Now that I understand how that initial post works, I can reply to you a lot faster haha. I was gonna just write two whole fics pff - this'll definitely be easier!
This was pretty fun! I can't remember the last time I wrote something like this for Graylu <3
60. Poorly Timed Confession
93. Makeovers
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After a night of drinking with the gang, Lucy and co return back to her apartment where the blonde comes up with a brilliant idea...she's going to give Erza the Lucy treatment!
Lucy had always wanted to play with Erza's beautiful long hair and with alcohol buzzing through both of their systems, it was made to be a much simpler task.
While inebriated, Lucy becomes a bit more energetic and excitable than usual and she doesn't notice a pair of dark, slate colored eyes watching her as she happily chats Erza's ear off while brushing her hair.
Just as she is about to tie Erza's hair up into a typical Lucy Heartfilia up do, Gray blurts out that he loves Lucy.
This catches the attention of everybody, even Natsu who was previously rifling through Lucy's dresser.
Lucy turns bright red and splutters incoherently, Erza--the most sober of the bunch, if only by a little--grabs Natsu and gets them both the heck out of there because things are about to go down between the ice and celestial mage.
Currently taking requests off of this prompt for the following ships:
Clerith (Cloud x Aerith) - Biiiiig love these two rn
Rankane (Ranma x Akane)
Ryoukane (Ryouga x Akane)
Kogkag (Kouga x Kagome)
Lalu (Laxus x Lucy)
Graylu (Gray x Lucy) I’m already working on two requests for this ship, feel free to send more but I’d like a bit of variety to flex my writing muscles!
Prompt: “Can’t you stay a little longer?” - Requested by @impracticaldemon
Send a prompt in and a pairing! See here and here
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“Finally!” Lucy cried, face flush with excitement as she dropped her pastel pink PS4 controller. “I was beginning to think we’d never take that guy down.”
“It did take a lot longer than I’d thought it would,” the voice of one of her best friends came from her cat-ear headphones. The quality of which wasn’t the greatest, though it certainly got the job done.
It seemed as though it had been a really long time since she’d last heard his voice. Which…was partially because it had been a long time since she’d spoken with Gray directly.
It had been difficult to really speak with any of her old high school friends, largely because despite their claims to never grow apart…they had.
Surprisingly enough, it was Lucy who first lost touch. She liked to blame the fact that she had been accepted at a prestigious writers college, though really it was because it had simply been too difficult for her to call any of her friends after having been the first to leave.
She’d found out via social media that it had only been a matter of time before the rest of her friends had gone their separate paths.
Well, apart from Natsu and Juvia that was.
Shocking as it was, those two had wound up really sticking together over the years.
In fact, Lucy had just received an invitation to their wedding that morning. Which in part may have been the largest contributor to Lucy’s reaching out to Gray Fullbuster.
She’d always been fairly fond of Gray, it was tough not to be fond of a guy who so easily stood up for her on a number of occasions that got him into some kind of trouble. Sometimes, it even seemed as though he would stand up for her more often than her own boyfriend would.
Which was impressive, considering Natsu had been extremely vocal whenever he noticed anybody messing with Lucy in any kind of way.
Gray…just always seemed to notice the not so blatant things. Which had always been nice.
“Wanna prep for another hunt? I was thinking maybe we could go for another Azure Rathalos, I still need a claw before I can finish his set.” Gray’s voice prompted Lucy from her train of thought as she habitually reached down and pushed a button on her phone so that she could get a glimpse of the time.
One forty-three a.m. Just how on earth had the time flown by so quickly? It truly felt as though she’d only called Gray up an hour or so ago, yet they had been playing Monster Hunter since about four p.m.
“I don’t know Gray, it’s kind of late. I have class at eleven…”
“Well then we’ve got plenty of time! Remember when we would go on adventures until five in the morning and then wake up at eight or nine only to do it all over again?” He sighed, a melancholy sound. “Damn, those were really the days.”
“My ability to stay up late has dropped by a substantial amount since high school,” Lucy admitted with a short laugh, a bittersweet smile upon her lips as she allowed her fingers to thread through the tassels on one of her decorative pillows, “I honestly can’t even remember the last time I stayed up this late.”
When had she become so dull?
“I think you have just one more hunt in you,” Gray’s voice was light, but was beginning to sound a bit strained, “Come on Lucy, can’t you stay a little longer?”
Lucy held her breath, realizing that tears were beginning to threaten the corners of her eyes. Where was this coming from?
“I guess…I just think it would be really nice to get a little bit back from back then, you know?” Gray groaned, “Damn, I sound like a fucking wimp right now.” He paused, and the few moments of silence spoke volumes to Lucy. “But really, I’ve missed you Lucy. Getting the invite from Natsu and Juvia kind of felt like a wake up call. What happened? Why did I let us lose touch like that?”
“Gray…” Lucy wasn’t entirely sure what she could say, “It wasn’t as though it was all on you, I was the first to go off to college. Remember?”
“Even if that’s true, I didn’t make more of an effort to keep in touch.”
“Neither did I, I’m sorry.”
“Don’t you dare apologize for that Lucy.” Gray sighed, “I just…want to at least try and gain back what we’ve lost. Just by a little bit, we can start with video game sessions every Saturday?”
Lucy worried her lip as she struggled to regain control of her ability to talk, though she knew if she tried in that moment her voice would break, she decided that Gray had already waited long enough since she spoke in response.
Clearing her throat, Lucy nodded her head despite knowing that Gray wouldn’t be able to see it. “Yeah, I think that’s a great idea Gray.”
“Yes!” Lucy could picture the dark haired male pumping his fist in accordance to the exclamation.
Her cheeks felt warm.
“Well then, are you sure you can’t stick around for just one more hunt?”
Lucy released a groan that was followed by a laugh, “Fine! Just one more hunt.”
The two were up until five in the morning, however exhausted they may have been…they went to sleep feeling more fulfilled than they had in years.
Not gonna lie, I feel like this isn’t too far from what actually happened. But I’ll do a quick blurb~
I’m rusty, so try to be forgiving my dudes T u T
Check out my ship fanfic request post if you’re interested here ~
Ship: Graylu
Word Count: 887
The relief Gray felt when Lucy declared that she’d finished was short lived. Lucy had written everything she could regarding the Natsu that they knew and the memories that they had shared with him.
Then, mere moments after closing the book of E.N.D...Lucy’s eyes rolled back into her head and she fell into Gray.
“Lucy?” She wasn’t moving, had she fainted? “Hey, Lucy!” The dark marks that marred her skin were a good indicator to what his next steps should be. He tenderly took her wrist into one hand and placed his other on her shoulder. His hair flew up as he activated his demon-slaying abilities, “I figured doing that would be dangerous, I can fix this.”
With a flare of demon-slaying magic, Lucy’s skin returned to it’s normal hue...though there was nothing that he could do for all of the scratches and bruises that covered her small frame.
How long had all of this been going on again? Gray was tired.
“Did it work?” Happy asked, sniffling as he placed both paws on Lucy’s thigh. “Why isn’t she moving?” Tears streamed down his little blue cheeks and dripped onto Lucy’s skin, “Gray! Lucy isn’t breathing!”
“Dammit--” Gray allowed the demon slaying magic to dissipate, his hair fell back into place as he began to carefully lay Lucy on her back. He hesitated with his hands as he hovered above her chest for a moment, beads of sweat began to trickle down the side of his face.
He’d never done anything like this before.
“Gray!” Happy shouted, snapping Gray out of his reluctance. He needed to do something.
“I’m sorry.” Gray mumbled quietly as he leaned down and placed his ear upon her chest and closed his eyes, listening. His cheeks heated up as he tried not to think about the fact that his face was squished up against Lucy’s large breasts.
When he heard nothing, it was much easier to become serious about the matter.
“Her heart isn’t beating.” He said gravely as he sat back up and immediately placed his palm directly in the center of the blonde’s chest, and began to rhythmically pump.
“Her heart isn’t beating?!” Happy asked, fear easily creeping into his voice.
“I’m going to try and resuscitate her...but Happy, you need to try and find Wendy.” Gray said as he counted, “Lucy needs medical attention right away.” Happy nodded and swiftly flew off, there was just so much going on. Gray had to give the cat credit where credit was due, he was doing a really good job of keeping things together all things considered.
Especially considering the fact they had no idea what was going on with Natsu in that moment.
“Come on Lucy…” Gray whispered as he paused in his frantic pumping to lean down and breathe air into her lungs.
He never would have thought their first kiss would be like this.
Just when he was beginning to worry that his efforts were futile...Lucy began to violently cough.
“Hey hey,” Gray said, helping her to sit up. He placed a hand on her back and rubbed it in what he hoped would be considered a soothing manner. “Stay with us okay?” His eyebrows were furrowed as he listened to the horrible coughs.
“I--” Lucy coughed a few more times before she seemed to finally get a grip on herself, “I don’t know what just happened…”
“It must have been the book,” Gray said, continuing to rub Lucy’s back. “You altering it did a lot more damage to your body than we expected, how are you feeling?”
Lucy placed a hand to her chest and the other to her head. “I’m feeling pretty sore but…” A grateful smile touched Lucy’s lips as he rubbed the back of his head, “you saved my life, didn’t you?”
“I’m sorry, I don’t think I was doing it right…”
Lucy shook her head, “you clearly did something right.” She leaned forward and placed a hand on his exposed shoulder, “Thank you Gray.” She squeezed his shoulder before moving to stand, when she swayed a little, Gray was quick to stand up as well and grab her arm.
“You shouldn’t be moving yet.” Gray said sternly.
“Our fight isn’t over yet,” Lucy countered, gripping Gray’s arm as well, letting him be her stabilizer for the moment. “We can’t just sit around right now. Not when we don’t know what is going on with Natsu.”
Gray hated the fact that she was right.
