I shifted closer to heat source, feeling warm and cozy. I felt a hand on my waist, a thumb moving back and forth against my bare skin. Mmm Sting. I smiled in my half sleep, cuddling into Stings chest.
Then I remembered.
My eyes shot open and I saw a drowsy looking Salamander, his eyes closed but he wasn't really asleep. I didn't move, seeing Happy draped across his side. If I screamed, he would get angry and probably kick me again. I glanced down, my cheeks heating up as I realized I was in nothing but underwear under the blankets, my leg draped over Salamanders hips in a way to intimate way for me. What even happened?!
Wait...Happy fell off the ship, I jumped in...Gray jumped in after us and got us back to the ship...I couldn't feel anything...then a voice telling Salamander to take off my wet clothes. Then there was a lot of heat and I fell asleep.
I looked back up to see onyx eyes gleaming at me. Not in anger or happiness, but what I could only say was interest. Neither of us said anything. Just stared at each other, contemplating the other. I wanted to know what he was thinking. What could I say? What could he say? What exactly were you supposed to say when you wake up half naked cuddled against your worst enemy because he saved your life?
"You know you talk in your sleep." He said suddenly, breaking the silence that had stretched on for what felt like hours. I tensed, not answering as he took a moment. The silence stretched out again before he spoke up again.
"I didn't know you had nightmares about that day too..." He said quietly, his voice husky from the tired state he seemed to be in.
"I...I don't know what you're talking about..." I said slowly, what would mom say if she saw this? He blinked at me
"You were whimpering and at first I thought you were still cold...then you said her name...you said Yukino...then you said sorry...to Lisanna and Yukino..." His voice was slightly strained and I closed my eyes.
"You look pretty without the mask." He said suddenly and I jerked my head up, staring at him with wide eyes as he seemed to mentally slap himself. My hand flew to my face, the mask was gone. Horror gripped in and my insides clenched in dread. I gasped and sat up quickly, startling him as I looked around wildly.
"Where is it?" I asked frantically and he frowned, sitting up slightly, holding Happy. The blanket that had been on us falling off him as well. I paused for half a second, taking in his shirtless form, the tired look in his eyes and messed up hair. I shook my head quickly, pushing those thoughts away I jumped up and out of the bed.
"My mask. Where is it?" I asked again, forgetting the fact of my lack of attire. He glanced at me, up and down before locking his gaze with mine.
"You lost it in the ocean." He said calmly and I froze, staring at him intently.
"Wh-what?" I asked and he frowned slightly.
"You lost it when you jumped into the water." He explained and I stiffly walked back over and flopped down on the bed, my shoulders slumping, my back towards him as I took a shaky breath, tears pricking at my eyes.
"What's the big deal? Can't you just get another?" He asked and I took a deep breath.
"It was my mothers..."
"Well...you're gonna see her soon, can't you explain what happened to her?" He asked and I snapped my head towards him, scowling.
"That's not funny." I snapped quietly, mindful of the sleeping exceed. Salamander furrowed his brows.
"What?"
"My mother is dead. No need to rub it in. And now I've lost the only other thing I had of her. Besides my keys which you took." I said, heartbreak filling my voice as I looked down at my lap. There was a moment of silence before I felt the bed shift. Suddenly warm arms were around me and my breath hitched slightly, his lips and nose against my shoulder.
"Wh-what are you doing?" I asked and he squeezed me a bit tighter.
"Comforting you." He said quietly and I stilled, taking in his words. This was different. He wasn't mad at me or being a douche, kicking or threatening me. He was comforting me. Not even Sting comforted me, he would tell me to suck it up. It was weird...but I liked it. No matter how stupid it sounded I felt safe in his arms, like at that moment nothing would hurt me. I hadn't felt like this since we were kids. If I was scared or upset he would hug me really tight until I felt better. His grip tightened on me slightly.
"Do you remember..." I asked quietly, hoping he would understand what I meant. He was silent for a minute.
"Yeah...I remember...but that's the past." He said quietly and a door opened. We both froze, me remembering what I was wearing. I looked up, red covering my face as I saw his first and second mate in the doorway, both staring in shock.
"Shit-" Salamander muttered before suddenly I was grabbed off the bed, turned and held tightly against Erza, squeaking as she hid my body but had me pressed against her cold armor as Gray hit Salamander hard on the head.
