"Ah, so you're that Natsu from Fairy Tail. It all makes sense now!" The older man guffawed loudly as he finished off the rest of his beer. "You were always in the papers because of your shenanigans. It was almost sad that you hadn't come up much for awhile."
Natsu laughed along with the man, tipping back his own glass of fire whiskey. "Ah yeah! I've been on my best behavior since I set out to look for my dad. But there's always something about Fairy Tail in the papers!" For a few days, Natsu had been lodging with a man named Finn and his daughter Milley. The small family were kind and boisterous and the loud banter and constant chatter put him at ease. It was the first large town he'd come across in awhile, so he took advantage of the amenities and decided to pick up some temporary work with the blacksmith. He needed the money and supplies, and Finn was a great employer, as far as Natsu was concerned.
Finn grinned widely, wrinkles collecting at the corners of his eyes, "Well, that's true. It's great for you that you can still know what's going on with them even though you're away."
"Natsu, Natsu!" across from the small table, Natsu smiled at the young girl who had hair just as golden as sunlight. It made him nostalgic.
"What's up, Milley?" His voice turned a shade softer as he set down his glass.
Beaming up at the young fire mage with clear blue eyes, she was nearly bouncing in her seat. "So, are you friends with Lucy Heartphilia?" The question made his heart stutter but he kept his cool. "She's my favorite Fairy Tail mage! I want to grow up to be just like her!"
"Haha! Is that so? She's a lot more goofy and weird than the papers make her out to be though."
Milley gasped, "So you are friends with her?"
"Sure. She's my best friend." Pride slipped into his voice as he recalled Lucy and all of her warm features. "She's my partner."
"Seriously?" the girls eyes were practically glittering. "Can… can I get her autograph sometime?"
Leaning back in his chair, Natsu smirked, "Yeah sure. Once I go back to Magnolia I'm sure Luce would love to go on a trip. She can give you one in person."
Staring up at him with eyes wide as the plates they'd been eating on, Milley's mouth dropped open. "You're the best, Natsu!" she squealed in delight. "Oh, yeah, I was wondering… in an interview in The Sorcerer this week, Lucy said something about waiting for her partner. Was she talking about you?"
"Um…?" He titled his head to the side.
"Hey now, Milley," her father interrupted, "Don't go bombarding the guy with a bunch of questions. You're gonna make him uncomfortable."
"Haha, it's okay Finn," the dragon slayer waved a hand dismissively, "I don't mind the questions. I'm honestly just so freakin' happy to have people to talk to. Traveling alone gets pretty lonesome without a companion."
The older man gave Natsu an empathetic look. "I can understand that. Back when I was younger I used to travel quite a bit…"
"No one wants to hear about your dumb old stories, Dad." Milley rolled her eyes.
Natsu just laughed.
"Well, it's time for bed. Gotta get up early to open the shop." Finn pushed away from the table and started collecting the dishes.
Milley quickly got out of her chair and began to help her father. Despite the fact that Milley was a young, sassy teenager, Natsu found her to be very hard working and supportive of her father. When she wasn't at school she seemed to always be at the shop, helping out where she can. Resting his elbow on the table to lean on his palm, the dragon slayer sighed. He couldn't help but miss his own family, his guild. He missed the fights and the uproar. That was the most relaxing place in the world… aside from Lucy's apartment.
"Hey, Milley," Natsu called out as he began to get up himself, "Would you mind if I borrowed you magazine? This weeks Sorcerer. "
"Sure!" She glanced at him over her shoulder. "My hands are wet, but it's on the coffee table in the living room."
"Cool," he said, pushing the chair into it's place under the table. "I'm heading to bed then. 'Night you two."
Finn and Milley bid him a good nights sleep and went back to the dishes. The sound of their voices faded as he went and picked up the magazine from the living room.