“Okay, but we at least should wait here for a few for Happy. He’ll be returning here soon with Wendy. Then after she make sure that you would be okay...we can look for Natsu.” Seeing Lucy unconscious like that and so beat up though...it made him afraid.
He couldn’t lose Lucy too.
He wouldn’t.
“Yeah, okay.” Lucy sighed as she lowered herself to the ground, Gray swiftly followed suit. “I have a feeling that everything is going to be okay.” She nodded her head, “I just do.”
Gray couldn’t help but chuckle a bit, considering all that had happened...they certainly could use the positivity.
I was worried for a time there, that I wouldn’t get this done before Valentine’s Day!!
Thankfully I did! I love these two so much, and I am super happy to have gotten to draw this! I even wrote a little something something to go along with it, I’ll paste it below the cut!
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Please do not reupload my art~
Time. It was something Kagome Higurashi did not have much of. At least, that was the impression she got each and every time she passed through the well to reach the past...her friends, and the man she’d begun to develop feelings for.
Serious feelings.
They certainly felt much more intense than they had back when she’d thought she had been in love with Inuyasha. While that had only been a few years prior, it felt like so much longer to the young time traveler.
“Do you have everything?” Familiar words, words that have been said countless times...yet somehow the genuine kindness never seemed to fade.
“I think so…” Kagome said softly as she hesitated in packing up the comically large yellow bag that was beginning to tear at the seams. She couldn’t help but wonder when the day she’d have to replace it would come. Though at the rate things were going with the well...Kagome had a feeling that it would outlive her time traveling days.
A thought that made the priestess’s throat tighten.
“Did you decide against giving him the chocolate?”
Kagome didn’t have to look at her mother to know she was looking at the carefully wrapped homemade chocolates that sat atop Kagome’s desk.
“I...I don’t think it would be a good idea mom,” she said honestly as she worried her lip in contemplation. “I dunno if I’m ready for rejection.” Especially if that would be one of our last conversations, she mentally added grimly. “Besides, he’s a dog demon...it might make him sick.”
Kagome could hear her mother walking, and before she could really protest, the woman was standing in front of her with a warm smile on her lips and the bag of chocolates in hand. “But it might not,” she said as she gently pressed the treat into Kagome’s waiting hands. “More times than not, you need to take a chance in order for anything to actually happen, sweetie.” Her mother then booped Kagome on the nose and laughed softly, “Here I thought that was a lesson you learned long ago!”
Kagome couldn’t help but laugh along as she reluctantly packed the chocolates. “Yeah yeah, of course you’re right.”
“Of course,” her mother repeated with a wink as she pulled Kagome in for a hug. “Now you be safe all right, dear? We will be eagerly awaiting your return.”
“I love you, Mom,” Kagome whispered into her mother's chest before pulling away and shouldering one of the yellow backpack’s straps. “I can’t say when I’ll be back, but I’m going to try to make it sooner than last time.”
The good-byes were quick and to the point, and soon...Kagome was leaping into the well. Right off the bat, she could tell something was wrong, the energy that the well gave off was different. It was unstable, dangerous. The priestess, for a moment, wondered if the bone-eaters well would consume her whole.
However, she did make it on the other side.
It didn’t take long for her to figure that something was very wrong.
“Kagome!” Shippou called from above. “Are you down there?”
“Yes.” Kagome tried to raise her voice, and was taken aback by how weak it sounded. Then...by how weak she was feeling.
“Inuyasha! Kagome is here, I told you!” Shippou shouted before poking his little head over the edge of the well so that he could peer down at the priestess. “Do you need help up, Kagome?” Though before the girl could even open her mouth to reply, a familiar blur of red was dropping towards her.
“Hey, Kagome,” Inuyasha sniffed the air a few times before frowning and folding his arms inside his haori sleeves. “Something is strange about your scent. Are you feeling okay?”
“Yeah I’m fine.” Kagome gestured to her backpack. “Just take this and I can climb up the well myself.”
Inuyasha nodded and did as she asked.
“There is ramen in here, right?!” Inuyasha shouted, and Kagome would bet her left lung that the guy was already rifling through the bag. Sure enough, when she made it to the top of the well, much of the bags contents were poured out across the plush green grass. It had been oddly warm that time of the year, in both eras. Nature seemed to be quite confused, considering the fact that there should be snow.
Her mother would say that spring was on its way early.
“Inuyasha! Be careful!” Kagome began to feel panic bubble up within her as her eyes searched over the haphazardly tossed about items before they landed on the bag of chocolates, and she sighed in relief as she scooped them up and quickly deduced that they had miraculously been left unharmed. “It’s Valentine’s Day, remember?” She chided. “I’m afraid I’ve mostly got sweets in here for you guys this time around.”
“Oh yeah.” Inuyasha scratched the back of his head as his face scrunched up, obviously trying to recall the meaning of Valentine’s Day. “That’s the day with the explosions in the sky, right?”
Kagome couldn’t help but snicker at this, “No, that’s the fourth of July. The two don’t even sound similar, Inuyasha.” While they didn’t really celebrate the fourth of July in Japan, Kagome enjoyed telling her feudal friends of all the different types of days that are celebrated in the present.
The half-demon’s cheeks flamed, and he scoffed, clearly embarrassed by his failed memory.
“Is everybody here?” Kagome finally asked as the weight of the bag in her hand reminded her that she had a purpose.
“Yeah! Well, I guess not.” Shippou frowned. “Sesshoumaru said he had something to do and left yesterday.”
“I tried to fight him on that,” Inuyasha butted in with a clenched fist. “But he seemed pretty set on leaving.” At Kagome’s sullen expression, Inuyasha was quick to continue. “But he’ll probably be back today! He said he’d be here for your return.” Kagome sighed softly, though couldn’t quite bring herself to get angry. Truthfully, the fact that Inuyasha had tried to stop his brother from leaving for her sake was enough to make her smile.
She remembered how completely against his brother and Kagome interacting he had been even a year prior.
“It’s okay,” Kagome said softly. “I’m sure whatever he left to do was important.”
Shippou and Inuyasha exchanged a look before they got to work on returning everything to the yellow bag so that it would be easier to carry down to the village.
It was a nice day, one that was filled with shared laughter and next to no arguments. Save for the few times Inuyasha and Shippou fought over food. Though this only drew more laughter from the group as Inuyasha fell prey to one of Shippou’s illusions.
The boy was still fairly small, though he was almost two full heads taller than when they had all first met. As he grew up, his proficiency certainly grew. Something which Inuyasha was very clearly displeased by.
It was well into the night when Sesshoumaru returned. Shippou and Rin were sleeping, and it appeared as though Sango was very close to falling asleep as well, considering how her head continued to bob along with her drooping eyelids. Inuyasha and Miroku were chatting next to the fire, though both of their heads snapped to the doorway when Sesshoumaru pushed aside the door quietly.
The demon had begun to mask his aura whenever entering the village due to the fact that he wasn’t a huge fan of causing a scene whenever he arrived to visit with Rin or Kagome if she was there.
While this village was much more friendly towards demons who didn’t threaten them, Sesshoumaru was a bit of a pill to swallow without even trying.
“Kagome,” he said quietly, “come out here.” It was an order, though Kagome knew by this point in their relationship that Sesshoumaru wasn’t quite used to asking.
The young priestess stood up, careful to keep the chocolates out of sight as she approached the demon lord who held the straw door open for her, dropping it once she was through the threshold.
“I was worried you wouldn’t get here in time,” she said softly as they walked, listening to the sound of the gravel beneath their feet.
“I said I would be here, did I not?” Sesshoumaru questioned, his voice somewhat warmer than it was whenever speaking to anybody else, save for Rin of course. “What is it about today?” he then asked as they left the village. “You said it is an important day.”
Kagome couldn’t help but blush as the little bag in her hands seemed to gain ten or twenty pounds, and she swallowed nervously as she gripped Sesshoumaru’s sleeve, calling for his attention. He paused in his movements and turned to look down at her with a slightly arched brow. “W-well…” Kagome began, and she could practically feel her convictions crumbling as she peered up at him.
Was it really fair for somebody to be so beautiful?
“That smell,” Sesshoumaru said finally when it became clear that Kagome wasn’t going to finish her sentence. “What is it you have with you?” This question caused Kagome to flinch and laugh nervously.
“I suppose it’s pointless hiding anything from you, huh?” she asked as she pulled her hand from behind her back. “It’s some homemade chocolate, I um...I made it for you.” She laughed nervously and scratched her cheek. “It’s called Honmei,” she said as she held it out to him.
Unfortunately, however, this was when things took a turn for the worst.
The world began to spin, only Kagome was standing still. She dropped the chocolate and began to fall as well, though Sesshoumaru was quick and looped his arm around her, pressing her firmly against his body. “What is wrong?” he questioned. “Your scent…”
Kagome felt an intense throb of a headache began to make itself present, though this was certainly not the most worrisome symptom.
“You are disappearing,” Sesshoumaru stated, his tone lifting a little to show the panic he was beginning to feel. “What is going on, Kagome?”
She loved it when he said her name.
“I don’t know…” she whispered, though her voice was hardly audible. She wasn’t entirely sure if even Sesshoumaru would have been able to pick up on it with his heightened sense of hearing. Was she dying? What a way to go.
Within mere moments, everything faded to black.
When she awakened, she was in her bed and in her own era. The headache was gone, though fear flashed through her all the same as she sat upright and looked around with wild eyes.
Slipping on her slippers, Kagome hurried down the stairs and bolted outside, towards the well house without so much as a glance in her mother's direction when she began to call her name.
She slammed the well house’s door open and hurried to the well, though she knew without even touching it that there was absolutely no magic coming from it any longer. Despite this, she carefully climbed her way down...just to confirm her suspicions.
