Coming home

Chapter 2 lucy and the meeting

The guild door opened inward as mira walked in, smiling at everyone. Lucy sat down at a table as she waved hello silently towards the former s-class mage. She couldn't say the rest for everyone else though. They laughed and cheered together for her return, even though she had only been gone a 15 minutes. She smiled at them cheekily which lucy knew was fake. She had been more observant of her guild mates after fairy tail disbanded and natsu left. Lucy clenched the mug she was holding at that, cracking it in half. The content inside of it poured out onto the wooden table, soiling it from use. She was too busy in thought though to notice it.
Natsu Dragneel, her partner and best friend had decidedly left on his own with their other partner happy to go train for a year only to leave her a handwritten note -with very unreadable handwriting might she add- telling her to take care of the guild while he was gone and that he'd be gone for a year with happy. That had left her in tears. Something had changed though within the mage during that past year and a half that had made herself a tough shell to crack. One incident in particular that ripped her bubbly and happy self from her, leaving her with something that ached on her whole entire backside. It was deep and red and reminded her why she loathed natsu so much now. "everyone, look who i brought back!" They all strained their necks to see who was behind her, lucy included, and their eyes widened in surprise. Behind the demon stood natsu dragneel himself, changed only by time. Otherwise he seemed to be the same old natsu, grinning like a fool. Lucy's guild mates started to whimper as tears comically poured streams out of their eyes before tackling him into a large group hug. He could just barely stand as their weight was only a little overbearing. He ruffled the people on the inner side of the circle as he smiled at all of them. Lucy though had not joined those fools in welcoming their dragon slayer home as she huffed in annoyance, got up from her table, and moved to the farthest one by the other side of the guild. Speak of the devil and he shall appear, thats how the saying went. Why did he have to come back? She was having such a great life without him, actually starting to forgive him for what he did first by leaving without personally saying goodbye and second for staying another half year. Now though all those forgiving thoughts were forgotten in the cloud of anger in her brain. "lucy!" Lucy ignored the dragon slayer as he rushed to run over to her, breaking apart the group hug a lot earlier than she thought he would've. Before he could get any closer to her, Lucy swiftly ran over to Natsu. She quickly pulled back her right arm and punched him right in his muscled abs, caving in along with his bandages at almost an instant. She kind of felt bad for punching him where he was already hurt, but most of her was filled with quiet rage at him. She pulled back her arm again and aimed just a little higher but instead of her hand turning into a fist, she held her index and middle finger together and lightly touched his weak spot, left side of his neck. This would disable him for only a 30 seconds, just enough time for her to make her escape. She could've done longer but the rest of them were hidden by his clothing. As he doubled over in pain she tumbled into the air, landing on her feet now a better distance away from the pink haired boy. She put a hand on her waist, only covered by white bandages of her own. You have somewhat good reflexes natsu, but you still couldn't see me while I attacked you. You have a lot to learn still even though you were out for a year and a half" Lucy said, speaking a tone that was invented just for this exact moment, when she realized he didnt even get enough strength to see her. Pathetic. It was somewhat of a tone like a parent or teacher talking to a child who still has more to learn. It was also lightly dripped with hatred as she spoke each word. As she finished up her lesson, she turned around and started to walk out to the other exit behind her right by the new bar. She could feel the sunlight pouring in front the wooden glass doors, but that heat suddenly increased as an even larger heat source stopped right in front of her, causing her to stop. She looked up with her head tilted back to almost the maximum as brown eyes met onyx ones, his arms crossed over each other.How she wished now she had grown taller so she could still look like a powerful foe. She now noticed the clothes he wore. How he had changed, she had no idea but she had a clue it went deeper than anything physically. His face showed rage, but lucy could see for a fleeting second a flutter of another emotion, concern. She ignored it though, telling herself it was imagination that had placed that feeling on his face. She pushed of the waves of heat coming from natsu, quickly rolled her eyes and squeezed through the small space between the right side of natsu and a nearby table. Just as she thought she was free, he grabbed her wrist now surprising her even more than before and make a tiny bit of heat come to her cheeks but not enough to be visibly shown. She had just opened the door, her hand still on the glimmering door handle, letting in a large blow of wind."don't....go" natsu said, still out of breath from that last attack but still somehow had strength and lots of it. Lucy's and natsu's capes blew around somewhat violently in the wind. She looked back at him now with a tired look. He was such a handful, did she really have to use that technique? Lucy tried untangle her wrist from the pink haired boys grasp but his large hand held tight against her own. She tried to punch it free but it was useless, the only technique that didn't hurt him as much and