As explained in the summary- I'm not sure about this story yet. It was just in my head and I decided to write it out. Let me know your thoughts!
Dragon's Wail
12 October Year X792
(A month after the Alvarez Great War)
Dear Mother,
What can I say about this month? Other than it's been crazy! The guild has been flooded with requests to restore the town since the war took out most homes. I was one of the very few whose home was still standing by the end of it. Many people though have fled over to Hargeon and Clover town for temporarily living until we can build their houses back. Good news is the guild has been working together, with Erza taking charge. So it won't be long till we have our Magnolia back to how it was.
Lucy pulled her pen back from her notepad and stared down at her writing, taking in how long it had been since she had wrote to her mother. It seemed like so long ago now. The days were beginning to merge together, the war now becoming a distant memory.
How many people had they lost to the war?
Although it seemed like Fairytail had won, behind the scenes there were many wizards lost that Lucy had never really seen or made conversation with.
Behind the Fairytail building, in the gardens stood a large concrete wall with the names of the Fairytail wizards who had given their lives. Lucy had paid a visit there a few days prior to it's announcement, laying down some flowers and taking a moment to read every name that had been scripted.
Jack Pryer was a 19 year old boy, only a year older than Lucy and gifted with the magic of duplication. He, along with his father Trevor had both been struck down by the army led by Invel Yura, one of the 12 Spriggans and Zeref's Chief of Staff.
She had never interacted with him or his father before, but had seen them around the Guild Hall a few times collecting missions from the board.
Jacqueline Temp was a Fairytail wizard also, and had been a member for over 20 years. It was believed she was good friends with Macao and Wakaba which was surprising as she was rarely seen at their table. She wasn't a smoker, nor was she a drinker. But she was a mother and spent most of her time fetching through the many flyers on the mission board looking for the easiest and more safer jobs to do that allowed her daughter Janey to accompany her.
It tugged Lucy's heart to know that the small child was now motherless after the war, relocating to live on the outskirts of Haven with her Grandmother.
The more Lucy scanned the names of Fairies lost, the more pain it gave her. Her emotion of guilt swarmed her as she realised that many of the names carved on the wall, she hadn't made any interaction with.
"A guild is a family"
She was reminded that alot through her time spent with Fairytail. And yet, all of these people who were attached to her vision of a family, were all strangers to her. All lives that sacrificed themselves for their future. For her future.
And so she made that her mission for the next few weeks on.
"Hi there! I'm Lucy!" The blonde female smiled down to an unknown wizard sat alone on the table in their guild, while presenting out her hand that beamed her pink emblem.
The older boy looked up causally from his magazine, brows narrowing at the suspected gesture of a handshake.
"Um..." he wasn't sure what to say at first, Lucy had guessed that by the way his lips pushed together, his dark green eyes now focused on her coloured Fairytail symbol.
"I'm Lucy" she said again, reintroducing herself with a charming smile. Her hand remained out towards him, hopeful that he would take it.
"I know who you are" he whispered, looking to her hand then back to his pages.
"Oh" She was taken back by his bluntness, her smile softening as she shyly removed her hand and rubbed it against her hip. "What's your name?"
The male scoffed back at her, his eyes rolling.
"Does it matter?" He asked back, ignoring her request.
"It matters to me" Lucy announced brightly. Her reply seemed to perplex the male wizard, his brow lifting with surprise as she seated herself in the empty chair in front of him. "So, what do you call yourself?" She blinked innocently, studying the magazine he was reading and knowing it well. The Sorcerer's Weekly.
"Tyler" he said simply, shifting his eyes from her to his magazine. There was a moment's silence as Lucy continued to stare at him, pouting. Noticing that she was expecting more than just his first name, he sighed in defeat. "Tyler Carolson" he added.
"Carolson... oh you must be Derek and Milah's son?" She pointed out knowingly.
Tyler blinked back, stunned by her comment.
"How...how did you know that?" He stuttered for words, his magazine now laying flat on the table between them.
Lucy tilted her head softly, smiling her innocence back to him.
"You can learn alot by reading the Fairytail archives in the library" she shrugged her shoulders causally at her answer, thrilled that she had gained his interest.
"Why...I mean" he stuttered, brushing his brown mop of hair back from his forehead. "Why are you talking to me?" He seemed puzzled, trying to justify why the pretty blonde mage that he had scanned eyes upon through his magazines was now talking to him...a nobody.
