Disclaimer: I do not own Fairy Tail because if I did, it would suck
Edited 18 March 2015
"Lucy..." Natsu stood dumbfounded and wide eyed.
"NATSUUUU!" Happy cried as he struggled out of Lucy's grip. Once he was free, he slammed into Natsu's chest.
"Oh Natsu! I missed you so much! Why didn't you look for us after we left? Without you, I couldn't convince Lucy to go fishing with me!" Happy cried. "Instead she sent the fish spirits to go with me." Natsu hugged him comfortingly.
"I'm sorry buddy, but I will explain it to you later, when Lucy's isn't limping." He walked over to the girl that was leaning for support against the door frame. Natsu held Happy closer when he squatted down to her level.
Lucy almost could not believe it. Her best friend that she had not seen in ten years was right in front of her. She had literally dreamed of this moment for years. Tears welled up in her eyes, from the pain in her leg or seeing him alive she did not know. It was probably from both.
"I missed you so much, Natsu," Lucy choked out.
"I missed you to Luce." He smiled softly. "What happened to your leg? Are you still so clumsy even after all these years?"
"I wasn't that clumsy," Lucy muttered. "I fell," 'More like was dropped,' she thought. "In front of the guild we went to before this one. We have been looking every where for you, but I guess we should have guessed you would be in the most rambunctious guild in Fiore."
Natsu let Happy go and scratched the back of his neck. "Heh, you're right about that."
Lost in their on little world, the reunited friends did not notice the guild that was now crowded around them. Everyone was in shock. Natsu was actually being friendly to someone. They did not even know the girl.
"Oi, flame brain! Who's your friend?" Gray pushed his way to the front of the crowd. He was currently only in his underwear, causing Lucy to blush and cover her eyes.
"Stripper, put some clothes on!" Natsu yelled. "You're freaking out Lucy!" As Gray ran off to find clothes, Natsu turned his attention back to the spirit mage. "Did you use the fire?"
Lucy flinched when he tried to examen the wound. "Yeah, but I didn't have much time to completely heal it. When I tripped in front of the guild it opened up again."
"Natsu-san!" Said a small voice form the crowd. A small preteen girl with long blue hair and a white cat appeared before the couple. "Hello, Lucy-san. My name is Wendy Marvel, Sky Dragon Slayer." She bowed. "Would you like me to help you?"
Lucy smiled at the cute girl. "A dragon slayer huh? I am sorry but I don't think you can help me this time."
Wendy tilted her head. "Why not?"
"Because only Natsu's flames can heal me. My body responds really well to his fire."
"Flame brain? Heal somebody? Please, all he can do is destroy stuff," said Gray as he returned.
"You looking to start a fight, snowflake?"
"What was that, ash-for-brains?"
"Are we fighting?" Said the red headed demon. They coward in fear and hugged themselves.
"N-n-no!" They said in unison. Despite the pain Lucy was feeling, she laughed. It was funny to see Natsu scared of someone who was not Igneel or herself. As Lucy's laughs died down, her chest ached and her leg felt like she needed to cut it off. She winced.
"Umm, I think Lucy-san needs to be healed now," Wendy piped up.
Natsu nodded and went to pick her up. Lucy groaned a little, but stopped when he moved her leg in a more comfortable position.
As they walked up the stair to the infirmary, everyone shuffled along behind them. All of the guild wanted to get a closer look at the girl their resident Fire Dragon Slayer seemed so friendly with.
Natsu stopped at the top of the stairs and sighed. The crowd behind them did not move a muscle.
"I know you're following us. Which one of you lot is going to come with us?
Most of them rushed around when they realized what he meant. In the end, only Makarov, Mira, Wendy, Gajeel, Happy, Carla, Erza, and Gray followed him to the infirmary.
Natsu swung open the door and sat Lucy gently on the nearest bed. He grabbed a pillow from a neighboring bed to prop her leg up. Lucy moved over a bit so he could sit with her.
"You ready Natsu?" Master said. He nodded once.
Natsu closed his eyes. Summoning the right flame was going to take a minute or two. He had not called out his golden flames in ten years. Not even to heal himself had he done it. Lucy will call him stupid when she learns of that. The longer Natsu took to summon his flame, the more nervous he got. What if he could not do it? Lucy must have felt the nervous energy he was producing roll off of him in waves.
"You can do it remember?" She placed her small hand on his biceps.
He nodded.
