Authors note :
Thanks for the reviews in-between chapters. Lucy sneaking into the masters office was a nice suggestion, but you kinda have to make it fit. It's 1 day until the Grand Magic Games and Fairy Tail is already on their way to Crocus. No time for traveling to Magnolia there. Anyway I hope you enjoy reading this next chapter!
July 1. X798, Crocus
The skies over Crocus were full of balloons. The street were crowded with tourists. Nashi sat on her mother's shoulders and stared at the festivities around her in awe. Lucy just smiled on their way to the giant arena "Domus Flau", in which the games were to be held today.
As they reached the top of the giant stone stairway to the arena, Lucy sat Nashi on the floor and took her hand. They walked past the soldiers guarding the entrance and soon they saw Kaiko and Marika with their parents.
Lucy nad Nashi walked over to say hello and were greeted with a warm welcome.
"Hey, Nashi!", Kaiko greeted her friend. "Will you be sitting with us?"
Lucy answered for her daughter. "If my daughter wants to."
"That woiuld be nice", Nashi said.
"Well then we should hurry up and get our seats near Fairy Tail's Box to cheer them on", Marika insisted.
"Hello... sorry for interrupting", a familiar voice said. "We kinda overheard your conversation just now!"
The group looked in the direction the voice came from and Lucy's heart began beating fast as she saw Romeo and Wendy coming their way and... holding hands?
"Romeo! Wendy!", Nashi let go of Lucy's hand and ran to her friends to greet them.
Romeo picked up Nashi and smiled to the group.
"If you want to cheer for Fairy Tail, we would actually be happy to have you cheering with us at Fairy Tail's private box.", Wendy said. The Kids' mouths fell wide open as they looked at each other and started cheering.
Lucy didn't know what to say. She wanted to talk to Natsu before she faced the guild. He deserved to know everything first after all she did to him.
Nashi broke the silence. "Will Natsu be there too? I Want to wish him good luck!"
"Im afraid you will have to wait until after the games today", Romeo said. "The main participants are all in a special room downstairs waiting for the opening ceremony. Only non-participants, guests and substitutes are allowed out of their rooms at the moment"
Lucy's heart calmed a bit. She still had time to prepare for the moment.
They followed Romeo and Wendy to Fairy Tails guild box and were seated. Lucy prayed nobody would notice her. Nashi, Kaiko and Marika immediately bolted off to the railing to have a better view of the arena, while Lucy sat down with Wendy and Romeo.
"So who will be participating for Fairy Tail this y-", Lucy started, only to be interrupted by the Announcer.
"Ladies and Gentlemen! Welcome to the Grand Magic Games X798, the yearly grand tournament to decide the strongest guild in Fiore!", it echoed across the entire Coliseum.
"And now please welcome the 8 teams that made it past the preliminary round this year!"
A Lacrima Vision Monitor appeared before them to show them the statistics of the preliminary round.
1. Sabertooth
2. Fairy Tail
3. Lamia Scale
4. Crime Sorcière
5. Blue Pegasus
6. Quatro Cerberus
7. Mermaid Heel
8. Scarmiglione
Everyone cheered as the teams entered the arena. Lucy however saw that something was off. Natsu looked to the ground as he walked into the arena with Gajeel, Gray, Laxus and Erza. Before she could ask Romeo about Natsu's behaviour, Nashi asked the question for her again.
"Why does uncle Natsu look so sad?"
Everyone in the box looked to the ground.
Romeo spoke up. "Nashi... that is kind of complicated, you see... he lost someone very dear to him a couple of years ago. He gets like this every time the Grand Magic Games are about to begin."
"What happened?", Nashi asked.
"We don't really know, but we assume it was a massive misunderstanding. Natsu was doing a solo mission at the time.", Romeo said. Now Lucy was all ears.
"What kind of mission?", Lucy asked, unaware of Wendy eyeing her.
