"50,000 jewels just to go out to dinner with Lucy? Hell yeah I'll do that, but Mira, don't you think this mission is a bit easy for such a small reward?"

"Trust me Natsu, this job was put forward specifically asking for you to do it. There is one condition to receive the reward though, she can't know that this is for a job. If you can do all that, then you can come and claim the day after your date."

Mira leaned over the bar counter to get closer to Natsu's face, "So you'll take it?" Natsu grasped his chin and seemed to ponder what it would mean to take this mission.

"Of course I'll take it!" Natsu was almost yelling, but no one in the newly rebuilt guild hall seemed to care too much. Although they had just returned from the country of Alvarez, the guild was no different than it had been in the years prior to the attacks by the dark guild Tartaros. People all around were drinking, eating and talking as they had for years past, and hopefully would enjoy for years to come.

Natsu jumped up from his bar stool and began walking for the guild hall's exit. He clasped his hands behind his head and leaned his head back into them, resting his neck as he walked. "Make sure you look nice when you go out with her!" Mira yelled as the doors began to close behind Natsu. As she leaned back from her resting position on the bar, Mira gave a devilish smile and looked at the blonde girl sitting at a table in the middle of the guild writing something down.

"Dinner with Lucy, hm? What a strange request, but I guess I could use the extra money. I should probably split the reward with Lucy though, she always needs a bit of extra money to pay for the rent." As Natsu continued to walk, he thought about the details of what his dinner would entail. "She's nice and all, but how should I ask her and where should I go with her?" He walked around the cheerful streets of Magnolia, remembering all the adventures he'd gone on with her, trying to think of a perfect way to spend the evening with her. "This'll be the perfect moment to thank her for all the adventures we went on. She's been by my side since she entered the guild, I don't think we've ever been apart for …"

His thoughts hit a brick wall. He'd been apart from Lucy for a long time, when he had left for a year, he had only written her a note and said nothing to her. Why hadn't he asked her to come with her? Why hadn't he gone to tell her in person? Countless thoughts ran through Natsu's

head as he pondered why he had left Lucy alone for a year. His thoughts became clouded as the ideas continued to run through his head, had he hurt her when he left? Did she ever think about him during that year? Was she angry at him?

"If you keep walking like that you're going to fall in the water, Natsu." A light, sweet-hearted voice broke into Natsu's thoughts. He turned his head slightly to see the blonde girl tilting her head slightly and staring right into his eyes. "Or, that's what some kind people used to tell me, but after we got back from Tenrou, they had apparently passed away."Her smile faded slightly, but the happy aura that she gave off was no weaker than it had been the moment before.

"Thanks for the warning, Luce. I've just been walking around the city just thinking about all of our adventures together. I can't believe that's I've only known you for a few years, it almost feels like a lifetime at this point."

"Yeah, we've been a lot of places, met tons of interesting people, and gone on countless adventures. I owe you for introducing me to Fairy Tail, Natsu, thank you." Natsu felt his shoulders tense up a bit, he couldn't help but think about him leaving her alone for an entire year.

"You don't owe me anything Lucy. You've stayed by my side through all of this, even when I was childish or made the wrong choice, you stayed by my side the whole time. Even when I …" He trailed off. he lowered his head, and he couldn't bear to look her in the eyes.

"Even when you left me alone for a year?" Lucy spoke the words softly and smoothly. Natsu quickly looked up to the spot where she had been standing before, but she wasn't there. He looked next to him, and found her standing just a foot away, staring off across the small river. "You don't need to apologize for that, you needed to become stronger, and I was holding you back. I'm just glad that you're back and I can be by your side again."

"Don't say that!" Natsu yelled at Lucy, "You weren't holding me back, if anything, you're the one person who I wanted to get stronger to protect. I dragged you into the guild, I'm gonna protect you until I die, okay?"

"You're going to protect me until you die, huh? Well then, I guess it's my job to protect you too, because I owe all my adventures to you. So, what do you say, we protect each other until the very end?" She smiled, and held out her hand, prompting Natsu to take it He stared at the open hand for a moment, contemplating what Lucy had just said to him.

'Her protecting me? I won't deny she's strong but…'

"Hey." Lucy leaned forward so that her eyes were just inside of Natsu's vision, she had a frown on her face as if she were a child whose parents didn't believe what they had said, "I know that you don't think I can protect you, but I won't let you be the only one taking risks, just take my hand." She took her other hand and used it to place his in her hand, grasping it tightly. "We're a team right? No matter what, I'll always be by your side." She was smiling brightly. Natsu looked right into her eyes, and quickly became lost in their dark brown color, like he was falling into a deep sleep.

