you've fallen for one of the most classic blunders

“Thank you again Lulu for the help!” Levy told her best friend, while she finished putting the pyjama shirt over her son’s head.

“No problem Levy !” The blond answered while she lifted the other twin up in the air, making the little girl giggled. “I love spending time with you and the twins, they are so adorable.” She continued, pulling the year old baby closer to her so she could give her a hug.

Levy laughed and looked at her best friend and her child, who both were laughing and smiling. She smiled fondly in return, when they turned their heads toward her. She took Yaje in her arms and went to sit on the couch beside the duo. 

Lucy had accepted to come help her with the twins while Gajeel was gone on a mission, the blue hair wizard could manage on her own, but she had to admit that taking care of twins on your own could be complicated sometimes. When her best friend learned that she would be alone for three days, she suggested that she come hang out with the solid script wizard and her children. Lucy was often the one babysitting them when the couple had to leave for a period of time, so she already knew the babies by heart. She won’t lie and say that the Redfox twins seem to be really fond of her too, especially Shutora, when they visit the guild altogether, the little girl is often found looking for her godmother.

“So do you think Gajeel will be back soon?” Lucy asked, helping Shutora to lay down in her arms before she told them a bedtime story. 

“Later tonight.” The petite woman answered, doing the same with her son. “He told me the kids would probably be long asleep when he got home, but before midnight.” 

Lucy nodded, that means she would go back to her apartment later for the night. While she was here, the two best friends shared the couple’s bed, but she wasn’t going to steal it from Gajeel tonight. Going on a three day mission was exhausting. She would feel bad if he had to sleep on the couch.

“You know Lulu, you can sleep here again tonight if you don’t feel comfortable leaving late at night.” Levy said, smiling at the blond, guessing what was going on in her brain. She really knew her well !

“No! Gajeel deserves a good night in a comfy bed.” The celestial mage said, laughing. “He’s probably dreaming of it as we are talking, it wouldn’t be the first time I go back home this late, it’s not too far away!”

“Okay, if you are sure you’ll be fine, I won’t argue.” The blunette replied and then started blushing. “I won’t lie and say I can’t wait to sleep in his arms again.”

“Oooooh my little Levy, you are so cute.” 

Lucy poked her cheeks, making her friend blush even harder. The blond burst out laughing, then looked down at Shutora, who was also laughing, even though she didn’t understand what the women were saying. Lucy couldn’t resist kissing her cute round cheek, before stretching out to get the book on the table. Every time she would babysit the twins, she would bring her own book to read to them, even if they couldn’t understand much yet, but they seemed to love falling asleep to hear her voice. 

“You know Lu, you’re going to be a fantastic mother!” Levy exclaimed, looking at the said girl and her daughter. “You’re so good with the twins.”

“Stop it…” The celestial mage said, blushing. “I honestly can’t wait to have my own children, but I need to find a partner first.” She continued, sighing, a certain pink hair boy coming to her mind, but she shook her head to make the thought disappear.

The smaller woman laughed and then smiled at her friend who pouted. “You know if you just confess to Natsu-”

“Okay! So shall we start this next chapter?” The celestial mage asked the mother of the babies, who laughed even more but nodded in agreement, and Lucy cleared her throat. “ Chapter 10… Iris first big mission!”

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“Finally home…”

Lucy sighed and put down the bag full of clothes that she had brought to the Redfox’s house, by the door. As much as she loves them, taking care of children a bit over a year old was a lot of work, even with two people taking care of them. She had to give credits to her friends, they were amazing parents for making it look so easy at the guild.

“I think I should take a long warm bath, I deserve it.” The blond said and to not admit it out loud, but she was kind of stinking, babies do get sick often and they were messy.

She left her bag where she had deposited it, promising herself she would deal with it the next day. She walked toward her living room and noticed something suspicious. There were things on the ground that weren't there when she left two days ago. She made her way further in the apartment making sure she wasn’t making any sound alerting whoever would be here, if there was indeed someone. The celestial mage wondered if it was one of her friends, since they would often find their way into her house without asking first, especially Natsu and Happy. She got a surprise visit from them more times than she liked. She heard sounds coming from the kitchen and her hands found their way to her keys, which were attached to her waist. She stood in front of the curtain, which was separating the kitchen from the rest of the house and in a swift movement pulled it open. 

“WHO’S HERE?!”

Her heart slowed down when she saw her pink haired teammate and his exceed, food in their mouths looking at Lucy with big eyes, surprised. The young woman was relieved that it was only her best friends, but soon the sentiment was replaced by annoyance, as they again found their way to her house without asking again.