"It involved pretending a relationship...I can't really tell you more.", Romeo ended.
Lucy's heart felt like it was about to break at the sound of Romeo's words. Natsu was like this because of her.
"If you want to know more about the contestants or the rules, please refer to the Game Guide that was handed to you as you entered", it echoed again.
Lucy flipped the little handout book open. What she saw made her jump up and excuse herself for a toilet break.
Team Fairy Tail )
Main Contestants :
-Natsu Dragneel
-Gray Fullbuster
-Laxus Dreyar
-Erza Scarlet
-Gajeel Redfox
Substitutes :
-Wendy Marvell
-Elfman Strauss
-Mirajane Strauss
-Juvia Lockser
-Lucy Heartfilia
Lucy closed the bathroom stall and broke down into a stream of tears.
"Those idiots... they handicapped themselves to keep a spot open for me...", she said to herself.
"Michelle... is everything okay", Lucy heard Wendy say as she entered the bathroom.
"Nothing is okay, Wendy... I have been an idiot...", Lucy said weeping.
"I guess so...", Wendy said. "Did you really think we would just abandon you?"
Lucy's eyes snapped open in an instant. "Y-You knew?"
"Lucy... I am a dragon slayer. Although my nose isn't as good as Natsu's I can smell you pretty good from a couple hundreds of meters away.", Wendy said while laughing a bit.
"I should've known.", Lucy calmed down. "Does Natsu already know I am here?"
"Not yet, or else he would've looked different out there", Wendy said outside the stall. "Also, would you mind opening? I want to look you in the eyes while we are talking"
"O-Okay.", Lucy said as she unlocked the door. Wendy smiled at her as she drew her into a tight hug. "Im so happy to see you again Lucy... I didn't think we would meet again."
"Im glad too, Wendy!", Lucy said, tears running down her cheeks. "But can you please not tell the other... at least until I have talked to Natsu."
Wendy's smile turned into a frown, but she understood that this was important to Lucy. She nodded and helped Lucy drying the tears off her face.
"Okay, I won't tell them. But you got to tell me what's up with your daughter. I also have to tell Master Makarov!", Wendy told Lucy.
"After I have talked to Natsu-", Lucy said. "I will tell you everything! Master Makarov... Okay, you can do that, but tell him to keep quiet until I tell everyone myself!"
"Okay, but the day is still long Lucy!", Wendy said. "You can only see him after the battles are over!"
"That will be fine!", Lucy said. "Now let's go back to the guild. They are probably worried by now!"
As they got back to their seats, Wendy tapped Master Makarov on the shoulder and went outside to speak in private.
"I just hope he doesn't tell everyone.", Lucy thought to herself. As she looked up she saw the small old man smiling at her. He greeted her like she was just a civilian.
Lucy smiled back. "Thank you, gramps!", she thought.
Makarov grinned and went back to sitting on the railing.
Lucy then noticed that she actually missed the Minigame round. From what Nashi told her it was apparently a giant game of hide and seek.
"And now the part we all have been waiting for!", it echoed through the arena. "The matches of today will be one vs. one!"
1st day of the Grand Magic Games X798 – Battle pairings :
Miliana vs. Ultear
Bacchus vs. Jura
Hibiki vs. Skull
Natsu vs. Rogue
Lucy's eyes widened. Natsu would be fighting today. Nashi noticed it as well.
"Mommy, Natsu will be fighting today!", she cheered.
"Is that so, my dear?", Lucy said calmly. "You want to cheer him on, huh?"
"Of course!", Nashi exclaimed. Wendy thought this was really sweet sight.
Lucy and Nashi moved to the front of the box to have a better view of the battles.
Lucy kind of knew the outcome beforehand, as she already saw the names on the parings. Miliana had nothing on Ultear, the battle was one of the shortest they ever had in the history of the tournament. Bacchus and Jura brawled for a bit before Bacchus got stomped by Jura's Earth Magic. Hibiki wasn't as strong, he was more of a thinker than a fighter, but his oppenent was a walking joke. Apparently Scarmiglione only made it into the tournament, because no other strong guilds participated this year.
