First of all, I am so sorry for taking so long to update! Forgive me! Second, I hope the longness of this chapter makes up for it! And last, work sucks and I hate people!
Yeah, I got a new job and it's taking up all my free time, so writing is down to a minimum of like 2 hours a week, which is not enough, let me tell you! On the bright side, I have enough anger at the world to write some good fights xD
So enjoy the new chapter and let me know what you think!
I don't won Fairy Tail (sadly), only my brain and the ability to use it :)
Chapter 2
A Long Walk Home
Levy P.O.V
We walk through the streets, following the group of guys, their laughter echoing back to us as they push at each other. Two of them seem to be in a fight, my target looking on with an amused expression. We watch them, keeping a little back, waiting for them to notice us. They look so happy; it's hard to imagine them as anything but idiotic teenage boys.
"Hey," the one with pink hair suddenly says, "who are they?"
We don't glance up, knowing they have no clue we can hear them. I lace my arm around Lucy's arms and she laughs, as if I said something funny. Wendy skips just behind us, splashing in puddles and giggling like the little girl she should be. They stop just ahead of us but we don't stop until we are a few paces away. We stare at them wide eyed as if scared.
"Who are you?" the pink haired boy asks again. Now that I look at the group close up, they are all different ages, not the same like I had previously thought.
"Em, Lucy," the blonde says, stepping back and taking me with her. Her brown eyes are wide and look frightened but I know better. "Please, we were just making our way to our hotel, we'll give you money if you want, just don't hurt us."
"Natsu, you idiot, you scared them," an older man with almost red hair says. He smiles at us and takes a step forward, hand outstretched. "I'm sorry about him, he's a bit soft in the head."
"Hey!" the boy, Natsu, shouts. Lucy giggles, a sweet sound, and I see him stare at her, eyes widening. It's a common reaction to her, with her perfect body and sweet face, you can't help but love her.
"The name's Gildarts," the older man continues, ignoring Natsu. "We would be happy to help you get to wherever you're staying. We're sorry is we scared you."
"Em, that's okay," I pipe up, stepping into the light. "We can, em, get there ourselves." I stare at them, eyes wide.
"Lucy? Levy?" Wendy shouts. I hadn't realized she had been left behind but judging by the glint in her brown eyes, she meant it.
"Over here, kid," Lucy shouts, not taking her eyes of the men. Wendy skips into view before freezing and backing into Lucy. The blond wraps a protective arm around her and whispers in her ear.
"We'll be fine, really," I say, tucking a blue strand of hair behind my ear.
"Juvia thinks so too," the bluenette says, speaking from the shadows.
"Who said that?" a black hair boy says. The one who lost his shirt earlier on.
"Just Juvia," I say, as the pale girl steps into the light. Her skin glows in the streetlights and her blue eyes sparkle. The black hair boy stares at her, shocked. Again, a common reaction to her appearance.
"Juvia is sorry to startle you," she says, her voice soft. "She was looking at the moon flowers." She points to the small pale flowers that sway in the breeze. The litter the grass around us and seems to glow in the light.
"They are beautiful," the black hair boy says, still looking at Juvia.
"We should go," Wendy says, tugging Lucy's hand. She starts to step forward but something catches her foot and she's falling. I shout her name and step forward but before I can catch her, small but strong arms wrap around her and she stops.
"You okay?" her savior asks. It's the small boy she chose as her target.
Her face turns the shade of Erza's hair as she nods and stutters out her thanks. The boy smiles a soft smile, helping her stand straight.
"I'm Romeo," he says. I giggle, thinking of the book I read last night. Tragic love story. Interesting read.
"Wendy," the young girl says, taking his outstretched hand in hers and shaking it. Romeo grins broadly at her, causing Wendy to blush even more. It would be sweet, if I knew it wasn't an act.
"Well, Juvia thinks we should go." We all nod and begin to turn away.
"I really don't think you should be walking about by yourselves," another voice says. I turn to find the source of the voice and my eyes meet the red ones of my intended target. Up close he's much taller than I thought. Maybe I chose the wrong one…
"We'll be fine, we're not helpless," Lucy says, though she sounds uncertain.
