Lucy's Pov
I just got out of the hospital after visiting mom and now I'm buying some groceries. I looked at the list Ms. Alina gave me and I dropped it when someone bumped into me.
"Oh My God! I'm so sorry." She apologized and picked up the piece of paper and gave it to me.
She has long blue hair tied in a ponytail.
"It's alright, just be careful next time." I smiled.
"Wendy! Don't run off like that!" A heard a voice, a quite familiar one.
A figure emerged and I see his salmon-colored hair. It's him, Natsu Dragneel.
"Sorry, I saw my favorite snack and I wanna get one... or two... maybe three." The girl turned around to face him.
I heard him sigh exhaustedly. "Go on ahead, don't run this time, you might get hurt."
The girl cheered and left us.
"I apologize, she just really really loves Takis." He said and looked at me. "You're Lucy, right? You work at Amber Sin."
"Yeah, and you are-"
"Natsu Dragneel."
"Yes, I've seen you around." I nodded.
"Anyway, I'll see you again, bye Lucy." He bid me goodbye and went in the same direction Wendy went.
No one's Pov
Alina is currently preparing the club for tonight. Checking every single thing. Alina turned over to the door when she heard a knock.
Alina walked towards the door to open it. She faced a man with shoulder-length blonde hair and a tattoo on his neck.
"Mr. Smirnoff, Madame didn't tell me you would be coming." Alina greeted the guest and let him inside the club.
"It's a surprise visit." The man chuckled. "This is my first time back here, I love what she had done to the place."
"Madame worked really hard on restoring the nightclub." Alina replied, walking over to the bar to get a drink. "What drink would you want Mr. Smirnoff?"
"Straight Vodka would do just fine." The man replied.
Alina poured the guest a glass and served it to him.
"By the way, where is little Juvi?" The man asked.
"She's at work." Alina replied.
"Work?" The man raised a brow.
"Madame works for the Fullbuster mafia family now."
"Interesting." The man took a sip of his drink.
Natsu's Pov
We left the grocery store and I placed the bags in the trunk of my car. I went there to buy eggs and milk but Wendy joined and I have to buy 3 family-sized bags of Takis.
"I'm deducting that to your allowance," I said to her as we enter the car.
"Come on, it's just a few bags of Takis. I have my finals next week. I need something to prevent me from going insane." She whined.
I chuckled at her reaction and started driving. "I'm only kidding."
Wendy Marvell is my cousin, after her parents died she lived with us ever since. She's currently in college, studying to be a doctor. She's a really smart and kind kid.
No one's Pov
"That girl earlier, you seem familiar with her?" Wendy asked.
"I've seen her in Juvia's nightclub." Natsu responded.
"Okay." Wendy nodded. "You seem to like her."
"Why would you think of that?"
"Your eyes sparkle when you look at something you like, just like last night when I saw stars in your eyes once you look at the meal Larcade made." Wendy answered.
"That's not a good example."
"You're not denying anything tho, usually when you disagree on something you would immediately retort to that statement."
"You know what, you should have taken psychology with all of the analyzing you've been doing."
Juvia's Pov
I entered the building and the first thing I saw was him, he looks exactly like Gajeel's picture.
"Little Juvi~" He greeted me with a smile.
"Mr. Yakov, it's been a while." I smiled back.
"You've grown so much."
"I don't think I've grown that much." I chuckled. "What's with the sudden visit tho, I could have prepared something."
"I just want it to be a surprise." He said and paused for a bit. "Alina told me that you're working for the mafia now." He continued.
"Yeah, it isn't part of the plan, but it's alright." I nodded. "I've heard you're in FBI."
"Do you really think, I'm seriously in the FBI, do you?"
"Of course not. But the others are worried. We need to clear things up. I'll call Gajeel tonight so you can explain."
Mr. Yakov nodded. "I love what you've done to this place, it's very nostalgic but it also looks very modern."
"That's the point. I don't want to remove the aspects that make Amber Sin, Amber Sin."
Mr. Yakov chuckled and reminisced about his childhood with my father, he told me stories about the things that have occurred in this building.
Later that Night
No one's Pov
"Ahh, now this is more like it." Yakov cheered as the nightclub lit up as more people enter the building.
Gajeel arrived and Juvia introduced the situation and Yakov explained the rest.
"I'm quite impressed, I can't find a single piece of information about the whole thing." Gajeel said and Yakov chuckled in response.
-
Lucy's Pov
I sat at the bar with Cana and drank my appletini, my performance just finished and I want to get a few more drinks in before going to bed.
"I told you, I'll see you again." I heard a voice.
I turned over to my right and he was right there. Natsu Dragneel.
"I work here, of course, you'll see me." I replied in a matter of factly tone.
