Hey, Readers!
I know it's been a long time. I just had a moment of dysfunction for two weeks because of Wonder Woman and Steve Trevor, AKA WONDERTREV. So yeah...you get what I mean? Have you watched the film? AHHHHHH! I'm a trash because of them!
Anyways, back to the story update. I know my absence is quite too long and my reason is not really a good excuse...but you know, when there is a SHIP that comes your way, you just become such a waste...oh my goodness, I'm drifting back to wondertrev. You see what I mean?
UH! Another anyways, so yeah. Here is the next chapter for the story. I'm sorry for the late update. I'm trying my best to get on track. So, pray for me.
OH, and I left a POLL on my profile. I'm requesting you, readers, to vote because it's about my UPDATING schedule. So yeah.
That's it! I hope you enjoy the chapter.
Love,
FairyTailxNaLu
P.S.
This is probably a short chapter. PEACE!
Chapter 18
Walking the hallway of the executive floor, Wendy excitedly headed for the office of her brother. As she keeps her pace faster than her mother, she couldn't help but feel impatient about how her mother is taking her time to walk while staring off at a spot beyond her.
"Mom," Wendy calls as she stops in the middle of the hall while her mother continued to stare off while she kept a slow pace, "Are you sure you're okay?"
When Grandine didn't stop walking despite being asked by her daughter, she stumbled to Wendy, making her snap out of her daze while the younger blunette yelped in surprise when her mother bumped her.
"Oh, my," Grandine exclaims as she stumbles along with her daughter. But to her relief, she is able to catch her footing while stabilizing her child, "I'm sorry," Grandine apologized to Wendy, who was shocked at their impact
"Mom!" Wendy alarmed with her mother's odd behavior, "What's wrong? Didn't you see me stand here?"
"I'm sorry, dear…" Grandine shook her head, "I'm out of my mind…"
"Is there any problem?" Wendy questions in concern
Shaking her head once again, Grandine gave an assuring smile to Wendy before she says, "Don't worry about me. I was just remembering someone,"
"Whoever that person must be really a troublesome person," Wendy comments as she furrows her brow to her mother
"Oh, she's not. She's the most genuine and kind person I've ever met. Perhaps, it's her absence I'm troubled about," Grandine then gave a soft smile as she remembers the death of her once friend
"Absence?" Wendy confusing asks
"She passed away," Grandine simply replies before she turns her daughter, who was stunned at her words, "Now, why don't we just head on to your brother's office and surprise him?" and with that Grandine nudged the younger girl to walk and head off to knock on Natsu's door.
After three knocks on the door and a soft sound of approval, Wendy excitedly opens the door and shouts, "Natsu-nii!"
Looking up from his work, Natsu had his eyes wide open as he sees his sister and mother by the doorway, "Mom! Wendy!" He then stood up to meet them halfway as they enter his office, "What are you guys doing here?" He asks as he hugs his mother and sister, whom he quickly twirls around after.
"We just came to get some things from your shelf," Grandine answers with a happy smile on her face
"Aww," Natsu whined, "I thought you missed me so much that you had to come by to see me," Natsu then frowned as he puts Wendy down
Laughing at her brother, Wendy shook her head as she mutters, "Well, that's also part of it. So, don't feel too bad," Wendy finished with a tap to her brother's shoulder
"Yeah right," Natsu snides before he breaks into a smile, "So, what stuff do you need?" He then looked at his mother who slowly sat down on the couch
"I'm not sure with Wendy," Grandine replies as she looks at her daughter who was happily grinning back to her
"The truth is..." Wendy then tackled her brother and hugged him, "I missed my brother! You barely come by the mansion,"
"Aww," Natsu softly smiles at his sister as he lightly ruffles her blue hair, "Sorry kiddo. I'm just busy..."
"Busy for the past two weeks?" Wendy sneers before she pulls away from her brother and headed to the couch, "What are you so busy about?"
Natsu then grins wide as he becomes excited to tell her the good news. Walking back to his table, he leaned backward to it and said, "Wendy, you know about the international art exhibit every year right?"
"Yeah. What about it?" Wendy asks back with a tilt of her head
"Well, your big brother was just able to close the deal that Magnolia would be the place for the international art exhibit..." Natsu said with a proud tone. Seeing the glow in Wendy's eyes as he said that, Natsu couldn't help but smile and chortle when Wendy leaped off the couch and happily sang in excitement.