Natsu tried to remember how Igneel taught him to summon this flame. Think of the one thing you absolutely love, then the flame comes to you. He tried thinking of Igneel. It did not work. He tried it again with his guild mates; it did not work. Lastly, he tried it with Lucy. A gold flame appeared around his hand. Some of the onlookers stood slack jawed and wide eyed as little scales covered the outside of his eye and down his neck. Erza and Makarov could feel his magic power rising.
"This power feels like Dragon Force," Erza stared in awe. The only time she ever remembers Natsu's magic feeling like this was when he was fighting Jellal.
Natsu smirked before concentrating again. Slowly, he moved his hand down to her calf and sat the flame on her wound. To his surprise, it did not burn her. Instead, she smiled at the comforting effect it had on her.
As soon as the flames touched her skin a gold warmth, almost the same as when Lucy used her necklace, filled the room. The fire swirled to form a dragon. The dragon almost touched the sealing. Natsu smiled. He did it right. The dragon let out a small roar of flames from its mouth, cauterizing the cut. With a flash of brilliant light, the fire burned out, leaving a shiny pink scar in its place.
Natsu frowned at the scar. He found it imperfect on her skin. Brows burrowed in concentration, he leaned his head toward her wound. Lucy blushed heavily when she felt his tongue glide along her leg. The action was very intimate in nature, causing the guild members in the room to cover their eyes and look away.
"That's gross..." Gray mumbled. Natsu shot him a glare.
"Watch ice princess," he growled.
When Natsu turned back to Lucy, he could see the scar disappear. Inch by inch, the pink line vanished until nothing was left. They knew the process was done when the scales sunk back into his skin. Natsu grasped Lucy's hand and helped her up.
"That was amazing Natsu-san!" Wendy gasped.
"Impressive," Said Erza
"Lucy's fixed! Natsu fixed her! I say we eat fish. Who's with me?" Said Happy. Carla rolled her eyes.
"Who knew, Salamander," Gajeel and Gray both said.
"How do you feel Lucy?" Mira asked. Master looked like he had the same question.
"I feel great! My leg doesn't hurt and I am not dizzy. Thank you Natsu!" Cried Lucy. He just shrugged and smiled.
"Well now that's taken care of, would you like to join the guild?" Makarov asked. 'So this is the Lucy that can call out Celestial Spirits, huh? Why does this girl look so familiar?' he wondered.
"Of course I'm a Mage. I am a Celestial Spirit Wizard. I currently in possession of three Zodiac keys." Lucy smiled fondly at the keys attached to her belt. "I would love to join your guild. I have been here less than an hour and I already love it," Lucy replied.
"Great," Makarov eyed Natsu, giving him a knowing look. "Where would you like your mark?"
"Umm, pink and on my right hand please." Lucy replied. Makarov smiled at her. After pulling a guild stamp out of his pocket and applying it to her hand, Lucy turned to Natsu. She was giggling happily while holding up her hand to him. Natsu grabbed her right hand. He squeezed it tightly.
"Alright! Now that you've got your mark, lets go exploring! I have to show you guys all of the good fishing spots and restaurants! Then I can show you my house. That way, we can all be together again," Natsu laughed. He pulled Lucy by her hand and Happy by his tail as he ran down the stairs.
Makarov shook is head. In a certain light, you can say Natsu's happiness was not something that one could influence easily. It took a whole hell of a lot to bring out. No one has ever seen him this happy before. Not even when Natsu ate celestial fire that the master tried to control. Well, looking back, Natsu cried after he finished off the fire. It wasn't from taste, Makarov knew. But it was more from the memories he had. That much he could tell.
Lucy's new heels scuffed the ground.
"Natsu! Where are we going? We have been to every shop in Magnolia, fishing, eating, and playing. Where to now?"
Her feet ached from going to many places today. Natsu had told her it was her new shoes, but she vigorously denied it. She had said, "Shoes this cute don't hurt!" They really were cute, and they went with her new outfit. She wore a strapless, blue and yellow crop top with a sleeveless vest over top. On her arms were cut off ruffly sleeves. Her legs were somewhat covered by a mini skirt and thigh-highs, not to mention her key belt and new shoes.
"We are going to my place. I have a surprise for you there." That was the only response she got as she continued running.
Lucy was starting to get a little skeptical of his place because they were out in the woods. After a few more yards, a stone cottage came into view. It didn't look like it had the best of work done to keep it sturdy, but it was cute. Well, that's what she thought before she entered the house.
