#I had an idea for a nalu kiss of breath but it sadly didn't work itself in to the flow

[not-just-any-fangirl]

Gift Of The Sea

A/N:  This is heavily overdue fic for @rivendell101! I lost a bet and had to write her a fic, and finally got a firm idea, so yay! 

Looking back this might honestly be a little inspired from H2O in an aspect, but other than that I just thought it would be fun to write! Love me some mermaid Natsu!

Mermaid!AU

Pairing: Nalu, Fairy tail

Words: 5993

Rating: T

Part: Oneshot

Natsu wasn’t stupid.

He knew he shouldn’t be doing what he was doing. He was very much aware of the danger he was not only putting himself in but also his pod. But goddamn if Natsu wasn’t a curious fucker.

His cousin’s words.

Natsu peeked above the rock outcrop he hid behind, watching the pier as he had found himself doing everyday for the past month. He rose himself higher, craning his neck to try and see the where the wood left the white sand beach. Natsu sunk back down into the water quickly when he noticed the light reflect off his scales, his tail rising with him in his eagerness. Like he said, Natsu wasn’t stupid. He wasn’t ready to make contact yet, and didn’t need his tail’s scales reflecting light and giving him away.

Excitement made his pulse pound in his ears when he finally saw her walk along the pier and towards the water. Natsu couldn’t help his grin as he caught her gentle hum over the sound of the water lapping at the rock in front of him, her voice light and airy and little off to his sensitive ears but not unpleasant. Her blonde hair was left loose this time, tumbling low on her back. Natsu liked how it glinted in the sun, like the treasure he hoarded beneath the water’s surface, but he really wanted to know how it looked flowing in the current so much more.

And this was the problem Natsu was facing. To approach or not to. She seemed weird, coming to the pier everyday but only standing at the edge of the dock until the sun set, not even dipping the tip of her leg into the water. But Natsu liked weird. Trusted it. Not to mention that she would feed the birds around her, bringing some sort of food to throw to the scavengers before leaving again.

Natsu partially wanted to thank her on behalf of them, if only to make them stop screaming at him to do so. Sometimes Natsu hated his Gift.

Ducking beneath the water Natsu swam forward, body deciding for him that today was the day he would speak to her. Natsu blinked in relief as the water washed over his eyes and skin, eyesight sharpening as he swam. Natsu stopped when he could touch the barnacle crusted pole of one of the pier’s supports. Seaweed grew around the base, Natsu wiggling his finger at a small guppy. The fish chased his digit, Natsu laughing soundlessly as he teased the smaller fish. He cupped it in his hand, barring his teeth when a larger fish the size of his body passed by, circles predatory as it eyed the small pod of guppies hiding in the weeds. Natsu nodded to himself when his threat display made the silver fish scurry away, deciding to look for a meal in a less hostile place.

Natsu laughed when the small fish headbutted his cheek in thanks before swimming back to his pod. Deciding the girl had had enough time to near the edge of the dock Natsu swam upwards, body close to the pole and tail curling along the soaked wood so that there was less chance of being seen.

Words his pod leader had said stopped him from breaking through the surface, Natsu just inches from the dry air and revealing himself and his kind to a human. If all we do is worry about following rules then our souls will never progress.

With a grin, Natsu breached the divide between air and sea.

The girl stood at the edge of the dock, looking far away towards the sun, so lost in her own mind that she didn’t notice Natsu’s eyes watching her from her left. Natsu lifted himself higher, grip firm on the dock so her could rest his chin on his forearms, continuing to watch her. Now that he was this close he could see her face better, large eyes a deep brown, a little more sad and a little more wistful than he decided they ought to her. Her full lips were those that were born to smile.

Natsu continued to watch her in silence, growing bored the longer time dragged on and she didn’t notice him. What kind of weirdo didn’t even say hi when someone popped out of the water?

His mood brightened when an idea came to him. Natsu lifted the tip of his tail, dropping it back into the water with a loud splash. He snickered when the girl jumped, thin sleeve-strap of the cloth covering her upper body slipping down over her shoulder. Natsu thought the white colour made her skin look pretty. Natsu grinned up at the girl, eyes closing. He opened them when he heard a shrill squeak, giving a yelp of his own as he was startled off the edge of the pier and retreated into the safety of the water. His ears still rang and he glared at where he had been leaning, blowing angry bubbles with his nose.

