Chapter Five: The Mouse, The Mermaid, and the Pool of Tears

Traveling with Natsu was going better than Lucy expected. He was very care-free, but he also seemed to genuinely care if she were comfortable or if she was worried about something. After traveling for the better part of the day, Lucy was visibly tired, dragging her feet a little.

"Wanna make camp?" Natsu asked as he stopped on the trail to look back at the fatigued princess.

"Sorry..." Lucy started as she dropped her backpack and took a deep breath, "I'm not exactly used to hiking."

"Neither am I..." Happy announced as he plopped himself down on the ground in exhaustion, "I don't like not flying..." he groaned.

Natsu looked up at the sky and he sighed, "Okay, well let's get off the main road. We'll set up camp in the woods." he said as he picked up Lucy's backpack and started into the trees. Lucy scooped Happy into her arms and the cat nuzzled himself against her. He really didn't like to walk, but since Erza had told him not to fly, he was determined to do a good job. Lucy smiled at the resting animal in her arms and she rushed to catch up with Natsu now.

"Isn't that heavy?" she asked once she was walking beside him.

"Nah. We aren't going far anyway. Just enough to sleep in the cover of the trees." he replied.

"...this will be my very fist time sleeping outside." Lucy admitted shyly, "father never let me out much after mother died...and even before that, he really didn't like me doing anything where I might get dirty."

"My dad and I would always sleep outside." Natsu said happily, "so I'll teach ya how to camp." he finished with a laugh.

Lucy laughed along with him and once they reached a decent spot, Natsu set the bags down. Lucy set up Happy's little sleeping bag and gently tucked him in so that he could rest comfortably.
It was still a little too early to go to sleep, so Natsu made a quick fire and tried to teach Lucy how to build a small fire pit. Everything seemed easy enough to her until he blew a fire of his own onto the wood.

"Well I doubt I'll be able to do that." she remarked with a smile, hugging her knees to herself to settle by the warm flames.

"Maybe one of your spirits will be able to make fire." he suggested as he pulled the sleeping bags and blankets from the backpacks to set up their beds.

Lucy smiled a little brighter, trying to imagine what the spirits might look like or what they would talk about. For so long she had been alone...but she was quickly gaining so many friends. It would be wonderful if the spirits became her friends too. She reached up and pulled the ribbon from her hair, letting her blonde strands fall along her back. It was rare for her to feel so comfortable, but with Natsu, she felt safe.

Natsu glanced at her and smiled, happy to see that she was relaxing a bit more. He worried a little that his intrusion on her room might have soured her with him, but luckily that didn't seem to be the case. He wasn't going to admit that he was there to give her the clothes that he and Happy had gotten for her with Mirajane's help. Though he really didn't expect the clothes to hug her body as they did and he couldn't help but feel as though Mira did that on purpose. He shook the thoughts from his mind as he laid out her bed.

"There you go." he said with a smile as he sat down beside her next to the fire.

"Thanks." she replied.

For a while, the two sat in silence, but it wasn't uncomfortable. Nothing really needed to be said and each one was content to stare at the dancing flame, or the stars that began to form above them. Natsu wasn't sure how much time had passed before he felt Lucy lean against his shoulder. He blushed just a little as he turned his head to find that the princess had fallen asleep, resting her body against his side. Her chest was already hard to miss, but now it was pressed against his arm. Natsu wasn't one to think about such things too much, but he was still a young man. To say that it did nothing for him would be a lie. He turned his head quickly in the opposite direction and cleared his throat a little. No matter how attractive she was, he really didn't know her well enough to be thinking about anything like that. In the end, he just smiled and was grateful that she seemed content with him. He didn't want to move and wake her, so he simply stared at the fire in silence, hoping that her dreams were pleasant ones.

The night seemed to slip by rather quickly. Once the light hit Lucy's eyes, she groaned a little, not wanting to wake up at all. The fire must have still been going, or the sun was peeking through the trees to hit her face, because she was so comfortable as she lay there, her whole body feeling a gentle warmth. In fact, her face was particularly warm and when she stopped trying to go back to sleep, she opened her eyes and found that she was actually resting against Natsu's chest. Lucy blushed at once and sat up quickly, looking down at the snoring fire mage. Neither of them were using their beds and it seemed she had fallen asleep on him. She covered her cheeks with her palms as she panicked silently. He just let her sleep on him like that? What was worse, was that it felt so comfortable and warm. She could only thank her lucky stars that she hadn't embraced him as she did with her pillows in her sleep at home.

