Hello, everyone !
I'm back with the thirty-third chapter !
I hope you enjoy reading it :D
Disclaimer: I only own this plot
Lucy's hands were fisted tight as she stared sharply at Lisanna. Lisanna didn't back down and stared back at her coldly.
"I didn't know you have a habit of eavesdropping." Lisanna commented. "I wonder what Natsu will think if he knows about this."
Lisanna's mention of Natsu's name made Lucy's anger grew.
"Who cares what he will think if he knows about this!" Lucy retorted. "I can't believe you have the heart to do something like this to him!"
"Shut it!" Lisanna growled. "Do you have any idea how hard I've been trying to make Natsu mine? Nothing's working and look at you! One look from you and Natsu is smitten! Now, I finally have the chance to make Natsu mine and I won't let it slip away!"
"By doing what? Pretending you still have a memory loss and taking advantage of his guilt towards you?" Lucy angrily said. "If you truly love him, you wouldn't even think of doing something like this to him!"
"Precisely because I love him I am willing to do all sorts of things to make him mine!" Lisanna said. "I am the only one for Natsu, not you nor anyone else!"
"You can't push your feelings onto someone, Lisanna!" Lucy said.
Lisanna's eyes twitched in anger and annoyance. "Lisanna? You dare to call me by my name?!"
"I don't care about that!" Lucy said. "All I care about right now is how you're treating Natsu, the man you claimed you love! I can tolerate anything you do to me, but not if you're hurting Natsu!"
Lisanna coldly snorted. "Are you playing as the good girl, here? So this is the secret of your witchcraft! You're playing as the good girl who is always kind and that made Natsu paid attention to you, isn't it?!"
Lucy grabbed Lisanna's arms in desperation. "Lisanna, please…" she begged. "Stop doing this… You're hurting Natsu and yourself…"
Lisanna harshly yanked her arms away. "Don't go telling me what to do and what not to do! I know exactly what I'm doing, and this is all for Natsu's sake!"
"You're hurting him, can't you see?" Lucy asked in frustration. "Imagine how he will feel if he knows about this!"
"What? You want to tell Natsu what you heard just now?" Lisanna challenged. "Who do you think he will believe? With his guilt towards me, I highly doubt he will believe you!"
Lucy gritted her teeth upon hearing Lisanna's reply. Guilt, guilt, guilt…
Guilt.
SLAP!
Minerva and the Agria sisters gasped in shock while Lisanna tumbled back a bit. Her brain took a second more to fully understand what did just happen, then turned to stare at Lucy in anger. But Lucy unwaveringly stared back at her.
She didn't care to think about the consequences of her action, all she cared about right now was to make Lisanna stop hurting Natsu. She knew she had to knock some senses onto the young lady, something only she could do as an outsider. Because the longer Lisanna was doing this, the more hurt Natsu and the others would be.
"You dare to slap me?!" Lisanna hissed while cupping her own cheek.
"You're out of the line, Lisanna!" Lucy sharply said. "Natsu's guilt is not something you can use as you want!"
"Shut your mouth, you damn witch!" Lisanna swung her hand and slapped Lucy's cheek.
"Lisanna!" Minerva and the Agria sisters shouted in horror.
But Lisanna didn't stop. She slapped Lucy's cheek once more, on the same spot which made blood started to trickle down. "How dare you slap me, you insolent witch! Who do you think you are?!"
Minerva and the Agria sisters quickly scurried away from the room to get some help. They knew just how bad Lisanna's temper could be and they were too scared to hold her back.
"I've known Natsu since we were kids, I am the closest one to him!" Lisanna angrily shouted as she repeatedly slapped Lucy's cheek. "You have no idea how much Natsu meant to me, so shut your mouth!"
Lucy bit her lower lips to endure the pain, but enough is enough. She tightly grabbed Lisanna's wrists and stared back at her with tears in her eyes. Not tears of physical pain that Lisanna had just given her, but tears of mental pain because she knew how hurt Lisanna was right now.
"You have no idea as well how much you meant to Natsu, Lisanna!"
Lucy's raised but stern voice as well as her teary but determined chocolate orbs made Lisanna choked. Lucy's words and the blood that was trickling from her cheek due to her slaps snapped some senses back to Lisanna's consciousness. She gritted her teeth and was about to yank her wrists away, but Lucy held it firm.
"Look at me!" Lucy said. "Look at me and listen to me!"
Lisanna's blue eyes were unconsciously focused on Lucy's upon hearing her firm voice.
