Lucy Heartfilia
~One Year Later~
"Uuwaah! I don't know what to write!" Lucy lamented and leaned back in her chair in frustration. God, she only has one, stupid, lame paragraph written out of the minimum of twelve! And her deadline is quickly coming up! Uughhh, she really needs that money to pay for her new house, and without this money, she could kiss the air conditioning goodbye, which would definitely not be a good thing since it's the middle of the summer! Just thinking about it made her stomach churn grossly under her skin. Why on Earth did she decide that becoming a journalist was a good idea!?
Lucy plopped her head down on her desk and began crying anime tears. "I should have just become a teacher or something..." she whined.
Happy, who was sitting on her bed with a fish in his paws, stopped his merry munching to frown at Lucy. "Hey, Lushee, don't be too hard on yourself," he said and extended the half-eaten fish out to her with that cute little grin of his. "Have a fish! It always calms me down whenever I'm having a hard day!"
The smell alone was enough for Lucy to turn up her nose. "Ugh, no thanks, Happy. Thank you anyway," she said and buried her nose in the crook of her arm to block out the stench. Happy shrugged and took another bite of his fish.
"What type of article are you writing again?" he asked with a full mouth.
Lucy lifted her head with a sigh. "I'm writing about the new top guild in Fiore," she said. "Honestly, I don't get what's so exciting about this new guild. They seem like a bunch of jerks." She knew how biased that sounded, but it was true. The guild Skull Milione was strong, sure, but they were brutish and were notorious for their bad tempers and lack of mercy to enemies. Writing anything promoting their guild was physically sickening her.
She sighed again, "They're becoming so famous now that writing this article is absolutely mandatory and necessary for my career."
Happy hummed and took another thoughtful bite out of his fish. For a moment, they were quiet, but when Happy spoke next, his voice was almost a whisper, "I wonder how everyone is doing."
Lucy's heart dropped painfully at the thought. She'd gone a solid week without thinking about everyone, but as always, the memory came back to kick her out of the blue (literally). Not even a day after the Tartaros incident, Master announced that Fairy Tail was to be disbanding. As if the disbandment of her home wasn't bad enough, Gray was sullen faced as he limply held Natsu's scarf in his hands and revealed the true identity of their beloved slayer. She still couldn't believe Natsu was the infamous E.N.D., the thing everyone-- even Acnologia!-- feared.
It didn't make sense, but at the same time it did.
The reason why Natsu was unable to pass through the runes during the Fairy Tail Civil War, the reason he never seemed unable to run out of energy, why almost every enemy they've ever faced called him a "demon" or a "monster"... It was all because Natsu was some ancient evil. Nobody knows where Natsu-- or E.N.D.-- was now, only that he disappeared after killing Mard Geer in an apparent brutal way (Lucy never quite believed that last part). There were some reported incidents some months ago about cities burning to the ground by some sorts of flying monster, though Lucy held onto hope that it wasn't Natsu. Sure, he was destructive, and reckless, and maybe a little bit crazy, but he would never incinerate an entire city of civilians. Right?
Natsu's scarf was wrapped around Happy's neck, now, and Happy would never go anywhere without it. He was almost as protective as Natsu was, maybe even more.
"I wish we can get the guild back together again," Happy continued. "I still have so many questions, like why Master disbanded the guild, and..." he paused with a gulp, "... where Natsu went..."
Lucy would give anything to get an answer to those questions. The case of Natsu's disappearance was at least somewhat logical, but Master? Suddenly disbanding out of the blue and going God knows where? It was fishy, beyond fishy, really. Ugh, as if the article wasn't giving her a headache enough, now she's subconsciously returned to trying to solve the apparent unsolvable puzzle. She has so many theories and questions buzzing around in her head, sleep seemed like a distant possibility.
Lucy got up from her desk and stretched her arms out above her head with a yawn. "I think I've done enough thinking for one day, Happy. I'll finish my work tomorrow," she said, and Happy nodded his head with a quiet "Aye".
Lucy walked into her bathroom and took a long, warm bath before getting dressed and ready for bed. By the time she returned to her bedroom, Happy was already dozing off on her bed. Lucy turned off the lights, climbed into bed, and held the blue cat close to her.
It was only through smelling the old, familiar scent of ash and pine that she was able to fall asleep.
////
Today was going to be an annoying day, that much Lucy was certain about.
Not only did she have to dress nice and wander in the streets in her God forsaken heels, but she had to go to the Grand Magic Games without participating! At all! It was infuriating, especially since the only reason she was even allowed into that stadium was because of her job with Sorcerer Weekly. Skull Milione... She'd really would rather doing those lame polls on the Top 10 Sexiest Wizards.
"Lushee, you're frowning," Happy pointed out from his place on her shoulder, and Lucy forced herself to take a deep breath, though the tension between her brows refused to let up. She smiled at Happy.
"Sorry, Happy. I guess I didn't sleep all that well," she said, but Happy didn't seem convinced if that frown of his was anything to go by. Thankfully, he said nothing more as Lucy came up to the front desk and handed the clerk her tickets. She was allowed in and quickly made her way to the announcer's box. Even though she was an hour early, the stadium was more than halfway full with civilians. Watching them look down at the arena below filled her gut with a bitter sense of nostalgia.
"It doesn't seem that long ago, huh?" Happy asked, and Lucy nodded her head gravely. People all over the stadium were separated with colorful posters and T-shirts bearing the insignia of their respective guilds, some of them old, most of them new. It didn't seem like that long ago when people were wearing Fairy Tail's merch.
Fairy Tail...
"Yeah," Lucy agreed sadly. "It really doesn't."
They continued on their way to the announcer's box at snail's pace. Lucy was so lost in her memories that she didn't notice the voice calling her name until Happy poker her shoulder. She stopped and turned to face Jason, apparently her boss wasn't as timely as she was either. The blond man smiled that award winning smile at her.
