Lucy woke up to singing birds and sunshine, but no Natsu. Which was weird, seeing as he'd been spending every night with her since they'd hooked up two years ago and she had given her official permission for him to sleep in her bed. Not that the lack of that permission had stopped him before, she thought with a slight grin.
She rose, going straight for the shower. Once dressed she went to the refrigerator to get herself a glass of orange juice, and saw the note with its messy handwriting tacked to the small cork board she'd put up some time ago.
Lucy,
I've got something to do with Lisanna this morning and didn't want to wake you. Mata, ne?
Natsu
That's certainly new, Lucy thought as she gulped down the juice. Natsu and I always go to the guild together, or he brings me there before he leaves. And he's never left a note before. Whatever he and Lisanna are up to, it must be important. It occurred to her that she might have reason to be jealous, but she shrugged it off. Natsu wasn't like that, and whatever feelings he might have had for Lisanna were before he'd met her. Now those two were more like sister and brother than anything else.
She went to the guild and was surprised to see that most of her guild mates were already up and about despite the late party last night. Wakaba and Macao were having a friendly argument while Romeo watched on, Wendy was on the communications lacrima, Nab was at his usual place in front of the request board, and a lot of the men were already in a brawl. Levy and Juvia sat together, talking to Gajeel, while Lily told Charle stories about his life in Extalia.
Lucy approached the bar. "Ohayou, Mira!"
The barmaid never paused in cleaning as she smiled at the Celestial Mage. "Ohayou, Lucy." She glanced at the door. "Ara, Natsu isn't with you?"
"Eh? Oh, no. He got out early, before I woke up. He said he had something to do with Lisanna. I thought you knew," Lucy added.
"So they started early huh…" Mira mumbled to herself. Lucy heard, though.
"Started what early, Mira?"
"Huh? Oh, nothing," the older woman replied innocently. "Ne Lucy, since Natsu's out for the day, would you like to do a mission? It's easy and within Magnolia," Mira assured before Lucy could argue.
Lucy considered. She and Natsu were doing fine in the financial area, but a little extra never hurt. "Can I see it?"
The other woman nodded and pulled the flier from beneath the bar. When she noticed Lucy's eyebrows raise at that she said, "It's a special mission. I thought it was perfect for you, so I kept it here before posting it on the board."
Lucy looked a little suspicious. "Oh. Thanks." She turned her attention to the paper. "Mission: Go around Magnolia for a day following the clues laid out. Difficulty: Easy. Reward: Negotiable depending on the mage." She looked up again. "Mira, the name of the requestor isn't here. The last time we took a mission like that, it turned out to be crazy and dangerous."
The Take-Over mage smiled reassuringly. "I can vouch for this one. Go ahead Lucy, it should be fun."
The blonde mage reluctantly stood up. "If you say so… But where's the first clue?"
"Right here." Mira handed her a piece of paper.
"Go to the bakery," Lucy read. "That's it?"
Mira shrugged. "It did say to follow the clues laid out, right? There must be more."
"I suppose." Lucy sighed. She started out, shouting over her shoulder, "Mira, tell Natsu that I'll see him later, okay?"
"Hai!" Mira smiled again as the blonde headed out. "Have fun, Lucy. Natsu, you better not screw this up!"
The bakery smelled like how Lucy imagined heaven would smell like: freshly baked goods and various fruity scents. She looked around, hoping to see the clue. She wanted to go home early so she could maybe cook a special dinner. It was their anniversary, after all.
The baker approached her. "Ojou-sama, how can I help you today?"
"Oh! Umm, it's just… See, I accepted a mission today and it said to follow the clues and the first one said to come to the bakery. I'm looking for the next clue," Lucy clarified nervously. She didn't understand why she should be nervous, but the mission request was too weird and struck something in her.
"Ah! So you're the one he said would come. Come in, come in to the back," the baker ushered. "The man said you would come in later in the morning, but the cake's already finished!"
"The cake?"
"Yes, yes! He said that I should bake a special cake, a new recipe, and that you would taste it. He was very particular with what I should include… But you should just taste it!" He guided her to a table setup just beside the kitchen door then disappeared through it. Before Lucy could do anything else he was back with a platter of cake, which he set down and sliced in front of her. He served it on a separate plate, handed her a fork, and stood there smiling at her.
Feeling trapped, awkward, and still suspicious, Lucy tried it. The taste of yeast, lemon, vanilla and blueberry—her favorite flavors in baked goods—exploded and blended her tongue. She barely suppressed a moan of pure pleasure, but she couldn't prevent her eyes from lighting up.
"This is so good!" She ate another bite. "Hey oji-san, would you wrap up an order of this for me?"
