The Dance Party

"That was quite the stunt you pulled earlier."

Natsu turned at the playful tone in that familiar voice. The party had been rather boring after the scene he created. It was because of this that he was out on the balcony, away from all of the noise and people. He smiled at his blonde friend as she approached him, her elegant dress flowing slightly in the gentle breeze.

"You have to admit, though," he said, leaning his elbows on the stone railing. "It was pretty awesome." Lucy laughed.

"I don't know if 'awesome' is the right word."

"Oh, trust me. It is." They laughed for a moment. Lucy turned her chocolate eyes to look out over the city. Even after just a few days, most of Crocus was already cleaned up and rebuilt. It looked just as nice as it did when they arrived in Crocus for the first time. There wasn't a cloud in the sky, the moon shining fully among the people below, the stars twinkling like diamonds on a black velvet blanket. It was almost as if nothing happened, as if seven dragons hadn't come from 400 years in the past, leaving devastation in their wake. She turned back to Natsu, who was looking out at the horizon as well, a surprisingly subdued expression on his face.

"Natsu?" she said softly, gently touching his shoulder. He blinked and turned to her.

"Huh?" he uttered, his obsidian eyes staring into hers expectantly.

"Is something wrong? I've barely seen you since the fight was over." There was a pause, before Natsu turned his gaze away and hung his head, sighing slowly.

"Nothing's… wrong, per se, but…" He trailed off, his eyebrows knitting together as he thought. "It's just… I dunno…" He chuckled lightly, looking back up at her. "I guess I'm still a little worn out."

Lucy giggled. "You did fight pretty hard. Even though it was for the sake of the guild."

He shook his head. "It was more than that."

Her brow furrowed. "What do you mean?"

"It was mostly for your sake." Despite herself, Lucy felt a small blush creep onto her cheeks. He didn't seem to notice though. "You're my best friend, Luce. After watching what Rogue did to you, the future you, I wanted to keep that from happening to the real you." Catching him off guard, Lucy stepped forward and wrapped her arms around his chest, hugging him gently.

"I know I already said it," she whispered. "But I want to say it again. Thank you, Natsu." The Dragon Slayer smiled and returned the hug, resting his chin on the top of her head. They stayed like that for a minute or so, Lucy listening contently to the sound of his heart. She tried to pull away after another minute, but was surprised when he held onto her tighter, holding her against him.

"Not yet," he breathed. "I want to reassure myself that you're still here…" Lucy felt a particularly hard thump in her chest. She'd never heard such a… desperate tone in his voice before. She slowly lifted her arms to hug him back.

"Natsu?" she murmured.

"I don't want to lose you, Luce." He tightened his hold on her, squeezing his eyes closed as images of her future self falling motionlessly to the floor, a bleeding wound in her abdomen flashed in his mind. If that was his Lucy dying before his eyes, he didn't know what he would've done. It was bad enough listening to her strained voice as she talked about going on more adventures with him, watching a sobbing Happy as he nuzzled closer to her, claiming that no matter if she was from the present or not, she was still his friend and he didn't want her to die. Just imagining it being his Lucy – the one he was holding in his arms right now – it left a bad taste in his mouth.

"You're the greatest friend I've ever had, Lucy," he confided. "I have so much fun with you, and I'm always looking forward to going on missions together. I feel comfortable when I'm with you. And…" He swallowed. "And I don't want that to go away…" The blonde felt a slightly painful pang in her chest at his words.

"Oh, Natsu…" she muttered, squeezing him gently as she rubbed his back. "It's not going to go away. Alright?" She pulled away slightly to look him in the eye. He hung his head, avoiding her gaze. She lifted a hand and nudged his chin. "Hey, you. Look at me." He lifted his eyes, immediately getting lost in her chocolate brown orbs. She grinned, making butterflies flutter in his stomach. Which was odd. He'd never had such a reaction at seeing her smile. And why was looking her in the eye suddenly making his knees feel like Jell-O? "I'm not going anywhere, okay? You and me, we're gonna be partners forever. We're always gonna be friends. Right?" After a small pause, he managed to crack a half smile.