"Oh my gosh!" Wendy exclaims, "Will master Gyorin participate?!"
"Master?" Natsu disbelievingly repeats, "He is not a master yet Wends,"
"Well, he is for me!" Wendy counters back then her face becomes dreamy, "He paints so well like he is painting a real life picture..."
"Oh-kay..." Natsu then looked at his mother with a confused gaze but his mother just shrugged with a smile on her face
"So! Will he participate?" Wendy asks again after she snaps out of her daydream
"Yep, he confirmed to display three artworks," Natsu said with glee in his voice
"Oh my gosh! I can't wait!" Wendy then twirls around the room but she quickly stops when she looked at her mother, "How about you mom? Who is your favorite artist? Maybe he or she would participate too!"
Chuckling at the enthusiasm of her daughter, Grandine gave a genuine smile to her as she says, "My favorite artist is Layla Heartfilia," a shiver then runs down to her body as audibly heard herself mention the name
"Natsu-nii! Will mom's favorite artist come too?!" Wendy excitedly questions
With Wendy's question, a sudden heavy feeling came upon the older blunette and the pink-haired president. Silence came inside the room, making Wendy a little uncomfortable with the sudden silence.
"How we wish Wendy..." Natsu softly replies before he stands up and walks to his chair. As Natsu sat down, Wendy came closer to his table and asked
"What do you mean you wish? You can contact her or something and ask her to join the event," Wendy then glanced at her mother, "Right, mom?"
"Dear," Grandine then stands and walks up to her daughter, "What your brother meant is we wish she is still alive along with her husband. They are one of the pioneer artists of our company and they are just the best,"
"Oh..." Wendy then trails off as she looks down to her shoes, "That's sad...I wish I could have met them and seen their works,"
"Well, you could still see their works," Natsu suddenly mutters, making Wendy look up at him, "One, the painting outside the hall, the one with a dandelion flower,"
"Yeah?" Wendy suddenly sparkles in excitement
"Ms. Layla Heartfilia painted that," Natsu then smiles when he saw Wendy beam in glee
"Really?! No wonder it's one of the best paintings I've seen!" Wendy exclaims
Chortling at his sister, Natsu adds, "And I also have one at home. It's the last painting Ms. Layla created before she passed away,"
Widening her eyes in astonishment, Wendy suddenly rounds the table and grabbed the arms of her brother as she said, "Oh my goodness! We should get home then! I want to see it!"
Laughing at his sister, Natsu nods his head as he says, "Alright kiddo! Let me just fix my stuff..."
And with that, somehow the heaviness of heart lifts away from Grandine and Natsu. At least, even if Layla and Jude are no longer walking on the soil of the earth, there are still people who would give appreciation and praise to their works. Masterpieces created by well-talented people they have loved.
As soon as the vehicle stops by the entrance of the Dragneel Mansion, Wendy hurriedly steps out of the car and pulled her brother out. Without waiting for her brother and mother, Wendy dashed inside and headed for the entertainment room, where her grandfather and father usually stay before dinner.
"Grandpa! Dad!" Wendy calls out as she runs towards the room, "We're back!" Wendy kisses her grandfather and father in a quick pace once she enters the room. With her speed, the two men were not able to reply back to her because the moment they were Wendy is already running out of the room.
"What is with Wendy?" The old man asked his son, who only shrugged and stared at the disappearing figure of her daughter.
Soon enough, Grandine and Natsu appears in the other room, making Igneel stand up from his seat to approach his wife.
"Dine, what is with Wendy?" Igneel asks as he stares at his daughter, who was tugging her brother up the stairs even if Natsu hasn't greeted the others yet
"Oh, don't mind her. She's just curious about something," Grandine replies before glancing at her children. When Wendy was able to pull Natsu up the second floor, Grandine looked back at Igneel and gave him a smile.
