Natsu squinted his eyes at the sun, unable to make anything out except a bright squiggly mass of yellow.

"Luuucyy!" he groaned, drooping his shoulders and rubbing the black spots out of his opaque eyes. After hearing no reply, five year old Natsu glanced up only to find his best friend hunched over with laughter. There were tears of mirth present in her honey brown eyes and her small, slightly chubby, arms clutched her stomach in laughter.

"Hey!" Natsu scowled, "What are you laughing at?"

Lucy straightened and lifted her hands to hide the snickers still escaping her. "I can't believe you fell for it Natsu-chan!"

Natsu's scowl deepens and an angry red tick mark appears on his forehead, "What do you mean 'I fell for it'?!" The pinkette's face quickly darkens with a blush and he quickly adds in, "And don't call me Natsu-chan Luigi."

Lucy gasps and tiny tears well up in her eyes, "Hey! T-that's not fair! You can't call me that!"

In the back of his mind Natsu hopes Lucy is just faking it, and that those aren't real tears. "Why not huh? If you can call me that than I can call you that."

Lucy stomps her pink Mary Janes hard into the earth, causing a few tufts of dirt to go flying. "Nuh-uh!" she protests.

"Yeah-huh!"

"Fine then! Natsu-chan."

"Luigi."

"Natsu-chan!"

"Luigi!"

"Na-"Shaddup!" Over by the sand pit a small black haired boy is trapping his legs in sand. He'd gotten quite fed up with his cousin and his best friend's arguing.

"Don't tell Lucy to shaddup! You shaddup!"

"What are you gonna do about it Squinty Eyes!" the little boy turns his body, revealing a face with stud looking piercings made by a sharpie pen.

Natsu furrows his eyebrows, "Geez Gajeel, I woulda thought you coulda thought of a better insult than that."

Gajeel rolls his dark coloured eyes at his cousin's childish drawl before replying, "Ask Bunny-girl."

Natsu swivels around and stares at Lucy, who Gajeel had nicknamed Bunny-girl. "Luuuuuuuuuuccyy." He growls.

The blonde just giggles cutely. "When someone tells you to stare at the sun, you don't really stare at it Natsu. Lookin at the sun hurts your eyes."

"B-but," Natsu's lower lip quivers, "You said you thought I could beat the sun at a staring contest."

Lucy bursts out laughing and in the background Gajeel's unique sounding chortle is also heard.

Natsu's cheeks go bright red in frustration and his eyes waver with tears. He clenches his fists tightly and tries to ignore when his fake nails bit deep into his skin. His favourite animal was dragons so earlier that day Natsu had snuck into his mother's bedroom and had put her acrylic nails on so he could have claws.

Bitter, wet tears roll down his grubby face and he sits down and draws his knees up underneath his chin. High, keening sounds come out of his mouth and in the background Gajeel quips in, "The wittle baby's havin another tantrum."

This causes Natsu to wail louder and he digs his nails into the dirt below before kicking his legs out repeatedly. "WWaaaaahgggggg!" he shrieks.

Lucy shuffles awkwardly on the spot and tries to ignore the weird looks all the other children and parents were giving them. She reverts her gaze from Natsu's display to instead draw random swirls in the dirt with the point of her shoe. Her face is lightly dusted with pink.

As Natsu begins to slam his fists into the ground along with his legs, his fit grows louder and louder. Mothers began to drag their children away from their places near the two and Lucy thinks in humiliation that she wishes she could leave too.

It was always embarrassing when her best friend had tantrums. People always stared at her as if it were her fault and that she was supposed to control him. Half of the time she got in trouble too because the adults believed it was her fault he was being a brat.

The one time Lucy had left Natsu during a tantrum she'd gotten in big trouble. Apparently when Natsu had finally calmed down he'd thought Lucy had been taken away by some bad people. But the truth was she'd just gotten sick of him. It was her birthday that day so the two of them had gone to the park.

Neither of their parents had realised that however so when they found Natsu alone at the park babbling that the bad people had got her, her parents had almost called the police. Lucy had only gone home so she still didn't really understand what the big fuss was about. To be fair though, Lucy had almost been kidnapped before by some people who had a grudge against her daddy.

It hadn't been a very good birthday because all her parents did for the rest of the day was scold her. She could get in trouble again though so she couldn't leave Natsu when he had tantrums anymore.

Thankfully in the distance she could see Igneel, Natsu's father, rushing towards him. He had baby Wendy in the stroller he was rolling along. The red head looked rushed and frazzled and the baby bag he had strewn over his shoulder was leaking.

