I've returned! Please enjoy the following!
" Mama? Mama? Mama!" Kari called out.
"Hmm, oh sorry sweetie, what's wrong?" Lucy responded, shaken from her daze.
The two were walking hand in hand down the street on the way to the guild.
"You keep humming and smiling all funny. Are you ok?" The child asked.
Lucy let out a giggle. "Not to worry, mama's just happy is all."
In all truth, Lucy was ecstatic. It was July 27, exactly 6 days until her husband's return and exactly 7 days until their first wedding anniversary. He had promised her that he would be back from his 3 week long mission on time for their special day and she couldn't wait to see him. The fact that all the child care wouldn't be left to her anymore was just the icing on the cake.
Lucy once again broke from her daydreaming as she walked by a store window.
"A dress shop, huh? Wanna go look at some dresses, Kari?"
Kari nodded enthusiastically. Lucy, losing all track of time digging through dresses of all colour, shape and style, narrowed her choices down to 2. She held the two in front of her, one in each hand.
"Okay, it all comes down to this. This one decision could make or break the whole operation. The choice is yours... Do I go with the satin, turquoise, knee length dress with the sweetheart neckline and beaded bodice, OR do I get the spaghetti strap, ruby red, knee length chiffon dress that looks like glowing flames at the bottom when I spin?"
"Fire dress! Fire dress!" Kari exclaimed her answer without skipping a beat.
Lucy laughed. "I knew you would say that. I love it too! And daddy's gonna love it!"
Lucy paid for the dress and continued on her way to the Fairy Tail guild with a spring in her step.
"Daddy promised to send a lacrima message into the guild, and it should be here by today. It'll be nice to hear from him."
"Yay! Let's hurry up, mama!" Kari released her mother's hand and ran full speed ahead in the direction of the guild. Lucy stopped for a moment and smiled before she ran off after her.
At The Guild
When they reached the doors, Lucy picked up Kari and lightly shoved open the door to enter. She headed straight for the bar to talk with the resident barmaid.
"Good morning, Mira!" Lucy said cheerily while taking a seat at a bar stool and resting Kari in her lap.
"Oh, hello Lucy." Mira responded weakly with a sad smile.
With all her excitement, Lucy didn't notice. "Did any messages come in for me?"
"Well yes. But, I got a message too, from Erza..."
"Uh, ok. What was it about?" Lucy asked, starting to pick up on Mira's mood.
"Well, it was about Natsu, and the mission."
"You're starting to worry me now, Mira. Did something happen to him? Did he get hurt?"
"No! Not at all! He's fine but, well... You see, Lucy... A problem arose during the mission and they ended up losing their target. To retrace him will probably take at least another week, and then it'll take about a week for them to get home. It seems that Natsu isn't going to be back on time."
"2 weeks!" Lucy exclaimed. She dropped her head on the counter in disappointment while making incoherent whining noises, barely keeping herself from squishing the child in her lap
"Aunty Mira, Daddy's not gonna be home next week?" Kari asked sadly.
"No sweetie, he isn't. But don't worry, he'll be home before you know it and then you can spend lots of time with him! Does that sound good?"
"Yeah, ok." Kari agreed.
"Good, now why don't you go play while I talk to your mama."
"Ok Aunty." Kari gave her mom a quick hug before leaping off her lap and running off to go play.
Mira smiled while watching the little girl go before turning her attention back to Lucy.
"Come on, Lucy. Kari got over it pretty quickly." She said with a slight giggle.
"That's because Sunday is just another day to Kari." Lucy mumbled in response.
"Come on Lucy, raise your head up and talk to me."
Lucy let out an exasperated sigh before raising her head from the counter and turning to face Mira. Her eyes were wet with tears that had yet to fall.
"It's our anniversary, Mira. Our first wedding anniversary and he's not even going to be with me! I think I have the right to be depressed."
"I'm not saying you don't. I'm just saying not to beat yourself up too much over it. You know he would be here if he could be."
"I know, I know. I'm just disappointed. Call me over-attached but I really miss him. Even when we were just friends I would miss him pretty badly when he was gone for long. I was an emotional wreck when I thought he would be going on that S-class mission for a year. And now he's gonna be gone for another 2 weeks and miss our anniversary."
Lucy let her head droop to stare at the floor. When her eyes made contact with her shopping bag, she gave it a rough kick.
"I even bought a dress. It's really nice too..."
"Aww, well, you can still wear it."
"How?"
"How about this? On Sunday, I'll watch Kari like I promised and you can dress up and do whatever you want for the day. Have a whole day to yourself!"
"I don't know. Maybe. But thanks for trying to make me feel better Mira."
"Anything for a friend. And if I wasn't able to make you feel better, maybe this will."
Mira handed her a fat envelope and patted her on the shoulder before returning to her barmaid duties.
Lucy opened up the envelope and pulled out a shiny little crystal-like lacrima. She tapped it and watched as it began to glow and play it recorded contents.
"Hey Luce!
I hope everything is fine at home. I'm doing okay and the mission was going great until are damn target got away. It wasn't my fault though! It was the stupid ice prick! Because of that we need to stay a little longer. I know it's our anniversary next week and I'm sorry! Please don't kill me! I really wanted to be back on time! I miss you and Kari a lot. I hope you're not too mad at me. I'll make it up to you, I swear. Erza and the Popsicle say hi. Love you! See ya soon!"
