Here's part 2! I'm so shocked and happy with how many people liked this! Thank you so much!
This story now has a few pieces of fan art! go to ultimate-milk-sandwich and tooironictohandle on tumblr to find them! they can also be found on my page under the tag fic art
Fairy Tail and it's characters belong to Hiro Mashima
Dear Natsu,
I loved the flowers. They were beautiful. I put them on the coffee table in my living room. They really brighten up the place. Lilies are my absolute favorite, these are perfect.
I'm glad you like the shirt. It looked really snug! Are you sure you like them that tight It took me forever to find that chocolate, you better enjoy it!
And lucky for you, PINK just happens to be my favorite color. I would never make fun of it, or you for that matter.
How was Christmas for you? I hope you got a good meal, you and all the guys there deserve it. Did you hear from your brother?
Oh, and I told my dad about you when we had dinner. He was happy. Even said he would include 'Operation Gratitude' in his charity event. Our dinner was good. We almost burnt the ham though. It was hysterical. My day with my friends was great! It was so much fun, we hardly ever get to hang out anymore. My friend Juvia is pregnant, her husband about passed out.
And I know it's probably past by the time you read this, but have a Happy New Year.
Love, Lucy
She blushed as the put on bright pink lipstick and kissed the paper next to her name, leaving a perfect mark. Who would have ever guessed she would start to really like a man she never met.
Yo Lucy!
Glad you like 'em. I was kinda worried. I remember you saying they were yer favorites. So I thought the Christmas ones would be OK. And all girls love roses. I promise I liked the shirt! It fits just right! And trust me, I'm cherishing the hell out of these chocolates. But hey, that smell that was on the shirt, was that perfume or something? It's really strong. Smells good though. Kinda coconut-y. I've been sleeping in it, helps me sleep better as a matter of fact.
SALMON. It's SALMON. Not pink. But if that's your favorite color that's cool, I can live with that. Mine's red! I want red flames for a tattoo somewhere. Haven't decided what yet. I already got a couple. Pretty sure a lady like you ain't got any right? ;)
It was OK. We got a really big lunch, and that night we watched a few of those old Christmas movies. Ya know, the ones with that old timey animation? That was fun. Other than that I was working out all day, keeping my mind off the fact that I wasn't at home. Zeref sent me some home made cookies! And some clothes and other shit I need. He always gives me actual gifts when I get home. He told me he proposed to his girlfriend, Mavis.
Tell yer dad thanks. Had a pretty good new year, a lot of the guys got drunk! You wouldn't believe how many of them made out.. and just an FYI, I don't drink nor did I kiss random people.
Love, Natsu
(Thanks for that kiss ;3)
Lucy blushed. She wondered if he put his lips to her kiss..
"OK!" Lucy smacked her cheeks a few times, "Get your head out of the clouds!"
A few weeks later came a dreaded time for a single editor, Valentines Day. For weeks all she saw and wrote about were couples in love or couples fighting or having babies. Couples, couples, couples.
She felt bad that she vented to Natsu in her last letter. She sent a whole extra page about it. It was mostly her guy friends asking what they she get their wives. She was the single one, why were they asking her!?
So when the day of love arrived, Lucy was planning on staying home in her jammies all day and watching lame romantic comedies with Plue. What she wasn't expecting was a delivery.
"Thank you!" she called to the man who placed a decent sized box on her doorstep with the rest of her mail.
Groaning at the few bills she got, she pulled open the box. Inside was a pure white teddy bear. It had a red bow tie with white polka dots.
"Natsu.." now she felt really bad, she didn't even think to send him anything. But would that have been weird? Since she never really told him she kinda, maybe, sorta had a little crush on him.
"Ruff, ruff," Plue jumped up, trying to see what was in the box.
"You silly puppy," she picked him up and put him on the table, taking the bear out of the box yet keeping it out of reach of his claws.
"Isn't he cute?" she snuggled it close, sad that it came from a store in town rather than a place where he could pick it out himself.
She was about to look in the box to see if there was anything else when someone knocked on her front door.