"What the hell you perv!" Gray shouted and Salamander rubbed his head, glaring at the other boy.
"What do you mean? I didn't do anything! I was just doing what Wendy told me to do!" The pinkette exclaimed.
"I'm pretty sure Wendy didn't tell you to molest her!" My eyes widened as Salamander growled and tackled Gray, both of them rolling over and punching, yelling out lame insults. Erza ignored them and handed me my waist coat.
"Sorry, but Natsu ripped your corset when he was trying to warm you up." She explained and I slowly nodded, buttoning my waist coat to cover myself. She caught me off guard by giving me a friendly smile.
"I spoke to some of the other girls around your size. I've got something for you that you can wear that's like what you had." She explained and I slowly returned the smile.
"Thank you, besides...wearing the same thing for over a week is actually pretty gross." I said and she chuckled.
"I agree, come with me, I'll take you into my room and let you take a shower, I'll give you fresh clothes." She said and I grinned.
"Thank you Erza." She nodded.
"No problem Princess Lucy." She said formally as we started walking to the door.
"Oh no, it's Captain Lucille, you can call me Lucille for now." I said and she nodded.
"I didn't know if should say Captain or Princess, I felt like I might insult you if I didn't title you with one, my apologies if I insulted you anyway." She said and I shook my head.
"Don't worry, I'm far from what you would call a Princess." I laughed lightly and she eyed me from the corner of her eye, leading me into the room and out of the cold air.
"And yet you are a Princess." She stated, the door closing. I had walked in front of her, my head turning so that my chin was even with my shoulder. It was my turn to eye her with the one showing.
"I may not know you well, but I know you're smart enough to know that blood isn't really thicker than water. Water is thickened by blood. I may have been born a Princess and once upon a time I loved it. But we all have our place in this world and mine is at the helm of my ship with my Dragon Slayer, not on a throne." I said, my fist on my hips. She watched me as I spoke and when I finished she chuckled softly, a slight grin on her face.
"I believe everyone should choose their own path." She said, not disagreeing but not agreeing either. She pointed to a door and I followed her finger.
"The bathroom is in there, try not to take to long because we only have a limited amount of clean water in our magic hold. We need to refill it at the next stop." She explained and I nodded.
"Oh I know that pain. I suggest you try to find a water mage, Juvia used ocean water and she could separate all the bad stuff from the water, one simple cleansing spell later and we were all refilled." I told her and she looked thoughtful.
"Huh...interesting...by the way there's another door on the other side. That leads to Gray's room so lock the door. I don't feel comfortable with a pretty teenager girl in the shower and having two hormonal boy teenagers having access to it." She said bluntly and I dead panned.
"Oh? Yeah no problem." I said before she nodded and turned away, walking out. I let out a sigh and went into the bathroom, quickly locking the other door as she instructed. I looked in the mirror that had a little bit of messed up edges, surprised to see my reflection after not seeing it in around two weeks. My hair looked nasty and my skin felt dry. Although to my surprise, the dark circles that were usually under my eyes, covered by my mask were lighter than usual, and I didn't have bags either. Hm. Maybe I should jump into freezing water more often for a good sleep.
I chuckled to myself at how hilarious I was, taking off my waist coat, realizing I hadn't put on shoes. I hung my waist coat on a hook and slipped out of the lacy blue underclothes, turning to look in the mirror again. My black Sabertooth mark on my chest, just under my collar bone showing proudly. I brushed my hand over it before walking over an fiddling with the knobs before figuring it out.
I turned the water on and held my hand under it, only waiting a few seconds before it was warm. I climbed in and almost moaned at the hot water going down my body and over my head. I closed my eyes for a moment in complete bliss before I remembered they had a limited amount of water left. I opened my eyes, looking around I saw two racks, with different soaps and shampoos. I bit my lip, hoping Erza wouldn't mind. I grabbed the shampoo that was clearly hers and massaged it into my scalp and all throughout my hair, scrubbing hard to get all the oils and sea salt out before rinsing it all out, grabbing the conditioner and sifting it through my hair, putting my hair in a bun once it was coated in conditioner. I peeked out of the shower curtain and saw that clothes had been placed on the toilet along with a towel, a razor and shaving cream, I chewed my lip and hopped out, tiptoeing quickly I grabbed the razor the shaving cream, grabbing a clean washcloth off the sink and jumping back into the shower. I wet the cloth and put soap on it, scrubbing every part of my body, determined to get all the sweat, ocean water, oily dirty crap I could feel on my skin off. I rinsed my body, washed the cloth and then repeated it again, only feeling satisfied after that second scrub. I plugged the drain, letting the tub fill up only a little before stopping the water, sitting on the edge and running the shaving cream all the way up my legs, hurrying with the razor but being careful not to cut myself, twisting this way and that so I didn't miss any grossly long hair. This is what happens when I'm kidnapped. I get nasty.
