Chapter Two – First Day of the Heiwa Festival

Author's Note: wow, you guys! I logged into my email before I posted this chapter, and there were thirty-five unread emails, all of them were New Follower, New Favorite Story, and New Favorite Author alerts! Only one chapter, and I got such a warm reaction! Thank you! Let's see how many emails I'll have by the end of this story! I'll be counting!

Anyway, sorry it took so long for me to update this. I planned on doing it a week ago, but my Internet still sucks butt. And things got a little out of control around here. I'm sacrificing my precious sleep on a school night because of you guys, so I hope it's worth it. :3 This chapter is mostly just the two of them exploring the festival. I loved their friendship in the show as well as the manga, so I just wanted to get a cute chapter in the beginning of them…just being them.


Lucy stood by the fountain in the middle of the crowd, trying to find the boy she lost a minute prior. Where did he go? The two of them went out to check out the Heiwa Festival after their shock from their hotel room had passed. She turned away for one second and when she turned back, he'd vanished. She stood on her toes to search for his pink head of hair, but still didn't see any sign of him. She felt a tug on her leg and looked down to see a trembling, white Nikola. "Plue!" she exclaimed, kneeling down to him. "Did you find him?"

"Pun, pun…" he said sadly, shaking his head. Lucy clicked her tongue, disappointed. She gently placed a hand on his shaking head.

"Thank you for trying, Plue," she sighed. Plue lifted his head to look at her, a silly, open mouthed grin on his face.

"Pun, pun." She giggled at the cute little dog and sent him back to the spirit world. She attached his key to her key ring and turned around. She looked up and came face to face with a creepy, black mask. She shrieked and jumped back, her heart pounding against her chest. Her look of panic quickly switched into a glare when she noticed the pink hair. Natsu had snuck up behind her with a masquerade mask on his face to scare her, and was now laughing hysterically.

"Natsu!" she shouted, her face turning red with a blush. "You jerk!" Natsu pulled the mask from his head, his eyes tearing up from laughing so hard.

"You…you sh-shoulda seen y-your face!" he said between frantic intakes of air. He doubled over and clutched his stomach as images of Lucy's shocked face flashing across his mind, making it nearly impossible for him to sober up. "I-if only Ha…Happy w-was here!" Lucy narrowed her eyes, feeling the heat in her face intensify. She stalked up to him and put her hand on his shoulder, shoving him. He lost him balance and stumbled backward, his calves coming into contact with the fountain behind him, causing him fall in with a splash. Lucy froze, her eyes wide with surprise. She didn't mean to push him into the fountain. She felt a little bad, but when she saw the look on his face when he sat up, his wet hair now flat and plastered to his face and his legs draped over the wall of the fountain, her guilt immediately vanished. The scene he made was priceless, and Lucy couldn't stop herself from bursting into hysterics.

"You look ridiculous!" she teased, bending over just as Natsu did not even a minute ago. Natsu stared out into space, utterly confused at what just happened. Who put that fountain there? He looked up at Lucy to see her giggling uncontrollably at him. A hint of a grin twitched onto his lips. He supposed he deserved that. He of all people should've known better. It was only natural that his joke backfired. He sighed and lifted himself out of the water. He looked up at his friend and smirked mischievously.

"Lucy." She lifted her head, her eyes shimmering with tears of mirth. Her laughter quickly subsided when she saw the look on his face…and that he was holding out his arms. He wasn't going to… "Come here." Lucy shook her head, nervously beginning to back away from him.

"No."

"Come on," he pressed, stepping toward her, his soaked clothes dripping to the stone floor. "Give me a hug." An uneasy smile stretched across Lucy's face.

"No way."

"I just want a hug, Luce."

"You're not getting one."

"Please?"

"No."

"Why not?"

"You're not coming near me like that." Before she could even react, Natsu leapt toward her and gathered her in his arms, holding her against him. She screamed and tried to pry herself from him, but his arms remained firm across her back. His shirt was freezing, and the water was quickly soaking through her jacket. She squirmed, trying desperately to free herself.

"Natsuuuu!" she screeched into his chest. "Let me go!" Natsu laughed.

"Why?" he asked innocently.

"Because you're freezing!" She was finally able to push him off of her and looked down at her jacket, which was now two or three shades darker than it should be. Her head snapped up to look at Natsu, whom was trying – but not succeeding – to conceal his amused expression. "You think this is funny?" she snapped harshly, a smile on her lips. She wasn't at all angry with him.

"No," he replied, allowing his grin to broaden. "I think it's hilarious!" Lucy playfully swiped a hand at him, smacking his shoulder across his Fairy Tail emblem.

"You're such a jerk, Natsu. I could get sick because of you."

"Baby."

Lucy let out an exasperated gasp. "Did you just call me a baby?"