"Luce…" Natsu could feel his face getting hot, he didn't quite understand why, but for some reason, he was getting embarrassed about what he was going to ask Lucy, "... would you like to go out to dinner tonight?"

"Na-Natsu, where is this coming from?" She was blushing brightly, Natsu was quickly realizing how bright her face was because of her light, soft skin. Her silky blonde hair, hanging just beyond her shoulders, he couldn't help but want to stroke it. Something in his head was pushing him to pull her closer, to keep her safe, and to make sure that she was never too far away from him again, but he had to do one last thing before he could make that dream a reality. He needed to fulfil his promise to Igneel before he could promise Lucy that he would never leave her side again.

"Well, I just thought that we haven't seen much of each other in the last year, so maybe…" He trailed off again. He could feel his hand beginning to feel clammy, his body temperature was slowly rising, but he pressed on, not just because he had promised to do it for a job, but because he wanted more time to be with her. "Lucy, I want to take you out to dinner to apologize for leaving. I left you alone for a whole year and wasn't even strong enough to say it to your face."

The air went still as Natsu finished asking Lucy. It wasn't about getting the money for the job anymore, it was about giving her a sincere apology. "I… I really don't know Natsu, with everything that's happening right now, it seems kind of…"

"Please Lucy," He broke off her words, he wasn't willing to take no as an answer anymore, "I need to apologize. Just let me do it properly, ok?" Natsu tightly gripped Lucy's hand again, it was as if he would not release her until she agreed to go out with him.

"Ok." She spit out her reply in a small, quiet voice, quite unlike how she had been talking the moments before. "Ok, I'll go out to dinner with you. We can meet at that restaurant near the port in an hour, okay?"

"I'll be there." He smiled brightly, and let go of her hand, beginning to run down the road towards his own home. "Make sure to wear something nice, Ok?"

"You too!" She yelled back, laughing to herself slightly. She looked down at her feet and blushed slightly, smiling. "Dinner? Wear something nice? What is he thinking?" She turned to her right and looked at the building that they had been standing in front of the whole time. "Did he really just happen to wander right in front of my apartment?" She laughed to herself again as she walked into her apartment building.

"Shit, I'm late." Natsu was running towards the port of the city while quickly tying a tie around his neck. "Where the heck is Happy, he could make this trip a lot faster." Natsu finished tying his tie and pulled his jacket all the way around his shoulder. The suit he was wearing had been a gift from Loke, who had said that it would be important to have some more 'professional' clothing one day. "This must be what he was talking about, but I can't help but feel a bit unnatural in it."

He continued to run as fast as he could, rounding corners and trying to dodge as many people as possible. He quickly rounded the final corner and saw her. Lucy stood outside of the small outdoor restaurant in a short red dress, whose bottom just reached her knees. Natsu stopped for a moment to take in the sight of her. She was staring in the window trying to fix her hair, slightly shifting her weight from leg to leg as she waited in anticipation, and the way she was practicing her smile in the mirror, trying to make sure it was perfect. Natsu couldn't help but think that she may be a bit nervous for the occasion and that nervous energy began to find it's way into himself too. "Come on, it's just dinner with Lucy, it's not the first time we've been alone, it'll be just fine." As he took a deep breath, he walked forward and approached the beautiful, blonde girl.

"Lucy!" Natsu yelled out her name as he approached her. She jumped a bit and quickly turned to face him, she had been so deep into what she was doing that she must have not remember that he was coming. "I'm so sorry that I'm late, I got caught up with a few things."

"No, it's fine, I just got here myself." She put her hand up to her hair once more and gave it one more flick as she fixed it in one try. With that one flick a strong breeze blew in from the harbor and her hair seemed to flow in sync with the wind and Natsu couldn't help but stare in shock and awe as the wind blew through her hair and dress like a scene from a movie. "Geez, I must look like a mess now, that breeze really messed everything up." She laughed to herself as she quickly tried to fix herself.

"Not at all, if anything I think you look even more beautiful now." Natsu spoke confidently and took her hands to stop her from fussing over what she looked like. She looked deep into his eyes, and he once again felt like he might get lost in their dark brown look. She was so amazing and every time Natsu looked at her he seemed to forget the world that was around them. "So... do you want to go and eat?"

