"Gate of the Scorpion, I open thee! Scorpio!"

A blinding light arose before her as it shifts into the familiar shape of the arachnid celestial spirit. With a burst, the red cloth wrapped around the figure's waist flurried in the air and the man became visible. Instantly, he positioned himself for battle, the mechanical scorpion tail following after him.

"Star dress form, Scorpio!" Lucy yells after his summoning. A similar light binds around her curvy figure, as a red and black skin-tight suit replaces it. A chain coming from her backside ends with a curved, sharp point, replicating the stinger. With this suit her speed is enhanced and it also grants her the ability to blend and fly through a sandstorm freely.

She begins to run, then kicking off of the dry earth to fly through the sandy air. Her opponent is a Sand Elemental, able to control the grainy substance to its whim. And because of that it stopped the poor Smith family from growing their crops for the year.

Hovering through, she eyes the molded body, looking at its form. It was shaped as a woman with the texture of a sandcastle, but much more fearsome as it could recover with ease. Whenever Lucy attacked, the sand regained its form. It was as if she never touched it at all.

Lucy comes behind the entity as Scorpio distracts it, running around and never directly attacking. She whirls herself around with a foot extended, hitting the being in the head with her infamous Lucy Kick. The sand completely crumbles away but comes back just as fast. The gritty substance that dispersed swirled in the air before settling back to its original position, reforming the shape of the head.

The Sand Elemental begins to laugh distortedly as Lucy grunts to herself.

"You really think you can beat me?!" It whips around and the sandstorm begins to descend to the ground, instead coming together to pile around Lucy's feet. She tries to struggle her way out but does so to no avail.

"What? I should be able to move in Scorpio's form-" The sand reaches her neckline and begins to go beyond that. "Now, Scorpio!"

Scorpio points his stinger towards the Elemental. Instead of fighting fire with fire, he begins sucking in the sand towards the mechanical tail. It helped to disfigure the Elemental's form in order to find a weak point.

As the being became translucent, a glimmering, grey light was found at the knee. Lucy's eyes widen. She read in a book somewhere that the orb represents an Elemental's soul (alike their brain). The light is usually colourful, but when darkened, its spirit had become corrupted. It was the one mark of weakness in her opponent.

Realizing she had no way of making direct contact to the knee, she turns to Natsu as he sits on a rock with Happy. Lucy told him to stay out of her fight so she could get better in battle. But it seems like he was ready to blow up at any moment; his eyes are sharp while glaring at the Sand Elemental, a concentrated look masking his face.

"Natsu! Her knee!" She yelps as the sand begins to consume the edges of her lips.

"Got it!" A blur of pink and suddenly the temperature of the whole area begins to rapidly increase. "Fire dragons..." Lucy stares at Natsu as the red fire quickly builds, panic rising within herself. He was aiming directly at the Elemental, and her.

"Wait, wait! Natsu, you're going to hit me t-"

"-roar!" The flames burst out of his mouth and are centered towards the being's weak spot. Over the time Natsu left to train, he learnt to use his power in a less violent and explosive way. The fire seems to shoot out in a solid line and the Elemental freezes in fear. The attack hits the targeted orb with full force...but also goes beyond that.

"Wahhh!" Lucy screams as she is shot out of the sky. Happy, who had been happily watching the whole battle quietly, chuckles to himself.

"She looks like a flying fish."

Scorpio begins to chase after her, wanting to catch his contractor before she hits the ground.

"Why does this always happen to me?" Lucy asks with comical tears streaming out of her eyes, still flying in the air. Before Scorpio can reach her, Natsu seems to appear out of thin air and easily catches Lucy in his arms. She squeaks, noticing how gentle his hands are in holding her and how one was pretty close to her ass. Lucy flushes and squirms, jumping out of Natsu's hands.

"Thanks." She mutters, looking at Natsu from the corner of her eyes. He gives her his signature smile and throws an arm over her shoulder.

Scorpio looks smug before closing the gate on himself.

"No problem!" Natsu smiles. Lucy flushes in response, an irritating feeling burning somewhere deep inside her chest (as cheesy as that sounds). Both because of her changing feelings about her so called best friend, and the fight that she just battled.

