July 26, Tuesday
The sun was already high up in the morning sky, illuminating the earth with it's summer light. The heat it gives seems to be increasing in every second it spends in the cloudless sky. The noise made by the summer insects resounded from the nearby trees. And as the clock strikes at nine, the day was starting to become humid.
Her eyes fluttered open and they drowsily stared at the blue clock on the bedside table. "9:05" she read before closing her eyes. She always wakes up at seven but since she overworked her mind in answering her homework with her friends yesterday and she stayed up late at night, it's no surprise to her that she's exhausted. She opened her eyes once again as a thought crossed her mind. "Was it all a dream?" she asked herself in her thoughts as she remember what happened last night. Her eyes closed as if to remember the moment they kissed and hugged each other, and the moment she cried in his arms, making her cheeks to lightly flush, though she is not aware that she did. Everything that happened seemed a dream, she couldn't even believe that it happened, even though she is aware that it did.
Staring at the crown on her study table, she reminisced what happened after their reunion. He shared stories about what he did while he was gone. He told her his reasons why he did such things. And even explained how he became a King. Of course, she listened to his tales and all she did was smile and laugh. But not when he mentioned that his father died. The mood died down for a second, but he brought it back with a grin and asked her what she did after he was gone. And so, she shared him her memories while they ate the strawberries and the puddings she bought on her bed.
A soft snore was heard from the left side of the bed, washing her drowsiness away. Slowly sitting up and looking at her back, there she saw him sleeping. His arms were spread open on his sides and his lips slightly open. His eyes closed and another snore came from him, telling her that he's deeply asleep. Her heart began to race when she noticed his shirt was unbuttoned, revealing his bare chest. Shaking her head to prevent her from thinking something embarrassing, she noticed the markings and scales on his body were still there, telling her that he's still in his demon form. But one thing caught her attention the most, she did not see his horns. "I never thought his horns were removable" she thought and laughed silently at the idea.
Smiling, she watched him turn side ways, facing her. "It must be uncomfortable that's why he had it removed" she thought as she reached for his crown on her study table. Her finger traced the golden curves on the metal which is adorned with gemstones. It's her first time seeing one in real life and to get to touch one is a pleasure for her. She read a lot of fairy tales which were mostly about Princes and Princesses when she was young. She even used to believe that fairy tale creatures exists, but that was when she was a child. However, the wish she wished about having her own Prince charming never died, until now. "And now, I got myself a King" she thought, grinning as she put the crown on her head and looked at her reflection at the small mirror on her study table.
"That's mine.."
She flinched when she heard him mumble. Removing the crown as quick as she can, she turned to look at him only to see him still asleep. "..my pudding.." he continued to mumble in his sleep, making her face to flush at his cuteness. "I guess I'll have to make him some puddings" she noted in her mind as she stood, putting the crown back on her study table. A smile forming in her lips upon seeing the little note which she was about to throw away last night, pinned back to her brown pin board. But her smile soon turned into a frown when she saw how messy her room has become.
Stretching herself, a yawn escaped her lips as she observed her messy room. Her scrapbook together with her photo albums and pictures were scattered on the floor. His royal boots along with his cape which she mistook as a rag were also on the floor. The box of candies and chocolates she received from her grandfather, her cousin and mostly from Loki were already half finished. She safely kept it in her cabinet and to think that Natsu found it because of his keen sense of smell was no surprise to her.
Tying her hair in a messy bun, she began cleaning her room by hanging his cape on the hook at the door to where she hang her trenchcoat and setting his footwear by the door. She picked up the pictures and put back all her stuff to where it's supposed to be, along with her box of sweets. She picked up the candy wrappers which were scattered on the floor and on her bed, and put it in the waste bag. It was he who made all those mess, but she doesn't seem to mind about it. It's her fault anyway for allowing him eat on her bed. But not until her eyes saw the used plastic cups of pudding.
