Lucy and I walk into the guild together after a little while longer of sitting in the sun.
She follows me in and I make my way straight to Happy with slight annoyance at how he didn't bother to check on me at all.
"Thanks for the help earlier, Happy."
He smiles smugly.
"I thought that Mira's idea to have Lucy go after you was better. After seeing you get all choked up like that I figured a surprise from her would...help you."
He ends his thoughts with an innocent smile and I roll my eyes.
"Right."
Happy flies right past me and goes up to Lucy.
"I'm Happy."
She eyes him curiously for a moment, her eyes casting a short glance to his wings. I forgot she had never seen an exceed before. She hadn't seen a lot of things before Fairy Tail.
"I'm...Lucy."
I walk up from behind Happy and bump into him. I ignore his annoyed glare.
"Happy's a flying cat."
She nods her head slowly.
"Yeah.'
I shrug my shoulders.
"It's more normal than you think."
She nods her head again and hums in response.
"Mmhhm."
Happy drops onto a table beside us, his wings disappearing.
"So, Lucy, are you moving into Fairy Hills?"
The slightly curious and slightly confused look on her face falls away.
"I'm not sure. Mira was telling me about it but I don't think it's in my price range. I was thinking of looking for a cheap apartment or something."
"Well, then where are you staying for tonight?"
She glances at the clock on the wall that reads a little before eight. Her face falls and she shrugs.
"I'll probably just stay at an inn."
Is that where she stayed back then? I can't remember...or maybe I never knew in the first place...
"You can stay with us."
Her gaze rises abruptly at my words, surprise on her face and Happy does the same.
"It's just Happy and I and there's enough room. There's a hammock tied up that you can sleep on..or you can sleep on the bed but it's less a bed and more just a pile of blankets.."
I rant on nervously and then slowly look up at her.
"It's a little messy but it's free?"
She raises an eyebrow suspiciously at me.
"You're not going to do anything weird are you?"
My nervousness fades and I smile internally.
Like I'd dare do anything to you. You'd kick me right in the face if I did.
"Weird how?"
She squints at me and I smile naively. She's eyes me closely for a few more seconds and then relents.
"Okay."
Happy smiles brightly bumps into me.
"Yay! A sleepover!"
-
-
-
"This place isn't just messy...it's completely trashed!"
Lucy stands at the doorway amazed...and not in the good way. Happy flies right in laughing and plops down onto one of the few pieces of furniture.
I step carefully omg the house, walking on the path of clear floor.
It may seem dirty to her, but to me it's more empty than I remember. I walk to one of the walls and look up at the fliers that are pinned onto it in a random manner.
My hands grazes the empty spot where the Salamander sign should be and I gaze sadly at all of the other empty spots that should be filled with countless jobs from all of our time together.
I close my eyes and sigh before dropping my hand to my side and looking towards Lucy.
"The hammock's over in the corner. You can sleep there."
She nods her head .
"Yeah, thanks."
Happy flies into the room and drops into his bed, sending me a mischievous smile my way.
"Goodnight, Lucy...make sure to watch out for rats!"
My eyes widen.
What?
Lucy squeals and jumps backwards a step.
"What?!"
I glare at Happy and he just chuckles and leans back into his bed, leaving me to clean up the mess he just started.
I groan and slide my hands down my face before looking to Lucy whose face has gone pale.
"There aren't any rats, I swear...the only things living here are Happy and I."
She gulps and takes a slow step into the room before giving in completely and begrudgingly walking over to the hammock.
She throws her small bag onto it.
"You better not be lying to me."
"I wouldn't dare."
She pauses her movements and looks slightly behind her to gaze at me before climbing into the hammock without saying a word.
I bring my hand up and rub the back of my neck.
"Goodnight?"
She mumbles out a goodnight and I smile sheepishly before plopping into my bed. It groans under my weight and I wriggle around to get comfortable.
The fear of what will happen when I fall asleep reappears at the front of my mind after I realize the day has been wasted and I lost myself to the joy of being around her.
I wriggle around in the bed for hours, before sleep forces itself upon me and my conscious goes to rest.
-
-
-
"Natsu, look out!"
Huh?
No!
My eyes widen as I look at my surroundings.
Not again...
Where is she?!
"Natsu!"
Something hits my side and my body lurches. I look to the source and my eyes widen in fear.
Lucy is leaned towards me, her arms out in front of her from pushing me away. Time slows as a small red beam shoots towards her and through her side, blood spraying as it cuts through flesh.
My heart drops.
"No..."
Times goes back to normal and I fall into the ground, skin scraping off of my arm and my cheek as I slide against the uneven ground.
Dust rises around me, dirt going into the cuts and scrapes on my skin.
I lift my head up and my stomach drops.
Lucy holds her side and staggers on her feet before she starts to fall forwards slowly, the pained look on her face wiping away into a passive one, all emotion fading away as her heart stops. Her hair flies behind her and she hits the ground face first with a soft thump, her body completely limp.
No...
Tremors course through my body.
I knew...deep down I knew...but...
I shouldn't have stopped. I lost focus of my goal and ended up losing the thing that my goal is aimed towards in the first place.
I just enjoyed having her there...
My hand trembles as I reach out towards her.
I shouldn't have...I should have done what I was supposed to.
She can't go to Fairy Tail.
With a single blink of the eyes the scenery around me changes and the sound of a horn blares through my head.
————
Rushed this out real quick cuz it's been awhile.
In the next few chapters the story will change a bit and start to branch out from the repetitiveness of the past sets of Natsu's attempts.
His next attempt is also my favorite...and it will be the longest✌🏼