A loud thud came from the young blondes apartment as her head collided with the floor. Her legs hung onto the edge of the bed while her entire torso ly on the cold floor of her apartment. She groaned in pain as the person she felt stood to their feet. In panic mode Lucy crawled for the lamp in her room, the light flicked on revealing a pink haired mage standing in front of her.
Her body froze and her eyes stayed fixated on the man standing in her room. She looked around the room for her golden keys sitting silently atop of her dresser beside the man.
"Ahh... This must be a dream... Or your a shape-shifter and you have come to collect a reward for kidnapping me..." She struggled to get the correct words out of her mouth as she saw the man coming closer to her, she huddled closer to the corner of her room rubbing her eyes as if she was trying to wake herself from a bad dream.
"Natsu..." She said as a small snicker came from the pink haired mage. He held his hand out to her. Their hands connected as she grabbed a hold of his hand. His skin was warm like the Natsu she once knew and he wore the same childish smile as he did. A single tear dropped to her cheek as she patted Natsu's body making sure he was the real deal. Inspecting his appearance and his attitude before turning on the light to her main room.
"Yo Lucy." He said smiling at the blonde as the main light flickered on making him more visible than before. They walked silently into the kitchen, Natsu taking a seat at the table whilst Lucy brewed some tea. Still wondering if she was dreaming the young blonde watched the kettle whistle over the stove top, she decided to figure it out once and for all. As she filled the small tea pot with the boiling water she slipped her hand underneath the piping hot water.
A small squeak of pain escaped her lips, removing her hand and placing it into the cold dish water in the kitchen sink she sighed and wrapped her hand in a cool pack covered with a bandage. She placed the brewed tea onto the middle of the table and grabbed two tea cups from a nearby cupboard.
'Ok so he is real, and he is here. What's going on?' She wondered placing the cup in front of her pink haired best friend. She filled his cup with tea and sat down across from him with a uncertain glare.
"I am the real thing you know." He said grabbing the sides of the cup. Lucy looked closely at the dragon like teeth the showed on the sides of his teeth when he talked. She sighed in relief before letting tears fall from her sore emerald eyes. Natsu stopped, looking at his crying friend he began to panic.
"What... What's wrong?" He yelled loudly. The blonde continued crying at the sight of her once lost friend. The young boy looked around the entire room for a cause to her pain and suffering.
"Who hurt you?" He growled as his body began to burn with a bright red flame. Lucy slightly giggled at the stupidity of her friend before attempting to calm herself down.
"You idiot!" She yelled getting up from her chair. Natsu fell back on his chair, hitting his head on the tiled floor of Lucy's kitchen. He held the back of his head wincing in pain while one eye cracked open to see the young blonde crying again crouched on the floor next to him.
"You left me here all alone... I was lonely..." Natsu's eyes widened at Lucy sobbing those words close to him. He shot up from his position pulling the blonde into a one armed embrace.
"I'm sorry..." He muttered holding her head close to his warm bare chest. She cried for a few minutes holding onto his chest for comfort before realizing how strange they looked.
"Natsu... When did you get back?" She asked pulling away from the warmth of his chest. A worried look overcame his face before he pushed her away looking around the entire room avoiding her eyes.
"Natsu..."
"Thanks for the tea!" He yelled beginning to run away, Lucy quickly entered demon mode. Grabbing tightly to Natsu's back before he could escape. He got to the bed as his foot got caught in the blanket causing him to fall face first onto the bed. Lucy crashed onto him crushing his face into the sheets of her bed. She continued to sit on top of him but allowed him to roll onto his back.
She looked down at the dragon slayer closing his eyes with extreme force. She used her fingers to open his eye lids so he was looking at her. "Natsu, were you... Were you following me all day?" she asked as a large blush overcame the pink haired mans cheeks. Lucy's heart ached slightly before she let go of his eye lids letting him close his eyes. Still sitting close to his stomach Lucy sat quietly waiting for him to tell her to move.
"I was..." He mumbled loud enough for the blonde to hear. Her face went bright red as her heart thumped faster against her chest. His face covered with his pink hair, his white scaled scarf slightly unraveled around his neck revealing the scar on his neck.
"I didn't know what to say to you since I was gone for so long... And before I could knock on the guild doors I saw you walking towards me with your head down mumbling about the most difficult decision in your life... I didn't know why but you looked so sad, so I decided to follow you since then. But before that I had happy come check on you the moment arrived and that was early in the morning. He said that you were mumbling to yourself in the bath about strange things." Natsu looked up at Lucy with his normal carefree smile.
