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booksncoffee · 4 years

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get lonely with me, two

the one with the chemistry test

“Are you kidding me?” He laughs as he pulls away from the hug, brows furrowing slightly. Iris loves that sound. Used to feel like she managed to move mountains if she made him laugh. “This is great. I’m so glad it’s you.”

Iris was ten years old when she landed her first acting job. She still remembers the audition tape she did for that movie, the months long auditions she went through alone and with the cast, and more than anything, she remembers how thrilled she was when she got the role.

Her first acting job was, coincidentally, for a romantic comedy. The same movie genre she auditioned for a couple of weeks ago.

The audition went alright - not the best she’d done which she kicked herself for it - so she was surprised when she received a call from her agent telling her that there’s a possibility that she might get the role of Sabrina Woods. The character that Iris fell in love with the moment she read the book and when she found out that it’s being adapted to a movie, she knew she had to be in it. As luck would have it, the casting director contacted Iris’ agent and told her that she wanted Iris to come in for a chemistry read with the actor who will be playing Leon James.

So here she is, heart thumping in her chest as she waits for her name to be called out. She’s told earlier today that she will be up against Layla King for the role of Sabrina Woods. If she wasn’t nervous earlier, she definitely is now. She’s seen several of Layla King’s movies and she’s amazing. Layla can play any roles thrown at her and Iris doesn’t doubt that she’d be able to play the role of Sabrina Woods perfectly too.

“Don’t think too much and don’t think about her,” Iris’ mom tells her once she’s finished telling her that she and Layla are going for the same role. Her mom has always been the person she turns to when she needs a boost of confidence or when she just needs someone to talk to. Right now, she needs a bit of both.

“But she’s amazing. How can I not think of her?”

“You’re amazing too.” Iris rolls her eyes at her mom’s statement. “Don’t roll your eyes at me.”

Mouth falling open, Iris pulls her phone away from her ear to look at the screen and to make sure that she didn’t accidentally choose a video call rather than a normal phone call - that happened once before. Okay, twice. “How’d you-”

“I know you and I know you were rolling your eyes at me.”

Iris lets out a small laugh. Yeah that sounds like her mom, alright. She seems to have a sixth sense when it comes to this thing. “Well, you’re only telling me that I’m amazing because I’m your daughter.”

“You know that’s not true.”

Iris remembers the abundance of times when her mom would tell her if she’s not doing a good job or if she’s not doing the character’s justice when she’s running her lines. She also remembers that one time when she told her mom that she wanted to be in a horror movie and instead of supporting her, her mom laughed at her and told her that she could never be in one because chances are, she’d be getting nightmares for weeks. Which was, fine, the truth.

“Okay, yeah, you’re right.”

Her mom gives her a hum of approval, happy to be told she’s right, before saying, “Just do your best, okay, sweetheart?”

“Okay,” Iris replies with a nod even though her mom can’t see her. But she knows she can feel her nodding.

“Text me or call me when you’re done with the audition.”

“Okay.”

“Love you.”

“Love you too.”

As soon as the phone call ends, Iris feels a lot less nervous than she was a few minutes ago. This is why she loves talking to her mom - she always knows what to say to make her feel better.

Putting her phone away, Iris picks up the script to go over the lines again. It’s not a surprise that she’s memorised it by now. Running the lines is all she does ever since she received the script from her agent. She stopped doing it when she thought she blew the audition but as soon as she was told that she’s being called for a chemistry test with the lead actor, she picked up the script again - much to her younger brother’s dismay. Ben was not happy when he had to go over Leon’s lines again and again with his sister but Iris likes to think that he has no complaining rights when she’s helped him a lot with his schoolwork and that, in her opinion, is way worse.

“Iris Liu? We’re ready for you.”

Iris snaps out of her thoughts and looks up to find the woman she talked to earlier waiting for her. Scrambling to her feet, she offers the woman a smile and follows her as she leads her to the room where she’ll be doing the chemistry test with the potential Leon James. She asked her agent if she knew who’ll be playing Leon James but she didn’t get anything out of her - either she also has no clue about it or she wants to keep it a surprise. Both are plausible.

Rumours have been circulating on the Internet and based on what Iris has read, they’re speculating that the role of Leon James will either go to KJ Apa, Tom Holland, or Nick Robinson. Whoever it is, Iris is very much nervous about this chemistry read. She may have done this several times but nausea still swirls in her stomach. Every single time. Her heart beats so strong that she thinks her chest might burst.

