Lucy didn't know what to think now. Natsu is claiming Lucy is something special to him. The problem is that she doesn't know if Natsu is being sincere or if he's just saying things without really meaning them. She came to this festival for some clarity and now she's more confused than ever.

"There you two are." Lucy looked ahead and spotted Lisanna and Gary.

"Is everything okay?" Gary asked. "You two just took off on us."

"Sorry about that. Something had to be done and it couldn't wait." Natsu said. "Everything's...fine..." Of course, Natsu wasn't so sure about that. After what happened between them, things were just silent between them. Natsu isn't sure what Lucy thinks of him anymore and Lucy doesn't know what to think.

"Well, it's getting late. Let's head back to the hotel and call it a day." Lisanna said.

"Good idea." Lucy said as she walked past.

"I'm not giving up that easily." Natsu said.

...

The Hotel

They all headed back to the hotel. It was too late to drive all the way home. So Natsu was able to get them into a nice hotel.

"I'll see you all later." Gary said as he was on his way.

"You're not staying here, Gary?" Natsu asked.

"No. I booked a different hotel. I'll see you back home." Gary said.

"Night, Gary." Lucy said. Gary looked back at them, but there was something a little off with how Gary was looking at them. None of them noticed as he left.

"I think I'm going to go to my room." Lisanna said as she was heading inside.

"Your room? I thought the three of us were staying in the same room?" Natsu asked.

"I think it might be better this way. I'll see the two of you in the morning." Lisanna said as she went inside. Natsu and Lucy just stood awkwardly. Lucy broke things by walking ahead and heading for their room. Natsu followed, but he spotted something that caught his eye.

"Cool! This place has an outside pool. We're only here for tonight, let's go take a swim." Natsu said.

"A swim? The pool is probably closed." Lucy said.

"So we'll sneak in. It'll be just like when we were in high school." Natsu said.

"Natsu, that sounds like a lame idea." Lucy said and just kept walking, but Natsu wasn't going to let them go that easily. The two of them made it to their hotel room, but things were still awkward.

"Pretty cool they're letting us keep these yukata's. I thought we were just renting them." Natsu said. Lucy just sat on the bed and didn't really say much. "Come on, Lucy. Let's go down to the pool, something to clear our heads."

"Natsu, no way." Lucy said.

"Well, I'm going down." Natsu said. "Do you really want me to go into that pool by myself? That isn't really safe, is it?" He was trying to tempt Lucy to go with him. "I'm going in." Natsu instantly disrobed himself and Lucy looked away.

"Natsu! I'm still in the room!" Lucy said.

"Oh please. You haven't seen it before." Natsu said.

"It's called common curtesy." Lucy said. She sighed in annoyance as she knew there was no way Natsu was going to let this go. "You go on ahead. Unlike you, I'll change in the bathroom." She grabbed her bag and went into the bathroom and Natsu was enjoying this. Natsu changed into his swim trunks and headed down to the pool. He was careful not to let anyone see him if he's really not suppose to be there.

"Just don't make a loud splash and I should be good." Natsu said as he crouched near the edge of the pool.

"Here I am." Natsu looked behind him and spotted Lucy in a simple black bikini.

"Plain and simple, but you still look great." Natsu said. "Let's just be real quiet about this so we don't get caught." Instead of doing a cannonball, Natsu just climbed his way inside. Lucy followed after and got in the water. Natsu swam around the pool and was enjoying it. Lucy tried to enjoy it, but she was too anxious.

"Come on, Lucy. Lighten up and have some fun." Natsu said.

"We're not suppose to be here in the first place, Natsu." Lucy said.

"We'll be fine. We're only here for the night. So what can they do? Throw us out?" Natsu said. Natsu swam over to her and tried to get her to open up. "Lucy, come on. Just talk to me."

"Natsu, what are we? We can't just say we're friends anymore." Lucy said. "Friends don't do what we did. We didn't exactly date. So we're not a couple and we can't say we were before."

"Well, who says we can't...because I would want us to." Natsu said.

"You say that, but how do I know you really mean it?" Lucy said.

"Of course I mean it. You know me better than that." Natsu said. "We've been friends for a long time. Why would I lie to you about that?"

