Ch. 49 - My second kiss

Lucy's POV

DARKNESS. That was all I could see everywhere. Nothing beyond, nothing to see. What happened while I was fighting? All I could ever remember was falling in--wait. Is this heaven? I never imagined this to be pitch black. I expected it to be much more lighter.

"Lucy!"

"Lucy!"

"Ms. Heartfilia?!"

"Luce..!"

My eyes widened when I heard his voice. Natsu?

"Luce!!"

Something inside me felt relieved when my wish came true and that was to hear his voice once again. He kept caloing my name but, I don't feel anything. I drowned and remembered nothing after it.

I suddenly felt my finger twitch instinctively. It changed the atmosphere somehow. The voices I heard changed their tones.

My eyes slowly opened. And as they opened, I felt a stinging pain in the eyes seeing the sunlight. The sun was removed when someone lifted me up. When my eyes were opened fully, I saw Natsu hugging me. I felt the tightness of his grip in the hug and appreciated it. Out of the blue, I hugged him back, hearing everybody surrounding us cheer.

"W... What happened...?" I stammered.

Natsu puller away from me, his eyes never leaving mine as he squeezed my arms. "Luce... I... I thought I lost you."

I felt my cheeks burn all of a sudden. But, I didn't bother to look away. His eyes were tearing up. He was sincere. His words were true and very heartfelt. I couldn't help but cry. "N... Natsu...!" as I was just about to hug him back, everyone cheered when Principal Mavis announced Natsu's act of heroism and raised his arm with a smile.

"Note, chicken fights are now forbidden for people who cannot swim." Erza muttered under her breath as she jotted that down on her notepad.

I raised a hand up, "Erza! I-It's really fine!" I reassured her.

"Iyah! It is not enough to satisfy my fault. If you may... please punish me now!" Erza pleaded as she handed me her wooden sword.

My eyes widened at her action. "I'm not punishing anyone here. Where'd this sword come from anyway?"

Erza grabbed the sword back when she was called by Mira-san. Just then, a hug from my back came, revealing it was Levy. "Lu-chan! I-I hate myself! How can I be your bestfriend if I can't even save your life?!" she started sniffling on my shoulder.

I quickly hugged her back and, kept on patting her on the head. "Levy, don't say that. I'm fine now and that's enough."

She wiped the tears falling from her eyes and let her lips shiver. "Y-You really mean it?"

Right at the time when I nodded, she breathes out in relief. "I'm... just so glad. You're still alive. You almost gave me a heart attack! Good thing Natsu was here to save you."

My eyes widened at her statement. "S-Say that again, will you?" she coughed, raising a finger as she stated, "Nat-su-saved-you."

Instinctively, I looked in his direction where he was being praised by the principal as he kept pretending to become modest when he really felt confident. There was one point when he eventually stared back at me then looked away, showing a slight hint of blush rising to both of his cheeks.

I looked away just the same. "I-Is that right...?" my hand moved on its own, tucking strands of my hair behind my ear.

"He kissed you, you know?"

"Come again?" I snapped out of my thoughts and this time, tried to listen well to what Levy just said.

"Like I said, he kissed you." Levy blushed, blowing raspberries. "Oh, come on, don't tell me you two haven't even done that? At your wedding, right?"

I blushed, "A-Ahh... T-That wasn't really... t-the first..." I moved my hand and placed it on top of my lips, gulping at the thought of his lips against mine.

I shook my head out of the clouds. "T-Tha--well... I-I--"

"Oi, Lucy!"

Chills were sent down to my spine when I heard him calling my name. "Gah!"

Levy stopped herself from laughing, "Good luck with that! See ya!"

She left without even letting me tag along since Natsu already reached me. "Luce, are you feeling any better now?"

I nodded rapidly, trying to avoid his gaze. If I encounter that gaze again, I don't think I'll be able to move again. "Y-Yes, much better. T-Thanks to you.."

Okay, maybe I should make eye contact with him. My head slowly moved up to be in the same level as his. I felt my cheeks heat up. "Natsu, did you..." I touched my lip and before I could speak, I stopped when I saw him back away a bit and cover his mouth.

Natsu's POV

What the heck are you doing, man?! This isn't like me, too afraid to admit that I kissed her.

As I covered my mouth, the memory of kissing her (despite the situation where it was necessary to) flashed back. The softness of her lips, how they looked so pink and made me wanting to kiss them more.

I'm confused.

How could I think like this? I've been feeling strange ever since the kiss. This is so not like me. My heart started racing once again as my eyes landed back to her lips which looked much more perfect than before.

"Natsu...? Are you alright?"

I removed my hand from its place and tried straightening myself out. "Sorry..? What--What was that again?"

She slides her hand across my forehead then felt hers. "You don't have a fever. Or have you caught one since you rescued me?!" she gasped, backing away a bit.

I shook my head, landing a small hit on her head. "Idiot. You can't catch a cold from kissing."

She blushed at my statement. Wrong choice of words!! I raised both of my hands in the air. "S-Sorry! I-I meant to say through CPR. T-That wasn't a kiss!" I laughed nervously after ending my sentence.

She seemed to get my statement, sighing in relief after hearing it. She laughs nervously, too. "Y-Yeah." she blew raspberries. "That wasn't a kiss... That was--something heroic."

I gestured like a 'you're right' pose then chuckled. "Yeah! Th-That's what I meant by--by uh, w-what I said." I stammered upon her lips. My eyes ended up staring at them again. Damn it.

Why did her lips have to look so perfect at the wrong moments?!

"Alright, everybody settle down! No more interviews about the issue. Clearly, the plan was not effective since a lot, apparently, can't swim... So, we've decided to change that and.." as the principal continued to talk, Lucy smiles at me then holds my hand for a bit.

"Thank you, again, Natsu. I mean it. For saving my life." after that, she hugs me for at least three long seconds then runs off into the crowd.

I covered half of my face, upon feeling the heat and redness of my face. She's so damn cute. "Man, you sure are lucky."

I turned and saw Gray hanging his arm against my shoulder. "Your second kiss, man?"

I nodded, "Y-Yeah..." I touched my lips once more and felt myself grin. I placed both my arms on my hips and proudly said, "Next time, I'm definitely gonna make the first move. At that time, it will be intentional."

Gray scoffs as he walked away from me. "Yeah, good luck with that ever happening since you're a slowpoke."

I flicked the middle finger at him then ran out of the pool area to try and plan how I can make Luce realize my feelings for her.