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Even after having transferred to Fairy Tail High, mornings are never easy, Lucy muses. The blind, careless walk to the tiny kitchen, the tiredness still somehow weighing on her bones despite a good night's sleep, the drag of having to make breakfast while telling herself that it’ll get better once she actually steps foot into her school, where all of her friends are. Without fail, every morning she’d rather roll over and shut out the ten past seven alarm blaring in her poor ears.
Every morning besides this one, that is. In fact, Lucy doesn’t even hear the alarm, shutting it off before it can start at five to seven, when she realizes she’s all too excited to get fifteen minutes more of shuteye. A crucial factor for such giddiness is surely the absence of classes today at school, but the most important one is finally getting to see how all of her hard work, along with her friends', will pay off. For the first time since she’s moved out of her father’s house, making breakfast isn’t at all a drag; she chops and cooks while humming cheery tunes at that, ending up making more than what she needs and packing it along her lunchbox for her friends. Natsu, the great eater he is, will surely enjoy a second breakfast, she tells herself, not failing to blush a little bit at the thought of the pink-haired boy.
Without letting her thoughts stray dangerously in that direction, she moves to the rest of her morning routine and she’s out of her apartment earlier than usual, backpack swung over her shoulder and the box containing the rest of the breakfast she made in her hand. Despite her being early, her best friend is already waiting for her, scrolling on her phone, the keychain attached to the cover swaying gently in the soft morning breeze.
«Levy-chan!» Lucy calls her, shaking her hand and skipping down the steps that lead to the sidewalk.
«Ah, Lu-chan!» Levy exclaims, pocketing her phone «Good morning!» she greets back, beaming at her.
The blond girl smiles back, halting her steps «Good morning! Don’t tell me you’re here this early every morning and I always made you wait so much»
Levy giggles, shaking her head «Not at all, don’t worry. I just figured today you’d be fretting, knowing you as I do, so I came earlier than usual» she reassures her.
«Oh, I’m glad» Lucy sighs «Well, it’s not like you’re wrong» she then adds, sheepishly, mindlessly playing with her hair, gracefully styled in two low pigtails.
«When am I ever?» the other girl grins, cocking an eyebrow «Like, I could say that I know that lunchbox is for a certain pink-haired guy and I wouldn’t be wrong, would I?»
Lucy feels the tips of her ears sting at that remark and she huffs, trying to dissimulate it «Nonsense, I just prepared too much food» she lies, and she perfectly knows Levy doesn’t believe one word of it «Anyways, there's no time to waste, we're monstrously late!» she exclaims, changing the topic abruptly.
Levy snorts all too knowingly «I can assure you we’re not. We'll arrive on time, don't worry» she reassures her with a smile «And you’ll still have time to give Natsu-kun that food» she adds menacingly.
Lucy lets out an offended noise, shoving her best friend away as the blue-haired girl laughs loudly, clearly making fun of her red face. Huffing, but certainly not annoyed, she stomps away, determined to put an end to such a risky conversation and Levy finally lets her off the hook, catching up to her and matching her pace. With the toll of an early wake weighing on them, they don’t chat more, strolling through Magnolia’s streets, not as empty as one would think, the city always bustling with energy, to reach their school.
It’s usually a twenty-minute walk from her apartment, but Lucy makes it in less than fifteen, all too excited to get there for once. When she steps through the gate, her cheeks are rather rosy, her breath a little short, but she doesn’t mind it, glancing above her shoulder to see how Levy, who had fallen behind at some point, unable to match the pace, is faring.
«Lu-chan, I hope this was an exception, or I’m not walking with you anymore» she all but pants, making the blonde giggle.
She doesn’t have time to reply with something quirky, however, because someone approaches them, her fiery scarlet hair glinting in the morning sun. Erza, who is their senior by a couple of years, might come off as imposing even by just the way she marches everywhere and towers over everyone, but Lucy has long since learned that she is, in reality, just a loud goofball who cares about everybody in the school, other than a very cool girl, that is, so she’s all but intimidated as she comes closer, smiling at her.
«Lucy, huh» she says, like a greeting «And Levy» she adds, her gaze running to the blue-haired girl still catching her breath «Right on time, the boys have just started setting up the stage» she informs them.
«Good morning, Erza» Lucy greets brightly, falling into steps with her as she turns back and walks into the school.
The girl mutters something equal back, all too focused on the tasking day ahead to be interested in such little matters as greetings. Not taking it to heart, Lucy follows her, Levy in tow and, soon, they enter one of the four school gyms (Fairy Tail High is very keen on sports activity), which today will hold a basketball game and, after, the play created by the drama and creative writing clubs, Lucy’s play. The thought has a wave of anxiety wash over her, making her nervous about the reaction of the people who will watch it. Deep inside her, she knows it’s not bad, and that they have worked hard around it for a long while, yet she can’t help but be jittery over it, and it’s not the excitement.
Before she can spiral more, however, a booming, warm voice gets her out of her head and her gaze runs to the source, not surprised to find a mop of pink hair over a rather enraged face. Natsu’s dear scarf, which he wears all year round, a token from the person who raised him, is thrown carelessly over one of his shoulders, while his unruly hair is held back by a headband and his hands are full of the wide wood panel he’s carrying.
«I’m telling ya, icy bastard, the thing here goes there, stop pushing it towards me!» he’s exclaiming, glaring daggers at the person on the other side of the panel.
It’s Gray, obviously, the person Natsu is bickering with, as always lacking a shirt, either for show or because he really feels too warm, Lucy will never know. He, as well, has his deep blue hair pushed back by a headband and, currently, he’s trying to shove the massive wood panel that they need to use as a landscape towards the pink-haired boy, making him stumble backward.
«And I am sure it goes there, firestick, so back off, would ya» Gray counters, pushing more as Natsu regains balance.
Before Lucy can intervene, rather afraid that they’ll end up breaking their precious landscape in their fervor, Erza steps forward, her hands closing into fists, and so she steps back, knowing fully well what’s coming.
