A Fairy Tail Christmas

Part 2: Decisions

By: xSteleAliniax

Beta'd By: Katie Dragneel

December 24th - 4:30 PM

When Christmas Eve rolled around, Lucy was actually starting to feel a little excited about the upcoming party that evening. It was still early, so she had plenty of time to make herself look absolutely fabulous.

And she would, too.

Since it was the day of the Secret Santa party, Lucy had booted Natsu out of her apartment fairly early, claiming that she didn't want him peeking at her gift and ruining the surprise for the receiver. While that was partially true, the real reason was that she didn't want him to see her Christmas dress until she was completely done-up. She wanted to do a whole reveal for him, and see his genuine reaction.

She was currently in her bathroom, working on curling the ends of her hair so they fell in perfect waves just above her waist. She had left it down because a certain pinkette had let slip once that he rather liked her hair when it was left loose. She could even remember the faint blush that painted his cheeks the color of his hair. The thought made her smile.

Once that task was completed, she set to polishing her toenails and fingernails, because she wanted to look absolutely perfect tonight.

She found shimmering, ruby red polish and set to work, careful not to get the paint on her skin.

Once her nails had enough time to dry, she pulled her dress off its hanger and slipped it on, wary of her freshly-painted nails. With the dress in place, she slid her feet into a pair of delicate heels, then walked over to her mirror to check her reflection.

The dress was made of a silky red fabric that clung to her waist and flowed out around her in various skirts. It was strapless, and had an especially low neckline that pumped her breasts out in a way that was almost too much. The bodice part of the dress was dotted with glittering silver jewels that helped accentuate the ruby necklace that hung on a silver chain just above the space between her breasts. Her shoes were also silver, with ruby jewels along the thick straps that wrapped around her slim ankles. The emerald and gold thread bracelet she wore stood out against the red of the dress, but she didn't care: she never took it off, not since Natsu gifted it to her three birthdays ago.

With a wink of approval, Lucy blew a kiss to her reflection, then turned away from the mirror to search for her black shawl, because it was still freezing and she didn't have her dragon around to heat her up for the walk to the party.

She grabbed the gift that sat on her coffee table—a neatly wrapped parcel of red and silver wrapping with a small, red bow in the top left corner—pulled the shawl closed so that it covered her exposed cleavage, then headed out into the cold, wintery night.

December 24th - 4:00 PM

It was nearly time to leave for the party, and Natsu still hadn't started getting ready.

Not only was he still in only a pair of shorts and his scarf—it was too damned hot for a shirt!—he hadn't showered, and worst of all he hadn't even wrapped his Secret Santa gift, even though Happy had been reminding him to do so for the past week.

It wasn't his fault, he wasn't any good at wrapping gifts! The intended person would immediately know that the shoddy wrapping job had been Natsu's and that would ruin the surprise, and defeat the whole purpose of the 'Secret Santa' concept.

"Happy!" He called out from where he fretted over his hair. A cowlic made his bangs stick up in the front, no matter how hard he tried to keep them in place. Likewise, his pink locks had a perpetually haphazard look about them, no matter what styling attempts he used to tame them.

"What's up, Natsu?" Happy flew into the bathroom, where Natsu was currently slathering gel into his hair to smooth it down into a semi-normal look. Happy took one look at his attempts and burst into laughter, falling onto the floor and rolling around, kind of laughter.

Natsu scowled at his friend and resisted the urge to give him a swift kick across the floor.

"Will you shut up and help me?!" Natsu exclaimed irritably. The blue Exceed sobered, spreading his wings out before hopping into the air and flying around Natsu's head, inspecting the mess of gel and pink locks.

"Hm," he mused, studying the pinkette with mock focus. Natsu scowled again, waiting for his friend to say something. "Houston, we have a problem! This hair seems to look ridiculous, sir!"

Natsu moved to swat the cat away, but he dodged effortlessly and snickered as he flew just above Natsu's reach.

"Why are you trying to slick back your hair like that, Natsu?" Happy asked, genuinely curious to the sudden change. Natsu sighed heavily and began washing his hair out in the sink.

"I'm nervous, okay?!" He hissed, water and gel dripping into his eyes. He pinched them shut and worked the gel out of his hair until it was mostly clean, then turned the faucet off and flipped his hair back, spraying the mirror, and Happy, with the wet strands. The latter gave a shriek of annoyance and flew out of the water's path, but not before getting a coat full of it. Scowling, he shook the water off.

"What are you so nervous about?" He asked, now perching on the counter near the Dragon Slayer.

"Me and Luce have never shared a Christmas together," he admitted in a low voice, as though afraid that the aforementioned blonde wizard would suddenly appear and overhear him. "I screwed up with Thanksgiving, that whole night was a disaster!"

He cringed, remembering the food fight he and Gray had gotten into, even if it had been sort of fun.

"And then that damned Jellal had to go and show us all up by proposing!"

"I thought it was Erza who proposed?" Happy interjected.

"Whatever! It was a dual proposal," he waved off the specifics with a dismissive flick of his wrist. "Anyway, he gave Erza a ring, and now the rest of us have that to live up to. How is anything I give Lucy ever going to match up?"

