part 4. [cont. from Where is Lucy ->]
Natsu and Happy stand wait outside the guildhall door’s of Blue Pegasus debating the best way to approach Anna Heartfilia. The pair knows Gajeel may already have a head start but the boys know Anna is their best resource to find Lucy.
“Are you suuuure you wanna do this?” Happy asks uneasy about seeing Ichiya and the Three Idiots. Remembering the last time they were here the boys were forced to dress in penguin suits and be escorts to random people.
A job the boys were not wanting a repeat of.
“Anna is our best chance to find Lucy,” Natsu states fiercely.
“Aye sir!” Happy nods matching Natsu’s bravado.
Natsu knocks and the guild’s doors swing open.
“Welcome to Blue Pegasus, how can we—oh Natsu and Happy. What are you guys doing here?” Hibiki asks cocking his head to the side. Before the pair can answer Hibiki’s eyes light up, “I know! You’re here for the entertainment!”
“Huh?” The duo asks in confusion.
“Places everyone we have newcomers!” Hibiki announces ignoring them and pulls the boys inside before shutting the door behind them, the lights clicking off and a spotlight shining on Jenny who is standing on a center stage.
There are other customers sitting in the booths that allow them a view of Jenny. All the men drool and stare with wide eyes. Natsu and Happy begin trying to sneak away but Hibiki forced them to stay in their spot.
“Hey man we’re just looking for Anna,” Natsu complains.
“We’ll tell you where she is after you watch our number,” Hibiki says, “Don’t move!” He tells the best friends as he runs to join the other two, Eve and Ren, who are background dancers to Jenny.
Jenny begins singing a soulful song and with each line she begins stripping her clothes. Natsu’s eye twitches, “Let’s get out of here Happy,” Natsu states turning to leave when Ichiya blocks them from the doors to freedom.
“Meeeennnn,” he croons while striking his signature pose, “What brings Sir Natsu and Sir Happy to our humble guild hall?”
“We’re looking for Anna,” Happy states using his exceed wings to hover.
“Lady Anna is at the school as we speak. She is in the middle of teaching a class on the outskirts of town,” Ichiya informs the two while stepping back and forth in that small dance he does.
“Great we’ll find it ourselves,” Natsu states pushing past Ichiya to escape the torturous performance.
“You don’t want to watch the rest of Jenny’s performance?” Ichiya questions.
“No thanks,” Natsu quickly denies causing Jenny to send a glare at his back as the duo quickly ventures off.
“How will we know which direction to go?” Happy asks as he soars next to Natsu.
“My nose, duh!” Natsu grins as he easily picks up Anna’s scent and begins tracking her, “We’ll find her in no time.”
The duo manages to reach the teacher in the middle of her outdoor activities with her youngest class. She is chasing a few of the children in a game of tag, some of them even using magic to get away from the others.
“Yo! Anna!” Natsu greets as Happy is instantly attacked by the children’s grubby hands and all try taking turns to ride and pet the exceed.
“Natsu and Happy what a pleasant surprise, what can I do for you two?” Anna asks kindly as she picks up one of the students off of Happy but the others are relentless in their chase to catch him.
It still surprises Natsu how much she and Lucy look and smell alike. It makes him smile at how different they are in personality. While Anna is refined and graceful, Lucy is brash and rowdy much like the guild she joined, which he likes far better than how she was the first time he met her. He remembers she would be haughty and scared of nearly everything but she’s changed. She isn’t scared anymore and isn’t the princess she was supposed to be. He wonders what she would be like if she had stayed at her estate. What he didn’t like to think about was if he had never met her at all.
“We’re looking for Lucy,” Natsu states pulling himself out of his thoughts, “She’s been gone a few days now and we aren’t sure where she is.”
Anna’s face changes then as she recalls where her relative is. “Did she say how long she would be gone?”
“She only left us a note about being gone for a week,” Natsu shares.
“A week?” Anna echoes unsure if that time would be too long for poor Lucy.
“Do you know where she is?” Natsu questions wondering what is with all the secrecy.
“Yes she, um...” Anna trails off trying to decide if it would be appropriate for her to tell him where she is. After all, Lucy had turned down her offer to accompany her to Acalypha. Anna looks to Natsu and can see the desperate look behind his eyes.
“I need to know where she is so I can beat Gajeel to her!” Natsu says competitively as he shakes a fist to the sky as if Gajeel could see him.
So that’s why he looks so determined, Anna thinks with a funny smile.
“Natsu help!” Happy cries as the children have now somehow managed to tie him up and have gone to tossing his precious fishies back and forth as a game with each other.
