Sorry for not updating in a few weeks. I've been busy with school work and family. Anyway enjoy! I liked writing this chapter, and I like it better than the previous version. Review! Follow! Thank you! ^.^
I held the note to my heart as the tears fell gracefully from my closed eyes. I felt a hand on my shoulder, followed by the voice of my project partner. "Aww, come on Luce. Cheer up."
I looked up and into Natsu's onyx eyes. "Luce?" He grinned, "No matter how far they've gone, they are still at your side. The bond of your hearts keep you together." I stared. Not ever have I thought of it that way. I wiped the tears from my eyes and stood tall with a wavering smile.
"Where'd you get that line, a soap opera? But you're right. No matter what, they're by my side. Thanks Natsu."
He chuckled, "Nah, soap operas are sorta Gajeel's thing." I laughed as I carefully placed the small box that contained the locket and letter in my small bag, and imagined the gruff teen watching a soap opera. "Let's go find Erza and Gray."
"Kay. Dad, we're going to find the others! Bye Mom!"
Grandine stuck her head out from the kitchen door. "Okay. Bye sweetie, stop by anytime Lucy!" She waved before continuing her cooking. Romeo and Wendy continued waiting on tables when we left and Igneel stayed at the register. We started walking further down, passing a few shops. We crouched in front of the cheesecake place, and looked in through the large landscape window.
"Is. . . That them?" Natsu asked as he pointed. Sure enough, Erza and Gray were sitting in the very back of the room at the table to the far right. Comparing the interior of the cheesecake place to the one at the Dragon's Café, this one was a lot flashier. It didn't have antique furnishing like Igneel's place, but contained round silver tables, circular blue and green cushioned chairs, and a toppings station at the left side of the room next to the register. From a stranger's point of view, you'd think our friends were dating. They sat across from each other and Gray Fullbuster listened intently with his head resting on his right hand while the other held his fork, he took in each and every word that came from Erza Scarlet's mouth. She said something that made him throw his head back and laugh, in which he countered with something that made her chuckle. Even when Gray took a bite of his ice-cream covered cheesecake, his eyes never left my devilish best friend. Erza spoke with this look in her eyes that made me smile.
"We should use Plan T." Natsu said from beside me. "What's Plan T?" I questioned.
"TAKE 'EM BY FORCE!" He laugh maniacally. My eyebrows stitched together and I smacked the back of his head. "Or we can just walk in and say 'found you. Don't tell the others. Enjoy your cheesecake. Bye,'" I responded. "Fine. We'll do it the boring way." He mumbled. "Good. Let's go." I stood up from our crouched position. The pink-headed idiot followed obediently as I walked inside. Our friends hadn't noticed we arrived, so I approached slowly to try and hear a small portion of their conversation. Natsu surprisingly got the gist of it and followed along.
"Oh please, like you could win a fencing match against me." Gray smirked teasingly. I bit my lip to hold in my laugher.
"Was that a challenge, Fullbuster?" Erza's mouth quirked into a challenging smile. "It could be. Let's say it is a challenge, and I win this fencing match. What'll I get?" Gray sat up straight and crossed his arms, his smirk turning into a grin. "On the slight chance that you do win, I'll personally buy you a gallon of your favorite ice-cream every month for a whole year. But if I win you will do the same, but buy me strawberry cheesecake instead. Deal?" Erza smiled and held out her hand. He gladly accepted and they shook on it.
"Good luck. You just made a deal with a demon." Natsu scoffed behind me, noting our presence. Erza and Gray turned towards us.
"You, Gray Fullbuster, have just challenged Titania, the Queen of the Fairies." I said, smirk unconsciously. Gray's eyes widened. "You don't mean. . . Erza Scarlet. . . is our school's famous Titania. The woman that hasn't been defeated once and became captain after defeating the former captain, Kagura, on the first day. . ."
"Yes, I am Fairy Tail High's Titania. Undefeated since day one." Erza grinned, obviously amused.
"You could've told me that!" Gray exclaimed, his shirt suddenly gone. The moron behind me laughed.
"Idiot, even I knew that!" Natsu yelled from behind me.
"What was that Flame-breath!?"
"You heard me Ice-princess!" With every comeback they got closer to each other with their fist pulled back. Erza towered over them.
"Knock it off you two!" She pushed them apart with one powerful shove.
"Aye!" The guys said in unison.
"Anyways, don't tell Loke and Aries we found ya. Gajeel, Levy, Romeo, and Wendy were all found. Enjoy your cheesecake!" I chirped before turning and pushing Natsu out of the small restaurant. I turned to look inside the window, and sure enough, the two were sitting back down, having another conversation. They'd make a great couple to be honest. Not only would they look well together, their personalities would suit each other. With Gray's childish, yet mature personality, and Erza's responsible adult-like aura and her fighting spirit, they'd balance it all out. Erza would keep Gray in check, and Gray would give Erza the opportunity to open up and have fun. They'd really suit each other. I smiled before turning to the obviously confused Natsu.
"Let's start looking." I said, breathing out a sigh.
"I'm all fired up!" Natsu punched the air, and that's when the hunt for the last team began.
"Will you quiet down? For Mavis's sake Natsu!" I scolded and slowed my pace so I was a couple of feet behind him. He turned grinned adorably. Yup, just let that soak in. I just called Natsu adorable. What can I say? The idiot's growing on me, but not that I'd go out of my way to impress him. I've never been that type of girl. I'm that sorta 'he likes me, he likes me. He doesn't; who cares' kind of girl, you know?
