Chapter 39: Retaliation!
"W-where...am I?..." Yukino's hoarse voice croaked out as her eyes fluttered open, her fingers twitched slightly.
"Oh good you're awake! I was starting to get worried!" A cheery voice came from next to the bed Yukino was laying down in, she turned her head and saw a young girl with long dark blue hair that was tied up in pigtails, the girl looked very familiar but Yukino wasn't sure from where. She sat up, expecting to be sore and in pain, but was delightfully shocked to find out that wasn't the case at all.
"How do you feel? You were pretty beat up, but I think I was able to heal most of your injuries...Luckily Natsu got you here when he did otherwise I would have had to get my mentor to come over, and let's just say….nobody would've liked that." The young girl laughed a little at her joke that went over Yukino's head. She looked around the infirmary room she was in.
"I see….so this must be Fairy Tail huh?" Yukino concluded remembering that Natsu said he was taking her to his guild before she passed out on his back.
"Yup, that's right! I'm Wendy by the way!" The young girl beamed and held out her hand for Yukino to shake.
"It's a pleasure to meet you Wendy, thank you very much for healing me up, my name is Yukino." The white-haired teenager took Wendy's hand with a warm smile that was returned right back at her.
"Hey Wendy, if it's not too much trouble is Natsu here? I would like to thank him as well, I really owe him one for carrying me here." Wendy's smile slowly faded away and she looked down at the ground, an action that made Yukino raise an eyebrow.
"Ummm, I can go look for him, but nobody has seen him since he dropped you off a few hours ago…" Wendy muttered, and turned to leave the room. Upon exiting it Wendy took a deep breath and walked down the stairs into the main part of the bustling guild hall. She waltzed over to where Lucy was tending to a customer. She waited until Lucy had placed the plate of food down on the table and turned to walk away, trying hard to ignore the man at the table who tried to peak underneath her skirt, much to his wife's annoyment. Lucy strolled up to the bar and placed the tray down with a huff. Cana and Mira glanced at her in amusement.
"Whose idea was it for us to open up to the public again?" Lucy asked annoyed, a few months ago Makarov announced that the guild was running low on funds to even keep the lights on so someone came up with the idea to open the guild up as a restaurant for the people of Magnolia. All things considered it had been a pretty good idea, Lucy, Levy, Mira, and Cana were the only four who worked and got paid for it. It was basically just like any other restaurant job, but paid pretty well which Lucy was grateful for considering Natsu was running low on what Igneel had set aside for him, and what she had gotten from all the things of her father's she had sold when he got arrested. What Lucy wasn't fond of was how horribly the people treated the waiting staff, some treated her and the others like they were pieces of meat, while others acted like they were servants forced to do their bidding.
"Yeah, I mean honestly...last night I had to kick out some drunk that was causing a bit of ruckus. Like I am all for getting paid serving booze, but some of these customers are horrible. I'd just like to have a few words with the idiot who decided this was the best idea." Wendy began walking towards the bar, but stopped with wide eyes as in the span of less than a second Mirajane's face went from grinning like a madwoman, to weeping like a baby.
"Oh shit! I'm sorry Mira! I had no clue that this was your idea!" Cana tried to apologize to the crying woman. Lucy grimaced, and ran behind the bar to comfort the barmaid.
"Please don't cry Mira! I'm sorry for upsetting you, I didn't know that you were the one who came up with this idea!" Lucy hugged the crying woman tightly while Cana looked around for anything to cheer up Mira. Her eyes landed on a familiar redhead who was watching the scene with a raised eyebrow.
"Say Mira I know what'll make you feel better! I heard Erza was looking for a slice of your famous strawberry cake….why don't you bake one? Baking always cheers you up!" Cana grinned mischievously as she proposed the idea, Mirajane stopped crying instantly, and beamed.
"OOH! Okay I'll go make one right away!" Mira gleefully skipped into the kitchen with a glint in her eyes. Lucy and Cana simultaneously let out an exasperated breath. Lucy looked up and noticed Wendy standing off to the side awkwardly. She quickly stepped out from behind the bar, and moved over to the young girl.
