"Natsu! Nastsu!" A pair of blonde haired, green-eyed twins called for and raced towards the aforementioned male, who was just parking his motorcycle and pulling off his helmet. He had come to Lucy's house to help babysit her younger siblings. Their friends, Gray, Gajeel and Levy, had already arrived but Salamander was by far the fan-favorite. Gray was great with shadow puppets and Levy always had the best storybooks. Gajeel always had a song at the ready but Lucy and Natsu were the best tag-team storytellers at bed time. Gray and Levy groaned at the sight of their pink haired friend when he pulled up to the house.
"Great. Salamander's here. Let's all go home." The tall man said, voice dripping with ire.
"Lu, was there even a point to us coming over tonight?" Levy half-whined before wiggling her eyebrows. "Or did you just not want to be alone with Natsu?" she giggled. The blonde girl's face flushed red.
"Levvyyy!" she cried embarrassed.
"Natsu? Why does Mr. Gajeel call you Salamander?" one of the twins piped up.
"I told you pipsqueaks to stop calling me mister!" he yelled indignantly.
"How 'bout your sister and I tell you that story for bedtime? For now, it's time to build pillow forts with Mr. Gray!" Natsu cheered.
Lucy loved how good Natsu was with her younger siblings. After her father remarried, Luke and Ivy were born. Her new step-mother, Fauna, was only a little older than Lucy at 30, but she was nice enough and Lucy got along well with her.
"C'mon Lu~" Levy teased. "You know you imagine being yours and his kids someday."
"Levy! Not so loud! You know how good his hearing is! Besides, he doesn't see me that way." Lucy sighed. Levy had to resist physically face palming herself.
"Lu," Levy crooned. "You know he only does this with your siblings."
"Yeah, so he can act like a kid himself. It's not like he does it for me." Levy sighed and gently pulled her mopey friend into the house, following her tall, dark and scary boyfriend. Natsu and Gray had already pulled the chairs form the dining room and the cushions from the sofas as well as raided Lucy's hall closet for all the blankets. The two were well on their way to creating quite the fortress. Lucy's eyes widened at the spectacle.
"Wow, you guys are really going all out, aren't you?" the blonde asked rhetorically.
"Well, duh! How's an enormous dragon going to fit otherwise?" Natsu countered.
"Yeah! The dragon has to rescue the Princess from the evil wizard!" Ivy exclaimed. Lucy chuckled and playfully rolled her eyes.
"I think you mean the knight in shining armor."
"No way! Knights and Princes are boring! Fire dragons are awesome!" Luke added. Natsu grinned smugly and beamed with pride at the twins' argument.
"You've been listening to Flamebrain too much." Gray jeered.
"I don't know, Gray. Natsu has a point. Although, maybe an iron dragon. A dragon in shining armor." Levy giggled, not noticing Gajeel's blush or raised brow. Lucy sure didn't miss it as she chuckled and made a mental note to tease him about it later.
"I don't know, you guys." The blonde started, interrupting the argument that had been taking place between Gray and Natsu in the meantime. "They may have a point. A fire dragon would make things more exciting." Natsu's face lit up at the praise for his favorite thing in the world.
"C'mon Lucccyyy… Don't inflate his ego any more than it already is." Gray complained.
"You know, the Ice Wizard King in Adventure Time wasn't partial to pants either." Natsu snickered.
"GRAY FULLBUSTER! DON'T EVEN THINK ABOUT STRIPPING IN FRONT OF MY SIBLINGS!" Lucy bellowed. Gray immediately went ramrod straight and saluted her in fear before scrambling to fasten the drawstrings on his pants.
"Yes, ma'am!" he squeaked. Natsu then proceeded to laugh his ass off at his friend's expense before throw pillow beaned him in the face.
"What was that for, snow-for-brains?!"
"Sorry. There was something scary on your face and I didn't want to upset the kids. Turns out it was just how you look!" Natsu was about to launch his own attack before they both sensed a dark aura. Both slowly turned their heads towards the demonic presence, their arms still frozen in attack position.
"You're not about to fight in front of the twins, are you?" Lucy's voice was low and threatening.
"N-n-n-no, ma'am!" they stammered as they hugged each other.
"Good." Lucy said with a bright smile, her temper instantly gone. "I'm going to order pizza." She stated as she turned to the kitchen, followed by a giggling Levy.
"Damn. Bunny Girl's as scary as the red-head."
"She has got to stop hanging out with Erza so much." The three males visibly shuddered.
