Archive of Our Own

“Get out of my house!” Lucy yelled, grabbing Happy and shaking him.

“You’re angry today.” Happy said straightly.

“I’m not angry! I just had the most relaxing soak ever and all I want is to read my book! You burglars are in my sacred space!” She yelled. 

It’s true, Lucy had woken up feeling relaxed and calm for the first time since the war, well, since Tartoros if she was being honest with herself.

She’d been at the guild hall every day if she wasn’t on a job with the team, she found peace in knowing that she’d be there if something was to happen to anybody. A little bit of it was she liked there to be people around in case something happened to her too.

“Reading your book can wait! We have the most awesome news ever!” Natsu exclaimed.

They’d broken in through the window, Lucy could tell because her little apartment had a sharp coldness as soon as she’d opened the door from her bathroom. It was the dead of winter and her friends couldn’t even find the decency to preserve what was left of the warmth in her apartment.

Lucy pouted and walked over to her dresser to grab some sort of clothing to preserve whatever modesty she had left.

“It better be good, you’ve turned my apartment into a freezer.” She’d sighed.

Whilst sorting through her dresser, Natsu rambled.

“Happy and I found the most perfect job that you’ve ever seen.” He sounded like an excited child.

“A job? Natsu! We’ve been back to back taking jobs! I’ve made my rent for two whole months! Why can’t we just have a relaxing weekend, I think there’s a night market over in-“

“Some wizard you are.” Natsu grumbled.

“What is that supposed to mean?” Lucy grabbed her clothes and turned to face Natsu.

He had a childish pout on his face with his arms crossed. “You don’t wanna go on a job and help people out because you want to go shopping?” He’d said.

Lucy was heartbroken to hear him say that, half of her wanted to kick him senseless and never speak to him again, but the other half was so embarrassed to hear that’s what he thought about her.

“You think I’m selfish?” She said quietly.

“Natsu…” Happy muttered, hitting his best friend. “Don’t say that! She’ll beat you up!” He whisper-shouted. “Anything you say now will be held against you!!!”

Lucy strived to always be selfless, it was her mothers greatest quality, it came easily to her, like it was built into the very fibres of her being. Lucy had pride in always putting others before herself, she never wanted anyone to feel like they didn’t have anyone.

She would befriend previous enemies, allow herself to see every ounce of good in a person before ever being able to view them as an enemy in the first place.

It was true that Fairy Tail had helped her with that, every person in the guild was selfless to an immeasurable degree, risking their lives for people that they’d just met. Erza came to mind, blocking a Jupiter canon with her body for Lucy, who she barely knew at the time. 

Lucy knew that the way she grew up had almost groomed her into being a selfish person, and she wanted nothing more in life than to break that tether and not be the selfish rich girl that everyone expected her to be. She wanted to be kind, someone everyone could count on, friend or former enemy.

“You’re being selfish right now!” Natsu stood his ground.

Lucy had to think to herself that he clearly couldn’t read her inner monologue and see how much he was breaking her heart. 

Had she become the very thing that she woke up every single day to fight off? Is that how he saw her? Just a selfish brat that he had to drag on missions?

“Okay, I’m sorry. I didn’t realise that’s how you saw me.” She’d said, lip quivering, she quickly made her move back into the bathroom to change. Before she let herself get emotional she called. “Just let me get dressed first.”

—

“You think she’s upset?” Happy asked Natsu. 

Natsu knew he’d been harsh, he knew that Lucy wasn’t a selfish person, he’d thought that she was when they’d first met, complaining about climbing Mt Hakabe to find Macao, she couldn’t see past the fact that it was cold and see that it was for a kid that missed his dad, and may never have seen him again if it weren’t for them.

But he was wrong, she was caring, and she wasn’t selfish, sometimes didn’t think before she spoke, but Natsu was just as guilty of that as she was, and really couldn’t be too critical. All of their team were a little dense when it came to saying the wrong thing at the wrong time, that’s why Lucy was such a perfect fit into the team.

She shouted a lot, sure. She could be a brat, but she had something about her that drew people in, even enemies couldn’t truly hate her, she had a kindness and warmth that was built into the very fibers of her being.

“Yeah, I think I was too harsh.” Natsu looked at Happy.

“You think you should apologise?” He’d asked.

“Well, she’s agreed to come on the job! Plus it’s Lucy! She won’t stay mad for long!” Natsu put a thumbs up to his friend. 

Happy returned a thumbs up with a grin. 

