A New Path
Chapter 1 – First Kiss
Before falling asleep, Lucy had been eagerly reading a romantic novel involving a noble lady and a pirate. Her brain had been so fixed in the story, that it made into her dreams.
She was dreaming about the final scene of the novel, when the main character was saved of getting married to a rude man her father chose, and taken away still in her stunning wedding dress by the pirate she truly loved. In her dream, Lucy was the main character, and the pirate holding her by the waist had a very familiar appearance to her, with certain strong arms and pink hair she just recently found out how much she loved.
The ship set sail and she felt her hair fall loose around her with the wind coming from the sea, and the man held her even closer to her, leaning his face towards hers. Lucy felt a sweet warmth from his body and closed her eyes as they lips met in an eager kiss.
She was in the center of a lot of amazing feelings, and couldn't stop smiling, she was just so happy and comfortable. The warmth from his body, the softness of his lips, the firm shoulders she was holding with her delicate hands, all these factors made for a perfect first kiss.
That was when her body started to come out of her sleep state. She began to realize the mattress under her and the covers around. It wasn't the first time she had a dream like this, so she knew she had her face buried in the pillow. But the feeling of softness still remained, so she let it go for a little longer to enjoy this sensation. She started to open her eyes slowly.
She took a while to understand what was happening. For a moment, it felt like she was back in her dream. She could still feel lips against her own, and she saw a man beside her. Then all the pieces fell onto place.
She was staring at Natsu's surprised expression as she kissed him.
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Natsu was very confused. He had been back from a job today in the first hours of the morning, and decided to go see his good friend Lucy. He and Happy went in by the window, but she was still asleep. Happy suggested waking her up, but since he was feeling pretty tired himself, he decided to take a nap until she woke up. He couldn't help sneaking into her bed, it was just so comfortable, and he had slept on the floor for the past three nights. He fell asleep quickly.
Then he woke up, or better saying, Lucy woke him up. He was used to her yelling at him, but he certainly didn't see this coming. He woke up to the feeling of her hands on his shoulders and something on his lips. He blinked, still kind of sleepy, but in a few seconds he was wide awake, completely astonished by the situation. Lucy was kissing him. He could see she was still asleep. She had her eyes closed and a very silly smile on her face, very similar to the one she has when she's drunk.
Then her eyes started to open. She blinked two or three times, and the smile vanished from her face. She broke the kiss and let go of his shoulders, and her face turned red as a tomato. Then all hell brook loose.
"NATSU! GET OUT!" she screamed, getting up and dragging him out of bed by his collar. Natsu fell on the floor, still unable to say anything, but got quickly to his feet once she got a broom and started to hit him with it. "HOW MANY TIMES… DO I HAVE TO TELL YOU…"
He made his way to the door. Lucy was super mad. He never saw her that disturbed. She got Happy, who was sleeping on her couch, by the tail and threw him in Natsu's direction. He got the exceed and held him close to his chest.
"OUT OF MY BED… OUT OF MY HOUSE!" Lucy had let go of the broom and started to throw all sorts of things in his direction. "NOW! GO! GO! GO!" He opened the door and turned, to say he was sorry, but he had to duck quickly as she threw a porcelain decoration that was certain to hit his head and ended up smashed against the wall behind him. Before he had time to stand again, she had shut the door very loudly.
He stayed there for some minutes, breathing heavily. Then Happy turned his head to him and asked:
"What did you do?"
"… What do you mean?" he asked back, avoiding his look and walking away, still holding him to the chest. "I didn't do anything. Lucy's just being Lucy"
"Natsu… Lucy likes to throw a fit, we all know that" Happy agreed "But this was very different from the usual scold we get for breaking into her apartment."
"Yeah, well, she must be in that time of the month" Natsu argued as they made it to the street. He looked up. Her window was shut and the curtains drawn.
"I don't think so. Besides, you're acting weird too. Your heart is beating like crazy" at this point, Natsu realized he was still holding the cat, and released him. Happy started to fly beside his dragon slayer friend.
"She scared me with all the yelling" Natsu said, walking faster towards the guild.
"As if you get scared with Lucy's yelling! You get annoyed at best" Happy was right and Natsu knew it "What the hell happened?"
"I already told you, I didn't do anything!" Natsu repeated. He wasn't lying. He hadn't done anything out of the ordinary. He always slept in Lucy's bed. Lucy was the one who kissed him and then threw him out.
They made the rest of the way to the guild in silence. The sun was high in the sky, and there were a lot of people in there already.
"Welcome back! Did you have a good trip?" asked Mirajane when they got to the counter. Then she noticed Natsu's expression "Oh, are you guys ok?"
