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When Fairy Tail suggested a beach day, Lucy didn’t think much of it. In fact, she was initially excited about it. She had bought a brand new bikini a few days prior, and she was eager to show it off since it was decorated with her favorite color: light pink.
Yesterday at the guild, Levy asked Lucy if she wanted to make their way to the beach together. Of course, Natsu overheard (damn him and his dog-like hearing!) and he and Happy had come waltzing across the guildhall just to beg that she take the journey with the two of them instead.
So, Lucy was left with two choices. She could go on the train with a very pregnant Levy, who would no doubt have a very protective Gajeel with her, or she could walk there with Natsu and Happy, who would probably make fun of her for the entire hour-long walk in the heat. It was a tough call…
Anyway, on the train, Lucy took her spot next to Levy, much to Gajeel’s displeasure. The brute then had to sit across from them, and Lucy could have sworn she caught him glaring at her several times. However, Lucy had become much accustomed to Gajeel’s pissy stares, so she was able to carry her conversation with Levy without so much as a shiver.
“I can’t believe you’re already seven months along!” Lucy beamed while she watched Levy hold her swollen belly in her hands. Levy merely twisted a lock of blue hair around her finger as she blushed happily.
“Yeah, it’s been a long journey, Lu.” Her gaze slid from her stomach to the man sitting across from her. She shot him a smug smile. “But Gajeel’s been taking good care of me throughout the process. Isn’t that right, Gajeel?”
Gajeel rolled his eyes with a shrug.
“Who else is gonna do it? Besides, you look like you’re about to pop open any minute now.”
Levy scoffed and kicked his knee as she said, “I’m not that big, you doofus!”
Lucy covered her mouth with her hand as giggled, watching the two of them bicker. It was hard to imagine that Gajeel had been an enemy of the guild just a few years ago, but now he and Levy were getting ready to start a family together. If Lucy hadn’t seen it with her own eyes, she never would have believed that Gajeel had a soft side either. Even now, she could see the faint glint of love in his eyes that had nearly had her blushing.
If only someone would look at Lucy like that…
It was pointless to even think about. The one person she wanted to never would, and Lucy had long since accepted that. After all, ever since finishing the Hundred Year Quest, Natsu had plenty of time to confess his feelings to her. If he felt anything for her, he would have said it by now.
Upon hearing Lucy’s depressed sigh, Levy frowned.
“What’s wrong, Lu?” she asked, concern clear in her tone.
Lucy, guilty for ruining the moment between her best friend and guild mate, waved her hand dismissively as she clutched her travel bag.
“Oh, nothing! I was just thinking that I wish we were at the beach already.”
Levy snorted. “It’s only, like, ten more minutes! Then we’ll go change into our swimsuits and read together on the beach.”
That made Lucy smirk. She rummaged through her beach bag and pulled out her copy of the most recent romance novel Levy had recommended to her.
“You bet! I already have my reading material. What’d you bring?”
Levy smirked as she pulled out a copy of the book Lucy had published and showed it to her friend. Immediately, Lucy blushed.
“Haven’t you read that enough times?” she asked, causing Levy to shake her head smugly.
“No way! This is one of my favorite books.”
Lucy crossed her arms and, with disbelief, asked, “Really?”
Levy hugged the book to her chest with a grin before flipping absentmindedly through the pages.
“Of course! It’s written by the best author in the world.”
With an embarrassed flush to her face, Lucy wrapped her arms around her friend and cried, “Levy!”
“Oh, Lu!”
It didn’t take long before Gajeel muttered, “Oh brother,” causing the two women to shoot him a nasty glare.
Not long after that, the three of them arrived at the beach. Lucy and Gajeel both helped Levy stand up and walk out of the train, Lucy and Levy thanking the conductor as they hopped out. Gajeel simply gave him a reluctant nod, which led to Levy slapping him on the shoulder and reprimanding him for his poor manners. Lucy shot him a smug look, which only angered him further.
As soon as the three of them stepped out, something started whizzing towards Levy’s head. Lucy could only screech as Levy brought her arms up protectively over her head, bracing for impact. Luckily, Gajeel stuck his arm out and caught the foreign object, which happened to be a volleyball. He glared in the direction it had come from.
“You idiots! What do you think you’re doing?”
Lucy looked over to see Gray and Natsu jogging up to get their ball back. Upon seeing Natsu, Lucy crossed her arms.
“What the heck? How long have you been here?”
Natsu raised a brow and replied, “Like, thirty minutes. Why are you annoyed?”
“How did you get here so much longer before me?!”
“Happy and I flew. Duh.”
