3 Years Ago
"'Sup, guys?"
Walking hand-in-hand down the hall with a pretty purple-haired girl, 14 year-old Natsu Dragneel walked over to the three of his friends who were currently standing between two classrooms. He waved his beautiful companion away dismissively when he got to them, and she gave him a quick kiss (which he half-heartedly returned) before she walked off. Gray smirked and waved with a "'Sup?", and Erza, though she looked unimpressed, smiled nonetheless at her friend. Lucy just eyed him coldly, scoffing.
"You just started dating a different girl last week, and now you're with a new one?" She spat. "You're unbelievable."
Instead of hurt, he looked rather amused at her comment, much to her irritation. He moved until he stood directly in front of her, leaning forward until their faces were mere inches from each other. She had to fight the urge to step back in intimidation.
"Why do you care about who I date? Are you jealous?" He asked smugly. "You know, if you want to date me so badly all you have to do is ask."
It took all her strength to keep from turning bright red in both embarrassment and anger. "W-what?! I'd never date you! I wouldn't date you if we were last two people on earth! Dream on," She huffed, crossing her arms across her chest.
She was riled up even more when he just laughed. He backed away from her, but kept the smug smirk on his face as he spoke again.
"Jeez Luce, I was only joking. Why so defensive? Are you trying to hide the fact that you actually do have a crush on me?"
This time, Lucy could not suppress the blush that invaded her face, much to her chagrin. "N-no! I'm just emphasizing the opposite! And do not call me Luce!"
Then her expression changed.
Her voice lowered. "Jeez Natsu, why do you keep assuming I like you? Do you really want to believe it that badly because you actually feel that way about me?"
Their facial expressions from a few moments ago swapped. Lucy was now sporting a self-satisfied smirk, while Natsu's previous smirk was now gone, replaced by a scowl and small blush.
"A-as if!" He stammered. "Whatever. I'm out." He walked into the nearby classroom to the right of them, while she stormed into the one on the left, leaving their 2 friends alone in the hall, dazed. Erza and Gray sighed.
"They need to make out and get it over with already," said Gray tiredly. Erza nodded in response.
"For once, I actually concur."
I had only just realized I'd just been staring at him for the past 10 seconds, too shocked to make any movement to get off of him, and now he eyed me curiously as if to ask 'so are you gonna get off me or not?'. His curious look turned into a smug one a second later.
Dammit. Here it comes.
"C'mon Luce, have some decency. As much as I'd love to do this right now, we're in the middle of the street."
Aand there it is. Good old Natsu.
My cheeks burned and I sloppily rushed to get to my feet, so fast it made me feel slightly light-headed. He did the same, except slower and with a lot more grace. Good, now we were now standing a good distance from each other. I stared at him with a scowl when memories from the previous years flooded back into my head.
I couldn't believe he was actually here. Two years ago, just before our first year at Fairy Tail Academy, he abruptly moved away with his father without so much as a goodbye. After that, they'd dropped off the grid completely. In the end we had come to the conclusion that he had abandoned us for another rival school in Crocus, and labeled him as a traitor.
Actually if he had attended a different school, that would make him worse than a traitor. Fairy Tail was supposed to stick together, damn it. Then again, Natsu didn't seem like the type to abandon others… Needless to say, my mind was flooded with questions.
Why was he back now?
Why did he leave?
Which school did he go to? Sabertooth? Phantom Lord?
Had he missed our friends?
Has he changed?
Would our friends accept him?
Actually, that last question was a no-brainer. Fairy Tail never turned their back on friends, no matter what. They'd accept him back in a heartbeat. It also helped that he had a lot of friends that ended up going there. But while he was immensely popular, he was also quite the delinquent. When we got to middle school, he never came to class on time, wasn't afraid to speak his mind (which pissed teachers, and me, off considerably), and liked to start "accidental" fires in classrooms with his powerful fire magic. How he never got expelled, I didn't know.
He had no concern for school rules, which is why he got detention almost every day. He was also one of the biggest players you could meet. Because of his magical talent, rebellious vibe, and (as much as I'd hate to admit) looks, he was admired by many girls. When everyone started dating in 7th grade, he had a new girlfriend every other month, and on some occasions, every week. In 8th grade, the guy was never single, moving on to a new girl every 2 weeks or so, and he was only 14. But even though he wasn't the best kid to get involved with if you wanted to stay out of trouble, his charismatic personality made you want to be his friend. He was also really smart, always getting high grades despite never doing his homework. I had no idea how he did it. He was a genius without even trying...
