Wrong Point of View

NaLu

+...+

Natsu paces furiously behind the crimson curtain of Fairy Tail's stage with his head bowed in concentration, occasionally muttering out loud. His mind isn't even in the guild anymore, instead what feels like a million miles away as he tries to figure out what to do.

'How do I face her? I mean, it's not like I meant to! It just…happened. It's her fault for leaving it out where anyone could see! Sure, maybe I could've not touched it in the first place or just left it in the mailbox instead of taking it home, but I had no intention of reading it! The stupid thing just fell open after I happened to knock it over, and I happened to read it…and now I know.

'She obviously didn't want me to know- it said as much!- but how do I feel about it? She's my nakama of course, my friend, I like sending time with her…ugh! I might like her that way…What do I do?' his thinks desperately, thoughts going around again.

'Thank whatever power is out there Lucy didn't come into the guild today,' he thinks for the fifth time that hour.

Natsu's so lost in thought that if Happy hadn't been there earlier to move all the props and other hazards, the mage would've tripped long ago. Too bad for him the precarious pile the flying cat made was too unstable to last.

The Dragon Slayer blinks and finally returns to the physical world as something soft lands on his head and plops down in front of him. "What's this?" he asks out loud, bending over to pick up the small, beat-up rag doll.  He runs his hand through the worn sting that serves as its hair then looks up in time to see a massive pile of who-knows-what fall over. "Damn-!" The poor kid doesn't even have time to finish his curse before he's crushed.

Luckily, none of the more heavy stuff landed on him, but the sheer number of things that fell on him is heavy enough to keep him from standing up or really moving his limbs at all.

Now Natsu has a problem. Burning all this stuff will get him in trouble, which will tick Erza off and get him a good whack in the head, but all of the things currently trying to smooch him into a pancake are his nakama's. He's not above punching a few of them in a fight, but outright destroying something of theirs? Nope. Not happening.

This creates the problem of getting out without fire. Every time he moves, the pile shifts on top of him, more of it pressing down on him. At first he doesn't care and forges ahead in his typical fashion, but then a heavy bowling ball is knocked free and lands not even an inch from his hand. Now it's dangerous.

Natsu tries yelling, but the constant noise of the guild overpowers his single voice, and the things on top of him only mute the sound more. Throat sore, his only hope is Happy coming back. It's not like he told anyone he was back here, so unless someone comes looking for something, it'll be awhile. His stomach gurgles right on cue. 'Great.'

+...+

"Natsu?" calls a timid voice Natsu can barely make out, let alone tell who it is. The floor of the stage creeks as the owner of the voice ventures farther in. "Natsu?" they call again, closer.

The fire mage freezes. 'No way. Lucy?!' If he could move, he would've banged his head against the ground. "Why her? Why?" he groans softly to no one in particular.

'Whoa! What happened?' Lucy bends over to pick up a small, beat-up rag doll with yarn for hair and a smirking expression. 'Jeez! This thing looks evil! You'd think it just buried someone alive or something.'

Lucy sets the doll carefully on a dusty shelf that showed no signs of ever being used and turns her attention to the pile, the doll smirking at her back. "Hello?" she calls as a loud cheer springs from the other guild members. Getting closer so she's leaning over the pile, she tries again. "Anyone in there? Move or call out or something."

Natsu hesitates. Yes, he wants to get out, but he was in here to avoid her in the first place. It's when he hears her footsteps start to recede that he calls out, voice scratchy from his earlier yelling.

Lucy's head snaps around, eyes widening in worry. 'Natsu?' She sprints to the pile, throwing items out of the way in an effort to get through quicker. 'What if he's being suffocated or worse? He didn't sound good!' Her blood goes cold at the thought; her speed increases ten fold.

