Open, Gate of the Star Child, Lucy (A NaLu Fanfiction)

Chapter 5 - Summon the Star Child

[Unedited]

<>Natsu<>

‘Natsu!’

‘In here, Mira.’

My so-called-sister opened the door carrying a large brown paper bag overflowing with groceries. She bumped the door closed with her behind and set the bag down on the table. She spotted me still in bed and huffed, crossing her arms and frowning.

‘Its almost nine thirty, Natsu, what are you doing still in bed?’ she scolded, throwing back the sheets. ‘Come on; up.’

I groaned and rolled onto my stomach, ‘Gimme a break, Mira. Can’t I just stay in bed today?’

She sighed and began stowing away the food in the cupboards, ‘You say that every morning.’

‘That’s because I want to stay in bed every morning,’ I retorted tiredly, sitting up.

Mira’s eyes softened and she looked across the room at me, ‘I know this week is going to be tough, but you can do it, Natsu.’ She walked over and sat beside me on the bed. She held my face and forced me to look into her eyes, ‘We’ll be here to help you through it.’

I called Mira my sister because in the last few years, she’d acted like one. Mira was there for me in a way that no one else was. She stopped by every morning, brought me groceries once a week and brought me flyers for easy jobs around Magnolia that I used to pay rent. Erza, Gray, Wendy and a few of the others also contributed to help pay off what I couldn’t earn.

Mira got up and continued packing away the groceries. I stared at my hands sadly.

Tomorrow would be three years since my best friend, Lucy, died. We were planning a trip to the spot she was murdered; the entire guild. I knew there was supposed to be a magnificent magic display put on in her memory, but I was taking no part in it. Remembering was too painful.

‘You know, you really should think about taking a proper job again,’ Mira called from the bathroom as I pulled on my shirt.

‘Yeah, maybe,’ it was my generic response every time she suggested taking a request.

‘I’m serious, Natsu,’ she said. ‘You need to get out there. Get fired up again.’

I hadn’t been fired up for three years. It was unlikely I’d ever be fired up again. All the fire I’d ever had in me dissipated the day my best friend died.

‘Hey Naattssuu!’ a voice outside the window called.

I poked my head out the frame and looked down, spotting a familiar blonde waving from the streets below, her blue guild mark stark against her pale neck. Happy stood by her side.

‘Oh,’ I sighed. ‘Hey, Ava.’

‘Why don’t you come out for a bit?’ she shouted.

I tensed, ‘Don’t want to.’

‘Oh, come on, grumpy pants,’ she put her hands on her hips. ‘Come to the guild for a bit.’

‘Go on, Natsu,’ Mira agreed. ‘You need to be around good influences.’

‘I’d hardly call the Fairy Tail guild a good influence,’ I grumbled, standing. ‘They’re all drunks and maniacs.’

‘You used to be like that too, you know,’ Mira said quietly. ‘You’ve changed, lost sight of who you are. You used to be the fierce and powerful Natsu Dragneel of Fairy Tail. What happened to you?’

I stopped at the door, my hand hovering over the knob. My face darkened.

‘What happened to me?’ I repeated. ‘I grew up.’