"Yes, everything fine" Natsu said, but Happy interrupted him.
"Lucy yelled at us, and Natsu doesn't want to tell me what he did to her"
"Is that so, Natsu?" Mirajane smiled, already familiar with their fights.
"Happy, can you please drop this?" he asked, slamming his fists on the counter.
"Fine. Lucy will tell me when she comes anyway" the exceed said, walking away to talk to Charle and Wendy.
"Are you sure you're ok? You seem a little disturbed" Mira said with a worried look.
"I'm just hungry. Can you bring me some food, please?" he asked, avoiding her gaze. She nodded and went to the back to prepare his meal. A fight started on the other side of the guild. Normally Natsu would join it in a heartbeat, but today he was barely aware of his surroundings. He felt relieved to be alone. He had some thinking to do.
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Lucy slammed the door with all the strength she could summon and then stayed there for a few seconds, holding the door with both hands and breathing heavily. Her throat hurt from yelling so loud. Then she thought about the window, walked quickly to it and closed it, drawing the curtains too. The room became darker, and she sat at the foot of the bed, enjoying the silence. The memory from the kiss flashed back into her mind and she cover her face with her hands, mortified.
She had kissed Natsu! That had actually happened! It was all his fault for getting in her bed without telling her, but the damage was done. How was she going to face him after that? She might as well die from embarrassment. Her hands fell to her lap. It had been her first kiss, too. This wasn't how it was supposed to go. She had always dreamed of a perfect and romantic first kiss, and now it was ruined. She brushed her lips together, remembering the sensation. It felt so good. The feeling of the kiss was exactly how she expected to. But what good was this if it didn't mean anything? She was in love with Natsu for a while, yes, but he didn't feel that way about her.
The look in his face… He looked absolutely shocked. Lucy felt tears in her eyes. She hoped he wasn't disgusted by her. He didn't even say anything. Not that she gave him the chance anyway. She shook the tears away and went into her bathroom to take a bath. A million thoughts were running through her head while she sat in the bathtub. She wondered if he was telling everyone in the guild and laughing about it. Or if he tried to brush her kiss of his lips by rubbing them against his shirt or something like that. Or maybe he was thinking she was a bad kisser and he's had tons of better kisses before.
She let herself slide and dove her head into the water to stop all these thoughts and try to clean her mind. However, she found out that when she did that, the memory of the kiss kept replaying into her head over and over again. She went back up and took a deep breath.
"I'm overthinking this" she said out loud. "Knowing Natsu, it probably wasn't a big deal to him. He's had his face buried in my chest by accident a million times and never told anyone about it, or brought it up in any way… Yes, that's it. He was just surprised, that's all"
Lucy felt better after this statement. She grew calmer as she finished her bath. Then she put on her clothes and had breakfast. When she opened the door to leave, she noticed the shattered porcelain cat she had thrown at Natsu. If he hadn't duck, it could have really hurt him. She blushed in shame and regret, and worried if he had cut himself with the shards. She cleaned the mess and left for the guild.
"Is something wrong with Flamebrain today?" Gray asked Happy. They were sitting at a large table with Wendy, Charle, Juvia and Erza. Natsu was sitting at a small table in the corner all by himself, arms crossed and a serious expression on his face.
"He and Lucy had a fight" Happy answered with a mouth full of fish "Or better saying, Lucy had a fight with him. And he won't tell me why"
"I thought it was the usual, she was mad because you entered her apartment without permission" Erza said, eating her cake.
"That's what he says, but he's lying" Happy was determined about this "Something else happened, they both acted really weird"
"Well, we will soon find out about it" Charle pointed at the entrance of the guild "Lucy's just arrived"
Natsu could listen to everything everyone was saying in the guild because of his dragon slayers senses. He wasn't paying any attention to it, though. He had been lost in his own thoughts ever since morning. However, the name Lucy stood out when Charle said it, and he looked up. His blonde friend was indeed entering the guild. He could see her, but she couldn't see him, he was in a distant corner. He watched her walk to the table where Happy and the others were sitting at.
"Hey, you guys" she greeted them with a small smile. She was wearing a pink T-shirt and black shorts.
"Lucy!" Happy screamed, flying to hug her "What did Natsu do to you?"
"Eh?" Lucy seemed surprised as she hugged Happy back "Oh, you mean this morning? Don't worry, Natsu didn't do anything. I'm sorry I overreacted. Did I hurt you?"
"A little" Happy whined "Nothing that twenty fish can't make up for"
"I see" Lucy laughed, putting the exceed back on the table "Where's Natsu?"
