Soooo, NaVia week is starting! Woohoo! Let's partyyy!
It's NaVia's first time getting a week, and my first time doing the prompts of a week! I'm so excited omfg!
This is just slightly inspired by one of Mashima's one-shots, named Fairy Tale. Its main protagonists were a fire prince and a water princess, and it was full of OTP feels. I shipped them right away lmao.
Day 1: Steam
Fairy Tail NaVia AU
Summary: When the Fire Prince and the Water Princess team up to retrieve a stolen treasure from an evil witch, will they succeed? Will their bond become their end?
I don't care what color Natsu's eyes are, I just love the idea of him with green eyes. Yeah, that's right. Deal with it.
Also, Juvia will talk normally in this one-shot. Why? No idea, don't ask. But she'll probably talk in third person in the rest of the one-shots...
AND, Natsu doesn't have his scarf in this!
Now, enough with the ranting, enjoy! ^w^
The morning sun was up in the blue sky, shining and warming up the world. Its rays fell playfully on a salmon-haired boy's face, who wrinkled his nose and rubbed his shiny green eyes, rather annoyed.
A red-haired man chuckled at this and ruffled the boy's hair, who scoffed and crossed his arms.
"Daaad!", he whined. "Why can't I go to the meeting with you as well?"
The man rolled his eyes. "You know the meeting is just for the rulers of all the empires, Natsu. I don't see any other ruler except for me around here!", he said the last part playfully, pinching the boy's cheek.
Natsu pouted and looked down at the ground, annoyed that his father wasn't letting him participate at the meeting. He tried to think of a way to make his father take him as well, and as soon as he actually thought of something and opened his mouth to say it...
"Igneel-sama, we should leave already. The meeting is getting started soon", a short old man yelled from a carriage that just arrived.
Natsu's father, Igneel, turned around quickly and let a big grin form on his face.
"Makky! You're here too!"
The old man sweatdropped at the nickname before shaking his head and entering the carriage. Igneel ran fast to the carriage and jumped in it, shouting a loud 'goodbye' to his son as he left to the meeting.
Natsu blinked for a few moments to realize what happened.
"Wait", he suddenly said to himself. "Makarov is allowed to attend the meeting as well?! He isn't any emperor and still goes to the meeting and I'm a freaking prince and can't?!"
The salmon-haired boy was very mad. To attend the monthly meetings was one of his dreams since he actually understood what a meeting was, but Igneel always told him he was not old enough to go at one , and it annoyed the boy to no ends..
A little matchstick headbutted Natsu's leg, distracting the boy from all the thinking. A wide grin spread on Natsu's face as he sat down on the soft grass.
"Mornin' Happy! What's up?", he asked the matchstick as he petted its fire.
Happy spoke something in a squeaky voice. Natsu let a little flame dance on a finger.
"What was that? You're hungry little buddy?", the Fire prince smiled and let Happy jump for the fire. "Good boy!"
Suddenly, a mischievous idea sparkled in Natsu's head. He took the matchstick in his hands and smiled creepily.
"Happy, how about we go to the meeting and listen what they're talking about?"
Happy jumped on Natsu's head, squeaking excited.
"I knew you'd like the idea. Let's go then!", the prince cheered and ran into the direction the carriage went.
- some time later -
Natsu collapsed in front of a huge, fancy building where he knew his father, Igneel, the Fire king, was. He could hear low mumbles from the meeting room, and couldn't wait to listen to all the things they were probably talking about.
His father was never the fancy type, but all he could imagine whenever he thought of the meetings Igneel always attended was fancy people drinking tea and discussing problems using big, annoying words. Just the thought of Igneel acting like that made Natsu laugh out loud, but this time he needed to stifle his laughter or else he would be heard.
Carefully, silently, he sneaked around the building until he found an open window and moved under it to hear everything, while sending Happy to enter the meeting room and watch out for anybody who may look out the window: if they did, the matchstick would roast their feet, and since he was so small, he would easily hide and never be spotted.
But, instead of the fancy, organized and very smart people talking with a strange accent and drinking tea, the meeting was a huge mess.
"The most treasured book of Earthland, with forbidden and very powerful spells, wrote by Devilma who is no longer alive to protect it was stolen, and all you freaking care is who. Ate. Your cookies?!", a red haired woman dressed in an armor spoke menacingly, lifting her chair up in the air to Igneel, who whimpered.
"I-I'm truly sorry Miss Scarlet!", the Fire Emperor squeaked, hiding behind his chair.
'Scarlet? Erza Scarlet? Does that mean she's the empress of the Earth Empire? They are very scary people, from what I heard from others, so dad's in big trouble', Natsu thought as he dares to peek through the window. Thankfully, he wasn't spotted.
"My, my~", a sweet white-haired woman wearing a beautiful, frilly dress giggled as she sipped from a cup of tea.
"Miss Strauss, aren't you going to stop Miss Scarlet?", a beautiful purple-haired woman, almost the same age as Igneel, dressed in a white, comfortable dress raised an eyebrow. "You're usually the one who can do it without destroying the meeting room."
"Oh, don't worry Mrs. Marvell, unless she goes berserk I won't lift a finger."
'Oh, Mirajane Strauss is here too? She seems to be the only one to fit my definition of a meeting for now... And Grandeeney Marvell, I know her! She likes to visit us, and she always brings her daughter, Wendy with her!', Natsu thought with a smile on his face.
"I guess we could resume this fight for a different time, Mr. Dragneel", Erza sighed and put the chair down. "We should start sending people to take the book of Devilma from Afrodita, the evil witch."
'Wait, the book of Devilma was stolen? Crap, she said that before... I should've payed attention!', the Fire Prince thought and called Happy back. The matchstick jumped on Natsu's head, and the two ran away before anyone could've find out that they were there.
Natsu stopped running at a lake, pretty sure his father and the empresses won't be able to follow him now. The fancy meeting place was very far away now, and now the Fire Prince was alone with his matchstick Happy.
"Seems like the fate of that book is in our hands, huh, Happy? Since dad and those empresses don't really seem to do anything about it", he chuckled at the matchstick, who squealed in agreement.
As Natsu and Happy started planning out how to start their new adventure, a black cat with bright blue eyes appeared from nowhere, glaring at Natsu. The Fire Prince, who didn't really have good experiences with other animals other than dogs and his matchstick Happy, didn't know what to do.
"U-Umm... Hello there...? Cute kitty cat?", Natsu started panicking as the cat started hissing at him and approaching him.
'Wait, what the heck am I doing? Getting scared by a cat?', the salmon-haired boy suddenly thought and relaxed, regaining his normal behaviour.
"What do you want?", he asked, not really expecting an answer from the weird animal.
The cat hissed in response and tried to scratch him. Natsu lit his fist and moved it in front of the animal, who seemed confused, like if it never saw fire before. But, as the cat tried to touch the flame, the boy seemed forced to put the fire out, not really wanting to hurt the creature.
"Can't touch this", he spoke. "You might get hurt, and I don't want that to happen."
The cat, seemingly understanding what he said, nodded its head. Surprised by this, Natsu let a small smile lit his face.
"Where are your friends?", the boy asked.
The cat looked down with a sad expression.
"You don't know where they are?"
