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bumblebeehug · 29 days

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Hike in Heels

Summary: Natsu takes Lucy on a surprise trip to Hargeon, where they relive their first encounter. Notes: (At the end) Ao3

***

“Please, please, PLEASE, let me take a break!” Lucy almost sobbed as she took another step. A two-day trip to Hargeon was not the best way to break in her new heels, and she honestly never would have picked those shoes if she knew that the “quick walk” Natsu had been talking about, was in fact a hike and not a leisure stroll.

“Come on, you already know that it’s only another 30 minutes, you can manage!” Natsu slowed down briefly at first but came to a complete halt when he looked down at Lucy’s foot, that she was now massaging tenderly. They had a scary amount of red, inflamed looking blisters, and he almost winced at the sight.

“Does it look like I’ll manage?” Lucy sneered back. Natsu frowned at her foot at first, for making Lucy suffer, and then at the shoes that were the very cause of her suffering.

“Hop on my back,” he said, crouching down in front of her. Lucy would normally decline offers like that, but she had already used up too much of time on Horologium’s schedule, so borrowing him for a ride wouldn’t be possible, and though she could walk barefoot the last bit, her feet could really need the relief from all the pressure. That, and the path they were walking on had surprisingly sharp pebbles – something she learned from another unfortunate pick of footwear.

“Thanks,” she mumbled, annoyed that her pride had even allowed her to get her feet this bad in the first place. Had she asked him for his help earlier, she would probably have only half the number of blisters that she currently was cursed with. If only Wendy or Shelia was nearby to relieve her from it.

After climbing onto Natsu’s broad back, they were once again on their way. The immediate relief from pressure helped Lucy truly relax, urging her to use Natsu’s left shoulder like a pillow. He could act really heroic when he wanted to. That’s of course until he starts complaining about her weight, which he usually would do as soon as she mounted him. Though, today he’s unusually quiet, leaving the air around them only filled with the sounds of his rhythmic steps against the gravel and the birds chirping.

“Why are we even going to Hargeon in the first place?” Lucy asked for the tenth time this day, knowing she probably wouldn’t get a proper answer, but still hoping that she was wearing that secretive shield down.

“I told ya’ it’s a secret,” Natsu answered, still not faltering. At this point Lucy didn’t know whether she should be excited or worried for this trip – for all she knew, a horribly embarrassing job with little to no pay could be waiting in the town they were heading towards. That, or Lucy had once again underestimated Natsu’s kindness, and some nice surprise was waiting for her. You never knew when it came to Natsu.

Perhaps that unpredictable nature was part of why Lucy still felt like their friendship was as fresh as it only could be in the beginning – in its honeymoon phase, one might say. They never tired of each other, not really, despite what it might seem like when Lucy kicked him and Happy out of her apartment for the hundredth time in a week, or when she scolded them twice that amount. When they first got to know each other, the small fights were actually based on real discomfort – who wouldn’t be shocked when a guy you practically just met used your bath with his winged blue cat without even locking the door? Though as the time went on, her crazy reactions felt more like acting, rather than something based on true discomfort. She would put on her loud voice, yell out something witty and then a ‘get out!’ and then watch as Natsu and Happy would giggle while scrambling to her hallway, and she’d watch them do this with a smile on her face. It was their running gag, something that reminded them of where they started and where they are now.

Well, unpredictable friendship or not, Lucy wasn’t sure if this little hiking trip Natsu had brought her along to was worth it. Those blisters already looked unreasonably red and angry, and they sure felt like they were angry too, stinging even at small winds.

“You know I won’t be able to fight properly like this, right?” Lucy told Natsu, kicking her feet in front of him.

“Well, you won’t have to fight.”

“Hah! I got a clue!” Lucy burst out, celebrating her success at wearing him down. “So, no fighting… Does that mean I’m just here for company for a job? Or maybe the job just requires one of my spirits… or! Maybe we’re just here for a retreat!”

Natsu sighed and readjusted his hold of her. He had accidentally told her just a little too much – not enough for her to figure it out, but still enough for her to speculate. He was fine with her talking, but he was a little afraid she’d make him say too much again, maybe even make him spill everything, and then he’d let all his work to keep the secret go to waste.

“Not telling,” he just told her, trying to keep his ground. He made his mind up to only answer her if she talked about unrelated topics – otherwise he would definitely spill everything. Luckily for him they would reach the edge of the town in just 10 minutes as long as he kept a good walking speed.

“Don’t you think you owe me a proper clue? After all, you didn’t tell me that we were going to walk for hours! I would have changed shoes if I’d known, you know!” Lucy poked Natsu’s cheek repeatedly. Maybe she could annoy an answer out of him.

“I already gave ya’ one,” Natsu tried.

“Noooo, I decided that it was a clue, you didn’t give it to me out of free will!”

“So you want another clue?”

“Yes!”

“Well, my clue is that you won’t have to fight.” Lucy pouted.

“You already gave me that clue.”

“So you admit it was a clue?”

“Natsu!”

***

“I can’t believe you won’t tell me anything!” They had finally arrived, and Lucy was walking barefoot on the cobblestone paths that covered the coastal town. She had insisted on walking by herself when they started meeting people on the way, saying something about it being embarrassing to be carried when she was a mage with reputation. Natsu couldn’t understand how being carried would affect her rep, since she was in a team that destroyed everything in its path, but he complied.

“I just think you’re making it bigger than it is,” Natsu shrugged. His surprise wasn’t really that big, and this build up certainly wasn’t giving him any favours.

“I’m not making it bigger than you are. You’re the one that won’t tell me about this small surprise.” Natsu knew that Lucy was stubborn, but this was reaching new heights.

“It wouldn’t be a surprise if I told you!” he once again defended himself. “I just don’t want you to think it’s some amazing, cool thing and then be all disappointed.”

“I’d never be disappointed,” Lucy promised. She knew however that Natsu didn’t believe her – he had that peculiar look on his face that showed when he was doubting something. They continued this bickering for a few minutes, until Natsu finally came to a halt.

“We’re here.” Lucy looked around. The street was familiar – if she remembered correctly, this was the street where that wizard, Bora, had been scamming people. Which also, coincidentally, was the street where she and Natsu first met.

“Hey, I remember this,” Lucy said, not concealing the fondness in her voice. “This is where we met for the first time.” Lucy was smiling, and Natsu already felt like he had succeeded. For him, the hours of complaints were all worth it as long as she had this expression. But he knew Lucy would be annoyed if they had gone all this way just for a tiny peek into memory lane.

“Do you remember that there was this big crowd of girls just over there?” Natsu smiled.

“Yes, and I was in it.” A small grimace crossed Lucy’s face, until she started talking again. “I was completely charmed by Bora. Or, well, his ring at least.”

“The great salamander and his charms.”

“But hey, I did get to meet the real salamander! He was just naïve enough to think that Bora was a dragon in the middle of the town.”

“How was I supposed to know?” Natsu defended himself. Lucy raised her eyebrows.

“A dragon? A huge, fire breathing dragon, smack down in a town with crowded buildings and humans everywhere? It didn’t take a genius to figure out that things weren’t adding up.”

“Hey, me not being a genius led to us meeting. I wouldn’t change that, ya’ know.” Another soft expression graced Lucy’s face, and he had to hold back from giving her a big hug. “Anyways, I thought we could stay here for the weekend. I’ve booked a room, and just across the street there’s a place that’s got lots of cheap food!”

“You really thought this through, didn’t you?” Surprise didn’t begin to describe how Lucy currently felt. She didn’t think that Natsu would be so perceptive, though if she actually thought back she should have known. He had always been sentimental, if that wall of memorabilia had anything to show for. Hell, he even got himself a mannequin so he could display the maid outfit Lucy had dressed up in, way back for their first mission. Naturally he’d remember the date and location of their very first meeting.

“Since I prepared all this I’ll let you pay for the food,” Natsu said, snickering at her with a sinister grin. Right. There’s the catch.

Though since there wouldn’t be any crazy amounts of orders on raw fish, calculating the lack of exceeds in the company, maybe the bill wouldn’t be too severe. And with exceeds on the topic, Lucy sort of missed having the blue pal around. She could name a thousand annoying traits Happy possessed, but when it came down to it she wouldn’t trade him for anything in the world. He was her best friend, they bantered and had fights, sure, but the bond she shared with him was irreplaceable. Which is why she felt like there was a void present - they were missing a part of their team.

Lucy hadn’t gotten any explanations on why Happy wasn’t around today, but she knew that Natsu knew. Hadn’t he known, he would have complained the entire outing. Still, Lucy was curious about what kept Happy away today.

“Where did you say Happy was today by the way?” She had first asked him an hour into their impromptu hike, but had only gotten a vague mumble as an answer. This time she was ready to drill him – after all, she was paying for their food.

“Oh he had this… thing? With his parents and the rest of the exceeds. I don’t remember what exactly.” Lucy found his answer a tiny bit suspicious, but didn’t dig deeper. Surely there was a reason behind the vague answer – maybe Natsu had promised to keep a secret. Happy had recently gotten more serious about his feelings towards Carla, so maybe it was related to that.

“Right,” Lucy said, now feeling her stomach rumble. “So are we checking in at the Inn or eating first? I’m starving, but I think I’d like to freshen up a bit before we go eat.”

“Yeah sure, let’s make a stop at the room.” Natsu’s compliance was also a bit suspicious, Lucy thought. Though she didn’t mind it of course – maybe this was a part of the anniversary treatment.

She should have known something was up when Natsu had booked the room. The Inn was nice and clean, the staff was nice and she was delighted to hear that breakfast was included, but the first red flag was when there was only one room key. Lucy’s face had turned a light shade of pink at the thought of sharing a room – not because she wasn’t used to it at home, but because of the implied intimacy between her and Natsu. They were known to be “only friends” back in Magnolia, people barely batted an eye when they did almost-coupley-things (like walking home with arms linked, always sleeping at Lucy’s apartment, Natsu resting his arm on Lucy’s shoulders at the farmer’s market – all things that had been written about, and then been unbunked in Sorcerer’s Weekly), but in Hargeon their unique friendship wasn’t as widely known. So when the receptionist smoothly added that all their rooms were sound proofed, Lucy could only smile politely and nod.

The room itself was as stunning as the rest of the Inn. It was embellished with cute, golden, swirly details in every corner of every object, and the walls had a stunning tapestry with light blue flowers scattered across an eggshell-white base. There was a body length mirror with a dark wooden frame just to the left as you walked into the room, and to one of the walls there was a pretty wooden dresser. Everything looked handmade, and Lucy couldn’t help but awe at every detail.

See, the room was so pretty that Lucy hadn’t noticed that there was only one bed. When she did notice, it was only because she was admiring the bed frame – of which there was only one. Had she turned light pink before, she could guess that she was sporting a rosy red on her cheeks now. Truth was, she and Natsu had never shared a bed alone in another place than her apartment. Happy had always been a barrier between them, even when a similar occasion had occurred with there only being one spare room for the night. This time however, Lucy and Natsu hadn’t arrived with a third party. And this time, the room wasn’t the “only one available”. Natsu had been the one who booked it, and he clearly didn’t care about their reputation.