"Wanna get something to drink?" He asked, his smile slowly shrinking. It didn't disappear though. A small smile played on his lips, giving him the more mature and sincere demeanor. I've gotta say, even that got my heart to stop. No wonder he's been dubbed the number one hottie among the girls in Fairy Tail High, he's even got my heart racing and hell I've never really been into a guy before.
"You can go ahead. I didn't bring any cash, so you go ahead. I'll wait at a table. Kay?" And then he surprised me; he's really good at that. He grabbed my hand and pulled me next to me and grinned. I swear, my face must've been the shade of a baboon's ass.
"We'll just have to share then, huh?" He practically dragged me to the food court, our hands still entwined. It felt good to be honest, way too good for my liking, but I didn't say anything about it. I didn't notice this before this very moment, but his hands were large, warm, and rough, just in case you were wondering.
"Or you could just buy me one. I could always pay you back when we get back to my apartment. We still have to work on that project after all. You said it yourself, you're busy all this week." I said.
"I've only got enough jewel with me for one," He chuckled. "Looks like we've got to share it then. One strawberry banana smoothie please." I hadn't realized that we had been standing in line, let alone at the registered.
"No problem Natsu. Girlfriend?" The guy behind the counter asked in a slight southern accent as he started to add ingredients into the blender. I vigorously shook my head. He chucked and continued talking anyway. "What her name? Does she go to Sabertooth or something? If so, I'd say you keep your mouth shut, if Gildarts finds out that you're dating a Tiger, he'd be beyond furious." The guy had short jet-black hair spiked up. He looked fairly familiar, but it just be the fact that he works at my favorite smoothie place. I didn't get a chance to say anything when Natsu spoke for me. I hated when people spoke for me, it really pissed me off. I am my own person. That was the exact reason that we had extreme conflict. I mean Papa ignored me for more than half of my life, and then tried to marry me off to some stranger. But that's a long story that I don't want to talk about. I forgive him after all.
"Nah. She's a Fairy. I wouldn't date a Tiger, that'd be the reason for World War III." They shared a laugh and Natsu pointed at me. "The girl that stands before you is none other than, Lucy Heartfilia!" The guy's eyes bulged out of his head. I got it! This guy's Alzack! Not that I read that from his name tag or anything. . . he's Biska's boyfriend.
"Mavis, Natsu. Has anyone one ever taught you that pointing is rude. Anyway, yeah I'm Lucy Heartfilia, and I am not dating Natsu. If he was, he'd be dating a former Tiger."
"No way! I didn't know you went to Sabertooth, Luce! You were a Tiger? Why?" Natsu exclaimed, nodding a thanks to Alzack as he handed him the smoothie. We walked away from the crowded food court. Did I mention that we were still holding hands? Anyway, Sabertooth was another school system in Magnolia. The city is too big to have just one school system, so half the students go to the schools closest to their home, and get to choose which high school to attend. Most students stay loyal to their school and stay, but others, like myself, wanted change. There's a rivalry between us. We both want to be number one in everything. The Fairies and the Tigers both want to have the highest grades, best sports teams, and most talent, but we never get physical. It would ruin our reputations after all, but we do get into verbal conflicts over everything. At Sabertooth, the principle was incredibly strict, and that's why I love it at Fairy Tail. It's amazing how lenient and encouraging everybody is over here, yet we still are on top.
"I went to Sabertooth schools until 6th grade. I don't want to get into details on why I changed, I'm sure I'll tell you later, but I went to Sabertooth with my cousin. I hated it Sabertooth and everyone in it. They were cruel and rude and the staff was incredibly stern and strict. That's not why I left though. I love Fairy Tail. It would've been great to grow up with all of you. The Fairies are great, and most of them accepting. I'd made friend with Lisanna but we stopped talking at the start of 7th grade. I'm a Fairy at heart, that's why I don't tell people. If I did, they'd probably ignore me. Even though I don't socially connect to everyone, we all have this sort of friendship. I love it."
"Wow Luce. . ." He stared at me then smiled. "Who's your cousin?"
"Sting Eucliffe." I stated, quickly changing the subject. "Can I have a drink of our smoothie?"
He nodded and handed me the smoothie, and I happily drank from it. The heavenly goodness was just as good as it always was. "How about this. Instead of working on the project later, we should pass back and forth ideas. And on Saturday, you can come over to my place and we can start writing it. Sound good?" I nodded, and we passed back and forth ideas. I wasn't expecting us to work so well together. Natsu knew how to come up with a good plot. I was really pumped for Saturday when we bumped into Loke and Aries. We literally bumped into them, making Natsu drop the rest of our smoothie on the ground.
"Loke. Do you have any idea how much those cost?" He pointed dumbly at the spilled smoothie.
"I don't know. . . Like 4 jewel." The ginger answered. Aries giggled slightly beside him.
"You owe me 4 jewel." Natsu stated bluntly. It was my turn to giggle. Both Aries's and Loke's eyes dropped to our hands and I tried to let go, but Natsu squeezed my hand. I sighed. This was going to take a hell of a lot of explaining.
*END OF CHAPTER*
I hoped you liked it. See ya next chapter! byye ( ^-^)/