Hey I'm back, I'll have one more chapter after this one as I said I would. There are only five stages, so of course only five chapters. That's all I have to say so let's just get started with chapter four.
Natsu, Lucy, and Happy made it back home safe in Magnolia. They decided to go show the guild the ring and get Levy to analyze it. It was to make sure that the ring wouldn't some how curse them or pull any tricks when they made their wish. Natsu grinned broadly and kicked open the door, pushing a few member away as he did.
"We're back!" He roared throughout the guild.
"Nobody cares, flame brain!" Gray growled as he rubbed his head. He was one of the members were pushed by Natsu when he barged in the guild. Natsu cackled and decided to start a fight with the ice make mage. Lucy rolled her eyes and zigged zagged through the tables and members as she saw Levy reading a book next to Gajeel. He had his head down in the table, with his head in his arms.
"Levy-chan!" Lucy yelled. Her yell caught Natsu's attention. He stopped his fight for split second to look at his partner. He had to make sure she was safe from harm. But she's not in any danger, a voice said to Natsu. Natsu furrowed his brows. When had he became so protective of Lucy, almost to the point he was possessive of her. Scratch that, he always was towards the mage but that feeling had grown.
"Getting distracted from your opponent is unmanly!" Eflman hollered as he punched Natsu In the face. Natsu felt himself getting pushed down. He hopped back on his feet and started to fight them again, but made a quick glance at Lucy every so often. He was looking out for a friend, he convinced himself.
"Lu-chan! What's up- what is that?" She interrupted herself as Lucy got closer with a ring in her hand. The ring had a burgundy stone placed, but the actual ring was silver with an unrecognizable language carved in to the sides of the ring. If anyone could figure out what those words said, it was Levy.
"I need your help, Levy-chan. Can you please read these words on this ring and tell me what it says. I want to make sure this ring isn't cursed or anything." Levy nodded and took it from her and studied it.
"Is this the ring that grants any wish?" Lucy shook her head yes and watched as Levy looked over the ring with a critical eye. She then stopped over the words carved into the ring. She nodded and took out a piece of paper that was in her own bag. Grabbing the pencil that was conveniently stuck behind her ear, she started to translate the ring's words. "Wow, this is so cool!" She gushed. Once she was finished she read over what she wrote on the paper and nodded in satisfaction.
"What does it say?" Levy cleared her throat and started to read the translation.
"To sum it up, it says that you can grant any wish without any consequences. So you, Happy, and Natsu are free to wish anything you want. Just be extra clear, but i wouldn't worry Lu-chan. I can't even sense any bad energy from the ring." Lucy laughed excitedly and swipped the ring from Levy.
"Thanks a billion, Levy-chan!" She ran off to Natsu, Levy watching her with a small smile. "Natsu Natsu! Come here!" Natsu stopped his fighting immediately and made his way over to Lucy. Gray looked at him in awe but didn't say a word. Natsu took a seat with Lucy while she called over Happy.
"What's up, Luce?"
"Well, I asked Levy-chan and she says that the wish will not come with consequences. So, what shall we wish for?" Natsu placed a finger on his chin in thought. Happy was about to say something when Lucy stopped him.
"Not fish." Happy let a frown adorn his face and he pouted.
"Well what do you suggest then?" Happy frowned. Lucy opened her mouth with a smile and this time, Happy was the one interrupting her. "That's not money." She shut her mouth quickly and looked away with a small blush, embarrassed he figured out so quick.
"What then? Natsu?" Lucy turned to the dragon slayer. He just gave her a shrug. Lucy sighed and looked down at the ring, studying it. They could literally wish for anything and they can't think of one thing they agree on. Lucy then smiled.
"I think I already have everything I wished for. I came to Fairy Tail, met and befriended the great salamander, made friends, made up with my father, and i have a place of my own. What more could i ask for?" Lucy giggled and leaned her head on Natsu's shoulder. Natsu then realized what she said.
"You wanted to meet and become friends with me? Even before you met me?" He asked her. He was sure his face was red, but he chose to ignore that.
"Oh yeah, you were so popular and one of the mages I studied for years. It's funny, I wanted to be just like you. Even my dad was impressed by your overwhelming skill, he talked about you quite a lot. I wanted to become your friend so bad and when we finally met, I was overwhelmed with happiness." She smiled brightly and looked into his eyes the whole time, absolutely serious. He made a nervous laugh and turned away, ruffling his hair.
"That's a bit surprising." Dammit, my voice sounded even higher than my old voice. Why did she have to say that? He thought to himself in embarrassment.
"So I don't need anything from this ring, you and Happy can wish."
