Disclaimer: I don't own anything to do with Fairy Tail. I'm just borrowing them for no profit.
Shout-out!:To axlorg89, my groovy beta-reader.

EPILOGUE: SHOWOFF

July 1, X795

"Stop fidgeting!" Lucy tugged on Natsu's scarf to straighten it. "You'd better not be getting a case of stage fright all of the sudden."

He snorted and batted her hands away playfully. "No way! I just hate going on tour. Those buses and the plane rides kill my stomach." Grinning, he draped himself over her shoulders enjoying the way she huffed with mock irritation. "And it means I don't get to be with you."

"Ugh!" the blonde groaned. "Why do you have to be so damned charming?"

In response, he blew a raspberry on her cheek, prompting Lucy to shake him off and swat him on the chest. "And then you go and do something like that. Jeez. At least you won't be leaving again anytime soon." She waved her hands at him in a shooing motion. "Go on, you jerk! You're supposed to be on stage in a few minutes."

Natsu spun and ran a few steps before he suddenly skid to a halt. Turning to look at her with an earnest face, he asked, "You're gonna be in the audience, right?"

"Of course!" She gave him an eager thumbs up. "It's Fairy Tail's first welcome home concert since joining Heartfilia Music. No way I would miss it!"

Smile huge and full of teeth, Natsu spun back and jogged off to join the band where they were congregating near the stage.

Minutes later, Lucy was thanking the usher that had insisted on escorting her to her seat in the front row. She sat gratefully and glanced back at the arena packed with excited fans. Fairy Tail shirts as far as the eye can see. As nice as that was for her bottom line, the blonde was reminded of how she'd stuck out two years ago in her business attire. She plucked at her powder blue dress shirt self-consciously.

Thankfully, the crowd was entirely focused on the stage, and no one paid her any mind. Though she normally wasn't bothered by the scrutiny, sometimes being the Salamander's girlfriend brought some seriously weird and unwelcomed attention. It made it tough to enjoy working on her novel in the park when strangers were staring at her and taking pictures.

It hardly seemed like it had been two full years since she'd last sat in one of these uncomfortable stadium seats. Since then, the Junelles had backed off from their takeover attempt, and Lucy found that Sawarr was actually a very useful ally. He'd decided that if she was going to fall for someone else, then his favorite musical star wasn't so bad. Now that she wasn't constantly under siege by her board of directors, Lucy was able to actually enjoy the job she'd fought so hard for.

The rail expansion hadn't gone quite as planned, but wasn't a complete disaster either. Luckily, most of the complications had fallen on the Junelles end, and Lucy had been happy to simply supervise their handling of things. It was more than offset by the insanely fast growth of Heartfilia Music which now had major stars from all over the continent clamoring to join up. HK&R was the most solidly profitable that it had been since her mother's passing.

She couldn't help but think of Erza and Jellal's wedding too. It had been a magical event despite one notable instance. Enraged by a pair of paparazzi photographers that had snuck in, Erza managed to pry a broadsword from the venue's eclectic wall decorations and chased the two terrified men out. Her new husband had to talk her out of pursuing them down the street in her grand wedding gown with it's long train and elaborate embellishments.

Of course, somehow Gajeel had ended up catching the bridal bouquet even though he hadn't been trying, and Levy ended up with the garter landing in her hair. The drummer hadn't complained much when he shoved the flowers at the small woman, insisting that she take them, but he'd drawn the line at letting anyone watch him put the garter on her.

Not to be outdone, Gray had casually asked Juvia out on a date. It would've been one of the more normal things to happen at the reception had the pianist not fainted dead away into his arms while he panicked and toppled them both into the punch bowl. Currently, they were ranked near the top of Good Morning, Magnolia's 'Fiore's Hottest Couples' list, and Lucy suspected they would be even more popular if it weren't for Gray's dogged resistance to public displays of affection. In private, the two were downright adorable.

She turned back around when the house lights dimmed and the stage lit up. Grinning in his normal place at the front of the stage, Natsu greeted everyone over the microphone. "Heeey, Magnolia! Long time no see! Someone told me you guys kinda like our music. Is that true?" Everyone howled in confirmation.