"I'm sorry, but the client specifically asked that the recipe should be used only for that one cake… At least for today. If you like, I could reserve one for you tomorrow," he offered.
"Um… Okay." Lucy's mouth was full of cake so her answer was muffled. She also felt disappointed that they couldn't have the cake for her and Natsu's anniversary dinner, it was so delicious.
"Ne, oji-san, did your client say anything else? About the clue, I mean?" Lucy asked as soon as she finished devouring the slice.
"Oh, of course, of course! Here," he said. He drew out a piece of paper and handed it to her.
"Head to the library," she read out loud. It's more like this guy is leaving instructions instead of clues, Lucy thought. Then she shrugged. It was just her job to follow them around, not criticize the guy.
"Arigatou, oji-san! Ittekuru!" Lucy ran out of the bakery, waving to the baker until she was out of sight.
The baker smiled. "Ganbare, Natsu-kun."
As Lucy ran to the library, she didn't notice the flying blue cat watching her. Happy stayed a few meters away from her, careful not to be seen. He was taking his job seriously as Lucy's bodyguard for the day, although he knew the Celestial mage would be pissed if she knew that her boyfriend had someone watching her all the time. Loke, Virgo, Happy, Levy, anyone he could pull. It wasn't like Natsu didn't trust his girlfriend to take care of herself.
He just cared about her that much.
Happy heard the chime of the town's clock, noted the time. Lucy was way too ahead of schedule, he thought. He had to find Natsu.
He found his friend and surrogate father in the sakura square of Central Park, stringing lights with Lisanna and Erza. "Natsu!"
"Yo, Happy! 'Sup?"
"Lucy's already heading for the library!"
"EH?!" All three mages looked panicked.
"B-But, we haven't even set up the table! And Nee-san hasn't even started cooking the food yet!" Lisanna sounded distressed, so Happy came over to her.
"Why is she up so early?" Erza asked. "Natsu, I thought you said she wouldn't be up until at least midmorning." Her face was so fierce, Natsu had to gulp and clear his throat before he could answer.
"I thought she wouldn't! The party didn't end up till after midnight and we got into something after we went to the apartment…" The pink-haired man's voice faded as the red-haired woman's face turned—if possible—fiercer.
"You got into what, exactly?" She advanced menacingly towards the rapidly paling dragon slayer and grabbed him by the colar.
Lisanna took pity on him. "Natsu, what have you got her doing in the library?"
Erza stopped shaking Natsu so he could answer. "Ahahahaha that book she wanted gets… Ahaha… released tomorrow, but I… Aaaahhh… managed to get an early copy… The guy in the library should… Ooof! …should give it to her and… Aaaahh she could spend some time reading there…." His eyes were swirling from Erza's assault. He spun once and dropped to the ground, twitching, after he finished his answer.
"Maybe I went a little too hard at him…?" Erza wondered.
Lisanna laughed awkwardly. "Well anyway, Lucy should be occupied with that for a few hours at least… Unless she has a Gale-Force 18?"
Erza shook her head. "Only Levy has that in our guild. They're expensive, but this idiot here," she gestured towards Natsu, who was still sprawled on his back, "bought Lucy a pair of Gale-Force 2 a few months ago, after hers got broken."
"We shouldn't have any problem then. Happy, go watch her again, ne?"
"Aye, sir!"
As instructed, the librarian gave Lucy the book as soon as she'd introduced herself, along with a note that said she would find the next clue while reading it. Even though she was bewildered and extremely curious as to who the requester was, she certainly wasn't complaining; she was ecstatic, seeing as the book was written by her favorite author and wasn't due to be released until the next day. An advanced copy! She settled down in one of the corner tables, put on her Gale-Force reading glasses, and proceeded to enjoy for the next few hours.
When she surfaced again, the sun was just starting to disappear from the horizon. She almost freaked out and only the note she'd found in the middle of the book kept her calm.
Pick up a package at box 231 at the train station, and be at the Central Park at 7PM. Oh, and keep the book.
She glanced up at the clock. 6:34PM; she could still make it, if she ran.
At the train station, she looked for the box then wondered how she was supposed to open it. Just then a guard approached her.
"Ojou-san? Are you, by chance, the one assigned to pick up the package in this box?"
"Hai! I'm the one who took on the mission," she replied and showed him her guild mark.
"Ja, here's the key. Thank you for using our services." He bowed before walking away.
I wonder what's inside, Lucy thought as she opened the box. She was surprised to see two beautifully boxes, one filled with clothes and the other with a pair of shoes. The note attached to it read, Wear these before going to the park.
She eyed the items, wondering how the person behind what she'd personally dubbed "the treasure hunt" knew that the one who would take the request would be a girl. Then she shrugged. He had probably requested it to Mira, hence the dress and the shoes. They probably wouldn't fit her, Lucy thought, but she should at least try.
