Sblackw pointed out that Lucy wore a bikini to Natsu's bday party in Ch 29. Totally forgot about that. That's what happens when I have so many works done. Sometimes they start blurring together… (I totally went back to Ch 39 to fix it, saying the bottoms from Ch 29 covered her scar then!)


Chapter 41

The duo is now back inside of their hotel room, damp towels from swimming around them.

"You can use the shower first," Lucy offers, closing the door behind them.

"Orrr we can use"-Natsu gestures dramatically to the whirlpool tub-"this!" He is more than eager to use it. Especially with his girlfriend. Although, he will have to control his childish urges to splash her…

She folds her arms under her chest, jutting a hip out for extra sass emphasis. "And how do you propose we go about using it together?" He has yet to see her naked and she plans on keeping it that way for now.

"Well, one of us gets in and then the other," he jokes just to tease her.

She puffs her cheeks out. She is more than sure that he knows what he is referring to.

"Oh, relax, Luce. We both can keep our swim suits on. No worries, see?" By keeping on what they are wearing now the whirlpool, he is keeping what she wants in mind. An idea comes to mind, and he knows just how to toy with her. "Well, unless you want us wearing our birthday suits…"

Pink tints her cheeks. "A-as if!"

He cackles. "I'm kidding. You know that."

Now that she thinks about it, she cannot believe that she did not think of his idea before. "Wow," she muses to herself out loud.

Natsu's mood deflates a little. "Well, if you really don't wanna use the tub at all–"

Lucy shakes her head. "No, not that. I'm surprise I didn't think of keeping our suits on myself."

Grinning, he taps the side of his head with a single finger. "Leave the creative ideas to me."

She playfully rolls her eyes. "Surrre."

"Everything else can be up to you."

She laughs. "Sounds like a plan."

So Natsu steps over to the tub and plays around with the knobs. A hot soak will do them good.

"I'll get fresh towels and soap." Then Lucy walks into the bathroom to get what they will need. Going back into the main room, she sets the items down on the tile encasing the tub.

With hands on hips, Natsu steps back to watch the tub slowly but surely fill up with water. "Huh. I guess this shoulda been started sooner. It's gonna take some time for it to fill up."

"I'm sure that we can find something to do to kill time," Lucy assures him.

He waggles his eyebrows at her. "Got any fun ideas?"

She playfully shoves him. "I could leave you here and go to Kings Isle next door…" Lucy threatens as a joke.

"Hey, that's the plan for tomorrow!" Then Natsu's eyes grow wide. He just spoiled the plan for tomorrow. Whoops. Oh well. He cannot change the past. He just has to shake it off.

She blinks in surprise. "Really?"

"Stick with me, kid. I'll take you places."

Lucy smiles. He is sweet. Beyond sweet. She is more than lucky to have him. "I love you."

He returns the smile and kisses her nose. "Je t'aime."

"You could just stick with English. You know, the language I know."

"True, but you know what that means."

"I only know a little bit, but not enough to get me by. Your family has been helping me, too."

Then Natsu smirks. "Je t'aime avec le pouvoir d'un millions de soleils qui explosent dans un supernova de chatons et d'arc-en-ciels."

She is able to pick pieces from what he just said. "Uh, you love. Suns. Supernova. Cats."

He cracks up. "Close enough."

"Wait, did you say that line to me in French? The one about the supernova of kittens and rainbows?"

"So what if I did?"

"You're a weirdo," she snorts.

"Hey!" he protests.

She cannot stop her laughter now. "You're such a dork! The biggest dork that I know!" Then she gasps at a nickname for him. "You're Dorkneel!"

He holds a hand over his heart, feigning pain. "Ouch, that's low. Like, really low, Luce."

"Natsu Dorkneel!" She thinks it is way funnier than it really is. In fact, her stomach hurts and she has little tears forming in her eyes.

"Ugh, you're not gonna stop are you?" he groans dramatically, secretly finding it amusing that she finds it to be so hilarious.

Lucy attempts to stifle her laughter. "S-sorry," she wheezes. "It's just really funny for some reason."

"Hmm, now I'll hafta think of a nickname for you," he muses.

"Pfft, have fun making something outta Lucy Heartfilia. Although, you do call me Luce."

He waves a hand through the air to wave the thought away. "Luce is affectionate. Totally not the same as Dorkneel."

"Hey, I can make Dorkneel affectionate."

"I'd like to see you try," he sasses.

Oh, it is on now. "Challenge accepted."

x-X-x

By now, the tub is full of water and the jets are going. Music is playing from Lucy's phone while she and Natsu are relaxing in the tub sitting side by side. She looks over at her boyfriend to say something, but stops when she sees him.

With his head tipped back a little, his eyes closed. His face looks so peaceful.

As Lucy makes her eyes past his face, a thought occurs to her. She starts giggling that turns into laughing.

