Hey guys and gals! Hope you enjoy this chappie!XD May contain spoilers!!
Anyways, moving on!
I don't own Fairy Tail! If I did NaLu would've been canon since the day they met! And not to mention the many pink-haired brown-eyed babies they would have!!XD
......................................................
Previously: Lucy's eye twitched as Master's grin was directed to her, before he ended the call.
'What is that old man up to now?' Lucy thought to herself, as the whole group headed back to the two-story house to get their stuff and head to the train station.
.....................................................
.
.
.
(Normal POV)
After the group got their bags from the meeting point, they headed towards the train station, seeing how it was still early outside.
......................................................
As the mages were walking towards the train station, that was a little bit outside of town, a certain Celestial mage who was walking at the back of the group had put on a gold ring with a strange symbol on her left ring finger.
"What's that?" Gray asked besides Lucy. And just like Happy, he also refused to leave the blonde's side much to Juvia's disappointment.
"Hmm, uhh, you can say it's sort of like a free pass." Lucy hesitantly said, not really sure how to explain it, since the meaning behind the ring was a secret.
"What kind of free pass?" Happy asked, as he turned to face the blonde girl, still riding on Shadow's back.
"You'll find out soon enough." She told him, smiling slightly.
"Hmm, okay. I hope it's a free pass to buy fish." The blue exceed said, mumbling the last part and turning his attention forward.
Gray and Lucy both sweat dropped at his words.
"So, how have you been Lucy?" Gray asked, as he unconciously stripped his shirt. Lucy sighed, whether it was from the question or the stripping, who knew.
"Gray, you're shirt." Lucy deadpanned. Gray's eyes widened.
"Ahh! When did that happen?" Lucy cracked a smile, shaking her head at his antics.
"You never change do you, Gray? And to answer you're question, I've been good." Lucy softly said, once Gray put on his shirt.
"Well that's good to hear." The Ice mage smiled.
"Well, how about you? Have you been good?" Lucy asked. Gray sighed.
"Yeah, I have."
"I'm glad." Lucy smiled, glancing at him.
The group arrived at the train station, stopping to discuss an issue.
"What are we gonna do for the tickets?" Mira asked. Everyone then began taking out their money counting it, not noticing Lucy walking up to the ticket booth. She smiled at the man in uniform.
"Miss Lucy, what a surpise. What can I do for you?" The brown haired man asked, returning her smile. The Celestial mage showed him her left hand, wiggling her ring finger; her ring glowing white for a second. The man's eyes widened, before nodding.
"How many?" He asked.
"49 to Shirotsume town." Was all she said, making the man's eyes widened even more. Lucy let out a soft laugh.
"Don't worry you'll receive a great amount of pay when your paycheck comes. I just hope it isn't too much trouble for you." She said, the last part with a frown on her face.
"Err. N-no, of course not, I'll just need a minute to get the tickets ready."
"Okay, that'll be fine. Thank you." She said as the man started to walk through the door that was behind him.
"So that's your free pass." Gray mused, his hands inside his pockets as he leaned against the booth.
Lucy hummed, glancing at him and nodded her head.
"For the most part it is."
"Does that ring only give you passes to get train tickets or what?" The Ice-make mage asked. Lucy bit her bottom lip, chewing it.
"I guess. It's sort of... complicated to explain, but..." She drifted off as she didn't know what else to say. She sighed, as she rubbed her hand on her neck. Gray smiled in understanding.
"It's okay, you don't need to tell me anything you don't want to."
"It's not that I don't want to... I just... can't. I hope you understand." Lucy said, looking down at her boots. Gray came up to her and patted her head.
"Of course I understand." Lucy looked up. She let out a sigh of relief.
"Thanks." She said. Gray nodded.
"Well, here are the tickets, Miss Lucy. The next train will arrive in 15 minutes. Hope you enjoy your ride." The train worker said, handing her a stack of tickets.
"Thank you so much." Lucy said, smiling at the man, who returned her smile.
"Your welcome." And with that Lucy and Gray walked away, heading towards the group.
"Here." Lucy said as she handed the tickets to Gray, taking one out for her.
"You give these to them. I'm going to head to the bathroom." The blonde said, turning her back at Gray, who eyed her and started handing out the tickets.
"Where'd you get these tickets?" Erza asked, receiving the piece of paper handed to her. Gray was about to say that it was Lucy who got them until he heard a voice.
'Don't tell them it was me, just say that they were reserved tickets that the guild masters bought for us.' Lucy said in a hurry.
"Uhh, well the guild masters already paid for our tickets, reserving them for us." Gray managed to say, seeming convincing.
