Lucy stared in awe as she looked at the secret door hidden behind her bookshelf. It had cravings, strange yet beautiful cravings embedded into the wooden door. She hesitantly grabs the golden handle, and softly as she could, tries to open it, but nothing happened, it didn't budge.

A squeak left her as a loud knock came from behind the door. "Lady Lucy! Your father has been waiting patiently for your arrival." a guard gruffly announced. He paused for a second. "Are you doing something wrong m'lady?"

Lucy gasped, realizing that she'll probably be in trouble if they see this. This holds lots of things, secrets, that the blonde wants to figure out. It wouldn't be good if those pesky guards tell her father that a mysterious door appeared at his daughter's room.

They'll think I'm planning to escape again. Lucy thought irritably, pushing the bookshelf where it usually is. She brushed off her dress and opened the door. "Nothing is wrong. I was just getting freshened up to see Father." She lifted her head up, earning a respectful nod from the guard.

She walked swiftly to her father's office, ignoring the whispers of concern from the staff. She opens the door to her father's study, and reveals the man she currently despises at the moment.

"Ah! Lucy my dear! I was just about to go get you, you were taking a while." Jose announced, patting Lucy's shoulder. The blonde flinched at the touch and pulled away. She glared at the man, not caring if he saw her reaction or not. "I'm truly sorry Mr. Porla, as you probably don't know, we women need to freshen up daily. Since we are objects, we might as well look good while we're at it."

She watched as the older man's eyes widened at her snide remark, and grinned evilly. "You and that tongue will burn people someday, Lucy darling." He barked, chuckling. "But enough of that, we have a guest, and your father is becoming rather impatient."

Lucy ignored him and entered the room. There was Jude, glaring at her slightly once she came before him. Her father wasn't alone; a tall man, with reddish-brown hair, with dark tan skin. He wore clothes fit for a noble, and looked down and she smiled brightly.

"Father." She bowed slightly, already feeling stressed again. "You called-"

"Oh my!" Lucy turned to the man who was staring at her, excitement glowed in those dark eyes. She let out a squeak of surprise when he swooped in her personal space, the blonde leaning back. "Who is stellar beauty? I've heard far-fetched tales about the heiress of Heartfilia's beauty, but this is…"

Lucy looked over to her father, who looked on the scene without a care in the world. She carefully took her hand away, and bowed slightly to the weird noble. "Greetings. My name is Lucy Heartfilia, and you must be Dan Straight, or so I've heard." She replied politely. As creepy and weird he was, she still has to be polite.

"Lucy! Just saying it makes it sounds like a melodic harmony! I must give you a nickname!" He pondered for a while, and grabbed a hand and pressed a kiss to the top of it. "How about Lulu?"

The blonde smiled tersely, already disliking this meeting. She pulled her hand away rather forcefully when his lips lingered on her hand for a second long. "Sir Dan, you can call me Lucy, I think Lulu is a bit… too much."

"Oh, but it's for you darling! I honestly believe it suits your character, don't you think?"

Jude cleared his throat, alerting everyone's attention. "I've seen you've taken a liking toward my daughter. While that's great and all, let us get back to our business-"

"Oh gladly!" Dan exclaimed. He looked over to Lucy, and pulled her to his chest, earning another surprised squeak. "But I would love a tour from Lulu here. I want to see the beauty of Magnolia with her, I'm sure she's great at giving tours, just like she is at everything!"

Lucy pushed him off and glared at him slightly. But it seems that Dan never saw it. Jude widened his eyes at the young man's proclamation. "Of course, Sir Dan, but first we must talk about-"

"Alright amazing! And please no guards. We wouldn't want the guards to see our lovely "bonding"." He gave a laugh and dragged the blonde away, who gave a look of desperate help.

Lucy groaned as the man kept chattering all day, dragging her outside of her house. She really didn't like this; he kept holding her hand, no matter how many times she pulled away, leaning into her personal space. He was so smitten with her, only talking about her, and how good they'll look in public…

It's tiring. Why do I have to babysit a grown man? Curse Father for getting the obnoxious one… Though it is rather nice to be outside for awhile. It's been a week since I've been outside.

Lucy smiled at the thought, and closed her eyes, ignoring Dan's annoying chatter, and relaxed at the feeling of the warm breeze going through her hair. The chirpy song the birds sing, the laughter of children playing around, the occasional bark of a dog…

I've missed it all.

She opened her eyes, and let out a groan when she saw Dan looking at her, his nose almost touching hers. The way he does it… invading her space. Lots of suitors do it, but there's only one that made her heart skip a beat.

Natsu.

He always comes close to her, feeling his warm breath on her face when he swoops down to see her carefully. To see the beautiful mysterious dark eyes, filled with dark, yet shiny onyx, with little specks of green. The barely visible freckles on his sun-kissed tan skin...

A blush formed at the blonde's face at the thought of it. Since when she was having such thoughts about a man she knew almost nothing about? Sure, it's been a week since she's seen him, but there's no possible way she developed feelings for him.

Or maybe it's because I've longing for a friend in this lonely life I live in. She thought sadly, and gave a sigh. She turned to Dan, who seemed to be staring at her for a while. "Yes?"

"I've been calling you out for awhile now, Lulu. Something's on your mind?" Dan asked, actual concern showing in his eyes. He thought for a while, staring at the ground. He then straightened up and pulled her over to an ice cream. "Here, buy me some ice cream! The one in Acapella is horrible, tastes like mush! So maybe you can get me one?"

Lucy groaned and went up to the ice cream man, who looked quite confused on why she was buying instead of him. "One vanilla ice cream please." She asked politely, earning a smile from the worker. He handed her the ice cream, and walked over to Dan, only to see him… gone.