"Again?" she picked up Natsu's letter and went to answer it.
"Miss Heartfilia?" the delivery man asked, handing her the form to sign and a box of chocolates, a fancy box of chocolates.
"Yes.." her face was on fire as she signed her name and took the flowers.
"Have a good day, ma'am."
He sent her roses. Red roses. White roses. Pink roses. The bouquet was almost too big. But, they weren't as big as the heart of the man who sent them. Hell, he didn't even know what she looked like and he was sending her all these romantic gifts.
Placing the flowers on the coffee table in the same vase from Christmas, she tore open his letter and got comfy on the couch.
Yosh, hey Lucy!
Ditch yer friends! Let 'em fend for themselves! Geez, talk about heartless..
Who cares if yer single? I've never had a girlfriend and I don't care.
All the guys around here are being mushy and reading poems ans shit. It's making me sick. Most of them call their wives and talk lovey dovey for hours. And hell, listen to this. Zeref called and wanted to know what he should get Mavis. How the hell am I supposed to know? She's his fiancee!
Uh. Anyway. I know ya may not want it, but I sent ya something. No girl deserves to be sad on Valentines Day or her birthday or Christmas or any day really. That's what my dad always told me. And look close in the box! It has more than one thing in it! And the flowers, hope ya like 'em.
With love from afar, Natsu
At the bottom he had drawn a pretty good dragon blowing smoke out of it's nostrils, the smoke made a heart.
Lucy pressed the paper to her face to hide her blush.
"This is crazy!" Lucy put the letter next to the flowers and went back to the kitchen, "I've never met him! I can't like someone I've never met!"
But the truth was, she did. She liked him a lot. A lot more than she should. She wouldn't admit it, but she was counting down the days til he came home.
"Huh? What's this?" she reached into the box and pulled out a book.
It was a children's story book of fairy tales, but the book centered on dragons, good dragons. The book looked old and worn. She flipped open the cover..
To Natsu, Happy Birthday!
Love, Dad
It was his book.
Her lips trembled as she turned the pages. They were faded and frail, some pages had stains on them. It was old, but she could tell it had been well taken care of.
The only page that was dog eared was near the back. It was a story about a dragon, that fell in love with a princess.
"That's.. really sweet.." she placed the book and teddy bear next to the chocolate on the couch. She stared at the gorgeous flowers as she waited to for her friends to respond to her group text.
Lucy: I need help. ASAP!
She reread his letter. It made her heart flutter. Her phone got bombarded with messages of 'what's wrong' and 'what is it' and one from Erza saying 'who do i need to kill?'. She finally explained the whole story to them, then asked what she should send back.
Cana: a pic of you in something smexy!
Juvia: homemade chocolate! Juvia can help!
Levy: He sent you a book! That's so cute. You should send him one back!
Mira: how adorable! I agree with Cana, but just a regular picture should work.
Erza: you need to think of something more practical. Perhaps Valentines boxers?
Lucy: no chocolates. no book. definitely no picture! and i'd feel really uncomfortable sending him underwear..
Cana: send him some lingerie and say you'll wear it for him when he comes home ;)
Lucy: NO!
Mira: That's mean, Cana
Levy: That's so inappropriate!
Erza: Agreed
Juvia: what if you send him an invitation?
Lucy: invitation?
Juvia: Yes! Tell him you want to meet him, invite him over for dinner! Or whatever Lucy wants to do
Erza: that's actually a very nice idea
Lucy: wow
Levy: Do that, Lu! you could cook for him!
Mira: a home cooked mean would probably be something he hasn't had in a while. Good thinking, Juvia!
Juvia: *^^*
Lucy: Thank you, Juvia! That's perfect
Cana: still think ya need to send him lingerie..
Lucy: ABSOLUTELY NOT!
Dear Natsu,
Thank you so much for the book. I can't wait to read it. My mother used to read me fairy tales all the time, but I've never seen one like this. As soon as you get him I'll give it back to you, it looks important.