She's not an idiot in realizing her feelings. Although admittedly, it did take a while for her to confirm what she felt towards Natsu. Ever since their final battle with Zeref and Acnologia, there had been so many close calls. Each time she thought Natsu might've died while not losing hope that he was still alive, a piece of her felt lost. She couldn't imagine a life without him and Happy. She could handle him leaving to train, but him leaving for good? That was a whole different story.

But of course, Natsu is as freaking dense as he is, so these feelings are going to be unrequited for quite awhile longer.

The other thing that bothered her was the fight. She told Natsu to stay out of it for the sake of improving her combat abilities, but she could never get by on brute force. Sure, she had brains that could help her out of any sticky situation, or the aid of her wonderful celestial spirits, but her strength alone left her vulnerable.

And that's what frustrates her the most.

Because she has come so far; years of training towards the final battle with Zeref and Acnologia. So letting her weakness stay as her weakness was not an option. Turning to Natsu, she contemplates asking him something she's been thinking of for a long time now. Lucy decides to just wing it. What's the worst that can happen anyway?

"Natsu?"

"Yah, Luce?" Even saying her name made her shiver, oddly enough. He only ever used that nickname every so often, but since the final battle with his brother and the dragon king, they both unconsciously grew closer. There hasn't been a day since then that he didn't call her Luce, or he hadn't slept in her bed. Now that she thinks about it, there hasn't been a day where they weren't by each other's side at all.

Levy started making fun of her, saying that their relationship was close to a married couple. Lucy spat back a couple remarks concerning Gajeel and that quickly shut the blue haired girl up.

"Could you teach me how to fight?" She asks straight up. Natsu looks at her blankly, before his signature smile spreads across his face.

"Sure! But why?"

Lucy shrugs, "I need to get better at hand to hand combat. At the moment it's my biggest weakness, and it always seems to get in the way of every fight I have." He frowns.

"But that's what I'm here for." Natsu mumbles quietly. His eyes suddenly widen, as if just realizing what he said. "I mean yeah, I'll help you get better."

Happy cackles quietly in a corner, chorusing to himself about how, 'he liiiikes her'.

"Great! Let's start tomorrow morning, okay Natsu?" He smiles again in confirmation and they begin their walk towards the old barn. After collecting their reward money, the three enter the neighbouring town to explore. Fast forward through multiple visits to a couple of bookstores and restaurants, the sky has darkened to a bluish, purple hue. The clouds were no longer distinguishable and Lucy yawns, petting Happy, being careful not to wake him up.

Natsu looks at his two partners, feel some sort of righteousness in the moment. His eyes hovered over Happy to Lucy's (squishy) face, before lowering to her exposed neck. Trailing down, his throat begins to grow dry as-

"Finally. There's an inn here." Lucy cuts into his thoughts, as she begins to jog lightly towards the blinking open-sign. Natsu shakes his head, feeling a little uncertain of his behaviour.

"Thank goodness, I'm tired from going to all of those bookstores."

"And I feel like I gained 10 pounds from all of the food you bought, but you don't hear me complaining."

They enter the wooden cabin, taking in the musky scent of the small area. An elderly man sits at the front desk, seemingly staring at the wall. A soft snore leaves him and he shakes slightly. Lucy creeps towards him, feeling bad to wake him up but really wanting a place to clean up and sleep.

"Uh, excuse me." He doesn't move. "Sir? Sir!" The man flinches and slams his hands on the table, making Lucy and Natsu jump with dumbfounded looks on their faces. Happy still stays asleep throughout all of this.

"Yes! How may I help you?!" The man unnecessarily screams and Lucy sweat drops.

"Room for one please." She murmurs, beginning to feel tired after the day's events.

"You-you mean with one bed?" The man then whispers, stuttering. He looks between Lucy and Natsu as if it was the most scandalous thing ever. They weren't even dating but either way it isn't that big of a deal. And the guy works at a freaking inn, of course couples were going to come by and do the diggity.

Natsu, getting grumpy with how long this is taking, leans really close to the elder. "Listen ya' old geezer, can we get a room or not?" He says sounding both whiny and playful.

The guy nods, blushing, and Lucy can't help notice the resemblance between him and Erza.

"Up the stairs, the fourth door to the left." He puts the key down and gets out of his seat, shuffling away. The two mutter their thanks and follow his instructions, entering their room for the night.

