We've been waiting for this day for 30 chapters folks! It's finally happening.
Hiro Mashima owns Fairy Tail. Again with the duh.
XxXxXxXxX
He blinked, trying to clear away the after image of bright white and bold blue. He had been on his back with Lucy on his chest when they had started, now they were on their sides, though he couldn't have said when that happened. His hands were still on her cheeks where he had placed them when they started. She was crying. Why was she crying?
"Bixy, are you ok?"
"Me? Lucy you're crying!"
"So are you, silly." He moved a hand from her cheek to his and discovered that he was, in fact, crying.
"You have no idea how beautiful you are. Inside and out."
"Not-"
"Yes, you are. Don't make me go back in there just to prove something as obvious as that." She gave a breathy little laugh.
"Ok, Doc."
"How do you feel?"
"I feel... lighter, better."
"Good. Just in case , if you catch yourself doing anything weird come straight to me so I can check on it."
"Like lusting after tall guys wrapped in flags?" He gave her a big grin.
"You should absolutely come straight to me if that happens."
"And how would you cure me if I suffered from such a malady?" Her voice was low and teasing. He made a show of thinking that over.
"Well I'd start by prescribing kisses." He punctuated that by planting one on the tip of her nose, drawing a giggle from her. "And if that didn't work we could try a massage, though that is only fully effective if done skin to skin, so the flags would get in the way. You could always take the flags off the tall guy and let him worship you as the goddess you are."
"Hmm...I could do that couldn't I?"
"You absolutely could."
"I'll consider that," She smirked at him. "If I ever suffer from such a malady."
"Awe, come on, Cosplayer!" The babies started flying around, giggling about flags. He smiled at them. They were so much happier these days, probably because he was. "Thank you, Lucy."
"For what? You're the one mending chasms in my soul."
"I wouldn't have called any of those wounds a chasm. But... Thank you for letting me be me. For... For trusting me." Love and trust went hand in hand with souls .
"You're welcome. I happen to like who you are when you are being you. We should probably go home and sleep before the sun comes up."
"Babies, let's pack up!" *pack up, pack up, pack the picnic, home we go.
XxXxXxXxX
As they packed up their starlight picnic Lucy thought over what had just taken place. Bickslow had just touched her soul. She had felt it. He had seen things in there that she retried not to think about, and some of those things she hid even from her team. Every time he found one of those things, wounds he called them, and she felt the memories surge up, she had also felt him hold her tighter. It was like he was hugging her heart, or in this case her soul. Waves of warmth had rushed over her and she could almost see how careful he was being with her.
When he came to the memory of her future self dying it had frightened her, not because of the memory itself, but because she had felt him fall in. She had almost heard his cry of anguish and she reacted without thanking, just reached out and thought emotional, hug-type thoughts, trying to remind him that she was here, she was alive, she was ok. She didn't know if it worked or not, but the next thong she knew she was getting hit with memory after memory of her most alive moments. Meeting Natsu, joining Fairy Tail, bringing Macao back to Romeo, defeating Duke Everloo and breaking the code in the book Daybreak, kicking Eisenwald's collective asses on the mission that brought her team together, meeting each of her spirits for the first time. She wasn't sure what he was doing, but the cold feeling she always got when thinking about that moment seemed to dull considerably.
"Bixy?" She finally broke down and asked him as they walked down the hill. "What do souls look like?"
"Well... Every soul is different. Pipi is bright with pale yellows and oranges and streaks of pink. When... when she was alive her soul sparked and pulsed like fireworks. Papa is mostly deep brown with ripples of orange and green. His soul used to churn and swirl like water and oil do when you pour one into the other. Now they very rarely change color or shape. A side effect of being dead is that you aren't alive anymore, so they don't grow or change much at all."
"Do the colors mean anything or are they just colors?
"The colors mean everything. Master Makarov for example. When I look at his soul most of what I see is dark blue. Loyalty, honor. Erza wears bold purples of power, reds of passion, and strong blacks as a shield, but once I get past that I see sweet, fluffy pinks and lavenders and quite a bit of needy yellow."
