A/N: Just to clear a few things up, this is fairly OOC. I usually write in-character, but I wanted to mess around a lil. This takes place after the Edolas Arc, I suppose, and then you have the Tenrou Arc and GMG and all...
This is just a nice, fluffy NaLu oneshot...sort of. Enjoy!
Disclaimer: I do not own Fairy Tail
It's always hard to say goodbye. Especially to those that you- no, those that love you dearly, unconditionally, to the point where it hurts and internally suffocates you. But what can you do about it? It isn't their fault. It's yours...isn't it? Yours for allowing them to take care of you, only for them to turn their back on you...
These were the thoughts running through the mind of Lucy Heartfilia as she walked to her destination, the large, multi-coloured sun hanging low in the sky, inching downwards towards the darkening horizon.
It was always my fault...my fault that I felt this way... I should never have got too close...
Walking through the streets of Magnolia, she couldn't help but admire all the different places she had visited in the past, places where she had memories. Mainly good ones. Or crazy, as was the case here.
That's where Natsu burnt down the cafe... she mused, glancing at a charred mass. And that's where Natsu and Gray knocked off the roof of the groceries... And that's where- stop! Lucy chastised herself Stop thinking about him! She shook her head and sighed. Everywhere she went, she could see the same unruly mass of salmon hair, that toothy grin, those slanted black eyes staring into hers...
The same ones that had comforted her each time. The ones that spoke in volumes, assuring that he'd be there for her through thick and thin. Well, until last night.
Why don't you go do something useful for a change, huh? Why do you have to pick on Lisanna for?
Lisanna. Even the name made her heart twist uncomfortably. Since returning 'from the dead' almost a year ago, she had made life for Lucy at Fairy Tail harder and harder by the day. Not that it was her fault, of course. The girl was so loveable that you couldn't help but warm to her instantly. But what Lucy hadn't counted on was Natsu's reaction. Of course, he'd behaved just like anyone else, welcoming her back with great enthusiasm and pomp. Over the course of time, she'd noticed them get...closer. Little things. Lisanna clutching on Natsu's sleeve. Him ruffling her hair. There was something between them, and Lucy couldn't deny it. Heck, everyone knew they were going out, or something of the sort, and were as happy as ever, and it hurt so much. So damn much.
Why? Why was seeing Natsu happy making her uncomfortable? Maybe because it was Natsu, and well...he didn't exactly strike her as the kind of guy who dated. Well, maybe she was wrong then. Or maybe...
No. Stop it Lucy, she chastised herself once more. There's nothing left in your heart to ruin. Everything that had been there had been scooped out by Natsu's words.
It was midnight, and Team Natsu was exhausted, but more unusually, stressed out. Unlike most of the jobs they went on together, this one had failed- for a simple reason only. Lisanna. Not long ago, Natsu had welcomed Lisanna onto their team, making the total number of people in Team Natsu six, not including Charles and Happy. But of course, their job had gone horribly wrong. Whilst Natsu had been fighting a knife-spitting barbarian, Lisanna had panicked and come up from behind him, trying to help, of course. As a result, Natsu had lost his footing in the fight and had had to escape with his life, taking Lisanna with him. Nobody admitted it, but they all knew that Lisanna's instinctive action had cost them the job.
Lucy was frustrated, too. This job had been her only chance to make money; since the rent was due tomorrow- or she would be kicked out for good. Now stupid Lisanna had ruined it, and she'd have nowhere to live tomorrow.
"I'm sorry..." Lisanna was whimpering, sobbing hysterically. "Gomenasai..."
"Lisanna, it's okay," Gray replied, sighing. He was short of money too, and was none too pleased. That was evident in the fact that he never had enough clothes...
"Get some pants on, droopy eyes!" Natsu yelled in anger.
"You askin' for a fight, slanty?" Gray growled, fists at the ready.
"Both of you, shut it!" Erza shouted, who was trying to think. She knew of Lucy's predicament, and there was no way in hell she was going to leave Lucy without a home. She needed a plan, and fast.
Lucy couldn't take it anymore.
"Lisanna..." she began, walking over to the ocean-eyed female. "Look...you shouldn't have done what you did..." Everyone stared at her, open-mouthed. Obviously, this wasn't the sort of thing you did in Fairy Tail. But in all honesty, Lucy was fed up for people covering each other's mistakes in situations like these. And today's mistake had been extremely serious and had almost cost Natsu his life. That wasn't the sort of thing you forgave.
"But Lucy-" Gray began. She raised her hand, cutting him off.
"Look, what you did nearly cost Natsu his life!" Lucy commanded, glaring at the female. "And the rest of us the money we needed!" Gray shot Lisanna a quick 'Oops, she may be right' glance before glancing determinedly at his feet.