Natsu raised his eyebrows when the girl’s concerned face came into view, eyes wide with worry as she looked at him. Her mouth was open like she wanted to say something, but nothing came out. Were all humans like this?

Slowly Natsu lifted his head back into the air, eyeing her warily incase she tried to deafen him again. He hid another snigger as he watched her eyes grow large like a pufferfish’s as she looked over him. Natsu cocked his head, taking the chance to study her more closely and head-on.

She didn’t have the gills along her neck like he did, and her skin seemed to stay relatively soft and smooth looking despite being in the air for hours on end. Aside from her paler colour, Natsu marvelled at how alike they were. A flash of white caught his eye and Natsu was lifting himself from the water in a smooth motion. The girl fell backwards with a softer squeak. Natsu hooked his thumb in her cheek, pulling her lip up so he could see her teeth clearer. He ran his tongue along his own sharp canine, confusion making his head tilt as he inspected the girl once again. How could she tear into her food if her teeth were so dull? Is that why she had looked so sad before? Because she was hungry? Natsu could understand that, he always got sad and angry when he went hungry for too long too.

Natsu grunted when the girl shoved her hand in his face, pushing him off her. He felt himself slip so the edge of the pier was against his armpits again. He pouted at her, the girl sending him a glare of her own.

“What is wrong with you?” she asked hotly. Natsu took a second, absorbing her words and voice.

“Yo,” he said, words clunky and awkward on his tongue. Human language was harsher and full of sudden breaks that weren’t in his own tongue, but Natsu was happy to add another language to his Gift.

The girl blinked at him, eyes lighting with a firey passion that made Natsu grin and cheeks puffing out. Now she really looked like a pufferfish.

“You shove your hand in my mouth and say ‘yo’?” She said between her teeth. “As if you weren’t rude enough, scaring me with your dyed hair and prosthetic gills. What are you, a mermaid performer for the Aquatic Zoo?”

None of that made sense to Natsu.

“What is ‘dye’ and ‘prosthetic’?” Natsu asked. The girl blinked at him. He blinked back. She blinked again. Natsu blinked again.

“You can drop the mermaid shtick,” she sighed, settling into a weird sitting position where she crossed her legs. At least, that’s what Natsu was told they were called. They didn’t look very helpful in swimming, so he didn’t see what was so great about them. The girl gave him one last critical look over before extending her hand to him. “My name’s Lucy.”

“I’m Natsu,” he said, deciding to ignore the mermaid comment. He didn’t really know what it meant, but he just chalked it up to how weird Lucy was.

“So Natsu, why were you putting your fist in my mouth?” she asked dryly, giving Natsu a sharp look. He shrugged, tail swirling through the water under him in pleasant waves.

“Never met someone with such dull teeth,” he said. Natsu grinned at her, satisfaction curling neatly in his chest when her eyes darted to his own sharp teeth. Natsu was proud of them, and how good he was at catching his prey with his mouth alone.

“Well I’ve never met anyone with such sharp teeth,” she bristled. Natsu noticed a light red dusting her cheeks.

“Really?” Natsu asked excitedly. “Then how do you guys tear your food off the bone?”

Lucy looked at him blankly. “Uh, cutlery? Like normal people?”

Natsu nodded. Cutlery. He’d have to ask Makarov what that was. “Wait,” Natsu said, eyes narrowing as he looked at Lucy. He pushed himself high with his arms so he was eye level with her. “Why are you sad if you can eat?”

“What?” Lucy asked, shifting uncomfortably and looking as confused as Natsu felt.

“Your eyes were sad, and I thought it was ‘cus you might’ve been weird, but then I saw your dull bad-at-tearing teeth and thought it was ‘cus you couldn’t eat, but if you can eat then why did you look sad?”

“Were you watching me?” Lucy asked, dodging the question. Natsu snorted and rolled his eyes.

“Well yeah, I was waiting for you to notice me but you kept looking at the sun like it was the last time you’d ever see it set over the water.”

