you want that in your car."
Lucy shook her head, letting him slip past her into the driver's seat. She got in the other side, clicking her seatbelt into place as he pulled out of the parking lot. "Is that some sort of dragon slayer thing? The motion sickness. Gajeel gets it too. I remember him threatening to puke his guts out on a train ride to a book signing over in Crocus when he was chaperoning Levy and me."
"Yeah. It kinda sucked, especially at family occasions when we were kids. Couldn't get us all in one place unless there were plenty of toilets."
"But how does Wendy handle flying with the FAF?"
"She's fine with planes," Natsu explained. "She's always loved flying, I suppose that's 'cause she's a Sky dragon slayer."
She hummed. "I remember you saying. What FAF rank is she?"
"She's just made Master Sergeant. Since she's an aerospace trauma surgeon, she's been on tours practically non-stop. Two in the war region of Bosco and one in Bellum. Before that, she did all her medical training under the air force."
"She's one impressive little girl." Lucy smiled at the pride evident on Natsu's face. He was clearly a good big brother.
"Hell yeah! I mean, she's twenty-six now, so she's not so little." He laughed at the thought of Wendy reacting to being called 'little'. "She's known what she wants to do her entire life. She was practically born saying weird medical stuff and whatever an 'airfoil' is."
"You're a physicist. Surely you should know what an 'airfoil' is?"
"Hey. I only studied physics at undergrad level. I'm an astronomer now. My study of what's above us does not include the clouds."
Lucy giggled. "Yeah, because there's such a difference."
Natsu shook his head, grinning at the headmistress.
They'd gotten to the airport with little time to spare. Airport traffic had been a nightmare, as always, so they were practically running through 'Magnolia West Airport' trying desperately to find the joint-use Military/Civilian terminal. They had eventually found their way there, and it was only a couple minutes wait until the familiar bluenette came strolling into sight. What neither of them, but mainly Natsu, had expected was to see Wendy hand in hand with another air force soldier.
The boy -or man, Natsu would begrudgingly call him- was a few inches taller than Wendy, ranging from approximately 5'9" to 5'11". He had shaggy dark purple hair and a pale complexion.
Wendy, as soon as she spotted her brother, released the hand she was holding and ran towards him. Natsu caught the twenty-six-year-old in a hug. He hadn't seen his younger sister in three years. They texted and called regularly, but it really wasn't the same.
"Wendy, holy shit." He gasped into her hair, feeling a tear trickle down his cheek. "It's so good to have you back."
Her response came out in barely a whisper. "I've missed you so much."
As soon as the hug finished, Natsu was checking his sister over for injuries, dragging her sleeves up, checking her neck... Her neck!
"Why the hell does your neck have purple bruises all over it?"
Lucy felt that as her cue to step in, not liking the demonic aura her boyfriend was emitting. "Natsu, maybe that's enou-""
She couldn't even get a sentence in before Natsu began interrogating the poor air force soldier beside Wendy. "Did you do this to her?! Who the hell even are you, Mr.R Conbolt?!" He read the tag on the air force uniform.
"Natsu, stop!" Wendy had to drag her brother by the ear. "He's my boyfriend."
If Wendy wanted to give her brother a heart attack, she sure knew how to do it.
"Hi." The 'boyfriend' spoke up, holding out a hand for Natsu to shake. "Name's Romeo Conbolt."
Natsu looked at the hand lamely. "Boyfriend, huh?" They could practically feel the anger rolling off him. "What rank are you?"
"Uh, T-Sergeant, Sir."
"What's your job?"
"Fire protection, Sir. I met Wendy when we were touring at the same time in Bellum."
Lucy giggled at how Romeo was treating Natsu like a drill instructor, bar the shouting. Her laugh caught the attention of Wendy, whose curiosity had been burning for weeks now.
"You must be , Ma'am." Wendy held out her hand, which Lucy gladly shook.
"Did Natsu ask you to call me that?" Lucy giggled again. She was a little nervous meeting Natsu's sister.
"He did." Wendy smiled back. "He's told me a lot about you."
"Why don't we get some food while Natsu grills your boyfriend?"
"As long as I have a boyfriend left by the time he's finished."
The two girls shared a laugh, continuing all the way until they were sat down. They'd chosen a small, if not slightly overpriced coffee shop within eyesight of where the two boys were talking. Lucy grabbed a cappuccino, and Wendy grabbed a smoothie and a muffin, finally glad to have some real sugar after months on MRAs and air force canteen food.
"Mmm! That is so good!" She groaned after just her first bite.
Lucy giggled, cautiously sipping her drink. "Where have you just been stationed?" She asked the young dragon slayer.