As the adult stormed over, both Lucy and Gajeel stood up to meet him. When Igneel was in close enough distance he heaved Natsu off the ground and placed him over his shoulder. Natsu proceeded to pound his fists against his father's back and he almost kicked Igneel in the nose.

"Natsu," Igneel snarled.

This made the boy stop his struggling but he continued to wail. As Igneel headed towards the exit of the park, Gajeel and Lucy trailed next to him.

Natsu's wailing triggered a cry from his baby sister and soon she too started to cry. As they left the park there were a mixture of mothers who all had various looks towards Igneel. Some looked flirtatious, into the whole single dad thing, while others looked at him in sympathy. Two screaming children and then a third with markings all over his face while the fourth was covered in mud from the skirt down. Who knew when the latter two would start shrieking as well?

Gajeel raked a hand through his long hair, prompting Lucy to offer him one of her hair ties. He accepted it without word and after tying his hair, flipped the hoodie attached to his short sleeved jacket to cover his face.

"We don't know him." Gajeel jerks his head in Natsu's direction. His screaming was steadily being out-cried by Wendy.

By the time they'd crossed halfway into town, Wendy's crying had steadily turned into loud sobbing. Lucy's feet hurt and Gajeel had splashed water at her and it had made the dirt that caked her turn into cracked mud. The mood was grim and everyone was tired. The sky looked like it was about it hail on them any minute now and any respectable parent had their children tucked inside with a board game and a hot meal.

Gajeel rubbed at his face with a grumble, his face itchy and he had sand everywhere. They all looked like a mess. After passing by an ice cream shop, Igneel couldn't help but sigh. His teams morale was decidedly low and he felt that as their supervisor for the day he could determine they'd all had a pretty crap day.

After unjamming the wheel of the buggy from the sidewalk for the fifth time, Igneel gestured them inside the shop. Lucy and Gajeel rushed inside away from the icy wind and found the comfiest looking chairs the parlour had.

Natsu crawled in dejectedly after them his head low and the occasional sniffle escaping him. Sometime throughout the walk he had stopped his shrieking and Igneel had immediately set him down. The pinkette looked horrible, with his hands covered in dirt and blood from his claw marks. His face was pinched together and bright red, with clear tracks running paths down his dirty face.

Once the three were all seated Igneel went to the counter and asked where the bathroom was. He pushed his daughter into the changing rooms it was there he gave her a new diaper and calmed her down. Eventually, after a few minutes in which Igneel had peaceful silence to himself, Lucy, Gajeel and Natsu came huddling in the changing rooms with him.

"Look after the girls for a sec please Gajeel." Igneel requested his nephew. Gajeel, glorified at being given a worthwhile task, nodded dutifully.

Igneel led his son into the men's bathroom and it was there that he cleaned his hands and face. Natsu then broke the silence when he asked timidly, "C-can I have some ice-cream too?"

Igneel frowned gently and wished he could get his son some ice-cream. But his tantrums were getting worse and more frequent and his wife would kill him if she knew he was being so soft. "I think you know the answer to that son."

Natsu nodded diligently, quickly dragging his hand across his face to catch his tears.

Igneel led Natsu out the door and swapped him with Gajeel so he could wash his face. However when he went to swap the dark haired boy with Lucy he came across a dilemma.

"What do you mean you won't go in?"

Lucy crossed her arms defiantly. "I am a lady. Ladies do not use the boy's room."

"Come on Lucy-chan," he pleaded, "There isn't anyone else in there."

Lucy just stares behind him with a blank expression. He turns in time for a teenage boy to squeeze past Gajeel standing in the hallway to enter the men's room. Of course.

He argues with her for another good ten minutes and eventually they all leave the shop with some to go chocolate caramel ice-cream and a dirty Lucy. Her mother was going to kill him.

A week later, Lucy found herself sitting on the edge of her bed staring out the window. It was early morning and she could smell breakfast cooking downstairs. The sun shined through her large bay window but all she could do was stare in frustration at the view of her backyard.

Natsu hadn't been allowed to come out at all the past week so Lucy had found herself doing nothing. Her mother was angry at Igneel for his poor babysitting skills so she hadn't let her go out to check anyway. It was likely that until he apologised to her Lucy wouldn't be allowed to go over. However they were both stubborn people so it was hard to say when that would happen.

