Love of my Life

Chapter 3

"You didn't think this through, did you?" Lucy asked, smirking at the miserable Natsu that sat across from her. He mumbled a response, but gagged before he could finish.

She looked out of the window at the countryside rolling past them. "Well the good news is we're almost there. The bad news is we have no idea where to start," Lucy slumped back in her seat. "Seriously Natsu, stop doing things without thinking. We didn't even officially take this job!"

"We'll be fine! We'll save some people, and beat Gray and Erza in the process!" Happy said, throwing a paw up in the air. Natsu smiled meekly before his face turned green.

Natsu bolted off the train the moment it stopped. "Finally! Solid ground at last!" He sat down on the ground and rubbed it lovingly. People around them gave him strange looks as they went out of their way to avoid him.

"Stop fooling around Natsu! We're here to do a job!" Lucy said, heaving him off of the ground.

"Oh yeah!" he said, a lightbulb going off in his brain. "We'd better get started if we're going to finish first!"

"Why don't we split up and gather as much information as we can? We can meet back here in an hour, right at the train station," Lucy suggested.

"Good idea!" Natsu headed off down the street, bombarding people for information.

"See you later!" Happy said, flying in the opposite direction.

Lucy felt her stomach growl, and decided that her first plan of action would be to get some food. She wandered down the street until she found a quaint little cafe with tables lined up outside. It seemed to be bustling with activity.

A bell on the door rung as she pushed it open, revealing a long display counter with every kind of food imaginable. Her nose was filled with delicious scents of freshly baked bread and cookies.

Before she could place her order, something made her pause. Sitting in the back corner of the cafe was a man with his head in his hands, crying to himself quietly.

Lucy approached him cautiously. "Sir, are you alright?" she asked.

The man looked up at her slowly. His eyes were red and large dark circles surrounded them.

"No," he whispered hoarsely. "Not in the slightest."

"May I ask what's wrong?"

"My son," he said, his voice trembling. "He's gone."

Lucy's eyes widened as she sat down next to the man. "What happened?" she asked.

"It's all my fault. I was angry with him for sneaking out, but he didn't seem to care. He kept ignoring me, so I snapped. I told him-" the man took a deep breath. "I told him that I wished he'd never been born. And then when I woke up the next day, he was gone." He started to sob louder.

Lucy sat in silence for a while, letting the man get out his tears. When his sniffling subsided, she placed her hand on the table, showing him her guild mark.

"Sir, I can help you find your son."

He let out a small gasp as his eyes found her hand. "You're from Fairy Tail?"

Lucy nodded. "That's right. And a Fairy Tail wizard never goes back on their word." She stood, and offered him a hand. "Come on, I'll introduce you to the rest of my team."

Natsu and Happy were standing at the train station with troubled looks on their faces. As soon as they saw Lucy approaching, their faces lit up as they ran to meet her.

"Lucy! You had us worried!" Happy cried as he flew face first into her chest. As soon as he released her Natsu barrelled into her, squeezing her tightly.