Lucy hated cold weather almost as much as she hated public bathrooms. There was just no good to come from cold, all bundled up with freezing bones to the point it almost hurt. She preferred the warmth of summer, the effortless breeze of spring. It was simpler, less harsh.

So when Lucy clacked the edges of her snow covered boots against the side of the wall in her lobby, she let out a dissatisfied groan at the plumes that rose from it. She brushed flakes from her shoulders as well before digging into her bag for her mail keys.

"The heavy snow really came out of nowhere, huh?" Someone spoke off to the side. "Seems like just a few days ago was the first fall."

Lucy nodded her head slightly. "Yeah, it's-"

Her mumbling was cut short when she turned her head to see who was speaking. The voice was familiar, of course, by why Loke was in her apartment building was quite a question to her. "It's a pain." She finished softly.

Loke sat on a bench with his legs crossed and his torso leaned against the wall. "I called a cab a while ago, but I think it's taking them a bit longer with this weather."

How typical; two barely strangers making small talk about the weather. Then again, that was Lucy's strong suit. "What brought you here to mi casa anyway."

The ginger flashed his signature broad smile. "I wanted to talk to Natsu."

Lucy's fingers froze up and the keys fell from her hand. Her head swiveled towards his direction with a puzzled look. "Do you realize that you and Gray really share an affinity for getting beat up?"

"I don't want to get beat up." The redheaded male assured her. "I just was looking for Gray."

Lucy snorted as she swiftly picked her keys up and brushed the melted snow at her feet from them. "Yeah, because Gray totally wouldn't fight you. Real smart."

"He wouldn't. At least not immediately." Loke sighed to himself. Pushing himself to his feet, he took lazy strides towards her. "I take it you can't help me either?"

"Not can't." Lucy's keys jingled as she opened her mailbox. There were a few envelopes inside, which surprised her. She hadn't really bought anything after finally meeting Natsu. "Won't."

Loke's brow arched up as he looked at her skeptically. "That's cold, blondie. Why not, exactly?"

"Well, for one, you keep trying to fight my boyfriend." Lucy glared at Leo as he casually grabbed her mail from her box for her and turned it around in his hands. "And two, you keep trying to fight one of my best friends."

Loke's laugh was rather charming, but given the circumstances, Lucy wasn't exactly smitten. "He's your boyfriend now? Good for him. I thought the little hothead wouldn't ever be serious enough to have a real relationship."

Lucy reached forward and snatched her mail from his hands, tucking it between her arm and ribcage. "You've put Gray through a lot of trouble. I really doubt he has any energy left to put up with you."

Loke ran his ring-covered fingers through his hair. "We have plenty of energy. Been fighting since we were three feet tall."

Pushing her mailbox shut rather loudly just for emphasis, Lucy blankly looked up at him. "Then don't you think it's about time you stopped?"

His shoulder's rolled back stiffly. "Now, blondie, we all have our bad habits. I'm sure you have at least one of your own."

Lucy could see how someone so dashing could also be so irritable. "I'm going up. If you need Gray then call him like a normal person."

"You can't just tell me where near campus he lives? It'd be such a help, sweetie." Loke leaned up against the wall of mailboxes as if just talking had consumed his energy.

"No, sweetie. I can't." Even if Lucy wanted to, she couldn't. This entire time she had never seen or even heard of Gray's home. For all she knew he was homeless or was sleeping at his strip club. Some friends, she thought.

Lucy turned her body to walk past him, and luckily he didn't stop her. She stepped in the elevator, gently nudging the button of her floor with her knuckle. "It was great seeing you, Leo!" She smiled spitefully at him.

"It's Loke-" He argued back, however Lucy saw the mischievous grin that appeared on his face at the realization that she was simply teasing him. It was a nice image to be left off at as the elevator doors closed.

On her way up, Lucy looked through the envelopes. Bills and automatically sent Christmas cards and subscriptions, she figured. And mostly, she was right.

Lucy unlocked her front door and nudged it open with her hip. She couldn't look up; her eyes were glued to the Christmas card - more specifically the familiar return address.

"Lucy! Do you have any boiled eggs?" Someone called from the kitchen.

Lucy almost didn't realize something was off. "No, I-" was all she got out before the realization that someone was in her apartment hit her and she tripped over the shoes lying by the front door. They were Natsu's, of course, she noticed as she tossed her mail down in the bowl with her keys. "You're in my apartment."

"Thanks, Captain Obvious." He snorted as he pushed the refrigerator door closed with his foot; this hands were full. "By the way, why do you put your peanut butter in the fridge? It gets all hard and clumpy."

"Stays fresher longer." She mumbled, kicking off her shoes. "I mean how did you get in here and why?"

Natsu shrugged as he dug a spoon into the container of peanut butter. "Fire escape, your window was open - which is highly dangerous by the way - and because I missed you."

For a moment Lucy just donned a small smile. "Oh." She hummed, before adding a more stern, "Oh. You know even couples are supposed to have boundaries, right?"

