Title: Pyrotechnics

(or: Natsu's Fabulous Fireworks!)

Summary: Fireworks don't agree with Natsu.

Characters: Lucy, Natsu, Happy, Archibald

A/N: Alright, so here's a bit of Fourth of July Festivity for you all, Fairy Tail style. I tried to keep Lucy in character, though I'm not sure how it turned out. :/ There's a bit of NaLu if you turn your head sideways, squint, and read backwards. Seriously.

Um. Yeah. Happy Independence Day!

~Song

Fiery explosions splashed across the dark skies above Magnolia like paint on a canvas. Lucy Heartfilia leaned out the window of her apartment, eyes shining. Flashes of light and color were reflected in the dark depths.

Each rocket brought forth delighted laughter from the spirit mage. Magnolia was well-known for its fireworks display—the mages who prepared and directed it guarded their secret techniques jealously.

Natsu Dragneel, her loud-mouthed team-mate, clapped a hand to her shoulder. His brow furrowed in perplexion, curving his mouth down into a frown.

"Lucy, why do your panties have stars on them?" He obviously felt he needed to compete with the loud booming to be heard, because his voice was (impossibly) even louder than usual. The result being that the entire block now knew she wore star-patterned underwear, and a temporary inability to hear out of her left ear.

Jerking back from the window with a piercing scream, Lucy collided with something very hard and very warm. The dragonslayer's arms wrapped around her instinctively, steadying her. The feel of his body against hers only distracted Lucy from her anger momentarily.

"NATSU!" She screeched. The pink-haired mage released her from his hold as if she were poisonous, backing away quickly. The abrupt movement upset Lucy's balance once again, and she toppled to the floor in an ungainly heap. "WHY WERE YOU LOOKING AT MY UNDERWEAR?"

Natsu floundered for a response, clearly terrified. "They—they were showing!"

Lucy's face is slowly turning purple.

Natsu is impressed by this ("Woah! Can you teach me that weird trick, Lucy?"), and, forgetting his terror, he glances around, looking for Happy.

The blue exceed is in the living room. His eyes are glued to a round fishbowl sitting on the only unfilled bookshelf in the entire apartment.

"Happy! Come look at Lucy's face, it's—"

"FISH!" Happy's cry cuts off Natsu's exclamation. He reaches out and picks up the fish bowl, holding it close like a treasured gift. Lifting his eyes from the mesmerizing goldfish swimming lazily within, he fixes them on Lucy. "Lucy, is this a present for me?" He asks tremulously. His wide eyes threaten tears of happiness.

"No, Happy, that's—" Lucy attempts to explain the idea of a pet fish to the exceed, but she is interrupted by Natsu's loud shout. The easily-distracted dragonslayer is leaning out the window, mimicking her own pose just minutes before.

"Happy, forget the fish! FIREWORKS!"

The fishbowl clatters to the floor, spilling its contents (fish and all) across the wooden flooring as Happy disappears in a streak of blue and white.

Screaming yet again, the blonde scrambles towards the fallen fishbowl, slipping in the spilled water. Scooping up poor Archibald, she dashes to kitchen, plugs the sink, twists on the water, and tosses the goldfish into the makeshift container. Only when Archibald is safely submerged in several inches of water does she notice that Natsu and Happy have left.

After her heart has slowed to a normal pace, she tiredly trudges back to the living room, bath towel in hand.

By the time she has finished cleaning up the mess and returned Archibald to his bowl, the fireworks display has ended. Disappointment crumples her features as she falls into bed, exhausted. Why does that idiot always ruin things for her?

She is on the verge of sleep, dreams already playing at the edge of her consciousness, when Natsu returns. She is roused from her half-sleep by the sound of a body collapsing onto her floor.

Startled, she sits up, squinting through the darkness towards the window. A dark form is heaped on the floor just inside the open window. A weak groan reaches her ears. Despite her irritation, she is mildly concerned.

"Natsu?" Rolling out of bed, she shakes off the last clinging tendrils of sleep.

Another groan.

"Natsu?" She repeats. She lays a hand on him cautiously (she can't really see much in the dark, and doesn't know where she might be touching). His skin is hot to the touch (well, more so than usual, anyway). "What happened to you?"

She is slightly alarmed—he keeps groaning, and his skin is sticky with sweat. Wasn't he supposed to be indestructible or something?

"Fireworks don't agree with me." His words come out rough and garbled, almost unintelligible. There is a moment of silence as she deciphers his words, then another as she catches the meaning.

And then all hell breaks loose.

Lucy is half-screaming half-crying, hands fisted in whatever she can find to grab onto (one is buried in his pink locks, the other pulling at his vest) as she shakes him roughly. Exhaustion, hormones, frustration, and disappointment have reduced her to this emotional wreck.

"—and Archibald almost DIED—"

Natsu is taken aback by the sudden outburst (who the HELL is Archibald?). Lucy has stopped shaking him, and the screams have turned predominantly to dry, tired sobs. Her face implants itself against his chest, and he can feel the wetness on her cheeks from her previous tears.

"Lucy, wha—?" He coughs, still a bit unsteady himself.

"—looking forward to those fireworks all YEAR—"

At the mention of fireworks, Natsu feels a niggling guilt nestle into his stomach (or is that just further disagreement between dragonslayer and firework?). He grabs Lucy's shoulders, and she stops talking mid-sentence, staring at him. Tears glint at the corners of her eyes.

"My fireworks are way better than those amateurs," he scoffs, though the remnant of a tremble in his voice ruins the delivery. "Stay here."

The dragonslayer clambers out the window and out of Lucy's line of sight. She stands, moving to look out the window.

Natsu is standing on the street below, hands on his hips, stance wide. He grins back up at her, every inch the cock-sure fire mage she has come to love despite herself. Tilting his head up, he inhales deeply, then shouts some flashy technique name at the top of his lungs. A ball of multi-colored fire erupts from his opened mouth.

At the end of the display, Lucy grudgingly admits to herself that his 'fireworks' were more impressive.

He grins up at her, and she can't help smiling back. Then he topples over onto his hands and knees, dry heaving, and she wonders if he'll think twice about devouring the city's fireworks display next time. This being Natsu, probably not.

Please review for Archibald's sake!

Also! For those of you who favorite this story without reviewing...I know who you are! o.O And hey...seems to me like a story good enough to be favorited should earn a review as well, doncha think? K. I'm shutting up now.