Lucy physically couldn’t hold a grudge, Natsu had thought. She didn’t take anything that Natsu said seriously anyway. 

But the way her lip quivered whilst she walked into the bathroom was still burned into the back of his mind, he hadn’t made her upset, had he?

He shook off the thought, thinking that he knew his partner far too well to think that an, albeit harsh, off comment would be something that could possibly upset her.

Lucy opened the door, now fully dressed, and walked over to her coat rack to pick up her warm, fur lined jacket. 

He tried to get a look on her expression, on her body language, and see if she was upset, but he wasn’t all that good at reading people, since he didn’t see any tears or outward signs, he had to assume that she’d already brushed it all off and was ready for an adventure!

“So what’s the job? Do I need to pack?” Lucy asked, with the same brightness that she always had.

“Nah, it’s a quick one, and it’s perfect for the three of us! Mirajane actually kept it to the side for us!” Natsu announced proudly.

“Okay, then. Let’s get going. Where is it?” 

“Just some outskirt village, should only take an hour to walk there.”

Lucy turned to him with eyes that could kill. “An hour? To walk there?” She repeated slowly.

“Yup, the sooner we go the sooner we’re home!” He declared happily.

—

How could she complain after all that he’d said to her now? How could she scream and cry that Magnolia and the surrounding area was covered in snow and she was very susceptible to cold?

They were trudging through, Natsu and Happy ten steps in front, laughing and joking about something or another, she couldn’t find herself to laugh and joke in weather conditions like these. 

But she held her tongue for complaints, she didn’t complain that they were walking too fast, or that she had no idea what the stupid job was even for, or that she was almost one hundred percent sure they were walking in the wrong direction.

“Aren’t we close?” She managed to call to the boys in front of her. 

“Yeah, come here, we can see it!” 

She traipsed further towards them, and stopped suddenly.

They stood on a cliff, with a deep, circular ravine in front of them. A village was in the centre. 

“What in the world?” She muttered. “Why would you build a village down there?”

“Seems like that’d make trading and stuff really hard, no?” Natsu added.

“How do we get down there?” Lucy looked at Natsu questioningly.

“Well, Happy of course!” He grinned.

“Aye, Sir!” Happy called, grabbing onto Natsu and immediately flying him down into the ravine. 

Lucy was left alone with her thoughts again.

“So isolated.” She’d muttered to herself. 

Why would you subject yourself to the lack of transportation? How would you even get out of there? Surely there wasn’t any farmland to even grow food, so why in the world would they choose a place like this to call home?

“Alright Lucy! Let’s go!” Happy called, flying towards her. 

She was snapped out of her thoughts and gave him a thumbs up and a nod. 

“Let’s go!” She beamed.

She wasn’t thinking about her relaxing day anymore, all she could think about was finding out why so many people would choose such a climate to call home.

Once landing on the solid ground she looked around for Natsu.

“Hey, Happy, where’d Natsu go?” Lucy asked.

“He’s looking for their God!” He squealed excitedly.

“Their what?!” Lucy exclaimed. She started walking in the direction that his footprints clearly were headed, and saw him in the distance.

“Hey, partner!” She yelled angrily. 

Natsu turned around and faced her.

“Took ya long enough!” He yelled back. 

“She’s heavy. I have to be careful when I carry her!” Happy joined in.

“No I’m not! You’re just a weak cat!” She snapped at Happy who grinned back at her.

They caught up to Natsu who was standing still, though impatiently crossing his arms. Clearly unaffected by the blistering cold that was attacking every nerve in Lucy’s body.

“Alright, where do we find the client?” Lucy cheered up.

“In the centre, there’s a well we need to meet them at. I wanna tussle with this god they’re talking about” Natsu answered and the three of them walked towards what they assumed was the centre.

The houses were beautifully built, they were made of stone but had wood that framed the windows, the wood was carved in beautiful ways, depicting lots of different things. Lucy noticed one particular house which had two faces carved into either side of the window.

All of the houses had those two faces, along with other carvings.

“These houses are beautiful!” Lucy exclaimed. “I wonder what those two faces represent, they’re on every single house!” 

The well was in sight now, and a man and woman were there.

He was a short man, not quite as small as Master Makarov, but shorter than Lucy, he had white curly hair, and wore a warm thick robe, the fur lining spilling out of the bottom. He had a similar white curly beard that sandwiched his wrinkled face. 

