A magical mishap happens in the middle of a battle, leaving Lucy fluffier and more adorable than ever. Humor, Fluff, adorableness, cuddliness, master planning and envy guaranteed.* Nalu *

Lucy let out a frustrated sigh as her two partners scouted the mission board, something they had been doing for the last fifteen minutes. Whenever she asked what was taking them so long, they would either answer with 'there's just so many options' or 'we haven't found a good one yet', which she found was contradicting one another. Either way, she was becoming increasingly frustrated with waiting when they could be making precious time getting to wherever the mission would take place, once they picked one out!

She huffed out a puff of breath, blowing a strand of hair out of her eyes as she stared at the seemingly endless shelves of liquor and booze. She could probably drink three of those and sober up before her two idiots finally managed to find a mission. But she wasn't going to risk it, besides, she really wasn't much of a drinker. She knew she got … weird when she was drunk, but that was all she knew. Cana and Levy refused to tell her what she said and did, saying that they wouldn't let up such precious information when it could be used for something far more useful. Since then, she stuck with water and coffee, unless the occasion called for it; then she would drink one half glass of wine or Champaign—watered down until there was pretty much no flavor. Not only did she not want to get drunk, she also wanted to avoid the slightest hangover. Hers were absolutely horrible. Even if it was just a small amount of alcohol, it seemed like her stomach was trying to climb out of her throat the very next morning.

"Lucy, what are you still doing here?"

Said celestial mage turned enough in her stool to face the person that had approached her, smiling weakly up at the red haired warrior.

"Hi Erza, I'm just waiting for Natsu and Happy to pick a mission. We'll be leaving as soon as they decide." Lucy said, waving her hand at the pink and blue haired males without looking at them.

"I see." Erza stated calmly, placing herself in the stool beside the blonde. She raised her finger, signaling to Mira to get her usual slice of cake. "Have you been waiting long, then?"

Lucy let out another sigh, knowing that if she told Erza how long she'd been waiting, she would go and rush Natsu, which would in turn cause them to start arguing and fighting, which would waste even more time. So instead, she simply said, "Not too long."

She jumped slightly when a large, tan hand smacked down a piece of paper on the surface area in front of her, causing her to let out a tiny squeak of shock. She looked up into the glimmering onyx orbs of her pink haired partner, taking note of the prideful joy that resided on his face.

"Let's take this one! It looks like fun! Mira! Can we take this one?" he called to the white haired barmaid, handing her the slip of paper before Lucy even had a chance to read over what the mission entailed.

"Hey! At least let me have a say in it!" she snapped, turning to give a glare at her partners. Happy launched himself off of Natsu's shoulder in favor of the silky soft head of the girl, wrapping the silk-like strands around his paws.

"But Luuucccyyyy, you picked the last one! And it was soooo borrringg!" Happy exclaimed, dropping his head to hang in front of hers, their noses brushing briefly.

"Just because we didn't have to fight or destroy anything doesn't make it boring, Happy." She said with a feigned patience, reaching up and removing him from her head, hanging him upside down before handing him off to Natsu.

"Ah, come on, Luce. If I don't let out this pent up energy on missions, I end up using it to fight with Gray—and kick his ass."

"I heard that you burnt up piece of shi—"

"Whatever, let's just go. We're wasting enough time as it is." She sighed again, turning to take the signed mission from Mira, missing the fact that Happy and Natsu had high-fived in what was supposed to be an inconspicuous manner. She gripped the job flier in one hand and grabbed a hold of her small pack with the other, swinging it up over one shoulder before turning to face her partners again. "Let's go!" she said, her impatient demeanor being replaced with an excited, determined feeling. She tossed them a grin and bolted for the door, the two of them hot on her heels.

She tucked the flier into her belt, planning on reading over it when they got on the train—which they were going to ride whether Natsu liked it or not. And judging by the fact that the closer they got to the station, the harder it was to drag him down the street, was sign enough that he really didn't like it. She held a tight grip in his wrist with both hands, pulling with all her might while Happy took the rear, pushing against Natsu's shoulders in an attempt to keep him moving. It was a slow process, but they were definitely moving.

