Author's Note: After her talk with NG Erza, Lucy eventually found her way to the guest room. The night was a lot quieter than she expected, it was like a normal home, or at least, that's what she thought until she woke up for the morning after almost being decapitated by a stray sword that lodged itself into the backboard of the bed. Here it is, Chapter 4. R&R!
Edit: I had to re-upload the chapter because somehow it got messed up, but the story itself hasn't been edited. In other words, if you already read this chapter, don't bother re-reading because nothing has changed. However I will start updating soon, so look forward!
Chapter 4:
The Time Travel Doohickey
Lucy opened her eyes as the gleaming morning sun peeked through the window. Her eyes winced open from the blinding morning glimmer, only to widen at the sight of a sharpened sword flying towards her. She dove under the covers, barely dodging the blade that lodged itself into the backboard of the bed. No better way to start the morning than with a near death experience, right…
Lucy crawled out of bed, alert yet trembling with fear. She could see the hole in the door from where the sword had entered the room. Slowly she peeked through the door, careful not to end up on the wrong end of another stray sword. Quickly, she ducked back through the door as a large ice shard flew past her head. Too afraid to go back out, Lucy sat behind the door, trembling in the fetal position, hoping for it all to be over soon.
Eventually, Lucy gained the courage to leave the room and check out what was going on downstairs. Pressed against the wall, she inched her way down the staircase and into the kitchen.
There, on the kitchen table, stood the original Gray with an angry scowl on his face and stripped down to his boxers. Also standing, with his chair on the floor, was NG Erza, baring one of his swords. The sword that nearly took Lucy's head was probably another one of his. The two seemed to be fighting while Erza and Gray Jr. were just sitting down nonchalantly eating breakfast. 'Something tells me they're used to this', Lucy thought to herself.
"Pass it over, NOW!" Gray snarled.
"I got it, and you didn't, get over it." NG Erza mocked.
Lucy went up closer and asked Erza what was going on so early in the morning. But, before Erza could answer Gray yelled, "Damn it, that's the last strip of bacon, I'M THE MAN OF THE HOUSE SO I DESERVE IT!"
"You want it, PRY IT FROM MY COLD FISTS!", he yelled as he slashed his sword at Gray.
Gray stepped back and barely avoided the tip of the blade. He froze his fist over and launched a punch at his son, who blocked it with the dull of his sword. He shattered the ice on Gray's fist, but was pushed all the way to the wall by the sheer force behind it. Gray stepped closer and mocked, "Now are you ready to give it up."
NG Erza quickly threw the strip of bacon into his mouth before Gray could grab it. Gray gripped his son's throat and growled, "Bastard, spit it up."
NG Erza forced it down his throat and gave a teasing smirk to his father. Lucy stared at the two blankly in disbelief. She couldn't understand how she was almost decapitated, twice, for a one single strip of bacon.
…
After the breakfast commotion died down, the twins head out to return to the guild.
"Hmm, why aren't you two going to the guild yet?" Lucy asked with a puzzled expression, watching Gray drink a cup of coffee with a frustrated scowl.
"Right now it isn't safe." Gray growled, brooding over the bacon that could have been.
"Isn't safe…"
"That's right…" Erza answered as she slowly lifted herself from her chair. "For the New Generation Fairy Tail, it's usually okay for them to leave in the morning. They aren't top priority for fairy hunters."
"Fairy hunters? You mean like the ones from when we were in Edolas."
"Something like that, they're Zeref's officers. Since Fairy Tail is the only magic guild left in Magnolia, they're always seeking to take us down. However, they usually only hunt at night, since less people are around, but there have been cases where Fairy Tail members were attacked in the morning."
Gray abruptly stood to his feet and announced, "We should probably leave now."
"How is the time now different from a few minutes go?" Lucy argued.
"Don't misunderstand what I said earlier, Lucy. It isn't dangerous for us, we wouldn't have any problems handling those goons. But now those two pains are far enough away, so if we get caught up in anything, they won't get dragged down, too." Gray explained.
Lucy was a bit surprised to hear that from Gray. He didn't seem to really care for his kids too much, but I guess even he can learn how to be a father. 'A father, huh…' , Lucy whispered to herself, remembering the way her own father treated her.
