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Lion's Pride	By : Rhov Category: +. to F > Fairy Tail Views: 10067 -:- Recommendations : 0 -:- Currently Reading : 1
Disclaimer: Fairy Tail belongs to Hiro Mashima. I make no money writing this. I do it for my own pleasure. Any lyrics are my own or I received permission from the artist.

Chapter List
- 19
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- 21
Nagareboshi nagarete kimi no namida wo nugutte onegai

Tada koko de odayaka ni hohoendeite hoshii

- Arashi, "Namida No Nagareboshi," 涙の流れ星 — "Shooting Star of Tears"

English translation:

"Shooting star, fall away, and wipe away your tears please.

At least, in this place so calm, I want for you to smile gently."

A/N: Under Japanese copyright law, the usage of quotes "as long as the quotation does not exceed what is justified for its purpose" is allowed. Therefore, I can quote Arashi. Besides, that song is totally awesome!

Chapter 20

Shooting Star of Tears

Over the next few days, Lucy and Loke could not be parted. Whenever she left her room, he was proudly beside her. A few times she came to the guild to be with friends. Whenever she did, both Loke and Proto were with her, two strange guardians. However, once Natsu began a fight with Elfman, and the only thing that prevented Lucy from getting crushed in the brawl was a glowing punch from Loke that knocked out Elfman and the Protecto-Bear somehow putting Natsu into an arm lock. No one was sure just how the stuffed animal managed that, but it looked painful. After that, Loke decided Lucy really did need to take the last week of her pregnancy easy.

The Fairy Tail ladies helped with decorating the baby's room. Natsu's cradle sat by one wall, toys sat on an empty part of the bookshelf, clothes were folded neatly in a small dresser, the pram carriage sat in the corner, the rainbow ice baby mobile dangled over the cradle glittering with the sunlight, and Gildarts' Fairy Tail insignia knitted blanket laid ready to receive the precious child. Evergreen assured her it was all feng shui.

Often, Lucy stood in the doorway of the room, staring around the tiny nursery as the reality began to sink in. She was about to become a mother! Somehow, seeing that room made this whole ordeal more real. Still, she did not feel ready. No wonder women needed nine months to prepare! She had only three.

Yet it always seemed that, just as the gravity of this responsibility began to settle onto her and crush her shoulders, Loke would slip up behind her, wrap his arms around her, and kiss the side of her neck. She knew she could rely on him. He had gone from guild member, to guardian Spirit, to trusted companion, to a secret boyfriend, to a lover, and now...

Now they were about to have a child!

A part of her still shivered, worried if she could really do this, if she was up to the challenge. Alone, she was unsure, but with Loke...she felt confident she could trust him to support her, just as he always had!

Loke wished he never had to leave her. In bed, in the shower, eating meals, or just sitting lazily on the couch together, he wanted to be next to Lucy for all time. Yet there were moments when he felt the pain return. He tried to time his disappearances for when she was busy. When she left to the bathroom, he would open his gate and step through for a brief respite.

Always, he stepped into that small, dark cell. It harshly reminded him that he was not free to be with Lucy. He was on parole, nothing more. He would need to tell her the truth one day, but he wanted to wait, at least until the baby arrived. His trips to the Spirit World were always brief, like catching his breath after a long dive, only to plunge back into the suffocating Human World. It was a necessity, but it tormented him to remember that he was not Human like Lucy. They were from different worlds.

They would always have that separation.

Unless he opted to stay Human. Then he would lose all of his magic. He would be weak, grow feeble, and one day he would die. Once, he had been willing to die to atone for Karen's death. Now, he was willing to grow old and die for Lucy's love. It was the threat of losing his magic that made him hesitate.

The ring was back on his finger. She had given it to him the first day he returned. Whenever he was forced to retreat back to his prison cell, he would look at that ring, then gaze through the narrow window at the Spirit World sky and see twinkling Regulus. During those moments, Haftorang's words rang through his ears again. There was one way to stay with Lucy and not lose his power. One horrible way! The ultimate sin for a Celestial Spirit, one for which a thousand rebirths would not atone.

Then he would return just in time for Lucy to step back into the room. He would watch her slow, shuffling gait as she walked with the weight of the baby pulling on her. He would see her gentle smile and shimmering brown eyes. For a brief moment, Loke felt a calm resolve.

