"Lucy!" The ever familiar voice of one Natsu Dragneel rings throughout the guild hall.
At the sound of her name being called, Lucy turns around to see the boy running over to her with a grin. A tiny blue cat follows after him. His wings are tiny on his back, even after being just a year old. He struggles to fly, eventually giving up and plopping on Natsu's head.
The guild members that are around watch as Natsu runs up to their newest member, a large grin on his face. He stops just in front of Lucy, practically bouncing in place. It's been a few days since he first spoke to her, and to their surprise Lucy has opened up a bit more.
She still seems a bit hesitant when talking to him and other guild members, but she's a bit more talkative than before.
"Yes?" She asks, blinking at him.
"You'll never believe what I heard in town yesterday!" He replies, grin widening. Still not having a clue about what's going on, Lucy tilts her head and stares. "No fun, you're not even gonna try to guess?" Natsu asks, pouting as his shoulders sag.
"She probably has no idea what you're talking about, Natsu…" Comes Happy's squeaky voice from atop his head.
"Fine, I'll tell ya then!" Natsu declares, immediately perking back up. Lucy simply quirks a brow. "I overheard some people in town talking about seeing a dragon in the forest!" He exclaims, and Lucy gapes at him in surprise.
"Are you sure?!" She asks, eyes shining.
"Heard 'em with my own two ears!" Natsu promises with a grin. He then grabs her hand and tugs her out of her seat, "Let's go investigate!"
Lucy stumbles as she's tugged up by the hand, trying to catch her footing. However it's nearly impossible as Natsu is speeding out of the guild. "N-Natsu, s-slow downnn!" Lucy cries as she's practically blowing in the wind while he drags her.
The guild fondly laughs as the two children leave, finding their excitement endearing. From his spot on the bar's countertop, Makarov watches along with a smile.
Natsu was a bit like Lucy when he first joined the guild, probably because the pain of losing Igneel was still raw. He slowly came around and opened up to the guild, but everyone knew that there was a piece of him holding back.
Maybe it was because there was never anyone to truly understand what it was like to grow up with a dragon. They could never really relate to Natsu's unique experience.
There was a connection missing, a void.
But now there's Lucy, another child raised by a dragon, and someone who can relate to Natsu, and Natsu to her. A few members of their guild have mentioned their concerns for Lucy. Makarov would be lying if he said he wasn't a bit worried himself. Lucy has lost a lot in the past year.
Yet his worries melted away the moment Natsu spoke to the girl. If anyone can bring Lucy out of her shell, there's no doubt that it'll be Natsu.
And it seems like Lucy isn't the only one benefitting from their friendship.
Makarov can already see that small tiny void in Natsu filling. He's never seen the boy so upbeat before. He's always been an energetic child, but he's also always been alone, by choice. With Lucy here, he can already see a change. And it brings him nothing but joy. Natsu is truly reaching out, and it'll only be a matter of time before Lucy is as well.
"You think they'll find a real dragon?" Gray questions, looking up at his fellow guild mates.
Mira scoffs, "No way. Dragons don't exist anymore, remember?"
"I dunno, I kind of hope they do." Lisanna hums. "It'd make them really happy!"
"And then we could meet a real life dragon!" Elfman adds in, making Lisanna turn to him with a smile.
"Well whatever they find, it could be dangerous. We shouldn't have let them go alone." Erza says as she takes a bite out of her cake.
"No, it'll be fine." Makarov hums, causing the children to look at him. "Let's leave those two be for now. I'm sure that this is just the type of adventure they need." He says with a grin.
"Natsu, slow down will you?!" Lucy cries, struggling to keep up with the excited boy. Thankfully he's no longer tugging her along, letting her run beside him instead. Or at least… she would be running alongside him, but Natsu is too fast for her to keep up with him.
"Aye…" Happy mutters in agreement, making a home out of Lucy's head. Natsu's head had become uncomfortable for the kitten due to how much the young dragon slayer was moving around. So, Happy had transitioned to Lucy's head, where it's much more comfortable.
Natsu whips around to pout at both of them, "Well if we don't move fast we're gonna miss the dragon!" He exclaims, making Lucy sigh softly.