I unplugged the clean and turned the water on again, rinsing my legs and letting my hair down, running my hands through it to get all the conditioner out of it and smirking, loving how it was silky once again, although I needed a few split ends cut. To bad I couldn't call Cancer. I quickly ran the razor under my underarms, sighing in relief at the once again smooth skin. I sighed and turned off the water, ringing my hair out and wiping most of the water off me with my hands, flicking my wrist to get it off before I stepped out and grabbed the towel. I ran it through my hair wildly, rubbing my hair between my hands with the towel over it before drying of my body, staying hunched over as I went back to drying my hair.
Eventually it wasn't dripping and so I dried my back, standing up and wrapping the towel around me. I heard a knock on the door then Erza's voice.
"Lucy? Feel free to use the lotion in there, you seemed uncomfortable with the dry skin. Oh and the underclothes in there are new~ well not new but they haven't been used before so yeah." She explained and I looked around. Well at least there's one person who knows what a girl needs. I thought.
"Alright...thanks Erza!" She didn't reply but I assumed she nodded and I heard her walk away. I looked around for the lotion she was talking about and almost squealed. She had the special edition strawberry vanilla twist and it wasn't even open! I had the same kind, tons of it actually on my ship. Sting always teased me about it but I had always loved it and he said it blended with my natural smell nicely so he never argued.
I dropped the towel, grabbing the lotion and rubbing it all over my body. The reason the lotion was special addition was because it had a potion in it that helped make your skin look even, moisturized and really soft. And as an extra bonus it slowed hair from growing. I sighed happily and rubbed it on my clean face blissfully before walking to the toilet, pulling on the clothes that actually fit me rather nicely, really snug. I looked at myself in the mirror, the corset was actually really nice but it was different than mine in the fact that it had sleeves and a color that clung to my neck, no pressure on it though, it was still a heart shaped top so you could see my collarbones and the top of my breast like my other corset, my Saber mark showing proudly. I needed to know who's clothes these were because they had good taste, the corset being warm when it was a trick corset that didn't squeeze the life out of you and could move in.
I grabbed my waist coat and unlocked the door to Grays room before opening the door to Erzas, walking in. She was on her bed, reading. She looked up at me and took a moment to access me.
"You look very nice, I wouldn't go outside with wet hair though." She said and I nodded before cocking my head.
"Can you cut hair?" I asked and looked at me in surprise.
"I can't...none of the girls on the ship can sadly and we're all planning on getting something done when we stop. We're all over due." She said and I thought for a moment.
"I have a spirit who loves cutting hair, I could call him if you gave me my keys." I said and she gave me a sharp look.
"Do you take me for an idiot?" She asked and I shook my head.
"Not at all. How about you just give me the specific key, once I summon him I'll...hand it back." I said with quite some effort. She gave me a suspicious look.
"I've been told celestial wizards always keep their promises. So promise this isn't a trick." She said and I nodded, using my finger to cross an X over my Sabertooth mark.
"I promise as a celestial wizard and on my mark of Sabertooth. I'm not tricking you and I won't run once I get my keys...while I'm in your care." I finished and she narrowed her eyes before nodding, standing up and walking over to a drawer, unlocking it. My eyes lit up as I saw my keys, happiness flowing through my body as she held them out.
"Forgive me but I'll take your word as a celestial wizard." She said and my hand clamped around the pouch of keys. I nearly ripped it open and giggled happily, ignoring the door that opened as I ran my fingers over my keys, the cold metal soothing me. They all shimmered under my touch and I relaxed, running my finger over Loke's key a bit longer than the others. It glowed gently and I got his message.
Thank God you're alright, I'm all healed now I'll be ready for your call my love.
