dear, mama
summary — in which a few of team natsu's members end up reading lucy's private letters.
pairings — team natsu friendship
tags — fluff, humor, slight angst
setting — after tenroujima island arc (major spoiler ahead)
note — don't worry, they all agree that it's for educational purposes.
[ FAIRY TAIL ]
"Let Team Natsu's Seventh Sleepover begin!"
Lucy Heartfilia watched as her apartment slowly became a warzone. Gray and Natsu took their places on each side of the room, an abundance of pillows by their side, war paint covering their noses and cheeks, all in all they looked like they were preparing for war, which in this case was their celebratory pillow fight. She sighed deeply, her teammates always did take things up a notch, but she loved them all the same. However sometimes, she just wished that they learned how to be subtle once in a while.
"Lucy, come on," Erza muttered beside her, gazing sternly at the battlefield in front of them. "We need to take out the enemy first. I have many strategies that will ensure our victory. I recommend we go with a stealth attack, it always works."
The Celestial Maiden had all the colors of her body drained, a single bead of sweat trailing down her forehead. "Eh, do I really have to?" Despite the sheer amount of times they convinced her that the pillow fights were harmless, she wasn't going to join them, the amount of concussions she had was enough to stop her.
But then again, saying no to the one and only Titania Erza meant punishment worse than death.
"Ho?" Erza stood in front of Lucy, prominent terror oozing out of her body. "You mean to say that you will not aid me in my quest to defeat Natsu and Gray?"
Lucy managed a panicked squeal before nodding eagerly. "Yes, ma'am! I mean, I'll help you. I'm just going to pray that I won't get brain damage."
Erza hastily requipped into her pajamas before letting out a war cry and charging into what was once known as Lucy's room. Lucy did the same, although she stepped into the fray with a little more subtlety and hesitance. But unfortunately, things didn't go her way because the moment she took one step, two pillows slammed into her face, effectively bringing her down on the floor without any remorse.
"So much for no brain damage," Lucy mumbled sadly, watching her ceiling disappear into a blank hole of darkness.
Erza quickly ran to her fallen comrade, sensing that something wasn't right when the blonde didn't get up like she usually did and started yelling at everyone. After shaking her a few times without any change in their current situation, Erza finally deduced that Lucy fell unconscious. She turned to the two boys with a snarl, "You killed Lucy!"
Natsu immediately rushed over to the slumbering partner of his. And just like the red-headed wizard, he too shook Lucy violently by the shoulders. "Luce, wake up!"
Happy cautiously hovered over the group. "Aye. And she was so young, too." And then the Exceed slowly turned to Gray with the darkest of expressions. "You killed Lucy."
"I did not! I didn't kill Lucy!" Gray spluttered, his chest now fully bare for the world to see. He crossed his arms and turned away. "It's her fault for not being able to take the heat," He mumbled.
"Eh?" Happy came to perch on the comforts of Lucy's bed, innocently sucking on his fish. "But she takes Natsu's heat so well."
In the next moment, Natsu could be found trapped within a flurry of swords without any escape whilst Erza lectured him about protecting a fair maiden's virtue (despite him reasoning that Lucy was by no means innocent since she kept bragging about her sex appeal so much, which Natsu thought was highly nonexistent since it never worked) and Gray kept snickering in the corner, occasionally making a comment about how pathetic the Salamander was.
As for Happy, he was content stealing fish out of Lucy's fridge. It was a good night for him.
[ AND SO! ]
"Lucy, we're so hungry!"
"For once, I have to agree with Mint Breath. Luce, make us breakfast already!"
"Aye! Lucy is starving us!"
"You three! Shut it! Be patient! It's bad enough that you killed Lucy, rushing her is making things worse!"
Gray slammed his hand down on the table, leaving a small dent from the rough action. "Lucy is right there!" He pointed to the girl who was currently trying to kill them with her death glares. "Obviously she's not dead!"
Lucy frowned as she pressed the ice pack harder into her head, still feeling the aftershocks of last night's attack. "Even if I wanted to make you all breakfast, I can't." She then glared at a certain cat with blue fur. "Because somebody ate all of the food in my fridge."
Happy wrapped his little arms around his body. "I only meant to eat the fish. But then I got really hungry and so I ate everything inside."
Natsu groaned, letting his head fall onto the table. "This sucks! I want food! Food! Food! Food!"
"Alright, alright!" Lucy growled out before snatching her purse from the counter and heading right outside. "I'm going to get us some food. When I come back, I want my home still standing!" Those were her last words before she completely disappeared with the click of a door closing.
