Hey guys! I'm surprised I didn't get as many remarks about the last chapter as I thought I would. Oh well! I still hope you enjoyed it and that you enjoy this chapter!

Things are gonna get intense! Hang in there, you guys are in for a treat!

Please review and comment! Let me know what you think!


Day 4

She wrinkled her nose as she took in the smell of pancakes floating through the room. Still half-asleep, she rolled over towards the smell and took a whiff… eggs and pancakes. She sighed in pleasure at the smell... it was warm and familiar. Her mother used to make her that breakfast every Saturday morning; she would switch up the types of pancakes, but they were always delicious.

The smell worked its way to her stomach and it yearned to have the delectable food she smelt. She opened her eyes and was confused for a moment. In her mind she pictured herself lying in her bed at the Heartfilia Manor but she was in a completely different room. She sat up, still staring at the box wall in front of her in confusion and let her surroundings sink in. It took a couple moments for her to fully wake up and she remembered where she was… and who she was with.

Lucy peered through the boxes to try to catch a glimpse of who was in the kitchen but due to the angle of the wall, she couldn't see anything. She knew she would have to get up and face him eventually so she took another couple moments to settle herself before she officially got up. Okay, Lucy, you're just overwhelmed with everything that's happening. You don't really love Natsu you're just playing into the part… yeah! That's got to be it. No feelings more than friendship. She smiled and felt better after re-centering herself.

She pulled the covers off of her and slipped out of bed. She noticed the cold hit her legs and feet as soon as she touched the floor. Lucy wore an oversized sweatshirt with short shorts underneath, but it looked like she wasn't wearing anything on her lower half. Lucy stepped forward and peered around the makeshift wall… what she saw stopped her dead in her tracks. A shirtless Natsu was standing at the stove cooking breakfast.

The act alone took her by surprise; Natsu wasn't one to cook because he was notorious for burning it. The smell filling the small apartment was so pleasant it couldn't possibly be from Natsu's cooking. Second, she had seen Natsu shirtless so many times before and it never caused her to react like this but for some reason… she couldn't help but let her eyes roam over every inch of his toned arms, chest and back. She got down to his abs when an alarm sounded in her mind. What are you doing, Lucy?! Friends don't oogle at each other!

Stunned, she tried to step backwards into the bedroom area but in the process, her shoulder bumped the box wall and caused part of it to come crashing down. Her eyes went wide as she looked down and the pile of fallen boxes and then raised her eyes to meet the shirtless pinkette now staring at her. "Good Morning!" he called with the biggest brightest smile she had ever seen. She couldn't help but to shudder at the sight of it. "Do you want some breakfast?" he asked as he lifted the pan to show her a pancake he was currently cooking.

"You are cooking?" she said incredulously. He nodded as he turned his head back to the items on the stove. "I had to at least learn how to cook some basic things since I am living on my own. I can't afford to eat out all the time so I picked up a few tricks, pancakes and eggs being one of them." He finished the pancake, turned around to face the small card table and put the pancake on the plate sitting there. Lucy looked down at the table and saw it was set for two and the food was already proportioned for them both (obviously Natsu's plate the one with the bigger portion). "Go ahead and sit."

She eyed him and the food wearily as she slowly walked over to the table and sat down in front of her plate. The food did look really good and her stomach sure was delighted to eat it, but she was just worried about the cook's history. She watched as Natsu sat down and began stuffing his face with food. Her stomach seemed to use that as encouragement for her to eat the food but then again, Natsu would eat pretty much anything (as long as it's not cold). Lucy decided to take a chance and take a bite. Her eyes went wide and Natsu seemed to notice. He swallowed his mouthful of food before speaking, "So…?"

She too swallowed before answering, "Natsu… this is really good." The boy smiled wildly again in pride.

"I told you I got better." The two continued to eat in silence, just the sound of their forks hitting the porcelain plates could be heard in the room. She kept glancing from her plate up at Natsu all the while she tried to be sneaky about it (but Natsu noticed).

"You okay, Luce?" He paused to speak. Lucy sighed and set her fork down on her plate. "I'm sorry for how I acted yesterday. I'm overwhelmed with this trip and my dad and with dealing with people that I took it all out on you (liar)… sorry."

"I get it, Luce, it's a lot to handle." Lucy felt some relieved, she was glad he wasn't mad at her but rather understanding to her cause. She was shocked when his mood suddenly changed to a serious tone. "Listen, Luce…" She gulped, what was he gonna say?!

