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tokkias · 7 months

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what it feels like to fall in love ship: natsu dragneel x lucy heartfilia "Natsu?" "Yeah?" There’s a brief pause between when he responds and when she manages to articulate a reply. She looks almost contemplative, as though she hasn’t thought her question through or perhaps, that she doesn’t know if she even wants to ask at all. "Do you think you’ve ever been in love?" ao3

It’s quiet between them when she asks for the first time.

Rarely does the quiet exist between them, but when it does, it’s never uncomfortable. They’ve learned to coexist in a space together; Lucy engrossed in her novel while Natsu busies his hands with a lighter he found in her kitchen.

They sit on either side of the couch, legs sprawled out where they meet in the middle in a pile of tangled limbs. Though it took a few moments of adjustments and kicks to the abdomen, the position they find themselves in is comfortable enough that they’ve laid together in silence for what feels like hours.

Lucy’s reading some romance novel that Levy had recommended to her. She’d talked Natsu’s ear off about it on the way home, but even after all that, he couldn’t quite understand the appeal.

He doesn’t get it, but she seems to like it, so for now, he makes no comment.

She’s been so completely engrossed in the story since she flicked open the front page that she doesn’t even notice when he fumbles the lighter, nearly dropping it to the floor and scorching the carpet.

That’s why it catches him off guard when she speaks up for his attention.

"Natsu?"

His eyes flick up to meet hers, and he finds her book placed on her stomach to mark her spot, but her gaze is entirely on him.

"Yeah?"

There’s a brief pause between when he responds and when she manages to articulate a reply. She looks almost contemplative, as though she hasn’t thought her question through or perhaps, that she doesn’t know if she even wants to ask at all.

That apprehension disappears as quick as it comes, however, and she doesn’t give him much time to dwell on it before she speaks up again.

"Do you think you’ve ever been in love?"

It catches him slightly off guard.

He’s not sure what he was expecting her to say, but it probably wasn’t that.

Once the brief surprise passes him by, he gives himself a moment to consider what she’s asking of him.

Love? Sure, he’s felt love before. He’s not sure why she’s asking because he’s certain she already knows. He loves his friends, loves his family—his guild. It’s not something he keeps close to his chest, so he doesn’t quite understand why she’s asking.

"Yeah, ‘course," he shrugs. "I love you, don’t I?"

No, I mean— she pauses again in an attempt to articulate her thoughts. "It’s different," is what she settles on. "Loving someone and being in love with someone… they’re different."

Wordlessly, he tilts his head to the side in a silent plea for her elaboration.

"Romantic love," she says. "It’s like normal love, but…"

She pauses again, her gaze veering down in thought.

"I’m sorry, I don’t know if I could describe it," she murmurs. "It’s just something you know, that you feel in your heart."

Natsu furrows his brows as he contemplates for a moment.

A love that’s different. A love that’s romantic.

Sure, he feels a lot of love for a lot of different people, but romantic love? He’s never really thought about it.

He loves Erza, and he loves Wendy, and he (begrudgingly) loves Gray, but that’s the type of love one feels for a brother or sister, and he’s certain that it’s not what Lucy means. There are so many people he loves and has loved like that, that he’s not sure he can give her a real answer.

He mentally runs through a list of everyone he feels strongly towards, but few stick out as something different from the rest.

He loves Lisanna, but not like that, he doesn’t think. He’s not foolish enough to overlook the implications of how they played as children. It’s the closest he thinks he’s gotten so far, but he’s not sure he can regard it as such. Though she was a dear and close friend, nothing about playing house with her had ever gone beyond friendship in his eyes.

Before he can get too lost in his own thoughts, however, Lucy speaks up again, seemingly having dwelled on her definition enough that she feels confident enough to speak up on it again.

"It’s like… when you’re with that person, your heart starts to race, and your face gets hot, and you just want to be with them all the time," she begins to explain. "And sometimes when you’re not with them, it feels like your whole world is going to come crumbling down around you."

The last part she adds with such conviction and a hint of what he wonders might be sorrow, and it makes him think that she’s speaking right from her heart.

"When you’re in love with someone, you just want them to be safe and happy all the time, and it doesn’t matter why or how, but you want to be the one to make them smile."

The words romantic love hadn’t quite struck a chord in him, but as he listened to Lucy talk, something in her words began to resonate with him. He could recall the feeling of his chest tightening and his heart thumping as he was washed over with an emotion he couldn’t even begin to describe. It was pleasant, like he wanted to feel it forever, but also agonising, like something was stuck in his heart, clawing at his ribs to escape its wretched prison. He’d never been able to put a word to it, but was that love?

Lucy’s soft gaze graces him as he contemplates it, and suddenly, he’s hit with the feeling all over again, and things all start to fall into place.

He does want to be with her all the time.

It doesn’t matter when, or why, or how, but having Lucy by his side is almost as integral to his survival as breathing. He’s known what it’s like to be without her, and it’s not a feeling he wants to experience again. The thought of losing her, of living a Lucy-less life is enough to have the bile rising in his stomach. It makes him feel ill, makes his heart hurt so bad that he wants to banish the idea from his mind entirely.

He’s never given that feeling much thought before because it just seemed so natural to never want to lose her. He doesn’t want to lose any of his friends, but with Lucy, it’s just… different.

He doesn’t know if he could go on without her in his life. What would be the point of waking up in the morning if not to see her brilliant smile and her sunshine voice and to be blessed with the presence of someone who loves so deep and strong that it makes him question the definition of love that he’s held his whole life.