Sure enough, nothing happened, and Kagome’s mother appeared at the lip of the well with concerned eyes. “Kagome, honey…” It was clear that the woman could guess what had happened. “Come on, I’ll make you some breakfast. You were sleeping for a while.”
Kagome was silent as she stood at the bottom of the well. She watched as her breath appeared before her in little white puffs. It was cold, damp...but that was it.
The bone-eaters well was no more. She would never see her friends again, and she would never get to properly confess her feelings for Sesshoumaru. If she had just done so sooner…
Angry tears pricked at the corners of the young woman's eyes, and she fell to her knees, sobs racking her body.
Despite how she had figured this would eventually be the case...it did not make the truth any easier for her to accept. She hadn’t even gotten to say good-bye. Her heart was heavy when her mother finally managed to coax Kagome up with the promise of a warm blanket and hot chocolate.
Kagome cried for a long time. For days, even weeks. While her tears might have dried up after a while, her heart remained heavy.
Her mother was extremely understanding of this bout of depression that Kagome was going through.
Even a month later, the events of what had happened on Valentine’s Day convinced the raven-haired girl that she was likely doomed to never find love.
Dressing in a red long-sleeved shirt and black leggings, Kagome decided that she would give the well one more chance. After all, what could it hurt? Kagome was already broken.
Upon seeing the puddles that had formed outside, Kagome donned her favorite grey rain boots before heading out.
Splashing through the puddles without a thought, Kagome sighed as she climbed the steps that lead to the well for what could be the final time. Each step seemed to stretch for a mile. She wasn’t ready for the finalty that she knew was just through those doors.
Before she could even make it to the second step, however, she felt a hand on her shoulder.
“You don’t need to do that.”
The voice took Kagome completely off guard and she spun on the balls of her toes so quickly, she might have been mistaken as a ballerina. Too fast, she slipped on the damp wood and fell face first into the broad chest of a man she had never expected to see again in her lifetime.
Looking up, Kagome recognized him immediately. Even without his markings. He was still the most beautiful man that she had ever laid eyes on.
Sesshoumaru stood before her, in all of his white-clad glory. Though instead of his traditional clothing that she had grown so fond of...he wore a very expensive-looking suit. Kagome would be lying if she said she wasn’t fond of that as well, though it still seemed very strange to see him in such an outfit.
“S-Sesshoumaru?” she asked with a slightly trembling lip.
“I’ve waited a long time for this moment, Kagome,” he said, the warmth in his voice much more pronounced than it ever had been in the past. Then...she supposed that the man who stood before her right that moment was not the same man she had known five-hundred years in the past.
Five-hundred years, yet this Sesshoumaru didn’t appear more than a couple years older if that. It was somewhat dizzying, and Kagome had to grip his arm to keep from falling over.
His arm.
Kagome blinked a couple times before her attention was on his left arm. She squeezed it a couple times before looking back up at the man who chuckled in response to her reaction. He actually chuckled.
“Demon medicine has improved quite a bit since the last time we met.”
“Wait, so you mean demons…?” Kagome grasped for the words that she wanted. “There are demons here?” It was a stupid question—she realized it the moment the words left her mouth. Afterall, with Sesshoumaru standing before her...she already had her answer.
“Only the intelligent of us have survived to this point. You humans have become surprisingly formidable over the years. Though I suppose I shouldn’t have been surprised, considering how I had you as a bit of a sneak peek back then. But yes, we are still here.”
Kagome wasn’t sure why, but this fact made her feel good. The fact that even in her era...not all magic was gone.
“I have something that I want to show you.” Without warning, Kagome was swept into Sesshoumaru’s strong arms, and she could feel the prickle of his aura as it flared to life around him. Even then, she could tell he was still concealing it.
The two were engulfed by his powerful energy and shot into the air so quickly, Kagome thought for sure her stomach had been left behind.
“No one will see us,” Sesshoumaru explained after a long moment, letting Kagome regain her bearings. “We are all but invisible traveling like this.”
Kagome couldn’t stop staring at his face. Her heart pounded against her chest so hard, she thought that it might crack a rib or something similarly ridiculous.
Soon, they were slowing, and she realized that they were touching land once more.
When she finally looked around, Something clicked.
She recognized this place.
“Wait…” Kagome said slowly as her eyes finally found Sesshoumaru’s face again, “How is it possible?”
“Money makes things like preserving land simple,” Sesshoumaru explained. “This is one of the places I made sure never changed.” He seemed to consider something before his eyes found hers. “I understand now why that day was so special. I know what you were trying to tell me, Kagome. So I had this place prepared for this day.” Kagome searched Sesshoumaru’s vibrant golden eyes for a long moment, as though the answer to her unspoken question could be found there.
Though she realized it only a moment later.
“Today is...it’s White Day…” she whispered, her throat beginning to tighten when Sesshoumaru nodded his head in confirmation.
“I realize it would have been better for me to go to you immediately, but I thought—” Sesshoumaru cut himself off when Kagome touched his face, her eyes filling with tears once more.
“This is perfect,” she whispered softly. “I never thought I would ever see this place again.”
It was one of her favorite hot springs. A place that she had showed Sesshoumaru once—she’d called it ‘magical’. The fact that he had remembered was enough to make Kagome feel even more emotional than she already was.
“I quite enjoyed the Honmei Choco,” Sesshoumaru said as he carefully placed Kagome down on her feet, a bit reluctant to let go completely. “I realize it’s a bit late, but thank you.”
Kagome couldn’t hold back anymore. She threw her arms around Sesshoumaru’s neck and pressed her lips to his. She sagged in relief when his arms wound their way around her and held her close, deepening the kiss.
When they finally parted, there was a light in Sesshoumaru’s eyes that Kagome had never seen before as he wiped away a few of the remaining tears from off her cheeks. A fierce light. “I’m never going to let you go again,” he whispered as he leaned down and kissed her once more.
Kagome giggled softly. “Well, you certainly aren’t going to hear any complaints from me.”
for the fic ask: insert Léonie into ranma 1/2 or inuyasha
ALRIGHT HERE WE ARE, it was a lot of fun to write for Léonie. Even more fun to have her interact with Kagome! I feel I’ve learned a lot about this OC by doing this, even if I didn’t write that much~ I hope you enjoy!
I wish you would write a fic where…
Send me an anymous (or not) summary of the fic you wish I would write. (maybe I will write a tidbit)
Seven years. That was how long it had been since the well was sealed. How long Kagome had been apart from her friends; her family in the feudal era.
It had been very difficult, especially the first few years. For a long time Kagome would search crowds for familiar the familiar faces of her friends who were gifted with a longer lifespan than humans. What she would give to see even the face of the elderly Tōtōsai. Though five-hundred years was a long time, even in the eyes of most demons.
One of the things Kagome wished more than anything was that she had learned more about demons while she’d had so much access to them. That she had more than simply the best ways to kill them. In her time, the entire concept of demons had been nearly completely wipped off of the board. She couldn’t find evidence that they had truly existed anywhere. It was odd, especially considering how big an issue they all had been, and it wasn’t as though documentation wasn’t a thing back then.
Kagome simply didn’t understand it. How was it possible for there to be so little evidence?
Eventually, Kagome managed to accept that the past should be left where it should be. In the past. As difficult as it had been for her at the time, so the girl began to believe that the well being sealed off was what was for the best. Afterall, Kagome was in her proper time now. With all of the free time she had once she could no longer travel back in time and hunt demons, Kagome made sure to focus on school. She barely managed to get through high school. She likely wouldn’t have been able to do it if it weren’t for Ayumi, Eri, Yuka, and Kagome’s childhood friend who had transferred back to Tokyo during the last few months of highschool…Léonie.
Kagome hadn’t seen Léonie since the end of middle school when the other girl had been taken to America by her elder brother for reasons Kagome hadn’t been entirely aware of. So after losing all of her friends in the feudal era, it had been very nice to see Léonie once more.
As Kagome grew apart from her other high school friends, Kagome and Léonie were accepted into the same university. They were even both interested in pursuing the same thing, becoming a doctor. So the two took all of the same classes and did just about everything together.
Léonie was a constant that Kagome had desperately needed at that point in her life, and there wasn’t a doubt in her mind that she would have taken being cut off from the feudal era a lot more roughly had Léonie not returned from America.
By their sixth year in university, both girls were well on their way to their doctorate degrees.
“Where are you thinking about practicing medicine?” Kagome asked as she grabbed her knit hat and scarf off of the rack near the wall, “I was thinking about Ukiyoe Town maybe myself.” Kagome hummed softly as she realized that her favorite hat was beginning to show signs of wear, she supposed that sooner rather than later she was going to have to go about making herself a new hat. Which she didn’t really mind, Kagome had found that she quite enjoyed knitting. It was very meditative.
“Kagome, I think we should skip going to the store for now.” Léonie sounded distracted, though Kagome shook her head.
“No way, we’ve only got a couple things of yogurt in the fridge. We’re going to starve if we don’t go and get some stuff.
“Kagome…”
“Besides, there is a really great sale going on right now down at Hana’s. At least, I think it is still going on…I can’t remember if I saw that ad yesterday or the day before…I think it was just a two-day sale…”
“I’m a demon.”
“And even if it wasn’t, Hana’s is very–” Kagome cut herself off as the meaning of Léonie’s words sunk in and slowly, she turned to face the other girl. A look of confusion evident on the young priestess’ face. Never once had Kagome confided in Léonie about the adventures she had in the feudal era. About the demons. In fact, Kagome was positive that she had never before mentioned demons at any point in her life to anybody other than her own family.
“What was that?” Kagome nearly gave herself whiplash as she turned to face her friend fully, “I’m sorry, I don’t think I heard you properly Léonie. I could have sworn you just told me that you were a–” The priestess cut herself off as the image of her longtime friend almost seemed to ripple and shift into an almost entirely different form.
