I'm baaaaaaack!
I have the other fic mostly written up, fortyish pages later… there are five or six scenes left to write, but I need to clean up the stuff that's done before I can write the heart to heart I made it to, and I have an outline for the rest of it, so it's done enough for now. It'll be quite a while before I post it, so don't get too pumped about seeing it. I won't return to it until this one has been completed.
Savwafair- I promise, that isn't what's going to happen.
As always, thanks for all the love and happy reading!
"So what are we doing again?" Natsu asked as he dodged yet another shopper. Honestly, was he not big enough for them to see him? Or were they just aiming for him?
"We're shopping for gifts," Lucy said. She leaned over the counter in front of her to look at some necklaces in the back of the display. "A big part of Christmas, or at least what Christmas has become, is to give gifts to loved ones."
"Is that why are there so many people here?" Natsu moved from where he'd been trying to stay out of the way between two displays to stand next to her instead.
"Yep. Christmas is the largest shopping holiday of the year, so stores are crazy busy during December. You missed out on Black Friday, since we were in Aspen, but that's the worst day of them all. Every store has crazy sales, so people usually line up well before the store is open so they can get the best deals. This is honestly nothing compared to that."
"Really? This is already pretty crazy."
"Yep. I remember years ago, before stores figured out better ways to run things, people died getting trampled by the masses as they entered the store. People get really crazy when the deals are right."
Natsu gave her a look that clearly showed he wasn't sure if he should believe her or not. "That sounds insane."
Lucy nodded. "It is. As far as I'm concerned, no deal is worth getting hurt or killed over."
"Does that mean you've never done a Black Friday before?" Natsu asked.
"Oh I have, a long time ago, but that was before they began starting it on Thanksgiving and people started stabbing people in the parking lots to steal their cheap TVs. I'm not that hungry for a deal.
"I also don't agree with their starting it on Thanksgiving, a day where we're supposed to be thankful for what we have and spend time with our family, not stand in line away from our families to get more things. Not that I don't like things," she said as she picked up a boxed necklace with three book charms hanging from it. "I just think it's a little contradictory. What do you think of this one?" she asked as she showed it to him. "I think Levy would like it."
He nodded. "I think she would, too."
"Alright, then I just have Loke left." She stuck the necklace in her basket and turned away from the jewelry counter. "I don't think I'm going to find anything here, though. I have a few ideas, but this isn't the place to shop for him."
"Does that mean we're done here then?"
"Yep, all done," she said with a smile.
Natsu was careful to not express how grateful he was that they were done. Shopping for food wasn't terrible, but he could go the rest of his life without shopping for Christmas ever again.
"Oh shoot," Lucy said with a snap of her fingers. "I just realized I have one other person to shop for."
"Who?" he asked, dreading their trip being extended.
"You of course," she said with a smile as she led them towards the front.
The warm feeling in his chest was immediately followed by the realization that he should probably get her something, too. As he looked at the crowd around him, his only thought was, Shit…
"I can't find you anything while you're here, though, so I'll probably be home late some time this week."
"You really don't have to get me anything, Lucy. Honestly, I'm contracted to you. There is no obligation to get me any gifts."
"But I want to," she said as she pulled him into one of the long check out lines. "You're my friend, and I can't in good conscious go through the holiday without getting you something, can I? I didn't skip anyone else I care about."
That warm feeling in Natsu's chest oozed throughout his whole body as she looked up at him with her warm smile.
Lucy barely managed to hold herself steady as Natsu's eyes flashed gold. Panic immediately set in as she glanced at the crowd around them. This was a terrible time for Natsu to lose himself. Happy had warned her that no one else was safe while he was in his altered state, and she couldn't risk someone bumping him or, probably more important, into her.
Natsu raised his hands to her face as he leaned down and rubbed his nose in her hair and started to purr. Lucy lifted her hands to carefully extract his as she whispered to him. "Hey Natsu, how about we wait until we get home for you to do that, okay?" The purring seemed to grow louder as he fought her hold. "I just think this isn't the place for this kind of thing, okay?"
