A/N

Happy Halloween everyone! I hope you like it :)

Disclaimer: I don't own Fairy Tail

His breath hitched as his best friend, guild mate and nakama walked in. It's Halloween and Fairy Tail is having a costume party before going to a haunted house to finish the night off. The guild is decorated with oranges, blacks, browns, yellows and reds. Enchanted Jack-o-Lanterns are scattered around and fall leaves are hung from the ceiling. Balloons float around as well. There's punch as well as the usual drinks, cake for Erza and other candies. Lucy wore revealing clothing all the time like most women and her costume was no different. She was a witch, although unlike the witches of fairy tales, she's beautiful. Lucy wore a strapless and very low cut black gown that flowed down to her mid-thigh. The edge appeared worn despite Natsu knowing that she'd bought it that way just days ago. Black sleeves that started at her elbows, ended at her wrists in the same worn pattern as her dress. She'd done her make-up accordingly to match her outfit. Dark eyeliner and lipstick contrasted with her still bright brown eyes and blond hair. Black, knee-high boots and a pointy black and midnight blue hat finished off her look. She glanced around the room searching for her friends. Cana was drinking away, Elfman was spouting off about being a man and Macao and Wakaba were arguing about something. Levy and Gajeel, Juvia and Gray and Mira and Lisanna were dancing to the music. The Take Over siblings hadn't bought costumes; they just changed into different forms. Levy was a bunny, Gajeel a grim-reaper, Juvia an ice princess and Gray some sort of monster. He had been wearing a larger costume, but had already stripped and now just looked like Gray with fangs and horns. Macao, Wakaba and Cana hadn't bothered to get dressed up, not having enough money anyway since they never went on jobs.

Natsu walked up to Lucy, "May I have this dance, Miss?" He waited as she took in his appearance. Natsu decided to ask her what she thought of him and so he didn't look much like himself. His costume was that of a pirate. He wore an eye-patch over one dark eye and his pink hair was tucked up into his hat. He'd worn his usual pants, but had found some boots and one of those puffy sleeved white shirts. Although at first he'd had it closed, he'd gotten too hot and his muscular chest and abdomen showed. He sensed her hesitation, "Don't worry. I don't bite." Natsu grinned showing his pointed canines.

She shrugged, "Ok. What's your name?" Lucy took his hand as Natsu led her away from the door.

Natsu hadn't really been expecting her to ask that, "Um, The Pirate. Yeah, just call me that."

Lucy giggled, "Well, I know you're part of the guild so I have no need to worry who you are for tonight." Master Makarov had enchanted the guild for tonight so no non-guild members could enter. The song changed to a slower, creepy song. The two mages didn't know how to dance to it so they just went with slow dance style; holding hands with one hand and Lucy's hand on his shoulder with Natsu's hand on her waist. "Your voice sounds familiar."

"You've probably seen me around," Natsu answered. "Why don't you have a partner tonight; well before I asked you to dance that is?"

"I guess Natsu would've been my partner when he wasn't fighting with Gray or Gajeel, but he took a last second job for some reason. It's not like him to miss out on a party," she replied and spaced off.

"I've noticed you spend a lot of time with that pink haired guy, Natsu you said?" Lucy nodded. "Do you have any feelings for him?" Natsu asked.

"What's it to you?" Lucy retorted, on the defensive.

"Oh, I've just heard rumors and am wondering if they're true. I wouldn't tell anyone if you told me though, I'm not bad at keeping secrets," Natsu said and thought, Especially under pressure like right now.

Lucy sighed, "Well, yeah, he's my team-mate and best friend. I guess he's pretty attractive also. He's also adorable, protective and fiercely loyal." Natsu smirked.

"Would you go out with him if he asked you?" Natsu pressed. He felt kinda bad having Lucy answer these questions, but he had to know so he wouldn't make a huge fool of himself.

"Mmmm…yes. Unfortunately, it's not like he'd ask me out; he's too naïve and oblivious. Why am I telling you this though? I don't even know who you are!" Natsu grumps in his head that she called him naïve and oblivious. He would too ask her out.

"You wanna be partners in the haunted house? I heard that all people have to be paired up so they don't get lost or something."

"Ok, Pirate."