It was almost surprising that Lucy wasn't on the cover this time. Instead it was a spread of Lisanna, Elfman, and Mirajane. A small grin quirked his lips. They were the same happy family as before and it was nice that they'd decided to team up again. Though he was pretty sure that Mirajane rarely left the bar anyways. She was still as sweet as always, but having Lisanna back seemed to give her back a bit of her old spark. Making his way up the stairs, he flipped through the pages and caught snippets about Blue Pegasus and some random magical items he could care less about. By the time he reached his room, which was small but comfortable, he had come to the page that had the Fairy Tail emblem printed largely above a block of text. Natsu flopped down on the cushiony bed and read the intro before turning the page. The next two pages were mainly a big photo of the entire guild standing together.
At the front, directly in the middle, was Master Makarov with a huge grin on his face. He seemed as lively as ever. On either side of him were Gray and Erza. Erza had on her trademark heart cruz armor and a small, disciplined smile. She held her head high as always. Gray still looked like an asshole as far as he was concerned, but it was nice to see that the lazy smirk hadn't changed. But aside from them, it was hard for Natsu to really concentrate on any of his other guild mates, his eyes found Lucy. She had on the biggest smile she could possibly muster. It wasn't one of those carefully composed photos that he had seen before, this was the real Lucy bursting at the seems with untamed joy. She was holding Happy, who's grin matched the stellar mage's. The two seemed to have remained rather close since his departure. He missed his team more than anything in the world.
After a few minutes of wistful staring, he turned the page and carefully read the various interviews and comments about Fairy Tail. Most of it was nothing new, and but then he came to Lucy's brief interview.
interviewer: So, Lucy, I hear you haven't taken the s-class exams yet. It's obvious you are so capable, so why the wait?
Lucy: [she chuckles cutely while sipping on her tea] Well, it's not that I don't want to be an S-class mage or anything like that. But it's set up in a way where you need a partner to complete the test, and while I love all of my guild mates, my partner is away for the moment.
interviewer: Your partner?
Lucy: Yep. When I become an S-class mage, I want him to be there at my side. I couldn't choose anyone else to take that journey with me. I guess it's kind of silly of me [she plays with the assortment of celestial keys around her neck nervously] but I guess he's always been there for me at the most important times of my life and career as a mage… so I want to take that step with him as well.
interviewer: That seems to be a rather romantic way of viewing it…. is there perhaps a steamy story behind this?
Lucy: [laughs nervously] Not really… I mean, I would say that we're pretty cozy and closer than most friends, but there really isn't anything ...romantic there.
After this point, Natsu couldn't really concentrate much on the rest of the interviews. Thoughts of Lucy and Magnolia filled his mind. it seemed like while the stellar mage had taken leaps and bounds without him, she was holding back so much due to his absence. He was her partner, and that place in her life was reserved for only one (well, Happy was there too). Somehow, knowing that she was there, waiting for him still made his heart ache for home like never before. Sighing heavily, Natsu tossed the magazine onto the bed as he rolled onto his stomach.
That night the dragon slayer couldn't seem to fall asleep no matter how much he tried. His heart never seemed to stop racing.
xxx
The week seemed to pass by slowly for Natsu, but working in the smithy was calming since he was able to use all the fire and raw force he wanted. It was the afternoon of his last stay with the small family and Natsu was helping to clean up at the end of the day when he stopped for a second and smiled at the older man, "You know, this was a really cool job. I'm gonna miss you guys."
"Yeah, it's gonna be lonely without you here to liven things up with all your crazy antics." Finn chuckled as he finished putting away all of his materials.
On the other hand, Milley sulked as she came to a stop in a her sweeping, "You'll come visit us again, right, Natsu?
"Sure, Milley. I promised I would bring Lucy with me next time." His big bright grin seemed to leave the younger girl feeling more secure about his answer and smiled back. "I bet Luce will love this place. She would probably spaz over all the picturesque landscapes here, not to mention the shopping."
