Love Fern
Disclaimer – I do not own Fairy Tail
Summary: Natsu doesn't want Gray to let their love die.
Author's Note: I went on a romantic movie binge to get ideas. How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days had me cracking up, so I borrowed the love fern.
Love Fern (Rated T)
Since neither of them had ever had a boyfriend before, let alone dated anyone, Gray and Natsu weren't quite sure what to do for their one year anniversary of being together. After much thought, they were clear on one thing: they didn't want their anniversary to adhere to any of the clichés out there.
So the two of them had opted for something a little more simplistic. They would exchange gifts, but these gifts had to be symbolic of their love in some way. Basically, their gifts to each other would represent their love.
Gray, being of sound body and mind, went out of his way to have something crafted specially for this occasion, and he was quite proud of the results. Giving it to the one he loved for this past year—even with their ups and downs—meant more to him than he would ever care to admit.
Carefully carrying a box that had been wrapped in red wrapping paper, the ice mage headed for the living room, where he and Natsu said they would exchange their gifts. Spotting Natsu in the center of the room, Gray let a small smile grace his features as he approached him.
"Happy Anniversary, Natsu," he stated softly, adoration accentuating his tone as he passed the fire mage his gift.
"Thank you, Gray." Natsu immediately began unwrapping the box.
After he pulled open the lid, he gasped before pulling out a medium sized orb that was nearly as big as his head. The orb seemed to be made of ice since it was cool to the touch, but it didn't melt. And within it flickered a brilliant flame.
"What do you think?" asked Gray, growing slightly impatient because the fire mage had yet to utter a word—which was completely unlike him.
"I…I love it, Gray. It's beautiful." Setting the orb back into the box as gently as he could, Natsu threw himself at the ice mage and hugged him for all he was worth.
"Where's my gift?"
Natsu leaned back and glared at him slightly, a little angered that his boyfriend had disrupted such an endearing moment. "Fine. I'll go get him," he said as he left the room.
Gray blanched. Wait. Get him? Who was him? Natsu didn't get them a pet, did he? Or worse! Well, maybe not worse. But he wasn't ready to be a father yet!
While the ice mage continued his worst case scenario tirade inside his head, he failed to notice Natsu reentering the living room.
"Uh…Gray? You okay?" the fire mage questioned hesitantly.
"What?" the ice mage responded, his head snapping up. "I'm fine. What…is that?"
Natsu cradled the object he was holding as if offended by the question. "He," the fire mage started, "is our love fern."
Gray looked back at the green…bushy thing Natsu was holding. "Love fern? What the hell is a love fern?"
"You haven't heard of it before?" When Gray shook his head, Natsu continued. "A love fern is something that represents our love. We have to take care of him because that means we're going to take care of our love. If you let him die, our love dies. Got it?"
The ice mage looked skeptical. And why did Natsu keep calling that thing a him? "And why is this…love fern a…boy?"
"Because I named him Bob," Natsu answered matter-of-factly.
Gray actually had the audacity to allow his jaw to drop after hearing this. Great. Just great. The entity that would epitomize their epic love for one another was Bob. How…anticlimactic.
"You aren't going to let our love die, are you?" the fire mage inquired, noticing the lack of a positive reaction on his boyfriend's face.
"No! Absolutely not! You just…took me by surprise," Gray stammered in response. "I'd be happy to care of it—I mean…Bob."
Natsu smiled. "Good! You can keep him in the living room. And don't forget to water him."
When the fire mage passed Bob to him, Gray stared at the plant and sighed. He had to take care of a plant now? He didn't know how to take care of a plant! But what if this thing did die? Oh, no! What if Natsu broke up with him because the plant died and assumed that he was letting their love die?
A conversation with Lucy was definitely in order. He needed to find out where they sold these love ferns…just in case.
