Dream Date
Summary: In which Natsu gets some advice on how to plan the best date ever for Lucy.
A long sigh escaped the fire dragon slayer's lips as he rested his chin listlessly on the table. He had been racking his brains for the past two days and still his mind was drawing a blank. He was starting to panic too, because he had a date with Lucy the next day, and still he had no idea what to do. The blonde had said that she was sick of planning their dates all the time so it was his turn to do it, but being someone with zero dating experience and notions about romance, this was proving an even more challenging task than say, kicking Gildart's ass.
Honestly, why did this dating business have to be so complicated?
"Natsu, are you still thinking about the date with Lucy?" Happy asked as he perched on the table with a half-eaten piece of fish in hand.
The teen seemed to deflate a little. "Yeah…"
"Still can't think of anything?"
He shook his head glumly.
"How about bringing Lucy fishing?"
"She doesn't like fishing, remember?"
"Oh yeah... Then what about going out for dinner with her or something? Food is always the best thing," Happy smiled.
Natsu frowned. "I wanted to, but Lucy said going out just for dinner is boring… What else can we do other than that?"
"I don't know… Food is always enough to make me happy," Happy replied. "Women these days… That's why being a cat is great. Charle doesn't ever want me to do anything."
His partner snorted. "That's because she doesn't want to go on a date with you."
"She's just shy," Happy said dismissively, waving a paw at him. "You wouldn't understand; you're still so inexperienced."
The pink-haired boy resisted the urge to roll his eyes and argue with his friend. "What am I supposed to do?" he groaned as he slammed his forehead against the table in defeat.
"Why don't you ask the guild members? Maybe they'd be able to think of stuff Lucy would like," the cat suggested.
"Hey… That's actually a pretty good idea, Happy. Why didn't I think of that before?"
"That's because you're so inexperienced, Natsu. You should ask around for some ideas. Maybe you could ask Mirajane first? She looks like she knows a lot about this kind of stuff."
"Yeah, I'll do that. Thanks Happy," Natsu grinned, getting up and heading to the counter where the white-haired woman was.
"Aye!" Happy gave him a little wave and shrugged before flying back to Charle's side.
"You're planning a date for Lucy tomorrow? How romantic!" Mirajane gushed, with her hands on her now rosy cheeks. "What are you going to do? Do you need me to help at all?" she asked with glee.
"Actually, about that…" he forced a laugh, scratching the back of his head sheepishly, "I don't know what to do about the date… I've been thinking about it for the past two days and I still can't think of anything cool or "romantic" we could do that Lucy would like, since, well, I don't have a lot of experience with this sort of thing… Think you could come up with any ideas?"
"I see," she said, nodding understandingly. "Hang on for a second." Then she bent down and started rummaging through the drawers behind the counter. "Where did I put that list..?" she muttered to herself. Curious, the dragon slayer peered over the counter to see what she was doing.
"Aha! Found it!" Mirajane exclaimed with delight and then she pulled a rather thick roll of paper out of the top drawer.
"What's that?" he asked.
The woman grinned. "I thought something like this might happen, so this is my emergency dating plan for couples in this guild who need some advice on planning dates! Let's see now…" She pulled the satin ribbon holding the roll together and then it began rolling down, extending all the way to the entrance of the guild.
Natsu stared at it, wide-eyed while Mirajane continued muttering to herself, speedily scanning through the list and going through each of the ideas she had written down.
"Hmm, just going for a picnic would be so boring; too many people do that nowadays… I don't think you would enjoy shopping… Maybe you could visit the bookstore with Lucy since she likes books, but you wouldn't like it either… Oh! How about renting a horse and going horseback riding with Lucy?"
"Haah? Horseback riding?" Natsu gawked at the beaming woman. He had tried horseback riding once… And he learned that horses didn't like him very much.
"I know of a person you could borrow two horses from! Wouldn't this be fun? It's not your usual date, and I think both of you would enjoy it, since you two love some action, right?"
"True," he nodded.
"And Lucy looks like the type who would like to be swept off her feet by her Prince Charming on a white horse, like a knight in shining armor! This is perfect!" Mirajane cried.
The dragon slayer tried to picture himself wearing one of Erza's cool-looking armor with a sword in hand and holding Lucy with his other arm while riding a white horse.
"Natsu, you're so brave! I always imagined my knight in shining armor to come for me! I knew it was always you, Natsuuuuu~"
He cringed. That was so not Lucy's character.
