HAPPY NEW YEAR! I am so sorry for the long wait but I am finally back with a new chapter for the new year. Please R&R and I shall see you at the bottom of the page.
POV: Natsu
Disclaimer: I do not own Fairy Tail or the idea of this story, I am just the writer.
A story for a friend, by a friend
"Am I holding it right?" the young boy asks he holds onto the large guitar with quivering hands, dark eyes looking up expectantly through long black hair, "Or is it like this?" he asks while shifting his fingers to a new position, the look of pure concentration and confusion swimming across his small face as he strums the guitar.
Placing my own instrument down beside me, I inspect his hands carefully before fixing two of his fingers earning a disappointed pout from the younger boy, "Ok, try it now," I say and he does as he's told as he strums the thin wire strings making the room ring with the soft sound of a G flat. The lulling sound, which doesn't sound all that bad, resonates throughout the small room making his pout transform into a wide grin.
"Alright," I say as I pick up my own guitar again, "Now play me a G and then a G flat just like I taught you."
The boy stares at his fingers a bit unsure before repositioning his fingers where he believes they are supposed to go. He timidly strums the guitar once before he peeks up under his long hair to watch me expectantly before he changes his fingers to strum the next note.
"Good," I commend earning a bright glowing smile from the small boy, "Now what about an A flat," and without much prompting he quickly fixes his fingers before strumming the guitar again looking more confident than before. I nod happy at how quickly he is getting the hand at playing an instrument he just barely picked up only a few hours ago. In fact, he's learned how to play faster than most students that I've had in the past, "Not bad for your first day huh?" I ask while ruffling the young boy's slick hair causing him to giggle and beam like a shining star.
"Alzack," a woman's voice calls from the front of the shop just as I hear the familiar ring of the front door's bell chiming after her.
"Looks like mom is here," the small boy says sounding a bit disappointed.
"Seems like she is," I agree as I unstrap my guitar before taking his.
Alzack quickly stands up off of his chair and quickly makes his way towards the front of the shop, "See you tomorrow Mr. Dragneel," the young boy calls over his shoulder before completely disappearing through the door.
Waving, I wait to hear the front door close behind both of them before I move around to clean up the sheet music that I took out earlier. Once I've cleared up the practice room I carry my papers towards my office before placing them carelessly on my desk. When I pull back I knock over a nearby pile of papers making them scatter all over the floor along with a manila folder.
"Great," I groan as I hang my head backwards not wanting to pick up the mess I've made. I'm close to doing that, but thinking of picking up the mess first thing in the morning doesn't sound all too appealing either.
Sighing, I drop down and start picking up the various pieces of sheet music, which is just basically music written on technically enhanced pieces of plastic that pass as paper. Well, it used to be passed as paper a few years back before they too were discontinued when their production created more pollution that equaled that of the pollution of plastic bags. When I heard of them being discontinued I quickly stockpiled with as much of the plastic paper I could to write down the last of the sheet music I had stored in decaying paper. Thankfully the investment in all that 'Tech Paper' as it is called, came out to be quite useful.
After gathering most of the sheet music that I dropped I reach over towards the manila folder that's on the floor and pick it up. A small slip of actual paper slips onto the floor facedown making me a bit annoyed of all of the papers that seem to want to just lie on my floor. Maybe some time soon I'll actually get around to cleaning the mess I have in my office and organize my sheet music and other important documents.
Placing the manila folder on my desk, I reach over towards the small slip of paper and pick it up while turning it around to see what's on it. The image that stares back at me has me freezing completely with my heart throbbing as familiar onyx eyes stare back at me with a joyous glint. I can't help but trace my finger across the slightly faded image of the boy that I knew such a long time ago.
The image in my hand is none other than the image of my first son Happy. I had drawn this picture a few years ago upon Lucy's request along with the image of a few of our other children. As much as I love all of the children we had, Happy has got to be the one who taught us more than I would have ever imagined. With Happy we learned many things that were both equally good and bad.
We learned that he could get older as the days went by, but back then days were simply counted by when the sun rose and fell. From the day he was a baby to the day he became a man there were countless lessons that both Lucy and I learned like how to care for an infant to how to teach a growing mind. We learned that with time Happy would also find love and that he too could create his own family who he could watch grow like we had him. We also learned that he would never stop changing.
