AN: I have been so useless with my writing and for that im super sorry. This here is the first chapter of a Nalu request fic for the lovely Jaishree winzoo who, for some reason, wanted me to write some Nalu for them o.O Its taken me far too long to write this first chapter, its ridiculous, especially considering how small a chapter it is :/ Sorry. I have a lot of writing to do. Hope you like this rather lame first chapter. Very loosely inspired by a moment in the Edolas arc when Natsu saw that little frog thing and wanted to catch it for Lucy XD
Chapter 1-
Sunlight stroked the streets of Magnolia and warmed the top of Natsu's head of spiky pink hair as he bounded along the path that would take him to Lucy's apartment. In his hands was a square glass box, its see-through sides were the width of his spread out hand.
"Natsu."
The dragon slayer glanced up at the blue Exceed who was flying just above him.
"Yeah, Happy?"
The cat pulled a face, "Why are you giving that thing to Lucy again?"
Natsu grinned, "It's a souvenir! A gift because she didn't get to come on the mission with us!"
Happy was hesitant, "That wasn't really what I meant…are you sure she'll like it?"
"Of course!" the fire mage exclaimed, "What's not to like?"
The Exceed eyed the odd creature contained in the small case for a moment longer before he shrugged.
"If you say so, Natsu," Happy said, putting on a smile for his friend.
Lucy hadn't gone on the last mission with them because her friend Levy had desperately pleaded that Lucy stay back and write the next chapter in her novel, Levy was one of Lucy's biggest fans after all.
A goofy expression of delighted anticipation was permanently plastered to Natsu's face now; he couldn't wait to give Lucy her present, certain that her reaction would be a positive one. Happy however, could sense a 'Lucy kick!' in Natsu's future and he didn't want to share the pain…
When they stopped at the familiar apartment building, the Exceed made a quick excuse about how he was going to the guildhall because he'd missed eating the way Mirajane prepared fish for him. Natsu didn't think anything of it and didn't notice Happy's wince just a moment before the cat flew off.
"Time to surprise, Lucy," Natsu said excitedly to himself, mentally rubbing his hands together in glee.
He stared up at Lucy's window and grinned at the fact that it was wide open. Shifting his hold on the box, Natsu prepared and then launched himself up onto the sill.
Once perched and gripping the frame with one hand, he peered inside the room in search of Lucy. He scrunched up his face and then jumped to the floor before straightening up to his full height.
"Luce?" he called.
He strained his ears and caught faint sounds coming the bathroom. A moment later the door to the bathroom cracked open and he could see a towel clad Lucy peeking out at him.
"Natsu? What are you doing here?" she asked in confusion.
His smile brightened upon seeing her and he bounced over, holding the glass box behind his back with one arm.
"Natsu!" Lucy protested, "Just wait, I'm not even dressed yet!"
He shrugged, "It doesn't matter to me."
The celestial mage turned slightly pink and huffed out a breath while she rolled her eyes.
"Just give me five minutes, okay?"
He shrugged again but went and sat on her bed to wait. The bathroom door closed once more and, for some reason, Natsu couldn't stop himself from straining his hearing again. He could pick up the sounds of material rustling and sliding along skin. His body began to heat up slightly and he wasn't entirely sure why.
Weird, he thought before dismissing it from his mind. The creature in the case caught his attention then when it clacked its pincer-like forelegs against the glass. Natsu brought the box up to his face so he could grin at the rock and crystal insect.
At first it had reminded him of a hermit crab because of the odd looking shell it seemed to have on its back, but he had seen earlier in the day that the shell wasn't a shell at all, but a set of folded up wings.
"Hey there, little guy," Natsu greeted, pressing his face up against the glass, "Ready to meet Lucy?"
The creature's spindly feelers brushed the wall of its confined space.
"Don't worry," the dragon slayer said, "Lucy's not that scary…most of the time."
A minute later the bathroom door opened once more and the celestial mage stepped out. She was in a pair of pale blue shorts and a singlet with the Heart Kreuz logo on it. Her suspicious brown eyes fell to what he had in his hands and then her forehead crinkled.
"What is that, Natsu?" she asked warily, not quite able to see what it was.
"Come and look!" he answered, "I brought it back for you as a gift!"
Lucy hesitantly approached and then leaned down and focused on what was in the case.
"Natsu!" she screamed in terror, backpedalling and falling on her butt, scooting away, "What is that!?"
He tilted his head, completely perplexed and a little bit saddened by her reaction.
"It's a lacrima pet," he explained slowly, "They were selling them at the town me and Happy went to."
Lucy was eyeing at the case in his hands with distrust, "What's a 'lacrima pet' exactly?"
He shrugged and tried to ignore the creeped out look she had on her face, "It's a magic creature I guess, but it's not really 'alive' so you don't need to worry about feeding it or anything, I know you get to busy and would forget if you had to feed it…I thought you'd like it."
