Lately, Natsu has been feeling conflicted about something and he is trying hard to ignore it but the more he ignores it, the more it becomes conflicted.
February 12, XXXX
Natsu, Lucy, Gray, Erza and Happy are currently riding the train heading back to Magnolia. They have just finished a mission about some small dark guild creating chaos in a nearby town. However, they didn't get the full reward due to the obvious destruction of at least half of the town. Right now, the team is facing yet another problem, a whining Natsu with motion sickness.
"Ugh…. Are we there yet?" Natsu asked while trying to hold in his puke just a little bit longer.
Lucy groans. "For the fifth time Natsu, NO!"
"Sorry Luce…"
Lucy looks at the green-faced Natsu and feels a little bit of sympathy for the poor idiot so she does something that even surprises herself.
Lucy sighs. "Alright, come here. I'll let you rest your head in my lap. Just try to sleep for now. I'll wake you up when we get there."
Natsu, at first, looks at Lucy like she has grown two heads with different personalities. He didn't know if this was a command from the scary Lucy head or a command from a caring Lucy head. He decided that it won't matter right now due to the fact that he can't even see straight due to the dizziness caused by this hell-made moving contraption. Natsu scoots over closer to Lucy and starts to lie down. Once his head hits her lap, he thought that he can finally get over his motion sickness as he starts to drift off to dream land but this thought shattered into pieces because after a few seconds of this sudden action he could clearly hear Gray's snickering and Happy's obvious teasing.
"They lllllliiiikeeee each other!" Happy teases while rolling his tongue.
"Shut up Happy!" Natsu grumbles.
"Zip it Happy! Just let Natsu sleep so that he won't bother us anymore!" Lucy shouts.
Happy, who thinks that he just saw a demon from hell, starts to shiver and he starts to nod his head as fast as he can.
"Aye!"
Gray and Erza, who is watching the scene that is happening across them, starts to smile and they can't help but think, "Yep, definitely made for each other."
Lucy starts to run her hand through her pink-haired best friend and she starts to smile while doing so. "He looks so funny whenever we ride vehicles. He always has this bloated green-faced look when the vehicle starts to move. He looks like a green balloon." Lucy sighs. "I don't even know why I love this idiot… Hmm wait, love.. Oh god! It's almost Valentine's Day! Ughh! I don't even know what to do." Lucy starts to think hard that her eyes close. "Hmm… Maybe I could make chocolates for them! Yea, I could do that! Luckily, we were able to get at least half of the reward from the last mission. I can go shopping later for the ingredients! I wonder what Gray, Erza and Natsu do during Valentine's Day…"
"Hey Erza and Gray, what do you guys usually do during Valentine's Day?"
"I help Mirajane make chocolates for the guild in the guild's kitchen" Erza says like it's the most obvious thing in the world.
"I uhm… don't know.. I'll probably go buy chocolates and give them to the guild." Gray says.
"Ahh, I see. Uhm.. What about Natsu? What does he do during Valentine's Day?"
Gray and Erza looked at each other and shrugged.
Gray answers. "We honestly don't know. He does different things during that day. Why don't you ask him when we stop at the station?"
"Hmm. I guess I'll do that."
Lucy looks down to her lap and notices that the fire dragon slayer is sleeping peacefully with no signs of motion sickness affecting him. "He looks cute when he sleeps like this." Lucy thought. After a few hours of travelling, they finally reached the train station of Magnolia and as usual, everyone's peace and quiet is over due to a certain pyromaniac.
"HAHAHAHA! Finally out of that train! I'm all fired up!" Natsu shouts while running around in circles inside the train station.
Everyone else in their team internally groans and before Natsu could make another one of his fiery comments out in the open, Erza interrupts him.
"Me and Gray will head back to the guild so that we could report what happened to our mission. You guys are free to go."
As Erza and Gray start walking back to the guild, Lucy suddenly remembers what she needed to ask Natsu.
