Woaaaahhh it's been a while since I've written anything and actually posted it! I've been having a hell of a lot of Nalu feels lately and I stayed with the idea of writing something based off of chapters 418 and 419 from the manga. I honestly looooooove long-haired Natsu and I think Lucy regretted letting Cancer chop those pink locks off :'(

ANYWAY, hope you enjoy this one-shot. It's a bit long but I had fun writing it :)

DISCLAIMER: I DO NOT OWN FAIRY TAIL (wahhhh D:)

"Do you have any idea how much I've missed you?" Lucy clenched her fists and looked down, her tear drops hitting the wooden floor. Her whole body shook as another wave of sadness hit her. "I was all alone."

"Luce…" Natsu furrowed his brows, his hand reaching for her but she recoiled before he touched her.

"You shouldn't have come back, I was finally starting to feel okay." She wiped her tears with the back of her hands, finally daring to look up at the boy standing in front of her.

"I'm sorry, Luce." He said sincerely, taking a step toward her. "I really am, but I needed to get stronger and I did and now I'm back and things can go back to being normal and—"

"Natsu!" she snapped, her face turning red with anger. "Nothing is normal! Fairy Tail doesn't exist anymore and you and I are not the same team we used to be and things will never go back to normal!"

"I just told you we're going to find everyone and rebuild our guild!" Natsu finally got a hold of her and he pulled her toward him, his hands gripping her arms tightly.

"Stop including me in your plans, there is no we!" Lucy's anger was getting the best of her but she couldn't help it. Did he really expect for her to just go back to him like that?

"We're a team, Luce." His voice was soft and sad and it tugged at her heart. Her eyes welled up with tears at the thought of everyone from the guild getting back together. She hated herself for being so weak but she knew she had to go along with Natsu's plan… it was the only thing that made complete sense to her.

"So, let me get this straight. You waltz back into my life and expect me to drop everything and go with you on this wild hunt for everyone and even though we might fail it won't matter because at the end of the day we supposedly have each other?"

"Yeah that sums it up just about right." He nodded, a hopeful smile playing at his lips.

"I'll go pack." The blonde sighed, defeated. She walked past a cheering Natsu and grabbed her rucksack. She looked over her shoulder at him. "I have one condition."

The pink haired boy looked at Lucy, his disheveled long hair swaying as he turned to face her.

"What is it?"

"You can't cut your hair." Lucy said.

Natsu raised his brows questioningly. "Whatever, if that's all it takes to make you come with me and Happy, I won't."

"O-okay, good." She said and gave him a thumbs up.

"But why?" He asked curiously, his head tilting a tad. "It's really long and annoying."

Lucy wasn't going to admit that she thought it looked nice on him and that it complimented his newfound ruggedness. "You know, because you look more intimidating that way."

"Ha! I knew it."

The following morning the trio embarked on their journey. The heat was intense and Lucy was starting to regret her choice of tagging along. She could've just easily convinced Natsu to look for everyone with the little information she had gathered in the past year and stayed home in her air conditioned home.

She swatted her arm and killed yet another mosquito, a groan leaving her lips.

"We could've taken this other road," Lucy stopped walking as she looked at the map. "It looks shorter too."

"Look at that!" Now we know there was another road!" he came up behind her, taking her by surprise by resting his chin on her shoulder.

"Natsu!" she scolded, "Did you even look at the map?!"

When she turned to face him, her breath caught in her throat and suddenly she wasn't all that hot from the sun anymore. Natsu had picked up his hair into a weird and messy bun. Hair stuck out in every direction but it still suited his appearance. Lucy swallowed thickly and was about to say something when Happy's voice snapped her out of her thoughts.

"I found a shortcut!" The tomcat shouted as he descended from the sky. "It's right through the forest up ahead!"

"Great job, Happy!" Natsu hi-fived the Exceed and started walking, leaving a bewildered Lucy behind. "Come on, Luce!"

"C-Coming!" She trotted after them.

