Chapter 27

"Things happened?" I shifted the fishing pole, but other than that I hardly moved. He was so broad in his story that I actually was left with more questions than answers. I tried to hold my tongue - I was happy that I was just getting something - but there were things that he couldn't skip over.

"You know…" He shrugged and cleared his throat. Was he nervous again? "We were thirteen, back-country boys who were suddenly thrust into fame and fortune. We got into a lot of trouble back then."

"You were only thirteen?" I giggled, trying to imagine a younger Natsu, and it was amusing.

"And, like I said, things happened. After a few years, our troublemaking actually became...more trouble than we were worth. So we took a break and went back home for a while. We met up with our friends that we left behind, and we ended up becoming humbled."

"'Humbled'? I'm surprised you know what that word means."

"Do you want to hear the story or not?"

"Yes, please!"

"Then no more interrupting. Keep all questions and comments until the end. Okay?" He went so far as to pinch the tip of my ear and pull slightly. I couldn't hide the squeak that jumped out of my mouth, and I covered my ear when he let go. It didn't hurt, but it didn't feel like anything I felt before. A shock ran down my spine, not unpleasantly.

"Anyway, we calmed down a lot. I went back to working on my family's farm, and he went back to competitive swimming, without the competition part. He and Juvia got close again, and it wasn't until our end of summer party that they finally let me know that they were actually a couple. It explained why Gray was never around - apparently they went on a trip to the ocean for a few days. That was the picture you saw at the tribute night.

"After that summer, we came back to Magnolia and formed our rock band. That was going good for awhile, but the pressures of being famous caught up with us again, bigger things were happening, and we decided that taking another vacation home was what we needed. Gajeel and Levy started dating back then, and they were pretty open about it until our manager found out and told us that all our relationships had to be secret. If word got out that we were taken it could bring our numbers down. Those were important to us back then, so we conceded. We all went to mine and Gray's hometown, where we rented a cabin by the lake for the season."

I watched as his eyes darted around, almost as if he was looking for something out on the water, but what he was looking for wasn't there.

"We had parties there almost every night, and Juvia finally found out about Gray's…" He paused again and glanced at me. "She found out that he was in trouble," he decided to say, as if I wouldn't be able to stomach what actually happened. "She worked with him all summer to get him clean, swimming laps for hours until he was back to the level he was before our music was the center point of our lives. He was happy, we hardly ever fought anymore. It was amazing, probably the best summer I can remember...until…"

His voice cracked and he coughed, looking away from me. I could tell by the way he was acting that he was getting to the difficult part of his story, but I had to know. I felt bad about pushing him, but, maybe with him talking about it would help him the way it was helping me.

"What happened?" I asked, placing my hand on his shoulder. He looked at me and licked his lips, his eyes wide.

"We had a party," he began, "and Juvia disappeared." He clenched his jaw and looked away again.

"What do you mean?" Again, I chanced looking around, hoping they hadn't followed. I could feel my heart beat increasing, and it had nothing to with being close to Natsu.

"She decided to go for a swim, but she never came back." He was staring out at the water again. "First we thought she was just playing a trick, but she would never stay hidden from Gray when he'd call her name. The only conclusion was that she drowned when she went out." He locked his lips again. "It didn't make sense, and Gray fought for search parties, filing a missing persons report, anything that didn't point her drowning.

"We spent the next month looking for her before Makarov decided throwing us back into work would help take his mind off it. It didn't, so he went right back into his old ways, and without Juvia there to help him, in the end it killed him."

I bit my lip as his voice cracked and he glared down at the fishing pole in his hands. His jaw was clenched, and I could tell he was trying really hard not to let himself cry. There was a small tremor in his body, and I wrapped my arms around him. He was there for me when I was crying, and now it was my turn to comfort him. I'd never imagined I'd be doing it, but it was my fault for asking about Gray and Juvia in the first place.

He rested his forehead on my arm, and he took deep breaths to calm himself.

I was speechless as I rubbed circles on his back, my fishing pole lying on my lap forgotten. I had no idea what sort of past I was asking about. I mean, I knew Juvia had passed away, but drowning? I didn't know many expert swimmers, but a young woman who was training to be in the Olympics for her swimming, drowning in a lake...I had to steer my thoughts away. I knew I was going to start analyzing and making his story bigger than it actually was - I blame my overactive imagination for that - and right now I knew all Natsu needed from me was to just hold him.