She was also fairly short, a few inches taller than her male counterpart, younger too. She also had white hair, though straight. Lucy noticed her white eyelashes, and eyebrows. She’d never seen someone so ethereal looking, with a pale skin tone that perfectly matched her hair, and red eyes to accent it all.

“Good morning!” The man yelled and waved. “I assume you’re the wizards we requested.” 

“That’s us! I’m Natsu, and this is Lucy, and this is Happy!” Natsu had clearly appointed himself the leader of this job.

“Well hello, Happy. I’ve never seen a cat like you. Such an interesting hue.” The man exclaimed.

“Well, I’m actually an exceed. A wizard too!” Happy replied, turning to show the man his wings.

“Ah, I see why you’ve come to us then.” The man nodded. “My name is Felix, and this is Livia.” He introduced.

Livia was shy, she smiled, though very small, and didn’t make eye contact once.

“It’s so nice to meet you, Livia. How can we help!” Lucy beamed at the girl, trying to show her that she had nothing to be shy about around her.

“You’ll have to forgive Livia, she tends to be shy.” Felix says. “I’m sure the two of you are aware of the situation.” 

“Yup! You need some help gettin’ out of here!” Natsu said.

“To put it simply, I suppose that’s right.” Felix nodded, he then added,

 “See, I’m sure you’ve noted that our village isn’t in the most ideal area. However we have a staircase that leads us out of the village. Due to weather conditions, I’ve requested some assistance getting rid of all the snow and ice that covers these stairs. One of our merchants had a terrible fall trying to get out yesterday.” Felix shook his head as if trying to stop imagining the scene. “Not to worry! He will make a speedy recovery. Things that go wrong down here never stay that way.”

“So I’m here to melt down that snow and ice!” Natsu fist pumped the air, “lead the way!”

Felix and Livia began to walk towards where the stairs were. 

Felix started again, “I trust you also are aware that we asked for someone with water manipulation magic? I assume that’s your specialty?” He turned to Lucy. 

“Water manipulation?” She questioned, and looked at Natsu. Certainly not a skill that she honed, this all sounds like a job for Juvia to her.

“Yes, the snow we receive is sacred, and we keep it safe, it’s part of our rituals to Janus. A long time ago he offered us a new beginning here, and we thank him with gifts from Mother Nature, you see.” He explained. “Janus is a god. The myth goes, that in return for teaching him of agriculture and nature, he offered new beginnings and starts. It’s how we protect our citizens from sorrow.”

Lucy was on edge, she didn’t have water manipulation powers, what was Natsu thinking, setting her up like this?

“Our merchant who is injured will make a quick recovery once we perform the ritual to Janus, he is a kind god. One who protects our people.” He added.

“Excuse me. May we just have a moment?” Lucy stopped walking and grabbed Natsu, and pulled him behind one of the houses that they had been walking through to get to the stairs.

“What the hell is your issue?” She spat at him. “You should’ve brought Juvia! You know I don’t have water manipulation magic. They are counting on me, a celestial wizard, to help with an injured man! You’ve totally set me up!” She whisper-yelled into Natsu’s face.

“What are you talking about? Your scary mermaid lady has water manipulation magic.” He said plainly, with a straight face.

Lucy stopped suddenly. Aquarius. He doesn’t know? Hadn’t she told him?

She thought about it and realised that there really hadn’t been any chance to. She’d kept this one quiet from him, consciously or not.

“I didn’t tell you.” She muttered. Not daring to make eye contact. “I don’t have a contract with Aquarius anymore.” 

“What?!” Natsu whisper-shouted. “Why?!

Lucy bit her lip in an attempt to not get emotional. 

“It doesn’t matter why. Right now, these people are expecting me to manipulate the water from the snow and ice you melt so they can heal a real man’s injuries!” She whispered.

Then,

“Oh! I could try with my stardress! I don’t know if it will actually manipulate the water but I can summon celestial water to help!” She rambled.

Natsu looked like he’d seen a ghost, Lucy realised how non-chalently she’d discussed losing Aquarius with him.

“Look, we can talk about this later. You should’ve told me that’s what this job would be before we got here.” She’d said and grabbed him arm, back to where Felix was admiring Happy.

Felix clearly had found the exceed charming, as he was deeply engaged in a conversation about where he came from and his species.

“You have to be one of the most interesting entities I’ve ever had the pleasure of meeting.” He beamed.

“Aye!” Happy beamed.

“Ah, is everything alright?” Felix asked Lucy and Natsu, looking toward Natsu for confirmation.

