Lucy burst into the Fairy Tail guild searching for the pink-haired dragon slayer. She quickly scanned the room, but he was nowhere in sight. Carla was chatting amiably with Wendy and waved Happy over to their table. Unable to resist the temptation of friendly attention from Carla, Happy decided to leave Natsu in Lucy's hopefully capable hands.

"Lucy!" Mira called from behind the bar. Lucy sighed and walked over to her. She was in a hurry and wasn't in the mood for chit-chat. "Are you looking for Natsu?"

"Yes! Have you seen him?" Lucy asked desperately.

"Yeah, you just missed him." Mira said, trying to hold back a smile. Young love. . . so cute!

"Did he say where he was going?" Lucy asked, alarm creeping into her voice.

"He said something about a long mission. I think he went to pack." Mira said, causing Lucy to panic even more.

"Thanks, Mira! I owe you one!" Lucy said as she frantically rushed out of the guild hall.

"Good luck!" Mira cried, secretly enjoying every moment of their drama.

It's not too late! Please don't let it be too late! Lucy thought as she ran towards Natsu and Happy's house. She knocked repeatedly on the door but there was no answer. "Natsu!" she called. "Are you in there?!" She turned the handle and found it unlocked. "Hello?" she called as she opened the door, revealing the messy, empty room. "Natsu!" she called again. Damnit! He's not here! She felt her eyes fill with tears, but pushed them aside and hurried determinedly back to the guild hall to see if anyone else had any information.

With her mind and legs racing, she wasn't paying attention to her surroundings and crashed into a large, muscular figure, falling over on to her butt.

"Oi! Watch where yer goin'!" Gajeel said irritably as he reached out his hand to help her up.

"Sorry. . ." Lucy mumbled, brushing the dirt off of her skirt. "Hey, have you seen Natsu?" she asked, trying to sound casual.

"Nope." Gajeel said flatly.

"Oh. . ." Lucy said gloomily as she turned to walk away.

"Oi! Bunny girl!" Gajeel called to her, uncomfortable to see the usually cheerful blonde looking so depressed. It wasn't really in his character, but he felt as though he could help her out. "Lemme see if I can sniff him out."

Lucy quickly turned around, her big brown eyes swimming with tears and a large smile on her face. "Really?! Thanks, Gajeel!"

"It's nothin'. . ." Gajeel said with a blush as he scratched the back of his head. He always felt awkward when girls were acting cute around him. He sniffed in the air for a few moments, trying to catch Natsu's scent. "He's over in Southgate Park."

"Thank you so much!" Lucy gasped as she embraced the metal dragon slayer.

"Alright, alright. Get outta here. . ." Gajeel said, blushing deeply and pushing her away.

In a few minutes Lucy arrived at the park completely out of breath. She stopped at the gate to collect herself and search the area. She immediately noticed a familiar pink-haired figure sitting beside one of the cherry trees.

"Natsu!" she called, racing over to him, her eyes brimming with tears.

"Lucy?!" Natsu gasped, startled as he hastily jumped to his feet.

Lucy crashed into him, wrapping him in a tight embrace. Without warning, she burst into tears, crying loudly. "You can't go, idiot! Don't you know. . . it's always more fun. . . when we're together!" she sobbed into his chest.

"Lucy. . ." he said quietly, still shocked. He wrapped his arms around her, closed his eyes, and placed his head on hers. "I know. I'm not going anywhere."

In that moment they both realized what they truly meant to each other. Natsu pulled away slightly so he could look into Lucy's eyes. "You're so weird." he said as he gently wiped the tears from her face. She laughed and smiled up at him.

"Oh!" she cried as she suddenly remembered the silver key in her pocket. She pulled it out and held it towards Natsu. "What's this?"

Natsu examined it. "Oh yeah. I got you this key, too. I wrapped it with the. . .underwear." Natsu mumbled, cringing. He didn't want to think about it anymore. "I guess you didn't see it right away."

Lucy scrutinized the key more closely. "This is Felis!" Lucy gasped. "This key is so rare! It must have cost a fortune!"

"Nah, it wasn't too bad." Natsu said while rubbing the back of his neck and feeling pretty cool.

"Gate of the Tiny Cat, I open thee! Felis!" Lucy cried, summoning her new spirit.

A tiny white kitten with a moon-shaped patch on its head appeared before them. "Mew!" it said, looking up at Lucy with its big, blue eyes.

"Oh my gosh!" Lucy squealed as she hurriedly scooped up the adorable Celestial Spirit and squeezed it tightly. "It's so cute!" she exclaimed with a large grin on her face.

"Yeah." Natsu said softly as he gazed at Lucy while she sparkled with glee.

