Seventh Heaven chapter 9
Disclaimer: I don’t own Fairy Tail
Chapter Nine - serenato
Night had fallen.
No moon was to rise in the sky as it was the new moon and the light emitted by the stars, even if they were shinning brightly, wasn’t enough to brighten the way under the trees.
Erza, Lucy, Natsu and Gray were tired and with slight injuries and just wanted to lie down and rest.
Thankfully no-one was following them as they had completed their mission without much trouble.
No-one spoke, feet were dragging on the ground.
A cold wind blew, making them shiver and the group could see how the small flowers on the border of the trail were trembling. These flowers were waiting for a better day or, maybe, a better season.
The deeper they got in the forest the more distinct they heard what looked like voices, voices that talked among each other,
‘amalita isomee (ee...) iyorohei meheeeya (aa…)
salabisi iyomee (iyomee) yomeeya
aaaiimeheya he yomehe (ee…)
amalita isomee iyomee kiye aai itabiya somee
eleiteya eleiteya haa…’
Lucy approached Erza and, in a small voice asked, “You don’t think that this forest is haunted, right…?”
Erza looked at her and, answered resolutely, “I don’t think so but we better hurry and find shelter. I know that there’s a hut nearby…” she stopped and let the others come closer. “There it is, our shelter for the night.” She pointed to a dark structure covered by vines and other kinds of vegetation.
They entered and found a large room with a fireplace, there was also a table with six benches and on the wall a counter with shelves with things (it was hard to discern what they were). Throwing a couple of logs into the fireplace it didn’t take long until Natsu had lit a fire. With that light they were able to chase away the shadows of doubt that somehow were hovering around them. In the far wall there were two doors that let to a room and a bathroom.
Lucy found some candles and that way they brought light to the whole house. They left the blinds down, not wanting to attract more attention.
Erza searched her bag and produced a large loaf and a cheese. Each of them had water so they could have their well-deserved supper.
“Very well, Lucy and I will share the room. You two should stay here, on watch, maybe?” Erza half ordered half asked, while standing up and stretching. On her seat at the table Lucy stifled a yawn.
Gray and Natsu looked at her, then at each other and shrugged.
“Okay… but next time’s up to you…” Gray answered her with a smirk.
“Sure, why not…” answered Natsu at the same time, looking at the flames.
The girls put some comfortable things meant for the boys at the end of the table and closed the door of the room. For long minutes only the crackle of the fire could be heard.
Then, Natsu finally got up, picked some of the blankets and pillows left by the girls and headed to the fireplace. He sat on the floor by its side and where he was directed at the door. Gray sighed and grabbed the rest of the things, sitting near the wall where he wasn’t hit so strongly by the fireplace’s heat.
“It’s comforting…” Natsu’s subdued words had Gray leaning to hear him. He ended up sitting close to Natsu but somehow he managed to pull him and make him sit in front of the fire, so Natsu protected him from the excessive warmth.
“What do you mean?” he asked in equally soft words.
“Standing here. With all of you close-by and the fire here is telling me that I haven’t failed…” he was about to add something but one of those strange voices echoed,
‘koteiya’
They got up careful and silently and went to the door and one of the windows.
Nothing.
There was nothing outside that could have made that sound.
“Do you think that Lucy was right and this place is haunted?” Gray asked after they had closed the window and door and returned to their previous place.
“No way. You know how Lucy can get scared with every thing. Do you remember the jump that she gave with that cobralli? With this it must’ve been the influence of those books she reads. She saw darkness and started to think of scary things…” Natsu shook his head exasperatedly.
“Then we should give her lighter books, huh?”
“You bet-“ he was cut by the singing of birds outside. But… these birds… singing at night? Something wasn’t right because these didn’t sound like night birds. No they didn’t. So, what were they doing singing at this hour?
This unspoken question was answered by another disembodied
‘koteiya’
“Did you hear that?”
“Yeah…”
They looked at each other.
“Maybe we should just ignore that…” Gray gave a small laugh and looked at the fireplace. Again, only the noises from the fireplace filled the silence. Gray scooted a little closer to Natsu and finally asked, “Do you think that it’s strange to believe in those kinds of things?”
Natsu looked at him a little surprised, then turned back to the fire and answered, “It’s not weird. I just don’t believe in that. But with all the strange and crazy stuff that we faced, the ghost thing may have its true facts… I don’t know. We all believe in what we believe…” he trailed off.
