A/N: Damn, it's been a while since I wrote a Fairy Tail fanfic. I think about seven months? Either way, it's a long time. Enjoy this early Christmas present!
"So, what are your plans for Christmas Eve tonight, Luce?" Natsu asks during a pause in his and Lucy's otherwise steady conversation.
She hums in thought, twisting a particularly long length of blonde hair around her finger seemingly without knowing as she thinks about how to reply. "Oh, well, I'm just going to stay home tonight and drink hot cocoa by myself." She tells him through the computer screen.
Inwardly, Natsu sighs in relief, but on the outside, his smile drops. "Damn, Lucy, I'm so sorry you have to spend Christmas alone. I wish I could be there." She smiles, and he double checks his pocket to make sure the plane tickets are still secure.
Natsu Dragneel and Lucy Heartfilia had been dating for nearly five years now. Their anniversary was on Valentine's day, courtesy of their mutual red-headed friend, Erza Scarlet, who set them up that day on a blind date. Unfortunately, about one year into their relationship, Lucy had been accepted into a prestigious college halfway across the country, and he had opted to stay behind and attend college near home. This year she was finally graduating, and he couldn't be happier. Honestly, he hadn't expected it to last this long, but he was glad it did. It just goes to show, when two people had a steady Wi-Fi connection and a devotion to each other, anything could happen.
"What are you doing tonight, Natsu?" She asks, breaking him out of his trance.
He fiddles with the scarf,around his neck, thinking long and hard about how to make this realistic before replying, "Same as you, actually." He chuckles, trying not to sound awkward, and she joins in.
"Video chat tonight?" She questions after they stop laughing.
Natsu nods, confirming the pre-set time they had worked out about three months into the video-dating thing. Their different time-zones made it a necessity. "Wouldn't miss it for the world, sweetheart."
At this, Lucy blushes. She always loved his affectionate nicknames, no matter how sweet or cliché they got. Natsu wasn't big on nicknames himself - after all, 'Lucy' was a perfectly good name - but she liked them, and he lived to make her happy and see her wonderful smile. If he had that, he could stand to call her a few endearments every now and again.
"Great! Right now though, I have to go." Lucy interrupts, glancing at her watch and then back up at him. "See you tonight, I love you."
"Love you, too." He repeats, and they both lean in, kissing through the computer screen as they both close their Skype at the same time.
Natsu presses his forehead against the black screen, already picturing how soft Lucy's lips felt or how well she fit in his arms. He couldn't wait to hold her again.
"She doesn't suspect a thing, dad." He whispers, fingering the antique locket hanging around his neck. "I really wish you could've met her. You would've loved her." Natsu pops open the little charm, smiling fondly at the picture of him and his dearly departed dad, Igneel, inside. "I know I do."
But enough with the melancholy thoughts. He had a beautiful girlfriend to see, and he'd be damned if she spent Christmas alone.
He tucks the locket back into his shirt, double checking for his car keys while he's at it. He gives Happy, his pet cat, a quick scratch behind the ear as he exits his room. Once that's settled, Natsu shrugs on his winter coat, slips on his heavy boats, and grabs his pre-packed luggage before heading out.
The parking at the airport was a nightmare, as always, but he found a spot nonetheless and parked before heading inside, shivering. Because the ticket was pre-payed for, he could skip the line and head straight to the plane with his carry-on. He hands his boarding pass to the women at the counter, and kindly pretends not to notice her obvious flirting, before boarding the impressive scientific achievement.
The flight was two hours, as he'd have to switch planes to get to Lucy's apartment, but it wasn't an issue. He hadn't seen her in person since summer break. He could wait just a few more hours.
Unbeknownst to Natsu, across the county, and on the same airline no less, a young lady by the name of Lucy Heartfilia tucked her bag in the overhead storage compartment and sat down in her seat. She smiled at the thought of surprising Natsu like this. He didn't have a clue that she'd be there! It was the perfect plan.
Both planes arrive at their destination on time. Neither notices their partner while switching planes, and they both board according to plan.
