Lucy POV
I walked to my bedroom, eager for a shower and maybe a quick nap until I had to leave for the train station. I could feel a warm blush on my cheeks as Gildarts's deep voice still rang in my ears.
I entered my bedroom, and of course, Natsu was sprawled across my bed. Happy was curled up near his head.
"Natsu!" I shrieked, startling the Dragon Slayer.
"What's the big idea, Luce?" he grumbled, shutting his eyes tightly.
"What are you doing in my bed?!" I continued screeching.
Natsu jolted up, rubbing his eyes. "That's a rude fucking wakeup call, Luce," he complained. As his brain woke up, he fully assessed the situation. He looked at me, eyes widening momentarily before they narrowed.
"Happy?" Natsu called. The Exceed was stretching his arms. "Can you give Lucy and I a minute?" he asked.
Happy mumbled a weak "aye sir," padding out of the bedroom. I heard a soft thump on the couch where Happy was no doubt fast asleep once more.
Natsu shut my bedroom door, and my stomach twisted in nervousness.
"Where were you all night and why do you smell like Gildarts?" he asked pointedly, sitting back on the mattress.
I didn't want to answer that. "Why are you in my bed?" I cross-questioned.
"I came to find you, but you weren't here. I waited, and must have fallen asleep at some point. Now answer my question."
"I was out," I said, answering the first half of his question.
"With Gildarts?" he clarified.
"What makes you think it was Gildarts?"
"Luce, c'mon," Natsu huffed. "I grew up around that man. I followed him around everywhere. He was my biggest role model. I think I'd recognise his scent," the pinkette rolled his eyes.
"Fine, I was with Gildarts," I admitted.
"Doing what?" Natsu's eyes narrowed once more. I didn't have to answer; the violent blush on my cheeks spoke volumes.
"Luce… But what about Laxus?" Natsu whispered.
"Both…" I mumbled. Cana was okay with me sleeping with both of them, but I wasn't sure if Natsu would be as approving.
"Hmm," he started. "Do they know?" he asked.
"About each other? No, they don't," I said with a shake of my head.
"Alright. Well, I'm glad I know," Natsu stood up with an exhale, pulling me into his arms.
"Are you mad at me?" I mumbled. I knew how much he looked up to both men.
Natsu kissed the top of my head. "Of course not, Luce. I'm worried. In case shit hits the fan. But now that I know, I'll be there to protect you in case it all goes sideways."
I didn't say anything. I hugged him tightly, worried that he was now the second person to predict this arrangement backfiring.
"Luce, no offence, but you stink of sex," Natsu said, his voice muffled by my hair.
"Shut up," I pushed him away.
"Go bathe. I'll make you breakfast," Natsu started towards the bedroom door.
"No!" I screamed. "You'll destroy my kitchen," I pleaded.
"Calm down, Lucy. I'll just give you toast and fruit. Even I can't fuck that up," he rolled his eyes, walking out of the room.
I wasn't convinced, but didn't protest.
Once in the bathroom, I slipped off my clothes and stood under the warm spray. I could feel exhaustion beginning to sink its claws into me and I fought to stay awake. I turned the water to cold, hoping it would shock me awake, but even the frigid shower wasn't enough to keep sleep at bay.
Drying off, I pulled on my travel clothes. I walked to the kitchen, where, as promised, was toast, fruit, and no sign of damage.
As I nibbled on an apple slice I felt my eyes flutter shut.
"Did you not sleep, Luce?" Natsu asked, before quickly amending it with a "No, actually, don't answer that."
I shook my head, "I haven't slept. But get your mind out of the gutter, we spent a lot of the night talking."
Natsu pursed his lips, his eyebrows shooting to his hairline. "Mhm. Talking. Okay, Lucy." Before I could retaliate, he continued, "Listen, all my stuff is already here. Take a nap. I'll wake you up before we need to leave." He came around the table to offer me his arm. I took it, leaning against him heavily as he walked me to bed. I flopped down, and before he even pulled the covers over me, I was asleep.
It felt like I'd been asleep only for 10 minutes when Natsu shook me awake.
"Luce, we gotta go," he said, violently shaking my shoulder.
"But I just fell asleep!" I whined.