"Am I not allowed to talk to you?" Lucy's brow raised.
"What? No...I mean" he paused, looking around the room at the Guild hall.
Many well known wizards were sat at their usual tables chattering away, all ones that associated themselves as Lucy's friends.
"Why are you sat talking to me?" He questioned. "You're popular, famous even..." he shook his head watching as Lucy lowered her smile with disappointment.
"I wouldn't say that" she muttered, turning away from him.
"It's true, your part of the rowdy bunch...Natsu, Gray...even Erza" he shivered at the names of the Fairytail's strongest wizards. "You" he gulped.
Lucy's face drawn confusion, now staring back at him as she clasped her hands together and rested them on the table in front of her.
"I spoke with your uncle, Titus" she admitted sheepishly. "He told me about your father..."
The boy scrunched his face slightly by the memory, grasping the magazine he had put down.
Lucy startled quickly by his movement, her hand releasing the other to prevent him from adjourning their conversation. She reached the magazine, her hand resting on it.
"Sorry! I just wanted to say... I'm sorry...for your loss" she murmured through her pink lips, worry now painting her brown orbs. "He was a hero"
There was silence between them, as the look the blonde celestial wizard gave him showed genuine sorrow and respect. Something that no one else in the guild had taken time to make. Her hand moved slowly from the magazine, lifting up his own palm to hold it delicately.
"I am honoured to have met you, your father died so we could live on. And for that, I will forever be grateful" she shook his hand firmly, as Tyler's eyes squinted closed. He sniffled quietly, refusing to allow the tears now filling his eyes to fall.
"Um...thank you Lucy" he whimpered out through quiet breaths. She nodded calmly, releasing his hand and sitting back in her chair as Tyler revealed a soft smile.
"You know, if you like reading magazines, there's plenty down in the Fairytail library" she said amusingly, eyes falling to the Sorcerer's Weekly. "Me and Levy are down there most days reading, you know. You're more than welcome to join us whenever" she offered gently.
"Oh, um...yeah perhaps I will sometime" he nodded, accepting her offer. "I don't usually come to the Guild often, it's only due to the town being fixed up that I'm here" he explained. "Want to do my bit, I guess"
Gray's eyes narrowed over to the table where Lucy was sitting, her chest leant over the table as she chatted away to someone that he had never recognised before. He studied his features carefully, wondering who he was and where'd he come from.
The stranger was around his age, possibly 20 maybe 21, scruffy brown hair that reach over his ears and lightly tanned skin with a dark green Fairytail mark plastered on the side of his neck. It was smaller than his own mark on his chest, though it was still noticeable. And it confirmed that whoever Lucy was talking to, was in fact a Fairytail wizard also.
Pulling his stare away, he nudged the side of his teammate beside him.
Natsu grunted by the sudden jolt in his side, that had him tearing away from his meal as he pulled the meat from the bone he was holding.
His eyes glared to the neighbour sat next to him at the table, chomping down the remains of food and swallowing hard.
"What was that for, ice for brains" he insulted harshly, still grasping hold of his boned turkey leg.
Gray ignored the comment, his head folding back to the view of their blonde team mate, who by now was laughing along with the stranger.
"What's Lucy doing?" Gray wondered, sitting back so Natsu had a better view of the interaction between them.
Natsu's brow twisted at first, acknowledging his blonde partner across the hall. Once he realised what was happening, he turned his attention back to the leg in his hand, taking a fanged bite from it.
The sound of him munching away made Gray's eye twitch, but it was frustrating him more than Natsu had refused to answer his question.
"Who she talking to?" Gray asked again, looking back at the pink haired wizard.
Natsu shrugged, slouching back in his chair and tossing the now meat free bone onto the platter along with the other discarded carcasses.
"I think it's part of her make friends in the guild thingy" the dragon slayer suggested, looking back over to the table where she was sitting.
"Aren't we her friends?" Gray questioned, not fully understanding.
"Uh huh, but this is Lucy... she wants to get to know everyone in the guild" again Natsu shrugged. He didn't quite understand Lucy's logic either but when she had tried to explain it to him, it was clear to him that whatever this was, it was important to her.
"Everyone?" Gray frowned.
"Yep" he nodded to confirm, patting his now full belly.
"Well...do you know who he is?" Gray peered over once more, grinding his brain for a name. Though Natsu was quick enough to beat him to it.
