It's a bird, it's a plane! No, it's NaLu!

Chapter 1: Wake Me Up Before You Go

Lucy's POV

I watched as everyone partied it out in the little bar, stumbling left and right in their euphoric happiness. They had a good reason for it, too. It had been a little over a day since we had just barely won the Grand Magic Games against the other six teams, with Fairy Tail miraculously in first place. It was all thanks to my nakama's strong will and undying spirit, though luck was on our side as well. Since Raven Tail had been disqualified from the Games, there were only six teams to go against (not counting Fairy Tail B, since the committee made us squeeze the teams together).

I sat at the bar alone, lost in thought. That is, until a certain pink-haired dragonslayer shocked me out of my reverie. Taking advantage of my spacing out, he had wrapped his arm around my shoulder and whispered, "Hey Lucy."

"KYYYYYAAAAAAAAAA!"

"KAKAKAKAKAKA! You should've seen the look on your face, Lucy!"

I could feel my heart slowing down after I realized who it was; my idiotic partner and best friend, Natsu Dragneel. Then I remembered that his arm was wrapped around my shoulders. My face heated up and I tried to force the unwanted blush away. I hurriedly pushed his arm off and turned to face him. "Damn it, Natsu! Don't scare me like that!"

He gave me a pout. "But Lucyyyyyy! It was really funny!" His child-like behavior was so adorable and immature that I couldn't help but laugh, my serious face shattered in an instant. He really is an idiot, but he is so cute when he acts like that. When he saw my grin, he immediately returned it with his signature goofy smile. God, how I love that smile.

I shook my head internally. 'No, bad Lucy! Think about something else. Having fun. Partying. Anything but that.' Then I realized I had no idea what he had come to bother me for.

"Natsu, why did you come over here anyway? You should be having fun with everybody else!"

He gave me a look that said 'Are you fucking crazy?'.

"What's with that look?" I asked him, frowning.

"Well, I was just thinking that it's not really a celebration without everyone, Lucy."

"What do you mean?"

"I mean that it's not a party without you, even though you're injured! What did you think I meant?"

I blushed at his words. 'I guess I really do mean a lot to him— I mean, them.' A moment of euphoric bliss spread through me and my heart almost flew out of my chest.

"After all, you ARE my nakama! You're such a weirdo!" At this, my heart felt like it was stabbed lightly and I could feel the happy bubble pop as my temper flared.

"Don't call me weird! I'm not the one who eats fire and was raised by a dragon!"

He just laughed at my angry reddened face and sent me another one of his blindingly bright smiles. Did I already mention that I love that smile? I shook my head at him and waved him away, wincing when I moved my left arm.

"Don't worry about me, go have some fun. Go fight with Gray or something. This is probably the only time you two will get away with it."

I looked pointedly over at Erza, who seemed to be extremely preoccupied at the back of the bar. She was sitting in the far corner with Jellal; they were looking at each other meaningfully, their eyes conveying a mutual love so deep that I could read it even from all the way over at the counter. I also noticed that they were smiling and, under the table, they were holding hands. Natsu turned to where I was looking and I noticed a shiver run down his spine as he caught sight of the scarlet-haired mage.

"Y-yeah... But are you sure you'll be alright over here?" I thought the concern he showed in his expression was so sweet, especially since I was still wearing bandages from the beating I took from Minerva on the fourth day's naval battle. Thanks to Porlyusica and Wendy, I didn't die, but my body was still in a lot of pain. I smiled widely at him and nodded.

"Of course I'll be fine! I'll join the celebration in a bit, okay?"

"Okay! See you later then!" He scampered into the crowd of mages, yelling when he found Gray.

"Oi, droopy eyes!"

"What did you call me, slanty eyes?"

"You heard me, ice pervert."

"Get ready to get your ass beat, flame brain."

"I think you're the one who's ready for an ass-kicking. But first you should put some clothes on, stupid stripper!"

"What the hell are you talking abo— Hey! How did that happen?"

