"Natsu…" "Hmmm?" Light slowly filtered through his eyes lids, taunting him to wake up. He sighed, "I guess it's time to stop dreaming, there's no stopping Happy." He thought. Previously Natsu was dreaming about laying on a mountain of food, before a certain blue cat decided it was morning. "Natsuuuuuu!" the cat whined. "I'm up, I'm up, sheesh!" Natsu moaned.

Still half asleep he slunk to the bathroom, realigned his scarf, tousled his hair, and headed to the kitchen. Sleep deprived and irritated, he questioned his friend's early bird attitude. "Happy, its 6:00 am, what's so important?" "Natsu, don't you remember what I told you last night?" Happy scowled at him.

"Hmmm, no I don't remember much, I think I passed out before you finished." Natsu stated, clearly all this thinking was difficult for his tiny brain. "I can't believe you fell asleep." Happy complained. "Anyway, what was it Happy?" Natsu pressured on. "Well, today we have to prepare for umm..." Happy trailed off. "Yes?" Natsu was getting curious. "Well...tomorrow is Lucy's birthday!" Happy finally managed to force it out. "...WHAT!" Natsu yelled.

Lucy hummed to herself as she got ready. "Tomorrows a special day, should I have a party? "Lucy questioned herself. But I don't have anything to wear...and my little house isn't a place I could hold it. "Why does this have to be so hard?" Sighed Lucy. She absentmindedly flipped through her closet looking for an outfit. "I wonder if Natsu will do something special for me...?" Wait, what am I thinking? Natsu couldn't do something like that... Her face flushed red, embarrassed with her own thoughts. "Why am I... disappointed?" She said while pulling on her stockings. She shook her head in attempt to make these thoughts go away. "Besides he probably doesn't even know its tomorrow." Lucy moaned. "Might as well head to the guild."

Lucy slowly opened the large doors leading into Fairy Tails guild hall and stumbled inside. Sitting down at a table next to Levy she sighed. "Lucy, is something up?" Levy asked concerned. "Eh? Well kinda..."Lucy said hesitantly. "C'mon you can tell me." Levy said. "Well...Its just...boy trouble..." Lucy barely whispered.

A light shone In Levy's eyes as she leaned in towards Lucy. " And who is this boy Lucy?" Levy playfully whispered. A blush crept quickly onto Lucy's face " Well...um...N-n-natsuuu..." Lucy managed to say before burying her red face in her arms. "Hehe Natsu eh? I knew it! Anyway, what trouble is he causing?" she asked curiously. "He's tugging on my emotions Levy! One minute he's holding me in his arms, next he's bursting into my house, and worst of all, he thinks of it all as a game! "Lucy cried out.

"Yah, I hear you." Levy whined. "Gajeel is kinda like that, I can't tell what he's thinking!" Levy complained "I know right! Boys are so insensitive.." Lucy agreed. "Plus, when you love them, you wanna know right?" Levy said dreamily. "Yah." Lucy said, half in dream world herself. Just then someone burst in with salmon pink hair and a white scarf. "Natsu.." Lucy said looking shocked.

"C'mon Happy, you're to slow!" Natsu complained angrily. "I'm sorry Natsu, I have little legs!" Whined Happy. Natsu scanned the room before spotting Lucy and giving her a warm, goofy smile. Lucy blushed and then looked quickly down at her feet. "That's strange..." Natsu mumbled. "Anyway...where's ice-princess?" Natsu asked challengingly. " Right here, flames-for-brains." Gray said in an equally challenging tone.

"Come with me." Natsu said and without another word, marched out the door. Gray followed curiously behind him. "I wonder what they're up to?" Lucy said. "Boring boy stuff." Levy explained, being a complete hypocrite as she had all her attention on what boring activity Gajeel was doing. Happy, who had been told earlier to stay behind by Natsu, flew over and placed himself between Levy and Gajeel. Taking in a deep breath, he gave a menacing look and then yelled "She liiiiiikes him." As soon as Gajeel turned around, Happy took off and Levy was caught staring at him. Extremely flustered, she stared at the salt on her table, as if it was what had her interest the entire time. Gajeel glanced at Levy for a second, before charging out after Gray and Natsu.

