Chapter 6
"Natsu, what do we do about Romeo? We can't just leave him here. And Gray and Erza are expecting us back at the guild anytime" she rambled not wanting to touch Romeo and risk further injuring him. "First, calm down Luce. Gray and Erza will be fine. They are used to waiting on us whether it's because of Nashi or something else, they'll be fine. Second, I'll take Romeo to the hospital." He reached down and gently took him out of Lucy's lap carrying him in his arms.
"Natsu, shouldn't we go with you?" Happy asked. "No, you two go to the guild" "Na..Natsu?" They looked down to see Romeo squinting his eyes. "Hey Romeo, what happened kid?" "I..I don't know..I was coming back..from a job wwhen these cloaked jumped me..i don't remember mmuch..after that" Barely coherent, he slipped back unconscious.
"Is he?" "He'll be fine. He's got a strong pulse" said Natsu checking his throat. "I'm going to take him now, you guys go" They all started walking back and before they split ways, Natsu turned to Lucy and Happy.
"Tonight, we'll figure out a plan. For leaving" his voice trailed making their hearts ache.
"Natsu." She said wanting to comfort him. "No, not now Lucy. Come on, we need to do this" he said quickly walking the other direction away from them. " Lucy..that hooded figure Romeo was talking about..the other day when you saw that cloak. Do you think?" "Yes Happy. I do. And that's not the first time we ran into them either." Confused, he cocked his head at her. "It was a little while ago now but the day we got Nashi back from that demon, remember, I didn't think about it but Natsu said he went past a figure with some sort of dragonish symbol. He didn't' get a good look at it..Damn it. Natsu sees them then all this starts happening." She balled her hands getting angry. "Why is this happening though?" Looking down at him, her face softened when she saw the terrified look in his black eyes.
Squatting down to him, she reached her hands out as he climbed into them and hugged her neck. "I don't know Happy..but we're going to find out" she said firmly. Standing up, she walked them to the guild and just before they went in, Happy said "Lucy..are you going to tell the guild?"
"We aren't telling the guild anything," "Lucy?" "No Happy. Natsu's right. We aren't telling them a thing" Hearing her tone, he didn't say anything else about it as they walked into the guild. "Hey Lucy, Hap..hey what's wrong? Gray asked immediately seeing the pained expressions on their faces. Alerted, Erza got up from her seat. "What's wrong Lucy? . where's Natsu?" Her and Happy's faces deeped in pain making the other two nervous.
A chill went down their spines. "Natsu" they thought eerily. "It's not him" they finally said after a minute letting Gray and Erza breathe a sigh of relief. "It's Romeo" she said. The guild quieted down instantly getting their attention. "Lucy, what do you mean. What happened to my boy?" Macao asked with worry. "We don't know Macao. We were headed home for a minute…found him on the road to our house. Beaten up, Natsu took him to the hospital" "Who did it!?. I'm going to find them and kill them!" he yelled infuriated jumping from his seat. Putting a hand quickly on Macao's shoulder, Wacoba said " Easy Macao. Don't lose your temper. You're getting too old for that. Besides I'm sure the kid is fine. He went to Natsu's after all.-" Before he could say more, a coughing fit started but Macao got the gist of it.
Slowly, he released a calming breath and looked at Lucy and Happy. "You said he was taken to the hospital, right?" "Yes" she said with Happy nodding in agreement. "Thank you" his voice filled with pain and sadness as he rushed past them out the door with Wacoba right behind him. Waving her over, Erza and Gray huddled over with Lucy and Happy.
"Do we have any idea of who did it? and why?" "I don't have a clue" "Why Romeo, that's the question. Was he the specific target or just someone" Erza questioned putting her hand beneath her chin. "Easy Erza don't go wrapping your head into theories, we don't know what happened. For all we know, the kid got beat up on his job and came back exhausted."
"Oh, come on Gray. When has it ever been that simple? In the last 4 years, has an attack on our guild ever been on accident!" "Erza!" Gray snapped motioning his eyes to Lucy who looked guilt-ridden, Happy hugged her tighter. "Oh Lucy. I'm sorry. I didn't mean you, I" she said trying to apologize quickly but Lucy held a hand stopping her.