"Not to worry, Lucy! I'll make sure nothing happens to your apartment! Everything will be fine under my care!" Erza hollered. A proud gleam sprinkled in the ringlets of her brown eyes.
Unfortunately for the Iron Maiden, the moment she lifted her gaze she was bombarded with the sight of wreckage and chaos.
Her mouth hung agape as she watched Gray and Natsu play catch and throw with Lucy's lamp, all the while Happy was acting like a referee. And somehow, within a minute time period, they had shards of glass littering the floor as they played without a care in the word. Erza's eye twitched, irritated that her childhood friends could be so destructive without even noticing it. However her heart skipped a beat at the realization that she failed Lucy in protecting her abode.
"Natsu! Gray!" Erza yelled, her naturally commanding tone caught the fire–and–ice duo's attention. She bit back the laugh when she saw them hugging each other in fear. "Are you actually fighting in Lucy's apartment?"
"No, si–ma'am!" Gray shrieked, still clinging onto the Fire Dragon Slayer beside him with trembling fingers.
"Aye, sir! We're the best of friends!" Natsu screeched.
Happy sniggered. His wings were proudly outstretched as he loomed over his friends. "And there goes Natsu and Gray! Victory is mine!"
Natsu quickly whipped his head to his adopted son. "Hey! You can't win the game! You're the referee!"
"Yeah, but if I'm the referee, does that mean I make the rules?" Happy questioned.
"Well, yeah!" Natsu huffed with his arms crossed.
"Then I say that I'm allowed to win!" Happy proclaimed with a sly grin on his whiskered face.
The next minute was filled with Natsu trying to catch Happy. They ran around the space, knocking off off everything that got in their way. The ground creaked from Natsu's erratic steps, not to mention the cracks he left on the wall as he tried to catch Happy's tail. Pictures fell from their spots on the wall, some of Lucy's books toppled off from the bookshelves, and pretty soon the entire room was no longer inhabitable.
But the next thing that happened was way worse than just completely destroying Lucy's apartment.
Gray gawked at the sound of the box hitting the floor. Erza's eyes widened seeing all the letters that spilled from the compartment. Natsu and Happy, however, just dived right in the pile of envelopes and started to read some of them.
"Dear, mama," Natsu began, voicing the contents of the letters out loud. "I still can't believe that we were gone for seven years. Even though I promised to tough it out, it sometimes is a little hard to fill in the gaps—"
"Natsu!" Erza hissed, practically begging for him to stop. "This is an invasion of her privacy! Stop it!"
Natsu set the letter down, an unreadable expression settling within his dark eyes. "But Lucy has been so distant lately—"
"You sure she just wasn't avoiding you?" Gray muttered. He was in his boxers, leaning against the wall with his arms folded. "I mean, you are pretty annoying."
"Shut up!" Natsu grimaced. "But seriously, I just wanna know what's going on with her. Plus, we'll never tell her. It will be like our secret, ya know?"
Erza shook her head. "I don't like it."
"I'll buy you a ton of strawberry cakes when we get to the guild," Natsu bargained.
"Deal!"
"Yosh!" Natsu quickly picked up the letter and began to read out loud.
Dear, Mama
It's the third day since we've come back from Tenroujima Island. I'm beginning to realize the changes from those seven years Everyone looks so different. Did you know that Bisca and Alzack got married and had their first child? Their family is gorgeous. I wish you could Asuka-chan, she's the cutest little thing—
They were interrupted when Erza sank into a little bubble of depression. She hugged her knees close to her chest, rocking back and forth, while tears streamed down her face. "I know!" She wailed hopelessly. "I still can't believe they got married without me present! I introduced Bisca to the guild, damn it!"
Cana and Gildarts have such an amusing relationship. Although Cana keeps steering clear of him, I never seen her so happy before. I'm glad she finally got the truth out. But still, it is pretty hilarious to see the strongest wizard in Fairy Tail crying just because Cana ignored him.
And speaking of fathers, I miss my own. It's not like me to be so resentful and depressed, but I just can't help but wish that I came home a month earlier. I can't help but hate myself. I wish I had reached out to him before the S-Class exams. And it's so unfair that the moment I want to try and fix my relationship with him, the world takes him away from me.
Mama, I feel alone! My heart is breaking! I cry at night, just thinking about the things that I could have changed.
What if I hadn't volunteered to be Cana's partner? Would that have changed my unfortunate destiny? Or is it so selfish of me?
Who am I kidding.
I can't believe I forgot. My family is right here with me. It's Fairy Tail. My spirits are also with me every step of the way.