"And now, the battle you all have waited for!", it began echoing through the arena. "Fairy Tail's Natsu Dragneel vs. Sabertooth's Rogue Cheney!"
The crowd began cheering.
"Fairy Tail!" - "Sabertooth!"
The air thickened as soon as the contestants entered the arena. Natsu and Rogue stared each other down.
"Are you ready to get your ass handed to ya?", Natsu shouted at Rogue.
Rogue remained calm. "You really shouldn't be this confident in yourself!"
"The contestants got 30 minutes, the battle ends if one or both contestants go down or the time ends!", the announcers voice said.
A gong was rung. Natsu and Rogue dashed towards each other at unbelievable speeds.
"Shadow Dragon Slash!" - "Fire Dragons Iron Fist!"
Their fists hit each other and both were send back a few meters, before charging each other again. Neither of the combatants was willing to back down.
"No free win for either of them!", the announcer was shouting. "Fairy Tail or Sabertooth? Who will take the lead on day one?"
Rogue and Natsu hit each other again, but Natsu managed to keep his footing.
"Fire Dragons Claw!" - and with that Rogue was send flying towards the wall under Fairy Tails guild box.
"Go, Natsu! Show him who's the boss!", Everyone in Fairy Tail's Box cheered.
As the dust from Rogues unpleasant collision with the arena wall cleared, he was still standing, although he sustained visible damage.
"I'm all fired up!", Natsu exclaimed, earning cheer from the entire crowd.
Meanwhile Rogue made his way a little bit away from the wall.
"Looks it will have to end now!", he said to Natsu. It was met with one of Natsu's signature grins. "Bring it on!"
"You really think you have a chance, Salamander?", Rogue thought to himself. "Let's see about this."
Rogue began inhaling. Natsu braced himself.
"Dragon Slayer Secret Art : Shadow Dragons Blackout Roar!"
Rogue shot a massive beam of pure black energy towards Natsu. He only grinned.
"Dragon Slayer Secret Art : Crimson Lotus – Exploding Flame Blade"
Time was passing really slow now.
"Natsu you idiot!", Makarov yelled.
"Watch out!"
Lucy pushed Nashi out of the way into Makarov's arms and dove for cover herself, but she was a little to late as Natsu's Special Technique hit her right side.
A huge explosion followed right after. As the dust cleared the Fairy Tail box was only a huge pile of rubble.
"An accident has happened. Everyone please remain calm!", the announcer shouted through the arena.
Makarov, Laxus and Erza cleared away the rubble. Natsu came rushing to help only to collect a beating from Gray.
"Anybody hurt?", Makarov shouted.
"Elfman shielded most of us.", Lisanna said. "His back got brushed by the attack and is burned pretty badly!"
"Wendy!", Makarov commanded. "Help the injured out!"
Wendy got to work as soon as the words left the masters mouth. She was joined by Sherria soon after.
"Mommy!"
Everyones blood froze in their arteries. They looked around only to find a little pink haired girl, kneeling beside what looked to be Lucy half-scorched body.
"Wendy! Sherria!", Erza called out. "Leave everyone that can hold out on their own! We have a serious injury over here!"
Lucy woke up 4 hours later. Her whole body from the neck downwards as well as her right leg was bandaged.
"So you're finally awake...", a familiar voice said.
"Where am I?", Lucy asked.
"The Fairy Tail Infirmary.", the voice said. Finally an old woman with pink hair and red eyes came into her view. "I am Porlyusica, Fairy Tail's Medicinal Advisor! And you are?"
"Lucy Heartfilia... Thank you Porlyusica... but please... I want to tell them myself!", Lucy said. Porlyusica nodded at the resolve in her eyes.
