I don't even know where I got this idea from, but I hope it's enjoyable.
Disclaimer- I do not own Fairy Tail or it's characters
Natsu awoke to the sounds of birds chirping and the wind blowing the leaves around in the cool autumn's morning. It was a particularly peaceful morning. Happy was curled up on Natsu's chest, purring and shuffling around, trying to get into the right position. Natsu smiled fondly at his blue feline.
"Happy...happy wake up." He whispered into the exceed's ear. Happy groaned and lifted his head slightly, looking around the room tiredly.
"What time is it?" Natsu shrugged and picked up happy. He set him down on the wood floor boards and planted his feet on the floor and stood up, stretching as he did so. Scratching his back he look towards happy who stared at him with wide eyes. "N-Natsu..." Natsu started to panic.
"What?" Natsu asked as he made his way to the bathroom. The only reason he stopped though was because the top of the door frame hit his forehead. "Gah!" He backed up and held his forehead, feeling the sharp pain hitting his head caused. He started to feel a headache coming on. He always knew the door frame was a little short, but he always stepped through it just fine. Did it get shorter?
"I think you got taller, Natsu. Like...a lot taller." Natsu blinked a few times before looking towards the ground. It looked a lot far down than he was used too. His legs looked longer as well as his torso. His shoulders got broader and he feet and hands grew slightly in size as well. What the hell was going on with his body?
"We better go to the guild." Natsu said as he tried putting on his usual outfit. The only thing that fit was his scarf. He dug through his closet to look for anything to wear that fit. Anything! He ran a restless hand through his hair as anxiety started to creep up on him. He had no clothes and no way to get to the guild without being seen half naked. He cringed as he slightly turned to see a concerned happy.
"What're we going to do?" Natsu felt his eye twitch and he stood tall, extra tall.
"Happy, whose clothes do you think will fit me now? I want you to ask them if I can borrow something for the time being. Just hurry back as soon as possible so I can run to the guild and figure out what the hell is going on." Happy nodded and started from Natsu's feet and ran his eyes up to his head.
"You're not going to like who I say." Natsu pouted and crossed his arms.
"Who is it?"
"Gajeel" Natsu growled loudly and stomped around his house, not liking Happy's answer. The iron dragon slayer had a horrible sense of style, but he had no choice but to ask him for help. Gajeel would never let him live it down and he'd probably make Natsu owe him forever. But he had no choice.
"Gah, fine. Just tell him the truth and bring some of his clothes back quickly. I'm starting to get uncomfortable walking around with only boxers on." Happy giggled and sprug up his wings.
"Aye sir!" Happy flew out their window and used his max speed to fly to the guild. He made it there in record time and slammed open the door with a huff. "Gajeel! We need your help!" Gajeel looked up from his iron meal, startled by the blue cat's outburst. Everyone's attention was in the two of them by now. Gajeel coughed and stood up.
"What the hell is your deal? Interrupting my meal like this." Gajeel crossed his arms and made his way up to the desperate animal. "Who needs my help anyway?"
"It's Natsu! He needs to borrow some of your clothes." Gajeel deadpanned for a few seconds, giving happy a confused glare. Gajeel then seemed to realize the situation and he busted out laughing. Almost falling to the ground in the process. By now, everyone was confused. Lucy in particular ran up to Happy.
"What's wrong with him? Is he okay?" Lucy couldn't mask the worry she was feeling as she asked happy. She was starting to get worried when she noticed they weren't in the guild when she arrived herself. It was almost an hour after that that Happy showed up in a panic, making her scared for her team mate's well being.
"He's okay, Lucy, but he's really tall now. Almost as tall as Gajeel, but I'm not sure he's quite there yet. But we need to borrow some of your clothes Gajeel because the ones he has arrived too small now." Lucy was beyond puzzled now. Natsu is almost as tall as Gajeel now and he needs Gajeel's clothes to wear because...his don't fit?
"What? How did he get taller?"
