Welcome back, everyone! We're gonna check in on Natsu and Fairy Tail a little bit this week, and as always continue on with Lucy on her journey. Content Note: as you know, we are getting into the topic of human trafficking here, and in this chapter there is mention of sexual assault and allusion to rape.
With that said, please enjoy the chapter and drop me a review.
He couldn't believe it had only been a week. And he really couldn't believe he'd managed to be patient for the whole thing. Walking home after watching her train (ugh, trains) chug out of the station had to be one of the hardest things he'd ever done. Despite the mission and fight with Gray, he'd still beat the hell out of a few trees when he got home, before finally collapsing into bed.
When he woke up the next morning, fuzzy from sleep, he'd swung out of his hammock and made it halfway out the door to go see her before remembering. It brought a weird mixture of longing, anger, and sadness that he really didn't know what to do with.
At first he'd been in denial. Maybe Gray really had clocked him in the head too hard with his stupid icicles. The thought, the hope, had been strong enough to send him running to Lucy's, thankful that Happy had stayed with Wendy the night before.
When he got there she was gone, of course, and he buried himself instinctually in her pillows for a moment. Just breathing her in. But it wasn't really Lucy, and as he hauled himself up he saw her letter.
Anger bit him, then. How could she have done that to him? To just…leave with just a letter. Who did that? And when he stopped her and they…he cut off the thought. He couldn't process it just yet. Couldn't really process any of it when he was this pissed off. A thick stack of her writing sat on the table and in a fit of childish rage he picked the whole thing up and flung it across the room, making it rain pages like snow.
Then he stomped into her kitchen, kicking a chair across the room when it got in his way, and angrily proceeded to eat the entirety of her fridge and cupboards. Served her right.
But as he munched down the last of it, he couldn't help but think about the way she made him fire chicken or pasta extra spicy how he liked it, and how her eyes brightened as she scolded him for his manners, and how he'd be extra messy because he liked it when her cheeks flushed red…
The longing was back. Surely she hadn't meant what she said about a full break, right? And she might be in trouble! Taking the letter, he ran for the guild.
"But Gramps! I'm her team! You gotta let me go!" Natsu had raged, snarled, wheedled, and had been reduced to begging in the old man's office. The rest of the team was outside in the guildhall with Lucy's letter, being served by a consoling Mira.
"Natsu, I'm sorry. I will not tell you where she is. This is for Lucy to have a chance to grow on her own. She won't be gone forever, and she will come back to you," Makarov sighed. "Perhaps you could use this as a chance to grow and train as well. Try missions with new people, stretch yourself. You will both come back stronger than ever."
"And frankly, my boy," he pierced Natsu with his gaze, "you might use this time to learn to place some trust in your partner's abilities, and learn some patience." He regarded the slayer's miserable face. "You hadn't opened that letter when you arrived. How did Lucy convince you to stay behind last night?" he was interrupted by the door closing as the fire mage rapidly exited the office. He sighed, glad that he was too old for the passions and angst of youth.
Natsu drooped over the bar, boneless and depressed. His anger had all but burned out after Gramp's last words. Had he driven Lucy to this? To leaving? But then why had she kissed him? And why had he kissed back and then let her go? Mired in sluggish sadness after his rollercoaster of a morning, Natsu couldn't muster up the energy to think about it. All he could do was stroke Happy's fur as the feline snuggled next to him for comfort.
The fire chicken that slid under his nose an hour later helped perk him up a bit, though. And he couldn't help a weak chuckle at Happy diving and swooping for fish that Lisanna tossed into the air for him. She was a good friend.
She'd stuck by him all week, making sure he was ok. They'd run around in the woods together, taken Happy fishing, and talked about missions at the bar. It was like old times again, and having her to talk to eased him back out of his misery and allowed him to start to accept Lucy's absence. Not that it didn't stop him from thinking about her... and his dreams to heavily feature her in ways his conscious mind was trying to avoid still.