The suite is very homy. Although small, it emphasizes the comfortable vibe the cabin initially gives off. It has wooden planks that creek with every step taken, and a basic, wood carved bed lying in the centre. An old TV sat in front of the bed and beside it lay a mini living room. Two small, beige coloured couches circle a wooden table and the balcony is blocked by a glass door, covered by thin, brown curtains.

"You can change first. I'm going to get Happy comfortable on the couch." Lucy says quietly, walking towards the two seats. Natsu makes a noise of confirmation and ruffles through his clothes. He enters the bathroom, changing into his red shorts and going topless. After freshing himself up he exits, only to find Lucy quietly dozing off.

He decides to wake her up, since she always complains about feeling disgusting in the morning if she doesn't clean up the night before.

"Lucy." Natsu whispers, leaning closer to her. His heart begins to speed up. The look of innocence on her face was...enticing? It made him feel powerful oddly enough. As if...

He shakes his head.

"Lucy!" This time he screams and she jumps up, screeching.

"Natsu! What the hell?" She groans, but drags herself out of the bed anyway. He smiles at her, patting her butt as she leaves. Lucy freezes, turning around to glare at the pink haired boy. He doesn't seem to notice his actions as he goes to crawl into bed. "N-Natsu?"

"Hm?"

Lucy sighs. "Nothing." It's Natsu of all people. He probably has no idea what that meant to an average person. As she enters the washroom, he catches the light, pink flush on her cheeks and smirks inwardly to himself.

Natsu has been confused all morning.

Now that he thinks about it, he's been confused ever since Fairy Tail overcame their biggest battle yet. And it all has to do with a certain blonde weirdo.

He began to realize that whenever she hugged him, he felt things that he had never felt before. It was a source of comfort to him as they held each other in bed. Now, he always gets distracted. Both physically and mentally.

She appears a lot more precious to him now; the thought of Natsu losing her wasn't something he could take again. When he found Lucy unconscious, blood layering her eyes as Dimaria stood over her, he automatically assumed the worst. It tore him apart, but due to the growing END tumour inside of him, it was quickly replaced with anger.

Natsu was never the type to look out for blood. A little violence is all right, but at that moment, he completely lost himself. He wanted revenge. Revenge for his Lucy.

And it made him hate himself a little more. Because after all that training, he could barely protect Lucy in time. It was even weirder the fact he didn't exactly feel the same way he does for everyone else. Yes, of course he wants to protect all of his friends, all of his family. But with her, the feeling was a little bit stronger.

It shocks him more that now, he is actually teaching her how to fight.

"Okay Luce, come at me. Let's see what you got." He says while hopping on his feet, a rare time where he sounds serious. Happy (happily), munches on a fish while watching the two from afar.

Natsu wears the same outfit he always does, his long, black jacket flapping with every jump. Lucy has on a white, tight fitting shirt, flexible enough to accommodate her every movement. Her pants are impossibly short but it makes her more vulnerable, to further her training, she tells herself.

Not to impress Natsu at all.

Lucy jabs with her right fist, Natsu successfully blocking her attack. He notices that she did get a lot stronger compared to before he left. She then twists herself to do a sidekick to his ribs. His eyes flicker to her ankle, already anticipating her strike and grabs onto the limb, stopping it midway.

"Wah!" Lucy yelps and wobbles on her grounded leg. Looking at him sheepishly, he then drops her foot and scratches the back of his neck. Why does he feel so awkward?

"'Kay Luce, you need to move quicker. It looks like you hesitate every time you're about to hit me." Natsu says while nodding. He was never good with words but he wanted to try his best for Lucy. "And when you're not on offence, you need to put up more of a guard. As if you're looking for my next attack."

She huffs but nods.

"Okay, let's work on speed and strength. Hit me here with a jab." He points at his right hand with his left. Lucy does so lightly, not wanting to hurt him. "It's fine, hit me with all you have. Now do the other hand." She follows through. "And now a side jab here." He positions his right hand outwards his side.

"Good. Now faster." They do the sequence a few times before he tells her to start with her left hand first. After awhile they arrange a repetitive pattern, switching the primary hit every turn and repeating a couple of times.

