[ Macao's Arc {2} ]
-L-H-
"The whole dock, Natsu? Really?" Lucy let out an incredulous chuckle as Natsu carried her and a sleeping Happy in his arms as they ran from the military as a result from their match against Bora. Magic bullets flew past them as Natsu hustled out of the area, carrying Lucy bridal-style as Happy slept on her chest. He was concerned for his friend, but Lucy was quick to reassure him that the Exceed had just used up a lot of magic and needed to rest.
"Err-yeah, maybe I got a little carried away." Natsu huffed out a small chuckle as he jumped over a fence and made a small turn.
Lucy peeked over a muscular shoulder to watch them getting further and further away from the scene, the flames lighting up the entire area. She hoped that they didn't manage to destroy anything relatively important, and that no one got hurt other than Bora. Because Bora deserved it, Lucy thought, her face hardening at the thought of the slave trader.
Disgusting.
Speaking of Natsu's fight, did her eyes deceive her or did she seem him eat fire ?
"Did I see you eat fire?!" Lucy looked at Natsu in shock as he jumped over a chair and he took a moment to pause to stare at her in his arms and nodded. He let out a sharp grin,
"Sure did. It's like my party trick! I can eat all kinds of fire."
"Well-What does it taste like…"
"Depends on the color!" Natsu said cheerfully before letting out a yelp once he saw some soldiers round the corner. He picked up speed without a second thought as Lucy let out a sound of awe at the dragon slayer, as they outran the military and found themselves on a path to a different town based off of the signs Lucy saw.
Natsu eventually set Lucy down and stretched his arms as Lucy adjusted Happy positions, freeing her left hand just in case she needed to access her keys. She pouted a little at the thought of her missing whip, but it seemed she'll just have to buy a new one much to her displeasure. She still needed to find an apartment!
"Where are we heading?"
"To Magnolia!" Natsu cheered as he walked, Lucy slowly trailing after him.
Lucy assumed that that was where Fairytail was located based off of Natsu's infectiously happy energy and hummed as she walked a little bit faster in anticipation. He's been raving about his home, and it only makes Lucy's curiosity grow more and more as time went on.
"You're gonna love it, Luce." Natsu said fondly, full of love. Lucy just looked at him, at his side profile, and took note of his expression. She didn't say anything in response, but that was okay. The longer she spends with Natsu, the more at ease she naturally feels. Lucy took her time as she walked, taking note of the scenery that surrounded them. She's never gone past Ishgar, so this was all new to her, and it was beautiful .
Natsu was a naturally fast moving person and a bit impulsive too. Yet once he realized that he was walking too fast for Lucy, he was quick to turn around and see the girl taking her time as she idly patted Happy's back, rubbing it as the cat snoozed against her. He looked comfortable but most of all, Natsu is almost sure that Lucy doesn't even realize that she's doing it. It just goes to show that she was just a naturally caring person.
Natsu stopped moving and patiently waited for Lucy to catch up to him, before walking in step with her, being conscious of his speed. Lucy just shot a glance at him in amusement as she looked back at the scenery.
"You don't have to wait for me, I'll catch up eventually. In fact, I'm sorry if I'm a bit of a slow poke right now," Lucy chuckled but Natsu just smiled and shook his head, shoving his hands in his trousers.
"S'okay," Natsu looked up at the afternoon sky, "I think I like this pace, actually."
"Normally a fast tempo type of guy?"
"Yeah, I guess I am," Natsu agreed, "But that's because I thrive in high speed stuff. Like fighting, I'm good at that. Or running, I'm good at that too!"
"So anything violent or physically demanding," Lucy said dryly, noticing the pattern in his answers. She turned to watch the scenery again, awaiting Natsu's response. Nothing but silence greeted her as she turned towards Natsu again, this time in small concern. Natsu seemed to have a bit of a solemn expression on his face, looking down at his hands.
"I mean-I do have a rather big destructive streak. I don't want to destroy everything, and you'll see that Fairytail is a bit, uhm, chaotic . It's just all I know," Natsu confessed quietly. He let out a small chuckle at his confession,
"You're the only person who makes me think so hard, like this, I swear."
