Haloha, everyone! Hope you're having a good day! Thanks for the continued support as always!
I've been quite busy with university stuff lately. I haven't been able to dedicate myself that much to writing these chapters. I hope you don't mind some late uploads here and there.
I've decided to make this a filler chapter so I have time to improve the next one. It's meant to bridge between the last chapter and the next chapter, so development is quite casual here. Still, I hope you enjoy it!
Anyhow, enjoy reading!
Chapter 36: Making Amends
The sun rose over the great island, signaling the start of a brand new day. Its rays shone through the little gap in the curtains, landing perfectly on a certain pink-haired dragon slayer's face…
"Mnguh…" Natsu slowly opened his eyes. He raised his body up and rubbed his eyes to clear his vision. His gaze shifted to the windows. It's morning, huh… I slept like a log. The bed's quality was nothing to scoff at, far better than his bed, or even Lucy's, for that matter.
A familiar and sweet scent swept by his nose, prompting him to turn his head to his left. A blue-haired girl was sleeping soundly beside him and was in a rather… clumsy position. Her arms were sprawled upwards. Her shirt wasn't completely covering her body, as he could see her cute belly button.
Wendy… he observed her calm expression and faint breathing. He placed a hand on her head and stroked it affectionately. Didn't think she was the type to move around. He quietly tucked her into the blanket and gently lifted her head and put a pillow underneath it. There, much better. Seeing her in this defenseless position gave him an idea…
"Hehehe…" a sinister smile spread across his face. "I'm going to have lots of fun with you, Wendy."
Wendy unconsciously smiled at the warm sensation of his hand, oblivious to his evil plans. He quietly slid off the bed and exited the room.
"Hey, Juvia! That's me you're shooting!"
"Sorry, darling! I'm trying to get the hang of these controls!"
"Use the bazooka, Jellal! Blow them up!"
"Got it, Gray!"
What's with the commotion? Natsu could hear the sounds of guns and explosions coming from the living room. Is there a battle going on? He walked there and saw Gray, Juvia, and Jellal holding some strange devices with many buttons he had never seen before. In front of them were three screens where three characters could be seen fending off against a horde of mutated creatures.
"Damn it, I'm down!"
"Gray, Juvia! I'll hold them off!"
"Don't die on me, darling! I'll use a med kit!"
What are they…? Natsu couldn't understand what they were doing. They talked as if they were in the middle of battle, but they were right there, sitting around. I don't smell any explosions… they seemed to be pressing those buttons in the devices they were holding.
"Morning, Natsu." Erza greeted him. "You looked like you slept well."
"Erza…" he turned to her. She was sitting at the dining table and having tea. "Yeah! I feel fully rested!"
"Good to hear that. The beds here are quite fine." Erza smiled. "Is Wendy still asleep?"
"Yep!" Natsu nodded. "Didn't want to wake her up."
"I see." she hummed in understanding. She then motioned to the two containers on the table. "That's breakfast for you and Wendy. Eat it while it's hot."
"Oh, thanks." Natsu walked to the dining table. He could smell a delectable aroma coming from the food containers. That smells really good! His stomach grumbled in response. He wanted to chomp down on the food, but there was a pressing matter he needed to attend to first…
"Erza, do you have a marker I could borrow?" Natsu asked.
"A marker?" Erza raised an eyebrow with curiosity. "I don't think I brought any with me, but you could check that drawer over there. Perhaps this room has some."
"Got'cha." Natsu walked to the drawer and opened it. Sure enough, there were several markers, each having their own color. Sweet! This will do. He took a black marker and closed the drawer afterwards.
He went back to his room and walked up to the bed. Wendy was still sound asleep, sleeping in pure bliss. Hehe, time to put my plan into action! Natsu got on the bed and quietly straddled her so as to not wake her up. He removed the marker cover and executed his totally not-harmless plan…
I can't wait to see her reaction!