In place of the short, fair skinned, dark-eyed, raven-haired girl that Kagome had known since she could remember…stood a tall inhumanly beautiful woman. She had lightly browned skin and hair the color of the purest snow. Her eyes were a brilliant olive green that Kagome had never before seen on another person.
The freckles that peppered Léonie’s skin were as white as her hair, which would have seemed odd if the priestess hadn’t been too busy focusing on the tattoo-like marking on her friends face that most certainly hadn’t been there mere moments prior.
“Whoa, wait…I’ve known you since I was just a kid! How is this even possible?” Kagome knew exactly how easily demons made the seemingly impossible possible, so truly, she had no idea why she felt so completely shocked. Perhaps it was due to the fact that it was still fairly early in the morning? Kagome had never been a morning person after all.
“I understand your confusion, Kagome.” Léonie said softly as she gently placed a hand on the priestess’ shoulder, “I think you should sit, you look a bit pale.”
Doing as her friend suggested, Kagome shakily lowered herself to the ground and sat down sloppily. She watched as Léonie followed suit, only instead she’d taken to kneeling instead.
“Do you need anything to drink? Perhaps some water or orange juice?”
“No, Léonie…what is going on?”
Léonie searched Kagome’s blue eyes for a long moment before sighing softly and nodding her head, “I apologize for the sudden revelation, I understand how strange this must be for you. If possible, I would have liked to go about this a little bit less…strongly.” Léonie’s facial expression was much less easy to read in this form, Kagome noticed. A decidedly frustrating trait for the other woman to have in that moment. “However, I’m afraid time is of the essence.” The white-haired woman tentatively rested her hands on her lap before continuing, “The well has been reactivated.”
The words spoken made complete sense to Kagome, though the fact they were coming from Léonie made them somewhat difficult to comprehend. “You must return to your friends, Kagome. You are needed in the past, if there is to be a future.”
“How is the well suddenly working again? How do you know about the well? How were you able to hide…this from me? I may not be the best around but I am a priestess, I’ve always been able to sense when there were demons around…”
“Kagome, demons have become masters in the art of hiding over the past several hundred years. We had to be, humans became very good at exterminating us. Largely due to the fact that not long after you were sent to the present for the final time, there was an illness that spread through the world. A plague that only affected demons. Many of our great lords were taken from us within the first few years as well as the vast majority of the non-intelligent demons. Those of us who remained…well, we had to fight hard in order to simply survive.
When the demons seemed to disappear almost overnight, the humans gradually began to forget that we had been an issue to them at all. They stopped writing about us. Some even believed after some time passed, that all the stories of demons were myth…legend. Merely the kinds of things adults told children in order to get them to behave. The majority of those who remained thought of this as a blessing in disguise. While many of us loathed how our histories could be so completely forgotten, we were thankful for a reprieve. Hiding became easier when there were few who thought to look for us. I myself was young back then, a mere child barely reaching twenty. Most of my family were killed by the spread of disease and it was actually lord Sesshōmaru who took me under his wing. If he hadn’t…I don’t doubt that I eventually would have succumbed as well.
Kagome was having a very hard time believing all that she was hearing. Though…she supposed it had to be true, considering the fact that it was blatantly obvious that Léonie was telling the truth. Even still…
“What did you mean by what you said earlier? About how I am needed in the past?” Kagome’s voice shook as she spoke.
Many unreadable emotions swam in Léonie’s green eyes as she looked away, “Your great-great-great grandson,” she explained softly. “He is vital to this time’s underground society of demons. I…we all need him here, lord Sesshōmaru has been working very hard on repairing the damage to the well. Over the years it was learned that when you made the wish, the sacred jewel merely damaged the well. It wasn’t as though you weren’t meant to continue traveling through time.”
Kagome’s breath hitched in her throat and she felt hope begin to bubble up from deep within her breast. “I…I get to go back…” she had to bite her lip in order to keep from getting too excited. “But wait, who…who do I wind up having kids with? Who is my great-great-great grandson?”
“I can’t tell you that, I’ve already clued you in on much much more than I ever should have…but you deserved answers, Kagome.” Léonie almost looked sad as she placed a hand on Kagome’s shoulder, “What I can tell you, is that Ryōta is a very very good man. He is loyal, kind, compassionate…he cares for everybody who follows him. Also…I can tell you that I am going to miss you deeply, Kagome.”
Tears began to form in Kagome’s own eyes as the weight of it all began to hit her, “I…what now?”
Léonie smiled softly before she stood up and offered a hand to help Kagome up from off the ground, “Now, I take you home.”
–
Thank you for asking anon!! I really loved doing this so much
AN: A Halloween-y fic for the lovely @mistye-dawne, I hope it spoops you!
It had been about six months since Lucy had started to IM with Gajeel before she finally asked for his number. She remembered just how shocked he had seemed at her request—it had actually been quite humorous.
Irondeath: Shut up! You just took me by surprise, that’s all.
Starryeyedbunny: So… is this a rejection? I’m hurt!
Irondeath: No just… dammit bunny you are embarrassing me. 521-7001
Starryeyedbunny: How am I embarrassing you?! I should be the one who is embarrassed!
Irondeath: Just text me so I have your number too all right? Damn.
Starryeyedbunny: lol yes sir!
They’d texted all through the night after that. Something that might seem silly to get excited about, but then… It had been a long time since anybody had actually managed to catch Lucy’s attention.
She’d met Gajeel on a dating app for locals in her area. He’d been the first guy who hadn’t asked for more pictures than the ones that she had posted. Or hadn’t sent any…unrequested pictures of his own.
She also had liked the fact that he didn’t ask for her number right off the bat. Lucy kind of liked to use the app’s messenger for a while, just to be sure that she only gave her cell phone number to guys who she was actually interested in. It made her feel safer that way.
One of her good friends, Cana Alberona, had been a bit on the careless side and gave out her number somewhat haphazardly. Because of that, she wound up with quite a few stalkers, one of which actually warranted obtaining a restraining order. It had been terrifying to everybody involved.
Lucy had let Cana stay with her for a couple weeks during that time.
It had been somewhat daunting to see the normally confident young woman to be so…scared. In all the years that she had known Cana, Lucy had never seen her in the state that she had been then. Which, of course, was entirely understandable.
The guy—they’d later found out—had been an escaped institutionee. He’d been locked back up the moment the police caught him creeping outside of Lucy’s apartment complex.
So even though all of that was done and over with, Lucy was extra cautious when it came to online dating. Truthfully, if it weren’t for the fact that Lucy didn’t have any other means to meet men, Lucy probably wouldn’t have even considered the option.
Presently, Lucy was working at a call center. While it allowed her plenty of time to work on her stories, it did cut into her socializing skills quite a bit. It wasn’t until her co-worker, Levy, suggested trying out a dating site that she had been using. She’d said that it was pretty good. And that it was even how she’d met her current boyfriend, Freed Justine.
“You just need to know when to say ‘no.’ Because some of the guys on there are a bit…off.” Levy had given Lucy plenty of tips before helping the blonde to set up an account. She’d certainly appreciated the assistance.
Gajeel had actually been one of the first people to start talking with her. At first, Lucy had been hesitant , because it seemed strange to talk to a complete stranger with the intention to become…involved romantically.
Apparently, Gajeel had felt just as weirded out about the whole thing as she was. Which had been surprisingly reassuring to Lucy. They texted throughout the day, pretty much everyday since they first started messaging.
Lucy realized what it was like to fall in love with somebody before even meeting them. So Lucy had worked up the courage to try to push their relationship to the next level, in a way. How Lucy saw it was, if they trusted each other enough to share their phone numbers…then perhaps they could trust each other to meet in person.
It was interesting though, because despite how they would text, Gajeel also seemed partial to using the messenger on the dating app that they’d met on. Lucy didn’t really think all that much of it. Perhaps he enjoyed the layout on the app more.
Irondeath: Let’s go see a movie, or get something to eat.
Starryeyedbunny: lol okay, you could have texted me that you know
Irondeath: Is this you…rejecting me?
Starryeyedbunny: I can’t believe you! Yes. Let’s do both! I heard that new Fairy Tail movie is finally in theaters, so we could go see that and maybe get something to eat after?
Irondeath: sounds good to me bunny, should I pick you up or do you want to meet there?
Starryeyedbunny: I can meet you there! Wear something in one of your pictures so I know it’s you!
Irondeath: The piercings won't be enough?
Starryeyedbunny: …. Good point… I will see you at the AMC around 8? I just checked the times.
Irondeath: Sounds good to me, see you in a bit.
Lucy’s heart had been racing after that conversation, it had just about beaten out of her chest actually. For they had finally set a time and a place to meet. Lucy was excited and had immediately called Levy over for outfit help.
“Lucy Heartfilia needs help picking out a dress? When did pigs learn how to fly?!” Levy had joked, but of course she came over to help.
Lucy had looked breathtaking during their first date. While the blonde hadn’t left the apartment without being certain that this would be the case, seeing the look on Gajeel’s face when he first caught sight of her had been enough to take her breath away as well.
Their following dates all went well, and soon they were hanging out on a regular basis. Lucy couldn’t help but notice that nearly every time they made plans, it was through the dating app.
Until now.
For the first time since they’d started texting… Gajeel texted her, saying that he would be over that night.
It hadn’t really taken Lucy by surprise when he switched to messaging her on the dating app soon after that. She was going to have to actually ask him about that one day. It wouldn’t be a big deal if it didn’t eat up so much of her data while she was at work.
She decided that she would cook dinner for him. At this point in their relationship, they had actually been seeing each other for close to four months. Yet during all that time…she hadn’t made him dinner once. Usually they ordered takeout or pizza. Then one night he had even made her dinner, so she supposed it was time to break out the frying pan and wash off all the cobwebs. Lucy couldn’t remember the last time she had cooked for even herself.
