NOTE: This story has characters which do not exist in Hiro Mashima-sensei's work. They are my ORIGINAL CHARACTERS and they are mine. Everything else is not mine, but sensei's. Also, even if I do not write very well, please respect my work! Thank you!
WARNING: This will be my longest chapter yet. Please bear with me, PLEASE!
READ: The concept of the date was not originally mine, but it was suggested to me by fairytailpirate. Thank you so much for helping me while I was stuck without an idea! This chapter is here all thanks to you!
-CHAPTER SEVEN: DISASTROUS-
"I love you, Lucy Heartfilia. Love you so much, it's insane!"
Lavender, Natsu thought as he inhaled the sweet scent around him.
A while ago, Natsu Dragneel had been knocked out by a tool box that fell on top of his head. Though the impact was very strong, Natsu was proud that he could recover really fast.
My head doesn't hurt as much. Natsu thought. But my chest feels heavy.
Natsu opened one eye. He could see his feet, as well as golden streaks of blonde hair. Suddenly, everything became clear to Natsu. He had rested his head upon Lucy's shoulder because it felt very comfortable. He could now imagine how Lucy also slept and they ended up like this—Natsu was lying on his back on the couch and Lucy was sleeping on his chest.
"Pretty cute, Lucy…" Natsu smiled as he played with strands of Lucy's hair with his free hand.
After feeling content, Natsu carefully stood up (without waking Lucy) and laid the girl comfortably on the couch. He walked out the door and slowly closed it. When he couldn't feel any movement which may mean that Lucy had been woken up, he sighed.
"Natsu! What are you doing?" Mira's voice scolded Natsu. What has he done wrong?
"What's wrong with you, Mira? Lucy's sleeping!" Natsu scolded back.
"I went through the trouble so that you could talk with her sincerely and this is the thanks I get?" Mira said, a bit hurt. "So, have you confessed yet, Natsu?"
Natsu was now heating up. Right. He'd have to do it sooner or later. "I…I'm thinking about it."
"So, what do you have planned?" Mira asked.
"I'm not sure yet… You said fire, right? So I was thinking of—"
"Right!" Mira said excitedly. "I've got just the thing!"
Natsu was a little bit discouraged. I thought she wanted me to think about this myself?
"This is what I need you to do, Natsu."
"What?"
"First, take a bath. Take a really long bath. Make sure you get yourself cleaned up, okay?" Natsu nodded.
I think Mira's implying that I stink!
"Then, borrow Gray's tux and get yourself about half a liter of honey."
"What are you going to do with the honey?" Natsu asked, surprised at Mira's unbelievable requirements.
"Don't ask questions, Natsu. Remember, I'm helping you here. Your young love shall not be put in vain!" Suddenly, Mira was firing up. "And when you get all those done, come to me."
Natsu gulped. Somehow, Mira's ideas sound more dangerous that effective. But, how could he say no, when Mira's especially passionate about stuff like this.
"Yes, ma'am." He said, crossing his fingers and hoping for the best.
"Princess…" said a familiar voice.
Lucy woke up with the sound of Virgo's voice and the very strong scent of Natsu's sweat. "Hm?"
"Princess, I think that it's time to go. There seems to be a shortage of supplies at your home and the stores will be closing soon."
Lucy reluctantly sat up and rubbed her eyes. "You're right. Thanks, Virgo."
"Are you going to punish me?" Virgo asked flatly.
"Why do you keep asking me that?" Lucy said. "Ah, Virgo, before you leave. Can I ask, did you see where Natsu went?"
"I believe he went outside a long while ago, Princess. He didn't want to wake you so he went out."
"Oh, I see." Lucy said.
"Princess, I think that he is planning something. He said something about waiting for you tonight."
Lucy's heart did a somersault. The color on her ears and cheeks turned crimson. "P-Planning something?"
"Yes, princess. It would be best if you prepare yourself for tonight." Virgo was now walking towards the door. "I'll be taking my leave now, Princess."
Lucy nodded. "Thank you, Virgo."
Virgo went out the door and Lucy was still in bliss. "What do I do? It's definitely a confession! Oh, no!"
Meanwhile. Virgo was standing outside the door, smirking. "Lucy's done." Virgo, then, turned into Mira and walked away from the door, extremely proud of herself.
Groceries in her hand, Lucy smiled as she walked back to her apartment.
"Hey, Plue…" Lucy said as her keys jingled while she walked. She had called upon Plue to keep her company and give her someone to talk to without using too much magic.
Plue puu-ed.*
"What do you think Natsu is planning, hm?"
Plue made no noise as they reached the apartment.
Following Mira's advice, Lucy immediately stored her groceries, took a bath and asked for Cancer's help with clothes. Just like the last time, Lucy chose to wear the black cocktail, seeing that it fits her perfectly and it yells, "I am sexy!" After that, Cancer wished her a good luck (much to her surprise) and bid her goodbye.
Suddenly, the lights went off. Lucy, feeling like there was some sort of problem with the circuits, went out to check. But, instead of seeing complete darkness, Lucy saw tiny fireballs that lined up in a pattern. Upon seeing these, one name struck her mind, Natsu.
Lucy smiled to herself, feeling extremely flattered, and followed the fireballs that looked very harmless as they danced around in circles.
She followed them outside town and deep into the forest. The path was very twisted and took her in circles, but she continued.
Where is this going to take me? Despite this curious question, Lucy opted to follow the lighted path. After walking for a while, Lucy could now see a clearing that was lit up even brighter. She knew that if she looked at it from the sky, it would look like fireflies in a procession.
