[ Macao's Arc {3} ]
-L-H-
Angry tears rolled down the boy's face as he sat outside of Fairytail, letting out frustrated sounds as he cried. His fists were clenched as he sniffed, angrily looking out into the Magnolia Town as he whipped his nose on his sleeve. Lucy remembered that Natsu had called the boy Romeo and watched as Natsu stared at Romeo for a moment before moving to sit down next to him.
Lucy found herself sitting on the other side of the boy as he cried, Natsu throwing an arm over him as they sat in silence. Eventually, Romeo calmed down enough to let out a wet cough and Lucy was the one to speak up this time around.
"Your name, it's Romeo, right?" She inquired gently. Romeo nodded and sniffed before turning towards Lucy, looking at her a bit curiously.
"Y-Yeah. Who're you?" Romeo sniffed.
"Her name is Lucy, and she's my best friend," Natsu said with a small grin, catching Lucy flushing happily at the term. She's never really had a best friend before. Rushii was lovely, but she did not count considering her circumstances. Rushii chuckled at Lucy's thought, but sombered up as she warned Lucy what was about to happen.
"His dad is missing."
Lucy was careful to hold back the small gasp that threatened to escape as Natsu and Romeo talked quietly to each other.
"Is he still alive?"
"Yes, but it's a bit of a weird situation. You'll be going somewhere cold, so prepare accordingly." Rushii said slowly, making sure that the hints that she was giving were allowed by the Eclipse Gate. Last time she tried to force her way through with information about Bora, she was successful but it felt like agony. Rushii didn't want to be in pain, but she'll do what must be done in order to save the future.
Pain meant that she's still alive after all, not dead like the rest of her world.
"Okay Nee-san, but tell me, how does it feels to see everything again?"
It was quiet for a moment, as Rushii collected her thoughts. It made her immensely happy that she was able to see everyone alive and well, despite them not being from her timeline. In many ways, things haven't changed a bit and the nostalgia was almost suffocating as she watched through Lucy's eyes.
As she watches the world through Lucy's eyes however, she realizes that there were many things that she's missed during her life. Was it because of her influence in Lucy's past? Is that why everyone else seem to be more emotional, carry more trauma, and even develop relationships that weren't in her timeline? Was Rushii the catalyst? Or was she too caught up on her own actions to miss out on what everyone's inner demons were?
Lucy and Rushii were alike, but different, and she sees that difference in the unabashed kindness that stems from a desire to have fun and go on countless adventures. Lucy has a bit of a sarcastic, mature aura to her as well, which definitely wasn't in Rushii at her age.
Realistically, it doesn't matter about how she acted in the past, because she is influencing a new future by helping Lucy become better, stronger than she was in her life.
It just was hard to see the alarming flags that she seemed to have missed.
There is a bigger picture to all of this, Rushii knows. But sometimes it was hard to focus on the end goal when the present is right in your face, throwing your failures and insecurities in your face.
"It's nice to see everyone again," Rushii said truthfully. She won't burden Lucy with the rest of her thoughts though. This was her burden to bear, living in the "What-if I'd done things a bit differently" version of her life. She won't let Lucy feel responsible for her bouts of self-deprication.
Rushii was forgetting for a moment that Lucy could feel the emotions that tormented her Nee-san since they share the same body. Lucy just watched as Rushii smiled in her mind, at her projection, but with pain in her eyes.
Lucy felt helpless as she smiled back, albeit a bit strainfully. She respectfully then divided their emotions for the moment, leaving Rushii to her own feelings and hers for herself. Rushii probably had much to think and reflect about, and would want a bit of privacy.
Lucy let out a sigh and focused back on the present to Natsu's and Romeo's conversation, catching the end of it.
A small paw poked her in the cheek as Happy gave a small frown at Lucy's dazed expression, causing her to turn towards the cat with an eyebrow raised.
"Ha?"
