Seven: Of Lusting and Innocence part 2
As Natsu ran about the woods looking for the fishing place, Lucy lagged behind carrying all of the fishing equipment she said she needed. Despite Natsu's assurance that they could catch the flying fishes by their hands alone, Lucy paid him no mind and simply said that there was no way in hell she could be capable of doing that.
Walking behind Natsu gave Lucy a chance to mull things over. Her two words to sum it all up: Damn them!
Usually, Lucy got along great with Gray and Erza (who wouldn't with the latter?) but today, she felt like beating some sense into them. Where could they have gone, leaving Natsu and her alone together on Happy's birthday? How could they?
Then again, Lucy had a feeling that Mirajane had figured out Lucy's crush a long time ago and had planned the setup from the beginning. Gray and Erza just happily went along with her devious scheme; they probably enjoyed watching her pine for Natsu in the perpetual cycle of singledom.
But no matter. Lucy was on to a different plan by now. Technically, it wasn't a different plan, it was her original plan:
OPERATION STEAL A KISS
Preoccupied with her inner maniacal chuckle, Lucy didn't notice where she was stepping and felt her foot sink into a crevice in the rocks. The girl went toppling over. "OUCH!"
Natsu turned around to see his teammate sprawled on the forest ground and laughed before walking back and squatting before her. "Graceful, Luce." He offered a hand that was quickly batted away.
"Oh, shut up!" Lucy got up quickly and brushed herself off. "Let's just find this fishing area, quick."
"No need. We're here!" Natsu trotted over to a big tree, reached up and pulled back a leafy branch.
Lucy shielded her eyes against the sun's glare but gasped as the view beyond the foliage was revealed. They stood on a rocky cliff where a rushing river ran below. The fish were literally flying like birds all around the cliff. From the water, up the ledge to where the two mages stood, and to the sky, the fish darted about, moving their fins and sailing through the air.
"Wow..." Lucy whispered in delight, letting the image carry her away.
The girl was blissfully absorbed in her fanciful thoughts until Natsu sprang like a dog into the air, and snatched about six fish right in midleap. "WOHOOOO! CHECK THIS OUT, LUCY! I CAUGHT A WHOLE BUNCH OF 'EM!" The boy was airborne for a split second before he began falling.
"Natsu! Look out!" Lucy cried as gravity pulled Natsu down right over the ledge of the cliff and out of sight. "NATSU!! NATSU!! HEY!!!"
Scrambling over to the edge, Lucy prepared herself to see his tiny body falling further and further down until he splashed into the water, dead on impact. Her heart skipped a beat when she grabbed a hold of a rock before her and leaned over, looking down.
"HEEEEEEEEEYYYYYY...?!" Lucy almost fell back out of surprise of seeing Natsu's face a mere three feet from her own.
"Hey yourself," he said as he grinned up at Lucy. He'd managed to hang onto the cliff with his left hand while holding onto his catch with his right.
"You idiot!" Lucy yelled, feeling her breath return to normal. "You scared me half to death!"
"Open your basket, will ya?" Natsu asked, completely oblivious to Lucy's pale face. "We've gotta get these into the basket or they'll fly away."
Lucy wanted to reach down and give him a good thrashing for being so reckless but she couldn't reach. Instead, she irritably grabbed a wicker basket that she'd brought along and opened the lid.
"Great!" Natsu gave one throw and the bundle of fish shot into the basket. Lucy closed the lid and set it down on the ground with much more force than necessary.
"Great."
Lucy was pretty confident that Natsu could climb up the ledge by himself but thought she'd offer him some help anyway. Besides, this was an opportunity to snatch his lips and make it seem like an accident. Or so Lucy foolishly thought.
She reached down to the dragonslayer with an outstretched hand. "Natsu, let me help you."
But Natsu hadn't heard her. He had given two quick fire blasts from his palms that gave him enough force to propel his body upwards and outwards. He twisted his body around in the air and landed neatly back on the top next to Lucy.
It was a rather awkward moment that followed as Natsu stood coolly adjusting his scarf while watching a frozen Lucy on the ground. "Uh, Luce, what're you doing?" Natsu asked the girl who hadn't moved a muscle.
"Stretching."
Three hours later found Lucy sitting on a quivering basket full of flying fish looking bored. Natsu, on the other hand, ran around sticking his fiery tongue out at the flying fish.
"Hey, Natsu. I think we have enough!" Lucy called to the boy. A particularly strong fish managed to stick its head out from underneath the lid and almost shot out before Lucy shifted her weight. "Come on! Help me keep these things inside the basket!"
