Chapter Text
Team Natsu had already faced so many obstacles. They had gotten to meet the Water God Dragon, Mercuphobia's. They had only seen him a couple of times, though. They were still recovering from their last fight with Kyria. She had taken Erza hostage, which results in Natsu and Wendy saving her - while Lucy and Gray ran into Brandish. Afterward, they all retreated to a nearby resort. They weren’t finished with the quest, but they still needed a break.
Natsu walked in first, looking around to make sure it wasn’t a trap. It seemed pretty safe, besides the ladies they’d be staying with. They could be demons due to their hormones. He swept a hand across his scarf, as he pressed his hand against the desk. The attendant was asleep, waking up and looking up to see the dragon slayer. He nearly began to stumble on his words but cleared his throat out.
“You need a room?” The attendant questioned, as he began to bring out the logs. Natsu nodded, as Lucy, Erza, Gray, Wendy, and the two exceeds (Carla and Happy) entered. The attendant was surprised to see four more mages appear. He immediately assigned them a room - giving them the BIGGEST room. It was similar to the honeymoon suite, but it was slightly different. There were 2 beds in there, so it was better than nothing. Lucy was amazed by the room, surprised by how clean it was.
Natsu immediately laid back on one of the bed’s, letting out a large sigh of relief. His feet were cramping from the long journey and they weren’t even done yet. “Man, I’m so hungry!! Can one of you call room service?!” Lucy rolled her eyes with a small laugh, as she proceeded to do so. Lucy made her way towards the other bed, grabbing the phone. She began to dial the number for room service.
It rang for a while - it even had a weird static sound. It was oddly similar to a horror movie situation, yet it still didn’t feel like that either. Finally, someone on the other line answered. “How can we help you?” Lucy gulped loudly, causing Natsu to look across at her.
“Can you bring all the foods you have?” Lucy questioned, as she began to feel as if she was being watched. She already knew the others were there, but ever since entering - she had this sadistic vibe about the place. Her thoughts were interrupted by a knock on the door and with them hanging up. Natsu knitted his eyebrows together, as he stood up and walked towards the door. He opened it, prepared to engage in any possible violence - instead, seeing the sight of a variety of foods.
Lucy was confused, just as much as everyone else. She didn’t expect it to even come, the place did look run-down on the outside, after all. Natsu began to drool, desiring to have every plate. His mouth watered more as he opened his mouth wide before Erza slapped him on the back of his head. He groaned, “What was that for?!”
“You’re sharing that with us. We’re hungry too!” Erza shouted - her stomach growling loudly immediately afterward. Natsu began to laugh, motioning for Lucy to come over and join them. She shook her head, looking down for a moment. Gray and Wendy looked back at her, as she cracked her knuckles.
“Can I go outside for a minute? I’ll come eat in a few minutes,” Lucy spoke as she walked out onto the balcony. The wind brushed along her face, pushing a few strands of hair aside. She placed a hand underneath her chin, looking at the scenery. The area was beautiful. It was surrounded by lands of water, floral gardens, and colorful trees. It was indeed, very different from Magnolia. That would always be her home. She missed the guild - she missed hanging with Levy, Juvia, and Mirajane. She missed Gajeel shockingly as well. It just felt weird without having all of the other guild mates.
Lucy’s thoughts were interrupted by a hand on her back. Lucy furrowed her eyebrows, turning and seeing Natsu there. He flashed her a small smile - getting in the same position as she was. He looked out at the scenery, admiring it and aligning his eye contact on her. “What’s wrong, Luce?”
She looked down, shaking her head. “It’s nothing, I’m just homesick.” Some of it was a lie and some of it was honesty. Natsu believed her though, pulling her into a hug. It surprised her, especially as he rubbed her back. “N-Natsu…” She couldn’t believe it. Natsu was hugging her? I mean, she knew it wasn’t bad - but usually, he’s immature and churlish.
“Look, I miss home too. We’ll be back soon, I promise. We will throw a huge celebration when we get back - I promise.” He whispered gently, as one of his hand’s moved up towards her head. He began to brush his fingers through her golden locks. Her cheeks began flushed a rose color, pulling away. He looked at her in confusion, “What’s wrong?” He noticed that she was blushing, smiling at her.
“Don’t just go brushing your fingers through someone’s hair like that…” Her voice ran off, squirming a bit afterward. She glanced at Natsu, her facial expression changing as she saw his smile. He grabbed her hand, pulling her back in, making her blush even harder. Wendy and Erza had witnessed everything and continued to smile to themselves. Gray grabbed her a plate of the food, placing it on Natsu’s side, allowing them to sit with each other.
“Are you okay, Lucy?” Erza questioned, as she handed her a cup of sake. Lucy nodded with a soft smile, as she began to eat on her food.
“I guess I’m just really homesick.” Lucy lied, even though Natsu immediately believed her. They all nodded in understanding, even Happy and Carla did.
“I get it, Lucy! I miss the guild too,” Happy responded, being slightly comforting. She gave him a small smile, continuing to eat on the salmon. It felt good to get a meal in, they’d fought for days - and now being able to settle. It kinda relaxed her, but still. Her real reason for feeling off - still didn’t even make any sense to her. The place was comforting, yet it made her very uncomfortable. It’s like she sensed dark magic near - unless the effects still were on her.
Other than that, Lucy began to zone-out. She wondered how the guild was doing, how Juvia was handling herself without Gray around, how Levy and Gajeel are doing, and etc.
Levy walked into the guild, hand-in-hand with Gajeel. The guild was very excited about her pregnancy, as her baby-bump was slowly beginning to show. Gajeel was surprised by the news, but he was thrilled to be starting a family with Levy. He wanted to focus on Levy, but Touka was getting in the way of things. Her strange, hidden-self was distracting him.
They both already knew that she was a White Mage, yet they didn’t know a thing of it. All they knew about it was the dangerousness and the odd similarity to Dark Magic. That’s why they wanted to get her out of the guild, but Gajeel told Levy to stop worrying about it so much. He didn’t want her to stress out during the pregnancy, so he made sure she focused on the well-being of her and the babies.
“Gajeel, I’m going to go talk to Lisanna, be safe…” Levy softly spoke, as she stood up on her toes, attempting to give him a kiss. He smirked, leaning down, and getting in her face. “G-Gajeel…” He laughed, giving her a soft-kiss, letting her go on and hang with Lisanna.
He was interrupted with someone saying his name, causing him to furrow his eyebrows. He turned around seeing Touka, causing him to glare at her. She smirked at him, even though it looked normal to everyone else - he sensed her darkness and her plans.