Lucy woke up feeling rather warm. Her brows creased into a frown as she shimmied around under the covers, trying to find a better position to fall back to sleep in. In her half-asleep state, her elbow suddenly bumped into something hard and her eyes jolted open. Turning her head slowly, she only came face-to-face with her sleeping (and loudly snoring) team mate.

She let out a strangled yelp, and began to push herself back into her comfort zone, but it only caused Natsu to reach out his arms and pull her in tightly.

"Lucy…" he mumbled in his sleep. His head nuzzled lightly against her blonde locks causing her to blush.

"N-natsu" she protested, trying to pry herself out of his tight embrace but it only caused him to snuggle against her again.

Despite what everyone else presumed later, she did try to get out of it. She pinched his arms, kicked his legs, even used her head to hit his (it appeared that only she would suffer from that one) and she was going to begin contemplating biting his arm when he suddenly shifted gently in his sleep.

"Luu-uucy," he mumbled for the second time. Does he dream about me or something? She wondered, blood rushing to her cheeks.

In front of her, Natsu groaned and shifted again until their faces were directly aligned, the tip of her nose gently making contact with his. Her heartbeat quickened. Even though they'd been put into almost every other kind of situation before (yes, even locked into the guild's broom closet during another one of Fairy Tail's infamous parties), she'd never been this close to Natsu's face before. In fact, in this position, they could almost ki—

Lucy's blush deepened. What was she thinking? With Natsu? Was he even interested in those things? Did he even know anything about it?

While her mind went round and round in panic, her eyes remained glued on Natsu's shut eyelids; which is probably why she almost had a heart attack when his eyes suddenly flew open. "Lucy, your heart is beating so loudly I can't sleep." He complained drowsily.

Lucy screamed and pushed him away. This time, successfully rolling him off the edge of the bed where he landed with a loud thump.

He sat up, the top half of his body peeping over the bed's horizon, and rubbed his neck sleepily. "What was that for, Lucy?" He winced when the sun's rays hit his eyes.

Lucy breathed heavily. I wasn't just think about—The fantasy image of Natsu holding her in tight embrace then leaning in for a romantic kiss flashed through her mind while Mira's voice echoed endlessly. "You and Natsu would make such a great couple, couple, couple…" She clutched head tightly and screamed silently. Get a grip of yourself, Lucy Heartfilia!

Natsu, whom had gotten no response from the blonde mage, stood up and headed to the bathroom. "You're so weird." He noted in a sage voice, before shutting the door behind him, leaving Lucy to wonder what was wrong with her this morning.

After Lucy's minor breakdown (and breakfast. Like Natsu would ever let her forget that), the two left the hotel to get a head start at Christmas shopping, just as they had planned last night; though anyone who was watching them would have noted that it was mostly Lucy who was doing the shopping while Natsu more or less resembled a mule.

The dragon slayer was currently buried under a pile of gifts that he was struggling to balance. It wasn't so much a matter of care as it was fear. Lucy would kill me if I dropped one, he paled, remembering that Lucy's fearsomeness could easily rival Erza's any day.

He eyed his partner cautiously for any sign of attack, but he only saw the blonde shoot him a look of her own before turning her head away the instant their eyes made contact. Natsu noticed that her cheeks were pink. Did she put on make-up again? He scrunched his face. He didn't understand why she did that. He liked her face better without make-up.

While Natsu absentmindedly contemplated the cooler face painting potential of make-up, he stumbled on a small ridge in the sidewalk. Though not enough to make him fall, it was enough to tip the precariously balanced pile of gifts he was carrying. Before he could react, the pile of presents came tumbling down onto the ground before him.

At the same time, a dark aura enveloped Lucy, whom had turned around at the sound of the large crash. "Natsu, what did I say about taking care of the presents?" She said menacingly.

"I'm sorry, Lucy!" he yelped, before scrambling on his knees to collect the gifts.

He heard her sigh loudly, before kneeling down to help him out. "What will I do with you, Natsu?" she said.

"What do you mean? You don't have to do anything with me!" He replied. "Sometimes you say weird things, Lucy." He snickered.

"Weird, huh?" she mused, reaching for another snow-covered gift. "You say that a lot."

