"And he did what?! No, stop lying!"

"I'm dead serious!" Natsu laughed, seeing her crack a wide smile from his story.

After reluctantly pausing their dance, he'd taken Lucy away on a slow walk just by themselves. The peaceful, soothing aura of the late night with no interruptions to follow.

Or so he hoped.

There were occasionally a couple passing by, doing the same romantic walk next to the waters by the dock. Lucy thought it was cute how people managed to throw lights up on the boats, the night seeming brighter than usual.

On the way, they'd stopped to look at the gorgeous night scenery, having small conversation.

"I've never been to anything like this, it's truly amazing to experience." Lucy said, watching the lights reflect off the gentle movements from the water.

As she dazed ahead, she clearly was oblivious to the gaze he had on her. His eyes could show the hidden feelings ignited, the window to the core of his soul.

"I'm glad I was part of it." Natsu said. He swallowed the nervous lump in his throat, twiddling his fingertips together anxiously.

Lucy turned her head to see his enchanting gaze, her heart almost jumping from her chest. She recognized what his eyes silently spoke, every refined detail from the haziness of gray enlightened.

"You said you wanted to tell me something later," Lucy said, gently smiling. "You can tell me anything."

"Yeah, I do have to say somethin' to ya." Natsu practically blurted out, his eyebrows scrunching nervously. The more he thought about it, the more true the feelings were overwhelming inside of him.

'I have to tell her...I can't keep my feelings a secret from her anymore.' Natsu reminded himself. The more time passed, she was clearly on his mind frequently, longer periods of her beautiful image.

He peeked at Lucy, who was still patiently waiting to hear his answer. "Luce, I..." Natsu started, already tongue-twisted with his words.

Lucy took his hand in hers for comfort, as if it could somehow ease him. "There's no need to be nervous." She said, her bell-like voice a soothing chord.

Larger fingers slowly intertwined with her slim fingers, not realizing that simple touch made both of their hearts go wild.

Natsu slowly inhaled, taking one last calming breath. "I don't know where to start, but..." a silence passed over them as his mind raced to think of any sentences to describe the fire burning in his heart for her. "..You've become a person who's very important to me."

Lucy's eyes widened, black pupils expanding in surprise from the unexpected turn of vibes.

Natsu didn't face her, looking at a random spot towards the water. "I didn't expect you to be the center of my life right now."

'The center..of his life...' Lucy looked towards her feet, a true rose tinting her brightened cheeks.

"There's this type of happiness I can't really describe, like--I can't stop smiling when you're with me," Natsu chuckled, his thin lips forming a goofy grin, "or whenever I think about you."

He turned to see her eyes shining up at him, some sort of magic within the shimmering cocoa shades that boosted the confidence in his gut. "The thing is, I can't stop thinkin' about you."

A stinging sensation prickled her eyes, a lightly quivering smile formed with her cherry red lips. Everything he was saying out loud were her exact thoughts about him.

"I feel the same."

Natsu spun his head faster than in his whole life, a sudden wave of excitement flourishing his body. "Please tell me you meant that, Luce, don't be lyin' to me."

"I'm not lying, I promise." Lucy smiled, taking a step in to gently lean against his side.

Natsu's gaze softened, his thumping heart burning hotter every second. She looked up, suddenly feeling the emotions flickering in his warm, gray eyes more intensely. A secret message she longed to hear was hidden underneath, or if she was imagining, hallucinating even.

From the touch like a gazelle, Natsu couldn't comprehend how much of an effect she had on him; it was soothing but in constant need of it more. She was perfect. He wanted her to be perfect with him.

Not Gray, not Sting, just him.

He wondered what she felt when she's near him.

"In the beginning, there was a lot I noticed about you, but I started to feel these--this feeling," Natsu said, pointing to his chest where his heart was placed. "And it's so weird, but I really like it at the same time."

He didn't notice how breathless his words left Lucy. The way he described it was childishly adorable, but it was real.

A glassy, sheerness glazed her warm ember-brown eyes, gazing at every angle of his perplexed face from the side.

"I'm sounding like an idiot, aren't I?" Natsu blushed, mentally scramming at himself for rambling.

Lucy shook her head, finally meeting his eyes once again. "No, not at all."

