Lucy Heartfilia owned a gorgeous jewelry store in Magnolia Mall. She specialized in natural and synthetic colorless diamonds that are sourced from only approved diamond mines. The prices were steep for the real diamonds but it made her customers feel better that she wasn't buying blood diamonds, and her synthetic options looked just as good as the real ones for a third of the price. Lucy loved her store and her customers, her job would be perfect if it wasn't for one small piece of it.
Natsu Dragneel also owned a jewelry store in Magnolia Mall, across from Lucky Hearts, Lucy's store. Natsu's store was named Dragon Soul and specialized in multi colored synthetic stones set in intricate patterns, mostly revolving around dragons and other 'manly' pieces. Natsu loved to create the gems, his favorite pieces were red and often involved dragons and fire. He had some amazing customers both in store and online and Natsu thought he had the best life ever. Except for one part of course.
Lucy and Natsu hated each other. Every day before the mall opens, they would walk in around the same time and silently open their stores, while sneaking glances at the other person. Lucy would hum while dusting her displays, which only annoyed Natsu, and Natsu would pull out his phone and blare rock music which would just tick off Lucy in return. It was a daily routine, after they each set up they would stand and glare at each other with arms crossed until the mall opened.
Lucy wasn't sure when she started to hate the pink haired idiot jeweler, just that she couldn't stand the sight of him. He was annoying, always smiling and laughing to his customers, his store was messy and the pieces he sold were just odd. His best friend was a guy named Gray, who she didn't mind too much, he owned the ice cream store in the mall and would often bring her a small sundae before heading over to Natsu's store. She felt that Gray did it on purpose to annoy Natsu, because every time Gray brought her one, Natsu shouted at him in annoyance about life not being fair and why someone so awful would get free ice cream and he never did. Lucy thought it was a weird relationship between the two because they always picked fights with the other.
Natsu hated Lucy. Natsu didn't hate anyone, but he hated the blonde haired beauty. Sure, he will admit that his neighbor in the mall was attractive, but that doesn't mean he had to like her! Lucy kept her store so sparkling clean, like who seriously cleans their cases that much? She practically took a toothbrush to her floors! All that shine really got on his nerves and he had to stare at it everyday, that's why he liked to keep his music loud and his place only sorta clean. And that jerk Gray always gave her free ice cream, Natsu was Gray's best friend and he never got free ice cream! How is that fair?!
Everyday the two would stand and glare at the other while they didn't have customers. Both made a silent agreement to avoid the other at all cost, and never interpret a sale or potential sale. Also, because their pieces were so vastly different from each other, they hardly ever competed over customers which made it a little bit easier to agree to disagree.
It was a daily routine, one that both fell into after a year or so of working near each other, that would change on Valentine's Day.
"Excuse me miss, I was looking for a piece for my girlfriend. Since it's Valentine's Day and we have been dating for over a year now, I really want it to be special!" A man spoke to Lucy after browsing her cases.
"Oh of course! The day of love and happiness!" Lucy exclaimed to her customer "What does your girlfriend like?" The two stood together talking for awhile, Lucy trying to get a feel for the man's girlfriend's taste so she could pick a suitable piece out. An hour later, a very happy customer left and Lucy realized it was past her lunch break.
"Oh crap, now I won't have time to get anything to eat." Just as she said that, a glorious smell assaulted her nose as Natsu, the bane of her existence, walked past with the most amazing looking chinese food she has ever seen. Lucy's eyes got big as she took in the sheer amount of food piled on the tray and wondered how many people he was feeding. Noticing her gawking, Natsu turned around and shot a death glare at the women for eyeing his food.
"What are you looking at Heartfilia?" Natsu said with eyes narrowed suspiciously.
"Oh... uh.. Nothing.. That just looks and smells really good, that's all Dragneel." Lucy stammered at first and then ended with a returning glare to the pink haired man.
"Yup! And it is, Makarov makes the best chinese food in the mall, and he's not even chinese! It's amazing!" Natsu exclaimed happily. Not even Lucy, his arch nemesis can spoil his mood when it came to his favorite chinese food. "AND he makes it super spicy for me, just the way I like it!"
"Oh. Yea. Well, enjoy I guess." Lucy said and looked away, her stomach rumbling super loudly at that moment to give away her hunger panes.
