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“I’ve read about this beach in so many different travel books, I am very sure it’s very safe!” Levy insisted to the group.
Lucy nodded and agreed. “I haven’t read as many as you, if I’m being honest I didn’t even know it was real, but she’s right!”
A little over a month ago, Levy had started begging anyone she could catch the ear of to go to a very certain beach, one she’d been reaching about since she was a little girl, one that was completely bioluminescent.
Lucy was quick to agree, but it took a little more convincing for the others.
Lucy managed to convince Happy pretty easily, telling him all about the sea creature and fish that they would catch, and Happy then convinced Natsu to come along, citing that Lucy was terrible at fishing and he didn’t want to do it alone.
Gajeel was easy too, Levy could convince him of anything - especially when her eyes lit up just from talking about it.
Levy’s enthusiasm and way of describing the beach so beautifully had gotten Wendy on board, and subsequently Carla, who protested on behalf of the safety of it all, which encouraged Levy to explain the science behind it.
A resort was supposedly nearby, which contained a bakery like no other, one with sweet strawberries and fluffy cakes, naturally, this was Erza’s findings, which ultimately led to her agreement to come along.
Juvia, though you’d think otherwise, had more than just a deep passion for her love, she also would love to see the water at night, lighting up from every touch, her - and the rest of the teams - involvement piqued the interest of Gray, who was now leading the way through a forest.
“That’s great and all, but you’re telling me there was no easier way to get there?” Gray huffed.
“It’s not that, but we have three dragon slayers with us, and taking a train with all of them sounds like a nightmare…” Levy sighed.
“God, you can’t just be normal?” Gray spat at Natsu.
“Go get the train then, ice boy!” Natsu retorted.
“This is nice! It’s like a big family outing!” Lucy tried to dissolve their argument.
“Yes, I suppose it is like that!” Erza agreed, pulling an ungodly amount of luggage for a trip.
“It’s starting to get dark, will we be there soon?” Wendy had asked.
“Sorry you guys, I think we might need to camp out tonight, it’s taken way longer than I expected it to.” Levy frowned, looking at her map. “Did anyone bring any tents?”
An echo of “No” rang through the group.
“Of course I did. You should be prepared for anything.” Erza announced.
“Perfect! Erza saves the day again!” Lucy laughed and fist bumped the air.
Gray and Natsu started looking for a clearing, both encouraging each other with taunts that the other couldn’t find one quicker.
Natsu ended up winning, and found a clearing within the trees. The group began to set up camp as the sun dipped below the horizon. It was a warm night, not too humid but comfortable, with a cooling breeze dancing through the sky.
As the boys in the group as well as Juvia, who was constantly asking Gray if he needed anything started to set up the two tenets that Erza had stowed away in her many suitcases, the girls sat around a fire that Natsu had graciously started.
Erza was brushing through Wendy’s hair , and opposite, Levy and Lucy sat beside each other, backs against a tree.
“Are you okay, Lucy?” Levy asked her friend, studying her face.
Lucy was lost in her thoughts, something about the whole day was so wholesome that it’d started to make her feel happy to the point of nausea.
“I’m really good. This is so nice.” She nodded, looking at Erza, running her fingers and a comb through Wendy’s hair, Erza was like everyone’s big sister, Lucy thought, but Wendy’s especially.
“I always wanted a big sister like that.” Lucy continued. “You know, one to teach me about makeup and do my hair and stuff.”
“Yeah, me too!” Levy laughed. “But I was a pretty lame kid, I don’t think I would’ve gotten along with a girly big sister back when I was a kid. I was totally rebellious.”
“Hey, maybe you and Gajeel would’ve gotten along as kids.” Lucy laughed.
“Not that kind of rebellious! I’d have hated him when I was a kid. He’d probably hate me too.” Levy said. “I guess we did when we both met.”
The pair shivered at the thought of their first encounter with Gajeel.
They both looked over to him now, building a tent for a camping trip with the very people he fought to the brink of death against.
“You’re doing it wrong Natsu! Why don’t you go sit down and ask Erza to braid your hair!” Gray yelled at Natsu.
“You’re both idiots! You need to put up an iron rod there, bet you’re glad I’m here!” Gajeel yelled.
