Chapter 22! Yessssss! I hope you're proud of me for updating in a week (I think it's been a week...) This chapter is really short compared to the last few, but I like it this way, so it's all good. Next chapter will be the wrap-up, and then there will be an epilogue (of course). So, if all goes as planned, this fic will end up being 24 chapters long. I like that number, so it works out perfectly. Lucky me.
Dedicated to platinum-breaker! Special thanks to z-TragicMagic-z, gwb620, skullwingD36, twilightamanda, LiveTheAnime01, Adinade, WhiteWinterStar, Readywolf02, artistofthemind, artificialartofficial, KillerCupcakes, and 1 Guest! Love you guys!
A bone-biting wind blew down the street, but I couldn't feel it. Natsu radiated heat down my spine, making my nerves tingle and pouring liquid warmth down to my toes and fingertips. His scent drifted past me, smoke and soap and a tiny hint of something spicy. I soaked it in and hugged him tighter, willing the thoughts invading my head to disappear. I didn't want to think. I wanted to be there, holding Natsu, being held by Natsu. I wanted to know he was mine. I wanted to feel real for once, the first time in months.
Natsu made me real.
But reality has a way of sliding past your defenses and twisting its way around your most surreal moments, and like all dreams, this one too came to an end.
"Natsu," I whispered, trying not to sound too desperate, "I can't...breathe..." My bones groaned as he released me reluctantly, watching my face as we allowed distance to come between us. We were still close enough to touch, though, and Natsu kept his arms slung loosely around my waist. Now he examined every inch of my face hungrily, like I was water and he was dying of thirst. After what seemed like an eternity, he appeared to be satisfied, and his shoulders relaxed.
I searched his face too, my focus catching on the circles under his eyes, the lines I couldn't remember that creased his cheeks, the faint frown that seemed to be etched into his normally cheerful expression. I traced his jaw absent-mindedly, not noticing when he leaned slightly into my touch. He looked exhausted, and guilt began gnawing on the underside of my stomach. Even so, the entire time, all I could think was, he's here. He's really, really here. He came for me.
Dian cleared his throat, and I jerked backwards, out of Natsu's reach. I had completely forgotten everything as soon as I'd seen Natsu's face, and now it all came rushing back to me. "I-It's been a while, Natsu," I stammered, not meeting his eyes. "How's... How's everyone back at Fairy Tail doing?" He glowered, and I blinked, startled. It took me a moment to realize that he wasn't glaring at me, but the man standing right behind me. Dian was a little too close for comfort, and I moved to the side, feeling caged in by the two standing in front and behind me. Natsu followed me, stepping in close and wrapping a protective hand around my wrist like it was the most natural thing in the world. He was still giving Dian the death stare, neither of them saying anything. His fingertips brushed lightly against my palm, urging me to slip my hand into Natsu's. "Oh, um, that's right!" I said brightly. "Dian, this is Natsu Dragneel, a friend of mine from Fairy Tail. And Natsu, this is Dian. He's a member of Sabertooth. We met a few days ago." They eyed each other up and down, obviously sizing the other up. I couldn't help comparing them – where Natsu's skin stretched over corded muscle, Dian had more of a lean build and a lanky appearance. But I still couldn't quite forget the image of him as an enormous wolf, lips curled back in a snarl.
"So..." Natsu began, fingers constricting around my wrist, "You're a friend of Lucy's?" I glanced up at him, well-aware that he was acting weirdly. The set of his mouth, the tilt of his chin, the tightly controlled fire burning in his eyes – it was all so familiar. I relaxed, biting the inside of my cheek to keep from smiling. What did a dragon have to fear from a wolf?
Dian smiled lazily, taking two steps forward and tugging on a strand of my hair floating in the breeze. "You could say that." Natsu's slender fingers pressed into my wrist so hard I was pretty sure they were cutting off circulation to my fingers. Impulsively, I shifted my hand into his and squeezed back. Not brave enough to face him, I leaned back until my hair was out of Dian's reach.
