Chapter 9

"Tch, I can't believe Gray did that! He's such a fool. Why on earth would he do something like that!" Natsu mutters to himself while on his way home. It is raining but not heavily. He stops mid-step, realizing that his home is still destroyed and he didn't feel like going back to Gray's home yet.

"Maybe, I should check on Juvia." He mutters to himself. 'It's not really my place to check on her. Is it?'

'Hey, I'm her friend. And friends look out for each other.' After convincing himself, he turns around and walks towards Fairy Hills. He quickly and quietly jumps over the wall and sniffs around. 'Thank God! Erza and Laki are not here.' As soon as he spots Juvia's scent, he climbs up the building to get to her room. He jumps in quietly through the balcony and walks in the room. He, first, hears soft sobs and then finds her crying on her pillow. Natsu is angry and sad at the same time.

"Hey Juvia." Natsu says gently when he gets close.

Juvia eyes open wide and turns around in shock. "Natsu-kun?" She wipes her tears with the back of her hands, quickly. "What is Natsu-kun doing here? Isn't Natsu-kun supposed to be Lucy-san?" The rain turns into a drizzle again.

He scratches his cheek awkwardly, "We'll get to that later. I came to check on you."

"Natsu-kun, what happened?" She asks sternly.

'Maybe, it'll help distract her,' he thinks. "Well, I caught up with her soon. I confessed that we'd planned out everything and that there was absolutely nothing happening in between me and you. But she said she wanted to think things over."

"Think things over? What's there to think over? Either she wants to be with Natsu-kun or not!" 'This is exactly what Gray-sama is doing to Juvia! Not giving Natsu-kun a clear answer. I never thought Lucy-san would behave this way.'

"Mira says she'll come around soon. She's just confused."

"Juvia doesn't get it. Juvia is angry with Lucy-san. Natsu-kun, let's go talk to her!" 'I just want to forget the argument… or was it a fight… or a heated discussion… or the experience or whatever it is that happened with Gray-sama. I want to forget it.' She gets up from her bed and turns to walk towards the door.

He blocks her way. "NO! I came here to check on you." He pauses for a moment and says the next words cautiously, "Do you want to talk about it?"

Her eyes fill up slightly, "How did Natsu-kun know that Juvia was here?"

"Well, after Lucy left, I went back and I found Gray alone. We went to the guild and he told me and Mira what happened. I figured you'd be here."

"Thank you, Natsu-kun. But you don't have to worry about me. I'm fine."

He pats her head gently, "You don't look fine to me."

At this Juvia starts crying. "I tried, Natsu-kun. I really tried. But it just keeps getting harder and harder." She hugs him.

Natsu is shocked by the sudden body contact. 'She needs a hug.' He hugs her back. "You'll be fine. I know, Gray has feeling for you."

"Now, Juvia is beginning to doubt that."

He pulls back a little, "You shouldn't give up now, when you've gone all in." Then pulls her in again.

"Natsu-kun, do you think we shouldn't have ever done all of this? It has not worked for us so maybe it was not the right approach for us." Juvia speaks to his chest.

He thinks about this. "I don't think, it was all bad."

"Why?" She whispers in shock.

"Well, I got to know that Lucy does really care about me. I found a friend in you. It wasn't all that bad."

"Natsu-kun could say that. Juvia is happy that Juvia has Natsu-kun as a friend. Although, Juvia wishes Gray-sama had come around as well." Fat tears spill from her eyes. "Juvia loves Gray-sama deeply but somehow she cannot get it through to him. No matter what Juvia tries, Juvia only keeps pushing him away."

Natsu holds her as she cries. He knows there is nothing he can do but be there for her. But not being able to do something is incredibly frustrating for Natsu.

'Is Gray nearby?' He sniffs again. 'He is here. I wonder, what he is here for. Maybe he is here to resolve everything with Juvia. Oh, he better be here for that reason only. Should I tell Juvia though? No, what if he doesn't come up to see her then she'll be crushed again. I'll wait.'

'What's taking him so long!' Natsu thinks.

Finally Natsu sees a head of black hair at a window and then slowly Gray climbing in.

Gray finds Juvia crying in Natsu's arms. Anger flairs up as soon as he sees his best frenemy hugging Juvia. But then he looks at Juvia's shaking back and realizes why he is in this situation, in the first place.

Natsu and Gray look at each other intensely.

"I love her." Gray whispers. He knows Natsu will hear him.

He nods at Gray slowly. Natsu realizes that Gray is here to make things right and gestures for him to come close.

Gray walks closer to them as quietly as possible. When he is next to them, Natsu slowly pulls back from Juvia and turns her towards Gray. Gray holds her instinctively.

When she is held by the new set of arms, she knows who it is, "Gr- Gr- Gray-sama…?" She pulls back to take a look at him.

"I'm here now. I'm sorry." And he pulls her in.

"I'm going to go now." Natsu whispers.

"Thank you, Natsu-kun." He hears Juvia's voice as he is about to go out from the balcony.

He looks back and his eyes meet Gray's again, they nod at each other and he leaves. He jumps and lands perfectly on the grass. All of a sudden, Natsu feels good. He is happy but he can't explain why. He starts running towards the person he wants to be with the most. He reaches the house by the canal and climbs in through a window to find the girl he is in love with.

He finds Lucy on the bed.

"Natsu, what are you doing here?" She asks him. "I thought, I told you, I wanted to think over it."

Natsu takes in her scent and gets into bed next to her. Lucy watches him patiently but doesn't stop him. He wraps a hand around her waist gently.

"I know what you said. But I just didn't want to be away from you."

"Okay."

"I realized, I never really told you how I feel about you, before today."

"That's true."

"And it's probably not how you wanted to be told?"

"Yes."

He pouts and thinks over his words, "I just… I mean… you and I, we are always together and I sort of assumed that you'd know how I felt about you. I thought, I didn't have to say anything to you. I thought, it was understood."

"Hmmm…" Lucy ponders on his words.

"It's true, though. I've been in love with you since… for a long time. I don't even remember when my feelings began to change. But when I saw the future you die, it hurt a lot. I knew, I didn't want to be away from you anymore."

'He said all of these words before. But right now, the honesty and sincerity in his voice makes it more believable.' Lucy tells herself.

"Natsu…"

"Juvia and I are nothing but friends. Over the past few weeks, we've really bonded but there is nothing more than friendship there."

"I believe you." Lucy says with a smile. "A part of me always knew there is nothing happening in between you and Juvia but I couldn't stop myself from doubting you." She giggles in embarrassment.

Natsu smirks at her, "So, you were really jealous. Like a lot."

"Do you want to spoil the mood, you set?" Her voice has an edge.

"No, no, no! I'm sorry." He says in a panic. She laughs at his antics and he relaxes. His cheeks go red and he says, "I love you, Lucy."

Her eyes widen for a moment and then she smiles gently at him, "I love you too, Natsu."

Natsu closes the distance in between them and kisses her. "I'll never let you go."

She chuckles, "I'll never let go off you either." She kisses him.

They spend the rest of the evening kissing each other.

What do you guys think? Please review!

Someone complained that Lucy is not given much importance and that I'm misleading Nalu fans. That was an honest mistake, I'm sorry. But i don't want to remove her from the character list though. She is vital to Natsu.

In the latest chapter of the manga - Acnologia came back! some interesting things are going to happen!

Enjoy! Neepa :)