This entire thought process had taken maybe a second in the real world. See, Lucy didn’t really believe that Natsu didn’t care about “reputation” and silly things like that. She knew that Natsu didn’t see this sleepover as anything different than when Happy was around, and how the Inn-staff interpreted their relationship was simply not in Natsu’s equation. He had just wanted to make this a memorable trip, and sharing a room was just more economical, and really the only reasonable option when it came to the two of them. They were already sharing Lucy’s twin-size bed at home, so why bother booking two separate rooms when Natsu probably would end up in Lucy’s bed no matter what.

So with a deep breath, Lucy turned around and grabbed her bag where she kept her necessities.

“I’ll take a quick shower, is that fine with you? Or do you need the toilet?” Natsu could see a quite violent blush on Lucy’s cheeks as she tried to act unfazed. He covered up an amused smile with a yawn.

“No, you go ahead.” As Lucy closed the door he allowed himself to chuckle. She was really an open book.

***

“Good evening! Table for two under the name Dragneel?” A chipper waitress welcomed Natsu and Lucy into the restaurant. It was one of the perks of being a well known face in Fiore.

“Yes please,” Lucy said, minding her manners more than usual. She had thought that Natsu would leave the food aspect to Lucy, since he had joked around about her paying for him, but to her surprise he had led her here – to a nicer restaurant than they usually ate at. Well, they usually ate what they hunted in the woods, but even when they went through towns on missions they normally ended up in some cheap diner. This place was no five stars, but it was more than she had expected. She almost felt a bit self conscious in her simple dress.

The two of them were led to a table by a window that had the perfect view of the harbour.

“Hey that’s where we met for the second time!” Lucy exclaimed, pointing towards the horizon. “I thought you were such a loser for getting seasick,” she snickered, giving Natsu a provoking poke on his arm. He was nicely dressed up, wearing a navy dress shirt and black tailored pants.

“And I thought you were stupid for falling for Bora’s trick twice,” Natsu joked back with a smirk. Then he surprised Lucy for the third time in one day, fourth if you count his nice clothes. “We’ll take a bottle of the house’s red, assuming you want a meat dish?”

Lucy almost dropped her jaw, only giving a dumbfounded nod as an answer. As the waitress fetched their first order Natsu started to browse the menu.

“Hey what on earth was that? Who taught you wine-etiquette?”

Natsu shrugged his shoulders.

“This lamb looks good, doesn’t it?”

Lucy scoffed, but she was honestly impressed. It showed that Natsu had put a lot of thought into this day, even if he had played it off as a simple trip down memory lane. She opened her own menu and gave it a quick scan. He was right, the lamb did look really good, but at a closer look she could name multiple meals Natsu would prefer – he had mentioned the lamb as a recommendation to her.

“Yeah, I think I’ll take the lamb,” she slowly said. “What are you having?”

“The firecracker beef,” he said, pointing at the five chilli peppers on the side of the dish, symbolising how hot it was.

“Oh, fun!” Lucy praised.

As they waited for their wine they fell into a comfortable silence. Lucy had a million things to say, to commend him for. Well, minus one since she still felt her feet ache from the long walk. However, as soon as the waitress had taken their new orders, Natsu spoke up.

“This is a special town, dontcha think?” Lucy nodded. “I know Erza, Gray and Lisanna told you already, but before I met you I was really grumpy.”

“You don’t say?” Lucy giggled, thinking back on his curt behaviour before they formed a team.

“Hush,” he smiled, “I’m going somewhere with this.” Lucy made a zipping-motion with her hand over her mouth, and let him continue. “Anyways, I was a real bad-tempered kid, didn’t exactly like to hang around people other than Happy, and well, he’s a cat.”

Natsu seemed different today. Other than his odd sentimentality, Lucy thought he looked mature in his proper clothes, with a glass of red wine in front of him. Had she thought two times further she’d get flustered by how much this dinner seemed like a fully fletched date. Luckily Natsu continued speaking before she got there.

“There were all kinds of circumstances that made me behave that way, but in hindsight I kinda boil it down to searching for Igneel and losing Lisanna. Either way, I was having a tough time back then, especially when guild members didn’t take my search for Igneel seriously. Though, it was thanks to them we even met at all, since I followed one of the leads.” Natsu started looking around, losing the thread. “Well, I guess I wanna say I’m sorry for acting like a brat back then, I was really dismissive of you despite how friendly you were. Hell, you even got me and Happy lunch, we were seriously saved, I had to spend that lunch money on an extra train ticket.” He gave up a pained laugh from the memory of being stuck on that train ride. Lucy was amused by the picture he painted – even back then he didn’t manage motion well. It was sort of comfortable to know that some things would never change, no matter the adventures they went through.

“Either way, I would not change a single thing that day, the extra train ride made me meet you! Though meanwhile you were getting charmed by Bora.” He once again laughed at the memory – her eyes had practically been hearts. “And look what I brought, by the way!” From the backpack he had carried (against Lucy’s wishes) he pulled out the white cardboard paper that was signed by Bora, or Salamander as he had conned people to believe back in the day. Lucy yelped.

“I can’t believe you kept that! Eugh, it still gives me the creeps,” she shuddered and showed her arm where goosebumps had appeared. Natsu just laughed loudly – a heartfelt laugh that Lucy had heard countless times before but never got tired of hearing.

“What can I say, it’s a souvenir!” He was still laughing when he put it back into his backpack.

“Gross,” she muttered, but a smile was creeping across her face. She could never stay upset, even on pretend, when he laughed like that.

“Anyways, I just thought I’d tell you my side of the story of how we met. Though, you know the basic facts already. I just remember thinking that you were really weird.” Natsu was leaning his forearms on the table, suddenly feeling very close.

“I knew that much already,” Lucy teased. She was no longer fazed by his “weird”-accusations – they kind of cancelled out when you considered who was speaking.

“Yeah, well that wasn’t all I thought of you.” Lucy’s interest was piqued. Natsu’s eyes were dark in the dim light, and though his mouth was turned to a smile, he looked very serious. “Other than weird, I found you dumb, for paying for my food, loud, for how you spoke while paying for my food, endearing for how you spoke about Fairy Tail.”

Lucy felt her face get warmer. He had told her that she was weird, dumb and loud before – all while joking of course, but she had never heard him call her endearing.

“Then, when we met for the second time during the same day, I thought you were special. Then I got motion sick, so I mostly felt nauseous,” Lucy giggled before he continued, “but when you brought out Aquarius and helped me out, I knew you were special. I had never seen anyone converse with their magic the way you always have – mostly literally, but also figuratively. Happy told me the same night that he saw you find Aquarius key almost telepathically after you dropped it in the ocean. We both knew you were special. Are. You are special.”

Lucy felt like her face was on fire at this point. She had never heard Natsu be so straightforward before. It was strange, in a very good way.

“Oh Natsu, gosh, I don’t know what to say,” she breathed. It was rare to hear these sorts of words from anyone, aside from maybe Loke. “You flatter me.” She laughed, fanning herself to cool her head.

“I don’t do it nearly often enough,” Natsu argued boldly, only making Lucy blush more. “It’s just, I have so much to thank you for. My life has been pretty awesome if I may say so, but the truth is, it’s all thanks to you. I wouldn’t have had the amazing team I have today, I wouldn’t have made it out from any of the countless life threatening situations I’ve been in, if you weren’t there to save me. I owe everything to you.”

“That’s my line,” Lucy smiled, holding back tears of gratitude. “I would have roamed the streets still if we hadn’t met.”

Natsu smiled. “I doubt it. I would have picked you up along the way a hundred times if I could.”

Lucy snorted.

“That’s an awful pickup line!”

“Yeah, that was bad, wasn’t it?” He grimaced. “Though I can’t stop it with the sappy stuff until I finish what I started saying earlier.”

“About what you thought of me when we first met?” Lucy asked. She had sort of mastered the art of following Natsu’s train of thought, so she was spot on.

“Right, I think I mentioned weird, dumb, loud, endearing and special.” He regained his serious look, the one that made Lucy feel like she was the only one in the room, nay, the world, that mattered. “I also remember thinking that you were, and are, pretty.”

If Lucy could burst into flames of embarrassment, she would have. Except, she couldn’t say anything. If she said anything, she would wake up from this wonderful dream, and everything would go back to normal.

“I don’t tell you nearly enough,” Natsu said with a sheepish look. He was blushing for the first time since he got into puberty. It would take a lot for him to repeat these words. It was somehow comforting to hear Lucy’s heartbeat patter like a scared rabbit – like she didn’t hate hearing it from him, rather, the opposite.

It was however even more comforting to be interrupted by plates of food arriving. It was a natural ice breaker after the hot tension Natsu’s sentence brought. Lucy could utter a thanks to the waiter, and when her seal was broken, so was Natsu’s. Except, they didn’t address the elephant in the room. Natsu had called Lucy pretty, and Lucy liked hearing him say it. If any of them even mentioned it they feared a bomb would set off - a bomb they would have to clean up after in public. It was a silent agreement that they wouldn’t mention it before they were alone. Meanwhile, they had food to eat and a bottle of wine to finish.

***

The walk back to the Inn was quiet. Lucy walked slowly, partly to not strain her feet, but also because she needed the air to cool her head. Natsu naturally adapted his step to hers. Once they had walked in their own paces, unapologetically, but since quite some time back it had gone without saying that they were meant to be by each other’s side.

Natsu glanced over to Lucy. She had her eyes turned towards the skies, as she usually did when the sun had gone down. It was like she was acting on instinct, searching for the small, twinkling stars that were her good friends. Today however the lights in the town dulled the night sky, to both of their disappointment. Lucy’s skin had a special glow at night. It was like she was meant to be looked at by the moon, because Natsu could swear he saw a light sparkle, almost too faint to be there at all. Even the man in the moon showed Lucy his best side, Natsu realised, and felt his heartstrings tug. What a woman he had met.

If he looked into her eyes at night he could see the stars reflect in them. It looked like the night sky was swimming in dark chocolate, doing their best to stay afloat in her deep gaze. And not to mention how her light blush from the cold made her look ethereal, how her lips turned into a light purple when they no longer had the warm light of the sun shining on her, and how her golden hair almost turned white, following the colours of the sun and the moon on the night sky.

Calling her pretty was an understatement, yet it seemed like she didn’t really believe him when he had told her. At that realisation, Natsu got an overwhelming urge to tell her again. He wanted to tell her how gorgeous she was, inside and out, and he wanted to hold her tight and never let go. Carefully, he grazed his finger on her hand. Light enough to seem like an accident, put listening closely to the signs she gave. If she pulled away, so would he. Except, she didn’t. So he grazed it again, this time longer, making his intentions clear. Still, no movement from her, aside from the slight bobbing of their walk. On his third attempt he carefully braided their fingers together, relishing in the cool temperature of her soft, small hand in his.