Unfortunately, Natsu’s leader mentality seemed to have vacated him. He looked like his mind was going a mile per minute. When nothing came out his mouth, Lucy responded.

“We’re all good! Let’s see these stairs!”

—

The stairs were mighty, Natsu didn’t even dare guess how many there were, never mind count them. They rang along the side of the mountain, manmade definitely. The ran a significant length of the perimeter, clearly as to not make the steps too steep. There was no hand rail on the side that wasn’t connected to the mountain.

“You guys must be pretty fit!” Lucy exclaimed, laughing a little.

“Some certainly are.” Felix had said. “Not many of us ever leave, merchants and foragers certainly have to, I’m the mayor, so I don’t find too much use in it. Livia here has had quite a few different jobs, she has a lot of different skills”

Natsu looked at Livia, she wasn’t just shy, she looked constantly on edge, more so now that they were at the stairs. Something was definitely bothering her. 

He was sure that Lucy had noticed it too, she had been trying to encourage a response from the slender girl, but only got nods and smiles in return.

Lucy. How could she have hidden the fact that her and Aquarius dissolved their contract? He wondered if they had a fight, they were always bickering, even in the worst battles, they always found a way to argue. Maybe it’d gotten too much and they agreed to go their separate ways.

Then how did Lucy have the powers of the Aquarius stardress, surely you need to have a bond with the spirit to be able to borrow their power?

He couldn’t figure it out, and Lucy wasn't making it any easier. Why didn’t she tell him?

He couldn’t think about it too much now. He just walked over to the stairs and put a hand on the snow. 

It didn’t feel like normal snow, to his surprise, way softer. It melted, but didn’t obey the laws of physics, it melted but stayed as if it was still a block of snow. He touched it. Definitely water, just unmoving.

“It’s an enchantment. Not to worry. The water can only be within the area of where its solid form once was.” Felix explained.

“That makes the gathering of it much easier!” Lucy smiled. 

“Certainly, we don’t use much magic here, only enchantments, so we try to make the wizards’ - who help us - lives easier.” He added. “Happy, in the meantime would you mind flying our friend at the top down here?” 

“Oh yeah, you said she was camping up there?” Natsu said.

“Yes, one of our foragers got stuck in the storm, she’s just fine, but we advised her to stay away from the stairs until you came along.” He said.

“Aye, aye!” Happy began to fly up towards the top of the stairs.

“Wow, this really was the perfect job for us three!” Lucy laughed.

Natsu turned to her and smiled. “Yep!” 

He loved her smile. She had a face that was made for smiling, he thought. Some people look like they were made to permanently frown, Laxus came to mind, but not Lucy. She didn’t even look like herself when she frowned, definitely not when she cried. 

Her face was carefully crafted to always look the best when she was happy, and not a fake smile, a real genuine smile.

Happy had begun his descent with the girl, she didn’t look anywhere near old enough to be out foraging alone. Not in weather like this.

“Wow, she’s just a kid!” Lucy gawked. 

It’s like we think the same things, Natsu had thought to himself. How were they always in sync, yet at this moment, felt worlds apart?

Happy placed the girl on the ground, and she smiled widely.

“Uncle Felix! What weather!” She exclaimed. 

“I’m glad you’re alright.” He patted her on the head. “Now run along, your parents must be making lunch by now.” 

She ran off, with a bag full, supposedly of items from the forest on the mountain. 

“Livia, perhaps you should join her? You look rather pale.” Felix had said.

Natsu let the scene play out, as he carried on melting the snow and ice that covered the stairs. Happy was flying him up beside the staircase to assist.

Natsu glanced at Lucy who was standing next to Livia. She looked nervous, Natsu knew it was because she wanted to help Felix, and the injured man, but wasn’t actually a water manipulation expert. She must have been trying to figure out the best way to collect the water.

It didn’t take long at all to melt all the steps’ snow. Once they’d returned to the group, he announced,

“Alright Lucy! You’re time to shine!” 

“That’s right!” She responded. 

Just at that moment, Livia lost her balance, she stumbled forward, and Lucy caught her.

“Woah, are you alright? Do you need to sit down?” Lucy stressed.

“Come along Livia, I’ll take you home.” Felix sighed.

“I’ll take her.” Natsu declared. “I’m all done melting, so I’ll leave you to it.” 

“Yes, that’s alright. It’s the house with the pink door in the square, at the well we met.” Felix nodded.

