Passion is a feeling that can be as fierce and strong as fire and leaves a mighty burn. Once you find the passion of something, it can be hard to recover from it whether it be an activity...or a person. That might sound like a bad thing, but it's not really as bad as you might think.

"Drink up!" A little gathering was going on at a local bar. People were drinking and having fun, but there was one busty blonde that was being a little distant as she just sipped at her drink.

"Do they always have to be so loud?" The woman questioned. This woman is Lucy Heartfilia, an upcoming writer that writes some articles for a magazine.

"Come on, Lucy. Join in the fun!" She looked across the table to be faced with a guy with oddly colored hair and had a couple girls cuddled up to him.

"I'm drinking, aren't I, Natsu?" Lucy said.

"You're just sipping at it. Chug it down." Natsu said. Natsu turned to his male friend with the blonde hair. "Sting, how about getting Lucy a real drink."

"Just give me a minute, I'm trying something." Sting said as he was with his own little date and she had a glass shot between her breasts. Sting stuck his head down there and got the shot with only his lips. "Talk about breast feeding."

"Good grief." Lucy said as she stepped out of the booth. She thought those guys were acting like morons, the only girl that wasn't acting like an idiot like the rest of them. The girls are all swooned and captivated by them just because of what those two do.

"So what's it like being a fireman?"

"Did you actually go in any fires?"

"Oh yeah. We had to to save those lives." Natsu said.

"Of course, those fires weren't as hot as you ladies." Sting said. Those girls were acting like they were having a great time, but Lucy sat at the bar counter and didn't want to be part of the stupidity.

"I can't believe those girls are just throwing themselves at those two morons." Lucy said. "Don't they have any shame or self-respect?" Lucy wasn't having as much fun as everyone else was. She wasn't swooned as easily as the rest of those girls were. She was knocked out of her thoughts when she saw another glass slide over to her.

"You look like you need this." Lucy looked to see a familiar face with that short black hair.

"Thanks, Gary." Lucy said.

"Not having as much fun as everyone else over there?" Gary questioned.

"I just don't act like a damn moron around those two. You're a fellow fireman, but that doesn't mean I'm impressed with what you do." Lucy said.

"I've noticed, but that's because you're a smart girl." Gary said. "Well, that's not really fair to say. There is one girl in that group that's just as good and smart as you are. She's just trying to get a little closer to Natsu."

"I've noticed before." Lucy said.

"Hey!" Natsu said as he came over. "What are you doing over here? Come back and join the party. Gary, you too."

"I'm coming." Gary said.

"I think I'm fine right here." Lucy said with some annoyance. Gary left her alone, but Natsu stayed at the bar.

"Come on, Lucy. I invited you out to have fun with my friends." Natsu said. "We've been friends since we were kids. You were more fun back then."

"That was before, Natsu." Lucy said.

"Before? Before what?" Natsu said.

"Before we grew up and became more responsible. Before there was alcohol and before our parents gave us the talk." Lucy said. "It's because that I actually know you that I'm not going to act like those girls back there. I know you're a fireman, but that's not enough for me."

"Come on. You make it sound like I'm always high or something." Natsu said.

"Well, you probably breathe in a lot of smoke." Lucy said.

"Oh brother." Natsu said. Lucy's making it sound like he's an idiot.

"Natsu!" Both of them turned around and saw one of the girls that had short white hair. "Come on. The food is here."

"I'll be right there, Lisanna. I'm just talking to Lucy." Natsu said. Lisanna was actually the girl Gary was talking about.

"I feel sorry for that poor girl." Lucy said as she had some of her drink.

"How come?" Natsu asked.

"Gary was just talking about her." Lucy said. "She does seem like a good girl, but she keeps throwing herself at a womanizer like you."

"Womanizer?!" Natsu said as he couldn't believe she actually called him that.

"Yes, Natsu." Lucy said. "You're a womanizer because I know for a fact that you sleep around with a lot of woman. I feel bad for these woman, but poor Lisanna keeps trying to get close to you. I feel really bad for a nice girl like her actually wanting to be with you."