The cups lay on her bed, one upside down, the other on it's side, spilling the remaining caramel pudding sauce on her favorite blue blanket, and the other one probably rolled under her bed while they're asleep. No wonder she felt something sticky on her feet. "Natsu!" she exclaimed, automatically pulling the blanket off of him but received no response from him. Her eyes widened and her face red in anger upon seeing what's under the covers.
A crushed strawberry somewhere beside him, staining her baby blue bed sheets which pairs with her favorite blanket, a melted chocolate somewhere at the edge of the bed, and spotted a left over candy stuck on the cloth. It was indeed a bad idea allowing him eat on her bed. "Did you just come here to give me a lot of work to do!?" she yelled but only received a groan from him. The pinkette is now on his stomach, still asleep despite of her loud voice that could wake anyone.
A tick formed on her forehead and began pulling the sheets on the left side of the bed, pulling him along with it. He looked like a flea that clung on the bed sheets. "Natsu, I know you're awake! Get up already!" she yelled as she struggles in pulling the bed sheets but only received another groan from him. She sat on the floor, her feet on the bed and began pulling the covers, to give her more power to pull. She was having a hard time pulling because of him weighing the covers down. With one strong pull, she yelped at the sudden contact and heaviness. Natsu just fell on her, basically squashing her.
The demon groaned at his hard yet slightly soft--but--mostly soft fall. He helped himself up, kneeling on the floor with the help of his left hand. His other hand reached for his pink head, rubbing the small bump he earned from his fall. He opened his eyes, revealing his red orbs and stared at her red face. Her wide eyes stared back at him, probably because of his scary eyes and her hands covering her mouth to maybe prevent her from screaming. This made him wonder, "What is she so flushed about?" he thought.
"Oh" he mouthed when he noticed their position. Lucy under him, and Him on top of her. His arms caging her and felt one of her leg in between of his. No wonder her face is red. A smirk stretched in his lips as he watched her blush even more under his arms. To his dismay, the blonde frowned and punched him off of her the moment he made that teasing smirk. He moaned at the pain and was surprised that a girl like her has the power to punch someone. He has always thought that she's weak.
"What was that for?" he managed to say before being kicked out of her room. He took an intake of air when his back hit the wall, hard. He groaned in pain as he watched the door close sharply. Standing up, he dusted himself. It's not really that painful but still he felt pain. "She's strong alright" he mumbled, rubbing the pain off at the back of his head.
Then, he flinched when her bedroom door suddenly opened. But before he could see her face, his crown and his footwear came flying to his face. He caught it in time since he doesn't want to feel pain any further and he doesn't want his crown being broken.
A sigh of relief escaped his lips when he observed his beloved accessory. No damage. "Where's my cape?" he said, and flinched again when the door suddenly flung open. He caught the cape in time, but did not see the other cloth in coming. He let the piece of clothing hit his face as he listened to the door being shut. Bowing his head a little, the cloth slid off his head and fell on his arms. His mouth slightly gaped upon seeing the familiar piece of clothing.
It was the yukata she bought for him. "So she kept it.." he thought and smiled as he looked at the black yukata. But his smile faded away when he heard her shout, "That's it! I'm never going to make him sleep in my room ever again!". And heard her shriek again, "That idiot Demon!". His brow raised, confused at why the girl is such in a lousy mood. She was so happy that she was crying last night and now she's like a mad woman talking to herself.
"What did I do wrong?" he thought, but shrugged it off immediately and faced the guest room which is now named as his room. Entering it with his powers since his hands were full to open the door, a small smile crept on his lips as his eyes scanned the small room. Nothing changed since he left except for the bed covers and the curtains.
The covers were blue as well as the curtains. But at least they are not like those flowery designs that she have in her room, they were plain and much darker in color to which he is thankful. He can't stand light colors, especially the neon ones. It irritates his eyes that he'd destroy anything with such color. However, Lucy's room is an exemption. Even though he sees light colors in her girly stuff, he doesn't seem to mind it. Well, if he destroyed it, he'll definitely get himself into trouble.