"We're more like friendly acquaintances," I clarified. "We haven't known each other all that long."
"True," Dian conceded. "But she has met my family."
Natsu's skin heated up until it was nearly scalding. I gritted my teeth and clenched my fingers tightly around his, weaving them together in an effort to make him calm down. "That was because you didn't tell me what was going on, right? I had no idea I was going to meet your family." Dian smiled innocently at me.
"You're right." He glanced briefly at Natsu, who was standing rigidly beside me. "I'll take my leave now to let the two of you catch up." Without a second's hesitation, he swept forward and kissed my cheek. Like an idiot, I stood there and let him, frozen to the spot in shock. Pulling back, he smiled impudently at me, just before a flaming fist landed squarely on his jaw. He flew across the street and through the wall of the Sabertooth guild, leaving a gaping hole and a pile of bricks.
I squeaked, taken completely by surprise. "Natsu, what–" He roared with rage, cutting me off.
"That damn bastard kissed you," he growled, still glaring in Dian's direction. The bricks covering him didn't move. "He should just die." I pulled my hand out of Natsu's and turned to fully face him.
"Natsu, look at me." He turned slowly, a frown creasing his forehead. I flicked the bridge of his nose, hard.
"Ow!" He cupped a hand over his nose, looking up at me from under his eyelashes. "What was that for?" I put my hands on my hips.
"For being an idiot. Now listen to me. You can't just–" I was drowned out by an ear-splitting roar. In place of the mound of bricks and dust stood an enormous gray wolf. He raised his hackles, and muscle rippled beneath his thick fur. Dian let out earth-shaking roar, and leapt towards, his claws aimed right for Natsu's throat. Natsu pushed me out of the way and lunged forward to meet him, his entire body blazing like a human bonfire. They collided and smashed into the ground, forming a crater in the street and sending screaming citizens running for cover. Dian snarled and rolled over so he was pinning Natsu to the ground. He snapped at Natsu's neck, but Natsu lit his fur on fire and kneed him viciously in the ribcage. Dian fell off him and attempted frantically to put out the flames. I found myself holding my breath until they went out, leaving him scorched and injured. He moved forward warily, limping slightly. Natsu lowered his guard, clearly not looking to kill Dian. But a second before I could shout a warning, the wolf lunged for Natsu, claws outstretched.
I covered my eyes, horrified, and listened for sounds of pain. Instead, I heard a gruesome crunching sound that was even worse. Too scared to look and too worried not to, I peeked through the spaces between my fingers. I couldn't understand what I was seeing and after a moment, I lowered my hands.
The Sabertooth guild hall was on fire. Black smoke billowed into the air, stark against the red and gold flames quickly consuming the guild. The banner flapped in the wind, missing patches of letters and curling at the edges. Coated in flames, Natsu stood beside what I at first mistook for a heap of rubble. I looked closer and realized that what he was actually standing on was Dian's limp form. I gasped and scrambled toward them, screaming Natsu's name at the top of my lungs.
"Natsu," I shouted hoarsely, grabbing his arm. He looked at me like he'd forgotten I was there. "Natsu–" I repeated, but he shook his head and crouched to examine Dian's inert body. I realized his front leg was angled strangely, and his breaths were shallow and fast. "Did you–"
"Put too much force into it," he muttered, frowning like he was thinking hard. "I wasn't thinking. Guess he couldn't handle it." I knelt next to him and stared hard at Dian, as if I could make him better with sheer willpower. My vision blurred from focusing so intensely and I didn't even notice the slow shift until Dian's human hand grasped my forearm.
"You don't have to look at me like I'm dying," he rasped painfully. "It's just a broken arm and a few cracked ribs. I'll be fine." I almost laughed at how ridiculous that statement sounded.
"It's not we're talking about a few scratches here, Dian. It's not 'just' some broken bones. This isn't a joke." He smiled at me.
