Have some NaLu cuteness. This is in celebration of what happened recently in the chapter. I fell off of my chair, I mean...he called her precious.
I also wanted something fun to write.
The day of their two-year anniversary had arrived. Natsu was worried that he would be unable to plan something good for Lucy, but lately she had been so absorbed in writing Fairy Tail that she forgot most things. Sometimes she would gaze out of the window when they were cuddling; her eyes would glaze over and she would begin to mutter about paradoxes and parallel universes and what if Lisanna had not died there? But she was so stuck on this one chapter. Or she bounced between naming the book and plot concepts. "Silent Song or Demon Land? Phantom Lords? Or maybe…no, wait," she would murmur to herself before rushing to her study. She had a year and a half to complete the book, but she was so caught up in the flow of the arcs that there was an absence of her in his life in some capacity. He was worried.
And so he resolved to make the two-year special, to put her at ease and help her relax. He called up Mirajane the day before to ask her to take Lucy out for a spa day, just to get her out of the house so she could have fun and so he could prepare the house for their anniversary. He wanted everything to be special. That morning, Natsu woke Lucy up with a kiss and orange juice and a caress.
"Mm? Natsu?" Lucy blinked blearily, glancing at the high-summer sun peeking through the drapes around their four-poster bed.
"Come on," he whispered, as he pulled the drapes back further. "Get up. I ran a bath for us."
She smiled, still sleepy, lifted her arms and he picked her up to carry her into the bathroom, the tub already filled. The aroma of the sweet pea blossoms he dumped into the bath filled the room, and Natsu grinned, the day was going as well as he had hoped. He wiggled his toes. The tile was cold in the morning chill and he forgot his slippers. He would be warm soon enough. Lucy kissed his cheek as he set her on her feet. She peeled off the old sweatshirt she slept in. He leaned forward, touching his forehead to hers. "I love you."
"I know," she quipped. She slipped out of his reach to edge toward the bath and gingerly eased her way in. "You're not getting in?" she asked when he made no move to undress.
"No." He kissed her cheek and positioned himself behind the tub. "I already took my shower. Just relax and," he grabbed a nearby green bottle of shampoo and squeezed some onto his hand, making a lather, "tilt your head back."
"What is that?" The goop in his hands was green and opaque and smelled vaguely of mint.
Natsu grinned widely. "It's teatree oil shampoo with cinnamon extract or jabbaba or something. I borrowed it from Gray and Juvia. Juv says it's good for you. Tilt your head back."
"Or something? If you mess up my hair -I swear to god."
His expression changed to a mighty scowl. "Tilt. Your head. Back."
She complied and he proceeded to massage the shampoo into her hair, his hands capable and careful. Every so often he would ask her if he was too rough or if she were feeling alright, and she smiled and told him he was fine. They chatted about his work as he began to rub her shoulders and whether or not they had enough money to buy her a mode of transport and perhaps, one day, a two cats. He pulled the showerhead down and smoothed the water over her as gently as he could, before his plans for relaxing her degenerated into splashing and wet tees and wrestling until he was halfway into the tub.
And then the phone rang. He answered tentatively. Ah. Mirajane. "Natsu hand the phone to Lucy."
Lucy reached for it, her expression becoming a slow mixture of exasperation and amusement as Mirajane's chatter sounded through the earpiece. "Mira says she's going to be here in five minutes and I'm going out with her." There was some disbelief in Lucy's voice.
"That's good, right?" Natsu said, already shaking out a towel for Lucy to wrap herself with. "You need to go out for some fresh ideas or maybe take a little break. You've been working really hard, Luce."
She leaned into him to kiss the nape of his neck. "Gotta go get dressed."
The next five minutes was a frantic scramble to brush teeth and pick the perfect casual-cute-sophisticated-comfy outfit. Waist-high dark blue shorts, purple transparent top, black bra. Natsu handed her some sunglasses of his to borrow, and gave her boots to borrow. It was not long before Mirajane knocked on the door. A swift kiss goodbye, "I love you, Natsu, be back tonight," a short hug and she was out the door in Mira's voyager.