"Alright, alright!" Natsu called back and bounded towards her. "Let's take a break, Lucy."
"Break?" Lucy scoffed. "I've been on a break for the past two hours! You're the one that's been jumping around all day."
Natsu laughed and pumped his arms in the air triumphantly. "Aw, don't be like that. I can't help it if you suck at fishing."
"Well, excuse me for being a normal human being, Mr. Dragonslayer."
"Well, normal human being or dragonslayer," Natsu said before digging in one of Lucy's many packs. "We're all gonna need some food!" He pulled out another basket full of the packed lunch Lucy had thrown together before they'd left.
Lucy got her share and only managed to take hold of a sandwich in her hand before looking over to see Natsu had already finished half his portion. "Do you even chew your food, Natsu?"
The boy turned to her with his cheeks puffed out like a chipmunk. "Wha?"
Lucy sighed as he continued stuffing his face, getting crumbs all over the place.
Wait, crumbs. Crumbs of opportunity! Lucy's eyes glittered mischievously as she eyed the unsuspecting Natsu.
Taking a deep breath to steady her nerves, Lucy slowly reached out and laid her left hand on Natsu's shoulder. "Hey..."
"Eghhh??" Natsu managed.
"You've got something...," Lucy said slowly, bringing up her right hand to his cheek. "Right here..." She traced her fingertips along his cheekbone down to his chin, completely forgetting how ridiculous he looked. As Lucy leaned in, she closed her eyes and prayed that she wouldn't miss his lips.
Now was her chance to just go for it! If she didn't seize this moment and just get the kiss over with, she'd have to pine for him...forever.
And a forever without so much as a memory of kiss to help kill the time was just a little too hard to bear.
But suddenly, she stopped.
There it was!
That familiar touch was on her cheek again. Lucy opened her eyes and found Natsu's hand cupping her face.
"Lucy."
Her heart leapt to her throat. "Hmm?"
"You've got something on your face too."
"Eh?"
"Here, lemme get it," Natsu said and then Lucy felt a slight tap on her cheek. "Oops! I kinda squished it. It was a bug."
And just like that, his hand was gone and Lucy felt like someone had just knocked the wind out of her and threw her to the ground.
"Here," Natsu said cheerily as he held out a napkin. "You'd better clean that off, it's smeared all over your face."
As the sun was saying its last farewells in the early evening, the two mages of Fairy Tail got ready to head back into town.
Actually, it was just Lucy gathering her belongings. Natsu was leaned back against the trunk of a particularly enormous tree sound asleep.
Lucy went to and fro, packing in the fishing rods, nets, blankets, flashlights and other camping necessities she'd overpacked while seething dangerously. "How dare that idiot kill a bug on my face?!"
Lucy had rubbed her cheek raw after Natsu had offered her the napkin and then avoided him like the plague ever since. She'd had just about enough of his shenanigans and wanted to go home and be rid of him for the next few days.
After packing all of her equipment, Lucy shouldered her backpack and walked over to the snoring boy. Natsu was sprawled out on the ground without a care in the world as if mocking her.
Lucy was envious; she wanted peace, she wanted rest, she wanted relaxation, but she couldn't! Why? All because of this carefree boy. Oh, the cruel irony. Usually, she'd be able to find some sort of humor in that but at the moment, she was exhausted. Natsu suddenly gave a particularly loud snore making Lucy play with idea of clanging two metal pots together by his ear.
As her eyes roamed to his innocent sleeping face however, she felt her anger slowly melt away like it always does. How could she stay mad at Natsu when he did everything so earnestly and innocently?
Lucy sighed deeply and sat down next to him, deciding that she'd let him sleep for a couple more minutes. It seemed like fishing with his bare hands all day took a toll on the tough Salamander.
"You silly little...," Lucy whispered as she reached over and ran her fingertips through the messy pink strands of hair around his face. Knowing full well what she was about to do, Lucy surprisingly felt no hesitation whatsoever and leaned in for a kiss.
She closed her eyes and then felt her lips brush his skin very lightly. Lucy wasn't even sure if she'd made contact but as she pulled away and opened her eyes, she saw a little trace of her lip gloss on Natsu's forehead.
The giddiness settled in as Lucy smiled happily. "That'll do."
She reached out and tentatively ran her fingers softly over his skin to wipe away the mark, erasing any trace of her ever being there.
But before she could finish, Lucy froze with her hand still in midair. She could feel her backpack shaking. Was it her? Couldn't be...
"PAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHH!!"
Something suddenly shot out of Lucy's pack and flew straight into the air. Lucy jumped back so fast, she banged her head against the tree trunk. "Ow! Wha??"