"Nastu!" the Celestial Mage yells, relief taking over her expression before it changes to a strange mix or anger, worry, and skepticism. "How did you get in this position? You need to stop being so careless! What if I hadn't come back here? You'd probably be stuck here until Mira's next performance. Really!" She stops her rant when she notices Natsu hasn't said anything. "What's wrong? Are you hurt?"

The Dragon Slayer tries not to feel guilty as he sees the genuine concern in her eyes. "Nope. Could you just make sure nothing heavy falls on me as I get out?" She nods and backs up to give him room.

Now that the risk of injury is gone, Natsu dashes out of the pile quickly, causing another smaller avalanche to fall on him. Lucy laughs as he wiggles out of that pile, a pointy hat with the words 'dunce' on them now on his head. An evil grin blooms on his face as he grabs a clown afro. Natsu springs without warning and shoves it on her head.

A full-fledge costume war rages between the two, though it's more one-sided since Lucy keeps being reduced to laughter by the ridiculous things she manages to get onto the Dragon Slayer.

"Truce!" she yells, pulling off sunglasses that took up half her face and a green wing that only came to her ears. Natsu grins and rubs the streak of lipstick from his cheek, plopping down on the floor. Lucy moves to sit next to him. "Hey, have you seen my journal?" she asks off-handedly, not noticing the way Natsu stiffens.

'Oh yeah! I was hiding!' He looks over at the curtain. 'I can make it. She's not that fast in those heels.'

"I really need it back," she continues, drawing his attention as she nervously bites her lip. "It's kinda private…" Natsu squirms in his seat, looking anywhere but the girl next to him. "I don't know what will happen if I can't find it."

'Crap! I can feel the guilt!' Lucy stares right at him, just making the feeling worse. '…Damn.'

"Okay!" he yells, standing up. "I read it! I did it! I'm sorry!" He turns on Lucy and backs up a little. "I know! I know about-"

"Shh!" Lucy jumps up and slaps her hands over his mouth, looking around like the walls have ears. "Don't tell anyone," she hisses. "It's embarrassing!" Slowly, like she doesn't trust him to shut up, she lowers her hands, face flushed in embarrassment. "So…what did you think?"

'Now what?' Natsu thinks desperately, looking around like a rabbit caught in a cage. 'She's blocking the exits!' He looks at the fabric on the ground. 'I could set a fire- a small one that doesn't cause much damage- to get her away and give me time to think!' he concludes, thoughts on the edge of insane.

Lucy takes his silence negatively. "I see. Is it too deep? Not enough detail?" She gets closer. "What do I need to change to get better?"

The demand in her tone takes Natsu by surprise as much as her words. "You don't need to change, Lucy," he answers softly. "You're fine the way you are."

She shakes her head furiously, her hands going into fists. "I don't know if you get this, but I'm really passionate about this!" Natsu gasps at her bluntness. "I can always improve. It's one of the most important things in the world to me, and if I can't…if I can't…" She swallows the lump in her throat and looks him square in the eye. "Tell it to me straight: what do you think?"

'That this is going to give me a headache," Natsu thinks bitterly. He mulls over a few options, each dumber and more crazy then the last. Not knowing what else to do, he leans forward and pecks her on the cheek. "Me too I guess?"

Lucy turns all shades of red, staring at him in shock. "…Huh?" she asks intelligently.

Natsu's eyebrows furrow in confusion. "You know, how you like your best friend? The guy who saved you?" He gets a blank stare in return. "The confession in your journal?"

"The confession in my-oh!" Of all the reactions he could've gotten, laughter wasn't one of the once he expected. "Natsu! The journal has my new story in it! The point of view belongs to the main character, not me."

The Dragon Slayer's jaw drops. "So that's it. Huh." He grins widely at Lucy and pats her shoulder, not noticing the awkwardness in Lucy's face. "See ya! Good luck with that story!"

"Wait, you-" Natsu's already gone to get some food. "Don't just run off after something like that! Get back here and tell me what you meant! Yes to what? Which part did you read? Natsu? Why'd you kiss my cheek? Natsu!"