@allaboutnalu Gift for @genavere If you have an AO3 account let me know the user name and I can tag you there. Thanks!
Happy Holidays! 🤶🏻🎄🎁 Hope you enjoy!
For being Christmas Eve, the weather is semi-warm compared to the meteorologist’s news report that morning. Not that it mattered too much, as Lucy rolls her blouses long sleeves up to her elbows, because she always wore long sleeves, long pants, or long skirts anytime she left her apartment. People often stare as they pass to the strange young blonde wearing such warm clothes during the scorching summer months, so the autumn and winter months give her a reprieve from those second glances. But she’s gotten used to the attention or at least has learned to ignore them.
Today’s outfit consists of a dark-reddish-colored, soft cotton, long sleeve, loose-fitting, high-necked turtleneck top that covers all the way up to the jawline, paired with dark gray yoga pants, and fur-rimmed, mid-calf boots. Casual, nice, but not too attention seeking. Oh, no, attention is the last thing Lucy wants from anyone. She isn’t quite an agoraphobic, but close enough. Lucy works from home as an independent contractor editor and article writer for field journalists, a ghost writer who takes all their notes and information and writes a draft that she sends back to the journalist for publishing. Her one condition is to not be listed in the article as a contributor. Most of her groceries are delivered and she doesn’t travel unless necessary.
One of the few times she leaves home during the week is to eat at a restaurant when she’s tired of cooking and since it’s Christmas, why not splurge a little instead of getting fast food. Which is where she’s heading now, to an upscale but family-friendly type place, the staff has always been nice and accommodating due to her circumstances. It’s a bit sad to be eating out on Christmas Eve alone, but as she walks in on this Wednesday early evening, the server, recognizing her, immediately guides Lucy to a booth in the back corner of the restaurants dining room. It’s her favorite table because the booth partially faces away from the other diners and it’s not near a street-facing window. The few times that it was already taken, and she had to sit at a different table, it was uncomfortable to eat with the feeling of eyes boring into her back. Whether or not people are looking, past traumas have Lucy always in an anxious, self-conscious state of mind, and it’s only when alone can she relax.
As she waits, Lucy notes the festive decorations they’ve added all around the room. It’s a mix of tradition and modern chic, perhaps professionally done, to match the fine dining restaurant. There’s a red-tinged, flocked, Christmas tree with slow-pulsing white, fiber-optic lights next to the host stand at the front, decorated with silver, black, and red glass ball ornaments, and topped with a silver star. Over every other booth along the walls there is a green holly bough with red and white berries, short silver pick sprays that are sparingly pierced between the leaves, and finished with a black velvet ribbon where the top meets the hanging wire. On each table, the normally white napkins are replaced with a red one that has an embroidered silver bell on each corner. Last year, the napkins were green with white snowflakes.
About 15 minutes later, the server brings Lucy’s meal. Her choice of dinner is a shrimp scampi with linguini noodles and side of garlic toast, the best she’s tasted out of any other restaurant’s recipes. After a few bites and a sip of wine, she’s slowly easing up in the quiet place. Soft spoken conversation can be heard around the room along with typical restaurant sounds, clinking dishes, register beeps, order up calls, and the faint sound of the cars driving by on the street next to the building. It’s only 4:30 pm, not even dark yet, but the dinner rush diners are starting to trickle in, causing the servers to pick up their paces. Lucy’s looks at her phone as she finishes up her meal. She’ll leave within the next 30 minutes to get away before it turns into a full house.
Everything is going smoothly when suddenly, Lucy’s ears perk up to a rising sound of abnormal noises she’s never heard in the restaurant before. Guest’s closer to the front are starting to look around and the conversation tones grow in both volume and tone. Banging sounds, dishes falling and crashing, Lucy hears a scream and a thud, and then— “FIRE!” She hears. Again, the domino of screams, fire, fire, evacuate! Oh, God, she can smell the smoke! Panic grips the restaurant and all hell break loose as patrons and employees are running for exits, people and tables are being knocked over, trampled, and pushed around in their bid to reach the door.
A loud whooshing roar fills Lucy’s ears and her vision somehow shifts back to the living room of her old home, sending her pulse into a sprint, yet every muscle in her body grinds to a screeching halt, a fork gripped in mid-air, eye’s wide and mouth agape. This can’t be happening! Every second counts when there’s a fire, something she knows better than most, but her legs refuse to move. She doesn’t even know where the fire is coming from, so what if she leaves the current safety of the booth and burns before she can reach the front door?! As tears stream unencumbered Lucy finally gathers her strength, only to slip underneath the table.
