Back to the Start(nalu)

22- Luck

I breathe in and out deeply with soft hums. My muscles slowly relax as I let the sun shine onto my skin and listen to the soft breeze that floats through the air.

My relaxing gets cut short as a distant noise breaks the quiet. I perk up slightly to listen to it and manage to make out the soft tapping of someone walking in this direction.

No. No. No.

My eyebrows crease in irritation.

Just go away!

I was finally starting to relax.

I stay on the ground with my eyes closed and I start to hear the sound of someone talking.

My face relaxes again as I make out the voice to be Lucy mumbling to herself.

"-go check on him. Me?! The one who doesn't even know anybody here. Not to mention this guy looked like he wanted to puke when he looked at me....huge hit to the ego..."

A smile tugs at the corners of my lips listening to her rant to herself.

Just listening to her talk makes me feel almost whole in a way.

"Uh...Natsu?"

I slowly move my hand from in front of my face and there's Lucy, standing a few feet away, eyeing me curiously.

My eyes wince from the sun but I keep my eyes open and pointing at Lucy.

After a few moment her cheeks flush and she diverts her eyes away from me. I blink a few times and gain my focus back.

Whoops...didn't mean to just stare at her.

"Mira, uh, asked me to come and check on you."

Of course she did.

"Sooo...you alright?"

I push my back up to be sitting up and face her.

"Just relaxing."

"On the ground?"

"Yup."

She nods slowly and a silence settles over us, Lucy awkwardly looking around.

I scratch the back of my head and glance at the spot next to me.

"Wanna join?"

Her eyes look over to where my hand is gesturing and I can see her mulling it over in her head.

"I don't really know you."

My lips pull up into a small smile.

Says the girl that got onto a boat with a stranger and then went with a stranger to their guild.

"Well, I'm Natsu Dragneel, a fire wizard of Fairy Tail."

Realization dawns in her eyes as she realizes that I'm the Salamander of Fairy Tail and she smiles.

"I'm Lucy, a celestial wizard."

She goes to sit down a few feet away from me, making sure there's plenty of distance.

I smile sadly to myself.

"A celestial wizard of Fairy Tail, Lucy."

I glance over at her and a smile forms on her face as she looks at the pink mark on her hand.

"I heard about what you did in Hargeon."

She falters for a moment and then chuckles nervously.

"Did you?"

"Yeah, so how'd it happen?"

Her smile falls and she shrugs.

"This creep used illegal love charms on a bunch of us girls. Before I could even realize I was on a boat. I went looking around to try to figure out where I was when I heard screams."

I look down in front of me.

I wasn't there to help her.

"They were tying up all of the girls and taking them down to a separate room. I did what I could. I called my spirit, Aquarius, and she brought the boat to shore. Most of the men on there had either fallen off or hit their heads and passed out so all I did was go and help untie the girls before the guards came and took over."

I nod.

"That's pretty amazing."

She shakes her head and shrugs her shoulders.

"I didn't do much. I just got lucky."

I smile softly.

"You can call it luck, but in the end you did it because you wanted to help them and you pulled it off because you're strong."

She looks at me in awe.

"Thanks."

I nod and a silence settles over us. I close my eyes and breathe deeply.

I don't know what happens next.

I don't know what I need to do or what I'm going to do but just for this moment, and probably this moment alone, I am simply going to relax and enjoy Lucy's presence.