~Because not seeing the bride in her dress before the wedding just sounds like a bunch of shady superstitious hoo-ha to Natsu. Which means, one way or another, he'll find a way to check up on her.~

To Have and to Hold

Natsu pressed his back against the wall, peering oh-so-stealthily around the corner. No one was there; the coast was clear. With a snicker to himself he tiptoed down the hallway, peeking in each door as he went. Who would've known that the upper level of the Magnolia Cathedral had so many rooms?

He'd been told that Lucy was "upstairs". He'd thought it would be an easy task to find her –after all how big could "upstairs" be?—but it'd turned out to be a challenge. First it'd been a challenge because Erza had quite literally used herself as a human shield to try and halt his progress toward the staircase. She said that it was "bad luck" to see the bride in her wedding dress before the actual ceremony. That sounded like a bunch of superstitious bullcrap to Natsu. Besides, he really wanted to have a moment with her before the whole thing started.

Was he nervous about getting married? Surprisingly… no. He wasn't. He'd never been more sure about anything in his life, in fact. He was going to finally be legally bound to her, his better half, his best friend, the one person he wanted to see lying next to him every morning when he woke up. He'd never been one to think that a silly little piece of paper that declared two people as "husband and wife" meant much of anything. And yet surprisingly as he aged, and he began dating the love of his life, suddenly he wanted that little piece of paper more than anything. He wanted to have something tangible that showed they were connected. He wanted to see her beautifully glorious name with his behind it. Lucy Dragneel. It sounded perfect.

But more importantly, right now he just sorta wanted to know how she was doing and everyone seemed to be against him doing so. Was it really so taboo that he couldn't just check up on her? Was it really such a bad omen to see her in her dress this early? He didn't think so. That was silly. Really, super silly and stupid and just absolutely crazy.

What was not absolutely crazy? Going outside and scaling the side of the cathedral until he could climb into a window upstairs and defy everyone's efforts to keep him as far away from Lucy as possible. Nope, definitely not crazy. He'd accidentally torn a little hole in the bottom of his pant leg but he figured no one would notice. It was super small and besides, everyone would be looking at her anyway.

Right, back to his search.

He must've looked into at least a dozen and a half rooms, all of which were empty, before he hit the last door on the right. It was closed, unlike the others, and part of him felt a little silly for not just going to it first. Of course she'd have the door closed. Erza or Levy or someone was probably quarantining her until the ceremony so he couldn't get a peek.

Tch. Like a closed door or even a couple guards –Erza did have a little bit of a security guard feel to her—could keep Natsu Dragneel from finding his future wife. Hah, as if.

He cracked a smirk and straightened his suit. If someone would've told him he'd have been in a seven-piece suit that was incredibly stiff yet absolutely dashing even a few months ago he would've called them crazy. Yet here he was, and honestly, he wasn't exactly hating it. He rapped twice on the door.

There was a pause before he heard her call out. "Come in."

He smiled, shouldering through the door. It was another rather empty or plain room as most of the others down the hall had been. Aside from the scrolling cobblestone and carved designs in the walls and around the windows, it was really quite barren. And so perhaps the simplicity of the room, or the drab grey color of the stone, made her stand out even more poignantly.

She sat there, at a small table with a circular mirror propped up on its surface, carefully pinning her hair into place. He'd never seen a dress more exquisite and he was positive no one else could've pulled if off like she did. Sunlight streamed in through the neighboring window and onto her and the table in front of her. She weaved a small strand of pink flowers into her already twisted and intricately designed hair. He stood in the doorway watching her, suddenly forgetting exactly what he'd come up for.

Her eyes flicked over to meet his in her mirror and she smiled. "I had a feeling it'd be you. How'd you get past Erza?" She held up a hand to stop him. "Wait, don't tell me… lemme guess…"

Natsu closed the door behind him and pulled a chair over to sit adjacent to her at the table.

She went back to the task of putting the flowers in her hair. "You climbed the building and came in through a skylight." She snickered at her guess.

She was actually surprisingly close. "Pretty much. I don't think there's any skylights here though… that would've probably been easier." He gave her a grin.

Her eyes flicked over to look at him, wide and judging his reaction. "Wait… are you serious?" He nodded, looking proud. She put both hands over her face. "Oh my god I was just kidding… Should've known you literally would…"

Natsu was unsure whether he was in trouble or not. After all, climbing the side of a building in a wedding suit not but half an hour before the ceremony was probably typically frowned upon for grooms. Or at least, frowned upon by the bride. However, Lucy broke out into a fit of giggles a second later, hands still covering her face, and he knew he was off the hook. He joined in in her laughter.

She pulled her hands from her face, smiling ear-to-ear and shaking her head. "Only you." She gave herself a little look in the mirror that almost said 'what am I getting myself into?' but he paid it no mind. "So, not afraid of jinxing us then? Seeing me this early?" She went back to preening her hair.

