Chapter 14: The Unexpected Visitor
While some of the townspeople thanked Lucy and her friends for subduing a group of thugs, others threatened to report them for burning their property. After apologizing over and over again, they continued with their travel to the Heartfilia mansion.
It was barely noon, and Lucy had to listen to Natsu and Happy complaints about being hungry. She was, too, but she needed to endure it until they reached the next town, which was the last one that they had to pass by before they could finally reach the Heartfilia residence.
"I'm so hungry," moaned Natsu, rubbing his belly. "How far is it to the next town, Luce?"
"We're close, Natsu," replied Lucy. "Don't worry. As soon as we're there, I'm going to treat you guys to a superb restaurant."
"For real?" the fire mage yelped. "You're the best, Luce!"
The blonde girl rolled her eyes at him but smiled at the same time. She was such in high spirits after defeating those brutes who turned out to have had terrorized a lot of townspeople and travelers. Well, they were probably in jail by now and not bothering anyone ever again.
Her muscles were still sore from using her whip repeatedly earlier, but she didn't mind at all. It wasn't that she enjoyed getting into fights because she wished the world could be rid of the bad guys, but proving herself useful to her team in times of threat was no small feat to her.
Feeling a little bit of her confidence returning, she started humming softly to herself. She could feel Natsu and Happy gawking at her, but she ignored them.
"Ne, what are you looking so happy about, Lushi?" asked Happy.
Lucy just smiled widely. "Oh, nothing," she replied. "Just feels good to be fighting alongside you guys again."
It was the truth. After sucking at fighting Raven Tail not too long ago, she was determined that the next time she saw them, she would be much prepared.
"Look, Happy, she's being weird again," Natsu whispered to the blue feline.
"Yeah, I know. Do you think she hit her head or something?" Happy whispered back.
"I can hear you, you know," grumbled Lucy.
After thirty minutes of walking, they finally arrived in a nice town filled with food establishments and inns. The Heartfilia Konzern had funded some of them, and Lucy knew the owners.
"Wow, they have lots of fish in here!" exclaimed Happy.
"And a lot of meat!" added Natsu. "Oh, yeah, I'm all fired up!"
Lucy led them to one of the restaurants where the owner was very fond of her. Her family used to dine there when her mother, Layla, was still alive.
As usual, the fire mage and the blue feline helped themselves in ordering a mountain of food. Obviously, they didn't bother to ask Lucy if it was okay, but the blonde girl didn't mind. She sure was going to go broke today, but she made a mental note to find a high paying job as soon as she got back to the guildhall.
After they were through with their lunch, they stopped by a public bathhouse to take a hot bath. Lucy was glad that she had brought spare clothes and kept them in her knapsack because the one she was wearing right now was all grimy.
Ah, the hot water felt so soothing on her skin and sore muscles. There weren't many people in the bathhouse at the moment, so she took a bath leisurely. When she was finally done, she dried herself with a towel and then slipped into a pair of clean clothes: a crimson, sleeveless top that clung to her curves and short white skirt. Then, she put on her black, leather high-heeled boots.
Talk about picture-perfect, she thought smugly, eyeing herself in the mirror. Yes, she did take pride in her looks even if it emanates a certain degree of vanity.
"LUCY! ARE YOU DONE YET? LUCY!"
Lucy froze after hearing Natsu's loud yell from the other side of the bathhouse; the amazing bath had made her forget that she had companions.
"HAPPY AND I WILL BE WAITING OUTSIDE, OKAY?"
"Just listen to that boy yelling," said one of the women who were taking a bath.
"HURRY UP OR WE'LL LEAVE YA!"
"How rude," another woman muttered.
The celestial mage bit back an apology since it would only reveal to the women around that she was that Lucy whom Natsu had called out. She calmly walked out of the bathroom and then dashed outside the bathhouse where Natsu and Happy were waiting cheerfully for her.
"Natsu, what were you thinking, yelling out to me like that?" she hissed, placing her hands on her hips. "There are people here, you know!"
"Ha?" uttered Natsu, raising an eyebrow. "I don't understand why ya gettin' all so worked up about that. C'mon, let's go." With that, he turned around and started walking with Happy, who was snickering.
Lucy groaned but followed suit. Moments later, she shivered, noticing that the breeze was rather chilly than when she had entered the town earlier. She looked up and saw dark clouds hovering on the sky. Spirits, it looked like it was going to rain soon.
