When Lucy reopened her eyes, she was in her bed, enveloped by her pink fluffy comforter and the gentle warmth of the sun shining through her open apartment window. She turned her head towards her kitchen, confused to hear sounds of clattering pans and something sizzling on the stove.
Rubbing the sleep away from her eyes, she unwillingly parted from the warm, comfortable sheets to investigate what was going on in her kitchen. There, she found a shirtless Natsu pushing something around in a pan. At the sound of her entrance, he turned his head around and grinned once he caught a glimpse of her. He put down the spatula and came to greet her by wrapping his arms around her waist and placing a quick peck on her cheek. "Morning, honey." He purred. "I thought I would make us breakfast to celebrate our first full night of sleep."
The flush on Lucy's face spread down her neck and to her chest. What on earth happened to Natsu? And what was he talking about? She opened her mouth, trying to find words to say, but was left utterly speechless. When she tried to give some form of a response, a finger was placed onto her lips, shushing her. "Shh... Don't say anything, just go sit down at the table. I made you your coffee. Don't worry, its decaf," he said before returning to his work at the stove. Her mind and body were in two different places. Her feet took her to the table where as promised, a cup of coffee greeted her. Her mind was going a thousand miles a minute.
"What is going on?" she thought. Her apartment seemed different. The normally empty, but comfortable atmosphere was replaced with an intimate, homey feeling. She saw unfamiliar picture frames on the wall, including pictures of her and Natsu, but they seemed older. Older, and more touchy-feely. It brought a foreign feeling of joy to her heart. Grabbing the cup of coffee to take an uneasy sip, something sparkly on her left hand caught her eye. There, the engagement ring and wedding band sat comfortably, glimmering in the morning light coming through the window.
"Why am I still wearing it?"
She leaned to the side a bit to see if Natsu was wearing his. Sure enough, he was.
Finally regaining a bit of her sanity, she shook her head and looked up to the man who had made himself comfortable in her home. "What the hell is going on?" she questioned, raising her voice. Natsu turned around, eyes wide.
"Shh! Don't talk so loud! You might wake-" he was cut off by a loud wail from another room. He sighed. "Don't worry, I'll get her. Can you watch the bacon, make sure it doesn't burn?" he stated before leaving the kitchen.
"Wait a minute... was that a-"
"Shh..." she heard Natsu console as he reappeared with a bundle in his arms. "I think someone wants her Mama," he said, carefully handing the baby to her with a smile. She curiously peered down at the small child but frowned when she saw its face covered by the blanket. She brought a hand to uncover it but gasped when she saw a blue, furry, cat child staring back up at her. Her face twisted into one filled with pure horror, all of the happy, domestic feelings instantly leaving her body.
"Aye sir!" it sang.
Sitting up in bed, Lucy screamed, her hair stuck to her face with sweat. She frantically lifted her left arm, letting out a sigh of relief when she saw that her ring finger was not wrapped with silver bands. It had been three weeks since the wedding. When Lucy had woken up after fainting at the chapel, she immediately went down to the courthouse with Natsu to try and fix it.
"We'd like an annulment, please," Lucy stated to the judge. She looked up from the papers they had filled out and observed Lucy's attire. There she stood, still clad in the wedding dress.
"Ma'am, are you sober?" she questioned.
"Yes! I am sober. My partner and I are mages, and we had to fake a wedding to lure out an evil wizard. Long story short, it was a real one. Now, can we please get this annulled so I can go home a Hearfillia!" she cried, stomping her foot to emphasize how distressed she was. She looked over to Natsu, to see how he was taking this whole ordeal, to find he was no longer standing next to her. He stood by a fish tank near the back of the room. His hands were on the glass, peering in excitedly as if he were a child visiting the aquarium.
"Hey lady, where'd you get this cool fish?" he exclaimed.
Ignoring Lucy, the judge looked over her and at Natsu. "Don't touch it! That is my prized Coelacanth. My son sent it to me all the way from Minstrel!" she bellowed, making Natsu slowly move away from the tank. Lucy shifted her weight.
"Judge... Paxella," Lucy began, taking a second to read the name off of the brass nametag that sat atop her desk. We have a train to catch back to Fiore, and I really need to get this done before we leave. Can you please help us out?" Lucy ranted, eager to get this whole incident behind her.
The woman clicked her pen a few times before sighing. "Based on the information I have here I can tell that this was truly a mistake, and will not be complicated to undo. Lucy, if I could have you sign here, and Natsu sign here," she began, holding out a piece of paper before she was interrupted by a large splash of water. By the window, Natsu held up the Coelacanth with a toothy smile on his face.
"Happy, look! How good do you think this tastes?" he yelled to the cat who was waiting outside, trying to keep the wobbling fish in place in his arms. Judge Paxella gasped before dialing for her secretary on her phone. Lucy shrieked before running over to Natsu, tripping on her dress a few times, to coax him into putting the fish back into the tank.
