A short one-shot about the nalu photo Hiro Mashima posted on his Twitter on April 14th, 2017. If you haven't seen it yet, go check it out!

Summary: Sorcerer Weekly wants to do a spread over the wizards at Fairy Tail. Lucy's looking forward to the simple photo shoot, but with Fairy Tail, is anything simple? (Canon verse)

Pairing: Natsu x Lucy

Genre: Humor, Friendship, slight Romance

Word Count: 2,133

A picture's worth a thousand words

Lucy couldn't help but scoff when she came out of her bathroom, seeing the fire dragon slayer sprawled out on her bed. "Are you really wearing that?"

Snapping out of his daze, Natsu glanced at his outfit, smiling when he turned back to his partner. "Of course! Don'tcha think it looks nice?"

Shaking her head, Lucy ignored the question. Today Fairy Tail was doing a photo shoot for Sorcerer Weekly, and everyone was asked to dress up for the occasion. Lucy sported a little black dress that hugged her curves comfortably and matching black boots while Natsu... Well, he went in a different direction.

Dark green pants tucked into black rain boots, his blue shirt matching nothing while his scaly white scarf hung loosely around his neck. Add that to his pink hair and Natsu equaled a fashion disaster.

Still, she had to admit it looked exactly like what someone would expect him to wear. He was always pushing the boundaries with his outfits. She had a feeling he was competing with Gray and his wild fashion sense, but she dismissed the thought in favor of fixing her hair.

Natsu raided her kitchen while she pulled her long blonde hair into two pig tails with black bows. She left a lock of hair free on both sides of her face to frame it. Smiling, she thought she did pretty well considering she didn't ask Cancer for any help.

"How do I look?" Lucy asked when she walked into the kitchen, paling when she saw Natsu shoving a whole turkey leg into his mouth, bones and all.

"Hmfph?" he asked, green eyes flitting until they landed on the form of the celestial wizard. Choking, Natsu pounded his fist against his chest until his airway was clear. "Damn! Why are you dressed like that?"

Under his intense gaze, she blushed. "Master told us to look our best... Why? Do you think it's too much?"

Realizing she misunderstood, Natsu shook his head. "It's not that, it's just..." He didn't know how to say every guy -and probably a few girls- wouldn't be able to keep their eyes off her. He always knew his partner was beautiful, but today she looked drop dead gorgeous.

He had half a mind to kidnap her and keep her all to himself instead of going to that photo shoot, but he knew Lucy was looking forward to it. Why? He didn't know. Sorcerer Weekly always printed articles about him, but he never felt flattered or thankful.

Of course his articles covered a lot of the damage he did to cities while on missions, but that was another story.

"Are you ready to go?" Lucy asked when she never got her answer. She figured she looked fine enough for a few pictures. Besides, the attention was bound to be on Erza and Mirajane, the two prettiest girls at the guild.

"Y-yeah!" Natsu set the turkey leg down, stomach no longer craving meat. He followed Lucy without another thought, lost in the gentle sway of her hips as she left her apartment.

The walk to Fairy Tail was peaceful. Lucy hummed quietly to herself while Natsu enjoyed the calming sound. Shaking away his earlier thoughts, he decided to be on his best behavior. He didn't want to ruin today for Lucy, or worse... Get on Erza or the Master's bad side.

It was no secret Natsu was destructive, even more so when his emotions got involved. He could sort things out later. Right now he wanted a clear mind. As long as he didn't do anything stupid, Lucy was sure to smile.

And he loved when she smiled.

"Natsu! Lucy!"

The two wizards glanced up, seeing the chipper blue exceed flying towards them. "Hey Happy!" Natsu called back, waving at his friend.

"Erza said you're late! Hurry up!"

"What?!" they both screamed, terrified of the punishment if they kept the requip mage waiting.

Without thinking, the two raced off as fast as they could, all earlier thoughts dismissed as they dashed down the streets.

"Cool! Cool! COOL!" Jason, the photographer yelled as he snapped photo after photo of Cana and Lucy, both posing in various positions. The two wore similar dresses, so Jason thought it would be 'cool' to get some shots of them together.

After he finished, he turned to Levy and Gajeel, saying he wanted to get a picture of him picking her up. Levy protested, but she was silenced when the metal dragon slayer hoisted her up in the air with one hand. "Like this?"

"Cool!"

Since she was done for the moment, Lucy went to the bar to get a drink. She ordered a strawberry lemonade from Kinana, sipping the fruity drink while glancing around the guild.

Jason had moved on from Levy, instead getting a picture of all the dragon slayers together, Laxus included. Lucy giggled when Natsu fell on the ground, putting Wendy's foot on his chest before he played dead, making it look as if the youngest dragon slayer had slayed him.

"He sure is cute," Lucy whispered, a light blush coating her cheeks. She had known for a while that her attraction for Natsu ran deeper than purely physical. In her mind, she never denied he was hot. Any girl with half a brain and working eyes could see the fire dragon slayer was handsome.

But over time, she grew closer to him, and with that the flame between them grew. Of course she wouldn't admit her feelings for the guy. She didn't want to ruin the strong friendship they shared. Things were great between them, and she didn't want to risk that.

"Lucy!"

Said girl perked up, looking over to see Natsu struggling on the ground. "Help me! Wendy's trying to kill me!"

A smile spread over Lucy's face when she saw Wendy shaking her head, pointing at her foot where Natsu was holding her in place. He wasn't in trouble, he wanted attention.

"Wendy!" Lucy called in an overly-sweet voice, playing along with his little ruse, "Could you release Natsu so I can talk to him for a minute?"