"Well... you can do that, I won't reveal your little secret.", Porlyusica shot Lucy a serious look. "But I will have you know that you are still seriously injured."
Lucy swallowed. "How bad is it?"
"The entire right side of your body sustained multiple third-degree burns... it was completely scorched. If it had hit your head you would be blind right now!"
Lucy looked down at her bandaged body. "What about the guild m-"
"Guild mark!", Porlyusica ended the sentence for her. "I am afraid your hand was caught in the middle of the blast, all of the skin was burned right off! If Wendy and Sherria hadn't rushed you in here immediately, you would not be with us! You will have to ask little Mira to renew it once your skin heals. Since we operated on you this quickly and thanks to Wendy's and Sherria's Magic you will sustain no big scars!"
Lucy smiled. She knew Porlyusica was a master of medicine, but she was overwhelmed to hear that her whole body would heal almost without becoming scarred. Then it hit her.
"Where is Nashi? Is she okay?", Lucy shouted.
"You can ask her yourself! Makarov himself shielded her from the blast!", Porlyusica said calmly. "Sadly enough you cannot stay here overnight. We will have to get you out by tonight, which is why I am very glad you woke up."
She began preparing a wheelchair for Lucy.
"Wendy will accompany you to your home tonight and will keep on monitoring you! And I don't want any objections!", Porlyusica said dead serious.
"No objections from my side.", Lucy said calmly.
Suddenly, the doors flew open. In the doorway stood Natsu Dragneel with a very worried expression.
"Are you okay?", he asked Lucy.
"I think so... thanks to Porlyusica", Lucy answered in all honesty. Why hadn't he figured out yet? Didn't he smell her?
Then she realized. Her whole body was smelling like burned flesh. No trace of her natural scent was left for Natsu to catch on.
"I am so sorry for what happened... I tunnel visioned", Natsu said as he broke down. "I cannot ever make amends for what I have done to you!"
Now Lucy was on the verge of crying too. "Yes, you can... you dense idiot!", she mumbled.
"Mommy!", Nashi came running with tears in her eyes, but stopped once she saw Natsu.
"Don't blame him!", Lucy demanded. "It isn't his fault!"
Natsu looked at Nashi who was hiding behind Porlyusica in fear.
"I am sorry, Nashi!", Natsu started. "You were all cheering me on and in return I fried everyone."
Nashi was silent until Lucy started calming her.
"Nashi, he didn't mean it!", Lucy said calmly. "Why don't you come over here onto my lap? I am sure Mister Dragneel would love to give you a lift."
"Mister Dragneel?", Natsu asked in horror of that name.
"Yes, I also want you to do me a favor since you put me in this situation!", Lucy exclaimed
"Well, what can I do?", Natsu asked as he lifted Nashi up and sat her in her mothers lap.
"You are going topush this wheelchair with me in it all the way to my home tonight!", Lucy demanded.
"Sounds great!", a voice from the doorway exclaimed. There stood master Makarov. "She is injured because of you! Now you get her to where she wants to go!"
"Do I have to?", Natsu asked.
"Yes you do!", Lucy, Makarov and Nashi shouted at him in unison.
As the night drew near Lucy made her best effort to leave her bed. She had incredible pain while attempting to do so. Natsu and Porlyusica helped her into the wheelchair. Never before did Lucy feel so helpless.
"Wendy, would it be a problem for you to go ahead to my house and get this sleepyhead here tucked in?", Lucy asked Wendy while pointing to the child sleeping in her lap.
"Sure, I think you will be in the best hands", Wendy chuckled as she took Nashi and the key for Lucy's apartment from her.
"What do you mean by that Wendy?", Natsu asked with an annoyed growl.
"Nothing Natsu!", Wendy said. "Take your time!"
And with that Wendy took off, leaving Lucy and Natsu at the arena. Natsu had trouble getting the wheelchair down the huge stone stairs. Lucy just laughed.