"I sure as hell did. A whiney one, at that." Lucy scoffed and swung her hand at him again. He caught her by the wrist and gave her a disapproving look. "Hitting is rude, Luce," he said, shaking his head and waggling his finger like you would to a toddler.

"You have no room to talk," she countered, yanking her hand from his grip. "Mr. Plan T."

Natsu laughed. "It's not like you ever let me use Plan T," he said. "You'd rather be sneaky and stealthy than just blast through the front door, even though Plan T is easier and faster, not to mention more exciting. You really need to blow stuff up more, Luce."

"No thanks," she refused, turning and walking into the crowd. "I like my life, thank you very much." Natsu rolled his eyes and caught up to her, briefly igniting his flames to dry his clothes.

"So," he began, craning his neck to take a look around. "Where to? It's a big town, and we got three days to see the festival. Where do you wanna go first?" Lucy shook her head, mimicking his actions.

"I don't even know. Like you said, this place is huge. Let's just walk around. Who knows what we'll find."


"Ah, welcome, young ones!" greeted the man behind the counter of the store named Shizukesa Sweets. "Please, come in. Feel free to look around. Everything is on sale during the festival. One hundred percent off."

Natsu's eyes widened. "Everything here is free?" he asked, incredulous.

"But of course. It's the Heiwa Festival, no?" There was a pause, and then the man's smile changed from friendly to understanding. "Ah. You two are not from around here, are you?"

"It's that obvious?" Lucy giggled, approaching the counter to browse the baked goods behind the glass.

"I noticed that mark on your arm," he said, pointing to Natsu's emblem. "You're from Fairy Tail, right, lad?"

Natsu nodded. "That's right."

"Hmm. If I remember correctly, Fairy Tail is in Magnolia, no? What in Earthland are you doing all the way out here?"

"Holiday," Lucy answered, smiling kindly at the nice man. "My friend and I decided we needed a break from being wizards, you know?"

"Yes, I understand. I'm no wizard, I don't even know how to use magic, but I'm sure it's a very demanding occupation."

"I'm not sure if 'demanding' is the right word, but I know where you're getting at," Natsu said. "It can be difficult at times, but I wouldn't give it up for anything." Lucy shook her head.

"Nope. Not even for all the money in Fiore. He's an adrenaline junkie." The man laughed.

"Being a wizard, it seems you would have to be," he said, his smile showing off his white teeth. "Especially in a guild like Fairy Tail." Natsu nodded and slung an arm over Lucy's shoulders.

"You'd think, right? But not this one." Lucy smacked him lightly on the chest. She pointed to the glass.

"What is this?" she asked, looking up at the man with curiosity. He grinned.

"Ah. That is my new cookies and cream fudge. Would the two of you like a piece?" Natsu shook his head.

"Not for me."

"He's not one for sweets. Like I said, he's an adrenaline junkie. He's likes his food spicy. But I'll have one."

"'Not one for sweets?'" the man repeated, smiling as he bent down to grab a piece of the fudge. "You do know what the name of this shop is, right, lad?"

Natsu chuckled. "Yes, I am aware," he said, nodding toward Lucy. "But she dragged me in here."

"I didn't drag you anywhere," she defended, taking the fudge that was offered to her. "You came in here willingly." She gave her thanks to the man behind the counter as the two of them turned to leave.

"Before you leave, I would like to advise you two to come back out for the spring," he said as Natsu opened the door. "The sakura trees here are beautiful." He paused and thought for a moment, a smile forming on his face. "Although, you two live in Magnolia, so maybe our trees are nothing compared to your rainbow sakura." Lucy laughed.

"They are beautiful, but I would love to come see this town in the spring. Thanks again!" And with that, the two wizards left the store, leaving the owner grinning.

"Young love…" he murmured under his breath.


It was dark by the time the two of them came back to the hotel. They had bought, well…were given many interesting souvenirs throughout the day, and had explored not even half of Shizukesa. It was a good thing they had a week to do so, because three days, mixed in with the festival, would not be enough for anybody to get a good look of the town.

Lucy was practically dragging her feet by the time they reached their room. She opened the door and waddled over to the bed, plopping down on the mattress and taking off her boots. She groaned as she began to rub her feet. "My feet are killing me," she said, looking up at Natsu as he sleepily closed the door behind him. He grunted as an acknowledgment to her speaking, kicking off his own shoes on his way to the bed. He fell onto it behind her, his face buried in the plump white pillow. She rolled her eyes and approached her bag to dig out some extra clothes. She patted his shoulder. "I'm going to take a bath," she said, already walking toward the bathroom. She heard him say something that might've been an "okay." She couldn't really tell since he was speaking into the pillow.

When Natsu heard the water running, he pushed himself onto his knees. His eyes were half closed, his drowsiness making his eye lids extremely heavy. He wanted nothing more than to go to sleep right then, but he couldn't. Not yet. Lucy wasn't there. He needed to tell her goodnight before he could go to sleep.

Which he thought was weird.