Lucy just patted his arm with her free hand and gave it a squeeze. "I'm flattered you feel as if you can open up to me, Natsu. And there's nothing wrong with a good self-reflection every once in a while."
"It makes me feel weird," Was all Natsu said as he reflected a bit from Lucy's words. Lucy ended up linking her arm through his as they walked, talking about lighter things as they strolled easily. She mentally put this conversation in the back of her mind for a later time, because it seemed like Natsu was carrying some baggage that he hasn't really reflected on much. Despite her knowing that Natsu's love for his adoptive family in Fairytail was roaringly strong, she did note that he said that she was the first person that really made him reflect.
Sometimes, it's an outsider's perspective that helps gives a little more insight.
Lucy knows that very well from having another wary, baggage soul inside of her after all.
"...I'm here whenever you feel weird like that, Natsu." Lucy wanted Natsu to know that he had a safe space to talk. Perhaps it was because she's already seen him at a low point before, all of those years ago. Maybe that's why he felt courage to talk about deeper things.
"You kind of sound like a pervert, Luce." That idiot-
A smack sounded through the air with a growl and a bright laugh filling it.
-L-H-
They walked through a massive gate that had the words "Fairytail" pinned on it. It had a large bell at the top of the castle, with huge wooden doors that stood in front of them as Lucy cranked her head up to see the height of the guild's headquarters. Happy squirmed a bit as he yawned in Lucy's arms, causing Natsu and Lucy to look down and look at him.
"You're awake."
"Happy! Yo!"
Happy stretched and waved sleepily, before pointing at the door. "What're we waiting for? Let's go!"
Natsu grinned at his friend's words and slammed the doors open, with Lucy blinking widely at the sight immediately. To say that Fairytail was chaotic was the understatement of the year, Lucy thought as she was rendered utterly speechless as she ducked slightly at the sight of a thrown table. Her jaw dropped as Natsu stood with his hands on his hips, loud and proud as he boasted,
"Welcome to Fairytail!" Happy flew to Natsu as he copied his pose on top of his head, and Lucy bit back a small coo. They are an adorable duo. Natsu's attention was quickly distracted by a buck-toothed man in a chair with a beer in his hand, growling as he huffed out,
"Krov, you bastard! That info you gave me was shit!" Natsu jumped up and kicked him in the face, leaving Lucy gasping from the doorway as it kickstarted another brawl in the middle of the ongoing brawl. Some shirtless teenager that seemed to be her age, ended up calling Natsu a "Flame-Brain Idiot" and that seemed to really get under Natsu's nerves as he moved on from Krov to the "Stripping Pervert". Lucy sweatdropped at the insult. He really was stripped down to his boxers.
She slowly made her way to the other side of the Guild, inching and ducking accordingly along the side of the wall, before she made it to the bar. Lucy recounts the interesting personalities that she's seen along the way; a big white haired man screaming about how to be a real man, a guy with orange hair that was surrounded by woman, approaching her. She was quick to give a bit of a disgusted look to him, who introduced himself as Loke, still fresh from the Bora incidents in the morning.
Loke wasn't deterred however, until he saw her pair of keys on her hip. It caused him to flinch and quickly back away from her, which surprised Lucy to no end as she didn't expect such a reaction. Was there something wrong with her keys? Lucy tried to make eye-contact with Loke again but he was avoiding her gaze at that point, even turning around to give his posse more attention.
"Loke.."
Lucy's eyes widened at the sound of Rushii's voice, letting out a small gasp of surprise.
"Rushii! Oh my goodness, you've missed so much-but most importantly, how are you feeling?"
Rushii paused for a moment, taking note of her state. Seeing Natsu had reminded her of his death in her timeline, and it hurt bitterly. She had a feeling the day would come that she would see him against from Lucy's perspective, but was never fully prepared. Suddenly, Rushii remembered that Lucy had known Natsu's name, and when did that happen?!
"How did you know Natsu's name?" Rushii asked instead of answering her question.
"Do you remember that one day that I almost got kidnapped at the bookstore?" Rushii said that she did and Lucy was quick to fill in the details of what happened while she was asleep. Lucy had told everything before to her except her interaction with Natsu. She didn't think she'd ever see him again, and decided that it wasn't worth mentioning.
