The new student Lucy is anything but mysterious.

She's friendly, kind, maybe even a little weird, but she wears her heart on her sleeve and is easier than an open book to read. Lucy is all silky blonde hair and warm brown eyes, attentively taking notes in class and participating in class discussions with her intelligence and wit.

She transferred to his university midway through the semester, but immediately got along with everyone and made more friends in a week than Natsu had in a semester. Even though they've never properly spoken to each other, when their eyes meet across the room Lucy gives him a smile—the same one she gives everyone else, really—which makes his face flush and his heart beat faster in his chest.

Okay, so maybe he has a little crush. Just a teeny tiny one, not worth mentioning at all.

"You're a creep."

He looks up from where he's scrolling Lucy's Instagram on his phone to give Gray a glare. "Shut up."

His best friend looks at him like he's utterly pathetic. "You've never even spoken to her, but here you are staring at her Instagram, which you found by stalking your cousin's girlfriend's followers."

"I didn't stalk!" he grumbles, but even to him it sounds meaningless. "And it's not like I told Levy to be friends with Lucy. They were already following each other."

"Just talk to her, coward," a deep voice rumbles. Natsu sees their other friend, Gajeel, plopping down on the seat across from him, two steaming plates of food in his hands. They're sitting at a quiet, secluded courtyard on campus, one that few people frequent because of the newer, cleaner student centre that'd just opened. The courtyard is surrounded by trees and far away from most of the faculty buildings, which made it an unpopular spot to frequent.

"Stop calling me a coward!" Natsu yells, jumping to place on foot on the bench and leaning across the wooden table. "You wanna go?!"

"You're gonna embarrass yourself in front of the girls."

"The… girls?" He freezes, then narrows his eyes. "You didn't."

Gajeel smirks. "But I did."

Natsu turns in the direction Gajeel came from, seeing Levy, Gajeel's girlfriend, walking towards them. She waves brightly at them, wild blue hair flying in the wind, then turns back to continue her conversation with…

He gulps. Lucy.

Natsu slowly removes his foot from the bench, clearing his throat as he settles down in his seat. He stares resolutely at the wooden table in front of him.

"Hey guys!" Levy greets, "Gajeel invited us over for lunch today, hope that's alright?"

Alright? Oh, it was more than alright. Natsu finds his eyes once again drawn to the blonde girl, her wandering eyes landing on his when she catches him staring. His eyes widen and he looks away.

"You don't gotta ask these losers, Lev," Gajeel snorts.

"Be nice," Levy chides him, then looks at her friend. "Lucy, these are Natsu and Gray."

"Hey," Gray nods.

"H—Hi," Natsu manages. Oh god. He's not ready. Someone slides onto the bench, taking the empty space beside him. His eyes travel up to expanse of smooth, toned legs to the denim shorts and tight-fitting t-shirt, all the way up to the blonde hair and amused smile. He swallows.

"Hey, Natsu right? I've seen you in one of my classes."

"Uh, uh, yeah," he stutters. "New Media Communications."

Lucy nods enthusiastically. "If I had known you were Gajeel's friend, I would've said hi to you sooner!"

"Yeah, me—me too," he grins, lying through his teeth. "Had no idea you and Levy were close."

Someone—sounds like Gray—coughs loudly. Natsu shoots him a glare, which Gray parries with a smirk.

"I'm gonna go get a drink," Gray mentions, standing up. "You guys want anything?"

"Oh! I'll come with you," Levy stands up. "I want to see what they have."

Gajeel eyes the two left at the table, then stands as well. He leaves without a word.

"So, do you guys have lunch here often? I never knew anyone hung out at this place," she says, unbothered by the fact that they were alone.

Natsu feels his heart speed up. She's making conversation with him! This is his chance to impress.

"Yeah, well," he laughs lightly, "That's what makes it great."

...Uh what? So lame.

"I like it," she smiles at him, despite his less-than-impressive answer. Her eyes are an even more alluring shade of brown up close. "Very nice and quiet."

He straightens and his grin widens. "Maybe you should come by more often, then."

Her smile drops.

Oh shit. He fucked up.