"So, how does that sound?" Mirajane asked.
"I guess I'll give it a shot," he replied hesitantly.
"Maybe you should ask around to get more ideas before deciding," she suggested kindly. "The others might know the ideal date Lucy would want to go on."
"Yeah, I'll do that. Thanks Mira!"
"You're welcome! And good luck with the date tomorrow!" she smiled, waving behind him.
"The dream date for Lu-chan?" Levy asked, looking up from her book and staring at the fire mage with wide eyes. "Is this about the date tomorrow?"
"Huh? How did you know?"
Levy smiled. "Lu-chan won't stop talking about it. She's so excited to know what you're planning. So, what are you gonna do tomorrow? Don't worry, I won't tell her," she winked.
"Uh, yeah, about that…" he scratched the back of his head and looked away, "I still haven't thought of anything good… That's why I'm here to ask you for some help, since you know Lucy really well and all…"
"Hmm, let's see… Oh! How about writing Lucy a love poem?"
He blinked. "What's that?"
"You don't know what a poem is?" Levy yelped in surprise. "Hasn't Lu-chan showed you any before? It's one of her recent obsessions."
"Uh, no, not really."
"Okay, let me give you an example. This one is a childhood rhyme: Roses are red, violets are blue. Sugar is sweet, and so are you."
Natsu frowned. "How does that even make sense?"
"That's a poem, Natsu. It's more of a rhyme than a poem, I guess, but that's the idea. Or maybe you could just write her a love letter. Girls really like reading love letters from their boyfriends, especially mushy, romantic ones."
"But I've never written one before…" he muttered.
"Don't worry! It's the thought that counts! How about I give you some examples so you can use them as a reference while writing one for her?"
"Hmm, sounds good! Thanks Levy!" he grinned.
"No worries! Just write whatever comes to your mind, and I'm sure she'll be touched by what ever you give her. I hope you and Lu-chan enjoy your date tomorrow!" she beamed.
"Thanks Levy, I hope so too."
"You want to borrow my armor for a date with Lucy?" Erza asked, surprised.
"Yeah, Mira said something about it being cool for a guy to ride on a white horse and sweep a girl off, like a, y'know, her knight in shining armor or something like that. Yeah. So I thought maybe I'd be able to borrow one of yours."
"I see. That's not a problem. I know just the kind of armor to lend you," she smiled. "Later you can come by Fairy Hills and I'll pass it to you. But, what are you planning to do with Lucy tomorrow exactly?"
"Well… I'm still trying to think of something good, so I'm just asking around to see if people can give me some ideas," he admitted.
"How about going on a picnic with her?" the redhead suggested. "Picnics are fun, just sitting down and spending time together with her. You should get the strawberry shortcake from the bakery downtown. Lucy likes it very much."
"True, she's been going on and on about that cake for a while. She'll probably like it if I treated her to it," he nodded.
"Then it's settled, I'll go help you order the cake for Lucy. In the meantime, you can continue thinking about what you want to do with her tomorrow."
"Sure thing. Thanks a lot, Erza."
"No problem. I wish you the best of luck tomorrow," she said with a gleam in her eyes, and then she was briskly walking out of the guild to her favorite bakery shop.
Hopefully she wouldn't eat up all the strawberry shortcake there before helping him to order one for Lucy.
"If it's a date, just get some booze. Booze is a must-have for dates," Cana slurred, taking another big gulp from the huge barrel in her hands.
Natsu thought about it for a moment before shaking his head. "But the last time Lucy got drunk, she started acting weird." He cringed and shivered as he recalled the time she started acting like a cat for no reason at all.
He definitely did not want a repeat of that.
"A little bit is fine, you don't have to get drunk," the brunette replied with a dismissive wave of her hand. "You can get some of the drinks with less alcohol from Mira back at the guild. It's cheaper too."
"But booze is…"
"It adds to the romantic atmosphere, trust me. And then when both of you get a little tipsy, you could maybe get things going a bit." She was giving him a very suggestive look and wriggling her eyebrows, but he didn't get it.
She sighed. "You don't get it?"
He cocked his head to one side in confusion.
"Both of you get slightly drunk, then you can start a make out session or something. Or if you're feeling naughty, then you can take it all the way," she chuckled.
Natsu's face flamed immediately. "N-No way! Lucy doesn't like that sort of thing."