"Oi. Heartfilia. I noticed you didn't shutdown for lunch. Look, I don't do this. Ever. And especially not for you, but there's one thing that I can't stand more than you and that's being hungry. Here." Natsu grabbed an egg roll and some sort of noodles off his plate and set it on her counter. "And don't go telling ice prick, he wouldn't let me live it down!" Walking away while muttering to himself about being way too nice to someone so awful, Natsu took his mountain of food back to his closed up shop.
Lucy literally couldn't believe it. The messy man with pink hair and an attitude problem just gave her food. For no reason. Just set it right there down on her case without being asked. She could hardly believe it but she was so hungry. Not letting the opportunity pass, Lucy checked to see if Natsu was still hanging around, afraid this was some sort of cruel joke like the ones he used to play on her when he first moved in. Deciding the coast was clear, Lucy closed up shop and took the food in her back room.
"Oh my gosh he was right. This is amazing. How have I never had this stuff before, who did he say made this... Makarov or something like that?" Lucy moaned to herself while destroying the food. "I can't believe it but I have to thank Natsu in some way for this food. Ugh!"
Trying to think of what Natsu might accept as payment for this amazing meal, Lucy lost track of time and realized she had the store closed for way too long! Pulling up the blinds, Lucy looked around worried that she lost potential customers in her absence. Relieved that the mall was pretty much dead today, it was a weekday and kids were still in school, Lucy went back to polishing up pieces and taking inventory.
"Yo blondie, was worried about you. Sorta hoped that you choked or something, but I guess it's cool to see you're still alive." Natsu yelled from across the aisle.
Rage flared at his comment of her choking, Lucy tried to tape it down and thought about the amazing food he had dropped off for her. Sending a half hearted glare back, Lucy ignored his comment and went back to work. The rest of the day passed with nothing interesting happening, just both stores getting a steady flow of people before the last minute Valentine's Day shoppers would hit this weekend.
"Dragneel." Lucy said as they were both closing up shop for the day. About to thank him for the food, Lucy decided to just keep it light instead, not wanting to ruin her finally pleasant mood. "Let's make a wager. You in?"
Natsu expected a lot from the blonde, snide remarks that made him feel inferior to her, an attitude about his pieces or the state of his shop, heck he even expected to be ignored! But a bet? Natsu never expected that, and he could never turn one down.
"Hell yea, I'm in. What's the deal?" Natsu replied back, pumping his fist up in the air and giving her a huge smile.
Taken aback by his behavior, Lucy just stood there staring at him. She never realized how attractive he was when he smiled. Nor how muscular he was as he pumped his fist up in the air. Shaking her head to clear her thoughts, Lucy got back to the topic at hand. "Yes. A friendly wager. Whoever sells more this weekend, wins. You can use any tool or tactic you want besides sabotaging the other store. This is a positive wager, not one to make the other person go out of business."
"HELL YES. I'M ALL FIRED UP NOW!" Natsu screamed at her, shocking her again with his behavior. "What do I get when I win?" He smirked at her.
Ignoring the comment, Lucy continued. "Whoever wins has to plan something nice for the other person." Lucy smirked back at the shocked expression that crossed Natsu's face. Knowing that she would win, her jewelry was more suited for Valentine's Day presents, she really wanted to see him struggle to do something nice for once. But on the off chance that she lost, she figured that a nice thing would repay him for the food today.
"Arggghhhh, Lucccyyyyyyy. Whhhhhyyyy. I don't want to have to do something NICE for you!" Natsu whined back at the woman.
"Well then, don't lose!" Lucy sweetly smiled back and walked out of the mall, leaving him behind.
The remaining week the two didn't talk at all, and barely made any effort to glare at each other. Lucy was too busy setting everything up for the weekend, and Natsu was too busy trying to come up with something nice to do for Lucy in case he lost. Lucy had already came up with her plan in case she lost, but she was determined not to put it in effect since it was on the embarrassing side.
A few times Natsu would risk a glance up to look for her. The past few days since the conversation, the food, and the bet, Natsu started to notice more things about her. Her hips swayed a bit when she walked lightly on her toes, her hair was really long and the color of gold, and her smile flashed brighter than even the pieces she shined daily in her shop. Not paying attention to what he was doing, Natsu looked down and realized that he had accidently implanted a gold stone in a beautiful piece of jewelry. Gold like Lucy's hair. Groaning, he pushed the piece to the side refusing to sell it.