"Lucy, I—"

"Shh."

Lucy slowly rises from her seat, her hand sliding into her bag. He realises that her attention is no longer focused on him.

"What's wrong?"

And that's when the ground starts shaking.

"Shit, it's an earthquake!" Natsu grabs Lucy's wrist, trying to pull her down under the sturdy wooden table, but she shakes him off. "What are you doing?!"

"It's not an earthquake," Lucy says, voice calm. She pulls out a small pouch from her bag and hooks it on her belt.

"What are you—"

The ground bursts open and a loud screech pierces the air.

An honest-to-god monster shoots out of the ground, its skin sickly shades of pale beige and green veins, hairless body soaring through the air with its wings. When it hovers Natsu can see that its wing is split into three separate parts on either side, its face strangely humanoid but with sharp, yellow teeth.

Blood pounds in his ears. He's so busy staring at that thing that he can't even move.

And in the midst of this, Lucy steps up, unafraid.

The monster stops when it spots Lucy, hovering in the air with a nasty sneer.

"Celestial," the monster hisses.

Lucy narrows her eyes. "Creatures of Tartaros have no place on Earthland," she speaks. Natsu gapes. Lucy knows this thing?

The monster lets out a screech of anger. The shrill sound rattles through his eardrums.

Sheer terror floods through him when the monster attacks, diving straight towards her.

"Lucy!"

"Open, gate of the lion! Leo!"

A glowing gold circle with intricate geometric patterns appears where Lucy is standing, and when it fades there's a man in front of her, mid-motion as he punches the monster in the face. The man's hair is a wild orange mane, his fist glowing gold as it smashes the monster into the ground.

"I was wondering when you'd call me, my dear Lucy," Orange Hair says flirtatiously when he straightens, brushing the dust off his tailor suit.

Lucy rolls her eyes and holds out a hand. Orange Hair takes a whip out of his suit jacket and hands it to her, and she tightens her fist around it.

By this time the monster has recovered, and it flies into the air again, trembling with anger.

"Let's go!" Lucy shouts. She cracks her whip and it explodes to life—a glowing blue with yellow electricity pulsing around it.

Lucy is a superhero.

It's a fact. He watches in stunned silence as both Lucy and Orange Hair charge at the monster, Lucy snapping her whip so it catches around a wing, then tugging it forwards harshly so it slams into Orange Hair's waiting fist. Lucy follows up with her own spin-kick, a similar golden glow enveloping her foot as it collides with the monster's face.

The monster sneers, flying up into the sky. "The lion cannot hope to break my skin with its punches."

"Then I'll just have to tear your skin apart!"

Orange Hair disappears in a burst of light, and in a flash Lucy has a key in her hands. Her glare is determined.

"Open, gate of the Scorpion! Scorpio!"

It's then that Natsu realises these… creatures Lucy's apparently summoning are based on the horoscopes.

When the same circle fades there's a man with a funky red outfit, a huge metal tail—resembling that of a scorpion—protruding from his waistcoat.

"Scorpio! Sand him down!"

The man gets down on all fours, the tail pointing at the monster. Sand shoots out of the tail, trapping the monster in a giant sand vortex.

Lucy jumps, her clothing morphing into a skin-tight fighting suit, with her hair up in a ponytail and her entire back exposed. There's a little scorpion tail protruding from her butt. He barely gets the chance to have a proper look at her outfit before she disappears, diving into the sand tornado with immense speed.

The sand continues to pick up, and soon he has to shield his eyes with his forearm, unable to bear the sandstorm any longer. Through the howling wind he hears more of the wretched screeches of the monster, and the sound of Lucy's whip cracking as it makes contact.

"Scorpio!" he vaguely hears Lucy shout, "more!"

"As you wish!"

The sand is so thick is practically a wall, and there's one decisive crack of Lucy's whip and one final, ear-piercing scream.

The sand disperses and there's silence.

Somehow he finds himself standing, moving out from under the table.

Lucy stands in front of the monster, victorious. There are slashes across its skin, revealing its green blood, and its eyes are closed forever. She turns.

