Oh my goodness. I thought I'd never do it. But here I am, actually having an excuse for writing a oneshot. Today must be my lucky day. Just thought I'd whip something up real quick since I actually had an idea of what I was writing this time.
So, yada yada yada, I'm not gonna go into how this is my first fic and stuff. I just ask that you hopefully enjoy it, because who doesn't love a little NaLu fluff?
Today is such a boring day, Natsu thought as he sulked along the streets of Magnolia. The sun was too bright, the birds were too loud, and the air was too chilly. His companion, Happy, floated lazily above him, white wings stretched out as the cat enjoyed the morning breeze. At least Happy was happy.
Natsu kicked at the loose stones under his feet as they made their way along the canal, wishing for something to do. The guild seemed dead, few people had been there earlier. Not even his arch-nemesis Gray had shown up. Nah, that stripper was probably trying to shake off that creepy stalker girl, Julia. Was it Julia? Jukia? Juria? He couldn't remember her name. Something that started with a J. There had also been few jobs posted. Perhaps everyone had gone out on a job or something. None of the jobs had grabbed his attention, so here he was now, letting his feet guide him towards his next adventure.
Voicing his predicament, Happy asked, "So where are we going, Natsu?"
The pink-haired boy shrugged in response and leaned back his head, shutting his eyes from the glare of the sun.
"I hope there's fish," his friend murmured.
Natsu's stomach growled at the comment. It had been far too long since his last meal at that little diner an hour ago. It had also costed him his entire wallet… Which meant there was only one option left.
"I know! Let's go annoy Lucy."
"Aye, sir!"
Today is a special day, Lucy thought as she gazed at her calendar. Today was February 29th, Leap Day. A day that only existed every four years. She wanted to do something special for the guild to mark the occasion, as it was her first official Leap Day as a member of Fairy Tail. The guild's mark on the back of her hand seemed to shine as she thought of ideas. What could one do? Something that involved creativity. She sat down at her desk, staring blankly at the calendar where she had written Leap Day in with a fancy gold gel pen, even though the calendar already stated the occasion in small bolded letters under the date.
She snapped her fingers. There was nothing a nice hot bath couldn't solve, especially if the problem involved coming up with ideas. She gingerly hopped over to her closet and began picking through her outfits, finally deciding upon a sky-blue tank top with a cute, light-colored green skirt, to symbolize the special day.
She threw the outfit onto her bed and headed into the bathroom. Only until the tub was filled with her preferred water temperature did she allow herself to slowly sink into it. She let out a sigh of content. She never understood why men never indulged on such a relaxing luxury or why most of them were repulsed by the mere idea of it.
She closed her eyes, reveling in the sensation of the warm water on her body. She smiled and thought, They don't know what they're missing.
Crash!
Lucy jumped, water spilling over the side of the tub from her sudden movement. What could that have been? What if it was a burglar?! She rose unsteadily to her feet, grabbing a towel from the rack and wrapping it around her dripping wet body. She reached for the closest thing, her hair dryer, to use as a weapon as she cautiously peeked out the door.
"Hiya Lucy!"
Startled, the girl chucked the hair dryer at the source of the voice. The intruder yelped and stumbled back, tripping over his own feet as he fell to the ground on his rump.
Now having a better view of her uninvited guest, she exclaimed, "Natsu?!"
He was holding his hand against his cheek from where the dryer had smacked him across the face, giving her an incredulous look. "What was that for?" he whined.
Her shock gave way to anger. "What was it for?! You broke into my house, you moron!"
He was about to retort something when Happy flew in, spotting Lucy. "Oh! You found Lucy!" he exclaimed happily.
Natsu stood, rubbing at his now-bruised cheek. "Yeah, unfortunately," he muttered.
Lucy could almost feel the smoke rising from her anger. "Stop acting like a baby about it and get out!" She pointed towards her bedroom window, face twisted into an angry scowl.
Natsu suddenly pouted at her, looking hurt. "But Lucyyy! We're so hungryyy!" he moaned, falling back onto her bed and pretending like he was sick from hunger.
Happy joined his partner, wailing, "I'm starvinnnng! I want fishhhh!"
"Why don't you ever think about anything other than food?!" she snapped.
A lightbulb went off in her head.
"Natsu! You're a genius!"