"You really aren't the most gentle man, Natsu Dragneel!", she exclaimed.
Natsu took his sweet time replying. After they got to the bottom of the stairs he just looked to the floor for a couple of minutes.
"You know... I lost my gentle side about seven years ago.", Natsu said calmly. "I have never really smiled sincerely since that time..."
Lucy's view shifted towards the ground too.
"What happened?", She asked him.
"I lost my loved one...", Natsu answered her. "You know... Im half-dragon and Dragons only fall in love once..."
Lucy was feeling guilty. First she left just like that and now she was right here with him, hiding from him and squeezing him dry for answers. But she had to know his feelings for her, she had to be sure.
Just as They ended their conversation, they arrived at Lucy's apartment. Lucy tried standing up to walk up the stairs and somehow she made it. Natsu was now supporting her in case she tripped. They stowed the wheelchair away at the bottom of the stairs and went up to Lucy's apartment.
As Lucy knocked on the door for Wendy to open, Natsu spoke up.
"So... now that we are here. Can I go now? Or do you still need something?", he asked.
"Well, Natsu... would you come in please? I actually came to the Grand Magic Games to talk to you!", Lucy replied.
As Natsu entered the apartment he immediately felt at home. It all reminded him of Magnolia in a way. Lucy motioned him to sit down at the couch while she checked on Nashi.
Natsu spoke up as soon as Lucy left her daughter's room.
"So, what did you want to talk about?", he asked Lucy.
"Seriously...", Lucy started. "We talked the whole time on our way here and you're still this dense! Wait a second and you will get it!"
Lucy swiftly left for her room.
"What's this all about?", Natsu asked impatiently.
"Just wait a moment you dense idiot!", Lucy screamed from her room. "I am almost done!"
Natsu then took a moment to really take in the atmosphere. As he contentrated on the atmosphere he suddenly noticed the familiar scent hanging in the air.
"Lucy...", he mumbled under his breath.
"Finally you dense idiot!", Lucy said from the doorway into her room. "Release!", she spoke as her hair turned blonde again for the first time in years.
Natsu turned to look at her and completely froze in shock. There she was, wearing her usual outfit over her bandages. Her hair made into a side ponytail. Tears were building up in Natsu's eyes. Lucy moved over and sat down next to him.
"I have heard everything from Wendy and Romeo, Natsu!", Lucy began crying. "I am such an idiot!"
Wendy sat in the kitchen and smiled as the two were apologizing to each other.
"No! I am the idiot!", Natsu said. "I should have never taken that mission. Even if the pay was good! Now I find you 7 years later and I almost kill you. I can never forgive myself for that."
"I already said i don't blame you!", Lucy calmed him down. "I know your explosive fighting spirit!"
"I guess...", Natsu replied. "Is he at least nice to you? Your husband i mean..."
"Huh?", Lucy was dumbfounded. "What makes you think I am married?"
Natsu stopped for a moment, then started talking again. "Well Nashi is your child, correct?"
"Correct!", Lucy answered. "You are really not the smartest person I know either..."
Lucy sighed. "Natsu... Nashi is a little over 6 years old! She is your daughter!"
"She is what?", Natsu got pale. "When did we?"
"Training camp 7 years ago!", Lucy stated. "I figured you would know since I was the one that couldn't remember because I was drunk! But it is the only thing that fits in the time frame"
"Yeah, I remember now! You were really insistent that night.", Natsu said
"Spare me the details, please!", Lucy sweat dropped. "Actually, that night I ran away... I saw you with this girl and... my emotions just ran amok! I actually was on the way to your house that evening... to confess my love to you!"
Natsu carefully hugged Lucy. "I love you too, Lucy! After all, dragons only fall in love once in a lifetime!"
Okay this chapter turned out a little longer since I just didn't want to keep the reunion away from you! Of course the story will still continue so stay tuned! Also thank you for the additional Favs and Follows. It means a lot!
