Natsu is in a real funk. Ever since he saw the photo of Lucy kissing this guy named Miguel, things have not been well for him. After so long of waiting to date Lucy, he feels like he's loosing her. He can't focus on his music, he can't finish the movie, and he might be loosing his relationship for real. It hasn't been easy for Lucy either.
"Can you believe he actually said that to me?!" Lucy vented to Levy. Levy came over to Lucy's place to see how Lucy's doing. It doesn't sound that well. "I can't. I can't believe he said that to me. Can you?"
"Frankly I don't know what he said. I turned the sound off in the recording booth when that call went on." Levy said. "Lucy, can you really blame him from being upset? He's hurting from this whole thing."
"So am I!" Lucy said. "My problem right now is that he wasn't really listening to me. He didn't let me explain myself and he wasn't listening. I feel bad about this whole thing happening and wish it didn't."
"Well, I'm here. I'm listening." Levy said. "I'm not just doing this because of the band and the movie. I'm also your friend. Just tell me. Why did you do it?" From there, Lucy explained what went on.
...
Natsu
Natsu was taking this whole thing with Lucy really hard. He had his head against his arms pressed against the counter. His family hated seeing him like this.
"Natsu, come on." Zeref said as he shook Natsu around. "You can't keep going like this." Natsu lifted his head, but the look in his eyes were similar to that of a zombie. He was in no mood for anything. Zeref just backed away and walked over to his parents. "He's got it bad."
"That's funk for you." Mr. Dragneel said. "Once you get it, it can be hard to shake."
"Still, I hate seeing my son like this." Mrs. Dragneel said. She went right over and placed her arms around him. "Honey, I know you're hurting, but you need to let us help you. You don't need to go through this alone."
"I really don't see how I can feel better about this." Natsu said. "Lucy and I got into a big argument about this whole thing and now I might actually lose my girlfriend."
"Natsu, I know you're upset, but maybe there's still a way you and Lucy can salvage this relationship." Zeref said.
"Your brother's right." Mrs. Dragneel said. "Of course, you're going to need to clear your head first. If you go into a conversation with Lucy with how you're feeling now, it's not going to go well for either of you."
"And how am I suppose to do that?" Natsu said.
"We need to figure something out." Zeref said. "Otherwise, the way you're feeling now, your music and your movie could be in jeopardy or such."
"You just need to clear your head." Mr. Dragneel said. "You need to get out of your own, take your mind off your problems, go somewhere that you won't think about this stuff, even if it's for a moment."
"You got something in mind, Dad?" Zeref asked. Mr. Dragneel smiled as he knew just the thing that might help his son.
...
The Road
The Dragneels packed their bags and were heading for the woods. Mr. Dragneel decided they should go camping. It be just them, out in the peaceful woods, surrounded by nature, and no one to bother them.
"We're really going camping?" Natsu asked. "I still have a lot of work to do with the band."
"Natsu, if we can't you snap back to normal, you won't get any work done." Zeref said.
"It will be fun. Just watch." Mr. Dragneel said. He pulled up to the camping site and they started to unload the car.
"You sure this will work, Dad?" Zeref asked.
"Yeah." Mr. Dragneel said. "This is what I did when I was having girl problems. Let me tell you that I was quite the ladies man. There was this one time I was with this girl..." Mrs. Dragneel cleared her throat and Mr. Dragneel took the hint. "...who doesn't compare to my lovely wife." He laughed nervously to try and please her. The Dragneels just gathered their stuff together and headed for a place they could camp. They headed into the woods and found the right spot they could camp at.
"I think this is a great idea." Mrs. Dragneel said. "It's been a while since we did anything, just the four of us."
"You'll see. It will be fun." Mr. Dragneel said. "We'll roast marshmallows, have a nice night under the stars, it will be fun. You'll see, Natsu. You'll be feeling better in no time."
"I guess." Natsu said, but he has some doubts.
"Boys, why don't you start by getting us firewood." Mr. Dragneel said. "Grab branches that have already fallen off. They'll be easier to burn."
"Got it." Zeref said as he and Natsu went into the woods. They went to gather some wood for their campfire and Zeref was beginning to think this was a good idea. "It's actually nice here. It's so peaceful and there seems to be a lot less to worry about here."
"I guess..." Natsu said.
"Natsu, I know you're upset, but try and have some fun." Zeref said. "Dad brought us out here to try and cheer you up. It's not like you to stay upset." Natsu thought about that and he's got a point.
"You're right." Natsu said as actually put on a smile. "It probably won't be so bad." Natsu started gathering branches, but he stopped when he spotted something. "Zeref, look." Zeref look and they spotted some dear looking right at them.
"Wow..." Zeref said. Natsu was able to look at the dear right in the eyes and it was like he was in a trance. Natsu smiled right at it before it took off.
"It actually looked right at me!" Natsu said as he couldn't believe it and Zeref was a little impressed himself. The boys went back to the campsite and their parents had everything ready.
"Nice work. Now we can catch ourselves some dinner." Mr. Dragneel said.
"You can catch burgers in the wild?" Natsu questioned.
"No." Mr. Dragneel said as he pulled out some fishing poles. "We fish!"
