"The most important steps to playing basketball is having a keen eye and being quick," Natsu spoke up as he walked up and down the court where his little group of kids stood and listened. "and you must always be sure that you know what your next step is because if you're suddenly over here at the midline," Natsu walked over to where the midline was. "and shoot without knowing what your next move is and without confidence in your shot," he shot the ball making the ball hit the rim and bounce off. "you're going to miss." He reached out and bounced the ball back to him. "But if you know you're confident in your shot and you know your next move," he did a spin move and shot while jumping back. "you'll make it." He watched as the ball flew right through the net making the kids coo in amazement. "Any questions?"

All of the boys raised their hands in excitement as Natsu threw a grin their way.

Meanwhile in the corner, Lucy could only burn holes in the back of his pink head as she just felt her inner turmoil grind it's gears. Just when she starts to think Natsu was a good guy, he just goes back to the cocky asshole she originally thought he was. With that gross Igneel reptile, Lucy really wanted to leave camp even more.

But why did he have to be such a great basketball player? Why couldn't he just be one of those bench players who were so bad that they were better off being cut?

Looking away from Natsu, Lucy adverts her attention to Erza to see her teaching the kids with amazing free throws and lay-up.

If only if she was good in sports, she could maybe play, too.

"Hey, Lucy, what's up?" Lisanna suddenly came up beside her, flashing a sweet innocent smile making Lucy offer a smile back.

"Nothing much. Just cooling it... what's up with you?"

"Nothing, either. Mira-Nee is helping Elf-Nii in the kitchen and I wasn't in the mood for cooking so I came over to see what was up in here. I'm guessing you don't know how to play basketball, either."

Smiling sheepishly, Lucy shook her head. "Not at all. The only thing I know how to do is read."

"Aw, well, that's nothing to be ashamed of! I love animals," the beaut flushed slightly as she told the blonde something she was passionate about. "if I was a wizard id probably shape-shift into all sorts of animals!"

"Shape-shift into animals?" Lucy giggled at the female. "Wouldn't you rather shape-shift into objects?"

"No way! Animals are so much cooler!"

Laughing together in the middle of the court, a ball suddenly rolled towards the two girls making them look down at the orange ball before looking up to see who was asking for it.

Lucy immediately felt her stomach drop when she noticed Natsu approaching the two.

"Hey Natsu!" Lisanna called out, completely missing the aura around Lucy. "If you were a wizard, what type of wizard would you be? I want to be an animal shape-shifter!" She giggled as she handed the ball to the baller who only quirked a brow and glanced at Lucy.

"A wizard?" He echoed.

"Yes, a wizard. Y'know, with magic and all that?"

"I know what a wizard is, Lis," Natsu rolled his eyes as he placed the ball on his hip. "uh, that's easy. A fire wizard."

"Fire?" Lisanna cooed. "Why?"

"I like fire." He shrugged. "It's cool." His eyes flickered towards Lucy who flinched when she noticed his eyes on her.

She flushed and looked away from him, a small pout forming on her lips making the corners of his lips quirk upwards.

"What about you, Lucy?" Lisanna forced the attention on the blonde. "What would you do?"

"Uh," she looked at Lisanna to Natsu before looking down. "well... I'd probably be something that has to do with the stars, so maybe something like a Celestial wizard?" She squeaked, her cheeks dusted pink as she was embarrassed to say that out loud. "I mean, I don't know." She quickly shrugged her shoulders to sound nonchalant and hesitant about her choice.

But the look on Natsu's and Lisanna's face made it look like they liked the idea of her as a celestial wizard making her feel less embarrassed.

"Maybe you have keys instead of a wand," Natsu joked. "and they're named after the zodiacs."

"Maybe," the blonde shrugged as she completely dodged his gaze.

A sudden short awkward silence squeezed past them making Natsu clear his throat and start walking backwards to his group.

"Uh, well, see ya." He said before going back to his group leaving Lisanna and Lucy by themselves, again.

"Are you and Natsu still fighting?" Lisanna asked making Lucy shake her head. "Then what?"

"It's not really fighting, it's just... I don't know?" The blonde shrugged. "It's more like we don't really get along. I mean, he did throw fries on me the first time I met him."