She’s kind, and she’s strong, and she’s funny, pretty, empathetic. She loves with her whole heart and then some.

Lucy is everything that is good in the world—you would be hard pressed to find someone who doesn’t love her.

Is that what romantic love is?

Does that explain why he needs to be with her, why he always wants to be close to her, why he’s so at peace when she’s around?

Things sort of make sense when he looks at it that way.

He’s always known he loved Lucy, from a time very early on in their friendship. Over time, he had grown to know that his love for Lucy was different—his love for her was more, but it had just felt so right that he had never questioned it.

Loving Lucy came easy to him. It felt like the most natural thing in the world.

After catching himself lost in thought, he glances up at Lucy and finds her looking expectantly at him, waiting for an answer.

Maybe she didn’t realise the weight of her question. Maybe she hadn’t intended for her question to come with a realisation that maybe should have hit him long before now.

Has he ever been in love?

"Yeah," he breathes. "I think I have."

#nalu #fanfic #nalu fanfic #nalu fanfiction #fairy tail #ft nalu #natsu x lucy #mya writes things #nalu fic bingo

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scarletgray · 23 days

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bumblebeehug · 8 months

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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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natsudragneelswh0re · 8 months

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natsu (pointing to lucy): hey, i think that girl likes me

happy: of course she does, she’s your wife.

happy: do you like her?

natsu (blushing and giggling): i don’t knowwwwww

#i got this from family guy #fairy tail incorrect quotes #fairy tail #fairy tail 100 years quest #natsu dragneel #fairy tail 100 yq #lucy heartifilla #ft nalu #nalu fanfiction #nalu fanart #nalu headcanon #nalu fanfic #happy #happy fairy tail #lucy loves natsu #lucy fairy tail

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cryoux · 7 months

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(Not) Too Late - NaLu

When Lucy yelped from the other side of the room, Natsu's world went fuzzy.

He couldn't even perceive the people he pushed past to run across the packed ballroom as quickly as possible. Everything flashed through his head at once - he wasn't sure what had happened, but visions of what had occurred the previous times he'd been too late plagued him.

In the time it took to shove past a group of people, Future Lucy had died again.

When he accidentally tripped over an extended chair leg and almost knocked someone over, his Lucy was once more laying limply in the corner of a stone room, blood pooling around her head.

Distantly, a glass crashed to the floor, as he shook an unresponsive Lucy while pleading for her to wake up.

This couldn't be happening again.

None of this was allowed to happen again.

So where in the hell was-

"Natsu!!"

Yanked from his too-real memories, the dragon slayer blinked his fuzzy vision away and focused on the overwhelming sight before him. Lucy.

It was Lucy, unharmed.

Lucy, completely fine.

Lucy, …concerned?

"Natsu, what the heck has gotten into you?" The blonde mage scolded, glancing behind him at the excessive disruption and upset he'd caused. But Natsu couldn't give a damn about them.

"You're okay," he croaked, taking a few deep, grounding breaths, the air smelling of alcohol, perfumes, and Lucy.

"Of course I'm okay, what even-" Her irritation dissolved entirely when she saw the foreign look of anxiety on his face. "Are… you okay?" The worry stitched in her brow distantly reminded him that she'd said she was certain she would have wrinkles on her forehead by the time she was twenty.

Natsu sighed in relief. "Yeah. I'm fine." His face lit up with the expression that came so easily to him, a broad and reassuring smile that most people hadn't been able to read through. Natsu had always sworn to wear his heart on his sleeve, but when it came to Lucy that idea felt so wrong. He needed to be the strong one, to comfort her when she cried, to encourage her wherever she went. His own negative emotions only got in the way - and besides, they felt terrible.

Maybe another time Lucy would have dismissed it, continued on with her night while worrying about her partner. But this situation was too strange, his outburst too profound to ignore. Lucy turned to go outside, gesturing for him to follow, and the action came naturally to him.

As he trailed behind her, however, he noticed how uneven her walk was. That was odd. Too odd. Before they'd even made it through the doors, Natsu stopped her with a hand on her shoulder. Lucy didn't turn around.

"What happened?" He asked, all hints of a smile gone.

"It's fine. I can barely feel it."

"Feel what?"

Lucy seemed exasperated at his demanding tone. "Natsu, really, I'm okay-"

"But what if you weren't?!" He snapped, desperation seeping into his voice. Lucy blinked up at him with owlish eyes, those beautiful brown eyes that made him feel so warm every time they landed on him.

It wasn't just her eyes on him now, though. A small crowd of people had taken notice of the situation, their prying eyes and (what they thought were subtle) whispers flooding through his senses. Natsu did not want an audience.

He scooped Lucy up into his arms before she could get away, marching them outside and around the corner, into the garden. Lucy seemed to be too shocked to insist on walking herself, until she noticed their seclusion.

With nothing more than a look, Natsu got the message to put her back down, albeit with great reluctance.

"Okay, what is going on with you? You've never spoken to me like that before Natsu. You can't push me away this time, you're my best friend and I'm worried about you." Her voice shook, and the telltale smell of salt hit his nose. No no no, please don't cry. He'd do anything to stop her from crying.

Natsu dropped his gaze, trying to burn a hole in the hedge bushes with nothing more than the intensity of his eyes. Unfortunately, even for dragons, that remained impossible. He'd still try though. Anything to avoid this situation.

So slowly yet all at once, Natsu felt Lucy's warmth envelop him. Lucy, at a loss for what to do when Natsu was being so nonverbal, wrapped her arms around him and buried her tears in his chest. If all else failed, she knew actions were one way to get through to him.