«You two!» the older girl roars, shifting all the attention on herself «Do you have any idea of how long some students have worked on that?!»
Predictably, both Natsu and Gray still, the insults directed towards one another frozen in their throats as they turn at the same time towards her, their expressions losing all the annoyance. Lucy resists the urge to chuckle at the sight of the two boys trying to stand straight despite the somewhat heavy load they’re carrying, two condescending smiles blooming on their faces.
«Erza» Natsu calls out, sweat coiling above his eyebrows.
«Fancy seeing you here» Gray adds, looking just the same.
«If you so much end up ruining that thing, I’ll kick your asses in the dirt, I swear» Erza states, completely unimpressed as she stops right in front of the panel, checking for its conditions no doubt.
«Yes, ma’am!» the other two exclaim at the same time, and then send daggers through their gazes that clearly mean “stop copying me”.
Normally, they wouldn’t step down so easily, instead would continue their banter, deaf to Erza’s threats, until she actually kicks them into the grass of the garden, but today is a special day and no one is really looking out to create too much chaos, much less get terrorized by the red-haired girl.
«Lucy, where does this go?» Erza inquires, turning towards her and pulling her out of her head, her tone still rather authoritative.
«Right at the back of the stage, thank you!» she replies, stepping forward.
It’s only then that Natsu acknowledges her presence, his eyes zeroing in on her approaching figure (Lucy desperately tries to look unaffected by the piercing gaze, failing as she feels the tips of her ears heat up). He straightens up even more, then tilts his head to the side and smiles widely, his eyes crinkling up.
«Oi Luce, you’re here early!» he greets, and momentarily forgets that he’s carrying a considerable weight.
Lucy has yet to get accustomed to the nickname, she doubts she ever will, in fact, and so, like every time without fail, her cheeks get a tad bit rosy and her gaze trails away, trying to focus on something else other than the boy in front of her. A distraction comes in the form of Erza before she can even come up with something to reply to Natsu with.
«Get back to work» she barks out, stomping on the ground with her foot «You’ve heard her, up on the stage, come on»
Lucy can only offer a sheepish smile before Natsu gets back to work, but he grins back nevertheless, always happy and full of energy. After greeting a few friends, Lucy gets to work too, moving things around and helping the others lift the heaviest stuff, while also giving directions as to where exactly the stage props go. She doesn’t let her eyes or her mind linger on Natsu, even as they carry things around together a couple of times and, thanks to her organization of the work, they end up finishing rather quickly.
By the end of the hour, the gym is almost unrecognizable, the actual floor swept clean for the basketball game, rows and rows of chairs lined against the wall, ready to be put out, and, finally, the stage all decorated and ready to be used by the actors later into the day. The curtains have yet to be drawn to hide it from view and most students who have helped are sprawled on the edge of the stage, Natsu being one of them, his legs dangling into the void. Since her work is done and she doesn’t want to stare like a creep from the distance, Lucy inches closer until she’s standing next to him and she notices his eyes are closed and he looks like he’s asleep, if she didn’t know better.
«Tired much?» Lucy asks, sitting down beside him with a small smile «I’m sorry»
«Oh, Luce» Natsu acknowledges, opening his eyes to look at her «No need. If the icy bastard wasn’t so stuck up, I wouldn’t have broken a sweat» he assures, although he doesn’t make a move to sit up.
She giggles and then remembers the breakfast she’s packed, figuring it’s the right moment to give it out «Here» she offers, handing him the lunchbox «I made too much breakfast this morning and I thought I’d bring it to school to someone… you look like you could definitely need it right now»
At the mention of food, Natsu finally springs up, yanking the headband off his forehead and letting his hair fall gently over it, a move that makes blush creep on Lucy’s cheeks. She blushes so easily in his presence these days it's almost shameful, she should really get a grip, she thinks. But then the boy says something that has her newfound weak resolve fly out of the window, her skin getting even redder.
«You’re the best Lucy, amazing!» he exclaims, gently yanking the lunchbox out of her hands, their fingers brushing «What would I do without you, really» he wonders, opening the box and sniffing the nice scent of still warm food.
Lucy can only do so much as to let out a little breathless, incredulous laugh, trying to not combust there and then. Sometimes she wonders if he does it on purpose, if he knows the effect he has on her. Admittedly, Natsu is not the most emotionally intelligent guy out there, not even the most intelligent in general, but, more often than not these days, he says stuff that makes Lucy’s heart race, or pulls stunts that make her laugh impossibly, or does something that makes her mouth run dry and her cheeks heat up, so Lucy is not absolutely sure anymore of him being that oblivious. Still, she won’t question him on his behavior, she’d surely combust if she tried, so she simply goes along with it, living whatever he has to offer.
«You’d finally start to cook food for yourself» she finally says, after Natsu has already started digging into the container with a wooden pair of chopsticks.
Just like her, Natsu lives alone, although not strictly by personal choice or because he moved like Lucy. He’s actually an orphan, and the only family he has, his brother and his caretaker, are both always away on the other side of the world and, to be fair, the former doesn’t really want to have anything to do with the boy. Still, he’s never minded talking about it and Lucy can’t say she has seen him being sad over it. At Fairy Tail High, after all, almost everyone has a bit of a troubled history for one reason or the other and so is easier to feel welcomed, to talk about things and to feel understood. This is to say, though, that Natsu is probably the worst cook ever and so, most of the time, all he consumes is junk and instant food, no matter how many times Lucy reprimands him and offers to teach him. Because of that, Natsu considers her statement for all two seconds, a record, before he denies it.
«Nah, I’d starve to death» he claims, rather unbothered, as he digs in again.
At that, she huffs, ruffling an eyebrow «And then what would poor Happy do?» she asks.
Happy is nothing less than Natsu’s cat and, sometimes, Lucy wonders how come a disorganized, forgetful person like Natsu manages perfectly to have a pet and to keep him in perfect health and shape. Yet the kitty is always, as his name suggests, happy and full of energy, his bowls full every time Lucy visits to drop off either forgotten homework or leftover food that she just knows will be scarfed down in record time, which doesn’t really happen often to be honest, because it’s Natsu the one who usually crashes over, whining for some food, Happy draped over his shoulder.