The two continued to dance until Master Makarov stood up on the bar counter and shouted, "Alrighty, brats, the haunted house is all set up! All guild members are required to participate! The first pair through gets a reward while the last pair gets a punishment! Ha ha ha ha ha! I'll lead you there and then you may all start." He jumped down and walked out of the guild. The guild members followed him to an isolated part of Magnolia. A five story house stood there. It was run-down, the purple paint peeled and the windows were all broken. "Ok, there are magical hazards in there so beware. At the top is a glowing blue portal which when you step in you'll be transported out, safe and sound. After the winner has gone through it, it will turn green until only one pair is left. Upon finding the portal, the last team will see that it's red. You do not want to see a red portal. Once you enter the house, you will not be able to leave until you reach the portal. Get ready, set, go!" Makarov shouted and the pairs charged in. Natsu was with Lucy, Gray with Juvia, Evergreen with Elfman, Lisanna with Mira, Fried with Bickslow, Gajeel with Levy, Wendy with Carla, Cana with Gildarts and Happy with Romeo.

Lucy and Natsu ran headlong into the house. "We ain't gonna lose, Luce!" He pulled her into a room with a glass sphere on a pedestal in the middle.

She pulled her hand away, "Luce? No one calls me that…except…" Natsu was already to the sphere and he touched it. It crackled with electricity and loosely formed human shapes rose out of the floorboards. "Ahhhh!" she screamed as one moved toward her. Having forgotten his disguise in the face of possible danger for Lucy, Natsu pounded his fists together lighting them with flames. He ran around the room turning all the faceless beings to smoke. They reformed though and slowly shuffled closer to him and Lucy.

"What do we do? I can't punch 'em!" Natsu shouted to Lucy.

"Turn off the orb!" Natsu rushed forward and tried to find a switch or something. Not knowing what else to do, he punched it, shattering the glass. One by one, the shadow people disappeared; one had gotten close enough to Lucy that one of its smoky fingers touched her shoulder before crumbling and turning into a puff of smoke.

"That was scary!" Lucy shrieked holding her shoulder where a cold feeling lingered. They found their way back to the front door and Lucy tried to open it. "No use." Natsu blew fire with the Roar of the Fire Dragon, but runes appeared stating the rules again in bold. Lucy sighed, "I guess the only way to get outta here is to find that portal."

"Yup," Natsu agreed. They wandered around the first floor for a while longer with Natsu lit up to provide light before finding some stairs. They went up and found themselves in a hallway covered with mirrors, and weapons. Natsu's flames danced in the reflections. The two walked warily; afraid their presence would set something off. A translucent face floated from mirror to mirror watching them. A high-pitched cackle sounded, echoing down the hall. The mages stopped.

"You heard that right?" Lucy asked, voice quivering. Natsu nodded and gulped. He may not be afraid of much, but he did not like ghosts…at all. The cackle came again and they stood back to back peering into the shadows not lit by Natsu.

"Boo!" The face appeared in the mirror in front of Lucy. It had receded red eyes almost swallowed by the surrounding flesh and a lipless mouth showing an ever present grin.

"AHHHHHHHHHHHHH!" Lucy screamed shooting off down the hall. Natsu hurriedly trailed her. "Ahh! Ahh! Ahhh!" Accompanying their screams were the face's laughter and the clank of weapons shooting or swinging at Lucy. Finally they made it out of the hallway only to be met with another horror. The mages were panting from their sprint and looked up to see a spider with a body the size of a patio table descending from above; Lucy's eyes widened in terror. They were about to run again when the spider shot sticky silk, trapping them. It brought them up to its web on the fourth floor. Wrapping them up to their necks in its silk, it set its sixteen beady eyes on Lucy. It crawled toward her, bearing its two-foot-long fangs, prepared to drink her blood. Natsu flared, setting alight his bonds and jumped onto the spider's back, still flaming. It struggled, but Natsu hung on, burning its hair and leaving a strong scent in the air. The spider dead, he climbed up the web and burnt Lucy's bonds. She sat there, eyes wide and quivering. "I thought I was gonna die, thank you, Natsu."

He sat down on the strong web next to her and put his arm around her, "You knew it was me, Luce?"