"Lucy! Good morning!" Jason greeted cheerfully, and Lucy couldn't help but smile back at him.
"Good morning, Jason," Lucy greeted politely. "Need help with anything?"
"Not really, I just wanted to hear about the progress you've made on the Skull Milione article," Jason said and Lucy coughed awkwardly.
"I- um," she stammered. "I- I- I haven't written the actual article yet, I'm still gathering more info!"
Jason sighed and crossed his arms as his expression soured slightly. "You promised to have the draft done by today, Lucy," he said.
"I- I know, but I still don't know what to write! Writer's block is a pain, you know," Lucy tried laughing off her unease, but Jason didn't seem like he was buying any of it.
"I know, Lucy, but you have three days left to give me the actual article. I need to know your progress. You are our best author, after all."
Lucy knew that he meant the last part as a compliment, but right then she only felt a deflating sense of frustration. Not with Jason, no way, but with herself. The truth is that she already had all the information she needed, including interviews with some locals and even the guild members of Skull Milione themselves. She was ready, but she couldn't write. She can't especially with knowing that Skull Milione was now number one instead of...
Lucy sighed and nodded her head. "I understand," she managed to grit out. "I'll contact you as soon as I get the first draft done."
Jason's expression softened and he offered her a crooked grin. "Thank you, Lucy. Make sure to give it to me by six, alright?" he said, and again, Lucy nodded.
"Sure thing."
Lucy walked to the chair on the far left of the box, a chair that had her name written on the back rest. She took a seat and let out the sigh she didn't know she had been holding in. Jason watched her for a moment then turned to the door. He opened it halfway and paused, apparently thinking over something for a moment before he looked over at Lucy.
"Hey, Lucy?" he asked.
"Yeah, Jason?" she said. He gave her an award-winning smile.
"I know things are rough now, especially with the Games, but you'll be alright! You're not the type to give up!" he laughed and gave her a thumbs up. Before she could marvel at how well he read her, he stepped out into the stadium and closed the door behind him.
Then, it was just her and Happy.
"Wow," Happy observed and hopped down from Lucy's shoulder onto the floor beside her. He stared after Jason with his surprised expression mirroring Lucy's. "I never knew Jason could be so empathetic. I thought he was just some raging fanboy."
Lucy shot the blue cat a stern look. "Happy!" she warned, and he shrugged.
"What? All of us were thinking it!" he replied innocently before reaching into his pack and pulling out a fish. He took a bite and let out a happy sigh. "Besides, you're not exactly keeping anything secret."
Lucy puffed out her cheeks defiantly. "Oh? And what's that?"
"You're not writing about Skull Milione because you're still hung up about Fairy Tail."
It was like a punch in the gut. Something must have shifted in her expression, because Happy scoffed triumphantly. "See? You're like an open book!" he said through a mouthful of fish.
She rolled her eyes with a pout. "Of course I am, Happy. I know I didn't grow up there, but that place felt like--"
"--Home?"
Lucy bowed her head and looked at her hands clasped in her lap. At the pink guild mark on the back of her right hand. "Yeah..." she confirmed, and Happy's munching stopped. "Before I found the guild, I didn't even know what a home was. My father's manor, my apartment... those places were just buildings to me. I never felt happy in them, I never felt safe or secure, but then Fairy Tail came and I finally, finally found out where I really belonged... Well, I did, and now it's gone."
Lucy looked up to see Happy's expression, finding it uncharacteristically sober on the cat's face. His fish lay forgotten by his paws, and he instead stared down at the white cloth wrapped around his body like a small sash. Happy held onto Natsu's scarf tightly like a lifeline.
"I miss the guild, Lushee," Happy said in a wobbly voice. Snot began dripping from the cat's nose, quickly followed by tears dripping from his cheeks. "I miss Natsu...!"
His voice broke on the name, and Happy buried his face into Natsu's scarf with the most heartbreaking cry Lucy had ever heard from the cat. Lucy didn't even hesitate, she reached down for the blue cat and quickly brought him in for a hug, and Happy pressed himself closer against her chest with his body shaking terribly. Lucy didn't bother fighting the tears that threatened her eyes, and instead allowed them to flow freely and drip into Happy's blue fur.
"I know," she whispered into his fur. "I miss them, too, Happy... I miss him, too..."
Happy pulled back from her embrace and reached up to grab her cheeks with his small blue paws. His puffy red eyes met hers. "I- I don't want our story to end like this, Lushee...!" he croaked. "I- I want the guild to come back! I- I want... I wanna see Natsu again!"
Lucy knew immediately what the cat was saying, and she quickly ducked her eyes away from his. "Happy... I- I know, I miss the guild, but... it's been a year, everyone's probably off doing their own thing: Wendy's off at Lamia Scale, the Strauss siblings own a restaurant, Master's gone, and Natsu..."
Where was Natsu now? How is he? Is he still the same person she'd met all those years ago? Natsu was the reason she joined Fairy Tail in the first place, Natsu was the reason she was still out here living on her own, and Natsu was the reason she decided to become stronger. He meant everything to her, and not knowing how he was now was honestly terrifying, even more so than knowing... what he really is.
"I know everyone's feeling the same way we do," Happy pressed. "We lived together, we fought together, we grew together... We can't pretend all those years never mattered, Lushee! Even if Master is gone, even if Natsu really is a demon, we're still family, and family needs to be together!"
Lucy's sniffles quickly died and she stared down at the cat with amazement. Slowly, a smile graced her features, and she scratched Happy behind the ear with her thumb. "You really are Natsu's cat," she said, and Happy smiled the biggest smile she'd seen him wear in a year.
"C'mon, Lushee. Let's get our family back."