"I don't want anything either, it's all yours little buddy." Natsu smiled nervously. Happy's eyes sparkled with joy as Lucy passed him the ring. Happy drooled and thought about what he wanted before sighing happily.
"I wish for a big yummy fishy!" Lucy and Natsu watched the ring disappear suddenly and a huge shark appear in thin air. It smashed down on the table, breaking it. The worst part, it wasn't dead.
"Kya! Dammit, I should of told happy to be clear!" She jumped away from the fish when it tried to bite her feet. Natsu grabbed Lucy by the wrist and pulled her away roughly. He grabbed the shark by the fin and lit it on fire, killing it. He tossed it to Happy.
"Here ya go, buddy. Your own cooked fish!" Happy laughed and thanked Natsu brightly. He started to dig into the shark with a smile. Lucy shuddered in disgust, but was pulled by Natsu again. She tripped back and landed into his chest. With a grunt, she looked straight up at Natsu.
"Be careful next time Lucy. You could of been hurt." He whispered. She looked away from him and nodded. He made sure to not let go of her as he guided them back to their seat and now broken table. He sat her down incredibly close to him so that he could watch over her.
"Na-Natsu?"
"Hm?"
"Do you- uh, do want to go sp-spar now? I could show you what new spells I learned with my spirits." Natsu nodded silently and they got up. They were about to walk out of the guild when Natsu turned around and yelled out to happy.
"We're gonna leave Happy!"
"Go on without me, I'm still eating!" He said as he stuffed his face. Natsu shrugged and took Lucy's hand and led her out of the guild.
"Well that's just great..." Gajeel yawned, finally waking up from his nap. Levy gave him a confused glace and asked him what he meant. "The fourth stage is one of the worst. If you thought he was protective of bunny girl before, you're in for a real treat now. With his possessiveness added into the pot, he probably won't let anyone but the blue cat and himself touch her. What a drag..." Gajeel grunted.
"Oh, poor Lu-chan. It'll be hard to deal with someone like that. I remember how you were when you went through the fourth stage. I almost wanted to strangle you at times. It's weird how fast Natsu went through all of these stages." Levy sighed.
"Yeah, well, he was late. It's probably his body trying to catch up with his age." Levy shook her head in agreement.
"Yeah, you're probably right."
Natsu had ran into the woods, Lucy trailing behind him.
"Where are we going?" Lucy asked him. He had told her that he knew of a place that they could spar where they wouldn't be disturbed or manage to destroy anything but trees.
"You'll know when we get- oh, we're here." Lucy looked at the scenery around her. She then noticed a small house far in the distance.
"Is that your house?" She asked him.
"Yeah, we're practically out in the middle of nowhere. We won't be able to destroy anything and we won't be distracted." Lucy smiled and nodded. She then felt a smirk crawl it's way onto her lips.
"Ready?" Natsu chuckled at her excited expression.
"Ready." Lucy then took out two keys. It was Leo and Aries.
"Open, gate of the lion and the ram, Leo! Aries!" They both poofed out and looked at each other. They already seemed to know. Leo and Aries stood back to back and grabbed each other's hand. They closed their eyes and with a bright light, there stood both of them, but they looked like they fused together. It looked more like Aries than loke, but her hair was orange and she wore glasses. Her eye shape was more loke as well as her outfit being loke's. Except that the outfit's sleeves had fluffy wool sticking out of them.
"Wool bomb brilliance!" They shouted as a bright white light surrounded the entire field. Lucy closed her eyes on instinct, but smiled. When the light diminished, Natsu was engulfed in pink fluffy wool, temporarily blinded.
"What the, Lucy! What did you do? I can't see a thing!" Lucy didn't say a word as she transformed into her Leo star dress.
"Regulas," she yelled as she ran towards him. "Lucy kick!" She kicked him straight in the stomach, knocking him out of the wool and on the hard ground. He heard Lucy start to talk. "Thanks Loke, Aries."
"No problem princess." He heard a voice say, no doubt it was Loke.
"I'm sorry!" That was obviously Aries. They disappeared, only leaving Lucy and Natsu. He heard Lucy walk towards him, he could practically hear her smirk.
"You good Natsu? You were surprised weren't you? I can combine any two spirits I wish. They combine their attacks which makes them an even bigger and more powerful attack. It took four months to learn that move so I'm happy it worked on someone as powerful as you." Natsu groaned and rubbed his eyes. His vision was starting to come back.
"For your information, I was just caught off guard." Once he was able to make out her figure, he lit his hand on fire. "Now...it's my turn." Lucy gave him a hardened look and called out Scorpio.
"Open, gate of the scorpian, Scorpio!"
