Hello and a very warm welcome back. My apologies for the delay between the previous chapter and this one but i was having some real dramasin trying to get it to a point where I was happy to publish it. But I finally got it done and proofed to a point that im fairly happy with it. So, without further ado, here it is! I hope you like it.
Juvia was all in a panic. Both she and Lucy had been about the town all day, perusing all of the various clothes shops in all of the malls that Magnolia city had to offer. But for all of the choices put before her she had not been able to find one outfit that she liked enough to wear to the party. It was frustrating her to no end, and she could just tell that it was beginning to grind Lucy's gears too.
It wasn't out of a desire to be awkward that Juvia had rejected all of the outfits that Lucy had suggested up until now, but rather, for the first time in recent memory she really wanted to make a great impression with her new neighbour and not just because he was an attractive twenty-something with deep eyes and the body of a Grecian god.
"What about this one?" The blonde asked tiredly, holding up a short white pleated summer dress, all trimmed in a deep shade of blue.
Juvia turned to look and her eyes widened, it was beautiful! The fabric was soft and the design was simple, yet elegant. The blues matched her hair almost exactly to the shade in a way that had her wondering whether the dress truly had been made for her. It was striking with the way the two colours interacted; the flow of the pleats in the skirt, along with their cerulean trim reminded her of the ocean. Stepping forward with an ever growing smile she took the garment from her friend with a nod.
"I-it's perfect! Juvia must try it on!" She answered with barely contained excitement. Clutching the garment close to her chest she made a dash for the changing rooms. The bewildered attendant looked to Lucy as though for an explanation, but the blonde could only shrug with an apologetic smile before following after her friend.
Near five minutes had passed by the time that Juvia came out of her cubicle, but the wait was well worth it. The dress fit her excellently, flowing like water and hugging the incredible figure beneath. The cobalt hues of the trim served to accentuate the barista's hair and eyes to an amazing degree, just as the waist came in to show off her curves.
"What does Lucy think?" Juvia asked nervously, as she turned to Lucy for her opinions.
"Juvia, I… It's perfect. I don't think we could ever find something that looks that good on you anywhere else." That was all that Lucy could say, and what else was there to say? It was as though the powers that be had made it solely for her.
Juvia's cheeks turned a deep shade of red as her friend spoke. She had, of course, spent a long while trying to look at herself in the tiny mirror within the changing cubicle but it had been both too small and scratched up for her to be able to get any real indication of how it was that she looked.
"Does Lucy really mean it?" She beamed, seizing her friend in a tight hug effectively removing any concept of personal space that there had previously been. Yet Lucy smiled, glad that they had managed to find something for Juvia to wear at last.
'Though what am I going to wear?' Lucy thought to herself with a slight cringe. She had been focussing so much on trying to find Juvia something that she had yet to pay any mind to what She herself would be wearing to Gray's party. She had plenty of cute outfits back home but none which she would say 'turned head's'. It simply wouldn't do!
After the past few years of working almost solidly at the coffee shop she was finally emerging out into the social scene again, just as it was for Juvia, and Lucy was going to do it in style. Since her parents had died, Lucy had in effect cut herself off from the world. She had ceased to socialise as she might have done before hand. In fact, she had isolated herself so much, that the only real social interactions that she had were with the customers in her coffee shop and with Juvia in the few occasions they had watched movies in Lucy's home. But she had decided things were going to change, this party was the first step on the road to getting back out there again.
'Who knows, maybe there will be a nice guy at the party?' She mused, a slight blush creeping across her cheeks. Just as the party was important for Juvia, so it was for Lucy too.
Once Juvia returned with her new dress folded over her arm, the two girls made their way over to the checkout so that they could pay.
As they left the store, Lucy looked at her watch in despair. There were only a few hours left for her to find, try on and buy a whole new outfit before the two girls would have to get to Juvia's apartment and start getting ready. Given how much time it had taken the two of them to find something for Juvia, the blonde was beginning to feel a little anxious.
