Thanks to all of you for nearly three hundred reads! I'm blown away by the positive response this story has been getting.
So thank you, guys. Seriously.
~~~
Y/n sighed, resting her arms on the railing of the bridge in Southgate Park. She watched the water flowing by, bubbling and gurgling like a song. A cool breeze blew through her hair making it dance in the wind. She let her eyes flutter closed for a moment, enjoying the calm.
Natsu had dragged her all over town, oftentimes going to one end only to return to the one they'd just been in immediately after. When they'd reached the park he'd declared that he and Happy had to decide where to go next. Y/n had watched Natsu pull the cat away with a small smile. Happy was cute, she could give him that, but the constant you're in love, and general obnoxious teasing got old fast.
"You ready to go?"
Y/n turned at the sound of Natsu's voice and smiled. "Yep, where to next?"
"I was thinking we could go to the market," he offered, leaning his back against the railing as he spoke. "It's getting close to lunch, maybe we could get something to eat?"
"That sounds great," she said. "I am getting kind of hungry,"
Natsu grinned. "Awesome!"
"Slow down," Y/n laughed at his excitement, stumbling along as he towed her down the streets.
"Sorry," he apologized with a shy smile as he came to the stop. Natsu raised his hands up and gestured to the market before them "But we're here! Tada!"
She shook her head and let out a breath of a laugh. They were standing in the middle of the road and many passersby were shooting them dirty glares but Natsu either didn't notice or didn't care.
"Wait, where's Happy?" Y/n asked, her eyes widening as she realized the blue feline was nowhere to be seen.
"He, uh," Natsu said, shuffling a foot on the ground and glancing to the side. He could feel his cheeks warming up under her gaze. "He said he had somewhere to be,"
That was a lie. Happy was a cat. He had nowhere to be.
Natsu had grown tired of Happy's teasing. When he'd brought y/n to the park he hadn't left to discuss where they were going next but to get Happy to go. Happy wasn't thrilled about it at the start, but his small pout quickly turned into a mocking grin, stating that Natsu wanted him gone so that way he could have y/n to himself. Natsu had denied, of course, his face flushed a deep red as he shouted at the cat. Happy had only grinned, cooing yet another you're in love before flying off to who knows where.
Her shoulders visibly dropped as she let out a sigh of relief. "Thank goodness, I thought we'd lost him,"
"Nah, he's fine don't worry about it," He waved her off with a laugh. Natsu held an arm out to her and nodded towards the market stalls. "Shall we?"
Y/n smiled up at him, hesitating a moment before linking her arm through his. "We shall,"
***
The first place they went to was an ice cream stand. Natsu had made a beeline for it the second his eyes landed on it. He bounced up and down excitedly as he ordered before turning to y/n expectantly. She let out an indecisive hum, her nose scrunched as she regarded the sign with confused eyes.
"And what will it be for you sweetcheeks?" the vendor asked, throwing y/n a coy smirk.
Natsu felt an unfamiliar feeling akin to anger beginning to bubble in his stomach. It hissed and burned like lava, flickering just under his skin, flowing in every vein. He clenched his fists and forced the feeling back. He glared at the woman, scowling slightly as he tried to make sense of the burning sensation. Natsu let out an inaudible sigh before turning back to y/n a small smile gracing his lips.
"Can I have the {flavour} please?" Y/n asked bitting her nail nervously, her voice meek and her eyes cast down to the ground at her feet.
"Here you go," the woman said, holding out two cones to the pair. She smirked again, her green eyes trailing up and down y/n's form. "One bubblegum and one {flavour}- that'll be seven hundred jewels,"
Natsu slapped the money down on the counter with a low growl. "Keep the change,"
Y/n glanced back at the red-haired woman with an apologetic shrug, letting the pink-haired boy pull her off once again.
He stopped suddenly and spun around so that they were facing each other. She crashed into him, stumbling back slightly.
"Sorry, sorry," she repeated, reaching out to wipe the ice cream from his chest. It didn't do much, in fact, she only seemed to make it worse, smearing the cold goo all over him.
He caught her by the wrist, staring down at her with an indiscernible look in his eyes. "It's fine,"
Natsu's cheeks burned as she met his gaze. He'd been blushing a lot lately, was he sick or something?