«He’d come to you» he replies easily, like it’s the most natural thing ever.
He’s not looking at her and his voice has its usual tone, but again Lucy can’t help the feeling that he’s not as oblivious as he looks. She doesn’t know just when his earnest replies, said with such ease, started to make her heart beat run faster, but they do and she can’t bring herself to care.
«He’d be fairly sad, Natsu» she counters instead «Really, you must start to eat properly»
«Not until I won’t have you anymore feeding me every day» Natsu argues, and she doesn’t even have time to blush, because he perks up again, seemingly having remembered something «Oh, yeah, about Happy, yesterday he fell into a can of blue paint, all icy bastard’s fault» he grumbles.
«What?!» Lucy exclaims, concerned even though she knows he would be way less calm if something truly bad had actually happened to the kitty.
«Yeah, we were painting the banners for today and icy bastard left the can open while Happy was around» Natsu explains, waving his chopsticks around and sounding way more offended by having had to work with Gray than everything else «Vet gave him lots of baths and said he’ll be alright though, else she’ll just shave him from head to tail» he adds, and finally Lucy can sigh in relief.
«You could have started with that, you know» she points out.
He doesn’t reply her, too busy finishing the remnants of his food, and she doesn’t take it to heart. Natsu is just like that, doesn’t think about the consequences of his actions most of the time and always takes his time to explain things in his way, which sometimes can be rather questionable, but not something one never gets used to.
He’s trying to take a hold of the last crumbs of breakfast, Lucy quietly watching him, when Erza storms up to them and, if she didn’t know better, Lucy would claim she’s almost nervous. While she redirects her attention from Natsu to the other girl, the boy doesn’t lift his eyes from the lunchbox, in fact doesn’t even seem to have acknowledged Erza’s presence.
«What are you two still doing here?!» she asks, crossing her arms «The doors are about to open and we need to draw the curtains here. Plus there are a shitton of other things to do, so quit sitting around and get to work» she instructs, her fire-like gaze shifting to the boy «Natsu!»
«What? Fine» he groans, closing the lunchbox, for once not in the mood to get a scolding from Erza «Thanks for the food Luce, always great» he then compliments, turning to Lucy and handing her the box.
Then, he jumps off the stage, but he isn’t fast enough to dodge the blow coming at him, and the paper Erza is holding in her hand crashes on his head «And go comb your hair for the love of god, you look like a street punk» she reprimands him and he just scowls, heading to the door.
For someone like her, Erza is strangely attached to hair care, which surprised Lucy deeply the first time, although now she’s gotten used to it. She suspects it’s because of a guy anyways, a certain one with blue hair (and a punk hairstyle, to be honest) that she’s seen in passing a couple of times.
She doesn’t have the time to give it any more thought, however, because a quick look at her phone screen tells her the doors will indeed open in a few minutes and Erza surely isn’t lying about some other students needing help. By the time she’s out of the gym, Natsu is nowhere to be seen, but she spots Mirajane instead, another last year like Erza with white hair and an overall sweet personality, who’s busy trying to set up the last thing for her food stand as a member of the cuisine club.
«Mira!» Lucy calls out, skipping close «Need help?»
«Oh, Lucy» she smiles, straightening up «The doors are about to open, are you sure you don’t want to see that? It’s your first cultural festival here at Fairy Tail High»
The blonde simply shrugs, bending down to pick up some last decorations «I don’t mind, I like more to know that everything is ready to be showcased»
«Alright then, you’re a blessing really» Mirajane relents «Elfman is busy with his boxing club and Lisanna is god knows where, while all the others in the club are busy with the last set of pastries»
«Then I’m even more happy to help!» Lucy exclaims, working more rapidly.
With two sets of hands, the two girls end up finishing the job quickly and, after Mirajane has gifted her a muffin to thank her for the help, Lucy walks away in search of someone else to help. As she enters the main school building, she finds it empty of guests, the only fuss coming from students running around, which means that the event has yet to start. In such chaos, she finds it hard to spot someone who’s not running around, deaf to any offer to help, and she makes her way through the hallways until she spots Juvia, a good friend of hers who transferred just shortly after her, hunched over a gigantic stack of paper fliers.
«Oh, Juvia!» she calls, happy to have found someone she knows well.
However, she soon realizes she shouldn’t have done that, as Juvia jumps in fear and the better part of the stack crumbles to the ground, scattering fliers all over. Rather horrified and mortified, Lucy can only stand there for a couple of seconds before regaining consciousness of herself and rushing to the poor girl, who seems even more horrified than her.
«Oh my lord, I’m so sorry Juvia, I didn’t mean to spook you!» Lucy exclaims, starting to pick up all the fliers as students rush by.
«Juvia wasn’t spooked» the blue-haired girl denies, a bit red in the face.
Lucy gives her a long glance, but doesn’t argue further as they pick everything up and secure it in a corner of the hallway, the stack now way more stable than it was before. Juvia, Lucy has learned, doesn’t talk all that much, in fact she spends the majority of her time at school checking out whatever it is that Gray is doing, as she has a massive crush on him. For that, in the beginning the blue-haired girl didn’t particularly like Lucy, as she was the object of Gray’s lame pickup lines, but now that it all has passed, they are able to have a laugh over it and be friends.
«Sorry again for that» Lucy sighs «Need a hand to, I don’t know, hand them out?» she asks.
«No, don’t worry. Juvia will have to give them out to the people who will attend, although Juvia suspects Erza gave her this work so she can’t make sure that Gray-sama doesn’t injure himself during the game» she explains, a bit of a pout on her lips.
Lucy wants to giggle at that, but then her traitorous mind reminds her that she also intends to go see someone during his game, so she’s really not in the place to chuckle at the silliness. She’s about to greet her friend and move on, since she really doesn’t seem in need of any assistance, when someone comes sprinting down the hallway carrying a stack of little wooden planks and she immediately recognizes Gray by the mop of dark hair. She glances at Juvia and then smiles to herself, waving out a hand to make the boy stop in his tracks, right next to them.