The first thing that Iris notices when she walks into the room is that there are at least twelve pairs of eyes on her, all waiting to judge whether or not she’d do Sabrina Woods justice. In that moment, she finds herself wondering how Layla King’s session went. She wonders if they’ve already made a decision, have already decided to go with Layla, but since she’s already here, they choose to go on with the chemistry test anyway. Just for the sake of it.

“Don’t think too much,” her mom’s words return to her mind and she pushes her insecurities to the very back of her mind. Now’s not the time to think about it.

With butterflies in her stomach, Iris takes a deep breath and then plasters a smile on her face as she greets everyone in the room, introducing herself even though they already know her name.

The last person she introduces herself to is Kim Davison - the author of The (Mis)Fortune of Knowing You and also the producer of this movie. Iris tries but fails to maintain her cool as she talks to the woman she considers one of her inspirations. Luckily Kim doesn't seem put off by her obvious display of enthusiasm - at least, Iris hopes she isn’t.

“Are you ready?” The casting director, Carmen, asks.

“Yeah, I am,” Iris answers with a nod. She looks around the room again because where is Leon James? She’s about to ask Carmen if she’ll be doing the chemistry read alone (that doesn’t make any sense, does it?) when someone walks into the room, apologising profusely.

“Sorry, sorry, I didn’t mean to make anyone wait.”

Iris recognises that voice. It sounds slightly different now but there’s an unmistakable silvery quality to it that only one person possesses. Even when he apologises he sounds happy, though that is not to say that his apologies mean nothing. If Iris has to describe his voice, she’d say it’s sunshine in a form of sound - bright and happy and reassuring. And if Iris is right about the person that has yet come into her vision, then she’d say that she would also describe him as sunshine in the form of a human.

Holding her breath, Iris turns around and comes face to face with Tom Holland, the boy she worked with once when she was sixteen and he was seventeen.

They both landed the supporting roles for a science fiction movie, which Iris thought was very ahead of its time, and they used to spend a lot of time together on set. They became quite close friends back then but life got in the way and they turned into acquaintances - someone they knew from the movie they worked in together at some point in their lives. Because soon after the movie was released, Iris focused on her study while also balancing her acting career, which was not at all an easy task, while Tom went ahead and made his name in the industry. Iris was, and still is, proud of him and of his accomplishments. She knew that he’d be successful, knew that he’d come far as an actor.

But what she doesn’t know is that if she does things right, there’s a possibility that she’ll work with him again.

“Iris?” His whole face lights up when he sees her and her heart speeds up at the mere sight of that. “Oh God, it is you. They told me I’d be doing this with Layla and Iris, and I wasn’t sure if they meant you.”

“Hey, Tom,” she responds with a smile.

She wills her heart to return to its normal heartbeat but it refuses to listen to her. Because this time, she has no control over it. Not when the boy in front of her has his arms open for her. Not wanting to leave him hanging and also because his arms do look inviting and she remembers how much she used to enjoy his hugs, Iris steps forward and wraps her arms around him. He smells good, she thinks, a mixture of something fresh and clean, and at the risk of sounding like a creep, she thinks he smells heavenly.

When he squeezes her, something he tends to do when he hugs someone, she hopes and prays that he won’t be able to feel her heart pounding against her ribcage because damn it, it’s just a hug. Even if it’s a hug from someone she’s not met in nearly ten years, it's just a hug.

“Hope you’re not disappointed that it’s me.”

“Yeah?”

“Yeah,” he smiles. “God, it’s been a while hasn’t it? You look…” He trails off as he takes a couple of steps back and truly looks at her.

Iris is used to people looking and staring at her, assessing her, but when Tom does it, her entire being acts as though it is a foreign concept.

All of sudden she doesn't remember how to stand and where to put her hands, and she isn’t sure if she should cross her legs or uncross her legs. She ends up tucking and untucking her hair from behind her ears while she waits for Tom to find the right words to describe her.

It can’t be that hard, can it? Though, to be fair, if she has to describe him right now, she won’t be able to do it too. And it’s not because he doesn't look good. It’s because he looks so good that she doesn’t think there's a right word for it.

