THE LONG WAY HOME • NaLu fanfic ~ MushiSquishi 2016

Chapter 15: Forgotten Smiles

Natsu held his head high, heading towards anywhere. He had been wondering for more than hours on end. His feet ached immensely; begging him to stop for awhile. Blisters were scattered across his toes, and bruises along his body. His shoulders were pulled back, proud to be so close to any clue of his long lost friend.

After asking around, he had gotten a faint glimpse of an answer. Many said the woman hardly showed her face, never showed any emotion other then pure downcast.
They mentioned being lucky to catch her with a smile; which only made Natsu long to see her once more.
Many had told him that she's been seen with a strange orange haired man with peculiar ears, or even a pink haired lady with chains encasing her wrist. Extremely rarely did you see her with anyone else but a blue haired mage.

He pushed through a crowd of people, propelling himself forward when he saw a familiar wave of golden hair. But only to be forlornly once more. It was yet another stranger messing with his head.
Lamia Scale had already been questioning why he'd been there for so long, but he only shrugged it off with a lousy excuse.
"Just a mission." He'd explain. They'd always just shrug it of and hope for the best.
     'I should stop.' He would constantly tell himself, but he never did. He forced himself to keep going, even though happiness left him a while back.
              His feet landed at the front gates of the city. In big bold letters it read 'hargeon'. He had been here many times before; too many to count. People there probably knew him by name, and hopefully not the 'Psychopath wandering the village'.
                He stepped through, the sun blinding him as he looked at the surrounding city. People were bustling about, going back and forth from place to place.
                His hopes went skyrocketing when he saw a golden blonde haired lady holding a tiny infant. His smile sunk when he thought it through, realizing that it couldn't be her. She was smiling next to two other girls, one blue haired and one red haired. They seemed strangely familiar, but hard to recognize from such a distance. He shrugged it of, his mind had done this many times to him before.

                  Yet he didn't realize, that it was the blonde he was searching for....

                 Levy laughed at Erza as she attempted to make a meal. The food tasted like plastic, and was burnt. I smiled at the two as they used destitute manners when placing down food. You could tell that they were doing a awful job, but they were being dreadful in general. 
Nashi smiled. Using her hands to grasp onto the air.
"Whatcha doing little girl?" I teased skimpily rocking her.
"Lucy?" Erza's firm voice declared over the rest. I peeked up looking her direction signifying as a yes. "Can you get the pepper from the back?" I stood up without hesitation, my feet leading me to the obvious back of the store.
I skimmed my finger over all of the spices in the pantry, passing over sauces and foreign flavors. My finger eventually landed upon the pepper, pulling it out in one foul swoop. Baby in hand, I head towards the front bearing full hands. I smile as I look down at my rosey haired child. Rose Salmon to be precise.
The pepper was intertwined into my fingers, helping me hold Nashi. I walked through the shallow doorway and passing through the hall, soon to be in the main room in the diner.
My smile fell as I looked at the sight before me. A tired and obviously squalid pink haired man was withholding a conversation with a distressed scarlet haired mage.
Levy swiftly ran over to me, pushing me back with all of her weight.
"Hide." She mumbled quietly to the point you could only comprehend her voice by reading her lips. I witnessed as his ear twitched. His eyes scanning the room like a hawk.
I turned and bolted out the door, sadly too slow.
"What the-?
"So what would yo-"
"Don't distract me." He barked before dropping his bags and sliding over the counter, chasing after a distressed blonde and a crying child.
"Get over it!" He yells before leaving a baffled pair of mages.