«Gray!» she calls «Great timing, why don’t you help Juvia hand out those fliers when the doors open so then you can both go early to your game?» she offers.
«Gray-sama!» Juvia chirps on the other hand, completely unhelpful in situations like this.
Gray cocks an eyebrow, eyeing the tall pile of paper «But I have to bring these to Lisanna and then there’s the pre-game warm-up and-»
«I’ll do it» Lucy cuts in enthusiastically, not giving the boy the time to wiggle himself out of this «I have nothing to do still so… enjoy yourselves!» she exclaims, grabbing the wooden planks and then rushing away with a snicker.
Mentally, she pats herself on the shoulder, proud: she’s a rather good wingman, wingwoman actually, that is undeniable. When she turns the corner, however, she has to admit that the wooden planks are rather heavy and that she’s definitely out of shape. When she finally makes it to the tatami room where the martial arts club is based, she’s utterly out of breath, shamelessly so, and her arms hurt, but luckily Lisanna notices her straight away and comes to help her quickly.
«Lucy, hi! I was expecting Gray, but I don’t mind seeing you» she smiles, grabbing the whole stack from Lucy’s hands in such a carefree way that has her almost jealous «Most of all, I’m glad I finally have these, thank you»
«Oh yeah, sorry, I saw Gray come barreling towards me and Juvia and set the two of them up, couldn’t resist» Lucy jokes, trying to not look too relieved by the lack of weight graving on her arms.
«A good reason» Lisanna comments, placing the wooden planks in a corner.
«Oh! Also, Mira-san was searching for you» she informs her as she checks the clock on the wall to see how late it is already.
«Thank you, though I don’t think I’ll be able to go to her any time soon, I’m a bit busy here now and soon people will start flooding in» she sighs.
Lucy simply nods «Yeah, you’re right. I’m going then, I have to rehearse the play after all»
Lisanna smiles at her, waving a hand as she walks out of the room «I’m sure it’ll go well, don’t stress. We will all come to cheer on you!»
All Lucy can do at that is giggle nervously as she steps away, now all too aware of the pressure on her shoulders. Naturally, she knows that play like the back of her hands, she has written it, but delivering in front of a public, in front of the boy she admittedly likes a lot, takes a lot of courage and effort and she just hopes she won’t mess things up in any way.
So lost in her thoughts, she doesn’t notice the first kids sprinting by, nor the adults accompanying them. It’s only when one of them almost sends her flying that she finally comes out of her head, only to realize that the doors have finally been opened and that Fairy Tail High has been swarmed with people from all over the city and beyond, interest to see what the school has to offer. Smiling at all the people who pass by her, she takes her phone out to pull up the schedule of the day with all the events lined up, but she doesn’t even have the time to read the first line that she feels someone peering at her phone from behind her back. With a small scream, she turns around, only to find Natsu smiling in a silly way at her.
«Yo Lucy, what are you doing here? I thought you’d be busy somewhere» he says, ruffling his already unruly hair.
«I took some wooden planks from Gray and brought them to Lisanna» she explains, keeping her blush in check «Now I was checking which event is the nearest»
«What about my game?» Natsu asks, his lips almost curling into a pout that has Lucy fold (there’s absolutely no way this boy doesn’t know what he’s doing).
«Of course I’m coming to your game, I just didn’t think it was so soon» she reassures him, crossing her arms after pocketing her phone «In fact, I’m pretty sure it isn’t»
Natsu shrugs «It isn’t» he agrees, then he glances to the side, as if he is contemplating whether to add something else or keep it to himself, before his green eyes are back on Lucy «I thought you could come to the gym to rehearse your play while we warm up, I promise we’ll be less noisy than any other corner you could find» he offers, ruffling an eyebrow while a corner of his mouth turns up in half a grin.
The blonde feels her heart skip a beat, actually more than one, as she fights to keep her blush in check, the tips of her ears already tingling. She really, really must learn to get a hold of herself these days, but today is not the day, at all. Knowing Natsu, she’d say he’s only being his usual self, the one who always brings his friends together, but something in the way he’s said those words tells her it’s different this time, gives her a kind of hope she definitely doesn’t need if she wants to not go insane over it.
«Sure!» she manages to get out, a bit too quickly «I mean, fine, but I hope you’re telling the truth» she threatens blandly.
Natsu chuckles at that, a bit sillily but still unfairly charming «When did I ever lie to you?» he asks, rather rhetorically.
Unfortunately for him, Lucy can remember a couple of instances «The first project we did together, turned out you only needed a blonde girl. Then that other impossible project that was supposed to be only for last years, you told me it would have been the easiest thing ever and we found ourselves on an island. Then again-» she starts listing, but he cuts her off.
«Alright, fine, fine, there have been a couple of times when I might have omitted some details…» he relents and she gives him a glare «But hey, it was fun! We had fun!»
Sadly, Lucy can’t disagree with that, so she simply sighs, turning away and starting to walk in the basketball gym’s direction «Let’s go»
Quickly, Natsu catches up to her «Didn’t you have fun?» he inquires, tilting his head to the side like a kicked puppy, one end of the scarf falling off his shoulder as he leans a bit down to look at Lucy in the eyes.
Even if she wanted to pretend to be a bit pissed at him for a while, like that she absolutely can’t «Of course I had fun» she smiles widely, flicking him on his forehead «Now focus, we’re here»
As a matter of fact, when Natsu found her, she was a couple of hallways away from the gym, so the trip was short. As they enter the gym, the teacher in charge of the club lifts his eyes up and sighs as he takes them in.
«Dragneel, any later and I would have let some other guy play in your place» he scolds Natsu, his voice reverberating in the gym «Stop flirting and start warming up!» he orders «And Heartfilia, stop distracting our best player» he then turns to Lucy, his tone less menacing and more soft, as if he’s just teasing her.