Despite his casual crowd pleasing banter, Lucy couldn't help but think that the pink haired star seemed more on edge than normal. As the band settled into their set, she decided it must have been left over from their intense touring. He seemed as geared up as she'd ever seen him, singing his heart out and riling up everyone in the arena when he spat fire high into the air.

As the chords to the last song on their set list faded and the crowd thrashed in joy, Lucy noticed Natsu duck back behind the curtains. When he came back, the lights on the stage faded down to a single spotlight on the main microphone, and she spotted the acoustic guitar clutched in the star's hand. Oh, God… Not that song again. No matter how many times she heard 'Starlight,' she still ended up blushing.

The blonde frowned when he passed the instrument to Jellal who stepped up just out of reach of the light. "I hope you guys don't mind if I do just one more song. It's a pretty special one to me." It was pretty clear from the fans' cheers that they did not mind at all.

He began to sing, cupping a hand around the microphone. The words drifted across the vast stadium and seemed to bring quiet to the noisy environment. Glancing around, Lucy saw contented faces. And maybe a few shed tears and hugging couples. She looked back sharply when Natsu popped the microphone free from it's stand and approached the edge of the stage. What the heck is he doing?

The rose haired singer hopped nimbly off the platform, not losing the pace of his song. Stiffening, Lucy stumbled to her feet when he strolled in her direction. He didn't stop until he was right in front of her. Though his voice died down, Jellal still played on stage.

Natsu stared at her for a long moment before he let out a laugh. "Well, crap. I thought I was gonna be all smooth about this, but it's harder than I expected." He waved his free hand at the squealing crowd. "Okay, okay. I can do this!"

Lucy sucked in a breath that did nothing to quell her sudden dizziness as he dropped down on one knee. The man fished into his pocket, speaking into the microphone clenched in his white knuckled grip, "You are the most amazing woman I've ever met. I seriously don't know how I got so lucky that you'd choose me out of all the guys you could have, but now that I've got you you're so stuck with me. No way I'm ever letting go again."

He gently extended a beautiful ring towards her with a smile that outshone the modest antique cut diamond. "Lucy Heartfilia, will you marry me?"

For a terrifying moment, Lucy was certain she was going to pass out cold. Instead, she just stared, slack jawed, at the handsome man crouched in front of her. His smile started to fray at the edges as her silence dragged on, and he opened his mouth, praying to any deity that would listen he could convince her.

Natsu didn't get the chance to even try when Lucy threw herself into his arms, mashing her lips against his briefly. He wobbled up into a standing position rather than be forced to the ground by her weight. "Yes! Yes, of course I'll marry you!"

The crowd absolutely roared in elation, though they were outdone by the cheers from the band on stage. "You said yes?" Wrapping his arms around the woman he loved, Natsu couldn't quite believe he'd heard right. "You said yes! She said yes!" He kissed her back fiercely, and then broke away to lean his forehead against hers. The roar of sound from the stadium seemed to fade away in the small space between them.

He shifted his head to whisper in her ear with a familiar mischievous smile. "You know what that means, don't you?"

"I'm sure you'll tell me."

Natsu hugged her close, chuckling. "Now you'll never get rid of me."

Lucy joined him in his laughter, tightening her arms around his shoulders. "I wouldn't have it any other way."

The End

Author's Notes: And that's all there is, folks. Hope you enjoyed it. I had a good time putting this together, but I think it's time to retire this version of Fairy Tail. This is the end for this particular AU unless I get a really great idea.
I had a mention in my notes that Natsu's proposal was more formal because Erza threatened to hurt him if he didn't "do it right." I couldn't find a way to work it there, but you can figure Lucy found out from Natsu later. The original notes for the epilogue were a lot more tame, but a big proposal seemed more fitting considering Natsu's gift of showmanship.
I was really nervous when I started writing this since most of the band AU fics I'd seen were a little… well, they left something to be desired in many cases. Hopefully this was entertaining enough that you'll all forgive some of the clicheness that might've made it's way in there.
Thank you to all of the amazing people who took the time to review this. It means a lot to me that you did that. Thanks for reading!