“I take it that you don’t believe in any gods…”
Natsu threw another log into the fire and saw the flames part to engulf the new piece of wood. “I don’t believe in any god-“ he cut himself and took a moment to order his thoughts. “In some places the dragons were treated and considered to be gods, did you know that?” he looked at Gray in time to see his negative headshake. “They were considered gods and what good did that bring them? Just, it’s easier to think that there is no heaven or gods. Things are better that way…”
Gray had no answer for that. In fact, he had never thought about it but it kind of made sense.
The intruding voice chose that moment to ring in the still room,
‘tee yama isaya’
Gray turned back and lied down, his head pointing towards the fireplace. “Maybe you’re right. And I do know that the best course of action is to not think about it…”
Natsu laid on his side, his head resting on his right hand, “You’ve also been there…”
“Yeah. But the worst part is that at that time I was young and-“ he covered his face with his hands. “None of that matters now. I wanted to live with my dear ones - they denied me that - and, as such, my time for such prayers ended.”
“When I was with Igneel we didn’t have those things. Though there were things that were sacred. Like the sunrise. And once a strange thing happened - I will never forget.” His voice denoted enthusiasm, “One morning I saw what looked like drops of water - probably dew - hovering above a couple of dry twigs. When I got closer the water fell to the twigs and they bloomed, tiny flowers of every color and I also heard the sound of bells… It was so strange and unreal. It’s funny that I remembered that now. I haven’t thought of that in years…” Natsu flopped onto his back and looked at the dance of the shadows on the ceiling. “Then Summer ended, darkness fell and for a long time the sky was starless for me.”
Gray was lying down, listening to him - after all, it wasn’t everyday that Natsu talked about his past like this.
The same words from before echoed again,
‘tee iyama isaya’
Now they gave a different feeling. A compelling feeling?
Gray sat up and looked at the door. He rose to his knees and pulled at Natsu’s right arm, earning a suspicious look from the Salamander. It glaringly asked ‘What?’
“Let’s follow it. I think it’s calling us…”
Natsu shot him an incredulous look. “Are you insane? Follow whatever that is and leave the girls here unprotected?”
Gray gave another pull, with a petulant look on his face. “I don’t think that it means any harm… So the girls won’t be unprotected. Come on…”
“Since when are you such a fan of supernatural stuff? I know that something’s wrong with you. Maybe you got over exposure to heathomph-“
Gray chose that moment to throw himself at Natsu. They playfully wrestled for a while until Gray had Natsu pinned down. With a big grin he commented, “The winner chooses. And as you’re down, I win. Let’s go!” He gave a small peck on the tip of Natsu’s nose, released him and got up.
Shaking his head, Natsu grumbled under his breath, “I didn’t know that…” before surrendering and following Gray. He threw a chagrined look at the flames - always so welcoming - before the sturdy door of the hut closed and deprived them of the light.
“Now what?”
As if waiting for the question, an alley with large trees on both sides was dimly lit. Gray grabbed Natsu’s hand and they started walking that road, together.
They ended up in front of a large lake, the surface of the water was so still that it looked like a mirror. Finding a couple of rocks whose surfaces were smooth, they sat in them.
“You know, I think that we may have been frozen for quite a long time.” Gray was looking at the reflection of the stars on the water so he missed Natsu’s enquiring look but as he had been expecting that sort of reaction he elaborated, “From our conversation from before. We can say that the- those events were like the sun hiding and for the longest time we existed but weren’t complete because on the inside we were frozen. I don’t know. Maybe the fact of entering Fairy Tail and everything had us warming up, finding new things and heading to a recovery…” Gray made a vague gesture with his hand.
Natsu contemplated the water and thought about these words. They did make sense… A breeze stirred the water and by the corner of his eye he saw Gray shiver a little. He was about to tease him about it (and his customary lack of shirt) but Gray beat him to it.
“Before you say anything idiot as usual, I’m not cold. I just-I just think that I felt a hand on my back…” He looked back only to see nothing. Then Natsu was pulling him so that he ended sitting in front of Natsu’s parted legs, with both his arms around his waist and his chin resting on Gray’s shoulder. Gray let himself relax a bit in the embrace, after all, this conversation had made unwanted thoughts resurface and if felt good to know (and feel) Natsu there and know that he was real. With a sigh he muttered, “I only wish I could have brought the light to my loneliness, I mean, darkness, earlier.” He felt Natsu give a small nod on his side and whatever that was there with them seemed to agree and have a small argument with itself at that precise moment,
‘itai samee itomee kiye aai naai
eye hi e ama samalita eyei (isomele kiye) maa iya de’
“Don’t forget that we already did a very important thing, we continued with our lives, and this is a journey that won’t stop so soon, no matter what your beliefs are.” Natsu adjusted his hold on Gray only to tense suddenly.
