Hello, boys and girls. I'd like to tell a story.
Today begins NaLu week so to celebrate, here are seven stories of NaLu Love. Enjoy.
Seven Stories of NaLu Love
Lucy's Birthday
[Birth]
A woman's struggle was echoing throughout the delivery room. Layla Heartfilia was about to give birth to her child. Doctors were guiding her, watching her vitals and checking on the baby as it was being born. Her husband, Jude, was with her, holding her hand throughout her ordeal. From the time her water broke until now, it has been almost eighteen hours and still no baby. But they were getting close. She could feel it.
"Okay, Heartfilia-san." The doctor attending her said. "Keep pushing. I can see the head."
Layla grunted, groaned and screamed as she pushed. The pain was immense, like nothing she had ever felt with her.
"You're almost there, Layla." Jude comforted. "Think about holding your baby in your arms for the first time and use that as an aide to get through this."
Layla, annoyed that Jude had the audacity of saying that when she was the one going through the pain, ignored him and focused on pushing. She could hear the wails of her little baby as she did.
"You're halfway done, Hearfilia-san." The doctor told her. "One more push and you'll be holding your child."
With a mighty effort, Layla pushed. Then, all of a sudden, instead of pain, she felt a great relief because it was over.
"Congratulations, Heartfilia-san." The doctor said. "It's a girl, a healthy baby girl. Give us a moment to clean her up and you'll be holding her in no time."
The doctors went about cleaning the afterbirth from the baby, weighing her, measuring her and swaddling her. Afterwards, they handed her to Layla and exited the room to give them a moment of privacy.
Layla cried tears of joy as she held her daughter. All of that pain, everything she endured during the birth was quickly forgotten as soon as the baby was in her mother's arms. Jude looked with a happy smile. His daughter was finally born. There were no words to describe how he felt. His daughter, his beautiful daughter...
"Happy birthday, Lucy." Layla whispered to her daughter. "Happy birthday, my dear Lucy."
Baby Lucy fell asleep, surrounded by her loving mother and father.
[Age 1]
Happy birthday to you.
Happy birthday to you.
Happy birthday, dear Lucy
Happy birthday to you
Baby Lucy had no idea what was going on. Her parents were singing Happy Birthday. She was wearing a party hat that she kept trying to take off her head. There was a small cake in front of her with a single candle on it and a present next to it. Jude was taking pictures of Lucy in front of the cake while Layla blew out the candle for her.
Jude had wanted to throw a more extravagant party for his daughter but his new business was eating up a lot of their finances. So this was all they could afford. Still Lucy was healthy and growing by leaps and bounds. She really completed the family. He really couldn't ask for more, could he?
"Mama, Papa." Lucy said in her cute one year old voice. "Wan 'ake"
Layla smiled and took a fork to the cake, cutting it into a toddler size portion. She started feeding Lucy her birthday cake.
Lucy was surrounded by her loving mother and father on her first birthday.
[Age 5]
"Happy birthday, Lucy." Her mother smiled as she led her daughter into the dining room.
Lucy was in awe of how it was decorated. There were streamers and balloons everywhere. Many of the servants were holding wrapped gifts to give her on her birthday.
And the cake, the cake stole the show. It was a huge sheet with her face on it.
There were many children from respectable circle who had attended her birthday. Her father was using her birthday as a way to meet prospective clients. But Lucy didn't care. Her mother was there, holding her hand and leading her to the table so that she could blow out the candles for her cake.
As they all sang Happy Birthday, Lucy couldn't help but feel like the luckiest girl in the world. She blew out the five candles and made her wish.
Lucy was with her loving mother on her fifth birthday.
[Age 9]
It had been a hard couple of months. Lucy's mother passed away. Her father retreated into his work, leaving the young blonde girl by herself. Sure, she was surrounded by the staff who cared for her but it just wasn't the same as her family
She decided to spend some time with her father. With some help from the kitchen staff, Lucy made a rice ball to give to her father. With the courage of a nine year, Lucy entered the large study.
Her father was writing some sort of paper when she entered. "Papa, I made a rice ball for you." She said with a smile.
Her father paid no attention to Lucy. The little girl cleared her throat to get Jude's attention.
"I'm working. Go away." Jude said to his daughter in an indifferent voice.
Lucy hung her head and frown. With a quiet 'yes', she walked towards the door. She turned around and tried to get her father's attention again.
"DIDN'T I TELL YOU YOU'RE BOTHERING ME, LUCY." Her father yelled at her, shocking the poor girl and reducing her to tears.. "Cooking will be done by our chefs. If you have time for something like that, go do your studies. Now get out." He roared while pointing at the door.
Lucy ran towards the door, opened it and closed it behind her. She dropped the rice ball. It rolled away from her, forgotten in her sorrow. She slumped up against the door and started crying. "Today is my birthday." She sobbed.
