TDDUP 33
“Til Death Do Us Part”
Rated M for smut and heavy themes.
Reincarnation/Immortality AU.
Summary: There are immortals and there are those who reincarnate, but it’s best to keep these things hidden. Lucy is attending college and meets Natsu, a boy with pink hair, a devilish smile, and a body that never ages.
Chapter 33
Mira
Natsu bounced excitedly as he waited for Lucy to get out of her final class of the day. Figuring that the girl was probably going to be hungry, he bought her a bagel and a coffee from the campus coffee shop. At the sight of the familiar blonde, a face-splitting grin stretched over his face, only to be replaced with irritation when he saw a boy- a particularly handsome boy, as much as Natsu hated to admit it- following behind her. The two were laughing up a storm, talking as if they had known each other for years.
Natsu knew that jealousy was a bad look, but he couldn't help but be possessive over Lucy. He'd never felt such affection for a girl before, and he hated the thought of sharing. Wasn't that the point of making their relationship official?
Luckily, Lucy noticed him, giving him a cheery grin before waving to her new friend. One that she had yet to introduce him to.
"Hi, Natsu!" she greeted, giving him a quick hug.
"Who's that?" he asked, nodding towards the boy who was now leaving.
"Oh, that's my new friend, Hibiki! Remember when I told you I made a new friend? That's him!"
Natsu suppressed his jealousy, taking a deep breath to calm down. Lucy was his girlfriend, no one else's. He knew that she would never do anything to make him worry. Still, he couldn't deny the uneasiness he felt at the fact that she didn't introduce him.
Wanting to forget about it, Natsu plastered a grin to his face and held out the bagged bagel and the coffee he bought her.
Lucy grinned, happily accepting the bagel.
"Thanks, Natsu! You're a lifesaver, I'm starving!" she said, eagerly munching on the bread. However, when the boy tried to hand her the coffee, she gave an apologetic smile. "Sorry, Hibiki and I already got coffee before class. I don't want to have too much caffeine. You can have it, though!"
Natsu nearly crumpled the paper cut filled with the hot beverage. A vein ticked in his forehead, which went unnoticed by the oblivious blonde. He wondered how he was the one to get labeled as the dense one when Lucy couldn't even tell that he was seconds away from chasing after Hibiki and giving him a piece of his mind.
When the two arrived at Fairy Tail, Lucy noticed immediately that the rest of their friends weren't at their usual table.
"They're in the basement," Natsu said, reading her expression with ease.
They headed behind the counter to the back of the pub, going down the long list of steps before reaching the illuminated basement. Sure enough, everyone else was laughing away in the lounging area.
Lucy followed Natsu, swallowing thickly when she found Mira standing with the rest of them. The girl truly was beautiful, the most beautiful girl that she had ever seen in her opinion. Her ocean eyes sparkled as she listened contently to Gray's story about who knows what. Her white colored hair- while odd for someone their age- rolled down her back in elegant waves.
As Lucy approached the group, she noticed Mira's eyes widen, her jaw slacking as she got closer. The blonde's gut wrenched, guilty for knowing she was the reason Mira was uncomfortable. She tried to limit her time in the basement to make the immortal feel more comfortable in her own home, but Natsu was insistent that she come over. She figured it wasn't fair that Natsu had to come over to her place all the time, and he probably wanted her to get closer to the other immortals, Mira included. Sighing, she doubted that would happen.
Luckily, Lucy wasn't given time to drown in her guilt as Cana slung an arm around her shoulder and pushed a glass to her chest.
"Drink up, Lucy! Let's have some fun!" the brunette exclaimed, her words slurred and her cheeks already pink from the alcohol.
"I-I'm not much of a drinker…" Lucy replied, sweat dripping down the back of her neck.
"Oh, lighten up! Just have a couple of shots with us!"
Her lips twitched upwards into a grin before she accepted the glass that Cana handed her. "Alright, I guess I can go for a couple of drinks."
But as always, one shot turned to two, which turned to three. Before she knew it, she was drunk along with the rest of the guild. Erza was barking orders at Gray and Gajeel while her husband was smartly hiding from the drunk redhead. Levy was laughing her ass off, ignoring her fiancé's cries for help while Juvia wept, begging Erza to be gentle on her boyfriend. Natsu was stuffing his face, yelling at Gray and Gajeel to man up and fight back. Meanwhile, Lucy was left with Cana.
