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pyropsychiccollector · 7 years

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Navia Week, Day 1: Recognition

Natsu’s nose twitched as he opened the door to his house. He was about to set out for the Guild, but there lying on his doorstep was a nicely prepared bento. As usual, there weren’t many vegetables in it; rice balls and sashimi, but only a small handful of vegetables. Ironically, it was the way he liked it.

“Huh… That’s the third time this week.” Natsu muttered as he bent down and picked up the box. Like the past two bentos, this one carried a light sea breeze scent, as well as a very subtle perfume that most noses wouldn’t notice. The Dragon Slayer suspected that whoever was preparing these didn’t mean to leave clues as to their identity, but he knew for certain that they weren’t anyone from Fairy Tail. He’d long since memorized all their scents by now, and this one was completely new.

… Well, mostly. He swore he’d encountered this person at least once before, fairly recently, but he couldn’t put his finger on it. A name that was on the tip of his tongue, but eluded him.

“… Whatever. I’ll figure it out later.” Natsu gave a cursory glance around the woods but didn’t see his new frequent visitor. He called back into the house, slinging the bento under his arm. “C’mon, Happy! We gotta go wake up Luce and get to the Guild! We got work to do~.”

A moment later, the bubbly blue cat flew outside with sprouted wings.

“Aye, sir!” He paused for a moment as he took note of the bento. “Another gift from your secret admirer~?”

Natsu whined at his companion’s teasing.

“We don’t got time for your weird questions, Happy! We gotta get a job ‘cause we’re broke! Which means we can’t buy food!”

Happy’s eyes bulged out comically and he flew ahead of Natsu.

“Mira won’t cook delicious fishy-wishies if we don’t have moneyyy!” Happy wailed, eliciting a sigh from the Dragon Slayer before he took off after his pal. Like their reward money only went towards filling Happy’s belly… he could be so selfish sometimes~.

… Never mind all the food Natsu planned on cramming down his belly. Nope. Happy was one greedy kitty.

As they raced off, neither human nor cat happened to sense a young woman who’d been behind a nearby tree, which she peeked out from as she watched them go. She smiled and lightly blushed at their antics.

‘They’re so cute~… Fairy Tail really is amazing for bouncing back so quickly, after the war with Phantom Lord.’ The woman gushed internally before releasing a depressed sigh. ‘Even if Natsu-san were to miraculously forgive Juvia, there’s no way the rest of Fairy Tail would be as welcoming.’

“Hey, uh…. sorry if this sounds rude, but were you watching us just now?” Natsu asked suddenly from Juvia’s left. Happy right by his side, smiling ever so adorably.

Shaking all over, Juvia turned her head to face Natsu with horror-filled eyes before letting out a shriek that made Natsu’s ears hurt. Happy was a bit spooked by the bluenette’s overreaction, too, but neither he nor Natsu budged, even as Juvia backed up several feet.

“But… you… Juvia saw… How…?” The Water mage babbled incoherently as she stared at the iconic duo with wide, disbelieving eyes. Natsu cocked his head as she continued to hyperventilate at being discovered. It wasn’t that big of a deal, was it?

“I just used my nose, silly. I’m a Dragon Slayer!” Natsu grinned and propped his arms behind his head, like he didn’t have a care in the world. Juvia just stared at the pink-head, dumbfounded.

‘He is a Dragon Slayer… How could Juvia forget?!’ Juvia wailed internally. ‘Gajeel-kun had heightened senses… how could Juvia be so careless…?’

While Natsu grinned like an idiot, and Juvia panicked on the inside, Happy tilted his head at the Water mage.

“Say. Aren’t you that Element Four girl that Natsu fought? The weird slimy girl.”

Juvia’s look became indignant as she glared down the floating blue cat.

“Juvia is not slimy! Juvia’s body is made of water, so Natsu-san makes Juvia perspire a lot!” The bluenette clamped hands over her mouth as she let that confirmation slip. Never mind the possible innuendo she created with those words – she was devastated that they now knew she was an enemy. ‘Natsu-san must hate Juvia for helping kidnap Lucy-san!’

Natsu dropped his arms to his sides again and opened his eyes to stare at the Rain Woman. He wasn’t smiling, yet he didn’t look mad, either. Juvia wished she could know what was going through his head right now…!

“Say… Phantom Lord disbanded, didn’t it?” Natsu abruptly asked, causing Juvia’s heart to skip a beat at the topic change.

“Er… yes, it did… the Council ordered it, and Juvia is homeless and jobless now…” The Rain Woman replied glumly. It wasn’t something she liked to think about. She’d found some solace in watching Fairy Tail from afar – specifically Team Natsu having fun as they helped out with their Guild’s reconstruction – but the fact remained she would need to join another Guild soon.

Despite the sad atmosphere, Natsu grinned and jabbed his thumb at the Fairy Tail emblem on his shoulder.

“Well, why not join us? I bet Gramps would be more than happy to give ya a place to work~.” Natsu nonchalantly offered.

Juvia stared. Just… stared. Natsu’s eyes and tone conveyed such a fresh honesty that Juvia was truly at a loss. She expected righteous anger, like when they fought atop Phantom Lord’s MK II. She anticipated that he’d never want anything to do with her, if he found out that an enemy was stalk… er… following him from a distance.