Lucy spent her ninth birthday crying.
[Age 13]
The Heartfilia house servants spared no effort to make Lucy's birthday the best one ever. The mansion was decorated. Entertainment was hired. The food was exquisite. Basically, it was everything a thirteen year old with near unlimited resources could ever want.
But it didn't matter to Lucy. What she wanted, she couldn't have. Her mother was gone. Her father was in another city hammering out a partnership with the mayor to get his company to have exclusive rights to building a railroad hub. He didn't even explain or send a card or anything. He just left as if he had more important things to do than spend time with his daughter.
When the servants finally brought out the cake, Lucy couldn't help but feel depressed. Even though she was surrounded by people, the blonde felt all alone.
Happy Birthday to me
Happy Birthday to me
Happy Birthday dear Lucy
I am so alone.
A tear fell along the contours of her cheeks.
Lucy felt all alone on her thirteen birthday
[Age 16]
Lucy's sixteenth birthday was a grand affair. This would be her debutante ball, where she will be introduced as a eligible young woman. And what a woman she had become. She had an enviable figure and was heir to the Heartfilia fortune. People of elite circles would be attending her birthday with their marriageable sons, hoping to be picked to be married to Lucy.
The blonde kept her face neutral as the boys devoured her with their eyes. Little did they know that she had plans of her own. Pretty soon, she would be leaving home and going on a journey to discover herself. She was going to follow her heart, just like her mother did before her.
So let the boys rake their eyes over her body. Let their fathers schmooze up to her father trying to make themselves more favorable in his eyes. Let her own father think that she is still under his thumb. Boy, were they going to be surprised when they find out she's gone.
Lucy spent her sixteenth birthday scheming her escape.
[Age 17]
Lucy was on the road with her mother's Stellar Spirits. She was finally living the life of an adventurer just like her mother did before she got married. This was everything she ever wanted from life.
And yet, as she thought while she was resting at an inn, the Stellar Spirit mage found herself purposeless and directionless. Even though she got the freedom to do whatever she wanted, Lucy wanted something more from life. Maybe she should join a guild. But which guild? There's so many to choose from.
After combing through the latest Sorcerer's Weekly magazine, Lucy decided to spend the rest of her birthday in quiet contemplation. After a quick prayer to her mother, Lucy went to sleep.
Lucy spent her seventeenth birthday confused as to what she wanted to do. Little did she know that purpose was going to find her in the guise of one Natsu Dragneel not even a week later.
[Age 18]
It was weird. Today is Lucy's birthday. Technically she should be 25 but she, and many others, had lost seven years due to the events of Tenrou Island. She is actually 18 years old and has spent more than a year and a half in Fairy Tail. (There's some of the complexities of dealing with lost time.) And it was the best. Lucy never would have thought that she would ever fit in with this guild but boy was she wrong.
Fairy Tail had done so much for her. They cared for her, protected her and cultivated her into the proud woman that she is today.
Today, the entire guild was in Crocus for day one of the Grand Magic Games. However, Lucy failed spectacularly. Her opponent used a dirty trick to force her into submission. When Lucy tried to turn the tide in her favor, her ultimate spell was cancelled out. She felt useless. But then Natsu cheered her up, just like he always did. Now they were celebrating as if Fairy Tail had won the day. With Natsu's arm around her shoulders, Lucy felt like the happiest girl in the world.
Natsu Dragneel.
Lucy was quite confused as to how she felt about him. At first, the blonde saw Natsu as this childish teenager who was freakishly strong. But little by little, the Stellar Spirit mage started to see the Fire Dragon Slayer in a new light. She saw him as noble, someone who would go to the ends of the earth to help a nakama. When Natsu was by her side, she felt no fear. She could always count on him to go on a mission with her.
And, Lucy had to admit that Natsu was attractive in the rough and tumble sort of way. His training had left his body with some nicely developed muscles and abs. And the pink hair was cute in a way. And that scarf he always wears... Her feelings for Natsu wasn't limited to the physical. Lucy also loved the fact that he was always there for her, no matter what. He also had a pure soul. He was just so honest about everything. Lucy saw him as a light that shone in deepest darkness. Natsu was everything she could want in a boyfriend, not that she'd tell him...yet.
Lucy didn't tell the guild that it was her birthday today. She didn't want them to go out of their way for her, especially Natsu. Besides, being a Fairy Tail mage was the best present anyone could ask for anyways. Even though she had lost, today was a great day.
Lucy spent her eighteenth birthday surrounded by friends and by Natsu's side.
[Age 19]
Lucy wasn't expecting to celebrate her birthday today. She wanted to spend the day with Natsu and Happy going on a mission.