Gray scrambled around butt-naked, searching for his clothes. Natsu laughed as he stood on a table swinging Gray's boxers around his finger.

"Hey, ice princess! Look what I've got!"

"Flametard, give me my goddamn boxers back!"

"Hey, idiots! Stop fighting! We're not even at the guild, so stop breaking s— AAAH!"

The guy unlucky enough to get caught between the two idiots fighting was smashed by their fists and flew into a table of my nakama. Thus, yet another brawl was started. I sighed and turned back to the bar, laying my head onto the bar counter.

Thank god Natsu had left; I felt like I couldn't breathe when he was around, more so than when my ribcage was crushed (which is saying a lot). My heart's been acting up whenever I'm around him and my stomach always feels like it's doing backflips. I've been trying to deny it, but... it's so obvious that I should just scream it to the world.

I, Lucy Heartfilia, am in love with my best friend. There, I said it.

I've actually felt this way about him for a while. I would tell him my feelings, but I have several good reasons not to do so. The first reason is that you aren't supposed to fall in love with your best friend. It's like the number one unwritten rule of love. The second reason is that Natsu is too dense to understand what love is. He WAS raised by a dragon, after all. He'd probably call it like-like, just like a little kid.

Besides, I don't even know if he feels the same way about me. He could like someone else, which leads me to reason number three. I know that Natsu and Lisanna had a special relationship before Lisanna 'died'. I saw how happy he looks when he's with her and I don't think he could ever be like that with me. I don't want to get in the way of their happiness. I thought we had a few moments that could be considered more than platonic, but I guess he doesn't think of me the same way. After all, he only thinks of me as nakama. I guess that we're just never meant to be.

I sighed, unhappy in my thoughts, until I drifted off to a dreamless sleep.

—

Lucy's POV

I woke up groggily, my head spinning and the left side of my face numb. I was disoriented for a moment before I realized that whatever I had laid my head on was not the soft pillow on my bed, nor was I laying down on a bed at all. I attempted to stand up, wincing as I felt a numb pain spread through my bones and hearing several cracks as I stretched out my limbs.

I looked at my surroundings in confusion until I registered the previous night. We were still in Crocus and we'd had a victory party at the Honeybone Bar. I must've slept through the whole party. I yawned and rubbed the remaining sleep from my eyes. Surveying the bar, I chuckled as I looked at the familiar scene of my nakama after an awesome party. Max, as usual, had a broom up his ass. How that happened, I have no idea.

I giggled when I saw some very interesting sights as I looked around. Mira was laying down on Fried's chest, both of them breathing slowly with small smiles on their faces. Elfman was clutching Evergreen in his arms, his large biceps pushing her glasses askew. Juvia appeared to have fainted on an unconscious Gray's legs, a look of absolute bliss across her face. Cana was slumped over a barrel, Laxus leaning up against her back as they slept. Romeo and Wendy were curled up under a table, so close to each other that their foreheads were touching. 'Kawaii!'

My eyes drifted over to Erza and Jellal, who were in an extremely intimate position on the floor. Jellal had his arms wrapped around Erza's waist, their legs intertwined. Erza's face was lying comfortably on Jellal's arm and, as I watched, they snuggled closer. They were facing toward each other, their lips almost touching. 'It's about time! They look so cute together!'

I couldn't help the happy pang I felt in my chest as I saw Erza lying next to her beloved. She truly deserves this happiness. They've both had really hard lives and I'm so glad they can finally be together. Jellal had told us about how Mest— no, Doranbalt— had unveiled him in front of Lahar of the Magic Council. He steered clear of the arena after that, so this was the first time Erza had seen him in over three days. Needless to say, they were enjoying each other's company.

I looked on to the right of the sleeping couple and my heart fluttered. Natsu was snoring on the floor spread-eagled, Happy laying next to him in the same position. I smiled softly and walked over to them quietly, not that anyone could hear me over Natsu's snores. I knelt down near his head and studied his sleeping features. 'He's so cute when he's asleep,' I thought.