"Sorry, Lucy." Natsu finally spoke. Then it was his turn to be at a loss. What should he say? What could he do?

Thankfully, his brilliant partner had an idea. "I tripped on my heel and hurt my ankle," Lucy drew away from him and confessed, crystal droplets accumulating in her eyes. Always so emotional, he thought.

"Your turn," she urged quietly, looking up at him. "What's wrong?"

It all hit him at once. The ghostly memories of her death, her pain, her tears, all whirling around his mind in a terrifying tornado. Natsu shut his eyes, but he only saw the image of crimson blood stapled to the back of his eyelids.

Lucy's blood.

Natsu shook his head to chase away those images. That was all in the past, and he'd sworn to protect the future. But the past still haunted him, dragging him back, weighing him down. Igneel's disappearance, Lucy's tears, Igneel's death, Lucy's death-

"Natsu." Her voice snapped him back. It was soft, gentle, the same tone she used to comfort kids when they were on missions. In a way, he felt like one, reliving his past all while standing right here as an adult. He was grown up, damnit, he could move on.

The party was a faint buzz of white noise as he stared at the ground, lost for words. After the silence extended even further, he heard the soft noise of air shifting as Lucy sighed.

"Okay. I'm going back inside to work on the job. I… I'll shout if I need you, 'kay?" He could feel her eyes on him as she spoke, but he didn't move. He couldn't.

Once again, Lucy opened her mouth to say something, but it seemed she thought the better of it. Instead she turned around and made her way back to the crowded ballroom. There was nothing she could do if he refused to speak.

A few minutes later, after a deep breath, Natsu cleared his mind as best he could, finally heading back inside. He could only hope there would be a fight soon, because these emotions running rampant were really getting frustrating.

#fairy tail #nalu #natsu x lucy #ft 100 years quest #natsu dragneel #lucy heartfilia #angst... attempted comfort?#nalu fanfic #nalu fandom #nalu fanfiction

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nostromo13 · 4 months

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Marry the Sea

Fandom: Fairy Tail

Pairing: Nalu

Rating: Gen

Summary: Usually Natsu felt like he knew everything when it came to Lucy. He knows she loves him but now it's come time to propose and he's not so sure if marriage is something she wants.

This was written for @fleuve-des-etoiles for the @allaboutnalu 2023 Gift Exchange. Sorry it took so long to get out. Life has me busy but I loved writing this.

I owe a big thank you to Tokkias for being my beta for this fic. She put so much work into this, so smooches for her

AO3 Link

Lucy didn’t like surprises. Her friends knew her birthdays weren’t to be made a fuss of and any special achievements such as her book award required no more than a personal, close-circle dinner at a budget-friendly restaurant. No splashing out on her account.

If she took the care to analyse this feeling properly she could probably identify the source as some unspecifiable upset from the hundreds of surprises that came from having wealth. There were the low-effort, entirely symbolic trinkets that counted as birthday presents from her father – usually bought by the house staff – which didn’t make for a great foundation of trust in gift giving. And there were the bountiful gifts from potential courters, all with a transparent intention behind them wrapped up in crepe paper and finished with professionally tied bows. She had had enough of gifts by the time she left the Heartfilia mansion.

As such, a dilemma arose upon the start of her relationship with Natsu. Her love language was quality time, either by themselves or with Happy. It didn’t matter where, as long as she could enjoy her time with her new boyfriend. Natsu's, however, was gift giving.

Lucy had explained to him after the third little trinket that he had given her for no particular reason other than he liked it and thought it would look pretty on her that she simply wasn’t interested in that sort of thing. It set off something in her that made her want to cry that she wasn’t his dress-up doll and she hated feeling like someone else was trying to make her pretty or put her on display.

She knew it wasn’t like that, though. Natsu, for all his dragon tendencies, wanted to make her smile with his giving. She wasn’t his hoard – although wherever that was hidden away it did have a lot of similar jewellery to the sort she wore. She wished she could make more room for his love language and as such she let him go all out for birthdays and Christmas. She tried to meet his gusto when she could.

After four years of resigning gifts as a solely birthday affair, Natsu now had to figure out how to propose to her without touching the nerve that led straight to the ‘gift’ trigger portion of Lucy’s brain. He had even pulled in the big guns to help him plan the right approach.

“I don’t see how it’s the same thing as a gift. I think she’ll be fine with it, Natsu.” Levy was offering her insight, albeit unhelpfully so far.

They had gathered along with Gray, excluding the rest of their team because Erza had the tact of a pinwheel and would blow the operation in her next conversation with Lucy and the guilt of keeping a secret would eat away at Wendy from the inside out. The Exceeds had never really gotten the hang of human dating rituals. Case and point Happy understanding his finally winning Carla over as the result of his continued fish offerings.

“If it feels like the natural time for you both, I don’t see why you shouldn’t.” Levy continued as Natsu shook his head.

“What if it’s the right time for me but it isn’t for her? I don’t want to push her.”

“You don’t want it to be a repeat of Joe. That’s what you’re worried about.” Gray interjected. As much as they grated on each other, Gray was good at being his back up when Natsu truly needed it. It was a once in a blue moon occurrence but Natsu couldn’t help but be glad for his long-term nemesis right now.

Joe had been Lucy’s boyfriend prior to Natsu at 22 and things had gotten pretty serious. They had done all but move in together when Joe popped the question and it had sent Lucy running in the other direction. She had loved him and she had loved his family, but for whatever reason that Natsu hadn’t deciphered in the three years since then that he and Lucy had been dating, she hadn’t been ready to get married.