It’s no use, all she can hear is the phantom crackling of a fire burning its way through a structure. Trapped. The smoke is growing thicker. ‘Get down, get down,’ her dead mother’s voice rings in her ears; they can’t get out of the house! Lucy pulls her legs to her chest and wraps her arms around to protect them, head down, resting her forehead in the slight space above her chest. She fights a losing battle to slow her panic breathing despite it getting harder to breathe as the smoke envelopes her in a black, greasy haze that with each choking cough burns the throat and stings the eyes. ‘It hurts mama! It hurts!’ The scars throb on the left side of her body, burning from the phantom heat, and a phantom smell of burning flesh and hair are all Lucy can perceive, swallowing her back up again. This is it. Fate has come to finish what it started; she muses as the smoky darkness chokes the life out of her.
The street outside is cordoned off by the police to keep spectators out of the way of the emergency services. Fire trucks arrive within five minutes of the call and immediately speak to the chef and staff who explain the fire is in the kitchen. The kitchen staff has tried their best to put out the grease fire, but the flame-retardant spray couldn’t reach far into the vent above the grill where the buildup of goopy grease and oil from not being cleaned properly cling to the sides. So far, the flames are isolated to the kitchen, but the oily black smoke from the burning grease has turned into a layer of grimy fog that burns when breathed in or gets into the eyes. That stinging pain is what ultimately drives the cooks out.
While firefighters rush towards the kitchen, one is tasked to do a sweep of the building. Even though the waitstaff believe they’ve gotten everyone out, they can’t take the chance of anyone being left behind. It’s now been about ten minutes since the 911 call, so the clock is ticking against anyone trapped inside. The smoke can easily suffocate, and the oily air could do lasting damage to the throat and eyes.
Natsu Dragneel starts by checking both restrooms for guests, then sweeps his flashlight beam under each table and booth as he passes by, meticulously one by one, left, right, left, making his way towards the rear of the dining room. As a firefighter his concerns are life first, property second and each time they are called to a scene with potential people inside, his fear is being the one to find someone he cannot save. It’s the fear of every emergency responder not to be that one and just as he’s about to breathe a sigh of relief to reach the last booth without a victim, his heart stops cold when his light falls on a curled-up body under the table.
“I’ve got one!” Natsu quickly screams into his radio to put the EMTs on notice. It’s a young woman and based on the soft rise and fall of her chest she’s still alive. “She’s unconscious!”
The space under the table is a bit tight for him to get under with all his equipment, so he drags the table from the booth and shoves it out of the way. He then sweeps the limp woman into a bridal carry and rushes out of the building to an awaiting ambulance, placing her onto the gurney. As the EMTs immediately get to work, Natsu finally has a chance to see what the woman looks like. Spots of blonde hair gleam in the sunlight through the patches of greasy soot clinging to strands and skin. She looks around his age, average height, and weight with a beautiful figure, maybe a bit younger but it’s hard to tell with the oxygen mask obscuring some of her facial features. Something catches his attention, partially blocked by her hair, but if he’s not mistaken there’s a patch of distorted skin peeking out from the turtleneck along the side of her neck, perhaps a burn?
She’s breathing normally with the help of the mask but is still unconscious and the EMTs are not quite sure why since there doesn’t appear to be anything else physically wrong with her aside from some redness in her throat and eyes from the carbon monoxide and smoke. Since the fire never reached her, there’s also no burns. Why didn’t she evacuate, Natsu wonders. He checks the crossbody purse on her body and finds a wallet. ‘Lucy Heartfilia,’ he reads off her I.D. Most people’s reactions to a fire are to flee, but there are some who freeze, so is that what happened to Ms. Heartfilia?
“Oi! Dragneel!”
“Huh?” Natsu is so wrapped up in the mysterious woman that he’s forgotten he’s still on the scene. “Oh. Yeah?” He yells back to his boss Captain Guildarts.
“You, done with the vic’ yet?” The captain questions.
Natsu returns the I.D. back to her wallet. “Yeah, why?”
Guildarts points up. “Go check out the roof vent, see what condition it is for the report.”
“If it’s been cleaned or not?” Natsu clarifies. While the grill hood should be cleaned once a month, the whole venting system in a kitchen should be cleaned out fully at least once a year. Even aerosolized grease and oil can stick to the smooth sides of the metal duct work, which can catch fire under the right conditions and threaten the entire building.
“Yeah.” The captain responds.
“Got it boss.” Natsu starts off towards an access ladder on the side of the building, but his boss isn’t finished. He pauses.
“And Dragneel. When you’re done with that, go on and check on the victim at the hospital,” Guildarts winks knowingly.