"What's up Wendy?" Lucy asked looking down at the young girl who shook her head clear of the events she had just witnessed. Remembering the reason she came down from the infirmary for.
"O-oh right, sorry to bother you but Yukino just woke up and was asking if Natsu was here so I figured you would know where he was." Lucy blushed a little, but frowned and shook her head.
"No idea, I'll send him a quick text….but he just kinda left earlier without saying anything."
"Oh, okay that's what I thought…could you tell him that Yukino is going to be okay, and that she woke up?" Wendy muttered quietly. Lucy nodded and took out her phone, she quickly sent Natsu a text and stuffed it back in her pocket.
"Say do you think I could see Yukino? I know her sister Sorano and figured I should check in on her?" Lucy asked and Wendy just shrugged in response.
"I don't see why not, here follow me." Wendy stated and walked away leading Lucy through the guild and up to the infirmary, while they were walking Lucy felt her phone vibrate so she snuck a glance at it and found that her missing boyfriend had replied to her text.
Natsu: Sorry for that haha, didn't mean to make ya worry! That's good to hear, I was worried about her, she was in tough shape. I'm fine, I'll be home late tonight, love ya too!
Lucy semi rolled her eyes at the text, she was glad that he was alive and everything, but he didn't really tell her anything. Let alone where he was or what he was up to, she quickly sent him a heart icon and put her phone away again. Wendy was at the top of the stairs waiting for Lucy to catch up, once she had Wendy walked over to the door to the infirmary and knocked.
"Miss Yukino? Can I come in...I brought someone who wanted to see you…" Lucy shuffled on her feet awkwardly while they waited for Yukino to reply. After a second Yukino's hoarse replied.
"Yeah, that's alright…" With a smile on their faces Lucy and Wendy walked into the room where Yukino was beginning to sit up on the bed she was on. Glancing at the two girls walking into the room Yukino smiled warmly at them.
"Hey there! You must be Lucy!" Yukino beamed at the blonde teenager who smiled back at her.
"Yep, that's me. How do you know who I am? If it's okay with me asking…" Lucy questioned, and watched Yukino chuckle softly.
"Oh, my big sis talked about you. She wouldn't stop gushing about how romantic it was that you broke into Nirvana to save Natsu...plus I remember what you look like. We were in the same van, remember?" Lucy blushed slightly, but nonetheless giggled.
"Oh yeah! I remember now, I had been so worried about Natsu that I had forgotten who else was inside the van." Lucy scratched the back of her head, a motion that mirrored her significant other whenever he was being cheeky.
"Yeah, I can see why….he had been put through Hell in that place….more so than anyone else and I lost my powers, which wasn't pleasant." Lucy's smile faded away at this, as did Wendy's. The two females glanced at each other.
"What do you mean by that? I know that he had been poisoned by Cobra, and locked in a freezer….did anything else happen?" Wendy asked softly, and Yukino frowned and stared at her hands that were folded on her lap.
"I guess he didn't tell you...figures he never really showed any weakness to us either. It was like he was playing mind games with Brain and refused to let himself be seen as weak, but we all saw right through him…" She took a breath and felt her eyes begin to water as she remembered what happened to Natsu. Lucy, and Wendy listened carefully.
"I don't think he got a single good night's sleep, to be fair none of us did….but he was in constant pain thanks to the poison, he would often wake up to throw up before passing out from the pain again…...Brain also had his son Macbeth mentally abuse him and every time Natsu fell asleep he was met with nightmares….while Macbeth and the poison attacked him from the inside, Brain had guards who seemed to have vendettas against him mercilessly beat him…" Wendy let out a gasp while Lucy just stared at her feet.
"He never told me…" Lucy whispered feeling a twinge of pain in her heart. Yukino looked at the blonde with a frown.
"He never told any of us either….we could just hear his cries as they echoed throughout the building…..for whatever reason he just kept acting strong through it all….I think about it every now and then, and remember how scared I had been during my time in there….but then I think about him and how he managed to stay strong through it all…..it's quite remarkable isn't it?" Yukino chuckled dryly.