"Just on the other side of Fiore. I'm on deployment, right now. Although, I'm taking three weeks' leave off for Natsu's birthday. I've been helping out at base Sky Tower, near Mount Hakobe. It's got a small medical center, but they get loads of trauma cases from Bosco fly-ins."
"And you met Romeo in Bellum?"
"Yeah." Wendy blushed, unused to being able to gush about her partner. It wasn't something she was able to do around stone-faced army men. "Two years ago, just outside the Bellum capital."
"Oh, Arcarl is so pretty!" Lucy exclaimed, recalling fond memories. "I've only been there once. I barely remember it since I was so young."
"Oh, how's that? Bellum's been the center of conflict for decades. Not to mention the arms trafficking prominent in the capital."
Lucy felt stunned. She hadn't realized that visiting Bellum unrelated to military purposes was such a rarity, perhaps even a luxury. Maybe her family was just that rich as she was growing up, but she had her doubts that it wasn't unrelated to her father's dealings. "My family had connections." She brushed it off for a change in topic, adopting a smirk. "I'm guessing those hickeys on your neck are from your boyfriend?"
Wendy's blush grew further. She was used to her uniform covering up any marks Romeo left, but Magnolia was in a warmer climate than Mount Hakobe, and she couldn't survive if she didn't unbutton at least until you could clearly see her neck.
"I'll take that as a yes." Lucy had another sip of her drink. "He's a lower rank than you, right? I'm not really familiar with all the military stuff, sorry."
"Yeah, he is. Only by one, though. And he may be up for promotion soon if he's lucky."
"Is it difficult being his superior?"
"Not really. We work separately, most of the time. But he sometimes likes to drag one of his mates into the trauma tent when they've been going too hard on gedunk. That's when he really gets on my nerves."
"Gedunk?"
"Oh, sorry." Wendy mentally facepalmed at her own lack of civilian etiquette. "I just mean snacks. Had a few guys in with indigestion from stuffing their faces full. You should know all about irresponsible kids, though. You run that magic school for teenagers, don't you?"
Lucy nodded, unable to verbally respond as they were interrupted by the two almost forgotten guys. Wendy gave her boyfriend an apologetic look. He really did look like he'd been on a soup sandwich... She meant he'd barely survived.
"And if you think about marking my sister like that again, I'm going to end you." Natsu finished his threats, giving Lucy a quick peck on the cheek, never once breaking his glare at the hapless troop.
"Natsu, I'm twenty-six. I'm allowed to have sex."
"Na! Na! Na!" Natsu placed his fingers in his ears like a kid. "Can't hear you, Wendy. The signal must be bad!"
"Natsu, you dumb-ass, that only works when we're calling." She grimaced at her brother's stupidity, earning a laugh from the blonde opposite her.
"C'mon," Lucy spoke up, ignoring the idiotic pink haired dragon slayer. "We've got enough time to drop their stuff off at yours before we're needed back at the guild."
The party went off without a hitch. Everyone was all too glad to have Wendy back, and they welcomed Romeo with as many open arms as they had Lucy several months ago. Romeo had been doing his best to steer clear of the rampaging birthday boy, not wanting another interrogation worthy of the Bellum mafia. Every soldier knew the horror stories of the Bellum arms trafficking mafia. If it wasn't for the illegality of the trade, he might just suggest Natsu for the job.
He'd managed to pique Natsu's interest after showing off his fire skills. This had -ahem- sparked a fight between the two, eventually dragging the whole bar into it, excluding a few scared men and women. Lucy was among the few hiding behind the bar top. She and Levy had taken cover after their simple book discussion had turned into an unscheduled book burning. Now they were protecting what books they could, using the ever-brave MiraJane as their lookout.
"Are you two going to join in at all?" Mira asked the two cowering girls.
They shook their heads, confused as to how the white-haired barmaid could be so cheery when literally flaming chairs were flying past her from every direction. How this wasn't horribly illegal, Lucy didn't know.
"I'm not sure my script magic will do much good against Natsu and his yearly birthday brawl." Levy insisted, barely dodging a vase landing at her feet with a loud smash.
Lucy looked at the bookwork, astonished. "This is a yearly thing?!"
"Yup. Can't get through a damn birthday without Gray and Natsu lighting up the place. Romeo is just a welcome addition to the madness."
"Do you have any magic that would be useful?" Mira asked Lucy, still freakishly calm.
"No. Can't say that I do." Lucy satisfied herself by supposing it wasn't really a lie. She didn't think her magic would be useful against Natsu, Gray, or Romeo. Not when her keys were a thirty-minute drive away, and she hadn't used the damned things in years.
