#this was The nalu moment for me

[h0estar]

every now and then i look back on this GIF i have of nalu during tartaros arc and cry about how this particular scene alone solidifies the beauty of their relationship (natsu holding lucy's hand gently in the face of chaos and panic did wonders to my heart)

[metriawaves]

soft head touches

[beargyufairy]

Just My Thoughts Pt. 30

As we approach the end of FT 100 YQ (manga), I have a lot of expectations and hopes for a good ending that’s well thought out and developed. Right now we are entering into Ignia’s arc which is probably the most anticipated one of the series so far and I really hope it’s not disappointing. The other arcs were good not great in the sense that they could’ve been developed a bit more since some parts seemed rushed or underwhelming.

Starting off with Lucy, I think there is a lot that could be done with her. While there were some parts where she was displayed well such as the Star dress mix or her battles during Selene’s arc, I think that she should have the spotlight at some point. She is often used for fan service and I don’t really have a care for that but it undermines her intelligence and soft hearted personality. For instance, in the original series we have seen her come up with great ideas such as closing the eclipse gate, sacrificing Aquarius, and using fairy sphere. And not to forget, she was also the one to figure out where Mavis’ grave was located during Tenrou island arc. I don’t really recall any memorable aspects of the 100 YQ that can even hold a candle to these from the original manga.

Therefore, I truly believe she’s in a need to showcase her abilities especially her intellect way more. Perhaps a mini arc for her reunion with Aquarius (via finding her key) or some interaction with Ignia. I have wondered why 100 YQ has been accomplished in over a century and of course Agnologia has some part in creating fear but is that truly all there is too it’s incompletion? I am hoping for something a bit more complex. Maybe Lucy can figure this out. Maybe she can have a battle all on her own. She’s grown so much since the start of the entire franchise and I would love to see her fight against multiple opponents at once. No help from the others. I would also love to see more Star dress mixes or maybe a new development. She’s most definitely the strongest and most powerful celestial mage, even surpassing Anna who probably held that position for a long time.

Or she can find out more about who Ignia is. We know he’s Igneel’s biological son but what was their relationship like? How come Natsu didn’t know much about him? What are Ignia’s true intentions? What does he want with all of the mages with fire related magic abilities? I really hope the ending isn’t downplayed like the original story with END because let’s all be honest, it was so disappointing because where was the drama?! Everything that has been hyped up with showing END as this awful villain was not shown properly. I also think a connection back to Lucy’s fear of Natsu’s flames caused by Ignia would be interesting. I desperately need this to happen!

Anyway I’m getting off track but I just want Lucy to shine through her battle strategy, intelligence, and her amazing personality at least once before the end of the manga.

[thenalu]

Fairy Tail : 100 Years Quest

Chapter 005

[celestialulu]

Future Lucy (and natsu) <3

[nalu-gifs]

“Thank you...so much. For everything.”

[shima-draws]

Are you enjoying One Piece?!! How far are you?

I AM, VERY MUCH SO!! I told myself I’d skip over all the filler episodes but I ended up watching the Warship Island arc purely by accident bc I didn’t realize I’d started the filler. But it was so cute anyway I watched all of it. I loved seeing the crew act as older sibling/guardian figures to Apis 🥺

Anyway I JUST got past the mini arc with Laboon, so we’re in the Grand Line, baby!! I’d probably be way further ahead if I also wasn’t watching Fairy Tail at the same time. Oops lol

[fairiesheart]

idk something about Natsu and Lucy trying to reach for each other and gently holding hands here makes me want another Nalu moment where we get to see them genuinely holding hands

[shiiro-arts]

Nalu's confession and why it seems so impossible

Okay, I think I understand why Mashima has trouble writing or imagining NaLu's confession, and honestly, it's 100% his fault (obviously).

In the original manga it wasn't so hard for me to imagine it, we all know that Natsu knew how to act in serious situations and when they required a more mature attitude, but in 100yq? It's like Natsu is incapable of being serious for 2 seconds, they always end the scene with a bad joke or write him off as "too dumb to understand anything."

We have witnessed how Natsu is able to read the environment and react accordingly, like when they were going to arrest Jellal and Natsu realized how much it was affecting Erza

Gray's several su attempts with Ice Shell

The death of Lucy's father and the death of Eclair and how it affected her and his way of supporting her.

The way 100yq is written is vague and messy, the characters act like idiots and any progress they have had as characters has disappeared (Natsu the most obvious one).

Until they fix his character, even I, a Nalu fan at heart, find it difficult to see a confession in the current state of the manga. We may get lucky and get some progress with the Ignia arc (which I think would be the most logical one to use to make their relationship progress), but it's highly unlikely to be a serious development.

In my opinion, the perfect moment in which Nalu would have become canon was when the Dragon Slayers fell from the sky and Natsu ended up on top of Lucy saying that "he was home", Lucy should have been brave and kissed him at that moment but noooo.

Mashima should't have started so many proyects and focused is his supposedly "favorite work", just saying. No one likes a "rushed" story.

[patentedsun]

You guys I'm actually crying over chapter 204.5 (which is technically an ad for a certain company we're all boycotting btw) but ignoring the actual ad THE STORYLINE WAS SO??? GOOD???? the Natsu characterization in this was INCREDIBLE (be prepared for intense 100yq hatred) and it portrayed exactly why I fell in love with nalu in the first place....

Summary and analysis below (doesn't incl all the pages btw!!)

We start off with Lucy finding Natsu and Happy at her place, as always.

this is followed by him being like "do you think we'll peek or something" which... 100yq natsu would have... that IMPOSTER...