They arrived at the entrance of the deep green forest, the three of them walking in cautiously with Natsu in the lead. Lucy pursed her lips, her eyes glued to Natsu's back. She didn't mean to stare so long but ever since he'd gotten back she couldn't keep her eyes off him. It was a feeling that tugged at her very core and somehow the thought of losing him again haunted her. She felt that if she lost sight of him for even the slightest second, he'd disappear and she'd be back in her bedroom sat on the floor crying over her long-lost friends and of course, him.

"Yo, Lucy!"

Lucy looked up to acknowledge Natsu but was taken aback by Happy's big round eyes in her face.

"Lucy! Why are you crying?!" Happy asked, concerned.

"Eh?!" she touched her face and indeed, it was wet.

"Are you okay?" Natsu placed a hand on her arm and she nodded.

"Yeah, I'm just nostalgic, that's all." Lucy smiled, wiping her eyes.

"It's starting to drizzle." Happy piped in and both mages looked up at the sky. "This is weird, it was really hot just a few minutes ago!"

"We need to find shelter soon." Lucy frowned, crossing her arms over her chest.

"Leave it to us, Luce! Happy and I have become really good at finding shelter when it rains!"

"Okay!" she smiled and followed the two of them deeper into the forest, her heart warming up at their company.

They managed to find shelter in a small cave. After Happy inspected the place for any animals, they settled in and Natsu built them a fire to keep warm and dry.

Happy was curled up in a ball next to Lucy's rucksack. Lucy was against the wall, her eyes watching the drizzle turn into a heavy cloudburst. Natsu kept his eyes on her, admiring the length of her legs and how smooth they looked. He quietly observed her movements; like the way she kept shifting her legs and how she kept tucking her long hair behind her ear. He had already come to terms with his feelings for Lucy. He thought she was ridiculously attractive but he wasn't dumb enough not to think that the second they met. He knew right away that she had ignited something in him that he'd never felt.

Throughout the years Natsu realized that he might even like Lucy a little too much. He would never admit it to her or to anyone but he enjoyed her in every possible way and after he left for his vigorous training there wasn't a day that passed that he didn't think about Lucy. He understood her anger and her sadness toward him and yet he knew she would stick with him no matter what. In a way he felt like he was abusing his power over her because he knew he meant something more to Lucy and she would do anything for him. It kept gnawing at him ever since she agreed to go with him and Happy to find the others.

"Natsu," Lucy's voice was barely a whisper through the heavy rain but thanks to his enhanced hearing he was able to hear her.

"Hm?" He asked, frowning.

Lucy's lips quivered and her eyes suddenly welled up with tears once again.

"Do you think they'll want to get back together?" She asked, hugging her knees to her chest.

"Of course!" Natsu tried to sound as reassuring as possible but not even he believed his own words.

"How are you so sure? What if no one wants to bring back the guild?" Lucy muffled a cry in her hands to avoid waking Happy and she curled up sideways, wiping her face and resuming her rain watching.

"I'm not." Natsu admitted with a sigh and crawled over to sit beside her, his hand touching her thigh. "I don't know what's going to happen but we're going to try our best to get everyone back together."

Lucy nodded but didn't say a word. He could still hear her sniffling and she gasped when a gust of air made her shiver and shrink back against Natsu.

"Here," He unwrapped his scarf from around his neck and put it over Lucy's shoulders. She sat up, alarmed.

"You never take this off." She stated in shock.

"Ahahaha," he chuckled nervously and scratched the back of his head. "I trust you with it, Luce."

Her eyes lit up like a child on Christmas morning. She smiled and snuggled it against her neck, her eyes fluttering shut as she inhaled his scent from the scarf.

"I'm sleepy." Lucy yawned. "You and Happy barely let me sleep last night."

She inched closer to him and casually leaned her head on his shoulder.

"Sorry, our sleeping schedules are really messed up." Natsu snickered and took a hold of her hands, trapping them between both of his to keep them warm.

"I'm going to sleep a bit," She closed her eyes, her heart thumping against her chest at his gesture.

"Night, Luce."

"It's still only the afternoon," Lucy commented groggily.