"Wicked! Is it time Lucy?" She nodded and transformed into her star dress, sand starting to gather around her. She stood in front of Scorpio and allowed him to use sand buster. Her dress allowed her to manipulate sand to lift her up into Scorpio's attack and she twisted her body like a torpido.
"Fire dragon: Roar!" His fire came right at her and Scorpio's and Natsu's attack mashed together, creating a tunnel of magic. She spun right through it into natsu and threw up her fist to punch him. This time, Natsu was prepared and he dodged her fist. Scorpio disappeared back into the celestial world behind their own fight. They started to dismiss their magic and sparred without it.
Right. Left. Right. Left. Lucy thought to herself as she threw her fist at Natsu. Unfortunately for her, he dodged her every punch and even caught her right hand. She gazed into his eyes in shock and watched as he smirked.
"Did i catch you off guard." She growled and tried to punch with her left fist, but he caught that too. She grunted and was about to kick his legs, making him fall, but he figured her moves and leaned his weight on her, knocking her over. He placed both of his hands on the other side of her head and positioned a knee between her legs, so that she couldn't kick him. She breathed heavily and pushed on his chest.
"Lemme up." She sucked in a breath and glared at the dragon slayer on top of her. He was also breathing heavy and trying to catch his own breath. He looked down at her face and gave her a smirk she'd probably never forget. It stirred something inside her, making her blush.
"You've improved a lot over a year, but so have I. You'll need a lot more combat training to be able to catch up to me." She crossed her arms and pouted. He smiled fondly at his blonde mage. "Your magic has gotten so stronger too, you're probably stronger than most guild mates so don't feel bad. You'll probably be running for S-Class like me this year. Just so ya know, I won't be going easy on you."
She dropped her arms and looked up at him with a smile of determination. "Yeah I know, I won't either. So be prepared because those weren't even my most powerful spells, I just didn't want to seriously hurt you." He laughed egotistically.
"You wish!" He finally got up off of her and laid back on the grass. "I know that you've gotten stronger and all, but you're still mine to protect you know. If I don't want you to fight an opponent, then you won't." She blinked a few times before scoffing at him.
"You can't control me, I can fight whoever I want to!" He stood up and loomed over the blonde, making her stand as well. She knew he was trying to intimidate her, and sadly it was working. She tried to look unfazed by the whole thing, but his height over her made her knees turn to jelly.
"You may not like it, but that doesn't change anything. I'm not letting you fight some perv or someone that could catch you off guard and hurt you. I'll say it one more time, If I don't want you to fight an opponent, then you won't." His voice was deep, but he made it deeper to put his point across. She crossed her arms. Despite how angry I am towards him, he only wants to protect me so I shouldn't be too mad, he was the first person in years that was so protective of me. But why? Does he think I'm weak or incompetent? No, he just said a second ago that I was probably stronger than most guild members in Fairy Tail. But then why does he want to protect me if he knows I can take care of myself?
"Fine...not to say I agree with you or anything, but just tell me why you want to protect me when you know i'm capable myself?" Lucy sighed.
Natsu's felt his face heat up and he suddenly went a little shy. He looked away with an emotion Lucy couldn't place. Both of them were shocked by his embarrassment while Natsu cleared his throat in a quiet manner. "Well, it's because...be- because..."
"Because...why?" She made a motion with her hand, signalling him to continue.
"Because you're like my nakama, I protect them all." Lucy suddenly felt herself smirk, feeling like teasing the dragon a little.
"But would you tell another nakama not to fight an enemy. Or would you tell someone like gray that he belongs to you?" Natsu looked at her with wide eyes and started to choke on his own spit.
"Hell no! I would never call that pervy popsicle mine! That is disgusting!" Lucy felt herself giggle softly, but then get louder to a full on laugh. He was just so easy to get riled up! He brooded and crossed his arms.
"Oh I'm just messing with you. Calm down." She snickered and pat his back. She then got serious. "But really Natsu, I get that being a dragon slayer can make you possessive or protective, levy told me that, but I just wanna know why you chose me? How the hell am I so important?" Natsu furrowed his eyebrows and got grabbed her shoulders.
"Listen to me, I brought you to the guild. I became your partner. And I was the one to always catch you when you fall. Only I can do those things because you are important to me. I'm not really sure why, maybe because you're so weird or that you taught me about real strength, but you became just as important as Happy and as...igneel." Lucy gasped softly and watched as he became nervous and he began to figit in his spot.
"Thank you Natsu. I'm glad you think so and I'm happy to have you protect me. But you gotta realize that I like to defend our guild and if you ever were in need of help, i'd help you without a second thought. You're important to me too Natsu." She saw a small twinkle in his eye as he smiled widely. She took his hands off her shoulders and pat her head softly.
"Glad we're on the same page...sorta. We can figure it out later." She nodded and smiled back at him.