"I know, Lucy. But this is nothing to a werewolf. I heal much faster than average. I really will be fine." He took a deep breath easily, with only the tiniest of grimaces. "See? I'm already healing." He glanced quickly in the direction of the burning Sabertooth guild. "But you two should leave right now if you don't want to get attacked by my guild." Right on cue, yelling and cursing erupted from the crowd of wizards gathered around the collapsing Sabertooth guild. A group of them broke off from the others trying to put the fire out and raced toward us, fury clear on their faces.
"Oops," Natsu said, snatching up my hand and tugging in the direction of the town center. "Lucy, we gotta go." He twisted to scowl at Dian. "You better not have done anything to Lucy while I wasn't here." Having said his piece, he turned back around and sprinted away, dragging me behind him. I looked back as Sabertooth faded into a red glow burning the sky.
Natsu's hand was hot and clamped down tightly on mine, completely enfolding it. I stared at our twined fingers, overwhelmed by deja vu. Laughter bubbled forth from my throat and drifted into the smoke-stained blue sky. Soon I was completely out of breath and still I couldn't stop laughing. Natsu looked back at me, and suddenly he was laughing too.
"Why...is it so funny... I wonder?" I gasped, clutching the stitch in my side.
"This is just like that day," Natsu agreed, howling with laughter.
A burning town. A meeting that I had never expected with a stupid Salamander in a white scaly scarf. His hand on mine, pulling me into the unforeseeable future. The smell of smoke, and the taste of change on my lips.
The strangest beginning to the best years of my life.
NATSU
We arrived in Cyprus about half an hour after sunrise and landed at the edge of town. Happy insisted that he wasn't tired and wouldn't mind flying around to search for Lucy, but I told him to stay with me. He had been working too hard for too many days in a row – he had to be running on empty. "First," I said confidently, "We should get something to eat. Can't do anything on an empty stomach, and I'm starving."
Aye sir!" Happy seconded, perking up. "I smell fish that way!" He pointed down a murky alley to our left. I sniffed the air and frowned.
"No, it's this way." I turned towards a street on our right. "It's clearly coming from the right."
"No! Left!"
"I say it's right!"
"Don't you know cats have better noses than people? It's to the left!"
"I'm a dragon slayer, so that makes me better at smelling than you!"
"Does not!"
"Does too!"
Just as our argument was teetering on the edge of becoming preschool-level, a high-pitched voice declared, "COOL!" Happy and I paused to exchange confused glances. The corner of town we had landed in was basically deserted – it was early, so most people were still asleep.
"Natsu, look," Happy whispered, pointing fearfully down the alley to the left. "There's something in there..." He hid behind my leg as I advanced on the shifting clump of shadows, when out of the blue a kid popped out, a huge grin splitting his face.
"You're Natsu Dragneel of Fairy Tail! Cool! My dad told me about you – you're the fire dragon slayer, Salamander! SO COOL!" I coughed and made a face.
"Who the hell are you, kid?" Somehow, he was sorta familiar... I shrugged it off. "Need something? We're kinda busy here."
"Do you know Lucy? She's from Fairy Tail too–"
I grabbed his shoulder and shook him violently, his head snapping back and forth. "You know Lucy? Is she still here? Do you know where she is?"
"She's been hanging around Sabertooth for the past week," he said dizzily. "If you go there, you'll probably catch her." I released him.
"Happy, wings!"
"Aye sir!" He lifted me and we took off into the sky, circling the streets before shooting off in a likely direction.
Unfortunately, it wasn't the right one. We flew aimlessly until we discovered the guild purely by accident and stumbled in, famished. We met Yukino inside, who didn't look that surprised to see us. Instead, we were scolded.
"You're late!" She leaned forward, hands on hips, scowling in a very un-Yukino-like way. "Lucy could be here any minute! What have you two been doing all this time?"