"Okay then! It's a promise. I'll be waiting!" Milley felt like Natsu's face breaking smiles were contagious.
"Oh, I meant to ask where you're headed to next, Natsu," Finn piped in.
Without a break in his large smile, Natsu answered with a pride, "Fairy Tail."
Leaving Finn and Milley was a quick but touching affair the next morning. Natsu had slept fitfully and dreamed of blond hair and brown eyes. He was feeling giddy about his decision to head back home to Magnolia. He was feeling a strange combination of fear, anxiety and almost overwhelming excitement to see Lucy. His Lucy…. or at least that's what he was hoping she would be once he got back. Even on the train (the thought of transportation made him nauseous) it would take him two full days to make it back to Magnolia Town. On foot it would take him over a week, and that's if he took very limited breaks. So, he would take the train, motion sickness be damned. He just couldn't wait any longer, by now he'd kept Lucy, and the rest of him family waiting long enough. And in his heart, he knew that he couldn't wait to be enveloped in the warmth of his family after almost three years of traveling alone.
It was time for Natsu to return home.
xxx
Even from outside the thick wooden doors the ruckus was louder than ever. Clearly that part of Fairy Tail hadn't changed and it made the smile on Natsu's face even larger, if that was even physically possible. He took just a quick second to take in the somewhat muted noise and the smell of food and alcohol and the familiar scents of his friends before not so gently kicking the door open, effectively blowing huge chucks of wood across the great room. "I'M HOME!" He yelled in triumph with a fist pump into the air.
There was a split second of complete and total silence before it was all ruined with a flying fist in the direction of Natsu's face.
"Flame brain! What took ya so long!" Gray shouted as the dragon slayer dodged just in time and brought his knee up to try and nail Gray in the stomach. The ice mage jumped back in a swift, calculated movement and gave the fire user a relaxed smirk. He's just gotten home and he already has to deal with this loser (though deep down maybe he secretly missed the fighting, Gray was a good sparing partner if nothing else). "I've gotten quite a bit stronger now, I bet I could kick your ass."
"Gray-sama, you clothes," Juvia stated quietly as moved to pick up the discarded underwear.
"Psh, yeah right. I could probably destroy you with a flick of my wrist now. Besides, I could never be defeated by a stripper."
Rather than continuing the match, Natsu found himself being pounced on by a very pleased Lisanna. "Natsu! You came back! It's practically been forever!" He could feel her smile into his neck and he allowed his arms to encase her tightly for a moment before pulling her back to take a good look at her. Same bright eyes, bright smile, but her hair was a little longer now and reached her bare shoulders.
"Hey, Lisanna," Natsu found himself beaming down at her as he tenderly ruffled her hair. "It has been a really long time I guess…"
A few moments later he found himself being hugged by Wendy, who was taller and prettier than she was when he had last seen her. One after the other it seemed like all of his guild mated came up to him to tell him what was new with them and how they had missed him. Towards the end of the reunion a screaming Happy had attached himself to the dragon slayers face, huge tears wetting his soft blue fur.
"Natsu! I thought you weren't going to come back, I'm so h-happy!" The eksheed was practically wailing.
With a loud, Natsu pulled the cat from his face, "Of course I would come back. I told you I would, didn't I?"
"Yeah… I guess so, but what if you'd found Igneel and decided you didn't need us anymore."
"You know that no matter what, Igneel or no, I'll always come back home." A soft smile crossed the dragon slayers face as he looked around him, the warmth of Fairy Tail seemed to completely rejuvenate him. There was nothing like being home. But suddenly it dawned on him, "Where's Lucy?"
Happy perked up at the mention of the stellar mage's name, "Lucy was here this morning! But she said she was tired and went home."
"Oh, yeah," Lisanna piped after hearing about Lucy, "It seems that she hasn't been feeling well lately, so she's been spending a lot of time at home trying to recoup I guess. She hardly gets to rest, what with all the photo-shoots and jobs she's been going on. She's totally overworking herself."
