Hey everyone! I hope you all like the story so far! Oh god… Some juicy stuff is gonna be happening! I'm also changing my updating schedule to every 2nd day... It's just better and more convenient for me. Well, without further ado or whatever it is… Enjoy!
Disclaimer- I unfortunately do not own Fairy Tail and the songs in this chapter
Lucy jumped off the bus, followed by Wendy and then the rest of the members. They walked around, stretching their legs after 4 hours on a bus. Natsu however, face-planted off the bus from his motion sickness.
Taking in Gray's advice, Lucy shakily approached the sick boy.
"Jeez Natsu… I would've thought you'd gotten used to your sickness by now!" Lucy crouched over him and playfully punched his arm.
Natsu's eyes widened and he lifted his head, the sickness feeling faded away as her (as cliché as it sounds) angelic voice rung in his head.
"So you've already gotten over it? That's great! Now we can go exploring!" Lucy smiled sweetly, stood up and extended her arm out for him to grab.
Natsu smiled and stood up. His smile was genuine. "Thanks… Luce."
Gray nodded his head in thanks to Lucy. Now that Natsu was back, Gray decided to have some fun that he missed. Kicking Natsu's arse, the raven-haired male began running.
"Catch me if you can flame-brain!" He called.
"What did you call me ice princess?!" Natsu began running and tripped on their suitcases, causing him to drag Gajeel to the ground as well.
"OI! SALAMANDER!"
"Would you idiots please shut up, grab your bags and follow me! And Gray! Put some clothes on!" Jellal exclaimed, clearly exasperated.
Lucy laughed to herself, glad everything was back to the way it was. Suddenly, her phone began to ring. Answering it, her face instantly heated up. She noticed Natsu roll his eyes and he began walking after grabbing his bags.
"Oh! Hey Sting… Yea I just arrived. No, no I'm not hurt. We got here safely. Don't worry. And yes, I did make up with Natsu… I'm really happy." Lucy grabbed her bags too and began following everyone, close behind the pink-haired boy. "Of course I'll stay safe, you better stay safe too ok? I'll call you tomorrow… No way am I calling you twice every day! I have a life you know!" Lucy giggled into her phone, totally engrossed into the conversation, ignoring the eye rolls given by Natsu.
Natsu cringed as he heard Sting in the phone say: I love you.
Lucy hesitated for a bit. She didn't love him, did she? She wasn't quite sure yet but the blonde didn't want to throw the word around like it was nothing. Instead she said, "I miss you already. Bye!" (A/N did you know? If you say 'I love Youtube' really fast it sounds like you're saying 'I love you too'! It's classic!) Hanging up the phone, Lucy swung her arm around Natsu's shoulders. "So what should we explore first? How about a walk on the beach? Natsu?"
Natsu sighed. "Why don't you walk on the beach with your boyfriend?" He ran a few metres ahead, standing next to Jellal. Lucy frowned.
"Don't worry Lucy. Just try a little harder with that idiot." Gray pat her back lightly.
"I am trying! He's just jealous!"
"Maybe you're going about it the wrong way. Try not to talk about or to Sting when Natsu is around, are you ok with that?" Wendy suggested, popping up on the other side of her.
"Yea… If it'll get our friendship back together, I'll try anything." Lucy grumbled.
"That's the spirit! Ok! Let's go Lucy!" The small girl held Lucy's hand and led her to the front of the group, a few feet in front of Natsu.
Arriving at their cabin, there were 2 rooms, meaning 3 people sharing 1. Jellal grabbed out his clipboard and cleared his throat.
"Ok! Gray, you're with Gajeel and me in the room on the left. Wendy, you're with Lucy and Natsu, in the room to the right. Are you guys good to go?" The azure-haired male looked around and before any protests were made, he continued. "Unpack your bags quickly and then meet in the kitchen for where and how we'll be doing our band practise. I'll give you guys half an hour." Grabbing his things, Jellal left.
"Let's go Wendy! I'll help you unpack quickly so we can go do some exploring!" Lucy smiled sweetly and dragged the small girl into their room.
It was cosy with carpet under their feet. A small window was straight in front of them and there was a small bathroom to their right. The beds were on either side of the room, accompanied with closets and bedside tables.
