Massive thanks to Lolibeagle for checking this and making sure everything is where it should be.

Disclaimers: Fairy Tail and the characters are owned by Hiro Mashima. The only thing I own is this story based on Mashima's work.

The cover art is owned by the amazing Bludy-chu (Deviant Art, Twitter, Tumblr) who was kind enough to give me permission to use her beautiful artwork as a cover.

The self-defense principles, skills and techniques that I describe in this story are used for entertainment purposes only. Please do not try any of this. If you are interested in self-defense training, please seek out formal classes. I will be drawing on Krav Maga for this story. I won't use it exactly, but it's the style I know so that's what I'll draw from.

A/N: Okay! I decided to split Natsu's training into two chapters. There's a time skip in the middle and I think it flows better as two chapters because of that. And, since you guys always make me so happy, I'm uploading both chapters today! So the split really shouldn't affect you. Here is part one. Hope you like ^^

Chapter 3: Pink Lace

Training: Day 1

Natsu froze mid-step and gaped at the scene in the middle of his back yard.

What the hell? He thought as he stared at the firm, upturned derriere facing him, slowly swaying, almost rolling, from side to side.

In the two minutes it had taken him to grab a couple of body pads the girl had changed out of her uniform into what was probably her school gym clothes and was performing warm-up stretches.

I don't remember ever going to gym, but were gym shorts always that short? Natsu mused appreciatively as he leaned against an outer post of his porch and, em...appraised the girl's technique. It was hard work, but as Lucy's trainer Natsu had to capitalize on every opportunity to gather intel on the girl's strengths. This was to help Lucy after all.

Natsu watched as Lucy bent impressively low between her equally impressively extended legs and stretched her arms out so that they were parallel to her legs. She relaxed her neck so that her spine was in perfect alignment with her body. She fell gracefully, almost rhythmically, into the position and held it without once losing her balance.

Natsu swallowed, though the action did nothing to soothe the now desert-level dryness in his throat. Unwillingly, he tore his eyes away from Lucy's behind to land on her face just below it. Natsu allowed himself a gentle smile as he took in the peaceful, relaxed expression on the girl's face. Most people looked atrocious and ridiculous in that position, but Lucy looked elegant; beautiful even. She owned it. She was happy. And for some reason, it made Natsu happy as well.

Natsu wondered whether it was it a stroke of genius or utter bad luck that brought this girl into his back yard. Shaking the moment off Natsu repositioned his eyes on the full, supple backside that, oddly enough, seemed a safer place to look at that time.

Pull yourself together, Natsu scolded himself. It's not like you've never seen a girl before. And so what if she's in shorts? They don't even fit her half as well as other girls.

Yosh! He exclaimed internally as he gradually returned to normal and focused on the situation at hand. He chose to ignore the voice deep in his consciousness that had responded to his scolding with a resounding: But this one's different.

Still not taking is eyes off the rear end that he'd decided was the best part of Lucy's body - incidentally, her mouth was his least favorite - Natsu tried to assess what he had learnt.

She's fast. Good movement and balance, she's probably got good muscle strength, control and concentration. And she's got amazing form too. I wonder what her abs- damnit! Focus Natsu! This is not the time. Right. Now. She's probably done dance or gymnastics something because she's incredibly flexible.

Natsu tilted his head slightly to better inspect her form.

Damn, her execution's smooth as hell!

For all his attempts at seriousness, Natsu couldn't help the naughty smile that plastered his face as he wondered about the multitude of ways those skills would come in handy - in the intense training that he was about to put Lucy through, of course. Obviously. Natsu Dragneel was nothing if not focused.

Anyways, what's good is that she's not really starting from scratch. She does have good skills we can build on.

Natsu watched with a bit of disappointment as Lucy rocked her body up from that position and straightened. With her legs still extended she lifted her hands to the back of her neck and massaged her muscles gently, slowly moving her neck left and right. Natsu was fixated by the way her fingers snaked and slithered over her neck and shoulders, rubbing and pressing into her muscles, and the way the blond was drawn into the movements, like she was buried in the motions.

It's like she's in another world. She doesn't even know I'm here.

Natsu's black eyes sparkled as he played over the possibilities of that revelation. Oh no, this was just too good an opportunity.

