Disclaimer: I do not own either Fairy Tail or the Xeno game series...But one day, I will! Hiro Mashima owns Fairy Tail and Namco and the game creators (Too many to list) own the Xeno game franchise!
Notes: Okay, so I know a lot of you have no clue what Xenosaga or even Xeno gears is. A brief breakdown according to my mind. As before I ask that if you don't know the games, please go and google them. I have found that you can actually watch all the cutscenes from Xenosaga Episodes...if you have a lot of free time.
Time Skip a week later
I snapped my eyes open as the train came to a lurching stop, giving me a view of the ever-familiar, bustling train station in Magnolia. Letting out a soft sigh, I sat up as the feeling of being watched washed over me. Slowly, I turned my head away from the window to find Erza sitting across from me, staring intently with darkened brown eyes. Knowing that I must look a sight with sleep-puffy eyes on top of purple bags under my eyes, all I could do was smile at her. In her lap was Natsu passed out and drooling a bit in her lap. I turned my gaze from them to the person sitting to my immediate right, only to confirm what I already knew - Gray was sitting there slouched, arms over his chest, oddly enough with all his clothes on, staring at me too.
"Lucy, are you sure you're okay? You look like the living dead," Gray said softly, worry, lacing his deep baritone voice.
Turning my head forward, I dropped my gaze to look at my hands in my lap. I knew where this was going since it had been happening for the last four days. I still didn't want to talk about it, but they had begun to pester me. Taking a deep breath, I stood up quickly, wobbling on my legs before my balance decided to orientate me. Snorting annoyance, I walked to our cabin's door and opened it.
With a glance over my shoulder, I snapped, "I am okay. Thank you for your worry, but this is something that I want to deal with on my own. Please, just leave it alone. I am going to go report to Mira and the Master that we are back, so take your time." I knew my eyes flashed with anger at them as I finished speaking.
Not waiting to hear what they had to say, I quickly marched down the hall to the exit. The dream hadn't bothered me for the first few days of our mission. When we reached our destination, I had gone to explore the small city and had somehow come across a small, hidden bookshop. With Mira's words banging around in my head, I went in and asked if they had any books on dreams. The lady looked up, blinking, a small smile curving her heavily painted lips, as she pointed out the section. I was a bit shocked, if not outright amazed at the number of books they had there, and quickly got to scanning the books, thanking the Kami's silently that I had brought my special reading glasses.
It was a bit hard to choose books from their titles, but eventually, I found one that struck a chord with me. It was titled Dreams, Notions, Understanding, and How To Control Them. Immediately, I opened up the book and read the small excerpt. It spoke of Lucid dreaming in great detail and how your subconsciousness recognizes it and allows you to manipulate the dream to some degree. This intrigued me greatly, and so I bought the book and a few others by that author. The knowledge I learned about dreaming in the coming days set me up for where I was now.
Our mission required us to travel out into the local wilderness to find the bandits' hideout and take them out. Dead or alive, according to the job request, though there was a bigger award if we took them alive. Amazingly enough, as each day went by, I started to apply the knowledge from the books at night to my dreams. I had quickly learned that when I looked down to see what I was touching, I would immediately be woken up in a cold sweat. So by the second night out, in the dream, I was looking to the left, right, and up into the sky. Hell, even back behind me, I looked, and all I had discovered was that there were beautiful white feathers on the ground to either side of me and nothing above except more feathers falling. Behind me was just my footsteps in the sand, leaving me only one thing left to do. Look down at what my hand was touching.
The effect of trying to manipulate my dreams was exhausting my body, but thankfully, my teammates were not too picky or anything about it. Though they did keep asking me what was going on because they were anxious about my health. Still, with all this, we completed the mission with barely any hitches, bringing almost all of the bandits back alive. Since there was no damage done to the city, just the surrounding forest, we got all of the reward and extra. Now, I was back in Magnolia with the Jewels to pay my rent for at least three months straight, plus extra for food and personal stuff. I was ecstatic, and the fact that the guild was coming into view, only made me giddier. I knew what I was planning to do was going to make my teammates upset, but I needed the time alone to get this dreaming stuff sorted out in a quiet place.
"Hello, everyone!" I called out as I quickly made my way to the bar.
"Welcome back, Lucy! Where is the rest of Team Natsu?" the white-haired take-over mage asked, scrunching her eyebrows together.
With a small sigh, I reached into my bag and pulled out my journal, placing it on the counter and sliding it towards Mira, whose eyes lit up like a child at Christmas. I pressed my lips into a small line to hide my oncoming smile as she lifted it and began to flip through it quickly. After a few minutes, she closed it and looked at me, her blue eyes darkening a little, as she finally got a good look at me.
"Lucy, this is amazing, but you're overdoing it. You look like you haven't gotten any sleep in the week you've been gone. Go report to Master, and please consider some time off, away from the guild, to catch up on your sleep. You collapsing or getting ill will only cause your friends to worry more," Mira whispered as a sad smile turned the corners of her lips.
When she finished speaking, I stepped away from the bar and nodded, before turning to make my way across the worn wooden floor to the Master's office. I gave a small nod of my head to Team Raijin sitting next to the door like always and inwardly flinched at the various looks of shock, worry, and horror on their faces as they took in my appearance. Swallowing a retort, I lifted my hand and knocked on the door to the guild office, not having to wait more than a few seconds before I heard the worn-out voice of our Guild Master Makarov telling me to enter. Reaching my hand out, I grabbed the handle, turning it and pushing the door open so that I could enter.
