I think I've let go of the idea of writing a formal Christmas present to you all bc my genius cannot be forced!

Please enjoy this story that I'm lowkey obsessed with

Lucy couldn't sleep, there was no way she could sleep now. Aside from fearing that her entire day had been a dream, her last few moments in the guild left her heart racing and her mind reeling.

Laxus' kiss, if she could even call it anything other than a quick peck, had ignited Natsu into a rage that dragged almost everyone around them into a fight.

Lucy was too stiff to react in the moment, watching as Natsu stood in front of her, his fist still aflame, his shoulders moving up and down with a quickness as he growled.

She couldn't see his face, but the reaction of those who stalled their partying to recognize what had happened left little to her imagination. The thought of him defending her with such ferociousness…Lucy had years to imagine how this scenario might play out.

She could tell there was real anger in his attack, her heart very intentionally skipping a beat. Was his purpose to protect her? She was glad that someone noticed, surely she wouldn't have known what to do if Laxus wanted more than just to tease her.

"Holy shit…" Wakaba let out a whistle from his seat at the bar, a tail of pink smoke moving with his lips. "Natsu actually landed one on Laxus…"

There were growing half murmurs and cheers, some goading Natsu to do it again because they hadn't been watching.

Laxus rose from the broken table he landed against, tossing his splinter-covered jacket off as he rolled his neck.

"So Salamander had it in him this whole time? Hah!"

Lucy ducked into a ball when fire and lightning collided, their raised fists clashing with enough impact to knock almost everyone off their feet.

"Don't you dare touch her!"

Lucy didn't have enough time to sink into what Natsu bellowed before Erza was lifting her over her shoulder and running for the door before the next attack. She could see the walls of the guild shake, windows shattering outward as tendrils of flames and lightning flew.

Erza eventually set her down once they were a good distance away, turning to Lucy with an exhausted smile.

"They should know better than to fight when we have newcomers." She sighed, a reassuring hand placed on Lucy's shoulder. "Are you okay? Scared?"

Lucy shook her head, "The cannonballs from the pirate ship were more terrifying than that." A small part of her felt that Natsu would have kept the fight away from her anyhow.

"I'll give them a firm talking to in a minute, but first I'll show you to your room."

"Room?" Lucy asked, turning around with a slight jump in her step as another large building stood right in front of them.

"Newcomers get free room and board until they've established themselves in Earthland. But no rush, don't worry. Sometimes it can take people a while to figure out who they want to be."

The blonde nodded, following behind as they walked through the door, Fairy Hills, hanging right above them. She relaxed, looking at the cozy space around them, a front desk and a seating area across from it. The stairs were straight ahead, Erza leading her up to the third floor.

"The dining hall is on the first floor, we can give you more of a tour in the morning," Erza said as she opened a door at the end of the hall. "There should already be some clothes for you in the closet, and you have a bathroom in here if you'd like to wash up. You've had a long day, so go ahead and get some rest."

"...It looks like my room from back home," Lucy took a couple of slow steps inside, looking around at the perfect replica of her room. The size, the furniture, the curtains, the door to her bathroom, even her balcony. The same jewelry box she got from her maids on her fifteenth birthday was sitting where she kept it on the edge of her vanity. "How?"

"The First Master always wants everyone to feel comfortable when they decide to come here. Not everyone exactly comes here the same way, but either way it's a big decision to make for yourself when you do. Fiore might be your new home and it's normal to feel homesick, so this helps with the transition."

"Yeah," Lucy smiled as she turned to face the red head. "Thank you, Erza. I hope you have a good night."

"I'll see you in the morning,"

So now, here she was, laying down after a bath wearing a new nightgown that matched the ones from her closet back home.

This only made it harder to sleep, because when she woke up, how was she supposed to know anything was different? Heck, even the interior of her bathroom was just as it was in Edolas. Her soaps, shampoos, even the comb Spetto used to detangle her hair.

There was little to comfort her worries at the moment…maybe if she had the chance to see Natsu one more time before falling asleep. They didn't have a chance to talk at all during the welcome party; wondering if he was decidedly ignoring her after their kiss.

But he was the one who kissed her so passionately, and she wanted to know what it meant.

Their feelings couldn't be the same, she had years to fall in love with him when Natsu only knew her for a day. So she wasn't unrealistic in her expectations, just worried that she made the wrong choice.

Then again, he did get angry on her behalf, so it wasn't as if he was totally oblivious of her. Maybe just embarrassed?