Without thinking the blonde mage continued to ponder in thought about everything her friend admitted. Natsu stared at the mage with content. "What?" Lucy said wondering what he was staring at.
"Your really heavy. I can't breath..." He said bluntly looking down at the blonde sitting on his stomach. Lucy's face lite up with rage not moving from her position.
"Well die than!" She yelled continuing to think if he heard ever word she was mumbling to herself when she made her way to the guild that morning. She sighed in content thinking that her best friend was back and hadn't changed one bit. His body was more built and his hair slightly longer but he still wore the saem styled clothing with his scarf wrapped around his neck.
"Alright I give up..." She sighed fixing Natsu's hair before sliding his scarf off his neck. She began to wrap the soft white fabric back around his neck when her ears pricked up to a small giggle. Blushing slightly when she looked out the window in front of her. A small blue feline had his face pressed up against the glass with a smug look on his face, She looked back down at the man beneath her. Her legs wrapped around his sides, her hands close around his neck. Her small amount of clothing didn't make the situation any better than the intimate position she was in with Natsu.
"What's wrong Luce?" He asked looking at her confused at why she suddenly stopped putting his scarf back on. Happy flew through the opened pane of glass where Natsu tried to escape from earlier. Happy hovered in front of the two with his hands covering his mouth as if he were holding in a laugh.
"Happy, what's up little buddy?" Natsu said with a slight loss of breath, the small blue cat stared at the two before landing just beside Natsu's head.
"She liikes yooouu..." Happy said letting a small giggle leave his mouth before he burst into a laughing fit. Lucy sighed happily, 'Oh how I missed that laugh.' She thought as she warped Natsu's scarf around his scar, moving her hand to his pink hair. She brushed the loose ends from his face and smiled down at him.
She let her body slide off of him fixing her shorts as she walked to the kitchen to fix them some midnight snacks. "Now explain yourself!" She said as if she were his mother wondering where he had been. Natsu sat up from her bed crossing his legs. The answer was simple, well simple enough for anyone at the Fairy tail guild to understand.
"Training." He said simply watching Lucy come back into the room with their favorite food. Happy looked down at the platter for his dish but noticed there was nothing for him. He looked up at Lucy who smiled at him. Thinking she had forgotten him his wing reappeared flapping him up to window he came from. Lucy smiled at his disappointed face holding her hands behind her back.
"Happy!" She yelled pretending to be mad at him. He turned to face her holding her hands back behind her slim yet fully filled body. She smiled at him before revealing a large, fresh, raw fish with a red ribbon around its body. The small blue feline cried in joy slamming his face between her breasts crying in happiness.
She let her hand rest on his head patting him slowly. "As if I could forget about you Happy." She smiled down at him hugging the fish to his chest. He sat down beside her, wings disappearing as he in-golfed the large fish wrapping the ribbon around his neck loosely.
"So training... What else? I mean you were gone for almost two years. Everyone thought you either ditched Fairy tail or you were killed on a mission." Lucy complained watching Natsu shove more food into his already full mouth before swallowing it all in one big gulp. His mouth still slightly full he looked up at the blonde worryingly as she explained what happened over the year he was gone.
"You left Natsu, you left me here all alone." She said with a hint of sadness in her voice. The pink haired by cleared off the remaining scraps on the plate and sat back with his eyes closed.
"I left you here because you were hut from losing Aquarius, using her key to summon the Celestial spirit king you broke your bond with her and I wanted you to have some time to yourself." He said with a sigh before standing to his feet.
Lucy took his last comment with extreme offence. Remembering she still had the broken gold key tucked away in the letters to her mother. "You dragged me on a mission when I found out about my father, so what would it matter to you if I was mourning or not?" Lucy yelled standing to her feet in front of Natsu. Tears welled up in her eyes, the blonde mage tipped her head slightly attempting to hide her sadness for the loss of her closest friend and first spirit.
Natsu's eyes widened at her emotional outburst, rethinking what he had said. 'What am I saying, she lost all the people she called family. Her mum, her dad and now she lost her first spirit.' He lowered his head in shame. "Lucy..." Happy mumbled softly flying to her shoulder patting her as gently as she did him.
"I'm sorry Natsu, I was just surprised at the fact that you left without telling me to my face. You were the one that took me to Fairy tail and it's because of you that I am as powerful as I am now. I shouldn't have jumped to conclusions. I thought that you just didn't want me to be with you because I was a burden of some sort. When I woke the next morning to find that it wasn't a dream and that you were actually gone my heart broke. I couldn't believe that straight after the loss of one of my spirits you would leave me just like she did. I'm sorry..." Lucy cried rubbing the tears from her cheeks as the blue cat floated above her shoulder looking at Natsu with a worried expression.