"Good afternoon, Master. I'm here to report that we finished our job, and with no damage or casualties," I said softly, my eyes resting on the small, bald figure sitting behind the desk.
"Now? That has to be a first for Team Natsu. It makes me feel a few years younger," he said with a wry chuckle as he lifted his eyes to look at me, only to frown before speaking again, "Child, what is wrong? You look like you haven't slept in a while. Will you...or can you tell me what is going on?"
I nodded my head only once before stepping towards him. "Well, I have had recurring dreams, and this is the result. This is why I would like to request some time off to take a vacation by myself, Master Makarov."
The smile on his face, as well as a nod of his head, was all the answer I needed. Letting out the breath I didn't know I had started to hold, I laughed happily and waved goodbye to him. Turning, I made my way back out of the office to hear the loud voice of Natsu as the rest of my team entered the guild. Their presence lets me know what my next task was, and I wasn't looking forward to it. Closing the door behind me and leaning against it, I watched Gray and Natsu suddenly got into name-calling the match with shoving involved like usual. Erza, on the other hand, was making her way towards me pointedly, her eyes pinning me with a look that said I was not getting away this time. Slowly I nodded my head, letting her know that I would talk to her. Then pushing myself away from the door, I met her halfway across the room, motioning to a nearby table.
Soon enough, Gray and Natsu joined us after Erza yelled at them for fighting again. I knew there was a small smile on my lips at the antics of my team and family. Never could it be said that I didn't respect and love them dearly. I watched them act and react in their usual manner, but after a while, I cleared my throat rather loudly to get their attention, as I kept my gaze on the scarred wood of the tabletop. When it finally got quiet, I knew I had to start explaining things.
"Thank you all for worrying about me, and once more for taking care of me on this mission. I owe you guys some sort of explanation as to why I am looking like I am right now. I have been having the same recurring dream since before the mission. It continued while we were away, and I'm sure in the coming days, I will keep having it. That is what has been taxing me," I said, my voice barely above a whisper as I finished speaking, raising my gaze to peek at each of them.
To my surprise and shock, they were all just silently looking at me, waiting for me to continue speaking. Ezra's face lit up as if she was highly interested in this knowledge, Gray had a slightly contemplative look on his face, though it looked rather dour. Natsu looked confused and was picking his nose with his pinky, which usually indicated he was either bored or didn't care. All this caused a warmth to spread through my chest as if the familiarity of it all warmed my heart, and I couldn't keep a small giggle from escaping my lips at the sight they all made.
"There you go, Lucy. That is the first time in a week that you have laughed. So, why don't you finish telling us what you need to tell us," Gray said, his voice warm yet distant?
Once more, I nodded my head, keeping my gaze on them. "Well, because I have been dreaming the same dream over and over again, I have done some minor research, and have found several things. This could be a precognitive dream, meaning that it can very much be an omen to an event in the near future for me. That's why I told the Master I am taking a vacation, on my own, without any of you there. I am going to the hotel and beach that we were supposed to train at for the Grand Magic Games, " I explained, my voice trailing off at the end.
Each of my friends' faces became blank, though their eyes showed me what they thought of it. Erza showed hurt and anger in her eyes, on top of the worry she had been attempting to mask. Gray once more looked thoughtful with hurt lacing his dark, cobalt blue eyes, and Natsu just sat there blank-faced with his jaw open as if to catch flies. Silently, I counted down from ten in my head before he jumped up and exploded.
"What! Wait, Luce, what do you mean alone? Why would you do that? We are your teammates, your family. You need us to protect you! Why would you go away alone?" His voice reverberated around the room, sounding hurt and angry, making the guild go silent.
I slumped slightly into my chair as if trying to hide from the gazes of my other guildmates. The heat rushed to my cheeks, letting me know I was thoroughly embarrassed by Natsu's outburst. Narrowing my eyes, I watched both Erza and Gray jerk him back down into his seat, before they looked at me, catching the angry look in my eyes. Being mentally and physically tired didn't help improve my mood in the least with his actions. In fact, it made me more irritable, and I stood up to look at Natsu rather pointedly.
Speaking loud enough for all of the guilds to hear me, I gave my reply to Natsu, my anger, and annoyance clear in my voice, "Yes, Natsu, without you or the rest of Team Natsu. I need some time to myself, away from my house and the guild. Everyone, at one point or another, needs time to themselves. What's going on right now is something that I want to resolve on my own, and it hurts me to hear you say that I basically can't be on my own without you and the rest of our team to protect me. I am not a helpless woman! That is why I am taking a vacation away from you guys, so there is no random breaking into my apartment at all hours of the day. This is final. I will be leaving in the morning."
Not waiting for a reply, I turned and marched away from the table to the door. Once outside, my anger faded away rapidly, making me feel ashamed of my outburst, and as I started down the hill towards the town, I felt my eyes begin to burn. Moments later, my tears built up and began to slip down my cheeks, leaving scorching twin trails. Lifting my left arm, I wiped them away before I shook my head and began to run towards my house, where I would start to pack up and get ready to leave in the morning.
TBC!