Chapter 6 – Meet The Guild

Lucy wiped her sweaty palms on her stiff, dark blue skirt, her frantic eyes traveling up and down the large, simple doors of the guildhall. The guild members' collective voices, only slightly muffled by the thick wood, mixed and mingled to form a deep and wild roar, like a lion's call, except with more cussing.

Beside her, Natsu, still as a statue, a painting depicting perfect ease, was lazily leaning against the wall, his hands clasped behind his head. Glancing over at the nervous girl beside him, he rolled his eyes.

"Sheesh, Luce. What's the matter? They're not gonna bite your head off!" He said, closing his eyes and leaning his head back, letting the luminous late-morning sun wash over his face. Natsu had always loved the sun – it was hot and bright and reminded him of fire. It was like a flaming ball in the sky.

Lucy swiveled on her heel and crossed her thin arms at Natsu's exclamation.

"Of course they will!" She screeched adamantly, a piercing sound that contrasted sharply with the calm of the townspeople that surrounded them. God, why didn't Natsu get it?

"Of all people, you should know, Natsu, that those guys – and girls - in there can be super gross. Just thinking of the comments…" Lucy trailed off, mortification apparent on her face. Looking down at the grass, she bit her lip.

How could they avoid the weird things all of their friends were sure to do? Jabs, jokes, and jeers were going to run rampant – how would she cope? One of the leftover personality traits from Lucy's former privileged life was that she couldn't deal with embarrassing situations. Appearances meant a lot to her and… and…

And what?

Lucy looked up at Natsu, and seeing the sun beam onto his carefree, patient profile, she felt her own insecurities dissipate.

What am I worried about? She asked herself.

They're our friends.

They're our family.

Righting herself – when had she crouched down? – Lucy stepped over to where Natsu was standing. Blinking, Lucy realized her boyfriend of 12 hours was missing.

"Na -?"

Lucy was quickly cut off by someone roughly grabbing her waist. Freezing, Lucy immediately she knew it was Natsu, but what was the hell was he doing? Lucy felt his hot breath on her ear.

"Sorry, Luce, I get bored just standing there, y'know?"

And suddenly, Lucy was unceremoniously shoved through the heavy doors.

"WAHHH!"

Nearly falling, her heels clacking, Lucy struggled to regain her balance as she stumbled into the large hall. And oh, oh yes, it was packed.

Lucy scanned the room, and similarly to the previous day, everyone was there. But over the usual commotion, no one noticed her entrance. Standing up, Lucy turned her head to see Natsu easily strolling in behind her and up to her side.

"Natsu, you're on thin ice, dammit! If you push me one more time-"

Natsu laughed loudly, a bellowing sound that did nothing more than irritate the celestial mage.

"You worry too much, Luce,"

Scowling, Lucy scanned the room yet again. Her eyes passed the Erza, Juvia, Gray, Cana, and the others, before landing on the bar, and, consequently, the demonic maid behind it.

Lucy watched the white-haired beauty raise her head and glance between she and Natsu, and when Mira made eye contact with Lucy, it was as if time had stopped.

Instantaneously, although to Lucy it felt like an hour, Mira's azure eyes opened wide, and her jaw dropped. She initially had a look of utter shock and extreme confusion, although less than a second later her face revealed an expression of pure clarity.

Mira let out an audible gasp, even over the noise, and her hands let go of the tray full of empty glasses she was drying to cover her gaping mouth.

At the exceptionally loud sound of a dozen glasses breaking, the entire guild turned to the source of the clatter.

All sets of eyes on Mira, they followed her intense gaze to the two young mages standing in shock at the door.

Everyone was staring. At Lucy. At Natsu. And back at Mira.

The parallels to the previous day were unsettling.

Mira raised a shaking finger to point at the two, and Lucy breathed out quickly.

"Y-you two! When did you become a couple?"

The entire guild gasped, including Lucy, although Natsu seemed more amused than anything.

"Mira! W-what are you talking about?" Lucy bluffed, however shocked she was. How the hell did she figure it out so quickly? It was instantaneous! Mira looked at them, and she understood, completely, the extent of their relationship.

"Don't lie to me, Lucy! You and Natsu are a couple now!"

Mira was giddy, her voice high and bubbly, although the rest of the guild was silent. Perhaps they were still processing the news?

Lucy squirmed underneath all the eyes glued to her and Natsu, an uncharacteristic silence lying thickly upon the guild. Even Natsu was becoming unnerved at the scrutiny, and he fidgeted with his trademark scarf.

The silence continued for an eternity, or so it seemed, until someone suddenly yelled out.

"Dammit to hell, I had money on this shit!"

