What's Special to You?

"I've never seen a blue cat before," Lucy said, licking a glob of cookie dough off of the wooden spoon, watching the electric blue feline gnaw on the second of the fish Lucy had presented as an offering.

"Happy's special like that," Natsu grinned and scooped a finger through the dough.

"So he's a stray that hangs around here, or what?"

"No way! He's my cat!" Natsu patted his head. "I've had him since he was a kitten. He lives with me in my house, but he gets lonely there when I'm gone, so I bring him with me to school every morning."

"But you didn't have him that first time we met," she pointed out, dipping the spoon back into the cookie dough for another dose.

"Sometimes it's a hassle getting him up in the morning," Natsu shrugged. "So I just leave a window open and he comes when he's ready."

"He knows how to find the school all on his own?" she gaped at him.

"Sure! Fairy Tail is our home away from home! Of course he knows how to get here!"

Lucy watched the animal quietly for a moment. He finished off the rest of the fish and then sat back, licking his left paw contentedly.

"How old is he?"

"Hmm…" Natsu pursed his lips. "Six… seven years? Something like that."

Happy glanced up at Lucy and meowed. She smiled and offered the spoon, "Want some cookie dough, Happy?"

Happy sniffed but otherwise ignored the offered sweets.

"He pretty much only eats fish," Natsu remarked. "Which gets kind of expensive, especially considering he can eat about four a day! That's why I steal from the home ec. room as often as I can." He cackled.

"Don't you ever get in trouble though?" Lucy pulled the spoon back.

"Not really. I mean… Gramps will knock on me with his ruler every now and then, or Erza will kick my ass sideways, but I'm used to that."

"Erza… she's the redheaded girl?"

"Yeah. And she's a mean son of a bitch too! I wouldn't get on her bad side if I were you," he leaned back against the wall, stretching his legs out on the shining wood floors they sat upon.

"What's her specialty?"

"She's sort of good at everything. She's into so many sports that sometimes she'll have back to back competitions and have to change uniforms on the way from one to the other. She's also the student council president so she has an annoying habit about being in everyone's business. Which is why she's always on my ass about being late to class." He rolled his eyes.

"Incredible. She must be very driven to be able to take on so many things like that."

He shrugged, "Suppose."

Happy walked up to her and placed his front paws on her thigh, stretching up and meowing. She leaned over and allowed him to rub his face on hers, purring loudly.

"Hey! Looks like he likes you!" Natsu grinned.

She giggled, "I'm glad." She reached up and scratched behind his ears and he crawled into her lap. "By the way," she glanced around at the giant room they sat in. "Where are we?"

Lucy had followed Natsu across the school's campus to the very outskirts where the building they were currently in was located. It looked like a warehouse from the outside, but within the brick walls it looked almost like a large gym. The floor was half shining wood and half concrete with dark splotches that looked like char marks dotting it. The ceiling was domed and well lit. The wall with the door they had entered through was solely windows that looked out upon the track outside, Fairy Tail in the background. The wall they leaned against was covered in pristine mirrors. The wall across from them was dotted with bulletin boards with flyers tacked to them. The wall opposite the entrance had black and red bleachers.

"This is the training hall," Natsu explained. "This is where most people do their specialty lessons. Well, the people with hands on, physical specialties train in here. The ones that have more… technical specialties hang out in the library or the computer lab back on the main building."

"Like Levy?"

He nodded.

"What about you? Is your specialty technical or physical?"

"Physical."

"What is it?"

He grinned, "I said I'd show you later! Just be patient!"

She frowned.

"Anyway," he stacked his hands behind his head. "This is the main gallery. It's where I train. Other people join me sometimes. Like Erza, if she's practicing basketball or fencing. She spends a lot of her time out on the track with Jet though."

Lucy continued to scratch Happy's ears. The cat started to knead her left thigh with his paws, thoroughly enjoying the TLC.

"There's a door over there," Natsu continued, pointing towards the bleachers. "That leads to some more rooms where people train. The cooler is where Gray spends his time. Then there's the wrestling room. Elfman and Mirajane train in there. Let's see… there's also the wood shop, the mechanic shop, the art room, the swimming pool, the shooting range out back, and the greenhouse next to that."

"Wow," Lucy blinked at him. "You guys have everything, don't you?"

