Enjoy!
...
The pinkette laid still on the soft bed, his thoughts running a million miles and hour. His tired eyes trailed towards the sky blue woman who was packing their clothes to go home soon, her sky blue tail wiggled in the air as soft humming came from her.
He was ready to wake up, this was a nightmare, it had to be. He wanted to forget, this wasn't supposed to happen! Taskimada had the book that basically controlled him, documented every thought, every action, everything. That man... Had so much power over the pink haired assassin, and Natsu didn't like one bit.
Not one bit.
"She doesn't deserve this... She doesn't... And neither do you..."
That one line rang through his mind, who was she? Is it his wife? Daughter? But he said "she doesn't deserve this" so that means one of them is either alive somewhere in the world. Natsu looked over to sky blue haired woman again.
She...
Taskimada always had a weird smell to him...
Crystal kind of had a similar smell as well...
Does that mean...? Natsu shook his head from those thoughts, there were lots of people who smelled like that. Come to think of it, he never actually saw how Taskimada looked, he always hid his face which is why everyone had a hard time finding him.
"Natsu?" A honeyed voice called, "Mrs. Fujiwora will be coming in a few minutes. We have to go meet her downstairs."
The pinkette sat up slowly, being careful not to put so much weight on his chest area. He still had a splitting headache.
"Can you walk?" Crystal moved over to him, "I can help you if you need t-"
"I'm fine..." Natsu raised himself up, taking a deep sigh.
This was all so confusing...
Crystal raised an eyebrow at him, his eyebrows were furrowed, his lip in a straight line and his eyes were directed to the ground. Natsu looked like he was thinking, it wasn't a normal look for the Fire Dragonslayer.
"Natsu?"
"Crystal, can you answer something for me?"
"U-um... Sure, anything..."
Natsu looked at her straight in the eyes, "Why do we assassins have to suffer more than regular people?"
The bluenette was a bit taken back at the statement, "I... I don't have an answer for that..."
"Well, I'll put it another way. Why do we, as in me and you, have to suffer?"
Crystal lowered her head, "I... It's our own fault... Because we chose to be assassins, we chose to have this life. We chose to suffer..."
Natsu moved closer to her, "Can I be honest with you?"
"Of course."
"I honestly thought I was gonna die back there, while you were gone, I was actually scared.." He looked to the side, "I don't fear anything besides death... And I thought, if I was dead, how was I gonna provide for my family?"
"Family?" Crystal looked up at him.
"You and Yura..." Natsu smiled, "We are family, aren't we? You're the mother, I'm the father and Yura is our daughter even if you aren't her real birth mother."
"Where is all this coming from?"
Natsu wrapped his arms around her, pulling her into a hug, "I was just worried about losing you..."
Crystal gave him a sympathetic look, "Natsu..."
"I can't lose you, ever... Not again..."
The bluenette had tears pooling in her eyes, she wrapped her arms around him and snuggled into the crook of his neck, "You won't... I promise."
"Really?"
"Yes... Now come on, we have to go downstairs."
...
After all of that, Rosalyn finally came home. Crystal and Natsu told about their struggles with the children and she deeply apologized for their actions... And Crystal's cat ears and tail.
They collected the reward money and left the mansion, walking to go to the train station to catch the train for Magnolia. The pink haired male was silent the whole way, he was deep in thought, not watching where he was going which resulted in Crystal having to pull him away from incoming blockers like trees and signs.
The bluenette was worried about him, but tried her best not to study it. He was Natsu Dragneel, afterall, he'll get through it.
Or so she hoped.
...
A man in a all black paced up and down his office, the dark brown book lying flat on his table as memories from his past continuously taunted him. He let out a loud sigh, sitting down in the leather chair by his desk, a silver bowl with red apples sitting on the table.
"My... Family..."
"I love you, Taskimada!" His wife's voice rang through his ears like a never ending song. Tears threatened to escape the assassin's eyes but he stayed strong, it was Dragneel who did this.