"Tyler? Yeah he was Derek's kid" Gray scrunched his nose stunted by Natsu's causal quick response.
"You know him?" The ice maker sounded shocked as Natsu shook his head forcefully.
"Nah, I know of him. I know their scents better" he tapped his nose and sighed. "Derek was a good man though"
"Derek?"
"Yeah. Titus's brother"
Gray pulled a distressed scowl.
"Whose Titus!"
"Jeez snowflake, do you know anyone?" Natsu snorted, shaking his head disapprovingly as Gray gaped at his lack of knowledge of his own Fairytail guild members.
Now it was becoming clear why Lucy had been going round talking to random members of the guild. She wanted to acknowledge them.
"Shouldn't you be off helping Erza with the Cathedral?" Natsu queried, noticing his presence. Gray shook his head, chuckling to himself now as he reached for his tankard filled with cider.
"No, but aren't you supposed to be helping Laxus and Gajeel with the housing structures near Green Park?" The ice wizard carefully shot back, taking a long sip from his cup. His eyes cornered Natsu's pale face, blood rushing through him as he jolted up from his seat.
"Oh shit!" Realisation hit him, his eyes wide as he pounced out of his chair and scurried towards the large double doors to exit. Before leaving, his head clicked towards the long bar to his left, eyeing his blue companion in full conversation with Kinana. "Happy! We gotta go!" He called out demandingly.
"But Natsu~" the cat whined. He looked up to pout at his team-mate, only to find that the Dragon Slayer had already shot off without him. "Huh? Hey Natsu! Wait for me!"
His wings burst out from his back with a poof, and flapped desperately in need to reach his comrade through the gap in the door.
Gray sniggered at this, forcing down his cider and slamming it back to the table. When he flicked his head back up to look ahead, he was greeted by his fellow blonde teammate, Lucy.
She had finally decided to join him at his table, a smile plastered on her face revealing how happy her day had had been going.
"You seem jolly" he noted, brushing the handle of his cup.
"Yeah, made 3 new friends today" she claimed joyfully.
"I noticed, what's with that?" Gray asked, motioning her to spill her thoughts. "You don't usually go up to strangers"
"They're not strangers Gray" Lucy giggled. "They're part of the guild, our fellow guild members"
"Right... and you're making friends with the lonely ones it seems?" He peered over to the table she was sat on, watching as the newly known stranger Tyler got up from his seat, waved goodbye to Lucy and left behind him.
"Just because they don't cause drama, create riots and make themselves known as loud as you guys do, doesn't make them lonely" Lucy pointed out bitterly. "Tyler used to come in here all the time before his Father passed"
"His father died in during the war?" Gray wondered, suddenly choking on his words. Lucy nodded shamefully.
"The wall outside, with all those names on. Gray, how many of them did you know?" She asked.
He grimaced by the thought. Maybe one, maybe two. He couldn't really remember.
"A few" he said briefly.
"And those members of our guild sacrificed themselves and we never took the time to get to know them, doesn't that feel wrong?"
Gray huffed in defeat.
"Fine, I get what your doing" he admitted. "You know, before you came to the Guild. I was also a loner" the reveal didn't come as surprise to Lucy, her smile softening as she recalled her first day at the Guild.
"I know" she whispered, remembering her first interaction with Gray. "You asked to borrow my clothes"
"Did I?" He scratched the back of his head shyly.
"Yep, you were naked" she rolled her eyes, her smile remaining. "Scarred for life" she confessed. "But I wouldn't have it any other way- joining Fairytail, meeting Natsu and Happy. It was what started all this" she looked around the room anxiously admiring the newly built walls.
"How did you even meet?" The ice wizard inquired, pulling back a stare.
"In Hargeon!" She exclaimed brightly. "Funny story actually, I was under a love charm" she blushed, recalling the wizard claiming to be the Salamander.
"A love charm?" Gray's brow raised with full interest as Lucy explained about the love charm ring the imposter was wearing. "Then...if you were under it, how did you manage to get out of it?" The ice maker questioned. "Surely once you're under it..."
"Natsu and Happy" Lucy announced. "They came barging through the crowd I was in and well... the spell broke" she shrugged lightly, unfazed by the thought while Gray leant back in his chair and sniggered.
"How about that eh?" He shook his head, chuckling away to himself as he crossed his arms and closed his eyes. It was if he was indicating he knew something that Lucy didn't.