"You could give her a ring," Happy suggested with a shrug. Natsu's eyes bugged at the casual way his friend said this, as if suggesting that Natsu put on a shirt, or put the lid back on the toothpaste when he finished brushing his teeth—which he never remembered to do.

But propose to Lucy?

No. That was totally out of the question.

Or, was it?

"I need to talk to Levy. Right now."

He rushed out of the bathroom, and was just about to storm out the front door when Happy called out to him.

"Hey, Natsu! You're not wearing a shirt!" His amused snicker echoed off the walls of Natsu's head, and he nearly dropped dead right then and there at the sudden realization that he was shirtless.

Like that idiot, Gray!

"Ah, sh-"

"Don't forget your pants!" Happy flew by Natsu's head, chuckling as he did a flip in the air to avoid a fist to the face.

"Shut up, Happy! I'm wearing pants!"

But he still glanced down, just to be sure.

Five minutes later, he was at Levy's front door, beating on the wood so hard he thought it might break in half.

A moment later, footsteps could be heard jogging down the steps, and a faint, "Coming!"

Levy opened the door, surprise flickering across her face as she took in the uninvited guest.

"Um, hello, Natsu," she greeted confusedly. Natsu was sure his expression fell somewhere between anger and frustration, and the poor script mage was probably highly curious as to why the hell Natsu of all people would show up at her door.

He couldn't blame her either, as he was just as surprised.

"I need your advice," he said, pushing past her and into the house.

It was warm inside, as a fire burned in the hearth of her fireplace in the small sitting room that sat just to the left of the entryway. This was where Natsu went, as the hot flames licking against the wood called out to him. He refrained from devouring them, as they were currently the only thing keeping the small woman's house heated, and he would never live it down if Lucy found out that he had forced a chill into her best friend's home.

"What's going on?" Levy asked, once she had joined Natsu in the sitting room. He paced in the small space in front of the fire, looking agitated and on edge. "Is everything okay?"

"No! Yes! I don't know!" He stammered, irritation coloring his tone as he ran a hand through his still-damp hair. Finally, he stopped pacing and turned on Levy. His expression must have been something fierce, because the bluenette took a step back in surprise, eyes going slightly wider.

"Does Lucy expect me to propose?" He blurted. At this, the bluenette's jaw hit the floor, her green eyes going even wider in shock.

"Uh-" She started, confusion causing her brain to freeze up. "I-Where is this coming from?" She finally managed to get out.

Natsu heaved a sigh and dropped into one of her floral printed chairs, the one closest to the heat of the fire.

"I don't know," he admitted. "I was just thinking about Thanksgiving, and how Jellal, or Erza, or whoever the hell it was, had to go propose and set the bar impossibly high for the rest of us!"

Understanding lit her features as she nodded. "Oh, so you think Lucy now expects the same of you." She guessed.

"Yeah, I guess it sounds pretty stupid when you say it out loud." He sent her lopsided grin. "But, I don't know. Do you think I should? I mean, this Christmas party would be the perfect place to be all showy and—hell, what's the word? That girly word?"

"Romantic?" Levy supplied in a flat tone.

"That's it!" Natsu exclaimed, to which Levy responded with a roll of her eyes. "I could use the Christmas party to ask her-" He stopped, suddenly feeling a chill run through his veins.

Ask Lucy to marry me.

That had been what he was about to say. But, for some reason, those words got lodged in his throat and refused to come out. That was ridiculous! He couldn't marry Lucy!

But, he couldn't live without her, either. And he most certainly did not like the idea of her marrying anyone else.

"You love her," Levy stated, tone matter-of-fact. There was no question in her voice, she knew he loved Lucy.

"Yes,"

"Do you want to marry her?"

"...Yes." He whispered, voice unwilling to go any louder. "But, I don't think she'd like a huge, romaniac-"

"Romantic," Levy corrected.

"Romantic gesture," he continued, "in front of everyone, you know?"

Levy nodded in agreement. "She does get embarrassed fairly easily."

"So, I shouldn't propose,"

It wasn't exactly a question, but it wasn't a statement, either. Uncertainty colored his tone, and his expression, as he held Levy's gaze. He felt like a fool, asking advice from some girl. But then, he guessed it made sense to ask a girl about a girl. And not just any girl, the girl, his girl; his Luce.

Levy shrugged in answer. "I'm not telling you to do, or not to do, anything. But, I think you'll know in your heart when the time is right."

I've always known that… ever since I first laid eyes on her in Hargeon.

"Yeah," he agreed. "You're absolutely right."

A/N: Part 2, you guys! Thoughts? Personally, I thought it was adorable to see things from Natsu's perspective. I thought his little conversation with Levy was just too funny, and also cute as heck! XD

Thank you to my lovely beta reader, Katherine, for doing this scene super last minute for me, and for suggesting a chapter title that is actually pretty damned accurate and way better than the ones I usually choose. She's awesome, really. I think I'll keep her XD

Anyway! I know I usually respond to reviews at the bottom of the next chapter, but, the review system is down AGAIN, so... sorry, guys. I will reply at the bottom of the next chapter if the system fixes itself by then, other wise I will send each of you a personal review. Unless you're using a guest account, then I'm sorry!