Fairy Tail: An Aqaurius Quest

I Missed You Old Friend

"I found it," Juvia opens her hand to reveal Aquarius' Gold Zodiac Gate Key.

Juvia tugs on my hand and firmly places it in my palm. The hall falls quiet, Natsu has his hand on my shoulder. I sink to my knees and clutch her key in my fist to my chest.

"Thank you Juvia," I whisper as tears fall.

"How did you find it?" Natsu asks.

"I am the embodiment of water. So when I stepped into the ocean and merged. I became the sea. It's hard for me to do, because when I did that. I was nothing but water. Every creature and boated that moved caused me pain and duress. But it was only a fraction of the pain Lucy felt when she sacrificed her friend to save us all. Once I merged, it wasn't hard to pin point the key. I didn't know for sure if it would be in the sea, but she was the Water Bearer so it was my best lead," Juvia explains, "I couldn't do it without my darling Gray though," she angles her body towards his.

"Thank you guys so much. You don't know how much it means to Lucy," Natsu says.

He's right. They don't. I pull myself up off my knees and throw myself in Juvia's arms, "I don't know what I would do if I didn't have friends like you!" I'm crying. She hugs me back and whispers in my ear, "just promise you'll throw the bouquet to me so that my darling Gray will marry me next."

"Hey, I heard that!" Gray reacts, crossing his arms.

I head home, clutching the key tightly for fear of her slipping through my fingers again. Natsu hangs back at the guild waiting for Happy to pop up. Warren used his telepathy and communicated that the Exceed squad needed to pass through Magnolia. Natsu doesn't want word to pass through the guilds before it makes its way to Happy. Besides, I think he mostly just misses his friend more than anything.

I stop by the edge of the river and twist the key in the water, "Open! Gate of the Water Bearer! Aquarius!"

The water cyclones and Aquarius emerges.

"I see you've found my key," she says smugly crossing her arms in annoyance, "what took you so long you stupid girl!"

All I can do is smile as tears begin to fall freely, "I missed you so much!"

She holds me while I cry, "there's so much you missed," I blubber.

She pats me on the top of my head and lets me have my moment. Once I'm finished I step back.

"I know the last contract I made with you was when I was six. So, what days are you available?"

"For you? Any day and any time. Just try not to get into too much trouble on Fridays. That's date night," she says, "anything else?"

"No, that just about covers the contract," I tell her.

She hooks her finger in Natsu's scarf and smiles, "Ah, I see what took you so long, you finally got a boyfriend."

"Husband. He proposed to me. We haven't set a date yet," I explain.

"It's the salamander isn't it?"

I blush and smile, "yeah. It is."

She taps her finger to her chin, "I could tell her cared for you. Only a mad man or a love struck idiot would face all of us and the Celestial Spirit King in Destroyer form during the Eclipse disaster. I'm guessing he's in love, he's still a mad man if he's in love with you but still. Love struck it is. I'm going to have to do Loke's laundry for three months now," she says annoyed.

"Do Loke's what now?"

"We made a bet. After we figured out the salamander jumped right into the monster's mouth and saved us all, I bet he was a thrill seeking mad man. Loke bet he was in love with you," she explains.

"You guys BET ON US?!"

"Relax, I never thought you'd get a boyfriend. You can't blame me. Especially with that attitude," she scolds me.

I cross my arms and pout, "will you guys be there? I can't summon all of you at once for my wedding but-"

"Yeah, I'm sure the Celestial Spirit King will want to see you get married for himself. None of them are going to believe me when I tell them," she says snickering.

"Don't ever ask me to break your key again. No matter what," I tell her taking on a more serious tone.

"I won't. And if you do break it or lose it, I'll kill you," she says.

She stays with me another hour, looking at the stars until my magic power starts to fade.

Before she parts for the night she tells me, "hey, don't screw things up with the salamander. You might not ever get a boyfriend again if you do. It's a stroke of luck you got him to begin with given your smart mouth. Besides, everybody knows that hot head would die for you."

I go to sleep peacefully that night, only waking up when I feel the pressure shift in the bed as Natsu slides in next to me.

"Hey Lucy," he whispers.

"Hi," I mumble.

He brushes my hair off my forehead, placing a gentle kiss on my temple before pulling me against him and falling asleep.  How did I ever get so lucky to be loved by so many?