Levy looked up and saw his face for a split second before he disappeared out of the guild hall. "I could've sworn..."Levy trailed off. "What is it Levy?" Lucy asked. "Well, when Gajeel stormed out, I thought his face... looked a little...red.." Levy mumbled." Oh really now...maybe he's fallen for you ...Leeevvvyyyy." Lucy teased. Payback she thought. "You think so?" Asked a hopeful yet flustered Levy. "Yup." Lucy said, but right now her mind was preoccupied with thoughts of Natsu.

Natsu stopped on the bridge crossing the town's river and looked up. When he remained silent Gray decided to speak up. "So why'd you bring me all the way out here?" Natsu hesitantly replied. "Well, it's about Lucy..." Gray paused for a moment, Natsu braced himself for the laugh of a life time but it didn't come. "What about Lucy?" Gray asked. Holy crap! Is he actually going to listen to me? "Well…uh…"Natsu faltered, all his embarrassment flooded into him at once and he went quiet. "Wait, do you…like her?" Gray asked bewildered. "…"Natsu stayed quiet. His hands starting to break out in a cold sweat, trying to counter this, he fidgeted them, but all it did was draw attention to them. "So why do I need to know…?" Gray questioned, thoroughly annoyed with this feely side of Natsu.

I didn't even tell him yet! How did he guess? (Side Note: Natsu Dragneel is the thickest dragon slayer, no wizard in all of the magic world) "Well, tomorrows her birthday, and I wanted to do something special for her..." Natsu trailed off. When Gray didn't reply, he went on. "It's just, girls are really…complicated, and you're around Juvia all the time so…"He tried to lead on. Gray shuffled uncomfortably and when Natsu looked up into his face, he saw it was stained in red. Taken aback by this very un-Gray reaction Natsu leapt back. "I get it…Salamander."

Lucy sighed heavily, rolling her head in her arms as she mused herself with a small Happy action figure Romeo lent her. "Aye sir!" She said quietly to herself, popping out the contractible wings and making it fly around her head. Sighing again she looked around. Everyone was having fun, Lissana and Mira were entertaining Romeo and Wendy with their body changing magic, Elfman was showing off for Evergreen, Cana was gargling sake (sake is a Japanese alcoholic drink) or more preferably "booze" next to Gildarts. Droy and Jet took the opportunity to spend time with Levy while Gajeel was gone, Alzack and Bisca were sharing a romantic moment, and everyone else were in pretty high spirits, except for her.

All she could think about was Natsu, she eventually even pictured a small pink haired child with chocolate brown eyes before blushing and dragging out of her thoughts. "Natsu….please come back soon….."She moaned. She averted her eyes from the crowd and focused on the chibi Happy in her hand. Rolling it around in her fingers she pictured Natsu's reaction if she told him she liked him. "Oh Lucy (slaps her back) quit joking around hahahahaha!" "Ngh, I can't tell him can I?" Groaning she let herself slip away into a deep, lovely sleep. "…Nat…suuu." She wailed before falling asleep. (Side Note:Lucy falls asleep a couple times in this chapter, I guess stress takes people over.)

Natsu and Gray darted around to see none other than Gajeel lurking in the shadows. Revealing himself from his hiding place, he skulked over to Gray and Natsu. "What would you know about love, metal-head?" Gray inquired hotly. "A ton more than you, frozen-heart." Gajeel retorted. Gajeel fidgeted a bit before speaking. "Anyway, I know what you mean by the girls are complicated thing." Gajeel concurred. "How could you relate? Are you referring to Levy?" Gray growled, still suffering from the whole "Frozen-Heart" thing. "Mmm…yah I am." Gajeel said, he truly loved his little "Shrimp".

Natsu finally decided to speak up "Well at least the people you guys like, like you back…" Natsu pouted longingly. "I think Lucy hates me…" he whimpered. Both Gajeel and Gray were in shock that Natsu was behaving this way, and that he just commented on his buddies love lives. Neither of them thought their significant other liked them back (except Gray of course, but he was still shocked). He couldn't be too dense if he could see what they couldn't. "Well….I wouldn't bet on that…" Gray mumbled. "Me neither." Gajeel added. "Well we'd better head back to the guild hall, they'll be wondering where we are." Gray suggested. "Yah c'mon Salamander."Gajeel urged, and with that, they headed back.