"Relax, Lucy, I was gonna put it back! Judge Maxi-Pad will give us our annulment, don't worry," he reassured her. "She has to give us one, we have rights for that, right?" he asked her, eyebrows furrowing in confusion.
"Natsu, just put it back in the tank!" she growled through her teeth.
He rolled his eyes in amusement. "Fine," he replied, carefully putting the large fish back into its tank. When he turned back to go complete the annulment with Lucy, he was stopped by two security guards. They grabbed him by his arms and began to pull him out of the courtroom. "Hey, lemme go! I command you by my rights!" he growled, struggling to escape security's clutches. Lucy ran back to the Judge's tall desk and placed her elbows on top to pull herself up to face Judge Paxella.
"Judge, please, I don't want to file for divorce! I don't want to have that on my record! I need to fix this today!" she begged. Judge Paxella called for another guard.
"Sorry Mrs. Dragneel, I'll send the divorce papers to the address listed on the annulment forms. Leave my chambers at once. Would you like to be escorted or carried out?" she declared, writing down Lucy's address before shredding the annulment papers.
"Noooo!" Lucy cried as she watched her ticket to an easy way out of their mess be destroyed. A security guard came up behind her and dragged her out of the courtroom.
She cried the entire train ride home, while Natsu didn't even seem to care. To be fair, he was doubled over in motion sickness, so she couldn't accurately read his emotions.
Lucy snapped out of her flashback, jumping when she heard a groan come from the other side of the bed.
"Urgh... Lucy... Do you hafta' be so loud in the mornings?" he spoke, his voice raspy from sleep, burying his head deeper into the pillows. Lucy grabbed her pillow and smacked his head with it.
"Get out, you intruder! This is my house! Last time I checked, yours in the woods was perfectly fine!" Natsu turned his head to the side, facing her.
"Yeah, but you aren't there" he whined, looking up at her with puppy eyes. Lucy's expression softened for a moment.
"Aww... That was kinda cute.." she thought.
"And neither is your fluffy bed, hehe..." he finished, before receiving a kick into his side, sending him out of the warm sheets and onto the hardwood floor.
"Nevermind..."
"Out! I want to make myself a nice breakfast and have a relaxing morning and you're ruining it!" Lucy commanded, opening her window, knowing that would be his point of exit.
"Natsu! Lushi got us some new fishies!" a chipper voice called from her kitchen. His pained expression immediately was replaced with a grin as he jumped up and ran to the kitchen.
"Lemme grill em'!"
"Noooo! My kitchen!" Lucy screamed, rushing in there to prevent them from burning down her apartment.
-
After giving up on the idea that they would leave, Lucy prepared Natsu's fish, (leaving Happy's raw, just the way he liked it), and some pancakes, while she set Natsu to work with washing some strawberries to go with them. If they were going to eat breakfast here, they might as well help out. "How they lookin' Natsu?" Lucy questioned, putting the last of the pancakes onto a platter. She turned to him and slapped his arm when she saw him eating some of them. "Those are for us to share!" she reprimanded. He swallowed.
"Sorry, Luce. They just looked too good. And I'm practically starvin'! Are you done yet?" he complained.
"Just finished the last pancake. Now dry those off and we can eat."
"Awesome! I can do that in five seconds!" Natsu cheered, taking all of the strawberries into his hands and lighting them on fire.
"Natsu no! Don't dry them off with your flames, they'll melt!" He continued using his drying method, ignoring Lucy.
"I'm not going to burn them, weirdo! I know what I'm doing. Besides, they taste better a little mushy anyway. Trust me, you're gonna love it," he promised, sending her a grin when he extinguished his flames. "Ready!"
As they ate breakfast, Lucy couldn't help but stare at him. Her dream had made her feel things she had never felt before.
Good things.
When she looked at him, she also saw the husband Natsu from her dream. The feeling of being in his arms, (which she already enjoyed anyway) of being in a home, of being a mother, gave her butterflies.
"-cy. Luce!" he yelled, waving a hand in front of her face. She shook her head, snapping out of her spell. "Finally! Try one of the strawberries," he said while picking up the whipped cream dispenser. Lucy grabbed one out of the bowl and put it in her mouth. It was warm and mushy. It was also very sweet and juicy. She began to swallow when Natsu stopped her.
"Open!" he said, holding the whipped cream over her head.
She furrowed her eyebrows at him, a look that told him, "Really?"
"Just try it, weirdo." She uneasily opened her mouth and allowed him to spray a dollop on top of the chewed strawberries. She savored the taste and swallowed, her eyes widening.
"That's actually really good!" she exclaimed, her face breaking out into a smile of delight. "Don't ever doubt Natsu!" Happy cheered while munching on his raw salmon.
"Hold on, I didn't give you enough whipped cream," Natsu said, a mischievous grin making its way onto his lips as he pointed it towards her, putting his hand on the nozzle threateningly. Lucy slowly stood and backed up from the table.