Brought up memories he didn't want to remember...
He should pay, he should... Taskimada glanced over at the book, taking it in his hands and flippung through the pages. He stopped on one and it read:
"Crystala Dragnela is feeling sad, Etherious Natsu Dragneel went to cheer her up" the words were in third person speech except for his thoughts.
Taskimada flipped through more of the pages and stopped on one that looked old and battered, it was a thought when he was in France.
"I can't believe I did that.. How could my urges go so far as to almost raping her?! If Gray hadn't stepped in, that fucking icecube... Why did he step i- No! It was good that he did, I don't know what would've happened... Now she'll never love me, forgive me, Chrissy... My one and only mate..."
Taskimada sneered at the page, going unto today's page where it was still writing. The man read through some of it, including where he caused Natsu pain.
"Etherious Natsu Dragneel lied to Crystala Dragnela; his mate, about what happened with Taskimada. Etherious Natsu Dragneel regrets his decision because he made her cry by burning her."
"'Burning her', huh...?"
He looked unto the present time while the book was still writing, it was his thoughts.
"Fuck it, fuck it all. This hurts my brain... I'm making Chrissy worried too... Ahh, all I do is cause her pain and misery... I'm a fucking nuisance..."
"Etherious Natsu Dragneel let out a sigh which made Crystala Dragnela; his mate, sigh as well. Etherious Natsu Dragneel remained silent."
Taskimada hummed in approval, "Maybe I will have some fun reading this..."
...
1:00pm
...
Light footsteps tapped against the hard wooden stairs as the sky blue haired woman made her way up to her bedroom where Natsu was resting. She had a tray in her hands, a bowl of rice, Natsu's favorite chicken; Spicy, fiery chicken with a fork and a tall glass of water.
He specifically asked for this, this was the least she could do for him. Yura was in her room, colouring while Crystal was preparing Natsu's food since he couldn't do it himself. The train ride to Magnolia was a pain, he could barely keep his eyes open.
Crystal was clearly worried about him but they made little talking since then, even avoided making eye-contact. The bluenette sighed as she shook her head lightly, approaching the room with unsettled thoughts.
The door was slight opened, Crystal pushed the door open with her foot and walked inside, the pink haired male was lying in bed on his phone, he had no shirt on and the air condition was blasting. Porlycusia said the cold was good for his body temperature.
Natsu's eyes lazily met hers as he sat up straight, putting his phone on the bedside table as she walked over to him and gave him the tray, sitting next to him.
"A fork?"
"I figured it'd be easier to use than chopsticks."
"Oh, okay."
Crystal looked down at her palms, she was slightly shivering. The bluenette was never used to the cold, nor did she really like it either. Natsu looked over to her, wanting to wrap his arms around her to keep her warm.
"Natsu..." Crystal started, "Y-you knew what happened to you back in Maiobushi, right..? Answer me honestly, please."
The pinkette almost choked on his rice, he drank some water as he swallowed. Natsu hesitated before speaking.
"Yes, I did."
Crystal nodded slowly, "I see... Even when I was struggling to find a way to help you, you didn't tell me what was wrong..."
Natsu looked away.
"I bet you knew where those scars came from too, right?"
Silence.
Crystal lightly laughed, "Your silence speaks louder than your words... You lied to me.."
"I didn't... Lie to you."
"Yes you did!" Crystal snapped, "Why do you do this to me? Why? All I want to do is help you... How the fuck can I do that when you don't tell me what's wrong?!" She stood up.
"I tell you almost everything and now you can't mutter a word to me?!"
"'Almost'?" Natsu raised an eyebrow.
"And that's the part you heard..." Crystal growled, "You love me, don't you?!"
"Of course I do!"
"Then why don't you tell me these things?! Every time is the same fucking thing, every time! You never tell me what's wrong with you, ever!" Crystal yelled.
"Because I don't want you to worry about me!"
