Ch. 11 — Anywhere, Everywhere (Part 2)

Day: 11

Disclaimer: I don't own Fairy Tail.

Genre: Family, Hurt/Comfort

Summary: Little Natsu & Lucy bump into a strange man on his way to his guildhall. Natsu immediately does something stupid. (What else is new?)

Lucy stared for a moment. This boy was special, he had a sense of… something around him that made her trust him completely. She took his hand and stood up. "OK."

Natsu smiled at her. "Good."

"How long are we going to keep walking?" Lucy moaned as she followed Natsu through the undergrowth. He stopped for a moment and looked back at her, a huge grin plastered across his face.

"I've never been this far away from the cave before." He shrugged.

"C-cave?!" Lucy stuttered, open-mouthed.

Natsu raised an eyebrow. "Yeah, weirdo. Where else would I have lived?"

"A house." Lucy said indignantly, crossing her arms. Suddenly, her escapade didn't seem like such a brilliant idea. Maybe if she turned back now, she could find her way back to her house… but… The sting of tears bit at the corner of her eyes, and she bit down on her lip. No, she couldn't go back. Plus, this was an adventure. Just like the ones in the storybooks. Heroes didn't give up on their quests just because their legs hurt a bit. "Alright," the blonde lifted up her tattered skirt and kept walking, passing by Natsu, who was watching her with a quizzical expression. "I probably have a better sense of direction than you anyway. So just follow me."

He complied, following silently in Lucy's step. They stayed like that for a while, trekking quietly through the forest, brushing aside the branches of trees and bushes.

Lucy broke the silence. "You know," she began. "This isn't going to be easy for us. My d-dad is probably looking for me right now. You could get in trouble." She jumped slightly as the dragon's son put a hand on her shoulder. She whipped around, and stared at him. There was a grim look on his face.

"Yeah, well that old fart hasn't done anything for you from the looks of it. So if he does come, just beat the message into him. That you don't want to be found. That usually takes care of people like him."

Lucy blushed furiously. Who knew someone so innocent-looking could be so violent. "O-ok."

Natsu slipped his hand into her's, and they set off again. Hand-in-hand. Oh, Mavis knows what a sight they must have been. The blonde girl in her torn dress, clutching on to the pink, scruffy-haired boy like he was a lifeline to reality, both of them pink-faced from crying.

A crunching sound rang out.

They stopped, stepping away from one another, and Natsu's hands lit up with dancing flames. Lucy yelped and fell to the ground.

A man emerged from the trees. He was orange-haired, with angular eyes and a long, black cloak that covered his body down to the ankles. He looked the pair over and whistled. "Well, this is sure to have an interesting story behind it."

Natsu launched himself at the man with a yell. He cocked an eyebrow. When the boy was a mere feet away, he jumped out of the way. Natsu slammed into the tree behind him with a sickening crack. Lucy tried to scream, but it felt like her throat was sealed shut.

The man turned to the blonde. "So, do you mind telling me what you're doing out here, Little Lady?"

She didn't reply. Lucy could feel the man looking at her from a new angle. Taking in the smaller details. The slight shake of her hands, the look in her eyes. How she had bitten down so hard that now a small dribble of blood was making it's way down her chin from her lip.

"Runaways, huh? I know how that feels." He stuck out a hand. "The name's Gildarts Clive."

Lucy blinked. Why hadn't he asked where she had come from? Maybe the dress was clue enough?

Gildarts grinned. "I don't need to know, kid."

Her mouth fell open. Who was this guy, really? Because every other adult Lucy had ever met had not been anything like the man in front of her.

"Wha—" Lucy was cut short as Natsu launched himself at Gildarts once again, having just staggered to his feet. The cloaked man did nothing more but hold up an arm, and Natsu rocketed right into it. As he fell to the ground, the blonde could imagine stars circling around his head. She snorted into her hand.

"What's so funny?" Gildarts asked. Lucy pointed at the unconscious boy slumped on the ground in response.

Gildarts nodded and strode over to a rock that jutted out of the grass. He sat down.

Lucy stared at him. He gestured for her to follow. After a moment's hesitation she did, settling cross-legged on the ground. He understood her. At least, enough not to ask. And somehow, that made her want to tell him. So she did. She told him everything. From the mansion, to her mother, to her father. To the forest, and finally to Natsu. Natsu of the Dragons.

As she spoke, she unhooked her key ring from her necklace and clutched it to her chest.

Lucy took a shaky breath as she finished speaking. Gildarts looked at her for a few moments before he spoke. "Okay."

"Okay?" She asked. He wasn't going to insist she went back to her parents? Even if he understood her, she had still at least expected that.

Gildarts smiled fondly. "Okay." (A/N — little Fault in Our Stars reference there. but it does NOT mean that Gildarts and Lucy are going to be shipped. that would be plain creepy. Lucy is the age of his daughter. *shudders*)

Natsu sat up. Before he could leap to his feet, Gildarts knocked him out again. Lucy stared.

"So," he said in a cheery voice as he stood up, scooping up Natsu's prone body. "You ever thought of joining a guild, kid?"

And end! I have to say I REALLY enjoyed writing this ( And I think that the Gruvia fic will be done by Sunday :D ) Please review :3. I have Gray Cookies (courtsey of Juvia)!

Gray: Mmmggg

*unties gag*

Gray: That story was absolute—

*reties gag*

Juvia: Gray-sama. Language, please.

See y'all tommarow!