Understanding My Heart

Chapter 13

Four Days Till Lucy's Date

Natsu's POV

Natsu had a strong feeling that he wasn't going to have a very good day. Today was the second day of his 'special training' and the goal for that day would be working on his jealousy... Now that he understood and accepted his love for the blonde celestial spirit mage, he had to learn not to rip out the throats of any other males that came within 5 feet of her.

He nervously eyed the group of mages that would be helping him in this task as he sat on the ground in front of them. They had insisted on taking him well away from Magnolia for this part of his training. It seemed that they were certain that he would flip out and cause a lot of damage to the town, and Natsu was reluctant to admit that they might be right.

They all stood in a huddle some way away from him, whispering together quietly enough that even his enhanced hearing couldn't pick up their words. The group was made up of some of the guild's strongest wizards (although Natsu would never admit that he thought so to their faces); Erza, Gray, Laxus, and Gajeel. They would definitely be able to stop him if the training made him go berserk.

"Alright then," said Erza as the group left their huddle and headed over to where Natsu was sitting. "We have a general idea of what we want to do to get you in control of your anger but we've run into a bit of a snag... The best way to teach you to reign in your jealousy would be to have you watch Lucy interact with other men, but since we can't have Lucy here with us that poses a bit of a problem... I really don't know how we're going to do this..." she muttered, scratching the back of her head and scowling in frustration.

"I believe that I may have a solution to your dilemma my young faeries!" The musical voice rang in their ears, sounding very familiar....

"Master Mavis!" exclaimed Laxus, his look of surprise identical to those of all the other mages present. Fairy Tail's first master Mavis Vermillion stood there in front of them, for all the world looking alive as the rest of them. They knew that this was only the form of her spirit, as she had died many years ago.

"Yes my dears, I've come to help you!" she cheered excitedly, twirling around and smiling brightly at them.

"But...how are you going to help train me to control my jealousy? You're a ghost! And you don't exactly look like Lucy so I can't exactly pretend that you're her," said Natsu, skeptical of what help the ghost could offer, even though she had shown considerable strength before by shielding them from Achnologia's deadly breath. Master Mavis merely smiled and pointed at something that was behind his back. Natsu heard gasps from the others as he turned around, and when his eyes saw what they had seen he thought his heart would beat out of his chest.

Lucy was standing there a few feet behind him, a brilliant smile on her face. She waved a greeting at the gathered mages and laughed at the stunned expressions on their faces. Natsu could feel the panic mounting in his chest.

"Master Mavis what is she doing here?" he burst out, scrambling to his feet and backing away from her, his face flushing intensely. He had thought that Lucy wasn't going to be involved in his training! Hell, she didn't even know what his training was about! He wasn't ready to admit his feelings for her! Natsu's eyes flicked to the first master as he heard her giggle, his panicked expression changing to one of annoyance and confusion.

"Silly goose, that's not really Lucy!" said the small ghost woman. She waved her hand and Lucy's form flickered, her outfit changing to a different one. It was one that he had seen before. She had worn it when he had asked her to meet him by the Sola Tree, needing her celestial spirit Virgo to help him dig for some embarrassing photos of various guild members rumored to be buried at the foot of the tree. That was one of the first times that he had noticed how truly beautiful she was. She had looked so pretty in the light of the parks lamps, and he had almost forgotten why he had asked her there in the first place. But then she had stormed off once he had asked her to summon the celestial spirit. Now he could see why she had been so upset at him, she had probably thought that he was going to confess to her then... He wished that he hadn't been such an idiot...