With a small sigh, she was able to calm her blush as she looked down at Natsu. He certainly didn't seem to be uncomfortable on the ground like that, he really must be used to this. Lucy smiled now and looked over at the ashes of the fire. A thought occurred to her as she stared at the fire pit. He taught her how to make a fire, so maybe she could surprise him and get breakfast started before he woke up. She rose to her feet and gently brushed the dirt from her skirt before she pulled the hatchet from his bag and walked a little further into the woods to gather kindling and firewood. Lucy made sure to make a mental note of the several strange looking trees as she passed them, she didn't want to get lost when she was trying to do Natsu a favor. It would just add more work for him.

The forest seemed simple enough to navigate anyhow, but there were a couple of distractions along the way. Even if it was a lot like back home, she could have sworn a small horse with wings had just flew past her face. Lucy had finally gathered a little bunch of kindling in her arms and she was elated over her chore. Having servants do everything for you wasn't a lot of fun and she wanted to do something that might make Natsu proud of her.

"...Lucy..." a woman's voice rang out softly through the trees and Lucy dropped the kindling at once. She could have sworn it was her mothers voice. Her eyes went wide and she turned around quickly, but saw no one there.

"Mother?" she asked the air, hoping to hear a reply.

"Lucy..." her mothers voice came again.

"M-mother! Where are you?!" Lucy shouted now, turning around and frantically searching for a sign.

"...Help me, Lucy. This way..." she whispered softly.

A breeze rushed through the trees and seemed to point Lucy in the right direction. She looked down a small pathway that the wind was pushing her towards and could swear she saw her mothers silhouette further down. Lucy didn't waste any time in darting towards it, rushing down the path so quickly that she didn't bother to look for markers to find her way back. Her mother was gone. That much she knew, but this was a world filled the magic, didn't that mean that there was a way her mother might be able to speak with her or even come back? That small hope pushed her feet forward and wouldn't let her stop until she didn't see her mother's silhouette anymore. When it was gone, Lucy looked around desperately once more.

"Mom! Say something! Where are you?!" she called out.

There was no reply, but a soft glow caught Lucy's attention from the corner of her eye. Whipping around to get a look, she saw a small pond that was glowing with a sapphire light. It was a little hypnotic actually. She didn't even realize that she was walking towards the water until she knelt down beside the pond. Lucy leaned over on her hands and knees to get a better look. The still water was eerily calming and somehow, she was sure there was a human figure near the bottom. Squinting a little, the figure came into focus slightly and she was sure it was her mother. Lucy held her breath as she gazed into the water. It was her mother, she was positive now.

"Lucy..." her mothers voice came again, as her profile came into view a little more. The figure of her mother raised her arm up to reach for her daughter from beneath the water.

Without thinking, Lucy slowly reached out as well. Was her mother trapped in there? Once Lucy's fingertips touched the surface of the water, something seemed to pull Lucy down faster than she could cry out for help. There was only a small ripple on the pond before the water went still once more and there was silence in the woods again.

Back at the camp site, Natsu was barely waking from his sleep. He sat up and yawned while he stretched his arms into the air. He rubbed his eyes a little and looked around, but he didn't see Lucy anywhere and the ribbon for her hair was still laying on the ground from last night. Happy was still snoring happily, rolled up like sushi inside his sleeping bag.
Natsu got to his feet and pat himself down a little before he looked around in silence once more. Where had Lucy run off to? Her first night camping and she just runs off on her own? He chuckled to himself a little as he imagined her all pumped up to explore.

"Lucy?" he called out towards the trees, thinking that she hadn't gone far and might be able to hear him. After a moment or two of silence however; he began to worry. Did she go too far and get lost? Was she stuck somehow? He sniffed the air now and quickly began to follow her scent. This forest was not known for it's monsters or demons, but there still might have been something in here that could hurt her. Even if it was low level, she didn't know how to fight at all. His panic started to grow once the scent pulled him further and further through the trees. Just how far had she gone?

Lucy wasn't sure where she was now. The last thing she remembered was reaching for her mother...than everything went dark. She felt as if she were floating in water, but she could breath just fine. She moved her arms and saw the bubbles form, confirming that she was submerged in some water, but if that were the case, how could she breath so easily? She decided to take a chance and speak.