Lucy can’t do anything else other than dip her head, embarrassed and try to forget the teacher’s words as soon as she can: they’d do nothing good to her heart. As always, Natsu doesn’t seem fazed one bit and he sends one last, long glance in Lucy’s direction, as if to check if her words were truthful or not, before setting off to the locker room. Shaking her head, Lucy climbs the empty bleachers, finding herself a good spot to start reading the play and, later on, to see the game too. She only has the time to settle down and take the binder out of her backpack before Natsu comes back and the coach is yelling again.
«Dragneel how many times do I have to tell you to keep that scarf out of my gym!»
«Oh!» Natsu halts, grabbing the scarf and looking down at it as if he’s seeing it for the first time in his life «Right, I forgot»
The coach huffs at that and Lucy can’t see it, but she’s pretty sure he just rolled his eyes «You always forget» he says, and he sounds rather fond, although he hides it under a stern tone.
Natsu weighs his options a bit as he jogs forward, then he lifts his eyes up to the bleachers, immediately finding Lucy «Oi Luce» he calls.
«Yeah?» she all but yells back, as if she hasn’t been looking at him this whole time.
He motions for her to come closer and, after a sigh, she complies, all while the coach is puffing in the background and all of Natsu’s teammates are watching them. When she finally reaches the railing, with one swift moment Natsu frees his neck from the scarf, offering it to her.
«Keep it for me in the meantime, will ya?» he smiles widely.
As she accepts it, at a loss of words since Natsu never gives it away, she catches the scar that he has on his neck, the one that he swears he doesn’t know how he got. Lucy has always felt mixed feelings every time she’s seen it, as it looks like something that wasn’t left behind by something that happened as an accident of sorts, but this time she doesn’t have time to dwell on it, because Natsu turns away as fast as the light, finally reaching his teammates, and all she can do is climb back to her seat, clinging to the scarf and coddling it as if it’s a baby.
⁺˚⋆｡°✩₊✩°｡⋆˚⁺
This time, Natsu keeps his promise, more or less. As they warm up, the team is relatively silent, aside from the squeaking of the shoes and the usual pass! and here!, as, as much chaotic as they all are, the pink-haired boy is rather good at keeping them in check. The noise mostly comes from all the people that, relatively soon, start to fill the bleacher, their chatting volume rather high no matter how many times the coach turns around to yell at them to keep quiet, since it’s mostly students.
When the start of the game rolls in, Lucy has put away the binder long time ago, incapable of reading properly with such a chaos, and has been looking at the way Natsu plays and directs the team. She doesn’t want to keep her eyes constantly on him, she swears, but he’s just so… magnetic. Lucy is a very independent girl, even around Natsu she tries to keep her ground, but lately it has been hard and, at times like this, it’s impossible for her to tear her gaze away. Only when someone sits down at her side she shifts her focus, taking in her best friend’s figure.
«Knew I’d find you here, Lu-chan» Levy teases, shoving her lightly with her shoulder «How long have you been here for? I rounded the school but never saw you»
«A while» Lucy simply says, but a glance from the other girl urges her to spill more «Natsu found me a few minutes after the doors opened and offered me to revise the play here as he and the team warmed up… but people started to come in early so it was all for naught»
«Don’t lie» Levy laughs «You’re getting your daily fill of staring lovingly at that dumbass like he doesn’t like you back a thousand times more and you’re liking it as usual»
«Who’s the one that is lying now?» Lucy counters, feeling called out «You shouldn’t talk when you’re so all over Gajeel» she points out jokingly.
Levy shakes her head «Me and Gajeel are together, it’s different» she argues «Seriously, Lu-chan, you should consider just telling him at this point, trust me»
The entrance of the opposing team doesn’t give Lucy any time to reply to that, even if she wanted. The crowd cheers as the boys from the Balam Academy march in, all with their naughty grins that promise nothing good. Fairy Tail High and the Balam Academy are on very short terms, although the teachers always try their best to not make things escalate even more, and the games are always the most troublesome and, Lucy has to admit, exciting. She knows many people from the Academy, but she can say to be friends only with one, who does everything in her power to make it seem like the sentiment isn’t mutual, but it rather is. Other than that, she knows that Natsu’s brother went to the Academy too, but he graduated years ago and she can’t say she’s ever met him in a nice environment. Although sometimes he has that scary look in his black eyes, Zeref has always felt polite and, if not, rather melancholic to Lucy, but the last time she saw him, he and Natsu fought so bad it almost hurt to watch, so she’d rather not think about that dark-haired brother any more.
She looks mindlessly at the opposing players and even if there’s someone she knows, she doesn’t register it. When the cheering dies down a bit and she can still feel Levy’s eyes on her, she sighs and relents, keeping her gaze on a specific mop of pink hair.
«Sometimes… sometimes I think I could» she reveals, almost a whisper «He has his moments, I’m sure you know it too, when he doesn’t seem so dense, he seems like he knows what he’s doing»
«Yeah, I know. And you’re brave Lucy, you can do it. I promise you he hasn’t been thick-headed for a long while when it comes to you» her best friend assures her, placing a hand on her shoulder.
Under them, the game finally starts, however, although she knows the rules well seeing how many of Natsu’s games she’s been too, she understands nothing of what’s happening on the field, too lost in her head. A day like today is the worst one to dwell on her thoughts, especially since she has a play to narrate in mere hours and the script is evading her, but she can’t help it.
Lucy shakes her head «I just… I don’t know… some other times, I feel like he behaves the same with all our other friends. He’s just so… inconsistent, and scaring him away is not worth it»
At that, Levy laughs «Scaring Natsu? I don’t think I’ve ever seen that boy scared, don’t be silly now Lucy» she says when her laughter dies down «Now let’s just watch the game» she adds before Lucy can counter with anything.
Although she doesn’t talk, it takes a long while for her to get her head into the game. It’s not rare for Levy to come up with such words, she does it at least once a week in fact, and while it usually makes Lucy think about it for a bit, the concept has never swept her away with so much force before. It leaves her rather numb, the idea of confessing the only thing bouncing back and forth in her mind. It’s not like it’s not appealing and, deep down, she’s aware of the fact that she has a high possibility of it going well, but in the end it’s not easy. Natsu is bright, all-consuming, prideful like an ever-burning fire, even after having known him for a relatively long time sometimes approaching him feels too much. Lucy can’t pinpoint whether is a secret fear holding her back, cowardice or the simple knowledge that it’s not the right moment yet, in any case she’s just unable to do something about it.
