OUR LOVE IS WHAT CONNECTS US

CHAPTER 11: Can You Feel the Love Tonight

AN: Well, my cat died, so feeling pretty bummed about that, but I still managed to write!

I know you guys have been waiting a long time for this moment, and it's finally here!

Enjoy, and review! XD

"Natsu…?"

"Hey Luce, it's been a while hasn't it?" said Natsu with a grin and a wave.

Lucy bit the bottom of her lip softly, more tears trickled down her cheeks. Slowly, she started walking towards him.

Words could not describe what Natsu was feeling at that moment. To suddenly see his childhood friend for the first time in ten years…

She had changed so much from the small little girly cry-baby he used to know.

Her hair was as lovely as he remembered it, and her eyes still held that spark of determination and wonder that he was naturally drawn to. She had become so incredibly beautiful that he couldn't believe it, her figure was practically sinful; he swallowed a lump in his throat from nervousness just looking at her.

It was clear that she had indeed become powerful as well, the last time they were together she could barely summon her celestial pet Plue. Now she had the air of an incredibly powerful Celestial mage; just like she said she would when they were kids.

Lucy was standing in front of him now, staring at his face and hair, tears still streaming down her cheeks and occasionally sniffling.

Natsu blushed at her close proximity, and grinned to try and hide it. Seeing her face this close made him pretty nervous.

Lucy lowered her head and started to tremble slightly, Natsu assumed it was from sadness which made him feel extremely guilty.

"Natsu… you… you…"

Natsu was about to wrap his arms around her to comfort her but stopped dead when he saw that she had raised her fist in the air and her eyes were gleaming with anger.

"YOU IDIOT!" she yelled decking him in the face and knocking him back a few feet.

Ok, not trembling in sadness, trembling in rage… yes.

"Ouch Lucy! That hurt!" he whined rubbing the sore spot on his face that she hit.

"Serves you right! Do you have any idea what I've been through!? And then you say 'Been a while hasn't it?' like its nothing!? I haven't seen you in TEN YEARS Natsu! Ten years!" she said angrily, huffing when she finished, she tried rubbing the tears out of her eyes roughly but they kept on coming.

Natsu's eyes widened in shock when he realized what she was saying. He couldn't even imagine what she must be feeling right now. The guilt he was feeling earlier had grown now, he felt like such a scumbag.

"Why did you disappear Natsu? I was so lonely. I… I…" Lucy couldn't stop her tears from coming out, all feelings of anger had become overshadowed by her sadness. She covered her eyes with her hands and cried her heart out.

Natsu got up off the floor and made his way towards Lucy, it was his fault she was sad. He hated it when she cried, he was weak to her tears and was always afraid of saying or doing the wrong thing and making it worse.

There was only one thing he could do now, she may punch him again for this, but he felt like it would be worth it.

Lucy's breath hitched when she felt two warm arms encasing her in a warm embrace, she could hear Natsu's heart beating erratically and her hands were placed on his muscled chest. She felt him move one of his hands to her hair and stroke her gently while the other was rubbing circles on her back.

"I'm sorry Lucy. I really am. I'm so very sorry…" he said placing his forehead on hers in a comforting manner.

Her eyes widened for a moment, then softened as she returned his embrace, wrapping her arms around his back.

"Idiot, you stupid fire-eating idiot!" she said into his chest.

"I know Luce, I'm a big idiot. Sorry" he said with a sad smile.

Lucy sniffled then moved back to look at Natsu, rubbing her wet eyes that had finally stopped producing tears.

"What's going on here?" asked Gray in confusion, but it looked like no one heard him.

"What the heck are you doing here anyway?" she said as she rubbed her right eye with one hand and placed the other on her hip.

"Me? What the heck are you doing here?!" said Natsu looking confused.

"Ugh, Oi! Will somebody please explain what the hell's going on here?!"

Natsu and Lucy turned and saw that Gajeel and Gray had woken up and making their way towards them. Their eyes held suspicion and confusion, first this girl tried to kill them, now suddenly she's all buddy-buddy with Natsu and acting like nothing happened?! What the hell!?