"It's alright Erza. It's true. The last few attacks in these last few years has been because of our family. First me, then Natsu..then Nashi" "No Lucy," Erza said strongly causing Lucy to look into her eyes. "Listen to me, you haven't nor ever will be a problem in this guild. Ever. Everything that's happened here, none of it is your fault. Any of it. You are family" Proving her point, her and Gray gave Lucy and Happy a crushing hug.
"And more to the point, you and Natsu are sister and brother for me and Gray. But you already know that" she said softly. Lucy shook her head knowingly resisting the urge to cry. Everything in her wanted to tell the two of them what happened last night and the plan they were thinking but Happy and Lucy knew how hard it would be to explain and expect the guild to listen.
Shoving her tears down, she coughed a hard cough as they released the hug. "You alright now?' "Yes, Gray, thank you" "Aye" "Master isn't here right now but he will want to know what happened to Romeo when he gets back. He'll have justice Lucy; Makarov will make sure of it" Erza assured slamming her hand on Lucy's shoulders as she flinched from the impact of the metal glove on Erza's hand.
"We should go see how Romeo is doing, come on" Not questioning or disagreeing, they followed behind her as Erza turned to the guild who was anxious. "I will give you the news of how he is doing when we get back. Rest assured" They caught the guild smiling before they turned and kept going. The room was quiet when they got there.
Macao was sitting with Romeo while Natsu stood by the window looking outside and looked over when he smelled Lucy and saw them come in. "How is he?" "Doctor said he said recover within a day or so, that his injuries weren't too bad. Said that it looks like whoever did it just wanted to beat him up some." Macao explained in a rough, tired voice. "That's a relief then" she answered caringly.
"Yeah..thanks for telling me Lucy" Wordlessly, she nodded at him then looked at Natsu. "You alright?" "I'm fine..we need to go Macao. You going to be alright?" "Yes, thanks Natsu. Moments like this makes me thankful he has you to look up. Lucy said you guys caught him on the road leading up to your house. That means he was headed to you guys because he knew he could count on you guys. Thank you, Natsu, Lucy and you too Happy." His gratitude was overflowing, it broke their hearts knowing what they were going to do.
Standing up, still holding Happy, Lucy got out as fast as she could without seeming too eager. "Stay safe Macao. You and Romeo ya hear?" "You too" he replied kindly. "I'm sorry" he muttered but Macao wasn't listening as Natsu left to meet the others. "Oh, hey Erza, Gray?" "Hey Natsu, we came with Lucy but decided to wait outside. Figured it be easier that way, less people to crowd the kid. How was he?" Gray asked siting on the ground with a leg out. "
He's going to be alright..." "Natsu, you okay. You went silent" questioned Erza. "I'm good. Just still tired, come on. Nashi's waiting" "Nahh, I wouldn't worry about that one. When we left, she was still deep in play with Asca. Wouldn't surprise me if Bisca eventually offered Nashi shooting lessons considering Asca's her best friend" Gray said laughing.
"Can't say I'd be surprised either, I mean she's got fire powers just like Natsu so shooting a gun wouldn't be too far off either" Lucy said lightly. They all walked back with light smiles on their faces and true to his word, they saw Nashi playing with Asca completely oblivious to them. "Well how about that, Gray was right,Ha. She didn't even notice us" said Happy. "I can fix ." Cupping his hands over his mouth, Natsu yelled "hey baby dragon!" Hearing her nickname, she popped her head up. "Daddy! mommy!"
Stopping what was she doing, she ran over to them and threw her arms around Natsu and Lucy's legs pulling them close. "Hey baby girl" they cooed. " I'm having fun with Asca" "That's great" "Can I stay and play with her longer? Please mommy and daddy?" she begged looking at them with puppy eyes. "Iggy, we.." Lucy started as the thought "You have a day' creeped into her head. Sharing a look with Natsu, he got the message and nodded letting her know she wasn't alone. Realizing she might burst if she stayed silent for much longer, with a smile, she cheerfully said "yes baby, you can keep playing. Have as much fun with her as you can"
"YAY! THANK YOU, MOMMY!" she shrieked running back over to Asca. " What do you guys want to do today then?" asked Gray innocently ignorant of what was going on in their heads. Happy looked to his parents for their answer. "We can hang out here, what do you think Lucy?"