“What are you two doing here ?!” She yelled at them, taking the food they were holding in their hands and putting it back where it belongs. “How many years has it been since we met and you’re still breaking into my house?”

“Hi Lushi!” They both exclaimed, mouths full. They swallowed what they were eating and gave her the biggest grin and she couldn’t help, but smile in return, she couldn’t be mad at them for long.

“We came by a while ago, but you weren’t here yet, so we decided to wait for you here.” The blue cat said, following the blond when she decided to walk back into her living room.

“I told you both that I would be at Levy’s house until late tonight.” 

“Yeah, but you didn’t say that you will come home this late!” Exclaimed the dragon slayer, letting himself fall on his friend's bed, annoying her.

“Get out of my bed!” She said, pulling on his arm to make him get up and yelped, when he suddenly sat straight up.

“Anyway I came here for something really important!” Natsu yelled, grinning at the celestial mage.

She looked at him and then at Happy who was also grinning at her, she frowned and looked back at Natsu confused. “Something important ?”

“Yeah ! Wait, what was it again ?”

Lucy couldn’t help herself, but hit her forehead with the palm of her hand, exasperated. Trust Natsu to come by and forget why, important or not. 

“Come on Natsu!” Happy exclaimed, flying closer to the boy. “You know it’s about-” He started to say and whispered the rest of his sentence in Natsu’s ear.

“Oh yeah! Thank you, Happy !” He jumped out of the bed, making Lucy jump of surprise and put his hand on her shoulders. “Lucy, tomorrow I'm bringing you somewhere and you can say no!”

The celestial mage looked at her best friend, confused by the sudden outburst. She rapidly noticed how close he was to her face and she could feel the heat climbing up to her cheeks. She wanted to retort that she should be allowed to decide for herself, but she couldn’t find the words.

“Uhmm bringing m-me where?” She stuttered slightly, feeling shy, by the proximity they were still sharing.

“It’s a surprise!” He exclaimed, his hand leaving her shoulder for the air. “I promise you will love it ! I’ve been planning it for a while now!” 

“Planning?” The blond asked, surprised, what could he have planned? The girl had no idea what could bring the boy to do such a thing, but he definitely had her attention.

“Aye !” Happy exclaimed, getting closer to the blond. “And I helped!” 

Lucy looked at both of them confused, wanting to know more, but before she could say anything else the dragon slayer pulled her toward him and hugged her, just to release her as fast as he hugged her and started to run toward the exit.

“I’ll come get you at the guild late in the afternoon, be ready !” The pink haired man said, giving her the biggest smile, before disappearing.

“Natsu wait! Couldn’t you give me at least a hint ?!” She yelled as she heard the door close and sighed.

This boy was impossible. She had no idea what would happen tomorrow, but she knew that it would haunt her dream tonight. She sighed and put down her keys on her coffee table.

“I’ll think about it later, let me take that bath to clear my head first.”

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The next day, Lucy was on her way to the guild, heart beating fast as she remembered that Natsu would be taking her to who knows where today. She still had no idea what he had planned, not in the slightest, but she did make some… interesting dreams last night. Most of them included Natsu asking her to be her girlfriend, sometimes having a good ending and sometimes, something awful happened, because dreams never make any sense. She blushed at the memory. It’s not the first time she would make this kind of dream. After knowing him for close to 5 years (11 years in reality), she didn’t want to admit it, but she did develop a crush on her pink-haired teammate. Did she refuse to acknowledge it ? Yes, they were best friends and she knew him well enough to know nothing will happen, he never showed any sign of being interested in a relationship. She sighed, she didn’t know what was that planned evening, but she better not make any scenario in her head or she would be disappointed, she knew it. He probably only wanted to show him something he found interesting or maybe she would find interesting. Nothing…Romantic, as much as she hoped secretly. 

She opened the door to the guild and looked for her friends. She knew that Levy and Gajeel wouldn’t be here today, they were spending deserved family time, but Gray or Erza were probably somewhere. She looked to her left and finally noticed a colorful range of hair, at one table in particular. She smiled and walked toward her friends. Gray and Juvia were talking with Erza and Jellal, accompanied by Meredy, the two crime sorciere mages had joined the guild once they were done with the whole 100 years quest. At first the sensory mage hesitated, but her and Jellal were so close that she couldn’t see herself separate from him and she loved the idea of being able to spend time with Juvia as well. Lucy was really happy for her friends, she liked both of them a lot and she couldn't be more glad that Erza and Jellal were finally together, literally as they were married.

“Hey guys!” The blond woman said, as she sat down beside the requip mage. “How are you all?”

“Ah Lucy, finally!” Meredy exclaimed, sending the biggest smile her way. “Those lovebirds were driving me crazy.”

