Ladies First
By Ashley-myth
Chapter Two: What's going on here?
"I've learned that people will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel."
Previously on Ladies First:
Taking a deep, calming breath, Lucy raised her eyes from the blood to the door handle. She could do this.
Taking another breath, Lucy leaned over to the door, twisting the knob and yanking on it in one swift motion*...
Thump!
...
"Oh... Oh my God..." Lucy whispered, horrified.
...
It was at that exact moment that several nearby neighbors stated to the reporters that their dinner with the family had been interrupted by a loud, screeching scream.
"CANAAAA!"
It hadn't even been an hour since Lucy left, when suddenly the large Fairy Tail doors burst open, revealing Natsu's terrified partner.
"Luce...?" Natsu asked cautiously from the bar where he had previously been pestering Mira about where Lucy was.
"M-Mira? Mira, something awful has happened! I need to see Master right away!" Lucy cried, tears pouring fast from her bloodshot eyes as she stumbled into the guild in a rather drunken way.
Drunk. Oh, what a horrible word. It reminded her of-
"Cana?" Mira whispered, tears beginning to swim in her eyes in dread. "Oh please, Lucy, tell me it's not her!"
But all Lucy could do was shake her head vainly in denial, trying desperately to rid herself the mental image of her guildmate's limp, bloody corpse on the porch.
Natsu spun around on his stool to face the barmaid. "What? What're you talking about? Mira, what's wrong with Luce?" He demanded angrily, not the one to be held in the darkness.
"I- I don't know," she cried honestly, a small tear making it's way down her flawless cheek. "Oh, Natsu, I just don't know!"
"You have to know something! What about Cana?"
"L-Lucy went to check up on Cana... who hasn't been to the guild recently... and now Lucy's really upset..." Mira squeezed her eyes shut, licking her lips nervously as she tried to calm her frantic heart.
Clenching his fists, Natsu turned back to where Lucy had been, only for him to see a swarm of Fairy Tail members. There was hardly a person still in their seat, everyone was screaming and yelling, some even crying, all surrounding a certain something.
He saw a flash of yellow from the center of the mob, and realization dawned on him immediately.
Furious, he leaped up from his seat, and in two long strides he joined the crowd, shoving past people as he made his way to his now sobbing best friend. "HEY! HEY, YOU! GET THE HELL AWAY FROM HER, YOU BASTARD! WHERE'D YOUR COMMON SENSE GO? LEAVE HER ALONE, I SAID!"
He flung his fist to one person, who had been tugging on Lucy's arm to get her attention, and yanked another by the hair who had been a little too close to Natsu's liking. "WHAT THE HELL IS WRONG WITH YOU? CAN'T YOU SEE YOU'RE MAKING EVERYTHING WORSE?"
That snapped them out of it immediately, and they all began backing away to their seat, completely mortified with themselves.
Several apologies rang out-
"S-Sorry, Lucy."
"I didn't realize that you were so upset."
"Lucy, Juvia did not mean to swarm you! Juvia just wanted to know what was wrong with Cana-chan!"
"Awh, I'm sorry, Lucy!"
Swinging his arm around Lucy's quivering shoulder protectively, he steered her towards master's office, not saying a word as he ignored the guild's stares and whispers.
"OLD MAN!" Natsu shouted, kicking the door open as he stormed in with Lucy.
Master jumped up automatically from his seat behind his desk, shoving something in it's drawers hurriedly. "Natsu! What have I said about-? Lucy? Lucy, child, what's wrong?"
She buried her face in the palms of her sweaty hands, blurting, "It's Cana! Cana's been... been..."
"Been?" Natsu encouraged, nudging her foot with his.
She whispered the next word so softly, even Natsu had to lean in to hear. "Murdered..."
Master cleared his throat, raising his eyebrows curiously. "Come again?"
Natsu straightened his back, his face expressionless as his dark eyes flashed with an emotion seen in his features only on the battleground. "Cana," He said bluntly, "Cana's been killed, Master."
Natsu sat next to Lucy at the bar, his arm still around her shoulders. Her face rested against his chest, and every now and then, he would feel her tears wet his vest.
She was rambling in a nervous tone, her voice breaking once in a while. "And she was just so amazing and smart and I don't what else. She was everything I wanted to be. And have I even mentioned her capability with the alcohol? Why couldn't I be that damn... damn... Damn, I forgot the word. And she would always read my fortune and get it right. One time, she predicted that Loki would come out of nowhere in the middle of the night and kiss me. So I didn't go to sleep that night and guess what? Loki showed up and tried to kiss me! Cana... Cana. Cana. Cana. Cana. Her name is so pretty! I wish-"
"Lucy! Lucy, please calm down. Everything is going to be okay... Master's headed over to her house right now with Erza. By the time you wake up tomorrow, everything will be solved. You'll be okay," Natsu whispered, closing his eyes as he relished in the feeling of being so close to her.
She hiccuped. "Y-You really think so?"
He nodded, and she tilted her face up to gaze into his dark eyes. "Natsu," she murmured, "Natsu, please don't lie to me."
He shook his head slowly. "I'm not."
"Promise?"
"Pr-"
"MIRA-NEE! NATSU-SAN!" Lisanna cried, running into the guild as she looked around wildly.
A single tear ran down her face as she screamed, "It's Haruka!* Haruka! She's dead!"
Author's Note: Yep.. That was SO short! [867 words] Haha, sorry guys (: Soon enough, you'll realize that the length of my chapters are totally random. It always depends on my mood, lol.
Anyway, what'd you guys think? Review?:)
*My OC Fairy Tail mage! She's a nobody, so it doesn't matter, I guess.
Preview for Chapter Three- I'm glad Natsu's with me:
"O-Oh! Oh my-!"
"He's not... d-done, Fairy T-Tail!"
"What the hell is happening?"
"Not without me, you're not!"
"I'm not going anywhere."
"T-Thank you, Natsu..."