Lucy knew how long their parent's cold wars could last so she'd been sneaking out to see if he could play but yesterday when the blonde was sneaking back in her mother had caught her. Her parents were sure to make sure she wouldn't attempt to play with him today.

Blowing a strand of hair that had fallen out of her pony tail out of her face frustratedly, she ignored the knock on her door. It opened anyway and her father hovered in the doorway. "Lucy," he greeted gruffly, "Breakfast is ready."

Lucy crossed her arms stubbornly and glared at her light pink carpet. "I don't want any."

Jude Heartfilia sighed in exasperation before making his way over to her. He stood stonily next to her wooden four poster bed before announcing, "It is unbecoming of a lady to refuse meal times."

Lucy blushes pink before turning to her father, "That's not fair!"

A small smirk comes across the adults face, barely visible underneath his small moustache. "Come along Lucy."

With a huff the youngest Heartfilia jumps off her bed before walking regally out of her bedroom. "I bet Natsu gets to skip meal times," she mutters crossly.

Jude lets out a small chuckle before following after his daughter, closing her bedroom door after themselves.

For another three days Lucy was stuck cooped up in the house. There was nothing fun to do and she'd watched Peter Pan eight times over the course of three days. It was her favourite movie and although Natsu had originally claimed to hate it, she could tell he really quite enjoyed it. His favourite parts were whenever Peter Pan fought Captain Hook, while hers were any scene with Tinkerbell in it.

Lucy's parents soon began to despair. They were not used to having their daughter in close quarters all the time. Usually she was out playing with Natsu, or it would be the Dragneels' turn to babysit. They didn't really know what to do with a five year old girl, or at least not for this long amount of time.

In the stoic way that was Jude, eventually he began to plead to his wife. He was of course subtle but because she had been with him for ten years, Lucy's mother could easily read his distress. The pair were used to Lucy being tired and worn out by bedtime from a day of playing, but instead she was bouncy and fitful. It was taking hours to get her to sleep and the toll was making itself known on all three members of the Heartfilia household.

Not only that but Lucy refused to eat the majority of her dinner. Originally the blonde loved her fruit and veg, but now they were lucky if she even ate more than a piece of bread soaked in gravy. The once hyperactive blonde was pale and often complained of her fatigue, yet never seemed to be able to sleep.

The next day Layla Heartfilia pulled on her nice coat and ordered Lucy to get dressed. The little girl grumbled about how she didn't want to go to one of Daddy's fancy lunches but her mother urged her to pull on her favourite light blue dress. She wore stockings and a cute little blue barrette in her limp blonde hair.

The two hurriedly scrambled down the road before crossing the street. Lucy gazed in confusion at her mother once they came to a stop and the five year old tried to stop her heart from bursting when Layla rang the doorbell.

A clatter of pots and pans are heard, followed by a hiss sounding similar to 'you stupid cat!' Soon however a beautiful blue haired woman answers the door. Immediately her slightly flushed face breaks out into a smile and she ushers them inside. "You do not know how glad I am to see you here." The mother gushes, leading the two into the house.

The mother and daughter pair follow her into a living room where a worn white couch lays on slightly scratched wooden floors. "Natsu-chan!" The woman calls as a wailing is heard, "Stop picking on Wendy!"

With a scowl, Natsu walks into the room from the kitchen, two doors swinging closed behind him. In his arms is a blue cat, whose tail dragged across the floor from the careless hold the five year old had on him.

"Natsu!" Lucy calls from her spot hiding behind her mother with a smile.

"Lucy?" he blinks stupidly before his face breaks out into a grin. Running over to her he almost drops his cat. The pair almost fell over when they skidded to a stop in front of the blonde.

Suddenly Natsu seems awkward and he shyly droops his head, "Hi." He squeaks out.

Above them, Natsu and Lucy's mothers share a knowing look. "Why don't the two of you go play outside?" Grandeeny Dragneel says with a sly undertone as she and Layla headed towards the kitchen.

Lucy nods her head up and down enthusiastically. "Let's go have a tea party with my star friends!"

Natsu follows her to the clear sliding door next to the T.V obediently. When the two reach the picnic table that lay underneath a massive oak tree the pinkette suddenly blanches before doing a double-take. "I don't wanna have a tea party with the stars! They're mean!"

"Only Aquarius is mean." Lucy chastises, picking up various ornaments that lay around the tree.

Still Natsu scowls, sitting on the seat of the picnic table. "I wanna play Dragon Slayers!"

Lucy crinkles her nose before placing her various ornaments strategically around the table. "I don't wanna play inside! That video game is booooooring!"

