Wow, Chapter 11! Yay updates? I guess yay! If that's what you like. Updates are always fun. Fun if you like what's being updated! Anyways, I find it kind of weird writing about Christmas in July, although it will all make sense in time. It's all about the chronology...

Without further ado, Chapter 11!

In the morning, when Natsu woke up, he remembered he wasn't alone in hi-Lucy's bed. He knew he was going to be screamed at but he always knew it was worth it if he got to sleep in his best friend's bed. It was just so overwhelmingly amazing to sleep in that bed. Although his bed was soft, the one at Lucy's was slightly softer. That and it smelled amazing. It just radiated that beautiful smell that he couldn't ever get enough of. Those two things, well three if you count Lucy being there, made it most definitely his favorite part of the day.

Thinking and smelling Lucy's scent at the same time, he didn't notice when Lucy woke up until she started to move. Luckily for Natsu, she forgot about him being there for a minute, so Natsu slowly slipped his arms away from Lucy and tried to sneak out of bed when Lucy's voice froze him in place.

"Hey, Natsu you know we have school today, right?" She said sleepily.

"Umm, yeah why?" Natsu asked.

"Well you know those cookies you wanted me to make you?"

"Yeah?"

"Well I need to get stuff to make them but we'd have to go after school. Sound good?"

"Sure thing Lucy!" Natsu answered back.

The two of them proceeded to get ready. It seemed like Lucy had forgotten all about her plans to get Natsu back. When she did remember though, she shrugged it off. She slept so well last night that she actually wouldn't have minded it happening again. Not that she'd ever confess something like that to Natsu. The last thing she needs is for him to live in her house.

After school was over, the two of them walked towards the grocery store.

"Wow Lucy, everything is so close to your apartment! You don't even have to get in any stupid vehicles!" Natsu exclaimed.

"Yeah Natsu, I picked that apartment for a reason. I wanted to get a little more exercise so I forced myself to walk everywhere." Lucy said.

"Well if you ever get tired, you know I could give you a piggyback ride or something." Natsu offered, making Lucy blush at his thoughtfulness. He wasn't very bright, but he for sure knew how to make someone feel special.

Once Natsu finished speaking, he looked up to see that they were in the store. When he went inside, he watched Lucy pick out a lot of weird things that he would have never thought go into a cookie. Especially the eggs. He had to remind himself that he never really cooked anything for himself so it'd be best just to let her pick up the things they needed.

When they got home, Natsu helped Lucy bring in the groceries and specially set the ones for cooking on the kitchen counter. He was actually glad his friends weren't there for a moment. If they ever found out he was helping someone else with something as easy as groceries, they'd think he went insane.

Lucy pulled out some cookie cutters, some in the shape of stars, trees, and candy canes. They didn't go unnoticed by Natsu though.

"Hey Lucy what's with the metal thingies that are in weird shapes?" Natsu asked holding up the tree cookie cutter.

"Oh those? They're cookie cutters. You use them to shape the cookies." She answered.

"But why a tree? I mean what's a tree gotta do with Christmas?" Natsu asked again.

"Well you see, some people put special Christmas trees in their homes as a decoration. People usually place their gifts underneath the tree to be opened on Christmas." She explained. She was a little saddened because Christmas trees were always her favorite part of Christmas as a kid but she didn't think she could get one into her apartment without hiring someone. She didn't have the money to do so, so it was no Christmas tree for her.

"Well why don't you have a Christmas tree then?" Natsu asked, picking up on Lucy's sadness.

"I can't carry it all the way back from wherever we get it from." Lucy answered, stating the obvious.

"But I can! Come on let's go get a Christmas tree, Lucy!" Natsu said, excitedly. His excitement made Lucy smile though. That and the fact that he was willing to carry a tree back to her apartment.

"We don't have time today, but we can always go get one on Friday." Lucy said.

"Where would we put it though? You said they go inside right?" Natsu asked.

"There's a little gap in the decorations over there that I left on purpose. I think it should be able to fit in that spot." Lucy said.

