Chapter Eight

Finding Lucy

The best part about waking up to a brand new day was forgetting what had happened last night with Lucy.

With Happy tagging along, matching the spring in his step, Natsu crossed over the bridge to Magnolia, passing by the small local trade boats coursing through the town's cobblestone-paved channels. They turned right onto Strawberry Street and slipped into a narrow alleyway adjacent to the brick red building.

This had always been the routine. Pick up Lucy at her apartment, walk together as a team to Fairy Tail, and start another new adventure, like the way it should be. But when he looked up at the familiar windowsill, the shutters remained shut and locked with a clasp.

Strange. Lucy usually opened her window for the fresh breeze to enter her bedroom.

"Looks like somebody decided to sleep in today." Happy snickered.

Natsu grinned. They both knew that nobody could wake up at wee hours in the morning and scream at them to get out of her bed, unless their name was Lucy. "Let her know we're here."

Happy flew up three stories high and tapped on the glass. "Hey Lucy! Finish up already! You still look the same with and without makeup!"

He snorted with a shake of his head, and braced himself for the wrath to come.

He could almost imagine the hostility painted on Lucy's face, all half-caked in white powder and facial cream.

He waited. To this day, he wondered how anyone with her book smarts can't seem to figure out that she didn't need makeup to look pretty. He waited again. But only silence replied from the other side.

"Lucy!" Happy hollered.

Then, a familiar scent of strawberries and bitter vanilla tingled Natsu's nose. He sniffed the air and followed the trail that cut through the thick air of sea salt. Around the corner of the building, he stopped at the source, sniffing on the brass door handle of the double door entrance. The scent was faint with time, no longer than an hour, and grew more potent leading down the next couple blocks in the direction of Fairy Tail.

She had left before they even got here.

"Happy, she's already at the guild!" From the corner of his eye, he spotted a shift of the window curtain from next door. A neighborly face appeared, peeking into their business. He suddenly remembered that day when the landlady had threatened Lucy of eviction, if she receives another complaint from the tenants about their "loud ruckus." As soon as Happy joined him, Natsu left the premises immediately, hoping no other nosy body would file another complaint. They couldn't afford to lose the apartment, aka the HQ of Team Natsu.

As soon as they were out of sight and earshot of the residents, Happy said, "That's new. Lucy always liked walking with us to the guild." He cocked a brow, forming a wise-cracked smirk. "What did you do to her last night, Natsu?"

"Huh?" The question caught him off guard. "Nothing! I auditioned and that was it!" Or, at least he thought he did. He'd noticed the flustered look she wore during the stage-blocking demonstration. When he drew closer to her as instructed, the heat emanating from her skin rose a degree or two. Her eyes kept darting from his gaze and the mood shifted. An inexplicable tension that kept him awake at night trying to figure out how it'd replaced the fun, easy-going vibe between them. That unusual shyness about her took a turn for the worst, right after the ink spill that led her to storm out of the guild without a word.

He'd figured she needed to go home and cool off. For whatever reason she wasn't telling him! But one thing they never lack in their team was open communication.

So he expected some answers upon arrival at the castle-like guild and after stepping through the grand, oak doors with steep archways. Hollow silence greeted them instead of the lively chatter of rambunctious mages. Inside the empty mess hall, wooden tables had been wiped down from breakfast hour, and the fluttering sound of loose paper bounced against the stone walls and pillars. The source of it was Levy standing on the stage with her back towards them, writing against thin air with her glowing pen. The word "Copy" hovered against a seemingly invisible parchment paper. Then, she swiped the letters with an extended arm and the word landed on a manuscript. One copy multiplied into many numbers, towering twice the height of her petite frame.

"Nice work, Levy!" Natsu called out, making a starting run and hop onto the stage.

She glanced over her shoulder and grinned. "Oh, thanks! It's no biggie really. I'd performed more advanced spells than this."

"Ah, right. Duh!" He made a face and Levy giggled with amusement. He gestured at the stack. "So what's all this for?"

"Scripts of the play for anyone who wanted to participate." She gasped suddenly and shook her closed fists with excitement. "And guess who's officially the Dragon Prince and the henchman!" She didn't bother to wait for their answer, already pulling out a loose copy from the pile and handing one to them. "You two!"

"Yay! Haha!" Happy cheered, hopping around the stage. "I knew I'd make a great Dragon Prince!"

"Oh yeah, you got the height for it alright." Natsu smirked.

Happy turned with an unrepentant grin. "The better to spot more action than you, if you catch my drift."

He threw back his head, laughing and giving Happy a high five.

Levy stood with an awkward grin, looking between them. "I don't get it. What's so funny?"

Natsu shrugged, placing both hands behind his head with a plastered grin. "Ah, it's not important." She didn't need to know that being 34 inches tall came with an uncensored view of what's underneath miniskirts and tight shorts.

He surveyed around the guild hall. Everyone had left to toil at their missions offered by paying clients residing in various parts of Fiore. Two days into this mission, and Lucy still hadn't mentioned how much reward money they were getting to put on a play production. The last thing he wanted was for their paycheck resting solely on a flimsy whim of the client's wit. Three months of hard labor typically would earn them more than 100,000 jewels. But if the old geezer decided to give them a run for their money, Natsu wouldn't mind having another round of handling swindlers and their sticky fingers around his hard-earned paycheck.

"Hey Levy, where's Lucy?" He asked. Her scent still hung in the air, but not potent enough to indicate her being present.

Levy's beaming face vanished with a blink of her eyes, then shifted to the side, a bit grim. "Uh, she's kinda busy at the moment." She quickly forced a positive grin. "Oh I know! Why don't you guys practice your lines here till she gets back?"

Awkwardness loomed as high as the archaic ceiling, making him grimace. "Ehh, yeah, can you point me to her anyway? There's something important I gotta tell her."

She frowned and tapped her index fingers together, as if choosing her words carefully. "Um Natsu, Lucy really needs to concentrate on finding more auditionees... without any more distractions."

Distractions? Lucy found their team too much of a distraction? On a mission she herself forced them to go on instead of battling bandits running amok in their own hometown?

"How soon she'll be back?" Natsu asked, a raw edge to his tone.

Only the new recruits would run away or freeze with fear of witnessing him agitated, expecting him to blow up the entire guild. But not Levy and those who worked with him. She lowered her eyes, rubbing the side of her neck. "Gee, uh, it depends on the results. I'm guessing once she finds enough cast members?"

"Aye," Happy intervened, looking up at him and tugging persuasively at the hem of his pants. "We'll practice our lines here till she gets back, right Natsu?"

He ignored the suggestion. Not entirely on board with the whole idea of sitting back and pretending to be some kind of a nuisance. He deserved a word with Lucy.

Turning on his heel, he dropped down from the stage. Then, Happy summoned his wings and leapt in front of him to a hovering halt.

"Chasing her down will only make her run away even more."

"Then she better invest in some running shoes cause I ain't waitin'!" He stormed past Happy, leaving him the option to join the fight of restoring what could be left of Team Natsu.

5