NaLu: What Changed

★Chapter 4★

~Lucy's P. O. V. ~

My lips refused to move and my voice insisted on staying quiet. I stood stock still and stared at Natsu, who was red faced and a little teary eyed. I didn't blame him, my tears were slipping down uncontrollably. AGAIN. I wiped up my tears and took a deep breath.

"Natsu, I f***ing hate you." I whispered as I took a step forward and hugged him. He didn't move. I heard him breathe sharply and not release. He slowly relaxed and hugged me back. I made it a point to pull away after a few seconds.

His arms around me, his smell, his familiar presence, his comforting chest that felt like home...I missed them so much. I never thought I would be able to feel them again but I did. I resisted the temptation to leap into his arms and savour all of the above until tomorrow but I stopped myself by remembering what I had wanted to say.

"Dragneel you drive me crazy, you know that? When you broke up with me it's like I witnessed the world crashing down. The bond we had, it was my world. You broke me. You really did. And I hated you for that. For the past eighteen months, I hated you so much. Did you know I never said Natsu in the fourteen months? Did you know I never wanted to think of you and deleted all memories of you?"

"But here, back in Magnolia, I see your face again. I dreaded seeing you. It was the only reason why I didn't want to come back. But you. You selfishly entered my life again. Everything came back. And stupid Mira and her stupid matchmaking skills trapping you and me in here after I even refused to breathe the same oxygen as you did. And stupid you and your stupid speech, making my hate for you disappear. Stupid, stupid, stupid."

I was crying really hard by now. Natsu came forward and this time, he initiated the hug. I didn't bother resisting. I just let him hold me while I tried to control my tears and let tears of his own drip occasionally from his eyes.

After a while, I freed myself from his warm embrace and looked at him.

He looked back. "What do we do now?" He asked. I thought about it. Back when I was overseas I asked myself what would I do when I see Natsu again? I would avoid and ignore him and pray I never have to talk to that nutjob. It didn't work. So I wouldn't answer this question my way. What I really wanted to say was "we date each other again" but I knew it wouldn't work out. We needed to build things from scratch.

Not like I forgave him. I was still pissed at how he'd gone and been so self-centered. So I thought of an incredible way to test my skills and hopefully beat him up.

"Dragneel, let's spar."

He shrugged. "Sure okay why not I'd love t--wait. WHAT? YOU SAID SPAR?" He gasped. I raised an eyebrow at him. "Yeah, what about it?" "You're suggesting violence? You know you could beat me up and I wouldn't retaliate at all." He tried to talk me out of it but I was more stubborn now. "Nope, no can do. I have been cleaning the floor with boys in the dojo I trained at. It probably sucked. I want to try out how good I am with one of the best fighters I know. And this isn't a proposal. It's not optional. Hear me pinky?"

~Natsu's P. O. V. ~

Just how much has she changed? She wants to spar with me? She cleaned the floor with boys in the dojo? A DOJO? WHAT HAS SHE BEEN DOING?

I really didn't wanna hurt her but seeing her confident face and steely glare I gave in anyway. I'm in no position to say no to her. "Okay. Deal. I hear you. When and where?" I asked.

"I knew you would say yes. Hmm. Next Monday, school training hall." Lucy decided. "I'm game." I agreed.

Now that we got that out of the way, time to ask the question I wanted an answer to.