Again, the cat responded by a simple shake of its head. Natsu smiled brightly and picked the cat up, putting it on his head along with Happy.
"Let's find your friends, shall we?", he chuckled. "And Happy, be careful."
Happy squeaked in response and jumped on Natsu's shoulder, while the cat meowed, and soon they were on their way to find the animal's lost friends, forgetting about their original quest.
Natsu soon engaged in small talk with both the cat and the matchstick.
How did he understand them?
Only God knows.
Their discussion was interrupted by a far sound in the forest. The cat and Natsu focused on the sound, not moving an inch.
"Gray-samaa, where are youu?"
The cat's eyes brightened up at the voice. Natsu quickly noticed the change, and the cat headbutted him, probably telling him to start walking to the one shouting. Soon, the cat jumped off of Natsu's head and started running in a certain direction.
"Wait for me!", Natsu yelled at the cat while running after it. "Don't leave me alone, you idiot!"
The cat didn't stop, or at least move slower, but instead ran faster, which annoyed the crap out of Natsu. Too focused on the cat, the boy didn't look where he was running and-
CRASH!
Natsu fell on his butt with a loud thud after crashing with something. He groaned and rubbed his hurt head at first, then his hurt butt.
"I-Is everything okay?"
Natsu looked up to see who spoke. A beautiful girl with blue, wavy hair falling gracefully on her back was standing in front of him, holding in her arms the cat Natsu was chasing. She was wearing a knee-length, comfortable light blue dress with ribbons at her shoulders.
"Who are you?", he asked rather rudely.
She scoffed. "I think some manners would be good for you", she grumbled and the cat mischievously seemed to grin.
"Umm, sorry...", Natsu mumbled, only now looking at her better. "Are you from the Water Empire, by any chance?"
The girl, a little taken aback by the question, nodded. "Yes, I am. Why?"
Natsu shrugged. "Just wondering, that's all. What's your name? Mine's Natsu!", he started the conversation excitedly.
"M-My name is Juvia...", she said, confused by his excitement.
Natsu smiled widely. "Cute name! Is this your cat?", he said, pointing at the cat in her arms.
Juvia, blushing at the sudden compliment, nodded. "Y-Yes, this is Gray-sama", she smiled, holding the cat up for the Fire Prince to see.
"I already know him", he chuckled, confusing Juvia. "I promised him I'll help him find his friends. It seems it was just one, but still, I kept my promise, didn't I?"
Juvia looked at the black cat and hugged it tightly with a smile. She then looked at Natsu and smiled brightly at him.
"Thank you! I thought Gray-sama was lost forever!", Juvia said and wanted to hug the boy, but he backed away, confusing her.
"No, don't touch me", he said, confusing her even more.
"Why?", she spoke, hurt, and Gray glared daggers at him.
Natsu panicked when he saw her getting sad. "I-It's nothing personal, Juvia, don't worry! It's just that someone from the Water Empire and someone from the Fire Empire can't touch in any way! We'd annihilate each other! I thought you knew that!"
Her eyes widened and she slapped herself in the face, making Natsu stifle a laugh. Even Gray and Happy seemed amused.
"How didn't I realize you're from the Fire Empire?", Juvia muttered. "I'm such an idiot..."
Natsu rolled his eyes chuckling. Juvia suddenly stopped slapping herself, realization seeming to shine in her eyes.
"Wait... You said your name is Natsu, right?"
The boy, confused, nodded.
"Is your last name Dragneel?", she asked quickly.
"...Yes?"
One of her eyes started twitching, but she didn't care which one at the moment.
"You mean you're the Fire Prince and you didn't tell me?", she spoke menacingly, with a glare that strangely reminded Natsu of how Erza glared at Igneel during the meeting.
"W-Why is the title so important?", Natsu stuttered, afraid of her.
She stopped the glaring and twitching and just looked blankly at him. After a few moments, she finally spoke.
"...I have no idea."
Natsu couldn't help himself and started laughing loudly, Happy almost falling from his shoulder. Juvia bit back a smile; this boy was strange and his laughing made her want to laugh along him.
"Y-Y-You're hilarious, Juvia!", he said between laughs. "I-It's hard to believe you're the Water P-Princess!"
Juvia seized all smiling as she heard him.
How did he know who she was?
She waited a minute or two for Natsu to catch his breath and stop laughing. Soon, as he wiped a few tears from his eyes, she opened her mouth to ask her question.
"How did you know?"
Natsu raised an eyebrow, a smile still lingering on his face. "How did I know what?"
Juvia sighed. "How did you know I am the Water Princess?"
He chuckled, confusing her. "Just like you did, idiot. From the Water Empire, called Juvia..."
"Oh."
There was an awkward silence following. Happy soon broke it with an alert squeak.
"What?", Natsu asked the matchstick, who repeated the squeak, only a little more annoyed. "Oh, right! I totally forgot! We said we would find the book of Devilma for dad and the others!", Natsu spoke, excitement burning in his eyes as he pumped his fists.
Juvia's eyes widened. "The book of Devilma was stolen?"
Natsu turned to her. "Yup, a witch named Afrodita stole it. And we're gonna find it, right buddy?", he said the last part to his matchstick, who squeaked happily in response while the cat rolled his eyes.
Juvia started fidgeting with her hair, letting Gray down. Natsu looked at her confused.
"Something wrong?"
She mumbled something barely audible for him to hear.
"What? Talk louder!"
"C-Can I come with you?", she asked a little louder. "I-I'm getting pretty bored around here, a-and I don't want to lose Gray-sama again, and-", she started reasoning very quickly why she was asking that, but was silenced by Natsu.
"Sure you can!", he grinned widely. "The more, the merrier, right? Yosh! Now let's go find someone who can tell us where this Afrodita stays so we can find the book!", Natsu finished and gestured her to come with him as he started running.
Juvia let a wide smile and a blush form on her face as she followed them, her cat Gray not far behind.
"Yeah, let's go!"
Juvia stood under a tree, with Gray and Happy at her sides, bored out of her mind.
'Where the heck is Natsu-san?', she thought with annoyance as she looked at the sky again.
Suddenly, she heard footsteps and looked around. She saw Natsu holding up by the foot a short old man with a wide grin on his face, while the man was struggling to escape his grip.
"Found him!"
"Makarov?", Juvia said, amused. "How did you even manage to catch him? He was at the meeting as well."
Natsu shrugged. "Everyone was too busy fighting or discussing over fights, so nobody noticed Makarov disappearing. He's very short and barely noticeable anyways. He's not that important anyways, hehe."
Makarov loudly protested, swinging right to left and left to right trying to escape, but Natsu instead lit a hand on fire and approached it to him.
"Now, gramps", the salmon-haired boy mischievously smiled. "You either tell us where this Afrodita witch lives, or I'll... uhh..."
He trails off, thinking of something while Juvia giggled in the background, the old man sweat-dropping. Suddenly, the boy remembered something and decided to use it against Makarov.
"...O-Or I'll... I'll make Happy burn your clothes and get Gray to scratch you!", the boy threatened, trying to seem scary, but definitely didn't achieve the facial expression he wanted, as Juvia's giggling got louder, while Happy and Gray were looking at Natsu with a funny angry expression, obviously not wanting to do what he just said.
