Chapter 25 Date With Lucy
"Um… how about we… go for a bite?" Lucy suggested the first thing that came to her mind.
"Yeah! I'm always up for a meal!" Natsu said obviously oblivious to her last minute plan. "We can celebrate you and Wendy becoming S-class candidates! Come on sis!"
"Natsu, you can't take me on your date!" Wendy said from a few feet away. "This is for you and Lucy!"
"Oh," Natsu looked down. "Well… I want you to know, I'm really proud of you! You're not the helpless little girl I always had to protect anymore."
Wendy smiled and walked up to her brother, hugging him. "I know you'll always be there when I do need protecting though. I love you, big brother."
Natsu returned the hug, holding his sister in his arms. "Love you too sis." He kissed her forehead, causing her to blush with a smile.
"Maybe you two should date!" Happy said.
"Happy!" Carla scolded. "Dating your sibling is just plain wrong! Honestly you can be so stupid sometimes."
Natsu and Wendy broke apart.
"I wish I could celebrate with you little sis, you just do whatever you want!" Natsu said.
"Well, I think I can help with that," Makarov said. "This is probably the time for a party!"
"We just had one a few days ago when Lisanna got back!" Laxus said. "But this is an occasion to celebrate! And we'll probably have another party when we get a new S-class wizard. Get ready everyone. Man at this rate our cellar will be out of supplies."
Natsu and Lucy hated to miss the party, but they could hardly call this a date if they were in the middle of it. Lucy lead him outside while Wendy, Gray, and all the others partied. Wendy drank a glass of punch and had herself a pineapple pizza. The only one that wasn't celebrating and smiling in the guild was Cana who merely sat at the bar looking at her drink.
Noticing this, Gray came up and spoke to his guildmate.
"Hey Cana, what's wrong? You don't seem too happy about being selected to be S-class."
"No really?" she asked sarcastically.
"What's with you? This is supposed to be a good thing," Gray said.
"I'm tired of failing it all the time!" Cana shouted.
Her outburst got the attention of many of the guild members. They looked at her.
Cana looked down, tears started to pour out of her eyes. "I made a promise to myself. That when I became S-class I would… I would do something big that I've wanted to for years. Ever since I joined Fairy Tail as a little girl!"
"What would that be?" Gildarts asked as he walked over to her and sat beside her.
Cana froze as she looked at him.
"I… I…" Cana couldn't speak, least of all to him. Gildarts Clive, the most powerful wizard in Fairy Tail, possibly even more so than Laxus or Makarov. This man was the reason she'd joined the guild… her father. She'd promised that she would tell him he was her father when she became an S-class.
"Can't say huh? Must be personal. Well… whatever it is… this could still be your time to become an S-class mage."
He put her hands on his shoulders. Cana blushed like Wendy had when Natsu kissed her forehead.
"You're a strong girl, definitely one of our top I've say," Gildarts said. "Whatever it is you want to do after becoming S-class… I'm sure you could succeed with it even if you don't succeed in becoming an S-class."
Cana looked at him with an open mouth.
"But you should pick a partner as well," Gildarts said. "You're the only one left that doesn't have one."
Cana nodded. "But who am I gonna pick? Whose got the skills to go up against S-class wizards like Erza? I had thought of partnering with Lucy, but she got picked to be one of my rivals."
"Well, I know one person that has sword skills that are just as I high as mine," the red haired knight said as she walked closer. "Or perhaps I should say one exceed?"
Pantherlily flew up onto the table by Cana's side. He and Erza had sparred a bit and they were more or less equally matched. Remembering that, Cana could think of no reason to refuse.
"Um… would you mind being my partner Lily?" she asked.
"Not at all, though you might have to make sure its okay with Gajeel," the black exceed said.
"Sure thing! It'll be fun to know my cat is there to beat the crap out of more of these other guys," Gajeel said.
Cana smiled. She now had her partner! She looked at Gildarts, remembering what he'd said about how she could fullfill her promise even if she failed.