As Lucy focused her eyes and locked onto the flying figure in the sky, her jaw dropped. "HAPPY?!!"
The blue cat replied all too bouncily, "AYE!"
"What are you doing here?!" Lucy yelled back, immediately wondering if Happy heard or saw any of the intimacy that happened just moments before.
"I'M HAVING A FEAST TONIGHT!" Happy called back and then darted after a flying fish.
"Wait, Happy! We're going to make you dinner when we get back!"
"But I'm hungry now!" Happy pawed the fish playfully before it slipped away from his paws. "I'd have come out sooner but I fell asleep!"
Lucy groaned. "How'd you get to be so much like Natsu, eh Happy?"
"Ionoo!!" Happy answered, his mouth stuffed full of the fish.
The girl shook her head before shaking Natsu on the shoulder. "Hey, Natsu, wake up! Happy's here. We should head home before that crazy cat eats all of the fish out of the sky."
But the dragonslayer remained asleep and completely oblivious to Lucy.
"HEY, NATSU! WAKE UP, YOU BUM!" Lucy yelled next to his ear but to no avail. All she got was a grunt in response.
"ACK, RUSHIII-HALP!! ALP!!"
"Now what?" The stellar spirit mage glanced up into the sky just in time to see the blue cat's wings disappear. Happy seemed suspended in midair for a few moments before plummeting downwards. Lucy thought she saw Happy clutching his throat. "Don't tell me..."
"AAAGGGGGGGGHHH!!" Happy's hoarse croak resounded through the cliff.
"He's choking!!" Lucy cried as she heard the cat splash into the river below. "He's choking! Happy's choking!" The girl rushed over the edge and saw Happy flailing about in the rapids below. She then turned straight around and started running down the hill where the cliff eased into the woods and lower lands.
"NATSU!! WAKE UP!! HAPPY NEEDS US!!!" Lucy yelled over her shoulder as she jumped over a log. She prayed that the boy could hear her but she couldn't wait for him- Happy needed her now.
Running downhill was tiring when there were so many obstacles. Lucy panted as she made her way over a jagged rock and climbed over a mossy tree stump. Finally, she saw the bank that led to the river. Ducking under a branch, Lucy pushed aside the overgrown bushes and stumbled onto the riverbank at last.
"HAPPY!! HAPPY, WHERE ARE YOU?!" Lucy called desperately, looking about for a flash of blue. "There!" She saw a pair of blue ears go under water.
Kicking off her shoes, Lucy dove into the icy cold water and kicked as hard as she could, propelling her body toward where she thought Happy was. The rapids had thankfully died down and the river wasn't so violent as before. Nevertheless, Lucy had a hard time navigating through the natural debris on the bottom of the river.
Happy was in arm's distance at last and Lucy reached out blindly, hoping to grabbed his long tail. Yes! Her hands closed over the furry tip and she pulled his limp body safely into her arms. Lucy held onto the cat and swam toward the surface, her lungs burning for air. Finally, she felt her head break the surface of the water.
She took her time wading to the shore, feeling what little strength left in her limbs slowly ebb away. When she reached the rocky bank at last, Lucy dragged herself and Happy into the shelter of some reeds and collapsed.
"You," Lucy managed to the unconscious feline. "You need to chew your food!!" With that, Lucy pried open the cat's mouth, reached in and extracted the flying fish that was, miraculously, still alive. It fluttered into the air and dizzily flew away.
Feeling the cat breathe normally once more, Lucy laid down beside Happy and felt sleep pull her eyes shut.
Lucy felt way too warm for being so cold a moment before. She stirred and blinked, gathering in the scene before her. It was nighttime and the stars glittered over head.
"I tell ya, Happy. That's how you do it!"
"No! I've read this in a book before. It's after they're unconscious. Not while they're sleeping!"
"Sleeping!"
"Not breathing, Natsu!"
"Well then, how can you tell?!"
"You listen to their chest!"
"Urrrgghh..." Lucy groaned as she sat up. She saw Natsu and Happy arguing heatedly next to a campfire very near her. The girl raised a hand to rub her eyes and realized she was wrapped in Natsu's scarf. "Whazzz goin' on?"
"Lucy!" Natsu yelled happily and scooted over to her. "See, Happy? I told you it'd work!"
"Eh?" Lucy clumsily unwrapped the scarf from her neck. "Happy, you're okay!" She sighed in relief as the blue cat bounded into her lap.
"LUCY! YOU SAVED ME!"
"Yeah, well," Lucy said sheepishly. "I can't let you die in such an uncool way, you know."
