A/N: Alright so here goes nothing! This was a creation from a year ago, so be warned. Let the fluff initiate.


Natsu Dragneel was having an astonishingly marvelous day (maybe a tad too marvelous), when his phone began to buzz in his pocket.

For starters, he had woken up early for the first time in his life (although, as Lucy had pointed out, "early" for him was a little after noon). Natsu had eaten ten boxes of matches for breakfast, as well as two stacks of pancakes and a piece of steak as thick as one of Levy's novel, scorched to perfection by none other than himself. The day was gorgeous, clouds full and plump, showering fluffy snowflakes the sizes of quarters down on the city of Magnolia. Natsu usually despised cold weather and the winter in general, but today seemed different; it was as if Mother Nature had decided to give the city a break from its past horrendous weather. Gray was supposed to meet up with him at Fairy Tail, a club near Natsu's apartment. Gray would undoubtedly get there first, as Natsu preferred walking to riding in a cab (or any type of transportation for that matter).

After patting his cat and ruffling its ears, Natsu bolted down the steps of the apartment building, swinging past the landlady who screeched profanities at him. He flung open the wooden door and cold air rushed to greet him. Natsu raised his scarf to cover his nose, and turned the corner to walk up the street. Puffs of snow floated around him, sticking to his scarf and salmon hair. Natsu sighed, mist forming in puffs from his lips, eyes turning to look up at the gray sky. It almost seemed as if the world were falling in on itself, flakes rushing around and towards him, the bland sky endless. Natsu blinked as a flake pricked his eye, and cursed, turning his eyes back to the sidewalk. Damn ice, he thought, rubbing his irritated eye roughly, Gray must be loving this weather, the bastard... and his thoughts drifted as he began walking again. They always managed meander their way to her, no matter how hard he tried to distract himself. I wonder what she's doing right now, he began, and then cursed his inner demon for suggesting things he would never admit out loud. Probably reading, he mused, or writing that book. He chuckled when he recalled her embarrassment when she found him reading it- and also that excruciating pain that came soon after, and remembered flying through a window). I wonder...

Lucy Heartfilia was having a unexplainably horrific day, until something miraculous happened.

First off, she woke up late, 8:45 to be exact, approximately an hour later than she usually did. Groggy and unkempt, she ate little for breakfast. She grabbed a glass of milk and made herself burnt toast, much to her distaste. Her mind immediately went to Natsu, who probably would have gulped it down in a second -he loved overly-burnt things- and chuckled at the thought. Lucy had something to look forward to, though, or so she thought. Before she could even begin to get dressed for the day, her phone began to rattle loudly on the glass coffee table. Sighing, she picked it up and stared at the screen. It was a text message, from Mirajane.

Hey sweetie! Sorry, but I can't make it to our date. I'm feeling quite sick, unfortunately. But I'll be sure to see you tomorrow, and we'll reschedule! 3

Lucy was disappointed, but also worried about Mira. She was rarely sick. Her fingers flew across the phone's screen and hit send.

it's totally fine! i just hope u feel better soon!

Now Lucy had no plans, which both frustrated her and confounded her (she was usually a very busy person, something she took pride in). Sighing, she sank into her couch and reached over to her coffee table to retrieve her laptop. She scrolled around on Tumblr and Pinterest, occasionally looking at news on the web. After half an hour of doing nothing, Lucy was ready to curl up and go to sleep on her couch. She began to close her laptop, and halfway through doing so an article headline caught her eye. Lucy's brow furrowed, and she balanced the laptop on her knee, blinking repeatedly at the screen.

Then she screamed.

Natsu swung the door open, sighing in satisfaction at the increase in temperature as he stepped inside the building. The words Fairy Tail were branded on the wall in large golden letters, and flags were hung all around the spacious room. Stairs circled from the first floor to the balcony, of which a few people were conversing on. The club was exclusive, and only those that had special skills were allowed membership. But the club itself was far from formal. Cana, a regular member, hugged a beer mug the size of a boot to her chest, laughing hysterically (the other members seemed unfazed by this). She was seated at a long wooden table with benches at either side. Half a dozen others dotted the dirty, wooden floor. Gajeel, another regular, sat at the same table as Cana (albeit two seats away from her), and was blushing profusely. The look was strange on his scarred, intimidating face, and therefore very amusing. Undoubtedly, this odd emotion was caused by none other than a small, blue-haired girl who was leaning over him, pointing at a book in his hands and speaking excitedly. Gajeel was not looking at the book, rather he was looking shyly at the girl, Levy, his face beet red.

"Looks like the dragon finally came out of its den."

Natsu pivoted to face Gray, the boy smirking and crossing his arms. Natsu's mouth twitched upwards. He gasped mockingly, putting a hand to his forehead.

"Watch your mouth, Fullbuster, it almost sounded as if you were happy to see me." He turned to hang his jacket up on the coat-rack, grinning. He heard Gray huff behind him.

"Yeah you wish, asshole."

Just as Natsu was about to punch Gray in the gut, his pocket began to buzz.

"You better take that," Gray snickered, "it might be your girlfriend."

Natsu scowled, "Lucy isn't my girlfriend."

If Gray's face could get any more smug, it did. "I didn't say a name."