"LET ME WORRY ABOUT YOU FOR ONCE IN OUR GODDAMN LIVES!" Tears streamed down the bluenette's cheeks which startled Natsu a bit.
"We're mates, aren't we...?"
Natsu's eyes widened. Crystal crashed unto the bed, bending her head as she wiped away her salty tears from her cheeks.
"Mates tell each other what's wrong... Don't they?"
Natsu raised her up by her chin, "Mates also tell each other 'I love you'."
Crystal narrowed her eyes, "Mates are also honest to each other."
"What if I don't want to tell you, Crystal? A man needs his privacy once in a while."
"Privacy? Says the one who can't trust me to go out with any of my guy friends. Example, Akise Hideyoshi!"
Natsu growled, "He's a fuckboy. And I'm just territorial of my property is all."
Her fists clenched, "You treat me like some object! The point is, I want to help you! I care about you more than I care about myself and you fail to realize that!"
Natsu's gaze softened, "I care about you the same way Crystal... But you also fail to realize that I can't tell you. You're too precious to me to lose..."
Natsu placed the tray on the bedside table along with his phone, he brought her into a warm, loving embrace as they both snuggled into each other.
"Way too precious..." He whispered.
"I just want to help you..." Crystal looked up at his chiseled features, stroking his lightly tanned skin with her soft fingers, "Because you mean everything to me..."
Natsu relaxed into her affection, "I love you too..."
The door to the bedroom creeked opened, a small girl with brown hair peeking through the crack. The couple giggled as they pulled away from each other's embrace.
"You can come in, Yura."
She opened the door widely and ran inside with her hands behind her back. Yura smiled brightly as she removed her hands from behind her back and showed her two parents a drawing she drew.
It was with Crystal, Natsu and Yura in the middle. The bluenette and pinkette smiled at this as they took the paper from her.
"Your boobs are bigger than your body, Chrissy." Natsu snickered, earning a death glare from Crystal.
"It's a pretty drawing, Yura."
"I have to colour it though, do you have any of those colour sticks thingys?"
"Crayons?" Crystal raised an eyebrow.
"Yeah, that! I keep forgetting the name!" Yura stuck her tongue out.
A small laugh came from the sky blue haired woman's lips, "Check downstairs in one of the kitchen drawers."
"Thanks!" She took the paper from them and dashed put the door. Once she left, Crystal sighed.
"It's been a long day..."
"You can say that again..." Natsu sighed as well, "So you understand? I love you too much to let you go."
Crystal faced him, "If you love something, set it free."
Natsu frowned, "But you're worth keeping and I'm actually scared to tell you what happened..."
"Natsu..." Crystal sighed, shaking her head, "Listen carefully. I don't care about the colour of your skin, I don't care what your race is either. Your skin could be blue, purple, orange!"
"Donald Trump."
"Whatever, I don't care if you're human or not either!"
His eyes widened at her statement.
"You can be a alien, half human, half whatever-the-fuck! You can be a demon for all I care because that doesn't define you!" Crystal grabbed him by his shoulders, glaring at him, "YOU are Natsu Dragneel! YOU define your own, not others! YOU are my mate! My best friend, my everything!"
"And if anyone has a problem with you..." Her gaze relaxed, moving her face closer to his, "They can go fuck themselves with a knife."
Natsu just sat there, wide-eyed at the bluenette. The couldn't believe what he was hearing, oh how he wanted to believe her words badly but something in his mind screamed at him from all parts not to. Spare her from that emotional turmoil.
But she said it herself, she doesn't care.
"So stop with the secrecy... And tell me, please..." Crystal begged, putting her hands on each sides of his cheeks, "I'm begging you..."
Natsu took her hands from his face, intertwining his fingers into hers as he pushed her down gently on the bed, looking down at her sad and worried features.
"Oh Crystala..." His voice started to turn deep, his fangs enlarging as his eyes turned a golden yellow, glowing through the shadows of his bangs.
