Yes, it's been more than a week since I last updated this. Yes, I am both sorry (that it took so long) and proud (that I wrote it at all). Yes, it is an actual update! I can't believe it either!

Chapter 5

moon ii.

Old romance might have failed, but modern romance surely wouldn't.

At least that's what Lucy thought when she signed Natsu up for online dating.

"But Lucy," Natsu whined, "Do I have to?"

"Absolutely," Lucy huffed, "The best way to learn about love is to be in love, so that's what you have to do in order to be able to stay here; I told you. Got that?"

"I guess," Natsu grumbled, crossing his arms over his chest.

It had been a month since he had become part of the lonely Heartfilia household, and what he had contributed, mostly, was life. Life and the unexpected, but more frequent company of not only Wendy but also Gajeel, who seemed to slowly but surely grow more accustomed to being more than just the guy who left Wendy at the door and disappeared.

Change had come slowly, and it was still happening, but it had not gone unnoticed.

The fact that Natsu had decided that romance wasn't for him and he'd rather hang with Lucy and Wendy to play video games and listen to their stories wasn't exactly helping Lucy's love mission along. Especially not her new plan of making him fall in love, instead of merely talking about it and continually failing to explain.

"You promised me!"

"Right, right." Natsu sighed theatrically. "I'll go and try to love her! But only for you."

Lucy rolled her eyes, giggling softly. Then she faltered and pursed her lips. Something about his words, and the carefree way in which he said them, touched her in odd places, but then… What was it about them that bothered her? She wasn't quite sure, but there was an unpleasant feeling in the very back of her stomach, rearing its head, and it sat there quite uncomfortably.

Shaking her head, she looked back at the screen. "Look, this girl is perfect! Good-looking, nice smile, has a proper job… likes reading! Natsu, you're taking this one."

"...sounds more like you wanna go yourself."

She glared at him with pursed lips, producing a dismissive smacking sound. "Trust me, you'll be going on this date, and if it's the last thing I do."

"You're cruel, Lucy."

"You're living under my roof. My rules."

And however more of his feeble protest he tried to plead to her, there was nothing he could do.

-cut-

Rarely had an evening ever been this long.

And it had only been an hour since she'd dropped Natsu off. She'd given him some of her own precious money before leaving him in front of her favourite restaurant, where he would meet the date that would hopefully turn out to be the love of his life.

But why could Lucy not find it in her to be happy about this great plan of hers? She sank deeper into the couch, hoping it would swallow her up. She just couldn't stop thinking of the two.

"Lucy, is something wrong?" Wendy looked at her with large, worried eyes, and Lucy immediately felt guilty. This was Wendy's time, she shouldn't waste it away with thoughts about someone else.

"Oh no, I'm fine," she was quick to deny with a weak laugh.

"She's not fine," Gajeel grunted, and both girls turned their heads. "She's pining like a schoolgirl."

"I'm not!" Entirely scandalized, Lucy gaped at Gajeel. She was not! The bundle of fur currently sprawled out on her lap raised its head and yawned. Lucy pouted down at the little cat, who began purring.

"See," Wendy giggled, "Even Happy agrees."

Lucy puffed her cheeks. When even the cat teamed up against her, maybe she should be giving Gajeel's words more thought. But she refused stubbornly. What did he know! Did she really have feelings for a guy who wouldn't know love if it slapped him in the face? No way! Huffing, Lucy rearranged her legs, and Happy jumped off her lap to tip-toe over to Charle's side. She promptly moved away. Lucy smiled.

If her home had become more lively with Natsu's appearance, then the cats were just the cherry on top of the cake. Fondly, Lucy recalled the day the four of them - Wendy, Natsu, her, and even a very grumpy Gajeel - had went to the local shelter to adopt a cat for Wendy's birthday. One. Singular. How exactly they wound up with three, she still wasn't sure.

She should have known that Natsu would be awfully excited inside an animal shelter, but when even Gajeel had wordlessly handed her a large, black cat with only one eye she'd actually considered if she'd ended up in an alternate reality.

The only cat who took up permanent residence was the odd one Natsu had named Happy, and while Lucy had declared the kitten was his responsibility alone, she found herself stealing him from Natsu more often than not. She'd always considered herself more of a dog person, but she had to admit she was entirely smitten with the little thing. But nobody loved Happy more than Natsu…The duo of doom, she'd dubbed them.

Lucy looked at her watch for the hundredth time, caught herself doing so, and grumpily sat on her hand to hide it from view. Really, what was wrong with her?! She was sure everything was going fine. Otherwise he would've called her on his emergency phone, she'd made sure of that.

Or what if… everything was fine? Absolutely fine? What if it was going great?

Lucy fidgeted nervously. "So this is a fun movie," she said a little too loudly, trying to keep her mind from wandering, ""Who do you think she will end up with?"

But her question never was answered.

"Yo, Lucy!"

"Natsu?!" Lucy almost fell off the couch. His entrance was s sudden, for a second she wondered if she'd fallen asleep. "You're back already?"

Gajeel shot her an incredulous look. As if she hadn't been checking the time frantically all evening. But Lucy didn't notice. Her attention was on Natsu.

