Colors of our Souls

30. Friend or Foe

Gray:

After that massive fail at Phantom, the whole guild, minus Panda, Flame brain, Kari and Lucy rushed back to Magnolia.

I'm really starting to worry about her though... I swear if Natsu let her get hurt-

"Hey everyone, Natsu's back!" Max exclaims suddenly, coming inside from his sentry duty outside.

I immediately rush up the basement stairs and outside to see the Hot Head, with Lucy trailing behind, carrying Panda.

No.

"What the hell happened to her, you pyro?!" I yell, walking up to Natsu.

"She was an idiot, that's what." Pinky growls angrily.

"She is not an idiot! Now what happened?!" I ask again.

"She has a concussion, and we're not really sure how it happened, and when we asked the only answer we got was 'bubbles!' and 'squirrel!'." Lucy answers.

"Where did you come from?" I ask Lucy, realizing that I haven't heard her in a while. "And where's Kari, I thought Panda was going to get her?"

"Kari's still chained up at Phantom Lord." Natsu growls.

"Wait, what?!" I exclaim, completely shocked and confused.

"Kari and I were kidnapped by Phantom Lord because..." Lucy trails off, starting to cry. I gently lift up Panda's sleeping form from off of Lucy's back, holding her in my arms.

"Because...?" I probe, still confused.

"Because of her idiot dad." Panda breaks in suddenly. "Hey, it worked! You turned into Gray!"

"Hey, you're awake." I say, ignoring her slightly delusional talk about someone turning into me. "Seriously though, what about Lucy's dad?" I ask no one in particular.

"Who cares about that! We gotta go save Kari!" Natsu interrupts impatiently.

"Maybe we could do that if someone would just explain already, Fire Freak!" I exclaim aggravatedly.

Panda starts mumbling something Lucy and I both being here at the same time, and she sounds really confused.

"Wait... are you actually Gray?" Panda asks me.

"Umm... who else would I be?"

"I don't know, I thought you were Lucy." Panda explains.

"That's totally normal." I sigh sarcastically. "So I guess you have no clue why Lucy and Kari were kidnapped?"

"Nope!" Panda exclaims perkily, before seeming to realize something. "Wait... I think I do know..." Panda trails off.

"Could you tell me, please?" I ask, setting her on a bench just outside the ruins of our guild hall.

Panda thinks for a while before answering. "I think it was about two years ago. Me and Kari had gotten bored, and decided to go fight so random monster she had heard about.... After we beat the thing, we were heading back home when Kari just took off out of nowhere. I followed after her, and we ended up at the Heartfilia estate..."

"Wait, Lucy's a Heartfilia?" I ask, starting to understand this mess, sort of. I still don't get why they would want Kari though.

"Uh huh." Panda nods, then winces in pain and blinks a few times before continuing. "I was... waiting outside for Kari, when Lucy ran out of the big mansion, in tears-"

"I was not crying!" Lucy protests loudly, making Panda wince again.

"Well... not much." Lucy admits quietly.