"You okay, Lucy?" Happy asked curiously, "You seemed to be stuck in a daydream!"
Lucy flushed a bit at Happy caught her interaction with Rushii, and was quick to nod and shoot the exceed a smile, "I'm fine."
She turned back towards Natsu, who seemed to be looking at Romeo with eyes that screamed that he was in full understanding of Romeo's predicament, causing Lucy to tune into their conversation with more vigor.
"...that stupid old man won't let me go after him! He's been gone for over a whole week, and what if something had happened to him?!" Romeo huffed out as he sniffed, laying against Natsu's side as Natsu rubbed his back. Natsu just hummed as he allowed the boy to get his frustrations out. Natsu knew all too well what Romeo was feeling, after all.
He had tried to go look for his own father before.
Lucy saw the flash of a worn, tired look on Natsu's face, understanding immediately that he was feeling really strongly about Romeo's situation. Lucy pursed her lips and got up from Romeo's side as she turned in front of the boys, squatting before Romeo who looked at her with red eyes.
"Makarov has his reasons for not sending out a little boy to search for his dad. What if it's just a train delay? What if he's picking out something for you to have from his travels? I bet your dad will be real upset if he were to arrive tomorrow, only to find that you were missing!"
Romeo let out a small cough as he clung to Natsu's side, but looked at Lucy with a wide-eyed expression. He didn't think about that! What if his dad was getting a souvenir? Macao liked to spoil him from time to time, maybe he's searching for the ultimate present!
But what if…
"But what if he's in trouble?" Romeo whispered out sorrowfully, eyes filling with fresh tears at the thought. Lucy glanced at Natsu, who was already looking at Lucy with a determined expression on his face. She then glanced up at the sky, noticing that it was beginning to turn into the late afternoon/evening time, and let out a sigh before nodding wordlessly at Natsu.
There was still daylight in the day, which meant that they could still do one last adventure!
"Then we'll go after him to Mt. Hakobe, and find him ourselves." Natsu said seriously, squeezing the boy before he gently removed himself from his grasp. Natsu stood up proudly, and looked down at Romeo who was staring at the two teenagers in awe as Natsu high-fived Lucy. He raised a determined fist, pointing it at Romeo.
"Put your faith in us, Romeo. We'll get the job done," Natsu said proudly. Happy flew around them, cheering with his own "Aye Sir!" as Lucy grinned in determination. They'll save Romeo's dad, and ease his worries. Romeo let out a gasp of shock and he shot up, launching themselves at them, hugging their legs.
" Thank you. "
"Of course," Natsu spoke strongly, "That's what Fairytail does. We look after our own."
-L-H-
"You don't have to come if you don't want to, I know we've had a long day," Natsu told Lucy as they walked down the streets of Magnolia. Well, it was actually Natsu following Lucy to wherever she was heading. Lucy shook her head the moment Natsu opened his mouth, having a feeling about what he was going to say. "Not a chance, pinkie. We're doing this together!"
Natsu didn't protest after that, but Lucy didn't miss the grin that he tried to fight as he shoved his hands in his pockets, looking down at the ground. After a comfortable silence, he was beginning to get curious as to where they were going though.
Soon they stopped in front of a store however, Natsu picked his head up to squint at the sign.
Lucy nudged him and pointed at the sign. "What does that say?"
Natsu was caught off guard and stammered for a hot second before swallowing and slowly read the letters of the shop. "M…ag-mart?"
Lucy gave him a big smile and hugged him, "Correct! You get two points."
"Aye! Two whole points!"
"Two points? For what?"
"For every two hundred points, you get a free meal from me. Think of it as an incentive to practice reading and comprehension wherever we go." Lucy said, proud of the idea she generated. Natsu's jaw dropped as he got excited at Lucy's words. If he does a good job in reading, he gets free food? It doesn't get better than that.