And the flowers, Natsu they are stunning! Are you picking these out? If you are, then you have excellent taste. All my friends are jealous, you get brownie points.
I'm sorry all the love sick guys are making you sick. Poor baby.
I couldn't think of anything to send you back, but I do have a gift, I suppose.
When you come home, would you like to have dinner with me? I'm a pretty good cook. I can make you anything you want. Even spicy chicken.
stay safe,
Love, Lucy
She blushed the whole time she was writing and putting the letter in the mail box.
She just asked a man who she had never met, who was thousands of miles away, on a date.
By this time, Lucy knew the time his letter would arrive down to the second. But the day it was scheduled to arrive, it wasn't there.
She took a deep breath, not going to think about it. Sometimes mail got mixed up.
But the next few days, it still didn't arrive. The thought of what could have happened refused to leave her mind. She was beginning to panic.
A week after his letter was supposed to arrive, she finally got a dusty letter in the mail. It didn't look any different, except the handwriting wasn't the semi-sloppy scrawl she was used to
Dear Lucy,
Natsu broke his right hand a few weeks ago. I found him trying to write this letter by himself. It took a week, but I finally let me write it for him. I'm Sting by the way, I've heard a lot about you.
He says he's sorry if he made you worry. That's the last thing he wanted to do. He's been super freaked about it. Almost broke his other hand because of it.
He's super happy you liked the book, he thought you would. And the flowers, good. He said that yeah, he does get to pick them himself. He's happy your friends are jealous. He's sitting in front of me with a red face. He didn't want me to know all this :P but really, he is happy. Happier than I've ever seen him.
WE ARE NOT LOVE SICK! I MISS MY WIFE! SUE ME!
These are his words exactly: I'll anything if you cook it, Lucy. I'll definable take you up on that offer. I'm literally going to count down the days until I can meet you and eat a home cooked meal, damn it's gonna be good.
Natsu, and Sting!
P.S. this is Sting. Natsu doesn't know I added this. He's been kinda down in the dumps for a while. He always get like this near the end. Don't know if you want to, but why don't you Skype call him? You can talk to him for an hour. It would cheer him up a lot. Thanks!
He broke his hand. That relieved her more than anything. But it didn't stop her from feeling giddy. He wanted to eat her cooking! She was actually going to meet him in a few months.
She bit her thumb nail, glancing at her computer. Sting had left a number and times when she could reach them.. And that time was in about 5 minutes..
"Dragneel! Skype call!" Lucy flinched, the man in charge of Natsu and it was terrifying.
She was so nervous. He told her he had minimized the screen so Natsu would have to pull it up. She would see him before he saw her. The commander and all the others were happy Natsu had someone to talk to.
"Me? Ya sure?" a voice asked, it was a light, full of happiness yet strength. She had never heard it before, but she knew it was him.
"Yes, I'm sure. Go on. You have an hour," the short commander told him, leaving the private room.
She looked down at her keyboard. She wasn't sure she could do this.
"Zeref if it's you I'm gonna be pissed, I'm tired," she heard him mumble. Then she heard a few clicks, "uh.." she heard his breath catch. Looking through her bangs, she saw him. His eyes were wide, mouth wide open, pink on his tan cheeks. He looked no different than his picture. Hair was still in a ponytail, but this time she saw ink on the side of his neck, peeking out from his t-shirt.
"um.. uh.." he closed his eyes tight then opened them wide, "You're.. uh.."
"Hey, Natsu," she smiled at his shocked face, he was better than she imagined.
"Lucy?!"
She laughed, what was she so nervous about?
"Is that really you?"
"Yes, It's me. Sting told me we could Skype. So.. here I am."
"Bastard. I'll have to kick his ass," he was laughing though, rubbing his neck with his eyes closed, his cheeks still pink, "he coulda told me."
"He said you were a little down and that I might be able to cheer you up."
"Yeah," he coughed, "well, yer different than I imagined ya to be."
"Oh," she flushed, unsure of how to take that. Maybe she was right to think he was too cute to talk to her.
