So at some point I was thinking
Of incorporating reviews for the show Natsu, Lucy and Nashi
Are doing. Do you think that's a good idea or should I just
Have the director or Erza talk about it in the chapter?
I'm still unsure about this so I figured I would ask your guy's opinion.
I won't be doing mini interviews for them as I don't really like that setup
since it's supposed to be more of a reality thing rather than
Those "reality shows" that have gossip/interview sessions between.
Not my style but anyway!
Let me know which you guys would prefer!
Enjoy!
Lost in the Lie
'Little do you know-'
Fourth Lie: I've Forgotten
"So basically, we will be having you guys do 'family date nights' and other various activities in order to bring out the realism of the situation you guys are currently living in." Lucy refrained from making any comments at her boss' statement. "We will have a pair of jars set out on the living room table for you all to randomly choose from. Obviously, this would also work around your schedules." The producer had originally asked both Natsu and Lucy to clear out their schedules as much as possible so as they could get more content. However, as both were quite popular in the entertainment business they could not fully clear their schedules and so he found a house where both had room to practice there.
Lucy was thankful for the incorporation of a dance studio in the basement of the house they were using, she and Gray had two competitions they had entered in and had to practice their dance routines as much as possible. The producer had agreed not to air their full dance performs on the terms that he could show small snips of their practices. Natsu had similar terms as they were working on new songs for their upcoming concert and had agreed to allow them to air some of their songwriting processes.
Erza was a good negotiator.
"Would we be doing one every day?" Natsu asked him, staring in interest at the two jars. Lucy could guess that it bothered him not exactly knowing what was written on the folded papers, he never was one to have patience when it came to surprises. The producer nodded, moving on to show them where exactly all the cameras were placed inside the home, none of which were in the washrooms for obvious reasons. The more the show producer began to explain the basis and ideas for the show the more Lucy became nervous, once the staff all left it would just be the three of them in the house other than when both celebrities had their respective tasks to do. Lucy tightened her grip on her daughter's small form, the little pinkette had taken to falling asleep during part of the show instructions, Lucy only wished she was able to do the same.
"Does anyone have any questions about anything?" The room stayed silent for a few moments before the producer smiled and wished them a good day before leaving the home to the celebrities and their managers.
"Lucy?" She turned to her red-haired manager, noting the concern on her face. "Are you sure you're going to be alright? You look exhausted." She didn't say anything for a moment, opting for combing her hand through her daughter's silky hair, watching her sleep peacefully in her arms. She knew she probably needed to get some sleep as she had a feeling the day would be long and tiring for all of them however, she doubts she would be able to do anything with the way she was feeling then.
"I'm okay Erza." She told her manager, "I was worse off when Nashi was first born, I can manage a day with little sleep." She hoped she could at least, Nashi was always a good girl and rarely caused her any major issues, last she had been at her wit's end was when her daughter was firstborn. The amount of sleep she got back then almost drove her nuts. Erza stared at her and she repeated, "I will be fine. Now go home, I'm sure you're tired as well."
"I am." Erza nodded at her before appraising her idol, a gleam of uncertainty in her eye. "If you need anything you call right away Lucy. I mean it. All I have to do while you are here is set up your schedule and take you to your appointments between shooting for this show." Lucy nodded, thanking the woman before watching her leave.
She didn't have much time before Gray would start heading over for their practice, they had to practice their internationals duet for next month. It was a widely renowned dance competition with many amazing and talented dancers on it so the two needed to practice as much as they could. Lucy glanced briefly at Natsu, who was still conversing with his manager, seeing this as her opportunity to escape, Lucy hurried off to her daughter's intended bedroom for the next month and gently tucked her into the bed to allow her a more peaceful nap. Lucy kissed her daughter's forehead and left to the dance studio to get things set up for her and Gray.
Slowly, she began to take deep breaths in order to calm herself down, she had a whole month to be in this house, she couldn't allow herself to start getting worried so soon. She knew Natsu was going to bring things up, he would at some point anyway because that was just what the man always did. He wanted to question her, she saw it in his eyes when he spoke to her the first time after their initial meeting about the production of We Got Married, but he said nothing and Lucy didn't wait for him to ask.