"I know." He chuckled and ordered a drink from Cana.
We had a small chat as we drank and ordered more drinks, the night got deeper and it was time for him to head home.
"Thanks for your company Lucy. Good night."
I joined my best friend Levy Mcgarden at the cinema today. She's a detective and she just solved a huge case and she wants to celebrate by going to the movies.
Levy is the one who told me about Madame, which I found weird since she's a detective and Madame is part of the mafia.
"Lu-chan can you wait here for a second I need to go to the bathroom." Levy said and I nodded in response.
I leaned on the wall behind me and waited for Levy to come back. Then, I heard a familiar sound, it was near.
Moviegoers frantically ran in every direction, trying to get out.
Thinking about my safety, I quickly ran towards a possible hiding spot.
I ended up going face to face with a Mafia boss. He grabbed me by the arm and pulled me close.
"Shhh, Don't move."
I looked up and it was really him. Natsu Dragneel.
"Are you hiding from someone?" I asked. Unsure of what to say.
He glances down at me without saying a word.
"I-I know perfect hiding place. I can take you there, no one will find you."
"Lead the way, Lucy." He removed his hold on me and we quickly hid in the projection booth.
"Are you by yourself?" Natsu asked.
I shook my head. "I'm with a friend, she's in the bathroom. I hope she's okay."
"I see." Natsu nodded and stood close by the door of the booth. If felt like centuries has passed before Natsu speaks up again.
"I'm gonna check outside, Stay here." He leaves the room before I can even reply, he returns a few minutes later.
"Things have calmed down now, we should go back, your friend might be looking for you." Natsu said we left the booth.
There are bullet holes everywhere. If we didn't hide we could've been in serious trouble.
"Thanks for the assist, I owe you one." Natsu said.
"Oh, it's nothing, I'm glad I could help." I chuckled, scratching the back of my neck.
"Spring Cleaning is done." I heard a voice and it came from a man, he has dark orange hair that was styled upwards and golden eyes. He has flame-like tattoos on his face. He's wearing a dark red colored suit and three triangular dangling earrings on each ear, and a gold chain with a cross-shaped pendant around his neck. "Who's the chick?" He proceeds to ask.
"This is Lucy." Natsu replied and looked over at me. "This is Ignia, he's sort of my brother."
"Sort of?" I tilted my head in confusion.
"It's complicated." Ignia chuckled.
"Either way, we need to go, see you around." Natsu bid me goodbye and left with Ignia.
"Lu-chan!" I saw Levy running towards me. "Those sounds just now, you're not hurt are you?"
"No." I shook my head. "I hid at the projection booth."
Levy sighed in relief at the news.
"These mob fights are seriously getting out of hand." She sighed.
"You can do something about this, you're a detective." I said to her.
"Lu-chan, it's complicated." Levy lowered her head. "You know that."
I simply nodded, knowing my background, it would be foolish to reach out to the authorities.
No one's Pov
She stared blankly at her drink, beads of water falling from the glass to the counter.
"What's troubling you?" The bartender asked but there was no response.
"Oi!" The bartender shouted and this finally caught the blue-haired maiden's attention.
"Wha-"
"You haven't touched your drink, you just kept looking at it, if you don't want the ice you could've just said it earlier." Cana solemnly looked at her friend in concern.
"I can't keep doing this Cana, I promised myself." Juvia spoke.
"Well, things can change." Cana chuckled.
"In my line of work, it can never change, relationships like those are a weakness. I should know, I've seen it first hand." Juvia ran her finger over the rim of the glass.
"It is a risk, but why do you think people keep doing it." Cana said, taking the glass away from the woman and replacing her drink with a brand new one which she took a sip of.
"Because they're morons." Juvia bluntly replied.
Cana laughed at her friend's reaction. "Does that makes you a moron?"
Juvia deeply sighed and looked at the brunette dead in the eyes and shrugged. "Sure, why not."
"We're opening soon, liven up a bit." Cana chuckled and did another round check of the beverages on the bar.
Gray's Pov
I entered the bar and walked towards her spot, she's all alone which is weird because Loke's usually here around this time.
"Hey." I spoke, which seem to catch her attention as she soon turned around to face me.
"Boss." She breathed out, her face flushed red from all the alcohol she's been drinking, evident from the empty bottles on the table.
"Take a seat." She smiled and patted the spot next to her.
I went over and sat beside her.
"You're all on your own. Didn't Loke come here." I voiced my concern.
"Loke didn't come." She meekly replied. "And I'm fine being on my own, this is my bar."
"I know that. But I-"
"I'm fine, Gray."
She rarely calls me by my name and whenever she does, it's music to my ears.
We spent the night talking about things that interest us, telling stories that we probably have already told to each other.
It's rather nice.