A/N: Sorry I updated this late. I was out the whole day yesterday and had to take a shower when I got home. Luckily I have no school today, sorry if this wasn't my best work. I've gone this far... I won't give up! Oh, and thanks for the new nine followers! :DDD I'll mention your names at the end of this chapter, don't worry :). Enjoy chapter seven! Sorry I didn't post yesterday DX

Suzuki: Enjoy!

Chapter Seven

Lucy's POV (Natsu's will be next chappie, it'll be a pattern so it would be equal :D)

"Are you a dragon slayer?" Natsu asked.

Lucy's stomach flip-flopped. Why would Natsu even ask Suzuki that question? Of course, Lucy was wondering probably the same thing, the fact that Suzuki had even sculpted dragon sculptures during her art career.

Lucy twirled a strand of blonde hair on her finger nervously. The tension level in the small cottage was unexpectedly very high, everyone waiting for the white-haired teen's answer to his question.

Instead of answering completely, Suzuki said quietly, "What makes you think so?" Being dense as he is, Natsu didn't get why Suzuki was acting defensive about this topic.

"Well, cause you sculpt dragons that have real expressions and such..." Natsu recalled. "...And that I heard of your name before, from somewhere other than Lucy's book."

"Igneel's adopted son," Suzuki mumbled, a shadow across her face. "Yes... I know you as well, Natsu Dragneel. You do know Gajeel Redfox and Wendy Marvel as well, don't you?" Natsu nodded.

"So you've actually talked to our dragons!" Natsu said eagerly. "Did you see Igneel, Metalicana, and Grandine? Did you sculpt them as well as other dragons?!" Suzuki said nothing, still staring at the floor. A few silent moments passed, and Lucy noticed that Suzuki had nodded slightly. Lucy said nothing.

"WHAT?!" Happy said, gaping at her, dropping his fish.

"So you know where they are at this moment?!" Natsu asked, getting excited. "I can see Igneel again! And I'll tell Wendy and Gajeel too! Oh boy, I can't wait to see how excited they would be!"

"I haven't seen all of those dragons for quite a long time already, Natsu-san." Suzuki replied. "They travel."

Natsu's expression fell from being super excited to being disappointed. "So... You don't know where they are."

Suzuki clenched her fists. Lucy couldn't see why she seemed so upset or angry. After all, Natsu was just asking about all three of the dragons...

"No, I don't." Suzuki admitted. "But I still haven't answered your question, have I?"

"What q-" Natsu started, confused again, but then seemed to remember. "Oh. Right. So are you a dragon slayer or not?"

"I am not a dragon slayer, but I am," Suzuki said. "Necessarily speaking, I am a dragon tamer. I tame dragons for my life career. I sculpt dragons by asking nicely. I don't slay dragons, I tame them. That is my answer."

"A dragon tamer?" Lucy asked, interested. "I've never heard of those before in my whole entire life!" Suzuki smiled weakly.

"Yes, well..." Suzuki began. "Dragon tamers are quite rare. It's very easy to sculpt them, thanks to my gift though. It helped me a lot in making dragon friends. Believe it or not, dragons are real in Fiore. That's coming from a sculptor, so believe it."

"Dragon tamer Haruno Suzuki!" Happy and Natsu burst out suddenly. "Behold the amazing dragon tamer!" They bowed, and Suzuki laughed in delight.

"It's an honor, really," Suzuki said cheerfully, pretending to wipe a tear from her eye, smiling. "Thank you ever so much, you two, for presenting me in a beautiful matter. I thank you." She took Natsu and Happy's hand (paw in Happy's case).

Lucy didn't join the fun, but instead she clenched her fists and felt herself on the verge of tears. Why do I feel angry? Why am I sad?

"Luce, you alright?" Natsu called out to her, still holding Suzuki's hand. Suzuki and Happy had stopped the fake 'dragon tamer' ceremony as well.

"Oh, yes, I'm perfectly fine," Lucy said, her voice trembling. "I-I just need to get fresh air, you know, since it's so stuffy in here... Excuse me..."

Lucy pushed a chair out of the way, and sniffling, bolted out of the door immediately. She closed the door behind her softly, but ran behind the cottage instead, being quiet so Natsu, Suzuki, and Happy won't hear her.

There, Lucy cried. She cried as soft as she could, but trying hard not to think of how Natsu and Suzuki were talking... Talking like long lost friends... Forgetting she was even there... Putting up a damn ceremony which didn't even cheer Lucy up even more...

Lucy felt that she could stay there, at the back of Suzuki's cottage, forever, just ignoring the world and to keep on crying. To be able to escape her mixed feelings now about Natsu... To at least live peacefully, crying about those incidents...

Lucy sniffled, wiping her face with her right hand, seeing tear marks on her pink Fairy Tail guild mark, which made her tear up even more.

"Lucy?" A voice called out, near her.

Lucy didn't say anything, she only put her legs up to her chest and buried her head between her knees.

"Lucy, it's me." Lucy recognized the voice of that fire dragon slayer, Natsu. It appeared that Happy and Suzuki were conversing (talking) in the cottage, but too soft for Lucy to hear.

"What do you want?" Lucy asked, refusing to look up at Natsu, refusing to reveal her tears. She heard movement and rustling leaves as Natsu sat next to her.

"Oh, nothing." Natsu said. "I just wanted to see if you're alright." Gosh, this so wasn't like Natsu to sound so worried.

"Oh." Lucy whispered. "Yeah... Okay."

"So what's wrong?" Natsu asked her, concerned. Lucy wiped her tears and lifted her head, but she didn't look at Natsu. She was staring of into the distance.