"Honestly, Lucy, I think you two could get along if you tried. Natsu is a very nice and easy-going guy, it's easy to make friends with somebody like him! You just gotta try and lighten up," the short silver-haired one nudged Lucy on the side to imply it. "and making things awkward and moping about it won't help so go on and talk to him."

"Wait, right now?" Lucy asked in surprise as Lisanna went behind the blonde to put her hands on her shoulder and push her towards Natsu. "Wait!"

"The longer you wait, the worse it's going to get! You really need to get past this couple quarrel!"

"W—wait, I don't know if this is the right time! He's teaching!"

"It's alright!" She grinned while pushing Lucy. "Remember, be friendly! Have fun!" She gave a final hard shove right towards Natsu making Lucy stumble forward and fall right into the pink-haired baller making him jerk forward in surprise.

He caught himself just in time and quickly turned around to look who pushed him, a slight scowl on his face but when he noticed it was Lucy, his expression changed immediately.

"S—sorry, Lisanna pushed me into you." She murmured making him awkwardly scratch the back of his head.

"Uh, it's alright." He shrugged.

"Um, yeah," she awkwardly coughed as the two looked away from each other. "so... uh... how are you?"

"Just cooling," he almost snorted from her lack of social skills. "how are you?"

"Good... good." She cleared her throat, looking at the complete opposite direction of the male.

Another silence past by the two and Natsu suddenly wished he wasn't there, the male not knowing what to do as he squeezed the ball in his arms while his group dribbled the ball in circles.

"So, uh, you want to try shooting?" He tried to start conversion making Lucy look up at him in surprise. The look on her face made him snicker as he brought the ball into his hands. "It's not that hard, c'mon, I'll teach you." He nudged his head over to the line making Lucy follow him. "You just make sure you have a nice arch to your throw and it'll go in."

"I'm not... really good at these things, though." She looked around in hesitation.

"Anyone can throw a ball, Lucy." He said as he threw the ball in a perfect arch to have the ball make its way through the hoop and down to have it drop down and roll over to him. "I'm sure you can, too."

"I'm not so sure about that..."

"I'll teach you," he offered as he bent down and picked up the ball, moving out the way. "come here." He said making Lucy hesitantly go where he was standing. "Now here," he handed the ball to the blonde. "you just bend your knees slightly and throw the ball."

Bending her knees and nervously looking up at the net, Lucy took in a deep breath as she prepared herself to throw the ball. The hoop looked so far away and she knew she wouldn't be able to get it in the first try as the hoop just seemed to go farther away from her. Just then, she chucked the ball right at the rim making it bounce right back to her earning a squeal in surprise and Natsu quickly thrusting his hands out to grab the ball before it hit her in the face.

"Lucy," he sighed.

"I told you I wasn't good at this!" She looked away in embarrassment making Natsu huff.

"It's alright, let's do it one more time." He came right beside her to hand her the ball again. "This time, we're not going to just chuck the ball, we're going to throw it." He went behind her to grab her wrist and lift her arm.

Lucy's blush became even darker when she felt his warm hand touching her, the feeling of his rough hands brush against hers.

"So, when you throw it, you're going to have to flick your wrist like this," he showed how his wrist turned out after he throws the ball. "and it's going to have this little arch instead of it going straight at the hoop so do what I taught you and try again."

"Natsu, I don't think—"

"Less talking, more shooting." He cut her off making her frown and nervously look at the hoop which looked so far away from where she was. "C'mon, Lucy, you've got this."

Taking in a deep breath and closing her eyes for a brief moment, the blonde reopened her eyes and bent her knees slightly to rise back up to flick her wrist, the ball slowly and smoothly rolling off her palm till it made a perfect arch right to the hoop. Lucy felt nervous as she watched the ball make its way towards the hoop, a loud sound echoing the gym when the ball hit the rim before falling through into the hoop making her eyes widen.

"You did it!" Natsu shouted, a wide smile on his face. "Nice job!" He raised his hand up high for a high-five making Lucy's face grow into a smile.

"Thanks!" She high-fived him, a wide grin on her face. "You were right, that wasn't so hard!"

"Now maybe we can have a little game."

"Yeah, keep dreaming."

Throwing his head back and laughing out loud, Natsu placed a hand on top of the blonde's head to throw her a wide handsome grin.

"Sorry about this morning, Luce," he said, a slight blush on his cheeks. "I didn't mean to upset you."