I rubbed my growling stomach and sighed. "We were lost."
"And hungry," Happy added sadly. We cast Yukino hopeful looks, and she sighed in despair.
"You two... I don't know how Lucy stands it all the time." She ordered food for us and we talked over fish and rice and chicken and grilled vegetables and fried eggs and baked beans. "She's been okay for the most part, but a little bit...mopey. Lonely." Yukino sighed, but then a tiny smile crossed her face. "Oh, but she made friends with these two kids who live here and she always looks better when she's with them. They tagged along on a few jobs with her and had fun. But still... There's obviously something she can't quite forget about." She leveled her stare at me.
"What?" I mumbled around a mouthful of food. "Are you saying it's my fault?" Her silence said everything. I swallowed and stared blankly at the table. "I already knew that, so you don't have to get your panties in a bunch." She blushed slightly at the word panties but held her ground. "But, well..." I scratched my head. "How do I say this... I'm kinda glad she's been thinking about it." Yukino's brow knitted in confusion.
"Why?"
"Because it means she hasn't forgotten."
We were interrupted by the sound of someone falling down the stairs. Sting scrambled to his feet, carefully rearranging his hair spikes. Then he strutted towards us, a cocky smile plastered in place. "Natsu!" he called casually. "It's been a while!" I waved a hand at him, stuffing more food in my mouth.
"'ey, S'ing. 'S goin' on?" He frowned at me and slid onto the bench beside Yukino. She scooted over uncomfortably, her cheeks pink.
"You ignored me the other day when I contacted you on the lacrima." I shrugged.
"Were you there? I didn't even notice you." He puffed up in outrage at that.
"If I hadn't contacted you, you wouldn't have known where Lucy was, and you probably wouldn't have ever caught up with her no matter how long you chased her!" I opened my mouth to ask if he was trying to start a fight, but Yukino was faster.
"Sting, calm down," she said softly, placing one small hand on his tensed arm. "Natsu was just distracted. I know he appreciates what you did for him." She gave me a look like, say something. I cleared my throat awkwardly.
"A lot," I added. Yukino nodded her approval.
'A lot," she repeated. This seemed to placate him, because he relaxed and a wide grin spread across his face.
"Oh, okay." He leaned forward eagerly. "So how've you been since the Games? I haven't seen you since then." I shrugged.
"I've been fine." I glanced around the guild, restless. "So when's Lucy getting here?" Sting rolled his eyes.
"How should I know? Whenever she drags her ass out of bed and feels like dropping by." Yukino elbowed him sharply in the ribs and glanced at the open doors.
"She should be here soon. She's probably tired from her job last night." Happy looked up at me.
"Hey, Natsu, I'm going to look for Lector and Frosch while we wait, okay?" I grunted and stood up.
"I'm going to wait on the roof for her," I announced, leaving the table and walking outside. The air was crisp and cool, and it caressed my skin gently, curving its reaching fingers across my chest. I leapt onto the roof easily and perched there moodily, scanning the crowd for Lucy's blonde hair and porcelain skin.
I almost missed her. She was approaching the guild, walking with some purple-haired guy and laughing like he was the funniest guy in the world. Not thinking, I swung down from the roof and ran the last few feet to where she stood. Her smell hit me, vanilla and sugar and a hint of smoke, and then she was finally in my arms and I was holding Lucy, holding my Lucy, and I was never going to let go of the girl I loved.
"Luce, I missed you."
Ok, so what'd you think? I personally am totally in love with this chapter, but maybe that's just me. WhiteWinterStar, I hope you liked the reunion bit from Natsu's POV. I didn't go super in-depth, but I decided that I liked it when it stopped right there.
New chapters coming soon, I promise! They won't be much longer than this, but they'll be good. Two left, people! Just two more chapters, and then Just Friends will be done. Yay~
Remember to review, follow, and favorite! It's really easy, and I appreciate it a lot! Love you guys!
Giselle