“You look great,” he finally says, his mouth curving into a smile. “You look… Amazing.”

“Thank you,” Iris replies, her cheeks heating up at the compliment. “You look great too.”

Tom plays the compliment off with a shrug as a sheepish smile touches his lips. He opens his mouth to say something else but changes his mind in the last minute as he suddenly realises that they’re not alone in this room. That there are about fifteen pairs of eyes on them.

Straightening his back, Tom looks around and then says, “We’re ready, aren’t we?”

Carmen and Kim nod. “Ready when you are.”

“Great,” Tom grins at them. He clears his throat once, twice, and when his eyes find Iris again, he kinks an eyebrow and asks in an American accent that could fool just about anyone: “You ready, Sabrina Woods?”

taglist: @infinitiae, @httpsmoony, @adoremp3

#tom holland #tom holland fanfiction #tom holland fanfic #tom x oc #tom holland x original character #tom holland x oc #tom fanfic #tom fanfiction #glwm

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ratretro · 6 years

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Prompt 2: Betrayal

Title: Deep and Dark

Pairing: NaLu

Prompt: NaLu Angst Week 2018 - Betrayal

Rating: M; Small bit of violence my friends tread carefully please

None of these characters are owned by me, they are all owned by the wonderful Hiro Mashima!

A/N:

So, here’s Betrayal this is Prompt 2 for NaLu Angst Week 2018. Pirate AUs give me life, and since I haven’t written one yet this seemed to be the best way to get it done. It felt like a good prompt to pair it to.

FF.net

The male in front of her looked about two seconds away from a mad dash to the railing to remove this morning’s breakfast from his stomach. This was the captain? He was hardly fit to be running a pirate ship; least of all the renowned Fairy Tail. This couldn’t possibly be him. The blonde stared straight at him with a look that couldn’t have been anything other than disappointment.

“Oi, Natsu! Did you not take Wendy’s tonic this morning?” it was the dark haired man that she’d met at the port first thing this morning. He’d been wandering about lost and naked for nearly an hour before she finally approached him. First, he’d been shocked at his lack of clothing, and second, he needed to locate a specific dock on the east side. That wasn’t a difficult task for her since she’d memorized every single map of the continent. She’d spent years stalking the magnificent pirate crew, and finally her wall of scribbles and connected string was put to use.

“She wouldn’t let me! Said somethin’ about—” Natsu’s body lurched forward and he nearly retched at her feet. She took several steps back, and put a single arm up in defense. “--it would lose effect.” He finished. He was holding his stomach, and beads of sweat slid from his forehead down his jaw.

“Mavis look at you. Just get out of here, and go lay down somewhere.” He had introduced himself earlier as ‘Gray’, probably. At the very least it was a color. Speaking of colors. The blonde found herself drawn to the vibrant pink mane on the sick male’s head. It was wild, and it flowed as far as his shoulders. She approached slowly with a deliberate pace. If she moved quickly she was sure it would make whatever was wrong with him worse.

“Before your head starst getting twisted around. I’m not the captain here. Our master is out with the quarterly meeting of the official pirate’s league.” She was glad that the pinkette was more than happy to correct the thoughts running through her own mind.

“I didn’t think you were.” She lied mostly to save face, but also she felt slightly mislead by the man who had once again stripped down to nothing but his underwear. She stared at him, and then pointed in his direction. “Your clothes. Again.” She mumbled. Natsu immediately began to laugh so hard that it echoed around them, and even spread towards the dock. They’d immediately taken off after Gray – she was certain that was his name – had returned to the vessel. The fact that he’d brought her had done nothing to impede their travels. It had honestly put her in shock that they had just taken off with her on board.

“So… I know I’m already here but, shouldn’t there be a process for this?” she laughed hesitantly as the hustle and bustle continued without a hitch even though a new member had theoretically joined. Joining had been her ultimate goal, and to say this made it even easier would be an understatement. They were too trusting to just let a stranger onto their ship. Especially considering she wasn’t intending to be their friend; she was their enemy. She’d sink this ship even if it meant everyone on this vessel went straight to the bottom of the sea.

“Your mother is already dead, Lucy! Stop bringing trivial matters to me.” Her dad made a sweeping motion with his hand in effort to remove her from his sight. When she cowered, but did not move he looked to desk. It was a low growl, “That wretched Fairy Tail took her. If it weren’t for them…” he’d muttered.

