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tokkias · 4 months

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good intentions ship: natsu dragneel x lucy heartfilia summary: Repressing any lingering feelings he might have for Lucy should have been smooth sailing for Natsu. He’s been doing it successfully for years, that is, until one night where he’s given just a taste of what a relationship with her could be like. Suddenly, seeing other men make their move makes his heart hurt in a way that feels a little too much like loss. ao3

written for @vikingpoteto as part of the @allaboutnalu gift exchange! all of your prompts were sooo bangin but i ended up latching onto jealous natsu and sprinkled in a little bit of fake dating in there too! i hope you enjoy it! (i wasn't able to shoehorn bonvoyage in there but i did listen to it on repeat for like a month because of your though, so i hope that counts for something) thank you to @kaleighkarma for beta reading :]

Natsu never really liked stuffy parties like these. He never liked the dress codes that made him wear shirts with too-tight collars and jackets that restricted his arm movement. This was much more Lucy’s vibe, which was how he ended up here in the first place.

When her turn to choose their job rolled around, she had picked out something low-stakes—something hopefully not even he could screw up. They had been hired as security for some fancy charity gala, should trouble arise. Natsu knew from experience that these types of jobs never came with much action; it was simply a precautionary measure.

That’s why Lucy loved these jobs—they were low-risk but high-reward. Natsu, on the other hand, didn’t care so much about the reward so long as he got to kick some ass, which was never guaranteed on jobs like this one.

They’d been promised free food—something Natsu had taken full advantage of—but the guy manning the buffet had cut him off long ago, and now he was left to his own devices, roaming around the floor in hopes that something interesting might happen.

He wasn’t left waiting much longer before that something came in the form of someone grabbing his wrist, having him immediately turn on his foot with the intention of fighting off whoever was dumb enough to pick a fight with him. He was entirely ready to snatch his arm away and throw a punch, but he stopped in his tracks as he came face-to-face with Lucy. She didn’t give him any time to question as to why she had grabbed him, quickly pulling him to her side and into what seemed like a conversation between her and some party guest that he didn’t recognise.

“This is my boyfriend, Natsu,” she introduced, to his immediate confusion.

The B-word was not one Lucy ever threw around lightly. It was one Natsu heard frequently as a result of misunderstandings—some people would simply see him and Lucy together and come to their own conclusions. Though it wasn’t ever something he cared about, Lucy had always adamantly corrected them over it.

Natsu never really got why.

He didn’t care what other people thought of their relationship, much less strangers they might never meet again. Though many thought him oblivious, he was well aware of the whispers that followed them around the guild, speculating on the nature of their relationship. To be honest, he didn’t really care what they thought about it either. People could speculate all they wanted, but at the end of the day, his relationship with Lucy—whether they were friends or something more—was between them and no one else.

He could smell the alcohol on his breath, and he could see the way his gaze trailed down the low-cut dress that exposed her ample cleavage. His skeevy behaviour and the way that Lucy clung to his side hinted towards something a little different than a sudden change of heart on her behalf.

Tossing an arm around her shoulder, Natsu pulled her into his side, a gesture she eagerly accepted by slipping her arm around him and resting her head gently on his chest.

“Hey,” Natsu greeted, an air of politeness only thinly veiling the venom that seeped into his voice.

If Lucy’s plan was to have him intimidate this guy, it was clearly working. His gaze had moved away from Lucy, now frantically looking anywhere but her. Natsu wasn’t the biggest guy, but that didn’t matter when he knew how to carry himself in a way that tended to intimidate people who weren’t down for a fight.

He puffed his chest and glared down at him as if to say, she’s mine, and I don’t like to share.

Based on the look of fear in his eyes, her plan was working.

“I, uh-” the man stuttered, “It’s uh, good to meet you.”

He was almost tempted to growl at the poor sod, but he felt bad enough as is.

“I gotta go,” he mumbled, all interest in Lucy suddenly fizzling away. “I’ll maybe see you later…”

He didn’t wait for a reply before he was scurrying off with his tail between his legs.

“Thanks,” she murmured. “Sorry for springing that on you, he was just creeping me out, and I thought maybe if he knew I was with you, he’d leave me alone.”

“It’s no problem,” he assured with a shrug, and really, it wasn’t.

Natsu had always promised to protect her; it didn’t matter if that was from the imminent threat of death or just some creepy guy at a party. Even as the creep scurred well away from them, Lucy didn’t detach herself from his side, instead dropping her arm from around him while still sticking close to him.

“Sorry,” she murmured. “Can you stay?”

She didn’t have to elaborate on why—he already knew—not that he needed a reason anyway. He’d never complain about sticking with Lucy.

“Yeah, ‘course,” he said. “You don’t hafta ask.”

“Thank you.”

She flashed him a sweet smile that made his heart throb in his chest, and that was thanks enough for him.

Though he had gone into this job hoping—practically praying—for something interesting to happen, itching for a fight, Natsu couldn’t find it in himself to be mad when the rest of the night ran smoothly.

Lucy spent the whole night by his side, practically attached to his arm. No man tried to bother her the rest of the night as she stayed by his side, holding onto his arm in a way that didn’t seem entirely platonic to any onlookers. When they found themselves in a lull, she would gently rest her head against his shoulder in soft rest.

He liked that soft, casual intimacy with her. He wished they got to do it more.

For once, he felt himself getting his ego boosted by something that wasn’t winning a fight. One might say it was from having a pretty girl on his arm, but he would say it was from having Lucy on his arm.

There was something nice about protecting Lucy, about knowing that everyone in this venue looked at her and knew who she belonged to. Not because he owned her, but because she chose him. She was the one who wanted to cling to his arm, to hold his hand, to stay by his side.

She was his, and he was hers.

Having Lucy at his side made even the most terribly boring conversations they found themselves dragged into bearable.

Lucy was always such a natural in environments like these. She was charming and charismatic, she knew all the right things to say to the types of people who attended charity galas. He felt almost invisible to anyone but her as she charmed them, which he found himself more than okay with. It gave him adequate time to zone out with his gaze in her direction.

At some point, she brought her hand up to rest on his chest as she let out a laugh, and he thought for a second that his heart might stop altogether.

He couldn’t quite remember when Lucy’s touch began to make him feel this way, but it was beginning to feel like a running theme these days. Just the brush of her skin against his own was enough to set the butterflies in his stomach on fire.

Maybe it had always been like that, and he just hadn’t noticed until now.

It was a good tingle—one that made him feel as though he could take on the world.

He found that was a common theme when it came to Lucy.

In an attempt to seek out more of that feeling, his hand slipped around her back, resting on her waist and pulling her even closer into his side. She did not protest; in fact, she leaned into it, and if it meant she would stay like that forever, Natsu wished the night would never end.

Maybe any other night he might have found himself whinging and complaining about the lack of action. He’d probably try to pick a fight with Gray or Erza afterward in an attempt to burn off some of that excess energy he’d come into the job with, but tonight he didn’t really feel like it—not when that meant having Lucy leave his arm.

The night had to end inevitably, and it finally did when they stepped out into the moonlight. Lucy’s arm left his now that they were safely solitary, and he had to stop himself from letting out a soft whine or reaching out for her again.

Though he had begun their job paying close attention to the time, he had stopped paying it any mind about halfway through the night. Judging by the way the moon was hung high up in the sky and the streets had been long dead to the night, it had to have been past midnight by now. They had stayed well past when everyone else had left, waiting out any stragglers who might be cause for trouble if they left too early.

When the last guest had left, their employer had graciously sent them on their way, leaving them free to enter the night and leave for home.

She took in a deep breath of air, her arms stretched out as she dropped her ladylike façade and returned back to the carefree Lucy he always knew, happy to bask out beneath the stars in which she was born from.

It wasn’t until she had sufficiently filled her lungs with the soft spring air that she finally turned back around to meet his gaze. Her brows furrowed together slightly, as though there were something wrong with his appearance. He didn’t think there was. He feared maybe he was staring too intently, and she had finally noticed.

He’d been doing that a lot lately.

“Are you okay? You’re looking a little bit red,” she observed.

She stepped towards him, and her hand came up to rest on his cheek, cradling his jaw. The tingly feeling was coming back in full force, which he was certain did not help with the redness she was noting.

He probably wouldn’t have realised he was blushing so hard had she not pointed it out to him.

“Uh, yeah, just, uh, hot?” He tried to brush off.

It wasn’t his finest excuse, but he simply pulled from the list of ones Cana used when her drunken flush got a little too obvious to those she was trying to convince she was sober.

Lucy, seemingly unconvinced, raised her eyebrows in mild surprise.

“You get hot?”

An understandable question given his general heatproof body and the way he made fun of her any time the temperature in Magnolia rose more than two degrees.

“It was stuffy in there,” he corrected.

Thankfully, Lucy didn’t seem to question his little slip-up, and her attention turned back to the stars.

“Then the fresh air will do you some good,” she mused.

He had a feeling that fresh air would not help his predicament so long as she lingered near. He just hoped that she wouldn’t notice, lest he have to try to find the words to verbalise his current predicament.

A request specifically for their team had brought them a fair ways out of Magnolia for the weekend. Though the job had been quick, finished before evening fell, the distance from their hometown meant they would find themselves staying the night in

The small size of the tavern they had found themselves in didn’t lend itself well to brawling (not that that had ever stopped them before), but seeing as Natsu had exhausted his energy on the job today, he was content to kick ass in pool instead.

