Lucy lost her bracelet, and Natsu decides to try to help her. The half-sequel to Strawberry Smoothie!
Disclaimer: Hiro Mashima owns Fairy Tail! :)
The chocolate brown eyes, the soft shiny blonde hair… too perfect! The celestial spirit sighed happily, staring at her reflection in the mirror. She was truly blessed to look so amazing naturally.
"Hey Natsu—"she froze suddenly, glancing at her messy pink bed. With a quick evaluation, she deduced that his pink—salmon—hair was in fact, missing, not camouflaging within the blankets. It was actually quite concerning, Natsu not being in her bed?! Sure, it was nice to have the whole bed to herself, but it was also nice to have a heated bed.
She shuddered to herself, wondering what would conspire if the guild were to find out it was a normal occasion to find Natsu snuggling up in her bed. Pursing her lips, she realized it must have been suspicious as they often arrived at the guild together every day. They also had some issues with personal space… namely by Natsu. Did he like her?! A heavy blush coated her face at the sudden thought, as she brushed it off. That whole misunderstanding was NOT going to happen again.
She raised her hands to smack her cheeks, leaving a faint red mark, "All right! Let's go!"
The blonde began unbuttoning her clothes, a silver necklace peering out from the collar of her pink cotton shirt. Suddenly a splash sound resonated throughout the bathroom, as she froze, clutching the necklace in fear. There's a pervert in the room! She quickly turned around grabbing her keys off the sink.
"Who's there—"
"Hey Luce!"
With a gapping mouth, she quickly registered the situation in her mind. Calm down, Lucy! Calm DOWN! First, Natsu is in the bathtub—"GET OUT!" She rushed forward to give him a quick Lucy Kick when she suddenly realized something else—the puddle on the floor, of course.
The mage's foot slipped on the marble floors, allowing her body to plunge forward into the small porcelain bathtub. As she quickly surfaced, coughing water up, Natsu cackled rambling about her face when she fell in. The pyromaniac was luckily wearing a towel, as the celestial mage sat, fully clothed in the bathtub. Note to self, completely analyze the situation before acting! That darn puddle. Why was there a puddle anyways?
"Natsu… why are you leaving puddles on my floor?!" Lucy snapped.
"I'll clean it up, anyways; it's really cramped in here!"
It really was, considering the fact that the bathtub was meant for ONE PERSON. With a deep sigh Lucy nodded, "Let go of me first, then we can get out."
Natsu stared at her with confusion "What?"
"Let. Go. Of. ME." She deadpanned pronouncing each word carefully.
"I'm not holding you. Do you want me to?" He questioned, opening his arms to her.
She screeched a quick, "NO!" before thinking to herself. There was obviously something stuck… a chain? She reached up to feel for her necklace, when her arm was suddenly tugged back down.
"My bracelet! I must have forgotten to take it off yesterday, and went to bed with it on!" she cried out.
The two were squished together in the bathtub, water flowing out, but she could feel her hand, it was reaching behind her, near the drain. Natsu tried to glance behind her, but quickly realized she was sitting on his hand.
"Hey Luce, can you sit on my lap?" He politely asked.
The blonde felt blood slowly spread across her face as she gave him a confused look. Thoughts whirled around in her head; maybe he was really in love with her! But was this the right time to confess?!
"Ma-ma-maybe not now, Natsu." She squeaked.
The salmon haired mage became incredibly confused by this. Not now? Did that mean she wanted to stay in here for longer? It was getting cold… maybe she really did want him to hold her. Quietly, he brought his hands around her, warming her clothing.
Her heart skipped a beat by the sudden embrace, he DID like her! But they were partners weren't they?! This couldn't happen! She struck a quick blow on his head, receiving an "OW!"
Panting, she climbed out of the bathtub as Natsu raised his hand in the air with joy.
"Good job, Luce! We're free!" He sang out.
She muttered angrily about her flooded bathroom, when she suddenly remembered the reason they were stuck. She hurried towards the bathtub drain, knocking Natsu over as he attempted to climb out, her wet clothes weighing her down. Just in time, she saw the bracelet slither down the drain. The bracelet broke! With a quiet sob, she attempted to stick her fingers down the drain, which was about impossible.
It wasn't that important, but she received it as a reward after finishing a mission with Natsu. It held some dear memories to her.
"Don't worry Luce! I just need to get it out!" A cheerful voice reasoned.
She wiped a few stray tears from her eyes, as she saw Natsu picking at the drain with a thoughtful face. Nodding dully, she began mopping up the floor with some towels. The morning rays became colder, and it faded to night. Tired, the pair retired to bed for the day. The bathroom was clean, the bracelet was still gone, and a day had flown by. It didn't even matter that Natsu was climbing into her bed, in fact, she stood by as he climbed in, following closely after. From the moment he slumped, he fell asleep. Lucy smiled, nestling into the covers wishing him a quick, "good night".
"Good night." He murmured back, knowing full well that she was asleep. In fact, he snored a few minutes, and she was convinced he was asleep. It was creepy, and he knew that, but he watched her sleeping peacefully. In her dreams, she wouldn't have to worry about all the troubles in the world. He sighed to himself; it agitated him that he wasn't able to retrieve her lost bracelet. If only he had acted faster, to grab it.
After lying in bed for a few more moments, an idea sprung into his head. What if, I bought her another bracelet? It would never be able to replace the other one, but at least she would have something to wear. The thought made him excited, as he sprung out the window, into the moon-lit night.