"Because I've seen this kind of thing before." Lucy said. "Guys say a bunch of stuff, they say things they don't really mean just so they could get to a girl. You've been around with a bunch of women. I know what you said earlier, but how do I know you really mean it?"

"You've seen this before? Seen it or have you been through it?" Natsu questioned. "Because if you've been through it with some guy, that guy was just a jerk. You know me better than that."

"Natsu, I'm not sure I really do know you. I don't even know what I want." Lucy said. "No, I haven't been through it, but that's what happens. There are some jerks out there that aren't as nice as you think. There are some out there that would say anything just to get the things they want. What happen changes things, Natsu. So how am I suppose to know you really mean what you say?"

"I mean it because it's you, Lucy." Natsu said.

"What does that even mean?" Lucy said.

"Lucy...I've actually been in love with you since high school." Natsu said and that surprised Lucy. No matter how low someone would go just to sleep with someone, Lucy knew Natsu would never say something like that without meaning it. She can already feel the heat turning up. "I always have been, but I didn't think you felt the same. That's why I slept around as you might say. It was to fill some sort of void." He grabbed her arms and had her look right at him. "Now that I have you, I don't ever want to let you go." Natsu closed the distance between the two of them and kissed her once more. Lucy was shocked by all this. She already thought she didn't know Natsu as well as she thought she did. She was right about that, but not in the way she thought.

"Is someone there?" They heard someone coming and it could have been hotel security. Both of them hid as they went under the water. Someone came over the water and looked around, but didn't see a thing. "I must be hearing things." The guy went back into the hotel and left those two. Natsu emerged out of the water and saw he was gone.

"Close one. The dude almost ruined things for us." Natsu said as he turned to Lucy, but he regretted what he said. "Well, for me if you..." He stopped when he saw Lucy was in a trance-like state. It was like what happened the night before. The two just starred at each other until Natsu tried to kiss her again and Lucy practically leaped at him and turned into a simple kiss into one of passion. They didn't keep it to just the pool. They hardly broke away from each other as they made their way back to the room. Once the door shut, Natsu placed her right on the bed. Despite getting water everywhere and on the bed, it didn't stop them.

"Natsu..." Lucy said as she could see light shining through the window and Natsu's wet muscles glistened in the light. Natsu placed himself right on top of her and continued to make out with her with Lucy tangling her fingers through his hair. The fact that their bodies were soaked added to the pleasurable feeling as Natsu slid his hand down her stomach and into her bikini bottom. As Natsu placed his lips against her neck, Lucy took deep breaths as she could feel his fingers and what they're doing.

"Not going to resist?" Natsu said as he pulled away from her and he could see Lucy just as beautiful in the light as she saw Natsu. "Good." At this point, Lucy wasn't even sure what she was doing. Natsu just skipped the foreplay and pulled hers and his bottom down and Natsu just dove right in. Lucy moved with Natsu as her pants became louder and deeper.

"Na... Natsu..." Lucy said as she couldn't believe this was happening again and she wanted it. As Natsu kept himself over her, she raised her hands and slid them over his muscles. Natsu and Lucy kept going like that. Lucy reached for the headframe as she couldn't hold out much longer and the tension that build was released and Natsu was released what he was holding.

"Still having regrets?" Natsu asked as he caught his breath. Lucy just stayed silent and was catching her breath as well. "What's wrong?" He asked as he lowered himself and pressed his body against hers. He could feel her chest bouncing against him as she breathed. Lucy was in some sort of trance and Natsu wasn't sure what to do. "Well, I'm going to take a quick shower and go to bed. You can join me if you want to." Natsu stood up and just removed his trunks. He made his way to the bathroom and hopped right in the shower. As she heard the running water in there, Lucy sat up. The heat from this passion must have gotten to her as she seemed to have stopped thinking clearly. She reached for her bikini top and slid it off. Natsu let the hot water roam down his body and he enjoyed what happened.

"Natsu..." He heard Lucy's voice and he opened it to see her there with nothing on her. Natsu could see she still seemed nervous, but at the same time, she wanted to do this. She kept getting in her own way and Natsu helped her out as he held out his hand towards her. Lucy took it and Natsu pulled her in the shower with him. It ended up being a pretty long night.