"Pretty much!" he leaned forward and grabbed the bowl of cookie dough, scooping out of it once more. "So what about you, Lucy? What's your specialty?"

"Oh…" she looked away. "I don't have a specialty. I'm… not really all that good at anything in particular…"

"You don't have to be good at it!" he said, drawing her attention once more. He smiled brightly, "Nothing matters but your feelings! And if you love something, keep it close! That's what Mavis says, at least."

She gulped, heat dancing across her cheeks.

"Anyway," he dropped a ball of cookie dough into his mouth. "That's how I see it. I think we call it a 'specialty' not just because we 'specialize' in it… but because it's special to us. S'that make sense?"

She smiled, "Yeah. I think it does."

He nodded, "So? What's special to you?"

She bit her lip and stared down at Happy, "Well… to be honest… I really love to write."

"Huh? Write?"

"Yeah… it's always been my dream to be a well-known novelist someday," she peeked up at him shyly.

A grin spread across his face, "That's awesome!"

"You think so?"

"Totally! I'll read every book you publish in the future!"

"R-really?"

"Well," he scratched his pink hair. "I'm not much of a reader… but if they're short enough and have plenty of pictures…"

Lucy laughed, "Not sure if I plan to write anything like that… but thanks anyway."

"For what?"

She smiled gently, "For the encouragement."

He stared at her for a moment. She reached up and pushed a lock of blonde hair over her ear, revealing a pink, dangling, heart earring pierced through her lobe. The expression in her eyes was soft and somewhat sad as she averted her gaze to Happy, trailing her painted fingernails over his back tenderly. Curiosity bloomed inside his chest. He had so many questions he wanted to ask. But where could he even begin?

Why are your eyes so lonely, even though I'm right here beside you?

"What are you staring at?" Lucy cocked an eyebrow.

He opened his mouth but the sound of a bell coming from outside of the training hall interrupted. The doors opened and in walked Gray, Alzack, Bisca, Mirajane, and Elfman.

"Lunch is over," Natsu stood and dusted off his pants. "Time to get busy!"

Happy stretched his back with a yawn. He jumped off of Lucy's lap and followed Natsu as the boy walked across the main gallery, stretching his arm across his chest. Lucy stood and walked after him curiously.

"Pay attention, Lucy!" Natsu turned and gave her a thumbs up and a grin. "I'm about to show you my specialty."

Gray dropped his arm around Lucy's shoulders and veered her away from Natsu, heading for the far wall of the gallery. "C'mon, Lucy. I'll show you what I'm working on."

"HEY!" Natsu stomped his feet, eyebrows slamming together. "Hands off, Ice for Brains! I was gonna show her my specialty!"

Lucy blushed, trying not to notice that the black haired boy was shirtless as he leaned against her.

"You had her all lunch," Gray said. "It's time to share, jackass."

Natsu clomped after them, "You can't just come in here and steal her away like—"

"You gotta set up anyway," Gray interrupted. "You really think she wants to watch that boring shit? Relax. She'll be back by the time you're ready." And with that, he pushed through the door next to the bleachers and they emerged into a wide hallway.

Mirajane and Elfman passed Natsu up.

"Oh don't worry Natsu," Mirajane giggled. "There's plenty of time to show off for her!"

"Yeah!" Elfman flexed his biceps. "Give it your all! Real men are always ready to impress the ladies!"

Natsu huffed and turned. "Fine…" he ran off to set up his equipment.

Once they were in the hallway, Gray took his arm from Lucy shoulders and snickered.

She blushed and stared at the floor.

"I'm Gray by the way," he said. "I would've introduced myself much sooner but that flame brain has been hogging you all day. Well, he and Levy."

"I'm Lucy," she said. "Where are we going?"

"The cooler," he pointed to the right down the hall and then shoved his hands in his pockets and started in that direction. "To do my specialty, things gotta be cold."

Lucy followed, pursing her lips. "Are you… are you the one that went to the Olympics?"

"Hm?" he glanced back at her. "Oh. Yeah. That's me."

"Wow!" she gained his side and stared up at him, eyes twinkling. "That's incredible! You must train really hard!"

"Uhh… yeah. Well," he turned away, scratching his head. "When I was a kid I had a great teacher. The training exercises she made me go through were pretty brutal."