"Hello?" she called out, hoping that someone would hear her. Maybe even her mother. Talking didn't seem to be a problem, so she tried to swim upwards to find the surface, but as she began to kick her legs, her mother came into view once more. She stopped and stared at Layla's image in the water. "Mom? Is that really you?" she asked, feeling happy tears start to form in her eyes.

"Lucy...I have missed you so much..." her mother began, holding out her arms for her daughter.

Lucy took a small breath before she swam over and wrapped her arms around Layla. It felt so familiar in her arms. The embrace of her mother was something that she could never forget. Her mother held her gently and stroked her daughter's hair as Lucy whimpered a little.

"I-I missed you too! I thought-everyone said that you were gone. I'm so happy!" she sobbed softly as she hid her face in her mother's embrace. It was too good to be true.

"I've been trapped here. ...I am so sorry Lucy. ...I failed you." her mother replied softly.

Lucy shook her head insistently, "No! You're back now! That's all that matters, " she exclaimed before pulling away and grabbing her mother's hand to tug her along, "come on! We need to find a way out of here and you can go back to Fairy Tail! Everyone will be so happy to-augh..." Lucy was halted in her words when she felt a pain in her chest and it was starting to get difficult to breath. Perhaps the water was finally getting to her?
"C-come on!" she cried out once more, trying to shake off the pain in order to get her mother out of here.

"C'mon Brat! Don't be so stupid!" a woman's voice echoed in Lucy's mind, "Even you can't be this gullible!"

Lucy wasn't sure who the voice belonged to, but somehow, it struck a chord with her. She looked back at her mother and suddenly, the gentle face that she knew as a girl began to warp a little. Giving her a small glimpse of what looked like a monsters shadow. As best as she could tell in that split second anyhow. Lucy grit her teeth, closing her eyes tight to try and focus. It hurt. Her heart was tearing up as she felt her warm tears sting her eyes. This wasn't her mother. It couldn't have been. She knew that in the back of her mind...but she wanted so badly to hope for some magical miracle. After all, what was magic for if not impossible dreams? Still...her sadness was nothing compared to the pure rage that was rising inside her heart. How dare they use her mother against her. No matter what this creature was, she wouldn't forgive something like this. The young spirit mage ripped her hand from the impostors and with a pained expression she glared at it hatefully.

"You're not my mother!" She shouted, a faint silver glow beginning to form around her body. It was no sooner that she let her voice ring out, that Lucy woke up, submerged in water once more, but this time, actually drowning. She gasped at once, accidentally letting more water in. Still, she quickly shot up and gasped for air, gripping the ground around the pond to hold herself up. She hacked and coughed up water, feeling her throat burn and her lungs strained. How long was she under?

"Oh...you managed to get out. ...how boring..." a young woman remarked, stepping forward to loom over Lucy.

Lucy looked up as she panted for breath to see a strange woman with short, bobbed brown hair. The girl had whiskers and what looked like mouse ears. Her eyes were almost completely black, as if her pupils were dilated to an extreme degree. She wore a cute brown dress with puffed up short sleeves and had a few freckles under her eyes. Noticing the long, rodent like tail, Lucy decided it was best not to move for now. She wasn't exactly sure if she could get out of the pond completely without the girl hurting her. Since it was clear from the girls comment that she was not a friend.

"...Who are you?" Lucy asked, hoping to buy a little time for herself in order to regain her breath and make a run for it.

"My name is Myszka! Nice to meet you, Lucy Heartfilia..." the girl started happily, a small squeak emitting from her voice at the end of her words, "I thought I was being nice by letting you drown in my pool of tears. ...You would have at least died happily, but now I guess I have to make it painful." Myszka finished cheerfully, reaching down at once and pushing Lucy's head back down into the water. Lucy struggled a bit and tried to get away, but the girl had a grip on her hair and she had nothing to cut it with to escape. It felt like forever that she was being held there. This was ridiculous, after all this she was just going to drown? Everything was beginning to get a little hazy and her lungs burned as the water began to slowly fill them. She was holding her breath as best she could, but it didn't help much after a while.

"LUCY!" Natsu's voice rang out as he ran up quickly and with a flaming right leg, he kicked Myszka at the side of her face before she had the time to turn and look at him. The girl squeaked in surprise as she was forced away from Lucy and kicked hard against a nearby tree.
"LUCY!" Natsu shouted again as he quickly got down on his knees and pulled Lucy's body from the water, she was completely soaked and her face looked pale. How long had she been under water? He didn't waste any time as he lifted her chin and plugged her nose, leaning down and pressing his lips against hers to give her air. He breathed into her, hoping that he was not too late. He did this for a moment before her leaned up and began to press against her chest to start her breathing, but he didn't get that far before Lucy coughed up some water and rolled onto her side to gasp for air. Natsu smiled as relief washed over him. She was okay. He almost reached out to hug her, but heard the mouse girl begin to shout before he could.