Matching the pink blush on Natsu's cheeks, Lucy shyly looked up at the baller. "It's okay, I forgive you."

"Great!" He threw his arms up to wrap them around the blonde.

Lucy squealed in response as she was shoved into the warm hard chest of the baller.

"I thought you hated me, I'm glad we can get over this couple quarrel!" He said leaving Lucy to blush even harder.

Just who was telling him that this was come couple quarrel? Did he even know what that meant?

"Hey, lovebirds!" A shout across the gym made the two look over. "Instead of being lovey dovey, why don't you teach some kids basketball?"

"What did you say you damn stripper?!" Natsu pushed Lucy out the way to throw his fist in the air. "Why don't you come over here so I can wipe your ass on the court?!" He smirked at the ink-haired male who glared at him across the court. "Or are you scared that I'm going to whoop your ass, again?!"

Suddenly, Gray leaned back and chucked the ball right at Natsu making Lucy's eyes widen as the ball flew so fast across the gym she could barely keep up with it. Before she knew it, Natsu caught the ball in his palms making a loud slap occur.

"Look! Natsu and Gray are about to have a competition!"

Hearing the shout of the young boy, the entire gym went into a formation that would look like they were prepared for this. The young boys stood in the corners and sides of the gym as Natsu and Gray were the only ones on the court.

Lucy seemed like she was the only one who didn't know what was going on as she stood on the slide, looking around in complete and utter confusion.

She looked back into the court where she watched Natsu and Gray have some kind of stare-off till they started to take their shirts off, the blonde's entire face exploding into red once more as they stripped off their shirts. Their whistles and shirt was thrown off onto the sides where the boys all reached for the two items, wanting to hold the belongings of their counselors.

Then all of a sudden, a blow of the whistle set the two boys off as Natsu went running down the court, dribbling the ball by his side. Gray ran right to him, the squeaks of their sneakers screeching in the auditorium.

The game was so fast-pace, Lucy didn't know where to keep her eyes as the two boys moved back and forth, trying to steal the ball.

Before she knew it, Gray scored the first point earning a roar from the crowd.

"Gray on the lead with the score of two to zero, Natsu failing behind."

"Erza?!" Lucy cried out when she looked over to see who was commentating the game. "When did you... what are you... what is this?!"

"Oh, hello, Lucy," The red-haired baller gave a grin, the female sporting her baseball cap, red tank top, yellow shorts, and sunglasses as if she was going running outside. "would you like to commentate with me?"

"Uh, no thank you." The blonde looked away awkwardly. "I just... is this... is this a normal thing?" She looked over at the game and back at the red-head who smirked.

"Of course," she said. "Natsu and Gray always brawl it out, physically and emotionally. I just prefer it like this and so far, Natsu is on the lead." She suddenly brought out a large board that had tally marks and Natsu's and Gray's name on top. "You see here? Gray won seven games and Natsu won nine."

Lucy didn't know what to do as she awkwardly stared at the board and the scarlet-haired woman.

Just where was she and what kind of people was she around?

—X—

Lucy felt exhausted after a day of watching people play basketball and getting hit with a ball at least three times but she did learn how to shoot and how weird this camp really was. Everyone was just full of life and they were just so blunt about everything, she didn't know if it was a good thing or a bad thing.

Holding onto her novel she packed, Lucy wandered off from the camp where the entire camp played games and relaxed a little before bed. She wasn't really interested in any of that so she just decided to leave and come back before anyone noticed.

But wandering off was a bad idea as she realized she had no idea where she was, walking down a pathway she has never seen before.

The sun was setting and she really had to find a way back but she had the worst sense of direction known to man.

Holding the novel close to her chest, Lucy looked around to check if she was near the campsite at all.

Whose bright idea was it to hold a basketball camp in the middle of nowhere?

"Geez, it's getting cold..." Lucy mumbled to herself as she was realizing that the sun was now completely gone. "I really need to get back or else I'm going to be in big trouble," she hissed to herself. "and not just with Erza."

Walking down the dirt pathway where she hoped it lead back to camp, the blonde suddenly stepped on something slimy making her squeal in surprise and disgust. Jumping away and looking down to see what she almost slipped on, she looked to see it was a reptile she stepped on.

"Not another—! Wait..." She squinted to take a closer look. "Isn't this..?"

