Magnolia, 4 Years Later
Not long after Igneel and Natsu had left Crocus, Jude Heartfilia had thought it wise to move further away from where the fighting was. Lucy was happy that all of her friend's parents had felt the same and that they had all moved to Magnolia together so she didn't have to worry about losing touch with them. The fighting was now at Crocus' gates, had been for the last year now. Right before that had happened, they had received word that the king and queen of the Alvarez Empire had died in a freak accident and there had been a brief period of hope that maybe now they could work out a peaceful end to this war.
A hope that was soon dashed as their son, Zeref Alvarez, blamed Fiore just as much, if not more for his brother's kidnapping as his parents had. He even went so far as to say that King Toma had been behind the death of his parents, but since the fire had burned so hot there were no bodies left to be found to say just how they died. Zeref had launched an even more aggressive campaign of attack the moment after his coronation and thus, Crocus finally saw war.
The only thing keeping Zeref from completely overwhelming the capital was the well-built wall and the great minds of Fiore's top strategists. Those still living in Fiore were too scared to try to leave now, even though Crocus wasn't completely surrounded and it was much more dangerous to stay in the city then to leave it. Suppliers still ran to and from the city, but Lucy had heard rumors that a dragon was the one doing most of the supplying. She often wondered if it was Igneel or another dragon. Shaking her head to clear her thoughts, she got back on task. Her mother had asked her to pick up some things at the store and had even given her a little extra money in case she saw a book she wanted.
Lucy did end up finding a book that she found interesting, it was about dragons. The shop owner tried to dissuade her, saying "You probably won't like it young miss. It's not a story but actual facts about dragons, written by one called Grandeeney." "Great, I'll definitely take it now." Lucy said with a smile, earning a befuddled look from the man as he rang up her purchase. Why a kid so young would want to read a true story about dragons, he didn't know.
Later that afternoon, Lucy poured over the book from her position at the top of the tower with the slide on it at the playground. She wasn't blocking the way to the slide or anything, she just liked the view from there, which she would sometimes blankly stare out at as she digested the information she was reading. Seeing the book had brought back the memories of her friend for a day, Natsu. Not that he was ever far from her thoughts. She hoped that Happy was keeping him company.
She smiled as she looked down at the book, thinking "Well at least if I run into him again I can tell him everything I learned about dragons!" The man had been somewhat wrong. The book was mainly facts about the dragons but there were some stories of their lore and such included, as well as some personal stories about Grandeeney, including ones about her human daughter, a baby girl called Wendy. Lucy looked up from her book once more as she softly questioned out loud, "I wonder what it's like being raised by a dragon?"
"Why would you want to know that Lucy?" came the voice of her best friend, Levy, as she sat down beside her. "Oh just because of this book that I'm reading about dragons that is written by a dragon. She is raising a human girl named Wendy and I couldn't help thinking how I would feel if I was in her shoes, at least once she gets a little older." Lucy replied. Of course, Lucy wasn't sure when this book was printed exactly, Wendy could be older then her for all she knew. Anyways, just as she had promised all those years ago, she had never said a word to anyone about Igneel really being a dragon, not even to her mom or Levy. That wasn't to say she hadn't almost slipped before, but she always caught herself before she did say anything.
Levy leaned over to look at the book, an interested expression on her face as she asked "When you're done, can I read it?" Lucy smiled at her friend and said "Of course, don't we always share our books?" Levy laughed, before answering "True, in fact I'm not always sure which ones are mine and which ones are yours." They both laughed, for they both had to admit that it was possible that their collections were pretty well merged at this point. The only time that really mattered was when it was bedtime and they had a particular book they wanted to read and couldn't find it because it was on the other's bookshelf.
Gray called up to them from the ground "Hey guys, it's going to be getting dark soon." "Gray we don't have to worry about a curfew here, remember?" Levy teased. Gray chuckled and said "I know, but I have to watch out for you, remember, I'm the oldest." "By a year!" Lucy said, finishing by sticking out her tongue. The three friends just laughed as Levy said "You just like to claim to be the oldest when Erza isn't around, after all she is older than you." "Only by two years!" Gray said, teasing Lucy by copying the tone she had used and setting them all to laughing again.
As she wiped tears from her eyes, Lucy said "I guess Gray is right though, it is getting dark. Mom said she was going to show me some constellations again tonight, do you guys want to join us?" Her two friends agreed to this and, after quick stops at both of their houses to ask their parents' permission, the three friends made their way to the Heartfilia house. Layla was outside waiting for them and smiled her welcome to the two who would be joining them.