Anyways while she's taking a bath, Natsu and Happy are browsing around Lucy's room and find a book that stands out. (Btw right next to this book is her diary, 100yq natsu would've gone straight for that). However they end up accidentally destroying it and start panicking. They ask Lucy if they can "borrow it" and Lucy panics at first, saying it's precious and not to touch it, but relents when they say they found it "interesting".

fast forward, we see them worn out after trying and failing to find a replacement copy. ONCE AGAIN, they're doing this because it's something precious to LUCY. Not because they care about reading, or because the book has any value to them, but because they understand it's important to HER. Natsu (and Happy) going the extra mile for things that are important to Lucy is SUCH AN IMPORTANT PART of their entire dynamic.

continuing, Lucy walks into the guild and asks how they're finding the book, they say it's interesting. Lucy gets SUPER EXCITED ABOUT THIS and starts talking non stop ab the book. Happy asks her why this book is so important to her and...

Y I K E S.

So yeah, they ultimately decide that lying isn't it and they should apologize upfront.

this is so beautiful to me, idk like the imagery of them bowing so sincerely is so.... and like wow MASHIMA seems like natsu IS capable of acknowledging his own wrongdoings and offering genuine apologies. I'm not even talking ab the whole post tartaros situation no, I'm talking about fucking 100yq, where natsu actually physically hurts Lucy and doesn't apologize for it (AND IN FACT ITS PLAYED FOR A GAG)(IMPOSTER!!! NOT MY NATSU!!!)

Soooo Lucy doesn't take it well and runs away.

the fact that they didn't stop their search here. the fact that they EXPANDED it to other towns to try and find her the book THIS IS JUST <3333

Anyways, Lucy returns and reveals dozens of copies of the book...

My heart actually broke for her here because as someone who ig creates stuff as well, it really can be painful to have no audience interaction. And to have a book you wrote bomb like that...ouch... and of course she would've been excited, her best friends told her they found it interesting!!! my HEART. OUCH. and the sheer guilt on Natsu and Happy's faces here 😭 Once again, 100yq would've played this off for a gag...

And they all start bawling (and the ad comes in so I will stop there) but YEAH. THIS WAS SO BEAUTIFUL??? The way she's regretful too, the way they're still trying to apologize and make her feel better I'm :(. This is what makes nalu work and it feels like mashima is forgetting that ab his own work... they're both genuinely good and kind to each other... like not to get sidetracked but there has always been goofy fanservice moments but there were also so many wonderful, emotional, complex scenes with them with depth and maturity and I just feel like that's lacking now. So reading this was like getting punched in the face srsly because wow... THIS is the natsu I know and love ugh .....

[fleur-a-whump]

Overloaded (#4)

Rocky Reunions Pt. 1

Surprise! This shit went FAST.

Guys I’m so excited. Caretaker has joined the chat! Fair warning, our caretaker cusses like a sailor (aka I’m indulging my fondness for the word fuck)

CW: physical violence, electrocution, shock collar, hero whumper, ex-villain whumpee, veiled threats

previous | masterlist | next

Kai was idling in the hall, absolutely dreading the impending meeting. He knew it was important; knew the reasoning behind regular Hero League briefings. But they were just so boring.

He had sent his team ahead of him into the massive semi-circle auditorium that was currently filling to the brim with just about every hero in the League. If he already wasn’t looking forward to spending the whole meeting sitting still, he definitely didn’t feel like going in early and suffering small talk with teams he didn’t know.

He was planning to pace the hall just outside one of the main entrances until the meeting started, but the weird looks he’s getting combined with the cacophony of chattering heroes spilling out quickly becomes too much. He wanders deeper into the maze of hallways as he tries not to think about what the meeting will be about. He’s sure it will either stress him out or piss him off. Or both. That’s happened before.

There was a bathroom down this hallway. Figures he’d make his way to water. He lets his core pull him even closer, feeling the water flow all around him through the pipes. Kai turns the sink’s faucet just long enough to manipulate some water flow through the air. He sends it flying back and forth between and around his hands, playing with it like a fidget toy. The water flattens down to a thin disk between his hands before he pops it up to spin on the tip of his finger. It was his newest trick he’d been working on.

Kai is suddenly startled by a rough groan and a shaky, quiet voice exhaling a curse. The precarious disk splashes down over his hand as he loses his concentration. He shakes it off as he peeks down the bathroom corridor. The stalls are all open, but he can make out someone kneeling in the last one.

He sighs as he moves towards it, knowing he’ll probably regret it. He knocks lightly as he edges his way in.

“You good, man?” he calls.

The man kneeling in front of the toilet nods and takes a breath, only to lurch forward, dry heaving. He shudders violently in his crouched position, swaying.

Kai is behind him in a moment, steadying him by one shoulder. He stands there sort of awkwardly while he makes sure the dude isn’t about to crack his skull on the tile.

“Is, uh, is there anyone I could get to help you maybe?” he asks, equal parts concerned and uncomfortable.

It seems like the man hesitates before shaking his head. He spits into the toilet one last time before slowly, shakily rising to his feet. Kai backs off to give him space. He wipes his mouth and flushes the toilet before turning towards Kai.

Time seems to slow as the man turns towards him. Kai’s eyes narrow as he meets unmistakeable bright blue eyes and curly brown hair, mussed and sweaty but recognizable. Despite not wearing his typical gas mask-like villain disguise, Kai’s all but sure he’s looking at a notorious villain.

“Tinker?”

Tinker stiffens just slightly, enough to confirm Kai’s suspicions.

He lunges.