"Okay then! Well that settles it. We're going to get a tree for you on Friday!" Natsu said again.

"Thanks Natsu." She answered with a smile.

"By the way, why'd you buy this?" Natsu asked, holding up some ingredients to make frosting.

"Well that's for the frosting to put on the cookies. It makes it sweeter but also makes the cookies look nice." Lucy answered.

Friday rolled around before they knew it, and it was already only two weeks until Christmas. Natsu and Lucy went to a field that had Christmas trees growing on it. Lucy picked out a tree that she liked and Natsu paid for it and had it cut down and netted so that the tree would be easier to carry. They asked him if he wanted help attaching the tree to his car and he said that he didn't bring a car. The men gave him a shocked look and wished him luck on his way home. He and Lucy left together and Natsu waved a goodbye to the people who helped him pick out the tree.

On their way back, Lucy explained to him all the different things you put on a tree. As they approached her apartment Natsu asked Lucy:

"Hey, do you have a garage here?"

"Well it's a shared one. More for storage purposes than anything but yeah let me show you."

The two walked to the garage and Natsu took a small saw that was hanging on the wall. He filled a bucket with water, cut a small part of the tree trunk off so that it would accept the water in the bucket.

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

"Well since you're bringing the tree into a warmer area, you have to slowly adjust it so that it doesn't freak out and die right away. So it's going to sit out here all night."

"How do you know this stuff?" Lucy asked again.

"Damn Stripper." Was all Natsu mumbled. She immediately knew it was Gray.

"So we can bring it in and decorate it tomorrow?" Lucy asked, returning to the subject.

"Yep! And then put lots of those ornament thingies you were talking about on it!"

With that, the two walked up to Lucy's apartment and sat on the couch.

"Thanks Natsu."

"For what?"

"Getting me this tree. Did I ever tell you that Christmas trees are my favorite Christmas decoration?"

"It wasn't a big deal. I saw how much you wanted one, so I figured it was your favorite thing."

A small silence fell upon the room until Lucy broke it by asking:

"Hey Natsu, could you make a fire in the fireplace over there? Don't forget to open the flue." Lucy asked.

"Of course."

Natsu got busy making a fire, and rather than slowly lighting it using newspaper, he decided just to breathe on it until it light aflame. He put enough wood on the fire to last an hour or so, which wasn't that long. He sat back down on the couch and exhaled deeply. Carrying the tree back wasn't hard, but the walk made his feet a little sore. He probably thought the same thing happened to Lucy, so he decided not to complain about it.

Meanwhile, Lucy was thinking. She was staring out into the nighttime sky wondering what the heck happened to her life. If she told her seven year old self who was living with her mother and father happily that she would have run away and met Natsu, the younger Lucy would have laughed in her face. But it happened. Everything happens for a reason, just what was this reason?

"Hey Natsu?" Lucy asked, a little hesitantly.

"Yeah Lucy?"

"Why have you been so nice to me the past few weeks? I'm not complaining or anything. It's just that no one has ever done this much for me. Most people only befriended me for their own needs."

"'Cuz you're the best, Lucy! Spending time with you is the most fun I've ever had since I was with Igneel! I don't know what it is but I really like being around you, watching you smile, hearing you laugh and all that stuff."

She blushed at that and remembered how Natsu said Igneel was the closest person to him in the world. So she felt extremely happy when she found out that she meant that much to a person. She always had a hard time knowing that there was no one there to care for her. But when she met Natsu, she began to feel important again. She thought it was normal but she's grown to care for Natsu more than a friend. He was her protector, her guardian angel, her dragon. She didn't think Natsu was doing anything special for her. After all, she knew how much Natsu cared for his friends. But that didn't stop her from feeling special, and for developing feelings for him.

Yes, she had just found out that someone she thought loved her had really only been using her. But she also realized that the person who sat next to her was nothing like that man. There was no way Natsu could ever do something so heartless to a person. In fact, Natsu was just the opposite. He protected her, but he didn't isolate her. He took injuries, challenges, and made bets to protect her. He came into her life by some highly unlikely fate with an extremely odd background that she even doubted at first. But she saw how much Natsu did for her. Even the simple act of getting her a tree because she wanted one. She could have easily lived without a tree. But nope, Natsu got her a Christmas tree without her even asking.