"Oh, come on, Natsu! You were the one that was so excited about this mission. Stop stalling!" she said, tugging harder on his wrist, not caring if she could possibly dislocate his shoulder—even though she knew that it would be harder than breaking a train car in half over her knee.

"But … traaainnnsss …" he hissed out between his teeth, his face already turning a rather unappealing color, and they weren't anywhere near the station yet.

Lucy let out another frustrated sigh, racking her thoughts for anything that could make it easier on all of them. "How about … I buy us lunch when we get there? And I'll even let you," sigh, "lay on my lap." She let out the last sentence in a rather defeated tone. She didn't really mind letting Natsu lay on her lap when they traveled, since it did seem to calm him down considerably, but depending on the length of the ride and how rocky it was, it could end rather painfully for her. The last time they took a long trip up the mountains; Natsu's grip around her midsection had grown to become bone crushing/bruising, and had succeeded in setting a part of her skirt on fire. Not to mention he threw up twice on her, with scalding hot fluids that felt like boiling lava.

After that, she didn't let Natsu lay on her lap unless it was a short trip, or didn't involve rough terrain. So the fact that she was letting up without even knowing where they were headed or how long it would take was an offer that was hard to refuse.

Natsu's eyes seemed to lighten up again, losing the ill glaze they had held before, being replaced with that determined and happy gleam again.

"Deal!" he cried, their positions now changing as he was the one gripping her wrist and dragging her at neck breaking speed down the street, Happy struggling to keep up. In fact, they moved so quickly that Lucy's legs were ripped out from underneath her and she was getting pulled through the air like a kite. But before she even had time to scream out in surprise, they screeched to a halt, Lucy's face smacking against Natsu's back and dropping to her knees on the ground.

"Oh, we're here already?" Lucy mumbled rather nasally, since she was gripping to bridge of her nose to make sure it didn't start bleeding from the impact of hitting Natsu's muscular back. She got back to her feet a little wobbly, tilting her head back slightly and pulling her fingers away from her nose, not seeing any blood so deemed herself nosebleed free.

"S-slow down …" Happy mumbled tiredly, soaring crookedly through the air before crash landing on top of Lucy's head, a tear bubble forming under his eye. Lucy giggled slightly, raising her arms to lift Happy off of her head only to cradle him in her arms like a baby.

"Let's get going!" Natsu cheered, a wide, jagged toothed smile stretching across his face as he hopped from foot to foot excitedly.

"Natsu's actually excited about getting on a train? I must be hallucinating from exhaustion." Happy said from Lucy's arms, turning over and hiding his face between her breasts.

"…aye." Was the only reply Lucy could think of at the moment, watching as Natsu continued to hop around, on occasion looking both ways the track was going to see if the train was arriving before returning to hopping around again.

"The sooner we get on, the sooner we get going, the sooner we get off and I get food!" Natsu cheered, jumping up and down in place. Lucy had to admit, it was an interesting sight to see. Sure, Natsu had his childish tendencies, but this was a whole new level of mental youth on Natsu's part. While Natsu continued standing, er, hopping, Lucy carried the obviously traumatized Happy over to a bench and sat down, stroking the cat's fur. When she heard quiet purrs emitting from the feline, she smiled sweetly, finding it adorable when Happy actually did things that most cats did, like purring. Shifting her legs so she could set him on her thighs, she used the hand that wasn't petting Happy to grab the flier that was still tucked into her belt.

110,000 Jewel to catch Ronvin Coran; local town magical delinquent.

Has the ability to use transformation magic. Has stolen, broken and destroyed many things and areas of the town, Yaruno City.

Immediate Capture requested.

Lucy wasn't sure what had drawn Natsu to this particular job, since he had claimed that it looked like fun. Honestly, it looked like something she could do on her own. A town delinquent? Transformation magic? It all seemed pretty simple. Maybe Natsu just wanted to have a reason to kick around a punk that thought himself to be all high and mighty just for the hell of it—he did it to Gray all the time.