Two pipes on either side of the villain suddenly burst at the pull of the superhero’s powers. Water rushes fast and unforgiving, slamming into the villain’s chest with sufficient force to throw him into the tiled wall. Kai directs the water to pin and encase his charged hands for good measure. He lets out a strangled groan at the pain of being thrown into the wall and gasps to catch his breath.

“What the hell are you doing here?” Kai growls.

He lets out a breathy chuckle as he adapts to the situation, scrutinizing Kai for a moment. “Nalu! I missed you, man. Didn’t you miss me?” the villain jokes with a playful grin, only a slight strain to his words hinting at the immense pressure of water on his chest.

“I'm not fucking playing around, Tinker,” he snaps. “Look around. We're in a bathroom. I could drown you without even trying.” His powers pull at the water just beyond his fingertips, ratting the pipes and fixtures for good measure.

Tinker's grin melts off his face, just fast enough that Kai knows it was a front. “Look man, I'm supposed to be here. I promise, just ask Miguel Toro, ask Shadow.”

“How the fuck do you know that name?”

“I—because, dude!” Tinker bursts, then immediately flinches slightly at his own outburst. Kai raises an eyebrow at him, and Tinker sighs with another little groan.

“I-I know him because, I told you, I’m supposed to be here. I’m on his team,” Tinker says in measured words, clearly trying to control his frustration.

Kai glares down at him, trying to read the kid. He was a few inches shorter than Kai and looked skinnier than he’d last seen him. Dark circles like bruises stained his under his eyes, making his already intense blue eyes stand out even more. He’s slightly green still—a subtle sheen of sweat across his forehead—from being sick. From this close, he could just make out the faint edge of a bruised jaw and cheek covered with makeup. The kid doesn’t look too hot. Weird.

Most importantly, though, Kai can’t see any sign the villain is lying. He is a villain and being a good liar is practically Villain 101, but Kai can’t imagine how he could possibly know Shadow’s real name besides him now, bizarrely, being with the Hero League.

He sighs, easing back on the water pressure. Tinker drags in a deep breath.

“What do you mean you’re supposed to be here?” Kai prods.

“I’m—the new villain reform initiative, I’m the guinea pig. I came to the Hero League; they—they’re giving me a chance,” the villain says quietly.

Kai scrutinizes him one more moment before sighing and pulling the water away from. The kid slumps against the wall when he’s released, breathing heavily. If he didn’t know any better, he’d think Tinker was more hyperventilating with fear than anything else. But this is Psychosis’ protege; he’s one of the most notorious new villains in the city. He's bested Kai several times. There’s no way he’s that afraid.

Kai forces the water back into the pipes he burst, wincing slightly at the damage. Two very burst pipes and maybe a dozen destroyed tiles. Plus the holes in the wall. He might’ve gotten a little carried away again. He grabs the villain’s arm tightly, freezing the holes in the pipes shut and making a mental note to let his supervisor know. Mari was gonna kill him. Six pipes this month. He sighs and shakes his head.

“Come on, let’s go find Miguel,” Kai grinds out, frustrated that this was now his problem. He pulls the pliant villain out of the bathroom with a tight grip on his arm.

They make their way through the halls in tense silence, only occasionally interrupted by Kai’s huffing and annoyed grumbling as it takes longer and longer to find Miguel in the maze of hallways around the auditorium.

Kai is just about ready to start yelling again when he suddenly feels a sharp, painful jolt of electricity shoot up his arm. He swears loudly, dropping the villain’s arm as fast as he can. He’s about to burst some more pipes in preparation for a fight when he realizes Tinker has yelped in clear pain and completely collapsed to the ground. The kid’s muscles are so tense it looks painful as he twitches and groans on the floor.

What the fuck, Kai thinks.

He crouches next to the villain, who’s clearly in severe pain, not sure what to do. Since when did Tinker’s electricity hurt him? Kai’s seen him use his powers plenty of times before, and he’s never seen anything like this. Is this some kind of weird trap? He doesn’t touch the kid, not wanting to get shocked himself, but his hands hover over him, not sure what to do.

Eventually, it seems like the electricity that’s rendering the villain totally immobile subsides and he gasps, tears suddenly spilling over. He shakes and quivers through the aftershocks, gulping oxygen. His pain seems too genuine for this to be a trap.

He puts his hand on the kid’s arm and he flinches like he’s been burned. The kid whimpers in pain, eyes glazed over and not quite there. Kai realizes he’s mumbling something under his breath and leans closer. He can just barely make out what the kid is saying.

“I-I’ll be g-good, I’m sorry. I’m trying, p-please, I’m s-sorry,” he stutters.

Kai grabs his arms a little more firmly this time and doesn’t let go even when the villain flinches again. He shakes the trembling kid lightly, trying to get him to snap out of it.

“Tinker? Come on, man. What the hell is going on?”

Tinker’s eyes eventually clear. He blinks up at Kai—so openly vulnerable and confused and scared that it startles him. He’s not sure what to do with that, so he decides to focus on anchoring Tinker in the moment, clearing his throat.

“There you are. You good?”

Tinker gives him a hesitant and shaky nod that’s not really convincing. Kai watches as the kid blinks a few times and a clearly well-practiced mask slips into place, hiding the raw emotions he just witnessed. He struggles to push himself into a sitting position, and Kai helps him sit up.

“What the fuck was that?” Kai asks when he seems more lucid.

“Uh, it’s—well, it’s a warning. Miguel must be l-looking for me. I-I have to get back to him, like now,” he says, a little panicked.