"So colors are tied to emotions?"
"Kinda. There are different shapes too, and different ways of moving. It's hard to explain really."
"Ok. New question. How did you know Loke was a spirit by looking at his soul?"
"He's old, Cosplayer. Celestial spirits are so old their souls... it's almost like they are inside out. They live in the moment so on the surface they are bright and alive, but the further in you go the more all you see is a murky, watery gray. Everything fades together."
"So which colors are bad?"
"That's hard to say. Yellow can be energy, pride, life, a positive outlook, or fear. Depends on the shade. The pink in your guild mark? It's a happy, cuddly color of affection, like puppies. A couple shades darker and a hint of orange indicates an unhealthy obsession. I might find that color in Juvia if I looked."
"So what's your favorite color?"
"Today?" He gave her an odd look and his eyes flickered. "Blue. Bold, pure, royal blue."
"What does it mean? Did you find it in my soul?" He stopped walking and just looked in her eyes.
"Everywhere, Cosplayer. Thin threads of blue." His eyes glowed brightly enough she had no doubts that he was looking at her soul again. He wasn't doing anything this time, just looking. "I saw more when Popo pulled me out that last time. Trust. You trust me so much it bloomed like flowers every time I touched your soul." That's why he had been crying. Just the simple fact that she trusted him.
"Take me home, Doc. You need cuddles." He just nodded at that.
XxXxXxXxX
It was after lunch the next day when it finally happened.
The two visiting Witches, as well as their four non-S-class teammates had joined them for yoga and a run through town. More or less. There was a whole lot less yoga on Cobra, Gray,and Natsu's part, and a whole lot less running on Lucy, Freed, and Evergreen's. There was a lot of running, as well as jumping, climbing, swinging, and leaping. Meredy stayed on the ground as they ran but otherwise managed to keep up with Bickslow. When Lucy had told the pinkette to 'color me impressed' Bickslow had told her where she could get a decent magenta paint. Lucy was the only one who got that joke, though Cobra picked it up from her of course.
The whole group had only just settled onto the second floor balcony, freshly showered after their workout, and were digging into a hearty lunch Mira had prepared for them when the doors flew open. They then continued to fly across the guild when the hinges gave out. Cobra's 'well, shit' would have been explanation enough, even if they couldn't clearly see the two wizards who literally flew into the guild.
"Mira! Where is the master? And Natsu? Lucy has been kidnapped again!" Mira wasn't given a chance to answer.
"I keep telling you, Erza. Meredy's emergency link hasn't been activated. Cobra and Bickslow are powerful wizards. As long as they stayed toge-"
"You don't know that! Lucy gets kidnapped all the time, even when she is with people! Maybe they were knocked out! Illusions, mind manipulation, brainwashing! Anything could have happened!" It was a testament to Jellal's immense magical strength that he wasn't flopping around like a rag doll the way Erza was shaking him around by his shirt. "Yukino said she never sent a message! What if Lucy herself has been brainwashed? Imagine the chaos those four could cause! With their magic there isn't any telling what the enemy is making them do!" Jellal freed himself from her grip by shedding his outermost layer and wrapping it around her forearms.
"Erza, you need to calm down. There aren't any dimensional rifts, disruptions to the time space continuum, or huge swaths of dead people so that is obviously not the case, besides Cobra would hear any spell like that coming."
"Not if he was unconscious! Not if they didn't leave together! What if the note was a lie and they aren't traveling as a group!"
"Bixy, should we run?" Lucy was whispering.
"Negatory, Tits." Cobra spoke softly, eye glued to the still yelling redhead. "We run now we will trigger the monster's prey drive."
"I hate to be the one to point out thee obvious babe, but running might have made things worse the first time we did it."
"Hey, Luce, if you fight Erza I want a match with the winner." Lucy glared.