"Ouch." Natsu said. "Are you sure you're not just jealous?"

"Don't flatter yourself." Lucy said as she stood up. "I think I'm just going to just head home."

"Come on, Lucy. We're all just having some fun tonight." Natsu said. "Come on and stay. Later, you and I will do whatever you like."

"Sorry, Natsu. You can't charm me like you do with those other girls." Lucy said as she walked out of there and Natsu hated seeing her go. Natsu might have been with a lot of woman, but none of them compare to Lucy. Natsu headed back to his table with the others waiting.

"Where's Lucy?" Gary asked.

"She called it early." Natsu said.

"That's too bad. She does seem like a cool girl." Sting said.

"She really is." Natsu said.

...

Lucy's Apartment

It was the middle of the night and Lucy was trying to get some sleep. Natsu might be a little annoying, but it's really never a dull moment with him. Still, Lucy isn't going to be swayed so easily like some other girls just because he's a fireman. Lucy just slept away feeling warm. Maybe a little too warm. When she breathed in her sleep, something flew up her nose and woke her up.

"What's going on?" Lucy said as she could tell something was wrong and she was right. She could see a light coming from under her door and smoke was beginning to fill in. "Oh no!" Lucy got out of bed and hurried, but she could feel the door was getting hot. All this can lead to one thing: a fire. Her apartment was on fire and the flames were spreading. "Help! In here! Anyone out there!" She tried calling for help before the flames can reach her room, but she didn't know anyone was out there. She hurried to her window and opened it up. She wasn't able to climb down and she was too high to jump, but she could see the firetrucks were already there. "Hello! Up here!" She called for help, but smoke was beginning to fill her room and it was getting hard to breathe. She duck down to try avoid breathing in the fire. "This is bad."

"Lucy! Lucy!" Lucy could hear someone calling for her and it was coming from the other side of the door.

"I know that voice." Lucy said. The door busted open and she could see it was Natsu. "Natsu! You're here!"

"No time for thanks! We've got to get out of here!" Natsu said as he held out his hand. Lucy took it and he guided her out of there. "We've got to move fast! Stay close!"

"Right!" Lucy said. Natsu guided her through the flames and they moved out of there as fast as they could through the flames and the smoke. However, Lucy was having trouble breathing and was starting to lag behind.

"Come on, Lucy! Stay with me!" Natsu said. It was difficult for her and it was about to get worse as a piece of the ceiling came down. Natsu pushed Lucy out of the way as it came down and hit him on the back pretty hard.

"Natsu!" Lucy shouted as she was afraid he might be hurt.

"Forget about me." Natsu said as he lifted her up like a princess and ran for it. Natsu kept going and carried Lucy all the way out of the building. Once they got to the streets, they were perfectly safe as the rest of the fire department put out the flames. The fire was placed under control, but it did do some damage to the building. Lucy was safe and had a blanket around her since all she wore were shorts and a sleeveless top. Natsu came right over to her to make sure she's well.

"You doing okay?" Natsu asked.

"I'll be fine. Thanks for saving me." Lucy said. "I was surprised to see you. I figured you would still be at the bar."

"Are you kidding? The moment I heard it was your building on fire, I dropped everything and headed straight for your apartment. I needed to make sure you were safe." Natsu said. Lucy was touched to hear that, but she looked at the damage.

"What happened in there?" Lucy said.

"An investigation is being held, but it looks like there was some sort of damage in the wiring that runs through the building." Natsu said. "It looks like your floor got the worst of it. You're lucky I showed up when I did."

"Oh man!" Lucy said. "All my clothes, my phone, my work was in all there! Now what am I going to do?"

"What do you mean?" Natsu asked.

"What do you mean what do I mean?! Did all that fire and smoke mess with your brain, you damn idiot!" Lucy said. "All my stuff was in there and now I have nothing. I don't even have a place to stay anymore. What am I going to do with it being on such short notice? Where am I going to sleep?"

"That's easy." Natsu said as he gave off a genuine smile. "You get to come stay with me!"

"Huh?!" Lucy said as she wasn't so sure how to feel about this. All it takes is a small spark to start a great fire.