Wheels of Fire

We're All Fairy Tail

It was a hot Edolas summer, and people inside the Fairy Tail tree were fanning themselves from the heat.

"Levy," Lucy Ashley grumbled, her black blouse spread open so wide, it left little to the imagination. "Can't you fix the air conditioning?"

Levy rose up with a wrench in her hand and a scowl on her face, holding her sweat-drenched blue hair back with a bandana. "Do you want me to work on reconnecting to the Webnet so we can transport the hell out of here if Knightwalker shows up, or do you want some nice cold air? Pick one, bitch."

Lucy would have hit her for that, but she felt too drained. She collapsed backward and stared at the ceiling, high up in the tree guild. There was a fly in the room, and she followed it with her eyes, buzzing around, then up to the wooden rafters, where it got caught in a web. She could not see where the spider had gone, though.

That made her think of Wendy Aranya. That web-weaving Spider better have found Earth-Natsu and kept him safe. Lucy hated this hollow feeling in her heart, not knowing if they were okay.

Suddenly, the guild shook, the spiderweb crumbled, and the fly zoomed away. The air swirled violently, sucking in papers into a small tornado, and space itself seemed to rend with bolts of blue lightning.

Levy slowly stood up in awe. "Is that ... wait, do you mean it worked?"

Lucy bolted up and shouted, "Levy, what the hell did you do?"

"That's not me." The blue-haired technician looked on in awe. "It's Wendy. It works!"

There was a blinding flash, and then all calmed down. Right where space had ripped, there were two people, one lying on the ground, the other clutching him protectively.

"Wendy!" shouted Lucy.

Gray Surge rushed forward. "Natsu!"

Wendy raised her head and looked around. She looked relieved but also disappointed. "Damn. I was hoping it would take us to Earthland."

"Huuuuuh?" Lucy shouted, putting her hands on her hips. "Was your plan to ditch us completely and elope with him?"

Wendy ignored her and looked down to Natsu. "How are you feeling?"

"Not so bad." He took her hand and helped himself up to his feet, although he leaned heavily on her. Then Natsu also looked around. "Well, at least you're back home. That's good."

Wendy did her best to support his weight. "Yeah, but you're still—"

Lucy Ashley was sick of being ignored. She marched up to them both and punched Natsu across the face, not hard, but it still sent him stumbling backward.

"Lucy!" Wendy screamed in horror.

"How dare you," she growled. "How dare you run off. How dare you put Wendy's life in danger. How dare you just waltz back in here like nothing happened." She yanked him into a headlock.

"No!" Wendy yelled, trying to grab her arms, but Lucy Ashley was solid muscle.

She kept the headlock on Natsu. "Do you even understand what you've cost this guild? Cana was shot because of you, and you left like it didn't even matter."

"Left ... to protect ... you," he gagged out.

Lucy tightened her hold until his face went purple. "You don't get to decide how to protect this guild. That's my job."

"Lucy, stop," Wendy begged. "Levy, help me. She's going to kill him."

"This much won't kill him. If I wanted that, I'd torture the bastard first. But why aren't you fighting back, huh?" She let him go and stepped away. Wendy rushed and caught Natsu before he collapsed. "What the fuck is wrong with you? Are you yet another multi-dimensional Natsu? Natsu Dragoon, now?" Despite her angry tone, Lucy looked a bit worried at Natsu's blank, tired face. "Why don't you fight, or cringe, or anything?"