By the time nine p.m. rolled around, Lucy finished making dinner. She sighed before walking to the island where her touchscreen laptop sat. She pulled up the dating app’s video chat and poked Gajeel’s face with her only non-grimy finger. She walked away fromt he computer so that she could wash her hands.
“Yo, Bunny—nice ass.” Lucy rolled her eyes, but she was smiling as she swayed her hips enticingly. “What did I do to deserve this show?” he asked after a moment.
Lucy turned, wiping her hands dry on a clean dishrag. “When are you going to get here? Dinner will get cold! I figured you would be on your way by now. I wasn’t really expecting you to answer.” Lucy watched as the sly grin fell from Gajeel’s face.
“What do you mean, Bunny?” he asked, frowning. “You should have told me if you wanted me to come over. I was kind of just planning on staying in tonight.”
This confused Lucy. “Do you need to see a doctor?” she asked with a raised eyebrow. “You are the one who asked to hang out tonight, remember?” Lucy groaned. “I made dinner and everything!”
“Bunny? When did I ask that? We’ve only messaged a little bit today.”
Leaning against the counter, Lucy tried to remember an exact time.
“Well, you texted me about it around noon.” She folded her arms across her chest and sent him a pointed look. “The reason I remember it so vividly and am so certain that you definitely wanted to is because you never ask to hang out over text—it’s always on the app.”
Lucy watched as Gajeel’s confusion shifted into complete perplexity.
“Lucy, I don’t have your phone number”—his voice was serious—“I thought that I had put it in my phone, but when I went to text you a day after that first…your number was gone. And so were all the text messages. I was too embarrassed to tell you what happened, so I stuck with messaging you on the dating app.”
All through Gajeel’s explanation, Lucy felt her blood gradually run cold as gooseflesh rose on her arms.
“Bunny… I’m not the one who texted you!” Gajeel shouted, now standing up, showing Lucy that he was only wearing boxers. “Fuck, call the police, I’m coming over right now!”
Before Gajeel had even finished talking, there was a knock on the door, and Lucy jumped. She moved so quickly to the door. She always left the door unlocked when she knew that Gajeel would be coming over; she’d been meaning to make him a copy of her key…but had never gotten around to it. She slammed both the lock on the door and then the deadbolt into place. Shortly after that, she could hear heavy banging, as though whoever it was outside had begun to slam their body against the door in an attempt to break through.
Judging by the weak sounds the door was making…the unknown person would win that fight.
Lucy’s breathing became erratic as she ran back into the kitchen so she could grab a knife and her phone. A quick glance at her computer showed her that Gajeel was in his car. His phone must have been tossed onto the passenger seat of his car.
Lucy couldn’t waste time looking at her boyfriend though—she needed to call the police.
She could now hear the sound of banging even more clearly, and she shoved the phone to her ear after dialing three numbers and pressing send.
“Magnolia—”
“Somebody is trying to break into my apartment!” Lucy whispered frantically. She then spat out the exact location of her apartment. The person on the other line was saying something, but Lucy was having a difficult time understanding what it was they were trying to communicate with her.
“They are trying to break my door open!”
“Ma’am, is there anywhere you can hide?” the person asked.
“I… I don’t have any good spots.” Tears pricked at the corners of Lucy’s eyes when wood exploded from where the door had once stood.
A man, a very tall man, stood in the doorway. From the way his shoulders rose and fell, Lucy could guess that he was breathing pretty hard. He wore a plastic mask. One of those plastic masks that distorted ones facial features in an extremely terrifying way. He also wore a red wig. The spiky hair was long and slightly off center.
Lucy ducked behind her kitchen counter. The man hadn’t seen her yet—she hoped.
With the speed at which Lucy’s heart was racing, she wouldn’t be surprised if she simply died of a heart attack before the guy managed to find her.
Lucy absolutely despised how weak she was acting. She wanted to be brave… God, she wanted to be brave. But she was terrified. The fear easily surpassed any other fear she’d experienced in her short lifetime.
She wanted her mother. She wanted to hide under her blankets until the Scary Thing(™) went away.
She wished that Gajeel was there.
“Oh Lucy,” a deep and terrifying voice called in a horrifying attempt at “alluring”.
Lucy’s heart dropped into her stomach as chills ran down her spine.
This was very real. Lucy was actually in this situation. She almost couldn’t believe it. It felt like one of those stupid horror films that Gajeel was always getting her to watch despite her…paranoia.
As a writer, Lucy tended to have a bit of an overactive imagination. This definitely included, but was not limited to, worrying about situations exactly like the one that was happening to her right in that moment.
Horror films and stories definitely fed her paranoia.
“I’m surprised you didn’t leave the door unlocked like you usually do when you know that somebody is coming over.” A pause. “Dinner smells incredible. Did you do all of this for me?” His voice was getting closer, and Lucy could hear the sound of boots on her hardwood floor. He was approaching the kitchen. The man was moving at such a slow pace, she couldn’t help but think about a cat that was stalking its prey.
That’s exactly what she was, wasn’t it? Prey?
Her grip on the knife tightened, and she tensed. No. She refused to be somebody’s prey. She refused.
“I know you’re here, Lulu… You’re making me sad by not coming out to say hi. You don’t want to make me sad, do you?”
Maybe if he got close enough, she could stab him in the leg and make a break for the door before he could even spot her.
Preparing the knife, Lucy waited.
The man was wearing dark green cargo pants, but they were just out of her reach. She didn’t want to go for it unless she was absolutely certain that she would make contact.
“Hey!” Lucy’s heart jumped into her throat when she remembered that Gajeel was still on her laptop, and it seemed to take the intruder by surprise as well. He took a step back, and Lucy would bet her left lung that the guy was looking around in an attempt to find the source of her boyfriend's voice.
“You better get the fuck out of there before I show up. I’m right around the corner, asshole! I will fuck you up if you so much as touch a single hair on her head!”
Lucy knew that it was physically impossible for Gajeel to be so close already, but this guy didn’t.
Gajeel lived on the other side of town. Even if he broke every traffic law, it would take Gajeel at least another ten minutes before he would arrive at her apartment complex. Hopefully the police would get here by then though.
Hopefully… Lucy would be out of there before even then though.
“I’m afraid you will never have the chance to see your girlfriend again, Redfox.” The man laughed loudly, a crude sound. “Well…”
Without warning, Lucy was being jerked up by her hair. She screamed as her head banged against the edge of the island, and she accidentally dropped the knife due to the sheer shock of what had happened.
“Lucy!” Gajeel shouted. It was clear that he was now holding his phone in one hand while he held the steering wheel with the other. Through Lucy’s tear blurred vision, she could see the pain written across Gajeel’s face. Pain as well as pure, unadulterated rage.
“At least…” The man put his face close to Lucy’s. So close, the edge of his plastic mask pressed against her cheek almost painfully. “You will never see her again in person. Not warm and breathing anyway.” Something about this man seemed…familiar. But Lucy couldn’t quite figure out what made her feel that way. She usually could remember somebody's voice pretty well, and she did recognize his.
But from where?
She couldn’t figure it out.
“I will fucking kill you.” Gajeel’s voice was dangerously low. Lucy had never heard it like that before. She’d always had a feeling that Gajeel could be scary, though she’d never actually had the opportunity to witness that side of him herself.
Finally, Lucy could hear sirens approaching, but… so could the man.
“Happy Halloween!” The guy laughed again before slamming the laptop shut and throwing it onto the ground. Then, his fingers curled around her neck. “Sorry it has to be this way, my love.” He slammed her head against the island, and everything went black. As though somebody had flicked a light switch off.
--
When Lucy came to, the pain that she felt from her head was what caught her immediate attention. After that…it was the damp darkness. Was she blind? Lucy blinked a few times just to make sure that her eyes were even open.
There was a distinct dripping sound that occurred every five seconds or so, the only indicator Lucy had to tell her that she was not deaf.
Where was she?
Just that one question was enough to bring back some memories as to what had happened to get her in this position.
Fear wrapped itself around Lucy, and she began to move. Or at least, she tried to. The sound of chains rattling against a hard surface reached her ears, and she knew that she was restrained. She could feel the cool of metal against her wrists, ankles, and neck.
No. No no no no. The single word repeated itself in her mind, and she might have even been speaking. It was difficult for Lucy to really think of anything besides the fact she was in somebody's torture dungeon. At least…that was the assumption that Lucy had. She couldn’t even imagine any other reason as to why she would be kidnapped and trapped somewhere dark.
Assuming that she wasn’t actually blind.
“Help!” Lucy shouted, her voice cracking with desperation. “Someone please! Help me!” She knew that the chances of somebody hearing her were—
“Would you shut up? We don’t want him coming back down here earlier than expected.” Somebody easily sliced through Lucy’s thoughts.
The blonde flinched. Somebody else was very close to her. She sounded… “Cana…?” Lucy asked slowly, and she could hear the other person breathe in quickly.
“Lucy? No. Please tell me that isn’t you, Lucy.” Lucy’s throat dried up, and she gritted her teeth.
“Y-yeah… Don’t tell me this is the guy from last year…”
“It is.” Cana’s voice sounded strained. “But I’m guessing that he escaped again or something. I was told that I would be notified the moment he was released. Actually, I’m pretty sure they told me that I would be notified beforehand. Though I wasn’t given the impression that it would be likely for him to be released at all. It also looks like he has done some…self improvement.” A few moments of silence filled the air before Cana continued. “He wasn’t nearly as strong back then as he is now. It is honestly a little bit impressive, to go through that much change in just one year? I feel like most people would have taken much longer to become this strong.”
Lucy sighed. “That’s why I couldn’t figure out why he seemed so familiar. The guy from last year was so squirrely.” Granted, Lucy had only seen a very pixelated picture of the man.