involve the thing under her belt was speed and she couldn't use that now. Lucy sighed as she pulled her hidden katana in her loose trousers from its leather case that was shielding her true power from even the best power sensors. Natsu's eyes almost bulged out of his head as he looked at the weapon. It seemed like a normal sword, but Lucy knew that it was much more than that. Its hilt was a bright red, curling around the swords wooden base until it split into two like a normal sword holder. Then though thing got strange. It was almost a pure white light, but black flickered around the edges. Natsu seemed confused by this as his brows furrowed in thought at the distinguished sword. Something was wrong here, his thoughts bounced off the sword and into Lucy's ears. Lucy smirked at this. No ,she thought, nothing's wrong here. You just have an opponent who is stronger than you are. She put the blade close to her face, merely centimeters from her nose. " I call upon the power onced use for evil. The demon angel! Combine your powers with my worthy self!" She shouted the last part, a bright light outlining her person. Natsu kept a good grip on her wrist. He wasn't going to let go, she could tell. This was the only way for him to let go she reassured. He won't die, I promise myself this. She smiled, to think of using this on such a stupid wrist grab, but I know he has lots of brute strength and he'll try to hold onto one of his lost friends as long as he can. The white flash made natsu lose consciousness, as he fell to the ground in a almost dead heap. She sighed in relief as his small breaths sounded throughout the small guild, echoing as no other sound sounded. They all stood there, frozen in place and bewildered. What had just happened? Well they knew what, lucy has used somewhat of her strongest attack against natsu, one that could kill an average person. Natsu of course though is not an average person so he survived, barely. This had been the first time lucy had ever shown her power. She rarely ever talked about her growing power, let alone talk at all anymore, but when she did she described it like no other. It left some in awe and strive to be like her. Some were also not convinced of her strength. They said she was only making up lies, telling stories for entertainment. Now they were the ones making up manipulated words. Lucy turned away from natsu to the door. "Well, carry on with your good lives guild mates." She said as she sheathed her sword once again and walked out of the silent guild. "Wait Lucy...!" Mira broke the silence by trying to stop Lucy from going. To tell her about this power. Lucy was very vague in her description and Mira wanted to know more. Also the fact that she left natsu on the floor. She knew Lucy cared about the fire Mage, but in what way was a different question. Mira had out stretched a hand for Lucy to figuratively grab but it was not clasped. Mira lowered her hand and wore a frown on her beautiful face. "Dont worry mira, im sure she'll be back tomorrow. She has no where else to go." "yeah, blondie will be back tomorrow." guild members reassured mira one after another, but more like insulting the very strong but cold blonde mage. The last voice though surprised her. She turned around to find gajeel redfox, still wearing his earrings and his eyes crimson red as ever. "gajeel!" mira exclaimed as the rest of the newly formed team came up behind him. Levy at his right side, juvia at his left and wendy behind gajeel who could now just barely see over his shoulder after growing some. They all were somewhat different. Instead of wearing his regular sleeveless black outfit, gajeel sported a white t-shirt and jeans, almost like he was a normal citizen who didn't have metal dragon powers. His hair had become shorter, turning into a small spikey wave of black hair.Levy had turned exactly the opposite, clothed in a brown tank top and tan sorts like her counterpart in edolas levy. She wore a pair of her read fast reading glasses and she still wore an orange headband. Her blue hair was still pulled back in a loose form and the length of her hair had not changed. Juvia still was clothed in warm woolen dress with an outlined fur hat. Her water blue hair flowed right down to her chest just the way it always had. Wendy's navy blue hair was put into a braid. She wore a tan dress to her longer legs knees that was rimmed with brown fur with three brown buttons in the center. It was also sleeveless which people complained looked bad on her but she didn't care. Carla hadn't changed her style whatsoever. "you guys are back from your mission! How was it?" asked the white haired mage excitedly. They looked to each other with grins on their faces and said in unison "it went great!". Mira clapped her hands together, her mood changing once again. "oh thats wonderful! Drinks are on the house tonight for team element!" She shouted into the air raising her head to the high semicircle of a ceiling. The group cheered in joy as they followed mira to the bar. A thought though zipped by mira's mind as she realized natsu was still unconscious on the floor. She stopped in her tracks, making the team of 5 bump into each other one after another. Mira turned around, a smile on her face with a sweet melody of a voice said " would you help me with something gajeel? Before i give you guys your well deserved drinks?" Gajeel nodded gruffly as he followed mira to the front doors that lead to the world the rest of the group in pursuit. Juvia, Levy, and Wendy gasped at the sight in front of them. An unconscious older, taller, and more stylish natsu lay on the floor dirt covering his face now as he sunk lower into the dirt as he dreamed peacefully, thinking the dirt was something more perverted than reality." natsu-san! is he alright?" the girl exclaimed at