In the calm he can finally see her, the headband across her forehead with the Scorpio sign, armoured plates on her shoulders, forearms, elbows, and legs. Her hands slacken on the whip in her hands.

She looks like a warrior.

"Thanks, Scorpio," she says, raising the key he'd seen her hold earlier. "And take that fury with you, please." She smiles at the scorpion man who returns it with a matching grin and nod. He walks over to the monster and places a foot on it, then they both disappear in a burst of light..

When he looks back at Lucy the strange clothes are gone, and she's back to the t-shirt and jeans she had been wearing.

For a moment they just stare at each other, neither knowing what to say.

"Are you guys okay?!"

They look up to see their friends returning, running towards them with worried expressions.

"We had to take cover when the earthquake began, and then there was that sandstorm?" Levy rambles on, clearly distraught. "What the hell was that?"

Lucy looks at Natsu. She seems a little hesitant and even afraid of what he was going to say. Natsu turns to his friends. "We're, uh, we're fine. We hid under the table when the earthquake started and the sand was too thick to see anything. Honestly, I don't have any idea as to what happened either."

"You sure you guys are okay?" Gajeel asks again, expression serious. "Lucy?"

"I'm fine," she breathes. Natsu and her meet eyes again, and she sends him a grateful smile.

There's a lull in silence as they all survey the damage. That's a hole in the ground from where the monster had burst out from, but the sandstorm Lucy caused filled it enough for it to look like the earth cracked during the quake.

"That was incredibly dangerous…" Levy breathes, her eyes running over the aftermath. "I'm so glad you guys are okay."

Lucy exchanges a glance with Natsu again, and she smiles and shrugs. "I guess we got lucky."

⁑

⁑

"There are… realms in this world," Lucy tells him, when they sit on the couch in her apartment, mugs of hot chocolate in their hands. He's lucky she didn't pretend like nothing had happened, instead offering to provide some explanation for what he had witnessed.

Natsu takes a sip of the hot chocolate, letting the warmth settle in his body. Without it, he's sure he'll be vibrating with excitement. Despite having a million questions in his head, he keeps quiet and lets Lucy speak.

"This realm is known as Earthland. The life forms on this realm, like humans, are born of earth and water, muted and solid." She runs a finger over the rim of her mug. "The fury—uh, that thing that I'd slain, it's a creature of Tartaros, a… region in the Underworld. Creatures of the Underworld are born of wild, raging fire."

His mind almost gets caught up in the sheer awesomeness of the word 'slain', but he has more pressing questions. He leans forward, voice low. "And you?"

Lucy flinches. Her fingers pause where they had been tracing the mug. She looks up at him—at the entirely curious gaze in his eyes. He isn't afraid, she notes, just a childlike wonder and genuine interest in her being. Lucy looks away, focusing on the plain walls of her apartment so she can gather her thoughts.

"I am… a mix. Between a human and a Celestial. My mother was a Celestial."

Natsu nods slowly. He keeps quiet about the past tense and veers to a safer topic. "Yeah, I heard that monster thing call you that. I take it Celestials and 'creatures of Tartaros' are enemies?"

Breathing a laugh, she shrugs. "They're probably not the best of friends…"

"So what are Celestials made of?"

She blinks at him. "Huh?"

"You said humans are earth and water, and the Underworld creatures are fire. So what about Celestials?"

"You know it doesn't actually mean 'made of', right…" she trials off at his blank stare, only to let loose another giggle. "Well, Celestials are beings of light, their Spirits beings of air."

"Spirits?"

"For a long time Celestials thought of Spirits as slaves. Tools, even. But for my mother, Spirits were friends and companions. That's how she taught me." She stands and grabs something from her bag, Natsu recognising the key pouch when she comes nearer. She settles back onto the couch and pulls out a single golden key. He sets down his mug curiously. "Spirits are beings that people born with Celestial power can summon. Different Spirits have different strengths, but most Spirits are fighters."

"Like that scorpion dude? And Orange Hair?"

She giggles again, and nods. "Orange Hair is Leo, thought he prefers the name Loke. He's one of my strongest Spirits. The other Spirit I summoned was Scorpio."