“Are… Are you sure about that, Natsu-san? J-Juvia helped kidnap Lucy-san… and… and Juvia was willing to fight your Guild, to make sure she got back to her father…” Juvia’s face became downcast again, but imagine her surprise when Natsu stepped forward and took her by the shoulders. His grip wasn’t too rough, but it was by no means soft, either.

“I’m sure!” Natsu assured the bluenette with genuine eyes. “I can’t pretend to understand ya, but… it was a job, right? That was the whole reason you fought us, not ‘cause you had a grudge against us like your boss and Guildmates did!”

Juvia continued to stare dumbfounded at Natsu.

“H-How can Natsu-san know that…? You said it yourself, you don’t know Juvia…” She attempted to extricate herself from Natsu, though even she could tell it was half-hearted, and that Natsu kept a grip on her.

“’Cause I’ve seen your eyes before.” Natsu answered cryptically, before quickly becoming sheepish. “Well, not on you, but kinda when I saw my reflection, when I was a kid. You just haven’t found somewhere to belong yet, right? I know I was lost when Igneel up and left me one day. I wandered for what seemed like an eternity before Gramps found me, and I was so lonely!”

�� Juvia began to tear up as Natsu described how similar their situations were… or had been. That was exactly right. All her life, Juvia had been lonely – rejected by her “friends” because she brought the rain, whenever she was around. Everyone hated the rain. Her “friends”… Bora-kun… even some of her Phantom Lord Guildmates had complained, on occasion. She thought she’d found a place to belong when she joined Phantom Lord, but it turned out Jose was just interested in her “power”, and not Juvia herself.

“You don’t have to feel lonely, Jubee!” Natsu finished with as much assurance as he could muster. “I know it might be hard for some to let go of grudges, but I bet Luce won’t hold anything against ya! Just give us a chance?”

For a moment, Juvia stood in stunned silence before letting out a small giggle. Natsu could honestly say he was blinded by the smile she gave in that moment.

“Natsu-san makes a convincing case, even if Juvia is… nervous…” She watched the Dragon Slayer rub the back of his head in embarrassment, and felt compelled to add, “… And my name is Juvia. Not Jubee.”

Natsu finally let go of her shoulders and laughed nervously. Even as Juvia puffed her cheeks out in cute anger.

“Yeah, I’ll get it down eventually. Erza ‘n Happy always say I’m terrible with names, at first.”

“Luigi’s pissed about the mix-ups, too~.” Happy teased. Natsu grinned at being reminded they were late for waking her up.

“So yeah~…” The Dragon Slayer picked up the bento he’d placed on the ground before offering his hand to the Water mage. “Wanna come with us? We should probably introduce ya to Luce first, anyway.”

Tentatively, Juvia took the pink-head’s hand before shaking it. She wouldn’t be holding it all the way back to town, oh no. She’d die of embarrassment if she did that.

“J-Juvia wouldn’t mind…” Juvia mumbled before hastily retracting her hand. Natsu raised his brow at her nervousness, but decided to drop it for now. As they started walking, the Dragon Slayer popped another question on his mind.

“… By the way, why do ya make these lunches for me? This is the third time this week.” Natsu bluntly pointed out. Juvia turned bright red at his forwardness, steam coming out of her ears.

“J-J-Juvia… ah… Juvia doesn’t know what Natsu-san is talking about.” She weakly denied his “accusation”. Natsu rolled his eyes as they continued walking.

“It’s got your scent all over it, Jubee~. C’mon! You can tell me why you make delicious lunches for me~!”

Steam erupted from under Juvia’s hat.

“Muuuooo…! Natsu-san knows Juvia’s scent?!” The bluenette asked, mortified.

“Yeah,” Natsu answered like it wasn’t a big deal. Which it wasn’t~. “We all got a scent unique to us. And I’m startin’ to memorize yours, ‘cause you’re our new friend… right?”

Juvia clammed up after that. Really, she didn’t mean anything by preparing him lunches… It was just… back when they fought, Natsu-san had made sure she was okay after their fight, and he hadn’t taunted Juvia. Moreover, he was the first person that showed her a sunny sky, by defeating her. It was… beautiful. Juvia couldn’t help feeling touched by his kindness, even before he’d said all these other things to her. She was grateful, but it wasn’t like she was head-over-heels for him or anything!

‘Juvia will have to change perfumes, if Fairy Tail will not accept Juvia…’ The Rain Woman pouted. As if reading her mind, Natsu spoke up again.

“Ya don’t hafta be sneaky about it, Jubee! You’re our friend, so just hang out with us when ya want~!”

Juvia’s mouth pressed into a thin line at Natsu’s declaration. It was a nice offer, but…

“Juvia’s name is JUVIA!” The Rain Woman roared, instinctually sending a wave of water Natsu’s way. Also instinctually, Natsu intercepted the wave with a fist coated in flames and turned the wave into a cloud of mist.

“This is gonna be fun~.” Natsu grinned like a maniac. Juvia merely made that ‘cute angry’ face again.

Natsu-san was nice, but he could be so infuriating...!

#Fairy Tail #Natsu Dragneel #Juvia Lockser #Natsu x Juvia #Navia #Navia Week

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