Those words stuck in young Lucy’s mind just as the violence of her father that day. The continued anger of her old man, and his lashing out became a common occurrence both onboard Layla’s Heart. Her father had named the boat after her mother, and he’d thought that it was cute to say Heart instead of Heartfilia. He’d felt her mother had the most kindness of all, and he said the boat’s name could never do her justice. That was nothing but a distant memory now. It had faded to the recesses of her mind, and only now did it bring itself back forward. She swallowed the bile that rose in her throat, and instead plastered her signature smile to her face.

It was a smile that was rehearsed, and used consistently in her work as the mistress of the Heartfilia Konzern. She hated the thought that she’d be returning once her mission was over, but that was just how it had to be. She was to be the wife of the heir to her father’s company. Whomever he chose for that position. She hoped for someone tolerable, but with her father’s personality it was unlikely.

“Nah, not really. We’ll just talk to gramps when we pick him up in three days.” Natsu was seemingly holding it together now for someone who was ready to collapse not even two seconds ago. Then, he retched again. He hobbled off with a last order.

“Someone get Luigi settled while I nap.” He was still stumbling away, and surely she knew she wouldn’t see him for another day or so. Which meant she had a small window for her correction.

“It’s Lucy!” he responded with a shooing motion, and she clicked her teeth. It wasn’t hard to hate the crew after all. If they were all brash like him, then it wouldn’t be hard to sink this ship. She’d tear it down herself. She had a trump card after all. Even if this was the strongest pirate’s guild, and even if it had the strongest mages this side of the seven seas. She smirked ever so slightly, and it was likely that the slightest haze of darkness had touched those brown iris’.

“Well with that idiot out of the way it’ll be easier to get this done.” The man named Gray was scratching the back of his head, and he even let out an exasperated sigh.

“Right now, we’re really lacking coverage for our overnight watch. All we have is Natsu, and as you can see sometimes he’s as helpful as a bag of rocks.” She notated that each member seemed to have the marks of the ship on different locations. Natsu had his on his right shoulder. Conversely, Gray had his on his right pectoral. She was curious on other locations. She knew that tattoos were the loyalty to the pirate’s chosen home away from land. Still, she absolutely could not see herself staining her skin with the brand of her mother’s killer. Never. If she could delay it then she’d do everything in her power to make sure it would never happen.

“So, I’ll take that position then. My magic is rather well suited to water.” It wasn’t a lie, but it was specifically a portion of her power that was suitable. It seemed with Natsu’s sickness she would spend a lot of time alone. That would be good for her considering she needed to get correspondence from the Fairy Tail to Raven Tail. The two seemed to be extreme rivals. She’d never met anyone from Raven Tail, but her father seemed whole heartedly invested in them. He ‘trusted’ them. That alone made her wary of them, and from what she’d seen so far, she wasn’t sure Fairy Tail was actually capable of killing innocents. However, looks can be deceiving.

“Oh? Are ya a water mage?” they were friendly. She’d have to respond in kind. She held up two fingers in a peace sign.

“You could say that. My magic is rather specialized. It’s passed down from my mother.” It had to be just enough to seem like she wanted to be their friend. Like she wanted to be there.

“Great. Natsu probably won’t join you on any night shifts for a few days, so you’ll be all alone. Since it’s sunset you’ll hafta start now, and then in the morning Mira can assign you a bunk.” A shift right off the bat? Well, that was fine. Other than the added bonus of being able to send her letters she would also be able to frequently see the stars.

“I’m happy to get started!” another false smile. How many of these would she have to give??

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It was a few days before she actually saw Natsu again, just as she’d thought. He was surprisingly chipper this time. She’d learned from Mira that he had motion sickness, and the resident healer’s assistant made a tonic every few days for him to drink, but nearing day 3 he was nearly always useless. It seemed that she had to change the recipe with each batch as well so he wouldn’t become immune to it. It sounded like a hassle, and she wondered if she’d even bother at that point. What was a mage with motion sickness doing as a pirate anyway?

“Oh!! Luigi! So you’re the one on shift with me, huh?” again with the name.

