Lucy Again

Erza sat down at the high bar counter with a real strawberry fruit drink on the counter top sitting languidly beside her. She figured this was a good substitute for a cheesecake since she doesn't have a job lined up or had one recently to burn the carbs off of her. No, no cheesecake today…. 'Sadness!' She looked to her left and saw the comfortable scene of blue-haired, water mage, Juvia holding on to the shirtless Gray's arm for dear life. 'So sad, and so cute! But, why?!' Erza showed her confusion on her countenance for a moment, but it disappeared in time. She then heard a loud yell. "Lucy!" she heard Natsu yell. His voice sounded oddly whiny to her ears perhaps because he hadn't beat her squarely in a duel yet, but she does believe in his confidence. She raised her eyebrows when her mind finally registered that Lucy was tipsy when she was last with her at her table. She had asked Erza, her, to watch her in case she got as drunk as she did on that night at the beach when they were all training for the games. 'Oh no!' Erza dropped her armor-clad hand onto the counter in a loud bam! 'Me, so worried about my calories yet I let Lucy drink her fill and possibly expose herself!? How embarrassing…. for both of us! I need to be punished! But first off –.' Mirajane appeared to be in conversation with someone else, so Erza walked away to find Lucy! 'Poor young woman!' Erza thought of Lucy.

Lucy was at her regular eating table with a bottle of cold, sweating beer in her hand looking at it with a confused expression. Young Wendy was trying to grab it away from her, but Lucy pulled it from her hands always just out of reach sporadically. Erza had a feeling that Lucy was seeing in doubles maybe even triples. "No, Lucy! Over here! Give it here!" cried jostled Wendy jumping up and down. "Ouuuu-kay!" answered Lucy in a slow tone with lethargic movements and pushed the bottle just out of her reach again! "Errrr!" sighed Carla empathetically. Gajeel was glancing from afar seated at a small wooden round table with Panther-Lily at his side, whom was eating his meal and drinking slowly. Gajeel didn't look very amused. In fact, he looked bored. Natsu had come bounding in through the double front doors looking for his closest nakama. 'And, damn! His voice is loud,' thought Gajeel wincing. 'Well, he's in for a thrill.' Gajeel chuckled to himself mischievously and continued glancing toward the panorama on and off.

"Lucy!" cried Natsu, but Happy saw Lucy first and flew towards her chirping happily, "I found her first; I beat you!" "It's not a contest!" replied Natsu trying to outrun Happy. Wendy turned her head to the duo and frowned while here eyebrows lifted dramatically. "I'm out," she told Carla. "What?!" Carla replied indignantly. Then, she caught sight of Happy, "Oh, male-ca— I mean Happy." She grimaced or grinned? It is hard to decipher. Happy always saw a grin though…. "Lucccc…y!" Happy yelled and landed on her chest. Lucy looked down at the winged cat and giggled. "What er you, a pillow or an animal?" she then hugged him tightly in return. Happy wasn't displeased, but he couldn't breath! "Oi, Lucy!" said Natsu while crossing his arms and standing in front of her. " Are you trying to squash Happy?" He scolded. "Oh, Natsu…." Lucy promptly let go of Happy. So quickly in fact, that he fell to the wooded floor in a muffled thump! "Ay, sorry!" Lucy yelled in a loud voice. "What's with you?" asked Natsu perplexed with his head cocked to the side in the shadows of the guild room cast by the many lamps and lights around it. Lucy thought very hard. Natsu had thought he saw the gears turning in her head, and Erza stood behind Natsu all of the sudden and clasped her left hand to his right shoulder. "She is drunk, Natsu! I was supposed to watch over her. Reprimand me, please." "What the-" he replied while glancing to the side to do his best to see Erza. He turned to face her. "Like hell I would reprimand you! No, you, fight me!" He shouted pointing to himself importantly and he willed fire that blazed onto his hands. Erza rolled her brown eyes and punched Natsu into oblivion. "Uhhhhhhh." Natsu lay bunched up on the floor with his rump in the air, his extremities twitching in what looked like spasms. He heard Lucy giggle and say, "Oh, Natsu. You can do better than that! Hah ah hah hah ah!" Natsu grinned, but then remembered that Lucy was drunk, and her beauty hidden from him. 'No! She needs to go back home and be normal, normal Lucy again! I won't stand for this.' He didn't like seeing her like in this state of mind…. all hell was the last time. 'I had to take her to the washroom!' he moaned in his thoughts, feeling sick and angry just knowing this. 'Dignity!' Lucy frowned as he marched toward her, and she tried to focus. Recognition hit her. "Oh, I'm gonna go back home!" she said as calmly as she could and tried to stand up in her brown boots. Natsu moved beside her and held her elbows to keep her up. "No way are you walking! I'll carry you." 'But, not like the last time!' He picked her up in his muscled arms bridal style in force. Lucy nearly passed out from the g-force. Erza moved toward them while Happy grinned and flew around in circles. "Natsu, I want to escort you two back to Lucy's home." "What about me?" came Happy's teasing voice. "Yes, you also," replied Erza in a serious tone while glancing at him. "Okay, fine," replied Natsu in a hurry to get to Lucy's house and bed! They all proceeded to walk out of the guild together. Cana waved them out goodbye, and Mirajane chuckled. They took a good while to make their way to Lucy's. "Natsu," said Erza, her eyes glinting in the moonlight of the night a bit after they had arrived. "I will wait for you here." Erza nodded to him and he nodded shyly back. 'Like I would do anything to my best friend,' he thought rashly. He and Happy walked through the front door that Erza had unlocked with her key and made their way through each dark moonlit room slowly to Lucy's bedroom. They were in the doorway to her cozy looking room, and Happy said, "Let's put Lucy down here and make her comfortable, Natsu." "Comfortable?" Lucy questioned. Natsu jerked her up a bit in his grip gently, and she quieted down. He was getting ready to put her on the bed. "Natsu?" Lucy asked and looked up at him from the shadows while in his arms. He heard her heart beat faster and she reached up her hand to cup his cheek in it and moved her head towards his face. She kissed him on the other cheek somewhat sloppily in her movements. Lucy quietly looked into his eyes with a worried face. Natsu's face looked furious, but he calmed down very quickly. His face was a bit blushed now. "Calm down." he whispered to her, and looked at Happy awkwardly while setting her on the bed. "I'm sorry…." Lucy replied with a sad and worried countenance. "Nah, don't be. It's nice… but weird, Lucy!" He smiled at her and she smiled back. "Night!" he said and waved goodbye. "Uh, goodnight, Nat….su," she answered into the night for he was already gone. 'What?' Lucy managed to pull herself off of her bed to write a letter to her mom while sitting at her writing desk, about that night, what transpired, the moment she had with Natsu that was a bit unexpected of her. She sealed it, and slept soundly for the rest of the night. She woke up the next morning in the sun. She had forgotten everything. But, Natsu and Happy didn't. Meanwhile, Natsu was thinking while training with Happy, 'We need to go and do more jobs than what we are doing right now…'