Natsu scoffed. "It ain't gonna matter. It's gonna take more than a jinx to sink us."

She seemed to like the defiance in his voice. "True."

"Damn straight it's true," he nodded, sitting up straight and proud. She giggled again and his heart did a little flutter in his chest.

A rather comfortable silence settled between them. He relaxed, setting his elbows on the table and looking outside. The sun was so bright he couldn't see much of anything. It was a beautiful day. Lucy had been worried sick that it would rain, or be too windy or too cold or really just anything that wouldn't be overly pleasant since the reception was to be outside. However, Natsu thought that they'd gotten quite possibly the best day of the year. Even the heavens were celebrating them. At least, that's what he liked to think.

He heard a bird chirp outside and wondered how Happy was doing. It wasn't traditional to have an Exceed as a best man but then again what about them was traditional? A Dragon Slayer and ex-Zeref Demon marrying a Celestial Wizard who'd been the one to make him purely human. No, nothing about them was normal. He could hear the shouts and voices of their fellow guildmates downstairs. Oh, and no, nothing about their families was normal either. Or rather, family. Fairy Tail was home to both of them and so that crazy bunch of people downstairs belonged to both of them. There wouldn't be a 'bride's side' and a 'groom's side' after all. They were one in the same.

It was actually a little ironic –or at least ironic to Natsu—that neither of them would have any blood-related family at the wedding. Both of Lucy's parents had passed away which were her only ties to her family. Makarov would be walking her down the aisle. Or at least, he would be if he could keep it together for two seconds. Surprisingly, the Master was the one to break down into tears at the thought of two of his little brats getting married. No one had predicted that.

And then of course Natsu's blood family was… long gone. He'd never really known them though, anyway, so it didn't seem any different. Igneel, however, his true father, wasn't there either. It'd made him rather sad at first. Igneel had never talked to any extent about mates or marriage or anything like that. He'd mentioned it, of course, but had always hinted that he didn't think Natsu would ever find anyone like that, anyway. It was a little dig and Natsu knew he'd probably been kidding but still… he sort of wanted his father to see him on his special day. He knew Igneel would be proud.

Besides, if there was anyone that Igneel would've approved of… it probably would've been Lucy.

Natsu smiled to himself at the thought, looking back to her, still fussing with her hair. She was just so… perfect.

And suddenly in that moment, Natsu had the urge to tell her something that he'd never even considered sharing with anyone.

She had her eyebrows pinched and seemed rather dissatisfied with her hair –which looked beyond stunning in his opinion. He reached up to grab one of her hands, startling her, and held it in both of his. She looked at him questioningly, maybe even with a little worry, and he understood why. Natsu couldn't see his own face but in that moment he figured he probably looked more… calm or genuine or something than he'd ever looked before. Because he felt far more calm and fuzzy inside than he ever had before. And he decided to indeed share his thought with her.

"Hey, do you remember going out on the Nirvana job, and you battled Angel?" He had no idea what was possessing him to tell her this now, of all times, but he felt the need to. Lucy's head tilted slightly, confused, but she nodded. "I was on that raft and super seasick because Gemini-" His stomach clenched and made a very strange noise and he had to stop for a moment to settle it. Even the remembrance of that kind of motion sickness was, well… sickening. Lucy looked around, seemingly searching for a bucket but he held up a hand to let her know he was going to be alright. With some effort he reeled in his nausea and continued. "I was really out of it, but I do remember bits and pieces of what was going on…"

Lucy's eyebrows knitted together. "Natsu, why are you-"

He squeezed her hand to interrupt her and let her know there was somewhere he was going with this. "I remember realizing you were fighting, and being worried, and then everything was kinda silent and I think I knew you'd won… Anyway, then the raft broke free because of Angel and you dove after it to try and stop it from going off the waterfall…" Natsu cracked a smirk. "Well, that didn't work, and I did go off the waterfall, but you went with me. You grabbed my arm and as we went over the edge you were screaming so loud right in my ear and it was ringing so bad for like hours afterwards…" He chuckled when she narrowed her eyes defensively at him. "I was still kinda out of it but I remember feeling your hand on my wrist and you grabbing at my clothing to try and pull me closer and just… I think that's when I first really fell for you."

His words hung in the air. The bird outside continued to chirp in the sunlight that still streamed in the window, yet it felt airily quiet. Lucy's eyes widened, looking back and forth to both of his, seemingly searching for something. Yes, he'd definitely taken her by surprise.

Honestly, he'd sort of taken himself by surprise, too. He'd never actually said anything about that day before to anyone, and he'd only actually realized it for himself within the past year or two. He wasn't one to put feelings with words even just to himself and so it was a big step for him, understanding that that was the exact moment he'd fallen for Lucy Heartfilia. It was also a big step in a way that he'd actually shared it with her, and actually been able to put it into words without either screwing it up or chickening out. He was just on a roll today.