"What's worse is that he refused to let his spirits break like we all had...he always forced a smile onto his face and a laugh out of his mouth despite everything….I have no idea how he did it." Lucy looked up at the girl who was now smiling softly, and a small smile danced on her face.
"That sounds just like my Natsu….nothing keeps him down for long, especially once he has his head set towards something." Wendy glanced up at the older girl and giggled.
"You're right about that...I remember when Phantom Lord kidnapped you, and destroyed our first guild hall….Carla was stuck inside and he rushed in without a second thought….he came out and was bleeding, but barely even noticed. Instead all he could focus on was getting payback." The older girls smiled and the story.
"Speaking of him...do you by any chance know where he is? I was hoping to thank him for bringing me here…" Yukino looked at Lucy who shook her head.
"Nope, I texted him, and he was pretty vague, and just said he'd be back late…the only thing he said before he left was that he was going to find the people who had hurt you…" Lucy explained, and immediately Yukino's eyes shot wide open.
"You're kidding….he wouldn't actually do that would he?!" Yukino asked worriedly.
"Yes, he would."
"Definitely." Lucy and Wendy spoke at the same time, and Yukino became horrified. Her hands covered her mouth as a gasp escaped her mouth.
"This is so not good…." Yukino muttered causing the other two females to glance at each other curiously.
"Ummm….Yukino what isn't good? Natsu's strong as we already talked about, I'm sure he'll be fine..." Wendy tilted her head.
"Yeah, I may not be overly fond of how reckless he is, but he can probably take the guy out without breaking a sweat...I've seen first hand how strong he is when he gets fired up…." Lucy added, but Yukino just whimpered, and began shaking her head. Her hands gripped her blanket tightly.
"You don't get it….the person who did this to me….was the master of my guild, he found out I lost my powers and that meant I was too weak to be a part of Sabertooth, he used me as an example…." Yukino cringed at the memory.
"He embarrassed me….h-he made me…..s-strip a-and r-remove….my own mark in front of everyone….." She began to quietly sob. Lucy and Wendy's eyes widened at this.
"That's….horrible…..why didn't anyone step in?!" Lucy angrily questioned. Yukino covered her face with her hands.
"B-because….that's the new Sabertooth way…..when we first started out….we wanted nothing more than to help people…..b-but once Jiemma became master, things changed…..w-we changed, suddenly we valued strength….and power….if you were dubbed as weak then you got kicked out and embarrassed just like I was….it's awful, but nobody dared to just leave, because Jiemma is just….too scary…"
"Jesus….I'm so sorry….I can't imagine…." Lucy muttered, while Wendy stayed quiet. The three just stood there in silence, nothing but Yukino's sobs could be heard from the room.
"Sabertooth sounds like a bunch of bullies if you ask me….maybe it's good that Natsu went to get back at them?" Wendy shrugged her shoulders, the older girls looked at her and frowned.
"Maybe so...but still Jiemma….he's without a doubt stronger than anyone I have ever met…" Lucy looked out a nearby window, suddenly feeling betrayed, and hurt.
"Why do you keep doing this Natsu? Why don't you ever tell me what you are up to...why must you always run off and put yourself in danger like this?" She whispered quietly. She knew Natsu had nothing but good intentions, but he was still so reckless, and borderline inconsiderate of how she felt. Sure it was selfish, and no she wouldn't want Natsu to change the way he was, because to her he was perfect the way he was, but still. She would have liked to know that he was going to do something like this, at the very least Erza, or Gray could've gone with him.
A few hours later a crestfallen Lucy was turning the key to her apartment door, praying that Natsu would already be back, but when she opened the door the only thing that greeted her was a sleepy Happy. She let out a sigh and stepped in.
"Wow, so this is Natsu, and your apartment? It looks awesome!" Wendy exclaimed following behind Lucy with Carla in her arms. She put the white cat down on the ground and she immediately hissed at Happy who watched her carefully.
"Yeah it's really nice….thanks for letting me stay here by the way, I hope it's not too much of an inconvenience." Yukino looked around the apartment after she had stepped inside. Lucy smiled at the girl.