Oh well, it was a job that they could both handle, even though she was pretty sure she wouldn't have to really do anything, maybe protect a few civilians from the stray shots of fire that would most likely come from fight. That was what she usually ended up doing on these kinds of jobs. If it came to having a large group of people to fight, like bandits or thieves, then she found herself to be a little more useful in battle. But she preferred not to fight, if it could be avoided. That's why she was more of the strategist of Team Natsu, coming up with plans that would work in everyone's favor, or would just flat out embarrass her (like the pit trap she had set up at Galuna. That wasn't one of her best moments).

"Lucy! Let's go! The train's here!" Natsu screamed for her, making her jump out of her thoughtful trance and accidentally smack her hand against the back of Happy's head. The Exceed didn't wake up, but merely stirred in discomfort. She gently stroked the disrupted area, waiting for his purring snores to return before standing to her feet and joining Natsu in the boarding line. She gave him a confused look when he crossed his arms and pouted at her, showing his displeasure at something she had done.

"What?" she asked, trying to reign in her control of blushing, what with him staring at her so intensely, even though his childish pout kinda balanced it out with adorableness.

"You accidentally nudge Happy's head and stall getting to our mission sooner to comfort him, but when you accidentally knock me out with your kicks, you don't even check to see if I'm okay?!"

"What are you talking about? Of course I check to make sure you're okay. You're unconscious, remember? You wouldn't be able to see me checking on you." She said, rolling her eyes at his childishness before resuming her petting of the feline in her arms. She missed the fact that Happy had peeked open one of his eyes slightly to throw a smug smirk at his master before nuzzling his face into her breast slightly. This succeeded in making frustrated smoke seep out of his ears and nose, his lips pursed and arms crossed tightly across his chest as he tapped his foot frantically.

He couldn't quite understand what was up with his partner lately, but he had been extremely clingy to Lucy lately. And though Natsu knew it was utterly ridiculous to get jealous of a cat, he couldn't help the fact that the feline was seeming to get more attention from the celestial mage than him. That was something Natsu seemed to have strived for since the day he brought her to the Guild. He didn't even care if the attention involved bodily harm to him; at least it meant that she was focused on him fully instead of half-heartedly like right now.

That was another reason he was, surprisingly, eager to get on this train. Then he would be taking Happy's place in her lap and arms, but that wasn't the only reason. He found that when he had Lucy's scent close enough that it overrode his senses completely, he found that transportation wasn't that unbearable. If only he hadn't vomited on her that one time … okay, maybe twice, then she would still be willing to do it for him! But no, his stomach had to ruin his chances of comfort again. Simply sitting next to her and leaning against her shoulder just wasn't enough, and he didn't understand why her scent seemed to be more prominent and stronger in her stomach, which is where he always buries his face. And he had to admit, he really enjoyed having her in such close proximity, and encircled in his arms, even though that was more subconsciously done that intentionally.

Natsu rushed onto the train, holding down the unease that was beginning to grow in his stomach as he found their small cabin they would be staying in. He stood outside the door, waiting for Lucy to catch up so he could be rid of the discomfort completely. When she finally did get to their little cabin, she quirked an eyebrow at his strange behavior before sliding the door open and stepping in, holding the door for Natsu. He shuffled in uncomfortably, his face already turning a rather unattractive purple just standing on the train. He heard Lucy sigh as she slid the door shut, locked it and sat down on their plush couch.

Happy decided at that time to 'wake up' with a yawn and a stretch, looking around with a feigned hazy look before hopping out of her lap.

"Okay, Natsu. Come here." Lucy said, opening her arms welcomingly before patting her lap. Yaruno City wasn't too far away from Magnolia, and she happened to know that the travel was relatively smooth, as long as they didn't get hit with a freak storm on this beautifully sunny day. So she didn't have to worry about too much damage done to her, at least.

The Dragon Slayer didn't hesitate to drop himself next to her and let his head fall into her lap. Moving fast, he wrapped his arms around her midsection and rolled himself up slightly as he burrowed his face into her stomach, inhaling her scent with much gusto. Lucy giggled slightly as his nose tickled her naval briefly, dropping her hands to his hair and back. While one hand stroked and combed through his hair, the other rubbed and massaged his back and shoulders.

