Heeelloo! NaLu week day four! Also Independence Day for those of you here in the good ol' US of A! I hope you all have a good one!

Two things about this one. First, yes it's rather cliché, but I've always wanted to write something like this and second, it is an AU-ish thing. Figured I should throw at least one AU in here for the week. XD

Anyway, I hope you enjoy! :D

~He sure kept his promises, that silly boy~

Day 4- Promise

"Luce!" he called. "Luuuuce!"

She looked up from the small mound of sand in front of her, frowning as it crumbled into nothing more than a pile. Sandcastles were harder than they looked, especially without any water. She held a hand up to shield her eyes from the sun, spotting him in the distance, just a speck with a scarf flying out behind him.

As he grew closer she could tell how fast he was running. He was sprinting, in fact, a cloud of dust the size of a mountain kicking up behind him as he grinned ear-to-ear, feet stomping on the ground madly.

"Luuuce!" he called again, as if she hadn't heard him the first time. She doubted anyone in the entire country hadn't heard him the first time.

She waved him down. "Yeah, Natsu, I'm over here!" she called out to him.

He stampeded all the way up to her, screeching to a halt just in time as she squealed and shielded herself, bracing for the impact. The dust settled and as she didn't feel his undoubtedly sweaty little body come colliding into hers, she peered out to look at him.

"Whatcha doin', Luce?" he asked, panting heavily, that grin still plastered onto his face.

She brought her arms down and shook her head. "I thought you weren't going to stop in time."

"Pffssht," Natsu scoffed before jabbing a thumb into his chest. "I can stop whenever I want to. I could stop on any dime ever," he bragged. "Here. Throw a dime and I bet I can stop on it," he encouraged with a nod.

She stared at him incredulously for a moment before covering her mouth with a hand, giggling lightly to herself.

"Ay, whatcha laughin' at?" he asked, his smile fading.

She waved a hand at him and shook her head, the giggles turning into chortles and then bursting out into loud heaving laughter. "Nothing Natsu," she gasped, trying to get herself under control. "You're just so odd sometimes." He was gung-ho about absolutely everything, even things like taking out the trash and loading the dishwasher were things that he did with gusto, hoping he'd get it done faster than anyone else. He never slowed down. He never let up. He was always so intense. Perhaps those were some of the reasons she liked him so much.

Natsu looked a bit confused but shook it off, instead clenching his hands into excited fists and bouncing up and down in place. "Luce, Luce, guess what?"

Lucy took a deep and steadying breath, ridding herself of the laughter and wiping away a stray tear. "What?"

"Look, look, look," Natsu chanted, rummaging around in his pocket with his tongue out in concentration before finding his item and whipping it out, holding out the tiny object so it was only around an inch away from her nose.

She leaned backward to get a better look at it, the sand crunching beneath her. "A bread tie?" she asked.

"Oh, woops," Natsu said, laughing awkwardly. He took the tie, and with his hands blurring he was moving so fast, fixed its shape. "Here."

She looked at it again. It was a circle now, tied at the top. She stared. What was it supposed to be? It looked kinda like a necktie for a toad. She glanced up to his face to see he still held the exact same amount of enthusiasm as he had when he'd first arrived, perhaps even more. If she couldn't decipher what it was… would he be offended? Surely not. "Um… it's nice...," she said slowly. "But um… what is it?"

Natsu gave her a wink and plopped down onto the grass outside the sandbox. Lucy turned to face him, pulling her legs in criss-cross and staring, intrigued and waiting for his answer.

"I didn't know what it was either, but Papa told me," he said with another wink, as if he were trying to sell insurance or silverware. "I was watching TV, y'know, the cartoon with the blue cat? Yeah, well, he got a ring and gave it to the white cat!" Natsu exclaimed. "I asked Papa what it meant, and he said that the blue cat must've really liked the white cat. He said a bunch of other stuff too but I kinda zoned out for it. Something about if you really like a girl you give her a ring and then it's a promise you'll stay together forever." Natsu nodded excitedly.

