Natsu was always good at being silent. From a young age, he was able to sneak things away from his older brother that he wanted and keep them without him finding out–something that he was quite proud of himself for until his parents found them. Natsu kept his lips tight as he heard his parents arguing, and listened to music on the ride to his father's home where he would stay for the remainder of his life. Despite the pain, he was quiet and played his piano when the sad times arose and mostly kept to himself around other people, only inputting words that would help continue the conversation.
He played the piano every morning before school and before he went to bed, and he found himself one day getting better and better. Proud of himself, he began to play a Mozart song which he knew he could perform quite well. The song was one of his favorites, and one his father taught him when he was young. It went on for a while until he realized someone was watching him.
In the corner of his eye, he saw a young blonde woman around the same age as he peeking through her blinds in awe. He stopped playing and turned to study her, but she was gone.
Lucy was trained to be quiet from when she was young. Her mother passed away when she was three, and her father turned sterner toward her every single day, telling her to be quiet through meetings and dinners to just look pretty. As she ate her food at each meal, she listened to the conversations of those around her with a skeptical ear. She found that most of the words spoken were boring and either about beauty products or wealth, and the women around her only wanted her to wear makeup and do her hair when Lucy could care less about doing those things.
Even at sixteen, she was more interested in music than made sense to her more than anything else like beauty products or money, and she thought it beautiful in it's own right. Every type of music was different, and she found herself being drawn to song. She wouldwoudl often sing softly to herself in the middle of the night, and would sometimes go to the top of her roof and sing as she watched the stars.
One evening in particular was unlike the rest. She saw a young man with rose colored hair playing the piano, and she watched with awe as his fingers danced over the keys. He played a song that she heard when she was a child, and she peeked between the velvet curtains to get a better look at him.
His fingers were long and pressed the piano keys with such precision and enjoyment that she couldn't help but sing along. There were no words yet she knew that she had to sing. It inspired her so much that her vocal cords just couldn't help it any longer, and Lucy began her aria to hopefully empower him into playing even more.
But when he turned his eyes on hers, she flushed at the direct eye contact and gasped at how bright his emerald eyes were as they pierced into hers and were so shocking against the darkness. Dropping the curtain, her back pressed against the wall and she dropped to her knees.
With her hands over her mouth, she smiled. The feeling felt strange to her as she was unaccustomed to it, but she could not help it.
"He looked at me."
Natsu wanted to do something for the blonde girl. When they had made eye contact that night from their bedroom windows and he saw her beautiful face. His pulse began to quicken as she watched him. He wasn't around girls much other than his classmates, and she was definitely not a classmate. Her house was much nicer than his, and it was rumored that her father was someone high up in a large company in Magnolia.
But she was so quiet. When she sang, the words were softly uttered and high-pitched as if she was not quite used to talking. He understood the feeling; sometimes he would go without talking for days just to give himself a break from all of the noise around him at school.
'What could I give to her that she doesn't already have?' Natsu wondered, pressing his knees to his chest as he sat on his bed. She probably had a bunch of pretty dresses and lots of girl stuff because her father was so rich, but he wanted to give her something from the heart.
What could a singer use that would show his personality yet be sweet?
Natsu's lips quirked up as he thought of an idea. It was silly, but he was sure that she would like it. Now, if he could only get up the courage to go to the store…
"What's this?" Lucy said aloud, and the words echoed loudly in her ears. She hadn't said anything for hours which made the noise sound loud even though her voice was barely a whisper. The whole day was filled with meals with higher-ups, and Lucy needed to be silent at the command of her father.
The gift was wrapped unusually, with a bow tied around it haphazardly multiple times and covered in comics from the newspaper. Lucy giggled as she unwrapped the gift carefully, wondering if it was a present from her father.
Lucy's eyebrows drew together as she saw it was a tube of chapstick and a bottle of water. Who would think to give such ordinary things? Still, it was a gift, and she would accept it with grace.
A note fell out of the edge of a piece of wrapping, and Lucy scrambled to pick it up. The writing was scribbled in colored pencil and almost illegible, but she read it nonetheless.