“Fucking determination to be a freak… I just don’t know why you are here too, Lucy. I’m so sorry. He wouldn’t even know who you were if you hadn’t let me stay with you that time.”
“It’s…it’s okay. You couldn’t have known this would happen. How long have you been down here? What does he want with us?” Lucy was afraid of the answer to both questions. Admittedly, since she had started to date Gajeel, Lucy hadn't been very good at keeping in touch with a few of her other friends. Cana being one of those friends.
“It’s hard to tell. I honestly lost track of time. It feels like it has been a really long time though. Lucy, you need to get out of here, as soon as you possibly can. This guy doesn’t have any resignations. He probably brought you here because he is tired of playing with me. I wouldn’t be surprised if he gets rid of me when he comes back.” Cana scoffed, but there was no mirth in the sound.
“Don’t say that, Cana!” Lucy jerked against her chains, though they seemed to be firmly in place. She doubted that she would be capable of breaking out on her own. “That isn’t going to happen, you are not going anywhere. Do you hear me?”
“Lucy, I wish I had your confidence.” Another hollow laugh, and Lucy knew that Cana had to have gone through some kind of hell down there. A hell that Lucy would likely come to understand if the two of them didn’t manage to escape sometime soon.
“My boyfriend knows what happened. He will look for us. The police too. We are going to be found, I promise.” Lucy didn’t make promises that she couldn’t absolutely make good on usually, but she needed to do what she could to keep Cana from giving up. The blonde couldn’t even begin to imagine what she would do if anything were to happen to Cana while Lucy was right there. While she couldn’t even raise her arms more than an inch from the cold, concrete floor.
The writer would absolutely shatter.
“He will probably come down here soon. I’m so sorry, Lucy.” Cana apologized again, and Lucy could tell that her friend was likely trying not to cry. Or at least, trying to keep her voice from breaking. Lucy once more reminded Cana that she didn’t blame her before she began to mentally prepare herself for whatever she was going to have to go through.
The two sat—or rather, lay—in silence for a long time before Lucy could hear footsteps above them. Then, a crack of light appeared seemingly out of nowhere in the ceiling a little ways away from where the girls were chained. Then, a square of light illuminated the darkness she had begun to finally get used to. Just below that golden square of life was a set of old stairs. They looked to be extremely old and even rotted. But before she could get a good look at the basement itself, a pair of boots became visible.
There were those cargo pants. Was it still the day before Halloween? Time seemed to flow so much more slowly in that basement. Or wherever they were. Part of her was expecting to see that plastic mask and red wig. But with his back to the light behind him, it was impossible to really see his descriptive features. He was almost entirely shadowed over, though she could tell that his hair was...some shade of brown?
“You’re awake! Sorry I hit you so hard. I guess I don’t know my own strength.” The man laughed as he hurried the rest of the way down the stairs. Lucy glared. “Wow, you are so much more beautiful when you are looking at me directly.” He was standing just a few feet away from her now, and it hurt a little to strain her eyes so much. She likely would have gagged at his backhanded compliment if it weren’t for the fact that she was practically paralyzed with fear.
“Let us go,” Lucy finally managed through her clenched teeth. “You can’t just keep people like this; we are not animals!”
“Oh, I like them feisty.” The man almost growled his approval. “I was getting kind of sad when sweet, sweet Cana stopped fighting so much.” He sighed, and Lucy was glad she couldn’t see the look on his presumably disgusting face.
“Just let us go.” Lucy tried to keep from outright begging. “We won’t tell anybody, just let us go!”
Another laugh, and Lucy began to tremble.
“Why would I trust that?” Lucy bit her lip. “I think the second you have the chance you would go to the police. I’d be stupid to let you go, even if I wanted to.”
“No!” Lucy denied immediately. “I don’t even know what you look like, so what would I say that could be traced back to you?”
“Oh, right. It is pretty dark down here.” The man seemed thoughtful, and for a split second…Lucy began to hope.
Then, a bright, near blinding light assaulted Lucy’s eyes.
It took a few long moments before her eyes were able to adjust to the crudely bright fluorescent lights. She could see everything, and suddenly any prior bravery that she may have had was gone. So far gone, Lucy couldn’t be sure it had ever truly been there in the first place.
Rust-colored eyes met with chocolate brown, and Lucy’s tremors transformed into full-blown shaking with fear.
“Is that better?” he asked with a grin.
“If you hear from your girlfriend or remember anything else…you contact us. Immediately.” Gajeel rubbed the back of his head as he nodded slowly.
Then, he left. Lucy’s apartment was a crime scene, and the police didn’t want him contaminating any of the potential evidence. As if he could. He spent so much time at that apartment, there was likely just as much of his DNA and fingerprints as there were Lucy’s.
Because Gajeel had an alibi, he hadn’t been asked to stick around for the moment.
Gajeel was more than ready to get the fuck out of there and start looking for his girlfriend himself. While the police were doing their job, the raven-haired man didn’t believe that they were doing enough to find Lucy. They hadn’t seen the look on her face before the call had been forcefully ended.
“Gajeel!”
Great. Just what he didn’t need.
Levy’s eyes were wild when she approached him from the entrance to the apartment complex, “Is it true?! Is Lucy gone?!” Her green-haired boyfriend placed a hand on the shrimp’s shoulder, but she shrugged it off immediately.
“I can’t talk right now,” Gajeel grumbled before moving to walk around the couple, but Levy was determined to be a pain in his ass.
“This is serious, Gajeel! I want to know what happened to my best friend!”
“Levy,” Freed began, but the bluenette just stared at Gajeel.
“You think I don’t know that?!” Gajeel snapped before bending down so that he could look the young woman straight in the eyes. “I just watched my girlfriend's head get slammed onto the counter. And this psycho has her now, because there was nothing that I could do about it.”
Levy looked like she would be sick as her hands flew to her mouth and tears fell down her cheeks. But Gajeel was numb. He didn’t feel any guilt as his girlfriend’s best friend began to sob. He’d tried to avoid subjecting her to the details, and Gajeel really wasn’t in the mood to sugar coat his girlfriend’s kidnapping. It must have been his roommate, Rogue, who had reached out to Levy. Though, really, Gajeel couldn’t even bring himself to get angry about that either. All of his actual anger was reserved for the man who took Lucy.
Walking around the couple, Gajeel headed to his truck, which was still warm from his race there twenty minutes prior.
How could somebody disappear in such a short period of time? It was daunting to think about.
He hadn’t beaten the cops to Lucy’s apartment, though he supposed that was probably a good thing. He would have looked a lot more suspicious at the scene of the crime if he’d gotten there first.
Gajeel climbed into his truck and sat there for a long time. He stared at the picture strip he had of himself and Lucy that they’d taken at the town's summer festival. He had stuck it right on his dash so that he could see Lucy, even while he was at work.
Though seeing her smiling face seemed more like a lie.
“Dammit!” Gajeel wanted to punch something, someone. But he knew what little effect that would have. He was so angry. But mostly, he was afraid. Something horrible had happened to Lucy, something horrible could very well still be happening. And there was nothing that he could do about it.
He’d never felt so powerless in his entire life. He’d pretty much always had some kind of control. His adoptive father had just about let him do whatever he wanted, so long as he wasn’t a danger to himself or others. And managed to keep his grades up in school.
His cell phone vibrated, and he was tempted to simply roll down the window and toss the device outside. He didn’t want to deal with anybody. But…he pulled out his phone out of his jacket pocket and squinted at the unfamiliar phone number that the text message had been sent from. It was a picture message. Gajeel wasn’t typically one who got random messages like that, so he decided to give it a look, his curiosity winning out in the end.
And he nearly dropped his phone.
There she was, his Lucy. She was chained down to a bed and he could see that she’d been bleeding on her head. She looked absolutely terrified.
Heads or Tails?
Gajeel didn’t even know what to think at first. Another text message appeared. A message that got his brain functioning at high speed.
Go to the police and you will see Lucy much sooner than you think. But I can’t promise it will all be in one piece.
His grip tightened on the cell phone, and Gajeel actually had to force himself to relax before he texted back.
What do you want?
It only took a few moments before another text message came in.
I want you to remember this feeling that you have right now. I want you to feel jealous. I want you to loathe the man who has his hands on your girlfriend. Then…I’m going to give you a time limit. If you don’t find your precious girl by then, she will lose a piece of herself. A piece that she can never get back.
His frozen fingers were moving faster than the actual words were forming in his mind.
Give me some fucking clues, you asshole! He swallowed anxiously while he waited for a reply to come.
Only, it didn’t. Gajeel stared at his phone until it shut down on its own because the battery had died. Something which at least threw the man into action.
Turning the key in the ignition, Gajeel made it back to his apartment in record time. He ignored his roommate's questions as he rushed into his room and plugged in his phone. Impatiently, Gajeel drummed his fingers against his desk.
“Gajeel… It’s already being reported on, are you…” Rogue didn’t move from where he stood in the doorway. He also didn’t bother to finish asking the question he already knew the answer to. “Gajeel, if you need anything, I’m here okay? I’m not really sure what you might need, but I want you to know that I’m here.”
Gajeel only continued to stare at his phone, and Rogue backed up. “I’ll send Yukino home now. I’ll be in my room okay?” When Gajeel again didn’t respond, Rogue disappeared from his doorway.
When Gajeel’s phone turned back on, he groaned with annoyance. He still hadn’t gotten another message. Was this psycho actually asking him to find Lucy without any kind of clue?
He wanted to just go to the police, but what could they do before the psycho did something to hurt Lucy? Gajeel was beginning to feel panicked.
Then, his phone buzzed, shocking Gajeel into motion as he practically dove for his phone.
Return to Lucy’s apartment in four hours.
