Sorry for the wait! I was unsatisfied, and there was stuff to do. Anyway, right now I'm excited – the latest episode comes out tonight! And the next SAO II episode comes out tomorrow. Ah, so happy. ANYWAYSIES, to remind people, last chapter Lucy manned up and faced her friends! So now we're gonna see what happens with that. Dedicated to WhiteWinterStar (saying that never gets old). Special thanks to maxt2019 (yeah, I may have gone a wee bit overboard), lilpumpkingirl (thanks for all your help, and for the offer of advice – I'll let you know), mwerpy (your name is hilarious!), gwb620 (thanks as always for your reviews), nico2883 (more Nalu soon – I'm working up to it), and finally, Nala1432001! For those of you who are curious, I am 12, turning 13 in a week and 2 days. Nala, thank you so much for being wonderful. I love that you love my work, and I love that you let me know! Follow Nala's example and review!
Levy shrieked and hurled herself at the lacrima screen. "LU!" I backed up a step instinctively, raising my hands in a placating gesture.
"Hi, Levy."
"I missed you!" she wailed, scrubbing at her face. "Where have you been? Why haven't you written to let us know you were safe? I was so worried!" Erza nodded solemnly, crossing her arms firmly. Gajeel and Gray stood behind them, just sort of scanning me up and down. I could see their eyes stop at every scratch and smudge of dirt. Wendy was beaming up at me in that sweet way of hers, and I could make out everyone else in the background, cheering and shouting my name.
Don't you dare cry.
"I missed you guys too, Levy. I'm sorry – I haven't had the time to write." Lie. "I didn't mean to worry you. But, oh my god, Levy, I've been all over!" I went on to describe my travels, briefly touching on every city and town I had visited. "It's been incredible," I sighed with satisfaction. "And training has been going really well." Levy smiled, lifting my spirits a little. God, I'd missed her.
I'd missed all of them.
"So, does that mean you're coming home now? You must have gotten stronger by now." My eyes flicked to a pin-sized section of the wall. I couldn't face her when I said it.
"Actually, I think I'll be going a little farther. I have some plans and such. So, you know–"
It was Macao who interrupted me. "Hey, you're way early!" My gaze traveled back to the screen involuntarily. What I saw there made me want to hide under the desk. As it was, all I could do was stare, unseeing, at the screen.
"Yeah, I forgot something." It couldn't be. No way. No freaking way. But still, the evidence was there, before my very own eyes. Natsu grinned at Macao cheerfully. His hair was messier than usual, and his scarf was askew. Happy padded after him, chomping on a fish. "What's going on?"
I can't face him. I really, really can't. Not yet.
I'm not ready.
"You won't believe it–" Macao began, but the master cut him off.
"You're just in time, brat. We're talking to Lucy now."
I bolted.
My feet carried my across the room and out the door, down the hall into unfamiliar territory. I could hear people shouting after me, but I didn't want to. I wanted to go home, to my apartment. My real apartment, back in Magnolia.
I wanted to go back to Fairy Tail.
But nothing can ever be the same.
You're just in time. We're talking to Lucy.
I wasn't listening to the sudden shouts of the people gathered around Gramps' lacrima as I marched to them and shoved them aside. I stared into it, waiting for Lucy's precious face to appear, but instead Sting's face was the one I saw.
"Natsu?" he said cheerfully. "It's been a while!"
"Where's Lucy?" I asked, ignoring Sting's greeting. Where are you, Lucy? This is driving me crazy. Sting sighed and frowned, glancing at something I couldn't see.
"She ran off somewhere when she heard you were here." My brows drew together and I glowered at the floor, not listening as Sting kept talking. She was clearly avoiding me. But why? She wouldn't do it out of just embarrassment, would she? It didn't seem like Lucy. I blew out a stream of fire, frustrated. I just wanted to see her! Was that so wrong?
When you love someone, you want to see them all the time.
"Natsu!" Sting's annoyed tone finally tore me away from my convoluted thoughts. I glanced up. "Listen to me! Lucy is here with us in Cyprus, okay? She'll be staying for a while, so come get her. Or at least talk to her. I have no idea what's going on, but obviously there's something you two should work out. Make sure you get here soon, okay? She's gonna leave much sooner now that you know where she is. I'll try to–"
"Sting." I stiffened, a dragon slayer statue. Lucy's voice. How long has it been?
She didn't even say goodbye in person.
"Stop feeding him bullshit. I'm leaving tonight." I choked on air and jerked too fast into motion, but Sting was faster. He grabbed her wrist and yanked her in front of the lacrima. She glared up at him indignantly, brown eyes abnormally bright and shiny. "What are you doing?" Sting pointed to me, staring her down.
"Look him in the eyes and tell him that. Tell Natsu you're leaving while looking straight at him. I'm not the one bullshitting here, Lucy. You're lying to him, and you're lying to yourself." Barely listening to what he was saying, I scrambled closer to the lacrima until my nose was almost pressed to it, drinking up every detail of her body. She was soaked, and covered in dirt and scratches, and her hair was soggy and limp, but she was my Lucy. The one I had been with for over eight years now. The one who laughed at me when I was stupid, who picked me up when I fell, who put me back together when I was shattered.
I had been wrong all those months ago – it didn't matter what kind of Lucy she showed me, I loved every single one.
"Lucy." She stared at me. Was I talking? I couldn't tell. Didn't matter anymore. "I want to see you. I need to talk to you." Come home. Come back to me. When I'm not around you, my chest feels weird, like someone's sitting on it. It's hard to breathe. "You know," I said suddenly – it was me. I could tell now – "Before you left, I told you I felt weird around you."
"What's the point of this, Natsu?" Lucy asked, Her voice sounded strange, like it was being pulled tight. "Why are you bringing this up now?"
"Well, I never got the chance to tell you, since you were already gone, but I don't think you took it the way I meant it. It wasn't a bad kind of weird. I just... couldn't describe it well. Weird is my default." I laughed self-deprecatingly, lacking the courage to look and see what sort of face she was making. "I'm an idiot, huh?"
"A week."
"What?" I couldn't have heard her right. What is she talking about? I looked back to the screen to see that she had her back to me, arms crossed.
"I'll stay in Cyprus for a week, got it? I'm leaving in exactly 168 hours, so if you want to talk or whatever, get here before then." She walked off before I could say anything, leaving me with my hand outstretched to an empty screen. Even so, I smiled to myself.
"Got it. Seven days, right? I can do that, no problem. I'm fired up now!" I clenched my fist and turned my back on the lacrima, already seeing my way to Cyprus.
Wait for me, Lucy.
The only possible answer to my brief fit of insanity was possession. I must have been possessed by something, to tell Natsu I was giving him seven days. What was I thinking?
I wasn't.
I didn't want to see him. Not because I hated him, of course. But if we were face-to-face, wouldn't he reject me? He was too much of a good guy to do it over a lacrima.
I didn't want him to tell me what I already knew. He couldn't ever love me the way I loved him. We were Natsu and Lucy, but we weren't Natsu and Lucy. That wasn't us, no matter how much my mind deluded itself that it could happen. It wasn't going to.
Time to get over it, Lucy.
"Hey," someone said from behind me. I spun around, brushing a hand across my eyes. The purple-haired guy I'd run into earlier stood there, smiling at me. "You're Lucy, from Fairy Tail, right?"
There you have it. Some cool stuff's happening next chapter – don't miss it! Review, follow, and favorite! Love you guys!