Disclaimer: I still do not own fairy tail! Despite wishing that I do.
It had been a month since Lucy and Natsu had left the guild. Lucy had become accustomed to their new life, and despite the sadness of leaving everyone behind she had begun to enjoy it. They had moved on to a large rural town named Shinpuru. Despite Lucy's protests, Natsu had decided that from now on they should go by the names Susie and Danyu and pretend that they were married. After all, two unwed teenagers was bound to be more noticeable. And thus, with two cheap rings placed on fingers, Natsu and Lucy became Susie and Danyu. The newlyweds.
They both secured part time jobs to earn enough money to rent a small studio flat, but as they couldn't use their powers the money was minimum wage. They lived simply and despite it all they were happy. The towns people were kind and fond of the young couple trying to make it on their own. There was just one thing missing.
Lucy first noticed it when she and Natsu left for work one morning. Natsu helped at a farm whereas Lucy had found work in a maid cafe. She didn't mind the work and found it helped to pretend she was Virgo. They had crossed the bridge into town when a midnight blue cat streaked across their path. Natsu looked as though he had been punched in the cat. He mumbled a quick goodbye and raced off, his face etched with sadness. Lucy missed Happy too, but she hadn't realised how much Natsu needed the blue ball of fluff and how much sorrow he was going through for her. She wanted to do something kind back and so she began to hatch a plan.
Later that night, she waited until Natsu's snores began to rumble and disentangled herself from him. Since the night in the cabin, the pair had gotten used to sleeping together for comfort and found they had trouble sleeping when they slept apart. It was innocent enough, Lucy would defend it to herself. She crept towards the alarm clock and turned it off. Hopefully Natsu would sleep in and never know she was gone. She slung her keys and whip around her waist for courage and stole out of the apartment.
A few hours later, Lucy stepped onto Magnolia platform. She drew the hood up on a dark black cloak she had bought, hoping it would blend her in with the night's darkness. She silently made her way to Natsu's home. To her slight surprise, the door was left ajar. She hesitantly pushed it open and was shocked at what she saw. The whole place had been ransacked. All of Natsu and Happy's things were a strewn across the floor. Several things seemed to have been deliberately broken. Pictures of the guild were smashed and their frames twisted. Lucy felt incredibly sad. It was clear her Father had done this. Worse still, Happy was no where to be found.
Dejected, Lucy made her way back to her house, figuring she may as well grab some clothes whilst she was here so that the trip wasn't a complete waste of time. She crept past the landlady's apartment and upon entering her own she found it in a similar state to Natsu. Her eyes welled up but she made her way to her bedroom to get the clothes. Her bedroom was exactly the way she had left it. For some reason her father appeared to have avoided this room. Nothing was different, except...
Lucy gasped. Curled up on her bed, snoring lightly, was the little blue exceed.
Lucy crept over to the bed and gently sat down. She softly began to stroke the exceed in the way she had before she left home. Happy murmured in his sleep.
"Lucy." He whimpered.
"That's right! It's me, Happy!" Lucy whispered.
Happy slowly opened his eyes and then focused them on Lucy.
"LUCY!" he yelled, flinging himself at her.
She caught him and clutched him to her chest.
"Hello, Happy. I missed you!" She laughed.
"Are you coming back? Where's Natsu?" The exceed said excitedly.
"No I can't come back Happy and he isn't here." Lucy replied, but quickly continued when she registered Happy's crestfallen face. "But you're coming with me, if you want! And you can see Natsu!"
Instead of replying, the happy little exceed buried his face into Lucy's neck.