--
Against his better judgment, Gajeel did as his girlfriend’s kidnapper asked. He went to Lucy’s apartment. The doorway had yellow police tape across it. Clearly the police had gotten all that they needed. But he knew that they very well could revisit the scene of the crime if they felt that they needed to.
So he would have to be in and out as quickly as possible.
The place still smelled of the food that Lucy had made with the intention of feeding him. Gajeel felt so much frustration towards himself—he should have kicked his ego to the curb and asked for her number again. Then they would have realized what was going on much sooner. Before any of this could have even happened.
Shaking his head, Gajeel ducked under the tape and contemplated turning on a light. At this point, it was nearing midnight. It was nearly Halloween. Lucy’s favorite holiday, though perhaps that would change after what had happened that day.
The thought made Gajeel’s heart ache.
Instead of turning on a light, Gajeel pulled his cell phone out of his jeans pocket—he’d managed to put some actual clothes on before heading out this time—and activated the flashlight app he’d downloaded a while back. Though even that seemed a bit too bright for his tastes. It took a minute of playing around with the app settings before he was comfortable with the amount of light that it was casting off. He didn’t want anybody to see the light and wind up calling the police. The last thing Gajeel needed was to be arrested.
“All right, what the fuck am I supposed to be looking for?” he muttered to himself as he began to look around. Nothing really seemed to be out of place save for the broken door. Gajeel was guessing that the police had taken Lucy’s laptop as well as the cell phone that he’d watched them bag.
All the food was still laid out on the counter. Gajeel supposed it wasn’t the police’s job to clean all of that up, though it made him uncomfortable to know that the food would just sit out until somebody eventually came around to clean it up. Hell, he would have if it weren’t for the fact that he wasn’t even supposed to be there.
And he did have a time limit to worry about.
Gajeel had to have looked around the small apartment for an hour before he found anything that even remotely resembled a clue that he could use to find where Lucy was.
He felt strange being there, knowing that Lucy wouldn’t be returning shortly.
Going through her stuff didn’t really make him feel any better either, but he knew that it was the only way he would have a chance at getting her back. When he had the young woman in his arms again, he wasn’t ever going to let her go.
He would get her to move in with him. He was sure that Rogue wouldn’t mind since his girlfriend was over quite a bit of the time as well. They certainly had a large enough apartment to accommodate for Lucy.
A notification popped up on his phone’s screen, catching his eye. A text message, perhaps another clue? He quickly poked the notification and grimaced at the words he read.
Tick tock, don’t you know every second counts?
It was not what Gajeel needed right then, to be taunted. As though the situation already wasn’t bad enough. Grinding his teeth, Gajeel continued his search, deciding that he couldn’t let the text message affect his judgment.
What Gajeel found was a small piece of paper that had been well hidden inside a heavily worn book. A Stephen King novel titled Misery that Lucy had on her bookshelf. Had it always been there?
Even then, it was difficult to tell if it was a clue. An address was scrawled sloppily in red ink. Certainly not Lucy’s penmanship. He would look around a little bit more before going to check things out at the address. It would look strange if Gajeel wound up having to return to the apartment if it was a dead end, so he wanted to make sure that he’d gotten a good amount of searching done before leaving. He made damn sure that everything was exactly as he had found it.
When he made it back to his truck however…
“What the fuck are you doing here?” Gajeel demanded, having opened his driver’s side door to find that Levy was promptly sitting in his passenger seat. She was dressed in all black and even wore a black hat and gloves. When she didn’t turn her attention from the windshield to him, Gajeel almost growled when he repeated the question.
“I figured I would stay to see if Lucy made it home on her own,” Levy began. “I know the chances of that happening are almost non-existent. But it’s the most I can do at this point. But when I saw you pull up and head into the complex, I figured you knew more than you were letting on earlier, so I’m not going anywhere until you tell me why the hell you snuck into Lucy’s apartment and were in there for over an hour.”
Levy was lucky that she meant so much to Lucy, otherwise Gajeel might have snapped.
He first thought about the text message that he had received—it hadn’t said anything about not telling a little blue-haired shrimp. And even if it had…there was no way the guy could have known.
Climbing into the truck for the hundredth time that night, he closed the door and poked at his phone for a few moments before handing it over to the eager midget. He watched as her eyes filled with tears, again.
“In or out,” Gajeel said after a few minutes of silence passed. A statement that had more than one meaning, and Levy knew it. “Decide right fucking now. I don’t want to waste more time because of you.”
Swiftly wiping away her tears, Levy looked forward once more. “I’m going to help you. I’m in. Let’s get going.”
Gajeel nodded before he started up the truck and set on route. He knew the roads of Magnolia well enough to not need the GPS to get there.
He was relieved when Levy didn’t try to talk more and despite the way he was acting, Gajeel was actually a little bit glad to have her along. Levy was very smart. Having her there would probably increase the chances of finding Lucy.
“You didn’t know her…but Cana is also in this picture that you were sent.” Levy was looking down at his phone. “I think this is probably about the guy who was stalking her over a year ago.”
It was definitely good to have her along, Gajeel decided.
“I didn’t even see another person in that picture,” Gajeel admitted. His attention had certainly been taken completely by his injured blond girlfriend. He hadn’t been able to notice much but her clear fear and the chains.
“Yeah, if I didn’t stare at the image for a couple minutes, I might have missed it as well.” Levy nodded. “The background is pretty dark because of the flash that had come from the—” Levy cut herself off before swiftly pulling the phone closer to her face.
“What?” Gajeel asked, glancing over at her for a second before returning his attention to the road. “Did another text message come?”
“No… I…” Levy was then digging through her pockets before pulling out her own phone. “I think this number is Lucy’s.”
“What? Really? I saw the police bagging up a cell phone when I got there before.”
“Yes, it’s the same as the one I have in my phone!” Levy seemed way too excited by the revelation.
“The bastard must have taken Lucy’s phone when he took her, and decided that it would be funny to use her phone to communicate to me like this. Sick bastard.”
“No, you don’t understand!” Levy was smiling, Gajeel could hear it in her voice. “If Lucy’s phone is on, I can see where she is on mine! It’s a feature that all the newest iPhones have.”
Gajeel’s jaw dropped.
“Should I pull over?”
“No. I think you should still go to the address. We need to make it seem like we aren’t onto him. He needs to think that he is the one in charge of the situation.”
Gajeel was going to have to treat the nerd to a new book when all of this was over.
“Where does your phone say that Lucy is?” Gajeel demanded.
“It’s going to take a minute. I should have gotten the latest iPhone, this one is from last year’s release. Just give me a minute.”
“Then you stay in the car. We’re here. I’m going to go in and see what’s inside.”
Gajeel had nearly passed their destination it was so odd. There was only a mailbox, and no building.
“Where are you going in?” Levy asked, judgment clear in her tone.
“I’m going to open the mailbox—that should have been obvious.”
Levy rolled her eyes before returning her attention to the phones. Gajeel approached the mailbox with caution—he didn’t really know what to expect. He wasn’t sure whether or not to be glad when he saw another piece of paper. Paper with that same scarlet ink.
“Good job,” it read. “You’ve just extended Lulu’s time! Can you keep up the good work? Next, go to the place where you and Lulu shared your first kiss.”
This asshole had been watching them for a really long time if he knew where he and Lucy had shared their first kiss. It made him absolutely furious. He hopped back in the truck, the piece of paper crumpled in his fist.
Levy was pale and even appeared to be shaking a bit.
“What’s the matter with you?” he asked, uncertain if he wanted to know the answer.
Wordlessly, Levy gave Gajeel back his phone, and he swallowed back bile when the text message registered.
So what is your piece of Lucy? I’ll take a request on which part to have removed first.
“Come on, how much longer?! I don’t want this guy to have her even another minute!”
“Almost… A-ha!” Levy shouted. “I’ve got it! I’ve…” Levy squinted at her phone as if she wasn’t sure she had been reading it correctly. “This... It’s saying that she is in the building right beside her apartment. But that can’t be right.”
A memory flashed into Gajeel’s mind at those words.
-- Flashback --
“What a cute idea!” Lucy was clearly excited over the new shop that would be opening right next to her apartment.
“You know there are parchment stores in town, right? It’s not all that uncommon.” Gajeel was amused by how excited Lucy seemed to be over the store.
“I know that!” Lucy elbowed Gajeel in the side as she laughed. “But it’s so close to home! All I’d have to do is walk next door when I run out of paper instead of having to go into town! Just let me have this.” Gajeel laughed.
“Potential customers?” Both Lucy and Gajeel turned to see a young man with brown-red hair standing there with a large crate in his arms. He’d asked the question as though it had been directed at both Gajeel and Lucy, though the guy’s attention was definitely on Lucy alone.
“Oh, absolutely! I love writing on all kinds of paper! I’m a little bit sad that you aren’t opening sooner!” Lucy appeared to be attempting to conceal her enthusiasm.
“Yeah, I just moved here. So I’ve got a little bit of preparing to do before it will be ready for you.” He laughed, and Lucy laughed…while Gajeel glared. Was this guy actually flirting with his girlfriend right in front of him?
Lucy was beautiful, friendly, and an exceptional conversationalist. So it wasn’t surprising that she drew the attention of other guys. Even sometimes other girls.
But always, Gajeel was able to give off strong enough “boyfriend” vibes so that other people typically avoided flirting while he was there with her.
This guy hadn’t even spared Gajeel a single glance though.
“I’ll make sure to get this place up. I hope you will be able to stop by when I do open up shop.”
“Oh, I definitely will. I live close enough.” Lucy laughed again, and Gajeel could have sworn that something flashed in that man’s eyes, but whatever it was…was gone a second later.
“Come on, babe.” Gajeel draped his arm across Lucy’s shoulders. “The ice cream is going to melt if we don’t get it into the freezer.”
“Oh! I forgot about the ice cream.” Lucy took Gajeel’s free hand and offered a small smile at the paper man before the couple headed off.