"Oh, well how kind of them." Mira said, others nodding in agreement.
..................................................................
After waiting 15 minutes, the train arrived and the mages began boarding the train.
Groups were formed and they headed towards different compartments. Lucy who has her own compartment, obviously went to hers, followed by Gray and Yukino, and of course her two best friends and Happy.
"Uwah! I never get tired of coming into your compartments Lu. They're like miniature houses." Yukino exclaimed, jumping on the queen sized bed. Lucy smiled as she sat on her desk chair, whereas Gray laid down on her couch. Shadow, Fang, and Happy joined Yukino on the bed.
"Yeah, well being rich does have its benefits." Lucy commented, as she twirled around in her chair.
"Speaking of being rich; just how did you become, well... rich? I've seen you in some magazines lately concerning the Heartfilia business, but I never really looked into it." Gray said, turning his body to face the blonde.
"A lot has happened Gray. When the time comes, I'll tell you everything." Lucy said, as she stopped twirling around in her chair, looking out the window.
Gray didn't say anything, he just nodded and closed his eyes. He was about to take a nap when he just remembered something.
"Just tell me this," Gray began. "What kind of relationship do you have with the mages of Death's Door?" Yukino flinched as Lucy turned to look at him, her face emotionless, before returning her gaze towards the window. Her headache was beginning to return. Gray looked towards Yukino, who avoided his gaze.
"I have no relationship with them. I just met them out on a mission one day, fought for awhile and then went our separate ways. Nothing more, nothing less." The blonde explained.
Gray stayed quiet, staring at the ceiling for a moment before closing his eyes for a nap.
Lucy glanced at Gray. The blonde really wanted to explain everything to him, but she just couldn't. Not now. And probably not ever.
Yukino stared at the two wolves and Happy who were already dozing off. The Sabertooth mage glanced at her best friend, concern and worry etched on her face, before taking a nap herself.
Once Lucy knew that everyone in the compartment was fast asleep, she took out her communication lacrima.
She hoped that the person she was contacting would pick up, seeing how it was night out.
"Yeah?" A gruff voice was heard on the other line.
"We've got a problem."
....................................................
(The next day)
"We will be arriving to Shirotsume town in five minutes. Please gather your belongings and wait till the train comes to a complete stop before exiting out the doors. Have a nice day." The conductor announced. The mages began gathering their stuff and making their way towards the doors. Once the train came to a complete stop, the dragon slayers ran outside grateful that the train stopped, the other mages just shook their heads and laughed at them.
It was around noon when the mages arrived, and they were just waiting on Lucy to show them where the Harding's place was located at.
"Okay, just follow me. We'll arrive at the Harding's place in a few minutes." Lucy said in a calm voice which in reality was the complete opposite of what she was feeling inside. The blonde really did not know why she had to be in charge in taking the group to the Harding's place. She did not like the attention especially if that attention meant getting hateful glares from her own guildmates.
Most mages nodded at her 'orders', whereas as few-Fairy Tail- mages just ignored her.
'Okaay.' Lucy thought, as she began leading the mages to the Harding's household. After a few minutes, the mages arrived in front of a huge golden gate where two guards were standing on either side of it.
Once the guards saw the mages and who was in front of them, they began to approach them.
"Miss Lucy, we've been expecting you." One of the guards said with a kind smile, kissing the back of the blonde's hand. The blonde blushed for a moment before regaining her composure.
"It's nice to see you too, Ian. Sam." Lucy said greeting both guards. Sam came up to her and also kissed the back of her hand, greeting her as well.
"Miss Lucy. You may enter. Mr. and Mrs. Harding are waiting for you." Sam said as the gate began to open. The mages who were watching their 'greetings' felt a little awkward as they just stood there, not knowing what to do and not to mention that a certain pink-haired mage did not like what was happening one bit.
Thankfully the gate opened so they could continue their way towards the Harding's. Once Lucy said her goodbyes to the guards, she once again began to lead the group, Shadow and Fang staying behind with Sam and Ian for awhile.
Following the trail that led to the main house, the mages quickly arrived. Before Lucy could knock, the doors slammed open, startling some mages.
"Hello! Come on in!" A tall blue eyed, black haired man, with few gray hairs wearing a black suit, greeted them.
"Ah, Lucy glad you can make it." Mr. Harding said, giving her a hug as she was the last one to enter.
"It's good to see you too Marc." Lucy said, smiling and returning the hug. After they separated, they both headed towards the main living room.
"Sit anywhere you like. Lunch is almost ready, so we'll talk about your next mission while we eat." The mages nodded as Mrs. Harding came towards her husband and Lucy.
