Lucy kneeled down beside the sleeping dragon slayer, planning on waking him up, only to stop as she caught sight of his peaceful face. She held back a small laugh when she noticed a slight bit of drool in the corner of his mouth.

Lucy couldn't bring herself to wake him up. He looked far too cute and serene. Maybe she could let him sleep for a little longer...

The blonde was about to turn away when she heard a pained noise. She glanced back towards the dragon slayer with a frown. Her eyes widened when she saw his body was twitching, his eyes fluttering frantically underneath his lids, his face twisting into a pained expression.

He must be having a nightmare...

Lucy leant over to shake him awake, only to squeal and reel back when he shot up into a sitting position, now wide awake. His eyes darted around agitatedly and he was breathing heavily. His eyes locked on hers, widening in surprise – and relief?

"Natsu, what- "

The blonde fell backwards as the dragon slayer caught her in a massive hug. Lucy's eyes widened as she looked at the mess of pink hair now obscuring her view. Natsu squeezed her tightly, his warm breath tickling her neck.

"You're okay. I'm so glad you're okay..." Natsu whispered, his body shuddering.

Lucy blinked, confused. Was he still hung up on what happened last night? "Natsu, of course I'm okay. There's nothing to worry about – the wolf is long gone, and I'm fairly sure you scared off everything else as well."

Lucy felt Natsu still against her, and then he took a deep breath. He drew away slowly, and Lucy was greeted with apologetic smile, his hand rubbing the back of his neck. "Right... Sorry, Luce. Just had a bad dream, freaked me out a bit..."

Lucy smiled in return, shaking her head as she propped herself back up. "It's fine, Natsu. What were you dreaming about?" She watched as his expression became pained again as he remembered. She was about to apologise for asking when he interrupted.

"Fish. I was dreaming about... being eaten by fish, or something..." He ran his hand through his long, messy pink locks, shrugging. "Can't really remember."

Lucy chuckled, standing up as she brushed the dirt off her clothes. "Fish? Natsu, I do believe you are going crazy." She grinned at him, "We're going to head off soon, pack your stuff up."

Natsu nodded, laughing nervously as she walked away. He couldn't get the nightmare out of his mind. It was similar to the vision he had had earlier that night. Lucy had been attacked, laying broken and bleeding on the ground. He couldn't locate or see the attacker anywhere. In the dream, he had been standing over her, and his heart felt like it was being squeezed as he had looked down at her. She had looked back with pleading, almost lifeless eyes as she had mouthed one word. One name.

Natsu.

That's when he had woken up to find Lucy very much alive and not covered in blood. He had been so relieved, so happy she was okay that he hadn't thought about what he was doing. He just wanted to make sure she was there, and not a figment of his imagination.

Natsu shook his head, pushing the remnants of the dream to the back of his mind. He glanced over to where Lucy and Happy were talking as they got ready. Lucy was grinning and laughing, and he couldn't help thinking how gorgeous she was. Her long blonde hair trailed over her shoulder, and her body practically glowed in the rising sun. How had he not realised how beautiful she was before? How could he have been so dense?

What exactly did this feeling in his chest mean?

***

"Luuuuuushi, Natsu's making weird faces at you again." Happy whined loudly.

"Hey, am not! Shut up, you stupid cat!" Natsu yelled at the blue exceed, shaking his fist at him.

Lucy simply laughed, glancing back at the two as they walked. "Happy, I think Natsu's face just naturally looks weird."

The exceed hovered in the air, realisation dawning on his wide-eyed face. "Oh yeah, you're right, Lushi!"

Natsu pouted, glaring at the two as he trailed behind. "I'm right here, you know. And my face doesn't look weird!"

"How would you know? We're the ones who have to look at it all day." Lucy grinned, sticking her tongue out at the pink haired dragon slayer.

Natsu's eyes widened, before he slouched his shoulders, whining as he sulked. "You're so mean, Lucy..."

Happy hadn't been wrong, though. Natsu had kind of been making faces at the girl. It wasn't his fault; he just couldn't stop staring. Even sweaty and worn out from walking with heavy packs all day she looked beautiful. He had tried looking elsewhere. There were plenty of trees, and occasional animals to look at or even the ground. It never took long for his eyes to gravitate back towards her, though.

Natsu wasn't stupid, he knew what love was. He also knew it wasn't a word you could just throw around. Did he love Lucy?

No. Not yet, at least. He liked her, cared for her. He wanted to hug her and kiss her, and protect her.

But at the same time, he felt like he was going crazy.

Crazy? Yeah.

Crazy about you.