He glanced over at her again, trying to read her emotions. She seemed happy, like he had just told her she would never have to pay rent again in her entire life. He caught himself with the same stupid smile, and decided to only look on the road ahead from now on. Whether he decided literally or metaphorically, he didn’t yet know.

***

Lucy was sweating. She cursed herself for it, because when Natsu had taken her hand, he had seemed so nonchalant, just acting like it was the most natural thing for the two of them in the world. And the fact that he hadn’t let go of her hand when they entered the Inn made Lucy beyond flustered. She had held his hand before, in fact, she had held it many times before. None that had felt so meaningful though. The light touches before he actually grabbed her hand, the way he had held it like it was the most fragile, yet important hand in the universe – the intention had felt romantic. And that’s when the day caught up to her.

Natsu’s nostalgia-trip had been like a weekend retreat for couples. It had felt like a long date, with marriage in mind. Though of course she didn’t think he’d propose – even he knew there were steps to take beforehand in their relationship, but today had indeed felt like a long list of steps to take before a proposal. Not that it felt staged in any way, but it was clear that he was advancing their relationship, whether he knew it or not.

Eventually Natsu had to release Lucy’s hand. He wasn’t successful in finding the key with one hand, so reinforcements were necessary.

As soon as the door closed behind them, Lucy said her first words in 30 minutes.

“I’ll just take a shower.”

And 10 minutes later, Natsu copied her.

When Natsu came out of the bathroom, they were both still in their bath towels. Lucy had managed to dry her hair halfway, but didn’t get farther before Natsu suddenly was standing in the archway between the bedroom and the hallway, his towel hanging dangerously low on his hips. She quickly turned off the hairdryer.

“So which sides did we settle on?” She kept the topic safe, or, at least as safe as it could be when she soon was to share bed at an inn, with no one present but her and her crush.

“Whatever you prefer,” Natsu answered. He would cling to her no matter which side they were lying on.

With all safe conversation topics exhausted, Lucy swiftly changed into her pyjamas. Natsu was lucky that she always carried her essentials – toothbrush, hairbrush, moisturiser, a couple of panties and a tank top, because otherwise she would either have to sleep in her outside clothes, or naked – both terrible options in Lucy’s opinion.

Natsu had known what the weekend had in store, but he hadn’t felt compelled to pack a pair of pyjamas anyways. A pair of boxers were enough in his opinion. As soon as he turned off the lights, he joined Lucy in bed. Once again he found himself looking at her in the dark. This time the light was so faint he could barely make out her contours, but he saw her there anyway. Her bangs had fallen to the side of her head, and he saw her entire forehead. It felt holy, in a way, because when he saw her wholly he felt like he could see everything about her. Her thoughts, her opinions, her memories. He knew that he couldn’t tell her this, because Lucy would think he was making fun of her big forehead. Little did she know that all his teasing, all his little jokes, were based in admiration. He had to keep talking to her to convince himself he was speaking with a human, and not an angel.

That’s when she opened her eyes and met Natsu’s gaze. At first Lucy’s heart skipped a beat – she hadn’t been prepared to be so intensely stared at. But then she allowed herself to be. She thought, just because she could see him watch her, it didn’t mean he saw her any differently to when she was unaware he was looking. And even if he understood her differently, did that telepathic thing where they spoke through glimpses and glances, he still saw the same woman he had always seen.

“What are you thinking about?” Lucy dared to ask, in a voice that barely counted as a whisper. He had been looking so intensely, like there was no tomorrow, yet he had an indescribable look on his face. Like he was troubled and content all at the same time. Stuck in admiration and puzzling.

“That you’re pretty,” Natsu said. And it was true. The way Lucy looked in the darkness, when Natsu barely could make out her shape, was captivating. He could easily lighten up the place with his fire, make every pore in her face visible as day, but barely seeing her was seeing her in a new light. He couldn’t get enough of her. It was like he was seeing her for her – not in the lights and shadows of a campfire in the woods, not under the light of her booklamp that she used every night. She wasn’t reflecting any light at all - yet somehow she was. If it was the faint light from one or two stars that peeked out behind the curtains, or if it was the faint glow of her own magic power, Natsu didn’t know. All he knew was that he couldn’t get enough of her. He had to feel her, taste her.

So he did.

He started with feeling. Grabbed her hand, this time with more determination. He grabbed it with both hands under the blanket, tracing her joints and feeling her smooth fingernails. It felt surreal to be touching this work of art he was watching. Then he traced up her arm, along her shoulder and neck, and soon enough he was tracing her face. Feeling the soft, thin skin across her eyelids, brushing up her eyelashes. Feeling her breath under her nose, the warmness of her lips. With every light brush his fingertips made, the more of her he smelled. He didn’t know if it was some sort of instinct, that he could smell her better the closer they were emotionally, all he knew was that he almost went dizzy from the sweetness, the realness she smelled. “Bunny” crossed his mind before he started combing through her hair.

“So pretty.” He had said it out loud before he registered the thought in his brain, but somehow it didn’t feel as smothering as it had in the restaurant. And that’s when he bent forward and kissed her. Softly, lightly on her lips. Her lips had fluttered slightly at his touch, but he noticed that she had closed her eyes on instinct. So he did it again, slightly firmer this time, pulling her body close along with the kissing motion. It felt like the ultimate sign of intimacy – like an embrace out of pure love, except amplified.

When they pulled apart for air, Natsu only had one thought on his mind.

“We can take the train back tomorrow if you want. No more hiking in heels.” And in the middle of a giggle, Lucy pulled them together again.

***

Notes: Over a year late to this nalu week prompt lmaoooo and it's 2am so I should really go to sleep. Hope you liked it! I'm just glad I didn't kill any characters or make them fight. I've written real angsty fics lately (and there's more to come, lol)

Anyways I hope you had as fun reading it as I had writing it! Xoxo

#bumblebeehug writes #fairy tail #lucy heartfilia #natsu dragneel #nalu #fairy tail nalu #nalu fic #fanfic #fanfiction #fairy tail fanfic #fairy tail fanfiction #nalu fanfiction #nalu fanfic #nalu fandom

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starswritewhispers · 2 months

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Sharing Smoke- Nalu

A03

Natsu had seen a lot of different traditions and hobbies during his travels for missions He still could taste the bitter rage coating his tongue when some wizards decided to greet Lucy with a kiss on either cheek, and the bottled mirth when Gray took a shot of something that apparently tasted like ‘liquid death’.

So yeah, he’s seen it all.

Currently, they were all at a bar, attempting to gain intel—or at least, Erza and Lucy were trying to gain intel— Natsu was trying to find some more liquid death for Gray to try.

“You try it,” Gray argued back, lips curling into a sneer that usually meant Natsu was being set up for a trap.

Jokes on him, Natsu had grown and matured and would never fall for any of his shit again.

“Unless,” The corner of Gray’s lips turned up into a taunting smile. “You’re scared you can’t handle it.”

Damn it.

“Give me the fucking drink, ice for brains.”

Gray’s grin turned devious and Natsu almost regretted his decision as he accepted he shot. He risked quick glance around the bar, checking for Erza, before raising it to his lips and tossing it back.

“What are you doing?” The red haired bringer of death demanded from behind him, making Natsu choke on the drink already trying to murder him.

It tasted as if Zeref himself had made a shot specifically to torture Natsu and now it was stuck in his throat as he relentlessly gasped for air. He could hear Erza’s lecture and Gray’s laughter as he doubled over, pounding a fist against his chest.

After a few prolonged moments of pain, he regained himself, glaring at Gray.

“You—“

“Do not start a fight,” Erza warned, glaring at the two boys dangerously. “Not our bar.”

Natsu glowered but sighed, accepting the glass of water Gray slid his way and practically chugging it.

“Where’s Lucy?” He asked once his airway was sufficiently cleared. “You guys find a lead?”

Erza nodded, motioning her head outside. “Check to see what she’s found out, would you?”

Natsu grumbled, but pushed himself out of his chair and followed Ezra’s directions out of the door regardless. He blinked, taking a moment to get used to the shitty lighting before his eyes landed on the familiar blonde. A smile quickly took over his face as he walked over, easily slinging an arm across her shoulder.

“Hey Natsu,” she greeted, without turning to face him. He felt something preen within him at the knowledge that she knew it was him by touch alone, but ignored it.

Acknowledging it wouldn’t get their mission done any faster. The only thing it’d accomplish in speeding up is ruining the best thing to ever happen to Natsu. So, he ignored it.

“Where’s our guy?” He asked, frowning when he noticed how strong the wind had grown to be. It didn’t bother him, but he knew Lucy was far more sensitive to weather than he was, so he quickly pulled her closer to his chest. It earned him a hum of appreciation as she subtly pointed the man out. “Who is that?” He asked, noticing the second figure leaning close to the man.

They were passing a cigarette—no, it was too large to a cigarette, and didn’t quite seem to be a cigar— he searched his brain through useless tidbits of information Gray had given him as he watched the scene.

“I think his girlfriend,” Lucy answered, something almost wistful in her tone. “They came in together.”

A joint!

Lucy’s words registered and Natsu’s moment of success quickly wore off as he looked at her. The guy they were tailing was nobody, surely Lucy wasn’t jealous of his girlfriend. He huffed rather than respond and turned his focus back to the scene.

The man had taken a large drag from the joint, his hand that wasn’t wrapped aorund the woman’s waist gently moving to cradle her head to angle it. Natsu could make out the woman’s slow, hazy smile, in the flickering lights before the man leaned forward to connect their lips, the smoke clearly passing between them.

Natsu watched the scene, feeling transfixed as the couple finally broke apart, the woman breathing out the man’s smoke. She leaned forward, pressing her head against his chest as the two laughed. An odd feeling settled in Natsu’s gut as he forced his gaze again, eyes settling on Lucy again.

She had the same expression on her face, not quite longing but something so similar to his own churning emotions that he grit his teeth.

To be brave or to not be brave.

To risk change and loss or to not.

“We should try that,” Natsu decided firmly, turning to face her.

“What?” Lucy stumbled at how fast she had turned around, her voice coming out a squeak. Natsu frowned, watching her reaction carefully. “We don’t have anything to smoke, dork.”

“I can make fire and smoke, weirdo,” he countered, crossing his arms stubbornly. “It looks fun.”

“It’s not just smoke,” Lucy began to explain, but Natsu was already focusing on his own smoke. Obviously, he knew there was a drug involved. “The point is to get high—“ He cut her off by pressing his lips against hers.

He knew that too.

His method of getting high was just slightly different.

His arms encircled Lucy and he felt her relax in his arms as she slowly opened her mouth to accept the smoke.

It burned.

