7 – he wanted her
"...Detention?"
"Detention." The Dean looked at Lucy with disappointment.
"I've never had detention!"
"This comes as quite the shock to us too, Miss Heartfilia. You've always been a model student, but we can't have skipping classes encouraged here at Magnolia Prep. Of course, this is a light punishment, being your first offense. We value you as a student, Lucy. And we're ever so grateful for all your parents have done to support their alma mater, which is why you're getting off with only a detention." Lucy frowned. "And you know if something were to happen to you while on our watch, it would become a national scandal. We as an educational establishment would never recover should news of the Heartfilia daughter herself going missing under our care went public."
"But I have ballet—"
"You can serve two lunch detentions, then."
"Yes ma'am..."
"Return to class." She was dismissed. "And please, try not to make this a habit."
Lucy went through the day as usual. Like she expected, the student body had already moved on from her mysterious date and lunchroom breakdown and onto the new hot gossip of the day. Lucy wasn't interested in the fresh drama. She was happy. And no one would dull her shine today.
She used her lunch detention as a study hall, completing daily assignments for the classes she had skipped to stay in her teachers' good graces. She knew Lisanna and Yukino would hound her at ballet, but she didn't mind.
"…would he come back now of all times?"
"Don't know but I call dibs."
"I'm sure he already has his eyes back on-"
"Shh!" The librarian hushed at the two gossiping sophomores in the library. They quickly left, not wanting to anger the woman even more. Lucy didn't even realise she'd been eavesdropping, quickly shifting focus back to her maths. She still couldn't help but wonder who the girls were talking about.
Oh well. She would find out at some point.
"Lucy, you're glowing."
"Am I?"
"What's got you so happy?"
"it's just such a good day!"
Yukino and Lisanna exchanged a look before turning back to their friend, who was doing the most energetic pliés they had seen from her all year.
"Loving the energy Lucy, keep it up." Madame Minerva called out, a rare compliment from their strict teacher.
"Something's definitely up with you, Lucy. Where were you all day? I barely saw you." No response.
"Do you think it has to do with him?" Yukino whispered to Lisanna, who shrugged.
"Our performance is this weekend, why shouldn't I be happy?"
Yukino rolled her eyes as she moved her feet to fifth position. "You have a lead role, of course you'd be all excited."
"The Vilas are just as important as Myrtha. Plus, you're the obvious choice for Clara when Madame Minerva starts winter casting."
"Unless it goes to Araña." Yukino shot a glare to the curly haired dancer across the room, who was showing off her impressive number of turns. "She's such a tryhard."
Class was dismissed early. Lucy changed quickly and waited outside. Natsu had agreed to meet her outside her studio so they could hang out for the rest of the day. She didn't mind if people saw him now. It was her relationship, and anyone with a problem could shove it-
"You look cute." Lisanna appeared next to her, interrupting Lucy's inner ire. "You have plans right now? Is Capricorn picking you up?"
Lucy shuffled her feet. "No, I'm walking home. Just waiting on someone."
"And who might that be?" Yukino appeared on her other side.
"Oh, you know…"
Lisanna and Yukino exchanged glances again, grinning in mischief as their friend's face began to flush. "So… I'm assuming it's true…"
"I have a boyfriend!"
"Sting is back!"
The girls shouted in unison, faces falling as they registered what the other said.
"What?"
"Wait, the mystery guy was real?"
"Did you say Sting…?"
"Lucy!" Lisanna and Yukino shouted together.
"Ahh!" Lucy crouched down with her hands over her head. How could no one tell her Sting was back?
As Lisanna and Yukino shouted questions over each other at their frenzied friend, the rattling sound of a skateboard approached. The boy riding turned the board sideways and scraped to a stop. Lisanna and Yukino stood dumbfounded as Lucy jumped up and dragged the pink-haired skater boy away, barely giving him time to retrieve his board, not giving her friends a chance to speak at all.
"Okay… what was that?"
Lucy pulled her boyfriend down the street, speedwalking so quickly Natsu had to jog to match her pace.
"Woah, slow down." Natsu pulled back. "What's up?"
"Everyone is so nosy…" Lucy grumbled, frowning. "I'm hungry. Let's go somewhere far from here," She glanced at the clock on her phone. "Like, as far as we can get without me missing curfew."
"So… Serena's?"
"How many strikes is that now?!"
"No way she's a rookie."
"Unfair!"
A small audience that had gathered around Natsu and Lucy's lane grew rowdier as Lucy hit her tenth strike of the night.
"Are you sure this is only your second time bowling?" Natsu asked. He had sat back with a bag of chips, watching his girlfriend fill the scoreboard for the both of them.
