A/N : This might be late, but I hope you still enjoy reading this.
Um, maybe that's all..?
Warnings : nothing dangerous so far, fail!angst (really, I retyped it so many times but still it's so… FAIL), OOC just in case.
Disclaimer : you know I don't own FT…
Lucy sighed.
It had been a week since Natsu and the others went for a mission. Lucy had regretted refusing to join them, thinking that she was tired and needed some resting phase. But now she realized that she was wrong. It was so fucking boring without the three of them—plus one cat—around. Well, not really that boring since it was The Fairy Tail we are talking about but still...
Lucy closed the novel she was reading. ''Lucy-chan, have you finished reading? How was it?'' Levy chirped cheerfully while taking yet another book from the shelf. The latter only gave a faint smile in response and shook her head slowly. ''No Levy, not yet. My eyes are a bit tired... But the book was good so far.''
''Ah, glad to know that you liked it, Lu-chan,'' the bluenette said while tossing another book onto the high, messy book stacks on the metal table and huffing, satisfied with her work. She plopped onto the metal chair in front of her blonde friend and started opening one of the books she just taken, her eyes gleaming with interest.
''I wonder when will Natsu, Gray and Erza back,'' Lucy said while holding her chin with one hand. The bookworm smiled to her knowingly without moving her gaze from the book she was reading. ''Did you miss them already?''
''What? No way, they're just a bunch of freaks. It's just that… it feels a little-'' Levy threw her a look, ''-okay, okay, I admit it. I miss them...'' she said sighing. Levy chuckled.
''Don't worry Lu-chan, they will be back soon,'' the bookworm cheered her up. Lucy only nodded slowly in affirmation.
But her hopes was fulfilled quite too soon when loud rustles, shouts, cheers, screams, broken glasses and whatsoever could be heard from outside. The two friends raised their brows and got up from their seats, walking out of the small library and to the big main room of the guild.
Everyone was already gathered up in the middle of the room, making a big ruckus about something. Levy walked ahead of Lucy, jumping up and down in attempt to see the source. After three jumps, she managed to see trough the crowds and gasped. "L-lu-chan… You might wanna see this…"
Lucy looked at her blue haired guild mate with confusion and followed her act of jumping, trying to see the seemly interesting scene. She brightened up upon seeing the familiar scarlet, black and rosy locks of her favorite guild mates, but after seeing the scene that laid in front of her eyes, her mouth fell agape, eyes wide. She dropped her book and stormed through the crowds with a great concern on her eyes.
"N-natsu?"
Lucy stared at the badly wounded dragonslayer in front of her with unbelieving look as if this all were only a nightmare. Bruises and deep wounds were all over his body—some of it still bleeding, staining the floor with crimson liquids. Gray was only quiet, his head was lowered and bangs were covering his eyes. Erza was the same—only her shoulder was shaking so slightly.
Lucy looked at them with horror, slowly kneeling down. She touched Natsu's muscular arm, tracing the multiple bruises on it and swallowed her throat. "W-what happened?'
No one said anything. Lucy trembled when the atmosphere became heavier. She took her rosy haired bestfriend's palm and held it in her hands.
Suddenly, two eyelids were forced to slide open sleepily. Deep onyx orbs scanned its surroundings sleepily, finding the sight of his beloved guild staring at him with the utmost concern on their eyes. His gaze finally stopped when he saw his blonde bestfriend with tears forming in her eyes—ready to spill out.
He could barely resist the urge to grin—if he was even able to. "Luce…?" he said quietly. Lucy tightened her grip, biting her lips.
"Natsu… w-welcome back," she said with a trembling voice. "W-what happened to you? W-why…?"
"Ah, I'm sorry Luce… I—" he paused for a moment, stealing a glance at Gray "—I thought I could beat the dragon by myself but… I failed…," he smiled faintly.
"Why are you so stupid? You know that we're all here when you need help. We're nakama, right?" Lucy raised her voice slightly. Her vision was blurry with tears.
"Y-yeah, Luce, I know. I'm so stupid. Well… now I must pay for my stupidity. Ugh," Natsu stopped his ramble as he coughed hard. Erza patted Natsu's back in helping attempt, and everyone gasped in shock as blood spilled with each painful cough.
"Natsu! Hang in there!" Gray shouted to Natsu with furrowed brows. Tears streamed down Lucy's cheek as she thought hard in panic.
"Wendy! Where's Wendy? She can heal him, right?"
"Wendy is going to a mission with Juvia," replied Mirajane, her eyes scanning the mission data. Lucy screamed in desperation. "Damn it!"