Back when he went to school with us in Magnolia, we shared a mutual dislike for each other. He argued with me over anything and everything, no matter how big or small. We would just never see eye to eye. And as we got older, it didn't get better. We gradually stopped being constantly at each other's throats as we got closer to middle school, but what he started to do instead when we actually got there was worse. Every time I'd call him out on something he did wrong, he'd turn it around on me. He'd call my arguments an "attempt at flirting", an "excuse to talk to him", an "effort to keep my 'obsession' for him secret by pretending to hate him", and any other ridiculous accusation of that sort you could possibly think of, just to rile me up. And it did rile me up indeed, to the point where I had to stop myself from giving him a famous "Lucy kick" to the face. We never got along, because he loved to piss me, and only me, off.
… And that was why I was now pointing a menacing finger at him.
"What the hell are you doing here?!" I demanded, dumbstruck.
"Isn't it obvious? I moved back to Magnolia," he responded while picking up this bag with this amused face still intact. "Did you miss me?"
"No. Go back. Shoo."
"Oh come on, no need for that, right? How about we just put the past behind us, okay? I've matured since then."
"And why exactly did you leave?" I asked, hoping it didn't sound like I cared too much. Because I didn't. Totally didn't. Not at all.
"Why do you care?"
"I don't."
"Then why did you ask?"
"Because… I just want to know!"
"Why?"
"Because you just left without any warning!"
"Aw Luce, I didn't know you cared that much."
"I don't— no. I'm not doing this with you right now," I said, exasperated. I was so close to the station at this point I could see the tracks in the distance.
"Doing what?" He responded with a smirk.
I chose to ignore and walk around him. I was going to be even later now, thanks to Natsu.
When I maneuvered my way around his now 17-year-old body, he proceeded to follow behind me as I started to walk straight towards the station. I sped up.
"Where're you going, Luce?" Even though I couldn't see him, I knew he was smirking. That made me even more annoyed. I wanted nothing more than to slap the arrogance right off his face.
"The station," I said simply, without slowing down. Though I'll bet he knew damn well where I was going. He continued to follow me though, much to my annoyance.
"Why are you walking so fast?"
"Because I'm going to miss the train."
"You mean that train?"
To satisfy my own curiosity, I looked over to where he was pointing which, sure enough, was the train I was supposed to be on.
That's odd. The train shouldn't be that far on the tracks unless..
The train was beginning to move.
Without me.
… And it was all stupid Natsu's fault!
"Damn it Natsu! You just got back and you're already making me hate you again!" I faced him angrily. "You better fix this."
"No worries! Happy will get you on the train!"
"Aye sir!"
Before I knew it, I was being lifted up, duffle bag and all, by Natsu's flying blue cat.
"Wah! At least give me a heads-up first, you damn cat!"
"Wow Lucy, you're still so heavy," Happy mused from above her head.
"Wha- it's the bag! Wait, Natsu, don't you have to get to Crocus too? The train is leaving!"
"Yeah, but I'm not getting into that death trap! See ya later Luce!"
Happy flew off before I could ask more questions, but it didn't matter much as my main question was answered fairly quickly.
A few more seconds later, Natsu's dad came from seemingly out of nowhere and jumped into the sky. Soon, a huge red dragon was hovering high. He then went back to pick up Natsu, and they disappeared into the horizon with a woosh. I couldn't help but watch the whole thing in complete awe, momentarily forgetting how late I was.
Hey, it's not every day you get to see a pink-haired teenager ride off into the sunrise on his dragon-that-is-also-his-dad.
I shook my head and turned back around, focusing on the approaching train below me.
As much as I didn't like him, I had to admit that Natsu was a very interesting guy to be around.
"Levy, don't ask, but I need you to open the hatch on the roof of the traincar you guys are in."
"What-"
"I said don't ask!"
"... Sure!"
A couple seconds later, Happy began dashing across the sky above the train towards the front. "I see a door opening! They're over there!"
"Great! Thanks, Happy!"
"Sure thing Lucy!"
Then the cat sneered as he dropped me without warning into the opening above the train car in question.
I fell ungracefully on my ass into the aisle.
…
"YOU DAMN CAT!"
Sure enough, they were looking at me like I just fell from the sky(go figure), but everyone was here. The first friend I spotted was the brunette sitting in a compartment at the far back corner of the car, next to a certain blue-haired bookworm. Cana and Levy. In the seat across from them, I saw a familiar head of red hair, sitting next to two familiar heads of white hair. Erza, Mira, and her twin sister Lisanna. I smiled, making my way over through the narrow aisle, passing by other sections and waving to friends in other compartments until I got to the back of the train. I took the seat by Levy, and stuffed my bag under it.
