Still The Queen

The Reason Why

The next day, Lucy was still asleep, still dealing with the hangover.

It wasn’t just her, Cana was also knocked out on the couch at the living room. The only ones sober enough to move around were Erza and Levy. Both were making breakfast.

And the boys? Already awake and out of the cabin for an early morning walk beside the lake.

.

Natsu was walking ahead of them with Gray beside him, stretching his arms.

Sting, who was behind them, noticed a red tattoo on Natsu’s right arm since he was wearing a sleeveless black top.

“So what’s their story?” the blonde turned to his right.

“Bunnygirl and him?” Gajeel spoke up, getting a nod from the other.

“I ain’t really the type to tell stories so, why not ask Loki,” bandana chuckled at him.

Now he turned to his left, waiting for an answer about their backstory.

“Well… if it isn’t so obvious enough, Natsu was a bad boy. You know, the hardboiled kind of guy,” Loki started with a smirk on his lips, “Girls would flood all over him, but he didn’t give a damn. Top chick magnet if you ask me. I kinda envy him.”

“Then she came around,” Jellal who was at the back continued, “Didn’t show interest in him. That was the problem, ‘cause that was the first time he showed interest on a girl.”

“True. We thought it was just him and his hormones playing tricks, but no. It was more than that,” Loki agreed, “One time I tried to make a move on her, he knocked me out. Punched me hard on the face. But no big deal, we were still bros after that.”

Gajeel stifled a laugh as he recalled the memory.

“She had lots of admirers. But when Lucy chose him, they eventually became inseparable. Natsu slowly changed because of her. Didn’t smoke anymore, but still fought with guys from other schools,” Jellal said.

“Most of the fights involved her. She was a beauty, even you know that.”

Sting could only nod his head at the narration of their story.

“Whoever spoke crap about her or even looked at her dirtily was a dead man to him,” now Gajeel started talking.

“So you guys used to be gangsters?” Sting had curiosity all over his face.

They laughed.

“I dunno exactly. You could say that. But one thing is for sure, he was the top dog. Even until now.” Loki answered.

“Then why did they break up?”

“Who knows? It all happened weeks after that fight we got ourselves into, where he got stabbed on the arm by one of the thugs who made a comment about her,” Loki adjusted his glasses, “When she ended it, Natsu wasn’t able to accept it. And what’s worse was that he never got the chance to stop her. She never came to school the day after that. We found out she transferred.”

It took Sting a while to speak again.

“Why didn’t he look for her?”

“Believe me, he did” Jellal gave a knowing smirk, “We all did. When we failed, he went back to his old self again.”

“Oh…” the blonde slowly nodded his head in comprehension, “Do you think she still loves him?”

Loki rubbed his chin like he was deep in thought,

“Not impossible,” he started, “Even a year of separation wouldn’t be able to completely erase those memories they have of each other.”

“What are you blabbering about now, Leo?”

Natsu’s voice got their attention.

Leo. He only uses that name when he was annoyed.

Probably heard what they were discussing about. And it was about him and Lucy.

“Nothing,” Loki answered mischievously.

.

She slowly but surely made her way down the stairs, careful not to slip.

“Look who’s finally sober,” Erza said as she started serving the dishes on the wooden long table.

“Morning, Lu!” Levy greeted brightly as she helped the blonde to sit on one of the chairs.

“Morning,” she replied tiredly.

It wasn’t long ‘til Cana joined her on the table, sitting next to her.

“So, care to tell us why you and Natsu broke up?” Levy suddenly asked, making all the girls look at her.

“What?!” Erza’s eyes widened.

“You two used to date?!” the brunette who was supposed to be drunk, instantly perked up the moment she heard it.

“H-How did you know about us?” Lucy’s eyes widened at Levy.

“So it’s true?!” Erza and Cana chorused.  

The blonde instantly regretted it.

“Levy, you knew?” Cana turned her head to the other.

“And you didn’t tell us?” Erza said it so darkly that Levy felt cold for a moment.

“L-Look, the important thing is, now we all know,” She nervously gave a smile at them, their eyes glued on her, “Now back to the topic, why did you two break up?”

She was obviously trying to change the topic. Fortunately for her, it worked. Now they all had their heads at Lucy, waiting for her answer.

Lucy was silent for a while, just stared back at them. Hoping they’d give up and leave her alone. But let’s be realistic, no one was budging until they get what they want.

She sighed heavily and looked down on her hands rested on her lap.

“Because…”

They all leaned in towards her, eager to know what’s next.

“I found out that,” Lucy’s voice was soft. And they did not fail to sense the sadness in it, “I was being selfish.”

“What do you mean?” Levy asked. Seeing her friend so down made her feel down as well.

“He would get into fights because of me. All because he didn’t want me to be treated badly,” she answered, “At first I was fine with it, it made me feel important,” Lucy had a faint sad smile on her lips.

“But when it went too far and he got seriously injured, that’s when I realized,” her smile disappeared, “I had to go.”

They looked at her.

They had nothing to say.

Nothing could ease their friend’s pain.

“I had to keep him safe.”

Then as if on cue, the carved wooden doors opened. The boys were back.

Silence filled the entire space again.

They all looked back and forth at Natsu and Lucy as they both stared at each other.

No one was batting an eye.

Finally, Erza fake coughed breaking off the deafening silence.

“Breakfast is ready, gather up,” she said.

And they all walked towards the table.

“I don’t know what just happened, but it was intense,” Gray whispered to Jellal.

“I thought it was just me.”