"Natsu, we can sit here and have a nice breakfast. We can eat more of your special strawberries! Just put down the whipped-" Lucy was cut off by a knock at her door. "Maybe that's the mail!" she said eagerly while running to the door. Lucy had been waiting for divorce papers for a few weeks. She opened it swiftly, but her hopes were crushed when it was just her landlady holding a gift basket. "Oh, hi landlady... What's the problem? I'm assuming that's why you're here."
The small plump woman scoffed. "Miss Hearfilia, Oops. I mean Mrs. Dragneel, I don't always visit when there is a problem! I can do nice things too. I came to drop off this wedding gift. I read about it in Sorcerer Weekly. It's shameful that I didn't hear it from you," she spat, shoving the basket into her arms.
"Oh no, that's just a misunderstanding, we're not actually married- wait, Sorcerer Weekly?!" Lucy exclaimed, trying to give back the present.
"Yes, the monthly edition came out yesterday. What do you mean you're, 'not actually married?'"
"Well, technically we are but-" Lucy was interrupted by a pair of warm arms wrapping around her waist. One momentarily left her side to grab the gift basket from Lucy's hands and placed it onto the ground. Natsu placed his head onto her shoulder, smiling at the short woman before them.
"Thank you for the gift basket, my wife and I greatly appreciate it. Don't you, honey?" Natsu said, nuzzling his face into the crook of her neck. Lucy's cheeks turned a dark scarlet. Her landlady smiled.
"Thank you for being so appreciative, young man. Lucy, I expect your rent to be on time now that you have a man to help pay the bills. Good day," she finished before leaving her door, her heel clad feet clicking with every step. How a woman as plump as she could wear them, Lucy would never know. Natsu lightly tugged on Lucy's frame, walking back into her apartment.
"Happy! Cmere', Lucy's landlady brought us muffins!" he shouted back to the exceed that was still in the kitchen, releasing Lucy and squatting down on the ground to unwrap the basket. Lucy turned around, finally snapping out of her stupor from his touches.
"You idiot!" she growled, her face fading to light pink. Natsu looked up at her in confusion.
"What's the big issue? I touch you all the time and you don't get mad, what's so different about that?" Happy snickered.
"Lucy, have you and Natsu been rolling around in the sheets?" he joked, walking into the room.
"Shut up you pervy little cat! Natsu, you made it seem like we're married!"
"Aren't we though?"
Lucy gripped her hair in frustration. "I'm gonna go take a bath."
As she soaked in the tub, she let the new information sink in.
"It was published in Sorcerer Weekly!?" her thoughts screamed at her. She sank deeper into the tub.
Now she was going to be stopped everywhere she went. Everyone was going to give her and Natsu their "best wishes!" for their marriage. After defeating Alvarez, their guild had become even more famous than they had been following the Grand Magic Games. They would be the shiny new married couple from Fairy Tail. Gajeel and Levy weren't even married yet! And they have twins!
"I'm not gonna be able to go to the market, the bookstore, Heart Kreuz-"
Lucy abruptly sat up in the tub, water sloshing over the sides.
"The guild!" she shouted.
Before they got off the train at Magnolia station, Lucy made all of Team Natsu promise not to tell anyone of her and Natsu's situation. The guild had no idea. They were going to torture them! Mirajane wasn't going to ever leave them alone!
'Oh God..." she moaned, placing her hands over her face. She heard a small knock come from the other side of the door. "No, Natsu, you didn't leave your beef jerky in the shower!" she replied.
"It's not that!" She heard, his voice muffled a bit from the barrier between them. "Hold on, I'm coming in." He opened the door, his pupils widening at the sight before him. Lucy threw her shampoo bottle at him. He easily dodged it.
"Get out!"
"Chill out, it's nothing I haven't seen before!" This time, Lucy didn't miss with her conditioner. "Ouch! Jeez Lucy, that hurt! Whatever, I'll turn around. I just have to ask you something," Natsu replied, giving into her wishes and facing away from her naked body in the bathtub.
Lucy sighed. "Yeah?"
"I know we aren't really married, I just want to know. Did you lie?"
Lucy tilted her head in confusion. "Huh?"
"Did you lie?"
"On what?
"The vows!"
"Of course I did! The whole thing was a setup, remember?"
"That's not what I mean!"
"Then what do you mean? Hurry up and spit it out, my bath water is getting cold!" Lucy said. Natsu turned around and stuck his hand in the water. "Turn back around you pervert!" she screeched. Her cries of protest ceased when she felt the water's temperature increase to a comfortable warmth. She sighed in bliss before looking back up to Natsu, who had crouched down beside the tub and was only able to see her face.
"I mean what you said, not the whole thing entirely." He was quiet for a moment. "I didn't lie. I'm always going to protect you, and I'll always be by your side." he spoke quietly, staring into her large brown eyes.
"Yeah, and you're never gonna stop breaking into my apartment," she giggled. He laughed with her.
"You got that right," he replied, smiling at her. "Do you get what I'm askin' now, Luce?" he replied with her special nickname. She smiled.
"Natsu, celestial mages never break their promises."