"Lucy..." Natsu couldn't bring himself to say the words he was thinking. He watched her tears as they fell to her red dry cheeks. He couldn't help himself but grab her hands in his own. Bringing her into a tight embrace.
"Lucy, I... I'm sorry... I didn't know you felt that way." He said pushing her face deeper into his rough, warm shoulder. Her hands grabbed tightly onto his white scarf while she sobbed into his burning skin. She brought her face up to his standing on her toes to make them eye level.
"You could have written to me and I would have been happy, but you didn't you just vanished from my life... Leaving me behind as you got stronger..." She whispered leaning her face slightly closer to his, just feeling his warm breath on her cheek as he pulled her into another embrace created a shiver, traveling down her spin she pulled herself as close as she could to the flame mage. Feeling his warmth once again, the deep tone of his voice spread vibrations from her neck down. Having her clothes smell like ash mixed with his scent made her feel more comfortable when she slept.
He could feel how cold she had gotten since the last time he hugged her into a tight squeeze. The feeling of her chest against his, the smell of strawberries made his mouth water. He had forgotten what it meant to have a friend like this, 'A friend...' These words replayed in his head as he took in her sent once more. 'Why do I feel so much more at home when he is with me... Was he really just my friend...' Lucy thought, a strange sensation came from her hands as they touched his carved muscles. The warmth of his skin was more than normal, but for her it was just perfect.
'How did I live up until now?' She thought, their bond was interrupted by a flying blue object clashing through the middle, separating their chests. "I want to be hugged too!" Happy crawled between them. Lucy hugged into her two favorite people in the world. Natsu's head shot up from their hug, his ears hearing a strange demonic voice in the distance that sounded painfully familiar. Lucy continued to laugh at Happy's squished face.
"Natsu!" Ezra called making her way closer to Lucy's department. Gray following closely behind her.
A loud bang came from the door handle hitting the concrete wall, standing in silence for a few seconds observing the odd sight. Erza walked into the room looking at the small group hug. This was the first time she saw Lucy's true smile, her cheeks flushed and her hands around Natsu's neck as if ready to lean in for a kiss.
"Natsu you fiery bastard!" Gray yelled coming through the door next. Pushing past Erza planting his ice cold fist into the fire mages face. His strength pushing the dragon slayer off of his feet and into the wall behind him.
"Ice freak..." Natsu groaned wiping his face with the back of his fist before getting up off the ground.
Lucy laughed as she held onto Happy, Ezra walked slowly over to the young blonde smiling. Her armor clacking against the wooden floor. A tear came to her eye as she watched Lucy laugh for the first time since Natsu had left. 'Ahh, I see.' Erza though looking into the direction Lucy was staring into.
'You were always looking at him weren't you.' The scarlet haired woman thought watching Gray and Natsu play fight as a way of welcoming him back. "Natsu!" Erza bellowed as the fire mage looked up freezing in his awkward position over Gray.
"Gray, both of you boys come over here for a second." She said with a deep tone in her voice. The boys flinched as a dark aura surrounding the scarlet haired woman. Their fear took over their bodies making them move quickly and quietly towards the three bystanders.
Erza glared at the boys with an intent of murder in her eyes. Her hands grabbed the boys before pulling them into a larger group hug. Tears coming from her eyes she held onto Natsu, Lucy, Gray and Happy with all her might, a smile formed on her lips to see that they were all laughing in complete happiness.
Remembering how different they were yet they were a team, Natsu; The fire dragon slayer, who was also loud, crude and always destroying everything.
Lucy; The celestial wizard, a beautiful blonde woman, loving, caring and strangely tied to Natsu of all people.
Gray; The ice mage, a stripper who didn't know how to keep his clothes on even in the colder climates, a loyal and serious.
Erza; The requip mage who had a bad temper, scary yet loving, loyal and girly.
And none of them would be where they were without the blue cat also known as Happy, a strong and loyal creature who's only magical ability was to fly.
Ezra wiped the tears from her now laughing face. She couldn't care less about jewels or the danger that basically smashes through their doors every week. Whenever she was with these people she would always feel at ease, they were her friends, her teammates and the closest thing she had to a family.
Lucy smiled at the red head, 'It's good to see her happy like this again.' Ezra thought pulling the four into a closer hug, tightening her grasp. Natsu and Gray's face smashed onto her shielded chest. They both howled in pain grabbing their heads. It was like they were a family again, like their wounded hearts have finally healed.