"I don't know but with all of Gajeel's laughing, I'm sure he knows." Lucy stood up on her toes and smacked the back of Gajeel's head, making him stop his laughing abruptly and glare at the celestial mage.
"Dammit- bunny girl!"
"Tell us! What's going in on with Natsu?" Gajeel grumbled and sighed eventually.
"Let's just get the salamander some clothes first and then I'll explain it when we get back here. Natsu with us." Lucy nodded and they left the guild in a frenzy. Gajeel had ran back to where he lived while happy and Lucy ran to Natsu and Happy's house. Gajeel caught up to them quickly while they ran and all three of them made it to Natsu's house in under thirty minutes.
"Stay here, bunny girl. The salamander will let you know when you can come in." Lucy rolled her eyes and nodded. She sat down on his deck and watched as Happy and Gajeel stepped inside. Gajeel gagged as he saw the message around them. "Where is he?"
"Follow me" Said happy as they avoided the garbage on the floor. They turned a corner of their house and found Natsu laying on his hammock, nothing on but his boxers. Gajeel held back his laugh as Natsu glared at him.
"Give me clothes you metal head." He held out his hand. His face felt on fire at the embarrassment he felt at this whole situation. He was sure his face was the same color as his hair. Unfortunately for him, Gajeel wasn't going to just give him his clothes.
"I'll let you borrow some...if you announce to the whole guild that I'm the strongest mage you've ever laid eyes on and that I could defeat you with the flick of my wrist." Gajeel grinned sadistically. Natsu was already frustrated, but the anger he was feeling right now could never compare to anything he felt before.
"Hell no, iron breath!"
"Then I guess you can just walk to the guild like that." Natsu was reminded of his current predicament. Groaning he finally coughed up the one word he thought he'd never say to the other slayer.
"Fine."
"Fine you'll...?"
"I'll say all those untrue things to the guild." Gajeel wanted to protest but figured that was the closest way he'd get the fire mage to agree with him. He tossed Natsu some of his older clothes and watched as Natsu stood up and trudged his way to the bathroom. Gajeel finally got a good look at his height and noticed just how tall he got. He was almost as tall as himself, it kind if of freaked him out. He watched as Natsu hit his head one last time on the door frame and he ducked his head after cursing. Gajeel laughed at his misfortune.
"You kidding me you jerk! You gave me some of the worst shit I've ever seen!" Gajeel felt slightly offended but cackled all the while. He saw Natsu walk out (ducking this time) with one of older outfits. A black worn out and ripped shirt, plain. The pants were a musty green with rips all along the bottom of the pants. It was by far one of his worst outfits. He usually wore those to bed. "You asshole! You chose the worst possible clothing for me!"
"Don't worry salamander, i'm sure blondie out there will take you clothes shopping." Natsu sniffed the air and ran to his door, opening it swiftly.
"L-Lucy? What're you doing here?"
"You couldn't sense me here before?"
"I was uh...a little distracted." That's when she noticed his attire. She felt a ticket mark on her forehead, caused by the iron dragon slayer.
"The hell are you wearing. Why did Gajeel pick those? That jerk!" She finally stood and wanted to push Natsu passed her so she could give the other slayer a piece of her mind. The only problem was that he was so tall and wide. He'd have back up before she could get through. She finally looked up slightly to tell the fire mage to move, but she just came face to face with his chest. Feeling her cheeks aflame, she traveled her eyes upwards but she still couldn't find his own eyes. Finally, after for what seemed like ages, she found his face.
"Are you okay? Your face is red." He furrowed his brows. is she sick, he thought. She turned away from him as the red in her face deepened severely.
"Uh- um uh, I'm fine! I just need to get through."
"No need bunny girl. Ya found me." Gajeel stomped out of the door, pushing Natsu forward in the process. Natsu stumbled in front of Lucy, making her come face to face with his chest again.