As he continued to fight her, she noticed that a man standing behind them had noticed her struggle. She prayed he was the type to just turn around and pretend he hadn't seen anything, but as Natsu took a step closer, the man frowned and grabbed onto his shoulder. "Hey man-"
Natsu immediately whipped around and growled at the man, his teeth fully exposed as he glared. In only a second, he'd stepped away from her and lifted his arm to swing at the man.
"Natsu!"
Another arm intercepted the swing, and Natsu turned his glare on the new arrival. Stier's mouth was in a thin line as he stared at Natsu. He lifted his free hand to squeeze at the base of Natsu's neck as he began to speak to him in a low voice.
Lucy wanted to intervene, but since Natsu hadn't acted aggressively towards Stier, she turned her attention to her would-be savior. The other man continued to stare wide eyed at the pair as Stier tried to talk Natsu down. Lucy moved forward to reassure him. "It's okay, really. He just gets a little possessive. I'm sorry about that."
The man just looked at her like she was crazy and then left to find a different line. There was another person behind them, but the woman was reading something on her phone and didn't seem to be paying any attention to them.
Natsu took a step back and bumped into Lucy. He blinked down at her and then up at Stier. Lucy noticed with relief that his eyes had returned to their normal color, and then immediately wondered what Stier had done to calm him down. "When did you get here?" Natsu asked.
Stier smiled. "I've been in line for a little while. I just noticed Lucy standing over here and was going to say hi."
The demon stared at the other man for a while before he turned Lucy's way and studied her. He looked from the top of her head to her feet, as though he was making sure she was okay, before he turned back to Stier. "I don't think that's a good idea," Natsu said as he crossed his arms and moved to stand in front of Lucy. "You hurt Lucy's feelings, and as far as I've heard, you never bothered to apologize."
Stier ducked his head as he rubbed the back of his neck. "Yeah, I know. I didn't mean to hurt her feelings, okay? I just didn't think it was a good idea for us to see each other like that anymore."
"Why?" Lucy asked as she stepped around Natsu. "Why did you decide you didn't want to see me again? I thought we had a good time."
"We did, don't get me wrong, and you're amazing, I just… have some commitment issues." Stier glanced at Natsu before meeting Lucy's gaze. "I would love to be friends and hang out again, I just don't think we should date. It wouldn't end well, for either of us probably," he muttered, loud enough for only Natsu to hear. "I am really sorry I cut our date off like I did. I owe you an apology for that, and I am really sorry. I was going to visit FairyTail and apologize, but you weren't there two nights ago when I stopped by."
Lucy nodded as she listened to Stier's apology and explanation. His words sounded sincere, so she decided to believe him. She held out her hand, which he shook, and gave him a smile. "I forgive you. And you're probably right- I have a feeling we would have figured out we were too different to work well together eventually."
Stier grinned as he released her hand and moved forward to put his basket on the line. "Thanks Lucy, I owe you."
"I wouldn't worry about it," Lucy said, "but if you wanna pay me back, you can come join us some Friday and buy me a beer."
Stier pointed her way. "I can do that."
As Lucy began to unload her basket, Stier gave her a little wave and turned to do the same. Natsu looked between the two a few times, and instead of letting it go, he asked Lucy, "Are you sure?"
"Sure about what?" she asked.
"Sure about him." Natsu glanced across the shelves at the other man before lowering his head and voice. "You were pretty upset. For all you know, he might stand you up again. If he upsets you again, I'll have to kick his ass."
"No you won't," Lucy said as firmly as she could. "I'll have you know that before you showed up, I dated and made friends and decided who I would and wouldn't spend my time with all on my own without a demon intervening all the time. I can do it now, too. Besides," she added as she looked Stier's way again, "I get the feeling he's not that kind of guy."
Natsu grumbled to himself but didn't argue.
He owed Leo that much.