In the end, as Natsu makes an unexceptionable basket, she manages to let it go and stop worrying about it for the time being. Really, it’s not the right day to be so lost in thought and the world certainly won’t end today, so it doesn’t matter if she ends up delaying it more. Once she gets out of her head, the game sucks her in pretty quickly, and she finds herself cheering along with the crowd. As usual, it’s incredibly exciting, the play not always fair but rather flawless and ferocious. As always, Natsu stands out among his team, easily challenging the Balam Academy players and, in the end, thanks to his last-second basket, Fairy Tail High manages to win, the gym exploding with booming cheers. Like the rest of the crowd, Lucy stands up as well, waving Natsu’s scarf around like a flag and cheering loudly. On the court, all the players are searching for their friends and family and, thanks to the scarf, Natsu easily finds her, and she gives him a thumbs up, to which he replies with a big smile. Soon enough, however, they get sucked in with the post-game routine and, one by one, the crowd starts to get out of the gym, directed to other events. A bit reluctantly, Lucy follows along too, Levy at her side, but they separate pretty soon as her best friend wants to pay a visit to her boyfriend at the boxing club. Knowing that they’ll catch each other later before the play starts, Lucy greets her and takes this as her chance to explore the school when is so full of activity and see how all of her friends are doing. As she checks her phone, she sees that the fencing event is unfolding right now, so she calmly walks to the fencing club room, which is not all that crowded and rather silent, as the fencers need to concentrate. She recognizes immediately that Erza is one of the two people who are fighting because of her signature posture and unexceptional skills despite her flaming hair being hidden by the gear. Lucy doesn’t linger much, she doesn’t know how long the match will go on for and the afternoon is getting closer and closer and, with it, the play.
She then visits other clubs, joins Juvia in cheering over Gray as he plays soccer, always against the Balam Academy, all while carrying around Natsu’s scarf, knotted around her hips so that her hands are free. She hasn’t seen him around yet, so the chances to give it back have been none. The game, after a rather long time full of fouls, aggressive playing and the likes that has Lucy melt under the blazing sun while Juvia keeps cheering as loudly as in the beginning, unfazed, finally ends with a tie. While all the players are sprawled on the ground and Juvia is trying to find a way to sneak into the field, Lucy walks away to the food stands, where she quickly eats a meal prepared by Mirajane, truly a blessing.
«Ah, there it is, Natsu’s scarf» the older girl notes when Lucy has almost finished eating «He passed by to scarf down a lot of food some time ago and it was strange seeing him without it. He didn’t seem all that bothered, however, I dare say»
She looks down at her waist, having almost forgotten about it «Ah, yeah, he gave it to me before his game, but I didn’t have the chance to give it back yet… do you know where he went? I checked the whole school to see how everyone is doing but didn’t see him»
«Not a chance, he only came to steal food and then went away» Mirajane laughs, fond of the boy’s antics.
Lucy finds herself giggling as well and, in no time, she’s done eating too. Trying to not think about the fact that the play will start in little over two hours, she makes her way to the gym where the play is to be held. When she opens the door, she finds it deserted at first glance, all the seats yet to be arranged, and so she makes her way to the stage almost tiredly, dragging her feet a bit, her gaze lowered to the ground. Because of that, she realizes she’s not alone only at the last second when she almost trips on someone who is sprawled on the stage. She has found Natsu, in the end, or maybe it’s him who has found her, since it appears he has been here for quite some time.
As shocking as it seems, he hasn’t realized she’s here yet, deeply lost in thought, uncharacteristically, his fingers playing with a keychain full of stars charms. It’s in the rare moments like this, when Natsu is not being loud and boisterous and a tad bit annoying, just enough for it to feel fond, that Lucy gets reminded of how handsome he actually is, with his unique pink hair and sharp features. It doesn’t last long, a couple of seconds at best, because Natsu is a true master when it comes to perceiving what happens around him (Gray calls it animal instinct). As soon as he turns his head a bit and spots her, in fact, his whole face lightens up with a big smile, eyes scrunching up in two half-moons.
«Lucy, here you are!» he exclaims «Been looking for you for a while!»
She giggles at such enthusiasm, sitting down beside him «Sorry, I was all around the school trying to catch a glimpse of all of our friends» she apologizes «Have you seen Wendy? She’s so happy she’ll finally come here next year»
«About time» Natsu comments.
They got to know Wendy through a playdate event for cats a while ago. As Happy immediately locked on her kitty, Charle, they got acquainted with her, and she’s the most delightful girl ever. Since Happy was really keen on Charle, although Lucy is not sure that the feeling is mutual, they have ended up meeting many other times and Natsu has become somewhat of an older brother to the small girl. Finally, next year, she’ll start high school and, obviously, she has chosen Fairy Tail High.
«I haven’t seen her» Natsu goes on «Been here for a while» he reveals.
Unknowingly so, that revelation makes Lucy want to blush, but she keeps herself in check «How odd of you. I thought you’d at least be at Gray’s game»
«Why should I go and cheer on the icy bastard?» he huffs «Normally, I would damn hope he lost, but since it’s the Balam Academy we’re talking about, for once I hope he won»
«Well… it was a tie» Lucy says, already knowing that, with that information, Natsu will tease Gray to no end.
In fact, the boy’s lips curve into a grin «Really? What a loser he is, I should have been there, you’re right»
She chuckles «I’m sure your cheering would have been louder than Juvia’s» she teases.
«How dare you!» Natsu glares at her and all she can do is only laugh more «That’s it, I’m getting my scarf back and then I’m out, no more» he affirms.