"You've been asleep for over two hours, idiot. Get out of bed or Erza will kill us," his voice dripped with fear. At the sound of the redhead's name, I shot out of bed. We scrambled to put on our shoes and grab our bags. I hurriedly locked up and Natsu, Happy, and I ran to the train station.
"You're almost late," Erza sternly pointed out as the three of us tumbled onto the platform. Wendy, Gray, and Carla were already waiting.
"Lucy overslept," Natsu snitched, throwing me under the bus. I leaned over and punched him.
"It's alright. The train is yet to arrive," Erza said, and as if by destiny, we saw it begin to pull in to the station.
"Fuck this," Natsu began grumbling.
"Shall I cast a Troia spell, Natsu?" Wendy offered kindly.
"Might as well, kid. It isn't effective anymore, but I'll sure as hell keep trying," Natsu shrugged as Wendy quickly cast it. The seven of us found our compartment.
I sat next to Gray, as opposed to my usual spot next to Natsu, because I intended to sleep and I didn't want him throwing up all over me while I napped.
The train began moving and Natsu's grumbling got louder until a big wave of nausea hit him and he clamped a hand over his mouth. Not wanting to witness Natsu hurl his breakfast, I announced that I was going to sleep. I let my head fall onto Gray's shoulder and I screwed my eyes shut. A few minutes passed and I felt my breathing even out. I wasn't entirely asleep yet when I heard Gray's voice.
"Didn't she oversleep?" he whispered.
"She didn't sleep much at night," Natsu groaned softly.
"What were you guys doing?" Gray continued.
"She wasn't with me," Natsu choked out, nausea overwhelming him.
"Then who-" Gray started before Erza cut him off with a hush.
"You'll wake her, Gray. Let her sleep. We'll ask her later," she silenced him.
As sleep washed over me, I felt thankful for Erza's intervention.
Gray woke me up when we arrived and we made our way to the inn we had booked rooms in. Natsu and Gray were sharing a room, and Wendy, Erza, and I were sharing a room. We dropped our luggage off before heading out to meet the man who put in the job request.
Gray hadn't been lying when he said this guy was loaded. His mansion was bigger than the Heartfilia mansion. A butler let us in, taking us up to the owner's personal study.
"Mr. Kuzon will see you now," the butler announced, opening the door to let us in.
Behind the large desk sat an old, wizened man.
"Good evening, Mr. Kuzon," Erza began, when the old man's eyes widened.
"Layla?" he gasped, looking at me.
I stepped forward nervously. "Uh, no, sir. I'm Lucy Heartfilia. Layla was my mother. She passed away many years ago," I informed him sadly.
The man pushed himself away from his desk and hobbled up to me. He was probably as tall as Wendy. He reached up to cup my face. "You look just like her," he whispered.
"How did you know my mother, sir?" I asked kindly.
"I worked with your grandfather for many years. I've watched your mother grow up. It's a shame to hear she passed away. I'm sorry, child," he said, eyes sparkling with genuine tears of sorrow. I smiled at him kindly, patting the hand that still held my cheek. He cleared his throat and dabbed at his eyes, pulling away from me.
"Sorry, yes, you must be the wizards from Fairy Tail," he smiled brightly. Erza went around the room introducing everyone. We all took a seat on the couches in his study.
"Mr. Kuzon, could you please walk us through everything that's happened?" Erza requested.
"Well, every night for over a week, someone has been sneaking in and stealing things. I'm not sure exactly how much has been taken, but I know several rare books, a few paintings, and some family heirlooms are missing. I suspect other knick knacks around the house have been filched too, but I'm not sure," Mr. Kuzon told us.
"Can you think of someone who might be behind this?" Natsu asked.
"I'm old and sick, my boy. This is common knowledge. I suspect it may be a dark guild trying to loot the rare things I've collected over the years before I pass away and it gets distributed amongst my many relatives," the man said straightforwardly.
"And you said you've tried catching these guys?" Natsu continued.
"Yes, I increased the security, installed surveillance lacrimas, everything. And yet, I haven't caught the culprit," Mr. Kuzon sighed. "You may check with Chu for anything regarding this. He's been helping me oversee this."
"Chu?" Gray asked.
