A/N: Even I'm excited about the next chapter! Thanks for all the reviews you guys have given me, and I'm so sorry for all the cliffhangers! But this is the last one, and I know someone may murder me for it, but I felt like being evil! MWAHAHAHHAHHAHHAHAAAAAA! :D
ENJOY... IF YOU CANNN! ;) xx
Lucy: You're fucking weird Niko. Anyway guys, please remember to review and stuff, this girl's going crazy from her plotting about me getting-
*hand slaps over her big blonde run mouth*
Niko: SHUT UP! DON'T REVEAL MY PLANS! Now just read it and find out what happens! This hanger's a doozy! I'd hate me if I wasn't writing it! XD
Lucy's POV
We'd been walking for hours, and it was now approaching dusk. We'd travelled quite far, further than I'd anticipated when I first read the mission. I'd expected some pansy-ass lazy rich boy, but Xavier was quite athletic, and kept up with us easily.
Also, he was a complete gentleman. At one point, I'd had a stone in my boot, and had to stop. Natsu moaned and complained as usual, but Xavier offered me an arm to rest on while I removed the offending bit of rock from digging into my foot.
He generally walked beside me, because Natsu kept glaring at him for some reason, but I ignored him and listened as Xavier spoke to me about himself and his interests, after I'd prodded him into talking that is. He was quite modest, and shy!
He blushed quite a lot, but not a complete full face blush of embarrassment, just this cute little colouring at the top of his cheeks.
'Wow, this fiancée of yours is one lucky woman!' I laughed after he told a particularly funny story about a time he went riding and a prank his younger brothers had pulled which involved a bucket full of some stagnant pond water.
He grew quiet at that, and looked away, coughing slightly.
'Actually, I've never met her. It's an arranged marriage, one of convenience. I didn't want an escort, but my future father-in-law insisted. He's my Father's old business partner, and I've been advised to take this marriage to ensure the success of my company for my brothers.' I'd found out about his family situation a while ago. His parents were both dead, and he had inherited his Father's company all of a sudden as well as having to take care of his two younger brothers, he now has to run a multimillion jewel cooperation he hasn't yet been trained to run.
'Oh. I'm sorry.' I glanced up to see Natsu running ahead, playing some game with Happy; far too distracted to listen in.
'I know I hated being used as a pawn for my Father's monetary gain, and when he suggested an arranged marriage with some fat, lazy guy I'd never met that was it for me. The idea of marrying a stranger, someone foreign to everything I believe and feel... it just repulsed me. I know you're doing this for a different reason, to support your remaining family, but I just wanted you to know I understand how you must be feeling. Oh, and if you want to change your mind, don't be scared to. It's your life Xavier, I know your brothers are important to you, but this isn't your only option.' I smiled up at him, my breath catching slightly as the sun's rays captured his emotion filled eyes that showed his pain and confusion.
Suddenly, he grabbed my shoulders and pulled me into his chest for a tight hug, surprising me and causing me to fall against him so my whole body pressed against his. I hesitated for a moment before encircling his waist with my arms and resting my hands on his back.
'Thank you Lucy.' He whispered, the tears and sorrow evident in his voice. I took a deep breath, smelling his strong, masculine cologne and sighed slightly as I squeezed him slightly tighter to me, feeling his muscles against my body.
'Oi! Luce! Quit hugging the client, we gotta set up camp, it's getting dark!' Natsu's irritated voice interrupted the moment, and I pulled back, smiling softly up at Xavier before skipping forwards, grinning at Natsu as I playfully slapped him round the head.
'Whatever Natsu. I'll ask Virgo to help set up camp, you keep an eye on Xavier, got it?' He growled out a grumble and nodded as he rubbed his head and stalked over to stand beside Xavier while I entered the trees to find a suitable camping spot with Happy trailing after me, speaking excitedly about fish.
Natsu's POV
'Hey.' I snapped at the blonde headed guy who'd been pissing me off all day. Who does he think he is? Luce is my partner, and we're on a job. What makes him think he can touch her like that?
'Yes Natsu-san?' I scowled at him and crossed my arms, glaring menacingly at him.
'Don't talk to Luce anymore. You're engaged, and she's far too good for you. I don't want to have to pick up the broken pieces you'll leave behind when you marry your little rich girl, so back off.' I growled low in my throat as he stood there, not a single emotion flitted across his stony face and lit up my fists in an attempt to scare this bastard. He stared at me and slowly raised an eyebrow, not shifting at all as he spoke.
'I have no intention of hurting Lucy. She is a beautiful, strong woman, and I realised myself that she was out of my league; I didn't require your barbaric display to know that.' He started to walk past me and stopped as he stood next to me, beginning to speak once more without turning to look at me.
