Natsu knew it was a bad idea as soon as his friend/enemy pulled out two plane tickets, but what was he supposed to do?
Gray's brother, Lyon, had skipped out on him for their yearly trip to the South Islands to hang out with his girlfriend, so he turned to his sort-of-kind-of best friend for company. He knew about the pinkette's serious motion sickness; a number of his other friends also suffered from the same 'disease' as they called it, but he also knew Natsu just could not deny a week trip under the sun. He'd be crazy to. And Gray was right; Natsu couldn't refuse.
"Ugh, just looking at it makes me wanna puke," Natsu grumbled, leaning back in his chair with a particularly green face. Gray looked up from his phone, glancing at his pathetic friend before turning towards the viewing window to see the large airline plane they would be boarding. Natsu gurgled sadly, already feeling the food he'd had for breakfast beginning to surface. Gray had refused to let the flame head buy anything at the airport, already nervous to be sitting in the same row as this idiot regardless. He didn't need thoughts of puking to make his trip any less enjoyable than he knew it was going to be.
"Then don't look," he replied coldly, turning back to his phone and texting his girlfriend goodbye. Juvia responded quickly, wishing him good luck with his ailing friend. Gray grimaced and put his phone in his pocket and turning to his friend. "Don't you have patches or something? I thought Lisanna bought you some."
"She did, but it's not working," he groaned, sinking in the chair. A few people looked over curiously, but no one seemed to be all that sympathetic for the crazy pink boy. Gray couldn't blame them.
"You're just letting it get to your head, you'll be fine on the plane," Gray assured him, glancing at the clock. Natsu grumbled sadly, but he didn't catch what he said as their flight was called.
Gray sighed in relief and stood up. He glanced down, noticing Natsu's grip on his chair and sighed again before grabbing the pinkette's arm. Natsu squeaked pathetically as he was harshly yanked to his feet. Gray muttered something under his breath and dragged the boy towards the line of people.
It wasn't too long of a line, which Gray was thankful. Less people to see the idiot beside him.
"Hello! Welcome to Fairy Flights! I'm Tina, you're main flight attendant. Do you have your tickets?" The woman was small with short dark hair and two big blue eyes. With the large, totally fake smile on her face, she reminded Gray distinctly of a Barbie doll.
"Here," Gray huffed, holding out two tickets to the lady. She blinked in surprise, eyes locking onto Gray's face. He sighed mentally when the look in her eyes changed and her smile became sultry.
"Well, well, what are you going to the South Islands all by yourself for?" She asked in a low voice. Gray cringed at the sound of it and felt his stomach turn uncomfortably.
"I'm not alone," Gray started, and then smirked. "I have my boyfriend right here." He pulled Natsu forward, the poor boy looking a confusing mix between angry, sick, and annoyed. Gray threw an arm over his should before the pinkette could fully understand the situation and began pulling him forward past the stunned attendant. "Come on, darling."
"Get your arm off me you pervert!" Natsu yelled, the situation finally dawning on him.
"Ah, what a joker," Gray chuckled, tightening his grip to a choke hold and dragging the sputtering boy through the door. He only released the squirming pinkette when they were out of view from the Barbie woman. Gray pushed Natsu away, laughing loudly.
"Ugh! Look at what you've done! I've got all your disgusting stripper germs over me now," Natsu exclaimed, wiping his clothes disdainfully.
"Did you see that woman's face?" Gray was still laughing. "Priceless!"
"You take too much enjoyment from people's misery," Natsu grumbled, starting down the long hallway.
"Really? Then I guess I'm about to get six hours of fun, huh?" Gray joked. Natsu shoved him. "I'm joking, I'm joking!"
It took a little bit of pushing, some convincing, ands lot of yelling and threats being thrown out, but Gray finally managed to drag Natsu onto the plane.
"Ooh," Natsu blubbered, slumping lower in his chair while clutching his ailing stomach. "I'm gonna be sick."
"The plane hasn't even started moving," Gray reminded him without looking up from the magazine he'd bought. Natsu glared at the boy, a look that he didn't see, and groaned again. Someone from the other aisle sent him a look, but he didn't care. He was in pain, dammit!
"Attention all fliers, we are now going to be taking off. Please return to your seats and buckle up. Please leave all food stands up and turn off all electronics. Please..." Natsu groaned again, blocking out the rest of her words.
"Hear that Natsu?" Gray asked, putting down his magazine and looking over at the pinkette.
"Yeah, yeah," he sighed, reluctantly pushing himself up and slipping on his buckle. Just as he did so a flight attendant appeared.