He missed Lucy fiercely, and it took everything he had not to run down the tracks and ask if anyone had seen her at each stop. Lisanna helped hold him back, giving him something to do every day to occupy his time.
For some reason though, he couldn't talk to her about Lucy. Or to Happy, or anyone else for that matter. What they'd shared right before she left...it seemed so private. Something he wanted to keep for himself, to hoard.
So he kept quiet and stayed home, but it didn't stop him from craving her return fiercely. On the sixth day after she left, Master threw him out of the guild. Literally, through a hole he'd just blasted in the wall while proving to Gray and everyone else who the best wizard was.
"Enough! Here!" he elongated one arm to snatch a request off the wall and flatten it onto Natsu's face where he lay in the street. "You've been impossible all week! Go burn off some energy beating the hell out of some monsters, and you'll be giving me half the reward for all the repairs I need to make!"
That seemed more than fair to Natsu, since he'd burned half the tables and blown up a staircase yesterday alone, so he tucked the request into his pocket and off he went. Accompanied, of course, by Happy, and Lisanna surprised him by appearing at his door with a backpack as he left. It was nice of her to come, but he hoped she didn't hog too many monsters to herself.
They hiked up to Mt. Hakobe, the wind growing bitter. Lisanna had sensibly brought fur lined gear, and Natsu felt a pang as he thought of Lucy shivering inside Horogium. Thankfully, they'd been immediately attacked by at least twenty Vulcans and he was thoroughly and enjoyably distracted.
It was as he launched one of the last apes away from him that he caught the scent of stardust. It was coming from the direction of the now flailing Vulcan and he didn't hesitate to run after it. Lisanna and Happy were working together on the last enemy and they would have no trouble with it. He clocked his Vulcan on the head almost absently as he passed, nose in the air, following the whiff of a dream.
Lucy couldn't be here, could she? It seemed impossible, but he only smelled stardust around her or her spirits…hope flared wildly in his chest. It was coming from just behind those rocks…
There was no one there. His disappointment was crushing, but the smell drove him on. At the base of one rock, he brushed away the snow. There, half frozen in the dirt, was a small lump of metal. It was an odd, reflective silver, and its scent was so pure he sneezed all over it. Whoops.
It must be a meteorite. Carefully, he picked it up, inspecting it. He thought that if he put some wildflowers next to it, it would smell almost exactly like Lucy.
"Natsuuuu!"
His sensitive ears perked at his friends calling his name and he pocketed the rock before running back to them, casually blasting a Vulcan who tried to grab his ankle on the way. Gramps had been right to give him this mission.
When they got back, he carefully picked some pretty flowers out of the meadow by his house, and put them in a tin glass next to his rock. If he closed his eyes, he could almost pretend that Lucy was there.
Lucy woke up groggy and disoriented. Squinting at the clock, she cursed a rolled out of bed. No wonder she felt off; after being up all night she'd slept in until early afternoon. Brushing her teeth and throwing a brush through her hair, she hurried out of the room and hopped down the hallway on one foot, yanking her boots on.
Emerging into the main room of the inn, she gratefully accepted a plate from the innkeeper before heading down the hall to a private study they'd rented out.
Entering the room, she found Rai poring over all the paperwork they'd picked up last night.
"Hey, Lucy! I'm glad you're here, maybe you can help me sort out this mess," the other mage yawned, running a hand through her loose hair. It was thick and flowed down her back in waves, reminding Lucy of a sleepy lion. She grinned to herself as she sat down with her plate and pulled some of the papers toward her.
"Where are Torin and Lona?"
"They're went to interview the captives at the town hospital. We pretty much filled the place to capacity last night. The poor staff over there have not only the people we rescued but any injuries to the UnderLords, and there are a lot of injuries. Plus all the knights that are over there guarding them. I'm happy on paper duty, thanks. Later we'll meet up and interrogate the unharmed gang members and work out the next steps with the knights."
"Sounds good. Looks like we got a ton of information here. Let's get started!"