"Do you really... Really wanna know? From a man who could do this?" He moved in closer to her face, growling slightly.
"What do you think idiot?"
"I think you'll run for the hills if I tell you."
Crystal smiled, "Jokes on you, there's no hills anywhere for me to run," She squeezed his hands, "Because I'm staying right here, no matter what."
Tell her...
Don't tell her...
Tell her...
Don't tell her...
Which should he chose? Tell her and get it over with? Or don't tell her and have her breathing down his neck. Both have a 50/50 chance if she leaves or stays...
"Get away from me, you... You monster!" He could already hear her screams...
"I..."
The door slammed opened, a small girl running through with tears in her eyes as she went towards the two but only to stop at the position they were in. Her face reddened as she turned away.
"A-am I disturbing you and Mommy, Daddy? Are you guys gonna do... "Cake"?..."
Natsu and Crystal sighed, Natsu got off of her, mouthing, "We'll deal with this later."
The two sat up.
"What's wrong?"
"Th-There's men outside!"
"Men?" Crystal and Natsu looked at each other wearily.
"Oh!" Natsu stood up, "Gray and the others. Going out with the guys tonight, remember?"
"Right, right- Wait now?! It's only 1:30!"
"We're watching a movie first that ends at 4." Natsu explained, "Bring them in for me, would ya? I'm gonna go take a shower and put on some clothes."
Natsu grinned at her, his usual carefree grin that made all girls sigh happily and drop to their knees whenever they saw it. Crystal's lips turned into a frown as she mumbled a "yeah" underneath her breath, walking outside with Yura trailing behind her.
There were knocks on the door and it kept getting louder and louder, Crystal rolled her eyes as she opened it. Four men stood outside, dressed to suit the cold weather and upcoming rain that were to happen later this evening. There was also a black van as well.
A man with raven-black hair and dark blue eyes stood there with his fist in the air, Crystal sighed.
"You wanna break my door down, Gray?"
"Gomen..." Gray looked behind her, nowhere of the pink haired man to be found, "Where's Natsu?"
"He upstairs taking a shower."
"This dumb lil flameshit... We told him we were coming and yet he's now getting ready?!" A man with long black hair fumed that stood with another man with light green hair and another with blonde hair.
"Me and Natsu had a little argument which is why he is so late, Gajeel."
"Argument? Don't see that everyday." Gajeel folded his arms, "Don't tell me it's something stupid."
"Unless you call secrecy stupid."
Laxus pinched the bridge of his nose, sighing loudly, "I swear to God if it's about he cheating on you..."
All the men groaned.
"No, no and you know what?" Crystal peaked her head outside, her next door neighbour was outside watching the men with death glares, "We should have this conversation inside, it looks suspicious with you all standing out here talking to a sexy lady,"
"'Sexy lady'?" Gray snickered, "Where? I don't see her."
"How rude!" Crystal faked a tone of offense, "Just like how I don't see any men out here, only women."
"What did we do?" Freed sweatdropped.
"Just come on inside, will ya?"
...
The four men and the bluenette sat on her couches, talking and laughing with each other as usual. Yura held her mother's arm tightly, fearing Gajeel.
"Yura? Why so tense?" Gray asked, Yura pointed to Gajeel which made him jump in surprise.
"He's scary... He has no eyebrows..."
Crystal giggled, "Technically he does, just made of piercings. I'm sure Levy lovesssss those, huh?"
"Don't even get me started on you and Natsu."
"Want me to start on Lev- actually, I can't. Levy is one of my sisters so that's a no."
"Hah!"
"Anyways," The lightning scarred man groaned, "Can you go check on Natsu? It's getting late and the movie starts at 2:30."
"You have plenty of time still!"
"No, we don't..." Laxus got up, "If we leave at around 1:50, we'll get to the cinema at 2:20 and it takes a while to get tickets which means we'll get tickets at 2:30 then for food, we'll be in the actual movie at 2:45."