“Why the hell would we need iron?!” Natsu retorted.
“To hold it up! All that fire has melted whatever brain cells you had in the first place!” Gajeel yelled.
“My Gray is right! He’s messing it all up!” Juvia shook her head.
Lucy and Levy laughed at the scene.
“Do you love him?” Lucy asked her friend.
Levy blushed deeply and turned away.
“God Lucy! That’s so forward!” She gushed, holding her cheeks in her hands.
“Sorry! I shouldn’t have asked that!” Lucy apologised.
“No it’s okay!” Levy apologised too. “I love him a lot.” She blushed. “I know he seems totally oblivious but he’s really romantic, and he’s really nice to me”
Lucy smiled at her friend, who carried on gushing about Gajeel. She’d almost tuned Levy out.
“-dragon slayers seem to be like that.”
“Sorry, what?” Lucy cocked her head
“All the dragon slayers I’ve met, anyway. Really loyal, once they have someone they care about like that, it’s game over for anyone who tries to hurt them.” Levy continued. “Natsu is like that with you, Gajeel wi-“
“With me? Natsu treats me just like any of our other friends. I mean try and hurt Erza around Natsu and you're dead! I think he’s got that loyalty you’re talking about to Fairy Tail. Not me.” Lucy confirmed.
Levy looked at Lucy and smiled.
“You know that isn’t true! It’s different with you!” Levy laughed.
Lucy pouted and blushed.
“You guys should just get together already, everyone in the guild has been waiting! Mirajane wanted to make a bet as to when you would, but I thought that seemed cruel.”
Lucy turned to her, shocked. The entire guild had discussed them like that?
“It doesn’t matter anyway. He’s not that type and I like a more romantic guy, Natsu is just… Natsu.” Lucy sighed.
“So you really aren’t crushing on him?” Levy raised an eyebrow.
“Now who’s being forward!” Lucy pouted, crossing her arms.
—
Happy and Carla had returned with food for the group, they all ate around the fire pit together, and headed into the tents to sleep.
Lucy had creeped out after an hour of not being able to get to sleep.
Did the entire guild really see her and Natsu as pining for each other?
She heard a zip and footsteps behind her, Lucy turned to see the exact guy she didn’t want to think about right now.
“Hey, can’t you sleep?” Natsu asked as he walked over to her.
“Not really, I thought we’d be in a resort tonight.” Lucy huffed.
“Do you hear that?” Natsu asked.
“What?” Lucy looked around and tried to listen closer.
“Come on.” He grabbed her arm and started running through the trees.
“Natsu! Slow down! Where are we going!” Lucy exclaimed, trying to not trip on any stray branches.
“This way!” He said, and carried on dragging her through the forest.
Then he stopped suddenly, Lucy looked up from the ground, where she was closely watching to make sure she didn’t fall.
She clasped her hands over her mouth and gasped. There must have been hundreds of fireflies lighting up all around them, she spun around to take in the whole view.
“They’re so beautiful!” She whispered.
The forest looked ethereal in their glow, buzzing all around the pair's heads. Natsu clapped his hands together.
“Natsu!” Lucy hit his arm. “Did you just kill one?!”
He opened his palms a little and held them up to her.
“Haven’t you ever caught a firefly before?” He asked her.
“I’ve never seen so many together to be honest.” She laughed, looking and the little creature stuck between his palms.
She held her face right up next to his hands to get a good look. Then, he suddenly let it go and it flew right into her.
She shrieked. Natsu laughed at her sudden outburst so hard he had to clutch his stomach.
“It’s just a little fly!” He choked between laughs. “You totally screamed!”
Lucy pouted and crossed her arms. “That wasn’t nice.”
“Try and catch one!” He insisted.
Lucy looked around and set her eyes on one firefly that wasn’t moving around as much as the others, she started to move closer to it, like a cat on its prey.
“You don’t have to sneak up on it!” Natsu laughed at her.
Then she pounced. She clasped her palms together around it, she peered in, and…
“How did I not catch it?!” She complained.
“You weren't quick enough, try again, you’ve gotta go faster!” Natsu ordered.
