Her Protector ~NaLu~

~Chapter forty eight~

Can you remember who you were, before the world told you who you should be?
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Next day...
~Lucy's POV

At precisely nine am the door opened and I walked into the shop. Natsu likes to sleep in, so I'm not scared that he would find out what I'm doing.

But even if he does, I already made him some breakfast and left a note saying I have to buy some food for the fridge. It's true though, the fridge is empty.

"Hey," the guy from yesterday said, setting the piece of wood from yesterday on the desk. He had already carved a dragon in it.

If I should imagine how Igneel looks like, I imagine it that way. Of course, not in wood and brown, but just the figure.

I beamed at him. "It looks amazing," I complimented.

His cheeks flushed as he looked away. "Not every day someone says that. Thank you."

We sat down and this time I see his name tag. Tyler.

"So, what do you want to carve on the back?" He turned the wood cube around so that the back was up.

I was thinking about this a lot. And I'm happy with my idea. I told him that and his eyebrows shot up in surprise. He probably expected a single 'I love you' carved on the back.

But I feel like that's not enough. That's not the most important thing to me.

When you're in love you want happiness for your partner. I want Natsu to have all the things he wants in life, simply because he deserves it.

"Do you want me to carve it or..." he trailed off, grabbing a small knife perfectly made for wood carving.

"I want to try," I shyly admitted. Doing the back makes it more of my gift to him than something I buy.

He drew the outlines of the letters so I knew exactly where to cut. We stood up, so you can do it easier. He stood behind me and grabbed my hand with the knife carefully. He directed me how I should cut, how to hold it and eventually I began.

The closeness of him is making me nervous. I only had Natsu this close before and Tyler's only helping me.

"Why are you trembling so much?" he asked and put a hand over mine to stop it. I didn't release the breath I was holding until I gasped.

"Sorry, I'm not used to closeness from any other male."

He smiled and backed off. "Alright. Sorry. Problem solved. Now begin."

This is way harder than I thought. I had those sudden nerves where my muscles were too tensed it 'shot free'. He chuckled after my third time.

I tried to relax and focus on this. I held it in my hand as I was done. I showed it to him. "How does it look?"

He tilted his head. "Pretty good for a beginner. Would you like me to better it?"

I looked at the carved words. Some lines were a little bit... off but for the rest it was fine to me.

I shook my head. "I like it."

"Wait, won't the wood go on fire once the candle... you know?"

He grinned and moved his fingers swiftly. A magic circle appeared on his hands. "A magic spell will prevent it."