“You’re just jealous that we can be with our partners and not you.” Gray said smirking, as Juvia cuddled closer to him giggling. 

“Yeah well, tell your brother to come more often and try to convince him to join the guild, I’m not changing guild for the 4th time.”

Was it mentioned that Gray and Juvia were also married ? It only took a couple of days for Gray to finally ask her to be with him when they were back from the quest and it didn’t take long for them to get married either. Gray knew she wouldn’t go anywhere, even the entire world knew she wouldn’t, so he didn’t need any convincing. Meredy, her,  found love with a certain white hair ice mage, while spending time with Gray and Juvia, they would often meet with him and would share stories about the Milkovich women. To be honest most of her friends had found love with someone from the guild or outside of fairy tail, which left Lucy being one of the only single people left. 

The celestial mage laughed and put her hands on the pink hair girl’s. “It’s fine, I’m here now.”

“So Lucy, you’re arriving late today.” Constated Erza, who looked at her up and down. “And you are wearing a dress?” 

“Umm yeah.” Lucy answered, blushing and the scarlet haired woman raised a brow. “Natsu told me to meet him here at the end of the afternoon, because he apparently planned somewhere to go ?” She said, as a question to see if her friends knew anything. “My initial plan was to stay home. To be honest, babysitting the twins with Levy is as rough as it is fun.”

“Juvia gets it, it gets overwhelming fast.” The water mage said, giving her a compassionate smile, as the other main Redfox’s babysitter. “Why are you wearing a dress though ? It’s beautiful by the way !”

“Thank you Juvia!” The blond replied, giving her friend a beautiful smile. “I don’t know, he didn’t give me any hints on where we were going to I figured I could at least be presentable in case it’s-” 

Lucy stopped mid sentence blushing like crazy, she almost said the word date outloud in front of her friends and she hoped they didn’t pick up on that. Sadly for the celestial mage, the smirk on her friends face, told her they knew exactly what she was thinking.

“Oh Lucy, look at you ! Are you going on a date?” She heard Mirajane say, as she came closer to their table serving the boys, the beer mugs they ordered earlier. 

Lucy blushed ever harder and couldn’t look at anyone. “NO!” She said, way too fast for her taste and she knew her friends' smirks grew even wilder. “Like I was telling the gang, Natsu asked me to go with him somewhere, so I thought I should look nice in case we are going somewhere fancy even though I don’t think he would ever bring me somewhere like this, I know he wouldn’t tell me if I need to dress up.”

“That is fair, I don’t think Natsu would realize that your everyday clothes are not something considered fancy.” Erza said, a finger on her shin, thinking.

“Exactly! I mean I’m probably wrong , but better be safe than not.”

“Oh so tonight is the night?” Gray asked and got elbowed by his wife ” What?” He answered blushing from embarrassment. “ I mean, today is the day he told me he wouldn’t be here cause he would go somewhere with Lucy!”

Lucy frowned as she noticed, the four women glaring at him. Gray probably didn’t mean to say anything that would spoil Lucy plans for the day, but she couldn’t help, but wondered if everyone knew, but her. 

“I’m sure you’ll have a great night Lucy!” The white haired woman said, smiling at her friend. “Spending time with Natsu is rarely boring isn’t it?”

Lucy nodded, but stress grew worse in the pit of her stomach. What were supposed to be the plans Natsu made and why was everyone acting like this. She sighed and told herself to calm down, that no matter what would happen, Mirajane was right, there was never a dull moment with the dragon slayer.

“But it does remind me of that time I teased you about Natsu being in love with you not long after you arrived at the guild.” The she-devil said, laughing and Lucy grunt in response.

She did remember this moment, Mirajane was indeed teasing her about Natsu and her being a couple, so when she heard that everyone heard him say things that hinted at him having a crush on some girl, her thoughts turned wild. He had asked her to meet him one night and she convinced herself that he would confess. It turned out he wanted Virgo’s help to dig up a treasure, she was furious, she slapped him and ran away.

“Don’t remind me of this, it was so embarrassing.” The blond woman said, forehead on the table. She also couldn’t help but feel sad, what if it was just like last time and she was making up stories in her head once again.

Before anyone could comment on all of this she felt an arm posing itself on her shoulder and the heat found its way to her face once again. She turns her head to her right, finding Natsu grinning at her, Happy right behind him.

“Hey Lucy ! Ready for an adventure?” 

Her blush remained and her heart started to beat faster than it already was, but that smile calmed her worries at the same time. Date or not, she knew what he had planned probably would be really interesting.

“Umm yes!” She answered, smiling back at him. “Let’s go!”

