"He doesn't like the train, yet he rides it anyway?" Lucy asked, her head tilted a bit in worry and confusion.

Natsu lay, sprawled out on the seat across from her, Wendy, and Carla. His complaints and gurgles being heard loud and clear, while Happy tried to comfort him.

"All dragon slayers have motion sickness. I'm not really sure why that is."

"Wendy, you don't have it."

"I don't. I'm not too sure why I don't get it either. Maybe it's because I'm still young." She shrugged. They were on their way to a small job in the next town over. It was a simple task really, yet it paid fairly well.

The rest of the train ride was silent until they reached their stop. Then Natsu rushed out the doors and cheered in happiness.

"I'm so glad to be off that death trap." He sighed.

"It wasn't even that bad." Carla rolled her eyes.

"How would you know?!"

"Oh stop the bickering! Let's head over to the requesters home." Lucy told the two. They nodded and followed after her and Wendy. Both girls looked around the small city as they walked, admiring it's scenery.

"The house is right here!" Wendy declared upon arriving in front of a huge house.

The small group walked up to the door, knocking lightly. A few seconds later, a frail old woman answered. She smiled at the group and invited them inside.

"You are from the wizard's guild, correct?"

"Yes, ma'am!" Lucy smiled as she proudly showed her guild mark.

"I'm Kikyo. I know this job seems silly seeing as it involves no use of magic but, I am quite old and need the help."

"Whatever job it is, I'm sure we can handle it." said a determined Wendy.

"Well, I make my living off selling fruits in town on the weekends. My late husband was a successful business man, but I wanted to make a living on my own after his passing. I am too old to go fruit picking, and the children who usually help me are out of town for the week. Your job is to simply pick the apples from the trees out back. They are very tall, so I have a step ladder you can borrow." the old woman explained.

"Sounds like fun!" Wendy grinned.

"Feel free to snack on an apple or two if you need it. I just need four baskets worth, but I'll give you a fifth basket to fill so you can take it home with you."

"Thank you! Would you like us to start now?" Lucy asked.

"That would be very kind of you." She nodded, showing them out to her backyard. She didn't exaggerate the size of the trees. They were very tall! Wendy would most likely need Carla's help for the job.

"I'll leave you to it. I'll prepare some lemonade for you guys if you're thirsty." Kikyo told them with another smile before heading back inside.

"Okay, let's each fill a basket." Wendy said, giving each of her teammates one. "Do you mind if I use the step ladder?"

"Go ahead! Pick some good ones." Lucy gave her a small wink before going over to a tree.

"I'll race you, Happy. Whoever fills their basket first wins!" Natsu challenged.

"Aye sir!" The two raced over to another tree, leaving Wendy and Carla at the shortest tree. It may have been the shortest, yet it was still too tall for little Wendy.

Kikyo came back out, when each of them had about half of their baskets full, with a tray holding a pitcher of lemonade. They paused their apple picking to quench their thirst.

"Ah! That's refreshing." Carla complimented.

"I would love the recipe for this!" Lucy declared.

"I'll write it out for you before you leave."

"Thank you, Kikyo! We'll be done shortly I bet."

Kikyo nodded as they went back to work. The sun was beginning to set, leaving the sky a nice pink and orange color. Natsu and Happy had their baskets filled to the brim, Happy teasing Natsu that he finished faster.

"It's only because you got wings to fly around the whole tree." Natsu grumbled.

"Ah, don't look so glum Natsu."

"Whatever."

"I'm surprised you didn't eat them all." Carla mused, heading over with Wendy. Their baskets were also full of the delicious red fruit.

"Nice job, guys!" Natsu grinned at the two. Wendy sat beside him and grabbed an apple to snack on.

"I wanted to wait until we were done to eat one." she giggled before taking a bite.

"That's a good idea! It's probably not as yummy as fish." Happy pouted. Natsu looked over to see Lucy standing in front of the tree longingly.

He stood up, "I'm gonna go help Lucy finish."

"We'll wait here!" Wendy called out as he walked away.

"Why the long face, Luce?" he asked when he approached her.

She jumped in surprise at his sudden arrival before looking back at the tree. She simply pointed above her, pouting a bit. Natsu's eyes trailed to where her finger was pointing to see a huge, shiny red apple. It was an apple that would put Snow White's apple to shame, especially since it contained no poison particles.

"That's an apple." He stated.

"I know. I filled my basket a while ago, but I wanted to snack on that one."

"Why didn't you pick it?"

She gave him a 'duh' look, "I'm too short and Wendy was using the step ladder."

He nodded in understanding. It fell silent between them for a few seconds.

"Natsu! I want that apple." she whined like a child.

Natsu chuckled and kneeled down. She looked at him like he was crazy.

"Get on my shoulders. With you there, you'll be sure to reach it." he smiled.

"Are you sure? I won't be too heavy will I?"

"No. Now c'mon."

"O-okay." she shakingly got on his shoulders. His hands wrapped around her thighs to keep her in place, and when he stood, she held onto his hand so she wouldn't fall back.

"Let's get the apple." he leaned his head back and gave her a grin.

She nodded and gave a close-eyed smile. He sauntered forward so that the apple was directly above them. Lucy reached one of her hands out, keeping the other firmly in his on her thigh. Her grin grew once she plucked it.

Lucy stared at the apple like it was a prize before rubbing it on her shirt. She then took a bite out of it and was delighted by the sweetness.

"Natsu! Try it!" she leaned forward a bit (like Asuna in the photo) Holding the apple out to him. He looked at it and then up at her.

"Are you sure? You really wanted that apple."

"Mhm. You helped me get it, so you at least deserve a taste." She smiled at him and he leaned forward to take the apple in his mouth.

"Leave the apple in your mouth Natsu, so we can roast you like the pig you are!" Happy said as he came flying up to them.

Natsu choked at his friends words as he began to chew the contents in his mouth. Lucy glared at the exceed as she began to take another bit of the apple.

"That's not very nice Happy. You almost made Natsu choke."

"Oh well! Kikyo asked if we were done so I came to see if you guys were."

"Oh, yeah. We'll meet you there!" Lucy said as Happy began to fly back to the house.

"Let's head back, too." Natsu mumbled as he kneeled down to retrieve Lucy's basket.

"You can put me down, you know."

"It's fine. Just watch the sunset or something."

"Now that you mention it, the sunset does look amazing from up here." she mummered. the walk to the house was silent as Lucy watched the sky change from the pinkish orange to a dark purple and finally to a midnight blue.

"The stars are going to look beautiful tonight." She mumbled, smiling as she started to see the comstellations take form.

She wasn't expecting a response from the pink haired dragon slayer but she could've sworn she heard something along the lines of, "But they won't compare to you."

She smiled down at him, seeing the hint of pink on his cheeks that most likely matched hers.

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woo new chapter! it's kind of a filler haha. hope you guys are diggin this story so far and let me know if it's too cheesy or cliche or whatever. yes i know the pic is sao but i didnt have another thing to relate to this scene!

vote, comment, follow!!

thanks for reading!!

*not proofread*