"Yer a lot prettier. Yer pretty beautiful, actually," he looked down, he appeared bashful, "kinda surprised yer single.. and talking to someone like me.."
She was in an ordinary t-shirt, had hastily thrown her hair in a low side ponytail and not a lick of make up on, and he called her beautiful?
"Thank you," she played with the ends of her hair, "I honestly thought the same when I got your picture."
Said picture was now on her refrigerator.
"For real?!" he laughed deeply, like he couldn't believe she said that. He raised his hand to wipe his tears out of his eyes.
"What happened to you hand?" the cast went up to mid forearm, and it was camo style.
"Oh yeah," he held it up for her to see better, "during workouts, I was helping a rookie. He dropped the wight on my hand."
"Oh my," her hand hurt just thinking about it," That's terrible. Are you OK? I mean, that must have hurt so much."
Natsu just laughed, the sound was so uplifting, "I'm fine, Lucy. I mean, yeah. It hurt. A lot. I may have cried.. But to be honest, I was more upset that I wouldn't get to write to you."
He turned his head to the side, hiding his blush. Lucy blushed herself.
"I should be the last thing on your mind," even though the butterflies wouldn't leave her stomach.
"Are you kidding? You writing to me is the best thing that's happened to me. Course I'm gonna think about you."
Lucy raised her hands to cover her burning cheeks, he didn't look embarrassed at all when he said that.
"Lucy, seriously," his eyes softened as he watched her, "I've told you before that I don't have anyone but Zeref back home. Your letter is the only thing I have to look forward to these days."
"That's so sad," Lucy whispered, "Well, you don't have to worry about that anymore. And in about two more months you'll be home."
"Yosh! Ain't that the truth!" he fist bumped the air, "I can't wait! And I get a home cooked meal the first time I meet you, right?"
'Damn, he's good,' his puppy eyes were on point.
"Yes, Natsu. I am going to cook for you," she giggled as he broke into a happy dance, "what do you like to to eat?"
Her one question turned into many, from both sides. She learned more about him in that one call than she had in any of his letters.
"Alright Dragneel, 5 more minutes," the short commander shouting, startling her solider.
"Oh, OK," Natsu turned to Lucy, and she could see sadness gather in his eyes, "guess I better go."
"Yeah," she didn't want him to, "I better get started on your letter."
That perked him up, "You're still gonna write to me?"
"Of course I will, why wouldn't I?"
His tan cheeks couldn't hide the bright red that bloomed on his face, "well, uh..," he laughed, "Thanks, Lucy."
She leaned closer to the screen, "I'll see you when you get home, OK?"
"Yosh! You got it!" he smiled a crooked, fanged grin, "Later, Lucy."
"Bye, Natsu."
The next day, Lucy sent her letter off. She felt happier than she had in years. And to make time go by faster, she decided to hone her cooking skills. She got Mira's ultra secret hot sauce recipe too, thanks to some begging and a article for her restaurant. Not that it needed advertisement, Mira just wanted to take pictures of Laxus working.
Natsu wanted a specific traditional home cooked meal: chicken, corn, mashed potatoes, beans, slaw, home made rolls, and a fresh apple pie. Last time he has something like this his father was alive.
Lucy's kitchen skills defiantly improved by the the time his next letter was scheduled to come.. but it didn't.
"I thought Sting would write it for him again.." but she didn't worry. She wouldn't let herself worry.
She occupied her time by working on articles, getting interviews, cleaning, shopping, and anything else. But still a week went by and she heard nothing.
"OK Lucy, don't panic.. if something happened, someone would tell you.. right?" she wasn't too sure, since she wasn't family..
She laid in bed one night, looking up at the ceiling and just thought of everything that had happened the last few months. Having Natsu as a constant made her happier. She had never once met him, in person. But having his letter come every three weeks gave her hope for the future. His childlike personality came through his writing, it was contagious. She found herself fantasizing about dragons rather than princes these days.
