Since it had already been close to dusk when Ghost arrived, we settled around a small fire and talked before laying down to sleep. When we woke, Natsu did not seem to realize that finding his godfather in the middle of a jungle island with a pair of melanistic jaguars had, in fact, not been a vivid dream. As we packed up and prepared to finish out the hike to the village his skepticism was laid to rest. With little warning aside from the crunch of gravel from the path, a pair of ATVs stopped close to where we stood donning our packs.
"Thought this would be a bit faster than making you two hoof it to the village," Ghost called out as he took off his helmet.
"What the fuck?" Natsu's usual level of tact and eloquence was in every syllable he spoke…meaning absolutely none. He walked up to his godfather, poking him in the arm. "You're really here? I thought I was hallucinating…"
Gently pushing Natsu back, Ghost walked up to me and relieved me of my pack, handing it to the other rider before they both mounted the ATV he pulled up on. Two helmets were waiting for us on the other vehicle.
"I've seen how you drive one of these things, kid, so Lucy gets the honor of trying to keep up." And with that, he turned and sped down the path, leaving a trail of dust for us to follow.
"Fuck sake, crash an ATV one time and he acts like it's the end of the fucking world," Natsu grumbled as we put on our helmets and he climbed on behind me.
"One time?" I asked, more than a little skeptical.
"Fuck," he goaned. "Fine, three times, but that's besides the point. Have you ever even been on one of these before?"
I received a quick lesson after I confirmed his suspicions that I had never ridden before, Natsu sliding his hands over mine as he showed me how everything worked, which also meant his chest was plastered against my back the whole time. Not that anyone would hear me complaining about that little tidbit. As soon as I had the basics, his arms wrapped around my waist and we were off, arriving at the village in under an hour.
Dozens of buildings spread out in front of us as we arrived, many of which were homes with gardens laid out around them. At the far end of the road was a massive open-air pavilion filled with tables and chairs where many people were gathered and looked to be setting up for the next meal.
The woman who had ridden to us with Ghost waved when we parked next to a line of similar ATVs. She introduced herself as Lulu - the botanist I had been in contact with - and led us to a small guest house where we would be living for the duration of our stay on Galuna Island.
After three days in the jungle, our first order of business was to wash away the sweat and grime we had accumulated. I had wanted to do it anyway, but Natsu's playful comment about my smell earned him an indignant huff as I stripped on my way to the bathroom, shutting the door in his face. He joined me anyway, as I knew he would.
"Did you know he would be here?" Natsu's fingers massaged my scalp as he lathered my hair.
"I didn't really know, but…" A soft sigh slipped out as my words trailed off. No matter how it was done, Natsu washing my hair would never stop being one of my favorite things.
"How?"
"Hmm…? Oh. It was the orchid." He turned us around in the small space so I was under the water, my head tipped back to avoid getting soap in my eyes.
"What orchid?"
"The one I received a couple months ago with a note that you said looked like Ghost's handwriting." I wrung my hair out and grabbed the shampoo so I could return the favor. "I'd never seen that type of orchid before, and through many, many hours of research, I found out it only grows in one place on the planet - here. So I took a chance that I might be right and set up this trip."
"So that's what you've been working on in your free time?"
"Yeah," I admitted.
"You're too smart for my own good," Natsu muttered under his breath before picking me up and turning us again so he could rinse. His arms stayed wrapped around me, giving a gentle squeeze. "So we're here because…?"
"I didn't miss the hurt on your face when he had to walk away, Natsu. Ghost is important to you, and he's important to me." My eyes slid away from his, instead watching streams of water flow down his chest. "If I was wrong, it was a backpacking trip on a remote island, and if I was right," I pulled at my lower lip with my teeth, hoping once again that Natsu would not be upset. "I thought you would like it if we could invite your godfather to our wedding?"
"Thank you." Natsu's head dropped to my shoulder, releasing a shaky breath against my skin before planting a gentle kiss there. "How the hell did I get so lucky?" His lips caressed my skin as he spoke, and all I could manage to do was smile and hold him tight as the water raining over us turned slowly from hot to warm.
