Chapter Text
Red-bowed wreaths hung from every street lamp. Stores and houses were lined with glistening light lacrimas. It was Christmas Eve in Magnolia.The snow had just begun to come down in oversized flakes. Lucy loved when it snowed like this. The way it slowly cascaded from the overcast night sky brought a certain peace to her heart.
She strolled down the street in her thigh high black boots and a Santa-clad dress and matching hat. Her green peacoat covered just enough of her thighs that weren’t covered by dress nor boot. She couldn’t believe that she was sporting this outfit, but Natsu was so ecstatic when he saw Christmas themed outfits in a store on their way back from a job she couldn’t say no.
~~~~~~~~~~
“Oh my gosh! Happy, do you see how awesome it looks in there!” Natsu said, face completely smooshed up against the window of a Christmas novelties store.
“Aye sir!” The Exceed muffley answered in a similar state as his fire breathing best friend.
The pinkette turned around to Lucy with a face full of delight. His onyx eyes sparkled in childlike wonder. “Luce, we gotta go in!” he exclaimed.
Lucy crossed her arms and sighed. “Ah c’mon Natsu it looks like a store aimed towards kids. Besides it’s getting late and we really should be–”
The slayer grabbed Lucy’s hand and tugged her towards the door with the toothiest grin that she had ever seen.
“I’m not letting you talk me outta this. It’s just for kids?...” He chuckled. “Well we’ll pretend we’re kids again!”
The look that Natsu gave her gave her the feeling of burning fire and also slow sweet melting. She adored him and everything about him completely. She lov—adored, yes adored, the feeling of his abnormally warm hand that firmly held hers. She adored his smile…his childlike playfulness…his loyalty, his kindness…his drive to be better… his laugh, his honesty… his eyes that sparkled like the sea lit by the full moon…
While Lucy was daydreaming about what she “adored” most about her best friend, he led all of them inside. Piled high displays of toys, candies, and Christmas decorations filled the room. At the center was a large christmas tree that was so tall that the top of it was closer to the three story ceiling than the floor. The tree was decorated in lights, candies, pinecones, berries, red and gold ribbons, and ornaments that looked like antique toys. Lucy was so fixated on the beautiful tree that she only noticed the toy train gliding across tracks above their heads when its little whistle blew.
“Wow, isn't that cool, Natsu!” Happy pointed at the train.
Natsu’s cheeks puffed and his complexion turned green. “Oh just looking at it *bleh* makes me sick…”
Lucy quickly took the lead, still holding onto the slayer. “Come on, you’re not blowing chunks right now!”
The trio walked further into the store. All fell silent as they got lost in the beauty of the joyful atmosphere. The celestial mage lost track of time as she thought of the joy and fun she would have had in her when she was little, especially with her mother. She imagined her mother would have been just as enthralled with it from the getgo like Natsu.
Her mom loved Christmas. She loved the decorations and how everything twinkled like the stars. She loved the sense of togetherness. She loved giving.
“Lucy! Come check this out!” Natsu yelled from across the store.
She blushed at her best friend’s lack of social politeness, but walked toward where his boisterous voice was harkened from. The blonde found the slayer and Exceed by a clothing rack. Natsu was holding a Santa outfit in one hand and an elf outfit in the other, scanning them over.
“Look what Natsu and me found, Lucy!” Happy said. The blue cat did not do a good job of hiding his smirk.
“We know what we’re going to wear to the Christmas party next week!” Natsu chimed. “Should I be Santa and you the elf or you be Santa and me the elf?”
“Oh no…” she giggled, “You guys can wear whatever ridiculous thing you want, but I am not going to be doing that.”
“But, Luce, we’re a team,” the slayer complained.
Lucy did a quick glance at the rack Natsu was standing near, trying to come up with an excuse of why she couldn’t. “Yeah, sorry, I would, but it looks like they only come in men’s sizes so…”
A mischievous smile grew across the pinkette’s face as he picked up something on the other side of the rack. “I knew you would say something like that and guess what?!” He turned around with a Santa dress and elf dress in each hand. “They come in girly too!”