“Yeah!” an obnoxious voice cheered from above Lucy. She turned up to find Happy, unsurprisingly. “Since we didn’t have you to slow us down, we got here fast! I don’t think I could have carried you, Lucy. It would’ve been too heavy!”
“You shitty cat!”
Levy, Gajeel, and Gray exchanged a look before they watched Lucy swipe at Happy, who cowered behind Natsu and begged him not to let Lucy eat him. Then he and Lucy got into an argument about Lucy’s weight.
It would have continued if Levy hadn’t put a calming hand on Lucy’s shoulder. It was then that Gray decided to finally contribute to the conversation.
“Don’t take anything Natsu or Happy says seriously. You’re not heavy at all. Trust me, I’ve had to carry you before.”
Lucy blushed bashfully at her friend, slightly embarrassed that he felt the need to step in. Still, his words were comforting. “Aw, thank you, Gray!”
“Oi, who the hell asked you?” Natsu spat as he gave Gray a shove.
“I was making Lucy feel better, you jackass!”
The two of them began pummeling each other, causing Lucy to roll her eyes. It was always funny to see Gray go from mature to childish in just a few seconds. She supposed that was just the type of effect that Natsu had on people.
Speaking of whom, he paused his assault on Gray for a brief moment to say, “Go get changed, Lucy! Then you can play volleyball with me, Gray, and Erza!”
“Like I’d play with you guys! You’re all way too rough,” Lucy replied as she and Levy made their way to the changing rooms.
Because the changing rooms were all occupied besides one, the two of them decided to just share one and change together. Besides, Lucy wanted to make sure that Levy didn’t fall over while taking off her pants.
Lucy kicked off her shoes while Levy sat on the small bench and began unbuttoning her pants. Then she grinned at Lucy with a flushed face.
“Lu, do you think you could help me take off my pants? It’s a little hard to bend right now. Sorry to ask.”
Lucy was already tugging at Levy bottoms when she said, “Don’t be sorry, Levy. You can’t help that you’re pregnant.” Then she winked. “Well, I guess it’s your fault you couldn’t keep your hands off Gajeel—“
“Lu!” Levy cried, causing Lucy to laugh.
She folded Levy’s pants and put them in her bag before she grabbed the bottom of her shirt and started tugging it up. Almost immediately after, she furiously tugged it back down as her spine stiffened. The movement didn’t go unnoticed by her friend on the bench.
“Everything okay, Lu?”
Lucy turned around to look at Levy with a blush, embarrassed at having been caught.
“Y-Yeah!” she lied. “I just realized I should probably help you out first.”
“I’m alright, but thanks,” Levy said with a raised brow.
She was already done changing by now and was currently stuffing the rest of her clothes in her bag. Lucy helped Levy to her feet, but she bit her lip when she caught Levy continuing to look at her with an inquisitive stare.
“Are you sure everything is okay?”
Lucy waved a dismissive hand as she opened the door for Levy. She did her best to sound nonchalant when she replied, “Of course! I think I just got a little motion sick from the train ride. I guess I’m hanging around Natsu a little too much.”
Levy seemed satisfied with that answer, looking back to shoot Lucy a knowing grin.
“Oh, I’m sure you’re just so sick of hanging out with Natsu.”
“Levy!” Lucy whined with a blush. “Just get out of here! I’ll be out in a bit.”
Levy merely snickered in response before telling Lucy to meet up with her when she was done changing into her swimsuit and walked away. Lucy forced a smile on her face as she waved Levy goodbye and gently closed the door behind her friend, turning so she could put her back against it for support.
Lucy had completely forgotten the damage that their final fight against Ignia had done to her body. All along her stomach were tiny traces of scars from the battle she had fought alongside her friends, and Lucy couldn’t help but lift her shirt up to take another peak. Immediately, she scrunched her nose in disgust.
There had never been a time when Lucy regretted leaving her old life to go on adventures, but it was the first time that any fight had left lasting damage. Somehow, the cuts had been too deep and the burns too hot for Wendy to completely fix. While the poor girl tried her best, Lucy was left with subtle scarring along her abdomen.
It wasn’t the worst thing in the world, Lucy tried to reason with herself. In fact, if you looked at her from far away, you wouldn’t even notice that they were there. But Lucy knew that her friends had keen eyes, and they would definitely see the litter of scars running deep in her skin, bright red and twisting around her torso.
The large, pale remnants of a gash were on the side of her stomach, reminding her of how she had jumped in front of Natsu to shield him from a blow. It was his fault, really—he was so distracted with proving himself to be a better fire wielder than Ignia that he had completely left himself open to attacks from others! Lucy had to step in. Natsu could have died otherwise.
