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Wheels of Fire	By : Rhov Category: +. to F > Fairy Tail Views: 22712 -:- Recommendations : 0 -:- Currently Reading : 2
Disclaimer: Fairy Tail is the property of Hiro Mashima. I make no money, I just do this for my own pleasure.

Chapter List
- 8
- 9
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Chapter 9
Guild Mates and Friends
That first week in Edolas was absolute hell for Natsu Dragneel. Although he recovered quickly from Lucy Ashley's torturous foot massage, it was not the only trouble he had when dealing with these other Fairy Tail guild members.
He had one particularly annoying problem. Edo-Romeo followed him everywhere. The thirteen-year-old boy wore a sailor-style school uniform, his dark hair slicked back, and glasses on his nose that he pushed up frequently. He tried to imitate Natsu in everything he did. When Natsu awkwardly sat with Edo-Cana for a tea party, he saw Romeo also fumbling with how to hold a teacup until he thought the boy was mocking him. When Natsu got in a fight with Edo-Levy about trying to fix her machine to send him back home, he saw Romeo standing to the side, practicing the same angry facial expressions.
"Romeo has always admired Natsu Dragion," Cana told the Dragon Slayer during one of their tea parties. "Apparently, during the seven years we were trapped within some dimensional wormhole, he built small go-carts to practice driving, and he learned how to ride a tanchimo really well." She took a long, prim sip from her teacup. "He deeply admires Fireball, so it's not too surprising that he's mimicking you now. Do try to refrain from teaching him bad habits," she said politely yet firmly. "It simply will not do if the lad begins to set draperies on fire."
When the aping boy really began to get on his nerves, Natsu went outside to a grassy clearing for some physical training. If Romeo was going to mimic everything he did, he might as well get a bit stronger. However, Natsu immediately saw that the boy was doing push-ups wrong.
"No, no." The Dragon Slayer stopped his sets and walked over to the young teen. "Hands farther apart, like this." He set the arms at the ideal spacing to lessen fatigue and maximize muscle use. "Yeah, just like that. Then go down as far as you can without having your body touch the ground." Natsu did five quick push-ups to demonstrate.
"You're really strong," Romeo praised as he did a few push-ups to test out the new technique. "Natsu Dragion wasn't this strong."
"We each fight in our own ways," the Dragon Slayer muttered, and he began to do sit-ups, counting softly at each crunch.
Romeo sat cross-legged and watched Natsu instead of doing more work on his own. "Hey, in your world, are my parents really divorced?"
"Yep," Natsu huffed between crunches. "Macao and his wife split years ago. I'm not sure on the details, but apparently he flirted around too much and she just walked out, leaving him and Romeo … my Romeo," he corrected.
"That's really terrible," the boy muttered. "I'm glad I'm in this world. Mom and Dad are a bit too lovey-dovey. It's gross! But at least they love one another. Hey, is your Cana really a slutty drunk?"
"I don't know about slutty, but she does dress kind of weird, and yeah, that girl definitely loves her alcohol."
"And is it true that your Droy is really fat, and Jet is weak?"
"Well, Droy did put on a lot of weight, and although neither one of them are S-Class at their age, I wouldn't call them weak. No one runs faster than Jet."
"And Earthland's Levy is a bookworm? Is that true?"
"Yep, she's always in the library or bugging Lucy about wanting to read her book."
"Wow, I can't believe your Lucy is a writer. And is it true that in your world, Lucy is really weak and clingy and thinks she's sexy when she's really not?"
Natsu lashed out in anger. "Who told you that?"
"Lucy Ashley. Is it true your Lucy is weak?" the boy asked innocently.
"Lucy is strong," he insisted. "She's loyal, and best of all, she's really nice to everyone."
"That's hard to imagine," Romeo chuckled, rocking slightly where he sat. "Hey, is it true that in your world, Gajeel destroyed your guild and defeated Levy and Lucy?"
