9 Years Ago
"Guys! look what I found under my pillow this morning!"
The blonde seven year-old girl ran across the Fairy Tail Elementary School playground to meet with her friends currently sitting by the swingset. She plopped down on the grass, too excited to worry about getting her bright yellow dress dirty. In her hands was a small bronze coin with the number "100" on it. She held her hand out for her three friends to see. The scarlet-haired girl sitting to the left of her looked at it and grinned.
"That's 100 jewel, Lucy! You could buy something nice with that at the store," she said to the other girl while pointing at the coin.
The droopy-eyed little boy sitting across from her got on his hands and knees and leaned over to get a closer look. "Wow, you can buy an ice cream with that!"
The pink-haired boy to her right, however, merely sat there and stared at the coin with his arms crossed, unimpressed. "Big deal. 100 jewel isn't even a lot. And how did it even get under your pillow anyway?"
The blonde's eyes dimmed a bit, but then brightened again as she remembered her new treasure. "The Tooth Fairy put it there! My tooth fell out yesterday so I put it under my pillow when I went to sleep, and when I woke up to check on it, I found this!" She held up the coin to his face, giving him a closer view. He only scoffed. Her smile dropped and she returned her hand to her lap.
"Whatever. That's nothing to be excited about. You're so weird, Lucy. I'm gonna go play with Max." He then got up and left the 3 of them on the grass, running over to the sandbox where his brunette friend was.
The blonde-haired girl yelled after him in anger. "Yeah, well you're weirder!" She ran off in the opposite direction to meet with her blue haired friend who was reading a picture book on the swings. The remaining two friends stayed on the grass, bewildered.
"Why do they always have to fight all the time?" The droopy-eyed boy sighed in annoyance. The red-haired girl looked up in thought as if trying to remember something. She straightened suddenly as if a light bulb went off in her head.
"Oh yeah! Mother always told me that when a boy was mean to you, it meant he actually liked you, in that way," She stated with a slight blush. The droopy-eyed boy grimaced.
"You think Natsu likes Lucy in that way?! That's so gross, Erza!"
"Well that's what Mother said! Do you have a problem?" She glared at him intimidatingly, and he instantly cowered and shut his mouth. "I think Natsu and Lucy might like each other in that way because Mother is never wrong. And it's not gross!"
The boy thought about her words for a few seconds, then his eyes got wider as if he came to a realization. "Oh, okay! So you and Jellal fight because you like each other?"
The girl's eyes widened considerably and her face turned crimson.
"No!"
That day, the young blonde girl and pink-haired boy had made no progress in actually becoming friends, and the raven-haired boy went home with a bruised rib and a new fear of a certain scarlet-haired 8 year-old.
7:30 A.M
Lucy's P.O.V
RING
RING
RING
RING
The sound of my phone's default alarm went off, waking me up and thus, effectively ruining an otherwise peaceful morning. Leaning over to disable the alarm, I did so and lightly tossed the phone on the desk at the foot of my bed, not even bothering to look at the time. Waiting until 2am to pack probably wasn't the greatest idea, but as I flopped back down on the soft pillow, I simply couldn't bring myself to care.
"Dammit... I was having such a great dream, too," I heard myself mutter at the ceiling.
I finally found the strength to rise and looked around my large room. It's always looked like this, luxurious and fancy yet still utterly boring and dull. It hadn't changed much since I was a child, so every piece of furniture was either a shade of pink or white. Two narrow sliding glass doors touched the ceiling and led to a small balcony on the right side of my unnecessarily large bed, covered by droopy pink sheer curtains. A white wardrobe in the corner was filled from end-to-end with heavy formal dresses that I was forced to wear on a regular basis, and across from my bed was a long mirror, where I could stare at my just-woken-up form every morning.
After a few moments of mentally destroying my phone with a giant hammer for interrupting my beautiful dream, it was finally time to stop letting out my frustration at inanimate objects and I willed myself out of bed, slowly walking across the room to reach the bathroom. The large mirror above the bathroom countertop reflected my terrible appearance in all its disheveled glory: blonde hair standing in all directions, bags under my hooded and groggy eyes, lips dry, and the white tank top I had slept in was wrinkled and in disarray on my body. Well, I looked as bad as I felt. Waking up early was one of the most dreaded things in my existence, but I had to today... Because it was Move-In Day.
...
... It was Move-In Day!
Suddenly, I loved this morning.