"No, no, it's really no problem at all! We have a spare bedroom that you can use for as long as you need! It's technically Natsu's room, but we can just share my bed, no biggie…" Lucy grinned, but the other two girls blushed a deep shade of red.
"What?" Lucy asked, noticing their bright red faces.
"With all due respect Lucy...haven't you and Natsu only dated for a couple of days now?" Wendy stuttered looking down at the ground in embarrassment. Lucy just chuckled and shrugged her shoulders.
"It's whatever, Natsu and I have shared a bed several times, we used to do it all the time when we were kids, and still did a couple of times when he moved into my father's mansion after Igneel passed away…" Lucy then turned on her heels and waltzed into the kitchen. Leaving the other two standing there uncomfortably. Yukino glanced at a picture that was hanging up on a wall. It was a photo of a younger looking Natsu, with his arm draped around an equally as young Lucy. At the time Lucy was taller than the boy, and had braces on her teeth, they were both beaming though as they stood in front of a large stadium, that Yukino knew was in Crocus thanks to living there for so long. They were wearing matching shirts with caps that had a soccer team's logo on it.
"Hey Lucy? When was this photo taken?" Wendy asked the blonde girl who walked back into the living room holding three water bottles.
"Huh? Oh that one?" Lucy turned to see which one Wendy was pointing at. Yukino turned to look at Lucy as she walked over and smiled.
"I believe it was in seventh grade, Igneel and my dad took Natsu and I to Crocus to watch the Crocus Royals championship game against the Drasil Landslides..."
"It was eight grade actually, and Crocus played the Erminia Sea Serpents...they won by a score of 3-1, but it was the only championship they ever won….and the way things are going this season it looks like it will still be their lone championship for a longggggg time." The three girls whipped their heads back towards the door where Natsu was kneeling by the entrance and petting Happy who kept looking over to Carla who was hiding behind Wendy's legs.
"Oh Natsu, when did you get back?" Lucy asked slightly embarrassed that she had misremembered the picture, and that she didn't even notice Natsu walk in, but her embarrassment and shock quickly faded away as she remembered that she was supposed to be upset with him. He shrugged and let out a yawn.
"Bout twenty minutes...I lucked out and didn't pass out on the bus, although I wish I would've just walked…" Natsu massaged his throbbing temples and plopped down on the couch with his eyes shut, and his arms crossed behind his head. He peaked and noticed the other two girls who were standing by Lucy.
"Huh? Oh hey Wendy, didn't see ya standing there…" Wendy puffed out her cheek.
"Come on….I'm not that small Natsu…" The young girl pouted, but he ignored her and glanced at Yukino.
"Good to see you up and moving, how are ya feeling?" Yukino smiled at the boy.
"Much better, I wanted to thank you for helping me out."
"Ah don't mention it….I'm just glad you are all healed up." Natsu smirked, but the second he glanced at Lucy who was staring at him angrily it went away, he gulped before offering her an uneasy smile.
"Hey Luce….what's up?" He asked shakily, Lucy crossed her arms and gave him a stern look.
"Oh nothing….I just spent the last several hours wondering where you ran off too, with no explanation mind you only to find out from Yukino that you were planning a one man assault against an entire guild...I mean seriously Natsu what were you thinking? You could have gotten hurt!" Lucy snapped, but Natsu just rolled his eyes grumpily before crossing his own arms. Yukino and Wendy peeked at each other, fearing what was about to happen.
"Oh hey Wendy I'm getting hungry...do you want to go down to that restaurant down the street?"
"Yeah, that sounds great, umm we'll be back soon Lucy, text us your orders and we'll pick you up something…." The two girls rushed over to the door while Natsu and Lucy were just glaring at each other both with their arms crossed. The door closed behind them leaving the couple in a tense silence.
"This is why I didn't tell you, I knew you'd be upset…" Natsu huffed, and Lucy felt her eye do an involuntary twitch.
"So you knew that I'd be upset, and you still went ahead with it?...How exactly does your logic make any sense?"
"It made sense to me….I wanted to get revenge for what those jerks did to Yukino...and if you would've been in Crocus with me and found out the things I did, saw what I saw...you would've agreed with me that they needed to be put back in their place…" Lucy let out a deep breath.