"What kind of exercises did she make you do?"

"I used to live up north, where it was pretty much always snowy. She had me do rigorous strength and tolerance training like walking through two feet of snow in nothing but my underwear and a massive backpack."

Lucy gaped, "R-really?"

He laughed, "Yeah… she was a little sick in the head, if you think about it."

"Well, she obviously knew what she was talking about," Lucy smiled and turned forward.

Gray grinned, "Yeah. She really did…" They reached the end of the hall and stopped in front of a large metal door. Gray grabbed the latch and yanked, pulling it open and releasing a wave of cold air into the hallway. Lucy instinctively hugged herself and they entered the cooler.

"WOW!" Lucy exclaimed immediately. Dotted around the large square room were pedestals displaying icy works of art. "They… they… they're amazing!" Lucy ran up to an ice sculpture that looked exactly like Happy, down to the dimples of his nose. Gray followed her, smiling gently.

"It's kind of hard to snowboard year round in a place that maybe only gets a couple months of snow in the winter," he said. "So I've kinda branched out to other things."

She moved on to an ice castle, "How do you do it? They're exquisite! So detailed… I've never seen such a thing in real life before!"

"I start with the chainsaw," he gestured at a large wooden table on the far end of the room. It was riddled with tools. "Sometimes, if what I'm using doesn't take too many fine details, I can do the whole thing with it. But usually, I just use it to buff out a rough outline. Then I use my picks and hand saws. I can even use sanders and grinders to help with the textures."

"Amazing…" she whispered, glancing over a dusting of ice crystals along the floor.

"Careful," he said. "It gets kind of slippery. Especially since I have such a hard time with cleaning up after myself. I swear, every time Natsu comes in here he falls on his ass. Or he just slides around screaming, destroying everything he comes in contact with before getting sick and puking all over the floor…"

"I've only just met the guy," Lucy muttered. "But that totally sounds like something he'd do…"

Gray leaned up against his table and crossed his arms over his shirtless chest. "So how are you liking Fairy Tail so far?"

"It's incredible," she admitted, glancing curiously at the dark tattoo inked to the right side of his chest. That symbol... "There's such a strong sense of community, fun, and friendship… it's nothing like I ever imagined a school to be."

"Well… we are a little… special," he chuckled. "You won't find our way of thinking in a lot of other schools."

She smiled.

He watched her for a moment and then turned to his tools, "Anyway. You should probably get back to that idiot before he comes lookin' for you and wrecks something. Come again sometime," he grinned at her over his shoulder, "Maybe I'll use you as a model in the future."

Lucy blushed, "Y-yeah…" she turned for the door.

As she pushed out into the hallway, Gray called after, "I hope you don't mind posing nude!"

"N-NO WAY!" Lucy closed the door on his laughter. She smacked her palms to her cheeks, chasing the blush away. She took a deep breath and headed back to the main gallery.

"LUCY!" Natsu greeted her immediately as she walked inside. He stood on the concrete half of the hall, waving eagerly.

Lucy made her way over to him, eyes wandering over the vast array of items lined up along the floor.

"Everything's set up!" he said excitedly when she reached him.

"What is all this?" Lucy asked unsurely.

"This is all the stuff I use for my specialty!" he swept his arms out wide proudly.

"All of it?"

"Yep! Hey, so here's the deal. Can I do my full show for you?"

"Full show?" she blinked.

"Yeah!" he scratched the back of his head and grinned sheepishly, "Usually I only practice one thing a day, but I've actually been preparing a routine for a little while now and I haven't shown anybody yet… so I thought it'd be a good idea to perform it for someone to get their opinion!"

Heat drifted into Lucy's cheeks, "And… you choose me?"

He cocked his head to the side and smiled brightly, "That's right!"

Lucy cleared her throat and looked away, "W-well… who am I to say no to that?"

"Great!" Natsu rushed up to her and took her wrist, surprising a squeak from her. "You sit here!" he dragged her to where a rolling desk chair stood on the wooden floor just where it met with the concrete. He pushed her down into the seat and then ran back to his tools. "Now… normally I have Romeo here to help me out a little bit… so it's gonna seem kinda choppy when I have to pick things up on my own…" he glanced around. "Uhm… oh…" he looked back up at her. "So I'm gonna start over here, and then make my way that direction," he pointed towards the doors, where the line of tools led. "So you can like… roll along with me, okay?"

