"Natsu, wait up!" Lucy called out. She ran after him.

"Man, why did we agree to go on this date again?" Natsu asked.

"It's Sting and Yukino's first date, so the nice thing to do was to go on a double date with them," Lucy said.

"But why didn't Rogue and that Minerva chick go with them?"

"They specifically wanted us," Lucy told him. "Now come on."

As they wove in and out of the crowd, Lucy began looking for Sting and Yukino. She knew that they'd probably have Lector with them; they had Happy with them so it was just someone for the Exceed to talk to. But it was also someone that would pile on the teasing.

"Lucy!" someone called out. She turned to see Yukino waving at her. Sting was behind her, scratching his head.

"Yukino! How have you been?" she asked.

"I've been great! How have you been?"

"Amazing."

As the two celestial wizards caught up, Sting walked over to Natsu. "Thanks for coming, man."

"No problem."

"Did Lucy drag you out here or did you come of your own will?" Sting asked.

Natsu clenched his fist. "That's none of your business!"

Sting smirked. "Thanks for coming, anyways. I've been really nervous about today."

Natsu walked with him as they followed Lucy and Yukino through the town. He caught snippets of their conversation. "You two better not be talking about us!"

"Geez I didn't know you were so sensitive," Sting mocked.

"Meh."

"Sting wait up!" Lector called out, running to catch up. "You and Yukino left me behind!"

"Sorry, bud. Yukino was excited to see Lucy," Sting told him.

Lector looked over and waved at Natsu. "Hey Natsu, where's Happy at? At least he and I can talk about stuff, ya know?"

Natsu pointed at Lucy, who was carrying Happy. "He's with Lucy. Don't ask why she's carrying him."

"Okay. I'm off," Lector said. He flew up to Happy, who jumped out of Lucy's arms and greeted him.

"This is such a pain," Sting said.

"We promised them, though. But hey, at least we're making them happy."

"Natsu! Hurry up!" Lucy called out to him. "We're going to leave you two behind if you guys don't catch up!"

Natsu and Sting jogged to catch up with them. A breeze came through and blew the smells of fried food their way. Natsu's stomach growled.

"Sorry," he said embarrassedly. "I've been trying to hide it but I guess the smell of food was too good for me to pass up."

"Why don't we get us something to eat?" Yukino suggested.

"That sounds great!" Lucy said.

They headed over to a small restaurant. As Lucy and Yukino went inside to get their seats, Natsu and Sting hung around outside. Happy and Lector came walking up to them.

"And where did you two go running off to?" Sting asked.

"We went and checked out the town," Lector said.

"And we got some fish," Happy said.

"Hey guys, we're sitting outside," Lucy said. "Come on!"

Natsu and Sting followed her to a table, where Yukino was waiting. She gave a big smile as she waved at them. Sting blushed as he sat down next to her. He looked across from him at Natsu, who had a small blush spreading across his cheeks as well. Natsu looked over at Lucy and smiled. "So, Lucy, are you having a good time?"

"Yeah!" she said cheerfully.

"That's great!"

Sting looked over at Yukino. "Are you enjoying yourself Yukino?"

Yukino blushed, and smiled. "Yes, I am."

"Good. I'm glad you are."

"Is this our food?" Natsu asked.

Lucy looked down at the table. She saw that the table was laden with chicken, pasta, and drinks. There were six plates, one for each of them. She began handing them out to everyone.

"This looks good!" Yukino said.

"There's even fish!" Happy said. He grabbed a fish and began eating it.

"Can't you at least put it on your plate?" Lucy asked him.

"It was on my plate! Now it's in my mouth!" Happy said.

As they all ate, Sting couldn't help but steal small glances over at Yukino. She caught him looking and blushed.

"If everyone's done, maybe we should go for a walk," Lucy suggested.

"That sounds great!" Yukino said.

As they stood up from their table, Natsu leaned in to Sting and whispered, "Nice job with Yukino. Subtle way of letting her know you like her."

"Yeah, and I don't see you doing anything to let Lucy know you like her," Sting retorted.

"I do things all the time," Natsu said.

"Oh yeah? Like what?"

"Poor Natsu can't even get the girl," Lector said.

"Well, it is Lucy. She's not exactly the image of style and grace," Happy said.

"I can hear you!" Lucy yelled. "Anyways, are you guys ready to go?"

"Yeah, sure. Let's go!" Natsu said.

As they walked toward a nearby park, Lucy noticed that Yukino and Sting were holding hands. Their faces were tinged pink from nervousness. Lucy smiled softly and looked over at Natsu. Maybe I should hold his hand.

Yukino leaned in and whispered to Sting, "We should give them a chance to be alone."

"Yeah, you're right," he whispered back. "Oh crap," Sting said loudly. "I have to be back at the guild in like ten minutes! Yukino, you want to come back with me?"

"Yeah, sure," she said. "Lucy, I'll see you later, okay?"

"Okay."

"Man. And I wanted to see this park too," Lector said.

"Maybe next time, bud. Come on," Sting said.

As Lucy watched them them leave, she noticed Sting had reached out for Yukino's hand again. She watched as he gave her a small peck on the cheek. Lucy turned away and focused her attention on Natsu.

"We're still going for that walk in the park, right?" Natsu asked her.

"Sure," she told him.

As the sun began to set, they headed down the street toward the park. Natsu and Lucy watched as the orange sky became painted with pink hues. They walked inside and sat down together on a park bench and began talking.

"It sucks that Sting and Yukino had to leave so soon," Natsu said.

"Yeah. Maybe we'll get to see them again later," Lucy said quietly.

"Don't worry, I know we will. We'll probably need their help." Natsu leaned back against the bench.

"Stop pushing me!" Sting whispered, peeking out of the top of a nearby bush.

"Was it really necessary to follow them back here?" Yukino asked him.

"Yeah."

"This feels wrong, though. Like we're invading their personal space."

"You're interested too, though, right?" Sting asked her.

Yukino didn't answer him. She looked out at Natsu and Lucy. "Yeah, I am."

Natsu looked over at Lucy, and down at her hand. He covered it with his own and laced his fingers with hers. She looked down at his hand and blushed.

"I'm not the best at showing my feelings," Natsu told her. "But I'd like to start."

Lucy smiled. "Okay."

Natsu grinned. He turned to face Lucy. "Are you ready to leave?"

"Yeah."

They stood up and began to leave. Natsu held onto Lucy's hand. "Hey Lucy?"

"Yeah?"

"Stay by my side, okay?"

She nodded. "Okay."

He leaned down and kissed her on her forehead. Lucy closed her eyes and smiled.

Sting grinned. I knew you could do it!

You finally got him, Yukino thought.

Sting turned to look at Yukino. "See? I told you we could get them together if we asked them to double date with us."