"Is not!" he protests as Lucy delicately takes her place across from him.

"Cancer, would you like some sugar in your tea?" Lucy ignores him and turns to speak to the empty crab shell on her right.

Natsu turns his head and glares at the sight before him. "What's Leo doing here!?"

Lucy grins in a Cheshire cat kind of way. "You're just jealous that Leo has a crush on me."

Natsu's glare on the golden ring intensifies. "Nuh-uh! He always says he wants tah protect yah but that's my job!"

Lucy takes a sip of her imaginary tea. "But you're a dragon. Dragons are s'posed to be evil. That means you can't protect a Princess like me."

Natsu blushes and stares at his nails, remembering how much it'd hurt when his mum had taken the acrylic nails he'd stolen off. "Dragons do so protect Princesses! I protect you all the time. Like that time when Gajeel was picking on you the first time you guys met!"

Lucy pokes her finger into her cheek in thought. "But dragons don't have tantrums either. Especially not in front of a lady. Otherwise you'll look super duper silly in front of her and she won't like you anymore! And if a lady doesn't like you anymore ya can't be friends no more!"

The boy's opaque eyes widen in surprise. "I-I….. I dunno what yer talkin about."

"Dragons who have tantrums can't be my friend," she sighs haughtily before looking at the small water jug in concern, "I'm sorry Aquarius but we don't have any of those mini cakes ya love so much. Scorpio ate em all!"

Natsu scrambles to slam his hands on the table. "But I wanna stay your friend!"

Lucy looks at him with as much of a cool gaze that a girl of her age and personality can have. "Then it's simple. Stop having tantrums."

Natsu gulps, a scared aura surrounding him. "T-then I'll stop it! I—I swear!"

Suddenly Lucy is all baby doll eyes. She flutters her lashes at him adorably. "You mean it? Pinky swear!"

Natsu stares at his best friend, slightly disturbed at her sudden change of mood, before hesitantly leaning forward to wrap his pinkie finger around Lucy's awaiting finger. "Cross my hear and hope to die, stick a needle in my eye." He recites.

Lucy stares at him, her big brown eyes intense and their fingers still interlocked. "You mean it..?" she asks hesitantly.

Natsu gives her his signature grin, his snaggletooth pocking out over his bottom lip. "You're weird Lucy! You're my nakama! I would never break a promise I made to nakama!"

Lucy giggles and eventually Natsu joins in, turning her tinkling bell giggle into raucous laughter. From the clear living room door, Grandeeny and Layla smile at the obvious joy their children expressed.

For the rest of the morning Natsu and Lucy played imaginary tea party. Her star friends were twelve little inanimate objects that represented the twelve keys of the zodiac, something Lucy was obsessed with. Her thing was the stars while Natsu's was dragons. They were an odd pair, but a pair nonetheless.

At lunch time the pair's mothers called them inside for lunch. They came hurdling through the door, surprisingly clean considering the two's track record with playing outside. Grandeeny ordered them to go upstairs to wash their hands and when the two came hurdling downstairs and turned right to the kitchen they came to a stop when through the swinging doors a set of men's shoes is visible.

Lucy holds out a hand to stop her best friend from barrelling through the swinging doors. The blonde had a feeling that the figure was probably Igneel and for some reason she felt that he wasn't supposed to know that she and her mother was there.

The Heartfilia's and Dragneel's rarely fought but when they did it was nasty. Lucy had only seen them fighting once and it hadn't been pretty. If Igneel found out that she and her mother were at his house during a fight, things would not be pretty.

Natsu gives her a weird look before brushing past her and sweeping into the kitchen with a hungry look in his eyes. Lucy awkwardly hangs outside the kitchen, holding a hand to her chest.

In the kitchen Natsu sees his father Igneel hanging in the doorway of the dining room to his left. He was ogling the food being laid out on the table. It's then that his best friend hesitantly slips into the kitchen beside him. She gives a little squeak and it alerts the adults in the room.

"Lucy-chan, Natsu-kun," Layla greets from inside the dining room.

Lucy jumps slightly before grabbing Natsu's wrist and dragging him into the dining room where her mother lay.

Igneel follows in after them and takes a seat nearest the window and furthest away from the door. Wendy is seated in a high chair next to him and next to her was Layla. Across from Wendy Grandeeny was only just sitting down.

"Daddy?" Lucy blinked her big brown eyes at the figure opposite her mother.

"Lucy." Jude acknowledges.