Natsu's heart slammed in his chest after seeing her gaze again, easily noticing the different shimmers of hope that swirled. Nothing was sweeter than dazing into her rich-chocolate eyes, with the distraction of soft ruby red lips he wanted bad.

"I see you differently, and it's to the point I can't take it any longer," Natsu said, letting his arm secure around her waist. "I don't care if you're a mermaid or if I'm a pirate, I--I need you."

As Lucy looked upon in his perfect gray eyes glistening with a deeper, meaningful gaze, she almost didn't believe it was real. She couldn't look away from him, noticing his eyes shift slightly down.

Her other hand reached up to his cheek. "Thank you. You've given me everything I need and so much more." Lucy smiled, blinking to keep the tears from ruining her makeup.

Natsu leaned closer, noticing that her eyes were glimmering in happiness. She was an angel, and three words echoed in his mind in that rare moment.

'I love her.'

"Lucy..." He started, his voice going soft. "I--"

There were mere inches apart; Lucy silently begging to hear his words. "Natsu.." She softly said, her heart thumping awaiting for him.

"I lo-"

"Gray-sama! There you are!"

"Juvia-! Shh, oh I'm screwed--we are screwed."

Natsu felt his blood boiling as he and Lucy snapped back to see the two other mages nearby them. "What the fuck do you want?" He hissed between his gritted teeth, his hot glare invisibly melting Gray's frozen stature.

"I was just passing by--and I stumbled to see you and Lucy and I didn't want to...interrupt?" Gray said, making up the words. In fact, he was clearly watching them from a distance for a few minutes until Juvia had tracked him down.

"Juvia can't lose Gray-sama!" Juvia chirped, lunging onto his arm and hugging it close to her chest. Perhaps a little too close for the ice mage's comfort. "The festival's almost over, so we can't waste any time!"

Lucy felt the angry heat wavering off of his body. It got to the point where his arm started to burn her exposed back, taking a step back and slightly wincing from it.

Natsu quickly turned back to see her expand their gap, subtle pain written on her face. He looked down at his hand to see it was smoking.

His eyes expanded twice the size, a pang of regret wringing his chest. "Lucy! I'm sorry, I'm so sorry--I never meant to hurt you!"

"I-It's okay, I'll be alright. It just stings a bit." Lucy said, smiling to somehow cover up how much it really hurt.

"Here, I assume you'll need some ice because this idiot can't control his stupid fire power." Gray said, sending a smirk to Natsu as he placed his cold hand on her smooth skin.

The cooling sensation tingled her skin, admittedly feeling much better to have her burn iced. "Thank you, Gray." She said, hugging her arms.

"You're welcome." Gray replied, glancing to see the Captain infuriated with disgust--in both the ice mage and himself.

Natsu clenched his fists until his knuckles splotched pure white. Frustrated tears prickled his eyes, refusing to let untamed flames burst from his body. Nothing could've taken the worst toll than to almost confess that was broken, leading to him burning her.

"I said I was sorry," Natsu said grittily, every muscle in his body tensed up. "I wouldn't ever hurt her on purpose."

"You still did it! Juvia's worried about Love Rival." Juvia said, standing next to her beloved Gray.

"You're really stupid, sorry we interrupted your moment." Gray added, the sarcasm clearly hinted in his voice.

Lucy furrowed her brows, a sudden ting of annoyance striking her. "He's not stupid, nor an idiot." She said, pushing away his hand from her back.

The other three all raised their eyebrows in surprise from her tone of voice.

Gray gulped, shocked by her sudden change of attitude. "Sorry," He mumbled, reaching out for her again. "But your back still needs icing from him-"

"Don't touch me," Lucy said, taking a step towards Natsu. "It was an accident caused by you, so I'm not the one to apologize to." Her glare shocked everyone; they've never seen her annoyed at anything before.

Natsu glanced back between the two, his gaze softening. "Luce.." She was siding with him, feeling only more the attraction for her grow.

Gray sputtered, having no words. He ran a hand through his hair, his cockiness earlier towards his Captain send karma slapping him in the face. "I'll talk later." He roughly said, quickly taking his leave with Juvia on his side.

Lucy heavily sighed through her nose, holding herself tighter. She was shocked herself from getting riled up, but she couldn't let someone mouth off him.

