I Love You [SEQUEL TO 'MAKING A DIFFERENCE']

Memory Lane

Ring! Lucy picked on her phone, examining the text. She immediately put it right back down on her desk in her room, faced down. Another sound emerged as a text appeared. Lucy, however, ignored it. Sighing, Lucy stood up from her desk, along with her phone, and walked to her bedpost, grabbing her bag which hung from a hook. She exited her bedroom door, turning off the lights.

~
"Lucy! Are you home?" Natsu knocked on her front door. However, there was no answer. He twisted the front door open, which Lucy forgot to lock, and entered her apartment. The lights were off and the sun was almost completely down. So as Natsu headed towards the light switch, he accidentally tripped over a couple things, knocking them over. A glass object wiggled off the edge of the table, as his foot scraped across the leg of it. Krash! [A/N- yes with a K]
After turning on the light switch, Natsu turned his head back, in cutiousity. He spotted a broken glass cup. His eyes widened, "oh shit!" He rushed towards a closet and opened it. He quickly reached for the broom and dustpan and headed toward the shattered glass. He started sweeping the glass into the dustpan...until his eyes caught a hold of a corner from a piece of paper that was scooched to the edge of the desk which the glass had fallen from. I'm curiosity, Natsu stood up from his knees and stared at the piece of paper before slowly reaching for it. His heart skipped a beat when the folded paper said Natsu. He hesitated, and slowly turned the corner of the paper to flip it into one page.
Suddenly, his eyes widened as a mixture of emotions dwelled within him. "Lucy...?" His voice fracked as he slammed the paper back on the desk, letting his hair cover his eyes. "W-why?" His voice shook in regret as he angrily looked up and out the window, examining the dark frozen sky. He took a breath before rushing out the door, leaving the broken glass remaining in the dust pan, all cold and shattered.

-
"UGH!" Natsu groaned into his pillow as the pillowcase covered over his eyes. "This is all my fault..." he said quietly as he slowly sat up, dangling his feet off the edge of his bed.
    He darted his eyes directly ahead toward his black painted wall. "That's it! I'm going after her!" He growled as he rushed out his small cottage.

~
Natsu rested his chin on his palm as he stared out at the fast passing trees and bushes. There were some worn out buildings that had either a window broken or a door missing. The paint from the buildings were peeled off and the roof was dented in. It was such a depressing sight.

~
A raindrop splatted against the window, startling Natsu out of his thoughts. In investigation, Natsu took a glance at the sky. An hour has passed and it went from sunny to gloomy. Grey clouds hovered above as flocks of birds flew pass. A couple raindrops made their way down the window as Natsu sighed in dissatisfaction.

~ 
Natsu finally arrived at his destination: the town Lucy lived in. [A/N- this kind of makes me wonder...remember after Phantom Lord, Lucy went to visit her dad. Well how did Natsu, Erza, and Happy know where to find the mansion? Wait was Gray there too??]
  
     He emerged through the crowd of passengers leaving the train. Sighing, he looked around at the people rushing to get under an umbrella or inside the train station. He quickly ran towards the entrance of the building. Sighing in relief, he looked around for a small shop.
   Natsu spotted a tiny little store. He entered the opening and scanned the area. There were light up keychains, some mugs with the town's name, and a couple plush toys. Natsu spotted a blue plush toy. Fascinated, he walked closer, examining the stuffed animal. The animal was a blue cat with a giant smile formed across it's face.  His eyes were closed [😸]. "Aw he looks so happy." Natsu mumbled under his breath. His childish self easily became attached to it. However, he knew he couldn't buy it yet. He didn't have a place to put it. He walked over to a small bucket that held several umbrellas. He grabbed a plain black one and walked toward the counter. The clerk grabbed the umbrella and scanned the tag under the scanner. "That will be..."

[A/N- again...I know people use different currency so I'll live the price up to your imagination]

~
He walked out the train station and slid the umbrella up to open. Natsu examined the area. "Okay it's been about 7 years since I last came here..." Natsu mumbled to himself as he walked in a direction that seemed somewhat familiar. When they were younger, Natsu and Lucy used to actually be childhood friends. But then Natsu started hanging out with the wrong kinds of people who manipulated him and convinced him that Lucy only his friend out of pity. Soon being 14, Natsu of course believe them and started to avoid her. Soon they grew apart and this angered Lucy. That's how they ended up with a hatred towards each other. They are now 17 and their rivalry has gone on for 3 years!

~
Natsu slowly approached tall black spiky gates that had the word "Heartfilia" spreaded in the middle at the top of the arc. Sighing, the breeze brushed back his spikes as he slowly ran his fingers through the top of his head. In a rush, Natsu dropped the umbrella and started off through the entrance. Soon his pace settled down as he continued to walk down the path while passing many small buildings and a wide area of land. He glanced around, soaking in the scenery.

    Stopping in his tracks, Natsu turned his head to his left. His imagination ran wild as a tiny girl with short blonde hair appeared. The grass was bright green below the girl, as the rest of the grass was wet and damp. The girl seemed to be running. She started laughing as a small boy with pink ruffled hair and a red shirt chased after her. Natsu's eyes widened. It was them...

-
As he continued to make his way down toward the mansion, he started seeing flashbacks. This one had the two sitting against a tree, while little Lucy took a bite out of her PB&J sandwich as Natsu placed his feet against the bark and laid on the grass, staring at the moving clouds with his arms resting behind his head. Soon, all those images faded away when he noticed someone sitting alone on the front steps of the mansion. Her head was buried into her knees as her arms wrapped tightly around them.

        He slowly approached the girl. Quietly, he took a seat on the same step, next to Lucy. "Hey..." he said softly, staring ahead at the path he just walked, while his hands were folded over his bent knees. Lucy's head lifted immediately from her safety as her eyes grew in shock once she noticed him. Tears were streaked down her cheek and Natsu meet eye contact with her. He spotted the drops of water. In worry, he asked, "w-what happened." Lucy shook her head as she rested her chin on top of her arms that were wrapped around her knees. She remained silent. The wind began to pick up, making crunching noises as it flew the autumn leaves in the air. "He's gone..." Lucy managed to get out, without moving a single muscle from her position. She stared ahead into the gloominess.

     She lifted her head as her eyes narrowed while she stared at Natsu. Her strength broke down and she did too, as all the tears she was holding in flooded out. "He's gone! Natsu!" Shocked, not knowing what to do, Natsu grabbed her face as smashed his lips upon her's. Lucy's eyes widened at this sudden action. Struggling to not fall into the kiss, Lucy pulled away. Her hair slipped in front of her eyes as she stared at the ground to make sure he didn't see her red face. "I-I can't Natsu. I don't want to." She stood up, leaving Natsu stare at her every movement with confusion as he became speechless and his mouth parted. She darted her eyes towards his, "I don't want to be hurt by you again." She bit her quivering lip as her fist tightened. She turned around, and swiftly rushed into the house, slamming the door shut. The lights remained off and Lucy ran upstairs into her old bedroom. She slowly walked toward the bedroom window seat. She leaned against the cold purple cushion as she grabbed a nearby blue stuffed cat from the side. It was dusty but she just brushed it off.

     Lucy gazed out the window, to notice a certain guy slowly walking away with his hands in his pocket as rain drops sunk throughout his spikes. He glared back at the house and noticed Lucy at the window. Her eyes relaxed but she didn't move. He turned away and continued to walk away. Lucy pressed the stuff animal closer to her heart.

~
[A/N- I'm crying guys!!!!!!!! This is so emotional]