"Do you have any information?"
Salamander leaned against the outside of his home. He knew that Gajeel and Levy just got back from their mission. While he and the Iron Dragon Slayer didn't get along well, Natsu was appreciative of the help. From the moment Black Steele entered his home, the pink haired wizard knew something wasn't right. As soon as the two locked eyes, Gajeel gave him a nod and the duo went outside.
As much as he hated keeping stuff from Lucy, the Fire Dragon Slayer knew his partner. If the Celestial Mage was aware of the amount of people helping her take down the enemy, she would tell them to stop. The blonde hated watching other people 'fight her battles for her' as she put it.
"I do, but I don't think you're going to like what we found." Black Steele grunted.
"Just tell me what you found, rustbucket."
Black Steele closed his eyes and took a deep breath. Using the sounds around him helped ground the Dragon Slayer and calm him down. It was something that Levy had been teaching him. Over the last few months, it's been extremely helpful. "I was able to pick up his scent around Onibus. It was there we found the facility Lucy and this guy used to work at. The place looked like it had been totally ransacked. Since the trail was relatively fresh, it put him at the scene sometime the night before.
"Levy and I took a good look around the place." Gajeel continued. "He tore everything apart looking for the machines that he stole. These plants in the basement were dried up and shriveled, and shit was thrown all over the place. The only room that wasn't touched seemed to be a make-shift kitchen."
"So he has the Drip machines again?" Natsu raised a brow.
The Iron Dragon Slayer nodded. "We followed the trail to an abandoned house at least fifty miles away. I was picking up scents from at least six other guys who live in the new space. The machines have been sitting there since. As far as I can tell, the creep hasn't been back since he dropped them off."
Salamander let his head fall back against the cold wall behind him, usure of where to go from here. "I guess we'll have to wait until Gray and Erza come back from their mission. They may be able to tell us what the guild has planned."
"There's… Something else." Gajeel was unsure of how to say this.
"Out with it already!" The Fire Dragon Slayer glared.
Black Steele glared at the pink haired wizard in front of him. "They also ransacked the boss' office. From the looks of it, the information regarding Lucy's employment there is completely missing. We couldn't find it anywhere."
"Didn't she go under an alias?" Natsu questioned.
"She did. However, there's no record of anyone getting hired in over eighteen months. That means they either never did paperwork on her, or-"
"Or the fucking bastards stole it.." Salamander grumbled under his breath. "That explains the feeling…"
"What are you muttering about?" The Iron Dragon Slayer raised a brow.
Natsu sighed. "Lucy's had a feeling like someone's watching her. At first, I thought it was just having all of the extra security she doesn't know about. With as anxious as she was this morning, I know she's afraid they're going to come after her. She's mentioned it a couple of times, but I also know she's trying to hide how she's really feeling."
The Fire Dragon Slayer paused for a moment. "Do you think they know who she is?"
"We're not sure." Gajeel admitted."But, I'm certain they're either trying to find out, or already have a clue on what guild she was a part of. The owner of Royal Tree only posted the add in our building, and Blue Pegasus."
"We have to let them know they could be in danger!"
"Gramps is already on it, Salamander." The Iron Dragon Slayer reassured him. "I think he's also asked for their help."
"Anything we can use to get a step ahead is helpful, Gajeel." Natsu's tone was serious, detached.
"What would be helpful is you getting your head out of your ass!" The Iron Dragon Slayer's eyes rolled. "You and I both know the best thing for Blondie is performing the Unity Spell."
"That's ridiculous!" Natsu almost screamed.
"Has your brain turned to ash or something?" Gajeel extended his arm, attempting to swat at the Fire Dragon Slayer's head. "Or have you always been this dense?"
"I don't see how this is the solution to our problems! We have a dark guild that is coming after us and possibly another guild. How is a Dragon Soul Bond Spell supposed to help us?!"
Once again, Black Steele found himself taking deep breaths to calm his frustration. "As I've tried explaining to you and Wendy, there's a lot that goes into it. Not only will it make your partner physically stronger, it will also allow you to communicate with them when they're not around."
"How?"
"I wouldn't have believed it if I wasn't living it right now." Gajeel chuckled darkly. "It's a little strange, having the pipsqueek knowing how I'm doing. It's so hard to hide from her. The bright side is I will know when she's in danger at a moment's notice. You want to protect Blondie right?"
"I can't imagine my life without her.." Natsu admitted. "She's all I think about, even if she's sitting right next to me."
"Then you need to do this, for the both of you." The long haired wizard patted the Fire Dragon Slayer on the shoulder.
"I'm just afraid this isn't the right time. I mean, we're in the middle of an extremely important mission. Trying to take down one of the bigger dark guilds isn't exactly the right time to ask about this kind of thing."
Black Steele groaned, wanting to strangle the Dragon Slayer in front of him. "What if someone took Lucy?"
The environment instantly became strained, someone could cut the tension with a knife. Natsu glared at his fellow guildmate. "Why would you say something like that?" His tone was quiet, yet threatening.
"If you would just get your damned head out of your ass, you'd see that what I'm saying is the right thing to do!" Gajeel yelled. "How else would you know the second she was in danger. Don't you owe it to her to keep her safe and protect her, if you don't want to live without her?"
Salamander was about to retort, he was fuming! However, suddenly none of his answers seemed like a good enough reason. When the Iron Dragon Slayer worded it the way he did, Natsu knew immediately what he needed to do. As he looked up towards the sky. The hues of purple, blue, and orange were beautiful. The stars were just beginning to show themselves, causing him to smile. Lucy would love this.