"Do you even know where you're going?" She asks him, finally catching up to him since he stopped moving.
"'Course I do! The forest!" Is Natsu's immediate reply.
"Okay, let's try this," Lucy grumbles, resisting the urge to face palm, "Where in the forest? Did those rumors mention a specific place?"
Crossing his arms, Natsu hums rather loudly. He squints his eyes as he thinks, and Lucy simply watches him. "Oh yeah! There's a huge river in the forest where some people said they saw the dragon!" He exclaims.
"Let's start there then. Maybe we can find something!" Lucy suggests, causing Natsu to grin. "Lead the way, Natsu!"
"Aye!"
When they finally find the river, it's buried deep within the heart of the forest. With the enhanced noses of Lucy and Natsu combined, they had found it rather easily. Patches of grass cover the ground before them, and the light trickle of water fades into the background with the sounds of life within the forest.
"Whoa! This place is amazing!" Lucy comments, looking all around her. Happy rests on her head still, gasping along with her.
Natsu shrugs, unaffected by the nature around them. "'S just another forest, Lucy. We've seen plenty of those!" He comments.
She pouts at his answer. "Well either way, we should start exploring for clues!" The girl declares, already walking over to the riverbank.
Natsu blinks at her reaction before shrugging. Girls are weird.
The two of them stay in the same general area of one another, staring closely at the ground for possible footprints or even scales. Animals skitter by them a few times, nearly spooking Natsu which Lucy finds highly entertaining.
At some point, the girl glances over at her pink haired guildmate with a realization, "Hey, Natsu? You never told me what the dragon looked like." She points out.
"That's because I don't know what it looks like, duh!" Natsu shoots back.
Lucy stares at him, dumbfounded. "What do you mean?! What about the rumors?!"
Natsu pauses from where he's splitting some leaves apart, standing up to face Lucy completely. "Well uh, the rumors said that they saw a big shadow, a huge one!" He exclaims, and Lucy groans.
"Natsu that doesn't mean it's a dragon!"
"Sure it does! I heard someone say that the shadow was like a dragon!"
Face palming, the young girl sighs. "Next time I'm going on the hunt for dragon rumors. You're just bad at them."
"Aye." Happy mutters from his place on her head.
"Hey! What the heck is that supposed to mean Luigi?!"
"It's Lucy!"
Natsu goes to say something more, when he catches sight of a shadow from the corner of his eye. His retort immediately dies on his tongue and he tenses. Lucy notices him tense up, sees the way his eyebrows knit together. "What is it?" She asks him, stepping closer.
Happy removes himself from her head, going over to Natsu's instead.
Before Natsu can answer her question, the bushes rustle and the shadow is taking off again. Lucy seems to see it as well, as a surprised gasp leaves her. One of her hands clasps around Cancer and Aquarius, and she tries to follow the shadow as it darts around.
"I'm gonna try to catch it. It might be the dragon!" Natsu leans in to whisper, and Lucy nods.
Her and Happy watch as Natsu slowly stalks over to the bushes, arms held up as he's ready to catch the shadow. Lucy watches him a bit nervously, unsure if a creature that small can really be a dragon or not. At the very least, she knows it isn't Igneel or Stella.
"Gotcha!" Natsu suddenly exclaims as he leaps for the shadowed creature. Just as his arms wrap around it, the creature leaps away. "What the?!"
The creature then heads for Lucy, practically attaching to her face. She yelps as her vision is blocked, allowing her to see only darkness.
"Lucy!" She hears both Natsu and Happy cry out.
Lucy flails her arms, unsure of what to do. "Help!" She shouts, but her outcry is muffled by whatever's on her face. Though, now that she thinks about it, it feels soft. Almost like… fur?
Rushing over to the girl, Natsu grabs the yellow clump covering her face, and pulls it off. As soon as her face is free, she sighs in relief. The two children then stare at the creature in Natsu's hands, blinking. "What is it?" Natsu questions. Lucy shrugs in response.
Slowly, the clump in Natsu's hands unfurls, revealing a small animal. Happy gasps at the sight, as well as Natsu and Lucy. In Natsu's hands is a yellow kitten, similar to Happy. The kitten is roughly Happy's size, it's body covered in yellow fur. Its left ear is a darker yellow, as is the very end of its tail.
