Fairy Tail Fluff Week

Day 3: Starlight/Rain

Summary: A simple job turns into a peaceful night of stargazing.

Pairing: Natsu/Lucy

Rating: K :)

Spoilers?: Edolas arc spoilers. Fairly minor. (It has to do with a character returning. If you know this already, you're good).

A/N: A request that I finally got around to doing for FireIce. It turned out way more deep than I intended...it was supposed to be funny (as you can see from the beginning) but then stargazing happened...and this came out of it. XD Oh well.

Sooo sorry that this took so long, FireIce! At least it works for Fairy Tail Fluff Week XD

Enjoy~

Things like this were always unexpected when it came to the two of them. Even though they knew each other almost better than they knew themselves, these moments always surprised them. Whether it was a few words, a simple action, or a major development, it was never planned. He didn't want to stammer around her. She didn't want to blush the color of his hair when someone mentioned his name. But it was hopeless: they were both head over heels for each other. To an outsider, it seemed perfect. People would comment quietly from afar on how they wished they had a relationship like theirs. Little did they know that Natsu and Lucy had a serious problem: they were friend-zoning each other.

Their guildmates would never shut up about it. Gray always messed with Natsu's head, tricking him into saying something completely stupid and making a total fool of himself. Mira planted crazy ideas in Lucy's mind, causing the girl to freak out when someone caught her daydreaming about the perfect future with Natsu. Meanwhile, the entire rest of the guild was cheering them on behind the scenes. Cana, Macao, and Wakaba had a bet going about how long it would take them...and Wakaba had already lost. Lisanna had secretly formed a Nalu fan-club, much to many of her fellow guildmembers' surprise, but most of them ending up joining anyway. Loke spent his rare times at the guild without Lucy complaining about how Lucy should really make up her mind so she could love him instead (this caused the Nalu fan-club to start sending him "secret" hate mail...almost no one knows how it manages to get the Spirit World...blame Virgo...she may or may not be part of the club).

The point of the story was, they both were clueless idiots. It was even funnier if you mentioned this to Lucy, as her exact words were: "He's the dense one, not me!" Mira smiles to herself, taking all of this into account. She is still beaming about her genius plan. She recommended a job to Erza before anyone showed up, then forced Gray into going on one with Juvia, and finally sent Happy off with Romeo, Wendy, and Carla. So when Natsu and Lucy came job-hunting, they were left with no choice but to go alone. In truth, Mira had gotten together four of her main ships...killing four birds with one stone...now all she needed was to get Gajeel and Elfman to do something with their respective girls...

"I swear," Natsu yawns, "Mira was acting overly happy this morning."

"It was a little strange," Lucy agrees. She tucks a thick strand of her blond hair behind her ear, then continues. "I mean, why wouldn't Gray and Erza wait for us? And what got into Happy?!"

Natsu shrugs. He gazes up towards the gradually darkening sky with worry in his eyes. "Uh, Luce, I don't know if we're going to make it back in time..."

"We're not," Lucy replies simply. "We'll have to find a place to camp for the night." Natsu groans, then starts complaining a little bit about how hungry he is. Lucy ignores him and instead surveys their surroundings. A smile lights up her face when she spots the perfect spot: a beautiful grassy hill just slightly north from their current location. "There!" She points at the hill excitedly.

"Cool!" Natsu jumps in. "Looks good to me!" They both take off running at an unknown command, running side by side. Lucy finds her fingers intwined with Natsu's, and tries to will away her blush. Thank Mavis it was getting dark. Finally they collapse in the soft green grass, the impact making a slight thudding noise. "Do we have food?" Natsu asks for the third time that evening.

"No," Lucy replies with a sigh. "Just hang in there, okay?" Lucy is surprised to find that she is still holding Natsu's hand, but it made comforting him a little easier. She gently squeezes his hand in a reassuring fashion, causing him to look at their interlaced fingers in surprise. With a slight blush almost hidden by the night, he squeezes back. Lucy feels her cheeks heat up. His hands had never felt so warm and soft... She glances at him adoringly, feeling blown away by the sudden beauty of the night sky dotted with stars above them. She smiles, gazing towards the heavens.

"You love the stars, don't you?" Natsu comments suddenly. Lucy turns her head slightly to look at him, startled by his instantaneous maturity. He stares right back at her, his expression completely serious, as if he genuinely wanted to know.

"Yes," Lucy replies softly. "Of course I love them...they are part of my magic..." She returns her gaze to the golden orbs of light in the sky. "But it's not even just that...there's just a mysterious beauty about all of them that draws me to them..." A bittersweet feeling washes over her as she continues. "My mother used to say that stars are the souls of people who passed on, watching over the people they love that still live on... She always told me that my ancestors were winking at me when a star would twinkle..."

"That's...really deep..." Natsu sounds a bit surprised, yet impressed at the same time. He tilts his head to look up at the sky. "I like that." He traces the grass with his finger, eventually finding a still-open flower. He picks it, then gazes at it's pure white petals. "Igneel used to stay cool stuff like that. He told me when dragons die, only their bodies disappear. Their souls either return to the earth, or are reborn as a new life."

Lucy smiles. "I like that too..." She turns her head, and her and Natsu's eyes meet. Blushing slightly, she asks him what's on her mind. "Does that mean a human could technically have the soul of a dragon?"

Natsu grins. "I like to think that I have one...stupid, I know..."

"Not stupid at all," Lucy replies, interlacing her fingers with his once more. "I think it's beautiful..." Surprised, Natsu blushes as Lucy carries on. "You should always hold on to bits of your childhood dreams and innocence as you grow...otherwise, you'll get all caught up in life that you forget to be happy..." She then pauses, and studies Natsu's expression. "You know, you can be really mature when you want to be."

"It happens on accident," Natsu claims with a goofy smile. "Sometimes it's pretty useful."

Lucy laughs, and gently nudges him with her shoulder. "You're an idiot, you know that?"

Natsu opens his mouth, about to say something along the lines of 'and yet you love me anyways', then quickly closes it. What was he thinking? He turns away from her, trying to hide his increasing blush. "Weirdo."

Even in the dark, Lucy can tell he's embarrassed. The tone of his voice told her everything she needed to know. She smiles to herself. He really is adorable... She snuggles closer to him, resting her head in the crook of his arm. His chest rises and falls with his breath, slow and steady. He's just as relaxed as he his. It doesn't take long for Lucy to drift off to sleep in his arms, comforted by his warmth.

A small smile graces his lips as he kisses the top of her head. Hopefully she won't remember it in the morning. Of course, he'd done this four times before and she'd never noticed, so it was unlikely. "Goodnight, Luce," he whispers into her hair, then follows her into dreamland.

Thanks for reading! Some constructive criticism would be great, especially when it comes to tense changes. My switch from past to present tense is still a bit wacky.

I just realized now after I wrote this that Lucy's little thing about her ancestors is like the Lion King. I thought it seemed familiar. Oops. Oh well...XD

~ForeverDreamer12, signing out!