A/N Dedicated to Black Phoneix for surviving another year in the world! I know I'm late an uploading this, but I hope you like it well enough to forgive me.

Disclaimer: Hiro Mashima own Fairy Tail.

Smaller Disclaimer: Not sure if Sweetest Delights is already used for something. Sounds like it would, so here's another disclaimer just in case.

Poke.

"-cy!"

Poke. Poke.

"Luc -!"

Poke. Poke. POKE!

"Stop that, Natsu!" snapped Lucy, slapping his offending finger away from her cheek.

"Then open your eyes." he commanded.

"No," responded Lucy, flipping over on her stomach and burying her head deep into the pillow, "I'm trying to sleep."

"Come on, I have something for you." Natsu pressed.

He reached over and snagged the edges of her comforter before ripping them off her body and onto the floor.

"Natsu!" shrieked Lucy when the icy, cold morning hit her skin, raising goose bumps. She gave Natsu a glare, "Can't your antics wait? Preferably in the next few hours when I am fully awake."

"You are awake," Natsu pointed out.

"Not by choice," Lucy huffed and dropped her head back into her pillow, "You better have a good reason for waking me up at the crack of dawn." she said, her voice slightly muffled.

"Which I do."

"Oh, really? Then lets hear it."

Instead of answering, Lucy felt a small object land on her back.

"That's your first clue. I'll see you in an hour." explained Natsu.

"An hour?" asked Lucy.

She rolled over on her bed to face Natsu, but was met with vacant air. Lucy groaned inwardly and began to dig at her sheets searching for the object Natsu had left her before making his escape out of the open window.

Jerk. Not wonder it was so cold.

When her fingers brushed against an unfamiliar piece of metal, she grabbed it and brought it to her face for closer inspection.

It was a key. Not a fancy one either. Just a normal, boring key that a normal person would use to open everyday things. The only thing that made it different was Natsu had tied a note with red ribbon around the teeth.

Lucy sat up and rubbed the sleep out of her eyes. She had stayed up later than usual working on her novel when inspiration had struck her at one in the morning instead of waiting until morning.

Originally, she had been planning on sleeping off the difference that morning, but apparently her plans didn't agree with a certain dragon slayer.

"He will pay for this later." she grumbled to herself.

Untying the note from the key, she threw the ribbon on her pillow before unfolding the paper.

Heard they were best in town.

P.S Don't forget to lock up before 4.

"No need to be cryptic or anything!" she yelled to the open window.

Her only answer was a small breeze blowing her curtains back as if laughing at her misfortune.

Lucy reached over and wrestled at the window's latch until the glass fell shut. Yawning, she stole a glance at her clock. The green neon lights informed her it was 3:34 a.m, leaving her with 26 minutes until four.

Not to mention that gave only her two hours of sleep to go on. Fantastic.

Lucy slid out of bed and began searching her room for anything that could fit the key. After inspecting her room for any sort of lock, she came up with nothing.

Collapsing back on her bed in defeat, she twirled the key around on her fore finger. It wasn't from her room, and she didn't recognize it as a possession from anyone at the guild nor did it even seem remotely like a Celestial key. With all three of those options out, Lucy was left with one option; try to figure out Natsu's note.

But, best in town for what? They were a million options and Lucy had about seven minutes to figure it out before her time limit was up.

Best in town for coffee? No, Natsu thought that drink was too bitter. Best in town for weapons? Nah, that was more of Erza's field. Best in town for. . .?

"Ugh!" said Lucy, throwing her arm over her eyes in disgust.

Think! What was something Natsu would like best in the world?

Food.

Okay… but what kind of food?

"Wait a second." Lucy muttered, sitting up slowly before reading the note over once more.

Heard they were best in town.

Shooting to her feet, Lucy grabbed her bathrobe off her chair and slipped her bare feet into her slippers. It wasn't exactly the most presentable attire in her wardrobe, but at least her rumpled tank top and shorts were hidden.

As she began tying her bathrobe around her waist, she stole a glance at her clock again. 3:52. Eight minutes left. Lucy tucked the key and note into her robe's pocket before running out her front door.

She took the stair three at a time and made it down onto the street in record timing. Lucy drew a deep breath before taking off down the street in a sprint, periodically bumping into the few early-risers scattered along her path.

