A/N: Ohayouuu~~! First of all I want to thank all of you for all those wonderful reviews! It made me feel satisfied, so I moved on to write the second chapter ASAP, so here you go! Enjooy! =^_^=
Lucy: Fairy Tail...!
Levy: ... or any of its characters..!
Gajeel: ... don't belong to that woman.
Levy: *throws book at Gajeel's head*
Gajeel: Shoo-bi-doo-wah...?
Happy: Aye! Let's move on to the story!
Going back in time a little, where Lucy had approached Natsu and Happy at the bar...
"Look Natsu, something terrible just happened and I really need your help..." Lucy said, sounding sad again.
Natsu stopped staring at Lucy's face and switched back to his normal mode. But just at that exact moment, Happy's nostrills filled themselves with the air of tasty fish.
"Fish!" his eyes shined and his mouth watered.
"See you later!" He said and flew off, looking for the source of the smell.
Lucy watched him leave with a streak of sweat rolling down the side of her forehead, what's up with that cat?
"Lucy... What happened?" Natsu asked in his most Natsu-ish serious tone, making Lucy turn her attention back to him.
Lucy kept staring at the ground as she fidgetted with her fingers, a soft blush had made its way to her cheeks and she found herself not being able to look him in the eye. Since when am I this nervous while talking to him...
"Lucy? Are you still going to tell me?" Natsu was growing impatient, he sure wasn't the type to wait patiently.
Lucy practically forced herself to look back up at him, but when she met his eyes she adverted her eyes back to the ground all of a sudden. She didn't want to raise a suspicion in him, no matter how impossible it would sound, so she moved on to tell him the whole story.
"...and that's all that happened.." She heard a loud snoring and she raised her head to look up at him."Natsu? Did you just fall asleep on me?" She cursed inwardly at his idiocy.
"Lucy, stop bullying Natsu!" Happy accused her, he was just returning from his little adventure and was holding onto a fish.
"Shut up you annoying cat!" She snapped back at Happy and turned to look at the sleeping figure of Natsu again.
What she did next, is something that neither she nor Natsu would ever forget for the rest of the whole day. Lucy called Mirajane over and told her to bring her a glass of ice cold water. Then all of a sudden she splashed it all over his face without any kind of compassion. Dare he sleep and even snore on her while she was telling him such an important story!
"Graaaaay! Fist of the fire dragon!" The dragon slayer roared.
If it had not been for Natsu's fast reflexes or even so for Lucy lingering just above him at that exact moment. Lucy Heartfilia certainly wouldn't have been sent flying all the way over to Magnolia river just in front of her house...
Lucy's brow twitched in irritation as she thought of a million ways on how to kill Natsu.
S S S S S S S S S
Levy, Wendy and Charle entered through the guild's gates in a rush. They were all breathing heavily.
Levy looked around to see if she could spot Lucy anywhere, but all she saw was a confused-looking Natsu at the bar scratching his head with Happy just beside him throwing his little paws in the air, like he was explaining the fire mage something.
"Where are Gajeel-san and Lucy-san?" Wendy suddenly asked from behind her.
Levy turned around to look at her and lifted her shoulders, "'about Gajeel, he'll probably be here in a while... But Lu-chan is the one who worries me, she was supposed to have gone to talk to Natsu."
Wendy and Charle turned to look at the bar and saw both Natsu and Happy fidgetting uncomfortably in their places. Wait... Do they look like they're scared of something..?
"Hmpf! Those two probably have been mischievous this early in the morning, how childish," Charle commented, folding her little pads around her chest in disapprovement.
"Alright, lets go ask Natsu and Happy if they know where Lu-chan is," Levy said and all three of them made their way towards Natsu and Happy and as they approached them, they heard something of what they were talking about.
"... I probably should go and apologise to her..." Natsu said in a tone that sounded almost like if he felt guilty of something.
"Hey Natsu! Happy!" Levy greeted them, which made the two males jump up in their seats and turn around in surprise.