"Igneel! Oh Igneel, you have to stop running off like that!" A familiar voice came from down the path making the blonde look up and see Natsu running down to her. "One day you're just going to—Lucy?" He stopped running to stand in front of her. "What are you doing?"

"Natsu!" She never felt so relieved to see him. "Oh, you don't know how glad I am to see you!" She stood up to hug him. "I got lost in the woods and I just never thought I would come back ever again!"

"You got lost?" He put a hand on her back. "But... camp is right there." He pointed behind him to make Lucy look back to see camp. "You've been wandering in circles."

"Are you serious?" She pulled away to look behind her to see it was literally a circle. "God, I'm so stupid." She slapped her palm against her forehead in frustration. "And to think I was lost..."

"Well, good thing Igneel came running out! Probably sensed your fear and went to find you."

"I highly doubt it," the blonde scrunched her face up in disgust as she watched him walk past her to scoop up the salamander.

He carefully placed him in his deep pocket and got rid of the dirt and dust off his hands, the male offering a grin towards the blonde.

"What were you doing out here by yourself, anyways?"

"I wanted to find a nice quiet place to read but never got the chance to because I got lost," she flushed slightly, pressing the book against her check even tighter. "but I guess it's too late, now. Maybe next time."

"It's not too late," he said. "c'mon, I have this secret spot that's perfect for some alone time." He held out his hand towards her making her eye his hand in hesitation. "Trust me, we won't get lost or anything."

Glancing back to camp and at the outstretched hand of the male, Lucy reached out and grabbed his large hand in hers making him grin even wider.

Natsu pulled her down the pathway, deeper into the forest as he went through cuts and branches till they made it not too far down where there was an open field. The moon was large and bright making the small stream ahead glisten and it was very calming with the crickets chirping and the sounds of the stream water flowing through. Lucy never found anything so majestic as she was brought to an area where it looked like it came from a fairy tale novel.

If only little fairies came out, she would be convinced it was fake.

"I only know of this place and I come here whenever I want to think or be alone. You can come here and relax whenever you want to," he offered as he watched Lucy walk ahead of him. "just don't tell anyone about my secret location."

"I would never," she whispered. "this place would be a shame to ruin with other people."

"My thoughts exactly." A bright smile came to his face. "Come on, I'm not done, yet." He walked towards her to grab her hand and pull her. "I brought this little hammock and pulled it up over here," he pulled her near the stream to push a pile of leaves away to present the hammock. "I made it." He grinned proudly making Lucy gawk at it in amazement. "Here, get on it. You can see the sky pretty well from this view." He climbed on first, kicking off his sandals while at it.

He extended his hand out to the blonde once more and she grasped it without a second thought this time, taking her flip flops off and sitting in the hammock which rocked slightly.

She immediately looked up and took in the view of the stars that were painted in the sky, the bright shining orbs twinkling nicely.

She's never seen anything like this before, her eyes wide in wonder.

"Man, you do really like stars, don't you?" His voice brought her back to earth making her look over at him and blush. "I can tell by the way your eyes sparkle when you look up."

"Y—yeah... I do." She said in embarrassment. "They're cool, aren't they?"

"I guess so," he shrugged as he leaned back against the hammock. "I'm more into fire."

"Stars are basically balls of fire, you know."

"Then I guess I like stars, too." He laughed making Lucy giggle with him. "What made you like stars so much?"

"My mom used to be this celestial expert and we used to go out every night, whenever there were stars out, and just lay on the grass and look up. She taught me everything about them to the Big Dipper to the atomic bounds." She said as fiddled with her shirt in nervousness. "And now I still look up whenever the stars are out and trace the ones I know and just star-gaze." She looked back up making Natsu look up as well.

"I used to do that with my dad, too." Natsu said. "We would come out and look at the stars and then make a camp fire. He was a pyromaniac and so am I, we loved fire. He was a fireman and I think I'll become one, too." He scooted over slightly as Lucy laid down beside him. "I guess we're kind of like the same."

"I guess we are," Lucy giggled as she felt a warm feeling surround her insides.

To think she would be spending her night next to Natsu talking about their life, stargazing.

Again, she wasn't sure if she was liking the camp or hating it, anymore.

But for now, she likes it.

notes: blizzard of 2016, you can kiss my ass.

notes2: I hope you guys enjoyed this chapter. I was kinda slumped on this..

notes3: leave me a lovely review while you're at all!