Natsu smacked his lips, a sound that made shivers run up Lucy's spine. "You know couples are supposed to be forgiving, right?"

Lucy rushed forward, grabbing his wrist before he had a chance to put the spoon back in the peanut butter. "I'll forgive you as long as you don't double-dip."

"Deal." Natsu's grin widened as he leaned forward and placed a kiss on Lucy's forehead. She wiped it to make sure no food residue was stuck there before going back to her pile of mail.

"Hey, did Loke come talk to you earlier?" Lucy mumbled, her attention focused back on the envelope. She grabbed a kitchen knife to tear open the seam.

"Loke? Hell no." Natsu had now pulled out a handful of lunch meat and a slice of cheese, eating it as a breadless sandwich. "Why, did he talk to you?"

Lucy's attention was far away enough to not yell at him for talking with his mouth full. "Yeah. Downstairs."

Natsu stopped dead in his binge-eating tracks. "Wait, he was here? Like here here?" His voice rose a couple notches.

Blonde hair swayed softly as she nodded her head. "Yeah." Her voice trailed off as she unfolded the paper, her hands grasping the edges harder than she should have been.

She could still hear Natsu's angry ranting, yet it was like white noise in the back of her mind. Her eyes skimmed over the typed letters on the paper, edges crinkling from how hard she held it.

'It is with our most sincere condolences...'

"Lucy."

'By request of Layla Heartfilia, we ask you attend...'

"Lucy~."

'This date of December Twenty-First, memorial will commence at sundown...'

"Natsu, shush!" She screeched, turning her back to him. Why she needed him quiet for her to read, neither of them knew, but Lucy had a difficult time grasping whether of not the letter was real, and somehow maybe the quiet would help.

She could tell Natsu wanted to say something, but didn't know what. Wanted to speak but didn't want to fail her request. Instead, he moved over towards her, his hand resting on her shoulder as he looked down at it with her.

"Layla Heartfilia?" Natsu spoke slowly before realization dawned upon him. "Is that your mom?"

Lucy nodded. "Yeah, well - was." She turned around to face him before tossing the paper his direction. Her body fell heavily against the wall and she let gravity slide her down until she was sitting on the kitchen floor, elbows resting on her knees.

It took a moment for Natsu to catch the paper and look over it. "This is - an invitation?"

The blonde nodded softly as Natsu sat down beside her. "By request of Layla Heartfilia." She recited, her jaw clenched together. "My mom specifically asked for me to be at her funeral."

There really was nothing appropriate that Natsu knew what to say, and Lucy couldn't blame him for it. But, by Mavis, he still tried. "You know she asked because she wanted you there. If she hated you like you thought you did, this wouldn't be here right now." He held up the paper before dropping it, letting it fall between them.

"I know my mom loved me." Lucy swallowed so roughly that Natsu's eyes followed the lump in her throat as she fought back tears. "But she knew she was going to die. She was sick, or something long enough to know that she needed to ask me. Yet she still didn't tell me."

Natsu scooted towards her, his head leaning in to hers. She didn't move in return. "Maybe she knew it'd be too hard. The death of the matriarch isn't exactly the best way to bring together a broken family."

Lucy had to smile just a little at his use of the word matriarch, but it fell as quickly as it came. She turned her head to face his, shiny eyes darting across the points of his face. "If Igneel sent you a letter telling you he knew he was going to die in battle, wouldn't you still want to know?"

It was Natsu's turn to take a deep breath and relive the bad memories. "He was in the military, Luce. I waited for a letter telling me he that was dead every day for years." He wrapped his arm around her shoulders, bringing her closer into his side. "I still got it, but instead of a letter it was Uncle Cana and Lieutenant Weisslogia, which made it pretty embarrassing to cry."

Lucy wished she could mimic Natsu's saddened smile, but she just pressed her lips together and bit them, hoping the pain would distract her watering eyes from the real problem. "I know my mom didn't want me to leave. She didn't think of me the same way my dad did. I just - I just really don't want to go back knowing the only person I had a chance to be myself around is gone."

Natsu was quiet for a moment. "I could go with you."

As comforting as the idea was, someone as strong and bold as Natsu would only make things worse. But she wasn't going to tell him that. "I think if I go, then I have to do it alone. Jude would probably be trying to butt heads with you the entire time anyway."

Lucy was an only child, so the context of Jude made it pretty easy to know it was her dad. Not only that, but just thinking about it seemed to make Natsu fume a little. Maybe it was Layla's death or remembering Igneel, but Natsu just calmly nuzzled his head deeper against hers. "You'd cancel your winter star-gazing trips for this?"

"Astronomy, Natsu, it sounds smarter." She mumbled, to which they both smiled faintly. "There are stars in the countryside. My old room actually had a pretty killer view."

Natsu pressed his lips to the side of her face. "Better than the view here?"

She let his lips linger on her skin for a moment before looking up at him. "Not even close."

Nalu Lemon Novel
Exy Koroleva © 2016
Thank you for reading.
Some triggering scenes
to be included, so please
do not report. Comments
& votes are appreciated.