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Natsu Dragneel was many things, savior of their world, a fighter, and someone who cared deeply for his friends, he could go on and on with the sappy stuff until the world itself was bored and he was too. However, he wouldn’t admit it, nor had he ever realized it until Gray had told him after being in annoyed state for far too long for something very trivial.
He was a bit of a fool.
Just slightly, and he’d deny it out loud, his ego hit bluntly by a sharp object that could’ve been an icicle by Gray. He was stupidly oblivious to something that was rather obvious in hindsight, and it had all been set off by Loke of all peopl—well, spirits.
“You’re jealous, you idiot!”
Natsu remembered the days when he wasn’t known to any of them as a spirit, just their member, and he never really cared for the copious amounts of girls around him. He just cared for him as a friend. When he brought back Lucy and Loke had been petrified of her, he didn’t exactly blame him at times, but it hadn’t made any sense.
When he learned he was a spirit, he was relieved that his friend had been saved from a fate worse than death, and proud that Lucy had saved him. Under Lucy, his friend flourished, but had a few quirks that began to grate on Natsu.
The flirting with Lucy had always been annoying. They’d be in the middle of a battle, and he’d drop some cheesy one-liner at the worst time possible. Natsu always felt pleased that she never gave her spirit any attention regarding the behavior, although he couldn’t place why he felt that way.
Lucy was everything to him, much like Ezra, Happy, Wendy, Gray, Cana, Mira, Lisanna—well, there was quite a few people he loved deeply, but Lucy had always been…different. Slightly, but still different. She was a bit more of everything to him. It had been like that for a while now.
That year without her had been dreadful, and although he pushed through to get stronger, he had missed her presence so much he felt sick to his stomach at times. He had the same feeling whenever other men tried to play prince to her in the most annoying methods possible, except instead of sick and sadness, he just felt pure rage and annoyance.
Loke especially ground his gears, and when he tried to speak to Gray about it, he had laughed in his face and called him jealous.
Him?
Jealous? Of what?
“I just don’t get Loke—he spends so much time putting the moves on Luce—not to mention all of those random men—“
“Lucy is beautiful, you dunce!” He chided. “It’s almost guaranteed that weirdos will go and pick her out—“
“Well duh! I just wish they wouldn’t. It gets in the way!”
Gray looked at him with a smug face that Natsu couldn’t decipher. “Hm. Jealousy is an odd sight on you.” He was holding back his laughter as he just felt confused.
“What the hell are you talking about? I’m not jealous—I’m annoyed!”
“You’re jealous, you idiot!”
“What could I possibly be jealous of?!”
“How dense are you? Seriously? I mean, it’s a given that you’re a total dumbass but—“
“Who are you calling a dumbass?!?”
“You, dumbass!” He yelled once more, and the girls should’ve heard them by that point, but he continued on. “You hate when other men give Lucy attention, because it’s not what you want to—“
He felt an odd semblance of heat, hotter than how he usually felt, run through his face, neck, and chest at the completely unexpected answer.
“You want her all to yourself—it’s obvious, might as well go ahead and admit it.” He smirked, the smug bastard finished his sentence with an air of superiority like his relationship with Juvia wasn’t still barely defined.
He wanted her all to himself? He felt blood rush uncomfortably to his head as he deciphered the meaning of what that meant.
Well, of course he didn’t want to lose her to some random douche that wouldn’t know her nearly as well as he did. He wouldn’t treat her the way she deserved, nor would she ever have a friendship with anyone else like him.
Not to mention, he couldn’t stomach no longer having her in close proximity to his arms. His brain began to process what he had really meant, and he felt like a complete and utter fool.
Gray meant that—
He meant that—
Natsu only felt denial, then such swift acceptance that it gave him mental whiplash.
She was the future he wanted. No one else for her but him. Floods of memories came hurling onto him then, and he could only focus on when he had thought that she was dead after that terrible stand off with Dimaria.
How he had turned into a white-hot demon full of nothing but rage, unable to stop his emotions from hammering out of him and onto Gray. How he, someone who constantly chastised his friends for trying to sacrifice themselves, was about to do just that to kill his brother, and equally, himself.
If his world didn’t have Lucy in it, he had no point of living. He had no future that he wanted to live in without her. He had promised future Lucy that he would protect her future, and when he thought he failed, he wanted nothing more than to die himself. He could only shakily remember wanting to join her in the afterlife so she wouldn’t be alone.
He loved her.
It was an easy thing to think, because he supposed he always had. She had kept him level when no one else had the ability. They had broken many barriers with each other than many others could never reach.
