50 days • {Nalu}

Day 33

"Lucy's sick! Mira! Help me!" Natsu shouted while frantically running in the guild. Mirajane looked at the panicked dragon slayer with a polite smile.

"Is it morning sickness? Oh, Natsu. What have you done?" she tsked.

Natsu froze as he approached the bar, cheeks reddening. Of course, Mira would assume something like that.

"Wha-?"

"Natsu." he gulped as he heard the stern voice of Erza from behind him. He could practically feel her dark aura rolling off of her. Gray came up and smacked a hand on his shoulder, smirking.

"Dang, didn't think that would happen so fast."

"Gray, just-" Natsu tried to explain but Erza interrupted once again.

"What did you do to Lucy?" she summoned one of her swords and pointed it towards his neck. Natsu gulped again, sweat dripping down his face.

"You got it all wrong. It's nothing like that. She simply caught a cold from staying out in the rain the other day. That's why she didn't come to the guild yesterday."

Erza raised an eyebrow. She slowly pulled her sword away, allowing Natsu to let out a sigh of relief.

"Aw, no mini Natsu and Lucy's running around here soon." Mira pouted.

"So why do you need Mira's help?" Erza questioned, ignoring the barmaid's comment.

"Wendy and I went to check up on her this morning; she's still there right now attempting to heal her. While they were doing that, I figured I'd come get some soup for her to eat. So Mira, you gotta help me!" he pleaded.

"Alright Natsu. I'll make it, you just wait here." she smiled and headed towards the kitchen.

He grinned, relieved. Suddenly, two smacks were given on his head. He grasped his head in his hands, "Ow! Erza, Gray!? What the hell?!"

"Don't run in here shouting things like that! We seriously thought Lucy was pregnant considering: 1. it's early and 2. you claimed she was sick." Erza scolded.

"Like I meant to make it sound like that!"

"And Mira's comment was no help." Gray chuckled.

"We haven't even done anything like that. She'd probably beat me to a pulp. Especially since she won't remember me and isn't that like taking advantage of a bad situation?"

"My, my, Natsu. You actually used that brain of yours." Erza chuckled.

"What's that supposed to mean?" he screeched, somewhat offended by her words.

"Oh, nothing."

He glared at the scarlet haired girl while Mira came back over, a bowl of some soup in her hands. "Here you are. Take good care of Lucy!"

"Thanks, Mira!" he stood up and began to make his way towards the exit of the guild.

"Wait! We're coming too." Erza said, following after him with Gray in tow.

"Yeah, we haven't seen Lucy in a while since you're always hogging her to yourself. She has other friends."

"I do not, Ice Prick!" retorted an angry Natsu. A glare from Erza directed at the two ceased the argument from going any further. Instead, Natsu grunted and cursed under his breath before beginning his walk back to Lucy's apartment.

When they finally arrived, they saw Lucy sitting up braiding Wendy's long royal blue hair. Happy and Carla were sitting at the edge of the bed playing 'go fish'.

Lucy titled her head, eyes moving to see the three enter. "You're back! Hey, long time no see Erza, Gray!" she grinned.

"How are you feeling?" Erza smiled at her friend.

"Wendy said I should be as good as new by tomorrow. And I'm finished." she told Wendy as she moved the pigtailed braids to show her.

"Thanks Lucy!" the young girl thanked.

"Erza! Let me braid your hair!"

"Nope, not until you eat your soup." Natsu instructed. Lucy pouted. Natsu handed her the container Mira had given him and a spoon. She began to eat it in bed, as the others talked amongst themselves.

"So Lucy, how is Natsu treating you?" Gray asked suddenly.

Lucy looked over at him, spoon in her mouth. She removed the utensil so that she could speak.

"Even though we met today, he told about everything that's been going on these past few days, including the curse. He also claims to be-" she was cut off by a hand covering her mouth. She narrowed her eyes once she saw that it belonged to Natsu.

The others, excluding Happy since he already knew, looked at them in confusion.

"I'm taking great care of her and treating her well." Natsu said. He then grew a disgusted look on his face and snatched his hand back from Lucy's mouth. "Did you just lick me?!"

"Your hand was on my mouth and I didn't want it there! Haven't you ever heard the term 'keep your hands to yourself'?!"

"Well you almost said something that's a secret!"

"If it's such a secret then why does Happy know? Aren't they your close friends as well?!" Lucy pointed at the others.

"I don't want to tell them yet!" he crossed his arms over his chest and pouted.

Erza, Gray, Wendy, and even Carla started laughing. Natsu and Lucy looked over at them as if they were crazy.

"You guys fight like an old married couple." Erza chuckled.

"Maybe in the future, when they are married, we'll get to see more of this." Wendy added, wiping a tear away that came from the laughter.

"You said anything about marriage?!" they shouted together. This caused them to laugh more. Erza walked over to Lucy and pulled her into a hug, making Lucy's head hit against her armor.

"Itai." mumbled Lucy, rubbing the spot on her head that hit against as Erza pulled away.

"Just promise me that I'll be a bridesmaid, if not Maid of Honor."

"I call flower girl!" Wendy cheered.

"You have no other friends, so I guess I'll be your best man!" Gray told Natsu.

"Hey! I have Happy!" Natsu retorted.

"Carla and I agreed to be the ring bearers." Happy said with hearts in his eyes.

"Wait, wait! You guys are getting ahead of yourselves!" Lucy tried to say. But the others just ignored her as they went ahead and discussed plans and arrangements.

Of course, Lucy knew they were just messing around. She was actually quite amused that her friends could be so serious one minute and like this the next.

And then there was Natsu, who also knew his friends were joking but couldn't help but hope that this would someday be something they were planning for real.