Concentration is good, but it's about time the little mistress learns a lesson or two about burying herself too deeply in something.

Natsu smiled mischievously as he walked over to the girl standing in the middle of his yard, the soft, green grass suppressing his already quiet steps. When he was just behind her he slipped his legs under hers and swiftly flicked it, tripping the girl and throwing her flailing and screaming backwards.

Lucy grunted as she hit the floor.

"What the hell!"She huffed as she rubbed her butt.

"Learn to pay better attention to your surroundings princess" Natsu dropped as he walked past her to the refreshments table and grabbed a cold drink. "You need to learn to avoid potentially high risk situations. Your first objective should be to avoid conflict and confrontation, especially situations that could get you in trouble."

"Ow, I was paying attention" Lucy threw back.

"Sure. I was standing over there for a while, did you notice that? No. You were too caught up in your mini-spa treatment to know I was here. Don't get caught surprised. Try to be in charge of the situation. Assess your surroundings and determine what your caution level is."

Lucy hated to admit it, but the hothead had a point.

"Okay" she allowed herself to say, even though she didn't want to. "I'll try."

Natsu raised an eyebrow as he walked back to her. What? No witty comeback? Maybe she really is going to be good. That's no fun!

Lucy got up and started to straighten her shirt. Natsu's eyes flew to her face for a millisecond right before he swung his leg behind her and tripped her again.

"The hell Natsu! Seriously!" Lucy shouted as she rolled over on the grass. This one hurt more than the last. "Stop it. It hurts!"

"It's sensei, or have you forgotten I'm trying to help you here?"

"How is this helping me? All you're doing is bullying me!" Lucy charged, anger burning in her eyes. "I knew you were a jerk but I didn't think you were this mean!"

"I'm not trying to be mean" Natsu shot back. "I'm trying to get you to learn something important. Situational awareness isn't something I can teach you. It's something you naturally pick up with time, practice and the right exposure. Use your senses and that smart head of yours to figure out what I'm going to do, then try to avoid it or stop it."

Natsu saw that Lucy was confused and tried to explain it differently. "Okay, let's put it this way, during the time I'm teaching you, I challenge you to block just one of my surprise attacks."

Natsu saw the girl's eyes light up with the mention of a contest.

"If you can block one, then I'll stop. Simple as that."

Lucy stared at him and Natsu knew her mind was wheeling. He was in for it too. That was what he liked about being with Lucy, she gave as good as she got. He teased her, and she provoked him. He challenged her, and she met it head on. Natsu couldn't deny that she excited him. It was like she lit a fire in him that he didn't know he had. More than anything, Natsu wanted to play with her, drown in the sensations she awoke in him.

"Fine. But it goes two ways," Lucy negotiated. "If I can get a surprise attack on you, you have to let me get back every trip and every attack you got on me. Wherever we are. And I will be keeping count. You can bet on that too if you want."

Lucy watched as Natsu's lips spread into a devilish smile. Lucy knew she would catch him with that. The hothead jerk hadn't backed away from a challenge yet. In fact, he seemed to revel in them.

What Lucy didn't see was the admiration and affection that Natsu also hid in that smile. This was the girl Natsu wanted to see.

"You think you could get me princess?" Natsu teased.

"Oh, I will get you hothead. No doubt about it. Not only will I get you, I will get you so bad you will rue this day for the rest of your life: the day you made your humiliating bet with Lucy Heartfilia. You won't even be able to suck on your oatmeal when you're 90 without cursing my name." Lucy paused for dramatic effect before continuing. "So what do you say? Do we have a deal?" she stretched out her hand and raised her eyes to meet his, their mutual competitiveness burning and dancing in the space between them.

Natsu took her hand without hesitation. There was no way she'd ever catch him unaware. Natsu knew that. But he had to admit, he was interested in what she would do. Lucy didn't seem to do anything half-assed so this promised to be worthwhile.

"Okay. Now that that's all sorted, can I just ask: were you planning to do any actual training today, sensei? Or is bullying a girl the best you got?" Lucy jabbed.

"Oh, I'd hardly call you a girl, Heartfilia" Natsu returned in the same jeering tone. "'Princess' was way off base. I know that now. It's more like 'she-devil'."

Natsu saw the girl's head explode at that and quickly continued before she could blow up at him. They really wouldn't get anything done if they kept up like this.