"What the hell was that?" Cana asked the moment I sat down.
"A cat dropped you into the train?" Levy asked, looking amused.
"Ugh, I don't wanna talk about it," I slumped further into my seat, suddenly exhausted. "Anyway I'm here!"
"You made it! I thought for sure you screwed until you literally dropped from the ceiling," Cana said with a smirk and a finger pointed upwards. Levy, Mira and Lisanna giggled their agreement.
"Sorry, I would have been here earlier but-" I was about to tell them all about my unexpected encounter with Natsu, but stopped myself. Knowing them, they'd start freaking out over him coming back, and it would cause everyone to hear the news, resulting in a chain reaction in the large train full of fellow students. Finally, when all the excitement blows over Cana probably end up saying something perverted about me barrelling into him to embarrass me when he was around, resulting in his ego bursting through the roof and me having to bury myself in my own backyard due to extreme humiliation. The way I saw it, I was preventing a tragedy.
"But..?" Erza pushed me to continue my sentence though, leaning forward towards me. Everyone else in the booth followed soon after, and I felt cornered. Should I tell them? They were gonna see him on campus anyhow.
Oh well, I'd probably end up telling them about it later anyway. I'll just leave out a few parts.
"But.. I may have bumped into … someone on the street."
"Who?" Lisanna asked with genuine curiosity.
"I'll tell you, but please don't start freaking out," I pleaded, not really wanting to cause a scene with my news. Everyone would see him soon enough anyway. She looked at me, interested, then they nodded excitedly and moved even closer to me. I hoped to Mavis they wouldn't freak out at what I was about to say. Well, here goes nothing.
"It was... Natsu," I said as low as I could muster while making sure they could still hear me.
"NATSU DRAGNEEL?!" They all attempted to whisper, but utterly failed. It came out slightly louder than their normal voices, and my hands instantly flew over Levy's mouth in a weird futile attempt to silence them all. I looked around the room, now extremely thankful all the other passengers were too immersed in their own conversations to hear ours... Or so I thought. My eyes fell on all our other friends sitting on the other side, and they all leaned toward the compartment we were in. They seemed to have been listening in to our whole conversation. Gray, who was sitting in the booth beside us with Jellal and Max, had his jaw on the floor. Erza's eyes were the size of golf balls. Lisanna's eyes looked just like Erza's, but she was also wearing a huge grin that looked exactly like how Mirajane's looked at the moment. These expressions were also on Elfman, Jet, Droy, Nab, Bixlow, Freed, and even Laxus's face; they all had been sitting in nearby compartments, and we're now facing us. Thankfully, no one else (that I saw) seemed to hear, but there were still a lot of people that did hear. I turned back to look with a scowl at the four girls who were in my compartment, but it softened into more of an amused stare when I saw their eyes, which still looked extremely shocked. Their eyebrows were almost lost in their hair.
"Dammit, guys! I said don't freak out," I said tiredly, face-palming. I promptly turned back to face all the others. "Yes, it was Natsu Dragneel."
"Oh, so the cat that dropped you in the train-"
"Was Happy. Yep."
"You're telling us everything," Gray demanded. That didn't surprise me, he was Natsu's best friend after all.
So much for keeping it on the down-low.
After a few minutes of answering questions from everyone about Natsu's reappearance, everyone went back to talking amongst themselves in their own booths. In mine, however, we were still talking about the pink-haired devil, much to my dismay. Levy had long checked out of the conversation though, now deeply focused on the book she was reading.
"Oh my Mavis! I can't believe he's finally back," Lisanna exclaimed. "I missed him so much!" Erza nodded in agreement.
"Do you guys think he's still a complete womanizer?" Mirajane asked. Erza immediately took on a serious expression.
"I hope for his sake he's been behaving himself, and keeping it in his pants," Erza stated firmly. Everyone in the booth gulped and stayed quiet at that, because we all knew that was impossible with someone like Natsu. That guy(or any of our friends, for that matter) definitely wasn't a virgin. And when Erza found out... Mavis help us all.
"I seriously doubt he's been behaving himself." Cana made the mistake of muttering a little too loudly under her breath.
Everyone in the booth except for Levy (who was too immersed in her book to pay attention to her surroundings) froze, knowing the validity of Cana's statement, and how Erza was going to react.
Her eyes were suddenly shadowed by her scarlet bangs.
"Chaste dating is one thing, but if he's been going around sullying the virtues of young ladies, I will not hesitate to punish him severely." She said in a frighteningly calm tone.