"But...I..." Lisanna stammered thickly, tears coating her face.
"Next time, just let Natsu do his job, will you? He doesn't exactly need saving," and with that, Lucy went back to one of the tables and sat down, oblivious to the incredulous stares she was receiving. Even Elfman was silent for a change- he knew Lucy was right, in a way, because Natsu was a man after all, and men never needed saving. But Lisanna was his sister too, and he was determined not to let her down.
"Lucy, what the hell are you saying?" Lucy looked up, to see Natsu towering over her, his expression unfathomable. "Why did you have to say that to Lisanna?"
"Natsu, I was just trying to explain-" she began, feeling hurt.
"Why don't you go do something useful, huh? Why do you have to pick on Lisanna for?" he demanded, before walking away. Only one thought registered in her mind. And that was Natsu. Walking away. From her. One moment, he was glaring at her, next moment, she could see the back of his head as he went over to Lisanna to comfort her.
He tears began to flow, as she sat alone at the table. Natsu and Gray were comforting Lisanna, and Erza was stood nearby, overseeing it all. In fact, everyone's attention was on Lisanna, not her. No, Lucy wasn't jealous or anything, it was just...why wasn't anyone noticing that she was upset too? That she was hurt? It'd been happening more and more lately. Nobody really asked her if she was okay. Or if she needed a shoulder to cry on. Nowadays, it was all Lisanna, Lisanna, Lisanna. Truthfully, Lucy felt childish- but it was ridiculous how everyone seemed to be ignoring her all of the time. Especially him. Well, she'd had enough of having to watch him coddle up to Lisanna 24 hours a day. It was time she did something useful, for a change. Something that would make everyone happy.
Lucy had gone through the plan over and over again in her head. If nobody wanted her around...well, that's how it'd be. She realised that the tears were falling down again, her brown eyes wet and glistening in the dying sunlight. It was tiring, having to live for people who stopped extending the same courtesy to you. Man, what was it about that guy that made her cry? His salmon hair? No, that was silly, and ridiculous. How could his hair make her cry? Actually, maybe it was his toothy grin...no, that would be downright idiotic. It was his eyes. Despite being black, they never harboured any darkness within them. Only warmth, kindness. The eyes that had made her fall in love with Natsu against all reasoning. She really couldn't live without him, and she knew that. But alas...Natsu would never know. Never know how she felt, how it hurt to see him with another girl. That was okay, though, Lucy didn't want to begrudge him his happiness, which he wholeheartedly deserved. She only hoped that Lisanna would take good care of him.
She had reached the cliff by now. The sun was a large, reddish disk, casting red tinges over her body. Funny how that foreshadowed what was going to happen next. Would her body be found and buried, or would it be left outside for the vultures to peck at? She really didn't want to know, and didn't care.
Lucy Heartfilia closed her eyes, as the breeze lifted her beautiful golden hair, her skin almost glowing ethereally in the light. She broke into a light run, waiting for the inevitable topple, where she could extend her arms and fly free.
The moment never came.
After several seconds of running with her eyes closed, Lucy crashed headlong into something hard, pushing it backwards away from her. She sensed that whatever it was, it was putting up a good fight to slow her momentum, eventually stopping her completely. Lucy felt the sculpted chest beneath her cheek, the slow, ragged breathing that could only belong to one person. She felt a pair of strong arms wrap tightly around her, holding her close. She felt a strand of hair tickling her cheek, causing her to look up at her captive. Lucy stared into a pair of onyx black eyes, his facial expression serious for once. His salmon hair was flapping gently in the wind, his signature scarf fanning out behind him. And still he held her, the harmonious silence enveloping the two.
"Natsu?" Lucy whispered, her voice shaky. "What on earth are you doing here?"
Natsu didn't let go of her as he replied. "You think I didn't know?" he asked in a hard voice. Lucy flinched a little at the frostiness in his voice.
"Know what?" Lucy asked, uncertain.
"I followed your scent, of course. The more familiar the person, the stronger the scent...and yours is the strongest of them all," he explained. Lucy blushed a little, having forgotten this tiny detail. "You seriously weren't planning on jumping, were you?"
"I...N-no..." she stammered, unsure of what to say. How the hell did he do that?
"Good!" Natsu grinned her grin, the one she loved so much. Lucy promptly burst into tears. Natsu let go of her now, concerned. "Hey...why are you crying? Lucy?"
"I...I've been stupid, Natsu," she replied thickly.
"Yeah, you have," he replied, causing her to glance up at him in shock, her face still covered in tears. "Did you think I wouldn't find out what you were up to?"
