Lucy got out of the car as she smiled to herself.

Never in her whole twenty-three years would she realize that the prison she called her home would become the safest place there is for her with this mess. She sighed as she closed the door behind her and faced Natsu who followed her. He's really gotten used to driving on his own now, even if he has to stick on a few patches.

"So... Uh. It's been really fun working with you, Natsu."

Natsu stared at her with an unreadable expression on his face which made her squirm. Minutes passed as Natsu continued on being uncharacteristically silent. Lucy waited as she studied his face. He is undeniably attractive in his black shirt and black coat. With his scarf, he's sure to give this casual air about him but nothing in his current attitude is casual. She groaned, "Come on, Natsu. It's your queue to tell me something sentimental, dammit." He folded his arms and responded haughtily, "What do you want me to tell you, Luce? That I'll be happy seeing you off or seeing you on your days off?" Lucy pursed her lips in attempt to rein in her temper. The demon lord Natsu Dragneel is really getting on her nerves. She's gone through a emotional rollercoaster today and she doesn't want to be stressed any more. "Oh come on, even I have the feeling that you're going to haunt me with the separation anxiety. Look, Natsu, this is my last night, dammit. Can't you just be a bit civil about it?"

"You know that I don't have the slightest inclination to let you go to Crocus."

Lucy groaned in frustration, "We already talked about this, Dragneel! Oh my God, how hard is your head? I have to go back especially with this mess. Someone has to work on the other side to figure shit out. If this is Saber's work, then I have to have counter measures to do some damage control before they do actual damage." Natsu glared at her, "I still don't like you going away." The blonde balled her fists in anger. Natsu can be really frustratingly stubborn and she knows this yet she can't calm down. Lucy knows she has to calm down. She breathed in and an out to attempt to calm down. She, then, turned to Natsu who obviously looks guilty now. Reaching out, she touched his cheek in attempt to sooth him.

"I don't want you to go to Crocus. That's where Sting is. Who knows what he'll attempt to do to spite me?"

Lucy rolled her eyes, "Not as if he can touch me if ever I'm in my father's reach. I'm not that fragile, Natsu." The man nodded as he leaned in to her hand, "I know. I mean, you can do shit to make Sting run for his money. You are one kickass person on your own." She giggled as she withdrew her hand to fix his scarf, "Right. Tell me more about how awesome I am." Natsu grinned, "And no one can do greater shit than you." Lucy nodded and giggled, "Right. Even Sting can't top the great shit I can do." The pinkette chuckled, "Man, am I gonna miss you."

"How about we be midnight tourists and let me drive your Aston Martin?"

Natsu gave her a surprised look, "You drive?" She smiled in return, "Maybe you forgot because you were drunk but I've already told you I know how to drive." Natsu blushed as his brain imagined other inappropriate images of driving and he shook his head. "So... Do you want to?" The pinkette grinned, "Alright. You're the boss. I'm Lucy." Lucy caught the keys Natsu tossed her way. "How about we get shit-faced drunk like the first time we went out for a mission?" The man marvelled at her suggestion and nodded excited.

"I'm all fired up."

Natsu looked at Lucy on his periphery. She just had to change to a skimpy black number meant for clubbing. She looked rather focused on driving as they accelerated through Magnolia's night life.

Of course, Lucy knows he's checking her out. She planned to have eyes on her tonight. One last blast before she goes back to being the prim and proper schatzi of Fiore's high society. Lucy smoothly turned to a left. She dug through her closet to find the best outfit she has. Enough with the hesitations especially that it's her last night on Magnolia. Might as well go all out with a bang.

She went with a leather sweetheart crop top showing off a bit of her creamy chest with a hanging off-shoulder. She also chose a high-waisted leather skorts, but not high enough to cover all of her abdomen. In case it gets chilly, she rested her burgundy fitted coat on the backseat. She opted to wear knee-high boots for good measures. To keep everything sweet, she let her hair down. Of course, tauntingly matching dark red lipstick.

"Jude's gonna have a heart attack if he sees how hot you look on that, schatzi."