"Huh. I never would've thought the horoscopes were real. I mean, they're supposed to be names of the stars or something, right? And they're supposed to like, tell you your personality?"

"Well," she hums, "astronomy is the study of celestial objects. As for telling your personality… Spirits are immortal. They had their fun with the Ancient Humans, and I guess those stories stuck."

"It was so cool how they came out during the fight!" Natsu exclaims then, bouncing a little in his seat. "Wow, I mean, I felt like I was watching a Pokemon match or something. Just not actual… Pokemon…"

Lucy throws her head back and laughs. It sounds like bells chiming, and Natsu finds it very fitting of a 'Celestial'. "I get what you mean," she says after she's calmed down. "Traditionally Spirits were kinda used like Pokemon, you know? Just to battle while their owners stand by and watch. But that's bullshit to me."

Her tone takes on something fierce, the curse she'd let slip only accentuating her sudden anger. She rubs a thumb over the symbol at the top of the key.

"My Spirits are my friends. And friends fight their battles together."

Natsu can't help the grin that stretches across his face. Lucy is so much more than a pretty face. He's learnt so much about her in the hour they'd spent talking than he'd ever did stalking her on Instagram, and he knows now that her kindness is one of courage and love.

"The fight was amazing, by the way," Natsu tells her. "You were so cool. Like a superhero!"

"I'm no superhero," she shakes her head with a smile.

"Look, you have powers and you just defeated a crazy monster from hell. You saved my life! That totally makes you a hero." He claps his hands together in a dramatic sigh. "My hero!"

Lucy laughs again and shoves at his shoulder. "Don't do that!"

"Why not! Guys can totally swoon over their female heroes too, okay!"

Rolling her eyes, she puts the key back in her pouch. The grin on her face mirrors his as she pets him on the cheek. "Okay, my poor damsel in distress. Only you're not a damsel… Hmm… Bachelor in a bind?"

Natsu gives her a weird look as she falls into another fit of giggles, apparently amused at her own joke. "That was lame, even for you," he comments, but even that doesn't quell her amusement. He taps her shoulder repeatedly. "Hey, Lucy. Lucy, focus. Can you summon a Spirit?"

She draws in a breath to stop her laughter. "Right now?"

He nods excitedly.

"I suppose I could summon a non-combat one…" she pulls out a key from her pouch, silver in colour this time, and holds it out in front of her. "Open, gate of the Canis Minor, Nikora!"

A similar gold circle diagram appears, only this time much smaller. Natsu has to lean all the way in to look at the tiny thing that appeared. It looks like a mini snowman, only it has hands and legs and is shaking uncontrollably.

"You're so tiny!" Natsu exclaims. He glances sideways at Lucy. "Why is it shaking so much?!"

"It's because you're scaring him." He watches Lucy calmly pick up the little snowman, holding it in her lap. It stops shaking once it's in her embrace. "Hello, Plue!" she gushes, "how are you doing today?"

"Puu-puun!" Plue cries, hugging his owner and rubbing the side of his face against her stomach. Honestly, Natsu is low-key a little jealous.

"He kinda reminds me of Happy, my cat."

"I guess Plue pretty much fits the human notion of a pet… Although to me he's more of a little companion. My tiny friend."

Plue seems to agree, as he stands and dances a little on her lap.

"Can I touch him?" he asks, once again leaning his face closer to the strange creature. Plue starts shaking immediately.

Lucy shrugs. "You'll have to ask him."

"Hi little guy!" he grins, trying to appear as friendly as possible. "I'm Natsu. You don't have to be scared of me! Come on, gimme a hi-five?"

Plue looks at Natsu's raised hand, then back at Lucy, who smiles encouragingly. Shyly, Plue raises his own small hand and touches it with Natsu's.

"Yes!" Natsu cheers triumphantly. "Nice to meet you, Plue!"

"Puu-puun!"

"You're taking all this a lot better than I would've expected," Lucy comments, a wry smile on her face. "Most people would be busy freaking out about how their understanding of the world has just been tipped over."

