Once upon a time, there were two characters created by a brilliant mangaka named Hiro Mashima. There was a lot of speculation of the two getting together, seeing as how they were the main characters, and while not all of the fans supported the idea of the two getting together, they were still quite a popular pairing. Their names were Natsu and Lucy.

Meanwhile, in a galaxy far, far away (but it was really just the Pacific Ocean), a young wannabe writer decided that she loved his manga and wanted to write fanfiction for it.

The first thing she did was go through the fanfiction archives and read pretty much every single NatsuxLucy story available, because she was a nerd like that and loved the pairing to death. But then… then she saw a reoccurring pattern in the world of fanatical writing.

Cliché plots!

It was terrible! It was tragic! It was horrifying- but she loved every minute of all the terribly written plots, full of fluff and drama and things that have been used

Too.

Many.

Freakin'.

Times.

While she despised the idea that no one wanted to come up with an original plot, she had to admit that a good deal of her own plots were rather cliché as well, and it wasn't as if she disliked the authors that wrote the cliché plots. Just the opposite; she adored them. It was then that an idea hit her!

She would pay tribute to both her current obsession and all of the authors out there that used the same tiresome plots to get a reaction out of the readers! She would be brave! She would struggle through endless writer's block and headaches! She would strive to uphold her (non-existent) honor as a writer!

That girl is me, and so begins the documentary of all the possible cliché situations that Natsu and Lucy can possibly get into. Don your lab coats, dear readers. Do not forget your safety goggles.

We are now going to examine Exhibit One.

Cliché Situation #1: In which Natsu and Lucy become out of character and act all lovey-dovey as a result of a 'Type A' jealousy situation…

Today was the day! Lucy yawned as the sun's rays hit her face, sitting up in her bed. The weather was gorgeous, her spirits her high- today was the day.

She didn't realize she had spoken her thoughts aloud when Natsu stretched beside her and queried, "What are you talking about?"

The blonde did a double take, turning to see Natsu beside her on her bed, and let out a hysteric screech. "WHY THE HELL ARE YOU IN MY BED?"

Natsu chose this moment to give in to the cliché plot's power, and said rather cheesily, "I wanted to see ya, Luce!"

"GET OUT!" Lucy blushed scarlet, and proceeded to throw the poor dragonslayer out the window.

"Now. As I was saying," she cleared her throat, hopping out of bed to get dressed (and lingering on Natsu's spot- the blankets were warm, but Natsu had heated the bed and it was comfy and- oh, what was she doing? "Today is the day!"

As Lucy stripped down to her underwear and began dressing, Happy's voice repeated Natsu's question. "What are you talking about?"

Lucy screeched yet again and shoved on her shirt. "Happy! What are you doing here?"

Happy grinned cattishly (get it? Get it-? Never mind…) and licked a paw. "I'm always with Natsu, slow Lucy!"

"I'm not slow!" She straightened herself up and coughed importantly. "Today, I'm going to… Natsu… er… I… Uh…" Her will shook at the thought; she slouched onto the bed, and Happy laughed.

"You liiiiikkeee him!"

"I don-!" she paused, and blushed scarlet. (At this point, the author writing her decided that now was a great time for her to succumb to the power of cliché plots.) "Okay. S-so what if I-I do?"

Happy gave her a long stare, and then said quite seriously, "if you're going to confess, do it with fish."

"W…why?" Here, the author wanted Lucy to resemble that of an anime character despite the fact she wasn't one, and inserted a; Lucy sweat-dropped.

"Because that's what I do with Charle," Happy nodded sagely.

A silence. "But… does it even work…?"

Happy looked down suddenly, very depressed-like, but quickly got up cheerfully. "I'll go tell Natsu!"

"D-don't!" Lucy squealed. "I-I don't know how he'll react, and, and, I want to do it myself! S-so-!"

"Alright, alright," Happy frowned. "Don't be so serious- I was just kidding. I was actually gonna go see Charle. See ya, Serious Lucy."

"Don't call me that-!" she sighed as Happy left her apartment in search of a certain Tsundere female cat.

Lucy donned her best outfit and called Cancer to do her hair. When he asked what the occasion was, she screeched impressively and quickly denied it had anything to do with pink-haired dragonslayers that barged into girls' apartments too many times and ate too much. Cancer smirked as he wrapped a ribbon around a bunch of strands.

"It's Natsu-san, isn't it, ebi?" His tone was sly as he tied up her hair. "You're going to confess to him today, ebi?"

"Well, I-I-I, well, see, I don't know how to c-c-c-c-" she choked on the word. Cancer patted her on the back reassuringly.

"No problem, ebi!" he put away his scissors and sat down, prepared to give her a lecture- she was, after all, born under his sign. "Just make sure that you present him shrimp, ebi."

The blonde summoner blinked. Actually, using food with Natsu wasn't a bad idea at all…

"And don't forget to use protection!"

Lucy blushed a tomato red and seethed at Cancer to return to the spirit world, setting out for the guild.

