The Divine Empress

Chapter 16

It's been a full long day at Ryuzetsu Island. Lucy and Zeref concluded that it was about time that they headed back to their hotel and rest since this whole waterpark trip would take a whole week. Not to mention, they didn't even cover half of all the rides in the waterpark yet. Partly because Lucy and Zeref got sick in the middle of it and also because Nagi and Wendy got lost for about an hour or so. 

"Wasn't that fun, Nagi? Wendy?" Lucy asked with a smile. 

"En!" Wendy and Nagi both replied, nodding their heads enthusiastically. 

"One of you go take a bath first," Zeref said as he began making his way to the couch. "I'll be sitting here resting for a bit." 

"Okay~" Nagi said as he made his way to the bathroom, Lucy following him with clothes in hand. 

Zeref slumped back on the couch and sighed. 

"Is everything okay, Zeref-san?" Wendy asked worriedly. 

"It's nothing. Just a bit tired. It's my first time going on and doing one of these things," Zeref said sheepishly. "Seeing Lucy and Nagi having so much fun is enough to make this trip worth it." 

"Yep!" Wendy agreed. 

"By the way, I still haven't asked you why you decided to follow Lucy." 

"Huh?" Wendy shot up in surprise but soon relaxed. "To me, Lucy-san is someone that I hold dear to me. She's the one who made me open up to the guild and made me feel like the guild was my home. To see her being tortured in such a way just because they said she was weak...!" 

She shook in anger as her hair slowly started turning pink but soon changed back to her normal blue. "She's like a sister and mother to me," Wendy then murmured. 

Zeref silently looked at her and nodded his head in understanding. He could tell what makes this little girl think of her that way. The long silence was soon disrupted by a loud jovial yell coming from the bathroom. 

"Wendy~!" Nagi said happily, running from the bathroom only in a pair of shorts. 

"Nagi! Put on your shirt!" Lucy yelled with a worried face. "You're going to catch a cold! And dry you hair!" 

Nagi ran back to his mother and obediently put on his shirt and sat down a chair so that Lucy could dry his wet hair. 

"That was fast," Zeref smiled. 

"Did you want us to take an hour long bath in there?" Lucy asked with a smirk. Her long golden hair was let down and wrapped in a towel around her neck. It was wet but not to the point where the water dripped on the floor. Her eyes had a glassy look to it and her cheeks were red and rosy from the heat. 

Zeref shook his head with a silent laugh. "Forget I said anything." 

"Wendy, do you want to go take a bath first?" Lucy asked looking at the silent girl. "I already filled the tub with clean hot water so take your time. I'll dry your hair once you're done." 

Wendy nodded her head with a silent blush as she ran towards her bedroom to get a change of clothes, shampoo, and body wash. 

"What happened to her?" Lucy asked.

"It's nothing. Just some little talk," Zeref replied. 

"Hmmmmm..." Lucy stared at Zeref with suspiciousness. 

"R-Really. It's nothing!" Zeref stuttered.

"If you say so," Lucy said, going back to blow drying Nagi's hair. Zeref came up behind Lucy and slowly wrapped his arms around Lucy as he laid his chin on her shoulder. Lucy glanced behind for a moment but soon smiled.