"Yeah, sure. I would love that." Natsu let go of one of her hands and held the other to guide her into the dining area of the restaurant. After they were seated both looked at their menus and ordered quickly, making small talk as they waited for their food to arrive. They had a nice meal and talked and laughed for what seemed like hours as they enjoyed their meal. After they had finished the table grew somewhat quiet. It wasn't that either had run out of things to talk about, but more that they had reached the point in their conversation that both of them had been trying to avoid, their year apart.

"Lucy I'm…"

"Nastu it…" both of them spoke at the same time and neither knew who would continue what they had wanted to say. They both looked away and blushed. 'I just need to tell her that I'm sorry, that's it. Why is it so damn hard to do then!?' Natsu wasn't quite sure how to say the words that he knew that he had to say. 'He looks so nice tonight, he must have something important he wants to say, but I don't know if I'm ready for it.' Lucy was also having some issues worrying about what was going to come next for the two of them.

"I guess I'll go first. I want to apologise to you Lucy, what I did was terrible and I don't ever want to leave you alone again. I really don't have anyway to make it up to you, but I hope that we can still be partners, cause without you, I don't really know what I would do." Lucy instantly blushed and looked away.

'That idiot. He thinks he can just come back, treat me to dinner, and apologize and all this goes away again.' She was angry, but at the same time, happy about how much that he cared about her. It made her happy to know that he cared and that he felt lost without her, like she held a bigger purpose in his life, and that thought alone made her happy. "Natsu, you don't have to apologize for that, you wanted to get stronger so that you could protect everyone. I'm not the only person that matter you know."

'The only person that matters.' These words stuck in Natsu's head as he thought about what Lucy had said. 'Maybe it's not that she's the only one that matters, but I don't think I could live without her, she seems to matter more than everyone. I don't understand what to call it, it's like she's always been there, keeping me tethered to this world, preserving who I was.' He was so lost in thought that he had begun to stare out over the lake. The sun was beginning to set with how late it was, and the colors of the sun's rays streaming over the horizon seemed to call out to him, calming him, and reassuring him of what he was feeling.

"It's not that you're the only that matters to me, it's that you're the one who matters the most to me. I'm going to be honest Lucy, I don't understand what I feel, I've never felt this way about anyone before, it's something that makes me feel like you're the one holding me to the earth, and when I'm away from you, you're the one that's on my mind. Over the last year, there wasn't a day where you didn't come to my mind and I thought about coming back to get you. The only thing that kept me from coming back, was the thought that I wouldn't be strong enough to protect you again, and after all of this…"

"N-Natsu, where is this all coming from. This is all so sudden." She was beginning to feel overwhelmed. Natsu had never been one to be sentimental towards others unless their life was at stake, but here he was making these bold claims about how he felt towards Lucy. It seemed so out of character with him, but it once again made Lucy feel warm and needed, and she too seemed to feel a connection stronger than she did with most when she was around Natsu and it seemed amplified when they were apart. "I… I do too."

"You what too?"

"Idiot. I feel the same. I don't know how to describe it, but I don't like being away from you. I feel like I should be close to you, and when we're apart you're the driving force behind almost all of my decisions." Natsu stood up abruptly and took Lucy's hand. She stood up too and was tightening her grip on his hand as if to reassure herself that he was still there. "That year when you were gone, I felt so lonely. Everyone had left, but I couldn't even think about them, it just kept bothering me that I didn't know where you were." He began to walk with her, leading her by the hand away from the restaurant and back towards the residents area of the city.

"I'm sorry Lucy, it was all my fault. I was being selfish and should have brought you with me." He was looking forward and Lucy couldn't quite see his face as he was slightly holding it down. "There's no way that I could ever make it up to you, so instead, I'll spend the rest of my life protecting you, so that we won't be apart again.

"Natsu, you don't have to be like that, I could have come after you. I was scared though, the guild was gone, you had left, and I was at a lost at what I should do next. I won't stand by next time you go away, I'll always be there to make sure you make it back safely, because we're a team, right?

"Right!" Natsu turned to face Lucy, and was smiling, but she could clearly see a tear come from his left eye. "We're a team, and nothing is going to come between us." He continued to walk, and Lucy pulled herself closer to him, now wrapping her arm around him. Showing to everyone that they were together. 'Maybe, I don't just want to be teammates with him. Is there something more that I want?' Lucy pondered the idea as they continued to walk. She didn't quite understand the feeling, it was as if just being called a teammate didn't feel like enough for her anymore.