"I think I'll name her. . . Lili!" Lucy said happily, still tightly squeezing the poor fluffy kitten. Lucy lunged towards Natsu and quickly kissed his cheek. "Thank you, Natsu! I just hope she gets along with Pl-" Without thinking, Natsu grasped her in a tight embrace. He was so relieved to have finally made her smile. Lili took the opportunity of her master being distracted to escape Lucy's deathly tight grip. After a minute or so, Natsu pulled away, holding Lucy at arms length. Their faces flushed and hearts raced as they felt the walls of friendship crumble between them. As he looked into Lucy's glimmering brown eyes, Natsu decided to try something he'd been wanting to do for a long time. He leaned towards her and slowly placed his lips on hers, hoping that it wouldn't earn him another Lucy Kick to the stomach. Lucy hesitated for a moment, then wholeheartedly kissed him back. They stayed that way, wrapped in each other's arms under the cherry trees, for a long time.

Later that afternoon, Natsu barged into the guild hall, a large, boyish grin on his face and his arm slung over Lucy's shoulders. Lucy was blushing while carrying Lili and Plue.

"Hey, Mira!" he shouted. "We'll take that mission!"

"Great!" Mira said smiling. "I'm glad you two were able to make up!"

"Mhmm!" Lucy said, blushing deeply as she became increasingly aware that Natsu was clinging to her in front of everyone.

"Hi, Natsu! Hi Lucy!" Happy said cheerfully as he flew over to greet them. He suddenly noticed the kitten in Lucy's arms and his face turned ghastly pale in horror. "You're replacing me!" he wailed as he flew away, tears streaming down his face.

"Oi! Happy! Get back here!" Natsu shouted after the Exceed. "I should probably go get him. . ." he muttered to Lucy as he turned to chase after his companion.

"Yeah, see you later!" Lucy said encouragingly. Natsu paused, turned back towards Lucy, and gave her a quick peck on the cheek before running after Happy.

"Happy! We're not replacing you, idiot! You were with me when I bought it!" he shouted as he raced out of the hall.

Lucy slowly turned to face her friends at the bar who stared gaping at her. "W-what?!" she said while tugging on her hair, her face a brilliant shade of red.

"Lucy!" Mira squealed as she lunged over the counter to embrace her. "I just knew this would happen, I just thought it would be a lot sooner!"

"S-stop! You're embarrassing me. . ." Lucy mumbled, trying to act as though it wasn't a big deal.

"So. . . you liked the underwear after all!" Cana teased, winking at the blushing Celestial Spirit Mage.

"W-what! How did you know about that?!" Lucy shrieked, ready to die from humiliation.

"I bet you're wearing it right now. C'mon! Lemme see!" Cana said provokingly as she tried to pull Lucy's shirt off.

"S-stop it! You're just as bad as the guys!" Lucy said as she struggled to get away from the troublesome card mage.

"You seem to be having a lot of fun for someone under punishment." Mira said with an innocent smile, yet an ominous demonic aura surrounded her.

"What?! I-I thought I was off the hook, I mean, since it all worked out in the end!" Cana cried.

"Well, I suppose I can remove one day from your sentence." Mira said mercifully.

"No Way! H-h-how am I suppose to go 29 days with alcohol! P-please, Mira! You gotta forgive me! Lucy, say something!" Cana miserably pleaded.

"Maybe you'll think next time before you meddle with romance." Mira said, ending the conversation.

"NOOOOO!" Cana cried, dramatically dropping to her knees. "Lucy, you gotta help me!" she begged.

"N-no way! Do you think I have a death wish?! I'm not interfering with what Mira wants! Nuh-uh!" Lucy said as she backed away, shaking her head.

"Some friend you are. . ." Cana muttered, earning her death glares from Mira and Lucy.

"Well, I should start packing for that mission. See you guys later!" Lucy said as she turned to leave.

"Bye, Lucy! Be gentle with Natsu!" Mira called after her. Lucy froze in shock and then ran out of the guild without responding. There are only so many embarrassing things a girl can handle in one day!

One week later. . .

"Man, that was easy!" Natsu exclaimed as he stretched his arms above his head and yawned loudly. He, Lucy, and Happy had just left the resort manager's office after collecting their reward.

"Mhmm! And we hardly destroyed anything, so we almost got the full reward!" Lucy said cheerfully. "I can't wait to go shopping!"

"Well, we finished a week early, so we may as well stay awhile. . ." Natsu said.

"Okay!" Lucy agreed, excited to spend some time relaxing at the resort instead of hunting down bad guys.

It was late in the afternoon when they reached the beach. The sun had begun to set and the first stars of the night twinkled in the darkening sky. The couple settled down on a remote dock, their fishing rods in hand and bare feet dangling in the water. Happy, exhausted from their mission, lay curled up sleeping at the end of the dock. Lili and Plue cuddled together, dozing in Lucy's lap. Natsu helped Lucy cast her rod and they sat together closely.

"See, Luce! It's more fun doing this together!" Natsu said grinning.

"Mmm, yeah." Lucy replied as she rested her head on the dragon slayer's shoulder. They quietly sat side by side, fishing, watching the sunset, and enjoying one another's company, happy to have ended their dramatic episode, happy to have successfully completed another mission, but, most of all, just happy to be together.

A/N: Thanks for reading! :)