"I don't doubt that," Gildarts says, "but just to be on the safe side, at least let a few of my boy's walk you home."
"Juvia thinks you're not going to give in," Juvia says, turning to look at the older man.
When he shakes his head, I sigh and mirror his action, though in defeat. "Fine, they can come with us."
"Natsu, Romeo, Gray and Gajeel," Gildarts immediately says, "see they get home safe now."
The four boys step forward and I smile slightly, turning away. All of our intended targets. Today is our lucky day. We say our goodbye to the rest of the group and press on, following the path to our small living space. A two bedroom apartment on the edge of town with a small kitchen, bathroom and living space. Not much but it does the job.
"What do you girls do for a living then?" Natsu asks, breaking the lengthening silence.
"I work at a bookstore!" I say, not even close to pretending to be happy about this. Even back home, books where my whole world.
"I'm homeschooled," Wendy says, clasping her hands in front of her and skipping ahead.
"Me too!" Romeo shouts. Wendy shoots him a sweet smile and he blushes.
"What about you, em, Juvia?" Gray asks. He still has no shirt on, what is wrong with him?
"Juvia is a swimming instructor," the bluenette, "at the local high school. Juvia loves the water."
"That's amazing, you look too young to be a teacher," Gray says, his eyes wide.
"Juvia is twenty-one, she is not that young."
"You're the same age as me then," the black haired boy says, turning away. Huh, interesting.
"What about you then?" Natsu asks. He stops and turns to Lucy, who walks a little behind us. Judging by her face, she was in a totally different world. No surprise there yet.
"Eh?" she chirps, blinking. "Oh, I'm a Literature Professor at a university near here. Though I'm trying to become a writer too."
"What are you planning on writing?" Natsu asks, falling into step with Lucy.
"Anything, I guess," she replies, looking straight ahead. "Romance and action. Stories about love, loss, betrayal and friendship. About angels, demons and magic."
I notice all the boys freeze at her last sentence and suppress a smirk. Lucy sure is cunning when she wants to be.
"None of that stuff exists," my target blurts.
"Oh yeah, who says?" I growl, playing along.
"It's stupid!" he shouts back, turning to face me. I pout back, hand on my hips. I'm small, not helpless.
"Oh, I suppose a great male like you knows everything then," I say, my voice cold.
"I know magic is just something adults made up to make kids sleep easier."
"What if that's the real magic?" Wendy says suddenly. We all turn to look at her and she blushes. "Love, caring for others. Parents making up stories to protect their children. That's what magic is, isn't it?"
"Oh you," Lucy giggles.
"Shut up," Wendy laughs, turning away and skipping ahead. Well done to her for stopping that conversation. I glare at Gajeel and stomp ahead. Stupid know it all.
We reach our street in silence, my mind still wrapped in anger from what that stupid black haired giant said. Baka!
Lucy P.O.V
Things are not going well. Maybe Levy picked the wrong target. This guy just seems to get under her skin and piss her off. We were meant to earn their trust and we can't do that if all they do is fight. I shoot a questioning glance at Levy, which she ignores. Damn, she's stubborn.
"Who teaches you then? Since you're homeschooled that is," I hear Wendy ask Romeo.
"Gildart's is my teacher I guess," he replies, smiling at her. He seems like such a nice kid, how did he get messed up in this?
"Is he your dad?"
"No, he's one of my dad's best friends," Romeo answers. His words become hesitant and I notice Natsu and Gray tense up. So questions that ask about them are a problem then.
"He's like a dad to all of us though," Gray says, taking the conversation away from Romeo, who shoots him a smile.
"That's sweet," Wendy chirps, not even glancing at Gray, before smiles at Romeo. "What's your dad like?"
"Em, well, he's great I guess," Romeo says lamely, looking at the ground. Huh, weird.
"What about your parents?" Natsu asks. I look up and see him staring right at me.
"We're all orphans," I breathe, looking away from them all. I hear their breath catch and smile slightly. Well, they have hearts at least.
"I, em, sorry…shit…sorry," Natsu stutters, as I look back at him. His eyes are wide and staring, his lips turned down at the edges. Cute.