"Maybe I would've, but Natsu….what I'm upset about is that you didn't say anything….you just left you could have gotten hurt, or you could have gotten really sick on the bus and missed your stop and ended up out of the country entirely!..." Natsu opened his mouth to say something but Lucy held up her hand to stop him.
"The point is Natsu….your actions have consequences, you should've told me what you were up to….at the very least you should have asked Erza or someone to go with you….from what Yukino has told me that Jiemma guy is scary, and you went to fight him alone….I just wish you would think about how your actions can affect others…" Natsu listened to her carefully before letting out a drawn out sigh.
"You're right I guess…..I'm sorry, I just felt like I needed to do something…I couldn't just let them get away with what they did to Yukino…." Lucy sighed before smiling softly, and walking over to her boyfriend who was still sitting on the couch.
"I know, you are an amazing person like that...listen….I just want you to actually tell me things….I had to find out from Yukino what happened to you in Nirvana…" Lucy draped her arms around her boyfriend's neck who flinched and looked up at her at the mention of Nirvana.
"I know it's hard for you to talk about what happened inside that place...but still I had no idea...just how much you went through and I was unable to help….I wish I would've gotten to you sooner…." Natsu moved his hand to grip hers. He smiled up at her softly.
"You did help me….you got there just in time, and broke me out….you saved me against Erigor...not to mention you were the reason I stayed sane….in all honesty, the only reason Brain couldn't break me was because of you….look I'm sorry I promise I'll be more open with everything…" The two smiled at each other, Natsu then pulled Lucy closer to him resulting in her falling into his lap.
"I love you...I just worry you know?" Lucy sighed and rested her forehead against his.
"I know, I love you too…" The two leaned in to kiss, but there was a knock on the door before it swung open.
"Hey turns out that place was close-...OH MY GOSH I'M SO SORRY WE INTERRUPTED A MOMENT DIDN'T WE?!" Wendy covered her eyes and apologized, her face turning bright pink. Yukino who was standing next to her was also blushing and covered her mouth. Natsu, and Lucy blinked a few times before hastily pulling away from each other with dark red faces. Unbeknownst to the group of four, they were being watched as Natsu and Lucy hastily apologized and tried to ease the awkward tension. Outside of the apartment on a rooftop nearby Minerva stretched and let out a yawn. She threw her binoculars down onto the rooftop and smirked as she pulled out her phone.
"You really should listen to that girlfriend of yours….actions have consequences and you messed with the wrong guild…." She grinned maliciously.
"I promise you Daddy, I will make those fairies pay for what this fool did to our guild…." She stood cross armed on the ledge of the building awaiting her chance to strike. And she wasn't alone, all across Magnolia members of Sabertooth had found members of Fairy Tail and were also waiting for the go ahead from Minerva.
The next day Natsu was in his math class, trying his hardest to not fall asleep when his phone buzzed. He just figured it was Lucy who had stayed at the apartment with Yukino and Wendy, she had made Natsu go to school though stating that he had already missed too much school as is. After the final bell rang, he stood up from his desk and bolted out the door. Pulling out his phone he stopped in his tracks, it was a text from Gray of all people.
Ice Princess: Oi! When you get the chance, call me. Or just come to the guild.
"I wonder what that's about…" Natsu just shrugged and grabbed his bag from his locker before heading out. He checked his messages and saw that Lucy had left him on read, which was uncharacteristic to say the least. He figured he'd just walk over to the guild like Gray told him to, maybe he just wanted to spar or something, and Natsu was always up for a scrap with him. He put his earbuds in and walked out of the school in the direction of the guild hall. In about twenty minutes he had reached his destination and walked into the building that was weirdly quiet and empty. He took out his earbuds and quirked an eyebrow.
"What the? Are they closed today? Where is everyone?" He heard some talking coming from upstairs, but other than that there was not a single person let alone sound in the guild.
"YO! ICE PRINCESS WHY'D YOU CALL ME HERE?!" He yelled out and awaited a response, he glanced up the stairs as Gray emerged from a room and glared down at him.