The two girls had gotten closer since Lucy's first time in the basement. While their first meeting was a bit tense as Cana was bombarded with her presence, the brunette was actually very easygoing, perhaps even more than her rambunctious boyfriend. Take a shot with the girl and you immediately become her friend. And in Lucy's case, she was about eight shots in.
"So, how's the sex with Natsu?" Cana asked, taking another swig of her drink. Lucy recognized it as the bottle Natsu gave her for Christmas. Honestly, she was surprised it lasted this long, having come to realize that the brunette had quite the addiction.
While sober Lucy would usually get flustered at such a question, drunk Lucy merely laughed. "It's grrreat! I can't believe it took me this long to do it!"
"Wait, you're tellin' me it took you four lifetimes to get laid!?" Lucy nodded, to which Cana exploded in a fit of laughter. "That's crazy! With a rack like that, I assumed you'd be using those babies to get any guy you want!"
Lucy giggled as Cana grabbed her chest to further prove her point. "There wasn't a guy I wanted until now!" Glancing over to Natsu, she found him devouring a plate of chicken wings delivered by Mira- who was the only person in the group that decided not to drink.
"I want to make him purr," Lucy thought, a dopey smile stretching over her red face. And considering how touchy she got when she was drunk and the fact that she was spending the night, she was sure that she was going to have the chance to do so later.
Lucy groaned as she got up the next morning, clutching her pounding head. Rushing to the bathroom, she heaved into the toilet. She flushed with a grimace, feeling grossed out by throwing up in her boyfriend's bathroom, but she admittedly felt better after doing so.
When she went back to the room, she found that Natsu was snoring loud enough to wake all of Magnolia up. Grinning to herself, she figured that he was still tired after the sex they had last time- in which she did end up making him purr. Glancing at Gray's bed, she saw that he still hadn't returned to the shared room.
Feeling hungry, Lucy quietly headed out to the bar in the lounge. When she first came to the basement, she was uncomfortable grabbing food there. After all, that food was for the immortals. She didn't live there. But after having been told multiple times to not worry about it and having her stomach practically yelling at her, she decided to take their word for it and grab herself some breakfast.
The lounge was practically empty.
"Everyone's probably either in class or still hungover."
Truthfully, Lucy was surprised that she was faring so well. She figured everyone else must have ended up drinking more than her.
Reaching the bar, Lucy stopped in her tracks, her breath hitching in her throat. Mira stood at the bar with her back towards her as she wiped down a glass. Lucy suppressed the urge to run away when she saw Mira begin to turn towards her. When she did, her blue eyes widened, her hand slacking around the glass she was holding. Just as she did the first day they met, she dropped a glass. Only this time, her reflexes kicked in just in time to prevent it from shattering.
"Uhh, hi," Lucy said meekly. "I was just coming out for food. I-I can go back to Natsu's room though, I'm not that hungry!"
Mira gently placed the glass down and gave the blonde a weak smile. "N-No, it's okay. Is there anything in particular you want? I can make it for you."
Lucy briefly remembered Natsu telling her that Mira's cooking was the best. Still, not wanting to force the other girl to cook for her, she shook her head.
"That's okay, I can find something myself. You should relax."
Mira averted her gaze, nodding. Lucy noticed the other girl's hand sliding up to her chest, gripping the collar of her dress so tightly she was surprised it didn't tear. The air around them was thick. Neither of them said a word.
Mira forced her gaze to Lucy. The blonde was gnawing on her lower lip, staring at the floor as she fiddled with her fingers.
"I'm sorry."
Lucy whipped her head to meet the other girl's gaze, only to find that Mira was back to uncomfortably looking at the floor.
"F-For what?" she asked, confused.
"For being cold to you. I'm sorry."
Lucy gave a small smile. "It's okay, don't worry about it." They stood in silence yet again until she continued, "Though, I have to wonder, did I do something to upset you?"
"No, why?"
"Because you always seem so scared around me."
Mira shook her head, still unable to meet her gaze. Lucy wished she would.
