Disclaimer: I don't own Fairy tail it belongs to Hiro Mashima.
Feels like family
"Luuuccyy!"
"Natsu? Its 3am! What are you doing here?" complained a disgruntled Lucy as she crawled out from underneath the bed sheets.
"It's happy! He was fine yesterday but this morning he just started acting all sick! Lucy, please help happy!" Natsu exclaimed with a mixture of panic and fear on his face. Lucy looked down and noticed the bundle of blue fur in Natsu's arms. She could see that he was sweating a lot and his breathing was shallow. Even on his blue fur she could see that his face was flushed. All traces of sleep were suddenly gone from Lucy as she had a serious expression on her face.
"Natsu, lay happy down on my bed. I'm going to get a cold towel." Lucy said calmly but you could see on her face that she was worried for happy but she knew she needed to keep Natsu calm. Seconds later Lucy came back with a cold towel and some medicine that should bring down Happy's fever slightly.
Natsu could only watch as Lucy cared for his blue furred friend. He had been in such a panic that Lucy was the first person he could think of. Even so he didn't regret bringing him to Lucy. He was pretty surprised that Lucy didn't protest or question why he had brought Happy to her. Instead she got straight to work and did everything she could, despite having just been woken up at 3 in the morning. He then heard a croaky voice coming from the bed. "Lucy?" Happy questioned as his eyes fluttered open to see the celestial mage.
"It's okay Happy. I'm here and so is Natsu. I promise I won't leave your side until you get better. Now, you need some rest okay?" Lucy said gently as she held Happy's paw in her hand with the most gentle and caring look in her eyes.
"Lucy? Can you sing me a lullaby?" Happy asked hopefully as he looked up at the blonde. "Of course." Lucy said softly with a sweet smile on her face.
Natsu's eyes widened at the scene between his two partners. This was nothing like the scenes he was used to between them, the teasing and the chasing. No this looked like a mother caring for her child. He was shocked to say the least. He never knew Lucy had a side like this. "it's like we're a family. Lucy's the mom, I'm the dad and Happy's our son." Natsu thought as he watched the two with a content smile on his face. Then realising what he had just thought he started blushing like crazy. "That would make Lucy my wife! How could I think of something like that?" An image of a young girl with pink hair and chocolate brown eyes suddenly appeared in his mind. "This is bad! I did not just think of our future child! Maybe future children…. No, bad Natsu!" Natsu sat there lost in his thoughts as he yanked at his hair until he heard a beautiful voice.
He looked over to see Lucy singing to happy with the softest and sweetest voice he'd ever heard and because of this he couldn't stop the blush spreading across his cheeks as he listened to her voice. It was a simple lullaby he'd heard before but couldn't remember the words. As she sang he felt his eyes threatening to close. He wanted to keep the promise that Lucy made to Happy but a wave of tiredness washed over him and fell asleep at the end of the bed.
Lucy watched with a smile and let out a small giggle as she saw Natsu sound asleep at the end of the bed. "I guess all that worrying must have worn him out." She thought as she watched his chest rise and fall. Lucy then got up to make herself a cup of tea knowing she wouldn't be going back to sleep. She made a promise to Happy and as a celestial mage she intended to keep it.
It was later in the morning and Lucy could feel her eyes threatening to close. She had changed the towel on Happy's head a couple of times through the night to keep him cool and he looked to be feeling a little better. His breathing was more regulated and he was no longer burning up. By this time most of Magnolia residents were starting to wake up yet Natsu was still sound asleep. As Lucy got up to make herself another cup of tea she heard a groan coming from the bed. She turned around to see Happy starting to stir. "Lucy!" Happy cried. Lucy hurried over to Happy and gave him a hug. "Happy I'm so glad you're okay! Natsu and I were so worried about you!" Lucy exclaimed. "Thanks for taking care of me. Nice bed head!" Happy said while covering his mouth with his paw, trying to suppress a giggle."It's good to see you're back to normal." Lucy said with a smile on her face and rolled her eyes as she turned her attention to Natsu. Lucy noticed that Natsu was still asleep she was about to wake him up until she came up with a devious plan. Lucy looked over to Happy who had just flown over to rest on her shoulder and noticed he was wearing the same expression." You thinking what I'm thinking Happy?" Lucy asked pulling out a black marker. "Aye sir!" Happy replied also pulling out a black marker. Lucy and Happy laughed evilly as they made their way over to Natsu being careful not to wake him up.