"Oh, Ice-prick, finally woke up?" asked Natsu with a bored look.

Gray had a tick-mark appear on his forehead.

"Some friend you are fire-fag, now you wanna tell us what the actual fuck is going on here?! Who is this chick?!" yelled Gajeel in annoyance.

"Oh, right, this here is Lucy guys. My best friend!" said Natsu with a wide grin, one that the guys have never seen before.

"FRIEND!?" they yelled in shock.

"Uhuh!" said Natsu completely oblivious to their reaction.

"Oh Natsu, you know these guys?" asked Lucy with her hands behind her back and a curious look on her face.

"Yeah, the one with the bolts in his head is Gajeel, and the stripper is Gray. They're buddies of mine" he said with a grin as he pointed to each guy.

"Nice to meet you, my Name is Lucy" she said as she bowed her head in greeting with a smile on her face.

"Yeah hi-wait a friggen minute!" yelled Gray in annoyance. "This chick attacked us and tried to arrest us for some unknown reason, and your all acting like nothing happened!?" yelled Gray in angry confusion.

"Geez, relax stripper" said Natsu digging in his ear.

"I'm sorry about that, I was sent on a mission to collect you two for a bounty, I didn't really have a choice. If I had known you were friends of Natsu's I… I… please forgive me" she said with a sad expression while she bowed apologetically.

Natsu glared at Gray angrily and Gray waved his hands in surrender while Gajeel just folded his arms in front of his chest with a scowl directed at the ground.

"You made her sad ass-face" said Natsu angrily.

"I wasn't trying ta make her sad!" he yelled "Um, hey, it's cool, no worries! We're fine now so it's all good!" said Gray apologetically to Lucy.

Lucy lifted her head and had a surprised look on her face "R-Really?" she asked.

"Yeah, don't feel bad, it was actually kinda fun. Haven't let loose like that in a while" said Gray with a sheepish grin as he scratched the back of his head.

Lucy smiled widely at this "Thank you so much!" she said happily.

Gray and Natsu blushed at the face she was making. She really was too cute. Gajeel continued to remain indifferent.

"By the way, why are you guys all wet?" asked Natsu with a raised brow.

The guys paled as they remembered a certain blue-haired devil. They felt chill run down their spines just from the memory.

"That would be Aquarius' doing" said Lucy sheepishly.

Natsu paled, of all things they had to see it was her…

"You guys are lucky to be alive!" he said in a scared tone.

"Don't remind me! At least now I know what you meant when you spoke about her last night" said Gray fearfully.

Gajeel nodded his head in agreement.

"Jeez Luce, no mercy huh? By the way, what happened to that lion guy? He's gone too?" asked Natsu curiously.

"I'm more concerned about the fact that we got bounties on our heads now" said Gajeel with a scowl.

"Nah, that just goes to show how badass we've become lately!" said Natsu with a grin.

The guys were grinning and joking with each other as Lucy just watched with a content smile. She couldn't believe that Natsu was alive… and he had grown into such a handsome young man as well. She found herself staring at him and his features longer than necessary and blushed when she realized.

"I still can't believe you're really here in front of me. Everyone's gonna freak out when they find out where you've been this whole time… don't even get me started on your mother" she said with her hands on her hips and a smile on her face.

Natsu's smile faltered, he didn't want people to know where he was, the whole reason he left in the first place was to stay away from them. He was sure his mother would hate him if she saw him again after all this time. How much did she know about the accident anyway?

"She doesn't have to know anything, its better if no one knows about this" he said in a hard voice, glaring at the ground with a hurt expression.

"What are you talking about Natsu!? Everyone thinks you're dead!" she said in angry confusion as she grabbed his shoulders.

Natsu's eyes widened in shock.

Dead?

That's what they thought? Was this why Lucy was so shocked when she saw him? Woah, they really would freak out if they saw him now…

"Seriously?" he asked in shock.

"Yeah, Acnologia told us about the ambush" she said with a downcast expression.

"H-He did? What else did he tell everyone?" he asked curiously. Did he tell them that it was his fault?

"Who cares about what he said!? You're alive!" she said with a happy expression.