"That was in the past," Natsu said defensively. "Gajeel's a member of Fairy Tail now, and he gets along with everyone. We've all forgiven him."
"But don't you fight him?" Romeo asked. "You said once that you fight Gajeel sometimes."
Natsu chuckled with a gleam in his eyes and kept on doing sit-ups. "That's because Gajeel is strong, and I like to fight strong people. It makes me stronger too."
"You're a lot like Lucy," Romeo pointed out, shoving his glasses up his nose. "She's always fighting the stronger guild members. I saw her and Wendy fighting yesterday, although mostly they were just shouting."
Natsu paused and looked up. "Edolas' Wendy is strong?"
Romeo nodded enthusiastically. "Oh, totally! Isn't your Wendy strong? You said she's a Dragon Slayer."
"Yeah, she's strong, but … but she's still a kid. She uses defensive and support magic mostly."
"Wow. Here, Wendy is defensive too, but her martial arts skills almost surpass Lucy's."
Natsu hummed, finding that interesting, then continued with his exercises with a light smile tweaking his lips. He just might have to challenge Edo-Wendy some day. He had never fought against Wendy Marvell because she was only twelve, but this older version of Wendy looked to be the same age as him, so fighting her would be no different than his fights with Erza Scarlet.
Romeo did not stop his talking for long. "Hey, is it true Erza is in your guild, and she's really strong and scary?"
"Strong and scary, definitely." At least that was something everyone in Earthland's Fairy Tail could agree upon. Erza was a monster!
"And Gray," the boy kept on, much to Natsu's annoyance. "Is Gray really a foul-mouthed smoker who runs around naked?"
"Yup."
"And Juvia is a possessive stalker?"
"Pretty much."
"And Gildarts destroys everything he touches?"
Natsu chuckled, "Yeah, he's cool."
"And Laxus got kicked out for trying to destroy your town and making all the guild members fight each other? Is that really true?"
"Uh … well, yeah. Wait, what's with all these questions?" Natsu demanded.
"Why do you wanna go back to such terrible people?" Romeo asked in confusion.
Natsu stopped his exercising and sat up on the grass. "Terrible? What do you mean? They're good people, and they're my friends."
"But they seem so terrible. You said you and Gray are rivals, and you and Gajeel fight all the time, and you and Laxus have fought a bunch of times, and Lucy Heartfilia only uses you because you're strong, and…"
"Lucy doesn't do anything like that," Natsu roared.
"But doesn't she drag you onto missions when she thinks she can't do them on her own?"
"That's part of being on a team. I've invited her on plenty of missions."
"Have you ever taken Lucy on a mission because you felt you weren't strong enough to handle it alone?" asked Romeo.
Natsu's chest puffed out proudly. "I'm strong enough to handle any mission, even S-Class."
"Then you don't need Lucy Heartfilia, but she needs you. She's using you."
"No," Natsu snapped, yet he did not try to justify his answer. It was true that sometimes (not all the time, but occasionally) Lucy asked him to come with her when she felt the fighting would be too hard. Still, that was the whole point of having a team. Natsu brought in raw fighting power; Lucy brought intelligence and wit. They complimented each other: brawn and brains. Or at least, that was how Natsu saw it.
Romeo hummed as he thought about it. "Our guild seems much nicer…other than Lucy being a bit scary. The people here like you. Why would you wanna go back to Earthland?"
"Like I said, they're my friends. Plus I can't do much magic here. Besides, don't you want your Natsu to return?"
Romeo just shrugged lightly. "Sure, but you're cooler."
Natsu felt honored by the compliment, but he was also troubled by it. He rose to his feet and dusted off grass seeds. "My Romeo is a lot more loyal to his guild mates … and so am I. Try mimicking that." Then he headed back indoors to find a place to nap.
Natsu Dragneel truly felt like he was at his wits' end with this world. He could not stand having his magic so depleted, and these people were no closer to figuring out how to switch him back. In fact, much like with Romeo, they seemed content with keeping him there. Edo-Wendy was always beside him, Mira and Elfman seemed ready to adopt him as a brother, and Gray Surge clung to him all the time, much to Natsu's annoyance. They were not treating him as an outsider. They had absorbed him into their guild.