I giggled at his message and shook my head.
"I'm alright Loke." I said, not caring that Erza and whoever else walked in probably thought I was crazy. I pulled out Cancers key, flipping it in my hand and smirking, looking at Erza who watched me carefully with her hand at her sword, Happy by her shoulder, eating a fish.
"Open! Gate of the Giant Crab! Cancer!" I yelled, swiping my key up and to the side before twisting it. A soft golden light appeared before my Crab spirit appeared in front of me, sniping his scissors.
"Where ya been, baby? You missed your hair appointment." He said, looking at me through his glasses. I smiled shyly.
"Things came up, but can you do mine and a...friends hair?" I asked and a ghost of a smile crossed his lips.
"No problem baby." He said and I grinned, hopping into the chair he suddenly put down. Erza watched in fascination as he snipped at my hair, making light talk with me as he took off any split ends and restyled it the way I always had it. He snipped his scissors and stepped away.
"All done." He said and I got up, grinning and looking in the mirror at my now dry, silky looking hair.
"Thanks Cancer! Can you start on Erza?" I asked and he nodded. I pulled on my waist coat, keeping it unbuttoned.
"Hey Lucile...thanks for saving me yesterday. I would be a goner if you hadn't had been there." Happy said shyly and I grinned, ruffling his fur on the top of his head.
"It's no problem, besides no one else saw it and I didn't want you to drown on me." I laughed and he grinned.
"Oh my, Lucile your spirit is amazing!" Erza exclaimed and I turned, smiling at the redhead who had gotten her split ends cut off and her hair cleaned up. I smiled and opened my mouth to say something but closed it when the door opened and cold wind went through.
I turned and saw Salamander, standing the doorway, looking gruff and in his full outfit, not the relaxed one as before. He had cold eyes and a scowl on his face, it deepening when he saw my keys.
"Why does she have her keys?" He asked Erza, as if I wasn't even here.
"She won't run. Besides I see it as her keys are a part of her. You can't take something from someone for too long." Erza replied, unwavering. He grunted slightly and looked at Happy.
"Alright. Let's go. We're at the dock and I want to get the ship out of here before the sun rises so we're heading out early." He said and I stilled, all happiness leaving my body. I felt my face go pale and I felt Cancer behind me.
"This guy giving you a problem baby?" He asked and I chewed on my lip. I couldn't break my promise. I sighed and shook my head.
"No...there's no problem…" I trailed off for a moment, looking at Salamander then back at cancer before reaching up, saying into Cancer's ear quietly.
"Tell Loke and Taurus to be ready to go at any time." I said and he nodded before disappearing, a golden shimmer left behind. I slowly turned, strapping my keys to my belt and looked at Salamander again, noticing he had my sword and two guns around his waist along with his usual sword. I narrowed my eyes slightly but said nothing.
"Natsu-" Erza started to say but he shook his head, grabbing my arm rather tightly. I bit my lip to keep from hissing and didn't retaliate, letting him force me out the door and onto the middle of the ship. My lip twitched but I held my head high at all the stares I got. I used my free hand, accepting my hat that Happy offered to me and placed it on my head, thankful for some form of barrier.
"Alright! The party will be Erza, Happy, Gray, Cana and myself!" He called out and there were nods from the names he called out and groans from the ones he didn't. "Freed!" He yelled and a man with long green hair stepped forward, in a classy looking waistcoat, two different types of swords at his waist.
"Captain?" He said, his voice low and calm.
"You're in charge, refill the ship and keep peoples eyes off the ship." Salamander ordered and he nodded.
"We're leaving in five minutes! Those of you who I called be ready!" He said and I glanced at him as he let go, wrapping his hair in a bandana and putting a hat over it. He glowered at me and I raised a brow.
"What are you looking at?" He snapped bitterly and my eyes narrowed. Two can play at that game.
"Nothing." I spat back and he pushed his face closer to mine, trying to intimidate me but I held my ground.
"Really because it looked like you were staring at me."
"I was, my statement remains." I said back and he pulled away, his nostrils flaring before-
"Captain, we're ready to leave." A girl said. I looked at her, realizing she was the one of the girls who I fought the day I was captured. She seemed really pretty.
"Alright, lets go." He said, looking at me dangerously. I rolled my eyes as he grabbed my arm and dragged me after him.
-edited version-