Author's Note: So clearly this is late. I was on vacation and couldn't finish it in time...but I like Christmas anyway, so this is me keeping it alive for another few days. Obviously NaLu won in the holiday poll...by a landslide, actually. It was nice to write them briefly again, though I do have some fics planned for these two. But this, my dear readers, is my gift to you. Make of it what you will. Thank you again for all of your support over these years.

It's super late (or early) and I'm making typos all over the place. Apologies for bad editing. Oh, and kudos to Dark Ryuu and another friend of mine for inspiring the last part of the story. They wrote similar things very close together and the last part just stuck in my head. xD

Anyway, happy holidays! I hope you guys enjoyed whatever holiday you celebrate, and I hope everyone has a great new year!

One Night by HawkofNavarre

this is dedicated to all my readers

"Natsu! Hurry up!" she shouted back at the dragon slayer as she panted in her sprint, shoving people out of the way with half-hearted apologies.

"Coming!" came his reply, perhaps two or three people back.

The train's horn blew and Lucy's heart stopped. No way, they had to make that train! It couldn't leave without them! Wendy, Charle and Happy were already boarded! They had to make that train!

Alas, it wouldn't be as Lucy stared off forlornly at the retreating figure of the train when she finally burst onto the platform. Natsu was only seconds behind her, a lot less choked by the loss as she was. First of all, that was two free train tickets down the drain that had been supplied to them by the woman who had requested the mission, which meant now she was down cash to buy her own ticket home. Secondly, the next train home was tomorrow evening, which meant they were going to miss the Christmas Eve party at the guild!

Lucy sighed, heart heavy. How in the world had she lost Natsu in that crowd? She had been holding his hand as they rushed, but a very well-placed person had broken that chain and it had taken her several minutes to find him again. That tragic event had led them to missing that dumb train.

She turned to glance at the dragon slayer whose eyes were still directed at the train tracks, but unlike her, he seemed rather optimistic about their current situation, though she guessed he would be considering his immense dislike for modes of transportation. Well, at least one of them was happy.

"Great, I can't believe we're stuck here for another night," she groaned as she leaned against him. "Is there even going to be a place for us to stay tonight?"

He wrapped his arms around her from behind. "You worry too much. Let's just go around town and find something. It'll be fun," Natsu insisted with a grin.

She gave him a look, mostly because he had used that line countless times and the outcome was never good. He continue to smile obliviously while he steered them both towards the platform's exit. She felt a sense of dread as they continued back into the town.

"We're going to miss the party," she mumbled quietly as Natsu dragged her along. Her boots created a narrow trail in the snow that she felt more invested in at the moment than her current adventure with the fire mage. It was her way of pouting since there was clearly no way that she was going to have the Christmas Eve that she'd hoped for.

"Then we'll have our own party!" Natsu suggested enthusiastically. "Come on, let's just get to a hotel."

She nodded slightly, still feeling downcast as he hauled her towards a somewhat fancy-looking hotel. At this point, she figured she might as well try to enjoy it if she could. It was the holidays, after all.

However, Lucy had to do a double-take when they simply passed through the lobby and went straight into the elevator. He wasn't checking in? But then how did they have a room right now at all?

She watched him curiously as he led her down a hall on the fourth floor, slipping a key into the lock and letting them into a room. The celestial spirit mage simply stared as they entered their extravagant space, a large suite with an entrance area that split into a kitchen and a living room-like area, which led to the bedroom. Everything was just gold, silver, and red, something that she absolutely loved.

"This room is beautiful," she stated in awe. Really, it wasn't as if she had never seen something so grand in her life; it was more the fact that Natsu had actually gotten her a room like this. Neither of them were exactly rolling in jewels.

He grinned at her. "Good. Now you have to decorate it."

