A/N: This is my first time doing one of these stories where you take the most recent Manga chapter and create a story from it, so don't judge if it's not too good!
"Luce!" Natsu shouted, jumping up to stand next to Lucy, Lucy jumped back as he landed next to her, he had just jumped from the center of the arena up to the melting stone, that's just how powerful he was now, where Lucy was standing. Natsu then hugged Lucy, before noticing the melted, they were barely there, clothes that she had on, he immediately put his cloak on her, before wrapping it up with the piece of cloth that had held it on his back around her chest, so it would stay on. He had learned a lot in the year he'd been gone, he'd bonded with Gildarts a lot over it, and discussed all of his behavior before, and learned what he'd done right and wrong in his relationship with Lucy, he had missed her every day he didn't see her, which was long enough for him to realize the feelings he had so childishly put down before. She stood there, frozen, as if she were a statue, Natsu began worrying, What if she fainted because of the heat, what if I melted Lucy and this is a statue, what if she died out of shock?! Natsu pushed Lucy out of his embrace, he had apparently embraced her while he was worrying, her head was down enough that he couldn't see her face, he stared at her, analyzing how different she was, she had longer hair, it was all kept in a ponytail, except for maybe 2 or 3 strands, her chest, gosh, he just couldn't stop looking at it, was much larger than before, and that was saying something.
He's really here, isn't he? Lucy thought as she was in his embrace, he just disappeared for over a year, and then comes back saying, "Yo, it's been such a long time, Luce?" It was just driving her crazy, the feelings she had kept down for over a year, began to boil, she hadn't seen anyone since, heard no word from Natsu, and when he comes back, he doesn't even say sorry, what did she see in him?! Finally, she noticed the cloak and cloth covering her chest, and she couldn't see his face, but in all honesty, she was too emotional to notice his worried face, so she looked up at him, her eyes were watery, she felt like they would fall out at any moment, she lifted her hand, and slapped him straight across his face. He could smell the tears running down her face, as if he couldn't see them as he stared at her in shock, holding his red cheek, she looked the same as the days he'd seen her cry, only now, she looked more hurt, even more than when her father died, or when she lost Aquarius' key, he stared at her, as she stared back through watery eyes.
"Where have you been?" she whispered, he heard her, but he didn't bother responding, as obviously, if it was whispered, it wasn't meant to be answered, while Lucy was trembling, neither sure whether because of anger or sadness, "WHERE HAVE YOU BEEN?!" she shouted even louder, Natsu flinched, he had worked on honing his hearing, but Lucy didn't notice, she just kept going, "I have been waiting here for over a year! I've been here alone, all alone, with no one to visit me, and no one to help me! DO YOU KNOW HOW HURT I WAS, EVERYONE LEFT ME, AND THE ONE PERSON I THOUGHT WOULD NEVER LEAVE ME, LEFT FIRST! AND AFTER THAT, I HEARD THAT FAIRY TAIL WAS DISBANDED, EVERYTHING THAT I HAD IN MY LIFE CRUMBLED AWAY, ALL OF MY FRIENDS AND FAMILY LEFT WITHIN ONE WEEK! AFTER THAT, IT TOOK ME 2 MONTHS TO ACTUALLY GET MY LIFE MOVING AGAIN, AND THAT WAS WITH THE HELP OF MY SPIRITS, IT WOULD HAVE HELPED IF YOU HAD AT LEAST SENT A LETTER, CONTACTED ME TO LET ME KNOW THAT YOU WERE ALRIGHT, THAT YOU WEREN'T DEAD!" her cries echoed throughout the empty arena, everyone except Happy was long gone, and even Happy knew to fly high enough to avoid this, Natsu stared at her, he'd never thought she'd felt this way, but he knew she wasn't ok, he'd left her alone for a year, and now, he had to face the consequences, she cried into her hands, and Natsu just couldn't stand that, he ran to Lucy, and hugged her.
"Luce..." he held her there, just like that, he took in her scent, god, did he miss that scent of strawberries and and paper, it was just, so, Lucy, and he would never tire of it, never ever, he put his head into her hair, just to absorb the scent. Lucy felt warm arms around her, as well as a warm body in front of her, she knew who it was already, and she took her hands off of her face, and wrapped them around him, she felt so safe, and warm, and loved, but that was not one of Natsu's feelings, she thought, Silly Lucy! 'I love you..." he muttered into her hair, just loud enough for it to echo slightly in the arena, but not loud enough for it to be shouting or anything, Lucy was surprised, but she decided something in her mind, she'd waited one whole year to do this, she pulled back, and leaned her head up for Natsu's lips to hit hers. It was wonderful, it felt like they had held it for hours, when they finally released for air, Natsu and Lucy smiled at each other, "So, can I take that as a yes?" she nodded as their lips met again, both of them unable to stay away from the other, unbeknownst to them, a certain matchmaker was video taping the whole thing silently...
*Time skip-1 year later*
"I do!" Lucy cried as she rushed ahead and kissed Natsu square on the lips as best as she could with the baby bump she had, but it worked out, everyone cheered, the two mages were meant for each other, everyone could tell, Mira had gathered them all, she had somehow found everyone in time to show them the video of Natsu and Lucy kissing, to ensure that 'NaLu', some weird term that Mira used, was official. Lucy, not one to wait, plus, she had practiced this aim for forever, threw the bouquet in the air, it went towards a certain bluenette who caught it in her hands just barely.
"EH?" Levy gasped, she didn't expect this, Lucy, who planned this whole thing, walked over to Levy, and elbowed her.
"Ooh, Levy, guess who's next?" Lucy teased as Levy's face turned Erza-red, while Lucy, who left Levy to do deal with Mira, who was muttering, 'GaLe, GaLe, GaLe...' as she felt her waist grabbed, her head turned to find her new husband, she gave him a quick peck, "Why, hello there, honey." she smiled staring at him, as he pecked back.
"Well, I was figuring we might need to postpone our honeymoon to go on a quick mission by ourselves." Natsu said, smirking at her, knowing her answer already, as she turned around and looked at him with a confident look.
"Ok, just don't keep me waiting another year, Natsu." she gave him one long kiss, before everyone else was cooing over the two, causing them to rush out the door, and as they left, a green appeared on Natsu's face, just from thinking about transportation, as Lucy laughed, they ran into the night, full of stars, each counting for every day they would have together, and all of the days they would never be apart, ever again.