“It won’t be another Joe.” Levy spoke rather sternly. The script mage was convinced that just because he was Natsu and he was Lucy’s partner, that they were eternally bonded and Lucy wouldn’t dream of turning down his proposal. All he had to do, in her eyes, was gather the balls to ask.

“I’m not saying you shouldn’t be nervous.” Levy shifted her tone when she realised she was erring on the side of unsympathetic. “Of course you’re going to be nervous. She’s the love of your life.”

Gray made a nauseous face at that, earning a playful elbow from Natsu. “Maybe a ring isn’t the right move.” He added, trying to be at least somewhat helpful.

“Lucy’s never responded well to jewellery.” Natsu agreed, getting an immediate objection from Levy.

“She liked that last necklace you got her. She wears it all the time.”

“And she helped me find the ring I proposed to Juvia with.” Gray added.

Natsu gave it a hard thought. “Did she give any indication of whether she would want one? From me?”

“We didn’t talk about it. She was dating him at the time and it didn’t really seem relevant. She was always going to end up with you anyway.”

That seemed to calm him a little. His nerves were racing even through the planning stage but if everyone else saw what he had from way before the war with the Alvarez empire that maybe, just maybe, Lucy loved him as much as he did her.

Or very possibly it wasn’t about love and marriage just wasn’t something she wanted, in which case they would work around it.

Having given all the advice she could reasonably give, Levy called over her husband, currently arrested himself in the demand of two four year olds gripping onto his arms and dangling off the floor.

“Did Salamander decide whether he was gonna do it or not?” He asked, directing his question to his wife as if the other two weren’t sitting across from her.

“Yeah, I think I will.” Natsu replied. “It’s all I want right now and I want to at least have the conversation with her.”

“That’s the right spirit, Natsu.” Levy agreed.

Gajeel guffawed in his gravelly voice, the sharpest of his teeth showing in his amusement. “Make sure ya get a return receipt on that ring.”

Yeah, that didn’t help.

------------

When the day finally came, Natsu had everything planned down to the minute. He had put more effort into this than anything else in his life – including the trials in which he had succeeded at gaining S-Class mage status.

He was intent on at least talking to Lucy about it even if she didn’t end up saying yes right there. The worst-case scenario was her doing the same thing she did to her ex and bolting after the smallest explanation she could muster. Only this time Natsu wasn’t an outsider to the guild and it would affect their whole social lives and work.

They had just finished a mission together when they were off on their date. Casual clothing – nothing that could tip her off or make it so big a deal that she would feel pressured. They’d gathered a few foods from her kitchen, put them in a basket so they would be easier to carry and set off for the park for an afternoon lunch.

“I love Jason but I sometimes wish he wasn’t so pushy with getting me to ask my friends if they will do shoots for him.” Natsu listened as Lucy described her recent run in with their favourite reporter. He and Lucy really were good friends from her time as a journalist with Sorcerer Weekly but since then Jason, feeling the pressure from his bosses to churn out more content of Fiore’s top guild, had been trying to use his connection with Lucy to influence Mira and the other Fairy Tail girls to model for him. While they were happy to, on occasion, the weekly permanent contracts that Jason was pushing for weren’t conducive to the busy life of a Fairy Tail Mage.

“What did he say when you asked him to stop?”

“He just got all sad.” Lucy shrugged. “I know it’s none of my responsibility and he’s not trying to make it so it is but I feel kind of bad.”

“Eh, it’s his job, and it sounds more like his bosses are screwing up.”

Her boyfriend, ever the blunt one. Lucy chuckled to herself. “It’s not like that in that world of work. He can’t just drop a client like us because he doesn’t like the way they speak. You can’t just change your bosses.”

“Sounds dumb.” He shook his head. It took a second for him to realise how dismissive he might have sounded. “I’m glad you came back with me instead of staying at that job.” He added softly.

“Me too.” She smiled at him.

They had known generally what area they would sit in when they entered the park. Picnics weren’t out of place for them and Lucy particularly loved sitting near the duck pond so they aimed for about there. They managed to find a nice shady spot that got enough of the Spring breeze but also the summer warmth that May was beginning to invite in.

Lucy waited for Natsu to finish spreading out the blanket before placing their items down and unpacking their basket. Some fruits, some sweeter snacks for later and Marmalade sandwiches, a quirk Lucy had brought with her from her hometown that, when she had introduced it to Natsu, it had become a firm favourite. Now, whenever they passed through Acalypha on the way back from a mission, she always made sure to pick up a fresh jar.

Natsu reached for the Tupperware of cakes, stopping himself just as his fingers met the rim of the plastic. He wanted to be on his best behaviour today and going for dessert first didn’t fall under that. Unless doing just that would tip her off. And surely he should act like his usual self today.

As if answering his question, his fingers were moved out the way by more dainty ones. He watched as Lucy removed the lid for him, taking a slice of Battenberg from the options and raising it to her lips, taking a big bite.

He watched almost in awe. Lucy never broke social etiquette, especially not around food. He was pretty sure such a thing went against her coding.

“Go on Natsu.” She smiled widely at her sputtering boyfriend. She brushed a few crumbs from the corner of her mouth where her unusual haste had spread some.

He didn’t need to be told twice. He took the plate she offered, filling his plate so full that the weight of the mini cakes and the structure of the plate made it look like a paper plate taco in his grip.

Eventually they got through the deserts and onto the sandwiches, Lucy admittedly feeling a little sickly after so much sugar. That was never a hazard for her partner. They had struck up in that time a conversation debating which of their guildmates would win a Ninja obstacle course – whatever one of those was.