Natsu frowned at this, "Oh…. well, I think I'm should probably go pop by and see what she's up to."
"Good idea," Happy said with a little smile, "Lucy has probably been the one that missed you the most all this time. I bet she'll be super happy to see you."
It didn't take much else to spur him into motion then. Offering a few boisterous parting words, Natsu burst from the guild into the young night and felt that strange stressful elation he felt on the train. The excitement that was coursing in him didn't let him take a leisurely pace to Lucy's place, he still new the route by heart and he raced as fast as he could push his body to get to her apartment. With her apartment coming into view, he could already smell traces of her, leading him right to her door step.
For a split second he contemplated taking the door, but a devilish grin curled on his mouth and he easily climbed his way up to her windowsill.
"Great, the window's open…" he whispered to himself as he peeked in. Jumping onto her bed and sat on the edge. He quickly gathered that she was in the bathroom since he could hear the faint noises of movement coming from that direction. Leaning back on his arms he smiled to himself as he breathed in her scent- there really was no scent like Lucy's. It just smelled like… home to him.
"GYAH!" was was ended up breaking his train of thought.
Looking up passively, Natsu raised a hand and grinned, "Hey, Luce."
"N-NATSU?" Lucy stood in the door way in nothing by a towel, mouth opened in shock. "A-Are you serious? Is it really you?"
"Yep. I'm here aren't I? Do you fantasize about me being here all th-" He was cut short by the blond pouncing on him with a squeal of joy. "Good gods, Luce! You tryin' to flatten me or something?"
The girl clung to him tightly and nuzzled her face into his neck. Gosh… he didn't quite expect such a… powerful welcome. He couldn't help but feel his body temperature surge. When she didn't say anything just yet, Natsu hesitantly smoothed her still wet hair. Being able to touch her felt surreal, seeing as how he'd been dreaming of it night after night; the feel of her warm creamy skin under the heat of his calloused fingers.
"Natsu…" he heard her voice, lively and happy…. and strangely watery, call out to him, "It's good to have you back… not than you know."
He chuckled and allowed himself to wrap his arms around her waist as he pulled them into a sitting position, Lucy's legs wrapped around his waist. "Yeah.. I'm glad to be back too. It was lonely without you."
The blond beamed as she pulled back, her brown eyes glittered. "Really?" She was trying to be nonchalant and failing miserably. Her excitement to see him only kept lifting his mood. Shifting his hands to sit on her hips, Natsu frowned.
"You seem…. a lot… thinner, Luce?" He leaned back a bit to get a real good look at her. Sure, her breasts were still full and bouncy as ever. But her body seemed to be more frail and delicate than he remembered it to be. His eyes flickered worriedly up to her face. She was definitely as beautiful as she looked on all those covers, but it wasn't quite the same (aside from obvious reasons. She would always be prettier in person). Her face showed obvious signs of exhaustion despite the rosy life her shower had breathed into her skin.
"Oh," Lucy pulled away reluctantly, "I guess you're right. I've been so busy I haven't really been keeping track of myself." She chuckled awkwardly before realizing completely that she was nearly in the nude and like the girl he'd always known, she flushed a bright red and jumped off him in a blur of blond and white towel. "Whoa, that was a little bit uh….. indecent." She ran her fingers through her still damp hair and honestly, Natsu was kind of curious why she wasn't hurling everything in her room at him. But hey, he wasn't really complaining about that. "I'm gonna go put on some clothes," the blonde looked at him with a tiny smile dancing over her lips. "Promise me you won't go anywhere?"
"I promise."
xxx
After Lucy went to go get changed and do whatever Lucy did alone in the bathroom, Natsu decided that it was high time for him to reacquaint himself with Lucy's refrigerator. As he pulled open the door, mouth already watering, he was instantly disappointed. The only thing she really had was some milk and a bit of cheese. Making a face he closed the door and went back into his friends room to unceremoniously plop down on the bed. Boy, could he use a good meal. And Lucy was usually pretty good about keeping the kitchen stocked with goodies.
