Something Simple

The blue feline giggled as he watched the blond open his present. Her sweat was dropping and she tried desperately to seem happy and bright, but she felt more than a little nervous. "You guys shouldn't have gone through all this trouble," she muttered while hiding behind the lid of the box.

At first she was pleasantly surprised to see what lay inside the box, a smile curved her lips and she felt excitement bubbling up in her as she lifted the item up. Than immediate horror showed on her face and Happy fell over in hysteric giggles.

"What?" Gray asked and looked from the blond to the Exceed and back again. Lucy dropped the book back in the box and grabbed another present, shaking her head and muttering something about fish. Apparently Happy found that hilarious and he toppled over again, clutching his furry stomach.

Lucy decided to ignore the cat and concentrated on the present in front of her, wrapped in a lovely shade or red paper. She glanced up and saw Erza beaming. "That's from me."

The blond beamed back and started unwrapping the present while humming under her breath. Erza was nodding her head in approval, sure that the Celestial mage would like her present. The others watched bemused as the packed unraveled itself.

Lucy held up the black and pink underwear, smiling though feeling utterly defeated. She thanked Erza, whom didn't notice the blonds gloomy aura. A small blush covered the redheads cheeks. "The clark said it was the newest fashion, I'm sure you can put it to good use."

There was a lot of sputtering, and a lot of giggling behind hands. Happy had tears in his eyes, and Gray was trying to have a straight face as he gave her his present. In the corner, a salmon-haired boy continued to sulk for himself.

"This better not be a prank, Gray," Lucy warned.

He held up his hands. "Juvia helped me pick it out."

That wasn't necessarily reassuring. Depending on the Water mages mood, anything from poisonous snakes to certain toys could lay inside that box. With dread filling her, she took off the lid and peered down. Nothing was moving, that was a good sign.

At the bottom of the box lay a book. A mix of hope and fear mingled together as she took it up for further inspection. She was happy to see it was nothing vulgar like a certain cat's gift, though she noticed something else. A frown appeared at her face and she stared dumbfound at the back of the book.

Gray's sweat dropped. "What?"

Peering over her shoulder, Erza frowned as well. "A story of what can happen when you try to steal another's man. In love and war, everything is allowed, though not always legal." Both women nodded, and said in unison, "Definitely a hidden agenda."

The book joined the other presents and she smiled despite the horrible gifts. "Thank you, everyone. I really appreciate it."

"I'm sure you'll appreciate, Lushi," Happy purred, giggling and ignoring the glare Lucy sent him. They chatted some more before Gray and Erza left. Happy stayed around to tease Lucy some more, only stopping when people came by to congratulate her.

Levy and Gajeel came by after coming home from their mission, and Happy couldn't contain his laughter as they stared at the book about metal. Gajeel grinned and seemed very proud of himself, which made Lucy appreciate the gesture all the more. Beside him Levy stood with a sheepish smile and could only hand over her own gift; it was a blank book, delivered with the words, "Remember I'll be the first to read it!"

It wasn't before close to midnight that it became quiet.

She settled on her bed with a content sigh, exhausted and happy. Happy had made sure to lay his gift on her nightstand and she deliberately turned her back to it. Even though a lot of the gifts were odd and completely improper, they had all thought about her.

"Oi, you going to sleep already?" Lucy sat up, heart hammering and completely taken by surprise. Her head collided with something hard and she shouted out, as well as someone else. "Ow! What you do that for?"

"Idiot!" Lucy screamed, rubbing her sore spot on her forehead. "You don't sneak up on people like that! And start use the door like a normal person!"

They both pouted, rubbing their pained area while avoiding eye contact. It was suddenly awkward and she hated that, but there was just no possible way for her to look at him without blushing.

He'd started her day by barging in while she took a bath, and for some obscene reason he'd thought it was a good idea that he'd join in. After she finally got him out and saved them both from utterly embarrassment, she had found the most indecent (pink) cloths — if they could be called that — laying on her bed, and that stupid Dragon Slayer had sat beside it with that stupid grin of his.

She had probably given him severe brain damage, and she might have been a bit harsh when she scolded him for eating all the cake — which she had prepared for Gray and Erza — and maybe it had been unfair to ignore him the entire day, but she couldn't help it.

