Well well well, lookie here. Another chapter without having to wait a year? I'm doing pretty good! And this is where things start to speed along.
Disclaimer: I don't own any part of Fairy Tail, be it the characters or plot. I just write this as a hobby that all my friends look down on me for...sigh
"Erza!" A brash voice called out from the depths of Laxus's office. "Where is my coffee?"
"Oh, I'll show you were your damn coffee is," the red head muttered darkly. Her imposter boss was working her like the assistant that everyone takes advantage of, and, understandably, she was NOT happy. She had been hired as a bodyguard, not as a coffee rat. But, sadly, she needed to be on the imposter's good side: any slip up on his part would help her plan the counterattack against his plot.
"ERZA- oh, finally," her not-boss smirked as she walked into the room with his tall, half-caff, soy latte at 120 degrees (not 110 degrees, not 119 degrees, exactly 120 degrees). He eagerly took a sip, but then immediately spit it out. "God, this is disgusting," he gagged. Erza's fist clenched and unclenched; she had to put her hands in her back pockets so that she wouldn't try to strangle the man.
"This is your regular order, sir," she couldn't help but snarl her response. After all, she just spent half in hour in line to get this order exactly as he likes it.
"Whatever, just grab the coffee pot and I'll drink whatever is in that," Erza did as she was told (well, she slammed the pot on his desk and almost burned the faker's fingers off in the process) and stalked out of the room because her big shot boss had an important phone call. But, being the sneaky girl she is, Erza walked out of her boss's line of sight to the right wall of his office. She knew exactly which part of the wall was the thinnest after watching her coworkers listen in on their boss's conversations.
"Are the plans ready?" She heard fake-Laxus ask on the other side of the wall. She smiled victoriously. This was it!
"Then get them ready!" The mastermind hissed after a couple of seconds. "In four days I'm going to go into that banquet a business man and come out a king. And I can't do that unless you all get off your asses and get everything ready," not-Laxus had begun to pace mid-sentence, and Erza could feel the agitation from where she was awkwardly crouching. "DO I MAKE MYSELF CLEAR?" He roared, and waited a couple seconds, probably for the person on the other end of the line to squeak a "yes sir." She heard him angrily snap his phone shut, followed immediately by a "ERZA!" that made her sigh.
"Yes?" Erza calmly walked into her boss's office like she hadn't been listening in on his phone-call the entire time.
"I'm hungry. Go get me a bagel from Downtown Bagels. And remember to ask for it to be lightly buttered," her boss waved her on after his order was complete. With a really irritated "yes, sir" Erza walked out of her boss's office. Although she was an errand rat once again, there was a whole bright side to today's events so far: she knew that she was right about when the attack was going to take place. With that in mind, she started to lightly jog down the block. She didn't want to get yelled at for taking too long again.
(BACK IN THE OFFICE)
Not-Laxus rolled his shoulders, feeling his take-over magic fade away. God, it was so annoying to be Laxus Dreyer. All of this paper work that never ended, the stupid habits he had to keep up...it was exhausting. The only thing that made his job even remotely better was the fact that he got to boss Erza Scarlet around. That woman, always acting high and mighty...it made him sick. And that takes a lot, considering he was a pretty sick man. But, he had more important things to worry about at the moment than that eavesdropping, red-haired bitch. So, with a sigh and a flip of his long black bangs, Cahz picked up his phone once again and actually dialed a number this time.
"Cahz, darling," his boss's voice drifted from the other end of the line. "Your report?"
"The red-head is getting too curious," he hissed, "its annoying."
"Yes, yes," his boss laughed, sounding like tinkling bells. He has repeatedly told her about Erza Scarlet's curiosity, but she has never taken it seriously. Cahz thought that wasn't the smartest thing to do, but he wasn't going to speak up to his mistriss. "I have heard that she is causing trouble," she continued.
"Doesn't matter, she thinks that we're targeting the banquet," Cahz smiled deviously, "stupid slut."
"Well, if she continues to pose a problem, well...curiosity killed the cat," her laugh turned from tinkling bells to a dark witch's cackle in a heartbeat.
"Understood," his smile widened, exposing pointed teeth that were tinted yellow, "Angel-sama."
(TIME SKIP TO MUCH, MUCH LATER)
Lucy was annoyed. I'm not talking ruining-her-favorite-pair-of-sweatpants-because-of-a-certain monthly-gift annoyed. Nor Natsu-broke-into-her-house-and-ate-all-the-food annoyed. It isn't even watching-a-movie-when-the-popcorn-runs-out annoyed. No, Lucy Heartfilia was annoyed because it was 7:20PM, and she was all dressed up for whatever Natsu wanted to do and he was no where to be found. If there was one thing the blonde valued as much as personal space and keeping promises, it was punctuality. With an annoyed huff, Lucy grabbed her phone off her kitchen table and started to dial the pink haired idiot's number. Just as she was about to hit the last digit, a tanned hand plucked her phone out of her grasp.