Rai nodded, smiling. "I saw that half these papers are nice and neat and the rest are crumpled to hell. I'm guessing it was Torin that smashed his part of the papers up?"
Lucy chuckled. "Uh, yeah, he was in a hurry!"
The tattoo mage shook her head, ironing out pages on the side of the table. Lucy caught an exasperated mutter of "that man!" but also caught the fond smile tugging at the corner of her mouth. Smiling herself, Lucy starting flipping through her own stack.
It was several hours later that both women stretched, joints popping, and walked out of the inn to meet the other half of their information they'd found had been reviewed and condensed down a few pages of notes and a map, where they'd marked a couple places the traffickers seemed to be taking people. Lona had called to let them know to come to the station, and when they got there it took a moment to find their teammates amid the chaos of officers processing last night.
They finally found Lona by the coffee machine and she brought them into a back room, chattering. "We talked to everyone at the hospital. Not able to glean much from the captives, but we got the UnderLords to fess up a bit about the sorting process. We can't get the leader to talk, though. Not even my moonstones and mind fuzzing is working! Maybe you guys can have a crack at it."
Torin was in the meeting room with two people he introduced as the knight's captain and the Director of Bosco's Division of Trafficking. Everyone sat down and grabbed a sandwich that Torin had somehow found time to make.
The head of trafficking, Ahosi, began. She was a tall woman, with dark skin and hair cropped close to her head. Her deep, expressive brown eyes were hardened with years of experience and determination. "I cannot tell you how much we appreciate your help and cooperation. We've been after Malleolus for years and have only ever taken down a few individuals associated with the UnderLords. This could be what we need to break open some of the biggest rings in Bosco."
She pulled the transcripts of interviews and the paper summary toward her. "We still need to speak with the head of this part of the operation, but it looks like they sort into two groups and send them to two places. The first group goes to Artos…it's a city nearer the border of Fiore. Known trafficking hub, but the city is vast and it makes it hard to pin one group down. But if that little rat-faced coward will talk, my agents there might be able to blow their whole operation wide open. Once we do that we can start tracking down the people that were taken."
The captain of the knights, a short and stocky man who nonetheless carried himself with a powerful confidence, answered. "Then we'll leave that half of this operation to your people. The other group seems like it has more to do with Malleolus' direct goal. That part," he looked at Team Ceartas, "you four should spearhead. You've proven yourselves to be an elite team."
Lucy preened a little at that. She couldn't help it. She quickly brought herself back to reality as Rai set out the map they'd marked earlier.
"We have an approximate location based on these notes, and it looks like we can narrow it further based on your interviews with the underlings," she told Lona and Torin. "They're taking the strongest and healthiest people up into the mountains. We don't know why."
Lona leaned forward. "They also aren't taking any mages with them to the mountains. Why not?"
The Director of Trafficking spoke, her face grim. "Mages sell for quite a bit, and there are ways to control a single mage. If they fear those with magic would have an easier time revolting in whatever setting they have up there, why not turn a profit?"
Lucy shuddered. She could never imagine being forced into slavery and made to use her magic for someone else's purpose.
"So," Rai's voice broke into her thoughts. "We need the leader to talk in order get the specific location and details. Anyone got any ideas on how to do that?"
Lucy blinked. "I can do it."
Everyone stared at her. The captain spoke up, disbelief clear in his voice, "Just like that? Six people have tried today, girl. What makes you think you can?"
Lucy felt her hackles rise at his tone, but she kept her face smooth like she'd been taught in her childhood. She graced him with her best high society smile.
"If you'll show me where he's being kept, sir, I'll demonstrate."
She caught grins from her teammates and a glimmer of approval from Ahosi. She sashayed down the hall to the holding cells after the grumbling captain, picking out the key she wanted. It warmed in her hand, almost gleefully.
The leader sat on the hard cot along one side of his cell. Thick manacles around his wrists attached to short chains welded into the wall. As a guard unlocked the cell for her and her audience crowded around the bars, he looked up. A sneer twisted his narrow features. He looked past her to the captain.
