So Far Yet So Close [Fairy Tail Fanfiction]

Lucy Heartfilia

"Hey, what are you weaklings doing?"

She looked up, there he was, her pink haired savior. That day, it was the best time of her life since her mother died. The boy warmed her heart and her hand (literally) without even trying (okay, maybe he did). She never felt the same again. She became more forward (but not too forward to be annoying) and made new friends, she opened up to the people in her household once again and they were all relieved that she was doing much better than she did when her mother first left.

But she had always regretted to be unable to meet the boy that changed her life once again, Natsu Dragneel.

Her eyes flew open at the sudden pull she felt. Warmth engulfed her as a pair of strong arms wrapped itself around her, pulling her into a tight embrace. Stunned, she tried to register what happened; Okay, her cheeks were moist, oh, she was crying. The pink hair that tickled the said cheeks gave away the identity of the strong arms. She knew that this was supposed to be wrong but she could not help but smile.

"Are you okay?" Finally, Natsu asked.

She felt her heart pick up pace; his voice was a lot more deep and mature than she remembered.

"Y-yeah… just… remembering things…"

The short moment of silence that followed told Lucy that Natsu wasn't satisfied with that answer, but he would have to make do for now.

"Dinner's ready."

"Oh…" Lucy answered but realized what it meant and shot off the bed, "Wait, it's this late already?!" She asked, panic in her voice.

Natsu was a little confused at her sudden reaction. Lucy had never been able to sleep in a stranger's room this easily before. It took her one whole disastrous month just to get accustomed to the one she was living in at the moment.

"What is it? Do you have a curfew or something?" Natsu asked.

Lucy stared at him, he did know she ran away from home right? "No, not that, it's just… I never really did get this comfortable in a strangers house…"

"Well, everything has it's first." Natsu reasoned with a shrug, then, pointing towards the door with his thumb, he continued, "But dinner won't wait."

Smiling, Lucy followed Natsu out of the room. Dinner was interactive as Lisanna's siblings and parents flooded Natsu and Lucy with questions (they tried Igneel but took 5 minutes to figure he wasn't the friendliest fellow). That was when Natsu felt he actually got to know Lucy for the first time. They talked about what happened during the 9 years blank without the family part (Lisanna warned her family that family was a touchy subject for the 2). Natsu was quite shocked to learn that Lucy was able to make friends despite her family background and shyness and his reaction earned him a glare from Lucy. Everyone laughed it off and Natsu felt warm inside, he turned to Lucy and knew from her expression that she felt the same.

After dinner, Igneel made his way to the convenient store to pick up some motion sickness medicine while Natsu and Lucy decided to take a walk as they wait. Lisanna stayed behind though, figuring that it would be best to give those two some privacy.

As the two walked, they were enveloped in a comfortable silence and slowly made their way to the cemetery without even realizing. When they found out, they had a good laugh.

"It's kinda funny how we actually had fun at the cemetery wasn't it?" Natsu asked, recalling the moment they had 9 years ago.

Lucy giggled at the thought, "Yeah, I didn't mind though. It makes it less… depressing to be here."

Natsu looked at the pained expression that Lucy made. His heart wrenched once more and he took out a lighter (he confiscated it from Igneel for smoking too much) and a bright brilliance shown once more. Lucy smiled in gratitude and they started playing with the fire again. This time, Natsu was able to pull off a few tricks and Lucy laughed at the ridiculous ones.

However, the fun died down when Igneel called, "Where are you kids?!" His tone as grumpy as ever.

"At the cemetery." Natsu answered in a pout; a little annoyed at the old man for cutting in their moment.

Lucy giggled at the sight.

"Lady Lucy?" A familiar voice broke the silence of the cemetery.

Natsu immediately stood up and signaled Lucy to get behind him. Lucy complied without hesitance.

"Sorry Igneel, gotta go. Come pick us up if you can." Natsu ended the call.

The butler stared at the two in confusion, wondering why they were being so cautious. Then, turning his attention to Lucy, he continued.

"Milady, please, let us end this childish game. Master Jude awaits you back at the mansion."

Lucy frowned and Natsu didn't need to ask why. He turned to the butler and spoke on Lucy's behalf.

"She won't be going back just yet. But it'd be best if you leave now."

Lucy stared at Natsu in disbelief, he said 'just yet', and the butler caught it too. Somewhat satisfied with the answer, the butler left. When he did, Lucy nearly made a run for it but Natsu caught her just before she could.

As she struggled desperately out of Natsu's grasp, Natsu held on to her tighter and eventually pulled her into an embrace. Lucy gasped at the outcome and Natsu whispered gently into her ear.

"I know you never want to go back there, but you should."

Lucy opened her mouth to rebut but Natsu cut her off before she could say anything, "Not to stay there, but to face your father. For now, you can run, but one day, you should face your father and get your message across."

Lucy felt her heart falter and she returned the hug. He was right, right now, she is just running away. She silently prayed that when that one day come, she'll be able to stand firm and bring her feelings across to the stubborn old man. But for now, she just wanted things to remain like this.

"*Ahem!* I'm not interrupting anything am I?" Igneel cut in with his back facing the couple.

The two jumped away from each other as an immediate respond and stumbled out random words like, "No… no you weren't…" and "Yeah… we weren't doing anything…"

Igneel stifled a laugh and signaled them to get into the car. As Natsu passed Igneel, Igneel gave the boy a teasing smirk and the boy blushed.

"Shut up…"