Bad Season

Chapter 4

Today, I get married. It's not really what I thought my wedding day would be like. I get to wear a dress, but not a wedding one. My friends and family arn't here, and I'm seventeen. I also didn't think I would be marrying Natsu. I thought I would marry a nice, handsome, and non-animalistic guy. Natsu is only one of those things. He's not really handsome, but cute. I'm just hoping that 'gets better with age' thing isn't bullshit. The priest is some guy from a town that's not too far from where we are now. He is a priest, but not a good one. I occasionally peek outside to see a chubby man in slacks and a Hawaiian print button up shirt. And then there's Natsu, wearing a black overcoat and shorts. To make it even worse, he's wearing one of those bow tie t-shirts.

The dress I get to wear is a simple blue sundress. Thin strapped and really wavy at the bottom. It also fades from white to blue, which is really cool looking. To finish off the outfit I have white flats with a small silver bow at the top. Pretty cute if you ask me, well, for when I'd be attending the wedding, not being the bride. Honestly, I can wait a while longer for getting married. Because apparently what happens after this is a 'ritual' as Natsu calls it. Not really looking forward to that.

I hear Natsu call my name, so sighing, I step out of the house and into the yard. I keep my eyes on the sky as I quickly walk over to the two. Of course, my looking majestic would have to wait because my legs had other plans.

NATSU'S P.O.V.

I watched Lucy (who looked AMAZING!) walk over to us. Everything was going well until her foot caught behind her ankle and she tumbled to the ground. The smile left my face as I rushed over to the now groaning girl. I heard her mutter curse words, not attempting to get up. She just lay there, face flat on the ground, cussing like a sailor. I smirked before grabbing her by the waist and hoisting her over my shoulder. This earned me an odd look from the priest. I set Lucy back onto her feet and nodded for the priest to begin. Regaining his composure, he began. I grabbed onto Lucy's hands, causing her to stare at our now linked fingers.

"Sir?" The priest questioned. I snapped out of my gaze at my soon to be wife and repeated his sentence. Lucy did the same. I can tell she is unsure about this whole thing, but once it is all over I'm going to make it up to her, big time.

Soon enough, it was time. "You may kiss the bride." Lucy's face fell slightly. So, to reassure her, I carefully lifted her chin and met her lips with mine. W ew ere still kissing when the priest slammed his book closed and walked away. Once I pulled away, I looked her in the eyes.

"Are you ready?"

She gave a small nod, earning a look of concern from me.

"We can wait until tomorrow." I told her, feeling slightly dissapointed.

No, it's ok. You need to do this and... I'm ok with it. Just a little nervous, that's all.

Lucy, I have two days left. We can always try it tomorrow. And anyways, I need to do the ritual. So everything else can wait.

Really? You sure?

Yes, but just to let you know, I won't be holding back.

LUCY'S P.O.V.

A bright blush spread across my face. Ok, now I'm scared. It's not that I am self concious, it's just that I never thought that it would be with Natsu...

"Follow me." Natsu said, walking into the bedroom. I quietly followed behind, the ring on my finger catching my eye. I stared at it as I entered the room. It was really beautiful... Simple and elegant, all I could ever ask for. I looked up at the sound of Natsu rummaging through the nightstand drawer.

"Ah! There it is!" He shouted before standing up and walking towards me. I looked at the small golden object in his hands. It was about half a centimeter thick, in the shape of a circle. In the middle of the circle was a carving of a dragon's head. It looked like a... brander. Oh god, no! I quickly backed away.

"Don't worry, it won't hurt! It's just a marker, of sorts." I wildly shook my head, scrunching into a ball, trying to hide any of my showing skin. I peeked up from behind my legs to find Natsu sitting infront of me. "Trust me." He said in a calm and relaxing voice. I slowly unfolded and sat before him. He gave me a smile before lighting the object on fire. Weird, I didn't know metal could catch on fire.

"You can choose where you want the mark." I thougth about that, I didn't want it in a place too obvious, but somewhere that I could show it off on occasion. That's it! Whenever I go swimming is when I could show it off.

"Right here." I told him, pointing to a spot a little lower than my ribs on my right side. About where my kidney is, except on my stomach, not my back. He nodded, motioning me to lift up my shirt. Lifting it up just to expose that area and nothing else, I prepared myself. Squeezing my eyes shut as he got closer with the flaming brand was all I could really do. I opened my eyes, deciding I wanted to see this. He pressed it onto my skin, I squealed, expecting a sharp and burning pain, but it never came. When he removed the object, I stared at the mark. The lines were a mixture of orange, red, and yellow, resembling the colors of fire. Honestly, it was pretty cool. I continued to stare while Natsu looked at me. Once I met his gaze, I smiled, crushing him in a hug.

"That's really cool!" I exclaimed, smiling widley.

"Glad you like it, now tomorrow or the day after we need to complete everything. Just let me know when you're ready, ok?" I nodded, pulling down the soft fabric of my shirt. I stood and headed into the kitchen, searching for food. I went to grab a soda out of the fridge when my side began to throb. I lifted my shirt once again, looking at the now glowing red mark. I called to Natsu, who casually walked in... ablaze. No, literally, like, on fire.

"Uuh- my mark, it's glowing and throbbing." I told him, touching the mark.

"Good, it's supposed to do that whenever I need to know where you are." Natsu replied, while the throbbing and glowing receded.

"Then why are you on fire?" I asked, now addressing the fact that he was about to burn the house down. He only stared at me, asking what I was talking about. I pointed to him, he looked at his body before flipping out.

"What the hell?! That's not supposed to happen..."

I sighed at his obliviousness. Sitting down at the table, Natsu joined me, still freaking out about how he couldn't extinguish the fire. Suddenly, he froze. A few seconds passed before he looked up at me, a dark smile on his face. Oh no, not again...

"Hey Lucy... guess what?" He asked evilly. I shuddered.

"W-what?" Natsu leaned in, his lips almost touching my ear, before he whispered, "I'm... on fire. CRAZY RIGHT?!" He shouted the last part. Cue face palm..