Rushii was speechless at the end of this, before she let out a powerful feeling of pride that Lucy felt. Lucy flushed at the emotion and waved her hands mentally in the air as she projected herself to Rushii.
"What's all of this? I just helped him out!"
"You-You really did him a service. I think that he really needed to hear that, Lucy. Thank you for looking after him."
"Is he important to you? Is Fairytail important too?"
"You have no idea," Rushii said warmly as she looked around through Lucy's eyes at the sight of her old guild. Later on, she'll probably allow herself to cry at the sight. All she remembered these days was the concrete rubble that was left from the dragon attack.
It was good to be back.
"Go around and talk to people, let loose." Rushii suddenly encouraged and Lucy nodded.
"I'll let you know what happened today, later!"
"You do that."
Lucy was so happy to see that Rushii was in better spirits this time around, and sat down at the bar with a smile on her face. She looked and saw a magazine on the counter, picking up and idly flipping through it as the brawl behind her slowly became background noise. Lucy noticed that Fairytail was the cover of the Sorcerer's Magazine page, and she let out a small whistle at the white haired lady that was on one of the main pages.
A small giggle and the sound of a drink sloshing alerted her that someone was in front of her, and Lucy lifted her eyes up to see the very model that she was looking at prior. Lucy let out a gasp and pointed from the magazine to the her, watching as the beautiful white-haired lady gave her a lovely smile.
"Hey! You're-"
"Mirajane Strauss, at your service." Mirajane answered sweetly with a wink and Lucy almost gushed out loud at her beauty. Lucy slapped her face with her hands to get her to snap out of it and whispered,
"You're so pretty!"
Mirajane just giggled and handed Lucy a drink, which she gratefully took. "Thank you. You're also nice on the eyes, uhm…?"
"Lucy. Lucy Heartfilia," Lucy said as she took a sip of her drink, missing Mirajane's small look of recognition that she shared with another person that was suddenly beside Lucy, causing her to let out a squeak. It was another woman, wearing rather revealing clothing as she wore nothing but blue bikini and some cargo pants as she leaned against the bar, carrying a barrel of alcohol underneath her arm.
Mirajane was quick to lean over from the bar to give the girl a small kiss on the cheek, which the girl smiled at before sitting down next to Mirajane. The brown haired girl thrusted her barrel onto Lucy's lap, startling her.
"Uh?"
"Magnolia's finest rum, it's a rite of passage to drink before joining Fairytail, Heartfilia." The brown hair girl smirked before holding out her hand, "I'm Cana, by the way."
"We don't peer pressure others to drink, Cana," Mirajane scolded softly as she washed one of the glasses in the sink, causing Cana to pout at her before rolling her eyes and muttering something under her breath. Mirajane suddenly smiled sharply at Cana, and yet the effects caused both Cana and Lucy to flinch at they looked at the woman,
"What was that, dear?"
"Nothing, nothing."
Lucy whipped her head back and forth between the two of them, "Wait, are you guys together?"
Mirajane nodded as Cana activated her magic card magic to the incoming barrel that was headed towards the bar, spliting it into two as as it crashing around the girl. Lucy watched as the girls didn't even flinch at almost being mauled by a flying empty alcohol barrel, and she realized that this place really was crazy.
She…kinda like it.
Rushii guffawed at the revelation of Cana's and Mirajane's relationship, sputtering in Lucy's mind.
"T-They're dating?! What the hell-"
"They weren't dating in your world, Nee-san?"
"No way. In fact, I thought Mirajane and Laxus were going to be a thing to be honest."
"Who is Laxus?"
"...don't worry about him. He's a bit…tempermental, especially during this current times. You will meet him eventually." Rushii paused before finally muttering,
"You know what, Cana really did give serious bi-girl energy, it's not that ridiculous now that I think about it."
Natsu crashed on the ground beside Lucy and the Canajane pair as they turned towards the pinkie. Lucy just raised an eyebrow at him, taking a sip of her drink and gestured towards the rest of the fighting.
"Are you going to get up, or what?"
Happy flew to Lucy and sat next to her on the counter, as Natsu's spirits seemed to be ignited even higher at Lucy's words. He shot back onto his feet in an instant and raised his fist triumphantly towards Lucy,
"I'll win, don't worry Lucy!"