The dragon slayer frowned as he wondered what's really been going on with the celestial mage ever since he he didn't get too long to ponder on this before she reemerged from the bathroom looking fresh and pink time rather than wearing a towel, she had on a navy blue t-shirt with a pair of pink shorts. Natsu tilted his head to catch her eyes and smiled. Lucy grinned back, her eyes glittered with emotions he could exactly gauge.
"I… I can hardly believe it's really you…." She crossed the room to settle in next to him, "I really thought… I might never see you again. You have no idea just how worried I was…" Lucy looked down at her clenched hands in sudden embarrassment.
"Luce… I promised you I would come back home, didn't I?" The fire users eyes were soft with that flame of pride flickering within them, "You're the one who taught me never to break a promise, remember?" Without realizing it, Natsu had reached out and wrapped his fingers around one of Lucy's small fists and the contact set a strange familiar heat through his veins.
The blond started just the smallest bit at the contact and her cheeks turned pink once more, "Yeah… but… I couldn't help but worry…. that you forgot me."
"I could never forget you, Lucy! I don't even know how you could think that, you're my most precious nakama." He stopped to calm himself, "I mean… There isn't any way that I could forget about you, Luce. You're my best friend, my partner." He glanced down, "Not to mention, it's hard to forget you when you're on every other cover of The Sorcerer."
"You read them?"
"Every single one for the past three years." he squeezed her hand as he held her gaze, "And from everything I read… I kind of gathered that you missed me, a lot."
If Lucy wasn't blushing before, she certainly was now. "W-what… I mean, Yeah… it sucked to have you gone but it's not like I m-"
"I missed you too, Luce. More than I ever thought possible." Natsu glanced up at her with an almost bashful expression as he plied her fists into a more relaxed position and laced their fingers. "And you know, even though you mentioned me a lot in those interviews… it was weird… I felt like you were moving on in a lot of ways and becoming someone I knew less and less." He scowled, looking down at their entwined hands, "It kinda pissed me off some, to be honest. Because I thought I should be the one to know you the best no matter what, and be there with you every step of her way. And I wasn't, and it didn't like it…. feeling like the longer I was gone the less I knew about you, the less i was apart of your life."
Lucy watched him for a long moment before moving to rest her cheek against shoulder breathing in his warm woodsy scent. "I think that no matter how far you are, or how long you've been gone, you'll always know me better than anyone else. And you're always have a bigger hand in my life than anyone else ever will." The stellar mage sighed and the two where quiet for a few more moment, basking in the presence of each other.
"Though, I'm kind of curious," Lucy spoke up again, "Did you find Igneel? Is that why you're back."
"Naw… the clues to finding Igneel still haven't really lead to much. So the search is still on."
Pulling away from Natsu but still keeping the warm contact of his hand, Lucy search this fire users eyes. "If you still haven't found Igneel then… why did you come back?"
"Jeez, Luce, you make it sound like I shouldn't have come back or somethin'." he snickered and shifted his weight slightly, brushing his thumb over the soft skin of Lucy's hand absently (Lucy wondered if he had any idea what he was doing to her with such an innocent touch?).
"Y-You know what's not what I mean! I just thought that…. that was going to be the last time you would leave. That you absolutely wouldn't come back until you found your father…" her voice caught as she imagined involuntary a life without him again.
