Work Text:
Lucy hummed to herself as she grabbed another stack of books from the back east corner of the Library, this one covered in more dust than the rest. She quickly moves them to a different table so Mira could come and grab them and put them back where they belonged.
They were tasked with cleaning the Library today, so they were working on making sure there were no random book piles and everything was dusted and put back in the right spots.
Turning back to the corner, she sees a smaller silver object. Raising a brow she moves closer to see a small video camera. "hu...". Picking it up she sees a few nicks and scrapes along the edges but otherwise, it's in perfect condition.
Glancing around Lucy smiles to herself before looking at the Camera debating on leaving her work to go to the little watching room the Guild had.
Well, Mira did tell her she should take lunch soon, and besides, there might be good blackmail footage that she could use on Natsu or Grey.
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It's a bit blurry at first and the audio isn't great before she hears a very loud but young voice yell.
" Natsu come on!!" it's a young girl's voice trailing after a much younger version of Natsu who is grinning ear to ear as he runs.
"Nope you said you could win while filming so you gotta run faster!" His voice is so young, that Lucy can't help but smile at the younger version of her friend.
There's a yelp before the person holding the camera trips, and everything goes black.
Lucy frowns for a moment before another video starts up showing a slightly older-looking Natsu in his kitchen seeming to try and flip a pancake as a young girl looking a lot like Mira is sitting down on the table.
"Come on Natsu I know you can do it, if Gray can do it then you can do it." The girl giggles watching Natsu scowl before flipping the pancake almost successfully. One half in the pan the other half out of the pan and onto the floor. The girl burst out laughing almost falling off the table as Natsu growls putting the pan back on the stove and grabbing paper towels. "Shut up Lis " he huffs but the slight smile on his makes it clear that he's only mildly irritated. The girl wipes her eyes before laughing again and turning towards the camera. "Happy did you get that?". The camera nods with a loud "AYE!" before Natsu's face becomes bright pink as he locks eyes with the camera before he lunges for it. "Happy get back-!" The Camera cuts off again before another video starts playing.
Lucy laughs to herself before she hears a small sniffle behind her.
There stands Mira and Elfman, looking pale. Tears welled in their eyes as they stare at the screen in front of them playing another clip though Lucy isn't sure of what, she's too busy panicking as she notices not just them but Erza, Gray, there as well watching the screen with a sad gleam in their eye.
"I uh- sorry I just found it in the Library and wanted to see what's on it..." she mumbles getting off the couch and making her way to the TV to shut it off.
"wait!" Elfman’s rough voice calls out.
Freezing Lucy watches as they all turn towards Elfman watching him look at his sister.
After a moment of staring at each other Mira nods and moves to the couch pulling her brother with her as they sit. Lucy watches as Erza and Gray move to sit by her too, Erza to the left of her and Gray sitting on the floor against the arm of the couch.
Feeling very uncomfortable Lucy looks back to the TV in time to see Natsu falling out of a tree.
He laughs freely as the girl 'Lis' as he called her before, moves to lay by him grinning at the camera. "Smile!" she yells as she grins up and he sticks his tongue out.
Feeling herself shake her head fondly she leans back on the couch. The next clip plays on.
---
"Natsu Dragneel you're an Idiot" the girl laughs watching Natsu juggle two eggs and an apple in the kitchen again.
"pfft as if, not everyone can juggle you know" He grins spinning in between tosses. Laughing The girl simply shakes her head.
---
"Go on Lis, Jump!!"
Natsu yells from the bottom of the waterfall as Lisanna stands at the top looking a little hesitant.
"it's not as deep as it seems, just jump in!" He calls once more, treading water as watches her.
After another Minute she seems to get enough courage up before jumping in, the splash is huge but not as big as the smile on her face when she emerges. They laugh for another minute before splashing each other. Grinning Natsu is the one that turns towards the Camera and swims to it before clicking it off.
------
About an hour later everyone is Laughing at Natsu and Lisanna's antics. From jumping off waterfalls to making pancakes to a few snapshots of them just cuddling on the couch watching the Star War series. A few of the videos featured a young happy who was taking the videos, to Natsu setting up the camera to play a prank on the girl.
Lucy hears Mira and Elfman a few times crying quietly but whenever she sneaks a peek at them they are always smiling as they watch the tv.
Just as it seems to be the end of the videos there's suddenly Natsu sitting against a Pine tree with Lisanna at his side playing with the grass. The angle is weird making it look like the video was more than likely being taken in secret but the voices are clear
"Okay so what about after you find your dad, what then?"
" I... don't know. Stay with him I guess, show him how much stronger I've become."
This Natsu was defiantly older than the rest, maybe about 15, his voice was slightly deeper and he was taller, if not by much.
"You wouldn't be in the Guild anymore? No more adventures? " She questioned quietly leaning her head on his shoulder.
At that Natsu Stiffened before looking over at her, "I'm not going to leave you, or the guild I'll... just visit. I'll make sure to go on adventures with you too, that way Happy and I can back you up, and I can get even stronger." he Nodded to himself before laying his head against hers, she nodded along dropping her piece of grass.
"What about you? just gonna adventure the rest of your life?" he reached over and grabbed her hand tracing patterns on it.