"Lucy, what's up?" Mirajane asked, plopping down beside her. "Nothing…" she muttered. She just woke up when Mirajane giggled "Is this about Natsu?"She inquired playfully. Lucy groaned and allowed herself to confide in Mirajane. "Yes... I can't get him out of my head, and I feel so...powerless." Mirajane paused for a moment to collect her thoughts on the matter. Although i feel bad for Lu, it's nice to hear she likes him. "Mira..?"

With her birthday being tomorrow and all, this may be the chance to get them together... "Mira, what's with the creepy smile on your face..." Lucy said, somewhat frightened . "Oh sorry.." Mirajane quickly apologized, before thinking up a devious plan. "Hehehe...so Lucy, what are you doing tomorrow?"Mirajane innocently asked with hidden intent. "I don't know." She replied sounding upset. Hehehe. "Well, if you want you can come with me to a fair. Elfman won tickets to it from his last job, but he said fairs aren't manly enough so he gave them to me and Lisanna." Mirajane explained. "Wow, thanks so much Mira, that's so nice!" Hehehe "Oh no problem, just make sure you come!" Mira pressured.

"And Lucy, even though he acts like it's all a game, I think those memory's, and you, are both very important to him. Natsu will be Natsu, but people change over time, you'll see." Mirajane calmly explained. "T-t-thanks M-mira." Stuttered Lucy, the whole you are precious to him remark hit her like an arrow to the chest. Mira smiled as she walked away. That's the truth, Lucy.

The guild doors swung open again, and in came Natsu. Everyone in the guild turned to watch the idiot put on some big show , but instead, he sauntered in, hands buried deep in his pockets, face down and sat down at the bar. Gray and Gajeel walked in in a similar fashion, but instead, sat down at a table together. Mirajane noticed the conflicted look on Natsu's face and asked what was wrong. "Nothing..." He murmured. Really Natsu? I know something's wrong just tell me! "Natsu...you don't need to hide anything from me-." "Mira, I'm fine okay!" Natsu yelled, then(for the second time) he stormed out. "What got his panties in a knot?" Cana asked drowsily (she was drunk). This may be helpful... "Hey Lucy? Could you go check on him for me please?" Mira asked. "Okay..." Lucy quietly agreed. Wow, Lucy would usually put up more of a fight. Just goes to show how depressed and vulnerable she is. Poor thing...

Seriously, what's with me? I'm angry and sad at the same time...I hope I didn't hurt Mira's feelings. Nastu's face was twisted with confused rage, and he angrily ran both his hands through his hair. Then he let out a deep sigh, leaning against the banister that rimmed a balcony, he looked out over Magnolia.

This was his favorite place to come whenever he felt upset. Lucy, please don't hate me. I love you... "N-natsu?" Lucy asked quietly. Natsu was actually really suprised she found him, but he decided to supress his shock. "Oh, Lucy, I didn't know you were here.." Natsu mumbled, slightly embarrased. "Natsu, is everything okay?" Lucy quickly asked, startling Natsu. He looked at her face and saw it was filled with worry. "You know you can tell me anyth-" "Shhh...Lucy. Smile. I'm okay." He reasurred her. "N-n-natsu?!" He had put a finger on her lips and was whispering directly into her ear. I may melt!

His breath was hot and for some reason, dripping with pheremones. "Right!" Natsu suddenly said, and then he lifted Lucy up, carrying her princess style, and headed back towards the guild hall. At first Lucy was a bit shocked but then slowly became content in his warmth. He's so warm. She looked up to catch a glimpse of his face. The moonlight (conveniently) shone down on them, lighting up his face in the dark. He really was attractive, his big shiny onyx eyes, large muscles, and scruffy pink hair. He felt her shift and looked down at her. He noticed what she had been doing and gave her a huge, happy smile. She smiled back before burrying her face into his chest.Oh yeah, and his smile is really cute too. She thought, and then she fell asleep. Nastu grinned crazily as Lucy mumbled in her sleep. He looked down at her again and affectionately stroked her hair. I never want to see so much pain and worry in her eyes again.