As it happened, she needn't have worried at all. It wasn't long before she found something that she absolutely loved. It was a little red open-backed dress. The cut of the material was excellent, showing off a fair amount of skin while still managing to appear classy. The sides and along the waist was embroidered with little stars in golden thread, complementing the red material around them. It wasn't quite on the same level as Juvia's had been, but the blonde was confident that it would do very nicely for the party.
After the several hours that they had spent shopping, and with their respective purchases in tow, the two of them finally left the mall. Outside, the sun had all but set and the rain was falling in a fine mist; not quite a downpour but more than enough to soak their clothes. Lucy sighed, knowing exactly what this kind of weather would do to her hair and thanking her stars that the two of them would be getting ready over at Juvia's place, protecting it from a second exposure to the elements.
Together, they caught a taxi from the nearest taxi rank and crossed town to the 'Fairy Hills' apartment complex. The two women passed the trip in a comfortable silence, enjoying one another's company. Lucy contented herself with looking out of her window and watching the world beneath the raindrops.
She had lost herself so deeply in thought, that when the taxi pulled up outside, it was several seconds before she even noticed. In the end, it was Juvia tapping her on the shoulder that finally brought the blonde crashing down to earth. Apologising to their driver with an embarrassed smile, Lucy paid the fare and the two girls got out of the car. Back outside and at the mercy of the elements, they made a dead sprint for the lobby.
By the time they had gotten inside and shaken off both the rain and the chill, they had just missed the elevator its steel doors clanging shut even as they watched. Juvia led the way to the stair with a slight sigh and began the lengthy climb, trusting that Lucy would be following close behind her. The climb was lengthier than Juvia had expected with the bags containing their purchases slowing them down.
When at last they reached the fifth floor, Lucy's legs were feeling like lead. Her chest heaved as she fought to catch her breath, staggering after Juvia who shuffled along the corridor to stop in front of her apartment door. In a practiced movement, Juvia unlocked and pushed her way through the door into the hallway of her home. Lucy followed closely behind, eager to see the place that Juvia lived. Odd as it may have seemed, in the two years that Lucy had been friends with Juvia, she had never once seen the barista's home. Each of the times that they had spent together outside of work had been in Lucy's own humble dwelling, and so she was keen to see the sort of place which Juvia had chosen to make her home in.
As it turned out, the apartment wasn't what she might have expected for her blue haired friend. The first thing that she noticed was how small the place was. The hallway was painfully narrow, with a line of coat-hooks along the wall. There was hardly the room to breathe which left Lucy with a horrible feeling of claustrophobia.
The colour of the walls was a bland and dark shade of green, doing nothing to lighten the place up, though here and there Juvia had hung paintings which brought some slight colour to the apartment, but the effect was extremely limited. In a way, Lucy found it sad knowing that her best and most loyal friend, the girl who had helped her practically built her business up over the course of the past three years, was living in such a tiny and cramped apartment.
In fact it was only Juvia's bedroom which had any real sense of space to it. The back wall featured a single bay window which looked out over the city's south side. The view may not have been all that much, but the light that it let in was game changing. Along the sill of the window was a collection of statuettes and geodes of the most beautiful and varied colours that Lucy had ever seen.
A large artist's easel stood in the corner beside the window with number of sketches propped up on it. The quality of the work was exceptional, though Lucy couldn't help but notice that all of the images were of the city in brilliant sunshine, never was there any sign of a rain cloud.
"Juvia, you never told me that you were an artist…" She gasped, wondering just what else about her blue-haired friend that she didn't know.
"It's just a hobby of Juvia's really, something to help her take her mind off of things when it all gets a bit much." She answered, a blush creeping across her features.
"They're amazing! You'll have to sketch something for me to hang up in my place some time." Lucy insisted
"Wha- No! Juvia's work isn't suitable for display in Lucy's home! They are just sketches of whatever crops up in her mind." Juvia replied, standing defensively in front of her easel and blocking the blonde's view of the art upon it. Lucy opened her mouth to argue but gave up with a sigh; she could see that it would only lead to a cycle argument without end. Internally she made a note to offer to commission Juvia for one of her sketches.