"Hey, Luce," Natsu smiled, waving her phone in the hair. Lucy growled and stood up on the tips of her toes to grab it back, but Natsu was taller and just held it higher in the air.
"Give it back," she whined, "I'm already mad at you for being this late."
"Of course, Princess," he tossed it back to her with a smirk, knowing how much she hated the nickname. "Well, since you're already annoyed, I can't get into anymore trouble then." The mischievous look in his eyes as he said this put Lucy on edge.
"What—" She was cut off when Natsu tackled her to the ground. She squealed and kicked to get him off her, but she was stuck to the floor and Natsu's weight didn't help her situation at all. Shooting her an apologetic glance, Natsu took off the white checkered scarf that he alwayshad on and tied it around her eyes as a blindfold.
"Sorry Lucy, but you can't peak!" She heard Happy giggle. She threw her hands out in the direction of where his voice came from, but she just swiped air.
"She looks like a fish," Natsu stage whispered to Happy. She smirked before throwing a punch forward, feeling her fist sink into Natsu's stomach and hearing his groan of pain. "Well done, my pupil," she heard him whisper. It was disorienting to be stuck in darkness, but the thought of a little payback brought her immense pleasure. It also pushed back the horrible images that threatened to surface after all these years.
"Natsu, get up," Happy said. Lucy could imagine the feline poking his master's face as he continued, "we're already late." At that she heard Natsu get up in a flash.
"I'm good. Okay, lets go," Natsu scooped Lucy off the floor and set her on her feet. The blonde wobbled as she took her first steps, but after that she became used to following her idiotic friend's lead. So they walked on in silence (except for when they reached the stairs; Natsu was forced to carry Lucy down the stairs, bridal style, and the stairway was filled with the two yelling at Happy the cat, who kept making sly remarks about how they looked like a couple), ignoring the weird looks and remarks directed towards them as pedestrians passing them on the street saw a young man with pink hair leading a clumsy blonde with a blindfold through the streets, and avoiding Lucy's questions about where they were going.
So, actually, they weren't really walking in silence after all.
"Where are we going?" Lucy asked for the billionth time.
"If I told you, the blindfold would be pretty pointless," Natsu answered for the billionth time, trying to suppress the urge to roll his eyes. "Besides, we're almost there."
"Do I seriously have to wear a blindfold?"
"Duh, it isn't a surprise without it!"
"Yeah, but it stinks," Lucy whined, although her inner self was relishing the nice woodsy smell that Natsu had. It was like a breath of fresh air-
"The blindfold was pretty bold, Natsu," Happy snickered.
"Shut up stupid cat!" The two friends snapped. Lucy could hear the swoosh of Happy's wings as he flew out of reach so that Natsu couldn't kick him halfway across the country again. True to Natsu's word, they arrived at their destination a minute after the unnecessary (and totally true, although Natsu and Lucy wouldn't admit it) remark from one Happy the cat.
"Okay, we're here," Natsu said, and Lucy could hear him open a big door. She held her breath as Natsu untied the blindfold. Slowly, she opened her eyes. What she saw made her want to cry.
"CONGRADULATIONS LUCY!" Screamed everyone in the guild. Lucy felt tears collect at the corner of her eyes as she looked at the scene in front of her. All of her friends were here, old and new; Levy was smiling at her, book in one hand and Gajeel's ear in the other. It looked like she had just been chastising him for something, which may or may not have anything to do with the frosting that was on the corner of his mouth. Mira waved at her from a long counter that had been resurrected as a bar for the night. A gigantic, tan man with white hair that Lucy assumed was her brother was guarding the booze from the children, but he wasn't doing that good of a job from protecting it from Cana, who posed as the real problem. Even Erza was there, toting around the oh so mysterious boyfriend. She waved at Lucy and held up a piece of Mira's famous strawberry cake with the happiest face she has had in months.
The guild was even decorated, with yellow, white and blue streamers hanging down from the high rafters and everyone wearing party hats and a gigantic cake that had a little chunk taken out of it. It reminded Lucy of her first and only birthday party when she was six years old. Her mom was still healthy so her father was still her father. All of the servants of the house decorated the railings with ribbons and streamers, and they had cake and her teacher played a violin that she was able to dance to with her parents and her friends, the servants. Everyone was smiling and laughing together. And now here she was, back in that same glowing happiness that she never wanted to end ever again.