Lucy smiled at his remark as she kept her eyes on the road. Of course, her father will disapprove but that's the whole point of the outfit, right? "I'm just going to take that as a compliment, boss." Natsu chuckled as he leaned back and looked ahead. They're traversing the highway towards the town outskirts. He's lived in Magnolia for the majority of his life but clearly, Lucy knows more spots than him, being sheltered. Damn, Zeref, and his OCD. "We should have brought the convertible with us, schatzi. I think you'll like that more." The girl giggled as they went for a straight drive, "Nah, next time, Natsu. I'm content driving this beauty for now."

A few tens of meters and a hill later, she pulled over and detached the seatbelt. Natsu followed suit wondering. He got out of the car to beat her on opening the door herself. She grinned as he opened ot for her, grabbing the coat resting on the backseat. Covering herself to fend off the cold, she went out of the car.

"Wow. This view still amazes me."

Natsu closed the door and followed her, with his arms in his pockets. They're in a cliff overlooking the entirety of Magnolia. With the stars out tonight, there's nothing more breathtaking until Natsu looked at the astonished expression on Lucy's face. He smiled to himself and looked up. Lucy looked at Natsu as he stood beside her smiling. "We should have done this sooner."

"Yeah. Should have... But we still can do this when you come back, right?"

The girl raised her hand towards the sky and hummed to agree. There's no telling when but she's sure she'll see him again. She has to make sure to see him again. Her heart constricted at the thought of leaving everything behind for the second time in this lifetime... At the thought of leaving this beautiful man behind.

"If this was a movie, you would've kissed me right now."

Natsu turned to her as she giggled to herself. He cleared his throat and asked, "You think so?" She looked at him and responded, "Don't you think so, too? If we were people written in a novel, we would've fallen for each other under the starry sky already. I mean, it's the perfect set up for the first kiss." He hummed, "If this was a movie, I'd probably be a dragon. So, how does a dragon kiss a golden princess?" She chuckled and brought her hand to her side.

"Well, for starters, he'll transform himself to his humanoid form, complete with markings, and horns, and scales and big ass wings!"

Natsu snickered, "That's stupid but I like it." Lucy nodded and continued, "Yeah! Then he'll fly her right to this spot from the tallest tower of the city to save her from the evil sorcerer's clutches. Of course, they'll have a flying cat sidekick because duh, that'd be cool." The pinkette looked at her as she faced him with her hand spread out, imagining wings. "Then, what do you think? Will she kiss him? Or he kiss her? Who will kiss who?" Lucy smiled as she held his scarf to fix it and answered, "I think, we'll know until the next chapter." He groaned as he rolled his eyes. Lucy laughed out loud at his reaction.

"You're a jerk for that cliffhanger, Luce."

Lucy held his hand to soothe him. "Well, cliffhangers are meant to keep people interested." Natsu shrugged, "The dragon would be stupid to pass up the chance for a kiss." She turned to him, raising a brow, "You think so? So, you think the dragon will be the one to kiss the princess?"

"Dragons never back down from a challenge."

A challenge. So, it's all a challenge. Lucy smiled at the bittersweet thought. "How about we go and get wasted now?" She asked Natsu. Natsu stayed rooted on the spot, mulling over something. He suddenly turned to her and held her shoulders, "I'm thinking if I should kiss you now or later." Lucy scrunched her brows and retorted, "You're kidding, right?" Natsu let out a loud laugh, "I think, I'm not. I want to kiss you right now or later when we get shit-faced drunk. I don't care. I want to kiss you."

"Hng, Natsu. Kissing me isn't a challenge, you know."

"But you're the whole package of a boss level in an RPG, schatzi. Hell, you're a milestone."

She shook her head as she looked at him with his fanged grin. Lucy tilted her head. What's with this man this time? She stared at him, searching for a clue about his current train of thought. Is this even real? "So, when should it be? Your pick. Do I kiss you right now or later?" Is he... Is he seriously asking for permission before gets on with it? Of all the times he missed the chance to ask for permission before doing something while they're together, he chooses to ask permission now? Utterly ridiculous. She rolled her eyes and scoffed a laugh, "Just fucking kiss me, Natsu."

"Good because I don't think I can hold off until later."

And, he held her face and kissed her under the starry night sky of Magnolia.