Lucy hummed to herself as she sat at the bar and skimmed through the latest issue of Sorcerer Magazine. "What you doing Luce?" a familiar voice asked cheerily. She looked beside her and saw none other than the famed pink haired fire mage, Natsu.

"Hey Natsu. Just checking out this issue of Sorcerer Magazine. They have an article about this new club a few towns over that opened up a little while ago. I was thinking of going there and checking it out for my birthday," she said flipping to the next page.

Natsu's eyebrow raised. "Birthday? You didn't say your birthday was coming up? When is it?"

Lucy looked towards him. "I didn't? Hmm, I guess it just never came up. It's in two days though," she explained. "You're not planning on throwing some big party are you? I appreciate the thought, but you don't have to worry about it. I never really celebrated it back home, so I don't see a reason to now."

He smiled at her. "Oh, don't you worry Luce. We don't have to throw a party. It'll be something way better than that," he said as he got up and began walking off.

Lucy stared after him confused. "That was weird…"

"What was weird?" Mirajane asked as she approached from behind the counter.

"Natsu, just now. I told him it was my birthday and he got this really… mischievous look in his eyes. Do you think he's planning something?" she asked slightly concerned.

Mirajane's eyes widened. "Your birthday you say? Oh, he's got something planned alright. If I were you I'd start working on an escape plan for your birthday. You're going to need it."

Lucy looked confused. "An escape plan? What are you talking about?"

"I'm talking about the guild's traditional birthday celebration. Your birthday spanking," she explained before leaning in closer. "On your birthday, the whole guild will be trying to chase you down and catch. The first one who does gets to spank you with this big paddle in front of the whole guild."

Lucy paled. "Are you serious?!"

Mirajane nodded. "It's been a tradition for a long as I can remember."

"But I've never seen anything like that happen around before?!" she pointed out. She was pretty sure she would have noticed something like that by now.

Mirajane put a hand on her chin. "Well, it's only happened a few times since you been here, and you were usually out on missions. That, and most of the time nobody chases after the guys. I mean, the rules still apply to them, but most of the guild want to paddle the girls."

Lucy was starting to panic. "S-so I'm gonna get spanked? In front of everyone?"

"Probably," the bar waitress confirmed. "Unless you can get away somehow. You get a half hour head start the rest of the guild, so if you can avoid getting caught the whole day, then you don't have to be spanked. But that rarely ever happens. Mostly because Natsu can sniff people down from miles away. Even if you do manage to escape the rest, he'll track you down."

Lucy could feel her stomach starting to drop. The image of Natsu standing over her with a large wooden paddle, ready to swat her bottom with a blazing strike flashed through her mind. "W-what if I have a mission or something that day? I'll get excused right?" she asked.

Mirajane shook her head. "Nope. I tried that once. They just save it until you get back," she said. "Laxus gave me such a beating that day. I wasn't able to sit down for a week." She rubbed her butt at the memory.

The blonde hung her head. "No way." she muttered growing more depressed by the second. "But… maybe Natsu will take it easier on me. I mean, he knows I couldn't take a really hard paddling from him. He'll hold back, right?"

"I wouldn't count on it. The paddle if imbued with a special magic. It won't leave any lasting or serious damage, but you'll feel the full force of each swat. That means that whoever's doing the spanking doesn't have to worry about holding back. And Natsu has always been particularly wicked with the paddle. Last year he even made Erza shed a few tears."

"S-seriously!" She couldn't believe it. If Natsu was able to make the great Titania shed tears then she'd end up bawling her eyes out. "I bet Erza got some serious revenge on him next time around huh?"

Mirajane shook her head. "Natsu almost always gets away because he uses Happy. Even if he does get brought back he'll say Happy technically caught him first, so he get off easy. Erza was really furious about it, but it was technically part of the rules."

"Oh come on! That just isn't fair!"

"Fair or not, you need to start getting ready. Because if he catches you then your butt will be in for the worst spanking of your life."