"So we're giving up on the usual methods, huh? Gonna send in the bimbo stripper to fuck the information outta me? Don't see why you need an audience for that!" he laughed, leering back at Lucy.
His crass disrespect made her want to kick him through the solid stone wall, but she held back. The helpless women in cages she'd seen on the sorting floor gave her a cold patience. Without his knowledge she couldn't help those women still trapped under callous men much like him.
She swiped her key through the air with more force than necessary. "Open, Gate of the Twins! Gemini!"
The little blue spirits popped out of the gate with twin pings, their usual smile absent. It seemed they could feel her rage. "Piri, piri, Lucy. This man here?"
"Please, and anything about his trafficking route."
They transformed instantly, and Lucy was treated to the pleasure of the sound of six jaws hitting the ground. The prisoner let out a shout, scooting frantically backward into the corner.
"What the hell kind of witchcraft is this?!"
Gemini spoke in a detached voice, a studied contrast to the panicking man next to them. "Logan Harris, forty-four. Joined the UnderLords ten years ago because he wanted power over others and has been part of trafficking ever since. Brings half of his 'cargo' to Artos and the other half to the Burangi mountains to be used for mining. He does not know what they are digging for but assumes it is valuable."
Lucy passed her spirits a map and some paper. They bent over it and confidently began marking the location of the mine and the route used by the traffickers. Then they turned to the paper, on one piece writing all the details Ahosi would need in Artos before drawing a scaled map of the mine on the next.
"There is one road in and out of the mine and a bridge over a ravine. It is heavily guarded, and a wooden wall and gate surrounds the area. There are some barracks and slave houses, and a larger cabin for the mine foreman. There is another wall around the ore they bring out so he has never seen it. That's all he knows."
Gemini finished their drawing and handed it to Lucy before reverting back to their original forms. She gave them a big hug and a whispered thanks before sending them back to their realm.
Then she stalked out of the cell, ignoring both the prisoner's terrified demands for an explanation and the captain's slack jawed acknowledgement. She handed off the papers to Rai and excused herself to the herself inside one of the two dilapidated stalls, she let her head drop into her hands and focused on breathing. It felt good to show up her detractors, but the leader's slimy gaze had hit her harder than she wanted to admit.
What was worse, she had to acknowledge that in another scenario, for another woman, he hadn't stopped at a sneer and some words. Even if… no, even when, they took down this group, so much damage had already been done.
She just needed a minute to breath, and then she could go back to planning.
When she took this mission to get stronger, she'd only thought about the physical aspects. Not this. Was this what Team Ceartas dealt with day in, day out? How did they do it?
The door to the restroom creaked open, and firm footsteps stopped outside of Lucy's self-created cell.
"We can't give anyone their lives or innocence back," Ahosi started, "but the information you got today will help us track down victims and pull them out of the hell they've been put in. We can start them on the path to healing. And if it helps, he will spend the rest of his life in a dank little cell. He'll never get to hurt anyone ever again."
With those resonating words, she left.
Lucy took a few more deep breaths, then got up. There was work to be done.
Several hours later found her sitting at the hotel room desk, sealing up a letter. She stood and stretched before bending to put on her shoes. Lona sat up from where she'd been reading on her bed.
"You planning on walking that down to the port? Want some company?"
Lucy grinned at her roommate, "Yeah, why not?"
Lona hopped up, slipping on her own sandals, and the women exited the inn together and headed down the road. It was dusk, and Lucy breathed in the sea air as she admired the last colorful streaks in the sky.
They'd pounded out a strategy at the station and the team would be leaving in the morning for the mountains. Which meant that Lucy had to get down to the port tonight. She glanced over at Lona. There'd been something on her mind this evening and maybe the moon mage could help her.
"Hey," she started hesitantly, "I was just, I don't know, wondering…how do you guys do this all the time?"
Lona looked over, confused. "Do what?"