"Hmm... if I'm with my friends maybe but I don't know I just want to live, ya know?" She closed her eyes grinning as the breeze gently moved her hair.
"Breath in the fresh air, see new places, hear new music feel the sun on my skin every day, and just live. Make every day feel like... something like this." her voice was dreamy-like, almost like the mere thought of it brought her joy.
"What peaceful?" Raising his brow he moved to thread his fingers with hers.
"No, just content. Something I can look back on and smile." Squeezing his hand she brought her knees up so she could lean closer to him.
Humming he closed his eyes as well. " And what's making you smile today?"
She smiled softly moving both hands to gently hold his, "You."
After another moment of silence, Natsu speaks up. "Hey Lis?"
"Yeah Nats?" she murmurs sleepily.
"Let's do all that living together okay? while we look for my dad" He peaks his eyes open at her watching her smile and open her eyes.
"For sure" she nods.
"Promise? " he whispers extending his pinky and grinning when she hooks it with hers.
"Promise" She whispers back
______________
After that, the camera cut, and the Video Player turned off and Lucy finds herself cooing over the adorable couple, who couldn't be more than 15 years old, it's endearingly cute, and she can't help but wonder what happen to 'Lis' though guessing by the Fact that both Mira and Elfman are crying into each others arms she can assume the worse.
“You said you found this in the Library?” Erza motioned to the video camera.
“Yeah, I did, east end by a stack of old books.”
“By video editing and photography for dummies” Natsu’s voice spoke up making everyone jump as they turned towards him.
He was standing near the doorway arms crossed over his chest, looking at the blank screen. His face which normally had a smile or a determined look in his eye held nothing but acute sadness and grief.
“Natsu…” Lucy sat up, unsure what to do or what to say but before she could do anything else he shook his head, jaw flexing as he gripped his arms tightly. After a moment he took a deep breath and relaxed, moving from his spot against the door frame towards the TV and video camera.
He started unhooking it from the TV being extremely careful with it.
“Natsu” Mira spoke up, barely whispering but it was enough to catch the Dragon Slayer’s attention.
Mira took a shaky breath wiping at her eyes once more. “I’d like to add the Video camera to her stuff.”
He didn’t move for a moment before resuming unhooking the camera from the TV.
“No.” Natsu shook his head, anger radiating off him in waves.
“It’s Lisanna’s it should go with the rest of her stuff,” Elfman spoke up though he looked away when he spoke.
“Natsu it is their little sister.” It was Erza who spoke up this time, sitting up and watching him with a calculating eye.
Natsu shook his head again standing up fully Camera clutched in his hand, Lucy couldn’t see his eyes but she had a feeling that if she could they would be misty.
“Natsu I know she was your friend but she’s their little sister. They should have the camera.” Erza stood up, obviously trying to make sure he didn’t just leave with it.
“My friend…?” Natsu’s voice was low but sharp, finally, he looked up at Erza, his eyes misty but they held dull anger.
Mira got up at that, tears running down her face. Her voice shook when she spoke up. “Natsu, please.”
Natsu glanced over at her, the anger slowly declining, but he shook his head again. “You have everything else. I’m taking this, this wasn’t even for you. It was for only Happy, Lis, and I” His voice cracked on her name, and his glare sharpened.
Mira opened her mouth before shutting it again, she looked away hand moving to cover her mouth as more tears fell.
“We bought her the camera, the ownership of the camera goes back to us,” Elfman spoke up, standing to hold his sister as she broke down. He looked up at Natsu with a watery glare of his own.
“That doesn’t matter.” Gray sounded from the ground, watching everything unfold.
Erza turned to Gray sharply, seeming to forget that he was there.
“It doesn’t matter that you originally gave the Camera to Lisanna because her videos were for Natsu and Happy. They weren’t for you, they’re for him.” Gray nodded towards Natsu who was watching Mira with a dark look.
“It does matter-”
“You already took her from me once.” Natsu's voice was a whisper, dark and dripping with venom and grief. “Don’t you dare do it again.”
Lucy stared wide-eyed at him, in all their time fighting beside one another she’s never heard him speak like this, even against monsters and the scum of the earth, his words never aimed to hurt, never to hurt like this.
The room was deathly silent, as they all watched the tension between the siblings and Natsu grow, threatening to break.
Finally, Mira sobbed quietly before nodding and turning into her brother’s chest. Elfman sobbed hard hugging his sister tightly.
Natsu closed his eyes taking a deep breath before nodding once, turning to leave the room, wiping the single tear that ran down his face.
Erza moved out of the way of the Dragon Slayer, realizing that she overstepped by including herself in a conversation that in the end had nothing to do with her.
This was between Natsu, Mira, and Elfman.
The door closed firmly behind Natsu and the Siblings flinched at the sound.
Looking at everyone in the room, Lucy saw Erza standing there trying to figure out what to do for the crying duo, Grey looked as uncomfortable as Lucy felt and finally she looked back at the door.
“Let’s do all that living together, okay?”
“For sure!”
“Promise?”
“Promise.”
Lucy felt herself sigh at the replay of the video in her mind.
“
My friend…?”
Lucy had a feeling they were much more than friends.