And so here we are with yet another chapter! Sorry for the delay on this one, March was...a very hectic month to say the least. However, im more than happy to present yet another chapter for our story.
Once again I have to thank Draconichero21 for writing this chapter. He did an amazing job and I personally cant thank him enough. This chapter in particular would have been one I would have struggled with to be sure. Now why is that? Well, you'll have to read to find out!
As always Reviews of any and all kinds are greatly appreciated. I'm eager and excited to hear what you all have to say.
Bleach is owned by Tite Kubo and Shounen jump. Fairy tail is owned by Hiro Mashima and weekly shounen magazine. I own NOTHING. This is all just for fun.
Having a live-in closet roommate—literally—was less troublesome for the night than Bambietta had expected. The young reigai hadn't made a peep. And aside from the extra crowding in the bathroom that morning, Bambietta was more than ready for work as she stepped into the guild hall with her three roommates.
"Is it always this noisy in here?" Rukia asked.
"You get used to it," Lucy responded.
"Hmmm," Rukia frowned. "I'm so used to the gentle splashing of Captain Ukitake's koi pond and the gentle tranquility of nii-sama's villa. I don't know if I'll ever get used to this."
"Eh, it just kind of fades into the background," Bambietta shrugged. "Now come on, we gotta get you signed up and everything."
"Whoa, when did we get a samurai? And a cutie too!" Wakaba exclaimed, gazing at Rukia.
"I'm not a samurai. I'm a Shinigami," Rukia responded, starting to become irritated.
Wakaba pat her on the head given the height difference. "Awww, isn't that cute? The girl thinks she's a death god. Well, maybe we can go out later and I can put my long shovel in your soft earth. How about it?"
Wakaba had failed to notice that, from the moment he'd touched Rukia on the head, that she was boiling with anger. No one in Bambietta's entourage was surprised when the flat sole of Rukia's sandal made contact with Wakaba's face and knocked him flat on his ass.
"How dare you!" Rukia exclaimed, tightening the sash of her shihakusho. "I have lived more than a lifetime and a half of yours, mortal! Your cheap efforts to woo me are shameful! Shameful, I say!"
At the sound of Wakaba hitting the ground, the next to notice Rukia was Natsu. "Oh, cool! When did we get a samurai?"
Please tell me it's not going to be like this all day, Rukia thought.
"She's not a samurai. She's a magic swordsman," Bambietta said.
"Even better!" Natsu exclaimed, grinning. "Wow! We're just raking in new members! Hey, can I see your sword?"
"No! My Zanpakuto is only to be unsheathed in live combat. It is a principle I shall never back down from!" Rukia exclaimed. The insanity was starting to annoy her. Soul Society help her, she felt that the bumbling oaf that was Ichigo Kurosaki and his band of friends was tame by comparison to the lively bunch of this Fairy Tail.
"Leave her alone, Natsu," Gray said from halfway across the room, butting in. "But then again, you really did never understand how to talk to girls."
"No one asked you, Gray!" Natsu shouted at him.
"Where are his clothes?!" Rukia shouted, blushing so much that her face looked like a cherry inside a chocolate sundae.
Gray looked down. He was in briefs. "Ah, dammit! Not again!"
As Gray began to march for the door to go home and get changed, he accidentally took a face full of a keg barrel as it was hurled across the room by Elfman.
"Next time get your own damn drinks!" Elfman shouted angrily at Cana.
"Next time don't break the barrel and go have to get more!"
"You made me lug up a mountain to get this thing!"
Both Cana and Elfman were sprayed in the face by Juvia. "HOW DARE YOU HURT JUVIA'S GRAY-SAMA!"
Rukia soon found herself being pulled under a table by Lucy. Wendy was also under the table, cowering as a child hiding from the monster under the bed would. Wait, where was Bambietta?
"This time I'm gonna be the last one standing!" Bambietta exclaimed.
"Not again," Lucy moaned.
"This…happens often?"
Lucy whined, nodding.
Suddenly their cover was ripped off from above them and flung through the air by Elfman, pinning Jet and Droy against a wall.
"Follow me!" Levy exclaimed, running up to the trio. "No one's in the kitchen right now."
The quartet, plus Carla, traveled across the guild hall that had exploded into a battlefield like No Man's Land of World War One's trench warfare. The journey was perilous, yet rewarding.
"I think we're going to be safe in here," Levy said, shutting the door. Usually the chaos doesn't get behind the bar.
The door clicked open.
"I thought you said we were safe!" Lucy exclaimed. She and Rukia each grabbed a cast iron skillet ready to whack whatever guild member thought they could infiltrate their hiding spot.
"Relax, ladies. Have no fear, for your knight in shinning armor has arrived!"
Lucy and Levy were both relieved and disappointed at the same time to see the magnificent form of Loke. Lucy lowered her guard.
Rukia, however, was more perplexed. "Ichigo?!" Her jaw was slack. "But…how?"
"Ah, is a fair damsel calling me strawberry?" Loke asked, twirling over to Rukia and taking her hands in his. "Though you're short in stature, your beauty is a radiant tower stretching towards the heave—"
PLANT!
As before, Rukia's foot in a man's face was completely expected. What was not expected was the attempted use of bailing twine as garrote wire.
"If you're going to hit on me, make sure you're not taking the appearance of someone I have a complicated history with!"
That's her problem?! Lucy exclaimed, confused by the situation.
"Help! Help! Can't breathe!" Loke exclaimed, hand flopping on the ground.
Before the situation could escalate, Lucy heard a shout of: "WHO THE HELL STARTED THIS?!"
"We're saved!" Levy and Lucy exclaimed at the same time. Their hands were clutched together in prayer. Erza's voice was unmistakable.
After a good five to ten minutes of head punching and lecturing, Erza now sat across from Lucy, Rukia and Bambietta, the latter having an icepack on her head from where Erza whapped her. She was also doing her best to mutter quietly under her breath.
Right when it was getting good, she thought.
"Master is not in right now, so I'll be taking charge of Rukia's initiation," Erza stated.
"Is it a good idea to initiate new members without master's permission?" Mirajane called from behind Erza.
