Ghosts and Candy
1: Trick or Treat!
Summary: Trick or treat! It's Halloween, and Natsu and Lucy are going out to trick or treat. This won't be a normal night of hunting for candy. After all, with Fairy Tail, what is normal? And maybe tonight, when scary things are supposed to happen, love will strike. Or maybe it's just Mirajane concocting silly plans...
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Disclaimer: I do not own Fairy Tail.
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This oneshot is dedicated to Lady Anime Cat, who kindly gave me the prompt of Trick or Treat when I asked. Enjoy!
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"No, Natsu, we aren't going to dress up like mummies this Halloween!" Lucy protested, turning her back on a pleading Natsu. It was the afternoon on Halloween night, and Natsu and Lucy haven't agreed on which costumes to wear to go trick or treating.
Lucy recalled the time they did decide dress up like mummies. Wrapping themselves in toilet paper was a lot of fun. Until Natsu decided to light his fists on fire, in an attempt to fight Gray, which caught all of his toilet paper on fire. Lucy, who was standing nearby, also went up in flames. That Halloween, instead of trick or treating, Lucy had spent her time in the infirmary. The upside was that everyone who did go out to get candy gave her some of theirs. Oh, and, Natsu (who caused all the trouble in the first place) wasn't allowed to Trick-or-Treat and had to take care of Lucy.
That was two years ago. Last Halloween, Natsu forced everyone in the guild to beg Lucy to wear the Happy costume he made. It wasn't well made, it itched, and worst of all, NATSU MADE ONE FOR HIMSELF TOO! You have no clue how ridiculous and esteem lowering it is to walk around town in a matching costume, and the blue cat who the costume was based on with you. Happy was so annoying that night... At the end, Lucy tied Happy up and hung him off her ceiling for a few hours until Natsu got him down.
"How about you dress up as fish!" Happy asked, popping up from his nap.
"NOO!" shrieked Lucy. No way in Mavis would she dress up like a fish. It would be impossible to make a cute, non-ugly fish costume anyways. She couldn't let her neighbors and guildmates see her like this. 'Hideous!'
"Sorry Happy, I don't think being a fish is manly enough," Natsu said, grinning as Lucy rolled her eyes at the Elfman reference.
Pouting, Happy curled in a ball and closed his eyes, intent on falling asleep again. But it might be hard, with Natsu and Lucy arguing over the Halloween costume.
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With only two hours left until they were to meet up at the guild for the Halloween party and things, Lucy had convinced Natsu to look at the Halloween costumes in the shops to see if there was one they liked. Happy was at home, still sleeping.
"Luce! This store seems nice. Er... maybe not nice, but cheap!" Natsu said, pointing at a store in an alley. It was one of the smaller, more run-down stores. It also seemed like there had been little to no business, despite the fact that Halloween was today.
Lucy scoffed, not sure if they would even find anything not moldy and torn by moths in that shop. But she relented, this was the only shop Natsu seemed interested in. Also, she had taken him to other shops that were all too expensive, or the costumes weren't good at all. "Fine, Natsu," she said.
With those words, Natsu grabbed her arm and pulled her inside the dilapidated looking shop.
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The store's interior did not differ much from its exterior. The walls were wooden boards, some rotten with holes in them. The floor was a the same cobblestone as the street outside. And the roof had leaks. Buckets were placed at various locations throughout the store, catching the drips. Each time water hit the bucket, it made a drip sound that seemed loud through the silence of the store.
"And what may you be looking for, dears?" came a voice that seemed ancient, raspy and croaky.
Lucy jumped with a startled screech. "Eek!" In her surprise and shock, she had jumped up and wrapped her arms around Natsu's neck. This resulted in him holding her bridal style, in order to keep Lucy from falling.
"My, my, what love is in the air," the old lady said. She seemed to be the manager of the shop. Dressed in a black cloak, with a hot pink scarf, and mis-matched socks that were pulled up to her knees, the lady seemed to have an... eccentric sense of fashion.