Makarov gulped upon hearing the Fire Prince's words.
Why, you ask?
Foolish old man made a bet earlier that morning with a beautiful, but very drunk brown-haired girl that he won't end up getting naked in the next 24 hours. If he lost the bet, he had to give the girl all the precious booze he managed to hide from his grandchildren, and losing his booze was too much for his heart to take. Also, he had no idea how she found out about his secret chamber of booze...
Natsu just managed to overhear this conversation. At first, he didn't consider it important, but now he decided it could be useful, knowing just how much the old man treasured his booze...
Sighing deeply, Makarov looked with confidence in Natsu's shiny emerald eyes and spoke.
"Fine. You win, brat. I'll tell you where Afrodita is... but I'll also have to guide you there in case something happens. Neither Mirajane or Igneel would forgive me if something managed to happen to any of you two..."
Natsu threw his hands up in the air and cheered, fire flying from the corners of his mouth, and Makarov, who was forgotten instantly by the boy, fell on his head on the soft grass.
Juvia and their pets were gaping. They so weren't expecting Makarov to agree leading them to such a dangerous place just so he won't end up naked...
"Natsu-san, how did you manage to convince Makarov-san to lead us to Afrodita like that?", Juvia asked, confused. "There must be something else except threatening him you'll burn off his clothes that made him change his mind!"
Natsu grinned widely, winking at her. "Secret!"
The blue-haired girl puffed her cheeks, but decided to leave him be.
Natsu took Happy in his palms and placed him carefully on his shoulder, smiling.
"Ready for an adventure, Happy?"
The matchstick squeaked something that sounded like 'aye, sir!', which amused everyone. The Fire Prince turned to the others with his trademark grin on his face.
"Come on, what are we waiting for?", he chuckled. "We have a new mission waiting for us! Let's go!", he shouted at them happily.
Makarov sighed and pointed straight ahead. Natsu started running in that direction, yelling a loud 'what are you waiting for' to everyone. The old man rolled his eyes and followed, while Gray started running as well by the Fire Prince's side. Juvia looked at them with a soft smile.
The Water Princess was so happy to be part of this adventure.
'Maybe I will find my Prince Charming this way...', she thought, her smile widening and a blush dusting her cheeks as she started imagining how it would be like when she'll finally find that guy.
What would he look like? Raven hair, deep blue eyes, muscular, kind, maybe a few weird habits like... stripping?
"Juvia, come on already! What are you waiting for?", she snapped out of her thoughts as she heard Natsu's cheery voice call for her.
The Water Princess rolled her eyes in a playful manner and started jogging towards her new team, a happy smile playing on her lips.
'Well, Prince Charming can wait for now. Juvia's out to save the world!'
- a few hours later, already afternoon -
Makarov looked up at the sky. The sun was already up in the middle, and it continued its trip. The old man smiled softly and started humming a happy tune, deciding to ignore the brats and pets surrounding him...
"Say, Juvia...", Natsu started, bored.
"Hm? Something wrong, Natsu-san?", Juvia raised an eyebrow as she walked slowly beside him.
"How is Miss Strauss related to you? I mean, your last name is Lockser, and hers is Strauss...", he trailed off. "Oh! And please sorry if it sounded rude! I'm just very curious!"
Juvia giggled and glanced at Natsu. "Curiosity killed the cat, you know, Natsu-san?", she then sighed and looked down as she walked, staying quiet for a few brief moments.
Natsu watched her, curiosity spiking up. The Water Princess soon raised her head with a small smile.
"Mira-san is my aunt, along with her siblings, Lisanna-san and Elfman-san. Lisanna-san died in an unfortunate accident, leaving only Elfman, who is now the general of the Water Army", she started. "I never got to meet Lisanna-san properly..."
The Fire Prince watched as she went silent for a short while after that. He felt bad for asking her that question... Maybe it was a bad memory and he was just bringing it up...
"...You don't need to tell me if you don't want to, you know?", he said, sighing.
Juvia glanced at him from the corners of her eyes, and let a small smile spread on her rosy lips. "No, it's nothing, Natsu-san. I want to tell you."
Natsu sighed. It was clear she didn't want to share her memories with him...
"Look, Juvia", he said, a cheerful grin on his face. "You answer to my question, and I'll tell you a really bad memory of mine in exchange so you'll feel better. Deal?"
Juvia let a smile slip on her face as she heard that. "Deal."
"Okay. Now continue what you wanted to say", he said softly, which startled Juvia, as he never seemed to be able to speak in that kind of voice at first glance. "And you can take as much time as you want!"
The Water Princess grinned at him, and she herself was surprised at that. "Okay!"
They ignored Gray and Happy glancing at each other, each with the same glint in their eyes, and Juvia started to talk.
"My parents died when I was just a little baby, so I don't remember anything about them. Since I was too little to rule at the time, and there was nobody to take my father's place, they decided to choose one of my aunts. Mira-san isn't related to anyone in our family in any way, but is married to mother's brother, automatically making her my aunt. She is such a kind person... until you make her angry, of course", she giggled at the last part.
Natsu remembered seeing Mirajane at the meeting, when he stealthily watched it and also remembered her as a very calm and peaceful woman, but seeing as she was usually the one to stop Erza from destroying the meeting room, the last part was obvious to him.
Juvia soon continued. "Seeing as my mother's brother died as well one year after, the last choice as a ruler was Mira-san, since Lisanna-san and Elfman-san were still underage and Mira-san just reached 20 years old. This way, Mira-san became the Water Empress, and I remained the Water Princess", she finished with a bright smile on her face.
Natsu let a happy grin spread on his face. "Well, at least it turned out good in the end, didn't it?"
Juvia nodded. "Yes, though I sometimes wish I could've met my mother...", she said with a slight frown. "Would she be proud of who I became...?", she said the last part mostly to herself, but Natsu caught it anyway.
"Of course she would. I personally think you are an awesome girl!", he grinned.
Juvia grinned along with him. They didn't notice Gray, Happy, and now even Makarov's knowing smiles behind their backs.
"Hey! Now it's time you'll tell me a bad memory of yours too!", the blue-haired girl said.
Natsu's grin faltered slightly. "Umm... Okay..."
Juvia noticed this and frowned. She wanted to elbow him softly to make him turn his eyes on her so she could smile and assure him it's okay, like she would normally do, but she knew that they would annihilate each other if they touched...
"...When I was little", he finally started, "I used to always escape the palace to play with some kids that were living on the streets, as they said. Dad and my maid, Virgo, always told me to stop doing that, but I didn't listen. Soon, some people, enemies of dad, recognized me on the streets and captured me."
Natsu bit his lip. Juvia frowned.
"What happened after...?"
"I was held captive for one or two months. They didn't beat me or anything, but only whipped a few times because I asked them where dad was. I had to promise I'll never mention dad's name in their presence, ever. I always had one or two people guarding me so I won't escape".
Juvia gulped. That was a really bad memory indeed... She felt bad for making that deal with him to share a bad memory with her now, but couldn't stop him now. He already seemed upset enough as he talked, she didn't want to upset him more.
