A brisk wind blew and snow flurries began to fall as twilight descended upon the merchant city of Magnolia. The blonde celestial spirit mage shivered, her teeth chattering, as she and the pink haired dragon slayer made their way back to her apartment after a long and weary train ride from their latest mission.
"You look cold, Luce." the dragon slayer remarked.
"Duh, Natsu! You think?! It's fr-freezing out here!" the celestial spirit mage angrily replied. She was still irritated about having to nurse her companion the entire way home. Damn him and his stupid motion sickness!
"Well, maybe you wouldn't be so cold if you wore more clothes." the dragon slayer mumbled while glancing over her outfit.
How dare he! Lucy thought. She gritted her teeth, clenched her fists, and lifted her leg to kick him in the stomach, but instead slipped on the thin ice and slammed into the ground, falling on her rear.
"Tch! Ow ow ow! That really hurt" Lucy whined. Her face quickly turned crimson red from holding back tears as well as from embarrassment.
She expected Natsu to laugh and tease her the rest of the way home, but instead her reached for her hand and put his arm around her slender waist to steady her.
"Are you okay, Luce?" he asked, with more concern in his voice than she was use to. With his eyes fixed on hers and their noses only inches apart, Lucy's face somehow grew redder.
"Uh, yeah, I just hurt my, uh... nevermind." Lucy stammered as she pulled away from him. Natsu, still gripping Lucy's arm, looked at over at her butt and said, "It looks good."
Lucy gaped at him and, upon realizing his mistake, Natsu stammered, "I mean, it doesn't look hurt or anything! Not that it doesn't look good or whatever. Your ass, that is." Natsu grimaced and his face quickly matched Lucy's bright shade of crimson. They quickly turned their heads away from each other.
"Uh, thanks, I guess..." Lucy mumbled. After that, they walked along in awkward silence, Natsu's hand still gripping Lucy's arm to support her through the icy streets of Magnolia.
After the longest five minutes of their lives, they made it to Lucy's apartment.
"Well, thanks for walking me home." Lucy quietly said to her pink-haired companion.
"No problem!" Natsu replied with a large grin as he pushed his way into her apartment, apparently forgetting his embarrassment from moments before.
Lucy rolled her eyes and sighed as the dragon slayer made his way towards her kitchen and began emptying her refrigerator of its meager remaining contents.
"Well, I'm gonna go take a bath." Lucy said, hinting for her friend to leave.
"Okay, have fun!" Natsu grinned back and then returned to eating. He wasn't one for taking hints...
Lucy, too cold and tired to deal with her moronic teammate, entered the bathroom, locked the door, and settled into her tub for a long, hot soak.
That Natsu... She thought to herself. He's such an idiot. The image of his wide, carefree grin popped into her head, and she couldn't help smiling to herself. In a cute way, I guess. Then she remembered his worried expression as he helped her up from the ice, and the way his large, warm hands felt as they firmly held her waist... She sunk her face halfway into the water, the embarrassment washing over her again.
After an hour, she decided Natsu had probably left and it was safe to come out and change. She slowly opened the bathroom door and peered into the darkness. The moonlight shining in through the window showed her that Natsu was still there, laying on her bed, his eyes closed. She sighed and quickly put on her silky pajamas. Then she quietly crept onto the bed and sat beside the dragon slayer, looking at his peaceful face.
He really is pretty cute. She thought to herself. Goodnight, Natsu. She slowly leaned over and, very gently, kissed his cheek.
Natsu's eyes popped open and he propped himself up on his elbows, his expression bewildered. He looked over at the stunned celestial spirit mage and exclaimed, "What was that for, Luce?"
Lucy looked like a deer caught in headlights. Her mind went completely blank as she just gaped at him. After a few moments she managed to stammer, "I-I-I thought you were asleep!"
"I was just relaxing." He nonchalantly replied. "You were taking sooo long in the bathroom. Wait a second! Do you usually kiss me when I'm sleeping?!"
"N-No! That was the first time! Ugh!" Lucy's face burned red as she wished she could die of embarrassment so this horrifying moment could just end. She flung herself onto her pillow and turned her back to him. "Goodnight, Natsu..." she quietly mumbled.
Natsu smiled and slowly touched his face where he could still feel the warmth from where her soft lips had touched him just moments before. She's so weird...He looked over at Lucy's curled up form beside him. She was tightly clenching her blanket, holding it up to her chin, which was something she usually did when she was upset. But she's really cute, too. He leaned over her crumpled form and gently placed a kiss on her soft cheek.
"G'night, Luce." He said as her turned his body away from her and he fell asleep.
Lucy's grip loosened on her blanket as she lightly touched his kiss. She smiled and closed her eyes. This was a pretty good day. With that thought in her head and with Natsu sleeping peacefully beside her, Lucy drifted off to sleep, dreaming of more good days with her pink-haired companion.