Out of all the holidays in the year, Lucy has noticed that Natsu's favorite holidays are the ones involving large dinners sided with dozens of sweet desserts. So when she finds him bouncing in his seat at the guild and asks him what he's so excited about, her jaw drops with bewilderment.
"National Flowers Day?" she echoes incredulously. Last time she checked, Natsu doesn't even pay attention to flowers. "Why are you so excited about that?"
"No reason," Natsu lies blatantly with a grin. "Well, actually, there's a reason, but I'm not going to tell you."
"Why not?" She raises a skeptical brow. "I assume you're going to get flowers for someone?"
Natsu's grin immediately vanishes at her words, surging up from his seat. "You know too much already," he says quickly before hastily striding away from the table and out of the guild.
"What was that all about?" Levy stifles a laugh at his awkward strides.
"Looks like Natsu is going to be getting flowers for someone," Lucy replies with a thoughtful hum.
"For you?" Levy remarks with a wriggle of her brows.
"No way," Lucy scoffs, shaking her head in denial. "Natsu is too oblivious to for those kinds of things."
"You never know! Natsu is smarter than you think." Levy's eyebrows resume wagging as a slight smirk forms on her lips. "Just watch, you're going to wake up tomorrow and find flowers in your room!"
"Not happening, Levy." Lucy waves her off in dismissal. "There's no way—absolutely no possibility!"
"You owe me three books at the bookstore if it happens, then," Levy challenges with a mischievous glint in her eye.
"Deal! And when it doesn't happen, you owe me three books," Lucy responds with a confident smile.
As the two girls shake their hands to seal the deal, Lucy is already thinking about which books she's going to make Levy buy for her. She knows that she won; Natsu would never get flowers for her. That's what she thinks, anyway.
Yet later that night, she finds her phone buzzing with a series of messages from Natsu. She frowns as her eyes read through them.
"If you hear any noises tonight, don't worry. It's just me.
"Also, make sure you take a nice, warm bath tonight so you sleep lots tonight!
"Oh, one more thing. Make sure you leave your window unlocked for me. See you later!"
With each text Lucy reads, the more skeptical she becomes. Not only has Natsu mentioned flowers today, but he's reminding her to leave the window unlocked? Since when has it ever been locked?
"Something is definitely up," she mutters to herself while pouring in her favorite soap into the bathtub.
But she will admit—she loves surprises. And since it's coming from Natsu, she knows it's something she'll never expect. After taking the nice, warm bath she was instructed to take, Lucy snuggles into her bed with heavy eyelids. She's more excited than she should be as she falls asleep, not knowing what she's going to wake up to.
Waking up the next morning, she hesitates before opening her eyes. Although she's certain that Natsu wouldn't buy flowers for her, there's still that slight possibility. It's highly unlikely, but it's possible.
Lucy sniffs the air for anything flower-like, and she's relieved when her apartment smells just as normal as any other day. Looks like she'll be getting her three books.
She finally opens her eyes, but instantly regrets it when she notices her room. There isn't just one flower or a bouquet of flowers—her entire room is covered in flowers. Her bedroom is a flower paradise.
"What is this?" she whispers in disbelief. Her gaze wander across the different types of flowers decorating her room. All of them have one thing in common.
Aloes. Blackthorns. Henbanes. Trefoils. Asphodels.
"Morning, Lucy!" Natsu's head suddenly appears in the window. His eyes are brighter than the morning sun. "Happy National Flowers Day!"
"N-Natsu, what is all this?" she stammers as she turns to him, still taken aback by everything. "What are all these flowers for?"
"They're for you, of course," he replies simply while squeezing through the window. He stands in her bedroom with a prideful expression. "Aren't they great?"
"They're okay," she answers reluctantly.
She gets out of bed, not sure where to place her feet since the floor is carpeted with flowers. After gently picking some up so she doesn't step on any, she forces herself to make eye contact with Natsu.
"You don't like them?" he promptly asks, being able to read her expression.
"No, it's not that." She shakes her head. "There's just something about them…"
"What's wrong with them?"
"The flowers…" Lucy begins slowly, thinking of the right words to say. "They all have negative connotations to them."
"What does that mean?" Natsu asks in confusion. "I went to the flower shop early this morning and bought the best ones I saw!"
"The meanings are under the flowers," she mentions.
"They are?" His eyes widen in surprise. "I didn't see them."
"Of course you didn't. But that's okay, too." A small smile forms on her lips. What else could she expect? This is Natsu, after all.
"So, what do they mean?" he questions curiously.
"I don't think you want to know," Lucy admits.
"No way, I want to know," he insists. "Tell me!"
Lucy lets out a sigh; the names of the flowers are bad enough, and the meanings won't make it any better. Picking up several flowers, she tells him the meanings. With each meaning she reveals, the deeper the grimace on Natsu's face becomes.
"Aloes mean grief. Blackthorns mean difficulty. Henbanes mean imperfection. Trefoils mean revenge. Asphodels mean your regrets will follow me to the grave."
"I had no idea," Natsu says with a tight voice. "If I had read them, this would have never happened."
"It's okay!" she repeats, more assuring this time. "They're flowers, anyway. I'll make sure to take care of them."
Not only are they just flowers, but it's also a rare gift from Natsu. Lucy will never tell him this, but because it's from him, each flower is special to her regardless of their meanings.
She scans through all of dozens of flowers, mentally thinking of a way to group all of them so they're able to live the longest life they can. Her eyes freeze when they land on one that's different than the rest.
"Hey, this one doesn't have a negative meaning to it!" she proclaims while reaching for it and presenting it to him. "It's a lilac."
"What do lilacs mean?" Natsu asks.
Lucy pauses in realization, coughing to compose herself. A part of her doesn't want to say it, but Natsu's gaze is too intense for her to say no.
"It represents the first emotion of love."
There's a silence between them for a moment too long; Lucy feels as though she's going to explode in embarrassment.
"Well, at least I got something right." Natsu grins.
"What?" She swivels to him with large eyes. "What do you mean?"
"Happy National Flowers Day!" he declares as he swoops her up and spins her around their own paradise of flowers.
And it's in that moment of whirling around and laughing when Lucy suddenly realizes—she won't be getting her three books, after all.
Hello hello, everyone! :-) I hope everyone is doing well and having a great September so far!
So, as you guys can see, it's Nalu Fluff Week! I think this is going to be the best week of my life by far. I love Nalu so much, and Nalu fluff is even better. I am alive for this week, I swear.
None of these one-shots are related (except the last two days) so there's no commitment this time! Just relax and enjoy the Nalu fluff that lies before you~
I hope you guys enjoy these one-shots! See you all tomorrow with the second prompt: Starry Date.