Today, I would be moving back to the dorms of Fairy Tail Academy for my third year. At the thought, I couldn't help but beam at my gross reflection. I'd be getting out of this giant empty labyrinth of a house to return to my very own dorm in Fairy Hills, the female dormitory of the school. All my friends would only be a short walk away, I had no annoying servants or demanding fathers to tell me what to do, I'd be away from this boring house...
"Ahh I can't wait!"
After spending about ten minutes trying to make my face look at least halfway decent in the bathroom mirror, I rushed back into my room and swung open the doors of my large closet to get my outfit for today. It was hanging right in the front where I left it last night, looking bright and new and completely standing out from the long frilly dresses that populated the rest of the closet. Another ten minutes later I was in a pair of denim shorts along with my navy sweatshirt that had "Fairy Tail Academy" in white lettering with the school insignia on the front of it. I was in the middle of happily slipping my left shoe on before my phone started to ring and vibrate wildly on the desk at the far end of my room, effectively ruining the mood. This phone was being a real attention whore today.
I ungracefully hopped over on my right foot while still trying to put on my left shoe, and snatched the phone from the desk, answering the call with the classic "Hello?" without even bothering to check who it was.
"You're late, Lucy! Get your ass over here already!" Cana's voice boomed in my ear.
"Is she not taking the train?" I faintly heard Levy in the background.
"Huh?" Late? Not possible, I was sure I set my alarm to wake me up early enough… right? I looked over at the digital clock on the desk, ready to prove them both wrong, but when I saw the time, my jaw dropped to the floor. They were right. How long had my alarm been ringing? It was 7:55 and the train left at 8. Crap. The train station was a ten minute walk. The next train wouldn't be here until next week, but by then it would be too late. I said a hurried goodbye and threw my phone in my pocket, picking up my large duffel bag by the desk and throwing the strap over my shoulder. I didn't have to bring anything more than that, since I left all my other things back in my dorm at the end of last semester. After a quick check in the mirror, I bolted toward the door at record speed.
With only five minutes left to get to the station, it seemed pretty much hopeless! I had no quicker way to get there, and it wasn't like Father would go out of his way to help me. He's detested FTA ever since I started attending. He preferred me at home, training to take over the family business and in a few years, picking a rich snobby suitor to marry. I hurriedly ran across the hallway, stopping by the office to say a quick goodbye to my dad(who didn't even spare me a glance). Then I ran out to the front door, down the stone stairs leading outside, out of the large front yard and eventually onto the main road without slowing down once, my hair and bag flopping around wildly into my poor face the whole time.
The rising sun was now completely visible in the horizon, making it nice and bright outside and filling the sky with beautiful shades of blue, and it was perfectly windy… or maybe I only felt wind because I was currently dashing at the speed of light on the walkway?
In the midst of my frantic running, I pulled out my phone to check the time. 7:57. Three minutes left until the train left. Not too bad, the station wasn't that far anyway. Actually, I could faintly see it from where I was. I shoved the phone back in my bag and moved my attention back to the road.
I was too focused on the station and running too fast to notice someone leaving their house until it was too late. All I saw was a mass of pink before I barrelled into the lucky guy that unknowingly just walked straight into my path, the impact making us both fall over and land on the hard concrete. A large bag, that I'm guessing belonged to the person, flew up and landed in a heap somewhere else on the road, and mine fell on the space beside us.
Anticipating the pain of landing on the hard concrete, my eyes squeezed shut, but the pang never came. Huh, that's weird… The road is oddly soft.
It took me a couple seconds to get out of my shocked daze and realize what just happened. I had run into someone, and was now awkwardly lying right on top of them. Oh. So that's why it didn't hurt as much as I thought it would. The dude broke my fall. Well, judging by the hard, flat chest I face-planted on, I assumed it was a dude. His hands had fallen on my waist to support me, and I couldn't help but think this position looked slightly suggestive, now glad the streets were currently empty. The unpleasant stares from passersby would've definitely not helped my current mood.
"You alright?" I heard a voice below me, followed by a laugh. He sounded unfazed, which surprised me. Also, he was asking me if I was alright? I wasn't the one who was currently sandwiched between a person and the hard ground. Nice of him to ask, though. And why did his voice sound so familiar? Did I know this person? Eh, I decided I was probably just a little messed up in the head at the moment because of what just happened.
"I'm so sorry! I wasn-" I began to say as I regained my senses and lifted my head from his chest. But when I saw who this guy was, my whole body froze, despite his unusually high body heat.
Amused green eyes looked into my stupefied brown ones. The same green eyes I used to glare at years ago.
"'Sup, Luce," He said with a smug smirk.
"Natsu?"
It was him. He was back.
After two years, Natsu Dragneel finally returned.
Well, shit.