Finished - Jan 26, 2020

Word Count - 1726

Music - BrunuhVille - Blue Rose

Summary:

Natsu takes Lucy to see the Rainbow Sakura Cherry Trees Bloom. For the first time she will be able to see them up close and in person. But Natsu has an even better time, not watching the trees, but watching Lucy.

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Today was the day and Lucy was extremely excited! In all the many years she had been apart of Fairy Tail, she was finally going to see the Rainbow Sakura Trees bloom. The first year she was too sick to make the festival, the following year she and many others got stuck in the seven year time gap. And after that she had simply been too busy going on missions with Natsu to take a day off to go see the beautiful trees.

Unfortunately, since many years had passed, the festival itself was no longer running. But people were more than welcome to gaze upon the wonder of the flowers.

It took her by surprise when Natsu asked to take her, he didn't seem like the romantic type, to ask her on a date like that. Well, if he even thought of it like a date. He probably just thought they would go as friends, just like they did everything, as friends. Lucy was slightly disappointed by this fact.

But nothing could make her sad today. She was going to see the Rainbow cherry trees with Natsu and that itself was going to be special! It was just going to be the two of them, since the festival hadn't happened in years and Happy was spending the day with Pantherlily.

Lucy was glad that the two male exceeds were getting together, they rarely ever hung out. But they got along very well and they were the same species! It was really nice to see them spending more time with each other as friends.

"Hey Luce." A voice caught her attention. Lucy looked and saw Natsu peeking his head through her window. "Ready to go?"

"Yep. Meet ya outside!" Lucy smiled as the boy hopped down from the sill to meet her by the front door. She walked over, locked the window and left her apartment. Meeting Natsu at the bottom of the stairs, she noticed he was dressed differently than normal. Instead of this regular black and white get-up, he wore jeans, converse and a light jacket. He held a back pack over his right shoulder, probably holding a blanket for them to sit on.

"Why the silence?" He asked.

"Nothing, Im just not used to seeing you wear anything besides the clothes you always wear." She pointe out.

"Thats because I can use my magic in them without having to worry about them burning." He shrugged. "I just feel more comfortable in them."

"That would make sense. So no fire today?"

"Well, not a lot." He smirked.

"Is that even possible with you?" She giggled sarcastically.

Together they walked out of town, only Natsu knew where to go so he had agreed to lead the way. He had seen the cherry blossoms blooms dozens of times before, it was nothing special for him. But for some reason he was looking forward to seeing the trees again, not for his own enjoyment, but for Lucy's.

After a bit of walking they came up to the Cherry tree grove, the spot in years past where they had laid out blankets, mats and celebrated the color change. But today it was empty. It was a good thing Natsu brought a few of his own supplies then.

"Here we are." Natsu set down his pack on the grass.

Lucy looked around at the slightly pink trees, slightly disappointed in their current lack of color. "Hmmm."

"Don't worry Luce. They only change color with the moonlight, we have to wait until the sun goes down." Natsu laughed at her impatientness.

"Here, can you help me set this up?" He asked, unloading his backpack.

"Yeah." Lucy gave him a hand and unfolded the large blanket, laying it on the grass neatly.

Once the blanket was laid, they both sat down and Lucy looked towards the slowly setting sun. However, she noticed Natsu still rummaging through his bag. He then started to pull out multitudes of objects. Things like candles, matches, snacks, water bottles and even mugs!

"Wow!" Lucy stopped him. "You brought all this stuff?"

Natsu froze, a hand still in his large bag. "Yeah."

Lucy took stock of all the items sprawled out on the blanket.

"Is it too much?" Natsu started to look nervous.

"No. I just didn't expect it." She laughed, Natsu's energy calming. "But why the matches? Cant you just light the candles?"

"I might want a snack too." Natsu looked almost offended.

"Weirdo." She sighed.

"Hey, that's my line." He side eyed her, fiddling with his trinkets once more.

"Who said you could trade mark a phrase?"

"Anyway, want some hot chocolate?"Natsu asked with enthusiasm, ignoring her question.

"Hot chocolate? But we are in the middle of the forest. How-"

"I brought mugs to heat the water in." The boy held up two matching white mugs, most likely "borrowed" from the Guild Hall.

"I would love some." Lucy smiled.