She was the one swallowing smoke, but it felt like he was chugging liquid sunlight. So warm it was burning his throat on the way down, but so good that he couldn’t bring himself to stop.

After a blissful moment, they part, foreheads resting against each other as the smoke curls from Lucy’s mouth.

“Seems like the same point,” he murmurs, risking a glance up at the girl that held his heart and so much more in her hands.

She was smiling.

The world could’ve ended in that moment and all that would matter would’ve been Lucy’s smile.

“The guild owes me so much money,” a gleeful voice interrupted their bliss and Natsu whirled around to meet a grinning Gray.

“I,” Natsu decided, taking a dangerous step forward as smoke curled off his fingertips, “Am gonna kill you.”

“Sorry, man,” Gray answered, a shit eating grin taking over his face. “I’m taken, can’t share your smoke.”

Natsu lunged for him, ignoring Erza’s yelling, a wild grin on his face.

Sometimes, he really loved his family.

#fairy tail #nalu #nalu fanfiction #fairytail #fairytail fanfic #nalu fanfic #natsu dragneel #lucy heartfilia #fairy tail nalu #i wrote this all in notes app and i’m never doing that again omg #transferring this was HELL #i love them ur honor #spade stars

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tokkias · 2 months

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down bad ship: natsu dragneel x lucy heartfilia summary: There's nothing special about the day that Natsu first notices. It's a day like any other he spends with Lucy, but maybe that's the reason why, because he can see himself doing this with her for the rest of their lives, and he doesn't even mind that he's already wading in far too deep in the ocean of love. ao3

happy nalu day!

There’s nothing really different about the day Natsu first notices. It’s not like the sun shines brighter or the birds sing louder than they do any other day; it really is just one like any other. He rises with the sun like he does every other day and cobbles together some passable breakfast for him and Happy before they take on the day.

It’s a nice day outside—warm and sunny but with enough clouds that Lucy won’t spend the day complaining about her decision to not wear sunscreen that day. It would be the perfect weather for a day job, but it's the last Friday of the month, which means it’s errands day for Lucy. With rent taken care of for the month, she makes sure to take care of any other tasks she needs to deal with by the end of the month, and taking menial tasks around town is the perfect chance for Natsu and Happy to follow her around all day. She complains about it every time they do, but makes no real effort to stop them and even treats them to lunch on occasion. It’s become something of an unspoken routine for them, and there’s nothing really unusual about today. It truly is routine.

She’s just coming out of the building when the duo arrives because they’ve done this so often that their internal clocks seem to have synced. She seems to light up when she meets his eye—or at least he thinks she does. Lucy’s always been the type of person to perk up around her friends, but he selfishly hopes that the little glimmer he sees in her eyes right now is reserved for him.

“Natsu! Happy!” She calls out, raising her hand to wave to them as they walk over.

“Hey, Lucy,” he grins.

She doesn’t usually dress up for the occasion because there is no occasion to dress up for, but she’s always well put together. Her ponytail is slicked up and falls in tresses over her shoulder. Rosy blush accentuates her cheeks, and her lips have a slight gloss to them that makes Natsu lick his own. She looks really pretty today. Granted, she looks pretty every day, but he’s never really given much thought to it until now. Lucy being pretty is just a fact of life that he has come to accept, so he doesn’t pay it much mind, but today she just looks like she bathed in sunshine before she showed up, and he feels inclined to take any chance he has to look at her just a little bit longer. There’s no real tangible difference that he can put his finger on why today is different because she doesn’t look any different from normal, but he feels he just notices it more. He feels like he’s being discreet about it, but it doesn’t slip by Lucy unnoticed.

“What? Why are you looking at me like that?”

“Looking at you like what?”

“I don’t know! Weird! You’re looking at me weird! Do I have something on my face?” She asks, her brows knitted together in concern.

He doesn’t think he’s looking at her weird, or at least he doesn’t mean to.

“You just look nice today,” he tells her.

He can see in her expression that she’s taken aback by his casual candour. He’s not usually so sweet, and he knows she would be the first to notice. The look of surprise on her face quickly turns into one of annoyance.

“Are you making fun of me?” She accuses.

“What? No! Why would I be making fun of you?”

She narrows her eyes at him slightly and doesn’t reply right away, as though she’s weighing up whether she should believe him or not. When it becomes clear that he’s being sincere, she seems to soften a little bit.

“Thank you,” she says, her voice quiet as she bashfully averts her gaze, but he hears her as clear as day.

They don’t have to talk about their plans for the day because they’ve done this a million times before. It’s all boring, menial stuff, but it’s not boring if he’s doing it with Lucy. They make their way around Magnolia, past places he remembers introducing Lucy to for the first time, but are now familiar stops on this route she’s come to know like the back of her hand. She takes them to the bank, the post office, the pharmacy—places he probably never would have gone to before meeting her, but he now holds a fond familiarity for. They exchange pleasantries with the workers they’ve come to recognise, who know their routine just as well as they do. Natsu’s never been one for strict routine, but this is one he doesn’t mind. It feels somewhat… domestic. Domesticity wasn’t something Natsu ever saw for himself until it seemingly fell into his lap, and he finds himself comparing antihistamines with Lucy on a Friday afternoon.

He doesn’t mind it—if anything, he likes it. He looks forward to their errand day and enjoys the time he gets to spend with Lucy. He would never enjoy doing this stuff on his own, but when it’s with Lucy, it doesn’t matter what they’re doing as long as they’re together. He makes it a point to call attention to silly things he finds as they walk the aisles of stores. She smiles, and then she laughs, and Natsu doesn’t think he’s seen anything quite that bright in his life. He would be happy if the rest of his life looked just like this.

Their reward for being Lucy’s pack-mule for the day—the thing that had Natsu and Happy first tagging along all those years ago—is the prospect of lunch in the middle of all this. It’s a quaint little place in the middle of town that they’ve become regulars at. Natsu’s memorised the whole menu at this point, a feat that may come in handy if Lucy ever followed through on her claims that she’d like to try something new the next time they came, but she always ends up with the same order as last time. The waitress flashes them a smile, and they don’t even have to say anything before the barista is already fixing up Lucy’s chai latte. Déjà vu hits him when the same granola bowl that Lucy orders whenever they come is brought out, topped with yogurt, sickly sweet honey, and fresh, juicy berries. He, on the other hand, chooses to switch things up and orders something new this time—it’s the biggest burger they could possibly serve him with so much cheese that it drips down onto his plate when it melts, and a side of fries to boot.

He has better table manners now, at Lucy’s insistence. She’s loosened up since they first met, but she’s still drilled the rules into his head. Sit up straight, no elbows on the table, knife in right hand, fork in left, no licking the knife, and absolutely no burping at the table. He certainly doesn’t follow them all the time, but in Lucy’s presence, it’s a small sacrifice he’s happy to make. It’s a little hard to keep good manners when what he’s eating is as messy as this, but he tries his best, and Lucy sees and appreciates it.

Between bites, he notices her eyeing up his fries. She’s not one for greasy foods like him, but she’s not immune to the delectable aroma of his well-seasoned fries and the various dipping sauces that come with them. Even if she tries to hide it, he notices the temptation in her eyes, and she soon caves.

“Can I try some?” She politely asks.

If it were him, he wouldn’t have asked permission and would have instead gone straight in, but Lucy has always had better manners than him.

“Yeah, sure,” he answers, not giving it much thought.

It’s not until she is already taking from his plate that he considers that Lucy is the only one he would even consider letting do that, and then how easy it is for him to say yes. He shares everything in his life with her, so there’s no reason to stop at food. He’d give her everything and the clothes off his own back for her, so letting her eat off his plate is merely a small blip in the grand scheme of sacrifices he would make for her. He watches her take a bite, and her eyes light up, and she can eat the whole damn plate if it means he gets to watch her smile like that. She offers him some of her food, but he doesn’t take it, instead nudging his own over to her in an unconditional offer. She pretends she’s not interested in it for a brief period, but when she realises he sees right through her, she gives in. He doesn’t even mind that she eats nearly all of them.

Their final stop takes them to pick up groceries for the next week. Natsu’s in charge of pushing the cart—a privilege he’s had to earn back after crashing one into a stack of cans one time, but he has better special awareness now. He still rides it down the empty aisles, but as long as he doesn’t cause any trouble, Lucy pretends not to notice. Happy sits in the cart seat and relishes in all the attention he gets when fellow shoppers coo over just how cute he looks. They look like a happy family, and it almost feels like they are one too.

They’re shopping for Lucy’s groceries, but they’re just as much for Natsu and Happy as they are for her, even if she doesn’t want to admit it out loud. The implication of admission comes when she asks for their opinions—what do they want for dinner next week when they inevitably crash at her place, what brand of pasta sauce do they prefer, what snacks should she stock up her kitchen with for them. She always claims she’s not buying anything more than they need, but Natsu knows how and when to flash her his puppy dog eyes to convince her to buy him a little snack for the way home.

Magnolia is awash in an orange early-evening glow when they finally make it back to Strawberry Street. Lucy walks along the side of the canal, just like she always does, and Natsu is content to watch. The sun highlights her golden hair as it falls across her shoulders, where it frames her face perfectly. His eyes are drawn to her lips, which are quirked up in a small smile as she looks in front of them. As if she notices his gaze, she looks up to meet it, and he gets to see that smile in all its glory. It makes his heart tighten in his chest, and all he can do is smile back.

Carrying her groceries up to her apartment for her is his least favourite part of the day, and it’s not because he doesn’t like being her pack mule. If he minded carrying her stuff around for her, he wouldn’t be doing it all day, but when he lugs them up the stairs, it signals the impending end of their time together, and it never fails to bum him out. He takes the last precious moments they have together, taking his time as he helps her put her groceries away. When they’re finished, she rewards him with a hug, her arms wrapped tightly around his torso and her head resting against his chest. He reciprocates eagerly, his chin resting atop her head. Happy only pretends to retch in disgust a little bit.

“I’ll see you guys tomorrow!” She says, hand resting against the doorframe as she sees them out.

“See you tomorrow, Lucy!” Happy gleefully replies.

Natsu leaves her with one final grin before they descend down the stairs.

“See ya tomorrow!”

When he gets over the initial wave of grief that comes with leaving Lucy, there’s a sense of contentment that overflows him. His heart just feels so… full. Even though he was just with her, there’s this ache he feels in his chest of sheer excitement for the next time he gets to see her. Natsu’s never really been the type who was incredibly in touch with his emotions, but what he’s feeling right now—not even he can deny. He flops down onto his hammock, his gaze up at the ceiling as a smile crosses his face.

“Hey, Happy?” He calls out, attracting the attention of the exceed.

“Yeah?”

There’s a moment of quiet between them—just a beat as he gathers his thoughts and considers the way the words might feel on his lips.

“I think I’m in love with Lucy,” he finally says.

“Yeah, I know,” Happy replies.