He leaned over the table, his gaze intensely focused on the cue ball at the end of his stick. With a swift pull-back, Natsu thrust his stick against the cueball and sent it flying across the table, where it met another with a loud clack before it rolled into one of the corner pockets.

“Yes!” Natsu cheered, pumping his fist in the air to celebrate his victory.

Gray was decidedly less impressed.

“That was my ball, dipshit,” he jeered. “I’m solid, you’re stripes.”

“Who cares? I got the ball in the pocket, didn’t I?” Natsu shrugged.

“I’m starting to think you don’t know how to play pool.”

“The point of the game is to get the white ball into the hole—all the other balls are just obstacles,” Erza declared.

“What? That’s not how you play the game at all.”

Whatever fight was about to break out between them was cut short on Natsu’s end as his attention was drawn away by the sight of Lucy sitting at the bar. She had opted not to join them because she claimed they were “too competitive” and “didn’t know the rules.”.

When they had left to play, Lucy had been on her own, but now it seemed as though someone else had made themselves comfortable on the seat that he had occupied not so long ago. There was a drink in her hand that she definitely hadn’t had before, most likely ordered and paid for by the man sitting next to her.

Her fingers played with the straw in her drink as she listened idly to whatever it was that he was saying to her. She smiled politely but otherwise didn’t seem terribly interested in what he had to say.

He couldn’t make their conversation out over the rest of the idle noise in the bar, but if he wanted to, he could tune his ears in. Not that he had to; he already had a pretty keen idea of what was going on based on the way his hand came to rest on her thigh.

He was getting much too close for Natsu’s liking.

Placing his stick back on the table, he left Gray and Erza to finish the game without him and made his way over to Lucy, prowling like a predator stalking his prey.

He tossed his arm around Lucy’s shoulder as casually as he always had and plastered a grin across his face as genuinely as he could, given the weird feeling that was bubbling up in his stomach.

“Hey Lucy!” He greeted with all the familiarity in the world.

“Natsu?”

She looked up at him with surprise, evidently taken off guard by his sudden action. She opened her mouth to speak but was cut off by the man sitting beside her.

“Who are you?”

He was hoping that he’d quickly get the hint and quietly stalk away, leaving Natsu to not have to fend for her attention. That was fine. He knew exactly what to say that would get him to leave.

“I’m her boyfriend,” he declared, and Lucy seemed to cringe at his words.

“You didn’t mention you had a boyfriend,” the other man said, as though Natsu’s introduction threw a wrench in his plan.

Based on the way Lucy stuttered to save face, it had seemingly thrown one in hers too.

“I- I don’t- he’s not-!”

Lucy scrambled for the words to try and convince the stranger otherwise, but by then it was too late.

The way he retreated after finding out about her so-called “boyfriend” confirmed what Natsu already knew. He was very clearly chatting her up with some sort of romantic or sexual intent.

A look of glowing pride overtook Natsu as he watched the man leave, a sentiment that Lucy did not share.

The night out didn’t last much longer after that, with Lucy declaring that she wanted to go back to their motel and the rest of the group following suit.

Lucy trailed a few feet behind them, an air of bad energy radiating off of her, which Natsu quickly picked up on. He hung back, waiting for Lucy to catch up as Gray and Erza moved on. Even as her steps moved in tandem with his, she didn’t look at him; her gaze trained at the path ahead of them, making it obvious she was deliberately avoiding looking at him.

“What? Why are you mad?”

“Because you interrupted my conversation and you scared that nice man off,” she huffed.

The two had stopped walking, the others leaving them behind as they stood on the side of the street, lit by nothing more than moonlight and flickering lamp posts. In that moment, all Natsu could do was blankly stare at her in surprise.

“I can stand up for myself, you know,” Lucy said, arms crossed over her chest in disdain. “I only need your help with drunk or creepy guys.”

“He was creepy,” Natsu defended.

Any guy who got that close to her who wasn’t him was a creep.

“If I want your help, I’ll get it on my own terms,” she huffed. “You can’t just make decisions for me based on what you think is best. That’s not fair.”

It didn’t really matter. They were a few hours out of Magnolia; she’d probably never see the poor sod again; there was no potential there for a relationship anyway. That’s what she was looking for—a serious relationship, someone to settle down with—or at least, that’s what she told him. That guy didn’t seem like the committed relationship type, so he was justified in scaring him off, right?

“His hand was on your thigh,” he said, as though that absolved him of any wrongdoing in that moment.

"Well, maybe I like it when some men give me attention,” she said. “Maybe I don’t like it when my friend makes me look like a cheater.”

He did feel a little guilty in that regard. He didn’t want to make others think poorly of Lucy, but sometimes you have to make tough decisions to protect those you love, right?

He didn’t get it. She didn’t seem interested, but she wasn’t turning him down either. She claimed she liked the attention, but he could give her plenty of attention if that’s what she wanted.

Why did she want his help then but not now?

Lucy had already walked off, leaving him behind as she caught up with the others while he was left behind to try and put the pieces back together.

Drinks flowed freely, and music pumped through the air as a rowdy crowd gathered in the guild to celebrate… something. A birthday? A guild milestone? Natsu wasn’t quite sure, nor did he care much—a sentiment that was surely shared by almost everyone else taking the night to party.

Guild parties like this weren’t often open to non-members, but Cana had plenty of drinking buddies from out town who would often swing by for a night of . Though none of them were much for letting in outsiders, Cana’s guests tended to behave themselves—or perhaps more accurately, behaved better than the guild regulars. They were there to drink and party; any property damage was usually done by those who already had a reputation for such.

It didn’t take long for a fight to break out in one part of the guild. Gajeel’s fist hit Natsu’s cheek, sending him flying to the ground, breaking a chair or two in the process. With a grin overtaking his expression, Natsu scrambled to his feet and pulled back his fist, ready to retaliate, but the fight was promptly cut short by an unimpressed Erza, who held Natsu back by the collar of his shirt. He was practically tossed to the side with an angry glare as a warning, leaving him to scurry off with a dejected huff.

If he couldn’t get his energy out, he would at least take this chance for a drink and some good company, but there was one person in particular he wanted to be with tonight.

Lucy. He wanted Lucy.

A quick scan of the bar made it clear she was not there, so Natsu clambered up onto an empty table to give him a better vantage point as he scanned the dancefloor. It didn’t take long for him to spot her blonde hair, given away by the familiar blue bow that tied her hair to the side. He found her dancing with one of Cana’s so-called drinking buddies.

Their bodies were close—much too close for Natsu’s liking. While maybe he could have put their close proximity down to the crowd of people that cluttered the dance floor, what he couldn’t seem to justify was the way his hands made their way onto her hips, trailing up to her waist, where they came to rest. Lucy did not protest—in fact, her arms came to rest over his shoulders, pulling him closer, their chests resting against one another.

If he had a drink in his hand, he was certain the glass would have shattered right then and there.

Instinctually, he wanted to go over there to make his presence known, to watch that boy and every other man in the room scatter, to make them avoid so much as looking at Lucy wrong for the rest of the night. It would be so easy to start another fight, to “accidentally” let him get caught up in it, to singe off every hair on his head and leave him trailing off with his tail between his legs. Just as he was about to put his plan into action, he hesitated for a moment as Lucy’s words rang in the back of his head.

“You can’t just make decisions for me based on what you think is best. That’s not fair.”

He remembered how angry she had been the last time he had chosen to interfere. Though it had dissipated quickly, the bitterness lasting no longer than the night they spent out of town, he still didn’t enjoy having that sentiment directed towards him. That night, she had hardly been interested when he stepped in, but tonight she seemed to be actively enjoying herself.

It made him feel nauseous, but he couldn’t place his finger on why.

He felt some sort of urge or desire to be there with her, to be him. He didn’t know why. He hated dancing; he only came to these parties for fights, booze, and food, but somehow he thought maybe dancing would suck less if he was doing it with Lucy.

It didn’t matter if it did or didn’t. He wouldn’t be finding out tonight, considering she had found herself rather preoccupied at the moment. She could have her fun, and he wouldn’t stop her, but he knew that if he stayed any longer, he would either get sick or get violent; neither option appealing at the moment.

He would have preferred to leave without much confrontation, but he was unable to slip past Gray on his way out.

“Hey, where are you going?” He called out.

“Home,” Natsu simply replied.

“What? You can’t leave without Lucy.”

Can’t was a strong word. He usually wouldn’t. Most other nights, he’d walk her home to her apartment (or, on nights where she’d had a bit much to drink, carry her to her apartment). There was no spoken obligation; it was more just a ritual they did, which had apparently been picked up by those around them. Gray clearly knew of their unspoken agreement, but he didn’t stop him on his way out.

Lucy was mad. This was not information he had obtained firsthand, but rather had been relayed to him by many, many sources. Pretty much everyone at the guild knew what happened that night and were more than happy to let him know that he was being a dick. He didn’t care much about their opinions. This was not the first time his guildmates had held that thought of him, and it would not be the last either.

He couldn’t intervene; he couldn’t fight the guy, but he couldn’t leave quietly without being labelled the bad guy. Was he supposed to just sit there and take it? To watch it and let his feelings get hurt?

The confrontation was inevitable. He knew he couldn’t avoid Lucy forever, but that sure wasn’t going to stop him from trying. He probably could have drawn the chase out longer had his wallet not begun to run dry of food money. Natsu was perfectly content to stay in his little space in the woods, to keep to himself, to train, to eat, but he still had to come to the guild to take a job, and it was at that very job board that he found himself cornered.

“Are you done giving me the silent treatment?” Came her voice from behind him.