After the battle, he told her to never do anything so stupid again, which was absolutely rich coming from Natsu of all people. He was the most reckless person that Lucy had ever met! The fact that he felt the need to reprimand her was irritating beyond belief. He had so many scars that Lucy wasn’t sure he even knew where all of them were from, yet he had the nerve to berate her.
Of course, Lucy knew none of her friends would really care about her scars, Natsu included. In fact, all of them had some too. But Lucy had always managed to avoid any lasting damage, somehow. She had kept her body so clean all these years, and somehow, it almost felt like Ignia had dirtied her somehow. She shivered.
No. She was not going to let him have any more power over her. That bastard was dead, and he had been for a long time now. Lucy forced herself to change into her bathing suit, but she avoided looking in the mirror while she did it.
It was only when she had completely changed out of her clothes and into her bikini that Lucy took one more glance at the mirror. Biting her lip, she ran a finger along a long scar that had settled itself on the inside of her thigh. She couldn’t even remember which attack had given her that one, but she knew that it had come from their battle with Ignia. Lucy sighed in disappointment. It was more noticeable than she remembered it being. Was it just the current situation that made it worse?
Lucy didn’t realize how long she had spent reminiscing until someone knocked on the same door she had been leaning on earlier, causing her to jump. For a moment, she feared that maybe she had annoyed someone by hogging the changing room for who-knows-how-long.
Then the person who knocked called out to her.
“Lucy?” Natsu asked loudly. “What’s taking so long?”
Lucy blinked before calling through the door, “Natsu! What the hell are you doing? This is the women’s section!”
“I came to check on you, dummy,” he replied nonchalantly. “You’ve been in there forever, and everyone is gettin’ worried.”
“I’ll come out in a sec! I’m just getting changed.”
She could hear Natsu’s displeasure in his voice. “Nuh uh. That’s what you told Levy, and you’ve been in there forever! I’m coming in to check on you.”
Lucy’s muscles went tense.
“N-No, don’t come in here!”
“Why? Don’t tell me you pooped on the floor or something.”
“You idiot!? Why the hell would I do that?”
“I dunno, Lucyyy,” Natsu whined. “You’re always doin’ weird stuff! Just let me in already.”
Lucy crossed her arms defiantly and stuck her nose in the air. “No way! I’ll come out when I’m ready.”
There was a brief pause, and Lucy’s heart lit up for a split second as she wondered if she had actually won an argument with Natsu. However, his next words made her stiffen.
“Alright, I guess I’ll break down the door. Fire Dragon’s—!”
“Stop!” Lucy screeched before wrenching the door open. In fact, she swung it open so fast that she figured it was a miracle it wasn’t torn off the hinges.
She was met with the sight of Natsu pausing in place, his hand hanging in the air like he had stopped himself mid-punch. Lucy examined the way his sneaky smile sunk into a frown upon seeing that he wouldn’t be able to break public property.
“You’re so stupid,” Lucy muttered as she pinched the bridge of her nose. Then she grabbed him by the wrist and dragged him into the changing room, shutting the door behind them. She didn’t want anyone to walk in and see a man in the women’s changing area, getting them banned from the beach for life. Lucy wasn’t eager to get kicked out of one of her favorite spots again.
She turned to Natsu and spat, “What is your deal?”
The offending dragon slayer merely crossed his arms and rolled his eyes.
“Don’t get mad at me! I told everyone you were probably just busy pickin’ your nose or something, but Erza was all worried and wanted me to check on ya.”
“Why would she send you?”
Natsu shrugged. “She didn’t want to have to stop playin’ volleyball, and Gray said there was no way he was steppin’ inside the women’s changing rooms.”
Now it was Lucy’s turn to roll her eyes. She almost asked Natsu why he felt so comfortable coming inside an area when men most definitely weren’t welcome, but she bit her tongue. She already knew that Natsu didn’t care about stuff like that. It’s like laws were just suggestions to him!
“Well, I’m clearly fine, so there’s no need for you to stick around,” she replied, gesturing towards the door in order to signal him to leave.
Natsu, being Natsu, had stopped listening halfway through her sentence.
“If you’re fine, then why have you been sitting in here for so long? And I thought you still needed to change, but it looks like you already did.”
Lucy looked down at her body like she had forgotten that she had already changed into her swimsuit. When her eyes met the nasty scars on her body, she clasped her hands in front of her and rested them in front of her, trying to block them from Natsu’s view while acting natural.
“Does it matter? Why do you even care so much?”
“Because you’re my friend, Lucy! If you’re sick, you should tell me. I don’t want you to walk around all dizzy and then fall and hit your head.”
