Chapter 8

The World Above the Skies

It had been a couple weeks since Natsu and Ryoko shared a bed together. When they had both woken the next morning, Natsu tried to run away but Ryoko insisted on making him breakfast. At the sound of food, he reconsidered leaving Ryoko and sat down to a meal. It was a simple breakfast but for Natsu, it tasted amazing and he was even proud of himself for remembering his manors that Lucy had tried so hard to instill in him. Once they ate their meals, Natsu quickly made a getaway back into Magnolia.

Since that morning, the two have barely spoke. It wasn't until Natsu was being consumed by mechanical dragon that the two moved past their shyness and embarrassment and move forward with their friendship. Sadly, their awkwardness with each other wasn't missed by the rest of the guild. There friends had asked them what was going on but both just acted like there wasn't anything to report.

One day, when it started to rain Lucy came up to Ryoko. "So what's been going on between you and Natsu? You guys have been acting really weird lately. Everything ok?" she asked.

Ryoko could see Natsu out of the corner of her eye, giving her a very curious look but she just ignored him. "We're fine. I've just been a little distant with everyone," she said as she heard the pour rain outside. "I'm going to go take a walk. It's so nice outside."

"It's raining," Lucy pointed out.

"Exactly. It's water. I could use a top up of my magic," Ryoko said as she made her quick getaway out the door of the guild.

The rain was really coming down and the wind was pick up as well. This was proving to be an exceptional storm. Marie followed behind Ryoko and gave her a concerned look. "You know she's right. You two have been acting strange with each other. What's going on?" Marie said as she pulled a small umbrella out for herself. As much as her friend loved the water, Marie was still a cat.

"Why can't everyone let it go. Natsu and I are fine," Ryoko groaned as she made her way through Magnolia.

"You two are avoiding each other. Barely say anything to each other. What happened?" Marie pressed.

Ryoko spun on Marie and glared at her. The two friends glared at each other but it was Ryoko who knew who was going to win. Marie was but far the more stubborn of the pair. "Natsu and I slept together," Ryoko confessed.

"YOU WHAT?!" Marie shouted.

"No! Not like that. I mean he was on one side of the bed and I was on the other….no contact. At least not consciously. When I woke up, he had his arm wrapped tightly around me and I was curled into him. It was really nice. He was so warm and soft," Ryoko began, her mind wandering slowly back to the morning that she woke up in his arms, breathing him in.

"Ryoko?" Marie asked softly. "Do you have feelings for him?"

"I don't know, Marie. But needless to say that that morning freak Natsu and I out that we've just been too embarrassed to be around each other...or rather we were. Things seemed to have eased up a bit since that whole mechanical dragon incident," Ryoko mused but she couldn't help but think about Marie's question. Did she have feelings for Natsu? Was that what it was every time they touched. That electricity?

Ryoko's mind didn't focus on those thoughts for long as a loud boom came from the sky above her and a dark hole appeared. "What is that?!" Marie shouted as she held onto Ryoko. The winds had increased and around them, the buildings started to disappear, being sucked up into the dark hole in the sky.

"Ryoko!" a voice called to her.

Ryoko turned around and saw Mystogan making his way towards her. "Mystogan?" she asked as another loud crash was heard the buildings began to disappear faster around her, including the guild hall. "WHAT'S GOING ON? WE NEED TO GET TO THE GUILD HALL! TO THE OTHERS!" Ryoko shouted as she made her way to him.

Ryoko reached Mystogan and held onto him as all of Magnolia disappeared around them. Ryoko couldn't believe what was going on. They were gone. All of them. All of her friends, her guildmates. All gone. "Mystogan, what happened? Where is Magnolia? Where is our guild?" she asked, tears filled her eyes.

"They've been taken. Taken to Edolas through the anima," Mystogan explained.

"Edolas? Animus? What are you talking about? Mystogan, you're not making any sense. Where is everyone?" she asked frustrated.

Mystogan shook his head and gave her a small pellet. "Eat this and have Marie fly you into the anima in the sky. There you'll be able to save our friends. I'll behind you," he said before making his way away from her.

Ryoko watched him walked away and looked back at Marie. "You ready?" she asked. Ryoko was determined to save her friends…her family.

"As ready as you are," Marie said as she flew up and swooped Ryoko up and made her way into the sky. "Hang on. This is going to be rough."