His little buddy’s reply causes his lips to quirk up slightly at the corners. He supposes it’s something they’ve both known for a long time now, but it’s just taken him a while to fully put the pieces together. Even though it’s seemingly not a surprise to hear, it feels good to say it out loud.

“Yeah?”

“Yeah.”

He’s giving him a look as though it were obvious, and maybe it is, because Lucy is the easiest person on earth to love, and he doesn’t know how he didn’t realise it earlier. He’s always been a man who’s full of love, but the love he feels for Lucy is different and fulfilling in a way he can barely comprehend. As he lingers on it, he realises he gets to spend every day with her for the rest of their lives, and he feels like the luckiest man alive.

There’s a large, dopey grin on his face as his brain is plagued with all thoughts of Lucy, but it feels so good that he doesn’t even mind when Happy teases him about it the rest of the day.

#nalu #natsu x lucy #nalu day #nalu fanfiction #nalu fan fic #nalu fan fiction #nalu fanfic #mya writes things

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natsudragneelswh0re · 1 year

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headcanon: pet names

i love the idea that lucy’s pet name for natsu is ‘angel’

bc he’s E.N.D i feel like he gets kinda insecure/afraid that everyone thinks he’s some sort of monster

and lucy calling him ‘angel’/’her angel’ reinforces the idea that lucy would never see him as a monster

and we know he’s OBSESSED with the way she views him (dragon cry “what do i look like to you?”)

#Nalu #nalu fairytail #nalu fanfic #nalu fanfiction #Nalu fluff #natsu dragneel #lucy heartifilla #fairy tail 100 years quest #fairy tail 100 yq #fairy tail nalu #fairy tail #natsu fairy tail #natsu x lucy #fairy tail dragon cry #nalu headcanon #fairy tail headcanons

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ravewoodx · 1 year

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#ft nalu #nalu #nalu fanfic #nalu fanart #nalu fluff #nalu fairytail #natsu #natsu dragneel #natsu x lucy #lucy x natsu #fairy tail natsu #lucy heartfilia #fairy tail 100 years quest #fairy tail #fairy tale au #100 years quest #ft 100 years quest

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kaleidoscope77 · 1 year

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Make Me (NaLu One Shot)

Summary: Fed up with his antics, Lucy plans to get Natsu to apologize. One way or another.

Rating: T

Word Count: 1057

A/N: This was originally meant to be posted on NaLu day but then my power with out. :) yay for me!

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Lucy took a deep breath as she closed her apartment door behind her. As much as she loved being a guild wizard, sometimes the work could get exhausting. She could really go for a warm, soothing bath and a day off.

As she made a beeline for her dresser so she could get her coziest pajamas ready, the sound of her bedside window opening almost went unnoticed.

Almost, had it not been for the noise of surprise she heard from the pink-haired intruder sliding in.

Lucy's eyes locked with Natsu's, and the blonde knew that scolding him would be futile at this point.

"Sure, Natsu, come on in. Thanks for asking politely and using the front door," She chirped sarcastically as she continued searching through her dresser, "You always impress me with your manners."

Natsu stretched nonchalantly as he settled on her bed, "Didn't know you were here already."

"What, so you planned to just break in while I was away?"

"Yeah, pretty much."

Lucy puffed out her cheeks and glared at him, to which a grin spread its way across his face. He couldn't help but to mess with her when she gave him cute reactions like that.

"You should really start locking your window," Kicking off his sandals, Natsu reclined on the bed and folded his arms behind his head, "'Might help."

"If I did that, you'd probably just end up breaking it open anyways," Lucy smiled to herself when she finally found the silk pajama set she'd been looking for, and turned to give him a pointed look, "Where's Happy? You normally commit your crimes with him with you."

"I think the job really wore him out. I didn't wanna wake him, but I'll be back at my place before he's up."

With an understanding hum, Lucy sat on the side of the bed and nodded, "Yeah, I'm tired too. I could imagine the toll it took on the little guy," She started to yawn, but choked halfway through when a thought struck her, "Wait, so you came to be alone with me..?"

Natsu's eyes widened, and he looked away. The color in his cheeks was a good indication of whatever was on his mind.

"You wanted to be alone? Together?" Lucy reiterated, shifting to face him and feigning innocence in the way her fingers grazed the side of his hip.

It looked like he had no intention of saying anything, but when Natsu's eyes flitted back to hers for a split second, he caved, "Obviously…"

Lucy could help the small laugh that escaped her. It was always so fascinating when he got like this, suddenly so coy. She never would have thought he could be so cute, and she definitely planned to milk this.

"Maybe I can forgive you for climbing through my window, then," Her hand came up to rest on his cheek, rendering him unable to look away. She glided her thumb along his lower lip, causing him to lean closer, his tongue poking out to swipe along where their skin met. The way her hand moved to grasp his jaw had him letting out a surprised whine. "Maybe. If you say you're sorry."

It took a second for Natsu to remember what she'd been talking about, and he glared at her, "What?"

"Apologize for breaking in unannounced! Then I will forgive you," Lucy smiled triumphantly as his frown depended, slowly caressing his jaw until he grabbed her by the wrist.

"No."

"No? Are you sure?" Ignoring his grip on her, Lucy squeezed his cheeks in her hand, giving him the cutest looking pout, "You're not gonna like it when I don't forgive you."

"Lushi," With his face smushed, Natsu's words came out slurred, "Lemme go."

"Apologize."

Her grasp tightened, but Natsu held his ground, "Make me."

Admittedly, Lucy was impressed by his ability to remain competitive in a position like this. It was to be expected, though.

She shifted so that she hovered over him, using her hold on his face to shove him down against her pillow. He had that surprised look on his face again, yet he made no move to overpower her. Perhaps this was what he wanted.

Planting her knee between his thighs and ducking her head so their noses were only centimeters apart, Lucy tried not to let the blush on her own face lower her resolve. "Last chance. Apologize."

Natsu's eyes flashed with something serious, like he wanted to challenge her. But with one look down at her lips, his eyebrows furrowed and he tried to turn his head away. "Okay, okay. Sorry."

Surprised that she actually got him to do as she said, Lucy slackened immediately and abruptly sat back in his lap, earning a strained hiss as she realized what she sat on a bit too late.

He looked positively annoyed, but was blushing brilliantly, and Lucy couldn't stop herself from leaning down and giving him a peck on his nose. "See? That wasn't so hard. I forgive you. This time," She winked, and squeaked in surprise when he grabbed her by the hips to lift her slightly off of him.

She bit her lip at the way his forehead creased as he slowly exhaled, and now it was her turn to avoid eye contact.

"I, um, was planning to take a bath…" She glanced at him for a second before turning to look at the wall, "Do you wanna… join me?"

"Yes," Suddenly, Natsu sat up, almost making her fall had it not been for his hold on her hips. He let go of her for long enough to slip his scarf off and hastily undo the first few buttons of his coat, earning a breathless laugh from the woman on top of him.

Lucy helped him with his buttons, and as she reached the last few, he grabbed onto one of her hands to get her to look at him.

Their eyes met in a silent stare-off, Natsu's eyes softening as they filled with desire. He raised an eyebrow, being clear enough about what he wanted for Lucy to be able to catch on.

With a humored roll of her eyes, she closed the distance between them to plant a kiss on his lips, his other hand at the base of her neck stopping her from pulling away too soon.

#fairy tail #lucy heartifilla #nalu #nalu fairytail #nalu fanfic #fanfic #oneshot #natsu x lucy #natsu dragneel #my wriring #nalu day #nalu fluff #fluff #kisses #banter #teasing #nalu fanfiction #fanfiction

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scarlettrin · 5 months

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“It’s your fault, Lucy…” he whispered with a raspy voice, his lips caressing her hair at each word “…since I’ve known you, I’ve felt so many new emotions… that sometimes I can’t really understand”.

“Well, it’s a good thing, ain’t it?” she replied with a cheerful voice, her breath against his neck – it made him shiver.

Natsu acted instinctively, he stretched his hands with the intention of pushing Lucy away, but he didn’t – instead, he let his hand slide through her long, blond hair, caressing it gently. That hair that he didn’t want anyone else to touch. Under his caress, he felt Lucy wincing with a light moan.

“Lucy…” Natsu groaned, with a suffering voice, an inexplicable sensation that weighed on his stomach and choked him. The boy ran his fingers through her golden hair and then he let his hand slide along her spine, meeting the naked skin of her lower back as her tank top had remained lifted.

[Read it on FF.net or Ao3]

#nalu fanfic #natsu dragneel #lucy heartfilia #fairy tail nalu #nalu #smut fanfiction

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gymjunkie412 · 21 days

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📖One Shots By Moeruhoshi📖

Moeruhoshi has some of the best Nalu fanfics I have ever read. I enjoyed reading them and would reread them if I needed some time to kill. I enjoyed creating this piece, even though I had trouble thinking the poses, haha. This sketch was probably back in May 2024.

Red String of Fate: Through a missapplied spell, Natsu gains the ability to see his red string and can't help but know who lies at the other end.

Dragon Blood: Their blood was so unbelievably rare. Who would ever be lucky enough to get their hands on it?You'd only ever see a dragon if you were stupid. Everyone avoided them like the plague. It was a death sentence to even think about getting anywhere near them. And of course , she just happened to know where one lived.

A Dragon's First Crush: Natsu meets a girl by chains that he just can't stop thinking about.

Author: @moeruhoshi

Source: ff.net, ao3 and tumblr

No text version

(Ps. I love your work very much!)

#fairy tail #nalu #lucy heartfilia #natsu dragneel #hiro mashima #natsu x lucy #my art #nalu fanfic #nalu fanfiction #fanfic

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xanvasofxords · 7 months

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“If anything, you’re the biggest pervert here!”

“Me?!” Natsu snaps, smashing his forehead against Gray’s. “How am I a pervert when you’re the one getting naked all the damn time?!” The ice mage tackles him backwards with double force. The temperature around them simultaneously rising and falling because of the polar opposite magics clashing together.

Lucy assumes it’ll take her thousand years more to get used to them. Just when she thinks ignoring them is the ultimate solution, not even a feet away, a chair crashes into the floor so loudly that she drops her book with a yelp. A vein pops on her head.

“Cut it you two!”

The blonde complains, picking the book up and closing it to glare at them. There’s absolutely no way she can finish the novel like this. She hasn’t had the chance to read it in peace at home- thanks to Natsu and Happy messing around with her all morning. And now the two of them are trying to kill her!

Unfortunately, the boys don’t even spare a look at her as they continue with their fight.

“Oh yeah? Better than looking up a girl’s skirt,” Gray shouts while giving sideways glance to Lucy. “Or shoving a hand down her cleavage!” Both Natsu and Lucy turn their heads at the remark and for the first time in his life, the pinkette doesn’t seem to have any proper response to the raven haired mage’s insult.