Little did he know it would backfire… tremendously.
…
..
.
"Mnngh…" Wendy stretched her arms outwards and slowly opened her eyes. She rubbed her eyes with her hand as she raised herself. It's morning… It took a while for Wendy to adjust to her surroundings. A comfortable scent passed through her nose, prompting her to bow her head down.
Natsu's scarf…
She gripped it in her hands and pushed it against her face. Right, he lent it to me yesterday… she felt oddly colder than usual. Wendy looked around and noticed she woke up alone; Natsu wasn't there beside her.
He must have woken up first…
She would have loved to wake up in his arms and cuddle with him first thing in the morning. It slightly disappointed her that she woke up alone. Maybe Natsu didn't want to disturb her, she figured. Still, it would have been nice to wake up together… she was already feeling lonely without him.
Wendy exited her room and walked to the living room. There she saw Gray, Juvia, and Jellal getting heated up over… something.
"Hey, Wendy." Erza greeted upon noticing her. "Good morn-brhk!" She suddenly choked on her tea, seeing her face.
"Hi, Erza!" Wendy waved, wondering why she choked on her tea. "What's wrong?"
"It's… nothing." Erza cleared her throat, subtly trying to hold back her laugh. Is this why Natsu wanted to borrow a marker?
"Last stand, everyone!" Gray cried out. "Come on!"
"Right by your side, darling!" Juvia followed.
"Traps have been set." Jellal said calmly.
Wendy's attention was drawn to the lacrima screen. Are they… playing something? It looked like they were in the middle of a battle and they seemed to be controlling the characters on the screen.
"What are you guys doing?" Wendy asked, sitting down beside them.
"Oh, hey Wendy." Gray turned his head to her. "We're actually–… pfft."
"Mhmm?" Wendy raised an eyebrow.
"Have… you looked at the mirror lately?" Gray asked, holding back his chuckles. "I must say, that style fits you."
"What do you mean, Gray?" she asked, very confused.
"Oh, wow…" Juvia took a good look at her face. "That's… a unique way to put on make-up."
"Huh?" Wendy grew even more confused. What are they talking about? Do I have something on my face?
"That's… um, something, all right." Jellal coughed into his fist.
"Maybe you'd like to see yourself in the mirror first." Erza handed her a mirror to look at.
Wendy held the mirror in her hands. Her eyes widened in surprise. Who's this? In the mirror, she saw a girl who looked like her… but also did not look like her at the same time. Black patches appeared over both her eyes like those of a panda creature with lines spreading out of her nose, resembling cat whiskers.
"Huh?!" Wendy gasped and brushed her fingers across her face. "Is this me?!" When did my face get like this?
"That's certainly you." Erza nodded. "Don't worry, I reckon it's just some black marker. Nothing harmful."
"How did this happen?" she asked in disbelief. "Did someone draw this on me?"
"I have a very good idea of who that might be." Gray smirked.
"… Natsu!" Wendy huffed. This must be his doing! Now it makes sense why he didn't wake her up.
"You called me?" Natsu popped his head out from behind the couch.
"Natsu!" she huffed. "Did you do this?"
"Guilty as charged." He grinned brightly. "You left yourself wide open, Wendy. I just had to take the chance!"
"Muuuu!" Wendy pouted at him, trying to rub the marker away. "It looks weird on me!"
"Perhaps I should take a picture to preserve the occasion!" Erza whipped out her camera lacrima, her eyes sparkling with delight.
"No, don't!" Wendy covered her face, visibly embarrassed.
"I think it looks pretty cute on you!" He smiled, patting her head.
"Nguh…" Her heart was conflicted between being called cute and not wanting these markings on her face. That's not fair!
"Okay, okay." Natsu bowed down to her level. That's enough fun. "Stand still. I'll get it off."
He gently held her cheek and attempted to rub the markings away with his thumbs.