"If he has a problem with it," Erza said, pounding the side of her fist against her armor, "I shall take full responsibility. But, I do not believe we will have trouble with our newcomer. At least, the kind of trouble master would frown upon." Erza stood up and gestured upstairs. "If you follow me, I'll get you to fill out the proper paperwork."
"It's gonna be an all day thing if she's taking charge," Bambietta said. "See you later, I guess."
"Speaking of later, we'll have to postpone our training until I'm done," Erza said to Bambietta.
"Oh…goody," Bambietta said because training was what she was concerned about after the large lump on the head Erza had "blessed" her with.
Taking the ice pack off her head a moment, Lucy could see the bulbous red mark Erza's knuckles had left against Bambietta's skull. "Does…does that hurt?" she asked as Bambietta changed the paper towel to wrap her ice pack in.
"Yes. Very much."
After a long, typical day at work for the Fairy Tail guild, despite the insanity, Lucy had come home and practically slumped into her desk chair in exhaustion. Bambi was out partying with Cana and the other girls. She'd invited Lucy to come along, but Lucy was just so tired that she just wanted to go home and sleep it off.
And yet, upon walking into the unlit apartment, Lucy found herself compelled to write a letter. It was a hobby of hers, writing letters to her mom that she would never get to read. For Lucy, it was similar to a series of mementos, almost like a diary, but meant to explain her personal life to an outside third party. It was partly a coping mechanism, partly a way to get her writing instincts flowing.
As she sat down and put pen to paper, she realized this would be her first letter she'd written since entering into a relationship with Bambietta. Well, that at least gave her a main subject.
Dear Mom,
She wrote at the top of the page.
Been a while, hasn't it? Lucy's words matched her thoughts as she wrote. I'm sorry for not writing sooner. A lot has happened. Um, I hope…
Lucy trailed off, scratching out the word hope and tried again.
I believe you won't be mad when I tell you that I didn't find a boyfriend. I found a…girlfriend. I know that the Heartfilia name is important to you and dad and that it's my job to carry on its legacy, but…I don't know, I guess I just met the right girl.
Lucy wondered about that for a moment. How did she and Bambi suddenly end up in this situation? They'd been through a lot together to be sure, but last Lucy checked…
The blonde mage opened her desk drawer and flipped for an old letter. It had been one where she'd talked about meeting Bambi for the first time.
There's this girl at the guild. Her name is Bambietta. She's a bit crazy, almost as much as Natsu. She constantly cracks jokes, but I can tell the others like her. I've never heard of her though, so she must be really new.
The words "I hope we can be friends" were crossed out and Lucy knew why. When she first met Bambi, Lucy found her to be overbearing and hard to keep up with.
The letter instead read, She's so high energy, I wonder if I'll be able to keep up. Not just with her, but the rest of the guild as well.
Lucy smiled and shook her head. How bizarre for her opinion of Bambi to have changed so rapidly in such a short amount of time.
Lucy skimmed through her other letters, finding her describing Bambietta as "Well-meaning, but nuts." There were parts of another letter calling her a "decent roommate", though quickly added that "her snores should, by all rights, wake the dead".
Pre-roommate situation, Lucy's opinions of Bambi had been pretty nonexistent or otherwise sort of meh.
Post-roommate, Lucy was surprised how quickly her opinion of Bambietta changed. Lucy was writing how Bambi "inspired her to be braver". She was marveling at how strong she was. She was grateful to have such a convenient friend. Yet what puzzled Lucy was that, much unlike her hero worship of Mirajane and Erza, nowhere in her letters had the words "I think I'm in love" cropped up in her letters.
Lucy's thoughts trailed to when Bambi asked them to be a couple and her pen seemed to move on its own.
She crossed out everything after "I don't know" and wrote instead, I don't know, maybe I've rushed into things too quickly. Bambi's so nice and she really has always been in my corner. Am I too nice, Mom? Have I just been so swept up by having her as emotional support that I'm letting her deeper into my life without really wanting her to be? Don't get me wrong, she's a great friend, but sometimes I wonder what goes on in her head? She's extremely pushy about sex, extremely boastful about our relationship and while she asks for permission, asking if she can "give me a squeeze" every once in a while doesn't help matters. I mean, am I dating a girl or a guy? I know she says she's not used to this and I know she says she's "needy", but she wants to be patient. However, I have to wonder if she really means it…
Lucy trailed off, sniffing and keeping a tear from splashing her paper. I wonder… Lucy bit her lip. If I let her in…would she still be here?
Lucy quickly shook her head rapidly and slapped her cheeks. No. That was no way to be thinking about her friend. No, her best friend.
Even with that said…I want to make this work. I wish you were here to guide me, mom, but…I think, maybe if I show her what being in a relationship is like, maybe she'll stop being so pushy. It's worth a shot. And…if not…well…I guess I'll cross that bridge when I come to it.
Love you mom.
Talk to you soon,
Lucy
Lucy leaned back in her chair and sighed. She looked at another piece of paper on the desk. It was a job request that she and Bambi had agreed to take. There was settlement a good two hours out from Magnolia on foot. Lucy and Bambi had agreed to do perimeter patrol for the town watch. A big wind storm had barreled through the town and caused serious infrastructure damage. With so many hands working on reconstruction, the town needed some extra hands to help with bandits trying to sneak in.
It's going to be just us tomorrow, Lucy thought. She sighed again. You're an adult, Lucy. You can talk to her about serious stuff in an emotionally healthy way. She's not your dad. She's not as dense as Natsu. You can do this. You can…
Lucy didn't even realize that she ended up drifting off to sleep in her chair. When she woke up, she was in bed, but still dressed. She rubbed her head. Morning was already here. She checked the time. It was early enough for her to need to get out of bed if she and Bambi wanted to be on time for patrol duty.
However, what then attacked her senses was the scent of kitchen grease and bacon, lots and lots of Bacon.
Going out into the Living Room, Lucy found Wendy's room closed and likely locked. The young dragon slayer likely still asleep. It was 7:30 in the morning after all.
