Disclaimer: I do not own any Fairytail characters.
Introduction
Debris flew into her direction but with a quick slide across on her side, she managed to dodge it and latch a key from her collection dangling from hip. A loud malicious cackle rebounded from across from the other side of the building, the source of a tall male dressed in a burned ragged jacket and studded boots. His hands trembled as he reached out towards her. The ground beneath began to quake and judder from under her feet and before she could make a quick escape from the developing sinkhole, she was pummelled backwards and into the wall by a quick flash of pink.
"Finally come to save the day Natsu of Fairytail…the girl's quite close to death it seems" the man snorted as he turned his attention to the girl now perched against the wall, covered in wounds. She pressed her palm against the bloody patch against her side and coughed heavily, spluttering blood from her plum lips. Her other hand continued to clench her key tightly, a soft golden glow dimming lightly.
"You hurt Lucy" Natsu seethed. His fist singed with orange flames, anger consuming him. Without a second's thought, Natsu's body blasted forward, his arm caving into the man's torso and knocking him into a dark shadow casted by the destruction caused from the previous attack between him and Lucy. Steam sizzled from Natsu's arm as he stood still, eyes burying into the weakened body now struggling to get up from the blast.
"Fool…" the man choked. He attempted to rise, but the blow that was embedded in his chest prevented him from doing so. Natsu scoffed at him, eagerly waiting for the corrupted male to make some sort of counter attack. "You…monster" the man coughed, raising his hand up to cast a spell.
"I wouldn't" Natsu's voice deepened as a clear warning. His attention fell from the man as his hand slowly dropped to the ground in defeat, his heart racing as he quickly rushed towards his friend who had now been joined by a blue cat with a green bag. "Lucy" he knelt beside her, eyes wide as he stared at the blood stains soaked through her top. He positioned his arm over to lift her up into his arms but she shifted uncomfortably.
"I'm fine" she hissed.
"I'm trying to help"
"Well you've done enough" she lightly slapped his hand away from her, causing Happy to slowly step back. Natsu frowned her, slightly offended by her quick reaction.
"I just saved you" he groaned.
"I didn't need saving, I was…doing fine" she coughed slightly, spitting the blood from her mouth to the floor beside her. Natsu rolled his eyes at her.
"Yeah, it looked it"
"I was!" she growled at him.
"If it weren't for me, you'll be in that pit right now…probably dead" Natsu snapped. "Why would you hunt this guy knowing-" he paused, gulping hard as her brown eyes shot at him.
"Knowing what? I'm weak?" her teeth gritted as she spoke as if it hurt to even speak the word. Shaking her head, she attempted to slowly rise up, pushing her back against the wall and straightening, all while ignoring Natsu's concerned look.
"Let me get Wendy" Happy piped up quickly, finding an excuse to leave the awkwardness between the two of his partners. Lucy refused instantly. "But you're hurt Lushy" he added worryingly.
"I said I'm fine"
It didn't take long for the rest of their team to arrive at the scene. Natsu and Erza dealt with the telepathic wizard and sent him straight to the Magic Council for questioning while Wendy remained with Lucy and healed her back to her original self.
There was silence as the young girl healed her friend, watching the wounds close up nicely and not leaving a scratch on her creamy skin. Wendy smiled at her achievement but lowered her head as Lucy stayed still, staring at the hole in the ground that she was saved from. She admitted to herself she was weak, not that she wanted everyone else to know that. Finding the criminal was her attempt to redeem herself, but it was clear to her that no matter what, she would always need saving. And this hurt.
"She's never going to get stronger if she doesn't start challenging herself"
"Holder magic isn't that strong anyway"
"It's just Lucy, she's the smarts of the group"
"Natsu will always be there to save her"
She shook her head, offended by her own deep thoughts that she didn't even acknowledge Wendy's all clear. Instead she sat there, looking directly forward and tears running down her face. She knew it, she was useless.
It was late in the evening and Lucy had returned home to her apartment. She had demanded she left the group to go home while they collected the reward. Erza had argued that she was to stay with the group but Lucy was determined to leave alone. And for once, Natsu wasn't encourage to follow her.
So when she arrived home in the cold darkness, her anger boiled up as she continued to criticize herself over and over again, pacing the living room back and forth till a knock on the door was heard. She believed it was Natsu, but when she heard a sweet voice from behind the door. She had no excuse to ignore it. She creaked the door open gently, peering through the gap at the blue haired girl carrying books upon books in her arms. She smiled warmly at the greeting.
"Hey Lu, sorry…Wendy told me you were back so I thought I would pop by" she waited for Lucy to open the door a little wider to make her entrance. "I thought you might want to borrow some books" she twisted her body to face her as she swooped into the living room. "You know, for inspiration for your new novel"
"Oh" Lucy murmured watching her place the pile of hardback books on the coffee table in front of the sofa. "You know Levy…now's not a good time-"
"Actually it is" Levy cut her off confidently as she sat down on the sofa. "There's been something I need to tell you" she leant forward, her hands fidgeting and fingers entwining with a nervous jitter. Lucy's brow lifted with suspicion as she sat beside her friend. "You know…I've not been well lately, since you're award ceremony" she wriggled in her seat.
"Yeah, you said you were sick" Lucy recalled, remembering the award she received a month ago.
"Yeah…sick" Levy blushed. "I need you to help me, and you're the only one I've told" her eyes flicked to Lucy's with deep worry. "I'm pregnant"
"Pregnant?" Lucy's eyes shrunk as they peered at Levy's stomach. "With Gajeel's baby?" Levy nodded slowly. "So sick…was…oh" Lucy gulped, unsure what to say.