The dress with its frilly neckline, waist-hugging corset and flowing skirt fit perfectly, as did the shoes. The whole ensemble was in different shades of blue, her favorite color, as was the pretty tiara-style hair comb that she used to put up her hair. As she looked at herself in front of the mirror, Lucy couldn't squash the suspicion that whoever the requester was, he knew her well.
She headed to the park, feeling a bit apprehensive. Darkness had fallen a few minutes ago, and the park was mostly deserted. It was also dark, she noticed, as most of the streetlights were off; those that were on were on the main road. In fact, they seemed to lead to the sakura square. She followed the path, guessing that whoever set up the request was probably there.
The moment she stepped out of the main pathway, all the lights went off. She almost screamed, but other lights came on almost immediately in front of her. They wound around the sakura trees, giving off soft illumination that made everything seem like a dream. Before she could recover from the pretty sight, a voice—she recognized it as Lyra's, and in the back of her mind wondered how her Celestial Spirit got out—began singing softly.
Every single dawn,
Every time the sun comes up,
I think of you and I remember
The things we've been through.
The times we've cried,
The times we've laughed,
Everything we've shared 'til now
Every single moment led to this.
I don't wanna lose you darling,
I don't wanna see you go.
I don't wanna spend my life wondering
"What went wrong?"
I just wanna stay with you, forever
Spend my life right beside you,
I just wanna go on living
And never stop loving you.
Lucy gaped as, near the end of the song, Natsu stepped out from behind a sakura tree. He wore a semi-formal outfit of long-sleeved button-down shirt with the top two buttons undone tucked into dark blue slacks, with shiny leather shoes on his feet, and of course the scarf Igneel had given him wrapped around his neck.
"Natsu," Lucy said wonderingly as he approached her. "What's all this?"
He smiled, and Lucy noticed that he seemed… nervous. It was not like him at all, she mused absently.
"Lucy…" He took a deep breath before continuing, his eyes steady on hers and full of something that made her heart pound. "On this day eleven years ago—if we include the time we were locked in Tenrou Island—I met you at Hargeon. I didn't know you that well, but I knew that inviting you to Fairy Tail was something that I wouldn't regret. It turns out to be one of the best decisions I ever made. Ah…" He scratched the back of his head, looked to the side a little with his cheeks the same shade as his hair. Then he met her eyes again and continued. "Also on this day two years ago, you finally agreed to give me a chance as your boyfriend. I know I make you angry a lot and frustrate you, and that sometimes you wanna just give up 'coz I'm so troublesome but… but… Ah! The hell with this!" Lucy jolted at the outburst, and watched bemusedly as he messed up his hair in frustration. She squeaked when he grabbed her arms and pulled her in, engulfing her in his arms with his face close to hers. "Look, Levy helped me get a speech planned out for all this, and it was really nice and all, but what I really wanna say is…" He let her go, took a step back and fished for something in his pocket before getting down on one knee. Lucy felt her breath hitch. "Lucy, I love you. There won't be another girl for me, ever. You're it. So what'd'ya say we get married?"
"Oh, Natsu…" Lucy's eyes barely held her tears back. She was prone to crying, but this one time she wanted the memory to be clear and not blurred with tears. "Yes! Now put that ring on me, you idiot, before I change my mind!" Natsu laughed, a giddy sound that conveyed all of his relief that she hadn't rejected him. He quickly slipped the ring on her finger before she threw herself into his arms.
Lucy heard a cheer behind her, and turned around to see the whole guild right there, dressed in their Sunday best—even Gajeel, although Gray had already lost his top—clapping and laughing. She turned back to her fiancé—her fiancé!
"How—When did you get all this ready?"
He gave her a wide grin. "I've been planning it for weeks! Lisanna helped me plan it out, and the others helped out with doing all this."
"Then… all those times you've been out for the last few weeks..?"
He nodded. "Yup. I wasn't out on missions. I was doing this with the rest of them."
Lucy laughed giddily. "Oh, Natsu. I love you so much, you idiot."
"I love you too, weirdo. And I'll spend the rest of my life proving it to you."
Okaaay... Since some of you have asked for another chapter, here it is. Very cheesy, and I know Natsu and Lucy seemed a bit out of character... But keep in mind that the timeline for this is sometime in the future. Anyway, hope you enjoyed despite all that cheese... And if you've gotten this far, you wouldn't mind using the review button just down there, right?
P.S.: If you're confused about the Japanese terms, just PM me. I swear to answer. Or just PM me for whatever LOL.
P.S.S.: Okaaay... The page followers have had enough advance notice. Now you get this, LOL. (follow us: www . facebook LevyMcGarden27 - Just remove the spaces)