Love of my Life

Chapter 2

Lucy finished doing her hair and stepped out of the bathroom to find both Natsu and Happy missing. At first, she thought they were trying to play hide and seek, but after looking around for a while she found a note on her desk.

Lucy,
Come to the guild at noon

She scoffed at Natsu's messy handwriting and folded the note.  She made herself a small breakfast, and the whole time she was eating she was thinking about what Natsu was planning. He couldn't be throwing her a surprise birthday party, because her birthday had just recently passed. What if he was going to scare her as soon as she walked in the door? Or maybe it wasn't anything too exciting, and he just wanted to go on a job with her.

Once she finished eating, Lucy tried to settle her nerves and pass the time by writing in her novel, but even then she couldn't fully focus on the task at hand. Glancing at her clock, she saw she still had an hour until noon. She grabbed her keys and walked out the door, giving up on waiting.

Everything seemed normal inside of the guild. Natsu was nowhere to be found, but Fairy Tail was still bustling with activity. Mirajane had a line of people forming in front of her that wanted to go on jobs, including Gray and Erza.

"Have you guys seen Natsu today?" she asked them.

"We thought he was with you." Erza said. Gray nodded.

"Didn't the two of you go home together last night?" he asked, smiling slyly. Lucy's face went red.

Erza frowned and elbowed Gray in the stomach. "Don't go meddling in their private affairs! It's rude!" Gray doubled over and choked out an apology.

"Trust me, it's nothing like that! We just went back to my apartment so that I could give Natsu his birthday present."

Erza nodded slowly. "Well then, to answer your question, we haven't seen Natsu. In fact, I don't think he's come to the guild at all today."

A million questions raced through Lucy's mind, but she just thanked Erza and Gray and sat down at the bar. What was he planning?

Someone sat down next to her and took a bottle of liquor from behind the bar.

"What has you so deep in thought?" Cana asked, taking a long swig of her drink.

Lucy looked at her, confused. "What makes you say that?"

Cana shrugged. "You have this look that you make when you're thinking. Your forehead scrunches up and you grind your teeth together," she took another drink. "Usually it doesn't look that weird, but just now you looked like you were gonna explode."

"Oh, it's nothing."

Cana leaned in close, putting her arm around Lucy's shoulders. "Are you having boy problems?"

Lucy leaped out of her seat. "No! Of course not!" she said nervously.

"'Cause you know, I'm always willing to listen to some boy drama -".

"Lucy?" Natsu stood in the doorway of the guild with Happy at his side. Natsu looked disappointed.

Cana looked back and forth between the two of them, a small smile creeping onto her face. "Oh, I get it." she said, but before she could say more Lucy forced Cana to swallow more of her drink.

"Lucy, what are you doing here? I told you to come at lunchtime!" Natsu said, walking over to her. He kept one of his hands behind his back.

"When did you tell me that?" she asked, trying to play dumb.

"Happy and I left a note on your desk this morning."

Lucy shook her head. "I never saw a note." she lied.

Natsu frowned. "Well, I guess the surprise is ruined now." He brought his hand out from behind his back to reveal a small figurine of a Rainbow Sakura tree. Its colors were vibrant even in the daylight, so much so that the tree emitted a small, colorful glow.

He held it out in his palm for her to take it. "I was going to wrap it before you came, but I didn't have enough time."

Lucy didn't say a word as she cradled the tree in her hands.

Natsu waved a hand in front of her face. "Hello? Are you okay?"

"I'm fine," she said as her eyes began to water. Cana was watching her with a smirk on her face, but Lucy didn't care. "It's so beautiful."

Natsu smiled and ran a hand through his hair. "I'm glad you like it." A crowd had begun to form around the two of them as Lucy admired her gift.

"Why did you do this?" she asked him, wiping a tear away from her face.

"It's a thank you gift. For the party," he said. "I remembered how much you loved those trees, so I got you one to keep."

Lucy carefully set the tree down and tightly wrapped her arms around Natsu's middle. He embraced her back, resting his chin on her shoulder.

"Thank you."

The tree was passed all around the guild hall, each person marveling at the pretty colors. When it finally made its way back to Lucy, she cradled safely in her hand.

Gray and Erza left for their job an hour later, carrying solemn looks on their faces.

"There are mysterious kidnappings taking place all over Fiore," Erza said, holding up the flyer so Lucy could read it. "We're investigating the ones in Clover."

"Does that mean people are being kidnapped here in Magnolia, too?" she asked worriedly.

Gray shook his head. "No, they haven't spread out here yet. The cities that have the most kidnappings are Clover and Hargeon, and they're both pretty far away from Magnolia."

"That sound like a piece of cake," Natsu declared, standing up abruptly. "What, all you have to do is rescue some people?"

"Well no, there's more to it than that -".

"That settles it," Natsu said, interrupting Erza. "It'll be Lucy and I versus you and Gray. Whoever saves these people the first is the winner!"

"Aye sir!" Happy said excitedly from the air. Before she could protest, Natsu grabbed Lucy by the arm and dragged her away with him while Happy followed from above.

"Should we go after them?" Gray asked as he watched them disappear.

Erza shook her head. "They can handle themselves. Besides, we've got our own problems to worry about." She glanced at the job flyer once more. "I just hope they don't underestimate what they're up against."