Natsu scurried off into the bedroom, returning with a large cardboard box in his arms which seemed to be full of decorations and ornaments. The box was filled with sparkle, red and green. Looking at it all had been overwhelming at first, especially because she was used to having a whole bunch of her guild mates helping her out and steering her when it came to decorating, but she'd been struck with inspiration when a small golden ornament in the shape of a bird caught her eye. She approached it curiously, picking it up and fingering the smooth edges of the decoration.

It reminded her of the makeshift ornament she'd had as a child—originally a bookmark of hers. Lucy recalled wanting to make her own figure to place on the tree and just as vividly remembered running to the library to grab the bird. Her father's staff had already decorated everything, but they were the nicest people ever and let her place her bookmark at the apex of the tree. She'd spent hours admiring her handiwork over the two weeks the holidays decked the halls. It was a memory she'd shared with Natsu last year at the annual guild Christmas Eve party.

"You...you planned this," Lucy breathed, eyes not leaving the box.

"Maybe. Happy and Wendy helped," Natsu replied, tossing a bunch of tinsel on her head from the overflowing box of decorations.

She pouted in spite of her melting heart, shaking it off and pulling a little snowman plushie out from the stash of things, throwing it at him with poor aim where sailed past his right shoulder and landed on the floor. "Don't make fun of me like you always do."

"I'm not making fun of you," he protested, though his face betrayed his words. It was his actions that betrayed his words instead a second later when he purposefully began circling her entire body with a thick red ribbon. "I'm gift-wrapping you for myself."

"Quit it, you pervert!" she squeaked, shoving him back as she stumbled out of the pile of ribbons. But she wasn't really mad. She rarely was with him. Instead, she held him around the chest, squeezing him tightly. "You made us late for the train on purpose."

It came out as more of a pointed murmur than a scolding accusation, and she was hugging him, so she realized it was probably not the best way to reprimand him...though Natsu wasn't truly in trouble. He might be in the sort trouble a wonderful more-than-best friend who did wonderful, dumb things got into, however.

"It's just been a long time since it was just the two of us," he explained quietly, hand on her head. "Missing the train was just a bonus."

"Of course you would think so," Lucy drawled, snuggling her face into his chest. She said nothing about his actions even though she was touched by his thoughtfulness. It was true that they hadn't been together alone for a long time and she supposed it hadn't really bothered her...mostly because being with everyone in their guild was just normal. But...it was nice to be able to just spend time together doing nothing.

"Anyway..." she started, pulling away from him, "you're putting up the lights. Everywhere. Enough that we don't have to use the actual light for this room."

Natsu chuckled, patting her on the head this time. "Yes ma'am. You know I have a fight with them every year."

"So you'd better win this year," she teased. Every time someone allocated Natsu the job of hanging the lights, he would inevitably get tangled in them. Needless to say, they had to buy new lights every year after they threw out the roasted ones. Why anyone thought it was a good idea to keep giving him that task was beyond her...except for the fact that she was doing the exact same thing right now.

"I plan on it," the dragon slayer replied, looking determined as he pulled the first string of white lights of the box while Lucy stepped over to the other side and began rummaging through it as well. "I'm all fired up."

She smiled slyly, pulling out a sprig of mistletoe and playfully held it over his head before she kissed him lightly on the corner of his mouth. "Me too."

Lucy fell back onto the duvet of their makeshift bed. It had seemed too boring to just lie in their bed, so they'd ended up throwing all of the pillows and sheets onto the floor of the living room, using cushions from the couches to create their own mattress and then covered them with the duvet. The majority of the pillows were lining the edges of the "mattress," only a few scattered on its top. She gathered one into her arms and hugged it tightly, gazing around the room to admire her achievement.

Stockings hung from the mantle of the fireplace, surrounded by the snowman plushies. The one she'd thrown at Natsu sat at the bottom of the fireplace next to a bunch of fake candy canes. Lucy had laid out several small candles on the tables, the one in the living room having been moved to the side to make room for their bed. She had attached strings across the ceiling as well, hanging various ornaments from them. Natsu had also weaved the ceiling with the lights so that the room was softly lit. She had to admit that the ambience was better than expected, even after he had begun his duel with the first string. Actually, the fact that he didn't burn down the hotel room was an accomplishment in itself.