Suddenly her eyes widened in realization "That means… you're the King of Magnolia…" she said stepping back slightly, a smile on her face at the thought.

"King?!" yelled Gray and Gajeel in shock.

Lucy nodded her head at this. The guys just burst out laughing.

"Th-there's no way on this planet… that fire-breath here is a King!" yelled Gray in between laughs, clutching his stomach in pain.

"Oh Sire, need me to give you some gourmet flames?!" yelled Gajeel sarcastically as he laughed at his own bad joke.

Natsu glared at his so-called friends as they mocked him, Lucy just stood there with a confused look on her face at their reaction. She was being dead serious, did they seriously not know who Natsu really is?

"I'm serious" she said with a deadpanned expression.

They stopped laughing immediately and looked at her in shock, then looked to Natsu who flinched at their gaze.

"Is she serious?!" yelled Gray in confusion.

"You're a friggen King Salamander?!" asked Gajeel in shock.

"No!" yelled Natsu in annoyance.

"Natsu?!" said Lucy in confusion. Of course he was the King, why was he denying it? He was always so excited about it when he was a kid… what changed?

"Just stop okay? I'm not King alright? Sure I was supposed to be but… that was a long time ago" he said as he walked away from his friends in annoyance.

"Wait a second there bro. You're the King… and you didn't think you should tell us this?!" yelled Gray angrily, they were friends for a long time, you'd think this would be important!

"Well, we did say he didn't have to tell us anything…" said Gajeel softly as he recalled an old memory.

"It's not important! I'm still me!" said Natsu reassuringly.

"Yeah, but dude… your royalty! You're an important person!" yelled Gray in frustration.

Typical Natsu, not realizing how important things are until someone else has to say it!

"Oh for the love of-"

"Would you guys… excuse us for a few minutes?" asked Lucy as she walked up to Natsu and placed a hand on his shoulder.

Gray and Gajeel raised a brow at this. This chick just waltzes in here and tries to have some 'private time' with their friend like it's nobody's business. What the heck did she have to say to him that they couldn't hear? Was she gonna extort money out of him or something?

"Tch, fat chance blondie" said Gajeel with his arms crossed which made Lucy form a surprised look on her face.

"Yeah, no offense, but whatever you need to say to cherry-head here, you can say in front of us. Ain't that right?" said Gray as he gestured for Natsu to agree.

Natsu looked everywhere except at them, his cheeks were slightly pink and he scratched his cheek in embarrassment.

"Um… I think it would be less awkward if you guys left…" he said finally looking at them.

Their mouths dropped to the floor.

Did Natsu just ditch them… for a girl?

Oh God… he had it bad.

"Well, I can see where this is going" said Gray in a huff as he started walking away with Gajeel behind him.

"Tch, unbelievable" muttered Gajeel as he sent a glare in Natsu's direction as he walked off.

Natsu sweat-dropped at their behaviour, they were surely gonna crap on him about this later.

"Well, they may not be the best guys around… but you get used to em eventually" he said with a grin at Lucy.

He noticed that she had a sad look on her face again, she turned around and stared at the ground sadly, tears once again gathering at the corners of her eyes.

His eyes were laced with concern. If he had known seeing her again would make her this sad… he felt so guilty about being happy to see her.

"What is it?" he asked trying to get in front of her, concern evident in his tone.

Lucy rubbed the corners of her eyes, trying so desperately to stop her tears from falling.

A sad smile formed on her face "This isn't a dream right? You're really here in front of me?" she asked him in a sad tone.

He felt his chest tighten at her question, and placed his hands on her shoulder in comfort.

"Of course I am. See? As real as you" he said with a grin.

Lucy looked up at him, the sad smile still there "You have no idea how much this'll mean to everyone… how much this means to me…" she said as she placed a hand over Natsu's one on her shoulder.

"Hey come on now. You know I can't handle you when you're sad. It's gonna be okay!" he said with a reassuring grin.

Lucy smiled… a real one this time.

