A/N: For some reason Wattpad is shiat and I can't put in bolds or italics, so guess I'll just have to make do with this. (It's also the reason why I've not been online lately.) Takes place right after Lucy finds Natsu (or vice versa?) at the Grand Magic Games.
Lucy ogled at the magazine, her brown eyes wide. She blinked once, twice, and immediately buried her face into the colored pages, covered with the sickly scent of those newly-wrapped magazines you would find at your local grocery store. Her nose wrinkled, and she sighed a heavy sigh.
Turning away from the magazine, she spun her head toward the small table mirror on her desk. Golden strands hung shyly over her innocent, yet somehow seductive chocolate irises. Soft locks of sunlit rays cascaded down her back like a waterfall, ending at her waist. Some of it was tied up, in a red satin ribbon peeking above her head. All in all, Lucy's long, golden hair was beautiful.
Yet, though, her heart was not at rest. Ever since she'd met Natsu back at the Grand Magic Games, Lucy had been contemplating whether to chop off what she had thought of as a burden. Her fingers itched to reach for the golden key bearing Cancer's sign and end it all, but something held her back. She still had her job in Sorcerer's Weekly as an editor and model, which meant her hair would still have to be kept long. But some models also had short hair, didn't they? She wondered if Cancer could do hair extensions.
She had found a magazine that would help her decide what hairstyle she should take. The glossy pages displayed every single hairstyle in the known world, both beautiful and ugly, and even after she had singled out a few (okay, several), she still couldn't decide. What if she made it wavy? Curly, frizzy? Or even a pixie cut? It was so frustrating for a girl. Lucy tossed the magazine away and flopped onto her bed, sinking into the warm comforts of her comforter. Were these the only petty things that held her back from snipping off those pretty locks?
She'd admit... there was a certain pink-haired dragon slayer too.
She'd never been able to be sure of what his type was. Maybe he thought she looked better, in a short bob, or perhaps even with golden waves rippling down her back like sunlit waves riding down the beach. Her hand fingered her ribbon, and slowly, pulled it out. Her hair collapsed into waves after being tied up too long, messily tossed. She looked in the mirror again; the look gave off such a striking sentimentality that she turned away quick. She was afraid of what he would tell her, if he ever saw her looking like this...
A thud startled her. Her eyes immediately rolled toward the window, where Natsu and Happy were brushing their clothes off. "Hiya, Luce!" When his own gaze caught hers, his onyx orbs widened, and she was unable to tell if he was surprised, shocked or even horrified at her appearance. Then, his eyes softened, and her heart began to pound louder and faster in her chest.
"I've never seen you that way before," His brows furrowed casually, and she debated in her mind whether to do that running-my-fingers-through-my-hair thing that girls called sexy. Before she could proceed, however, the look in his eyes had returned, to its original, mischievous, heartwarming form.
"So, what's up?"She looked away, willing herself not to stare at him again, and muttered softly, "It's a girl's thing."She could feel his eyebrows raising. "Tom?"
She faced him in bewilderment. "What?"
"T.O.M? Your Time of the M—"
He was cut off as he shot across the room and was flung into a wall, slumping down with a few bricks comically falling onto his figure. Lucy stalked off, and picked up her key, eyes burning with fury. "It doesn't matter to you anyway," she replied with a double meaning, and yelled the magic words for Cancer to appear.
As the Crab materialized, the next thing he knew was a flaming fist in his face. He just managed to dodge it, and in hazy vision, he could make out a deep, rumbling voice saying the words, "Go back to where you're from, or I'll turn you into crabstick in chawanmushi."
Another voice, clearly his master's angrily shouted back, "You'll end up frying him instead of steaming him, Natsu!" And in a flash, Cancer felt another gravitational pull back into the Spirit World—how queer.
"What were you thinking?!" Lucy shouted in disbelief, collapsing onto her couch in utter exhaust and defeat. "Didn't I tell you not to ever hurt my spirits?"
"That rule didn't apply when we had to fight their Eclipse forms," Natsu retorted stubbornly as his eyes looked into hers, "and I'm here to stop you doing what you think is right.""What I think is right?" She cried, standing up to her full height, eyebrows knitted. It's my life, I make the decisions—excuse me!
He said nothing, instead pushed her back with a finger to her head back onto the couch, then reaching over and pinned his arms on either side of her. His face was so close, Lucy could feel his warm breath on her face. She began to fluster.Natsu must have had realized it too, because he straightened, and looked away in a huff.
"You know..." He took a deep breath and blurted. "Keep your hair long, you may not know it... but it suits you. Really."With that, he turned his back to her and started walking away from her.
"Natsu!"
There was a hint of mirth, and giddy happiness in her once-gloomy tone of voice. His head spun around, much against his will, and the smile on Lucy's radiant face was unmistakable. "Natsu, what exactly are you trying to say?"He scratched his cheek sheepishly. Heat rose to his cheek. "I... like you with long hair."
He was met with a flying hug and squeal from the blonde, wrapping her arms around his neck. He grinned toothily, and placed his hands around her waist. "Thanks, Natsu..." Lucy closed her eyes and buried her face in his cloak-covered chest. "You... can be really sweet when you want to be." His fingers strayed to one of her stray locks, and without thinking, tucked it behind her ear. She gasped, and looked up at him. "By the way, Luce..." He pointed to his own furry tufts sticking up all over his head; some falling down all over his eyes and down his neck... "Mind if you tell me if I should cut mine or not?"