"You are someone precious for Natsu and no one could ever replace you in his heart!" Lucy said. "Your bond with him as childhood friends is a bond that can never be replaced! No one could destroy that bond, except the two of you! Don't break that bond, Lisanna…"
Lucy's voice faltered a bit as tears started to rolled down along her cheeks, resulting in stinging pain when the tears wetted her slapped cheek. But Lucy didn't care about it. The physical pain she was feeling was nothing compared to the mental pain Lisanna was feeling. Before that mental pain destroyed her from within, Lucy had to make her regain her senses.
Lisanna's breath slightly choked as she heard Lucy's words and her brain suddenly replayed all of her childhood memories with Natsu. With each pieces of memories that showed itself like an image, Lisanna found tears started to fill her eyes.
"Bond comes in all sorts of ways, Lisanna, and you already have a special bond with Natsu… Don't ruin it, please… Stop hurting yourself and Natsu, stop trying to break that bond…"
Lucy's soft begging voice made Lisanna felt something washed over her. All of her memories with Natsu flooded her mind, making her knees buckled and her body started to trembled. It didn't go unnoticed by Lucy and she quickly let her grip go. But instead of letting Lisanna flopped down, she hugged her instead.
Lucy's sudden warmth on her stunned Lisanna. Tears slowly trickled down from her eyes, a voice somewhere from deep inside of her was telling her how much she hated the girl who was hugging her right now. As if she was being controlled by something, Lisanna raised her hands and started hitting Lucy's back weakly.
"I hate you…" Lisanna softly muttered.
"I hate you, I hate you, I hate you."
Lucy didn't budge a bit, she just kept hugging Lisanna while her tears were still rolling down. She could feel how broken Lisanna's heart right now from those weak hittings on her back.
"I hate you…" Lisanna started to sob. "Give me… Give him back to me…"
"Ssh, it's okay, Lisanna." Lucy softly said. "You will always have Natsu on your side, it will never change."
The mention of Natsu's name broke Lisanna's defense completely. She stopped hitting Lucy as her sob turned into a painful wailing. Because deep down, she knew that she would never have Natsu the way she wanted to.
Natsu had never been hers and would never be.
"Lucy!"
The doors were slammed open, showing a very worried Natsu and Gray. Natsu quickly walked over to Lucy and brought her into his tight hug.
"You're okay…" he softly muttered in relief. "You're okay… Thank goodness…"
Lucy returned Natsu's tight hug and breathed in his smoky warm smell to calm herself down. Meanwhile, Minerva and the Agria sisters were standing at the door and stared at them in silence. Gray also sighed in a relief then glanced over at Lisanna who was sitting idly on the sofa.
Gray and Natsu had just finished checking the last restroom in the palace to look for Lucy.
"She's not here." Gray said. "I really think she's lost."
"Where is she, anyway?" Natsu ruffled his hair.
"Let's keep searching for her." Gray said. "Sting will bail his eyes out once he realizes his sister isn't there with him anymore."
Natsu agreed and the two of them were about to head to the other side of the East wing and someone called them.
"Your Highness! My Lord!"
Both Natsu and Gray whipped their heads and were a bit stunned upon seeing Minerva and the Agria sisters running towards them. They recognized the ladies as Lisanna's friends whom she brought with her when she barged into the party earlier.
"Hello, ladies." Gray confusedly greeted.
The twin daughters of Count Agria and the only daughter of Count Orland panted to take a bit of fresh air after all those running, then pointed to the direction which they had just come from.
"Q—quick!" Minerva huffed.
"What's the matter?" Natsu confusedly asked. "Did something happen?"
"L—Lisanna…" Yukino panted. "A—and Her Highness…"
Natsu and Gray instantly froze. Her Highness?
"Lucy." Natsu muttered and quickly bolted towards the direction the ladies had just pointed.
Gray also quickly followed.
The next thing he saw, Natsu had darted into a room and hugged Lucy tight while Lisanna was sitting in complete silence on the sofa. He didn't know what had just happened between Lucy and Lisanna, but he knew it wasn't exactly a good thing either.
"Natsu." Lucy softly called as he put a bit space between her and Natsu. "There's something—"
"Lucy, what happened to your cheek?" Natsu cut, his eyes looked at Lucy's red cheek which was bleeding in deep worry and gently cupped it.
Gray also saw it and his anger was instantly lit. He walked over to Lisanna and towered over her.
"You did that, didn't you?" he growled angrily.
Lisanna didn't say a word, she didn't even look back at Gray.
"Lisanna!"
"Gray." Lucy called, bringing Gray's attention away from Lisanna. "It's okay, it's not Lady Lisanna's fault."