Bambi was slaving over a hot stove, and Lucy saw bacon and shredded potatoes go flipping out of the frying pan. Lucy, just sort of stared at the scene, not really sure what to make of it as she stepped over to the kitchen table and sat down.
"Morning sleepyhead! I hope you're hungry! I'm making eggs, bacon, and potatoes!"
"Breakfast? From you? Why?"
Bambi adjusted her cap, turning to face Lucy a little, keeping one hand on the skillet handle. She grinning eagerly. "Gotta fill up for our job today, don't we? Lots of protein!"
"Is that why you made so much bacon?" Lucy asked. She took a peek into the skillet. More than half of what was in it was bacon.
"I mean…if you're not a meat person I can fix up something else!" Bambi exclaimed, panicking.
"No. No. It's fine." Lucy looked over Bambietta and then noticed she wasn't wearing her quincy outfit. Instead, she was wearing a t-shirt that read as followed:
EXERCISE
…EX…ER…CISE
…EX…AR…SIZE
. .Sides
…For Bacon
BACON!
"You're not going out dressed like that, are you?" Lucy asked.
"Course not, I wore this to the bar last night and slept in it. Super duper casual stuff," Bambietta said. "Don't worry, I didn't come home drunk." She focused her attention to the skillet and peppered the eggs. She then lowly, hoping Lucy wouldn't here. "Was sober enough to get you in bed."
"I was wondering how I got into…" Lucy was about to finish her sentence, only to realize the implications. "Wait! You didn't read what was on my desk, did you?"
Bambietta froze, hand tightening around the skillet handle, pupils dilating with surprise. She was hoping Lucy wouldn't ask her that. She hadn't managed to come up with a right answer to this question yet. Well, no time like the present.
"What? N-n-no! O-of course not!" Bambietta exclaimed, fanning her hand in front of her face. "Wh-what sort of deviant do you take me for?"
Lucy raised an unconvinced eyebrow in Bambietta's general direction. "Bambi, please be honest with me. Did you look at it?"
"I mean, I wasn't trying to, but I saw the address when I was tucking you into bed," The quincy replied.
Lucy sighed with relief. "Well, as long as you only read the top."
Bambi turned away from looking, rolling her eyes with a glazed look, heart going a mile a minute and calming down quickly. That was close. If she knew what I saw, I'd be in deep shit right now.
The words "What I saw" resonated in Bambietta's head, as she remembered what Lucy had written in her letter. She had tried not to read it. She desperately tried to pull her eyes away, but she had been unable to help herself once she saw the letter was about her. She hadn't read the whole letter, but in her opinion, she'd read enough. She'd read far enough to know that Lucy thought that Bambietta was being too pushy and that was enough to give the Quincy pause as the skillet sat on the stove for too long.
"Bambi, I think the bacon is going to burn."
"Huh? Ack!" Bambietta exclaimed. She swiped the skillet off the stove and shut the flame off. She inspected the bacon, eggs and potatoes. Okay, she hadn't burned them.
She slid all the food onto one big serving plate and set it down onto the kitchen table.
"Thanks," Lucy said, helping herself to a healthy portion. Bambietta then took hers.
After a bit of silence, Bambietta spoke up, looking a bit guilty, but she did her best to hide that in her voice. "Hey, Lucy."
"Yeah?"
"Um, I…uh…am I…being too…needy?"
Lucy found it oddly convenient that Bambietta would be asking about something she herself had been questioning the night before. However, she wanted to give her best friend the benefit of the doubt. So, she just decided to answer Bambietta honestly. "Um…kinda," she said, a little bit of red in her cheeks.
"Am I or aren't I? I can't deal with kindas!" Bambietta exclaimed. "Do you know what kindas have gotten me? Kindas get me long, boring three-hour lectures for misinterpreting them!"
"Well…" Lucy wondered how to answer this honestly while still being polite.
"It's okay…I'm a big girl. I…I can handle the truth," Bambietta responded.
"You are a bit pushy," Lucy said. "I mean, I appreciate that you take no for an answer, but I really would appreciate it if you dialed it back a bit. I know that's easier said than done for you though."
"I know. I'm…I'm sorry okay. Back in my old guild, I could just ask and people would just gladly do it. I'm not…used to…this!" Bambietta exclaimed, waving her arms about.
Lucy looked sad. "You've said that before, and I'm growing tired of the excuse." She sounded hurt.
"Lucy?" Bambietta couldn't understand what she'd said or done wrong.
Lucy sighed. "Sorry, I don't mean to bring down the mood. Let's just eat, get dressed and go. We have to pay rent after all."
Bambietta could see it. Even though Lucy was smiling, she was forcing it.
"But, um…maybe you could walk at least five feet from me," Lucy requested seriously. "I think I'd be uncomfortable if we were too…close."
Bambietta stared at Lucy in shock and disbelief. Her heart felt so empty, she briefly wondered if she was inadvertently turning into a hollow. "Hey, are you mad?" she asked, reaching for Lucy's forearm.
"No, I'm not mad," Lucy responded. "And I'm not breaking up with you. I just think…that, at least for today, we could use some space. …Please?"
Now it was Bambietta's turn to force a smile. "Yeah. Yeah. Sure. Space! Got it!" What the hell is with this weird atmosphere? Bambietta thought, unable to really process how or why they were in this situation. She knew one thing for certain though: the cushy relationship she had with Lucy was certainly cracked and, having no prior relationship experience, Bambietta believed that the crack would just get wider and wider, unable to be fixed. And, if that were the case, Bambietta also believed, that she would just have to cherish what she had with Lucy while it lasted, until their fragile relationship shattered into tiny little pieces.
While Bambietta was dreading her immediate future, Natsu was going through life blissfully free of worry and need. Like a bull rampaging down a mountainside, he jogged through the streets, feet plodding on the cobblestones of Magnolia, grin on his face.
"Where are you off to, Natsu?" Happy asked, following closely alongside him.
"Lookin' for Lil. Mira said she headed out this way," Natsu said.
"You're awfully happy to go find her," Happy said and gasped. "Could it be?" His face got all mischievous. "You liiiiiiiike her."