A sigh escaped his lips for no reason. Laying his stuff on the bed, he watched his things disappear into thin air. He just sent his stuff back to his room in hell. He can't risk breaking or damaging his beloved crown anyway. "Well, now I know her feelings towards me. I wonder if she'll agree if I crown her my Queen" he muttered out of nowhere, and smiled like an idiot. Setting the thought aside, he went in the bathroom to prepare himself for the day and turned himself in his human form.
===
Lucy has just finished cooking his late breakfast. She placed his plate in front of him and prepared him some tea. "Aren't you going to eat?" he asked as he watched her drink a cup of milk in front of him in two or three gulps. The girl just looked at him for a moment before leaving him alone in the dining area. But with that short glance he received from her, he saw anger and annoyance in her eyes making him wonder why she gave him that glance. "I'll take that as a no" he said to himself and starts devouring his food.
His breakfast consists of pancakes and scrambled eggs. It was simple than the breakfast he eats back in Hell. But no matter how simple and common it is, it will always be different from the foods he has eaten. And he loved it, her cooking I mean. Shoving his last piece of pancake in his mouth, "I wonder why she's angry" he thought as he watched the girl pass by.
Heartfilia carried down her bed covers along with her other laundries. She could feel Natsu's eyes following her as she passed by the kitchen and walked into the washing room. But before she closed the door, she looked at him and sighed. "You wash the dishes while I clean the house" she finally spoke.
Natsu was finishing his tea when the girl spoke to him. He was irritated that she's suddenly giving him commands, but happy that she is maybe not angry at him anymore. "I was expecting her to be more like---a girl around me after what happened last night" he uttered, bringing the dishes to the sink and washing it, using his powers of course.
"And what do you mean by that?" his body tensed and slightly flinched upon hearing her ask, he could clearly notice the anger in her voice. And when he turned to look at her, he saw it too in her eyes and noticed her cheeks were slightly flushed. He did not bother to think about why she is blushing because he could clearly tell that it's because of anger, or so he thought.
"W-what are y-you talking about?" he stuttered, averting his eyes and trying to avoid the subject for he doesn't want to anger her any further. Who would anyway? He took a peek at her for a second and saw her bluntly looking at him. Now what? What did he do that made her angry again? Shouldn't she be happy that he came back? Pushing the thoughts aside, an idea crossed his mind to escape this situation of his'. "W-why are you cleaning your house anyway? Will there be an occasion or something?" he asked, and secretly sighed at his success attempt.
"Because I haven't cleaned it since spring" she replied. The color in her cheeks never left as she asked him one more time, "So what is it that you were expecting from me?". His onyx averted to the tiled floor. Now what should he do? If he says what he was expecting, it will surely anger her--probably. And if he says that he wasn't expecting anything, that will sound negative and she will hate him and not talk to him. Not talk to him.. He doesn't want that to happen. He can't stand it when she did that to him earlier. "How did this happen anyway!? How did I get in this situation!!? Is Kami-sama punishing me for altering their memories!?" he screamed in his mind and regretted for what he has done to them.
A minute has passed, Natsu hasn't said anything and the only thing he can hear is the tapping of her foot and the sound of the machine in the room he hasn't been to. Now that he thought about it, what's in that room? With his keen sense of hearing, "Hey, what's that sound?" he asked and peeked the inside of the room by the door, and finally successfully escaping his err suffering situation.
The girl looked at him and then looked at the machine he was staring at. "What's that human technology doing there?" he asked making her almost burst into laughter at him. "That's a Washing Machine" she replied and giggled a little at him, earning a glare from him. "Well I'm sorry for not knowing this Washing Machine. I don't regularly go to human world and Humans just tend to improve so fast. So shut it" he snapped, crossing his arms and frowned at her.
Lucy continued to laugh at him. Even though he snapped at her, she doesn't seem to mind it because for some reason, she's not scared of him anymore. Blushing a little at the cute pout she witnessed him do, "Hai hai" she said, wiping the tears that formed from laughing and continued, "So are you done with the dishes?".