"Another me?!" Happy cries, causing the yellow kitten's eyes to lock onto him and the two children next to him.
The kitten's eyes widen, "Eek! Please don't eat me! I'm not tasty at all, I promise!"
Lucy and Natsu blink, staring at her before sharing a dumbfounded look. "Uh… we aren't gonna eat ya." Natsu says as he places the kitten onto the ground.
"You aren't?" The kitten replies, eyes shining with unshed tears. "So you aren't hunting me down to eat me?"
Lucy shakes her head, "No, we're out here looking for a dragon." She explains.
"Do you live here?" Natsu asks, plopping down on the forest floor. He crosses his legs as Lucy sits down beside him.
"I was born here, I think." The kitten replies.
"Were you born from an egg too?!" Natsu asks, suddenly. The kitten nods, making the boy grin, "You're just like Happy then!"
"Happy?" The kitten asks, catching sight of the blue kitten next to Natsu.
Happy raises a paw, "Aye! Natsu hatched me from an egg!" He cheerfully says. "What about you?"
The kitten shrugs her shoulders, "I don't know… when I um, hatched, I was all alone. I've been living in the forest ever since. All kinds of animals have tried to eat me, it's been so scary!" She cries, and Lucy can't help but feel bad.
There's a pull on her heart as she thinks of this small kitten waking up one day all alone.
She knows exactly how it feels. How scary it is.
"If you live here, then have you seen a dragon? A huge red one?" Natsu asks. "Or, hey, what's Stella look like?" He turns to Lucy.
"Huh?" She blinks, being pulled from her thoughts. "Oh! Her scales are golden." The girl answers, glancing at him before turning back to the kitten in front of them.
"No… all I've seen are big scary bears and a few humans with fishing poles at the river. Other than that, you guys are the first people I've spoken to…" The kitten replies.
Lucy blinks, "Wait… you said you saw people at the river?" She asks.
The kitten nods, "Yeah. Though, when I tried to talk to them, they ran away from me." She says, ears falling against her head.
Suddenly, the dots are connecting and Lucy turns to her companion, "Natsu… I don't think there's a dragon here." She says.
Throwing his arms behind his head, Natsu sighs and leans back, "Yeah, it seems like it already left!"
"No, I mean, I don't think there was ever a dragon here in the first place." Lucy replies, her eyes trailing over to the kitten. "I'm not sure how but… I think those people mistook this kitten for a dragon."
"What?! Then you mean all of this was for nothing?!" Natsu exclaims, looking at Lucy in shock as his shoulders drop.
Lucy hums, "I don't know if I'd say it was all for nothing. In fact, I think we're pretty lucky to have run into a cat like Happy, especially if she's been living alone all this time." She says, smiling. Tapping her chin in thought she asks, "Do you think she could come with us back to the guild?"
Still a bit disappointed about the lack of a dragon, Natsu shrugs, "I don't see why not."
Happy with his answer, Lucy looks back to the kitten in front of her, "What do you say? Do you want to come with us?" She asks. "I promise there won't be any wild animals to eat you."
The kitten looks up at her, "Really? I can really come with you?" She asks.
Lucy nods, "Of course! Besides, it wouldn't feel right to leave you by yourself like this." She says, and she gets hit with a wave of nostalgia. Layla had done this exact thing for her. Except, Lucy wasn't taking the kitten back to her home. Lucy was bringing her somewhere… temporary.
Right?
The yellow kitten stares at Lucy with tearful eyes. "I'm Lucy, by the way. And that's Natsu and Happy." Lucy introduces with a kind smile.
"Hello!" The kitten greets as she sniffles, making the three smile at her.
"Do you have a name?" Happy inquires, and the feline shakes her head.
Natsu frowns, "Well we gotta change that!" He exclaims. He turns to Lucy, "Wanna do the honors?"
"M-Me?" Lucy asks, surprised. Natsu grins and nods. Turning back to the kitten, she hums. "Um well, let's see…" She puts a hand on her chin as she thinks. She wants to give the kitten a good name, but she doesn't have any ideas. She can't think of anything, not when she's being put on the spot like this.
