Year X780

Near the shores of Magnolia, the guild hall of Fairy Tail enjoyed a temporary state of peace. Most of the main trouble makers like Erza, Mirajane, and Gray were away on missions, Happy was asleep and Natsu...

Well, Natsu was in the infirmary, taking care of a feverish Lisanna. He'd been there for the past two days. He was uncharacteristically quiet, knowing that his friend needed rest... And also afraid of what Mira would do to him if he disturbed her little sister.

"Ne, Natsu."

He looked up from the flame he'd been playing with, to a pair of blue eyes. "Nani, Lisanna?"

"Would you look for me if I suddenly disappeared?"

He blinked several times. "Are you planning on going somewhere?"

"Not really. But just say that I did disappear, would you look for me?"

"Of course! You're nakama. And besides, maybe you would've gotten kidnapped by a crazy strong mage that's why you couldn't get back here, and I'll have to beat him up!"

She couldn't help it. She giggled at his enthusiasm at the thought of fighting a strong opponent. "You're a great friend, Natsu."

"Of course I am," he agreed arrogantly.

"Ne, I bet you'd make someone a good husband someday."

"Eh?"

She laughed. "Even so, I kinda feel sorry for whoever you end up with. She'll have to work hard to make you realize that you like her, too."

"Lisanna, what are you talking about?"

"You'll understand someday. Ne, you said you'd come find me if I disappear. Pinky swear?" She held out her hand, pinky extended.

"Sure." Natsu extended his own pinky, and they shook.

"I'll hold you to it."

Year X784

"Natsu, daijoubu?"

"Yeah..."

That wasn't very convincing, Happy thought.

"Natsu, do you want to go to the guild?"

"Not today Happy."

The Exceed flew around Natsu's head. "You know, I think Lucy is going to take on a mission today. We should go with her."

"She can take care of herself for today." Natsu stood abruptly and walked out of their little house, slamming the door behind him.

Happy watched him through the window. He saw Natsu kick a tree standing at the edge of the forest and breaking it almost in half before disappearing into the dense undergrowth.

"Natsu…"

Lucy entered the guild, surprised at the quietness. She headed straight for the bar and was surprised to see Cana behind it instead of Mirajane.

"Ohayou, Cana. Where's Mira?"

"Why Lucy, you'll get me thinking you don't like me," Cana teased.

"It's not that, but usually it's her behind the bar…" She trailed off, looking around. "Say, where's Elfman, too, and Natsu?"

"Mira and Elfman went somewhere this morning. Natsu…" Cana looked around as someone from the other end of the bar called her name. "Hold your horses! Can't you see I'm talking here?!" She turned back to Lucy as the man grumbled. "Lucy, don't you know what today is?"

"Umm, Thursday?"

Cana rolled her eyes. "Well, duh. I mean, did Natsu or Happy say anything to you about today?"

The blonde thought for a moment. "No, I don't think so."

The other woman looked like she was debating something for a moment before muttering something that ended with what sounded like "She's his teammate, for cripe's sake!". She continued out loud, "Well, today is the anniversary of Lisanna's death."

"Lisanna?"

Cana nodded. "She was Mira's and Elfman's sister. She died a few years back. It changed Mira and Elfman a lot."

Lucy digested that piece of information for a while. "So Mira and Elfman had a sister, huh... What do you mean it changed them a lot?"

"Well, you know how Mira's like an angel now and how Elfman's always so noisy and shouting about men? They weren't like that before. Elfman was a quiet guy, and Mira was called The Demon... And not just because of her magic," Cana concluded.

"'The Demon'?" Lucy repeated. "B-but Mira's so nice!"

The brunette scoffed. "She wasn't before, let me tell you. She and Erza always got into fights, and usually the winner couldn't be decided by the end."

Lucy tried hard to imagine it, but she just couldn't. Kind, gentle Mira battling Erza and having a tie? It seemed impossible. But this was Fairy Tail, after all, and weird things were the norm.

"Demo ne, what's this got to do with Natsu?"

Cana grew quiet for a while, a sad look on her face. "Well you see, Lisanna was the kind of girl that could be friends with anyone. You probably would've liked her," she added as an aside. "Anyway, Natsu and Lisanna were close. Really close. Lisanna even teased Natsu about getting married one day, and I think Natsu took it a little too seriously. When Lisanna disappeared... I've never seen Natsu like that. He wasn't like Natsu at all. I can't even describe it," Cana added quietly.

Someone shouted her name again and this time she began pulling the taps behind the bar, fixing their orders. "Every year since then, Mira and Elfman would go to the church to visit Lisanna's grave, and Natsu and Happy would disappear." She finished the drinks and put them on a tray. "I'll just serve them now, ne?" Cana said with a wink as she walked away.