Natsu growled, his eyes furious (unfortunately his face betrayed him: it rivaled that of a ripe apple), and he reached for his pocket. He glanced at the screen, and almost fell over. It was from Lucy, but that's not what floored him- it was what she said.

HELP

Gray's face immediately went from smug to concerned as he saw the look Natsu wore. "Hey, what's-"

Natsu raced out the door and turned the corner before Gray could say anything else, not bothering to grab his jacket, not thinking about anything else but Lucy. He didn't need to think about the directions to her apartment, he knew it by heart. Natsu bit his lip as he ran, flakes hitting his face and scorching his skin. What if something happened to her, he thought, what if she's hurt? What if she's dying? What if I'm too late? Pushing these thoughts away and trying not to panic, he flung the door of her apartment building open, earning a scream from a couple residents in the lobby. One of them, seated behind a desk, tried to smile.

"Excuse me, sir, w-"

Natsu saw the stairs near the right corner of the lobby and bolted towards them, shouting a muffled, "It's an emergency!" before running up them. The person behind the desk hollered something behind him, but he didn't hear it.

"Oh my god, oh my god, oh my god," Lucy flung her arms in the air, pacing wildly. "I can't believe the-"

Suddenly, there was a huge crash, and the sound of wood splitting. Lucy stopped midway in her pacing and turned a frightened eye towards the source of the sound. It was coming from the entrance to her room, and Lucy slowly inched backwards, grabbing a thick novel from the coffee table and wielding it above her head. Did someone break into my room? She heard footsteps, and shakily began to walk towards the sound, her forehead sweating. Lucy paused each time she heard a step, and eventually made her way to the door that separated her room from the entrance hall. The door creaked open, Lucy hiding next to it, clutching her book. She grimaced as the door opened fully, and swung around, hitting the book in the intruder's face. Lucy grinned proudly at the now fallen figure who was groaning loudly, much to her satisfaction.

"Ha! You thought you could just-just...Natsu?!"

"Yeah, it's me," he mumbled, a sound of obvious anger laced in his voice.

"What's wrong?"

Natsu rubbed his head, and looked up at her, scowling. "I could be asking you the same question."

Lucy knitted her eyebrows together. After a couple seconds, her eyes widened. "Oh my gosh! Yeah, I texted you, didn't I?"

Natsu nodded sarcastically, grunting. Lucy ignored this.

"Okay so, I found this article online and-"

Natsu held up his hand, eyes narrowing at her. He stood up slowly. "You mean to tell me, that the reason you texted me "HELP" in capital letters, was to tell me about a fucking article you read online?!"

Lucy shook her head wildly, blond hair flying. "No, not just any article, the most miraculous article I have ever seen. It said that Harper Lee is coming out with a sequel to To Kill a Mockingbird! A SEQUEL! DO YOU UNDERSTAND THE POSSIBILITIES OF THIS! THIS COULD CHANGE THE WORLD! SHE CHANGED THE WORLD, AND NOW THERE'S A SEQUEL?! THIS- THIS CHANGES EVERYTHING! IT'S SCOUT'S PERSPECTIVE, BUT OLDER! WE'LL GET TO SEE HOW SHE GREW UP! DID SHE BECOME A SOUTHERN LADY, OR STAY A REBELLIOUS TOMBOY? WHAT BECAME OF THE CHILD LEGEND ONCE SHE WAS NO LONGER A CHILD? WHA- are you...laughing?"

It was true. Natsu was laughing, and even though he tried to cover it up with his hand, he couldn't stop the chuckles from slipping past. Then came the snorts, then the sputtering, then he was buckled over, tears in his eyes. Lucy, however, did not find it amusing. She pouted, crossing her arms.

"Geez, if you're gonna laugh at me at least try to tone it down a bit."

Natsu covered his eyes with his hand and gave a toothy grin. "Jesus, Luce. And to think I was actually worried that someone had hurt you, or that you had hurt yourself and were in need of help. When in reality, you needed another kind of help. And soon." He laughed again, letting his hand slide down his face.

"You asshole!" Lucy exclaimed, attempting to punch him. He caught the punch with one hand, smirking.

"Still pretty weak, Heartfilia, but-"

"And who was the one who hit you with a book? Oh, right, me." Lucy struggled against his grasp, trying to pull her arm free.

Natsu rolled his eyes and let her arm go. Lucy, not expecting him to lose his grasp so suddenly, fell backwards. Natsu reached forwards to catch her before she hit the carpeted floor, his arm wrapped around her waist. Their faces were inches apart, Lucy's almond eyes wide.

Natsu smiled, and his eye twinkled. "You didn't let me finish. You're still pretty weak, but you're one hell of a cute weakling." He nodded towards her clothes which, she hadn't noticed until now, consisted of nothing more than a thin sweater.

Lucy's hand shot up, hitting Natsu hard in the stomach. He fell backward with a satisfying grunt. She cocked an eyebrow, leaning over him. "Who's the weakling now, Dragneel?"


A/N: Is it obvious that I love To Kill a Mockingbird? I actually wrote this story right after the reveal of the sequel. I was very excited, so I thought that Lucy might be excited, too. :)