Natsu stopped dead in his tracks causing Happy to bonk his face against the back of his shoulder. He held up a piece of paper. "Job request," he said, showing it to Happy. "Lil and I don't get to hang out a lot and she's kind of a close friend now so I gotta take her along."
"Uh huh, sounds like love to me," Happy teased. "I can hear wedding bells."
Natsu frowned and glared. "What the hell would a cat know about love?" He turned around and continued the hunt for Liltotto. He eventually spotted her through a pub window. She was sitting at a table with a big bowl of soup to one side of her and a bunch of game pieces on a game board in front of her. Natsu darted inside and then noticed the crowd.
Gazing up, he saw a sign above the menu over the bar "Chess tournament. All entrants welcome." Thank Igneel he knew how to read.
"Checkmate," he heard the dry, yet calm voice of Liltotto say.
"Game. Set. Match. Liltotto is the tournament champion!"
Cheers were accrued and confetti dropped down. Liltotto was just disappointed it wasn't thin bubblegum. Then again, with how much got on the floor, it would've been a waste.
"And for first prize, this golden colored solid chocolate trophy."
The trophy was almost as big as Liltotto's torso as she set it down on its not-edible base on the ground.
"Way to go, Lil! Nice job!"
Liltotto, having not even known Natsu was there, jumped in her seat and then blushed as the crowd dispersed. "N-Natsu…y-you were…" she averted his gaze as she pulled on a strand of her hair. "watching?"
"Nah, I just got here."
Disappointing, but Liltotto realized she really shouldn't have expected any less.
Natsu showed her the job he'd pulled off the job board. "You wanna head out after you're done?"
Liltotto looked at the job request. It detailed a necessity for an archeologist. "Natsu…do you know what an archeologist is?"
"Yeah, don't they dig up ancient stuff?" Natsu asked, arms folded, face contorted like he was thinking really hard, a rarity for him unless it was a battle strategy.
"You…know what an archeologist is." It was oversimplified, but by Natsu's standards, he was spot on.
"I mean, dragons are ancient stuff. Hey! Maybe we'll dig up Igneel!"
Liltotto blushed at Natsu's smile, but quickly shook it off. She sighed. Of course. It always went back to that dragon, didn't it? She smiled. "Sure, Natsu. I'd love to help."
"Great! Thanks! I knew I could count on you, Lil."
With Lucy out of the running for Natsu's affections and his ex, far as she knew, deceased, Lilttoto thought maybe she did have a shot at what she wanted. Yes, she would at least try. Better to love and lose than not to have love at all. Or, as Candy would put it, you only live once. She was not saying the acronym. She'd sooner die of starvation.
After devouring both her soup and chocolate trophy, Liltotto walked side by side with Natsu and the two headed for the archeological dig site together, Liltotto holding Natsu's hand the entire way there.
Since Makarov was out for a few days, Lucy and Bambietta had to sign out their request with Mirajane. She always handled that part of the guild's functions when the guild master was indisposed or away on pressing matters.
About an hour later, Bambietta and Lucy were walking more than an arm's distance apart through the town's streets. The latter was marching with her head held high, keeping an eye out for suspicious characters. The former, however, had her arms pinned to her sides, fingers guiltily fidgeting in front of her stomach. She didn't know what to do or what to say. Lucy had control of the current situation and Bambietta wasn't sure how to approach the sudden awkwardness that had spawned between the two. She felt that her usual repertoire of sex jokes would only make the situation worse.
However, this discomfort did not last indefinitely. After making a couple of rounds around the town, Bambietta heard a wolf whistle. At first, she wanted to know what kind of dead man was about to have her boot up his ass? However, as she glanced around, she noticed that the source of the whistle wasn't hollering at her. He was hollering at Lucy.
The man, with brownish skin—though it could just be a deep tan—a fat face, bulky arms and legs, almost completely bald and dressed like a street biker, approached Lucy. "Hey, hot stuff. How long are you in town? I could show you my ride. It's got 16-wheels and plenty of space for a second rider."
"That's nice," Lucy responded.
"You should see it. It's an amazing piece of technology, runs entirely on lacrima," the guy said to her. His casual nature with Lucy made Bambietta uncomfortable. She twitched a little. Lucy was a big girl. She could handle a simple creep, right?
"I'm sure it's a nice bike, but I'm on patrol right now," Lucy said.
"Ah, doing good job for the town, huh? You know, I've always liked mages," he said to her.
Lucy grabbed Bambietta's wrist tightly and pulled her with her around the guy. "Okay, I'm just gonna go this way."
Bambietta was pulled behind Lucy, clearly perplexed by the situation. Did Lucy want her to be this close to her or not? What the hell was going on?
Lucy and Bambietta got far away from Lucy's creeper, but later he showed up in the actual bike he was talking about. Holy crap, thought Bambietta, he was not kidding about the sixteen wheels.
The engine roared as he showed it off to Lucy, clearly trying to impress her. "See? Ain't she a beauty? Come on, hop in."
"I told you, I'm busy," Lucy said politely. She waved a hand nervously in front of her face. "Really, I'm flattered that you want to show off to me, but I…"
"Hey, come on now, don't be shy," the creep said, approaching the blonde. "It'll be fun."
Bambietta could tolerate a lot these days. She could tolerate eggs hitting the back of her neck at the guild. She could tolerate mail-in orders running late. She could even tolerate Erza almost giving her a concussion every time her head collided with Erza's chest plate. However, Bambietta had clear limits and once those limits were broken, the results could be rather…explosive.
Following the metaphor, the trigger to Bambietta's fuse was the instant that this creep grabbed Lucy's wrist. Even if she and Lucy were having a fight, even if Bambietta wanted to post "It's complicated" on Facebook about their relationship status, that was still her Lucy. And nobody else touched her Lucy.
Violently stepping forward, Bambietta smacked away the creeper's hand, glaring at him with one eye hidden by her bangs and hat. She could've exploded all over this guy in a violent rage, but she had seen how effective Erza's anger could be in the recent months and, well, as the saying goes: imitation is the sincerest form of flattery.
