FOR Natsulover89. Thank you for the idea! Since I must rewrite Natsu POV to the new setting of the other story, I wanted to gift you and the fanfiction community with this. I will be updating Natsu POV before the other one too so you can see the new setting for the feelings of the characters. Thank you for your patience.
Happy Holidays.
I watched as Natsu turned to the door to the guild for the hundredth time before working my nerve to approach him. He has been agitated for the past few days waiting for Lucy to come back from her mission that he hasn't been listening to a single word I have said.
On girls' night, Lucy told me she wanted me to be his partner, so I tried to offer for the past few days, but he hasn't heard me, so I sigh as I turn to Erza and tell her, "We have to get him on a job. You remember what Lucy said."
She sighed heavily as she gazed at Natsu who look ready to pounce on the door before walking to the job board, walking to Mira to get it approved and talking to Grey for a moment. I was confused on what she was doing before she slammed the job request right in front of Natsu.
"We are going on this job. You are coming." She demanded as he stood up and shook his head in a rapid motion that screamed denial.
"I need to talk to Lucy. I ain't going anywhere until she's back!" He shouted in her face.
"Maybe she was tired of having an idiot as a partner!" Gray taunted as usual, expecting Natsu to get riled up, but he just deflated.
"I'll get my bag." He mumbled before leaving.
"Wait for me, Natsu!" Happy shouted as the little blue exceed flew after the dragon slayer.
"That was uncalled for Gray. I think you hurt his feelings." Mira scolded as I felt a protective resentment toward Lucy on behalf of Natsu. Once he is my partner, I will never let him go. I don't see how anyone could.
"I have to pack." I said before rising to leave, unaware Mira was following me.
"Lisanna, I think you need to expect that Natsu might not want you." Mira said so soft I almost didn't hear her. Almost. I paused in the middle of packing my bag to spin and glare at my sister.
"How could you say that to me, Mira?" I whimper at her. "We raised Happy together. He and I were going to get married when we grew up. I know I have been gone, but I am back now. Once we start to hang out again, it will be like nothing changed. You'll see."
Mira sighed before wrapping her hands around my neck. "You weren't just gone sweetie…" she stared before leaning back to look me in the eyes, tears streaming down her face. "…You died. There wasn't supposed to be a point where you could come back. You were gone forever. What ever feelings he did have, I'm sure are gone. I am fairly sure he is in love with Lucy."
"Well, obviously she doesn't feel the same way, so I am not going to stop trying to win his heart." I stubbornly reply to her. "I have a job to go on. Thanks for the talk."
The job was particularly easy for money we got paid but that was ok. I have never seen Natsu in focused action before. Fighting guild members is one thing but to see Natsu in a focused battle-ready state was something incredible.
"Here we are, Lis." He mumbled as he turned to walk toward his house with a dead asleep Happy in his arms. I glanced at the door before turning back to Natsu.
"You can stay the night. You don't have to go home." I said, then blushed at my words but I've heard of how Natsu sleeps at Lucy's house and even in her bed so I figured I would extend the offer.
He gazed at me sadly before shaking his head no. "I am not going home yet. I am going to see if Lucy is back. I need to speak with her."
"Natsu…" I began, trying to be gentle and not hurt his feelings like Gray did earlier and the feeling of resentment toward Lucy swelled in my heart again. "she said you wouldn't mind if I was your partner. We never got to be partners before, you know."
Natsu gazed at me a moment before sighing and throwing his head down in huff before locking eyes with me. I don't think I have ever seen him so intensely focused one a singular person he didn't want to fight before. At least, I hope he didn't want to fight me.
"Did you tell Lucy about you wanting to marry me when we were younger?" He asked quietly.
"I told her the truth. I love you, Natsu. I have always loved you and I never stopped loving you. I didn't ask her to stop being partners with you." I explained hoping the widening of his eyes at my confession was a positive thing.
He smiled a small smile at me before sighing again. "You didn't have to."
"What does that mean?" I ask, wondering what was on his mind right now. I've always been able to read Natsu but now, this Natsu isn't the boy I grew up with. This man before me was almost unrecognizable to me now and my heart clenched at the differences, I forced myself not to focus on. Sure, his hair was still pink, and he is silly with the heart of a fighter but…
"Lucy is the type of person that will put others before herself. She doesn't fight for people's attention and if she felt that you and I wanted to be together, she would…" He paused for a moment to adjust Happy in his arms. "… She saw herself as an obstacle and removed herself because the happiness of her friends is the most important thing to her. Look Lis, I missed you like crazy, and I hope what I have to say next won't hurt you too much. You are important to me, and I am so glad you are back, and I am glad Lucy sees you as someone to value and love."