"Don't be afraid, Natsu. You can go harder on me." She says, slightly out of breath. His eyebrows furrow together. It was weird. He never did it on purpose, but when Lucy pointed it out, he realized it was true.

But also, her words had a hidden, naughtier intent that he couldn't help noticing. Natsu decides to shake it off. Lucy wouldn't have done it on purpose.

"If you say so, then let's keep up what we just did for another half hour. Then we'll move on to other stuff later."

"Wait, hold up. On second thought-"

"Luce."

"Ah, fuck. I regret this already."

The two continue training the rest of the morning. After they finished arms they worked on legs, solidifying Lucy's front, round, and side kicks. Her speciality is the Lucy Kick after all.

Lucy's mind whirls as she trains. Natsu was always a touchy person, but it was so different when they fought. Rough but somehow gentle.

His eyes are pinched in deep thought and is queerly serious. She knows he is focusing on holding himself back, but this side of him is rarely ever seen. She cracks a small smile, feeling a little proud of herself at seeing Natsu so fixed on one task.

So fixed on her.

The two end the training with an all body workout. They work on a series of crunches, squats, push-ups, and anything of that sort, building up Lucy's strength and endurance. As they finish up, both are extremely sweaty and sticky. But it only occurs to Natsu when he really analyzes Lucy.

Her white shirt is soaked, sticking to her skin as the pale colour seems to seep through. The pink, lace bra slowly becomes more visible and Natsu gulps. Usually sweat isn't a bother to him, but as it trickles down Lucy's supple skin, down her neck and slickly below her thighs, Natsu gets more than just distracted.

He closes his eyes, forcing down his wild emotions while letting out a large breath of air.

"Are we done for today, Natsu?" She moans, clearly tired from the workout. He can't stop the shiver from the way she says his name. His pants are starting to feel a little uncomfortable.

"Yeah." He answers, his voice a little husky. Lucy notices this and he coughs, covering it up with a bad throat. He notices her rubbing her thighs together and his mouth begins to water.

Fuck, if he could shove her against a wall and-

Her voice cuts off his thoughts, "How do you do this everyday?".

"Uh, I don't know." Natsu replies weakly. He gets up and starts jogging towards the room they had rented for the night, leaving a confused Lucy behind. Happy goes to fly after him while grabbing another fish from his pack. "I'm going to shower first." Natsu calls back at the blonde.

And get rid of his little dragon, he thinks lamely.

It's been exactly two months since they began training. Every single day, Lucy suffered from Natsu's strict teachings. Finally, after a lot of begging (*cough* bribing), once today's workout is done, she finally gets a day to relax.

And boy is she looking forward to it.

The rest of the guild was interested in Lucy's training when the pair first mentioned it. Erza had offered to help in which Lucy denied profusely, not wanting to die. As Gray and a couple of other guys volunteered, Natsu was quick to turn them down. Mira always had an evil glint in her eyes as she noticed the quiet growl the pink haired boy emitted, a dangerous aura radiating from him whenever people noticed Lucy's 'training' clothes.

Mira starts whispering to Cana about it. "I bet you a hundred bucks they're going to get together within a week." The brunette alcoholic guffaws. She slams her booze on the table and leans in.

"I bet you a two hundred they'll hook up today."

They look at each other dead in the eye as the said pair they bet on left the Guild. Happy stays behind and tries to offer Carla another fish, her response being to ignore him.

Lucy wasn't expecting Natsu's training to be so brutal. Then again she did ask him to not go easy on her, and her want to get better in combat quickly overruns any other thought. Still, a girl's allowed to complain, right?

This time Lucy wore a blue, skin fitting crop top, that stuck to her stomach like second skin. She matches it with a pair of blue tights.

Lucy ties her hair in a ponytail while eyeing Natsu carefully.

He wears the same clothes he always does, but just at that moment, Natsu shrugs off his jacket. He unwraps the scarf around his neck and Lucy bites her lip.

Stop looking, stop looking, stop looking.

She forces her eyes shut, but then opens them not so long after.

Oh gosh darn it.

By now all Natsu wore was his pants and his sandles. His clothes were a heap on the floor. He picks up his scarf, his muscles flexing in all the right places while folding the cloth. Lucy senses her face heating up while Natsu kicks the rest of his clothes away, then putting the folded scarf on top.