It makes Natsu flush. “T-Thanks,” he fumbles, then breaks into a gaily sprint.
That Guildarts, Natsu muses. The guy is always chasing women, so no wonder he caught on to his intrigue. Nothing wrong with wanting to check on a victim, public service is their duty after all. Oh, who is he kidding himself, the pretty blonde has caught his eye, and he wants to learn more about her. Why was she eating alone at the restaurant? Her hair was up in a messy bun, but that only added to her charm, and the blue cat earrings were cute. It’s a warm day too, yet she’s wearing long pants and a long sleeve high turtleneck top. That’s unusual, and he just happened to notice no ring on her finger. How is someone like her single? … Wait. Natsu stops moving and looks around. He’s standing on the roof in front of the vent, but all he’s done is zone out thinking about the woman. Back in your pants, Dragneel. He shakes it off and gets back to work checking into the vent duct. It’s dirty, but not too bad. He’ll tell his boss to recommend they get it cleaned anyways and make sure to be more stringent in their cleaning schedule. Okay, now, back to the station to change, shower, then head to the hospital. ‘I hope she’ll be awake when I get there.’
When Natsu arrives at the hospital, he uses his privileges as a firefighter to get in to see the woman. The rules are only family members during non-visiting hours, but buttering up the nurses isn’t difficult considering he’s showing concern for a victim. He sneaks a peak at her charts and sees her prognosis. Smoke inhalation, elevated levels of the stress hormone cortisol, redness in the eyes from the smoke, they believe she passed out from hyperventilating, unsure of why she is still unconscious, but overall healthy and will hold overnight for observation. She’s hooked to an IV drip with some antibiotics to ward off potential infection and has a nose tube set up just to assist. He mumbles to himself. “Next of kin contacted,” the notes say, but doesn’t report if the person answered, and obviously the room is empty except for him. Add another check mark to the mystery woman.
‘She just looks like she’s sleeping,’ he notes her relaxed brows, ‘peaceful,’ really, like the day’s events were just an illusion. Natsu sits down on a chair next to the left side of the bed closest to the window simply observing, but that’s when something on her neck catches his attention. Right, and now that he can see it better, it’s definitely a burn, a large burn that travels up into the hair line at the back of her nape and down, disappearing into her gown. “Whoa…” he breathes out. That’s a serious injury, it must have something to do with her reaction at the restaurant. ‘I wonder how far down it travels…’ Natsu’s curiosity grows. He looks up from his seat to see if anyone is walking by the room, and when the coast appears clear, he slowly, gently lifts the blanket that covers her arms and body. It does in fact disappear into the gown where he can’t see, but what is revealed is more burn scars on the upper part of her left arm above the elbow and smaller groupings on her legs. He can’t see above her mid-thigh how high up the scars go, but there are also varying sized spots on her calf, shin, and ankle.
A small cloud of moisture gathers in Natsu’s eyes as he slumps back into the chair, realizing just why she wears clothes that cover so much skin. This poor woman, Lucy, has been through a bad fire before, no wonder she panicked in the restaurant. Everything makes sense now. The hyperventilating, increased cortisol, freezing and hiding under the table. Even though the fire hadn’t reached her, she reacted to it. Likely the smoke alone set her off. Natsu reaches under the blanket and takes hold of Lucy’s limp hand. So small and delicate in his larger hand that it swallows hers up. The fact that she’s been through such a harrowing event before and still carrying on sits well in Natsu’s heart. Lucy probably covers up in shame, but to him, they’re a survivor’s badge of honor, and there’s nothing ugly about that. He rests his arms on the bed and puts his head down for the time being to get some rest too. Since no one else is here for her, he’ll be the one she wakes up to.
By the time Lucy wakes up, the sun has risen and brightly shines in through the sheer-curtained window on her bed. ‘Huh? Bed?’ The last thing she remembers is passing out in the restaurant, yet now here she is feeling refreshed. How many hours has it been, at least 13 or 14 based on it being night anymore! The brilliant white room is silent except for the soft whirring sounds of the breathing machine and light beeps of the heart monitor. She can feel the small sting of the IV line stuck in her arm and the stranger sensation of the nose tube, but other than that, the only other discomfort is a mildly irritated throat and burning sensation at the corners of her eyes— Eh? And a weight on her hand? Why is hand heavy? Lucy tries to move her hand, but something not only holds it back, but squeezes! Quickly, her eyes pop open, looking towards the source.
“Eeek!” Lucy squeals and yanks her hand away, the loose nose tube pulling off her face as she scrambles against the headboard from the strange man sleeping next to her bed! “What are you doing in my room!”