"Um, we're here" Natsu spoke, and Lucy realized that they had arrived at their destination. She loosened her grip around his arm and took a small step back to put a bit more room between themselves. "So…" Natsu didn't know what to do next, he had done exactly like he had planned, but in the process, he seemed to have discovered something more about his feelings towards Lucy.

"Thank you for the great evening, I had a good time." She tilted her head slightly and smiled. Natsu couldn't help but smile back at her, realizing how cute she was. He felt drawn to move closer to her, and he slowly began to lean into her, quickly closing the small gap between the two of them.

"Lucy…" He didn't finish what he had begun to say because before he realized it, their lips were connected. They both closed their eyes and just enjoyed the moment. Natsu couldn't help but realize how soft Lucy's lips were, and there was a slight sweetness to their taste. The moment seemed to last a long time as the two remained entranced in their utter bliss. It was Natsu who pulled away first, but Lucy seemed prepared for more. "I-I'm so sorry. I di-din't mean anything by t-that." He slowly began to stumble over his words as he tried to understand what compelled him to kiss her.

"No, it's fine. Maybe, I even enjoyed it." She seemed to blush a bit, but she tried to hide the fact by lowering her head, and turning away slightly. 'What am I thinking? I didn't just enjoy it, I loved it. I want to be closer to himself again, I want to be so close that I can feel his body heat.'

"That's good, I think I enjoyed it too. Well, I guess I'll see you tomorrow then." Natsu quickly turned on his heels, but before he could, something slightly tugged on the sleeve of his jacket.

"Y-You don't have to leave. Maybe, you might want to come inside?" Lucy was still looking the other way, but at the same time she was speaking in an almost whisper voice so that Natsu could just barely hear what she was saying. He wasn't sure how to respond to him. Usually he would just end up wandering into Lucy's apartment, but it was an entirely new idea that she might invite him inside.

"Sure, it couldn't hurt right?" He took her hand again and allowed her to lead him inside. As she led him up the stairs he began to notice the way her hair slightly swung while she walked, and he felt a sudden urge to pull her closer and to not let her go. This strange urge to pull her close to him was slowly building, but he continued to fight the urge, for fear of scaring Lucy and her rejecting his forwardness.

"Give me a second to fix things, okay?" Lucy quickly opened and closed the door separating herself from Natsu. Although they had only been separated by the door, both felt like they were worlds apart. Lucy quickly ran to the bathroom and began to try and fix the way she looked. As she ran around the small apartment trying to organize things, she began to lose track of how long Natsu had been outside and worry that he may have left. She threw open the door quickly, and there he was with his hand held up, just about to knock on the now open door. "I'm so sorry about that, cleaning took a bit longer than expected."

"No, it's no problem at all." He quickly stepped inside the room and Lucy closed the door behind him. "Feels weird being invited in, it's almost an unnatural feeling."

"You know, if you didn't just show up here all the time, I would probably invite you over more." She was a bit annoyed by how calm Natsu seemed to be, but in reality she was happy that one of them was confident, it helped her recompose herself too.

"So… Is there something that you wanted me to talk abo-" Natsu's words were cut short as Lucy ran behind him and hugged him tightly

"You're really here. This is real." She kept holding him tighter, determined to make sure that he was the real Natsu and she wasn't imagining him out of loneliness.

"I'm real? Lucy what happened while I was gone?" He grabbed both her hands and pulled her over to the bed. They both sat down and Natsu pulled her closer to him, wrapping his arm around her and prompting her to rest her head on his shoulder.

"During the year you were gone, I had issues coping with you disappearing. Everywhere I went I thought about you, and everything I did seemed to remind me of you." Her head was now fully pressed against his shoulder, and tears were slowly beginning to stream down her face. He knew that she had been sad when she left, but he'd never realized that it had been tearing her apart too. "I slowly began to see you when I was feeling lonely, you'd be smiling and laughing, and you'd always come to help when I was lost. I was beginning to lose touch with what was real, and what wasn't. So when you came back, I didn't know if it was real, or if I was imagining things again, if I had really lost my grip on reality."

She was beginning to cry more and more, but the smile on her face became more and more clear to Natsu. She was brimming with happiness because she could finally be around him again, but at the same time, everything that she had been suppressing was boiling to the surface and she couldn't contain what she felt anymore. Anger, sadness, pain, loneliness, every emotion should could think of was boiling over and she didn't know what to do. "I wanted to believe this was the real you, but now, holding you and feeling the warmth of your skin, I know for a fact you're right here."