“It’s Lucy.” She corrected for the second time, but instead of really giving an ‘I understand’ he just smiled and plopped down next to her. She had her back resting against the railing of the ship, and previously she’d just been staring into the rippling waves of the water. She thought that she may have briefly seen something below the surface, but she couldn’t exactly be sure. She decided to hold off on alerting the crew for now.

Surprisingly she’d started to really take her duties seriously. She’d even made friends. She felt a burning in her chest at the thought.

“You haven’t chosen a place for your mark yet?” he questioned, and she froze on the spot. How could she tell him the thought disgusted her?

“No rush! I mean the marks are actual tattoos, and they’re permanent so it’s important to make sure ya like where it goes.” He seemed to sense her discomfort, and she looked at him for real this time. She took an actual full-fledged look at him. His hair was light pink, and it shone under the light of the full moon. She caught herself thinking that it was beautiful.

The way he was so serene, and the way he looked at the stars. Like her mother. She turned abruptly. There was no way she thought a member of the Fairy Tail was reminiscent of her late mother. The one they’d murdered in cold blood.

She lifted her head to focus on the one thing that had always brought her comfort: The Stars. They shone above her like a beacon giving her the feeling of pure tranquility.

“So ya can show that kind of expression.” It startled her to the point that her eyes moved to him immediately. That was when warm amber, and bright emerald met. They both looked startled at the sudden eye contact.

“What do you mean?” it was barely above a whisper.

“Well ya look like ya can’t decide whether to love or hate it here. But when ya look at the stars ya can tell. Ya love ‘em, right?” his grin spread wide across his face, and she nearly felt herself loosen up in front of him. Instead, she hardened her defenses.

“I… do. Me, and my mother, used to look at them every night from the cliff near our home. The connection I have with the stars is all I have left of her.” The small smile on her face was filled with a pain that Natsu himself recognized, and could even relate to.

“My father disappeared when I was a kid, and all I have left of him is this scarf, and the memories of the days he spent raisin’ me.” He was trying to relate to her, but something about the expression she gave him said that was the wrong thing to do. There was a brief moment where her eyes lit with hostility. It was gone in a flash, but Natsu knew what he’d seen. There was something about this girl’s past and somehow Fairy Tail was involved. To what extent he didn’t know, but surely from the look in her eyes it wasn’t good. He’d have to watch her.

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They spent many nights under the stars in the sky. The only time they hadn’t was tonight where they sat on the floor of Lucy’s cabin as the boat sloshed back and forth in the rush of the wind and rain that threatened to topple the sturdy craft. Natsu’s head was rested in her lap as he writhed and retched beneath her. Honestly, she wanted to move his head.

His hair tickled her thighs, and his breath was brushing against her skin. It made her shiver occasionally, and that caused her a self-loathing she’d never be able to fix. Still, the man nestled against her had made her feel welcome, she felt like family. It was the first time since her mother that she felt she had a home to return to. For how long though she wouldn’t know. Raven Tail was steadily catching up even though she’d been sending them on wild goose chases. They must’ve had a tracking magic on her, but she wasn’t capable of removing it let alone finding it.

Levy could have removed it in an instant, but how could she tell them she planned from the very start to betray them? Even now her heart was conflicted. They were her friends, and the Fairy Tail felt like it was even becoming her family. Had they really killed her mother? That had to be a mistake. Her father had to be mistaken. However, she couldn’t think of a time where his knowledge had been wrong. Surely, he wouldn’t lie and use her to destroy an innocent gang of pirates. Would he? He would.

Her slender fingers laced into his hair, and began to knead into his scalp. He relaxed, and the only expression on his face was faint discomfort. Though, his breath came out in heavy pants, and sweat dripped down his skin the same as the day she’d met him. She had been living on this ship for nearly a month now, and she’d become more than accustomed.

“T-thanks, Luigi…” he trailed off, and a single eye opened to look at her. Her breath hitched as she stared into that deep forest green. It reminded her of the canopy tree her mother had set up picnics under during hot summer days. Her eyes closed as a soft smile came to her lips.

“It’s Lucy, idiot.” She bopped him on the head softly before returning to the soft strokes she’d been working before.

“What if… what if I’d done something really bad?” she whispered. His eyes snapped open to look at her, and she could tell he’d been wary of her from the start. She ceased her touch, and when he sat up from her lap she immediately moved as far back as possible. Her back hit the wall with a thud.