"Do you think we can go back in there without being noticed?" The pink haired wizard questioned.
"If you stop Levy from talking to Blondie, I'll sick Erza on your ass." Gajeel's eyes narrowed. "She's missed her best friend, and they need to have their time alone."
"But my dinner's in there!"
"I DON'T CARE!"
Lucy and her best friend sat on the loveseat and talked for hours. They easily lost track of time as they were chatting. Levy made sure to catch her up on everything that was noteworthy. In all honesty, not a lot really happened in Fairy Tail while the Celestial Mage was gone. The bluenette explained to her best friend that many of the wizards missed her so much that they didn't hang around the guild hall.
"How many times did you have to rebuild Fairy Tail while I was gone?" Lucy questioned, a chuckle leaving her mouth.
"Actually…" Levy was debating on fibbing to her best friend. However, she hated doing so. "Natsu wasn't really at the guild hall while you were gone. Honestly, I don't think a single fight happened inside."
"Really?" The Celestial Mage was shocked.
"Yeah." The bluenette grinned towards Lucy. "I think you underestimate your impact on the guild, Lu. The dynamic of your team completely shifted to Erza and Gray going on missions with Wendy, while Natsu either stayed at home or went to jobs alone. Everyone at Fairy Tail was basically moping around for almost a year! I've never seen anything like it."
"I-I didn't realize I was missing that much.." A gentle smile crossed Lucy's features.
"Of course you were, Lu!" Levy happily conveyed her excitement. "Everyone missed you terribly! The guildhall hasn't been the same without you. I can't count how many times people asked me if I knew anything. It was hard not to mention the letters, but I knew you were safer if I didn't."
A few moments of silence fell upon the two ladies. The only sound that could be heard was the television at the other side of the room.
"Sooooo." A mischievous look came over Levy. "Have you and Natsu performed the Unity spell?"
Lucy's eyes widened, freezing in front of her best friend. While she knew something happened before she left for her mission, was that the full Unity Spell? "Uh…"
"I'll take that as a no." Levy giggled, moving closer to her best friend. "Trust me, you'd know if it happened."
"What's it like?" The Celestial Mage inquired.
The bluenette sighed, leaning back in the cushions. "It's unlike anything I've experienced… The sensation is so hard to describe."
"Paint a picture for me." Lucy snickered, putting her head in her hands, leaning closer to her best friend.
"I immediately felt myself get a power boost. Along with that, I saw my appearance change before my eyes. The piercings came in, and my hair added this metallic look to it. What I wasn't ready for was how my body changed in other ways."
"What do you mean?" The young blonde asked curiously.
"Well..The first thing I noticed was that I became attuned to Gajeel, and him only. He warned me before we completed the spell, that it would be an intense change. The man was right." Levy giggled. "It's like being tethered to him instead of Earthland. I can sense when he's feeling tense, or in a bad mood. His emotions are a part of me, and mine a part of him."
The Script mage felt a heat rise to her cheeks as she blushed. "He said that couples after time have developed their own form of telepathy. While that hasn't happened yet, I definitely see how it could."
Lucy's eyes were wide as she took in all of this information. This sounded like an intense spell, with some powerful magic. Could this have been the change the tarot cards were speaking of so long ago? The Celestial Mage couldn't imagine her life without Natsu in it. Was this truly the next step in their relationship?
"Penny for your thoughts?" Levy pulled her best friend out of her racing mind.
"I-I just wish it was the right time to think about this." The young blonde sighed. "With everything going on, I feel like I need to put my love life on the backburner for a while."
The Script mage raised her brows in shock. "I can't believe what I'm hearing!"
"What?" Lucy glanced at her friend, confused at her reaction.
"You've spent the better part of a year running away from your feelings about Natsu. Now when it's the perfect time to get this important conversation out of the way, you're going to wait AGAIN because it's 'not the right time'?"
It looks like you take a bit of your partner's personality as well. Lucy thought to herself. The Celestial Mage was surprised at Levy's tone. Her friend rarely flew off the handle like that before she left on her mission. Even though what she was saying hurt, Lucy knew she was right. Running away from her issues was how she got in this mess in the first place.
The door opened, cutting the tension in the room. Natsu waved at the two ladies and flashed them a toothy grin. "Hey, I have some food in here if you guys want some. We may have to heat it up, but it shouldn't take long."
Just as the Fire Dragon Slayer mentioned food, Lucy's stomach began to growl. The Celestial Mage blushed, hating that her gut announced to the room that she was hungry.
"I got you, Lucy." Salamander quickly goes into the kitchen and begins reheating what he started hours earlier.
Levy watched the pink haired wizard as she felt her own Dragon Slayer rest on the arm of the loveseat. Looking at her best friend, the Script Mage grinned. She took Lucy's hand with her guild mark into hers. "It's your time to be happy, Lu. Stop putting off your happy ending."
With that, the bluenette glanced towards her own Dragon Slayer. "Are you ready to go, sweetheart?"
"I was actually kinda hun-" The look on the Scrips Mage's face stopped him dead in his tracks. "Uh… Yeah, I'm ready?"
"Perfect!" Levy clapped, a smile plastered on her face. "It was great to see you, Lu. We're gonna get out of your guys' hair. The bluenette giggled as she took a hold of Gajeel's hand, practically dragging him out of the home.