Part 3
Lucy rolled up her sleeves as she made her way towards the shed behind the house. Natsu had left to find them something to eat, and she decided to do something productive with herself in the meantime.
The air had finally begun to cool—she guessed it must be around late August—and while she loved the old house they found sanctuary in, she was finding it more difficult to ignore the state of it. Just last week Natsu had broken through the stairs while going to fetch something from the attic at her request. She had heard a crash and a yelp and ran to assess the damage, but the only thing hurt in the fiasco was the step and his pride. Now that the weather was more agreeable, she figured she could start by removing some of the ivy from the front of the house.
The old shed door stuck when she tugged on it, but after some stubborn wiggling and an unladylike grunt Lucy found her way inside. It was in worse shape than the house, but she figured it was pretty low on her list of priorities, especially when she thought she heard tiny footsteps shuffling around the dark space. Rolling up her sleeves, she began searching for any tool that might work. She briefly wondered whether it might've been easier to ask Natsu to simply cut the ivy with his claws, but shook her head at the thought. She'd been restless, lately, and this was the perfect way to settle that.
Lucy's cheeks warmed when she contemplated the cause of her excess energy. Just that morning she'd woken yet again to find Natsu in her bed, his wings hanging off the side and an arm slung across her middle. The past month or so had been completely different than the first, where the two of them were concerned. He couldn't seem to stop touching her, and she didn't think he realized it half the time. When they sat together, he pressed up against her side. When they explored, he held her hand. Any time he passed her, he would brush his hand against her shoulder, or her hip, or her cheek.
The kisses were a bonus to all this. She liked the touches, innocent as they were, but she loved the way her heart fluttered and adrenaline rushed through her veins when their lips connected. Just today, he kissed her before leaving, and she planned on returning the favor when he came back. And at night, when he sneaks in her bed and she's not yet fallen asleep, they find each other in the darkness and stay that way as if they had all the time in the world. Of course, it never went any farther than that before they succumbed to sleep, cuddled together. She never had the nerve to initiate anything more, and he seemed content with things as they were.
It didn't bother her. What they had was good, and true.
Yet she was helpless to the foreign warmth that grew in her stomach on nights like that.
Pain shot to her brain, breaking her out of her reverie. She inhaled quickly through her teeth and cradled her arm, glaring at the nail sticking out of the wall. Making a face, she dragged her hair wrap from her head and carefully wrapped the fabric once, then twice around the cut. That's what I get for daydreaming about Natsu, she thought wryly. Glancing back at the bloody nail, she noticed a small pair of shears just beneath it.
"Aha!"
Injury forgotten, she grabbed the tool and left the shed, smiling softly as the sun warmed her face. She made it to the front of the house, and set to work.
Lucy had dismissed the concept of time since returning to this place, besides the basic rhythm of meals and sleep, but twenty minutes couldn't have passed and she was already sweating through her shirt. Just then, a breeze swept past her, and she involuntarily shivered.
Crack.
Lucy froze in place. The sound was distant, and not unheard of in their pocket in the forest, but the muffled voices were. She slowly lowered her shears and held them behind her back in a tight grip, palming the keys at her side warily.
The voices came from around the side of the house, and four figures appeared. The first sported wicked green hair, complete with a Dali mustache and a monocle, and to his right a man seemed to be profusely sweating under a wine red overcoat, but his two-toned black and white hair was what truly set him apart. As they rounded the corner, Lucy could hear his annoyed mumbling. "…information is wrong again, you won't have another chance."
"The second I'm outta' this collar, fire freak, you'll be regretting all these threats." The man with the blinking, metallic collar looked worse for wear, but no less intimidating with his piercings and fanged grimace. His arm was held in a strong grip by the biggest man Lucy had ever seen, and was he wearing a blindfold?
She couldn't process much more than an initial glance, but the magic energy that hummed in the air made her tense, grating against her like a dissonant note. She didn't have time to react—the monocle man stopped in his tracks when he saw her; the grin that spread across his face sent a shiver down her spine.
"Aha! It looks like we were wrong for doubting you, Gajeel." The pierced man—Gajeel—only looked more grave as opposed to the other three. "Miss Heartfilia, I presume?"
She tried to keep her voice steady, although her whole body screamed danger. "What are you doing here?"