This is… kinda nice. Wendy hummed to herself. It was like getting a face massage. His hands had the right amount of heat to warm her chilly face.
"Huh…" Natsu raised an eyebrow. "It's not… coming off."
"Eh?" Wendy blinked twice. Not coming off…?
"It's… not coming off." He repeated himself in the same manner, applying more pressure to his hands. "Uh oh…"
"What do you mean it's not coming off, Natsu…?" Wendy asked, her tone laced with worries.
Could it be…? Erza went to the drawer, opened it, and grabbed a marker. Her eyes inspected the labels on it closely. Her eyes widened in realization. "Oh, that explains everything…"
"Did you figure something out, Erza?" Jellal asked.
"Mhmmm… Natsu, did you bother to check the marker before you used it?" Erza asked him.
"Nope." Natsu shook his head, still trying to remove the black markings from Wendy's face. "Never crossed my mind."
"Why, Erza?" Wendy asked, a bit afraid to hear her answer. "Is there something wrong with the marker?"
"It's…" she took a deep breath. "… permanent."
"Ah." Natsu froze.
"P-P-Permanent?!" Wendy gasped in shock. "You used a permanent marker on me, Natsu?!"
"… I don't know." Natsu averted his gaze. "Did I?"
"It's… not coming off, is it?" Gray tried rubbing Wendy's cheeks. "It doesn't seem to."
"Oh, no…!" Wendy clawed away at her face. "Am I going to look like this forever?!" There's no way I could live my life like this!
"Not to worry, Wendy." Erza grabbed a bottle of oil and poured some into her palm. "A little oil should do the trick."
She rubbed her palms together and tried to rub the black markings off her face. And the result?
"It's… still not coming off." Gray commented. All it did was make her face oily.
"… Well, this is concerning." Erza folded her arms in deep thought. "These aren't your standard permanent markers, huh?"
This is bad… Natsu scratched his cheek awkwardly. I didn't mean to make Wendy this mad…
"Please tell me you're joking, Erza!" Wendy's expression grew worried. I can't live like this!
"… There might still be a way to remove it." Erza's gaze motioned to Juvia.
"Ah, I see what you're thinking…" Both Gray and Jellal looked at Juvia, too.
"Me…?" Juvia pointed at herself.
…
..
.
"Owwwww!" Wendy sniffed.
"It'll be all over soon, Wendy." Juvia stroked her cheek. "Hush…"
"It huuuuuurts!" she cried out in pain.
Using her water manipulation abilities, Juvia materialized a super high-pressure precision eraser made of water, which managed to clean the black markings off her face.
"Well, it's working…" Jellal stroked his chin. "The marking is disappearing."
"… But at what cost?" Gray ruffled his hair. "That looks like it really hurts…"
And a regretful Natsu could only watch from a distance. He did not intend for any of this to happen to her. Things escalated really quickly.
"Mngguuuuh!" Wendy puffed her cheeks out, trying to hold herself from lashing out.
"Just a little more, Wendy." Juvia aimed the water eraser at her eyes. "Close your eyes."
"So… Natsu." Gray wrapped his arm around his shoulder. "Do you realize how badly you messed up?"
"I… uh..." Natsu truly felt bad about what he did. Seeing Wendy's pained expression wasn't exactly fun. This isn't what I planned!
"If I had known you were going to use the marker for this, I would have prevented you." Erza sighed, taking a sip of her tea.
After an excruciating cleaning session, Juvia finally finished cleansing Wendy's face.
"There, Wendy!" Juvia held the mirror in front of her face. "You look good as new… I think?"
Wendy stared at the reflection. Sure enough, the black markings were no longer there on her face… except her face was painfully red with stripes.
"Ow…" Wendy pooled her healing energy through her palms and guided it towards her red-stricken face. It still stung from Juvia's water magic, but her healing managed to ease some of it. "Thank you, Juvia…"
"Anytime, Wendy." Juvia smiled. "It'll take some time for the pain to go away."
