Chapter Text
Paper Moon
Chapter Ten
Fairy Tail Guild
Magnolia
Fiore
After what felt like years, Laxus with an unreadable expression cleared his throat. "Whatever. I'm done." He turned and without a single glance to Lucy, left the guild.
"Laxus wait!" He couldn't just leave! Not like that, what did he mean by 'whatever'? Why did he leave without sparing her a glance. Had she done something wrong? She called out to him twice more and nearly cried when he kept going with no sign he had heard her.
And she could do little more than stare at the doors as they closed.
Lucy felt the eyes of the entire guild on her, they had been witness to her humiliation. The guild doors slammed open almost as soon as they shut, Lucy's eyes widened and she didn't dare hope, had Laxus come back after all? Had he listened to her pleas? She clenched her fists by her side and tried not to hold her breath.
Instead, a very familiar and very terrifying voice commanded the room. Perhaps it would be better to hold her breath after all.
"Where's Natsu and what did he do? I just passed Laxus on the way in and he certainly didn't look very pleased. In fact, I thought I was going to be electrified." Lucy tried to not let her shoulders slump. No Laxus, but she was just as equally as terrifying as him, maybe more. Erza Scarlet stood imposingly at the front door, pushed her bangs out of her face and scanned the room, no doubt on the hunt for a certain fire dragon slayer.
"Natsu isn't here." Lucy murmured quietly. Everyone else just watched in terror, a pissed off Laxus was horrifying but an angry Erza? That was worse than death. Erza turned to look at her, but before she could say anything, she was roughly pushed past by a flurry of green. Her smaller body stumbled into a table, her eyes wide in surprise.
"Laxus, I can explain, wait for me!" Freed's stool was left spinning on how fast he had moved, the whole guild waited with baited breath to see what the fearsome Titania would do in response to such disrespect. They all watched as the guild doors were left swinging. Lucy was sure that those doors would fall apart if anymore abrupt slamming occurred.
It was a great surprise when Erza merely shrugged and sat down at their usual table. "No matter, I brought presents!" She pulled out a giant burlap bag and dumped its contents onto the table. Out poured piles of candy, bags of popcorn, along with some stuffed animals. "Come, sit Lucy, I brought enough to share!" She didn't even notice the whiteboard describing all the planning and she certainly didn't notice the tension in the air. Typical Erza. Oblivious to the world. In spite of herself, Lucy cracked a small smile. It was hard not be to happy when the Requip mage was in such a good mood.
Regardless of that, Lucy had no plans to stay. She needed to leave as quickly as possible. "Actually, I'm just going to head out. I just came back from that job and I need a nice, long bath." Lucy tried to put as much cheer into her voice and expression as possible. Erza was innocent in all this after all. However, the scary glint in the redhead's eyes was enough to change her mind. "On second thought, I guess I could stay for a bit longer." She quietly muttered reluctantly.
A wide grin cracked Erza's face. "Excellent! Gray you must join us too!" It was glaringly obvious that was the last thing he wanted to do. Gray leaned against the wall and shook his head.
"It's alright, I already ate and I'm-"
"Gray. Sit." There was no room to question the almighty queen of the fairies. So Gray set his jaw and sat down across from Lucy, avoiding her accusing stare. Erza beamed and pushed a green piece of candy towards him. "You must try these green candies, they're simply exquisite."
With all the awkwardness in Earthland, Gray slowly grabbed the offered piece. "Um, sure. Where did you get all this candy?"
"I'm glad you asked. But you should eat that candy, it'll change your life." Gray smiled wanly and followed the obvious demand. Pleased, Erza continued, "Remember that job I just took?" They both nodded. "Well it was at a resort and it had an amusement park. Guess who I ran into there?" Her cheeks were as warm as her hair. There was no doubt in Lucy's mind on just who the mystery person was.
Lucy humored her. "Who?" There was a stifled cough, her eyes moved to the noise. She curiously stared at Gray, whose face was contorted in what seemed to be pain. He shook his head at her concerned face. Plan or not, he was still her nakama. Even if he was a dirty traitor.