"It means 'not normal', right?" Erza had taught him that, he remembered proudly, even though the memory in itself was not a very proud one; nor, actually, a painless one.

"Right." Lucy said, before it hit her. "Wait, what I said was totally normal!"

"No, it didn't make any sense." He stuck his tongue out at her while reaching for the last present. Finally, things were back to normal, he thought.

"It totally did!" She argued, reaching out her own hand.

Natsu was about to retort happily when his hand closed around something warm. He looked at Lucy whose eyes had widened. Her cheeks were that weird pink again, and he began to realise that it wasn't make-up. "N-natsu, w-what are you doing?" she asked shrilly.

He winced at her sharpness in her voice, and then looked down at their hands. "Oh, I was going to take the present." He removed his hand from hers and picked up the present, adding it to the pile. Even though his body temperature was higher than the average human's, his hand still felt tingly where it touched hers. After securing the balance of the gifts, he stood up and prepared to head in the direction of the next stop.

"Lucy?" he called. He looked to his left. She was brushing the snow off her pants. The pink was gone from her cheeks, replaced with a slightly disappointed look. "Lucy, are you okay?" he asked concernedly.

"I— I'm fine." She patted her hair absentmindedly.

"You sure?" He asked again. Lucy always said she's fine even though she isn't, especially when she's hurt, or injured, or sad. Natsu knew that.

"…Yeah."

Natsu eyed her disbelievingly for awhile before switching to a happier tone. "Then, next stop!" He said cheerfully. "After this, its lunch right?"

He watched Lucy as she eyed him for awhile with a look in her eyes that he could not place, before she smiled gently. "Sure."

After a quick last stop, Fairy Tail's most compatible team sat down in a busy café for lunch. If the giant pile of presents didn't attract enough attention, Natsu's enormous pile of dishes definitely did.

Not that Natsu cared about what other people thought, as long as Lucy was happier. Whatever strange look she had on her face earlier had completely disappeared, and he was glad. Maybe now, she would stop being so quiet too. It was almost weird for her not to threaten to Lucy Kick him to the heavens once every 10 minutes (though it was certainly easier on his behind).

Out of all of Lucy's moods, this one was the one that Natsu disliked the most. She could be angry, delirious, stressed and even fanatic, but he couldn't handle sadness. He always felt like beating someone up when she was like that. Hey… that's it!, he realised. Every time Lucy is sad like this, it's because of a guy! That made things so much simpler; all he would have to do was beat him up, then Lucy would be happy again!

"Lucy!" Natsu called out to her. "Did you see that white-haired dude again?"

"Who—Oh, you mean Magnus?" Lucy cocked her head to the side. "What about him?"

"Is he why you're sad?" He got straight to the point.

"I'm not sad." She frowned. "And no, he didn't make me sad."

So much for that, he thought. "Then why are you sad?"

"I told you, I'm not." She frowned. "What made you think so?"

"Well, uh," He scratched his head. "You were frowning and you sounded sad. And you weren't talking to me, and you only look like that after you see those other guys instead of going on jobs with Happy and me."

"No, no." She interjected. "I'm not sad. Don't worry so much, Natsu." She said before stuffing a mouthful of food into her mouth.

But Natsu persisted, even after they left for the train station. "You sure you're not sad?" He asked, jogging next to her.

"I'm sure!" Lucy said loudly, beginning to get tired of his questions. "Why do you keep asking?" she said exasperatedly.

"Because I don't like seeing you sad, Lucy!" he shouted, matching her voice level. The people around them were looking at them and smiling weirdly. Lucy looked around and her cheeks turned pink again. This time, Natsu was determined not to let it go unnoticed. "You see? This isn't normal." He gestured at her cheeks.

"Wha—Oh. Oh." Her cheeks turned even pinker, as if to prove the dragon slayer's point. "I guess, it's because I'm cold?" she offered.

She wasn't sad? Natsu smiled in relief. "Is that all? Here." He pulled off his scarf and threw it around her neck. "Now you'll be normal, right?"

Lucy's face turned completely red, and Natsu was about to take back his words if not for the enormous smile that followed. "Yeah, I will."

"Alright!" He grinned.