Natsu didn’t turn around to face her as he replied, his gaze still fixated on the request he had in his hand.

“I’m not giving you the silent treatment.”

It wasn’t technically a lie—he couldn’t be giving her the silent treatment if he was just avoiding her altogether.

“Okay, then what do you have to say for yourself?”

For the first time since her arrival, Natsu looked up from his job request and at her. She was looking at him with a stern expression, her arms crossed over her chest.

He was still so mad. He wasn’t really sure who or what he was mad at. He certainly wasn’t mad at her. The guy at the party maybe, but not Lucy—never Lucy.

He was mad at the situation. He was mad that other guys had the audacity to look, to touch, to flirt.

There was still something simmering below the surface—some feeling of resentment that still lingered. He was never good at regulating his emotions, much less his anger. Part of him wanted to lash out at someone, something—anything really—but he feared what would happen if he gave in to those thoughts.

Lucy was already upset with him enough; if he let his resentful thoughts slip, he might have a bigger issue on his hands, so instead he met her with a single-word answer.

“Nothing.”

“Nothing? Seriously?” She exclaimed. “You can’t just leave me alone at a party, ignore me for a week, and then say nothing.”

“I don’t have anything to say,” he shrugged.

“Not even a sorry?”

“Okay, I’m sorry.”

He was sorry. Sort of. He didn’t like making Lucy upset; he certainly didn’t like making her upset with him, but there was a certain amount of self-preservation that led to his decision.

His feelings for Lucy were no longer platonic—they probably hadn’t been for a while now.

He wanted a relationship with her. It was something he’d wanted subconsciously for maybe years now, but he hadn’t really actively considered it until he was given the chance to play pretend for one night when he realised how easy loving Lucy came to him.

Now that the idea had been planted in his mind, he couldn’t stop thinking about it. His brain was plagued with thoughts of cheesy shit, like taking her on dates and holding her hand—all the dumb stuff he swore up and down that he would never care about. It made his chest tighten with a feeling that he could only describe as yearning.

He wanted that with her, wanted to shower her in the affections and attentions that she desired, to make her laugh and smile, and to know that he was the reason for her joy.

There weren’t many things that Natsu was afraid of, but he was afraid of change. Because what if change meant they could never go back to the way things were? He liked what they had—their friendship, their easy companionship. If any of that were to be put at risk by taking a step in a new direction, then he would gladly let things stay just the way they were.

And yet, watching other guys have the courage to do what he was too afraid to hurt in a way that felt a little too much like loss.

Lucy let out a dissatisfied huff at his apology.

“What is up with you? You’ve been avoiding me all week and now you won’t even look me in the eye to apologise.”

Though he would have loved to steer clear of this topic entirely, Lucy was looking up at him with an expectant gaze, waiting to hear some sort of justification or explanation. Natsu, on the other hand, was unfortunately acutely aware of everyone else in the guild hall. This wasn’t where he wanted to have this conversation, if they had to have it at all.

If he got his feelings rejected by Lucy just like he foresaw, he didn’t want it to be in front of all the people he knew would use that as ammunition against him. Gray would never let him live it down.

“Can we talk about this later?”

“What? Why?”

It clearly had not occurred to her that there were people watching until now, when she followed his gaze that flicked behind her. The moment Lucy looked behind her, everyone who had been watching seemed to scatter, trying their best to look busy as though they had never been watching in the first place.

“Oh,” she let out, her conviction dropping just a little.

At the very least, it seemed as though she didn’t want to cause a scene in the middle of the guild hall.

“Okay,” she conceded. “We can talk at my apartment if you want.”

“No,” Natsu shook his head.

Lucy’s apartment had always been such a place of comfort for him, something of a second home. While maybe comfort would be something he would need after the fact, he knew their conversation would forever linger in the air, etched into the wallpaper, coming back to haunt him every time he stepped foot into that room.

He needed them to be on some even playing field, a space that he knew wouldn’t be tainted by whatever may transpire today. Lucky for him, he felt as though he knew the exact right place.

“Can you meet me by the river?” He softly suggested.

“The one by your house?” She asked, an air of reluctance lingering over her.

“Yeah.”

A beat of silence fell upon them as she met him with a look of contemplation. The silence didn’t last for much longer before Lucy finally yielded.

“Okay,” she agreed and Natsu was happy to take at least one small victory before the trajectory of their relationship changed entirely.

The gentle rush of the river soothed Natsu as he sat on the bank, his arms perched on his knees as he looked out at the water. He’d been sitting there for a while before the time they had agreed to meet, taking a few moments to gather his thoughts.

He’d been trying his best to spend the last week thinking of practically anything other than Lucy, pushing away any and all thoughts about her, the bar, the party, the other men who looked at her with desire in their eyes. He could have gone on much longer repressing those thoughts, pushing them deep down into the deepest depths of his mind, somewhere they wouldn’t be found, even by him. He was rather good at avoiding things like that, but he knew all that would serve to do was delay the inevitable revelation.

The fact that he had put off truly considering his feelings for Lucy this long was almost a miracle but now that they had risen to the surface he couldn’t ignore them any longer. Especially not when they made it hard to look at his best friend the same way.

He tried to relax himself, to not tense up in his shoulders when he heard her approaching from behind. He could tell it was her by the pace of her footsteps, differentiating herself from the animals that scurried past and emphasised by the comforting waft of her scent lingering in the air.

He didn’t look up to meet her eyes when he asked, “Are you still mad at me?”

“Yes,” she bluntly replied.

Though Lucy tended to be easy to forgive, she was also a little stubborn from time to time. He liked that about her, even if right now it was coming back to bite him in the ass.

“But I’m not as mad,” she reassured as she sat down next to him.

Her words were reaffirmed when he glanced over at her and found that, despite her earlier anger and frustration, she still smiled at him. The sight of her lips quirking up in the corners made his heart tighten in his chest, as it had been known to do around Lucy as of late.

She was so cute that it almost hurt to look for too long, so he had to pull his gaze away.

“You wanted to talk?”

Lucy wasn’t stupid—quite the opposite, actually. She was rather perceptive when it came to people’s emotions, and she had obviously picked up that whatever was bothering him went deeper than merely walking out on her that night. Whether she had figured out why exactly it bothered him so much, he wasn’t entirely sure yet.

Her words were met with silence once more as he looked out to the river, not exactly sure where to start.

“Come on, Natsu, what’s bothering you?”

She reached out to his hand, taking it in her own in a gentle attempt to soothe him. Their fingers intertwined, and he got to feel the comforting weight of her hand and the soft skin of her palm against his own. Somehow, even in the middle of such turmoil between them, she found it in herself to feel compassion and concern for him.

"Please, Natsu, I don’t like it when we fight.”

He didn’t like it when they fought either, although they never usually reached this point. They tended to argue about petty, trivial things, of which they would resolve without much hassle. Even after the night at the bar, when she had been so furious at him, things had blown over quickly. Their fights were never over dumb things like romance or feelings. He was hardly able to navigate difficult feelings like this on his own; the fact that they concerned Lucy only served to make it that much harder.

He was treading a fine line between trying to express what he was feeling and not irrevocably ruining his relationship with her forever.

He opened his mouth to speak, but whatever words he could manage to conjure up got caught in his throat. He had to pull his gaze away from Lucy if he wanted even a chance to pull himself together.

“It’s just that… I don’t like it when other guys flirt with you,” he managed to get out.

If there had been some expectation she had of what he was going to say to her, it was clear from the expression on her face that it was not that.

"I don’t think I understand,” she said. “You don’t like it when guys flirt with me?” She repeated, looking at him for assurance.

“Yeah.”

“Why?”

It was a simple question that should have had a simple answer, but like all of this stupid feeling stuff, what was going on inside of him was a lot more complicated than that.

“Because I want to do that with you,” he said in all but a murmur.

Lucy looked at him with blank expression as she tried to process what he had just told her, her head cocked slightly to the side.

“You want to flirt with me?”

“No, well, yeah, but-” He struggled to find the right words to convey how he felt.

Did he want to flirt with her? People seemed to perceive their banter as flirting all the time, but it wasn’t anything like the flirty looks and playful touches that other men gave her. That wasn’t what he wanted; he liked what they had. Maybe what he wanted was just more of what they already had, but he struggled to put that into words.

“I dunno,” he shrugged. “It’s stupid.”

“It’s not stupid,” she softly said, running her thumb along the back of his hand.

She seemed to be taking this whole confessing-his-love-for-her thing in stride, not pulling away even as he haphazardly fumbled together his thoughts.

She regarded him with a kind smile, an entire juxtaposition to the way she had been looking at him earlier in the day. Of course she did. She was Lucy, kind, compassionate, ever-forgiving, even when he was being a bit of a sook. For a long time, he had considered these to be reasons why no man would ever be good enough for her. Now he wondered if he was good enough for her either.

“Natsu?” She said, her soft voice pulling him away from his own thoughts. “Can I try something?”

He wordlessly nodded at her, and before he could even begin to guess what she was about to do, she leaned in and closed the distance between them, her lips pressing against his own. It was only for a brief moment, little more than a few seconds—but he didn’t need any more than that to know that the way she felt against him made it feel like lava flowed through his veins.

It reminded him of the way he felt when her hand came to softly rest on his chest that night on the job.

That was what he wanted.

More of that.

Only he couldn’t seem to articulate that thought and instead sat there gaping at her, looking like a goddamned fool.

