Mermaid Tail {A NaLu AU}

Chapter 7: Unsure Future

However, what had Lucy so concerned was the pain in her legs.

She had noticed it when she'd climbed down the hammock this morning, a day after the one containing the festival. It was only a dull ache, but one noticeable enough to make her question it. Was it from dancing? Was she using them too much? Lucy was pretty sure you could overuse legs, but not that quickly. She was rubbing the muscles, which seemed to relieve the pain, and she sighed in relief, the annoyance gone for now but the strangeness of it remaining.

Standing, she took place at the front of the deck, resting her elbows on the wood. The water was clear for as far as she could see, but she knew that by the time night would fall, they would reach their next obstacle: the Lost Mist. If one sailed into it without a guide, they would either crash into the rocks or magically end up back where they started. There was a certain path through the water one had to take, and it was a tough one. She needed to get the others together before they ventured inside the mist and prepare them. She wasn't going to have a repeat of the sirens, that was for certain.

Yet her mind wandered as she looked at the view, Natsu's sailing smooth. There weren't many obstacles left in their adventure, and after that, she'd have to say goodbye to both the Fairy Tail and her crew that inhabited her; not to mention she'd even have to say goodbye to the open waters. Her father would surely never let her out again, and besides that, she needed to find a way for her father to give her the stone.

It seemed impossible.

But...did she even want to leave?

It seemed as if the day went by very slowly, despite the fact that Lucy knew where they were going. She had shown the coordinates for Levy and Wendy, though all she had done was point at a map. From there, Natsu and Erza took turns steering the ship, giving the pinkette a break time to do what he wanted, which consisted of him checking on the other crew and making sure everything was running smoothly.

Lucy was looking out over the bow of the ship, the sea breeze making her long hair a nuisance. Looking down at the water, she was waiting for the feeling to come over her; the creeping sensation that alerted mermaids to the Lost Mist hazing over the area. Since the ocean was her home, she could sense different changes within the area, and she was planning on relying on that to get to the starting point of the Lost Mist. As she concentrated, she grasped the stone around her neck in an attempt to comfort herself.

"Oi, notice anything yet?"

The blonde blinked out of her haze and looked up, Natsu leaning against the railing next to her. The breeze was doing a number on his hair, what with it blowing it everywhere. However, it already naturally stuck up in all directions, so Lucy supposed it wasn't really going to do any harm. Natsu's long coat that was draped over his shoulders was waving in the breeze, and his sheath was propped on his right hip. The girl's mind flashed to the other night, when they had finished dancing, and he'd been about to say something.

Lucy propped her hand on her cheek lazily, releasing the hold on her necklace. "Not yet. But once we get there, we need to make a plan. The Lost Mist won't be easy to get through."

Plue flew in the sky ahead of her, and he squawked as he soared up above them. The sun was beginning to sink towards the horizon, and the sky was a light blue with a touch of orange beginning to appear.

"We'll be fine," Natsu encouraged, smirking. "And then it won't be long until you get home!"

Lucy's eyes softened slightly in hesitancy. "Yeah...home..."