"Okay…" Wendy sighed.
"Wanna pick up where we left off?" Gray tossed the lacrima controller to her.
"Of course, darling!" Juvia beamed.
"How about you, Jellal?"
"… I'm dead." Jellal chuckled. "It seems I won't respawn till the level is over."
"Wait, you're dead?!"
The trio returned their attention to the lacrima screen. Jellal simply observed and waited, while Gray and Juvia continued playing it.
Natsu simply stared at Wendy's back. I… didn't mean for things to come this way. Perhaps this was one of those times where he could have thought things out first before doing them.
"Mnguhhh…" Wendy pinched her cheeks, still feeling it sting a bit.
"Wendy, I'm sorry…" Natsu attempted to apologize to her.
"Humph!" she puffed her cheeks out and crossed her arms.
"Come on, Wendy…" he tried to get a good look at her. "It was a harmless joke, I swear!"
"Humph!" she turned her head the other way, avoiding his gaze.
"Wendy…" he frowned. Clenching the fabric around his chest, his heart tightened at the idea of Wendy mad at him. It hurts… he really didn't mean to put her in a bad mood so early in the morning. It was supposed to be an innocent joke!
"Natsu." Jellal called him. He motioned for him to come over.
"… Yeah?" Natsu walked to him, his shoulders slumped over.
"I know of a way you can improve her mood."
"Really?" A little hope was restored to Natsu's eyes.
Jellal drew his mouth to his ear to whisper a suggestion.
"…!" Natsu raised an eyebrow. "Is it really that simple?"
"Give it a shot." Jellal patted his shoulder to reassure him. "I don't think Wendy's truly mad at you." From the corner of his eye, he noticed Wendy giving quick glances at him.
"Okay…" Natsu turned to her, keeping his suggestion in mind. He walked over and stood directly behind her. "Wendy…"
"Don't talk to me." Wendy pouted in an exaggerated fashion. "I'm mad."
"Ugh…" I guess this is what it means to be in love? He never knew Wendy being mad at him could sting his heart like this. Let's see if Jellal's idea works…
What he suggested was quite simple: just hug and comfort her. Jellal noticed Wendy adored Natsu's little acts of love, so he figured that would be the best approach.
He wrapped his arms around Wendy and pulled her into an embrace. He rested his chin on her head. "I'm sorry, Wendy. I really am."
"Mnnguh…" his warmth enveloped her delicate body, making her heart flutter with joy.
"I want to make it up to you." He stroked her blue head affectionately.
"Mngeh…" she puffed her cheeks out, trying to prevent a smile from spreading across her face. His head pats were making her mind grow fuzzy.
He then rubbed his thumb over her cheek in a circular motion. "Please, Wendy?"
Still pouting, Wendy turned around and buried her head in his chest, snuggling against it. "I'm not… that mad at you."
Natsu let out a sigh of relief, glad she's finally said something. He stroked the back of her hair to comfort her.
"You're so unfair… doing these things to make me happy…" Wendy wrapped her arms around him. And I love it…
"Is it working then?" he chuckled, finding her reactions adorable.
She nodded bashfully. "Why didn't you wake me up? I was lonely."
"I didn't want to disturb you." He replied. "But I guess I… just wanted to pull that prank on you…"
"I appreciate the honesty." She looked at him with upturned eyes. "I want to wake up together with you from now on."
"Will do, Wendy." Natsu grinned, then crouched down to her level. "I'm… really sorry."
"I'll forgive you, Natsu," she winked at him, "if you'll allow me to be extra selfish with you."
"Haha, okay…" he gently pressed his lips against her cheek. "Morning, Wendy."
"Mwehehe…" His kiss made her heart feel giddy. She let out a cute giggle. "Morning, Natsu!"
And thus, they officially started their day together on a pleasant note by having breakfast together.
Nicely done, Natsu. Jellal smiled in approval. That went better than I expected.