“Natsu…” Lucy said, more affectionately than she wanted to. She forced herself to shake the romantic thoughts she was having from her head. “I’m okay, seriously! I just got lost in thought.”
Natsu once again ignored her and looked down at where her hands were resting in front of her. Lucy instinctively hugged her own torso, trying to comfort herself from his oppressive stare.
“Are you cold or something?” he asked. Lucy tightened her grip on herself without thinking, which made Natsu frown. “Weirdo. That’s why you shouldn’t wear something that barely covers anything.”
“You ass! There is nothing wrong with the way I dress.”
“Not true. You’re literally shivering right in front of me!”
“I am not shivering,” Lucy replied defiantly. “I’m just hugging myself!”
“Yeah, because you’re cold.”
“Am not!”
“Am too!”
“Am not! Ugh, why am I even arguing with you about this!?” Lucy growled as she threw her hands in the air angrily. Natsu shrugged and looked at her like she was the one being annoying.
“Because you won’t admit that you’re hugging yourself because you’re cold.”
Lucy finally exploded.
“I’m not cold, you insensitive jerk! I’m self-conscious!”
For Lucy, time seemed to freeze the instant the words flew from her mouth. She couldn’t believe that she let Natsu rile her up so much that she just loudly admitted her insecurities right in front of him.
On the other hand, Lucy could totally believe it.
Even though Lucy was suffering from an internal tempest of emotions, Natsu looked bored.
“By what? Too many late-night snacks? I did notice that you’ve put on a bit of—”
“Natsu Dragneel, do not finish that sentence if you want to keep all your limbs,” Lucy hissed. Natsu looked a little afraid as he took a step backward in order to put some space between them. As much as Lucy wanted to revel in her victory, she could only sigh dejectedly as she crossed her arms. “And no, I’m not insecure about my weight. I think my weight is fine, thank you very much.”
“Then what’s got you self-conscious?”
Lucy’s heart fluttered a little at the idea that Natsu might actually care about what was causing her distress, but the louder, more rational part of her knew that it was probably just because he was nosy.
She sighed again. There was no use hiding it from him.
“My scars,” she answered simply. Natsu blinked.
“What do you mean?”
I’m really doing this, huh?
Lucy plopped down onto the bench, looked at the floor in shame, and said, “After our fight with Ignia, I’ve had all these awful scars on my body. Wendy couldn’t get rid of all of them. She told me some of them just ran too deep.”
When she peeked up to look at Natsu’s face, he looked unimpressed.
“So you’re mad that you get a bunch of badass scars? I’m jealous—I barely got any.”
“Gee, thanks,” Lucy ground through clenched teeth. “Trust me: if I could trade with you, I would. No girl wants to look like this.”
She sat straight up and gestured down towards her stomach, turning her gaze away from Natsu again so she didn’t have to see his reaction to looking at her damaged body.
Once more, Natsu didn’t sound nearly as sympathetic as he should have.
“Says who? Erza has a ton of scars.”
“That’s different. She’s Erza.”
“So?”
Lucy groaned. “So, it’s just different, Natsu. Erza’s scars are cool. They don’t make her look ugly.”
There was the word that had been gnawing at the back of her mind. In all her years of living, Lucy had never felt ugly before. She had always been proud of her looks, in fact, but now they felt like just another thing she had taken away from her. She would probably never look the same after their battle, and while part of her was happy to have the reminder of the fight she had fought with her friends and won, it was also a reminder of everything else that had been taken from her.
Natsu scoffed.
“I don’t think they’re ugly. They’re cool.”
Lucy was visibly unaffected when she said, “You would.”
“No, seriously! I mean, how many people can say they fought a Dragon God and won? Now you have proof that you totally kicked Ignia’s ass.” He paused before adding, "Alongside me, of course.”
Lucy rolled her eyes, causing Natsu to frown.
“You know, if anyone should be upset about you gettin’ hurt, it’s me.”
Taken aback, Lucy’s eyes widened as she asked, “You?”
“Yeah!” he said like it was obvious. He looked uncomfortable as he continued, “If you get hurt, it’s like I failed to protect you or something.”
Just like that, Lucy’s emotions split. She couldn’t help the slight frown that made itself home on her face.
“I can protect myself,” she told him, a little begrudgingly.
Despite her best efforts, there was a slight tinge of pink on her cheeks that manifested through her annoyance. Part of her felt the familiar skittering of her heartbeat as the weight of his words settled. Was it bad that she liked how protective he was over her? Realistically, she knew that he meant it in a platonic way, but Lucy couldn’t help but let her mind—and her chest—wander into dangerous territory.