Five minutes later, Lucy was bent over trying to catch her breath in front of a small pastry shop. The two story building wasn't much to look at. It was a simple square store with red and white awnings and two big glass windows taking up the space on either side of the matching red door, complete with day-old pastries sitting on the other side for advertisement. Sweetest Delights was painted in gold on the door and the doormat right above the normal WELCOME.

Once Lucy had regained her breath, she peered into one of the windows and spotted a blue muffin sitting alone on top of one of the oval shaped tables inside.

Yup. Just as she thought.

Lucy pushed against the door, but stopped when it refused to budge. Locked.

Without hesitation, Lucy dipped her hand into her robe and extracted the key Natsu had given her. Twisting it the keyhole, the lock clicked and the door swung open, causing a tiny bell to chime overhead.

Lucy poked her head inside and scanned inside for anyone. When she came up empty, she hastily walked over to the muffin and picked it up. Just as she did so, a piece of white paper un-stuck itself from the bottom of the muffin wrapper and fell onto the table.

One paid blueberry muffin from the best shop in town. Enjoy.

P.S You did say blueberry, right? I wasn't in the best of states when you told me.

Lucy laughed as the memory flashed through her mind.

"We should be almost there, Natsu, just don't think about it so much." encouraged Lucy to her moaning partner.

In response, Natsu curled up in a ball with his chin tucked against his chest just as the train took a particularly tight turn, causing the mage to groan even louder.

"Try thinking of other things," opted Happy helpfully from his seat next to Lucy, "Like fish!"

"Happy, I don't think thinking about food will help anything. In fact, that might make it worse." scolded Lucy.

"How could thinking about fish make anything worse?" asked Happy slightly offended, "Fish makes everything better!"

"Maybe not everything," Lucy replied weakly. She glanced at her partner who was now staring at the floor, sweat glistening on his face.

Sometimes she really felt bad for him.

"Move over a bit, Natsu." she commanded, standing up and moving across their compartment to sit next to Natsu.

Natsu shifted slightly to give her room, but even the small movement caused his face to turn a darker shade of green and his cheeks to poof out in an effort to restrain himself from being sick.

Lucy sighed and patted her lap, "I'm going to try something my maids use to do for me when I had a headache. Put your head here. "

Natsu shot her a questioning look, but moved his head into her lap none the less.

"Okay, good." she said pushing his sweaty hair from his eyes, "Now try clearing your head for a moment. Can you try and do that for me?"

Natsu answered with another low groan as the train shook again, having gone over a bump in the tracks.

"You're fine, Natsu." said Lucy, trying to be as soothing as possible. "That's it. . . just don't think of anything . . ignore the train's bumping, tossing, and - Okay, bad idea. Bad idea! Stop. Don't think!" she ordered hastily as Natsu's cheeks began to poof out again.

"Poor Natsu." said Happy sympathetically as he watched the pair across from him.

Lucy brushed fingertips along Natsu's forehead, stopping when she reached his temples, "That's it. Just relax. Have you cleared your mind?"

Once again, she was answered with a groan, however, this time quieter. She took this as her cue to begin rubbing her fingertips in gentle circles.

"Now, I want you to focus on the best thing you can think of. It doesn't have to be real, you can make it up. Just focus on that image as hard as you can until it becomes all you can think about." said Lucy in the same soothing tone, "Now, keeping that image in your head, I want you to start taking deep breaths. In. Hold. Out. In. Hold. Out."

Natsu sucked in a deep breath, held it for a moment, then let it out in a gust. This continued for a few breaths before Natsu's cheeks began to turn a less sickly shade of green. Lucy grinned over at Happy who was now happily chewing on a raw fish he had gotten from his bag.

"Just keep breathing slowly . . . slower . . . just like that." encouraged Lucy, now moving her fingers into smaller circles, "Just keep that image in your mind. Remember, it can be anything."

"Like fish!" piped up Happy.

Lucy grimaced slightly and shot Natsu a worried glance, hoping the thought of raw fish hadn't somehow reminded him of his motion sickness. Not that the constant movement from the sharp turns and bumps weren't a reminder enough.

However, Natsu didn't appear to have heard Happy or his comment didn't affect him since his face continued to remain in it's relaxed state.

"Now, try to add details to your image. What colors do you see? What do you feel? What does it smell like? Does it smell good? Does it smell better or worse than those freshly baked blueberry muffins from that new shop, Sweetest Delights?"

"Luuucy! This is Natsu's fantasy not yours." interrupted Happy between mouthfuls of fish.