…
Natsu and Lucy walked through the streets of Magnolia. It was awkward, neither of them had ever been on a date before. Lucy was visited by the urge to take Natsu's hand but her nervousness held her back.
Come on Lucy! She thought to herself. You've done this at least a dozen times by now. But it was different now, now she would be taking it not as a friend but as a girl with a crush. Her fingers were spread wide, her hand mere inches from Natsu's. But she couldn't bring herself to reach out just a little further.
What was she even going to say? They'd been silent ever since they left the guild. If Lucy couldn't get Natsu, Lisanna might take him. She looked at the dragon slayer, who was looking straight ahead on the road. She never actually noticed how handsome he was sometimes. That spiky pink hair, the scaley scarf he'd gotten from Igneel, the open vest that showed off his well formed muscles and abs. His expression was serious right now, but in her minds eyes she could see the cheerful toothy grin he often gave off. The thought of that grin made her heart melt.
They arrived at a café and sat down. Natsu sat in front of Lucy who finally tried to break the silence.
"Umm… so what happened with that job you went on. I heard you couldn't bring Happy cause that guy had a sword that could control animals," Lucy asked.
"Yeah, he had a bunch of wolves and a tiger with him," Natsu said.
Lucy shivered. "That sounds scary."
"But at least Lisanna flew me there on the first time," Natsu said.
Lucy frowned. Mentioning the other girl wasn't a good thing to do on a date but given that she'd brought up the last job that was probably not avoidable.
"Oh did she? She can fly?"
"Yeah she can turn into a bird you know."
Lucy thought of a bird Lisanna flying Natsu on her back. Not fair, she could help Natsu find an alternate way to avoid his motion sickness. Nothing she could do about that! The waitress came and took their order. The food soon arrived as they talked more.
"So what made you suddenly decide you liked me?" Natsu asked.
"Well, you going on a mission with Lisanna," Lucy said. Damn she has to keep coming up. "Made me realize that I liked you as a bit more than a friend, guess I got a bit jealous."
Natsu ate his more food greedily while Lucy was full after one plate. She just sighed. How he remained thin was beyond her. They left the café, the sun was setting and Lucy was wondering if this was going well. Natsu had clearly enjoyed the food at least, but Lucy wished she'd been able to think of something else to do after this.
"You okay?" Natsu asked.
"Uh… yeah… I just don't know what to do now. This is my first date and we didn't have much time to think of what to do," she said.
Suddenly, Natsu took her hand. This made Lucy turn red in the cheeks. "Hey its mine too! But I think I got an idea."
He lead her into the forest. It took a while but finally they reached a gravestone and an old small hut.
"Whose grave is this?" Lucy asked. "And who lives in that house."
"It's Lisanna's grave," Natsu told her. "And the hut is where we raised Happy in."
A bit of jealousy rose in Lucy. He had to mention the other girl on their date. But then he was rather stupid.
"Why'd you bring me to see this?" If there wasn't a good reason, she'd have to give him a Lucy kick.
"I didn't. This is just a good place to view the sunset," Natsu said.
Lucy looked and saw he was right. The sunset was clear here with no buildings to get in the way. She smiled, her hand tightening around Natsu's. They sat down on the ground outside the hut.
"It's beautiful," she said.
Natsu looked at her. As he did so, he couldn't' help but notice as though for the first time how beautiful she was with her blonde hair and curvaceous figure.
"So are you," he said.
Lucy blushed and giggled. "Thank you."
She looked from the sunset to Natsu. Was now a good time to do that? She didn't know but… she had a love rival, so no time to think! Lucy leaned toward him slowly, Natsu's eyes widened as her got close to his. Even he knew what that hinted at.
"If you don't want to…" she began to pull back.
"No, I'll give it a try!" Natsu said as he pulled her in.
A little too fast! Bam!
"Ow!" Lucy clutched her head after it collided with Natsu's.
"Ah, sorry!" he said.
That pretty much killed the romantic mood.