Lucy blinked, turning her head back towards the setting sun again. The same forlorn look entered her eyes as she looked at the horizon before tearing her gaze back to Natsu. He felt concern bubble in his chest, an odd protectiveness coming over him for the strange human in front of him. Like when he saw a baby fish trapped. Lucy had the aura of someone who longed for freedom but was caught in a net. Natsu’s neck ached as he felt sympathy for the feeling flare in him.  

“You’re a strange boy,” she said, smile fond as she looked at Natsu again. “How come you dye your hair pink?”

“It’s natural,” Natsu said, grinning at her slightly irritated look. She still hadn’t answered his ‘what is dye’ question but he thought it was more fun making her do those funny faces.

“People don’t have pink hair,” Lucy said accusingly. Natsu raised an eyebrow, pushing himself so he sat on the edge of the pier, his scales scraping against the dry wood.

“I ain’t people.” Natsu said simply. Lucy gaped at him, gaze focused solely on his tail.

“W-well that looks r-real,” Lucy said, skin having lost it’s pretty red tint and turning paler. Natsu lifted the tip of his tail out of the water, winding around Lucy’s ankle and giving her a comforting squeeze. He didn’t like it when she looked like that, he decided.

“‘Cus it is, ya weirdo,” Natsu said trying to get her to smile and pout at him. Instead Lucy screamed, panic making the whites of her eyes visible. Natsu flinched both from the high pitch and her clawing at his tail, retreating away from her and slipping his tail back into the water. Lucy had stood up, her back pressed tight against the wooden pole at the right corner of the dock. Natsu couldn’t help his hurt that his new friend was trying to flee from him. He didn’t think he was that scary, at least not to anything her size. Natsu looked over her, mentally calculating his own length. He would say that he was probably two, two and a half lengths of her.

“Oh my fucking God,” Lucy gasped, body shaking as she pushed herself away from her pole. Her steps were unsteady as she walked back to Natsu, and he flinched when his tail fell into a strong current, salt water stinging where Lucy had ripped at his scales. “You’re really a mermaid.”

“What’s a mermaid?” Natsu asked, unsure if he wanted to know the answer. He winced again when he felt a fish brush at his injury. Little bastards loved blood.

“You,” Lucy said in exasperation, gesturing at all of Natsu. He thinned his lips at her, still not understanding. Humans were weird. Or maybe just Lucy was. He lifted his tail from the water, bringing it to his lap to see how much damage her talons had done to him. “Oh, oh Natsu, I’m sorry, you’re bleeding!” Lucy said. Natsu startled when she dropped to her knees beside, the closest she had come to him yet. She was worrying her lower lip between her teeth, skin around her eyes pinched as she examined his tail. She reached her hands, pausing uncertainly just before her fingertips brushed him.

He didn’t know why, but he trusted Lucy, so he shifted his tail to finish making contact. Lucy flinched a little, and Natsu watched as awe grew on her face and her breath caught in her throat. She stroked his tail, Natsu fighting to keep a low rumble from sounding in his chest. He had always been a sucker for tail pets. He looked at his tail while Lucy inspected it, his blood a deep gold against his dark red scales. Pink and grey undertones scattered through his scales, and Natsu was proud of how shiny they could be when he remembered to take care of them. Much better looking than that Icy Northern’s blue skin or his cousin’s dark black scales.

“Natsu, why is your blood gold?” Lucy asked, fingers still running gently along the ridge of spines along the back of his tail, fins that ran along the sides of his tail laying on her bare skin revealed by the short fabric she wore beneath the fabric that covered her chest. He liked the feeling of her soft skin against him, pressing into her touches.

“I dunno. Always has been. What colour is yours?” he asked, leaning his hands back to brace him as he continued to stay above water. Natsu didn’t think he’d been above for this long in a while. Not since Igneel.

“Humans would call your tail ‘blood red’,” Lucy said with a small grin. Her thumb brushed his golden blood away from his injury, Natsu flinching when she touched a few tender scales. Lucy apologized quickly, touches gentler and lip once more between her teeth. Natsu hummed, thinking over the human phrase.

“Then I would call you hair ‘blood gold’,” he decided. Natsu grinned when she gave a thankful smile. “So Lucy, why were you looking at the sea so sadly?”

