This is the end! D: For me, that is. This is the last bit of my part!
I can't believe it's over already; they grow up so fast… But at least I know the story is in more than capable hands with toxineena ;)
You won't be getting any more from me. ;o; I really hope you enjoyed the ride as much as I did!
Spotting
"behavior of a fire producing sparks or embers that are carried by the wind and which start new fires beyond the zone of direct ignition"
The leather felt cool beneath her bare thighs, and Lucy shivered involuntarily at the contact.
As she sank back into the padded seat of the cab, the evening passed once more before her mind's eye.
It sure had been an experience in itself.
Certainly the most unusual, exciting, at times even shocking dinner she had ever shared with anyone.
Lucy noticed she was smiling, wide and exhilaratedly.
Natsu had blown her away.
As soon as the thought crossed her mind, she mentally slapped herself. She shouldn't harbour such inappropriate feelings. It just wasn't right.
She sighed heavily, accidentally catching the driver's attention. When he slightly turned his head to check on her, she responded with a tired smile, feeling a little embarassed.
Really, she wasn't acting like herself this evening.
Or maybe… maybe she was.
Maybe she hadn't acted truly like herself in quite a while.
It wasn't like she was pretending to be someone she was not, but work was incredibly stressful lately, even more so ever since she had been promoted. Not only because of the new workload, but also because of the whispers, of people saying she didn't deserve the position she had fought for so determinedly.
Sometimes those words hurt her more than she'd like to admit.
So having an evening like this, where she just had been able to let go of any anxieties, to leave behind the problems that kept coming after her for just a few hours, laughing and joking with Natsu - it had felt like… being free.
Even Jackal, and all the danger he brought with him, had not stopped the feeling of exhilaration. It had made her feel alive.
She'd have to thank him for that one of those days. If she ever worked up the courage, that was.
Or if he sticked around long enough for her to find the words.
She didn't really know if they would meet again after tomorrow. Or whether he'd come at all. Sudden uneasiness gripped her. What if he'd change his mind? What if he didn't show up at all?
But she remembered his strong eyes, so full of fury when he had snarled at Jackal, so full of joy as he had stuffed mouthfuls of food into his face, so full of mirth when he had made fun of her, so full of rage when he turned serious – so full of something more.
They told her she could trust him.
The connection she had felt would have been impossible to spark with only one match. He was the surface she had needed to ignite, and the resulting flame was kept alive by both of them, small still, but not weak.
No matter what she tried, her mind kept orbiting around him.
She'd just have to accept that for now. The memories were still fresh, and her mind was busy sorting and analyzing them all. Her impressions were many, and his behaviour had surprised her more than once.
Would Natsu get home safely?
Lucy sighed, shifting in her comfortable seat. Her way home was far safer than his, after all.
Sure, he had acted all protective, but what if Jackal really was out for revenge, but chose to go after him in the dead of night? She suddenly regretted not calling him a cab, or offering to take him. Walking through the city alone….he had her worried.
She worried about him. Probably more than he did about himself. If she had asked, Lucy mused with a small smile, he would probably have said something along the lines of keh, don't worry, there's no one stronger out there than me anyways!
With a sigh, Lucy leaned her head to the right, resting it against the frame of the car.
She just hoped he'd get home fine.
Lucy peeked out of the window, exhaling against the cool glass.
The city was a sea of lights, passing by and mixing together in a bright blur that seemed to follow along her window, pulled and stretched by the speed of the car until it appeared like glowing white lines.
There was no moon in the sky tonight.
The moon was not shining. The sun's reflection never made it through the blanket of clouds and smog that had settled on the city somewhere along the evening, preventing the moon's glow from breaking through.
Natsu walked along the roadside, occasionally illuminated by the streetlights he passed under, hands in his pockets and his jacket open despite the dropping temperatures.
It was a silent walk, with only the sound of his footsteps on the asphalt accompanying him.
The further he went, the darker it became, and the less streetlights shone to light his way. It was then that a loud, sharp whistle caught his attention, and he snapped his head to the left.
The sound continued on for a short moment, fading slightly, and then there was one loud boomas the sky suddenly was illuminated by a multitude of colours.
Fireworks.
Another joined right after, and soon the nightsky was filled with lights and the sounds of rockets shooting towards the heavens.
Huh, they still did those?
Natsu stood still on his spot on the pavement, watching the spectacle above the roofs of the city as it took place far away, in the very center. Magnolia's annual Summer Rainbow Festival. He'd almost forgotten about it.
