Hey friends! Here's the latest chapter of FTL I hope you all enjoy it Ive been trying to put a lot of thought into my next chapters that's why it's taking longer to update than I had originally planned. Anyway! Hope you like it.
"Hey Luce! Happy to see me?" Natsu grinned from ear to ear.
I was so shocked and a little ashamed that I had forgotten he was coming back that I couldn't respond.
"That surprised that I'm back huh?" Natsu smirked. "You didn't forget I was coming home did you?" He wrapped his arm around my neck.
"W-what?! N-no I didn't forget!" I pushed him off and waved my hands no.
"Good! Then what do you say we go play soccer in your backyard?" He grabbed a ball off one of the chairs and raised it like a trophy.
"Uh, thing is Natsu, my music competition is coming up this Friday so I have to practice." I avoided any eye contact with him.
Pink head dropped the ball on the chair and his smile faded. But in an instant it was back again. "Okay Luce, whenever you're ready."
After we had dinner the Dragneels went home and I went upstairs to practice some more. Since it was Tuesday night I had two more days to practice. I was going to dedicate those two days to practicing violin. Natsu didn't dare come over or bother me while I practiced. Last year he made that mistake of doing so and I threw the closest hard object I had at the time.
Finally, Thursday night rolled along and for some reason I was more nervous than ever. So nervous that I hardly ate any of my dinner and the silence at the table wasn't helping.
"Lucy, dear, stop playing with your food. You need to eat something." Mom broke the silence.
I threw my fork down and swung my head back. "I can't! I'm too nervous to eat."
"You've never been nervous before. What's brought this on all of a sudden?" Dad asked.
I sat there for a moment in silence partially wondering if I should say why or lie. "I invited some new friends to come watch me play.. You don't think Natsu will be mad, will he?"
"Sweetheart he's your best friend. It's not like you replaced him with these new friends right?" Mom consoled me.
She was right. I didn't replace Natsu with the Sabertooth kids. I just made some new friends that's all. Making friends wasn't a bad thing and besides what was I supposed to do while he was gone? Wait around for him to come back? Nope. Heartfilias don't wait around for anyone.
..~*~..
"Luuuuucyy!" An annoying voice called my name. "Waaaake uuuupp! Come oooon Luce! You're going to be late. LUUUUUUCYYYYY!"
I sprang up out of my bed hitting my face on a hard surface and doubling over in pain.
"What the heck?!" I yelled as I grabbed my aching face. After nursing the throbbing area on my head I opened my eyes to see what I had run into.
"Natsu?!"
"What's up Luce!" The pink head smiled.
Realizing he was in my room, my face flushed and I rushed to get him out. "What are you doing in here?! Get out! This is my private space!"
"Geez Luce you're acting weird." He said as I struggled to push him out.
"No I'm not! Get out of my room you idiot!"
"Okay, okay. But hurry up Layla won't serve breakfast without you and she's making her delicious pancakes!" He licked his lips and ran downstairs.
I closed my door and turned my back to it, sliding down it as I took a relieving breath. After gathering myself I jumped up and ran to the bathroom to shower up. Then I changed into a pretty red dress I saved for special occasions such as this. After making the final touches I ran downstairs with my violin in hand.
"I'm ready!" I shouted as I jumped off the last step and headed towards the kitchen.
"Ugh! It's about ti-" Natsu stopped midsentence as I rounded the kitchen wall.
"So? How do I look?" I asked to no one in particular.
"You look beautiful Lucy." Dad smiled. "Doesn't she Igneel?"
Igneel smiled and his posture softened. "Yes, she does." He nudged Natsu who was still staring with a blank face and his mouth wide open. "Hey!" He whispered. "Don't just stare say something."
Natsus eyes fluttered around looking for the right thing to say, then, "Wow Luce, it looks like a volcano threw up all over you." He laughed.
Everyone's heads dropped at his very Natsu like comment. It couldn't be helped, he was doomed to be a dense dummy for the rest of his life.
..~*~..
An hour later we arrived at the music hall. There were kids of all ages dressed in their fanciest clothes. Girls wore beautiful dresses that matched their personality and the boys wore tuxes of their own choosing. Some kids had violins like me and some just had a score sheet to read over for piano. Other kids had various types of instruments but there were only a handful. Mom, dad, me, Natsu, and Igneel went to the check in table and got my number, 15. I was going to be the fifteenth performance out of twenty-seven contestants. At least I wasn't first.
"Hey Lucy!" A voice called out from the crowd.
I made out spiky gold hair and a familiar hand waving about.
"Hey Sting!" I happily replied as the Sabertooth kids came running over.
"You haven't performed yet right?" Yukino hoped they weren't too late.
"No you're fine, it hasn't even started yet. I'm number fifteen." I reassured them.
"Great! So-" Sting was interrupted.
"Hey Luce, who are these guys?" Natsu walked to my side defensively.