“Bossy…” she rolled her eyes, but really wanted to catch one.
There was one right in front of Natsu, so she approached slowly, and..
Natsu grabbed her hands and clasped them over the firefly.
“Hey, we caught it together!” He beamed.
Lucy blushed, but smiled, she felt the firefly buzzing around in her palms, with Natsu’s clasped over hers.
They weren’t as soft as she remembered them being, they were calloused, but they still fit perfectly around hers. Like they were meant to hold each other. She tried to release the firefly, but Natsu’s hands didn’t budge.
“Hey, let it go.” She whispered. She looked up at him, his eyes were locked in hers. “Hey, what are you looking at?”
She studied his face, his eyes had fireflies reflected off of them, making them shine a little more than usual, his complexion too, soft in the moonlight, yet lit up with the warmth of the flies. He was frowning a little, as he usually did. His lips were cracked too, like his hands, guys never seemed to have soft looking lips…
Lucy snapped out of her thoughts as she realised she was inches away from his face, staring at his lips. He didn’t stop looking at her though. Realising what was happening, she pulled her hands free from his and turned away, turning a bright shade of red.
“We should head back, I don’t want to be too tired when we have to walk to that beach…” she mumbled, and started back the way they came.
“Hey Lucy?” She heard Natsu say.
“Yeah?” She replied, not turning to face him, and carried on walking.
“Never mind.” He said, following her.
—
The next morning, the sun was blazing. It was almost too hot to handle, Gray had made Lucy and Wendy ice packs to put on their forehead, much to Juvia’s protests.
“Why would she need your ice! She can handle it!” She complained.
“I can make one for you too!” He retorted.
“I don’t need one! I can handle a little heat!” She confirmed.
“It’s too hot!” Wendy complained.
“We’re almost there. The resort should be about 5 minutes away.” Levy confirmed, arm linked onto Gajeel.
Those five minutes felt like eternity. Even more so for Lucy, who was reeling from the fact that she and Natsu could potentially have kissed the night before.
She wondered who would have won the bet if they got together last night.
How romantic, kissing the one you love with the glow of hundreds of fireflies around, in the middle of the forest. So why did she react the way she did, and run away at the thought?
She smacked herself at the thought. What was she doing? Thinking about Natsu like ‘the one she loved’?
“There it is!” Levy exclaimed.
A grand looking resort was in front of them, multiple floors, multiple buildings, with a large plaza area at the front, the group walked in, all admiring the beautiful infrastructure around them.
“This is so beautiful!” Wendy squealed.
“It certainly is!” Carla gasped.
Levy approached the reception desk, as everyone else hung back, as to not overcrowd anything. Lucy picked up a flyer, for amenities that the resort offered. Boat trips at night to see the bioluminescence, saunas, public baths, a pool, a bar! It was incredible, Lucy had thought to herself.
She held onto the flyer as Levy dangled the room keys, Natsu and Happy grabbed one, Gray and Juvia, Erza, Wendy and Carla, and Lucy. There was one left that levy pocketed for her and Gajeel.
The group agreed to do their own things until the sun started to set, so they could see the bioluminescence together. Lucy had seen pictures of water that contained bioluminescent algae or plankton before, but for some reason always believed it would be far too good to be true.
She unlocked the door to her room, and examined. A double bed, cloaked in a comfortable looking quilt, a couple of bedside tables, with lamps atop.
She peeked into the bathroom, just a wet room and a water closet. Not bad, considering the spa was included with the price of a room. Something she adored about staying in fancy hotels was the sweets that they’d always give out.
She wandered over to the desk to see if they had, and there were two blueberry muffins laid out perfectly with a note saying
“We hope you enjoy your stay”
Lucy was beaming, and began to unwrap the muffin, until she heard a knock at her door.
She took a bite as she walked over and opened it.
“Hey Lucy!” Natsu beamed.
“What’s up?” She asked, mouth full of muffin.
“Well what are we doing today? I’m getting bored here already. Let’s go do something.” He said.
“Aye!” Happy added, hovering around his shoulder.
“Like what?” Lucy said, leaving the door open and walking back into her room.
“I don’t know, you think of somethin’!” He followed her in. “Woah your room is way smaller than ours!”
