Author's Note: Hiya guys. Thank you for all the encouragement and support. This will be a double chapter release, because of my absence for the next couple days. Let me know what you think. If you have any ideas please send them my way. As always I own nothing. All credit goes to Hiro Mashima. That guy's a boss. Please enjoy the next two chapters.

When Lucy arrived at the guild, she found Natsu and Happy waiting at their usual table, chowing down on some breakfast. Natsu looked up from his food and smiled.

"Hiya Luce!" Natsu mumbled through his mouthful of food. "Do you want to grab a couple of quick and easy missions that can be done around here?"

"Huh? I figured you would be all fired up and ready to take on a massive dark guild by ourselves." Lucy asked him, completely bewildered.

"Well, normally yeah, but you said you wanted to use some of the money for Christmas presents so I thought that we could do a bunch of little quests and go shopping afterwards."

"Wow, Natsu. That was really thoughtful of you. I didn't realize that you were paying attention when I said that. Thank you."

"I normally pay attention to you." Natsu replied earnestly. "I do listen, well, at least hear what you say." He grinned.

Lucy was stunned. He listens and pays attention to me? Does that mean he likes me? I know Happy says that all the time, but you know how he is. I should….

"Hey Luce, you ok? You seem out of it. You're not still sick are you?" Natsu asked cutting off her train of thought.

"No. I'm fine." She smiled. "Come on, let's pick some jobs."

"Yeah! I'm all fired up."

A few minutes later, they left the guild with a couple quest and began their work for the day.

Several hours later Natsu, Lucy, and Happy were wandering around the shops of Hargeon looking for Christmas presents for their friends. Lucy had a fairly large list consisting of Erza, Gray, Levy, Wendy, Carla, Juvia, Happy and Natsu. Natsu on the other hand didn't have a list and seemed to be bored by their shopping.

"Hey Lucy, how many more presents do we have to get yet? I'm starving." Natsu whined while holding his stomach.

"Not too many. I already got Levy the book she wanted. I got Wendy the cutest dress ever and Carla is getting a new bow for her tail. I got Juvia a new hat to wear. Erza wants this weird black body suit, but I'm not sure where to get that, or even where she came up with something like that." Lucy had already decided to make Happy a fish flavored Christmas cake, but she was stuck on what to get Natsu. "I am still trying to figure out what to get Gray though. Do you have any ideas? If you want we can go for dinner after I get done here?"

"Dinner sounds great Lucy. And for Gray, why don't you get him a new chain for his necklace? The one he has is really old and is going to break soon." Natsu replied, while looking at a nearby jewelry shop.

"That's a great idea. Natsu are you feeling alright? You've been really thoughtful and almost responsible the past couple days. I'm a little scared." Lucy teased him, half serious. He looked out for her while she was sick. He was willing to go shopping with her and was even careful not to destroy anything during the missions to ensure that they could make the most money possible.

"Hey! I can be responsible. I'm not a nuivijile." Natsu pouted.

"Don't you mean juvenile?" Lucy asked with a giggle. She looked around at all of the vendors in the street, but still couldn't see anything that Natsu would like.

Just as she was about to give up, Lucy spotted an odd little shop similar to where she bought her Canis Minor key.

"Why don't we look in there?" Lucy asked while turning to look back at the others and saw that the boys were currently distracted by a food stall. Not bothering to grab them from their snack time, she walked into the shop by herself.

The shop was cute and had a lot of unique items that you couldn't find anywhere else. Lucy wandered around the shop and the first item to catch her eye was a wooden, hand-carved dragon statue. The dragon was carved to look as though it was flying and in mid-roar. Whoever carved it must have loved it.

"What can I do ye for?" A voice from behind startled her. She turned and saw an elderly gentleman looking at her with curiosity. "Can I help ye?"

"Uh, yes please. Can you tell me about this statue?" Lucy asked him.

"This is a hand-carved dragon that was made in the likeness of the King Fire Dragon, Igneel."

"Igneel? Have you seen him? It's so life-like that it seems as though it could start moving at any minute."

"No. I've never seen him, but my father has. He carved this piece when I was a boy. Supposedly, while he was out gathering wood for a fire one day when he heard a great roar. He hid in a group of bushes, and when he looked up he saw the great dragon flying overhead. My father was so amazed by what he saw, he carved this statue by hand. He loved it, but after he passed, things became tight, so we are selling it."

"It's incredible. How much do you want for it?" Lucy asked. This would be perfect for Natsu!

"20,000 Jewel." The clerk replied. After seeing Lucy's face fall a bit, he continued. "I know it's a high price, but we want to give it to a good home that will take care of it."

"Oh, I understand." Lucy looked around the shop. "I plan on getting it, but do you mind if I…." A shiny object caught her eye. It was a necklace, a blue charm that was shaped like a raindrop or a tear drop on a black chain. "What's that?"

"Ye have a great eye, girl. This necklace comes with a legend, too. It's called "The Girl's Heart". According to legend, there once was a young couple who lived near the woods. One day they found a little girl who was lost in the woods. The little girl had no memory of her parents or even what her name was. The couple, being compassionate, took her in and started to raise her as their child, with the girl calling them "mommy" and "daddy". They were really happy for a while until one day, the little girl was taken away from them. Before the girl disappeared, she gave her "mommy" a necklace. This necklace. She explained that she had to go away for a while, but that she would always love them and that this tear drop was her heart. As long as they had the necklace, she would always be with them. The couple held their daughter one last time and then the girl disappeared, leaving behind the necklace and the memories that they made together."