Lucy gulped, and then got up and walked off. She needed to find somewhere to think. If she couldn't come out with a way out of this, then she was done for.

The next day had been nerve-racking for the blonde. Natsu had apparently spread the word to the rest of the guild. She was getting sideways looks and glances all day. And Natsu had been staring at her and chuckling evilly every time he was around her.

She'd tried asking some advice from the others girls, but most of them had nothing. At least as far as avoiding Natsu went anyway. Everyone who tried to hide eventually got sniffed out, and everyone who tried to run got ran down with the help of Happy.

Lucy had considered hiding in the spirit world, but that would mean weeks could pass by, and she didn't want to be gone that long just in case they got a request or someone attacked them.

She could feel herself starting panic more and more as the day went on. It wasn't until late that night that she thought of a plan that might be able to save her rear from the pink mage.

The day of her birthday she was greeted by everyone at the guild at the front doors. Makarov went over the rules of how it would go, and she was given her head start. When the half hour was up, everyone went off to find her. It was mostly the men participating, but a few of the girls like Erza and Juvia were participating too.

As everyone rushed off however, Natsu stayed behind and simply waited with a smirk on his face. Mirajane noticed he had stayed behind and tiled her head to the side. "Hmm? Aren't you going to go chasing after her Natsu? I thought you really wanted to spank Lucy?"

"Oh I do, and I will. But I just don't want the others following me to try and steal her from under my nose. I'll let them run around for a will and probably start checking outside of town before I go and get her," he explained. Since Gajeel and Wendy weren't playing, no one other than him could really sniff her out. So he was in no rush. "I can't wait! Luce had such a nice butt! It's gonna be real fun to spank!" he said evilly.

Mirajane hummed. "Are you sure you were raised by a dragon and not a demon?"

After little while, Natsu got up and made his way out of the guild. After making sure no one was following him, he headed towards the last place anybody would look. Her house.

As usual he didn't bother knocking before he entered. He made his way inside with a devious smile on his face. "Oh Luce, come on out. You know I can smell you," he said chuckling. "I gotta admit, hiding at your house was pretty clever. It's the last place anyone would actually look. But too bad you can't outwit my nose."

He was answered with nothing but silence. He walked over and then opened up the closet, where he found a trembling Lucy before him. "H-hey Natsu," she said nervously.

He smirked down at her. "Time for your spanking Luce."

She sighed before holding her hand up. "Well, I guess I got fair and square. Looks like you'll have to drag me back to the guild and spank me in front of everyone."

Natsu reached out to grab her hand, but then stopped. He looked at her suspiciously. Something seemed… off. There was no way Lucy would give up so easily, or be so calm about her spanking. He saw the way she was trembling yesterday. She was terrified.

So why was she suddenly ready to come with him and… he narrowed his eyes. "Wait a second. You ain't Luce," he said scowling.

She flinched and looked up at him worriedly. "W-what? What are you talking about? Of course I'm Lucy. Look at me," she said pointing to herself.

"Nope. Not Luce. You're being way to calm about this. The real Luce is a big scaredy-cat. She's be crying and trying to run away right now," he said putting a hand on his chin. "So if you ain't the real Luce that must mean you're… Gemini!" he saw her flinch again and smiled. "I'm right!"

"Tch, I can't believe he found out. Didn't think he was that smart." A puff of smoke went off and Lucy had vanished, replaced by the two celestial spirits.

Natsu chuckled before cracking his knuckles. "Oh, if she thought she was going to get it before, she's really in for it now. So, where did she run off too?"

The Gemini looked at each other, as if debating whether they should sell out their master or not. "Hmm, she said she was taking the train out of town," one of them answered.

Natsu cursed under his breath. Catching up to the train was no problem. He could go get Happy and be there in no time. But Lucy had taken advantage of his weakness. If she stayed on a train he'd get sink the moment he stepped down to catch her.