How hygienic...

"Ready to go?" Lucy snaps out of her trance and looks back into Natsu's eyes. It might've just been her but she could've sworn their was a glint of mischief in those two, dark orbs.

On the other hand, Natsu has definitely noticed her gawking and is internally smirking. His pride and ego increases.

"Yeah."

They similarly do what they always did but more advanced. By now Lucy is able to smoothly perform the basic fighting movements. She works on her elbow strikes and putting more memento into her attacks, while simultaneously defending her weakest areas. At this point, all because of her prior experience, Lucy was able to move with grace and few mistakes.

They finish up, both sweating buckets and her poor body is once again extremely sore. She is so ready to go home and sleep.

"Alright, Luce, let's fight again. I think you've had enough training." Natsu smiles, feeling pleased at Lucy's improvements. She groans.

And here she thought she could be lazy the rest of the day, Lucy thinks to herself.

"Prepare to get your ass kicked." The celestial mage sneers playfully. She then smiles back and his heart drops. He blinks, shaking away the odd feeling and getting into position.

It's been two months since they began training, but Natsu seems to want all of her attention. He craves her touch and closeness. It became quite a hindrance to him as he frequently got distracted by certain...assets.

Before, he was confused on why he felt that Lucy was so special to him. At this point he was sure of his feelings. He's just bewildered at everything that was happening. It was all so strange and new to him.

But he was always an instinctive kind of guy, and he knew Lucy long enough that she wouldn't allow something like this to get in the way of their relationship.

So Natsu did whatever he felt like doing to her, as long as it didn't cross her boundaries. He often got close so he could nuzzle Lucy's neck. His hands skim the handles of her waist, so perfectly shaped for him to hold onto, but he isn't really sure what for.

He's also grown a love for touching her ass. It was so big and squishy, and a good alternate to her boobs since she always got a lot more angry when he touched her there.

Lucy cocks her head and studies him, before copying his fighting stance. She can tell he is zoned out so she coughs. It successfully brings him out of his thoughts and he stares at her, dark eyed.

"Ready, Luce?" He hums.

"Ready."

And he strikes, deciding to take more of the offence side for their first fight. Of course he was going easy on her until she got increasingly better. Natsu swings, she blocks, and suddenly moves forward. Realizing that she's aiming for his stomach, he brings the other hand down to block.

Lucy suddenly spins while jumping, her other foot smacking him on the shoulder as he retaliates with a jab to her stomach. Instead of letting herself recover the hit, she grabs his right wrist and twists, then jutting out to punch his cheek.

Natsu bounces back, smirking with a bruising cheek.

That's my girl, he speculates.

They go on for a little while longer before Natsu is satisfied with Lucy's shown progress. He decides to end it here.

Lucy spins, removing her arm from his grasp to thrust her leg into his hip. He lets her hit him and he grunts, slightly wobbling on his feet. She goes for another punch and he easily catches her fist.

"You did great. I think we can stop for today." Natsu says deeply, breathing heavy as his chest rises and falls. Lucy's body which was tense from the fight completely relaxes against her partner. She pouts a little bit and Natsu stiffens, desire spreading through all of his being.

"Aw man, even after all this time you were still going easy on me."

But Natsu isn't listening. Some how the blonde girl before him became very vulnerable and lost to his eyes. His heightened smell picks up her rosy scent, mixed with sweat and hormones. The musky smell triggers a low rumble at the pit of his stomach. He has a growing urge to taste her, to make Lucy keen with pleasure and completely lose herself to him.

His eyes flicker to her lips.

Natsu's hand on her fist moves down to wrap around her wrist, pulling it behind his head. Lucy is yanked along with it, a quiet gasp leaving her mouth. He leans down and stares intently at Lucy's eyes. Hers begin to lid, looking dazed and somewhat shocked. Her lips part and he revels in how soft and pink the pair looks.

Natsu slithers a hand around her waist, feeling a little moisture after their recent activities. At this point he's running on impulse as he pulls her further to flush against him. Her breasts press onto his chest and he swallows, feeling himself react to her intimately.

Her free hand rests on his right bicep, gently gripping him to both physically and mentally steady herself. She uses it to maintain her balance as her knees start to shake. Their heads are close, Lucy's nose skimming the underline of his as their breaths mingle together.