The remainder of the evening passed by fairly swiftly as the two girls set about their preparations for the party. It wasn't easy for Lucy to shower in the apartment's tiny bathroom as she kept elbowing the walls in the process, but she made do with the facilities available to her. Letting the water cascade down on her and flow through her golden locks, Lucy finally allowed herself to think about the night ahead of them.
Foremost, she couldn't help but wonder just what kind of a party it would be; though a part of her hoped and prayed with every fibre of her being for it to not be completely wild and out of control. Of course she knew that Juvia was out to wow her mysterious new neighbour, but where did that leave the blonde? The idea of being left alone in a party full of total strangers gripped her with an awkward sense of anxiety.
Emerging from the bathroom in a cloud of steam, Lucy set about the process of drying and styling her golden hair into something more presentable. Juvia had a very limited range of appliances, leaving the blonde all the more glad that she had packed and brought a few of her own that morning.
By the time that Juvia returned, Lucy had more or less succeeded in styling her hair. It was a simple look, tied up in a flowing high ponytail with a few strands left loose to frame her face. She had painstakingly straightened her locks out and brushed them until they shone line burnished gold. Looking in the mirror she nodded contently and moved on to her makeup, opting for a more subtle and minimalist approach.
Juvia took a very different approach, curling her hair so that it flowed like so many waves over her shoulders. To Lucy it seemed like the oceans themselves imbued her hair with all of their beauty and grace. It was enough to make anyone envious. In terms of her makeup, Juvia had gone simple and chosen a high impact eye liner with a touch of blue shadow to really bring out the deep cerulean colour of her eyes. One look at her was all Lucy needed to know that Gray was in trouble.
Yet no matter how incredible Juvia looked, she still carried herself with the same kind of shy and modest bearing as always. She seemed to resemble a high school student on her way to ask out her crush for the very first time. In a way Lucy couldn't help but smile, it was an odd comparison to draw.
After having checked over her appearance for what felt like the millionth time, Lucy gathered up her belongings in her purse and followed her friend out of the little apartment. Juvia locked up and the two girls made their way across the hall to Gray's apartment. As they stood there, about to knock, the faint sounds of music could be heard coming from inside.
Raising her hand, Lucy rapped her knuckles against the wood four times in quick succession. There was an awkwardly long pause before the door swung open to reveal a man with rosy pink hair in a plaid shirt of red and black matched with a rather out of place knitted scarf. His hair was all mussed up and wild as though he had just woken up. He couldn't have been more than twenty two, and the look in his eyes bespoke a sense of wonderment. At first glance, Lucy was quite taken aback; he was quite bizarre when compared to the people that she had met in the past, and as a result she wasn't entirely sure how to behave.
"You must be Juvia! Gray mentioned that you would be coming by; I'm his roommate, Natsu, pleased to meet you. Though who is this with you?" He asked, a bright smile never leaving his face.
"Yes, I am Juvia and this is Lucy. Gray said that I might bring a friend with me?" Juvia answered, nerves creeping into her voice.
"Yeah that's all cool, the more the merrier right?" He stepped aside, allowing Juvia past him and looking at Lucy with the same easy smile that brought an inexplicable blush to her cheeks. "Come on in Luigi, and make yourself at home!"
"It's Lucy!" She fired back defensively before entering the apartment. She quickly lost sight of Juvia in the narrow hallways as she darted off, presumably to find their host. There weren't as many people in the apartment as Lucy might have expected, though the limited space gave the impression that there were twice as many.
Shrugging off Juvia's disappearance since the two of them would probably meet up again later anyway, she took a few moments to absorb her surroundings. Despite still being fairly cramped, Gray and Natsu's apartment was considerably larger than Juvia's place had been. The carpets were deep and springy underfoot and the walls were painted more subtle shades of orange. Ordinarily it might have been quite a bold statement to make, but given the nature of its occupants, Lucy couldn't help but think that it was well suited. In terms of real decorations, there were very few save for the couple of photographs hung on the walls.
