Former Arrangements

By Genavere

Chapter Four

The last time mother nature had decided to bring a downpour, Lucy had wanted to throw a fit. It always happened when she wore a white shirt and just had Cancer fix up her hair in a cute fashion. And of course, there would never be an umbrella to use, even if she brought one from home. She truly believed Natsu kept burning them, Happy stole them, or someone had a stash of them somewhere.

If she ever found out who kept taking them, there would be a swarm of angry Fairy Tail women to take revenge since she was not the only victim.

Today, though, she felt a sense of relief as the rain fell in heavy sheets on Magnolia. Even if he had the best nose in all the country that could rival a blood hound, Natsu could not follow a scent if it was washed away immediately. That meant she did not have to play the role of bait. At least, not right now.

Granted, it had been a while since she had done anything like that on a mission, though for some reason she still ended up losing her clothes more than she was comfortable with. Happy and Natsu were quick to remark about her lack of dress, though they would now quick to give her some form of covering. Something about dragon slayers not liking to share, he had mumbled to her once.

"Umbrella stolen again?" Levy stepped up next to her to stare at the calmness of the rain falling outside. It was rare to see the script-mage alone after her twins had been born. Either she had her hands full with the twins, Gajeel was tight by her, or the whole family was together. The time the two friends were able to spend together was limited, but when it did, they tried to take full advantage of it.

"I didn't bring one today," she sighed with a shrug. "But I'm not wearing white and Virgo has an extra one I gave her to stash For days like this."

"Thinking on your feet, as always." They both giggled.

"So," Lucy wiggled her eyebrows, "where's your dragon slayer?"

Levy smiled softly, thinking of the scene she had left that morning. "He's watching the twins today. Yesterday was a bit much for them in the hall, and I wasn't able to do any of the translating I needed for a job, so he offered to watch them at home today with Lily."

The look on the book worm's face was one that Lucy hoped she could have one day, when Natsu and her were able to take that next step together. It was clear that Levy was blissfully happy and exhausted all at the same time, but there was so much emotion shining from her. A sense of contentment that had not been there before. That motherly glow so many books mentioned.

"Lu-chan, you should have seen it this morning! Gajeel had the twins on each shoulder and was running around all over the house. Their laughter was so precious! Even Lily was flying around with them, laughing and having fun. I wish I had thought to take a picture."

Trying to imagine the large, gruff iron dragon slayer acting like a kid with the twins might be a challenge for others, but Lucy could see it. Since he had joined the guild, he had become like an older brother to her, and had even threatened Natsu once he found out they were dating.

An image of him reading a book out loud to the twins popped in her mind and immediately she felt the urge to brainstorm children's books for them.

"Hey Levy, wanna walk home with me?" She asked, leaning forward a bit. "We could talk more and maybe hang out a bit. We also haven't hit the bookstore in awhile."

While she was ready to leave for the day, she knew several people, especially those on her team, would be upset if she left on her own after everything she had shared with them earlier. But the rest of her team was discussing all their 'battle strategies' for their info gathering, and though she should have been with them, it had made her feel weird.

And like Mira and her had predicted, the whole guild hall found out quite quickly of the situation going on. It was a relief that Levy had talked about other things when she came to her instead of just the problems she was facing.

It made her feel that she could actually spend a quiet afternoon with a friend and relax for a bit.

"That'd be fun! And don't worry, Lu-chan, I can make an umbrella for us so we won't get wet."

"Great!" She could finally leave the hall without the others making a fuss. "Let me go tell Natsu real quick and we can head out."

#####

Under the large "UMBRELLA" hovering over their heads, Lucy had to admit, once again, that script magic was pretty handy. Since she had become friends with Levy after joining Fairy Tail and learned the basics of it. of the magic, she had always had an appreciation for her friend and the type of magic she wielded. Granted, it was never something she could fully grasp or use herself, but it made the author in her proud of what words and pens can truly do in the world.

There had been many times Freed had shown up others with his abilities. She remembered how he had trapped most of them on the ship during the S-Class Trials. Even Levy had turned the battle with her brains and words. It showed that not everyone needed to be strong to be powerful in their own sense. Something they knew both of their dragon slayer partners admired about them.

Under the large solid script "UMBRELLA" that hung above them, enjoyed the afternoon together, stopping at the bookstore and getting some treats at the bakery Erza frequented. In Lucy's arms, Happy was pleased he was not forced to walk on the wet ground or try to fly under the large word. While she had threatened, they both knew it had been hollow the moment she swept him in her arms.

With Happy content in her arms and pleased that he did not have to walk on the wet ground or try to fly under the letters, the three of them enjoyed spending the afternoon together. At the bookstore, the women giggled over a few romance series they had been reading and each had stars in their eyes as they found books about their interests. Happy found a couple of books about and by other Exceeds that Lucy was happy to get him.