"Hey Natsu, do you want to join me shopping? I need to buy some ingredients to make chocolates for the guild."
Natsu's ear suddenly perk up from the word 'chocolate' and he starts to jump around shouting 'FOOOOODDDD'. Lucy chuckles at his child-like behavior and starts to walk outside the train station to look for ingredients. Natsu notices that she's gone so he suddenly bolts back to reality and starts running after her.
Natsu and Lucy roam around the market district of Magnolia in order to look for the best ingredients that Lucy can use for the chocolates. After a few hours of walking around, haggling with merchants and talking, they finally stop at the last store although this isn't exactly a food store but rather a jewelry store.
"Wow! That necklace is so beautiful!"
Natsu, who seems to be curious of what this thing is and why was it called beautiful by his blond-haired companion, starts walking closer to the glass window in order to get a look. It was indeed a beautiful necklace. It has a silver chain and a heart-shaped magical gem hanging on it. The heart-shaped gem looks like it was imbued with fire magic because inside the heart is a small burning flame that never seems to go out.
The shopkeeper notices the two staring at the necklace and decided to explain to them the history of this necklace.
"The necklace itself was said to be created by a fire mage years ago. He created this necklace for his beloved partner. It is said that the fire mage was supposed to give it just like any other necklaces, a normal one, but during his last mission with his partner. He gets severely wounded that they had to run back to safety. The mage knew that only one of them could survive due to the insane amount of enemies that is slowly gaining on them so he did what any noble prince did in some of the fairy tales. He brings out the necklace and places a magic on it. The fire mage gives it to his partner and he starts to confess his feelings. After the confession he says that the fire in this necklace will not die. He then tells her to run back and be safe and that he will try to buy her some time with his remaining magic power."
"Wow! That story is so heart-warming!" Lucy sniffles trying to stop herself from crying.
"How much would that necklace cost?" Lucy asks hoping that she would still have enough money.
"100,000 Jewels. I know it's a lot but it's something that we treasure and we're hoping that the person who buys this would use it in a very good way."
"Aww.. I used up most of my money buying ingredients. I hope that I can still buy that someday though! Thanks anyways! Bye!"
"Bye! Come again!"
As Lucy and Natsu walk back to her apartment, she suddenly remembers what she was supposed to ask Natsu.
"Hey Natsu, What are you going to do this Valentine's Day?"
Natsu, who seems to be intrigued by the sudden question, starts to think hard to come up with an answer. Finally after a few minutes of 'Hmmm and Uhmm', he gives his answer.
"I'll probably go fishing."
"Ehhhhh?! Aren't you going to give chocolates to the guild members or maybe do something special for someone?"
"Uhm.. No.. I've never done that in the past years so why do that now?"
Lucy sighs. "He's probably right. No need to force him to do something he doesn't want." The two continue to walk silently with Natsu carrying the ingredients. They finally reached her apartment and they bid each other fair well.
February 13, XXXX
Natsu and Happy is currently fishing at a lake near their house. Natsu still can't get over from Lucy's question yesterday. He doesn't know why he seemed so bothered about it so he decided to ask Happy.
"Hey Happy, Do you have anything to do tomorrow?"
"Why are you asking me?"
"Nothing. I just wanted to know if you want to go and do something fun tomorrow." Natsu says while trying to hide the fact that he is so curious for tomorrow.
"I can't join you Natsu. I have a plan for tomorrow"
Natsu, who again seems so curious on what could this blue exceed is planning, starts to remember what Lucy said yesterday. 'Hey Natsu, What are you going to do this Valentine's Day?'
"What plan is that?"
"I can't tell you! It's a super-secret plan!" Happy shouts while slowly moving away from Natsu.
"Come onnnn! Give me a clue please?"
"Fine! It involves Carla and Fish! Lots of Fish!"
