Flares of Affection

Standard Disclaimer Applied

Chapter One: Flame

It was hard not to notice Lucy. It was even harder when he was so used to being around the blonde that he couldn't think of not being around her, thus making him notice her more.

When she moved a few steps forward, he followed her with his eyes.

When she waved at him, he couldn't help but wave back.

When she blushed around him, he couldn't help but feel the butterflies in his stomach.

It was simple. It was routine.

Lucy was always there.

So when Natsu found out Lucy had gone on a mission by herself, he, pun intended, blew up.

"WHAT!"

It was a very loud wake up call, in any case, as the few members who had come to the guild early looked over at an enraged dragon slayer holding a charred note in his hands.

He walked swiftly over to where Mira was wiping down the glasses then promptly deposited the note unto the bar counter.

For the record, the bar maid merely glanced at the ash then raised an eyebrow at him in confusion. "Natsu, is something wrong?" She asked with a smile on her face.

Natsu growled. "That was a note I found in Lucy's apartment this morning."

Mira stared at him before her eyes widened in realization. "Ah yes… Lucy…" She muttered to herself before looking back down at the glasses in deep thought.

"You know where she went Mira!" He accused the pretty bar maid. "Why didn't you stop her?"

Mira did nothing to deny the accusation, for it was true that she knew where Lucy had gone due to the fact that she more or less recorded who took the missions. She just hummed in a quiet agreement before picking up another glass and cleaning it as well.

Natsu merely growled in response in front of her.

"Hey Flame Brain, what the hell is your problem this early in the morning?" A familiar voice called to him.

He turned only to glare at Gray as he sauntered over, stripped down to his pants as usual. "Did you know that Lucy took a job by herself?" He growled at the ice mage.

Gray raised an eyebrow. He looked up pondering, "So that's why she didn't want to tell me where she was going this morning…"

Natsu snarled at him. "You saw her leave? And you didn't even stop her?"

"How was I supposed to know she was going on a mission? She usually goes with us!"

"That's the whole point!" Natsu raged.

"Natsu." Mira spoke quietly. "Lucy will be fine. It was an easy mission."

"I don't CARE!" Natsu yelled. "Lucy shouldn't have gone by herself! What if she gets hurt? Or she gets kidnapped? Or even-"

"Natsu!" Mira glared at him, reminding him faintly that Mira had gotten her powers back and he should be very scared right now, but he was worried and he was going to push away that fear to make sure his friend was safe.

"Lucy is fine. It was just a simple escort mission to Hargeon Town." She told him in exasperation. "You know Lucy is strong enough to take care of herself. She won't appreciate being looked down upon."

Natsu flinched. "I'm not- I'm just worried-"

"I know Natsu," Mira smiled at him gently. "But I know she'll be fine. In any case, she'll be back by tomorrow so don't worry."

Natsu stared at her, looked down at the ash on the counter, and then rubbed the back of his neck before sitting on the stool and placing his head on the bar. Mira merely smiled at him before preparing him a fire whiskey and placing it beside his head.

As she turned around, she heard a quiet voice mutter, "You really think she'll be safe Mira?"

She looked back at him with a smile. "I know she will."

The next day, Mira smiled as Natsu sat at the table closest to the door, completely ignoring the flaming food that was currently being burned to oblivion in front of him. He stared almost angrily at the door as he tapped his fingers on the table repeatedly.

Whenever the door opened, his eyes would light up before turning downtrodden at not seeing the stellar spirit mage at the entrance.

He reminded her of flame. When the wind blew, in this case, the door, the flame would weaken, before burning bright again, only a little smaller than before. Mira idly thought maybe Lucy was his sun. She was certainly bright enough to be one, and didn't fire need the sun to truly shine?

The process repeated, until finally, around noon, when the sun was shining high in the sky, the door opened with a small creak. The sun shadowed the figure standing at the entrance, but Natsu would recognize the hairstyle anywhere.

"LUCY!" Was the only warning the blonde had before being run over by an eccentric dragon slayer.

Mira only smiled at the slowly turning blue Stellar Spirit mage as Natsu hugged her tightly. She turned back to her cleaning smiling.

Everything is normal again.

As usual, short. Hopefully though, sweet. =)

I do pray that Grays will come out better as this was a spilt decision to make. I hope you guys like it though.

Please review. =)