Once Natsu's second plane lands, he hails a taxi a asks the driver to take him to the best flower stand in the city. There, he has to make a tough decision. He knew Lucy liked flowers, a lot, but she'd never been specific on her favorite type. He just grabbed one of everything, all in yellow, her favorite color. After all, he had money to burn, and if he could burn money, he certainly could spend some on the light of his life.
2,000 miles away, Lucy reached the same conclusion and walks out of a store with Natsu's favorite brand of chocolate under her arm, and her heavy coat under the other. It was a lot warmer here, so she'd just put it away when she got to Natsu's house. She doesn't hail a taxi, instead she walks. Natsu's apartment wasn't far, and anyways, it was such a beautiful day.
Meanwhile, Natsu gets out of the taxi and straightens his stupid bow-tie before paying the driver. He enters Lucy's apartment building and takes the elevator up to the fifth floor, waiting rather impatiently for it to arrive. As soon as it did, he stepped out and walked quickly down the hall, a grin creeping it's way onto his face. He knocks on her door and waits, holding the bouquet in front of him anxiously as he does so.
Back at Natsu's apartment, Lucy finally arrives at his door, smiling sweetly as she knocks. The door opens, and she's about to yell "Surprise!" before tackling her boyfriend in a long-awaited embrace, but her smile falters when she sees that it's not Natsu at the door, but rather his roommate and best friend, Gray Fullbuster. "Oh, hey, Gray." She greets pleasantly, her smile only slightly forced. "Man, it's been a while, hasn't it?"
He leans against the door frame nonchalantly once she's finished talking. His black hair, normally styled back, is limp and down to his neck. She figured that he must've just gotten out of the shower and had yet to style it. Plus the lack of a shirt was a dead give-away. "Yeah, it's been, what, nine months?" He asks. She nods in reply, but he keeps talking before she can say something else. "But let me guess, you're not here to hang out with me, are you?"
She grimaces, and shakes her head. "Sorry, Gray. But don't get me wrong, I would love to catch up sometime. I'm here to see Natsu today, though"
Gray frowns and stands up straight, causing her stomach to tighten with anxiety. "Uh, wow, I'm sorry, Lucy. He's out today. And tomorrow. He said he had a date, and I assumed that was you, but uh… sorry."
Her smile crumbles, and she looks up at him with wide, unbelieving brown eyes. "I- what?"
He shakes his head, looking both angered and heartbroken on her behalf. "Shit, I'm sorry you came all the way out just for this. When I see Natsu, I'll make sure to give him a good pounding for you, alright?"
Lucy doesn't respond, eyes fixed on the ground as if it's the most fascinating thing in the world. "...thanks for the offer, Gray, but that's alright... I'm just going to... go home now…" She mutters, choking back a sob before she turns, running away from the apartment as fast as she can. Gray calls after her, but doesn't follow, and she's grateful. She needed to be alone right now. Alone on a plane and headed home, that is.
After about half-an-hour of waiting by Lucy's door, Natsu eventually accepts that she's not home, and won't be for quite a while longer. He sighs sadly, and picks himself up off the ground, making his way to the elevator and down to the lobby. No one pays him much attention, and he's glad. He needed to be alone right now. Natsu was tempted to just walk back to the airport, but realized that was pretty stupid this late at night, even for him. Doing the wise thing and hailing a taxi, he huddles up in the back seat with his stuff and holds back tears.
As soon as the taxi stops in front of the airport, he jumps out and shoves a fistful of crumpled cash at the driver, not even checking the amount. Based on the driver's happy squeal, it's way too much, though he doesn't care. He purchases a ticket to the halfway mark, directly between his and Lucy's locations, and gets comfy in one of the chairs. He had a long wait ahead of him if the plane was leaving in an hour. He didn't care about that, either. The only thing that mattered, the only thing he'd ever truly cared about, was Lucy, and she was most likely cheating on him.
Go figure.
In a similar setting, Lucy finally stands from her chair as the loudspeaker announces the last call for her plane. She shuffles over to the entrance and hands over the necessary information before climbing into the terminal. They shut the doors behind her, and she gets inside the plane just as the stewardess comes up to announce the safety information everyone already knew. The flight was pretty empty, so she selects a seat in the back, alone and near a window. She puts her carry-on down next to her so no one will sit there and settles in for the three hour flight.