Suddenly she wrapped her arms around Natsu's neck and held him in a tight embrace. Natsu's eyes widened at first them softened as he wrapped his arms around her waist, pulling her closer to him. Like he was afraid she'd slip away if he let go.

"I missed you so much Natsu" she said placing her head in the crook of his neck.

Natsu placed his head on Lucy's hair and took a deep whiff… strawberry and vanilla… she still smelled the same as he remembered.

"I missed you too Luce" he said softly, a loving smile on his face.

They held each other for a while, each just enjoying the feeling of being in each other's arms. Completely forgetting the world around them.

"Tch, this is complete bullshit" said Gray in annoyance.

The guys were standing a few feet away from them, making sure to be out of Natsu's earshot, watching the scene play out before them. Which confused them since it was making them pretty sick to watch something so mushy.

"What ever happened to Bro's before Hoe's?" said Gajeel grumpily.

"How could that moron get a girl before me?! It doesn't make any sense" grumbled Gray in annoyance.

"That's what's annoying you?" asked Gajeel with a brow raised.

"Not to mention the fact that she's also super-hot, why is the universe so unkind?!" complained Gray.

"Oh get over yourself Ice-boy" said Gajeel with a sigh of annoyance.

"I mean, who does she think she is? First she just shows up out of nowhere and beats us up, now she's using her feminine whiles to take Natsu back to the Kingdom?" said Gray angrily as he crossed his arms.

"… What's wrong with that?" asked Gajeel in confusion.

Gray let out an aggravated sigh "I sense disaster in the air" he said as he saw Natsu and Lucy walk away somewhere together.

Natsu was walking next to Lucy, she mentioned she was thirsty so he suggested that they go back to the lake for a drink, provided that she promise not to bring Aquarius out again.

Lucy giggled at his silliness but promised anyway.

"So Luce, tell me what you've been up to. How are your parents?" asked Natsu as they walked toward the lake.

The sun was setting, and the sky was turning a lovely purple, the insects making sweet natural music as they walked by and the fireflies had started to glow. All in all, the atmosphere was very romantic.

Lucy's face was downcast at his question, and a sad smile decorated her face.

"They're… they both passed on Natsu…" she said sadly.

Natsu's eyes widened in shock, he almost tripped over his own feet.

"W-What?" he asked incredulously.

"Yup, Mama got sick about a year after your dad died… there was no cure, she died in her sleep" she said sorrowfully as she wrapped her arms around herself in comfort.

"Papa was heartbroken, so in order to cope he threw himself into his work. I'd go a whole week and never get the chance to see his face he was so busy. And if that wasn't bad enough the taxes were so high that he couldn't even take a day off" she said with a frown.

"One day he just pushed himself too hard and collapsed, he was so thin…" she said and started tearing up at the memory.

"Three years ago he passed as well, and its been just me ever since" she said as she looked at the sky teary eyed.

Natsu felt terrible, Lucy had been alone all that time, not to mention the fact that her dad seemed to be neglecting her after she lost her mom. How could she be so strong?

Natsu grabbed on to her shoulders and pulled her into a strong hug, it wasn't much, but it was all he could do for now.

Lucy let out a relieved sigh and leaned into him. His body was still as warm as it was when they were children if not more so. And it was still as comforting too.

"I'm fine Natsu, I had your mom and little Wendy to keep me company" she said with a small smile as he pulled back from the hug.

Natsu's eye's widened. Wendy… his baby sister, she was barely two-years old when he left. Did she even know who he was?

"W-Wendy huh? I haven't seen her since she was a baby, what's she like now?" he asked curiously.

Lucy giggled "She's the most adorable girl ever. She's sweet and kind, a little bit shy at times, and has developed the same magic as your mother, she's just as pretty too. She's about this tall now" she said holding her hand out to show how tall she had gotten.

Natsu chuckled softly, it sounded like she had grown up ok, although he couldn't help the bittersweet feeling he had knowing that she had no idea who he was.

"She also loves her big brother very much" said Lucy with a smile.

Natsu looked up to her in shock which caused Lucy to giggle.

"Every chance she gets she asks me about you, and all the crazy stuff we did as kids. I think she's developed a brother complex to you or something?" she said with a giggle.