“Obviously,” Natsu replied, unshaken by Lucy’s attempts at seeming annoyed.
Shamelessly, he squatted in front of her, bringing his eyes to the same level as her chest. Lucy was about to yell at him for trying to take a look at her tits during a moment like this, but her mouth snapped shut when he reached a hand out and dragged it against the burn mark on her abdomen. Lucy sucked in a breath as she watched his mouth purse in disapproval, his finger tracing the outline of the bright white mark.
Her cheeks flushed in shame, and she wondered if maybe he was disgusted by her glaring scar, but he eventually took his hand away and used it to reposition his scarf—even though it wasn’t sitting out of place. Although, he didn’t back away, and his warm breath was fanning her chest.
“But I hate seeing you get hurt, Lucy. When I said I would protect your future, I meant it.”
Lucy’s stupid heart went haywire again. She had to bring a hand up to her chest to calm its rapid beating.
“I-I know that! Gosh, why are you getting so close all of a sudden?”
“To get it through your head,” he replied before finally pushing himself to his feet. On the way up, he gave Lucy a flick on the forehead, causing her to pout.
Natsu shot her a sunny grin, and Lucy couldn’t help but return it a little bit. Still, she caught a glimpse of herself in the mirror behind Natsu and ended up biting her lip.
“You really don’t think it looks bad?” she asked.
“Of course not.” Lucy let out a small shriek as she was suddenly tugged off the bench, Natsu’s warm hands wrapped around her wrist. Even when she was on her feet and steady, he didn’t let go, holding it gently yet firmly near her shoulder. “Like I said: I like ‘em.”
“Okay, I get it!”
Lucy took a step back, and Natsu let her hand fall down, but he didn’t let it go. She was about to wriggle it out of his grasp, but then she looked up at his face and saw an affectionate smile gracing his lips as he stared straight into her eyes. Lucy audibly gulped as she felt his stare. It was piercing yet friendly, solid yet tender, and a million other things that Lucy wasn’t confident she could name.
Before she could even think about it, Lucy took a step forward, closed her eyes, and kissed him.
It wasn’t long—just a peck on the lips lingering long enough that Lucy couldn’t say it was an accident. His lips were warm like a campfire, somehow exactly the way she had imagined them and completely different.
To Lucy’s not-surprise, Natsu didn’t react much, and that realization was what caused her to pull away with a bright blush on her cheeks.
“T-That was an accident!” she quickly lied, hoping Natsu’s ignorance would work in her favor for once.
Natsu blinked a few more times before letting out a small laugh. He answered like he hadn’t even heard her lie.
“Geez, Lucy! If you wanted to kiss me, you should’ve just asked—you didn’t have to jump me.”
“...What?”
He scratched the back of his head, the faintest hint of a blush staining his cheeks.
“I mean, I was wonderin’ how long it’d take ya.”
“...What!?”
“Ow! Quit screamin’ in my ear, woman!”
Lucy finally whipped her hand out of Natsu’s grasp so she could smack him on the shoulder and scream, “What do you mean you were ‘wondering how long that would take me’?”
Natsu seemed annoyed at her outburst, a firm frown replacing his smile.
“Don’t we like each other? Isn’t kissing normal then?”
“Y-You like me!?” Lucy squeaked. “A-And you knew I liked you!?”
Natsu shrugged in reply, causing Lucy to slap her burning cheeks. How long had Natsu known about her feelings, and why the hell hadn’t he said anything about it? And how could he just casually confess that he also had feelings for her?
Then a thought hit her.
“Natsu, when you say that you ‘like’ me, do you mean as friends?”
“Uh, yeah?” Lucy’s shoulders sagged as all the hope left her heart, but Natsu continued. “But I like you more than that too.”
Still disbelieving, Lucy frowned and asked, “Like how?”
“Like, uh… What was the word Mira said?” He snapped his fingers. “Oh yeah! ‘Romantically’.”
Lucy’s cheeks were flushing again.
“Ugh, Natsu! Do you even know what that word means?”
“Duh. It’s like when we have babies and stuff.”
Once more, Lucy buried her face in her hands, her blush traveling all the way up to her ears. Natsu raised a brow at her behavior, confused why she was making such a big deal out of everything. He silently watched Lucy freak out until she was finished and looking up at him again.
“Okay, the babies will have to wait, Natsu. Like, for a long time.”
“That’s fine by me,” Natsu replied. He traced the scar on her stomach again aimlessly as he looked at her with a tiny smile. Lucy shivered under his touch. She had completely forgotten why she was so upset in the first place. “Now can we please go play volleyball?”
Lucy rolled her eyes before dragging him out of the changing room.