"Hey, buddy," Bambietta said in a calm tone that carried with it all her internally boiling rage. "The lady said she's not interested." With one arm, Bambietta pushed Lucy behind her, hand firmly on Lucy's arm. "Also, she's taken. Piss off."
"Wasn't talking to you, runt. This is between me and the blonde bombshell. Why don't you go play Rune Knight somewhere else?"
Fewer insults could piss Bambietta off more than "runt". Mostly because they brought back awful memories of her father, not that it was ever directed at her, but just because of how he used it to treat others her age. Oh yeah, this guy was asking for it.
Without a word, Bambietta swung her fist upward, knuckles connecting with the creep's jaw from below and launching him up and back so that he crash-landed on his prized motorcycle.
"Come on, Lucy, let's go," Bambietta said. She felt for Lucy's hand behind her, grabbed it firmly and escorted her away from the scene. They even left the patrol route so that Bambietta could complain about the creeper to the mayor. And on the walk over, Lucy was stunned at Bambietta's behavior. Anger and violence were nothing new for the brunette, sure. However, Lucy was more marveled at Bambietta's territorial behavior. Lucy had half-expected Bambietta to ask for a threesome, but she made it clear not just with her words, but with the hand clenching Lucy's oh so tight, that Lucy meant something to her. Lucy, intrigued by this turn of events, purred. It was low enough that Bambietta didn't hear it and it gave the blonde new insight as to her relationship with Bambietta.
I'm going to make this work, Lucy thought. She had a plan.
When it came to sounds in Magnolia, explosions were considered uninteresting as long as you couldn't see their impact. So, hearing explosions out in the woods meant either one of two things: the guild was fiddling with pyrotechnics again, or someone was training. In this case, it was the latter, with Erza testing the limits of Bambietta's skills without pushing her to the point of life-threatening danger. With her Adamantine armor, Erza could withstand all of what Bambietta could throw at her, or so she believed.
In short, Erza was simply wearing down Bambietta's stamina, letting her try out new techniques, and making a mark of her progress. While Erza was used to showing no mercy, cutting down enemies and making sure they rued the day they crossed her path, that was not the request Bambietta had made of her. Erza considered herself the type of person that could fulfill any request made of her by a friend, be it Natsu's request to fight her—no matter how poorly it ended—or Wendy's request to go shopping—often resulting in Erza buying 50 cakes… two of which would be for Wendy.
So, here they were at the end of yet another training session. Bambietta was thoroughly exhausted and Erza, much to her surprise, wasn't exactly unscathed. Her Adamantine Armor shields were notably damaged. One of them was melting a little, losing its firm shape, and the other had a fist-sized hole in it.
Erza examined the damage. "Impressive. Your control has greatly improved since we began. I'd dare say that that technique is ready to be harnessed in battle." Erza re-quipped back into her Heart Kreuz armor. "Your power is certainly S-class worthy, but that's all the more reason to be careful with your abilities."
"Right. Right. With great power comes great responsibility. Next thing you'll know they'll be making a product brand out of you: Aunt Erza's Ramen."
Erza failed to see the joke, but could interpret that Bambietta understood her point. "Tomorrow? Same time?" she asked seriously. "I'm keen to see how your progress will go."
Bambietta nodded. "Yes."
"Excellent. Then we will meet back here tomorrow. Have a pleasant evening, Bambietta."
After a long day of training, Bambietta came back to her apartment and sat down with a graphic novel at the kitchen table to relax. Sure, she could've sat on the couch, but she didn't want to fall asleep since it wasn't after dinner yet.
However, as she sat there with her back to the bedrooms, something hit her on the back of the head and something soft and dark blinded her eyes.
"Put that book down. Get dressed. We're going out for dinner."
Bambietta pulled the cloth off of her face. "Put what ahhhhoohhhhhh…" If Bambietta could she would be having a saxophone playing in the background. Lucy was standing in front of her bedroom door with a blue ribbon in her hair, tying it into one long ponytail. She was dressed in the nicest red dress Bambietta had ever seen, complete with shin-high boots and matching spandex that went up under her dress. The dress had no sleeves and bore a fair amount of cleavage.
"Uhhhh," Bambietta stared, hand still clenched around the dress she'd torn off her face.
"What? What are you staring for?" Lucy asked, snappy. Her disappointed facial expression clashed with her otherwise beautiful appearance. "Put that dress I gave you on and meet me outside, we're going out to dinner."
Bambietta stuttered. "Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. S-s-sure. N-no problem." Bambietta unfurled the dress out in front of her. It had shoulder straps, no sleeves, was dark plum colored and the skirt of which came down to her knees at best. "Well, I…how much this cost you?" Bambietta asked, proper grammar failing her.
"That's not important. Put it on," Lucy said commandingly.
"Um, okay…" Bambietta said, still not sure about the situation. I don't know what's gotten into her…but I like it.
"What? You're acting like you've never worn a cocktail dress before," Lucy stated.
"I…um…haven't," Bambietta admitted.
Lucy blinked, clearly in amused shock, "Y-you're kidding."
"You see, this?" Bambietta asked, gesturing to her quincy outfit. "We quincies have weird obsession with fashion. Me? Not so much. But the big people in charge would either kill us for stupid reasons or give us a mind numbing lecture of," Bambietta started to talk in a mocking tone, "why aren't you wearing your uniform Miss Basterbine? And before that…I don't want to talk about my father like you don't want to talk about yours and leave it at that."
"Well then, time to learn. It's not hard to get on. If you need help, I'll help you. You can use my room to change. I'm already changed." Lucy went over to the couch and sat down, picking up a nail file and using it to adjust her just polished nails.
"I-I-I can figure this out. It can't be that complex!"
Bambietta ducked into Lucy's room and shut the door. It really was as easy as Lucy said. However…the draft between Bambietta's legs and under her arms was…disquieting.
I feel exposed, Bambietta thought, covering herself a little. Wait! When the hell do I care about something dumb like that? Bambietta shook her head violently. It's just dinner. It's not like she's asking me to fight in this.