'Besides, what makes you think she wants you to help her? Weren't you the one who destroyed something precious to her, something irreplaceable? What makes you think you can be there for her, Natsu?' My flames went out and I felt my face pale.
What? Luce said she'd forgiven me... she wouldn't have told this guy anything, would she? My heart began to pound heavily against my rib cage, the panic and fear of Luce still hating me causing my body to react involuntarily.
'She didn't tell me a thing, but I can see it in her eyes, she remembers the pain you caused her. So maybe you should "back off" while I pick up the pieces that you broke.' I felt my heart seize in my chest at his words, and stood stock still as he walked away towards where Luce had gone and where she was now calling out for us to join her.
Just the thought of Luce hating me made my heart shatter and my blood run cold. A lot of people thought I loved her, and I do, just not in any way other than as a best friend. That's what Luce was to me... is to me. She's the single constant in my life; my real human parents abandoned me when I was a kid, then Igneel left me, then Lisanna... too many people I loved left, but Luce wouldn't...
Well, she did... but she came back... twice... but she came back both times, and she PROMISED she wouldn't go anywhere again without telling me!
I didn't know how this guy could tell that Luce was upset; even I couldn't tell and I'd known her for what felt like forever. Although, she was an incredible actress, after all that time acting like a pampered rich girl for her Father, she could pull off fake happiness with no trouble at all; easily in fact.
'NATSSUUUU!' Happy's voice interrupted my thoughts, and I jerked around to look at him, forcing myself to smile. He stopped flying and blinked, frowning as he moved towards me again.
'Natsu? What's wrong? Did someone take your fish?' I smiled sadly at Happy and pulled him into a hug, feeling his paws pat against my chest reassuringly.
'It's okay Natsu; Lushy has lots of fish!' I laughed slightly, Happy always knew how to lift me up when I was down.
'Okay Happy, lead me to Luce.' I whispered, ignoring his concerned look as he flew ahead of me.
All the while that Luce was preparing the food and laughing to whatever that blonde headed freak said, I watched her closely, looking out and searching for the sadness that this guy said he'd seen in her eyes.
Luce... you know I'm sorry, right? You said you forgive me; were you telling the truth?
I quickly but silently ate the food she gave me, shutting out the puzzled look she shot at me, before quickly huddling in my sleeping bag and pretending to fall asleep. I listened to their conversation, and heard them both crawl into bed with Luce giving out a soft yawn.
After what felt like hours, I fell into a restless sleep, images of Luce's hurt face flickering throughout my mind as I remembered that day where I'd destroyed a piece of her heart.
He was right; I had no right to call her my friend after the pain I'd caused her.
It would be better for me to just leave her alone...
Bickslow's POV
Master had asked Laxus and I to come along to Kunugi to deal with a sudden rise in the monster population around the town.
We were both puzzled, seeing as how this was an odd thing for him to call us to his office to request, and I could feel Laxus's own annoyance and anger at Master interrupting our conversation with Loke mixing with my own irritation.
Then, I remembered the destination of Cosplayer's mission, and nudged Laxus as I agreed to take the mission for both of us. I hurriedly explained to Laxus after exiting Master's office why I'd accepted it, rather than decline as Laxus had wanted, and we agreed we should go to see what was going on ourselves.
By now, Loke was unconscious from the alcohol, and was murmuring about his Princess as he giggled and hiccupped while his head rested against the bar.
We wasted no time, and shouted our good byes to Freed and Ever before rushing out of the guild to the train station.
We arrived in Kunugi in the evening, and easily got ourselves a hotel room for the night.
I'd wanted to walk back down the road towards Onibus to look for cosplayer; something Loke had said was fraying at my nerves, and I was on edge, but Laxus convinced me to stay somehow.
'Man Laxus, you know I hate playing the waiting game!' I ground out from between my clenched teeth as I paced the room, my babies hovering worriedly around me, before zipping around the room in agitation, swooping everywhere as though searching for something before returning to my shoulder.
'I know Bix, you think I wanna stay here and wait too? You know Blondie can handle herself out there, we trained her. Besides, I think she'd be pissed if we suddenly turned up because her stupid cat turned up in a foul mood about something and drank himself under the table. She'd probably kick us both.' Laxus ended up mumbling, rubbing at the back of his head where most of Cosplayer's weird kicks had landed in the past month.
I grunted my agreement, but continued to pace, glaring at the window and door every time they caught my eye.
Suddenly, Laxus threw my metal grate at my head, making me turn to glare at him, but finding his face averted and his eyes closed.
'Bix, wear that till you calm down. Your Figure Eyes are going haywire.' I huffed out a sigh and pulled my old mask on over my eyes.
It was odd how now I found it to be annoying and obstructive when before I hadn't had a problem with it.
Cosplayer got you used to seeing things and people again. No wonder you hate this fucking metal grate on your face now. I ground my teeth together as I threw myself on my bed and slammed my eyes shut, taking deep breathes to try and calm myself.