Gray looked at him with a questioning look.
“Can’t you hear it?” Natsu’s words were almost inaudible.
Gray strained his hearing until he finally got something, the distant sound of bells playing a melody - and it was a beautiful sound.
“This is it. The music that I heard that day…” he gave a sharp intake of breath.
The ice mage put his hands over the other’s ones, telling him to relax. The temperature by the lake rose a few degrees until it felt like if it were a Summer night (even if in fact it was early Spring). Being in this quiet place was transmitting them a feeling of serenity and a calm that were much needed.
Now, sure that the things in this place were looking out for all of them, Natsu and Gray relaxed, enveloped by the soothing music and scenery they were refreshed and ready to face a new lot of challenges.
Finally they got up and returned to the hut. Everything was the same as they had left it - well, the fire had died until only glowing embers took its place.
Closing the door, they returned to the front of the fireplace, where Natsu put another log that brought the fire back to life. They set the covers and the pillows in a way that would allow them some comfort and lied down.
Once again the sound of the bells echoed near them and now the music had a dream-like quality. Or were they dreaming already? The warmth that reached their faces reminded them of the Summer and maybe by sleeping they would get to it sooner…
They had come a long way and right at the moment what they needed was some rest and now that they knew that they were safe in this place, they could let their guard down and rest. In no time they had pulled up the blankets and were lying close, heads touching and fingers intertwined. Their breathing calmed and eyes closed. They fell asleep, together.
The voice sounded for the last time, sounding like a prayer of someone that was looking out for them,
‘salamitai somee iyome kie ya haa’
A/N: And here it is, another oneshot finished! This one totally escaped my control, length-wise. I had some ideas about what I wanted to write but, as usual, this has pretty much followed the music. I hope you enjoyed it, anyway. And, as usual, this is not beta read, yet… ^^’
Chapter Nine - serenato
Night had fallen.
No moon was to rise in the sky as it was the new moon and the light emitted by the stars, even if they were shinning brightly, wasn’t enough to brighten the way under the trees.
Erza, Lucy, Natsu and Gray were tired and with slight injuries and just wanted to lie down and rest.
Thankfully no-one was following them as they had completed their mission without much trouble.
No-one spoke, feet were dragging on the ground.
A cold wind blew, making them shiver and the group could see how the small flowers on the border of the trail were trembling. These flowers were waiting for a better day or, maybe, a better season.
The deeper they got in the forest the more distinct they heard what looked like voices, voices that talked among each other,
‘amalita isomee (ee...) iyorohei meheeeya (aa…)
salabisi iyomee (iyomee) yomeeya
aaaiimeheya he yomehe (ee…)
amalita isomee iyomee kiye aai itabiya somee
eleiteya eleiteya haa…’
Lucy approached Erza and, in a small voice asked, “You don’t think that this forest is haunted, right…?”
Erza looked at her and, answered resolutely, “I don’t think so but we better hurry and find shelter. I know that there’s a hut nearby…” she stopped and let the others come closer. “There it is, our shelter for the night.” She pointed to a dark structure covered by vines and other kinds of vegetation.
They entered and found a large room with a fireplace, there was also a table with six benches and on the wall a counter with shelves with things (it was hard to discern what they were). Throwing a couple of logs into the fireplace it didn’t take long until Natsu had lit a fire. With that light they were able to chase away the shadows of doubt that somehow were hovering around them. In the far wall there were two doors that let to a room and a bathroom.
Lucy found some candles and that way they brought light to the whole house. They left the blinds down, not wanting to attract more attention.
Erza searched her bag and produced a large loaf and a cheese. Each of them had water so they could have their well-deserved supper.
“Very well, Lucy and I will share the room. You two should stay here, on watch, maybe?” Erza half ordered half asked, while standing up and stretching. On her seat at the table Lucy stifled a yawn.
Gray and Natsu looked at her, then at each other and shrugged.
“Okay… but next time’s up to you…” Gray answered her with a smirk.
