The Dragneel Affair | NaLu

Chapter 5 - Honey Buns

January went by smoothly. For Lucy, that is. Natsu spent the months worrying about his brother. Lucy noticed how much it had bothered him. He wasn't eating as much as he used to. He was paler, too. His onyx eyes were bloodshot. She tried to offer help, but he never accepted.

"Natsu, your not healthy, you need someone right now," she argued.

"Lucy, please don't stress about this."

"But I want to help you." Natsu sighed. He knew she wouldn't change her mind, she was stubborn. She wouldn't change her mind unless he said something stronger than his past attempts to stop her.

"Please stop wasting your time on me, don't you have something else to do?" He quickly regretted saying that as Lucy's eyes widened and a mixture of surprise and hurt appeared on her face. He didn't remember much after that. He remembered leaving the estate and muttering curses to himself.

The next day he headed back to apologize. He took a different route to the estate and found a small bakery. Delicious golden brown breads and pastel frosted treats were on display through the window. He decided to stop inside and buy a few treats, just in case words weren't enough. He stepped inside and was greeted with heat from a fire place and the smell of fresh apple cider.

"Good morning!" A blue haired girl said from behind the counter.

"Eh. . . Morning," Natsu mumbled. He stared at a wall filled with baskets of breads and muffins.

"What can I help you with today?" The girl set a pot on top of a stove and turned the heat up.

"I need something that would help with an apology. I said somethings I shouldn't have said."

"To a girl?"

"Yes."

"No bread will help you in this situation." The girl pull out a large square fabric and started going through the bakery grabbing cookies and chocolates from different areas of the room. She stopped when the bell above the door rang, signaling a costumer had just walked in.

."Levy, I need your help. Give me all the honey buns you can find," The costumer said quickly.

"Lucy, what's wrong?" Levy asked as Lucy removed her hat and set it on the counter. As soon as Natsu head her name he hid behind a wooden case the was in front of the wall of breads. Lucy sighed and leaned against the counter. Levy walked over to the wall of breads and looked for the honey buns.

"I need to apologize to a friend, I said some things I shouldn't have." Levy looked down towards Natsu, who was burying his head in his coat. He looked up at her. Levy rolled her eyes and started taking buns from a basket.

"What did you say to him?" Levy asked as she leaned down to Natsu to pull the collar of his coat down from his ears so he could listen.

"I. . . I had been pressuring him into letting me help him for the past few weeks. He didn't really accept my help, he would reject it but politely. Yesterday he rejected it somewhat cruelly and I feel like I struck some sort of  chord."

"You want to apologize for being nice?" Natsu asked, quietly. Lucy spun around, recognizing his voice. Levy cleared her throat and asked the same thing.

"You want to apologize for being nice?" She asked. Lucy turned around and nodded. Levy sighed and lightly kicked Natsu's shin. He yelped as Levy stated, "He's sitting right here, you know." Lucy's face turned bright red as she walked over to where Levy was standing. Natsu sat with his legs crossed and half his head hiding in his coat.

"H-hello, Lucy . . ," he mumbled. Lucy stared at him for a moment before rolling her eyes and digging in her pocket for money.

"I'll pay for the buns and Natsu's basket." Lucy handed Levy the money. Levy handed Lucy a large basket of the food as Natsu stood from his spot on the wooden floor. She thanked Levy and pulled Natsu out of the shop. The two walked towards town center, silently.

After a few minutes of silence, Lucy found a bench and cleared off the snow on it. As she sat down, Natsu scratched the back of his head.

"I'm sorry about what I said yesterday," he apologized.

"Hush."

"What?"

"Eat," Lucy held two honey buns in her hands, both were still warm. One was held out to him and the other to herself. Natsu hesitated but took the bun. Lucy patted the seat next to her, signaling that he could sit there if he so chose to. Lucy taped her bun against his and mumbled, "cheers," as a joke. Natsu took a bite and hummed slightly due to the flavor of the bun. He quickly finished off the bun and went for a second one.

"I'm glad you like it," Lucy said. She smiled and so was he.

So January went by somewhat smoothly. Before Natsu knew it, it was February. Walking through the streets every morning, he could hear the younger woman of the town talk about Valentines Day. He heard one girl say she would be making chocolates. Another said she would buy a basket of honey buns, which sounded better than chocolates. Stepping into the Heartfilia estate was almost as if he had lost all energy by taking five steps in the building. He found Lucy sitting on a staircase, the servant girl, Lisanna, was sitting next to her. Lucy was staring down at the velvet carpet that flowed on top of the white and gold painted stairs. Lisanna was comforting her by rubbing small circles on her back.

"What's wrong with her?" Natsu asked.

"It's the first time since the princess was 12 years old that she hasn't had a date for the Valentine's Day ball," Lisanna explained. Natsu raised an eyebrow and stared at Lucy.

"Do you have a dance for every holiday?" He asked. Lucy shook her head.

"No, this was more of a family tradition. My family would host a ball in the middle of February for many years. Now there's just a holiday that correlates with it." Lucy mumbled and stared blankly at the entryway on the opposite side of the room.

"Well, if not having someone to go with bothers you so much . . . I could take you?" Natsu said Lucy looked up at him with puppy dog eyes.

"Really?"

"I do not see why not." Lucy smiled and stared back at the stairs. "I was expecting a little more enthusiasm. I mean, look at me." He stated. Lucy chuckled and sat up straight.

"Is this better?"

"Just a little, your smile makes it better." He didn't think he would ever stop believing she was the most beautiful girl he'd ever laid eyes on.

***

Author's Note:

I'm sorry about the cheesy ending, I didn't know how else to end it. And for the late update. This chapter should've been up last week but during that time period I was busy with family and school. Now I have finals next week, two of which are actually this week and I'm super stressed about it. There may not be updates until early February, I hope you can understand!

By the way, I have a tumblr!! So in case you are interested in seeing other anime I'm into or other fanfics I like or read, you can see those at lucythegirl (right now it's full of Yuri!!! On Ice and OHSHC stuff).

Until I write again,

~Lucy