And then— a lightbulb.
"Lucky!" She exclaims suddenly, smiling at the kitten. "What do you think?"
"Luc… ky." She tests the name out, "Lucky. I love it!" The kitten exclaims, tears spilling over. Lucy gives her a soft smile and gently scratches behind an ear, making the kitten purr softly.
After a few moments of watching the two, Natsu stands, "Well then, we should head back home." Frowning, he mutters to himself, "Stupid Popsicle is never gonna let me live this one down…"
Lucy goes to follow, but she freezes. Natsu called Fairy Tail home. Home… For some reason that feels right. As much as she doesn't want it to, it feels right. Fairy Tail feels like the Heartfilias, like Stella. But… Lucy lost both of her homes.
"Lushee?" Happy asks, noticing that the girl is still sitting down. He gently places his paw on her knee.
Natsu looks over at her, confused. "You alright, Lucy?" He asks.
"Is it… is it really okay for me to call Fairy Tail my home?" Lucy asks, her voice trembling.
Natsu scrunches his nose, "Of course! Why wouldn't it be?" He questions, not understanding why Lucy is suddenly questioning it. "You're a member of Fairy Tail, it'll always be your home, weirdo."
Natsu's words cause something in Lucy to break, and she begins to cry. Lucky and Happy jump in shock, the former jumping into Lucy's lap and hugging her.
"W-Whoa! What're you crying for?!" Natsu exclaims, panic written all over his face. He's no good with crying girls!
Lucy raises her hands to wipe her face, sniffling, "S-Sorry..! It's j-just…" She looks up at Natsu, crying, "I-I don't want to lose my h-home again…" She sniffles as continues trying to wipe her eyes. More tears replace the previous ones though.
Natsu watches her for a few seconds longer before scratching the back of his head and looking away. He then sighs and sits down next to her. "Look, I promise you won't lose the guild. They won't leave, no matter how annoying or stupid they get." He says, though the last part comes out like a grumble which makes Lucy laugh. She looks up at him, making Natsu smile widely at her. "Like I said, we're family and you're stuck with us forever. So no more crying, okay?"
His words put Lucy at ease, they quell the fears raging in her mind. He tells her it's okay without really saying it. He doesn't bother asking her what made her so afraid to call the guild home and instead makes her a promise.
Besides, he doesn't need to ask. He felt the same way when he first joined, too.
And Lucy finds comfort in that. It makes her feel a little more comfortable about finding a new home with her guild. It makes it easier to say, to believe.
Her guild won't just walk away. And they won't push her away, either.
Drying her cheeks, Lucy stares at Natsu and tilts her head, "But what if I want to cry when good things happen?" She asks teasingly, with a big smile.
Natsu stares at her with confusion, "Why the heck would you wanna do that?!" He asks.
Lucy giggles at his response, "Sometimes people just feel so happy that they want to cry. Crying like that is a good thing!"
Crossing his arms, Natsu hums. "Yeah, sure… okay then!" He points at her, "With Fairy Tail, the only time you'll cry is when you're super happy!"
Giggling once more, Lucy nods. "It's a promise then." She hums. Natsu grins at her in response. Lucy scoops Lucky up into her arms and rises, smiling down at Natsu. "Let's head home!"
A small part of Lucy is still worried that she'll one day lose Fairy Tail like she lost Stella and the Heartfilias, but for now she'll believe in Natsu's words.
He did promise her after all.
me, uploading a new chapter of a fairy tail fanfic in 2022? more likely than you think. honestly, this chapter has been sitting in my drafts for nearly a year and I thought it was about time I finished it for you guys dfjdjfdsjkf. I've been very out of practice with writing anything fairy tail so please forgive if anything is weird or chunky ;;; I'd like to promise that the next chapter won't take me nearly a year, but uhhh :sweats: I'm a full time college student now.
anyways, I'm so sorry for the wait, and I hope this chapter was enjoyable! please feel free to share your thoughts, I'd love to hear them!
(also ayyyy that 100yq anime announcement huh?)
twitter ; WILBYNYA