—

Lucy equipped her stardress Aquarius’ form. Natsu had taken off with Livia, her arm slung over his shoulder.

“Is she alright?” Lucy asked Felix.

“She suffers.” He started. “A person should never have to suffer the way she does.” He sighed. 

“Suffers?” 

“A broken heart. Something Janus is unable to protect from. You shouldn’t hear this from me, you should speak to her about it if you’d like to know.” Felix said. “We try to include her in any and all activities, but she is scared. I can’t blame her. Perhaps your friend can try to bring her out of that shell. Maybe a friend from somewhere that isn’t here would help.”

Happy, who had stayed behind to help Lucy out, just in case, smiled and nodded. “Natsu is pretty good at things like that. He’s the best friend ever!”

“Alright, now how does your water manipulation work?” Felix asked.

“Well, I have this urn.” She held up a miniature version of her dear friend’s urn. “I can gather all this water into it! Simple enough.” 

“Quite. Is that holder magic?” He asked.

“Something like that. I’m a celestial wizard.”

He went quiet. 

“Celestial?” He sighed. “You want to help with celestial magic?” 

Lucy cocked her head. “Well, of course! Why wouldn’t I?”

“We hear myths about celestial magic. I suppose celestial magic is the reason our people fled our original village.” Felix said to Lucy.

Lucy turned to Happy and they exchanged confused glances.

“If you don’t mind me asking, what happened?” Lucy asked, she had to be mindful, she knew that a fear of celestial magic wasn't something minor, she thought about how Loke would even be in the guildhall at the same time as her because he was so nervous around it.

“A long time ago, before I was even born, we were a thriving village. We had a beautiful community, well known for our vegetables, we used to travel the whole of Fiore to sell them. Our ancestors were kind, and hospitable.

Well, I guess too hospitable, there was an attack. The legends tell of 6 beings, not from this realm, destroying everything, killing so many. Barely anything was left.”

Lucy held her hands over her mouth. A celestial wizard used their spirits to destroy and kill? She could barely believe it. She thought of all the celestial wizards she’d met, some were unkind to their spirits, but she could never imagine forcing them to do true evil.

“One thing that was left was a book. About the myth of Janus. A god who offered new beginnings. Our people offered so much to him, and they were met with storms that forced them to leave the area, when they offered more, another storm, forcing them further up the mountain.

And the cycle continued until they reached this ravine. The story goes that there was a break in the rain clouds, and the sun shone directly on this ravine, the circular pit of sunlight. That’s how we ended up here.” 

“So you think that Janus sent those storms to direct you here?” She asked.

“That’s right. Some people in the village, and certainly outside the village insist that our people would live a much more comfortable life if they had stayed in the area, or at least benefited from the wealth left from the farming business. But they left it all behind, and here we have a family. It’s difficult sometimes, but if your family is there, nothing seems impossible.”

Lucy felt teary eyed.

“That’s beautiful, sir. I’m sorry you have a bad experience with celestial wizards.” She said, looking to the ground.

“Lucy would never be so mean! She’s mean to us but not to other people!” Happy announced to Felix.

Lucy shot him a glare.

“I’m not mean to you! If I am, you probably deserve it!” She spat.

Happy stuck his tongue out at her, and in a moment of childish rage, Lucy returned it.

“They say celestial magic comes with a deep… how do I say this?” He pondered 

Lucy met his eyes with worry.

“Selfishness.” He stated. “It’s said that the holding of contracts does that to a person, no matter how they try to fight it. I’m not accusing you of anything, my dear. That’s just what our people have studied.

We’ve tried to study celestial magic to be able to protect from anything happening again, and that’s what the findings are.”

Lucy looked to her feet, she was freezing, stood in her stardress, in the snow, and was called selfish. For the second time that day.

“I think that might be true.” Lucy whispered.

“What was that?” Felix cocked his head.

“I think you might be right. I’ve spent my whole life trying to prove that I’m not what people want me to be. I grew up wealthy, everyone expected me to be a spoiled girl who would stomp her feet until she got what she wanted. But I hated that notion. I hated making other people feel lesser than me. So I ran away, I joined this guild, I work every day to prove that I’m not that selfish girl they so desperately want me to be. I suppose it was selfish of me to run away and expect a new start in Fairy Tail, I can’t expect them to change me as a person.” She explained.

Happy flew into her arms, and she held him there, against her stomach, he was trying to hug her but his arms didn’t quite wrap around her.