Lucy, who is still laughing, doesn’t even have the time to register his words that he’s sitting up, hands on her waist trying to undo the knot she made a while ago. Such proximity leaves her so shocked that she stills for a few seconds, Natsu’s pink hair all that she can see, then she blushes to the tip of her ears as she gets back on earth.
«W- wait! What are you doing?!» she shrieks, waving her hands around.
«I told you! Getting my scarf back!» Natsu exclaims «Damn it Lucy, couldn’t you make the knot tighter» he huffs.
«You could have asked!» she counters with the same tone, placing her hands into Natsu’s hair to shove him away.
«It’s my scarf!» he points out, unmoving, fingers still busy over the piece of clothing.
«Y- yeah alright, but you can’t just take it!» she argues, moving his head back and forth.
«It’s mine» Natsu simply states, finally freeing his scarf «Mine» he repeats, looking up at her through his lashes.
For a wild, delusional second, Lucy feels like he’s not talking about the scarf, or rather not only about it, but she forces herself to discard that thought quickly. She looks away, forcing her blush to die down as she detangles her fingers from Natsu’s hair and crosses her arms.
«Alright, jeez, no need to be so pressed about it» she scoffs, but it’s clear she doesn’t really mean it in a bad way.
In fact, Natsu just giggles as he places the scarf around his neck, where it belongs, and, with that, the tension fades away. They end up chatting about silly things for a while, then, when they find themselves laying on the stage, Lucy takes her script out and starts to recite it, Natsu mocking her voice every now and then. It’s peaceful, away from the chaos that has filled the rest of the school. Usually, neither of them mind it, rather encourage it in fact, but Lucy also enjoys just laying there and being silly, letting her anxiety fall away as she rolls her eyes at every stupid stunt the boy she likes pulls.
Eventually, the doors of the gym open and Levy walks in along with many other members of the creative writing and drama club. As their bubble gets broken, both Natsu and Lucy sit up, laughter still on their lips and Levy sends them a long, knowing glance, but they all try to not look too much in their direction. Feeling like she’s been caught doing something that definitely wasn’t going on, Lucy turns to Natsu, but he’s already standing, ready to go and leave them to their last practice. Lucy tries to not take it to heart, yet she can’t help but be a little sulky about the fact that their bubble was broken. Well, she tells herself, there will be other times for sure. Natsu jumps off the stage and he’s about to sprint out of the gym when he stills, like he just remembered something. Lucy arches an eyebrow as he turns around and rummages in his pocket, but doesn’t say anything, painfully aware of all the other people around them that are trying so bad to leave them to themselves.
«Ah, there it is» Natsu finally speaks up and, when Lucy looks closer, the star keychain is dangling from his fingers «It was meant as a lucky charm, but too bad» he says.
The strange sentence leaves her puzzled for a moment before she realizes «What do you mean too bad?!» she asks «Give it here, the play has yet to start» she pouts.
«No, now it’s my lucky charm» he claims, looking all full of himself «I’m gonna need all the luck I can have» he declares, rather cryptically, and then sprints away.
«You’re not the one who has to act a script out!» Lucy protests «Hey! Come back here you dumbass!» she exclaims, but Natsu is already out of the gym and giggles erupt from all around her «Not a word» she hisses, the tips of her ears of a fiery red.
Despite the request, Levy teases her for the next hour to no end, demanding details and making up conjectures that Lucy doesn’t want to listen to for the sake of her mental health. This was supposed to be the cultural festival day, not the one she’s constantly pestered about her feelings!
⁺˚⋆｡°✩₊✩°｡⋆˚⁺
There’s the faint sound of chatter coming from beyond the curtain but, apart from that, the backstage is completely silent. All the actors are keeping to themselves, muttering their lines and frantically revising the script for the millionth time, and Lucy is no different than them. She won’t have to act per se, she’s only the narrator after all, but that doesn’t mean that her role is going to be any easy. Just like everyone else, she won’t have a script to look at and she will have to act, to modulate her voice according to the scene, to capture the audience. At her side, Levy squeezes her hand to reassure her a bit, but doesn’t say anything.
Eventually, the teachers in charge of the two clubs step into the backstage, announcing that the play will start in a minute. Then they walk back outside and start to present it as the students hurry to get in position. Lucy leaves her script in a corner and barely has the time to go stand in her place and take a deep, soothing breath that the music starts playing and the curtain begins to open.
The gym is crowded, full to the brim in fact. Many people didn’t find a seat available and they’re standing in the back or along the walls, but overall they all seem to look forward to the play. Then, the light is pointed directly at Lucy and the crowd goes dark. As she waits for her cue to start, however, the quiet gets interrupted by a familiar voice.
«Woo-hoo, go Luce!» Natsu exclaims from somewhere near, probably the first rows and Lucy has to scrape up every bit of self-control that she has in order to not blush in embarrassment.
Hushed voices follow that outburst, a series of Natsu you moron and how can you be so stupid, firehead and keep quiet before I punch you as Lucy fantasize of how she’ll hit him on the head afterwards for the embarrassment he’s making her feel. Then, finally, the music quiets down and it’s the cue to start.
«There was a land, once» Lucy begins, and the world outside of the stage stops existing, her anxiety dissipating in an instant, replaced by joy «In such land, now sadly long gone, there lived a fairy, and a dragon»
Like that, the play went by like a daze, a bright and warm one that brought Lucy nothing other than happiness. Something that she had written was coming to life right in front of her eyes, a writer’s biggest dream and accomplishment. The cheers as they all stand in line to greet the crowd are priceless and Lucy soaks them all up, full of pride. It’s just a school play, nothing big, but for her it’s a big accomplishment as thing stands, hopefully the first of many more.
Leaving the stage as the curtain finally closes on them it’s quite hard, but since she knows her friends are waiting for her after one last, quick look into the mirror she changes back to her school uniform, grabs her bag and skips out of the backstage. Finding her group of friends isn’t all that hard, they’re the most chaotic bunch ever after all and, if that isn’t enough, Erza’s fiery scarlet head stands tall over the crowd of people. And, obviously, if even that isn’t enough, there’s always Natsu, whom she couldn’t ignore even if her life was on the line.
