CHAPTER 5

Hello fellow NaLu shippers! Thanks for sticking with me and this fic so far! This chapter is slightly more serious than the others, but I hope you still like it regardless! Don't forget to leave a review and let me know what you thought. Plus Ultra!

The food on her plate… was normal.

Thought Lucy in surprise, and it looked edible… delicious even. Lucy could tell by the smell that it was probably spicy, but it still looked great. She found herself swallowing in anticipation.

"It… looks normal" she said out loud in surprise.

Natsu looked offended at her tone "What's that supposed to mean?! What did ya think I was gonna make ya?!" he asked in an offended tone.

"Well honestly, I expected to see you roasting raw meat over a campfire or something? I never expected you to know your way around a kitchen" said Lucy sheepishly as she rubbed the back of her head.

Natsu's mouth was open in shock, how could she say something so cruel!?

"What the hell Lucy?! Do I look like a caveman to you or something?!" he said sadly with his hand covering his eyes.

"Actually I was picturing a dragon more than a caveman. That title would have to go to my best friend's boyfriend" she said with a giggle.

Natsu blinked at her statement then lifted his head in surprise. His face was slowly going red.

"Well… as long as you're thinking of a dragon, I guess I don't mind anymore" he muttered softly.

'Did she know that I love dragons? I don't remember telling her?' he thought bashfully.

"Well you kind of remind me of a dragon. I mean you work with fire, not to mention your wild personality. I'd say you might have been a dragon in your previous life" said Lucy with a giggle.

Natsu sputtered in embarrassment and turned his red face away from her.

"If I was a dragon, then you must've been an angel" he muttered softly.

Lucy blushed fiercely, how could this guy just say stuff like that out loud!? If this keeps up she is sure her heart will explode.

Lucy sputtered, unable to say anything in response while Natsu just stood there with his own embarrassed look.

"Ugh geez! Let's start eating before the food gets cold alright!?" yelled Natsu as he sat down roughly and waited for Lucy to do the same.

Lucy cleared her throat awkwardly and sat in the adjacent seat at the table.

She looked at the plate and placed her hands together respectfully "Thank you for this meal" she said gratefully and took a piece of chicken and placed it in her mouth.

Lucy blinked in surprise. It was… good. Despite being spicy it wasn't overwhelming enough to make her cry, and the flavour was incredible.

"Delicious…" she said as she started eating more.

Natsu grinned with pride and started to dig in his own plate.

"See, I told ya I could cook. This is my special spicy chicken and rice. Course I mellowed out the flavour for yours since I usually make mine extra hot" he said with a mouthful of food.

"Well I must say this is quite amazing Natsu. And now I'm even more convinced you used to be a dragon" she said with a giggle as she took another bite.

Natsu chuckled with food in his mouth, he was glad she liked it.

Natsu noticed he had neglected to put anything to drink on the table and got up suddenly to grab something from the fridge.

"I see I forgot the drinks. Uhm, I don't suppose you'd be okay with beer right?" he asked bashfully. He didn't really have anything he thought Lucy would like. He took her as a girl who liked wine and fancy liqueur, unless she didn't drink at all in which case all he could really give her was water.

"Hello, I'm a firefighter. Of course I drink beer silly. Despite how I look, I don't actually like fruity drinks" she said with a smirk.

Natsu was surprised, pleasantly so. Lucy was just so full of surprises, and such a great girl. He started wondering how she could still be single.

"Well well, Miss Heartfilia, you sure are full of surprises" he said with a grin as he grabbed two cans of beer for them.

Lucy laughed at that and grabbed the beer Natsu handed her and opened it.

"Likewise Mr Dragneel" she said with a flirty wink.

Natsu chuckled and opened his own beer and clinked their cans together.

"To a night full of surprises" he toasted with a smile.

Lucy smiled and nodded her head in agreement.

"You said it"

They spent the rest of the evening eating and talking about whatever they could to get to know each other better.

Natsu found out that when she wasn't out fighting fires and being a total badass, she would sit at home and write stories about magic and adventure, using her own experiences as inspiration for her writing. He had to say he was very impressed.

Lucy found out that he got interested in pyrotechnics because of his foster father; Igneel. He was considered famous for his pyrotechnics and had even invented new ways to create better fireworks and equipment. He was even nicknamed the Flame Dragon King for his expertise. Lucy was listening in awe as Natsu went on about Igneel, she had never seen him light up so much when talking, and she wished she could meet Igneel in person herself one day.