Natsu starts thinking hard on what Happy is going to do with Carla and why does he need lots of fish. After a lot of shouting back and forth between many mini-Natsu inside his head, he finally comes out with an answer.
"You're going to ask Carla out! RIIIIGHT?"
"AYE! Just don't tell anyone!
"Ok! But why are you asking her out though? Isn't it okay to just be friends?"
"Natsu, I really like Carla and it's better to be more than just friends with her and besides, tomorrow is Valentine's Day so I really think it's the perfect time."
"Hmm.. Okay. Thanks for sharing it to me Happy! I won't tell anyone!"
Natsu starts to think and he tries to remember his conversation with Happy. 'It's better to be more than just friends with her and besides, tomorrow is Valentine's Day so I really think it's the perfect time.' He can't seem to get that line out of his head so he starts to think why. Natsu thinks that lately, he has been feeling somewhat weird whenever he is around Lucy. He stomach feels so light whenever Lucy is near. With this thought, his eyes suddenly opened like he had an epiphany. "So that's why I feel weird whenever I'm around with Lucy! I think it means that I get really hungry when I'm around her! So maybe if I give her gifts like what Happy would do then maybe Lucy would let me eat at her apartment! That way I won't be hungry every time that I'm around Lucy! HAHAHA! YES! I'm a genius! But…. What would I gift would I give to Lucy so that she would let me eat… Hmmmm…." After a few minutes of thinking Natsu finally got the answer to all his problems. "The necklace from yesterday! I saw that she really wanted it! So if I give the necklace to Lucy then… Necklace + Lucy = FOOOOD! Wait! Maybe if I give her more gifts she would let me sleep on her apartment! Natsu thought while grinning evilly. "What should I get her though.. Maybe I should go to the.. oh no.. the.. library! NOOO! But this is for a good cause so off we go!"
Natsu starts walking towards the public library here in Magnolia in an attempt to know what kind of gifts to give so that he could sleep or eat in Lucy's apartment without getting 'Lucy Kicked'. As he reaches the library, he starts to open the doors only to be shocked by the thousands of books all around him. 'Great! There are so many books around me. How the hell am I supposed to find the right one!?' Natsu tries to use up all his brain power in order to remember what Happy said. 'Tomorrow is Valentine's Day so I really think it's the perfect time.' Suddenly, like he was suddenly hit by a second epiphany stick, his eyes pop open and he smiles widely. 'That's it! Valentine's Day! I just have to ask someone where I can find a book about Valentine's Day and I can know what to give!'
Natsu heads toward the counter and asks the librarian.
"Uhm.. are there any books here related to Valentine's Day?"
"Head straight from here and look for a sign saying 'Romance' and turn there."
"Thanks! Old lady!"
Natsu heads towards the 'Romance' aisle and starts to look around the shelves for a decent book. He stops by the popular ones and since he is so impatient, he decided to talk 3 random books from the popular tab. He walks to a nearby table and sits there. He breathes deeply as he starts to read the first book.
Natsu feels like his brain is suddenly growing to a huge-size with all the information he's getting from the books. He starts to understand a lot of things, not just today, but also things from the past. As soon as he finishes all 3 books, he returns them to their originally places in the shelves and he slowly walks out of the library with all his new-found information. He suddenly remembers the necklace that he was supposed to buy so he runs toward the shop where he found it yesterday. Once he reaches the shop, he quickly enters it and yells at the shopkeeper.
"I'm going to buy that necklace!"
The shopkeeper suddenly jumped back from the sudden outburst but then calmed down when he noticed who this boy was.
"Ahh! You're the boy from yesterday! The one who I told the story to! Alright then! It will be 100,000 Jewels."
Natsu slams the money in the counter and taps his foot impatiently.
"Alright, alright! I'm getting the necklace just wait for a moment."
The shopkeeper heads to the glass window and takes the necklace off display and he places it on a really elegant velvet box and hands it to Natsu.
"Take good care of that boy or maybe you could give it to someone who would take good care of it."
