THE BET | NALU

Chapter 21

Natsu wasn't exactly sure what to think at this point. After going back to the man from before, forcing him to give Natsu the address to Lucy's house because he never actually gave it to him -it was a lot harder then he thought too, the man made him buy him a smoothie for some weird reason- but now he stood in front of Lucy's home. Or at least what he thought was her home.

Too be honest, he didn't know whether or not it was a home, or a town. The man had told Natsu not to be fooled. All of this property belongs to Jude Heartfilia. ALL of it. Why he needed a dozen normal sized houses with their own gardens, Natsu would never know.

The only thing that Natsu does know is that he needs to talk to her father. Right now.

But which house is her actual house?

Well he supposed the biggest house at the end with a large fountain with so many rare and exotic flowers surrounding it, the stone pathways will small rubies embedded in them answered his question. When he says the 'biggest' house, he means the biggest. Not just out of the ones in this property, but out of all the ones he's seen before. This house...was bigger than he thought possible.

Hell if that man hadn't warned Natsu about this place, he would've thought that it was from a movie. A movie set in the future where this house belonged to some guy with a gazillion dollars. He knew no one had this now..but in the future maybe!

Actually, cross that out, this guy might HAVE a GAZILLION dollars. Natsu definitely wouldn't be surprised if he did.

"Hello? May I help you?" A man goat said, approaching Natsu who was standing behind the fence of the house. Calling him a man goat, might've been mean, if it had not been true. If he hadn't of spoken, Natsu would've thought he was a well dressed goat standing on his hind legs. It almost looked like he had actual tusks. F*** it, he might still be a goat despite the fact that he talked.

"I'm here to see Jude Heartfilia." Natsu answered, trying to look formal, which didn't work very well considering he didn't even bother to zip up his vest nor wear a shirt underneath. Plus his pants were pretty baggy, he was unwashed...yeah he wouldn't be surprised if this man shooed him away.

"You?" He asked, with a raised eyebrow. It seemed like he was hiding something to be honest, like he knew Natsu. Natsu couldn't see his eyes because of his sunglasses, but by the way it moved it seemed like he was weary of him. Which was pretty confusing because Natsu was pretty sure he'd never seen this man in his life.

Well...somewhat sure he supposed. The tusks looked somewhat familiar?

"..Yes me?" Natsu said questionably, wondering why it was such a surprise that Natsu's the one going to talk to Jude.

You know.. that man from the mall kind of looked like a lion as well...and Gajeel's called Lucy Bunny-Girl before..maybe only animal people can come into the mansion?

"Do you have.. a meeting with him?" The man asked, looking like he was debating on whether or not he should let Natsu in.

"..No?"

"Then I can't let you in." He stated professionally, turning his back away from Natsu but still decided to add in "Jude Heartfilia is a very busy man."

"I'm sure he is, picking out grooms for his only daughter." Natsu snapped, gripping the metal bars of the fenced door tightly "Taking her out of school, the one thing she enjoyed. What's next? Is he going to burn down her favourite library?"

The man stopped in his tracks and glanced back at Natsu with a sad face, it didn't last long though as he started to walk again. Natsu gripped the bars tighter until his hands ached, the anger in his chest rising and increasing.

"So what? You just don't care about her? Is that it? She's just the daughter of the man who pays you right?" He growled at him. The man didn't look back this time, he just kept walking until he was inside the mansion. Natsu grit his teeth, angry at the goat man. How he could just watch from the side lines like that when he has a chance to do something, Natsu would never know.

Actually, Natsu did know. He had watched from the side lines while she suffered, but now. Now he's helping her.

He's going to be her saving dragon whether goat man helps him or not.

Natsu placed both hands on one bar, holding on tightly as he brought up one leg, placing his foot on the bar. He then used his upper body strength and pulled himself up a bit more so he could grab onto a higher part of the bar. He placed his other foot on then repeated the process until he was at least half way up the bar and sweating like crazy. Natsu's got the muscles yeah, he's got the strength yeah, but after a week of no working out..this is definitely hard on him.

"What are you doing?" A female voice asked from behind him. Panic rushed through his body, thinking that this woman would try to stop him, as he slowly turned his head to see a pink haired young girl wearing a maid's outfit (?) and chains (?)

"N-Nothing.." He lied, pausing in his climb. Not even a good lie at that one.

"It looks like you're trying to sneak into the Heartfilia mansion." She stated obviously.

"No.." He sweatdropped. The girl took a few steps closer until she was in front of the gates, just underneath Natsu. He braced himself for..whatever this chick was about to do. She looked pretty damn scary.

But instead of some type of pain or something like that, he found himself swinging to the left along with the gate.

"It's open." She said after pushing the gate open.

"..Oh." Natsu mumbled sheepishly before dropping to the ground, hearing a non pleasant crack in his ankles. The pain went away rather quickly though, and he was able to walk again "Well..thanks?"

"Go save Princess, Natsu." The woman said with a smile, and Natsu nodded before running towards the mansion, completely oblivious to the fact that she knew his name.

When he got into the mansion...it was even more fancy on the inside. The room was decorated in paintings and rare flowers that he'd never seen before. The whole floor was a red carpet, the type you would see at a movie premiere. The walls were made of marble and there was a giant glass chandelier hanging from the roof with at least a dozen candles. They looked like the expensive candles too.

He didn't have any time to admire this place, nor did he want to, knowing that this was the reason Lucy has had a bad life. Instead he raised down the hallway, opening the door to every room until he could find the one that Jude was in. He could feel his heart pounding in his chest. He has to do this.

He has to make this right.

That's what he kept telling himself, no fear lurked in him anymore. Not when he kept remembering Lucy's smiling face. Her face. The one...the one he loves.

He was brave up until that moment. The moment where he found Jude's office, where he faced the man that had ruined his love's life. Natsu expected himself to be brave, but his face.

That man's face..

And those two words...

"You again?"

Another short chapter D: Gah I'm awful!

I'll upload the next chapter very soon, so stay tuned and only 4 chapters left.... ;_;