Lucy pursed her lips, looked at her reflection in the mirror, and sighed. This was her third outfit change, and she still wasn't convinced. Nothing looked right: not the knee-high black boots; not the cute, frilly skirt that came to her mid-thigh; not the bright pink crop top; not the matching pink ribbon that held her hair in a side ponytail high on her head; not the makeup artfully painted on her face. After another critical glance at her reflection up and down, she gave one last sigh and turned away to get her keys. Why was she worrying so much about her appearance, anyway? She was just meeting up with Natsu. But what he'd said to her at the guild yesterday kept replaying in her head. She could picture his face now, with that sweet grin, as he exclaimed, "Hey, Luce, let's do something together tomorrow! I'll meet you outside your apartment tomorrow morning, ok? I have something to show you!" He had been so filled with childish delight, that Lucy had only been able to return his contagious grin and agree to his plan. She had such a hard time saying no to that happy face.

Now, here she was, worrying about what to wear. As she went out her door, she felt a small flutter in her stomach. What the heck was that?, she thought to herself. It's only Natsu! He probably just wants to take me to a new buffet or something. Relax! But she had a hard time doing that, and she felt another little flip as she came down the stairs and saw Natsu waiting for her with that same innocent grin.

"Hey, Lucy!" Natsu greeted her with a wave. "Ready to go?"

Lucy smiled fondly in response. "Yeah, sure! Let's go!"

Natsu turned around and started walking, and Lucy automatically fell in beside him. Their steps didn't match beats, as his legs were longer than hers, but they were undeniably synchronized in spite of that. As they started along, Lucy asked, "So where are you taking me?"

Natsu gave a small smile and replied, "Nice try, Luce. You'll have to wait until we get there."

His words made a little bit of warmth rush to her cheeks. What is wrong with me?, she wondered. This kind of thing had been happening more and more frequently around Natsu lately, and she couldn't fathom why. Little flutters, shivers up her spine, heat in her face–and no real reason for any of it. Well, maybe today would give her some clues about the meaning of it all.

Lucy walked along, gradually slowing down as she was lost in these thoughts, when she suddenly crashed into the solid back of the pink-haired man in front of her. Luckily, Natsu turned around in time to catch her, saying, "Whoa, watch out there! You ok?"

Lucy nodded without saying anything, very aware of his hands on her.

Natsu beamed at her and said, "Good! Because we're here!"

At this, Lucy snapped back to reality and took stock of their surroundings. They were standing in the middle of a seldom-frequented shopping avenue, in front of a shop that she didn't recognize. Gilded lettering on the door and display window identified it as a book store. Lucy gasped in surprise and then squealed, "Oooh, Natsu, how did you find this place? I had no idea a new book shop was opening around here!

Natsu smiled sheepishly and pointed at the building next door. "Happy and I were checking out that new restaurant, and I saw this here. I knew you'd want to take a look."

Lucy let out a laugh. She hadn't been too far off the mark, after all.

As they stepped into the cool interior of the shop, they were greeted with the heady smell of paper and binding glue. Lucy inhaled appreciatively. This scent always smelled like home to her. She quickly scanned the shelves, reading the labels on the ends to find the section she wanted, ducking down her chosen aisle. She settled down to peruse the books at her leisure, hardly noticing that Natsu was heading deeper into the shop.

After several minutes, Lucy felt a tap on her shoulder and looked up to see her friend beaming happily at her with a smile that made her heart skip a beat. Why now?, she silently questioned. Then she noticed that one of Natsu's hands was still behind his back. "What do you have?" she asked, perplexed at what he could possibly find to interest him in a book store.

Never losing his grin, Natsu replied, "Your real surprise!"

As Lucy was trying to puzzle out the meaning of this statement, he drew his hand around from behind his back, revealing a large, worn red volume latticed with silver filigree on the spine. Lucy sucked in a sharp breath as she read the title: "A Compact History of Dragons and Their Magic! Natsu, how on earth did you find this? And how did you remember that I've been looking for it?"

Lucy was too busy staring at the faded letters to notice the softened look that Natsu directed at her. "Hey, give me some credit! I listen to you a lot more than you think! You wanted to do some research into dragons, right? I remember you mentioning that this book was hard to find, so when we came in to check out the store, I asked the shop owner if he had it. He held on to it for me until I could get you here to pick it up. I'm glad you like it!"

At these words, Lucy glanced up at her dragon slayer friend, just in time to catch the last of the tender glance that Natsu's face held. Seeing it on the face of the handsome man in front of her, she completely forgot about the prized book in her hands as she was hit by a realization that struck her as forcefully as lighting, effectively knocking the wind out of her.

She was in love with Natsu Dragneel.