"Welcome Lucy, Natsu. Would you like your usual table?" Aries asked.
"Yes, thank you," Lucy said as the hostess grabbed them menus and led them across the restaurant. She looked around the entire space but was unable to see Loke anywhere. As they sat down, Lucy spoke to Aries before she could leave. "Aries, is Loke here? I don't see him anywhere."
Aries began to fiddle with her name tag as she answered. "I'm so sorry! Loke took some personal time off and won't be back for a little while. You can speak to our interim manager if you like- she might have more information."
Lucy's shoulders dropped. "I didn't know Loke was going to be taking time off… why didn't he tell me?" She looked up again. "I would like to speak to whoever is running things, if they have time."
Aries nodded. "I'll let her know as soon as I can. I'm really sorry."
Lucy smiled and waved away her concerns. "It's really okay, I'm just surprised he didn't mention anything to me before he left. Thank you Aries."
Aries nodded again before she scurried away. Lucy watched her leave and frowned.
"What's wrong?" Natsu asked.
"Aries is lying to me."
He swallowed and lifted his menu a little. "Why do you say that?"
"I can tell by the way she was getting nervous," Lucy responded as she pushed her menu to the side.
"She always gets nervous when we talk to her," Natsu pointed out.
"It was different this time."
He cleared his throat. "Well, perhaps she's just not allowed to tell us what he's up to."
"The question is why." Lucy sighed as she sat back in her seat. Before she could continue, the waiter arrived.
"Good evening folks," he said with a smile directed Lucy's way.
"Bickslow! I haven't seen you in forever! What are you doing back in town?"
"Just back for a little bit while I'm on break," he answered as he leaned against their booth. He had the same black and blue hair hair she remembered, slicked back to be more presentable for his job, and his physical build was the same as she remembered. "Loke gave me an open invitation to work here whenever I'm around, so I came by when I got into town this morning and got a short shift for tonight."
"So school is going well?"
"Oh yeah, it's going great."
Natsu squinted a little as he watched them. They were obviously comfortable with each other, and the way they spoke made him a little jealous, although he couldn't figure out why. She was just as comfortable with him, right? As well as Cana, Levy, and Juvia, not to mention Loke. So why did it bother him so much that she was so familiar with this lumux? And why was he getting so close to her?
"So how long are you going to be in town?" Lucy asked.
"Until the second of January. I have both Christmas and New Years off this year."
"That's great!" Lucy said. "Do you have plans for Christmas? Most of the gang won't be in town, but I have a couple other friends I'm inviting over for a party. You could join us if you want."
Natsu sat forward. "Uh, I don't think-"
"Nah, I'm good, but thanks for the invite. Parents are going away and I'll be heading out with them."
"Oh, bummer. When are you leaving?"
"Next week, so I'll be at FairyTail this Friday night."
"That's great!" Lucy reached out to grab his arm. "Everyone will be so excited to see you!"
"I'm really excited to see them too," he said as he put his hand on her shoulder. "What do you say we do lunch sometime while I'm in town? It's been a long time since we've hung out."
Lucy tried, she really did, to get away from Bickslow's touch. Not that she minded, she rarely minded being touched by her friends, but with Natsu sitting right there, she knew it was a bad idea.
She didn't do it fast enough, though, and Lucy felt dread immediately coil through her as Natsu's eyes flashed gold and he began to rise. Before he could act, another person showed up.
"Bickslow, what are you doing?"
Lucy looked up as a woman in a black and white pantsuit stepped up between Natsu and Bickslow. Her short pink hair was slicked back and she had the most neutral expression Lucy had ever seen on a person's face.
"Sorry ma'am. I was just saying hi to a friend."
"And getting their drink orders, I'm sure."
"Of course," he said, looking a little comfortable.
"Strawberry lemonade and Dr. Pepper," Lucy whispered.
"I'll be back with your drinks shortly," he said with a grateful smile before he quickly moved off.