"You can't tell anyone, please…not till I figure this out" Levy begged silently.
"Of course, your secret is safe with me" Lucy smiled reassuringly as she pulled her into a warm embrace.
"Thank you Lu…would you also…do me a favour?" there was a slight turn in her voice as her eyes fell onto the books in front of them. "Most of these books are…pregnancy books" she gulped hard. "I kinda stole them from the guild's library and Mira's been questioning the guild" she bit the inside of her cheek. "I can't be the one to give them back in. She'll question it"
"Wait hold on… you want me to hand them in?" Lucy twitched. "I can't do that. People will think I'm the one…"
"But you're not, so you have nothing to worry about" Levy said confidently. "Just say you was researching for your new novel"
"But-"
"I'll come with you" Levy's smile grew warmly. "We can go to the library together and do some research…on your novel" she hinted. Lucy groaned by this. She knew she couldn't turn down her friend who needed help.
"Fine. Tomorrow…"
"You're amazing Lucy!"
Tomorrow had come and Lucy grumbled to herself as she carried the mile high books in her arms. She cringed as she opened the door where Levy was ready to greet her. Mira was over by the bar when she noticed the books and instantly grew suspicion. She swooped over, beaming her smile full of joy and curiosity.
"Are those the books I've been asking about?" her eyes fluttered at the titles engraved on the sides, her brow raised at each named book. "Hmm…anything you need to discuss with us Lucy?" she wondered.
"Me? No? Why would you say that?" the nerves quickly caught on and Lucy could have sworn she was getting cold sweats as she tried to avoid looking to Levy for reassurance. "These are for something else obviously" she chuckled to herself. "My novel…research!" she screeched a little too loud which caused the rest of the guild to turn and look at her for a brief moment.
"Research?" Mira repeated smoothly. "I see…"
"Yes, Lucy and I were going to the library see if we could find any books about…" Levy paused, looking at Lucy. "Time travel next" she stated randomly. "That's what her next book is about, right Lu?"
The blonde nodded her head slowly.
"Ok, well have fun ladies" Mira beamed an excitable smirk as she passed them by. The two girls gaped at each other as they trotted down into the basement where the guild's library was based. Out of ear's range, Lucy placed the books onto the desk and shut the door forcefully.
"That was awkward"
"I'm sorry, but I appreciate it" Levy whispered delicately.
"Yeah, well now that I'm here, I might as well find a book that would help me with my novel" Lucy chimed to herself as she stared at the books. Her main goal was finding something romantic.
Glancing through the piles of books, she picked out 2 that she was keen to read. Both romantic genres and perfect to pick up some ideas for her writing. She collected them up into her arms and smiled to Levy.
"Right lets go"
"Wait…you need a time travel book" Levy stated. "We told Mira that's what you was going to research" she blinked at the blonde quickly with a panic. "If you go up there and you don't have one, she'll question it"
This made Lucy groan. She placed the books down and charged over to the collection of books that appeared to have some sort of time travel adventure inside. She flicked through the books causally, lifting up a random book from the collection. She stared at it for a second, reading the title out loudly.
"100 days in the future, there…happy?" Lucy mumbled as she placed it on top of her 2 pile books. "Let's go" Levy nodded, opening the door and the two slowly walked back up the stairs where they were greeted by the afternoon brawl.
Mira seemed too occupied by Natsu and Gray throwing chairs at one another to notice Lucy's books in her arms. Ignoring them all, Lucy charged towards the door, but tripped up on one of Laki's wooden contraptions left to the side of the table. The books went into the air and landed in front of her, one in particular opened up and caught her attention as she climbed up.
"Lucy Dragneel"
The book had opened up on a page in the centre and the name made Lucy grab it with confusion. Her heart pounded as she quickly read the sentence it linked to before it was quickly shot from her hands by a raging fire ball. Natsu's attack had narrowly missed Gray and passed him, knocking the book from her hands and into the pile of destruction made by the large guild fight.
"Lucy…sorry"
"What the hell Natsu?!" she rose from the ground firmly, her eyes burning into his. "What is wrong with you!" she snapped angrily, her attention turning to the pile of broken chairs and tables where her book had disappeared into. There was no way she was finding it amongst the mess, that's if it was still around. For all she knew, it could have been burned into ashes. "That book I had…" she growled in her throat, waving her hand away as Natsu's apologises continued. "Never mind" she rolled her eyes, clicking her tongue with anger. She collected the two remaining books and stormed from the guild in temper.
Natsu was about to follow her when Levy's hand reached out to him. Her head shook slowly passing on her wisdom, she cooed softly.
"Don't follow her"
Lucy grumbled, groaned and grouched over Natsu as she charged home, kicking as many stones in her way. She had already been annoyed with him that he believed her to be weak, but his lack of care from around his surroundings made her swell with anger. He wasn't mature, he was a child. A boy. She had wondered if he would grow up and take some responsibility for his actions.
She breathed out with frustration as she opened her apartment door, slamming it shut with force. She had expected him to come running over along with Happy by his side, begging he was sorry and leaving it at that. But something seemed off.
She placed her books on the table and stared at the door, awaiting the innocent knock from her best friend. But nothing came.
Perhaps her words were preventing him from coming over and disturbing her? Had she actually been giving time alone to her thoughts. She inhaled sharply, grabbing one book in her hand and heading off into the bedroom. Dressing into her pjs, she sprung into her bed and cuddled up into the sheet, her book in hand. And with this, she slept swiftly into the pages of words.