Natsu got up as soon as she agreed, his smile not leaving his face, for even a second. This is when she noticed he wasn’t wearing his usual fit, he had a nice clean shirt and some jeans, nothing fancy, but nothing…Natsu like. When she noticed that, her thoughts about it being a date came back and so did the anxious feeling in her chest.

“Happy you’re not coming ?” She asked, noticing the cat stayed with their friends, while they started to walk toward the entrance.

“Nah, have fun without me!” Happy answered giggling, paws over the mouth. Everyone was so suspicious today.

“Come one Luce ! If we don’t hurry up, we won’t get there on time!.”

He took her hand and started to run toward the exit, even if she complained about him being too fast for her. Once they were outside she was surprised by the enormous shadow over them,  wind blowing everywhere. She looked up and her jaw fell on the floor at the sight of the Christina above them. She turned to Natsu, shocked to see him still grinning at her.

“Why is the Christina at our guild ?!” 

“We need to travel, so I asked Laxus if he could ask Ichiya to bring us there!” He answered, proud of his idea. “When I told Ichiya the plan he accepted! He said if it was for his favorite niece, he would do it!”

The celestial mage shuddered at the thought of Ichiya calling her his niece. The older mage, got this habit of calling her niece since he got married to Anna, her ancestor, she hated it. She also wasn’t a fan of Ichiya becoming family, but she was happy that Anna found love. Other than his sniffing habit, the perfume mage was a good man.

“Here we go!” The pink hair mage exclaimed, pulling her toward the travelling pegasus.

She still had no idea where he was bringing her, but looking at the Christina made her think that it may be one of the best days of her life.

Their time on the Christina was short lived as they arrived in Hargeon, less than an hour later. They gave their thanks to Ichiya and Anna, who followed her husband so she could see her descendant. Lucy was grateful, she hadn’t seen the older Heartfilia in a while, it was fun to catch up. Both duo separate and agree to meet later tonight for the drive back to Magnolia,  

The celestial mage looked around, like usual Hargeon was lively as ever. The fishermen were coming back from their day on the sea and a lot of visitors were exploring the calm city. Lucy still had no idea why they were coming to Hargeon of all places, although the romantic part of her brain was telling her what if he brought her here because it was in this city that they met for the first time ? Especially since Happy didn’t tag along and he was with him that day. No, that must be a coincidence, she could dream,  Natsu would never do something like that.

“Lucy, do you remember? This is where we met for the first time!” The said boy mentioned and Lucy couldn’t help but stare at him like he grew multiple heads, was she wrong ? “Luce why are you looking at me like that, am I wrong ? I swear it was Hargeon. I remember destroying those bad guys' boats…”

The blond shook her head to clear her mind and smiled at her best friend. “No it was here, I’m just surprised you are mentioning it.” 

“Well why did you think I brought you here ?” Natsu said, confused. 

I don’t know anything could be possible ! The girl thought this was getting so close to her dreams last night, she was starting to panic. What if she was right and he was about to ask her to be his girlfriend ?! Before she could say anything else, Natsu took her hands and started to run, the same way they exited the guild earlier.

“Come on, let’s go eat !”

Lucy swallowed her panic away and smiled at him. She was indeed hungry, she hoped wherever they were going was good.

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You may think at this point that Lucy was fully in denial of what was happening or she was dreaming and she would wake up soon, but she was certain now that this was a hundred percent a date. Not only did the dragon slayer bring her to the city they first met at, but he also brought her to the same restaurant they ate at. She expected to go to 8island, but no, how did he remember? She also wondered, she guessed that there weren't a lot of restaurants in hargeon, so it was easier to remember?

During their supper, they talked about the past. The way they met, their first mission together and all their following adventures, it was nice. She did ask Natsu why he brought her here and his answer was that he knew she had moments of nostalgia often, so he thought she would like coming here. She will be honest and say she almost cried on the spot, it honestly touched her. She was fond of nostalgia, especially of her time in Fairy tail, the fire mage did change her life for the better when he brought her to Fairy tail and she liked to think about these moments often, it made her happy.

After they were done with eating, they walked around until they got to the top of the hill, full view of the ocean, the same place the boat Lucy had been kidnapped on got destroyed by her favorite dragon slayer. They leaned on the railing, The celestial mage looking at the sea in front of them, while Natsu had his back to it. 

“It’s really beautiful.” The blond mage said and she heard the boy making a sound of agreement. But she turned around, he wasn’t looking at the sea, but at the sky.

