𝔸𝕟𝕚𝕞𝕖 𝕆𝕟𝕖𝕤𝕙𝕠𝕥𝕤

Taking You Away-Nalu

Warning: A bit darker than other oneshots here. 

"I'm sorry, you want me to go where with you?" Natsu asked incredulously as he grabbed a pack of pasta off a shelf.

"Look, funerals just make me uncomfortable, okay? And–"

"Well duh," Natsu scoffed, shifting the phone from one ear to the next as he grabbed a loaf of bread.

"Listen, I am going to support Lu-chan, okay? And I normally wouldn't bother you with this kind of stuff, but Gajeel is working, so..."

"I don't know, Levy, that kind of scene–well it's not really my scene," he said lamely, crossing his arms over the top of his shopping cart.

"Natsu, I don't think a funeral is anyone's scene," Levy retorted, sarcasm dripping in her tone. Clearly, Gajeel had rubbed off on her.

"Who is this 'Lu-chan' again?" he asked, pushing the cart along towards the meat aisle.

"She's a friend of mine I met years ago at a book signing. I've told you about her, remember?"

Natsu vaguely recalled Levy gushing about a woman who loved books as much as she did, though he had been eating at the time, so he didn't remember much of the conversation.

"Is it the one who went to some rich girls boarding school?"

"Yes!"

"Damn, and she's married? I thought you said she was our age?" He said, crinkling his nose.

"Was married, and that... wasn't exactly her choice."

Natsu made a confused sound, and Levy tsked impatiently.

"Look, are you coming with me or not, because if you are we have to go find you a suit and that'll take time."

Natsu hummed noncommittally as he dropped 2 packets of ground beef in his cart.

"They're going to have really good food. Free food," she taunted.

Natsu knew he'd fallen into a trap before he'd even said the words.

"Coming!"

This had been a mistake. A whopping, immense, colossal mistake from the tight tie around his neck, to Levy's tight grip on his arm, to the sea of black-dressed mourners, and to the massive gold-detailed coffin that was being walked to the six-foot deep hole before them. The silence that stretched between the gathered people weighed heavy as an anvil on his shoulders, causing him to squirm in place in some vain attempt to shrug it off.

Natsu had only ever been to one other funeral in his life, but it had been so long ago, his consciousness had apparently buried the memory in its own grave. All he could really recall from that day were Gray's trembling lips and the very noticeable absence of a comforting adult hand on his shoulder.

Standing nearest to the waiting grave were a young woman and an older man. The man with sharp eyes and a prominent nose had an authoritative hand clamped on the woman's shoulder, watching the coffin-bearers stonily. The young woman whom Levy had quietly whispered to him was 'Lu-chan'–or Lucy Heartfilia as it were– had blonde tresses piled atop her head, a black lace veil shrouding her face like a curtain guarding her from the reality of the moment. Her hands were clasped tightly before her, shoulders set back, and head held high as if a book were balanced atop it, reminding Natsu of that one barbie princess movie where the pauper had had to learn royal etiquette. Natsu could only really see her mouth, her lips set in a carefully firm line so as not to give the slightest indication of whatever she was feeling. She was so still, she could almost pass for a ghost or even a natural part of the scenery. It made him uneasy, the lack of life she exuded, as if someone had been dousing her consistently every time an emotion dared flare up.