"I was going to say , ahh never mind, not important. Hanging out here sounds great" "Well alright then. Let's go to Mira then" Not arguing, they all happily walked over and sat down at Mira's bar. Ordering drinks, they all hung out. (One Step Closer song by INTERSECTION) Wanting to enjoy the moment with his brother, Natsu didn't even try to start a fight with Gray. He laughed and reminisced with him. "Going to miss this pain in the ass.. Love you, you damn stripper…and you too Erza. The big sister I never knew I wanted. Take care of each other. I know you two will be alright..that you'll understand. The guild will need you guys" The thought was almost too much to bare for Natsu.( I honestly almost cried writing this whole part out)
Quickly, he used his arm to wipe his face of the few tears that came down. Looking but not saying a word, Lucy felt his pain. " This guild is everything to me…without it, I don't know where I would've ended up. Nothing will ever take this away from me. Erza.., Gray. Our best friends and more family to us then anyone... Please don't be too upset with us. Take care of each other. I love you two and the guild with all my heart" Grabbing each other's hands, they squeezed tightly telling each other not to cry no matter what.
Silently, Happy softly placed a paw on top of their hands surprising them. He looked at them with a warm, loving smile understanding what they weren't saying. (End song) . Choked up, Natsu swallowed hard the tears threatening and said "we should go guys, it's getting late" "Agreed, come on Happy, let's get Nashi" she muttered not even looking up. "You sure?. It's still pretty early" wondered Gray.
"Yeah, if we can get this little fire bug home before the sun goes completely down and into bed early for once, Ha, that would be a nice change" "I get it, have a goodni" he was muffled by Lucy and Natsu hugging him and nearly knocking him out of his chair. "
Woah, what's with you guys?. You alright?" " I agree, This is highly unsualllllohh!" she squeaked as Natsu yanked her down into the hug. They didn't say a word as they hugged their teammates as hard as they could leaving Erza and Gray highly confused.
They looked at each other thinking the same thing "what the hell is going on here?" After what seemed like forever to them, Natsu and Lucy reluctantly let go. "Natsu, Lucy, are you two alright?" Erza asked. She looked at them with a look that demanded an answer. "What she said, and you two better be straight with us" Gray wasn't going to let them not answer either.
"Shit..now , I got something" Natsu thought as he quickly put on a face and said in as clear a voice he could without being emotional " sorry guys, Lucy and I had a bit too much to drink I guess, you know we don't drink that much. You know what they say, drinking brings your honest feelings out" Lucy and Happy gave him a second look impressed that he thought of such an impressive believable cover. Hoping like hell it worked, he remained as normal as he could. "Yeah..i guess that makes sense. You two are a couple lightweights. Ha" Gray teased.
"Why you!" he threatened but cut himself off and regained composure letting everyone relax. Letting out a breath, Gray didn't see as Natsu's fists connected with his face knocking him out of his seat.
"You lousy firebreather!" Throwing off his shirt, Gray got into a fighting stance and was about to attack with his lance when Erza clocked their heads together causing them to groan in pain. "REALLY YOU TWO!" she shouted at them causing an uproar of laughter in the guild including Lucy, Nashi and Happy. Smiling, Natsu said "well that's it for the night then. Come on Nashi. Time to go to sleep."
"Coming daddy!. Goodnight Asca, see you tomorrow" she called to her friend almost making her parents stop at a dead halt but kept walking. " Well.. that was smoother than expected. but whatever," said Gray. Shaking it off, he went back to his drink talking to Erza and the guild quieted back down. "That was..a nice cover..but you should have known he was going to hit you." "Who says I didn't?" Natsu slowly turned his head to look at Lucy.
Tears ran down his face as he said "it wouldn't be me and Gray if I didn't have one last bicker with him." Putting her hands around him, she hugged him tight as tears fell from her cheeks. Understanding, Happy took Nashi's hand and led her forward without letting her see her parents crying and then asking questions. " The answers are going to be hard enough when they give em. No need to torture them with the questions now" Happy as he felt his heart ache for he felt the same way the other two did but couldn't show it in front of Nashi.