"Lucy—"
"I'm fine, really." Lucy smiled reassuringly towards Gray and Natsu.
"What part of this is fine?" Natsu retorted.
"I'm fine." Lucy repeated, gently rubbing Natsu's hand which was on her cheek. "But I need to apply some medicine on it or else Sting will bail his eyes out when he sees it."
Natsu nodded. "I'll take you, come on."
"No." Lucy said, making Natsu stared at her in utter confusion. "I'll go with Gray. You have to stay here, Natsu."
"What? Why do I—"
"Natsu," Lucy gently cut as she placed a hand on Natsu's cheek. "she needs you right now."
Of course Natsu knew exactly who Lucy meant.
Lucy gently rubbed Natsu's cheek. "Take this time to sort everything with her. You're in a quite bad relationship with her for a while—especially after I came—so now is the time for you two to mend it."
Natsu's gaze softened. Just how understanding his fiancée could be? "Lucy…"
Lucy gently smiled at Natsu and the two of them stared at each other for a few more seconds before Lucy took Gray and Lisanna's friends out. She then closed the doors to give Natsu and Lisanna some privacy together.
Lisanna was still sitting there on the sofa, not a word escaped from her mouth. Natsu stared at her in silence, before deciding to reach out to her first. He walked over to her and knelt in front of her.
"Lis, look at me."
Natsu's voice that Lisanna loved so much managed to bring some focus back into her eyes and Lisanna shifted her gaze to look at Natsu. But the second their eyes met, tears instantly trickled down along Lisanna's cheeks.
Natsu smiled in understanding and gently wiped her tears. "I'm sorry." he started. "I'm sorry for hurting you like this. I'm sorry for doing this to you."
"No…" Lisanna softly croaked. "I'm the one who's sorry…"
Natsu's smile widened, realizing that the Lisanna he treasured so much was slowly coming back. "Lis, you will always be someone I treasure. I'm sorry I cannot love you the way you want me to, but I do love you, Lis. You are one of my precious childhood friends, no one can replace that in my heart."
Natsu's words which were similar to what Lucy had said to her made Lisanna broke into a soft sob. She remembered all of the things she did to make Natsu hers. All those time she spent praying, wishing Natsu would turn his head towards her and love her the way she loved him. All those anger and frustration she felt when she realized Natsu quickly fell in love with Lucy and stared at his betrothed with gazes she herself longed for. The efforts her family and friends put to make her realize that Natsu and her were never meant to be. The persistence of her family and the Justines in keeping her arranged marriage to Bickslow intact. How she actually realized deep in her heart that her love for Natsu was turning into a mad obsession and possessiveness. How she kept denying the truth because she was so scared to admit. How silly Natsu's childhood promise to her was and how dangerous it was for her to keep hanging from such a thin string.
How bad she had been hurting Natsu, her family and her friends, and moreover, herself.
Remembering and realizing all of these things, along with admitting to it, made Lisanna couldn't hold her feelings anymore. Her tears wouldn't stop and her chest felt so tight with pain. Guilt washed over her, so much it made her body felt cold.
"I'm sorry…" Lisanna said between her sobs. "I'm so sorry… I didn't mean to hurt you, Natsu…"
"I know." Natsu softly said.
"I've regained my memories back…" Lisanna finally confessed. The guilt she was feeling was too great for her to bear, she needed to take the burden off of her shoulders. "I've regained them back after we returned here, but I didn't want to let go of your guilt towards me… I—I thought of having you eventually look at me the way you look at Lucy by using your guilt… I… I'm so sorry…"
Natsu was taken aback by Lisanna's confession, but he couldn't find even a tiny bit of anger nor annoyance.
"It's okay, Lis." Natsu patted Lisanna's head. "It's okay."
"I'm sorry…"
"I forgive you, Lisanna." Natsu said. "What's more important to me is that my childhood friend is finally back."
Lisanna's sobs turned heavier upon hearing Natsu's sincere voice and his relieved tone. Natsu stood up and sat beside Lisanna, then bringing her into his warm hug.
Just for tonight, he would gladly let Lisanna cried in his arms.
Done !
Whew, finally !
I've been itching to write this closure for Lisanna and I'm glad I managed to do that !
I know I've been portraying Lisanna as such a spoiled, immature young lady, and I'm glad she can finally step out of it. I'm proud to say that this is the end of Lisanna arc (?)!
Did you enjoy your binge-reading, folks ? *wink wink*
Don't forget to leave your reviews and/or flames :D