A/N Hiii, an update ahuh! I don't feel good, damn abdominal cramps! I can only hope you enjoy this one. My deepest gratitude goes to everyone who reviewed, read silently, fav'd and followed this story, to those who PM'ed me and tweeted me. Thank you all so much! Come here, lemme hug you! \(^_^)/ I LOVE YOU ALL. Enjoy!
Chapter 15: INEVITABLE FATE
Natsu sniffed, trying to locate the scent he has been following for some time now – but to his dismay, it just suddenly disappeared.
"Natsu?" Happy called, snapping him out of his deep thoughts.
It's not like he was really thinking, he was just too damn excited to meet the white dragon slayer who had been pissing him off since the first day of the Grand Magic Games once again – and in addition to that, he also wanted to confirm why he has been smelling a scent somewhat resembling Lucy's.
He was truly curious – the scent smelled like Lucy combined with another olfactory property he hated. But there's no way that scent belonged to Lucy – as far as he was concerned, she was in Joya with Erza. Everyone in the guild said so, didn't they?
Intuitively, the salmon haired boy scrunched up his nose as he looked around, finding himself in the train station and standing beside an empty bench.
"You lost track of their scent?" Happy asked again, reaching his little bag pack to retrieve his favorite snack.
Natsu nodded, plopping down at the bench finally relaxing.
Looking at the trains in motion made him feel sick.
Happy sat beside him and started munching his fish. "It's okay, Natsu. You'll get your chance to fight the Sabertooth dragon slayers in time."
"Yup," with a scorching determination shining on his eyes, Natsu brought his fist up, "I'm all fired up!"
Inside the train bound to Magnolia...
"My, my, Lucy-chan… How fortunate that you managed to convince both my brats to go to Magnolia, hn?" the purple-haired lady cooed over the other side of the handy lacrima orb. "Aren't you great to be able to convince my two brats into accompanying you in Magnolia? As I thought, you're very special."
One corner of Lucy's lips twitched as she shifted her legs uncomfortably, "A-ah. I'm sure it's not that, Mai-san." She growled, veins popping out of her forehead.
"Oh." The lady master smiled, "And you're very modest too. Aah~ that old man Makarov is really lucky." Mai commented, ignoring the agonizing expression growing on Lucy's aspect.
"M-Mai-san," she forced a smile, "Leaving that aside, I only called to inform you about the sudden change of plans, since these two seemed like they don't care even if you're worrying over them."
A sad smile trailed Mai's thin lips, "That's really cute, Lucy-chan." She composed herself and distanced her face against the lacrima orb, "But worrying over our own mages isn't a trend in Sabertooth. We're the strongest guild in Fiore and we managed to keep that for eight years now – of course, our mages should be able to take care of their selves. But thank you, I appreciate it."
Oh, of course. Not all guilds are the same – Sabertooth ways were completely in contrary with how it was in Fairy Tail. She thought as she grinned apologetically, "I-I see."
"Besides, I suppose taking a little detour is a good idea at the moment. If my dragon slayer brats were to come back with you in tow, you might feel unwelcomed… especially now that he's back." The lady master continued.
"Who's he, Mai-san?" the Fairy Tail mage grunted unconsciously, growing irritated with her current position. "Someone important in your guild?"
Mai laughed and brushed the topic off almost immediately, "Oh, never mind that. Anyway, I'll be following you there, wait for me, hn? Please accommodate my brats well until then." She winked, "I'll tell your old wrinkly master, too about you going back home?"
Lucy almost dropped the lacrima orb, "N-no, that's not necessary Mai-san!" she yelled as a bright smile grew on her features, "I want to surprise them."
The purple-haired lady blinked for a while, staring at Lucy's face. "O-oh!" Mai felt her heart clench as her face softened, "That wrinkly old man's really lucky, hn?"
Lucy tilted her head to the side, a bit curious of Mai's strange behavior, "Is something wrong, Mai-san? I promise I'll take care of Sting-do–" she cringed as she felt a pinch on her leg, "–Sting, I mean," she corrected and continued, "Frosch, Lector and Rogue-kun very well until you arrive."
The lady master grinned, "Ah, you can do whatever you want with them. Just make them stay until I arrive, alright?"
Again, Lucy's lips twitched, "O-okay, Mai-san. I'll see you until then, take care."
And as she was about to drop the line, Mai spoke once again, "But I still admire how you managed to make my brats ride the train. See ya, Lucy-chan!"
With that, the orb returned to normal.
Lucy sighed as she handed Lector the lacrima orb – the exceed secured it inside Lucy's bag which was, at the moment, under Frosch's care.