Ryoko braced herself as Marie flew faster than ever before and straight into the anima. Traveling through the anima was deafening. To Ryoko, it felt like they were crashing through a wall, but when they reached the other side of the anima, Ryoko was shocked to see the beautiful world below. Islands and rivers floated in the sky and a beautiful palace laid both in the air and down below. "Marie, let's land down there and see what's going on," Ryoko suggested as they landed in an alley. Ryoko found a cloak and wrapped it around her and Marie.

Marie and her kept their eyes and ears open for any information about Fairy Tail but all everyone was talking about was a giant lacrima. They slowly made their way through the city. At one point, Ryoko was shoved to the side by soldiers claiming that they found the location of the Fairy Tail wizards. Before Ryoko could even blink, she was following the soldiers. The soldiers surrounded a small group of people where one little ram was fighting to keep them safe.

"Marie! That's Lucy! We have to help," Ryoko said as some soldiers turned towards here.

"Get out of here kid! Official palace business!" they shouted at her as they advanced towards here.

Ryoko smirked as she lowered her hood and took a deep breath. "Water dragon….ROAR!" she shouted as she blasted the advancing soldiers away.

"HEY! That was a water breath attack! It's Ryoko!" Happy shouted.

Ryoko pushed her way through the stunned soldiers and caught up to her friends...and a double dosing ofLucys. "What the? Lucy, you're a twin?" she asked before following them as they made a quick getaway.

"One of the Lucy's belong to Edolas. The other is ours," Wendy explained as they found a place to rest.

Lucy began explaining how she got there and then it was Ryoko's turn. When Lucy started to proclaim how she would be the one to save them all, Ryoko chuckled. "You've got this Lucy," Ryoko encouraged.

When they found a safe place to stay, Ryoko's guildmates turned on her. "You doing alright?" Natsu asked. It was the first real thing Natsu had said to her since that night.

Ryoko gave Natsu a hard look before nodding. "Ticking the way it should. I feel fine. Don't worry so much about me. We need to worry about or friends," Ryoko said before walking away from the group. She didn't want to stick around have Natsu's worried gaze on her the entire night.

"What was that supposed to mean?" Edolas Lucy asked.

"Ryoko has a damaged heart. She has to be careful not to over do it," Marie explained

"Wow, our Ryoko was born with a bad heart," Edolas Lucy said surprised.

"I can hear you. And drop the conversation. Remember who has magic and who doesn't...Natsu," Ryoko threatened as she got herself comfy on a bed.

"AYE MA'AM!" Natsu shouted knowing full well that she was could do some damage to a magicless Dragon Slayer.

The two Lucy's took some time to get to know 'themselves' and Wendy found a small bed to rest with Charle. When Ryoko thought she would drift off, she felt a warm hand on her shoulder nudging her. Ryoko rolled over to see Natsu sitting next to her on the bed. "Natsu? What is it?" she asked.

"Are we ok?" he asked softly.

Ryoko gave him a confused look but shifted over to make room for him. "We were never not ok," she explained but knew that she needed a little more information to put him at ease. "Natsu?"

Natsu looked at Ryoko, concern deep in his eyes. "It's just that...things have been weird with us. We don't talk anymore and I just thought that maybe...after that night that you were mad at me. I mess up a lot," Natsu confessed.

Ryoko gave him a soft look and placed a hand on his. The moment they touched, she felt that electricity and to some extent, she was getting used to feeling that every single time. Natsu tried to pull his hand away, feeling the same feeling, but Ryoko held tightly. "Natsu, I was never mad at you. I care about you," she confessed and even after he gave her a shocked looked, she continued. "I guess I made things awkward because I was a little embarrassed. I've never been in a situation like that before and...I didn't know what to do."

Natsu stared at Ryoko. So many thoughts were circling in his head. Hearing that she cared about him was the last thing he expected to hear from her. Natsu simply smiled at her and pulled her in for a tight hug. He held her close and rested his head on hers, drawing in her scent. To him, she smelled of nature, of a babbling brook or a rushing river surrounded by a peaceful forest. Her scent was intoxicating to him. He would sit next to her the guild just so he could smell her scent.

Ryoko relaxed into his arms. She didn't really know what to do. She had made a confession to him that even surprised her but she didn't want him to think that he had done something wrong. She couldn't let him continue with those thoughts. After a brief moment she pulled away and gave him a reassuring smile. "So, are good now? We've got to take on all of Edolas to get our friends back," she said softly.

"Yeah. We'll get them all back," Natsu said as he stood up from the bed. He smiled at her before turning his back to her. "Hey Ryoko? I care about you too."

With that declaration, he walked into the room with the double Lucys. Ryoko watched him walk away and she smiled. Who knows what the future would hold but for the time being, they needed to battle Edolas to get back their friends.