“Sure, why not…” answered Natsu at the same time, looking at the flames.
The girls put some comfortable things meant for the boys at the end of the table and closed the door of the room. For long minutes only the crackle of the fire could be heard.
Then, Natsu finally got up, picked some of the blankets and pillows left by the girls and headed to the fireplace. He sat on the floor by its side and where he was directed at the door. Gray sighed and grabbed the rest of the things, sitting near the wall where he wasn’t hit so strongly by the fireplace’s heat.
“It’s comforting…” Natsu’s subdued words had Gray leaning to hear him. He ended up sitting close to Natsu but somehow he managed to pull him and make him sit in front of the fire, so Natsu protected him from the excessive warmth.
“What do you mean?” he asked in equally soft words.
“Standing here. With all of you close-by and the fire here is telling me that I haven’t failed…” he was about to add something but one of those strange voices echoed,
‘koteiya’
They got up careful and silently and went to the door and one of the windows.
Nothing.
There was nothing outside that could have made that sound.
“Do you think that Lucy was right and this place is haunted?” Gray asked after they had closed the window and door and returned to their previous place.
“No way. You know how Lucy can get scared with every thing. Do you remember the jump that she gave with that cobralli? With this it must’ve been the influence of those books she reads. She saw darkness and started to think of scary things…” Natsu shook his head exasperatedly.
“Then we should give her lighter books, huh?”
“You bet-“ he was cut by the singing of birds outside. But… these birds… singing at night? Something wasn’t right because these didn’t sound like night birds. No they didn’t. So, what were they doing singing at this hour?
This unspoken question was answered by another disembodied
‘koteiya’
“Did you hear that?”
“Yeah…”
They looked at each other.
“Maybe we should just ignore that…” Gray gave a small laugh and looked at the fireplace. Again, only the noises from the fireplace filled the silence. Gray scooted a little closer to Natsu and finally asked, “Do you think that it’s strange to believe in those kinds of things?”
Natsu looked at him a little surprised, then turned back to the fire and answered, “It’s not weird. I just don’t believe in that. But with all the strange and crazy stuff that we faced, the ghost thing may have its true facts… I don’t know. We all believe in what we believe…” he trailed off.
“I take it that you don’t believe in any gods…”
Natsu threw another log into the fire and saw the flames part to engulf the new piece of wood. “I don’t believe in any god-“ he cut himself and took a moment to order his thoughts. “In some places the dragons were treated and considered to be gods, did you know that?” he looked at Gray in time to see his negative headshake. “They were considered gods and what good did that bring them? Just, it’s easier to think that there is no heaven or gods. Things are better that way…”
Gray had no answer for that. In fact, he had never thought about it but it kind of made sense.
The intruding voice chose that moment to ring in the still room,
‘tee yama isaya’
Gray turned back and lied down, his head pointing towards the fireplace. “Maybe you’re right. And I do know that the best course of action is to not think about it…”
Natsu laid on his side, his head resting on his right hand, “You’ve also been there…”
“Yeah. But the worst part is that at that time I was young and-“ he covered his face with his hands. “None of that matters now. I wanted to live with my dear ones - they denied me that - and, as such, my time for such prayers ended.”
“When I was with Igneel we didn’t have those things. Though there were things that were sacred. Like the sunrise. And once a strange thing happened - I will never forget.” His voice denoted enthusiasm, “One morning I saw what looked like drops of water - probably dew - hovering above a couple of dry twigs. When I got closer the water fell to the twigs and they bloomed, tiny flowers of every color and I also heard the sound of bells… It was so strange and unreal. It’s funny that I remembered that now. I haven’t thought of that in years…” Natsu flopped onto his back and looked at the dance of the shadows on the ceiling. “Then Summer ended, darkness fell and for a long time the sky was starless for me.”
Gray was lying down, listening to him - after all, it wasn’t everyday that Natsu talked about his past like this.
The same words from before echoed again,
‘tee iyama isaya’
Now they gave a different feeling. A compelling feeling?
Gray sat up and looked at the door. He rose to his knees and pulled at Natsu’s right arm, earning a suspicious look from the Salamander. It glaringly asked ‘What?’
“Let’s follow it. I think it’s calling us…”
Natsu shot him an incredulous look. “Are you insane? Follow whatever that is and leave the girls here unprotected?”
