Note 1: Story occurs before all the characters' outfits were changed.
Note 2: Sorry for any OOCness! .

Pairing: Lucy x Natsu

Summary: She's cold. He's hot. And they're both in a tent. What more is there to say?

Disclaimer: I do not own Fairy Tail.

She could hear the howling of the wind and the light snoring coming from the tent next over. It was rather soothing, and it gave her a feeling of security and comfort, if it weren't for the low temperature right now.

The snow combined with the wind was almost impossible to see through, making it the perfect resting point for the night, which had fallen rather quickly. There were no caves in sight, so they resorted to camping out, which brought her to her current situation.

Outside, the sky was dark and the moon had already risen to the peak of the sky.

She shivered.

Ugh, where's that extra jacket I keep around me all the time…

She could roughly make out everything in her tent, but that should be more than enough to find that makeshift blanket of hers. It wouldn't be able to provide her with the warmth she needed, but it was better than nothing.

Heck, why didn't she just call Horologium out? She could just sit inside and hope her own heat would keep her warm. Her frozen fingers searched through her keys, fumbling with them until her eyes laid on one particular key.

"O-open the d-d-d-door of the c-clock: Horologium," she whispered, careful not to wake up her two teammates, who seemed to be sleeping soundly in the next tent over. However, nothing came out. No poof, no smoke, no cool effects, and most importantly, no giant grandfather clock. Hmm, that's strange. Did I stutter too much? Well, I can't help it! I'm cold!

Rubbing her arms with her palms, she braced herself and tried once more. "O-open the door of the clock: Horologium!" Louder this time. Still, nothing happened.

Oh yeah, he told me not to call him out at this time. She recalled her conversation with the clock. Something about how he was very "strict about time" (with him being a clock and everything) and he would not come out after 12AM. She checked her watch. Sure enough, it was 12:01. "Great," Lucy muttered sarcastically, rolling her eyes. Well, even if she did manage to call him out, he wouldn't fit in the tent. She would have had to summon him outside. And how troublesome would that be for her.

And why was she stranded with Happy and Natsu on an ice field? Well, you can blame a certain fire mage for that.

"Lucy! Let's go do a job!" The pyromancer exclaimed excitedly.

"No!" She backed away. "No, no, no, no! We just got back from our last one!"

"But we're fine already. Come on, don't you need the money too?" Natsu whined.

"Okay, that's true, but…"

"No buts! I'm picking you up tomorrow morning!"

And just like that, he left, leaving a happy Happy trailing behind him. No pun intended.

And why didn't Erza and Gray come with them? Easy, they were busy. Apparently, Erza had to attend a sweet fest (lasting a couple of days) and Gray had to go to an ice sculpting contest (which apparently requires a couple days training beforehand).

As she sneezed for the billionth time that night, she was vaguely reminded of the time she and Natsu went to rescue Macao, where she ended up on a snowy mountain. That time, they didn't camp out, since it was relatively close to town. This mission, however, required a longer transportation period, and knowing how weak to transportation Natsu was, the three of them had to settle down and rest first.

She sneezed again. Her nose probably resembled Rudolph's by now, but she couldn't tell even if she had a mirror with her. It was just too dark. And now she was supposed to survive the whole night freezing like this?

She had been more prepared this time, dressed in layers and such. On the other hand, Natsu had been dressed in his usual sleeveless attire. How does he do it? Oh right, he's a fire mage… man, those people are hot…temperature wise.

Suddenly, she felt a burst of icy wind. It sent chills down her back and she huddled her legs closer to her body. Where was the wind coming from?

"Lucy?"

"N-natsu? What are you do- W-WAIT MORE IMPORTANTLY, Z-ZIP THE DOOR B-BACK UP FIRST!" Her lips trembled and her teeth chattered, making speaking clearly that much more difficult.

"Huh? Oh, this?" He gestured towards the unzipped flap being blown violently by the wind. She nodded vigorously. "Okay, if you say so." He stepped inside the tent and knelt down, zipping the door back up, to Lucy's relief.

"Thank you," she sighed. Suddenly, her tent seemed a lot warmer. Maybe having Natsu in the tent was a good thing.

"You're wel- Whoa, Lucy! Aren't you hot?" He asked with oblivion.

