Natsu did a double-take when he saw the beautiful woman walk through the door. She was like an angel sent down to earth, and it hit him at that moment that he had to marry her. He had been there looking for a game to buy, but he never knew that his future wife would walk through the door!

At least, he hoped it was his future wife. He had never seen the woman before, but he thought she was so pretty that he wanted to propose to her right away. And she seemed nice by the way she treated the cashiers in the food court where she sat laughing with her friends. The small blue haired one had her nose in a book but contributed to conversation, and the taller one with the brown hair kept slinging an arm around her friend's shoulders or groping her boobs. They were a weird bunch, of course, but what was keeping him from going over there?

But first, he had to find a rock to give her. That was the height of the proposals with the penguins that he worked with every day, and he knew that it would woo her over to his side. They'd be husband and wife by morning!

Natsu excitedly ran into the nearest gift shop and rifled through the small smooth stones that you could put in a bag for a dollar.

"Is there anything I can help you find, sir?" the clerk asked with a smile, walking around to the corner Natsu was in.

"No thanks. I'm finding a stone for my future wife. And I think I just found one!" he exclaimed, picking up the stone.

It was a light lavender purple and smooth with shimmery elements, and he saw it right away while going through the pile.

"Um, of course, sir. I guess if you're proposing to your wife today, it'll be on the house," the clerk said awkwardly. He had never known anyone to pick out a stone other than a diamond on a band to propose to their sweetheart with. What was the harm in helping the young man have some fun?

"Aw, thanks! I appreciate it!" Natsu yelled as he ran out of the store as quickly as he had come in.

"So, are ya gonna go out with what's-his-face again, Lucy?" Cana asked, sipping her coke through a Twizzler. Cana loved sipping coca cola through candy, and the only one that was closest to a straw was a Twizzler. And you could eat it afterwards! How cool was that?

"His name is Dan. And I dunno, he seemed a little fake to me," Lucy admitted, taking a fry and throwing it into her mouth.

"Lu, when I met him he told me that his two favorite things to do were long romantic walks on the beach and kissing in the rain. And he told that to Mira, Juvia, and Cana too. He's just using you," Levy scowled, pushing her nose further into the book to read more about the language she was currently learning.

"I-I guess so. I just hope that one day I can find a guy that's really nice and that will accept me for who I am," Lucy sighed, taking another couple of fries from her tray and dipping them in ketchup before tossing them in her mouth. What was the harm in eating junk food if you were 25 and were still single, even after high school, college, and graduate school? Lucy was successful as hell, but she excelled in writing cute stories, not having an adorable love story of her own.

Suddenly, a stone was plopped right in front of Lucy's tray. A tanned hand placed it there, and she looked up to see who the hell it was attached to.

A tall, pink-haired man stood above them, looking straight into Lucy's eyes. Lucy shuddered at how intense the direct eye contact was. The man's eyes were like a sage green, and it shocked Lucy how pretty they were. And the rest of the man wasn't bad either. His forearms were what drew her to him immediately. It looked like he had been doing a lot of heavy labor over the years, and his hands looked rough.

"Can we help you?" Levy asked, peeking up from her book to squint at the man. He was short compared to Levy's own boyfriend, Gajeel, but he wasn't too bad. And maybe he'd look good by Lucy's side.

"Yeah. I'm Natsu, and I want to marry the cute blonde sitting next to you," Natsu answered bluntly, and a wave of shock passed through Lucy's brain.

'He wants to marry me? What is this, some kind of joke? Am I being Punk'd?' Lucy wondered, and Cana smirked.

"Her body is great, no doubt. But how are you going to prove to us that you're not some guy just trying to get into her pants?" Cana folded her arms and squared her shoulders. The girl could appear very menacing if she tried, especially with that death glare of hers.

As Cana glared at Natsu, Lucy suddenly felt dizzy under his gaze. It was like he had put a spell on her. Her cheeks started warming and her mind was foggy. He was cute, of course, but that didn't mean that she had to act like a complete idiot!

"Nah, this isn't a joke! See, the penguins that I work with every day always bring the best pebble over to their mate whenever they want to mate with them for life, and I thought the human equivalent to that was to bring a pebble over here and ask you to marry me," Natsu flopped down on the seat across from Lucy, and Lucy realized that she had spoken aloud.

"You work with penguins?" Lucy questioned, surprised. The man looked like he worked at a construction site, not with animals! She watched the man with curiosity. Just what secrets was he hiding?

"Yep! I work at the Magnolia Zoo full-time with the penguins. They love me! There's even one that accidentally got into some blue ink that follows me around all the time. I named him 'Happy' because he always looks like he's smiling when he squawks for food. The only downside is that I smell like fish all the time." Natsu hung his head, and everyone leaned forward to smell the man.

Lucy detected cologne and a small bit of fish scent, but it wasn't overwhelming. At least she wouldn't have to go home to a husband that smelled like fish everyday…

'A husband?' Lucy's internal monologue nearly shouted, 'You barely know the guy and now you're about to call him your husband?! Get it together, Lucy!'

Lucy shook her head to dispel her thoughts and listened to Levy's next question.

"So what are your interests?" Levy asked the same question that she asked every single guy that tried to date Lucy, or more accurately, get into Lucy's pants. Lucy smiled softly at her friend from across the table, and Levy tipped her head up from her book and smiled back. Levy always had her back, and Lucy was eternally grateful.

"Well, I like to work with animals, but I also like to watch Netflix at home and chow down on some food. I like to watch documentaries about penguins in my spare time, but if it bothers Lucy that much, then I won't watch them around her," Natsu said, considering his words as he spoke them.

"Well, that's a far cry from the last answer we got from a guy who wanted to date Lu," Levy said with a smirk directed at their blonde friend.

"Alright!" Natsu said, jumping up out of his chair and pumping his fist.

"Hold it, pinky. That doesn't mean that you can get hitched yet," Cana said, stealing a fry from Lucy's plate. Lucy glared at her friend, but Cana just shrugged and chewed anyway. Natsu sunk back down in his chair, defeated. It was so easy for penguins…why couldn't it be this easy for humans?

"So what else do I have to do?" Natsu asked, looking at his hands. He thought this was going to be easier than they were making it to be…

"Take me out for dinner a couple of times and then you can propose," Lucy looked into his eyes through her eyelashes, and Natsu's heart thumped in his chest.

"It's a date," he said, rising out of his chair.

Lucy tossed him her phone out of her bag. "Put your number into the phone, and I'll text you later," Lucy said, twirling a strand of hair with a giggle.

Natsu's heart thumped even harder when she giggled. It was a melodic sound that he could definitely get used to hearing.

"Sure!" Natsu said, typing it in quickly in the contacts and handing Lucy's phone back to her. Lucy pocketed it with a smile, and told him to go.

"But leave the stone here," she told him, and Natsu obliged. As he walked away, he could hear the girls whispering about him.

"He has a nice ass, Lucy," Cana whispered, and Lucy smacked her friend on the arm.

"S-shut up!"

Lucy didn't get her husband that day. And it was alright. Just knowing that he was going to be waiting for her was enough, and she loved the fact that he actually proposed today.

Lucy had always wanted a cute proposal in front of the Eiffel Tower with roses and champagne, but maybe all she needed was a handsome man and a rock.