Understanding My Heart

Hi everyone! Well this is going to be my first fanfic... I really tried to make it sound very mature and well written... I probably should have spent more time planning this our rather than just making it up on the go, but I was feeling lazy...

This fanfic is going to be about my OTP, Natsu and Lucy... I think that they are just adorable together and that they really compliment each other. I'm starting it off pretty light but I assure you that it will get progressively more lemony as I continue to write it ;)

Well here goes nothing! Here's my first attempt at a fanfic! Reviews are welcome and encouraged!

Chapter 1

"Ohhh it's so good to be back!" said Lucy Heartfilia, Fairy Tail's blonde Celestial Spirit mage. She and the rest of Team Natsu had just entered the boisterous guild hall after a week away on a mission. They were tired and hungry, but happy as the mission had gone very well.

"I'm starving… Mira! Please tell me that you have food leftover from lunch!" shouted Natsu Dragneel, his stomach rumbling loud enough for his teammates to hear and laugh. He was always ravenous after returning from missions.

"Of course I do," said Mirajane Strauss, smiling sweetly at the group. "I knew you all would be back today so I saved enough for all of you."

"Mira you're amazing," said Gray Fullbuster, his own stomach growling almost as loudly as Natsu's. He was of course half naked, his shirt lying forgotten by the guild's front doors. Everyone in the guild was of course used to his stripping habit by now, he had been doing it for years, but some of the women still giggled and eyed him with varying degrees of interest. Juvia Lockser, the guild's resident water mage and expert Gray stalker, was peeking around a pillar at him. Her eyes were glued to the ice mage's muscular form, a thin stream of drool threatening to drip from her lips.

"I assume the mission went well from the looks on your faces," said Mira as she busied herself with bringing them their meals as they sat at an empty table. Lucy nodded happily, and Erza Scarlett simply crossed her arms and smiled.

"We actually managed not to destroy anything!" she said excitedly. Her eyes flicked to her pink haired teammate who was already digging into his food with gusto. "Well, I suppose I should say that Natsu managed not to destroy anything," she added, while the others laughed at her comment. Natsu was well known in the magic community as a force of mass destruction. He had personally wrecked at least two buildings in almost every town in Fiore, and the guild had lost track of how much all the damage he had caused over the years added up to.

"Mmpf mmmmm," grumbled Natsu, his mouth full of food. He glared at Lucy for a few seconds then returned to his food, seemingly over her jibe already. Lucy just smiled and dug into her own food, not noticing the second sadder glance that he gave her. Lucy may have missed his glance but a few other mages didn't. Erza saw and smiled a little. She could see that the dragonslayer was actually a little hurt by what Lucy had said, and she suspected that there was a reason for that. If anyone else in the guild had made a comment like that Natsu would have laughed it off or started a fight, but the blonde girl had a certain something about her that caused him to react differently.

"Natsu-nii!" said another mage who had seen the sad look that Natsu had given Lucy. It was Romeo Conbolt, one of the younger members of the guild and a fire-wielding mage like Natsu. Ever since he was little Romeo had idolized Natsu, viewing him as an older brother, and he had been devastated when the Tenrou Team had disappeared for seven long years. Now the young mage spent all the time he could with Natsu and his team, wanting to learn from them and become stronger.

"Oh, hey Romeo," said Natsu, swallowing the huge mouthful of food that he had been chewing. He ruffled the boy's dark hair and smiled warmly at him. "How was your mission with Wendy?" he asked, and Romeo blushed a little.

"It went really well," said the boy. He shuffled his feet a little and glanced across the room at the girl in question, Wendy Marvel. The Sky Dragonslayer was in the middle of having a conversation with Gajeel Redfox and Fairy Tail's three exceeds. Upon arriving at the guild, Natsu's own exceed friend Happy had flown over to the two dragonslayers and attempted to present Carla with a fish that he had bought for her. It seemed as if his persistence was paying off as she only ignored him for a few minutes before nonchalantly accepting the fish, causing Happy to jump about in delight. Romeo shook his head and cleared his throat, obviously tearing himself from some daydream he had been having. "Anyway, I was wondering if you could train with me this afternoon if you're not too tired from your mission," he said, trying to ignore the giggling of Lucy and Erza as they saw his eyes continuing to flick back to the blue haired girl.

