The Light Within the Flame

Chapter 10

Hello, Everyone! Happy Sunday! ^.^

*Clears throat* I DO NOT OWN FAIRY TAIL or all its lovelies!

PROCEED WITH CAUTION: CHAPTERS MAY CONTAIN SPOILERS FROM THE ANIME/MANGA FROM TARTAROS ARC FORWARD!

READ WITH CAUTION: There may be some material ahead that some would consider a little heavy I wasn't sure if I should change the rating but there is a scene involving death that some may be bothered by. I just wanted to give you guys a heads up.

I am changing events from the manga/anime to suit the story as this is an AU (even though a lot is the same hehe)

With that said on to the chapter!

~~~~~~~~ Chapter 10 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Natsuuuuuuu!" Lucy grunted as she hoisted the bag of dead weight that was Natsu, further up her shoulder. "Come on snap out of it already!"

"It's no use Lucy you know it takes a while before Natsu remembers that he's back on solid ground and feels better again." Happy replied flying by her to join Erza and Gray who were opening up the gates to her old estate.

"I know! I just didn't expect it to take so long!" Lucy kept her face looking frustrated but truly she was just disturbed by how warm the Fire dragon slayer felt against her back. It's kinda freaking me out a bit because this feels really good-OMG WHAT AM I THINKING!

"Ugh..." groaned Natsu falling on the ground abruptly. "Lucy, what did you do that for!"

"Sorry! I didn't mean to drop you..."

"Lucy...you were kinda giving Natsu a funny face before you basically dropped him on the floor like a sack of potatoes."

"You damn nosy cat! Why don't you go see what's taking Gray and Erza so long and stop paying attention to my face! It's just hot and he's heavy." Lucy blushed trying to get the thought of the feeling of Natsu out of her mind.

"Surrreeee Lucy..." Happy laughed and winked before deciding to leave her alone about it for now.

Lucy knelt down next to Natsu, "I'm sorry I dropped you...I didn't mean to. Are you feeling better?"

Natsu tried to calm his stomach down. Dammit, he was the all-powerful son of Igneel and those damn devils of transportation still laid him out whenever he rode on one. He tried focusing on the ground, the cold not moving ground.

"Okay!" Natsu jumped up, suddenly feeling just fine. It was funny that once his body realized that the floor was no longer going to move he was free from that freaking curse. "Let's go, Lucy!" Natsu grabbed her hand before she could say anything and ran after Gray and Erza who were already inside.

Lucy let Natsu pull her around for a while, honestly she was really nervous to be here again. She wasn't sure why, but she felt a sense of dread fall over her the moment they stepped in front of her parent's home.

Lucy looked over at her family home. The once clean grounds were littered with leaves and the estate looked like it hadn't seen the hands of a worker in over a year. Lucy sighed, I can only imagine what it looks like on the inside.

Thinking about that made her feel unsure, maybe I should buy some more time outside.

"Come on Lucy! Let's go!" Natsu waved her over from the door.

"Hey, Flame Brain! Leave Lucy outside for a bit, it's been awhile since she has been here maybe she wants to take a look around!" Gray sneered behind Natsu. He had already seen the mess the estate was in and wanted to check with Erza on the damages before Lucy came inside. Erza had told him to keep her out for a little while and he didn't want to piss off Erza today. She was in a pretty shitty mood and kept muttering something about cake and Lucy...go figure.