A Fairy Tail Christmas (Special)

(Lucy POV)

White snow blanketed the rooftops; I could barely see out my window it was snowing so hard. It had turned to evening, and Master was holding a Christmas party in an hour at the guild.

Plue sat on my desk as I pondered on what to write for my Christmas cards this year, since it was my first holiday at Fairy Tail. "I want to make these very personalized and sincere," I had decided, but I soon learned that I honestly had nothing to write. My mind had apparently been emptied from ideas just before I sat down at my desk and were processed into nothing but boredom and hopelessness.

"Oy, Lucy!"
Something warm and muscular wrapped around my shoulders. I almost jumped out of my chair in surprise.

"Natsu, don't scare me like that! I almost had a heart attack," I complained, turning to face the intruder. He was wearing a red T-shirt and a wide grin. His pink hair complemented the mood.

"Sorry, we were just bored."
"Then where's Happy?"

"He was going to ask Wendy on what to give Charla for her Christmas gift this year."
"He does realize that Charla and Wendy celebrate Hanukah, right?"
Natsu looked alarmed. "Wait, what? I told him to get her a Christmas present! Charla is going to kill him!"

I giggled. "You might want to go tell him, then."

Natsu shook his head. "Nah, I'd rather stick around here. Happy's gonna tell her that I said to get a Christmas present…" He shuddered.

I sat back. "Then you're helping me write Christmas letters. Pull up a chair." Natsu groaned, dragged a chair up to my desk and grabbed a quill.

"So, what do I write?" He asked me.

"Well, how about you write one to… Lisanna?"

"Okay, but what do I write?"

I sighed, exasperated. "Write her a letter saying Merry Christmas and anything special you'd like to add! Haven't you ever written a Christmas card before?"

He shook his head. "Why when we could just say it in person?"

"Well, it's much more polite and formal. Now get writing. Oh, and sign it, 'From Natsu,' so Lisanna doesn't think I have a crush on her or something," I teased.

Natsu frowned. "Like I would write that to Lisanna!

Soon, Natsu and I were almost done with our Christmas cards. "We should hurry," I said. "The party is in ten minutes. How many letters do you have left?

"One," he replied, admiring his stack of letters.

I smiled. "You should write to Igneel!"

He looked up from his letter. "But I don't know where Igneel is."

I shook my head. "Well, I write to my mom all the time, and I know she won't answer. It's just a nice feeling you get."

Natsu shrugged. "Okay, I guess. Make that two letters."

I sighed. This was my last letter, I was saving the best for last so I could brainstorm in between. I finished the letter just as Natsu seemed to finish his as well. "Ready?" I asked. "Yeah, let's go." He agreed.

I changed into a ruby dress that went just over my knees and white frills, accompanied by a black belt and crimson heels with cute little bows at the ankle. I threw on a red coat since it was so cold and fuzzy white earmuffs, as well as a pair of white knit gloves. We set off, Plue waddling behind us.

Traveling by the river, I walked along on the very edge. "Lucy, be careful," Natsu warned. "Did I just hear that coming from Natsu, the guy who never worries about anything," I teased, just before I lost my balance and was an inch from plunging into the freezing water just as someone very warm caught my waist. "Geez, Luce…" he mumbled, dusting me off.

"Thanks."

We had arrived at the guild. When Natsu pushed open the doors, I was totally not expecting every member from Fairy Tail sitting around in a circle holding candles as Mira sang "Jingle Bells," although judging Fairy Tail's unexpected irony at random times, I probably should have been anticipating that whatever scenes were running through my mind were going to be the opposite. Natsu and I found a space in between Levy and Erza, who handed us candles.

When Mira was finished and the interminable applauding from the men had ebbed enough to hear my ears ringing, Master announced, "Now, time to spin the wheel to determine who goes next!"

"You mean it's at random?!" I exclaimed. Natsu nodded like there was no way out of this. "Eventually, everyone has to sing. At least that's how it was last year. But this year, I overheard someone say that there is a possibility of a person singing and another playing an instrument…" he gagged.

Master spun a giant wheel with every guild members' face on it, plus some extra slots that included, "Duet," "Has to dance like a chicken," and other options I can't mention. I bit my nails in anticipation as I watched the wheel pass my face one… two… three… four times, gradually growing slower and slower. I really, really, really didn't want to sing. But I guess I had no choice. It's like going on a job when Natsu and Happy really, really, really want you to come. You don't get a say in the decisions; it's all up to them, and it's like waiting to see which direction the tree is going to fall, on you or the other side.

The wheel landed on "Duet." I sighed in exasperation. This was killing me.

Master spun the wheel yet again. Happy, Charla, Juvia, Droy, Erza, Gajeel, Cana, Natsu, Laxus, Levy, Gray, me… Oh, no. Me. I had to sing. My stomach twisted like it was doing the Olympics. Erza cheered like crazy and patted me on the back MUCH harder than any back pat I've ever experienced, and Levy cooed, "It'll be over soon, Lu-chan…"

Master spun the wheel once again to determine my duet partner. Round and around it turned; it did summersaults almost as fast as my stomach churned.