Happy taught us so much about life that we had not discovered on our own like many of its beauties, but he also taught us the darker sides of life. Happy had been our greatest teacher and our greatest pride and joy. Oh the many things he could have taught us if only he would have lived a little longer.
"Dad, look!" I look up towards where the deep voice came from to find Happy running towards me with a large amount of fish all strapped onto a rope and thrown over his shoulder, "Do you think Snow will like it?" he asks completely glowing with excitement.
Snow is the name given to the daughter of both Gray and Juvia. They had her some time after Happy was born and turned into Happy's partner many suns ago. Gray and I of course didn't really agree all too much on them being together, what with us both being somewhat enemies, but Juvia and Lucy pushed the two together behind our backs.
Looking at the large load of fish in Happy's hands and I can't help but shake my head at the blue haired male, "Didn't Snow tell you not to get fish anymore," I ask making his smile fall with a glint of realization dawning on him, "I don't think she'll like see you walk into camp with all that fish in your hands. Remember what happened last time?"
Compared to the other two females in our group, Snow's temper could just not compare to both Juvia's and Lucy's rage. There is hardly a single time when Snow isn't getting after Happy, then again the blue haired male is always doing something to make the white haired female mad. In truth it's no different than what I do with Lucy. Like father like son Juvia always says.
"But I love fish," Happy complains while ducking his head in a sad manner like he used to do when he was little. I tend to do that too when Lucy gets after me.
"But she doesn't," I argue as I strap down some sticks to take back to camp.
Staring down at his fish and then at me, Happy sighs before dropping his load into a nearby basket, "Fine, I'll go look for something else," he says before picking up a spear and making his way back towards the forest without another word.
Instead of following him I finish gathering the last of the sticks and tying them up before gathering them up all in a large pile. When I finish I take one of the bundles and throw them onto my shoulder to make my way towards camp which isn't all that far away. Before making my way home I look up towards the sky and notice how dark it's gotten. I wonder if Happy made it back to camp with something different to eat.
Continuing to walk I find a small child run towards me. He looks like a younger version of Happy with white hair and light brown eyes. I watch him run until he's only a few feet away before he starts to slow down and stops right in front of me, "Natsu, where's dad?" he asks sounding a bit breathless, "Mom is looking for him."
Setting down the heavy load of sticks and wipe my face with my hand, "No I haven't. He went out to go and find some more food," I tell the small boy just as a small girl with long blue hair runs up to us.
"He got more fish didn't he," she asks sounding so much like her mother Snow.
I nod as I lift my load of sticks back over my shoulder before urging the kids back towards camp, "Let's go back, maybe your dad went back to get his fish before coming here. I'm sure he won't be long in coming home," I say making the children nod and race off back towards home. Even though I said that I can't help but feel a little uneasy as I look back the way I came finding an empty path.
Pushing the uneasy feeling aside, I make it to camp to find the women surrounding Lucy not too far away from where I'm at. Worried, I drop my load without a second thought as I race towards my partner while feeling my unease worsen. When I finally reach the small group I gently push Juvia aside so that I can see if Lucy isn't hurt. I'm not at all ready to find what greets me next.
Lucy's expression is distorted in an expression I never wanted to see on her glowing face every again. The fear that radiates leaves that familiar bad taste in my mouth and for a second we are no longer standing in the middle of the camp that we built with our family. No. The two of us are standing in the middle of a familiar clearing with the ground shaking under us and the sky burning as hot as the sun. The fear of that moment ripples through my very being along with anger because Lucy shouldn't look this scared.
I grab her shaking hand and give it a small squeeze before picking up a nearby spear and heading back the way I came. As I walk away I notice the young boy following with a spear of his own looking just as determined to find his father. Usually I'd be more willing to let him follow me into the dangerous forest, but this time the anxious feeling inside of me is telling me not to let him follow me.
Stopping the boy by placing a hand on his shoulder, I kneel down so that my eyes are around the same level as his as I try to make him understand what I want him to do, "Stay here," I tell him and his face quickly contorts to one that shows he is ready to argue, "I want you to stay and take care of your sister while we're away," the boy nods before running back towards where his sister stands looking around confused. She doesn't seem to understand what's going on.
"Let's go," Gray says, somehow appearing next to me when only a moment ago he was nowhere near me.