Sobbing, Lucy gripped his shirt while he put a hand to the back of her head and rubbed it. "We can't stand here for long baby. I'm sorry Luce..we need to put a few things together" She emotionally nodded but wouldn't let go. Grabbing her cheeks, he rubbed them with his thumbs and kissed her forehead. "We'll be alright Luce. I'm not letting you two get hurt. I will do whatever I need to protect you two" "I know" she mumbled hoarse.
Knowing they couldn't put it off, she released from the hug and Natsu led them home where Happy was sitting on the couch. "Where's Iggy?" "In her bedroom..are you two okay?" "Do you really need to ask us that Happy?" "No…I feel the same way"
"We need to pack, come on." "For how long Natsu?" Expecting the question but it hurt him anyway, he answered in a low voice to them " Like we aren't coming back" Their hearts jumped into their throats. "Come on, we need to do this. No more crying….crying just makes it harder" his voice was hard as he walked to their bedroom. "He's right, come on Happy," said Lucy. Wiping their tears, they walked into their room and began packing things up. " Lucy."
"Yeah?" "You can't bring them" he said firm pointing to her celestial keys. "Natsu, what are you talking about?" "Think about it, your keys are too well known, if you use your keys, people will immediately know who you are, and the enemy will be alerted. I'm sorry baby..but you can't risk that" Her fist started shaking unsurprising to him.
With a glare at him, he looked at her flatly. "Do you realize what you're asking?" she said with a growl. "Yes..I do Lucy. And I hate to do that to you. I know those keys are your world, but you and Nashi are mine. Sadly…that means giving up something…but to give you some comfort..Nashi and I won't be using our fire magic" Her face formed an O shape unexpecting that answer. " fire magic? But Natsu" "No Happy…ours is too known too..so that's a no for us too." They went silent listening to Nashi playing in her room.
Melancholy, they packed bags up. "Don't pack too much. It's more weight We can get more on the road." " I hear you" Lucy muttered not looking up as she placed her keys inside a small chest and closed it.
"Forgive me guys" she whispered. It was taking everything in Lucy not to break down completely. "What about Nashi?..we need to pack a few things for her?" she sniffled. "We'll do it in a moment. Take a moment for yourself Luce" "I cant..if I do that, I'll just be a complete mess..besides it's not like I'm leaving them forever. This is just temporary." She said with a light smile, but he could see right through it.
"I'm so sorry Lucy." With a heavy sigh, he walked to Nashi's room where she was laying in her bed playing with her stuffed animals. "Hi daddy!" "Hey baby dragon, I need you to do me a favor sweetheart alright?" Sitting up, she put her animals down.
"What is it daddy?" " I need to pack clothes into a bag okay? No shoes though alright. Just pick a pair that is the most comfortable to you." Getting out of bed, she went over to her closet when she stopped and turned towards Natsu who sat on her bed looking down.
"Daddy?..are you okay?" she went over and looked up at him. "Daddy?" "Huh?...sorry Nashi" he said realizing what just happened. "Idiot" he mumbled to himself. "What's wrong daddy?" she asked having heard him. "Nothing..nothing. Daddy's just a lot on his mind sweetheart" "You said my name" "Huh?" "You didn't say my nickname, you called me by name daddy" His words caught in his throat as he sat there not knowing what to say.
Taking his hand, she wrapped hers around his squeezing it and gave a loving smile making his heart burst with joy. "I'll explain later , I promise. Right now, I just need you to pack a bag, okay?" she nodded her head as he kissed her head.
"Thank you, Nashi," Quickly and efficiently, she went to packing a bag and was done in less then five minutes. "Good, now hop into bed little one" Enthusiastically, she ran and jumped right into it making Natsu laugh. Wrapping the blanket around her, he sat on the edge of the bed and just looked at her adoringly. "Daddy, you sure your okay?. Your eyes are shiny" "Are they?. Nahh, I'm good baby girl. Get some sleep alright. We are getting up early. Mommy and I love you" he said softly as he squeezed her hands and got up and went over to her door.
"Goodnight Iggy" he said flipping her light and closing the door. Standing there, he put a hand to his cheek having it come back wet. Emotionally and angrily, he closed his hand into a fist. "Whoever these people are, they aren't getting away with threatening my family. They will pay for the pain my girls and Happy are going through. I can't cry right now. There will be plenty of time for tears later" He told himself forcing himself to take a deep breath and let it out. Aggressively he rubbed the falling tears off his face and walked to his room where the other two were waiting.
