Friendship: X793 Part Two
Disclaimer: I do not own Fairy Tail
Time stands still
Beauty in all she is
I will be brave
I will not let anything take away
What's standing in front of me
Every breath
Every hour has come to this
(A Thousand Years ~ Christina Perry feat. Steve Kazee)
Natsu still hated trains. But getting to his destination would take to long by foot. So he and Happy took the train. The blue cat taunted him, but he did not care. He felt so insanely sick. But he was used to it, so he did not complain.
He knew the guild thought he was over working himself but going on jobs and hitting things and killing monsters took his mind of things. It made the time he waited appear shorter. He was not a patient man but still he was waiting. He had been waiting his whole life for Igneel to come back, so he could wait for her just as long if he had to.
She had been gone for two years now. Everyone thought it was bad for him to be in denial. He should know that she was dead, he had held her body after it was too late to save her. Erza, Gildarts and the master had been there to see it.
But they did not know what he knew. They did not know that she would return. For him. And then he would finally tell her what he felt about her. If only he had not been too dense to get it until it was already too late.
He believed firmly in her return and when the time came he would stand before her and tell her what she meant to him. Because that was what she deserved to hear.
Then he would take her back to the guild and the others would have to accept that he was right. That she was alive. That she had not left him.
In a sense she had. And it had hurt. But she had promised to return, which had been his lifeline in the first dark months without her.
He just wanted to see her smile again. He just wanted to hear her laugh again. Hell he would give everything for her to be there and be angry at him. But he had to wait.
At least he was not alone in his waiting. Even though they lived together in Lucy and Juvia's old apartment, Gray and Natsu rarely saw each other, which was okay. They went on missions together ever now and then but it was rather unusual.
He knew the ice mage had to cope with the loss in his own way. Just like he did. Even though their mourning seemed similar, what with going on missions as soon as they had finished the other, but it was still very different. The ice mage searched isolation, while he wanted nothing but distraction.
As long as it worked, it did not matter.
His actual mission meant solving a riddle. He was not particularly good at riddles, but every job was a challenge in his view and he was ready to take this challenge.
Well okay solving a riddle may be a bit over the top, it was rather following clues to a mystery. From what he gathered on the job offer, he was supposed to solve the mystery of the sky changing around a small village in the woods.
This brought back memories of the purple moon that he was supposed to destroy on Galuna island. That mission was some time ago, even longer since they all had lost those seven years. Thinking about those seven years made him think of Tenrou. And of all the adventures he had lived with his friends. And with her.
He knew something had changed between them, at least from his point of view, in Edolas, but he had been too stupid to realise what his feelings meant. He had just thought they had become better friends and he wanted to protect his friends.
For him Lucy was both, his best friend and the girl he had fallen in love with.
He let Happy pull him out of his thoughts when they reached the train station in the next bigger town. The rest they walked. It was late in the night when they reached the village. Natsu immediately noticed what the natural phenomenon was about. The stars seemed to shine brighter all of a sudden, in a more golden light.
He climbed a tower in the village and took a look at the sky. He saw the stars becoming more and more and followed this trail. Until he reached a clearing.
In the middle of the clearing was a lake. The water of the lake was illuminated by the golden shimmer of the stars. Or was is the water that illuminated the stars? He could not tell.
He could just stare in wonder as the golden water began to ripple in the lake. When golden rained from the cloudless night, he could not help but hope. He had seen this rain before. Two years before in the night he lost her.
He watched as the water rose higher and higher and suddenly formed a figure. The silhouette of the figure became clearer and clearer. The water and the rain got brighter and brighter until he had to close his eyes. Through his eye lids he saw the light growing dimmer and when he heard Happy mutter "No way.", he opened his eyes.
A voice sounded through the clearing "I'm sorry, to have kept you waiting so long."
He did not need to look at the figure dressed in a white gown with long blonde hair, which reached the water around her, to know it was her.
He heard himself calling out her name and she started running to him. He met her half way and she jumped into his arms. She whispered his name into his ear along with what felt like a thousand 'I missed you's. Her legs had moved around his hips as he held her up and she clung to him.
Suddenly everything that was her came rushing at him. He could hear her voice, her breath, her heartbeat. He could smell her. See her. Feel her heat in his arms, her hair under his fingers.
He had forgotten how much he had loved her.
He could not help himself and found himself covering her lips with his own. She responded eagerly and he pulled her even closer. This kiss was full of everything that had happened in the past two years.
Loneliness. Grief. Longing. Hope. Love.
When they parted again, Natsu knew the time had come. He leaned his forehead against hers and he looked deep into her eyes.
"I love you, Lucy. I love you so fucking much.", he breathed and he was sure she could feel his warm breath on her skin.
She smiled. And her smile took his breath away. He did not even give her the time to respond because he kissed her again. This time with more force. He did not care that they were a bit uncoordinated still, it was their second kiss. Both together and in total.
He kissed her like she would disappear again if he stopped. The world around them stopped existing it was just the two of them.
Until "You liiiiiiiike her.", Happy laughed before rushing at Lucy and hugging her. There were tears in the Exceed's eyes.
"Well, obviously.", he retorted and let Lucy down. "Come on, Luce, there are some people waiting for you.", he grinned, his arm around her waist. He pressed a kiss on her forehead and Lucy shook her head
"What happened to the dork I fell in love with?", she asked joking and he joked back
"He grew up."