In Spite Of Our Past, In Hope Of Our Future
A Crucial Question
Wandering around the guild, Natsu pondered the results of his actions. As always, it was either going to be an extremely good outcome, or a bad, sent to the depths of hell outcome. He was pretty sure he didn't prefer the latter, especially in this case. To him, it was close enough to be compared to a matter of life or death, it was more than important. He gathered ten of the guild members for a little conference of the sort: Mira, Cana, Erza, Gray, Juvia, Wendy, Gajeel, Levy, Mavis and the Master.
"So, you get what to do, right? Please don't stuff this up. This is insanely important to me." Natsu pleaded to the small group of his friends. They all nodded in unison, all except Mavis. Erza studied her closely.
"Natsu, I don't know whether you should've trust First to keep this a secret," She began.
"She's not a very good secret keeper." Master finished for her.
"I am so! I'll keep it a secret Natsu, promise!" Mavis pouted. Natsu shot her daggers.
"You better." He added a small smile at the end out of respect. Besides, the last time he'd disrespected his elders, he'd had a hell of a beating from a drunken master, and that was not happening again. "Right, so just to be sure, group one raise your hands." He instructed. Mira Cana and Erza raised their hands. "Group two," Gray and Juvia raised their hands. "Group three," Wendy, Gajeel and Levy raised their hands. Before he had even called it, Master and Mavis put their hands up.
"Group four." They chorused. Natsu nodded.
"Good, now remember, this is life or death, don't muck it up." He said as Cana and Erza pushed him away.
"Yes, yes, we get it." The girls murmured as they pushed him outside the guild. "Now go stall her for a bit." Cana instructed. Erza nodded and smiled at his hesitation to leave. She put her hand on his shoulder and then pulled him in for a hug.
"I might not be the most comforting person in the world but I want you to know that I believe in you, Natsu. And I'll only say this once but we all love you, I love you, okay? So you need to tell that fear of yours to go to hell because I know you, I've known you for the longest time and you're like an annoying little brother and when you're paired with Gray I practically want to kill you," She cleared her throat, obviously very out of her comfort zone. "Anyway, what I'm trying to say is that you need to tell her before it's to late, no hesitation, no regrets." Erza concluded her little speech as Natsu burst into laughter. She watched in awe.
"Phahahahahaha, you're seriously amazing, Erza," He said, grinning widely. "Thank you, He kissed her cheek. "You're the best older sister ever." He ran down the cobblestone streets with his right hand high in the air in the shape of a backwards L.
Lucy lay on her bed watching the traffic go by on the river through her window. She saw several boats with young couples and their blooming love, a cute little girl and her brother chasing each other down the cobblestone streets and a merchant running towards town with merchandise slung loosely over his body in a messenger bag. She twirled a strand of hair lazily around her finger and rolled over on her side, watching Happy and Plue trying to do a handshake.
"Happy," Lucy called out as Happy turned around to face her.
"Yeah?"
"When is Natsu coming home? Why can't I go to the guild? Happy, tell me. I know that you know because Natsu tells you everything." She moaned, rolling over onto her stomach and burying her face in the pillows.
"Natsu also told me not to tell you." Happy pointed out, pulling a fish out of nowhere and biting into it. Lucy groaned and rolled around, bored out of her mind. The door being unlocked shook her out of her state and she bounced up off the bed and raced to the door. Natsu closed the door and grinned when he turned around, being embraced by Lucy the moment he saw her. He wrapped his arms around her as she burried her face in his chest.
"Jeez, what have you been doing all day? I've been so bored, Natsu." She pouted, looking up at his smiling face. He patted her head and leaned down to touch their foreheads.
"Thank you for waiting for me." He said softly, giving her an equally soft kiss. She leaned into him and held his face with both her hands. "I missed you." She murmured against his lips.
"I missed you too." He laughed giving her a kiss on her forehead and letting her go, heading into the house.
"Yo, Happy, Plue." Lucy watched them exchange greetings as she walked past them into the kitchen and opened the fridge.
"Natsu, want a drink? Something to eat?" She asked, poking her head around the door of the fridge.