"Don't worry she's just being excited…" Grandine then tiptoed and kissed Igneel on the cheek before she side steps and greets her father-in-law
"Hi dad," Grandine sweetly greets as she embraced him
"Hello dear…" Kaito Dragneel answers back with the same gentleness, "What is with Wendy today? She seems to be more excited than usual,"
"Nothing special," Grandine replies back with a smile, "She's just excited about the International Art Exhibit and the idea that it would take place here in Magnolia,"
"Ohh…" Kaito, wide-eyed, nodded as a smile slowly appears on his face
"If that's the case, then what is the reason behind Wendy urgently pulling her brother?" Igneel asks this time as he returns to his previous seat
"She's…curious about a certain artist," Grandine said with hesitation in her voice
"A certain artist?" Igneel repeats with furrowed brows
"Yes," Grandine quickly nods before she turns her back as she didn't want to tell who this artist was
"Grandine," Igneel immediately called when he noticed the nervousness in his wife's face
"Just a certain artist," Grandine insists her answer, making her look more nervous for Igneel. As the red-haired man was about to point out the idea that his wife was keeping something from them, Kaito suddenly spoke and surprised the two parents.
"Perhaps it's Layla are you talking about, Grandine?" Kaito questions with sternness in his voice, making the blue-haired woman stiff for a brief moment
"D-dad…" Grandine nervously replies and Igneel quickly looked at her with curiosity
"Grandine," Igneel quickly says her name with obvious seriousness in his voice, "You know that we don't like bringing up their names,"
"It was my mistake," Grandine admits as she wraps her arms around herself, "I-"
"It's fine Grandine. It's no harm for Wendy to know about the Heartfilia's anyway," Kaito cuts off the blunette
"But dad," Igneel counters
"No Igneel," Kaito then glanced at his son, "it is inevitable not to mention them. After all, they are a close family to us,"
"A family that shouldn't be hunting us for something we didn't do," Igneel quickly answers before glancing up at his wife, who was staring off at nothing, which tells him that she had something in mind way deeper than their conversation.
|…x…x…|
Opening the door to his art room, Natsu slowly reached out for the switch for a certain art a gentle flick of the switch a certain spot within the room lit and a curtained artwork began to show.
"Natsu-nii, I never knew your art room is this serene," Wendy awed as she slipped past Natsu and headed for the art piece being uncovered
"I guess you can call this place peaceful…" Natsu stated as he follows after his sister, "but for me, it's more of like a mystery,"
looking back at her brother, Wendy thought of her brother's words, "If you say it like that, that seems to be the right description,"
As Natsu smiled at his sister, he pulled out a remote from a drawer and pressed a button. Soon, the curtains withdraw and revealed a beautiful painting that Wendy hasn't seen in real life.
"I-Is this the real painting?" Wendy asked in awe
"Yeah," Natsu replies back as he kept his gaze to the painting that he loved
"Wow…" Wendy expressed as she leaned closer and took note of the strokes and colors used in the painting, "This look so magical and-and..." Wendy then ran out of words as she tries to describe the painting before her
"Real," Natsu continues, making Wendy look up at him
"...Yeah," Wendy sighs in content as she looks back at the painting, "It gives me a feeling of longing and sadness but at the same time hope and faith,"
Chuckling to what he heard from Wendy, Natsu couldn't help but recall the time he got the painting. When he received the painting after the last exhibit of Layla Heartfilia before she died, Natsu felt the same emotions. He felt the sadness of the young blonde girl sitting by the window as the sunlight pours inside her room. When he thought he didn't want it anymore and tries to return the painting, he suddenly thought he saw a smile on the girl's face, even though her face is barely drawn. And so, he remembered how he begged his mother to bring him back to his Auntie Layla and ask for the painting again.
"You know, I gave up on that painting because I felt the same way," Natsu suddenly mutters and Wendy looked back at him with a question on her face
"Why'd you do that?" Wendy asked
"When I was a kid, I didn't want to feel sad every time I look at it. But when I gave it up, whenever I tried to recall it, I would remember how this girl smiles," Natsu then smiled to himself as he stared at the painting
"Smiling?" Wendy confusingly questions then she looks back at the painting and tried to find the smile but the face was barely seen only the cheek and the ends of her eyelashes, "Natsu-nii, are you lying to me? There is no smile there,"
"I know, but like you said, the painting also gives you hope and faith. So, every time I look at it, I see a smile on her face which gives us the impression that she is very hopeful,"
"I like that..." Wendy mutters after when she understood her brother's point, "I can see it now, too"
Natsu then ruffles the head of his sister as he kept his eyes to the painting, "I guess that was also the reason why I gave that the name 'Light within the light',"
"You gave that name?" Wendy asked in surprise as she looks up at him
"Yup, Layla liked the title I gave when I first saw the painting," Natsu then looked down at his sister and grinned, "Am I not cool?"