"So, what's the plan? How are we going to sneak out of here? It's not going to be as easy as walking out the front door. Erza and Gray will take one look at our bags and wonder what's going on" the harshness was evident in her voice and on Natsu's face as he stared at her.
"Sorry" she apologized. "You don't have to apologize Luce..I get it" he said in a hushed tone walking over to them and sitting in between them. Resting her head on his shoulder, she took his hand and interlaced her fingers into it. He squeezed it and kissed her fingers rubbing the ring on her finger. " I have a plan. Tomorrow, we are going to get up early. When I say early, I mean when the sun comes up, we get up. We can go to the guild; I know there's a few simple jobs that we can easily take…then we can go from there" Lucy squeezed his hand harder knowing how hard it was for him.
"Sounds like a plan. Do you have an idea of where to go once we leave Magnolia?" she asked. "Nope. Haven't gotten that far yet but before I forget, don't forget to pack our money. I'm sure that will be useful" "Already done" she said with a small smile. "We're going to be alright right Natsu?" asked Happy. "Yeah, we're going to be fine little buddy" he assured rubbing Happy's head making him smile.
"Come on, we better get sleep. We're waking up in a few hours" Rising to their feet they kicked their shoes off and Happy jumped onto the bed curling into a ball. They slumped onto their bed and fell asleep immediately. Once the sun's rays hit the house, Natsu was up. Gently he shook Lucy and Happy waking them up. "Hey guys, it's time" he said quietly. "I'm going to get Nashi up" Drowsily they shook their heads and got out of bed rubbing their eyes. Barely awake, Lucy changed her clothes as a sleepy Nashi came out zig zagging walking out of her room.
Alert, Natsu choked back a chuckle watching Nashi making sure she didn't hit anything while she walked. "Glad I changed her before I had her get out of bed" After a few minutes and making sure Nashi got something to eat, they were ready to go to the guild. Locking the door, they all stood outside for a moment looking at their house.
Happy stood on Natsu and Lucy's shoulders feeling the same as they did as he felt their arms shake. "It will be alright guys" They silently agreed but didn't let it show on their faces for the only thing they felt at that moment was sadness. "Mommy?, daddy?. Why are we standing here like this?" she asked them pulling on their hands. Before anyone could start crying answering, Natsu took the lead and knelt to her.
"Baby girl..we're going to be leaving for a while..and we don't know how long. Somebody bad is after us and I want to keep you guys safe." " Why aren't we telling the guild though?" That question caught him off guard but didn't surprise him too much either. "Because we want to keep them safe Nashi. That's why" "I see, okay I understand"
"Good, come on. We need to leave. Time is slipping away for the chance to do this quietly" he said insistent. Jumping off Lucy's shoulder, Happy used his wings and flew beside them Clutching Nashi's hand, Lucy walked with her letting out a breath, resigning to what they were about to do.
"This is for your sake and theirs. Just need to remember that" she mumbled to herself. Approaching the guild hall, Mira was wiping down the bar. "Oh, what are you guys doing here so early?" she asked them surprised when she saw them. Not answering, Natsu walked over to the request board and pulled one off while Lucy and the other two stayed as she pulled the key box out of her bag.
"Mira. Can you keep watch over this for a while please?" She asked so calmly it, she almost believed it , that she was just going for a job and that she was coming right back. "Certainly Lucy. I'll put it in the safe" she said with a bright smile.
"Thanks Mira" she said as Natsu came back over. "Mira, we're taking this job" he told her setting the paper down. " That job? Okay. Strange though" "Ehh, something simple, we don't have to bring the whole team for this one" " Alright, I'll sign you guys off." She said absent minded writing it down when she looked up hearing "Mira"
They stood there in front of her giving the Fairy Tail hand sign. Happily, she did it back. "Be safe out there guys and come back" With blank expressions, they nodded and left. Each of their hearts ached with every step further away from the guild hall. Holding each other's hands, they walked on until they were good distance away from the guild. Turning their heads to look at it, Natsu and Lucy had one thought "goodbye Fairy Tail"
What did you guys think of this chapter? please let me know.