The debate had reached the point where Natsu had stood up, waving his arms about, animatedly presenting his argument as to why Laxus could not win at the inflatable obstacle course section.

“He would blow up the course because of the static electricity or something. He couldn’t touch the thing without it exploding beneath him because his electricity would fuck everything up, right?”

“I thought magic was banned from this.” Lucy asked, taking another bite of a sandwich. “I think he would just run around, anyway.”

“No, that would be banned.”

“But the Exceeds flying isn’t?”

“Yeah, well, the floor is Lava or something, I don’t know.” He grinned, not deflated at all by her pragmatism. This was how their conversations usually went on dates like this. She would propose some stupid idea – the Guild Obstacle Course coming from her mind and not his– and Natsu would take it and run with it while she offered a more practical perspective on things.

He sat himself down beside her, arms outstretched on the grass as she leaned into his shoulder. “I think Erza would win.”

“Yeah, she would.” He agreed, more occupied with the feel of her hair against his cheek than expanding on their argument.

“Although.” Lucy began to add, popping her head up suddenly from their rest, “Sabertooth could give us a good run for our money.”

“But they’re not in the guild.”

“So, we’d open it up to other guilds. We could make a rival Grand Magic Games.”

“With no magic?”

“Oh, yeah.” She seemed to sink back into thinking. Before she could think up a new line of enquiry, Natsu thought it best to try and steer her onto a more affectionate type of conversation. Hopefully that would calm the thrumming in his chest that had taken route there the night before.

“Cana’s been talking about proposing to Abigail.” Smooth, dragon slayer. He chastised himself for showing his talent for bluntness.

Lucy smiled, though showing no suggestion that she had caught onto his internal anxiety. “I like Abi. I think she’s been really good for Cana and Cana’s been good for her.”

“The guild’s income has been suffering from it.”

“More alcohol for Macao’s lot, I guess.”

They shared a laugh. Opening his eyes, Natsu looked at her as she giggled. Her eyes were on the duck pond where a small cluster of the ducks of Magnolia South Gate Park were gathered, picking their lunch out of a soggy white bread loaf that some teenagers had chucked into the pond whole. Sometimes she smiled as if she was so entirely content with life. Ducks made her content, Wednesday evenings with him made her content, as did birthday parties and nights out with their friends. He hoped it didn’t mean there wasn’t room for more in their relationship. That maybe she was too content with her life as it was now for things to change.

The weight of the box in his pocket felt heavier as he watched, requiring a quick shake of the head to reset the feeling. He could only talk to her.

“Lucy.” Natsu spoke, thanking his voice for not giving out on him when it counted. She gave him her attention, smiling because there was no way she could see the anxiety bubbling inside his gut. At least that settled him a little. “If I proposed, what would you say? I already have the ring. I just need to know if that is something you would want.”

Lucy’s smile dropped into surprise. Her stare was stuck on his, and for a moment the cogs seemed to slow. But not into a stressed jutting, more into a peaceful, steady clicking.

Her smile bloomed.

“I would say yes.”

If she expected the conversation to end there, she didn’t stop him as he moved onto one knee. His hand tugged the box from the pocket of his trousers, presenting its black velvet exterior before effortlessly prizing it open. Her eyes widened as if she hadn’t realised that he had meant now, but she easily found herself settling into the pull of it.

“Lucy. You’re my best friend.” Natsu felt his cheeks ache with his broad grin. “I think you might be the best thing that ever happened to me and Happy. Even if you’re not always happy with us and we insult you sometimes. You let me take you on adventures and you make me feel comfortable because that is just what you do. You make everyone feel okay with being themselves around you. I think you’re so strong and kind and I love watching you practice your magic because you just care about your spirits, without anyone asking you to. I think it’s incredible. I love you and I want to marry you. Will you marry me?”

“Yes.” Lucy half-whispered. “Yes, I will.”

She met him on his knees, her hands clutching onto his shoulders as she kissed him over and over. “Can I put the ring on you?” He asked between pecks.

She nodded, leaning into his shoulder as he tugged the ring from its hold in the velvet. The kiss had made her breathless but the feel and sight of him slipping the ring on her left hand had the sort of butterflies she had only felt with him making her skin tingle. “Natsu, it’s beautiful.”

The ring itself was simple but vintage – not that he could spell the word – and had a round garnet set in the middle. He had chosen it by himself but at Levy’s instruction he had taken one of Lucy’s rings with him for the sizing. It was still loose by a small bit but they could get it resized no problem. Right now he was just happy it was a hit. “Gods, I would’ve been okay if you had just wanted to date instead of getting married but I’m so glad I won’t have to return the ring. The shop man was super weird.”

“Was it that shop just off the marketplace? Levy says that guy is super intense about green engagement rings and thinks everyone should have one.”

He chuckled, unaware that such a guy had existed. “No, I got it in Hargeon.”

“Oh,” She felt her blush blossom more.

“Shit, I love you.” He let out an exasperated sigh. “I was so worried you’d say no.”

“Why would I?” She had to take a second to think. “I sort of knew you were going to propose. I would have said something sooner if I didn’t want you to.”

“You knew?”

“I– yeah. I’ve been nervously rambling all afternoon. Could you not tell?” She laughed. An hour ago she was barely making it through a conversation without blurting whatever she could think about, work, and modelling and whatever. Natsu had never been one to ignore her when she felt like she was being boring but she wouldn’t have blamed him for a disinterested sound.