The black and white haired man cocked his head and replied, "Why, we're here to take you home, princess."
"Don't call me that," she bit out, taking a step back.
The first took a step forward. "Now Lucy, if you come along with us nicely I promise we'll be gentle." There was that smile again. Hell no.
Her pulse jumped in her throat when he reached out to grab her, moving quicker than expected, but she slashed him with the shears before he could touch her.
"Ah!" He retreated just as quickly, and tenderly touched his face, hissing when he reached the cut. The grin was gone, but adrenaline coursed through Lucy's veins. She wouldn't go anywhere without a fight, although she feared the odds if Natsu did not come back soon.
She jumped as the man called Gajeel barked a laugh, but couldn't focus on that as she dodged another grab from the green haired one. He stopped and seemed to collect himself before the magic energy spiked, prickling against her skin. The ground rumbled beneath her, and she knew she was out of time.
Lucy grabbed a key off her keychain with her free hand and held it in front of her, squeezing her eyes, and whispered, "please."
Golden light seared through her eyelids and she fell backwards to the ground with an oof, dropping the shears. When she opened her eyes, she saw what looked like a spirit crouching in front of her, enveloped in the same glow. No, it seemed as though he was the source of it.
Lucy could only stare when he turned his head and said, "I wish we could've met under other circumstances, but it's a pleasure, princess." She didn't have half a mind to correct the title, and he continued without pause. "I don't have much time, but you'll be okay, I promise. The name's Loki, but you know me by—"
"Leo," she whispered.
He flashed her a dazzling smile before turning back around. Apparently he was serious about the rush, because the other man couldn't blink before Leo attacked with that brilliant light. She hardly registered the way Gajeel reached out to grab the black and white haired man before he stepped in, instead entranced with the fight in front of her. The blasts overwhelmed the other mage, and sounded like thunder throughout the forest, echoing across the mountains. Lucy could hardly keep up with her eyes, and she couldn't help but wonder at this incredible power. Is this what my mom could do? Is this what I could do?
In what felt like hours but could only be seconds, Loki slowed down, breathing heavily. His light started fading, and he glanced quickly at her, eyebrows knitted in concern. A wave of nausea and fatigue washed over her suddenly, and she groaned at the feeling. Her lion reached out to her and his lips moved to say her name, but he winked out of existence before her eyes.
Dazed, she pushed herself up on shaking limbs, barely noticing the flash of blue fire in front of her and the following grunt of pain. She could feel, with annoying clarity, when the smaller mage grabbed her arm and dragged her towards the giant of a man, spitting something about surprises and heat and Sol. Panic spiked through her when her vision returned, albeit blearily, and she was face to face with the other two mages. They were really going to take her away from here, from her dream, from—
An idea popped in her head. She took a deep breath, and screamed.
"Natsu!"
The mage holding her put his sweaty hand over her mouth. "Will you shut—"
A magnificent roar cut through the air, and the giant mage turned his head slightly. "What is that?"
Lucy bit the hand that covered her mouth and took advantage of her captor's surprise to spit out, "That's my boyfriend, you assholes."
Her eyes met Gajeel's for a moment, but he looked to the side in rapid succession. Her eyebrows furrowed together before she thought to follow his line of sight, and when she did she saw that the large mage was holding something in the hand that wasn't caging Gajeel. She narrowed her eyes, then widened them when she realized the small device looked like an electric key. Its blinking red light matched that around the pierced mage's neck. Hmm.
But Lucy's thoughts screeched to a standstill when the mage holding her gripped her even tighter, surely bruising her skin. At that moment, Natsu appeared above the tree tops in a blazing fury. Literally blazing. Fire enveloped his skin and wings and his eyes shone with unparalleled anger when he saw the arm around her waist.
"Natsu!" she cried as the heat grew uncomfortably strong.
He landed a few yards ahead of her, charring the grass around his feet. He looked… dangerous. His red scales seemed to have multiplied, covering most of his skin, and his horns had certainly grown, unless Lucy was imagining things. Her head still spun from the magic energy she expelled earlier, so it was not unlikely. And he was still on fire.
That did not seem to bother him, however, as he stalked forward with a menacing growl. Lucy squeaked in surprise as the mage threw her behind him and said, "I've got this one, Aria."
Aria ignored this and instead spoke softly, "You said nothing of a watch dog, Gajeel."