"Oh, no," she moaned as the town started to turn dark and shadowy.
"What's the matter, Luce?" asked Natsu.
"We're going to be soaking wet by the time we reach my dad," she replied to the fire mage, pointing her finger up in the sky.
The pink-haired boy looked up and frowned. "So?"
"So?" repeated Lucy in a sharp tone. "I sure don't want to be drenched with rain! I just took a bath, you know!"
"Well, what do you wanna do?" prompted Natsu.
Lucy sighed. "Let's just… seek shelter from one of the inns for now, okay?"
The fire mage shrugged. "Okay, if that's what you want."
The innkeeper had brought Lucy and her friends into a rather small room made of wood. It included a couple of futons over a large tatami mat, a large closet, a small table with two chairs, a glass window, and another door at the far corner, which presumably was the entrance to the bathroom.
"Enjoy your stay," the innkeeper said, taking a quick bow. Then, she closed the door and left.
"Aw, man, why did it have to rain?" complained Natsu, kicking off his shoes and then stretched himself onto one of the futons.
Lucy listened to the sound of the rain splattering on the roof and then heaved a sigh. "I hope it will let up soon," she grumbled as she took a seat by the table.
There was silence for a few minutes, both mages locked into their own thoughts. Happy continued to stare through the window without uttering a word.
Moments later, the Natsu suddenly sat up with a funny expression on his face.
"What?" the blonde girl prompted, raising an eyebrow at her nakama and bracing herself to hear one of his crazy antics again. She totally knew it was coming by the looks of it.
"I'm gonna go train outside," he replied simply.
And there it was.
"You're going to what now?" yelped Lucy. "But it's pouring out there!"
"That's the idea," said Natsu. "I wanna train myself in using my fire magic while it's raining. I mean, there's nothin' to do here but wait, yeah?"
"Well, yeah, but…"
The pinked-haired boy grinned and then turned to Happy. "C'mon, Happy, let's go train!"
"What?" came the blue feline's protest. "But it's cold out there!"
"C'mon, buddy. It wouldn't feel right to train without ya," he insisted. Without preamble, he picked up his small friend and then headed straight to the door. Happy continued to protest, but he couldn't squirm himself out of Natsu's arms.
"I'll come back when the rain's let up, Luce," promised Natsu, giving Lucy a small salute.
"Sure thing," muttered Lucy, waving her hand. "You guys take care of yourselves."
"You bet." With that, Natsu and Happy disappeared.
Finally alone in the room, the blonde girl walked over to the window and then watched the town's now empty streets. She caught a glimpse of Natsu running with Happy in his arms, apparently unbothered by the rain that was pouring all over them.
Shaking her head in amazement, she strode back to the small table.
It's kind of lonely in here, she thought, looking around the small room.
Deciding to summon Plue to keep her company in this gloomy weather, she pulled out his gate key. But before she could utter the words to open his gate, there was a clap of thunder, making her wince and almost dropping the silver key.
Crap, that was a loud one.
Clearing her throat, she opened her mouth to summon Plue, but then she was interrupted again by a hard knock on the door. Confused, she turned and stared.
"Natsu?" she called out. "Is that you?" Well, her friend sure was quick to change his mind and decide to come back.
Lucy hurried to the door and then yanked it open, expecting to see a soaked Natsu carrying the poor feline. Instead, she saw a tall blond figure standing outside the doorway, drenched with the rain. He wore a purple shirt, a pair of black pants, and leather shoes. A black coat with fur trimming around the neck and the sleeve's edges hung from his broad shoulders.
"Laxus," she gasped, backing away from the door in shock. She wanted to ask what the lightning mage was doing here, but she found that her voice was now stuck in her throat that she couldn't utter anything.
"May I come in?" he asked, pushing back his wet blond hair from his forehead.
"Y-Yeah," the celestial mage managed to stammer, feeling her heart beating furiously in her chest. She cleared her throat, trying to compose herself. "Hang on. Let me get some towels from the bathroom.
"Sure."
Lucy practically ran to the bathroom and then shut herself there. Breathing heavily, she leaned her back against the door.
Spirits! What's he doing here? And why am I so nervous?
