AN: Hello everybody, I hope you guys enjoy the drama of this chapter because I decided to step it up a notch. Just a little notch... (I feel like I'm going to get messages going... dude that's a notch?!)
The girls came to check on Lucy, missing her from her day off yesterday. They found her sitting on the side of her bed dazed, her hand reached up while her fingertips lightly grazing over her forehead. "Hey, Lucy we're all gonna head out for breakfast why don't you join us?" Kylie said, her voice pulling Lucy out of whatever universe of cloud nine she was stuck in.
Lucy jerked up startled by their seemingly sudden presence, "H-Huh?" she replied not having heard any of what was said.
Nina walked passed Kylie plopping herself belly first across Lucy's bed, "Breakfast youngin, we're going, move it." She told Lucy pointing a thumb towards the bathroom. "I know you like to take your time in the tub, but let's try to hurry today… I'm starved." the older of the sisters continued.
Lucy stood up rubbing at the back of her head in an embarrassed manner, "Y-Yeah." She muttered bashfully walking towards the bathroom.
~oooOOOooo~
"Geez Lucy, you know I expected someone with an allergy to water to take quicker baths," Nina complained with a huff.
Lucy giggled smiling nervously, 'That was so close…' she thought, if it hadn't been for Kylie arguing with Nina about rushing her as Nina opened the bathroom door. Nina would have found out her secret! Lucy sighed walking down the street with her friends. Kylie and Nina were still in a heated discussion about how Nina's inability to let anyone have privacy. 'If my tail had taken any longer to dry out all of them would know…' Lucy thought, stopping her stride as she stared at her feet sadly, 'How would they feel about it if they had? Would they have still accepted me as their friend? Or would they have banished me from their group completely and given me over to those barbaric humans father called scientist.' She continued with a frown.
"Hey Lucy," Nina's voice pulled her out of her thoughts and an arm was suddenly weighing her down as it was slumped heavily across her shoulders, "I know I can be a pain in the ass sometimes, so thank you for being my friend and accepting me as I am despite me being an invader of your privacy."
Lucy's frown deepened, 'An invader…?' Lucy mentally repeated, the young blonde giving her a one arm hug. 'Heh, if anyone's invading… isn't that person me?' she thought looking towards Nina giving off a slight nod.
"Just let me know if my habits start to bother you okay?" Nina said as Kylie and Mary rolled their eyes. Nina looked at the two confused, "What?" she started her confusion only doubled as they walked away from her. "What?! What did I do this time?!" Nina shouts chasing after them desperately trying to find out why Kylie looked so mad.
Lucy stared at their backs as they grew further and further apart, 'Would you guys accept me if you knew the truth?' she wondered.
Kylie stopped looking over her shoulder feeling like something was missing, looking over her shoulder, she saw Nina dashing after them and Lucy still stuck in place. Her mind looked like it was clouded with serious thoughts… Thoughts so serious that she doubted the girl could see them right now. Kylie stopped and spun around on her heels, Nina nearly crashing into her. Not expecting her to do that, she managed to stop in time keeping herself from knocking Kylie over due to her speed, but she managed to not so elegantly trip into Kylie's bosom.
Kylie's eyebrow twitched as Nina stayed there a second or two too long, "See this is what I mean about personal space!" she shouted causing a scene.
Nina answered her face still 'stuck' between Kylie's chest, "You did it though?' she muffled out. Unbeknownst to Nina an old man sitting on a bench near them 'reading' the newspaper while waiting for his bus route gave her a thumbs up.
Kylie groaned irritatedly with a flustered face forcibly removing a very fluster dreamy eyed Nina from her space. Kylie looked to Lucy and smiled, "Lucy," she stared with a gesturing wave to hurry up, "let's go breakfast is waiting!"
Lucy nodded jogging forward to catch up, 'Would they?' she thought as Nina throws her arm over her shoulder again giving off a playful cheeky grin.
~oooOOOooo~
Nina sat leaned back into the seat rubbing her hands gently over her stomach, "That hit the spot! I'm stuffed!" she announced giving off a soft burp.
Kylie smiled slightly shaking her head as cupped her hands over her drink glass, the straw wedged between her fingers as she lifts it a little from the table to meet her lips, "You can be such a pig." She said taking a few sips of her soda.
"Yeah, sis you should slow down your gonna choke one of these times! And you could have at least said excuse me you know?!" Mary lectured causing her older sibling to look at her sideways.
Nina rolled her eyes nodding sarcastically, "Yes mother, it'll never happen again." She muttered teasingly.
Kylie chuckled as Mary's cheeks turned red, "I am not talking like mom!" she declared.
Nina snickered turning towards her, "Are too." She told her bringing her hand up and lightly flicking her forehead.
Lucy smiled slightly liking the atmosphere around them. It was light… playful… fun even! Watching Mary and Nina it reminded her so much of a time so long ago back when she lived under the sea… Sometime after her mother was gone. Lucy shook her head… She didn't want to think about that right now. She was out having fun with her friends! She didn't want to dull their fun by feeling gloomy. Besides she had other things to worry about…
It had been dry since last night when she'd chose to stop running. She doubted he would remain unmoving for long. If she knew her father, he wouldn't let this go. She knew he was hurting and was only trying his best to provide and protect all he had left, but he was smothering her. And if standing up to him was what it took to make him stop then so be it!