"Hey there boys, all buckled in?" She asked sweetly. Natsu looked up at her, pausing slightly. She wore the same blue and white uniform as every other attendant they'd seen so far, but somehow she made it look better. She was slim, the curve of her waist easily visible and with large breasts. What really caught his attention however was her face, which was gazing down at him curiously. She had long pale blonde hair that reminded him of white-gold and a pair of large, shinny chocolate brown eyes. She wasn't smiling, rather she was...frowning? Natsu wanted to see her smile.
She opened her mouth, said something, but Natsu couldn't hear it over the thundering in his ears. For a second he feared the plane had taken off while he was distracted, but he quickly realized that they were still immobile. No, the thundering in his ears was nothing other than his heartbeat. Somehow it had picked up sound and pace.
"Is your friend okay?" She asked, and Natsu was able to hear her this time. She wasn't looking at him anymore, but rather Gray.
"He gets motion sickness, it's no big deal," Gray explained, elbowing Natsu in a silent effort to tell him to stop being so obvious. Natsu didn't notice though, his pain suddenly seemed a hundred miles away. He was more focused on why his heart was beating so loudly, or why his skin was so hot and sweaty, or why the flight attendant was so pretty.
"Oh man," the girl sighed, looking at him sadly. "I'm sorry about that...Actually I might have something to help!" She turned, heading down the aisle quickly.
"Heh, what a nice lady," Gray huffed, turning back to his magazine. "It won't help though. If those patches Liz bought you don't even work, I doubt whatever she's got will help."
"Help what?" Natsu asked dazedly. Gray glanced up at him but just rolled his eyes and grumbled something about idiots.
It took the woman a few minutes, but she returned with a glass of water and a small pill bottle. "Here you go!" She held it out for him, smiling. "Make sure it's okay for you to eat. I don't want to poison you or anything."
"It's fine," Natsu assured her, barely taking a glance at the medicine. She smiled at him and held it out. Carefully he reached out and took it. He felt his whole body freeze when his fingers accidentally brushed hers. His heart picked up even faster and his whole arm was tingling by the time he pulled it away. Even the girl looked surprised, glancing down at her hand before smiling sheepishly at him.
"Sorry about that, I hope this helps!" She informed him. Natsu quickly took the water and downed two pills. He opened his mouth to thank her, but suddenly the announcer said the plain was going to be taking off. Natsu felt like he could've punched the announcer right then, but the attendant just smiled. "Have a good flight, gentlemen. Hope you feel better, Natsu!" She turned and left.
"Did you hear that?" Natsu asked as soon as she was gone, gripping Gray's shirt. The boy choked, surprised.
"What?" He griped, trying to pull away.
"She knew my name!" Natsu laughed, feeling incredibly happy for some reason. "Wait, how did she know my name? What's her name?"
"How should I know?" Gray asked in response to both questions, pausing. "You seem pretty excited...are you feeling better?"
"Feeling better?" Natsu asked in confusion, frowning. He looked down at his stomach when he realized what the boy had meant. "Oh, yeah! My stomach doesn't hurt at all now!"
Gray gaped at the boy and then snatched the pill bottle from his hands. He examined it carefully, but it looked like normal ibuprofen to him. "Are there drugs in this?" He wondered aloud, taking off the top. Natsu took it back quickly, holding it protectively to his chest.
"Those are the ladies!" He argued, glaring.
"Those are fucking magic is what they are," Gray said, narrowing his eyes at the bottle. "We've tried that before, haven't we?"
"Maybe her's are better than yours," Natsu said stubbornly. Gray, annoyed, tsked and shook his head, giving up.
"Whatever! Just make sure you ask her where she got them from," he said, slumping back into his chair. Natsu felt his heart jump at the idea of talking to the lady again. He sat back in his chair, trying to calm his racing pulse.
Natsu woke with a start as someone tapped his shoulder. He blinked sleepily, turning to see Gray rising out of his seat.
"Come on, idiot. We're there," he grumbled, sounding quite tired himself. Natsu groaned, refusing to move. Gray sighed and rudely pushed him out of the seat.
The plane was mostly emptied by now, with only a few struggling passengers still leaving. Natsu slowly grabbed his luggage from the overhead compartment and made his way down the isle. They passed by a flight attendant who wished them a happy vacation.
It took Natsu halfway through the terminal to realize what he'd missed.
"Wait!" He exclaimed, stopping so suddenly that Gray ran into him. The boy groaned, pushing the pinkette away angrilly.
"What the hell?" He grumbled.
"What happened to that blonde lady? I never got to talk to her!" Natsu turned around, prepared to head back onto the plane, but Gray stopped him.