“I’m just one person, I don’t need as much room.” She said, opening the flyer she’d picked up from the lobby. “I was thinking of getting a massage.”
“A massage? Lucy! That’s so boring!” He sighed.
Lucy was trying to act as normal as possible, but she really hated him being there. She hated how he made her feel butterflies in her stomach. She hated how talking to him was so easy. She hated that everyone thought they should be together. She hated it all.
“Well go play with someone else then. We are all gonna be up late tonight so you need to preserve your energy.” She said, matter of factly.
“Fine, what massages do they do?” He asked.
“Natsu!” Happy yelled. “I don’t wanna do that!”
“Why don’t you both just go and explore. I’m going to get a massage alone.” She announced.
The more that she could avoid Natsu right now, the better, and she knew that he wouldn’t be able to handle all her ‘boring’ activities and would ultimately leave anyway.
But he persisted.
“Why alone? That sounds boring.”
“Maybe to you, we aren’t the same person you know? Just go, Natsu, I want to relax.” She whined.
He gave her an extremely confused look. It’s true she was being too obvious with her words. She wanted him to go away, she didn’t want to see him. Obviously it was about the previous night, but she couldn’t even look at him, never mind spend the whole day with him.
“I’ll meet you later with the others.” She said.
Natsu studied her face for a moment, then, “okay. Come on, Happy, let’s go.”
He turned a heel and walked out. Happy hovered behind him.
Lucy sighed, and started at the wall as she finished her muffin.
She couldn’t avoid him forever, and it seems that he didn’t even care. Was she being delusional? Did nothing even happen last night? Was that just two friends catching fireflies together?
No, it was more than that. The way he looked at her, it was unlike he’d ever looked at her before, determined and passionate. Then she ran away.
Yet he was still bothering her, he still wanted to be around her, despite her weird reaction. Why did she do that? Why didn’t she just let it happen? It’s what she wanted, what she has wanted for so long.
So why run away?
—
Lucy wandered through the resort, and spotted Gajeel and Levy sitting at a table outside the on sight cafe.
Levy was rambling about something or another, and Gajeel was just looking at her, a frown, but a different kind of frown, not unhappy or annoyed, just listening, like he was taking in every single word she said.
“Hey Lucy!” Levy called. “Are you headed to the beach?”
“Uh, I’m not sure! Just exploring!” She said, walking towards them.
“Feel free to join us! You should try this coffee, it’s not too bitter, I think you’d love it!” Levy offered.
“Oh, I couldn’t. You two seem like you’re having a nice time. It’s a really beautiful resort, I could walk around for hours and not get bored.” Lucy said.
“Where’s Salamander?” Gajeel grunted.
“I’m not sure, probably with Happy, making trouble.” Lucy said.
“You guys aren’t hanging out? I’m surprised you’re not with him to keep an eye on him.” Levy laughed.
“Ha, yeah. I’m sure they’ll be fine without me for another hour or so.” Lucy said, sort of meekly.
She wished she were with them, if she was being honest with herself. A massage was great, and her bath was great, but she secretly wanted to see if they were causing havoc and having fun without her.
“Anyways, I’ll see you guys soon.” Lucy said and walked away, there was a secret path to the private beach she'd seen in the flyer, so she headed that way.
It was still somehow blazing hot, though it was late afternoon. She’d decided she would sit at the beach, soaking in the sun, until everyone else arrived to see the bioluminescence.
It was a quaint beach, lined with palm trees. The sand was soft and warm beneath her feet. Lucy breathed a sigh of relief, the smell and sound of the ocean overwhelmed her senses, but simultaneously calmed her too.
She unrolled the towel she had in her bag, and found a spot right near the trees, somewhere you wouldn’t even notice her if you walked by and out, and lay down. The sun was so warm on her face, the waves crashing was so serene she could drift off.
—
“Hey Lucy! What’re you doing, sleeping here?” A voice called and Lucy begrudgingly opened her eyes.
The stars were out, it was dark, Lucy shot up.
“I didn’t even realise I fell asleep!” She cried.
“We were looking everywhere for you, we thought you’d gone to sleep or something and didn’t want to come anymore.”