"I'm sorry. It's not your fault. Some stuff… Some stuff happened with mortals before I joined Fairy Tail, so I am a bit on edge around them. I'm sorry."
Lucy's fingers twitched to give her a reassuring pat, but she decided against it. They were clearly not at that stage yet, and that was fine. She was patient.
"You don't have to keep apologizing," the girl said with a small smile. "And I know it's going to take some time to trust me, which is fine. I just want you to know that whatever they did to you, you can rest assured that I wouldn't ever do it."
Mira's hand tightened around her collar even more before her fingers finally loosened up. Slowly dropping her shaky hand to her side, she forced a smile to her face. It didn't quite reach her eyes, but she still felt she was making some progress.
"I know. I heard about how you spent Christmas at your home in order to make me feel more comfortable. Thank you for that, but I don't want to have to ask that from you. Instead…" She gnawed on her lower lip before steeling herself for what she was going to say next. "Instead, I want to ask for your help. I want to get better at dealing with mortals. I want to let my guard down so that one day I can leave the basement."
Lucy arched her brow. "I would love to help, but how would I do that?"
"By being my friend," Mira answered with a smile. A real smile. "I know it's going to take some time, and it's not going to come easy to me, but I really do want to become closer to you, Lucy. So, please be my friend."
Lucy blushed, rubbing the back of her head with a nervous chuckle. "You don't have to be so formal! Of course I'll be your friend!" She was going to give the other girl a hug, but decided against it in the end. It was better to take these things slow.
Soon after, Mira whipped up some pancakes for Lucy, despite her protests. After giving her a word of thanks, Lucy gratefully took the food, waved to her newest friend, and headed back to Natsu's room.
Mira took a deep breath once Lucy was out of sight. Her hands trembled, her legs threatening to give out on her.
"You okay?" she heard a familiar voice ask.
She didn't need to look to know that it was Cana.
"Y-Yeah, I'm fine. Just a little shaken up," Mira assured.
Cana saw right through her. "You know nobody is going to hold it against you if you don't talk to her, right? Even Lucy. She understands."
Mira nodded. "I know. But I really do want to get to know her. I want to see the outside world. I… I want to get better."
Cana smiled, placing a reassuring hand on the girl's shoulder. "Well, good thing Lucy is a nice girl. I'm sure the two of you will be the best of friends in no time."
To Lucy's surprise, Natsu was awake by the time she got back. He was scrolling through his phone when he heard her come in, not bothering to look up as he wanted to finish watching the video that captured his attention.
"Yo, Luce. Where were you?" he asked.
"I was grabbing some food, but that's not important. Natsu, get this!"
At the girl's exclamation, he paused the video he was watching and turned to face her. "What?"
"I talked to Mira!" Lucy gushed. "She asked me to be her friend!"
At that, Natsu dropped his phone. His gaze dropped to the plate of pancakes that rested in Lucy's hands. Figuring that she was too nervous to cook for herself in someone else's home, he easily deduced who whipped them up for her.
"No way," he breathed out, his eyes wide. "Mira said that?"
Lucy nodded. "Mhmm!" Taking a seat next to her boyfriend on the bed, she took a quick bite of one of the pancakes drizzled with syrup. Sure enough, they were heavenly, melting in her mouth. Now she understood what Natsu meant when he said she was the best chef.
Natsu helped himself to some of the pancakes as well. With a full mouth, he said, "Tell me everything!"
Lucy did as she was asked, going over everything and making sure not to leave out a single detail.
"She asked me to be her friend even though I could tell she was nervous," Lucy said. "Whenever we see each other, she always grabs at either her neck or her chest. I'm guessing it's a nervous tic she has."
Natsu rubbed the back of his head, a wary expression spreading over his face. "Ehh, not really. It actually has to do with why she doesn't like bein' around mortals."
Lucy glanced up at him, the obvious question forming at the tip of her tongue. Why? Not wanting to pry into Mira's life, she kept her mouth shut.
Natsu's soft chuckle brought her out of her thoughts. "You look like you wanna ask about it."
"No, not really," Lucy lied. She knew he could see through it. "I guess I am curious, but I don't want to stick my nose where it doesn't belong."
"It's not really a secret. We just don't bring it up in front of her because we don't wanna hurt her. But I think you should know if you want to be her friend. That way you know what topics to avoid."