"Yosh! Hey, you want me to read that too?!" He said pointing inside at one of the signs in the store. Lucy opened the door, gesturing towards Natsu and Happy to come in. She had to look for a coat before they head to Mt. Hakobe after all, but there's nothing wrong with hitting two birds with one stone.
As they went shopping, Natsu ended up winning a total of thirteen points, which he was immensely proud of.
After purchasing some items (Lucy ended up buying a vest for Natsu, another whip, and a medical kit just in case Macao was injured), the trio found themselves riding the back of a carriage towards Mt. Hakobe. It took a while to get there, but it didn't deter Lucy, Natsu, and Happy as they chatted happily on the way there.
"Natsu, why didn't you tell her that you're resistant to cold temperatures!" Happy whispered in his ear curiously. Natsu just nodded at whatever Lucy was ranting about, something that she had read before she left home, before he answered Happy,
"It's her way of showing friendship. She told me she didn't want me cold either, even though I told her that I was gonna be okay on the mountain. And they're a matching set, it really feels like were some sort of team!" Natsu gushed. It felt like a cool uniform that only they had. Team Natsu? Team Na-Lu? Team HaLuNa? Team-
"You're here!" The carriage driver said, kicking Natsu into gear as he kicked the back of the carriage door spontaneously, letting the cold wind of the mountain embraced them. He raised his hand over his eyes as he looked around in the icy wind, as Lucy shivered immediately, zipping up her coat as she stepped outside the carriage.
Even this coat seemed a bit meaningless at the chill that overtook Lucy, but it definitely would've been worse without it. Rushii snorted in her mind, telling her that it was terrible and it was thanks to Horologium that she didn't catch hypothermia and die.
Horologium?
Lucy eyed the thigh-thick snow that covered the way up the mountain, where they were bound to head. Natsu had already began to naturally melt the snow around him, allowing him to walk with relative ease. She had thought about just following where he melted, but saw that the falling snow replaced his steps almost immediately.
Maybe she'll summon Horologium, she said with a sweatdrop.
"Open the Gate of The Clock, Horologium!"
Horologium appeared as a massive brown lock and immediately opened it's glass door for Lucy to enter, which she thanked the spirit gratefully. She informed him to follow the pink haired man, and with that the trio climbed up Mt. Hakobe against the winds. Natsu had told her on the way to the mountain that Macao's, which was Romeo's father's name, mission was to take care of what was called a Vulcan, an ape-like monster that had tremendous strength.
"Macao!"
"Macao!"
"Romeo's dad!"
They all called out for Macao in the middle of the storm, Happy flying high to see if he spots something from above ground. They weren't making any progress though, feeling a small burst of frustration inside them as they didn't hear anything respond back for a while.
"Hey, maybe we should go another way-"
A loud boom interrupted their thoughts as everyone flinched in surprise before whipping their heads around to see a massive dark figure behind them, growling deep and low. Lucy shivered at the sound, and at the dark eyes that she saw staring at her as no one moved for a moment. Natsu was quick to react first, fists on fire as he launched himself at the beast,
"C'mere you ugly beast!" He roared but faltered when the Vulcan ignored Natsu in favor of dashing towards Lucy, causing Natsu's eyes to widen as he turned too slowly to react in horror. Something in Natsu's mind snapped barely as he let out a deep growl at the Vulcan's actions, feeling his power exponentially grow in a split second as he activated his flames in his feet, beaming himself at the Vulcan.
He was a second too late as the Vulcan grabbed Horologium with Lucy inside as she screamed in shock and fear, before launching himself from his massive hind legs to jump back to his lair. Natsu watched as his flamed, speedy kick just narrowly missed the Vulcan, leaving him crashing into the snow as he hit empty air. Natsu scrambled to get back up, eyes narrowed and body heating rapidly as he stared at the dark shadow of the Vulcan getting away with Lucy.