It was a complete mess! Junk and garbage were laying on the floor, the furniture was in disarray. There was even a tree growing through the floor!
"Eekk! What the hell happened in here?!" Lucy yelled.
Natsu scratched the back of his head nervously. "Did I mention its kinda messy in here?"
"Kinda? KINDA?!" A vein in her head throbbed. "No matter," she calmly said. "We are going to clean this place up. We are going to start by picking up this trash." Lucy grabbed a garbage bag out of her pack and handed it to him. "Pick it up,"
Natsu didn't really know what to think of her mood swings. They were so... Erratic.
"Is she always like this?" He wandered to Happy.
"Aye."
About six hours later, the house was cleaned. Well, Lucy's half anyway. She grunted as she got off the floor and picked up her soap bucket. The blonde celestial mage walked over to Natsu's side of the house, only to be thoroughly surprised. It was actually clean. The floor was trash free and shiny. However there was no sign of the dragon slayer or his blue friend.
Curious, she walked, bucket in hand, to his closed bedroom door. Lucy took a tentative step forward. She opened the door only to see two hammocks instead of one, and one hammock currently occupied by Natsu. He and Happy both had peaceful expressions on their faces as they slept. Lucy smiled.
A smirk grew on her face as she tiptoed toward the two. In between the hammocks was a nightstand. A box, similar to the one Natsu gave her all those years ago, sat next to a note that said To: Lucy From: Natsu. She picked up the box and took off the ribbon.
Inside the box was a ring of keys. Nine Zodiac keys to be exact. A gasp escaped her mouth. With a shaky hand, she stroked them lovingly.
'How did he get these?' Lucy wondered.
"Natsu... Natsuuu! NATSU!" Lucy yelled. By the third yell her patience started growing thin and she dumped her bucket of suds and bubbles on him. With a start, Natsu and Happy jumped up, almost knocking her out in the process.
"Good, you're up." Lucy gave a sheepish smile.
"What was that for?" He screeched. Natsu eyed the bucket in her hand and then saw the keys. "Oh, do you like them?" He grinned.
Lucy was stunned. How could he act like she never dumped water on his head?
"I-I love them. How did you get these? If you stole them, I don't want to know," Lucy cautiously said. Nastu just laughed and shook his head.
"Of course I didn't steal them. I went on missions for them, you weirdo!" He said. Lucy blushed.
"Thank you so much Natsu. You have no idea how much this means to me." She flung her arms around Natsu. The dragon slayer quickly returned the hug. He nuzzled his nose into the top of her head. Lucy could feel a mischievous grin form on his lips. Without letting go of her, he leaned back to look her in the eye.
"Now Luce," Natsu smirked. "Don't think I forgot how you woke us up,"
"Yeah Lushee. That was mean!"
Natsu winked at her. A split second later, he had bubbles in his hands and was chasing her around his small cottage. Without thinking, Lucy ran out of the cottage and toward Magnolia. Natsu followed.
As you can imagine, the looks the couple got were ones of amusement and confusion. It had been months since anyone has seen Natsu like this, wait, it's been months since anyone in town had laid eyes on him. He was starting to get allusive as Guildharts.
Natsu and Lucy were almost to the guild when Lucy was trying to create a peace treaty between them. The dragon however, didn't want peace. He wanted war. As soon as Lucy realized this, she flung open the guild doors and hid in the corner behind Cana's old booze barrels.
A minute later, Natsu entered and he was eerily quiet. "Lucy... You can't hide forever..." The guild turned to stare at him.
"What are you doing pyro?" Gray asked. Natsu ignored him and brought the hand full of bubbles up to his face. "Wha?" Gray whispered.
Natsu sniffed the air for his friend for a second. He smiled when he found her scent. The smell hit him like a freight train. It was vanilla and hickory wood, with a mix of roses. In s quick movement, he wrapped his scarf around his head, officially going into "ninja mode".
Ninja mode Natsu crept toward his friend's hiding spot with a smile. He pulled back a barrel and blew bubbles in her face.
"Now we're even!" He pulled Lucy out of the corner and spun her around. She laughed out loud while Happy flew around them in glee. This continued for a few minutes, but ended when they chased each other out the doors.
Fairy Tail was shocked.
"What in the hell was that?" He asked. A few people shook their heads. They had no idea.