"Was it not good?" she asked, wondering if she sounded too hopeful.

"Oh, yeah, it was nice! But I got bored."

"Natsu! Don't tell me you… ditched her?"

"Oh, nah! I invited her along."

"Wait, what?!"

All blood left Lucy's face as she forced her gaze away from Natsu and leaned sideways, her terrified eyes landing on a small woman who stood awkwardly in the doorframe. Lucy recognized her face from the dating website.

"Oh my god," she wailed, "I'm so sorry! My friend, he's- well-"

"Oh no no, it's alright!" the other woman quickly rescued her, waving her hands as they both tried to overplay their embarrassment. "Natsu was actually really nice! It was uh...fun?"

"But we can't go back to that place because, apparently, I stole food." Natsu informed Lucy, looking rather annoyed.

"What?!" Lucy felt like evaporating. Why had she ever thought letting Natsu leave the house on his own was a good idea? "Natsu, that was my favourite restaurant! I can't believe you stole from them!"

"I didn't! I just tried some food that wasn't on my plate… didn't know that was such a bad thing."

Helplessly, Lucy fixed her eyes on the unfortunate date, who just shrugged and then - to Lucy's amazement - proceeded to giggle.

"It was kind of funny, you know…" she recalled, holding a hand to her mouth as her laughter became more frequent.

Poor thing, Lucy thought, probably wanting nothing more than to disappear into a hole in the ground. And she was so nice! Really, this Natsu… (But again, there was this part of her that felt oddly relieved to find him back, at home with her.)

Remembering her manners, Lucy scrambled off the couch and strode past Natsu, pointedly ignoring his offended expression, and held out a hand to the woman. "It might be too late for a proper introduction, but hi, I'm Lucy. You must be Levy."

The words left her lips and immediately Lucy could have slapped herself. Levy's brows rose, but in amusement rather than affront.

"Checked me out, have you?" she said with a little grin, and Lucy grasped the lifeline and laughed in relief. "It's okay; this whole blind date thing wasn't my idea anyways. I figured it'd be a disaster."

"No offense," she quickly added, but Natsu just grinned and put an arm around Lucy's shoulders.

"I knew you'd like her!" he said to Lucy, and then leaned forward towards Levy with a conspiratory air, "I told ya, she would've liked to go out with you more than me."

"Natsu!" Lucy yelped, her entire face turning red. Now everyone was laughing. "I'll go and make you some tea!" she called towards Levy, already halfway out of the room, and then waved at the empty place beside Gajeel. "Please, take a seat!"

Gajeel, who had been curiously eyeing the newcomer, quickly turned his face in another direction, acknowledging her presence beside him only with a curt nod. His cat, Lily, promptly nudged her leg. It did not escape Gajeel's attention.

Natsu made himself comfortable on the ground, where Lucy joined him after she'd brought in a big jug of camomile tea for the company. Levy fit in surprisingly well, and soon it felt like she was an old acquaintance rather than a spurned blind date. Lucy could have sworn Gajeel was taking a special interest in her, even if he was trying his damn best not to show it.

She grinned to herself, but Natsu was the only one who saw. He leaned in closer, and she became acutely aware of his presence beside her. "What's so funny?"

"Oh, nothing," Lucy replied quietly, and with a smile, "But maybe you can soon learn more about love from these two." She chuckled at her own little joke. Natsu turned to look behind him, but was stopped by an elbow to his side. "Don't!" Lucy warned.

"You're really weird, you know," he grumbled, but then suddenly grinned at her. "But it's more fun that way. The date was okay, but I just wanted to go back home and hang out with you, Lucy."

Lucy's heart jolted. Did he even realize the kinds of things he was saying? Did he even realize what his words were doing to her? Oh, this was not good.

She was beginning to realize just why she'd been so nervous all evening. Why her heart was suddenly doing weird things to her when he looked at her with so much fondness in his eyes. Oh, this was not good at all.

This should not be happening. This wasn't part of her plan!

Carefully, she snuck a glance at Natsu, who seemed absorbed by the movie. But he noticed her look and smiled at her before returning his attention to the screen. Lucy's chest ached.

It was so like her to fall for a supernatural man without a proper understanding of the most important of human emotions. To him, how could she be anything more than a friend?

She had created him. It was her duty to look after him and to do everything she could to make sure he could stay here in this world, whether he chose to stay with her or not.

Lucy hadn't expected to feel what she was feeling now.

It would make things so much more complicated.

Biting her lip, she carefully leaned her head against his shoulder. She had done this before, but today her heart skipped a beat, and a part of her disliked it. But then Natsu leaned against her, just slightly, and all her worries went to hell.

Natsu looked down at the top of Lucy's head with a smile. His right hand was busy cuddling Happy, and his right was trapped between himself and Lucy, but he wouldn't have moved an inch. He felt content and warm, and more at ease than anywhere else.

If there was one thing Natsu had realized in his time here, it was this: There was nowhere he'd rather be than by Lucy's side.

I would really, really appreciate some reviews you guys! It's been so long since I've written and I feel so rusty. :'D Please tell me what you think! I'll try to write the final part and the epilogue as soon as possible! The more motivation you give me, the more energy I have to write!