Rolling to her side, she closed her eyes and prayed. Prayed that he was OK. She didn't care if she never got to meet him, or hug him, or run her fingers through his long hair, or check out his tattoos he never got around to telling her about, or even tell him about the feelings she just realized she had for him. She just wanted him to be OK.
The next day, her payers were answered. She ran to the door when she heard it drop to the floor. But still, no dusty letter. But another took it's place. From Zeref Dragneel.
Calming her nerved and keeping her tears away, she opened it.
Dear Lucy,
This letter probably isn't the one you wanted. But I assure you, it doesn't have the news you fear.
My brother was in an accident a few weeks back. They had him sent home immediately. He's been in the hospital ever since he arrived. His stuff only got here a few days ago and it took me a while to sort through it. I found an unopened letter from you. His accident was the day before it reached him, I'm afraid.
I will go ahead and tell you, he and a team of 3 were thrown out of a car by a roadside bomb. His leg was crushed under the weight of it, when they finally pulled him out his uniform had caught fire. The doctors did all they could, but they had to amputate his left leg.
He's told me so much about you and I can't thank you enough for writing to him. I'm sure he would like to see, or rather meet you. He'll be here for a few more days, but he's doing just fine.
Thank you, Lucy
Zeref
He included the information she would need to go to the hospital.
Lucy slid to the floor, covering her face as the tears spilled from her eyes. Plus sat next to her, rubbing his nose against her arm, crying with her.
Patting the pup's head, Lucy took a deep breath, "He's Ok.. he's OK.."
The next day, Lucy parked her car Magnolia General Hospital. Natsu had told her about this place a lot, since his brother worked here. But she never imagined this was where she would meet him for the first time.
Lucy stayed in her car so she could be calm when she went inside. She decided to be simple, yet cute today; she wore dark jeans, flip-flops, a white off-the-shoulder top, the sleeved rolling past her elbows. Her hair was in low pigtails. She knew it was ridiculous to care in this situation, but she wanted to look good for him. Even if he didn't feel the same.
Holding the book of dragon fairy tales close to her chest, she took the elevator to the fourth floor. Zeref had told her she could go in as soon as she arrived, she didn't have to go find him.
"Room 472," Lucy found the room rather quickly, "OK. Here goes.."
The door was slightly cracked, she gently pushed it open. She didn't want to startle him. But she didn't need to worry, he was asleep.
She walked in, staring in awe. It was one thing to write to him, another to see him via video chat. But it was much better in person.
His right hand was still in it's camo cast, his other hand had the heart monitor on his finger. Hair loose, reaching his shoulders, much longer than she thought it was, his bangs almost covered his eyes. He was in a plain t-shirt, the blanket pulled up to his waist. The bed was elevated a little Walking closer she could see his legs under the blanket.. and one stopped right at the knee..
Choking back a sob, she sat in the chair next to his bed, putting her purse and the book on his nightstand. She hesitated for a moment, but eventually she took his hand in hers.
"So warm," she squeezed his hand. She could feel the scars and calluses leave impression onto her own hands. His fingers were long, having little nicks all over them. Moving her eyes up his arm, she found more scars. Some larger than others, but they all told a story of survival. A story she wanted to know.
"Nnng," he winced and squirmed a bit, unconsciously gripping her hand tighter. When he stopped moving he must have noticed he wasn't alone. He turned to her and his eyes widened, his jaw going slack.
"..Lucy?"
"Hey, Natsu," she tightened her grip on him, "welcome home."
He just stared at her, she could see his eyes perfectly. They were such a dark green they appeared black. He fell back on to his pillow, still looking at her, "Hey. good to be back.."
He then snorted, "not exactly the way I wanted to meet you."
Lucy's eyes drifted to his leg, it wasn't the way she was hoping for either, "You're still alive. That's all that matters."
"Yeah," he looked down at his hand still in hers, "that's all."
"So.." Lucy started, "How are you?"
He chuckled, motioning down to his legs.
"That wasn't a very smart question. Sorry.."
"Nah. I'm fine, good as I can be. I mean," he sat up straighter, "it sucks. I can't do.. anything. I can't even walk anymore."
