XXVIII. Tell Me Now or Tell Me Never

"How come you let your driver drop us in the middle of the city, Natsu?" Lucy asked as she eyed Natsu completely confused.

"Why not? Tokyo is always awake, plus there would be something new all the time here. It's fun!" Natsu replied with great enthusiasm. Lucy thought it was a bit odd for him to go out in the city so freely like this. Then again, if it was Natsu, he'd always sneak out of band duties just so he could have some good time. Lucy just shrugged off her suspicions and went with the flow.

Along the way, Natsu spotted some food stands. The smell of delicious delicacies were irresistable.

"Hey orange juice, you want some Takoyaki?" he asked.

"Well, I…" Lucy couldn't reply so soon.

"Sure you do! From the looks of it, you must be always hanging out in this part of the city", Natsu teased with a big goofy smile on his face.

"What did you say? Are you talking about my weight?" she said with arms crossed.

"HAHA! I didn't say that. You came up with that one on your own", Natsu replied and ran off while Lucy chased him as if he wanted to get back at him.

Despite the teasing, the two still found themselves eating Takoyaki. While Natsu was eating, Lucy gazed at him with a smile on her face.

"What are you staring at?" Natsu asked. He was about to put the last piece of food into his mouth.

"Nothing. You just seem to be so happy today", Lucy replied.

"Really? Well, we don't know when this time will ever come again", Natsu stated as he let off a gentle smile, not staring at Lucy.

-"What do you mean?"

-"I mean… that's just how it goes, doesn't it?"

-"I guess".

There was silence between the two. Lucy's heart began to pound like a drum. It's that awkward moment when you want to lose all the awkwardness by saying something, just anything. She glanced at Natsu who was walking in front of her. His hands on the pockets of his coat and his scarf moved towards the same direction the wind was blowing. Lucy was turning red and without hesitation, she took hold of Natsu's arm.

"What is it?" Natsu turned to her, seeing her head down and cheeks red.

"It's just that I have something that I want to say. Natsu, I…" as she lifted her head, Natsu was no longer there. She turned to her left and saw him inserting a coin to a Gashapon machine.

"Natsu!" Lucy exclaimed, a bit irritated.

"I thought you wanted to go to the restroom, orange juice. I'll just wait here", Natsu replied as he took a look at the prize he's won for a hundred yen.

-"What gave you that idea?"

-"Well you were looking a bit red and a little embarrassed, so I assumed you had to go to the restroom."

"Don't be stupid!", Lucy just punched him. He didn't really mind. Natsu was too focused on opening his prize.

"Yesss!" he rejoiced holding up a little figurine.

"What character is that?" Lucy asked.

"It looks so cute!" she added.

Natsu took the figurine out of Lucy's view in a you-can't-have-it way.

" It's Switch from the anime Sket Dance", Natsu said as he admired the cute little toy.

"C'mon orange juice, the night's stillyoung!" he added as he grabbed Lucy's hand and took off.

Lucy wanted to tell Natsu how she really felt about him. She was just waiting for the right opportunity. This time, with no Gashapon machines.

They found their way into a nice lake boat ride. There were Cherry blossoms by the side of the lake, fireflies danced and the moonlight reflects beautifully at the water.

"Have you always wanted to be a superstar, Natsu?" Lucy started the conversation as Natsu rowed the boat.

"Well, sure! I always thought that it would be cool to perform, but you can't help but feel lonely when you know you're going to leave people behind someday", Natsu replied with a serious look.

Lucy was a bit confused. Natsu was suddenly being serious, but in the end he just let out a goofy smile. Lucy then looked at the magnificent view they're in.

"It's just like Italy, isn't it?" she said.

"Not really. Because you see, Italy doesn't have Cherry blossoms", Natsu replied as he stared at the Sakura trees. The pink flower petals were like a gentle shower as they touched the lake.

Lucy decided that this was the perfect time. What could be more perfect than a romantic boat ride?

"Listen, Natsu… I…. Kyaaaaa!" before she could finish, a big fish just leaped out of the water and almost landed on their boat.

"I didn't know sharks lived in lakes!" Natsu exclaimed, still surprised.

"You're exaggerating, Natsu. That was a big fish alright but I'm sure it wasn't a shark", Lucy replied. Another failed atempt at confessing her feelings. Right now, the only thing on their minds was to row to shore and step out of the boat.

"I'm surprised you didn't puke the whole ride", Lucy said. They're finally on solid ground.

"I took some medicine for motion sickness", he replied.

So much for that romantic boat ride. It was still 9 in the evening and the city was still thriving.

"Where are we going now, Natsu?" Lucy asked.

"Hmm… Let's head to Tokyo tower. I heard they have this huge telescope there where you can see the whole city", he replied with a smile. This made Lucy blush.

As they arrived at the Tokyo tower, a song by Madoushi Ouji-sama was being played on air. Natsu was a bit too excited. He didn't notice that he was holding Lucy's hand.

As they reached the 50th floor, they were immediately amazed by the view of the whole city of Tokyo.

Lucy was the first to look through the telescope.

"Wow! The view is breathtaking!" she exclaimed as Natsu also looked through another telescope.

"Hey! I can see Clive Complex from up here!" Natsu said.

He could see Gildarts opening the fridge and taking out the last piece of gelato. Natsu called him just for fun.

"Hello! Gildart's here… I can't talk right now because I am in the midst of…" before he could finish his statement, Natsu exclaimed.

"Don't you dare eat that last gelato, Gildarts!"

To Gildarts's surprise, he dropped the food on his shirt.

"Now look what you've done, Natsu!" he complained.

Natsu dropped the call while he and Lucy laughed hysterically.

"This would be the last stop", Natsu said while Lucy took a last look through the telescope.

After the trip to Tokyo tower, the two decided to walk home.

"I had a blast! What about you, orange juice?" Natsu asked, throwing his hands at the back of his head.

"Of course, I did. And hey, quit calling me orange juice. If you've forgotten, my name is Lucy", she replied with an annoyed tone.

"How could I forget? Besides, I like calling you orange juice. It reminds me about the first time we met", Natsu said looking into Lucy's eyes.

She was really red now.

"I thought you didn't want to go to the restroom?" Natsu teased again.

"No I didn't!" she exclaimed. Natsu bursted into laughter again. The two didn't notice the time. They were already at Lucy's place.

"Well goodbye, Lucy", said the popstar.

"Bye, Natsu…" he suddenly embraced her.

"And thanks for everything", he added and let go of his embrace. Lucy was still surprised by his sudden action as she watched him walk away.

After a long day, Lucy was ready to get some goodnight's rest, until she remembered that she actually forgot something.

"Maybe I'll just tell him tomorrow", she said and closed her eyes.

Meanwhile, Natsu just arrived at Clive Complex.

They were all asleep, so he thought.

As Natsu was heading to his room,

"Hey, Natsu…" it was Gray.

"You scared me, you idiot!"

"So did you tell her?" Gray asked as he opened a can of iced coffee.

"I guess I couldn't".