Because apparently, Fairy Tail Lucy was sandwiched in between the two Sabertooth dragon slayers…
Originally, Lucy was seated on the window aisle with Rogue beside her – but then, before the train started to move, Sting insisted on sitting on her seat saying that he won't feel much nauseous if he was sitting next to the window.
She raised a brow at this – he obviously sucked at lying because he was already sitting next to the window opposite her seat.
He made it a mission to annoy her, really.
And so, she stood up – giving Sting her seat. But to her surprise, the blonde guy pulled her beside him, making her sit in between him and Rogue.
She was about to complain when Sting spoke, "Oi, Rogue. Exchange seats with dorei."
Rogue didn't move, his eyes shut closed as if he was praying for his dear life for a war awaiting ahead. Though he was expressionless, Lucy could tell he was nervous – she still couldn't grasp the fact that the mages who claimed the title of the strongest in Fiore at present had this pathetic weakness.
"Oi. Don't act like you're sleeping when you're really not!" Sting snorted, unnerved.
Rogue opened one eye, craning his neck to look at his dragon slayer partner, "This is my seat. Deal with it."
"Ngggh," Sting growled, his grip on Lucy's wrist tightening. "But I marked her!" Great! Now he's not making any sense.
Lucy, Frosch and Lector could only look at the two dragon slayers inquisitively. They could practically see sparks flying between them.
And then the train started moving – Sting immediately laid his head on Lucy's lap, which of course surprised the latter.
"H-hey, pe-perve–"
"Dore-upu! M-make this train stop~" the tough Sting pleaded, his face turning purple and green. "L-let's just w-walk. J-jump off… this… I can't… hell!"
"Fuck!" Rogue cursed mistily, one hand encircling Lucy's wrist on his side.
Lucy's jaw drop, brown orbs widening in astonishment – she couldn't believe this. She was stuck in between two pathetic dragon slayers who were about to throw up any moment now – inside a moving vehicle.
"Damn. Help me! Lector, Frosch!" She cried as she watched the two dragon slayers turn purplish to greenish with droplets of sweat forming on their foreheads.
Frosch jumped down, grabbing her bag – which made her sit more comfortably than before. "Sorry, Fairy-san. But you should have gotten yourself out of there just before the train started. Fro will help you take care of your bag, ribbit."
Lector nodded, "That's why they always avoid riding trains. We're headed to your home anyway, if they vomit on you… You can clean yourself up later."
Depression lines appeared above Lucy's head, "This is worse than getting caught up in Fair–" Sting tucked his head on Lucy's stomach, one of his hand clasping hers as his other hand encircled around her leg – she blushed furiously.
"Upu," her marker gobbled, "I–I need you now, d-dore–upu. M-make yourself useful – upu." Sting barely said, trying to be smug but ended up sounding funny.
"…" And just like that, Lucy's brain seemed to lose its access to her vocabulary box.
That's when she decided to do something else – anything – just to avert her attention away from the two Sabertooth mages who seemed to be taking advantage of her through their weakness – though she must admit, it felt like the three of them were getting closer.
At Fairy Tail Guild…
"What's going on, Mira-san?" Wendy asked curiously as she watched the whole guild prepare for – from the looks of it – a big party.
Mira smiled brightly as she directed her gaze to the sky dragon slayer, "Lucy's back, Wendy." She cheered.
Charle and Wendy grinned excitedly, "Eh? Really?" Wendy clapped her hands.
"Yup!" the bar maid retorted as she turned to face Cana, "Lucy's not here yet, don't drink everything, Cana."
The booze-lover waved her hand dismissively as she set down the barrel, "Ah~ I'll make sure she'll get her fair share, Mira."
Mira could only shake her head and smile, "My, my. Everyone's so excited, ne?"
"But Mira-san," Charle interjected, "Does that mean the dragon slayer mark had already diminished?"
Wendy chuckled, "I'm glad. We don't have to keep it to Natsu-san now."
Mira stared at the two with melancholic eyes, "I'm sorry for dragging you into this, Wendy, Charle. But sadly, the mark hasn't diminished yet. Most probably, she'll be coming here with the Sabertooth dragon slayers."
Dejection registered in Wendy's face, "Ah, I should've known." She forced a laugh as she scratched her head gently, "I'm sorry for being useless, Mira-san. I spent all this time researching about the dragon slayer's mark. I have heard about it from Grandine before but I was still too young to actually mind… Now, I regret that I didn't pay attention."
