Chapter 22 Two Chicks and a Dragon
Lisanna looked at Happy, her shocked expression turning serious. "Where are they?"
…
Natsu looked at Lucy. He couldn't believe it. She liked him? Natsu never would have suspected it. He'd only viewed her as a friend. Didn't he?
Suddenly the door to the cellar opened and Natsu heard voices.
"You can't go in there!"
"Let go of me Erza!"
"Lucy needs to talk to him alone!"
"I'm not letting her just take him!"
"Let go of my little sister red!"
"Oww!"
"Go Lisanna!"
Lisanna stumbled into view, she looked across and saw Natsu and Lucy standing in the cellar. In that direction, sounds of fighting and Mirajane and Erza arguing could be heard. Happy flew in next to Lisanna, who looked worried as she saw her two guildmates next to each other.
There was an awkward silence as the two parties looked at each other. Then Lisanna stepped forward, "So, I guess you already confessed Lucy?"
The blonde mage nodded, blushing heavily. Her confession was now at view with a small audience.
Lisanna's beautiful blue eyes that were so much like her sisters began to water. Lucy felt herself stiffen, even though Lisanna was an obstacle, she couldn't help but feel guilty for making her sad.
"Natsu… I… I can understand if you want to be with her but… I want to you to know that I've… I've wanted to be with you since we were kids!" Lisanna cried. "Ever since we raised Happy's egg together I thought of us as a family. I wanted to be your real wife someday!"
"You were a child!" Erza said. "Move on! Natsu has Lucy now!"
"He hasn't agreed to anything!" Mirajane protested as she pinned Erza against the wall where they could view everyone. "Have you Natsu?"
Natsu hesitated. "No… you guys came in before I could say anything to Lucy."
"Well make a choice!" Erza said.
Natsu looked between Lucy and Lisanna. He didn't know what to do. He'd never had any real experience when it came to romance. Now two of the girls that he was close with were confessing their love, or at least that they liked him. Natsu closed his eyes and saw their faces. Lucy or Lisanna?
"I confessed to Natsu first!" Lucy said.
"I've loved him since we were kids!" Lisanna argued. "We are Happy's parents!"
"You sound like Juvia there!" Lucy said. "Happy's not your son!"
The blue exceed meanwhile, was chewing on fish and looking at the two girls as though he were watching a movie.
"This should be good! Nice and dramatic, just keep it PG!"
Lucy and Lisanna stepped toward each other.
"Natsu is my teammate!"
"I'm entitled to spend time with him! Especially after being apart for two years!"
They pressed their heads together, glaring each other down like Natsu and Gray often did. They were like two lionesses about to claw at each other.
"Okay Natsu! Enough stalling! Its time to pick!" Erza ordered. "Now take Lucy's hand!"
"Why are you on her side?" Mirajane asked.
"Because she is my teammate and like a sister to me!" Erza said. "If Natsu turns her down it will make things bad for our entire team. We're the strongest one in Fairy Tail, we can't disband!"
"Natsu has a right to choose for himself! You can't just force him!" Mirajane argued before changing her tune. "Don't you care about my sister, Natsu? If you hurt her, I'll never forgive you!"
"You can't support him making his own decision and then threaten him!" Erza said.
All the shouting and bossing back and forth. Natsu just couldn't take it anymore.
"Stop!" he said. "I can't make up my mind with all of you shouting like this. Lucy… I-I'm flattered you feel this way about me I guess. But Lisanna and I were always real close and- I admit I was pretty weirded out whenever she called herself my wife. But losing her… that did make me realize that deep down I did have feelings for her. I… I need some time to think."
"You're thinking?" Happy exclaimed. "Be careful you might hurt yourself!"
Natsu silently walked out of the cellar. How was he going to make a both girls happy? Lucy was his teammate, but Lisanna was his oldest friend in Fairy Tail along with Happy and Wendy. The five of them had been inseparable, him, Lisanna, Wendy, Happy, and Carla. But the same could now be said of his current team. As much as he butted heads with Gray he still cared about that popsicle stripper and he knew Gray felt the same way. If he were to break Lucy's heart and choose Lisanna, it would be close to losing the latter all over again. Lucy would be heartbroken and… would their team survive? Would Lucy be too hurt to even look at him? What about Lisanna? He had just gotten her back, and if he chose Lucy she would be hurt. Would their relationship fade away? Natsu didn't want that to happen. He headed home and sat down on the couch, weighing the two girls in his heart and mind. He didn't want to hurt either of them but that was probably inevitable.
…
Back at the guild hall, Lucy sat with Erza, Juvia and Levy once again. Lisanna was in another corner of the guild, both girls had decided to keep a distance from each other for now.
"Perhaps you should simply do this Fairy Tail style," Erza suggested. "Fight Lisanna to win Natsu over."
Lucy shook her head. "I'd prefer not to get into a fight. But I will if its for the guy I like!"
"I'm frankly surprised you haven't had a boyfriend before now. But I'm glad you finally see that you care that way about Natsu. I always knew there was something between you," Levi said.
