Kiss Me Slowly
"Luce." Lucy stirred in her sleep, unconsciously snuggling deeper into her pillow. Natsu chuckled gently as he kneeled beside the bed. He pulled the blanket down slightly so he could see more of her face. "Lucy. Wake up." She moaned, her brows furrowing as she pulled the blanket back up, feeling a cold breeze drift across her neck. He smirked. They had spent the last three days house hunting, and Lucy was awake late the night before looking through brochures. He placed a gentle hand on her shoulder and gave her a light shake. "Lucy, I'm leaving."
"Mm?" she hummed sleepily, shifting on the mattress.
"I'm going on a job," he said softly, brushing her hair out of her face.
"So early?" he asked, her voice slurred.
"I have to be there by eight, and the train leaves at six." She pouted and whined wordlessly, causing him to fight an urge to laugh. He stroked her hair. "I know, but I've got to. We're running low on money..." The blonde pouted some more, maneuvering her hand out of the blanket to clasp his own.
"Fine..." she whispered, holding the back of his hand to her cheek. "Did you tell the kids?"
"Uh, huh. They were both sleeping, though. Ryū wasn't too happy about me waking him up and tried to tear my bangs off my scalp, and Nashi sleeps like a dead person." He chuckled, and Lucy just smiled tiredly. He leaned forward and placed a gentle kiss on her forehead. She sighed at the action. "I should be back by tomorrow, okay?" She didn't say anything, just nodded, nuzzling into her pillow. "I love you, Luce."
"I... lo... you... t..." she mumbled, already falling asleep. Natsu smiled gently and stood up from his kneeled position, tenderly grazing her cheek with the back of his knuckles before turning on his heel and picking up his bag. He swung it over his shoulder and made his way for the door. "Natsu?" she called. If Natsu were a normal person, he probably wouldn't have heard her. With his hand on the knob, he turned to face her.
"Yeah?"
"Is... Happy going with you?"
"Yeah. He's asleep, though. I was gonna get him as I left. Do you want to say goodbye to him?"
"No... Don't wake him up... See you... to...morrow..." Natsu chuckled.
"See ya." He turned the knob and left the room. The door closed behind him with a soft click. Lucy whined, pulling the blankets tighter around her. The room felt colder without him.
"I'm telling you, Mama! I'm gonna be the one to teach him his first word!"
"He is ten months. He should be able to start talking soon."
"How old was I when I said my first word?" There was a pause. "What was my first word?"
Lucy giggled as she washed the dishes. "Your first word was 'Mama,' and you were about Ryū's age. What word are you trying to teach him?"
"Something simple," Nashi answered, frowning as Ryū began to ignore her again. "Like 'mom' or 'dad' or 'nee-san,' something easy. If only he would just listen to me!" Lucy laughed, looking at her two children from over her shoulder.
"Be patient with him, sweetheart," she said fondly, drying the inside of a cup. "He can be really stubborn sometimes. Like his father..." She muttered the last part under her breath as she stood on her toes to put the cup away. She glanced back at them. Nashi was sitting at the dinner table, facing her little brother's highchair with a look of annoyance, while Ryū sat in his seat, fiddling happily with his fingers. The older of the two folded her arms with a huff, turning to the coloring book Reedus made for her. She giggled to herself, focusing her attention back to the dishes.
"Mama?" Nashi called, twirling on of her markers in her fingers.
"Yes, dear?"
"What's your favorite color, again? I forgot..."
"Blue."
Nashi clicked her tongue. "Ah, that's right..."
"Why?"
"You'll see." Lucy paused for a moment to smile, listening to the sounds of marker on paper over the running faucet. Nashi loved to draw, and she was really good at it. Neither Lucy nor Natsu knew where she got that particular talent from. She's gone through five coloring books - courtesy of Reedus - since Ryū was born. Lucy found her previous ones when she was cleaning one day, and spent a good hour looking through them. All of them were magnificent. She was only six years old, and she never colored outside the lines. She filled in every space in the color it would be in real life. Her drawings were so neat, and both of her parents knew that she could make a career out of it. Next to being a wizard, of course.