"I thought it'd be harder than this." Lucy sighed and went to sit with Natsu, the small crowd dispersing as she left. "Do you like ballet?"
"Ballet? Don't know much about it."
"Well, my company is putting on our fall performance, Giselle, this weekend. I'd love it if you could come. I'm playing Queen Myrtha." She snatched Natsu's Sprite and took a sip, ignoring the scolding voice of Madame Minerva in her head in favour of savouring the sweet drink.
"If you're in it, count me in!" Natsu leaned back before scrunching his face. "Wait. Do I have to wear a suit again?"
Lucy laughed. "No, no suits required. I would bring a jacket though; the theatre tends to get cold."
The weekend approached. Natsu had spent Friday evening working with Wendy to figure out what to bring to a ballet. He managed to swipe an appropriate clean shirt from someone's laundry, and an expensive looking cologne from Freed's bedside. But the one thing he couldn't find: flowers.
He and Wendy scoured the city in search of a flower shop only to be taken aback by the insane price. Returning to the Eastside, the two noticed most shops had plenty of flowers sitting outside. The shop owners weren't too happy about losing their expensive plants however, as the two were quickly removed from the strip.
But a few angry store owners and uptight cops weren't going to stop Natsu from bringing his girlfriend flowers, oh no. He had a plan. And a plan his two roommates were less than happy to join him in.
"Why do we need to steal flowers again?" Someone yawned from Natsu's right.
"Mind your business and keep your voice down. They're gonna hear us."
"Don't tell me you're still chasing the rich bitch." A scoff came from Natsu's left.
"Mind your business too, dickhead."
"Dude, this is getting desperate."
"Are you watching the security?"
"What? That's Gray's job!"
"I thought I was supposed to grab the flowers?" The sleepy voice returned.
"I'm getting the flowers!" Natsu growled.
"Hey! What are you three doing in the bushes?"
"SPLIT!"
Gray rolled to the left as Natsu and Gajeel ran to the right. The guard took off after the duo, ignoring Gray who had buried himself in a different set of bushes.
"Split, dumbass!" Natsu yelled.
"I always go left!"
"When it's your plan! It's mine today, you go straight!"
"Fuck off!"
Before Natsu could fire off another insult, he was tackled from the left. Gajeel skidded to a stop only to be shoved forward onto the ground by the guard that had been behind. The familiar clicking of handcuffs sounded, and Natsu realised he may not make it to Lucy's show that night.
"You two are being detained!"
"Fuck."
"Sign this. You're being trespassed. You are no longer allowed to step foot in the Square."
Natsu signed a fake name and flashed an innocent grin at the officer as he was led outside the police station. Gray waited impatiently besides Gajeel, who'd already signed his own trespass and was released.
"You're stupid." Gray said as Natsu approached.
"Didn't know flowers were impossible to get." Natsu grumbled.
"Here," Gray thrust a haphazardly tossed together bouquet of weeds towards his friend. "Pulled these while you two were acting like morons. You should probably tie those with something, kept falling out."
"Dude, you're a real one." Natsu grabbed the mess of wildflowers and patted Gray on the back in appreciation. "Next time we can leave Gajeel behind."
"Watch it."
"Alright guys, great talk, thanks for the bail-out, but I gotta go." Natsu took off towards the bus stop, throwing a salute and a sloppy grin towards his friends.
"Cannot believe that motherfucker has a girlfriend."
"Right?"
Natsu was slightly late. The fact that Magnolia security guards loved to fight him didn't help. The ticket Lucy had given him got a bit crumpled in his pocket after the events of the day, and for that reason the idiot security guard outside the theatre didn't want to let him in.
Lucky for Natsu, the guard was an idiot.
A single honk from some car in the parking lot and the man sprinted off with a pen and ticket book, demanding Natsu not go anywhere but leaving him alone with an unguarded door. Convenient.
He entered at a bad time, apparently. The loud creek of the giant door and the sudden beam of light caused most heads to turn in his direction. The live music being played was quiet, sad, and intense, and he put on a nervous apologetic grin as he slid into the nearest empty seat.
Lucy wasn't on stage from what he could see, but there was a curly-haired girl dancing wildly, and the surrounding people backed up when she got close. It was kinda funny, Natsu thought. But no one was laughing, and he felt if he did it wouldn't end well.
The dancer suddenly dropped to the floor and another one ran to her side, pretending to cry. The music ramped up as the background dancers began jumping around in a frenzy. Natsu found himself invested in the story when the two male dancers picked up swords and began to fight. The part ended and the curtains closed after the shorter one made a stabbing motion at the other. The curtains closed and the audience began to clap, so Natsu did too.