One picture in particular caught her eye; It was an image of four children, all huddled together with bright smiles on their faces. They all looked like the happiest people on earth. One was a young girl with scarlet hair and a mock up armour chest plate, next to her was a boy with rosy pink hair and a white knitted scarf that was far too big for him whom she assumed to be a young Natsu. Beside them was another girl with stark white hair and a pair of piercing blue eyes that could rival even Juvia's, and finally there was a boy with pitch black hair and a fixed brooding expression. He was bare from the waist up and seemed completely unabashed by the fact. Lucy looked at them with wonderment, recalling memories from her own youth. It seemed so long since she had last had friendships with bonds as strong as those that Natsu appeared to have with his friends. Quite unbidden, a feeling of longing sprang up and gripped her heart in a vice-like grip.
"I still remember that year well. It was one of the happiest we ever had back at the orphanage. We spent the whole of the summer with each other, out in the nearby countryside having our own little adventures. We were the warriors of Fairy Tail!"
The blonde jumped at the voice beside her and immediately turned to find a woman of around the same age as Lucy was herself. The newcomer had a head of flowing red hair that fell to the small of her back and a happy expression. Her eyes were bright and jovial, lost in a world of reminiscence.
"I'm sorry; I didn't mean to startle you. I just saw you standing alone over here looking at the old picture and thought to introduce myself. I'm Erza, Erza Scarlet. I grew up with Natsu and Gray." She apologised, offering out a slender hand. Lucy shook it somewhat timidly, and was surprised to find that Erza had a strong grip.
"Nice to meet you, I'm Lucy Heartfilia. My best friend is one of Gray's new neighbours; she is the one with the blue hair." Lucy said in turn, hoping to make a favourable impression.
"The pleasure is mine. Any friend of Natsu and Gray's is a friend of mine." She smiled, giving the photograph one last look before turning to face the blonde.
"So Lucy, what do you do?" Erza continued, seizing the initiative of their conversation; a fact which Lucy was particularly thankful for.
"Well, I run my own business; or rather, I run my parents' business. They passed away a couple of years ago and I took over their coffee shop. What about you, do you work in town?"
"Well, I volunteer part time at the orphanage just outside town where we all grew up. But I've been looking for something on the side too. I don't want anything huge, but enough so that I can afford to move into the city and be closer to these guys." The redhead replied with a nervous smile. Hearing her situation, Lucy couldn't help but think of her own business and the need to take on more staff.
"Well, if youre looking for work I might be able to help…" She began "I'm looking to take on more staff to help me cope with the increase in customers in my coffee house. Its nothing glamorous but I can offer regular hours and a fair wage."
It was certainly true that Lucy needed new staff to help manage the work load in the shop, and Erza seemed nice enough. If nothing else, the redhead was polite and friendly. Considering it, Lucy didn't see any reason why not to give her a chance. Besides, if Erza proved to be unsuitable then she was just back to square one.
"Really?" Erza asked, a look of hope spreading across her face. "I-I'd really appreciate it. I promise I won't disappoint you."
"Sure. I mean, it might be a couple of days before I can arrange it, but if you come by the shop just before closing time next Thursday, we can have a bit of a chat and see whether or not you're suitable for the position, maybe even get you making up some coffee to order. Do you have any experience?" Lucy answered, trying not to give any false hopes to the woman.
"Well… not exactly with coffee specifically, but I've waited tables in a little café for a while if that's of any use. I'm a quick learner at picking up new things though, and I work hard at everything I set myself to. For me it doesn't do to simply be good, I must excel wherever possible. I'll look forward to speaking with you about it on Thursday." Erza said with a smile before excusing herself and leaving a very bewildered Lucy alone again. This was shaping up to be quite a bizarre night.
Juvia worked her way through the apartment with a slightly anxious feeling settling itself in her stomach. Without Lucy beside her she felt a little lost and unsure of herself but it was quickly overwhelmed with excitement. Lucy had been right about turning heads, as she walked through the party the blue haired wonder caught several of the party goers sneaking glances at her, as well as a couple who overtly stared. A slight blush coloured her cheeks above a satisfied smile.
The people in the apartment were many and varied, ranging from short and petite figured through to a very large man with shoulders like boulders. Every one of them seemed to know those around them, and more than a few of them were getting to be pretty deep in their cups. Yet despite that, they all seemed to be having the time of their lives without a care in the world.