Her and Natsu share a glance, the two of them confused before taking two of the seats still available.

It was ridiculous to Lucy, but for some reason Natsu was quite intimidated by her father. All of their friends were. In fact, the last time they'd seen their friend Gray Fullbuster, the dark haired boy had teased Natsu about it, as hypocritical as it sounded. Natsu had taken that as a dare, so he was determined to prove that he wasn't afraid of him.

Due to this the pinkette had decided to sit in the empty spot next to her father. He was quivering and was struggling to keep a straight face. Jude sent him, in what was his opinion, a small smile. His moustache however hid that smile, so Natsu shivered under his stare. "S-scary..."

Lucy giggled lightly from where she'd chosen to sit next to Natsu, covering her mouth with both her hands. Natsu sends her a sheepish look from underneath his bangs.

That night Lucy slept over the Dragneel's house. She ate all of her lunch and dinner and almost fell asleep when playing Natsu's favourite video game, Dragon Slayer. Her and her best friend eventually fell asleep in a pile of her and Natsu's stuffed animals. They'd fallen asleep on each other's shoulders and thankfully he hadn't drooled on the blonde this time.

Lucy vaguely remembered the 'click' of a camera, most likely Grandeeny's doing, before Igneel picked them up and tucked them in Natsu's woodland themed bed.

When she woke up she and Natsu shared a bath, eating bubbles all throughout. And when Natsu accidently got shampoo in his eye, he didn't even scream like he would've done previously. Grandeeny had been nervously scraping the shampoo out of his eyes and Lucy could tell the blue haired woman was waiting for him to explode.

Instead Natsu just quietly let tears stream down his face and he bit his lips to keep the cries of pain from escaping him. Lucy beamed at him in reward.

From that day on Natsu kept his promise. Throughout the rest of her life there were very few instances where he broke that promise. The first instance was twelve years later…

"Fuck you!" Natsu yelled, throwing his fist out to connect solidly with the man's face across from him. His arm muscles tense and Natsu's face is tightened in fury. There were tears in his beautiful opaque eyes, currently blazing in red hot anger.

The man across from him takes the hit, though stone set frustration is set in the man's oh so familiar gaze. His long blonde hair and beard reach his lower back and a long ratty brown cloak covers his figure.

Natsu's nails dig deep into the palms of his hands, drawing blood. "You… bastard!" he screams out, flinging another fist at the man's jaw. He dodges, just, so Natsu raises his leg and kicks the older man straight in the gut, sending him a few feet across the yard.

He storms over to him, leaping at his face. The force of the hit sends them both to the ground and the pink haired seventeen year old repeatedly hits him in the face. "You…Son…of…a…. bitch!"

Off to the side Lucy stands stiffly, her hands clenched tightly. Her knuckles are white and her normally vibrant chocolate eyes are blank, void, staring lifelessly at the scene before her. Next to her stood Gajeel, who avoided his gaze from the scene. His jaw was clenched shut and the mood around them was intensified by the dark, grey clouds hanging overhead.

Natsu continued to yell and scream and kick and punch at the man beneath him. In the distance a familiar figure storms towards them and after a short sprint Igneel appears behind Natsu and after tugging roughly at the back of his son's school collar, he's flung backward. The momentum makes Natsu land on his back but he quickly gets up, his face furious. "Get out of my way!"

Igneel drags the man on the floor up by his arm before turning his head towards the teenagers. He takes in their appearances, Natsu's temperamental expression and his hostile body language. Gajeel is acting as if he isn't facing such a complicated dilemma. And Lucy…

She's wearing the school's sports uniform, which was stained with dirt. There was a rip in the hem leading up to her ribs. She looked like death warmed over.

"What's going on here?" he asks in a cold, steel voice. His eyes stare at the three of them with a calculating look.

"Look behind you old man…" Gajeel says in a suspiciously thick voice.

Igneel complies, slowly turning around. What he finds shocks him. He stares, floored at the person before him.

Even with his face bloody and disfigured, more hair and without his suits Igneel can recognise Jude Heartfilia easily. "You…" he whispers speechless.

"Igneel!" Natsu says sharply from behind him, "Let me at him!"

Igneel stares with sad eyes at the man he once had called friend. "Let's go you three." He says softly.

He turns around and grabs Natsu by the collar, practically dragging him. Further behind them, Gajeel grabs Lucy's wrist gently and tugs her forward so that they follow Igneel. Time seems to freeze as, when Lucy walked past her father, who was struggling to keep upright, her eyes completely passed him. However the moment she stepped past him she seemed to come back to life.

