The Heartfilia and The Dragneel

Chapter 13

"Yo, Natsu," Gray walks down the gravel path, wearing a navy blue jacket and black skinny jeans. He waves at Natsu, and Natsu grins back at him.
"So, what's up? Why did you text me telling me to meet you here?"

"Um, I just wanted to hang out with you dude." Natsu awkwardly scratches his neck. Gray frowns.

"Alright, if you say so."

Natsu leans back against the tree I'm sat in, and starts a conversation with Gray. I feel the tree move slightly as he leans on the trunk. I let out a small squeak of terror and hug one of the branches tightly.

Gray looks around in confusion. "Did you hear that sound? It sounded like a girl-"

"What are you on about? Don't be stupid Ice Princess." Gray stops taking in his surroundings and focuses on Natsu. He growls and pushes his forehead against Natsu's.

"What did you say, Flame Boy?" Natsu smirks evilly.

"You heard me, Popcicle."

I watch them start bickering like little boys. I sigh and rub my face with my hands. At this rate, Natsu's going to ruin the plan just because him and Gray can't act like mature adults. Thankfully, Natsu suddenly snaps out of it and remembers the plan.

"Wait there, I'll be back in a minute."

Gray tilts his head to one side.
"Hey, where are you going? Are you running away from a fight?"

Natsu clenches his fists. He turns round and shouts, "No, as a matter of fact I just really need the toilet."

Gray laughs at him, and I watch Natsu's face turn bright pink as he walks off. I smirk to myself as I text Juvia:

'He's on his own, the plan is in action Juvia!'

I press send and eagerly watch the park entrance for any sign of her blue hair. A couple of minutes pass and I see Juvia pop her head round the bushes near the entrance. She composes herself, and takes a deep breath. I cross my fingers as I see her walk towards Gray with a skip in her step.

Her head tilts up to see me in the tree above him, and gives me a nervous smile. I put my thumbs up in return to her. I'm sure she'll be fine. Gray turns to see Juvia strolling up to him.

"Hey Juvia, haven't seen you in a while."

She smiles at him sweetly and nods in agreement.

"Yes, Juvia thinks so too! So what are you doing here at the park Gray Sama?"

Gray lifts one eyebrow and smirks, "Gray Sama?"

I sigh from up in the tree, she's hopeless when it comes to romance. Luckily Gray moves on swiftly.

"Oh, I was just hanging out with Natsu. Except he suddenly disappeared on me, what a jerk."

"Really? How strange."

Their random conversation continues for ten minutes or so, which falters when Gray sighs loudly.

"I have a feeling Natsu isn't coming back."

Juvia grabs the opportunity immediately.
"If he's not coming back, how about Juvia and Gray go and get some ice cream? It would be fun!"

Gray looks down at Juvia's excitable face and grins.

"Sure, why not?" Juvia gives a little squeal of happiness and grabs Gray's hand.

I watch as she leads him out of the park and out of sight. I think that went pretty well. I hope the rest of the plan runs smoothly for her. I yawn and stretch out my arms. It's time for me to get down now. Oh shit. It just dawned on me that Natsu helped me get up this huge tree. I was kind of relying on him to get down as well. I groan and pull my phone out of my pocket quickly- too quickly as it tumbles out of my hand and onto the ground below. I slam my head on the tree trunk in despair. Why am I such a clumsy idiot?

I sit for a minute, assessing my limited options. Well I'm not too far off the ground, I'm sure I could just jump. I glance over the edge of the branch I was placed on and regretted it. Okay I'm higher than I initially thought.

After careful consideration, I began to slowly climb down the tree. There weren't many branches on the way down, which didn't help. About halfway down, I hear an unmistakable laugh and I feel my face turn red in rage. I glance down to see Natsu in hysterics below me.

"You alright up there Luce?" He manages to choke out.

I start to shake in anger,
"Of course I'm not alright you bastard, you just left me here! We agreed that you'd come back and help me down!"

"Yeah... about that...". Natsu restrains a laugh. "I was hungry so I needed to get some food. It slipped my mind that you
were still up a tree."

"It. Slipped. Your. Mind?"

Natsu suddenly looks frightened.

"I'm here now Luce, here let me help-"

By the time he finishes his sentence, i delicately land on the ground next to him.

"I obviously didn't need your help. I am capable of doing things myself."

Natsu quickly hides his impressed facial expression.

"Wow Luce, I didn't realize-" I stop him mid-sentence with a loud gasp.

"Shit, is that the time already? I'm late, I need to go back to work." I turn away from Natsu and run towards the Dragneel mansion.

Natsu yells after me, "Lucy wait!"

"I'm sorry, I really need to go!" I leave him stood under the tree as I rush to get to work.

~~~~~
Natsu

I sigh as I watch Lucy run round the corner and out of sigh. I do feel bad leaving her up there, but it was pretty funny. As I turn away, a gleam of light from behind a bush catches my attention. I glance over and see a glimpse of orange.

You've got to be kidding me. Loke stands up and walks towards me. I take my hands out of my pockets and clench my fists in rage. How long has he been here? Loke pushes his glasses up his nose and recreates the same gleam of light from just a moment ago. He smirks at me, which makes me even angrier.

"The whole plan to get Juvia and Gray together was a really good idea, I'm hurt I wasn't asked to join."
I raise my fists at him, but he puts his arms up in defeat. "I'm not here to fight Natsu. I'm just here to give you a warning."

I frown, "What warning?"

Loke smiles menacingly.

"I know what you and your family are capable of, and if Lucy continues to associate herself with the Dragneel's, then she'll get hurt. Really hurt. If you truly care about her then you'll let her go."

It's like someone's lit a fire deep within my heart.

"How the hell are you supposed to know what's best for her. She's free to make her own decisions. You don't control her," I shout, storming towards him.

He shrugs his shoulders and turns away. "I'm just thinking of what's best for Lucy. Maybe you should do the same."

~ Authors Note ~

Hey guys, I'm back! I'm sorry I haven't been updating chapters, my life has been kinda hectic recently ~ I'll try my best to keep updating often :)
Also the story is mostly in Lucy's POV, but sometimes I'll have a scene which is in someone else's POV.
~ Saltyfairy // Katy