50 days • {Nalu}

Day 14

"'It'll only be a week' they said. 'It'll be easy' they said." Natsu mumbled feeling quite annoyed. They had barely arrived back in town and were heading towards the guild hall. It was quite late, seeing as they took the evening train back home.

The team of three had finished the job two days ago which was early than expected. But Erza insisted that they head over to the next town to try a famous bakery as a reward for themselves. No matter how much Natsu and Gray whined, her glare shut them up and had them agreeing to go.

After their bakery trip and purchasing multiple sweets to take back home, they decided to stay the night at an inn near the train station. They planned to leave early the next morning, but Natsu and Erza overslept. Gray was scolded by Erza when they had finally woken up. She yelled at him that he should've waken them up earlier and then yelled at Natsu that he should've known better than to oversleep.

In Gray's defence, he just didn't feel like getting beat by Erza first thing in the morning. They then planned to leave when the afternoon train came, but they missed it since Gray was complaining about losing his favorite shirt. Pretty ironic for a guy who loses multiple shirts many times a day. After missing the train, the waited at the station all day until the evening so they wouldn't miss it again.

And now, they were finally off the train and heading into the guild.

"Ugh! Finally!" Natsu complained, kicking the doors open to the noisy guild. His first instinct was to look around for Lucy.

"Looking for Lucy already?" Mira asked as the three approached the bar.

"He's been on edge all week. He kept worrying about her." Gray rolled his eyes as he took a swig of his drink that Mira had given him.

"That's a lie!" Natsu shouted.

"No, you wouldn't shut up about wanting to get the job done already so you could see her." Erza added through her chewing of strawberry cake.

Natsu just grumbled under his breath, crossing his arms over his chest like a child. "Where is Lucy anyway?"

"She went on a job with Levy, Wendy, Gajeel, and the exceeds. They should be back in a few seeing as the job was just in the next town over."

"That's an odd team." Erza mused.

"Well, originally only Happy, Carla, Wendy, and Lucy were going to go. But Levy asked to tag along and then Gajeel just went with them along with Lily." Mira chuckled.

The three nodded. Natsu slumped on one of the stools, playing with a mug in boredom. Suddenly, the guild doors bursted open and in came an excited Lucy and Wendy.

Carla and Happy flew in above them, also wearing small smiles. Happy broke into a grin when he saw his friend had returned.

"Natsu! You're back!" he cheered flying into his chest. This caused Natsu to stumble off his stool and off to the floor. Levy, Gajeel, and Lily laughed as they entered the guild finally.

"Gray! Erza!" Lucy and Wendy called out.

"And Natsu!" Wendy added. Lucy smiled down at him as he got up before turning back to the other two.

"I'm pretty sure you just got back, but you have to come look at this! It's really pretty." Lucy said.

"What is it?" Asked Gray.

"We saw a bunch of fireflies near the forest and rushed over to tell you guys to come catch them with us!" Levy explained, giggling slightly.

"That would be fun." Erza smiled with a nod.

"Well! Let's go!" Lucy cheered, grabbing Natsu's hand and running out of the guild with him in tow. He didn't protest, for he enjoyed the feeling of her hand in his. In fact, he had missed it since their last date when she asked to hold his hand.

They were quiet the whole way to the area Levy told them about. She looked back at him and smiled brightly before facing forward once again. The rest of the group was following behind as well; a few other guild members had tagged along as well.

"And here we are!" Lucy exclaimed as the reached their destination. It took a while for Natsu to notice that they were in the same place he had brought her on their first date. Everyone looked around in awe as the saw the many fireflies buzzin around.

"They're beautiful." Juvia mummered, reaching her hand out to them.

"Don't the look like stars? It's almost like the constellations have come to us." Lucy stated, looking up at them.

"Well! Let's catch some." Said Erza. She distributed small jars to everyone while they all sweatdropped and wondered where they had come from.

"Alright, whoever catches the most wins. Any questions?"

Everyone shook their head no, knowing that this was going to get competitve real fast. She instructed them to start and everyone split into groups or worked seperately to catch some flies.

"I caught one!" cheered Natsu as he walked with Lucy. "Why aren't you catching any?"

"It doesn't feel right. I'd rather watch them fly around freely than keep them trapped in a jar, even it's only for a short while." she explained, turning around to face him.

They now stood face to face. Natsu awkwardly released the firefly from his jar and it flew around them.

"Tell me Natsu, why does it feel like I've been here with you before? This is my first time meeting you, yet I feel like I've known you for so long." Lucy whispered, stepping closer to him. He gulped and flinched a little when she grabbed his hand.

She held it gently in hers, playing with his fingers. Lucy is weird Natsu thought, but let her continue to fiddle with his hand. She looked up at him with accusing eyes before taking another step forward.

"Who are you to me?" she interrogated. Natsu opened his mouth to answer before he noticed the firefly had landed on the tip of her nose.

Lucy crossed her eyes at the bug causing Natsu to chuckle at her expression. He raised his free hand up to her face and poked her nose, making the fly, well, fly away. They watched it leave before turning back to face one another. Natsu grabbed Lucy's other hand and tugged her towards him. She looked up at him to see he was already looking down at her.

They both unconsciously started to lean towards one another, eyes fluttering close. They were only an inch apart and then...

"I won!" They jumped apart.

"Erza! You ruined it!" Mira whined, exposing herself from her hiding position which was a tree near Lucy and Natsu.

"Ruined what?" Erza asked innocently, coming forward with the rest of the group in tow.

Lucy and Natsu glared at Mira, signaling that she better not say a word. The two had already pulled apart, distancing themselves from one another.

"Uh, nothing! We should head back, it's getting late." Mira said, laughing awkwardly.

The group nodded, releasing their fireflies. They watched them in awe once again as they flew away. Everyone wore a smile as they began their way back to the guild. Natsu and Lucy hung back, walking behind everyone but with each other. They avoided conversation and whenever they made eye contact, they would blush and look away quickly. Once they were out of the forest, Lucy sighed. Natsu looked at her. She hand her left hand extended towards him, looking away with a soft blush on her cheeks and a pout on her lips. Her eyes wondered towards him and he took her hand in his, smiling at her. She smiled back and so, they returned back to the guild hand in hand.

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and done, sorry for the long wait. thanks for over 500 reads! i am very thankful that. thanks to everyone who reads this story 💓