"Sweetie. Glad you could make it. We heard that you guys had some trouble with the dark mages. Are any of you hurt?" Mrs. Harding asked, her face worried as she examined Lucy and eyed the other mages in the room who were talking with each other.
"As far as I know we're all fine." Lucy said with a small smile as she was led to sit on an unoccupied seat in the living room. "So how have you been Vivian?"
"I've been doing fantastic. Oh, how are the kids doing?" Vivian asked. At this the dragon slayers ears perked up.
Lucy's face brightened up. "They're wonderful. They're so adorable, I love them. Some even have have gotten the hang of their magic, and everything's been great lately, thanks for asking." Vivian and Marc both smiled.
"That's great to hear." Marc said. Lucy smiled. She then turned her gaze to the walls filled with pictures of friends and family. She stood up as she saw a picture of her mother and father that was hung up on the wall next to the couch she was sitting on.
After moments of staring at her parents' photo she turn to look back at Marc and Vivian who were chatting when something caught her eye.
Lucy's breath hitched as she saw a picture frame standing up on a counter in the middle of the room. Her eyes began to water, blurring her vision as she took in the picture of a boy around her age wearing a huge grin and giving her a piggy back ride. A huge smile adorned her face while she wrapped her arms around the black haired boy's neck.
Lucy's hair shadowed her eyes as she bit her trembling lip preventing her from crying. A throbbing pain shot up to her skull before fading away. Vivian, noticing her behavior, quickly got up and turned the picture frame so it was laying down on its front.
Some of the mages grew curious at what was happening. Marc grabbed Lucy by the shoulders before leading her to another room where her tears finally managed to fall.
"I'm sorry you had to see that." Marc said in a soft voice. Lucy shook her head not wanting to look up. She took in a shaky breath.
"N-no. It's just that e-ever since h-he d-d-disappeared, I haven't had a clue in where to f-find him." Lucy managed to say through her tears.
"I know you'll find him. Don't worry. He'll show up sooner or later." Marc whispered, pulling the blonde mage into his arms. The blonde stayed there crying on his shoulder before calming down. She took a deep breath before pulling away from the embrace.
"Thank you. I really needed that." She gave Mr. Harding a watery smile.
"You know you always have a shoulder to cry on if you ever need it." He stated getting up from the bed they were sitting at. Lucy smiled before quickly following suit knowing that they had to get back to business.
"Let's get going now, shall we?" Mr. Harding said with an eyebrow raised extending his hand at the door. Lucy let out a soft laugh before saying, "we shall."
Once the two got back to the main living room, they were greeted by a worried Vivian who relaxed once she saw a smiling Lucy, thinking that everything was okay, for now.
"Lunch is ready." A maid said entering the living room. Marc nodded before turning his attention to the mages.
"Alright guys, follow me to the dining room. Lunch is served." He announced. The mages got up and began following the Harding's. Natsu and Sting, who where chanting about food, were both hit in the back of their heads by Erza, obviously, and Rogue, who shook his head at his partner's idiocy.
Yukino and Gray stayed behind as they saw Lucy staring intently at the turned down picture frame. Yukino walked up to the counter while Gray walked towards Lucy.
"Are you okay?" The Ice-make mage asked. Lucy bit her cheek before nodding, "I will be." She turned around just as Yukino turned over the picture.
Yukino gasped, her eyes widening. "Oh Lucy." She muttered, placing the photo back to the position she found it in.
"We should get going. The others are probably waiting for us." The Heartfilia heiress said walking out of the living room, Gray and Yukino following her lead. Even though Gray was confused of the whole picture situation he was still worry about Lucy, and it was clearly evident on his face, the same going for Yukino.
Once they arrived they took their seats at the long dining table, their food already served on silver plates. Lucy sat on the left side of Marc at the end of the table while Vivian sat on the right side whereas Gray and Yukino sat with their teammates.
"Now then. Since we are all here, let me explain to you your next mission." Mr. Harding began, pointedly staring at each mage, everyone listening closely.
"What is it?" Natsu asked his face stuffed with food, gaining a glare from Erza. Mr. Harding smirked playing with his ring, similar to the one Lucy has, on his left hand. Lucy raised an eyebrow at this gesture, glancing at Vivian who just gave her a small smile.
"You're next mission will be... that you all have to attend a ball."
..............................................................
So what'd you think? It may seem a little confusing at the moment, but there will be clarification in later chapters. And I realized that I made some major grammatical errors in my earlier chapters, and to be honest it sucks so sorry about that but after I'm done with this story, I'll edit it and whatnot. Anyway, sorry for the late update!!XD Until next time!
- PrismRoot_Starlight