“Of course you looked to make sure…” the blonde sighed in defeat.
“Oh and Hap picked out this one saying that you like wearing practically nothing most of the time, but I told him it looked like it would be a little too chilly for this time of year.”
Natsu now held a red sheer baby doll piece of lingerie. Complete with a white fur lined neckline, red bow between where the cleavage would be, and a black leather choker with a gold buckle on it.
Lucy flushed to the color of the garment and Happy tried to hold back giggles behind his paw.
“We would also need to look for a hat. It doesn’t look like it comes with one,” Natsu said, looking over the garment again. “Why are you blushing? You like it that much??”
“I think that she would like to wear that outfit just for you, Natsu,” the cat snickered out.
The blonde’s face heated to a melting point in embarrassment. “Shut it cat!” she bit out.
“Yeah, why you say that?” The slayer asked, raising an eyebrow. His eyes were full of curiosity.
“I will take the not-so-see-through Santa outfit, thanks!” Lucy blurted out.
“Awesome!” Natsu cheered. “Happy, did you find the gingerbread-man outfit?”
“I’m going as a reindeer remember?” Happy asked. “Because I fly and it fits the theme better.”
“But, Santa needs cookies too!” Natsu whined.
“Well why don’t you be the gingerbread-man then,” the Exceed retorted. “I also don’t want to confuse Lucy and make her think she can eat me!”
“Hey!” Lucy snapped..
“And you think I want her to eat me?!” Natsu asked, innocently clueless of what was coming out of his mouth.
Lucy saw the sly grin crawl up the cat-from-hell’s cheeks and she knew immediately what was going to come out of his fish hole next. She covered his mouth with her hand and pulled him up to her face contorted in vengeance.
“Say what you were going to say and you won’t make it to Christmas,” she hissed.
Natsu looked completely amused at the pair even though he didn’t know quite what was going on.
“What were ya gonna say, Hap?” He asked.
The blue fur-ball swallowed audibly when he saw the icy daggers in the blonde’s eyes. Happy looked up to see that the ceiling was glass over where they stood. A Lucy-kick would surely launch him into the great beyond of the solar system. He decided that this joke wasn’t worth all nine of his lives.
“I was just going to say,” Happy said, “that maybe the elf outfit would be better for you because Lucy likes to put us to work so much so SHE can pay rent.”
Lucy narrowed her eyes because that was an insult, but a wave of relief flooded her because it had the potential to be so much worse.
The pinkette chuckled, “You’re spot on with that one buddy! Elf it is!”
~~~~~~~~~~~
Although she was still not totally pleased that she was wearing the outfit, it was rather cute and festive. She couldn’t wait to see Natsu and Happy dressed up in theirs. They were originally going to get ready together and walk over, but the boys forgot their outfits at home and realized their mistake as soon as they busted into Lucy’s apartment. They quickly went back to change and would just meet Lucy on the way to the guild.
Almost as if on cue, the view of their outlines appeared down the road.
“Hey Luce!” Natsu called in the distance waving his hand in greeting. “Nice of ya to finally show up!”
Lucy bit the inside of her cheek as she tried to bite away her annoyance with the slayer's smart comment. Although it was still too far to see their facial expressions, she knew that a toothy grin graced both the blue cat’s and slayer’s faces.
As Lucy approached the pair, she saw Happy looking quite adorable in his little reindeer costume—complete with antlers and a red nose. Natsu however, looked like a dancer that would be paid to liven up a ladies night Christmas party. He was dressed in the green pants that were lined in white fuzz where the pants tucked into his black boots. The only things he wore on his top half were red suspenders, his signature scarf, and a green and red striped stocking cap with a bell on the tip, which means his entire chiseled physique was exposed. Lucy swore she saw steam actually being emitted from the slayer's skin.The blonde simply shook her head trying to rid the trace of her heated cheeks.
“Natsu, what the hell happened to the top half of your costume?” she asked.
Natsu’s eyes sparked with mischief. “What’s the matter? Don’t you like what you see?” He flexed his biceps and gave the blonde a wink, which caused the poor girl to blush further and sputter. This left the slayer and Exceed busting their guts in laughter.
