Chapter 16

And On the Sixth...

Disclaimer: I do not own Fairy Tail or its characters, only my own OC's, and my Ideas

..._-+-_...

Five days.

Five damn days!

Who the hell do you think you are, Flame-Brain?! How the hell could you possibly even think of leaving Happy alone for so long?!

Five days have passed since the day after Alumina's Mission with Happy and Erza. Its been five days, and still no sign of Natsu. Alumina didn't mind having Happy stay with her, in fact, the little blue Exceed was rather enjoyable to be around.

She was just frustrated with Natsu, and she would rather not be. How was she supposed to get on his good side when all he did was annoy the crap out of her?

Alumina shook her head sadly at the thought, and looked up at the ceiling. She was currently laying in her bed, staring up at the ceiling, Happy curled up next to her, fast asleep. The room was dark, only a little moonlight filtered in through the window, casting its pale light down upon the bed.

She wasn't just frustrated with Natsu for not showing up, she was annoyed he hadn't even mentioned where he was going. He up and left.

She was also getting more agitated with it, because she was worried about Happy. She could see how worried he was about Natsu, and it made her heart ache to see that worry in his eyes whenever he thought about where his partner might be.

Happy was worried about Natsu because, he didn't know where he was, what he was doing, why he left, or if he was ok. If you were as close to Natsu as Happy was, you would be worried about the Flame Dragon Slayer too.

And, Alumina hated to admit it, but she was a little worried about Natsu too. She wasn't sure why though, she just... Sort of was.

What have I to be worried about? Natsu's one of the top Mages in Fairy Tail isn't he? He can take care of himself...

So then why did her stomach tighten, and her nerves rise whenever she thought about why he was missing for five days? Every time she thought about it, her head always came up with the stupidest scenarios.

Maybe he ran into trouble? What if he's fighting? Or maybe he was hurt, lying alone somewhere with no one to help him?

Alumina sighed heavily and let her eyes close,

What the hell am I worrying about him for? Why the hell should I care, he certainly doesn't like me. He hates me, remember?

She asked herself and opened her eyes again,

So why do I feel worried about him?

It was sort of stupid, for her to worry about someone like Natsu, someone who she was sure wouldn't give a shit if she was missing, hurt...hell, even dying.

She mentally hit herself for thinking that.

Natsu would have to feel some sort of worry, if she was dying for some reason, right? They were Guild-Mates after all, and Guild-Mates are supposed to look after each other. She would be pretty damn worried if he was dying, but maybe she wasn't worried for Natsu's sake?

No, she had to be worried for Happy's sake. If not for Natsu's sake, she was definitely worried for Happy's sake.

"And you believe that lying bitch?"

Alumina narrowed her eyes at the dark ceiling, her blood begging to boil at the thought, of that day she had heard him say it to Gray.

Who the hell does he think he is? On what grounds does he have the right to be calling me a lying bitch? WHAT THE HELL DID I EVER DO TO HIM?!

Alumina closed her eyes again and let out a long breath, calming herself down. She had no idea what Natsu's problem with her was, and honestly, it gave her a head-ache to even think about it.

She could understand that he must be hurt, really hurt, if the person he had loved, had been murdered. Lucy was killed, he must be in agony everyday just living with the fact.

But would a broken heart like that give him the right to take it out on her? On other people?

And why had she become the target for his hurt feelings?

She knew the answer, had known it for awhile she supposed. Lucy's keys, she was in possession of Lucy's keys now.

That small connection, that little similarity between Alumina and Lucy, had made her a target. Alumina being around the Guild now, it must serve as some kind of reminder of Lucy's death somehow...

Oh Natsu... Couldn't we just get along...? Things would be a lot more simple if we could...

She would love to take a job, get away from Magnolia and let off some steam. But that wasn't going to happen. Happy wouldn't want to leave, knowing Natsu might show up back in town, and he ended up not being there, just because he was on a mission with her. But she couldn't just leave Happy here by himself, so, she was left with one option.