"Thank you," Natsu said. He sadly looked at the slight red mark shaped like his hand, tracing it with his fingertips. "And I'm sorry, I didn't mean to hurt you."

Lucy smiled up at him, shaking her head. "I know you didn't mean to, it's okay." She gazed up to see his onyx eyes flickering with different emotions, feeling his gentle touch against her skin.

"Hey Natsu, what were you going to say earlier?" Lucy quickly asked. She reached out and grabbed his hand. "I know we got interrupted but I still care."

"Huh? Oh, oh--" Natsu gulped, pausing for a moment to jumble words. "I was saying that I loved dancing with you!" He awkwardly chuckled, rubbing the back of his neck.

Lucy's hopes dropped inside. "Oh...well me too." She softly replied, her gaze saddening.

Natsu immediately noticed her body language drop, the glisten disappearing from her eyes. His mind boggled for a second. 'Does she...feel the same..?'

No, she couldn't, not for him.

"Thank you for one of the best nights I've had."

Natsu met her gaze, falling into another trance. "C'mon, it's pretty late, and I'm pretty tired."

The Captain kept hold of her hand as they walked back to the ship, the only thoughts on their mind were about each other.

After Natsu settled into bed, he noticed that she'd been in the bathroom for a while now. "Luce? You okay?" He called out, sitting upright.

"Y-Yeah, I'm fine." Lucy replied, her voice nervously wavering. She glanced back in the mirror, looking at her now bare-face from taking her makeup off.

Was she still pretty without it?

Self-conscious thoughts continued to bug her mind as she brushed her curly hair again, the soft rings cascading down her upper body.

After another longing few minutes, Lucy silently closed the bathroom door behind her and made her way to her side of the bed. Unconsciously chewing her bottom lip she slid under the covers and faced away from him.

Natsu stared at the candle on his night stand, feeling slightly annoyed by the silence. Every night she'd say goodnight to him, and not knowing what she felt was activating him further.

He turned to face her, propping up on his elbow. Beautiful curly strands of golden poured down behind her, pooling on the pillow and bedsheets.

"What's wrong?" Natsu asked, reaching out to touch her exposed shoulder. "You're too quiet."

Lucy didn't turn around, instead holding the blankets tighter in her palms. "I'm okay, just tired."

Natsu continued to inspect her, knowing something was off. Was it about earlier when they'd gotten interrupted and he foolishly played it off? His hand slid up and brushed a few locks of hair behind her ear, thinking of a solution. "Why can't you face me?" He asked.

A nervous lump formed in her throat. "Um--it's nothing."

"Look at me, Luce." His voice humbled. She could feel his body closer to hers without touching.

Dryly gulping, Lucy slowly turned around with a nervous gaze. After meeting his eyes, she quickly averted to look down at herself.

Natsu's eyes widened, seeing the conflicted arguments swirl in her own large eyes. There was definitely something jabbing her internally, and he wanted to erase all of her negative thoughts.

He studied her face, softly smiling to see her glowing natural beauty again.

That's when he realized what her problem is.

She doubted herself, he could feel the conscious, unconfident waves from her magic.

"No matter what, you're still you," Natsu said, his voice gentle. "And what you are is beautiful." He spoke from within his heart, a redness spreading from the bridge of his nose outwards.

Lucy looked back at him, utterly taken away breathlessly. Her eyes softened at his empowering but loving gaze, her own cheeks flourishing rosy.

Before she knew it, she'd shifted over to his side, feeling a strong muscular arm drape around her. There weren't any words her voice could vocalize from how speechless he'd left her with simple words, delicate for her content heart.

The bed quickly grew warmer as Lucy laid her head on his chest, smiling as his arm wrapped around her. With the touch of his finger, the candles light was no longer existent, the room pitch black.

A blissful silence took over the room, minutes seeming to pass by slower.

Natsu's heart was racing, quickly thumping faster when he felt her arm slid across his toned chest. He was perfumed by her flowery-vanllia scent, a gorgeous scent only belonging to the mermaid in his grasp.

"Goodnight, Luce."

He awaited for a reply, raising his eyebrows slightly at the silence. The only sound was slow, gentle breaths so he perked his head up to see she'd already fallen fast sleep. Her curled bangs dusted on his skin.

