"So Natsu, when are you and Lucy going to tie the knot?"
Wendy's pigtails bounced as she abruptly turned her head towards the fire dragon slayer and ice mage seated at the table beside her. Gray's question piqued her interest.
"I don't know. We haven't really discussed marriage," Natsu replied before taking a bite out of the pastry he was holding.
Gray leaned back in his seat and raised his eyebrow. "Do you want to marry her?"
Happy's eyes sparkled and a mischievous grin appeared on his face. "Yeah do you, Natsu?!"
Natsu remained silent for a second before speaking up. "Yes I do, but I don't know if she does."
"Um...I think she does," the dark blue haired girl shyly spoke up. "I saw her staring at a wedding dress that was on display at a shop."
"I saw her 's no way she is not thinking about settling down with you," Erza chimed in, taking a seat next to Wendy.
"She really loves you," Happy teased, chewing on a fish.
"I agree. You should propose to her," Gray suggested, nudging his elbow against Natsu's arm.
"Okay I will!" Natsu exclaimed, grinning from ear to ear.
"How are you going to propose to her?!" Mirajane asked, joining the conversation. Her excitement cause Wendy to giggle. Mira was always passionate about knowing the details of everyone's love life.
The grin immediately vanished from Natsu's face, and he rested his chin against his hand. "I don't really know. Should I just get a ring and ask her?"
Mira's eyes sparkled. "You should do something unique and really romantic!" she squealed.
"Lucy would love something romantic. I've read some of her short romantic stories," Happy giggled.
"Like what?" Natsu questioned.
"Hmm I have an idea, but I will need some people to help me," Mira said, looking around the guild.
"I can help! Anything for Lu," Levy offered.
"So can I!" Lisanna spoke up from behind the bar.
"Count us in," Gray said with Juvia nodding beside him. A few other guildmates agreed to help as well.
"Jellal and I can help Natsu pick out a ring," Erza offered.
Mira smiled widely. "Awesome! I have a great idea."
Natsu stared at everyone in amazement. "Wow thank you everyone!"
"What if Lucy walks in while Mira discusses the plan?" Lisanna asked with worry etched on her countenance.
"She's busy writing right now, so she'll probably not come. If she does, I'll be able to smell her before she arrives," Natsu explained.
"Alright! We'll need someone to keep Lucy distracted while we set up the guild," Mira said, placing her hands on her hips.
Wendy raised her arm. "Carla and I can go shopping with Lucy!"
"Yeah that will be fun," Carla agreed.
"Perfect! You could get her to wear a nice dress or something," Mirajane suggested.
Everyone huddled around the table Natsu was sitting at while Mirajane explained the plan.
Wendy waited outside Lucy's apartment, feeling anxious about the plan. She had to keep Lucy away from the guild until she got the telepathic message from Warren. Wendy didn't want to mess anything up. She wanted everything to work out perfectly. Her friends deserved it.
"Oww Wendy. You're squeezing me," Carla groaned, looking up at the dark-haired girl.
"Oh! I'm so sorry, Carla," Wendy apologized, relaxing her arms.
"Relax. It will be fine. I'm here with you," Carla assured, rubbing her arm.
Wendy smiled at the exceed. "Thank you, Carla!"
Wendy heard the sound of footsteps rushing down the stairs before the door opened. "Sorry for the wait," Lucy apologized, adjusting the bag on her shoulder.
"It's fine. I didn't have to wait that long," Wendy smiled.
Wendy and Lucy started to walk to the clothes shop, chatting about their lives. "So why did you want to go shopping? Is there a special occasion?" Lucy asked.
Wendy panicked for a second, attempting to find a believable reason. "Y-you've just been really busy with writing and going on jobs, so I just wanted you to relax and have fun."
Lucy blushed. "Thank you Wendy! That means a lot to me!"
"Anytime!" Wendy exclaimed and quietly sighed in relief.
Once they reached the shop, Lucy let out an excited squeal. A lot of clothes were on sale. Wendy giggled at her excitement. She knew that they definitely won't be leaving for a while. "I might as well get a new outfit," Carla spoke up, transforming into her human form. Wendy, Lucy, and Carla spent the next hour trying on different outfits they liked.