Scoffing at her brother, Wendy then rolls her eyes before she looks back at the painting, "I like the title, it fits the girl. I wonder, who is that girl?"
Wendy then looked at her brother for an answer but Natsu just smiled at her before he said it was time to leave the room. As Wendy and Natsu head out of the room, Wendy glanced at the painting one more time before Natsu presses on a button to close the automated curtains. As the curtains close, Wendy smiled at it once more before the light for the painting turns off.
|…x…x…|
Dinner happened and soon, Natsu bid goodbye to everyone as to go home to his own apartment. When Natsu left, almost everyone went on and began to hide in their rooms. Now, the mansion was like deserted again.
As for Wendy, she sat down on her bed with her laptop next to her. She was researching. On a daily basis, she would read medical news about certain diseases and new medical discoveries for long term illnesses. But that night, she had something else in mind, the painting, 'Light within the light'.
Reading old articles about the artist, Layla Heartfilia, Wendy discovered that the woman was married to an artist as well. Jude Heartfilia was a clay sculptor that has made different statues around the world. They were both an artist under the Dragneel Art Corporation and are considered to be one of the pioneers of the company. With these two artists, the world of art in Fiore became famous and has inspired many people to pursue art major.
As Wendy continued to read articles and biographies of the Heartfilia's, Grandine softly knocked on the door and opened it. There, Grandine saw what her daughter was doing. She isn't opposed to the idea of Wendy getting to know the Heartfilia's, but if it was Igneel, he would have scolded the young girl.
"Hi dear," Grandine greets as she steps into the room and gently closes the door
"Hey, mom," Wendy greets back with a brief regard before she looks back to her laptop
"What are you doing?" Grandine asks, despite having an idea what Wendy was doing
"Researching," Wendy simply answers before she turns her laptop and showed something to her mother, "Mom, look at this. This is the painting that Natsu-nii has in his art room,"
"Yeah, isn't it beautiful?" Grandine then takes a seat next to her daughter, who was happily reading the article about the painting
"It is...super," Wendy exaggeratingly widens her eyes to prove her point, making her mother laugh, "I mean, the painting delivers so many emotions that it makes you feel like your at the edge of crying and smiling at the same time,"
"That's why that painting is very valuable to your brother," Grandine then brushes her hand over Wendy's hair, "I remember how he begged to me to take him to Layla and ask for the painting back when he didn't want it,"
"He begged you?" Wendy surprisingly asks
"Yeah. Your father got mad at your brother for being so impulsive when he returned the painting when he really wanted to keep it. So he begged and I helped him," Grandine then gave a proud smile
"I can imagine oni-chan asking you," Wendy then laughed along with her mother, "But mom, do you know who this girl is?" She then points at the blonde little girl on the painting
As Wendy glance at her mother, she saw the gentle look her mother gives whenever she recalls something from the past.
"She is Layla's daughter," Grandine softly answers, making Wendy look back at the picture on her computer, "That painting was made when Layla's daughter got sick. She wasn't allowed to step out of the house for months and Layla saw the longingness of her daughter for adventures,"
Wendy quickly looked at Grandine after hearing the nice description to the girl, "She must really love adventures,"
"She did," Grandine smiled to herself, "When Layla finished that painting, she wanted Natsu to meet her daughter since she knew Natsu liked to play. But it never happened because Lucy's sickness got worse and she was brought to a different country for medication. It took years before she came back,"
"Then? Didn't Natsu-nii at least tried to meet them again?" Wendy questions
"He planned to but by the month they got back, the Heartfilia's died," Grandine then looked away, with tears pooling in her eyes as she remembers that day she was told her dear friend had died.
As Grandine wipes her own tears, she suddenly hears a faint sob, making her look back at her daughter. At that instance, she saw Wendy shed tears as well as she stares at the image.
"Mom," Wendy tearfully called as she looks at her mother, "How can fate be so unfair?"
Without answering her daughter, Grandine wiped the tears of the young blunette. She saw the sadness in her daughter's eyes after hearing the tragic story of the Heatfilia artists.