"That's a beautiful story." Lucy sighed while wiping away a tear. "Is it true?"

"I don't know. This necklace has been in this shop for a long time, and also deserved to go to a home where it will appreciate it as you obviously do." The gentleman smiled. "I'd be willing to sell it to ye for 20,000 jewel if ye want."

"I'd love it, but I only have enough for one or the other." Lucy frowned. As much as she loved the necklace, she wanted to get Natsu that statue. She sighed again. "I'll take the statue, but can you hold it for me. It's a present for a really important person and I don't want them seeing it. I'll give you the total amount today, if you could hold it until I can pick it up tomorrow."

"I don't know. I don't normally do this for customers…" He looked over at Lucy and saw her hopeful look. "But, I'll make the exception since ye have such a fine eye and it's for an important person, I'll hold it for you."

"Thank you!" Lucy hugged the old man and handed him the money she owed. "You are a life saver. I will be back for the statue tomorrow. Thank you for the stories."

"Not a problem. I hope ye have a nice night." The gentleman smiled again. "Take care now."

"Thanks!" Lucy called over her shoulder. Distracted by the two stories she heard, she ran into a person and would have fallen if a pair of strong hands didn't reach out the catch her.

"Thank you for helping me." Lucy looked up to thank her savior and was surprised to see it was Natsu. She began to blush. "Nice catch."

"Thanks" He grinned sheepishly. "I thought so too." He said it so softly that she could be sure that she heard him right.

"What did you say?" Lucy asked, slightly hopeful she heard him right.

"Nothing, nothing" Natsu blushed. "Find what you were looking for?"

"Yeah." Lucy replied, thinking about the present she chose for him and smiled. "Why don't we grab dinner?" Suddenly, her communication lacrima went off with a message. It was from Levy and Erza.

"Sure, Luce." Natsu replied with a smile. "What's up?"

"Nothing important." Lucy read the text to herself.

Do you ladies want to go dress shopping tomorrow? Erza asked.

Sure, I'll tell my team that we are doing a girl's mission day so they don't ask any questions. Levy replied.

"Erza and Levy want to do a girl's mission day tomorrow and they were asking me if I wanted to join them." Lucy explained.

"Go for it and have fun." Natsu encouraged her, with a grin.

"Thanks." Lucy smiled back at him. Perfect! This will give me the chance to get Natsu's present back to my apartment. Lucy replied to the message.

Works for me. Do you mind if we stop in Hargeon tomorrow so I can pick up a Christmas present?

Not at all. Why don't we meet at the train station tomorrow around 11? Erza suggested.

Sounds like a plan! See you guys tomorrow. Lucy sent back and put her lacrima away. She smiled at Natsu.

"Want to get dinner?"

"Yeah." Natsu took Lucy's hand and lead him through the crowded streets to a nice restaurant.

The meal was excellent and much to Lucy's surprise and enjoyment, Natsu was a complete gentleman. This is almost like a da-. Lucy stopped her own train of thought. She would allow herself to get too excited and jump to conclusions. Too soon dinner was over and they were on their way home.

Lucy was off in her own little world when Natsu suddenly spoke.

"What are you doing for Christmas this year?"

"Nothing that I know of. I have presents for some of the others, but other than giving those. I'm not doing anything. Why?" This may be it. He might be asking me to the dance.

"No reason." Natsu replied, going in the exact opposite direction than what Lucy was hoping.

"Ok" Maybe I could drop a couple hints. "What are you doing for Christmas?"

"Nothing special. It's normally just Happy and I celebrating by ourselves. Some years we go to the guild and have dinner there, but we don't do anything big."

"Oh, I guess that makes sense. Do you think this year is going to be different?" Lucy asked, hoping he would get the obvious hint.

"I don't know. We'll see then, I'll let you know. Hey maybe we can meet at the guild and celebrate. You know that they have the best holiday meals there." Natsu replied. It wasn't the answer Lucy was looking for, but she knew that it was probably the best that Natsu could come up with.

"Sure, let's see what happens." Lucy sighed as her apartment came into sight. "I guess I might not see you guys tomorrow, but I hope you have a great day. Stay out of trouble, ok?"

"Yes ma'am." Both Natsu and Happy saluted with a grin. "Night Luce!"

"Night guys!" She called to their retreating forms as she walked into her building. That was a lot of fun. I can't wait to get Natsu present tomorrow. She looked at the clock and saw that it was late. I better get to bed. I have a long day tomorrow. With that thought, she got changed, shut off her light, and went to bed.

"That was close. She almost found out about our plans." Natsu said to Happy

"Aye! Maybe she wants you to take her to the Christmas Dance at the guild." Happy replied. "It seems like something she'd like to do."

"I know. I plan on taking her after we surprise her Christmas morning."

"Be careful, maybe someone will ask her before you surprise her." Happy warned, thoughtful for once. He didn't want Natsu to hurt Lucy unintentionally.

"Who'd ask? Gray is taking Juvia and almost everyone know that I'd kill them if they even thought about it." Natsu bristled at the thought of anyone else trying to take Lucy.

"True, just don't let her hang for too long. Girls can get their feelings hurt very easily."

"Aye, Happy. Don't worry. We'll give her the best Christmas ever!" No one was going to ruin his plan. She was going to have the best Christmas and it would be all thanks to him and Happy and after the dance, she would hopefully be his for good.