Lucy looked up, Natsu. Of course.
“I’m sorry, we were supposed to meet at the reception. I didn’t mean to upset anyone, it was an accident!” She insisted.
“Upset? Someone’s not awake yet. Why would we be upset!” Natsu laughed.
“Where is everyone else?” She asked, looking at the boy towering over her.
He pointed to the crashing waves, she looked and saw everyone. The waves were lit up with a turquoise hue, the glowing lights of the algae lighting up with every touch, or force.
Wendy, Juvia and Gray were all in the water, swimming or splashing one another, the water looked magical. Levy and Erza were in a little boat, leaning over the sides and running their hands through it. Happy and Carla were flying just on top of the water, the force of the wind from their wings creating a pattern in the water.
“Come on!” Natsu reached out a hand to help her up, and she took it, hoisting herself to her feet and quickly dropping his hand once she was up.
She had to be careful. Beautiful bright lights seemed to be an aphrodisiac for her. She couldn’t get too wrapped up in how amazing everything looked and start projecting that wonder onto him.
They walked towards the water. Natsu immediately ran in, to the depth where he had to start swimming.
“Oh, hey.” Gajeel had said. He was sitting, legs crossed right on the shoreline.
Lucy looked over to him.
“Aren’t you getting in?” She asked.
“Nah. Not my thing.” He said.
She sat down, on the shoreline. Every crash of the waves brought the glowing turquoise algae too.
“It’s really beautiful.”
“If you’re gonna start getting sentimental you’re speaking to the wrong guy.” Gajeel muttered.
“I just said that it’s beautiful!” Lucy spat.
“Girls always get weirdly sentimental with stuff like this.” He retorted.
“Well I’m not!” She stuck her tongue out.
She did actually feel rather sentimental. Seeing all her friends having such a good time. Natsu tried to beat up Gray in the water, unfortunately Juvia was ready to pull an Aquarius if he tried anything.
The wonder on Wendy, Erza and Levy’s faces, Happy and Carla creating beautiful patterns with the water.
Gajeel being grumpy.
It all felt like the right order of things, so why did she feel so grumpy too?
Lucy knew she wasn’t a grumpy person, maybe it was the fact that she’d just woken up, or maybe it was the fact that she had been longing to apologise to Natsu for running away, and wanting to kiss him to make up for it.
She sighed.
“You and Salamander fighting?” Gajeel asked.
“Nosy.” She pouted. “I think so.”
“He’s an idiot.” Gajeel said.
“No… I think I’m the idiot this time.” She sighed.
She looked at Natsu, he was splashing everyone he could, even Levy and Erza on their little boat. He kept glancing at her, too. He looked disappointed.
“Why aren’t you going in? Seems like your thing. The fight can’t be that bad.” Gajeel stated.
“I just don’t want to. It’s nice watching from here. Nothing to do with him.” She answered.
It did, a little bit, have something to do with Natsu. She wanted to avoid him as much as possible. She didn’t want to play around in the water with him, it would all just be too good, too nice.
So she sat there, watching her friends, occasionally making small talk with Gajeel.
—
Lucy sat on her bed in pure agony, not physical. Mental agony. She wanted to knock on his door and apologise for being weird all day. She wanted to apologise for the way she ran away and she wanted to kiss him.
Why couldn’t she bring herself to?
She grabbed her room keys and walked out the door, she walked up to his door and stared at it for a minute. Just knock.
“Come on Lucy, just knock.” She whispered.
She heard snoring. She couldn’t wake him up. That’d be too cruel, she’d do it tomorrow. She’d apologise tomorrow.
She started towards her own room. Then sighed. Why was she such a mess? She stopped. She felt tears begin to well in her eyes.
She touched her cheek, where a lone tear fell. Why was she crying now? She was longing to knock on Natsu’s door so hard that she’s crying?
She needed some fresh air, everything was too stuffy. The beach. Get to the beach.
She started to walk, quicker and quicker until it was a run. Something about the force against her and her emotions overtook it all and she sobbed as she ran.
The path to the beach was ahead, she sobbed into the night breeze. She fell to her knees on the sand and cried more and more.