"Wendy, I need to make a request from you," Grandine softly mumbles
"Request? What kind of request?" Wendy asked curiously as she wipes her remaining tears
"Never speak of their death to anyone," Grandine then cups Wendy's face as she adds, "Their death holds too many mysteries and we don't want their peace to be disturbed. They are like family to us, so let's keep their death solemn,"
When Grandine pulled away, Wendy glanced back at the painting displayed on her laptop. For some reason, she was now more curious to the Heartfilia's death. But with her mother telling her to keep their death silent, she has no desire to be nosy. If she will be, she thought to herself, she'll keep it secret.
Friday finally came and the meeting with the International Association of Arts committee has finally arrived. This is the day the Dragneel Art Corporation and Magnolia Art Institute have been waiting for, the day in which they can present their plan for the International Art Exhibit.
As Daichi Yamato stood by the reception area in the lobby, waiting for the committee board to arrive, the president of DAC and MAI representative are in the King's Hall preparing the presentation for the meeting.
Sitting down on her shin as she prepares the laptop and projector, Lucy ignored the president mumble out words that had something to do with the presentation. She just continued with her task at hand while the president went on reviewing the details of the presentation.
With a soft tap of the pen on the table, a questioning voice suddenly was heard. "What exactly is the minimum and the maximum number of participant per country?" Natsu asks as he glanced at Lucy who was squatted down by the edge of the table, "There are so many numbers written here per condition. Let's keep it simple and precise. So, what is the number?" Natsu waited for Lucy to answer
"Minimum of 40 and max of 55," Lucy replies back before she glances at Natsu
Natsu is sitting down on a chair at the one side of the table with all his documents spread out in front of him. He is reviewing every page before the meeting officially starts. But the meeting is about to start in less than 10 minutes and Lucy is sure that Daichi might be meeting the committee downstairs already.
"Mr. Dragneel," Lucy suddenly calls as she stands up and straightens her own skirt. When Natsu looked up through his glasses, he had a confused look while he held papers in both hands
"Yeah?" Natsu responds
"Stand up," Lucy instructs
Despite being confused with the authoritative tone, Natsu still complied as he pushed his chair backward and stood up. As he is standing up straight, Natsu was a little taken aback when Lucy walked right up and moved him to face her.
"Wait-" Natsu starts but was cut off when Lucy suddenly tugs his necktie and begins to fix it
"Mr. Dragneel, you are about to start a meeting. As the president, you should look presentable," Lucy mutters as she continued to fix the necktie
"I-I know..." Natsu bashfully replies as he watched Luciya do his tie, "You know, you don't have to do this...I-I can do it myself..."
When Natsu said that, Lucy was already done and her hands were softly resting on his chest. With her gentle hands placed on his chest, Natsu, for some reason, can feel his heart beat a little faster than usual. Swallowing hard, his gaze then falls on Lucy's hands and as Lucy follows his gaze, she immediately blushed when she saw her hands were placed on his chest. Pulling her hands away from his chest, Lucy quickly hid her hands behind her back as she took a step away from him.
Clearing her throat, Lucy then says, "Well, you're good...I mean, you look presentable,"
With Lucy's bashful look, Natsu couldn't help but chortle as he nods his head, "Yes, all thanks to you,"
Clearing her throat once again, Lucy tries to answer confidently, "No problem," and with that, she turned away and headed back to the laptop she was preparing moments ago.
As Natsu looked down to his wrist watch, he saw he had a few minutes left before Daichi would arrive with the IAA committee. So, abruptly, Natsu took his suit jacket from his chair and slipped into it. As he fixed his coat, Lucy suddenly looked up and noticed how an article of clothing around him was not working out his outfit.
So, without warning, Lucy walked up to Natsu again and stopped his hands from closing his suit jacket. With confusion on his face, Natsu quickly glanced at the blonde, who was ignoring his gaze. But the moment he felt his scarf was being pulled off from his neck, he grabbed her hand and stopped her.
Looking up at the man, Lucy questioningly looked at the pinkette, "This scarf does not go with your formal attire,"
"I know but I like it around me," Natsu replies back as he gently pulled Lucy's hands away from his scarf
"Why?" Lucy naturally asked
"Reasons," Natsu vaguely replies, making Lucy roll her eyes and step back to observe his look
"Well, if you would want that scarf around your neck might as well make it look good," and with that, Lucy took a step closer to him again and this time arranges the scarf around Natsu's neck.
