Hey there guys! The name's Sunny if you don't know me, and this is my first one-shot! I really should be working on Red Gloved Hands, as Lucy's currently dead in that, but it's chill…I think.

Anyways, hope you enjoy!

Disclaimer: I don't own Fairy Tail and the adorable Natsu and lovely Lucy.

Warning: Just some language.

Natsu had always like his partner's hair.

It was an interesting colour of molten gold that always caught his attention, which made it infinitely times more easier to find her in crowds, as no one had hair the same colour as she did. But it was also the movement that made the lengthy appendage so interesting.

He had never really noticed it before, as Lucy's usual hairstyles restricted the movement of the golden coil. She always wore her hair out, in her customary partial-side ponytail, or in her low pigtails, so it was something new when she wore her hair in a high ponytail.

The ends curled up lightly, wavering softly in the breeze that blew off the harbour. Natsu noticed this as he tromped behind her, chin pressed deeply into his scarf. His dark eyes followed the movement of her hair, completely enraptured by the movement, not like he knew it – it is Natsu, after all.

The Dragon Slayer had never seen someone whose hair bobbed as she walked. Up and down, up and down. It bounced with every peppy step she took, showing the enthusiasm that fuelled every movement of hers. But with every bounce, her hair also swayed, waving the scent that could only be described as Lucy towards Natsu, making him absently sniff at it and drink it in. It swung in long arcs, creating a rippling arc of gold that caught Natsu's attention every time it made a pendulum movement.

And it also caught other guy's attention, as well – unfortunately.

It didn't really help that Lucy wore rather skimpy clothes, or was loud, or was quite pretty. Not at all. So when male's attention was drawn by golden hair, they were quickly captured by barely hidden breasts and swaying hips that only accentuated her doe eyes and bright smile and personality.

They leered at her as she passed, eyes trailing after her, but she took no notice. Her own eyes were busy in taking in the sights of the harbour town she and Natsu had taken a job in, oohing and aahing at the quaint markets and noisy fishermen that seemed to be everywhere.

But Natsu could see them, and he didn't like them one bit.

So when they stopped at a stall so that Lucy could pick up some exotic fish to take back to Happy, who had opted to stay home with an excited Wendy and Romeo to chaperone their own first mission together, it wasn't surprising that Natsu began growling as soon as some guy stepped in the vicinity of his partner – especially since this specific guy looked like the scummiest of all scumbags in all of Fiore. Maybe even Earthland.

He opened up with a sly smile of his perfect teeth, a dimple blossoming in his left chin. Cocking his head to the side so that his long, chestnut hair drooped over one burgundy eye, he winked at Lucy, making sure to lean in nice and closely so that Natsu could get even more annoyed.

"Hey there, beautiful," he purred coyly, flustering Lucy into dropping the trout she was currently holding. "H-hello!" She seemed to gather herself and managed to give a cute smile in return, but Natsu just thought she looked constipated. "I mean; hello there."

"What's someone with hair as unique as yours doing in a place like this?" Without waiting for an answer, the man (or scumbag as Natsu had labelled him) leant in to run crooked fingers through her ponytail. He never lost his sly smile as he did so.

At seeing Lucy's now uncomfortable expression, and that scumbag touching his partner's hair, Natsu stepped in. And by step in, I mean stepped right in the man's personal bubble, making sure to get right up into his face to intimidate him, and to also block his view of Lucy. "She's here on a job with me."

After recoiling from the sight of a literally steaming male glaring into his eyes, the man put on an affronted expression. "And who might you be?" By the tone of his voice, the man was subtly instating that Natsu was trash, but Lucy didn't pick up on it. Natsu certainly did, though.

"I'm her partner, you ass," Natsu growled back.

The man was obviously surprised at this, as he glanced between the surprised Lucy and the enraged Natsu. Shortly, though, he regained some of his pomp and turned back to Lucy. "Well, then. You, Goldilocks, can stay with this loser here." Jerking his head at the visibly angry Natsu, the brunette offered Lucy a smirk. "Or you can some with me."

Looking the man up and down, Lucy's expression remained blank – almost like she was considering him.

And with that thought, Natsu felt his flames of anger falter, and his gut stutter. She couldn't chose fucking scumbag over him; they were partners!

"Thanks," Lucy purred, "but no thanks." Picking up the large trout she'd been handling before, Lucy promptly slapped the man across the head with it, managing to knock him through the stall next to the fish one they were at, before chucking it back down. "I think Happy will prefer the salmon."

Casting one look at the broken panels of wood that made up one wall of a jewellery stall, the scumbag's legs poking out of it, Natsu turned back to Lucy, his usual grin working its way across his face. "Yeah, I think so too!"

Lucy giggled at his enthusiasm, covering her mouth with the hand that held her guild mark – the one the same colour as his hair. "Alrighty then! Let's go!" Before she headed off to pay for the large fish, though, she ran a hand through her ponytail, her face twisted in revulsion. "Ugh, now I have to wash my hair since that scumbag touched it!"

Natsu stepped forwards, eyes intense.

Lucy shuddered to a stop at the look in his eyes, face instinctively blushing. "Wh-what? What is it?"

The pink-haired boy merely stepped closer. One of his calloused hands raised up to brush past her pale cheek, causing faint shivers to go through Lucy's body. "N-Natsu?"

Grasping a strand of her golden hair, Natsu dragged his fingers down the length of it, his fingers coiling around the lengthy end. His touch was surprisingly soft as he did so, making Lucy's surprise levels only raise. "Natsu…what are you doing?"

The spell continued as Natsu raised his dark eyes to meet Lucy's something hidden in the depths. The sounds of the marketplace faded away, along with people shouting their wares as Lucy and Natsu's eye contact lingered, sparks almost fizzling between them. That is, until Natsu grinned and shouted, "I can burn it off for you!"

"ARGH! LUCY KICK!"

Trolled yah, didn't I?