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Day 4: Promise

Lucy promised herself, didn't she? She would be just a friend to Natsu. Just a friend. But in the light of what had just happened, how could she remain so?

She had simply been surreptitiously staring at the amazingly hot Natsu as he fought Gray when Erza came up to her.

"Lucy, do you want to go on a mission?" Erza asked, leaning on the table. Lucy blushed red at the thought of having been caught staring at Natsu, but went back to the question.

"Sure, I haven't been on many recently." Again, Lucy blushed, remembering exactly why that was so. Natsu… She looked away before turning back.

"So, what kind of mission do you have in mind?"

"I was thinking we could take on a this one," Erza said, thrusting a sheet of paper into Lucy's hands.

Giant Worm…. 750,000! Her eyes grew big. Split that into the 5 of Team Natsu… 150,000! That was more than enough for her rent, and even if some damage was done… She could afford a little to be taken off.

"ALRIGHT! LET'S GO!" She yelled happily before spinning around and walking up to Natsu. "Natsu!" she yelled over the insults Natsu and Gray were hurling at each other. Really, what were these guys, animals? "Natsu!" she yelled yet again, this time bonking him over the head. "We're going on a mission!" she ordered. He turned around as fast as lightning, terrified. "Yes, ma'am!" he yelled, army-style.

She smiled. Dang, was he cute. This did not go unnoticed by Gray, who smiled to himself. "Ok," Erza started. "We'll meet at the train station in half an hour."

In the small town of Shinji…

"Ah, the mages," the mayor started. "Thank you so much for coming, and so fast as well!"

"It is our duty to do so," Erza declared bowing. The team were in the town hall. Lucy was holding up Natsu, his arm over her shoulders, as he recovered from his motion-sickness, while Gray was fidgeting, trying his best not to strip. Man, this was an uncomfortable position for Lucy. She could feel him all around her, and she couldn't do anything, not to get him off nor to touch him. 'This shouldn't feel so good,' she thought, groaning. The mayor had been briefing Erza on the problem but noticed Lucy's groan.

"Ah, how inconsiderate of me; you must be tired after your journey. What I've told you, it's mostly the gist of it, there isn't much else we know. Please rest for a few hours; the worm only comes out at night." The mayor apologised and led them to the nearest hotel.

There, Erza checked them in and got two rooms. "Ok, Natsu and Lucy, you two will share a room since Gray and Natsu will surely fight if they are together, and besides, you need to drop Natsu off somewhere. Gray and I shall share a room." Erza stated.

The two rooms were opposite each other, so they split up. Opening the door, Lucy saw that there was only one queen-sized bed with a small chair and table. Dang. She dumped Natsu on the bed. He had fallen asleep, worn out after the day of travel; Shinji was quite far from Magnolia. His face was relaxed and he looked so cute when he slept like that, on the side. Lucy stroked the side of his face, pushing away his hair. Almost as if in a trance, she knelt down and brought her face closer. There were only a few inches between them; Lucy could feel his body heat. The door slammed open, and Lucy jumped away from Natsu like she'd been shot. Erza and Gray stood in the door way, Erza in front, Gray leaning to the right to get a better look. Fortunately, Erza hadn't seemed to notice anything but Gray had an evil smirk on his face. Lucy blushed red, knowing Gray had noticed. Erza sat down on the bed and Gray on the chair.

"Lucy, wake Natsu up. We need to plan what we're going to do about this worm." Erza ordered. Following her instructions, Lucy shook Natsu softly.

"Natsu, you need to get up." Lucy cooed. Natsu just snorted and turned. A devious idea popped into Lucy's head. She grinned evilly, and then her lips were beside his ear.

"Erza's going to have to wake you up if you don't," she whispered. It worked. He shot up, and looked around frantically. He eventually relaxed and leaned back.

"Moving on," Erza started. "The Giant Worm that was mentioned in the poster, is referred to here simply as 'it'. And no one knows exactly what it is. It's said to be as big as a house and impossible to kill using the weapons they have here. The skin is said to be impenetrable. Its only weakness is that it doesn't seem to have eyes but it can navigate perfectly well. We don't have any other information on it, so the only way we can kill it is to pierce through its skin and kill it or burn it; it may be too strong for ice. We'll do a combined attack to see whether it can withstand that. If it can, we will need another strategy."

"Ha, you hear that, Ice Princess? Fire is stronger than ice." Natsu smirked.

"Yeah, but not in the head, Flamebrain." Gray retorted through gritted teeth.

"Is that an insult, stripper?" Natsu demanded, standing up. And then Gray lost it, launching the two into a squabble that started to shake the bed. Erza whipped round, brandishing a sword.

"Are you two fighting?" Erza demanded.

"No, ma'am. We're best buds!" The pair shouted, stopping their fight.

"Very well. We will begin the hunt at night." Erza stated, before leaving the room. Gray went back to glaring at Natsu before being kicked out by Lucy. As the door slammed shut, Lucy breathed a sigh of relief. It always was taxing to be around the two. She turned to Natsu.

"So, what do you want to do?" she asked. Looking towards the window, she found the sun had started to set. They would have a maximum of half an hour of relaxation. If only they were together, they could've spent this half an hour very differently. She blushed at the perverted thoughts that were creeping in. Just a friend. Just a friend, she reminded herself. She turned back to Natsu.

"Eat, of course!" He exclaimed, smiling that typical goofy grin of his. Man, this was hard. She smiled back and they set off to the closest restaurant.