Lucy was happy, which meant Natsu was happy. But it didn't change the fact that Natsu felt like puking. He didn't know when they got onto the train, but before he could even realise it, they were moving. His head was swirling and throbbing, he couldn't see straight. His nose could pick up the smell of his own vomit, and that just made him want to vomit some more. Ugh, this is worse than being beaten up by Erza ten times in a row. He moaned.

The only thing that seemed to be his salvation was this sweet, sweet smell that was coming from somewhere. Maybe if he closed his mouth really tightly and sniffed really, really hard, then he would only smell that. And so, clasping his hands tightly over his mouth, Natsu sniffed the air with as much force as he could muster.

"Natsu," Lucy giggled. "What are you doing?"

I guess he did look funny, but when you're about to pass out from motion sickness, who had the time to think about that?

"Would a massage help? My mother used to do it for me when I was a child." She offered.

Seeing as his brilliant plan didn't work, Natsu drunkenly landed on the bench next to Lucy. "Lucy—", he moaned. A wave of nausea crashed over him. "Walk—"

"Shh." She shushed him before pushing him down onto her lap.

Oh. Despite the motion sickness, his heart stopped for a moment at her uncharacteristically bold action. When she began massaging his head in circles, he felt his mind dull in bliss. This feels good. He thought dazedly.

That was when he smelled it. That sweet smell… was coming from Lucy? He sniffed harder, and realised, that it was indeed coming from his partner. Now that he was closer, he could smell that it was fruity… strawberry? He sniffed again. It was also buttery. Like a strawberry tart, he chuckled.

"Are you feeling better?" Lucy asked him softly from above.

Natsu snuggled into her lap as his response, and he heard her heartbeat quicken, though he only registered that vaguely. She continued to rub her fingers into his scalp, her slow circles chasing out the pain and nausea that resided in his forehead. He felt his eyelids getting heavier.

"Natsu?" Lucy called out to him, but he felt too sleepy to respond. "I guess you're asleep." She said softly. She fell into silence, the sound of the train wheels clanking in the background and her fingers continuing to muss his pink hair.

Just as he was about to doze off, she piped up softly again. "I think I may like you, Natsu." He felt his heart begin to pound, even though he wasn't sure why. He liked her back, right? I mean, they were best friends, after all. Not liking her was out of the question.

But even he knew that that wasn't what she meant. He felt like his heart was about to pound out of his chest. Did Lucy really— I mean, didn't she like other—Hey, why did it matter to me anyway? Natsu realised. His eyebrows furrowed.

"Natsu?" She asked concernedly, probably noticing his frown.

"Lucy, I—", he began, then shut his mouth again. "Nevermind."

He buried his face into her lap this time to avoid her concerned face, though it made her heart start pounding again. The only different this time was that hers wasn't the only one. Natsu suddenly felt like he couldn't breathe very well. It must be the motion sickness. He reassured himself. It must be the one that is making him feel… weird.

Natsu and Lucy stood side by side in front of the town's welcome sign. They turned to look at each other with wide grins on their faces.

"Hey, Lucy—"

"Natsu—"

"This is where—"

"—we met, I know!"

The port town of Hargeon was as welcoming as they remembered it being. Even though night was about to fall, the streets were still crowded with travellers and locals; the market place packed with rows and rows of stalls selling everything from food to jewellery, books to charms. If Natsu had felt any nausea before, it disappeared the instant his eyes met this familiar sight.

"Lucy, Lucy!" He shouted, grabbing onto her hand. "Let's go check it out!" he pointed excitedly at the market place.

"But Natsu, the luggage!" she squeaked, digging her heels into the wooden platform.

"Screw the luggage! This is sacred grounds!"

"Just because we met here?" She rolled her eyes. "And I thought I over-romanticised things."

Natsu chose to ignore her sarcastic comment. "Of course that's why!" He intertwined his fingers with hers and tugged again, harder. She blushed, and Natsu noticed. He briefly wondered why he felt so happy about that. "C'mon, Luu-ucy!" he called.

"Alright, alright." She relented. After she quickly made arrangements for their luggage to be dropped off at their hotel, Natsu impatiently dragged her away into the crowd of people.