Natsu's gaze faded out and he slowly closed his eyes. "I'm sorry… I don't think I can live much longer…"
Lucy's grip on Natsu's palm tightened as she shouted to her bestfriend desperately. "No! Natsu, y-you cant die! Please, Natsu! Natsu… I—"
And suddenly,
Natsu's eyes shot open, revealing two dark orbs that reflected the shocked and confused gaze of his favorite blonde maiden. He smirked.
"APRIL MOP! YOU HAVE BEEN TRICKED!"
Groans and disappointed shouts(Gajeel: "I'm gonna kill you so you can taste the real death!") could be heard all over the guild room, as well as relieved sighs and some laughs("Haha, you really got me there, Natsu!"). Some things (beer glasses, metals, cakes, etc) were thrown to Natsu ("Booo!") and he dodged to right and left, avoiding. Gray and Erza couldn't hold their laughter any longer.
Huge satisfied grin was plastered to Natsu's face and Lucy sat on the ground dumbfounded. "How was that, Luce? Quite awesome, right? I did the effect using some potion I bought from a potion shop, and it was quite expensive, y'know!"
But as everyone's rustle quieted down, she was still silent. Natsu's grin was slowly replaced with a worried look as he knelt down to her. "H-hey Luce—"
"You don't have any idea…," she said in a low voice, "you don't have any slightest idea that I was scared to death seeing you like that! You could've gotten me a heart attack! And yet, you—" she shouted, "—you thought it was the funniest thing in the world?"
Everyone fell in silence as they watched the tears that streamed down Lucy's cheek. The prankster himself was wide eyed, shocked to see that her bestfriend didn't take the joke well at all.
"L-lucy I—"
"Leave me alone!" Lucy slapped Natsu's comforting hand and stormed out of the guild, slamming the door harshly in front of everyone's observing eyes. They gulped and threw Natsu—who still stood in silence, dumbfounded—a not-so-sympathetic look. Natsu glared to Gray who only whistled innocently and Erza who looked just as shocked as him, while Happy was… nowhere to be found. He awkwardly looked around for help, but no one seemed to have any solution. Except one, that is.
"Natsu, I think you should go apologize," Mira said after a long, awkward silence.
Natsu pouted. "B-but I—"
"Natsu,"
When Mirajane threw a smile that could make even the manliest man (or woman) shiver in fear, Natsu couldn't help but to nod like a good boy. Mira's smile widened. "I-I guess I'll go after her now."
"Wait, we're going with you," said Erza while dragging around a struggling Gray. "We are also responsible for making the prank."
And with everyone's sympathetic stares boring into their back, they mustered their remaining courage and walked out of the guild.
-0-0-0-0-
Lucy sniffed and wiped her remaining tears as she slowly walked by the river, going to her apartment. She felt a little regret and guilty for getting so mad at her bestfriends's joke. But it was their fault for making such a bad joke!
She convinced herself and clenched her fist.
"Lucy-chan, be careful on your way home," an old man said while he passed by the river. Lucy smiled to him. "I'm okay, old man!"
As she took small steps, small, deep thoughts were formed in her head. What if that prank was really true? What would she do if Natsu really… died? The thought of it quickly formed small drops of tears in her eyes and she bit her lips, holding her cry. No, she shouldn't cry anymore.
Several minutes later, she finally arrived. She took her apartment's key—it was hidden under a pot in front of her door—and plugged it into its hole. The key rotated two times and clicked.
Lucy slowly pushed the door open.
For God's sake, she should have already expected certain pink, blue, black and scarlet heads inside her apartment. Yes, she should have, for them always breaking into her house like it was the most natural thing in the world.
Lucy crossed her arms angrily as the quarto stormed into a row. They smiled awkwardly, trying to look as guilty as possible. Lucy narrowed her eyes. "Well?"
"Hi, Luce," Natsu greeted while forcing a lopsided grin.
Gray started. "U-uh well… we're…"
"You're breaking into my house," Lucy spat.
"W-we're here to welcome you like usual," Erza replied defensively. The blonde haired stellar mage only snorted at the lame excuse. No one breaks into someone's house just to welcome the very owner. Except them, of course.
Long, awkward silence occurred again. Gray stifled an awkward laugh. An awkward sweat drop dripped down Happy's head. Finally, Natsu decided to awkwardly speak up his apology.
"Look, Lucy, we're sorry. We didn't mean to… y'know, make you upset. We just wanted to do some April Mop special joke or whatsoever," he said while looking down. "It was Happy's idea," he added. Happy shouted objectively. "Hey! It wasn't my fault!"
