Fire Heart

Chapter Fifteen

The next couple of weeks were pretty peaceful. Lucy wasn't sure what was taking Paradis so long to figure out that the heart was gone, but she wasn't complaining. The longer the better, then things can be peaceful longer. Natsu thinks they're taking so long because they don't have a celestial mage to use the key, which was why Lucy wasn't allowed to leave the guild hall. Because Paradis may come after her. Although, not being able to leave wasn't new. She wasn't ever able to leave before.

It was early in the afternoon and Lucy was sitting at the bar next to Fruity. And yes, he is nicknamed that for the exact reason you're thinking.

"The cherry blossoms are fully bloomed now," Fruity said. "Have you gotten to see them yet?"

"No," Lucy answered. "I'm not allowed to leave the guild."

"Oh! That's a shame. You should ask to leave just this once. I'm sure Salamander would let you leave for a while."

Lucy wasn't so sure about that, but she supposed that there was no harm in asking. She actually wanted to go back to her old apartment to grab a couple things. And she wanted to go to the Maid Café to see if Levy was working. She missed Levy terribly, and Levy had the right to know what had happened to Lucy.

Natsu was in his room playing a card game with Happy. Lucy smiled at the sight. She loved seeing Natsu doing normal things.

"Hey, Lucy!" Happy said when she walked into the room.

"Hey, Luce," Natsu said not looking at her. He seemed to be concentrating pretty hard on that card game.

"Hey, guys, um, I was wondering if it would be okay if I left the guild for a while." Lucy said.
Natsu snapped his head up to look at her. "What? By yourself?"

"Well, yeah. I won't be gone long," Lucy reassured him.

"I'm still not so sure that it's safe."

Lucy sighed. Sometimes Natsu's protective gene could be annoying. She didn't want to have to use the next trick, but he left her no choice. "I'm the queen of this guild, right?"

Natsu narrowed his eyes at her. "Yeah."

"Then shouldn't I be able to go where I want when I want? I can protect myself you know."

"Fine," Natsu said in defeat. "But be back soon."

Lucy smiled at him. "Sure."

❤ ❤ ❤

The maid café was closest to the guild, so Lucy decided she would go there first, before going to her apartment and then looping back to see the cherry blossoms before returning to the guild. Hopefully Levy was working, or else Lucy would have to come back tomorrow. But the second she walked through the Maid Café door, Levy came running out of the kitchen to hug Lucy tightly.

"Oh, Lucy! Thank goodness you're okay!" Levy said holding Lucy at arm's length. "So, is it true? Were you really captured by the Fire Heart guild?"

"Yes, it's true," Lucy said laughing at Levy's reaction to seeing her.

"Wow! So, wait, how did you get away? Aren't you a slave to them now? Are you being hunted right now?"

Lucy shook her head. "No, I was allowed to leave. And I will be returning later."

Levy wrinkled her eyebrows in confusion. "You were allowed to leave? And you're going back to that awful place? How come?"