Lucy nodded, planting her feet solidly on the floor in front of her.

"Oh!" he ran off suddenly, "I forgot to turn the lights out!"

"Turn the lights out?" she watched as he went to the wall next to the windows and flicked the switches there. The lights high in the ceiling of the gymnasium promptly went out. The only light filtered through the windows, which was actually quite a lot, since it was midday and the sun was bright in the sky.

"That won't do," Natsu said, grappling with a long string next to the windows. Suddenly, heavy, black drapes dropped from the ceiling, blocking out all light from the outside world. Lucy gulped as the gallery went pitch black.

"Perfect!" she heard Natsu exclaim and then his footsteps clomped over the floor in her direction. There was a loud crash and an "Oomph!" as he obviously tripped over something, but he gained his feet once more and stood with his tools.

Lucy blinked rapidly, trying to force her eyes to adjust to the darkness, but it was futile. The room was just too black. She sat back in the chair, clutching the armrests with tight fingers, waiting in anticipation as sounds of Natsu's movement echoed softly around her. Something leapt into her lap and she shrieked, filling the gallery with the shrill cry, which she cut off as soon as she recognized the furry warmth that curled up on her thighs.

"Lucy?" Natsu called. "Are you alright?"

"Y-yeah," she said, heart thundering in her chest as she reached down. "Happy just scared the crap out of me…" she stroked the cat, enticing rumbling purrs from deep in his chest.

"Oh… okay. So are you ready?"

"Yes."

"Alright." She heard him take a deep breath. "Here I go then."

There was a click, and suddenly a gentle, lilting melody drifted through the air. It was a gorgeous orchestral piece that sounded vaguely familiar to Lucy.

Light radiated in the space ahead of her and she held her breath. Natsu lit the end of a torch on fire with a lighter and then slipped it into the pocket of his pants. The light from the flame illuminated his face and body, revealing to her that he had removed his shirt and shoes and now stood only in his pants and scarf, which was tied around his head.

Lucy gulped and blushed. Is he trying to be like Gray? she thought. She ran her eyes discreetly over his surprisingly chiseled chest and toned arms before finally paying attention to the cast iron rod he held in his hand. It was the same as the one he had used that day to save her from the creep in the park. Natsu lifted the torch and locked his eyes on Lucy, a wild grin stretching across his face. She held her breath.

Natsu turned the torch and dragged it across the skin of his collar, leaving a thin trail of flames in its wake. He casually rubbed the flames away with his other hand, grin stretching even wider at Lucy's dramatic gasp. He pulled another torch from his back pocket and tapped the wick against the first, igniting it. He held it away from his body and then lifted the first once more. He arched his spine, bracing his legs, leaning his head back. His mouth opened and he flipped the torch before slowly lowering it down and into his mouth.

Lucy covered her cheeks in distress, eyes wide. OH MY GOD OH MY GOD! She shrieked inwardly. But instead of screaming in pain, Natsu held the flame in his mouth, puffing it up above him a few times before closing his lips over the torch and dousing it. He pulled the dark torch from his mouth and lit it on the other once more. He checked Lucy's reaction, pleased by the shock and awe spread over her face.

Brace yourself, he thought with a smirk. You ain't seen nothin' yet.

He held both flaming torches in one hand. He then wrapped his free hand around one, dousing the fire with his fingers. He then took the torches in separate hands once more, holding the unlit one in the air above the other. With a small flick of his hand, he sent the flame of the bottom torch up and onto the top. He then took the lit torch, lifting it to his mouth once more. He passed it through his lips and held the unlit torch high above his head. With a small puff, the flames transferred from his mouth to the higher torch.

Unable to contain herself, Lucy clapped excitedly.

Natsu grinned. He tossed his unlit torch aside and moved to the right. Lucy skittered her feet along the floor to follow, despite the fact that he really didn't go all that far.

The music was beginning to pick up, and Lucy suddenly recognized it. It's… it's my ringtone! she realized.