"HOW RUDE! HOW RUDE!" Myszka shouted in a shrill squeak as she rose to her feet and wiped the blood from her mouth.

Natsu turned around and stood up straight to glare at the girl. His furious gaze was chilling and the mouse girl flinched a bit.

"Y-you can't scare me!" she insisted, pointing at the angered Dragon Slayer, "I will not forgive your rudeness!"

"What do you want with Lucy?" he asked in a low growl, upset that he had allowed her to be hurt when he was so close by.

"To kill her of course," Myszka answered, "Lord Zeref can't have a spirit mage running around. No, no. We thought we killed the last one, but she was sneaky and slipped this one by us." she finished with a sigh, as if it was so troublesome to kill the girl.

If they wanted Lucy dead, than there really wasn't anything else to talk about. Natsu launched himself from the ground and lunged for the girl with flaming fists. Lucy was barely able to hear what was going on, but she could see Natsu and the Mouse girl fighting in the clearing. She was a little weak now, but she lifted herself up by her hands and breathed deep. This girl had used her mother to lure her here to drown. She could never forgive that. She turned her head to see the pool of tears still beside her and she recalled Erza telling her that Aquarius could be summoned in water and only in water. It was probably too soon to try, but her anger pushed her forward. She pulled the key from her leather strap and stuck it in the pond.

"Gate of the Water Bearer, I open thee! Aquarius!" She shouted, catching the attention of Myszka and Natsu and causing them both to pause in their actions. Lucy's body began to glow softly and from the pool of tears, emerged a beautiful, sapphire haired mermaid holding a giant urn. Lucy was in complete awe. She really didn't think anything would come from the key, after all, she didn't think she was ready to summon anything. The mermaid's expression was a little cross to say the least, but Lucy smiled up at her brightly.

"No! NONONONO! RUDE! SO RUDE!" Myszka shouted in a frantic anger before she pushed off the ground and dashed towards Lucy in a mad rush. She was quicker than Natsu thought and he didn't get the chance to catch her as she scurried quickly across the grass.

"Shut up, you annoying little shit!" Aquarius shouted angrily before she shot a large whirlpool of water at the mouse and to everyone's shock, launched the girl into the air and out of sight. All they could hear was a surprised and terrified squeak as she was tossed away. The pool of tears vanished with her and Natsu could only assume that meant she had been knocked out.

Natsu and Lucy looked at the Mermaid in stunned silence, a little nervous to say anything since she seemed quite irate. Lucy smiled nervously and stood up to greet the spirit.

"A-Aquarius?" she started cautiously. She was so excited to finally meet her, but the atmosphere was a little tense.

Aquarius turned around at once and glared at Lucy with a growl.
"Oi! What the hell is wrong with you, brat?!" she shouted, reaching over and pulling at Lucy's hair a little, "You fell into such an obvious trap and you summoned me too soon! You don't have enough energy to call someone like me! I knew you were stupid, but this is just irritating!"

Lucy was in complete shock. This wasn't exactly what she pictured when she thought about summoning Aquarius. They had been together since she was small after all and she was her mothers spirit. Her image of the gentle, loving mermaid shattered at once, but she still wanted to be friends if she could. "O-ow! Um-I'm sorry!" she tried to reply as her hair was being pulled.

Natsu had never seen a spirit before so while Aquarius was busy scolding Lucy, he was looking her over. Even going so far as to poke her tail to feel her scales. Aquarius whipped her head around at once and her explosive temper erupted, smacking Natsu hard in the face with her fin.

"GAH!" he exclaimed in pain as he placed his hand over his nose which was no doubt bleeding a little now, "What th-" he was about to shout at her, but was cut off when she released Lucy and loomed over him with a terrifying gaze. He thought only Erza could scare him with a look, but he found himself a little nervous.

"...and you..." Aquarius started menacingly, "You're the one that tried to summon me with toilet water!" she growled as she continued to pound at him with her tail.

Lucy wanted to try and make friends, but she was feeling a little more worn than before. Her legs were weak and she felt faint as she dropped to her knees on the grass. This wasn't from the drowning, it felt different. As if all her strength was just being drained.