"But you just said-"
"Lucy, you had no idea how I felt, seeing you run towards that cliff, knowing that the girl I care for was about to lose her life," he said, glancing at the sun. Lucy was taken aback by the sadness in his voice. Natsu was never sad, if he could help it.
"What do you mean, care for?" Lucy asked, a little testily.
"You thought I was with Lisanna, right?"
"Wait...how do you know that?"
"So I was right?"
"That's not the-" Lucy began, outraged.
"See? I know you better than anyone." Natsu replied, confident.
"But who told you-"
"I didn't need anyone to tell me," he said, gazing at her once more. "I figured it out myself,"
And that's when he did it. No questions asked. As the glorious sun set behind them, Natsu pulled Lucy towards him once more, wrapping his muscled arms around her waist, whilst she put her arms around his neck. He drew in ever closer, closing his eyes, and gently pressed his lips to hers. He could feel her heart pounding where her chest was pressed against his, her soft, shallow breathing, as he moved his right arm and entwined his fingers within her golden hair, caressing it gently as he kissed her.
Lucy's heart felt like wildfire, the heat coursing through her veins as she kissed Natsu passionately, her lips moving with his, his arms around her. She didn't question the kiss, but rather lived within a moment that she knew she'd remember for the rest of her life. She could feel his heart beating rather fast, as though he was desperate, his chest rising and falling against hers. After what felt like an eternity, the two pulled away, arms still around each other, his eyes still boring into hers determinedly.
"N-Natsu..." Lucy stuttered, breaking the silence.
"Do you believe me now?" he asked, grinning widely.
"Huh?"
"That I'm not with Lisanna?"
"Well..." Lucy began, pretending to think. To her, the kiss had been a breath of fresh air. The kiss of life, ironically enough, seeing as how she'd been planning to plummet to her death minutes earlier. Natsu had saved her.
"Do you need more proof?" he growled playfully, planting a wet kiss on her cheek.
"Natsu!" Lucy exclaimed. "Ew, stop slobbering all over me!"
"I wasn't slobbering!" he protested. "I just asked if-"
"Fine, I believe you!" she grumbled warily, as Natsu fixed his gaze on her once more.
"You're going to promise me something, Lucy," Natsu said, struggling to keep his voice even.
"Huh?"
"That you're never, ever going to do something like this again," he whispered, his eyes fierce.
As Natsu said those words, Lucy realised how utterly stupid she'd been the past day, formulating such a ridiculous plan, thinking that nobody cared about her. In reality, they did. Someone did. And his eyes were smouldering right now.
"Okay...I promise I won't do such a thing again," Lucy promised faithfully. As long as Natsu was around...she wouldn't feel the need.
"Otherwise I'm coming with you!" Natsu exclaimed.
"No way!" Lucy growled. "You're staying right here,"
"But what use is it staying around if the girl I love isn't alive anymore?" he complained.
"Natsu..."
"Uh...Lucy?"
"Yeah?"
"I'M HUNGRY!" Natsu shouted, jumping up and down in excitement.
"You BAKA!" Lucy shrieked, hitting him.
"Ow!" he protested. "Is this any way to treat your boyfriend?"
"Huh? Boyfriend?"
"That's what I thought I was..." Natsu finished lamely.
Lucy couldn't help but smile. This idiot, this stupid haired fool was the guy she'd fallen madly in love with. And now, it turned out, he felt the same way about her. Only she hoped he didn't think she was an idiot and a fool. But...well, this was Natsu, after all. Who knew?
"You are," she replied, grinning now.
"Good, now I'm hungry! Let's eat!"
"Aye siiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiir!" came a squeak, as the blue feline Happy flew into view, causing Lucy to step back.
"Happy!" they both exclaimed. Only Natsu said it out of happiness and Lucy out of surprise, and embarrassment.
"Where did you come from?" Lucy asked, wondering how long he'd been listening to the conversation.
"Over there," he said, pointing to a nearby bush.
"YOU WERE SPYING ON US THE WHOLE TIME?" Lucy screeched, blushing furiously. "BAKA NEKO!"
"He lliiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiikes you," Happy commented, rolling his tongue.
"Damn right, Happy," Natsu said happily, before gesturing at a furious Lucy. "You comin'?"
Lucy's gaze softened as she smiled at her saviour.
"Yeah," she replied, before taking Natsu's outstretched hand and holding it in hers. "Let's go home,"
"Who said anything about going home? We're going out to eat!"
"Argh! BAKA!"
Natsu's stomach rumbled loudly, causing Lucy to roll her eyes, thinking of the time she'd taken him out to eat when they'd first met. "I'm hungry!" he whined.
"Well, come on then..." Lucy muttered.
Some things could never change. In fact, they wouldn't change. And that's the way Lucy Heartfilia liked things to be.