"Sorry Luce..." Natsu chuckled and held onto her upper arms to restore his balance. She inwardly groaned and felt her heartbeat spike. Gajeel smirked while she glared at him.
"Anyway," she ripped herself out of Natsu's arm. "Why would you give him such ratty clothes. Are you trying to make him look homeless?" She planted her hands on her hips and watched as Gajeel winced slightly at her gaze.
"I figured you'd buy him something."
"Oh, me huh? It's always me." She sighed and raised her head to meet his eyes. He didn't look all there, probably because of what's going on. She wouldn't be all there either if she were him. She grabbed his bigger hand and tugged him forward. It was slightly harder to do now that he was bigger, but she wasn't all that weak. "Fine, after you explain to us and the guild what's going on I'll get him some clothes. For now, let's just go." She explained to Gajeel and Natsu. Happy followed silently behind them. They finally made it to the guy and they opened it slowly.
"Hey, they're back!" Gray yelled. Everyone froze when gazing upon Natsu. Gray even looked astonished at how much taller he was. "How did this...happen?" He asked Gajeel. Finally, Gajeel started to explain what was going on.
"It's a dragon slayer thing. How do you think me and Laxus got so tall? Even Cobra is getting there." He sighed irritably when he found no on was following him. "Dragon slayers go through different stages in their physical bodies. There are around four more stages to come and apparently salamander is late bloomer."
"Hey! I resent that!"
"Every male dragon slayer go through a particular high growth spurt where they sprout up like a damn weed. I was fifteen when it happened to me, phantom lord barely recognized me."
"Oh yes, Juvia was taller than Gajeel-kun before his growth spurt. How the times have changed." Everyone was shocked to hear that. Juvia being taller than Gajeel, they couldn't imagine it. Gajeel scoffed and turned to Natsu.
"You've just had your growth spurt, fire breath. You're not going to die or anything, you just might hit your head a lot." He chuckled. Natsu hummed in annoyance. As much as he was made fun of for being one of the shorter males, he didn't mind it. Now he's going to have to buy all new clothes, probably buy a new hammock. And he's going to have to watch out for low hanging things, how annoying.
"So I guess we just have to get used to this huh?" Gray said. He was slightly irritated that his rival surpassed his height when originally he was the taller one. The dragon slayer only looked to have grown four inches, but that was three inches taller than Gray. Jealousy was starting to cloud his mind.
"I guess so. It's gonna be weird eh?" Lucy laughed, patting Natsu's upper back.
"I'm gettin' sick of the stares."
"Maybe it's because you look like a hobo." Natsu remembered that he was wearing the rags gajeel lent him. "Tell ya what," Lucy started. "I'll head into town and grab you some clothes. Do you know where you got your original outfit, I could probably just get you the same outfit but just a couple sizes up."
Natsu tapped his chin in thought. "Don't remember" Lucy sweat dropped.
"Figured...oh whatever, I'll look around. See ya in around an hour okay? Meet me at my apartment." He watched as Lucy left the guild. He was about to sit down when he felt a tap on his shoulder. Gajeel.
"Remember the deal?" Natsu winced and nodded with a groan. He stood tall and proud and shouted throughout the guild.
"Gajeel is the strongest mage I've ever laid eyes on and he could defeat me with the flick of his wrist!" The guild members either busted out laughing or stared at him in shock, their mouths hanging wide open. Natsu ignored them and trudged off in the corner of the room. He wanted to punch something so bad. But at the same time he just wanted to sleep. Between Gajeel and this growth spurt ordeal, he was just so tired. Wanting to sleep so bad.
He guessed sleep would just have to wait.
Meanwhile with Lucy
She walked into a men's store, not saying a word. Already stressed out by her rapidly beating heart every time she even looked at Natsu, and the fact that the feeling that she was able to push down for the pink haired man are now resurfacing. She looked around for a few minutes before a man came up to her.
"Looking for anything in particular miss?" He must of worked there. He was in uniform and acting very professional. She nodded and dug through her purse, pulling out a picture of her and Natsu she kept in there. Don't ask her why.