several times. Gajeel only formed a tick mark on his forehead, shaking his head back and forth in disapproval of the reckless fellow dragon slayer. he could be a little crazy himself but not as wild as this pink haired freak. Coming back to the guild and already having his ass beat? Unbelieveable. He concluded by the signature purple bruise on his gut in the shape of a small calloused hand that this was lucy's doing. Sheesh, how hard could that lady punch? Telling by how light in color it was she wasn't using all her strength. That was the only mark left on him and yet he was fast in sleep, dreaming vividly of things their eyes couldn't see. Mira carried him by putting her arms under his armpits as she worked her way around the huge cloak, revealing even more injuries than before while gajeel wrapped his arms around natsu's knees. Together they could just barely carry him to the infirmary in the left corner of the hall. They small room was lined with four identical white beds on each side, every other one having a medium sized reading table with a small lamp morphed into the wall above it. It was impossibly hard to get those electrical cord to run through the dirt and yet they did it. They gently lifted him down to the nearest empty bed which was near the door. They tried to lay him gently as not to disturb him but he was so heavy his weight made their arms almost collapsed under him. After successfully putting him down they walked out of the hole to the room and went to the bar. Mira had decided to let him rest for awhile as his injuries did not look very critical. After Mira had poured three mugs of beer and two small cups of hot tea for the team, Team element wanted answers and right now would be the perfect time for them. They all sent their best glares to tell mira that they knew something was up as she wiped down dirty dishes and cups. Wendy though couldn't make a very good, harden glare so she sent a looking of pleading to the demon instead. Mira saw and felt all of the teams expression of emotions as her back was turned to them. She knew exactly what they were about. She turned around to look at them, and as she saw wendy's cute try at pleading she couldn't resist. She sighed as she leaned herself against the back of the wooden counter, her legs touching the small round metal handles, courtesy of levy, ready to open cupboards stocked with guild supplies. She put her elbows onto the table keeping her head straight but her voice a little unclear as she began to speak about what had happened. She tried her best to stay quiet so the rest of the guild wouldn't join in on the conversation and make their own remarks of the toughened blonde mage. She didn't even have to speak quietly though as the guild got more rowdier by the second. As mira spoke the last of her words she saw their eyes were widened to the full extent and their jaws dropped to the maximum. Had it really surprised them? Even Gajeel? She had told them of natsu's coming back, lucy giving him a pretty hard punch to his abdomen, and the attack that resulted in natsu being knocked unconscious even more than before he had been hit with the blade. MIra also included some other information the team had not heard but that wasn't important here.What was so surprisingly important was lucy's katana. They had never seen her use a weapon, let alone carry one on her person. Mira explained that it was a hidden sword in her always loose trousers. The thought clicked into their heads like finishing a puzzle. No wonder she never wore tight pants or shorts anymore! "I'm worried about Lucy though. She seems to really want to be away from natsu now but he's probably going to try to be with her as much as he can. Plus Lucy gets her food from here but natsu will know that and be here too so she'll stop coming to the guild altogether if only to grab missions and sneak out quickly. She will become her old self once again." The group nodded at that. It had taken them so long for lucy to stop hiding from everyone that they didn't want her resorting to that old habit again. After natsu had left, the new guild had been built and Fairy Tail's crumbled guild hall from tartaros had been cleared away for a perfect view. Lucy had been still heartbroken over natsu's departure but she was slowly recovering and fulfilling the need of the guild to be comforted. These were the good times, before Lucy had suddenly gone insane. They didn't even know what it was. One day though lucy left on a very tough mission to defeat a dark guild without any help whatsoever. When she came back the guild was so happy, before horror took over their faces. She was cut 2 inches deep in some places and others she was lucky enough to get half an inch, but wherever you looked on her she had deep long lines of missing skin and muscle. she was still bleeding heavy amounts of blood, some of it dripping to the dirt floor of the guild. They quickly took her to the infirmary where they had porlyusica look at her wounds. Even she was wide eyed at the girl. How could she barely be alive? Judging by the injuries she should've been dead the moment someone gave them to her. Her back was unmarked though along with her wrists so it seemed as if thats how she made it. They were only told that though so they couldn't believe for themselves that was the case here. After that day lucy began only coming in for missions and speeding out once again. When the guild members tried to talk to her besides mira, she fled to her new home up where no one could reach her, in natsu's house. Sure it was of the person she was beginning to dislike but he wasn't there at the moment so she decided to make it her own for the time being. She scrubbed the floor clean of any dirt and polished it with the best gloss she could find in the stores she looked through. She