Chapter 7

Lucy hits her last mark for the dance team feature and smiles up at the crowd.

They all cheer and clap.

She spots the familiar faces of Igneel and Grandeeney. The woman waves at Lucy and taps her husband to get his attention. She then points at Lucy and the man looks her way. He smiles and waves.

Lucy waves at the married couple. They love Natsu and Wendy like they are own flesh and blood. And the two love her almost as much.

From behind, a snare drummer starts playing a canter.

Lucy is thrown off. This is not part of the show. She looks around and watches the band scatter over the field.

Levy runs up to her and grabs her hand, pulling her along. "Come on, Lu!"

"I have no idea what's going on!" Lucy is frantic. "Did Mr. Justine change the show?"

"Oh, you missed the announcement from the start of practice!" Levy exclaims. "Don't worry though. I'll guide you through it."

"The remainder of the show will be different from what we're used to, folks," Mr. Clive announces over the speaker system. "Apparently we're all in for a special surprise tonight!"

The two reach the fifty and Levy positions Lucy on the left side of the number. "You stay here and I'm going over to my mark." Without another word, she takes off.

It is only now that Lucy realizes she is alone in the middle of the field. Levy is running towards the home sideline while a certain someone is making his way towards her. Natsu's instrument, hat, and gloves are gone, but in their place is a microphone in hand.

He takes his place across from Lucy on the other side of the line.

"I should have known you were the cause of this," she laughs.

Natsu grins and holds up the mic to speak. "Seven years ago today, this beautiful girl and I started dating." Then he starts talking like the two are the only ones in the crowded stadium. "Now I didn't know much when I was eleven, but I knew for sure I wanted you. I told my folks I wanted to marry you. I even told your folks I wanted to marry you and they couldn't stop me. I challenged your dad to fight me for your hand because I was so serious."

Lucy recalls that moment fondly. It is one of her favorite memories of her father and boyfriend.

"We may be older now, but my feelings for ya haven't changed," Natsu continues. "Actually, that's a lie. They have changed. They've grown. I love you so much and don't wanna have a life that doesn't have you in it…" He grins and drops his right knee to the turf.

The blonde's heart skips a beat and her hands cover her mouth. She is dreaming. She has to be dreaming.

With his free hand, Natsu reaches into his pocket and pulls out a small box. "It's more fun when we're together and there's nobody else I'd rather have adventures with." Then he adds with a wink, "And there's nobody else I'd rather have thirty-three babies with."

That last line does it for Lucy. She remembers when she told him about a dream where they had thirty-three children together. Obviously, he remembered as well. Silent tears roll down her cheeks.

"Lucy Heartfilia, the light of my life…" Natsu opens the box to reveal a gold ring with a pink stone. "Will you marry me?"

If she was not balling earlier then she is definitely balling now. Lucy drops to her knees, throwing her arms around his neck. "Y-yes," she sobs. "Yes!"

Both crowds and teams erupt with cheers and shouts. Even those who do not know the couple are crying because of the sweet moment.

"I'm all fired up now!" Natsu stands, lifting Lucy off of her feet and spinning her around a couple of times. Then he sets her down and slips the ring in its rightful place on her hand. He does not use the microphone to talk this time. "Before your dad passed, I did have one last talk with him about marrying you. We looked at rings together and the one you have on now is the only one we could agree on. It's very special, just like you."

Lucy smiles up at him. "You're special too."

With that, Natsu sinks his lips into hers. He keeps it modest, knowing she becomes embarrassed at their affections when others can see.

"I love you," Lucy says.

He presses his forehead to hers. "I love you more."

x-X-x

It is close, but Fairy Tail wins in the end. They score a touchdown seconds before the last quarter ends and beat their rivals before overtime can happen. After the game, Lucy and others go out to celebrate the victory and the fact she and Natsu are officially engaged.

Around one in the morning, the newly engaged couple is sitting out in his backyard. It is a perfect night. The stars are twinkling up above in the dark sky and it is not humid out.

"So you planned everything?" Lucy asks. "Like from the start of the day?"

"Pretty much," he grins, proud of himself for his accomplishments. "I did your school locker sign beforehand. Took me a bit to put together and choose which photos I wanted. Gray was easy to ask for help so the whole moment was photographed. He also agreed to photograph the proposal too."

Natsu thinks for a moment before speaking some more. "The trickiest thing I had woulda been making sure you weren't there for the rehearsal after school. I okayed it all with Justine, but there had to a way to let everybody else in the marching band know what was gonna happen. Sooo I had Gildarts stall you while the band was included in on my idea." His lips form a smile. "The note in your band locker was just a little thing I wrote up quickly. Seemed like a good touch."

"As for Lug Nuts, Erza, and Cana. Well, they knew I was planning this and showed up to be at the game for when it all went down. I asked Erza to do your hair and makeup because I figured you'd wanna look great. Well, better than usual. Ice Princess was giving me a pep talk when you found us in the hall after Erza fixed you up. You totally took my breath away then…"

Natsu huffs, but keeps going. "And after pregame. Wow. I was really feeling nervous when we finished that. There were only two quarters until I was going to propose. I was slightly worried you were gonna say no." He smiles softly. "But I felt better when we started talking. I was really fired up when I was going back to my section."

"How long?" Lucy asks. "How long did you plan all of that?"

"Since our last anniversary. Well, that's when I knew I wanted to propose to you soon. The details were filled along the way."

She is surprised. "A year?"

"Before your dad passed away, we had a "bonding time" day. That's when we went ring shopping. Since then, he was helping me think of how to propose. Marching band has always important to us so I started thinking about doing it during a game. Our seven year anniversary just so happened to fall on a football Friday night and seven seemed like a good number."

Lucy is speechless. So she just looks at the smiling Natsu sitting next to her.

"What?" he questions. "Something on my face?"

She cannot stop the smiling forming. "I love you. Like a lot."

Natsu chuckles and grabs her left hand, bringing the ring to his lips. "I love you more, Luce."


A/N Part 1: Taaaadaaaaaaa! I'm really happy with this fic and appreciate all of the positive attention LN7 received :D

A/N Part 2: Edited as of 3/27/2016


Rainbowpoptartcat: No more waiting now that you've read the chapter :D Were you thinking of this surprise? :)