"Today we're going to work on your stance and basic movement, how to deal with a conflict situation and maybe we'll try a bit of punches. You okay with that?"

Lucy nodded and put on her determined face. This was why she was here. Pushing the hothead's buttons was a bonus, but now it was time for work!

§§§

Training: Day 2

Lucy groaned as she stretched her sore muscles in Natsu's back yard. It had been two days since their last practice and everywhere hurt. The training itself wasn't so bad; she'd pretty much managed to get the basics down and had even practiced them in her room the day before. It was Natsu's stupid situational awareness game that was the cause of her aches and pains. Tripping was just the start. In one afternoon Lucy was tripped, yanked, hit, poked, bumped and thrown against more objects than she had in her entire life. In the end, Natsu even picked her up, threw her kicking and screaming over his shoulder and carried her to the front yard where he just dropped her and walked casually back into his house. He didn't even tell her goodbye or good job. He just reminded her about the next practice...and to bring food.

And if that wasn't bad enough, Lucy's attempts at catching him off-guard were nothing if not frustrating. She couldn't even get in range of him without him knowing. She was so annoyed by her spoiled efforts that she even stooped as low as to hide behind a barrel and throw a body pad at him from a distance. She knew it wouldn't count. She just wanted to hit him. But the hothead easily deflected it, even though it was aimed at his back.

The guy's the damn ninja! I could try jumping him when he's eating. He seems distraaa—AH!

"For heaven's sake Natsu! Can't I have a moment's peace?!" She yelled from the floor. "Can't you just give me that?"

"An attacker won't give you that," the hothead responded calmly, sipping on his water. "You need to maintain a healthy alert state."

"What do you expect from me? No one can be alert all the time!" Lucy reasoned as she sat up and dusted off her shorts.

"Nope, I'll give you that. We raise and lower our guard depending on the conditions. But you know we're having a contest, your guard should be up and you're completely zoned out. I want you to get better, not worse. Now come on. Up. Get in the fighting stance."

Lucy jumped up, suddenly serious, and got into the fighting stance.

She placed her right leg a small step behind her left and raised her hands in front of her, keeping her elbows low and to her side, protecting her ribs. Natsu had told her to keep her hands open, her palms facing forward for now. She tucked her chin slightly down behind her hands to protect her face.

She looked up to Natsu for confirmation that she got it right.

Why does he look so red and...constipated? Is he okay?

Natsu tried to hold it back. He really did. But did she really have to look up at him with that cute, eager, sincere expression, whilst looking like a hunchback, neck-less turtle?

Natsu couldn't help it. He burst out laughing, spewing repressed spittle all around him. That was hands-down the best thing Natsu had seen in a long time. Somewhere Natsu knew she was trying her best and that his laughing was pretty cruel, so he tried to sober up. Several times. But it really didn't help that the girl hadn't moved from her ridiculous position. Every time he looked up, there she was: she-demon turtle girl. And the expression, the serious, determined expression that didn't suit that absurd posture at all made it almost impossible for Natsu to collect himself.

Coughing back bits of laughter, Natsu came up to her, between her still extended arms, and pressed his palms against her chest and back, straightening her.

"You don't need to bend your back like that. It will move naturally into the right position when you start to attack. It depends on the attack. For the stance, keep it straight."

Lucy looked up at the boy standing just inches from her and wondered how the hell she was still even standing. He was so insanely close and yet so earnest about it. The hands that were on her chest and back were strong and firm, but never forceful. The hands, and the respect, strength and control of the man behind them, made her body erupt in a combination of butterflies and flames; fluttery lightness and burning heat. Lucy never knew that the two could exist together.

Lucy raked her eyes over Natsu's neck, partially hidden by the scarf that he always wore, and over his solid jaw and hardy facial features. She saw that the boy was concentrating on his work. He didn't seem to notice the heated way she was looking at him. Didn't the hand on her chest know what they were sitting over? Couldn't he feel the way her heart was pounding against his hand? Didn't he have the smallest inkling of what he was doing to her?

She was already a little light-headed and over-heated when Natsu slid his hand up from her chest to adjust her neck. The palm that was on her back skimmed upward, fingers lightly tracing the line of her spine and gently grazing the nape of her neck as they moved up into her lower hairline. The movement sent nerve endings exploding all over Lucy's body. She had to force her mouth closed to suppress the sound that was building in her throat. The girl squeezed her eyes shut and turned her burning face away from Natsu, hoping that that would hide her and keep her from exposing herself completely.