"Yeah, it was this dumbhead's fault to agree to such a stupid idea," Gray added, pointing at Natsu.
"What? Why me?"
"Yeah, the potion shop was your idea, right?"
"Don't you dare blame me for that, you agreed to it!"
"Oh, so you want a fight?"
"Fine, bring it out, you icebrain!"
"QUIT IT, BOTH OF YOU." Erza smacked the duo's head hard, making an egg sized lump to grow beautifully on their each heads. They instantly fell quiet, looking down and mumbling something about their head being hurt. Erza shot Lucy an apologetic look.
"S-so… Lucy… do you…um, forgive us?" Natsu asked with a high hope. Lucy didn't say anything for some moment, looking to be thoughtful. The guilty gulped in anticipation, waiting unpatiently.
Lucy took her time in making them wait, enjoying every moment of their funny, anticipating expression. After a few seconds that felt like forever, her lips twitched upwards and she couldn't hold her smile any longer. She walked past her four best friends without saying anything, heading straight to the kitchen.
"Anyone wants a cup of coffee?" she shouted.
Natsu, Gray, Erza and Happy smiled brightly and exchanged relieved look with each others. The answer was clear, Lucy was no longer mad, and it was a good thing.
Several minutes later, they were sipping their cups of coffee in Lucy's livingroom in peace. Happy was chomping on his fish happily. Lucy slowly put down her cup on the table, smiling to everyone. "So… How was your mission?"
"Well, it was an easy task. We just got to accompany a carriage which seemed to contain precious treasures," Erza explained after taking another sip from her cup. Lucy raised her brow.
"So you did not fought a dragon, right?" she asked, eyeing Natsu in particular.
"Well, actually, no," Natsu mumbled with a little pout.
"Instead, the flamehead passed out like usual just because we're riding a horse carriage."
"What? You… you were stripping in front of our customer and freaked her out!"
"I only lost my guard for a moment!"
"There we go again," Happy sighed, putting up a wise cat act. The referred only got their argument even more heated, shouting at each other in top of their lungs. Lucy mentally facepalmed while Erza just ignored their usual fights.
"And guess what, flame brain! I put a 10-metre-beard growing potion into you coffee earlier!"
Gray smirked in victory as Natsu slowly touched his now hairy chin with utter shock and horror. He looked ready to explode, but Lucy's glare stopped him. She wouldn't want her apartment to be ashes.
"Ha, you're not the only one who managed to do something! Guess what, I also put a gender-bender potion into you coffee earlier!" Natsu smirked widely at his comeback.
"What?" Gray squeaked at his high pitched voice and quickly covered his mouth with his palms, his eyes wide in shock and horror. Lucy couldn't resist the urge to laugh loudly, earning a glare from (female) Gray who was blushing furiously from anger and embarrassment.
"NATSU, I'M GONNA KILL YOU!" he screamed on top of his lungs with an undeniably girly voice. Natsu plopped out from the window with a reverberating laugh and Gray followed angrily. Lucy only stared as her two male bestfriends dissapeared from sight with loud screams and laughs.
Lucy smiled to herself, and a thought snapped in her mind. She, Natsu, and Gray were already pranked, but what about Erza? No one would dare to mix any prank potion into her coffee.
Right?
Lucy turned around to see Erza still alright—eating her strawberry cake ignorantly—and sighed in relieve. The scarlet haired maiden finished her cake and stood up while smiling to Lucy.
"Thanks, Lucy, the coffee and cake were really delicious. Now, I guess I'll excuse myself and get going, some business are waiting," Erza said politely and bowed. She turned around and walked to the door.
And Lucy realized something.
A long, furry thing shyly peered out of Erza's skirt. It revealed itself more with each passing seconds and whipped cutely, following her every movement. Lucy watched with mouth agape as a pair of white cat ears appeared slowly between Erza's scarlet locks, following the fully-grown tail. She still stared eventough the door was already closed and Erza was out of sight.
Who would dareto prank Erza?
Lucy finally turned around and caught Happy making unreadably mischievous smile, and she know who was the prankster. Happy realized her piercing stare, giggled awkwardly and inched closer to the window, mumbling a small goodbye as he flew away.
What…
The hell is going to happen next?
A/N : How was it? Hope you like it!
And by the way, I'm thinking of making a kind of sequel about the beardy Natsu and female Gray. (LOL)
What do you think?
Be kind and review…? O,O