I am back with chapter 13. 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
"Why is your hair pink?" Looking up from my digital newspaper, I look around me before my eyes land on a small girl who is standing on the other side of my table.
Curious brown eyes blink at me from over the edge of the table while small hands grab the edge since she's still too small for her to easily see over the artificial wood. Smiling, I turn off my wristband to give the small kid my full attention, "I don't know," I say as I cross my arms over the table, "Why is your hair blonde?"
"I was born with it," She says matter-of-fact, her eyes never looking away from me.
"Well I was born with pink hair," I say while feeling my smile widen even more.
Tilting her head, the small girl thinks over for a second before asking, "Do your mommy and daddy also have pink hair?"
Before I can answer, a lady with similar blonde hair to the child comes rushing over to us and takes the little girl's hand, "Sunny why are you bothering this young man," she asks while fixing her purse that keeps on sliding down her arm. Why she carries such a thing anymore is a mystery to me, what with all our documentation and currency downloaded onto our wristbands, "I'm sorry about her," The woman says with a worn smile, "Whenever something catches her attention she'll follow it around until she gets bored."
"It's fine, she wasn't bothering me at all," I insist to the tired looking mother, "She actually reminds me of my wife. Whenever something grabs her attention she'll eye it until she either gets bored or buys it."
The woman chuckles lightly while Sunny stares at us both not really understanding what is going on, "Well I'm sorry either way, and thank you for kindly giving her your attention."
"My pleasure," I say as I wave at Sunny who excitedly waves back.
"Bye-bye mister pink hair," Sunny says before skipping out of the door with her mother in tow.
"See ya kid," I yell after them as I watch them disappear past the window and down the sidewalk to their unknown destination.
Maybe it's just my imagination or due to my recent reminiscing, but Sunny reminds me so much of Sol and the daughters I've had after her with Lucy.
"I'm just old," I mutter to myself before taking a sip of my artificial coffee and going back to reading my newspaper.
Learning is one thing I realized that we would never stop doing. When Sol was born we thought that it would be easier since we had knowledge from raising Happy, but we couldn't be more wrong. Who would have known that after reaching a certain point in their life would our child change the way we saw things compared to the way we saw things with Happy. Thankfully we had the help of Juvia and Gray what with them having had Snow. There was also the help we received from the addition of Erza, Jellal, Levy, and Gajeel.
Things I learned about my daughter was that unlike Happy she did not like to hunt. She preferred staying with her mother and had a liking to planting the food we would grow. She even grew flowers in a bright corner of the camp which we really didn't understand. Why grow flowers when they were no use to us?
Other than a few things that were different, Sol grew up like Happy had and all the time she spent with her mother kept Lucy at peace that what had happened to our son would not happen to our daughter. During her younger years things were still dark around our home with the memory of Happy hanging wherever we looked. There were still times that I'd escape to the old cave, but many suns would pass when I didn't visit our old home. To this day Lucy still doesn't know where I run off to when I disappear.
Although we got a bit better after Happy's death there was one thing that no matter how we fought we couldn't prevent Snow from leaving us as well. She didn't die, thankfully, but she did leave the place she called home since she was born.
Unable to cope with Happy no longer being around she made the decision to leave camp and find a place out past the borders we never seemed to cross. Fights ensued between her and her parents who tried desperately to keep her close, but after some time Snow and her two children were gone. They had left deep in the night and no matter how hard we tried to track her and the children we never did find them.
Juvia and Gray were heartbroken.
"Natsu!" I look up at the sound of my name to watch a young boy waving at me from across the field. Standing up straight I wave back as the young male makes his way towards me with a few other children trailing behind him.
"What do you need Amel?" I ask once the boy reaches me with a smaller boy clinging to his leg seeming to try to knock him down.
Dark brown eyes glisten with eagerness as the boy jumps up and down with excitement which only seems to excite the children around him even more. Looking at him closely I notice how much older he looks. He is close to becoming a man now which means that he'll get to choose his partner soon, as is a tradition in camp that was set up many suns ago.
Amel is the second son of both Gajeel and Levy. He adopted all of his father's physical features from Gajeel's dark hair to his broad height that towers over everyone. He is strong and an impressive hunter with his wit and speed. He is a man through and through, but his eyes are no doubt Levy's kind brown that hold a knowledge within them that is incomprehensible.
"There's a full moon tonight," he pants, the excitement in his words almost knocking me down as the children laugh and cheer while continuing to pull on his arms and legs, "I already asked Fae if she would become my partner and she said yes."
Fae, eldest daughter of Jellal and Erza with the soft features of her father and the hard attitude of her mother would make a perfect partner for Amel. They were born around the same time and although they disliked each other when they were younger they became inseparable after some time.
"That's great, Lucy said that you both would be together when the time came," I tell him as I lean back down to gather the last of seeds that I've been picking, "What do you plan to do once you are both together?"