But wait, why hadn't be smelled her then? He knew why his nose led him here. Because of Gemini. But why didn't he pick up a second scent? One leading to the train station. Unless… he looked around the room. Everything seemed normal… except…

A smirk grew on his face. "Nice try Luce," he said as he made his way over to the large grandfather clock sitting near her bed. Natsu had broken in enough times to know what should and shouldn't be there, and this definitely wasn't it. He sat down in front of it and waited.

It had been about ten minutes that passed before suddenly another puff of smoke went off. His smile only grew as the smoke cleared and revealed Lucy. The real Lucy. She looked up at him, panic written all over her face. "H-how did you know?!" she asked in fear.

Natsu cross his arms and chuckled. "I knew if I didn't smell a second scent then you'd still had to be hiding in here. And the best place to hide would be in Horologium. But you couldn't hide in him the whole day cause of his time limit. So you had Gemini try and throw me off. And since I'd already picked up your scent here I wouldn't have come back."

She looked at him impressed. "That… you actually thought that out really well."

He rubbed his chin and chuckled. "Thanks. But now that I found you." He suddenly grabbed her and threw her over his shoulder. "Spanking time!"

Lucy screamed before feebly trying to free herself from his grasp. "No! I don't want a spanking! C'mon Natsu, just let me go!"

"Sorry, but I caught you. So you have to get a spanking."

"NO!"

After carrying the struggling blonde back with him, Warren sent out the message to the others and they gathered back guild. Lucy's hands were tied to a metal post Gajeel had placed in the ground. She was bent over slightly, making her rear a perfect target for the fire mage.

Makarov walked out holding the wooden paddle. "Alright! Alright! We all know how this works!" he shouted before turning to Natsu. "As per tradition, the person who found the birthday girl gets to give the swats. Since said birthday girl is nineteen, she gets nineteen swats. Plus one to grow on. So twenty."

"Oh come on!" Lucy said in disbelief.

"She also has to count of each one, and give a thank you. Otherwise it won't count. If she somehow managed to stand up and break the cuffs, she'll be put back and it'll start over. So, are we ready?"

"Yep!" Natsu said happily.

"No!" Lucy said terrified.

He handed the paddle to Natsu who was grinning like a mad man. Erza shook her head. "I feel sorry for poor Lucy. It'll be a while before we'll see her sitting anywhere anytime soon."

"Is it really going to be that bad?" Wendy asked worriedly.

"There are very few things I fear in this world Wendy. But Natsu standing over me with a paddle is near the top of the list," she said shivering slightly.

Natsu tapped the paddle against her bottom and she yelped. "Are you ready Luce?"

"No!" she whined.

Natsu brought the paddle back before swinging it full force. The magically imbued wood exploded against the seat of her skirt with a loud SMACK!

"GAH! Ouch! Ow! Oh! That hurt!" the blond yelled jumping up and down. Lucy had been in plenty of right and had her fair share of injuries. But there were few times she could recall feeling anything that stung like this. "Oh! Natsu, you're gonna break my butt in two!"

The pinkette just laughed. "Better get ready, cause I'm just warming up. Twenty more to go."

"Twenty?! But you just did the first one!"

"But you didn't count it off or thank me," he pointed out.

Before Lucy could protest any further, he swung again. Another stinging blow smacked against her rear, but she quickly remembered to count. If she didn't she was going to be here all day. SMACK! "Ouch! O-one, thank you!" she said.

SMACK! "OW! Two, thank you!"

SMACK! "YEOW! Three, thank you!"

Natsu kept swinging the paddle, and Lucy's ass felt like it was on fire. Each time the wood pressed up against her cheeks she squealed and prayed this would be over quickly. Natsu seemed to be swinging harder with each hit. Like her reaction was just encouraging him to swing that much harder.

SMACK! "KYA! Eight, thank you!"

SMACK! "OUCH! Nine, thank you!"

SMACK! "Oh god! Ten, thank you!"