He would do it! He would seek out Haftorang, and damn any Spirit who tried to stop him! To stay with Lucy forever, he would do anything!

Then she would curl into his arms, he would rub the belly, feel the small kicks inside, and his conviction wavered. Doing that would condemn both of them to an eternity in hiding. Lucy would of course not be able to use any of her Spirit Keys anymore, severely limiting her magic abilities. She might also have to leave Fairy Tail. Could he really force her to pick between him and her "family"?

To remain eternal with Lucy at the cost of losing her keys and leaving her family in Fairy Tail...

Or to grow old with Lucy at the cost of losing his magic and never returning to his family in the Spirit World.

The two paths teetered before him, and neither one seemed appealing. Loke knew only one thing for certain. He would not give up on Lucy!

November 17

"Lu-chan, you're coming with us, right?" Levy asked with huge, puppy-dog eyes. "The Leonid meteor shower is tonight. You can't miss it!"

Lucy sat in a slump. The baby had been moving on her all day. Positioning for delivery, Wendy said. Everyone had noticed how her bulging belly dropped over the past few days. The child within was getting ready to come out.

"I don't know," Lucy muttered. "If Porlyusica's estimates were right, I should be having the baby at any moment."

"Women are early and late all the time," Levy waved off. "You can't just sit in bed until the time comes. I've read that walking helps a lot and can ease labor pains. And maybe she was off a little. Unless you two know precisely when you made this little guy," she chuckled naughtily.

Lucy blushed in a fluster. "Well, I am rather bored. Stargazing...I haven't done that in a long time."

"Perfect! It's a clear night, the moon is new, so it's ideal for meteor showers."

Loke suddenly reappeared looking refreshed. Lucy realized he had changed clothes in the Spirit World, too. "What's up, pretty ladies?" he grinned. He came up to Lucy and gave her a kiss on the head. "You know what tonight is?"

"Yes, the Leonid meteor shower."

Loke paused and blinked. "Is it really?" A slight frown came to his face, and his eyes drifted away in some long-forgotten memory.

"Aww, it's your meteor shower, Leo the Lion," Levy joshed, elbowing him in the ribs and jolting him out of his thoughts.

Loke rubbed the back of his head, scratching out his orange hair. "So it is!" he said with a hesitant laugh. Still, his face winced as he walked away to the kitchen.

"What's up with him?" Levy whispered to Lucy.

"He was probably more thinking that tonight is when the baby is due. He's been eager all week."

"I bet! It's so wonderful that he's back in time. Although, to be honest," Levy whispered, "I can't picture Loke as a father. Maybe because of those three years he was in the guild, always bringing new girlfriends and...oh, you don't need to hear about that," she laughed nervously, realizing what she was saying just a little too late.

"He had his reasons," Lucy sighed. "Besides, I think he'll make a pretty good father. He's loyal and protective."

"No doubting that!" Levy nodded firmly. "Come on, come on! Everyone's heading out already."

An hour later, the members of Fairy Tail were sitting on a hill just outside the city, lying back on blankets, wrapped thickly against the autumn chill, pointing whenever someone saw a streaking meteor slash the sky in fiery brilliance.

As Loke watched with the rest of them, he felt the unique differences between himself and these Humans. When he saw a shooting star, he thought of how brief yet brilliant life could be. When a star fell, sure, it could shine with glory to awe the world, but it burned out so fast. It was not a quiet, noble death either, but shocking, painful, exposed to the world. Compared to the eternally fixed stars, those meteorites were doomed things.

Celestial Spirits saw shooting stars as a memorial to fallen friends. Loke knew that the symbolism went both ways. A fallen star can never return, but those brief streaks of glory were also likened to Human lives. They burned with amazement that awed the world, yet they were over so quickly.

All these Fairies...sure, they shined brightly now. Lucy, Natsu, Gray, Erza: he looked at each of them, all in the prime of youth, coming into their full strength. Perhaps they were not at their strongest yet, but this was when they could fight tirelessly. In another ten years, they would need to rest and catch their breath after a hard battle. In twenty years, a single fight might wear them out for weeks. In fifty years...

Bright and glorious, yet so brief. How soon would it all be over?