"Heh, nothing really changes. They always were a handful." A familiar voice said at her side. Turning, Juvia was met with the smiling visage of her new neighbour. His eyes were fixed on the wild group in front of them and had a slight spark in them as though lost in memories long passed. Seeing his expression, Juvia couldn't help the nerves bubbling up in her stomach. It felt as though a whole flock of butterflies were flying round within her.
"Gray's friends all look so close. Where did you meet them all?" Juvia asked nervously, finally managing to get some words out.
"Well… They're more like family than friends. We are all orphans of sorts, and all grew up together in the orphanage just outside of town. Our Gramps ran the place and kept us all in line." He answered with a slight smile. "No matter how bad things got or how often we fought each other we have always kinda stuck together. I wouldn't trade them for the world."
Juvia listened and felt her heart break a little. While her own childhood had been less than ideal, the idea of losing her parents was a terrible one, but her empathy was mixed in with a slight sense of envy at seeing the friends that Gray had grown up with. They shared a kind of closeness and bond which Juvia could only have dreamed about.
"It must have been nice, having so many friends around you when you were growing up." Juvia said slowly.
"Yeah… it was pretty special. But hey, I'm glad that you could make it! You look really nice by the way…" Juvia's eyes locked onto her shoes as he spoke to her, the butterflies inside her going absolutely crazy.
"T-thank you… So… um… are you going to introduce Juvia to your friends? I lost Lucy and don't know anyone else…" By now, Juvia was almost entirely a nervous wreck. Being surrounded by so many strangers, Gray, and not having Lucy nearby, was beginning to take its toll on her. Gray seemed to pick up on this and wrapped and arm around her shoulder, gently ushering her forwards into the crowd.
"Everyone!" he yelled, catching the attention of the revellers "This is my neighbour Juvia; she wanted to meet you all. Juvia, these are my family, the folks of Fairy Tail."
Juvia tried to suppress the blush creeping onto her cheeks as they all turned to look at her. With his free arm, Gray began to gesture to the people in front of them. "The big guy is Elfman, and next to him is Lisanna, they're actually siblings. There is one more to their little unit but she is off taking care of Gramps tonight, he couldn't make it so she stayed home with him. The girl with the scarlet hair and the cake is Erza, she is kinda like the scary big sister that kept us all in line when we were little. She is normally pretty nice but when she gets mad its best to run for cover. The tiny girl with the book in the corner is Levy, she likes to keep to her reading mostly but she's pretty fun when she comes out of her shell…"
Juvia tried her best to listen to the names and offer smiles to each of them in turn. Gray spoke of them all with such fondness in his voice that Juvia felt her heart melt. The frown that she had seen on his face when first they met was gone, replaced by a warm smile that bespoke the strong fondness that he held for each and every one of them.
"Wow, Gray has a really big family!" Juvia said in awe when at last Gray had finished the introductions. She was right, by the time that he was done, Juvia had at least twenty new names to try and remember. With them all being Gray's family, it would seem likely that she would see more of them around the apartments and it would seem really awkward if she couldn't remember so much as their names. Luckily, that stress was likely to be taken off of her mind by force as their first actions upon the conclusion of Gray's introductions was to make space on the swamped couch and real her in. Before she knew it, she was surrounded by them, being plied with questions and had a fresh drink in her hand.
Her eyes scanned for Gray and gave out a desperate plea for help, though he simply laughed and shrugged as though to say 'Sorry, my hands are tied!' Yet despite the alien nature of her situation, it wasn't all that bad really. The individuals around her were all pleasant people and seemed to make great efforts to ensure her comfort. Erza, Lisanna and even little Levy soon established themselves as her favourites in the group, talking with Juvia as though they had known her all their lives. Any and all inhibitions went straight out the window.
Lucy had searched for Juvia for quite some time but had given up on seeing her with who she could only assume to have been Gray. Believing it to be a better move to leave the two of them to it, she opted to step out onto the apartment's modest balcony. It was bare of most all creature comforts save for a beat up pair of deck chairs and a small table which wobbled terribly. Yet despite the lack of luxuries, it could boast one thing that few other places in the city could; an uninterrupted view out over the city.