"Oh! It's just you.. phew!" Natsu said, blowing out some air he was holding in.
"Natsu-san, Happy-san. Good morning!" Wendy greeted as well, to which Charle only nodded at them and turned her head to the side, annoyed by the looks Happy was sending her.
"Good morning!" Natsu grinned at them from ear to ear.
"Anyways Natsu, we were wondering if you have seen Lu-chan around anywhere? She said she was going to talk to you about what happened," Levy questioned.
"Ah! Aah yes yes! I saw her just now, but she suddenly left, saying something about... about...," Natsu said nervously in a rushy tone. He looked over at his bluefurred friend, asking for some support.
"Aye! She needed to go to the toilet!" Happy put in, one paw raised into the air.
"Hmmm 'kay. Has she told you guys about what happened already?" Levy pushed in, she definitely didn't trust their explanation and not even so after hearing about Natsu's comment just a while back. Apologise to whom? Lu-chan?
"Eh? Tell me about what?" Natsu trully looked confused for a minute until he remembered about Lucy wanting to tell him something terrible that had just happened, he had listened up until the part where Levy and her had found Aries imprisoned in the book. After that he had slowly drifted to a deep slumber, only to be awakened by a shriek resounding throughout the whole guild.
"Don't tell me she hasn't told you yet...?" Levy played along with his game.
"Nop, I'm sure she hasn't. She probably forgot or something," Natsu said as a matter-of-factly.
"Guess I'll go look for her in the bathroom then," she turned around her heels and started heading slowly towards the bathroom.
"No, wait! Uh... I don't think she's there anymore!" Natsu had jumped off his seat and was now standing in front of Levy, blocking her path.
"Oh really?" Levy faked surprisement, "then where is she now? Cause I really need speak to her!" She folded her arms together, giving Natsu a quizzical look.
Wendy and Charle watched from behind as the situation unfolded.
"He's lying," Charle whispered to Wendy, to which Wendy softly nodded to.
"Ne Charle! I just catched (bought) some great and delicious fish! Wanna share some with me?" Happy had approached the white exceed and was holding the fish her way.
"Shut it! I'm not in the mood right now!" She snapped back at him. Wendy just smiled nervously as she tried to calm her little friend down.
Natsu's face had paled as many strokes of sweat ran down his face. Levy continued to interrogate him.
"Natsu, I heard you wanted to apoligise to someone? Who is it and why?"
He looked down and let out a sigh. I might as well tell her... he thought to himself.
Back at the entrance, Gajeel was just pushing himself through the gates, with Lily walking just beside him. He didn't greet anybody back as he was washed over with greetings. He simply made his way towards a nearby table, put a leg on top of the other and let his head rest on one hand. He glanced over at Levy... and Natsu standing in front of her, fidgeting and looking at the floor... Levy had a playful smile placed on her lips as she watched Natsu.
Gajeel suddenly felt an indescribable urge to push that fire breathing idiot away from her. He stood up and made his way over to them. Then he stood in between them, with his back turned to Levy and glaring down at Natsu.
"Yo fire breathing idiot," Gajeel said.
"What! You wanna start a fight! Then lets fight metal head!" Natsu positioned himself into a fighting stance and motioned for Gajeel to come at him.
Gajeel grinned, "gihe, I'll gladly fight you!" He then pushed Levy away softly and Levy understood this as a sign to get the hell out of there.
As the two dragon slayers engulfed themselves into one of their common fights, the rest of the guild members cheered them on and some even started to fight amongst themselves, practically caused just by an accidental bump, which evolved into a violent magic competition. Like this the whole guild had become a total mess in just a couple of minutes.
Gray was throwing fists at whoever dared to call him a snow flake again. Erza was... Well she was in her Titania Erza mode for she had given up on trying to shoo down the commotion a bit, but since it didn't work she decided to do it the hard way. (imagine the OST: Against Magic at this exact moment) she re-equipped herself to her ultimate armor: Purgatory armor. Anybody who dare not listen to her, would have to pay up in a way you wouldn't even imagine.