Happy, not wanting to be excluded, had crawled up onto her shoulders, curling himself around the back of her neck. Lucy sighed for what seemed like the millionth time that day. She usually had issues with clingy people, in a literal sense. She liked to have her space and only allowed a few people into her personal space for certain lengths of time, depending on her mood. But … when it came to these two, who had no idea what personal space really was, she couldn't find herself angry. Well, unless it's her house, then she'll throw a fit since they seemed to enjoy climbing through her window instead of being civilized people and simply using the door.

So, she leaned her head back, making sure to curve her neck so she didn't crush Happy into the chair and closed her eyes. She really didn't mind their touches, at all actually. Happy, well, she didn't really have to worry about him being attracted to her 'that way', since, you know, he's a cat. So whenever he flew into her chest or wanted to cuddle, she wouldn't really deny it. She had always wanted a real pet, and in a way, she counted Happy as one. Plue … he was a spirit that couldn't stay with her for a very long time. And plus, she didn't even really know what he was, even though his sign is the little doggy. So, she tended to handle Happy like a pet, even though she was well aware of the fact that he was a partner, too.

But Natsu … his touches did stuff to her, even if it was the most platonic or nonromantic thing in all the world. When he tossed his arm around her shoulders in a sideways hug, or grabbed her wrist/hand to make her move faster, and especially hugging her, it just lit a flaming warmth in stomach that made her cheeks turn pink. And then, there were those other touches, like when he'd slap her on the back in greeting or tackled her to the ground to save from an attack. Anything he did seemed to set the fire in her stomach, and she was worried that one day, he'd feel that fire inside of her and ask her why she was sweating so much and turning red. Her best guess is that he'd think she was choking and would give her to Heimlich maneuver, but then his hold around her would only make her face grow even more red, and it was just going to be a never ending cycle.

She knew she was attracted to him, any sane girl would be. He was a very handsome, strong young male with a lot of toned, hard muscle. And okay, while most people would look at his pink hair and wonder about it, she found it to be one of his most endearing traits. It was unique, something that not many people had, and, despite its rather feminine color, it definitely suited him. Unique, vibrant and outstanding, just like his personality. Not to mention that it may look spiky and rough, it was actually quite silky. Her fingers slipped through it like it wasn't even there. And during fights, it was kind of misleading. You would never expect a man with rosy pink hair to be able to take down an entire dragon, something that no normal mage could ever dream of doing.

When she felt Natsu shift on her lap, she opened one eye and peeked down at him without moving her head. The boy had nuzzled his head closer to her stomach, hiding his face completely in her shirt, which was muffling the sounds of his snores.

He fell asleep?! What happened to motion sickness?! Lucy screamed to herself mentally, wanting to flail her arms around when she felt the skin of his forearm rub against bare skin on her back, her shirt having ridden up sometime along the ride. He began to murmur into her shirt, squirming slightly as his grip continued to tighten. She glanced down at his legs, seeing them twitching and beginning to slightly kick. Another thing she had picked up from him when he snuck into her bed at night. When he was having a nightmare, he moved around a lot and spoke sometimes. She probably would have never learned this if he hadn't latched onto her one night with a grip that had squeezed every ounce of air from her body, whimpering and whining in his sleep 'Stop, not them, not her' over and over again in broken phrases.

She hadn't quite known what to do then, but now was different. Happy had told her what to do to calm down the boy, since he found that now that there was someone else to do it, he didn't have to anymore. Lucy lifted her head so she could looked down at the whimpering boy, wishing she could see if face but made no move to make that come true. Instead, move one hand to his shoulder and the other to the back of his neck, messaging gently get firmly, humming the lullaby her mother had sung to her when she had awoken from nightmares as a little girl. He didn't calm down immediately, in fact, it took a few minutes, but eventually he calmed down … and began purring.

The sudden rumbling noise and slight vibration against her stomach shocked her enough to let out a small giggle. But either way, he was calm now, yet his grip wasn't anywhere close to loosening like she had hoped. Lucy let out a pouting huff, thrumming her fingers impatiently on the top of his head.

This was going to be a long ride.