"How do I look?" Lucy asked, stepping out of the dressing room. She wore a light blue off-shoulder lace dress that ended slightly above her knees. It wasn't extremely fancy, but it was really cute and accented her curves perfectly.
"You look beautiful!" Wendy exclaimed.
"It's the best dress in my opinion. You should buy it," Carla commented.
Lucy admired the dress in the mirror. "I do really like this dress and it's on sale. I guess I'll buy it!"
"Perfect! Natsu will love it," Wendy giggled.
Lucy walked back into the dressing room and changed into her normal attire. Afterwards, they purchased the clothes they wanted to buy and headed out the store.
Lucy stretched out her arms and sighed in relief. "That was fun! Do you want to head to the guild now?"
Wendy froze. She still hadn't received the message from Warren. "I actually wanted to-"
A familiar smell caused her to stop talking and turn around. She saw Jellal and Erza walk out of a jewelry store. Lucy had unfortunately noticed as well and started to wave and yell out their names. "Hey Erza! Hi Jellal!"
Erza's eyes widened and she whipped her head towards Jellal and whispered in his ear. Wendy was able to hear her thanks to her enhanced hearing."Go back to the store to keep Natsu from coming out."
Jellal nodded and rushed back inside. Erza regained her composure and smiled at the blonde. "Hey Lucy! How are you?!"
"I'm fine. I went shopping with Wendy and Carla today. There was a sale today! We had a lot of fun. What are you guys doing?"
"That's great! Jellal and I are on a date. He forgot something inside, so he rushed back in," Erza explained.
"Oh I see," Lucy said. She turned her head to look at the store, but Erza quickly stepped in front of her in order to block her view.
"Can you show me what you bought?"
"Sure!"
Wendy noticed Natsu sneak out of the store before he ran off in the other direction while Lucy was distracted with showing her dress to Erza. Jellal walked out afterwards and tapped Erza on the shoulder.
"Your dress is so cute. You should wear it to the guild later," Erza suggested.
"Okay that's a good idea!" Lucy exclaimed.
"Anyway, we'll get going. I will see you later," Erza smiled, waving at them. Jellal waved them goodbye and wrapped his arm around Erza's shoulder before they walked away.
Wendy sighed in relief. It was a close call.
"So what do you want to do now?" Lucy questioned, snapping Wendy out of her thoughts.
"I wanted to try the cake at the new bakery," she said, pointing at the building at the end of the street.
"Sure! I would love to have cake right now!"
The three of them enjoyed a plate of cake and tea at the bakery until Wendy finally got the message from Warren.
"Everyone is ready. Bring Lucy to the guild," he informed her via telepathy.
"Alright. We'll be heading out now," Wendy replied in her mind.
"That was delicious! Let's go to the guild now," Wendy said, trying not to sound too excited.
"Alright! Let's stop by my apartment first, so I could change into this new dress," Lucy grinned, grabbing her bag.
Lucy immediately changed into her new dress once they reached her apartment and slipped on a pair of matching heels.
"Should I keep my hair down?" Lucy asked, reaching for her hair tie.
"Yes! It's so long and beautiful," Wendy replied. Lucy smiled and took her hair out of the ponytail. She gently brushed it and stood up.
"Let's go!"
When they reached the guild, Lucy's eyes widened. The guild was suspiciously quiet, causing the blonde to wonder what everyone was up to. Her guildmates were quietly sitting at the tables. Natsu and some of the others were nowhere to be seen. She glanced at the young girl beside her, and raised her eyebrow when she noticed the huge grin on her face.
"Wendy...what's going on?" Lucy asked suspiciously.
The blue-haired girl didn't say anything and looked up the ceiling. Lucy's eyes followed hers, causing her to gasp in surprise. There were red heart-shaped balloons littered on the ceiling. Lucy looked back down and realized that the guild was decorated with red and pink streamers. Wendy guided her to the table right in front of the stage.
Lucy heard and saw Mira emerge from behind the curtain on the stage along with Levy and Lisanna. Mira was dressed in a long yellow dress and was carrying a guitar. Levy and Lisanna wore matching white dresses. "This song is for my lovely friends, Natsu and Lucy," Mira announced, winking at that blonde.