"Waah!" Happy buried his little head into Lucy's arms. "Natsu was saying you could have died!"
"You really could have." Natsu folded his arms and nodded grimly.
"What?" Lucy cried indignantly. "I got out of the water fine. Sure, when I was swimming it was dangerous but I made it out okay. I was just asleep."
"Asleep?!" Natsu gasped dramatically as if it was a huge ordeal. "That's the worst part!"
Lucy was taken aback. "Wha- how so?!"
The dragonslayer moved in closer as if ready to divulge a terrible secret. "Don't you know, Lucy?"
"Know what?" Lucy snapped, not seeing what everyone was so worked up about.
"If you just come out of the water and fall asleep, you would die. Right away!"
"What? That's ridic-"
"No, it's not!" Natsu nodded emphatically. "That's why I just saved your life. Did some of that CPR."
Lucy sat stock still. "Y-You did CPR."
"Yup."
"On me."
"Uh-huh."
"Because you thought I'd breathed too much water into my lungs."
At this, Happy peeked out from under Lucy's arms. "See, Natsu? You only do CPR if they're not breathing. Lucy was fine- she was just asleep. She must have only been too tired to wake up. Gosh, going on about Lucy dying..." Then, the poor cat started crying again.
"Really? Is that true, Luce?"
The girl snapped out of her stupor. "Y-Yeah."
"Awww, damnit. And here I thought I was doing it right and everything. Tch!" Natsu clicked his tongue and crossed his arms angrily but dismissed it about a moment later. "Well, whatever. Important thing is, you're both okay! Great job, Lucy! You're a hero!" He smiled widely and clapped Lucy on the shoulder.
"Hey, guys, can we stay out here tonight?" Happy asked as he finally stopped the waterworks. "You know, as a birthday present?"
"Yeah!" Natsu shot up in the air. "Lucy's packed a bunch of stuff and it's a nice night. We've got food and everything. Let's do it!"
While the boy and the cat went about the campfire whooping and setting up camp, Lucy sat staring at the fire, still holding his scarf in her hands. As the flames danced in her eyes, she absentmindedly reached up and touched her lips.
"Oh wow, a shooting star!" Happy cried as he pointed up into the night sky.
Lucy glanced upwards and indeed saw a small streak of light in the sky. It'd been many years since she'd made a wish on one but for that night, she made one as well as gave thanks.
She did so for three reasons. She gave thanks because Happy was safe and sound and was going to live through his birthday to see another day. She also gave thanks that she was alive and well.
Lucy sighed as she looked back down at the soft, white dragon-scaled scarf in her hands and came to a conclusion: she wasn't just crushing. Being infatuated was silly and could go away in a moment's time. Being in love was far different and although it came with more headaches than anyone would ever want, it was infinitely better.
Looking at Natsu across the fire, Lucy caught his eye and grin. She smiled back and fondly rolled her eyes before looking away and repeated the wish in her head:
Next time we kiss, please, please let me be awake!
"Where'd you learn CPR anyway, Natsu?" Lucy asked as the party trekked back up the hill the next day.
"You know, I can't remember," Natsu admitted as he turned around, heaving the backpack on his back to one side. He'd taken it from Lucy, insisting that she didn't know how to handle the flying fish in the basket and would let the meat be bruised. "But, I can tell you I'd heard about when to do CPR from Igneel."
"Well, that sounds about right..." Lucy muttered.
"That might only apply to dragons, Natsu," Happy commented as he landed on Natsu's pack, giving his wings a rest.
"True..."
"But I've gotta say, your technique was right on!" Happy chirped.
"Really? I did it right?"
"Well it looked about right to me!"
"Ummm," Lucy started as she ventured to find out any details about how Natsu heroically performed CPR on her. "W-What did it feel like, N-Natsu?"
Lucy thought it was a valid question. After all, the two dunderheads were much too dense to figure out any motive behind her seemingly innocent question.
The dragonslayer paused thoughtfully as he recalled. "You know it felt like..."
Lucy hung onto his every word.
"It felt like I was a doctor!" Natsu yelled, pumping a fist into the air. "Yeah, I felt awesome! Like I was going to save a life and everything!"
Lucy's anticipation took a nose dive and then quite suddenly disappeared as it was replaced by disappointment. "Of course, Natsu. My hero."
A/N: I don't think Natsu did chest compressions. Otherwise, Lucy'd probably have woken up to what she thought was sexual harassment! =P
I hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas! This chapter will be my last present to all of you lovely readers and reviewers in 2009. Hahaha, more updates in 2010! Have a Happy/Fantastic/Awesome New Year everyone! :)