Lucy chewed on her lower lip, wondering if she should really ask about it. Remembering that Mira was there when she had talked about her previous lives, she thought maybe it would've been fair had she known about the other girl's life as well.
"Alright, tell me."
She had no way of knowing she was going to soon regret she asked.
Natsu heaved a long sigh, sitting up straighter and facing Lucy directly. Mira's story was one that he hated thinking about, but it was true that Lucy needed to know what topics to avoid when talking to the sensitive girl. Just one wrong word could send her into a full-blown panic attack that required lots of help to calm down.
"Mira lived in a really small village with her two siblings decades ago. Their names were Lisanna and Elfman. At first, things were good. They apparently didn't have much money, but they always managed to make ends meet. Their parents died when they were really young, so the rest of the village helped them out from time to time."
Natsu's face scrunched up in pain as he continued, "That's when Mira's death date came. You can only hide immortality for so long, especially when your younger siblings start aging when you don't. Mira began to question her body when she cut herself with a knife while she was cooking. As you could probably guess, it healed immediately. Lisanna and Elfman didn't care that Mira was different from them, even if they didn't understand it. For them, it didn't matter. But for the rest of the townspeople… Well, they weren't so accepting."
Lucy's stomach sank. She had a bad feeling about where the story was headed.
"When it was clear that Mira's body stopped aging, the village all turned on her," Natsu said, his brows furrowed. "…You've heard of the Salem Witch Trials, right?" She nodded. "Well, they thought Mira was a witch or a demon. It wasn't like Erza and Jellal's situation where they wanted to experiment and get to the root of immortality. They just wanted Mira to die."
Natsu shook his head. "But immortals don't die, no matter what people do to us."
"What did they do?" Lucy asked, her voice hushed. Her gut coiled as the story continued, and while she had a feeling she knew where the story was going to go, part of her no longer wanted to know.
"They did everything," Natsu said, his voice cracking. He gripped his thighs, bracing himself for the next part of the story. "We told you about the experimental phase immortals go through. We deliberately hurt ourselves to test the limits of our immortality. Usually, you only try out a couple of different methods before you eventually give up and accept your fate, but the villagers- the ones that used to love Mira- they didn't give up. They tried every method they could conjure up, from decapitation to strangulation. All kinds of torture."
Lucy's eyes welled with tears, her stomach lurching. "P-Please tell me it's almost over."
Natsu shook his head with a grimace. "They got frustrated that nothing was working. And while our bodies may be undying and have the ability to heal from any wound, our immortality doesn't give us any other powers like in the books. We don't get super speed or super strength. It was just Mira up against the whole village. She didn't stand a chance. Lisanna and Elfman begged the village to stop, but they didn't listen. They locked them up and hurt them too, just to make sure they weren't like Mira. Eventually, they realized there was nothing they could do to kill her."
Lucy wished that meant they let her go, but she knew not to be optimistic.
"I-I didn't mention it earlier, but Mira was actually engaged at the time," Natsu said, one hand gripping his hair as he took a deep breath to calm down. "Instead of fighting for his fiancée, he sided with the rest of the village. He was the one to do it to her."
Lucy knew she was going to regret it, but she reluctantly asked, "Do what?"
"When they finally accepted they couldn't kill her, they decided to get rid of her instead," Natsu replied. "They figured out of sight, out of mind. They wanted her last day to be hell, so they chained Lisanna and Elfman and dragged them to the lake where Mira was tied up. Her fiancé, he uhh… He umm…"
Natsu cleared his throat, feeling pesky tears pricking his eyes and a lump forming in his throat. "He chained weights to her ankles."
Lucy gasped, covering her mouth with her hands. Hot tears spilled from her eyes, running down her face. Her stomach lurched and she had to suppress the bile collecting in the back of her throat.
Natsu could tell that Lucy was reaching her limit. Hell, he was too. Still, he forced himself to continue.
"I'm sure you know what happens next… Mira begged for her fiancé to stop. She begged all of the village to let her go. And yet, that son of a bitch sneered in her face, calling her a demon and telling her she had it coming. He told her he was going to send her as close to hell as he could. He dragged her onto a boat, paddling them out to sea. Lisanna and Elfman screamed and struggled to get out of the villagers' hold on them, but they couldn't. All they could do was watch as Mira's fiancé pushed her off the boat, laughing when she screamed."