Natsu nods and thanks the shopkeeper as he quickly runs out of the shop and heads home.
February 14, XXXX
Natsu wakes up and gets himself ready for the day. Today is Valentine's Day so he wanted to be a little bit more presentable so he takes a quick bath and he fixes himself before heading off to start his day, or rather half of his day as he noticed that it's already 11 AM. He grabs his money and the Velvet box and runs off heading towards the guild. He quickly stopped by 2 shops in order to grab 2 more things before running off heading to the guild.
Once he was at the guild, he hid the 3 objects behind him as he starts to look around for a certain someone. He spotted that certain someone by the bar talking to Mirajane and the others. He slowly walks to their direction while trying to avoid the death stares by his guild mates who seemed to notice the 3 objects behind him. He suddenly became so nervous as he became aware of all the stares he is getting because the once noisy guild is now so silent.
"Hey Lucy, I think Natsu is heading towards us" Mirajane pointed out.
Lucy turns around and ushers for Natsu to come.
Natsu gulps once more before walking towards her. Lucy turns around to grab something and faces him again.
"Happy Valentine's Day Natsu!" As Lucy hands him a heart-shaped chocolate.
Natsu gladly accepts the chocolate with his left hand while trying to hide the 3 objects in his right hand and because of this, he can't help but smile nervously. Lucy notices his expression and asks.
"Hey Natsu, anything wrong?"
"U-Uhm. No. Nooo. Nooooo. Nothing's wrong. It's just that uhm. Ughh.."
"Ha-Hap-p.. Happ-y.. Va-len…"
"What are you saying Natsu?"
"HappyValentine'sDay!"
"What?"
"Happy Valentine's Day!" Natsu then shows her the 3 objects that he was hiding. He gave her a dozen of roses, a heart-shaped chocolate from a famous store and finally the elegant velvet box.
Lucy stares at the gifts that Natsu is holding out for her.
"U-uhm.. F-f-for me?" Lucy asks trying to hide the blush that is slowly creeping up her cheeks.
Meanwhile, Mirajane and the other girls were squealing because of the sweet moment that is happening in front of them. Who knew that the dense fire dragon slayer could do this? Everyone else's jaws dropped from the scene that's happening right in front of their eyes. Who knew that Natsu, the dense idiot, is giving Lucy flowers, chocolate and this unknown box?
Lucy reaches out for the gifts and anyone could clearly see that her hands were shaking while she reaches out to it and it clearly doesn't help that Natsu is frozen stiff because of his nervousness.
Lucy opens the box and gasps. She slowly took out the necklace from the box and when the girls saw how beautiful this necklace is, they suddenly squealed louder. Mirajane, the guild's matchmaker had to grip the counter and try really hard to avoid fainting so that she could watch the scene.
"W-w-why.. did you d-do this f-for me?"
"It's because uhm.. lately, I've been.. feeling weird around you. My stomach feels all fluttery every time I'm near you.. So I can't help but think that maybe I have uhm.. ughh. Feelings for you or maybe it's because I get hungry whenever I'm around you.. So I thought that I really get hungry when I'm around you so… I'm giving you these so that maybe you would let me eat at your apartment now. I'm really hungry right now."
Lucy suddenly blushes hard from his statement and she can't help but shake and stammer and that she has to look down at her feet to avoid further blushing. Mirajane, who heard all this, starts to grip the counter harder that it's leaving marks on the edges while her eyes suddenly turned into pink hearts. The girls suddenly went from squealing to louder squealing to silence and finally to a louder squealing. The others gape at the pink-haired mage from his sudden confession. It may have sounded normal to the mage himself but for everyone else, it sounded like an indirect confession of what he was feeling using food.
Lucy suddenly realizes what her team mate meant so she no longer tried to fight away her blush and instead she looked up to him and smiled her most sincere smile and said.
"I'm hungry too."