By now, they had been dating for about seven months now. Natsu made Lucy happy in every way. The best thing was that not much changed when they started dating. They still had a strong friendship but now their was another layer to their relationship, a romantic one. The Stellar Spirit mage would have never believed that the Fire Dragon would be a considerate boyfriend. But her pink haired boyfriend had surprised her... in a good way.
Back to the birthday...
Lucy had yet to tell Natsu or anyone in the guild that it was her birthday. Once again, she didn't want them to go out of her way for her. But her aunt had sent her a parcel near her birthday. It was a beautiful holosphere which was able to display images through magic. What Lucy didn't realize was that there was a note inside the parcel telling her about her birthday. Natsu and Happy found the note and told Mira who got the guild ready.
On the day of her birthday, Natsu took Lucy to the guild. When she had entered, she was blown away. Her friends shouted Happy Birthday. The blonde couldn't believe it. Everyone was there, her teammates, her friends, everyone. Lucy couldn't help the tears from forming.
"How did you guys know?" She asked.
Happy took this time to fly up to her. He handed Lucy a letter. "This was in the box that the holosphere was in." He explained. "I'm sorry that we read it."
Tears started to form in Lucy's eyes. "You guys..."
Natsu hugged her with one arm. "We were a little sad when you didn't tell us when your birthday was."
Lucy shook her head. "I didn't want to make a big deal out of it."
Erza stood up. "It is a big deal." She told the girl. "You are our nakama, family."
Gray was the next to speak. "We are showing you how much you mean to Fairy Tail."
Natsu held her firm. "So don't you say it isn't a big deal to you because it's a big deal to us."
Master Makarov cleared his throat. "Now that the guest of honor is here, I say we party all day to celebrate Lucy's birthday."
A loud cheer erupted from the guild.
Lucy spent the day celebrating her birthday with her friends while in the loving embrace of Natsu.
[Age 23]
Lucy couldn't believe it. So she looked at the stick again. Again, it was the same.
Two blue lines.
She couldn't believe what her body was telling her so she went to the doctor. The doctor confirmed what the strip and her body was telling her.
Lucy Heartfilia is pregnant.
She couldn't wait to tell Natsu when he came back from the guild.
When Natsu returned to their shared home, he found Lucy sitting on the couch in the living room in total shock.
"Hey, Luce." Natsu greeted. "Happy birthday."
Lucy barely heard him. Her mind was still swirling over the news that she had just received. She nodded, thinking about a way to tell her boyfriend about it.
"I couldn't think of anything to give you for your birthday." Natsu sighed. "But don't worry..." He would have said more but Lucy cut him off with a finger to her lips.
"You don't need to." Lucy whispered. "You've already given me the best birthday present ever." She said with a hand to her stomach.
Natsu cocked his head in confusion. "What do you mean?" He asked.
Lucy handed Natsu the strip. He read it quite carefully. The more times he read it, the more his eyes widened. The pink haired mage looked at the strip, then to Lucy who had her hand on her stomach, then back at the strip, then back at Lucy.
"You're pregnant?" Natsu choked out.
Lucy nodded.
At once, a face splitting grin crossed Natsu's face. He couldn't believe it. She was going to be a mommy. He was going to be a daddy. He couldn't help the laughter and tears that rocked his body. He picked up Lucy and swung her around in joy. They laughed and laughed, thankful of their good fortune.
Lucy spent her twenty-third birthday in the loving embrace of her boyfriend, awaiting the birth of their baby.
[Age 30]
Lucy was in bed, sleeping when the bedroom door burst open, startling the Stellar Spirit mage. When her eyes adjusted, she saw her husband, Natsu, Happy and their six year old son, Igneous Jude, holding a tray of food.
"Happy birthday, mommy." They shouted at the top of their lungs.
Lucy smiled. "Thank you." She replied.
Natsu set the tray on Lucy's lap. "Iggy wanted to make you breakfast in bed so we made you some eggs, bacon and toast." He told her.
"Thank you, Iggy." Lucy smiled.
Iggy smiled back. Lucy loved her son's smile. It reminded her of his father. "I also made you a card." He said. Iggy reached in his back pocket and handed it to Lucy.
On the outside, it read:
To the most wonderfulest mommy in the world.
Happy Birthday, mommy
On the inside, there was a stick figure drawing of a woman with blond hair with a birthday hat on her head. She was smiling with a guy with pink hair, a little boy with pink hair and a blue cat.
Lucy couldn't help the tears that started to form. "Thank you, Iggy," She said. "It's the best card I've ever gotten." That made little Iggy's day.
"So come on, Luce." Natsu told his wife. "Eat up. We have a whole day planned for the birthday girl."
Lucy spent her thirtieth birthday with her family and she couldn't be happier.
Well that's the first prompt. Now six to go.
Loved it? Hated it? Have no opinion one way or the other? Leave me a review. I'd love to hear from you.
A. Angel