"So, ready to go at it again?" Ignoring the way excitement sparked inside when he heard how wrong her sentence sounded, he grinned and held out a hand and made a 'come at me' motion.
"Come and get me."
...
They opened the guild doors tiredly. It was around 4pm, they were sparring since 11am, so of course they had to be exhausted. They looked at the skeleton on the guild floor, it was one of a fish. They figured Happy must have finished his fish. They trudged their way to the bar and sat down on the seats. Lucy slammed her head on the counter and asked Mira for water. Natsu groaned in agreement to get him some water as well.
"My my, what got you two so beaten up and tired. Lucy, you look like a truck ran over you. And Natsu, a black eye is staring to form." Lucy moaned as she felt a head ache start making it's way to the back of her head. She rubbed it, trying to make it feel better.
"We were sparring. Natsu beat my ass."
"Yeah, Lucy beat the crap outta me. I could sleep right here." They swiped their waters from Mira and drank it aggressively. They asked for more.
"Woah ho ho, Lucy! You and Natsu were getting it on eh? Your hair is so messy and is that a hickey? You two really were getting frisky." Cana had teased, taking a gulp from her beer bottle. Lucy squeaked and went pink.
"N-No! We were sparring and this," she pointed to the bruise on her chest. "Isn't a hickey. Stupid Natsu had dug his knuckle into my chest while he punched me. It still hurts." She flared at Natsu, which made him scratch the back of his head in nervousness. Cana gave them a look of disappointment.
"Aw, you guys are no fun. I really thought you guys did it too..." Lucy rolled her eyes and drank the rest of her third glass of water.
"You're a freak, Cana. Why can't you act sober for once?" Lucy huffed. Cana only cackled and pat Lucy on the back in a forceful manner. Lucy jerked forward every time she made contact with her back, it annoyed her. In the background, a fight started to break out as Gray had stepped on a nail, making him yell out at Gajeel.
"Hey bolt breath, care to pay for my tetanus shot?! I stepped on your damn breakfast!" Gajeel only glared at Gray and puffed.
"Oh yeah, how about you watch where you're going and not ruin my breakfast with your disgusting feet!" That was when Gray and Gajeel started to brawl, knocking into Elfman.
"So unmanly!"
"Shut up!" They both said simultaneously as they punched Elfman in the face. Then they started to fight each other again. This led to half of the guild fighting with several pieces of furniture flying everywhere. A chair had been randomly thrown off, but in the direction of everyone's favorite celestial mage. She paid no mind as she had a conversation with Lisanna, Mira, and Cana. Natsu was the only one who sensed it.
"Lucy, look out!" Natsu said as he got behind Lucy and hugged her body to his, letting the chair break on his back. Since the chair was wooden, it didn't hurt too bad, but it was enough to probably bruise his back. Lucy tensed as the guild went silent.
"Natsu, what happened? Are you okay?" Lucy asked with wide eyes. Natsu unwrapped himself around her and sat next to her again, he touched his back in pain. She gasped at the broken chair laying behind her. "Mavis! Natsu did you protect me from that chair?" He nodded and winced in pain as he touched his back again.
"Yeah, you didn't notice it so I had to protect ya." Lucy frowned.
"Don't touch it, idiot! Wendy!" She yelled throughout the guild. Wendy looked up from her meal and ran towards Natsu in a hurry. She had overheard their conversation and went straight to work with healing his back. Natsu's hurt face relaxed a bit. He was starting to feel better. It was a minutes work and Wendy squeaked when Lucy had thanked her.
"No problem. Natsu, it'll be fine in a few hours. Just don't touch it or it'll keep bruising." Natsu smiled and nodded. Lucy rubbed her temples.
"What am I going to do with you?"
"You can thank me. That'll be a start." She furrowed her brows, but smiled anyway.
"Yeah yeah, thanks you pyro. I'm lucky you were there to protect me or that damn chair would of hit the back of my head. I could of gotten a damn concussion. Now," Lucy said as she cracked her knuckles. The whole guild froze in fear as she glared at the party that was fighting. They only ever saw that look in Erza. "Who the fuck threw that chair?" Everyone that was fighting skid away, knowing it wasn't them. That only left one person. Gray. His face held fear in his eye as he automatically held a hand up to his face in protection.
"L-Lucy, let's talk about this...it w-was an accident." She stocked towards him slowly and grabbed his head.
"Aren't they always?"
And there is chapter four. I especially enjoyed writing Lucy spar with Natsu. It was fun coming up with attacks for her to try out. Next chapter will be the last, but I hope it's the best. Again, not sure what the stage will be, but I'll be sure to make it interesting.
I'll see you last chapter!