"Um, yes. I'm trying to find this exact outfit," she pointed at Natsu's attire. "Do you have any for sale or in stock?" He adjusted the glasses framing his face. With a smile, he nodded and led to through isles. They stopped at one that was towards the back and she found a whole rack with Natsu's outfit hanging up. She would of never thought he bought his clothes here of all places. The place was so...fancy. She thanked the man and watched as he helped another customer.
"Hmm, let's see the price." She held up the price tag and coughed violently when she saw the price. How did Natsu afford these! She thought to herself. One outfit costed seventy thousand jewel. She dug through her purse and pulled out the necessary jewels to buy two pairs. There goes the jewels I was going to use for two months worth of rent. She guessed she'd just have to take a high paying job. She grabbed them off their rack and made it up to the counter. The cashier greeted her kindly.
"Good afternoon Miss, is this everything?"
"Yes ma'am." She greeted back with a smile.
"These outfits sure are...eccentric. You don't see too many people wear this outfit outside the great salamander of Fairy Tail. You'd think because of him they'd be more popular. Maybe their price makes customers shy away. I've seen quite a lot of women come here to buy one but not be able to afford one. So tell me...are you his fan?" The woman said, trying to make small talk. Lucy felt her face go red amd she denied her accusation.
"No no no, I'm not a fan. I'm actually a close friend of his. He's in the need for...better fitting clothes." The woman's eyes went wide.
"I knew you looked familiar. You're the salamander's princess to his dragon, Lucy Heartfilia. Oh wow! It's so great to meet someone so close to Natsu." The woman stuck out her hand eagerly and waited for Lucy to shake her hand. Lucy did awkwardly. She thought back to what the woman said as she handed Lucy her bag.
"Princess to his...dragon?" She asked the woman, stunned by what just came out of the lady's mouth.
"Oh yes, that's what everyone calls you. You're famous for being his princess."
"Uh yeah...thank you."
"Please come back anytime. Maybe you could bring salamander some time!" Lucy smiled politely and left the store. Her inner turmoil was starting to show as she got looks on the street.
Princess to his dragon.
Princess to his dragon.
Princess to his dragon.
Her face burned a bright red when she reached her home. Slamming the door closed she stepped into her room and look out a loud pitched scream seeing an intruder in her window.
"W-Wait Luce! Don't hit me, it's just me!" Lucy had a key in front of her as if she were about to call out one of her spirits. She sighed in relief when she heard a familiar voice. Growling, she dropped her arm.
"You idiot. I thought you were some burglar. What are you doing, get in!"
"I-I-I'm stuck..." Natsu said embarrassingly. She watched as he struggled to get in, but with him being a lot taller it was near impossible. She felt the smile return on her face and she grabbed his hand and tugged on his body. Eventually, she got him to fall in onto her bed and saw as he sprawled his body on her bed. "I was there for like twenty minutes!"
"That's why you use the damn door. You could have just asked Mira for my spare apartment key and she would of gave it to you. Mavis knows she'd probably be thrilled." Lucy rolled her eyes at the thought. She stared at him for a moment. He was laying straight and his feet were hanging of the bed! He had to be about 6'0 or 6'1 as of now. She giggled to herself, digging through her bag to find his clothes. She never imagined him to be this tall. She used to reach the top of his ear and now she's right below his shoulder. How weird.
"What're you giggling about?" He asked her in a skeptical manner.
"Oh nothing!" She mused and tossed him an outfit. "Put this on in the bathroom okay?" He smiled brightly at the familiar clothing items. He then felt a slight pang if guilt. He knew they were on the expensive side.
"Sorry if they were expensive..."
"Let's just go on a bunch of jobs to make it up to me okay? I'll need it after spending one hundred and forty thousand jewels on only two outfits." He rubbed his neck and apologized again, coming up to hug her. She froze as she could see nothing but darkness. Somehow it felt warm and inviting instead of cold and distant. She embraced it. Hugging him back, she looked upward to find him looking down at her. "What?" She asked.