Natsu swallowed thickly. She knew about him.

His sister knew about him. He wasn't a total stranger to her.

He felt his heart clench with happiness and smiled greatly.

"That's great to hear!" he said as he wiped the tears that had formed in the corners of his eyes vigorously.

Lucy smiled softly at him, still always trying to act like a tough guy. She wiped her eye to hide her tears, she realized she cried a lot today.

She looked to her right and saw the clearing where the lake was. The setting sun making the water glow beautifully, and the fireflies added to its beauty.

"Oh look, we're here already…" she said staring at the lake.

Natsu looked up and saw where she was looking. She was right, they had made it to the lake.

Why did it feel like such a short trip?

"Y-Yeah, lets go get something to drink. After all the crying you've done I'm sure you need to rehydrate" he teased with a cheeky grin.

Lucy puffed out her cheeks and glared angrily at him "And whose fault was that?!" she huffed, angrily striding passed him.

Natsu snickered, looks like she was still fun to tease, and that face was too cute…

'Eh? CUTE? What am I thinking?!' he thought in embarrassment.

He scratched his head in confusion and jogged to catch up to Lucy, who was already scooping water in her palms and drinking it.

She looked mad, he knew she would give him the silent treatment if he tried to talk to her now. That's just how she is.

He sighed in exasperation and rubbed his head, why were women so complicated?

He walked toward the lake, but made sure to stay a few feet away from Lucy lest he be the victim of her glare again. He rolled his eyes, he was only teasing her, did she always have to be so sensitive?

He scooped some water and gulped it down, he never realized how thirsty he actually was, he was too focused on Lucy to notice.

He turned to look at her and felt his breath hitch.

The sunset was directly behind her, creating a sort of glow around her figure. As if she came from the heavens themselves. The suns reflection on the lake make her face glow beautifully. Her eyes shined brightly, and as she brought the water in her hands to her lips to take a sip it illuminated her lips for a second, causing Natsu to gulp from nervousness. She poured the water into her open mouth and drank, a small drop fell from the corner of her mouth, it ran down her cheek, her neck, until finally Natsu lost sight of it inside her cleavage.

When Natsu realized where he had been looking his face lit up and he felt hot.

He had never been affected by heat before, but this felt extremely different compared to any kind of heat he had ever felt before. It felt like it was coming from inside his heart; which he noticed, was beating abnormally fast.

Frustrated with this foreign feeling, he shoved his hands into the lake scooped as much water as possible and splashed it on his face. He really needed to cool down.

Lucy looked at him in surprise at the sudden action. Water still in her hands.

She tilted her head slightly, her face showing concern.

Natsu looked up and saw her expression, well… at least she wasn't mad at him anymore.

Suddenly an idea hit him, making him smirk mischievously.

He got up off the ground and make his way to the forest again. Lucy raised a brow at his odd behavior.

'What is that goofball up to now?' she thought nervously.

Seemingly out of nowhere he ran at full speed out of the forest and toward the lake… with a vine in his hands?!

"Woohoo!"

He ran towards a small nearby ledge, swung on the vine, released it, and fell into the water below.

Lucy's mouth practically hit the floor from shock. Was he trying to get himself killed?!

She ran to the ledge and peered into the water, hoping she would she him resurfacing soon.

"Natsu!" she yelled fearfully, she couldn't see him at all.

She was scanning the water nervously, not paying too much attention to the area directly in front of her when he suddenly surfaced and latched onto her arms, making the poor girl shriek and her eyes go wide.

He grinned at her, then pulled her into the water with him. Completely soaking the girl.

Lucy swam to the surface and sucked in a deep breath of air. She coughed the water out of her lungs and stayed afloat.

Once the shock left her body she swam to the water's edge and pulled herself out. Her eyes were still wide in shock. How could that idiot do that to her?!

Natsu popped his head up above the water and laughed loudly. Her face was so priceless when he grabbed her!

Lucy was on her hands and knees, trying to inhale as much air as possible. She coughed some more and finally managed to stabilize herself.