"Oh, uh, Natsu these are some friends I made while you were gone." I tried not to make eye contact. Which was easy because Natsu was already staring down Sting. I noticed and elbowed him in the side. "This is Sting, Rogue, Yukino, Rufus, and Orga. From Sabertooth elementary." I introduced them.
"So you're the infamous Natsu huh?" Sting chuckled.
"Yeah, what of it?" Pink head lowered his voice.
It was like watching two wolves fight over a piece of meat.
"Guys!" I interjected.
Both simultaneously looked away and rubbed the back of their head in shame and mumbled, "Sorry Lucy."
"Look, I've got to go backstage and start rehearsing. I'll see you after." And left without another word.
The whole ordeal made me so nervous I started sweating a bit. But I couldn't focus on them until after I was done performing and the competition was over. I sat backstage watching as kids got up, performed, and came back. I practiced over and over again, focusing on just the music. Finally it was my turn. I stood at the stage door, violin and bow in hand, and walked out proudly when the woman backstage told me so. The lights were bright and hot. The people in the seats were nothing but dark silhouettes. I couldn't see my mom or dad. I couldn't see Igneel and Natsu or any of the Sabertooth kids. All the claps started to fade as the judges gave the signal for me to begin. I raised my violin and bow gracefully as my instructor had told me to do so many times before. I inhaled a sharp breath and began to play.
..~*~..
"That was amazing Lucy!" Sting applauded as he and the others joined our group.
"Yes, it was beautiful Lucy. You play with such grace it's hard to believe you enjoy the rough game of soccer." Yukino giggled.
"Yes, I will have to keep this to my memory." Rufus added.
"So Luce, you wanna play soccer after you go home and get changed?" Sting asked.
Before I could answer big mouth was already answering for me. "She can't." He stepped in front of me. "We're going to play soccer with our friends. Isn't that right Luce?"
"What's your problem?" Sting stuck his hands in his pockets and frowned at Natsus behavior toward him.
"You're the one with the problem punk. First of all Luce is my best friend and I'm the only one who calls her Luce. Second, again she's my best friend and she plays soccer with us."
"So what? She can play with other people if she wants to. You can't control her." Sting replied.
"I have an idea. How about we play each other? You guys wanted to play us before right?"
"Before?" Natsu looked at me.
"Y-yeah, during the school year they wanted to play against us but we were busy." I softly told him.
"We can't." Came Stings voice
"Why not? Scared?" Natsu teased.
"No we aren't scared you idiot. No one could be scared of you." Sting looked Natsu up and down. "We don't have enough players. Minerva isn't back yet."
"We could get an extra person!" I suggested quickly.
"And then what? Have you play on our side leaving them with the new player making it uneven. Or vis versa. It won't work either way Lucy." Rogue spoke up.
"Yeah, forget it. Maybe next time." Orga added.
I was at a loss. They were right, if we got an extra player it would be uneven and unfair. We could give the new player to Stings team, who would be completely unaware of how they play. Or we could switch. I play with Sting, aware of how they work and leave the new player to Natsu who would also be unaware of how the team plays. Either way it was unfair.
"Well, I guess whenever Minerva gets back let us know. We can play then, okay?" I smiled reassuringly.
"You got it." Sting replied and off the Sabertooth kids went.
..~*~..
A week had passed since the competition. Natsu had been over my house several times that week just to hang out and tell me about his vacation. Also to try and get me to play soccer with the team but I refused. I wouldn't even play one on one soccer with him, which was his least favorite thing to do and he was begging me to. I refused everything all the same.
"Come on Luce you aren't still mad about last week are you?"
"No Natsu I'm not mad about that anymore." I replied.
"Then why won't you play soccer with me?"
"Because I told Sting we would wait until Minerva got back. She isn't back yet so you can play by yourself until she does."
"AAAAGGHHH!" he screamed as he twirled around and ruffled his own hair.
Just as he was about to walk out of my room and possibly head home my mom entered.
"Lucy dear," mom said softly "there's a boy at the door for you."
Natsu and I made eye contact and immediately I jumped off my bed and raced him downstairs. As we raced down the short hallway I shoved him into a wall and took the stairs two at a time. But that wasn't enough to stop the dare devil from sliding down the rail and jumping off only to smack right into the door.
"NATSU!" I yelled furiously as I jumped off the last stair. "You could have broken our door!"
"But I didn't." He smiled smugly as he sat on the floor, rubbing his arm that smacked the door.
I tried to suppress a laugh but was unsuccessful. I rolled my eyes and turned my attention to the door. I opened it to reveal a spiky haired blonde with soccer shorts, a soccer shirt, soccer shoes and socks, and a soccer ball in hand.
"Hey Sting." I rocked back and forth nervously.
"Oh great." Natsu stood up still rubbing his arm and stood next to me. "What do you want?"
Sting narrowed his eyes at pink head and then turned his attention to me. Smiling he said, "Hey Lucy, Minerva is back so I figured you would want to play soccer?"