"You're a strong man," Edo-Cana told him over tea that Natsu thought tasted weird and scones that flaked so much, they made a mess on his saucer. "It's only natural that Romeo and the others admire that strength. Our guild suffered a lot. We need strong members. It's not too surprising, is it? Without his vehicle, Fireball Natsu is useless to our guild, at least as a fighter, yet even without your magic, you can put up a good fight."
"Useless?" Natsu roared in anger. "Don't you dare call that guy useless. He's one of your friends, isn't he?"
"He was unhappy here," Cana explained, calmly sipping her tea. "Some said he had considered leaving the guild many times. This world without magic, without fuel, without his car, is a useless world to Natsu Dragion. He is probably overwhelmed with joy at being in your world, with cars, trains, and flying ships. I doubt he'd want to return."
"So what? What does that have to do with me being trapped here? Ashley's not even trying to find a way to return me."
Edo-Cana set her teacup down with a clank and stared at him so intently, it had the same effect as Cana Alberona smacking him over the head with a beer stein. "Don't you see? Lucy needs someone to fill the void, not just the fighting power Natsu Dragion had, but emotionally. Like when Lisanna came, we all pretended to think she was our Lisanna, and she did not have the heart to correct us. It was a bandage against the pain. Lucy is trying to do the same thing with you. She's hurting inside, Salamander. She bullied Natsu, but she still liked him. Lucy would not be the same without Natsu, so she cannot give up both him and you. If Natsu Dragion truly was ready to leave Fairy Tail, then of course Lucy would rather have you here and stay in the guild, than to bring him back only to have him leave."
"That's bullshit!" Natsu declared, and he leaped from his chair.
Gray Surge lumbered over to him wearing five layers of thick coats. "Hey Natsu, where ya goin'? Can I come, too?"
"Outta my way, droopy-eyes," he shouted, and Natsu punched the man in the face since he knew that punching his chest would just be a soft thud into all those layers of clothes.
Edo-Gray fell to the floor and crawled off to the side where he clutched the hem of Edo-Juvia's dress while sobbing heavy tears. "Juvia-sama, Natsu's being mean again. Protect me, Juvia-sama."
"Natsu," Edo-Juvia scolded with a cold glare. "He didn't do anything, so why did you hit him?"
Edo-Gray's eyes brightened. "Juvia-sama cares! Maybe if you kiss my cheek, it'll feel better." He turned his head to the side awaiting a kiss.
Instead, she punched his other cheek to push him away.
"Hey, Natsu!" Edo-Lucy barked, yet he stormed out of the guild building. "Natsu, dammit, get back here and apologize to Gray. Hey, I'm talking to you, bastard. Don't you dare ignore me."
Natsu flipped his middle finger back at her as he walked through the doors. In perfect mimicry, Romeo gave her the same hand gesture. Mira came up behind the boy and, all with a smile, smacked him over the head. Then the white-haired woman whispered never to make that gesture again.
"Why that little…" Edo-Lucy ran after the Dragon Slayer in a fury. Outside, the sun had set and the sky was darkening. "Natsu! Hey! Are you gonna try running away again? I swear, I'll give you another foot massage." Despite the threat, the Dragon Slayer kept walking away. "Hey, stop. Natsu! Oi, Salamander!"
At that, he spun around. "So, you can finally call me Salamander, huh? It's been over a week since you called me that. It seems you can finally admit I'm not your Natsu again."
She scoffed at his admonishment. "What the fuck, bastard? Why are you mistreating our guild mates?"
"No, not our guild mates. Your guild mates," he insisted, pointing at her for emphasis. "I'm not a part of this Fairy Tail. Besides, you treat them just as badly."
"It's because I love them. My Natsu understood that."