“What did you do?” his voice was deep, but it gave her a sense of fear. It even caused a shiver of unease to run down her spine. She knew right then and there that he’d suspected her right from the start.

“What if it was just.. my being here?” she looked down into her lap where she fiddled with her thumbs, and her teeth worked her bottom lip.

“Lucy, you can be here if ya want to be. If there’s somethin’ threatening that ya need to tell us. We’re your family now.” She looked up to see that his entire body had relaxed, and he’d gone right back to his state of nausea. Then, a thought came to her: she’d done something much worse than being onboard: she’d fallen in love.

She continued to push her back into the wall even when she couldn’t go any further. Her face was the shade of bright red roses, and she wished in this moment that Natsu was blind.

“Lucy, no matter what I’ll protect you.”

He wouldn’t if he knew, but even so the sentiment was enough to be remembered. She closed her eyes, and her smile was the widest it had ever been.

“Hey, Natsu. I know where I want my Fairy Tail mark. But it’s a secret~” she’d finally chosen. She’d chosen her home. Still, there was the matter of Raven Tail. How long could she keep them at bay? She needed to send another letter, but this time it had to be one where they’d never find the Fairy Tail no matter what. She had to divert them, and remove herself.

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She hadn’t seen daylight in nearly two days. It’d been deliberation, and planning. She’d had to decide if she’d tell the crew, or if she should just send the letter, and send her own body to the ocean floor. Clearly, the latter was not an option.

“Lu, why’d you call me here?” Levy’s voice was tentative, concerned even. She should be.

“Do you know Raven Tail?” Levy’s face was enough to garner that she’d heard of, and did not like the pirates.

“They’re a group of dirty pirates led by Ivan, the master’s son. He’s a pillager, and often the land he’s stolen from, and the families he’s purged of their belongings don’t make it out alive.” Levy was shivering as tears threatened to spill. Worst of all, Lucy knew that they were the ones who killed her mother. The mother she loved so much had been killed by the guild she was aiding. Levy’s information just proved what she’d already known.

Her body felt disgusting, and she desperately wanted to crawl out of her own skin.

“I-I was working for them.” She mumbled. Levy instantly looked like she was ready to do combat, but her stance loosened when Lucy ran her hand over her guild mark.

“They told me Fairy Tail killed my mother. They told me that if I led them here they would help me get my revenge. So, I came aboard with the intention of sinking this ship.” Levy had always been an intent listener, and today she was doing more than just listening. She was hearing the actual sentiment coming from Lucy’s own mouth.

“The longer I stayed on this ship the more I realized there’s no way that Fairy Tail could do this. I love you all, and you truly became my entire world. My true family. I tried to send them on a wild goose chase, but they just seemed to be replying quicker and quicker to my messages.” She looked at Levy as the realization dawned on the blunette’s face.

“Leave it to me, Lu!” she threw several texts to the table beside Lucy, and quickly began to read through them. If it was Levy she could break the magic that had made Lucy a ticking time bomb for the guild.

Suddenly, the boat lurched and there was an explosion on deck. Both girls rushed to the top with a look of horror on their face. It was too late.

“Ah! There she is! Our little double agent.” The eyes of each pirate landed on her, and she could feel their gazes on her and her skin felt like it was buzzing. She heard Levy in the background, but she couldn’t make out what she was saying. Only one voice stood out from the rest.

“What did you do?” it was Natsu, and at first, she thought it was pointed at her. She couldn’t meet his eyes. She couldn’t look into the gaze of the man who had given her everything she needed to heal under those bright, beautiful stars.

She glanced up with a deliberate slowness as she yearned to disappear right where she stood. What she saw wasn’t an angered pinkette looking at her. He was looking at him. Rage filled Natsu to the brim as he stared Ivan down.

The fire mage knew without a doubt that Ivan had tricked Lucy. That was the kind of bastard he was. He’d exploit your weakness, and then he’d betray you. His fingernails dug into his palms and they surely would leave crescent moons in his skin. He didn’t care if it meant destroying Raven Tail’s Master right then and there.

Flames licked his hands, and his face seemed shadowed by his own hair. Lucy Heartfilia began to panic. This entire ship would go down in a blaze of glory fighting Raven Tail. This was a mess she made. To think she never even questioned what lies she was fed. The blonde was always reading and researching. Yet, she never thought to fact check the information about her mother’s unfortunate passing. Rage had clouded her judgement.