"I'm sorry Lucy, I didn't know what I put you through." He began to slowly stroke her soft, silky hair in an attempt to calm her down, and she snuggled further into his body.

"Would you stay with me tonight? I know it may seem weird, but I don't want to be away from you again, so please?" She looked up, he eyes looking large and bloodshot from her tears. Natsu looked deep into her eyes and felt drawn towards her again, but instead of resisting he allowed himself to be swallowed by those feelings.

"Of course Lucy, I won't leave your side." He stood up and brought Lucy with him. He helped to straighten her up and wiped away the tears that were streaming down her face, pulling her makeup down with it. "Let's get you cleaned up and then you can go to sleep."

"Ok, thank you." He guided her into the bathroom and made sure that she washed the makeup off her face and gave her a change of clothes that she could sleep in. He too began to take off his suit, placing the jacket and button up shirt on one of the chairs in the room. As he finished untucking his undershirt, Lucy exited the bathroom, her hair slightly wet from being washed and not fully dried and she had put her hair into a ponytail to make sure that it didn't get in the way.

"Somethings different about the way I see you now…" Natsu began to speak his thoughts, no longer caring what Lucy thought of him, "...you're so beautiful, and I just can't seem to get enough of you." He took her hand and brought her over to the bed.

"What are you saying? Me beautiful? I'm just another girl."

"No, you're so much more than just a girl." He pulled back the cover and had her lay down on the small bed. "You're the most beautiful girl I've ever seen. When I look at you, I can't think of anything, and when I can't see you, I can't help but picture everything about you." He leaned in closely to her, growing ever closer to her face.

"Yo-You're just saying those things because you're tired." He was less than an inch from her face at this point, and she could feel his body heat radiating towards her.

"No, I'm not…" He proceeded to close the final gap, and their lips touched once more. Lucy wrapped her arms around Natsu's neck and pulled him into the bed with her, taking great care to keep their lips locked tightly together. They continued to passionately kiss as the room began to grow slightly darker and the night grew ever quieter. Finally, after what seemed like several minutes of kissing, they moved their faces apart, but their bodies still remained close. Natsu wrapped his arm around Lucy and pulled her close to his body. She turned around so that her back was flush with Natsu's front and the two cuddled together until they fell asleep.

The sun slowly began to rise over the line of houses just across the river, and its rays streamed through the open window onto the two people sleeping in the small bed. They were tightly holding onto each other and sleeping soundly as the bright rays warmed their faces as a new day dawned. The first to wake of the two was the blonde haired girl, who slightly opened her eyes and smiled as she remembered what had transpired the night before. She turned slightly so that she could see the pink haired boy laying beside her, holding her waist tightly. His smooth skin and bulky figure gave her a sense of security. His body temperature was surprisingly cool, but still gave her a warm sensation as she caressed his large body laying next to her.

"I don't just want to be your partner, Natsu, I think I'm beginning to understand what I feel towards you. My mom used to tell me stories of how she fell in love with my dad, but I didn't understand what she meant until recently. You become the person keeping me here in the world, no one else, if you were to disappear again, I would give up everything just to be with you again. The idea of love always seemed so far away and imaginary up until now, but I think I know what she was talking about. Natsu, I've fallen in love with you, and I don't want to be apart from you anymore." She leaned in and kissed his sleeping forehead.

The pink haired boy smiled and opened his eyes, "I love you too Luce." He leaned forward and pressed his lips tightly against hers. From that moment on they were no longer just partners, or friends, or teammates, no they were more than that. They were in love.

A/N; I'm back again with another one-shot. This time, it isn't a one shot challenge so it'll probably a bit higher quality, but it's also another FairyTail fic, so yay! This was originally written for someone and I wasn't going to post it, but they asked me to, so here it is. As for updates on other stories, Time to Move Forward has pretty much no progress on Chapter 4 (I'm so sorry about that), but I do have the outline for what's to come in the next 3 chapters so I can move forward on writing. As for my other ongoing story, Before the Eclipse, I've decided that I'm going to be dropping it. It was originally a project to try writing a darker fic, but I really don't like how it was turning out. So I've decided that the one-shot challenges is where I'll experiment and I'll keep my larger stories to what I'm comfortable with. Thank you so much for either coming back to read another one of my stories, or just for taking the time to read my story and I hope that you'll all come back to read the next one. Until then, take care.