“I was thinking of my mother,” Lucy said after thinking for several minutes. Natsu nodded. He could tell from her tone and expression she had lost her mom. Natsu still got sad and angry when he thought too long about the night Igneel had disappeared. “She drowned in a boating accident when I was young,” Lucy continued to explain, not meeting his eyes. Natsu thought she might be talking to herself mostly. He hated to interrupt, but he couldn’t stop his mouth from speaking his questions around her.

“What’s drowning?”

Lucy looked away from his tail, giving Natsu a sad smile as she helf his gaze.

“Humans can’t breath underwater, and if we get water in our lungs we suffocate.” Natsu froze, horror stilling his thoughts. Lucy looked back at the sea, empty smile still on her lips. “The sea killed my mom.”

“I’m sorry,” Natsu rasped. He still couldn’t fully understand how the sea itself could kill something, but he understood suffocation. It was the worst physical feeling he had ever lived through. They lapsed into silence, watching the sun, still an hour or two away from fully disappearing.

“You know,” Lucy said softly, giving Natsu a shy smile, “I’ve never swam in the sea. My father forbade me to go anywhere near it after Mom died. We moved further in land, but I always thought it was so pretty. Snuck stories into my room after he went to bed and would read about pirates and mermaids and romances along the coast line.” Lucy looked wistful again, smile faraway.

“So go swimming,” Natsu said simply.

Lucy shrugged, shaking her head slightly before refocusing on Natsu’s face. “I wish I could. But all I can think of is sinking under the waves, watching my breath leave my body.” She shuddered, and Natsu rested his hand on her arm without thought. He smiled at her when he gave her a gentle squeeze, touches growing more familiar when she gave him an appreciative smile. Natsu wrapped his tail around her ankle again, slow and cautious just in case she tried to descale him again. Natsu wondered if all humans were as violent as Lucy. He think he’d like them if they were. He liked Lucy at least. His worries were washed away like a tail scrap in the sand when the tide rose when she smiled at him, leaving his tail where it gave her a gentle squeeze.

“So tell me about you,” Lucy said, shifting so her hands were tucked under her, no longer playing with his scales now that he was wound around her ankle. Natsu dragged the tip of his tail along her skin, the softness of something he wasn’t used to. It felt nice, and Natsu saw no reason to stop. Lucy wasn’t freaking out, even if she kept shivering every few minutes. Natsu wondered if it was because of being dry all the time. At night Natsu cooled off so quickly he couldn’t stand to be above the water for more than half an hour. He tightened his hold on her ankle, trying to let her leech some of his heat for herself.

“Like what?” Natsu asked. He cocked his head, waiting for her reply. It was such a vague question he could almost here Gajeel snapping at him to stop being a sarcastic shit. Not that Natsu was being sarcastic with Lucy. Now his cousin... Gajeel he loved to play dumb around and drive mad.

Lucy gave him a bright smile, the awe he saw before creeping back into her gaze as she looked at him. “Everything.” she giggled. Natsu blushed under her light look, scratching the side of his head. There was a lot to tell in ‘everything’ but he had no idea where to start. Lucy caught onto his dilemma as she gave him a softer smile, reaching out and running her hand along the part of his tail that would be the top of her legs. She held his fin between two fingers, rubbing it gently. “Do all mermaids have tails like yours?”

“Nah!” Natsu said brightly, happy to have a clear topic. He liked talking to Lucy. “Most mermaids don’t have scales, ‘cus they have tails like fish do, but I’m a sea serpent so I have scales. Well,” Natsu trailed off, rubbing his gills on his right, “I’m part sea serpent. My old man is a full one though! He was as long as a blue whale and could outswim any shark he came across. We lived in the Coral Forest, so our red wasn’t as bad as it is in the open sea.”

Natsu blinked when he noticed Lucy had leaned closer into him, face open as she was enraptured with his story. Natsu blushed again, no one was ever this interested in what he had to say. He looked at where her palm rested fully on his tail, her body just as warm as his where they touched.

“Are sea serpents rare? What about mermaids, how many are there? How have you guys managed to stay away from humans for so long? Smart idea by the way, most people who would look for mermaids aren’t very good ones,” Lucy rambled, scooting along the pier and closer to Natsu, her knees brushed his tail and she was so close Natsu could see light freckles over the bridge of her nose and cheeks and the flecks of rich brown in her honey gaze. He gulped heavily, mouth suddenly dry. Maybe he needed to go back for a dip in the water, but he didn’t really want to move from his spot. He grinned at her, emboldened by her curiosity and innocence.

