BOOK 2 - Fairy Tail (Pirates) AU: Dark Pirate's Chest

CHAPTER XIII: The Half-Settled Debt

Natsu approached the main mast of his beloved Black Fairy, and admired the imposing figure of his ship for the last time. Abandoning the ship was the only chance they had left of survival. And for as much as it hurt the pinkette pirate to admit it, he had to accept it.

    Then, Lucy too approached Natsu and accompanied him for a while. "Thank you, Natsu" The blondie said with an honest smile.

    "Why are you thanking me?" the pinkette replied with a troubled expression. "We are not safe yet. And besides... I tried to leave you all behind"

    "Yeah... But you came back" At that moment, the kind blondie closed in to Natsu even more. "I knew you were good. I always believed it, and now you finally proved it"

    "Lucy..."

    The blondie and the pinkette found themselves entranced for a moment, caught in each other's eyes. But then, Lucy finally broke the awkward moment, and closed her eyes while slowly leaning even closer to Natsu until... Until the soft and smooth sensation of Lucy's lips made contact with Natsu's.

Both of them got entrapped in the moment and shared a passionate kiss without worrying about the beast coming for them. They then backed up until they leaned on the mast. However, that's also when the unexpected sound of a pair of chains and cuffs closing... was heard by both of them.

The couple slowly broke their kiss. Natsu widened his eyes slightly in shock and surprise. And Lucy actually faced downwards with a troubled expression and her bangs covering her face. She had just chained Natsu's wrist to the base of the Fairy's mast. And now, the pinkette pirate could not leave the ship anymore.

"It... It wants you, not the ship" Lucy said in a broken voice. "Not us either. If I don't do it, w-we'll all die" The blondie was one little step away from crying her heart out. It really... REALLY... hurt her to do what she was doing. But inside her mind, she had no other choice. "I'm s-sorry... I'm sorry... Natsu..." Lucy faced the pinkette directly while finally crying inconsolably.

She was actually expecting him to look at her with a face full of disgust and hate. But surprisingly, Natsu was actually smiling at her with a triumphant expression plastered on his face. "Who's the pirate now?" he asked as Lucy widened her eyes. Then, Natsu took a long sigh and dearly grabbed Lucy's cheek one last time. "Please... Take care of my dad, Lucy"

The blondie couldn't bear with that anymore. She leaned on Natsu's chest while crying non-stop and nodded in agreement with his last petition. Then, she turned around quickly and finally left to get on board the boat.

"And Natsu?" Happy asked.

"He... He decided to stay behind and give us a chance to escape" Lucy replied with a troubled look.

Then, she sobbingly yelled at Macao to drop the rope still linking them all to the ship. And so, they all finally left as Happy and Lucy kept on crying inconsolably. The flying cat even tried to go back to Natsu and help him, but Erza actually stopped him before he could make a terrible mistake.

<< Meanwhile with Natsu>>

    The pinkette hadn't given up on his life yet. He was desperately trying to break the chain tying him to the mast however he could. Then, he turned to one side and found none other thing than an oil lamp. The pinkette quickly drew out his sword and used it to bring the lamp closer to him. Then, he grabbed the lamp and spread its oil around his arm and wrist.

    He started pulling again. Thanks to the oil, his hand began slowly slipping through the metal cuff. He could make it. He could still get out of there alive. He kept on pulling as strong as he could until, finally, he found himself free from the cuff.