I have Gray, who despite his weird stripping habit, is like a big brother to me. When I recall all that he's been through, when I remember his strength, I feel like I can get through this pain too—
Gray sniffled. A few tears slipped past his cold, pale cheeks. "I'm not crying," He croaked pathetically.
"You're a sappy stripper," Natsu said, voice cracking at the ends of his words. He quickly wiped away the water from his eyes before anyone noticed.
Mama, I have Erza. My friend who I have come to see as a sister. A sister who I know that will never let me get hurt. She's passionate like that. Oh, I love her so much! I admire her determination whenever we go on missions. I have no doubts that she will be fine despite the seven year gap. I remember her telling me once that she gets her perseverance from us, her friends. And I hope to be like her someday, strong and brave—
Everyone turned to Erza who seemed to be busy wiping the waterfall of tears that flowed down her cheeks with Lucy's satin pillows. "Such lovely words!" She wailed before blowing her nose into the blankets in her arms. "I didn't know she thought of me like that!"
And I'll never forget Happy. That little cat, even though he calls me heavy and weird, never fails to make me smile. I just can't seem to be sad whenever I'm around him. I'm so thankful to be blessed with such good friends. Don't tell him, but Happy is like a beacon of light in my life—
"Lushi!" The aforementioned Exceed was sobbing his adorable little heart out. Like Gray and Erza, he had a river of tears pouring from his eyes.
Of course, there's Natsu Dragneel. The one who saves me when I get kidnapped. The one who makes me happy. The one who hates it when I cry. Mama, he protects me so many times that I can no longer count. I hope I can do the same for him in the future. There's something about him that makes me feel safe, warm, and so incredibly loved. It's always more fun when he and I are together.
I know that I'll face more heartbreak in the future, but I also know that Natsu will be there for me when I fall.
And I know that you and Papa will be watching over me in the stars. Right?
Love,
Lucy
Natsu was silent as he put the letter back in it's proper place. He said nothing while he gathered all of the letters and put them in the box. And then he crumbled to the floor, his head in his arms whilst a few, barely audible, hiccups escaped his mouth. Once he raised his head, the others gasped at how bloodshot his eyes were.
"That weirdo!" He gritted out, tears shimmering in his jet black eyes. "Stupid! Weird! Why did she write stuff like this?! She's out of her mind, I tell you!"
Happy smirked, wiping a few tears that stained his fur. "Heh. Natsu can't handle compliments from the girl he liiiiikes."
"Shu—"
"Everyone, I'm back!"
Lucy Heartfilia felt her heart completely stop when she saw the state of her apartment. But nothing prepared her for the sight of her friends sitting on the floor, cheeks tainted with overflowing tears. She didn't get the chance to ask why everyone became so sullen within the time she was gone since four bodies slammed into her, trapping her in the most suffocating of bear hugs.
"Oomph!" Lucy groaned in pain when everyone squeezed tighter. "Not that I'm enjoying the sudden affection, but what is happening?"
"Lushii!" Happy cried out. "Even though you're so weird, you make me smile too!"
Lucy chuckled nervously. "Thanks, Happy."
"I think of you as my sister too, Lucy," Erza said sternly as she nuzzled Lucy's cheeks. "Lets go have strawberry cake this afternoon at the bakery! My treat!"
The blonde smiled, a tear escaping her brown eye. She figured everything out the moment she saw that her box of letters was in the wrong place. But she wouldn't get angry at them this time. "I'd appreciate that, Erza."
"You know," Gray began, stepping out of the little circle he and his team made. His cheeks suddenly turned aflame, pink with embarassment. "You shouldn't doubt yourself. You're pretty strong too."
Lucy nodded. "Thank you, Gray. That means a lot coming from you."
Despite everyone letting go of Lucy, Natsu was the only one who didn't release her from his extremely tight hold. "No more secrets, okay, Lucy?" He took a step backwards to point at her. "You tell me the second you're feeling sad!"
Lucy laughed lightheartedly, feeling butterflies whirling up a hurricane in her stomach. "I promise, I will. Thank you."
Natsu's face suddenly matched the shade of his salmon pink hair. He averted his gaze as he scratched the back of his neck. "I agree with you. . . It is kinda fun when we're together."
A smile tugged at the edge of Lucy's lips, she felt like she was on top of the world. "Alright!" She clapped her heads, skipping all the way to her kitchen. "Come on, I'm hungry. Lets have some blueberry pancakes!"
"Aye, sir!"
[ END ]
replies — thank you to Sawakaze-Steph16, Sylvage, MiraiFuture, Hawkeye0908, Valerie Gambino-Snyder, JcL107, bahal1964 for supporting the story, by the way! it really means a lot. hope you enjoyed this one. again, thank you!