Chapter two of the double update, and the final filler chapter! It might be a bit short, but you guys got a double update. No complaining!
Enjoy!
"Well, that was a fairly easy job." Ultear said, stretching.
"They usually are pretty easy." Elise told her. "At least for all of us in one go." Nashi had to agree with her there. With all seven of them on the job, it was never very difficult. Only problem was most rewards split seven ways was never very big.
"Whatever, let's just go back home." Damien said. "I want to sleep."
"Yeah, I want to go home too." Nashi said. "We've been out for a couple days." At this, Drake leaned over and punched her shoulder lightly.
"Want to get back to your boyfriend, huh?" Here it came. Nashi winced as the others giggled.
"I bet she does." Simon agreed. "She's been antsy since we left."
"Can we not tease me anymore?" Nashi asked. "You guys have been doing it nonstop since you found out last week..."
"Because it's amazing." Steph said, smirking. "Plus you get so flustered, how can we not?" It was times like this Nashi realized she had great friends. Sarcasm intended. Sometimes they were insufferable.
"Not sure why that'd make her want to go home." Damien said, snickering. "She's been avoiding her Dad for the last week too." Well, that much was true. Nashi knew her parents had been watching the interview, so she pretty much avoided her father at all chances she could. She couldn't tell if he was mad at her or not, and she wasn't keen on finding out yet, honestly. Screw that noise.
"Can we just go?" Nashi asked.
"You? Eager to get on a train?" Simon asked. Nashi shook her head.
"No, just an excuse to possibly throw up on one of you."
Nashi's stomach finally settled when they got back home to Magnolia and the smells of the restaurants near by made her hungry. She contemplated running to one of those restaurants to eat, but she decided against it. She'd eat at the guild hall. Mira's cooking was God like anyway.
"Oh for fuck...There you are Nashi!" Nashi made a face and looked down the street.
"Rocky?" She asked in surprise, the others stopping as well as Rocky reached them. He slowed to a stop and tried to catch his breath as best he could. "What is it? Did something happen?"
"Did...Something...Happen?" He asked, in between breaths. "You're...Goddamn...Right!"
"Well?" She asked. Rocky finally caught his breath and stood up straight, his eyes dodgy.
"Your mom." He said. "She went into labor a few hours ago."
Nashi's eyes widened at this.
"...Labor?" She asked. Rocky nodded.
"Yeah. We've been looking all over for you, but I guess you only got back from your job now, so..." Nashi tore past Rocky and sprinted towards the guild hall, leaving him and her friends in the dust. She pushed past people with the quickest apologies she could manage, her stomach and heart fighting for first to jump out of her mouth. She'd known it'd only be a matter of time before her brother was born, but she hadn't been expecting it now, of all times. Making another turn, Nashi could see the guild hall in the distance.
Once she made it, she kicked the doors in, which made everyone look up.
"Nashi." Erza said as she walked inside. "You're back."
"Where's my mom?" Nashi asked weakly. "Is she okay? Rocky told me..."
"Calm down, kid." Gajeel told her. "Wendy's with her in the infirmary. Salamanders with her too. She'll be fine."
"But, but..." It was around then Nashi heard her mother cry out from the infirmary. Every fiber of her being wanted her to run up there, but she held herself back. She was okay. If the future had told her anything, her mother and Luke would be okay.
Resigned to waiting, Nashi slumped and walked over to a table and sat down, bouncing her knee in anticipation. It wasn't long before her friends showed up as well and walked over to her.
"Everything okay?" Ultear asked. Nashi shrugged.
"I guess so." She said. "My moms in the infirmary, and Wendy's with her."
"Then I don't think we have anything to worry about." Drake said confidently. "If she's with Wendy then everything will be fine."
"Yeah..." Nashi agreed. "I know."
"Have a drink or something, Nashi." Elise said, putting a hand on her shoulder. "Relax. It'll all be okay."
"Yeah...Yeah, you're right."
After Nashi had gotten a few drinks into her, she felt much more relaxed than before. Granted she was still antsy, but that was too be expected. You know, considering the situation.
Her mother had not cried out for a while, so Nashi had to wonder what was going on.
"Wonder how it's going." Simon said, looking up towards the infirmary door.
"Probably like you'd expect." Damien said, not sounding as interested. "Lucy pushes for a few hours and we're all a-okay afterwards. Maybe a bit tired."
"I like how nonchalant you are about it." Steph said. "Have you ever pushed a baby out of you?" Damien made a face.
"No, but I have fought against people who have tried to end my life on more than one occasion. Lucy has as well. I think she'll be fine."
"Well, he's got a point there." Elise said. "I'm sure that everything's-" Elise paused as the infirmary door opened, revealing Wendy standing there. Nashi felt her heart jump into her throat as the woman turned around and smiled.
"Nashi?" She asked.
"Y-Yeah?" Nashi asked. Wendy smiled even wider at her.
"Want to come meet your little brother?" Nashi felt a bit woozy at this. As she stood and walked towards the stairs, her body started to feel like lead. Why though, she had no idea. Was she just jumpy because she'd been worried? That must have been it. As she reached the second floor of the guild hall and walked towards the infirmary, she still felt nervous. Wendy opened the door for her and Nashi walked inside.