"Win what, exactly..?" Lucy muttered confusedly as Natsu activated his fire magic, causing everyone to slowly do the same in the middle of the guild. Cana let out an irritated grumble as she got up to walk around to hide behind the bar, next to Mirajane who let out a soft sigh and looked around for the emergency defensive bar button to activate.
"Uh oh! Time to hide with Cana and Mira, Lucy!" Happy zoomed on over, and just as Lucy was scramble to get up and follow them to safety, a massive giant figure's shadow loomed from the top floor of Fairytail, causing everyone to freeze as they all felt the menacing waves of irritation. Lucy gulped in a small bout of fear, but after hearing Rushii chuckle in her mind at the thought, she knew that she wasn't in any serious danger.
"What the hell is going on?! When will you rascals stop fighting all the damn time and giving me mountains of incident reports from your antics? I'm tired! My back hurts, goddamnit! The Magic Council is always hounding my ass!"
The shadow got smaller and smaller as the man seemed to have shrunk in size, letting out a small sigh as he rubbed his aged forehead. He walked over to the bar and grabbed a random drink that was laying on the counter, everyone watching his movements as he chugged it before smashing it on the ground.
"Well, as long as innocents don't get hurt and the bad guys are defeated, then I don't really care what the Magic Council says! Do what you guys think is right, that is the essence of Fairytail! Just quiet down a bit, will ya?" Makarov Dreyar, the guildmaster of Fairytail cheered as everyone roared in approval and agreement, even dragging Lucy along by the energy of everyone else.
So this was Fairytail, huh?
Natsu came over towards Lucy and showed his shoulder to her, which housed a big red Fairytail symbol on it. He turned towards Mirajane and asked her if she had the guild stamper near here, before shooting puppy eyes at Lucy who just sighed at the sight of them.
"Join Fairytail?"
"Seems like I don't have a choice." Lucy complied easily, already coming to that conclusion as she watched everything happened in front of her. It was loud, it was messy, but there was an air of adventure and never-ending fun that enveloped her the moment she walked into the guild. She'll gladly join Fairytail, especially once Mirajane told her that she had the chance to go on quests once she becomes a member of a guild
And quests means money, which Lucy cheered for especially.
"Do I have to pass some sort of test to become a member?"
Cana shook her head as she took her lips off of her bottle, letting out a small burp as she leaned against the counter once more. Her arm was loosely around Mirajane's waist as she stood next to her girlfriend, "Nope, we don't do tests like that."
"If we did though, you would've passed years ago." Mirajane said softly, eyes full of respect and contentness. Lucy was confused at first, but when the couple turned to glance at Natsu, she realized what they were talking about. Was what she said all those years ago, really that big of a deal?
"We were all young, each of us were struggling with our own issues. In a guild full of children, it'd be hard to look after everyone equally, you know?" That was all Mirajane vaguely said as she looked at Natsu with fondness in her eyes as Cana nodded.
"I've been here for a long time, Heartfilia. Not many people know what happened surrounding the incident, but Natsu ended up telling me and Mira that he met a blond girl named Lucy in the middle of an " adventure " and that he came back to fulfill a promise." Cana finished just as softly, "He's been happier ever since that day."
Lucy was rendered speechless, while Rushii let tears of happiness trail down her cheeks at the story. Words, all she did was say words and gave a hug.
And it let to this much of an impact? The power of kindness, it could be life-saving.
"So where and what color do you want it to be?" Mirajane asked Lucy, who immediately held up her right hand in a small daze. Pink, she had said, because it was her favorite color. She's always liked pink, it's such a pretty color that could be elegantly as well as cutesy depending on the shade.
And perhaps, it was also because the reason she knows of Fairytail, was because of a pink-haired man after all.
Happy pulled at Lucy's shirt to lead her over towards the quest board, where there were multiple stacks of paper that were nailed to the board, begging to be accepted. Natsu was looking over there as the guild dived into idle chatter, eyes scrunching as he slowly viewed over the papers. Lucy and Happy arrived, with the latter immediately taking the paper in Natsu's hands, reading it over at a fast pace.
"Aye! This one is a quest out to Hargeon again. Probably shouldn't accept that one." Happy sweatdropped as the other did as well. Lucy was almost positive they were probably wanted over there for the time being anyways.