After about an hour of waiting, Natsu's plane finally begins to board. He can't wait to get home and finally let it all out, maybe rant to Gray a little, and hurries to the plane. Luckily, not many people are getting on it, and the few that are decide that they have better places to be than an airport, resulting in them taking off a few minutes ahead of schedule. Natsu relaxes into his seat, or tries to rather, preparing for the two hour flight ahead of him.
Both of their planes land in the same airport.
Lucy's is a little behind, due to turbulence, and she wobbles out only slightly dazed and completely heartbroken. She makes her way over to baggage claim, and waits for the luggage to come down.
In the meantime, because Natsu had taken all his stuff in carry-on, he was just wasting time by trying to call Gray. For some reason though, his friend wasn't answering, and he decided to give up for now.
He walks over to the ticket counter, and waits patiently in line for the people in front of him to get theirs. While he's waiting, Natsu looks around the building. He had never liked being still, not for extended periods of time anyway, and neither did his eyes.
His gaze settles on a familiar light-haired girl wearing a pink winter jacket, and his jaw goes slack. Bag still strapped on over one shoulder, Natsu makes his way numbly to the girl, reaching out to touch her when-
She swings around, pepper spray in hand, and sprays him directly between the eyes.
His eyes had closed just before the majority of it hit, but it still stung like Hell, and he howls in pain. Lucy drops her spray, having realized that it was Natsu, and panics, grabbing him by the arm and tugging him to where he assumed the bathrooms were.
"Oh, god dammit." she curses as he hobbles along behind her. Natsu hear a door swing open, but either it's empty or no one really cares, because not a single person says a thing besides Lucy. "Damn it all to Hell. Natsu, I'm so sorry."
He hears the faucet being turned on, and then she splashes cold water onto his face, trying to help get rid of the pepper spray residue. It takes a few minutes, some rather furious scrubbing on his part, and about a pound of paper towels, but eventually, Natsu opens his eyes again.
He blinks a few times, still a bit uncomfortable, and stares at Lucy, who stares back, neither saying a word.
"Luce, what are you doing here?" He asks after a long moment.
She responds immediately. "I was heading home from your place after Gray told me you weren't there anymore." This time, the memory doesn't make her tear up. She tilts her head to the side, confused. "What are you doing, then?"
Natsu gives a forced laugh, rubbing the back of his neck awkwardly. "I was doing the same. You didn't answer the door, so I figured that I might as well head home. Alone."
There's another long pause, this one lasting a solid minute as both of them put the pieces together before Lucy snorts. She covers her mouth, grinning, only to do it again, and again, until she's laughing so hard her side hurts and tears are streaming down her face. Natsu can't help but join in. No matter how weird her laugh may seem, it was highly contagious, and he fell for it every time.
As the laughter dies down, he grins widely and crosses the distance between them in just a few short strides. Her laughter is cut short by a surprised gasp when he wraps an arm around her waist, pulling her close and kissing her long and deep. She hums in delight and presses closer.
"I love you so damn much, Lucy." He mutters breathlessly against her lips.
"And I love you." She replies, face flushed, as they lean in again.
Above, a speaker announces that the airport is shut down for the next few hours due to heavy snow, not that either of them notice. They were in their own little word. A world which consisted of three things; 1) Lucy, 2) Natsu, and 3) the endless time they had together.
Nothing else mattered in their eyes.
They walk out of what Natsu realized was the women's bathroom holding hands, and take a seat together on one of the many benches scattered around the building.
Cuddling Lucy by the light of the fluorescent airport lights, Natsu decides that he, Natsu Dragneel, is the luckiest and most loved man in the world. He presses a quick kiss against the tip of Lucy's nose, and she smirks before pulling him down by the collar for a real kiss.
As they pull away, something behind her catches his eye. It's an advertisement, of course, but one for wedding and engagement rings. At the sight of the all-white sign, his mind immediately pictures the small, black velvet box tucked neatly into his safe at home.
Soon, Natsu, he thinks, staring down at the perfect woman in his arms lovingly. Very soon.
A/N: I apologize for my horrible story.