"Which bed would you like Lucy-nee?"
"Um… I'll take the one on the right. But there isn't a third bed for Natsu. Maybe Jellal made a mistake." Lucy thought out loud.
"Nope. There's no mistake. We're on a low budget so this is all we could afford." Natsu shrugged, throwing his bags carelessly onto the floor.
"Where are you going to sleep then Natsu-nii?"
"I'll sleep on the floor." Lucy offered.
"No way! I'll sleep on the floor!" The male insisted.
"It's ok, I'll go to reception and ask if I could have some extra blankets and pillows to make the ground more comfortable. You guys stay here and unpack, I'll be back soon!" Lucy waved as she closed the door behind her.
"You better thank her later Oniichan…" Wendy glared before opening the closet.
"Yea… I sure will."
~ Half an hour later ~
"Oi! Idiots! You ready to go yet?" Jellal called from the kitchen.
They all came out of their rooms, tired and hungry.
"Are we going to go get food?" Natsu asked groggily.
"Soon. So this is our schedule for the rest of the day. It's only 1 in the afternoon so we have a long time till night. First off, we're going to go to this music convention thing. It'll help us with being professional and how to handle fans and work under pressure. I've booked us a session with the local band legends here for free, since I know their manager. That's also why you didn't need to bring your instruments, they will provide it for you. After that, it'll be around 5. So I'll give you guys a treat. We can go for a dip in the ocean. And don't worry Natsu, somewhere between all that chaos, we get food. Are we all cool with that?" They all nodded.
"Ok… Can we all get going now though? Gray-nii is starting to strip and Gajeel-nii is eating metal again. I think they're a little too hungry." Wendy giggled.
They all laughed and went out the door.
After the meal and music convention, the group headed to a small apartment where amazing music boomed out the windows.
"Is this… Is this the place where the local band legends live and practise?" Lucy asked, shocked.
"Yea… It's a little run-down, I can admit that, but these guys are gonna get us places, don't you worry. Let's go in, they're probably just tuning our instruments now." Jellal opened the front door. "Kazuki! Yoru! Kito! Raijin! Wakana!" The boy called from the bottom of the stairs.
A young woman came up behind him and smacked him with a wooden spoon.
"You forgot about me Jellal." Her hard face softened into a smile, resembling someone else they knew.
"Takeshi! My favourite girl with a guy name friend!"
Everyone looked surprised. Natsu even hid behind Lucy.
"She… She's the exact same as Erza!" Gray gaped.
"Yep! All my friends that you're going to meet are exactly the same as us, not even kidding. I guess when I moved, I just made the same type of friends." Jellal shrugged.
"You're calling me the same as someone else?!" Takeshi whacked him over the head.
"You're the spitting image of Erza, Takeshi. Get over it." Gajeel placed a hand on her shoulder.
"Gaj! You're here!" The black-haired girl flung herself onto him.
"Yea… Hey Oneechan."
"Ok… now I'm thoroughly confused." Gray looked around.
"Oh! I'm sorry I haven't introduced myself! I'm Takeshi Redfox, Gajeel's older sister and Jellal and Erza's childhood friend. Me and Erza used to sword fight all the time but there was never a clear winner." The teen smiled.
"So… you're just as scary as Erza? And you're Gajeel's sister? That's full on." Natsu whimpered.
"Hi! I'm Lucy! What instrument do you play?" The blonde asked, acting like it was natural for someone to be just as strong as Erza.
"I prefer to play the drums because it helps get my anger out, but Raijin never lets me. So other than that, I'm just their manager. And if you were wondering, we live here. We dropped out of school, seeing as we're all orphans. Especially since Gajeel left me to go to a stupid school." She punched her brother in the arm which almost sent him tumbling.
"Oi! Jellal! Come up man! Long-time no see!" A voice from upstairs called.
"Raijin…" Jellal sighed.
The group made their way upstairs, Takeshi in front. She opened the door revealing teenagers having a fun jam session.
Suddenly, they all looked up, ran and tackled Gajeel and Jellal to the ground.
"Took you long enough to come back!" The girl sobbed. "Oh! You have a girl in your band?"