Three loud knocks on the bathroom door broke us from our reverie, followed by a booming order.
"Hurry up, Runt!" Ghost's voice filled the entirety of the guest house.
"Piss off, old Man," Natsu yelled back as he stood up straight again. Though he tried to sound irritated, I caught a hint of a smile on his lips and a playful glimmer in his eyes. "We'll be out in a minute!"
We both laughed as Natsu reached behind himself to shut off the shower, small bouts of giggles continuing as we dried off and got dressed in clothes that had been left on the bed for us. It was a little more formal than I would have expected - Natsu wearing slacks and a button-down shirt, and me slipping on a knee-length dress - but the fabric was soft and light; comfortable in the damp heat we had been subjected to every day of our hike.
Clean and somewhat refreshed, we stepped outside with hands linked together. Ghost glanced at our hands, smiled, and waved for us to follow him. It was time for lunch, after all, and Lulu had informed us that a few people wanted to meet us after we ate.
From what little I had gleaned from my conversations with Lulu and Bobo, most meals were held in the pavilion, men and women alike taking turns cooking with everyone enjoying the meal together. What we walked towards was nothing like I pictured, and it did not take long to figure out why.
A feast was spread out across the tables, far more than what could be considered a normal lunchtime, and when we were close enough, everyone began cheering and shouting their congratulations to us.
"It'll be a few years before it's safe for me to leave the island," Ghost told us without prompting. "Just because I can't make it to your wedding, that doesn't mean I can't celebrate with you."
"But…" I started, looking around at a sea of unknown faces. "None of these people even know us. I understand you wanting to celebrate, but we're of no real importance to them…"
I looked to Natsu for confirmation of my statement, only to find him deep in thought, his eyes studying the faces of some of the villagers. It did not take long for his thoughtful expression to become confused, only to be replaced with a joyful smile within moments.
"All in good time, Lucy." Ghost ushered us to one of the tables, where space was left for the three of us to sit together.
As we ate, Ghost talked of his history with the Dragneels - something Natsu already knew, but had been a complete mystery to me. Much like Natsu, Ghost's parents died when he was young, taken by a sickness that ravaged their town. Ghost was raised by his older sister, whom he loved and looked up to until the day she died. Rumors of slavers raiding the neighboring towns hit mere days before it became a reality for them.
Both he and his sister were captured, but she fought back, killing several men with the curved knife she kept on her belt for collecting herbs before they deemed her not worth the trouble. The shot rang out, and in that second, Ghost's world was taken from him; he managed to break free from his captors and run. Several years passed, Ghost tracking the slavers and attacking when and where he could, always looking for the man who pulled the trigger. It was a coincidence that he was back in his hometown, the slavers having pinned down a special forces company that was sent to help his people, so he helped them in return.
"How old were you when that happened?"
Ghost looked at me with sadness in his eyes; bringing up these memories obviously caused him pain. "Seventeen. It had been six years since my sister was killed, and every day of it was spent looking for her killer. If I hadn't been severely injured saving Igneel's ass when he and his men were pinned down, I don't think I ever would have found him. But I was; their medic stabilized me on the flight back to Fiore. A few months of hospitals and physical therapy and I was good as new. I was discharged days before Igneel got the call about his sister and her husband passing."
Natsu's hand found mine under the table, and I gave it a soft squeeze. We had discussed his birth parents only once; that one conversation was enough for me to see how much it hurt him that he had no memories of his own of his mother singing lullabies to put him to sleep, or his father tossing him into the air while he giggled madly. Nothing was left of them for him to hold onto except photographs and the words of others.