"How do you handle all the pain you see?" Lucy spoke in a rush. "How do you keep going in the face of some of the worst humanity has to dish out?"
The other mage didn't answer right away, meandering down the road, hands in pockets. She looked up at the moon, peeking out from behind some clouds. "I suppose we haven't really talked about how we formed our team, have we?" she murmured. "To know why we do what we do, you have to know where we come from."
She looked back at Lucy, holding her gaze. "It's not an easy story. Are you sure?"
Lucy nodded. "If I'm going to travel with you guys and carry out this mission with you, then yes. I do."
"Alright then. First of all, 'Ceartas' means 'justice.' When we named our team it was with the intent of bringing justice to as much of the world as we could. It drives us and informs most of the missions we take.
"We all come from different places and backgrounds, but we were brought together by a well organized and far reaching dark guild, like a smaller version of the UnderLords. They called themselves the Ghoul Eaters.
"I grew up on a little island out in the middle of nowhere in a tribe of moon worshippers. Mages are trained in the art of moon or magic. I've focused more on the offensive aspects of it now, but most people in my tribe were primarily healers or water mages. So when the Ghoul Eaters raided us, we didn't have enough warriors to win."
Lona's face was shadowed as they walked. There was a hitch in her voice. "They enslaved us, and killed who they couldn't subdue. I was just a novice teenager, I was thrown in the cages with everyone else. And when they'd looted the island they burned it.
"Then they took us to a their base and started making plans for an auction. I guess an entire island's worth of people with tons of mages meant they had to get special buyers set up," he sent Lucy a rueful smile."And that's how I met Rai.
"Ghoul Eaters had kidnapped her a few years before. She was still just a kid, but her magic was already strong. I guess the leader saw that power and wanted to use it. So he got her a 'teacher' and she spent the next few years being forced to develop it. That's part of why she's so adept at keeping her magic disciplined now 一she had to be, or she'd get punished. Dark guild style."
Lucy gasped. "That's horrible! How did they keep her there once she got so strong?"
Lona grimaced. "There are ways to keep a mage under your thumb. And once you've had someone for years, you condition them to fear you and do what you want. But she fought them just enough that they didn't trust her to go on any outside missions. So she was always kept to guard duty."
"So she was your guard when you were there?"
"Yeah, she was. And it was night and day when it was her shift. She would slip extra food to the kids and keep the other guards from hurting people. You could tell she had spirit, but it was halfway destroyed from everything they'd done.
"She got the night shift, and she and I ended up talking every night for the week or so we were there. I think I was probably her first friend in years. I know we were the first mages they'd ever let her guard. And she was proof to me that not everyone outside of my tribe was a monster.
"We gave each other hope. One night her master came down to the dungeon we were in with his asshole flunkies to inspect us. He didn't like how I looked, and he backhanded me."
Lona started laughing. "Rai. Fucking. Snapped. She slammed him with her magic, and used another ink whip to smash the chains holding our top offensive mage. Once his magic was back, he took down the flunkies and loosed the rest of the mages. And we laid a beat down on that guild that they'll never forget.
"Rai freed us and fought with us, and when the dust settled I found her sitting in a corner looking at the body of her old master and crying. She'd managed to live under a dark guild's thumb for years and never hurt anyone, and now she'd killed. She didn't know how to live on her own and hadn't been outside the compound in years, so we took her with us. She'd saved us, and then we got to save her.
"My tribe ended up resettling, but the experience left too much of a mark on me to continue that way of life. So Rai and I set out a couple years later to help fight guilds like Ghoul Eaters. We contracted directly with someone from the Magic Council."
"Wow," Lucy whispered. "But how did you meet Torin? Was it through a mission?"
"Actually, no. Kinda? A little. We were eating at this little hole in the wall restaurant once night. It was run by this really sweet older couple. I liked their food and Rai liked their cook."
Lucy grinned, "Was the cook Torin?"
