The Christmas tree stood proudly in the centre of the guild. Lush and green, it was a magnificent structure that stretched all the way to the ceiling of the hall. And probably the cause of the tree-shaped hole where the entrance used to be, Lucy thought to herself, sweat dropping. She shivered as a strong breeze swept through the guild from that exact same hole. Apparently, Erza had hauled it back after one of her a solo missions; a gift from the townsfolk.
While it was ridiculously impractical – taking up too much room and constantly shedding leaves across the guild floor, not to mention that dratted hole in the doorway – it was undeniably gorgeous. It reminded Lucy of her childhood Christmases when her parents would bring in the largest Christmas tree on their estate. The three of them would decorate it together then her father would host a giant Christmas party.
Even though the circumstances were different now, some things still remained the same. Like the cheerful laughter that filled the air, the anticipation for presents upon seeing the bare tree bottom, and of course, the giant celebration.
"Princess, am I doing this right?" a voice called from above. Virgo was perched on the top of the tree, holding a large star that Mira had dug up from the guild's storage.
"Right, just lower it slowly onto the top of the tree", Lucy instructed. "That's great!" she clapped her hands excitedly when it landed perfectly.
Even though there were still 5 days until it actually happened, the guild was already buzzing with activity preparing for the big party. It was allegedly going to be Fairy Tail's greatest one yet, and everyone was lending a hand. Lucy had volunteered to decorate the tree, along with most others.
As Virgo vanished back to the spirit world, Lucy waved to Levy and Lily, whom were hovering in the air to her right. The words tinsel and lights were appearing and disappearing rapidly as the respective objects appeared perfectly onto the tree. On her left were Wendy and Charle whom were hanging decorations the old fashioned way.
Below were an assortment of guild members; Droy who was making holly grow all over the tree, Freed who was casting runes (though she had no idea what that was for), and even Gajeel whom she suspected had been 'convinced' by a certain blue-haired mage to help out. He had a sullen-expression on his face as he reinforced the tree trunk with metal to prevent it from toppling over, though a slight blush crept up his cheeks when said mage landed next to him to help.
While Lucy mentally stored that image into her mind for future teasing and/or blackmail, she felt a pair of warm hands hug her from behind.
"LU-UCY, I'M BORED", the voice shouted into her back.
Wriggling out of the strong grasp, she turned around to see just the person she had suspected. The pink-haired (or salmon, as he would tell you) fire mage had his arms crossed and he was pouting. "Aren't you helping out with anything?" she asked.
"Nobody will let me." he whined, stomping his feet and plopping down grumpily onto the nearest chair.
Suppressing a giggle at his childish behaviour, Lucy closed the gap between them and ruffled his hair. "Why not?" Though in hindsight, she wasn't thinking when she asked that question.
It didn't take much imagination for images to begin flooding into her mind; Natsu setting the tree on fire, Natsu burning the cooking, Natsu getting tangled in the decorations, Natsu beginning a brawl that would surely destroy everything. Lucy held up one hand for silence before he could even open his mouth to reply. "Nevermind", she said.
"It's not fair!" he began to stomp his feet again. "Why is it only me that doesn't get to do anything? If I even touch something, Erza will attack me." He shuddered at that. "Even Gray gets to help. It's. Not. Fair!" he repeated louder to make his point.
Lucy looked at the person before her. Is he a child?, she thought not for the first time since they had met. "Well, why don't we find something that only you can do? Then they can't reject you."
Natsu visibly cheered up at that, and he shot her his signature grin.
"Let's start -," she scanned the guild, wondering where would be the safest place to bring her partner. "Uh, why don't we ask Mira?" she said, after spotting the cheerful takeover mage at her usual spot at the bar.
At that suggestion, Natsu immediately bolted off his seat and began racing towards the bar, yelling "MIRA! MIRA!" at the top of his voice. Lucy just stared after her best friend, wondering what she was getting herself into.