The blonde twitched by his stance, scanning him as he reopened his eyes to look at her. His smirk lowered as she leant forward to gauge his hidden thoughts. "What?" She wondered.
"Nothing" he said simply.
"Didn't look like nothing" she debated, a light frown pulling on her thin brows. Gray ignored her pout gingerly.
"So flamebrain brought you to Fairytail after that?" He guessed, resuming the story she was telling. He watched her nod shyly. "And you don't regret it?"
She shook her head.
"Of course not, even after everything we've been through. I am who I am today, thanks to Natsu and the guild" she placed her hand to her chest, feeling her heart beating into her palm. "And... I owe him my life"
"I think you find that's the other way round, don't you think?" Gray muttered, registering recent events.
His comment seemed to make Lucy cower quickly, her brown orbs suddenly growing wide as she stared directly into Gray's dark eyes, revealing some sort of twisting pain.
She rose up from the table sharply, her right hand now slapping to her left wrist with panic.
The sudden movement made Gray flinch as she scrapped the chair back from the table to force herself out. Her alarmed eyes darted to the side door of their guild, leading out into the Fairytail Gardens.
"Lucy?" Gray's tone lifted with worry, hovering himself up from his own chair to reach out to her. But the moment he extended his arm out, her breathing hitched and she forcefully scattered back away from him. "Lucy" he sounded hurt by her reaction, tensing as his eyes followed her across to the side door nearest them.
She ran.
"Hey...where you going?" He frowned, pulling himself out from his chair to follow her. He scanned the room around him, looking to see if anyone else had noticed her strange abrupt behaviour- but no one had.
And so he chased after her. The concern of his friend now submerging as he tackled the side door to follow.
He was greeted by the tall hedges, leading out to the large grassy lawn and planters of flowers.
Searching for her, he rushed around the garden. His chest tightening with every fear of not finding her.
"LUCY!" he shouted, calling for her. "Lucy! Where are you?"
His ears perked from rustling, turning his head to the sound it came from. A small wooden shed that was used as storage for the green thumb gardeners had been his target. He darted across the garden, lightly jogging over to peer round it's side. In the dark shadow, his face twisted. "Lucy?"
She was there, coiled up and shaking violently as if she had been tortured and left for good. Her hands were gripping clumps of her blonde hair from the top of her head, while her teeth bit into her bottom lip and caused blood. She rocked back and forth with her eyes forced shut, while a strange reddish pattern swarmed her wrists.
Gray's eyes shrunk as he knelt forward to study her markings. It wasn't long ago that he had saw them before, almost exactly a month ago.
"Lucy..." he gulped. "What did you do?!"
Upon hearing his voice, Lucy's eyes shimmered open, the colour of brown now replaced with a fearsome gold. Not a comforting gold like what her own magic had portrayed, but a unnerving prickled treasure coloured gold that looked dormant and unsettling.
"You're cursed!" He snapped fearfully. He snatched her patterned wrist from her face and pulled it towards him. His demon slayer magic activating against his skin as he staggered it across to her own and watched it take effect.
Lucy's body shook demonically, her head slashing from side to side as the icy demon slayer magic coursed through her veins, and spiralled through her body.
She attempted to wriggle from his hard grip, hissing and squealing with both rage and torment as the curse began to fade. It was too much for Gray to bare, looking away from her as she yanked herself, sobbing weakly by the pain she was experiencing.
"Lucy...I'm sorry" he whispered low, gritting his teeth at the sounds escaping her mouth. It was horrendous, knowing that the suffering she was going through was partly him to blame.
His chest ached when he felt her wrist go limb and her body fall forward, crashing into his side with her head now resting on his shoulder. He lifted her arm, inspecting her markings that had no fully disappeared and sighed heavily with relief. It was over. For now.
But something told him that this was just the start of it.
He released his grip and sat there, allowing Lucy to whimper in her slumber. He was thankful really, that they were hidden down the side of the shed and out of view. Not that he cared as much, but if anyone had spotted them, gossip would have gotten around that they were simply up to no good.
And knowing how some particular females were in the Guild, he knew that would just be a whole other drama to deal with on top of what he had just discovered with Lucy.
Instantly he began to come up with explanations as to what had happened, but only one thing stood out to him. The red hot markings that had scorched her skin lead him to one culprit.