Love was a fickle thing, because he hadn’t ever been able to distinguish the difference he felt, until now, it seemed, as his brain pulled the pieces into place in a moment of realization so cruel it could’ve been considered torture.
He was such an oblivious idiot. It was all as it truly seemed, but facing that music was an obstacle larger than anything he had ever faced with her. They were family. He was loyal to her, and she was loyal to him.
He never felt very affected by her bareness in the many instances of her being naked or somehow losing her clothes. She didn’t wear much to begin with, so he hadn’t ever cared. He doubted he’d ever be affected by it too much, it wasn’t exactly he really cared for. She was really quite perfectly voluptuous in the best way, but again, it wasn’t something he really cared about when she was so much more than a pretty face and a shapely body.
His mind wasn’t one to wander to those places when he had so much more to worry about, at least most of the time. He wouldn’t say he wouldn’t mind those situations where his face was any place near her chest or her thighs. He was a man, after all, and she always looked very pretty and smelled very nice. Although, when others took note of that, he could only scoff and snarl.
She fit nicely into his hands, and he never truly thought that she was heavy. He fit nicely into hers too, if their shared hugs were anything to go by. He loved them so much, his heart rate always seemed to even out with her arms seeping into his chest.
He thought of Edolas, and hisself there, who, even when they first arrived there, was loyal to Lucy, even with her demonic ways.
They had gotten married, and had a child.
In another world, he and Lucy were a family, officially. Married, happy, and with the present of the gift of life. It was incredible.
He hadn’t been one to ever think about settling down, but in a matter of minutes, he had come attached to a daughter that belonged to the flesh and blood of another version of himself. Now, thinking of Lucy, his Lucy, and what the coming years would be for the two of them, a strong ache in his heart shot through like a beam of unwavering emotion.
He wouldn’t mind if she had his children. In fact, he’d want nothing more than to raise a mini version of the two of them together. It was sappy when he thought about it, and not his style at all, but his mind was stuck in limbo.
Something like that would not be for years, truthfully. His alternate counterpart had seven years on him, and so much time to finish his quests, and protect Lucy with everything he had. He knew his sudden realization wouldn’t change anything between them, and that kept him satiated. He had supposed he had always known he had loved her, deeply and truly, from that very first day, and he didn’t need more than what he had right now.
He had all the time with her, as he always had. Even in the worst of times, she had been there, a beam of support that would never leave. He knew he couldn’t take her own love for granted, and he made himself a promise that he would always be worthy of her support and strength.
He would always be worthy of his trust, and she would always be worthy of his. They were an immaculate balance, destined for anything in any world. He sounded stupidly cheesy, and it made him want to laugh, but it was still true. He never thought he’d become a sap, but if he’d become a sap for anyone, he assumed Lucy was the best answer.
After so much time, it was only necessary that he would’ve grown emotionally to get to a point like this. He had grown in many aspects over these years, and he had been so glad that Lucy had been right there with him. He cared and loved so deeply, even when it came off so differently, but he had been so lucky to be given the privilege of loving someone who would be forever intertwined with him no matter what.
Admitting to loving her was easy. He didn’t care if she felt the same, but he could assume she did, at least to an extent, but he just wanted time with her.
Time he had a lifetime for.
“What’s with that dumb look on your face?” Gray intercepted his thoughts.
“Nothing.” His mood couldn’t be ruined. “Just happy—that’s all.”
Gray gave him a knowing grin. “Yeah, alright.”
He slept peacefully that night. Happy was staying with Carla and Wendy, but he didn’t mind it at all. He would’ve thought this realization would’ve changed more, but he was a stuck man if anything. The next morning, he could only look at Lucy like he always did. She was radiating that golden glow that she always did for him, and he wondered how he had been such a fool for so long, blinded by his ambitions to realize his truest feelings.
So much time he had known her, and how much they had both grown. Her hair had gotten so much longer, and she wore her clothes perfectly. The chilly air outside was dreaded by them all, but they still had further to trek on in their eternal journey.
He thought of only one thing as soon as they stepped outside. He took his scarf off and wrapped it around her neck in a quick motion, catching her off guard. She was the only one he’d ever let touch it, anyway. Her face was red quickly from the biting air, and she instinctively grabbed at his prized possession to pull it tighter.
“You looked cold.”
“I am. Well—I was—thanks, Natsu.”
He’d do it for an eternity, for her. He thought she looked the best wearing his clothes, anyway. He didn’t get cold, so it was a necessary sacrifice.
Her smile was the sweetest gift for his eyes.