"No way! Look, Natsu, a field with wildflowers!" Lucy's face lit up as she excitedly pointed towards the grassland. Natsu had to squint due to the sun shining in his eyes, but just as she said there were small flowers in different colours gently protruding from the soft grass, almost as if they were peeking out from the long winter to see if their season finally had arrived.
Happy was quick to fly to one of the trees standing in the field. It almost stuck out like a sore thumb, but the pearly white flowers in it made it fit in nicely. Natsu and Lucy eagerly followed him. It was about time they got to rest, their feet were sore and they were tired after the long day. Lucy took a seat with the tree trunk as her backrest, taking the opportunity to continue with the book she brought on their mission. Natsu took his chance to take a quick nap in the sun, allowing the soft grass to act as a mattress.
The three mages were currently on their way home after an easier mission in Hargeon, and Lucy had agreed to walk all the way home since the job had required them to take several vehicles. Lucy thought Natsu deserved the break, and since the weather forecast told them the weather would be good all weekend, she didn't actually mind the hike, especially considering how beautiful the landscape became during these weeks. The change in scenery actually inspired Lucy and she easily got a few more chapters done thanks to nature. While the transport issue might have been the main reason, it wasn't the only reason Lucy agreed to walk with them home. She loved to spend this special quality time with her two best friends.
Natsu didn't know this though. He just felt lucky that Lucy didn't force him to take a train home - not that he wouldn't do what she asked at the end of the day, he knew Lucy didn't always pick the most comfortable shoes for every mission. He actually appreciated how considerate she was. Most of the time she would complain when Happy and Natsu started begging to walk home, but she compromised a lot with them. "I'll do it if you promise to let me have a few breaks on the way" and "We can walk home if you agree to cook food for me for at least 5 days" were sentences they heard on numerous occasions, and thankfully Natsu and Happy could agree to simple requests like that.
Natsu could only think about that far before the warm breeze and the smell of freshly growing grass lulled him to sleep. The rhythmic sound of Lucy turning pages and Happy's purring from Lucy's lap topped the cake and he drifted off in complete bliss.
Lucy had just finished a quite satisfying chapter and was not sleepy at all. The landscape in front of her was the best muse she had gotten in a while, so she picked up her notebook and started writing her ideas. A smile graced her face as she excitedly closed the notebook again. She'd have to convince Team Natsu to stay at home a few days more so she could properly write these ideas down. The sky above her was a light shade of blue, a shade that could only be seen at this time, right before lunchtime. Small fluffy clouds embraced the blue yonder and she wondered what her spirits were seeing from the celestial world. Was the view as beautiful as it is from here? Or is it even prettier from afar?
As the wind grabbed hold of the tree crown, the sun blinded Lucy's eyes through the gaps in the leaves. It was indeed a bright day outside. She glanced at Natsu's sleeping body, a few feet away from her. His face was in direct sunlight, and she couldn't help but wonder how he could rest in this brightness. As she looked closer he didn't actually seem that comfortable, with his eyebrows slightly furrowed and his eyes squinting in his sleep. But deep in dreamland he was, because his mouth rested as it always did when he was asleep. When he's awake he always seemed to be smiling or even grinning, with the occasional frown or pout, but when he slept his face relaxed like it never did otherwise. Lucy had learned to love all his faces, but this face was one she held extra close to her heart. Not many people knew this side to him unless they looked closely, and to be fair, no one really had the guts to after seeing Lucy once getting punched in his sleep. Those rivalries with Gray never seemed to simmer down, but Lucy could only assume that it was an important part in their relationship. The trust they had in each other to always be the one they're striving to beat one day, fair and square.
Happy had rolled off Lucy's lap in his sleep, so Lucy took this chance to straighten her legs. They had almost fallen asleep in those short minutes, so she had to take a few seconds to recover. What a dreadful fate to be stuck under a sleeping cat, not having the heart to move it. But then again, she would rather deal with Happy while he was asleep than dealing with him awake - he could be quite the rascal.
As her legs got their blood flow back in them, Lucy plucked a few flowers with long stems. She tried to remember if she still knew how to make thick flower crowns, but her memory failed this time so she made thinner versions that she made as a child. She just took a flower, splitted the stem in half as close to the base of the flower as possible, making sure not to break the loop or make the loop too big, causing the next flower to go through, and then she stuck the stem of the next flower in the loop and repeated the pattern. She had to check the size of her head a few times before she got it right, but soon enough her golden hair was decorated by small, delicate flowers.
Lucy glanced at Happy and Natsu again. She could probably make flower crowns for them too, but she wasn't sure how well they would turn out, or if they'd even fit properly without any try-ons. She went working though, finding the activity to occupy her bored mind.
As she made the crown for Natsu she was careful not to pick any pink flowers - it would make the flower crown look silly when it actually sat on later, due to the colour of his hair. She could already see how the colours clashed as he laid there in the fields, so why write herself up for failure when she could prevent it? The light blue flowers were rather nice against Happy's blue fur though, so she didn't have to struggle with his crown.
With three flower crowns done, Lucy finally stood up. The sun had moved quite a bit from its initial spot, but she didn't want to wake them up quite yet. So she took a small walk across the fields, exploring the hill they rested on. A few metres downhill she found a small brook, rippling as the spring water replaced the old water from the winter. She saw a few gnats coming to life, hinting at the summer that was in front of them, and she quickly turned around. She wanted to live in the bliss of the in-between season for just a while longer. As she came back to the tree they sat under, Natsu had moved slightly, now sleeping on his side with his arm as a pillow. It looked quite uncomfortable, but she wasn't the one to complain. Lucy carefully stepped up the hill and sat down next to him. His hair was moving gently in the lukewarm winds, and she brushed away a lock that was poking him in the eyes.
What a man she had met. To think that she would be blessed enough to be with him every day made her speechless. He had saved her in so many ways, at more occasions than he could ever understand. And what he probably didn't know, was that in a few weeks their anniversary would be coming up. Another year spent with Fairy Tail, another year with Natsu as her friend. Or maybe he did know, since he always seemed to remember the most important dates when it came to Lucy. Her real birthday, her second birthday, or "real-real" birthday, as he called it, when they first met in Hargeon, the anniversary of her mother's death, the anniversary of her father's death even. He even knew the dates of when it was time to buy bulk products from the grocery store - though that might be due to his constant raiding of her kitchen.
Still, this man never ceased to amaze Lucy. She carefully laid down beside him, letting herself rake in all his presence. She could almost feel his emotions change as he dreamt, feeling his body heat rise and fall occasionally. Lucy nudged herself closer to him, just close enough to almost touch him.
"Thank you." Her words came out as a whisper, and she wasn't sure if he actually heard her. But her voice was filled with sincerity. There was no one in the entire world she was more thankful to than him. And sometimes she'd allow herself to believe that she meant just as much to him, because right before she fell asleep to the sounds of Natsu's steady, methodical breathing, he laid his arm across her waist, pulling her in the same way he did when they slept in her bed. She felt so noticed in his presence, and the flower crowns were almost forgotten in the bliss of the moment.