Welcome Back... (NaLu)

The Shortest Battle in Existence

Lucy's POV

"I'll take you on any day!" Natsu proudly spoke.

"Alright then, you should probably eat something so you don't tire yourself out too much," I smirked and threw some of my own fire into the air for him to catch. He caught it without a second glance. I could feel him grin with his back turned.

"My treat, you go first," I said while we walked up to each other.

"Okay, I'm gonna go easy on you. Sense it is your first fight!"

"Natsu, don't you remember? To finish your training as a Dragon Slayer, you have to defeat your dragon. In my case, since I was trained by all 5, I decided to take them on all at once. The battle itself wasn't hard, but it took a lot of energy to heal 5 injured dragons. Right Wendy?"

"Uh huh..." she replied in disbelief.

We continued to circle each other. He began to slow down, I followed.

"Well come on then."

"I can't think of a move.."

"Natsu, you don't have to worry.."

"I've heard what the 5 elemental dragon is capable of. I'm worried about me. Don't go all dragon on me.." he smirked again.

"All right, Dragneel. Your move, lets not keep them waiting," I nodded towards the guild, looking at me like I was about to unleash the gates of Hell.

"Alright, alright.. I'm going," he positioned himself into his normal battle stance.

"I'm fired up! Fire Dragon-" I braced myself for his attack.

"Roar!" he exclaimed finally. I dodged it with ease. I was light on my feet and I've dodged some difficult attacks, much more advanced than his roars.

"Don't get me wrong Salamander. You're powerful, but to start with a roar, I guess you've been away from a serious battle for too long," he looked back at me like I was fighting an enemy.

"Which one should I use first, you have any ideas?" I asked him sarcastically.

"Why don't you start with the easiest one you can do?" he chuckled nervously.

"Alright.. Fire Dragon's Secret Art. Flaming Lotus!" I've only seen him use this a couple of times. He knows how to use it well, but he uses so much energy to pull it off. It seemed almost impossible to start off with, throwing him off guard.

"That one took me years to figure out.."

"Really? I learned it with all the other ones."

"You really are that good.. Fire Dragon, Iron Fist!"

"Water Block!" I stopped his attack.

"Fire Dragon Wing Attack!"

"Sky Dragon, roar!"

My attack hit him hard in the stomach and sent him flying, but he started to get up immediately.

"Earth Dragon Secret Art! Gravity Pull!" and immediately he was back down. I walked over to him and I could see him struggling.

"You done?" I asked with a bit of concern.

"Ugh, yes. That or this will go on forever.." I instantly canceled the spell. I sat down and began to use my healing magic.

"What- what are you doing?" he asked in slight strain.

"Helping you. Now stay still." I answered softly.

"Thanks.. Had it been a fight where I was fighting for real, I wouldn't have given up you know."

"Yes of course Natsu," I laughed, "You know you didn't have to fight me," I finished and looked up to saw that the guild was watching us in complete fascination.

I didn't really care. Like Natsu said, at the end of the day, it doesn't really matter. I pulled his exhausted body onto my lap. The gravity spell added so much gravity, you would weigh a ton, and it tires you out.

"I wanted to, to prove how strong you really are. I think it worked."

"Yeah, I do too." I rested my hand on his head and began to pat his head. His eyes shot open and looked up at me. A blush creeped up onto
his face and I felt his breath quicken. I felt my own face getting really warm and he seemed to notice and shot up into a standing position, I followed.

"Well.." Levy finally broke the awkward silence hanging between Natsu and I, "I think we should let these two love birds head off to their apartment.." she happily stated and skipped off to the guild with Gajeel signaling for every one to go back inside.

"We're not love birds!" we said in unison and looked at each other.

"Come on, it's getting late. We should head home.." Natsu said and began to walk away. Gajeel and Gray began to make kissy faces and sounds towards him. He glared back making them laugh till they dropped, making me laugh as well. I ran up to him and grabbed his hand, pulling him out of sight.

"What is it?" he asked with concern in his voice.

"I-"

Natsu's POV

She quietly looked down at her feet. I grabbed her other hand and she looked back up at me.

"Come on, you know you can tell me anything. What's going on?" she looked right into my eyes. I could see that she was thinking about something, and I was determined to find out about what. She let go of my hands and looked away towards the apartments.

To be honest, no matter what I said last night, I did care a little bit what the guild thought. No matter how hard I try, I can't help but get all nervous when she looks at me like the way she did earlier. I so deeply want to show her how much she means to me, but I seriously doubt that she thinks as me as more than a friend. At least, that's what I thought.

She stepped up on her toes and kissed me softly on the cheek. It was different than the one she gave me yesterday. She parted away from me, landing back on her feet. She looked straight into my eyes and began to walk away without me. Without thinking I stopped her by grabbing her wrist, and she turned around slightly.

"Lucy.."

"Natsu?" she said back. I know what I have to do. Something I should have done those two long years ago, something I've thought over a thousand times.