“Why were you nervous?” His brow had softened and he’d taken to stroking her fingers between his own wanting to listen.

“I didn’t want to accidentally ruin whatever you had planned. I don’t know, really. You can always sort of tell when a guy’s about to propose but you never know when it’ll happen.”

“Did you know with Joe?”

Lucy swallowed, nodding. “He sort of got happy whenever he was around me. And since I didn’t really want that with him I just ignored it until I couldn’t any longer.”

“But you do want this with me?”

“Yes.” She nodded harder. “I didn’t know it at the time but I broke things off with him because of you. I think you’ve always been in my heart even if it took me a while to realise it.” She didn’t let him speak. “I love you and I want this with you, more than anything.”

Natsu kissed her again, hands pressed to her cheeks to pull her in and she smiled into it. His fingers tangled into her hair and he sighed, finally content. He had everything he wanted right here and he could spend his lifetime making her happy.

#nalu #fairy tail #nalu gift exchange 2023 #nalu gift exchange #nalu fanfic #nalufanfiction #lucy heartfilia #natsu dragneel #nalu proposal

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atthestarlite · 1 month

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ch. 4 of one more, one more

in which Tech Week officially starts

rating: E

relationships: Natsu Dragneel/Lucy Heartfilia

summary: When Lucy’s lead actress drops her directorial debut show less than two weeks before it goes up, Lucy must step in to replace her. In the process, Natsu – the lead opposite her – and Lucy must grapple with their intense chemistry and what it means for their longtime friendship. – college theatre!au. nalu.

....

“Wrong!” Evergreen yelled. “No, no, no !”

Gray paused, as Othello ’s lighting designer yelled at him from below his ladder. “I’m moving it to the left like you told me to.”

“That’s not left!”

“Specify whose left then,” Gray snapped.

It was Sunday, the day of Load-in. That prior night, most of them had shown up to help disassemble the set of the Opera Club’s performance of La traviata and had assembled their set. The next day though, with the bribe of donuts and coffee for breakfast and then gyros for lunch, the cast slowly drifted in around 10am to help with the assembling of lights and speakers. But college life dictated that everyone was sleep-deprived and cranky, resulting in no less than seven incidents like the one above and it was only 11am.

Still, under Evergreen’s blunt watch, Focus commenced.

to read this chapter: ao3 ff.net

to read from the beginning: ao3 ff.net

#fairy tail #ft fanfic #nalu fanfic #nalu #natsu dragneel #lucy heartfilia #natsu x lucy #natsu dragneel x lucy heartfilia #fairy tail fanfic #ft #one more one more fic #star.talks #my writing #fanfiction #manga

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gymjunkie412 · 6 months

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📖A Good Hair Day📖

This one was so random, and I love the simplicity of this one shot 💕. I would reread this one whenever I needed a good laugh, and their antics in this fic is on point 🤣.

Highly recommend for those who want some little humour and kind of sweet moment.

Author : Akamagerain

Source : FanFiction.Net

#fairy tail #nalu #lucy heartfilia #natsu dragneel #hiro mashima #ft #natsu x lucy #gray fullbuster #fairytail #nalu fanfic #fairy tail fanfiction #nalu fanfictions #fanfic #fanfiction #comic #nalu comic

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xanvasofxords · 2 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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kaleidoscope77 · 9 months

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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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ravewoodx · 1 year

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tokkias · 1 month

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you can just fall into me ship: natsu dragneel x lucy heartfilia summary: Lucy had always known that big changed would come into her life as she stepped into her new role at Heartfilia Konzern she just hadn't expected one of those changes to be the result of a threat to her safety. The feeling of dread through her veins is no longer an uncommon one, but at least the feeling is eased when Natsu is by her side. ao3

insp

The quiet bloop of an incoming email pulled Lucy out of her moment of concentration as she tapped away on her keyboard. Any other time, it would have been an inconspicuous sound that she paid no mind to, just a regular part of her business day, but things at the Heartfilia Konzern had been... complicated as of late.

Stepping into the position as C.E.O. and owner of Heartfilia Konzern, she had kept a low profile. Sure, she had expected massive changes in her life—that there would be more attention on her than she was once used to—but what she hadn’t expected was the intense attention of one individual in particular.

It had started innocuous at first—a few social media posts expressing their infatuation with the pretty new girl in charge of the railway conglomerate—but it had slowly devolved into something much deeper and sinister. A few social media posts had turned into a few emails, turned into a few phone calls, turned into showing up outside one of the office branches one morning in a bid to catch her on her way in or out. Thankfully, it had not been one of the buildings she frequented, but it had sent her anxiety over the edge. This man was obsessed with her and was quickly becoming a threat to her safety.

She didn’t read through the incoming email for the sake of her own sanity, but from the brief glance she had captured, she got the gist of it. They’d gone from pleading to threatening, an attempt to scare her into giving him the attention he craved. Her team had told her not to respond, and though she had heeded their advice, it had made her feel so helpless.

She was scared.

Even with her security team around, there was always the lingering thought about how there was someone out there who quite possibly wanted to hurt her, and based on his actions so far, he very much had the means to do so. For the most part, she could push it to the back of her mind to get through the work day, but reminders like this did her no good.

If she thought she had successfully masked her anxiety, she was quickly humbled by Natsu’s worried expression from across the room.

Just as she was about to speak her reassurances, a knock came at the door, causing Lucy to jump and undoing all the work she had put into convincing Natsu that she was fine. Peering out the glass wall of her office, she saw her secretary, Aries, standing outside, and she let out a quiet sigh of relief. If someone were here to kill her, they probably wouldn’t knock, after all.

