New Beginnings.

Main pairing: Nalu

Summary: The war ended and Fairy Tail was victorious, not without its fair share of loses. Among the sadness and the destruction, life was returning to normal in Magnolia. New adventures at on the horizon, and with it, new beginnings. These are one of those stories.

Fairy Tail owned by Hiro Mishima

Story by Roy2157

9pm, Lucy's apartment. Magnolia

… I just wonder after all this if he knows how I truly feel about him? I wish you were hear to help me, mom.. I'm so lost and confused….

Lucy shook her head and scribbled over the letter she was writing to her mother. Even though she never sends them out, the blonde felt as if her mom was reading them and in a sense, guide her through whatever she was going through. Tonight it wasn't helping much. Lucy tossed the 5th or 7th letter into the small trash can beside her writing desk.

"Why is this so difficult?" The celestial mage mumbled to herself and stood up, walked around the corner to the kitchen, got herself a glass of water and walked back to her room while sipping the drink. Setting it down on her nightstand, Lucy climbed onto her bed and looked out the window.

"Maybe I should just tell him" the girl thought to herself as she stared into the clear night sky.

9:17pm, Natsu's house.

"Natsu… if you keep this up, you'll make a hole in the floor!" Happy said as he watched his best friend pace back and forth in front of his bed.

"Ya but… she really does think of me like that?" The dragon slayer said with a slight tint of pink spread across his cheeks.

"Duh, why else would Lucy be naked under the blankets with you?" The exceed asked rhetorically. He was met with a blank stare.

"Really Natsu, how dense can you be? Lucy clearly has feelings for you, I heard just how much she cares about you even after she found out about you being END."

Natsu looked away in shame but Happy continued "I know you have feelings for her too, you told me and Guildarts about some girl you liked and you probably didn't think it was super obvious who you were talking about, but it was." He gave the slayer a reassuring smile.

"Go talk to her, I bet she's still up so you have time.." he couldn't finish his thought before Natsu froze wide eyed in front of the cat.

"Happy… you're a genius!" then Natsu bolted from the room. Not exactly the words Happy was expecting to hear but it would have to do. Jumping off his perch and materializing his wings he shouted "Aye sir!" as he followed the dragon slayer towards the front door.

Filled with determination, the duo rushed into town.

9:50 pm, Magnolia

The adrenaline rush started to fade as the dragon slayer made his way down the streets of Magnolia. Panic set in as he realized what he was doing, after hearing the voice of his blue exceed, Natsu came to an abrupt stop. Happy collided with the slayer and fell on the ground while holding his head.

"What the heck was that for, Natsu?" The cat asked as he looked up to his friend. Curious, Happy walked to the front of his friend, and saw the look of pure terror on his face. The exceed recognized it as the same look Natsu would get when he pissed off Erza.

"What the hell am I even doing? I can't go through with this!" The pink haired mage exclaimed as he was about to turn tail and run.

Happy saw the intention written on Natsu's face, and before he could act, the cat jumped up and grabbed the dragon slayer by his collar to look at him eye to eye.

With a serious look on his face, Happy said "You can and will do this, Natsu. For your sake and for mine, you will tell Lucy Heartfilia how you feel about her! No backing out now."

Natsu let Happy's words roll in his mind for a few seconds before finally finding the same determination he had minutes ago. Nodding, toothy grin flashing, Natsu responded "Ya, I can do this, thanks Happy!" The exceed couldn't help but smile back.

"I'm all fired up now!"

10:22 pm, Strawberry Street, Magnolia

By the time they got to Lucy's apartment, she was already asleep. Natsu wondered if he should climb in through the window or use the door for once. To not completely freak the blonde out, he opted to use the door. Thing is, Natsu started getting way too nervous about this.

Climbing up the stairs, Happy was pushing the dragon slayer towards Lucy's door. "Everything is going to be fine" he said as they reach their destination. Before Natsu could object, Happy continued. "Things could go two ways. 1, she feels the same way and accepts your feelings for her. Or 2, she'll freak out and you'll get Lucy kicked across town. Either way, I'm not sticking around to find out!" The blue cat said as he rushed to knock on the door and fly away before the fire mage could stop him.

"DAMN IT HAPPY, GET BACK HERE!" He yelled as he heard his cat say "Good luck, Natsu!"

Muttering about how he was going to get back at the exceed, Natsu was interrupted by a sleepy voice.

"Natsu? What are you doing here?"

Nervously, Natsu reached up to scratch the back of his head and replied "Hey..heya Lucy, I um.. hi!"