He struggles to his feet before Kai can do anything to help. He has to stand quickly himself to steady the villain before he crashes to the floor again. His steps are clumsy and unsteady, but urgent as he looks around, trying to find his way back to Miguel.

Kai hurries after him, even more confused and alarmed now.

“Wait, what the fuck do you mean ‘a warning’? Was that not your powers?”

Tinker shakes his head, pulling the collar of his shirt to the side wordlessly to expose a thin metal ring around his neck. Like a collar.

“Again, and I cannot stress this enough, what the fuck?” Kai exclaims.

The villain shakes his head, dismissing Kai’s question, and suddenly lets out a very relieved sigh when he peaks around the corner.

“Miguel! I’m right here!”

Kai follows after the villain, now jogging towards Toro.

Miguel does not look happy. “Get the fuck over here, Jasper. Where the hell did you go?”

Jasper? Kai thinks. It’s strange to think of the villain as anything other than his villain moniker.

Jasper slows slightly, nerves returning to his shaking frame. “I-I’m sorry, I’m really sorry, I was sick and, and then, uh,” he breaks off, looking back pleadingly at Kai for support.

Kai’s really not sure why he opens his mouth. But he does.

“Yeah, I, uh, held him up. That’s my bad.” It wasn’t technically a lie. He fixes his gaze on the team leader, “Um, he’s on your team, Miguel?” he asks.

“We’re keeping an eye on him.”

Kai could swear he sees Jasper deflate a little out of the corner of his eye.

“You’re getting ready to hear about it. Why don’t you head in to sit with your team, Kai? We’ve gotta go get Tinker here set up,” Miguel says, stiffly, grabbing Jasper’s arm tightly and starting to tug him away.

Jasper looks back at him once more, gratefulness and something else hard to read, something maybe like resigned fear, swirling in his eyes.

Kai watches the pair go, Miguel pulling Jasper close by the collar of his shirt as he drags him down the hall, whispering something sharp and terse in his ear. The villain tenses, stiff but yet still pliant in Miguel’s grip.

Kai sighs to himself.