"Until the end," he agreed with a slight nod of his head. She flashed him her teeth, which was like a jumpstart to his heart. She held out her fist.

"That's right." They bumped fists. "I'm not going anywhere."

He lifted an eyebrow. "Promise?"

"I promise."

"Lu-chan!" Both teens jumped at the sudden third voice and turned. Levy was standing at the door with Mirajane, Lisanna, Erza, and Juvia. She waved her over. "Come on! Princess Hisui wants to talk with us!" Lucy smiled, and Natsu instantly noticed it was fake.

"Alright, alright, go ahead," she laughed, waving them away. "I'll catch up." The girls told her to hurry up as they turned and disappeared back into the crowd, leaving the two of them alone once again. Lucy looked up at the Dragon Slayer with a smile, which made his heart skip a beat. "So… I'll see you inside?" she asked hopefully. He couldn't help but chuckle as he nodded.

"Yeah." She giggled cutely, patting him on the shoulder as she turned to leave. But just as she reached the door, she stopped. She turned to look at him, and blinked several times, as if debating over something with herself. With a decision finally made, she walked back to him, placing one hand on his shoulder to balance herself as she stood on her toes, using the other to cup his right cheek. She planted a soft, lingering kiss on his other cheek, making his heart stop altogether. Sending him a shy smile, she turned and stepped through the door. Natsu stood with his feet planted firmly to the floor, his eyes wide with surprise.

His heart jumped back to life after he fully processed what had just happened, his cheeks flushing to a deep red. He slowly lifted a hand to his face, touching his fingertips to the spot her lips had just been. It was tingling. Lucy kissed him. She kissed him. Her lips were so soft, and they felt nice… right on his skin. His heart was pounding hard and fast against his chest, going faster and faster the longer he stood there. It was beating faster than it ever had in his life. But what he was most concerned about was… why? Why was he reacting this way? The whole time they'd been talking tonight, his body had been reacting to her differently, his heart in particular. Everything she said to him about them always being together, it made him… feel different.

Lucy kissed his cheek. Lucy Heartfilia – his gorgeous, funny, one-of-a-kind best friend – kissed his cheek.

.

..

...

What the fuck?

Thirty minutes later…

Lucy looked around, scanning the crowd for a familiar head of pink hair. Talking to Hisui was nice, but after a while, she wasn't even paying attention anymore. She was just fidgeting, waiting for Natsu to make an appearance. She took a sip of her cocktail – courtesy of Cana – and grimaced as it burned its way down her throat. She didn't really like alcohol, and wasn't quite sure why she was drinking it. Maybe it was to calm her down. Her heart had been beating nonstop since the moment her lips made contact with the skin on Natsu's cheek. She didn't know why she kissed him, but after thinking about it for a moment, it seemed she just really wanted to. She really wanted to talk to him, apologize for kissing him. If only she could—

"Luuu-cy," a voice suddenly spoke behind her. She stifled a shriek, and she felt a familiar, calloused hand brush her arm.

"Y-you-what-y-w-Natsu!" Lucy stammered, refraining from slapping him senseless for startling her. She turned to meet his eyes, which stared confidently back down at hers. She felt her anger melting away under their gaze.

"Did I scare you?" he teased, nudging her with his elbow. She scoffed and folded her arms.

"No, you didn't scare me," she said, her cheeks staining a light pink. "You just… startled me."

"Uh, huh," he uttered disbelievingly, a teasing smirk dancing on his lips. She looked at him, and realized what she had to do. But she was nervous. In fact, the longer she stared into those arrogant onyx eyes of his, the more she didn't want to bring up the kiss to him. So there was a long pause between the two teens, both of them waiting for the other to say something. Lucy felt her face heating, and she looked down to avoid Natsu noticing, rubbing her arm with her opposite hand. She had to apologize to him.

