Disclaimer: Still applies from last chapter...

Scorching Relationship

It was exactly one month since Natsu had confessed to Lucy. For their anniversary, they decided to do…

Nothing.

Well, nothing they had never done before. They did everyday things, like fishing, going to the park, even visiting the new magical arcade.

But the one thing that made this day special was that they were completely left alone. They had decided that they would spend the entire day together and with no one else. They expected Happy to be bummed when they told him, but he just smiled goofily and said, "You're sooooo together," which they responded to in playful unison with, "So we've noticed."

Happy had told them not to worry, that he would hang out with Wendy, Charle, and Pantherlily (the black cat's master's one month anniversary was the same day, mind you).

Lucy had to admit when they got to Natsu's house late that night to rest from the arcade (magical games were naturally played with magic energy from the users; they had played for hours) that she couldn't imagine a time when she was more happy than she was now. She smiled as she walked into his home. It was still just as clean as she made it when she first visited. Or broke in, whichever. She had once asked him why he only now decided to keep it clean. She had never expected his answer to make her feel like she was floating through the clouds.

"Well…it's never been so clean before that, so whenever I see it like that now, it reminds me of you."

She smiled as she recalled how casually he admitted to thinking about her so often.

"Luce?"

She was brought back to the present by her boyfriend's voice. She turned to him and saw the concern in his eyes. She smiled.

"I'm fine, just remembering something."

"Really? That's good," he said as he walked up and kissed her softly as he wrapped his arms around her back. She in response wrapped hers around his neck. As Natsu pulled away, he remembered something.

"Luce, I want to try something, but I need you to stay calm, okay?"

"Okay…" she replied with a little hesitancy. She wondered what he meant, but she trusted he wouldn't do anything to upset or hurt her.

Natsu pulled her as close as he could and relaxed himself. Lucy saw small flames light up in spots on his body and got a little nervous, but she didn't move. The flames slowly grew to cover Natsu. When they reached Lucy, she gasped. The fire was in no way painful, but gave her warmth like the rest of Natsu's body. It spread until it covered every inch of her. She sighed blissfully as she stood there, completely wrapped in his magic, in him.

'I'm not sure I could get used to this,' she thought hazily as her body was encased in his warmth.

"Where the world did you learn this?" she asked as she struggled to stay upright.

"Well, Macao once lectured me on how fire's attributes can be changed, so I experimented a bit."

"So, what do you think?" he asked as he locked eyes with her. There were emotions he couldn't quite grasp in her brown orbs that seemed to shine.

"I think you need to shut up and kiss me you damn magnificent mage," she replied softly.

Without waiting for a response, she pulled him into a passionate kiss. Natsu grinned against her lips.

'That good, huh?' he thought proudly.

He slowly rubbed her back as he pulled her closer to him to deepen the kiss. He pushed his way in with his tongue to dance with hers. Lucy's moan reverberated in his mouth.

'Oh God… I never imagined this hothead could be so passionate.'

Her thoughts threatened to leave her as she drowned in the comfort of his fire and the heat of his kiss. She unwrapped her hands from his neck and inserted them underneath his usual vest. Natsu jumped slightly in surprise, but she didn't take notice. She slowly ran her fingers over her chest. She tried to remember how each spot felt, but with her thoughts in such a blur, she found herself needing to take constant trips back and forth. This frustrated her and she began to move more desperately.

'Whoa, when did she get so bold? It's really hot…'

Suddenly, Lucy's mind cleared when she felt strong heat on her back. She quickly pushed Natsu away. He gave her a confused look. Lucy frantically pointed a finger at her back.

"M-my shirt's on fire!"

Taking action quickly, he rushed to help Lucy out of her shirt. When they were done, he threw it on the floor and proceeded to stomp on it until the flames went out. They paused a moment to see if the fire started up again before looking at each other. Upon doing so, the memory of their recent actions caught up with them, making them blush heavily and look away. Well, that was half of Natsu's reason. The other reason was that her pink bra was fully visible and DAMN did it make her look hot when she wasn't angry. He heard her sigh.

"We almost made the entire day without something strange happening," she said. Natsu turned to look at her again and his blush multiplied when he saw that she wasn't making any moves to cover herself.

"Y-yeah, I guess we won't be trying that again," he said with an uncomfortable laugh. There was silence before Lucy spoke again.

"N-not necessarily," she said softly. Natsu looked at her in confusion and saw that her blush was covering most of her face and she was avoiding eye contact with him. "You just have to be more careful next time, right?"

Natsu smiled, his confidence restored by how much she had enjoyed it. He put his hands on her shoulders, pushing her gently backwards until they reached the wall.

"That's true."

He suddenly grabbed her arms and moved them above her head so he had both her wrists in one hand. Lucy gasped at his sudden aggressiveness.

"Or we can make sure you don't break my concentration again," he said with an impish grin.

"Wai- mph!" Natsu's lips interrupted Lucy before she could object and she groaned in annoyance.

'Oh well. He is the only person I'd want to be trapped by.'

Bonus

Mira Jane sighed as she watched Gray and Juvia. Even after a month as a couple, Juvia still hadn't gotten over her blushing issue. In fact, in Mira's opinion she had almost definitely gotten worse. Well, of course it didn't help that Gray was almost always stripped in her presence. Mira was sure he was doing it on purpose. She sighed again as she rested her head on the bar and closed her eyes, glad that no one was ordering drinks for once.