Lucy thought that would be the end of the story. It had to be. There was no way it could get worse. And yet, Natsu continued.
"After Mira sank to the bottom, the villagers untied Lisanna and Elfman. They knew that they were mortals and that there was no way of saving Mira. Still, they tried. Elfman swam straight out there and tried to swim down to the bottom for hours, but the water was so deep and so dark, he didn't even know if he was in the right spot. He couldn't hold his breath long enough to swim down. They couldn't save her on their own. They had to get help.
"They left the village in search of someone who could help Mira, but nobody would help. They either thought they were pulling a prank or they figured Mira was already dead. After all, immortality is hard to believe in. Until they finally met Mavis. But Mira… She was down there for years. Mavis and her friends followed Lisanna and Elfman across Fiore until they were back at their village. Everyone was happy, carefree. Her fiancé, the guy who was supposed to take care of her, ended up marrying somebody else and having kids. None of them suffered any consequences. They all got to live happily ever after."
Lucy could see darkness swimming in Natsu's eyes as he sneered at the thought of the mortals who hurt Mira. His body trembled, his fists clenched so tightly she was surprised his palms weren't dripping with blood.
"They went to work when the village was asleep. They took a canoe out and strung a 50 foot chain down the side of the boat. They paddled around, waiting for something to tug the chain. Eventually, they managed to pull Mira out, but she was never the same after that."
Natsu's anger morphed into sadness and he continued, "When Mavis brought Mira and the others to Fairy Tail, she never spoke. Lisanna and Elfman warmed up quickly to everyone, but it took years for Mira to say a single word to us. When she first got here, she didn't even believe in immortality. Those sick fuckers actually managed to make her believe that she was a demon. That she didn't deserve to be alive. She was put in intensive therapy.
"Eventually, Mira slowly started to open up to the rest of the immortals. She made lots of progress in therapy, and she was able to smile again, but she still suffers from PTSD. She can't be around mortals, she can't be submerged in water. Hell, she can't even take a bath without screaming."
Natsu fiddled with his fingers. "You know, she talked about it once. Only once. She explained what it was like to drown. The way her lungs tightened. The way water filled her throat when she could no longer keep her mouth closed. It was pitch black underwater, she couldn't see a thing. She had to deal with that pain for six years."
Lucy couldn't take it anymore. She shot out of her seat, running to the nearest trashcan and throwing up. Even after puking, her stomach never settled. She clenched the rim of the trashcan, sobbing when she thought about how painful it must have been. She knew what it was like to suffocate, but the pain only lasted for minutes. She couldn't imagine enduring that for hours, let alone years.
Stumbling back towards the bed, Lucy felt hollow as she sat down. Her body raked with tremors, her breaths ragged. Each time she thought of Mira suffering, her eyes filled with more tears.
"I-I had no idea such horrible things could happen to people," she whispered. Her voice was raspy from crying.
Natsu nodded, grabbing her hands and smoothing his thumbs over them. "That was why Gajeel and the others had a hard time accepting you at first. Stories like that… They don't happen to all of us immortals, but they make us think. They make us put a guard up because we know firsthand it could happen to any one of us."
Lucy's eyes widened as she whipped her head towards him. "D-Did it happen to you?"
Natsu shook his head. "I was one of the luckier ones. Gramps recruited me before others could really catch on. But Erza and Jellal, Gajeel and Juvia… They all had run-ins with mortals that affect them, even to this day."
"I see…" Lucy took a deep breath. She wondered if she had ever accidentally said anything to trigger their bad memories. If so, she definitely had to learn more about their past so as to keep from doing it again, no matter how painful it was to hear.
After taking a half hour to calm down, Lucy decided to head home for the day. As she walked through the quiet streets of Magnolia, she craned her head upwards to look at the sky. It was so vast and beautiful, stretching over the world. She wondered how many others were out there under the same sky suffering like Mira had. How many others were being abused by the mortals around them. While she knew it was impossible to help them all, she vowed that from that day forward, she was going to do anything she could to help those who needed it. Starting with Mira.