Disclaimer: I do not own Fairy Tail in any way, shape or form.

Second chapter of this little collection story! Little Natsu and little Lucy are just so adorable!

Thank you to Lucy Ashley of Fairy Tail, sekushi na sakura subarashi, GoldenRose Tanya, Diamond Rainbows, Lemonsnaps, Sara, Guest, Queen of Narnia49, LiLyRoSe98 and Layla Penguin for taking the time to review! I also want to thank anyone who's added this to their favourites or follows, or had simply read the first chapter and given it a chance!

Also, this story will not be about Lucy's birthday every year after the incident. It will be a collection of one-shots revolving around that single summer, focusing on the friendship (and somewhat romance) between Lucy and Natsu. I'm sorry if this disappoints anyone who had the idea in mind.

By the way, just in case anyone had forgotten, this is set in an AU~

Kudos to anyone that can guess which song I may have referenced to in the text~

02 – He Came to Play Pretend

She hadn't been expecting him to be there.

In all honesty, she had thought the day before was merely a dream. A wonderful dream yes, but only a dream at that.

Whatever her mind had conceived, her heart was set on visiting that same playground the next day, wanting to believe that the promise of friendship was true.

And so she found herself at the swing set the next afternoon, and was quite surprised at the amount of kids her age that had appeared to play at the area.

All of them seemed to know each other one way or another – a motley bunch in her eyes. It was actually the first time she had seen so many kids gather at one spot, due to the seclusion that she had been kept in all her life.

Maybe she was just very lucky that she went to Grandma Spetto's house that summer.

"Hey! Lucy! You're back! I was scared that you weren't gonna come!"

Ignoring the possibility of severe whiplash, her head spun round at a speedy pace. On her face was probably an expression of utter shock, as she came face to face with the exact person that her mind had been so intent on thinking about.

He was wearing the exact same grin that charmed her the day before.

For a moment, she was dazed, and he took the time to tease her playfully. "Hey! Don't go back to not talking again! Jeez! You're such a weirdo!" he jested, poking her on the cheek with his pointer finger.

Aggravated by his lack of respect, she huffed and pouted, folding her arms and pointing her nose away from him. Some other children had paused in their actions to see what the commotion was about, grinning when they saw a frantic looking Natsu attempting to appease the strange new girl.

"Lucy?" he asked tentatively, suddenly looking frightened. Her steely gaze faltered for a moment, heart softening at the crestfallen look he was giving. "Hey Luce? I was just joking. Please don't be angry at me!"

"Since when did I ask you to call me Luce?" she questioned. He gulped. Their little audience hushed, waiting for the climax in this small show.

"Uhh..."

"I like it! I like it a lot!" she cried out boldly, grinning wildly to emphasise her point. He blinked, unsure of what had just happened. The other kids cheered, running over to finally meet this girl who had their friend wrapped around her tiny finger.

They swarmed her, making her overwhelmed. Never had she received such a welcome from anyone, let alone a group of children her age. They crowded, making attempts to talk with her with an energy that she's never seen the likes of.

An arm thrust its way in front of her, in a way, shielding her from the rest of the kids. Her eyes trailed up the arm to see Natsu, looking fiercely overprotective as he glared at the rest of his friends. "Hey! Lucy's my friend! I don't want you guys coming around trying to steal her from me!"

"Hey! Don't be so greedy!" a boy cried out, pushing his way to the front. His black hair looked dishevelled, and he was only wearing a pair of shorts and sandals. Lucy noted that there was a shirt discarded on the floor. "Maybe she wants to play with some other kids!" He turned to her and smiled coolly. "Nice to meet ya Lucy! I'm Gray!"

Before she could make a response, a shrill cry rung out. "Get away from him new girl! Gray-sama is for Juvia and Juvia only!"

A blue haired girl popped, her mouth curved into a disapproving frown. As she dragged away a struggling Gray, she glared spitefully at Lucy, muttering something with the words 'love rival' before taking her leave. Lucy bit her bottom lip, afraid of interacting with kids that had large, over-the-top personalities.

"With that sorted out," a girl began, stepping forward. To Lucy's surprise, Natsu shrunk back a little, looking nervous. The red-haired girl tossed a glare his way, and he squeaked and ran behind Lucy, as if she were the one protecting him then. "Lovely to meet you Lucy. My name is Erza."

The scarlet-haired girl looked stern; mature. She was probably someone that took responsibility over immature people like Natsu. To be polite, she accepted the outstretched hand and shook it, smiling a bit. "You seem like a kind girl. Nice to meet you to Erza!"

Contrary to whatever 'Erza' she had met earlier, there was a rapid change. The girl in front of her spluttered, her cheeks growing flushed. Confused, Lucy watched as Erza slowly walked backwards, still muttering something incomprehensible as she merged back into the group.

Lucy blinked at the curious behaviour, choosing to ignore it for the time being. Her eyes swept over the small group that surrounded her. They all seemed pleasantly nice, but she didn't particularly want to play with anyone then, well, with just one exception.