The night was perfect for it as Lucy leant her forearms on the railing to watch the world go by. Rain fell in delicate sheets, though she was sheltered by the balcony of the apartment directly above. Below lights twinkled and lit up the droplets like millions of tiny sunbursts all at once, taking her breath away. The moon hung lazily in the sky above, occasionally making a brief appearance from behind the clouds to bathe they young woman in its luminescence.
"It's nice isn't it?" Natsu said, coming to join her by the railing. His dark eyes twinkled as they looked out over the city sprawling before them. "It's one of the big reasons that we settled on this place to live."
"It's really pretty." She replied with a subtle nod, looking out over the sprawling metropolis of lights in front of them. "My Mom and I used to look out from our apartment at night. I swear she used to know all the stars by name. She used to tell me all of the stories that came with them too, stories about great hunters and elegant queens."
Lucy blushed a little as she realised what she had said. Here she was with a total stranger, baring the truth of her childhood. A subject which even Juvia didn't know. Yet, when she looked over at Natsu and saw the look in his eyes she got the feeling that he was the honest, that she could trust him. It was inexplicable and something that she could scarcely explain. With a shrug, she looked out over the cityscape again, leaving those thoughts for a better time. A breeze made its way through, bringing with it a couple of delicate raindrops and the evening chill sending a shiver down her spine.
Gently, a hand clasped her bare shoulder. It was warm and took away all feeling of the cold that she had been feeling. Looking over, her warm brown eyes met with his dark sage. For a long moment she considered edging away and breaking the contact between them, but something stopped her, though what or why it did she couldn't have said. Realising her situation, a dark blush crept across the blonde's cheeks and left her looking down at her hands, studying them in absolute detail.
Realising that the moment had passed, Natsu retracted his hand, robbing her of the warmth that it had previously provided her with. A part of her lamented the loss of contact, but she quickly dismissed it as being an odd flight of fantasy.
'You're being stupid Luce… It's probably because you haven't met new people in so long. You just need to readjust!' she told herself, though a little part of her remained sceptical to the claim, as though it knew something that she herself didn't.
"So… uh… you wanna head back inside? Maybe grab a drink or something? I should probably introduce you to the others! You'll love them!" He asked, breaking the silence and scratching his neck nervously.
"Yeah… I think I'd like that." She replied; wrapping her arm around his and walking beside him back into the party.
The rest of the night passed by in a blur of names, dancing and drinks, oh so many drinks. But despite knowing that she would undoubtedly wake up with the worst hangover of her life, it was the most fun that Lucy had ever had. After having been a self-imposed recluse for so long, it felt good to back out and having fun again.
Once they had gotten back inside, Natsu's nerves seemed to completely vanish. He half led and half dragged her over to a huge cluster of people and introduced her to each and every one of them. Erza sat with a smile as Natsu introduced her for the second time. Nestled in the middle of the group was Juvia. She had a merry look on her face and a number of finished drinks piled up on the table in front of her.
Before long Lucy had joined them, drink in hand. She was surrounded on either side by both Gray and Natsu, both of whom were actively involved in the wider conversations of the group. As she sat there with them all, time passed quickly and the drinks even quicker. The stories kept coming, and with them came a roar of laughter. Even Lucy herself could help but giggle at the extraordinary nature of half of the tales. Each one was its own adventure.
Lucy had gone into the group expecting to be a somewhat awkward addition to the main conversation but this wasn't the case. They seemed to go to great lengths to bring her in and make her feel welcome and included. In particular, she found herself speaking with Levy. The two of them had a great deal in common given that they both had a love for books and were of an age with one another. They chatted for well over an hour about everything from books to writing. In particular she seemed avidly interested upon finding out that Lucy had started work on writing a book of her own. Just how she had ever agreed to it Lucy didn't recall, but somehow Levy had ended up with dibs on reading the first draft.
The party reached its peak when Natsu, swaying wildly in his drunken stupor, leapt up onto the table with a bottle in hand and took a swig, raising a lighter he spat a fine spray into the tiny flame and ignited it. A bolt of blue and orange fire leapt from his lips and up into the air.
