When Natsu and Lucy decide to go on a job together, a few things end up being a bit trickier than they anticipated. How will everything turn out? How will Lucy and Natsu get out of one sticky situation after the next?
...
AAAHHH! I'm so sorry I haven't updated this! I've been really busy lately and my WiFi was being such a jerk... anyway, enough of the lame excuses! Here's the chapter!
The next morning, I woke up to Natsu cuddling me, which scared me at first. However, his calm expression reminded me of our agreement: I let him sleep in the bed if he kept me warm.
I let out a yawn and woke him up, noticing how his hair had become messy as he slept. He rolled over with a groan and his arms squeezed my waist. Eventually, I pried myself from his grip and put a pillow in my place. After getting dressed, packing our things, and eating breakfast, I brought Natsu some food.
This should wake him up, I guessed with a giggle.
Cautiously, I held the plate near Natsu's nose and watched as his face began twitching. His nose scrunched and sniffed as his eyes snapped open. Suddenly, he snatched the plate and scarfed down the food in a matter of seconds, causing me to jump back with a gasp.
"Sorry if I scared you, Luce," he chuckled, crawling out of bed and reaching for my hand.
"It's fine. I bet you were hungry."
"Yeah," he agreed, rubbing the back of his neck sheepishly. "Starving."
Then, Natsu began rummaging around in my bag, pulling out my blanket, food, and clothes. I yelled at him, but it did nothing because he continued. He reached my bras and panties, putting them in a separate pile, and finally pulled out a hoodie. He pulled the hoodie over his head and covered his bare chest. Then he wrapped his scarf around his neck again.
"What the hell was that, Dragneel?" I interrogated.
"I need a shirt or something. It's cold outside," he protested, throwing his hands up defensively.
"Whatever, just give me my coat and blanket."
After a little while, it was time to leave the hotel. We checked out and left, noticing the snow covered streets as we talked. After lunch, we left town and I convinced Natsu to use his fire to melt the snow in our path as we walked. Hours later, we returned to the ruins, shivering and shaking. However, the door was shut when we arrived.
"Looks like we'll have to wait a few hours," Natsu muttered, shaking some snow out of his pink locks.
"Oh," I sighed, my teeth quietly chattering as I shivered in the cold.
After Natsu used his flames to clear more of the snow in the immediate area, we gathered some sticks and tried to keep a fire going. Each fire we made quickly died out because of the melting snow around it. After a few more tries, I gave up.
"Natsu it's not gonna work. Don't waste any more magic energy. We'll need as much as we can get."
He sighed and sat down on a snow-covered log, patting the spot next to him.
"Have a seat, Luce. You look cold," he pointer out as I sat next to him.
"Thanks, Natsu," I replied, crossing my arms and legs to preserve warmth. I pulled out my blanket and wrapped around myself. I offered it to him, but he declined.
"I haven't done anything yet. You're still cold, Luce, aren't ya?" He questioned insistently, turning towards me and giving me a concerned expression.
"I guess I-"
I paused as he put his arm around me and pulled me closer to his warmth.
"Thanks, Natsu," I whispered, looking away.
"You were cold, so let me fix that. That's what friends do, right?"
Friends... we're just friends. I can't think of him as more than that, then being on the same team would be awkward. Natsu is right. We should just keep things the way they are. That's all he was doing last night, too. He was just making sure I didn't freeze. How stupid of me to think more of it.
"Sorry, did I say something wrong? You just kinda went quiet," he paused, furrowing his brow. "Is the cold getting to you or something?"
"N-No I'm fine," I stuttered, shifting away from him and still shivering.
"Okay," he responded softly, looking away with a hint of a defeated expression.
A while passed, but there would still be a few more hours before the labyrinth opened and Natsu had resorted to scooping up snow and eating it for fun. I watched as he flopped around in the snow like an imbecile, grabbing handfuls of the white snowflakes and shoving them in his mouth.
Suddenly, his voice drew me away from my thoughts.
"Oy, Luce!" He called, waving at me. "Don'tcha wanna play in the snow? Are you still cold? Come here."
I obeyed, trudging through the snow towards the fire mage, keeping my blanket around myself. Suddenly, he took off his scarf and wrapped it around my neck, draping it over my head and around my face. He clearly didn't know how to put a scarf on someone else.
Like SOME other anime characters *cough* Eren Jaeger *cough*
Oh. I must be getting a cold. Please excuse me.
*COUGH! COUGH! ACHOOO!*
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Such a bad cold.
I carefully adjusted the scarf, feeling its warmth and scaly texture. Natsu looked at me, smiling his wide, toothy grin.
"Better?" He asked.
"Yeah, thanks again."
"Anytime, Luce."
After a few minutes of casual discussion and warming up, Natsu and I decided to play in the snow. We made a snow Happy and a snowman, though Natsu partially melted the snowman when he was trying to shape it. Afterwards, we caught falling snowflakes and watched as the snow continued falling. We even had a snowball fight. Obviously, I won that. As nighttime approached, it became colder, and I began shivering again. Natsu noticed this and pulled me near him.
"You're not gonna freeze out here, Luce. Not on my watch," he chuckled, lighting his hand on fire to keep me warm while his other arm rested around my shoulders.
Finally, the labyrinth door opened, allowing us shelter form the wind, but not the cold. We spent hours retracing our steps and defeating monsters. When we reached the entrance chamber again, a strange green light illuminated a path that wasn't there before. Natsu and I followed it cautiously, and it led us down a long set of stairs. When we reached the bottom, an entirely new scene spanned out in front of us.
"Natsu, what is this?" I wondered aloud, staring ahead.
"I have no idea."
Woop woop! I'm back! Sorry it took a while for me to update! Anyway, what will Natsu and Lucy encounter in the next chapter? I can't wait to keep writing!