Lucy placed a hand to her forehead, already stressed. She couldn't believe she lost him! Sometimes she wonders if he was an actual grown man or a child!

I swear to god if I don't find that impeccable annoying squirrel-like man, so help, I might just kill him! Lucy thought angrily, throwing his ice cream in the trash. He definitely doesn't deserve it after what he did to her. It was already midday, and she still couldn't find him.

She was so angry, she didn't even know when she walked into a dark alleyway. She looked around, and stepped on something soft, and looked down to see a cat's tail beneath her foot. The cat yelped and hissed at her, making the blonde jump. She watched as the cat scurried away, and looked to the side where the sunlight was beaming oh so brightly.

Lucy walked toward the light, only to be stopped when she felt a warm hand on her shoulder. She paused, and turned around shakily, only to see a cloaked man, smiling brightly at her. Senses alerted, she gave him a rather hard punch to the face, earning a yelp of pain from the stranger. The blonde was freaked out, clearly not liking the way she was scared to death.

"D-don't come any closer! Or I might just hurt you a-again!" She stuttered, glaring at the newcomer while visibly shaking.

"Goddammit, Luce. You really got me there, that ain't gonna go away for awhile." The stranger hissed, and pulled off his hood, revealing shocking pink hair.

"Natsu?!"

The pinkette smiled while clutching his cheek. "Yo."

The blonde gaped for a second and pouted, walking over to the man, and kicking him hard on the shin, earning a satisfying groan of pain. "You idiot! Why did you scare me like that! You gave me a heart attack!"

"Ah jeez. I didn't mean to scare ya, I thought it'll be funny to see your reaction." He paused, looking over to Lucy. "But your punches are awesome, remind me not to do that again."

Lucy puffed out a breath. "You wouldn't do it again if you know what's good for you." She turned away from him and glanced back at the sunlight. "It's… been a while now, hasn't it?"

Natsu walked up to her, and ruffled the girl's golden locks fondly, earning an embarrassed squeak from the girl. "Yeah it has. So… what are you doing here in an alleyway of all places?"

Lucy sighed deeply. "I'm currently babysitting a man who claims to be a suitor of mine. He begged me to take him on a tour of Magnolia, and then he disappeared!" She groans, leaning back against a brick wall, closing her eyes. "I wouldn't be surprised if he's looking for me, though I hope not."

The pinkette tilted his head in confusion. "So… Do you need help finding him? From the sounds of it, he could use some sort of a beating from you." Then he smirks, an evil smirk that makes the blonde turn at him. "Or I can knock him out, then you can take his skinny ass down to your home."

Lucy relaxed, and let out a small giggle, earning a grin from the man. "As tempting as that sounds, I really don't want to explain to my father why a guest of ours is currently not waking up just because you knock him out." She crossed her arms and looked up to the sky, even though she couldn't see it that well. "You know… do you sometimes wish that life was a bit easier on you?"

Natsu looked at her, surprised at the random question. "Of course I do. Most people don't get what they want in life, so they always try to get more."

"Yeah..." Lucy trailed off, looking away from the pinkette. A hand rested on her shoulder, making the blonde turn to him again. "Natsu?"

The man looked at the girl, startled the way she glanced at him. It was dark, but he could see almost every detail in those bright chocolate brown irises. They seem to glow up when she laughs, and narrow in irritation when he teases her.

He gets lost in them, almost forgetting the request he wanted to ask the blonde.

"Natsu?" She asks, the sound of his name from her mouth distracting him from his very weird thoughts. "You seemed to be acting… weird." She glanced at the other side of this dark alleyway for a while.

The pinkette glared playfully at the blonde. "Aw, see what ya did Luce, I'm affected by your weirdness!"

"And how many times do I have to tell you; the person who has pink hair is the weird one!"

Natsu gasped, and clutched his chest dramatically, making a show. "Luce, you've wounded me, how dare you call this salmon hair pink?"

Lucy smiled slyly, liking the way she got under the man's skin. "Hmm… I don't know Natsu, I'm pretty sure it's pink."

"It's not pink!"

"It looks like it!"

"Well too bad." Natsu said, sticking out his tongue playfully. "It's my hair, so I say it's salmon."

Lucy laughed loudly, earning a surprised look from Natsu. He then started laughing with her, and liked the way she looked when she was laughing.

They teased and talked some more, until five minutes later, Lucy remembered about Dan. Apparently Natsu made her forget. "Oh dear god, I forgot about Dan! My father will have my head if he's gone missing!"

Natsu raised an eyebrow. "Will he do that?"

The blonde turned to him, looking at the ground. "I don't think so, but I'll be in big trouble if a guest of ours isn't found."

Natsu chuckled. "Do you need help? I got time to spare."

Lucy smiled, and placed a dainty hand on his broad shoulder. She could feel the muscles that ripped from his skin. For a second, she just wanted to stay there with him.

I keep seeing him a lot though, we may have a chance to see each other again. She smiled at the thought. "I'll be fine, Natsu. I wouldn't be surprised if I find him back at the ice cream shack again." She walked towards the sunlight, and paused, turning back to the man who just came into her life. "And Natsu?"

"Hm?'

"Thank you for being a friend of mine."

Hello everyone! I'm alive! Sorry for the big delay, I don't know if you guys know, but I'm still a student, so plenty of exams will be coming, so I must... study. Also lots of things are going on in my life, so I couldn't find the time to write :( But I hope you will enjoy this small chapter filled with more Nalu Fluff! I added Dan, cause why not? I think he'd be a good choice of Lucy's "husband." Also, I'm thinking of giving this fic around... 40-50 chapters? Who knows, I might just make a whole series about this if you guys like it!

I'll see you all later! Thanks for those who commented and kudos-ed, you guys give the motivation to keep writing, so thank you! And keep on reading!