Tucking the scarf under the suit jacket, Lucy smiled at her work. Natsu looks naturally handsome but fixing his attire like this, made the man look more dashing. It actually surprises Lucy that she feels like it is natural for her to do this thing for Natsu. Though she realized, this is her first time to pick on his clothes.
"There," Lucy said in satisfaction as she tugs down his suit jacket after buttoning it up
With a smile on his face too, Natsu teasingly asks, "Do I look more handsome now?"
Looking up at him, Lucy was left speechless. She debated in her mind whether she would say yes and play along with his teasing or say no as not to appear too enticed with his looks at the moment.
"Ummm..." Lucy pauses as she stares at his eyes, consciously being enchanted by his dark onyx eyes
When suddenly the doors to the hall opened and revealed a group of people standing before them. With the sudden sound of a door opened, Lucy and Natsu whipped their heads towards the door and their eyes grew wide as if they were caught red-handed. So, feeling guilty about something they aren't sure about, they took a big step away from each other.
"M-Mr. Dragneel," Daichi awkwardly called, as he noticed the look of his boss. Natsu's face is flushed and is a little jumpy, "The committee is here,"
"Y-yes! Come in," Natsu then clears his throat before he gave a short glance at the blonde, who also turned away with a red tint on her cheeks.
As the Committee one by one took their seat, Lucy stood up straight and gave a diplomatic smile. Even though it was a professional smile, she never failed to enchant the committee with her loveliness.
"Ladies and gentlemen, I would like to thank you all for coming in this meeting on behalf of the Magnolia Art Institute," Lucy then bows down before the committee, which was returned by the group. Soon Natsu gave his short speech as well
"And as the president of Dragneel Art Corporation, I am honored to present to you our plans for the International Art Exhibit. I am very grateful that you all gave us a chance to prove to you that we deserve to host this international event,"
"It is our pleasure, Mr. Natsu Dragneel, to hear your plans for this art exhibit," One of the committees said as he gives a confident look to the pink-haired leader
With the words of the officer, Natsu couldn't help but smile. But there is one mistake the officer said that he needs to correct, "Mr. Yukiro, I am flattered that you are looking forward to our project. However, this is not only the DAC's project. This is a collaboration with the MAI, and I am grateful for my partner," Natsu then looked at Lucy, who gave a grateful smile to him, telling him that she appreciated his effort to emphasize their teamwork.
With that look Natsu was giving, Lucy suddenly felt confident enough to start off the meeting, "Well then, let us begin," and with that, Natsu and Lucy began their meeting.
After an hour and a half passed, Daichi finally opens the King's Hall as the IAA committee officers stood up from their chairs with a wide smile on their faces.
"Mr. Dragneel, Ms. Hart," The head officer of the committee called as he walked up to the two head representative, "I am very happy to have chosen your country in hosting this event,"
"We feel honored as well, Mr. Yukiro," Lucy then shook hands with the officer
"I think, this will be the best International Art Exhibit we will ever have," Mr. Yukiro then shook hands with Natsu and who replies back
"We will make sure it will be," Natsu then urged the officer as he adds, "How about we eat some morning snacks before we send you off?"
"Really? There is free food?" Mr. Yukiro looked at the pinkette surprised
"Why yes," Natsu then grins, "I love food..."
Natsu then looked at Daichi who is standing by the door of the hall, "Daichi, please assist Mr. Yukiro to our guest lounge. Ms. Hart and I will follow," and with that Daichi nods to his boss as he assisted the IAA officer out of the hall.
When Natsu and Lucy was left alone, Natsu abruptly turned to Lucy, who was startled at the sudden turn, "Luce," Natsu called as if it is the most usual name Natsu calls out
"Yes, Mr. Dragneel?" Lucy replies back, trying to hide her surprise
"Oh, come on...it's just the two of us. You can be casual with me," Natsu lightly nudged the shoulder of the blonde, who skeptically looked at his gesture
"I prefer to call you by your last name, Mr. Dragneel. After all, we are at work," Lucy then gave a diplomatic smile
"Well then..." Natsu took a step closer to the blonde, "We shall go out,"
To be continued...