Lucy hadn't believed her eyes when she saw Natsu and Happy standing in the middle of the half melted arena. After a year of searching, they had just shown up right when she was about to lose hope. Now she felt as if it were ludicrous that she ever thought that there was no hope for Fairy Tail.
She loved taking them out to eat as if nothing had changed, just like the first time the had met. But she hated having to tell them the truth about Fairy tail. Natsu got so mad and part her thought that he had no right to be angry because he had just left with barely a note in his stead. But she had kept herself from fully expressing her full anger at him. She may have snapped at him but she knew that he would never fully understand.
Now they were at her apartment and now her thoughts and the bath water were running hot. She wanted to be happy they were there but she couldn't help feel the anger boil up. The boys stank of burnt clothes from the arena and offered to let them bathe first. Once the water was done she walked into hall closet grabbed a three towels and moved into the living room where the two boys were eating her food.
"Hey!"She snapped,acting her usual Lucy self, "I told you two to stop eating all my food! You just ate a whole restaurant!" She walked over and stood in front of them with a hand one hip as she held out their towels. "Now hurry up you two before the water gets cold!"
"Oh thanks Luce, you're the best" Natsu popped up with a grin, grabbing the towel from her hand. He walked off toward the bathroom.
"You know Lucy," Happy flew into the air, "Natsu could just warm the water himself." Happy grabbed at the second towel but Lucy wouldn't let him have it. "Hey what's the.."
'Don't you give him any ideas or I'll throw you in the washer machine," Lucy teased in the way her and Happy always did with one another. She released the towel and happy flew back a bit, leaving the last towel for herself.
"Wow. Lucy," he said once he was out of her reach, "you're even uglier when you make threats." Then before she could grab him he disappeared into the bathroom. Lucy breathed a sigh of relief and threw herself on the couch that the boys had refused to sit on. She would've cleaned up their mess but she wanted to relish in the fact that it was there at all. She had spent so many mornings expecting to walk in on them crashing on her couch only to be disappointed by the stale emptiness of the room.
"Hey Lucy you wanna join us, the water's great," She heard Natsu tease from the bathroom. Suddenly her face flushed red at the thought of bathing with Natsu.
"In your dreams!" She shouted back in a harsh tone hoping her red face wouldn't be evident in her voice.
After a few minutes, happy came flying out of the bathroom with his towel wrapped around his head. "Oh so you're finished? Guess it my turn then." Lucy said sitting up from the couch. She got up and walked into the hall towards the bathroom door. Her mind, still swimming in her emotions about seeing them again, was too busy to notice that as she reached for the bathroom door, someone else was already opening it. Only then when she crashed face first into Natsu bare chest did she realize that maybe he had still been in the bath.
She looked up to see Natsu standing inches away with only towel wrapped around his waist. They had seen each other naked on multiple occasions, heck Natsu was basically shirtless all the time anyway, so neither one of them backed up out of surprise or embarrassment. In fact neither one of them moved at all. Lucy found that she wasn't exactly looking at Natsu's face but indirectly at some space in the middle of his chest in the way you stare off at something but don't actually look at it.
"Oh sorry Lucy, I didn't" Natsu began but then stopped. He stopped because Lucy had suddenly placed her hand flat on his chest. She knew she had done it and that it made no sense, but she had to be sure that he was really home this time and it wasn't just another cruel dream.
"Lucy what's the matter," He asked, because he always knew when she was upset. She just sat there holding her towel close to her with one hand and with her other palm pressed flat against his chest. She could feel his heart beating and his chest rising and falling with each breath. What would've been an outrageous fever for anyone else, was the natural heat of Natsu's dragon fire infused skin. She moved closer to him by and inch, hoping to feel his warmth feel the air around her as it so often did when he had carried her in the past.
"You were gone for a year," She finally spoke without removing her hand. She felt him tense up beneath her touch but he didn't pull away. "You were gone a whole year without much more than a back soon note. You left and you thought that would be enough." her voice was low and venomous as she spoke. "You left us, you left," her voice catching, "left me. All. Alone." She hadn't realized it but she was now pushing into him, merely a inch away. "You said we were a team, that we were better together." Her hand that had been flat against was now a fist. "You said we were family," her voice finally breaks as a soft sob comes out with the words. At these words, with their stifled sob, Natsu, who had been standing still with his arms at his side, broke as well. His arms flew up, wrapping around her gently. Closing the distance between them, he pulled her towards him.
"Family doesn't just leave Natsu."Lucy continued, the tears starting to fall. "You could've asked me what i wanted. You could've asked me to go with you. I wanted to go with you. I wanted to be with you." Now the tears were coming and they weren't stopping. "We could've trained together. We could've found out about Fairy Tail together. We could've been together." She gasped like a sobbing child, "I missed you so much. I waited. Everyday. For you to come back. For us to be a family again."
She couldn't see it but she knew Natsu was crying too. He pulled her tighter as her words of anger grew smaller and her sobs grew large. Only after what seemed like hours, did they finally pull apart just enough for Natsu to rest his forehead on hers. They looked into one another's eyes and realized what they meant to one another. Natsu knew he was wrong and that Lucy was right to be angry.
"Lucy," Natsu whispered as his face moved closer to hers.
"Yeah, Natsu," Lucy said, the gravity of his eyes pulling her forward.
"I promise I will never leave you again. We will always be together." Lucy could feel the heat of his words on her lips as she moved to meet them. Their lips met with an indescribable softness. Lucy felt her hands press firmly against Natsu's chest as he kissed her. His lips, like fire, were there one moment and gone the next, desperate for air they parted from hers.
"So are you two gonna make out or what?" Said Happy's voice from behind. He must've not seen the kiss but the air was electric. Both Natsu and Lucy were suddenly very aware of the fact that Natsu was one towel drop away from being nude. Their faces flushed red as the hurriedly jumped apart from one another and scrambled past each other with mumbled excuses. Happy, holding a bag of chips, shrugged with disinterest and turned back towards the living room as lucy closed the door. Lucy leaned against the door and slid to the tile floor as her face heated. On the other side, Natsu had also slid to the floor with his back against the wall, face a flamed. But then, they both smiled.