Mira tapped her head as she looked down at the blue-haired girl, "You're not useless, Wendy. The reason why we lied to Natsu was more likely because we knew no one here could help Lucy. Right now, what all of us could do for Lucy is to watch her from afar and hide our guilty hearts. Because in all honesty," she stood upright and dragged her vision to Master Makarov and Mavis, "the ones feeling useless the most are them."
"Master and First?" Charle mumbled under her breath.
"Oi, Laxus you brat! Lend us a hand here!" Makarov yelled as he raised a fist to his grandson, his other hand pointing at the barbecue grill.
Laxus shrugged, ignoring the old man, "I don't think my lightning is fit for grilling barbecue, old man."
"True, true!" Fried nodded, biting his lower lip as he stood behind the blonde S-class mage he dedicated himself to.
"Cosplay girl's coming back with new boyfriends, huh?" Bixlow chimed, creepily sticking his tongue out.
"Boyfriends, boyfriends." His babies chanted.
"Barbecue~" a drooling Mavis sang in delight. She turned to Laxus with a dark aura, "Please cook that barbecue~" now with eyes suddenly welling up in tears.
Laxus and Makarov panicked, "F-First!"
"Can a spirit eat solid food?" Whispered someone.
"I'm not sure." Another whisper.
And Mavis cried louder.
It was then that a lightning struck the barbecue grill – as well as Max who was setting it up. "Damn, why also cook me?" the sand mage wailed, his hair frizzing up.
The chaos continued with Mavis weeping loudly, Makarov pressuring Laxus to make the First master stop crying, Laxus panicking inwardly, Fried preaching about how kind-hearted Laxus was and so on…
"I can't wait to show Lu-chan the new books I purchased…" Levy barged in with a big bag pack on her back.
Lisanna sweat dropped, "That's a lot, Levy-chan."
Levy scratched her cheek sheepishly, "The moment I saw these books, I can't help but remember Lu-chan… So… Hehe."
Wendy and Charle couldn't help but smile.
Fairy Tail never fails to amaze them – as always.
It was true, everyone was feeling useless because not one of them could really help Lucy – but they could always do something to cheer the Celestial mage up. They could always be her strength – she doesn't need to know that they feel bad, Wendy and Charle were certain, Lucy felt the same.
Probably, Lucy was feeling bad that she made the whole guild worry over her – and really, she would hate to know that the guild were blaming themselves for her misfortune… What she doesn't know won't hurt her, right?
Back at Natsu and Happy…
"Natsu," Happy called out – they were apparently waiting in line to purchase a ticket for their trip back to Magnolia.
It took the poor blue exceed two hours to convince the fire mage to finally take the train. "What?" Natsu gloomily asked, his back slouched as he stared at the man's back in front of him – he needed distractions, really. It's the train – a form of transportation – and damn, he just lost to another argument with Happy.
The cat nudged his knee once again as he munched on his fish at paw and intensely watch something, "Ishnt nyat mrom shuwmertomb?"
"Huh?" the salamander dragged his gaze to his exceed partner lazily.
The cat swallowed the contents of his mouth, his vision still directed somewhere else, "Isn't that girl from the Sabertooth guild?" he raised his paw, pointing a white haired girl who was standing not far from them with head tilting upward, eyes intently viewing the live destination board but seemed kind of confused.
Natsu followed the exceed's gaze and sniffed, "Strange…" He glared at the Sabertooth girl, "I can faintly smell Lucy."
Unconsciously, the fire mage stepped out of the line and made his way towards the oblivious white haired girl – Happy of course, tried to stop him, but it was too late. Their spot was already taken so he just followed suit.
Oh well, its Natsu alright?
Yukino furrowed her brows, unsure of where to go now that she was kicked out of Sabertooth – and has nowhere to go. She scanned the live destination board, figuring out where to start anew.
She still feels bad, of course. But somehow, her conversation with Lucy had managed to make her feel better. She smiled to herself as the name Magnolia flashed on the screen. "That is where Lucy-sama lives…"
But then again, she had to start anew – so going to Magnolia wouldn't be the best idea.
Before her former comrades left, she had managed to talk to the great Sting Eucliffe – bidding him goodbye for good. The white dragon slayer, of course, had insulted her – saying she deserved to be kicked out of the guild. She was a shame to begin with, being weak and all.
"It's Sting's way of bidding farewell." Rogue reassured her after Sting walked out. Frosch gave her a tight hug and Lector wished her a happy life despite being weak – she felt a vein popped out of her forehead, that arrogant exceed's mouth.
That itself, is enough.