Natsu swam toward her and got out of the water behind her. He was still chuckling to himself when he stood up and placed his hand on her back.

"Water's pretty good huh? Thought you should try it out" he said with a cheeky grin.

He was expecting her to yell and smack him for his actions. He never expected her to suddenly turn to him and smirk.

Lucy swiped his legs from under him, making him lose his balance and almost fall on the floor. Just before he did she got up quickly and pushed him back into the water.

With a shocked yelp he fell backwards into the water.

When he resurfaced he saw Lucy towering over him, her arms crossed and a victorious smirk on her face.

"Water's pretty good huh?" she taunted, grinning at his reaction.

Natsu smirked at this, so she wanted to play did she?

"Oh, it is so on" he said as he made his way out of the lake.

With a scared 'eep' she ran away from him into the forest.

She was still soaking wet. When Natsu got out of the water he dried himself off with his fire magic, and sniffed the air for Lucy's scent. She seemed to have forgotten that he could smell things better than a bloodhound, and when it came to Lucy; her scent was always gonna stick out to him, wet or not.

He grinned predatorily, the thrill of chasing Lucy down making his blood pump faster.

"Oh Lucy, Lucy, you should know by now that you can't get away from me that easily" he said, taking off after her at full speed.

He caught her scent easily, and followed it quickly. He saw her running through an open field, the sun had completely set now, and the stars were bright and high in the sky. There seemed to be a lot more than usual today, they were exceptionally vibrant.

The field they were running through had tall grass, reaching to their knees making it a little hard to run. There were fireflies here as well, Natsu was starting to notice there were a lot of these suckers around lately, what was up with that?

"I'm catching up Lucy~" he taunted cheerfully.

Lucy laughed at his behavior, it was like they were kids all over again.

"I'd like to see you try slowpoke!" she said with a laugh.

Natsu grinned, happy that the heavy atmosphere between them had disappeared and become more playful.

He liked this side of Lucy a lot more than her sad side, a fun and teasing Lucy always brightened his day.

They entered the forest again, the trees made it harder for Lucy to run, since she wasn't familiar with the area, so she slowed down a bit. This was to Natsu's advantage since he knew every little thing about the forest, and she was heading for a little hill of soft grass. He would catch her there for sure.

"Oh I've got you now" he said triumphantly picking up his pace.

"Crap!" she said fearfully, she knew there was no way she could outrun him, and he knew the area better too.

Just as Lucy made a quick turn she almost failed to notice the small hill and screeched to a stop just before she tumbled down.

"Phew, that was a close one" she said with a relieved sigh.

Suddenly two warm arms snaked around her waist making her squeal in surprise.

"Caught ya!" yelled Natsu triumphantly as he pulled Lucy closer to him.

However this was a bad move, since it had caused them both to suddenly lose their footing and send them tumbling down the hill. Good thing the grass was soft.

They rolled for a while, both screaming and laughing while holding onto each other, Natsu made sure to wrap an arm around her head so that she didn't get injured and pull her body extra close to his so that he got the brunt of the impact.

After a while they finally reached the bottom of the hill, both out of breath from laughing too hard.

Natsu was on top of Lucy, neither had yet to register their positions or their close proximity. Natsu's elbows were on either side of Lucy's head, his face was nuzzled against her neck, as Lucy's was to his, and Lucy's arms were pressed against her chest. Their legs were a tangled mess, and they were covered in grass and leaves.

"You crazy idiot!" laughed Lucy, smacking Natsu lightly on his chest.

Natsu laughed "While that may be true, this is actually the first time I successfully tackled you! About time!" he said with a cheerful grin.

Lucy didn't know what came over her, it could have been the fact that she was just dizzy from the tumble down the hill, the fact that she was feeling so blissful it clouded her rationality, or that damn grin of his that could make any girl swoon.

Either way, by the time she realized what she did, there was no stopping her.

She wound her arms around Natsu's neck suddenly, the boy was still cheering about his victory to notice, she slowly pulled him closer, and finally planted a tender kiss on his cheek.