"Natsu—"

"Wanna dance with me?" he asked suddenly. Lucy looked up in surprise, and had to do a double take. Was Natsu… blushing? His question replayed in her head like a broken record.

"You… want to dance?" she asked slowly. "Like… dance, dance?" A shy smile stretched across his face, a light chuckle working its way up his throat.

"Uh… is there another kind of dance?" he asked rhetorically.

Lucy blushed. "Um… why?"

She was answered by one of his shrugs, his cheeks turning to a deeper red. "I dunno… I mean, we just defeated seven dragons. Not to mention we won the Daimatou Enbu. W-w-we…" He trailed off to clear his throat. "We should be celebrating. Right?"

"Um, I… suppose." He smiled brilliantly, taking her hand in his and gently leading her onto the dance floor. "Technically, though, we didn't defeat the dragons…"

He snorted. "Whatever." Keeping a tender hold on her hand as they stopped in the center of the room, he placed his left hand on her waist as she lifted hers to his shoulder, and they began swaying with the music.

"You can dance?" Lucy spoke to his chest (had he always been so tall?), hoping that the blood pounding in her heart wasn't rushing color to her face.

"Sorta," Natsu grinned as she twirled under his arm. "Erza made Gray and me learn how to when we were preparing for some infiltration mission…" The boy shuddered, and Lucy couldn't help but feel sympathy. She could just imagine it: the fiery redhead standing threateningly in front of the two boys, forcing them to hold each other awkwardly in the other's arms while swaying to the beat of Erza tapping her sword against the floor. "Not to mention that mission we went on awhile before the Daimatou Enbu."

Lucy laughed. "Oh, yeah. That mission went well, ne?"

"I think that's an understatement." Lucy gasped as she looked up at him. He cocked an eyebrow. "What?"

"You used a big word," she teased mockingly. Natsu chuckled.

"Shaddap." He stepped on her heeled foot.

"Ouch!"

He lifted his hand from her waist to scratch the back of his neck. "Sorry. That was unintentional. Honest."

"Yeah, yeah…" she sighed, ducking under his arm again. In the process of curling back toward him, Natsu tugged a little too hard, causing her to stumble lightly into his broad chest. The two paused for a moment. Lucy felt the blush for sure this time, and she quickly pressed her face against his chest in hopes of hiding it.

Thump, thump. Thump, thump.

His heart, Lucy realized with a goofy smile. His heart was beating just as fast as hers. Quite suddenly, Lucy couldn't help but wonder if the boy was as oblivious as he seemed, because at that moment, their eyes were locked on the other's, and his heated stare made her feel like she wasn't wearing anything at all. She swallowed as she felt the red on her cheeks darken a shade or two, suddenly hyperaware of his hand on her waist. She turned her head to rest back on his chest, and her eyes were set on the sight of their hands. She couldn't help but notice how small hers was compared to his. Her hand fit snuggly in his palm, his fingers curled gently over hers.

Natsu gulped, trying desperately to calm his frantically beating heart. Lucy's head was directly over it; she must be able to hear it as it thumped viciously against his chest. The thought made a light shade of pink dust across his cheeks. She was so close to him, their bodies pressed lightly together. Don't get him wrong, he's always known Lucy was a beautiful woman. I mean, anyone with a brain could see that she was drop-dead gorgeous. But, he's never really… acknowledged it before. He's not one to notice things like that. The thing that usually leaves a first impressive on him is how good a woman is in a fight. He never cared for how a woman looks. He's caught Lucy in her underwear multiple times, but he never stopped to stare. That just wasn't him.

But something about her wearing such an elegant dress, looking up at him as they dance, it made him take in her appearance, and appreciate it. Her hair was golden blonde, her eyes were the deepest chocolate brown Natsu had ever seen, her skin was flawless and creamy. He'd never seen a more beautiful woman.