"The butler. He's been by my side for several years," Mr. Kuzon said appreciatively.
A few more questions later, we took our leave, promising to come back at night.
Over dinner, we discussed the job.
"Do you guys really think it's a dark guild?" Wendy asked, nervousness colouring her voice.
"I'm not sure…" Erza mused. "Something feels off."
"Yeah, I agree," Gray seconded. "Let's split up through the mansion tonight, keep our eyes peeled," he suggested.
"Good idea, Gray," Erza said, before launching into the plan. She marked out where each of us were to be stationed. She put me in the library and Natsu by the vault. Wendy, Carla, and Happy were stationed in front of several expensive paintings. Gray and herself would be patrolling the mansion.
When we reached the mansion that night, we all hurried to our designated spots. For the first few hours, I stood on guard, my hand resting by my keys in case I heard a sound. But the minutes ticked by and nothing happened. Gray and Erza both dropped in on separate occasions with reports of nothing out of the ordinary. Gradually, I let my guard down. I scanned the books on the shelves before retrieving an interesting one on the history of celestial magic. I sat at a table, flipping the book open. I kept my ears carefully trained to the sounds around me, but I let my eyes focus on the words in front of me. I devoured the book, pausing every now and then to do a quick lap of the library.
When the sun began to come up over the horizon, I returned the book to its shelf, and left to go find everyone else. We gathered in front of Mr. Kuzon's study and waited for him.
"Did anything happen?" Natsu hissed under his breath.
We all shook our heads.
"Do you think they managed to sneak by us?" Wendy asked.
"I doubt it…" Erza shook her head.
"Erza's right. There aren't any new smells in the house," Natsu agreed, sniffing deeply.
"Okay, can it. Kuzon's here," Gray whispered as the old man and his butler approached.
"Good morning, Mr. Kuzon," Erza greeted. "Fortunately, your house was not robbed last night. However, this does mean that we still haven't been able to apprehend the thief. I discussed this with my team, and we have decided to not patrol your mansion tonight. Rather, we will focus our energies on talking to the townspeople to see if they know anything," she explained.
The rest of us looked at each other, and though our faces betrayed nothing, we were all confused. None of us had made this plan with Erza, but we knew better than to contest her in front of a client.
"Oh, well, okay," Mr. Kuzon said, scratching his head. "I suppose I will see you tomorrow then. Chu, escort them out."
The butler directed us towards the doors.
When we were safely past the mansion grounds, Gray turned to Erza. "What the hell was that? Mind filling us in?" He snapped.
"Yeah! I don't want to talk to townspeople! I want to fight some bastards!" Natsu said indignantly.
"Will you two fools shut up for one minute?" Erza glared. "Think about it. Mr. Kuzon has been getting robbed every night for over a week, but the day we show up, suddenly there's no robbery? So whoever is stealing from him knew we were going to be there. Let's spread the word that we're interrogating townsfolk today, but sneak back into the mansion at night. The thief would have dropped their guard and we'll be able to catch them," Erza said simply.
Gray and Natsu stared at her in awe. "I love your beautiful brain," Gray whispered.
"It's just that you two take a little longer to see the obvious," Erza snipped, but she was smiling softly at the compliment.
On Erza's instructions, we first went into town and told as many people as we could find that Fairy Tail wizards would be patrolling the streets and interrogating anybody who seemed suspicious. We then grabbed breakfast before heading back to the inn to sleep for a few hours. With the curtains drawn shut, we crawled into our beds. As I dozed off, memories of Laxus and Gildarts began swirling through my mind.
A/N: I'll be the first one to say this, writing adventure is not my forte. I can write romance, I can write sex, I can even write friendship, but I cannot, for the life of me, write adventure. So yes, this mission will be hella basic and pretty lame and overall, not necessarily the greatest moment of this fic. Please, please, please bear with me. I had to include it to aid with the plot, and put some distance between the core three.
This apology also preemptively extends to the next chapter, which will be a conclusion to the mission. I promise to make up for it with lots of yummy smut at a later point in the story.
(Also quick FYI, I borrowed the name Kuzon from ATLA because coming up with names is another one of my failings. I do not own it, Nickelodeon, please don't sue me)