“Despite my efforts, no matter what I do, my first thought is always myself, how doing certain things will affect me. I always think about whether it’s worth it or not. I don’t dive head first to protect others like everyone else does, I usually need help with that part. It seems like no matter how much I want to be just like Natsu, or even you Happy, I can’t help but think about myself. I guess what you are saying is somewhat a cop out for me, I can blame it on the fact that I practise an inherently selfish magic instead of it being a personal trait.”

“That’s what the studies say. But standing in front of me right now, I just don’t believe it.” Felix said. 

Lucy’s head whipped up and she looked at him questioningly.

“Didn’t you listen? Standing in front of you is all the evidence you need to confirm that your ancestors were correct.” Lucy muttered.

“No, you’re wrong. I think perhaps it’s you that needs to listen closer. Our people would have been perfectly comfortable if they lived off of the wealth that they had accrued. But they didn’t. They searched for new beginnings. Janus provided them a new start, and they snatched it, and while maybe life isn’t as easy for us as it would be up there, this is our family. What kind of man would I be if I said that it’s noble when our ancestors do it, but selfish when you do?”

Lucy felt a tear fall down her cheek.

“It’s not selfish to think of how things will affect you, it’s smart. Brute force isn’t always the answer, and I think deep down you know that. You know that you’re right to think things through first.” He added. “This guild is your new beginning, by our beliefs, Janus provided this for you, or maybe you paved that path yourself, either way, it’s never selfish to find a family. That I know for sure.”

Lucy was entirely crying now.

“Thank you sir, thank you.”

—

“Are you feeling better?” Natsu asked, he sat with his legs crossed in the corner of the room, Livia laying on a mat beside him.

“I am.” She’d said.

“Woah, I hadn’t heard you speak yet.” He exclaimed.

She sat up straight. “Sorry to worry you, I’m not unwell or anything, I just get nervous I think.”

“Yeah you seemed totally freaked at those stairs.” He nodded.

“That’s right.” She said, with a small voice. “Would you like any tea? The trees that we planted make excellent green tea leaves.” 

“Sure. Why do you not like the stairs? Haven’t you ever left?” He asked.

Natsu knew he was prying but it’s all he knew how to do, he was genuinely curious, this girl had a weird feeling about her. It’s not that he was suspicious, not entirely. He was actually wondering.

“You ask a lot of questions.” Livia said as she walked over to the kitchenette that was in her front room. The house was small, only a sitting room and a kitchenette, then stairs next to it, probably to a bedroom.

“I guess.” He answered plainly.

Then there was a silence as she filled the pot of tea with water. She went to turn on the gas, until Natsu jumped up.

“Hey! I’ll save you the trouble, I can heat that up real quick, I’ve done it a few times for Lucy, so I won’t break anything!”

“Sure. I wasn’t too worried until you said that but okay.” She laughed a little.

Natsu had decided he liked this girl, she was cool, she looked different to any other girl he’d seen before, and she wasn’t sinister like he first thought.

He grabbed the tea pot and warned it with his hands.

Livia grabbed her cups and saucers and poured the tea. She carried them to her coffee table where she kneeled on a mat next to it. Natsu followed and sat with crossed legs opposite her.

“So, why do you get nervous around those stairs?”

“You’re pushy.” She muttered.

“I’m the best person to tell this stuff to, chances are we won’t meet again. Or if we do I’ll pretend I’ve never seen you before. I’m like a journal right now.” Natsu pushed.

He wasn’t sure why he was pushing it anymore, he just had a feeling that he needed to hear her story.

“You remind me of someone.” She said, sipping her tea. 

“Oh yeah?” He asked.

“Yes. He’s someone I don’t want to remember.” She added.

“Why wouldn’t you want to remember someone like me, I’m a nice guy!” He smiled.

Then he thought. Oh.

“Is he the one who left?” He asked.

Livia looked at him, astounded. “How would you know that?”

“Just a guess. You’re nervous around the one exit, I assumed maybe someone had died on those steps or something cause they really aren’t very safe, but if you don’t want to remember him, he has to have left.” He explained.

“You’re good.” She smiled and sipped her tea.

“Why’d he leave?” He asked.

“You know, Natsu? I don’t know. Well, I guess I kind of do. He did love us… me. But he had to leave. For himself.” Livia nodded to herself. “He had to make a better life for himself, and that’s okay.” 

“You don’t sound like you believe that.” He said.

“Yeah I guess not. I love it down here, these people are my family. Nobody falls behind or struggles here, because everyone is always here to help. If you struggle for money, someone will always help you out.” 

