Chapter 13: In the Company of Friends

Natsu had planned to sneak into Lucy's place with Happy and then wait for her to wake up. He had been deeply troubled when she suddenly fainted yesterday, but Mirajane had insisted that she only needed to rest for a bit.

But here was his nakama, looking surprised and guilty at the sight of him through her apartment window. She appeared to be in the middle of writing something on a piece of paper from the looks of it. She was also dressed for work, Natsu noticed.

She's up early, he mused, pushing the glass window open and then jumping into her room with the blue feline. But she never gets out of bed until brunch.

"N-Natsu," she stammered, clumsily dropping her pen to the floor.

"What are you up to, Luce?" he asked suspiciously, folding his arms and leaning his back against the wall. He saw that her eyes were puffy. Had she been crying?

"Nothing, I-I was just, you know. I…" the blonde mage began in a shrill voice. Then, she closed her mouth, realizing how rattled she must have sounded.

Clearing her throat, she smiled at them and composed herself. "So, uh, what are you guys doing here?"

It was Happy who answered. "We were worried about you, Lushi."

Moved, Lucy blushed. "Aw, thanks, Happy," she said, winking at him. "But I'm fine now, so there's no need to worry about me."

But Natsu scoffed at her. "You don't seem fine to me," he argued. "C'mon, Luce. What's up?"

She pressed her lips together for a moment. There was no point in hiding it from him. Apparently, he could see right through her. "I'm… I'm going away to see my dad," she finally mumbled.

Natsu's eyes darted from her face to the brown knapsack lying on the edge of her bed. Then, he narrowed his eyes. "And you're plannin' to go by yourself?" he asked. "Happy and I can tag along with you. We're a team, ya know."

"Aye," said Happy, nodding his head.

"Well," she replied hesitantly, "I didn't want to bother you guys with this." She picked up her pen from the floor and then placed it on top of her unfinished note.

"With what, Luce? Ne. You're not plannin' to leave Fairy Tail—?"

"No, no, of course not! That's really not it. I..."

Taking a deep breath, Lucy finally told them about her suspicions that her father was associated with Raven Tail. When her friends gave her a questioning look, she narrated what Laxus had told her about his bargain with Jude and then suggested that if her father knew about Ivan's whereabouts, it could only mean that they were somehow affiliated.

"That idiot Laxus," said Natsu, bumping his fists together. "I'd never give you up or any of my nakama just to get information about Igneel's whereabouts. I'd go look for it myself!"

Lucy threw him a grateful smile. "Thanks, Natsu," she said. "Well, Laxus already apologized for it, and I really think he's trying to change, you know?"

Her pink-haired friend nodded. "Yeah, I know," he agreed, grinning back. "He just slipped up, is all." He shrugged his shoulders.

"Casting Fairy Law on everyone is hardly a slip up, Natsu," she said, rolling her eyes. "He really messed up big time, and I'm sure everyone's still upset about it."

But the fire mage just shrugged his shoulders again. "So what? I'm not. They'll get over it."

Lucy sighed. Perhaps, to Natsu, a guildmate casting the Fairy Law spell on their comrades is only equivalent to him stealing food from the fridge, which can easily be forgiven. What a crazy guy... and a loyal friend.

"Anyway, I still want to know if my dad is really working for Raven Tail—or the other way around," she told him, changing the subject. "I just can't let this one go."

"Yeah, I get ya, Luce," he said. "C'mon, move your butt. Are we headin' to your dad's place to dig up some dirt or what?"


Laxus' head was throbbing when he opened his eyes. His mouth felt awfully dry, and he wanted nothing more in this world than to drink a glass of water. Mavis was he thirsty.

He realized that he was back in his apartment. But the last thing he could remember was sharing drinks with Freed, Bixlow, and Evergreen last night—but then he had gotten way too drunk and passed out.

What happened?

Groaning, he sat up and rubbed the back of his head. Were those bacon and eggs he smelled? He quickly scrambled to his feet and then went to his kitchen.

"Ah, there you are, Laxus. You're finally awake!" chirped Freed, trying to place strips of bacon into the frying pan.

Laxus's jaw dropped. The Thunder Legion was in his freaking kitchen, wearing frilly aprons and trying to make breakfast. What the hell was going on?

"What do you guys think you're doing at my place?" he growled.

"Oh, lighten up, Laxus," said Evergreen. "You passed out last night, so we decided to take care of you this morning." Then, she winked at him. "So, how's the hangover?"

Laxus stared at her for a moment. "Never better," he lied. Then, he walked over to the kitchen sink and poured himself a glass of water.