“Didn’t you look for mermaids? How do I know you’re a good person?” Natsu teased. Lucy rolled her eyes, shoving his shoulder playfully.

“I never said I looked for them. I just read about them. They were a fairy tale to me growing up, and I have to admit my seven year-old self would be jumping for joy that you actually exist.”

Natsu snorted, poking her side with the tip of his tail before resuming his gentle rubbing. She yelped and Natsu smirked. Her eyes held a silent warning that was dampened by her puffed cheeks, but Natsu relented. There would be time for tickle fights later. “My pod says that sea serpents have been extinct for hundreds of years but they’re dumb. I mean, look at my tail!” Natsu said, pushing more of it on Lucy’s lap. She squeaked at the weight of it but left him there, Natsu silently cheering when she resumed playing with his scales. “No one in my pod has my kinda tail, except for my two cousins. And they were raised by sea serpents too, alongside me and Igneel. Wendy’s mom was blue so she was the best open water hunter, and Gajeel’s dad could withstand the pressure after the drop off where there wasn’t any sun so he was as black as smoke. The three of us found the pod we’re with now when our parents disappeared one day.”

Lucy paused her playing and looked at him, a deep understanding in her eyes. Natsu thought it was kinda funny that they could bond over the hole a parent had left in their lives. Natsu gave her hand a soft squeeze when she reached for his, intertwining their fingers. Natsu was enjoying the touches, and was struggling to stop himself from wrapping around her, cool in the places that he was hot and warm in places where the sun’s heat couldn’t be sucked up anymore.

“But our new pod’s great!” Natsu said, dampened mood dispelled easily when he thought of his family. “There’s probably about a hundred of us, I think?” Natsu said, scratching the side of his face as he concentrated. “And I know about two or so dozen more. They range from twenty to over five hundred in their pods though, so I don’t know an exact number.” Natsu shrugged, no longer caring about the other ‘mermaids’ as Lucy called them. “What about you? What’s your pod like?”

Lucy’s smile became strained and Natsu wondered if he had said the wrong thing. “I uh, don’t really have a pod.” Lucy said, running a hand through her hair. “After Mom died, my dad became distant. Neither had siblings and I’m an only child, and I think my dad got a little crazy on me not dying so he didn’t let me out of the house much. But my tutors were nice and the staff was friendly. They’d play my dumb little games with me until my dad would yell at them to go back to work.” Lucy shrugged, seemingly unaffected by her story. “And now that my dad’s gone and all my inheritance had to go to paying his loans it’s just me.”

Natsu had only followed half of her story, but he understood it enough to know it wasn’t right. Lucy shouldn’t be lonely. She should get to experience all the adventures she read about as a guppy.

“Nobody should be podless,” Natsu murmured, squeezing her with his tail. Lucy gave him a grateful smile but the light didn’t reach her eyes. When she said nothing Natsu frowned deeper before he smiled, getting an idea. “You can join my pod!”

“Natsu, I hate to break it to you but I can’t breath underwater,” Lucy reminded gently. Natsu rolled his eyes, obviously she couldn’t if water is what had taken her mother, but that wasn’t what he meant.

“We’d come up here, obviously!” Natsu said, eyeing her. She had seemed smart when they talked so he wasn’t understanding how she didn't pick up on that. “The shore is always deserted, in fact you’re one of the only humans I’ve ever seen on this part of the coast.”

“That’s because my dad used to own this section. I’ve lived at the beach house for the last month getting everything ready for it’s sale.” Lucy looked at the place where the sun was beginning to touch the water. “Today’s my last day here.”

“What?” Natsu asked, gripping her arms to face him. He had just become friends with her! Natsu wasn’t ready to let her go yet, not when there was so much to learn about one another and things to do. He had to show her all the best places to fish, and where the prettiest shells were. He had to teach her to swim!

Lucy smiled at him gently, not pulling away from where he clutched at her. “I’ll be fine Natsu. I don’t have much of a choice either way. The house’s already sold and I have to go back to work to afford my rent. It’s just life.”