“I’m sorry, I thought that’s what you wanted,” she bashfully said, averting her eyes, cheeks flushed in embarrassment.

His heart was thrumming so loudly that he could hear it in his ears; her words almost drowned out by the thump, thump, thumping that was ringing around him. It took all of his strength and focus to make out what she was saying, and even more so to conjure up a response.

“It is.”

Well, he hadn’t exactly known that’s what he wanted—not until she had done it, but now that she had, he wanted it again, and again, and again. He wanted to have her, to hold her, to keep her on his arm, safe and away from harm or perverted eyes. He wanted to live out the fantasy that had begun the night she had called him her "boyfriend.”.

Finally, he was beginning to feel that fantasy in real time as her hands came to rest on his cheeks and their lips melded against each other once more.

#nalu #fairy tail #natsu x lucy #fan fiction #mya writes things #nalu gift exchange 2023

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allaboutnalu · 8 months

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Nalu Gift Exchange 2023

Hello Nalu fandom! We're happy to announce that to finish out the year, we will be holding a Nalu themed gift exchange and sign ups are now open! Please ensure to read the rules and FAQ under the read more before signing up.

Timeline: Sign ups open: September 9th to September 30th Assignments sent: October 4th to October 7th October 1st to October 2nd Check in: November 14th to November 15th Gifts due and posted: December 20th

Have fun, and we can't wait to see what you'll create!

Rules

This is a Nalu based event. Everything created for this exchange must focus on Natsu and Lucy, whether platonically or romantically.

For administration purposes, you must have a Tumblr account to participate and you must have DMs on so that the organisers can contact you. This simply makes contact and coordination easier.

NSFW fanworks or requests are not allowed as part of this event

If you find yourself unable to complete your gift or you wish to withdraw from the event, you must contact one of the organisers to ensure that your recipient receives a gift from someone else. Failure to do so will get you barred from any future allaboutnalu hosted gift exchanges.

If you change your url between sign up and the end of the gift exchange you must contact one of the organisers to ensure we can keep track of our participants.

Until you reveal your gift, please do not disclose who your gift recipient is in any public capacity (i.e. on social media or in any discord server with a public invite).

All gifts must be new. Dedicating a new chapter to an already existing fic does not count as a gift.

All gifts must be created to a standard that you would normally consider as “finished”.

Do not deliberately break your recipients DNW (do not want) guidelines.

All gifts must be posted to Tumblr with your gift recipient tagged.

Remember that this is an event that prioritises giving rather than receiving. While we will do our best to ensure everyone receives a high-quality gift that meets their standards, there is only so much we can do beyond ensuring that everyone gets a gift.

Please be sure to thank your gifter after you have received your gift.

Be respectful.

Have fun!

FAQ

I won’t be able to complete my gift/I need to withdraw/I have changed my url/I need to contact the organisers for any other reason. Who do I contact?

Because allaboutnalu is a group sideblog, we cannot send or receive dms. If you need to contact someone in charge of the event for any reason, please privately message @tokkias or @nalunalu. If possible, reach out to the mod that sent you your assignment.

I’ve been allocated to create a gift for someone I don’t like, can this be changed?

Allaboutnalu aims to be a neutral zone and we encourage you to create a gift for your initially assigned recipient. If for some reason you feel you cannot create a gift to a high-quality standard for your allocated recipient, reach out to one of the organisers and we will try to reallocate you.

Is dark/violent content allowed?

Yes, but within reason. If your recipient has specified that they do not want to receive this type of content, please be mindful of that. Please also be mindful of tagging any potentially triggering content in your gifts.

What do I do if I need to contact my gift recipient before the gift reveal dates?

If your recipient has anons on you can contact them that way. If they have anons off or you are otherwise uncomfortable contacting that way, you can DM one of the event organisers and we will reach out to your recipient on your behalf.

Can I give more than one gift?

One gift is the minimum. If you want to make more than one you are more than welcome. If you enjoy making gifts, we recommend you sign up as a pinch hitter.

My question wasn’t answered here

Send us an ask and we will do our best to answer and add to this page.

#nalu #fairy tail #nalu event #nalu gift exchange 2023 #natsu dragneel #lucy heartfilia #admin post

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tusaraame · 4 months

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Hi @petri808, I'm your Secret Santa this year for the Nalu Gift Exchange! I hope your upcoming 2024 year brings as much joy and fun as Natsu and Lucy have together. I hope you like the artwork! Thank you @allaboutnalu for hosting the event!

#nalu fanart #Nalu #natsu dragneel #lucy heartfilia #fairy tail #Nalu gift exchange #Nalu gift exchange 2023 #fairy tail nalu #fairy tail event

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ssukidesu · 4 months

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ready (for a misunderstanding)

Fandom: Fairy Tail

Pairing: Nalu

Rating: T

Summary: Bisca and Alzack have another baby, and Lucy makes a passing comment that turns Natsu's world upside down.

Merry Christmas, @bowscale !!! I’m so glad I could do the gift exchange for you this year!!! I hope you like it ❤️ @allaboutnalu

Read on AO3.

Prologue

Spring had fully waxed in the year X776. The air smelled of caterpillars and pollen, and the river spewed fish every other moment as they searched spiritedly for a mate.

Near the bank, a young boy was lying on his back, his belly full of fish and berries. Bees buzzed around the bones piled on the ground. One might have been alarmed to see a boy so young out alone without a parent. But one certainly would have been alarmed to see a dragon lying not four feet beside him. Both concerns would be soothed, however, with the knowledge that this dragon was, in fact, the young boy’s father.

To his current chagrin.

The dragon king Igneel’s voice rumbled pleasantly in the evening air. “Are you listening, Natsu?”

“Huh?” the boy huffed. “Oh. Yeah, I guess.”

“Then what did I just say?” pressed the dragon patiently.

“Umm… that when I’m ready to have a house, I’ll need a baby?”

“No, Natsu,” Igneel sighed. “You need to listen to me. I know it doesn’t have to do with battle, but it is important nonetheless.”

“Why can’t you just tell me this stuff later? You said I won’t need to worry about it till I’m older, right?”

“Yes, but I wont be around forever. I need to teach you everything now, for when—“ he stopped, correcting himself, “—just in case.”

Natsu sat up and faced his father studiously. “Alright.”

“Good. Now, what I said was that when you’re older and you find a woman you like, you’ll win her heart by proving to her that you can provide. You have to show her that you’ll protect her, and you might even have to fight other men to win her affection. But before you mate, you’ll need to make sure that you have a good home. A nice, strong home that will keep your wife and children safe from harm. Because, Natsu, that’s what happens when you mate: you beget children. That’s why it’s important to not join with a mate until you are both ready for that possibility.”

The child appeared puzzled. “Are you sure that humans do that stuff, too? It sounds more like dragon stuff.”

“My boy, you’ll learn more and more that the lifestyles of dragons and humans are not as different as they seem. And regardless—you may be human in body and mind, but you have the soul of a dragon. You’re my son.”

Natsu barreled towards Igneel to nuzzle his arm. “That’s right, I am!” he cheered. “And I don’t care what you say about the future—we’ll always be together. You’ll see.”

The dragon smiled. “Yes, we will. I guarantee it.”

Read the rest on AO3.

#nalu gift exchange 2023 #nalu fanfiction #merry christmas everyone!!!#so happy i could participate this year #bowscale

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nostromo13 · 4 months

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Fandom: Fairy Tail

Pairing: Nalu

Rating: T

Summary: Following the Alvarez war, Natsu has to come to terms with a new reality.

Merry Christmas! I did this one for @endragoneel and I loved their prompts. I wish I'd had more time for it, but other commitments got in the way. I hope you love it regardless, Ever. I definitely want to write more on this topic in the future. Also a big thank you to @allaboutnalu for the mountain of effort that went into organizing the whole gift exchange <3

A little additional info: Cymorth, the title, is a Welsh word that translates to support/aid (thank you to the anonymous person who corrected me on what I previously thought it was! I really appreciated it as I’m rusty on my Welsh)

AO3 Link

Cymorth

“No, dipshit, side K should be on side 296. Wait, that can’t be right.” Gray grumbled, snatching up the instructions to take another look.

Natsu groaned. His hands hadn’t hurt this much since he’d thrown Zeref through the wall of the guildhall. Or maybe since waking up on Tenrou island and the sleep state had preserved not only him but all the cuts and bruises of the fight with Hades too. They’d been at this table and its gibberish instructions for hours, doing their part in the post Alvarez war rebuild by shaping up Magnolia’s library. The whole rebuild process taking way too long for his liking and aching palms were just adding to his impatience.

When Gray began to grumble again, he’d decided he’d had enough. He let the pieces he was holding together at a weird 79 degree angle drop to the floor, creating a loud bang that displeased his entire team and earned him a few choice words as he made his way over to Lucy’s bedroom.

He spied his girlfriend as he poked his head through her doorway, seeing that she was busy sorting through the piles of books torn down from the library shelves in the tremors caused by Acnologia’s attacks. The rest of their teammates had set up base in her living room, arguing through the instructions to build a new book returns table, the noise of which had sent her out to, as she put it, concentrate. He’d sat back from that argument for once, finding more enjoyment in observing since constructing things was not one of his strengths.

Feeling like she was a little too comfortable he readied himself for a sneak attack. Legs set to pounce, fingers ready to poke her relentlessly into annoyance and muscles primed to hold on until she either paid attention to him or Lucy kicked him for pestering her.