She shot the Exceed a withering look, "I was just making a simple suggestion. After all, those muffins are the best in town!"

Lucy shook her head impatiently. This wasn't time to stroll down memory lane. She was under a very short time limit. And, as if to prove her own statement, she glanced at the old fashioned grandfather clock ticking away in the corner of the shop, 3:59.

"Crap!" she whispered. She tucked the muffin and the note into her robe before bolting for the exit as the clock gave four loud rings when the minute hand struck the 12.

There was a loud groan followed by the sound of heavy footsteps creaking overhead. Lucy guessed it was the owners waking up early to start baking for the day's customers. She also doubted they would take to kindly to a stranger breaking into their shop at 4 in the morning for a muffin. Paid or not.

The bell chimed again as Lucy shut the door behind her. She was about to turn the key in the lock when she paused.

What was she suppose to do with the owner's key?!

She glanced around swiftly, looking for a place to hide the key so it didn't look to too suspicious. She stopped when her eyes landed on the doormat. Perfect.

Locking the door, she yanked out the key, shoved it under the WELCOME mat, and took off just as the lights inside flipped on.

Lucy disposed of the empty muffin cup into a nearby wastebasket as she continued to stroll back to her apartment. She was happy to have something in her stomach and it almost made up for the abrupt awakening she had had that morning. Almost.

She was still trying to figure out what exactly was Natsu's intentions for waking her up so early just for her to get a muffin. It didn't seem like something Natsu would do for the heck of it.

Lucy was still contemplating when a small hand reached up and tugged at the bottom of her robe. Startled, Lucy looked down to see a small boy in dirty overalls blinking innocently back at her. He dropped his hand from her robe and hide it behind his back with the other. Lucy knelt down beside him which only caused him to grin, showing off his missing two front teeth.

"Mister wanted me to give you these!" he said cheerfully, bringing his hands out from behind his back to reveal four flowers still covered in dirt from where they had been pulled from the ground. Each flower had a small note tied to the steam using the same ribbon Natsu had used on the key earlier. The boy dropped the bundle of daisies into Lucy outstretched hands.

"Wait, where are you going? Do you need my help finding your parents?" Lucy called to the boy as he raced down the street, having completed his task.

"Nuh uh!" he called over his shoulder before disappearing around the corner.

Mistified, Lucy untied the notes from the first daisy.

A

Scrunching her eyebrows together, she read the other three flower's notes:

I

Y

P

It was obviously some sort of word scramble, but the word itself made no sense.

Piay? Laiy? Ayip? Yaip?

Shaking her head, Lucy began walking back to her apartment, deciding she would figure it out after she changed into real clothing and maybe gotten a few more hours of sleep.

"Oh, dearie, you shouldn't be out in the cold dressed like that. You could get sick." said a weary, old voice from behind Lucy.

She spun around to see an elderly woman bundled up from head to toe in clothing. Lucy could only barely make out a pair of twinkling blue eyes and sun kissed wrinkly skin from beneath the mountains of cloth she had covered her head in.

"Hurry home." she commanded, "I heard there was a nasty June flu spreading around. My grandchild was even unfortunately enough to catch it the other day. The only cure, he told me, was to stay inside and play games. Peculiar flu isn't it?" She laughed quietly for a moment before spotting the bundle of daisies in Lucy's hand, "Oh, what lovely flowers. You must be the pretty lady that young man was just telling me about. In that case, these are for you, dearie."

The old women began moving her arm backwards in an attempt to reach her pocket. Although, her attempts were in vain since her many layers prevented all movement that exceed a couple of centimeters.

"You need help?" offered Lucy in a kind manner.

The old women smiled gratefully causing her wrinkles to become more pronounced, "That would be lovely, dearie, they should just be in my back pocket."

Moving behind the women, Lucy plucked the small bouquet of daisies she found sticking out one of the women's many back pocket. These flowers matched the ones she had received from the boy seconds before, complete with a note and ribbon.

"Those are for you." said the women when Lucy showed her the flowers, "He was such a handsome boy. Odd choice for hair, but a dearie all the same."

As the women hobbled away, Lucy opened the notes:

R

A

D

P

H

Y

She sighed. The new letters still didn't help her make any sense of the word scramble.

Folding up the notes and adding them to her pocket with the others, she began walking back to her apartment again.

Thirty minutes later, Lucy was changed, washed, and still as confused as ever.

What was Natsu getting at?