Lucy glowered at the cat and pink haired idiot. “Ha. Ha. You two are just soooo funny,” she said unamused. “But seriously, where is your jacket? I don’t think Sanata’s elves run around topless in the North Pole.”
“They would if they had to wear that thing! It’s so hot and constricting,” Natsu complained. “‘Sides that it’s got 2 long sleeves. I only wear 1 full sleeve at the most.”
“Okay, then why don’t you just burn or tear them off or something?” She suggested.
Natsu over exaggerated a pout. “That hurts, Luce. My body that hard to look at?”
“Oh brother,” she groaned, rolling her eyes.
“I don’t see what’s wrong with it!” he defended. “You get to walk around the guild barely wearing anything!”
“I do not!” she snapped back. “You make me sound like some floozy!”
“Natsu, as fun as it is to tease Lucy about this, I agree that it may be time to put the jacket on. It looks weird with Lucy’s and my outfit. Now if she was wearing one of her usual floozy looking outfits you would fit right in,” Happy reasoned.
“Wanna say that last part again, cat?” Lucy asked with threats of the Exceed’s doom in her eyes.
“Fine!” Natsu conceded. “But I’m burning off the sleeves like you said.”
The pinkette put on the jacket and soon smoke rose from his arms, as the material burned away to ash.
“I’m still too warm…” He grumbled.
“And I am freezing,” the blonde said, “so you’re just going to have to live with being uncomfortable like the rest of us. Now, let’s get to the guild.” She scooped Happy up into her arm and looped her other one around Natsu’s. “I don’t want to miss all the fun!”
A warm grin crossed Natsu’s face. “Aye, sir!” he said. He grabbed Lucy’s hand and then tugged her and Happy into a sprint.
—-----------------------------------
The inside of the guild had been decorated beautifully. Tensile, garlands, ornaments, and lights were strewn over every table, ledge, and column. The grand christmas tree took center stage on the actual stage. There were buffets and tables filled to the brim with cozy appetizers, entrees, and decadent desserts.
Currently, a Christmas Karaoke contest was going on. It was no surprise, although much to Levy’s embarrassment, that Gajeel was singing “Blue Christmas” with a good “shoobie-do-ba!” thrown in every now and then for good measure.
The trio made their way over to the bar to grab drinks so they could dive into the merriment.
“Hey you three!” Mirajane greeted. “Don’t you look just so adorable in your outfits!” Mira was sporting an ugly-Christmas-sweater dress and candy cane leggings. The sweater had a large felt tree in the center decorated with tinsel and actual flashing lights.
“Hey thanks, Mira!” Natsu replied. “Love the sweater!”
“Thanks!” she said. “Now what can I get you all to drink? Eggnog, cider, cranberry spritzers, hot chocolate?...”
They placed their orders and Mira made their drinks in record time.
“Here you go!” she beamed.
“Look what the cat dragged in!” Cana said. She draped her arm around Natsu’s shoulders. She of course was holding an empty mug. “Wow Lucy! You look hella sexy. Am I right, Natsu?” she winked at the pinkette and Lucy flushed. “Gonna have to be careful tonight to make sure no one steals her away because who knows, she might be feeling naughty tonight!” Cana then leaned in and whispered very loudly. “Especially if she gets under the mistletoe…” she giggled.
Natsu rolled his eyes and groaned. “Oh Gods, they brought that back this year?!”
“They sure did! *hiccup* Lucy have you gotten to experience our enchanted mistletoe yet? It’s been a few years since we’ve done it.”
“Uh I don’t think so…” she said warily. “What makes it enchanted?...”
“It freezes the person in place until someone gives them a sweet ol’ lip-smacking kiss!” Happy said, amused. “A few years ago Natsu got stuck underneath it and everyone just let him stay stuck until the next afternoon!”
“Oh my gods, that’s hilarious!” Lucy giggled. “Who got you out of it Natsu?”