"Sleep," He said flatly and she giggled, nodding and finally giving in.

"Wow, this place looks beautiful!" Lucy clasped her hands together as the trio entered the city of Margaret two days later.

"Let's find Lyon!" Natsu grinned. "I wanna fight him!"

"Natsu, stop trying to pick fights." Lucy sighed, shaking her head as she led the way through the buzzling streets.

"Aw, Lucy you're no fun!"

"She's being responsible." Happy piped in, flying over Lucy's head. "She doesn't want you breaking anything."

"Thank you, Happy." The celestial wizard smiled at Happy.

"Boring." Natsu mumbled and Lucy rolled her eyes.

It was night time and Lucy was pulling at Natsu's hair for destroying a kid's playground area while sparring with Lyon. A little part of her was happy that he won the match but she was not about to feed his ego and let him get away with such behavior. Wendy was beyond happy to see her friends again and she was more than thrilled to have spent her entire day with her former nakama.

"Thanks for paying dinner, Luce." Natsu patted his full belly with his hand and laid back against the diner booth. Happy was sprawled on the table, his face planted on an empty plate of food.

"Yeah, yeah." Lucy waved him off and rested her chin on her palm, stirring her untouched soup. She always did lose her appetite every time she saw the two of them eat so it wasn't much of a surprise that she barely had a bite.

"We need to get a good night's sleep so the four of us can head out really early!"

"The four of us?" She frowned.

"Yeah, Wendy is coming with us." Natsu said, blinking.

"Don't just assume that she's going to drop everything and go with us!" Lucy snapped. "She's got something really good going on here."

"So did you! And yet you came with us." Natsu smiled and crossed his arms over his chest. "Fairy Tail means more to all of us than anything else."

Lucy's cheeks flamed.

"Yeah well…I—"

"Wendy will most definitely come with us, right Happy?"

"Aye, sir!" Happy raised his hand before resuming his food coma.

"No she won't! She might not even wanna go so stop assuming that she will!" Lucy's voice startled everyone inside the diner and so she grabbed her bag and slipped out of the booth after leaving jewels on the table. "Let's go."

Natsu grabbed Happy and flanked Lucy, not saying a word.

Once they got to the guest room they were given to share as curtesy of Lamia Scale's guild master, Lucy went straight to the bathroom while Natsu mumbled stuff to Happy about how mad they'd gotten her.

"She's been on edge lately." Natsu commented and Happy nodded.

"She needs time,"

"I guess."

"Oh! Natsu, I saved a fish for Carla. I'm going to give it to her!" Happy hopped on the window sill, spreading out his wings. "Don't make Lucy even angrier!"

"Yeah, whatever." Natsu dismissed his partner's wise words and hopped on the single queen sized bed, putting his arms behind his head and staring up at the ceiling. He couldn't understand why Lucy had gotten so angry at him! Didn't she want Wendy to go with them too? Natsu had a headache from having to try and figure out why Lucy was so mad so he decided to just drop it and hope she would cool off before bed time.

The blonde mage sat at the edge of the eggshell white bathtub. She combed her long hair gently, taking her sweet time untangling every strand. She wasn't sure why she was stalling so much but she could easily assume it was because of how upset she was toward the dragon slayer. He could be so thoughtless sometimes… one would think that a whole year in training would make him a bit more considerate toward his friends and their decisions but clearly that hadn't changed at all.

Maybe she was the one that changed too much. Being alone for so long, not knowing where her friends were and not having anyone was really tough on her and she hated that she was so weak as to let Natsu, her longtime friend who also left her all alone, come back and drag her away into a seemingly aimless adventure with only the snap of his fingers. She hated that she gave in so easily after months of cursing him and Happy for leaving so suddenly.

Lucy stopped what she was doing to wipe the tears from her eyes. Maybe she was a little too mean back at the diner… but how could Natsu expect someone as young as Wendy who was left to fend for herself and managed to join Lamia Scale to be with Chelia, to do the same thing?