"Woah, TECHNOLOGY." Gajeel snickered.
"Shut up, I'm the only smart one around here with you idiots." He sat down.
"Why are you tagging along with them then?"
"Because Mirajane wanted me out the house and to quote her words "you need some friends besides The Thunder Legion"." Laxus rolled his eyes, "So they invited me and I came."
Crystal laughed, "That's Mira for ya."
"Oi, I'm ready," A voice came from upstairs, they all turned their heads towards the source to find a pink haired man with towel dried hair which made his hair look even more wild, he wore a black turtle neck, jeans and boots. Everyone got up.
"It took you this long to wear that?" Gray complained, "I was expecting something more since you took so damn long,"
"My sexiness takes time, icecube."
"Sexiness where?!"
The pinkette walked over to the flushed bluenette who tried to avert her gaze away from him, Natsu smirked as hugged her from the side, kissing her cheek.
"My spoiled mate?"
"Shut up..."
"Let's go guys." He put her down, placing a chaste kiss on her pink lips before walking towards the door with everyone else, he waved to her, "Bye bye, mate."
"Bye..."
With that, they walked out. Crystal looked through the window, seeing him leave her as they all went inside the car, she watched the car drive off.
"Mommy?"
Crystal looked down at Yura and then slumped her shoulders, "I need some alcohol..."
...
3:00pm
...
The sky blue haired woman swirled a glass that was filled with Vodka, her face flushed as she hiccuped, she was already under the influence of sake. The bluenette never really use to cope with sadness like this, maybe only once or twice but she needed this.
She needed it badly.
Crystal sat at the table, looking across in the empty seat that was occupied by only air. She sighed, drinking more of the Vodka. Yura sat next to her, worried for her mother.
"You knowwww, Yuraaa~" Crystal slurred, "Mommy's sad, really sad.."
"Why are you sad, Mommy?"
Crystal looked at Yura, "Cause Daddy likes to keep secrets from Mommy and it makes Mommy sad... Mommy's really sad... And alone..." Her sky blue cat ears went down and her tail as well.
Yura frowned, "You're not alone Mommy, I'm here with you."
A drunken smile appeared on her lips, her ears perking up as she drank the rest of the Vodka in the glass, "Thankkksss swweetiee... I-It meannnss alothhhh..."
Crystal lazily got up from her chair, almost stumbling over her own two feet as she walked towards the kitchen sink. She placed the glass inside.
"Mommy's gonna go sleep for a while..." Her tail swirled behind her as her ears went down, she walked up the stairs to her room, almost falling over again.
Yura followed her upstairs with her drawing and some crayons in hand.
...
9:00pm
...
The brown haired girl was still up, she was determined to finish her colouring for her parents. She liked whenever she got praised for certsin behavior and she wanted more, she was colouring for a while now, her eyes drooping with sleep.
Her mother was still asleep.
Yura was the only one left up.
Suddenly, the room turned very cold, almost like the window was open. Yura snapped out of her sleepy daze when she felt the cold breeze hit her, she looked up and turned around.
"What the..."
A man who was about 6ft tall, he wore a mask and was in all black. Before Yura could scream, she was knocked out with a crowbar, crimson blood fell from her head and to the floor, some on her drawing as well.
The man smirked, picking her up and throwing her over the shoulder, "David's gonna be so proud. Alright, let's go."
A man climbed through the window along with another one, "No way man! I heard this chick's got alot of good loot here. I'm gonna stay a while."
The man with Yura groaned, "Dude."
"It's fine, if the lady tries anything, I'll deal with her."
"If you say so..." The man moved towarss the window, climbing out and going down on a ladder.
...
10:00pm
...
The loud glass breaking and furniture being thrown around was enough to wake the sleepy sky blue haired woman up. She noticed that her ears were back to normal and her tail was gone, good fucking riddance. Crystal got out of bed and rubbed her eyes, putting on her glasses.