At that, Natsu let go of the sky dragon slayer's leg, letting her 'release him'. "Haha!" he cackled as if he escaped, rolling until he was a few feet away from her before jumping to his feet. He left the photographer baffled while running over to Lucy.

"What'd you want to talk to me about?" he asked, smile wider than usual.

Lucy shook her head, fighting the urge to mirror his smile. "Nothing, just wanted to hang out a bit. Is that alright?" He was her best friend, so the request didn't sound weird... Right?

Natsu nodded, taking the seat beside her. "Of course!"

"Natsu! Lucy! Did I tell you that Carla gave me a fish?!"

Happy was in a great mood. Not only did Carla finally accept his fish, but she had one to give him in return. It was his favorite, making him debate between eating it or saving it forever. The choice was obvious. He had to eat it or else it would rot, but he wanted to remember the memory for years to come.

"Yes, Happy," Lucy giggled, walking along the stone wall on their way back to her apartment. The photo shoot was over, and thankfully went successfully. There was only minor damage done when Gray and Natsu got in a fight over who took the better photos, causing Elfman and Gajeel to join in when they claimed they took the best picture.

Overall, it was better than Lucy expected. She got to take a few more pictures, one of her and Levy and another one with all the girls of Fairy Tail. If she were honest with herself she would admit she wanted a photo with Natsu, but she was too scared to ask for it.

Besides, she didn't need a photo to remember what he looked like. She saw that exotic pink hair, gorgeous green eyes, and toothy grin whenever she closed her eyes.

But a picture still would have been nice.

Natsu was about to tell Happy congratulations, but he was interrupted when he heard a male's voice behind him.

"Salamander!"

Raising a brow, Natsu turned to see Jason running towards them, camera held against his chest. "Hold on!"

The trio stopped walking, confusion clearly written on their faces. "What's up?" Natsu asked, tone slightly bitter. He never liked Jason all that much, but if it weren't for the articles he wrote about him he wouldn't mind the guy.

Winded, Jason stopped in front of them. "I forgot to ask earlier! But can I get a picture of you!"

Natsu cocked his head while furrowing his brows. "You already got a few of me?" After spending a little time with Lucy at the bar, Jason had Natsu take pictures with Gray, Erza, and even some with Makarov. 'Didn't he get enough?'

As if answering his thought, Jason shook his head. "I want a few more." He glanced at the celestial wizard, smiling as he added, "With Lucy, if that's okay."

Green eyes widening just a bit, Natsu smiled. "Sure!"

Lucy didn't have time to respond before Natsu wrapped an arm around her, pulling her off the stone wall. "How do you want us?"

"Like that's great," Jason said, pulling his camera up and snapping a few pictures, Natsu's arm staying around Lucy's waist.

She blushed under the attention and the position Natsu was in, his warm scent surrounding her. Barely remembering to smile, Lucy relaxed into their pose. When Jason brought his camera down she thought it was over, but she was pleasantly surprised when he asked them to take a seat on the stone wall for more.

Sitting at an angle, Lucy crossed her legs and held a hand out, waving at the camera while her teammates got into their poses. She had no idea Natsu was throwing up bunny ears behind her, something she wouldn't find out until the pictures were published in next week's issue.

Happy clutched the fish he received from Carla to his chest, smile wide and eyes a little dazed as he sat by the two closest humans to him.

Natsu grinned from ear to ear, a small blush on his cheeks as he held his fingers up behind Lucy. He knew he'd pay for it later, but in the moment he was having too much fun to care.

"This is so cool!"

Just when Lucy was sure it was finally over, Jason surprised all of them. "Salamander, how about a kiss for the lady?"

Remembering the events that followed after Asuka asked him to kiss Lucy, he didn't hesitate. Instead of aiming for her lips, Natsu kissed her cheek, hand resting on her shoulder as he closed his eyes.

He wanted to make sure he kissed Lucy this time instead of Happy again.

He still had nightmares about that.

Lucy's eyes widened as she gasped, caught off guard by the warmth his kiss brought. However, she found herself leaning into his touch, enjoying it even if it was only for a photo.

She closed her eyes, listening to Natsu's steady breath through his nose while the sound of the camera's shutter filled in the silence. Even when the sounds stopped and she felt Natsu pull away, she didn't open her eyes.

"That was so cool!" Jason said, finally letting his camera hang from his neck. "Thank you again!"

Slowly, Lucy opened her eyes. At first she saw black boots on the ground, then looked up to see Natsu standing in front of her. She hadn't realized he moved.

"Sorry about that," he mumbled, scratching at the back of his head. "If you wanna kick me or something, I understand."

Lucy knew any other day she would have pretended to be angry, storm off and continue to hide her feelings for her best friend, but for once she wanted to hold on to the blissful feeling she had.

"It's okay," she said softly, shifting until she stood on the street with him. "Want to come over for dinner? I can cook."

Realizing he wasn't going to get punished, he smiled. "Yeah! That sounds-"

"Don't you dare say cool," Lucy warned, narrowing her eyes. She had heard that enough for one day.

Chuckling, Natsu shook his head. "I was actually gonna say awesome."

"Oh." She smiled, nodding before she turned. The footsteps behind her let her know Natsu was following her, happy he couldn't see her face that slowly grew redder by the second.

Happy snickered overhead, still holding his fish as he chirped, "You liiiiiiike her!"

For once, Natsu didn't bother denying it, causing Lucy's smile to grow.

She could always count on Natsu to make her smile.

So maybe a picture can be worth two thousand words? Hehe

Just a quick one-shot! I felt inspired after seeing that super cute photo!