Gajeel only grunted in response, tugging in vain at the strong hand around his bicep. "Didn't realize he'd be another fire licker," he muttered.
As if on cue, the air warmed dangerously as both fire mages clashed, blue against red and yellow flames. Lucy gaped at the fight, eyes barely following the two as Natsu clawed and the other dodged. She might've imagined those huge wings of his would slow his movements, but they only helped keep his balance as he attacked ruthlessly.
The battle was unevenly matched; this much was clear. Natsu was both stronger and quicker, and although the other mage could misdirect some of his fire, he could not handle all of it. His attacks grew messier, and he knew it. In a desperate attempt, he turned and threw a blast of colorful fire towards Lucy.
Her eyes widened and she hardly had time to cover her face with her arms, whole body tensed for the pain. But when she felt no burn, she slowly opened her eyes to find herself covered in shadow. There Natsu stood, wings fanned out in front of her, looking every bit the part of an avenging angel. He turned his head, not quite looking at her, and said, "Are you okay, Luce?"
Heart pounding, she breathed out, "I'm fine."
She could hear him breath out heavily, then face his opponent once more. "You're gonna pay for that," he growled.
Lucy leaned to the right to get a glimpse at the other mage, who seemed to realize his fatal flaw, if his pale skin and gaping mouth was any indicator.
Natsu ran towards him and launched a series of ferocious attacks with both fire and claws.
"Hey, blondie."
Lucy struggled to tear her gaze from the battle, but when she did she saw that the stoic mage called Aria had lost a touch of his calm demeanor as he watched his teammate attempt to ward off Natsu's anger. Yet he hadn't spoken. She turned to look at Gajeel, who said, "Could use your help, any day now," and glanced again at the control in Aria's other palm. Right.
She didn't know this man, but she figured they at least had a common enemy. Lucy pushed off the ground and sprinted towards the shears she dropped earlier, picked them up, and—oh spirits, they were hot, hot, hot—she thrust them towards Aria's face.
He caught her wrist before she reached him, but not without dropping the blinking control first. In a split second, she grabbed the faux key with her other hand and pressed the first button she found. She heard a click and a dark chuckle, and barely thought to duck before an iron bar flew towards the massive mage's head.
Taking advantage Aria's pain, she ripped her arm from his grasp and shuffled away from the new fight. That iron was the pierced guy's arm? She felt lightheaded.
Looking down, she realized that her head wrap had fallen off somewhere during the skirmish, and her arm was bleeding again.
Two others realized it at the same time. She heard Gajeel mutter, "Aw, shit," just before another roar shook the nearby trees. Yellow fire blazed higher than before, but then she blinked and it diminished a touch as her dragon began to stalk towards her.
"Hey smoke breath! Give me a hand first. This guy's after her too," Gajeel yelled, still locked in combat.
Natsu joined him after a moment's hesitation, and the two overwhelmed Aria. Lucy tried to watch, but her vision was too blurry to make sense of anything. It was just so hot. She fell slowly to the ground and held herself up on shaking arms. In her daze, she recalled what that first mage said. They were here to take her home. Home? But she was home.
Wait.
She squeezed her eyes shut as the realization washed over her. Her father—her father hired these people. To drag her back to him. To fulfill the contract. Oh, she was going to be sick.
Her thoughts were racing so much, she didn't hear when the forest hushed. So when she whimpered, it was the only sound in a mile radius.
"Lucy!"
She felt a warm arm wrap around her back as a hand caressed her face, mindful of his claws. She opened her eyes to find Natsu staring down at her, eyebrows creased in worry, and sighed gently. Natsu wouldn't let them take her, she knew. He told her so himself.
Lucy belatedly registered Gajeel's voice, "—supported one of the twelve zodiacs—not used to—drained her reserves—"
Natsu responded something about a spring, all the while staring into her eyes. She could get lost in those eyes.
He held her closer, and choked out, "Lucy, are you okay? Lucy, please."
She smiled at him, her sweet dragon, and managed to say, again, "I'm fine." She was, starting now. At least she did not feel as nauseous.
He whined softly and continued to smooth her hair back, for which she was entirely grateful. Lucy swore she wasn't vain, but she must look like a wreck now.
A few moments passed before she heard Gajeel return, and he approached her with a small bowl of water. He did not get very far, though, before Natsu growled in warning, the vibrations rumbling through her chest.