She thought it may have been Yura, Crystal saw the tim, it was 10:02pm. Yura was supposed to be sleeping by now. Crystal walked out her room and walked towards Yura's room to see the door slightly open, she inched towards it and slowly opened the door.
Strong smells from every direction hit her hard, there was smoke, alcohol, reek of women's perfume but what made her want to cry was the smell of blood.
Copper.
Yura wasn't here. Crystal walked inside the room, covering her nose and mouth.
"Goddamnit, Yura... Where are you..?" Crystal looked on the carpeted floor that had dried up blood stains on it along with heavy footprints. The room was a mess.
Someone was here... Or maybe they're still here...
If they was, that was gonna be bad. The bluenette was only in her undergarments as well, Natsu wasn't back yet either. No time to call anyone, Yura could be in serious danger...
Crystal walked out the room and made her way to the top of the stairs where she heard murmuring. Her light feet tapped against the wooden stairs as she crouched, she peeked past the stair case to see her living room trashed and destroyed, some of her things missing.
Crystal narrowed her eyes as she crouched through all the mess and went towards the source, it was in the kitchen. Crystal creeped into the kitchen to see two men with bags in their hands, one man behind another as one of them looked through her drawers.
Crystal tried not to make any sound and silenced her breathing, she slowly rose up and took the other msn by surprise, covering his mouth and nose and knocked him out without making any noise and gently placed to lie on the floor.
"Dude, you think there's other stuff up in that chick's room?"
He got no answer, the sky blue haired woman tiptoed behind him and the guy got suspicious. He turned around, earning him a punch to the face which knocked him on the floor, Crystal loomed over him and stomped his face in.
...
It was a few minutes later, the man had finally woken up to find himself binded with ropes to his feet and hand, tied to a chair, he was caught like a fly.
The man looked up, seeing a woman with sky blue hair and dark blue eyes standing before him in a black, full leather suit with two katanas behind her back along with a gun in her hand and a kitchen knife.
She had a dark purple mask that covered her nose and lips, ribbons in the same colour tied to the side of it. She slid it underneath her chin and went on one knee, glaring at the man with hatred. He shivered in fear.
"Alright. Where is the girl?"
The man nervously laughed, "G-girl? I don't kn-AHHHHHHHHH!"
The bluenette stabbed his leg right above his kneecap, making him cry out in agony.
"You can scream and cry all you want and nobody will hear you. We're in my basement, it's soundproof. Now, answer me. Where is she?" She twisted the knife while it was still inside his knee.
"I'm serious! I-I-"
"Maybe this will refresh your memory." Crystal aimed the gun to his privates, "You'd be wise to answer my questions, if you don't, I'll blow your goddamned dick off. If you want that is your choice."
"Okay, okay!" The man panicked, "She's in Warehouse 28! She's David's newest pet!"
"David..." Crystal whispered, "I thought I killed that bastard... Warehouse 28... Where is that, specifically?"
"I-In the town! It's still in Magnolia!"
Crystal sneered, "I said to be fucking specific." Her fingers gently pulled on the trigger, making tears come to the man's eyes.
"It's by a strip club! The Pussy Palace! Yeah, it's near there!"
Crystal got up, smiling sadistically, "Thank you for your help, you were wise. I appreciate that."
Her smile sent chills down the man's spine. Crystal went behind him and placed her hands on his head, the man shook his head in fear as he attempted to come out from the grip that held him down.
"No! No! Please!"
"I'm sorry, nobody else can know about this location... Your fault for getting involved in the first place..." With that, she snapped his neck and his head fell limp.
The bluenette turned to the man that was tied up in a corner, the first man she knocked out. Crystal slowly walked towards him.
"No, fuck you bitch! I ain't telling you shit! He told you what you wanted!" The man attempted to crawl away but failed miserably.
"Don't worry..." Crystal took aimed the gun to the center of his head, "I believe him."
The sound of a bullet went off.
Cliffhanger ^-^