An hour later Natsu woke up to find the place empty and guessed Happy was feeling better and went with Lucy to the guild. As Natsu got up and stretched he remembered last night and could feel himself blush. Cursing to himself Natsu headed off to the guild.
As Natsu walked through the streets of Magnolia he saw people staring at him with strange looks on their faces. Natsu just shrugged this off as he put his hand behind his back and continued walking. When Natsu got to the guild he kicked the doors open like he usually did and greeted the guild. When he realized no one had greeted him back he looked around the guild. Even the guild members were looking at him weirdly. Natsu was about to ask why until he heard snickering coming from the bar. His eyes almost bulged out of their sockets when he saw who it was. Happy and Lucy were snickering and giving each other high fives. He was snapped out of his thoughts by Gray who was laughing and clutching his stomach. "What's up with your face, flame brain?" Gray managed to say before he started laughing again. Natsu was about to start a fight with Gray for calling him a flame brain until he realized what Gray had said. "My face?" Natsu wondered as he started touching his face. "Here, Natsu." Mira said as she brought him over a mirror but Natsu could tell that even Mira was trying to hold in her laughter. As Natsu looked in the mirror his eyes widened. There was a mustache, glasses and lots of shapes and swirls as well as, for some reason, a fish drawn on his face in black marker. His eyes suddenly narrowed as he remembered the snickering duo sitting at the bar. As he turned to look at them Happy and Lucy stopped snickering and their eyes went wide. As they realized what was going to happen to them the pair took off running, and in Happy's case flying, out of the guilds doors while being chased by and angry shouting Natsu.
When Natsu caught up he grabbed Lucy and laughed as she squired, trying to get free. "Alright, alright you got me. How about I treat you to Lunch to say sorry?" Natsu's eyes lit up at the mention of food and this made Lucy giggle. While Natsu was thinking of all the delicious food he would get to eat he didn't notice Lucy's face right up close in front of his. He only notice when he felt her breath across his lips which caused him to shiver. Natsu felt his eyes slowly close and his heart was beating so loud he was sure Lucy could hear it. He couldn't help the imminent blush that rose to his cheeks as he waited expectantly. Meanwhile, his mind had kicked into overdrive. Hundreds of thoughts flitted through his mind as he wondered what it would be like to kiss Lucy. Then he started to panic. He didn't know how to kiss. Would Lucy hate him for that? His thoughts were cut off by a cold wet sensation on his cheek then nose then forehead. As his eyes fluttered open he saw Lucy wiping his face with a wet towel. "It's not going to hurt you Natsu so there's no need to close your eyes." Lucy told him with a small giggle. Natsu's face suddenly turned red. How stupid could he be thinking that Lucy was going to kiss him? Natsu was really confused. "Did I want Luce to kiss me?" Natsu wondered as he looked into Lucy's eyes which caused him to start blushing again. "Your face is all red. Do you have a fever?" Lucy asked, her voice laced with concern as she rested her forehead against his. This only resulted in more blushing front Natsu who couldn't even form real words as he was reduced to a stuttering, blushing fool in front of the blonde. "He liiiikes you!" Happy said as he covered his mouth with his paw, trying to muffle his laughter. "Shut up Happy!" Natsu shouted as his blush intensified. He then looked over to Lucy who had surprisingly remained quiet and was shocked, and secretly happy, to see that her cheeks were slightly pink as she looked away. "Well let's go get some food then." She said but didn't turn around to face them. Natsu and Happy followed her. Natsu stayed silent as he was really confused about what he was feeling and wanted to know as soon as possible. Natsu decided that after Lunch he would head to the guild. After all, he was going to need all the help he could get.
Authors note: Sorry im not giving you a nalu kiss yet! Natsu needs to figure out his feeling first. Happy will be quite important in this story as he will help bring their "family" together. It will probably be Mirajane giving Natsu advice though. Thank you for reading!