Using his thumb, Natsu pointed at the floating dishes at the sink behind him with a blunt look on his face. "I remember telling you not to use your powers on my dishes! I don't want you to break them!" she exclaimed, taking a hold of both his shoulders and shaking him to maybe stop him from what he is doing. "Too late" he replied, and right after that all the dishes were already sparkling clean. "And besides, if I broke it, I can just bring it back to how it's supposed to be".
"Whatever" she sighed and went in the washing room. She can never-ever win an argument with him. "I hope you'll lose your powers so you'll learn your lesson" she muttered as she take out the vacuum from the cabinet but Natsu heard her clearly. "Be careful what you wish for, Heartfilia. Losing my powers means losing my life" he stated as he help her carry the vacuum, another human technology he is familiar with. "What do you mean?" she asked, curiosity written on her face as she made her way upstairs while Natsu followed her, still carrying the vacuum. "Everything has an exchange. Therefore, it consumes my energy when using my powers" he explained, putting down the vacuum once they arrived the second floor.
Stopping in her tracks, "Oh" she mouthed and regretted what she wished. She doesn't mean to wish something that would mean his death and she was not aware about the information he has given her. She doesn't remember reading anything like that in the books she read either, unless Natsu altered her memories about it. "I'm sorry..." she muttered, bowing her head a little in guilt and telling herself in her thoughts that she's a terrible person. Natsu smiled and patted her head. "It's fine. I know you don't mean it" he said, his hands on his hips as he grinned at her.
Looking up at him, Lucy blushed at the sight of his signature grin. At their close distance, she noticed their height difference. "He changed.." she thought and smiled at the idea. She noticed that he has gotten taller and noticed that he is somehow sweet and kind for a demon like him. "So what does Miss Heartfilia wants me to do next?".
"Stop calling me by my surname. You remind me of my terror teacher" she said and shuddered as if to let him know how scary her teacher is. "Me, a terror? Even in this form?" he gestured at his body while Lucy sweat-dropped and sighed at his statement for not getting what she meant. Now that he mentioned it, why is he in his human form?
"Why are you in your human form anyway?".
===
Finished cleaning all the rooms on the second floor, Lucy sighed in relief as she turned off the vacuum and sat down on her parent's bed. She sent Natsu back downstairs and told him to call her when the washing machine stopped moving right after their conversation. A smile creeping in her lips as she reminisces what he said.
He thought that she wants him in his human form more than his true form and he reasoned that it's for safety purposes since he doesn't want to cause any ruckus in the human world. "He probably thinks that I'm still scared of him?" Lucy thought as she lie down on the bed. She's not really scared of him anymore. Well, she was scared at him when he showed up last night but that was because he messed up with her memories.
"You want me back in my form?" she remembered him ask like a child which made her giggle. She didn't say anything, but she smiled and pinched his left cheek, making him blush which made him earn a laugh from her. With that, he went back into his demon self and observed her reaction with his red eyes. She was uncomfortable at his starring of course, so she averted her eyes to his head and noticed that his horns was nowhere to be seen. She asked him about it and he said he only wear them to make him look more scary.
"Do you think someone would be scared of me with this appearance of mine?" he asked, earning another laugh from her. True, he look less scary with that face of his' and with that hair color he has. "Well, at least he is aware what he looks like" she laughed as she stood and stretched herself.
Bringing the vacuum with her, Lucy headed back downstairs. Natsu was nowhere to be seen in either the living room or the dining room so she guessed he's still inside the washing room. Opening the door, her mouth gape at what happened inside and what's inside.
A huge foam of bubbles filled the room with a height of 1 or 2 feet. Some lucky bubbles were floating around in the room and when she opened the door, the foam of bubbles came out off the room and off to it's freedom or rather off to conquer the unoccupied space.