"Yea, she's just like you too… Oi bunny girl, go say hi." Gajeel pushed everyone off of him and stood up, leaving Jellal sprawled on the floor.
"Hi! I'm Lucy." She stuck her hand out so that the other female could shake, but I guess the brown-haired girl had other ideas.
"Hi!" She hugged Lucy tightly. "I'm Wakana! But you can just call be Ana. Nice to meet you!"
"Um… Thanks…?"
"Oh! Natsu! Go over there to the drummer. I think you'll like him as he is just like you." Jellal suggested.
Natsu walked over and introduced himself. "Hey man. I'm Natsu."
"I'm Raijin. Can I ask you to do me a favour?" Natsu nodded. "Can you go kill that guy Yoru over there for me? He's annoys the shit out of me!"
"Oh! Oh! Can you go kill that guy Gray over there? He annoys me so much too!"
The two teens laughed and bro-fisted, knowing there'd be good friends.
"Gray. Yoru is yours." Gajeel gestured, talking to a guy called Kito.
"Ok, thanks. What about Wendy? Should she hang out with Wakana?"
Gajeel nodded and Wendy ran over to the girls.
"OI! THIS ISN'T A SOCIAL HUB! WE HAVE WORK TO DO!" Takeshi shouted, catching everyone's attention. "I have assigned all of you to a partner, so listen carefully. Jellal's group, my group has a lot of knowledge so ask any questions or practise your instrument with them, showing them how much you already know."
"But… But… Takeshi! Assigning people to do things is my job!" Jellal whinged.
"Suck it up princess! Gray, you're with Yoru. Gajeel, you're obviously with Kito. Natsu, you're with Kazuki. Jellal, you're with Raijin and Lucy, you're with Wakana. Ok guys. You have your own rooms to practise in. Jellal told me you'd be coming back every day so be prepared for a lot of hard work. You may do what you want now."
The ruckus started again as instruments were moved and teaching was taking place.
"Thanks again for doing this for me, Takeshi." Jellal smiled.
"It's not just for you, I'm also doing this for the friendship we had and of course, you're new friends." Out of the blue, she smacked his head again. "And you never told me you had a girlfriend! Jeez Jellal!"
"Who told you that?! I don't have a girlfriend! She's just… wait a minute! You already know who it is, don't you?"
"Dude… I've known since we were kids. Just ask Erza, she'll feels the same way."
Suddenly, a loud crash sounded off. Natsu and Raijin placed their hands behind their back, pretending it wasn't them. They could never avoid Takeshi's wrath.
"BOYS! Natsu! You're supposed to be practising with Kazuki! Raijin! You're supposed to not be breaking things!" She scolded.
"Aye sir!"
The boys ran off, Raijin dragging Jellal away.
"Wait! Show me what you guys have first… I wanna see what we're working with for the next 3 weeks." Takeshi demanded.
"Um… What song are we going to do then?" Gray pondered.
"Well… This band's strong point is the emotion they put into their performance." Jellal explained. "So I suggest we do the most emotional song we have."
"So… something cry worthy?" Lucy bit her lip and thought out loud.
"What about… you know… that hella emotional song that Luce and I sing?" Natsu shrugged.
"Ohh! That one… Yea ok." Everyone else chimed in.
"Well? Take your instruments and make us feel something."
{Lucy- Vocals, Gray- Guitar, Gajeel- Guitar, Jellal- Drums, Natsu- Vocals, Wendy- Violin} [Lucy- Italics, Natsu- Bold, together- Underline] (What Hurts The Most by Rascal Flatts and a female vocal) (A/N I was actually going to do 'Say Something' but naaaa)
I can take the rain on the roof of this empty house
That don't bother me
I can take a few tears now and then and just let 'em out
I'm not afraid to cry every once in a while
Even though goin' on with you gone still upsets me
There are days every now and again I pretend I'm okay
But that's not what gets me
What hurts the most was being so close
And havin' so much to say
And watchin' you walk away
And never knowin' what could've been
And not seein' that lovin' you
Is what I was trying to do
It's hard to deal with the pain of losin' you everywhere I go
But I'm doing it
It's hard to force that smile when I see our old friends and I'm alone
Still harder gettin' up, gettin' dressed, livin' with this regret
But I know if I could do it over
I would trade, give away all the words that I saved in my heart
That I left unspoken
What hurts the most was being so close
And havin' so much to say
And watchin' you walk away
And never knowin' what could've been
And not seein' that lovin' you
Is what I was trying to do, oh
What hurts the most was being so close
And havin' so much to say
And watchin' you walk away
And never knowin' what could've been
And not seein' that lovin' you
Is what I was trying to do
(Not seeing that lovin' you)
That's what I was trying to do, ooh
"Wow…" Was all the other band could say. "How about a little more hard-core?"