As he walked away, Lucy glanced at Natsu and saw that he was blinking furiously as he sat back down and avoided looking at anyone. Lucy looked back up as the other woman looked away from Bickslow's retreating back to make eye contact with her.
"Aries told me that you were looking for me." She held out her hand. "My name is Manda. I'll be standing in for Loke while he's away. Is there something I can do for you?"
Lucy was caught off guard for a moment but recovered quickly. "I was just wondering where Loke had gone. I'm a friend of his-"
"As it is Monday, I assume you're Lucy." She glanced over at Natsu. "And he's your bottomless pit of a roommate, Natsu."
Natsu frowned. "I'm not a bottomless pit."
"Yes, we're Lucy and Natsu." Lucy gave Natsu a slight look before turning her attention back to the woman. "It's nice to meet you, Manda. Do you know where Loke went?"
"Of course."
"Oh!" After Aries avoidance, Lucy had expected this woman to pretend she didn't know either. "Can you tell me where he is?"
"No, I can't," the woman said. "I apologize, but it's not my place to share Loke's plans with anyone, even a friend. I would suggest trying to get in touch with him and ask him yourself."
Natsu glared at Virgo as she lied to his master. He was walking on thin ice, he knew it, and if Lucy suspected for even a moment that he might know what was going on with Leo, he would either have to refuse to tell her, which would upset her, or lie, which he wasn't comfortable doing.
"Oh, I see." Lucy hung her head a little and stared at the tabletop in front of her. "Thanks anyway."
"I'll make sure your drinks arrive promptly and that you are well taken care of this evening," Virgo said as she bowed slightly. "Have a good evening and please let me know if you need help with anything else."
As she left, Natsu felt terrible. Lucy was obviously upset thinking that one of her close friends had willingly gone off without telling her that he was leaving. He wasn't sure what to do to fix it, but he wasn't about to give up without a fight.
"Hey, Luce, don't look so down. If he didn't tell you what was going on, I'm sure he had a good reason. Maybe he had a family emergency or something and just didn't have time to let everyone know where he was going. I'm sure he'll be back soon with an explanation." Natsu hoped, anyway. He wanted to know what was happening, too.
Lucy slowly nodded. "You're right. I'm sure everything will be okay, I'm just worried, that's all."
"Well I don't think I like that." Natsu snapped his fingers. "How about we watch some of those Christmas movies tonight that you've been raving about? If they're as great as you say, I don't think they should be confined to being watched just one night a year. What do you say?"
Lucy smiled at Natsu as she agreed. She appreciated what he was doing, and she didn't want to ignore the effort he was putting in to making her feel better. He was right after all- Loke wouldn't just disappear for no reason if something bad hadn't happened. So Lucy resolved to focusing on her time with Natsu. It had been a very long time since she'd had anyone join her for her holiday traditions, so she didn't want to waste one moment.
As Bickslow returned with their drinks and to take their orders, Lucy remembered what had happened prior to Manda's intervention. As Natsu ordered his food, and rebuffed Bickslow's ribbing about his appetite, Lucy had to work on forcing down the fear that crawled up her back.
She had agreed to give Natsu a couple months before demanding that Happy tell her what was going on, but now that Natsu had started lashing out at others, she couldn't wait anymore.
It was for the safety of everyone around her that she get to the bottom of Natsu's split personality, once and for all.
As Happy popped into existence, Lucy quickly grabbed him and pulled him into her hiding spot.
"Oof!" Happy pulled her hand off his mouth as he looked around the alley Lucy had summoned him. "Lucy, what are we doing here? I thought you weren't going to summon me again until Christmas."
"That was until Natsu nearly punched a stranger and attacked a friend." She got a firm grip on Happy's tail before she removed her arms so he could sit somewhat comfortably on her lap.
"I need to know what's going on with Natsu, now. So talk."
Manda means Battle Maiden, which isn't what I was initially looking for, but I loved that meaning too much to find another name for our favorite punishment seeking spirit.