The boy popped open an eye from where he was stretched out on her bed. "I am?" His face suddenly went white, and he nearly tumbled off his perch.
She was so caught up in the moment that she didn't realize it until Happy suddenly giggled. "Feeling a nice breeze, Lucy?"
"What?" She looked down. Her towel was wadded up around her feet, giving the two males a full view of her naked body. She nearly screamed her head off. "P-perverts! Stop looking!"
Natsu got a hair dryer to the face again, while Happy was thrown out the window.
"Men!" she screamed, quickly pulling on the outfit she had picked out before Natsu could come to his senses. "They're all idiots! All of them! Gah! Why can't you knock like a normal person?!" she ranted to herself while Natsu slowly picked himself up from where he had fallen on his rump again.
Looking at his bruised cheek and eye, she actually kinda felt bad for chucking that hair dryer at him, if only for a moment. But instead of apologizing, she simply scowled at him and proceeded to the kitchen, finally having an idea of what she could do.
As soon as she entered, however, she was met with an ugly sight. Pots and pans were laying in a pile on the floor, while her kitchen knife block set was tipped, and all of the razor-sharp knives were strewn across the countertop. A vase that had previously held a chrysanthemum lay shattered across the floor, the water spread out in a puddle and the flower itself bent and dying not far from it. Above the counter, the window was wide open, ruffling her hair from a breeze.
"Natsu…" she growled, "You came in through the kitchen window?!"
He was standing behind her, a sheepish look on his face.
She rounded on him. "You idiot! Now you have to clean all this up!"
The boy simply cocked his head at her, losing his sheepish look and replacing it with a sly one. "That's funny, last time I checked you called me a genius."
She groaned. "I don't have time for you! I'm baking for the guild in celebration of Leap Day!" To prove her point, she began rummaging through the cabinets to find a pan.
Natsu came up behind her. "Leap what?" He suddenly brightened. "I know! I'll make it up to you and help you bake!"
Looking at him, the most powerful fire mage Fairy Tail had to offer, an idiot, a food addict, and the most destructive wizard in the history of the world aside from Zeref, she wasn't sure she liked that plan. But as she glanced at her clock, which read 11:46 am, it seemed like time (and Natsu's hopeful puppy-dog look) said otherwise.
"...Fine." The mage had a really bad feeling about this. Maybe it would be faster if she worked alone…
The boy stopped her thoughts by smiling widely, showing off his unnaturally pointy canines. "Yeah! I'm all fired up!" He fist-pumped the air in his excitement. "So what do I do first?"
She smiled coyly. "You start by cleaning up this mess."
…
"You tricked me!"
Lucy had sent Natsu and Happy to the store to fetch some of the ingredients that she lacked as she got together everything that they needed. She looked over the recipe one more time. Mixing bowl: Check. Baking pan: 9x12x2 inch baking pan should be enough, right? I'll have to make two just in case. Spatula: Check. Whisk: Check. Measuring cups: Check. Now all she had to do was wait for Natsu to come back with the ingredients.
This was going to be the best cake ever. Of course, it probably wouldn't be better than Mira's cooking. Maybe she should have asked Natsu to fetch her too…
No, I've gotta have faith in Natsu. Even if he's an idiot.
She wanted to surprise Mira. Who knows, maybe her cake would be so good that even Mira didn't have any criticism. But Natsu still worried her. Knowing his nature, it would be a miracle if the cake actually turned out edible. She sighed. She'd just have to put up with him.
Just then, a loud ping resonated throughout the little house. It was coming from the bedroom. The noise sounded again, turning her attention towards the window. She looked outside. Natsu was in the process of throwing a pebble up at it, hence the ping noise. Two shopping bags sat by his feet. He waved when he noticed her and smiled. She opened the window and stuck her head out, scowling at him. "See that thing in front of you? It's called a door. Why don't you try using it!" She slammed the window shut and stalked off to the kitchen again, hearing his footsteps as they echoed out in the hallway. "The door's open," she called before he could embarrass himself further.
There was a shuffle as Natsu lugged the bags inside and joined her in the kitchen. "Man, I can't believe you made me use the door. What a weirdo."
It took all her willpower to ignore his comment as he dropped the ingredients on the counter. She couldn't help but feel a little nervous with him hovering over her shoulder as she removed the ingredients from the bags. Comparing her recipe with the items he had bought, she was surprised to find that he hadn't missed any. Maybe Happy was there to keep him in line. Speaking of which, where was the little furball?