Until he pushed me away, that is.

"Don't forget about your pole," he said as he rolled his head, stretching out his neck. "I've done that before, and it was disastrous. My dad kicked my ass halfway across the country because I'd lost his favorite pole."

I looked back to my pole, only holding it just so, not really caring whether or not I caught a fish. He had changed the subject, even chuckled a bit at the end there. I understood that he was probably the kind of guy who didn't like to dwell on painful memories, and, no matter how much I wanted him to tell me, I knew he wasn't going to say anymore on the matter.

I took a deep breath and gave him a bright smile.

"Well, then I guess I better hold onto this. I wouldn't want you kicking my ass halfway across the country."

He burst out laughing. "I didn't know you possessed that kind of language," he said, patting me on my back, a little too hard for me. I coughed once, then elbowed him in the stomach, earning a grunting chuckle. He returned the gesture by placing his palm on top of my head and rubbed hard. Now, I wasn't known for being vain in anyway, but the mere act of quickly rubbing his palm on my head would make my hair become tangled and staticy, and I couldn't help the surprised and angry gasp that escaped.

I moved to punch him, but I was jolted forward, my fist connecting with air. It only took me a split second to realize something was pulling my fishing pole toward the water. We both forgotten about beating each other up with the knowledge that I had hooked something. I exclaimed excitedly - which sounded more like a squeal than anything - and I pulled back. Natsu jumped up next to me.

"Why is it so strong?!" I couldn't help but ask. I mean, it was just a fish, right? Was it the Hulk fish?

"Reel it in!" Natsu exclaimed, standing next to me. I was increasingly becoming irritated. Here I was, fighting the biggest fish in existence, and all he was doing was standing there.

"I can't. I'll lose my grip." I had tried to move my hand to the lever, but I could tell it would have slipped from my grasp if I had let go.

Natsu grabbed the pole handle with one of his hands, and his other hand grabbed the lever. Despite being at war with a fish, I couldn't ignore that he was practically holding me. My back was against his chest, his face so close to my own, but he was completely enthralled with the battle. I chanced a glance at him, but he was glued to the water, and he was wearing one of the biggest smiles I'd ever seen. Suddenly I was jostled, and I realized he was pulling the pole up, then relaxing it, and he repeated the action.

It probably only lasted a few minutes, but it felt like it took forever - not that I minded it much. Our muscles were aching, but the moment that jerk broke the water, we both tumbled backward, the force of our combined strengths causing us to lose our balance - not to mention I wasn't expecting it and I tripped over his foot. Like the gentleman he is, Natsu left me on the ground and grabbed the fish, holding it up.

I blinked at him as he took the fish's mouth - my body shuddered - and my mouth dropped open at the fish he held. It was about as long as his forearm, and it was wiggling madly; Natsu leaned away from the still fighting fish, laughing.

"Do you see this?" he asked, holding it towards me.

I blinked up at it and tilted my head. "I thought it was bigger," I admitted. "It took two of us to pull that thing out of the water…"

"This is amazing, Luce," Natsu assured. "The first fish I caught was a measly guppy, but this is awesome. You're a natural."

I shook my head in disbelief, still not really understanding his excitement. I huffed and stood up, wiping the dirt off my legs. I watched as he put the now still fish in the pail he had next to him. He took a deep breath and looked out at the water again. I chanced walking up to him, glancing down at the fish in the pail, wondering if it was dead since it had stopped moving.

Suddenly I was lifted into the air. Natsu grabbed me around my waist and spun me around. I was squealing, but laughing at the same time, not sure what had gotten into him, but enjoyed his enthusiasm nonetheless. When he finally placed me on the ground, he had wrapped his arms around me and held me tight against him.

"Thanks, Luce," he whispered.

"For what?" I asked, gently rubbing his back. He pulled away slightly and smiled down at me, taking a minute before answering. He bit his lip before responding.

"For fishing with me." He rubbed the top of my head again and turned to grab his pole from the ground. He sat back down again with a sigh, a familiar tune coming quietly from him as he hummed.

I wondered if he expected me to press him further for more information. How did Gray really die? or If Juvia's body was never found, then how could anyone be certain she really did die? I didn't, though. I had those answers, and he looked like he didn't want to divulge further. I couldn't do that to him.

I grabbed my pole and sat down next to him, gently casting my line back in the water, one last thought floating through my head…

What am I going to do about my living situation?