Sure, Wendy said she would sleep on the offer to join them but something inside Lucy wanted to reach out to her and tell her not to bother and stay with her friend and her new guild and resume her new life. It wasn't fair to barge in on her like that.

"Luce, I really have to take a leak!" Natsu knocked on the door quite harshly and Lucy looked up, sniffling.

"Go away," She said, hugging her towel tighter to her chest.

There was a brief silence before Natsu tried to twist the knob. "Luce, why are you crying?"

"I'm not." She said with a hard tone but she knew better than to lie. He could probably smell her tears.

"Even if I were ten miles away, I'm sure I could hear your sniffling." Natsu said with a hint of pride which only added to Lucy's annoyance.

"Natsu, leave me alone."

"But I have to use the bathroom!"

"Go somewhere else."

"Lu—"

"Leave!"

Lucy covered her mouth right after she shouted and she jumped, scared when she heard a door slam shut on the other side. She scurried to put on her robe and opened the door, scanning the room.

"Natsu…" she said softly, guilt washing over her in tidal waves. She even looked around the room for Happy but there was no sign of either. Where did they go?

Natsu stretched out his arms as he came out of a pub down the street from where he was staying. Damn was he wrong when he thought Lucy was cooling off in the bathroom. He hated whenever she got upset but this time around she seemed really, really angry at him and he was tired of it. He liked her cheerful and happy and wanted to see her smile all the time.

Something clicked in his head, then.

He realized Lucy had barely smiled since they reunited. She looked more withdrawn and less enthusiastic about everything. Now that he thought of it, she was acting a lot more hostile towards him and Happy these past few days and he knew why. Natsu didn't want to admit it but he knew Lucy had been right all along and he was being unfair but… but he couldn't see himself without her.

A year was enough and he never wanted to do it again. He knew he was way stronger now and that he would be able to protect the people he cared about without a problem… Especially protect Lucy, the one person that ever since he met, had somehow become his priority to keep away from any danger that may come and after the Face ordeal he felt the absolute need to be there for her, hence why he came back as soon as possible.

Maybe if she knew that, she wouldn't be so angry at him anymore.

Natsu finally walked back, hands in his pockets as he thought over what he'd say to her. Hopefully Happy was still with Carla so it'd be easier for him to talk to Lucy privately. He opened the door slowly, poking his head in cautiously.

"Natsu?" He heard her call out and he stepped in slowly closing the door behind him.

She came into view clad in her bathrobe, eyes bloodshot red.

"If you're still pissed off I can just leave again." Natsu said, raising his hands defensively when he saw her brows furrow at him. He was starting to chicken out.

"No, no please stay." Lucy shook her head and walked up to him, her hands resting over his arms. She looked at him for a moment and so did he; his hair tickling the tip of her nose.

"I'm sorry about everything," Natsu finally said. "I'm sorry I left you and I'm sorry I forced you to come with me and I'm sorry I'm pressuring Wendy into coming with us too."

He watched her earthy brown eyes well up with tears and he sighed, closing his eyes to avoid seeing her cry.

"I just don't want everyone to disband just like that," He said, his jaw clenching.

"I'm sorry for being so irrational." Lucy said, her hands squeezing his rock hard biceps. "All I've been doing is blame you for everything and that's not fair. I know that after Face was stopped and everything ended, everyone went their own way because Master Makarov said it was all over but you left so fast you didn't even know about it and I… I just felt so alone and—"

His forehead plopped against hers and she froze.

"I don't ever want you to feel alone again." Natsu said in a voice that was barely a whisper. One of his hands cupped the side of her cheek and she swallowed thickly, her body temperature rising with every passing second.

He stayed there, his forehead pressed against hers, quiet.

"Natsu," She sniffled, both her hands grabbing fistfuls of his shaggy hair. She tiptoed and brushed her lips against his.

Natsu's eyes widened but he remained still, letting her make her move.

"Luce, I really am sorry." He said, his moving lips tickling hers.

"I don't really have a reason to be calling you and idiot right now but I'm going to go ahead and say it anyway," Lucy said, her cheeks hot as she finally kissed him.