Gray takes it as a sign of his victory and takes off his underwear with a shrug, standing completely naked. But nobody complains because the other two people are too embarassed to speak. There’s a long pause before Lucy clears her throat. Gray smirks at the pair.

#this was the start of a oneshot i had planned to do lmao i forgot #though im not a fan of pervy natsu its fun writing him at times #will do the oneshot some other time #maybe #fairy tail #natsu dragneel #lucy heartfilia #nalu #natsu x lucy #fairy tail nalu #ft nalu #fairy tail 100 years quest #nalu fanfic #nalu fanfiction #nalu fan fic #nalu fan fiction

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scarletgray · 1 year

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Nalu fic recs for summer!!

Between the Lines by riverofmemories

Tales of Fairies by RicardianScholar Clark-Weasley

Tempest by Mslead-Kytrin

The Keys of Fire by LoneStorm

Parallels by Mslead-Kytrin

Alchemy of Souls by Mslead-Kytrin

Her Scream by thyFreshPrincess

Fairy Tail by superfreakerz

Passive Agressive Post-Its by quite-a-riot (incomplete still soo good)

Berserk by Rivendell101 (incomplete but still one of the best ones out there)

#all of these are 200k+#that's a lot of ✨️words✨️#enjoy them when u have nothing else to do thanks 😭#fairy tail #natsu dragneel #lucy heartfilia #nalu #natsu x lucy #fairy tail nalu #nalu fanfiction #nalu fanfic

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tokkiasficlets · 2 months

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“Ready.”

As per the instructions, Natsu readied himself in both body and mind, his hands in fists and his knees bent in preparation.

“Set.”

His eyes were trained firmly in front of him, where he would soon meet his target. His body was eager to bolt, but he held still until he was given permission for release.

“Go!”

He dashed quickly through the sand as soon as Lucy’s voice rang out, and the stick went soaring through the air. Little Plue ran alongside him, though his little legs were simply no match for Natsu. The stick landed in front of them with a thud, and Natsu skidded through the sand to come to a stop and grab it before Plue could. He held it up in victory, pumping his hands in triumph, only to be met with an eyeroll from Lucy and a whimper from Plue.

“I win!” He declared, a grin plastered across his face as he held his trophy out of reach of his girlfriend’s dog at his feet.

“It’s not really fair when your stride is three Plue’s long,” Lucy said, unimpressed by his win. “He’s just a baby.”

He wasn’t sure her just a baby comment was warranted, given Plue was at least five years old, but nonetheless, Natsu tossed the stick to the side, already having had his moment and letting Plue chase after it. He let him have his fun before he delivered it back to Lucy, and they let the cycle repeat all over again.

#nalu #natsu x lucy #fan fiction #nalu fanfic #nalu fan fiction #mya writes things

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bumblebeehug · 1 year

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Gave him her heart

Ship: Natsu Dragneel x Lucy Heartfilia Summary: Lucy worries about what to get Natsu for his birthday, not knowing how ridiculously easy it actually is. Day 5 of Nalu Week 2023 - prompt: gifts Ao3

***

Natsu was a good man. He was wild, fun, crazy, but most of all: good. Lucy was very aware of this and knew that such a good man truly deserved the best. So, naturally she felt slightly panicked when she realised his birthday was coming up.

Lucy liked to believe that she was good at giving gifts. She was observant, both on the battlefield and off, so she knew what people looked a little extra at when they browsed shops or went by markets. Wendy turned to sweets, cute dresses or jewellery, something Lucy was relieved over when she noticed it – Lucy was nothing if not good at picking clothes and accessories, and Wendy was transparent with her tastes (sweet = good, savoury = fine, if there was a good reason to why it was gifted, otherwise a little weird, and sour = danger zone. It could be risky, but citrusy tastes were appreciated in sweet desserts). Erza was also easy to please with gifts – either go the sword and armour route, or go the girly route, possibly with some suggestive books. Gray appreciated nice soaps and clean décor for his house, and if she wanted to be funny with him she could always gift him underwear, seeing as it was the only clothing that stayed on for a while (though since him and Juvia got together it wasn’t really an option – Juvia didn’t care too much about what Lucy gave him, underwear or not, but Lucy herself felt weird about it, so nowadays she kept to soaps). Carla liked tea and pretty dresses as well, but appreciated flowers and other handmade things, and Happy was never happier than on his birthday, when he practically could get buried in the number of fishes he’d be given.

Natsu, however? Lucy wasn’t too sure what she could give him. He liked loads of things – food, fights, adventures, funny hats, board games: few things were off the table with that guy. If she gave him a bouquet of flowers he’d probably smile and say thanks (and maybe he’d try to eat them once he got home), if she gave him tea, he’d probably set the leaves on fire and accidentally get high or something – she didn’t want to risk it either way. He’d be thankful for any clothes she would give him, but would most likely only wear them when he really had to, or to sleep if they were comfortable enough. He really liked his special made ones, that managed to stay intact no matter how hot his fire was. He would definitely try to eat the soaps, and that wasn’t worth it in her opinion, and if she gave him a fish he’d very likely think she was either giving Happy a gift through him, or that she was confessing her undying love for him, since that’s what it meant when Happy gave fishes as gifts to the opposite gender (of the same species, might be important to add).

Point is: giving Natsu gifts was hard when you knew him too well. She had even considered giving him jewellery that matched with the ones she had gotten from him recently, but it once again came down to him only wearing them as a chore, and her pride couldn’t really take that. She would have to put a pin in this challenge though, because she was expected at the guild to help cover a shift for Mira as she dealt with one of her requested missions.

As she entered the guild hall, she was relieved to see that it was rather empty. It had its perks, working at a bar in the middle of the day, and since she saw some of her closer mates, she knew she could take her chance to dig around and find out what others would be gifting him.

“Hi Master,” she greeted Makarov, still using the title he had tried to give over so many times already. Though technically he was still in charge, so Lucy thought it only appropriate to keep calling him master until he truly was off the position. “I’m covering for Mira this afternoon.”

“I heard,” he grumbled from his position in the wheelchair. “You’ve been behind the bar before, so you know the drill. In fact, could you bring me a plate of fried squid and a beer? Just put it on my tab.”

Lucy took his order and sent a note into the kitchen per his request. Normally Mira would help out in the kitchen as well, but since Lucy had limited experience with cooking the meals they were serving, she was excused to just manage the drinks and easier snacks, like nuts and chips. As she waited for the staff in the kitchen to finish the order, she poured a glass of beer for Makarov. Half with light alcohol, half with none. He was currently cutting down on his alcohol intake, Porlyusica’s demand, but to not make him fall back immediately from quitting cold turkey, they slowly made him drink lighter and lighter.

“So, Natsu’s birthday is coming up,” Lucy said, trying to cover it up as small talk, but realising it was obvious what she was trying to do.

“I’ve heard.” A smug grin graced Makarov’s face. The relations between the mages in his guild were always amusing, especially in the stage that Lucy’s and Natsu’s had been in the last couple of years.

“I’m a bit curious…” She gave him his order. “What do you think he wants? You’ve known him for longest.”

“Child, I’m too old to remember all my guild members’ gift preferences, and I’m definitely not rich enough to give away gifts like it’s nothing. For a long time now, I’ve allowed myself to forget who likes what.” Lucy smiled, ready to brush the topic off and take another order across the hall, but he continued. “I do, however, know that you could give him a stick or a pebble you found on the sidewalk, and that boy would treasure it like it’s his most sacred, most valuable item in his possession. Do what feels right, Lucy.”

She thanked him, but within she felt like she was back at square one. She knew he would be happy about getting any gift, but she didn’t want to give him just any gift. She wanted it to reflect how much she appreciated him and their friendship, and she wanted it to stick out. Maybe it could even suggest that she appreciated him more than a normal friend, but only if he started overthinking the gift (which she doubted he would do anyways). It was meant to be subtle, but not subtle enough for it to never be discovered by him. And if it needed to be discovered by him, whatever this little message it was she was trying to convey to him, then it would have to be flashing in neon lights above his bed when he woke up in the morning.

So, she spent a few hours continuing to ponder on what to do, as she was taking more and more orders as people kept dropping in. At around 6:30pm her true saviours arrived at the guild hall. Her team, plus a few other closer friends and minus Natsu and Happy, who were camping today and tomorrow, were back from one of their shorter missions, and they were probably starving for some dinner. Lucy was quick to come over and take their order, also grabbing her chance to question them about their thoughts on this conundrum.

“Hi guys, did the mission go well?” She greeted them, preparing her notepad.

“It went great!” Wendy beamed, and Lucy made a quick mental note to ask about the mission more in detail at a later date. She must have done a good job if she allowed herself to be this proud – Lucy always thought she was too harsh on herself when they fought on missions.

“Gray even kept his clothes on,” Erza added, praising the man on her right.

They took a quick moment to chat, and as they finally decided on what to eat, Lucy seized her moment.

“So,” she started, already knowing she would never live down asking a question like this, considering that many of the people at the table were quite transparent on their opinions on Lucy’s and Natsu’s relationship, “Natsu’s birthday, huh?”

The silence her sentence brought made her regret it immediately. She could already see how their brains were working on new ways to tease her for whatever she was going to say next, but she would have to swallow her pride once again. It’s for a good cause, she kept telling herself.

“Have you gotten your presents yet?” She chuckled awkwardly, hoping their answers would be enough to inspire her, so she could get their food and forget she ever brought it up in the first place.

“Mhm.”

“Yep.”

“I have too.”

“And I’m with Wendy on her gift,” Carla added, still making it painfully obvious that nobody was elaborating their answers. They were making Lucy work for it; she just knew it. They loved grabbing their chances to make her say embarrassing things, and today was no exception.

“Really…” She forced out a laugh. “So, what have you gotten him?” She tried again to prompt anyone at the table to speak up, but they knew she would have to continue pressing, and that it would sound more and more desperate the less information they gave her, so after they all stayed silent for another minute, Lucy gave in.

“I’ve just completely blanked out; I can’t even remember a single thing he likes! Please, help me! Give me some inspiration!”

Erza exchanged a glance with Wendy before she answered.

“Well, he likes fire.”

“And fighting.”

“And ugly tourist shirts,” Gray chimed in. Lucy groaned.

“I can’t exactly give him a clip card for sparring matches, and I’ve already considered a bonfire, but I wanted to have a get together later with all of us where we make a bonfire and drink hot chocolate and stuff.” She spared Gray a short glance as well. “And he only wears his special made clothes, so I can’t give him a shirt to frame for 200 jewel.”

“Then we can’t help you,” Erza said, flipping her bangs as she always does when she lies. Lucy pouted.

“I’ll get you your food, please help me afterwards?”

“Deal.”

After 30 minutes she finally had four hot plates balancing on her arms, ready to serve to her stubborn teammates. They were chatting along just fine now, so hopefully the would have forgotten their silent agreement to keep themselves clammed about their gifts. Lucy hurried to place out their food, hoping that they would notice her way of bribing them by giving them extra big portions.