She looked back at Natsu, who was currently staring hungrily at the fire in the fireplace, wondering how in the world she got into this mess.

The next morning, Natsu got up and walked over to Lucy's room. He had fallen asleep on the couch last night. Lucy wasn't there though. He figured she must have gone back to her room to sleep so Natsu walked into her room. When he got in the room, he smiled at her sleeping figure. He realized that she was extremely beautiful. Natsu just shrugged when he thought that. He realized that Lucy was his mate a while ago, but he figured he'd leave it be for now. He wasn't going to scare Lucy right away by proclaiming his undying love when she woke up.

People usually thought he was dense. That he never knew what love was. But in truth, he knew everything. He just hid it. In fact, his personality was so cheery and simple-minded that people thought he was dense when in reality, he was actually pretty smart. He wasn't a genius like Levy or Freed but he knew the basics of everything... including romance.

Lucy began to wake up and the first thing she saw was Natsu's smiling face. She thought she must still be dreaming, especially after she sorted out her feelings last night. No way did she just wake up next to him of all people. She rubbed her eyes with her hands and when she saw that he was still there, but that his attention was now focused on her, she screamed:

"Natsu!"

"Yeah Lucy?"

"What are you doing here? And why are you sitting here?"

"You were asleep and I decided to wait for you to wake up so I was gonna wait here so that I'd know when you were up."

"So you were watching me sleep?"

"Uhh... Kinda, yeah?" It came out as more of a question. Natsu knew fully well what he was saying so he didn't want to make it sound too obvious.

"Oh alright then. So can we decorate that tree today?" Lucy asked, still blushing from Natsu's last answer.

"Of course! I'll go bring it in." Natsu said running to the door.

He went out and picked the tree up out of the garage, and walked back up to Lucy's apartment. He placed it gently into the tree stand they had set up last night. He undid the tying on the tree, allowing its branches to spread out. Meanwhile, Lucy had pulled out a box of ornaments, that she'd hang when she was a kid, to hang on the tree. Right before she put the first ornament on, Natsu reminded her of the Christmas lights that needed to be put on the tree. Lucy left and came back a few minutes later with a bunch of Christmas lights. Natsu took them and began to decorate the tree. After he finished, they began to hang ornaments. When the tree was finally finished, Lucy pulled out a star that she had adored when she was a kid. She had made sure to grab it when she ran away from home.

"Hey Lucy?"

"Yeah Natsu?"

"You really like that star, dontcha?"

"Yeah I do. I always liked stars, ever since I was a little kid. My mother taught me everything about the stars and the zodiac. I love stars because they remind me of my mother."

"That's cool Lucy. Anyways, want me to put it on the tree?"

"Sure Natsu, go ahead." With that, Natsu took the star and placed it on the tree. He began to think about what sounded so familiar to him... Zodiac... Zodiac what though?... He decided he'd think about it later, and take this time to enjoy his awesome Christmas tree creation. He could show that damn stripper that he was fully capable of doing something not so destructive.

A little while after, the two of them looked outside. It was... Snowing? Natsu hadn't really ever seen snow. Most of the time if he saw it, it was just because of Gray. Gray sometimes froze Juvia's rain before it fell because he thought it'd be nice for a snow day. The two of them would use their magic to make it snow. Sometimes Natsu wanted to punch Gray... well actually he always wanted to punch Gray. But in particular, he wanted to punch Gray for being so damn oblivious to Juvia. But that wasn't his love life to interfere in. He had to deal with his own right now... He had to make Lucy love him.

"Wow, I haven't seen snow in a while." Natsu said.

"It's weird, it doesn't usually snow here. Actually it hasn't snowed here in three years." Lucy said.

"Hey, you wanna go outside and grab some hot chocolate?" Natsu asked.

"Sounds great!" Lucy answered.