"MIIIRRRAAAAA" Natsu yelled, running at full speed towards the white-haired barmaid, his loud presence causing a few other guild members to look up from their work.
"Hey Mira," Lucy greeted, finally catching up with him at the bar. "Is there anything Natsu can do around here to help?" she asked, leaning against the bar to catch her breath. Meanwhile, the person in question bounced on the nearest bar stool expectantly.
"Hi Lucy, Natsu." She smiled at them in turn. "Things that Natsu can do, huh? Let me think." Mira placed a finger to her chin thoughtfully.
After awhile, she began mumbling to herself. "Cooking? No. Decorating? No. Entertainment…", she suddenly shuddered. "…no." Lucy didn't want to know what happened that year. "Christmas card delivering? No. Cleaning? No. Gift shopping..."
"I got it!" she suddenly exclaimed. "Why don't you and Natsu run the guild's Santa Operation this year?" The two partners cocked their heads to the side confusedly.
"Santa Operation?" they asked simultaneously.
"Yes!" Mira beamed at them. "You know how everyone receives presents from 'Santa' every year?" The two nodded. Lucy recalled receiving a beautiful necklace during her first year here, then a book she'd always wanted during the second. All the gifts were always perfect and she had begun to anticipate 'Santa's' gifts every year since.
"Well, actually," she leaned in to whisper. "It's me who buys those presents every year using the guild's funds, but this year I don't think I'll have the time." she had a worried expression on her face. "But if you and Natsu take over for me, we'll surely make it in time for Christmas!"
"Sounds like fun!" Natsu immediately agreed.
"Wait wait wait wait wait, you're Santa?" she said loudly.
"Shhhhhh" Mira placed a finger across Lucy's mouth and winked
"And what do you mean me and Natsu? Isn't this Natsu's job?" Lucy whispered loudly. "Hold on, if you're using the guild's funds to buy the presents… isn't the guild in debt?" she exclaimed horrified.
Mira waved her hand non-chalantly and smiled. "You should go with Natsu, then I can rest easy that he won't get into too much trouble."
What happened to the last part of the question?, Lucy thought, sweat dropping for the second time that day.
"Okay… Say I agree, how will we know what to buy for everyone?"
"Oh, I made a list for that!" Mira pulled it out from behind her back and rolled it out. The two pairs of eyes followed the ever expanding list as it rolled past the bar top, pass the Christmas tree, and right out of the guild. Lucy stared at the list, her face paling, while Natsu jumped out of his seat in excitement.
"Alright, this'll make it easy!" he said.
"No way! It will take forever to buy everything on this list!" she wailed.
"Don't worry, Lucy. Most of the things on this list are in the same towns, and they're all not too far from Magnolia. You'll be back before Christmas Eve, I can guarantee you." Mira said, passing her the rolled up list.
"Wait a minute. TOWNS?!" Lucy exclaimed, feeling her soul leave her body. She did not sign up for this!
"C'mon Lucy, it'll be fun!" Natsu pulled on her hand, looking at her with puppy dog eyes.
"Please, Lucy?" Mirajane joined in too, flashing her best pity-inducing look at the celestial mage.
Looking at the two, Lucy realised there was no way out of this. She groaned. "Fine, let's go." she said dully, grabbing the list from a delighted Mirajane.
Natsu whooped, dancing around the bar and chanting something that sounded like "I'm being useful, I'm being useful", while Lucy slumped tiredly onto the bar top, listening to Mira talk about the route they would be taking, their transportation schedule, where they would be staying…
There goes my pre-Christmas relaxation time, Lucy thought dejectedly.
Note: Here goes - my first multi-chapter Fairy Tail fic! I felt I had to live up to the standards of all the awesome FT fics I've read in the past so this one was hard for me to write. I'll be uploading chapters leading up to Christmas, so give me a follow if you want to read more. I hope you enjoy :)