Well, for their efforts, the room actually looked pretty nice. Natsu didn't have a romantic bone in his body—at least, not intentionally—but when a plan came together like this, she couldn't help but wonder how he conjured stuff like this up. In some ways, he was a genius. Or maybe he just knew her too well.

He crashed down beside her, letting out a puff of air. "I beat the crap out of those stupid lights this time," he told her, grinning haughtily.

"Sure, which is exactly why there's roasted lights in the garbage can," Lucy replied as she rolled over to smirk at him.

"Are you gunna tell me you could've done better?"

"No. Virgo probably could have, but you did a pretty good job. It looks great," she complimented him affectionately, pulling herself closer with his scarf. "But anyway, I'm kinda hungry. Did you buy any food for the kitchen?"

Natsu stared at her blankly for a moment, but she didn't dare think what until he gave some sort of indication confirming her immediate suspicions.

"Uh..."

Yup, there it was.

Lucy sat up abruptly, shooting him an incredulous look. "You mean we're stuck here with nothing to eat? Everything closed at least an hour ago!"

"Well, I've got some raw cookie dough in my bag..." he admitted sheepishly, upper body rising as well.

"Why in the world are you carrying that?" the celestial spirit mage asked disbelievingly.

"I stole it from the kitchen when Mira wasn't looking. It's a really good snack. That stuff is good, you know!"

Lucy groaned into her hands, then proceeded to fall back into the cushions. Maybe she wasn't starving or anything, but she really would've enjoyed a meal. Still, if that was the only thing at her disposal, she figured it was probably better than nothing. And Natsu was right; raw cookie dough tasted great as long as you didn't eat too much of it.

"Mmkay, fine. Let's eat it," she suggested with a hint of a smile on her lips. Maybe it was a romantic sort of idea, but he couldn't get away from being himself. Typical Natsu.

He got up to go to his bag, returning momentarily with the cookie dough in a small baggie. Opening it, he popped a small piece into his mouth before handing it to her and settling down beside her again. Lucy took it contentedly, taking a small bite of her own piece. She could taste the fattiness of it but she didn't even care. She didn't want to worry about her weird eating habits (partially influenced by Natsu as a result of him being an enabler of raw cookie dough consumption) or her weight. This whole situation was just...nice.

She liked lying on the floor instead of a bed sometimes. She liked decorating things for the holidays. She liked having the atmosphere calm and carefree.

And...she liked being together with Natsu.

She took his hand into her own, squeezing it gently as he glanced over at her quizzically. "Thanks...for doing this," she told him gratefully as she leaned into him. "It's nice to do something like this just for one night."

His lips were near her forehead, his breathe tickling her fringe. "Well, you're the one I have the most fun with."

She almost regretted not looking up at him just to see the expression his face, but decided that it really didn't matter, because with Natsu, there would be plenty more moments like this. She knew that. Their bond was stronger than anything. They had power together. Magic. Love.

"What about Happy?" she whispered light-heartedly.

"That's a different sort of fun," Natsu answered, playing along as he pulled her waist against his, holding her from behind.

"And what sort of fun do we have?"

"The kind people have under the mistletoe," he joked. She could feel his grin on her neck and she laughed.

"Speaking of which, where is the mistletoe? I haven't seen it since I took it out of the box earlier," Lucy stated, shifting in his arms to face him.

Natsu's grin only widened, his eyes looking downward. Following his glance, she found the mistletoe...safely tucked into the buckle of his belt. She looked at him, seemingly awfully proud of his "clever" placement of the plant.

Snickering and rolling her eyes, Lucy plucked the mistletoe from its place and tossed it across the room.

"You didn't really need the mistletoe."