'Yo! My name's Natsu, and I live next door. Nice to meet ya, singing lady! I thought since you sing that your mouth might get dry and that your lips might get chapped. I know they're kind of shitty gifts, but it was all I could get. Hope you like them anyway. See ya!'
Lucy giggled again, covering her mouth with her palm. He really was sweet, even though he didn't know her name. Maybe she would have to introduce herself sometime.
Now she had to figure out what to get him back.
Natsu came home from school to find a neatly wrapped present sitting on his piano. It was weird that he would find any sort of gift for him at all. His dad loved giving present but since work was hard to find, Igneel rarely got gifts for him. Still, Natsu appreciated every ice cream cone and piano book that his old man could find and treasured each and every one.
He sneaked around it, tossing it back and forth in his hands a few times in speculation. What if it was a bomb from someone that wanted to kill him? Natsu didn't have any enemies but he was sure that someone out there hated him.
His eyes widened as he remembered the gift he gave to the girl next door a few weeks back. Oh man, what if she didn't like it? What if this was a bunch of horse poop or something?
Sniffing it, he found no smell save for the faint scent of pine and old metal. Natsu cocked his head and raised his eyebrows while unwrapping the gift slowly to find that it was a wooden metronome. He grinned and placed it on his piano gently and flicked the bar to start ticking. Sitting down on his bench, he began to play the piano and found it much easier now that he knew the tempo.
He wanted to play a song for her to show his appreciation. Natsu knew that she would like that, and his mind pondered over the options for a moment before coming to the best one.
With a grin, he stopped playing and rubbed his hands together. Now he just had to wait until nightfall.
Lucy heard the first notes of a song she loved and rushed to the window with glee. Throwing back the curtain, she saw that Natsu was playing that very song her mother used to play.
As Natsu's fingers flew over the keys, he recognized familiar figure in the curtains and smiled. He grinned up at her, and she smiled back. Within a few moments, she began to sing. Her words were hesitant at first as they always were, and they grew more confident as the music swelled. The song finished before they could even recognize it's ending, and Natsu immediately started up another melody.
The two joined in harmony as they gazed into each other's eyes, smiles on their faces. The song was even more beautiful as Lucy sang along with Natsu's playing, and their smiles grew as they knew what they had to do.
Lucy raced past countless servers and maids as she ran out the door, and Natsu bolted past his confused father. It didn't matter that Natsu didn't know Lucy's name, or that Lucy didn't know how quiet Natsu was.
They knew they had to meet.
As they stood staring at each other on their driveways, one much smaller than the other, they grinned. Natsu had his hands on his knees as he heaved breaths, and Lucy's eyes widened. He was really here!
Natsu's pulse raced as he looked at her. She was even more beautiful up close…
"H-Hello," Lucy began, and Natsu was surprised at how pretty her voice was even when she wasn't singing. "I'm Lucy."
"Nice to meet ya, Luce. I'm Natsu. You already knew that though. You know, from my note. Sorry about my shitty handwriting," he said with a nervous laugh, and Lucy giggled at his rambling. He wasn't sure how to act around a girl. Much less a girl as pretty as her. He liked the way her long ponytail fell over her shoulder and down her back, and how her brown eyes sparkled.
"Pleasure to meet you as well," she said, using her formal voice. Natsu's brows furrowed in confusion, and Lucy sighed.
"I'm sorry," she told him as her eyes dipped to the ground, "I meant to say that it's nice to meet you too."
She grasped his hand, feeling it's warmth. The heat spread from the tips of her fingers to her feet, and it made her shiver. His palms were rough where hers were smooth, and they fit together well.
There was silence as their hands dropped back to their sides. Natsu looked to the ground and kicked a rock, not knowing what to say. He liked her for sure, but wasn't sure how to express it.
"Would you like to come inside? I can make us some tea," Lucy said with a smile, and Natsu grinned back. With a nod, he followed her inside.
It seemed that even the most silent of people could be comfortable with the ones they adored.