Leaving Natsu to mop up the bathwater in the bathroom before Cana was supposed to arrive with dinner ingredients. Natsu would have made something for her himself, but he was quite incapable of cooking without burning the food. Gray and Juvia offered to help but she was swamped as it was with the sick animals at the Aquarium – and Gray needed to make more Custard Cream.
Cana arrived at precisely 12:00 pm. She brought with her an assortment of cake samples and spices and wines from her bar. Natsu had already begun to cut up little blue and pink and white and purple paper hearts, and took the Passion Flowers he hid in his armoire out to drink in the sun.
The two spent a great deal of time figuring out the perfect dinner while decorating the apartment, stringing up the little multi-colored hearts and paper-shaped people joined at the hand. Saffron rice, Cana decided, and they would season the steak and crab in the freezer, bake it in the oven with swiss and chopped mushrooms. The rice would take a few hours preparation, with boiling and washing and mixing with the chopped onion, seasoning with the saffron and turmeric, and ensuring Natsu did not go near the side dishes for fear of burning them.
He was relegated to salad mixing and table setting.
Cana was rubbing the steak with lemon juice and garlic. "So, how do you plan on making tonight the best night ever, again?"
"The passion flowers." Silverware clinked as he adjusted the utensils' positions with a critical eye.
"Natsu, those flowers are the ugliest fucking things I've ever seen." The Bronx came out in her voice, strong and clipped.
"What? No, she'll love them." He glanced at the stalks in the center of the table, and the vibrant flowers attached. These were very energetic flowers.
"They have tentacles. The flower doesn't have petals, those are tentacles." Cana slapped the swiss onto the meat and topped it with the egg yolk-crab mixture. "Look at your choices. She's going to agree with me." She smiled at the stubborn look gracing his features. "By the way. What are you wearing tonight?"
"This?" He gestured at his Modal Soul shirt and vest and his grey jeans.
"Okay, good." Natsu seemed puzzled so she explained, "Suits aren't a good look for you." She sprinkled breadcrumbs on the steak. "Maybe wear a ring? Or something silver?" She handed the steak to Natsu so he could place it in the oven while she washed her hands. "Have you picked out music? And red wine goes well with red meat. Use the red."
"Is music necessary?"
"If you want. It's modern-traditional, but every couple is different; I'm sure you figured that out."
He nodded, "I have. So, no music. No dressing up. Just me and her." Cana caught a smile on Natsu's face, hidden behind the mass of pink hair he sported. "It's gonna be nice." She looked down at herself and cursed; blood from the meat was beginning to stain her ACDC shirt. She wiped her fingers on her old jeans, sighing. All this for Natsu. The little shit.
"Are you leaving now?"
"Nope. You need to not burn the food and I'm staying to make sure you don't."
He put a hand on her shoulder. "Thank you."
"Careful, you'll knock me over," Cana laughed and patted his head. He scowled. "It'll be great, Natsu. Now let's pick out the cakes?" She pulled the samples out of the refrigerator.
"Is there a yellow cake?"
"Yeah, why?"
"Is it possible to make raspberry icing? That's her favorite. I'd like to make her favorite."
Cana sighed. She took a butter knife out of the drawer and carefully began to scrape the current icing off of the cake. "Get out a bowl and some vanilla extract. I'll make the icing."
The cake was soon drizzled in a thick layer of purple and lilac icing, with the passion flowers topping on the corners. Cana finished in due time, shaking her head at the now ugly dessert. "Are we all done? I have to go get ready for the bar to open."
"I think so." Natsu glanced at his surroundings, fairly pleased with how the special night would turn out.
"Good." She began to collect her things as well as the unused cake samples and wine, packing them back into the box she carried them in. "I really hope she enjoys this meal. I hope she enjoys everything." He helped her carry the box out to her car and she hugged him goodbye with a murmured "good luck" before driving off.
Natsu had an hour before Lucy came home, maybe two.
How would he fill the time until then?
He was unable to sit still. He paced. He lit candles, snuffed them out. He called his former foster parents from when he was a minor, the Alberonas. Told them how Cana was doing, told them business was going well, told them being a courier was enjoyable. Told them how well Lucy was. They said their goodbyes and wished all of two well.