She never thought that she would see him today after their talk last night that had left her crying her heart out to sleep. The way he had hugged her before his departure felt so right that it had left her feeling confused again.
When she woke up this morning, she had convinced herself that it was for the best and focused her mind on what she needed to prioritize. It all worked out for her—until now.
Lucy looked around the bathroom in search of the towels. She found them folded neatly in the open shelving, so she took one of them and then headed back to the main room.
She saw that Laxus was already peeling off his coat and shirt, showing his broad and muscular body. Moments later, she watched him wring them out to remove the excess water and then hung them over the chairs by the table.
It was a good thing that his pair of pants weren't as soaked as the rest of his clothes, or he probably would've taken them off as well, she thought idly. Then, she shook her head. What was she thinking?
"Are you just going to watch me over there?" the lightning mage suddenly asked her, meeting her gaze.
The blonde girl blushed. "No, of course not," she replied, bristling at his absurd question. She hastily walked over to him and then handed him the towel, trying to ignore the fact that their fingers had brushed against each other.
"Thanks," he said. When he started drying himself with the towel, Lucy looked away.
"Fancy seeing you here," she mumbled. "May I ask what brings you to this town?" She probably already knew the answer as she felt the energy between them charged. There was that sexual tension again, something that she had been trying to fight off whenever they were around each other.
Without answering her question, Laxus hung the towel around his neck while he began closing the distance between them with his long strides.
No. Not this again, she thought desperately.
She immediately took a step back… and continued backing away as Laxus kept on walking toward her. She finally found herself backed against the wall, feeling scared yet fascinated at the same time.
"I came for you," he murmured, his deep voice sending chills down her spine.
As his massive arms caged her in on both sides, she looked up to his gray eyes with blue flecks. There were such intense emotions in there that she felt drowned by them. That was when she knew that she couldn't resist her feelings for him anymore.
Lucy squeezed her eyes shut, and then she felt his lips pressed against hers. Finally abandoning self-control, she threw her arms around his neck. At the same moment, his own wrapped around her waist, lifting her off her feet.
As they continued to kiss passionately, a part of Laxus wanted to pull away for a moment to ask her if this was alright with her. He could tell from the way she kissed that she was inexperienced in that field. But another part of him wanted to consume her, strip her innocence away, and make her his woman.
Then, without warning, he stiffened slightly. He could feel Lucy's heat radiating from her body as if she was getting more and more aroused by him. She was probably acting purely on instinct, responding to his kisses with fervency and plunging her tongue into his warm mouth. He gladly welcomed her tongue, letting his own play with it.
Wanting to feel more of the lightning mage, Lucy wrapped her limbs around his waist and then tightened her arms around him.
"Lucy," came Laxus' husky voice as he lowered his arms from her waist to her limbs, supporting her against him. He felt dazed by the intimacy of their positions, and it was getting harder and harder for him to control himself. It certainly didn't help when the blonde chick broke the kiss and began nipping at his neck, causing him to groan in pleasure.
Lucy didn't comprehend any of her actions yet. She just let her senses be filled with only him—his scent, taste, and heat. Spirits, she knew that she was treading on very dangerous ground as Laxus is, after all, a man. And surely an experienced one at that.
She decided to seal his mouth with hers again, and he willingly kissed her back. He was kissing her greedily as if he couldn't get enough of her, as if this was the only time that they would be together. Whatever it was that he was uncertain of, she wanted to assure him with her lips that she wasn't going anywhere. She continued to deepen the kiss.
It took Lucy a few moments to realize that she was already being lowered down gently to the futon. Now lying down with Laxus on top of her, she could feel one of his hands slipping inside her top and caressing her waist. Spirits, she could feel her skin burn under his touch.
Then, the heat started to fan all over her limbs as she sensed his hand slowly began to travel upward. But it suddenly stopped right under her chest; it was as if Laxus was uncertain whether to touch her more intimately or not.
In truth, Lucy also wasn't sure she was ready for it, so she pulled her lips slightly away from his and then unwittingly cleared her throat.
Laxus immediately removed his hand from under her shirt, sensing her hesitation. Then, to ease the tension, he planted a soft kiss on her nose as if he was trying to tell her that he completely understood.
Relieved, Lucy looked up at him, wanting to see his handsome face; he was smiling down at her, his eyes tender and searching.
"Hi," he whispered.
She smiled backed at him. "Hi."