"Easy, killer. I smelled your scent on her from a mile away. 'Sides, I've got a girl of my own back at the guild." Still, he did not move any closer until the growling ceased, and Lucy gratefully took the bowl and drank her fill, hiding her blush.
"Why are you here, anyways?" Natsu asked with a guarded tone. Lucy set the bowl aside and sat up slowly, although Natsu kept his hand at her back to support her.
"I was on an undercover mission with my partner to infiltrate the dark guild where these bastards came from. We were found out. Juvia—my partner—was able to escape, but they got that damned collar around my neck 'fore I could make a break for it too. Suppressed my magic." He shuddered in disgust. "Thanks for helping me out with that, blondie," he said, looking pointedly at Lucy. She shrugged. "Anyways, those clowns were sent to find you, and they used me in order to sniff ya out."
Lucy bristled at the mention of the mission, remembering her father, and Natsu tensed in response. "So why are you still here?" he asked with a hint of warning.
Gajeel raised an eyebrow and said, "Yer welcome for the assistance, by the way." When Natsu stayed silent, he rolled his eyes before directing his attention to Lucy. "I know a gal who can raise the spirits same as you. She could help you figure that out, I bet. And as for you," he said, looking at Natsu again, "it's not often I find another dragon slayer. Makarov'd be thrilled to meet ya."
"Dragon slayer?" Natsu mumbled at the same time that Lucy asked, "she could help me bring Leo back?"
"A thousand times, and then some." Gajeel affirmed. "If you two came with me, I could introduce you to my guild."
"That's incredible!" Lucy gasped, energy pouring back into her with this new revelation. She smiled brightly then turned to face Natsu, who was looking intently at her. Her smile wilted slightly when she saw the scar on his neck, an ugly reminder. She turned back to Gajeel. "But I think we'll just—"
"We'll come with you."
Lucy startled, and looked back at Natsu. He smiled, and said, "It's alright, Lucy. We should go."
"But what about, what about…"
He glanced up at Gajeel before returning to her. "If he's accepted there, I'm sure I'll be fine too." She was unconvinced, and he could tell. "Listen, Luce, you've been wondering about those keys since you got 'em. If this lady can teach you how to use them, well, I can't let you pass that up. It'd make you happy." He lowered his voice, and continued, "I think she'd be happy, too."
Lucy knew who he was talking about, and the ghost of a tear wet her eyes.
"Besides, it'll be getting cold soon, and I know you won't like that out here."
She laughed once, then nodded slowly. "Okay," she replied, "let's do it." And then her face lit up with a new thought. "But since when can you breathe fire?!"
He drew back with this sudden shift in conversation, eyebrows lifted to his hairline. "I, well… I didn't want to, uh, scare you off…"
She rolled her eyes and smacked him playfully. "Is this why you've been burning all of our food?"
He looked positively offended. "That's not—"
Gajeel cleared his throat, and the two jolted when they remembered they were not alone.
"Listen, I'm glad you decided to come along, but I really do want to finish this shitty mission and get back to my lady before the sun sets. I'll wrap these guys up and you two can pack up whatever you need—half an hour, tops. How's that sound?"
Lucy looked at Natsu, who smiled encouragingly to her, and smiled back in response. "We can do that."
"Alright then." Gajeel began to make his way to the unconscious mages but didn't make it very far before Lucy's voice stopped him.
"What's it called, anyways? Your guild, I mean."
Gajeel turned around and grinned in pride before shifting to reveal the tattoo on his shoulder.
"Fairy Tail."
This feels like more of a beginning than an ending and I like it that way. Fairy Tail AU where Gajeel helps save Lucy when he first meets her and is open about his feelings towards Levy and Natsu is a beautiful, fiery creature with wings and a soft heart and Lucy is a badass as always. What ensues? Friendship, family, love, and adventure, of course ;) The specifics are up to you. This is as close to angst as I could get lol. I hope you enjoyed it! And I'll shed a happy tear for each comment I receive :'D (special thanks to Daisy Rhine, CosmicDragonWizard, Plshelpmemytacofell (lol), Guest, and SingStar234 for feeding me with your words)
Once again, this wouldn't be here if it weren't for dragon-shield-maiden, formerly known as cosmicdragonwizard. This one's for you.