The girls squealed louder than before while the others jaws dropped down to the ground from the sudden revelation of their guild mate. They can't help but think that; 'FINALLY!', 'Good Job Flame-head', 'Congrats bunny-girl'. They thought that it was all over but Natsu suddenly spoke up.
"Hey.. uhm.. since that you know.. we're both hungry.."
"Do you uhm.."
"Want to go out to eat something with me?"
This statement made most of the people drop down on the ground and some of the girls even fainted. Mirajane, trying hard to not faint had her sister slap her hard just to let her stay awake. Lucy, who thought that all this blushing would finally end, blushed harder than before and from pink her face became red.
"A-are you.. asking.. me out?"
"Yea.."
"But.. how do you know all this stuff! I thought you didn't know anything about romance!" Lucy asked still bewildered from the fact that Natsu, the dense Natsu, asked her out to dinner.
"I..uhm.. went to the public library yesterday and read about romance…"
Everyone who is still awake gaped at Natsu. Everyone knew that he was dense and that he knew nothing about romance but here he was proving them all wrong because not only did he give Lucy gifts during Valentine's Day but he also asked her out and he even read in a public library about romance. Everyone thought that 'That could be the sweetest thing he ever did for someone'.
"You went to the library and read about romance for me?!" Lucy asked still not getting over on all the stuff that is happening.
"Yea.. Is uhm.. that wrong?"
"No! Noo! Noo! It's not wrong. It's totally fine. It's great! I mean wow." Lucy rambles.
"So? Is that a yes or a no?"
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"Yes."
Natsu smiles his usual care free grin and Lucy smiles back with her loving smile. Natsu pulls Lucy up from the stool and takes the necklace from the counter and unchains it. He slowly brings her hands behind her neck with the necklace as he locks it in place. He then removes his hand and says.
"You look really beautiful with that necklace." Natsu smiles.
"Thanks.." Lucy couldn't help but smile back. All this is making her heart pound against her ribcage.
Mirajane is now banging her head against the table due to the amount of sweetness radiating from the two soon-to-be couples. Levy is now crying because of the overloading amount of happiness coming from the two of them while Juvia is silently whispering 'Lucy-san is no longer my Love rival. Gray-sama is all mine'.
"Let's go eat something. We're both hungry remember?"
"Sure!"
Natsu grabs Lucy's hand and starts to walk towards the guild doors when he suddenly stopped. The guild which is following their movements suddenly became curious on why he stopped. Natsu is currently looking at the guild doors when he said.
"You know Luce.. I'm so near you right now.. but.. I don't really feel hungry."
Lucy looks at Natsu with a confused expression.
"What do you mean 'not hungry'?"
Natsu then turns to look at her and presses his lips against hers. Lucy's eyes went wide before giving in to the sudden kiss. Natsu moves his arms around her waist pulling her closer to him while Lucy responds to this action by putting her arms around his neck effectively deepening the kiss. After what seemed like an eternity for the two of them but in reality it was just seconds, they pulled apart and smiled at each other before Natsu answers her previous question.
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"Maybe I do have feelings for you."
The members of the guild who just got back to consciousness heard the sudden confession from Natsu and was too shocked to do anything while the others who were listening and watching to every single action, thought that it was the end of the world. Mirajane suddenly fainted as she can't get over the fact that one of her dream couples happened already. She lost her grip from the counter and fell down the floor with hearts in her eyes and a really creepy smile on her face. Levy and the others were shouting 'Congratulations!'
Lucy smiled at Natsu before pulling him in for a short kiss. Once they pulled apart, Natsu asked Lucy.
"What…?"
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"Maybe I do have feelings for you too."
So the new couple walk hand in hand outside the guild and continued walking in silence before they were interrupted by a loud cheering coming inside of the guild.
"We would be hearing this for a long time from Mira"
"I wouldn't mind that."
"I love you, Luce."
"I love you too, Natsu."