Tears suddenly fill her eyes and her face breaks out into a tear jerking grimace. Sobs rack her body suddenly but she still walks on with tears streaming down her face. Gajeel stares at her in sympathy and up front Igneel refuses to look at her stricken expression.

Natsu however stops suddenly, digging his feet into the soft earth. He's staring in agony at the pained expression his best friend carries and all he can do is stare at her with wide, horrified eyes as she Gajeel slowly catch up with himself and his father.

Before they can reach them however, Natsu jerks towards Lucy and tugs her out of his cousin's loose grip. The voluptuous teenager continues to sob loudly, her tears streaming quick and fast. He launches forward and past his father, heading into a different direction then the one they were being lead to.

Eventually the two reach one of the high school's paved courtyards and the two collapse on a bench as Lucy's sorrow continues to be expressed.

"Please stop…" Natsu whispers heavily, with his damp pink bangs shadowing his eyes. It had started drizzling from their walk there.

Lucy hiccups before rubbing a fist on her ever flowing tears, "W-what?" she blubbers, confused.

"Please," he says quietly before raising his voice to a yell, "I can't stand seeing you like this!"

Lucy's sobs decrease slightly as she registers her best friend's words. It took another half hour until the seventeen year old calmed down and by then she felt hollow and raw all at once.

Natsu wipes some rain out of his chiselled face, "Why would he come here after all he's done?"

"He wanted money." Lucy whispers, staring at her hands crossed over her mostly bare lap. "He said he'd changed… But he is still the same. I don't think he realised it but… he scared me. That man didn't even realise he'd resorted to whatever means necessary to get what he wanted."

Natsu stares in renewed fury at the almost indecent rip in her sports top. There was also a swelling bruise on her upper left arm, caused by a harsh grip.

Many years ago Layla Heartfilia passed away due to an unknown illness. Ever since then her relationship with her father started getting more and more strained. He became a horrible father and all her friends previous intimidation Jude once instilled upon them was swapped with hatred for the way he treated his only child. The only other Heartfilia. Eventually, right before she turned seventeen, she… ran away. She bought her own apartment and got herself a job and ceased contact with her father. Only a month or two ago had she learned of the state of poverty her father had recently been forced upon.

Suddenly Lucy breaks into a series of giggles. Natsu stares at her in tired confusion, hoping she hadn't finally cracked and needed to be taken to a looney bin. "It makes me realise something," she muses, her honey sweet voice still layered with pain and sadness. "You broke your promise."

Natsu stares at her blandly, in the back of his mind offended by the accusation. "Natsu," she says quietly, "Do you remember giving me that promise that you would stop having tantrums?"

The pinkette leans back on the palms of his injured hands, tilting his head back to catch raindrops on his face. "Not really. I think so." He mumbles.

"Idiot…" she grins light heartedly. "You just had a tantrum."

Natsu freezes before turning to stare Lucy in the eye. His gaze is intense and she shuffles awkwardly. "That wasn't a tantrum." He said.

"I'm afraid it was." She could all but gulp in reply.

"Sorry," he mumbles, his stare heavy lidded and expectant, "I hate seeing you upset."

He leans in to cup the side of her face, rubbing his calloused thumb along her cheek where a tear trail once made its path. Slowly the two lean in and it's not long before they share a soft short kiss. They lean back slightly to stare into each other's eyes.

"I've wanted to do that for so long." Natsu says absentmindedly as he leans in again to give the girl of his dreams a harsher, passionate kiss. He tugs her golden hair to bring them closer together while she clutches at his soaked wet school shirt that stuck tightly to his chest.

Lucy curls toward Natsu's body and when their passionate exchange ends she can't help whispering, "Promise you'll always protect me?"

Natsu stares down at the curvaceous teenager with affectionate eyes, hearing her vulnerability plainly. "The dragon will always protect his princess. Even if it means taking down the king."

The pinkette pulls Lucy towards him, slamming her into his rock hard chest and leaning down to nibble at her neck. She gasps in surprise at the sensation before yanking him by his hair from her creamy neck to passionately slam their lips together. He reaches behind her to sneak his hands up the back of her shirt and grip tightly while she wraps her arms around his neck. The kiss deepens and the teenage boy licks her lower lip to ask for entrance.

Complying to his demand happily, it's this moment when Lucy realises she wouldn't mind it if Natsu had tantrums if this was the end result.