Then they found out that they had one very sad thing in common; they were both orphans.

The topic was touchy for both of them so they decided drinking another beer would ease the tension.

Lucy spoke about her mother who had died when she was very young. Layla Heartfilia had a weak constitution and got sick very easily. One day she caught a cold, but because of her weak body she wasn't strong enough to fight against it and died. Her death had left a deep scar on Lucy and her father, he became distant over the years and focused all his attention on the company he owned, leaving none for her.

Then one day a fire broke out in their mansion and it almost took Lucy's life. But she was saved by a brave firefighter and only sustained minor injuries and inhaled some smoke. When she woke up in the hospital her father was right next to her and crying. He realised then that he almost lost his only child and was struck with immense guilt over the way he had treated her. After that they slowly managed to repair their relationship. Sadly her father had later been diagnosed with cancer, and by the time they found it, it had spread too far to be helped.

Lucy felt the only reason she was able to fix her relationship with her father was thanks to the fireman that saved her. She was so thankful and inspired by him that it drove her to want to become a firefighter as well.

Lucy started tearing up at the end and Natsu rubbed her back comfortingly which made Lucy smile softly.

Natsu couldn't recall his birth parents, so he only ever regarded Igneel as his father. Igneel had never been married but he wanted a son more than anything, so when he met Natsu he felt a connection right away. Natsu grew fond of Igneel right away and was obsessed with the work he was doing with fire. Once he was old enough Igneel took him under his wing and taught him everything he knew about working with fire. Igneel however was not as all-powerful as Natsu thought he was.

Igneel had been affected by a rare blood disease, one that sadly had no cure with today's medical technology. It was also part of the reason he never had children of his own, the disease could be passed down and he was not the kind of man who would do that to his own blood. When Natsu was ten Igneel could no longer hide the state of his condition from him since his immune system was shutting down due to the disease, causing him to get hospitalized.

Igneel had only a month left after that, and Natsu was left in the care of his uncle Atlas. Igneel told Natsu how glad he was that he got to be his father, and that he had to smile and not cry over his death. He told Natsu to talk about the future and focus on his own happiness.

Natsu was shaking as he recalled his last moments with his father, but he refused to cry since he promised that he would try to smile and be happy as much as possible.

Lucy was in tears over what she heard and got out of her chair and embraced Natsu as close to herself as possible. He wrapped his arms around her and breathed in her calming scent; she smelled like honey and fire, such a warm, comforting feeling enveloped him.

Lucy realised she was making his shirt wet with her tears and started pulling away only to have Natsu tighten his hold on her even more.

"Natsu?" she questioned softly.

"Just let me stay like this a little bit longer? Please?" he asked softly as he tightened his grip.

Lucy smiled softly and rubbed his head affectionately.

"I'll stay as long as you need me to Natsu"

"So how do you think Lu's date is going?"

Levy was sitting on her couch in her living room, her boyfriend sitting right next to her with her legs on his lap as she read a rather thick book.

Gajeel looked up at the ceiling and thought for a moment.

"I've met the pyro before; he helped me with equipment for one of my stage performances-"

Levy tried to stifle a giggle at the mention of his performing which earned her a scowl from Gajeel.

"Ahem, anyway… pyro is a pretty loose cannon, the guy says whatever he wants and does things at his own pace. It gets him into shit most of the time as you can figure" he said in thought.

Levy looked up from her book and raised a brow at her boyfriend "He sounds a lot like you" she said with a smirk.

Gajeel's eye twitched and he scoffed in disagreement "Please, I'm way cooler than that hothead. Anyway you're missing the point I'm trying ta make here" he said in annoyance.

"Basically you're saying he's the complete opposite of Lucy right?" said Levy with a soft smile.

Gajeel smirked at Levy's answer and rubbed her head affectionately.

"You got it Shrimp. In other words those two are perfect for each other" he said with a chuckle.

Levy giggled and swatted his big hand off her head.

"Let's hope you're right. Lucy deserves to be happy, I just hope Natsu is the guy who can make that happen" said Levy with a thoughtful look.

"You worry too much Shrimp. I'm sure it'll all turn out fine. In the meantime we have more pressing matters to worry about" he said sounding serious.

"Like what?" she asked as she adjusted the headlight on her head.

"Like when the hell the power's gonna turn back on!"

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