Gray gave another pull, with a petulant look on his face. “I don’t think that it means any harm… So the girls won’t be unprotected. Come on…”
“Since when are you such a fan of supernatural stuff? I know that something’s wrong with you. Maybe you got over exposure to heathomph-“
Gray chose that moment to throw himself at Natsu. They playfully wrestled for a while until Gray had Natsu pinned down. With a big grin he commented, “The winner chooses. And as you’re down, I win. Let’s go!” He gave a small peck on the tip of Natsu’s nose, released him and got up.
Shaking his head, Natsu grumbled under his breath, “I didn’t know that…” before surrendering and following Gray. He threw a chagrined look at the flames - always so welcoming - before the sturdy door of the hut closed and deprived them of the light.
“Now what?”
As if waiting for the question, an alley with large trees on both sides was dimly lit. Gray grabbed Natsu’s hand and they started walking that road, together.
They ended up in front of a large lake, the surface of the water was so still that it looked like a mirror. Finding a couple of rocks whose surfaces were smooth, they sat in them.
“You know, I think that we may have been frozen for quite a long time.” Gray was looking at the reflection of the stars on the water so he missed Natsu’s enquiring look but as he had been expecting that sort of reaction he elaborated, “From our conversation from before. We can say that the- those events were like the sun hiding and for the longest time we existed but weren’t complete because on the inside we were frozen. I don’t know. Maybe the fact of entering Fairy Tail and everything had us warming up, finding new things and heading to a recovery…” Gray made a vague gesture with his hand.
Natsu contemplated the water and thought about these words. They did make sense… A breeze stirred the water and by the corner of his eye he saw Gray shiver a little. He was about to tease him about it (and his customary lack of shirt) but Gray beat him to it.
“Before you say anything idiot as usual, I’m not cold. I just-I just think that I felt a hand on my back…” He looked back only to see nothing. Then Natsu was pulling him so that he ended sitting in front of Natsu’s parted legs, with both his arms around his waist and his chin resting on Gray’s shoulder. Gray let himself relax a bit in the embrace, after all, this conversation had made unwanted thoughts resurface and if felt good to know (and feel) Natsu there and know that he was real. With a sigh he muttered, “I only wish I could have brought the light to my loneliness, I mean, darkness, earlier.” He felt Natsu give a small nod on his side and whatever that was there with them seemed to agree and have a small argument with itself at that precise moment,
‘itai samee itomee kiye aai naai
eye hi e ama samalita eyei (isomele kiye) maa iya de’
“Don’t forget that we already did a very important thing, we continued with our lives, and this is a journey that won’t stop so soon, no matter what your beliefs are.” Natsu adjusted his hold on Gray only to tense suddenly.
Gray looked at him with a questioning look.
“Can’t you hear it?” Natsu’s words were almost inaudible.
Gray strained his hearing until he finally got something, the distant sound of bells playing a melody - and it was a beautiful sound.
“This is it. The music that I heard that day…” he gave a sharp intake of breath.
The ice mage put his hands over the other’s ones, telling him to relax. The temperature by the lake rose a few degrees until it felt like if it were a Summer night (even if in fact it was early Spring). Being in this quiet place was transmitting them a feeling of serenity and a calm that were much needed.
Now, sure that the things in this place were looking out for all of them, Natsu and Gray relaxed, enveloped by the soothing music and scenery they were refreshed and ready to face a new lot of challenges.
Finally they got up and returned to the hut. Everything was the same as they had left it - well, the fire had died until only glowing embers took its place.
Closing the door, they returned to the front of the fireplace, where Natsu put another log that brought the fire back to life. They set the covers and the pillows in a way that would allow them some comfort and lied down.
Once again the sound of the bells echoed near them and now the music had a dream-like quality. Or were they dreaming already? The warmth that reached their faces reminded them of the Summer and maybe by sleeping they would get to it sooner…
They had come a long way and right at the moment what they needed was some rest and now that they knew that they were safe in this place, they could let their guard down and rest. In no time they had pulled up the blankets and were lying close, heads touching and fingers intertwined. Their breathing calmed and eyes closed. They fell asleep, together.
The voice sounded for the last time, sounding like a prayer of someone that was looking out for them,
‘salamitai somee iyome kie ya haa’
A/N: And here it is, another oneshot finished! This one totally escaped my control, length-wise. I had some ideas about what I wanted to write but, as usual, this has pretty much followed the music. I hope you enjoyed it, anyway. And, as usual, this is not beta read, yet… ^^’