Her mouth opened and closed a couple of times before she squeezed his hands, opting instead for a smile. He saw something sparkle in the corner of her eye.

"Natsu…" She brought her other hand over to lay on top of his. "that's so sweet…" He could tell that she was a little moved by the fact that he'd shared it with her. She blinked her eyes a few times, shaking her head. "Ugh, you're getting me all emotional and we haven't even started our vows yet." She leaned over and punched him in the shoulder. "Stupid." With a smile she tried to dab a little wetness out of the corner of her eye with her finger.

Natsu grinned back at her. Good, it had come across the way he'd wanted. He still had no idea what on Earthland had possessed him to share that with her, but he was glad he had. Especially on their special day… and especially now, when it was quiet and peaceful and just the two of them before all the hubbub and chaos that always went along with Fairy Tail began.

And then suddenly he was overtaken with curiosity and whatever had gotten him to confess when he'd fallen for her, suddenly urged him to ask her a question. "Hey… just curious… when did you fall for me?"

Lucy went a little rigid in her seat and her eyebrows raised. Her eyes trailed off to the side, thinking, before they wandered down to look at his hands on the table, still grasping one of hers. "I… well… "

"If you don't know, that's fine. I was just curious," he added quickly. Maybe she'd never thought about it before and couldn't pick an exact point in time.

She shook her head. "No, no, I know, it's just…" Her cheeks were looking rather pink. "It's just kind of embarrassing… now."

Natsu cocked his head. "Why?" He had no idea why she would think it was embarrassing. He'd just shared his with her, and so she had no reason to be bashful. After all, he wouldn't make fun.

"Well… when we went on the Nirvana job we'd known each other for what… at least six months, right?" Natsu tried to do the math but couldn't think of an exact date. She'd been with the guild for quite a while and was already beyond comfortable with everyone. He nodded. Six plus months sounded about right. "See that's a reasonable amount of time to know someone before, y'know… falling for them." She trailed off and he leaned forward.

"And…?"

"And… well, my time… that is to say, when I fell for you… is a little less reasonable." She was still staring down at the table but he could tell she looked a little mortified. He had no idea why.

"So? I don't care. Was it after our first Grand Magic Games? Oh, or after our year apart? I mean I know we'd known each other then for like… ever but still-"

"No, it's the other way."

He blinked at her. "The other way?"

"It wasn't later… it was earlier." He stayed silent and she hazarded a glance up at him. He was still rather confused but whatever she found on his face seemingly gave her the courage to elaborate. "You remember the first day we met? When you broke the fake Salamander's spell and we had lunch?" He nodded stiffly. "Well, after you absolutely destroyed that ship he was having his party on, and we all got to shore and a few council reps were there, ready to apprehend who had done the damage…" She let out a sigh and a smile twitched at her lips. "You panicked and started running and that was when you grabbed my arm and told me we were going to Fairy Tail. I was so excited and it took me a second to comprehend what you were saying, but when I did I was just so… grateful."

Natsu cracked a grin. He could understand how that was her moment. She'd dreamed her entire life of going to Fairy Tail and being a guild wizard and he quite literally made that dream come true. Of course, what all happened afterwards was her own doing but actually physically taking her to the Fairy Tail guild hall… that was all him. "So that's when ya fell for me?"

She shook her head. "No, not then, but a split second later." He felt rather confused and she quickly continued. "I just had this realization or something. That when we first met, you, the real Salamander didn't go out of your way to let everyone know that he was a fake, and you were the real deal. You were annoyed that the guy wasn't Igneel, and you were annoyed that he was impersonating you, but you didn't make it known. Because that crowd of girls probably would've gone crazy over you then, but you weren't interested. And then there you were, the notorious Fairy Tail Salamander and you ate lunch like you'd never seen food before in your life, and you were broke as hell and couldn't pay your part of the bill so you groveled on your hands and knees when I had to pay for the whole thing. And then you showed up again on the fake Salmander's yacht to break up the party, again not because he was impersonating you, but because he was taking advantage of the people he'd invited. Not once did you really boast about who you were; you were just there to do what was right. And then on top of all of that… after it was all done and you'd wrecked half the coast, you had this huge carefree smile on your face. You let the fake Salamander go, you avoided the officials when you probably could've gotten all of that pinned on him, since he was impersonating you and doing so many illegal things on that boat, but instead you went off on your own adventure again." She shook her head, looking at him, eyes glassy. "And that whole time we'd eaten lunch together I'd been gabbing away, and you hadn't said a word. I honestly hadn't thought you'd been listening, or if you could even hear over your own chewing, but lo and behold you grabbed my arm and told me you were taking me to Fairy Tail because… 'It was my dream, wasn't it?'. You'd been listening the entire time."