He took one step towards her, then another. Her back faced him and with every move closer he could feel the anticipation of how delicious this attack was going to be. Listening to Erza and Gray bark orders at Wendy, Carla and Happy all afternoon had his attention well and truly fried and more importantly his Lucy quota was severely deficient.

His attack progression paused for a moment as he caught himself up in the excitement of it. His partner was in front of him. Alive and safe, busy kneeled in a mountain of books that he was sure to be her happy place. He let out a quiet laugh to himself, foolishly giving the game away and attracting her attention.

Lucy turned her head to pay him a quick glance before returning to her work, speaking to him. “Are you going to stand there all day or are you going to help me?”

“I’m bored.” He complained, rather like an impatient child. Or dragon slayer.

He joined her anyway, nudging a space for himself with his foot in the book pile with more carelessness than Lucy would appreciate. “If the table is done you could see what they’re doing at the guildhall. I have a few more hours of work before I’m done here tonight and I’m not sure how much fun you’ll find this, sorry.”

He gave her bedroom a glance for anything to distract himself while she worked, but nothing took his fancy after so many hours of a tedious task. His attention only really fell on who he’d come in here to distract. His girlfriend enjoyed little organisation jobs and appeared entirely content in the little book nest she’d messied the bedroom floor with.

In the few hours he hadn’t seen her Lucy had tied her hair up. It lay in a braid down her back, and pieces were slipping out each time she moved her head from the absentminded attempt to get her hair out of her face while trying to continue working at the same time.

With an audible “Hmph” Natsu sat himself down behind her. He tugged the hair tie gently so it fell into his hand and he got to work combing out any tangles with his fingers.

He felt her tilt her head slightly into his fidgeting, glad she hadn’t put up a protest and possibly gladder that he hadn’t gone through with his first approach of distracting her. As he worked through her hair and began braiding her features released the tense expression that she usually wore when she needed to concentrate. Lucy always looked a little upset when she did that and he could never quite wrap his head around the idea that she was perfectly okay, She had agreed that her resting face was one that did appear quite frowny, but she’d assured him she wasn’t really thinking of anything when she was like that.

“I’m bored.” Her brow creased as she held two books in her hand, looking between them, but she didn’t acknowledge his statement. “And I’m hungry.”

“Gray said he was going on a food run in a bit. Why don’t you go with him?”

“Don’t wanna go with him. He’s smelly.”

She chuckled a little, not wanting to encourage his insult. “I have too much to do. Go get food and I’ll join you when it’s here.”

He tied the end of her new braid off, letting it fall flat against her back and shuffled closer so his chin could rest on her shoulder, pressing a kiss to the fabric of one of his hoodies that lived here. “Take a break with me.”

She smiled, shaking her head.

“C’mon, you’ll strain your eyes.”

With a little huff of her own she began to stretch her legs, leaning against his chest comfortably as she did so. He tucked her head under his chin, meeting her eyes at an angle that made her giggle. “Pizza or Pad see ew?”

“Why do you get to choose?”

He stood as she moved, offering her a hand up off the floor. “Because it’s my turn. And only a few take out places have passed the damage checks.” Her eyes narrowed on him. “I want crepes.”

He hadn’t gathered the heart to tell her nowhere would be open at this time that did them when Gray dropped an agitated f-bomb from the adjoining room. Natsu laughed loudly with Lucy, hoping the ice freak could hear him through the wall.

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

With a quick goodbye and collection of orders from their teammates, they set off down the canal streets to the centre of town where more food options were available. Lucy had opted for a jacket as the September air was now turning frigid and Lucy was the sort that if she didn’t have a hundred layers on in the colder months she’d complain until her fingers fell off. Except he’d never let that happen.

Her fingers met his as they walked, her pale hand clasping his tanned one together in an easy swing between them. It was a short walk to the town centre, and a small debate between the two ended them up at a small dumpling place being run out of the back of a pizza restaurant in an agreement made by two neighbourly owners for the time it took for Magnolia to rebuild.

“I’ve got Wendy some mango pudding.” She told him as she joined him standing outside the restaurant for their order to be prepared. “She liked it here last time, but it can be hit and miss.”

Natsu nodded, taking her hand back. Her skin felt cool in his, contrary to her having been inside moments ago, although his warmer temperature made it hard to tell sometimes. “Are you cold?”

“No, I’m fine. It’s just chilly.”

She didn’t need to ask. He ran his arms up and down hers, pulling her closer so she could benefit off his body heat.

“It’s only 50 degrees.”

He laughed at her trying to pretend it wasn’t a big deal. It always felt like a big deal to him when she couldn’t handle the winter months as well as him. He hated the way it made her slow in the mornings and shower ten minutes longer each time. It was nice that it made her cuddle up to him more. She was less of a physically affectionate person, whereas he naturally drifted towards it. At least with her anyway. He’d identified a similar thought sometime around her birthday just before the war.

She gave into his warmth, thinking they probably appeared silly to anyone that looked at them both rubbing her arms.

“After the heat from your book everything just feels a bit mediocre in comparison.” She admitted jokingly between them. “Don’t look at me like that, Natsu. I didn’t mean it to worry you.”

“I always worry about you.” His eyes dropped from hers, looking at the thick coat on her shoulders. He’d ceased warming her arms, stopped her biceps.

“Food order for Lucy.” A waiter called out from the restaurant doors, holding out two full paper bags.

Natsu dropped his hold, grabbing the food with a “Thanks” before they set off back.

The roads were quiet this time of night, and the currently displaced citizens temporarily living in Onibus meant the place was even less populated. Magnolia wasn’t meant to be quiet. Natsu was used to there being a hundred different sounds to choose from every time they walked down the main streets. Now all he could hear was the canal beneath their feet under the bridge and Lucy struggling to adjust her hold on the dumplings.

“Give it here.” Liberating the bag, he paused as she protested. She glared, pouting unconscious of where the streetlights managed to shadow the top portion of her face, making it all the more funny to him.

“What?”

He smirked, showing a cheeky canine. “Nothing.”

“Can we go home then. I’m freezing my butt off out here.” She waddled on the spot in a little Lucy-warming-up dance, trying to produce some friction between her hands. He only responded by watching, making a face that didn’t require him to verbalise to call her a weirdo. “Natsu please it’s practically Baltic.”

“I wanna sit for a bit.”

“The food will get cold.”

He ignored her, dumping the bags by the bridge side and sitting on the stone ledge, letting his legs dangle freely. She may have huffed and puffed behind him in annoyance, but knowing if she had would have required him to put in the effort to turn around. “I’ll warm it up later.” He excused when she finally joined him.

They sat for a small while, taking in the pleasures of a calm September night. The rebuild effort was taking a lot out of everyone at the guild and sometimes Natsu just needed a moment. He thought that after the war forced their lives to stop as it raged through everything they called home he could take a few moments to appreciate it occasionally. Even if it meant food would wait five minutes.

Beside him Lucy swung her legs, leaning back to watch the stars, her teeth absentmindedly chewing on her lip. He hadn’t meant to start watching her, but she had a way of capturing his attention sometimes, and it surprised him when she suddenly spoke.

“Do you think about END?” Lucy asked, eyes still buried in the night sky.

He felt himself frown. It was a valid question; he just never knew where she got them from when she came up with stuff like this. Normally it was more along the lines of ‘What do you think sheep count to go to sleep?’ and not the existential sort. He nodded. “Not so much when I’m in the shower, but when I’m hungry I know he needs feeding.”

She smiled. “I get it if you don’t want to talk about it.”

Actually, she really didn’t get it. She’d analysed every bit of her life since they found out her partner was END to see any way she could relate to what he was going through. Finding out something so big so far down the line felt earthshattering to her.

“I guess it answered some questions for me.” He shrugged and she turned, listening with care. “I didn’t know there was a part of me out there in some book, but it doesn’t feel strange.” He paused before he continued with a new thought. “Like when they said I’ve got that dysleck- dyslexic what’s-it.”

“Dyslexia.”

“Yeah. And I didn’t know letters weren’t meant to look like that because that’s all I know. It’s not as if dragons get dyslexia, so how was Igneel supposed to have spotted it when he was teaching me.”

She hummed, understanding better.

“END doesn’t feel separate to me. I just feel a little less tied down.” Natsu corrected himself when worry graced her features. “Not tied down. Just… I think it’s the knowing now that I was tied to that thing, tied to Zeref when he’s the bastard that’s been causing us trouble for so long. I’m happy I got to pound his face into the ground.”

“Without him I never would have met you.” Lucy spoke with a small smile. “I know it’s wrong for me to think about it like that when the whole of Fiore has been affected by what he’s done. I can’t help but want to be a little selfish. Without you I-”

“I get it.” He interrupted accidentally in his eagerness to agree. “I haven’t exactly processed what he did or what he is meant to mean to me. I don’t care about rushing on that. It gave me a chance to meet you, and Happy and everyone else. I wouldn’t be me without ya.”

He gathered her into his hold, her arms holding tight around his neck. She pressed her nose into Natsu’s collar, inhaling his warmth as he stroked her hair. They sat like that for a few minutes. The only presence around them on the cold street whatever wildlife hadn’t been scared off or killed in the war.

Finally, he pulled away. “Did you find the book after you lost it?”

Lucy shook her head. “It disintegrated, Natsu. It shouldn’t be possible for it to turn up again.”

He didn’t like the way her mouth had settled into a sharp line. His skin pricked with anxiety as a wave of stress washed over him. “Does me being END bother you? Like, dating me?”

“What?” She didn’t drop the line, instead directing it more towards him. “Why would you think that? I-” She allowed herself to breathe, refocusing herself on the conversation. “I love you. I love every part of you.”