Stay in town until Natsu gets back, whenever that ends up being.

Alumina sighed one last time, it was late, she needed to go to sleep, and she would only do that if she pushed all this to the back of her mind.

Maybe tomorrow... Natsu will come back...

..._-+-_...

"Alumina..."

Alumina flipped over and buried her head into her pillow, blocking the voice trying to call her out from her sleep.

"Alumina."

It was a bit louder this time, and she let out a low grumble of annoyance. She hated getting woken up in the mornings, which is what time she guessed it was.

"Alumina!"

She sat up with her head hanging and sat on her heels, the comforter falling off her shoulders.

"Oi... What? What's wrong?" She mumbled, eyes still closed.

"Its almost 11." Happy's voice told her. "I thought you might want to be woken up before you sleep the whole day away." He explained. Alumina didn't bother to lift her head up all the way or open her eyes,

11? Damn... I never sleep in that long...

"Ok, I'll get up. I'm going to take a shower, help yourself to anything in the kitchen if you're hungry." Alumina told him, groggily getting off the bed and walking to her bathroom, she didn't even glance his way or lift her head up all the way.

"Aye!" She heard him call out, just before she closed the door. Alumina quickly turned on the shower and got undressed, before stepping in under the water and washing out her hair.

When she was done, she stepped out and wrapped a towel around her body. When she walked out of the bathroom, Happy wasn't in her room, probably in the kitchen...

She got dressed in a pair of light blue skinny jeans, a loose white shirt that hung down past her elbows with black triangle designs on it, and pulled on her simple white cloth shoes with the black laces. She also hung her belt with her keys around her waist, and put the necklace with Ursa's key around her neck.

She pulled her hair into her usual style, two low ponytails reaching down her back, tied off with the light blue ribbons with the little stars on them, her bangs swept to the side to cover her left eye.

She headed into the kitchen, finding Happy sitting on the corner, a half-eaten fish in his paws, looking very pleased with the food. "Good Morning." Alumina smiled at him.

"Good Morning!" He called in between bites of his fish. "Man, you must have been tired to have slept so long." He pointed out and she shrugged.

"I suppose so." She agreed. "Did you sleep good?" She asked him, pulling open the fridge.

"Yeah," he mumbled around the food in his mouth. "I had a really weird dream last night."

Alumina pulled out an apple and closed the fridge, "Oh really?" She asked. "What was it about?"

"There was flying fish, and some pink Wyvern. You and me, we were riding them, I was on one of the fish, and you were on one of the Wyvern, we were flying around all over Fiore..." Happy said and Alumina chuckled a little.

"That is a pretty weird dream." She agreed, taking a bite of her apple.

"What was your dream about?" Happy asked her. Alumina paused in chewing for a split second at the question. Then she continued chewing and swallowed.

"I don't remember my dream." She told him. It wasn't a lie, she honestly couldn't remember even having a dream last night.

They ate their food in silence before heading out together, Alumina closing the door behind her. They headed out of the building, and Alumina paused once they were outside. Happy stopped and looked back at her,

"Something wrong?" He asked.

"No, how about we take a walk through the forest before heading on over to the Guild?" She suggested.

Happy grinned at her and started nodding his head frantically. "That would be great!" He agreed as she smiled at him a little,

"Come on then." She called to him, leading the way down a small alley in between her building, and the one next to it. The trees of the forest rose up in front of them, and they headed under the branches.

They fell into a comfortable silence as they walked along, side by side, under the shade of the trees. Birds flew by lazily overhead, the sun broke through the canopy of leaves and dappled the ground with its light. The entire forest smelled sweet and fresh, Alumina breathed in deeply; before exhaling slowly, a content smile spreading across her face.

It was nice just taking a walk through the forest, the serene calm and quite here made her feel a lot more at ease than she had been feeling. Beside her, she could tell Happy was enjoying the silent walk too, it must be keeping his mind off of his worry for Natsu...

