The Salamander's Sister

Chapter 112: A Broken Heart

Natsume's pov

After Natsu and I had gotten through the ritual, I decided to take a walk along the beach as I thought back to what Jellal, Ultear, and Meredy had explained about their findings. Most of everyone was still going through the ritual, Gray had his turn after me and it was hard for me to watch him go through it but I stuck by his side. I only decided to take a walk after Satoru and his siblings started going through the ritual, Kosuke had been very skeptical of the ritual which seemed to frustrate everyone else. "Natsume," I stopped walking and turned my head, looking over my shoulder. "Hey," I gave Gray a small smile, "You feelin' alright? I know it was hard to watch Natsu and I go through that ritual." He walked forward, grabbing my hand. "Yeah, I'm okay. And it was hard to see you in pain like that. It was even worse to see my twin in so much pain. I for sure thought that he was going to pass out." I sighed, "Yeah, everyone thought that but he got through it and so did I. And so is everyone else. You don't have to worry about it," Gray said, "That's not what I'm worried about, Gray." I sighed, "What are you worried about? Is it about what Jellal told us?" He asked, "Yeah, it is. I'm worried that what he said might be true. If what he said is true then that spells trouble for not just us. But for everyone involved in the tournament." I explained as we started walking again, by this time the sun was starting to set. We decided to stick our feet in the water, which was cold to say the least but it felt nice. "Whatever comes our way, Natsume. We'll be ready to handle it. All of us will be ready." Gray said, giving my hand a light squeeze. "Now, will you agree to have some fun before we leave?" He asked, smirking.

"And what kind of fun did you have in mind?" I asked.

"This kind," I yelped loudly as Gray lifted me off of my feet and ran into the water, wetting all of my dry clothes. "Gray!" He threw me into the water, making me yelp as cold water hit my skin. I stood to my feet as Gray started backing away from me. "Gray, get back here!!" I chased after him, Gray laughing and apologizing as he ran down the beach. "I'm not going to let you get away with throwing me in the water, Gray!" I shook my fist, chasing after him as we passed our friends who were sitting on the other side of the beach. We were so caught up in our own moment that we didn't notice that everyone else was watching Gray and I play fight in the water. There was no doubt that Juvia was probably jealous but I knew she wasn't going interfere with our moment like she usually did. I think that was because she was starting to become interested in Lyon, who was still very much into Juvia.

Lucy and Levy chuckled at the antics of Gray and Natsume, the rest of the group watching Natsume finally tackle Gray who Natsume shoved into the water. The two laughed loudly, just having pure fun and their smiles were genuine. With everything going on, it was nice to see Natsume having genuine fun with her boyfriend. Natsu had stopped what he was doing as he heard laughing and splashing coming from down the beach, his eyes shifted to the water where he saw his sister and Gray fooling around. For a moment, he wanted to go over there and pick a fight with Gray for messing around with his twin but he stopped himself as he saw how happy Natsume was. "She looks so happy." Lucy smiled, walking over to Natsu. "Yeah, she does. Doesn't she?" Natsu replied.

"Yeah, I think it's great that those two are together." Levy smiled. "Yeah, she definitely seems so much happier than she was back then." Satoru smiled, "Yeah, well... I could have made her that happy too. Why does he get all the credit for making her happy? I used to be do that." Chase muttered, pouting hatefully at Gray.

"You idiot," Satomi and Satoru smacked Chase on the back of the head at the same time, causing Chase to whine and use both hands to hold the spot they hit. 

"Owww, what was that for?" Chase whined.

"You're the one who got angry and turned your back on her when she rejected your feelings. You are nothing like Gray Fullbuster. He's been by her side since she joined Fairytail and has shown time and time again that he absolutely loves and cares for her." Satomi explained. "Well said, sis." Satoru held out a hand, "No problem, bro. I was just stating the facts." She high-fived Satoru, Lucky, and Lucy just giggled at the siblings' antics as Chase started fussing at his two siblings for making fun of him. "It's a good thing to know that she'll be happy even if I'm not around." Natsu smiled softly at his sister, watching Gray pick her up and spin around as they held each other. He groaned when they kissed, this time not able to hold back his own feelings.

"Hey!! Ice princess, get your dirty lips off my sister's face!" Natsu stormed over to the two, "She's my girlfriend! I'm allowed to kiss her!" Gray argued, making Natsume laugh as the two started arguing while everyone else just looked somewhat annoyed. When Erza came back from her talk with Jellal, she noticed that everyone else had gone through the ritual and she was the last one. She decided to go through with it, the others watching on in silence and feeling very worried for her but she took the pain well. After everything settled down, we had to say goodbye to Jellal, Meredy, and Ultear. "We must be going now. Notify us by pigeon if you find out anything about the mysterious magic power at the Grand Magic Games."

"Understood." Chase nodded.

"Good luck in the games. We'll be rooting for you from behind the scenes."

"I wish we could attend, though!" Meredy suggested, "We could disguise ourselves." She added. "Forget it." I chuckled at the two, as Jellal gave his final goodbyes to Erza. "I will hope to see you again, Jellal. But only under good circumstances, okay?" Jellal smiled and nodded, the two of us hugging for one last time. "Until next time, you guys." Ultear smiled, he moved back and the three of them left. I decided to talk to Erza since she had disappeared earlier with Jellal, I knew that he had feelings for her. Erza took a stroll down the beach, thinking back on what happened between her and Jellal not that long ago. "Hey, Erza! Wait up," Erza stopped and looked back as I came rushing over to her, "Hey, Natsume. What's the matter? Is something wrong?" She asked, looking worried. "No, nothing's wrong. I just wanted to check on you. I know that seeing Jellal again must have been hard for you." She gave me a soft smile, "I'm alright, thanks for checking up on me." 

"No problem. Mind if I join you on this walk?" 

"No, not at all." 

The two of us started walking, "So.. What did you and Jellal talk about earlier?" She looked surprised that I knew, "Oh come on, Erza. I know you two have some serious feelings for one another. Yet you won't say anything. What did you talk about?" I asked, crossing my arms. She knew that I wasn't going to let this go, "He has a fiancee." She said, "A What now?!!" I exclaimed in shock, taking her by surprise. "He has a fiancee?!!" She nodded and laughed at my expression, "And you believed him?!" I shouted, "No, not really. He's as terrible of a liar as ever. He hasn't changed a bit. This is for the best. This... is our answer." Erza looked up at the moon, noting that everyone else was extremely tired after the day that they'd had. "Erza, are you sure you're okay with that?" I asked, the thought of them two never getting their chance to be together made me so sad for her. "Yes, all I want is for him to be happy. And I'm sure he feels the same way too." She reassured, "Alright, if you think so. I'm here if you want to talk." I smiled, wrapping an arm around her neck. "I'll keep that in mind. Thanks, Natsume." She smiled, "No problem," I gave her a light squeeze and the two of us kept walking.  "Look, Erza!" Happy called, pointing to the broken heart he drew in the sand. I stared in complete shock at the gesture, Happy trying his best not to laugh. Erza looked down at the heart and thought for a moment as Happy started laughing, causing Erza to kick him into the air. 

"Well, looks like Happy knew that was coming."