"She just doesn't show it," Cana replied. "Women are like that. They don't show that they're hungry even when they are. They have to wait for the guy to take the first step. You never know, she might actually be secretly hoping for you to make out with her. You've kissed before, right?"
"We've kissed a few times, but never really at that sort of level."
"Well then, you could try it out for the first time."
Natsu wrinkled his nose at the thought of making out with Lucy. He had seen some couples do that before, and they only looked like they were trying to chew each other's faces off.
"I'll, uh, think about it. Thanks Cana."
"Nah, just remember to bring a condom in case."
The next morning, Natsu was at Lucy's doorstep. Taking a deep breath, he raised his arm, leaned over and rang the bell, trying not to fall off Jojo, the horse Mirajane's friend had lent him.
He heard a soft "Be right there!" from inside, and immediately his heart began a frenzied dance in his chest. "Everything's gonna work out," he told himself over and over like it was a new mantra. He wasn't usually so worked up for dates, but this was the first time he was planning one, and he really wanted everything to go smoothly and for Lucy to enjoy herself.
The door swung open to reveal the grinning blonde. "Hey there, Natsu..? W-What's with that outfit?" she asked, clearly trying to hide her laughter.
"What, you don't like it?"
"N-No," she giggled, having a hard time trying to compose herself, "I think it looks… very charming."
Natsu grinned. Well, at least she thought it looked nice. Maybe it would be worth getting cooked inside the heavy metal under the hot sun. But it was just so damn heavy; it had taken herculean effort for him to get up on Jojo. He wondered how Erza could fight in this armor. It was like fighting while carrying twenty Lucys.
Maybe that would explain her monstrous strength and power when it came to fighting.
Jojo neighed in satisfaction as Lucy nuzzled his snout. "You're a really handsome guy, what's your name?"
"He's called Jojo, and he's our ride for today," Natsu announced with a grin.
"Really? I've been thinking of going horseback riding for a while!" Lucy exclaimed with glee.
"Well, yeah, I thought you would. Come on, let's get you up here." Natsu held out a hand and helped her up onto the horse with relative ease. It seemed she had some experience with horseback riding. Figures she would, given her familial background.
"We're going on a picnic today?" she asked, peering curiously at the picnic basket Natsu had in his hand.
"Yeah, we are. Is that okay?"
"Mm, I'm fine with it," she smiled. "How about I hold that for you?" She took the picnic basket from him and she proceeded to grab on to his back by the armor, but hissed and retracted her stinging hands.
"It's so hot, Natsu. Are you sure you want to go on a picnic wearing this?"
"It's fine, you like knights in shining armor, right?"
"Yeah," she chuckled, "but I kind of want to hug you too, you know."
Natsu blushed. That was pretty direct, coming from her. "S-So you want me to take this off?"
"If you have clothes underneath, then yes. You look like you're suffering."
Thank goodness. Natsu got off the horse and in a swift motion he had the armor off him and was back in his usual outfit. "This feels way better," he sighed, stretching a little and running his hands through his hair.
"I thought so," the blonde grinned, as he got back up on Jojo. Then she put her arms around his waist, hugging him tightly. "That's better," she said, nuzzling her cheek against his back.
Natsu smiled. He liked it when Lucy hugged him. She was always so warm and gentle when she had her arms around him like that.
Jojo neighed as he tugged on the reins. "Hang on tight, we'll be there in no time!"
A lot of jerking, nearly falling off and screaming later, somehow, the two got into the meadow in one piece.
"Natsu, haven't you gone horseback riding before?" Lucy asked queasily as she fell onto the grass.
"Yeah, I have," the dragon slayer replied weakly as he stumbled face-first into the ground.
"This is the first time I actually got motion sickness before you did," she muttered, lying down on her back with a sigh. "Honestly, it was a miracle we were able to get here alive."
"Well, horses don't like me. I thought Jojo would be an exception, but turns out he only liked me because I gave him an apple the other time," Natsu groaned as he sat up, sending a glare in the horse's direction.
It gave a little huff before turning around so its posterior was facing him.
Lucy gave a little laugh at the wordless exchange. "Well, at least we're here now. And the weather looks pretty nice… I hope it doesn't rain though," she said with a little frown at the sight of a few black clouds gathered in the distance.
"It's so hot, it probably won't," Natsu said dismissively as he set the mat and began taking out the food from their picnic basket.
"You got the strawberry shortcake?" she gasped, licking her lips as she stared appreciatively at the large cake the fire mage had in his hands.