His teeth grew sharper slowly, his eyes flickered darkly as panic and fear seized Natsu, making him feel unstable and out-of-control as he felt the urge to destroy. Scales slowly prickled against Natsu's skin as he felt like a growing inferno, ready to burn this entire fucking mountain if it meant getting Lucy back.
"Natsu?! Did you see that? We got to get Lucy back, I'll carry you, so come on!" Happy dived down from the high ground to yell at Natsu, immediately snapping Natsu at whatever trance he was in for a moment. Natsu let out a choked breath as he felt himself feel normal again, the dark thoughts dispelling once he heard Happy's words. Yes, Happy can fly and carry him to the lair of the beast.
Natsu took in a small breath to calm his racing nerves as he nodded at Happy, letting the exceed pick him up as he propelled them with his flames at his feet.
'Don't destroy, don't destroy, stay calm, stay calm', Natsu chanted to himself as he flew towards the Vulcan's lair, feeling the last of that darkness that almost had him, disappear.
-L-H-
The first thing that the Vulcan had done the moment it reached it's lair was to throw Horologium's body into the wall, crashing Lucy as well as Horologium let out a small groan of surprise and pain. The Vulcan then came over and stomped on the clock repeatedly, causing Lucy to let out a shriek and begged Horologium to go back to the Spirit World.
Horologium's wooden exterior was chipping away with every massive hit from the aggressive Vulcan, who crushed his face next, causing the spirit to let out another groan of pain. Lucy banged on the glass door, witnessing every stomp with an accompanied flinch as she roared for Horologium to go back.
"Horologium! Horologium, please !" Lucy screamed.
"I will protect my mage until my time is up," was all Horologium said as he used his defensive magic to protect Lucy. Horologium knew that the Vulcan was strong, and while he was taking damage from the monster, he wasn't going to die unlike his master's beliefs. Despite this however, he knew had to move in order to get to a favorable position for Lucy to get the upper hand. If he were to disappear in the middle of the Vulcan's stomps, Lucy would not survive the hit directly.
Using the last bit of time left, he rolled over and hopped towards the other side of the lair, throwing the Vulcan off as he used excessive force to stomp into the ground, getting it's foot stuck. Lucy stumbled out of Horologium then as the spirit was forced to begin disappearing as it's time was up.
Lucy was quick to snap her angrily tearful eyes at the spirit, who looked at her with small amusement despite his beaten appearance.
"Don't you ever do that again, Horologium. You could've seriously gotten injured!"
"I would rather it be me, master, than you, and I bet the other spirits feel the same way."
Horologium disappeared after saying his truth, as Lucy furiously wiped her eyes as she was left alone to deal with the Vulcan that had just freed himself. The Vulcan stared at her with snarling teeth and angry eyes as it roared, echoing across the room. Lucy just narrowed her eyes, no longer afraid of the beast as she grabbed her whip and her keys.
"Do you need my help?" Rushii asked matter-a-factly. She watched the entire exchange with a tense expression, observing how Lucy was reacting to the situation based off what they have trained for. She didn't go back for nothing, Lucy had everything that she needed to take care of the beast before her.
Because later, she would find that there are more monsters in the world that were more terrifying than a Vulcan.
And that most of these "monsters" were actually human.
"...I can take care of this one, Nee-san," Lucy whispered as she grabbed the golden key she was looking for, extending her hand to begin the summoning process. The key glowed golden as she began to walk towards the Vulcan,
"Open the Gate of the Golden Bull, Taurus! " She yelled as she threw her whip out, wrapping it around the waist of the surprised Vulcan as she yanked with all of her might, throwing the beast onto ground. It let out a roar of anger and surprise as Taurus bursted through his gate with a charged batte cry of his own, jumping up to slam his body into the Vulcan. The pure power of the assault caused a sound wave to rumbled through the mountain as Lucy rebalanced herself quickly.
Only to dodge Taurus's flying body as it flew past her from the Vulcan throwing him off of it. Lucy yelled out Taurus's name in concern, but the spirit answered that he was fine as he removed himself from the wall, summoning his battle axe as he moved to stand next to Lucy.
