Chapter 34
Lucy is back at her apartment, and Sagittarius is keeping her company so she is not alone. She has since occupied her time by showering and cleaning up the place a little. When she realized that she cannot stall any longer, she got to work. Doing research that is.
"So an unknown person somehow figured that Lucy Heartfilia and Ashley the author is the same person," Lucy says, thinking out loud to help herself. She has gone through online articles and news reports about the matter.
Sagittarius nods in agreement. "Indeed."
"I haven't pieced together how they pieced that together."
"A mystery for now."
"I also can't understand why they didn't claim the credit for figuring something like that out…"
"Strange indeed."
Lucy stands up from the couch and starts pacing the family room, the gears in her mind turning. "There's something that's bugging me…"
"What is it?"
"Are these recent events connected? Someone or a group has followed me, Lucy Heartfilia, around and taken pictures. Not to mention Natsu, too. Did they happen to find out that I'm Ashley as well?"
"That might be a possibility."
"Or am I just having a horrible week?"
"That is another possibility."
Lucy groans. "This week needs to be over already." She has been through a lot the past forty-eight hours.
"Well, tomorrow is Sunday."
Getting things back to normal will be great. Although, she doubts things ever will be.
Someone knocks on the front door in a particular way.
"Capricorn, you can come in," Lucy says, not bothering to open it since it is unlocked.
Sure enough when the door opens, Capricorn enters the apartment.
"Hello, hello," Sagittarius greets.
Capricorn looks at him. "I am here to relieve you for you now."
"I shall be on my way then." Sagittarius faces Lucy and bows at his waist. "Until next time, Lucy."
"Thanks again for picking me up," she says.
"It was no trouble at all." After waving goodbye, Sagittarius leaves the apartment and closes the door behind him.
"How are you?" Capricorn asks.
"I've been better," she admits.
"Do you need anything?"
"I need answers."
"Don't we all?" he agrees.
"Do you think me being followed and the news this morning are connected?" Lucy asks, expecting an honest answer.
"I am not sure entirely."
Her mood deflates.
"It seems likely that they can be," he mentions.
"That's what I think. Besides, what are the odds of them not being connected? One happened right before the other."
"Exactly. Unfortunately, we have no way of knowing for sure."
"Yeah, I know."
"You have always been careful about keeping Ashley's true identity a secret. I doubt that you accidently slipped something up."
"So maybe this unnamed person stumbled across some connection somehow?" Although, Lucy is quite sure that she has kept all lines crossed. At that rate, the person must have done some serious digging to make any possible connection.
"The last time Lucy Heartfilia was photographed and appeared in the news was shortly after your mother's death. Your father made sure to keep you out of the public eye after that. It was almost as though his daughter just simply disappeared. Like magic."
"I was younger back then, and I've changed. Do you think that person came across an old photograph of me and saw a similarity with Ashley?"
"That is my best lead."
Someone knocks on the front door.
"Are you expecting company?" Capricorn asks.
"No one mentioned they were visiting," she replies.
Since Capricorn is right there, he looks through the eye hole. "Oh," is all he has to say about the matter. Then he steps away from the door and heads for the kitchen.
"Oh?" Lucy echoes.
Capricorn makes no comment.
"Oh?" she stresses.
However, she is met with silence.
Curiosity gets the better of her and Lucy decides to check for herself. She is surprised at who she sees, but she is eager to open the door for them.
"Hiya," Natsu greets with a grin, and holds out the warm pizza box in his hands. Out of his work uniform, he is wearing black jeans and a grey tee shirt. "I gotcha something special."
She smiles at his thoughtfulness. "You remembered…"
"Of course, I did." After he steps into the apartment, two others step into view from each side of the hallway and follow in after him. They are practically identical except for the fact one is a guy and the other is a girl. They look to be around Lucy's age if not maybe even a little younger.
"Uh, who are you two?" Lucy questions, taking a step back.
"Meet Gemi and Mini! Together they are Gemini!" Natsu introduces. "Capricorn told them to watch over me. Kinda like how you've had people watch over you."
"Hello, Miss Lucy!" they say in unison.
"Hey," she says.
Gemi shuts the door now that everyone is inside.
Something dawns on Lucy, and she looks at her boyfriend. "Wait, why are you here?" she asks.
He gives her quizzically look. "Because I brought you pizza… ?"
"It's not close to five o'clock though. You should still be at work."
"Oh, yeah. That." Natsu walks over to the coffee table and sets down the pizza box before sitting down on the couch. "I got off sooner than I thought. I got my schedule mixed up."
Lucy walks over so she can join him on the couch. "Which means that I do get to see you today."
"Well, you already saw me today," he says with a smirk. "We did sleep together, remember?"
She blushes. "Not like that!" Then she realizes Gemi and Mini are present and whips her head over to look at them, wanting to explain the misunderstanding. However, they are nowhere to be found. They must be in the kitchen with Capricorn. "Where did they go?"
"They do that a lot." Natsu gets started on opening the pizza and grabbing his first slice. "You get used to it after the first couple of times."
Lucy grabs her own slice and takes a bite of the delicious pizza. Then she sits back, leaning against Natsu's left shoulder, and he flinching in pain. "Are you all right?" she asks.
"I'm fine," he replies. "You just startled me."
However, she is not buying that. "You made it seem like I hurt you…"
"Well, you are kinda heavy…"
"Hey!" Lucy protests, whacking his shoulder.
He winces through clenched teeth.
"Did you hurt yourself?" she interrogates.