Then the lights came on. People began to get up, and Natsu turned around in confusion. Was that the end? Two characters did just die, it wouldn't be all that strange.
"Hey, is this over?" He asked the person a few seats down. If it was over, he had definitely missed Lucy's part. He felt bad thinking about it.
"No, it's intermission." The girl told him before pulling on a pair of headphones.
"Oh." Natsu didn't know what that meant, but he stayed in his seat. He shot Lucy a quick text, asking what intermission meant. No response, she was probably busy.
Eventually, people returned to their seats. After what felt like an hour, the lights dimmed again before going out fully and the curtains opened. The stage had completely changed. The bright town turned into a dark graveyard, and the dude he thought had died was dancing in it.
Thunder sound effects and flashes of light began as the man picked up speed leaping in circles around the stage. He ran off to the left and the music changed. Everything was still for a moment before someone emerged from behind a fake tree on the right. Natsu grinned.
A few claps were heard as Lucy stepped out in a long white gown and veil. She looked beautiful. She made quick steps to the centre of the stage on her tiptoes. Natsu had never seen someone stand on their toes like that, let alone be able to move. It looked painful, if anything.
"Go, Lucy!" Natsu shouted, only to be angrily shushed by the people around him. "Sorry…" He met eyes with Lucy after the shout, and she shot a quick smile before putting a serious expression back on.
She danced around the graves, staying on her pointed toes the entire time. Natsu couldn't take his eyes off her. She kicked, spun, and jumped in a long emotional solo, being met with vehement applause.
More dancers dressed in white joined Lucy on stage. She, along with the curly haired girl from earlier, performed a duet in the middle of the dancers.
The ballet ended in an intense moment between the dead girl and Lucy. Lucy was playing a villain, Natsu realised. She was forcing the main guy to dance until he collapsed on stage, and the main girl fought Lucy for his life. He was surprised he was able to understand parts of the story, despite there being no words or motions besides dance.
After the show, Natsu waited in the lobby. He left the seating area quickly as the walkways began to crowd with people looking for their ballerina.
Someone hugged him from behind. "You made it!"
"Sorry I was late."
"I didn't even notice. It's okay, Myrtha doesn't enter until the second act anyway." Lucy pulled back and moved to walk with her boyfriend. "So, what did you think?"
"That was actually pretty sick! When you did that high jump thing, I was like woah, then you did all those spins and I gotta know how you don't get dizzy."
Lucy laughed. "I used to get so nauseous, but nowadays I don't even realise I'm turning sometimes."
"Here, before I forget." Natsu handed over his budget bouquet when the two made it outside. The wildflowers didn't seem to hold up to well outside of the ground and had already begun to droop. But Lucy accepted them with open arms, a grin spreading across her face as she pulled him into a hug.
"They're beautiful. Thank you, Natsu."
Natsu returned the hug. "No problem.'
In the car ride home, Lucy clutched the bouquet like it meant the world to her.
"Weeds, Lady Lucy?" Capricorn started. The bouquet was just bunches of grass. He didn't understand why Lucy was so happy with such a meretricious gesture.
"Oh, hush." Lucy pouted, but her smile quickly returned. "This is the first time anyone's brought me flowers after a performance."
"Is it?" Capricorn thought back to past performances. It had been years since Jude and Layla Heartfilia had attended one of their daughter's ballets. Even back then, when she was just a little girl beginning to dance, he couldn't recall if they had ever brought her a gift or even words of encouragement. And as for his lady's previous relationship…
He glanced in the mirror to his charge in the backseat. She was playing with the shoelace that was used to hold the flowers together, Capricorn couldn't help but let out a snort.
"What's so funny up there?"
"Nothing, Lady Lucy. I think Mr. Dragneel is a wonderful young man."
Lucy beamed. "Isn't he?"
"You're showing me this why?" Jude glanced at a blurry picture of his daughter holding hands with an unfamiliar boy outside of his sister's Crocus home.
"Well, it's Lucy, sir. She seems to be seeing someone—"
"You interrupted my conference call for this?" Jude shoved the tablet off his desk. His shocked secretary scrambled to pick it up. "I told you never to interrupt me unless it urgent."
"In my defence, sir, this did seem urgent! The boy is from the Eastside."
Jude narrowed his eyes. Before he could chew out his incompetent employee, his phone rang. "Do not bother me with such trivial matters again. Leave, I have work to finish." He answered the call as his secretary hurried out.
"Weisslogia. To what do I owe the pleasure?"
A/N: the amount of ballet research ive done for this fic