"Alright! Let's get this castle finished!" Natsu roused the others. He had a plan for this castle later. He'd get Lucy to be his girlfriend tonight if it was the last thing he did. He had already talked to the others. Levy is going to conveniently have a bookstore emergency and need to leave, Gajeel of course, going with her. Gray was going to have his phone blown up with calls from Juvia and leave shortly after that. Leaving him to have this little game with Lucy and the kids. Once the 'castle' was finished, they brought out posters, markers and crayons to make the 'evil wizard' for the play. They were just about finished with their project when the doorbell rang.
"PIZZA!" Everyone but Lucy and Levy shouted as the three teen boys scrambled to get to the door first. In their haste, they lodged themselves tightly in the narrow walkway between the kitchen and the hall.
"Move!"
"No way in hell! You move!"
"Get your elbow outta my gut!"
"Get your gut outta my elbow!"
Lucy sighed at their antics, completely used to it at this point, and used the other exit to walk around them to the front door, Levy and the twins at her heels. As the blonde answered the door, a resounding thud was heard behind her as the boys finally collapsed on top of each other on the floor.
"Hey, gorgeous! Your brave knight has arrived with dinner! Where shall we dine? At the table with candles? Under the stars by moonlight? By the-"
"How 'bout the Lonely Hearts diner on the other side of town?" A growl was heard interrupting the delivery boy.
"Oh, Natsu! Didn't see ya there! You must frequent that place a lot to recommend it!" A menacing snarl passed Natsu's mouth before he attempted to lunge at the threat, I mean, competition. Lucy grabbed the pizzas and blocked Natsu by shoving the boxes into his hands.
"Thanks, Loke." The blonde said exasperatedly. Between Loke's flirting and Natsu's overprotectiveness, she wasn't sure how much more of this she could take. She turned Natsu around and gave him a gentle shove towards the kitchen. As she began to shut the door, a hand slapped itself on the surface, ceasing its closure.
"But, Lucy-" Loke started.
"You know to just put it on the tab, Loke." Lucy said, fatigue saturating her tone, not even looking at the orange-haired male.
"But, Princess, what about my tip?"
At this, the girl finally turned to see the delivery boy puckering his lips at her with his eyes closed and body leaning towards her. He eyes widened at his forwardness but before she could react further a deep voice roared.
"Here's a tip: GET LOST!" Natsu bellowed as he slammed the door closed, hard enough for the windows to rattle. Natsu stood facing the door, taking slow deep breaths to in order to calm himself. Lucy was frozen in shock. Sure, the pinkette was protective but she had never seen him react that badly before.
"N-Natsu?" He took one last breath just as Lucy hesitantly reached out to touch his shoulder. He abruptly turned to her with a forced grin.
"Let's eat, Luce! I'm starved!" Natsu grabbed her wrist and started for the kitchen before she ripped herself from his grasp.
"No! What the hell was that Natsu?!"
"Whaddya mean?" he chuckled nervously.
"You know exactly what I mean! Why did you blow up like that?!" Levy was passing out pizza on plates to the twins while Gajeel and Gray stuffed their faces sitting on the ground, enjoying the show that was just starting.
"He was annoying you and wouldn't take a hint so I closed the door. I handled it. What are you so upset about?"
"You did NOT just close the door, Natsu! You nearly busted it off its hinges and almost shattered the windows!" Natsu rolled his eyes and crossed his arms over his chest as his temper started to flare when she wouldn't drop the subject.
"It wasn't that ba-" he started before he was interrupted.
"Loke flirts with me all the time, Natsu, as well as any other woman he sees. You know I don't take it seriously! And you've never reacted this way!"
"Lucy, drop it." Natsu said as all humor and facades left his face.
"No! I won't drop it! Your protectiveness is getting out of control! I know we're best friends Natsu, but what are you going to do when I actually want to flirt back? When I actually like someone back? Or when I want to get married? You can't just run off every guy that-" Natsu finally snapped.
"BECAUSE I AM IN LOVE WITH YOU, OKAY?!" The blonde fell silent at the eruption.
"W-what?" she meekly replied.
"I've been in love with you for ten years." He said calmly.
"What do you-"
"Ever since we were kids, Luce. I've been in love with you. That's why I lost it today, okay? Hearing Loke call you his princess today just did it in for me. You're my princess. And I'm your dragon, right?" He practically whimpered the last sentence. "I can't see you with anyone else, Luce. My heart couldn't take it."
Lucy was speechless. Natsu was in love with her? This dense idiot who only liked to eat, fight and goof off? This boy who couldn't pick up hints if they were dropped in a bucket? This boy who saved her from bullies on the playground when they were kids? The same man who she had been in love with since then? Her heart was about to burst from happiness!
"Look, I get it. You don't feel the same, a-and I'll do my best not to get in your way." His heartbroken tone jerked her out of her thoughts. That's right. She hadn't answered him yet.