He grimaced, “They held some sort of dice game tournament. Whoever won got to choose which of the losers had to kiss me. Max ended up winning and chose Nab.” The slayer shuttered.
Happy and the gals laughed boisterously at Natsu’s expense. The pinkette crossed his arms and pouted.
“I would pay money to see the look on your face,” Lucy said, wiping tears from her eyes.
“Yeah, yeah, laugh it up. Just wait until you get stuck under there and then we’ll see who’s laughing,” he said.
“Oh stop being such a baby,” Lucy said. “C’mon let’s go get some food to help you feel better.”
The trio went on to get food and play some games—pin the beard on Santa, Christmas trivia, balloon darts, and so on. Lucy made sure to keep an eye out for the mistletoe, but she didn’t know where it was. Happy said something about it being hidden until someone stepped under it. No one so far had fallen victim to it.
At some point in the night, Natsu got into his usual brawls with Gray and Gajeel and Happy went off to flirt with Carla. Lucy got to talking with Erza, Juvia, and Levy about what their plans were for tomorrow. Lucy couldn’t help, but sneak away for a second to get another helping of the sugar cookies, when suddenly her feet couldn’t move.
The blonde looked up and saw that she had unfortunately stepped underneath the mistletoe.
Oh no…
“Well, w-well, well, L-Lucy,” Cana teased drunkenly stumbling by her. “Looks-s like yer in a bit of a pickl-le.”
“Cana! You gotta get me out of this!” she whispered, hoping not to catch anyone’s attention and simultaneously hoping that she wouldn’t end up in a situation like Natsu did.
Cana’s already huge smile grew further. “S-S-Sure thing hun,” the brunette slurred as she gave an over exaggerated wink. “Hey e-everybody! L-Lucy’s stuck under the mistleto-oe! Who wants-s to give her a-a big ol’ s-smoo-ooch!”
The blonde’s face paled. That is not what she meant when she asked Cana for help. She looked into the crowd of her guildmates. Her heart began to race.
Wakaba and Macao looked completely delighted and they began to fight one another to race up to where the blonde was. Lucy noticed that the two older men weren’t the only ones. A horde of men and even a few women began to charge her way.
“Let your prince rescue you from this horrible fate!” Loke stood up on the table, now also rushing toward Lucy.
“W-Wait a minute—!” she stuttered.
Suddenly Lucy felt a heated, calloused hand cup her chin. He tilted her face towards him and planted a very purposeful, yet gentle, kiss onto the center of her forehead.
“There. Problem solved,” Natsu said, seemingly annoyed. He turned to the crowd. “Ya’ll can sit your pervy asses back down!”
“Y-You call that a kiss-s, *hiccup* mm-Natsu-u?!” Cana mocked.
“It worked didn’t it?” he sassed. He turned to Lucy, who took that as a cue to try and move out from underneath, which she did successfully. Relief flooded her.
A disappointed groan fell over the room as everyone grumbled and went back to what they were doing previously.
“Thanks,” Lucy said.
Natsu replied with his signature smile, “Don’t mention it! Now let’s get back to the fun!”
During the rest of the evening, Natsu did not leave Lucy’s side. He sat so close to her that they were practically in each other’s laps. He held her hand and pulled her between activities. He also draped his arm around her whenever he could. Although this made the blonde blush a number of times, she was grateful for his reassuring touch. She told herself he was just trying to be a good friend and make sure that she didn’t accidentally end up underneath the mistletoe again. But, she didn’t see the lethal glares that Natsu shot towards their fellow guildmates that had been sneaking stolen glances at the blonde all night. He even bared his teeth towards the ones that he knew were hoping that she would end up under the cursed bunch of weeds again.
The slayer wasn’t quite sure what had gotten into himself. He knew he was in love with his best friend and was very attracted to her in many ways, but he never felt the need to make a move. They had a good thing going and didn’t want the pressure of physicality and lovey dovey things to change the dynamic of their relationship. He was happy just as they were, or at least he thought he was, until he saw a group of people running towards Lucy for the opportunity to kiss her.
