A/N: Hope you all enjoy this fairly light-hearted chapter!
Disclaimer: I do not own Fairy Tail. Trigger warning, there for a reason.
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Concern clouded the dragon slayer's obsidian eyes as he watched his best friend absently stroke Happy's fur. He offered her a warm, encouraging smile. Loudly, Lucy's stomach growled. The smell of sizzling bacon wafted through the kitchen.
Levy giggled at the blush forming on Lucy's cheeks. "Lu-chan, I'm glad to see that you're hungry."
The celestial mage cast her eyes downward. "Mm, yeah," she replied shyly. Levy began to lob food onto plates. The scribe had outdone herself. Onto each dish she placed a mountain of eggs, fluffy with steam lazily rising from them. Following that was a thick stack of buttered pancakes, smothered in fresh strawberries and then came the thick slices of bacon, cooked flawlessly. The scribe finished up by pouring coffee into mugs and placing everything in front of her friends.
"Whoa!" Happy gasped, staring wide eyed at the food. "Levy!" The exceed proceeded to shovel his meal by the spoonful into his mouth.
Natsu followed suit, cramming a giant hunk of pancake into his gullet. "Thanksh Levy," he garbled through his full mouth.
Ezra was quite a bit more refined, delicately cutting a strawberry into small slices before placing them into her mouth. "It is quite wonderful," she commented with a smile, blotting her lips with the corner of a napkin.
"Thanks, Lev'," Lucy said, not as enthusiastic as Natsu would have expected her to normally be. It seemed no one else read into her tone as she picked meekly at the contents of her plate. The dragon slayer swallowed his current mouthful before discreetly nudging her leg underneath the bar. Her deep brown eyes shot him a glance and subtly she nodded. "Gajeel is one lucky guy," the celestial wizard said, smiling at her blue haired comrade.
"I'm glad you think so, Lu-chan. I feel like I'm the lucky one though." She blushed and took a sip of her coffee, hiding the ridiculous grin plastered onto her face. "I enjoy cooking for you guys though, you don't eat the silverware!"
"Lucy is correct," the red head agreed. "You're far too good for that metal head. He better realize that."
Levy beamed.
"Where is Gajeel anyway?" Lucy questioned.
"Ah, he and Pantherlily went out to meditate this morning under the waterfall not too far from here in the forest. You know how they are."
"Aye," Happy nodded, his face sticky with syrup. "Lucy," he added, twisting his head around to look at the blonde from the position on her lap. "Are you feeling better yet?"
"Mm, no not quite," she said truthfully.
"Oh," the cat sounded dejected. "Well, if you want I can go catch you a big fish! Or, when I see Carla today we can have Wendy come by and see if she can heal you."
It had been several years since Natsu had brought Lucy to Magnolia for the first time. The ups and downs Fairy Tail had experienced never seemed to really cease. Gildarts now took on the role of master, though he insisted everyone keep referring to Makarov as such. Many more wizards had passed the S Class trials and their guild still held proudly onto their number one guild in Fiore title. Of course, their Sabretooth friends were always close on their heels. Wendy Marvel, the sky dragon slayer had grown into a very strong mage and a beautiful woman. Using the gift taught by Grandeeney, and with the aid of Porlyusica, she'd managed to become an S Class wizard at a very young age.
She'd honed her offensive spells to deal massive amounts of damage but where she really shined, as she always had, was through her support spells. Wendy was by far one of the toughest healers in all of Fiore and people outside of their continent even took pilgrimages to seek out her talents. So it was natural for Happy to suggest Lucy ask Wendy to heal whatever was ailing her but a shadow cast over her eyes as she dipped her head down shamefully.
"Erm, no Happy," she stated calmly. "No, don't bother Wendy. I'll be fine. I don't think this is something she could help with anyway."
"Well, alright," the Exceed replied with a shrug, turning back to his plate. Luckily, the cat didn't pry any further.
However, tension crawled across the face of the weapon meister, her fork frozen in the air, forgotten. Her eyes shifted to Lucy as a scowl graced her features. Titania was stunning in every situation but the suspicion radiated off her in waves. Natsu's anxiety began to rise. He knew that his best friend wasn't ready to be confronted, by anyone, about her current state. Erza's red lips began to form an O as she began to speak.
In a panic, Natsu did the first thing he could think of. With a flash of brilliance the dragon slayer threw his arms out, as if going to stretch, and purposefully collided with both his, and Erza's piping hot mugs of coffee, flinging them off the bar and straight into the red head.
Brown liquid shot everywhere. The glasses bounced from Erza's lap and landed on the floor with a sickening crash. Sharp debris scattered over the floor like little needles made of porcelain. Happy shrieked and launched into the air, his hair fluffed out against his tail. Levy's hands clasp over her lips, hazel eyes wide with disbelief.
Lucy sat, stunned, her gaze darting back and forth between the two mages.
Erza Scarlet calmly placed her drenched napkin onto the plate in front of her. Red blotches were appearing across her torso where the coffee had scalded her. Very light drops of blood oozed from her ankle where glass had left her with a small cut on her Achilles' tendon. The pink haired wizard lowered his head, preparing for the onslaught.
The barstool hissed across the ground as Erza pushed away from the counter. "Lucy, be a dear and help me with this glass," she said sweetly, much too pleasantly.
Lucy squeaked as the requip mage addressed her and quickly leapt from her seat, rushing over to grab a couple of dish towels to begin mopping up the mess.