"Yes, your Natsu. I am not your Natsu!" he roared. A faint flicker barely simmered over his fingers. "Goddammit, I can't even get a decent fire to burn when I'm pissed as hell."
"What's this about?" she yelled.
"Cana said you're replacing your Natsu with me."
Edo-Lucy shrugged. "So? We did that with Lisanna."
"Lisanna accepted it. I won't! I refuse to."
"Why not?" she demanded angrily. "We're treating you good, we feed you as much as you want even if we can barely afford it, we let you rampage…"
"You won't let me go home."
"Fuck, if we knew how, do you think we'd trap you here?" Lucy Ashley ran her fingers through her short, blonde hair in frustration. "It's not like I want you here, ya know. I miss that lousy Fireball. We didn't just give up. Levy has been working full days on the problem. However, we can't recreate whatever happened the first time. Levy thinks it was a mix of our technology and your Dragon Slayer magic. We obviously can't recreate that if you're here. Which means you're stuck. I'm fucking sorry, okay?" she snapped bitterly.
Natsu glared with a streak of stubbornness. "I won't accept defeat that easily," he declared, and he began to walk away again.
"So what? Ya gonna go out on your own?" she yelled to his back. "You wouldn't survive a week out in this world. You don't know a thing about Edolas."
"I can head to the capitol," he shouted back. "Mystogan … King Jellal … he was a member of Earthland's Fairy Tail. Maybe he has some idea about how to get me back."
"You're running to the king?" she cried out, finally chasing after him. "You … you can't! We're on the run from them."
"Your guild might be. That has nothing to do with me."
"Please, Natsu!" she cried out in desperation. "I…" She stopped short and looked away with angry eyes and blushing cheeks. She could not set aside her pride to say the words. Her teeth ground hard as she tried to think of an excuse. "Ya know, if we figure out what to do, we won't be able to do anything without you here. Maybe you can go shake hands with the king, but we sure as hell can't. If you run off to King Jellal and Knightwalker, there ain't a damn thing we can do to help you. Levy is the only person who knows how the trans-dimensional whatchamacallit even works. Those pansies in the king's labs sure as hell don't know how to get you back if they don't know how you got here in the first place."
Natsu paused as he realized she was right. It was Edo-Levy who built the machine that sucked him here. Only she would be able to figure out how to get him back.
Lucy Ashley smirked at her little victory. "You might as well get comfortable, Natsu. We're the only ones who can get you home."
She walked over to him and wrapped her arms around him, burrowing her nose into his scarf. It had such a strong smell that uniquely belonged to this man, something she guessed was a dragon smell. Whenever she got close enough to sniff it, it made her heart race and brought up a deep warmth from the core of her body, as if this Dragon Slayer could set her on fire with just his aroma.
"We'll keep researching this problem," she whispered, squeezing him tighter to keep him from escaping. "We won't abandon Fireball."
"Sounds like most of the guild already has," he grumbled.
"Well, I fucking won't!" Then her face relaxed again, and she hugged him a little closer. Natsu felt her arms trembling. "I'm not so bitchy as to abandon a friend. Still, it could take us months or even years to find a way to get you back home. In the meantime…" She turned him around and gazed up at him with wide, imploring eyes. "Maybe you can come to love this guild just as much as you love your own. We're good people, even if we're a little strange. And you're a good guy. The other guild members like you. I … like you."
Natsu's eyes widened in shock. "L-Lucy!"
"Not Edo-Lucy?" she asked seductively, leaning in closer. "Not Ashley? Interesting," she smirked, eyeing him up and down. "I think you're getting closer to us than you imagine. Or maybe," she whispered, leaning directly into his face with a glint in her brown eyes, "that's what scares you!"
Natsu had never seen Lucy Heartfilia look at anyone that way before. Even when she used her sex appeal tactic, it always looked a little silly to Natsu, the way she posed, pouted her lips out, and winked her eye. As if that would turn on any man! But Lucy Ashley's dangerous gaze sent a shiver through him unlike anything he had ever known. The back of his throat felt dry, the pit of his stomach coiled, and he licked his chapped lips in uncertainty and confusion.