What the fuck.

~~~

Grumpy caretaker is grumpy! Not sure when or how that happened because I really didn’t plan on him being grumpy he just kinda manifested that way lmao. He a little confused but he’ll get the spirit I promise. Elijah might have to bully him into it a little bit tho.

tags!! hello again!! I love you!! I hope this actually works this time!! lmk if you wanna be added or removed anytime :)

@whumpsday @sergeant-jasper @watermelons-dont-grow-on-trees @crystalrose141 @aloafofbreadwithanxiety

@paingoes @elizaisnotokay @quaggasus @defire @tonystark604

@writereleaserepeat @whump-queen @clickerflight @gliittergelpens @kawaii-cakes

@whump-in-a-million @scoundrelwithboba

[bubblez-bubble]

If I could I would like to talk about the very second "nalu moment" in the series that takes place in episode 2. (The first I would like to believe is him telling her he's taking her to fairy tail.)

But this moment...

This was a major nalu moment for 2 reasons, 1 way more obvious than the other.

So let's start with the obvious.

First of all, for those who haven't made it to the grand magic games arc for any reason...

MAJOR SPOILER WARNING!

This is how Natsu remembered this moment. Which automatically gives it points for NaLu.

If you recall, towards the end of the grand magic games arc when the dragons attacked, Lucy was targeted by future rogue. Future Lucy, however, used her body as a shield and saved present Lucy's life. We then find out that the way we initially thought Natsu would remember the moment she officially joined was not how he remembered it at all, but instead remembered it as what seems to have been one of his core Lucy memories.

But I have a theory as well.

Here we can see that Lucy's favorite colors are pink and blue. However, unlike everyone else in the guild. Her outfit nor hair even once match her guild mark (with the exception of pajamas). Gray usually wears black pants to match his, erza wears a blue skirt to match hers, wendy wears blue in every outfit to match hers, and even natsu at least once wore red to match his, which if I'm being honest the color of his guild mark could have more to do with igneel seeing as his scales are red, but that's a totally different topic for another time. But lucy primarily wears blue and white. Neither of which is the color of her guild mark.

Why is this important?

As you may have guessed it has to do with my personal theory.

Does anyone remember how excited she was to show her guild mark to Natsu specifically? The moment she had it she ran to him to show him without hesitation.

I promise there's a reason for all these points.

Well my personal theory has to do with her guild mark, if that wasn't obvious already.

Again several times with everyone else in the guild we see them wear outfits to match their guild marks, but the only outfit lucy has ever matched with her guild mark was her pajamas.

So why did she choose a pink guild mark?

My theory is...

Because it matches Natsu's hair!

He was the first one she wanted to show her guild mark to.

He was the one that brought her to fairy tail.

AND he saved her from bora and his men!

To me, this was her way of showing her appreciation for Natsu.

And to me this also ties in with the "natsus core memory" bit.

Another headcanon is he remembered this because this moment touched him. He was the first person she wanted to show and her guild mark is the same color as his hair. To him, seeing her guild mark for the first time could've meant the world to him. But they just met so he couldn't let her know that.

It's just my personal little theory/head-canon. But it's still so cute none the less to think that this might be a possibility.

[fabuloustrash05]

Some of my Favorite Nalu moments 🩷💛

Cause I’ve been rewatching Fairy Tail and also checking out 100 Year Quest and it’s been taking me back to when I was in middle obsessing over them. Btw this is in no particular order.

1. When Lucy was taken hostage by the royal guards, the guild had to tie Natsu to a pillar to prevent him from going after her and causing chaos

2. Some dude mistaking Wendy as Natsu and Lucy’s daughter, then Natsu proceeding to ask Lucy what there kids would look like 🤣🤣

3. That entire ep where Lucy thought Natsu was going to confess his feelings to her (turns out he just needed her help to dig a hole 💀)

4. Natsu becoming E.N.D. because Lucy “died” 😭💔

5. When captured my Phantom Lord, Lucy jumped off a high building trusting/knowing that Natsu will be there to catch her (he did)

6. Virgo giving them matching celestial outfits ✨

7. Natsu stealing the town’s rainbow sakura tree and putting it in front of Lucy’s apartment so she could see it when she was stuck in bed sick 🥰

8. Lucy rewriting E.N.D. to save Natsu (risking her own life in the process)

9. Literally anytime Natsu gives Lucy his scarf (he hates it when people touch his scarf but she’s always the exception)

10. Natsu running to catch Lucy as she fell from the sky after the Infinity Clock was destroyed

11. Natsu showing Lucy the stars in the Dragon Cry movie

12. Asuka asking Natsu and Lucy to kiss each other (she’s a shipper like us 😂) and Natsu actually willing to go through with it.

Bonus: Edo Natsu and Lucy literally being married and they have a daughter together!! 😭💞 (Natsu, your freaking counterpart is beating you, step up your game!!)

[beargyufairy]

It’s the little things…

(Natsu should just confess already!! Protecting his girl from the rain!! Like what a gentleman!!)

[starswritewhispers]

Sharing Smoke- Nalu

A03

Natsu had seen a lot of different traditions and hobbies during his travels for missions He still could taste the bitter rage coating his tongue when some wizards decided to greet Lucy with a kiss on either cheek, and the bottled mirth when Gray took a shot of something that apparently tasted like ‘liquid death’.

So yeah, he’s seen it all.

Currently, they were all at a bar, attempting to gain intel—or at least, Erza and Lucy were trying to gain intel— Natsu was trying to find some more liquid death for Gray to try.

“You try it,” Gray argued back, lips curling into a sneer that usually meant Natsu was being set up for a trap.

Jokes on him, Natsu had grown and matured and would never fall for any of his shit again.

“Unless,” The corner of Gray’s lips turned up into a taunting smile. “You’re scared you can’t handle it.”

Damn it.

“Give me the fucking drink, ice for brains.”

Gray’s grin turned devious and Natsu almost regretted his decision as he accepted he shot. He risked quick glance around the bar, checking for Erza, before raising it to his lips and tossing it back.

“What are you doing?” The red haired bringer of death demanded from behind him, making Natsu choke on the drink already trying to murder him.

It tasted as if Zeref himself had made a shot specifically to torture Natsu and now it was stuck in his throat as he relentlessly gasped for air. He could hear Erza’s lecture and Gray’s laughter as he doubled over, pounding a fist against his chest.

After a few prolonged moments of pain, he regained himself, glaring at Gray.

“You—“

“Do not start a fight,” Erza warned, glaring at the two boys dangerously. “Not our bar.”

Natsu glowered but sighed, accepting the glass of water Gray slid his way and practically chugging it.

“Where’s Lucy?” He asked once his airway was sufficiently cleared. “You guys find a lead?”

Erza nodded, motioning her head outside. “Check to see what she’s found out, would you?”

Natsu grumbled, but pushed himself out of his chair and followed Ezra’s directions out of the door regardless. He blinked, taking a moment to get used to the shitty lighting before his eyes landed on the familiar blonde. A smile quickly took over his face as he walked over, easily slinging an arm across her shoulder.

