Let me talk to you about NaLu in 545...
Apparently everyone is freaking out and salty about the end of the chapter so let me spin a different perspective on my interpretation. Thanks fo @siriusly-random and @taleen777 for listening to me on this.
I’ve read a lot of posts in regards to Natsu and Lucy’s feelings for each other, and I firmly believe that Natsu IS aware of his feelings for Lucy. But because Natsu is Natsu, he doesn’t need more from her than he already has. All he wants is for her to be happy, he doesn’t need something romantic.
As for Lucy, I’m going to pull on one of Taleen‘s posts here.
“Lucy’s idea of love is a mix between what she’s read in books and what she’s seen in magazines. She has never experienced it first-hand. She doesn’t really know what real love is like, with all its ups and downs. Realizing the true essence of her feelings for Natsu, or any other possible love interest really, would take time.”
In other words, it would take a long time for her to actually realize she has feelings for Natsu, and even then she might not be ready.
And THAT is what I think happened in this chapter.
So, let’s take a look at this.
This is a long hug. This one is long. And Natsu’s not uncomfortable here. He’s not nervous. He’s just looking at Happy because he doesn’t know what to do. Lucy’s crying, and yeah, she says she’s happy, but if she’s happy he wants her to smile, not cry.
So the logical thing for him, would be to tell her something, which he goes to do:
Take a look at his expression here.
He wants to tell her something serious, and Lucy knows it.
But because of their close proximity…
With how the panels zoom in on her face, Lucy thinks Natsu’s going to kiss her.
And she’s not stopping him.
In the past, we’ve seen her push him away when he gets too close. Whether it’s by kicking him away, or pushing Happy in to take the kiss instead of her, Lucy isn’t shy about pushing someone away or being very loud about personal boundaries.
If Natsu were to have kissed her, she would’ve let him.
He breaks the tension the way he always does.
She gets mad that he does this because she’s embarrassed. She thought he was going to kiss her and she was hopeful about it.
But again, Natsu knows she isn’t ready.
Take a look at the shading on this panel. That shading should tell you everything.
Whenever we see this kind of shading on Natsu, it’s when he’s serious. He’s serious about something he’s saying, he’s serious about beating an enemy and protecting is friends. He gets like this when he’s serious.
And he’s serious about letting Lucy know that it’s okay. He knows she’s not ready and he’s okay with it.
She has all the time in the world with him to be ready. He won’t treat her any differently. He’ll be here for her in any way she wants him to be.
And if one day she’s ready, then so be it.
But he doesn’t need that from her. He never has.
Lucy just isn’t ready for it yet, and Natsu cares deeply enough for her that he’ll respect that fact. He’ll respect that she isn’t ready, even if she’d let him kiss her.
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