"Leave?. You mean leaving the country?" Happy asked skeptical, not believing his master would leave the country that they called home. "Yes Happy, I mean leaving the country" he replied flatly.
"We aren't know in other countries which is exactly what we want. Let's see those dirtbags try to track us then" he said squeezing but an yipe from Lucy told him he was too tight. "Sorry Luce" "Your fine, and I agree with your plan, There's just one problem" she said grimly. "What?" they all said in unison.
"How are we going to get there?. Leaving the country means going on water….Natsu, have you forgotten you can't travel" "I can too travel" he argued as Lucy gave him a long, knowing look. "Yes, yes I get it. It's just something I will have to live with. We are getting the hell out of here" "Again, not to keep being the negative one but how is that going to happen Natsu. We don't have any money, at least not enough for travel. Are we supposed to sneak onto a boat or something"
"Yes" he answered surprising her. "Natsu..you know I was being sarcastic right?" "You may have been, but I wasn't." Attempting to get through to him, she went to say something else before a twitch caused pain to go shooting up her back.
"Lucy, come on , let's set you down for a bit. I'm sure sitting like that isn't helping your back much" Careful to not injure her further, he set her gently on the cot Happy had gotten out for her and then started setting up a fire. "When..do you want to go?" she asked. "As soon as we can. If we can help it, tomorrow. We just need to find a boat harbor which considering this town seems to be close to water, it shouldn't be hard to find". Raising his paw, Happy sat there but was concerned.
"What is Happy?. Why did you raise your hand.?" "Natsu, reasonably, how are we supposed to get to the boat without getting caught. In case you've forgotten already, the people there now hate us and probably have pitchforks, and knives and a whole bunch of other stuff" he rambled going into a panic as sweat ran down his face. "Happy" Walking over with concern, Nashi put her hands around him giving a warm hug.
"Happy,..ccalm down. We'll be fine" Grimacing, she gave Happy an assuring nod. "She's right Happy and hello, have you forgotten about my ninja skils?" "You mean your lousy ones" he said smugly with a laugh making Natsu puff up.
"Alright you blue furball, you think you can do better, go on, let's see you try" "Nahh. I think I'm good but appreciate your offer" he said covering his mouth snickering to himself. Ignoring his obvious horrible attempts to cover his laughter, Lucy looked at Natsu in the face and said "Aside from his quirks, Happy is right Natsu, how do you expect us to sneak onto a boat without being seen. Even if we aren't the same people anymore, we are still an enemy to these people now."
Thinking he slowly walked back and forth. "Mommy, what's daddy doing?" Nashi whispered to Lucy having come over and sat beside her. "He's thinking Iggy, leave him be" she urged her when they heard a choked back laugh.
"Happy…" "What? It's still funny to me sometimes when Natsu actually uses his brain." Rolling his eyes from Happy's light insult, he stopped pacing with his back to them. "Lucy's going to need time to heal so going right now would just be stupid. They would be expecting that. Shit ..well that doesn't give us many options." "He's been standing in one spot a bit too long" she thought as she said
"Natsu, it's been a few minutes, do you have a plan yet?" breaking him out of his thoughts and making him turn around. "Ehh, kinda. Not the greatest one I've thought of but tomorrow morning, we will get up and go to the harbor. I'm sure it isn't that far from here. From that point, find a boat that's leaving with a crowd and mix into that"
"Just any boat?. Natsu, we won't have a clue if they are even leaving Fiore, how are we supposed to know" argued Happy throwing his paws up. " That's a chance we have to take Happy. We can't afford not to. We need to leave Fiore and besides if they are coming on a boat, there's no way they wouldn't be traveling from another country."
"Done. Now that's enough" snapped Lucy to both of them. Tired of their arguing, she just wanted to end it but felt bad at how she snapped at them. Twitching , he opened her mouth to apologize when sharp pain blasted through her body causing her to scream.
"Lucy!" "It..hhhuuurtssss" she cried as tears of pain flooded her face. "I'm so sorry Lucy. Here let's try turning you over onto your stomach. Okay?" Quickly she nodded, just wanting to get it over with. Nashi stepped out of the way letting Natsu turn Lucy onto her back. "There you go baby" Grabbing a cloth out of his bag, he wiped the sweat drenching off her head.
"Tthank you" " Luce..You. ha. You don't have to apologize for my caring about you baby. Think you've taken one too many knocks to the head." Smiling he gave her a kiss on her head. "Try to rest if you can Luce. Don't worry we aren't going anywhere until tomorrow" he assured her. "Daddy" "Oh, Iggy, you can come over sweetheart" he said hearing her worried voice. He held an arm out for her as she came and snugged against him and Lucy grabbed his free hand. Happy came and sat down on Natsu's lap. "We're going to be okay guys"
The next day, following the plan, after making sure Lucy walk with not an issue. "You sure your good to go?" "Natsu, we need to go, I'll be fine. Let's get moving" He couldn't help but smirk when she shoved past him grabbing Nashi and moving her forward.