"Uraaaaaaaa!" She threw herself at Warren, who was, at that moment holding Max by the collar.
"Ah no! Titania Erza! Please don't kill me! I'll stop right now!" He said, letting go of Max and kneeling down. Erza was pushing her metallic shoe in his cheek, while a dark aura surrounded her.
The whole guild went still at witnessing this and they looked at each other. Each understanding what the other was thinking and immediately moved to shake hands with their opponents.
Erza glared at all of them, "if any of you start a fight again, I swear I won't be holding back." At this she removed her metallic shoe from Warren's cheek and re-equipped back to her normal knight armor.
Natsu and Gajeel had also forcely made peace with one another and were now standing in front of an angered Levy, "you two... Why are you always so violent! Couldn't the two of you keep it quiet for even a day?" She fumed at them, with her hands on her hips.
"Hmph! Stop nagging kid," Gajeel replied back, folding his arms together as he did so.
"Yeah! I want to finish our fight!" Natsu replied, annoyed at the fact that his fight was interrupted... But he'd rather run away with his tail in between his legs than having to face a pissed off Erza, and that's something he'd never want to experience again.
Suddenly, the guild's doors were opened violently and at the entrance stood a completely pissed off looking blonde stellar mage.
...
Or Lucy for that matter, Natsu thought and gulped down a lump in his throat as he saw Lucy stomp her way towards him, a red glint in her eyes.
Natsu backed away, scared for the sake of his life. He ran off and hid under a table as Lucy approached him slowly.
"Natsuuuuu~!" Lucy said, in a bitterly sweet way. It sounded almost like a horror movie where Natsu was the victim and Lucy the maniacal killer.
"L-Lucy! I'm really sorry for hitting you earlier! I-I was dreaming of having a fight with Gray, when all of a sudden I was attacked by his Ice Magic and so I hit back in a reflex, and..." Natsu trailed off the moment Lucy grabbed his arm and dragged him from under the table. She made him stand up and pulled one hand into the air and sent it back heading towards his cheek, but stopped just a few inches away from it.
"It's okay, I understand," she said and let her arm fall to her side, letting go of Natsu's arm.
Natsu had shut his eyes tightly and opened them again in surprise, "Luce..." He whispered her name. He was so happy he wanted to hug her at the spot, but was held back when he took a look at her face... She looked sad.
"I'm just disappointed that you didn't listen to the whole story, I guess I had too high expectations from you, but I can see I was wrong," Lucy said and lowered her head, biting back some tears.
Natsu had never felt this guilty in his whole life before. He wanted to punch himself for making Lucy sad. He wouldn't be worthy of the title of being her best friend if he hadn't done what he did next...
He enveloped her into a warm embrace, letting his chin rest on top of her hair. He softly inhaled the smell of her hair. Sweet, he thought. His mind was spinning from the utter pleasure it was bringing him, he didn't want to ever let go of her, it felt like she belonged right there in his arms.
Lucy, on her part, was taken by surprise when he suddenly hugged her. Her face turned many shades of red as she just stood there, petrified. After a few seconds she embraced him back, burying her face in his warm chest...
Thump, thump, thump.
She was met by the sound of his heart beating rapidly in his chest. The sound of it soothed her and made her smile satisfactorily.
"I'm sorry Luce. I know I can't be forgiven this easily, but I just wanted to tell you how sorry I feel..." He let go of her and was met by a flushed face.
"Luce? Are you ill? Do you have a fever?" He brought his hand up to touch her forehead, but Lucy slapped it off her.
"I'm not!" She snapped back embarrasedly.
"Lu-chan!" Levy walked up to her and hugged her tightly, "I was so worried! I heard from Happy what happened!" She said and let her go.
"Don't worry, I'm fine, actually it isn't the first time its happened," Lucy managed to smile at her friend.
"Anyways, now that we're all here, we should start the reunion!" She said, looking at the clock. It was 1:33 PM already, they needed to hurry up or else it'll be too late.