She had never expected to see him again, although she guessed it was more wishful thinking than anything as they were both in the entertainment industry. Even if they hadn't gotten into We Got Married the two probably would have met eventually at a celebrity event or a photo shoot. She'd be foolish to think otherwise. Although she doubted she would have agreed to the show had she realized it was Natsu she would be living with, a brief moment was one thing however an entire month of living with him was not going to end in her favor.
"Hey, Lucy!" She smiled at Gray when she saw him enter, "Ready to start practice?" She nodded, getting the speaker ready as Gray set down his things and got into position. Many doubts had flooded her mind however the moment their bodies moved and the music began, all her thoughts ceased the further she immersed herself in the music. She would think later, for now, she would just lose herself to the music and the movement of their bodies together.
…..
"Anyways the guys have individual photoshoots today, so you won't need to worry about group practice for another few days." It felt odd to Natsu to not be around his bandmates so much, he's been living with them for the past 4, almost 5, years and has yet to spend more than a day without at least seeing one of them. "You basically have a day to do whatever you want, within reason." Jellal stared pointedly at his friend and talent of his agency, he was mainly referring to the last time he had to Natsu to 'do whatever' and the boy did.
Last break Natsu had he caused a stir amongst the public, the male had decided to go to a festival which had been fine minus the fact that he did nothing to conceal his identity and was recognized immediately. Natsu had witnessed two street entertainers dancing around fire and doing a demonstration of their 'ability' to breathe fire to which the salmon haired male decided he was going to do. The multiple ambulance calls made and screaming phone calls to his office made about Natsu's hair catching on fire was terrifying. Natsu chuckled sheepishly at the reminder of the incident.
That was a dark night for him.
Natu raised his hands in surrender, relenting under his manager's stern gaze and the blue-haired male nodded in satisfaction at the action. "Why not take this day to get to know Miss Lucy better, become closer?" He really did not need to; her memory was burned into him and he could never forget a thing about the blonde. He didn't need time to get to know her. Jellal eyed him for a moment, a slight bit confused at Natsu's dismissal but shrugged. "Anyway's I've got to head to the other guys and get everything organized with them so I will be leaving you now, please do not cause any troubles for Miss Lucy."
She was the one causing him trouble. His head has been throbbing ever since he saw her in that meeting room. Now that the initial shock of seeing his long-term ex-girlfriend had passed Natsu was beginning to boil. She left 4 years ago with no explanation, disconnected her phone number, and left Fiore and he never heard from her afterward. Now here they were, after 4 years doing a show together and she refused to say anything more than necessary to him.
"Where's Lucy, Gajeel?" Natsu turned to the male as he watched him walked backstage alone, the man was supposed to be going to pick up Lucy for him as he was needed for the setup process in the stadium so he was unable to do so himself. He watched as Gajeel grimaced, balling his hands into fists and shaking his head. Natsu eyed him, "What's wrong?"
"Bunny girls not there…" Loke stopped his strumming and placed the guitar down beside him on the stand. Natsu tilted his head at his words.
"Oh, she told me she was free when I asked her a week ago." He said, a little confused at the sudden absence. She hadn't sent him a text or anything. "I'll try calling he to see where she is…" Natsu pulled out his phone and dialed the familiar number on his phone, 'The number you have dialed is no longer in service…' Natsu stared at his phone, eyes widened before whipping his head around to Gajeel.
"Where is she?"
Gajeel shook his head at Cobra's question. The sounds of the crowd's chants and cheers were echoing around them as he swallowed thickly and turned to stare at the lead singer of their group. "She's not here Natsu, she left Fiore."
"What do you mean she left Fiore!?" Natsu charged forward, gripping the buff man's shirt and pulling their faces close, intimidating the slightly taller male just a bit at the fierceness his friend and bandmate was portraying. Gajeel would've started to push back had he not see the evident desperation on Natsu's face as he waited for him to answer.
"I don't know. I went there and her uncle, Jose, said she just disappeared the night before without saying a word to him, he found a receipt for a plane ticket though." Gajeel watched as his friend slowly released his clothing and stepped back, disbelief and terror crossing his features. "Natsu-"
"You're lying, Lucy-she'd never do that." She would have at least said something, why would she change her phone number without saying a word to him. She didn't even say goodbye. He stumbled, beginning to crumble under the weight of the revelation. Lucy had left. He started stepping toward the exit, he had to find her. Maybe he could catch up to her.