"Whoa, look at that!" a few customers startled her by yelling. Nina and Mary turned in their seats to see the TV on the news channel. Lucy's eyes slowly widened as a breathless gasp slipped through her lips as they showed the beach on screen the waters level was tremendously low. Pulled back so far that ocean life flopped around desperately to find water. In the far distance, the water was ever so slowly seeping backward and building into a giant wave.
"O-Oh my god!" Mary stuttered as people rushed out of the restaurant screaming in terror.
Nina jumped on and over the table grabbing Mary and Kylie by the wrists forcing them out of the booth, "We have to go now!" she yelled at them as she turned back to reach for Lucy only to find her already gone.
~oooOOOooo~
'Dad-Dad please stop! This is between you and me, not these people they're innocent!' Lucy thought as she ran down the street towards the beach. She knew just from its sheer size that she wouldn't be able to handle this thing, but she had to try! This was her fault after all! She knew he would retaliate, but she never expected anything of this magnitude! So many would die not just humans but the wildlife under the sea that she'd come to love as well. 'I-I should have never left!' she cried running the opposing direction of everyone else.
She did this… She caused this… She had to fix it before innocent people got pulled in. But what was she going to do?! She had nowhere near the power to oppose her father! Hell, the only one that could was her mother!
Someone caught her hand and began pulling her in the opposite direction, looking back she was surprised to find that man from the elevator yesterday, "You're going the wrong way!" he yelled over the hysterical crowd.
Lucy frowned and concentrated a little, if it wasn't for her clothes covering it and the rage of panic sweeping the area, he would probably see the glow across her chest and at her hip. Water accumulated around her wrist and she gave it a quick jerk to break away, 'Thank you.' She thought, turning back towards the beach.
~oooOOOooo~
Natsu stared droopy eyed at the proposal one of his employees had brought to pitch to him. It was the thirteenth proposal he'd listened to today. He had two more to go before he could leave and see Lucy who depressingly was roughly an hour away. Natsu frowned still upset that he'd had to leave her that morning… He didn't like it. It almost felt like-like he was never going to see her again.
Natsu's foot was tapping the floor anxiously when the door to the meeting room slammed open and Erza walked up to him with a sense of urgency. The sound of the slamming door making him jolt upright, "Natsu, I know you're in a meeting and you said no delays, but I thought you should see this." She told him holding out her tablet for him to take.
Natsu sighed, "What is it?" he grumbled wanting to get it over with so he could finish and start the long drive back to Lucy. Natsu's eyes slowly widened, "Cancel everything!" he demanded before shooting out of his seat and darting down the hall at breakneck speed.
"Natsu?!" Erza called out on deaf ears rushing after him. "Natsu its just a house! You're rich you can rebuild! I just wanted to tell you so you didn't go back there till it died down not so you can rush over there and attempt to unsuccessfully protect it from a damn tsunami!" she shouted just barely keeping up with his pace. Thanking her lucky stars, she ran track with Natsu back in high school.
"It's not about that!" Natsu rushing down the stairs trying to get to the building's exit as quickly as possible without hurting anyone in the process, "Lucy's there!"
Erza looked at him bewildered, 'Wait, isn't Lucy the one he was hallucinating.' She wondered. She yelled out quickly ordering the guards to stop him. Maybe he hadn't been ready to come back yet and because she made him come back, he'd finally cracked.
"Let me go! I pay you, you bastards!" Natsu yelled kicking and screaming managing to kick someone in the face twice as the lifted him up by the feet to get him somewhere safer to calm down.
Gajeel, Natsu's cousin and security supervisor entered the minor skirmish, "Hey-Hey-Hey, what in the hells goin on in here?!" their boss roared. Watching as his cousin's security detail, Gajeel's own men held his cousin hostage.
Erza leaned towards him and whispered, "Natsu's not acting right again… he's hallucinating about that girl again."
"I said," he growled darkly Gajeel's eyes widening ever so slightly as the seal on his cousin's back began to present itself with a burning fury. "let me go!" he screamed dangerously his skin growing increasingly hot with anger causing all his coworkers to release him allowing him to bolt.
No one else seemed to care or notice but Gajeel did. Gajeel stared at the front door of the building the handle slightly now having a misshapen form from Natsu's intense heat, 'He's awakened… Better call dad.' he thought, pulling out his cell phone pressing a bunch of numbers as Erza yelled in his ear about going after him. What a pain… this dumb ass awakens, and he has to go chasing right after him and his destructive ass. Gajeel sweat drops, "Hey old man, he's awake." Was all he said, and his father knew. His father gave him orders, "What?! Argh, fine." Gajeel whined feeling like a dog owner having to chase after a lost pet. 'This is why I hate dogs…' Gajeel thought as he undid his work belt and slipped off his black buttoned-up collared shirt.
The receptionist he noticed watched him with a dreamy stare from the front desk. Gajeel turned on his heels walking to the front desk with a big smirk, "Excuse me, mind holding onto this for me till I get back?" he said having to hold back a chuckle as the wavy blue-haired woman with red glasses looked flustered, she had to look around herself before she came to realize he was talking to her.
"S-Sure thing Gajeel." she stuttered taking the offered shirt and like the Flash from the superhero comic Gajeel was gone and out the door after Natsu. Her face flustered even more when she'd caught the wink, he'd sent her way as he exited.