She looked down at the layers she had over herself. "No, not really. In fact, I'm freezing. I know you're a fire mage and everything, but still, a sleeveless top?" Her eyes unconsciously wandered to his toned upper body. She couldn't see much due to the dark, but she'd be blind not to see how those muscles flexed whenever he moved. He wasn't very buff, unlike Elfman, and she was pretty relieved at that too. If she had to deal with those rippling muscles every single day, she wouldn't feel comfortable, no offense to Elfman though. That just…wasn't her type, but Natsu was someone comfortable to hang around with.

"Oh, I'm pretty warm. See?" He placed a warm hand on her cheeks and her body immediately melted into his touch. "Man, you weren't lying when you said you were freezing. Why didn't you call me before?" His voice showed concern, and although she couldn't make out his expression, she knew it didn't betray his voice.

"You were fast asleep." She closed her eyes and tried to gather as much heat as she could from that one hand. Suddenly, her eyes snapped open. "Hold on, where's Happy?"

"He's sleeping in the other tent. Don't worry; he's pretty warm himself." She heard him smile through his voice. "You should be worrying about yourself right now."

I am worrying. She rolled her eyes on instinct, but was more than happy to hear that he cared. "Thanks," she beamed up at him in what she hoped was gratefulness. She didn't know how her facial expressions would turn out in this cold weather. Then again, he might not be able to see.

"For what?" He asked slowly.

"For everything. Being here. Caring. Worrying. So," she paused, "thanks."

He didn't respond, so she thought he might have fallen asleep sitting up. "Nats-" All of a sudden, she felt a pair of warm, hot even, hands encircle themselves around her shoulders. "Na-Na-Na-Natsu?" What is he doing?

"Making sure my teammate doesn't die on me."

O-oh. She felt herself become disappointed. And here I thought it meant something more. "You're so warm, Natsu," she practically moaned. Then, realizing what she might have just sounded like, she tensed up.

"What's wrong?" Natsu questioned with concern. "You're not cold again, are you?"

Telling herself that Natsu hadn't noticed her tone earlier, she shook her head. "No. Thanks, again." Lucy smiled and nuzzled her face against his shoulder, grabbing as much warmth as she could.

She felt Natsu tighten his grip on her shoulders. "You know, I'm kind of scared to leave you alone."

"Hm?" At this point, Lucy was barely able to register what he was saying. The only thing on her mind was the warmth of Natsu's body and how blissfully right it felt being surrounded by it.

"I mean, what if I come back tomorrow and find you dead from the cold?" He chuckled nervously.

"Hm," she hummed softly, her voice muffled by his chest.

"So," he breathed out, the warm air grazing over her head, "I'll sleep with you for the remainder of the night."

"Hm- WHAT?" At this, the wheels in her mind started turning again. "No. No. Just no. That is NOT righ-"

"Yeah, yeah," he hushed her and brought her back down onto her sleeping bag. He tucked her in and snuggled beside her. "Say whatever you want, but you and I both know that you need me most right now."

He sounded so smug that she wanted to hit and yell at him, but she decided against it. He was her only source of heat right now. She kept her mouth shut and stared at him instead. After having adjusted to the darkness, she could vaguely make out the expression on Natsu's face. She thought he would be smirking victoriously at how she had submitted so easily to him, but he wasn't. Instead, she saw the most serious expression she had ever seen on Natsu's face, one that she had no idea he could even make.

"Natsu," she whispered breathlessly, her breath coming out in puffs of white air. He gave her a reassuring smile just then.

"Sleep. I'll keep you warm."

He rearranged the top of the sleeping bag so it would cover her some more. Then, he moved around a bit until their chests were merely inches apart and held her close.

Without another word, she nodded and fell into a deep slumber full of warmth, more warmth, and Natsu. The whole time, his arm remained on top of her, providing and trapping what heat he could.

Somehow, she wasn't surprised to find herself in the morning completely buried under Natsu as he snored, his limbs spread out across her. She sighed happily, inhaled, and got ready to give her teammate the biggest (and loudest) wake-up call of his life.

A/N: Lot's of love for reading! I love reading reviews (whether positive or negative), so do leave a review!

Next Up: Lucy x Gray