Lucy screamed as another table cracked in two on the bar above her. She was so done with this stupid brawl!
"Natsu!" She shouted, standing courageous against the wall of danger.
The dragon slayer didn't even notice his girlfriend standing there. He simply continued his brawl, unaware of the looming demonic woman.
"Natsu!"
He paused seconds after his two rivals, frustrated by their sudden stopping. He felt the aura before he saw the woman, feeling a gulp force its way through his neck.
"You're going to stop fighting, or else I'm walking out of here, and you won't see me for a week."
"C-C'mon, Luce." he stammered. "You gotta be kidding."
"You wanna bet?" She placed her hands on her hips stubbornly.
He stared her down, glaring at his girlfriend. "You just don't wanna fight because you know you'll lose."
"Against a fire dragon slayer?"
"I didn't say magic. C'mon, fight me." He widened his legs into a fighting stance, summoning her forward with both hands.
"I'm not fighting you. That's what my ninth graders do when there's one brownie left at dinner."
"The brownie's visitation rights for the next week. Luce, have a little fun."
She shook her head, biting her lip.
Natsu raised his arms to mimic wings, stepping towards the woman, raising his legs slowly. "Chicken."
"Natsu-"
"Pkaaaak! Kak! Kak! Kak! Kak!"
"Seriously?"
His clucking continued as he began pecking her shoulder in jerky movements, leading up to her neck. She squirmed, slapping her neck where he'd pecked.
"I'm not fighting you."
Natsu's hands darted to Lucy's waist, attacking her with tickles. She squealed, bending over as a reflex. She squirmed again, elbowing him in the stomach.
He retaliated by pinning the offensive arm behind her back. He didn't, however, expect her to twist out, kneeing him in the stomach, just above his pelvis.
"Hey, that's playing dirty!"
"Fine. No tickling then."
By now, they had the majority of the guild's attention, all fighting paused to watch the couple. It was like a scrap in the playground or on the side of the street- everyone circled around them.
He made a jab for her shoulder, which she easily dodged. She aimed for his hip but swung too far left, missing. They both stayed nimble on their feet, neither one letting down their guard.
"You done this before?" He asked, attempting another swipe.
"No. I'm just scrappy."
"Guess it's in your blood."
Natsu shrugged, knowing he'd pressed a button. She swung, anger powering the hit, making her sloppy.
"C'mon, gunrunner. Hit me!"
"Natsu, shut up!"
"Make me!"
He didn't expect it. He felt it before he even saw it. Blaring pain and a sick crack. Her fist connected to his nose, snapping it to an angle that didn't look or feel natural.
"Shit! Luce!" He stumbled back, holding the bloody appendage. Red trickled through his fingers, gushing out.
The crowd cheered, including some of the more effeminate guild members. Lucy held her hands to her face in shock, holding back a smile at her unexpected strength. She hadn't hit anyone since college, and even then, it was only a strike on the odd sleazy guy who felt he had the privilege to feel her up. "I'm so sorry!" She squealed.
He backed off when she took a step towards him, Natsu letting out a nervous laugh. "It's fine. But fu~ck you pack a punch! Are those tiny fists of yours made of steel?!"
"Hey! Hey!" A voice boomed through the bar, stopping Lucy from requiting. "Break it up!"
The crowd parted to let the speaker through. Lucy was astonished to see a man, no taller than three-foot, making his way towards them.
"C'mon, Gramps!" Natsu complained through the hand on his nose.
"Shut it, boy! And stop taunting the hottie. I don't want you scaring off another."
"Another?" Lucy queried, ignoring the disgusting comment.
"Lisanna," Natsu answered. "And I didn't scare her off. She moved to Minstrel to study foreign cultures on an exchange program. Once the program finished, she decided to move there permanently."
The crowd began to disperse, bored of the story they'd heard a billion times. "And you and she dated?"
"You wanna hear about my exes? I'll tell you another time. Just let me sort out my war wound first."
"Pussy." She giggled, letting him walk towards the exit to the medical room.
"That's sexist!" He hollered back, smiling.
Important update:I won't be updating for another week, sorry. I have an exam on the 9th. However, this gives me more time to storyboard, meaning I can extend this fic and possibly write another arc. We're over halfway now on this current arc. Things are about to get spicy!I don't have an encyclopedic knowledge of the US Airforce, so I just used the US AF as a loose guide for writing the FAF. It's really nice being able to write this stuff in the context of Fairy Tail. It's definitely something I enjoy researching.Next update should be Sunday 13th.