Request by Rockingcass12: "An AU would be cool. Perhaps Lucy had almost been assaulted and asks Natsu, a martial artist teacher, to give her lessons."

You can do this Lucy.

The blonde stood outside Magnolia's community centre as she gathered her courage. Her nervous fingers crumpled the flyer in her hands before straightening it out again, her eyes flickering over bold letters.

Salamander's Self Defence

5PM every Sunday Magnolia Community Centre

We'll teach you how to beat the bad guys!

As much as the flyers words and its many pictures of seemingly irrelevant clip-art dragons amused her, Lucy couldn't help the anxiety that filled her stomach. She wasn't really a violent person. What if she was so bad they put her in the junior class?

She shook the thought from her head. No. She couldn't be that bad. She'd knocked that mugger unconscious after all.

Well, after she'd finished panicking.

That was why she was here. She never wanted to feel as helpless as she had in those moments of panic ever again. And she most certainly didn't want some jerk stealing her favourite purse!

She squared her shoulders and stepped inside.

Magnolia's community centre was an old building, but at the moment it was filled with fresh faces. Students of varying ages moved in unison in the centre of the room, following the instructions of a scary-looking guy with long black hair and piercings who paced throughout their ranks as he barked out his commands.

His eyes drifted away from his students and over to her as the door fell shut behind her, the loud bang echoing through the room. He rattled off another round of instructions and made his way over to her.

"What can I do yer for, Blondie?" He asked in a gruff voice.

Lucy gulped. This guy was intimidating.

She held up the crumpled flyer and pointed to it, offering a nervous smile. Before she could articulate her request, the tall man rolled his eyes and jerked his thumb behind him.

"He's over there." He told her before returning to his students.

She scrunched her nose in confusion. Wasn't that guy the so-called 'Salamander'?

Her eyes drifted in the direction the pierced man had gestured to. Sitting on an empty bench at the far side of the room, a pink-haired man was hunched over some papers. One hand scribbling away as the other brought an apple to his lips.

She walked around the main body of students, hoping she wouldn't get in anyone's way. The closer she got to the man on the bench, the more she noticed about him. Aside from his shockingly pink hair, she noticed tanned skin and corded muscle beneath his black t-shirt. He was very… fit.

She gulped again.

When she finally reached him, he didn't look up from his papers. Despite the shouts that came from behind her, she felt the sound of him biting into his apple was the loudest in the room. She shuffled nervously on her feet.

"Erm," She began hesitantly, "I'm here for the self-defence classes?"

"Mmm," He hummed in response, still not looking up from his papers, "Had any experience with this kinda thing before?"

The smoothness of his voice reduced her annoyance at the seemly ridiculous question. If she had previous experience, why would she be here? He took another bite of his apple as he waited for his reply.

"Well, I…" She began, thinking back to the mugging incident, "Yes? Not really… kinda, I guess?"

He looked up at her for the first time. His brow was furrowed but his eyes widened when they settled on her. He had sharp features. A strong jaw and lightly freckled cheekbones. She stood awkwardly as his dark eyes inspected her from head to toe and back again. Why was he looking at her like that? Perhaps it was her outfit. She'd thought leggings and a tank top would have been practical, but maybe not.

"What do you mean, 'kinda'?" He spoke eventually, his mouth still full of apple.

"Well I punched a guy in the face," She told him, ignoring his bad manners. Hadn't anyone ever told him not to talk with his mouthful? "But I fractured my fingers, so I don't think I did it right."

Surprisingly, he let out a laugh.

The sound was rich and his grin was infectious. She caught a glimpse of sharp teeth as she smiled shyly back at him. It was when he smiled that the thought hit her that he was very attractive. Hit her like a punch to the gut.

He set his papers aside and stood, taking another bite of his apple as she assessed him in much the same way he had done to her moments before. He took the bite just as her eyes drifted back up to his face, so she noticed when a drop of the fruits juice dribbled from the corner of his mouth and his tongue darted out to stop it.

Lucy found herself fighting hard to repress a shiver. The pink-haired man smirked as he tossed his apple aside. His eyes glinted as if he knew. She was barely aware of the pierced man shouting at his colleague to 'pick that damn thing up' as she took in that look.

"I'm Natsu," He introduced himself, jarring her from her thoughts. He was still smirking, "Punch me."

"Erm, excuse me?" She completely forgot to introduce herself in the wake of his strange request.

"Punch me." He repeated.

What type of self-defence class is this? She wondered.

Cautiously, she raised her fist.

"Don't wrap your fingers around your thumb," He told her, "Otherwise you'll probably break it."

Assuming that 'it' was her thumb, she corrected her mistake. But she still hesitated.

"You're sure you want be to punch you?" She asked.

"Yup."

"But won't it, y'know, hurt?"

He snorted.

"I doubt it." He flashed her a cocky grin.

Lucy pouted. She wanted to knock that grin off his smug face. His smug, so perfectly structured face. She drew her arm back, gathering all the force she could muster.

And she punched him in the face.

Well, she would have, if he hadn't caught her fist in his hand. Which felt warm against her own, his fingers still sticky from his earlier snack.

She was so surprised by his quick reflexes and the tingling feeling of his skin against hers that she barely registered his movement as he kicked her legs out from under her.

She only realised when she was halfway to the ground.

Lucy realised she couldn't defeat gravity. Hell, it was a miracle she got in a punch on that mugger. She closed her eyes and waited for the impact of the hard wooden floor against her back, but strong arms caught her instead.

A squeak escaped her when her eyes snapped open and she realised his proximity. He was holding her as though they had been partway through some fancy ballroom dance and he'd decided to dip her. Her mouth went dry and she licked her lips.

His eyes tracked the movement.

"What did you say your name was again?" He asked, his voice lower than before.

"L-Lucy." She stammered.

He smirked before righting her. Her head was spinning, registering silly things like the gold flecks in his eyes and the way his arm lingered on her waist.

"Well Lucy, I think your lessons are going to be very interesting."

A/N: So I decided to start posting my requests on here too! Please let me know your thoughts on each one if you can, and if you have any requests of your own feel free to message me on tumblr!