Hey guys! Writing this series is fun. If you have anything outdoorsy you want to see you can suggest it. I'd love to hear what ideas you have.

Waking up to people screaming in the morning was not ideal. The fact that she was on the second floor made it even less bearable. "Can you two morons shut the fuck up?" Evelyn asked through the intercom system. "Some of us want to sleep in."

"Don't blame me!" Natsu. Of course. Who else could it possibly be? "Gray's the one who started it. I was just cooking bacon and then he came in and screwed it all up!"

"Nobody wants to eat burnt bacon idiot," Gray argued and Natsu growled in response.

"Can the two of you continue this off the intercoms?" Lucy asked, annoyed that her sleep had been interrupted for this. "I'm with Evie on this. Some of us want to sleep, and don't you dare wake up Erza." The intercom went silent and if Lucy had to guess, they had taken that threat seriously. If there was anything she had learned it was that if you threatened Natsu and Gray with Erza they would behave, even if Erza's reaction was unlikely. Their fear of her was so deeply embedded in them that sometimes Lucy was thankful for it. She curled up again under her blankets and drifted back off to sleep.

She woke up when the smell of food wafted into her room. There was a soft knock on the door. "Come in," she yawned. Natsu had a grin on his face and put a plate with bacon, eggs, and a waffle on one of the nightstands.

"I didn't know what you wanted to drink. Evie wanted hot chocolate, what do you want?"

"Hot chocolate sounds good." Lucy yawned again. "Who won the argument earlier this morning?" She tapped the nightstand to bring up the holographic clock and saw that it was almost 11.

"Gray let me keep a few strips of burnt bacon for Evie and me, be he threw the rest out." Natsu shook his head in mock disappointment, "a total waste of good bacon." Lucy laughed.

"Go get the hot chocolate. Also what are we doing today?" Natsu smirked.

"Can't tell you, but wear a swimsuit!" And with that he was gone.

They were all in the car again, going to a location everyone else knew but Lucy was in the dark. "Lucy, have you ever seen a waterfall before?" Wendy asked from where she was playing a game with Evie on a tablet. Lucy shook her head.

"No, I haven't. I've always wanted to though." She visibly brightened. "Is that where we're going?" Nobody answered. Instead Gajeel turned to Gray.

"If you start skinnydipping I'm knocking you out." The threat wasn't disguised, and it sounded more like a promise.

"Has that happened before?" Natsu roared with laughter.

"Gajeel pushed him off of the waterfall a few years ago," he said gleefully.

"You gave him a concussion," Lily added, looking proud of his owner.

"And we caught fish!" Charle and Lily sighed at Happy's exclamation. "It's ok Lucy, if you start drowning I can save you." Lucy didn't know if he believed that she couldn't swim and he would actually save her or if he was mocking her.

"I'm taking that to mean that you're concerned about me and you want to save me," Lucy replied. Natsu tilted his head back and laughed.

"We will save you, just as soon as we're done laughing. Or you stop breathing. Whichever comes first." The reassurance didn't help her. "The water's going to be cold by the way." Thankfully they had brought the hot chocolate maker with them in addition to towels, blankets, and food. Lots and lots of food. The scenery around them was tranquil. Snow was still scattered over tree branches and the ground. Trees were turning green again and clumps of wildflowers were starting to bloom on the side of the road. There was a gravel space that the car stopped in.

"It's a bit of a walk, but it's pretty easy," Erza told Lucy but that wasn't reassuring. Erza saying something was easy was irrelevant most of the time. Something easy for her could easily be difficult for anyone less insane. Evelyn seemed to see Lucy didn't believe her and she nodded in confirmation.

"It's really not that bad. It's a bit of a walk uphill but it's pretty nice." Every couple of steps they had to stop and shake gravel out of their shoes. Between the cool weather and the shade the trees provided made Lucy shiver slightly. As they got closer the sound of rushing water became louder until it was almost deafening.

"There are two ways down," Natsu said. "You can jump or you can climb down. Wendy and Evie are climbing down to put our stuff on the ground. Smooth rocks surrounded the edge of the pool. Low enough to dip their feet in, but not so low that water was splashing over them. From Lucy's perspective, the stones seemed relatively dry. "See you guys down there." Natsu gave a mock solute before running off and jumping with a shout. When he surfaced from the water he shook his head and laughed, the sound bouncing off of the rocks surrounding them. Gray laughed and followed suit. Gajeel shook his head and muttered "childish" but he jumped off anyway.

"Be careful on your way down," Erza said before leaping off. The Exceeds accompanied them, ready to catch them if any of them were to fall. Lucy was right, the stones were dry and even better, they were warm from the sun that was shining into the clearing where the pool was. Lucy stretched out across it contentedly and sighed in relief.