Loke heard a cough, and he looked over to Makarov sipping hot cocoa against the chill. Erza and Mirajane sat on either side of him, and the white-haired lady helped to adjust the blanket wrapped around his shoulders. Really, a man his age should not be out on a night like this. He was almost ninety!

Ninety! Loke could easily remember ninety years ago. He could remember nine hundred years ago. Nine thousand!

And Lucy, she had another seven or eight decades of life perhaps. The thought of losing her so soon, to stand there and gaze upon her as she burned with glory only to fade like the streak of a shooting star...

"Hey, Loke?"

Her voice pulled him out of the melancholy thoughts. He tried to smile at her, but she could always tell when something was wrong with one of her friends.

"I know you don't particularly like seeing shooting stars, but you seem even more sad tonight than usual. What is it?"

He stroked down her golden hair. Did it matter if he only got to be with her for seven or eight decades? Even a shooting star can grant a wish and be remembered for all time.

"I'm fine," he said with a tenderly quiet voice.

"Liar."

"Oi, Loke," Natsu called from down the hill. "Why is this called the Leonid meteor shower? That's, like, after you, right?"

"Aye! 'Cause you're a grownup cat," Happy grinned.

"Hey, that's right," Mirajane realized. "All these shooting stars seem to be coming from the Leo Constellation."

The guild looked back to him. Loke smiled at them, such brightly burning Fairies. Then he looked up at the eternal stars. "Once upon a time, long, long ago..."

Wendy clapped. "Ooh, a story!"

"There were four stars, four very...special stars. Royal Stars."

Lucy jolted when he said that term.

"Royal?" Juvia asked in surprise.

"Indeed," Loke nodded. "Those four ruled as kings of the heavenly realm for many ages, but one day they decided it was time to move on, to pass leadership over to the next generation. On this day, long ago, the four left the heavens never to be seen again. Their stars remained, but not their spirits," he sighed.

His eyes looked sadly at Regulus beating like a heart in the sky. A shooting star zipped by, slashing that heart in fiery glitter that burned off and faded like a scar.

"All the other stars and constellations wept...all but one," Loke said with a distant gleam in his eyes. "The Zodiac Lion refused to mourn, for it had been their choice to burn out in glory rather than remain and regret it. He gathered all the mourners into his hall to comfort them. As their tears fell to the Human World, they streaked through the sky, emanating from the Leo Constellation, as if the heart of the Lion itself was bleeding. One of those Royal Stars that fell that day was indeed the Heart of the Lion, Regulus, the King Star. Because the Lion lost his Heart that day, the others thought he didn't weep because he felt nothing. But they were wrong," he whispered with a sad gaze. "Every year on that day, the Lion cries out silently. The tears he couldn't show to his friends now streak the sky, and all the world can see just how he mourns."

"Loke," Lucy whispered, taking his hand in comfort.

He smiled over to her and squeezed her fingers. "Or at least, that's how the story goes."

"These are star tears?" Wendy asked, looking up at the sky with a sad face.

Mirajane also frowned. "That makes it a bit depressing to watch."

"Hey," Loke tried to laugh. "That's just a story, right? The shooting stars...they can be a glorious thing, too. And the stars that fall, I wonder sometimes...do they want to be mourned, or would they rather be admired?" He looked over to Lucy and smiled at her. "Isn't it better if others enjoy that brief life? Celebrate the glory of the moment rather than worry about the end."

She felt a bit sad for him, wondering how an eternal Celestial Spirit like him must see her, a Human, an mortal being. He squeezed her hand to encourage her. He could see the worries in her face just as if she had spoken those words that darkened her heart.

"Life is ephemeral, but love is eternal," he whispered to her, then gave her a kiss.

Lucy suddenly cried out and grabbed her belly. Loke's eyes widened.

"And talking about life...! Wendy!" he shouted urgently, already beginning to freak out.

"What happened?" Lisanna fretted.

Happy giggled and hid his mouth. "Lucy peed herself."

"I did not!" she screamed.

"Did her water break?" Wendy shouted as she hurried over.

Gray leaped away from Juvia and rushed over. Natsu also scrambled up the hill as soon as he heard Lucy scream. Loke, Gray, and Natsu all worked together to help Lucy up to her feet. Her skirt and the blanket they had been sitting on were soaked.