"Relax, she came by while you were asleep. She told me I could keep the medicine if it helps you so well," he assured the worried boy. Gray was in for a surprise when Natsu suddenly groaned, slapping his forehead.
"I missed her?" He yelled. Gray narrowed his eyes, motioning him to quiet down, but the boy ignored him. "God i'm so stupid. I gotta go back! I wanna say thank you to her!"
"Natsu, it's fine! I'm sure she understands," Gray fought back, confused by the pink haired boy's sudden agitation.
"No way! I have to see her!" And without a second thought, the boy darted past his confused friend, back up the long hallway. Gray stared after his friend in appalment. After a moment he looked back at the medicine in his hand, smiling at it.
"So it wasn't the medicine after all," he smirked, shaking his head and pushing the bottle into his pocket. "Oh well, at least we found his cure."
Natsu darted past people, shoving and pushing as politely as he could while he tried to reach the plane door again. When he did get there, he found the same flight attendant from before at the door. It was the black haired barbie girl.
"Ah, did you forget something sir?" She asked, the fake smile back on her face. "Your boyfriend perhaps?"
"Uh, yeah, i forgot something," he agreed, trying to slip past, but she stopped him with her arm. Her smile was suddenly cruel.
"I'm afraid that the plane is going to be departing soon. No one is allowed to go on board," she sneered.
"But I forgot something important!" Natsu fought back, trying to slip past, but the girl stopped him. She was surprisingly quick.
"No one is getting on the plane," she hissed, her eyes narrowing.
"Let me through!"
"No!"
"Yes!"
"No!"
"What's going on here?" Both of the bickering people looked up to see a blonde woman frowning at them. Natsu felt his heart leap. It was the same girl from before.
"It's you!" He gasped, pointing. She looked confused until her eyes landed on her face, then she smiled. Natsu felt his cheeks warm. He liked her smile.
"Hello again, what can I help you with?" She asked.
"He forgot something on the plane," the barbie girl hissed, backing up with and flip of her hair. "You know the rules, Heartfilia. No one is allowed back onto the plane after fueling."
"That's true," Heartfilia said before smirking. "But attendants are." The barbie girl gasped while Natsu smiled. Heartfilia giggled and looked at him questioningly. "So what did you forget?"
"Your name," he told her. Both girls froze, peering at him uncertainly.
"I'm sorry?" Heartfilia asked, tilting her head.
"I mean, I also wanted to thank you!" He said, his heart picking up again and making him feel flustered. "I know my friend did earlier, but I was asleep, and I felt bad being unable to thank you myself. I also, um, wanted to know your name. You knew mine so i just thought..."
It was silent for a moment, but then the sound of music filled the air. Natsu looked up, watching Heartfilia as she doubled over, giggling into her hand. He laughed as well, quickly running out of breath. The barbie woman stared between them in confusion, clearly unable to understand.
"Well, that certainly was an important thing to forget," she said, finally recovering her breath. She smiled at him, her brown eyes sparkling. "My name is Lucy, Lucy Heartfilia."
"I'm Natsu Dragneel," he introduced, holding out a hand. Lucy's smile widened and she grabbed his hand, shaking it. "Thank you for the medicine."
"Speaking of that, I have something for you," she said, turning away. She disappeared into the plane, reappearing less than a minute later with a bottle in her hand. She held it out, smiling. "Here, you can take this with you. Your friend said it helped."
"It did, thanks," Natsu said, taking it. Their fingers brushed again, and this time their eyes locked. He held her there for a moment before taking a step back, clutching the medicine. "Thank you very much, Lucy Heartfilia. You've done me a huge service!"
"It was my pleasure," she smiled. "Have a nice trip!"
Natsu found his friend outside the terminal with all their stuff. Gray looked up as he approached, frowning.
"I had half a mind to dump all of this in the ocean," he said, motioning to the bags he'd had to drag out after his friend had ditched him. He smirked quickly. "Did you get what you wanted?"
"Yup!" Natsu cheered, tossing something at the boy. Gray caught it, glancing down in confusion. He frowned at the medicine bottle, shaking it.
"What is this? Natsu, this thing isn't even full," the boy said, holding it up. Natsu picked up his luggage and turned away, smiling brightly.
"I know. Look at the bottle," he told his friend before starting off. Gray looked back down at the bottle, flipping it over. He felt his eyebrows rise up and a smirk twist his face. "That sneaky dog," he muttered, watching the pinkette swagger down the hallway. Gray laughed aloud and put the empty medicine container into his pocket, picking up his own luggage.
Natsu hadn't ever had a need for a phone before, but he found that it became quite convenient to have one when you got the phone number of a pretty blonde girl.