He looked so defeated. She had learned that he hardly ever got sad or upset, seeing him like this broke her heart. She let go of his hand and stood.
Natsu watched in shock as she lifted his arm and put it on her shoulder as she sat next to him. She wrapped her arms around his waist, "I'm here."
Natsu stared down at her head, not really knowing how to handle this situation. But slowly, he wrapped his arms around her too. Nuzzling his nose into her hair, inhaling the scent he was afraid he would never know, "Heh. Yeah."
They stayed that way for a while, she rubbed his back when he shook. His arms tightened around her when he did. This may be her first time officially meeting him, but she knew him. And she knew it hurt. He was a solider, he was physical his whole life. She had a feeling he felt more loss than actual physical pain.
She distracted him by reading the book she brought. The familar story put him at ease, he held her to his chest the whole time she read.
"When do you get to leave?" she helped him get more comfortable as she got back in the chair.
"Tomorrow. I have to go with my brother to his place though. My apartment is on the 5th floor and no elevator. But it's not like I can live alone right now," he scoffed, crossing his arms, "But it'll be good to see Happy. I miss my buddy."
"Well at least you don't have to stay here any longer."
"No.." he groaned, "but I can't even do what I wanted to do.. when I got home.."
"And what's that?" she raised an eyebrow when his face flushed.
"..I was gonna ask you on a date.. go dancing or something.."
The butterflies danced in her tummy. Her heart fluttered with giddiness.
"But uh, gonna be a long time before I even walk again.. forget dancing.."
Lucy forgot her own excitement at the look of his disappointed face. Right.. but she didn't care. A smile blossomed on her face. Yeah, she didn't care about that. He asked her things she liked to do, and one thing she loved to do was dance. She never imagined he'd want to take her out dancing on a date.
He couldn't take her now, but she didn't care. What made her happy was that he was sitting right here in front of her. Just the fact that he brought it up lifted her spirits.
"That's OK. We can do a lot of stuff besides dancing," she flushed, realizing what that meant, "if you want to! I mean, we don't have to do anything! It's up to you!"
Natsu watched her sputter before laughing, "Of course I wanna."
Lucy smiled, still a little embarrassed. But there was no reason to be, everything was so east with Natsu around.
"Well I better go, you need rest," She giggled at his pouting face, but she saw the bandages and the way his eyes tried to close. She pulled out a business card of a man she wasn't going to call, and wrote her number on it, "Here. Um.. it feels kinda corny to say 'call me'."
"Yeah, it kinda would be," he laughed, taking the card from her.
"But, I'll see you soon," she quickly kissed his cheek and ran out of the room, missing him scratch his cheek where she kissed him, a goofy grin on his face.
She followed the signs down to his brothers office, knocking on the glass door when she found it.
A dark haired doctor looked up from multiple files on his desk, "Hello. How may I help you?"
"Hi, I'm Lucy. I just saw Natsu.."
"OH!" he jumped up and came towards her, "it's nice to finally meet you. Thank you for coming."
"It was my pleasure," she twiddled her thumbs," I actually wanted to ask you something.."
Lucy was putting the last touches on her dinning room table when she got a text, they were here.
Wiping her hands on a dish towel she ran to her door. A black Camry sat in her driveway, Zeref was standing with the backseat door open, holding crutches.
"Where the heck are we?" she could hear Natsu ask as she walked out to them.
"I told you it was a surprise," Zeref reached in the car to help steady him as he attempted to her out.
Coming from behind, she took the crutches, "can I help?"
Zeref smirked as he pulled Natsu to his foot, Lucy handed him the crutches so he wouldn't fall, "Lucy?" the pink haired solider looked around, "this your place?"
"It is," she had to look up ar him to see his face, even leaning on the crutches she only reached his collarbone, she would be at his shoulders with his full height, "shouldn't you be in a wheelchair?"
"He refused," Zeref handed a small bag to Lucy, "He's too stubborn for his own good."