Lucy inhaled deeply, apparently out of breath from her lengthy spiel. She patted him on the hand and he wasn't quite sure what to say.

It sort of did surprise him that she'd fallen for him that early, and he sure as hell wished he would've known it sooner –it would've saved him a lot of trouble and nerves and time, later, when he thought his feelings were not shared—but the thing that really surprised him was exactly what it was that'd attracted her. It was something so complicated that he sort of felt lost in her explanation, and yet something that was so glaringly obvious to do that he had no idea why she'd fallen for him over it.

Of course he wasn't going to rat out the fake Salamander. What did he have to gain from it? And of course he wasn't going to confront the officials because A, he had a terrible record and couldn't afford the damage costs, and B, they'd probably find out about what was going on on the boat anyway and hopefully legal action would've been taken. Either way, he sure as hell wasn't going to stick around and find out. But the thing that felt so obvious it was painful was that yes, of course he had been listening to her and yes, of course he was going to take her with him. Why wouldn't he have?

Lucy sighed. "I'm not sure, just a combination of all those things and realizing that you were just so… unique… that when you smiled back at me after grabbing my arm I was just… a goner." She chuckled to herself.

He smiled back at her, loving the way her nose crinkled just slightly when she laughed. It meant a lot to him that she had shared her moment with him, but it meant even more to him because she'd actually fallen for him. What had attracted her to him was just… himself and how he acted which was ultimately what had gotten him to fall for her, too. It felt so much deeper, and he was glad that apparently the feeling was mutual.

He leaned over to her, cupping her face in one of his hands and gently pressing his lips to hers. She relaxed into him comfortably, running her thumb across the back of his hand.

And their moment of tranquility was suddenly interrupted as the door burst open with a loud WHAM!

"Natsu-for-the-love-of-god-Dragneel I told you you couldn't see her until-" Natsu nearly choked on his own tongue Erza had scared him so badly and Lucy let out a high-pitched squeal-scream before shoving him a little too hard away from her, as if hoping perhaps Erza hadn't seen them kissing and that she'd think he'd been across the room the entire time. He somehow managed to catch himself on the edge of the table to avoid falling flat on his back.

Erza stood in the doorway, red hair blazing and her mouth nearly on the floor. Her face, now, seemed to nearly match her hair in color and it was clear she hadn't been expecting to walk in on them in the middle of a kiss. She let out a strangled sort of gasp.

From down the hall Levy's voice joined in. "What? What's wrong?! Is he in there?" Erza nodded mechanically and Levy's head poked around the corner. She spotted him a second later and gave him a death glare so poignant he thought he might burst into flames. She was small but she could actually be pretty scary.

"It's such bad luck!" she shouted, stamping her foot. "Would it really have been that hard to not see her for one morning?! Your matrimony might depend on it, you know!" Natsu tried to look as innocent as possible. Levy gave Lucy a rather disappointed look and she let out an awkward laugh.

"Levy th-th-th-th-they were… k-k-k-k-kissing, i-is that bad l-luck, too?" Natsu had never seen Erza this embarrassed.

Levy took in a very loud gasp. "You were?!" She looked back and forth to both of them. "Oh c'mon, guys it's like you want to have bad luck!"

"Sorry," Lucy said quietly, though Natsu could tell she was holding back a smile.

"Tha's just superstitious crap, we don't- OW!" In a blur Levy had taken off her shoe and chucked it at him from across the room. He hadn't even had time to dodge. She really was kinda scary when she was mad.

"Get out before you make it worse!"

Natsu was unsure of what 'it' was that he'd be making worse but nonetheless he shuffled toward the door, trying his best to avoid Levy's death glare. He gave one look over his shoulder before he left to find Lucy poorly concealing her laughter at his exchange with Levy, and gave her a wink. Well, he'd at least achieved his original goal of checking up on her to make sure she was doing alright, the added bonus of having a heartfelt moment with her was just icing on the cake at this point. Besides, there wasn't enough bad juju in the world to doom their marriage. In fact, he'd even like to even see it try.

#46 - dress

Hopefully there's a good mix of silliness and heartfelt...ed...ness... (what even are words?) in this. Or at least kind of, anyway. Also, sorry for the uber long paragraph in the middle where Lucy's talking like damn that's a text wall so high there's probably a titan on the other side.

Anyway, a big thanks to MasterGildarts who said they wanted a fic with Natsu and Lucy on their wedding day. I thought that sounded like fun so here we are. ;3 I hope you enjoyed! :D

Thank you guys so so much for the lovely reviews as always! They really do make my day and I always enjoy hearing what you thought!
I hope you have an amazing day and a super amazing rest of the week! :D

~Foxtail-chan