Aquarius stopped her assault on Natsu and looked back at Lucy, "see? Your energy is nearly gone," said the mermaid as she looked down at her summoner. "You're a hundred years too early to summon me, so make sure to get stronger before trying this again. Don't summon me unless it's important!" Aquarius insisted before she vanished in a faint silver light.

Lucy took a deep breath and Natsu rushed over to her in order to support her shoulders with his hands. His nose was bleeding a little and he really wanted to fight Aquarius now, if for nothing else, but a little payback.
"You okay, Lucy?" he asked, trying to focus on the matter at hand. Lucy was hurt and depleted of energy after all.

Lucy nodded her head with an exhausted smile, "Yeah..."

"Well...I guess that's Aquarius. ...Not exactly what I expected. She doesn't seem to like us at all. I thought spirits were supposed to be obedient and kind..." he muttered in annoyance. He thought the spirits would be like Layla. Kind and gentle. He couldn't really picture that mermaid shouting at Lady Layla like that.

Lucy was admittedly surprised herself and although she had been berated by the spirit, she was still happy to have met her. Besides, her voice was the same as the one she heard in the water. Aquarius may have been angry about it, but she saved her. Behind her temper, Lucy was sure that the mermaid wasn't as scary as she seemed. She held the key in her hand and smiled at it.
"...Thank you, Aquarius." she said quietly.

Natsu was still a little miffed with the spirit, but he helped Lucy to her feet and turned around so that she could get on his back. Lucy seemed hesitant to do so, but after all of Natsu's insistence, she finally agreed to let him carry her back to camp. She was a little too weak in the knees to walk anyhow and she couldn't really deny that. As he carried her off back down the path, she took the opportunity to rest a little.

"Natsu...did you really try to summon her in toilet water?" Lucy asked finally.

The Dragon Slayer flinched and cleared his throat a little, "well yeah. When you were passed out in the medical ward...I wanted to give it a try and I was near the bathroom so..." he trailed off nervously.

Lucy giggled lightly, "you should really think before you act," she commented.

"That's no fun." Natsu replied with a grin, looking back at her over his shoulder. He was just so happy to see that Lucy was smiling again.

"...Natsu...?" Lucy started again, her smile fading after a moment, "...what is a 'pool of tears?'" she asked quietly.

"Huh? Oh, um, it's a type of dark magic. It's called that...because it lures you in with the thing that makes you sad. Like, lost loved ones..." he explained evenly, sure that she must have seen her mother in the water. The very fact that he let this happen began to gnaw at his insides. He promised to protect her smile and he just let her see something sad. If he ever found that mouse again, he would have to make sure and get a lot of payback. Still, he was determined to keep a smile on her face.
"But hey! You summoned your first spirit!" he announced happily, "that's really impressive!"

Lucy smiled, mostly because she could tell that he was trying his best to cheer her up.
"Yeah, I'm pretty excited to get the rest! Hopefully...they are all not as easily upset..." she added a little nervously. Natsu laughed and Lucy couldn't help but relax now. He was so cheerful and kind that it was hard to be sad around him, not to mention that he always seemed to show up just when she needed him. He saved her from Trixie, from Myszka, and even from drowning. Suddenly, Lucy was reminded of the CPR she had received when pulled from the water. In all the commotion, she didn't have any time to be embarrassed about it. Her face burned red and Lucy tried to calm herself silently as Natsu carried her through the woods. That didn't count as a kiss did it? It couldn't count, but if it did...it would be her first kiss. Natsu would be her first kiss!
His lips were rather warm, she thought as she brought her fingers to her lips. Another rush of embarrassment ran through her and she shook her head frantically to jostle the thoughts from her mind. If Natsu was not going to bring it up, than she would just do her best to forget it. It meant nothing, right? It was just to save her, right?
Lucy groaned at the agony of her own conflicting thoughts and rested her forehead against the back of his neck in an attempt to hide her face.

"Lucy? You okay? ...Lucy?" Natsu asked in confusion as he carried her. Unaware of the internal struggle the girl on his back was wrestling with as they made their way back to camp.

A/N: Okay! That's the end of this chapter and I'm pretty pleased with it. For those of you that don't know, Myszka is polish for Mouse. Though I found out that it is also Polish slang for female genitalia. Oops. Still, I stand by it. lol
Also, if I'm wrong about the slang, please let me know. I would be pleased to find out that it is false information. I didn't get to fit in the Angst that I wanted, but I guess I will have to wait until the next chapter. See you all next time!