Extending a slender arm to the side, Erza began to faintly glow. A sharp rapier materialized into her grasp. Her casual attire of a tank top and acid-washed jeans disappeared and was replaced by her traditional Heart Kruez armor. A vein bulged in her temple as she closed her eyes, gauntlet tightening against the hilt of her blade.
Like a deer caught in headlights, Natsu scrutinized his companion. He swallowed the nervous jitters that were trying to escape his throat. Stiffening his resolve, the dragon slayer straightened his posture and looked into the smoldering chocolate eyes of Erza Scarlet. "I'm sorry, Erza," he said genuinely.
Her eyebrow twitched as she glared the male down. She gritted her teeth, jawline trembling with rage.
Lucy observed from the spot on the floor where she kneeled, drying up coffee and sweeping shards of glass into the bin Levy had retrieved. Erza remained silent, only the sound of the celestial wizard and scribe disposing of the shattered mug echoing through the kitchen.
In a blur of speed Erza flipped her sword around to the blunted side and in an arcing sweep smashed the cold, hard steel across Natsu's abdomen effectively knocking the wind from his lungs. He sunk to the floor on his knees, rasping and clutching his stomach. "Apology accepted," the redhead murmured as her sword evaporated and her armor was once more replaced with clothes designed more for comfort than battle.
For the next several minutes as the women cleaned up the mess Natsu had made he writhed on the ground. The blade had left a nasty, thick red line across his stomach that was sure to bruise even the dragon slayer. Still, Erza had held back; her temper only slightly having won out to the concern of her teammate. As if nothing had happened, Erza regarded Levy with a smile. "Breakfast was absolutely fabulous. You have quite the skill. Perhaps you'll give Mirajane a run for her money."
"T-thanks," the blue-haired scribe stammered, blinking from the Requip mage to the dragon slayer, still heaving on the floor.
"Get up, Natsu. You're being dramatic," Erza commanded.
With a grunt of pain, he lifted himself back onto the chair and huffed, still rubbing at the injury. "Mavis, Erza you could have cut me in half," he panted.
"Yes. I could have, but I didn't." The sweet tooth poked around the basket of strawberries until she found the plumpest and juiciest one before sticking it into her mouth.
Natsu looked at Happy with wide eyes, as if to say, "She's out of her mind." The exceed only shrugged and covered his face with his paws trying to hide the laughter he'd been holding in.
Lucy cleared their plates and began to load her dishwasher as they resumed their small talk. Mostly Erza lectured Levy on finally settling down with Gajeel and how she better not fall prey to becoming a stereotypical housewife. That Gajeel better never harm her in any way or he'd have Erza to deal with. At that, Lucy chimed in, "Me too!"
"Guys," Levy said exasperatedly, "we've dated for over five years. Don't you think I know Gajeel by now? I wish you'd put more faith in him!" She slammed her small fists on the counter, causing everyone in the room to jump in surprise. It was so rare for the solid script mage to show any sort of aggression that it had Erza frowning shamefully.
"I apologize, Levy. I just care for your wellbeing."
"So does Gajeel."
With his goofy grin plastered on his face, Natsu loudly agreed. "I don't like that metal head too much, he's cocky. But Levy is right. Dragons mate for life. They find their one true love—their soul mate and that's who they remain with until the day they die. You have absolutely nothing to worry about with Gajeel, he'll love Levy with every fiber of his being."
Levy turned red as she looked at the dragon slayer affectionately. "Thank you, Natsu," she whispered, grinning from ear to ear.
"Just speakin' the truth," he said matter-of-factly with a shrug.
"What do you know of love, Natsu?" Erza asked with a cocked brow, sincerely curious and not condescending at all.
His onyx eyes glanced for a moment to Lucy, a sponge in clutched in her right hand as she meticulously washed the iron pan. Suds stuck to her ivory skin. His breath hitched in his throat and it took him a second longer than it should have to respond. "I don't really know much. I don't have my mate," he chose those words rather than I haven't found and for a moment chastised himself with eyes closed. "I only know what Igneel taught me before everything," he gestured his hand wildly and tugged apprehensively at his scarf. The memory of everything his father had sacrificed for him made his stomach clench and he lifted his hand over his heart. He doubted he would ever see his dad in this lifetime again, pretty much had been guaranteed that was the case after Tartarus.
"Wendy's said the same thing," Happy agreed. "Grandeeney thought it would be important to speak of luuuurrrveee," he enunciated with a rolling flair of the tongue, "before she sealed herself away. Even though Wendy was so young."
"I see," Erza said, fascinated by the history of the dragons. "Well, congratulations Levy." The bitterness in her tone wasn't on purpose and the scribe knew that.
"Jellal will come around," she stated purely with a grin.
The faintest of smiles crept over Erza's face as her memories turned to the blue-haired man. "I think it's about time we went to the guild hall, Levy. Better make sure no one is destroying anything."
"Mhm, good idea. Natsu, Happy, Lucy, you guys coming?" Levy asked.
"I haven't showered or gotten dressed yet," Lucy used as an excuse to stay home.
"You all go ahead, I'll be around to poke at Gildarts later," the pink-haired mage said with a yawn.
"Well, I'll come! Carla is probably there by now!" the cat said, leaping from his perch.
With swift farewells the two were left alone in Lucy's apartment. "I'm going to take a shower," Lucy whispered and disappeared.
"Okay," Natsu said to her vanished form with a frown.
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A/N: Before you go leave me a review! I'll be so happy!