Natsu opens his eyes to look at her. "What's so funny, Luce?"

"It looks like you are naked," she points out. "Just because you're wearing trunks."

"Yeah, I guess you don't look naked because of your top. Might as well take it off so we're even."

"H-hey!"

Now it is his turn to snicker. "Yeah, yeah. I know you won't." Then an idea to mess with Lucy pops into his mind, and he purposely sinks lower into the water. His arms flail around as though he is attempting to stay above the surface.

Lucy holds her arms up to protect her face from splashing. "Hey!"

"Help, I'm drowning! I need the kiss of life!"

"You get that before, not after," she points out.

His splashing comes to a still. "Oh, right." Then he takes a deep breath and slips underneath the bubbles.

She merely waits for him to come back up. And waits some more. Lucy starts wondering just how long he can hold his breath. "Natsu?"

He shows no sign that he heard her. Then again, he probably cannot.

Having had enough worry build up inside of her, Lucy reaches over to shake Natsu's shoulder. "Hey, Natsu!"

With hair wetted down, only his head breaks the surface. "You're a terrible life guard."

"You could have just asked me for a kiss," she chides, realizing that she got worked up for nothing.

"Pfft, where's the fun in that?" Natsu asks, scooting closer to his girlfriend.

She harrumphs. "I don't know if you deserve my kiss or not now…"

His eyes grow wide. "Luce!"

"I think you'll have to work for it…"

Oh, it is definitely on now. "Challenge accepted."

x-X-x

Still wearing their swim wear, the duo is drying off with the towels Lucy had gotten for them earlier.

"You can change in the bathroom while I change out here," Natsu says.

She nods as she towel dries her long hair. "All right." It makes sense since he changed in the bathroom before. Now it is her turn.

"Change into comfy clothes because we'll get dressed up for dinner later," he instructs. "We're gonna hafta wait for our hair to dry until then."

She smiles. "Do you have a certain place in mind?"

He merely shrugs. "I'm sure something will come to mind."

Lucy is not sure if he actually does have a spot in mind already or he if he is just planning to go with the flow of things. Then again, she still is not sure about the way he works with things, but it works for him.

After getting her needed clothes from her suitcase, Lucy goes into the bathroom to change. She hangs her bikini over the towel rack so it can dry. Then she puts on a pink cami and a pair of black running shorts. The look will do for now.

When Lucy leaves the bathroom, she discovers that Natsu is taking up one side of the bed, his back against the headboard. The other side, the one for her, has her laptop on it. The device is already plugged in and turned on, just waiting for her.

"My laptop!" She looks at Natsu, a smile on her face. "You brought it?"

"I did say that I get to monitor your use of it. So I figured now is a great time for it–"

He is interrupted when Lucy practically launches herself at him. Straddling his hips, she takes a hold of his face with both of her hands so she can kiss him. She makes it worth his while.

Natsu is left in an utter daze when Lucy moves off of him to sit down in front of her laptop. "L-Luce?" he stammers, finally finding his voice that seems at a higher pitch than normal.

She spares a glance his way. "Yes?"

His face is red and he is refusing to make eye contact with her. "You're a good kisser…"

She giggles. "You're not so bad yourself, Dorkneel."


A/N Part 1: More fluff and good feels for y'all! Mostly a filler chapter, but I wanted certain things to happen. NaLu teasing and Natsu being a good boyfriend with the laptop bit :P

A/N Part 2: Thank you again to MarSofTheGalaxies for the French translations :D You're wonderful!


Kura-chan13: Total fail indeed :P

Flamexofxchaos: Ayy, you're fine! Yay, I liked that dragon and princess bit, too :D It's a troupe I like using for NaLu :)

Anon: Yeah, I did want Nathan to be like Natsu. At least hair and name wise :P I still can't believe this work was supposed to be a one-shot XD It's come a long way from there! Sassy!Lucy is a fave of mine along with Protective!Natsu :D

Wynterlace: I mean, I love horses, but I definitely don't feel any lust towards them…

Guest: Yesss, Protective!Natsu is a fave of mine. And Sassy!Lucy haha :P But yes, I love NaLu bantering! More next week for sure. And brah, idk about I&I anymore. I wrote that one Gruvia work and I'm totally feeling my normal of fluff and humor XD

TigerArrowgirl: I'll admit that I have thought about including the others, but I do want NaLu to have their time together after what happened in the last arc!

Guest: Well, hello there, new fan! Dang, way to catch up on CAF! I try updating my works on Sundays or Mondays (mostly Mondays) since those are my off days from work.

PopGoesTheMe: Tbh, I'm not entirely sure what happened with that fanfic contest. All of it just disappeared from FFnet, and I'm not sure why *shrugs*

Fairy Tail Lover: Wooooo, yay NaLu XD And thanks!