Lucy imitated him and looked at the sky too. It was pretty late, so the sky was filled with stars. She tried her best to find some constellations and pointed them to her friend, describing each one of them to him. He listened to her through all her rambling, she had the biggest smile on her face, she was really happy at this moment, she didn’t care if she was right or wrong. What she did know is how much she realised that the person she would love to spend the rest of her day with was Natsu, as a friend or more.

“And that’s it, I don’t think I can find more constellations.” She said and turned to him and that’s when she noticed that he wasn’t looking at the sky anymore, but he was looking at her, with the most serious expression. She turned to him and waited for the dragon slayer to say something. 

“Lucy, I have something really important to tell you, you have to promise me you’ll listen well okay ?” 

She was, indeed, not able to say a word and walked face to face with him. Her brain was going crazy at that moment. Was he going to tell her he was leaving for some mission and he wanted her to follow or worst not follow him or could she dream of him asking her the question she waited all day for?

Natsu took her hands in his and sighed, he changed his serious expression for a happier one, smiling slightly. Lucy had a feeling he was as nervous as she was. “Lucy, I'm really not good with feelings you probably know that so I will make it brief.” Okay now it was time to panic, feelings ?! “I always had a lot of friends, who I am really close to, but not one compared to the connection I have with you, I love being with you and whenever you aren’t near I feel lonely and that’s why-”

And that’s when the celestial mage almost fainted. She put her hands to her mouth in shock as Natsu, kneeled on one knee and looked through his pockets. After a couple of minutes of looking, he had seemed to forget where he had put it, he pulled out a beautiful ring and said a sentence she never thought, in a million years she would hear today.

“I want to ask you, will you marry me?” 

Will you marry me? Marry…me? Wait what ???????

“Marry you?!” Lucy screamed, scaring Natsu who got up again, looking at Lucy, a mix of panic and sadness in his expression. He probably thought she didn’t want to marry him, she felt guilty, but  this wasn’t the question. 

“Lu…cy? You don’t want to marry me ?” He asked, with sadness filling his voice and her heart broke, that’s not what she meant.

“But Natsu we aren’t even dating ?! We can’t marry each other!” The blond yelled, still not understanding what was going on in her best friend's brain. 

“But…I thought that when you love someone you marry them…no?” The pink haired mage said, confused by her reaction.

Love? He was in love with her ? Lucy looked at the other mage for a minute, before bursting out laughing. She still couldn’t understand what was happening, but she threw her arms around his neck and hugged him. Even though the man missed a couple of steps to their relationship, the reality hit her. Natsu was asking her to marry her, it meant that he loved her too and that was the important information of this whole thing.

“Usually people date before they get married, you know?” Lucy said, looking at him and whipped a tear that fell down her cheek.

“Is it really necessary?” Natsu said, a hint of annoyance. “I already know, I want to spend my life with you.” 

The celestial mage smiled at him, tears forming in her eyes. She knew if she talked she would cry, so she did the best idea she could think of at this moment, she kissed him. At first the dragon slayer didn't move, probably surprised by the kiss, but he soon followed her. If she knew she would be kissing her best friend today and most surprisingly getting proposed too, she would have worn an even fancier dress, but thank god she at least wore one.

After they separated, the pink hair mage grinned at her and she melted. “So is that a yes?!” 

Lucy laughed. “Let’s date a little bit before we make that decision.”

Natsu sighed in annoyance and nodded. She laughed once again before kissing him another time. “Umm also…” She starts blushing. “ I love you Natsu.”

“I love you too, Luce!” He exclaimed, before taking her in his arms, turning her around in the air happily, both laughing.

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“So are you two finally dating ?” Gray asked, when he saw his best friends walk into the guild, hand in hand.

“Fiance actually !” Natsu said, with the biggest grin and the entire guild looked at them, completely frozen.

Lucy elbowed him and the dragon slayer looked at her confused. “I said, we are dating first, remember?” She rolled, her eyes before showing her ring to the ice mage and their other friends, the girls squealing at the sight. “But he did propose!” 

Lucy explained to them the magical night they spent yesterday, showing them the beautiful golden alliance, a small opal in the middle, moons and stars shaped detailed on the side of it formed of multiple mini diamonds. Apparently Erza helped with the ring, making it herself and Mirajane helped Natsu think of a perfect date for them, none of them thought he would propose though. Erza thought it was a simple gift and the dragon slayer did mention it was a date to the satan soul mage. Everyone laughed, while some people scolded Natsu for going straight to proposing to her, honestly Lucy wouldn’t change it for anything in the world. It may be overwhelming, but like Natsu confessed she already knew she wanted to spend the rest of her life with him, so she didn’t mind as much now. She was the happiest girl in the world and she couldn’t wait for this new adventure awaiting for them.

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