Nice short one this time.

Enjoy!

#15 Temperature

"Come on, Lucy! I said I was sorry! How long are you gonna stay in there?" When no response came, Natsu dug his heel into the snow in frustration and ran to catch up with Horologium, who was trudging resolutely ahead of him at a surprising speed. "That yeti almost had you! I had to do something," Natsu went on in an exasperated voice. "How was I supposed to know the ice would melt that easily?" He hadn't meant for her to fall into the frozen lake – the ice must have been thinner than it looked and maybe his attack had been bigger than it needed to be, but that didn't change the fact that it was an accident. Still, apology or no, Lucy clearly wasn't happy. No sooner had Natsu pulled her out of the icy water than she shoved him away and immediately summoned Horologium, trapping herself safely inside the spirit's glass case.

When Natsu finally caught up with the giant grandfather clock and was able to see inside, he noticed Lucy had huddled herself into a tight ball and wrapped her damp coat around her body, which was shivering visibly. He bit his lip and felt a pang of guilt when he saw how pale her skin was. "At least come out so I can dry you off," he said, summoning a bright orb of warm flames around his left hand.

"'Are you nuts? Keep that disastrous fire away from me!' she says," Horologium reported dutifully as Lucy's mouth formed silent words, a furious look on her face.

Natsu clucked his tongue in annoyance, scowling. "You can't stay in there forever," he said. Lucy only raised her eyebrows as if to say, 'Watch me'. "We should find some kind of shelter," he went on when she didn't reply, turning and scanning his eyes along the snowy mountain path. "You can ignore me all you want when we get there, but you still need to get warm somehow." Lucy huffed silently and he took that to mean she agreed.

Before long they came across a small cave carved out of the mountain and made their way inside. It was empty, thankfully (you never could tell with these mountain caves, after all; sometimes they were home to the strangest things), so Natsu quickly gathered some wood from the area and lit a fire. He was glad to see Lucy finally step out of the clock's chamber and dismiss the spirit, but instead of coming to sit by the fire she dropped herself onto the cold ground on the opposite side of cave, turning her back and facing the cave mouth.

Natsu sighed evenly, irritated by her stubbornness. Didn't she realize she was putting herself in danger? "Look, you're gonna get sick if you don't at least dry off," he pointed out, folding his arms in front of him.

"And whose fault is that?" Lucy shot back, still facing away from him.

"I'm sorry! Okay? How many times do I have to say it?"

"A few more. I'm still mad at you."

Natsu bit his tongue and growled in frustration. This isn't working, he admitted to himself. But I've got to help her somehow… Time for a new approach, I guess. "Fine," he said aloud. "If you won't come over here, then I'll bring the warmth to you."

As he started toward her, Lucy tensed and turned her head to the side. "Don't you dare—!" She jumped to her feet and tried to run, but was halted with a squeal when Natsu caught her from behind, wrapping his arms around her tightly and holding her in place. "Let go of me!" she ordered, her voice breaking from the cold.

"Not until you stop shivering," he replied adamantly, allowing his hands and arms to heat up just enough to try and evaporate some of the icy water that still clung to her clothes and skin. She squirmed in his grip and managed to drive her elbow hard into his stomach, causing him to grunt at the sharp pain. "Ouch! Watch it, will ya?" he grumbled.

"Oh, I'm sorry," she said in a tone that showed clearly how not sorry she was. "Did that hurt?" She turned her face to the side and smirked at him.

He mirrored her expression. "Coat off," he said. "Now."

"Oh, now you want to strip me, too?" she said dryly, her eyes gleaming with mirth. "What part of 'I'm mad at you' don't you understand?"

"I said 'coat'," he repeated, "then maybe we'll talk about the rest of it." To his relief, Lucy stopped fighting him just long enough for him to pull the damp coat from her cold body and toss it to the stony floor. The instant she was free, however, she darted forward a few steps and stooped down to the ground near the front of the cave.

Thinking she'd returned to her silent fuming, Natsu opened his mouth to speak when suddenly she jumped back to her feet and spun around, flinging an armful of snow at her partner. He barely saw her evil grin before the snow hit him full in the face, causing him to stumble backward in surprise. On the third step, he tripped over a rock and fell backward – right into the fire he'd built to keep them warm.

With an alarmed yell, he rolled to the side, brushing snow from his face and beating the flames from the back of his vest at the same time. With a scowl, he pulled himself to a sitting position and looked over to see Lucy laughing hysterically.

"Ha, ha," Natsu said sarcastically, pulling off his burned and ruined vest and tossing it into the fire. He rolled his shoulder as the soreness from the minor burn on his back died down. "You made your point."

"That worked out better than I could have hoped," Lucy admitted, still giggling as she strode over to where Natsu sat by the fire. "I guess I can forgive you now." When the light from the flickering flames reflected in her eyes, he saw a familiar excited mischief in them that was much more inviting than her icy glare from earlier that day. Before he could comment on it, she placed a hand against his chest and shoved him onto his back. She straddled his waist and said, "Besides, looks like we're even," before leaning down and forcing her mouth against his with a hungry fervor.

When they separated, Natsu glanced up at Lucy with a smirk and said, "You know what that means?" She raised an eyebrow and he pulled her down next to him onto her back, before rolling onto his hands and knees above her and yanking her wet shirt over her head. "We go into overtime," he finished with an evil grin, and she laughed as he lowered his head to kiss her again.

Maybe there was a way he could help her warm up, after all.

Short and sweet :) Shoot me a review on your way out!

Later, taters!

-oMM