Lucy continued to sit where she was, staring into the glass of wine Cana had given her at some point. Now that Cana had told her what today was, she was worried about Natsu. He had been acting weird for the past few days, absent-minded and easily mad. He'd also been strangely distracted, forgetting things a few moments after being told something. Now she knew why.

Losing someone you loved was hard, Lucy knew that. It was especially hard to lose them so young. For Natsu, who took friendship seriously and would likely take relationships even more so—although from what Cana said, it was just one-sided from Natsu's part.

Abruptly she stood up, leaving her untouched wine on the bar. Behind the counter, Cana smiled.

'Maybe she'll be the one who'll pull him out of this,' she thought.

Lucy found him sitting beside the river. He was staring at the sky, completely oblivious to his surroundings. She managed to sit beside him without his notice. At least she thought so, and she was surprised when she heard him speak.

"I guess someone told you, huh?"

She didn't even bother to answer him. Instead she asked, "Why are you alone? Where's Happy?" She looked over when he didn't answer immediately, and she saw a look of guilt on his face.

"I was sort of mean to him earlier today… But he should've known not to bother me today of all days!" He shouted the last part defensively.

"He's you're friend, Natsu. Friends shouldn't fight like that. He probably only wanted to cheer you up."

He was silent again, and she thought he wasn't going to answer anymore. She was deciding whether to leave him alone or not when he said, "She— Lisanna used to say that, too. That Happy and I shouldn't fight." He clenched his jaw and looked to the side, hiding his face from her.

"Ne, Natsu. It's okay to be sad. Losing someone you love is always hard." He remained quiet, but since he didn't get up and walk away, she assumed he didn't mind that she was there. She continued to talk, telling stories about her childhood and her life as a mage before Fairy Tail. Eventually the sun set, and Natsu got up. He looked down at her.

"Arigatou. For being here." He extended his hand to help her up.

She took it. "Of course. That's what friends are for, right? Now let's go find Happy!"

Year X791

"Natsu!"

The boy—man, now—turned, seeing a woman with short white hair running towards him. "Yo, Lisanna," he greeted.

"Lisanna~!" Happy flew straight to her, and she caught him, laughing.

"Hi, Happy. Ne Natsu, how do you feel? Are you nervous?"

He blushed a little. "We're just looking for a ring, right? Just to make it official?"

"Well, you'll have to ask first!" Lisanna looked a bit exasperated, and Happy giggled.

"Natsu's nervous," the Exceed said loudly. "And it's because he liiiiiikessss her~!"

"Urusai, Happy!" Natsu chased his friend around for a while, but the flying cat just flew out of reach, still giggling madly and repeating his favorite words.

"Natsu!" Lisanna shouted again, and Natsu winced at the little bite in her voice. Lisanna had changed a little over the years, and was now a bit more intimidating than she initially was.

"Remember: You buy the ring, then you ask to make it official. Okay?"

"But if I ask, the answer might be no," Natsu whined.

"It won't be. Trust me a little, would you," Lisanna assured with a wink.

They entered the jewelry shop, and the clerk—a man with white hair and faded gray eyes—greeted them with a smile. "Good morning. How could I help you?"

"We're looking for a ring," Lisanna replied with a smile of her own.

"Of course, of course. We have many designs here. In fact, some new ones just arrived last night so you'll have more than normal to choose from." He led them to a glass case full of rings and opened it.

"Thanks. Natsu, what do you think? Which do you like best?"

"Eh? Why me? You're the girl, Lisanna, you choose!"

She rolled her eyes. "Oh, come on Natsu. Just pick one, the one that stands out to you."

He looked at the array of rings, a frown of total concentration on his face, one of his hands gripping his chin and the other tapping against his thigh. After a few minutes he pointed out one. "That one."

"Ah, excellent choice," the old gentleman said as he took it out. He gave it to Lisanna to try on.

It had a wide silver band. A small sapphire was cradled within the silver so that the top of the gem was level with the band. Carved around the heart-shaped sapphire were a pair of wings, so it looked like the gem was ready to fly. Several other markings were on the band; dragons and unicorns and fairies, flying and galloping and dancing.

Lisanna put it on. "It fits perfectly." She took it off again and handed it to Natsu. "Look at it some more and decide if it's what you want."

Natsu did as he was told, but he already knew he was going to buy the ring. He glanced at the jeweler. "We'll take it, old man."

"Natsu!"

The old man just laughed, not in the least bit offended. "He's just stating fact, dear lady. Now, would you like me to box it up, or are you going to wear it out of the store?"

Lisanna choked a little, but Natsu just said, "Box it up, please."

After they went out of the shop and Happy had flown ahead to ensure their plan's target was in place, Lisanna said to Natsu, "That totally went over your head, didn't it?"

Natsu just looked clueless and said, "Huh?"

Lisanna, exasperated with her best friend's denseness, just said, "Never mind, just go propose to Lucy now."

***OWARI***

Minna, would you like a continuation? Just say so *wink*