"I just hope this doesn't turn into the same instance you have with Jet and Droy," Lucy said. "Both of them are on your team and in love with you."
"I know… but they're just not my type," Levi said.
"So who is? Juvia asked. "Gray?"
"Why do you assume everyone is in love with Gray?" Levy asked the water mage. "I admit he can be cool sometimes but he's not drop dead gorgeous like some prince charming!"
"Oh but he is to me! No one can ever complete with my darling Gray!" Juvia said as she had her hands over heart and swung her body wildly. "But if not Gray, who?"
"Umm…" Levi blushed as the thought occurred to her. "I'm not sure. Someone muscular I guess would be one word to describe him."
"Ooh, you like the big brawny guys huh Levi?" Lucy asked. "Is it Elfman, Laxus… or maybe… Gaaajeeell?" she purposely stretched the last one.
"No- not telling!" Levi said as she covered her face to hide her blushing.
Erza sighed. "Well at least you girls all have crushes that are free for you to pursue."
"Why? What do you mean?" Lucy asked.
"Nothing," Erza turned away as she thought of Jellal in prison.
She got up and walked over to where Gray sat at the bar. He looked over his shoulder and saw the knight as she approached.
"Oh hey Erza what's up?" he asked.
"Have you heard about Lucy, Natsu, and Lisanna?" she asked.
"Yeah," he answered. "I always knew Natsu and Lucy seemed like the couplely type but they just wouldn't see it themselves till now. I guess I should leave it to flame brain to not know something like that, and Lucy was all stuck in having some prince charming marry her or something."
"Yes," Erza agreed. "Gray, who do you think Natsu should choose?"
"Beats me," Gray said. "I don't really have any real dating experience. I mean, I guess I know how to impress girls. Lucy said I was a smooth talker on Galuna island, and I had a few girls there I guess liked me. But I get stuck with that psycho water girl who thinks every girl in the guild is after me!"
As if on que, Juvia appeared behind him with hearts in her eyes. He could practically feel her gaze on his back.
"Maybe you could give some advice to Natsu," Erza suggested. "He might find it easier to speak with another boy about this."
"Maybe, if we can go for a few seconds without hitting each other. But I don't know where he lives."
At that moment, the guild hall doors opened and Wendy stepped in.
"I'm back!" the young bluenette said waving.
"Well she'll know," Gray said as he got off his seat and walked over to the young girl. "Hey Wendy, how was the job?"
"Great," Wendy said.
"She managed to find the missing item that was stolen from a rich man's house with her nose and got it back," Carla said.
"Nice work!" Gray congratulated her. "Hey, could you lead me to your house. I need to talk with Natsu."
"Umm… sure," Wendy hesitated. "But only if you promise to not start any fights."
"Fine," Gray said.
…
So when Wendy arrived back home, she had not only Carla but also Gray with her. Natsu was in the middle of making a spaghetti dinner. He looked up, wearing a pink chef's apron.
"Oh hey sis! You're ba-" Natsu trailed off as he saw Gray with his sister.
The ice mage looked at the dragon slayer in the pink apron with his cheeks puffed up. He was so ready to laugh! Natsu growled.
"What are you doing here Gray?" he asked.
"I have to… talk to you about something," Gray said as he struggled to keep himself from laughing, knowing if he did so he'd get into a fight with Natsu and he'd promised he wouldn't.
Natsu sighed. "Is it about Lucy and Lisanna?"
"Lucy and Lisanna?" Wendy repeated.
"Yeah, Erza figured you might need some advice on that," Gray said.
Natsu wouldn't usually go to Gray for advice, but right now he'd take anything.
"Alright, but if you're gonna tell me which one to choose-
"No I'm not gonna do that," Gray said. "I have an idea that might help you with that though. Why don't you… date them both?"
"You mean like Loke did with his girlfriends?" Natsu asked. "Okay that would be great!"
"No not like that!" Gray said. "Dating more than one person is considered cheating!"
"Wait, you're dating Lucy and Lisanna?" Wendy asked.
"No, they said they like him!" Happy said. "It's a big love triangle!"
"Well this is certainly a dramatic situation," Carla said.
"Yes, and I love it!" Happy said.
"So here's my advice, flamebrain. Date them both, but separately. Do romantic stuff with both of them for a while and see which one you like better that way," Gray said. "This is gonna be tough, no matter how it plays out. But I want you to know… I'll be there for Lucy if she gets broken."
Natsu nodded. "Thanks Gray. Well, dinners ready and I made sure to make lots of spaghetti. You wanna join us?"
Gray looked at the potful and had to admit it looked good.
"Well, maybe just one bowl."
Well I wasn't gonna have Natsu decide in this chapter. There will be at least one date for each of them before the S-class starts. Don't know who will be the final result or how long I'll have this go on. I'm considering just ending it after Tenrou island as I don't want this to go on forever. I've already done a years work on another story and am starting a Star Wars one as well. But we'll see.