Gray was on the verge of having a heart attack. How could things have gotten so out of hand so fast? He'd only decided to bring Bob the Love Fern to the guild to prevent Natsu from asking him about it and inspecting it every two seconds. The ice mage had placed Bob on a table off to the side of the guil, watered it every single day, made sure it had an appropriate amount of sunlight and fresh air…
AND NOW IT WAS DYING!
Bob, which had once been lush and green, was now a sickly yellow and droopy. What had happened? He hadn't done anything wrong, and the plant was dead!
…Natsu was going to kill him.
"Gray, Natsu's looking for you," announced Happy as he flew by. Gray felt like strangling the Exceed. At a time like this, seeing Natsu was the last thing he wanted.
"Okay," the ice mage responded. Did his voice just crack?
Natsu soon reached Gray with a smile on his face, but that quickly faded when his eyes landed on Bob. He slowly approached the table, his hand reaching out to lightly stroke one of the leaves.
"Gray?" the fire mage croaked. "What did you do?"
"I-I didn't do anything! Bob is just…he's sleeping! Yes! He's just sleeping!" Gray cringed at his excuse. Not even a child would believe that.
"He's dead, Gray," Natsu deadpanned, looking up at the ice mage.
At this, he gave in. "I don't know how it happened. I swear! I watered him every fucking day, made sure he got sunlight. I even took him outside so he could get some air!" Boy, did he feel stupid referring to this plant as a person.
Natsu looked back at the plant and cocked his head to the side. The next thing Gray knew, the fire mage bent forward and sniffed. What the hell was he doing?
Realization flashed across Natsu's face and he started piecing things together, which only made the ice mage even more confused. Picking up Bob, the fire mage stormed to the other side of the guild, Gray hot on his heels.
Suddenly, Natsu stopped in front of the table Juvia sat at with Lucy and Levy, slamming Bob down on it.
"You," the fire mage spat.
Juvia looked hesitant and…guilty?
"You killed Bob," Natsu declared, eyeing her angrily.
"Juvia did no such thing!" she protested.
"Shut the hell up! I know you did it! When I walked by you before going over there, I noticed that you smelled like bleach! And Bob also smells like bleach! You've been poisoning Bob!"
Juvia gaped at him. "Even if that were true, why would Juvia do such a thing?"
"Because you're jealous!" Natsu shouted, slamming his hands down on the table. "You knew about love ferns because I heard you talking about them with Mira the other day. And you figured that if Bob died that I would leave Gray. As if that would ever give you a chance with him!"
"Gray-sama is more deserving of Juvia than he is of Natsu-san!"
Gray was about to step in, but Natsu beat him to it.
"Please! You could turn into a guy and I'd still have more of a chance with him than you if I shaved my head and decided that I'd want to live out my life as a mime!"
"How dare Natsu-san speak to Juvia that way!"
"No," Natsu said softly. "How dare you think that I'd let something like this get between me and Gray. He's a cold-hearted, stripping bastard, and he went out of his way to take care of a plant because it meant something to me. He wanted to make me happy. He was willing to try even if it meant being ridiculed or even if he killed the damn thing.
"Hell, he even referred to it as Bob. What kind of a boyfriend does that? I'll tell you. One who respects me. One who would do anything to show me that I mean the world to him. I love Gray. And he loves me.
"Now get a grip and chase after somebody else! Like Lyon! Gray's mine! You got that?" Natsu roared.
"Gray-sama!" she squawked, looking at Gray for help. She didn't receive it.
"You heard him," Gray stated coldly. "Go after Lyon. He's head over heels for you, anyway."
Juvia stood, huffing in the process as she left the guild.
Natsu turned around then, wrapping his arms around Gray's neck before pulling him into the sweetest kiss they'd ever shared.
"I love you so much, Natsu," he sighed, going in for another kiss. "So much."
"I love you, too," the fire mage chuckled. "How about we forget the whole love fern thing?"
No argument there.
"I was kind of thinking we could get a pet this time."
Gray blanched. First a plant, now a live animal? Well, it could have been a human being. But, he supposed a pet would do them just fine for now.
End