“Every part?” He grinned into an innuendo, achieving the look of dismay he sought from his girlfriend.

“If I do break up with you it’ll be over you saying stuff like that in public. Maybe I’ll shack up with Cana.” She quickly backtracked. “No actually, she’d be worse.”

“Like you making gooey eyes at my chest when we’re at the guildhall is any different? Besides,” He leaned in closer, his breath meltingly warm against her lips. “We’re not in public. There’s no one here.”

She felt a warm hand place on her thigh, stroking above her jeans, the surprise of it sparking the same feeling Natsu could always elicit from her. Lips pressed to her own, paying particular attention to where she abused the skin frequently as he continued kissing her. Lucy pressed her chest closer to his with a tug on his jacket. His hand came up to stroke her cheek, taking his lips away to smile down at her. She felt herself getting enchanted, and it took a good effort for her to steel herself, brushing his hand off and standing up, too aware of the sharp drop into water 2 inches of a footstep wrong. “If you’re going to do that it’s not going to be where any peeping Tom can get a free show from their curtains. We’ve got food to deliver, come on.”

He followed her off the edge, picking up their food before slinging an arm around her shoulders. Their delay in grabbing dinner had meant a very hangry Gray and several apologies from Lucy, but they did eventually get a Natsu-rewarmed meal.

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

Natsu yawned as he shuffled out of bed, stretching his arms over his head as he made his way to the bathroom in the dark. He’d heard the hour beep on Lucy’s bedside alarm clock, and by his guess it was about 2 AM. Erza, Gray, Wendy and the exceeds had left around 10, leaving him to distract Lucy from the hundred more books she insisted needed sorting tonight. He had managed to coax her into another rewatch of How to Train Your Dragon. A movie he insisted was a cinematic marvel and later when Lucy had introduced the books to him a literary marvel too.

Upon leaving the bathroom he glanced over to his girlfriend passed out in the bed. She’d encroached onto his side in the few minutes he had taken to pee and, worrying it might’ve meant she was seeking his heat, he decided on fetching another blanket to throw on top of the small mountain she required.

He opened her chest of drawers first, finding none of the thicker sort she preferred, before opening her wardrobe. He lifted the first of the fluffy ones, gathering the large monstrosity over his shoulder as his eye caught on the object that had sat beneath the blanket.

It was a book. One with worn brown leather bound to a thick manuscript of papers. It had a patiently decorated boarder with a small sun facing down from the top. If he’d analysed it closely he maybe could have seen that it had been read and re-read many times, but his attention lay solely on the front cover, and the black painted-on font that read ‘E.N.D’.

#Nalu #Nalu Gift Exchange #Nalu Gift Exchange 2023 #END #Fairy Tail

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kaleighkarma · 4 months

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Happy NaLu Gift Exchange 2023!!!!

I did my piece for @smappybubbles where I imposed their nalu day art and embroidered it. I’m not great at drawing or writing but I wanted to challenge myself and enter the community in some way so here I am doing my best. I hope you love this piece as much as I do because I worked on it for about 2 weeks straight. Transferring curves was the hardest part but I loved your art so much it was so super worth it!

I love these idiots and I love this art and I love this community.

Thank you @allaboutnalu for setting this up! This was so fun and I’ve loved everyone’s entry and I can’t wait to see the rest!!

Also a special thank you @tokkias l for being my number one supporter and encouraging everyone to do their best. I don’t think I could have done it without you 💛

Anyways I’ve rambled enough so if you have any questions my DMs are open. I hope you all have a lovely day!!!!

#nalu #my art #fairy tail #nalu gift exchange 2023 #I really hope you like it #Kaleigh’s Crafts #idk I just made that tag I’m sure this won’t be the last because it was lots of fun and I know Mya will convince me to do more 🥰🥰🥰#and yes I took these shots at golden hour in the fall because the leaves were so pretty #I wanted to make sure I got this done done #also I love you Mya!!!! I’m so super proud of you!!!! I cannot wait for the next one!!!!

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teleiapotami · 4 months

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AAN Gift Exchange

It's gifting day for the @allaboutnalu exchange!! Happiest holidays to you @nostromo13!! I hope you like it. EDIT: Oh, and as always, thank you to my amazing Beta, @kaleighkarma, you rock!

Wishes Granted

The flower shop on the main market street of Magnolia was always busy. The noisy crowds, floral scents, and the emotions attached to the errand left Natsu feeling so overwhelmed that he usually had to spend half an hour recovering from the headache he got when he had to go. The old woman who ran the shop had offered to deliver them, but the walk had become part of his ritual, and he didn’t want to change it. Removing any part of the process would be disrespectful; like she wasn’t worth his full effort anymore, and she was. Sweet Mavis, she was worth it.

But today was different. Today he was letting Lucy come with him, and she wasn’t about to let him suffer through the flower shop. He considered arguing with her, but explaining why it mattered that things be done just this way would require other explanations that he wasn’t quite ready to give her. So he gave her a mumbled ‘thanks’ and watched her disappear into the shop.

Inside, Lucy stepped around the clumps of people working with the florists to create custom arrangements and leaned against the counter gently. She took a slow, deep breath, basking in the medley of floral scents that surrounded her. It reminded her of a night, long ago, when a Rainbow Sakura tree had floated past her house, raining its petals into the canal. The scent of the tree had permeated the street for days afterward.

“How can I help you dear?” the shop owner asked, stepping over to Lucy.

“Um, I need a bouquet of….” she paused, pulling a slip of paper out of her pocket. “Nine carnations, in red, pink, and white.” The woman nodded and turned to the wall of blossoms behind her.

“Such a simple gathering, but a powerful message. Giving them to someone special?”

Lucy shook her head and looked out the window at her pink-haired partner. “I’m picking them up for a friend. He has a sensitive nose.” The woman followed her line of sight and nodded.

“Ah, the young dragon-slayer. He is usually in a hurry when he comes. Here you are, dear,” she said kindly. Lucy paid for the flowers and thanked her before stepping back out to join Natsu. He smiled at her, but it didn’t quite reach his eyes. Lucy bit her lip, worried for him.

“Thanks, Lucy. Come on, I wanna show you something,” he said, offering her his hand. He slipped his fingers between hers easily when she took it and led her out of the city. They followed the usual path to his house, but instead of going in as she expected, he led her up the hillside behind it and then on until they came to a narrow, winding river. A large weeping willow stood at the side of the river, with a few of its vines trailing into the water, dancing in the current.

Natsu let her hand go and smiled around at the view. “I know it doesn’t look like much, but the stars are incredible,” he said with forced ease.

Lucy shook her head. “It’s really nice Natsu. But…we could have gone to Star Hill if you wanted to look at the stars tonight. You didn’t have to bring me somewhere special.”

“That’s not the only reason I brought you here,” he said quietly, moving to the willow. He pulled back a section of the vines and jerked his head inside the sanctuary. “She’s in here.”

Lucy hesitated, biting into her lip again. “She who?”

He vanished into the greenery without answering. She stared at the veil for a heartbeat, then followed him. The thick curtain of vines created a cool, shaded clearing under its canopy. The babbling sounds of the river’s current were hushed, and the sun shone between the branches, creating columns of light that slanted through the secret place.

Natsu was squatting in front of a stone monument close to the tree trunk, brushing stray grass and twigs away from it. She stood a bit behind him quietly, reading the words carved into the stone.

The eternal adventure awaits.

Thank you for our future.

“I know they can’t put up a monument for her in the capital and all, but she deserves one. I think she would have wanted to be out here under the stars.,” he said softly. He lifted a hand and traced the letters slowly.

Lucy felt a tingle run down her spine as realization struck. This was a memorial to her. Future Lucy, who had survived unthinkable horrors just to give everything she had and more to save a future she would never get to see. Lucy wiped her eyes before the tears escaped them and upset him.

“Oh, Natsu,” she whispered. “Yeah, you’re right. She would have loved this place.” She saw his shoulders shake for a moment, but she couldn’t be sure of what emotion he was suppressing. She laid her hand on his shoulder softly as he laid the gathering of carnations beside the stone. “I’m… going to set up the picnic out by the river. Take your time,” she said softly. She made her way back out of the shrine glancing back at him before parting the vines again.

Natsu shifted to lay back in the grass beside the stone. “Hey, Lucy. Sorry that it’s been a while since I brought you flowers. Things got kinda crazy for a while there.” He stretched his arms out behind his head and sighed slowly. “I just…I wanted to talk to you.”

“It feels like it’s over now. Zeref is dead…and Acnologia is gone now too. I think her future is safe now.” He closed his eyes, basking in the rare breeze that ruffled his hair. “Now that it’s over I can’t stop thinking about her. I wanna hold her. I’m tired of pretending.”

He opened his eyes and watched the light dancing between the vines. “What do you think? You’d know her better than I do….is she ready?” he asked the stone. “Did your Natsu ever manage to tell you how he felt? I don’t think he would have…”

“He didn’t have to watch you die,” he whispered falling silent. He stared blindly up at the branches for what felt like hours before rolling over to look at the stone. “I think about that a lot. Did he love you as much as I love her? Did you love him too? ……Does she?” His voice was barely above a whisper. “I wish things could have been different for you and him. I hope you find each other again,” he murmured. He pushed himself into a squat and gazed at the flowers he’d left.

“Happy Birthday Lucy,” he said gently before standing up. “Wish me luck.”