It was almost as if fate had taken the document titled, "How Long Lucy Can Stand This?" and written another document based off of it titled, "A List of Ways to Ruin Lucy's Already Messed Up Life Even More." The wheel had fallen onto Natsu. I swear, he looked like he was going to throw up. Gray and Gajeel were laughing so hard that they looked like they were going to throw up as well. I just whispered to him, "Let's just get this over with."

Natsu decided to play the guitar before I could, so I was stuck singing. The guild became dead silent. I cleared my throat, and Natsu began to strum.

" The day I met you, I had no where to go.

My only dream was to travel the world.

You took pity on me and showed me the light,

How could I possibly repay that debt?

We had many adventures,

All of us together.

Please, oh please, will you stay by my side?

It's much better having someone than being lonely.

Please, oh please, will you let me love you?

I wonder if one day you will love me too.

And then we can all be friends,

All of us together."

Everyone stared, open mouthed, at Natsu and me. I thought I had done horribly, but Erza started clapping. Then, Lisanna, followed by Elfman, Gray Levy, everyone in the circle was applauding and cheering for our duet. Natsu and I exchanged glances and smiled.

"TIME FOR EGGNOG!" Master thrust up a gigantic mug of eggnog as Mira came by with a tray of mugs for everyone else.

Lisanna and I turned to chat with eachother. "Your duet was great!" She complemented me. "Thank you! I'm sorry I couldn't see your part," I apologized.

She grinned. "That's fine, I had to duet with Gajeel anyway, so he did all of the singing."

I laughed. Lisanna smiled at the ground. "What is it?"

She looked at me, her eyes shining. "I was just thinking that you and Natsu are so perfect for each other, that's all."

I blushed a billion shades of red. "W-what?! I thought he liked you and you liked him!"

Lissana shook her head, giggling. "No, silly! That was, like, twelve years ago. And besides, Natsu is like another Elfman to me, because he always watches out for me. But he also watches over you, in a very special way. I haven't seen him act like this since we were kids. Mira told me that after I was transported to Edolas and you had yet to arrive, Natsu had that missing glint in his eyes that returned when you came. You make him happy!"

I blushed harder, but before I could respond, Natsu came barging into our conversation.

"What'cha girls talkin' about?" He grinned. Lisanna smiled, "Oh, we were just talking about how you and Lucy would be so perfec-"

I blurted, "BAHAHA, LISANNA, WHAT ARE YOU SAYING?! WE WERE TALKING ABOUT, UH… CHURROS. YEAH, WE WERE TALKING ABOUT CHURROS! AREN'T CHURROS JUST DELICIOUS?" I screamed in Natsu's face while pushing him away very, very far from where Lissana and I were talking.

Natsu stared at me funny, like I had just spoken fluent Yiddish. "Uh, I was actually going to head home to find Happy, and I was going to ask if you wanted to come, but if you're busy talking about churros…" he looked at the ground. I started, "No, no, no, I can-"

He grinned evilly and threw me over his shoulder like I was luggage. It drives me crazy when he does that! But, that's Natsu for you, I guess. He carried me all the way to my apartment, where he said he left something there.

"What did you leave here again?" I asked, entering the doorway as Natsu frantically searched my desk through the Christmas cards.

"Natsu, I told you we give them out on Christmas day. At least, that's what I do, but if you want to give yours out early that's fine, I guess." He finally found a pink envelope and handed it to me, saying, "I wanted to give yours to you early."

I smiled and said, "Thank you!" while opening it carefully. It read:

Dear Lucy,
Merry X-mas. I hope you have a very fun Christmas day with your Fairy Tail family. I know that writing these letters with you was fun. I'm a really bad letter-writer, but I guess what I'm trying to say is that I really enjoy being with you and I'm glad I can be with you every day, even if you don't always enjoy it. It's a pleasure to see your face every day to go out on a job and to see you wake up every day even if you throw your shoes at me. Anyway, my point is just look up because I'm much better at talking than writing,

~Natsu

I looked up from the letter, smiling, to see a flustered Natsu holding two roses. "Me an' Happy looked all day to find some flowers and we found your favorite type. Happy thought the colors would match us, but I didn't quite get what he meant…" I laughed. "Natsu, it means the colors of our hair. There is one pink rose and one yellow rose. And they're very beautiful. Thank you," I grinned.

Natsu handed me the roses and I put them in my mother's favorite vase from when I was younger.

"Oh, and Lucy."

I looked up into his dark green eyes. "I forgot the important part." He leaned in closer towards my nose and kissed my lips. Pulling back, I blushed.

"Merry Christmas, Natsu."