"Yeah! Let me get changed and we'll meet at your park." I replied excitedly.
After Sting had left with a smile on his face and an even bigger one on mine, I closed the front door and ecstatically ran up to my room to change. Forgetting that a certain pink haired, soccer loving best friend was still there. He quietly trailed behind me with his brows furrowed and mouth at a slant. I was so overwhelmed by my excitement I could hardly hear him stomp up each step as I changed into my soccer gear.
"Hey Nat-!" I stopped as I turned around and got a face full of his. Our noses were just barely touching and I could feel the air that left his nostrils from his agitated breathing. "Hey Natsu! Sting just came by we can go play soccer now." I smiled.
"Yeah I know. I was there Luce."
"You were? Well don't just stand there go get changed. I'll call the guys and let them know." And I ran downstairs to call our team.
Natsu went home and got changed as one by one each of our teammates showed up at my house, ready in their gear.
"What's up Lucy." Gray greeted as I opened the door for him.
"Natsu is still moping at his house. You mind going to get him while we wait for Jet and Elfman?" I asked.
"Sure. Be right back." He turned on his heels and headed next door.
A few minutes later we heard a very loud crash come from Natsus bedroom, some screams from Natsu and Gray yelling.
"3, 2, 1…" Loke counted down nonchalantly.
Gray burst through the door with a soccer ball in his left hand and a hurting pink head in his right. The raven haired stripper had dragged pink head by his ear out of his room and to my house.
"Ow! Gray, let go already! We're here aren't we?!" Natsu pleaded with his friend to let go of his aching earlobe.
Enjoying himself, Gray side glanced Natsu and let go when he saw his pink haired friends face.
"Are you crying?" Gray asked teasingly.
"No!" Natsu shouted back as he nursed his ear and wiped the water from his eyes. "I was looking at the ground the whole time and got some dust in my eyes."
"Sure flamebrain whatever you say." Gray laughed to himself at this small victory.
"So what are we waiting for?" Natsu asked aloud.
"Jet and Elfman. They should be here any minute." I replied.
As if on cue the doorbell rang and Gray swung it open.
"Alright lets go. Lucy, lead the way." Loke gestured with one hand.
"And how about you tell us about how they play on the way over?" Jet added in.
I straighted up, confident and empowered at being the leader of this group. For once, I knew everything. The way to the park, the way the team works, and how Sting and Rogue are better than Gray and Natsu combined. It was a feeling I wouldn't get to experience often so I took advantage. As we made our way to the park I told them everything I learned about them while playing together. It was a short, fifteen minute walk but it was enough time to tell them everything and also discuss counter measures.
"So our main concern is keeping Sting and Rogue apart right?" Elfman concluded.
"Right. Apart they can hold their own against any of us, but they aren't as lethal. Together, well, you'll see." I told them as we arrived to the field.
"Yo Lucy!" Sting waved his arm.
As we approached the Sabertooth kids the atmosphere took a sharp turn.
"So this is your team huh?" He smiled.
"Yeah, what of it?" Natsu puffed out his chest and stepped forward.
Orga mimicked his action only to be stopped by Sting.
"I guess you don't get complimented much, huh?" Sting looked my best friend up and down. "Anyway, who's team leader?"
"I am." Natsu stepped up yet again.
"Uh, no, you aren't." Gray pulled pinky back to his spot.
"What? Yes I am." Natsu turned to him, temper rising.
"No Natsu, you aren't." Loke stepped in. "Since Lucy has played with them before she's captain for today."
"Yea Natsu. Be a man and let her have the spot for today." Elfman added.
"Okay so we all agree Luce is the team captain, yes?" Sting intervened.
"Yup." Everyone answered together.
"Rogue."
Without saying another word to him Rogue brought out a long stick. Sting took it in one hand and stuck it on the ground between us.
"Ladies first."
I put my hand at the red mark on the lower part of the stick and Sting put his above mine. We each took a turn placing one hand above the others until we got to the top. When there was no more stick going vertical he placed his hand flat on top and I placed mine above his.
"Looks like you get the ball first." He said with a smirk.
Each of our teams took our places on the field with even matches in each position. On our side, Loke was goalie, Elfman as a defender, Jet as an attacker, Gray and Natsu as right and left midfielders and me as the striker. On team Sabertooth, Minerva as goalie, Orga as defender, Rufus as an attacker, Sting and Rogue as left and right midfielders and Yukino as their striker. The battle would be tough but it was an even playing field. I dropped the ball at my feet and took a breath. I'm the team captain for today, its my job to lead these guys to victory. I could feel their intense, competitive vibes like flames on my back. I drew my leg back and flung it forward launching the ball into Sabers area. My teammates ran ahead of me colliding with our opponents in a battle for territory and the ball.
Eh I don't really like how I ended this chapter but maybe I'll change it in the future when my imagination is more inspired. Anyway as always please review and remember that constructive criticism is always welcome, destructive critiscm is not. Until next time
