Sensory Overload

Chapter 6

     Lucy knew without a doubt in her mind she had to be very cautious of what she thought and felt. From the obvious relentless teasing she would endure to her rollercoaster of daily emotions but most importantly how she actually felt about him. The last thing she needed was her feelings to be projected on him. The potential of him acting out in any way, good or bad, based on her feelings and not his own could potentially just... break her.

     She could never deny the intense feelings she had for her best friend, partner and guildmate. At the beginning she struggled with it trying to hide it and ignore it and reason it away. Natsu Dragneel was the most unconventional person she ever met in her life and he was completely opposite of everything she ever thought she wanted in man.
     However, he opened her eyes to things she could never have imagined. He gave her experiences and feelings no one else in the world could ever give her. He filled a void within' her that was deeper than she even realized. The only problem was that, while she knew he undoubtedly loved her dearly, she was positive that he was not in love with her.
     Despite her wanting more from him, it was something he could not give her, at least not yet. She struggled with this for a while and then one day, on one of her useless dates - the type she went on to test him and to test herself - she finally cracked and accepted it all. She was in love with him and it was good. Someday he may fall in love and she could only hope that maybe it would be with her. Regardless though, as long as he was happy, she was good.
     There are always times where she would struggle with yearning and hoping but instead of letting them rule her mind and emotions she refocused them to pen and paper translating them into her novel. She never let on about her feelings to him or anyone else and she let their relationship flow naturally.
     Lucy finally composed herself and got out of the bathroom. There was a very full Happy at her kitchen table and a very puzzled looking Natsu in her living room 'gee I guess Happy was right, he is thinking more.' "Hey you're gonna give yourself an aneurysm, whatcha thinking about?"
     "I feel off Luce, maybe I am getting sick or something." Natsu started rubbing his arms and bouncing his knee at a rapid pace. "I feel like I swallowed a damned jar of sparkles and they are twinkling all over my insides about to explode."
      The mental image made Lucy giggle "Did you eat one of those mushrooms from the eastern woods? You know, the ones the Master told us NOT to eat."
     "NO... at least I don't think I did... Hey Happy did I eat any of those funny mushrooms?"
     Happy snickered "you better not have without me!"
     Lucy rolled her eyes at that. "Seriously guys?" Then it dawned on Lucy 'it's my magic, he's probably experiencing the physical signature of it. Like I felt his when he was walking next to me.' The Celestial Mage learned long ago that when she experienced strong emotional feelings, her magic became stronger. She had grown so used to it that she barely ever notices the increase anymore. To her it was like a gentle hum throughout her body that was always pleasant and always there.
     As much as she would have liked to hang out with Natsu and Happy the rest of the afternoon, she knew they had to go to the guild. She needed to let Levy know what she found out and she needed to get this fixed before Natsu figured it out. "Alright then we should go back to the guild before you start throwing up sparkles all over my floor."
     The walk back to the guild was peaceful, Lucy carried Happy in her arms in an effort to provide herself with a little more warmth. Natsu walked beside her with his hands in his pockets. Whether it was because of the cold or the mood they were all huddled a little closer than they normally would be. They were both deep in thought. Lucy was thinking about the various types of magic out there and what possible leads she could start with. Natsu was getting lost in his thoughts about the woman by his side.
     'She is even more beautiful when she is thinking.' Natsu always admired Lucy's intelligence and he knew that it was part of what made them a good team. She kept him in check in the heat of the moment. She always knew what he needed to hear and it amazed him. 'I wonder if she can secretly read people's thoughts... that would be awesome we could totally prank the shit out of everyone more easily!'
     From the very beginning he knew they had a spark and he sure as shit knew she felt it too. He could never figure out why she guarded her feelings so much though, like she was hiding something. She did things that made no sense to him like, her mood would pull a 180 sometimes when they were having fun or even when they were doing nothing and just hanging out. Also, why would she torture herself with those stupid dates with guys he knew she had zero interest in. She only ever came back miserable and upset to the point where when he heard the word date come out of her mouth, he immediately went to the the guild to grab a pint of Mira's vanilla caramel cream ice cream and left it in her ice box.
     It pained him that she hid something of herself from him and that she wasn't being true to herself. He wanted to tell her how he felt, he wanted to show her, but it was selfish and bratty of him to do so. Maybe someday she would let go of what she was hiding, then maybe he could tell her that he loved her and completely adored her. He glanced down at the delicate blonde and realized that she was staring at him, almost as if she knew what he was thinking. He felt the creeping flush in his cheeks but he couldn't break the gaze. Maybe he would be a selfish brat and tell her, maybe that is what she needed to help her let go of what she is guarding.
     Swirling in her thoughts about different magics she started to get a feeling of intense love and adoration laced with a bit of sadness and frustration. She quickly assessed her mental state and was sure it wasn't coming from her. That could only mean that her pink haired companion was thinking about someone he loved and something about it made him sad. 'Could he be thinking about me?' She looked up at him and when their eyes met he turned bright red. 'No friggin' way' Lucy thought as her heart started to race. She was about to question him as to what he was thinking about when Happy shifted his weight in her arms and snapped her attention to the fact that they were at the guild. The opportunity was gone and they both ignored the unspoken moment and went ahead inside the guild, it was high time they get this mystery solved.