Natsu was silent for a moment, "That was the plan actually. Until I realized that, yeah, Igneel will always be important to me. He's my father. But I know that Igneel is fine where ever he is and I know that I'll always have chances to go look for him." His eyes flashed up to meet Lucy's with a very Natsu like determination that made the butterflies in her stomach seem like tiny fireworks , "But if I stay away for too long I'll lose my chances with you. I realized after three years of traveling alone, being away from you, from Fairy Tail… only being able to know you through some stupid magazine. Eventually you'd end up finding some other person to be your partner, you'd turn into a whole other Lucy I wouldn't know… you would probably fall in love with some one…"
The dragon slayer pulled his hand away, suddenly embarrassed and he ran both hands through his hair (immediately they were both feeling colder, already yearning for the others touch). Glancing away, Natsu rubbed the back of his neck nervously. As much as he'd wanted to see Lucy and be with her, he hadn't exactly thought about what he might say to her, but then again, when was he ever the type to plan things out.
"I don't wanna lose you, Luce… I can't." Natsu let out a somber sigh, still not meeting her doe eyes.
The blond watched in silence for a long moment before she reached out and slid her arms around the mans shoulders. He started at the contact but he relaxed quickly, put to ease by that unique Lucy scent that filled him up and made him light headed. When his arms settled around her waist, instinctively pulling her tight against his body, the stellar mage nuzzled his hair, her lips grazing his ear in a way that felt way to good.
"You'll never lose me, Natsu." the words were just a breath against his ear but they sent shockwaves through his entire body.
Pulling away just enough to see her face, search her eyes, Natsu didn't think as he leaned forward to press his lips to hers soft but sure. Ending the small kiss, Natsu smiled at the stellar mage bashfully as she sputtered and flushed.
"W-what was that for…?" Lucy knew it was a dumb question but she had to ask.
Grinning at her, the dragon slayer gave her a squeeze around the waist, "I want to keep you, Luce. I want to keep you as my partner. I want to keep you as more than all that stuff." He paused for a moment to think before he said gently, "Maybe I'm being kind of selfish, but can you promise that I'll never lose you?"
Lucy's heart fluttered at his words, they weren't the precise words she wanted to hear, but she was sure he'd get to that one day, "I promise. But only if you promise never to leave me behind again."
"I promise, Lucy!" And with a gleeful laugh, reminding the blond that Natsu was forever the boy she met in Haregon, he crushed her to him in a bear hug. "I'll never leave you alone again."
With a giggle, Lucy settled into the dragon slayers lap, "You better not. Or I'll send Erza to punish you."
"Ugh….. don't ruin the moment." The dragon slayer groaned at the remembrance of Erza's punishments. That was definitely something he didn't miss.
"But you know what, Natsu?"
"Hm."
"It kinda feels like… you chose me over Igneel. But maybe that's just me being selfish."
Natsu shifted slightly on the bed so he could lay down, pulling her on top of him, "Naw, it's not selfish since it's true. I have a life time to look for Igneel and I've gotten on with my life fine without him up until now. But I really don't know what I would do without you, Lucy. I really, really don't."
"Me either. I think we're just stuck with each other from now on." The blond sighed contentedly, closing her eyes and listening to the sound of his breathing.
The dragon slayer could hear her own breathing even out as she seemed to drift off to sleep. He was pretty exhausted himself after his trip, but his heart was still pounding with his celestial mage wrapped up in his arms. Reluctantly, he shifted her onto the bed and got up to turn the lights out. Stretching in the partial darkness (the street lights cast a slight ambiance in the room), Natsu moved to find his travel bag on the floor and rummaged through it to find a t-shirt rather than wear his staple vest. Crawling onto the bed, pressing Lucy's body near him once more, her particular warmth and her particular Lucy smell was intoxicating. Pressing his nose to her soft, lavender scented hair sleep was finally taking him under. He was glad he choose this path, and he knew he'd choose it over and over again if it came down to it.
A/N: It's been quite awhile hasn't it? I'm pretty sure I've been picking at this and two other nalu fics for the past six months or so. But it's probably the longest fic I've written for these little one-shots (two-shots in this case) so hopefully that makes up for it a little bit ; o ; I also want to apologize for any grammar and spelling errors since I have no beta and little patience to keep re-reading this thing. But I hope you guys enjoyed it!