Light was beginning to break and Lucy waited impatiently for the train. Although she had turned off the alarm, she wasn't sure how long Natsu would sleep in. She had a soft rucksack full of clothes on her bag and in her arms lay Happy swaddled like a baby. Lucy figured other passengers wouldn't want to sit next to a baby and if no one looked closely enough they should get away with it. She heard a quiet scuff of a shoe against pavement and whipped her head around. Behind her, dressed non descriptively was a man staring at her unabashedly. Not a stranger to men's stares, Lucy just turned back around to see the oncoming train. Nevertheless the man made her feel uncomfortable and she made a mental note not to sit near him on the train. She needn't have worried. Once boarded she saw the man was still on the platform. She let her body relax until he raised an arm and there was a flash. Did he just take a picture?!
"Oh no." Lucy moaned.
Lucy and Happy creeped into the studio apartment and found Natsu sprawled on the bed, snoring loudly. The pair giggled and slapped their hands over their mouths to stop the sounds. Natsu grumbled in his sleep and rolled over.
"Okay." Lucy whispered. "One, Two, THREE!"
The exceed and celestial wizard flung themselves on top of Natsu, bouncing around manically.
"Lucy! You weirdo, what the hell?" Natsu moaned, clinging to the duvet with his eyes still closed. "Five more minutes!"
Lucy grabbed a pillow and began bashing Natsu on the head with it.
"Get. Up. Natsu." She said with each blow. "I. Have. A. Suprise. For. You!"
Nastsu sat bolt upright.
"Whaisit?" he slurred, rubbing his blurry eyes.
Unable to hold himself back any longer Happy flew smack into Natsu's chest.
"Naaaatsssuuu!" the exceed cried.
"Happy!?" Natsu exclaimed. "How are you...here? Happy!"
Lucy grinned as the pair hugged each other tightly. Happy sobbed dramatically whereas Nastu beamed from ear to ear. His eyes caught Lucy's and they twinkled gratefully.
A little while later, after Happy had calmed down, Lucy made some green tea for them all.
"I guess you have some questions?" Lucy smiled.
"Just one, how?" Natsu said. Happy was still firmly attached to his side. Lucy felt as though a weight had been lifted off Natsu's shoulders. Gone was the somber, serious man, and back was his playful mischievous grin.
"I knew you missed him, and I wanted to do something for you. You've definitely done more than enough for me!" She began. "So I went home to look for Natsu, but my father trashed both of our places."
Natsu shrugged. Lucy knew that material things didn't hold much importance to Natsu.
"He left my room alone though, I am still not sure why, but I'm glad he did, because there I found Happy!"
Happy jolted and smiled at hearing his name.
"Yeah! It was the only place that still smelt like you and Lucy! I think I was there forever" he whined slightly, before burrowing his head back into Natsu.
Natsu laughed.
"Did anyone see you?" he asked.
At this Lucy laughed sheepishly and rubbed the back of her head.
"At the station, some guy took a photo of me." She admitted. "But I was wearing a cloak and Happy was hidden, he could have just been an admirer."
"Ah well." Natsu said, rubbing Happy's head. "Probably nothing."
Lucy smiled. This was more like her carefree Natsu. Her Natsu? She shook her head smiled and dismissed the notion.
"Hey Happy, where did you get this collar from?" Natsy said, interrupting Lucy's thoughts. Around Happy's neck was a dark blue collar with a silver tag attached.
"I don't know." Happy said nuzzling Natsu's hand. "I woke up with it!"
"What does it say? On the tag?" Lucy asked, kneeling by Natsu and touching the tag.
The metal caught the light and Lucy read the inscription. She gasped and sank back onto her legs in shock.
"What does it say, Lucy?" Happy asked worriedly.
"Property of Jude Heartfilia." she replied in disbelief. She turned the tag over in her hands, and on the back a red light blinked.
"What's that?" Natsu asked.
"I think it's a tracker!" Lucy choked.
A thunderous knock at the door interrupted Natsu's reply.
A/N, Thank you for the reviews so far! I really enjoy reading them, so if you have the time please continue to review! What did you like? What do you think will happen next? What do you want to see happen next?
Next time: Jude Heartfilia has found Lucy, but will Natsu give her up without a fight?