Why was he noticing this now?

Natsu cleared his throat awkwardly, catching Lucy's attention and causing her to look up at him. "What's wrong?" she asked softly. He shook his head.

"Nothing." They began dancing again, their eyes locked, like some kind of force was holding their gaze. Natsu grinned. "Absolutely nothing." Lucy smiled back at him, blushing lightly. "Hey, Luce?"

"Hm?"

"About, uh… About what you did on the balcony…"

"Wh-what about it?" she stuttered nervously, finally breaking his gaze to look at anything but him. He took in a long breath through his nose, letting it out through his mouth.

"Why'd you do it?"

Lucy bit on her lip. "B-because I wanted to."

"Oh." There was a pause. Natsu swallowed the lump in his throat and stopped their movements. Lucy finally – albeit shyly – looked up at him, confused by the sudden halt.

"Wha—" She cut off, her breath catching in her throat. His eyes were dark with determination, but at the same time, they were obviously nervous. She felt the hand on her waist subtly pull her closer. The other one released her hand, reaching up to cup the side of her neck. Natsu took a chaste breath before leaning down and pressing his lips to hers. Lucy's eyes widened several fractions, her cheeks instantly flushing to a deep red. The kiss only lasted two seconds when Natsu pulled away, and upon seeing the look on her face, his face turned an identical shade of red. He cleared his throat and took a step back, scratching the back of his neck.

The blonde lifted her hand, touching her fingertips to her lips, blinking with surprise as they tingled. It was weird. The moment their lips touched, it was like an electric shock jolted through her body, and it made her wonder if he felt the same thing. She looked up at him through her lashes. He was avoiding her eyes, his cheeks red as he stared at the floor. He was still rubbing the back of his neck, and he was biting his lip, something she had never seen him do before. She'd never seen him blush so hard either. He looked quite the distraught wizard at the moment.

"W-why'd you do that?" she asked quietly, her voice barely audible over the music and people talking amongst themselves. He jumped as he looked up at her, as if she'd hit him. His face flushed darker at being on the spot, and he shrank between his shoulders, like a turtle hiding in its shell.

"Be… because I… I w-wanted to…" he sputtered, lifting his scarf and wrapping it around his head so the only visible part of his face was his eyes. Lucy couldn't help but smile at how cute he was when embarrassed. But then she fully processed what he'd said. Natsu… wanted to kiss her? "A-actually…" he added, his voice muffled from behind his scarf, "…I've wantedto… for a long time…" Lucy's heart skipped a beat.

"You've… wanted to kiss me?" she asked slowly. The Dragon Slayer peeked at her, making brief eye contact before looking back down as he nodded without a word. She tried to conceal her grin. "For how long?" Natsu began shuffling nervously on his feet, adjusting the scarf around his head to make sure it stayed in place. From what she could see at the area around his eyes, his face must be as red as Erza's hair by this point. He stuffed his free hand into the pocket of his dress pants, glancing this way and that, looking anywhere but at her. Lucy patiently clasped her hands behind her back, wanting to hear his answer but not wanting to pressure him into answering.

Finally, he shrugged. "I dunno…" he admitted softly. "But… I started feeling weird around you when we were on Tenrou Island…" Lucy's eye twitched. Weird? He felt weird around her? And what about Tenrou Island made him feel different around—

Oh. It was most likely her being tortured by Kain Hikaru. Now that she thought about it, he did seem a little more protective of her since the incident, especially during the tournament. She remembered hearing his pained scream right before she passed out during her fight with Minerva, his face when Colonel Arcadios said he needed a celestial wizard, when she was arrested. Was all of that Natsu just being Natsu? Or did he feel like he needed to protect her, because of what he witnessed on Tenrou Island?

"Weird how?" she inquired, wanting to know for certain what he meant. Natsu flinched. He was hoping she wouldn't ask him.