didn't move in any of her own furniture so she slept in natsu's hammock, still smelling of him with that signature coal and fire scent of his. The reason she didn't use any of her furniture was unknown. Soon lucy was kicked out of her apartment for not being able to pay the rent for several months, leaving her with all her furniture which had turned foreign over natsu's own. So she turned them into other things, like stools to get to the higher places of his somewhat large house. One time, she had found a secret room where she had the feeling she wasn't supposed to be in there. They knew all of this because mira being the curious 20 something year old she began to snoop of where lucy had been staying. She quietly screamed in excitement at this update when she found out because she personally wanted natsu and lucy to be together so hard that when anything came upon their relationship she was all for them to have one! Any other activities of lucys doing were a blank as mira had to go home at some point or she'd fall asleep right there risking the chance of lucy catching her. Lucy could've moved back into her old apartment with all the money she had gathered from her easy missions, but oddly enough she stayed in natsu's house. Mira was confused by this until she had seen lucy walk up to the most expense but best trainer in all of fiore who just happens to live in magnolia and asked him to train her. He smirked at her reward money as he blew her off, telling her she didn't know what she was getting into. Lucy didn't take that as an acceptable answer though. No, she shouted at him as he walked away that she didn't care if she didn't know of anything of what he was like. She just wanted to get stronger, that was all she asked. Suddenly he had made a deal with her that he'd be her teacher and they walked off together to who knows where. Mira couldn't follow them anymore as he had supervisors watching every speck of dust that flittered in the air to be sure he was not attacked. The guy was pretty famous after all. It was all a big mystery to how lucy's training went until she got back. She had shown then on an eighth of her strength, mira believes that she's never even used her full power on anyone, not even when she blew natsu unconscious. That was probably a fourth. as the mage talked with her friends about their blonde friend, she came walking right through the door. She now wore a very oversized work coat as a pair of sagging jeans with small holes in them and dirty from who knows what. Under the open coat she only had her bandages on as she didn't want to tug on the wound anymore than it already was. It was from a fight about a week ago and for one moment she let her guard down and the kid gave her a nice large cut across her torso. Her hair was in a high pony tail, her hair naturally curling outward. A stick of some sort of wood was jutted out of her mouth as well. Her friends knew very well that this was the way she shopped. She looked for old worn out things that needed some work and patched them up. They were also very baggy. Everyone now knew why lucy had oversized pants but the shirts were still unexplained. "lucy!" mira called over to her as she walked around the large platform. Lucy looked to where the voice was coming from to find mira as she came up in front of her for what she assumed were questions. "it's good you're back, team element just got back!" Lucy confused and shocked by this statement didn't even look to the side of her as mira gestured to the people sitting on the tall stools at the counter. "oh,cool" was all lucy could say as her stick now bobbed up and down as she opened and closed her mouth. "so, what's that stick you've got in your mouth?" Mira asked making small talk pointing with her index finger at the carved object. " It's the bark of a sequoia tree. Its infused with stress relieving toxins and when put together with sap or syrup it relaxes you even more. Master gave it to me." She explained simply as she pulled it from her mouth to show what it was. It truly was a piece of bark, but it was beautifully carved. Long and small hand stokes formed what looked like curly bounds of hair and then a face which looked surprisingly like the person standing in front of mira. Lucy looked to mira with a plain expression as she waited for mira to start asking questions. she always had to have answers about topics that peaked her interest and now was the perfect time to ask as she was sort of backed into a corner. She had to go talk to natsu, hopefully unconscious, about a matter that has itched and bugged at her mind for some while now. "You left the guild so early that i was wondering if you'd come back but i wonder what you came for since you haven't left any of your stuff here and you don't need a drink since you had one right before you had that outburst. Also what was that power? Thats something to discuss as we-" mira was stopped from rambling on as her list of questions demanded to be answered grew in size by the hand of lucy heartfilia on her left shoulder. Her heart sunk as fear and what awaited her from the ticking time bomb was unknown. Lucy looked down, her eyes shaded by her large bangs as she spoke softly but crisp. "im here to see natsu. We can talk later if you want to drop by my house if you have any further questions. Now i shall take my leave." and with that lucy walked off to the rooms hallway which led to several other places than the infirmary. As lucy was out of earshot, Mira squealed in delight as she rushed back to her place behind the bar where she excitedly cleaned dishes more thoroughly. The group of mages sitting in front of her raised their eyebrows at the suddenly very chipper woman. "she's here to see natsu!" mira squealed in simple reply to their odd looks. suddenly they understood why