Friday night while Lucy was closing up shop, she noticed Natsu was still busy on something. "Ready for this weekend Natsu? I'm not going to go easy on you!" Lucy said to the man.
Jumping up in surprise, Natsu didn't realize that Lucy had walked over to his store. Glancing around at all the empty stores, he glanced down at his clock. "Oh man, it's closing time already? Where did the time go? Lucy! Yes I'm ready for this weekend, you ready to do something nice for me?" He shot her his normal grin.
Time felt like it slowed to a stop for Lucy. The toothy grin that Natsu gave her made his face so handsome. And his sleeves were rolled up to expose his incredibly toned arms. Realizing she was gawking at the man, Lucy simply nodded and started to walk away, too shocked at her realization that she was attracted to Natsu Dragneel to even respond.
The next day started the last minute Valentine's Day shopping, and both Natsu and Lucy had their hands full. Women went to Natsu's store to pick up something special for the men in their life, and men to Lucy's store for their special women. Both were too busy to give the other one any attention, but both were hard at work to win the contest. Lucy was almost certain that she would win, more men buy gifts than women, but the constant stream of people into Natsu's store was a little disheartening. She was glad she already had the 'surprise' done in case she did lose the bet.
Natsu had never been so busy in his entire life! With Valentine's Day on a Sunday this year, everyone was out today picking up last minute presents. He swore if he ever had a girlfriend he would plan ahead to avoid the mad rush of the mall this close to the holiday. He spared a few glances up to his rival, and actually smiled when he saw she was just as busy as he was. Why did he smile? He was trying to beat this girl, not feel proud that she was successful today! No matter, Natsu had a secret weapon today. He spent all night last night working on a new design and created as many as he could in a short time span. It was a dragon wrapped around a gold heart with a pin on the back. Some older people might call it a broach, but to him it was amazing. The dragon had golden eyes that seemed to be on fire as you twisted the body, the metal he chose was a brushed silver and it contrasted nicely. Not to mention that the golden color sorta was exactly the same color as Lucy's hair. Not that he noticed. Not at all.
By lunch time, both business owner's were exhausted. Natsu dragged himself away from the store, putting the be back in 15 minutes sign up, and instead of walking to get food, walked over to see how Lucy was doing.
"Heya Luce. Look's like you're going to be some stiff competition!" Natsu grinned at the blonde, feeling that weird proud feeling curl in his stomach.
"Oh, hey Natsu. Yup! I'm doing so well today, I'm afraid I'll run out of stock! You look like you're doing quite well for yourself. So what's up?" Lucy asked, while tilted her head a bit.
"Oh, right. Yeah. Well seeing as I want to make sure you aren't breaking the rules, let's go get lunch together. Makarov is here today and makes the best chinese, you'll love it! Err, well, you sorta did the other day." Natsu started to scratch his head, waiting for a response. He wasn't sure why he asked her to lunch, but now that he did he was very nervous she would say no.
"Uhm, alright. Yeah, we can keep on eye on each other and I could use a small break. Just give me a second to wrap up here."" Lucy replied.
Once everything was in order, Lucy and Natsu walked down to the food court to get some of the 'famous' chinese food. Natsu just went straight to the back kitchen and yelled to the people working there.
"Yooooo where's gramps? I'm starving!" Natsu whined.
"Here I am you brat! Now who is this?" Makarov slid right over to Lucy and gave her a nice one-over.
"I'm Lucy, pleased to meet you! I just adore your food sir!" Lucy replied cheerfully.
"Oh really? Did Natsu give you some of his? I haven't seen you around here before... Natsu, did you actually SHARE with someone?" Makarov looked over at the pink haired man slyly.
"Yeah, so what? I can share if I want to." Natsu said and started to inspect his shoes so Lucy didn't see him blushing. He never shared his food, like ever, but he didn't want gramps to spill all his secrets. He was just starting to like this girl.
"Yup, Natsu gave me some when I couldn't get away for lunch. It was, oddly sweet of him." Lucy replied and blushed, looking away from the men.
"Hmmm... Okay, well today's on the house for you young lady. Don't give me that Natsu, if I gave you your normal order for free I would go out of business!" The short man screamed at Natsu while Natsu was whining about special treatment just because Lucy was pretty.
Did she hear the right? Natsu just called her pretty? Blushing even harder, Lucy started to take a lot of interest in a random painting on the wall.