"I'm glad those two made up quickly." Erza said. "It doesn't feel right to see a sad Natsu and an angry Wendy."
"Haha, couldn't agree more, Erza." He nodded. They seem to be quite comfortable with each other… of course, no one planned on telling him yet that they were already dating.
"Ah, we lost." Gray groaned.
"They overpowered us…" Juvia frowned. On the lacrima screen, the words GAME OVER could be seen.
"This level appears to be the most difficult." Jellal commented. "Erza, would you like to join us?"
"How do I play this?" Erza held the lacrima controller in her hands. "I've never seen a device like this before."
"It's pretty easy once you get the hang of it." Gray chuckled. He offered her a lacrima controller.
"I'll guide you through it, Erza." Jellal sat beside her.
During their breakfast, the dragon slayers' attention was drawn to the lacrima screen. Wendy picked up a lacrima manual which Erza seemed to be reading earlier. This seems interesting… She opened it up and read through its contents.
"I am quite confused about what they're actually doing." Natsu rested his arms on the table. "Are they watching something?"
"Ah…" Wendy's eyes lit up with realization. "It appears to be called a video game? It's powered by highly-advanced lacrima energy."
"A video game?" he raised an eyebrow.
"Those characters aren't real, surprisingly…" Wendy muttered, reading over the manual. "They're controlling them through those lacrima devices."
"They're not real?" he focused his eyes on the screen closely. It confused him because the characters on the screen looked very realistic. So this is a video game… they've all never seen technology utilized this way, so it came as a surprise.
"Natsu. Wendy. Why don't you two come and join us?" Erza suggested. "Six of us sounds like a fun time."
"That sounds fun!" Wendy grabbed Natsu's hand and pulled him over to them. "Come on, Natsu! Let's try it out."
"Haha, why not." Natsu grinned.
"Try not to crush them." Gray handed two lacrima controllers, one for Natsu and one for Wendy. "Let's all start over from the tutorial levels."
"Sounds good." Jellal nodded.
"Huh…" Natsu scanned over the device in his hands. There's a lot of buttons… he fumbled with it in trying to understand it. The buttons on the right had basic shapes, while the buttons on the left resembled directional arrows. There were even smaller buttons in the center and buttons behind it! There really are a lot of buttons!
"Don't be overwhelmed just yet, flame-brain." Gray fist-bumped his shoulder with a playful smirk. "You'll master it in no time."
"It fits rather nicely in my hands…" Wendy commented. Never held anything like this before.
"It's certainly got an interesting design. I think it's meant to be held with two hands. It also considers finger placements." Erza said.
"The first level's about to start!" Gray exclaimed. "It'll guide you through its controls."
Resting his back against the couch, Natsu sat down on the floor and crossed his legs inward. "Sit here, Wendy." He patted to his side.
"Don't mind if I do..." She nodded but didn't sit beside him… she sat on his lap, instead.
"Hey." He poked her cheek.
"What is it?" Wendy smiled playfully, turning her head to him.
"Isn't it uncomfortable?" he asked in a joking manner as he put his arms around her. The scent of her hair was a bit… distracting.
"Consider this your punishment!" She grinned, snuggling down in his lap and enjoying the warmth of his body. It always made her feel safe and calm.
"Haha, okay." Natsu grabbed his controller, rested his chin on her head, and settled his arms at her sides. This is a punishment I can definitely get behind! It was soothing to his heart to have her presence nearby.
Juvia tugged away at Gray's shirt, envious of the dragon slayers' relationship. "Darling, I want to sit on your lap, too!"
"Errrh…" Gray's face heated up. My heart isn't ready for that! "No, I wouldn't be able to concentrate!"
"Awww…" Juvia scooted over and rested her head on his shoulder. "Then, I'll do this! This should be fine, right?"
"… I guess." He blushed, then diverted his attention back to the screen. "A-Anyway, let's begin, everyone!"