"Oh my—!" Lucy flinched as a tapping fell against the glass of her balcony door, sitting up quickly to see just what was knocking. "Natsu?"

She felt her heart skip a beat as she watched him wave, a sheepish smile gracing his lips.

The door opened without a second thought, Lucy gesturing for him to come in.

"Actually, do you think it's okay if we talk out here? Men aren't allowed in Fairy Hills after hours; Freed cast a spell on the building so this is as far as I can go,"

"Oh," She nodded, glad the air wasn't too cold. "That's okay,"

"...What did you want to talk about?"

"Just that Erza said I should apologize in the morning for acting out in front of you like that, but I couldn't wait. It's a pretty strict rule not to fight seriously in front of newcomers, I wasn't thinking. So I'm sorry if you got scared or anythin'." Natsu offered a pitiable smile, one hand behind his hair as he nervously scratched his scalp.

"N-No, don't worry, it was surprising, but Erza got me out before anything serious happened." Her lips formed their own smile as he seemed to perk up at the sound of her response. "I wasn't scared,"

"Yeah? I only wanted to get him off you, y'know, Laxus can be a real jerk sometimes 's what I was tryna tell Erza. He shouldn't've done that."

"You stopped him right in time, it was only a peck, really," Lucy felt herself tense, not really sure how to feel talking about a kiss with a different person in front of Natsu. His jaw seemed to clench ever so slightly before he spoke.

"He was trying to provoke me, he always is," Natsu turned away with the slightest sour expression. "But I can't believe he did that! I swear, Erza should've let me finish the job…"

Lucy felt her cheeks redden, wanting to share that she didn't really even think of it as a kiss. Their kiss, his kiss, now that was one she would never forget. And having him stand here in front of her…in the middle of the night…while she was in her nightgown…the books she used to read were filling her head with all sorts of different ideas.

"Thank you," Lucy managed to say, feeling ever so small underneath his gaze. "For protecting me."

"'Course, Lucy! I'd do a-anything…for ya,"

She swallowed the lump in her throat at the sound of his words. What was that supposed to mean? She knew he would do anything for any member of the guild, so he probably meant that. There couldn't be a deeper meaning to it since, once again, they had just met. Lucy didn't want to let herself get too hopeful.

She nodded slowly, clasping her hands together as she awkwardly fiddled with them. What now? Should she say goodnight? But it wasn't exactly like she wanted him to leave. This was Natsu, for crying out loud! If anything she wished he was allowed to come in so they could have more time to talk to each other.

"I should go, huh? It's pretty late, I only came by cuz I couldn't sleep. And I wanted to make sure you were okay." She noticed the step he took towards her, Lucy's body subconsciously taking a step of its own.

"I couldn't sleep either. Actually…I wanted to see you, even if it was just for a second." Her tongue felt heavy as she spoke, feeling a twinge of dreamy dizziness settle between them.

"Y-Yeah? How come?"

"I wanted to ask," When had she begun to move backward? So much so that her back was against the closed glass balcony door. Was he leaning in, or was it just her imagination? Could she really smell his charcoal and smoky scent under her nose, or was this all really just a dream? Would she wake up before they had a chance to kiss again? "To ask…why you kissed me."

He stopped just before their lips could brush against each other, the blonde quivering, thinking she might instead silence his answer.

"Kiss?"

"Don't you remember? This afternoon," Her stomach twisted verily, her nerves on edge as he put some distance back between them.

"Is that what that was? I didn't know it had a name," He pursed his lips, thinking to himself before looking back at Lucy. "I dunno why, actually. After you did it first I wanted to do it again. And then it felt even better once I gotta feel your lips and taste your tongue. And I wanted to do it more but Mira reminded me where we were."

Lucy felt her newly toned skin flush heavily at his words, Natsu carelessly tossing his thoughts around.

"So you kissed me because I kissed you?"

"Guess so," Natsu shrugged, his gaze still enough to tie her into a knot. "I didn't really think about it. I knew what I wanted and went for it."

"...You wanted to kiss me?" Her ears and the tips of her nose burned as he nodded at her vaguely innocent question, years of her build up want crying out for her to plant one on him without another word.

"Not sure why," He fell into her field of vision again, the brick wall cold against her skin as he neared her lips. "Somethin's telling me I need to kiss ya, Luce. Can't explain it, not one bit. Is that okay?"

I did want to keep Natsu a little oblivious since Peter Pan and first kisses are such a thing, and while this story has a pretty action-y plot planned, it's also about dragon mating stuff eep

That live action Peter Pan kiss still has my heart in absolute turmoil!