Natsu grabbed the end of the blankets and pulled them to cover up her shoulders. As he laid his head back down, his hand rested on top of hers on his chest. A loving smile drew across his face as he closed his eyes.

The only moment he regretted tonight was not telling her the truth.

__________ ∙∘✧❀✧∘∙__________

"So the Heartfilia Kingdom's supposed to be in the Mesidian Sea? I'm calling bullshit right now." Gajeel said, continuously chomping on a large chunk of iron Levy gave him. He wasn't in the mood to eat salad.

"Well, obviously! What else do you expect, it's the only way." Levy replied, shoving a large bite of salad in her mouth.

"Can we just not argue? I'm still getting over this hangover." Droy managed to say, his words slurred more than curved handwriting on paper. After taking a bite of a chicken wing, he toppled over unconscious.

Gajeel almost snickered out loud, the exception of Levy jabbing her elbow, once again, painfully in his side.

"I totally was expecting that to happen." Jet sarcastically dragged, rolling his eyes as he leaned against the railing.

Lucy walked onto the lower deck, taking her place next to Gray and Levy. She sweat dropped at the sight of Droy completely passed out on the floor. "Guess someone had a little too much to drink."

"No kidding." Gray quietly said, covering his mouth with a fist to keep from laughing out loud.

A female brunette easily sauntered over, another regular mug of beer in one hand. "He needs to work on hangovers."

"Cana, when are you ever sober?" Gajeel ticked.

"Whenever I'm about to beat your fucking ass." Cana retorted, flipping him off and walked to the side of the ship to enjoy her time with a drink.

"I'd tear you to shreds, woman. I ain't playin', I'll take a swing right at your face." Gajeel spat.

The tension in the air quickly became heavy as Cana turned her head, her eyes narrowing at the dragon slayer.

"Bitch I hope the fuck you do, you'll be a dead son of a bitch I'll tell you that!" Cana shouted, flipping him off. If he said one more crude word, she was destined to blow.

"I swear I've heard that line from somewhere..." Gray muttered under his breath, ruffling his dark hair. Lucy nodded her head, but couldn't pinpoint where from exactly.

The ice mage casually slid his arms against the ship's side railing, one directly behind Lucy who obliviously hadn't noticed. "Hey, I just wanted to apologize for my actions last night. We started great, but our night didn't end on a good note with each other."

Lucy looked up at him, seeing the genuine and honestly in his gaze. "It's okay, I shouldn't have gotten mad at you."

"You had every right to," Gray said, a smile curving on one side of his lips. "But I've never seen you so mad before, it definitely scared me."

Lucy lightly laughed, taking a step closer to him. "I was just heated in the moment, and I forgive you. You still need to apologize to Natsu." She said.

Gray grumbled for a moment, but nodded his head. "I'm only doing this because of you, I hardly ever apologize to that flame brain."

He chuckled along with her lighthearted giggle, both genuinely smiling at each other. Lucy stepped close and wrapped her arm around his waist, a friendly hugging gesture. "Thank you."

Gray became flustered, using a bit of his ice magic to cool himself before his cheeks became too noticeably blushing. "Yeah, no problem."

Lucy tightly hugged him as his arm draped around her shoulders, feeling relieved that one of her close friendships was still there. His cold skin against hers sent shivers up her spine. Her body always automatically expected the scorching hot touch that tingled her instead.

"I can tell you guys made up fast." A bitter voice said from the side, clearly hinting it's jealousy factor.

Their heads turned to see Natsu jumping from the upper dock down, his emerald-coal eyes fiercely piercing at the two. His strides were long and forceful, stopping a good few feet away to keep his distance.

Gray's smirk appeared, already feeling the Captain's magic power emitting in higher levels than normal. "That's because--woah!" He felt two hands push him forward, almost tripping over himself.

"Gray needs to say something to you." Lucy said, smiling at Natsu. She noticed his expression change from anger to a subtle curious look, glancing between her and the dark-haired mage.

Natsu looked at her smile, the one he always loved to see the most. "Oh, really? What's princess gotta say to me?" He said, his voice in a teasing manner.