After around five minutes of silence, I spoke, finally calm enough to talk to Laxus.
'You think she's ok?' I heard him scoff in reply, and turned to look at him to find him lying on his back with his hands behind his head as he stared up at the ceiling.
'Course she is idiot. She was trained by us.' I grunted, feeling my babies finally calm down and come to sit beside my head on the pillow, cuddling up as close as they could so I could feel their shaking wooden bodies. They were just as worried about her as I was,
Flashback
'Oi! Cosplayer! Widen that stance! You're like a lamppost right now, I can easily knock you over.' I heard her scoff as she widened her stance.
'Knock over many lampposts on your travels then Bixy?' I glared at her as I grinned at her use of her nickname for me.
'Shut up cosplayer and focus. You're here to train, not give me sass!' She giggled lightly under her breath before focusing on her practice movements. Whenever I taught her a new move, I got her to go through it alone for a while before she put it into practice on me. At first, she complained about looking stupid, but eventually she shut up. After I'd threatened to tape her trap shut.
I grinned as I walked to the edge of the clearing where our water bottles had been left in the shade, staring at her body move as I drank deeply from the cool liquid.
She was a lot more toned than she had been when we started training, and her movements were more graceful and strong.
It didn't take me long till I was admiring her body; her long tanned legs that shifted through the air, her slim arms that had developed so much strength in the muscles from our training. Finally, her long, thick hair that hung just below her shoulders when loose, but was at the moment in a tight pony tail, swept up from her face so she wouldn't get distracted; the golden strands of silk swinging as she moved her body.
I shut my eyes and forced myself to look away, turning around so my back was facing her while I placed the bottle back in the shade slowly, as I tried to recover my senses.
Suddenly, I heard a bellow from behind me, an animalistic sound that made me spin around and search the edge of the clearing.
A huge animal that resembled a wild boar stood inside our training area, and had its blood red eyes trained on cosplayer, who'd frozen at the sight of the animal.
My heart froze as the huge beast pawed the ground before letting out a wild roar and beginning a run towards her.
It was closer than her already, and I was too far away as I started running, desperate to grab her and throw her clear.
She turned and started to spring towards me, but tripped over the lose laces of her trainers. She scrambled to get up, but the animal was bearing down on her.
Suddenly, a blinding green light shot past me and smashed into the creature's skull, sending it flying backwards to plough through the trees till it came to a stand still.
My mouth dropped open in shock, and I saw Cosplayer's face in a similar state of shock. I quickly ran over to her and dropped to my knees, checking her for injuries before pulling her tightly to my chest, shuddering from how close I'd come to losing her.
'Bix... did your babies just... do Baryon Formation by themselves?' She whispered, her voice shaky as she trembled slightly from the shock or a rampaging monster coming at her. I pulled back slightly, turning to look at my babies who'd zipped over to hover around cosplayer, before bumping against her with their high pitched laughter resounding around the clearing.
'Huh. Guess they like you cosplayer.' I mumbled, staring down at her as she blushed and rested her head against my chest.
She makes it so easy to love her...
"Lucy! Lucy!" My babies suddenly started repeating her name as they flew around her, making her laugh nervously.
'Okay, they really like you.' I said, feeling my chest reverberate with a short but deep laugh, before turning serious and pushing her away from me and gripping her tightly by the shoulders so she looked into my face.
'Anyway cosplayer, why the fuck were your laces undone? You know how close that freaking thing was? I'm going to be stapling your freaking shoes to your feet if you're not careful from now on, got it?' She pouted at me and glared slightly as my babies laughed and giggled, repeating her name over and over as I chewed her out for not tying her shoes properly, when the rest of my team and Laxus burst through the clearing to see what had happened.
Flashback Ends
I groaned and cracked open my eyes, hearing Laxus's snoring reverberating around the room like a fucking chainsaw.
I forced myself to sit up and stagger towards the bathroom, shutting the door as I flicked on the electric light and pulled off my mask.
My babies had silently followed me, and hovered beside me as I stared into the mirror at my eyes.
"I like your eyes!"
Her voice echoed in my mind as I stared at the eyes that had cost me so much, forcing my Figure Eyes to the fore, I looked into the luminous green irises that had hurt people, had controlled them, and wondered to myself what she thought was so nice about these eyes.
I felt my babies nudge against me, breaking me from my depressive thoughts.
I sighed deeply, before exiting the bathroom to go and stare at the starlit sky.
'Be careful cosplayer. Something's not right, I can feel it. Just wait till I get there.' I whispered, the moons rays lighting up the dark streets below in a pale glow that made the shadows seem to have forms.
Don't get into trouble till I can bail you out. Please...
Unknown POV
Finally, the dragon slayer was asleep!
Now, I can make my move now!