"There you are, what's going on?..." Natsu asked, but Gray didn't say anything as he rushed down the stairs in a sprint and before Natsu even knew what was happening punched him in the face with as much force as he could muster. Natsu fell to the ground with a thud.
"WHAT THE HELL IS WRONG WITH YOU MAN?!" Gray snapped as he stood above Natsu who glared up angrily at him.
"I could ask you the same question…" Natsu growled and rubbed the spot on his cheek where Gray had punched him, he attempted to stand up to his feet, but Gray reached down and picked him up before tossing him across the room. Natsu crashed into a table, and glared daggers at Gray.
"You're seriously pushing it…." Natsu growled as his body began to radiate heat.
"Bring it...I want to beat the shit out of you so badly right now, what happened to Juvia is on you!" Gray snapped and shot towards Natsu who was taken aback. Gray slashed at him with an ice dagger that he had formed in his hand causing Natsu to leap backwards. Natsu growled and clenched his fist allowing flames to spark alive and dance around his arm. The two sped at each other and were about to punch each other but someone intervened. As they threw their respective elemental punches at the other they were caught by someone who had stepped in between them.
"What. The. Hell. Are you two doing?!" Erza's stern voice scolded the two who were still glaring at the other.
"Ask this asshat! He started it!" Natsu snapped and tried to get around Erza to attack Gray, but she responded by punching him straight in the gut. Natsu coughed and fell to his knees, his flames instantly dispersing.
"Yeah, that's what you deserve you bastard!" Gray motioned and dove to tackle Natsu when Erza once again stepped in by grabbing Gray by the back of his hair.
"What has gotten into you two? Sure what Natsu did was dumb and immature, but it in no way makes him at fault for what has happened. And attacking him isn't going to solve anything Gray, now both of you apologize!" Erza dropped Gray causing him to fall to the ground in front of Natsu. The two glared at each other not saying anything. Erza just sighed and reached down grabbing one of each of their ears before pulling on them harshly.
"I. Said. Apologize. Right. Now." She spoke dangerously slowly. The two boys huffed.
"Sorry." They both said at the same time, neither one of them actually meaning it.
"Good, now that you're here Natsu, there is something you need to see…." Erza stated and walked in the direction of the stairs. Natsu glanced at Gray curiously before following her. She opened the door to the infirmary for him, and he stepped inside. Instantly his eyes widened and he felt his heart fall into his gut. There were more people in here than he had ever seen, each one of them were badly hurt. Juvia, Elfman, Mira, Cana, Alzack, Bisca, Jet, Droy...all of them were out of commission.
"Oh man…."
"This isn't all of them." Erza stated as she looked away from the packed infirmary over to Natsu's shocked face.
"Who did this?" Natsu asked cautiously.
"Sabertooth…" Gray coldly replied, pushing past Natsu and walking over to Juvia's bed, with a limp that Natsu hadn't noticed he had before. Natsu felt his breath hitch and his heart stop.
"Follow me, Porlyusica had to make a second infirmary…"
"You gotta be kidding me…" Natsu whispered as he followed Erza to the room next to the infirmary, the door swung open and his eyes widened in horror. His eyes immediately landed on one bed in particular. His shaky legs moved over to the bed where an unconscious and horribly beaten Lucy laid. He collapsed into the chair next to her bed, and reached to hold her hand as suddenly his worst nightmare had become a reality, she was hurt badly, because of him. His actions had led to this, the girl he loved was now hooked up to a heart monitor and was beat up so badly that her entire face was bruised. He was so focused by Lucy's unmoving form that he didn't even notice Yukino, Wendy, Levy, even Makarov were also in beds next to her. It wasn't until he heard Gajeel's steely voice that he even looked away from Lucy.
"Congrats Salamander….you successfully started a war."
Chapter 40: Fairy Tail vs Sabertooth Part One: Maker Battle!
Sorry for the late update! I'm not really happy with this chapter, hopefully as the fights actually start I'll feel better about this arc. I hope you are all enjoying it so far! Let me know how you feel about it, I love all of your feedback! Thank you for 200 reviews! You are all amazing! I love you all!
Q: Is this Natsu's fault?
Q2: Did Sabertooth go too far?