'Who knows, this lady might be eccentric herself, too,' Lucy thought. Then the full meaning of the lady's words hit her. Lucy blushed deeply, and pretty much fell out of Natsu's arms. "N-no, you got it all wrong. We aren't couples or anything," she protested.
The old lady smirked knowingly, and Lucy's cheeks turned a flaming red. "Hey, Lucy, are you all right?" asked Natsu.
Lucy nodded furiously, willing her face to return to normal. "We'd like to get some Halloween costumes," Lucy said. The lady smiled, and walked towards the back of the shop. She moved quickly for her old age.
"Ah, yes, here. These seem perfect for you." Natsu and Lucy quickly followed the lady to see what she was talking about. But when they approached, the lady hid the costumes behind her back. "Go to the changing rooms and try them on," the lady said, pointing at the two changing rooms in the back.
Natsu and Lucy obediently got in the changing rooms, and took the costume handed to each of them.
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"Dears, are you finished?" came the croaking and raspy voice. The lady watched as both curtains opened at the same time, and out stepped a hunter and Red Riding Hood.
Natsu looked at Lucy, and started laughing. "T-the cape doesn't suit you at all!" he shouted. To be honest, he never thought of Lucy as the innocent little girl who gets eaten by wolves. And the dress that Lucy was wearing was incredibly short. He didn't want the perverts in the guild staring at her long legs... 'Gosh, I'm acting like a pervert too! I am not like the perverted ice stripper!'
Scowling, Lucy tugged at the bottom of her dress, trying to get it to cover more than her thighs. "Not this one. And your hunter costume sucks too. I can't think of you as a hunter," Lucy shot back. She smiled a bit when Natsu pouted, but he nodded in agreement.
"Do you have something more... medieval?" Lucy asked. "Or fairy tale like?"
They were handed another costume each, and were shoved back into the dressing rooms. Lucy looked at her costume. Then eyed the glimmering, gossamer wings in distaste. The wings would make it hard to move in, and the fairy dress was skin tight. She didn't want to deal with Loke's flirting tonight. Tonight was something just with Natsu and her, possibly Happy too.
Sighing, she tried it on anyways, to get Natsu's opinion on it. Stepping out, Lucy was the one who broke out in laughter. "Ew! Natsu- Natsu- you're a fairy!" she shrieked, doubling over and holding her stomach.
Natsu growled and looked at his own costume. It was a male version of a fairy, brown and green clothes and wings. But the wings were the worst part, pink and sparkling. 'Hideous.' He spoke to the old lady, who had been watching them all this time. "Something else, please."
The lady smirked, and took a longer time looking through the costume racks, before pulling out two costumes. She didn't let Lucy and Natsu see what they were, before giving one to each of them and shoving them - again - into the changing rooms.
Lucy was silently fuming. 'If this is another stupid, ugly costume, or one that makes me look like a slut, I'm done.' But as she shook out her costume, she gasped. It was beautiful. Eager to try this one on, she slipped it over her head, untied the ribbon in her hair to put the tiara on, and stepped out of the changing rooms.
She twirled once, watching as her shin-length dress floated around her in various shades of pink. Lucy smiled, and spoke to the old lady who was watching her. "Thank you so much, I love this costume!" Lucy planned on buying this one for sure.
Natsu swept open the curtain to the changing room. He was grinning widely, and Lucy immediately knew what he thought of the costume. Natsu was dressed in reds and oranges, with bits of black here and there. "Hey Luce, I'm a dragon!" he said, pointing at his costume. It was red cloth with scale patterns stitched over it.
"You're the evil dragon that kills the princes trying to rescue the princesses," said the old lady. She pointed at Natsu, then at Lucy as she spoke.
Frowning, Natsu shook his head. Lucy also shook her head. "No, you got it wrong. He's the dragon that protects the princess from the evil princes trying to marry her," Lucy said. In a way, it was true. Natsu always protected her from harm, saved her from Jose and her father. He was always there for her.