Speaking of magic, Nashi's training sessions with her father are going quite smoothly. Natsu was very proud to say that she will be as strong as him in no time.
Lucy turned off the faucet and reached for a clean towel to dry her hands with, glancing at the clock. It was just after noon. She would make lunch, and then take the kids to the guild, just as she did every day. "How's this one, Mama?" Nashi asked as she clipped her marker shut, turning in her seat to look at Lucy. The stellar wizard flicked her hair over her shoulder and approached her, looking down at her most recent artwork. This one was of Lucy herself, wearing a brown long-sleeved sweater, denim capris, and white sandals. Her hair was styled with her signature side-ponytail - tied with a white ribbon - her hands were held behind her back, and she had a modest smile on her face. The background was entirely blue.
"Wow, Nashi," she mused with a grin, leaning down to get a better look. "You never cease to amaze me." Nashi beamed, a light pink fanning across her cheeks. Lucy pointed to the pants she was wearing in the picture. "How did you make it look like denim?"
Nashi shook her head. "An artist never reveals her secrets," she said proudly, accompanied with a confirming nod. Lucy laughed.
"Fair enough." The two girls turned when Ryū started to whine. He was holding his tiny hand toward his mother, flexing his fingers. She lifted her out of his highchair. "What is it, baby boy?" she asked. "Huh? What's the mat-ouch!" He'd grabbed a fistful of her hair and pulled hard, something he'd been prone to do since he was just a few weeks old. The boy had always had a fascination with hair. It didn't matter if it was Lucy's or Natsu's. And damn, did that boy have a grip. He would latch on like a vice, and it would be a team effort to get him to let go. "Ah, Nashi? Could you give me a hand, please?"
Nashi looked up to assess the situation, before standing up on her chair and reaching over to try and pry his fingers out of Lucy's hair. His grip didn't budge. If anything, it tightened and he yanked again, causing Lucy to hiss through her teeth. "Geez," Nashi sighed, angling her hands differently to try again. "He's like a super baby." The celestial wizard laughed lightly, before groaning in pain. "Come on, otōto-chan! Let go of Mama's hair!"
"N...no," Ryū uttered, sending his sister a pout. Nashi stopped, her eyebrows furrowing.
"Whaddya mean 'no'?" she said indignantly, folding her arms. "You're hurting her, otōto-chan! Quit being a meanie!"
"No."
Nashi scoffed, reaching to uncoil his fist again. "You're so... ugh... mean!" With a final effort, she managed to open his hand, releasing Lucy's hair. She pulled away with a relieved sigh, flicking her hair over her shoulder, and when Ryū reached for it again, she used her free hand to grasp his, holding it away.
"Oh, I really hope he grows out of that soon," Lucy moaned. "My sensitive head can't take much more of that."
Nashi plopped back down in her seat with a huff, folding her arms with a pout on her face. "He had the nerve to say 'no' to me..." she muttered. Her face fell when realization hit her. "Wait a sec... He said 'no'!" A blinding grin spread on her face as she sprung to her feet, throwing her hands up in triumph. "He said his first word thanks to me!"
"Figures Natsu's son's first word would be 'no'," Lucy murmured under her breath. She looked down at Ryū. "We're going to have to be really patient with a little devil like you, aren't we?" She sighed, fondly stroking his cheek. "The next two to five years are going to be really long..." Ryū looked up at his mother with innocent grey eyes, a small trickle of drool running down his chin. Lucy giggled, using her thumb to wipe it away. "It's a good thing you're cute."
"Mama," Nashi spoke. Lucy looked at her.
"Yes, Nashi?"
"Can we not go to the guild today?" the Dragon Slayer-in-training asked hesitantly.
Lucy furrowed her eyebrows. "Hm? Why?"
"Well... we go everyday... I just thought... we could stay home today... Just the three of us..." Lucy smiled warmly, reaching down to stroke her daughter's hair.
"Of course we can stay home, sweetheart." With Ryū still in her arms, she kneeled down to be at eye-level with Nashi. "How about I make something big for dinner tonight?" Nashi beamed.
"Like what?" she asked excitedly.
"I don't know. What would you like?"
Nashi thought about it for a moment, before answering with "Yakisoba!*" Lucy lifted an eyebrow.