"Um…. Natsu? Are you okay?" Finally waking up enough to register the nervousness in her friend's voice. Before he could speak she asked "Was Happy here too? I heard you yelling at him, were you two fighting or something?"

Puzzled, the dragon slayer tilted his head to the right. Remembering what happened seconds before he replied "Oh… oh ya that. No, we weren't fighting. He was just being a jerk about something I wanted to ask you."

The pink haired mage clapped his hands over his mouth after he blurted out his reason for being there. Lucy's mind started to race, wondering what her friend wanted to ask, but the bitterness of being woken up in the middle of the night reeled her back.

She opened the door further and gestured the slayer to come in. He made his way into the apartment without making a sound, which to Lucy, was unusual to say the least. He stayed standing while the celestial mage sat on her bed, an awkward silence fell between the pair for what seemed like an hour before Lucy spoke up. "What did you want to ask me, Natsu? Is it this important that you needed to talk to me now?"

Natsu stood there, heart beginning to race, pounding loud enough against his rib cage, he thought Lucy could hear it! His face nearly matched the color of his hair, before Lucy could ask what was wrong for the third time that night, Natsu started stringing together an odd thought "So I've been friends with this one person for a long time now and we spend a lot of time together, and I mean a LOT of time together. She's awesome! Smart, funny, caring, probably one of the kindest people I've ever met." Lucy just stared at him, wondering what he was saying.

The dragon slayer continued when he was met with silence "We were pretty close, always hanging out, going on jobs and stuff.. I really liked her, and I didn't realize it until she was gone.. Well not "gone" gone, but I felt like I lost her. I got her back and all I wanted to do was be with her. But then something happened.. And I needed time to figure things out."

Natsu looked disappointed in himself when he said that. Lucy was sure he was talking about Lisanna. The thought of that make her blood boil.

"More stuff started to happen when I got back and I thought I was going to die more times than I can remember and I don't even know if this girl likes me and…"

Lucy couldn't take it anymore, she snapped. "Is there a point to this story!? If you clearly like this person than maybe you should stop wasting your time here and go!" tears started to form in her brown eyes. She didn't even realize that she stood up when she snapped.

"Because this is where I want to be!" He shouted. The fire mage was sure the whole town could have heard him, it wouldn't have been the first time.

Natsu thought this was a mistake when he saw the look on Lucy's face, eyes wide, tears starting to flow. The fear set in, Natsu was sure it was his cue to leave.

Turning to make a mad dash for the door made Lucy panic. "Natsu, wait!" He stopped, she moved slowly to him.

"Please explain… what do you mean by that?" the blonde asked as her heart raced. She needed answers, and Natsu was the only one with them. He hung his head and let out a sigh. Lucy was mere steps behind him.

"I thought it would have been obvious that it was you I was talking about… guess I was a little too nervous." he said in a hushed tone.

Lucy's heart nearly stopped. "So he does like me…" she thought to herself.

"But it sounded like you were talking about Lisanna… I assumed that…"

Natsu interrupted the thought "There is nothing between us. Actually she was one of the first people to tell me to follow what my heart was saying when I told her about you. Her and Happy have been hounding me left and right since they found out…" Lucy could help but smile a little. She expected this from Happy, but not Lisanna.

"So…" the celestial mage said as the dragon slayer turned to face her. "You still haven't told me…"

Natsu knew what he wanted to say now.

"I like you, Lucy. Like really really like you, and I'm sorry I couldn't just come out and say.." the blonde saw her pink haired friend going into another ramble loop, but before he could get too far she took a few steps forward, got on her tip toes and placed a light kiss on his cheek.

Natsu's face felt like it erupted into flames while Lucy backed away to look at him.

Natsu stuttered "Wh..wha..what was that for?" she smiled softly to his question.

"That's my answer." She said with small blush on her face.

"Wait, you really mean it?" The fire slayer asked, his friend nodded as a response. Excitement washed over Natsu, he quickly trapped Lucy in a bone crushing hug and lifted her in the air as he spun around, singing "She likes me, she likes me."

The blonde couldn't help but giggle at her friend. Natsu put her down and gave Lucy his most brilliant, toothy grin.

She looked up to the dragon slayer and said "You still need to do something though." He nodded, knowing exactly what needed to be said this time.

"Lucy, will you go out with me?" Natsu asked.

Lucy smiled and said "I thought you'd never ask.. Of course I'll go out with you!"

What did you think? This is my first Fairy Tail fanfiction I've managed to complete, I know it's not much and I was planning on writing a second part instead of leaving it as a one-shot.

Let me know what you think, feedback would be greatly appreciated, doesn't really matter what kind it is, it's is all constructive criticism, right?

Thanks for taking the time to read my little story :)