"After some time, dad and some guards broke through the door of the room where I was being held captive in, to save me. The one guarding me at that time took me and put a knife at my neck, threatening to kill me if they made a move. Fortunately, one of dad's guards came through the window in the room and caught the guy. As he hold the knife at my neck, he accidentally grazed my neck a bit, and cut a little deeper when dad's guard took him away. That's why I have this scar on my neck", he finished, pointing at the scar on his neck.
Natsu sighed. Juvia smiled sadly and looked at her feet, a light pink dusting her cheeks.
"I would hug you right now if I could... You know, just so you feel better..."
Natsu blushed as he heard her, and coughed, hands behind his back, looking in the other direction, occasionally glancing at her from the corners of his eyes.
Makarov looked at them with a mischievous smile and chuckled.
"Hehe, young love~"
The two turned around, faces as red as Erza's hair, and started yelling at the old man. After a while, they were interrupted as Happy squeaked something to Natsu.
"Gramps, Happy asks you if we're close to Afrodita because the sun is setting", he said, turning to Makarov, who scoffed.
"Stop calling me gramps, brat...", he grumbled. "We're around ten hours away from the witch, but since the sun is setting, we should camp here. It's dangerous to travel at night, and even more in a forest like this".
Natsu pumped his fists and Juvia jumped in the air, while the others just sweatdropped.
"CAMPING~!", they shouted.
"I'll go get some firewood!", Natsu cheerfully said and ran to the right.
"And I'll get some water!", Juvia smiled and ran to the left.
Makarov and the pets remained in the same place. The old man let himself fall on the butt on the soft grass, and let out a long, deep sigh.
"Brats...", he mumbled, then turned to Gray and Happy. "Aren't you two going with them?"
The two shook their heads. Makarov raised an eyebrow and chuckled.
"At least I won't be totally alone...", he smiled and petted Gray.
Happy scoffed and turned away so that they'll be facing his back. Makarov chuckled while the cat wiggled its eyebrows - I guess.
"Come on Happy, don't be angry", Makarov said. "I'd pet you too, but I'd get burned. You know I'm not a Fire Citizen, right?"
The matchstick, still scoffing, turned around again so now they could see his 'face'.
Soon, Natsu and Juvia returned. They set their camp and ate what Makarov packed, because they honestly forgot to pack anything, and went to sleep as a long day was waiting for them tomorrow.
- at night -
Everyone was already fast asleep, but Natsu just couldn't find sleep. His mind was full of thoughts, something rather unusual, and he was missing just a little bit his maid at the palace, Virgo.
But the one who mainly preoccupied his mind right now, was Juvia.
Why?
Don't ask. He doesn't know either.
It's just that he can't forget her smile, her face. Whenever he closes his eyes and tries to sleep, he sees Juvia. Whenever he thinks of anyone he knows in the Water Empire, he suddenly finds himself comparing them to Juvia and wondering if she knew them.
It was weird, really. Natsu always felt warm, being from the Fire Empire and the Fire Prince, nonetheless, but now he felt an entirely different kind of warm and he didn't know why was that.
Suddenly, he heard someone stir and turned around to see who it was.
To his surprise, it was Juvia.
She smiled sweetly at him. "Can't sleep either, Natsu-san?"
Before he even realized, he nodded with a grin.
"What are you thinking about?", Juvia asked, resting her head on her hand.
"I dunno", he shrugged. "You?"
She shrugged as well. "My home, the Water Empire, my family... you...", she mumbled the last part for herself, but Natsu caught it anyway and let a small blush dust his cheeks.
A comfortable silence followed. They were both looking at the flames rising and falling, dancing their strange, but gracious dance.
"...I wish I would be able to touch you...", Juvia suddenly mumbled, and hid her face in her hands in embarrassment, face reddening.
A blush sported its way to Natsu's face as well, and he let his head rest on his hands as he sighed.
"Me too..."
She glanced briefly through her hands at him, and smiled. Soon, they both fell asleep, a sweet smile lingering on their faces...
- next day -
"Rise and shine, brats! Time to go knock at Afrodita's door!"
Natsu groaned as he rubbed his eyes, trying to wake up.
He never really liked Makarov's voice.
This time was not an exception.
"Ughh, I'm still sleepyy~", he heard Juvia's sweet voice.
That was a better alarm clock.
Natsu rose up on his feet and stretched, sleepy.
"Mornin' to you too, Makarov", he grumbled, rubbing his eyes once again.
The old man grinned. He just loved to see them walk like zombies, tired, didn't he?
Gray stretched as well, hissing at Makarov for waking him up from his sweet sleep, and Happy squeaked annoyed and burned a few bits of the old man's moustache.
Natsu and Juvia giggled. Makarov scoffed and glared.
"Come on, brats...", he grumbled. "Wash your faces, eat something, and let's get going".
Everybody did as the old man said, except Gray and Happy didn't wash their faces, because Happy's face was literally just fire and Gray didn't like to get wet [but had a strange passion for ice, which was made of water as well].
Soon, they went on their merry way towards Afrodita, cheerful and careless.
What was expecting them there, though, was by no means joy.
An old woman with grey, long, straight hair, glowing red eyes, wrinkles all over her grumpy face, and skinny enough to have her bones show, dressed in an elegant black dress was flipping through an enormous book. Its pages were written in an ancient language that was no longer spoken now, Ancient Fiorian, with detailed drawings to accompany the writing. The woman flipped through page and page, her annoyance growing up with every page, and, after checking out the entire book this way, she slammed it close, letting out a distressed, loud groan.
"I can't understand a damn thing written in this freaking book!", she shouted to no one in particular. "How can I use the spells written in here if I don't understand the words?!"
She was interrupted by a small golem that tugged at her dress.
"What do you want now, can't you see I'm trying to decipher what's written in this stupid book?", the woman spoke irritated.
The golem pointed to the where he came from. She raised an eyebrow at the creature and walked in the mentioned room, which was still as bad as the first one, but had a small table in the center with a magical globe on it that was glowing, being the only source of light in the room, since there were no windows.
The old woman took the purple, shiny globe in her hands and looked at it as moving images of Natsu and his friends appeared on it. She let out a chuckle.
"So this is who they sent to take the book back? Heh, I expected more from them...", she spoke, then looked closely. "I wonder how much they had to give and say to make Igneel and Mirajane send the future rulers of the Fire and Water Empires."
The small golem made some signs with his hands, and the woman nodded with a smug smirk on her face. She clenched her fists, the smirk evolving into a toothy grin, showing her yellow teeth, and she started laughing.
"They think they can just come and take the book away from me? Hah!", the woman continued laughing, her hair flying in the air as she emitted a strange aura that made the golem shiver.
After she calmed down, she looked at the little golem with a wicked smile.
"Go to your friends and send them to bring in our new guests! The royal brats need to be welcomed... properly..."
The creature nodded quickly and ran off where the woman send it. She grinned, going back to the book.
After some hours worth of work, a happy smile made its way on her old, charred lips. She started muttering some foreign words, with occasional pauses, and when she finished, a bright green light enveloped her. The woman laughed maniacally, her body transforming.
"Afrodita's back, baby!"
The team finally arrived at Afrodita's lair!
...Which is the gloomy cliche castle the evil wizards usually have...