Suddenly it hit her and she began quickly, almost mechanically mumbling to herself. 'Wait a minute, am I forgetting the fact that I'm married to Natsu? What was I drinking during that time, how could I even consider it?'
Gray tried to get her attention by calling out to her, "Lucy. Lucy, you okay?"
Soon, Lucy's eyes widened as she started to think further. 'Now that I think about it, for us to have a child together that means we had to have done this and that and… and…' , suddenly steam rose from Lucy's head and with a small spark, her brain shut down and she was left like a hollow shell.
Gray simply marveled as he said, "Ah, Lucy short circuited."
Erza, standing in the doorway, pointed out, "Weren't we supposed to be leaving?"
Lucy's head bobbed back up robotically. "Whoa, quick recovery." Gray commented as he walked towards his wife and they shared a quick kiss. The couple began to walk through the door before Erza called back to Lucy, "Hey Lucy, are you all right?"
She peered over at the celestial mage, who was limping over the table with a slightly, sickly appearance. "Sorry, I'm just not used to that, yet."
Erza smiled and chuckled a bit, while Gray rolled his eyes with a hint of annoyance.
…
Gray and Erza walked tall and proud, while Lucy on the other hand cowered at even the slightest sound or sudden movement. From a small puppy's bark to the leaves being rustled by the wind, each of them brought Lucy closer and closer to having a heart attack. Even a greeting as common as 'hello' from an elderly woman caused Lucy's nerves stand on end. As they approached Fairy Tail's hidden entrance, Lucy made a minor observation of her surroundings. Contrary to the night before, Magnolia was quite an energetic place in the morning. Happy and carefree were the citizens, it was impossible that after witnessing this scene you would be able to tell that these people were under a dictatorship from one of the most evil minds to ever live.
'What exactly are Zeref's true intentions?', Lucy thought to herself.
They walked down the dark staircase as usual and walked upstairs to greet the original Fairy Tail members, but the atmosphere today was tense. A few people who weren't there before made their appearance today, including Mirajane, Gajeel, and Visca. As usual, Mirajane wore a big bright smile that illuminated the glum that was over the guild the other night. It seemed more lively this morning, proof that everyday offers a new promise, and a hidden happiness.
Gray and Erza led Lucy to the back room of the guild, that once belonged to Master Makarov. It was turned into a meeting room for the guild's masters, a small round table set in the center of the room with five chairs surrounding it. A round-table discussion, is what they call it.
"It's about time you reached here." Natsu announced from the table, sitting next to Luxus, whom was half-asleep. Happy was sitting anxiously on Natsu's shoulder.
Lucy sat directly across from Natsu, cringing at the feeling of this intense aura around her. This was going to be a really serious discussion, and Lucy wasn't sure if she'd be able to handle what will be said here.
"We all know the reason we're here, right? I'm going to explain the situation thus far and my plans by using such methods." A silent pause rose for a few moments as the mages exchanged looks with each other. Even Luxus had awakened to hear what was going on, although he had a slight idea.
Natsu continued, "You all know I was working on that project for the past fifteen years. A machine that could allow me to bring persons from the past into the present. However, building it and testing it were two different situations on their own…"
"Who would want to test a project called 'The Time Travel Doohickey'? At least come up with a better name before begging people to trust you." Gray interrupted.
Happy snapped, "Gray! That's cruel."
"It's true…" Natsu said earnestly. He locked his eyes and Lucy and continued, "There was only one person who trusted me enough to stake their life on my project, and that was Lucy."
Lucy became a bit uncomfortable at that moment as Natsu's eyes locked onto hers. Regardless, he continued to tell the story, his eyes set on her, serious and fierce as ever.
-Fairy Tail Flashback-
"Why would I test something like that? Natsu, who exactly do you think I am?" Evergreen snubbed.
Yet another rejection to add to the pile. Natsu was trying his hardest to get a suitable test subject, but he was running out of options. He was working for fifteen years on this project, and he finally had a substantial breakthrough. A time travel machine that he believed could make a serious difference in their battle with Zeref. Due to the time he had dedicated to building the machine, when he had finally finished his prototype, he didn't have a name for it. He didn't even realize this sad fact until Gray pointed it out to him. He came up with a name on the spot, however this further discouraged people from assisting the young pink-haired dragon slayer. 'The Time Travel Doohickey' is what he called it. A genius with no naming sense.
