AN: This was requested by luminositymp on tumblr. :)
"It's All in the Cards"
Rated T.
Summary: Natsu, with his natural curiosity, pays a tarot reader to tell him his future. Too bad she had to tell him about his love life.
It's All in the Cards
Before Natsu joined Fairy Tail, he wasn't a believer in tarot cards. Once he met Cana, however, those doubts went out the window. The boozy brunette had predicted things to come in his future on more than one occasion. So, when he and Happy were stopped in the street by someone offering to do a tarot card reading, he decided to give it a shot.
"What is your name, boy?" the tarot reader asked. She was a short, plump woman with ringlets of black hair. She appeared to be somewhere in her fifties with a couple of wrinkles adorning her face.
"Natsu," he answered, hands shoved in his pockets while Happy watched from the side. "What kinda prediction are you gonna do? Are you gonna tell me my future?"
"I can't decide that, only the cards decide what they are going to show."
Natsu arched a brow, intrigued. With that, he watched as the lady set up her cards, turning them over one by one. For some cards, she would nod. For others, she would give a sharp breath and shake her head. Studying the cards, he found that they all had a bunch of different pictures on them, most of them being a silhouette of two people.
Once she was done flipping all of the cards over to reveal their pictures, she met Natsu's curious gaze.
"The cards revealed what is in store for your love life," she said. "I'm going to tell you about The One for you."
Natsu gave an uninterested look. "That's it? Nothin' about any fights or anything?"
Happy pushed the boy, his eyes sparkling as he stared at the card reader. "His love life? I wanna hear it!" After a year of watching his two partners flirt with each other unknowingly, he was dying for some progress to happen in their relationship.
Natsu frowned as the reader pointed to the first card, about to begin. He wasn't interested in stuff like this, especially when he was sure that the cards were probably just going to say that he didn't have a soulmate. He wasn't the lovey-dovey kind. He enjoyed fighting, destroying stuff, and hanging out with friends. That was it.
"This card here means that she's someone close to you already," the reader explained. "This card here represents money. Perhaps she is wealthy, or maybe in financial need. This one means that she is a compassionate woman. And this last one shows where she is at the moment. This card is telling me she is at your home. Not necessarily the place that you live, but the place that the two of you both consider your home."
Natsu blinked once. Then twice. "That's it?" Sure, he didn't really care about this stuff to begin with, but that reading didn't even tell him anything! He was starting to think that this woman was a phony, especially when she held a hand out towards him, asking for payment.
"I don't choose what the cards say," she said, shoving the money he gave her down her shirt. "But if you doubt me, then go to the place I spoke of. I'm sure you'll find her there."
Natsu rolled his eyes, leaving the small stand, Happy following closely behind. Well, there goes some of his spending money. He should've saved it for food instead of paying for that crap. After all, that was the most useless reading of his life.
First of all, of course it had to have been someone close to him. He wouldn't fall for some stranger. Second of all, he didn't know any rich people. And everyone in Fairy Tail- the only people he was close to- wasn't in some dire need of money. That's what the jobs were for. The next one was the most annoying one of all. Compassionate woman? Every girl at Fairy Tail was compassionate! And the place he considered home was obviously Fairy Tail. How the hell was he supposed to narrow anything down by that?
He had low hopes to begin with, and he was still let down.
"Who do you think it is?" Happy asked.
"Nobody," Natsu answered, rolling his eyes again. "That lady was just sayin' random shit to get my money. She's not a real card reader like Cana."
"You think so?"
"Yeah. That list was the most generic list that could've worked for anyone!"
"I guess that's true. But it's still exciting! Let's go to Fairy Tail! That's the place she was talking about, right?"
Natsu shrugged. "Probably. But don't get your hopes up, buddy."
The two walked to Fairy Tail in a content silence. During that walk, Natsu had gotten over his annoyance, now just happy to see his friends and stuff his mouth with some food. Opening the grand doors to the guild, the two were shocked to find that it was nearly empty.
The only people left in the guild were Mira, Levy, and Lucy.
"Where is everyone?" Happy asked.
The three girls glanced towards them.
"Erza, Wendy, and Charle went on a job," Lucy said.
Levy crossed her arms with a pout. "So did Gajeel and Lily."
"Everyone else is out in the pool," Mira added.
Happy sat in front of Lucy. "Why didn't you join them?"
The girl gave him a look as if it was the most obvious thing in the world. "I was waiting for you two. Where were you guys, by the way? I've been waiting here all morning!"
"Natsu and I went to go buy some fish because I was running out. Then we ran into a-!" Happy cut himself short, thinking of his best friend. He doubted Natsu would want Lucy to know that they were talking with a tarot reader about Natsu's love life.
"Ran into what?"
"Oh. A, uhh, thief! We ran into a thief so we had to stop him real quick!"
Happy glanced back at Natsu, surprised to find him staring at Lucy with eyes wider than normal and his mouth slightly parted.
Lucy glanced at Natsu as well, confused as to why he was just standing there. Patting the seat next to her, she invited him to sit down. He did, their thighs touching from their close proximity. And just like that, the tarot reader's words hit him like a brick.
"This card here means that she's someone close to you already."
Lucy slid her plate of food towards Natsu. "Do you want any? I'm full, so you can have it."
"This one means that she is a compassionate woman."
"You better hurry up and eat, though," Lucy said. "I've been dying to go on a job! I have to pay rent soon, and with the way my wallet looks, I might be moving in with you and Happy!"
"This card here represents money. Perhaps she is wealthy, or maybe in financial need."
Natsu continued to stare at Lucy, his mouth gaping open like a fish out of water. He still hadn't spoken a word, too deep in thought.
Lucy frowned, glancing at Natsu. Judging from the way he hadn't said anything or devoured her food, something was on his mind.
"Natsu? What's up? What's on your mind?" she asked, nudging him gently.
He jumped, his eyes going wide as he snapped back into it. With a laugh, he rubbed the back of his head.
"I forgot!" he replied, laughing some more. "Help me remember, Lucy!"
"What!? How am I supposed to help you remember?"
"Remember it for me!"
"That's not possible!"
Meanwhile, Happy face-palmed watching the two. He had hoped that being told his love life would galvanize Natsu into taking some action. Turns out he was too much of a dense idiot.
Or so he thought.
In reality, Natsu wasn't as dense as people made him out to be. And now, thanks to that stupid card reader, he had quite a few things he had to think about.
Still, at least it turned out his money didn't go to waste.