He looked down at her and appraised her body immediately, "The state of your biceps have increased in mass! How glorious!"
"Thanks Taurus, I can show you later after we take care of this wretched thing," Lucy prompted Taurus to focus on the battle, which he nodded with a loud laugh and charged forwards, swing his massive axe across. It slashed the Vulcan's stomach, and it used a hand to grasp the wound as Lucy used her whip to grasp it's other arm, leaving it helpless to the chain attack that Taurus was about to implement with Lucy's assist. He moved his body with a loud, booming laugh as he slashed his axe upwards to deliver the killing blow.
At least it would've been, if a flamed fist that was going at a high-speed hadn't crashed into the Vulcan and Taurus, causing them both to crash in the ground, bouncing into the wall.
There Natsu stood with a scowl on his face as he stood in the middle of the lair, causing Lucy to gape at the turn of events. "Natsu?!"
"Lucy! Where's Macao? Do you see him?" Natsu hadn't known the situation after all. One moment he was flying with Happy, the next moment, Happy declared that he was going to throw Natsu into the fight which he quickly agreed to.
"N-No but you just knocked into my spirit, Taurus and the Vulcan!
"E-Eh?!" Natsu said shocked as the ice dust began to settle and indeed, two massive figures were in the wall. He saw the Vulcan, and then he turned to look at the big humanoid bull who let out a small groan of annoyance and he snapped back at Lucy,
"Oh shit . I'm sorry! I didn't mean to!" Natsu quickly spoke, before letting out a surprise grunt with a massive chunk of rock and ice slammed into him, thrown by the pissed off Vulcan. At a speed that shouldn't be possible considering the extent of the injuries that Lucy and her spirits had inflicted on it, it launched itself at Natsu's briefly dazed form, gearing up for what seemed as if the last big attack that it energy left for.
Natsu's eyes widened at the sight before he charged himself up, meeting the Vulcan head on with a flamed Iron Fist waiting for him. Taurus had leaped from his side of the lair, cheering as he casted his axe aside in favor of joining the flamed mage in a glorious display of brute strength. Lucy swang her whip to use it to lock down the Vulcan if need be, but Natsu's and Taurus's strength combined was enough to stop the Vulcan.
With Natsu's fist connecting with his face and Taurus landed right behind the Vulcan, punching into it's back, the Vulcan flew towards the edge of the lair like a ragdoll, immediately falling unconscious at the impact. It's body rolled as Lucy watched it, while Natsu and Taurus cheered together at defeating the enemy.
But wait-why did the Vulcan look like it was transforming-?
Lucy let out a loud, horrid gasp as she realized that the Vulcan had turned into a beaten man that was on his way to rolling off of the cliff . She ran like her life depended on it, screaming for Natsu and Taurus's attention as the body rolled off.
Without hesitation, she jumped off the cliff, casting her whip as she flew against the icy, powerful winds that beat her face, towards Macao's body as it fell limply. It wrapped around Macao's body and Lucy pulled with all of her might to yank his body towards her, grabbing whatever she could before it was too late.
Despite her being wet from the snow, she grasped firmly on his ankle as someone grabbed her own, to her immense relief. Lucy let out a groan of pain as she felt her leg being pulled, straining her muscles as she clunged to Macao's foot with a death grip. Whoever was at the top of this messy assemble was doing all of the work as she slowly felt her body being pulled back upwards, but decided to focus her attention on not dropping Macao.
Eventually, she let out a breath that she didn't even know she was holding in as she reached back onto the top, feeling multiple arms helping her as they hauled Macao's unconscious form up, bleeding profusely from wounds.
Taurus carried Macao's body inside of the lair as Natsu and Happy clunged to Lucy who was breathing in harshly, catching her breath from the whole ordeal. Natsu stared at her in awe, shock, and fear. He recalled how he barely had time to react to Lucy's scream as she jumped over the cliff, taking a piece of his heart with her in pure terror.