“That’s pretty cool. Just like a family.” He agreed.

“But sometimes... Please don’t repeat this.” She looked him dead in the eye.

Natsu crossed his heart.

“I wonder if he loved me as much as I loved him, then he’d see that this is enough, he didn’t need to go anywhere, we would have made a good life here, he could have been a forager, and go out and explore the world, but always come back to his family.” She muttered.

“He doesn’t sound like the kind of guy you should love.” Natsu rolled his eyes. “Real jerk type.”

“You remind me of him so much.” Livia smiled as she sipped more tea.

“That’s harsh. I wouldn’t ever do that.” Natsu confirmed.

“I wouldn’t have minded. You know. If he took me with him.” She smiled to herself. “I just wanted to be with him, I love my family, but he was something different.”

“Why didn’t he take you with him? Or even at least ask if you wanted to go?” Natsu scowled.

“He just left, I woke up to a note one day.”

That stopped Natsu. He thought for a moment.

“Oh.” He muttered.

“He couldn’t have ever known this, but my parents both caught a fever at the time, and passed away mere days after.” She explained.

“Do you think he would’ve stayed if he knew?” He asked.

“He had to go. I can tell you how sad I am, and how much it affected me, but deep down, I know he had to go. I’m not mad anymore. I just don’t want to remember him as often as I do.” She explained.

“You don’t deserve to feel that heartbroken. You seem way too nice.” Natsu said.

“It wasn’t about me. I know now that he didn’t feel the same love that I felt.” She sighed. “It wouldn’t affect me as much if I didn’t. He wouldn’t have just left a note if he did.”

“Maybe he didn’t know that you felt that way.” Natsu started. “He didn’t know that you’d be all alone. I think he’ll come back one day.” 

“That’s nice. He didn’t know, I know, I don’t blame him. But it doesn’t make it any easier on me. That’s selfish to say, and I wouldn’t say it to anyone other than you.” Livia confirmed. 

“He should come back, and apologise and swear to never leave again.” Natsu carried on. He knew that he wasn’t talking about Livia’s sweetheart anymore.

“If Janus provides me with a new beginning like that, I’ll know that this place really is sacred.” 

“A new beginning.” Natsu muttered.

—

Lucy deposited the water into the sacred well. 

“Hey! You’re all done!” Natsu opened the door and emerged from the house with a pink door. Livia’s house.

“Hey! Yep! You’re all ready for your sacrifice to Janus!” Lucy confirmed quietly, still in the Aquarius stardress, still freezing.

She felt like her body had gone entirely numb, so required back into her usual clothes.

“Hey Natsu, come here a sec.” She called. 

He sauntered over, clearly proud of a job well done. He had that leader aura back, he approached Lucy and she grabbed his hand and placed it on her forehead.

“Jeez Lucy, you’re freezing!” 

She sighed in relief at the dragon slayer's warmth against her forehead. 

“This is nice.” She smiled.

“Thank you, kids. I hope you’ve enjoyed your time with us. Please feel free to visit any time you want. We don’t really get any tourists, so you’d be free to stay with anyone if you came by again.” Felix smiled.

“Oh yeah, me and Livia are great friends now! She’s a really cool person.” Natsu smiled.

“Told ya!” Happy exclaimed from atop Lucy’s head, where he also held onto Natsu’s hand to gather some warmth. “Natsu is great at making friends!”

“Very good!” Felix exclaimed. “Ah, the payment.” He reached within his robe and grabbed an envelope. He offered it to Lucy. “Here you go.”

“Thank you, sir, you are very kind. I’m sure that we will be back again.” She smiled, Natsu released his hand from her forehead and reached it out to shake his hand.

“How polite.” Felix laughed and shook it. “Now you remember what I said, my dear. Janus is looking out for you from now on.” 

Lucy bit her lip and smiled widely, she looked at Natsu who was smiling at her too.

Then they left.

—

“Home sweet home!” Happy yelled.

“Lucy’s home sweet home…” Lucy muttered, as the three of them stepped into her apartment. “Don’t you guys wanna go home, ever?”

“Hey, Happy?” Natsu said. 

Happy turned to him. 

“Can you give me and Lucy a minute? I’ve got something we need to talk about.” He added.

Happy looked confused, then knowingly. “Ooooo, I’ll leave the lovebirds alone!” He teased. 

“Shut up, cat!” Lucy yelled, and then walked over to the window to let him fly out.