Natsu's brain and body froze at the contact. It was so sudden and unexpected he had no idea what to do. The place where her lips touched felt like he had been burned, but it was such an amazing feeling, like he couldn't get enough of it. His heart and stomach clenched, he felt like he would internally combust at any moment.

Then as suddenly as the contact came, it was gone.

He looked down into Lucy's eyes; they were wide with shock, like she hadn't meant to kiss him, what did this mean? Sure they were best buds when they were kids, but did they actually have these kinds of feelings even back then and not even realize it? Or was this just a spur of the moment thing? A sudden latent reaction to not seeing him for over ten years?

No… Natsu didn't want to think it was sudden.

Lucy put her arms on Natsu's chest to push him back so that she could get up again, her face was a brilliant shade of red, that could only be seen thanks to the light the fireflies provided. Now in an upright position Natsu was staring at Lucy with a burning intensity, while Lucy looked to the ground, making sure to avoid eye contact at all costs.

Natsu was the first to break the silence since it was eating him alive.

"Luce-"

"Sorry! I-I don't know what came over me!" she said with a nervous laugh.

Oh she knew what came over her alright, she knew the second her lips touched Natsu's cheek.

In hindsight, she should have realized it right after she first reunited with him, the feelings he had instilled in her should have been a good tipping point. Had she not read her fair share of romance novels to know what this feeling was? Had she not yelled at the main protagonists many times about how dense they were for not knowing how they felt right away?

She had felt this way about him since they were kids. At first she thought it was a measly crush and that she would get over it. But seeing him again after thinking he was dead all these years… it made her heart soar. No one would ever be able to create these feelings inside her, only Natsu.

'Ah crap, don't tell me I've been in love with him since I was little?!' she thought in embarrassment.

Natsu wasn't gonna let her get away with any excuses though. Lucy never did things without a reason, and he was both nervous and interested to hear her reasoning for this.

Natsu placed his hand on her chin and forced her to look him in the eye, her face was still a bright red, which made him feel kinda smug, but he made sure she kept her gaze only on him.

"Luce, look at me" he said in a stern voice.

Lucy groaned internally, this was so embarrassing, now she was gonna have to explain her actions to him, she wondered if he was still as dense about romance as he was when he was a kid.

She focused her eyes on his, while hers were glistening in embarrassment, his were shining with determination and… something else Lucy had never seen before. It was spine-chilling… but in a good way.

"Luce… wanna tell me what that was all about?" he said in a serious tone. It wasn't one of anger, it was more like he wanted a clear-cut, detailed explanation of why she did what she did. Which would be absolutely mortifying to explain.

Lucy's face doubles in its redness, if that was even possible. What did he expect her to say anyway?!

'Hey guess what Natsu! I've secretly been in love with you since we were kids, and finally seeing you after all this time my feelings kinda burst out and my body moved on its own! Yeah right, like I'd ever say that out loud!' she thought in a panic.

Finally Lucy just got fed up with herself and decided to bite the bullet. He had to have some idea as to why she kissed him!

Lucy turned her gaze away from him slightly, a small pout forming on her features.

"Moron, do I have to spell it out for you?" she said softly, but made sure she was loud enough for him to hear.

Natsu's eyes widened slightly. His heartbeat escalated at an insane rate, and he knew his face was ridiculously red right now. Did that mean that she..?

Natsu's eyes were more determined than ever now, Lucy had taken the first step, now it was his turn to reciprocate. But with Natsu, he was a man who wanted to do things better than others, always trying to one up his opponents. Not that Lucy was an opponent or anything, but he felt like he had to answer her with much more than a kiss on the cheek.

He slowly moved the hand that was on her chin to her cheek, startling her and making her cast a questioning glance at him. He was leaning forward now, her eyes widened in realization of what he was about to do. She gasped softly, their noses were about to touch, she could feel his breath ghosting over her face.

Goosebumps were forming all over her body, the anticipation was almost suffocating.

They both closed their eyes, their noses bumped softly, until finally, Natsu claimed Lucy's lips with his own.

Dun dun Duuuuuun…

Ain't I such a troll, Not like Mashima but close XP

I know you all hate me for ending it there… sooooo leave a review to vent your frustrations please? XD