He remembered them on her skin before, covering her whole body as she rewrote Natsu's demonic book. The book belonging to cursed Black Wizard, Zeref.
They had returned, but why?
Did her meddling with the book and bringing Natsu back from the dead cause some sort of unforgivable fate to their blonde companion? Was her life now in danger for saving Natsu's?
He had so many questions and no one to answer them, not until the sleeping female woke up at least.
Shifting uncomfortably on the ground, he managed to move Lucy around to stir her. He bit his own lip, watching her slouch back against him with no energy to hold herself up. Her eyes, however, opened revealing the milky chocolate colour she had previously.
"You ok?" He asked, his heart beat racing. He expected her to take a while to answer, just to gain her energy back.
Lucy blushed, realising how close she was to Gray. Although she was worn out, exhausted from having all physical and emotional energy drained from her, she still managed to shuffle away from him, muttering an apology.
And then there was silence between them. A heavy eerie muteness lingering but their thoughts were loud enough to register.
As Lucy touched her wrist, she admired the lack of burn marks and disappearance of what had recently been. She avoided Gray's concerned glare, brushing her arm and feeling the prickled goosebumps from the cold chill of air.
"Lucy..." his voice was low.
"I...don't know what happened" she wheezed, giving him an answer before he had the chance to ask it. "I felt it, that same feeling" her hand gripped her wrist and squeezed it tightly. "That time..." she paused, not sure how to really explain what she had gone through.
"You cursed yourself" he said softly. "There's always a price when messing with Dark Magic, look how Zeref turned out"
"I know..." she looked to the ground.
"What did you do?" He asked, concern filling his words. "What's happened to you?"
"I don't know"
"There must have been something? What did you do the day you re-wrote in Natsu's book?" Gray's eyes narrowed as Lucy lowered her head in shame. "Wait, what did you write?" He gulped hard, watching his blonde team mate tearfully sob. "Lucy...what did you write?!" This time he was more demanding, ignoring her tears. His hands struck to the top of her shoulders, pulling her to face him. He shook her, ordering her eyes to look up to his, so he could read her. "Lucy!" He snapped.
"I...I..." she choked on her words, hot tears rushing down her cheeks. "I couldn't free him..." she whimpered.
"Free Natsu?" Gray confirmed surprisingly. He shook his head not fully understanding. "What are you talking about? Natsu's alive...he's fine"
"He'll hate me..." she cried.
"Hate you? Lucy, you saved him!" Answers were not becoming any clearer for Gray, but he was determined to shake it out of her regardless. He was aware whatever secret she had been keeping the last month was hurting, but now physically it was corrupting her body and her mind. And Gray needed an answer to figure out what to do. What she had done. "Lucy, tell me what's going on!" He ordered, threatening his voice for her to cower back shamefully.
"His life...was bound to Zeref" she wept loudly this time, unable to control herself any longer as she sniffled away, clutching her tight chest to help her regulate her harsh panting. Panic was flooding her as Gray's eyes shrunk.
"Was?" He repeated darkly. She nodded weakly. "Natsu's still not free?" Gray questioned, eyes now building up a storm.
She shook her head, confirming.
"But Zeref's dead... so..." he gulped, releasing his hands from Lucy's shoulders. "Who's life is he bound to...Lucy?" He already knew the answer, hands now sweating cold. "Lucy..."
She sobbed lightly, cradling herself as Gray slowly rose up from the ground. He waited for her answer, the answer he already discovered through putting the clues together.
It was now obvious what she had done and how it had come to past. The reason why she was here now, enduring a curse that was not meant for her.
"I owe him my life"
He twitched, shaking his head disapprovingly. Sure, she had rewrote his book by replacing the words lost, essentially bringing him back from the death but she had done so much more within that time they were together. Why she was so desperate to free Natsu from his fate that the deadly dark magic had taken over her body.
If Zeref died, so would Natsu. That was his fate. And yet, the black wizard was defeated and his brother lived. How could that be possible? Especially when Lucy couldn't free him. It meant only one thing.
"Lucy, who's life is Natsu bound to?" He asked again, confirming his thoughts once more.
She croaked, whimpering a soft whisper as her answer.
"Mine"
He inhaled sharply, a scowl of torment displaying his features.
"So, END...Natsu"
"Belongs to me" she gritted her teeth, still tasting the blood from her cut lip. "I'm sorry" she wept out more tears, wiping them forcefully with the back of her hands. "It was the only way...the only way to save him" she chattered her teeth, shivering by her revealed secret.