Lucy cringed.
He thought I'd like a gross rock bug thing like that? She thought in surprise, where'd he get an idea like that?
She watched as Natsu gently placed the glass box on the floor, he rubbed a hand through his hair and shifted awkwardly as he averted his gaze.
"If you don't like it, Luce," he said, "I'll give it to someone else, no big deal."
The blonde sighed as she felt a heaviness settle in her chest.
He was just being nice, she told herself, I overreacted. Gah, I hate when he gets all sad!
Her skin crawled at the sight of the unattractive pet but nevertheless, she slowly moved forward to get a better look, in case it suddenly turned cute.
"So," she started unsurely, not wanting to offend Natsu further, "Why did you pick one of these?"
She struggled to keep her expression neutral as she glanced down at the lacrima pet.
"Lots of reasons," Natsu said casually, sitting down on the floor across from her, "I thought you might like a pet in case you ever get lonely or something, not that you should be, you have me…and Happy and that little dog spirit of yours."
Natsu stuck out his bottom lip as he stared at the glass box with a contemplative expression. Lucy felt warmth spread in her chest as she mentally repeated three of his words, you have me.
"And this little guy reminds me of you," Natsu remarked, tilting his head as he studied the odd bug-like thing.
Lucy pulled a face, "That reminds you of me?"
"Well, yeah," he said, like it was obvious, even going so far as to roll his eyes.
She copied his action, rolling her eyes as well, "Are you going to explain why?"
Natsu exhaled loudly and looked away as he folded his arms across his muscular chest. A streak of sunlight boldly drifted over the fire mage, highlighting the soft colour of his hair and the definition in his muscles before settling on the lacrima pet and creating dozens of tiny little rainbow reflections.
Huh, thought Lucy, he's cute…um, the pet that is, she justified to herself, telling herself that she hadn't meant that Natsu was cute, no, that would be weird, right?
Natsu sighed and then looked back to her as he began his explanation, "Well the guy at the stall told me about them, he said they were really strong, that they could survive pretty much anything."
Lucy blinked and then pulled her knees up, hugging her legs as a kind of awed affection seeped into her.
Does that mean Natsu thinks I'm strong?
"He also said," Natsu continued, focusing his attention on the lacrima pet, "that they were friendly, smart and…look!"
He grinned and leaned down closer as the pet began to unfurl its crusted wings and straighten up. The underside revealed was smooth, mirror-like crystal that caught the light spectacularly. Pale, glittering crystal spread out and replaced the rough, dull rock surface of the creature as it raised itself up on its wispy hind legs.
As it began to slowly twirl in a captivating dance, Lucy whispered, "It's beautiful."
"Yeah," Natsu said quietly as a smile spread on his face, "That's what I thought."
Lucy's eyes jumped up to meet his and her stomach jumped as the connection was made. The room seemed to heat up and Lucy smiled softly.
"Thank you, Natsu, it was very thoughtful of you," she said, her voice warm with fondness for the dragon slayer.
Part of her was thrilled at the implication that Natsu thought she was strong and beautiful and the other part was nearly overwhelmed with affection for him. She unfolded herself and scooted over to kneel beside him, intending to kiss his cheek in gratitude.
However, Natsu Dragneel was a very direct person and always faced people head on, so it was instinctive for him to turn his head at that very moment, sensing her face turning towards his.
Their lips met in an all too brief electric moment, their expressions showing their matching surprise as they stared wide-eyed. Natsu's mouth moved against hers as he tried to say her name.
She squeaked and scrambled back, her fingers flying up to touch the echo of her first kiss on her lips. For a long, tense moment, the two just stared at each other. Lucy forced herself to tear her gaze away, hoping her thumping heart would slow.
"Th-thank y-you," she stuttered, feeling her cheeks turn pink, "f-for the gift."
He coughed and rubbed his neck awkwardly before pushing himself to his feet.
"Yeah, right back at you," he mumbled as he turned away and headed back over to the window.
"See you later then, Luce," he added.
And with that, the young man left, leaving Lucy to flop onto the floor and try several different breathing exercises.
She turned her head and spoke to her new pet, "What did he mean 'right back at you'? I didn't give him a gift…"
The creature stopped its twirling and curled back up, regaining its coarse and hardy outer appearance.
"You're right," Lucy whispered, "I should do something nice for him, he's always trying to do nice things for me."
She smiled, "I mean, I wasn't so happy when he decided he should clear out my closet that one time…but even though he doesn't always think things through, his heart's always in the right place and sometimes he does something right, you're one of the best gifts I've ever been given. I'll repay Natsu somehow."
AN: There will be several more chapters, showing the different moments our requester wanted, ie- Natsu and Lucy's first date and stuff, a happily ever after sort of thing and some Nashi family time XD
The next couple of chapters though will all be right after each other, then it will jump to the future, if that makes sense :p