"Damn. I grabbed it because I saw it had a lot of zeroes, but if that's the case, then yeah, that makes sense." Natsu scratched the back of his head and grabbed another quest, handing it immediately to Happy. Lucy cocked her head in small confusion, why didn't he just read the paper himself? Why give it to Happy-
Lucy took note of his slightly frustrated expression as he read the menu, but tucked it away in the back of her mind as the server came back with their drinks and asked for their order.
"U-Uh, I'd like this chicken…" Natsu trailed off as he looked down back at the menu, leaving Lucy to peek at what he was looking at before flipping her menu around, pointing at the picture of a noodle dish that had a chicken in it. "Chicken parmesan pasta? Is that what you want, Natsu?"
Happy turned towards Natsu and rolled his eyes, "Ask me for help, next time!"
Natsu was looking over there as the guild dived into idle chatter, eyes scrunching as he slowly viewed over the papers. Lucy and Happy arrived, with the latter immediately taking the paper in Natsu's hands, reading it over at a fast pace.
"Hey, Natsu?"
"Yo!"
"Do you have difficulty reading?" Lucy asked gently. She didn't want to make it seem like she was making fun of him, after all. Natsu paused looking at the quest board, shooting a small glance back at Lucy, before looking back at the board. Happy stayed quiet as they awaited for Natsu to answer.
Rushii was stunned. She couldn't remember if her Natsu had any difficulties like that. A devious thought escaped her mind as it whispered in her ears alone, if she had been too self-centered to notice.
"Yeah. Yeah I do," Natsu admitted it, clenching the quest in his hand a little bit. Lucy looked down at the motion before coming to link her arm through his again, looking at the quest board with him. Natsu will never admit it, but being called "Flame Brain Idiot" by the Ice Freak sometimes hit a little hard. He tried to learn on his own, but found it hard to concentrate. What he can read now is only because he's seen them pop up repeatedly over the years over and over.
In a guild full of children, it'd be hard to look after everyone equally, you know?
Lucy understood Fairytail a little bit more now, from Mirajane's words.
"It's okay," Lucy said. "Nothing to be ashamed of. It's hard to learn in an environment that isn't suited to your learning style. It'll be something that we'll have to work on then, that's all!"
"We?" Natsu whispered astonished, Lucy would really help him with reading?
"We." Lucy confirmed. Natsu's heart soared at her words, fighting the urge not the smile super bringhtly and yell that he'd finally had a chance to become smart now. To contribute more to the guild, to make things a bit easier for Happy. He looks down at Lucy and realizes that she's already done so much for him, but what has he done for her?
She's-She's changing his life again.
"Do you need help with anything?" Natsu asked her seriously, wanting to repay her kindness in any way. He could teach her how to fight, get her physical capabilities up. He knows some parkour tips, maybe she'd be interested in that. Oh! It's always good to know how to break your fall, Natsu has had a lot of experience with that, he could totally-
"I just want to have a real, true friend that's my age. That's all I ask for," Lucy whispered back. Natsu was about to retort that it wasn't enough to repay for her promises, for her help, but paused once he took a look at her face. Perhaps it didn't mean much to Natsu, because he had grown up with friends his age all his entire life. He thinks about how Lucy said that she was an only-child, and that her friends were the servants at the Heartfilia Manor and some shopkeepers.
Just because it might not seem as much to him, doesn't mean that it held the same value for Lucy, Natsu realized.
If it's a friend that she wanted, a true friend, then he'll be the very best. Natsu patted her head and gave her a small side-hug. Lucy grinned at the feeling and looked up to him, watching as he nodded and took her request very seriously.
"I'll be the best friend you'll ever have, Luce. You can count on me!"
"I know," Lucy was beginning to realize that she really could.
"Until the very end, he was." Rushii whispered nostalgically, too softly for even Lucy to hear.
Their moment was interrupted however by a smacking sound, and the duo + Happy whipped their heads around to see a small boy angrily stomping away with tears in his eyes and a small hand imprint on the guild-master's face as he watched him leave stoically. Natsu immediately went to walk after the boy, leaving Lucy and Happy to look at each other before following him.
"Romeo!"