Amel suddenly grows quiet, his smile leaving his face as his eyes stare down at his dirty bare feet, "I already spoke about it with Fae," He mumbles looking suddenly uncomfortable, "We've decided that we want to leave and explore beyond the borders that we must not cross." I stop from picking up my basket to look up at him not understanding what he is saying, "Natsu, I know there is more out there beyond the border. A whole world worth discovering," He continues, his smile slowly broadening and his eyes glistening with excitement, "Do you think we can do it?" he then asks me.
"Well I'm not sure," I admit not really understanding how I feel over this strange topic. None of the other children have ever wanted to leave camp until now, at least not since Snow, "Well shouldn't you ask your parents instead of me?" I then ask as I lift up my basket from the ground ready to go back home, "You know that I am not your father and that these things should be discussed with Gajeel and not me, right?"
Amel's happy expression falls at the mention of his father knowing well that those two always butt heads as much as I do with Gray, "I just thought that you'd be able to help me make them understand what I want to do."
The boy's sad expression doesn't sit well with me, but I can't help to want to convince him not to go, "What about Fae's parents?" I ask making him clench his hands, "Say that your parents say it's alright, but what about Erza and Jellal? Would you just take their daughter even if they say no?" I know that I'm digging a spear into his side, but I can't help but ask these questions, "Besides no one has ever left…"
"Snow left," Amel growls while looking away, his eyes almost as menacing as his father's, "She was the daughter of Juvia and Gray who left with her children in the night."
I look around hoping that neither Gray nor Juvia are around to hear. Although a lot of time has passed they do not take light to the mention of their missing daughter, "That was a long time ago," I tell him feeling my own rage burn deep inside of me, "And besides, would you let Erza lose another child?" Before Amel can answer I storm away from him with the children long gone after being frightened at the dark mood quickly hanging in the air around us.
Amel doesn't follow me as I head into camp and dump my basket near the empty baskets of everyone else. Looking around I notice how quiet it is other than a few laughing children and the call of the birds that linger around in the trees. Thinking on it now the air seems to be cooler than usual.
Shaking my head I head back to my tent where both Lucy, Sol, and I live together. Sol used to live with her partner Kai up until he passed away some time ago. To this day we still don't know how he died.
"I'm back," I say as I duck into the tent, "Lucy, I thought you were going to pick the grain today…" Looking up I stop at the entrance of the tent to find both my partner and daughter murmuring with each other.
My chest heaves heavily as the familiar sad look crosses Lucy's face. She's clutching onto Sol's delicate hand that looks like a withered fruit compared to the strong young hands she used to possess. Her once golden hair is as white as Snow's had been and her skin is withered and ashen with irremovable stains and wrinkles. Even her brown eyes look different, almost like dried dirt.
At the time I didn't understand what was going on and why they were both so sad. I didn't understand that when Sol asked me to hold her and tell her stories of her brother that in her way she was saying goodbye. I didn't understand that although tears spilled from her eyes she still smiled as if nothing were wrong. I didn't understand, and neither did Lucy, that another child was leaving us.
If I would have known that the kiss Sol placed on my cheek would be the last one I would have showered her in kisses. If I knew the stories I told her would be the last I would have gone from the beginning to the day she was born. I would have done anything to keep her awake and with us, but instead I finished my stories too early, let her give me one last kiss, and walked out of the tent instead of holding her hand to watch her sleep. No, I didn't do that but Lucy never left her side.
I later realized that just like Happy had taught us about death Sol would begin the journey of learning something much more painful. No matter how much we tried to protect our children they would always, in any special way, would eventually leave us. They could be killed by some unknown force when they are young or grow old and withered until their own sleep would claim them into that familiar darkness.
Upon standing outside of my tent I could see the sky flare up in fire with the oncoming sunset and the cold wind hitting me much colder than it had ever before. Shivering, I stare up at the sky as the nearby trees rustle their leaves in the cold breeze. Upon watching an unfamiliar orange leaf drift to the ground before me I realized one thing that would haunt me for the rest of my days.
We could never grow old and change like our children.
{Here comes goodbye
Here comes the last time
Here comes the start of every sleepless night
The first of ever tear I'm gonna cry
Here comes the pain
Here comes me wishing things had never changed
And she was right here in my arms tonight
But here comes goodbye.}
- Here comes goodbye – Rascal Flatts
Sorry for the wait everyone, school has just started so I'm trying to get used to my new schedule.
On another note, I'm debating into making this story into three separate parts. I probably will since this story will be pretty long, but it's still on my debate list. What do you guys think?
Shout Outs
Great thanks to my Fantastic Favorites...
- Yuyui Hime
- 22shadowspirit
To my Fabulous Followers...
- Yuyui Hime
- 22shadowspirit
- freebird2992
And to my Fantabulous Reviewers...
- ftx777x = Likewise.
- Yuyui Hime = No their children will be mortal while they remain immortal and I'm really happy that you're enjoying my story.
- Splendora Faye = Yes more characters! Although I rushed through the ones in this chapter because I was had a bit of writers block.
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.