In one of Fairy Tail's darker, more secluded corners sat Natsu Dragneel, whose body was currently covered in bandages and bruises. He supposed that he had brought his current condition upon himself; he'd had the audacity to sneak into Lucy's apartment, which was bad enough on its own, then read her diary.
And that was how she found Natsu after a day of shopping, lounging on her couch in her home reading her very personal diary.
Lucy was not amused.
Natsu groaned as her remembered just how much damage Lucy could cause with a wooden spoon and her bare hands. Luckily, Natsu had managed to salvage a small souvenir from his daring mission. Wincing, he reached into his pocket and pulled out a crumpled ball of paper, then began to smooth it out on top of table in front of him.
A light pink blush covered Natsu's cheeks as he read the page for the hundredth time that day. The entry was dated a couple days ago, making it very recent, and the words were simple and straight to the point, making him think that maybe, just maybe, they were written just for him to read.
"I think I'm in love with Natsu Dragneel."
With a stupid grin Natsu stuffed the page back into his pocket, then heaved himself out of his chair and hobbled to the entrance of Fairy Tail. With quite a bit of power, Natsu flung open the doors and took a deep breath of the crisp, Magnolia air. As he set off in the direction of Strawberry Street, Natsu decided that if notes like this were the reward, then the pain was definitely worth it.