"Natsu!" she yelled in anger and scanned the room for pink head. There she saw him doing something with the machine. His head slightly wet from the soap water, his clothes were drenched and some foamy bubbles clung on his body and clothes. "What did you do this time!?" she screamed.
Her eyes widened when Natsu turned around to look at her, and when she saw what he's holding, making her to fume in anger. He was holding the drain hose and some kind of metal which she doesn't even know where he took it off from. Blinking with his red eyes, "I-I was just c-curious.." he stuttered, bowing his head a little at the fault he did.
===
Sitting on the wooden crates, Natsu groaned as he rubbed the glowing red bump on his pink head. His left cheek is also red with a faint hand print, a sign that the blonde slapped him for good.
He was just curious about how the machine works and so he decided to 'observe' it. He knows that he broke it when the foam of bubbles suddenly burst out of the washing machine when he put this box of soap powder inside out of curiosity. He was planning to fix it and turn it back to how it's supposed to be, using his powers of course. He thought he was lucky because he was told to call her down once the machine stopped, which means he can call her anytime once he finished 'fixing' the machine but then she came in at the wrong time. And that's how he received those painful hits from her.
"I already fixed that human technology, how come she's still angry at me?" he thought as he watched her hang the laundries at her backyard. He was being ignored right after he fixed the washing machine and she pretended that he's not there. This annoyed him of course and decided to follow her wherever she goes.
Setting the thought aside, his red eyes scanned the small area of land. Plants and colorful flowers occupied the area, and five old empty wooden crates which he is sitting on right now were carefully aligned and is still looking new despite of the seasons that have passed. A small storage house on his left is surrounded with bushes of flowers as well. And a blanket of bermudagrass covered the piece of land, hiding the earth with it's thick green color.
"I didn't know that you are into gardening".
"My grandfather's the one maintaining and doing the garden, not me" she finally spoke but did not turn to look at him for she was still angry for making a mess in her house. Even though he fixed the machine and cleaned the mess he made (using his powers of course), what he did is unforgivable!
Natsu sighed as silence filled them and continued on watching her, and reminisced what they talked about last night. She did tell him about her grandfather and her cousin visiting her last December, she even showed pictures about it. "She changed.." he thought, and smiled. Her hair has gotten longer and she has gotten taller. And her attitude somehow changed also. She may be a little short tempered but that was because he did something that made her angry.
"I'm glad she's happy while I was gone" he thought and smiled as he took out a picture from his pocket.
It's a picture he stole from her scrapbook. It was taken last October, the time when they went to the festival. She was wearing the pink yukata that she bought, and she was wearing that same smile that he always wanted to see. Tracing her printed smile on the picture with his finger, he smiled and remembered their kissing moment.
He looked at her again, the memory of them last night still flashing in his mind as he watched her hang the remaining clothes. Her white summer dress and her blonde locks swayed along the summer breeze, as well as the hanging clothes. The fragrance of detergent and scent of flowers filled the air as the breeze continued on.
Surprised, Lucy let out a small yelp when she felt his arms suddenly wrapped around her waist. She could feel her heart beating rapidly in her chest and she could feel her face heating up at his sudden action. "What's all the sudden?" she thought but did not say anything for she was lost of words.
Nuzzling his head in the crook of her neck, he inhaled her scent and mumbled,
"I missed you"
Lucy was astound at what she heard but then smiled and rested her hands on his',
"I missed you too"
======Authors's Note======
HERE! ugh. Done. wait.. I'm in a hurry. I don't have net in my house so yeah (I know, it's a suffering situation of mine) and it's getting late. I still have school tomorrow (MY FIRST DAY OF SCHOOL GAWD! ;o; college life, I wonder what it's like?).
Anyway, I really hope you like it!! ;o; I'm really sorry for the wait! I'll probably back after a month or so... (because of school.. ;o;) Ugh I'll miss you guys. But hey, I'll still update this so I hope no one's gonna steal my idea, if someone does please be my eyes and ears here while I'm gone. Do message me also! :D
Don't forget to give it a star!! :D I really hope you love it! :D