They looked at each other a nodded.
{Lucy- Piano/Keyboard, Gray- Guitar and Backup Vocals, Gajeel- Guitar, Jellal- Drums, Natsu- Vocals} [Natsu- Bold, Gray- Italics] (Still Worth Fighting For by My Darkest Days)
So hard to let go
And I still hear the sound
Of your voice singin' in my head
I can't surrender
'Cause the rope's slowly coming apart
But hangin' by a thread
It's gone on
For too long
And this is it
So take a look into my eyes one last time
So we never forget
The way we were before
When we came alive at the moment we met
This is still worth fighting
Still worth fighting for
A glass that's half empty
Won't wash away the mistakes
It only makes a mess
It's worth defending
A tiny glimpse of what it would take
To make us better yet
It's gone on
For too long
And this is it
So take a look into my eyes one last time
So we never forget
The way we were before
When we came alive at the moment we met
This is still worth fighting for
A love that wants to live
I'll give you all I've got to give
So let's try one last time
So we never forget
This is still worth fighting
Still worth fighting for
Now that we know just who we are
Now that we've finally come this far
I'm ready for one more battle scar
'Cause this is still worth fighting for
So take a look into my eyes one last time
So we never forget the way we were before
When we came alive at the moment we met
This is still worth fighting for
A love that wants to live
I'll give you all I've got to give
So let's try one last time
So we never forget
This is still worth fighting for
(I'm ready for one more battle scar)
This is still worth fighting for
(I'm ready for one more battle scar)
This is still worth fighting
We're still worth fighting for
"Alrighty then… Jellal, Gajeel, I approve of your new friends!" Wakana gave them the thumbs up.
"I wasn't looking for your approval…" Gajeel grumbled.
"Ok! Let's get this started. I know exactly what your strengths and weaknesses are."
~ A few hours later ~
"Thank you so much again guys. We really appreciate it." Lucy smiled.
"It's ok! You're coming back every day so it's going to be so fun!" Wakana beamed.
"See you tomorrow!" The group exclaimed.
Walking back to their cabin, Natsu's stomach grumbled, not much to everyone's surprise.
"Are you guys too tired? Do you still want to go swimming?" Jellal asked.
"I think today's been a long day, no swimming for me. But we're all just hungry…" Wendy clutched her belly.
"Alright… Pizza it is!" Natsu shouted, happy as ever.
~ Back at the cabin ~
"Jellal! Natsu and I are just going for a walk on the beach! Don't wait up for us!" Lucy called from the front door.
Jellal popped his head out of his room. "Sure guys. Just don't come back too late and don't get kidnapped. Oh! And don't get have too much fun." He smirked and went back inside.
The beach was only a mere 30 metres away from their cabin, which didn't take them long to get there.
"So Luce… How's your relationship with Sting going? He doesn't seem like such a bad guy." Natsu shoved his hands into his jacket pocket.
"Yea… He's been quite good to me… However I feel that there's something missing when I'm with him." Lucy rubbed her shivering arms. She was cold and also hesitant about telling Natsu about the life she didn't want him to know about.
Warm fabric wrapped around her body, looking down, Natsu smiled. "Don't worry Luce. You can tell me anything that's troubling you."
"Thanks… I really appreciate it. I… I think I love Sting."
The words shot through Natsu like a bullet.
Next time:
"Skinny dipping! It's called skinny dipping! And while we're on that topic, why ARE you skinny dipping?!"
Wait… who's skinny dipping? And will the other person join in?