"We're here", Makarov said in a bored tone as he entered through a crack in the wall that was 'protecting' the castle, Happy and Gray following him while Natsu and Juvia looked amused and confused at them.
The old man kicked the wall and the crack widened, now Natsu and Juvia being able to enter through it, as much as they didn't like the idea - well, Natsu had no problem with it, but Juvia's a different story.
Sneaking into the castle, they walked carefully throughout the empty, dirty halls, with spider webs practically everywhere. Juvia shuddered in disgust as a spider crawled on a wall and a bug ran in front of her to hide. Natsu, meanwhile, had no problem with it and was actually enjoying the 'walk'.
Soon, they arrived at a dead end. A huge door was in front of them, but, unfortunately, it was locked and no key could be seen anywhere.
Makarov facepalmed and would've hit his head on a wall as well if they weren't so... dirty and disgusting.
Natsu furrowed his eyebrows, thinking of something to do. An idea brightened his mood as a smile crept up on his face.
"Hey, I've got an idea!", he told everyone, who quickly turned to him. "Anybody got some metal I could melt?"
They all looked at him confused. Makarov stepped in front of them and gave him a knife.
"Is this good?"
Natsu grinned and nodded, taking the knife out of the old man's hands, who grumbled that he deserved a new knife when they get back home. The boy melted the metal and poured it into the keyhole, confusing everyone.
"How's that going to help?", Juvia asked hesitantly, not wanting to sound rude.
"You mean I lost my knife for nothing? This guy owes me either money or a new, better knife...", Makarov grumbled as he facepalmed again, leaving a bright red mark on his face while Happy and Gray snickered.
Natsu rolled his eyes. "We need to wait for the metal to solidify. Then we'll have our own key to open the door. Simple as that!"
They all shut up, surprised that Natsu actually thought of doing that and ashamed they didn't think of that before. They waited for some time before the Fire Prince finally touched the now solidified metal and turned the key in the keyhole. A click sound was heard, and the salmon-haired boy opened the large door, grinning at his friends.
'He's smarter than I thought...', Juvia thought for a moment, a small blush creeping on her cheeks.
Red eyes shone in the darkness of the room hidden behind the now-open door, and two huge golems, lead by the small one, appeared and hit Natsu and Juvia, who now collapsed on the cold hard ground unconscious. The little golem ambushed Makarov, who tried to fight back, and hit him with all its force on the head, the old man fainting.
The two bigger golems grabbed the Fire Prince and the Water Princess' hair, dragging them probably to Afrodita's room. The little golem dragged the old man with him by the pants, following with pride to the witch's room, but the bigger golems seemed to glare and the small golem left Makarov's unconscious body at the entrance.
Thankfully, they didn't notice Gray and Happy, who hid behind the huge door, knowing they had no chance against the creatures.
Natsu opened his eyes, blinking slowly to adjust to the light and groaning because of a bad headache. He tried to move his hand up to his head to ruffle his salmon hair, but something kept his hands from moving.
He looked up, and saw he was suspended in the air, his wrists caught in chains and no ground below him. Looking down, he only saw bright and hot lava.
"...Natsu-san...?"
The Fire Prince looked quickly to his right. He saw Juvia, in the same situation as he was in, but, strangely, she looked as if she was suffocated.
"Too... h-hot...", she panted, sweating hard and closing her eyes that were burning from the scorching heat.
"Juvia!", he shouted, worried about her. "What's wrong?!"
"She's from the Water Empire, you idiot", a feminine voice chuckled from below them.
Looking down, Natsu saw a beautiful woman with very long, straight, green hair, soft skin, black nails and blood red lips. She wore a long, elegant and rather revealing black dress and black shoes with high heels. The small golem that attacked them tugged at her dress and gave her a book. She took it happily and shooed the golem away, then smiled wickedly at the salmon-haired man.
"Are you Afrodita, the evil witch?", Natsu yelled at her.
"Heh, the one and only, boy".
An awkward silence followed, which annoyed Afrodita. Natsu analyzed her for a few moments, until he opened his mouth to shout at her again.
"Makarov told me you're an old hag! Are you sure you're actually Afrodita the evil witch and not someone else?"
Afrodita gritted her teeth, grumbling about how she will kill him for insulting a beautiful woman like her. After a few moments of grumbling and swearing and cursing, the evil witch raised the book up in the air so the prince could see it better.
"Are you looking for this, Fire Prince?", she asked him.
Natsu squinted his eyes to see the book better and recognized the old writing on its cover, translated as "The Ancient Book Of Magic by Devilma". He let a wide grin spread on his sweaty face and nodded furiously, the chains keeping him from falling shaking.
"Yeah, that's the one! Now give it back!"
The woman smirked evilly and put the book on a table near the exit of the lava chamber they were in.
"In your dreams, Fire Prince. Now, help me translate the book and I'll free you and your beloved Water Princess!", she commanded.
Natsu shook his head grumpily.
"Why don't you do it yourself?"
A tick mark appeared on Afrodita's head.
"Because it would take me forever, idiot! It took me all day to translate this youth spell!", she yelled angrily. "See you in the Afterlife if you don't want to help me!"
A green light enveloped her hands as the woman mumbled strange words, weirdly moving her hands. At first, Natsu was afraid, but... as minutes passed, he started to get bored.
"Are you done yet?", he shouted at her.
She only glared, not stopping her creepy mumbling and her weird hand movements. The Fire Prince sighed.
'Is it just me or is she getting angrier by second?', Natsu thought as he watched the crazy witch do her weird ritual.
After a few more minutes, the green light enveloping her hands disappeared as she stomped her foot angrily.
"Argh! Why isn't it working?! I know I said all the words correctly! Did I not pronounce them well?", Afrodita yelled at nobody.
Natsu had to hold his giggles, though it was very hard since he couldn't just simply cover his mouth with his hands as he would normally do. Juvia was as well smiling, but the heat was also making her very dizzy. Natsu was happy to know she was at least conscious about what was happening around her.
Afrodita glared at them and shouted at the salmon-haired boy once again.
"Are you going to translate the Book of Devilma for me, boy?"
Natsu shook his head again. He could've translated the book if he wanted to, he was taught Ancient Fiorian by his father, but the problem was, he didn't want to.
Afrodita shook with anger. With a single, swift movement, she sent two green, radiant, but rather small fireballs towards the chains that were suspending Natsu and Juvia above the lava. Juvia let out a shriek and closed her eyes as the fireball was about to hit her chains.
Natsu, ignoring the fireball that was about to hit his chains, looked with terror at Juvia who was about to get hit. One second before they were both hit, he screamed her name, closing his eyes.
Gray and Happy surrounded Makarov's unconscious body. They looked at each other, then at Makarov, then back at each other, then back at Makarov...
Soon, Happy squeaked something. Gray meowed in response, nodding his head. The matchstick squeaked again, and climbed on the old man's butt, setting his pants on fire.
A few moments after the - rather cheap - pants started burning, Makarov got up with a shriek and started running around the room.
"H-H-HO-HOTT!"
Happy and Gray seemed to snicker as they watched the old man run around, his butt on fire. After a few minutes, the fire went out, and Makarov collapsed in front of the cat and the matchstick, panting from all the running.
"Why... did you do that...?"
