The Paradox of Time - A Fairy Tail Fanfic

Chapter 4

Gray whipped his head around, looking for his missing teammate. "Shoot! He better not have done what I think he did..." Erza shook her head, fully aware of what his disappearance meant. He went to find his past self. "Lucy, Gray!" She shouts, gaining their attention. "We will split up to look for him! Do not interact with anybody! And most importantly, do not let Natsu talk to his younger self!" They nodded, stuffing their payments into their pockets/bag before taking off in different directions. Erza turned to Louis with an apologetic smile. "Sorry, Mr. Blackwood. This will only be momentary." She said, before sprinting off into the forest.

: : :

Natsu stared at his younger self walking aimlessly around the woods. He was perched behind a bush so he wouldn't be seen, knowing all too well how fearful this day was for him. July 7, x777. He just lost Igneel that morning, so his past self was searching for him without end. The only problem was: he didn't know where to look. He was only walking in circles, calling out for his name. "Igneel! Igneel, where are you?" His voice sounded hoarse from the relentless shouting, and he was tired from going without food the whole day. Natsu smirked after thinking about that day. Even though he lost Igneel, it was also the day he found Gramps. That was the day he joined Fairy Tail. In fact, Natsu knew that at any moment now, Gramps was going to appear from his walk to the guild, and that was going to be the first time they met. He knew that he was going to have to do this now, before he loses his chance.

Natsu stands up while his past self's back was facing him, but before taking a step forward, a tug pulled him back to the ground. "Hey! What the- Lucy? What are you doing here?" Natsu hissed, a bit flustered that she stopped him from confronting his younger self.

"Shhh!" She whispered, sneaking a peek above the bushes to check if younger Natsu heard anything. He was alert, snapping his head towards the bushes that hissed. "Igneel? Is that you?"

Lucy grabbed Natsu's hand and scurried away from the bushes before he could protest, dragging him back to the mansion. Before they could get far, Natsu halted to a stop. "Lucy, you know that I need to do this! It's either now or never!"

"No, you don't!" She snapped, her eyes were filled with tears, threatening to come out. That was when Natsu froze, automatically switching his stubborn behavior into a protective one. "Lucy, why are you crying? Was it something I said?" He asked, his face immediately softening with regret. Lucy wiped away the tears while shaking her head. "No, no. It's just... while I was searching for you, I was thinking. What if I didn't make it time? What if you told your younger self the truth about Igneel? Then I realized, if that had happened, then I would have never met you." She choked out a sob. Natsu's eyes grew big, realizing what she had just said. "Think about it; if you tell your past self where Igneel is, then you would not have had the reason to search for that fire salamander you heard about in town, and then we would have never met. We would never had all of those adventures we had together, and I would've became a mindless slave to that creep who kidnapped me on his yacht. You saved me, Natsu, and that only happened because you didn't know where Igneel was." She was clinging tightly onto Natsu's scarf, her forehead resting on his chest as she bawled. Natsu was dumbstruck; unable to speak. He was in shock, staring at the blonde weeping on him, before softening into a smile. "I guess you're right," he gently spoke, "It would be selfish of me to change the future for my own benefit, right, Luce?" He delicately stroked her hair before lifting her head up to rest his forehead on hers. "Lucy, I would never want to live a life without you. You are the best thing that happened to me, well, you and Fairy Tail, of course." He chuckled, enjoying the sweet embrace of Lucy as he comforted her.

"Natsu... I wouldn't know what to do without you..." She whimpered, slowly regaining her composure.

"Lighten up, Luce! See? I'm right here. I'm not going anywhere!" Natsu gave his signature smile, his pearly white teeth and sharp canines showing, as he jammed his thumb into his chest. They meet each other's eyes, silently admiring each other's existence. Lucy blushed, averting her eyes to the ground. "We... should be heading back... now..." She insists, looking up at that starry sky. "It's getting late. We wouldn't want to keep Louis waiting." Natsu rubbed the back of his neck, his cheeks turning pink from blushing. "Uh, yeah, you're right! I'll race ya back!" He shouted, bolting towards the mansion in the far distance. Lucy smiled; how can Natsu say so many romantic things without even knowing it? And why is he so darn cute when he blushes? She shook her head, batting away those thoughts. She felt her face heat up. Natsu was very special to her... was that why she felt this way? It wasn't until then when she realized something. She liked him— no, she loved him. She loved Natsu, so that's why she was afraid of losing him. She recomposed herself, standing up with pride. Natsu basically said it himself, didn't he? That he loved me too? I'll tell him... I'll tell him once we get back to the guild! Lucy's smile stretched from ear to ear; her mind was set. She looked around, but noticed that she dozed off, giving Natsu a major head start. "Wa-wait up, Natsu! Hey! That's not fair!"