“Hey Natsu,” she greeted, without turning to face him. He felt something preen within him at the knowledge that she knew it was him by touch alone, but ignored it.

Acknowledging it wouldn’t get their mission done any faster. The only thing it’d accomplish in speeding up is ruining the best thing to ever happen to Natsu. So, he ignored it.

“Where’s our guy?” He asked, frowning when he noticed how strong the wind had grown to be. It didn’t bother him, but he knew Lucy was far more sensitive to weather than he was, so he quickly pulled her closer to his chest. It earned him a hum of appreciation as she subtly pointed the man out. “Who is that?” He asked, noticing the second figure leaning close to the man.

They were passing a cigarette—no, it was too large to a cigarette, and didn’t quite seem to be a cigar— he searched his brain through useless tidbits of information Gray had given him as he watched the scene.

“I think his girlfriend,” Lucy answered, something almost wistful in her tone. “They came in together.”

A joint!

Lucy’s words registered and Natsu’s moment of success quickly wore off as he looked at her. The guy they were tailing was nobody, surely Lucy wasn’t jealous of his girlfriend. He huffed rather than respond and turned his focus back to the scene.

The man had taken a large drag from the joint, his hand that wasn’t wrapped aorund the woman’s waist gently moving to cradle her head to angle it. Natsu could make out the woman’s slow, hazy smile, in the flickering lights before the man leaned forward to connect their lips, the smoke clearly passing between them.

Natsu watched the scene, feeling transfixed as the couple finally broke apart, the woman breathing out the man’s smoke. She leaned forward, pressing her head against his chest as the two laughed. An odd feeling settled in Natsu’s gut as he forced his gaze again, eyes settling on Lucy again.

She had the same expression on her face, not quite longing but something so similar to his own churning emotions that he grit his teeth.

To be brave or to not be brave.

To risk change and loss or to not.

“We should try that,” Natsu decided firmly, turning to face her.

“What?” Lucy stumbled at how fast she had turned around, her voice coming out a squeak. Natsu frowned, watching her reaction carefully. “We don’t have anything to smoke, dork.”

“I can make fire and smoke, weirdo,” he countered, crossing his arms stubbornly. “It looks fun.”

“It’s not just smoke,” Lucy began to explain, but Natsu was already focusing on his own smoke. Obviously, he knew there was a drug involved. “The point is to get high—“ He cut her off by pressing his lips against hers.

He knew that too.

His method of getting high was just slightly different.

His arms encircled Lucy and he felt her relax in his arms as she slowly opened her mouth to accept the smoke.

It burned.

She was the one swallowing smoke, but it felt like he was chugging liquid sunlight. So warm it was burning his throat on the way down, but so good that he couldn’t bring himself to stop.

After a blissful moment, they part, foreheads resting against each other as the smoke curls from Lucy’s mouth.

“Seems like the same point,” he murmurs, risking a glance up at the girl that held his heart and so much more in her hands.

She was smiling.

The world could’ve ended in that moment and all that would matter would’ve been Lucy’s smile.

“The guild owes me so much money,” a gleeful voice interrupted their bliss and Natsu whirled around to meet a grinning Gray.

“I,” Natsu decided, taking a dangerous step forward as smoke curled off his fingertips, “Am gonna kill you.”

“Sorry, man,” Gray answered, a shit eating grin taking over his face. “I’m taken, can’t share your smoke.”

Natsu lunged for him, ignoring Erza’s yelling, a wild grin on his face.

Sometimes, he really loved his family.

[tokkias]

and some part of me came alive the first time you called me baby ship: natsu dragneel x lucy heartfilia summary: The thing with living a sheltered life is that when you’re finally on your own to live your life, you experience your firsts in a way that is a little less than conventional. Lucy's relationship with Natsu has always been a little unconventional but shifting from friends to something more has probably been the most normal thing about it. They're both a little romantically inexperienced but she knows there's no one she would rather share her firsts with than him. ao3

Nalu Week 2024 Day 2: Firsts

The thing with living a sheltered life is that when you’re finally on your own to live your life, you experience your firsts in a way that is a little less than conventional.

Lucy’s lived an abnormal life in every sense of the word. From heiress to guild wizard, she’s experienced things from two vastly different walks of life that most people can only dream of. While she has spent her life doing the extravagant, the daring, and the fantastical, little of her time has been spent doing the mundane. She doesn’t regret the life she’s chosen for herself, but some days, as she walks into her adult life as a twenty-something-year-old without having experienced some of what she had expected from her teen years, she wonders if she has been missing out.

Guild life makes her much too busy to find love, she discovers quickly, and getting a boyfriend falls to the wayside for the first few years in Fairy Tail. She doesn’t have the time to think about love and romance of her own when she’s busy fighting in wars and saving the world. While perhaps a younger Lucy would have been devastated heading into 20 without so much as having kissed a boy, those concerns felt trivial compared to all the things she had faced since leaving the Heartfilia estate she once called home.

Perhaps one day, in another timeline, missing out on those teenage firsts would be something that she would come to regret, but here, in this timeline, knowing who she gets to experience those firsts with, she knows she wouldn’t want it any other way.

The knock on her apartment door comes just as she’s putting on her lip gloss, and the timing couldn’t be any more perfect.

“Coming!” She calls out as she puts on her final touches.

That doesn’t seem to be enough for the man on the other side of the door, as he continues to rap at it, louder and more annoying this time.

“I said I’m coming!”

With a quick smack of her lips in the mirror, Lucy makes her way to the door, opening it to be met with Natsu on the other side. He doesn’t usually dignify her with knocking, but this is a special occasion, denoted by the way he’s donned in the single button down he owns and the droopy bouquet of flowers he holds in his hand.

“Hi,” she says, her cheeks set with a rising blush.

It’s just Natsu, but the circumstances are different from every other time he’s shown up at her front door, and even though she’s spent all afternoon trying to calm her nerves, she can’t help the way that her heart begins to beat faster in her chest at the sight of him.

“Hey,” he replies, and she swears that she sees the heat rise in his cheeks too.

It falls quiet between them for a moment as they both figure out what to say. Lucy purses her lips.

It’s just Natsu, she repeats to herself. It’s just Natsu.

This is the man she’s spent almost every day with since leaving home, her best friend in the whole world, and it shouldn’t be weird just because they’re going on a date.