"Sure, I'll have whatever you're having." He smiled back at her. She poured them each a glass of wine and handed him one, sitting down on her bed again. He joined her and put his arm around her, taking a sip of his wine. "I have somewhere to take you tonight, just before midnight, okay?" He said watching her take a sip of her wine. She nodded.
"Okay."
It was currently 11:20 and Natsu and Lucy had just arrived outside the guild, hand in hand.
"Go in the back door," He instructed. She looked up at him and her eyebrows knit together. "Just trust me." He smiled, bending down to give her a kiss. Lucy just nodded and headed around to the back. It was cold and breezy tonight and she wasn't wearing a coat. She shivered as she opened the back door to find Erza, Cana and Mira. Erza and Mira each took one of her arms as her eyes widened and led her to the girl's bathroom, Cana trailing behind them.
"E..Erza? Mira? Cana? What's going on?" Lucy stammered as they handed her something that felt soft and oddly, frilly. She looked down at her hands and found a dress fit for a princess.
"A... A dress?"
"Just get changed, Luce." Mira smiled. Lucy looked at the dress again. It was a light pink with white trimmed frills and it would fall down to the ground on her.
"O..Okay" She went into one of the cubicles and took off what she was wearing, slipping the dress on. And she was right, it fell down to the ground on her and it reminded her of her mother. She unlocked the door and came out to face the girls. Mira clapped and clasped her hand over her mouth.
"Oh, Luce! You look gorgeous!" She exclaimed. "Now come on, Erza, what time is it?" She asked, looking over at the red-haired girl. Erza looked at her watch and then back up at Mira.
"Eleven forty." She replied.
"Just enough time to do her hair!" Mira clapped again and sat Lucy down on a stool in front of the big wall length mirror. She curled her hair and let it fall down her shoulders and then turned her around to do her makeup.
"I really don't get what this is all about." Lucy began but was shushed by Mira. Cana stood by the door, leaning against it as she sipped on her wine that had appeared out of nowhere.
'You look good." She commented. Lucy smiled at her.
"Thanks, Cana." She said, her eyes closed as Mira added some eye-shadow.
"There, all done. Is it time yet, Erza?" She asked.
"Eleven fifty six." She said simply, not needing to look at her watch this time. The three girls shared a smile while Lucy stared at them. She felt Mira pulling her up.
"Time to go, princess."
Mira led her out into the main hall which was pitch black but she seemed to have no trouble in moving her way around the tables despite the lack of light. Erza and Cana had disappeared in front of them and Lucy was flicking through the possibilities. She really didn't know what was going on. Where was Natsu? She felt Mira disappear into the shadows and she looked around. The next moment, she felt someone take her hand and the lights flicked on. The whole room lit up and Lucy froze. The whole hall had been decorated in paper lanterns which were the only source of light and there were flowers everywhere. All her fellow guild members were scattered around the room in a semi-circle and they were all smiling widely, even a few people were crying. And there in front of her, down on one knee, was Natsu. He was dressed in a white tuxedo and his eyes were shining in a way she'd never seen before. Her free hand shot to her mouth, covering it as she let out a sob, her eyes welling up, tears running down her cheeks.
"Natsu." She sobbed. He smiled up at her and pulled a ring box out of his pocket, opening it up and letting go of her hand.
"Lucy Heartfilia," He began, watching her closely as she covered her mouth with both hands and sobbed harder. "Will you marry me?" She dropped to her knees and dragged him into a hug, nodding ecstatically.
"Of course I will you idiot." She cried. Everyone erupted into cheers and clapping filled the whole room as she pulled back and gave him a passionate kiss. "I love you." She said between kisses, tears still falling slowly down her cheeks.
"I love you too. More than anything." He murmured.
And as the clock struck midnight on the seventh of July, Lucy Heartfilia became an engaged woman. The puzzle pieces of her life were falling into place one by one and as she kissed her husband to be and her guild members continued to cheer, she felt complete.
Thank you so much for reading the first one shot of In Spite Of Our Past, In Hope Of Our Future. I really hope you enjoyed it and please R&R, it would mean the world to me. Thanks a bunch XD
Xx SweetsPrincess-Sama