Natsu pouted, tail curling tighter around her unhappily. “Come swim with me then, before you go.” Natsu said, serious as he held her gaze. Lucy looked uncertain, eyes cast towards the water like it was a dangerous eel waiting to attack her. Natsu untangled from her, slipping back into the sea wordlessly. He swam to the top of the pier, holding out his hand to Lucy. “Don’t you trust me?”

Lucy swallowed heavily, focus flicking from his hand to his face and to the water. Natsu grinned when she set her jaw nodding firmly. “I do.”

He waited in confusion when Lucy stood, removing the cloth from her top and bottom only to reveal smaller pieces of cloth that were tight against her skin. So weird.

“Okay, okay, I can do this,” Lucy said under her breath, fisting her hands beside her before shaking them out. “Promise you won’t let go?” Lucy asked him, worrying her lip. Natsu nodded, gesturing for her to take his hand again. Lucy sat herself at the end of the dock, legs bent in half and pulled tight to her body. She tentatively placed her hand in his, skin soft against Natsu's where he curled his fingers around hers.

“Promise,” Natsu said, grinning up at her as an idea came to him. He personally believed it was either ‘do all or do nothing’ and he wasn’t about to give up that philosophy now. Plus, he couldn’t wait to see what kind of face Lucy would make at him. With all his strength he yanked her hand, pulling her into the water ungracefully. Lucy yelped, scrambling as she hit the sea. Natsu cackled as he wound an arm around her waist, unable to see her through the cloud of bubbles she was making. Natsu lifted them the few inches so her head was above the water, and he grinned brightly at her sputter and glare.

“Natsu, that was mean!” she whined, clinging to him tightly. Natsu rolled his eyes at her pout.

“But you’re in the water, ain’t ya?” he purred, holding her tightly when he noticed her shaking. He supposed the water could be a little chilly, and an uncomfortable feeling lodged itself in the back of his throat when he considered if she was shaking with fear. He was able to ignore it with the dry glare she shot at him, unimpressed even as she relaxed against his chest.

Whatever she was about to say was stopped when she was suddenly yanked from his hold, disappearing under the waves. Natsu swore, diving after her quickly. He knew his cousin hated people, but if that bastard had followed him and was trying to hurt Lucy he swore he-

Natsu’s mind went blank as he froze, watching the sea swirl around Lucy in a violent ball. She was grasping at her throat, clawing it as she tried to breath. Natsu could only see parts of her where the bubbles caused by the turbulent and harsh currents parted briefly, patches of eyeline lost as quickly as they came. Natsu was pushed back into movement when one such break let his and Lucy’s gazes meet, her brown eyes desperate with fear and pain. Natsu had no idea what was happening, but he knew it wasn’t good if it made Lucy look like that. He propelled himself the several feet down in a second, but when his hand touched the edge of the ball of current is broke apart in an explosion of bubbles.

Natsu reoriented himself quickly, launching himself towards Lucy once again. She floated in the water, eyes closed and face peaceful in the unnatural stillness around her. Natsu gripped her hip firmly, pulling her tight against his chest. He stopped swimming towards the orange sky when he looked down, the feeling of only one object brushing his tail making him pause in concern. He shouted in shock when he didn’t see her legs trailing from her lower body.

Instead, Natsu saw a tail like his pod’s, skin tougher than the rest of her body but smoother, and a beautiful golden colour like her hair. Natsu inspected her more closely, gills fluttering along her neck as she breathed underwater, like him. Raising a shaking hand Natsu touched her cheek, relief flooding him when she opened her eyes, the brown clear and sharp under the water. Lucy squaked, air bubbles leaving her mouth. She clasped her hands over her mouth in panic, eyes returning to their previous wide size, like a trapped animal. Natsu shook his head, tapping her gills gently with his finger. Lucy lowered a hand, trembling as she touched her gills for herself.

She pushed away from Natsu harshly, darting towards the surface without thought. Natsu followed, impressed at how quickly and naturally she swam, her tailfin large and with an almost translucent membrane connecting the three spines, middle one shorter than the other two.  

Natsu held her arms as she gasped for breath, keeping her steady. Natsu couldn’t help but notice how her hair glistened, wet and seeming to soak in the golden rays of the half-set sun.  