Lucy raised a hand to stifle a yawn. She had tried to grab a few extra hours of sleep, but her thoughts seemed to be working on overdrive making it impossible for any form of sleep.

Instead, the mage had set up camp at her writing desk with all the mystery letters laided out before her. She had already found easy words: pay, ray, hard,etc.

Tap.

Lucy ignored the noise from her window, blowing it off as a tree branch. She moved the D and Y card closer together.

Tap. Tap.

She analyzed her other eight cards for a moment before selecting the A. She placed this one between the D and Y.

DAY

Okay, so she had another word. That had to mean something.

"Lucy! Open the window!"

Her head sprang up at his voice and she turned to her window. There was Natsu hanging onto her window sill with one hand, while he used the other to knock at the window again.

Tap. Tap. Tap.

"Open up or I'll have to break it!" he warned, lighting his right hand on fire for good measure.

"Don't you dare!" Lucy yelled.

She jumped to her feet and yanked at the glass until she was able to push it upwards. When she did, Natsu let out a grunt and heaved his body through the small opening with easy agility. He landed lightly in the center of the room.

"What are you wearing?" questioned Lucy, unsure whether to laugh or stare at him with alarm. She chose the latter.

"A suit." replied Natsu, yanking the stiff tie away from his neck, "At least I think it is. It's kinda old."

"Here. Let me get it." offered Lucy, moving to untangle the giant knot Natsu had reduced it into.

"Thanks."

After a few seconds, Lucy had managed to untangle the gnarl and she began to tie it correctly.

"So?" she pressed, raising one eyebrow at Natsu, as her hands finished fastening the tie.

"So what?"

"Don't 'so what' me. Explain why you woke me up at the three in the morning, gave me a note, left, make me run to a store for a muffin, gave me more notes, and then reappear in a suit - which, by the way, you need to get rid off since it is about two sizes too small on you." she said, smoothing the tie so that is laid flat. She reached up and began to fix his collar, "Well?"

"How about I explain when we get there?" asked Natsu.

"Get where?"

"There."

Lucy rolled her eyes, "Which is. . .?"

Natsu paused, "A surprise." He pointed at the notes on the desk, "Bring those. We're going out."

"We have been walking for an hour. How much farther?" whined Lucy.

"Just up here." Natsu responded, not looking back as they continued to trek up the hill that seemed endless to Lucy.

"I will never understand why I allow you to drag me into these things." she muttered to herself.

"If you keep walking that slow we will miss it!" called Natsu to her just before he disappeared over the top of the hill.

"Natsu! You better not leave me!" she threatened.

Lucy picked up her pace and continued to trample through the undergrowth of the trees. As she continued up, the trees began to thin and the ground become rocky. By the time she got to the top, the trees had thinned out to a few, opening up into a small clearing. The grassy path had transformed into a field of rocks and spiky twigs. Lucy spotted a red blanket spread out in the center of the clearing with many of the rocks and sticks stacked to the side.

When she stepped onto the blanket she understood their purpose. Natsu had cleared everything from under the blanket, making it flat and comfortable, before stacking them off to the side.

"You have to lay down and look up to see the surprise."

Lucy turned to see Natsu coming up on her side and taking a seat on the blanket. She nodded and laid down next to him before lifting her gaze upwards to the sky. Lucy sucked in a gasp at what she saw.

The view was beautiful. The sun had just began to peek out and sent the dark sky in a kaleidoscope of shades of black, reds, yellow, and oranges. The stars were still out, twinkling merrily as if it were still nighttime and not sunrise.

"It's so wonderful," breathed Lucy.

"Glad you like it."

"Who wouldn't?" asked Lucy, taking her eyes of the sky to look at him, "How did you ever find it?"

Natsu shrugged and laced his hands under his head before laying back, "Just found it one day. But that's not even the best part."

"Really?"

He moved closer and pointed at one of the stars positioned directly above them, "See that star?"

"Yeah?"

"That's yours."

Lucy raised her eyebrows, "Mine?"

"Yours. I even got it documented. See?" He dug into his slacks and pulled out a sheet of paper before waving it in her face teasingly.

She snatched it out of his hands. There wasn't much on it except a paragraph verifying if they had the correct star and a maroon seal with a name scribbled underneath in fancy script.

"The star has even got your name." said Natsu.

"My name? You mean that star is called 'Lucy Heartfilia'?"

"Nope." He grinned. "Just Luce."