A flurry of sensations came over him instantly; the mouth-watering smell of food, Christmas carols being sung in the distance, the sizzle of snow against his skin, and could he forget? The feel of her hands tightening their grip on his, and the smell of his smoky scarf mingling with her strawberry tart fragrance. He breathed it all in happily while his eyes scanned the perimeter. Suddenly, his eyes caught sight of a very familiar sign. "Are you hungry?" he turned around and asked.

"Actually, I think I am." She replied happily.

"Good, because look!" He pointed it out to her.

"Hey, isn't this the restaurant—"

"—where you bought me lunch?" He completed the sentence excitedly.

"Well, I was going to say ripped me off for all I was worth, but okay." She laughed.

Natsu puffed out his cheeks. "C'mon I didn't eat that much." He whined.

"Have you seen yourself eat before?" Lucy cocked one eyebrow and stared at him.

"Let's just go in already!" He pouted, though a wide smile soon crept onto his face. Lucy was normal again! He felt like shouting from the rooftops, he couldn't stop himself from smiling. Natsu squeezed her hand fondly as they walked into the restaurant.

As they sat down in the exact same spot as they did the first time, Natsu suddenly realised something he had never realised before. While they waited for their food to arrive, he leaned over. "Hey, Lucy." He called.

"Hm?" she smiled at him.

"How would you have come to Fairy Tail if I hadn't brought you?"

He watched his partner as her eyebrows furrowed and she placed a finger to her cheek thoughtfully. "You know, I have no idea."

"Didn't you have a plan or something?"

"Not really. Back then, I thought Fairy Tail was this majorly exclusive guild that I couldn't get into unless I was really strong. When I met you, I guess I was still in one of my training phases."

"Pfft, exclusive guild? Who told you that?" Natsu chuckled.

"No one! I just… assumed it myself." She looked at him sheepishly. "Since I was so weak, y'know, back then."

"But Lucy, you're one of the strongest mages I know!" He protested.

"You think so?"She said, her cheeks slowly growing pink.

"I know so." Natsu replied confidently. "Why else would I choose you as my partner?"

"Wasn't it because you needed someone to act as bait for that mission?" She looked at him amusedly.

Now it was Natsu's turn to look sheepish. "Well, that's not all, you know!" He raised his voice. "It was also because I'd never seen magic like yours, and Happy liked you," he began listing. "You also got along with all of my friends, you're smart, pretty, and strong."

Lucy's face was now completely red. "You think I'm pretty?" she squeaked.

"Of course!" He said confidently, though Natsu felt his face grow a little bit hotter than usual. "I mean, everyone else thinks so too." He added quickly.

The last comment didn't phase the celestial mage as she broke into a wide smile, the blush dusting her cheeks prettily. Natsu couldn't pull his eyes away from her, as if he did just realise how pretty she was.

It was just then that their food arrived, and talk shifted to all the adventures they'd shared. Even though they'd chatted about it before, it seemed to hold more significance in that spot; the exact place where they had shared their first meal, had their first conversation, in the town where Natsu saved her for the first time, where he brought her to Fairy Tail, but most importantly, where their adventure together had begun.

Natsu wouldn't know what his life would be like if he had not met Lucy Heartfilia.

Note: It was so challenging to write in Natsu's point of view. He has this naivety about him that I just can't write instinctively. Talk about frustrating! Well, I managed to churn it out in the end, and look, one more chapter to go! Stick with me, because I will be posting it before 2015. Or at least, I will try very, very hard. Thank you to all of those who've stuck to my story so far!

P.S. I didn't find any place to slip it into the story, here's their shopping list for Gimmestump for the curious.

Gimmestump (Lucy's version)

Juvia - 'Gray-sama' body pillow

(Why would they even sell something as disgusting as that?, Natsu thought.)

Macao - Guardian Charm*

Reedus - New palette

Nab - The Perfect Job

Makarov - A picture of him, Laxus and Mavis

Max - Broom bristle cleaner

Vijeeter - Enchanted socks

(Who the hell is this dude?, Natsu frowned.)

Elfman - A toy that repeats the word "man"

Cana - Gimmestump's Special Brew

Gray - Projection Necklace**

(Natsu still thought that the invisible clothes would have been better.)

*glows different colours depending on Romeo's level of safety

**to project clothes, even though there's none