Lucy feels herself become even more vulnerable by the look Natsu gives her. He was always expressive with his actions, and the look he gives her makes her swoon. His sharp eyes look completely feral, somehow darkening to an emptier pit of black as his eyes flicker from her mouth to her eyes.

She feels everything against her; all his crevices. From his abs to something stiff poking at her lower stomach. Her body responds without her conscious mind as she spontaneously grinds against him, a groan spluttering out of his mouth.

"Luce." He says it as a warning and she can't help but love it.

Lucy knew Natsu was innocent to these circumstances. But from the four years she's known him, eleven if they include the Tenrou Island incident, there were many things other things.

She knew that after the battle with Acnologia, Natsu frequently gets nightmares and doesn't feel comfortable sleeping unless he's in Lucy's bed. She knew how although he's a complete goofball, he can be so loving and serious at times. And definitely how when he wants to be, he is a completely new, unknown, dominant individual.

But right now there are two things Lucy is sure of. Natsu goes off based on what he feels is right, and often knows when he is taking it too far. So if Natsu continues that expression he has towards her, as if she's prey to be absolutely devoured, then that means his actions are honest. All Lucy knows is that if he wants to, she's willing to entirely give herself up to him.

Little did she know that Natsu was thinking the exact same thing. His little, blonde weirdo wouldn't be in this position if she hadn't felt the slightest, same affection to him as he did her.

Lucy slides her tongue out of the confines of her lips, licking below sultrily. Natsu stares and his eyes glaze over. Something within him snaps altogether. He lunges forward, basically tackling her to the ground as he follows through on his dragon senses.

She exhales a lengthy moan as he to nips at her bottom lip and pulls, then slanting his mouth onto hers. They both melt, for them to finally connect with each other on a separate level. Lucy feels her heart warm and lifts her hands into his hair. She grips her new reins and tugs. Natsu groans against her, but a small smile splits across his mouth. He pulls away to pepper kisses all over her face and Lucy squirms, giggling nonstop.

Lucy grips onto his shoulders as he hovers above her, going back to ravaging her mouth and her doing the same. From the many stories that Lucy has read, she takes a hunch of what Natsu might like. She wants to please him, even though all of this is very new to her.

Lucy pulls away and shifts her head downwards, her lips skimming the side of his neck. Her mouth begins to quiver while forming little shapes. Her tongue then slips out to lick a small trail up his neck, deciding to equally express her fondness. She decides to take a risk and skims with her teeth, before biting the junction at his jawline.

Natsu growls, roughly grabbing Lucy's hands which began roaming his body, to pin above her head. He eyes her heatedly before smiling wide. Lucy doesn't know why but she begins to smile back, both of their hearts fluttering at the other's bliss.

"Well that was fun." She laughs quietly, completely out of breath. Again, Natsu follows his instincts in taking care of the girl in front - er, under him. He shifts his one hand to Lucy's back, picking the girl up. He holds onto her thighs and positions her where she can easily wrap her legs around his waist, and easily wind her hands around his neck.

"We should include this in the training." Natsu mutters, mostly to himself but Lucy answers anyways.

"You know what? I don't want the break tomorrow. How about we train again, later today?" Lucy suggests, wiggling her eyebrows.

"Definitely." Natsu smirks and kisses Lucy's forehead. Her face turns into an all out beam as he begins walking them back to Lucy's apartment. They're silent, basking in each other's company and too lazy to discuss their newfound relationship. It just kind of works for them, how they both knew there was now something more between each other, but there was no need to say what it is out loud. Not yet, anyways.

Lucy snuggles against Natsu and rubs her nose against his neck. Her eyes flutter shut as she sighs, beginning to feel exhausted.

"So...are we married now?" Natsu questions thoughtfully.

"Idiot!"

Later that day

"TWO HUNDRED BUCKS, MIRA! TWO HUNDRED!"

Author's Noodles (Notes):

Hope you liked this little thingy ma bob! First time writing fan-fic, and first post thingy on this site. I hope I'll be writing more! Any critiques would be helpful as well.

I'm thinking, if the feedback is good, I might make it a two-shot? SHOULD I WRITE FULL ON SMUT LOL

~Anyways, byeee