He always knew Lucy could have anyone she wanted. He often caught the longing stares of passerbys and guildmates. She had a number of obsessive “fans'' after the games and then even more after she did modeling during the year he was gone.
The thought of the poses and pictures she was in always made his stomach turn for two reasons. One, she looked incredible and two, he knew that other men would also think she looked incredible and would fantasize about her. He shamefully bought out every magazine she was in that he came across to prevent perverts having lewd thoughts about his Lucy. Happy always gave him a hard time about it, but Natsu just used the excuse that he was trying to support their best friend.
Before they left the guild Lucy saw Natsu crouch down to whisper something in Happy’s ear. She saw a genuinely happy smile grace the Exceeds face. He nodded at his best friend and gave his usual, ‘Aye sir!’ Natsu gave a quick pet between Happy’s ears and walked back to Lucy.
“Isn’t Happy coming?” she asked.
“Nah, he’s just going to go straight home. He’s feelin’ pretty tired I guess…Did you want me to give you a piggyback?” He asked. “You look beat.”
“That would be so nice. Thanks,” she sighed in relief.
He crouched down in front of her and she climbed onto his back. He felt so warm up against her. The blonde felt so cozy and safe.
It didn’t take long for Natsu to hear little snores coming from the blonde. She nuzzled her head against his neck and the slayer swore he had never felt so content.
———————-
“Hey Luce,” Natsu spoke softly. “We’re home.”
“Hmm? Al-l-ready-y?…” she whined in a tired sigh.
Natsu chuckled. “C’mon Miss Clause, let’s get you in bed.”
“Y-yes pleas-se,” she mumbled. “To the bed, Elf.”
“Aye sir!” he said. The pinkette backed up against the bed and lowered himself just enough so Lucy could gracefully slide down his back.
The blonde sighed. She still seemed to be in a sleepy trance because she just sat there blinking her weighted lids.
The slayer chuckled again. “Okay,” he said. “Let’s start with your boots…”
Lucy gave a huff as she laid back on the bed. He kneeled in front of his best friend and began unzipping her boots. It wasn’t the first time he needed to help her get undressed. Lucy has had a number of times over the years where she got so drunk or exhausted she needed his help. She was embarrassed the first couple times the morning after, but was grateful nonetheless. She trusted him completely.
He delicately slipped her boots off and then worked on sliding her candy striped stockings down. Lucy gave a contented sigh as she felt his abnormally warm fingers brush against her skin. She could pretend in her head for the moment that his touch meant more.
“Okay Luce, what jammies are ya wearing tonight? Should I pick something out of your naughty stuff?” He teased.
“Whatever ….you w-want…” she mumbled.
“Jeez you are tired,” he laughed.
He went over to her wardrobe. He picked out one of his t-shirts that she had long claimed as hers and a pair of fuzzy pink pajama bottoms. Then he walked back to the near unconscious blonde.
“Okay Luce, got your pajamas.” He lined up the pant leg holes with her feet and began to put them on. She kicked them off.
“Hey! Would you hold still!” He commanded.
“N-N-o pants-s….” She mumbled.
The slayer sighed. “Okay, so just a T-shirt?”
“Mmhmm…” she nodded lazily.
“Are you letting me undress you all the way tonight? Or are you going to pretend to have modesty?”
Lucy sat up and lazily lifted her arms indicating her permission. Although he was glad she trusted him so freely, he really missed her cute embarrassed reactions that she would normally have at his jabs. Luckily the Santa dress was stretchy enough that it could be easily pulled over her head.
“Alright so—Oh. My. Gods.” Natsu froze and his jaw dropped.
Lucy’s eyes shot open. “What?! What’s wrong?!”
Her heart was racing. Did she have something weird on her body? A gross pimple? Food crumbs in her cleavage? A rash that somehow broke out?
Natsu cleared his throat and shook his head as he tried to refocus his thoughts on platonic things.
“Uh-n-nothing. J-just wasn’t expecting you to be wearing your naughty stuff under a sweet and innocent Santa costume,” Natsu said, scratching the back of his head.
