How Writing Fanfiction Saved Me

Things I Needed To Say

Disclaimer: All Fairy Tail Characters Belong To Hiro Mashima

Chapter 16: Things I Needed To Say

"You're gonna get it!" Wendy squealed after Natsu dumped a bucket of seawater on her. The same bucket of water he had so gallantly offered to go get for her to help her build a sand castle.

He began to run, laughing at her drenched locks and shivering body in the hot sun. He ran fast enough to challenge her, but slow enough to let her catch up to him and retaliate with a bucket of her own. Unfortunately for her, most of the contents of the bucket had fallen out as she ran after him and Natsu laughed at her, looking smug. He continued to run along the shore, his feet landing in the water as the waves rolled into the beach.

Wendy promptly decided to tackle him instead. She ran at him and Natsu had been too busy laughing to stop her so they both ended up in the water. She quickly filled the bucket and dumped it over his head. He looked at her admiringly.

"You're getting stronger," he complimented. "You would never have been able to pull that off the last time we were here."

Wendy rolled her eyes. "That's because the last time we were here I was six."

"No you weren't, you were five." Natsu smiled. "I distinctly remember. We had your birthday party here that year."

"You weren't here the last time we were here, Natsu," Wendy pointed out, "You were away at camp."

"What on Earth are you talking about, Wendy?" Natsu asked looking confused. "Gray and I always wanted to go to camp but they never let us."

Wendy watched her brother carefully. She knew for a fact that he had gone to camp. She still remembered how jealous she had been and how lonely the week had been without him. She couldn't understand why he would be denying it. It wasn't like him to lie and the look on his face made her nervous. He looked scared. She decided that she wouldn't push it. She could ask Zeref about it later.

"Oh, I must be mistaken," Wendy said while looking at the water. "Want to swim for awhile?"

"Sure," Natsu replied half heartedly. He wasn't sure why Wendy's words bothered him but he felt that weird sensation threatening to overwhelm him again. What was wrong with him? Why did he feel so strange? He didn't have the answer to either of these questions and it scared him a little. He couldn't remember ever feeling this way before yesterday. And what was up with all the strange dreams? Why did they feel so vivid? It was almost like he was reliving something. He'd never kissed Gray. He was certain he would remember something like that. The only person he'd ever kissed was Lucy.

"Natsu?" Wendy called out. She'd been trying to get his attention for a few minutes but her brother seemed to be off in his own little world. He finally looked over at her, his movements sluggish."I changed my mind. Do you think you can teach me how to boogie board?" Wendy asked in an attempt to bring her brother back from wherever he had just been.

Natsu blinked and smiled at her. "Sure, I'd love to! Let me go get some boards from the garage." He got out of the water and turned. "Can you get out 'til I come back? Zeref will have my hide if he sees I left you alone in the water."

Wendy rolled her eyes but did as requested, making a show of sitting on the sand. Natsu smiled at her and hurried towards the garage, returning quickly with three boards, some fins, and several other small items. He grabbed the wax and showed Wendy how to prepare her board as he did the same to his. They put on the fins and attached the board's leashes to their biceps.

Natsu wasn't sure how much time he had spent showing Wendy how to boogie board but the smile on her face made him feel a distant happiness. He looked back at the shore and saw Zeref sitting under the shade of an umbrella. He was on a blanket, his camera out snapping pictures of the two of them. Natsu noticed Zeref wasn't even looking at the board he had brought out for him and realized too late that it was something Zeref probably couldn't do anymore. Natsu decided to get out and sit with him.