Once she was inside, she could her mother lying down in one of the beds, holding a bundle of cloth in her hands. Her father was sitting next to the bed, looking tired but happy. Her mother looked up and smiled.
"There you are." She said weakly. "How did your job go?" Nashi laughed weakly as she walked towards them.
"Really?" She asked. "You're going to ask how my job went, of all things?" I think that's the least important thing right now." Her mother laughed.
"I suppose it is. I was just curious." Nashi reached her side, and her mother moved her arms slightly to reveal her brother's face to her. Despite the growth he went through in twenty years, Nashi could still tell it was Luke bundled up with her mother. She smiled.
"Wow." She said. "He's so cute." Lucy nodded.
"Yeah, he is." She agreed. After a few more seconds, she gestured towards Nashi. "Want to hold him?" Nashi looked at her mother uncertainly.
"Uh..." She said. Her mother smiled at her.
"Come on. I know you want to." Nashi stared at her mother before she slowly looked down at the baby. Gathering herself, she reached forward and took a hold of the baby. He was heavier than she had been expecting, honestly. She carried him like she'd seen most people carry a baby, and looked down at his face. She smiled.
"He's cute." She said. Her father laughed.
"Don't get any ideas." He said. "Got it?" Nashi laughed.
"Got it." She said. "Don't worry dad, I'm not interested in this kind of thing yet."
"Just making sure." He said, smiling. Nashi played with her brother for a bit longer before she handed him to her father, and her mother looked at her.
"I'd tell you what we were going to name him, but I think you already know what we were thinking." Nashi smiled and looked down at her feet, nodding.
"Yeah." She said. She looked over at her brother, feeling tears threatening to fall.
"Good to see you again, Luke."
Nashi stared out over the city as the sun began to set, lost in her own mind. She'd gone up to the very top of the guild hall to be alone and think, which was good considering all that had happened in the past few hours.
"Any reason you're up here all alone?" Nashi turned to find Drake standing by the staircase, a curious look on his face. She shrugged and looked back out over the city.
"No reason." She said. "Just wanted to think."
"Oh yeah?" He asked. "Seems like an odd time to want to think, considering Luke is downstairs meeting everyone."
"Yeah yeah." She said. He walked up behind her and jumped up on the ledge, sitting next to her. Silence came over them as they stared out over the skyline, before Nashi sighed.
"I was just thinking." She said. "About...The future."
"Oh?" Drake asked. "Why?"
"Because..." Nashi shrugged and looked down at the ground below them. "I realized something when I was holding Luke earlier."
"I'm all ears." He replied.
"I got to thinking about the future." She said. "Not in general, the future we left behind a month ago."
"What about it?" Drake asked. "It changed."
"Exactly." Nashi agreed. "But...Did we change it for the better?" Drake was silent for a minute. "Did us coming back make things worse than they'd be if we didn't? Was it a bad thing to come back here."
"Well...Who knows?" Drake asked. "I don't. Do you?"
"No."
"Exactly. And that's why I think you're just being silly."
"What do you mean?" Drake leaned back and smirked at her.
"Nobody can tell us if we did the right thing coming back to this time or not. Personally, I feel like it was the right thing to do. But I guess we'll have to see. I don't want to time travel anymore, anyway." Nashi agreed with that, at the very least. It was too stressful. "So at the end of the day, we won't know if we did the right thing until we know. Do you get it?"
"...Yeah. I do. You're right." She agreed.
"Yeah." He said. "So don't worry about it right now. What you should be doing right now is celebrating downstairs. Your little brother is down there, after all. Get drunk or something. Just forget about it."
"Alright. That sounds like fun." She jumped off the ledge and followed Drake towards the door back to the guild but she stopped and looked back at the sky.
"What is it?" Drake asked. Nashi smiled weakly.
"I was just wondering what the twenty years ahead looks like." She said.
"Like I said, don't know." Drake said. "But I bet everything is just fine."
"...Yeah. It'll be okay."
"Luke! You're so fucking worthless!"
"Oh coming from the Snake Queen!" Lilly sighed as Luke and Kaida continued to argue angrily as they returned from their job. Why she'd decided to tag along and subject herself to that torture she didn't understand whatsoever.
"You okay sis?" Lilly looked over to find Elise grinning at her.
"Yeah, I'm doing great." Lilly said sarcastically. "Can you kill me?"
"Nah. I'll watch you squirm." Elise replied. "Besides, it's hilarious."
"Yeah, I bet." Lilly looked back at the arguing pair and sighed. Sometimes those two put her at the end of her rope.
How their families put up with it, she'd never understand.
As the moon shone down on the valley, a man ran through it. He looked over his shoulder to check if those damn Demon Hunters had lost the trail. From the looks of it they had, as no one had followed him here.
Sighing, Gin sat down and looked down at his feet. It had been a long day.
Again, It's shorter than I wanted it to be, but I can't really do much about that, this was all I had for this chapter. I hope you enjoyed, leave a review! Let's try to get five!