I tilted my head as my heart clenched with the realization that Mira was right and the resentment for Lucy skyrocketed to a painful degree. She must know how he feels about her, but she just threw him away. "I want you to be honest, Natsu. We have always been honest with each other. You have never cared about saying something before."
"I know but I love you Lisanna and I don't want you to hate me." He said then added, "…Or Lucy."
I looked at him, unable to help the hope that blossomed in my heart. "What did you want to say that you think I would be hurt by. You just said you love me."
He looked at his feet, took a deep breath and with that unreadable, intense look he said softly and apologetically, "I love Lucy more."
He sighed deeply and cursed under his breath before raising his head again, "Since I feel like I have to choose between the two of you, I choose her."
My heart shattered at his words, and I shouted without thinking, "she told me to be your partner! If she felt the same way about you, she would have said something." I then felt guilty. I really liked Lucy and to say that about her made me hate myself and I looked at Natsu who was still sporting that unreadable look, but my shouting woke Happy.
"Is everything ok?" Our little blue friend asked and flashes of the long nights where the three of us were inseparable began filling my head, causing my vision to blur with tears.
"Happy, can I meet you at home? I need to finish this conversation with Lis, and I really don't want an audience." Natsu asked his as Happy looked back and forth between us for a moment before saying he'll see him at home and flying away.
"You are wrong, you know. Lucy knew that I loved you. I told her all about you…when we would playhouse, How you were my first kiss, how I felt when you died, how happy I was that have you back... Lucy knows all of it. So, when you told her you still loved me, she thought I felt the same way. While it is true that I do still love you, what I feel for Lucy is far stronger than anything I have ever felt before." He paused before looking to the sky and his lips curled into a smile that I can only describe as lovesick.
"Lucy grew up in a neglectful household. She was forced to learn the cruel lesson that she isn't enough to keep someone happy, so she chooses to focus her efforts to make the people she loves happy no matter the cost to herself. When I learned that about her, I told myself I would be selfish for the both of us. I would have her back and I would remind her that she is more than enough and anyone who she would grace her presence with, should be honored she is giving them her attention." Natsu said still looking at the sky, tilting his head to look at something. I glanced up and only saw the night sky and the stars.
"She is a celestial wizard, and the stars are apart of her magic. She has this ability where she can tell stories through the sky. Her and I would spend hours in her house or after jobs when we were camping telling me all kind of stories and using her magic to manipulate them to match the stories." Natsu explained as I looked at him, only to see his attention is on me again.
"I'm not sure that she loves me the way I love her, but the title of Lucy's best Friend is more than enough for me and I can't maintain that title if I give her spot as my partner to you. I am sorry Lis." He said slowly, Shifting his attention to the ground.
I steel my resolve and request, "One last kiss. If you still want her, I will be one hundred supportive. This will be like closing a door and I won't bother you about your feelings about her again. I will help you win her heart. All I ask is for you to kiss me one last time."
He blinks at me before taking a step back, "I can win her heart by myself, but I do want your support. I just can't kiss you."
"Why not?" I whisper hoping my voice didn't sound as pathetic to him as it did to me.
"The stars are watching. If they tell Lucy, she'll never trust me with her heart." He explains as he turns to walk away. "I am sorry, Lis."
"Don't be." I say before I could talk myself out of what I wanted to say next. "I can wait. If she chooses someone else, I will be here for you."
He turns, slightly panicked, "No way! You deserve to have someone who loves you as powerfully as I love Lucy. I am part dragon and that means I mate for life. Lucy is it for me. If I can't have her, I can't love anyone as fiercely as I do her. You don't deserve to be with someone who can't give you that. Move on, Lis. Don't just find love, find someone who will move heaven and earth just to ensure you smile every day."
"That's oddly specific." I say more to myself then anything.
He smiles a wide toothy grin and now I see that Natsu is Natsu, he's just all grown up. "It is what I've done for Lucy every day since the day I've met her. Goodnight, Lis." He walks away and when I can't see him anymore, I drop to my knees and sob.
The door slowly swings open, and a soft blanket is draped over my shoulders and a mug was shoved in my hands. I am pulled into the comforting arms of my sister. "I take it you heard all of that."
"It was kind of hard not to. I knew he loved her, but I didn't realize it was that bad." She whispered into my hair. "I think you should talk to Lucy. If you don't, you won't get the closure you need."
"I need her to love him just as much as he does her. I need to know that Mira. Once, I know that I will be fine. We need to push her to him. I don't think I could live with myself if I didn't try everything in my power to help the man I love be loved. Since he doesn't want my love, I will help him get hers. I owe him that." I said as I stood up, ready for bed.