"Come on Lucy, we're going up to jump off. Come with us!" Evelyn said. Lucy sat up and eyed the top of the rocks where the boys were already back up and jumping off again. She noted with amusement that Natsu had pushed Gray off, yelling something about throwing away perfectly good bacon. He howled with laughter as Gray flailed in the air, his yells silenced by the water. He came up spluttering and yelling threats at Natsu who was bent over laughing. Natsu noticed Lucy staring and gestured for her to come up, a wide grin on his face. Evelyn was already leaping up the stone stairs to where her brother was. Wendy turned towards her.

"I'll jump off with you. I don't like jumping off that much either, but for a few seconds it feels like you're falling." Wendy held out her hand and Lucy smiled at the younger girl as she took it.

"I'll try it." Yells bounced off the walls as Evelyn and Erza jumped off together. Natsu was relaxing, sitting on the ground and letting his legs hang over the side. He beamed as Lucy and Wendy reached the top.

"You're going to jump?" Lucy nodded, her heart racing in her chest. Natsu placed a hand on her shoulder. "Just breathe, it'll be faster than you think. You don't have to do it anymore after this, just try it once." Natsu looked at Wendy. "We can all jump together." Smiling slightly, Lucy nodded taking the hand Natsu had extended. He counted to three and they all took a jump. Lucy screamed and closed her eyes. The three of them plummeted into the water. Lucy came up gasping for breath, as did Wendy. Natsu came up more relaxed, looking completely at peace with what had happened. But Lucy supposed he had done it several times before. She saw Natsu was already swimming back toward the ledge where he could climb out.

"Come on Luce! It's better the second time I promise." Lucy sighed and got out of the water again, shivering slightly.

"I hate you Natsu," she grumbled as she made the climb again. When she saw that he was standing farther away from the edge she stopped. "I'm not running."

"It's more fun this way, I promise." His smile faded slightly. "We don't have to do this if you don't want to." Lucy shook her head, sending water drops flying everywhere.

"No, I'll give it a try. I need to do things outside of my comfort zone." She gladly took Natsu's hand that he held out. She took it and gripped it tightly, the calluses and warmth of it bringing her comfort. Natsu gave her his megawatt grin.

"On three." When he finished counting they raced for the edge and jumped off of it together. As both of them resurfaced she saw Natsu was grinning at her and she had to smile back. The adrenaline rush was something she was quickly becoming addicted to. For those few moments flying through the air it felt free, like she was flying. The only thing she could think of was the anticipation of hitting the water. In the aftermath she could feel surges of confidence and she was giddy off of the adrenaline high.

"You're right. That was a lot more fun." Lucy looked around to see where everyone was. Wendy was sitting on the rocky ledge where their stuff was, kicking her feet in the water and talking with Evelyn who was floating on her back, eyes closed, and Gajeel who had pulled himself out of the water. Erza had swam over to the waterfall and was perched on a rock near the base of it. She shook her head at how Erza could deal with the rushing sound. Gray was standing on top of the rock that she had just jumped off of. She looked over to Natsu who had a mischievous glint in his eye that only meant bad news. He sank under the water and saw silently towards where Evelyn was floating. Lucy bit back a laugh as Natsu went underneath his sister and threw her over his shoulder.

"Natsu Dragneel I am going to murder you!" Evelyn yelled. He just laughed again as he tossed his sister gently into the water. "Oh you are on!" She started splashing him with water. "Lucy, come help me." Not being able to resist, Lucy started splashing Natsu as well.

"C'mon Luce, after all the fun we've had," he whined but he started attacking her just as aggressively. Like he did with Evelyn he scooped her up and tossed her into the water, gently but she was still submerged for a moment.

"Both of you cut it out," Erza called. Unfortunately, Evelyn had sank out of view and allowed Natsu's splash to hit Erza in the face.

"Fuck," was all he said before Erza started swimming towards him with a viciousness that could rival a shark on a hunt. She was so focused on Natsu, that she didn't notice Gray sneaking up behind her and pouncing on her back. She spluttered in anger. "Way to go Gray!"

"Gray Fullbuster you are dead." The seriousness in her voice made Gray reconsider his choice to side with Natsu.

"Shit."

"Language!" The two boys continued to swim away in terror. Gajeel laughed and jumped back into the water to help Erza chase down his cousin and Gray. When the four were finally worn out from swimming around they all pulled themselves onto the rocks and collapsed, faces flushed from laughing and activity.

"Childish," Gajeel muttered and eagerly dug all of the food that they had packed out of the bag. Lucy and Evelyn lit up when they saw a large thermos full of hot chocolate. Before they could grab it, Natsu snatched it first and poured it into a mug. He cackled with glee at the frustration on Evelyn's face. Gray elbowed him in the ribs, which shut him up momentarily.