And then the entire guild simultaneously erupted into a deafening roar of everything from wolf whistles, happy yells, irritated grumbles and clapping.

Yells of "Congratulations!" from Wakaba and "We knew it was gonna happen!" from Wendy and "Took you guys long enough!" from Elfman were heard.

Looking over, Lucy saw Natsu grinning cockily at the scene. She couldn't help but smile too; when Natsu was happy, she was happy. Everything would be fine.

The noise continued as groups of guildmates swelled up to Lucy and Natsu. Lucy caught a glimpse of blue hair - Levy waved, bounding up to throw her arms around Lucy.

"Lu-Chan! I'm so happy for you and Natsu!" She cried.

"Thank you, Levy!" Lucy said, beaming.

Levy turned to Natsu.

"Did you give it to her yet?"

"What, the book? Yeah, thanks again. It actually helped me figure things out, a bit," was the response. Levy seemed ecstatic at this, and energetically waved Gajeel over.

"Gajeel! Come tell them how happy you are!"

The iron dragon slayer trudged up, a poorly-feigned look of happiness on his face. He really would do anything for his shrimp.

"Uhh, yeah," he said gravelly before clearing his throat awkwardly. "I'm real happy for ya, bunny girl. Even you, Salamander. Yer a great pair," Then he shuffled off uncomfortably after Lucy and Natsu thanked him, although Natsu's respone was a mere grunt.

Minutes passed, and Lucy and Natsu continued to glad-hand with everyone in the guild, from Macao to Makarov, who happily gave the couple his blessing with a wink to Natsu, who grinned.

When they finally had a break from the people, they struggled to walk to the bar for some relief. Natsu was especially irritated; he usually liked being the center of attention, or at least it didn't bother him, but wasn't this a bit excessive?

"QUIET!"

At this stern word, the entire guild, still noisily yelling, went still. The sound of a chair sliding against the floor was heard, and Erza stood up from a table, a dark look on her features. Her deep red hair swishing from her intense gait, she stomped up to Natsu, the thick crowds parting to give a wide berth. In the blink of an eye, she equipped her most menacing sword and pointed it straight at Natsu, who quickly retreated backwards against the wall. The entire guild staring, horrified, Erza glared at him with deadly look that could instantly kill a weaker person.

"Natsu Dragneel! If what Mirajane says is true, that you and Lucy are a-" Her voice slightly faltered as her eye flickered to the blonde-haired girl beside her. "-couple, I will not let you and Lucy out of my sight! If you harm her, mentally or physically, intentional or otherwise, you will not make it ten feet before I destroy you. Lucy will always be protected by me,"

Lucy gasped at this. Didn't Erza realize...?

Natsu continued staring at the tip of the blade, his face a strange gray color.

"But," Erza relaxed her sword, giving Natsu some breathing room. "I know you. And I know how much you care for Lucy. I also understand that you will never, ever hurt her," she finished.

Natsu relaxed also, breathing out shakily.

"Because you know that I will kill you if you do," Erza added, returning her sword to the spirit dimension. Everyone sweatdropped. Leave it to Titania to overdo her threats.

Lucy, exasperated, said, "Thank you, Erza," to which the S-Class mage nodded proudly, slamming Lucy into a painful hug against the hard armor.

Soon Natsu and Lucy could make their way to the bar, where Mira excitedly stood.

"Hey, Mira," Natsu said as they sat down.

"Hello! I'm so glad you two are finally together!" Mira squealed, dreams of pink and blonde babies running through her mind.

Natsu laughed. "You should be! It was your plan to make me jealous in the first place,"

Mira's blue eyes widened. "Who told you?"

"I did, Mira," Lucy responded for Natsu. "Loke told me yesterday,"

Mira grit her teeth, her demonic side appearing, but then quickly relaxed. She was too happy to consider Loke's treachery.

Lucy on the other hand, worried about her Lion Spirit. She knew she wouldn't be seeing him any time soon, unless she was in danger.

Her thoughts continued before she felt an arm thrown around her.

Turning around, she saw a calmly smiling Gray. She beamed up at him, ignoring Natsu's obvious irritation.

"Gray!" Lucy cried, happy to see another one of her best friends.

"Hey, Lucy. Congrats," he said coolly.

"Thank you!" Lucy smiled. Gray was an amazing friend.

"Hey, popsicle dick, get your arm off my girl," Natsu growled. Seriously, wasn't that the point of getting into a relationship? To keep others away from your mate?

Lucy and Gray groaned in unison. "Shut up, Natsu!"

Natsu deflated, kept in check by his promise to Lucy.

Gray removed himself from Lucy, then stepped over to Natsu around the bar stools. Leaning in, he narrowed his eyes, an act his frenemy mirrored.