"It's okay, it was a long time ago," Levy murmurs, breaking the silence.
"Juvia has a new family, with the girls and Erza," the pale girl states. I shoot her a look and her eyes widen. She wasn't meant to mention Erza.
"Erza?" Gajeel asks, still glaring at Levy.
"Yeah, she's a few years older than me. She looked after us at the orphanage and adopted Wendy after we all moved out," Levy answers him, shooting a look at Juvia too.
"What age are you anyway?"
"Why does it matter?"
"I was just asking!"
"Jerk," Levy mumbles, scowling at nothing.
"I'm twenty," I say. "Like Juvia said earlier, she's twenty-one. Levy is nineteen and Wendy is fourteen."
"So are we!" Natsu almost shouts. "Well Gajeel is twenty-two but the rest of us are! Oh well Romeo is fifteen!"
God, he's hyper.
"That's cool," I say, looking back at Levy and smiling slightly with a shake of my head.
"So where is this Erza then?" Gray inquires.
"Probably at work or at the gym, we don't see her much," I answer, turning my gaze in him.
"Juvia believes Erza tries too hard to make a living for us."
"She just wants what's best for us, given our situation," Wendy whispers, looking down.
"Hey," I say, turning and stepping in front of her. I bend down so I'm eye level and give her a grin. "We've been through more than most people ever have and lost more than we should. It sucks and it's horrible but we always come out on top. We have each other and that's more important than a nice house or money."
"Nothing will tear us apart Wendy," Levy states, hands on hips. "No matter what, family comes before anything."
"Thanks guys," the younger girl breathes, smiling at us.
"Well that was emotional," Gajeel grunts, his tone laced with sarcasm.
"Shut up," I say, glaring. Levy blinks at me and grins. Okay, I get why she fights with him. Jerk.
Natsu whistles, dispelling the awkward silence and walks down the road. We follow, after shooting glare at the tall man. He stares back, eyebrow's drawn. He could be confused all he wants, he was being a huge asshole.
"How far is your home?"As I watch the back of his pink head, I notice he didn't say house. Interesting.
"Another street I would say. I'm not totally familiar with this place yet."
"So you just moved?" He tilts his head back to look at me and I nod.
"Last week."
"Why did you-?"
"It doesn't matter," Levy mutters, cutting him off and glaring at the ground. I shoot her a look and smile at Natsu.
"Let's just say, we needed to be somewhere else." He nods like her understands and smiles lightly at me.
"This is it, Juvia recognizes the street," Juvia breathes. I turn to look at her, where she trails behind. Her eyes are on Gray, slightly confused and dazed. Oh no. Not again.
"Juvia, did you ever hear from that white haired boy?" I say casually. I hide a smile when she jumps and blushes.
"Juvia does not want to talk about it!" she squeaks, walking up to me and glaring.
"I'll take that as a no," I giggle. "Well this is us."
We stand on front of an apartment building, with sandstone walls and white-wash windows and doors. The number five hundred and six is painted in delicate black script on the small glass panel of the front door, surrounded by small intricately painted vines. Soft light emanates from the windows, bathing us in a soft glow.
"Thanks for walking us, we really appreciate it," Wendy says, smiling at them.
"Juvia thanks you too," the bluenette murmurs. She takes a silver key from her pocket and opening the apartment door. With one last glance at Gray, she disappears inside.
"Yeah, thanks for everything," Levy grumbles, glaring at the floor. She sweeps inside after Juvia, the door slamming slightly as she does.
"Sorry about them," I laugh, shaking my head. "Anyway, goodnight and thank you."
"It's cool, we had fun," Natsu says, grinning.
"Well, what do we have here? Has my brother finally met a girl?"
Two figures step from the shadows and I frown. This was not part of the plan at all.
And there we have it! Let me know what you though, if there are any mistakes or if you have any ideas for the story! I'll take everything you guys say :)
Thanks for reading and I hope you stick with me until I finish this thing, even if it takes a year or whatever :P
Check out my other stories too, one of which I am working on alongside this one :)
Thanks, till next time ^_^