"Jellal! It was a complete shock to see him there, but worry not, I had an incredible time. He won this for me!" Erza rummaged through one of her suitcases and pulled out a massive stuffed Mato. "Beautiful isn't he?"
"Uh-sure…" Lucy politely took a candy the redhead offered her; like Gray, she also unwrapped the candy at Erza's demand. As soon as she put the candy in her mouth, she regretted it. Her mouth was on fire, coating her throat in flames. Just what was Erza thinking? Is she trying to kill us? Lucy nodded along until she was sure Erza was no longer paying attention and spat the candy into a napkin.
Her eyes caught Gray's and he offered her a smile, knowing what the candy had done. He shrugged his shoulders as if to say 'what can you do.' Lucy stared for a moment before sending him a small smile of her own. She couldn't stay mad at her saltmate after all. Who else would be petty with her?
"Then we played some games and ate cotton candy and rode a roller coaster. The strange part was that there was no job to do. When I arrived, the woman at the front desk told me there was no request for Fairy Tail to do any security job. It was most bizarre." Erza held her chin pensively and looked around the room before her eyes landed on the board Mira was trying to wheel away. "What is that?"
Mira froze in her tracks and turned around, smiling hesitantly. "What's what Erza?" She stood in front of the board, attempting to obscure the content. Erza abruptly stood and placed her hands on her hips.
"Don't take me for a fool. What's on that board that you're so obviously trying to hide?" Lucy took that as her opportunity to slip away. She was not about to be in the same area as Erza when she went on a rampage. Not wanting to head home empty handed, she shoved a handful of treats in her luggage and made her grand escape.
She stepped out the doors and let out a huge sigh as the cool air brushed her face. Lucy made her way towards her house, and bit her wobbling lip. There was no way she was going to cry. There was nothing to be upset about. Absolutely nothing. I wonder where Laxus went, I wonder what he's thinking. Is he as sad as me? Probably not. Ugh, what a mess. At the same time, she worried for her fiery best friend, no doubt he wasn't having a good time. So lost in her thoughts, Lucy was nearly halfway home before she noticed a blur of pink and blue tackle her and knock her to the ground.
"Lucy!" She groaned and looked up at his smiling face.
"Hey Natsu, when did you get here?" According to Gray, the poor guy had been stuck on a train that was on a never-ending loop. Happy hugged himself to Lucy-it mostly likely had been the exceed that had flown Natsu off the train.
"Just now, you'll never believe what happened last night! I'm so glad you're okay!" Happy exclaimed.
"When I get my hands on that frozen stripper, he'll regret leaving me on that train." Even now, Natsu's face was tinted green.
"Sounds like you had a rough night, do you wanna come with me to my house? I can make us dinner." Maybe it would be a good idea to not be alone and Natsu was the most understanding person she knew. If there was anyone she could talk to, it was him.
"Tasty fishies..." Happy mumbled, drool dripping as he trailed behind them.
"You don't have to ask me twice, let's go!" Lucy smiled softly at being tugged by the other boy, it was obvious why Natsu was her best friend, the dragonslayer emanated blissful cheer.
Lucy's Apartment
Magnolia
Soon, Lucy was seasoning the fish before placing it in the warm oven. Natsu was in front of her coffee table, he had already set it for dinner and had tea ready. It was nice that after all these years, their routine was established and they didn't trail from it often. Natsu was a disaster in the kitchen. The guy could cook, but the mess wasn't worth it. So Lucy cooked. She wiped her hands and flopped rather dramatically on her couch and let out a long-suffering sigh. The last couple of days had been such a emotional roller coaster that she was utterly exhausted-as if her strength had been sapped from her. It was tough to imagine all the trouble her guild mates went through just to change her single status. It would have been more appreciated if they had done nothing, but she couldn't change that now. She let out another puff of air and pulled her arms over her head to stretch; she could really use a massage to help her aching back. Sometimes, big breasts were really such an inconvenience.