"You can't do that to me, Luce. I just got you back," Natsu breathed out as he held Lucy close to his chest. Lucy just let out a weak chuckle, wincing a little as she felt even Rushii's nerves calmed a bit.
"Don't pull that shit again, Lucy. You scared the fuck out of me," Rushii scowled.
"Sorry Nee-san, I just had to move. Otherwise I couldn't look Romeo in the eye if we were to head back with his father's carcass."
Rushii let out a sigh but didn't say anything more.
"Sorry Natsu, but I had to move fast. You saw the Vulcan turn into Romeo's dad, right?"
Natsu took in a long deep breath to settle himself, steeling his resolve as he set his eyes and let go of Lucy, turning towards Taurus and Macao. "Yeah, he looked like shit too. Come on, let's get that first aid kit."
"Make it quick, summoner. The mage is losing blood rapidly," Taurus called out with a frown on his face as he peered towards the body he set down, noticing the stomach wound that seemed to have mirrored the Vulcan he had attacked earlier. Lucy got up quickly at Taurus's serious tone and asked Happy to get the first aid kit that was casted to the side when Horologium disappeared, getting onto her knees as she inspected Macao.
"Let me take over," Rushii muttered, frowning heavily at the sight of Macao's body. This timeline seemed to be crueler and scarier, the more she watched. She didn't remember the Vulcan being so aggressive, he was rather pervy and idiotic in her world. Macao was bruised, but he wasn't bleeding profusely as he was currently.
He could honestly die at this rate.
"I-I can do this Neesan-"
"No. You've done a lot today, Lucy. Take a step back and breath for a moment as I save Macao's life," Rushii ordered strictly, but not unkindly. Lucy reluctantly gave Rushii the reigns as Rushii paused and swallowed down her own nerves, calling out for Natsu to come help.
"Natsu, come here." Rushii said in a serious tone. Natsu immediately came and sat next to Rushii as she opened the medical kit next to Macao's body. Taurus immediately noticed that the other spirit had taken over his master's body, but stayed quiet as he watched her operate on Macao. Rushii ripped the gauze with her teeth as she grabbed Natsu's hand, placing it above Macao's body.
"We're going to have to use your fire to seal his wound. The gauze won't do anything for him, it's too deep." Rushii explained as she set the gauze to the side, bringing out the small package of hydroxide to pour and clean the wound as best as she could. They didn't have time to take their time with cleaning it properly, they were already stained red. Natsu's eyes widened in fear as he looked at his hands,
"L-Lucy, my magic-I can't-I'll hurt him?" Natsu asked hesitantly. He's never been asked to cauterize a wound before. What if his injury becomes worse, despite Natsu's efforts? It always seems to end up that way. He accepts a quest to do some good, and ends up destroying almost everything in the process.
He doesn't want to destroy Macao.
Fear was in his black eyes, but Rushii stood firm. If it was her Natsu, he probably would've shrugged and done it without a second thought. But this wasn't her Natsu, she was beginning to realize. This Natsu was riddled with doubts, insecurities that seemed to roar only when Lucy was around, it seemed. It made it easier in her mind to handle his presence, considering the major differences that her Natsu and this Natsu had, as she took control of the situation.
"I'm afraid doing nothing will lead to his death. Your magic can be used for saving too, Natsu," Rushii spoke softly as she grabbed his hand once more, positioning above Macao's stomach.
"Now take a deep breath, and practice control . Harness your flame and use it to save Romeo's father's life because he's waiting for his dad to come home."
-L-H-
It was almost midnight when they made it back to Fairytail, with a barely lucid Macao on Natsu's back as they moved slowly. Blood littered their clothes and stained their hands as the group walked on.
But everyone was alive.