"Yeah!" everyone exclaimed in unison.
The game they were playing was a cooperative third-person shooter. The basic premise was they were a group of survivors currently fending off a massive horde of infected in an apocalyptic world. It embodied fast pacing and lots of action.
And how were they faring…?
"I'm already dead?!" Natsu shouted.
"How did you die in the tutorial stages? They're supposed to be the easiest!" Gray huffed.
"This is kinda fun!" Wendy beamed. She and Erza were moving with a good momentum.
"You learn fast, Erza." Jellal said.
"They really know how to make these controls intuitive." Erza replied.
And so the tutorial stage ended smoothly, with only Natsu's character dead.
"Grrr… I'll get better!" Natsu's eyes ignited. He wasn't going to let it end this way. "I'm getting fired up now!"
"Heh, it's only getting tougher from here!" Gray continued on to a newer level. "Get ready!"
They moved on to the next level and this time…
Natsu groaned in frustration. "I can't believe I'm dead agai–"
SLAM!
"AAAAAAAH!" Wendy screamed in terror, accidentally headbutting Natsu's face in the process.
"These creatures look hideous!" Erza shuddered, her hands trembling.
At this new level, insect-like creatures began swarming towards their screens. They were much stronger and agile compared to the earlier enemies.
"There's a lot of them!" Gray struggled to stay alive.
"I don't want to play this anymore!" Wendy turned around and buried her head in Natsu's chest, hugging him tightly.
"Ouch… nice headbutt you got there." Natsu rubbed his nose to ease the pain from being head-butted. "What's wrong, Wendy?"
"Mnngh…" Her eyes began welling up. "I hate bugs…"
"Oh." Natsu was unfazed by the creature's design, despite how realistic and graphic it looked. They look cool, though… he took over Wendy's controller and continued playing. "I'll take over!"
"I'm almost tempted to stab a sword through the screen. Almost." Erza grumbled.
"Please don't do that." Jellal chuckled.
Eventually, they managed to finish the level with only Natsu's character dead again. Surprisingly, he pulled through with Wendy's character.
"Hell yeah!" Natsu pumped his fists up.
"That was… intense!" Gray let out a long sigh. "We couldn't beat this with 3 players, but we won with the six of us."
"The more, the merrier!" Juvia clapped her hands.
"Well done, everyone." Jellal smiled.
"Is it… over?" Wendy whispered timidly.
"It's over." Natsu caressed the back of her hair to reassure her. "You know they aren't real, right?"
"Mnguuh… it was scary!" she pouted.
"Haha…" Natsu found her antics adorable. He gently rubbed the little tears away from her cheeks. "Never thought you were afraid of bugs…"
"Mnnngh…" she puffed her cheeks out. She didn't have a wonderful experience during the Tartaros battle when she was locating the deadly Face weapon.
"It's okay, Wendy." Natsu wrapped his arm around her head, pulling her close to his chest. "Even if those bugs showed up, I'll crush them before they can even reach you!"
Wendy could intimately hear his heart beating against her ear. His heartbeats eased some of the tension from her body. She tightened her arms around him and snuggled against him.
"… Wendy?"
"Can I… stay like this for a moment?" she whispered.
Natsu smiled softly. "Of course." he stroked her head, running his fingers through her long, silky hair. She'd probably kill me if I tried to pull a bug prank, huh? He immediately cast that thought away.
The others simply stared at the two in silence, finding the moment rather sweet.
"I guess this is a good place to stop." Gray turned off the lacrima devices, the screen, and organized the controllers with Juvia's help.
"I agree." Erza nodded. "Let's pick this up again some other time."
What a morning this has been. Erza stood up and walked to the windows. She drew her gaze to the beaches in the distance. The beaches…
Erza turned around and faced her friends, putting her hands on her hips and striking a dramatic pose.
"So, would you all like to hang out at the beach?"