Lucy braced herself for the next swat, but to her surprise it didn't come. She looked up towards Natsu who was just smirking. Before she could ask what was going on, Makarov came back over. "Alright. Now that we're halfway through, it's time to raise that skirt."

"WHAT?!" Lucy asked shocked.

Makarov looked towards her. "Oh? Did you not know that the second half was done over panties?" he asked.

"NO! I didn't even know about this until yesterday!" she snapped.

Natsu laughed. "Well, it is tradition Luce!" he said before he began raising her skirt. Lucy's squeals of protest were drowned out by the crowd cheering at the sight of the two red orbs that had been presented before them. "Okay, now we can get serious! Get ready Luce!"

She shivered as she felt him tap the paddle against her bottom again. Could she really take ten more of these? SMACK! "GAH!" Once again, Natsu somehow managed to swing even harder than before. Lucy barely managed to get herself together for the count. "E-Eleven! Thank you!"

SMACK! "KYA! Twelve, thank you!"

SMACK! "Ah! Thirteen, thank you!"

SMACK! "Ow! God! Fourteen, thank you!"

The rest of the guild cheered as the spanking continued. "Woo! That a boy Natsu! Give it to her good!" Macao shouted.

"Yeah, that's how you do it!" Wakaba shouted raising his beer in the air.

Wendy looked horrified. "T-that's gonna happy to me on my birthday…" she muttered. Romeo who had been sitting beside her felt his cheeks light up.

"I know more than anyone its tough, but endure it," Erza said giving a sympathetic look.

Gajeel growled. "Damn it. Everyone thinking Salamander is so damn tough. Just you wait, when it's Levy's turn I'll have her crying like a baby."

"Gajeel!" Levy said blushing heavily.

"Juvia wants to be caught by Gray-sama on her birthday!" Juvia shouted.

"I'll be sure to skip that day," Gray said bluntly.

SMACK! "Ow! Ow! Ow! Fifteen, thank you!"

SMACK! "YEOCH! Sixteen, thank you!"

SMACK! "AH! Seventeen, thank you!

Lucy moved her hips from side to side. Whether it was a desperate attempt to avoid the next swat, or a feeble attempt to cool her cheeks off, Natsu couldn't tell. He didn't really care either.

SMACK! "OH! Eighteen! Thank you!"

SMACK! "GAH! Nineteen! Thank you!"

"Alright Luce, time for the one to grow on! Let's make this one really sting!" he said before grabbing a handful of her panties. Lucy gasped as he yanked them up, further exposing her cheeks and sending the crowd into a frenzy.

"N-Natsu!" she cried wiggling in discomfort.

Ignoring her cry Natsu brought the paddle back one final time and swung with all his might. It landed with a thundering SMACK. Lucy howled out in pain. It had felt twice as hard as the others. "KYAAAA!" Natsu smiled as Lucy began panting. "T-twenty. Thank you," she whimpered.

"You're welcome!" Natsu said giving her a pat on the rear. She winced at the contact. Her now cherry red bottom was firmly tenderized and she was sure even the slightest touch could send that fire like pain across her butt.

Makarov laughed. "Nicely done Natsu. Another great performance. And well done for taking it like a champ Lucy," he said giving a slap on the butt.

"Ow!"

"Master!" Mirajane said warningly from the crowd.

Lucy was eventually untied from the post, but not before a reporter from Sorcerer Magazine took a few pictures of her blazing bottom. Natsu had posed in them and even kissed her cheek on one of them, which had embarrassed Lucy to no end. Some of the others took the chance to poke and prod at the defenseless girl's rear, but no one gave anymore spanks.

When Lucy was finally let loose they went inside and had an actual party to celebrate her birthday. To this day she could saw it was a birthday that she had never forgotten, despite it being the first of many similar ones to follow.

A/N: Another story I just decided to write off the cuff. Didn't check it for grammar so... meh. Hope you guys enjoyed it.