"That's my girl." He thought proudly. Pulling at his pants, Happy said "come on Natsu" "I'm coming buddy" They walked through the woods deep enough that people wouldn't hear them until they came across the harbor.
Walking out onto it, they looked around worried. "Natsu, there's not enough people. What do we do?" Happy asked. Before he could answer, they heard "HEY! IT'S THEM!" Alarmed, Natsu picked Nashi up. "RUN!" he shouted. Scrambling they sped through the harbor. Lucy darted her head around looking for any boats they could use when she spotted one.
"NATSU! THERE!" she screamed pointing as they heard gunshots. "DADDY!" Clutching her, he buried Nashi into his jacket looking behind to see Happy and Lucy on his heels. "Bullets!, really. We didn't do anything wrong!" "It doesn't matter to them Lucy!. That god damn cult got to them. DUCK!" Diving, they watched the bullets fly past them into wood posts.
"That's it!." Fed up, he got to his feet and aggressively said "Happy take Nashi now" Not wanting to incur his wrath, Happy immediately flew to them and took Nashi out of Natsu's arms while he snatched the dagger out of his side pocket. "Come on" he growled to them as they quickly followed trying to avoid the bullets.
Jumping onto the boat, they scared the man on it. Without hesitation, he was at the man's throat holding the dagger to it. "You own this boat?" he asked belligerent terrifying the man. Sensing how this might turn out, Lucy and Happy covered Nashi's eyes. "Hey! Why" "Be quiet Nashi" Lucy said sternly. "Yyy..yess" the man answered.
"Good, turn it on then leave. I wont say it twice" His tone told the man he wasn't bluffing. The man shook his head and went back to the controls. "Has it been resorted to this?" Happy thought dreadfully. Looking up at Lucy's face, he saw the same look in her eyes as Natsu's. "She still covered Nashi's eyes..and he protected her..so what they said about me and Nashi being enough.. That was true". A small bit of relief came to his mind as he heard the boat turn on then watched Natsu as he took the man by the shoulder turning him around and pushing the man towards the end of the boat.
"Lucy" he ordered. Walking away from Nashi and Happy, she went up to the controls and sat in the seat. "Ready Natsu" "Get off" he growled. Trembling, he did as Natsu said and jumped off the boat as Lucy accelerated. "Man, I hope I get this right..I've never driven one of these!" Natsu stayed on the deck watching as the people crowded around the deck shouting and trying to aim their guns but they were far enough out that the bullets wouldn't reach. "New country…here we come" he thought shoving the nausea down as much as he could as he turned and went inside to the others.
They traveled along quietly. Nashi and Happy sat on the deck looking down into the water as they floated by. "Hey Happy, I'm surprised daddy isn't out here with his stomach issues"
"You know, your right, it's been at least an hour. He should be puking his guts out. Maybe I'll" "No.. If he hasn't come out , it must be for a good reason. Cause he hasn't made a sound since we left Fiore" he concluded in his head when he felt a tap. "Happy? Uhh, weren't you going to do something?" she asked breaking him out of his head.
"Uhh, yeah never mind. Forget I said anything, oh look fishies!" excited he saw the shiness of a fishes tail distracting them both as they looked way over the side down to see multiple fish swimming around their boats making them squeal with happiness and wonder. Hearing their fun, Lucy smiled. "I'm so glad they can still laugh" Turning the wheel, she groaned as her back twinged.
"Damn it" she muttered under her breath. "Hey Luce, why don't you take a break?. I'm sure your back has had enough" he said lightly. Not arguing, she nodded as Natsu took her hand helping her out of the chair and taking her to where there was a bed. Gently, he helped her down as she looked into his eyes. "What?" he chuckled. "Nothing..just sometimes I feel really lucky to have you. As my best friend, my husband..my everything"
Gripping her fingers, he said "me too Luce, me too. Just rest baby" Giving her a kiss on the head, he walked back up to the front and sat down at the wheel. "He doesn't show any sign of his motion sickness..I'm impressed because looking at him, nobody would believe he has motion sickness" she admired. A while passed before she heard "Iggy, Happy. Come get your stuff. We're here" They ran back inside as Natsu helped Lucy up to her feet.
"Where are we Natsu?" "I don't know, let's go find out" he said feeling adventurous. Making sure everyone had their stuff, they stepped into the sunlight and onto the mysterious land. "Woah..where are we mommy?"
"I don't know baby girl…one thing's for sure we are far from Fiore. I don't even see it anymore" Flying over to Lucy, Happy squinted and looked in the same direction. "Yep. Your right. Even with my sight Lucy, I can't even see Fiore anymore"
"Daddy?" Noticing Natsu had gone completely silent, they saw him shaking his head at them rapidly and got down to the ground puking. "Awww" they sympathized letting him the few minutes he needed before he stood back up. Leaning over, he muttered "stupid stomach." "Natsu..are you alright now?" "I'm fine" Picking up his bag, he swung it onto his back and looked to the others who all looked confident and ready to take on anything.