Happy squeaked and pointed at the door, while Gray meowed and also indicated the same place. Makarov raised an eyebrow and got up, looking around.
"Where are Natsu and Juvia?", he asked, confused, not remembering what happened before he fainted.
Gray meowed something in response to the old man's question, but he didn't understand. He got up on his feet, rubbing his poor, burned butt, and looked at the door that lead to where the golems took Natsu and Juvia.
"I have no idea what happened...", the old man groaned in annoyance. "I'll just sit here until I remember what happened!"
Gray and Happy looked at each other and sighed. They both walked where Natsu and Juvia were taken to, and Makarov, confused, decided to follow them.
Juvia opened her eyes and looked around, the scorching heat almost burning her pale, soft skin.
"I-I'm not dead...?", she murmured to herself, still feeling the pain of the chains holding her suspended above the hot lava.
"Y-You're okay...", she heard Natsu's relieved, but slightly shaky voice. "I t-thought we were going to die..."
Juvia smiled lightly. "I-It's okay, Natsu-san..."
Natsu chuckled. "You know... It's pretty incredible for someone from the Water Empire to resist at such temperatures..."
The Water Princess let a blush dust her cheeks... and this time not from the heat of the lava hitting her body and face.
They were interrupted by an annoyed cough.
"Are you done, lovebirds?", Afrodita sighed.
The pair glared, amusing her.
"Anyways, why weren't the chains destroyed when you shoot them?", Natsu asked, confused.
"Because I decided to let you two suffer", Afrodita said, chuckling evilly. "I only penetrated a small bit of the chains, so now, you both will fall slowly, just enough time to see your precious Water Princess die falling in the lava", she smirked.
Natsu's eyes widened. He started thinking of something to do, there had to be something he could do to save himself and Juvia...
"Stop frying your brain, Fire Prince", the witch laughed. "There's nothing you can do to survive!"
The salmon-haired boy glared at the woman and turned his head to Juvia. Tears were rolling on her cheeks, but not a whimper could be heard. Natsu could feel anger boiling inside as he saw her crying.
Suddenly, an idea sparked in his mind, and he had to stop a smile that was wanting to form on his lips. He started swinging left and right, left and right, confusing Afrodita and Juvia.
"What are you doing, you pest?", the woman yelled, confused.
"N-Natsu-san, are you trying to die faster or what?", Juvia asked him with a broken voice, not wanting to see him die first.
The Fire Prince remained silent as he kept swinging left and right, back and forth, and while Afrodita kept yelling at him in confusion, the chains on his wrists were almost at the point of collapsing.
Juvia saw this and closed her eyes sadly, a lonely tear falling once again.
'I can't bear to see Natsu-san die falling in the lava...', she thought sadly.
'That idiot is going to kill himself!', Afrodita thought angrily.
Their thoughts were interrupted as they heard the sound of his chains breaking, and the sound of Natsu falling into the lava. Juvia let out a choked sob, her eyes still closed and not wanting to open, while the witch watched in confusion and anger.
Afrodita wanted Natsu to watch Juvia die in front of his eyes, she wanted him to suffer. That is why she put a bit more force in the fireball she sent to Juvia, so she will fall earlier. But it seems like he killed himself, and that made Afrodita want to tear her hair apart that she failed.
As she was thinking, the evil witch didn't notice the silhouette raising from the pool of lava. A fiery fist collided with her face, sending her flying into a wall. She got up groggily and made a few steps forward, touching her fresh bruise on her face with anger and confusion, wondering who dared attack her, especially when she was already angry. Afrodita started looking around, but saw no living creature in the chamber except the Water Princess.
Too busy wondering what hit her, she didn't see the mischievous smirk of the person that appeared from right behind her.
"Boo".
Afrodita let out a yelp, not expecting anyone to be behind her, and turned around quickly, wanting to attack the fool that dared provoke her. But, in a split second, the person ignited on fire and kicked her with full force, throwing her a few inches away from the lava pool.
The witch quickly got up on her feet, taking a fighting stance, a green glow dancing on her fists, but again she didn't see anyone. Scared, but also angered by this, as the bruise that was still hurting on her cheek was enough proof that she wasn't seeing things, the witch looked around almost desperately, not wanting anyone to ruin her beautiful face and body with another bruise and also kind of afraid for her life.
"Who is there? Show yourself already!", she shouted, her voice echoing in the huge room.
"Are you sure that's what you want?", the witch heard a familiar voice from behind her, and she turned quickly.
She let her eyes widen in shock, not managing to croak a word. Juvia, from above the lava, opened her eyes quickly as she heard the voice, and let a loving smile spread on her sweaty face.
In the lava, on his feet was standing Natsu, with only his clothes a bit burned, small flames dancing on his body, giving him a godly appearance. He was smirking, arms crossed, standing on the lava as if it was floor.
"...B-But how?", she managed to choke a sentence, not bothered by sounding afraid anymore, but rather bothered by whether she'll survive or not.
He chuckled loudly. "I believe you have forgotten who you were against", he spoke, taking a step towards the witch.
Afrodita took a step back instead, shaking her head quickly to tell him that she didn't forget.
"Oh, but I think you did", he said, any sign of at least a smirk already gone as a growl made its way in his throat as he slowly walked towards her while she tried to step back. "You forgot and tried to harm someone important to me...".
The evil witch was now afraid to move at all, and just gulped as Natsu quickly ignited himself on fire and landed another hit on her, sending her flying until she collided with a wall, leaving her silhouette imprinted on it as she collapsed on the floor face-first, but quickly rose again and made a step forward, her strange magic rising again.
"I will show you what happens when you hurt a friend of the Fire Prince!", Natsu growled before she could do anything and let out a roar, a stream of fire escaping his mouth and hitting the witch, glueing her back to the wall.
As soon as the roar was over, Afrodita fell unconscious on the floor, having several bruises and wounds on her body and probably some broken bones.
Natsu looked at her, and suddenly her body turned from the one of a beautiful, young woman into the one of an old hag.
'Guess the youth spell was temporary', he smirked to himself and turned around to see Juvia.
She was in the same state as before, but this time a soft smile was gracing her lips.
"You're okay...", she whispered, but it was loud enough for the Fire Prince to hear.
"Yeah", he smiled as well, and started heading towards her.
He climbed on the metal bars that were holding the chains and Juvia above the lava, but, when he was halfway towards her, the sound of something breaking was heard.
"The chains!", Natsu shouted and started going faster. "Don't make a move Juvia, or you'll fall faster!"
Despite his warnings, she turned her head to him, smiling sadly, tears threatening to spill.
"Y-You know, Natsu-san...", Juvia started speaking, "...Ever since I was little I was s-searching for love... I didn't know how it felt, h-how it felt to love somebody..."
"Stop talking as if you're going to die, Juvia!", he shouted at her. "I won't let that happen!"
Her smile only widened. "L-Let me finish... Natsu-san..."
Natsu watched her sadly, and felt as if someone was stabbing him repeatedly in the heart. He couldn't stand to see her like this...
"I-I was always dreaming of going on an adventure and find my Prince Charming, b-because I was sure he was just too busy to find me. W-When I went on this adventure with you, I w-was sure I will find him...", she spoke, sweating.