"Uh…" He paused, innocently shrugging his shoulders. "I dunno."

Lucy raised a skeptic eyebrow. "You don't know?" she echoed. "Natsu, they're your feelings. You have to know how they've changed, right? Besides, they're feelings about me. I have a right, as your best friend, to know how you feel about me, don't I?"

"Alright, alright!" he caved, moving his hands in a downward motion, as if telling someone to chill. "Sheesh…" He paused again, looking for the right words, keeping his scarf around his head. "Um… I get really scared when you're hurt. That's not weird, I suppose, though. You're my best friend, it's only natural for me to be concerned, but… I get really scared. It's kinda hard to explain. I get this weird, uncomfortable feeling in my stomach when you smile at me."

"Uncomfortable?"

"Y-yeah… It feels like butterflies flying in my belly." He made his point by lifting a hand and stroking his abdomen. "I know that sounds dumb, but it's the best way I can describe it. My heart pounds when you touch my hand. Making you laugh makes me grin like an idiot. Seeing you happy automatically makes me happy, too." There was a long pause. "When you hugged me the other day, when we won, it… it made me feel like I could do anything…" For the first time since the topic began, he made eye contact with her. He was surprised to see her blushing, nervously rubbing her arm, and looking down at her feet. Looking at her made another thought pop into his head. "Oh, and seeing you in that dress makes my heart stop altogether."

Lucy looked up at him, stunned. Had he really just said that? He shrugged and looked away. He jumped when he felt a hand on his face, and he turned to see Lucy was suddenly standing right in front of him. She gently pulled his scarf from his face, winding it back to its rightful place around his neck. She smiled at him.

"Are you telling the truth?" she whispered, her hands settling on his chest.

He nodded. "I know, it's stupid. I don't know why I feel the way I do. I-I've never felt this way before… about anyone…" Lucy shook her head.

"It's not stupid," she said, reaching her hands down to clasp his own, lacing their fingers together. This ultimately resulted in Natsu's cheeks setting aflame. "All of what you said; it's the sweetest thing I've ever heard." She released one of his hands to cup his cheek, brushing away strands of his hair that had fallen astray. "And I feel the exact way about you." Without giving him a chance to say anything else, she lifted herself up on her toes and captured his lips in a tender kiss. A small sound of surprise crawled up his throat, and his eyes widened a fraction.

The longer their lips stayed connected, the more he felt his body relaxing. He kissed her back, his eyes finally fluttering closed. He used his free arm to wrap around her back, pulling her a touch closer. His hand squeezed hers, and she responded by moving her hand to his neck, weaving her fingertips through his hair at the base of his skull.

"Well it's about damn time!" Gray shouted from several feet away. "How's it feel to suck face, dragon breath?" Without relinquishing the lip contact, both Natsu and Lucy used their hands that weren't connected to give their comrade the finger. Gray merely laughed and resumed his conversation with Juvia. He was glad to finally see two of his closest friends get together.

After they were sure Gray had got the message, their hands went back to their original place: Lucy's in his hair, and Natsu's on her back. With how happy both of them were, nothing could ruin the moment.

But somewhere else in the room, Lucy swore she heard Cana say something about "bets" and "paying up."

Author's Note: hey, guys! It's official! Hiro Mashima-kun is going to start up the anime again! WOO! It's been too long since I've seen a new episode… And am I the only one who's disappointed in the lack of Nalu in recent chapters? I was sure they were going to get together after the tournament. And don't Natsu and Gray seem more up in each other's asses than usual? I wonder what that's about, eh?

Anyway, I hope you guys liked it! Please leave a review, and go check out my other stories if you haven't already!

And to those of you who have checked out my story-in-progress, Shadows in the Sun, I'm officially going to take it down, rewrite it, and put it back up. I noticed a lot of mistakes in it, and I want to make it better. And by doing so, I want to wipe the slate clean. So be on the lookout for it, alright?