The shrill sound so close to his ear woke Natsu with such a start, he’s instantly awake and jumps out of the chair. “A call?!” He thinks it’s the alarm at the station alerting them to another fire. “I’m up! I’m up!”
“Who are you!” Lucy snaps again. “Why are you in my room?!”
“Oh, shit, yeah,” Natsu stumbles over his words as his brain gets back on track. “Sorry,” he plops back onto the chair. “Didn’t mean to scare ya, but I’m the guy who pulled you out of the restaurant.”
Oh? Oh… “Firefighter?” She asks hesitantly, or could it be a cop?
“Yeah!” Natsu smiles and nervously scratches the back of his neck. “That’s me.”
But still, “why are you here?” It’s hours later! “Is it normal to check on us?”
“Not normally,” he admits. “Just… well, I just wanted to make sure you were okay. Kinda had me worried a bit ‘cause the doctors said you should’ve woken up a lot sooner, and I wondered if it has something to do with that,” he points to her neck. “This isn’t your first fire, is it?”
Stunned, Lucy is not sure how to respond. This guy is a stranger, so why would she talk to a stranger, and yet he seems so earnest to have waited all this time for her to wake up, on Christmas of all days! She relaxes back into a cross-legged position. “What’s your name?”
“Oof,” duh, “sorry,” he apologizes. “Natsu Dragneel.”
“Lucy Heartfilia,” she reciprocates, “and yeah,” her voice softens, “years ago when I was four.”
Natsu’s shoulders slump and gaze lowers, eyes softening and shining from the gathering moisture, as his tone fills with genuine despair. “I’m really sorry you had to go through that. No one should have to.”
“Hey,” Lucy reaches out and places her hand over his. “It’s okay, you saved me, right? Twice now a fireman’s pulled me out of a fire, so don’t feel so bad, ‘cause you’re an angel to me.”
That heartfelt appreciation pulls Natsu to look up and what he sees makes his heart skip. Lucy’s big, almond-shaped brown eyes are teary-eyed too, but her face is graced with such a beautiful smile that’s haloed by the sun’s rays as if the angels themselves are besotted. This woman has faced death twice that he knows of and yet here she is comforting him, even though he’s perfectly fine. The sound of trumpets sounds off as his brain instantly short-circuits and quick as a flash, Natsu turns over his hand to take firm hold of hers, “Be my girlfriend!’ He blurts out with eyes flashing in excitement. “I-I mean, truth is I’m here ‘cause I’ve fallen for you, a-and— yeah,” he stammers, scratching his head from nervous energy, “sorry, I’m an idiot, but I think you’re really cute and something just makes me want to wrap you up and protect you so this never happens again…”
Though thoroughly surprised, this man’s enthusiastically embarrassing cliff jump is so beautifully endearing that her anxieties disappear— but is also so absolutely amusing, that Lucy bursts into a side-splitting laughter that brings out the happy tears. She squeezes his hand back. “Okay,” she chuckles, “I’ll be your girlfriend.”
“Hell Yeah!” Natsu loses himself and pulls her halfway off the bed into a bear hug. “Best damn Christmas gift ever!”
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Cliché Cafe Love
"Your Espresso, sir."
Natsu looks up from his laptop screen to find his favorite barista.
So beautiful, he thinks, as always.
Silky blonde curls falling to the side of her face, curtaining it as she leans forward to place his order.
"Need anything else?" Her honey charamel orbs shining in the yellow light and lips forming the prettiest smile he can ever think of, while she waits for his response.
Natsu stares at the blonde for almost too long, before awkwardly clearing his throat. Temporarily hiding the obvious blush on his cheeks.
He returns the smile, "Nothin' else Luce, thanks."
Lucy nods. "Call me if you need anything, sir." She says, before returning to her usual place.
I don't think I can ever manage to ask her out, Natsu mumbles to himself with a sigh.
From the counter, Lucy stares at him with a pout. Natsu doesn't know and so he just sips his drink and continues to work on his laptop.
"All good between you two, hmm?" Mirajane stands next to her and teases. Lucy only rolls her eyes at the white haired barista, face-palming into the cold surface.
"Only if he'd do something about it!" The blonde whines.
Mirajane giggles, eyeing the pinkette occupying the nearest table and hums. "You can do that too, you know."
"Yeah, I kinda want him to make the first move though." Lucy frowns.
"At this point, it's gonna be years until something happens!" The other barista says, "Honestly, sounds like some cliché story..."
Lucy presses her lips together.
"Maybe you're right, however, I'm willing to wait some more."
Mirajane just shakes her head in disbelief, realising the two had a long way before something happens.
Definitely not anytime soon, she tells herself.
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