The blonde blushed. She forgot she put on her red satin bustier and matching panties. Luckily, it wasn’t her most risqué piece of undergarments. It was fairly tame compared to the rest of her collection, but it made her figure look pretty perfect.
“S-Sorry I can take it from here. I’m more awake now. Besides, I gotta wash off my makeup too.”
The blonde got up and rushed to the bathroom. Natsu gawked at her the whole way, trying to secretly memorize every detail of her look. He wasn’t sure when Lucy started to not be so embarrassed running around in her skivvies in front of him, but he was grateful. Her body sent all sorts of fire through his veins. After he realized where his mind was headed, he decided to get a very cold glass of water to cool himself down.
Lucy soon returned to her bedroom wearing the oversized black t-shirt. Gods, he liked her in his clothes. She sat down by the slayer who was now seated at the edge of her bed.
“Thanks for your help and for everything tonight, especially your quick intervention with the mistletoe incident…”
Natsu smiled, “Always happy to help. Anytime you need a smooch just let me know,” he winked, hoping to at least make her blush if not sputter in the most endearing way.
Lucy bit her lip and looked away from him. It was a golden opportunity. Was she going to take it or let it go?…
“H-How about now?…” she asked in a near whisper.
There was a long pause as Natsu’s mind exploded in calculations.
Was she joking? Was she serious? Was he dreaming? Did he mishear her?
“Y-You —you—s-serious?!” He stuttered out.
She bent over to reach into the pocket of her dress that was on the floor still. She pulled out a small branch of mistletoe and held it above her head.
“I am.”
Natsu blinked at her. Lucy held her breath. The longer he stared at her the more embarrassed she got. Her heart was pounding. She closed her eyes and turned her face away again. She wasn’t sure what the hell got into her. When Cana had given her the piece of the mistletoe Lucy was sure it was just supposed to be one of the berries as far as traditions go, but she wasn’t one to look a gift horse in the mouth.
Thankfully, the slayer soon cradled the side of her face and brought her back to look at him.
“I didn’t think that you would have the same idea as me,” he said.
He reached into his pants pocket and pulled out another small branch of mistletoe and held Lucy’s hand as he brought it over them. Lucy’s eyes sparkled with happy tears.
He pulled her close and searched her breathtaking brown eyes for any sign of hesitancy. He found none and relief rushed through his veins followed by the waves of excitement.
“After all this time, we’re finally gonna do this, huh?” He asked.
“All this time? How long have you wanted to do this?” She asked, amused.
“You know that day in Hargeon when I was looking for my dad and you were nearly kidnapped?”
She raised a confused brow. “You mean the day we met?…”
“Yeah! That’s the one! But that was more of a ‘I thought you were hot thing’ and not so much a ‘I’m in love with you’ thing like it is now.”
Lucy looked absolutely smug. “A ‘I’m in love with you thing’?”
Natsu’ s eyes widened as he realized the massive truth bomb he let slip past his lips.
“Uhhh—yeah—uh—you see—I…”
Lucy giggled softly and placed a finger on the slayer’s lips. “I love you too. Now shut up and kiss me, you idiot.”
She leaned in to meet his lips with hers. Their kiss was soft and warm. It sent all sorts of electrified butterflies through both of their bodies.They paused and looked at each other and then went back for a more fervent kiss one after the other. Lucy tangled her fingers into his pink lochs. Natsu held her firm at her jaw and hip.
“Say you’ll be mine, Luce? And as a perk, I’ll be yours,” he said against her lips.
She leaned back a little bit from him and rolled her eyes. “Didn’t you say we’d always be together? I’ve been yours as far as I’m concerned.”
“Well when you put it like that!” He chuckled. “This is the best present I could’ve gotten!”
He tackled her onto her back causing her to let out a squeal of giggles. With a pause, he rubbed his thumb against her cheek and regarded her as his most treasured gift.
“Merry Christmas, Loonie.”
Lucy narrowed her eyes, but her smile was bright and full of warmth.
“Merry Christmas, flame brains.”
~Nice Ending ~
Continue to the next chapter for the naughty ending! ;P