"You've cursed yourself Lucy" Gray concluded. "It's dangerous dark magic- you could die from this!" he looked away from her, hearing her sniffles behind him. "Does he know?"
"No"
"And I take it, you're not gonna tell him either" this time she didn't answer, confirming his thoughts once more. "Well you need to, we need to talk to Gramps too" he shoved his hands into the jeans of his pockets and sighed as she weakly refused.
"We can't, Gray"
"Lucy...you need to" he warned. "Natsu will never forgive himself if you die, you're special to him you know"
"Natsu will never know. No one will, Gray...please. Keep this between us! Please!" She begged him, her knees shuffling against the ground as she crawled up to him. Her hands clamped together in a prayer. "Please, promise me. I'll find a way, but please don't tell anyone!"
She was frantic with her words, eyes pleading as Gray looked down to her sight. Tears still ran down her face, her cheeks stained a blush pink and her lips now dry. "Please"
As much as he didn't want to, he sighed heavily once more and agreed. Promising that this would be their little secret, until Lucy could find some sort of cure or way to break it.
He regretted it instantly but a promise was promise regardless of what he was feeling. He believed in Lucy, being one of the smartest people he knew, if anyone could fix this, it would be her.
But he knew the guilt would still eat him up inside.
XXX
Days passed after their discovering her truth and Lucy remained her bubbly self, still making it her mission to greet all the guild members in their guild. While Gray seemed distant. He could no longer look at Natsu the same way, his stomach twisting painfully with every conversation they made.
Natsu would try to pick a fight with the ice wizard, and Gray would simply ignore it. Turning down the chance to fight him and smoothly walking away less interested than to begin with.
"I wonder what's up with stripper?" Natsu wondered, stretching his arm over the booth where Lucy was sitting.
She looked up from her book causally, the corner of her eye straining to his hand now carefully dangling over the back of the booth and past her shoulder.
"Maybe he's hungry?" Happy pondered, as he rubbed his own stomach. "Can't blame him, I'm starving!" He turned to his female companion who had quickly resumed her reading. "What's for dinner tonight Lushy?"
Lucy grumbled under her breath, her eyes remaining on her book.
"Whatever you plan to cook, how am I supposed to know cat?"
His face dropped sadly.
"Aren't you gonna cook for us?"
"Uh, no" her reply seemed very obvious. "What are you even doing here? Don't you have a town to help fix up?" She glanced over to the male sat next to her and frowned lightly.
She hadn't realised before, but he looked taller. Like he seemed to tower over her further, with more of a muscular build than what she remembered. Had he had some sort of growth spurt in the last month?
She blushed by the thought, he did seem more mature than before, in a sort of charming way.
"No? We've done pretty much everything we can" he said. "Erza's wrapping things up for the villagers to come back"
Lucy blinked. That sure surprised her that they managed to fix up the town in just over a month. But then, she didn't expect any less from Fairytail.
"Oh, um...that's great news" she turned her head back to her book, but was quickly interrupted as Natsu nudged her side.
"Something's up with Gray" he reported to her.
"Probably relationship issues" Lucy announced back, lying through her teeth.
"With who?"
"Juvia, duh!" Happy coaxed, sniggering. Natsu grunted, shaking his head with uncertainty.
"Nah, it's not that"
"It's not?" The cat wondered, stunned by Natsu's detective skills. "Maybe we should investigate!"
"Or maybe you should just leave him alone?" Lucy suggested, shutting down their plan.
"But Luce..." Natsu whined, his head switching back and forth to the ice wizard then to her. "He's not himself! Yesterday he didn't even wanna fight me!"
"Can you blame him Natsu? Don't forget, we almost lost you" the blonde stated delicately. "Maybe he doesn't want to fight you anymore" she tried to justify her friend's actions, resulting in him sulking down in their seat.
"Your off with me too!"
"I'm not" she said softly. "I just don't want you prying into other people's business" she whispered.
"Fine..." he rolled his eyes, giving in to his partner's wishes. "That reminds me..." he looked to Happy and smirked. "We need to go on a job soon!"
"Aye!"
He vacated his seat quickly, snaking his arm from behind Lucy's back to leave her presence.
As soon as they were gone, she sighed painfully, her thoughts slowly consuming her.