"You're making it seem like I'm accident prone."
"You didn't answer my question." Taking matters into her own hands, Lucy sets her slice of pizza down and takes a hold of his sleeve. She pushes it up and finds a bandage is wrapped around his upper arm. "What happened?"
"Don't panic."
Her emotions are really bubbling now. "I'm already panicking!"
"Capricorn already knows because of Gemini since they told him," he begins. "I didn't wanna tell you so you didn't worry. You have enough on your mind as is."
"Tell me. What happened. Now."
He cannot avoid the truth any longer. He sets down his pizza and turns so he can give her his full attention. He adjusts his sleeve so she no longer has to look at his bandage. "I was making deliveries like normal with Gemini following me in their own car. Just to keep tabs on me. I got back to the pizzeria to pick up more pizzas when it happened."
Is the room getting hot? Is the air thicker than normal? Lucy feels uncomfortable.
"Some guy approached me, calling me my name and acting like he knew me. I thought maybe we had met before, but I couldn't remember him. You know me and my memory, especially with meeting new people. Anyways, he, uh, came at me with a knife. Just a knick, nothing severe as you can see."
Her lungs feel tight. A ball is forming in her throat.
"The guy got away. He had some getaway car ready without any plates. Mini patched me up. Gemi called Capricorn. Laxus was in charge for the day, and he sent me home."
Even Capricorn did not tell her… It seems like everyone was leaving her out of the loop on purpose.
"You got hurt… because of me…" she breathes, looking at where his injury is.
"I'm pretty sure I got hurt because of the dude who tried hurting me."
Lucy looks him in the eye. "But he did hurt you!"
He shrugs. "Eh, I've had worse. You've seen the scars I have. You know I've had worse."
She opens her mouth to speak, but nothing comes out. She is struggling to find the right words.
"I'll be fine, Luce," Natsu assures her. "I'm a tough guy."
She thinks back to the photo of him that is marked with a red X. "You're a target because of me. You'll always be a target because of me."
"I'll stop being a target whenever this person is caught. And I don't mean the guy from earlier."
As long as he has the current connection to her, he will be a target until this person or group is caught. Lucy stands up to start pacing, her mind racing with thoughts. A possible solution is coming to mind. She comes to a still and looks at Natsu. "We should break up."
He looks at her like his entire world is falling apart. "What?" he whispers with disbelief.
"You're a target because of me."
"I told you that I wouldn't break up with you because of what's happening."
Looking away, she swallows hard and wraps her arms around herself. "I never said the same for me…"
The room is filled with a booming silence. Lucy is avoiding eye contact while Natsu can only stare at her.
"Just how is the news of our breakup supposed to spread, huh?" he asks bitterly, rising to his feet.
"I'm sure something can be arranged. After all, Lucy Heartfilia is all over the news. I'm sure reporters will love to hear about her recent breakup."
While Natsu cannot believe the words he is hearing, Lucy cannot believe the words she is saying. None of this can be really happening. It must be some twisted dream.
Having made up his mind, Natsu approaches Lucy. She looks down at her feet so she does not look at his face. Then she watches him hold out a hand for her to see, his middle finger over his index finger.
"They've been crossed. What's happening now doesn't count for me." Then Natsu engulfs her in a tight hug, not wanting to believe this will be the last time he will hold her like this.
Lucy's arms feel like heavy weights. She cannot lift them. She cannot return the embrace.
"I love you, Luce," Natsu says gently. "I'll getcha back when this is all over."
She wants to smile. She really wants to. But she does not. The effort is too great.
When he pulls away, she feels cold. Lucy wants to reach out and hold onto his warmth, but she stops herself from doing that. As Natsu heads for the door, she keeps her back to him. She knows that if she takes one look at him, she will break down. She will lose it.
Without a word from him, the door opens and shuts after he leaves.
Even with her heart wrenching, she reasons with herself this is a good choice. It should mean Natsu will be safe until the storm passes.
Gemi and Mini quietly excuse themselves from the apartment in order to go after Natsu. They are still sticking with him because of Capricorn.
Capricorn slowly walks out of the kitchen. "Do you really believe that was the best thing to do?" he inquires.
"He got hurt because of me." She fights back tears. "And you didn't tell me what happened."
"Natsu asked me not to tell you."
"Did you really think it was best for me not to know?"
No words come from Capricorn about the matter.
"I'm going jogging," Lucy announces.
"I can accompany–" Capricorn begins.
"I want to go by myself," she interrupts, not meaning to be rude. "I need alone time. Please."
Capricorn is silent for a moment. "If that is what you really want," he says, giving in to her state of being.
She cannot bring herself to look at him. "Thank you…"
A/N: I hope y'all didn't have false hope that NaLu would be fine…
Galesjipper18: Aww, you're sweet :D I try not letting comments like that bother me. Sometimes hard to overlook, but I try not taking to heart! Gah, I hope CAF does get past that round! I'd be hella excited!
TigerArrowgirl: Luce will probs hafta go incognito for the time being. At least the paps don't know where she lives, right?
Fairy Tail Lover: Aww, thank you so much :D And thank you for reading!
Anon: Omggg, the "nanny squad" I love it XD Natsu and Capricorn need matching shirts now! I don't think I'll change the rating just so smut can be added. At that rate, I'd create a new work just for a smut chapter, but idk at this rate. But I'm happy you're enjoying the work so far :D Thanks for reading!
fairytail4lyf: Yeah, I recognize that user name! Omg, you were from the start when this was supposed to be a one-shot XD It's coming along!