"Yeah, I thought you'd like it for a treat, since you're always treating Happy and I to food," he replied with a shrug as he set it down.
Natsu turned around, and was surprised when Lucy gave him a soft peck on the cheeks. "That's really sweet, Natsu. Thank you," she beamed.
"I-It's n-nothing…" he stammered, looking away in an attempt to hide his blush.
"What's that? Beer?" Lucy asked curiously as she leaned over to get a closer look at the few cans on the mat. "You drink?"
"Uh, I just… brought it in case you wanted to drink some. This one doesn't have a lot of alcohol, so we won't get crazy drunk or anything like that time in Crocus."
"Sounds like a plan," she muttered with a small grimace. Even though she couldn't remember anything, when Natsu described the way she had acted, she had been utterly mortified. "I think Cana recommended this brand of beer to me before," she smiled.
Just then, a low growl came from the dragon slayer's stomach. They exchanged sheepish glances and then Natsu said, "I'm kinda hungry. Let's eat?"
Lucy laughed. "Yeah, let's eat."
They dug into their food, both finishing up the cake in no time, before attacking the sandwiches and drinks. The date was going smoothly, much to the dragon slayer's delight, despite a couple of ups and downs before. Hopefully it would stay like that for the rest of the day.
Natsu then decided he had an uncanny talent for jinxing things, because a few minutes after he thought that, thunder boomed in the distance.
They looked up, dismayed to see that the sky was getting darker. In a hurry, they packed everything up to avoid the rain, but then before they knew it, rain was pouring down on them, so they decided to abandon the food which was already soaked and brought Jojo with them to find shelter.
Thankfully there was a large oak tree in the middle of the meadow, big enough to provide decent shelter while they waited the rain out.
"Sorry, I didn't think it'd rain," Natsu admitted apologetically.
"It's fine," Lucy smiled, waving it off. "It was pretty fun panicking with you just now." A cold gust of wind blew against them, and Natsu noticed a shiver pass through her body. Quickly, he took off his scarf and wrapped it around her neck, and then he produced a small flame in his hand to keep them warm.
"Feel better?" he asked.
"Yeah," she smiled. He noticed that her cheeks were slightly pink, and his chest swelled. He loved making her blush and seeing that rosy tint on her beautiful face. It gave her a radiant glow, like an angel. His angel.
"Anyway, while we're waiting, you can read this," Natsu said, pulling out a wet letter from his pocket. "It's not very good, but I tried…"
Lucy looked at him with amusement as she accepted the letter from him. "What is it?"
"Just read it. Not out loud, but just silently. You don't have to reply me or anything, okay?"
"So secretive," she chuckled, before carefully unsealing the envelope and opening up the letter inside.
Natsu folded his arms across his chest and leaned against the tree, hoping that he looked casual enough to hide his nervousness. It was his first time writing a love letter, and for a writer of her caliber, he probably sounded foolish.
Just then, he heard Lucy let out a small laugh before she clamped her hand over her mouth to keep from laughing out loud.
He groaned inwardly. He knew this love letter thing was a bad idea! "You know, if it's bad, you don't have to keep reading it…" he said, already reaching a hand out to snatch it away, but she shook her head with a wide grin and ducked it out of his read.
"You have no idea- haha- how much this- hahaha- means to me," she said between giggles. "It's really sweet," she reassured."
"I thought girls smile and blush when they read love letters, not laugh?" he asked with a raised brow.
"Y-Yeah, but this is- hahahahahahahaha!" Unable to hold it in anymore, the blonde clutched her stomach and started laughing hysterically.
"What's so funny about this?" Natsu asked, narrowing his eyes at her.
Lucy had a hard time composing herself, but when she did, she began reading the contents out loud.
"Roses are red, violets are blue.
Youre a celestial wizard and I'm a dragon slayer
And well kick ass on jobs together.
(hey, that kind of rhymed)
You r my sanshine, because u light a fire in me
That's kind of hard to describe.
It's the kind that makes me feel all warm and stuf and it makes me feel like eating you up.
Not literally! But you know what I mean.
Damn, this was supposed to be a poerm. Hang on I will finish this damn raim even if it kills me!
Okay, I have no idea where this is going anymore So, let's call it a truce.
Hope you enjoyed the date Luce."
"I thought it was pretty decent," Natsu said with a pout, averting his eyes in embarrassment while Lucy continued laughing till she shed a teardrop or two.