"Fire dragons roar!" He laughed drunkenly before being promptly dragged off the table by Gray. The stoic had a slightly confused look on his face, torn between being impressed and angry.
"What the hell flame brain?! We just got the place and you're already tryin' to burn it down?" He slurred, grabbing Natsu by the collar of his shirt and butting their foreheads together.
Lucy couldn't tell who it was that threw the first punch but in an instant, the two were locked in mortal combat on the floor, rolling around in a pile of empty bottles, each trying to gain the upper hand. Seeing none of the others step in, Lucy made moves to break the two of them but was quickly stopped by a hand on her shoulder.
"Don't worry about them; they do this all the time, it's never sincere. They'll be the best of friends again by tomorrow." Erza laughed, stepping in and separating the two of them with a degree of practiced ease that left Lucy wondering just how often that she had been forced to break up fights between the two.
Regardless of how often it had happened, the moment that Erza stepped in all hostilities stopped dead just as quickly as they had begun. Both of the boys looked almost sheepish as Erza wagged her finger disapprovingly.
The rest simply laughed, wisecracking at the two boys until Erza turned her eye onto the rest of them. Even half drunk and swaying slightly, it was easy to see just why it was that Erza commanded such respect amongst her adoptive siblings. She was terrifying, her glare sending chills down the Blonde's spine.
Yet in as little as a minute, things were straight back to normal again with drinks flowing aplenty and all transgressions completely forgiven. To any outsider they were a most bizarre group of people, but for all their oddity, Lucy couldn't help but love it. They all seemed to be so cheerful in each other's company and completely void of inhibitions. To the blonde it seemed as though they didn't care where they were or what they were doing, just so long as they were with their family.
It sent her back into memories of her life with her parents, long before they had passed away. Back then it had all been so much simpler, the three of them were always together; going hiking or playing board games when it rained. It wasn't until she had lost them that the full gravitas of it became apparent and she realised just how big a part of their life had been. To see them all sharing in such close bonds with one another, the likes of which she had once shared with her parent hit her harder than she could have expected. A hard lump formed in her throat and a solitary tear rolled its way down her cheek.
"Hey Lucy… is everything okay? What's wrong?" Natsu asked from beside her as the others all laughed around them. He positioned himself directly in front of her and looked her straight in the eyes. His previously playful disposition was gone and replaced by one of concern. Lucy simply
"Yeah, I'm fine… It's nothing really, just a memory from a long time ago, of my parents." She replied quietly, surprised at just how shaky her voice sounded.
Seemingly picking up on it, Natsu took an unsteady step forwards and held his arms out to her. Despite every part of her being telling her to shy away, and that she didn't know him; but whether due to the powerful emotions within her or the alcohol in her system or maybe even a combination of the two, she found herself leaning into his chest.
He was hot to the touch, just as he had been outside on the balcony, it was a good and comforting warmth. It chased away the pain of her memories and calmed her as nothing had before. His fingers delicately traced circles again the skin of her bare back, giving her something to focus on and bringing her back into the moment again.
"I don't know what it is that upset you, but you don't need to feel bad. You're with the fairy tail folks now, and we are all here for you if you need us because that's what friends do. They look out for each other just like family." Releasing her, Natsu clinked his glass against her own with a wide grin. With the words he had said still ringing in her ears, she finished the last of her drink and turned back to the party with him. All around her were new friends, all of them had accepted both she and Juvia with more or less open arms.
Thinking back, she would always miss her family and lament the loss of those happy days spent together, but inside something clicked. She smiled to herself as a whole new world seemed to open up at her feet. The times that she had spent since her parents had passed had been the hardest of all, but perhaps that was because she was afraid of living. Here in front of her was the chance to finally start again. And she would be damned if she was about to pass up that chance.
Well there is part two. Once again I apologise for the delay, but I do hope you have enjoyed it now it is here. As always, please do follow, favourite and review. All reviews help me improve my work and I do read them all. The next chapter should be coming along relatively soon, depending on how inspired I end up feeling throughout the process. I have a few university works I need to do by the end of the coming week but i will try my hardest to get some chapters written. Anyway, that is all from me so as always; I'll see you all in the next chapter.
TheFlagshipArkos.