Natsu used his still burning torch to light an object on the floor, then he tossed the torch to the side. He bent and picked up a burning capsule on the end of a long chain. He swung it gently down by his knees for a second before spinning it in front of his body.

"Oh…" Lucy breathed out as the flames spun and rotated with increasing speed. Natsu danced across the floor in front of her, shortening and lengthening the chain to send the glowing orb soaring in enchanting shapes around him, sometimes using his bare feet to send it flying straight up towards the ceiling before he yanked on the chain, bringing it back down to the Earth just to be whipped in another direction. Sometimes it scraped along the floor, but still the flame burned bright, casting light on the glistening body of the boy that commanded it. His movements were fluid, calculated, and strong. It was less like a dance and more like the movements a martial artist would make, parrying and flitting about, striking and dodging invisible attacks.

After a long, tensed minute of the performance, Natsu swiped the flaming orb across the floor and fire ignited on a long rod resting on the concrete. He whirled the chained capsule faster than before until the flames went out. There was a soft clatter as he dropped the tool and moved to the fiery staff. Lucy rolled her chair to stay in front of him, excited and nervous to witness his next act.

Natsu lifted the staff, which was lit on both sides, but dark in the middle where his hands gripped. He slowly spun the staff over his head before diving right in. The staff whirled and rotated like a pinwheel. He whipped it around his body, spinning it behind his back, over his shoulders, in front of his chest, above his head… he strode along the concrete floor, bending his knees, swaying to the movements of the staff as if they were connected. He switched directions occasionally, twisting his body, increasing the speed until it was nothing but a whir of hot light traveling through the darkness.

Lucy couldn't keep up with the pink haired boy. The flames cast flashes of light upon his shining chest and rippling arms, and sometimes she caught a glimpse of the wild look in his eyes as he turned her direction, golden orbs nearly aglow with the fire, as if it came from deep within his body rather than the tiny lighter in his pants pocket.

Finally he slowed, panting slightly as he rolled the staff lazily over his shoulders and across his neck, never once marring his skin with the hungry flames on either end. He moved to the side and Lucy rolled with him. He stepped inside a large metal ring on the floor and then whipped the staff in a circular motion around his feet, lighting eight points on the ring. He spun the staff violently above his head, snuffing out its flames. He tossed it to the side and knelt to pick up the ring. He stood again. The music was lulling, holding one long note. Natsu popped the ring over his head and then held it in front of him, spinning it on his hand for a moment. Lucy wondered just how heavy the tool was. He flipped it around as if it was nothing, but surely her eyes didn't deceive her. It was made of metal, wasn't it?

Natsu lifted and settled the hoop around his midsection, flames crackling silently. The music slammed with a sudden thunder of drums and he flicked the hoop at the same time as heavy guitar exploded. The song melted into a metal version of the same melody as before as the flaming hoop clashed with Natsu's abdomen and whirled around his body.

Lucy's jaw dropped. He was hula hooping. Natsu was hula hooping a ring of fire and she had never seen the exercise look so… sexy. He walked in circles, arms whipping as he sent the hoop up and down his length, spinning all the while, flames blurring into a near perfect line. He flicked the hoop above his head and then dropped it back down. He caught it around his shoulders, tensing and flexing the glistening muscles to keep it spinning. Its rotation slowed as he started popping his elbows up and down, never once jarring the hoop from its path.

After a minute, he grabbed hold of the hoop and lifted it in front of him, spinning it on his hands for a few moments before increasing the speed and putting the fire out. Darkness spilled around Lucy once more and she waited. Was the performance over? The song was still raging though and she wondered if maybe he miscalculated the length.

Suddenly, new flames erupted off to the side. Lucy rolled her chair to sit directly in front of him once more as he lit two chains on fire. He stood, lifting the new tools in each hand. The entire length of the chains were ablaze, looking almost like fiery swords as they hung straight and true at his sides. He started to sway them in front of him, bringing his hands closer together. Suddenly, they were whirring and spinning together as if connected in the center like the staff from before. Natsu lunged from side to side, pinwheeling the chains in front of him, behind him, to the side, over his head. He left two flaming trails on the floor as he pulled them apart momentarily and whipped them across the concrete. The flames on the floor quickly died out and he was spinning the chains again. They moved so fast that the light that filled the air flashed like a strobe light.