“W-what happened?” Lucy asked, voice higher and shrieking. Natsu caught a split-second view of her teeth, sharp like his now. “What did you do to me?”

“Oi!” Natsu defended, “I didn’t do anything!”

“You had to!” Lucy said, desperate. Natsu blinked when he watched water leak out of her eyes, trailing along cheeks. Cheeks that had a bluish tinge despite her new body’s ability to withstand the temperature of the ocean. Natsu pulled her back to him, pressing his forehead to hers gently in hopes of calming her down. Lucy hiccuped, sinking against him.

Natsu brightened when an idea came to him, stories passed down by Makarov and the pod leaders before him. “Maybe it was your Gift.” Natsu murmured soothingly.

“What?” Lucy asked, pulling back to look at him.

“Your Gift. The magic the sea gave you when you were born. My Gift is that I can understand and speak with any living thing. Maybe your Gift is that you’re a Land Walker.” Lucy still looked at him like he was speaking a different language, and Natsu sighed. “You’re obviously not human, Luce,” Natsu said softly. Lucy nodded numbly, nails biting into Natsu’s arms where she clung to him.

“But then how did my mom drown if she was a mermaid?” Lucy asked, eyes leaking again. Natsu didn’t like it, and he reached out to brush the water from her face. “I’ve taken showers and baths and put my feet in a pool, Natsu! Why now? Why here?”

“The sea,” Natsu explained. “You came back to the sea. You came home.”

Lucy looked like she wanted to scream. But a thought had stolen Natsu’s attention, and he couldn’t help the giddiness that made him want to do back circles in the water or chase the fish around him. “Lucy! You’re home! You can join my pod, and never be lonely again!” Natsu said excitedly. Lucy blinked at him, long and slow as she processed what he was saying. Natsu continued to ramble on, ideas for the future bubbling out of him. “-ll love you, you’re so weird you’ll fit right in! I’ll have to translate until you learn Trenche, but you seem smart so I’m sure it’ll only be a matter of time. Happy will freak that he didn’t get to see you transform, but he’ll love you too. And-”

“Natsu,” Lucy interrupted, “I have a life on land! I-I can’t just leave it all behind.”

“What would you really be leaving, Lucy?” Natsu asked. He held her gaze, knowing he was winning by the uncertainty her expression showed easily. She looked at where the sun was almost fully hidden in the water, longing plain in her light sigh. Lucy bite her lip, yelping and lifting a hand to where her sharper teeth had pierced her flesh. Lucy startled when she pulled her hand away to see a bright teal colour, not the red she had been expecting. Lucy lifted her gaze to him, blue liquid welling on her lip. Natsu fought the instinct to taste it, not wanting to push Lucy further away. He couldn’t help but be drawn to it again, the teal the prettiest shade of the colour he had ever seen and making something possessive curl in his gut. Natsu flicked his gaze back to Lucy, who was watching him intently, her cheeks tinged a dark blue as she fluttered her lashes at him shyly. Natsu decided he liked the blue flush more than the red one she had worn earlier

Natsu held her, slow as he led her back under the water. Lucy went with him, tensing as her face slipped under the sea. Natsu watched as she took in a deep breath, eyes closing. Her hair floated around her like he imagined it would, creating her own halo of sunlight even as the sun disappeared to the stars. She was beautiful.

Natsu coughed slightly as the thought came to him unbidden. He pulled back, swimming backwards in the direction of where his pod would be, slow as he waited for Lucy to follow. Their fingertips stayed connected when Lucy slowly opened her eyes. She worried her lip again, gentler than before and drawing Natsu’s eye. He licked his own lower lip, grip on her hand tightening. Lucy looked over her shoulder, towards the shore and the life she had known. Natsu grinned when her fingers interlaced with his firmly and Lucy turned back to him with a small smile of her own.

Together, they swam to their next adventure. Natsu couldn’t wait to show her his world, a place the strange girl had already seemed to carve a permanent niche in already. Lucy looked at him, noticing his staring at her profile. She gave him a bright grin, sharpened fangs visible with the large smile. Natsu grinned back, pushing forward and releasing her hand. Lucy caught up, easily understanding his desire to race. Natsu smirked at her smug look as she passed him, tail moving through the water like she had been born to.

Yes, Lucy definitely belonged in his pod, and by his side.