"Does that mean you guys are going to travel?" Gray asked, propping his chin on his hand.

"I want to!" Lucy said. She smiled, her eyes lighting up as she no doubt thought of the wonderful places they could go see. Then she sighed and slumped back in her chair, "But, we don't have enough money to do something like that."

Natsu's eyes drifted towards the ceiling as he considered. If money was the only thing keeping Lucy from doing something that she clearly wanted to do, he would have to figure something out to get around that.

"If that's the only problem," Erza said, pulling his attention back to his friends, "you could just pick up jobs along the way, couldn't you?"

Lucy's eyebrows furrowed, "That's true, but I also need to be near for the doctor. And, I don't want to be away from you all for my last…I would miss you guys. Traveling isn't worth it."

Seeing her spirits deflating, he put a comforting hand on her shoulder. When she leaned into his touch, he did what seemed natural, lifting her chin and kissing her gently on the lips. He didn't think anything of it until he noticed how deathly quiet the guild had fallen.

He looked around and saw the rest of the guild members gaping at them. With a jolt, he realized that this had been the first time he'd kissed her in public. There was a sad tension in the air and everyone was frozen like they'd been turned into statues.

Lucy pulled away from him, looking embarrassed and he opened his mouth to say something only to close it a second later when he didn't have anything to say.

Thankfully, Happy piped up, "Natsu llllllikes her. He kisses her all the time!"

The spell was broken and the stillness left. The gapes turned into sad smiles and their nakama moved forward to congratulate them. Reedus gave him a half shrug when he met eyes with them. Clearly he hadn't said anything to anyone.

After most of the crowd had dispersed, he noticed that Lucy still seemed embarrassed. Her cheeks were flushed and she stuttered when anyone asked a question. Mira gave her a playful push and said, "Tell us sooner next time."

"I-I will," Lucy promised.

Wrinkling his nose, Natsu said, "There had better not be a next time."

#8 Public