It was a small café, quite empty due to the imminent nightfall. They sat down at a small table, and Natsu ordered the vast majority of the menu. The food came quickly, their being the only customers the cause. Watching Natsu gobble up the food, Lucy smiled, content in the moment.

The boy sitting opposite her, the happiness he ate with, the quiet. Her eyes widened. The quiet. It was too quiet. The only sound she could hear within what seemed miles was the sound of Natsu's chewing mouth. Where did the owners go? She twisted and turned in her seat, agitated. Natsu looked up, a chicken leg still in his mouth. He too noticed the atmosphere. The darkening sky, the quiet atmosphere, the worm! He stood up, nearly knocking over the table. A loud scuffling of dirt alerted them to a large creature nearby. Natsu knocked over his chair, and Lucy jumped out of her chair. The noise grew gradually louder, it sounded as if it was almost… -Lucy's eyes widened in realisation- behind them!

They ran out of the cluttered café to find a huge cylindrical pink shape coming around the next block. The monster came crawling on its belly, slimy, disgusting, menacing. Crash! A building went down as it crashed headfirst into it. Natsu and Lucy got into a fighting stance as it headed their way. His fists set on fire and Lucy pulled out Taurus' key. It was really upon them now.

"Open, Gate of the Golden Bull: Taurus!" Lucy yelled as Natsu jumped up and pulled his fist back.

"Fire Dragon's Iron Fist!" he yelled as he punched the huge body to no avail. The skin didn't budge or break under his punch. As he fell back to the ground, he saw Lucy's vein sticking out of her forehead as she tried to stop Taurus' flirtatious comments. Dang, she was cute. Bad time, he thought as he turned back to the worm, watching its tail come out and attempt to whip him to the side.

Clash! Taurus' axe blocked the swipe of the tail, the sound coming off akin to metal upon metal. Natsu's feet finally touched the ground safely and he readied himself for another attack. Again he jumped up and stuck his foot out.

"Fire Dragon's Flame Elbow!" he yelled as he attempted to generate enough moment for his kick to have an effect. Again, to no avail. What on earth was this skin made of? His attack was quickly followed up by Lucy's.

"Taurus! Together!" Lucy commanded as they both jumped up.

"MOO!" Another clashing of metal.

"Fleuve D'etoiles!" Lucy yelled, smacking her whip against the skin. To everyone's surprise, the skin turned red against the pale pink of the worm. They fell back to the ground panting as the skin quickly healed, turning back to the pale pink it had been. Lucy groaned. It had only been a tiny mark on the 10 meter giant, but it had been something. At least, the worm hadn't progressed any further. Where was Erza and Gray?

As they continued fighting, Lucy called out to Natsu. "Natsu! Can you smell where Erza and Gray are?" He shook his head as he replied, "This thing stinks. I can't even smell vanilla anymore."

"Vanilla?" Lucy asked, getting distracted.

"Vanilla. Your scent," Natsu said, before yelling out, "Fire Dragon's Crushing Fang!" Her scent. He noticed her scent. She was so happy, she lost all train of thought, just lost in a daydream where they could-

"Lucy! Watch out!" Natsu screamed. Lucy turned around, to see what her distraction had cost her. The tail was coming around too fast she wouldn't be able to get out of the way in tim-

"Gotcha!" Natsu declared as he pulled her to safety. She landed painfully on her back, but mostly she was glad for her own life.

"Thanks,"

"No problem."

"I thought I was a goner there," she sighed and continued. "I really do need to get stronger. Fast too."
"Hey," Natsu said, making her turn and face him. "Don't worry about it. I promise I'll protect you as long as it takes for you to become stronger." She felt her eyes become teary. She rubbed them away.

"Thanks," she repeated.

"Guys!" She heard a shout in the distance. Turning, she saw a half-naked man along with a woman with red hair running towards them.

"Sorry we're late!" Erza apologised as she bowed down. "You may punish me as you see fit!" Lucy just laughed and rubbed her head.

"Not now," Natsu clashed his fists together. "We've got a monster to defeat."

"Bet you that I can beat it before you do," Gray teased as he ran towards the monster.

"OI! I'm all fired up!" Natsu yelled as he ran after Gray.

"Let's go, Lucy!" Erza ordered, as she requipped into her Heaven's Wheel armour.

"Open, Gate of the Lion: Loke!"

"Heaven's Wheel: Blumenblatt!"

"Ice Make: Ice Cannon!"

"Dragon Slayer's Secret Art: Crimson Lotus: Fire Dragon's Fist!"

"Regulus Impact!"

A cascade of swords, the impact of a cannon, the heat of a dragon and the punch of the mighty Regulus. The combined attacks of Fairy Tail's most powerful team took down the monster quickly.

Surveying the destruction caused by their attacks as well as the giant worm, Gray folded his arms, stating, "I can't believe you and Lucy couldn't take that down yourself."

"I can't believe you were so scared you decided to show up late." Natsu retorted.

"Why you-!" Their foreheads clashed but parted quickly as Erza brandished her sword between them.

"Are you two fighting?" she demanded.

"'Course not! We're best buds, right Gray?"

"Aye, sir!" They linked arms, causing Lucy to smile. Some things never did change.

As they made their way back to the hotel, she ran up to Natsu and hugged him.

"Thanks for before," she said gratefully.

"Like I said, Luce: no problem," he said, returning the hug. They were both glad that the other could not see them blushing. This was what friends did, right?


2,188 words! NEW HIGHSCORE! :) Don't forget to review! As a new writer, I need feedback. Please point out any mistakes I made or aspects of my writing that I can improve on. :)