Natsu grumbled all the way down to the hidden basement of Fairy Tail, where a certain blonde mage awaited him. "So how'd it go?", she asked with innocent curious eyes. Natsu's grumbles became louder in response to her question, causing her to giggle.
Lucy had matured quite a bit during this war, and this showed even in her outer appearance. Her hair had grown down to the small of her back, which she normally tamed into a ponytail. She wore a white blouse and a short blue skirt with her signature whip by her side. She also gained some height whereas she reached Master Dragoneel's shoulders. Her celestial keys jingled from the pouch around her waist.
"I've asked everyone in the guild, and they all said no." Natsu pouted letting out a huge sigh.
Lucy sighed as well before saying sarcastically, "Guess there's no other choice."
Natsu looked up as he felt the warmth of his wife's hand on his neck, curious of what she meant by what she just said. She placed a small kiss on his cheek and spoke in his ear, "I'll do it for you."
Natsu pushed away from Lucy with a slight bit of hostility in his voice as he yelled, "Lucy have you gone crazy! That's way too dangerous a risk! I could never live with myself if I messed this up with you inside!"
"Then who else will do it?"
"If no one else will, then I'll…"
"You're the only one who can operate the machine. If you go, then who will run the machine?" Lucy argued.
Natsu was silent. He groaned a bit under his breath realizing that Lucy was right, but still, was he willing to take the risk? He thought to himself for a few moments, before finally yelling out in aggravation, "Fine, I get it, I get it!"
…
The next day Natsu started up the machine looking nervously at his wife, who shown of slight uneasiness as well. She stepped into the chamber of the machine as Natsu locked her in. Happy and Layla stood back as audience to witness the first use of Natsu's invention. Layla's eyes glimmered with little sparkling teardrops as she waved goodbye to her mother. If Natsu's Time Travel Doohickey works according to plan, the current Lucy should be carried off by a ray of light and replaced with the Lucy from twenty years ago.
He pulled levers and pushed buttons before showing one last smile to his wife to send her off. She nervously smiled back. Slowly, the genius dragon slayer pulled the last lever. The machine started beeping and lighting up wildly before immersing the entire room in a blinding light.
Happy's eyes were the first to recover as he let out a horrid shriek. Slowly, the father and daughter winced their eyes open. Both of their eyes widened as they looked towards the spot where Lucy once stood. The machine opened, but no one was inside.
"Where'd Lucy go? What happened?" Happy whined.
Layla held back the scream in the back of her throat as the tears quickly and easily flowed down her cheeks. She looked to her father for his usual reassuring look, but instead what she saw in his expression was confusion and anxiety. His usual strength was replaced with nerve-racking fear. Layla couldn't take it to stay there so she rocketed upstairs back to NG Fairy Tail and then out the door. She hoped that this was all a dream, but sadly though, this was far from it.
- Fairy Tail Flashback End-
"And later on that's when I was found…right?" Lucy nervously suggested. Natsu nodded his head. "So what about Layla? What happened to her?"
Natsu was silent, releasing a slight grunt under his breath as Lucy asked that question. He averted his eyes from Lucy to focus on the ceiling. "We couldn't find her. The Fullbuster siblings volunteered to continue the search for her, which is when NG Erza found you. Mistaking you for Layla, he brought you back."
"I have one more question… how come you knew I wasn't your daughter the first time I met you?"
"You think I wouldn't recognize my wife's scent."
Gray complained, "I'm sure that's not everything we need to know about the situation. That's probably just the beginning, right."
Natsu nodded, and the atmosphere changed. It felt like the air was thick enough to strangle you, definitely not the kind of situation Lucy would want to go through. Regardless though, she knew she had to stay and tough out this meeting, since this whole thing heavily involved her. All she could do was swallow her anxieties and hope for the best.
Author's Note: I know this story is supposed to be on hold (Yes, its supposed to be on hold for those of you who didn't know), but I had to write on it again. I'm not supposed to write on this until I finish One Hot Summer, but it doesn't matter if I bend the rules a bit. Besides, I'm sure you guys were tired of waiting for an update. Now, I'm not sure when the next update will be, but it probably won't be soon. But for now, don't forget to review. No omakes today, *sobs*.