"Last one down has to chuck a snowball at Erza!"
"You're on, ashface!"
Lucy rolled her eyes and placed her chin atop her tucked knees as Natsu and Gray both took a running start before vaulting onto their sleds and zooming down the steep hill before her, the blonde knowing full well that one of them was probably going to go home with a black eye today because of their bet. Over the years, taunting the redhead had become a sort of game for the pair, in which they'd each dare the other to do more and more risky things to invoke Erza's wrath. Of course, they'd never wish such a thing upon themselves of their own volition, but something about the possibility of the other getting beat up kept them at their game, even if they were putting themselves at risk by doing so.
The blonde turned her head a little to the left, letting out a heavy sigh as she found the subject of Natsu and Gray's dare.
The eleven-year-old redhead was busy with her own competition, racing Mira down the hill time and time again, telling Lucy who'd won that round upon returning to the top of hill so the blonde could keep a tally going. She didn't understand why Erza always got so mad at Natsu and Gray for fighting when her rivalry with Mira wasn't any less violent, and oftentimes, it escalated to far more perilous degrees than that of the petty arguments between the boys. Erza and Mira were both far more resourceful, and that meant their brawls were sometimes near catastrophic.
Lucy knew that they, both Mira and Erza and Natsu and Gray, would never actually seriously injure one another, but being their friend and witnessing their brawls and spats on the daily definitely had her worried sometimes. Natsu was her best friend, and Gray, Erza, and Mira were three of her closest friends, and if any of them were stupid and reckless enough to hurt each other, which they came pretty close sometimes, she didn't know what she would do.
That was part of the reason she'd chosen not to take a turn at sledding down the hill herself, only plopping down on her sled a decent distance away from the crest of the hill as soon as they'd arrived and watching the two pairs as they raced, making sure there were no crashes or any other mishaps.
Of course that wasn't the only reason she didn't give herself that little push that would send her sliding down the hill, but she didn't need anyone else to know the other reason, especially not Natsu.
Which seemed inevitable now that the salmon haired boy was nearing the end of his hike back up the hill, his feet carrying him straight towards her.
He let out a heavy breath as he finally reached the top and came to a stop just beside her, obviously feeling the after effects of his climb. But there was still a bright grin on his face, even as he tiredly huffed out, "What's up, Luce? You haven't gone down once since we got here."
In an attempt at hiding the truth from him, the blonde didn't even glance his way as she gestured to the little snowballs she'd been making and piling to count wins, her arms still wrapped tightly around her knees as she pulled them further into her chest in an attempt to retain heat, "I'm keeping track of wins for Erza and Mira."
He looked between her and the two piles for a moment before flatly huffing out, "Well that's lame. We came to sled, so you should be sledding."
"It's fine," she mumbled, her gaze finally sliding to Natsu before finding Gray a short distance behind her salmon haired friend, the raven haired boy crouching down to craft a snowball with very obviously trembling hands. It seemed like he'd lost his and Natsu's race, and that meant he had to chuck the ball at Erza, and take her rage upon himself. Lucy immediately resolved to tell him that he didn't have to do it after she was done talking to Natsu, because she knew she could handle whatever protests the salmon haired boy put up.
"No, it's not fine," Natsu grumbled, putting his hands on his hips. "You don't look like you're having much fun, and that's not cool."
"But you guys are all having fun, so I'm okay," she shrugged, placing her chin atop her knees once more, "I'm just making sure you guys don't get hurt."
"Come on, Luce. I know you well enough to know that that can't be the only reason you don't wanna go down. If that were the only reason, you'd be right there with us, 'cause you'd wanna be close enough to yell at us if we did anything stupid." He furrowed his brows as he crouched down at her side and fixed her with a pointed stare, "So what else is keepin' ya from going down?"
The blonde hugged her legs tighter, her brows furrowing as she reluctantly let out a quiet mumble.
He leaned closer to hear her better, nearly toppling over into her, but saving himself at the last second, "What was that?"
"I…I don't like going fast," she muttered, ashamed of herself.
Natsu pulled back a fraction, obviously not having expected such an answer, "Oh…really?"
She nodded her head and bit her bottom lip, "It's just...the hill's really steep…and the sled's kinda hard to control."
"I see…"
Lucy dropped her gaze as his voice faded out, not wanting to look at him, figuring he must be starting to think that she was a super lame best friend. Natsu was always running off to face new and exciting things with a grin on his face, and sometimes, she was right there beside him. But now wasn't one of those times. Of course she'd been sledding before, but in all honestly, she hadn't really liked it, and she'd never gone down a hill this steep. Like she'd said, not having control scared her sometimes, and the very prominent possibility of injury was no small concern either.
The snow suddenly crunched around her, and before she knew it, her sled was shifting beneath her. Natsu had crouched down behind her to take hold of the back edge of her sled before taking off at a sprint, and now, he was pushing her forward, charging straight towards the hill.
Her fingers shot to curl around the edge of the sled on instinct as she shrieked, "What are you doing?!"
He let out a boisterous laugh, "The only way to get over your fears is to face 'em!"
"Natsu!"
Not knowing what else to say in her panic, she screeched his name, her eyes squeezing shut as they came upon the drop off. She thought that he might just shove her down on her own, but instead, as the sled began to tip over the crest of the hill, he hopped on behind her, forcefully jamming himself onto the way-too-tiny-for-two-people sled. His knees were digging painfully into her back, so hard that she was surprised his entrance hadn't booted her off the small disc of plastic. But her discomfort was of no concern at the moment, the blonde still clinging onto the edges of the sled like her life depended on it.
"You're such jerk!"
"Forget about how scared you are and enjoy the thrill!" Natsu shouted over the rush of the wind as they descended, his head peeking over her shoulder and a laugh in his voice. "I ain't gonna let ya fall off or anything, so open your eyes and take it all in!"
After taking a deep breath, the blonde gave in, forcing her body to relax the tiniest little bit and peeling her eyes open. At first, the combination of the frigid air and the rush of the wind made her eyes burn with tears, but as she quickly adjusted to the feeling, her fingers naturally loosened up a fraction, and her rigid, fearful features were melting into a look of awe, her lips curling up a tiny bit at the corners.
Of course she still felt fear, but it was that slight rush of fire through her veins, that barely there tingling feeling in her stomach, that set her off and made her crave more. Natsu was with her, quite literally smashed against her back, and that meant that she could thrive off that thrill instead of being afraid of it, his trills of joy in her ear giving her all the comfort and reassurance she needed.
The salmon haired boy was still laughing as their sled slid to a halt, throwing his feet off either side of the sled to bring them to a complete stop, "Now, that wasn't too bad was it?"
"No…" she reluctantly admitted, holding completely still for a moment before whipping around to punch him in the shoulder, "but I'm gonna make you pay for that, you jerk!"
AN
Yeah, I don't really know what this chapter was…somehow sledding turned into this weirdly profound thing, but I decided to just roll with it.
And, true story, I was terrified of sledding as a kid. Or really, I was terrified of anything that posed even the slightest risk of injury.
Anyways, thanks for reading!
Hint for next chapter: Gingerbread houses