Lucy was in control again, letting Rushii rest after she encouraged Natsu and took care of Macao's body immediately after he successfully cauterized it. Lucy exhaustedly closed Taurus's gate after the whole situation, feeling drained after the intense events that happened all in one day. She was going to feel so sore tomorrow, she was absolutely sure of it.
Macao had awakened the moment Natsu began to cauterize the wound, screaming in pain as Lucy and Taurus held his flailing body down. The pain forced him conscious , but there was nothing that they could do as his yells and groans of pain echoed the lair, even causing Natsu to falter for a moment. Luckily Rushii told him the faster he completed his job, the faster Macao can begin his healing process.
That was enough for his to re-focus, eyes narrowing intently as he finished sealing the gash, allowing them to wrap Macao in gauze and slot him onto Natsu's back as they made their way off the mountain.
As they were walking through Magnolia's Town, the quietness of the area was like a lullaby to Lucy, as she snuggled Happy to her chest and let out a big yawn, causing Natsu to chuckle.
"It's been a long day, eh?"
"You're telling me," Lucy playfully grumbled but she didn't regret a single thing she's done today. Stopping a slave trader, joining a guild, obtaining a best friend, and going on a quest to find a little boy's lost dad that they were successful with.
"You know, we'd make one badass team, Natsu," Lucy chuckled while Natsu looked at her and seemed to have pondered something as they continue to walk. Eventually they made it to the gate of Fairytail, with Lucy and Happy pushing it open as some guild members turned to them in surprise, considering the time. After everyone's eyes widened at the sight of Macao and the trio's bloodied state, they let out shocked gasped before cheering at the return of the midnight heroes.
Mirajane was the first person to began ordering people to set up the infirmary and to have Makarov informed of the recent developments immediately. Natsu gently settled Macao in Elfman's arms, who turned and carried him away. Letting out a big sigh of relief, Lucy sat down at the closest table, slumping over the table.
Natsu crashed down next to her, laying spread out all over the table with Happy floating down to rest on his stomach as he instinctively placed his hand over Lucy's head that was resting next to his slumped body.
"We did good today," Natsu said and Lucy let out a tired hum in agreement. "You were a badass today Lucy, fighting that Vulcan. I barely did anything except almost make things worse."
Natsu let out a laugh at his words and Lucy was relieved to be able to tell that he was genuinely laughing at the circumstance, and it wasn't in a self-depricated way.
"Don't discredit yourself too much, although I won't lie, that moment where you punched Taurus really shook me. I just wasn't expecting that at all ," Lucy giggled, recalling the events. Now that the danger was over, there were some moments that were a little funny now that she thought about it.
"Aye Sir! Don't forget that you saved Macao's life too, Natsu!" Happy cheered as he yawned, curling up on Natsu's stomach. Natsu didn't say anything for a moment as he held his free hand up, inspecting his flesh.
'Your magic can be used for saving too, Natsu.'
'Well wasn't that something?'
No one has ever told that to Natsu before, after all.
He didn't know what to say or how to feel about that, so he stayed quiet. Natsu didn't say anything as he clenched his fist slowly, before letting out a small sigh and closed his eyes. Lucy flipped her head over to see Romeo's sleeping form over to the side with a blanket on top of him. She would've thought that the commotion would've woken the boy up, but as she glanced down at her branded pink Fairytail stamp that had splatters of red on it, she thinks it's probably for the best that he didn't .
They probably didn't look too good at the moment.
"I need to shower ," Lucy moaned in agony and Natsu belted out a laugh for the first time in what felt like hours.
"Well…there's a river that's nearby-"
"Oh, and I bet you, it has fish in it right? Why don't we get dinner while we're at it," Lucy rolled her eyes as Natsu cackled, remembering what he had told Lucy all those years ago. He was down to do it too, but after peeking an eye open to look at Lucy's unamused expression, he knew that it was futile to try to persuade her.
Still-
"...it's not a bad idea, Luce."
"You're so damn lucky I'm way too tired to hit you."