"I didn't come on this trip with any kind of intention to reconnect with Lisanna." Why did he bring her up?! "She seems to think because I'm here, we can just pick up where we left off but I'm tired of living in the past." She wasn't sure if she should feel hopeful at this point or hopeless. "I want to stop skating by in life and make things that will last… to commit to something." He looked up from the table and met her eyes with his confident stare. "Committing to this relationship helped me see that, as odd as that sounds."

"I'm happy to help," she nervously chuckled. Natsu reached out and rested his hand on top of hers. Her body went stiff and she stared down at their hands. Her gaze snapped back to his eyes when he said her name, "Luce, I just want you to know I have no intention of getting back together with Lisanna." She wasn't sure how to react; why was he saying this? Why was he so direct about it? Why did this matter? Why was she so happy to hear it? "Okay?" was all she could muster in response.

Natsu stood and grabbed both of their plates to drop them in the sink. "I just wanted you to know I wasn't going to jeopardize our story this week." He turned around to face her again, "That's why you said that last night right? Because you were afraid we would be found out?" It clicked in her head… he was just covering for her AGAIN. "Oh yeah…" she nervously and nonchalantly tried to cover her hurt, "I was totally worried about that. Phew we can make it through the week." She followed it up with a panicky grin.

"Well now that that's settled, go get dressed, we're going to the festival!"

Lucy was excited to see the different booths at the festival, but honestly, she was still a bit on edge after trying to understand her feelings as well as their conversation this morning. She decided she was just going to put her worries aside and have fun with Natsu at the festival.

The two walked among the various booths trying all the different food items, looking at all the hand-crafted items, trying out the multitude of products and even playing some of the carnival style games. She giggled when Natsu was forcibly removed from the flavored jalapeno stand since he kept eating all the samples. Lucy found some bath salts which smelt like cherry blossoms, so she decided to get a couple batches.

Natsu and Lucy walked down the aisle of stalls, both glancing at what each one sold. Lucy's eyes landed on a stall where a little old lady sat in front of a table of jewelry. She couldn't help but notice the intricate designs behind all the earrings, necklaces and bracelets.

"Hey, Luce, did you see…" Natsu turned around to see the blonde wasn't right behind him like he thought but rather she was two stall lengths back staring at a table. He walked up behind her, looked at her and followed her gaze to the table. He noticed the jewelry style and knew immediately why she was staring. He looked back at her, "Do you want to look?" She snapped out of her staring and turned to look at Natsu. "No, it's okay… just lost in thought."

"No, let's look." He grabbed her hair and drug her over to the table. Upon closer look, the jewelry was even more beautiful close up. Her eyes scanned over the various crafted metal creations until her eyes settled on a pair of dangle earrings. On each earring there were four strings of gold metal link each ending with a gold star; it reminded her of shooting stars.

Lucy's mother used to tell her that shooting stars were souls being released from their earthly form to find peace and ascend to heaven. She used to be amazed and joyful for all those who were no longer in pain and got to go to heaven; so, when her mother passed away suddenly, shooting stars were a painful reminder of loss. Natsu helped her see differently.

She remembered not being able to stomach being in the church's auditorium as her family members gave speeches about her mother and how she was a great person. Lucy left and sat outside the church on a bench and stared up at the stars. Looking up at the night sky made her feel small and oh so alone; she used to welcome the night but now it left an emptiness within her. Natsu found her and sat down beside her; the two were quiet were a while before Natsu spoke up, "Look, Luce, a shooting star." Her chest tightened and she squeezed her eyes shut as hard as she could so the tears wouldn't come out.

Sensing her plight, he continued, "Your mom once told me shooting stars were souls going to heaven. Souls of ones we have lost to death, but not lost to us forever…" Lucy perked her head up a bit; what was he talking about? "Your mother may no longer be with you here, but now she is in heaven watching over you. She can be with you everywhere at once now, watching over you from above." Lucy looked at Natsu, tears now falling from her eyes and running down her cheeks. He looked back at her with a warm smile, "Every time you see a shooting star, think of it as your mother sending her love down to you… her message to you letting her know she sees you and is watching over you." Just like that, all her walls came crashing down. She threw herself into Natsu's open arms and wept; the two were there for hours, neither saying anything after that.

Natsu followed Lucy's gaze to the earrings and then back to the girl. He mouthed to the old woman, "How much?" as he pointed at the earrings. The woman held up ten fingers and Natsu nodded; he reached into his pocket, pulled out his wallet and removed ten dollars to hand to the woman.

Lucy saw Natsu's hand move in and out of her vision. Confused, she glanced over at the woman, but she simply smiled back at the blonde. Not getting any answers from her, Lucy turned back to Natsu who now held up the earrings in front of her face. "Here," he stated simply, as he placed the earrings in her hands. She looked at him, then down to the earrings then back up at him. "Why?"