"Yakisoba?" she echoed. "It's not all that big."
"But it's good..." Nashi whined. "You asked me what I wanted!"
Lucy laughed. "Alright, alright. Yakisoba it is." Nashi jumped with her hands in the air.
"Yay!" Lucy chuckled as she stood up, setting Ryū back into his highchair, who whined in protest. "Can you make it right now?" Nashi inquired hopefully, her vibrant hair swaying as she bounced up and down. Lucy glanced at her daughter, and couldn't help but grin at how cute she was. She was wearing black leggings and a grey, baggy, long-sleeved shirt, her shoulder-length hair pulled back into two loose pigtails, her bangs falling messily into her eyes. The hopeful look on her face looked almost exactly like Natsu's. Lucy shook her head.
"Not now, silly," she said lightheartedly, walking over to the fridge to start making lunch. "It's not even one o'clock yet." Nashi deflated, sinking to her knees and hanging her head over her lap. Lucy rolled her eyes. She's just as dramatic as her father is. "But I will make some lunch. Want a sandwich?" The little girl perked up immediately perked up at the mention of food and leapt to her feet.
"Yup!" She pranced up to her mother. "Can I help?"
"Of course you can."
That night...
"One, two, three. One, two, three."
"Pun, pun, pun. Pun, pun, pun."
Lucy watched with an amused smile as Nashi and Plue danced a silly dance in the living room. Plue was teaching her the steps to the jig he and Happy used to do all the time, and she was catching on rather quickly, as she did with everything else. Nashi quickly took a liking to Plue, and would constantly ask Lucy to summon him so they could play together.
Ryū giggled, clapping cutely as he watched his older sister dance. He was sitting in Lucy's lap as she sat on the couch, bouncing lightly to the beat of the song that played on the music Lacrima. The small boy reached out toward Nashi, flexing his hands. "Ah," he uttered. "Ah, ah."
"You want to dance with nee-san?" Lucy asked, looking down at him. He glanced at her, before looking back over to his sister.
"Ah."
Lucy giggled. "Nashi." Said girl turned to her. Lucy held Ryū out to her. "He wants to dance with you." Nashi squealed and pranced over to take him into her own hands. Ryū began to giggle hysterically as Nashi started to twirl, bouncing on the balls of her feet to the rhythm of the music. Lucy felt a pang in her chest at watching her children dance without a care in the world. Ryū may be a pain, with all of the whining, and mini wrestling matches when his parents try to give him a bath or change his clothes, and especially with all of the hair pulling, but he's a complete sweetheart to Nashi. He never pulls Nashi's hair, or hits her, or anything you would expect a little sibling to do.
"Come on, Mama," Nashi called, pulling her out of her thoughts. "Don't just sit there! Join us!"
"Pun punnn!" Plue agreed, waddling shakily over to his master and hopping onto the couch beside her, pulling on her skirt with a goofy grin. Lucy laughed, scooping the little Nikola into her hands and standing up, beginning to sway to the beat as well. Nashi cheered when the song changed.
"I love this song!" she exclaimed, getting ready to sing along to it. Lucy laughed.
"Me too."
What time is it where you are?
I miss you more than anything
I'm back at home, you feel so far
Waiting for the phone to ring
It's getting lonely living upside down
I don't even wanna be in this town
Trying to figure out the timezone is making me crazy
Lucy smiled as she and her daughter continued to sing. Nashi had gotten her singing voice from her.
You say good morning
When it's midnight
Going outta my head
Alone in this bed
I wake up
To your sunset
And it's driving me mad
I miss you so bad
And my heart, heart, heart is so jet lagged
Heart, heart, heart is so jet lagged
Heart, heart, heart is so jet lagged
It's so jet lagged
"How many times have I come home to see my family dancing and having a good time without me?" Lucy spun around at the sudden male voice, her chocolate eyes landing on her husband across the room, leaning against the front door with a smug grin playing on his lips, Happy perched on his shoulder. "What're you guys celebrating because I'm not here or something?"
"Natsu," Lucy said, a grin of her own curling onto her lips. "You're back. I thought you said you'd be home tomorrow."