"He's sitting in that corner" Happy pointed. Natsu knew he was going to do this, so he pretended to be looking down and not listening to them. "He's been sulking every since this morning. I know something happened, even if you two keep saying it didn't"
Lucy didn't answer, just smiled and made her way to Natsu's table. He felt his face starting to get hot and hid what he could behind his scarf.
"Hey" she said, sitting across from him.
"Hey" he acknowledged her, still looking down. He saw her put her hands on the table and heard her sigh.
"I'm really sorry about this morning, Natsu" she said, and he finally looked up to her face. She was almost as pink as her T-shirt. "Even though it's mostly your fault for getting into my bed, I overreacted, and I'm sorry for almost hurting you. Did I hurt you?"
"What?" he was even more confused in hearing her say this.
"You know, with the porcelain decoration? Did it cut you?" she insisted. He shook his head no. "Oh, thank God. I was worried."
She buried her face in her hands and looked really relieved.
"Now, Natsu. About what happened before I started yelling…" she continued, blushing more. Natsu felt his face blush as well, and they both avoid looking at each other. "I know it's probably not a big deal to you…"
Natsu blinked. What did she mean, not a big deal?
"… But it is to me. I appreciate you haven't told anyone about it. And I'm sorry for making you uncomfortable. But you seriously have to stop sleeping in my bed if we don't want this to happen again, ok? I was having a dream, do you understand? I didn't mean to… do that."
"I see" Natsu answered after some minutes of silence.
Lucy had both of her hands in front of her mouth, and it looked like she wanted to ask something.
"So… Are we ok?" she asked finally, although Natsu could see it wasn't the same thing she wanted to ask before.
"Yeah. We're good" he answered. To be honest, there was something still really bothering him. But he didn't have the heart to tell Lucy that, she seemed already super embarrassed.
"Good" she said with a relieved sigh. "Do you want to…"
"Sorry, I have some errands to run today" he interrupted her, getting up. "Will you tell Happy I had to go? Thanks, see you later"
Natsu ran, leaving Lucy and the guild behind. He needed some advice. Luckily, Gildarts was in town.
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"Gildarts!" Natsu called when he arrived at the man's house.
"Hey, Natsu" the mage greeted him from the window. "Come on in. Where's Happy?"
"He's at the guild" Natsu answered coming inside. Gildarts was sitting, drinking tea, and poured a mug for Natsu "I need some advice… But you can't make fun of me, and you can't tell anyone"
"Hmm… Seems like something's really troubling you" Gildarts smiled "Go ahead, I promise not to tell anyone"
"Not even Cana!"
"Ok, not even Cana"
"Well… Lucy kissed me. Like, on the lips" the older mage had been sipping his tea when Natsu said that, and he spat what was in his mouth from surprise. "You promised not to make fun of me!"
"Sorry, sorry" Gildarts said after coughing and laughing a little. "Go on. Did she confessed to you?"
"No… It was kind of an accident" he tried to summarize the story, which made Gildarts laugh even more, and after almost storming out a few times, concluded. "She apologized"
"Okay… Sounds like everything turned out fine. What do you want advice with exactly?" asked Gildarts.
"Well… It's just that I…" he mumbled something inaudible.
"What?" the older mage asked loudly, putting his hand around his ear. "Not everyone has dragon slayer's hearing, son"
"I…" Natsu buried his mouth and nose behind his scarf again, blushing. "The thing is… I want to do it again."
"You want to kiss her again?" Gildarts already saw this coming, from the way he talked about the kiss.
"Yes. It felt really good!" Natsu told him, looking like he was sharing some big secret. He seemed genuinely surprised that a kiss would feel this good. Gildarts sighed, trying his best not to make fun of him as he promised. "It was like… better than food, you know?"
"You don't say" the older man couldn't help being sarcastic. "Kissing a pretty twenty year-old girl in her bed, who could imagine, huh"
"I know, right?" Natsu didn't notice his sarcasm.
"So what's in your way?"
"I don't know, she said she knows it's not a big deal for me, but it is for her…" Natsu tried to remember her words, but it was hard, since he had been focusing on her lips ever since she entered the guild. "I think that this kiss didn't happen the right way. So I want the next one to be the right way, so she won't, you know, hit me with a broom and throw stuff at me"
"Yes, that would be a good outcome" Gildarts agreed "Look, the good news are: from what you're telling me, I think Lucy likes you. She can respond well to you kissing her"
"Really?" Natsu opened a big smile, the first time he smiled ever since he woke up today.
"Yes" he nodded "The bad news are: it's gonna be hard. Kissing a girl the 'right way', as you put it, takes some hard work."
"It's ok" the dragon slayer didn't hesitated one second "Makes sense. It's gonna be worth it."