She let her eyes close slowly, keeping to the small path they were following through the trees. This path was leading them away from the town and the buildings, right into the center of the forest, and up a small incline.

This is nice...

They ended up walking for about ten minutes, before Alumina opened her eyes to glance ahead, and came to a slow stop. Happy noticed that she had stopped walking, and he glanced up at her with a confused face.

"What's wrong?" He asked her, but she didn't glance down at him, or give him an answer.

Her gaze was fixed upon the figure approaching them with pink-hair, a white scaled muffler around his neck. His hands were in his pockets, eyes closed and head tilted down as he slowly got nearer to them.

Happy looked ahead, noticing who it was, and jumped for joy, a wide smile appearing over his face. He sprouted wings and floated for a minute as he waited for the figure to get closer, before calling out to him as he got about fifteen feet away.

"Natsu!" Happy called joyfully.

Immediately Natsu stopped dead, and his eyes opened to see who was saying his name. He looked slightly surprised when he laid eyes on Happy, blinking a few times.

"You're back!" Happy exclaimed and flew closer to the Dragon Slayer, until he was near him. But Natsu's gaze didn't follow Happy as the blue Exceed got closer, instead, the onyx orbs locked straight on to Alumina.

Alumina met his gaze steadily, but she was a little unnerved by the intensity of it.

"What the hell are you doing with her?" Natsu growled, his eyes not leaving Alumina for an instant.

"Oh, I was-" Happy started but Alumina cut him off.

"I've been letting him stay with me while you were gone." She explained. Natsu frowned a little at the answer,

"You didn't have to stay with her, you could have stayed with someone else." Natsu said in a low tone, clearly talking to Happy, but he didn't look the Exceed's way.

"I offered." Again, Alumina answered for Happy. "It wasn't any trouble, Happy is great company." Alumina explained.

"Tch... Whatever, stay away from Happy." Natsu growled at her. Alumina blinked in surprise at the words,

"Why should I?" She asked,

"Because I said so." Natsu hissed.

"I have the right to talk to whoever I want to, Natsu." Alumina pointed out. "You can't tell me who I can, and can't talk to."

"Oh really? I think I can." Natsu said, taking one step toward her. "Better watch what you say." He growled lowly. Alumina blinked at him a few times, she wasn't sure why he was being so hostile like this.

Happy was watching the small exchange with wide eyes, not exactly sure what to make of it.

Alumina let out a long sigh, still not lowering her gaze from his. She wasn't going to take this from him forever, there was no way she could. Not with the attitude he was having toward her.

But she wasn't going to deliberately try to piss him off, she wasn't sure that was a good idea. So, she had to keep her voice calm and expression neutral, try to find away not to make him mad.

"I have a question, Natsu." Alumina told him.

"What?" He muttered.

"Ever since I joined the Guild, you have been rather hostile toward me. At first, a lot of the people in the Guild were, but now there is only one person in the Guild who acts that way, you." She told him quietly. "Only you seem to think I have something to hide, you think I'm lying about how I received Lucy's keys." He stiffened a little and she gestured a hand toward him. "Yeah, I heard you say the same thing to Gray awhile back." She told him.

"Why do you act this way? I don't know, is it something I did to you? Something I said? Please tell me, I'm completely lost." She asked him. "Do you honestly think that I have something to do with Lucy's death?" She asked the last question in a quiet tone.

Natsu's fists clenched at his sides, fangs grinding against each other, face darkened and onyx eyes burning with fire. He was literally shaking now, and she sweatdropped a little.

"You... You..." He hissed, fists clenching harder. "BITCH!"

In an instant, Natsu was surrounded in crimson flames, and heading straight for her.

Oh shit...

..._-+-_...

Alright guys! Here's the new chapter, sorry for the lack of updates I was rather busy.

Shout-out for my other story! Give it a try if you will and thank you in advance!

I appreciate the votes and the comments so very much and hope to get some more of those!

Thanks! Until next time!