Natsu was almost there as she spoke, and didn't want to let himself believe that this was the last time he'll ever hear her voice again.
"I-It seems I didn't find my Prince Charming on this adventure...", she sighed with a smile, and he listened confused, not knowing what she was trying to say.
But, before he could say anything, Juvia started talking again.
"...I-It seems Prince Charming found me without me realizing and took me on this adventure..."
Natsu let his eyes widen, and tears formed in his eyes as he watched her smile widely at him once again, her eyes getting watery.
"...T-Thank you for being my Prince Charming, N-Natsu-san..."
"Don't say things like that, Juvia! You'll live! I'll make sure of it!", he shouted again, tears threatening to spill.
The sound of the chains breaking echoed through his mind. He screamed her name at the top of his lungs and threw himself after her without thinking, catching her by the hand, closing his eyes, a lone tear falling on his cheek.
Exactly at that moment, Makarov ran inside the chamber, a sword from one of the knight armors in the hall tightly in his hand, in a fighting stance, Gray and Happy following behind him.
"Natsu! Juvia! I'm here to rescue you!"
To his horror, he saw Natsu holding Juvia up above the lava, and let out a terrified shriek while Gray meowed scared and Happy let out a horrified squeak.
Steam started to come out of Natsu and Juvia's bodies as they held hands, and it hurt more than they expected. They opened their eyes and looked at the clasped hands, then at each other with a sad, hurtful smile.
"J-Juvia..., Natsu whispered silently. "I-I wished I could've gone... on more adventures with y-you..."
Juvia smiled sadly, tears falling from her eyes, but quickly turning into steam. "M-Me too... I-I... love you..."
They were enveloped in steam, and nothing could be seen by them. The rulers of the empires ran quickly inside the room, and gasped loudly as they saw the Water Princess and the Fire Prince enveloped by the steam, knowing exactly what happened. They then saw Afrodita's unconscious body laying on the floor with several burns and bruises, and sighed.
Mirajane, ignoring the body laying at her right, ran towards the lava pool and froze it, tears spilling from her eyes as she whispered Juvia's name, and ran on the frozen lava towards Natsu and Juvia. The steam disappeared, and their limp bodies fell on the ice. To everyone's shock, they were still alive and breathing, which was unexpected.
Igneel ran after Mirajane as well, and tried to take his son in his arms, but Natsu's hand, clasped tightly around Juvia's, wasn't letting go. To take them away, Mirajane had to take Juvia's body in her arms, while Igneel had to take Natsu's, also making sure Igneel didn't touch Juvia or Mirajane didn't touch Natsu.
Erza and Grandeeney decided to also take Afrodita with them. They were more powerful than her, so she won't be a big problem if she wakes up on the road, which was pretty probable.
Juvia woke up and groggily opened her eyes, shielding them with her arm as sun rays blinded her. She stood up, groaning and scratching her head, until her memories returned.
'Am I dead yet?', she thought as she looked around.
She was in a forest, on the grass, and near her was Afrodita, still unconscious, but bandaged. Juvia was confused.
'Did Natsu-san actually kill the witch?', she thought with disbelief. 'No way, Natsu-san would never-'
Her thoughts were interrupted as she felt someone squeezing her hand. Quickly turning her attention there, the Water Princess saw Natsu, sleeping beside her, his hand tightly holding hers. She blushed, letting a smile form on her lips.
'At least he's with me...'
A meow and a squeak were heard, and Juvia saw Gray and Happy running towards her, Makarov standing a few feet away from them with a fatherly smile, looking at them.
"Gray-sama? Happy-san? Makarov-san? What happened?", the Water Princess asked, confused, not knowing if she was dead or alive.
"You didn't die, if that's what you're thinking", the old man chuckled and headed towards her.
Juvia's eyes widened. "T-Then... If we're still alive... How is Natsu-san able to hold my hand?"
"I don't know", Makarov sighed. "But I think Mirajane-sama may know...", he said, glancing behind the girl.
She looked at him, tilting her head slightly in confusion. She soon felt a pale hand on her shoulder and looked up, her eyes widening as she let a smile form on her lips.
"Mira-san! You're here!", she spoke and Mirajane giggled.
"Loud as usual, I see, Juvia", the white-haired woman said with a soft smile on her lips.
A groan was heard beside Juvia, and they all turned their eyes to Natsu, who was just waking up in a manner similar to Juvia's. He rubbed his eyes, getting up on his butt, scratched his head, stretched a little, yawned, looked around a bit with a sleepy look while Juvia held her giggles. He then looked at his hand, still clasped with Juvia's, then at her, then back at Juvia...
"...Am I dead?", he finally said, and Juvia couldn't hold her laughter anymore and let it all out.
"No, brat, you're not dead", Makarov chuckled while Mirajane giggled, amused. "You're very alive, actually".
Natsu raised an eyebrow. "Then how is this possible?", he said, pointing at his and the bluenette's hands.
Makarov shrugged. "I don't know, ask someone else".
"Juvia's aunt, how come this is possible and we're still alive?", Natsu said, turning his head to Mirajane.
Makarov paled at how Natsu called her, Juvia giggled, and Mirajane just smiled.
"Wait for your father if you want an explanation, dear", the woman said and moved her arms in the direction of a certain tree, sending a stream of water there.
Terrified shrieks were heard, and from behind the tree, dodging the water, was Igneel. Everyone started to laugh, and Natsu finally let go of Juvia's hand.
"Finally, my hand was getting sweaty", she whispered just for Natsu to hear, and he pouted.
Igneel finally managed to save himself from the water, panting, and leaned on Natsu for support, who quickly jerked away, letting his old man fall with a loud thud, kissing the dirty ground.
"You're too heavy, dad! Jeez, lose some weight, would you?", Natsu joked, to which Igneel groaned and everybody started laughing again.
"My son...", the Fire Emperor whimpered and the Fire Prince rolled his eyes with a smile on his face.
After a few minutes of laughing, Igneel finally got up and looked at Natsu.
"So, Natsu, what was your question again?"
"How come I can touch Juvia", Natsu started, and put a hand on the girl's shoulder, "and we're still alive and didn't turn into steam?"
Igneel's eyes widened as he started grumbling things to himself, like 'they just met' and 'how is this possible'.
Juvia and Natsu looked at him, waiting for an answer that didn't come.
"Umm... Igneel-sama? With all due respect, can you answer this question or not?", Juvia said, not wanting to sound rude or to anger the Fire Emperor.
"Yes I can, Juvia, but I will need some answers from you two first", he spoke, pointing at Juvia and Natsu, who nodded.
"Ask away", Natsu said.
Igneel crossed his legs. "I believe you met when we had that meeting three days ago, right?"
"Three days ago? You mean we were unconscious for an entire day?!", Natsu yelled with disbelief, eyes wide.
"What Natsu-san meant to say was, yes, that's when we met", Juvia sighed, answering the question.
Igneel looked thoughtful. "Do you know exactly what your feelings are for Natsu, Juvia?"
At this, they both turned into tomatoes and nodded simultaneously. The others giggled, and Makarov murmured a confident and happy 'I knew it' to the cat and matchstick.
"Then the answer is pretty clear", Igneel said with a serious face.