"What do we do with the boat Natsu?" asked Happy pointing with his thumb. Blowing air, he walked over and pulled the boat onto the shore tying it to a tree. "There, alright guys , you ready?" "Yes sir" they all answered.
Taking a good look around, they were surrounded by a beach with long flowing green trees either way they looked. Stepping across the sand, they trekked into the woods. "Keep your guard up guys, we don't know what's out here" Natsu warned. "We were just at a beach, how bad could it be?" Happy asked wishing he hadn't when he saw Natsu and Lucy's faces.
"Sorry" he muttered apologetically looking down. "Don't worry Happy" Nashi cheered coming up behind and giving him a pat on the back making him feel better. "Thanks Iggy" "Uh -huh" "Jeeze, how many trees do we have to get through?" groaned Natsu then heard commotion getting their attention.
"Come on, and remember guys. Be careful" he reminded cautiously as they quickly got through the rest of the trees and came upon a town. "I'm seeing a whole lot of blue" noticed Lucy as they began to walk slowly into town. Yanking down on Natsu's jacket, Nashi asked "daddy, is this our new home?"
"I don't know yet Iggy" he answered without taking his attention from the town ahead of him. "One thing's for sure, we should find out the nam" "Cerulean" "Huh, what's that Layla?" he asked signaling Lucy. Understanding, she said "look where my finger is ..Igneel. that's the name of this town" Seeing where her finger was, he was the name was brightly painted on a an ancient sign.
"Oh I see now, well you can definitely see that we aren't in Fiore anymore. It's not named after a flower, and it's not Ishgar either" pointed out Natsu. "We don't have money Igneel, where are we going to go?..and people are staring" she said quietly so as not to attract attention. Wary eyes began to leer at them making them uncomfortable.
"I'm guessing they don't like strangers, should I fly Iggy out?" "No Happy" Lucy said as they picked up their pace through the city. "These people are already wary of us, las thing we need to do is give them another reason to not like us" Gripping to Lucy's hand tight, Nashi looked and trembled as the glares got worse.
"Iggy, just stay clo" she was cut off by a blade cutting off a piece of her hair silencing her immediately. "You aren't from here" said a man clothed in deep blue clothing with a belt consisting of a blade sheath, guns and knives" "What's your problem?" Natsu said with a questioning tone giving Lucy a subtle look. Getting the message, with a slight of her hand, she signaled Happy as he immediately gripped Nashi's hand. Positioning herself, she waited for Natsu to make the next move.
"Go back to where you came from" the man said hostile. "We aren't trying to hurt anyone. We are just passing through" "Your trespassing and our city doesn't take to that!" he said angrily pulling out two long blades.
"Happy!" "Got it!" Opening his wings, he grabbed Nashi and flew forward. Nashi looked back reaching out a longing hand breaking their hearts. "Keep her safe Happy" the thought pushed then forward. Angry, they got ready to fight. Before they could make a move, the man swung his blades at them causing Natsu and Lucy to jump apart from each other.
Landing on her back hard, she let out a painful yell. "Layla!" "Fuck, her back. Stupid me" he cursed himself running over to her when multiple people ran out of nowhere blocking Lucy. "Get the hell out of my way. I don't care who you are" he growled baring his dragon fangs. "You aren't human!" "Oh I am..but not like you" he said with a wild look in his eyes when he heard "Hey!, let me go!" (Fairy Tail Main theme Metal version. Vol 2. Boiling in anger, animalistically he shouted leaping into the air and saw Lucy being dragged away.
"Oh no you don't" Coming down onto the man who threatened them, he snapped his neck then moved as lightning knocking the villagers out but didn't hesitate to kill the ones pointing a weapon at Lucy.
Snatching her up, in a low voice he said "let's go" (End song) " I don't care at this point" he thought using his dragon fire to blast them forward forcing Lucy to clutch onto Natsu's jacket. Flying they kept going, until they halted to a stop surprising Lucy. "Naatsu..are you allright?" she asked bringing her hands to his face.
Looking into his eyes, she saw the fuming rage behind them. "It's okay Natsu..we are safe..breathe, I'm right here" Feeling him take a deep breath, she watched the rage disappear from him and the softness come back.
Taking an exhausted breath, he gently put Lucy on her feet. "Are you. Alright?" "Yes I'm fine babe. Come on let's get to Happy and Nashi, ..I hope they didn't get too far" she worried. "They didn't. I got em, get on my back Luce..but carefully though" Getting comfortable on his back, Natsu made sure he had a good grip on her. "Hang on tight" he warned taking off like a shot to go to his family.