"You're right." Natsu jerked his head up and stared at her with anguish in his eyes. She could practically hear his heart crack, so she put him out of his misery. "You are my dragon." The pink haired teen dared to hope again. "And it is always more fun when we're together."
"You mean.." Natsu trailed off, hoping against hope that he was right. Lucy bit her bottom lip shyly as she nodded her head. Natsu's eyebrows disappeared into his hairline as she said the words.
"I love you, too, Natsu. I always have."
"YES!" he shouted at the top of his lungs, his arms fisted in the air as he raised them straight in the air. Lucy giggled at his reaction as he picked her up and spun her around in pure joy.
"UUUGGGHHHH!" Gray groaned as if he just off-loaded the biggest weight.
"FINALLY! Damn, the tension between you two idiots was getting to be unbearable!" Gajeel yelled.
"Yay! I'm so happy for you, Lu!" Oh, yeah. Those guys were still here.
"Oh! H-hi guys!" Lucy stuttered and waved as she was still wrapped in Natsu's embrace.
"Well, now that that's settled, we're no longer needed here." Gajeel stated as he walked to the door. "C'mon, Shrimp!"
"Bye, Lu! Tell me everything later!" The bluenette told her as she skipped after her boyfriend.
"I'm outta here, too, Fire Freak. Have fun with the Tiny Terrors." Gray smirked at Natsu.
"You're just jealous they like me more than you!"
"You wish, you walking tobacco bottle."
"Say that again, Stripper!"
"Bye, Gray! See ya tomorrow!" Lucy shoved the shirtless boy-wonder out of the house before a fight broke out. She sighed and leaned against the door before her eyes landed on Natsu. A grin broke out on both their faces.
"So, um…" she started.
"Now, the Princess has to kiss the dragon who saved her!" her sister cried happily.
"Yeah, and they live happily ever after!" her brother continued.
"You heard 'em, Luce! You gotta kiss the dragon!" Natsu chimed in with a huge grin. Lucy blushed heavily.
"Okay but you have to close your eyes first." She said as she slowly leaned forward. Natsu's eyes widened as before leaning in and obeying her request. Lucy peeked an eye open before quickly pecking his cheek before scampering off to the kitchen. His eyes popped open and he quickly turned his head following her movements before chasing after her. The kids giggled and cheered as they watched their two favorite people chase each other around the kitchen. Natsu finally caught up to her and wrapped his arms around her waist.
"Hey Lucy?" Just as the girl turned to face him, she felt a pair of warm lips press against her own. She squeaked in surprise before melting into the embrace. Their kiss broke to the sound of squeals, giggles and 'eewww's' from the twins. Onyx eyes met brown for a tender moment before a loud growl interrupted them.
"I told you I was starving." Lucy playfully smacked his shoulder.
"You dummy." She giggled. The two then joined the two young blondes in devouring the rest of the pizzas before playing a few more games and of course not letting them go to bed without fulfilling the promise of the Origins of Salamander.
"Okay, kids. A salamander is a type of lizard associated with fire common in many legends, folklore and cultures. So, since I love dragons and I can do this…" he trailed off as he walked to his motorcycle and grabbed the bottle of paraffin he keeps on him for occasions such as this. They had all moved to the front yard for his demonstration. He took a swig of the liquid and positioned his Zippo lighter in front of his mouth. Crouching low, arms spread for dramatic effect, he blew the fluid through the flame creating a great plume of fire into the sky, giving the appearance of being able to breathe fire like a dragon.
"WHHOOOAAA!" Luke and Ivy screamed. "You really are a dragon, Natsu!"
"Yes, I am! And now it's time for the mighty dragon to put the pesky kids to bed! Rawr!"
"AAGGHH!" the kids shrieked as they ran into the house and up the stairs, hopping into their beds before Natsu could catch them.
"I'll finish tucking them in." Lucy said as she rolled her eyes softly. "I'll see you tomorrow at school Natsu."
"See ya tomorrow, Luce." He pulled her close to him and wrapped his arms around her. Pressing his lips to hers, he gave her the passionate kiss he'd been dreaming of. They parted when they realized that oxygen is an essential component to living.
"I love you."
"I love you, too."
"Sweet dreams, my princess."
"Sweet dreams, my mighty dragon." He pecked her lips once more before tearing himself away from her. If he didn't, he'd never leave. Walking up to his motorcycle, he threw his leg over the side and picked his helmet up. He blew her one more kiss before donning his headgear and bringing the engine to life. He pulled off and Lucy watched as he rounded the corner and drove off out of sight. Lucy entered the house and closed the door. Leaning against it and sliding down until she sat on the floor, she sighed in bliss.
"Yeah, I'll be having sweet dreams, alright." She thought to herself as a smile bloomed across her face.