Lona snapped a finger at her. "Bingo! But she was way too shy to ever talk to him! Girl could defeat an army but couldn't talk to a guy. What a goof. But anyway, we were both exhausted from a mission one night and stopped by. But when we got there, we saw these three guys through the front window with weapons. Like, serious weapons. They had the nice old couple on the ground and were threatening the rest of the staff.
"We knew we had to do something, even if we were drained. But… it was too fast. Before we could even open the door or go through a back window, the guy just… shot them. The couple.
"So at that point to hell with plans, we kicked in the door, ready to pound those guys into the fucking ground. But instead we had to save their lives."
"Save their lives? Wha 一 oh. From Torin."
"Yeah. We didn't even know he was a mage! He requipped everything he had, all red hot, and sent it all at those guys. They would've died mangled if it weren't for Rai. She caught all his weapons and then cocooned everyone in the shop before it could go any further."
Lucy's jaw dropped, "She… grabbed thirty missiles out of the air and wrapped up a bunch of people, including mages?"
Lona laughed. "Remember her training? Trust me, you haven't seen any of what Rai can do yet."
"But anyway," Lona continued, "Rai wrapped everyone up while I called the Rune Knights. Torin was screaming and kept requipping shit that Rai had to grab; we had to get a sleep potion from the Knights.
"He woke up kind of disoriented after the guys were taken away and Rai was finally able to talk to him. She told him about her past a little and why she'd stopped him."
Lucy's heart melted. "And they fell in love?"
"Not right away. He was too angry at first. We didn't see him again for nearly six months, but one day he showed up at our door. He'd tracked us down thanks to Rai. We all started hanging out, they talked more, and he came with us on our next mission. That was a few years ago, and we've been a team ever since.
"The Magic Council member we worked under retired, and she recommended we join Fairy Tail. Said it would suit us. So we did, and it has. I think Master likes the connections we made in the council, too!"
"Do you ever feel like a third wheel?"
"Nah. They're careful about that. Sometimes the room by myself gets a little lonely, so it's been great having you here!"
They'd reached the port. Lucy led the way over to the post office, stepping inside.
"I'd like to post this to Magnolia, Fiore, please," she paid the worker and stepped back out, heart pounding. Part of her wanted to run back in and snatch the letter out of the man's hand. Deep breaths, Lucy.
She smiled at Lona. "Thank you for telling me everything. You guys have been through a lot, and I can see why you've dedicated yourself to this. It's a scary thing for me to jump into, but I'm glad I'm here. I want to help."
Lona slung an arm around her shoulders, "You are helping! It's ok to be scared, Lucy. Sometimes you have to just jump in."
Lucy nodded. She knew Lona was talking about the mission, but her desire to run back into the post office had faded. She would just jump in.
One week later
Mira sorted through the stack of mail addressed to the guild hall, smiling a thanks to the postal worker. It was the usual stack of job requests, bills, complaints regarding their members' destructive rowdiness, a letter for Natsu… wait.
She yanked it out of the stack and scrutinized it. Natsu never got letters! And the writing… she recognized the elegant swirl. So Lucy was in Portico? Mira fervently hoped the mission was going well. She'd been planning on doing everything she could to keep Lucy in Natsu's mind while she was gone, but it was clear it wasn't needed. Anyone with eyes could see he missed her desperately. Pining, even. Oh, she hoped she would get to see their reunion!
Now, to get Natsu his letter…she had to run into town for some errands and she wasn't sure she would see him…ah! She spotted her sister sitting in the corner. Lisanna would surely be able to deliver it. She and Natsu had been spending lots of time catching up.
Privately Mira was grateful. Lisanna seemed to be transitioning well, but she seemed more withdrawn than she had. If anyone could bring her out of her shell, it would be the boisterous dragon slayer. Mira had tried to draw Lisanna into her theories and schemes regarding her Natsu/Lucy pairing 一 before she, hm, left, her sister had been her partner in all things matchmaking一 but Lisanna had brushed her off. Mira was sure she would warm up to it again, though. Maybe she just needed to be more subtle about how she brought it up.