Natsu starts laughing, “They sure got the jump on you didn’t they buddy.”
“Hey why are you talking to Miss Anna?” One of the children with wild blonde hair asks looking up at Natsu with scrutiny.
“I’ve got to find a friend kiddo,” Natsu answers raising one eyebrow as he looks down at the boy.
“I’m not a kid!” The boy shouts looking to Anna with a blush, “I’m a mature man just like the wizards at Blue Pegasus. More mature than you are clearly.”
“You think those weirdos are mature?” Natsu mutters, “Wait a second!”
“If it’s Miss Anna you want, then I’ll fight you for her!” The boy challenges Natsu.
“Oh yeah? Bring it on!” Natsu grins.
Anna only laughs, “Now boys there will be no fights while I’m the teacher here. Reo it’s time to go inside anyway. Why don’t you go ahead and pick out a book for me to read to the rest of the class?”
The blonde haired boy nods fiercely, “Right away Miss Anna!” He agrees and leaves to the classroom.
“Alright children that’s enough rough housing for today let’s get back inside for our story time!” Anna orders the class as she opens the door for them. They all cheer with excitement to learn more from Anna and rush inside the school house.
“That snot-nosed kid,” Natsu grumbles.
“I’m afraid I don’t have much time but I can tell you where Lucy is. She will need her friends most today,” Anna says with a sorrowful look.
The morning for Lucy was long. She was tossing and turning all night after she had finished her writing. She wasn’t sure why she was so anxious. All she knew was that the moment she saw her parents it would melt away. Luckily, the sun was out and brighter than ever. Despite the cold snow and air the sun was keeping Lucy’s face warm from its rays.
She spent time in the market getting items for her picnic, but when she tried to find two flower bouquets for her parents the shops were out of stock. All that were left were empty vases and wilted stems.
“I’m sorry I couldn’t get you flowers,” she tells her parents now standing before their gravestones with a sad smile, “I’m also sorry I couldn’t face either of your for so long,” Lucy admits sniffling.
The celestial wizard turns recognizing the voice and is in awe of the bouquets of flowers in Loke’s arms.
“Loke? What are you doing here?” She asks.
“These flowers are from all of us,” he explains holding them out to her, “Plue told us you were in need of flowers before you closed his gate and we all chipped in with some flowers from the celestial spirit world.”
Lucy gazes at them in awe as she gently takes them from Loke. In the sun the chrysanthemums twinkle and almost glow beautiful shades of purple and blue that remind her of the skies in the celestial spirit world. The stems are long and have leaves that are a vibrant green against the snow.
Lucy feels tears building in the corner of her eyes, “Thank you so much,” she tells Loke as she meets his eyes, “They’re beautiful. You all did an amazing job putting them together.”
“Plue said you’ve been upset and we all wanted to try and ease the pain,” Loke admits and gives her a glistening smile, “You’re far too beautiful to have permanent frown lines and puffy eyes so if it will make you feel better I’m willing to go out with you now,” he says putting a gentle finger under Lucy’s chin and leans incredibly close to her.
“You never give up,” Lucy rolls her eyes as she swats his hand away from her and begins placing the flowers on the graves. She dusts the snow off of tombstones and gives them a sad smile as she places the stunning bouquets down. “I wish I could talk to you both...one more time,” Lucy tells them with a sad smile, “I’ve gone on so many adventures and made even more friends. I think you’d be proud of me Father. I never got to thank you Mother for the sacrifice you made for me...” Lucy trails off and feels the tears sliding down her cheeks as she wipes at them.
Loke puts a gentle hand on her shoulder and helps stand her up as he does a quick dark movement flashes across Loke’s periphreal vision.
“Lucy look out!” Loke exclaims and pushes her out of harms way causing a metal clawed hand that is connected to a chain digs into his side and the wielder of the the weapon pulls back causing a gash to form in his side.
“Loke!” Lucy cries out for her celestial spirit.
“Damn it!” Loke grunts and disappears back to the celestial spirit world leaving Lucy alone.
“Surprise!” A voice shouts with enthusiasm, “Well, well, well look at who we’ve got here, Lucy Heartfilia,” the person says with a terrifying grin.
Lucy looks over at the person and sees a man with a red and black striped sweater and a black fedora on his head. He’s wearing worn pants and heavy boots too. He swings the metal claw around on its black chain with a malevolent swagger.
“Looks like I’ll finally have my revenge today,” he says licking his lips as he looks at Lucy.
✰exxtra comment || y’all I finally updated from my short like months ago! lol I’m only doing one more chapter to this mini series so I hope y’all will like it when I finally get it done.