Most of the markets were closed. Of course, it was late at night! But after knocking on several closed shop doors, a local merchant opened up, incredibly annoyed. Well, that is, until he noticed it was THE Natsu Dragneel from the Grand Magic Games. As the shop keeper invited him inside, Natsu quickly scanned the items.
"Do you have bracelets?" He casual asked, as the shop keeper looked at him stunned, trying to put back the stash of armor and weapons.
"Brace-brace-brace-lets?!" The shop keeper stammered.
Natsu looked him dead serious in the eyes, as the shop keeper took out a diamond studded ring.
"I think this would work much better, sir."
"Really? I'll take it then!"
Natsu was extremely pleased with the store; the shop keeper even knew that he came to buy a gift for his friend! After paying, and scurrying back to Lucy's home, he scampered up the window to see her missing. It was morning already; he traveled all around the town the whole night. But, he wasn't tired in the least; he was excited to see her reaction. He barged into the bathroom, as Lucy screamed, holding her towel defensively.
"KNOCK!" She cried out, knocking him on the head.
He dropped to one knee, withering in pain from the blow.
This was it! The shop keeper was so considerate, even giving him a box, for this moment. He took out the box, opening it, to reveal the diamond ring. Lucy was often known as a weirdo, but her reaction was extremely confusing. He couldn't tell if she was more happy or shocked. There was even a hint of despair in there. Who knows what goes on in a girl's mind…
Meanwhile, Lucy was dumbfounded. This was it, Natsu was proposing! She couldn't have been more overwhelmed. Maybe, it was okay to marry him! But wait, shouldn't they date first?
"Natsu, don't you think there's something that should come before this?" Lucy gulped, a blush breaking out on her face.
This explained a lot… she was feeling despair because she thought he had given up on retrieving the bracelet. It really did seem impossible though, and he didn't know the big deal about the bracelet, he didn't want to keep fiddling with the hair clogged drain! It should show his amount of friendship for the girl, picking disgusting things out of the drain while searching for the bracelet.
"I know, I know! But, I think we should skip that step for now, because I can't wait any longer!" Natsu cried out, holding a fist over his chest.
Crouching there in the bathtub, of course he couldn't wait any longer. The drain wouldn't give that bracelet back no matter how long he waited. It was certainly a monster, that drain.
Lucy felt tears pricking at her eyes; this is how it all happened, in a bathroom while she stood in her towel.
"YES!" She cried out, throwing herself at Natsu.
It was extremely random, but he went with it. Maybe now she was being completely honest with her need to hug him! He hugged her back breathing in her scent of strawberries. She was his favorite person—and only person—to go to for hugs. She was really soft and fit perfectly in his arms, it felt relaxing with her.
"Let's go to the guild!" She grinned, as he wiped away her stray tears.
Here they were, lying on the floor, Lucy on top, hugging him tightly and listening to his heartbeat. She was smiling widely, with closed eyes, and a light blush. There was a moment, where Natsu felt an overwhelming love for her. He didn't really understand this feeling though, so he just leaned in to kiss her.
Her eyes widened for a moment, before she returned that kiss. After a few more moments of cuddling on the floor, she stood up announcing she was going to change and they would head to the guild.
At noon, they arrived at the guild hand in hand, as Lucy ran over to her friends, before Mira could drag her over. Meanwhile, Gray and the guys ambushed Natsu, to hear the full story.
"What full story?" Natsu complained, hating the crowd around him. He just wanted to be with Lucy at the moment, what was going on?
"Are you and Lucy together?" Gray hissed, ready to give the dragon-slayer a lecture.
"We're partners."
"Have you kissed?" Romeo curiously asked, as Gray cracked his fingers.
"Kissed?" Natsu repeated, as Gray began cracking his neck.
The guys leaned in, all awaiting his answer, as he grinned, "Yea, we just did! I never kissed anyone before and it was really weird, but then again-"he paused, to dodge Gray's fist, as they began a brawl.
"You pyro, what have you done to Lucy?" Gray hissed, their faces up against each other.
"I just did what partners are allowed to do!" Natsu growled back.
"What?"
"That's why Gajeel kisses Levy right? Because they're partners!" As Natsu reasoned loudly, Gajeel and Levy tackled him hissing, "Quiet!"
"Where'd you hear that, flame-brain?" Gray confusingly asked.
"Whatdya mean hear? I saw it!"
Then all chaos broke out in the guild.
"Levy!" Lucy cried out, "Why didn't you tell me about this?!"
"You didn't tell me that you're engaged to Natsu!" Levy shot back.
Then all chaos broke out in the guild.
Gray shot ice particles towards Natsu. Easily dodging them, he took the chance to run up to Lucy.
"Lucy! You have to tell me about every guy you date! You NEED my consent to get married!" Gray seriously noted.
"It's fine, isn't it? You know that I've loved Natsu for the longest time!" Lucy protested.
"Gray what are you? Her father? Her brother?" The guild murmured.
"When did we get married?" Natsu mumbled to himself.
When all chaos settled, Natsu and Lucy walked hand in hand back to her home.
"You're going to have to move in soon, and we'll arrange the ceremony later…" Lucy mumbled to herself.
"I need to finish cleaning your drain if we're going to live in the same place. I found this weird chain inside before, so I threw it away. You need to take better care of your shower."
Lucy froze looking at Natsu, before looking back at the ring on her finger.
"Whatever, maybe it was better this way. Thank the stars for your stupidity."
Natsu scratched his head thoughtfully, "You never did tell me what your bracelet looked like."