Lucy sat at the bar swirling around the melting ice in her glass. She had been there for the last fifteen minutes or so mulling over the conversation she had just had with Gray. Somehow they had gotten onto the topic of how difficult dating was for the two of them and she couldn't shake something he had said.
"I guess you just have to know what you really want."
And she did, she knew exactly what she wanted. She wanted love. But it was more than that. She didn't mean the love given to you by your parents when they hug you after a hard day, or the love of your friends when they laugh with you at 3 am at a birthday party over a stupid joke to take your mind off of all the problems you're struggling with right then. And she didn't mean the love of a teenage boy that comes with a Valentine's Day box of chocolate or a night out. She didn't mean the cute kisses and hand holding that come from a 3-month boyfriend. Not that.
She meant the love that shines behind the eyes of the boy who holds only you in his heart. She meant the love that doesn't have to be all physical. She meant the love that comes from hitting each other with your feet as one of you watches TV and the other reads a book by the fireplace. She meant the love that comes with the opportunity to teach each other about your favourite things and show them why you love what you love in hopes that they understand, and even if they don't they still watch and listen and smile because it's you. She wanted a love that was quiet and yet at the same time was raging with sound; a love that can be silent just leaning on each other or filled with shrieks of laughter and fear as you chase each other around the house. She meant a love that makes your heart twist when you hear the person's name, and jump when you see their face. Love that traces circles into the other's hand as they sit or walk or skip or dance. Love that races to see who can eat the most ice cream the fastest. Love that walks together at night when you need to go out and clear your head. Love that cracks up when you slip and fall and then picks you up and carries you like you were the most precious thing on the planet, screw being a princess. A love who has common sense and balance to anchor you and yet can throw aside inhibitions to adventure into the unknown, not just because they know you love the thrill but because they do too. A love that is willing to try, over and over and over. A love that is forgiving and mature. A love that puts all things before itself. She ached for a love that can just coast through life but can also tear it apart and turn it upside down. A love that can pierce you from a mile away and instil the same feeling they would as if they had you pressed against a wall. A love who saw her for her, who didn't love her because they thought she was "perfect", but that loved her because of all of her imperfections. She wanted to truly invest in someone and have them invest in her. Trust and love and hope and dream and fall-and-stand-back-up and adore together. That's what she wanted. No question about it.
She was shaken out of her thoughts when the guild doors burst open, revealing a head of pink hair, a white scarf and an overwhelming personality.
"Hey anybody seen Lucy? We've got a job lined up and we need her!" Natsu called, scanning the room for his partner. He broke out in a grin as his eyes landed on her and Lucy waved back, getting up from her seat to go join him. She felt her heart beat faster as he took her hand, lacing their fingers together like he had done so many times before and pulling her from the guildhall.
"Let's go!"
Lucy felt a wave of memories wash over her from everything the two had been to together and had a sudden realisation as she looked at their hands intertwined.
Maybe that love wasn't far off.