He shook the thought from his head taking a bite of his ice cream with a wide smile. Maybe the cold would help clear his mind. He lead y/n to an empty bench, flopping down on it with a content sigh.
Y/n glanced down at the cold treat in her hand with a frown. "How do I eat this?"
"What do you mean, how do you eat it? It's ice cream!" Natsu exclaimed with a small laugh.
"I know that," y/n rolled her eyes at him. "It's just, I've never..."
His onyx eyes widened as he realized what she was trying to say. "You've never had ice cream before?"
She shook her head no.
Natsu turned his full attention to her, his ice cream momentarily forgotten. He nodded towards the cone and looked back up at y/n, a smile gracing his lips and his eyes. "Go on then,"
She stared at him for a moment, uncertainty written all over her face. She sighed and gave the ice cream a tentative lick. She gasped and her e/c eyes glowed bright like stars, her lips pulled into a wide grin.
Natsu laughed as y/n wolfed down the rest of her cone. "Careful you don't want to get- too late,"
He watched amused as y/n clutched her head in her hands a pained expression on her face.
"What the fuck?" She hissed, pressing her hands to her temples.
"I tried to warn you," Natsu smiled, eating his ice cream at a more regular pace. "Go to fast you'll get brain freeze,"
"Brain freeze is real?" Y/n asked, looking up at him, eyes wide in disbelief. "I thought it only happened in movies- like the fireworks cliché or rainbows,"
"Rainbows are real," He replied with a soft laugh.
"Seriously?" She gasped, her e/c eyes glowing with wonder and disbelief.
"Yeah," he nodded, staring at her curiously. "How don't you know that?"
"Life isn't about ice cream and rainbows," y/n said, her shoulders slumping as she ran a hand through her hair. "I was to busy... working, to really do much of anything,"
"But you don't need to do anything to see a rainbow," Natsu said. "You just look up and they're there,"
"Looking up leaves you vulnerable, open to weakness. Keep your eyes on the road ahead. Never let your guard down," she spoke as if reciting a poem she'd heard a thousand times before. Her voice was bare of emotions and her eyes were dead.
"You don't have to do that anymore," he told her. "You're a member of Fairy Tail now- we're here for you,"
She thanked him softly, a forlorn smile adorning her lips as she stared at the ground. When she looked up at him again her e/c eyes narrowed in confusion. "What is that?"
Natsu who has held up his hand in a strange symbol, index finger pointed up to the sky and thumb out to the side, smiled widely. "This means that even if I can't see you. No matter how far away you may be. I will always be watching over you. I'll always be with you. Forever,"
Y/n felt her heart melt at his words. She smiled a real smile and felt tears pricking at the corner of her eyes.
"Hey! No, don't cry!" Natsu panicked waving his hands around wildly. "I'm sorry if I upset you... I didn't mean to! I'm-"
"I'm not upset Natsu," she said, wiping her eye with the back of her hand. "I'm happy,"
The two sat in silence for a couple of minutes. Neither of them knowing quite what to say. The quiet was awkward, but not cripplingly so. Just enough to keep y/n from making eye contact with the pink-haired boy as well as hesitant to strike up another conversation. Natsu did not share her hesitation.
"How's this- next time it rains you and I can go rainbow hunting?"
The look y/n gave him made Natsu go weak in the knees. Her lips parted in surprise and her doe-eyes shining, full of childlike innocence and wonder.
He thanked the stars that they were sitting as if they weren't he surely would have fallen to the ground.
"Really?"
Natsu nodded, his gaze flickering away momentarily before locking eyes with y/n once again. He grinned at her, rubbing the back of his neck. "Of course!"
"Thank you," She smiled widely, a breezy laugh escaping her lips.
Before Natsu could register what was happening, she had thrown her arms around his neck and pulled him into a hug. He froze, not even daring to breathe.
Natsu sat there, tense. His cheeks burning, heart racing.
What's wrong with me?
~~~
1,639 words
I wasn't planning on writing this but then I had an idea and was like "why not?". But then I completely disregarded the idea so now there's this. No idea what it is but it's here now.
I've focused a bit too much on Natsu, time to let someone else shine- any suggestions for who?