"Are you really going to bed this early?" Natsu asked after a while, still sitting on her bed and staring at his feet. "The day isn't over yet, and it is your special day."

Lucy pursed her lips. Maybe she did feel a little guilty for ignoring him all day. After all he had been sulking when she refused to talk to him, and he had come with gifts (even if they were more than horrible), and then he'd suddenly disappeared and now he was here. "It's just my birthday, Natsu, besides there's nothing else to do."

"You still have a present left."

Her first instinct was to shout no, but after all that had happened today, she just couldn't do that to him. Not when he was looking at her like a wounded animal, begging for her forgiveness with his eyes. She swallowed and looked away, fiddling with her pajama. "I thought you gave it to me earlier?"

He scoffed. "You hated those."

A stab of guilt. "I didn't hate it…"

"Yes you did." His eyes lowered and he stared at her.

"Well, that doesn't mean you should have found me another present…" She felt horrible. He was just so thickskulled that it made her want to scream! You just don't give presents like that to your friend, you give it to… Lucy covered her face with her hands, groaning.

The bed shifted, but she didn't dare to look up. "I really wanted to give you something that you would like, Luce. Mira and Happy insisted that…" He sighed, then something landed with a soft thud in front of her.

Peering through her fingers, her heart stopped momentarily. There was a pink frame laying on her bed, a picture of her and Natsu and Happy. They were all smiling, the Sakura trees blooming behind them. She stared at it with tears welling in her eyes, carefully lifting it and taking every detail in. It was so simple, such a small moment that had been forgotten in between every other.

She reached out and hugged him. "That's the best gift I got, Natsu. Thank you."

He was still a little grumpy when she let go of him, but his eyes were sparkling again. "I'm still mad that you ignored me, you know. You could at least have paid a little attention to me."

Lucy smiled. "Sorry, I'll make it up to you."

"Really?" His entire being lightened up and she laughed, nodding her head. "Then I'll sleep with you tonight!"

For a moment she was stunned, shocked and petrified. Then she remembered it was Natsu and that he had climbed into her bed countless of times in the middle of the night. She smiled softly at him and nodded. "Okay."

He grinned and jumped off the bed to turn off the light. Lucy got under the covers, settling the framed picture on the nightstand and smiling for herself. When Natsu joined her in the dark, it wasn't a surprise that he was shirtless. He sat there for a moment, gazing down at her like it was the first time he saw her.

She stared back, suddenly feeling nervous. Then he leaned down and kissed her. A quick peck on the lips. His lips were hot and soft, and she liked the sensation of having them on her. Just as fast at it had happened though, it was over and he turned and slid down under the covers, immediately he started to cuddle her.

He sighed content, nuzzling into her neck. It was nice to feel him beside her. She decided that for tonight, she would allow herself to enjoy it. That kiss was probably something Mira had told him about anyway. "I want to stay this way forever."

"Me, too," Lucy agreed, finally snuggling into him.

The silence grew and she was almost asleep when she heard a muffled, "Nee, Lucy?"

"Mhmm?"

"What is this about Taming the Dragon?"

The blond sputtered, sitting up. She threw the book away, cursing the stupid cat and hitting the Dragon Slayer so hard she hoped he would forget ever seeing that book. All the time he laughed, and just like Happy, he started to tease her.

"You know you can't tame a dragon, right?"

Lucy screamed wordlessly and hid under the covers, blushing madly. Natsu roared with laughter and she was convinced that he wasn't halfway as dense as he seemed to be.

Author note: So I got inspired, and this happened.

I kinda love and hate the ending, because I both wanted it to end cheesy, at the same time as I didn't. And I also had this idea/obession that Happy gave her this book and scribbled 'dragon' over whatever actually is written there. Also I'm not entirely sure I got the characters right. Um, I'm sorry?

Anyway, as always thank you for reading and I'm very sorry for any spelling mistakes there might be (there always is). This whole thing was born from the talk about Nalu-week and the prompt with the gift, and the fact that today happens to be Lucy'd actual birthday! So, yeah.

Disclaimer: I do not own anything of Fairy Tail.