Bambietta exited out into the living room and met Lucy's stare as Lucy's eyes trailed down Bambietta's figure and then seemed to stare at her feet. With one elbow resting in her hand and the other hand tiredly holding her cheek, Lucy stated with a sigh, "Uh, no."
"Uh, no, what?"
"You're not wearing those." Lucy said, referring to Bambietta's boots.
Bambietta looked down at her boots and then back at Lucy. "What's wrong with them?"
Lucy frowned, put a hand on her hip and pointed. Following the direction of her extended index finger, Bambietta noticed a pair of high heels to match her current dress.
"Um, I…" Bambietta tried to excuse that she wasn't a fan of high heels. However, a grouchy noise from Lucy was all the convincing Bambietta needed to at least try. I feel…girly…and not in a good way, Bambietta thought once she got them on.
Lucy smiled. "You look great. Kick the hat and let's go."
"Yeah, sure and…what do you mean kick the hat?" Bambietta asked, voice raising.
"Did I stutter?" Lucy asked, frowning.
With a heavy sigh, Bambietta took her hat off and placed it neatly on the coat rack, giving it a firm pat like she was saying goodbye to a beloved pet. She even kissed her hand and pat the hat a few more times.
With that though, the two women were on their way, eventually stopping at a fancy diner on the other side of town.
This looks expensive, Bambietta thought. We have money for this?
Lucy strode into the restaurant with no hesitation, Bambietta following suit closely behind. She watched as Lucy, with confidence, marched right up to the reception counter. "Two, please," she said to the busboy.
"Right this way," he said and escorted Lucy and Bambietta to a table covered in a thick tablecloth with formal napkins and hard to bend silverware.
Bambietta was handed a menu and ordered a soda when the waiter asked if she and Lucy wanted anything to drink. Lucy ordered lemonade for herself. As she opened the menu, Bambietta thought she was going to break out into a coughing fit when she saw the prices. Was Lucy serious about this? She always complained about needing to be tighter with money, but the prices here might force Bambietta to sell an organ on the black market if they were going to pay rent next month.
"You sure about this?" Bambietta asked Lucy.
"Positive," she replied with no hesitation. "It's on me."
Bambietta stared at her girlfriend for a good long while. Lucy did not notice as her eyes were focused on scanning the menu. Bambietta couldn't figure it out. Had Lucy been planning this for a while? No, the situation seemed too spontaneous, especially after their fight. What the heck was going on?
Nervous, but still no less hungry, Bambietta ordered a gourmet burger and Lucy got herself grilled chicken with a creamy alfredo sauce.
While Bambietta's table manners were never the best, she decided she would be on her best behavior for Lucy's sake. She chewed with her mouth closed, took one bite at a time and was careful not to get food stuck to her face or, god forbid, her new dress. She didn't care, but she dreaded Lucy's reaction.
Lucy was eager to begin a conversation, but she wasn't sure where to begin. This was the hardest thing, she realized. She and Bambietta got along great, but now when a topic of conversation needed to be broached, Lucy was coming up short. Bambietta's old guild was a touchy subject so Lucy really wasn't sure what to talk about. The same could be said for Bambietta's childhood. Lucy felt like she'd been handed a road map except it was a mine field and every conceivable path lead to a dead end.
Well, okay, there were a couple of things. "So, how's training with Erza going?"
"Huh?" Bambietta was a bit surprised by the question.
"Getting stronger is important to you, right?" Lucy asked. "How's it going?"
"Uh, it's uh…it's going…well," Bambietta said, confused by the choice of topic. "I…didn't think you cared enough to know."
Lucy frowned. "Bambi, of course I care. We're dating. I want to know how things are with you."
"I mean, it's just training. I really wouldn't know how to talk about it. I mean, I don't think you want to hear "And then Erza cut me with a sword" over a dozen times," Bambietta replied.
"…fair enough," Lucy said after giving the matter some thought. "Are you making progress at least?"
"Yeah, I'm making good progress. Hoping to get up to that S-class level Natsu keeps going on about. I'm sure I have nothing to worry about. I mean, I'm me."
Lucy sighed, but with a smile and a gentle roll of her eyes. Bambietta was the same as ever. Dating her had done nothing to alter her ego and, in some respects, Lucy kind of liked that.
"What? I say something dumb?" Bambietta asked. She'd only seen Lucy's body language and not properly interpreted the meaning behind it.
"No, Bambi," Lucy said, trying not to laugh. "It just makes me happy to hear that you're doing well."
Bambietta had no idea why, but hearing Lucy said that made her heart pound heard in her chest. Not in a bad way either. It was a feeling Bambietta had never quite felt before. And she kind of liked it, but was scared of the sensation at the same time, afraid her heartbeat might get so loud she could feel it to the point of pain.
Fortunately, the sensation passed just as quickly as it had arrived. Lucy changing the subject to something more serious helped. "By the way, what are we going to do about Rukia?"
"What do you mean "what are we going to do about her"?" Bambietta asked.
"Bambi, my apartment was designed for two people maximum and now there's four of us under the same roof. For starters, the landlady might start throwing surcharges on my rent for overstaying guests, and not to mention the more people that live here…well…we might be able to pay the rent but water, electricity, and food are going to go up for certain."
"Ah…that's…true…" Bambietta said, her eyes clearly expressing her nervousness as to Lucy's extremely valid point.
"I know you'd fight me over having Wendy find her own place, so I say we allow Rukia to have time to find her own apartment. I say, two months. Fair?"
"Uh…fair, sure," Bambietta said. "Wait, why is that your decision?"
"Because I'm the primary lease holder of our apartment."
"…Touché."
With the conversation now in a steady stream of dialogue, the topics changed frequently, Lucy asking Bambietta more about what kind of things she liked to read as a kid, her favorite type of music and even some of her hobbies.
"Monster hunting is not a hobby!" Lucy exclaimed.
"Yes it is!" Bambietta exclaimed with exuberant cheer. "Especially if you fashion little necklaces out of teeth."
"That's disgusting and we're eating," Lucy responded.
Bambietta laughed.