"Does a man need a good reason to buy his girlfriend beautiful jewelry?" the woman asked.

Natsu poked his head out from around Lucy, "Actually, she is my fiancée." Lucy glanced over at the woman who responded by giving her a very wide grin. "He's definitely a keeper." Natsu motioned Lucy away from the booth as he waved goodbye to the woman.

"Why did you get these for me?" Lucy asked.

"You seemed interested in them."

Lucy chuckled, "But that doesn't mean you need to get me everything I show a slight interest in."

He shrugged, "I figured it reminded you of your mother, that's why you were interested." Lucy sopped dead in her tracks; he remembered?!

Natsu glanced over his shoulder and stopped when he saw her standing a few feet behind him. "What's with that look, weirdo? We've got more festival to see so stop standing around!" Lucy smiled and ran up to his side.

Natsu and Lucy walked around a corner and nearly bumped in Ms. Spetzo and her father. "We've been looking everywhere for you," Jude stated.

"Oh?" Lucy asked in dread.

"We wanted to have lunch with you," the caretaker smiled.

Natsu leaned in to whisper into Lucy's ear, "That doesn't sound so bad."

"Actually, we wanted to have lunch with both of you," Jude clarified.

Lucy leaned back over to Natsu, "You were saying." Ms. Spetzo wheeled Jude past the two and pulled on Natsu's arm as she walked by.

Within a few minutes, Natsu and Lucy found themselves sitting across from Jude and Ms. Speztzo in Mira's diner. Honestly, they were expecting some kind of 'if you hurt my daughter' talk but were surprised when Jude began speaking of pleasantries. They awkwardly played along, knowing there was another topic in mind.

After the group was done with dinner, Jude sighed heavily, signaling the real conversation was about to unfold. He pulled out a folder from under the table and slid it over to Lucy; "What's this?" she asked.

"That is all the information concerning what is left of the Heartfilia Estate and my last will and testament." Lucy stopped thumbing through the volumes of paper before her. "Your w-what?" Lucy shakingly stated.

"I wanted Natsu to be present seeing as he will soon be a part of the family; however, since you two are not officially married yet, Lucy is listed as the primary on the will." Lucy just stared with wide eyes at the paper in her hands; suddenly, the weight of the paper became heavy in her hands. Noticing her inability to speak, Natsu did so on her behalf, "Jude…"

"Please call me dad," he interrupted.

Natsu sighed, this what so not the time, "Dad… why isn't Sting here to hear all this?"

"I've already had a conversation with him about the estate. He is already settled with his own home and family but you two are beginning a life of your own, you need something to stand on. That's why… I want you to sell the house, the office and the items in the safes to pay for your wedding and a down payment on a house for the two of you."

"Dad…" Lucy whispered.

"It's okay, Lucy, your brother has already agreed to this. I also wanted to go over my burial options." Lucy slammed her hands down on the table, causing everyone in the restaurant to stop and stare at her. Jude leaned forward and whispered at his daughter, "Lucy, you're causing a scene."

"Why are you doing this now?!" she whispered in a harsh tone.

"Because I want to make sure you are taken care of after I'm gone."

"But why not wait until after the festival?!"

"Lucy, we need to discuss this." Jude replied harshly.

"Not right now… I can't do this." Lucy stood up in a hurry and rushed out of the diner. She ran past some incoming customers as she ran down the front steps and down the street. She heard someone calling her name, but she didn't want to stop. It wasn't until a strong hand grabbed a hold of her elbow that she turned to see who was there. Through her teary eyes, she saw Natsu standing before her with a worried look on his face. As soon as she made eye contact with him, she dropped to her knees.

"Luce?..." He crouched down so he could be on her level. "I can't do this, Natsu."

"Can't do what?" he wanted her to clarify.

"This…" she waved her hand around. "I can't deal with him like this."

"He only wants the best for you, Luce," he softly replied.

"And here I am making a mockery of him."

"You aren't mocking anything."

"What do you call what we are doing?!"

Natsu took a deep breath in and out before responding, "Do you love your father?"

Confused, but interested to where Natsu was going, she answered, "Yes."

"Do you want him to be happy?" She sighed in understanding. "Yes."

"Then you aren't doing anything wrong. You want the best for him just as much as he wants it for you." Why did he make so mush sense? "Just remember, you don't have to do this alone. Just lean on me." He pulled her in and held her until she felt strong enough to stand (with his help that is).