"I have a better idea, Natsu. How about you fight Erza and then I deal with the winner of that match?" Natsu lit up for a moment, then looked at Lucy and shifted uncomfortably.
"Actually, Luce I think I'd rather not take you on when I'm not in top shape." Lucy blinked at him.
"As disappointing as it is that you aren't going to take the edge off Erza's wrath for me I appreciate the compliment."
"Why don't we just tell her the truth?" Evergreen scoffed at that
"Meredy, your optimism is impressive."
"Time's up kids." They followed the path of Cobra's finger and cringed. Erza's gaze was fixed on Pupu, where she was perched on Juvia's head. Jellal continued to list the logical reasons why Lucy had probably not been kidnapped, completely oblivious to the fact that he no longer had Erza's attention.
"Bickslow!" The enraged requip wizard quickly searched the ground level of the guild, before turning her eyes up to the second floor, where Bickslow was sitting, with Lucy in his lap. "You fiend! Unhand her at once!" Bickslow whimpered.
"We're all gunna die." If Meredy was optimism embodied, Gray was pessimism.
Erza strode through the guild and started up the steps. The only one not frozen with fear was Lucy, who did the only logical thing to do in this situation. She jumped off Bickslow's lap, ran across the room, and slammed right into Erza's chest plate, sending both women tumbling back down the stairs. Lucy attributed the past two days of balance and proprioception training with the fact that she somehow landed on top of Erza when they stopped moving. Erza, along with the rest of the guild, was stunned silent by Lucy's behavior.
"Ow. That hurt. Erza, I'm going to need you to not kill my boyfriend today, or remove anyone's body parts. I happen to enjoy the company of all the people up there and like them best with all their parts attached." Cobra started snickering and Bickslow shoved him off the end of the bench.
"B-b-b-"
"Boyfriend. Yes. I'm dating Bickslow now. He's been a perfect gentleman about it, so no need to avenge my honor."
"B-b-but."
"I know. The mission gave us time to talk though and , turns out, we have lots in common. We're good for each other. He makes me happy, Erza."
"He does?"
"Yeah. Bix is helping me train too."
"He is?"
"Uhu. Virgo likes him."
"She does?"
"Yeah, and you know how hard it it to get her to like you."
"I do."
"I wouldn't change my mind about this even if they objected, which they did at first, but Natsu and Gray are ok with this."
"They are?" Erza looked up to where six wizards were leaning over the railing looking down at them. Natsu nodded, though Gray just shrugged. A glance around revealed Bickslow and his babies a whole lot closer than she would have expected him to be given what she had been planning on doing to him not 30 seconds earlier. There was a concerned look on his face and his visor was nowhere in sight.
"Give him a chance, ok Erza? Besides," Lucy grinned. "We all know I can kick his ass myself if I have to." There were chuckles from around the guild.
"I," Erza glanced around the guild at all the smiling faces. "Ok." No sooner had the word passed her lips then Lucy was snatched up by a hovering Bickslow who began running his hands over her arms and legs. Erza bristled until she heard the words he was muttering.
"You crazy woman! You could have broken your neck. Are you ok?"
"Bickslow, I'm fine. Don't be a mother hen. Leave the chicken thing to Cobra."
"Yeah, man. Get outta my zone. Hey, Pancunt! Where do you think you're going?" Erza looked up in time to see Jellal freeze in his attempt to leave the guild unnoticed.
"Don't call me that!"
"Oh, right. You're always on to me about using your name. Guess I can do it just this once. Jellal." Jellal glanced around the guild in a panic.
"Don't call me that either!" Lucy started giggling
"Oh, chill out Jelly. Stick around. We've got a costume party planned. Just waiting for the rest of Crime Sorciere to get here." Lucy glared at him. "They are coming aren't they?" Jellal blushed.
"I... umm..." He wilted under the force of Lucy's glare. "Yes. We just used Meteor to get here faster." The guild cheered.
XxXxXxXxX
To be continued