"Hey Lucy, you okay?" The question nearly caught her off guard. She eyed Natsu and was surprised and then warmed at the concern in his eyes. I didn't think he would notice anything. He is Natsu after all.
"Not really." Lucy brought her teacup to her lips, not bothering to elaborate.
She took another deep sip before she cleared her throat. "It's about Laxus." Natsu nodded at her and with a sudden burst of confidence, she blurted out, "I'm half in love with Laxus butheisn'tandthewholeguildwasinonaplantogetustogether the WHOLE job we went on was fake a-and he didn't look back."
Natsu had to understand her somehow. He had to understand her, if he didn't of all people, she really was gonna lose it. Lucy dared herself to look at him and was surprised when he merely hugged her tightly. "Erza told me a real quick rundown when I entered the guild. I ran out to find you, cause after all, this was more directed at you. I knew you must be hurting and wanting to talk."
Lucy let out a sharp bark of laughter, "Natsu, when did you become so mature?" He smiled at her. "I just don't know what to do." She wrung her hands nervously. "I really, really like Laxus."
"So what else is there to do? Tell him how you feel, duh." Excuse me? Did he hear me the first time? I swear, my best friend is an idiot. Why is he even my friend, all he does is eat my food and destroy my house! Does he really think that didn't already happen, never mind that it was disastrous? Lucy just massaged her eyebrow impatiently. Why did she think this idiot would understand?
"Nat-"
"Hear me out. Actually tell him how you feel. Laxus doesn't really like stuff that takes away his control; he's a weirdo like that. He was prob'ly just surprised, so next time you see him, just tell him in person, one-on-one. I'm positive he likes you back."
"Natsu what kind of crackpot, half-witted, idio-" Wait- it kind of made sense? This time the whole guild had interfered, it could have easily freaked out Laxus, he was somewhat of a control-freak. But all the other times, like the snow day, the little smiles he sent her way, the hotel room, and all those almost-kisses. There just had to be something there. New hope was brimming in her chest, maybe by telling him herself, it would be different. It was worth a shot, Lucy already felt total humiliation, adding to it wouldn't make it worse. "I think you're right Natsu, next time I see Laxus, I'll make sure to talk to him." The timer went off, alerting Lucy to the meal. She rose from her seat and quickly pulled out dinner and set it out on the table. She would worry about Laxus later, when the moment came to speak to him. Right now, she wanted to talk to her best friend.
Fairy Tail Guild
Magnolia
Makarov Dreyar, third master-wait- was it sixth? Eighth master? He himself always lost count of what master of Fairy Tail he was. Not that it mattered because right then, he was in a world of despair and pain. His eyes swept his beloved guild and glanced over each and every one of his children. He took a deep breath and out of a despairing wail.
It was in ruins!
Tables were flipped, the chairs were splintered, and the wonderful, magnificent, bar! It was in piles of rubble. That alone would cost him a fortune in repairs. Not to mention the hefty bill Porlyusica would undoubtedly send him. Half the guild members were tossed around as if they were dolls. Groans of pain and soreness rang through the air.
And the reason for this unprecedented, staggering defeat?
It was none other than Titania herself, Erza Scarlet. Another chair flew past him, missing his right ear by mere centimeters. Perhaps it was best to retreat and regroup for now.
"Don't shy from your punishment you foul deceivers! If I find out that our sweet Lucy's virtue was defiled, I will strike you down and make you rue the day you crossed me!" Erza could be heard screeching menacingly at the completely puzzled and weepy Nab.
Yes, it would be best to stay out of her eyesight. Makarov decided before ducking under a flipped table near him. He knew everything would work out in the end, his children were very resilient. All they needed was for Laxus to get his head out of his ass and realize the happiness that was awaiting him from Lucy.
As he crouched, he noticed the bottle of wine that remained untouched. Sure, Erza was rampaging, but there was no reason not to get a little drunk.
.