*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ *~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~

“I’m sorry I’m keeping you from the guild party,” Natsu said softly. He was lying shoulder to shoulder with Lucy on a blanket beside the river. Lucy smiled slightly and pressed against his shoulder so lightly, he wasn’t entirely sure she had actually moved.

“Don’t worry. They’ll throw another one. Fairy Tail never needs an excuse to go all out. I’d rather be out here with you anyway,” she replied easily. Her words made his heart swell and he shifted, slipping his arm under her neck, and pulled her against his side. She squirmed for a moment, rolling onto her side, and resting her head on his shoulder. Her arm tentatively slipped around his chest, relaxing into place at his hum of pleasure.

“You were right about the stars. I think the view here is even better than Star Hill’s,” she murmured.

Natsu chuckled softly and lifted his chin to rest on her head. “Nah….it’s just the company that makes it better. We don’t have to listen to half the city talking.”

“Or Jet and Droy crying over Gajeel snuggling with Levy,” Lucy giggled.

“Yeah. It’s better because we’re together….alone,” he said, smiling slightly at the way her atm tightened around his chest slightly. “I got you something,” he said, pulling a box out of his pocket and offering it to her.

“You didn’t have to do that Natsu! Coming here with you was enough,” she protested as she sat up to take it. He shook his head.

“Nah. Not this year. This one’s special.

He watched her unwrap the silver paper and open the box, his heart in his throat. This was either going to go perfectly, or horribly. Lucy gasped softly, tracing her finger over the necklace inside. A delicate silver chain held a star-shaped crystal that was filled with what looked like glittering water.

“Natsu, what…” she breathed, looking up at him. He smiled slightly and looked away.

“It’s water…from Aquarius’s urn. I had Loke help me out,” he explained, turning back to her when he heard her sniffle. “I hope you like it…” he mumbled.

“Natsu I love it!” Lucy dropped the box, threw her arms around his neck, and kissed his cheek. Natsu froze against her momentarily and she pulled back, blushing. “S-sorry, I didn’t mean to do that…” she whispered, mortified.

Natsu blinked a few times, then reached out and cupped her cheek gently. “I came out here for more than just your birthday. I wanted…to talk to her before I told you something really important,” he said gently, brushing her bangs out of her eyes.

“I love you, Lucy. I-I’m in love with you, I mean. I have been for a long time…longer than I knew it I think. It didn’t feel right telling you before Zeref….well, you know.” He dropped his hand from her cheek and leaned back to stare up at the stars. “It’s okay if you don’t feel the same. I don’t expect you to, eapecially after the whole demon thing…but—”

“Natsu, you idiot,” Lucy snapped. He blinked, looking at her. “Demon, Dragon, Human, I don’t care! You’re you, and that’s all that matters,” she said firmly. “You’re my Natsu, and I love you,” she whispered.

“Really?” he asked, sitting back up. She nodded, letting out a choked giggle when he shifted to one knee and kissed her softly. Her arms came up around his neck as she let him guide her to lay back on the blanket. He pulled back after a moment and smiled slowly.

“What?” Lucy said, fighting a blush.

Natsu kissed her gently again. “I love you,” he said, savoring the words. “I’ve wanted to say it for so long….I think you’re gonna get sick of me saying it,” he chuckled.

Lucy laughed, cupping his cheek. “Not a chance.”

He was about to close the distance between them again when Lucy let out a gasp. “Look Natsu, a shooting star! Make a wish,” she said with a grin. Natsu turned back to her, watching the stars shine in her bright eyes, and shook his head.

“I don’t need to,” he said as he laid back next to her and pulled her against him. “I’ve already got everything I ever wanted.”

#fairy tail fanfic #fairy tail nalu #natsu x lucy #lucy heartfilia #natsu dragneel #fairy tail #creative writing #hurt/comfort #love confessions #friends to lovers #gift exchange #nalu gift exchange 2023

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genavere · 4 months

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Nalu Gift Exchange

For the @allaboutnalu gift exchange, I had @lcydragneel!

I will admit, I struggled hard with the fluff, and this was actually my third attempt on a story. I am sorry for the lack of fluff, but I think I got most of everything else! If you have an AO3 account, let me know and I will add you as the giftee! Enjoy!

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Nightmares of the Soul

Everything had gone cold, quiet. A desolate absence settled over the world as the one who had been Natsu Dragneel passed from the world. His heart had failed to beat. His lungs deflated with not even a breath to fill them. The ever-enduring flame had been snuffed out, and she felt it all the way down into her very soul.

Fingers shook even as she tried to write in the book of E.N.D., but how could she keep writing if tears blurred her vision? No matter how hard she tried to clear them, more gathered on her lashes and stained her cheeks.

“Lucy!” Gray called to her, but his voice sounded miles away, barely echoing off mountain peaks to reach her. If he said more would remain a mystery as waves broke and pulled her underwater, filling her ears and lungs, reducing both to a state of uselessness.

There was no way he could be gone, right?

No matter how many times the enemy had knocked them down, somehow, against all odds, Natsu always pulled himself up and finished the fight. If it meant protecting his guild, family, and friends, he would put his own being on the line to ensure their safety.

But he had never died before! They always came out on top, the victors to go on another adventure together, to wake up and know the other would be there.

Magic pulsed around her, warring with the burning heat of her skin—the extinguished flame in her soul offered no heat to ward it off. When the cold snap of ice magic burned her skin, not a sound or attempt to pull away came from her. Not with her heart breaking at the loss of their connection, the realization why her body dimmed and dulled, or when the hammer of truth finally crashed down on her.

Natsu was gone...

He was gone.

He...

“Natsu!”

Air caught in her throat. Gut churning coughs tore at the insides of her throat, cutting off any way of gasping in air. Hands grasped the blankets, twisting and pulling them, wheezing for any morsels of breath she could. Another round started just at the end of the last and her gag reflexes had her scrambling from the bed.

Blankets caught up around her feet, toes tripped over the rug, and her own legs couldn’t seem to go straight. The cover of the toilet barely lifted before everything from dinner's salad to the cheat ice cream she had before bed came back up and out of her mouth and nose. Acidic bile burned her sinuses and throat, leaving a vile taste that nearly added to the mess in the bowl.

Air finally filled her lungs, tinged with the scent of vomit. With her nose plugged with particles of food and bile, she forced herself to breathe through her mouth. Saliva and left overs dribbled down in long strands from her lips, adding to the disgusting pile that was Lucy Heartfilia at that moment.

That nightmare...a cold, dead weight settled in her stomach and brought another wave of nausea. Luckily, she managed to keep everything down this time, but the feel of it haunted her, lingering into her waking thoughts. It hadn’t been the first time it had struck without warning, nor the first time it left her with dark circles. When she would find herself home and soaking in a bath, silence would buzz in her ears, needles prickled her skin, and tears sent ripples through the bath water.

No one could understand her distress. The grief, shock, and heart-wrenching terror she had felt in those endlessly long seconds when he had been taken from the world.

From Fairy Tail.

From her.

No one else had felt the flame extinguish from both of their souls—souls connected by a life story and a demonic book. Not even the other half of the connection.

In those few seconds, she had truly been alone. The flames that had seared his soul, been passed down from dragons to slayers, rose up and claimed her for itself. Their souls had burned and fused together, fluttering as the beat of their hearts aligned.

Neither her spirits nor the guild could come close to the connection she had made with him while rewriting his book.

When the chill of mortality spread from the depths of her soul, the thought of dying with Natsu filled her with a sense of peace that scared and calmed her. A way for them to go together and continue their adventures. But while his fluttered and seized, her heart had crumbled and bled.

Getting up from the floor with the help of the toilet, she wiped her mouth and blew her nose to get rid of the taste and smell. A sigh dropped her shoulders when she realized she would need to brush her teeth again.

Another night without a restful sleep, another day to worry about others asking what was bothering her. There had to be a foundation she could use to hide the dark rings under her eyes, or a spell to keep her energy up. Anything to keep Natsu's attentive eyes away from catching on.

Most knew him only as an aloof moron, but he always seemed to instinctively know whenever something was wrong with her. During a mission a few months ago, she had taken a bad hit in the midsection, but the bruising had been hidden by her clothing. Without being able to see or smell any blood, he had come up to her and tried to pull her shirt over her head.

Erza had nearly cut his head off, flames of fury making everyone back away in fear except him. With a seriousness that spoke of his concern, everyone had turned from glaring at him to waiting on her.

Had he felt something through the link? She doubted he had even felt it in the first place.

Since that day almost a full year ago, not once had she felt anything from his side. The bond was still there, warm and steady, but that was all. No other connection, no heartbeat, no flames. Not even a way to talk telepathically, the writer in her grumbled. That had to be how he felt it, she reasoned and slathered a dollop of toothpaste on the bristles of her brush.

Maybe she would just stay home, she mused, letting the mindless action of brushing her teeth droll away as she thought over the coming day. She had been waiting for the last review of her book from the publisher. A final call before her dream came true and it was published. There had been so many revisions and edits that had to be done to get to that point. Characters that needed to be cut or adjusted, sections of story that fit in better areas, editing–everything she had known would happen, but had gnawed on her nerves either way. Everyone in the guild knew how much she had been fretting over it, and now in the homestretch, maybe she could use it as an excuse to stay home.

Not that she needed an excuse, but without one, a certain dragon slayer would appear on her windowsill.

