Heeeyyy guys! I know this is a little later than promised but I finished it! As I said last time I decided rather than being suuppeerrr mean to you guys and taking forever to update, I'm gonna write a little shorter chapters than usual and update a lot quicker! Also… so I'm sure you guys remembered that Levy and Gajeel were still in the story… yeah well I sorta didn't. DX I have no earthly idea how I could possibly forget something like that! I SOWY! Only I would do that… ;) but I added some of the 2 in this chapter so please don't kill meee! By the way, if you guys notice a sudden grammar improvement I owe it all to my beta reader Icekat-Druid! Thanks so much! I suck so much at grammar! Anyways hope you guys liikkkkeee itttttt! (Yes, I'm quoting Happy XD)
Lucy's P.O.V
My hand was shaking fiercely. I held my whip in one hand and had Loke's key squeezed shut in my other. There was a long pause from "Natsu" before he slowly turned around with a big smile on his face. "What're you talkin' about Luce?" He asked, attempting to keep Natsu's character. "Don't call me that." I replied with as much venom I could possibly exert from my voice. "And don't make me ask you again. Who. Are. You." Maybe I'm just overthinking it... maybe it's just Natsu. After all he always is finding out new strengths he never knows he had. As much as I would love to believe that... I know it's not true. Sure, Natsu found out he could use lightning to his advantage, but lightning isn't water. There was absolutely no way this was the real Natsu. But how could he look identical to Natsu? What kind of dark magic could possibly make someone look exactly like another? Maybe he's a shape-shifter? No, I know exactly what's happening. I've seen it happen before. Someone has taken control of Natsu's body. I was on the brink of tears. How long has he been like this? How many times did I think to myself "somethings not right about him" and how many times did I actually try to see if something was up? Absolutely zero. "Stop it, you can think about this later, work on the task at hand." I told myself. There was such a long silence I was surprised when... whoever it was, decided to speak up. "I'm so sorry, but I can't tell you that, believe me though I want to."
He/she said, sounding genuinely upset about the whole situation. I was so upset I was almost gnashing my teeth.
"How can you not tell me, exactly?" I spat.
"You don't get it... I really didn't wanna use this guys body, but I didn't have a choice! My master has done so much for me, I don't want to to let him down! He's the only person who still loves me after all I've done!" The impostor replied.
Taken aback I responded slightly less venomously. "If this guy actually loved you like you obviously think he does, he wouldn't make you earn it by doing wrongs." I started to almost feel a little bad for "Natsu". Then, I saw a tear begin to form at the corner of his eye. Natsu's eye.
"Alright the pity party's over, I don't wanna hurt you but I will unless you let Natsu go NOW." I retorted, abandoning any sympathy I began to feel for him. He obviously was close to giving in, yet all he did was stand there visibly uncomfortable. I just couldn't take it anymore. There he was, standing there in NATSU'S body making expressions with NATSU'S face, and I wasn't about to sit here and take it any longer. I raised my hand with the whip and just barely slashed his leg, just enough to make him fall and scuff up his leg a little. Once the guy leaves Natsu, it'll be me that did that to him, so I didn't wanna go too far. "Ok! Ok!" He replied frantically, he was weaker than I though. Tears gushed out as a silhouette began to pull out of Natsu's chest. Wisps of white rushed up into the air and as it started settling on the ground, it slowly built up to form him. No, not him, her.
She was beautiful, silver hair cascaded over her shoulder and startlingly green eyes sparkled with her tears. Her eyelashes were extremely long and feathery. *not* what I was expecting. I was expecting either an evil hag-like lady or a dude. Not some gorgeous girl probably around my age. I stared at her, at a loss for words then down at Natsu's unmoving body. "If he's dead so help me God I'm gonna-" I stared when she interrupted, wiping tears out of her mossy green eyes. "He's not, just unconscious, I promise. I made sure he was for the process of me leaving him, it's extremely painful when conscious." Just to be sure I put my ear to his chest. There was a heartbeat. I let out a long breath I didn't know I was holding. Just then I heard a familiar voice call my name as well as 2 sets of feet racing toward me. "Lu-chan!" "What happened to Natsu?! Who's that girl?! Why is the ground all wet?!" Words rushed out Levy's mouth in panic. "I could ask the same question." I bitterly said glaring pointedly toward the crying girl. Gajeel came strolling towards the scene then acting like nothing was even a little unusual. "What'd I miss?" He said without a care in the world. "No seriously Lu-chan! What the heck happened here! Is Natsu okay?!" Levy asked alarmed. I couldn't think straight. Seeing Natsu out cold with barely a heartbeat was killing me, but I had to stop thinking about that. "Gajeel, Levy, I'll explain later. First, Levy you help Natsu." Then I pointed to the girl. "Gajeel, take care of her." I said in a monotone voice because I was afraid if I showed any emotion at all, I was gonna break. "You got it." Gajeel answered dully. "Wait, don't hurt her too bad, I need to talk to her later." I said.