"Nothing...you're just like Levy now, a shrimp" irritation nipped at her nerves. Now she knows how Levy feels. She banged on his chest and stuck out her bottom lip in a pout.
"I'm not short! You just grew, now go get dressed before I take these clothes back." He tore away from her and ran to the bathroom in a hurry. After he shut the door, she plopped down on her couch. How could ones height have such an effect on her. She thought she didn't care for trivial things such as physical appearance (she fell for a pink haired man did she not?) but seeing him grow so tall, it was... attractive. Don't get her wrong, he was attractive before but she would get jealous of Levy from time to time.
She would hug Gajeel and she could dig herself in his chest and it was cute becuase of their height differences. Before when Lucy would hug Natsu, she would wrap her arms around his neck and would have to bend slightly to lay her head on his shoulder but now...she would have to wrap her arms around the middle of his back and lay her head on his chest. The mere thought had her blushing bright red.
"Stupid Lucy and your thoughts!" Lucy slapped herself to stop the never ending thoughts about the dragon slayer.
"Weirdo, why are you slapping yourself?" Natsu chuckled. She looked up and smiled at the familiar look. It was starting to weird her out as he wore that ripped up hobo outfit.
Ignoring his insult, she asked "Does it fit well?" He held his thumb up and gave her his signature toothy grin.
"Yup." She stood and walked up to him.
"You look like you're back to normal. I'm glad, it was weird for you to be dressing so weird." Natsu made a sound of annoyance and agreed with her.
"Stupid metal mouth and his tricks! He made me dress like I was some kind of...drunk guy. I have a little more class than that!" She laughed at him. He may not act like it, but he is really passionate about what he wears. Even though his sense of style is a little weird, he can make anything look good. She gave him a closed mouth smile and felt her cheeks flush slightly.
Natsu noticed this and felt his own face heat up. She really did look like Levy. He could see far over the top of her head and he had to crank his neck down to even meet her gaze. He didn't know why her being so much shorter than himself made his ego swell, maybe that's why Gajeel is so full of himself. Natsu grinned like he usually did and planted his hand on her head and pat it slightly. He then felt a streak of mischief course through him. Why not mess with the blonde?
"Lucy..." She squeaked and looked up at him. He smirked at his partner and stepped forward, making her step back. She reeled backward until her back hit the wall and he caged her with himself. He positioned a hand above her head and planted the other hand on his hip. He dipped forward and chuckled as her entire skin flared red.
"N-Natsu! What the hell are you doing you freak..." She started out strong but mumbled the last part when he started to get closer to her face.
"Why're you red. Am I embarrassing you?" He asked slowly, his voice going husky. Lucy lifted her hands up and put them over his face to create a distance. And because she didn't want him to see her so flushed.
"No!" She denied. It was a lie though, but it didn't stop her from trying to seem convincing.
"Hm, you've seen a bit different ever since my growth spurt...don't tell me that me getting taller has," He grinned mischievously. "Turned you on?" That was when she exploded. She couldn't form a single coherent thought and she just murmured random sentences. She was nervous, very very nervous. Not only what he said was incredibly embarrassing, it was correct. She was always attracted to the pyro, but the attraction spiked since he got taller, she would feel...things and think things she wasn't supposed to. And this was all in the time span of around a few hours! She must be losing her damn mind.
"J-Jerk...embarrassing me like this. I outta kick you." Natsu laughed and finally uncaged the smaller mage. Ruffling her head, he retorted back to her.
"It's okay Lucy, not everyone is immune to my charms" She snorted and crossed her arms.
"As if, you weirdo."
Chapter two will be stage two. Not sure what it'll be yet, but I'll figure out. Hope this was enjoyable for all of you so far. Towards the end of this chapter, I had a bit if writers block so I apologize if it's not that good.