Pasting on a grin, she approached her sister. "Morning, Lis! Will you be seeing Natsu today?"
Her baby sister blinked up at her. "Huh? Oh, yeah. Yeah, I am. Why?"
"I have a letter I thought you could give him. It's from Lucy, all the way in Bosco!"
Mira was excited to see a spark of interest in Lisanna's eyes. "Isn't it wonderful that she wrote him from all the way in another country? It must have cost a fortune to post."
Handing the letter over, Mira lingered a moment. "Lis, why don't you and I get a job together today? I could put off my errands…"
But the youngest takeover mage was already standing. "Not today, Mira. Natsu and Happy and I are going fishing. Maybe later."
"Oh, sure. Well, have fun!"
Mira berated herself as she watched Lisanna leave. The last mission they'd taken together had gotten her sister thrown into another world! Of course she didn't want to go on another just yet. Shaking her head, she turned back to the pile of discarded mail and started sorting it.
Lisanna hurried out of the guild and toward the park. She sunk down to put her back against a tree trunk, hidden behind a screen of shrubbery. She studied the letter carefully.
That prissy handwriting looked like Lucy's alright. She felt a stab of guilt as she slipped a finger under the envelope flap, breaking the seal, but quickly buried it. She was just curious.
Natsu,
I'm sorry I left the way I did, and I'm sorry it took so long to write. By the time you get this I'll be traveling again. I'm afraid I can't say too much in case this letter gets intercepted, but we saved a lot of lives today and are going to save more.
I'm already getting tons stronger from this training. I'm going to learn to requip my keys! And one of Team Ceartas is a chef mage, so I'm picking up a lot of cooking tips. I asked him to teach me some spicy recipes for you and fish ones for Happy. I'm doing a lot of hand to hand work, too. I know what you're going to say and no, I won't fight you yet. But maybe we could train together when I come back?
I don't know when we'll be back in town, but hopefully soon. I miss everyone. And you. Mostly you, if I'm honest. This team is awesome and I'm proud of what we're doing, but it's not my team.
Your partner always,
Lucy
Lisanna read and reread the letter several times. She carefully folded it and replaced it before sliding the envelope into her jacket. It seemed innocuous enough, the letter you'd send to a friend… a best friend.
"I miss you most of all."
"Your partner always."
Her fist clenched. It wasn't fair of Lucy to say those things when she'd left Natsu with no warning. To try to entice him back to her when she wasn't even here. Natsu was finally starting to seem his old self again. He barely even talked about the blonde!
This letter would only upset him. It was a good thing Mira had given it to her, so she could keep it from him. Keep him from getting hurt, like a real best friend would do.
Lisanna would never leave Natsu the way Lucy had done. And she would do everything to keep the celestial mage from hurting him once again. It was only right.
Thanks for reading, everyone! A few footnotes, this week:
First, as always, thank you to my wonderful beta Lady Lutka! She always makes time for me despite her hectic schedule and it has really made the story better!
This week's NaLu author shoutout goes to QuiteaRiot! Her stories are well written and original, and I urge anyone who hasn't read it to give it a try. I'd also like to thank everyone who's sending me NaLu suggestions! I always like to read new stuff or revisit old stuff. I have a long list of authors to shout to; might have to double up if the story is shorter than anticipated. I'm not shouting out in any particular order; everyone on my list (and many off it I don't know about, I'm sure), is a great storyteller that deserves some love!
A couple notes on the chapter:
The Ahosi were an all female warrior regiment in Africa in the 19th century. They were major badasses, and I imagined that Bosco's Director of Trafficking would herself be a major badass.
The US State Department estimates that 20-30 MILLION people are living in slavery today and hundreds of thousands are trafficked each year. 20% are children. Unfortunately there is no real Lucy and Team Ceartas, but there are good people fighting this every day! If anyone is interested and able, Charity Navigator lists and rates charities worldwide, many of which are dedicated to eradicating human trafficking.
Hope you all enjoyed this next installment, and I will see you next week!