"Natsu." He glanced at the soft voice, more cheers blaring around them. "It's time to start the show." He glanced at the exit, and then back at Lisanna. He needed Lucy He turned back to the door, taking another step before feeling a gentle hand resting on his shoulder. He was trembling, he hadn't noticed until then. "Nastu, remember what Gajeel said? Jose said that Lucy left last night. She would be long gone by now Natsu." No, she couldn't be gone. She had to still be at home. Lisanna gently turned him to face her and she cupped the man's cheeks. "Natsu, don't throw away this amazing opportunity for someone who can't realize what they would be losing by leaving you."
It stung
He could not understand why Lucy had left him nor did he ever think he would find out why she did so without saying anything to him. Natsu wasn't sure if he wanted to. "Natsu…" However as he looked at his bandmates forlorn faces, and Lisanna's worried face as the cheers echoed in the background and called out to them, Natsu grimaced and flipped his guitar over so it rested against his chest, he stalked over toward the stage and wiped at the tears streaming down his face before stepping out into the light with the roaring of fans. And as ironic as it was, the worst night of his life was what started his career.
He still had a hard time believing it was really Lucy he was here with right now, 4 years later and she hadn't changed at all other than the fact that she now had a young daughter to take care of. "Mr. Natsu?" He turned to see the little girl in question standing behind him yawning and rubbing her eyes. Nashi was young but he could still see the striking resemblance between her and the girl's mother. It was almost as if her familiar brow eyes were taunting him. "Do you know where Mama is?"
Natsu blinked and turned toward the large calendar they had hanging on the wall; their managers had thought it be best to have it there so they could both figure out things to do between their schedules. "I think she is doing dance practice right now," he knelt down to the sleepy girl and smiled awkwardly. "Did you want to do something together while we wait for your Mom to be done?" She thought for a moment, her nose crinkling as she did.
It was a characteristic she no doubt developed from her mother, Natsu remembered how Lucy always crinkled her nose when she was deep in thought about something. It amused him to see Nashi did the same thing. After a moment, Nashi smiled and nodded at the man. "Yes!" Natsu laughed at her friendly attitude, a small grin mirroring his own.
He tousled her silky hair, another trait from Lucy, "Alright what do you usually do when your Mom is working?" Nashi tilted her head a bit, swinging her arms back and forth and staring up at the ceiling. He could tell the girl had a good nap earlier, she was practically dancing with the amount of energy she had. He remembered driving his father crazy at times when he'd go down for a 30-minute nap and then be bustling with energy for hours after.
"Umm, I watch Dora or Miss Juvia reads to me or I play with Ryu." Natsu paused, waiting for further examples but after a few minutes of waiting, he realized that none was coming. He assumed Ryu was her imaginary friend. He blinked a few times, there was no way he was going to do either of those things with Nashi. He wasn't going to just put Dora on when he was capable of giving her other ways of more fun and entertaining things to do and he just hated reading, picture books or not. He asked her if there was anything else they did but she just shook her head. "Miss Juvia is nice but she gets tired easy and Mama is busy so she gives me stuff to watch."
"Ok, well why don't we do something different today then?"
"Like what?"
Natsu thought for a moment. He wasn't exactly sure what they could do, it wasn't like he could just take Nashi and he could ask Lucy but he also didn't want to interrupt her practice if he could help it. They did have a backyard. Natsu turned to the young girl, "Have you ever played hopscotch?" She shook her head and for a moment he was stunned, Lucy had always been obsessed with playing that or skipping rope when they were younger. "Ok then let's do that and I can teach you how to play."
He was thankful that the producer had thought of leaving things like sidewalk chalk for Nashi to use while she was here as he drew the squares on the ground. "Basically, you take a rock or something and throw it on to the squares," Natsu began explaining to the young girl and demonstrating as he did. "The you hop to it and pick it up before going back. Two squares you hop with both feet and one square you use one leg." Nashi jumped up and down, excited to try for herself and Natsu laughed before handing her the rock.