“Now please...! What should I give him?” Lucy sat down at the table. She wasn’t going anywhere until she got an answer she was pleased with.

Wendy gave her an apologetic smile.

“Well… We can tell you what we think, but don’t you think he’d like it better if it truly came from you?” Erza nodded along.

“I’m going to give him a sword that’s enchanted with endless fire,” she revealed. “But you know, it’s not really a gift that screams ‘Lucy’.”

“Erza’s right. I’m giving him some scrap wood I found in the woods because I can’t really bother, but no gift we tell you to get will be as appreciated as the one you come up with,” Gray said, taking a sip from his beer.

“And we’re getting him a small cupon at a restaurant,” Wendy added.

Lucy sighed.

“I know it won’t be the same, but my creative well has completely dried up. Nothing I think of feels like enough. If I get him something I’d appreciate it would be like I don’t know him at all, and that doesn’t feel fair.” She started to feel hopeless. She didn’t like how drained she got from worrying about this – she loved Natsu! And she would love to properly show him how much she loved him, because he truly deserved that. Platonic or not.

“Hey, you look like you’re giving up, that’s not like you! Think of it like this, we’ve all combined our own interests with Natsu’s interest: Erza with the sword, Wendy and Carla with the food, and me with the scrap wood that shows that I have zero interest in him. Why don’t you write something to him? It may not look like it, but I think he know how to read. At least simple words.” Gray gave Lucy a half-hug from his seat in an attempt to comfort her.

“So… you think I should write him a letter? Would that be enough?” She felt sceptical, but it could work.

“You spitting on him would be enough,” Carla snorted, almost offended by her obliviousness.

“Carla!” Wendy burst out, not before Lucy raised an eyebrow in confusion. Her gut told her not to ask, and for once, she decided to actually follow that gut feeling.

“Do you really think a letter would be enough though?” She asked.

“How about you give him an experience? A friendly date of sorts,” Carla suggested.

“An experience?”

“Like going to the movies, or to a restaurant, or maybe picknick or stargazing?” It was Erza who spoke up this time, and Lucy thought she could see a sparkle in her eye. If she didn’t know better, she would almost think that Erza had been on dates like that herself.

“Hm… I guess you’re right. If he doesn’t like it, I’ll just have to ask him directly, I suppose.”

Lucy stood up from her seat at the table and bid farewell to her friends, along with her thanks. A letter would have to do, and she had a gut feeling that told her that she would figure out a good topic to write about. She hurried to end her shift so she could get to her gift-making. A good idea rarely stayed for long in one’s head.

When she finally sat at her desk, pen in her right hand and paper in front of her, she knew this was the right thing to do. What better way was there to tell Natsu how much she appreciated him, if not through words on paper? It was her speciality, after all. She had even lighted some candles to keep her company, since she knew she would sit there for a while. There was a lot of things she wanted to tell him and thank him for, and the letter would be the perfect way to convey these feelings. Right. Feelings. That could include her less platonic ones, and even if this was a great opportunity for that as well, she didn’t know if she was quite ready to go that far yet. In the meantime, she would just have to tell him she loved him in every way except the straightforward one.

Four hours and 16 pages later, she had her letter. It was ridiculously long, she knew that, and he probably wouldn’t be able to read it in one go, but her heart felt light. A letter was the perfect gift. She had even included multiple invites to ‘experiences’ she wanted to give him, and if he took as long to read it as she thought he would, then those experiences would be experienced with about one week in between them. Lucy gave the thick envelope a quick lick to seal it, and after that she couldn’t help but to give it a soft kiss. She had poured her heart out, and though it would be embarrassing for her to know that he would read such things, it also felt very right. It wasn’t a love letter, but in a way, it felt like it was. She had told him all the things she loved about him, all the moments she especially appreciated him being there, and how great her entire life was thanks to him. If read with the intent of reading a love letter, it could very well translate into one, and maybe, someday in the future, he could look back at it and see the hints she left him.

Lucy leaned back in her chair with a big yawn. It was well into midnight hours by now, and she really needed a refreshing shower. A thought went to how Natsu and Happy were having it right now, in a tent somewhere in the woods. Though she was happy to get to sleep in her soft bed, she was missing them. Tomorrow couldn’t come soon enough. To speed time up she hurried to the bathroom so she could get into bed as soon as possible – her apartment wasn’t the same without those two.

Lucy cursed herself. Why, why, why had she written that letter? It was the most obvious love-confession anyone could ever read, how on earth had she not realised that when she read it through yesterday? She was dragging her feet behind her, because if the embarrassment wouldn’t kill her when he read it later, she would have to kill herself, and no one non-suicidal would ever look forward to something like that. So, her feet dragged. The letter felt heavy in her hands, and she knew that as soon as it would be opened, she would feel naked. Her gut was begging her to turn back, but her heart told her that celebrating Natsu today was more important than her pride. Him and Happy were coming back from their camping trip, and they promised her they would stop by the guild to say hi before heading home, and that’s when they would be surprised with a small celebration. Nothing like other events, where people went completely wild, but a celebration big enough to show him some appreciation.

Checking the clock one last time, she made sure that she was there before they arrived. They woke up pretty late generally and their favourite camping spot was about an hour into the woods. 10am. Maybe they hadn’t even woken up yet, but Lucy didn’t want to risk it. She wanted to prepare and decorate the guild, and then she would grab something to eat, considering she hadn’t eaten any breakfast yet.

As she entered the guild, she was relieved to only see her team and a handful more people. They were chatting and blowing up balloons, and they had turned one of the tables into a gift-table. Lucy hurried to put her letter amongst the others, eager to get the gift out of her hands.

“Good morning, Lucy!” Levy greeted her with a hug. “You’re pretty late, did you stay up last night?” Lucy chuckled lightly.

“Yeah, I had something important to finish.” She felt her team’s eyes in her back – they knew she had stayed up writing, and though Lucy knew she hadn’t written a love confession of any sort (other than platonic) she still managed to feel a blush creep onto her cheeks.

“So, do you need help with the balloons?” She offered, greeting the rest of the group.

“It’s fine, you go ahead and grab some breakfast instead,” Mira smiled.

“How did you know I haven’t eaten?” Lucy sat down at a table.

“You have a tendency to forget to eat when you have other things on your plate,” Mira just answered, placing down a yoghurt bowl with homemade granola and fruits. Lucy could only smile sheepishly, slightly embarrassed how obviously nervous she was about this event. She was sure Erza had told her about her moment of weakness yesterday, so she reminded herself to try to keep herself under the radar. She’d just be here, sing a happy birthday song, eat a piece of cake and watch Natsu open his presents, then the day would be over and the whole Lucy-confesses-her-feelings-though-a-letter thing would be over! No unnecessary teasing from her friends, if all went well.

“I’m back!”

The guild door shot open with a noise loud enough to give the untrained ear a heart attack. Lucy however had a trained ear, so she just turned her head and met Natsu’s happy gaze, her heart fluttering at the fact that his eyes immediately searched for her and no one else.

“Happy birthday!” The guild cheered. Lucy stood up from her place at the table, not really knowing why until Natsu stood in front of her, just an arm’s length away. If she reached, she would be able to bring him into a hug, and it truly itched in her arms to do exactly that.

“Hey,” Lucy smiled softly. “Happy birthday.” Watching Natsu’s smile go from surprised and generally happy, to soft and caring made Lucy lose what little control she had, and she caved into her needs to hug him. As soon as she felt him hug her back, she knew that whatever the others thought about the content of her letter contained, as long as Natsu read it and took it to heart, all would be fine.

“Thank you,” he whispered, tightening the hug for a second before he went ahead and thanked the rest of his friends, never straying far from Lucy.

The birthday party was overall a quite big success, everyone had a great time, and Natsu, who not so secretly had been itching to open the presents, finally gave in and announced what he was planning to do.

“Time to open the presents!” He cheered, almost jumping in place in excitement, clearly not representing the age he was turning (400-something years old) but making everyone smile regardless. Everyone except Lucy, whose heart flew up in her throat, suddenly getting the strongest urge to grab her letter before he got to it so she could throw it away or burn it. Not because she didn’t want him to read it – she would just prefer it if he read it somewhere more private, where the burning eyes of her much beloved friends could read it and jump to conclusions. So, she hurried close to whisper her plan to Natsu – despite him being the cause of these nerve-racking feelings, he was still her partner in crime, and she knew he would break his neck to achieve whatever she asked him to do. This time, what she asked him not to do.

“Psst!”

Natsu shot a glance to Lucy, who was whispering just quietly enough that no one else would notice, unless they had dragon ears and paid attention to her. Lucy, who saw that he had heard her, hurried to shoot her shot.

“My gift is the letter, I would kinda like it if you read it after the party instead? It’s just – it’s quite long and it won’t be any fun if you sat down and read it here, you know?”

The ball was in the air, and now she could at least sleep well knowing that no matter the outcome, she did try her best to steer the situation into best case scenario – all to her means of course.

Natsu, the king of pranks and someone who was surprisingly good at sneaking around, despite his usual love for the “let’s just barge in and fight anyone who tries to stop us” approach, still managed to keep up his gleeful demeanour as he had listened to Lucy’s request. He once again met her gaze and gave her a quick nod, ensuring that she had scored. The rest of the evening would manage to stay calm and uneventful. All thanks to their ways to keep down low. It was really convenient to have dragon hearing at times like these – though usually she had that thought on missions, and not happy, meant to be uneventful celebrations and parties.

The birthday boy himself didn’t mind opening Lucy’s gift later. In fact, he was just happy he was getting something at all from her, considering how stressful most birthdays could be for her. Sure, she already knew what genre people liked, but getting down to picking the actual thing and managing prices was a hard task for Lucy to tackle without stress. So instead, he went ahead and opened the elongated, wrapped gift that said “Happy birthday, from Erza” on the card. He would make sure to ease Lucy’s mind today, considering how stressed she clearly had been the last couple of weeks.

Natsu couldn’t stop grinning. He truly had the best friends ever, and despite him not being a big birthday celebrator when it came to himself, it felt good to be appreciated. There had been good songs playing, yummy food to eat, and most importantly: good company. He especially loved the presents he had gotten, since they clearly were gifts that his friends had carefully thought through and taken into consideration before giving them – yes, even Gray’s gift was appreciated, because though it seemed silly, he did sometimes need firewood after hard missions to speed up his recovery. Everything was dear to him, so when he finally got home with that thick letter in his hands, he couldn’t wait a second more to open it. This, you see, might be the dearest gift of all.

The softly written “To: Natsu Dragneel” on the front of the envelope made Natsu’s heart beat harder. He knew that the content in it probably wasn’t anything out of the ordinary stuff the two of them said to each other, but still. He liked that Lucy had put extra thought into whatever she had written. Or, at least he hoped she had, seeing as he didn’t actually know what the letter said yet.