"Right! Let's start!" Levy said with a look of determination.
"Natsu, follow us!" Lucy called back to her pink haired friend as she and Levy were already making their way towards the rest.
Natsu was just standing there. He was still bothered by a new discovery he had made: he had wanted Lucy to stay in his arms like that for ever, but why? He shook the thought off and ran over to the others.
S S S S S S S S
Back at a corner in the guild Erza was sitting at a table and across from her sat Gray and Juvia enjoying their meal. Juvia was oggling over Gray, while Gray just stayed ignorant to this showing off of affection coming from the rain woman. Erza, as usual, was enjoying the delicacies of an extra huge strawberry cake.
"It worries me," Gray suddenly said, startling both Erza and Juvia.
"What do you mean?" Erza asked, putting her fork aside.
"Don't you remember? Back then, what Lucy and Levy were talking about," Gray said and nodded in the direction where the big group was standing.
Erza and Juvia turned to look over at the group. They were making their way to the exit and Erza spoke up, "so, you mean to say that this is the private reunion they were talking about?"
"Yes, why else would they leave without saying anything," Gray said and leaned back in his chair, patting his exposed belly. He didn't notice either that the rain woman had almost fainted from blushing too much and while saying something like, "Gray-sama~~~! Juvia is not ready yet!"
"You're right. We should go look and see what they're up to," Erza said and sweat dropped at watching Juvia's and Gray's antics. "I'll go look for them, Gray and Juvia, you both stay here."
"Why? I want to go along too!" Gray leaned forward and hit the table with his fists.
He should have expected Erza's serious glare afterwards, "it's better if just one of us goes. We don't want to draw too many attention."
"Tch!" Gray retorted back, frustrated. He hated it when he couldn't be useful, but he knew he couldn't disobey Erza, besides she was right after all.
"Gray-sama, Juvia will stay by your side, don't worry!" Juvia tried to cheer him up, but failed.
"I'll be right back, we'll discuss about this later." Erza said and left for the exit. Gray an Juvia watched her go, both with a worried expression on their faces.
S S S S S S S S
"So, why are we heading towards Lucy's house?" Natsu asked, totally oblivious towards what was happening. He was just dragged along with them, no questions answered.
"Just wait until we get there! It's your own fault for not paying attention anyways," Lucy, who was walking right beside him, snapped back at him.
Natsu pouted and brought his arms behind his head. He had been feeling an uneasy feeling in the pit of his stomach every moment he thought about the fact of other people invading Lucy's house.
Levy watched the two from behind and smiled to herself a bit. She couldn't help but think how much those two complemented each other. Too bad they themselves still had to realise it yet.
"What're you grinning about, kid," Gajeel spoke up from beside her.
"Shhhh! None of your business, and stop calling me a kid!" Levy waved her arms in a desperate manner.
"Tch! Whatever," Gajeel pouted and looked away.
"You lllllllllike her!" Happy had suddenly popped up in front of them and had a paw covering a chuckle as a little blush appeared on his blue fur.
"THERE'S NO WAY I DO!" Gajeel snapped back at Happy in an embarrassed tone.
After a while they were standing in front of Lucy's door.
"Please, don't touch anything and pleeeease don't start a fight amongst yourselves," Lucy said and directed herself only to Gajeel, Natsu and Happy.
Lucy opened the door to her apartment and let them in. They positioned themselves on her couch, bed and even on the floor.
"Okay," Levy spoke up, "let's start the reunion."
Lucy inhaled softly and let the air out again, she was nervous and confused. "Okay, so we gathered all of you for a purpose and except for Natsu and Happy I think all of you already know what it's about."
"Yes we do," Wendy answered for both her and Charle.
"Yup!" Gajeel and Lily nodded in Lucy's direction.
Natsu and Happy tilted their heads to the side in confusion, looking up at Lucy who was sitting on the edge of her bed.
"Fine," she then looked down at Natsu, "listen well, I'm gonna tell you what happened again and I'm hoping you don't fall asleep."