He enjoyed watching Nashi continue skipping back and forth as she threw the rock a few times and recollecting it. She was such a happy child. The pink hair she had bounced around as she hopped and it caught Natsu's attention, he never thought Lucy would've let her daughter dye her hair fully pink seeing as Lucy was always big on taking proper care of her hair and not allowing any harmful chemicals touch it as much as possible. "I'm surprised your mom let you dye your hair pink, but it looks good."
Nashi paused on her one leg before looking over at the taller man, he had pink hair too so why was he talking about her own? "Mama didn't color my hair. This is my hair color." Natsu paused at the little girls' words, her natural hair color was pink? "Your hair is pink too!" Natsu narrowed his eyes slightly.
"It's salmon and it's natural…" Something was irking him the more he stared at her silky pink locks bouncing around as she played, he couldn't quite place his finger on it but it was beginning to bother him the more he stared at the young girl. He could definitely see she was Lucy's daughter, almost looking identical other than the girl's hair color and her grin, both mirroring his own so much.
He was overanalyzing surely.
Natsu watched when Nashi paused her skipping in favor of staring at the water in the pool behind them, he glanced between the two. "Did you want to swim instead?" The little girl hesitated before shaking her head.
"I can't swim."
"Did Lucy never teach you?" Nashi shook her head at the question. Natsu assumed Lucy was too busy with her work as she had been getting an increase in activity lately as Natsu could not turn anywhere without seeing her face plastered on something. Plus, he looked at the pinkette before him, she looked to be quite young, so he assumed Lucy never figured to do it since she had been young. He paused. "Nashi, how old are you?"
"I'm four!"
"You just turned four?"
"No, I turn five soon!"
Natsu ignored the knots forming in his stomach and cleared his throat. "Well, why don't I teach you how to swim then?" Nashi stared at him for a moment, it was probably a bit strange for a stranger to be offering to teach her something like that. Maybe she didn't trust him? Natsu could understand why swimming could be scary. He remembered the one time he and Lucy and a few of their friends went swimming together at a beach and he nearly drowned had it not been for Elfman who had been a lifeguard at the time.
Not the highlight of his life but hey, he was alive.
"Okay." She finally agreed before going back into the house to change. Natsu just opted with wearing his shorts, not bother to change into swim shorts. He went hunting around all the pool equipment and toys for some water wings, praying that they had some. He guessed he should have thought of that before saying anything to the little girl. Luckily, he was able to find some and quickly blew them up as he waited for the small girl to come back outside to him.
At least the water was warm, he shrugged. Nashi came out wearing a frilly red one piece. Natsu wanted to thank whoever chose red for her. "Red is my favorite."
"Mine too!" He laughed lightly as he sat her down at the edge of the pool and helped her put her floaties on her arms and picked her up, carrying her over to the shallower end of the pool. Better to start small. He crouched down slightly so they were both lower into the water and instructed her to start kicking her feet in the water.
"Good, now I'm going to move around while you keep kicking okay?" She nodded and Natsu began to walk backwards in circles around the pool, allowing for the small girl he was holding to get used to the action. "Now move your arms so that you are kind of pushing the water away from you." He held her with one arm and motioned with the other what he was trying to teach her before returning to their original position, watching her swish her arms around.
Nashi seemed to be a lot like her mother in terms of being able to learn things quickly as she already seemed like she was beginning to gain more confidence in her readiness to swim. He slowly let go of one of her arms, keeping her other securely in his hand as he gently guided her and helped her get used to swimming on her own. "I'm scared." She suddenly said and Natsu slowed to a stop, allowing the girl to kneel on his leg as he crouched in the water and keeping them both afloat.
"We don't have to keep doing this if you don't want to."
"I want to."
Natsu stared at the girl, seeing her nervousness as she twirled the ends of her wet hair, another habit she had developed from her mother. "Okay, then why are you scared?"
"Mama said that Daddy was hurt swimming." Natsu glanced at the little girl before continuing to move at her urging, moving around and allowing her to kick the water while she held his hands. "Mama doesn't like going in the water much." Natsu knew that Lucy never did like open water however she had usually been fine with pools in the backyard she was just more hesitant when it came to the beach. The feeling in his stomach came back.
"Who is your daddy-"
She released his hands and started paddling furiously toward the edge of the pool just behind Natsu. Natsu quickly went beside her in order to make sure she didn't slip under the water, even if she had the floaties on there was always a possibility. However, the more he watched the little girl swim toward the edge of the pool he realized how determined she was to get there by herself and couldn't help but feel proud of her for learning so quickly and being able to do that much on her own so soon.