Once they got their food, Lucy some noodle bowl and Natsu everything on the menu, they sat down and started to eat. The conversation was light and they both laughed and talked and really started to get to know each other beyond their own stores. Lucy and Natsu both realized that they wouldn't mind losing the bet to the other person.
Valentine's Day was crazy in the morning, and then pretty slow right before close. Lucy and Natsu had both practically sold out of their stock, and were in the process of counting up everything. When the mall closed up and they had their totals for the weekend sales, Lucy walked over to Natsu's shop to talk about their bet.
"Hey Natsu, you did great this weekend! How much did you end up selling?" Lucy asked.
"Hey, no fair! You go first, it's only fair since you made this bet up!" Natsu whined back to the blonde.
"Pft, fine. Whatever. Here." Lucy slid her paper over to Natsu that had the totals on it. Natsu looked at his own paper and realized that he had sold more than her, but he had already made something amazing for the blonde and wanted to give it to her. Acting on a whim, he smiled and laughed and looked up to her.
"Looks like you win Luce, congratulations! That means I gotta do something nice for you right? Wait here!" Natsu said and took off to his back room.
Curious, Lucy looked down at the paper Natsu had left behind, making sure she wasn't being watched she leaned over the counter and saw his numbers. He way beat her and lied so he could lose the bet? That didn't make any sense! Biting her lip slightly, Lucy took a small wrapped present out of her purse and set it down on the counter with a small note.
Natsu came out with a medium box, wrapped like a kid would wrap it, and gave it to Lucy. "Here you go Luce, Happy Valentine's Day!"
Lucy blushed at the way he worded it. "Natsu you idiot, this was a bet! Anyway, I made this for you in case I lost, might as well give it to you anyway, here you go." She slid the box with the note over to him and his eyes got real big.
"You made me something too? That's awesome! What is it?" Natsu was as giddy as a kid on Christmas morning with his present.
They both opened their presents, Lucy had handmade a dragon statue, fire red with onyx eyes, that had it's body wrapped around a pile of gold coins. On the neck of the dragon won the same scarf that Natsu wore into work everyday, a white scaly scarf that he never took off.
Natsu just stared down at the statue, handling it with utmost care. "Wow Luce, this is amazing. I didn't know you could make something like this. And it even has my scarf! This is so cool! I'm going to display it in my main case and put a Not for Sale sign near it, I want everyone who walks in here to see this! Thank you so much!" Natsu walked around the counter to stand a bit closer to her.
Lucy just blushed and looked down to her present. She opened it up and what was inside made her tear up. Natsu had built a wooden jewelry box and had wood burned the different constellations into them. When she opened the box up, there were so many different compartments for rings, necklaces, bracelets, and earrings. And in one of those containers sat a necklace with a pink sapphire stone wrapped in silver that flowed like water.
"Natsu... this is... this is too much! I mean, it's the most beautiful thing I have ever seen, how did you know I like the stars?" Lucy said while fighting back tears.
Natsu, noticing her watery eyes, reached in and gave Lucy a huge hug. "I paid attention Luce. To what you wore, what you brought in. I didn't like you because I thought you were a snob and looked down on me and my shop. Your store is perfect, always clean and upscale. I sorta felt like a slob next to you and I guess I resented you for it. Getting to know you this week has been one of the best times in my life! So I made this for you, if I won or lost."
Crying now, Lucy returned the hug and replied back to Natsu, "I paid attention too Natsu. Hence the dragon. And I was going to give it to you regardless as well. I never looked down on you, in fact I envied you for coming up with such cool ideas. All I can do is traditional and I wanted to be able to do cool things like you did. That's why I worked so hard on this dragon. Thank you so much for this, Happy Valentine's Day."
"Happy Valentine's Day Luce." Natsu replied back while still hugging her.
Letting her go after a few moments, Natsu leaned back and laughed out, "Now come on, I'm starving. It's been forever since I've eaten, let's get something to eat!"
Being dragged along by Natsu, Lucy just laughed and shook her head. "Natsu, you ate more 4 hours ago then I could eat in an entire week, how are you still hungry?"
Both let the mall with their Valentine's Day gifts laughing, enjoying their new found friendship.
I saw this prompt on tumblr and decided to run with it. Hopefully you all have a fantastic Valentine's Day! And if you don't celebrate then enjoy the half off chocolates the 15th, that's what I always do ;)