Her hands tugged at his hair to bring him closer and he bent down slightly, his hands holding her in place. After a little while, she pulled away, breath ragged.

"Idiot." She said and pegged him in the stomach, smiling up at him.

Natsu flashed her a toothy grin and walked up to her again, wrapping one arm around her waist while the other stayed between them. Lucy followed his eyes and watched intently as his intruding hand pulled at the knot on her robe. Her heart began to hammer against her chest and butterflies erupted in her belly. She gasped as it parted open and his warm fingers trailed her navel.

He diverted his eyes to meet her brown ones, his hand softly teasing her skin.

"Can I?" He asked after he tugged the bathrobe gently with the hand he had on her back. Lucy swallowed the lump in her throat, her voice suddenly disappearing.

"Luce?" Natsu smirked, bumping his nose with hers.

Lucy's head was whirling and she couldn't wrap her head around her current situation. Was Natsu really asking for permission to undress her? Was she really going to do this with him?

The more she thought about it the more she freaked out internally yet the longer she looked at him through those hooded dark eyes and that disheveled pink hair of his the more she wanted him like she'd never wanted anyone before.

Was this even his first time? Because it sure as hell was hers.

"Y-yeah," she finally answered.

Natsu was going to be her first and there wasn't anything about that idea that bothered her. She wouldn't want it any other way.

He pushed the robe from her shoulders and let it land on a pool at her feet. She immediately went to cover herself up but he held her hands in a vice grip on either side of her.

His eyes were eating her bit by bit and she had never felt so exposed in her life. Sure, he'd seen her naked plenty of times out of pure negligence from their part but not like this. There was something so sexy about the way his eyes were drinking her in and the way his lips kept twitching and his breath became audibly harder.

"Stop staring so much," She mumbled, wiggling her wrists that were still locked in his hands.

"You really are the best, Luce." Natsu tilted his head cutely. "Get on the bed,"

"Eh?!" She didn't react so well to that command. It made her blush and tremble in place from how nervous she got.

"Get on the bed, Luce." Natsu rolled his eyes. "I can't do anything to you while you're standing, it won't feel as good."

She was sure her face was crimson red and she was glad the room was dimly lit.

"Why are you still wearing all your clothes?" Lucy puffed her cheeks as she sat at the edge of the bed, covering her chest.

"Oh, right."

In the blink of an eye, he was hovering Lucy's frame over the bed; shirtless.

His body seemed to radiate a tremendous amount of heat, not helping her already sky high body temperature. He used his scarf to cushion her head and made sure she was perfectly positioned under his towering body.

It wasn't long before Lucy was covered in sweat, squirming and crying out profanities. Natsu had managed to win her over with his ministrations over her body and he was really enjoying himself because of it.

Lucy pulled at his hair as he continued to lick her slit, his tongue doing things that hit all the right spots and made her see stars. She felt her legs start to shake as he held her hips down and made it impossible for her to do anything about the way he was lapping at her core.

"N-Natsu!" She squealed, her hands grasping the sheets desperately. "S-top, p-please!"

Natsu obeyed her request. She hadn't asked him to stop this whole time and the second she did, he halted all movement and looked up at her waiting for her to say it was okay to go again.

"Was it bad?" He asked, his brows furrowed.

She shook her head. "No, no it feels really, really good."

"But you said to stop,"

"I didn't actually mean it," She bit her lip, embarrassed.

"Then why'd you say it?"

"Natsu stop questioning me," Lucy turned and hid her face in his scarf. "I—"

She mewled, forgetting what she was going to say. He pressed his chest against her back and kissed one of her shoulders, his teeth grazing her skin.

Lucy moaned softly into the scarf, arching her back into him and unconsciously raising her bottom half into his. This time Natsu growled into her ear, sending shivers down her spine. His hands gripped the sheets on either side of her head as he let his erection brush the wet and heated softness between her legs.

"Be gentle," Lucy propped herself up on her elbows and looked over her shoulder at him, her stomach doing a summersault at the sight of Natsu's arousing look.