"Why do you smell weird?" a voice from behind startled her, snapping her out of her thoughts.
She jumped, turning to look at the person who just spoke.
Her eyes widened as she realized who it was – pink hair, scaly scarf and squinty eyes, "F-Fairy Tail?"
She could feel two pairs of eyes glaring at her. One belonged to the pink haired dragon slayer now standing in front of her and the other from the blue exceed from below.
Yukino cringed under their penetrating stares. "Y-yes?"
"Where's that arrogant comrade of yours, huh?" Natsu spat in a challenging voice, all hyped up.
Tears started to accumulate on Yukino's eyes at the mention of comrade but tried her best not to show her emotional side kicking in. "Uh, if I'm not mistaken, you are Natsu-sama?" she inquired politely.
Natsu folded his arms across his chest and answered her with a straight face, "Where's that 'Sitting'comrade of yours and why do you smell weird?" he prompted, mistaking Sting's name as Sitting.
"It's Sping, Natsu. Not Sitting." Happy tried to correct his dragon slayer partner.
"Yeah, Swing?" Natsu tried to repeat but failed.
"Sping, Natsu! Not Swing." The blue exceed pressed, somewhat annoyed.
"That's what I said!" the fire mage turned to look at Happy.
"That's not what I heard." Happy retorted.
"I-it's Sting." Yukino corrected, a small smile gracing her lips.
Both Fairy Tail mages snapped their heads to look back at the white haired girl whose face was already brimming with tears.
Natsu and Happy panicked.
"I'm sorry!" Natsu apologized automatically, "I didn't mean to scare you."
"Natsu's really scary but he's really a nice guy!" Happy freaked out.
Yukino cried louder, gaining the attention of the people inside the station.
"O-oi." The fire mage looked at the white haired girl in disbelief, "I swear, I was just asking!"
Yukino covered her face with her hands as she tried to muffle her cries, "I'm sorry~" she mumbled silently but was caught by Natsu's keen sense of hearing. "I-it's not you… I'm sorry."
It was then that Natsu crouched down and gawked at her, "I don't know what's wrong but… you shouldn't cry here. Let's move somewhere else."
She dropped her hands, noticing the attention she was drawing into them and nodded. Yukino picked herself up together and wiped her tears with the back of her hands as she pulled her trolley from behind.
Natsu stood up as well and followed the Sabertooth girl as he labeled her.
.
.
.
Happy handed Yukino a fresh fish from his bag with the intent of comforting her but the latter politely declined.
"My tears would stop falling when I eat a fish." Happy pouted as he put his favorite snack back to his blue bag pack.
Yukino felt a tug on her lips, "I-I'm okay now, I'm sorry." She blubbered as she seriously tried to stop her tears from falling. "I… I thought my tear ducts are already empty. I have been crying for days but it seemed like I'm pretty hydrated."
"We're sorry." Natsu apologized again, it's not like he intended to make her cry. Even if she's from a rival guild, unless she wasn't doing anything to provoke him, he won't lay a hand on her. "We're sorry if we scared you."
Yukino shook her head gently, a fist resting on her left eye. "You did not. In fact, I should be the one to apologize for what Sabertooth had said in the Games and did to your comrade."
Natsu loosened his scarf as he secured the straps of the sleeping bag he was carrying over his shoulders, "Are you talking about Gray when the masked man won the first round?" Natsu smirked, "That's nothing to apologize about~ and I'm telling you. This will be Sabertooth's last year as the number one in the Games. We'll surely place first next year."
"I'll be cheering on Fairy Tail, then." Yukino beamed, her eyes puffy and red.
"Eh?" Happy reacted, "Shouldn't you be competing for Sabertooth?" the exceed asked curiously.
"I…" she looked down, contemplating whether to tell them or not. They're Lucy-sama's comrades anyway, so it wouldn't hurt. She thought. "I was excommunicated from my guild."
Happy and Natsu dropped their jaws in disbelief, "Ehhh?"
"…because I am weak, but I don't blame them." Yukino sniffed, completely unaware of Natsu giving off a somewhat agitated aura, "I deserved it. I shouldn't have been arrogant in that battle against Mermaid Heel… or I should have begged Kagura-sama to take my life because I was the one who incited the bet… It was all my fault so I deserve it."
Yukino looked up, unable to get a full view of Natsu's face as it was shadowed by his hair. "What kind of reason is that?" he spat venomously.
The former Sabertooth mage chuckled lighty, "I have already accepted it… I'm the one at fault." She smiled genuinely this time, "And I'm not talking about your comrade who lost to Rufus at the Games." She continued, "I'm talking about Lucy-sama."