"It was easier than I thought it was gonna be," Natsu said simply, shrugging his shoulder nonchalantly. The blonde set Plue down on the floor and walked up to him, wrapping her arms around his waist.
"Welcome home."
Natsu chuckled as he returned the hug. "Thanks." Happy nuzzled Lucy's head before hopping away to join Plue, the two of them starting up their jig.
"Daddy!" Nashi said, still dancing along to the music with her little brother in her arms.
"Yes, amai?"
"Otōto-chan said his first word today!"
The Dragon Slayer beamed. "He did? What was it?"
"No."
Lucy giggled and looked up at him. "Go figure, huh?" Natsu chuckled his agreement.
"Dance with us, Daddy!" Nashi said, waving him over.
"Eh?"
"Yeah, come on!" Lucy pressed, grabbing his hand and dragging him toward the middle of the living room. Natsu laughed, letting his bag slide off his shoulders and onto the floor, forgotten. The whole Dragneel family started to dance, Lucy ducking and twirling under Natsu's arm, Nashi spinning around with a giggling Ryū in her arms, Happy and Plue doing a cute little jig. It had been awhile since all of them were able to hang out like this, just let loose and have fun with no worries whatsoever.
When the song changed, all of their movements slowed down to a different tone. Happy and Plue continued their jig but their movements calmed, Nashi began waltzing Ryū around the living room, while Natsu and Lucy embraced each other, swaying slowly to the rhythm.
Lucy's arms were draped over Natsu's neck, whilst his hands were perched on her waist. Their eyes never wandered away from one another. Lucy saw an intensity in his obsidian eyes that was hardly ever there. She smiled gently when she heard him humming along to the lyrics of the song. Her eyes widened slightly when he actually began to quietly sing along to the chorus. She had never heard him sing before, but oddly enough, he was in tune and had a rather nice voice.
Well, I'm not sure what this is gonna be
But with my eyes closed, all I see
is the skyline, through the window,
the moon above you and the streets below
Hold my breath as you lean in,
taste your lips and feel your skin
When the time comes, baby don't run,
Just kiss me slowly
Throughout the chorus, he was slowly pulling her closer until her body was pressed against his. And as he finished the last line, he touched his lips to hers, bringing her into a sweet, lingering kiss. When they pulled away, he rested his forehead against hers.
"I missed you," he whispered.
"You weren't even gone for a day," she muttered back.
"So?" The two of them laughed, completely oblivious to the slightly disgusted look on their daughter's face.
A teasing smile pulled at Lucy's lips. "You have a nice voice, by the way."
He scoffed, leaning in for another kiss. "Don't get used to it."
Author's Note: hey, guys. I am so sorry about the super long update. School has just been a real pain in the ass, and I've barely had any time to myself. I've been busy as fuck since TBL was last updated. Not to mention the incredibly annoying writer's block... So apologies if this chapter is a little... off.
Anyway, thank you so much for sticking with me and this story for so long. I have officially decided that TBL is going to end at fifty chapters. So we have thirteen chapters left after this one. It sucks to think about, I know. But I am starting a new story thanks to the brilliant ideas of LuckyGingerCat. It's Nalu, of course, and it's an AU. It's kind of like an Indiana Jones/Tomb Raider kind of thing, and hopefully it turns out well. I'm not quite sure what the title is going to be yet, but I am currently in the process of writing it. I'll keep you guys updated on it, okay?
Please keep the reviews coming! I love you guys! Oh, and congrats to bookwurm247 for being the 500th reviewer! Again, sorry for the long update.
The songs were "Jet Lag" by Simple Plan and "Kiss Me Slowly" by Parachute.
*Yakisoba: perhaps one of Japan's best known street foods and it literally means "grilled noodles". While most people in the US know the term "soba" to refer to buckwheat noodles, soba has historically referred to any long, thin noodle. In the case of yakisoba, it's actually made with ramen noodles. In Japan, yakisoba can be found sizzling away in stalls everywhere from baseball stadiums to traditional omatsuri (festivals). Made with ingredients such as tomatoes, prunes, apples, carrots, onions, garlic and ginger and seasoned with spices such as cinnamon and cloves.