Lucy looked back up a her star and smiled. It twinkled back at her as if smiling back.

"Are you okay, Luce? You seem s-" The rest of his words were cut off when Lucy engulfed him in a hug.

"You are so sweet! Thank you so much, Natsu." she gushed, hugging him tighter as he wrapped his arms around her and returned the embrace.

"Do you know what today is?" Natsu asked suddenly after they had broken apart, resuming their previous positions beside each other.

The question took Lucy off guard, "Today? Isn't it June something? I met an old women today who was going on about a flu. Wait, why are you laughing?"

"Because it's July. You of all people should know that." explained Natsu. When Lucu continued to stare at him wordlessly, he shook his head, rolled over off the blanket, and reached under and pulled out three slips of paper each with a different letter on it.

Recognizing them, Lucy pulled out her own, "That's the rest of the puzzle?" she asked, sitting up and setting out hers so the letters faced up.

Natsu nodded and placed his among hers; adding a H, B, and T. Then he began selecting the slips and setting them in two rows on the blanket:

HAPPY

BIRTHDAY

Lucy gaped, "Hold on, you mean everything you did to me this morning was for my birthday?" she questioned incredulously.

"I had to keep you distracted until I finished here." he explained.

Lucy rolled her eyes, "Which reminds me, how did you get your hands on the key to Sweetest Delights in the first place?"

Natsu turned away and scratched his head uncomfortably, "I wasn't going to keep it or use it to steal anything. I just was borrowing it from underneath the mat for a bit. You don't still have it or anything right?"

Lucy laughed, "No, I put it back. Just promise me you won't break into anymore people's homes, okay? I mean, you already break into mine on a daily basis."

"Promise." Natsu flopped backwards on the blanket while Lucy leaned back on her palms.

"You didn't have to do all this you know." she said quietly, staring at the sky again, "A simple slice of cake or birthday card would have been enough."

Natsu chuckled and ran his hands down his face, "Yeah, I know. We are throwing you a party today back at the guild. But I need to tell you something and I doubt I'll be able to later."

"Really? Tell me now then."

She saw Natsu sit up slowly behind her. She jumped in surprise when his hand enclosed on her wrist and spun her around to face him. Shocked at his abruptness, Lucy found herself centimeters from Natsu's face.

"If you hate it you can pull away at any time, okay? I'll understand." he said.

"Natsu? What are you saying?" she asked cautiously, but confused all the same.

Natsu let go of her wrist before wrapping both arms around her waist and pulled her closer, reducing their distance to millimeters, "Just remember you can pull away anytime you want. I won't do anything you don't like or want."

Then just as abruptly, he kissed her. It wasn't rough like Lucy thought it was going to be. Instead, he kissed and held her so lightly that the smallest of movements could break their contact. She didn't though. Rather, she tried to make the distance even smaller.

Who knew the dense idiot was just a great kisser?

Just as Lucy was about to close her eyes and return the kiss, Natsu broke away. After gaining a small bit of distance, he scrunched his eyes together as if you gauge her reaction. Lucy gave him nothing. She wanted to know his reaction first.

"Seeing as if I'm still here, you don't hate me," said Natsu slowly, still looking for any objection in her face. She remained blank, "Which is great, because I would hate for the girl I love to hate me."

He was about to pull his arms away when Lucy reached over and peaked him lightly on the cheek. Natsu froze and Lucy giggled at his stunned expression.

"It's about time you woke up to smell the roses, or I guess it's daisies in our case." Lucy explained, thinking back to the flowers the old women and boy had given her. "I love you too, idiot."

And it was like watching the stars again. A huge grin stretched across Natsu's face, lighting up his onyx eyes. His arms tightened and Lucy felt herself fall backwards until her back hit the blanket softly. A blush began to creep up Lucy's neck as Natsu retracted one arm from under her and place it next to her head, caging her against him.

"In that case, if I were to kiss you again I would be in no danger of receiving a Lucy Kick?" he asked seriously.

Lucy feigned thought, " I'll have to think about it. Mind waiting while I make up my mind?"

Apparently he did. Just as the words finished escaping her lips, Natsu took them again. Unlike the first time, Natsu wasn't soft and careful. He kissed her like he wasn't planning to stop for a very long time. Not that it mattered anyways. Lucy wasn't going to let him even if he tried.

I mean, what more could a girl want on her birthday?

A/N Love it? Hate it? Not sure what to think? Tell me in a review!