"Is something the matter?" a voice said to her.

Mira opened her eyes and smiled softly at a concerned Fried. She absently wondered why she could never think of the perfect match for him. He was smart, powerful, and handsome to boot. She could think of many girls that could be a good match for him, but something was always missing.

"Mira? Why are you looking at me like that?"

Mira snapped back to attention.

"Ah, sorry Fried-san. I was just thinking about something."

"Oh. Well, is something wrong? You've been sighing a lot."

"You heard that, huh?"

"Mhm. All afternoon in fact."

"What? Y-You've been here that long?"

Fried smiled in amusement.

"What's on your mind?"

"Well, I'm not quite sure…" she answered as she looked back at Gray and Juvia. As she did so, she felt the strong feeling she had recently been having. "Actually, that's a lie. I know what it is."

Fried moved his seat closer to the counter to show he was listening.

"I'm jealous," said Mira, not looking away from the couple.

Fried looked in the direction Mira was and turned back to face her.

"Of Juvia?"

Mira laughed.

"Yes and no. I'm not really jealous of Juvia specifically."

Fried looked back at the couple and thought while he watched Gray whisper something in Juvia's ear, causing her to blush brightly before passing out on his lap.

'That happens far too often to be an accident,' he thought. Then, something clicked.

"Oh, I get it. The matchmaker wants to be matched, hmm?"

Mira smiled and blushed lightly.

"Well, I used to spend so much time thinking about how to get them and our other famous couples together. After they hooked up, I didn't have anything to occupy my thoughts with."

"Hmm… then might I offer you a daunting challenge to think about?" said Fried with a smile.

Mira looked at him curiously.

"What would that be?"

"I'm warning you, it's a challenge that may test the very limits of your mind."

Mira giggled softly.

"Try me."

Fried smirked.

"I challenge you to come up with a match for Bixlow."

Mira snorted loudly in laughter before covering her mouth and nose as if trying to capture the sound before it escaped.

Fried stared for a moment before breaking into laughter.

Mira blushed a brighter shade of red than her dress and pouted cutely. She had tried so hard to keep anyone from finding out about that! She looked around to see if anyone else had heard, but oddly, no one seemed to notice.

"Please don't tell anyone about that… It's sooo embarrassing," she pleaded quietly as he calmed down.

"Heh. Don't worry. I promise I won't tell a soul," he said kindly before lowering his voice, "Besides, I kind of like knowing something about Mira that others don't."

Mira beamed brightly, the words some how making her emotions soar. The two continued to talk late into the night, laughing and subtly flirting with each other. By the time Mira looked at the rest of the guild, it was completely empty. She even noticed that the bar had been cleaned up for her.

"Oh my goodness! I can't believe how late it is! How could everyone leave without even saying goodbye?"

"Er… I don't know…" replied Fried as he released the magic in the runes he placed earlier to hide their presence from others and prevent interruptions, "I guess I'll walk you to the dorm."

"Oh? Does Fried-san think I need protecting?" asked Mira playfully.

"O-of course not, but I'm worried you might get gloomy like earlier," he replied nervously, "B-besides, it doesn't feel right when you aren't smiling."

Mira flushed brightly and smiled.

"Well, I can't really turn you down after you said something as sweet as that, now can I?"

Fried smiled and opened the door to the entrance for her. It had been the first heat wave of the year, and even though the snow hadn't quite melted away completely, the air was only slightly cool in the late night. They walked in peaceful silence, and it felt like they arrived at the dorm far too quickly. As they reached the entrance, Mira turned to Fried.

"Thank you for cheering me up, Fried-san."

"I'm glad I could help," he said with a small smile, "Well, until next time."

Mira nodded happily and got lost in her thoughts as she watched him turn to leave. She tried to remember the last time she'd had so much fun. It must have been the party after they'd discovered that Lisanna was alive. However, that feeling had been…more of a joyous relief. This was different. Today left her feeling…light-headed and weightless. Something clicked in her mind and she ran after him before he got too far.

"Wait!"

She tried to kiss his cheek just as he turned, but she was a bit slow and ended up meeting his lips. They both stayed like that for a few stunned moments before Mira pulled away slowly. Mira had a mind to apologize until she realized it wouldn't be very convincing unless she stopped smiling like a fool, so she said the next thing that she could think of.

"I'll talk to you tomorrow, Fried-kun."

Fried blushed deeply and muttered a soft, "Y-yeah…"

With that, Mira turned and ran to the door, opening and closing it behind her in haste. After that she hurried to her room and to her bed, where she buried her face in her pillow just before she let out a high-pitched squeal of excitement. She then turned to lie on her back, smiling up at the ceiling. She then thought to the several conversations she had with Lucy about love.

'This is what you feel whenever you're with Natsu, right, Lucy? There's nothing else that could explain this feeling. It must be love.'

Mira sighed, this time in contentment, as she drifted into a peaceful sleep, smile never fading for the rest of the night.

I finally got over my procrastination before it hit 4 months... Oh well, hope you enjoyed it! To confirm that you did, just press the button below. Flames will be eaten by Natsu.