"You need to be able to see your attacker at all times," Natsu was saying somewhere in the back of Lucy's internal meltdown. "Just keep your chin a bit down; your hands will do the rest. In front of you like this they are protecting your face and obscuring you from your assailant's view. But you can still see the guy through the gap in your hands. It's a perfect defense position and the perfect position to launch an attack if...you...need..."

It was only at the end that Natsu allowed his eyes to fall on the girl's face which was turned away from him, her eyes still pressed shut. It was then that Natsu registered just how close he was to her and what exactly he had been doing. As he looked down on her pretty, blushing face almost cradled in this hands, Natsu's alert systems finally switched on.

Lucy just kept her eyes shut and hoped it would all go away. The poor girl didn't even know how to begin to process what was happening. Her thoughts, emotions and sensations were all over the place and she didn't know how to put everything back in order. She wasn't even sure what order they were supposed to go into.

It wasn't long before Lucy felt Natsu pull away from her. Before the relief and disappointment could flood her system, though, something in Lucy's brain shifted. It was like a light went on somewhere, and with it, power and energy surged through her veins.

Every cell in her body was reeling with one, clear message: He's going to trip me again!

A second later Lucy was on the floor. This time though, instead of screaming or yelling, Lucy collapsed into a fit of frenzied laughter.

"I knew it! I absolutely knew it! I totally felt it!" she screamed over and over as she rolled around in the grass. "Natsu!" Lucy looked up to see her trainer with his back to her walking towards the food. "Hey! Natsu! I totally knew you were going to do that. It was like in those Shaolin movies, you know? Where the hero just knows exactly what's going to happen. Like a prediction. Hey! Natsu! Are you even listening to me?" She called to his back.

In her mindless adrenaline rush Lucy jumped up from the floor, ran up to Natsu and jumped on his back. She slid right off of his square, muscled back, but took the opportunity to pound on it playfully a few times.

"Hey, you! Sensei! Your student just made a discovery. Aren't you supposed to congratulate me or give me a belt or a pin or something?"

Without turning to her Natsu responded in his nonchalant, hothead voice, "Why? You still ended up on the floor. Besides, that's not much of an accomplishment. Who's to say you don't just know me, that's why you knew what was going to happen? That wouldn't help you in a real situation," Natsu closed before picking up a bottle of water.

"Doesn't matter! The aim is to get you, right? Even you said that that would be an achievement, a step. And now I'm one step closer to defeating you." Lucy pumped her fists in the air. "You just watch Dragneel. I'll get you sooner or later." Lucy paused as she tried to frame what she wanted to say. "Besides, it's amazing, isn't it? The feeling of sensing something before it happens."

Now Natsu smiled and turned to face her. Leaning back against the table that held their food Natsu threw Lucy a bottle of soda.

"Here, for your efforts."

Lucy smiled warmly at him as she turned the cap on her drink.

Maybe he's not such a bad guy after al-AHHH!

Lucy's high-pitched scream rung out across the back yard and the forest beyond as the soda fizzed all over her face, and dripped down her nose, ears, chin and shirt.

"You stupid, idiot, meat-eating, jerkhead!" Lucy yelled at the boy who was hunched over the table laughing uncontrollably. In his state he didn't see or sense Lucy coming up to him, all he felt was the cold drink as it poured down over his head and clothes.

This time, it was Natsu's turn to yell out in surprise. He quickly turned over and tried to grab the bottle from Lucy's hands but the girl refused to release her tight grip on it. The two fought screaming and laughing as the sweet, sticky, orange drink rained down on both of them.

Between the loose cannon and the she-devil, that poor plastic bottle didn't stand a chance. It ended up empty and crumpled in Natsu's hands.

Lucy fell back on the grass laughing.

"Well then hothead" she teased between deep breaths and laughter, "it looks like you do know how to loosen up a little and have fun."

Natsu threw the crumpled bottle at her. "I never said I didn't. It just depends on the company."

Lucy paused to think about that. She wasn't sure if it was an insult or a compliment. Her gut told her it was an insult, but her racing heart and shooting nerves desperately fought against it.