"So, old lady, how much is it for these costumes?" Natsu asked. "OW! Lucy, what was that for?!" he exclaimed.
Lucy hit Natsu on the head, and elbowed him in the ribs. "Don't say impolite things like that," she hissed. Then turning to the old lady who ran the shop, she nodded her head. "Sorry about that. But yes, we'd love to buy these costumes."
"A thousand jewel each," came the reply.
Lucy gasped. 'That is so much cheaper than the other costumes that we saw.' As she fished through her purse to find two thousand jewel, planning on paying for Natsu's costume, she heard the slam of jewels on the counter.
"I'll pay for them, 'kay Luce? I always eat your food, I can pay you back like this," Natsu said.
Lucy smiled, and hugged Natsu tightly.
The lady smiled and winked at Natsu when she saw him blush.
"Well have a nice time trick or treating!" she called, as the two left the small costume shop.
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As Lucy and Natsu stepped through the guild doors, the brawl came to a halt. They openly gaped at the wonderfully crafted costumes Natsu and Lucy wore. Mira squealed and had to sit down, muttering things about 'romance when it's not Valentines day yet.'
Coughing, Natsu broke the silence. "Well are we ready to start the Halloween challenge?" he called. This caused everyone to turn towards the stage, where the recovered Mirajane was. Natsu took this moment to grab Lucy and find a seat.
Tapping the microphone, Mirajane spoke. "Now that our missing members have arrived, I will announce the challenge! This challenge, which will begin when I say so, is a competition."
"I'M GOING TO WIN THIS, ICE PRICK!" Natsu shouted, causing all the guild members to look at him.
Lucy yanked him down roughly, and sat on Natsu. "Shh..." she whispered. Snickers were heard throughout the guild, and both Natsu and Lucy had pink dusting their faces.
Mirajane cleared her throat, drawing the attention back to her. "The time limit for this challenge is an hour. The challenge itself depends on speed, quick thinking, and your partner. Whichever pair collects the most amount of Halloween candy will win! Everyone find a partner... On your marks, get set, go!"
With that abrupt way of introducing and starting the challenge, there was slight turmoil as people found partners. All except for one group. A swirl of wind notified the exit of a fire mage and a celestial mage. "STUPID FLAME BRAIN, I'LL BEAT YOU!" came the outraged cry of Gray, as he shook his fist after the leaving couple.
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Lucy managed to get Natsu to stop after he dragged her out of the guild. "First off, we need to have a plan to hit all houses as quickly as possible. Here is a map of Magnolia." With a flourish, Lucy took out a map of Magnolia, down to the last apartment building. Natsu had no clue as to where that came from.
He paid close attention as Lucy sectioned off the map into... four parts? "Um, Lucy, you know there's only two of us, right?"
Lucy flashed him a brilliant grin, and he knew that she had a plan. The princess was a genius, and the dragon would follow her plans.
"We'll take one together. I'll call out some spirits to get the three other sections." With that, Lucy took out six keys - gold and silver - and called out six spirits. Then she paired them off. "Plue, you're going with Loke. Lyra, you're with Cancer, and Horologium, you'll take on this section with Capricorn. Get as much candy as you can in one hour, and meet us back here with five minutes to spare."
A cloud of dust swirled around them, and the six spirits were gone. "Natsu, let's go! I can only keep them out for barely an hour, so hurry!" With those words, Natsu took Lucy's hand, and they sprinted off to the nearest door.
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Huffing and puffing, Lucy knew the time was 10:55. Exactly 55 minutes had passed, and Natsu and her had hit all the buildings they were supposed to do. The pairs of spirits turned up, each holding a bulging bag of candy. "Thank you guys!" Lucy cheered, grinning at Natsu.
Then as the gates closed, Lucy promptly fell over. Natsu had to move very quickly to catch her. 'I think I strained a hamstring there.' He thought, worried about his partner.
Lucy's eyes fluttered open, and Natsu sighed in relief. "Don't you dare do that to me, got that?" he demanded.