-- End Flashback--
That stare, that man. Had he been the one who had taken Lucy?
To think he and the police had been so close to her the entire time.
He peeled out of there and raced towards where he knew that Lucy was.
“Oh no…” Levy tapped her phone desperately. “It’s… He knows that I was looking for her location. He knows, Gajeel!”
“Shit.” Gajeel pushed the pedal to the floor of his truck.
They got back to Lucy’s apartment complex in under five minutes.
“Call the police,” Gajeel ordered as he hopped out of the truck. “This game is over.”
Levy nodded before swiftly dialing while Gajeel ran to the front of the shop that Lucy had been so excited for. When the door proved to be locked, Gajeel didn’t even hesitate to beat a large rock against it until it shattered.
When he managed to get inside, he wasn’t sure what he should do next.
The inside of the building was all but empty. This guy clearly had no intentions of actually opening up a store. There were scraps laying around that told him that the man likely spent a lot of his time hunkering down in there. WcDonalds wrappers, empty soda cans. Gajeel even found several pictures of Lucy and the brunette—whose name was escaping him right that moment—it made him sick.
Ripping his shirt off, Gajeel returned to where he’d broken through the glass door and wrapped it around one of the larger pieces of shattered glass, a sharp piece that he deemed sturdy enough to use as a weapon. He wished that he hadn’t stopped carrying around his switchblade. He hadn’t wanted Lucy to think poorly of him. He couldn’t believe the situation that was playing out.
For a moment, Gajeel listened for any indication of where Lucy might be. Then, he remembered just how dark it had been in that picture. While it was certainly dark where he stood, he could still see pretty well thanks to the street lamps just outside the storefront.
Down?
Gajeel pulled out his phone to use as a source of light for the second time that night. He needed to hurry. Who knew what that guy was doing right that moment. He must be panicking if he’d seen that somebody had pinned the location of Lucy’s cell phone.
He couldn’t hear anything though. There was no way that the bastard had managed to get both Lucy and Cana out of there before Gajeel had arrived.
Walking further, Gajeel eventually froze, noticing the change in the sound of his footsteps that had been echoing up until that moment. Stomping a couple times, Gajeel looked down.
Hollow.
There was a rug that looked extremely out of place in the middle of the linoleum flooring. It was only partially covering what appeared to be a hutch of sorts.
Opening it up, Gajeel shone the light of his phone downwards. It was pitch black down there. He knew how risky it would be to go down, but he couldn’t wait for the cops to show up, he couldn’t risk something happening to Lucy while he waited.
When he saw that the stairs were hollow, Gajeel ran down them as quickly as he could, unwilling to have somebody poke through one of the gaps between the stairs with a knife or something of the like.
When he made it to the bottom, he wrinkled his nose at the multitude of different stenches that greeted his nose. He’d never been around enough of it to really be able to say that he was familiar with the scent, though if he had to guess, the metallic smell was blood.
But Gajeel knew that Lucy was alive, so there was no way that she could have been the cause for the latter. But that didn’t necessarily calm his nerves in the slightest
That almost overbearing scent of blood mixed with what he could only assume was the smell of human waste was nearly dizzying. He’d been down there not even a full minute, and his nose was already begging him for some fresh air.
“Gajeel?!” Lucy’s voice sounded strained, and he spun around, waving his phone around, trying to see where her voice had come from.
“Don’t move.”
Gajeel froze when the light not only found Lucy, but also the man who had taken her. He held a knife to her throat.
Gajeel dropped his makeshift weapon immediately. “Hey, man, don’t.”
“You’re forcing my hand, Gajeel.” The guy shook his head. “It’s such a shame. Look at how beautiful she is. What a waste for her to have to die so young.”
Lucy began to cry, and Gajeel’s face twisted as a thousand different emotions raced through him in that fraction of a second.
Lucy’s eyes were wild as she tried to pull the guy’s hand away from her throat.
“It’s a shame that you were born so beautiful and with a heart of gold, you know? That is where things really started to go wrong for you, sweetie. You should know better than to be so nice to strangers. You never know what is going through their heads.”
Sirens could be heard in the distance, and Gajeel knew that it wouldn’t be long before they’d pull up to the building. But it wasn’t fast enough. They weren’t going to be fast enough.
A flash of rage flickered in the man's eyes.
“I told you not to involve the police.” His grip on the knife changed, and Lucy cried out as the knife cut into the tender flesh at her throat.
“You didn’t really leave me much of a choice.” Gajeel gestured around, trying hard to not simply leap towards the two, knowing full well that it probably wouldn’t do anything but ensure Lucy’s death.
“You were supposed to play the game,” the man growled. “You weren’t supposed to cheat.”
“You really are crazy if you thought for one second I wouldn’t take the first shortcut that I found.”
The sirens were louder now. They must have arrived. Levy was probably talking with an officer as they stood there. Gajeel had to keep the guy talking, had to keep him from doing anything drastic.
But how?
“I can’t believe you would risk Lulu’s life like that. I’m so shocked.”
“Police! Don’t move!” a man's voice exclaimed as the light of a flashlight found Lucy and her captor almost too easily.
Time almost seemed to move slowly after that. The look in the man's eyes spoke volumes, and Gajeel was shouting as the knife sliced at Lucy’s throat. Blood sprayed out like a fountain, and Lucy dropped like a weighted ball as the man took off.
“Lucy!” Gajeel screamed as he dove for her.
She gurgled as she stared up at him with wide, terrified eyes.
The police officer ran past them, using his radio to inform that immediate medical assistance was required and that he was giving chase to the suspect.
Gajeel’s hands were on Lucy’s throat, attempting to slow the blood flow. Her eyelids fluttered once, twice…before she closed her eyes.
Everything after that was a blur; Gajeel couldn’t recount all of the events even if he wanted to.
The brunette, Cana, was unconscious when the paramedics got down there, one person tended to her, but most of the immediate concern was for Lucy. Who was bleeding out fast.
One man placed a hand on Gajeel’s shoulder, causing him to flinch in response.
Lucy was rushed to the hospital, and Gajeel was taken to the police station. They needed his full statement.
He told the police everything that he knew and was taken to the hospital when everything that could be said…was said.
Levy was already there by the time he arrived. Her face was blotchy, and it was clear that she’d spent the last few hours bawling her eyes out.
“She is in critical condition,” she explained as he dropped into the chair beside her. “They aren’t making any promises right now. She… Things aren’t looking good, Gajeel. I called Aquarius. She hopped on the first flight that she could.”
Gajeel didn’t say anything. He simply sat there with his face in his hands.
He couldn’t protect her, even when she’d been just a few feet away from him.
“Dammit,” Gajeel cursed as he fought the sob that wanted to escape his tight throat.
For a long time they sat there. For a long time, they didn’t receive any kind of news.
When a white coat finally walked into the room with a clipboard, Levy had fallen asleep, and it had to have been fairly early in the morning.
Gajeel elbowed Levy in the side, which jostled Freed, who she had been leaning on. Her boyfriend had shown up an hour or so prior.
“Are you friends or relatives of Lucy Heartfilia?” the doctor asked, though it seemed clear that he already knew the answer to that question.
Gajeel, Levy, and Freed all stood up.
“She’s lucky,” the doctor began. “The cut was shallow, likely due to the fact that the attacker was panicked. We were able to stabilize Miss Heartfilia, but she will require a lot of rest before she will be able to go home.”
Levy sagged with relief, and Freed tightened his arms around her so that she wouldn’t fall to the ground.
Gajeel’s shoulders remained stiff. “Can I see her?” he asked.
“She is still unconscious, but yes. One person at a time please.”
Gajeel, of course, was the first to walk into that room. The sound of machines beeping steadily probably should have been reassuring, but it didn’t do anything but make the raven-haired man feel guilty.
Pulling up a chair, Gajeel took Lucy’s hand and held it to his cheek. She felt cold, likely due to the fact that she had lost a lot of blood. Her throat was bandaged up, covering up any stitches that she may have needed. There were also bandages around her head, on her wrists and even around her neck.
“I’m so sorry,” he whispered, his voice hoarse. “I will never let anything like this happen again, I swear it.”
He must have fallen asleep, because when he awoke, there was a small blanket over his shoulders and his neck was awfully stiff from sleeping at an awkward angle.
Lucy was awake, and her eyes fell onto him when he jerked into an upright position.
She smiled before turning her gaze onto her lap, her hand was moving and he could see that she was holding a pen. Moments later, she held up a spiral notebook with the words good morning, happy halloween! Written across it.
Gajeel had to force a smile on his lips as well as a pitiful laugh. “Some Halloween, huh? Do you think they will let me decorate the room for you?”
Lucy’s eyes looked sad as she watched Gajeel speak before she began to write again.
Think I’ll pass as a mummy? She grinned, and Gajeel had to look away.
“That’s not funny, Bunny,” Gajeel whispered as he stared at his clenched hands, which were still stained with a bit of red from the blood that had covered them less than twelve hours prior.
He felt a hand on his shoulder, and he looked up.
I’m going to be okay.
“How can you be so positive right now? After all that happened to you?” She had been put through so much, gone through way too much in just a few hours. It hurt his heart in ways he hadn’t known were possible.
Because I’m alive, Cana is alive… You saved us, Gajeel.
Gajeel shook his head. “It was the midget that did most of the work. If it wasn’t for her…”
“Oh, stop it.” Gajeel jumped at the new voice and turned his head to see that Levy had been sitting in the room the whole time. “You were the one who came back to try to find Lucy yourself, remember? If it wasn’t for you, I wouldn’t have known that the police didn’t have Lucy’s phone.”
The two went back and forth for a while before Gajeel turned his slightly damp eyes toward his girlfriend.
“I love you,” he whispered, giving her hand a squeeze.