"It also can change your dinamics" the mage went on "You can't go back to being friends the way you are now"
"What are you talking about? Why not?"
"Well, when you start kissing a friend, it brings some other complicated matters" Gildarts tried to explain. "If it works out, it's the best thing ever. If it doesn't, there's a high chance of losing the person forever"
Natsu stayed in silence for a moment, thinking. He couldn't shake off the memory of the kiss ever since it happened. Lucy's lips were soft, plump and refreshing. She had made a little noise that sent shivers down his spine. He had never thought about any of this, but now that he'd lived it, it became just as essential as food or air. He needed to feel all that again. And it had to be with Lucy.
"The line has been crossed already" he realized as he said it "Besides, we won't lose. We can do anything!"
"That's the spirit" Gildarts smiled. "Now, it was good you came to me."
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"… right, Lucy?"
"Hm?" Lucy looked up to Mira. "Sorry, Mira-san, I wasn't paying attention"
"My, my. You and Natsu sure are distracted today" the bartender laughed "I'm starting to think Happy is right, something happened between the two of you"
"I-It's nothing" the blonde tried to laugh too, but she was clearly upset.
"Well, if you need to talk, I'm always around" Mira said with a smile and squeezing her hand, before leaving with a tray filled with orders.
Lucy gave her a warm smile, that melted as soon as she was out of sight. She was worried about Natsu. He left her so quickly earlier that day, and barely looked her in the eyes. She feared the accidental kiss had ruined their friendship forever. She couldn't live without Natsu. Even if it hurt loving him and knowing he would never love her back, it would hurt so much more losing him as a whole. She was so absorbed in these thoughts she didn't notice the dragon slayer approaching her from behind.
"Hey, Luce!" he greeted her out loud, and she jumped, almost falling from her chair. He quickly supported her, passing his arm behind her shoulders and bringing her back to the sitting position in a delicate, but firm grip. He laughed at her "Are you going already?"
"N-Natsu! You startled me!" she answered, blushing. He grinned and released her. She smiled, noticing he was acting normal again, and the tension between them seemed to have disappeared. "Did you finish your errands?"
"Yeah! Did you see there's a new ice cream parlor near the train station?" he asked with a childlike enthusiasm "You wanna go? My treat!"
"Ice cream?" It was actually a little cold for ice cream, since they were in the beggining of Winter, but Lucy was so relieved to see him acting happy and breezy, she would have agreed to anything "Sure! Let's call Wendy and Erza too!"
"I already asked, they can't make it" Natsu argued, dragging her out of the guild in a hurry.
"Oh! What about Happy?"
"I'll talk to him later, come on, or we'll have to face a line!" Natsu seemed really anxious to have this ice cream.
"Ok" Lucy agreed, matching his pace. He grinned at her again, and she felt all remaining worries dissipate in her heart. "So, how was your job?"
Natsu told her all about the job while they made their way to the parlor. Their talk was natural and relaxed, and the walk seemed to last only a few minutes.
Once they arrived, Lucy chose a strawberry cone, and Natsu made his with the most different flavors there were. Normally the dragon slayer would forget to pay, so Lucy was prepare to do it, even though he invited her. However, this time he had already paid for both their ice creams before she could reach for her wallet.
"Where do you wanna sit?" he asked. Lucy hesitated for a moment. Natsu normally never asked her for these kind of things. He just storm off wherever he wanted and she would follow. "Luce?"
"That one! With the little stars!" she pointed to a table with little stars hanging from the parasol. It was the farther table, and she prepared herself to hear Natsu's complaints.
"Ok" he agreed, following her still in a good mood. Lucy blinked, finding this an odd behavior. Once they sat down, Natsu finished his dessert quickly, since it wouldn't remain frozen for long anyway. Lucy smiled, still licking hers. She knew he would become restless soon.
"Wow, that was good ice cream!" he grinned. "What about you, what did you do while I was out?"
"Just worked in my book" she answered, shrugging.
"Really? How's it going?"
"Good. I wrote a whole chapter" suddenly she got carried away and started talking all about her story. Halfway through she realized what she was doing and stopped, expecting to see Natsu snoring or upset. He wasn't, though. He was still wide awake, staring at her with a smile, like she was the most interesting person in the world. "Sorry, I must be boring you"
"No way!" he grinned again. Lucy smiled and looked down. Why was he being so nice? She noticed the sun was setting, and the whole sky was turning orange. She finished the last piece of her cone. If she wasn't with Natsu, she would almost think this was a date.