Lucy genuinely smiled as the message finished and Natsu's voice faded away.
"Natsu..." She whispered to herself. She got up from her seat and started for the door.
"I'm just going to get some fresh air. Tell Kari I'll be back soon if she asks." She said.
Mira nodded in acknowledgement and sighed as she watched Lucy slip out through the guild doors.
"Natsu, I hope you know what you're doing."
7 Days Later
"I hate this." Lucy grumbled into her pillow. She was lying in her bed alone and bored out of her mind. As promised, Mira had taken Kari in the morning, truly leaving her all alone with nothing to do all afternoon. She rolled over and stared longingly at the picture of her and Natsu on their wedding that was framed at their bedside table.
"Why'd you have to go on the stupid mission anyway?" she whined, shoving her face back into the pillow. She tried her best to compose herself before shedding any tears.
"You know, I shouldn't be doing this. I don't need Natsu here to go and enjoy my day. I'm gonna do what
Mira said. I'll get all dressed up, feel good about myself and forget about Natsu for now." She said through sniffles.
"Yeah, and I know just what to wear." Her eyes drifted toward the shopping bag still lying at her bed side.
About an hour later, Lucy was all dressed up and made up for a night on the town. She was dressed in her red dress with a pair of black heals. She summoned Cancer out to do her hair and left it down to fully display her new bouncy curls. She added a red and orange gem necklace to finish it all off. She smiled as she admired herself in the mirror, giving a little twirl to see the dress flutter like flames once more.
"Perfect! I look too sexy in this! I might not have anywhere to go but at least I look hot! This was actually fun. Who needs Natsu anyway? He's missing out on all of this!" Lucy laughed.
"Happy anniversary, Natsu."
"Happy anniversary, Luce!"
Lucy froze at the sound of another voice. She slowly turned around, eyes wide and mouth agape to see the figure standing on the other side of the room.
"N-Natsu?"
"You should really keep the window locked while I'm gone, Luce." He said with a chuckle.
"Natsu!" Lucy lunged herself in his direction, wrapping her arms around him in a big hug.
"Natsu, you idiot! What's wrong with you?! Why would you do that to me?!" She yelled even though her words carried no true spite.
"I wanted to surprise you."
"I thought you were really gonna leave me alone on our anniversary!" She said, now trying to hold back happy tears so she wouldn't smudge her makeup.
"What kind of jerk do you think I am? I wouldn't really leave you all alone today."
Lucy looked up and smiled at him before kissing him full on. When they separated, Natsu stepped back.
"So I have a surprise for you so let's hurry up and get out of here!"
Before Lucy could even register his words, she was being dragged out of the room, out of their house and into the forest.
"How did you even?!" A shock stricken Lucy couldn't even finish her sentence.
"You like it?"
"I love it! Natsu, this is beautiful!"
In front of them was a small hill with a single tree. On the branches hung little glowing lanterns, aiding the stars in lighting the area. A blanket lay next to the base of the tree with a picnic blanket lying on it. It was a perfect location for stargazing on such a beautiful clear night.
"Well I can't take all the credit. Mira pretty much told me what to do."
Lucy laughed to herself.
"Of course Mira was in on it. That girl is always setting me up for something. But this time it's fine."
"I chose the spot though. I know you like the stars so I thought this would be a good place to see them."
"This is absolutely perfect! Thank you Natsu! I love you so much!"
Natsu grinned at her enthusiasm.
"Love you too, Luce!" Now let's get up there. I'm hungry!"
The two ate and talked and laughed while stargazing.
"You don't seem like the romantic type but then you go and do stuff like this. It's really sweet of you."
"Yeah but just don't go blabbing this around the guild."
Lucy laughed and snuggled to Natsu, feeling his body heat warm her up.
"Look, a shooting star!"
Lucy pointed up at the sky before closing her eyes and crossing her fingers to make a wish. A few seconds later she opened her eyes and looked up at the sky again with a smile.
"What did you wish for?" Natsu asked.
"That we can have more times like this to just be together. What about you?"
"Ah, I didn't make a wish. I don't believe in that kind of stuff. If I want something to happen I gotta make it happen myself. Plus, I already have everything I need right here."
He wrapped his arm around Lucy and she smiled even brighter.
"Well, not everything. I haven't seen my little girl in a month! But that can wait until tomorrow. Tonight is about you."
He leaned down and gave Lucy a light kiss.
"I can't say it enough! I love you, Natsu! I love you so much!"
Natsu laughed again at her affectionate words.
"I love you too."
The two shared another much longer kiss in the moonlight, unaware of the unwanted guests watching from a far.
"And checkmate! This is perfect! I don't know how I do it!" Mira yell/whispered from behind a nearby tree, a passionate glint in her eyes.
"Ewwie! Aunty Mira, this is gross!" Kari whined, shielding her eyes from her parent's not so public displays of affection.
"Hush, child. Someday you'll understand the utter perfection of this moment!" Mira continued to giggle hysterically to herself.
Kari sighed.
"Adults are so weird. But mama and daddy are happy. That's what's good."
Hope you all enjoyed this installment! Please Review and look out for the next chapter!