She giggled, Natsu sent daggers at his brother, "You wanna tell me what's going on?" he then turned to Lucy, his cheeks pink, "Not that I'm not happy to see you or anything!"
"Mavis and I have some plans tonight. Some wedding planning. Lucy suggested you stay here for a few hours."
"So you're ditching me? Right now?" his tone was playful, but Lucy wasn't sure.
"No," Zeref sighed, "I know you don't want to hang out with us and you don't need to be home alone. I thought you might want to spend some time with Lucy. Since that's all you've talked about since Christmas.
"I HAVE NOT!"
"I'll be back later, take care of him Lucy."
"Jerk," Natsu's cheeks were brilliant red, she couldn't help but love him.
"Love?! Slow down girl!"
She placed a hand on his back, "Come on, I've got dinner on the table. Don't want it to get cold."
"Dinner? You.. cooked?" he moved slowly, favoring his right side.
"I told you I was going to. Have some faith in me," she walked with him, smiling at the childlike joy on his face.
"Yosh! I'm starving!" she thought he would depressed and not want to do anything, she had read stories about others who had lost their limbs. But it seemed like the fire was still there. Almost like he was taking it as a challenge. It was such a blessing to be around him, she was lucky to have met him.
She led him inside, she owned a one story house which made it easier for him too get around easily. He looked around her living room once he sat at the table.
"What are those things?" he asked, she put a soda in front of him. He was referring to the shadow boxes about her fireplace.
"My friend Cana made those for me. She flattened the flowers you sent me and put them together like that."
"Oh," he grinned, "that's really cool."
Lucy smiled, it should have been awkward between them. But she felt so at ease, so comfortable. Like he was supposed to be there.
She had never seen anyone eat as fast as Natsu. He had two servings of everything and three slices of pie. He thanked her immensely.
They were now on the couch, Natsu had taken his pain medicine and it made him a little drowsy.
"You're getting a prosthetic?"
"Yeah," he had Plue's head in his lap, the dog had taken a liking to him, "it'll take a while and even longer to get used to it. But I need to walk on my own."
He had his eyes closed, head leaning back on the couch. She ran her fingers through his hair, and it soothed him.
"Well I'm glad, I'm proud of you."
"Ain't nothing to be proud of," he turned his head towards her, gazing fondly at her, "but thanks."
"Do you know what you're going to do now?"
"..no. I got a lot saved up so I ain't gotta worry for a while. But I don't know.."
"Then don't think about it right now," she leaned closer to him, "focus on you and a new leg you'll have to get used to-"
Natsu closed the gap between them with a kiss. He brought a hand to her waist and the other behind her head to pull her closer.
Lucy stayed shocked for just a moment before returning the kiss. It was sweet, a little inexperienced, but she could feel his joy through the kiss.
"Uh, sorry," he pressed his forehead against hers, "just.. really wanted to do that."
She placed another soft kiss of his lips, "I did too. So you can focus on me too."
"Hell, I'm one lucky man, " he pulled her into his chest, hiding his grin in her hair.
"I'm pretty lucky too, but why do you say that?"
"Cause I was really angry the day I got your first letter. Just a bunch of stuff going on at the time, couldn't get it out of my head. I don't wanna talk about it.. but.. I got your letter. I didn't know you and you didn't know me. But reading it.. made me feel better. I wasn't angry anymore."
He never told her that, she couldn't even tell he was anything but a happy-go-lucky kind of person.
"This may sound.. silly. But even though I'm home permanently now.. will you still write to me?"
Lucy leaned up so she could see his face, he was grinning, eyes sparkling, "you want me to?"
"Yeah, might be old fashioned, but it meant a lot to me."
Lucy felt the butterflies flutter over her entire body, it had meant a lot to her too. She just didn't know how much until she stared into his eyes.
"I think I can do that, as long as you write back."
"I can handle that."
:) after all the love I got on here and on tumbr I hope I didn't disappoint anyone!
there will be an epilogue, and I'm thinking of doing more for this AU but I'm not sure yet..
Thank you for reading!