Gajeel's P.O.V
Then, all hell broke loose. Well, at least for a couple seconds. To my disappointment, the girl didn't even put up a fight, she just stood there. I got in a good iron dragon punch, but when she still just stood there, crying and all that crap, I couldn't bring myself to do anything else to her. The weird thing was, she didn't even get knocked out from getting punched in the face with iron. I mean, sure I'm tough enough to take iron to the face, but this girl looks frail and weak. It looked like she was more powerful than she was putting on. I grabbed the thick vines that were everywhere on the ground considering all the water that came out of no where and in the process of melting all the remaining snow that kept lingering, managed to wash up all kinds of things from the woods back there. Wrapping her wrist and feet together, I dragged her through the mud and plopped her down at Lucy's feet. Lucy didn't even look up, she just sat there watching Levy patch up Natsu. Her eyes were glassy and she looked like she'd seen a ghost. Opening my mouth, I almost tried to say something to cheer her up but when I was at a loss for words like usual, I just shoved my hands in my pocket and made my way over to Levy. "So what's the deal, Shrimp?" I asked Levy plainly. Looking up at me, she shook her head. "No idea, I know just as much as you do. I tried talking to her, but nothing got through." There was a long silence. "Who is that girl?" I shrugged at her question. "Hey can you give me a hand?" She asked, obviously ready to change the subject. "Just hold this right here until I tie it up." I obeyed, choosing to ignore the fact that instead of bandages, she was using a leaf and some vine to secure it. Natsu looked like he'd just came out of the wringer. The only thing that actually looked like it might be a problem though was that it looked like the idiot go hit in the head with a bulldozer. "Should'a known he'd need my help in the end." I mumbled as Levy was finishing the last knot of his "bandage". "Don't get a big head just yet Gajeel, all you did was hold a leaf in place for a couple seconds." She responded with a grin. She heard that?! Dang, this girl's got some ears… I thought.
That night we tried to talk to Lucy again at "dinner", which was really just a bunch of leaves that Levy apparently knew where safe to eat. "I read in this amazing book one time that fugalberry leaves are totally edible!" She had ranted to me earlier that day. I remembered how cute she was when she said fugalberry. I kept pretending I didn't hear what kind of leaf she was saying so that she'd repeat it. I couldn't help but grin a little while thinking about it. Oh crap, I'm supposed to be trying to get Lucy to talk according to my orders by Levy. "U-uuh so what happened today?" I asked tiredly. Levy shot me a glare that seemed to say 'Really?! I see you're trying the direct approach.' Ok… so maybe try again then? "I mean...you know… how're you feeling and all that?" I thought that was pretty heart-felt, but by the look Levy gave me and the lack of any response from Lucy… I'm thinkin' not so much…
Levy decided to take control then. "So, Natsu's head's ok, he should wake up by tomorrow." At this, Lucy's shoulders eased from their tense state as she took a deep breath. "Thanks you two." She looked up and smiled at us. Really?! If it was that easy Levy could've spoken up before I made myself look like an idiot. "I know you guys are wondering what happened and all, I'll explain but can I wait 'till tomorrow so I can calm down a little? I'm just really shaken up and I just need to thi-" Lucy was cut off by Shrimp saying, "Of course, Lu-chan!" I decided to try and go get some rest as I realized after about 20 minutes of me sitting that this was obviously something a girl should handle. Plus, I felt like it wouldn't be a good time to mention, but those leaves Shrimp gathered where probably the most disgusting things i've ever tasted. I wish there any freaking iron out here! When exactly where we planning to stay at this place?! Surely we weren't gonna camp out in these woods for much longer! I mean I understand time to heal but it's been 4 days! How much longer do girls take to heal than guys?! I thought to myself. I found a spot underneath a tree with about 3 yards of dry ground thanks to a giant boulder in front of it but then, I saw none other the pink haired idiot who even while conked out managed to take up the entire dry area. I simply grunted and shoved him out of my way. "GAJEEL!" Levy yelled at me from over at the fire. Wha-? Does she have the ears of a bat AND eyes in the back of her head?!I I thought to myself. Without another word I shoved him back onto the dry ground and began to move somewhere else. Why is it that if anyone else tried to boss me around like Levy did, they'd never hear the end of it, yet whatever she says...I don't know I can't help it… I just do it.
Levy's P.O.V
What am I gonna do about Lucy? I thought to myself. I felt so bad for her, but when she wouldn't talk to me there was no way I could help her! I was just gonna have to ignore my extreme curiosity until morning. We continued to talk until late that night, mostly just small talk. I couldn't decide if it was a good thing or a bad thing that she was feeling better enough to crack a couple suggestive jokes about me and Gajeel. Either way, I was worried about her. Sure, I was worried about Natsu too, but there's nothing Natsu doesn't make it through. Everyone knew that, so why was Lucy so beat up about it? I was starting to wonder if maybe there was something other than simply Natsu being hurt that was bothering her. Something big obviously. But what?
Tada! Hope you guys enjoyed! I know it was pretty random to shove Levy and Gajeel back into the story...but as I said in the beginning… I somehow managed in my hectic life to forget that they were in the story at all! Hahahaha sorry about that Nakama! Hope it didn't throw you guys off! Anyways, seeeeee ya later!