Gray sighed heavily, holding onto the last few moments he still had his pride in front of the pinkette. "I...I'm sorry for being a jackass towards the end of last night."

Natsu tapped his foot, pretending to wonder if his apology was definitely enough to interrupt his confession. "Hmm...I'll take that of you wipe every damn floor on the ship."

"What?!" Gray shouted, hearing a handful of laughter from some of the crew. He looked back at Lucy, feeling all the pride left in his body become swallowed by embarrassment. "Fine."

"That's the first thing I'll agree with Salamamer because that means I don't have chores today." Gajeel mocked as Gray sorely left to get started in the basement.

Natsu's smirk finally grew on his face, feeling his ego boost significantly. Just how did she manage to make him apologize for last night?

He moved his attention to Lucy, staring at her for a moment that seemed to last a lifetime. His smirk faded into a genuine smile. Before his mind could react, his feet were already moving towards her.

Lucy raised her arms open for him as his body closed the space between them, his strong arms wrapping around her waist. He nuzzled into her exposed shoulder, hugging her like nobody was there.

Except it was the first time some of the crew were seeing it, and they were surprised.

Her arms went around his neck and ran her fingers in a portion of his hair. The moment was silent and perfect; the sound of water the only distinct noise surrounding them. She was enveloped by the hotness radiating around her, the embrace she loved so dearly overtime.

She remembered the first time he'd embraced her, the awkwardness thickening the air until it burst within herself. Maybe it was just her overthinking it. Right now, this was the most calming place to be in.

They didn't need to exchange words; his presence was all and more to make her smile and her heart race.

"I don't know how you do it, Luce." Natsu mumbled, lifting his head enough to meet her eyes with a half-dazed trance with a goofy grin.

"Me either." She said, letting her hands slide down to rest on the exposed part of his chest between his long coat.

Levy and Mira were ogling over the two comfortably in each other's brace, already whispering secretive plans to each other.

A subtle pink washed on Lucy's cheeks when she leaned her head against his chest. His hand wove through her hair and leaned his chin on top, smiling in the moment.

__________ ∙∘✧❀✧∘∙__________

Lucy sat crisscrossed on the floor in Levy's room, having a bunch of materials for sowing.

"What's that for?" Levy questioned, laying on her stomach on her bed to curiously glance at her best friend.

Lucy smiled. "You'll see later when I'm done." She replied, continuing her project that was unknown to anyone else. She'd gotten all the materials that day when Gray took her out to eat, afterwards going shopping.

As she worked peacefully, she wouldn't stop smiling at one of the first memories she had on the ship.

"Hey Natsu..."

He blinked a few times, quickly averting his attention to her. "Ey Luce, what's up?"

Lucy bit her lip to try and keep herself from smiling. "I was wondering..."

Natsu stared at the blonde who started smiling widely, letting a few laughs slip from her lips. "Yes?..."

"..why you don't wear a pirates hat with a big feather on it." Lucy giggled, covering her mouth with the back of her hand.

"That was your question? I thought you were gon' ask somethin' serious." Natsu chuckled, running a hand through his salmon colored hair.

"I mean, it can be a serious question, maybe~" Her voice was ringing with lighthearted laughs in between. "I just imagined that most pirates, especially captains, would wear a hat just like in books."

Natsu couldn't stop himself from grinning at her, seeing that she was less shy that when they clashed at Riduele. "Well Miss, if you really want me to wear a big hat with a feather on it, I'd wear it if you made it someday."

"Sounds like a promising deal to me. You gotta swear though." Lucy held out a pinky towards Natsu. He glanced at her pinky and raised his. "I'm more of a handshake kinda guy, but this works too." They shook pinkies as the bond to their deal.

Lucy could only wonder if he still had that promise mended in the back of his memory like it had in hers.

__________ ∙∘✧❀✧∘∙__________

A/N: I put the picture of Lloyd above when he thought that having "two swords" meant twice as powerful. Lloyd was the friend when Natsu was telling Lucy about in chapter 5

Pretty much, Lloyd and Natsu have the same dense brain because they both suck at school.

And who recognized the line Cana yelled at Gajeel 😂 I love that vine

The Gifted Mermaid
❀ by queen_random1 ❀
❤️Thank you for reading ❤️