It took careful minutes, but Lucy managed to reach the guild without getting a single stain on her clothes (and owing to the fact she was a part of Fairy Tail, that was quite an accomplishment). That achievement was quickly tarnished, however.

"Lucyyy!" Cana crowed, throwing an arm around the girl as she walked in, and subsequently spilling alcohol all over Lucy's favorite, expensive shirt. The blonde's lip wibbled (which was a made up word, but fitting, so the author decided to use it anyway).

"M-my top…"

"Forget that," Cana brushed the matter aside. "Check it out, Lucy! The one thing the entire guild has been waiting for!"

That got Lucy's attention. "What do you mean…?"

Cana sat Lucy down at a table, and gestured to Natsu, who to Lucy's chagrin, was sitting with Lisanna, avidly engaged in a conversation.

"They've been friends for, like, ever," Cana chided. "The entire guild has been waiting for at least one of them to make a move, and- ohmygoshlook!"

Lucy turned her head so quickly she got whiplash- the adorable white-haired girl had hugged Natsu, and the two of them were laughing.

Lucy stared in disbelief- no, actually, this was believable; after all, they had always been close friends, and Lucy couldn't possibly replace Lisanna-, her heart dropping into her stomach as Natsu likewise put an arm around Lisanna in one of his famous bone-crushing hugs.

They were… together? The thought hurt. Tears gathered in the corner of her eyes, even as Cana cackled loudly and raked in cash from multiple onlookers, likely from bets that had been made a while ago.

Granted, she thought to herself miserably, Lisanna was a very pretty girl. Natsu noticed her from the corner of his eye, and smiled widely, beckoning for Lucy to come over to the bar, where he and Lisanna were chatting.

Fingers balled tightly into a fist, Lucy lightly walked over to the table, her head in a jumble and her heart heavy, and all that other gag-inducing lovesick rejection crap that one might read when coming across a romance novel involving strong jealousy.

"So, Lucy," Natsu beamed. "Lisanna and I were talking-"

"Yeah, I know," the blonde spat bitterly. Natsu and Lisanna looked at her in surprise. Lucy groaned and waved it off. "Whatever. You were saying?"

"Well," the flame mage's smile faltered infinitesimally, but quickly repositioned itself. "We've been spending a lot of time together nowadays, and we actually got into this really interesting discussion-"

Lucy listened as Natsu described exactly how they had gotten into the said discussion. Jealousy boiled within her, her face heating- she knew well that she didn't have a right to be jealous (Natsu wasn't hers, anyway), but this… this was just too much!

"S-stop!" Lucy choked, cutting off the boy mid-sentence. The entire guild looked to the blonde in surprise. "Enough!"

"L-Lucy? What's wrong?" Lisanna fluttered uselessly over Lucy, who brushed off the girl.

"L-look!" Lucy cried out, hot tears spilling down her cheeks (insert poetic description of the very essence of heartbreaking pain and love). "It-it's okay if you guys date, but you could at least… at least tell me!"

Natsu stared, shocked.

"We're friends! I should be the first to know about these things! A-and, Natsu, I-I-!" The words rushed out before she could stop them, all in one big gush. "Iloveyou!"

The entire guild was silent.

Then, abruptly, cheers burst throughout Fairy Tail. Confused, Lucy wiped away a tear as Lisanna broke into a chipper laugh, joining Mirajane in a giggle fest. As Juvia congratulated Lucy on 'moving on' from Gray, Lucy turned to Lisanna.

"What's-what's happening?"

"We all took bets," Cana came up to Lucy with bags of Jewels in her hands, grinning like a madman, "on whether or not you'd crack if you saw Lisanna with Natsu. Man, I'm a genius! It actually worked!" She patted Lucy on the back rather condescendingly as Lucy's face flushed deeper and deeper.

Natsu was still rooted to the spot, mouth open and gaping like a fish.

"And Natsu wasn't in on it, either," Lisanna chuckled. "Sorry about it," she tacked on, throwing the still-frozen boy a glance, "but it was for your own good."

"N-Natsu?" Lucy fiddled with her fingers. "A-a-are you okay-?"

The dragonslayer suddenly gathered Lucy in a scorching embrace, and she squeaked in surprise.

Before the spirit mage could react, his lips were on hers, soft and unyielding and all that crap (if you want the details, please open up any conveniently placed Twilight (by Stephanie Meyer, that one woman who basically created Mary Sue and Marty Stu) novels you may have with you and turn to page 282. Paragraph 5, line 15). When they broke apart, his eyes smoldered into hers, as if he could read her soul.

(We all know Natsu's too dense to really do that, but he does know her rather well. The author decided to let this one slide.)

"Oh, god," Natsu ran a hand through his messy hair, and kissed her once more. "I love you too, Luce." Her knees turned to mush and she melted into his arms with a dreamy sigh.

Cana raked in the cash.

….the story eventually concludes with a 'Type C' misunderstanding, resulting in the love interests to reunite, typically involving a very steamy kiss.

Ladies and Gentlemen, feel free to take a break. When you are ready, don your lab coats and safety coats once more (please note that direct exposure to fluff may be severely harmful). We will now be proceeding to Exhibit Two.