(*)(*)(*)(*)

Natsu mumbled groggily as he felt something shaking his shoulder. He didn't want to wake up yet, he was so cozy and comfortable and he was surrounded by the most amazing smell. He growled slightly in warning to whoever was trying to pry him away from his beautiful slumber, tightening his hold around his pillow, pressing his nose closer to the smell.

" … up right now or else I'll tell Mira that you're gay!" his eyes snapped open at the sentence, a little dazed but awake nonetheless. He propped himself up on an elbow and rubbed his eye groggily with the other hand, looking around. "If you wouldn't mind, I'd really appreciate if you removed your elbow from my … uh, you know." A voice hissed at him.

He looked up to see Lucy a few mere inches away from him, her head ducked low so her hair shielded her face from him, but the blush was obvious since it had spread down her neck. What was she blushing for? Then he looked down at his position. He was lying on his side, still propping up on his elbow, which was placed … between her legs, right under her stomach … He lurched away and onto the floor in an instant, stammering something that sounded like 'It was Happy's idea' or something along those lines.

"Whatever, let's just get off the train so we can get this mission started." Lucy sighed, pressed a hand to her forehead in an attempt to soothe her aching forehead. She hadn't been able to sleep at all during their trip because Happy's fur kept tickling her neck and Natsu's grip would occasionally tighten more than and then slacken, then tighten again. Not to mention that the moment her hands stopped their soothing massage on his hair, he would start kicking and whimpering again. It was like dealing with a new born baby. They'd start bawling their eyes out until someone picked them up and rocked them.

Their ride had lasted longer than it had originally planned because of a slight delay (A herd of cows standing across the rail road and would refuse to move until someone poked the leader with a shovel and it led the others away in hopes of getting some peace). But at least they were there now.

She was finally able to stand up, stretching her arms and legs in the process, also awakening Happy who had still been asleep on her shoulders at the time. He grumbled disapprovingly, trying to curl more thoroughly around the girl's neck by turning onto his side and grabbing onto his tail—which had been wrapped around her neck. In other words, he looked like a furry, blue cat collar wrapped around the celestial spirit mage's neck. She patted his head, trying to stir him from his slumber.

"C'mon, Happy. Natsu's awake and we need to get off the train." At the word train, Natsu's face immediately turned blue, his body quivering as he tried to stay standing up right. Lucy let out another sigh before moving to Natsu's side, hooking an arm under his and around his shoulders. "Let's get off this thing before it leaves and we have to ride it again."

No one had looked as positively enthusiastic while being dragged off a train with a blue face than Natsu did at the moment. Happy had shifted to resting on top of the blonde's head, still in a sleeping daze but managed to snicker behind his paw as Natsu's face bounced back and forth between looking incredibly ill to an iron-willed concentration.

The moment they stepped off the train, Natsu's face returned to its original tan shade and he was standing straight again, but didn't remove his arm from Lucy's shoulders as he quickly dragged her farther from the revolting contraption called transportation.

"Noooowww, I believe you said something about buying lunch?" Natsu said with a sly voice, tightening his hold around her shoulders to make sure she didn't try and back out of it. Good thing he did too, because he could feel the muscles in her back tense at his words, and then her tugging gently against his hold to see if escape would be possible.

"I guess I did, didn't I?" she huffed out in defeat. "Guess it's a good thing I brought extra money with, or else I won't get anything." She mumbled more to herself than to the other two, who had released their holds on her after the guarantee of food had been made. "Pick a place, I guess, and get lunch over with so we can get to work right away—Natsu! I said I'd by lunch, don't try eating some off the street- Natsu!"

Oh. My. Gawd. I stalled sooooo much on writing this chapter. I want to write the story, but until the main point gets started, I pretty much find anything to distract myself, like rereading Fairy Tail Chapters. Speaking of which, oh my god I can't handle this week's one. Every time I see that picture of f!Natsu and f!Lucy (and Happy) running into the sunset with everyone from the guild waiting there, I start bawling. Cause, I think they're running off into Heaven! AHHHH I could ramble, but I ain't gonna. Next Chapter should be up… eventually.