wisp of heaven

notes: aaaaaaaand yes i'm starting a nalu 100 themes fic. for this collection and my parallel universe/reincarnation collection ("Fated to Love You"), i'm accepting requests; in the case of this collection, i'm taking themes of one to five-word phrases. if i end up using that theme in a chapter, i will dedicate that chapter to you. ditto for "Fated" except with different 'verses or worlds. alright, thanks and enjoy!

/i'm sorry for this chapter, i just really wanted to get it out but it's also 3am and i'm brain dead and i'm really sorry if this doesn't make any sense but i'll fix it later.

disclaimer: let it be known for the rest of this fic that i do not own Fairy Tail.

/freedom

It wasn't much, but it was her piece of freedom.

Meeting Natsu and Happy, joining Fairy Tail (a literal dream come true!),and being adopted into her new extended family were the best things that had happened to her so far in her life, but she'd be lying if she said she didn't feel overwhelmed, burdened by her new responsibilities to uphold the guild's honor. The endless enthusiasm and boundless energy in the hall was almost smothering and she wasn't able to take a full deep breath of fresh Magnolia air until she got home to her apartment.

Her apartment. Her sanctuary. It was hers and no one else's, and it freed her heart to know that.

So naturally she was shocked speechless and maybe a little appalled when she stepped out of the shower to find Natsu and Happy making themselves at home on her bed with her food that she had bought with her money. Hers, not theirs so what were they doing?

"Natsu! Happy!" she yelled when she snapped back to her senses. "What the hell are you doing here?"

"Hey Luce!" Natsu greeted cheerfully around a mouthful of cereal. "We're here to keep you company!"

She winced as she watched cereal fall out of his mouth and land on her comforter. Her eye twitched.

"Aye!" Happy agreed. "Do you have any fish?"

"No!" she snapped. "How can you - this is my home and that's my food you're eating and my bed you're getting dirty and can you please just leave?"

Happy flew over to Natsu and hid behind him. "Lucy's mean and scary," he whispered.

Natsu frowned and scratched his head. "But Lucy, you'll be all by yourself."

"So?"

"Well, that's no fun! Everyone knows it's the more, the merrier!" He grinned at her.

Lucy sighed and pinched the bridge of her nose. "Look. I'm really grateful to you for helping me and bringing me here and everything. Really! But I'm just really tired now and I'd like to rest and I can't do that if you're here. So please, I'll see you tomorrow. Okay? You too, Happy. Sorry for yelling."

Dejected, Natsu dragged himself off her bed and out the window, Happy hovering by his shoulder. "Alright. See you tomorrow, Lucy."

"Wait, the door - " Lucy cried, but he had already dropped out of sight. She ran to the window and sighed in relief when she saw him racing down the street, clearly unscathed.

She felt bad about kicking him out but this was her place and he was too Natsu to be here. This was her haven and she would go to any lengths to protect it.

But the week that passed found her shivering and curled under her blankets, feeling as lonely and alone as she ever had back at the mansion. She wished Natsu and Happy would stop by randomly again, because she was far too proud to ask them. But they didn't and she knew they wouldn't because they were Natsu and Happy, and they respected her as much as they teased her.

So she finally told herself to woman up and the following day, she stomped up to Natsu and said determinedly, "Natsu. We need to talk."

Gray whistled and smirked at Natsu. "You're in trouble."

Natsu glared at his shirtless rival. "No I'm not! I didn't do anything wrong yet! And where's your damn shirt, you stripper?"

As Gray cursed and looked for his clothing, Lucy dragged Natsu outside and all the way back to her apartment, ignoring his sputtering and kicking. Happy followed by air, just as confused as the pink-haired dragon slayer.

"Natsu, did we break something?" the flying blue cat whispered as they neared her home.

"But we haven't been to her place all week!" Natsu protested.

Lucy finally dropped him and, hands on her hips, stared him down for the longest minute of his life. He cringed and opened his mouth to apologize.

"Lucy, whatever it is, I'm sorry - "

"Do you want to come over to my place?"

" - but I swear I didn't mean to - huh?"

Blushing, Lucy averted her gaze and kicked at the ground. "I said," she mumbled, "w-would you like to come up?"

Natsu and Happy gaped at her. "B-b-b-but last time we came you practically kicked us out!"

She flushed redder. "That's because you showed up uninvited! I had barely even settled in yet!"

"So now it's okay?"

Timidly, she nodded. "It's just - well, this past week has been really quiet and relaxing and all, but not much different from my old life. I was still alone in my room all the time, like I'd always been. I forced myself into exactly what I'd wanted to escape. I realized...it was kind of nice to have you here. But not whenever," she hastily added, "just, you know, when I give you permission."

Natsu was grinning now. "Aw Luce! You shoulda told us earlier how much you missed us! Of course we'll hang out with you! Come on, let's go!"

He grabbed her by the hand and held her against him as he climbed up the building and through her window, hardly noticing her screeching.

"Natsu, there are doors for a reason!" she shouted at him once he released her and she crumpled into a quivering heap on the floor. "There's no need to scale the wall!"

He shrugged and walked into her kitchen, looking for food. Happy eagerly tagged along, hoping for fish. "Eh, doors are no fun. Hey, got any food?"

He was definitely going to eat her out of house and home.

Against her better judgment, she gave him free access to the kitchen ("Just for today!") and by the time she went to bed, she was too tired to complain about him staying over.

"You can sleep on the couch," she yawned as she dumped a pillow and blanket on the cushions. "I'm exhausted. Good night, Natsu, Happy."

"Night, Lucy!" they chorused. She didn't understand how they still had so much energy.

She rubbed her eyes and walked to her room, but paused in the doorway. Without turning around (her face was too warm for that), she murmured, "Thanks for today, you two. I had a lot of fun." Then she slipped into her room and collapsed into bed.

It was as she was falling asleep that it hit her like a meteor: Natsu was her freedom. She had thought that having a place all to herself under her own name and care with her own responsibilities constituted freedom, but that was only a small liberty, one that she had already known. After all, her room had been solely hers back at the mansion too; how was this any different?

No, what was different was Natsu and the freedom he gave her, the choice. He gave her friendship, something she had never known, and family, something she hadn't had in a long time. She had forgotten how warm another human was, for she had grown up hugging lifeless plushies, soft but cold, expensive but boring.

He was fire, through and through, free and reckless and uncontrollable, always consuming and growing, and being with him allowed her to taste life as flame. She only wondered how she hadn't realized sooner what he was to her.

He was beginning to consume her into his fiery freedom and she only wished she could melt faster.

"Thank you, Natsu," she whispered as she fell asleep with a smile on her face.

But she'd never tell him just how vital he was to her, not while she still woke up to his unexpectedly adorable sleeping face in the morning when she had sentenced him to the couch.

© Copyright 2015 by The Siege