After the set back on their jewel at the bookstore, they made their way to the bakery on the way to Lucy's and got a few sweets for them to enjoy once they got to the apartment. Lucy even made sure they stopped to get a fresh mackerel for Happy to enjoy when they got there, too.

"We should think about doing a camping trip here in the next few weeks," Lucy suggested as they approached her place and opened the entrance to the entryway. "From what I have read and heard, there should be a meteor shower that we would be able to see if we found a clearing."

"I think that actually sounds nice," Levy said. "It's been a while since we have done anything together away from home, and it would be easier on the jewels to camp, too. We would could find a sitter for the twins. Many in the guild are always happy to watch the twins for us."

"Do you think Lily would want to try fishing?" Happy looked at Levy as they climbed the stairs to Lucy's door. "The biggest fish is mine, but I would be willing to teach him!"

Levy giggled at Happy's excitement. "I will be sure to bring it up to him. It might be interesting to see Gajeel try catching fish without attacking them!"

Smiling at the conversation, Lucy dug into her bag to pull out her apartment keys. Unlike her chaotic boyfriend, she preferred the front door, and as a responsible adult, she locked the front door to keep any unwanted visitors from going inside—she refused to acknowledge that she never locked the window, though.

Holding Happy in one arm with the bags of items she bought, she went to insert the key into the handle, but stopped just before the metal touched. Something was off.

Setting Happy and the bags down, she leaned forward and examined it carefully. Even feeling the two sets of eyes watching her, she found her focus only on figuring out what had caught her attention. It took a moment, but then she saw it.

Little droplets of water were sitting on the top of the handle so inconspicuously, she wondered if she would have noticed them if she had not experienced previous break ins. Maybe Erza was right about her being hyper-focused on the situations. Would she had noticed the wetness if she had grabbed the handle or would she have just thought it was from the rain outside, she wondered.

"Happy…" he flew up from beside her, "I need you to fly back to the guild and get Natsu quickly." Meeting his eyes, she could not help the fear that she felt creep up. "I think someone might have broken into my apartment."

"Aye, sir!"

The women watched him fly out of the entryway with urgency. Unsure if the person would still be inside or if there was any danger, both of them went back to the entrance way and, in one hand each they prepared themselves with their magic, and the other held each other's hand in support.

#####

An hour later, Lucy felt completely exhausted.

The apartment had become a crime scene in a way with most of Team Natsu there to investigate what could have happened and who might have been the culprit. Natsu and Happy had been the first to arrive within minutes of her sending the Exceed to get him.

Arms had gathered her close and he sniffed her all over to check her for injuries. With how often he did that to her, she should have been used to it, but her face flushed in embarrassment since her friend was right there to see it. She did feel a bit better when Levy mentioned that it had to be a dragon slayer thing since Gajeel had done the same thing to her before.

After ensuring she was safe, Natsu took full control of everything.

"Stay here. The others are also on their way." He went to the door and began sniffing around, trying to find any hint of scent that was different than the usual residents or guests. By the time the others had arrived, he had already entered the apartment. Much to her horror since she had not even noticed it before, the door had been unlocked and opened just enough that he only had to push it open.

It meant she had been correct. Someone had entered her apartment.

Someone had been in her safe place, they had made it their space by invading it, inserting themselves into her life. Yet, she had no idea who they even were!

Was it a crazed fan again? Would they come back? How had they even entered her apartment? She had made sure it was locked because she remembered Natsu complaining about her taking forever to do so before they went to the guild hall that morning.

Would she need to get a new apartment? Would they follow her again?

Had they taken anything?

Natsu did not make a sound when he disappeared through the doorway, but it could be a disaster inside and she would not know. It brought back the first time she had come back to her first apartment in Crocus, how the place had been torn apart in the fan's need to find everything private about her.

He had still been inside when she came home.

But…what if it was him? It couldn't be, she told herself, he was dead…right?

She gripped her scarred wrist, hugged it to her chest. Heat spread up her arm, the ghost fire and smell of burning flesh choked her. Tears stained the floor beneath her. The feeling of claws on her neck made her whimper.

"I'll take you from him." His voice echoed in her mind. The tattoos on his arm slithered around from the scorching heat he released from his body. Air burned around her. She could not breathe. She could not breathe!

Sinister eyes pressed closer toward her face. Hot breath scorched her face. He was too close! Lips touched the skin of her ear, a whimper left her. "There are more was to do so than death, Lucy."

"—cy!"

"Lucy!"

A gasp of air pulled into her aching lungs. Too many sets of eyes peered down at her and their blurred faces confused her. Why was it so cold? When did she get on the floor?