"You sounded similar to someone I know and then you had the same grin. When we got here you called me Luce and burst into flame, there's only one person I know who can do that," she responded slightly calmer. "Let's get outta here." She and Natsu stood up and walked from the web into a cement room. The walls were cracked and a lone faucet dripped water in the corner. An arch led the way to the next area, but runes blocked the way.

Natsu stopped on the ground, "Fried's already been here!?"

Makarov's voice spoke in the house, "No. He helped set traps. Another trap is that the rooms on the floors are constantly shifting and changing so don't worry, Fried is having as much trouble as the rest of you are." Suddenly a square of runes shot up around Natsu. His eyes widened and he screamed although it didn't appear that he'd taken physical damage. He could hear Lucy screaming, he heard her sobs. Images of her in pain, being tortured, crying and being killed appeared before him. This wasn't so much a scare as wholly and truly terrifying. He sat down on the floor and covered his ears trying to block out the sights and sounds.

He heard a faint call, "Natsu. Natsu, what's wrong?" He looked up and around as Lucy pushed her way into the runes which were accessible from the outside. Her voice became louder and clearer as the dreadful illusions eased. She wrapped her arms around his shaking shoulders. "Are you ok, Natsu? One moment you were fine and then runes appeared and you looked really terrified."

"I-I'm ok, now that you're safe. We really need to get out of here," he replies and stands up, brushing off his pants. Lucy nodded, took his hand and they went through the arch that was now unblocked.

As they went up flights of creaky wooden stairs, Lucy asked, "What did they do to you?"

"I heard you in pain, Luce. They made me listen to your screams and see terrible images."

She squeezed his hand, "I'm so sorry, Natsu." They fell into a silence that didn't last long. A moaning sound permeated the air. White-ish translucent bodies started flying around them. One flew right up to Natsu's face and flew through him. He shivered violently. Another one flew through Lucy. They heard footsteps behind them; they turned and saw another Lucy and Natsu. These ones had pale white skin, black claws, glowing red eyes and dark auras though. "Run!" Lucy shouted. Together, the mages scrambled up the steps only to find themselves in a cavern. Natsu didn't understand how there could be this in a house. There was only a three-foot ledge before the drop off. Lucy checked behind them and saw the other them close, far too close for comfort. That was when she spotted the cart and the track. She dragged Natsu to it and got in.

"That's transportation, Luce!" He yelled, resisting.

"But it's the only way outta here and we have to get away from them!" Lucy countered, yanking on his arm.

"Let's fight them!" He lit his fists on fire.

"We can't; they're ghosts!"

"Ghosts?" Natsu squeaked. He finally relented and let Lucy get him into the cart. Immediately, the cart took off along the track. Natsu puked over the side the whole way through the dark ride, Lucy rubbing his back. At then end, they were dumped out a few feet from a glowing blue circle on the floor. Lucy smiled and pulled Natsu to it. They stepped in and in a flash of blue light were in the guild once more. Back in the house, the circle turned green. The next three pairs were Gajeel and Levy, Gray and Juvia and Evergreen and Elfman. The last pair was Jet and Droy; they were more fearful when they saw the red circle then they had been the entire six hours they were in the haunted house.

"Good job, Lucy and Natsu. Here's your prize, a fully paid, weeklong trip to a private resort," Makarov said handing them tickets. The two went back to Lucy's house to crash. Well, Lucy did, Natsu just followed. Their costumes were covered in cobwebs and dust. Lucy's hair was messy and Natsu had lost his hat somewhere along the line revealing his spiky, pink hair. He tore off his eye patch and Lucy smiled. She bathed quickly, washing off all the grime and then had Natsu do the same after she was done and out. She was wearing surprising modest pajamas while Natsu had just put his regular pants back on.

Natsu moved close to her and put his hands on her waist, "Luce, will you go out with me?" he asked, voice no longer childish or fearful.

Lucy wrapped her hands around his neck and played with the hair at the nape, "Mmmm…yes." He leaned forward and kissed her, loving the softness of her lips. When he pulled away, Lucy closed the gap again, kissing him. He moaned and smiled against her lips. He couldn't wait for that week long getaway.

Thanks for reading! I hope you enjoyed it. This is my first one-shot, but I feel like it was ok. :) Please R&R!

~Maggie