"Be right back" Natsu said pulling himself off the table. "I'm gonna get you a change of clothes. I hope you don't mind boys track pants and an oversized T-shirt."

Lucy felt herself warming to the suggestion. She didn't hate the idea of wearing Natsu's clothes. But even Lucy knew she was entering creepy territory when she started wondering what they would smell like.

Good Lord! I've been hanging around Juvia too damned much!

As he passed, Natsu paused and bent down to her. Lucy squirmed and recoiled as she prepared for the blow she knew was coming.

Instead, her eyes widened as she felt Natsu's hand land softly on her head and ruffle her hair slightly.

"Good job, princess."

Lucy just stared into space as Natsu walked off into his house.

§§§

"Argh!"

Natsu grabbed the towel hanging around his neck with both hands and scratched savagely at his wet hair. No matter how hard he scratched, though, he couldn't seem to get the image of what he'd glimpsed under Lucy's wet T-shirt out of his head.

Machine guns, chainsaw, jackhammer, explosion, beer, pink lace

"ARRGH!"

Monster trucks, mixed martial arts, wrestling sharks, Timberlands, pink lace, pink lace, pink lace

Swords, knives, meat, grilling stuff, pink lace, pink lace, pink lace, pink lace

"ARRRRGHHHHH!"

Pink lace, pink lace, pink lace, pink lace, pink lace, pink lace, pink lace, pink lace, pink lace, pink lace, pink lace

"What the hell's wrong with you?"

Natsu looked up to find Laxus staring at him.

Natsu fell back against the wall behind him.

I give up!

"Pink lace"

Laxus laughed shortly.

"That's it? Well that's nothing. A real man enjoys some pink lace."

"Well not this man"

"Evidently Natsu, you're a pink lace kinda man. Instead of fighting it, why don't you try embracing it?"

This time it was Natsu's turn to stare at Laxus.

...

"You're completely useless" he snapped eventually, picking up the freshly cleaned laundry next to him and heading out the door. He mentally thanked Porlyusica for coming by and doing his laundry. She may be grumpy as hell but she'd stuck by her promise to Igneel to look after him all these years.

Ok. Here we go. Monster trucks!

When Natsu looked up he saw Lucy standing in his yard practicing her fighting stance. It still wasn't quite right. In fact, it was downright horrible. But it was much better than before. And Lucy definitely wasn't giving up. Natsu decided that he liked that look on her as well. Determined Lucy was just as beautiful as feisty Lucy, or concentrated Lucy, or graceful, relaxed Lucy.

The boy leaned against the porch post and watched her struggle, not giving up. Watching her, Natsu felt the familiar burning need growing in him again. Smiling at Lucy's fighting spirit, Natsu lifted the gates and allowed the overwhelming warmth he felt to wash over him completely.

The moment he did, everything felt right. Natsu had no excuses anymore. He had to admit it.

So, it's pink lace, huh?

Suddenly, Natsu understood what Laxus was trying to say. Only a real man could handle pink lace. Far from being fluffy and girly in a man's world, pink lace was probably the deadliest thing on the planet. It snuck up on you. It was delicate, graceful and beautiful but it was also fierce, formidable and proud.

And it was sexy as hell.

Pink lace was just right for Natsu Dragneel.

Author notes

Side note on the allegory: Good job to those of you who figured out that Natsu was supposed to represent the armored guy in the game in the last chapter. No one tried to guess what the metaphor might mean though. My take is that there are two ways to bring down a heavily-armored man. You can work your hardest for weeks/months/years prying at the tiny kinks in his armor not knowing when or whether he'll fall, or, as Kurasabe said, you can use 'the good old bazooka to the face' approach - LOL XD - put everything on the line and 'go hard or go home'. The direct, open and straight-forward approach is risky and scary, but as Lucy said to Laxus, it might be the least painful option. ;-P

Pink lace: Okay! So this is the end of part one of training. Part 2 should already be up but please leave a review and let me know what you thought of this one. I know it might not be what some of you were expecting with 'manhandling' but with submission trending these days I absolutely did not want to write a stereotypical 'strong man takes advantage of a weak woman' or 'strong woman silences strong/weak man' story. Two strong, feisty personalities going at it is way sexier! ( ^_- )