Chapter 7

Levy walked down the aisle, smiling brightly. Her blue knee-length dress flowing behind her. She looked over at Lucy, who took the practice bouquet consisting of carnations, roses, and sunflowers. Levy then turned towards Gajeel who was waiting patiently for her wearing a black polo and khakis.

Lucy smiled at the two. The rehearsal had been moving along fairly well over the past half an hour. They had managed to move through everything without a hitch. Gajeel had even gotten a chance to perform the song he would sing as the bridesmaids and Levy would walk down the aisle.

While she stood listening to the official gloss over the ceremony procedure for the following day, the aroma from the bouquet drifted towards her. The flowers were beautiful, but reminded her of something that had occurred only a few weeks prior.

"I have to run to another conference so I won't be back until the wedding."

"What do you mean you won't be here until the wedding? What about our little vacation beforehand? You promised me that we would visit a hot spring before the festivities to spend some time with just us." Lucy frowned, setting her cup of coffee down on the table in front of her.

"I know. I know. They didn't spring this on me until last minute."

"We haven't had any time together though the past few months…" Even though we live with each other, she thought the portion to herself.

"I know. I'll make it up to you. Okay? I've already put my foot down that I'm going to take at least two weeks off and we're going to travel to a few places that I know you'll love. We'll even get to use the private jet."

"I… I don't know."

Loke walked over to her, grabbing her hand. "I promise like my life depends on it. I will have the two weeks after the wedding off."

She had smiled and agreed, although hesitantly. Her new novel was coming along quite well, so she'd had plenty of time to spend with Loke, if he had time for her. She had been wondering though, ever since Natsu had asked her about how she had been doing a month ago.

Natsu. He stood on the other side of Levy and Gajeel, one of the groomsmen. They had smiled to each other before but now he appeared to be gazing at nothing. Who knew what he was thinking.

As the rehearsal drew to a close and the pre-wedding festivities began, Lucy found herself talking with Natsu. His features when talking about Kairi lit up. He couldn't stop talking about how bright of a child she was, much brighter than he was.

"You know," Lucy said, "I knew you'd be a great father."

He laughed. "I guess so. I never quite thought of kids until Lis approached me about it." The smile disappeared for a brief moment. "We were actually on the verge of breaking up when she told me. We found a way to make it work though."

Lucy smiled. "I'm really happy to know that you found a way to work things out. She deserved to have both her parents."

"I've talked about it with Lis and we think Kairi would love it if you'd watch her sometime. We have a lot of things to discuss and don't think Kairi should be there."

About what? "Sure." What am I getting myself into? "I'm shocked though," she chuckled. "Since when are you willing to discuss things rationally? You're normally flying off the deep end with random ideas, pranks, and whatnot."

"Ah…" He scratched the back of his head. "I guess Kairi kind of did that."

Chuckling, she said, "You know, I'm sorry for my reaction in high school." She smiled softly, glancing around the room. "I really was too blind to be able to see anything going on around me other than what I wanted to see. There were a few things that I just didn't want to accept."

Tears streamed down her face. A boy around her age sat next to her, wiping the tears off her face. "You'll stay with me right? Unlike Papa?"

He nodded. "I'll always keep you safe."

Natsu nodded in response, not having words to say. She could tell he knew what she was talking about.

Lucy sighed. "Where has the time gone?" She spotted Levy standing by the exit, ready to break from the rehearsal dinner to the bachelorette party. "Well, looks like it's time to go. We have the wedding tomorrow and everyone has to be on their best behaviours right?"

Natsu nodded. "I'm not allowed to touch anything tomorrow."

"Because you still have a tendency to break things on accident." Smiling, she started walking towards Levy and the other bridesmaids.

"Hey! What's that supposed to mean?"

"You haven't completely changed," she said, turning to look at him, smiling. "You're still yourself, Natsu. I still remember things about you."

A/N: Sorry I haven't updated for quite some time. I've finally reached the point where I'm just going to do quality over quantity, so I can't guarantee when I'll update next. I'm in my final year of engineering now so all I've pretty much been doing is school work. I do plan on finishing my stories and may post some one-shots or such as I find time. You can also keep up with me on le tumblr: tori-alexide. I've posted a few random one-shots on there also that haven't made it here yet. Thanks for reading and as always, if you have any ideas, feel free to message or post in a review. I love hearing what people think will happen or want to see. (I like to incorporate what others think sometimes into my writing :3 )