"I helped a bit in getting the boys situated," Ghost continued. "Igneel tendered his resignation - shame, since he was a damn fine officer - and asked me to give him a hand with the rugrats until he had a handle on the situation. So I did, and helped get his business off the ground. After a couple years, I got in touch with a businessman whose family was in possession of several islands offshore. Mostly they were too small to do anything with except preserve the natural beauty of them and protect them from the rest of the world, but one had been used for hunting expeditions and family getaways until I bought it. There was just a house and a couple of outbuildings when I brought the first few people here.
"I had meant to just retire here and live out my years alone, but after a mission I ran for Ig, there was a family with nowhere to go. We didn't have the integration and citizenship program you and Zeref set up," he said directly to Natsu. "So there wasn't anything to do with them except bring 'em here. Picked up supplies and a few sat phones. A few of them had been fishermen, knew the ins and outs of working a boat, so I made sure they had the funds set up to buy whatever they would need from the mainland and a way to get it back here. As time went on, I kept bringing more people out. Heartfilia helped me get set up with solar and got us a satellite link for internet so the people weren't completely cut off from the outside world."
"Heart…Heartfilia?" My voice was shaky as I asked. "You knew my father?"
"Not as friends, just business associates." His answer was short, but the tone was gentle. "When I could no longer jump in and rescue people who were in danger, he helped me set up an untraceable shell corporation so that I could buy those in need with the purpose of giving them their freedom.
"And to answer your earlier question, Lucy, all these people care about you two because your fathers each had a hand in getting some of them here; the rest were either born on the island, or are here because of the two of you. They're celebrating because they see two people who have put themselves into harm's way for others time and time again have finally found their happiness."
The rest of our meal was spent in relative silence after Ghost finished his story. I wracked my brain trying to think of how I could have been any help at all to these people, since I'd only knowingly been involved for a few months before everything happened last winter. It hit me while my eyes roamed that it didn't really matter what my involvement was, my actions helped put an end to the people who had caused their pain, and knowing that was enough for me.
After lunch, we were greeted by damn-near everyone who lived on the island. Natsu recognized some of them, but most were strangers until that moment. Every one of them congratulated us as if we had known each other for years - as if we were family to them.
Eventually, the crowd disbursed and everyone went about their business. Ghost had been least in sight since we finished lunch, but made another appearance as the last of the villagers walked away.
"I had one more thing I wanted to discuss with you two." Ghost clapped a hand onto Natsu's shoulder in greeting and looked at us expectantly.
"Sure. What's up?"
"Well, I know you're already planning to get married, and it will turn into a bit of a paparazzi circus whether you want it to or not."
"Yeah," I huffed. Though I had been looking forward to marrying Natsu since the day he proposed, that dimmed just a little when the paparazzi published a picture of us together with a close-up of my ring.
"I know I can't really change any of that, but I was wondering if you would be interested in having a ceremony here?" Natsu perked up at the prospect, but I knew several dozen people who would be devastated to miss our wedding. "Now, it's not legally binding, as technically we don't exist here, but we do have a spiritual ceremony that is performed when a couple would like to commit to each other, and, well, it would be an honor to be able to share that with you both."
Natsu turned to me, a huge grin splitting his face. His eyes searched mine for a minute before he answered his godfather. "That would be awesome."
"That's one." Ghost looked at me in question.
"It sounds wonderful."
"Alright, then you two have the rest of the day to do whatever you like. Someone will find you when it's time for dinner, and tomorrow we'll have the ceremony!"
I don't know that I had ever seen a smile quite so big on Ghost's face as the one that was there before he turned away, leaving Natsu and I to our own devices until tomorrow. One small glance and I knew Natsu and I were on the same wavelength when it came to our free time. Ten minutes later, we were cuddled up on our bed for a much-needed nap.
Well THAT took longer than expected. My life has been filled with trying to refi my house, dealing with contractors, too much work, and personal drama at home. I know I said one more chapter and then epilogue, but I actually mean it this time. And I know it's a short chapter, but I hope y'all can forgive me... I wanted to just get it out. Y'all know how I do things, so the next chapter will be posted as soon as I'm done writing it.
Love you all! Thanks for staying with me for this journey!
TTFN