It’s a long time coming, or so everyone around them says. It feels inevitable in some ways—not because he’s a guy and girls and guys can’t be as close as they are without falling in love, but because he’s Natsu. He’s certainly not the prince charming she had always imagined herself with, but now she can’t imagine herself with anyone else.

Now, as he stands at her door, ready for their first date, it feels like something that was always meant to be is coming to fruition.

“I got you these,” he says, holding the flowers out to her, his gaze flicking away bashfully for just a moment.

A few of them are a little droopy, and you can see at the bottom of the stems where they’ve been pulled from the ground, but it doesn’t matter because it’s a thoughtful gesture that’s getting their date started on the right foot.

“I saw 'em, and they made me think of you.”

It’s an assortment of pinks with a few white and pink petals in there too, and it’s all so sweet and so perfectly Natsu that all the nerves and embarrassment that had bubbled up below the surface dissipated in an instant. He grins at her with that wide smile that he always has, and she knows that there was never any reason to worry in the first place.

The gentle rush of the river besides them is a familiar sound, as is the soft blanket beneath them, but the way her head rests in Natsu’s lap and his fingers run through her hair is all new to both of them.

She can count on one hand the number of real first dates she’s been on, and she can safely assume that Natsu has been on even fewer, but somehow not even their combined lack of experience makes things awkward. It feels like the natural progression of things, like the soft tenderness and intimacy, is what has always been missing from their relationship.

That doesn’t mean it comes easy. It’s awkward for the first few moments as they try to figure out where boundaries lie, what makes this different from every other picnic by the river, and what lines they can or cannot cross. They hold hands on the way there, but Lucy’s flushing so hard that she can’t even look at him until he finally lets go to set out their blanket. She can see the implication of a blush on his face when he looks her way, and it makes her feel better to know that she’s not the only one who feels this way.

Awkward small talk, as though they hadn’t been best friends for years before now, quickly transitions into the same comfortable banter that they have become so accustomed to. It feels strangely… normal, like just any other day for them; the event only differentiated by their semi-formal attire and hand-picked flowers held in plastic picnic cups.

Had you asked her a few years ago, normal would not be the word she would have wanted to describe her first date as, but nowadays, Lucy’s normal is a bit different and everything she would have wanted it to be. When their post-lunch walk down the river ends with a splash, she can’t quite find it in herself to be upset.

☆☆☆

There’s a period of awkwardness that Lucy feels at the beginning of the relationship when it comes to affection. Natsu has always been a handsy guy, but the transition from years of fighting off his affections to suddenly accepting them doesn’t come as easy to her as it does him. They move at her pace, which Natsu is happy to comply with, even if it might be slower than one expects.

The first few weeks, they don’t push it further than hand-holding and the occasional arm around the waist. It breaks new ground when she finally initiates cuddles on the couch, and Natsu quite literally welcomes it with open arms. Cheek kisses aren’t uncommon for them, usually initiated by Lucy. She’s not quite sure if she’s ready to commit to the lips yet.

A first kiss is special, and even though she knows she’s found the right person, she doesn’t know if she’s found the right time yet. She wants it to be magical and romantic, like it reads in every romance novel she’s read. She wants to feel fireworks in her chest, and she wouldn’t be mad if there were real fireworks too. She’s planned a million and one scenarios in her head; it’s just a matter of which one she wants to play out in real life.

They’re still not quite there yet, but Natsu is content to have his arms wrapped around her as they laze around on the couch together. What began as his desire for her touch as she quietly read eventually transitioned into tangled limbs and soft affections. His hand gently rubs up and down her side—an action she has grown quite fond of since he first did it—and she listens intently as he tells her some story of a job he and Happy recently went on without her. She likes listening to him talk, enjoys it when he gets excited about the things he’s telling her. His passion is one of the things that draws her to him, and she’s lucky to see that the flame inside him never dwindles. He’s so cute in moments like this that it just makes her heart ache.

In a moment of infatuation, she leans over to press her lips against his cheek, the way she has become increasingly accustomed to in the past few weeks. She aims just above the line of his jaw, but going that low proves her fatal flaw, as in that very moment Natsu turns his head and she finds her lips accidentally pressing against his.

The feeling of it practically has her jumping out of her skin, and she immediately pulls away in shock. The action seemingly catches Natsu off guard too, based on the wide-eyed look he gives her when she desperately pulls herself away from his grasp.

“What the hell?” he says to her, bewildered. “If you wanted to kiss, you could have just asked.”

“T-that wasn’t what I was trying to do!” She exclaims.

Her cheeks are flushed a deep red, and she doesn’t have to see it to know because she can feel the heat spread across her face. Her heart is pumping so fast, and her entire body is filled with adrenaline to the point where it takes her a moment to process what just happened.

“I was trying to kiss your cheek, and then you turned around, and I accidentally kissed your lips!” She tries to explain, but the words tumble out of her mouth haphazardly, and she can only hope that Natsu understands.

It might possibly be the most mortifying moment of her entire life, and even as she stutters out her explanation, she can’t quite find it in herself to meet Natsu’s gaze.

There are no take-backs on first kisses, so instead she just has to accept the highly characteristic one she got and hope that maybe part two will be more characteristic of her than him. She will get over it someday, but she just needs to mope about it for now.

☆☆☆

The feeling of her nails dragging along Natsu’s scalp elicits a contented whine from his lips that gets swallowed up by Lucy’s own. His hands rest on her back, holding her close to him as they rest chest against chest. Their legs are intertwined in the sheets, while their lips meld against each other.

She’s past the point of being shy about it, much to Natsu’s delight. She had quickly come to learn that kisses are Natsu’s favourite form of affection, from gentle pecks to something a little more involved, like now. He’s a little bit sloppy, a little bit primal, but behind closed doors, it’s something she’s grown to love because it is so quintessentially Natsu.

In a moment of fervour, he bites down on her lip, and it’s enough to have her jolting back from the kiss. It was ever so gentle, but she can taste the blood drawn from her lip and feel the small wound as she runs her tongue over the affected area. He seems to notice her affliction, and a look of soft guilt crosses his face.

“Sorry,” he murmurs, and he leans back in to kiss it better.

He’s softer and gentler this time, littering her bottom lip with lots of small kisses. It makes her smile, and he takes that as permission to return to their steady pace of fingers tangled in hair and crescent moons marked on skin.