Thirty minutes left.
He tried to re-watch the Fringe finale, but remembered how sad he had been when last watching it, and so turned off the television.
Fifteen minutes.
Cana left one of her card packs on the coffee table in front of the couch. She was able to tell fortunes with them. He sat down and fiddled with them, tried to remember what she taught him when they were kids, but the formula escaped him. So, solitaire.
Three minutes.
He was jumping out of his skin. Time to remove the steak and rice from warming in the oven. He set the table. Paced some more. Impatience was one of his least manageable traits, his friend Gray often told him. Time seemed to stretch forever.
Thirty seco-
"Natsu, are you home?" Lucy had opened the door, her shoulders relaxed and her posture at ease for the first time in two months. "What is all this?" She looked at the stringed hearts and people made of construction paper and the light-bulbs strung upside down. They clinked as her nails tapped against them. A smile curved her lips. "What's the occasion?"
"Well, it's our two-year- "
"What?"
"And you were so stressed lately I wanted it to be a surprise that you come home and you find well…" he gestured at the table. "I just wanted you to have a day to forget about things?"
"So, you did all of this?" Lucy was frowning, eyes wide and brimming with dismay. "Natsu, I can't believe I forgot. I'm so sorry. Oh, god." She was incredibly disappointed in herself, especially since she was the one who treasured this kind of celebration.
He shrugged. "It's not that big a deal. You've never forgotten it before. I only remembered because you marked it on the calendar last year – please don't be sad. I just thought, since you sometimes like nice things, I thought you'd like something like this." He pulled out a chair from the table. "I made your favorites. See? Just. Relax and eat."
She laughed her disbelief. The decorations were thoughtful and cute and it must have taken him all day. The spread was unbelievable. Broccoli with goat cheese and saffron rice…. Wait. Something was off. "Did you ask Mirajane to take me out so you could do all this?"
He grimaced. "I thought she'd keep her mouth shut about that."
Lucy cut into the meat and tasted. Pure and savory flavor as pungent as onions spread through her mouth. It was perfect. "Who helped you with the food?"
"What? I di-"
"You burn every edible thing you touch. You can't cook at all. I always cook. And this has a very Mediterranean taste to it." She ate some rice with the broccoli salad and nearly moaned her pleasure. The garlic was strong with this one. "Did Cana do this?"
"No. Yes. It was my idea." Natsu growled his frustration as he stabbed his steak and crab with a fork. "You weren't supposed to figure this out."
She was laughing harder than she had in a while. He was adorable. "I've been living with you for a year and a half. How did you think I wouldn't?"
"Just pretend I did it and eat your food."
The meal was lovely and filling and perfect, if a little spicy. But, then he did have a tendency towards hot food. The next hour was passed by talk of Cana and Laxus and Gray. If Mirajane had fun with her and where did Lucy go? She loved the day. She loved this night. Light glanced off of the bulbs and shot little beams through the apartment. The thought behind everything was beautiful. But, when he brought out the dessert she shrieked. "What is that?"
Natsu grinned, his chest puffing with pride. "It's a passion flower. It's where your favorite fruit comes from."
She shook her head, bemused. "It's the ugliest thing I've ever seen. Are those tentacles?" She stood to better inspect it.
"Cana said you'd say that." He broke off one of the stems and withdrew it from the cake, presenting it to her. "I wanted to give you these flowers because they reminded me of us. It's wild and happy and the meaning of it is belief. I believe in you. I think you can get through this. I know how rough it's been for you, you've been wandering the place like a ghost for a few months now. And that's what the passion flower is to me."
Her lips twitched in an effort not to smile. His way of thinking was odd, as usual. She dug her fork into the cake, tasting the vanilla sweetness. Light and fluffy. "Thank you."
He removed something from his pocket, something purple and small and vaguely circular. Something shiny. "And I've been thinking about where this was going." It was a silver band with alexandrite and sapphire embedded in the metal. It was lovely.
"Natsu," she whispered. Her breath caught and her head was pounding.
"I mean we've been living together for a while now and I really like you a lot, I mean I love you but I haven't stopped enjoying being around you either and I want this to continue…will you marry me?"
:)