When had been the last time he had seen a firework?
Natsu's heart contracted painfully.
He had watched them every year. Ever single one, even after Igneel died. It had become a ritual in a world where everything else continued to fall apart. But prison had been a long way from the city, with fences too high to even hope for a peek into the distance.
Seven years, he had missed them.
His hand moved to his neck, searching for something long gone.
They had taken everything from him. The police were to blame for everything that had gone wrong in his life. He had sworn to hate them until the end of time - and it worked rather well for him.
And yet, here he was - helping one of them out.
He wondered what Igneel would think of that. His father had always talked well about them, telling him how they protected the community, how they meant well, how they would come to protect him if ever he was in need of help.
And then they shot him.
Natsu scowled, baring his teeth at nothing.
An innocent man caught in a crossfire. They had just ended his life, simply because he was in the way. They had called it an accident, but Natsu did not care. They never had cared.
They'd taken Igneel from him.
Igneel had loved fireworks.
He had made them his profession, creating wonders that had left little Natsu speechless. Every festival, every show he had accompanied him to, Natsu would greedily ask questions, sucking up the information Igneel gave him so happily, marveling at the process of creating something so beautiful.
He remembered his old street, the children playing outside when the area had still been a happier place. They'd beg him almost every day, and once in a while Igneel would let himself be swayed, secretly putting on a show just for them. Those had been magical nights.
More and more small trickles of memories came back to him, filling the cracks of his safely constructed wall, widening them until they were broad enough to let a steady runlet flow through.
And then everthing came crashing back at once.
Everything had changed after Igneel was killed.
He remembered the day those people had come, clearing out the entire house while he screamed and raged, ignored by the sturdy men with the hard faces. They had not taken Igneel's scarf though, safely wrapped around Natsu's throat as more and more tears had soaked the material with each of his heartbreaking sobs.
And there was another thing they had not taken. After the police had been done with their questioning, they had confiscated anything potentially harmful in the house - taking away all his precious fireworks. But one thing they did not take. Because they never found it.
The lighter had rested heavily in Natsu's pocket that day, a trophy and a painful reminder alike.
Still, a young child left behind had been the last thing the police needed, too set on sweeping the issue under the rug before anyone could pay it too much attention. He'd been thrown into the back of a police car, where he had continued his futile rebellion, pounding against the window until his little fists had burned from the pain. He had been seven years old.
He remembered how they had taken him to an orphanage, a horrible place that Natsu would never come to call his home. He belonged with Igneel. He had held on to his deluded dream, had believed that, if he could just get out, return to his old home, Igneel would be back there waiting for him, happy and warm and alive. This hope alone had been enough to fuel him. And he escaped.
He remembered Jellal and Erza. How he had stumbled into the place he had once called home, tired and alone, but so full of relief. Relief that turned to burning pain when he found the house as empty as, somewhere deep inside, he had known it would be. Not a trace of Igneel left behind. Instead, he had found two children, much like him, dwelling in the abandoned shack. They had shared their food with him. They had become his new family.
The show was beginning to slow down, nearing its inevitable end. Natsu watched as one last firework slowly made its way skywards, gently exploding into pinks and greens.
He remembered the day everything went wrong again.
Three years later, when he had excitedly presented his very first makeshift firework, one he was going to shoot in honour of Igneel. And he did.
But of course, the makeshift firework of a ten year old was bound to go wrong in all ways imaginable. The worst of all being the fire it created.
It had caught attention - but not necessarily that of the right people. Though at that time, the right people had been whoever could provide food or money. The only thing Natsu had cared about was surviving alongside his family, no matter what means he had to take to make ends meet.
And so they had gotten sucked into a shady business that would, in the end, become their undoing. But until that day came, they had thrived, laughing together as they lived from one day into the next, making a name for themselves in a world where nothing else counted.
Not all their choices had been wise or right, but they had been their choices nonetheless.
The past could not be undone. His choices had made him who he was, and there was not much he regretted.
The sky was black.
Natsu pulled his jacket closer around him, biting back the burning sensation in his eyes.
He turned off the main road, making his way through a maze of backroads on his way to the shithole he called home.
The air was cool now, in the dead of night, and Natsu took a deep breath, letting it cleanse his aching lungs.
Whatever it was that had drawn him to the blonde detective, it felt like… a new start.
And he was in desperate need of something new.
He would carry what he loved with him always, no matter which path he chose to tread.
His hand moved into his pocket, stroking over smooth metal.
Igneel was always with him.
Natsu would live on for the both of them.