Lucy looked around. She adored everything about the place. There was a table and two chairs at the center.
Lucy was still smiling when she felt someone breathe hotly behind her ear. She felt her body grow hotter. It felt like it was danger, yet it doesn't!
Lucy immediately turned around. She expected to see Natsu but she didn't expect his get up, though. Natsu was dressed up, like, really dressed up. He was wearing a tuxedo which was familiar to Lucy and his hair—oh, his hair—was flattened like it had been glued to his head!
Lucy couldn't hold back her laughter. Although she could see that Natsu was not enjoying her offensive laughter, Lucy continued until she could no longer laugh due to pain in her gut.
Reluctantly, Natsu raised his hand very closely to Lucy's face. He was holding something, but Lucy didn't realize what it was until she backed away.
"N-Natsu!" Lucy said as she took the rose from Natsu's hand. "Thank you!" She knew she was blushing. She just hoped that Natsu couldn't see it in the dim light. "Um… What is this about?"
"N-Nothing special. A… friendly date, I guess?" Natsu said, shyly. He was about to ruffle his hair, but stopped. Instead, he took Lucy's hand and led her to a chair.
Unlike her date with Jacques (Lucy convinced herself that this had to be a date), this one was very silent and awkward. Natsu is usually very loud and talkative, and so was she, but at that moment neither of them spoke nor looked at each other. Food came after five minutes of silence between the two. Lucy didn't know how or why, though.
Even their dinner was very silent. Lucy felt Natsu was feeling very uncomfortable (especially with his hair), yet she made no comment because she thought he looked very cute.
All of a sudden, slow music began to play. Lucy didn't know if it was just her imagination but it was very romantic. Her heart began to race again, hoping that the music was just a figment of her overactive imagination.
"Lucy…" Lucy looked up at Natsu, who was very red by then. "…Will you dance with me?"
Oh, dear! This was very unexpected. Suddenly, Lucy's stomach began to lurch. She could feel that she was sweating as Natsu held out his hand to her (He was looking at something behind her, but Lucy knew better than to look).
She obliged and Natsu held her by the waist with one quivering hand. Lucy almost laughed, too, when Natsu led her in circles—they were dancing, both of them!
"I didn't know you could dance!" Lucy complimented.
"Believe me, neither did I." Natsu smiled warmly at Lucy. She blushed and looked down at her feet.
Lucy took a deep breath to prevent her heart from doing more somersaults. Sniff! She smelled something sweet—honey! Then it hit her, hard! So hard that she chocked up a laugh.
"Why did you put honey on your hair?" Natsu flushed at Lucy's comment.
"It was Mira's idea!" Natsu said defensively. "She wouldn't let me come if I don't wear this tux and do this to my hair! I had to put half a liter of honey to turn it into this, mind!"
Lucy smiled. Not only because that might've been the longest sentence Natsu'd said all night but because Lucy thought he would really go that far just for this friendly date.
"Thank you, Natsu." Lucy said.
"Hey, wanna see something cool?" Natsu said, not seeming to hear Lucy's statement. "I don't think that it's cool to you but… It means a lot to me, though…"
Lucy didn't know how to react. What could it be?
"Happy!" Natsu called out.
"Aye!"
Happy appeared out of nowhere and took Lucy into the air. At first, Lucy was frantic because she wasn't dressed for aerial adventure, but Happy convinced her to calm down and open her eyes.
"You know, Natsu wanted to show you this for a long time now. So open your eyes, Lucy!"
Slowly, Lucy did as Happy instructed. After seeing what she was supposed to see, her eyes widened. The fireball-lit path wasn't just twisty and knotty for nothing. There was a reason behind it.
As seen from the ground, it would look very weird. But from above, it spelled out a message.
I L-O-V-E Y-O-U L-U-C-Y.
Happy and Lucy both landed after a while. But even before she could reach the ground, Lucy howled.
"Wh-What's wrong, Lucy?" Natsu said, very worried. What could he have done wrong?
"I hate you, Natsu!" Lucy exclaimed. "Hate you so much!"
"Why?" Natsu helped Lucy up. She punched Natsu's chest softly, cutely—from men's point of view.
"You gave me a really hard time! Why couldn't you have just told me, huh? It would've saved me tears and effort! You jerk!"
Lucy knew she was happy, very happy; extremely happy! No, insanely happy! Maybe, she thought, these are what we call tears of joy!
Natsu hugged Lucy. He hugged her so tight, she thought she was going to explode!
"I'm sorry, Luce. I'm sorry I was being so stupid. I was just not ready to look at reality, I guess."
Lucy smiled and hugged Natsu back.
"But now, I'm ready. I love you, Lucy Heartfilia. Love you so much, it's insane!"
"I love you, too, Natsu."
For that moment, Lucy found out that happy endings do exist; that time really could slow down and stop; that romantic music could be heard in the background of a very sweet moment.
Meanwhile, Mirajane peeks proudly at the fruit of her labor.
Mission success, she thought. Now, all I have to worry about is the burning town! I guess I'll tell these two later on. Let them have their fun.
I'm sorry about this crappy chapter. I know I could do better but ugh! What is wrong with me? I know, I hate it, too! So, after this, I'll have just one more chapter. Please, bear with me! It's just one more chapter, anyway! Thanks so much!
*I do not think there is a word such as this, but I can't think of any other word to use. I'm sorry.