We all shuddered, including me, knowing that Natsu probably wouldn't be alive long enough to finish his last year at FTA once Erza got a hold of him. Mira shakily cleared her throat and changed the subject in an attempt to lighten the mood. "S-so does he look any different?" She asked me.
"He looks... Older," I said simply, trying not to say anything that would cause them, especially Mira, to make assumptions.
"Older as in... Better?" Cana asked suggestively, wiggling her eyebrows.
"Older as in older," I deadpanned.
"I can't wait to see how much he's grown," Erza said excitedly in her mother-like voice, as if she didn't just imply that she was going to severely hurt him and possibly commit murder a few moments ago.
Lisanna's eyes sparkled. "Yeah!" She squealed in agreement.
No one else bothered me about Natsu when I returned to the booth, thankfully. We spent the rest of the 6 hour train ride catching up, talking about our plans for the school year, eating snacks, and occasionally napping.
The sun was high in the sky when we arrived at Crocus, the "Blooming Capital" of Fiore. Luckily, the train station was located in the central part of the city, so we didn't have to worry about entering enemy territory. Even though school hadn't started yet, surely students from Phantom and Sabertooth were starting to move back into their dorms at this time as well. As soon as I got out of the train and into the bright sun, I took a deep breath of the city air and was hit with a wave of nostalgia. We left the station and I was greeted with beautifully decorated, paved streets filled with people and stalls selling various items, the clean buildings you saw at every corner that were mostly hotels and stores, and the tall castle in the distance that stood proudly in the center of the city, and it made me even happier.
"I'm back," I whispered contently to myself, shutting my eyes and taking in the sounds of the city. This was so much better than being home.
The Fairies went their separate ways as we began heading west of the city towards campus, but we would eventually all end up at the same place. Laxus grouped up with Freed and Bixlow, Lisanna went with her twin sister and Elfman, Gray left with Jellal and Max, and I left with Erza, Levy and Cana.
"Do you guys wanna walk around the city for a bit before we head to campus?" Levy asked hopefully.
I was about to voice my agreement, but Erza spoke before I could. "Negative. We should get settled first before anything."
Cana nodded. "Yeah, I really don't wanna have to carry this bag everywhere. Let's unpack first," she said while adjusting the strap of her duffel bag more securely on her shoulder. She did have a point. This bag was seriously starting to get heavy, and the heat wasn't making it any better. I had to remove my sweatshirt and wrap it around my waist when we got off the train because of how hot it was, but it was still blazing as I walked in my white tank top.
With that, we decided to keep making our way to campus.
After about 30 minutes of walking, we were standing in front of the large red buildings of F.A. We wasted no time as we rushed to the dormitory, greeting fellow students occasionally, and the first thing I did when I got to my dorm in Fairy Hills was drop my bag somewhere on the floor and flop face-down on my pink comforter. After hours of train-riding and walking, greeting people on campus, and months of being restricted in a depressing house with my oh-so caring father, I was exhausted at 4 o'clock in the afternoon.
It was good to be back.
With a content sigh, I fell asleep a few minutes later.
Two hours later, I woke up to a knock on my door followed by muffled female voices saying things that sounded like "Lucy! Open up!" And "Stop sleeping!"
I slowly rose up from my comfortable bed, immediately missing it's softness, and walked over the door, swinging it open to find Erza, Levy, and Lisanna in the hall, dressed in new clothes with their fists in the air as they were about to knock on the door a millionth time. Erza sported a white sundress that went to her knees, and Levy was dressed in a casual short orange dress. I was starting to feel slightly underdressed before I saw Lisanna, who was wearing denim shorts like mine, along with a light blue flowy tank top. Lisanna grinned as she pointed over her shoulder with her thumb.
"C'mon, change your shirt. We're gonna go meet Natsu and the other guys in the courtyard," She said with barely contained excitement. I resisted the urge to groan.
"Do I have to?" I whined.
Erza nodded firmly. "Yes. You may not like Natsu as much as the rest of us, but we're all still friends."
"Natsu is not my friend. We just happen to hang out with the same people," I huffed.
"Come on! It'll be fun! Natsu's not gonna be the only one there, and we haven't been on campus together in months!" Levy pleaded, tugging on my arm.
She did have a point. More importantly, if I didn't go that would mean Natsu wins, which wasn't happening. To be fair though, I had to give some credit to the guy for today. Without his help, I wouldn't be here right now. Damn it, I hated being indebted to him!
I sighed with a defeated smile. "Sure. Come in, I gotta change," I said finally, motioning them inside. Smiles appeared on all three of their faces as they rushed into the room.
It was official. Natsu was back.
Great.