"Oi, that smells funny," Natsu frowned.

"It's pee," giggled Happy.

"Is not!" Lucy shrieked.

Charle huffed disdainfully. "Idiot male-cat! Her water broke. The baby is coming."

"Bisca, Alzack," Erza barked. "You know where Porlyusica's house is. Hurry there and tell her Lucy is in labor. Natsu, Juvia, Mirajane, hurry ahead to the guild and get some water boiling."

"Can do!" Natsu saluted, and he rushed ahead of the rest.

As Erza continued to shout orders like a general preparing for battle, Gray and Loke helped Lucy along with Wendy following behind giving words of encouragement. The two men looked over to one another. Loke looked nervous and fearful. He knew Lucy was about to go through something painful, a trauma he had inadvertently caused. A little too well, he remembered how Gray had threatened him the day they first found out that Lucy was pregnant. His chest pained him as he remembered when Gray had stabbed him with an icy pike.

"For every pain she suffers, I will inflict it back on you ten-fold. For every tear she sheds as she goes through a hell of agony all because you couldn't keep your pants on, I will take three drops of your blood. And if—Heaven forbid—the worst happens, if she dies in childbirth, if she dies because your demonspawn is too powerful for her fragile body, if she dies because some goddamn rule was broken—a rule you knew about—then so help me, I will hunt you down to whatever realm you slither away into, and I will torture you every day for the rest of my life. Seventy or eighty years might be a drop in the bucket to an immortal Spirit like you, but I will make every minute of it a nightmare you'll never forget, no matter how many eons you live."

Even with the memory of that threat ringing in Loke's ears, Gray gave him a lighthearted smile.

"You'll both be fine," he assured the nervous father-to-be. "You were my partner in the S-Class trial, so I'll be your partner for this. We'll both help Lucy get through this."

Loke smiled thankfully and nodded. He felt relieved that Gray was being supportive.

"Good," Lucy huffed in pain. "I get to crush both of your hands."

End of Chapter 20

Rhov's Corner:

=^._.^= "Happy here. Can you believe Rhov has written twenty chapters already? She told me she's giving it her all to write this to the end. Let's give her some fish to celebrate."

"All right! I'm all fired up!"

=^o.o^= "Natsu! You're here! Waaah, what did you do to Rhov?"

"Whaddaya mean? I didn't do anything to her. She said something about...um...Naa-no-rye-moh? She's writing a novel like Lucy. Isn't that cool?"

=^-_-^= "So much for 'giving it her all' if she's off writing another novel. I think that's what's called being promiscuous."

"Hey, Happy, do you think Lucy will lay an egg?"

=^O_O^= "Ehhhh?"

"Well, you came from an egg."

"That's true. I...don't know, Natsu."

*grrrr...*

"Do you hear something?"

*Rhov appears and smacks Natsu on the back of the head* "Shut up, both of you. You, pyro boy, go boil water!"

"A-aye sir!"

"And you, baka neko!" *dark aura* "Just who were you calling promiscuous?"

=^ToT^= "Tasukete kudasai! Kowai Rhov!"

Seriously, how did that flame-brain sneak in? Well, since I'm here...yep, I'm doing Nanowrimo: National Novel Writing Month. My penname is "Rhov" on the website if you want to look me up and be a writing buddy. Also, Emil C suggested a long distance party for Chapter 20. I've brought hard cider for those old enough to read this story, and apple juice for the kiddies reading this when their parents aren't looking. I also brought the music.

*stadium echo effect* Now introducing...-ucing...-ing.. the hit boy-band from Japan...-apan...-pan...ARASHI! *fangirl squeals*

If you've never heard Arashi, you're missing out on one amazing band. You can google for a video of my epigraph song, "Namida No Nagareboshi" from Arashi's Tokyo Dome concert. Hear it! Fall in love! I translated it myself. Um...I hope I got it right, my Japanese isn't that good. ^_^'

Loke's tale of the origin of the Leonid meteor shower is my own creation. I love inventing legends for things, and this one fits my fanfiction nicely. Is it real? Is it a mere story? Who knows! Baby's coming! Heheee, I'm excited! Now back to writing my Nanowrimo novel.
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Lion's Pride