"Y'know, Natsu," Gray started. Natsu immediately realized that he meant business - the lack of name calling was a definite sign of his seriousness.

"I'm real happy for you and Lucy. But I swear - if you hurt her, even make her cry once... Your ass is mine. I will punish you. Don't forget it, either. Erza and I are quite similar in that way - we're both gonna protect Lucy,"

As Natsu quietly grunted affirmation- seriously, why the hell was everyone giving him all this crap - Lucy smiled despite herself. Her friends cared so much for her. They protected her, just like Natsu did, and it made Lucy happy, even if they did have a strange way of showing their affection.

"Thank you Gray," she said to the raven-haired guy.

Gray shrugged. "You're like my little sister," he said quietly, looking down at the floor. "I care a lot about you,"

Lucy was touched, to say the least, and responded with a thanks when Juvia ran up.

"Juvia is here, Gray-Sama!" She cried, before acknowledging Lucy and Natsu.

"Natsu, Former Love Rival,"

Hmm, Lucy hummed internally. Maybe I won't be Juvia's love rival anymore… But Lucy knew only time would tell.

Lucy turned back to Natsu - God, all their friends were nice, but...

"So, Lucy,"

Lucy felt someone sliding up next to her, and once she smelt the alcohol, heard the jangle of newly-won jewels, and saw the wavy brunette hair, she knew who it was.

"Hey, Cana," Lucy waved at her friend, who was leaning on the bar, her breasts smashed against the flat surface.

"Thanks to you and Natsu, I've won quite a few jewels from all these bets I've made with people," She drawled.

Lucy glared at her slightly - who the hell gambles on other people's love life? - when Cana's tone changed, and the card mage raised an eyebrow.

"So... Has Natsu nailed you yet?" She said breezily, loud enough for a large portion of the guild to hear.

Lucy sputtered, her face turning red hot at the laughs that came from surrounding guild members. Although she avoided looking at him, out of the corner of her eye she could Natsu calmly regarding Cana. Did he not realize what she meant?

"Oh, I guess you two inexperienced youths haven't been together long enough," Cana said when she noticed Lucy's fumbling response and Natsu's indifference.

"Well, anyway, when you finally seal the deal, let me know how he was in the sack, 'kay, Lucy?" She said, before standing up and confidently exclaiming that she had to collect from Elfman, who was yelling about how unmanly it is to lose a bet.

"Oh my God!" Lucy quietly exclaimed, turning and leaning against Natsu's chest, her face still burning up.

"Don't get so worked up, Luce," Natsu said calmly, his hand on her hair.

"Cana's always been like this, you know that,"

Lucy groaned.

Natsu pulled her head up to look into her eyes. "Hey, don't worry. Since the cat's out of the bag anyway, you wanna head out? Maybe, get a bite to eat?" Natsu said, gently smiling down at Lucy.

Confused, Lucy mused. He's probably just hungry! Then, another though formed in her mind. She smiled back shyly, then spoke, barely audible.

"You mean... Like a date?"

Grabbing Lucy's hand, Natsu leaped up from his seat, his smile transforming into a sneaky grin.

"Only if you're paying!" He cried out, pulling Lucy behind him as he bounded out of the hall and into the luminous sunlight.

Lucy groaned, even though she, too, was smiling broadly.

And so, after a few days time, things returned to normal at the guild. Lucy and Natsu continued to go on jobs with Erza and Gray. Natsu still protected Lucy with his life, and Lucy protected him with hers, just as they always have, despite the slight change in their relationship.

Many of their guildmates saw it coming; they knew all along that Lucy and Natsu would become a couple.

But others? Well, it certainly took them a long time to realize.

Hello!

I'm so sad this story is over! T-T

I've had so much fun writing it, but I've had a plan all along for how to end it – this is it!

Even though it took so long to finish, I'm still not fully satisfied with the ending, because I feel it's not as interesting as the prior chapters. But, I wanted to restore the characters back to their in-show normal life, to try and mesh this fic in with the series. But, anyway!

Thank you to everyone who favorite, or read, or reviewed – I've always been so happy to see what you thought! You guys are the best!

And, if you liked this fanfic, I have more coming – sooner or later, that is, because this year I've been taking honors chemistry and it's kicking my ass. I'm dying over here. Which is why the chapter took six-goddamn-weeks to finish.

Coming up :

A College!ReiNako fanfic – possibly a (exceptionally long) one shot, maybe two/three chapters.

A Gruvia/Slight NaLu AU oneshot – actually quite funny, but it's not as complete as the other upcoming fic.

So, once again, thanks a million, everyone! 3333

Until next time,

- Izzie-chan