"No Erza today?" Layla asked as she and the children walked to the park. "No, she entered into a cake eating contest and while she won the prize, her stomach has been saying she lost. She said she's swearing off cake, but we'll see about that." Lucy answered her mother, everyone chuckling as this was the fourth time Erza had done this, each time swearing off cake only to request some the moment she was feeling better. As Layla started pointing out the different constellations, Lucy couldn't help but wonder what Natsu was doing. Little did she know he was looking at the same exact star as she was at that very minute.
XXX
Something drew Natsu's attention to a star in the sky and he stared at it for a long time before Happy broke into his thoughts. "What are you doing Natsu?" Happy asked. "Just looking at the stars." Natsu replied. "Are you looking for Igneel?" Happy asked the twelve year old boy. Natsu frowned and lowered his gaze from the sky. Igneel had been missing for about a month now. He had taken a supply of food and such to Crocus and those left in it, just as he did every month, but unlike every other month, this time he didn't return.
Another thing that bothered him was he felt sure his father had told him something before he left, but what it was he couldn't remember. He knew it was important, yet any time he started to focus on it, it slipped through the cracks and just left him feeling frustrated.
Happy felt bad for reminding his friend of his missing father, watching as the pink haired boy clenched and unclenched his hands. Natsu felt like a failure, he hadn't been able to take a dragon form and while his father had told him right before leaving it would take years, if it was even possible for a human to do so, before he could, Natsu couldn't help but feel like if he had been able to go with his dad on this trip he could have prevented whatever kept Igneel from coming home.
Natsu, returned his gaze to the sky, determination seeping into his eyes as he said to Happy, "Tomorrow, we'll head out for Crocus and see if we can't find Igneel. Maybe Lucy is still living there and can help us."
The hope of finding his father and possibly seeing his friend, filled Natsu with a peace that allowed him to get a good night's sleep, the first he had had since Igneel went missing. Happy didn't wake him in the morning, rather he let his friend's body recover from the strain the lack of sleep had caused it. It was late afternoon before Natsu woke up, only hunger causing him to do so. Seeing the hour it was, Natsu agreed with Happy to spend one more night in the cave before heading out, eating before once again failing back into the comfort of sleep.
XXX
Several days later, Natsu dragged his weary feet into Crocus. Happy's gasp of surprise was the first thing that started really making him look around and he was stunned by how much had changed since his visit here four years earlier. Many places were boarded up and only a few had smoke coming from the chimneys. "Where is everyone?" Natsu questioned aloud. "Hey, what are you doing there!?" came a voice from behind Natsu and Happy. The two turned towards the soldier, but before Natsu could answer the man he said "You're not from around here, are you boy. Bet you're a spy for the Alvarez Empire. Come on, you aren't welcome in Crocus."
"But…" Natsu said, trying to say he was looking for his father, but the man cut him off by saying "Quiet. Out you go!" By this time they had reached the gate and a few other soldiers had joined him in herding out the boy and the Exceed. Natsu decided not to press it, he could feel the tension in the air and smell the fear coming off from the men. They weren't trying to be rude or mean, they were all just running scared.
"Come on Happy." Natsu said, "I don't think Igneel is here. His smell isn't strong in the air and he would have come to us by now if he was." Natsu dragged his feet as Happy sadly watched him, worried for his friend and feeling bad that they hadn't been able to find Igneel. Natsu tried getting close to the Alvarez Empire lines, to see if he could smell Igneel over there, maybe they had caught him. But the troops there thought he was a spy for Fiore so he was pushed back once again.
Dejected, another thought sprung into his head. When he was in Crocus, he had been close to places that he would have expected to smell Lucy's scent on. While his memory of her scent may not be as strong as it once was, he knew without a doubt that Lucy had not been in Crocus for some time. Had the Alvarez Empire taken her captive? Had her family fled Crocus? Where had she and the kids she had introduced him to gone? Would he ever see his friend again?
So you are probably going wait, why the heck is Zeref's last name Alvarez? Well since Natsu has been going around with Igneel who I gave the last name of Dragneel in his human form, if Zeref's last name was Dragneel people would have been all hey this Igneel dude has a kid about the same age as your brother would be and he isn't related to you/is a dragon, maybe that is your missing brother. So I gave Zeref the same last name as his kingdom, much like the king of Fiore's last name is Fiore.
Answers to Reviews!
I Live FairyTail: Yay, I'm glad you liked it!
Ushindeshi: Thanks!
FireShifter: Yay, I'm glad you thought so :D
Trollka21: So glad you loved it!
CrazyZaika: I'm glad you like that :D Hope this was satisfactory :D
FTAnt: Adventure! Danger! Mystery! Suspense! …. Well maybe not all those things, who knows, we'll see ;) XD