Natsu finished taking another monstrous bite from his steak before answering. "Sure, just let me finish eating," he said, and Romeo grinned excitedly.

"I've been working on a new type of fire I wanted to show you, so come get me when you're finished!" said the boy, and he ran off to speak to his father.

"Romeo has really made good progress with his magic hasn't he?" said Erza, watching the boy talking animatedly with his father. "It doesn't seem like too long ago when he was just a little kid who complained about his father being a mage." The rest of the group nodded.

"Its nice to see that he's really embraced his magic and is learning how to control it," said Lucy, taking a sip of her strawberry milkshake. "Fire is a dangerous element, and he's obviously trying his hardest to make sure that he doesn't cause too much damage with it. Unlike someone we know…." she grinned, playfully teasing her best friend again. He scowled and finished his flaming drink before standing abruptly.

"Thanks for the food Mira," said Natsu, his voice flat and quiet. Lucy looked at him with a puzzled expression on her face.

"You didn't finish your food," she said, concern in her voice. Natsu refused to look at her.

"I lost my appetite," he said as he walked away, heading for where Romeo and his father were talking. Lucy watched him go, the confused look still on her face. Mirajane saw Lucy staring after Natsu, a knowing twinkle in her eyes.

"Did I say something wrong?" asked Lucy. Her teammates gave each other exasperated looks and shook their heads.

"You really don't know how much the things you say affect him do you?" said Gray, his palm on his face. Lucy cocked her head to the side, obviously not understanding. "Honestly, you can be as dense as he is sometimes," laughed Gray, and Lucy glared at him.

"Excuse me but I am not as dense as Natsu," she snapped. Across the room they could see the pink haired mage and Romeo gathering their things and walking to the front door, heading out to start their afternoon training. Lucy's head snapped back to her teammates as she heard Erza chuckle.

"Gray has a point Lucy," the red haired woman said kindly. "Natsu values your opinion, and when you tease him he really takes it to heart. You're a very important person to him, and not just as a teammate, so whenever you seem to be criticizing him, it hits him hard." Lucy looked at the armored mage, the confused look returning to her face.

"I'm important to Natsu?" she said, a skeptic tone in her voice. "I mean I know he values me as a teammate, but I don't think that he really thinks about me as anything more than that," she continued. She folded her arms and leaned back in her seat, staring up at the ceiling. "I mean, he's basically an oversized child, I doubt that he thinks about anything other than fighting and food."

"I wouldn't be too sure of that," interjected Mira. She, like the others, had known Natsu far longer than Lucy had and she could see that the blonde mage had been working slow but steady changes on the fire dragonslayer. "I personally think that Natsu has feelings for you!" she added happily, making Lucy blush and stutter.

"N-no way! This is Natsu we're talking about!" said the furiously blushing blonde. Mira noted her red face and smiled even more. "There's no way that he could think of me like that…" Lucy looked down at her lap and the others grinned at each other. They could see that Lucy had obviously thought about this before.

"You never know Lucy," said Gray, winking at her. Somewhere from behind a nearby pillar someone could be heard muttering, "What is my beloved doing winking at that blonde temptress?" The group took no notice however as they were focused on their conversation. "Natsu is a man after all, he's not immune to his own hormones," he continued, making Lucy blush even more.

"Yeah right…" she muttered, scowling at her plate. "I think I'm going to go home, I'm tired and I need a bath. See you all tomorrow," she said and got up from the table. Her friends continued to grin at her red face as they bid her farewell for the night and she walked out of the guild towards her apartment. Lucy walked in silence the whole way there, her mind in turmoil after the conversation she had just had.

There's no way…. Natsu doesn't think about girls at all from what I can tell… He isn't interested in me…Not matter how much I want him to be….