She voiced this thought to Natsu, who answered, "Oh, I bought him a can of tuna. Said he was gonna go hang out with Carla or somethin'."
Her face went red. "You bought a can of tuna, with my money, without my permission?!"
"Sounds about right, yeah. Why?"
She smiled in an attempt to hold back her anger. They hadn't even started baking yet and they were on the verge of disaster. "Oh, never mind…" she said slowly, before getting a hold of herself. "The oven's ready, so now all we need to do is make the batter."
"Sounds simple enough," Natsu commented. He grabbed the recipe from her fingers. "So we just gotta put a bunch of stuff in a bowl, mix it, and put it in the oven? I was worried for nothin'."
"We haven't started yet," she reminded him warily. She separated the dry ingredients from the liquids and handed Natsu the measuring cups. "I have to grease the pan so the cake doesn't stick. Just follow the recipe and you'll be fine." I hope.
He accepted the measuring cups hesitantly, looking at them like they were foreign objects.
"On second thought… You grease the pan," she decided, before something bad happened.
The blonde set to work, starting with all the dry ingredients. She added them in order of amount, starting with the flour, then continuing with sugar and baking powder. She turned to see if her companion had finished his task.
Natsu was staring blankly at the pan, the bottle of oil spray in his hand. She mentally facepalmed. How could she trust that he'd ever baked before? "Here," she said, closing her hand over the one that held the spray. She shook his arm up and down, then pressed the button at the top and began to cover the inside of the pan with the stuff.
xxxxxxxxxxxxx
Natsu glanced down at her small hand that was closed over his, his heart beginning to beat faster. Normally she would've ripped the bottle right out of his hand, right? He swallowed thickly. He felt really weird and sweaty all of the sudden.
"Natsu?" Lucy's voice interrupted his thoughts. He blinked, focusing on her face. She looked kinda cute with her nose all scrunched up in worry like that.
What the hell was he thinking?
He blinked again. "What?"
"I asked if you wanted to mix the batter." She held out the bowl of ingredients to him.
"Oh, uh, yeah." He accepted the bowl and spoon she held out to him and vigorously began to stir the batter. Why was he having all these weird thoughts all of a sudden? His forehead and neck felt really sweaty, and his hands were covered in his perspiration. He stirred harder, trying to forget about the feelings. He swallowed, feeling her presence next to him, watching him. His mind was kind of fuzzy at the moment, like everything was going on overdrive.
"Natsu?"
He kept stirring, faster and faster, his arms never tiring. The batter was thick, but he could handle it. Her voice kept breaking into his thoughts, almost like he couldn't stop thinking about her...
"Natsu!"
He nearly dropped the bowl when he realized she actually was calling his name. Looking down, he realized he was covered in the stuff. The thick white batter was dripping down his chest, and he had splotches of it all over himself.
Lucy quickly took the bowl and spoon from him and set them on the counter. "You overdid it again." But instead of looking angry like she usually did, she had a soft smile on her face that matched her tone. She ripped off a paper towel from the roll she kept on her counter and ran it under warm water from the sink before wiping off the bits of batter peppering his chest. He simply stared at her, wide-eyed. She was acting weird, too. It wasn't just him, right? Were they coming down with some kind of virus?
Suddenly she was eyeing his face. He swallowed again, quite painfully this time. She reached up. Natsu watched as her finger moved closer to his face before swiping the side of his cheek, the one she had bruised earlier. The blonde pulled back, revealing a splotch of batter that had just been stuck to his face. Then, to his surprise, she actually popped the finger into her mouth to finish off the excess batter.
He felt as if his eyes were about to pop out of his head. Lucy did not just do that. It was all a hallucination. Of course that's what it was. No more pulling all-nighters. Looks like he really needed the sleep, to dream stuff like that up.
"H-hey! Are you listening to me?" Lucy was snapping her fingers in front of his face.
He scratched his head. "No, I guess not." She stared at him. He stared back.
The girl cleared her throat. "I put the cake in the oven. Do you think it'll be enough? Or should we make another one?"
He shrugged. "You're the expert I guess." They were both silent for a while. There was something seriously strange going on.
She looked over to the oven. "Nah, I don't feel like going through all that again. I have a better idea."