She slapped her hand onto the edge of the pool and screeched in excitement. "Did you see me?!" Natsu cheered and clapped for her.
"That was awesome Nashi!" Natsu scooped up the girl and twirled her around making her giggle in glee. Natsu swore he never felt so fulfilled when Nashi returned his hug, smiling widely as she continued to giggle at the man's antics.
"Thank you!"
"Nashi?" He turned toward the patio door and stared at the blonde approaching the pool with a worried expression on her face. She'd never taken her daughter into a pool before so seeing her Nashi turned toward her mother and smiled happily, waving both her hands.
"Mama! Watch! Watch me!" Nashi cheered and motioned for Natsu to let her go to which the man carefully let her back down into the water, walked beside her as she showed off her new skill to her worried mother.
"Careful please Nashi!" Her daughter just laughed, breathing heavily as she swam her way over to the edge of the pool closest to her mother where the blonde had raced over and kneeled down over the edge. Natsu wanted to tell her to calm down and relax, to just watch her daughter swim over toward her. It was an amazing moment and Lucy should feel proud of her daughter. Lucy scooped up her daughter and hugged her once she reached where she was, not minding the large wet spot appearing on her clothes as the water on Nashi dried off onto her. "Oh, thank Mavis."
"Mr. Natsu teached me how to swim."
"Taught." Lucy corrected her daughter before smoothing her wet hair down and out of her face. "I can see that," she said while glancing over at Natsu who raised his hands in surrender.
"She said she didn't know how to swim so I figured I might as well teach her since we have the opportunity." Lucy wasn't exactly pleased with it but seeing as her daughter was happy and fine she nodded to him in thanks. She did appreciate him taking the time to teach her, she just was a little wary of her swimming on her own.
"You did a really good job Nashi!" Nashi smiled at the raven-haired male behind his mother and giggled.
"Thank you, Gray!" Natsu stared at the man standing directly behind Lucy with his arm wrapped around her shoulders and another hand ruffling Nashi's pink hair. He vaguely recognized the man as Lucy's consistent dance partner whenever she was doing a duet dance, as he'd heard the man was quite a talented dancer however that didn't stop Natsu from glaring at the male. Staring at the 3 made him feel uncomfortable.
Natsu cleared his throat. "Nice to meet you?" Gray's eyes widened and he bowed in apology.
"Sorry for not introducing myself earlier," he laughed. "I'm Gray Fullbuster, Lucy's dance partner." He extended his hand to Natsu.
"Natsu Dragneel." His curt reply came, nodding to the raven-haired male and firmly shaking his hand. He didn't bother to try his hands, a miniature petty response but he took it as a win when Gray retracted his hand and wiped it on his shirt.
"Yes, I've seen you in the news a lot recently. You're extremely popular." Natsu shrugged, it came with being young and in a relatively liked band. If you had a decent voice and the music moved a few people others sometimes just followed because of their looks. Natsu preferred to just be recognized for his songs, that was something he was immensely proud of.
Gray turned to Lucy, "I should probably get going since we're done practice. You guys need to shoot more family stuff anyway." He nodded to Natsu before turning and hugging Nashi and kissing the side of Lucy's head, the blonde trailing behind him to let him out of the house. Nashi waved goodbye at her mother's friend before reaching out her hands to Natsu and pulling him with her into the house. The two went to their respective rooms and changed from their wet clothing into something more warm and comfortable.
Lucy turned to stare at the two jars before her, now that her schedules been cleared for the day, it was time to pick a 'family event.' She was dreading it but at the same time, seeing Natsu and Nashi today made the whole idea of a family event a little more entrancing.
Lost in the Lie
'-I, need a little more time.'
Fifth Lie: Bad Taste in My Mouth
ALaViola: I'm also being heavily encouraged to actually publish something by my family, it would not be anything I've posted here as the stuff I write here usually
pertains to only FT stuff so it wouldn't necessarily fit right into an actual novel
Do you think I should go ahead and try?
It wouldn't happen anytime soon as I would need to write something, edit and do revisions
but it's something I'm thinking of.
Love it? Hate it? Review!