It took a good few minutes for her to compose herself, much to his annoyance. Honestly, he should never have taken up Levy on her idea, knowing how bad his writing was. And Lucy was an aspiring novelist, no less!
Natsu was so caught up in his thoughts that he didn't notice Lucy stepping towards him and throwing her arms around his neck to pull him close enough for a chaste kiss on the lips. "Thanks for today, Natsu. I really enjoyed everything. And this is the sweetest love letter I could ever receive," she beamed.
The male fought the blush that was rising on his cheeks. "You're not saying this just to make me feel better, are you?"
She shook her head and chuckled. "Of course not! But… maybe you could consider getting me to teach you how to write poems for real," she added in a playful tone.
"Sure, but I need some incentive to learn how to write and do that sort of lame stuff."
"Writing is not lame!" she exclaimed, slapping him on the shoulder. "You'll like it more as you do it! So, what kind of incentive do you need?"
Natsu simply leaned in and pressed his lips against hers, grabbing her by the waist to pull her body against him. Lucy quickly and eagerly returned it, entangling her fingers in his hair and returning the kiss passionately. He nibbled on the bottom of her lip, and was delighted when he heard a soft moan escape her lips—she loved it when he did that. His tongue then entered her mouth, exploring its sugary recesses and he could taste faintly the strawberry shortcake that she had just been eating earlier. Her lips were soft and sweet, and her tongue hot against his.
Natsu felt his chest swelling with love for the woman in front of him. He hugged her closely, marveling at how small her waist was. She was so petite, so small, so vulnerable, it was always in times of little revelations like these that awakened a primal need in him to protect her no matter what, so that he would always be able to hold her close to him like that, embrace and kiss her as much as he wanted to, and to see that beautiful, alluring smile of hers every single day of his life.
They broke apart in hot pants, their breaths fanning across each other's faces. He cupped her cheek in one hand and gazed fiercely into her eyes. "I love you, Luce."
"I love you too, Natsu." Lucy chuckled as he rested his forehead against hers, closing his eyes in satisfaction. "You're hardly ever this romantic," she commented teasingly. "Did you get help in organizing this date?"
"Well… I got some advice," he admitted. "Not my choice of a dream date, but if it makes you happy then it's all worth it."
"Even writing that cheesy letter?" she asked.
He opened his eyes and narrowed them at her. "Don't bring that up anymore, or I'll burn it and never write one for you again," he said flatly.
"Okay, okay. But, you know, I would have been happy with any date you planned for us. It didn't have to be the most romantic date in the world, because being with you is enough to make me happy," she smiled.
He smiled. "Yeah, me too."
And so the couple stayed in that warm embrace as they listened to the soft, romantic pitter-patter of dancing raindrops around them.
A week after that eventful date, the dragon slayer and celestial mage were back in the guild hanging out as usual, but then what started out as a normal conversation soon turned into a bickering session, which offered some morning entertainment to their fellow guild mates.
"I thought you said you didn't mind doing anything as long as we were doing it together?" Natsu asked.
"Yeah, but how is going on a job an actual date?" the celestial mage exclaimed in exasperation.
"We're doing it together; why shouldn't it be considered a date?" he replied nonchalantly.
"Because, it's work, Natsu. People don't work on dates," she sighed.
"We don't have to be the same as other people," he pointed out with a shrug.
"But that's so not romantic!" she pouted. "Can't we do something else?"
"I can't do anything else without starving for the next few days, Lucy. 'Sides, what's wrong with going on a date while on a job? Jobs are fun, anyway."
"But you always choose the crazy difficult ones," she complained. "We could do something nice, like maybe walk in the park or something! You choose! Just anything but a job!"
"But I need the money… …"
The two continued bickering and Happy stared at them, shaking his head as he munched on his fish.
"Women," he sighed quite dramatically. "They never change."
A/N: FINALLY. I've been dying to publish something and I found this 90% finished one-shot lying around in my computer and yay finally it's complete!
To the readers who know me, sorry for being MIA for like, 2, nearly 3 months hehe. School has been really crazy, and I didn't want to publish a story I knew I would take ages to finish planning, let alone update. (:
Anyways, hope you guys enjoyed reading this! Oh and, I know Natsu can ride horses, but I made him look really bad here just to add to the comedic effect (if this fan fiction was even funny at all). Well, I try.
Thanks for reading and have a great day!