Natsu was so easily entertained by life's little things, how a cup of hot chocolate could lift his spirits to the moon! She loved to watch him get excited by these things. In general, she loved to watch him do everything. The way his eyes lit up and his smile widened when he accomplished something he was proud of.

"Here ya go. Careful, it's still pretty hot."

"Thanks." Lucy cautiously took the warm cup from him. She held it close to her, just under her chin and filled her nose with the sweet smell. She pulled her knees up to her chest and rested the mug upon them gently. Her eyes lazily looking to the darkening sky.

"The moon is almost out. It should start soon." Natsu laid back on his palms and looked up with Lucy.

For some odd reason Lucy felt nervous, it was childish for her to feel that way, yet she did. She had been so excited to see it for so long ago and had imagined what it would look like, she even had dreams about it! Of corse, Natsu and Happy had brought a tiny piece of it to her, and for that she was incredibly grateful! But now she would be there, sitting in a forest full of them!

It would be different because she wouldn't be alone, Natsu would be sitting right next to her. Just that fact made her feel more comfortable. Yet somehow, she could not help the unsettling feeling in her stomach.

Without even looking, Natsu could feel Lucy's anxiety. Just by hearing her constantly fidget in her seat and heavy sighs.

"Luce. Relax."Natsu rolled his eyes.

"What?" Lucy looked to him overly surprised. "What do you mean? Im relaxed. Super relaxed! Why? Do I not look relaxed? Maybe I need more hot chocolate."

She started to ramble, her hands shook around her cup of hot coco as she raised it to her lips. But as her trembling fingers did so, it slipped. Natsu shot his arm out to catch the cup of hot liquid before it spilt and burned her. Catching it just in time.

"Geez Lucy. You need to be more careful." Natsu set the cup down a good distance away.

Lucy's face crumbled into her knees. "Im sorry, I don't know what's wrong with me today."

"Hey, we all have bad days." Natsu drew circles on her back. "Remember when I snuck into the Guilds kitchen?"

"You mean when you stole all the Guild's cheese?" Lucy giggled slightly, remembering the incident.

"Yeah, Happy and I wanted to prank everyone with 'The Mystery of the Missing Cheese'."

"But you came back the next day smelling like Aged Swiss."

"Not only that, but we forgot to close the door to the Freezer. So all the Guild food went bad!"

"Thats right!" Lucy pointed and laughed. "Master had you and Happy banned from the Hall for a week!"

"What a long week." He sighed.

"What do you mean by that?! You practically lived at my apartment for that entire week! You big baby."

"You got me there." He raised his hands in defeat.

As they were talking, the dark surroundings suddenly brightened. Natsu could now see Lucy's facial expression widen, he hadn't realized how dark it had gotten. But now it was unexpectedly shining, lighting up the scenery.

Lucy looked up immediately, her eyes not blinking as she took in the amazing sight. In the moonlight the trees around her illuminate, sharing their colorful light with her. A soft breeze blew and a few petals broke off their branches, floating with the wind.

Tears came to her eyes as she saw colors she'd never seen before appear before her. Pastel shades of the rainbow she couldn't name. Lucy was utterly speechless.

"Pretty isn't it." Natsu snapped her out of her trance.

But she couldn't respond, her tongue was tied.

"Wow Luce, I've never seen you this dumbfounded." Natsu laughed.

Usually Lucy would snap back at him, but she knew he was only teasing her and she was too caught up in the sight before her.

"Its...Its.." Her mouth felt dry and she couldn't think of any words perfect enough to describe it.

"I know." Natsu shook his head at her astonishment. He then placed a hand on her shoulder and gently leaned her back against him. The back of her head resting lightly on his shoulder as her eyes still gazed upwards.

Natsu pulled her close; taking advantage of her distracted mind, knowing she wouldn't through him off. For at the moment she was much too focused on the scenery. Plus, he knew that as much as she told him off, Lucy secretly like his forward actions. Evident on the blush upon her cheeks and the thumping of her heart when he did these things.

At that moment Lucy felt astounded and dazzled by the Rainbow Sakura trees. However, Natsu felt that same type of stun everyday. For every time he saw Lucy it gave him that identical sense of awe. She was his light. Lucy was his Rainbow everyday.