Lucy's eyes were saucers in her awed face. He was incredible. The way he commanded the chains as if they were nothing but extensions of his own body. He pulled his hands apart, spinning one chain at his feet as the other whirled above his head. His motions were fluid and natural. And if it weren't for the sweat dripping down his exposed skin, over the contours of his chiseled abs and into the waistband of his pants… Lucy would never guess that he was putting a single ounce of effort into the show.

Natsu whipped the chains roughly forward and the fire went out. The music slowed momentarily just to make a shift. A bagpipe sounded, like a beacon among electrical guitar strumming. Natsu lit another staff, like the one from before with flames on either side. The familiar violin melody erupted and he whipped the staff over his head expertly, before ripping it in half until he stood with two instead of one. As he spun both staffs about his body effortlessly, Lucy couldn't help but think he looked like less of a human being and more like a fire breathing dragon, and the staffs were his wings, alight and burning in the night as he soared…

And then Natsu was spinning the staffs violently in front of him and the flames died with the last notes of the song. Lucy sat in silent darkness for long seconds, clutching her heart with a quivering hand, trying to get a hold of her breathing. She could hear Natsu's gentle pants somewhere in front of her, and then the clang of his staffs dropping of the ground surprised a small jump out of her. She listened to his soft footsteps as they led away from her, to the far side of the gallery. The lights flicked back on and Lucy blinked to adjust to the sudden brightness of the room. She gulped, trying to hide the disappointment from her face as she watched Natsu's back shine and tense as he pulled the rope next to the windows, lifting the curtains to their place high in the ceiling once more.

When he finished, he turned and headed back towards her chair, timid smile lighting his lips. He untied his scarf from around his head, using it to wipe the moisture from his face and neck. His pink hair was slicked back, held in place by sweat.

"So," he said, golden eyes expectant, "What did you think?"

Lucy gulped again, "It…" she was at a loss for words. Happy mewled in her lap and kneaded her thigh, purring loudly.

Natsu chuckled sheepishly and scratched the back of his head, "I know it can use a little work. My transitions are sloppy, but I really do usually have Romeo here to help me. He hands me my tools and takes my old ones away so that I don't have to move across the room," he gestured at the charred path he had taken.

"It…" Lucy stared at him, brown eyes bright. "It was the single most beautiful thing I have ever witnessed in my whole entire lifetime."

Natsu blinked at her in shock, eyes growing wide. "Wh-wha…" a blush tinted his cheeks pink.

He's incredible, Lucy thought. Absolutely amazing… she swallowed, mouth turning dry. She decided then and there. This was the one. Natsu was the one. He was everything that she wanted to be. She would follow this boy to the ends of the earth if she had to. And maybe by the time they reached the end, a piece of his wild freedom will have rubbed off on her. She wanted to be near him for the rest of eternity. She wanted to be encompassed by his passion and fire. His determination and hunger for life and all it had to offer. She needed to wrap herself in his excitement. It was the only way, she decided. The only way she would ever feel that this life, her life, had any meaning.

Any meaning at all.

Author's Note: The song playing for the show was, naturally, the Fairy Tail theme song. The version I used was the extended, 9:21 second version. If you want to listen to it and imagine the show to the music, it's the one uploaded by the user Okashi on youtube. :)

Also, the show he put on was heavily, HEAVILY, influenced by the Blue Parrot July fire show on youtube. Look it up! Those guys are AMAZING! It'd be good for you to watch them in action so you can see just how intense Natsu's performance was. ;)

Anyway, thank you guys so much for your support! I'm starting to get a feel for this story and have been buffing out some future conflict for you all to enjoy! (That's right, it's not all gonna be lighthearted school shenanigans, muwahahaha) Yay! I'll try to get the next chapter uploaded in the next couple of days.

Oh! And I got the question of why this story is rated M. Well, for language, mostly, but there will be adult themes later on. And maybe possible limes. I haven't thought that far ahead yet. For those of you hoping for lemons... ehhh... I'll have to think about it. If you read my past story, you'll remember that I said I get embarrassed about writing super detailed sex scenes. (I get embarrassed even writing kissing scenes for some reason...) But I will consider it and decide when I come to it.

Thanks again! I love you all so much! I'm so happy to have you in my life, spurring me onward!

Love-Moo