"I won't hurt you, I promise." Natsu leaned in and pressed his lips against hers in a passionate kiss, distracting her from what he was preparing himself to do. He twined his fingers with one of her hands and with his free hand he placed himself at her entrance, kissing her harder the second she started to tense up and squirm.

"Mmm," She frowned at the intrusion and tightened her grip around Natsu's hand as he pushed in very slowly. She could feel herself stretching to adapt to his length and it was more uncomfortable rather than painful like she'd always heard it'd be. Inch by inch, he filled her and it wasn't until he was fully in that she pulled away from their kiss to take a much needed breathe and moan into their twined hands.

Natsu dropped his head on her shoulder, grunting and trying his hardest to remain calm for her sake. He really just wanted to have his way with her but he couldn't let himself act out. She'd hate him forever.

"Luce, I really need you to stop squirming like that." Natsu's breath increased its labor and he kept making growling noises.

Lucy relaxed her body and stopped moving.

"I… Natsu it feels so good." She admitted, looking back at him with her hair all over her face. "I want to feel more,"

Natsu closed his eyes and started a slow back and forth motion to test the waters and see Lucy's reaction. Once he was sure she was okay, he picked up his pace.

"Fuck, Luce." Natsu groaned, his hands going under her to take hold of her breasts. He rolled her nipples in his fingers and kissed her neck sloppily, biting her every now and then.

Lucy cried out, pushing hair off her face and biting her lip quite hard. Natsu caught a glimpse of her face and noticed she was crying.

"Am I hurting you?" He asked, slowing down.

"No, no please don't stop Natsu." She begged, clawing at his sweat-drenched scarf.

Her tears of pleasure were certainly welcomed.

Lucy threw her head back in ecstasy, beads of sweat rolling down her forehead as she finally got the hang of his movements and started meeting him halfway.

Natsu stopped briefly and spun them around, letting her sit on top of him. It took her a while to adjust to the new position but once she was comfortably set, her mind drifted off once more. Her hands traveled up his chest and she pecked his face every now and then, focusing more on her hips and how fast or hard she rode him. His hands flew to her ass and he squeezed, his head craning back allowing her to suckle on his neck just like he'd done to her. It served as a good distraction from the crippling orgasm she felt was building at the pit of her stomach.

"Damn it, Luce." Natsu opened his eyes to watch her. She sat up slightly, allowing him to see her breasts bounce along with her. Her long hair fell at her sides and in his eyes she almost looked goddess-like. Her lips parted and her eyes fluttered shut and he knew she was about to let herself go.

Natsu grabbed her hips and did the rest of the job for her, pounding into her until she finally let out a struggling cry and her body collapsed over his. As her body quaked on top of him in her post-orgasm haze, he felt his hips buck and he came.

"You idiot," Lucy breathed out a laugh.

"Why am I an idiot?" Natsu retorted, flipping them over so he would be on top.

Lucy looked at him, her heart warming up at the very sight of him. She smiled and shook her head, placing her dainty hand over his cheek.

"You just are."

They both laughed and cherished their moment together under the covers, quickly falling into a conversation about Happy's whereabouts. After a few hours, the two realized the cat wouldn't be coming home and so they decided to call it a night.

"Oh, Natsu?"

"Yeah?"

"Remind me to ask Cancer to cut your hair tomorrow."

"But I thought it made me look more intimidating!" he sat up in bed, shocked.

She giggled and pressed her lips in a line. "It just makes you look extra cute,"

"First thing in the morning you get that guy to cut my hair, got it?"

"Mhm."

And with that, the reunited dynamic couple went to sleep knowing that everything was going to be okay as long as they had each other.

I apologize if the story is a bit ooc, idk I think I did fairly well portraying Nalu but idk idk idk I'm super insecure about my writing ~_~

Tomorrow I'm going to Supercon and I'm ridiculously excited! (just thought I'd share cause it's 1:49am and I couldn't go to bed without publishing this)

okay, goodbye I hope you guys liked it! :)