mira was acting so strange and continued to talk amongst themselves about their next mission which would be in a few days. The reason they didn't just take another mission right now was because they wanted to see their fellow guild members and friends who were all out on missions. They would all be coming back soon for the holidays as the days grew nearer to a christian holiday they had just learned about called christmas. The wind outside had already begun to blow anyone without a coat on into fits of shivers. Fireplaces and heating systems were beginning to be turned on more frequently than in the summer and light covers on the bed to three layers of heavy wool ones. This was the change from summer to fall to winter. Some places could enjoy still being in good weather, but magnolia was unfortunate enough to not be one of those places. Perhaps though they were fortunate. Some people love the snow and cold winds that gives them excuse to cuddle up against people they love. The holiday itself was about god's son jesus's birth. They also learned that on that day you give and receive presents from other people. So this year they would celebrate it with all their might, now that natsu had gotten back and everyone was making an effort to come home for the special holiday. Lucy came back out into the guild hall, tears forming at the tips of her eyes as she made her way out the door quietly sniffling as she did so. Mira watched all of this with concern for the powerful mage. She might've had a cold exterior when it came to the pink haired dragon slayer, but any cold being can be melted by a heart of fire. Mira clenched her fist as she became more determined to help her blonde friend. She wasn't going to be the best thing for her well being but she would at least try to be second best. She would take lucy up on her offer and climb up to where she lived. Natsu's house was already a pretty steep climb but lucy's was 5 times that crazy walk. She lived on the very outer rim of magnolia where no one else lived except for a few wild animals. After climbing for half an hour she reached the top where her house sat. It was a simple house made of wood for everything. Inside though, it was much more complicated. As you entered, it was a very open space. Stairs in the left corner next to you led up to the second floor where her large bedroom was. Next to that was a step down living room with a couch with three sides and a coffee table in the middle of it. In front of it was a large cabinet storage that held a lacrima for t.v. Straight in the middle was a large sliding door to go outside where a beautiful view of a cliffside magnolia lay. In the right corner was a kitchen with a large marble countertop with all the necessities for cooking. Next to it was a large dinner table. It was made out of dark oak wood carved with little trinket into it. Some people wondered why she would have such a big table when anyone rarely ever came to visit her. She didn't tell why but mira knew exactly the reason. Lucy had told her once and only once.' the irony that I am alone and never have any guests. that is why my table is stupidly big.' she said. In the middle of the room was a large wooden platform. The rest of her house was carpeted by trimmed off white that was very plush. She said she used this platform to sort out battles or just to dance on. She used it more for battles though she said. That gave mira the chills. Just how often did lucy fight with people? Mira knocked on the white door as she waited patiently outside for lucy to come to it. It opened almost immediately as lucy looked upon her friend with a stare as if she knew she would come. Which would be half right. Lucy had become very attentive to the world around her in the past year so she could sense when someone was going to do something and how they were going to do it. "hello, lucy. i took you up on your offer to come over." mira greeted cheerily her hand clasping a brown basket. Lucy nodded, no emotion on her face as she stepped aside to let her in. Gladly she stepped inside the spacious house she had quite frequently visited over the past few months. Lucy closed the door behind her as she strides over to the kitchen, pouring a cup of tea for the white haired girl. She had come to know what her favorite drink was when she came over. She poured herself a different concoction of alcohol from her cupboard. She took both of the drinks and set the tea across from her on the coffee table as she sat on the opposite side, trying to keep the distance between them. "So, what do you have to ask me?" Questioned the blonde Mage, picking up her glass mug of beer. "ah that, well there are a lot so be ready." mira shyly said, but it was fake as she ruffled her hair with her right arm. Lucy leaned back onto the couch, prepared to answer the tough questions mira was sure to give. Years of training could not prepare her for her mental breakdowns in this round of questioning. They had been hard before but this was on another personal level, about her trainer and friend. It would be tough. "well, lay them on me." Of course though, she would accept the challenge.

To be continued

(Hello everyone! So I thought I'd put this at the end just to clear thing up a bit if they aren't already. I also don't know if this is against the rules or something you just shouldn't do so tell me if I should just not do this. I'm new here but hopefully I'll get accustomed to this very soon. Anyway, I apologize for any spelling mistakes or things that don't sound correct. I have good ideas but bad out comes at least I think so. I hope you enjoy this nalu fanfic and maybe read some of my other kinda stupid works in the future! Alright well may the stars guide you and the universe keep you in its gentle cradle called earth! Love junie lunar!)