Lucy wasn't foreign to the concept of marriage. Her mother and father had explained it to her nearly from the time she was born. She giggled again at Natsu's antics. He was so sweet and it didn't surprise her that he'd had no idea what giving someone a ring meant.

He cocked his head at her laughter and she cleared her throat and nodded for him to continue.

"So… well… here!" Natsu said, grinning madly and shoving the twisted up bread tie toward her. Lucy squeaked in surprise, her cheeks growing hot. "Here Luce! If I'm supposed to give a ring to a girl I want to stay together forever with, it'd be you! I think staying together forever would be awesome!" He wiggled the ring at her, asking her to take it.

She did so hesitantly, her face aflame as she looked from Natsu, to the ring, and then back again. He gave her a reassuring nod and she slowly slipped it onto her finger. She was getting married. At the age of six. She couldn't believe it, but then again she didn't want Natsu to ever leave either. They were best friends.

Natsu pumped an excited fist into the air. "Yes! Now we can always be together! I promise we will be, Luce," he said, his eyes shining brightly as he took ahold of her hand and yanked her out of the sandbox.

Lucy felt her lip twitch upward at the memory, wiggling her fingers back and forth as she watched the diamond on her finger sparkle in the midday sun.

She'd done it. She was going to marry her childhood friend. She'd heard stories about how friends drifted apart, how little kids hardly ever stayed in contact with the ones they'd grown up with, even if they'd made memories and pacts for the future. But she'd done it. She'd been side-by-side with Natsu for nearly every single day of her life since then. Of course, the ring given to her on the playground wasn't official, and it wasn't until years and years later that Natsu finally got the real gist of what giving a ring meant.

And the moment he had, Lucy had found him on one knee, that same goofy smile on his face and his eyes sparkling with joy.

They'd been through a lot together, and she couldn't think of anyone she would've rather gone through it with.

"Here, here they ar- ow, owowowowow!" Lucy jumped as Natsu weaved his way in and around tables, juggling the basket of nachos they'd ordered in his hands, the burning sauce spilling everywhere.

He made it to the table and tossed the basket on top, plopping down in his seat and collapsing forward onto the table, blowing on his hands dramatically. Lucy's hands hovered over him, unsure of what to do.

"You okay?" she asked.

Natsu blew air on his fingers for a few more seconds before sighing, and turning to her with a very charismatic grin and a thumbs up. "Of course! I can handle any kind of heat! Test me! I bet I can handle it!"

Lucy stared at him for a moment before her mouth turned into a smile. She brought a hand to her lips and giggled as quietly as she could.

"What? What's so funny?" Natsu frowned, plucking a chip from the basket and chomping noisily on it.

She shook her head, her giggles turning into heaving laughter before slowly dying down as other customers looked her way in confusion. She shied away from their glances and took a deep breath to steady herself. "Nothing," she sighed, blinking the water from her eyes.

Natsu shrugged, grabbing another chip and tossing it into his mouth before nudging the tray of nachos toward her so she could reach.

She watched him for a moment, her eyes softening as he shook out his hands again and wiped them off onto a napkin, the smile still evident on his face even though his mouth was full. He hadn't changed a bit, and she didn't want him to.

She looked down at her ring again. Although this one was much more expensive and prettier to look at, she would still always hold that first ring he'd given her very dear. It was in a drawer somewhere, she was sure. She'd have to go dig it up later and put it in her jewelry box.

"Here, eat, you said you were starvin'," Natsu said, nudging the basket closer and nodding for her to dig in.

She smiled at him, nodding and taking a chip.

He'd made her a promise how many years ago now… eighteen or so? He'd made a promise that they'd be together forever, and he was keeping it so far. She shook her head and crunched down on the nacho, Natsu looking a tad relieved that she seemed to be enjoying it.

He sure kept his promises, that silly boy.

So there it was! I hope you liked it! :D Natsu is just so sweet. His sweetness is just so... sweet... psht. XD

Oh my goodness thank you so so much for the lovely words you guys have been giving! They are absolutely amazing!

Day four, halfway through *cries* but still a few more to go! Again, I always love hearing what you thought! :D

~Foxtail