"Where did the cats go?" Gray asked and everybody looked around.

"I wouldn't worry too much about it. They're somewhere close by. Happy's probably looking for a better fishing spot and the other two are there to make sure he behaves," Natsu said. Lucy laughed; he was probably right. Besides, it seemed like no one else was here and no one had been in here for a while. They lapsed into quiet conversation as everyone dug into their food. Lucy had zoned out and only came back to attention when she saw Natsu kick Gray, which sent him leaning into Erza, which caused Erza to drop her cake. Everyone went silent, looking at Erza in fear.

"Natsu. Gray."

"Fuck," Natsu and Gray said in unison before diving off of the rock into the water, going in two different directions, swimming as quickly as they could.

"Should we help them?" Wendy asked. Gajeel scoffed.

"We should be helping Erza so we don't piss her off." Wendy wisely opted to climb up the rocks and sat down at the ledge, watching the action from a place where Erza couldn't easily get to her. Lucy followed suit. Evelyn laughed and jumped in the water, tackling Erza from behind.

"Get away while you can Natsu!" his little sister called as she wrestled with Erza in the water. Natsu heeded her advice and scrambled up the rocks to join Wendy and Lucy, leaving Evie and Gray to deal with Erza. This continued for several more minutes before Gray and Evelyn were apologizing profusely, completely out of breath. Erza was yelling up at Natsu to apologize and he did. Throughout the chaos, they had missed Gajeel climbing up the rocks. Natsu greeted him but didn't seem to think much of it. When Gajeel shoved him off however, he swore violently before he was submerged in the water.

"Fuck you Gajeel!" Natsu shouted as he pushed his hair out of his face. "I thought we were cool."

"It's payback for being annoying this morning!" Natsu grumbled something under his breath.

"I think we should leave soon," Erza said and no one really argued. They had been out for what seemed like hours. Lucy and Wendy jumped off one more time and then swam to the rock. Natsu dragged Evelyn up the rocks one more time and jumped off together, shrieking wildly on their way down. Gajeel cracked a smile and jumped off one more time as well.

"Let's go find the cats," he said as everyone started getting their stuff together.

"100 jewels says that Happy got a stomachache and they're all at the car waiting for us," Evelyn suggested. Gray and Natsu eagerly agreed and shook on it.

"You three are unbelievable. You're profiting off of Happy's misery," Lucy lectured and Natsu shrugged.

"Wouldn't be the first time, won't be the last," was all he said as he put his hands behind his head. True to what Evelyn had said, the three Exceeds were lounging by the car. Happy was on his back Charle looked like she had given up lecturing him a while ago and was now talking with Lily.

"Did you have fun?" Lily asked and everyone grinned.

"Looks like you didn't though," Gray noted, slightly pissed that he had to pay Evelyn 100 jewels.

"You two owe me!" Evelyn crowed and Natsu and Gray glared at her.

"You bet on me?" Happy asked, fake tears collecting in his eyes. Natsu patted his friend's head.

"It's ok buddy, we'll get back and then you can sleep off all the fish you ate."

"Aye," Happy whimpered and let Natsu carry him back into the car. Natsu, Gajeel, and Wendy froze.

"Shit, do we have motion sickness medicine?" Gajeel asked and they all stared at each other.

"Fuck," Gray said as he rummaged through all of the compartments in the car. "No we don't." Everyone groaned as they realized they had to ride back with a sick Gajeel, Wendy, and Natsu. Evelyn grinned.

"I'm glad I don't have motion sickness," earning her a glare from the three cousins. She just laughed and with that the car started and they headed home.

When they reached home Natsu, Gajeel, and Wendy rolled out of the car onto the ground. They laid there in a pile. The sky had darkened and lights had lit up the exterior of the house. Erza held the door open while Gray helped Gajeel, Natsu had slung his arm around Lucy's shoulders, and Evelyn was helping Wendy into the house. Natsu sank down by the stairs and sat there, collecting himself. Wendy and Gajeel joined him.

"At least they didn't throw up," Evelyn pointed out cheerfully, earning her another glare. She laughed, kissed her brother's cheek and skipped up the stairs to her room. Erza had left them also, as had Gray. Gajeel had been the first one to pull himself together and had slowly made his way up the stairs. Natsu said that he was probably just going to sleep in what he was wearing. Wendy and Natsu stood up around the same time and Lucy followed them, ready to catch them if they were to fall.

Wendy walked into her room, bidding them good night.

"Thanks for everything today Natsu," Lucy said and Natsu grinned.

"You're welcome; I'm glad you had fun. See you in the morning Luce."

"Yeah, good night Natsu."

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