Spitting the foam out, she scrubbed her tongue and rinsed her mouth and face thoroughly. Yeah, just staying home and catching up on sleep sounded like the best plan, and they had only come back from a mission last week. Rent was paid, her fridge stocked with enough food to feed an army—an army of one fire dragon slayer and an Exceed. No one would expect her to be rearing to go on another mission for another week when she needed more food and rent hovered over her head.

A shot of pain brought her attention back and stared at the area where the magna lines from the book had once marred her skin. No visible marks lingered there now, but at times when Natsu needed more energy or grew furious, she could feel the crevasses burrow through her skin again. Could feel his power surge, tingling down to her bones. There were times she wished she could take on some of that power during fights when her own magic power was near exhausted.

There were some things that she noticed were different besides their connection. Where the lines once burned her right eye, she could now see things that were…different. No matter how hard she tried to explain it, the words would never do it justice and no one understood what she meant. And it was hard to find the right description of since it had only happened a handful of times. Even after Levy had tried to help her research and find some magic that could cause it, nothing came up.

In the end, they had to chalk it up to a lost magic or something that had been part of the Black Wizard Zeref spell on the END book.

Whether it was just lingering ghost pains or possible damage she sustained from writing in a demon book, she had known the risks and took it. Only Levy knew of the potential issue since she didn’t want to worry anyone else or face their guilt.

Everyone in their group had a hard time accepting that they can only do so much even after all these years growing. Gray normally felt guilt over things he could control and would feel responsible for not removing all of the demonic magic.

Erza had been fighting her own battles, but would still argue that she should have been there to protect them. Being the highest rank wizard on their team put pressures on her that she refused to admit but they all could see.

Wendy had grown quite a bit in the years since she joined Fairy Tail, developing a inner strength that they were all proud of, but even she suffered from negative thoughts. Being the healer of the group left her with the largest responsibility when the physical fighting was over and they now fought for their lives from their injuries. Not being able to find the cause of the issue would bring a babble of apologies forward and she would risk exerting herself to try to fix it.

And Natsu…

“Lucy.”

No one would believe that for half a second the once unclimbable wall behind her had been conquered. The item in her hand—the toothbrush she had forgotten to put back in the cup—had been chucked at the unexpected voice, and a squeal that would have raised the dead filled the apartment. Her neighbors were going to complain again, but she might be on the verge of being murdered!

Where her toothbrush had landed, a sandaled foot stepped down from the open window and her eyes traveled up the leg, over the bare chest, to the dragon scale scarf, and finally landing on the concerned eyes of her teammate and very person she had just been thinking of: Natsu Dragneel.

“Natsu.” Her entire body sagged, no longer having the adrenaline to climb walls, before she straightened up and glared at the man in her window, hissing. “Natsu! What have I told you about coming in through my window! And unannounced in the middle of the night!”

“What did you dream about,” he cut her off—probably hadn’t realized she had been yelling at him, if she were honest—and stalked over to her. A trace of something flickered up the back of her skull and she stepped back from his approach.

“W-what are you talking about?”

“Lucy—” he gripped her upper arms and locked eyes with her, “—Tell me, I need to know!”

“How did you—”

“You know how.”

Ripping her gaze away from him, she shook her head and tried to force the dream away along with the feelings they invoked. If she voiced it out loud, it would come back. Tears gathered on her eyelashes, “Please, Natsu…don’t make me remember it.”

Heated arms engulfed her, pressing her against his muscled chest that she clung to. A swell of emotions rose up and her grip wrapped around his chest, burying her face into the scales of his scarf, and shuddered. He burned like the fires he consumed compared to her chilled, clammy skin, and served as a reminder that he still lived. That those dreams served only as a reminder of what had happened.

As a reminder of what could happen again.

Her nails dug into the skin of his back, the realization that he wore no shirt or vest crept in the back of her mind. There should have been embarrassment, but the tears that dampened his scarf added enough red to her face.

Beneath her fingers, his skin felt damp and sticky from traces of sweat. She gnawing on her lower lip and wondered if he had ran all the way there from his own. Just the implication that he had rushed to be with her in the middle of the night after a dream made her insides dance.

Younger Lucy would have been mortified at the thought that the person she fell in love with wasn’t a charming prince or a dazzling knight she had read in books. That instead of those imaginary characters, she would fall for the Dragon Slayer who made all of her dreams come true.

Ear pressed against his chest, the rhythmic beating of his heart gave her something to focus on and his scent filled her lungs. Just having him near helped calm her. Swallowing thickly, she burrowed further into his scarf.

“You died.” The words came out barely above a whisper and muffled from the fabric, but she knew he heard her. Fingers curled and her nails sunk into his back. “I felt your flame extinguish again and it scared me.”

Tears fell heavier then, staining her cheeks as she stared up at him. “It scares me, Natsu, to think I could lose you and feel you leave me. That my soul will feel the chill of never having you close ever again.”

“Lucy…” He stared down at her, his voice trailing off at the end of her name, but that was to be expected. What could she expect from someone with atrocious handwriting who could only give passionate speeches during the heat of battle when he himself was riled up. What she needed to hear from him would never pass by his lips. They were friends, partners, teammates. There was no reason he would—

“Can I kiss you?”

What?

“What?” She took a step back, needing that space to view his face and consider what she thought he said. Of everything that she might have prepared herself for—did he even know what he was asking? “You’re joking, right?”

“Does it look like I am joking?” Instead of following her, he rolled his shoulders back and released her so she could back up. Yet, even with ever step she took, his eyes stayed locked with her own.

She managed to pull her gaze away from his and look around the room, wiping the tears that kept falling from her face. “Where’s Happy?” she choked out, pained laughter came out with intervals of hiccups that caught painfully in her chest. “Is he going to pop out and say this was a big joke? Don’t bother if he is, this not funny, Natsu!”

“Lucy.” The way he spoke her name—his fists clenched at his side, eyes narrowed, and voice low—it made her feel small, like a bunny caught by a predator ready to pounce. Only, she did not know if she liked the way it made her feel.

Warmth spread over her cheeks and up to her ear tips as he continued to stare. “Why are you staring at me like that?”

Crossing her arms over her chest, embarrassment overwhelmed her when the realization that all she had on was her tank top and pajama shorts. No wonder he was staring!

“I’m waiting for an answer.”

“An answer…?”

“Yeah, I asked if I can kiss you.”

He had been serious? Turning away from him, she pressed her hands to her burning face, shaking her head. “This is all a dream. I am still dreaming.” It was the only way she could think of any of this happening. The waking world Natsu would never ask to kiss her!

“Please, Lucy,” he sounded further away–smaller, like a child admitting to believing in something they shouldn’t. “During my fight with Zeref—” They both cringed at the memory of that day and how it played out. “—I died. The wound he gave me stopped my heart. I had no air in my lungs—fuck, I felt myself go cold!”

Arms turned her to face him and gripped her arms tightly—enough to keep her there, but not to bruise. Once more, their eyes locked, and there was such vulnerability in his it made her heart throb. Her own hands reached out and gripped his biceps, clinging to him to ground herself to the present.

“When I woke up,” he continued, lifting a hand and caressed her face softly to brush stray hairs back. “All I felt was you. Everything you did, all your emotions—it was really hard to focus, but I knew I was alive cause I felt them.”

A boyish grin spread over his face and he leaned in closer, their foreheads touching. “That was when I knew Happy was right and you loved me.”

The amount of sputtering she released only added to his grin and he laughed. Unable to hold down her own giggles that bubbled up, her own laughter joined his and filled the apartment. Everything about the night felt surreal. Fingers dug into muscles that flexed and her body sagged in relief.

This was real, she realized, watching him with eyes full of wonder. Both of them stood in her apartment, laughing over nothing after everything had been so tense and serious.

Can I kiss you?

A breath caught in her throat at the memory and realized he hadn’t tried to kiss her yet. That he actually cared enough to get her permission, first. Would it be proper for her to kiss him without asking? Consent was important, but he had asked first…

Taking a chance with the last bit of courage she had, her feet pushed up to her tippy toes and her head tilted to the side just enough to catch his lips against hers.

At first, she felt him still, smile fading, and body tense. Then, he shifted and kissed her back. Everything was soft. His lips, actions, and even his grip. It was soft and tentative. Together, their movements remained slow and gentle, both relishing in this new step they took forward.

Surprisingly, he pulled back first, his hand cupping her cheek and caressing it with a thumb. The smile he gave her lit up the entire room and her knees felt weak.

“That,” his voice lowered an octave, sending a different kind of shiver through her, “was awesome!”

“You are such a child,” she chided, her laughter taking away any bite it might have carried. “What am I supposed to do with you?”

“Say you’ll stay with me forever.”

Lucy felt her heart skipped a beat or two. The passion and determination in his eyes mirrored the times he faced a challenge. Did he really mean those words, she wondered, biting her lower lip.

“Someone once told me Celestial Wizards don’t break their promises, and I plan to always be with you,” he continued, tucking some of her hair behind her ear again. “I’ll never leave you again.”

“Is that a promise?”

“You betcha,” he grinned. “Wherever you go, I’ll follow, and where I go, I’ll make sure you come along! We’re a team, partners—”

“And together,” she finished for him, giving him her own smile. “Forever.”

Going to her tippy-toes, she pulled him down and felt his breath over her lips. A shiver of excitement pulsed through her and felt her soul quiver on his side before their lips met again. “I promise.”

#fairy tail #natsu dragneel #lucy heartfilia #nalu #writing #natsu x lucy #fairy tail nalu #fanfiction #fairy tail fanfiction #gift exchange #All About Nalu blog #2023 gift exchange #Genavere

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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.

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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.

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