"Natsu!" Lucy hissed into her lacrima phone "Get out of there with Erza."
"Why?" Came the bored grunt.
"Because Mrs. Hide is with me, and she will misunderstand!" Lucy wanted to scream in frustration, but she couldn't do anything to attract attention.
Her situation was definitely… weird, to put it gently. She had an aunt who, herself being childless, had recently found out about the existence of Lucy, and wanted to shower all her love on her. This apparently included trying to set up an arranged marriage for her. Lucy, having already experienced the loss of her family, was grateful for whatever family she had left, and was loathe to disappoint her. Natsu had valiantly volunteered to pretend to be her boyfriend to get the well-meaning old lady off of Lucy's back, but unfortunately their plan had backfired. Instead, Mrs. Hide had insisted that Lucy and Natsu get engaged, with marriage to follow soon after.
Lucy had been at a loss.
How could she even ask someone for something that big?
But Natsu had been surprisingly keen on the idea. He'd said that they were already partners, and this was the least he could do for her.
Lucy doubted it was the least he could do, but she gratefully took him up on the offer. But she was acutely aware of the grandness of Natsu's gesture, and had imposed rules on their marriage. It would be an open marriage, and they would be able to pursue other interests if they wanted to without the other person minding. Plus, if they lasted that far, they could call for a divorce after a year if they so wanted.
They'd had a small engagement ceremony at the guild, and their marriage was set up in a week's time. That had been then. The days had flown by, and their marriage was tomorrow.
Gajeel had forged their rings from iron, intricately carved, and a part of Lucy actually felt bad that this wasn't a real engagement.
"Oh, right, going." Natsu mumbled, and left the cake shop, dragging an unwilling Erza with him.
"What's the matter dear?" Asked Mrs. Hide, "What are you trying to point out?"
"Oh nothing, Auntie, it's just that I could swear I saw the prettiest flock of doves." Lucy backpedalled furiously.
"Oh, pity they flew away."
"Auntie, let's go back home," Lucy suggested, changing topics "I'm worried that you'll exhaust yourself."
"Yes dear, that's a good idea. Besides, a bride should be well-rested before her wedding." The wizened lady said happily. Looking at the happiness she was giving, Lucy felt that the sham was all worth it.
The sham wasn't worth it.
Lucy woke up the next day feeling like her head had repeatedly been hit with a tonne of bricks, and she felt, nay, knew, that a bride-to-be ought not be feeling this way the morning of her wedding. She could vaguely recall last night's events… a hen party organized by her female guildmates. She shuddered at the memory. Snippets of Cana forcing a barrel of something strongly alcoholic down her throat and Erza following it up with cake circled in her head. She groaned.
"LUCY?! ARE YOU OK?!" She heard hammering at the door and groaned louder.
"Ssshhh Natsu-nii, you can't look at the bride before the wedding!" Wendy's soft voice drifted through as she shooed away the salamander.
"But I'm a cat!" Happy. Of course.
"Ok, you can go through." Charle reluctantly admitted the blue cat inside.
Happy flew through and landed in Lucy's lap.
"Hey Lucy, you ok?" He gently touched a soft paw to her face. He'd never seen the hung-over Lucy, and his concern was touching.
"I'm fine, just a small headache." Lucy tried her best to smile and reassure the cat.
"Which will soon be gone!" A cheerful voice proclaimed, as the door swung open to reveal two blue-headed mages carting a trolley full of delicious smelling breakfast.
Lucy reached out for the tantalising cup of coffee, but Levy shoved a glass of water into her hands instead. "Nope, first this!"
Lucy obediently drank the water, but no sooner had she finished than Levy pushed a glass of juice into her hand and offered Happy a large fish, which he gleefully started munching on. Meanwhile, Juvia hummed as she threw open the curtains and opened the windows to let in fresh air.
"Juvia will make Lucy into the prettiest bride!"
"YEAH!" The door was kicked open, and in marched Erza with a whole pile of clothes. "Our Lucy will be the pride of the guild! Natsu will be so glad that he finally screwed up the courage to propose!"
"Oooh" cooed Cana, who'd snuck in behind Erza "Tell us how loverboy proposed~"
A/N:So what do you guys think? Should I continue? Or is it meh? I confess the writing didn't come off quite as planned, but it almost never does, so that's ok...
