Natsu arrived at the guild quite early the next day. He was pretty excited about going on a job. The town was still in the process of being rebuilt, but since everyone had helped the process was going by fast and smooth. As soon as he entered the guild, he went straight to Levy, Lily and Carla. He forgot to ask them all if they had found anything about the curse the other day. They had all been so thrilled that Lucy had awoken, that they forgot to tell him.

"Morning Levy, Carla, Lily. Did you guys happen to find anything?"

"We were able to confirm that the way Bankotsu told you how to break the curse is correct." Lily told him, his tiny arms crossed over his chest.

"Carla and I found that if the mage that cast the spell wasn't strong enough, the spell would waver and Lucy might recall some memories that she shared with you but she still won't remember who are. But, we don't really know how strong Bankotsu's curse was. We'll have to wait it out." Levy added.

Natsu pouted, "Geez, this sucks."

"What? You don't want Lucy to fall for you?" the blunette smirked and Natsu immediately felt his face warm up. Before he could respond, the guild doors opened allowing Lucy and Wendy to enter.

Lucy, being the stubborn girl she is, insisted that everyone let her go home so she could rest where she's most comfortable. They allowed it, but only if someone were to accompany her for the night. Of course, Natsu wanted to volunteer, but he could feel Erza's glare on him and decided not to. Wendy offered, especially since she wanted to make sure her wounds would be alright. Carla also joined but left earlier than the two to try and research more about the curse.

"Good morning, Levy!" Lucy cheered, walking over to them with Wendy following.

"Morning Lu! Before you ask, this is Natsu Dragneel who is a Fire Dragon Slayer." she introduced.

Lucy turned and smiled at Natsu, "Morning Natsu. I'm Lucy, a Celestial Spirit Mage."

"Nice to meet you." he smiled at her, in which she returned.

"Levy, do you know where Erza and Gray are?" Lucy asked, turning back to her friend.

"Erza is looking for a job for you guys to do and Gray is probably trying to fend Juvia off around here somewhere."

"Natsu!" a voice whined. They all turned to see the blue exceed fly through the guild doors and into Natsu's chest.

"Happy? What's up?"

"Don't 'what's up' me! You left me! What happened to always coming to the guild together?" Happy pouted.

"Aw, Happy. I'm sure he didn't mean to leave you behind." Lucy told him while patting his head. Happy looked up at her with a shocked expression.

"You remember me?"

Lucy tilted her head to the side in confusion, "Why would I forget?"

"Fool! The curse was only placed on Natsu." Carla hissed in a whisper.

"Oh. It's nothing, Lucy!" he told the blonde. She just stared at him before Erza called them over. Lucy wondered why Natsu was following after her, but then thought that maybe Erza had invited him before her arrival.

"I picked a simple job for is since we are all healing up. It should still be fun nonetheless." She grinned at her team before yelling at Gray to get some clothes on.

"Dammit, not again." Gray grumbled.

"I'm all fired up!" Natsu exclaimed as they set off to their job.

****

A few hours later and Natsu was not as 'fired up' as he claimed to be. Instead, he was sulking at the podium at the front of the restaurant where they were requested to help out for their job. He was forced into slacks, a nice button up with his scarf still slung across his next. He was assigned to show guests to their seats while Gray, Erza, Wendy and Lucy were to work as waiters.

Of course, Natsu tried to be a waiter, but after dropping the tray multiple times he swicthed positions with Wendy.

"Erza, I know you said something easy but come on!" He whined.

"Natsu, we are still recovering from yesterday's fight. Plus, the reward is generously high. And this is fun, is it not?" Erza grinned at the customer she was serving before heading back to the kitchen and picking up the next order.

"She wouldn't know what fun is if it smacked her in the face." He mumbled.

A small giggle from his left made him turn. Lucy stood there in the work uniform she was required to wear. It was similar to a maid outfit but instead of black, it was a light lavender. Her hair was tied back into a ponytail with two loose strands hanging on each side of her face.

"Oh, hey Luce." He grinned. She titled her head in confusion at the nickname but smiled back.

"You seem bored."

"Well this isn't the most exciting job. Where's the action at?" he pouted, resting his chin on his palm while his elbow rested on the podium.

"The most action I've seen on this job was Erza arguing with a customer that he couldn't order any cake." They both laughed at this before the bell chimed, signaling a customer had entered.

"We should get back to work. See ya, Natsu."

"Wait!" he called after her. She quickly spun around, glanced at the old couple awaiting to be seated, and looked back at him.

"Yes?"

"I'll walk ya home after we return to the guild. We'll even get some ice cream!"

"Sounds fun! It's a date." She smiles at him just as Wendy calls for her help. She hurries over to the small girl while Natsu blushes about what she just said.

"Ah, young love." the little old woman says.

"I remember how we met when we were their age." her husband agrees, sighing in content. Natsu shrugs off their words and shows them to a booth near a window. After his little conversation with Lucy, he felt eager to finish the once boring job.

*****

"See you guys tomorrow! Have a goodnight!" Lucy called to her friends as she left the guild with Natsu and Happy at her side. The others waved and bid her a 'goodnight' before turning to do their own things. For a while, the trio walked in silence. Well, Natsu and Lucy walked while Happy hovered above their heads.

"So Natsu, when'd you join Fairy Tail?" Lucy asked. They were just approaching an ice cream shop, so he held the door open for her. She nodded her head in thanks before he followed her in, letting the door shut behind him. Happy wasn't paying any attention and ended up smacking into the now closed door.

"I've been a member since I was younger." He told her, not even noticing his exceed laying outside the door with stars in his eyes.

"Oh, really?"

"Yup." he smiled. They ordered their ice cream, paid, and then headed back out.

"Happy, what are you doing on the floor?"

"Natsu... door... crash." he grumbled.

Lucy sighed and picked up Happy, cradling his half conscious body in her arms. They began their stroll back to Lucy's apartment once more. It was silent as they ate their ice cream, but it was a comfortable silence. Natsu was used to Lucy's company and Lucy felt at ease in his. Almost like she's known him for a long time...

"Oh we're here already." Lucy announced. She looked up at her apartment and even though she couldn't wait to curl into the covers of her bed, she wasn't ready to part ways with Natsu just yet.

"That was faster than expected."

"Tell me about it. How did you manage to get ice cream on your nose?"

"Hm?" Natsu tried to looked at his nose, but his eyes ended up going cross eyed. Lucy laughed before reaching out with a tissue to wipe it off.

"All better." she smiled. She handed Happy over to him who had completely fallen asleep on the way over.

"Thanks for walking me home and going out for ice cream. We should do it again sometime!"

"Of course!" He really enjoyed tonight. It felt like an average day, and as if there was no curse to worry about. He frowned a bit after recalling the curse but covered it up with a smile.

"Goodnight, Natsu. Let's meet up at the guild tomorrow, yeah?"

"Totally! Night, Lucy!" he cheered. She waved at him before turning to go inside. He stood there a few seconds before starting his own way home. He thought about how he could break this damn curse and a small smile crept onto his face as he got the perfect plan. He couldn't wait till tomorrow to ask Mira if his plan would be worth the effort.