Natsu leans back into the couch, pondering Lucy's words. "I guess I've always believed in the supernatural… I mean, even up till middle school I believed that dragons were re—" he suddenly jerks upright, causing Plue to let out a distressed noise. Eyes wide, he stares into Lucy's brown orbs. "Dragons. Are they real?"

The surprise on her face melts into a sly smirk, and Natsu can feel his heart beating faster in his chest. "Yes."

"I knew it!" he screeches, jumping up and pumping a fist in the air. "Yes! Ha! In your face to all those dumbfucks that doubted me!" He whirls his head to look at the Celestial human again, noting the way her eyes sparkle as she looks at him. "Where are they? Can you summon one? Please?"

"I can't just summon a dragon! Dragons are very powerful and very, very proud creatures. No way they'll even look at humans like us as anything other than food. Besides, dragons belong to their own realm. A realm that I don't have access to, before you ask. You can't just visit a dragon. They have to invite you."

"Well, then… get invited!"

"It's not that easy," Lucy rolls her eyes. "No one I know knows how to even get in touch with a dragon. They've isolated themselves to their own realm. It's been thousands of years since dragons have even set foot in Earthland. Or the Celestial World, for that matter."

Natsu slumps in defeat, coming to terms with the fact that he would never meet a real dragon. Well, at least the knowledge that they're real is comfort enough.

"Frankly, I'm a little insulted. You literally have a mage in front of you and the thing that gets you going is dragons?"

"A mage?"

An embarrassed flush tints her cheek. "It's just, uh, what I call myself. I mean. I'm not fully Celestial, nor fully human, so… a mage is more appropriate. A human who can use magic because of the Celestial blood in my veins."

"I like it," he grins. "It's a cool name."

She smiles back slowly. "Thanks."

"And it's not that I'm more excited about the dragons," Natsu continues. "I just didn't know if it'd be rude to ask you personal questions."

Lucy can't help the way the corners of her lips curl. "That's very considerate of you, Natsu. Well, I'm giving you permission. Ask away."

"Okay," he stretches his arms and places his hands behind his head. A picture of nonchalance to hide the reality that suddenly crashed down upon him. This was an opportunity to get to know his crush. His crush, who happens to be a fucking superhero. "What's your favourite colour?"

"...what?"

"Your favourite colour. 'S not that hard."

"It's um, blue."

"Cool. Mine's red."

"Really? I would've pegged you more for a pink kinda guy," she teases, eyeing the spiky hair on his head. "How many times did you have to bleach for that colour?"

"Ugh, my hair is natural! You practically live in a fantasy world and you don't believe in natural salmon hair?!"

Lucy smirks and shrugs. "Your brows are a dark brown, so how was I supposed to know?"

He huffs. "My brows are dyed."

For a moment she just stares, then she bursts into uncontrollable laughter.

"Yeah, yeah, laugh away."

"You—your pink hair is natural, but your brown eyebrows are dyed?!"

"It was Gray, okay! He dyed it when I was sleeping!" he grumbles. It just makes her laugh harder, his pout deepens. He leans his face closer to her. "Is your hair natural?"

"Of course! Blonde is a perfectly common colour."

"Whatever, you're just jealous because you can't have special hair like me."

She chuckles, slightly awed by the fact that they were already getting along like old friends, despite having properly met for the first time today. But… "Why aren't you asking me more questions about my non-human life?"

"You've told me quite a lot about it already," Natsu says, "and you can always tell me more later." He sits up straighter. "I wanna get to know human-Lucy."

Her eyes widen at that. A warm feeling blossoms in her stomach at the thought that he would value her Celestial and human side equally. Humans, with their ignorance, had always been regarded as inferior.

The tips of Natsu's ears burn in his favourite colour, and Lucy realises he must be embarrassed.

She smiles her brightest smile that day. "Only if you tell me about human-Natsu too."

A/N: Here I am, starting a new story... Oops? I've read so many fics about Lucy being human and Natsu being a dragon/demon that finds her and saves her... But I wanted to do something opposite instead! We need more badass Lucy in our lives! Let me know how you felt about this! :) Thanks for reading.