She shot forward to run in front of Natsu. This seemed to stop him for the briefest moment. She had a small window here to distract him and the guild so she could make her move. She probably wouldn’t get another moment like this. Not now, not ever. She pushed up on her tip toes and took one last look at those eyes that had brought her happy memories of her mother. She touched her lips to his. Soft and gentle against dry and cracked.

He didn’t reciprocate, and she didn’t expect him to. Regardless of whether it was shock or that he was mad she’d brought hell to his guild her expectations were low.

“Ivan. It’s time to end this farce. Fairy Tail didn’t kill my mother. You did. You did this out of disgusting greed.” Gasps rang out around her, and Natsu managed to snap out of the stupor she’d put him in. He flashed back to those small moments where she’d talked about her mother. The flash of hostility the first night he’d joined her for watch. And worst of all, the time she’d tried to reach for help, and instead he’d probably ended up doing more harm than good. He may have told her he’d protect her, but he hadn’t really heard her out and he now realized he should have pried more. He should have pushed to support her so she’d be comfortable telling the crew.

Natsu cursed at himself ten times before taking in her small, quivering form. She was standing up to Ivan, the master of Raven Tail, and arguably the most vile man alive. Just seeing him made Natsu want to upchuck right onto the top deck. Gray would give him such a tongue lashing if he did it again though.

“Lu—” he reached out to take her newly branded hand, but she was already gone. She was propelling forward with all the speed she had.

“Open! Gate of the Water Bearer! Aquarius!” there was a flash of gold just as her body slammed into Ivan’s. With her momentum she could topple them right over the edge. Natsu couldn’t remember why, at that very second, but gramps had made the railing at the bow of the craft shorter than anywhere else on the ship. Finally, his body listened to him, and he was running forward. It was too late, he realized.

“I love you.” He looked up to see her meet his gaze one last time.

“They killed mom.” As if on command the heavens above raged, and the waters below seemed to scream in turmoil. A tsunami slammed into the vessel of the Raven Tail, and ‘Lucky’ Lucy Heartfilia dragged Ivan Dreyar overboard.

They both slammed into the water, but no matter how much the man struggled Lucy held tight. He’d drown with her. Her lungs began to burn, and bubbles tried desperately to reach the surface to no avail. The thing about humans is that in the face of death it was easy to turn on the other. She struggled against him with everything she had, and his movements mimicked her own. She fought to keep him down just so she could rise, and eventually it had become less about saving Fairy Tail for good. She’d just became a desperate dying heiress sinking to the bottom of the ocean.

She hadn’t realized through her haze that Ivan was no longer struggling. Honestly, it hadn’t been for a few seconds. He was just dead weight holding her down but still she clawed at his body to try and swim to freedom. She couldn’t breathe, couldn’t move. It was over, she realized. The shape of a body shimmered above her. She couldn’t see under the water, not any longer. But she felt a gentle grip, and then a sudden whoosh.

“Lu—” she could hear the sounds in short spurts.

“Cy—”

“Lu—”

“Juvia has been keeping eyes on the bottles she was sending. I’m sure she was unaware of the underwater night watch. At first Juvia destroyed them, but they changed. She was trying to send messages where they would go somewhere else.” The voice was female, and she recognized Juvia. They’d met briefly in the cabins. She loved Gray.

“Lu came to me for help right before the attack. I think she thought they might be tracking her with magic.” Levy. Dear Levy who trusted in her. She was thankful for that.

“Lucy!” Natsu. Loving Natsu. The man who’d soothed her wounds during nights under midnight black speckled in white.

Her eyes blinked open, and the sunlight above threatened to blind her. Her head turned slightly, and she saw the most beautiful sight. Pink with hues of dancing orange from the rays above.

“I wanted.... to have... more adventures..” she croaked out. Her throat was sore from her trip to the sea bottom, but she hoped that if she lived through this they’d let her stay.

The sun was warm on her skin, and she felt the tiniest bit of life seep back into her. Then, it was dark.

#taking us back to the dark days lmao #nalu #nalu angst week #nalubookclub #nalu ff #natsu dragneel #lucy heartfilia #bae #dorkneel #fairy tail #ft #is it angsty now guys????#my writing

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