Lucy smiled sheepishly. "I got too caught up in winning this. But anyways, we need to go!" Time was ticking, and they needed to return to the guild on time so that they would not be disqualified. Natsu, who was still looking at Lucy worriedly, dropped his bag candy onto her. Ignoring her protests, he picked her up bridal style, and sprinted to the guild.
Grinning as Lucy let out a loud laugh at this 'mode of transportation', he knew she would be all right. He also had a good hunch that they would have the most amount of candy. No one besides maybe Jet and Laxus would have enough speed to hit all the houses in Magnolia. Probably.
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"It's 11 and everyone has returned! Please put all of your candy in one bag, and weigh the bag on the scale. The heaviest bag will presumably have the most candy, and will win!" Mira called, her voice growing louder as cheers filled the air.
Natsu held a large black trash bag, watching as Lucy dumped the candy from the spirits into it. Her eyes widened as the bag was filled to the brim. Lucy cheered, hugging Natsu from behind. Laughing, Natsu staggered under the weight of Lucy and the candy.
"Seven pounds!" came the delighted crow of Gray. His pair, with Erza (much to Juvia's chagrin) had gotten the most amount of candy so far. "Beat that, you piece of ash-" Natsu smirked the happiness of Gray's victory came crashing down when Gray saw their monstrous trash bag filed to the very top with candy.
Lucy helped Natsu place the bulging bag onto the scale. "Ten point one pounds!" A cry of both disappointment and happiness came from the guild.
Mira stepped forwards, and ushered Lucy and Natsu to the stage. "We have our winners!" Everyone in the guild applauded and cheered for Natsu and Lucy. Except Gray. That is, until Erza threatened him with a very sharp sword to his behind. He forcibly put on a smile, and clapped slowly for Natsu and Lucy.
"And your prize is..." The guild inched backwards as a flash of evil plotting appeared in Mira's eyes. "Actually, to get your prize, you have to first kiss!"
"Eh?!" came the loud cries of Natsu and Lucy.
But Mira was truly serious, and she really did want them to kiss. If they refused... Demon Mirajane would make an appearance. Then Erza stood, marching up to the stage in a dark aura.
"I shall not allow Natsu to make Lucy impure!" she said fiercely, pointing a sword (the very one that had threatened Gray's behind) at Mira.
"What did you say?" Mira growled in reply. "Satan Soul!"
As the two fierce mages engaged in head-to-head battle, they didn't notice Natsu and Lucy creeping away. Oh, yes, with the large ten point one pound bag of candy being carried between them.
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As the guild started another all out brawl, Natsu and Lucy were in Lucy's apartment. She was enjoying some candy slowly, watching as Natsu gobbled down piece after piece.
"That was a lot of fun," Lucy said, giggling. "And slow down, or else you'll get a stomachache!"
Natsu nodded. "Lefs do dut ageim somehing."
"Eh? Don't talk with your mouth full of candy, it's disgusting."
Swallowing, Natsu spoke again. "Let's do that again sometime. And go to that costume shop again."
Lucy looked down at her princess costume. In her excitement of trick or treating, she had forgotten all about it. Then looking at Natsu's dragon costume, she grinned.
"Yes, let's do that aga-"
"Argh! Bleaaagh."
"Natsu! You did not just puke candy and chocolate all over my new princess costume!"
"Uurp. Sorry."
"Yeah right! I'm getting you back for that!"
Lucy took a handful of candy wrappers and stuffed it down Natsu's dragon costume.
Natsu let out his own cry of protest, and with another handful of candy wrappers, started chasing Lucy around her apartment.
That night on Halloween, they chased each other around with candy until they were too exhausted to move. Content and happy, they fell asleep next to each other on Lucy's bed, wrappers scattered here and there. It was a fine night indeed.
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A/N: Whew! That was fun to write, yet a bit tiring at the same time! Thanks again to Lady Anime Cat who gave me the prompt for this.