“Um, Miss Lucy?” She meekly said. “Mr. Beaufort’s assistant just called to say he’s cancelling his meeting with you next Wednesday. He said something about… um… security concerns.”

Lucy didn’t bother to hide the frustrated groan she let out, her head falling into her hands, elbows thunking against the table.

It was easy to pretend the problem didn’t exist when the problem wasn’t making itself at home in her work emails. Admittedly, she was picking up a bad habit from her father before her of throwing herself into her work to avoid thinking about the problems in her personal life, but suddenly her personal problems were beginning to affect her work life too. This was not the first time someone had cancelled a meeting for safety concerns, and for as long as this issue was prevalent, she was certain it would not be the last.

“I-I’m sorry!”

“No, it’s not your fault,” she assured with a weak smile. “Thank you, Aries.��

With her dismissal, Aries rushed out of her office, leaving just the two of them alone once again.

“Dunno what he’s talking about worrying about security concerns,” Natsu said, air quotes around the last two words. “You got the best security around,” he added with a grin.

Lucy offered him a smile at his fighting words, but it didn’t quite go up to her eyes, and she knew he could tell. Any other time, she would have wholeheartedly agreed. Natsu and his team were great; they had never let her down before now, but they had also never faced a threat like this until now.

She tried not to frame it like that. He wasn’t a "threat," he was just some random with too much time on their hands, chasing after her like all the boys had in high school, but then again, those boys hadn’t shown up outside of her place of work. She tried to convince herself that it wasn’t a big deal, that she would be safe, but she still couldn’t help but worry.

The only time she ever truly felt safe these days was when Natsu was in the room with her. If she was a little jumpy in the office, that didn’t compare to how she got when she was at home. Given the current circumstances, Lucy had a member of her team with her at all hours of the day, but realistically, it couldn’t always be Natsu. He was her employee who still had to go home at the end of the day. He had friends he drinks with on Saturdays, he had a cat at home to feed. There was no amount of money she could pay him that would take away the fact that he still had a life to live outside of her.

Natsu protects her during her work hours, while Erza and Gray take the night shifts at her apartment. They were both scary and more than qualified for their jobs, but she just seemed to feel at ease with Natsu in a way she couldn’t with them. That wasn’t a knock to them; there was just something about Natsu that she could never find in anyone else. She always felt calm around him, entirely at ease.

The rest of the afternoon came and went without incident, much to Lucy’s relief, and before long she found herself being escorted into her apartment by Natsu behind her. That wasn’t originally part of his job description—he would meet her at the office in the mornings and leave in the evenings, but now that there was the concern about her being jumped on her commute, it was better safe than sorry.

Gray was taking the evening shift tonight, and while it would have been reasonable for him to be the one to escort her home, these days it was always Natsu taking her to and from work. Even though he was technically off the clock, even though he wasn’t paid for the extra twenty minutes before and after, he never complained about it, and Lucy couldn’t be more thankful. Maybe having someone on her tail at all times could have been overbearing to some, but she didn’t mind it so much when it was Natsu.

Gray was already standing outside her building by the time they arrived, and the pair escorted her to her apartment with only little fuss.

Though a little unnerving at first, Lucy had grown used to having someone with her at all times. It was better than the alternative, given her current situation. Gray mostly minded his own business, and Plue had gotten used to the company quickly, so it wasn’t all that bad. Tonight, though, the company just didn’t seem like enough to keep her from getting antsy through the evening.

She tried her best to busy herself to keep her mind off today’s events. She cooked her and Gray dinner rather than ordering out; she finally got a start on that new podcast that she had been meaning to listen to, but even as she tried to focus on other things, she couldn’t help but let her mind wander. It was bearable for a while—she could rationalise with herself when the lights were on and Gray was in the room, but as the sun dipped below the horizon and Plue yapped at her to get into bed, things quickly went downhill. Every time she closed her eyes, her brain would be washed over by a series of what-ifs.

What if the security wasn’t enough?

What if when she opened her eyes, he was standing, looming over her?

What if he intended to make good on his threats?

Even with Plue snuggled up in bed with her, ready to go on the offensive and do whatever his little body could do to protect her should the need arise, she just couldn’t seem to shut her mind up.

She wished Natsu were here.

He was the only one who could truly make all the voices in her head simmer down, if even for just a few moments. Natsu had proven himself time and time again as her protector, shown his willingness to go above and beyond for her to keep her safe. She knew that all of her team would do that—it was their job after all—but with Natsu, it felt like something more than that. It wasn’t just the physical safety he provided her; it was emotional too.

Harm couldn’t come to her when Natsu was around; he would never let it. That was even true when it came to the anxious thoughts plaguing her head.

She tried not to talk about these problems with anyone, to not let anyone in on the fact that she was struggling. She already had so much pressure put on her as the new head of a massive conglomerate. The media made sure everyone knew she was unqualified for her position, and they were right—she was just a nepo-baby stepping in to uphold what little of her family legacy was left behind for her. Still, she couldn’t let the media, the public, or her peers think of her like that. She was a hard worker; she was well-spoken, smart, and kind. Given the time she knew she would flourish into something great.

She couldn’t let them see that behind that confidence and composure, she was just a scared little girl, lost and confused.

With Natsu, she didn’t need to maintain that image. Due to the nature of his position, he was the person she spent the most time with these days, and there wasn’t anything she could hide from him. He was the only one who really knew the inner workings of her brain, the real fear and confusion she felt from everything that was happening around her. He was the only person she really felt she could confide in.