"I'm sure you probably won't understand," Lucy began. "but I'll try to explain." She was facing Natsu now, determined not to mess up this conversation even once.

"I've been feeling left out," Lucy said angrily. "With your dragon to dragon talks with Suzuki, talking like I wasn't even there. Putting up a stupid ceremony, what was that supposed to be about?!" She said the last part with lots of anger spilling over her, tears started to come out of her eyes again.

Natsu stayed silent. He looked away to where Lucy was staring a few moments ago, straight ahead. "I've never meant to hurt your feelings, Luce," he muttered. "I never did."

Lucy didn't know what to say. Yes, he was apologizing, but Lucy somehow couldn't think of anything to say besides saying that she was okay and stuff (which was probably not true by the way).

"I'm really sorry, Luce," Natsu said honestly. "You can punch me if you want." He faced her now, and he appeared to be smiling a bit, his black eyes looking at her.

Dear me. He's gorgeus, Lucy thought, gaping at him, feeling heat rush to her face. "Why would I punch you?" Lucy whispered, half to herself.

"Cause I was stupid for ignoring how you felt, Lucy," Natsu said smiling. "That's my punishment, right?"

Lucy knew she was blushing now, madly than ever. She sighed. "Natsu, how can I ever punch you when you were the one who cheered me up?"

Natsu raised an eyebrow. "What? But... I didn't cheer you up. I should, shouldn't I?"

Lucy's eyes widened. "Um... You don't have to... But if you want to I'm not stopping you." She felt her face turn redder (if there was a possibility!). Natsu smiled at her happily.

"Okay then! Good enough for me, right Luce?" Natsu said. Lucy didn't know how to respond, so she simply just shrugged. What is he going to do, I wonder? She thought.

"Okay then. Lucy, can you close your eyes? I'd like for this 'cheering up' thing to be some kind of surprise or something." Natsu requested.

Lucy freaked out slightly. "Um... Sure I guess." was he response. She felt as if she said that on automatic because she was too busy being confused of what Natsu was going to do. So, she closed her eyes.

"Don't move okay?" Natsu asked. Somehow, Lucy felt something (or someone?) closing in on her slowly. Then, she could feel someone breathing on her.

"Perfect," was Natsu's whisper-like voice. Why did he sound so close by? Lucy opened her eyes, curious, when she noticed that Natsu was holding on to her shoulder and was really near now.

"Gosh, Lucy," Natsu said, smiling. "You never listen to me, don't you?" Lucy turned pure scarlet, sure that she knew what Natsu was going to cheer her up with. Then, that moment happened. Natsu leaned, and their lips met.

It lasted for a few minutes before Lucy found out what was going on! She closed her eyes now, still blushing, as she kissed Natsu and Natsu was kissing her back. She could've stayed there forever, but then she heard a snicker.

Oh shoot! That can't be... Lucy thought frantically.

"HA! CAUGHT YOU RED-HANDED!" Happy yelled, pointing at the two of them. "HAAAAAAAAAA! WAIT TILL I TELL EVERYONE!"

"HAPPY!" Natsu and I screamed, letting go of each other immediately. "DON'T YOU DARE!"

But Happy, being Happy, ignored them. "HAAA HAAA!" Happy screeched. "SUZUKI! COME LOOK AT THIS!"

Suzuki appeared more slowly, and seeing Natsu and Lucy together, she smiled and put her hand across her lips. "Oh, I guess Natsu was telling Lucy about dragons, right?" Happy looked baffled, and he scratched his head in confusion.

"Yes!" Natsu said, bolting upwards into a standing position. "I was telling her about Igneel and stuff like that! Happy barged in!" Lucy looked at Suzuki, and both the amber-yellow and hazel-brown eyes met. Lucy mouthed, Thank you, and Suzuki just winked at her and smiled. She mouthed back, No problem.

"Yeah, I learned many stuff about Igneel, thanks to Natsu here. I never knew he had lots of information about dragons!" Lucy agreed, stealing a glance at Natsu, who smiled.

Happy studied Suzuki, Natsu, and Lucy, and sighed. "You are terrible liars," was all he said. He picked up a fish (I think tuna?) and flew back to the cottage, unconvinced.

"Thanks, Suzuki," Lucy said when Happy was out of earshot. "We owe you one." Suzuki smiled and shook her head though.

"It was nothing. Don't worry," Suzuki added, winking. "It'll be our secret!"

Natsu and Lucy nodded, and when Lucy glanced at Natsu she saw he was slightly red in the face. "Yeah, thanks." Natsu agreed. "That was embarassing in a way."

"Now, let's go?" Suzuki asked cheerfully, holding out both of her hands eagerly. "Let's go back as friends, shall we?"

Natsu and Lucy looked at each other, and they both smiled happily. "Yup!" They both said in unison, taking both of Suzuki's hands.

Suzuki smiled as well, and as they came back into the cottage, Lucy felt the happiest feeling in the longest time, feeling jumpy and excited since her heart was soaring lightly. She was well aware of Natsu grinning and Suzuki looking back to see that Lucy was smiling extremely happily.

A/N: All right! Chapter seven, complete! Whoopee XD! Now for the new followers that followed mah story...

0nlyTHEsassmaster
Cassie42
CelestialTitania
ahaurats-FT

Thank you ever so much, it means a lot to me! And cool names by the way too! :D Also, thanks for the 600+ views as well!

Wait until chapter 8! Might take a while cause you know, I have school and stuff (not counting today cause I had no school). Bye and thanks again!

~ChocoCookiesRule134