She felt Natsu shuffle closer to her and lean down so that his mouth was closer to her ear.
"What do you think?" He whispered, breath tickling her ear. She could hear the smile in his voice.
"It's...okay," she said, and the two started laughing together.
"Lucy!" Lucy looked over to the right and found Juvia, who was sitting next to Gray, waving at her, "come on!" Lucy smiled and grabbed Natsu's hand so that they walked in together. Master Makarov walked up to her with both hands behind his back, like he was hiding something.
"So, Miss. Heartfilia," the old man began, "I hear it was once a dream of yours to be a part of Fairy Tail."
"Yes," she squeaked. Oh god no way no way no way-
"Would you like to be?" Makarov brought out a stamp that had the Fairy Tail insignia on it. Lucy didn't even give a response. Well, she did, but it came out an excited squeak that sounded less like a "yes" and more like a fangirl when she sees her OTP become canon. Either way, the old man took the sound as an affirmative and stamped a pink fairy on her outstretched right hand. It glowed proudly for a minute before fading into her skin.
"When the guilds come back," Makarov explained to the confused blonde, "so will the mark."
And with that, her best day ever was complete. Someone, who knows who, demanded that the music be turned up. The noise was so loud that Lucy could barely think, which was good, because then she just danced around with all of her friends. At one point Gajeel tried to sing an original song, but after the first couple of notes Levy stormed on stage and dragged him off, much to the relief of everyone else.
There was a lot of dancing. Cana had a break dance battle with Gray which ended in her spewing alcohol all over Juvia, who had hopped in front of Gray at the last second to protect her "precious Gray-sama." Mira danced with the master, who tried to "accidentally" grope her but every chance he got. Most of the younger kids who lived at Fairy Tail choose to dance in groups, hopping up in down in time to the music, but Romeo, with a red face, pulled Wendy (who had an equally red face) away from the rest of the kids and they danced together, out of time to the music but happy all the same. Natsu stayed by Lucy and her friends, laughing at her stupid dance moves while she laughed at his.
"You cannot moonwalk," Lucy laughed when Natsu told her that he very much could. He huffed and walked to one side of the dance floor and proved her wrong as he moonwalked to the other side. After that, Lucy decided that she would never try to challenge Natsu to a dance battle.
There was also a lot of cake. Mira had spent all day making a cake that spanned a whole table, and then spent most of the night defending it from Erza's advances. The cake loving fiend and the cake maker eventually got into a fight, one that would have destroyed the guild if Makarov had failed to intervene in time. They agreed that Erza would have free rein over one third of the cake, and the left overs if there were any. Of course, that meant that Erza would glare at anyone who dared have seconds. But, it didn't matter, because the cake was so delicious that it made everyone smile and melt on the inside. All of the Fairy Tail kids ran around, screaming about the deliciousness of Mira's cake and asking if she could stay at Fairy Tail and make food for them forever.
"This is so good," Lucy groaned, taking a bite. She was eating the cake in small fork fulls so that she could make it last as long as possible. Natsu smiled at her from the other side of the table and motioned her over. Lucy looked to see if the coast was clear of Erza (which it was) and abandoned her cake so that she could see what he was hiding. The mischievous dragon slayer smirked in Erza's direction before lifting the white tablecloth to reveal four more slices of cake for the two alone to share. Lucy smiled and hugged him before going back to her seat and pretending like she never saw the cake stash. She would later regret eating that many sweets, but at the moment it was too delicious to pass up.
At the end of the night, everyone had fallen asleep in the most compromising positions possible. Well, everyone except for Natsu and Lucy, who were laughing at their comrades. Levy had fallen asleep next to Gajeel, who was cuddling next to her like she was a gigantic teddy bear. Cana had passed out while downing her tenth barrel of booze and had the remnants of the barrel leaking on her pants. Gray had somehow lost all of his clothes except his underwear during the course of the night and fell asleep while he was looking for them; Juvia was curled up next to him, holding his pants behind her back.
"I think it's time to go," Lucy yawned, stretching her hands above her head. Natsu nodded and turned to where he had last seen Happy. The blue cat had settled near Wendy's cat, Carla, so the two decided to leave him alone. As quietly as they could, Natsu and Lucy picked their way around the drunken and snoring partygoers. They were stopped at the door, where Master Makarov had fallen asleep. Sliding him away from the door as softly as possible to not wake him up, Natsu and Lucy thought that they were home free.
"Miss. Heartfilia," Lucy heard the old man's soft voice behind her. She turned around and saw Makarov lazily blinking at her.
"Yes, Master?" Lucy whispered as quietly as she could.