I kept my body a foot or so from his own, remembering the incident where he punched me through the guild's roof and into the river. I was still mad about that, but it wasn't his fault. I chuckled to myself, remembering the good times we'd had. I didn't realize that, as I was immersed in my thoughts, I stretched my uninjured hand out and ran it through his hair. 'I've always wondered what his hair feels like... Wait, what am I doing?'

I finally noticed that my hand was in his hair and I yanked it back, but I accidentally pulled a few strands of his surprisingly soft pink hair. His eyes flew open and he sat up, looking right at me; I froze.

"Lushy... lemme shleep..."

His eyes closed and he laid back down, spread-eagled once more. I let out a breath I didn't realize I had been holding and stood up. 'God, that was too close.' I sighed and began to walk away. Before I had even taken the first step, though, Natsu grabbed my hand and yanked me down to the floor. I yelped and struggled as his arms circled around me, his face nuzzling into my neck.

"N-Natsu," I said, my face turning redder with every second that passed. "You stupid sleeping idiot, let me go!" I pushed his arms as far away from me as I could, squirming all the way. It's not that I didn't enjoy having him hug me closer, it's just that I was afraid of someone waking up and making fun of our close proximity. That or my ribs would be broken again by his bear hug. I finally managed to pull myself out of his iron grip just before Happy woke up.

The blue cat sat up, yawning as he rubbed his eyes. He noticed me looking flustered, my hair messy, as I stood up yet again. Happy smiled and toddled over, rubbing his face on my leg. "Lushy... 'm tired..."

"Hey there, sleepyhead," I giggled as I knelt down and picked him up, cradling him against my chest. He let his face rest on my breasts as though they were pillows and sighed in content. I held him for a bit longer, rocking him gently until he began to snore lightly, then set him down on Natsu's chest. Happy turned over onto his stomach and hugged Natsu tightly.

Now that both of them were asleep again, I stood and returned to my place at the bar. My face heated up as I remembered what had taken place just minutes before. I slapped myself, determined to keep myself in line; I winced at the pain in my cheek and in my barely-healed left hand. I blew a stray hair out of my eyes and noticed that my pigtails had come undone. I huffed before fixing them back up once again. 'I can't wait to wear my ribbon again,' I thought, 'These pigtails are getting kind of boring.'

Suddenly, an idea came to me through the snores of my nakama. 'I can use this time to work on my novel and try to get Natsu out of my head! Yes, good idea Lucy!' I pulled my novel out my bag, which had been sitting on the stool next to mine, and began to write. I was so into my writing that I didn't notice someone coming up behind me.

Normal POV

The hooded stranger snuck up from behind and, with one quick spell and a small yelp, knocked the blond out without any struggle. Papers slid to the floor as the stranger gently dragged Lucy off of the barstool and to the floor, trying to make as little noise as possible. At the same time, they checked to make sure that the celestial spirit mage's keys and whip were safely stowed away in a small magic-proof bag.

At the doorway Lucy and the bag were passed to a group of what were unmistakably palace guards, who lifted the blond with magic and carted her off to who-knows-where. The strange figure was last to leave. As the stranger turned to close the door, they lifted the hood of their cloak away to reveal a young woman with short white hair. 'I am sorry, Lucy-san, Natsu-san, but this is for the sake of the new world.'

So... whadda ya think? I know, I know. I should be working on my other story... but I cant help it! I see all these other fics about Lucy's part in the Magic Games Arc and I kept getting my own ideas. Plus, I've been having writer's block until I started typing this up! I can't keep going on with S&R if I have no ideas... I'm sorry!

Anyway, review and tell me if it was any good, should I keep going, blah-blah blah blah-blah... you get it. I really am sorry, since this probably isn't what anyone was expecting. Next time I update, it'll definitely be for S&R. Please hang in there and review!

Bi-kun out! Peace!