She closed it, but took a second to breathe deeply before turning to Natsu. She knew he was going to ask about Aquarius, and she wasn’t sure if she even wanted to talk about it.

But she turned and he was standing there, staring at her, so intensely it could burn a hole right through her skin. 

“So…” she trailed.

“So…” he copied.

“Aquarius’ key was broken in Tartaros. Remember when-“

“I think I do. She saved us from all that weird stuff that trapped us? How did her key break from that?” Natsu queried

“No, she didn’t, the celestial spirit king did.” Lucy sat on her bed, remembering sadly.

“Woah! Stache-face saved us?” Natsu exclaimed. “That’s cool as heck! How did you summon him?”

“By breaking the key of the spirit I trusted the most.” She muttered, looked at her hands in her lap.

There was silence for a while. Too long. It became awkward. Lucy wanted nothing more than to go back to before he knew, she wished she had thought of the stardress before she had admitted that she broke her friend’s key.

“I didn’t know you’d be alone. I didn’t know the guild would disband. I didn’t know you’d lost her.” Natsu finally broke the silence.

“I know you didn’t!” Lucy looked at him desperately, “I don’t blame you! You lost so much too! I’m not gonna be that girl who blames you for doing what you had to do just because…” she trailed off. Lucy didn’t want to put this on him.

“Because what?” He asked, and walked over to the bed. He sat next to her, and looked at her.

Lucy’s eyes stayed in her lap for a moment until she finally built up the courage to meet his eyes.

“I don’t blame you. You couldn’t have known.” Lcuy said.

“I know you don’t, but…” he stopped. Now it’s his turn to think about whether this is happening.

“Just because I think it affected me deeper than anyone else.” Lucy finished.

“Huh?” Natsu looked at her.

Lucy sighed, “I was going to say, I’m not gonna be that girl who blames you for doing what you had to do just because it affected me differently.”

“I don’t want you to think that I don’t love you.” He said.

Now it was Lucy’s turn to look confused.

“I was going to say: I know you don’t blame me, but I don’t want you to think that I left, and only left a note because I don’t love you the same way you love me.”

Lucy’s eyebrows softened. 

“What?” She said as quietly as she could, almost hoping that he wouldn’t even acknowledge her and keep speaking.

“Livia had a friend leave the village, he just left her a note and vanished.” Natsu explained. “She said she now knows that he didn’t feel the same love that she felt. She said that it wouldn’t have affected her as much if she didn’t feel that. She said that he wouldn’t have just left a note if he felt the same.”

Lucy looked back into her lap at the mention of that year. She didn’t think much about it anymore, truthfully. 

After he returned, he got the guild back together and fought against Alvarez by her side, she didn’t even want to think about whether he’d do it again.

“You said that it affected you more than anyone else?” Natsu was also looking into his lap.

“I think it did.” She replied.

“Well, Fairy Tail is my family too, so you must feel something different.” He stated.

Lucy’s cheeks were burning hot now, he was basically telling her that she loved him. Also, that he didn’t feel the same, why would he tell her that he was the same as Livia’s sweetheart?

“I guess that must be why.” Lucy agreed.

“Well I don’t want you to think that I don’t love you the same way just because I did something stupid.” He looked at her. 

Lucy felt his eyes on her, but couldn’t bring herself to look at him.

“Lucy, please look at me.” He pleaded.

She slowly turned her face towards his, and met his eyes.

“I do love you the same. I don’t know a lot, I can’t promise that it’s an easy feeling like in your books. But I do know that we must feel the same. I know that I won’t ever leave you behind again, even if you’ve got the guild. I know that this could be…”

“It could be a new beginning, I guess Janus really is looking out for me.” Lucy finished his sentence.

“No, you’re looking out for yourself, and I am too, we don’t need gods and stuff like that to know that we will always be together.” Natsu declared. 

“Do you really think I’m selfish?” She asked.

She saw Natsu’s face soften, his monologue had been something like when he was in battle, how he’d declare to his enemies that he’s always there for his friends, but this was a different look, something better.

“No, I don’t. I really don’t. You have selflessness woven into the fibres of your very being, Lucy.”

Just like her mother, she thought. Her eyes filled with tears. 

“Don’t cry, please. I didn’t mean to hurt you.” He scooted closer to her and wrapped her in his arms. 

“Thank you Natsu, for Fairy Tail. Thank you.”

“I love you, Lucy. I promise that it’ll always be us.”