What was this odd feeling? She looked ready to attack him, and for some reason … that thrilled him!
Lucy began to lean in closer to his face. Natsu gulped hard, frozen to his spot, staring at her lips with trepidation unlike anything he ever felt when facing an enemy.
"Lucy!" Edo-Wendy walked forward out of the guild building. "Are you out here?"
The blonde froze and rolled her eyes. Tensely, with forced pleasantness to her voice, she replied, "What is it, Wendy?"
"Levy's radar reports an incoming royal flying squad, ETA thirty minutes. By their formation, it's definitely Knightwalker."
"Fuck," she whispered, and she pulled back from Natsu. "Tell Levy to prepare for another jump. Gather everyone into the guild."
"We have two in the nearby town gathering supplies."
"Radio them in. If they're not back in thirty minutes, they get to chase our shadow."
"Wait," Natsu interrupted. "If that's the king, maybe he's here for me."
"And how the hell would the king know about you?" Edo-Lucy reasoned. "Do you think your guild master just called him up on the telephone and said, 'Oh hey, we're missing a Dragon Slayer, can you send him back to us?' Like hell. Even if he heard about it from that bastard Gajeel, why would King Jellal send his fucking Fairy Hunter out to fetch you unless it's to subdue you and use you for experiments. You wanna be a royal lab rat?" she shouted. "I ain't surrendering any friend to that redheaded bitch Knightwalker. You might not have gotten your guild stamp from us, but you are still a member of Fairy Tail, and you're our friend now. We'll protect you no matter what." She stomped off shouting orders to everyone standing around outside.
Natsu stayed where he was, watching Edo-Lucy taking command. He had seen Erza lead members of Fairy Tail with this sort of firmness, and members respected her orders, just as these people snapped to obey Lucy Ashley. He had always admired Erza for that, and he secretly felt jealous at her strength. He began to feel that same emotion toward Lucy Ashley.
Edo-Wendy came up to him and took his hand. "Come on, Natsu, we should get inside."
"I don't like the idea of simply running away," he stated, although he knew he had no right to tell them that they should stay and fight.
"No one really likes it," the blue-haired woman admitted. "We used to fight them when they came, but we lost too many good people. Now we aren't even as well-armed." She noticed Natsu kept staring strangely at Lucy Ashley. "What is it?" she asked suspiciously. "Did Lucy say anything to you? She didn't threaten you again, did she?"
Natsu opened his mouth to say something, froze, then shook his head. "It's nothing. Stupid, really. It's just, for a moment there … well, I thought Lucy was actually going to kiss me." He laughed and scratched at his pink hair. "Sounds ridiculous, doesn't it? Someone like her falling for someone like me! Man, my head must really be messed up."
Instead of laughing along with him, Wendy's eyes widened in silent fury, and her hands tightened with jealous anger. "Don't let her kiss you."
Natsu looked down at her. "Huh? Do you think she really was trying to?"
Edo-Wendy began to think fast. "It's … it's Lucy, after all. If she was about to kiss you, it must have been some attack. You know, like … like kiss you and then bite your tongue to hold you still while she cracks your spine in a body squeeze."
"Yikes!" Natsu shivered. "That must have been it, I guess. She was afraid I'd run away again, so she must have been about to do something painful to stop me."
"Yep, definitely," Edo-Wendy said with a silent sigh of relief. Then she took Natsu's hand possessively. "I'll show you a good place to stay during a trans-dimensional jump, a place where maybe you won't get sick this time. Just stay close to me, Natsu."
He grinned as he followed her. "Thanks, Wendy."
The buxomly blue-haired woman shot a vicious glare at Edo-Lucy, who spared a quick and equally caustic leer back at her. Natsu walked on, completely oblivious to the tension forming between the blunette and the blonde.
End of Chapter 9
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