"You're part of Fairy Tail now," he yawned, "You have nakama and a family that you can depend on."
"Yes, Master," Lucy smiled. A family is an idea that she had given up on long ago.
"Never forget that," Makarov was already falling back asleep.
"I won't," Lucy smiled, "Not ever." How could she?
And so they left Fairy Tail and started back towards Lucy's house again, minus the blindfold. Lucy was so happy she was humming a lullaby that her mom used to sing to her when she was little. She had hopped up on the ledge running along the river and was balancing on it, refusing to use Natsu's hand to steady herself.
"You're going to fall into the river," he deadpanned.
"No I'm not!" She huffed. She walked on this ledge every time the opportunity presented itself and she hasn't fallen in yet.
"Come on, we're almost at your house anyway," Natsu insisted when she started to wobble again.
"Fine," Lucy consented, preparing to hop off the ledge.
"Hey, trust fall!" Natsu held out his arms and smiled big like the big goofball he is while Lucy smiled back like the big goofball she is. And unlike so many chapters ago, when Lucy refused to trust anyone with anything, she closed her eyes, turned around and fell.
"Oof," Natsu gasped, "I didn't think you would actually do it," he realized how close her face was at that moment, so close that if he leaned forward a little, they would be kissing. Just like that. Not that I want to, Natsu thought with a blush, obviously lying to himself. He immediately set her down before any other thoughts could enter his mind. Lucy seemed to not notice.
"Of course I would," Lucy lightly slapped his arm. "I trust you more than anyone else." And with that comment, which Lucy intended to make Natsu feel all warm and fuzzy inside (because that's how she felt—and a little more?), she actually made him feel like the biggest dirtbag of dirtbags. All night he had kept that letter from her father in his jacket pocket, mentally debating about giving it to her or not. Ultimately he had decided to just hide it until after the weekend and own it up to a post office mix up, but she just made him reconsider. Because he trusted her just as much as she was trusting him, and he knew that violating this trust would ruin everything that they have worked towards. So, for once, he decided to do the right thing.
"Hey, Luce," Lucy looked over to see that the smile had dropped from Natsu's face. "I have something to give you."
"What is it" She asked, curious about the sudden mood shift and the fact that Natsu was refusing to meet her eye.
"Just don't be mad, okay?" The boy begged. Lucy grabbed Natsu's hands and forced him to look in her eyes.
"I won't be mad," she said, giving him a smile to reassure him. Right now, Lucy was on cloud nine; nothing could ruin her happiness.
Too bad emotions are a bitch.
Slowly, Natsu reached inside his jacket pocket and took out the familiar white envelope. Lucy's eyes widened: how had he gotten one of her father's letters? She kept them locked in a box in her room. But, she realized, this wasn't a letter from the box in her room. The date on the corner indicated that the letter was a new one, a day or two old at most.
"You stole this," she deadpanned. She had said that she wasn't going to get mad, but...why had he hidden it? Lucy saw that the envelope was already open. She carefully took the letter from the envelope and read it. As she read each line, the blonde grew more and more furious. Her father invited her home this weekend. She could go home and feel welcome for the first time in years and Natsu was trying to stop her from going?
"I'm-" Natsu started to apologize, but Lucy wasn't going to let him. Screw not getting angry. She was furious!
"Don't you dare say that you're sorry," she hissed, "This is mine. This is my life!" Her voice was nearing hysteria. "You had no right to take this!" At this point she was seething, teeth bared and ready to tear the idiot's head off.
"Can you blame me for not wanting you to go back to your psycho dad?" Natsu snapped, sounding just like he did during their last argument. On the surface they had reconciled, but underneath nothing had changed.
"I trusted you!" Lucy screamed, waving the letter around. Natsu shot his hand out to grab it, to take it back and redo the night so that this wouldn't end up happening again. However, Lucy's grasp on it was too strong. After a couple seconds of struggling over the stupid piece of paper, the perfect solution was found: the letter tore in two. Lucy yelled again, calling him a variety of names that she had learned during her time with Loke at the House.
And then she left.
Natsu was alone, which half a letter in his hand and a furious temper that wasn't going to go away anytime soon.
Lucy stormed into her apartment with half a letter and let a bunch of furious tears drench her pillow, already regretting everything.
HAHAHAHA YOU GUYS ACTUALLY THOUGHT I WOULD END THIS WITH HAPPY FEELINGS AND KISSES? HAHAHAHA.
Yup, hate me. Yell at me. Praise me. Cry with me. Whatever you do, do it in a review! Please?
Lets see if I can crank out another chapter this week guys. Until then, my lovelies!
~NeverMakesSense