Did she lose her one chance to tell him how she felt? Was it going to be more years of pining until she got another chance?
She clutched her hands together at her chest. The tears began to subside. She calmed her breathing and looked into the darkness, the waves crashed around her knees.
“Yo.” She heard.
Why would he be here right now? Of all the places, why here? Of all people, why him.
“Hey, what’s up?” He repeated.
Lucy didn’t look at him. This was all a bad dream, she didn’t have a puffy, tear stained face right now. Natsu was not approaching her, she would wave up from this in a second.
She hit a cheek a few times softly to encourage the waking up part. It didn’t seem to happen.
“Hey.” She croaked out, her voice sounded so much worse than what she needed it to sound right now.
She turned her head to look at him.
“Why are you crying?” He asked plainly.
“I thought you were asleep.” She said, turning back to the ocean, the waves still crashed with bioluminescence. Nothing was moving the ocean too much, so you couldn’t see it anymore.
“You’re crying cause you thought I was asleep?” He asked, completely confused.
“No, it doesn't matter.” She replied.
“If something’s making you cry it matters to me.”
“Just having a bad day.”
“You’ve been avoiding me.” He said.
“Yeah.” She agreed.
“Why?”
How could she respond to that?
“How did you know I was here?” Lucy asked. She looked at her hands in her lap.
“You were outside my door. I could barely hear over Happy snoring. But you whispered something. I thought you were telling me to open the door or something.” He explained. “I followed your scent here.”
“Right.” She sighed, so it was Happy that was asleep, she could’ve saved herself some tears by just knocking.
“Why didn’t you go in the water earlier?” He asked.
So many questions. Lucy sighed.
“Bad day.” She replied plainly.
Then, she felt muscled arms grab her, Natsu held her bridal style, and started to run into the ocean.
“Natsu! I’m in my pajamas!” She shrieked, and started thrashing at him to get out of his grip.
“Come on, it's so cool!” He exclaimed.
She looked down, the ripples they were causing were beautiful. Magical, even.
Patterns emerged around every touch, every impact rippled into beautiful glowing lights.
Natsu jumped, and the pair toppled into the deep ocean, it was too deep to touch the ground, but not too far out that it’d be dangerous.
Lucy laughed in shock, her hair was entirely covered in salty, cold water. Natsu was a couple metres away, laughing too.
He swam over to her, his thrashing arms splashing water at her.
“Hey! You’re splashing me! I only brought one pair of pajamas!” Lucy coughed.
Natsu arrived in front of her, once again, inches between them. Lights surrounded them, just like the night before in the forest.
Lucy stared at his face again, this time feeling some sort of relief, it was different to last night. She hated the feeling she had when she ran away. Not this time.
She watched his eyes dance around her face, taking in every feature in front of him. His eyes began to flutter between her eyes and her lips.
A hint of a smile brushed across her face, then, she thought to herself: why not?
So she cupped her hands on his cheeks, wrapped and kissed him. It wasn’t the way they describe it in books, a little inexperienced, a little confused. But nonetheless it felt amazing, and he was kissing her back too. She wrapped her legs around his waist under the water and let the moment get the better of her.
When she pulled away her eyes darted across his face to try and find any answer to whether she read the moment right. He had a look that she didn’t recognise, he grabbed her hand and started swimming to the shore.
Lucy winced, she’d just done the worst imaginable thing, hadn’t she? But, once Natsu’s feet touched the floor, he didn’t say anything, he just grabbed her waist, and pulled her in again. They kissed again, for what felt like an eternity, his hands against the small of her back, hers around his neck.
When they finally came up for air, Natsu spoke.
“I was treading water for the both of us back there, I couldn’t hold you.” He blushed.
Lucy laughed, she started laughing almost hysterically, her arms clutching to his neck and back as she leaned forward, laughing so much she shook.
“Okay, it wasn’t that funny.” He muttered.
Tears started to spill from Lucy’s eyes.
“What the hell? Why are you crying?!” He spluttered.
“I’m just really happy!” She choked out, between laughs.
“You’re weird.”
That just made Lucy laugh even harder, she wanted to stay like this forever.
Levy was right, this beach was something special.