"Should we go home?" she asked "You must be tired, aren't you? You slept only for a few hours…"
"I guess I am a little tired" Natsu said, scratching the back of his head. They threw away their garbage and walked slowly towards her house.
The walk back was much quieter. They both seemed lost in thoughts, to a point that they didn't even notice the silence between them. Lucy was considering inviting him to stay, even after her whole speech this morning. Natsu seemed anxious. Each step closer to her house made his heart beat a little faster and stronger, to the point where he wondered how Lucy couldn't listen to it.
At last, they arrived. The sky was already dark, and the light posts were on. Lucy climbed the stairs and unlocked the door. Then she turned, determined to ask him inside.
"Natsu…" she stopped suddenly, noticing how close he was to her. Then he put his hands on her shoulders and she froze. Before she could think on how to react, he leaned his face to hers and gently kissed her lips. He had his eyes closed. She was so surprised she just stood staring at him while he kissed her. Very similar Natsu's lack of reaction on waking up to her kiss that morning.
As suddenly as it happened, it was over. He released her and she only got a glimpse of his red grinning face as he ran away, waving.
"Bye, Lucy!"
Lucy leaned on the door, her legs shaking, her face burning as she slowly brought her fingers to her lips, touching them, almost to check if they were still there.
"Wh-What was that?"
"How cute!" a well-humored voice spoke close to her. Lucy looked down and saw a smiling Cana climbing the stairs from the other side from where she and Natsu came. "I came to prepare you, but I guess Natsu couldn't wait after all"
"Huh?" Lucy was so confused she felt like crying.
"Come on, let's go inside, we need to talk" Cana laughed, supporting her blonde friend and opening the door.
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"Are you calmer now?" Cana asked, after Lucy drank a glass of water. They were both sitting on the floor in her living room.
"Yes" the blonde answered, putting the now empty glass on the coffee table "Now, can you please explain to me what is going on?"
"Well, it all started today after lunch" Cana began her explanation with a fun expression. "I went to see my father, but he was already talking to Natsu. I got there and heard Natsu telling him he had to promise not to tell anyone something"
"And then you spied on them?" Lucy asked in shock "Impossible! Natsu would have noticed you!"
"Not with my magic" Cana showed her one of her cards. There was a ninja drawing on it. "When I'm holding this card, I become undetectable. Scent, noises, it blocks it all, even from a dragon slayer"
"Impressive" Lucy said with honesty "So, what happened next?"
"Well, he told Gildarts a very amusing story about how you kissed him while you were sleeping" Cana continued with a smirk and watched Lucy's face flush like Erza's hair again.
"God, how many more times do I have to almost die from embarrassment today?" the celestial mage whined, bending to hide her face behind her knees while Cana laughed.
"Calm down, I think you'll like what comes next" her friend said, tapping her head "Natsu told my dad he wanted advice because he really enjoyed your kiss, and he wanted to kiss you again"
"Really? He said that?" Lucy asked in a shy voice, raising her head a little as her eyes watered up with tears.
"In his own words, your kiss is better than food" Cana guaranteed her. Lucy hid her face again, this time with a wide and silly smile on it. "Well, then Gildarts taught him a bunch of lousy stuff about dates and gifts to girls, you know, blah blah blah…"
"So today really was a date" the blonde whispered, still smiling.
"Yes. But he told Natsu he should wait a few days to try to kiss you" Cana finished, starting to drink from a bottle Lucy had no idea where she got from "So I thought I had some time to come prepare you for it. But, as we now know, he decided to kiss you right on the first date"
They remained in silence for a few moments.
"So? Are you happy?" Cana asked, hugging her. Lucy still had a shy smile, and nodded. "I knew it would happen some day! Mira's gonna be so happy!"
"Wait, wait, wait!" Lucy forced the smile out of her face "So he'll just keep taking me on dates and kissing me without saying anything about it?"
"It's Natsu!" the brunette said it, raising her hands "It's a big step for him. He is so dense… Can you believe he was actually surprised a kiss could feel that good? Be patient, he'll get to the other steps in time"
"Ok… But you're not gonna tell anyone, right?"
"No, I understand you guys need time to figure things out and the guild meddling will only make it worse" Cana agreed "But I call maid of honor in your wedding"
"Fine, deal" Lucy rolled her eyes and hug Cana "Thank you!"
"You're welcome, Lulu! Don't worry, if Natsu hurts you in any way, I'll Fairy Glitter his ass"
"Yeah, ok" Lucy noticed it was pretty dark outside "It's late already, do you wanna stay the night?"
"Sure! Now that I know that I can wake up to a better-than-food kiss" Cana winked at her, and Lucy threw a cushion at her.
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Author's Note: This story will have 10 chapters.