Dinner was like this for the remainder of the evening. What would normally be a one-hour meal for Bambietta turned into a bit over two hours with the conversation she was having with Lucy. She really liked it, if she had to be honest.
When both plates were clean of dinner and dessert, Lucy called over the waiter and asked for the check as Bambietta finished laughing at a joke her girlfriend just told.
After Lucy paid for the meal, the two of them headed back for the apartment. Bambietta was all smiles. She couldn't recall a more relaxing, uplifting night than tonight.
"Ahhhh, that was so much fun," Bambietta said. "We should do that again sometime."
And at this, Lucy stopped in her tracks.
Bambietta turned to look at her and froze. Happy feeling's gone. Uh oh. What had she said?
"You, uh, really liked it, huh?" Lucy asked, staring at the ground, gripping her purse strap like she was trying to strangle it.
"Huh? Of course I did, this was great!"
Lucy giggled nervously. "Well then, I uh, I have a confession to make." She turned beet red. She averted eye contact with Bambietta when she spoke. "We don't exactly have the money to do this all the time. This was kind of like a one-time thing sort of."
Bambietta blinked a few times. "Explain."
"I…sort of…no, not even sort of…I um…Idugintomypersonaccountwithmyfamilyfortunetopayfordinner."
Bambietta shook her head having missed all of that. "One more time, slowly, please," she requested.
Lucy sighed. "I know I said I'd never rely on my family fortune to pay for anything, but…well…I felt that I had to in this instance."
"We could've just gone to the little burger joint down the block. It's not like—"
"No! It had to be this way!" Lucy exclaimed, giving Bambietta a serious stare.
The brunette swallowed, shutting up.
"I'm…well I'm originally an uptown sort of girl, you know? Fancy parties and dinners were how I was brought up. If…if we keep going the way we're going, I'm gonna wanna do that stuff more often, you know? Of course I like the little dinning holes and the guild's food, but…there's more to me than that, Bambi. I wanted to deliberately take you out somewhere you'd never been, in a situation you'd never been. I wanted to see…how you would react."
"How I would…react?" Bambietta reiterated, confused.
"We talked about it the other day, remember? I said that your neediness was becoming a pain in the—"
"I'm working on it!" Bambietta protested, almost whining.
"I know!" Lucy exclaimed urgently. "I know." She said much more calmly. "And, well, you didn't once do that tonight. You said you didn't know how to behave in a real relationship, so I thought I'd take us out on a real date. Not monster hunting, not a guild mission, just the two of us sitting down eating and talking. That's what…people do on a date, you know?"
"No! I didn't know! I told you, I suck at this stuff! But…" Bambietta said, scratching her head. "I had a really good time."
Lucy nodded. "Being in a relationship isn't all about looks and physical affection. It's about heart and wanting to know as much about the other person as possible. After all…if you're planning on spending the rest of your life with them…you want to make sure you like almost everything about them and can put up with the stuff you don't like."
"Say what now?"
"Ah, don't get me wrong…I…I think it would be pretty silly to start thinking about "the rest of our lives", but it's, you know, the principle of the thing. We got together…without really knowing much about each other. I wanted to make sure," Lucy wrapped her arms over her bust, hands on her shoulders, "That you liked me for more than just what you saw." Despite her vanity, Lucy still wanted a significant other that saw her as more than just her looks. After all, that was one of the major reasons she'd left home in the first place.
"That's what this is about?" Bambietta asked. "Of course I like you for reasons other than how sexy you are."
"You certainly don't make a habit of showing it," Lucy retorted. "And that was the problem. I couldn't tell if you were just staying around me until you got what you wanted."
"I would never—"
"Words weren't enough. Even now. I'm as new to this as you are, Bambi. I'm just as scared to move forward as you are lost as to how. So, I thought, if we went out to dinner, you'd see that there's more to relationships than just trying to get me in bed without my clothes on."
Bambietta nodded. "Got it."
"Bambi…"
"I'm serious. I liked tonight. I want to do more of tonight, even if it's at some crappy dive-in bar with the ceiling falling apart. You want to make this work, right?"
Lucy smiled. "Yes. I do!"
Bambietta blushed at the radiance of Lucy's smile and the meaning behind it. "S-so…I um…you don't want to break up with me?"
"What?" Lucy gasped. "No! Of course not! I was just…concerned about how you felt."
"Relationships are complicated," Bambietta sighed.
"Yup," Lucy nodded matter-of-factly. "But, we're still here…together…" she trailed off and laughed nervously.
Great, make it awkward with that laugh, Bambietta thought, rolling her eyes to one side.
"Hey, serious question," Lucy said.
"Serious answer," Bambietta replied, prompting a laugh from both women.
"What do you like about me…besides my looks, I mean," Lucy said.
Bambietta tilted her head to the sky. "Oh shit," she said, thinking out loud.
Lucy gulped. Uh oh. She suddenly was afraid Bambietta didn't really see anything in her other than—
"Where the fuck do I start?" Bambietta asked.
Lucy let out a breath she didn't realize she'd been holding.
"Let's see…" Bambietta said, collecting her thoughts. "You're way smarter than me, and not in an obnoxious way. You're extremely kind, something I really could use more of in my life now that I don't feel guilty about having it. I like your personality a lot." She looked Lucy directly in the eyes for the last one. "And you're pretty brave too."
Lucy sighed. "Oh please. You're way braver than I am."
"Yeah, probably, but you're no slouch yourself. Sure, you freak out a lot, but that's kinda cute in its own way, means I've got something I need to step up and protect. But you can take care of yourself too, like with that thug. If he hadn't grabbed you, I figured you had that situation handled. And you probably could've handled it. I just got…possessive."
Lucy laughed. "That possessive side I liked, actually. It made me feel safe."
Bambietta blushed, rubbing the back of her head, chuckling nervously. "S-seriously though, even if you freak out in the face of danger, you still stay in it. You still try your best. Trust me, that's a lot braver than you give yourself credit for!" Bambietta exclaimed, finger aimed at her girlfriend. "We had a lot of guys I never knew the names of back in my old guild that freaked out just as much as you and tried to flee at the first sign of danger. We called them cannon fodder. We distinguished them by having them tie red armbands on their right arms."