"Lucy?" Natsu's ears perked up. "Now that you mention it, why do I smell a faint scent of her from you?"
Yukino tilted her head to the side, a bit confused, "We met this morning in this town. I tried to give her the gold keys that I possessed but she refused to accept it so–"
"Lucy's in Joya!" Natsu opposed, agitation suddenly turning into perplexity. "There's no way you would have met her here!"
Happy worriedly looked at Natsu.
Yukino scratched her head, "I'm certain the one I've met here was Lucy-sama."
Natsu couldn't believe what he was hearing. There's absolutely no chance that Lucy had been here – even though his guts were telling him otherwise. After all, what really brought him to follow the Sabertooth scent this morning was the trace resembling Lucy's in the same direction.
Unbeknownst to Natsu and Yukino, a certain pair of midnight blue eyes was observing them from afar – anxious and very eager to know what the conversation was about.
"What the hell are they talking about?"
.
to be continued…
A/N Ah, was it time? Ehe. :D Until next chapter, you guys! Please don't kill me. :3 Hihi.
Ichigolover Aw, thank you. Yes, I'll try my best! :D
Guest 8/24 Yay, thank you. :3
Unimpressed Hi, uh. I'm not really sure how to respond to your review because this was supposed to be a private matter but oh well. I am well-aware that Mashima never made Lucy and Sting interact alone. Though I'm fond of apologizing, I refuse to do so this time. I won't apologize because I'm one of those authors that support crack pairings. I see things in my own perspective. You ship what you ship, I ship what I ship – let's leave it at that. I'll take it as a compliment that you found the story/plot good but I would have to disagree that I wasted it just because of my choice of pairing – this would have never work out with Natsu/Gray/Loke as the main guy. If you hate the pairing on focus this much, don't open the story – character tabs are there for a reason. I don't mean to sound rude or anything but reviewing anonymously in this fic would mean I will respond in public. Honestly, I'm pissed. Desperate, you say? I don't think I deserve that. Writing stories with crack pairs as the focus are more challenging than writing for pairs which has a potential to be canon in the future. And FYI, I did expect Sting would lose to Natsu so don't worry, you're not alone. Ah, this is by far the longest response I have ever written in this story. Thank you though, thank you for reminding me the fact of life – I can't please everyone. :3
Pansy08 Waah, thank you so much. I'm glad you like both stories, teehee! Ah, true, true. I agree. :D
IceCrystalAngel Hi Amelia~ :) Too chaotic, yes? :D hihihi, oh well. She's clueless. ^_^ poor girl. Hihi. :D yay, thanks! You'll figure that out in the future chapters. :D
Lini Your review made me all teary-eyed. I'm so touched. Thank you ^_^
Guest 8/24 Thank you, here you go :)
Mau Hello, woah! Filipino ka din pala? :D yaay. Ah, nope. Layla died on year X777 and that time, Lucy was 10. :3 I'm sorry, did I confuse you in any way? I can only speak two languages fluently – tagalog at English. Haha. XD Though my course required me to take foreign languages like Spanish and Mandarin – then I enrolled myself in a Nihongo class. /(~,~)\ nosebleed promise! Hihi. ^_^
Vanyaa Waah~ thank you so much. I'm not sure, really. Hihi. But that would absolutely complicate the manga if ever. :3 hihihi. ^_^
Pluethedog27 Ahuh! Ahuh! :D ehe, that was kind of fun. *clap hands* I'm not sure if I could insert a scene like that though since the next coming chapters would be getting serious. :D Hihihi. Thank you so much, ne? :D It seems to me that you're looking at Rogue like he resembles Gray? Gihehe. XD
Yukinopy True, true. I envy her too (=.=)\ wheew.
FearXStiLu Aw, thank you! I was about to respond to you through PM but then I figured you had it disabled. I'm soooo glad. Oh, about updating weekly? I don't think I could commit on that but I'll try to update as soon as possible. :D
Jasmine831 Yay, sure! I already added you. Ehe! :D Do take your time Jasmine-chan! :D Thank you for informing me. :)
Lavander7795 woah! Good luck with Medical school. I could imagine how hectic your schedule would have been. Do your best! :D oh, thanks. Hihi. Yeah, I just thought Natsu was a lot like that. :D
SilverSun Aww, yes, thank you. Ehe. :D Here you go.
AnimeLover131 Aww, thank youuu! :D Sure, I will. :D
Chuewy Eh, I'm not sure yet if I'd be able to make one soon but… I'll try my best. :D