Not in the mood for arguing right now, I nod and lead the way towards where I saw Happy last. By now the sun is falling quickly with the bright pinpoints of stars already beginning to hang above our heads. Gray grabs some large sticks for us and we light the ends with fire that I produced by hitting two rocks against each other repeatedly. The fire does little to help in our search, but at least it lets us see better in the now growing darkness. Even then there is little to no sign of Happy.
As we push deeper into the forest the tight feeling in my throat only gets worse as panic starts to settle within me. It worsens when we call out Happy's name and he doesn't answer back.
A scream somewhere to our far right has both me and Gray looking at each other before we race off towards the noise. I instantly recognize the scream to be that of Snow's and I realize that she must have left camp to look for her partner.
Beside me Gray speeds past the trees looking desperate to get to his screaming daughter. I push myself to move faster because for all we know there might be something dangerous attacking the white haired female. Also, there's a chance that she might have found Happy, but I'm hoping with all my might that he is alright.
When we finally reach Snow we break through the thick bush before I stop dead in my tracks at the sight in front of me…
Ever since I first woke up to this strange world I've learned many things. The first, of course, would be the need to survive. This survival could only be accomplished by eating regularly and to eat I learned that I needed to kill the animals that surrounded us. Many animals have been done in by my hands plenty of times, but their cold lifeless eyes have never bothered me before. Nor has their sticky red blood ever left me truly shocked. It was something that wasn't all that important and didn't mean a thing to me as long as I got food for myself and my family. Death was not something that deterred me, that is, until now.
On the ground a few feet away from me Snow kneels with an unconscious Happy in her arms. Blood covers both her and Happy seeping from an unseen wound and Happy's eyes are as lifeless as the eyes of the animals we kill. The familiar light that was so similar to Lucy's is gone from his eyes that resemble my own dark ones. Looking at him he looks so much like the dead animals whose life we've taken, but the only difference with them is that this is my son.
This was the boy I was too afraid to hold when he was born. The one I watched grow before my very eyes who I taught to walk, run, talk, swim, fish, and hunt. The boy who followed me everywhere I went and would get us into trouble as much as I got myself into trouble. The boy whose laughs and smiles were always present, even when he was scolded by just about all the females in our family, including his own daughter. The boy whose mother loved him more than any of us could ever understand and who now no longer had a child to call her own.
"NO!" Turning around I watch as Lucy emerges from the trees with a hand covering her quivering mouth and her other hand pressing against her abdomen.
Tears stream down her cheeks and her face expresses an indescribable pain that I've never seen before as she falls to her knees and wails louder than she had when Happy was born. Her screams and cries could be heard far and wide through the dark forest and all I could do was watch with tears of my own.
That day had been the first day I ever saw Lucy cry and scream so loud. That day was the day I first learned what true sadness was. That day was the day my first son died and when I began to understand the true meaning of death.
That day would forever be engraved in my memory.
{When you reach for the stars
Don't forget who you are
And please don't turn around and grow up way too fast
See the sand in my grasp from the first to the last
Every grain becomes a memory of the past
Oh, life's an hourglass
Life's an hourglass}
- Hourglass – Mindy Gledhill
So I know what you're thinking. I'm gone for a really long time and when I come back I start the year off with a hearbreaking chapter that can just tear your soul. Well yes, I did. Why did I do such a cruel thing? Well, because I have a heart of a demon.
Anywho, how have you all been? How was your year? Are you all excited about 2016 as I am? What have you been up to since we've spoken last? Also have you been keeping up with Fairy Tail?
Shout Outs
Great amazing thanks to my Fantastic Favorite...
- Risa98
To my Fabulous Follower...
- nadiagirl
And to my Fantabulous Reviewers...
- kiteou-kun = Happy New Year! And I'm glad you liked it.
- Splendora Faye = Haha I know. I'm sorry for the long wait. The last chapter was the calm before the storm. I think I pretty much train wrecked this chapter, but in a good way... I hope. How was your vacation? Are you still on it or has school started for you already?
Well that's all the shout outs for today.
If you are enjoying my story so far please follow, favorite, and review - remember, reviews are a writers candy - and if you have any questions or ideas you'd like to see put into this story you can also PM me and I'll gladly add it in.
Until next time my lovelies.