I couldn't speak or breath for another minute. He...he really was starting to like me? That's when I moved my eyes downward along with my head.
No.
I couldn't have him fall for me. For more reasons than one. As much as this was a dream come true for me, I really didn't belong in this world. Plus...he already had someone. Lucy.
I looked back up to smile at him. "I get that a lot, too." I said.
"Huh?" He blinked in confusion.
"I feel really funny a lot, too. And the way you touch me makes me feel that way. It's normal with friends. It just means that they care about each other a lot."
"Really? Huh." He put a hand behind his head. "I guess that makes sense." He grinned at me widely. "Thanks for explaining it to me." I nodded, and he turned back around towards Happy and Lucy. "Hey, Luce! I changed my mind!"
I felt tears in my eyes as my chest ached with pain. I could have chosen to tell the truth about his feelings, but of course, I didn't. I put a fist on my chest, shaking. My heart felt like it was ripped to shreds for what I just did.
But then I looked up again, and saw Natsu and Lucy eating together with Happy. I watched them for what seemed like an hour, and my heart gradually became whole again. I smiled. Even though I may not have been with him, I knew that he would have been just as happy with Lucy, maybe even happier. When I told myself that, the pain was still there, but nowhere near as strong as before. As long as I didn't lose him as a best friend, that was good enough for me.
I walked over to them after a few minutes. "Everything good here?" I asked.
"Yep!" Natsu grinned widely.
"What about you?" Lucy asked in concern.
"I'm fine." I gave her a sweet smile. "I'll tell you about it later."
She smiled then. "Sure. Grab yours and let's eat together!"
I sat with them as we ate and chat, hearing the stories of what they did while I was gone. Nothing major happened, but they did go on a bunch of jobs together. I was smiling and laughing the whole time, and I truly felt like I was back home again. "Sounds like you guys did have a lot of fun."
"Yeah, but it would have been even better with you. We even had a few clients ask us about you and your friends." Natsu had already eaten his five sandwiches and was stretching his arms up above his head.
I chuckled. "It's funny how gossip spreads quickly about someone."
Lucy sneered. "Yeah, and it's not in the good way most of the time."
"Is that because of the time you lost all but your underwear in the guild hall that one time from a spell gone wrong?" I laughed when Lucy went beat red. "I knew it!"
"Shut up!" She yelled and smacked my arm. "That's uncalled for!"
"Come on, it's not like it wasn't the first time it's happened!" The way Natsu said it made me laugh even harder.
"Yeah, Lucy just looooves to be sexy!" Happy had his paws over his mouth as he floated next to Natsu.
"Shut it, cat!!" Lucy had her fists balled in anger.
"Okay, okay." I held my hands up. "Let's not get too heated in this."
"Having fun?" Gray walked up with Juvia tailing closely behind.
I smiled. "Yeah, we are." I stood up. "But it's time to get going now."
"You're right." Lucy stood up. "We need to make sure those Pokémon are safe."
~~~
When we arrived in front of the Sabertooth guild hall, I could feel the familiar energy of Fairy Tail's guild hall coming from inside. It even looked similar to ours on the outside. "This is Sabertooth?"
"Yeah." Natsu came up and put his hands on his hips. "Two more dragon slayers work here too. Sting and Rogue."
"And another celestial wizard named Yukino too," Lucy added.
"They're good friends of ours. They've had our backs for awhile now." Gray finished.
"Good," I smiled. "That means the Pokémon are fine then. We should find them quickly."
I stepped into the hall with everyone behind me, and there were only a few differences from Fairy Tail that I saw. People weren't fighting as much, but everyone was having fun either talking or eating with each other. I stepped further in when I looked around.
"Hey, Natsu!" I turned to see a boy with blonde hair and a bright smile hold his hand up to wave. "How ya doing?"
"What up, Sting?" He smiled and waved back. "Long time no see!"
"For sure!" He stepped up to us. "What are you doing here?"
"Huh? You mean no one told you?" I asked him.
"Told us what?" A different boy with black long hair and black clothes stepped up next to Sting. "We've never even met before."
"Rogue, don't be rude." Sting sweat-dropped.
I looked at Rogue. "We heard that you've been finding creatures that have never been seen before. Is that correct?"
Sting and Rogue widened their eyes. "What? You know about them?"
I nodded. "I've come to take them back to bring them home."
"We all have," Lucy stepped up next to me to cross her arms.
"What exactly are they?" Sting asked.
I looked down, and Eevee came out from behind my legs. They widened their eyes in shock again. "They're called Pokémon, and I am a trainer. They're not from this world, just like me. That's why I need to make sure they're okay and take them home. My name's Elena Throwbell."
"She's also a member of Fairy Tail, in case you didn't know. We treat her like she's part of the guild as much as her Pokémon." Gray said.