She started to sing a touching love song in her angelic voice. Levy and Lisanna danced behind Mira, singing back-up. Lucy didn't know what was occurring, but she was amazed by her friend's performance.
Towards the end of the song, Gray and Juvia walked onto the stage and combined their powers in order to create sparkles. The sight was breathtaking.
"Thank you everyone!" Mira exclaimed, bowing to the crowd as they cheered. Lucy's eyes widened when she noticed Natsu emerge from behind the curtain. He was dressed in a black tuxedo. His bangs were down instead of being spiked up as usual, causing Lucy to internally squeal. Lucy noticed that he appeared to be nervous.
Natsu walked off the stage, headed towards Lucy's table, and leaned forward, extending his hand out to Lucy. "Will you join me?"
Lucy blushed and took his hand, allowing him to guide her to the stage. They stood at the center of the stage, and Natsu turned to face her.
"Lucy…" he began speaking in a serious tone. "I never really thought about love growing up. I was always focused on fighting and eating. I didn't think I would ever fall in love with a woman and settle down with her. That was until I met you. I will never forget the day we met in Hargeon. When I unknowingly saved you from the trance of that bastard, Bora. When you fed me and Happy in order to thank us."
Lucy felt tears prick in the corner of her eyes and covered her mouth with her hand, having a feeling that she knows where his speech was going.
Natsu scratched the side of his head. His cheeks were red. Lucy knew that Natsu was a man who used his actions to convey his feelings rather than his words, so this was unusual for him. Natsu looked back into her eyes and smiled before continuing. "Even though you can be weird sometimes, you are really sweet. You formed a team with me. Put up with my shenanigans. Stayed by my side no matter what happened. Before I could realize it, I was falling hard for you. You know how I told you that we will be together forever? I meant it. I can't imagine life without you. I want to wake up to your face every morning. I want to see your beautiful smile every day. I want to hear your sweet voice before I go to bed and when I wake up in the morning. I want to settle down and start a family with you. You're the only one for me, Lucy."
Natsu took out a small box from his pocket and got down on one knee, causing Lucy to gasp. "Lucy Heartfilia...will you marry me?"
Lucy stood in silence for a second in order to comprehend what Natsu just told her before she burst into tears and engulfed him into a hug. "Yes! Yes! Yes! Of course I will marry you!"
Everyone started cheering and congratulating them. Natsu and Lucy stood up, and he put the ring on her finger. Lucy marveled at the sight. It was beautiful.
"I love you so much Natsu. I want all these things too. You're also the only one for me, and I'm never letting you go," she cried and wrapped her arms around him once again.
Natsu chuckled and kissed the top of her head. "There's no way I'm ever letting go of you. I love you too, Lucy."
Natsu cupped Lucy's face and kissed her passionately, causing their guildmates to cheer even louder. "Look at these love birds," Happy teased while making kissing noises.
Lucy reluctantly let go of her fiancé and wiped away her tears. "Did you plan this?"
Natsu laughed. "I decided to propose to you, but this was Mira's idea. She wanted this proposal to be unique and romantic."
"There's no way Natsu could have planned this himself," Gray chimed in, smirking at the dragon slayer.
Lucy laughed. "Makes sense. Thank you everyone for planning this. This means so much to me. I am so touched."
"Let's party!" Cana cheered and started to drink out of the barrel of beer. Everyone else cheered and started to dance.
"Congratulations. I'm so happy for you two!" Wendy exclaimed.
"So this shopping trip was part of the plan huh?" Lucy pointed out.
"Yeah, but I had a lot of fun," Wendy smiled.
Lucy wrapped her arms around Natsu from behind and extended her arms out towards Wendy, gesturing Natsu to do the same. "Come here!"
Wendy giggled before launching herself into their arms to form a group hug.
"You played a major role in this. Thank you so much Wendy. Couldn't have done it without you!" Natsu said.
"I'm so happy to help out," she beamed before she let go of them and ran off to join the exceeds.
Natsu turned around and rested his forehead against Lucy's. "We'll be together forever," he whispered.
Lucy closed her eyes and grinned. "Forever and always"