I Promise You

Chapter 2

Early the next morning, Natsu is returning to the inn after checking in with the gentleman who posted the job at Fairy Tail. He is planning on picking up Happy and leaving Lucy behind so she can still rest. He woke up throughout the night at random times just to make sure that she had been sleeping soundly. She did not wake up a single time.

As Natsu is approaching the room, he can hear two voices coming from inside.

"I still don't understand why he didn't wake me up to go with him," Lucy complains. "We're partners!"

"He just wanted to make sure you were going to be okay," Happy reasons. "You weren't doing so good before."

Natsu turns the knob and strides into the room, looking his girlfriend in the eyes. She does seem a little better, but that is not the point. "You should be resting," he says firmly.

"I'm fine," she assures him, slinging her packed bookbag onto the back. "I'm doing way better than last night. It was probably because of what I ate."

"I had the exact same meal as you," he deadpans.

"Uh, you had way more servings of it than me."

"So how come I haven't thrown up once?"

She shrugs. "Maybe it's because you have a stronger stomach than me."

"She does have a point," Happy agrees.

Natsu looks at Happy with a gasp. "Hey, whose side are you on?"

He flies behind Lucy for protection, looking over her left shoulder Natsu. "She's scarier than you... Especially when she's mad."

Lucy nods. "Right."

Natsu groans, not wanting to accept that the tables have turned against him. "Oh, man..."

"So did you get any more information about the job?" Lucy inquires, changing the subject.

"Yeah."

A moment of silence falls over the room.

"And... ?" Lucy presses, wanting more of an answer from him.

"And what?" Natsu asks, trying to be oblivious about things. He does not want to tell her the information that he learned.

"What did he say?"

"Things."

Lucy folds her arms under her chest. "You're not funny."

"I'm not trying to be."

"If I try doing this job without knowing what you know, I might end up in trouble," she points out.

Natsu folds his arms across his chest as well.

Just to copy the others, Happy does, too.

The couple has come to a standstill, but, in the end, Natsu is the first to crack. "So we know that Old Man Leeroy Jenkins' prized breeding horses are being stolen. Obviously, the goal is to figure out who's stealing 'em and to bring the horses back."

Both Lucy and Happy know this already. They are just waiting for Natsu to fill them in with more information to help piece more together.

"Jenkins "highly believes" that a competing horse breeding place is behind everything, but he has no proof," Natsu continues. "He gave me some documents with info about the other breeder and photos of the people who work there."

"So it's our job to investigate!" Happy reasons.

Natsu nods. "Right."

Lucy holds out a hand. "So let's see those documents."