Happy peaked over Natsu’s shoulder, closing the door behind the two.

“So, what are you waiting for? Open it!” Happy urged, eager to see what Lucy wanted to say to him, but clearly couldn’t since she had to write it down. In his opinion a speech would be quicker, knowing how slowly Natsu read.

Carefully Natsu parted the sealed wax from the paper, making sure not to tear anything. If he could make some space, he’d want to hang everything on his memory wall later, and in that case he didn’t want to ruin it.

Still standing just inside the door, Natsu began to read. The letter started out rather normal. She was writing the obligatory happy birthdays and saying hi to Happy, who she knew would read over Natsu’s shoulder despite it being a private message. That part piqued Natsu’s interest a little extra. What did she have to say to him that not only had to be written, but wasn’t meant for Happy to know? It sparked some hope in his heart that she possibly could feel something special about him – special-er than what they already had. He continued down the page. She started reminiscing about the past, and about halfway through the second page, Happy gave up on Natsu’s slow reading and told him he’d simply read it after Natsu was done with it. Natsu took a seat as he joined Lucy’s trip down memory lane, enjoying the new information on how she saw him when they first met, during their first missions and more. He especially liked learning that despite his foul mood the first days together, she still had fond memories of him, like when he included her in his list of friends when they fought Macao (before they knew it was him, since he had turned into a Vulcan) and how the reason she didn’t refuse to get along with him after he had seemingly deceived her for a mission, was because he had managed to get a few lucky words in. Something like “because we thought you seemed nice” had made her stick, and Natsu could only thank his past self for accidentally pressing the right buttons.

As he continued reading, he was struck by the wonderful realisation that he truly mattered to Lucy. It’s not like he didn’t know that she enjoyed his company, but seeing in in black and white was completely different. It wasn’t just that she had written something along the lines of “I care about you, your existence matters to me” (though that would have worked as well), but the fact that she could remember so many small details of what he had said and done, that she may as well have written a complete book with all those moments, and it would probably be at least 200 pages long. He knew she had been cutting down on what memories she brought up in the letter, because enough talks with one person made them show how much brain capacity they had, and Natsu knew that her brain capacity was way longer than a 16-page letter. This was her way of being concise. Yet she still managed to bring up moments he only vaguely remembered, sharing almost exact quotes of what was said and by who. Mostly the who was either Natsu or Lucy, but it was still impressive.

Natsu had never been interested in reading. It was a chore he had to go through to get the money he needed for food, had never been any more interesting than that. Except for two occasions: Lucy’s first published book, and this letter. Sure, he had been reading it for almost double as long as it probably took to write it, but that didn’t mean he wasn’t interested. This letter was so far the greatest thing he had ever received, which wasn’t an easy thing to manage.

At 4am had he gotten to the last line of the letter. His eyes were trying to force him to rest, but his mind fought it like never before. He had skipped dinner for this, and he was not planning to give up last minute, just to succumb to something so superficial, boring and unnecessary as sleep. No, he gathered up some extra will power and pulled though. “Though you probably understand this after reading this letter, I am simply eternally grateful for everything you are, and what you’ve just read is the best I could do at describing my gratefulness in words. Thank you for all you’ve done, and for being unapologetically you. No one else could make me as happy as you have, so once again: Happy birthday, Natsu Dragneel.” She had signed it with her signature at the very bottom, ensuring that all he had just read was completely and wholly from Lucy. After reading the whole thing, he felt his legs itch. No, maybe it was his arms. Feet, hands? No, it was most definitely his soul that had started to climb inside his body. He wanted to go to her, and he wanted to see her. Preferably five minutes ago. He threw another glance at the clock. 4:50am. He had been tossing around, unable to even do as much as close his eyes, for the last 40 minutes, and he knew he wouldn’t feel better until he was within a 20-meter radius of Lucy. Or rather, 2-meter radius.

Not bothering to sneak around the heavy sleeper that the exceed was, Natsu jumped out of the bed and pulled on his slippers. In less than 3 seconds he was out the door, and in another 3 he noticed that he was running. He wasn’t quite sure what he would do when he saw her, especially considering that she most likely was asleep in this hour, but he simply had to get to her, quickly. The time was ticking, like he was a bomb soon to explode, like he was going to run out of time if he didn’t arrive soon. Wind blowing in his ears, he could barely make out the sound of his heavy breathing. He hadn’t run this fast in Mavis knows how long, and he might actually had made it outside her apartment in record time. His chest rising and lowering in big breaths, he managed to make something of a sigh in relief to see her window slightly opened. Climbing the wall quietly was no challenge with Natsu’s experience, so he swiftly pulled himself up, making sure to fully open and enter the window as quickly as possible – though this time with less success since he didn’t have as much experience with that part. Usually he just barged in after scaling the wall, seeing as the time he did it at was most often a time where Lucy either was away or awake.

Either way, he didn’t manage to sneak in as stealthily as he’d like. The window creaked and his body almost fell limp after getting a whiff of Lucy’s calming scent – that he had been running like a maniac to get there didn’t help either, and after a loud, nongraceful landing, Lucy was already awake.

“Natsu? ‘s that you?” She mumbled, sitting up and rubbing the sleep out of her eyes.

“Yeah, sorry for waking you,” he whispered, finding his balance on his legs again as he stood up.

“No worries.” Lucy had now swung her legs over the edge of her bed and sat in a more upright position. “Did you need anything? Is Happy alright?”

“Yeah, he’s at home sleeping. I just felt like coming here,” Natsu said, full transparency.

“Alright,” Lucy said, now taking a better look at his face. He looked red and flustered, but with his heavy breathing it might just be the fact that he ran to her place.

“I read it.”

Lucy’s face started getting hot as well.

“The letter?”

“The entire thing.”

“Wow. Uh, so what do you think of it?” Had the hour been normal she might not have asked him such a bold question, but something about the way the streetlights and moon illuminating the room made her feel brave. Perhaps she still thought she was dreaming, but this felt much too real to be just a dream.

“It’s perfect.” Natsu took a few steps closer. He could now make out most of her facial features, sleepy yet alert of his presence.

“I’m glad.”

A few more seconds went by, though it felt like minutes.

“Is it true?”

“Is what true?”

“All of it. All the things you wrote?”

A soft smile graced Lucy’s lips.

“Of course. I would never lie about those things.”

Natsu knew he could be dense in most situations. He couldn’t always read the room, and he wasn’t good at subtext. This time however, he had felt something the whole time as he read that letter. Maybe it was what other would call “reading between the lines” but he suddenly had great confidence in something that could change their relationship forever. Of course, it was a very long shot, but perhaps the adrenaline from all that running was just what he needed to gather the courage to take it. He did, however, decide to test out the water first. Running headfirst was usually his go-to method if he could choose, but he wasn’t blind to the delicacy of the situation he was putting himself in.

“Can I assume things?” He tried.

“Assume things? From what I wrote?” Lucy asked, curious where he was leading this conversation. She was very aware of her heartbeat, but she didn’t know that she didn’t have to be this time, considering that all that Natsu was hearing was his own.

“Yeah.”

“It depends. What do you want to assume?”

Natsu swallowed. Did he always have this much saliva? If so, maybe something was wrong with him. He swallowed again, clenching and unclenching his fists. Had he ever been this nervous in a situation as calm as this? No bandits, no monsters, no big wild animals – not even an annoyed Erza was around.

“That…” he started, his tongue thickening as he spoke. Not literally, but it sure felt like it. He could barely concentrate on what he wanted to say, gazing into those doe eyes. She was so, ridiculously pretty. He knew that before, of course, but he almost found it unfair. How could he think of any words when she sat there, looking all nice and pretty. “That you like me?”

He had said it as a question, though it sounded more like a statement right now. Lucy’s heart must have skipped a beat or two. She was still sleepy, but the tiny possibility that this wasn’t just a perfect dream made her stop herself from straight up answering yes.

“Well… I hoped my letter was clear on that. You’re my best friend in the whole world, how could I not like you?” She let out a small chuckle at the very idea of disliking a friend. She didn’t, however, predict what he would say next.

Natsu reached out his left hand, touching a piece of her hair that had fallen out from behind her ears.

“But can I assume…” He put it behind her ear, “that you like me more than a friend?”

Natsu’s eyes were darker than usual in the dimmed light, but Lucy saw clearly that he was being serious. Though, this exact facial expression was one she had never seen before. She had seen his tender look, his soft look, his happy look, his loving look, but she had never seen this combination of all. And it was her he was showing it to. In fact, maybe it was exactly this expression that made her admit the truth for once. For so long she had been scared that he would feel bothered or surprised by the very idea of “liking beyond friendship”, or love, as she would prefer to call it. She had been afraid that he would find her fantasies of the two of them living their life together as a couple weird, or even mildly repulsive. That her confession would lead to their friendship breaking apart forever. That, however, could no longer be the case. Lucy wasn’t blind, and she certainly wasn’t dumb. If Natsu looked this… happy? To even assume that she likes him beyond friendship, then the outcome from telling him the truth couldn’t possibly be bad. She tilted her head lightly towards his hand, sharing another smile.

“Yeah. I do like you more than a friend, or a best friend.” Natsu took another step closer, now close enough to make her feel his hot breath on her face that he had tilted upwards, towards him.

“Then…” He bended down slowly to come closer to her sitting position. “Can I kiss you?” His words didn’t come out louder than a breath, but Lucy knew what she heard. Her heart had never danced as wildly as it did when she nodded and closed her eyes as Natsu closed the space between them.

The kiss itself was probably nothing special to someone watching. It was plain and soft, just two mouths pressing against each other. For them, however, it was nothing short of magical fireworks. Lucy’s cool, soft lips against Natsu’s hot, slightly rougher ones sent shivers throughout both of them, as if the small touch had opened a completely new door, a way for them to connect and become closer than ever.

Inexperienced as they both were though, they soon had to break it off to breathe. After less than 20 seconds, Lucy pulled their faces together again. How could they have been missing out on this awesome experience for all the years they had known each other? Natsu knew that this already had topped the list of his favourite activities – even placing higher than eating and fighting. The next time they went up for air, they couldn’t stop themselves from giggling.

“Can this count as a birthday gift if I haven’t slept since yesterday?” Natsu asked, more energetic than reasonable after his long day.

“If that makes you happy,” Lucy smiled, giving him another peck on his lips. Whatever they decided to do from this point on, Lucy knew they would figure it out. After all, if they had managed to overcome the obstacle of going from friends to whatever this was, then they could definitely manage anything and everything else thrown at them. What’s important was that they from this point out, took on every challenge together.

#fairy tail #lucy heartfilia #natsu dragneel #nalu #fairy tail nalu #fairy tail fanfic #nalu fanfic #fairy tail fanfiction #nalu fanfiction #natsu x lucy #bumblebeehug writes #yay i'm posting my fics on tumblr #thanks to mya's advice :)

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