"What's going on here?" A girl came up this time with short light blue hair and light blue eyes. Her outfit made her look like a Swanna a little bit.
"Yukino!" Lucy skipped up to her. "How are you?"
"I'm doing well," she smiled. "But what are you guys doing here?"
"We were just talking about the creatures that suddenly appeared not too long ago," Sting answered.
"Oh, right!" Yukino exclaimed. "We have no idea what they are or where they came from."
"Can you take us to them?" I asked.
They loosened their faces for some odd reason. "What? Now?"
I narrowed my eyes in suspicion. "Yes...why do you think I asked?"
"Well..." Sting and Rogue looked away with fearful faces.
I widened my eyes in surprise and fear. "What have you been doing to them?" I asked in anger. They didn't answer. "Take us to them." They looked at me again in fear themselves. "Now."
"Sting, we have to." Yukino agreed.
He looked down in shame. "Fine." He turned and starting walking towards the back of the hall. I followed close behind, heart beating close to out of my chest. If they've done anything to those poor Pokémon...
It seemed like forever until we finally came down to a cellar. But as I looked around, I noticed that it was more like a dungeon. There were cells in either side, and I pushed Sting out of the way to get a much closer look as I stepped forward in fear. As I looked back and forth one more time, I saw a familiar figure of a Kangaskhan that was laying down in pain.
I gasped in shock, and ran to the railing of the cage. "Kangaskhan!" I said. It opened it's eyes just a little bit, and lifted it's head to cry softly. It's baby from the pouch also squeaked as it lifted its head in pain.
Lucy and Natsu as well as Gray and Juvia all looked shocked as I spun around with anger. "What have you done to them?!" I screamed. They just stared at me in horror. "Answer me!"
"Ellie-" I glared sharply at Lucy.
"Look at what they did! That Pokémon is in a lot of pain! I can't even imagine what they did to the others they found!" My nostrils flared as I looked back at the two Saber Tooth guild members. "Eevee, Hyper Beam!" I waited for her to let off the energy, but nothing came. My fists clenched. I glared at her angrily. "Did you hear me? I said Hyper Beam!" She just shook her head in disagreement and fear. "That's an order!!"
"Elena!" Natsu growled. I loosened my face a bit and looked at him. His arms were crossed in disappointment. "What exactly are you trying to prove?" I loosened my face more. "How do you think Eevee would feel if she did something like that?"
I clenched my fists again. "They deserve it!" I yelled. "This Kangaskhan has a baby for crying out loud!"
"What are you even saying?!" Rogue stepped forward. "What's a Kangaskhan?"
"That!" I pointed sharply. "Is a Kangaskhan! It's one Pokémon that you have all been finding! I came to make sure that it was healthy and safe, and what do I find? She's laying on the floor in the most excruciating pain along with her very young newborn!" The tears now began to fall again. Lucy grabbed my side, but I pushed her away. I was furious to the core with what was happening. I needed to see the others to make sure they weren't hurt more or worse. "Where's the rest?" I hissed. They hesitated. "I said...where's the rest?!"
Sting let out a sigh, and swiftly started walking towards the back more. Each cage had up to three Pokémon that were all starving or had been beaten very badly. I couldn't breath or speak, and Lucy shared the same shock with me when she saw the others.
"Yukino..." she said in fright. "What have you done to them?"
"We only did it because we thought they were dangerous." She lowered her head. "You have to believe us. We didn't know they were so special to you until you came. Since they used so much magic against us, we had no choice but to confine them and weaken them to make sure they didn't hurt any people here."
"By beating them senseless and starving them?!" Even Gray was furious now. "They're innocent creatures that were just scared!"
"No one should go through this even if they're not supposed to be here!" Juvia chimed in.
"We only did it to protect our town and guild!" Sting countered. "We had no idea what they were! For all we know they could have killed innocent people!" Rogue stood next to him with glaring eyes.
"Then you should have just kept them hidden instead of beating them." I said through my teeth. "That's what Fairy Tail did, and it sure as hell is what you should have done!"
"Ellie, let's just get them and go," Lucy told me. "We don't need to make this any worse." She had her arms crossed, and I nodded to her after taking s deep breath to finally cool myself down. I took out every pokéball and caught every Pokémon one by one. Since they were already weak, I didn't bother Eevee again, which made me even more mad. When the last one was back with me, I stormed towards the stairs that led up into the guild hall again and Lucy followed behind me without a word.
"You should have never done that," I heard Natsu say to Sting. I stopped to listen, Lucy, Gray and Juvia doing the same. "She's right, they didn't deserve it."
"We told you, Natsu! We didn't know anything about them!" Sting said.
"You hurt Ellie's friends!" He said fiercely. "And for that you better watch your back."