Blinking rapidly, she tried to clear her eyes of tears. Her lungs ached, but she could at least breathe again. It was then she realized in horror that she had gone through another panic attack, which meant that the others had seen it.

Even with the constant stream of tears blurring her vision, she did not need to see clearly to know they were all looking at her with worry and concern. Thankfully, none of them decided to broach the subject.

"Let's give her space," Erza's voice ordered from above her. "Gray, go up and see if Natsu has found anything. Levy, Juvia, Wendy, Carla, I must ask that you all head home for now. The less people we have here, the better our chances are of finding the evidence of the person who did this."

While the tone left little room for argument, Lucy felt each of the women reach out with a soft touch and a few words of encouragement before they left together. It made her feel slightly better, but she did not want to deal with the questions that would surely come once things had settled.

Carefully, Erza helped her sit up and lean against the wall before taking a spot next to her. An arm wrapped around her shoulders in comfort as they waited for an all clear to come from Natsu. "It will be all right, Lucy," she whispered softly and laid their heads together. "We all suffer from our experiences, and no one will ever judge you for what you went through."

Tears continued to fall, even when Gray finally came down to let them know that Natsu was finished. He waved Lucy up first, "I need to speak to Erza real quick. Go on up, see if you can find anything that might be missing."

Nodding, she slowly crept up the stairs towards the once comfortable apartment she had called home. An overwhelming feeling of dread weighed down on her shoulders and in that moment. Had Natsu found anything, she wondered, hugging herself tightly. Even if he had not, she knew she would not be able to sleep there…or if she would be able to feel safe in her apartment ever again.

Inside, the table Natsu damaged the night before caught her attention first. Chills ran down her spine at the realization that Gray would have seen it, and if asked, Natsu would not have lied about how it was damaged.

For the past year, they had done their best to keep the extent of their mental anguished between the three of them: Natsu, Happy, and herself. While the others knew that they were suffering some issues from the quest last year, none of them knew the full extent.

Now they did, and that would be a discussion she did not want to deal with.

Sighing, she moved through her once warm home with a careful stride as not to touch anything until she found her partner and felt herself relax when she took his offered hand in her own. His other hand caressed her cheek, brushing away the stains the tears had left.

"'Sokay, Lucy," he said gently. "I'm here, nothing will happen."

"Did you find anything? Any scents?" She leaned into his touch, not embarrassed at how much she needed it after her attack in the entrance.

A muscle ticked as he clenched his jaw. That told her all she needed to know. Whoever it had been had managed to keep their scent hidden somehow. "Natsu—"

"Happy is already getting' our house together," he interrupted her. "No way would we let you stay here after this. We will get it fix up faster and you can, if you wanna, that is…you can live there with us."

She swallowed, feeling a fresh onslaught of tears coming forth. "I'd really like that."

"Well," he scratched the back of his head, "we had wanted to ask you for awhile about it, but there is a bit of work we need to do on the house still. It was the only reason we hadn't yet."

"We can work on it together."

They wrapped each other in their arms and stood they in the middle of the apartment they had spent so much time together through the years. It held memories, times they had laughed and cried, time they had spent together or with all of team Natsu. And now, it would just be another part of their past.

"You should take a look around, see if anything is missing." He rubbed her back and chucked her chin with his other hand. "I have been looking, but you should do it, too."

She nodded and turned as Erza and Gray came in to help them investigate the apartment, all of them looking for something to give them a clue. The person who came in had to have been there for something, and they would have needed some form of magic or potion to cover their scent completely.

As the rest of them looked for clues, Lucy tried to remember how everything had been. There were no books missing from her shelf, her clothes seemed left along and that included her underwear drawer, thankfully. Her fridge was still depressingly empty since she had not gone shopping for groceries since the last time Natsu and Happy had been there for food.

Even her bathroom had been left alone.

Frowning, she moved around her bedroom carefully. Something seemed off around her desk and she looked closer. There were the portraits of her parents and leaning against them was—her eyes widened in disbelief. "Michelle!"

She rushed forward and began rummaging through the rest of her desk, looking thru everything. Notes were still there for her books, her first copy of The Adventure of Iris her publisher sent her was still there with all the handwritten notes in place. Even her award was there, but one more item was missing from her search.

No…it had to be there. Why would they take that?!

Hands shook as she went through on her desk again and again. "It has to be here! They took Michelle, but…!"

It was futile. It was gone. How would they have known about it?

Legs wobbled and weakened. Collapsing, she clung to her desk and felt a pressure in her chest. An iron weight in her stomach made her almost wretch on her sobs. She turned to face her silent teammates, all of them close enough to reach out to her for support, but careful enough to give her space.

"They—" her voice cracked. "They took my letters to mama!"