"Your guild did what now?" Lucy asked, sounding a bit horrified.
"Hey, come on, I'm not that type of girl anymore," Bambietta responded. "Besides, a few of them deserved it."
"Bambi!" Lucy exclaimed in a disapproving manner at Bambietta's blatant disregard for human life.
"What?!" Bambietta responded, failing to see the issue.
"Your morbid humor leaves a lot to be desired," Lucy sighed.
"I can't help it if I'm funny in ways that make politicians cringe," Bambietta responded.
Okay that one Lucy had to admit was funny.
"Aha! You're laughing!" Bambietta exclaimed teasingly. Lucy punched her lightly in the arm.
"You know, if you toned down the crude humor and some of the battle lust, you'd be a girlfriend I could be proud of, along with the other stuff you promised to work on of course," Lucy said.
"Yeah, sure. I…wait, are you saying you're not proud of me?!" Bambietta exclaimed.
"Well, I mean, not like I'm not proud of you as a person, but, like, if you were better, I feel I could walk down the street with my head held high with pride that the person standing next to me is the person I love."
"You say that like you're ashamed we're dating," Bambietta said.
"I mean, you can be a bit embarrassing at times," Lucy said. "Not all the time. Not the majority of times, but sometimes."
"I suppose I could dial a bit on the black comedy a bit," Bambietta stated.
"Not suppose. You will. Do you want this to work or not?" Lucy asked all fussy, her finger practically in Bambietta's face. "I went back on my principles because I wanted to see if you would appreciate it. Loving relationships are all about give and take. So, are you going to step up and match my level of devotion or am I wasting my time? Give me an answer!" Lucy said like she was giving Bambietta an ultimatum.
"Of course I want this to work! Goddamit, I want this to work more than anything! If you say jump, I'll say how high? If you say swim, I'll say how far? You want a ring on your finger, I'll dig through a mine covered in animal feces and sulfur to find the perfect goddamn gemstone for it. Lucy, I love you, more than I'm able to outwardly admit. I just…I just…"
Without even thinking, Bambietta stepped towards Lucy, hoping her actions could fix the situation where words failed her. She put her hands on Lucy's cheeks and pulled the blonde towards her lips, overpowering her and not really caring for permission. It was sink or swim for Bambietta and if she sank, well at least she got one last taste of…the…inside…of…Lucy's mouth.
She was kissing back. Lucy was returning the gesture, arms loosely wrapped around Bambietta's back. She understood what Bambietta was trying to do and she was more than willing to reciprocate the brunette's intentions.
Inadvertently, a tear rolled down Bambietta's cheek. They weren't going to break up. Things weren't going to get awkward. If anything, she and Lucy had become closer than ever.
When they broke away, Bambietta inadvertently croaked trying to say her girlfriend's name, "Lucy…"
Lucy took out a handkerchief from her purse and dabbed Bambietta's eyes. "Idiot, why are you crying?" she asked, sniffing, trying not to do the same.
"Cause I thought…I thought…" Bambietta hiccupped.
"Hey," Lucy said, putting a hand on Bambietta's cheek. "Relax. And don't be afraid to show this kind of emotion." She put her hand flush against Bambietta's collar. "It really lets me know that there's a lot more to you than I can see on the surface. You can always be honest with me, Bambi. If you trust me with all of you, then I'll be able to trust you with all of me."
Bambietta hugged Lucy tightly, though it was more of a squeeze. "You're the best thing…that's ever happened to me."
Lucy put her arms around Bambietta, though much less forcefully. She put her head on Bambietta's shoulder. "Guess we both have reasons to rely on each other, huh," Lucy said. "I'll rely on your strength, and you can rely on my heart."
"Thank you, Lucy," Bambietta said.
Lucy smiled and hugged her tighter, not as tight as Bambietta was hugging her of course. The two stood there for a while until Lucy undesirably found Bambietta's hand on her butt.
She said very dryly, "You're pushing your luck."
Bambietta retracted her hand like it had grasped hot iron. "Sorry…force of habit."
Lucy sighed. "It's fine. You've got a lot of work to do though."
"I'll do it. Whatever you need me to do, I can rise to the occasion. No, I will rise to the occasion."
"I promise not to be too demanding. I wouldn't want you to change who you are just to be with me."
"Long as you promise not to take advantage of me, I wouldn't mind any demand you gave me," Bambietta stated. Even in the bedroom. Oh, hey! I kept that to myself! I'm learning!
"I would never," Lucy said.
"I hope so. The last person I trusted this much hurt me more than you could imagine," Bambietta said, arms shaking a bit.
Lucy rubbed her back. "It's going to be okay. You have me now, Bambi. And I'm going to do my best for you, just as you have promised to do your best for me."
The two shared one more kiss. It was brief, but it got the message across. Then, holding hands tightly, fingers laced together, they headed back to that uncomfortably small apartment together they called home.
Home, Bambietta thought as Lucy unlocked the front door. She saw the familiar sight of her pull-out bed, the kitchen area and the three doors that led to the two bedrooms and guest bathroom. She sniffed, shedding no tears and smiling as the shadow of the moon hid her eyes. She smiled happily, more than she ever had in her entire life. This is home.
Ah, now isn't that what you call a happy ending to a chapter? Im quite satisfied with it to say the least.
Looking back on things...I could have handled Lucy and Bambietta's build up as a couple a bit better. I think everything On Bambietta's end worked fine but...I really neglected Lucy's side of things. That...was a mistake. A really foolish one at that. But thankfully I got someone who managed to fix things up a bit. I know not everyone has been sold on this pairing. Most have, but others haven't, and I cant say I blame you. Im very...new at romance. Its not a field that I'm experienced in. Like at all, and I think it shows. Ill be trying to improve in this area as the story continues, and learning as much as I can, Just like Bambietta herself.
Also, it seems Bambietta has invented some new technique's for herself. What did she learn exactly? Well, you'll find out in do time.
Im looking forward to what you all have to say about this chapter, so please leave me your thoughts in the reviews. It would mean a lot to me.