Natsu and Juvia both tilted their heads, confused. They all face-palmed at this [except Gray and Happy]; the answer was so obvious!
"You can touch each other because you love each other", Mirajane spoke with a kind smile.
Natsu and Juvia blushed again, but not enough to turn into tomatoes this time, and glanced at each other.
"Just kiss already, brats", Makarov chuckled, embarrassing them.
Juvia resorted to just hugging him, inhaling his scent of fire and smoke, while he turned into a tomato, while the others looked at them with happy eyes.
- at night -
"We're going to sleep, brats", Makarov said to Juvia, Natsu, Happy and Gray.
"Don't stay up too late!", Mirajane chirped, and they all went to sleep.
Happy and Gray shared a knowing look and went with the others to sleep, leaving Natsu and Juvia all alone.
The two glanced at each other.
"Umm... Do you want to go see some fireflies? I know this forest very well and know a place full of them", Juvia spoke, a blush on her face that Natsu couldn't see due to the dark.
"Yosh! Let's go!", Natsu whisper-shouted to not disturb the others.
Juvia started walking in a certain direction, and Natsu followed happily. They walked in silence, not really knowing what to say after all that happened...
"...Tough day yesterday, huh?", Natsu said.
Juvia hummed in response.
"...I was really scared, you know?", he spoke again.
"Y-You were?", Juvia replied, trying to sound nonchalant, but obviously failing.
"Yup. I didn't really like the idea of you dying... That's why I caught you", he sighed.
Juvia turned her head to look at him. He was looking at the ground, his hands in his pockets, a blush sporting on his face. She smiled softly.
"Natsu-san...", she started.
"Yeah?"
"...Can you hold my hand?", she spoke cheerfully.
"O-Okay", he replied and took his hand out of his pocket, gently taking her hand in his.
Juvia smiled widely and walked cheerfully, holding hands with him. She was happy to be able to touch him, and noticed how warm he is in comparison to her.
"Natsu-san, did you know you were so warm?", she said, and suddenly hugged him.
She could feel him tense as he shook his head. Juvia was sure he was red as a tomato by now... not that she wasn't blushing, but she cared more about hugging him right now.
After some time, Juvia suddenly let go of Natsu, who sighed.
"Natsu-san! The fireflies are straight ahead!", she chirped and started running.
The Fire Prince let out a sigh, and started jogging towards her, his heart racing.
'Idiot...', he thought, but couldn't help the smile that formed on his face as he followed her through the forest.
When he caught up with her, she was sitting on the grass, watching the fireflies as they flew in front of her. She spotted him and gestured him to come sit beside her.
Natsu jogged to Juvia and sat next to her, crosslegged, both watching the fireflies. As soon as he settled down, a firefly made its way to Natsu and sat on his nose. As much as he tried to shoo it away, the firefly wasn't moving.
Juvia giggled.
"It's not funny!", the Fire Prince complained and started moving his hands weirdly in front of his face in an attempt to scare the firefly away, which doubled her laughter.
Suddenly, the firefly decided to finally move its butt away from Natsu's nose, and seemed to want to sit on Juvia this time... but Natsu's hopes were in vain, as the firefly soon returned to its senpai Natsu and sat on his upper lip.
"It seems like the firefly likes you a lot, Natsu-san", Juvia laughed, and Natsu just grumbled.
The salmon-haired boy tried to pick up the firefly by the wings, but it seems like firefly-chan didn't want to leave just yet and flew back on Natsu's nose.
"I give up!", Natsu bellowed, and crossed his arms, upset, pouting while Juvia giggled.
The firefly, seeing that Natsu gave up, finally flew away to its crowd of fireflies... but returned, and plopped itself on Juvia's head.
Natsu wanted to let out a victory screech, but he was afraid it would wake up the entire forest, so he just danced happily. Juvia pouted and tried to shoo the stubborn firefly away, but in vain, and Natsu started giggling.
"It's not funny, Natsu-san!", she protested, huffing.
"I said the same thing before, Juvia", he chuckled, and continued watching her struggle.
Natsu was indeed amused by the faces she was making and her struggles, but he also couldn't help but think that she looked very adorable, which brought a blush to his face as he chuckled at her.
"Hey, Juvia, I think I can rid you of the firefly", Natsu winked.
"Don't squish the firefly!", she quickly yelped, and Natsu put his hands in front of himself as defense.
"Never even thought of that", he smiled. "Just close your eyes and stand still".
Juvia raised an eyebrow, but did as he said, the firefly still on her head. Natsu leaned in and kissed her cheek quickly.
She gasped and opened her eyes, bringing a hand on her cheek where Natsu kissed her, blushing, while the firefly finally flew away. She glanced at him with a questioning look, to which he smiled.
"See? It worked, the firefly went away", he chuckled, a blush dusting his cheeks as well.
Juvia got up, confusing Natsu. She then proceeded to sit down again, but this time in front of him, and leaned in.
"Meanie, next time tell me what you're doing", she grumbled, trying to seem upset, but her smile betrayed her.
"And why should I?", he smirked, raising an eyebrow, leaning in more so their noses were almost touching.
"B-Because...", she stuttered, not really knowing what to say, blushing while he was watching with a mischievous smirk.
"Because...?", he continued, his hot breath hitting her face.
"J-Just because!", she huffed and wanted to get up and move next to him again, but for now she was busy staring in his emerald eyes that seemed to have caught on fire.
Natsu stared intensely at her, not managing to tear his eyes away from her face. He started leaning in again, but this time a lot more slowly, and to his surprise, she was doing the same.
Meanwhile, Juvia, trying to get herself look at anything else than his eyes, remained stuck on his lips this time, the reason she was leaning in as well.
Not knowing if he should do anything or not, Natsu stared at her blue eyes that seemed to shine in the light provided by the fireflies. She was breathtaking, he could admit, and he was afraid of doing anything that would hurt her.
His stream of thoughts was interrupted as he felt something surprisingly soft and sweet land on his lips. To his surprise, Juvia kissed him. Before he could pull back, she caught his hands and squeezed them tightly. Natsu saw that he had no other thing he could do, so he kissed her back.
Juvia tilted her head a bit, melting into the kiss, but soon had to pull back for air. She looked shyly at Natsu, her face probably red, as he was looking intensely in her eyes. She opened her mouth to speak, but before she could, Natsu placed his lips on hers, closing his eyes, a tint of pink on his cheeks.
Juvia moved her hands from holding his, and wrapped her arms around his neck while he pulled her forward by the waist. The kiss intensified, and neither of them wanted to pull back, but, once again, they had to, both of them panting a little.
"...I think we should go back", Natsu said lowly. "It's getting late".
Juvia pouted.
"Okay, Natsu-san", she replied and gave him a last peck on the lips before getting up and heading to the rest.
This was just the beginning of the story of the Fire Prince and the Water Princess.
Lame ending, I know, but I loved how it turned out!
This is also my longest one-shot. It took me days to write it, lol.
I didn't want to get into many details with the kiss, because I don't really want to turn this one-shot from rated T to rated M, soo... Use your imagination. :D
Hope you liked it!
And also, I guess you realized why I used this idea for the prompt 'Steam'. 'Cause they would've turned into steam if they touched and yada yada...? Yeah. That's why.