"At least Natsu cracked a joke. That's progress." Mrs. Dragneel said and Zeref agreed with that. They went down by the river with Zeref and Natsu tried catching some fish, but nothing was biting. Since nothing was happening, Natsu was bored out of his mind.
"How is this suppose to get my mind off my troubles?" Natsu said.
"It's actually relaxing." Zeref said.
"Relaxing? Try more like boring." Natsu said.
"Well, I suppose you could give your father's way a try." Mrs. Dragneel said. Mr. Dragneel was in the river and looked more like a hunter as he held a stick and stuck it in the water with him catching a fish on it.
"Got it!" Mr. Dragneel said as Natsu was impressed.
"I'm not sure about that. It looks a little savage." Zeref said.
"The fish are going to die in the first place." Natsu said as he dropped the pole and went over to his father. "Hey, Dad! Can I try it like that?!"
"I don't know, Natsu. You're going to need a good eye and to move fast to catch fish like this." Mr. Dragneel said.
"How hard can it be?" Natsu said. He tried giving it a shot, but all he got was soaking wet from slipping in the river and and only managed to get a tiny fish.
...
Zeref
Zeref and his parents were gathering a few other supplies with it getting dark. Natsu was back at the camp, but it looked like this camping trip was doing well for him.
"It looks like this is really working. Natsu seems to be getting better." Zeref said.
"I told you. This helped me when I was dealing with a damaged heart." Mr. Dragneel said. "I remember this one time when I was really into this girl..." Mrs. Dragneel cleared her throat again and Mr. Dragneel backed down.
"I think I'm just going to leave you two alone." Zeref said as he headed back to the camp. Meanwhile, Natsu brought a guitar with him and was working on a new song by the campfire. When Zeref got back, he heard Natsu working on it. "That sounds good. New song?"
"Sort of." Natsu said. "I was working on it for the movie while Lucy was away, but I wasn't feeling it...until now." Natsu was getting bummed out again. Zeref sat next to Natsu and placed his arm around him. "Do you really think I can fix things with Lucy? I don't want to lose her."
"I know you don't, but you need to be able to really talk to her." Zeref said. "I know it's going to be painful, but you need to talk to her about and really listen to her. Don't just focus on your side of things. Try and see things through her point of view."
"Makes sense." Natsu said.
"Don't worry. I can tell Lucy doesn't want to lose you either. I'm sure you and she can work things out." Zeref said. He got up and left Natsu with his thoughts. Natsu pulled out a photo of him and Lucy and hoped things can work. Lucy was doing the same thing back home. Maybe they really can fix things between each other.
...
The Next Day
Natsu and his family slept through the whole night. Natsu woke up and his father joined him.
"Morning, buddy." Mr. Dragneel said. "You feeling a lot better?"
"Yeah. I really am." Natsu said and that was good to hear. Suddenly, Natsu felt something move against his leg. "Zeref, cut it out."
"What?" Zeref said as he and their mother was waking up.
"I'm serious. Quit brushing my leg with your foot." Natsu said.
"I'm not." Zeref said. When Natsu pulled back his sleeping bag, they saw a snake slithering around in their tent. "Snake!" The whole family freaked when they saw it and caused a bit of commotion inside until Natsu was able to grab it and open the tent.
"Beat it, slithers!" Natsu said as he tossed the snake right out of the camp. This certainly was a memorable camping trip and the real Natsu is back.
...
Fairy Tale's Studio
Natsu was back to his normal self and it was paying off. He met up with the others and they got back to work on the music and the movie. It looks like it was going well as things went off without a hitch. Natsu finished recording a song for the movie and it went well.
"Excellent work, Natsu!" Levy said as she and the others were glad to see Natsu was back to normal. Natsu was feeling good about himself as well. It was at that moment that Lucy came in and tapped him on the shoulder. Natsu turned and was surprised to see her.
"Hey. Is it okay we talk?" Lucy asked.
"Sure." Natsu said. They moved off to the side, but the others were curious about how this was going to go.
"I'm sorry about that whole thing with the kiss. I never meant for things to get like this." Lucy said. Natsu is really listening, but he saw the others were too. When he looked at them, they all acted completely innocent like they weren't listening.
"I'm sorry about before." Natsu said. "I guess I was so hurt about the whole thing that I didn't even listen to you. You tried to explain things, but I didn't want to hear it. So what really happened?"
"He was just some guy I met on the boat." Lucy said. "I didn't think anything like that would happen. For the record, HE kissed ME, not the other way around. As soon as it happened, I pulled away. Someone must have grabbed that picture in a short time."
"Why didn't you tell me that sooner?" Natsu said.
"Because it meant nothing to me. I just wanted to forget the whole thing. After what happened on the boat, I tried keeping my distance from him." Lucy said. "Maybe I should have told you when it happened, but I don't like him that way. So I didn't think it mattered. I'm sorry this whole thing even happened."
"Tell me about it." Natsu said. "I ended up falling in a river and had to grab a snake to help me deal with the funk I was in." Lucy looked at him with concern and confusion when he said that. "Bottom line is that I just don't want to lose you."
"I don't want to lose you either." Lucy said. That's all Natsu needed as he pulled her in and kissed her. The others cheered seeing them like that. When Natsu and Lucy looked their way, they just tried to act casual again. They just ignored them and kissed each other again. Now that Lucy's back and this relationship is still sailing, things can get back on track...for now at least.