"Never thought you'd be crazy over some chick," remarked Bixlow, placing a couple of sliced bread into the toaster. "This is an interesting development."

The lightning mage nearly choked on his drink. "The hell do you mean by that?" he demanded, wiping his mouth with the back of his hand.

"Well, you went on and on about this new girl in Fairy Tail last night while we were carrying you back here," explained Evergreen, helping herself to a fried bacon strip that Freed had placed on a large plate. "Lucy—that's her name, right?"

Laxus could feel his face growing hot with embarrassment. Did he really tell the Thunder Legion about Lucy? Of course, he did. Otherwise, Evergreen couldn't have known the blonde chick's name.

And the three of them had to carry him home?

"Oh, come on, there's no need to be embarrassed," said Freed brightly. "I'm sure she'll realize her mistake for rejecting you like that."

So, he had told them about that, too. Well, that did it. The lightning mage placed his glass of water in the sink and then left the kitchen, grumbling incoherent words under his breath. He headed straight to his bathroom so he could take a shower, ignoring the fact that he could hear Bixlow and Evergreen roaring with laughter.

Idiots.


Lucy's second trip to the Heartfilia mansion was far more interesting than the first one since, this time, a group of thugs materialized out of nowhere with the intent of robbing her and her friends.

As always, Natsu appeared to be all fired up at the prospect of beating up some bad guys, and the celestial mage couldn't help but get excited as well since this was an opportunity for her to summon her zodiac spirits again.

"Alright," yelled Natsu, pointing his finger at the large men who were cracking their knuckles. "Which one of you punks wanna go down first?"

One of the thugs laughed loudly. "Look at this puny kid, boss, taunting us like a complete moron."

"Look, kid," said the burly man who appeared to be the group's leader, "if you don't want to get hurt, hand over all your money."

"Not gonna happen," declared Natsu. "Besides, we don't even have any money—"

"Natsu," snapped Lucy, glaring at her pink-haired friend. "That's really not necessary." She pulled out one of the celestial gate keys and yelled, "Open, Gate of the Lion—Leo!"

Leo the Lion appeared, wearing his usual formal black suit and azure-tinted sunglasses. He grinned at Lucy and then nodded at the fire mage as greeting.

"Ha! Sup, Loke!" said Natsu, slapping the celestial spirit's hand in a high-five. He was glad that even though he rarely got to see the resident playboy in the guild anymore, at least he could still fight alongside him during encounters such as this one.

The leader of the thugs gaped at the blonde girl. "Huh? A celestial mage?"

"That's right," Lucy told him. Then, she pulled out another gate key and pointed it forward. "Open, Gate of the Maiden—Virgo!"

Clad in a maid's uniform, Virgo appeared and then dramatically bowed down at her gate key holder, ignoring the latter's protest that she should stop doing that.

"You can leave this to us, Lucy," said Leo, his fists flaring with bright, yellow orbs.

"Yes. We'll protect you, Princess," Virgo agreed, summoning her magic chains.

But the celestial mage refused to let her zodiac spirits do all the fighting for her. She quickly pulled out her whip and grinned at them. "Look, I'm not going to just sit here and let you guys have all the fun," she said. "Besides, I can use all the training I can get!"

"Yosh! That's more like it, Luce!" said Natsu, setting his own fists aflame.

"Boss, these people are mages," said one of the thugs, taking a step back. "What should we do?"

"Baka! These punks are freaking kids," their leader snarled. "There are eight of us… Get them!"


The guildhall was filled with surprised murmurs when Laxus and the Thunder Legion entered the double doors. The lightning mage could hear Macao and Wakaba muttering their resentment toward him as well as the other members of Fairy Tail.

But everyone suddenly became quiet when a stern voice said, "Hello, Laxus."

Laxus nodded his head at the red-haired girl wearing silver armor, a dark-blue skirt, and a pair of black boots. Behind her stood Gray, Cana, Bisca, and Alzack.

"Erza. Back from an S-Class quest, I see," he said to her casually. By now, she probably heard about what had transpired in the guild during her absence.

Erza continued to give the towering mage a hard look. "Laxus. I'm willing to forget what you did here if you swear to me that you'll never pull something like that ever again," she announced icily.

The Thunder Legion began to step forward to defend their leader, but Laxus held up his hand to stop them from making a scene, which he did. He could feel them seething at Erza, but he knew that they wouldn't understand. He was at fault, and he should own up to his mistake.

"You have my word, Erza," he immediately responded.

They stared at each other for a moment. Then, the redhead's face finally broke into a smile. She extended her hand in which Laxus shook firmly.