A soft sigh passed through her lips as she gazed at the dark ceiling. Yearning would not make Natsu magically appear, nor would it make all her woes and worries disappear. Figuring she wasn’t about to get to sleep soon, Lucy crawled out of bed and made her way into the kitchen in hopes that a warm drink might ease her woes.

The lights were still on in the living room when she passed by, and the television was playing softly as Gray kept himself occupied. Though she tried to pass by unnoticed, Gray was still on the job and wasn’t about to let anything slip past him.

“You alright?” He asked.

His voice stopped her in her tracks, leaving her standing static in the doorframe.

“Yeah, I just…” She trailed off, realising that Gray was no fool. There was no stepping around it, no pretending that she was fine. “I can’t sleep.”

“Yeah, I get that,” he sympathetically replied. “I’m sorry.”

He furrowed his brows as he tried to search for some words of comfort, but he was her guard, not her therapist. Though they were friendly, he wasn’t close to her like Natsu was.

“You’ll be alright,” he settled on.

Lucy offered him a soft smile.

“I know.”

She bit at her lower lip, hesitating for a moment before she made her way to the kitchen.

“What time does Natsu start?” She asked.

“He’ll be here at six,” Gray replied.

Lucy glanced at her phone, finding that it wouldn’t be another four hours until Natsu would arrive. She’d usually be long asleep by now, but today’s events had been weighing heavy on her mind, leaving her more anxious than usual.

“Okay,” she said, trying her best to hide the disappointment lingering in her voice. “Thank you.”

☆♡

The taste of lavender overcame her senses as she sipped on her mug of tea, hoping that the warmth that spread through her body as it went down would soothe her.

Plue let out a soft whine as she crawled back into her sheets, roused from his slumber upon her return. She murmured a soft apology as she stroked his fur in an attempt to soothe him back to sleep. She would rather at least one of them get a good night's sleep tonight.

She didn’t have a television in her room, knowing that one would just keep her up on nights she just needed to know what happened in the next episode of her soaps, but she had never regretted that more than right now. A distraction was more than welcome right now—a trashy reality programme to keep her mind off her own problems. Unfortunately, tonight it was just her and the flitter of moonlight that made it through the curtains.

She closed her eyes and tried to simply will herself to sleep, counting sheep until her consciousness faded into dreams, but as had become routine for this evening, that just wasn’t the case.

And so she lingered awake, accompanied by nothing but the shadows on her walls and Plue’s dreamy whimpers.

After what felt like hours of sleep evading her, a soft knock came on her door, and assuming it was Gray, Lucy let out an affirmative murmur to let him know he could come in. When she looked up, however, it was not Gray’s gaze that she was met with. In her doorframe stood her day guard, Natsu, with messy hair, a dark grey hoodie, and a pair of pyjama pants covered in little cats.

“Natsu?” She croaked out. “What are you doing here?”

She wondered for a moment if she really had fallen asleep, if she was simply dreaming this moment up. What he said next proved that she was very much awake.

“Gray called me and said ya couldn’t sleep, so I came over to make sure you were okay.”

Lucy was quiet as Natsu made his way to her side, sitting down on her bed next to her.

“You didn’t have to do that,” she said. “Your shift doesn’t start until six; I’m not paying you to be here.”

“I’m off the clock, which means I get to make my own decisions, and right now I wanna be here for you,” he replied, his hand reaching for hers in a comforting manner. “I’m not just your bodyguard, y’know. I’m your friend, too.”

She looked up at him, even in the dark, still able to make out that trademark Natsu smile on his face.

Natsu was always a nice guy, always kind and friendly towards her. She was never sure how much of his friendliness was just part of the job that she paid him for. In his words, she realised that their relationship went beyond that of the paycheque she signed for him every week—he saw her as a friend.

“I’ll stay for however long you need me.”

His thumb ran gently across the back of her hand, and immediately she felt herself growing more at ease. The worry still lingered in the back of her mind—it had never fully gone away since the very first incident, but with Natsu by her side, she finally felt herself safe enough to let out some of the fear that had been plaguing her brain.

“Natsu…” She murmured, her voice soft and low as she spoke. “I’m scared.”

“Yeah, I know,” he replied, his brows knitted together in concern. “But I’ve got you, okay? Nothin’ bad is gonna happen to you while I’m here.”

She wholeheartedly believed him.

He had protected her from drunkards and catcallers; he had never hesitated to throw himself in harm's way to keep her safe. Nothing could dare touch her if Natsu had anything to say about it.

The thought of him fending off some perpetrator in his kitty cat pyjamas made the corners of her lips quirk up in a small smile. That sounded like exactly something the silly boy she had come to know would do.

“Get some sleep, okay?” He said, his voice more tender than she thought she’d ever heard it before.

“What about you?”

“I’ll be alright,” he assured her. “Me and Plue are gonna keep you safe, isn’t that right, buddy?”

At the mention of his name, Plue stirred a little before giving out a huff of what Lucy liked to believe was affirmation before going back to sleep.

At his words, she slowly sunk back into her pillow and let her eyes fall shut.

She felt better, safe, comfortable.

She felt like grasping sleep tonight was no longer something well out of her reach, and as she faded out of consciousness, she was in no mind to consider the moral implications of falling asleep, holding her bodyguard’s hand.

#nalu #natsu x lucy #fairy tail #nalu fanfic #nalu fanfiction #nalu fan fiction #mya writes things #ngl i forgor i can post my fics to tumblr wumblr

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