With a big, big smile on her lips, she makes her way to them, admittedly shoving some people around a bit to be able to pass through, and, finally, she reaches them. As soon as they see her, Natsu is the first one who spots her, they’re all over her, congratulating her and commenting about everything they’ve seen and enjoyed. Lucy can hardly keep track of all the things being said altogether, but she loves every second of it. Even when the principal walks on the stage and demands a bit of silence for the last words of the day, Natsu keeps making noises under his breath, recreating explosion sounds that definitely weren’t there in the play but at which Lucy giggles nevertheless.
The final words aren’t many, the principal Dreyar simply thanks everyone who visited Fairy Tail High today and watched how they work here, cheered on all the students while they were doing their favorite activity and stuff like that. There are more beautiful and inspiring words, but Lucy doesn’t hear them because Natsu throws an arm around her shoulders to mimic the umpteenth fight and, after the terrible glare Erza sends him, leaves it there still.
Finally, the speech ends and, with that, the cultural festival too. Since it has been a long day, the students have all agreed to come tomorrow, even if it’s an off day, to clean and store everything away, so now everyone can go home with a light heart. Since they have agreed to go out tomorrow, Lucy and her friends simply greet each other at the gate, each leaving in their direction. She’s about to set off too, savoring all the experiences and joys of that day, when she notices that one person has yet to leave, and he seems to be waiting in fact. All of a sudden, Lucy doesn’t really know what to say, shifting her weight from one foot to the other as she peeks at Natsu’s face, who’s looking at Gray in the distance, who is, as always, being lovingly pestered by Juvia.
«Come on» he then says, taking her aback.
«Come on?» she repeats, ruffling an eyebrow as she turns in his direction.
«Yeah» Natsu smiles «Come on, I’m taking you home» he states, dipping his head in the direction of Lucy’s apartment.
Elated by the gesture, Lucy can’t help but blush a bit for the umpteenth time that day «Natsu, you live in the opposite direction» she argues weakly, just to say something.
«Who cares!» he, predictably, exclaims, then swings his bag over his shoulders and starts to walk away «Let’s go!» he calls when Lucy doesn’t move.
Shaking her head fondly, she catches up with him, a skip in her steps. As she walks side by side, she finally takes her revenge, slapping the top of his head gently.
«Ow! What was that for?!» he protests, rubbing the spot with a little pout on his lips.
«Don’t you ever cheer like that again! It was embarrassing! A play is meant to be watched in silence» Lucy reprimands him, hands at her hips, trying to look like Erza.
«Jeez, I just wanted to hype you up» Natsu mumbles, looking away like a kicked puppy.
At that sight, she can’t do anything else other than sigh and rub her forehead, giving in to such a dorky behavior «I… appreciated the gesture, really, it made me aware that you were watching me and giving me strength» she says «You all» she then scrambles to add «But it’s customary to keep silent while watching a play! Good manners! And if you must cheer, just don’t do it like… that»
«But I like it like that» Natsu is definitely pouting now, dipping his face into the white scarf.
Lucy might do something very silly like kiss him if he keeps up with such behavior. Shaking her head, she pushes away that appealing thought and forces herself to look ahead, at the sunset that colors the world in hues of orange.
«Then you’ll have to learn about restraint» she jokes «Although something tells me it could be very hard» she adds under her breath.
«Hey!» he protests «I’m full of restraint! See how much I restrain myself from kicking Gray’s ass every time he opens his mouth?»
At that, Lucy shakes her head once again, knowing that nothing will ever come out of that. They walk in silence, side by side, cars and people passing by, dogs yapping and barking and kids screaming joyfully in the parks. It’s just your normal city evening, but to Lucy, somehow, it feels special. Maybe because Natsu is taking her home, a first, or maybe because it has been a great day, or maybe both and more. Either way, she doesn’t care, she just savors the feeling of fulfillment and the quiet joy of having Natsu by her side.
Naturally, the silence doesn’t last long, Natsu starts to yap soon enough and she can’t help but join in and, just like that, they’re in front of her apartment complex, standing in front of each other. Natsu is still carrying his bag over one of his shoulders, a rather charming pose if Lucy has to admit it, and he’s looking down at her with a bit of a cocked eyebrow, as if he’s pondering something, rather unusual of him. He’s still ranting about something silly, but he seems to be on autopilot at this point, shoving his free hand in his pocket and rummaging around to find something. When he finally finds it and takes it out of his pocket he also stops talking, lifting it up at his eye level. It’s the lucky charm that was supposed to Lucy’s apparently, glinting softly in the sunset light, the stars swaying in the gentle breeze. He’s looking at it like it’s something very peculiar, alien and so Lucy does the same, a bit taken aback by the shift in the atmosphere.
«Is there something wrong with it? It seems cute to-» she starts after a couple of seconds, giggling, but she gets cut off, right as she’s distracted enough by the faint glint of the stars.
She gets cut off in the sweetest of ways in fact. Chapped lips land on hers, and the rest of the world simply fades away. She has dreamed of this moment far more than she’d dare to admit, but no daydream can compare. It’s not fireworks or whatever, Natsu’s lips are barely pressing on hers, but it does feel like everything slots in place, like a weight she didn’t even know was there is lifted off her shoulders, leaving her feeling like she could float in a sea of stars.
It's over as quickly as it started, but as she gets back on earth, she finds out nothing is the same anymore. Even if she’s still into that little bubble that wraps around them, she can tell everything is more colorful, more positive, that Natsu’s smile, which she was already head over heels for, is even brighter and more lovable.
«It has probably run out of luck now, but…» Natsu starts, trailing off as his hand reaches for Lucy’s and he deposits the keychain there «It’s still for you, if you want it»
He’s never been all that good with words, but Lucy has known him for a long while, so she can grasp what he means. He took the first step, used all of his courage, and now it’s Lucy’s turn to decide if she’ll have him, if she’ll have them.
What a school day, huh.
Lucy gets on her tiptoes to close all that distance between them and kisses him back, letting the rest of the world fade again.