Everyone in the guildhall started talking again—this time in louder and more confident voices.

"Well, if Erza thinks it's alright to trust him…"

"If Laxus creates trouble again, Erza can definitely take him on…"

"No one's foolish enough to challenge Erza…"

Laxus ignored them and went upstairs to the second floor so he could take a look at the board for an S-Class quest. He wasn't in the mood to go to work, actually, but he knew that he could use a little distraction.

Meanwhile, Freed, Bixlow, and Evergreen were waiting for their leader at the bottom of the staircase; they weren't allowed to go to the second floor yet since none of them were S-Class mages.

"Well, this is an entirely different Laxus that I'm witnessing," commented Evergreen. She turned to Freed. "What do you think?"

"Our Laxus would've laughed at Erza's warning," said the rune mage, rubbing his chin with his fingers thoughtfully. "He's… changed somehow"

"You sure sounded relieved, Freed," suggested Bixlow.

"Do I?" Freed smiled. "I've yet to meet this Lucy. Whoever she is, I think she played a role in this."

"I don't think she's here yet," said the fairy mage, adjusting her glasses on the bridge of her nose. "I don't see a new face around here."

"What are you three on about?" came Laxus' irritated voice. He was already walking downstairs with a piece of paper in his hand.

Freed, in his most dignified voice, replied, "Laxus, with all due respect, we would like to meet this Lucy. When do you think she'll be here?"

The lightning mage stared at him with a crazed expression. "What?"

Evergreen beamed at him. "Yes, Laxus," she said. "Maybe we can even help change her mind about you—"

"Wait a minute," Laxus interrupted in an exasperated tone. "Can you three just stay out of my personal life? We've more important things to do."

"Don't look at me," said Bixlow, shrugging his shoulders. "I'm just going along with them."

"Come on, Laxus," the fairy mage coaxed. "We just got back here, so why can't we enjoy ourselves for a bit?"

He sighed. "Fine," he said. "I guess I could give you three a break. But I'll be heading out for this quest, though." He folded the piece of paper that he was holding and then slipped it inside his back pocket.

The Thunder Legion looked at each other, and then, to Laxus dismay, they all started laughing.

"What are you laughing about now?" he demanded, running a hand down his face. What had gotten into these idiots?

"It's you," giggled Evergreen. "You've totally changed."

Have I really?

Laxus could feel a blush creeping up his face. "Whatever," he muttered. "I'm leaving. You guys have fun without me."


As always, the people in Magnolia moved aside when Laxus passed by, their expressions showing either wariness or fear. He wished they could just act normal because, right now, they were making him feel more isolated and out of place.

Every fiber of his being was screaming for Lucy. He knew that whenever he would see her, let alone touch her, he would feel all his troubles ease away. There was always something about her that made him feel at peace, but he couldn't point out what it was. All he knew was that he was overwhelmingly drawn to her.

Laxus' eyes involuntarily darted to the direction of her apartment, and he stopped in his tracks.

"Get a grip, Laxus," he muttered to himself, ignoring the fact the some people were looking at him. "She already said no. Just finish your S-Class quest."

He turned around and headed in the opposite direction, but… somehow… he stopped again and glanced over his shoulder.

Shit, I gotta see her.

Summoning his lightning magic, Laxus teleported his way to Lucy's apartment building. When he tried to turn the entrance doorknob, it was locked. Yeah, there was no way he would be knocking on the main door of the building only to be answered by a stranger asking him why he was here.

The only way to her apartment unit, if he could remember her room correctly, was through her window. He glanced up and then saw in surprise that it was slightly open. Without wasting any more time, he teleported himself into her room and then braced himself to see Lucy.

But then, to his disappointment, she wasn't there. He frowned slightly. Had she left already? She did say last night that she needed to go somewhere early, but she didn't say where.

Where is she?

Laxus' eyes suddenly found a piece of paper lying on her desk. He walked over to it and then saw an unfinished note:

Dear Natsu and Happy,

I'll be away for a bit, but I don't want you guys to worry, okay? I'll just be paying my dad another visit. I just needed to confirm something with him because I find it suspicious that—

And it stopped right there.

Could something have happened to her while she was writing this note?

The lightning mage eyed the room; there were no signs of struggle, but someone could've still abducted her since her apartment window was open.

Maybe it was all in his head. After all, he could smell Natsu and Happy's faint scent. Those two had possibly arrived before Lucy could finish writing her note, and then the three of them left the place.

Yeah. That would make a whole lot of sense.

But what if Lucy was indeed in trouble? Could he really live with himself if something happened to her?

Laxus shook his head, his mind made up.

I better find her.