Love of my Life

Chapter 1

"It's almost time, everybody find a place to hide!"

The wizards of Fairy Tail scattered throughout their guild hall, ducking behind tables and squeezing into corners. Everyone tried to make as little noise as they could in their hiding spots.

Lucy was hidden behind a potted plant that stood right next to the large doors. She wanted to be in front when the time came.

Seconds, then minutes passed. Everyone was starting to get antsy.

"Oi, Lucy, are you sure you told them the right time?" Gray asked from underneath a table.

"I'm positive! If anything he probably slept in, or maybe Happy forgot," she said, gritting her teeth. "If that cat forgot about today I swear I'm gonna -."

"Shh, I can hear footsteps!" Wendy whispered. The guild hall went silent, and sure enough, Lucy heard someone approaching.

"Hey guys!"

"SURPRISE!" Everyone yelled as they popped out of hiding. Natsu stood in the doorway with a confused look on his face while Happy was grinning above him.

"Happy Birthday Natsu!" Lucy said. "What do you think?" She gestured to the guild hall. They had spent the entire morning decorating it. Colorful balloons were hung from every place imaginable, and a large birthday banner was draped on the back wall. Everyone waited eagerly for his reaction.

"It's my birthday?" Natsu asked, scratching his head. "I thought I didn't have a birthday?"

"Everyone's got a birthday! But we didn't know when yours was so we thought we'd celebrate it today!" Lucy said.

Natsu's face transformed from confusion to a wide smile. "Awesome! This is so cool you guys!"

Everyone breathed a sigh of relief.

"Let's get this party started!" Natsu said, jumping up onto a table. He pointed at Gray. "You and me, outside!"

"Natsu!" Lucy pulled him off of the table. "No fighting during the party!"

He looked at her with a pouty frown. "But it's my party!"

"What kind of a party is it without a little fight? It'll get boring if we don't!" Gray said, taking off his shirt in preparation. Juvia's eyes went wide in the background.

"Okay Natsu, you can punch him once for what he just said." Lucy stuck her tongue out at Gray.

"Fine by me. As long as I get to punch someone." Natsu said, cracking his knuckles.

"There will be no punching during the party." Erza grabbed both Natsu and Gray by the head and slammed the two of them together. They groaned in pain.

Thankfully, the party went on without any more disturbances. Everyone was smiling and laughing, and Lucy was glad to see Natsu enjoying himself. He did strange dances on the tables, told stories (that Lucy pointed out were fake), and only threatened Gray two more times.

While Natsu was displaying his magic to a crowd, Lucy found Happy and pulled him aside.

"So everything went okay this morning?" she asked.

Happy sighed. "Yeah, mostly. He kept trying to come to the guild before he was supposed to, so I had to make up excuses about why he had to stay."

"Like what?"

"I told him that I was having a bathroom issue."

Lucy snorted. "And that worked?"

"Surprisingly well." Happy said miserably. "We spent a half hour outside trying to -".