Her tone was devilish, prompting him to smirk back at her, forgetting about all earlier awkwardness.
She giggled before pulling out a container of chocolate frosting. "Let's test taste the frosting!" She dug around in a drawer and pulled out two spoons, handing one to him while uncapping the container.
They both took a big glob of the stuff and shoved it into their mouths simultaneously.
Through the frosting in her mouth, Lucy said, "You know, maybe we should have gotten strawberry frosting for Erza. You know how much she loves strawberries…"
Natsu swallowed his spoonful. "Nah."
She looked up at him. "No?"
He laughed awkwardly. "That cake ain't gonna make it out of the house," he said, smiling.
Lucy lightly punched his arm. "It's for the guild, stupid!"
"Mmm… Not anymore." He dipped his spoon back into the frosting, getting a shocked reaction from his companion.
Lucy gasped. "T-that's double-dipping!" she shrieked.
He smirked as he popped the spoon back into his mouth. "I sure hope our friends don't care that the cake's not going to have frosting," he said through the mouthful.
"W-well there's no point now, you can't eat a cake without frosting!" Lucy whined. Then she saw his look. "You meant for that to happen, you jerk!" She released a flurry of rather weak punches on his arm. "If you wanted a cake you could have just said so and I would've made one for you!"
His cheerful expression fell and was replaced with a more serious look. "Really?"
Lucy looked down, red tinting her cheeks. "Well, yeah…"
Natsu gave her a sideways glance. "Well, this one's gonna haveta do."
"Well now that you ruined it," Lucy snapped.
He shook his head. "Nah, I meant that it's burning."
Lucy gave him a disbelieving look. "What?!" She sniffed the air. Sure enough, it smelled as though something was burning. "OH MY GOSH!" she squealed, running over to the oven. Smoke was trailing out, burning her eyes and nostrils. She reached for the pan, but Natsu stopped her quickly.
"You'll burn yourself like that!" He smacked her hand away before reaching into the oven, his resistance to heat and fire keeping him from burning his flesh.
The cake looked terrible. It was black in most places from too much fire, and ash dotted the parts that weren't burned.
Lucy's hopes and dreams came crashing to a halt. "My cake…" She buried her face in her hands. "I just wanted to do something for the guild! How hard could it possibly be to make one cake?!"
"Well, I think it's delicious."
She pouted, tears stinging her eyes. "I don't need your pity."
"It's even better than Mira's, and I mean it."
The blonde glanced up. He had taken his spoon and shoved it into the cake, popping off a bit to stuff in his mouth.
He's a fire dragon…
Of course he would like things that were burnt!
"It's still a little raw in the middle," he said, his voice muffled from his stuffed mouth.
As she opened her mouth to ask for him to repeat that, he shoved a spoonful of the cake into her mouth, from his own spoon.
He was actually right. The middle tasted at least remotely like cake. Which means she didn't completely fail, right?
He sat down on the kitchen floor next to her, still holding the pan of burning cake. "Lucy, I don't think I can eat all of this on my own. Do me the honor of helping me eat it?"
She blushed and looked up at him. "With frosting, right?"
"Well duh, weirdo. Everyone knows you can't eat a cake without frosting."
"I wonder where Natsu and Lucy are," Mira said. "I thought Lucy would be all over Leap Day, and I even made a cake to celebrate."
A beautiful, vanilla cake with blue and green frosting sat waiting on the table. The words Happy Leap Day! were decorated across the front in strawberry frosting, courtesy of Erza.
"Eh, who cares," Gray said, taking another piece. "That means more for us." Juvia was sitting next to Gray, hopeful eyes trained on him as she prayed for him to share a bite with her.
"This cake is wonderful, Mira," Erza commented. Mira smiled happily. "Though doesn't anyone find it odd that both Natsu and Lucy are missing? You'd think Natsu would've smelled the cake from a mile away and come running."
Happy, who was trying to bribe Carla into taking a bite of his piece of cake, topped with tuna, turned from his task momentarily and said, "They looooove each other!"
Nearby, Juvia, getting the wrong idea, fainted. Mira simply giggled, while Gray and Erza continued to munch on their own pieces of cake, officially leaving the conversation.
That's probably as good as Natsu's confession is going to get.
I hope you all enjoyed, you lovely people who took the time to read this! Thank you so much!