His chest presses against hers, and in the moment they both fall backwards, her back hitting the mattress and Natsu on top of her. It’s not a position they’ve never been in before, so it doesn’t change the pace or interrupt their rhythm. An earlier Lucy, a much more innocent, inexperienced Lucy, may have been mortified by their current position, but the current Lucy, the one locking lips with her lover, doesn’t seem to mind all that much.

He's a little more handsy than he usually is, but she chalks it up to a growth in his confidence. She’s not the only one learning things in this relationship. Each day together, Natsu learns more about love, affection, what he likes, dislikes. He may be more eager to jump in the deep end than she is, but that doesn’t mean he knows how to swim.

His hands explore beneath the hem of her shirt—not uncharted territory, but somehow this time it feels more intentional than the last. There’s a sense of hesitancy that she feels when he pulls away for just a second, but when she grabs his hair and pulls him back down, he lets them roam along mazes of scars on her soft, supple waist.

A surge of confidence must overcome him when his fingers dip below her waistband. A surge of something else must overcome her when she doesn’t stop him.

In the moment, all of it feels so natural to her that it almost doesn’t occur to her the step that they’re taking. Even when it sinks in as his jacket falls over his shoulders, she makes no move to stop it. There’s a part of her that’s scared of the ritual, years of fear instilled into her in whispers of shame, but when Natsu looks down at her with adoring eyes, any apprehension melts away in an instant.

She doesn’t mind if it’s with her best friend.

☆☆☆

There are many milestones one hits in a new relationship, but as Lucy finds out, not all of them are exactly ones that one might want to experience.

Disagreements between her and Natsu are not uncommon. They’re two very different people who both have very different ways of doing things, and while that is something that often brings the two together, sometimes it causes them to butt heads. It’s small things, mostly things that are generally inconsequential, that they can move on from rather quickly. They’ve been friends long enough that a minor disagreement isn’t going to cause any type of long-term fracture, but as Lucy comes to find out, not all disagreements are minor.

It happens for the first time a few months into the relationship after they have been lulled into a false sense of security that nothing could possibly go wrong.

She doesn’t remember what prompted it really. It happens in a blur of dirty dishes and unfinished laundry, and it feels like it’s all too much and yet nothing at all, but before she can even process it, they’re standing in her kitchen arguing like they’ve never done before.

Her nails dig into the palm of her hand, leaving crescent moon-shaped indents as she balls her hands up in fists by her side. Her hand quivers slightly in anger, but she tries to hold it in because, even though she’s frustrated, she doesn’t want to be angry at Natsu. 

His arms are folded across his chest defensively, and his gaze can’t quite meet hers when she speaks to him. He doesn’t quite look like he’s even listening to her, and that kindles the flame of her discomposure even more. Though he starts out angry, he quickly shifts to disconnected and dismissive, and any attempt at productive conversation is dashed in that moment, and frustration boils over. She’s sure she’s drawn blood from the way she clenches her fist to try to stop the tears from falling, because she is not about to cry in front of Natsu over some stupid argument. Instead, she turns on her foot and leaves, cutting their argument off in its tracks.

To try and centre herself, she lets herself get lost in the ink of her journal to give them both space, but by the time she comes back to reality with the intention of smoothing things over, Natsu is nowhere to be found in the apartment.

It’s not like she’s necessarily surprised by it. Natsu’s never been good with emotional confrontation, but for some reason, looking over her shoulder from her desk to not see him there makes her heart ache.

She’s not even mad anymore; she just misses him.

It’s in that moment that she lets herself cry for letting this happen because, god, she loves him so much, and it shatters her heart that they can let something as stupid as this get between them. Her heart aches in her chest, but the only thing she knows can fix it is Natsu’s arms around her, and he’s not here, so instead she tries to find his comfort in the pillow on her bed that smells just like him.

The rest of the day is wasted away in tears until the evening, when a knock on the door draws her out of her self-pity.

Natsu’s attempt at reconciliation comes with the same droopy, handpicked flowers that he came with for their first date, and she meets him with all the love in her heart when her lips meet his.

When he sleeps on the couch that night, so does she.

☆☆☆

Lucy thought she already understood the phrase time flies when you’re having fun, but it doesn’t quite hit her until she’s flipping the page of their shared calendar and she finds a date marked in red. Scrawled in Natsu’s handwriting reads an almost legible anniversary, and for the first time, the passage of time smacks Lucy in the face like it never has before.

It feels like an eternity and a single day all wrapped up in one. The fact that it’s nearly been a whole year they’ve been together together doesn’t quite feel real because, on one hand, it feels like it only began yesterday, but on the other, it feels like it’s always been like this. She feels like perhaps she can attribute both to the long game of will-they-won’t-they that had them teetering on the verge for far too long.

It becomes real when they’re holding hands walking down the bank of the very same river they found themselves at one year ago today. Their hands swing between them, and the conversation flows between them as naturally as the water through the river besides them. He makes some stupid comment, and she laughs like it’s the funniest thing she’s ever heard, and he looks at her with such adoration in his eyes that one might think he’s falling in love with her all over again.

When he spots a stray flower sprouting among the grass, he gets on his knees and plucks it from the ground to give to her, and it’s just as romantic as the first time he did it. He collects each flower they pass until she’s got a whimsical bouquet in all the colours of the rainbow.

When sunset finally comes upon them and they make their way home, her anniversary bouquet is given a special spot in her apartment in memory of today. They sit proudly on display in a small vase by her bed to greet her every morning with the sunrise until they simply cannot any longer. The flutter of petals to the floor doesn’t bring her down because she knows inevitably they’ll be replaced with new ones, accompanied by the same grin she’s grown so fond of, plastered across Natsu’s face. A flower may not last a year, but she knows their love will last many more, and that’s enough for her.

As she watches Natsu make himself comfortable in her bed, she reflects back on the past year and thinks about how this is only the beginning. This is the start of what she knows is going to be the rest of her life, and when he catches her eye and smiles at her with all the love in the world, she knows that in finding her first, she’s also found her last, and she wouldn’t want it any other way.