"I don't wanna hurt anyone... But..." Lucy began a bit hesitantly, poking her two forefingers together while starting to balance on the heels of her feet. "I sorta... Uhh... Wanna play with Natsu today... Not that I don't wanna play with you guys too! But I just wanna play with him just for today..."

There was a small silence, and Lucy was worried that they didn't accept the words well. Even Natsu seemed to be a bit shell-shocked.

Then they all began nodding and teasing, shouting something about her and Natsu 'sitting in a tree' or something of the sort. She didn't quite know the rhyme, but she did see the pink-haired boy go red like a tomato while yelling at all of them to shut up and scram.

After a minute or two, they complied, many vowing that they would have her to play with soon. Once they were gone, she turned to face Natsu and leaned forward, smiling shyly. "So, I chose you!" she chirped happily.

He grinned back, but she still noticed a slight flush coat his cheeks from earlier. "You picked right! I won't let ya down! And I know the perfect thing we can play!"

She cocked her head to the side, willing to go with whatever he had in store for her.

"Let's play pretend!"

..O..

She found herself standing in what Natsu and the other kids had called the playhouse. She thought it was an interesting place to be in. On her right were curved stairs that she had climbed up to get to her spot. Another way to have gotten up there were the ropes behind her, but she chose not to use that path since they were coarse under her hands. On her left was a pole which was one option to get down from her place. The other, more preferable way was the bright blue slide in front of her. There were kids lingering around earlier, but they were all shooed away when Natsu had arrived.

Natsu was on the ground in front of the slide. He was the one that had led her there. For their pretend, he had said something about fantasy, and her being the princess. He never told her what he was going to be.

"Natsu?" she cried out, standing on her tip-toes to see over the railing. He heard her call and waved. "You still haven't told me what you're gonna be!"

His face yet again adorned that cheeky grin of his. "I'm playing the dragon!"

She distanced herself a bit, confused at his odd choice. "Dragon? But aren't they mean and evil to the princess? I have a better one! You'll be the prince and I'll be the princess! It's a lov - !" She stopped mid-speech, remembering which lyrics she had been dictating. She was silly to even start thinking of the song. Thinking of her new friend that way brought heat to her face, so she quickly shook her head and covered her embarrassment with a smile.

He stared at her oddly and chose to ignore her behaviour. "You're acting like a weirdo again Luigi," he said absentmindedly, causing Lucy to pout. "Dragons are way cooler than stupid princes! Anyway! You're the princess trapped in a tower and I'm the awesome dragon that's here to protect you!"

His head turned sharply to his right, and he suddenly glared at the empty space beside him. "Watch out Lucy! There's evil ninjas here. They're everywhere!" Her eyes grew wide as she came to realise that they were really playing that game then.

She looked around her cautiously, imagining the situation. Her tower was made of large gray stones, barren except for the window in front of her and the bed that lay to the side. She could feel a mysterious presence near her, but there was no one there.

Before she knew it, she felt a strong wind brush her side. Screaming, her eyes darted wildly, searching for something that could help her.

"Lucy!" the voice of her friend called out. She almost forgot that he was there, too lost in her imagination. On her toes, she dashed for the 'window', which in reality was the opening for the slide. At the bottom, waiting for her with outstretched arms was Natsu, his piercing black eyes staring at her with worry. "Come down! I can protect you from the ninjas!"

Out of her mouth came a small whimper. She didn't know whether to believe him. It was very similar to their situation yesterday, in which she had put her faith in him to be her friend for as long as forever. She had to put that same trust again...

Even if all of it was just a game.

With a squeal, her eyes shut tight; she slid down, imagining herself leaping from the tower. Hot on her tail were the ninjas, a flicker of black from their masks to show her that they were there. Below her was her dragon, awaiting her with open arms. "Natsu!"

Something warm wrapped around her as her feet touched the sandy ground. The imaginary scene she had conjured up disappeared, replaced with the real world. The things around her were actually arms that belonged to her pink-haired friend. Her face was buried in his chest, making it slightly hard to breathe.

When he let go of her, she took a deep breath. "Jeez Natsu... I couldn't breathe just then. Why'd you have to hug me?"

He clenched his right hand into a fist and bonked her head lightly. She cried out indignantly, her hands grasping for the spot he had hit. His face was serious. "You worried me stupid! You were screaming and stuff and I thought you were scared! So when you came down, I wanted you to not be scared anymore. Seeing you like that made me feel bad Luce... But since you were super scared, you're more of a weirdo."

Although his statement had ended with an insult, she felt a warm fluttery feeling in her stomach after his heartfelt words. Nobody since her Mama was still alive had said such a kind thing to her. It was a good feeling, and she hoped that more of it would come the more time she spent with her friend.

Making up her mind on what to do next, she stood up and brushed her dress off. Natsu watched her, wondering what his friend may be up to. Before he could do anything more, she was up and running, crying out in a loud voice, "Pretend is finished! Let's play tag! You're it!"

She continued the day with laughs and silliness that she hoped would continue for a very long time.