Natsu nodded firmly and positioned himself in a lotus stance.
"Aye sir!" Happy chimed in.
Lucy moved on to tell them the whole story and was surprised to see both Natsu and Happy so engulfed in her story, I mean, they were way too engulfed since she didn't even see them blink once. They're monsters, she thought and sweatdropped.
"So, correct me if I'm wrong Lucy-san. You mean to say that only with our help you'll be able to rescue your spirits?" Wendy asked after Lucy had finished explaining.
Both Levy and Lucy nodded, "yes, that's what Aries said, I see no other way around it."
"So what is our plan? We don't have much time left, besides you said that the books were scattered all over Earthland. It's impossible for us to find all of them in just 12 weeks, right?" Lily said with a serious look.
"That, we don't know. We should find a way to do it, or else..." Lucy answered him and looked down, not being able to finnish her sentence.
"Why don't we split up then?" Natsu suddenly spoke up, making everyone turn to look his way.
Levy opened her eyes as a bright smile made its way to her face, "Natsu! You're a genius!" She sang, to wish Natsu grinned satisfactorily.
"What a good idea Natsu-san! I think we should split up too!" Wendy said and smiled softly.
Charle and Gajeel nodded in agreement.
"Aye!" was Happy's reply.
"So that means we should form teams," Lucy said and everybody turned their attention back to her.
"Lu-chan, you lost you strongest spirits, which means you're very vulnerable at the moment..." Levy said and continued, "you need a strong person to accompany you," she said and turned to look at Natsu, "I think you two should form a team."
Lucy thought it over for a minute and nodded in agreement, "you're right! Natsu let's form a team!"
Natsu grinned up at her and nodded, "yeah! This feels just like the old times!" He said and pumped his fist in the air.
"What about me then?" Happy suddenly spoke up, he had little tears in his eyes.
At this, Levy approached him and whispered something in his ears which made the blue exceed smile brightly.
"So! It's all set now! Gajeel, Wendy, Charle, Happy, Lily and me are team number two!" Levy said.
"Yeah!" The whole group said in unison.
''Let's start packing our things up, and we'll be meeting tomorrow again at the station at 6:00 AM. From there we'll set our route and leave. Get some good rest guys!'' Levy said to which all of them nodded in agreement, not noticing a scarlett haired woman eavesdropping on their whole conversation just from the other side of the door.
"So this is what they've been so secretive about," she said and turned, heading back to the guild, "they'll not get out of this one before taking us along."
S S S S S S S
That night, Lucy was looking out of her window over at the dimmed lights on the streets of Magnolia, watching the few people make their ways back to their homes from a hard works day. She was thinking about everything that had happened that day and sighed, she definitely would rescue her friends, she definitely would make up for it. They needed her as much as she needed them. She laid down in her bed and closed her eyes to slowly fall into a deep slumber and dream about a certain pink haired fire mage... wait. how did he get into my dream! AAAH Lucy stop dreaming about him!
To be continued...
Done! It was a whole lot, I know =.= Thanks for reading up till the end anyways! :D
Author's Questions and Answers section:
- Q: Where did Plue disappear to in the first chapter? A: Well, what else would you think. He saw Droy holding onto a very tasty lollypop, so he sneaked up to him and clutched himself to it, sucking on it happily. Puun puun!
- Q: Gajeel lives in an apartment? A: Well, in my story he does yes. Where else would he be living then XD
- Q: Will there be Gray x Juvia in this story? A: Personally, I love this pairing, and I'm thinking of including it in this story.
- Q: Where's master Makarov? A: Probably at the hotsprings for old men like him. He's gotta keep himself fresh and healthy and unwrinkly after all. *note the irony*
- Q: Will Mirajane have a love interest in this story? A: Who knows? You know? Cause I don't :p
- Q: Will any of the characters die? A: Look! A flying cow! Wait... First there're flying cats... And now its cows too? *facepalm*
Well, I hope I cleared up some of your uncertainties. Please look forward to next week's chapter 3!