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Strawberry Sweets
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The joyous pinkette carried the small child all the way back to the contained apartment complex, intently listening to her delightfully hum brief nursery rhymes into his ear.
"Hickory dickory dock, the mouse ran up the clock..."
She sings, clapping her little hands together at almost every single syllable.
"The clock struck one, the mouse ran down, hickory dickory dock!"
She grins ecstatically, her porcelain-skin beaming with vibrancy.
Looking off to the side, Natsu catches a glimpse of the old Lucy's favorite ice cream shoppe.
"Yo, Luce! You wanna get ice cream?"
He asks her, glancing up into her sparkling brown orbs.
"Yay! Ice cream!"
She clasps her hands together in excitement as he hitches her up on his shoulders.
He grips onto the bases of her small feet, proceeding to walk down the street. Once they get to the shoppe, he sets her down on the concrete, grasping onto one of her hands. Opening the fragile, glass door with his other, they both walk inside of the quaint shoppe.
"What flavor do you want?"
He asks, shifting his gaze down to her face.
"I-..can't...see!"
She strains herself as he grabs onto his leg, trying to boost her height.
He chuckles and picks her up by the sides of her stomach, resting her weight on his waist.
"Now can you?"
He smiles, making her nod beatifically.
"I want..the strawberry one! With lots of strawberries!"
She grins playfully, leaning her head on his chest.
The woman behind the counter looks up and he states their order, which she writes down in her jet black note-pad.
"Okay, comin' right up."
She flashes them a cheeky smile, going to make their ice cream cones.
Lucy wraps her arms around the neck of the pinkette, making his cheeks tint a light shade of amaranth. After a few minutes, the woman returns over to them, with two waffle cones in hand.
"Here ya go."
She hands both of the cones to Natsu, in which he hands one to Lucy.
Lucy begins to eat the ice cream, a soft smile on her lips.
"Mm.."
Lucy whispers, licking her lips and grinning at the cherry-headed dragon slayer.
"Thank you, Na-kun!"
She smiles softly, pecking his cheek.
He chuckles and also begins to eat his ice cream, leading her out of the parlor.
Suddenly, the blonde whips her head around and the corners of her lips upturn.
"Na-kun! Na-kun! Looky! Looky!"
She points over to the left, and his eyes follow the direction.
Over there, was a quiet playground, with only about a bundle of children there.
"Can we go play, Na-kun? Pretty please?"
She asks, fluttering her eyelashes persuasively.
He pats her head and takes the ice cream wrapper from her hand, throwing it into the trashcan. She grabs onto his hand and tugs him over to the swing set, where she desperately tries to climb on. Laughing under his breath, the dragon slayer pushes her up onto the seat, locking his hands on the chains.
"Na-kun! Push me! Push me!"
She giggles heartily, making his heart smile.
Doing as she says, he presses his hands to her back and gently shoves her forward, causing her to raise her hands above her head.
"Na-kun! I wanna go higher!"
She begs, gripping onto the chains for dear life.
"Okay, but just don't hurl on me."
He jokes, pushing her even higher than before.
Shrieking at the top of her lungs, Lucy giggles with exhilaration, adrenaline coursing throughout her veins.
"Na-kun!"
She turns around to look at him, a mile-wide grin on her lips.
"Yea, Luce?"
He asks, stopping the movement of the swing, crouching down to her height.
"Um.."
She blushes crimson and looks to the emerald green blades of grass, bring on the crevice of her index finger.
"N-Na-kun...I..um.."
She whispers, pressing her palms to her warm cheeks.
"Spit it out already, kiddo. We don't have all day."
He chuckles, resting his face next to hers.
"I..really like you."
She pecks his cheek again, before hopping off of the seat of the swing.
The befuddled dragon slayer holds his hand to his face, the events replaying in his mind like a cassette tape.
"And let's have fun together more often, okay?"
She suggests, gripping onto his hands and pulling him back towards the sidewalk.
"...Whatever you say, Luce."
He grins, leaning down and moving the bangs from her forehead, kissing it.
Even if this wasn't the certain Lucy that he remembered..he could still see..
The small hint of Lucy left.
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