Under Your Spell (NaLu one-shot)

Under Your Spell

Lucy swore she'd never seen Natsu this excited for anything in his life. And being as Natsu was probably the most excitable person on this half of the planet… that meant something.

She wasn't sure who'd started the rumor that some craftsman in Magnolia had created a new magic item that could hypnotize people, but she was pretty positive it was Gray… or Gajeel… or someone who wanted to make Natsu look like a buffoon.

Magic items were prevalent in the town, mainly because Fairy Tail was what Magnolia was known for, so if anyone came to visit, most likely they were mages, or were interested in becoming wizards. That, or they couldn't use magic, and they wanted a souvenir. So, in turn, there were a lot of knock-offs of magic items that children or tourists bought, simply as a replica and something that said 'hey, I went to Magnolia and saw the Fairy Tail guild'. Sometimes it was still hard to believe she was actually a part of this guild, the one known far and wide as quite possibly the strongest on the continent. Ah, Fairy Tail, it was still so exciting when she thought about officially being a member.

But that being said, no, it wasn't anything out of the ordinary for a new magical item to come out. However, for someone like Natsu who didn't bat an eye or pay any attention when they passed a store selling magical trinkets –even when Lucy'd squeal and run to the shop to see if they had any keys- perhaps it sounded like a new magical device was something revolutionary.

So in that case, no, it wasn't a surprise that when someone went and told Natsu that there was a "new magical item that could put people in a trance" and "something that could make someone do anything you wanted" that her partner would go wide-eyed and amazed, and of course, promptly go searching for thus and such an item.

Magics that hypnotized were usually full of loop holes. Completely controlling another human being not only took a lot of magical power, but was also something that really wasn't to be done. It just wasn't right. Many magics could control this, or control that, such as Sherry's magic that could control nearly anything, but they all had a loophole: they couldn't control humans.

Of course, the spell of the Ring that the fake Salamander had worn when Lucy had first traveled to Magnolia was a type of hypnotism, but not complete control. It had a way to break the trance –more than one, actually- and was also a little on the weak side, and could be withstood by someone of strong will. Not that she didn't have a strong will… it was just… she was off her game that day. Yeah, that sounded right.

So no, she didn't believe that this "magical item for hypnotizing people" existed, and was nearly certain that it was just a silly little prank pulled on Natsu. Which was probably going to be funny, but also a little sad. She'd snicker when someone would fool him, but in a way she felt a little bad for him and a little disappointed that some would pull his leg again and again just for laughs. Because he was the most trusting person she knew, and if one of his guild members, the people he considered family, told him something was real… Well, he'd believe it.

When he'd caught wind of this "magical item" he'd immediately come to her. She'd sighed and waved him off, saying she wasn't interested in looking for it with him. He'd seemed unperturbed, shrugging instead and telling her he'd show it to her when he found it. And promptly, he and Happy were off and running, on their journey to find this new hypnosis spell.

Lucy'd sat at the guild all day, chatting with Levy, Cana, Mira, and pretty much anyone else who was around to kill her boredom. She was rather surprised he hadn't come back all day, but then again, if she was right –which she was 99.9% sure she was- and this magic didn't exist, Natsu would be out looking for something that wasn't there… So really it'd be a matter of how long Natsu was willing to keep searching, and if she knew him as well as she thought she did, he'd be at it for a long time.

She decided to retire to her apartment when she'd eaten dinner, the sky had grown dark, and the guild was becoming more and more empty. She'd gotten ready for bed, written some of her novel, and finally, as the clock ticked past midnight, she decided to hit the hay. He wasn't coming back, probably. He'd either found it and decided it was too late to show anyone, or he was still looking for it… The second option seemed more likely.

Wham!

"Kyaaa!" Lucy shot up in bed, her arms poised at the ready as if she were a karate master. It was dark but she saw the unmistakable outline of Natsu climbing through her window, Happy in tow. She lowered her arms, letting out a sigh and flicking on the light. She'd just closed her eyes too… Couldn't he have waited until morning?

"LUCY!" Woah, apparently not. Natsu scrambled, her rug flying out behind him in his wake as he landed on the floor by her bed with a thump and a grin wider than the sky itself. She'd been right in saying this was the most excited she'd seen him. She had no idea why he wanted a device that could hypnotize people, but he was damn near ecstatic about it.

"Yeah?" She tried not to yawn. Something that went along with his unbridled excitement this time was an unspoken rule that she needed to humor him. She wasn't sure why, maybe it was because she knew he'd been swindled, or maybe it was because she liked seeing him this happy, but either way, she knew she couldn't break this bubble. In fact, it seemed everyone in the guild knew it too. Sometimes Natsu went off on tangents, and you just had to go along with them.

"Lookie, look!" He sat criss-cross, leaning toward her bed and holding up his hand. Dangling from his fingertips was something that looked to be a necklace. From a thin rope hung a black disk about the size of Happy's paw. Thin white and purple lines were painted onto the disk, and a small sparkling blue gem sat embedded in the middle.

Lucy's eyebrows scrunched and she leaned towards it. It looked pretty legitimate, surprisingly. Whoever had pulled this prank on him had really pulled out all the stops. "So you found it?"

Natsu nodded so fast she was worried his head would fly off. "You betcha I did! And I didn't show anyone else before you so you're the first! Isn't it pretty?" He let out a laugh. "I can totally make people do whatever I want now."

He was talking a mile a minute and she had a hard time keeping up. "Mm, and what would that be?"

A dark look flashed across his eyes and he grinned. "Gray has no idea what he's in for." A surprisingly evil cackle-like laugh erupted from his throat and Lucy rolled her eyes. Of course he'd use it on Gray.

Happy seemed absolutely worn out from the day, just now making it to Natsu's side, his eyes already half-closed and his steps staggering. With a little effort he climbed up the side of her bed and flopped down on top, his head dipping forwards as he tried not to fall asleep.

"Well then, I'll make sure I'm there to watch," Lucy said, unable to keep the smile out of her voice. Something about Natsu's enthusiasm was just undeniably contagious.

"Luce, hey Luce, hey… Can I try it out on you?"

"Me?" She pointed to herself, a little surprised. She hadn't even considered the fact that he'd want to hypnotize her… Although, it was probably something she should've expected. He probably wanted to make her eat a paper towel or cuddle with a bug or something humiliating. But then again, this thing was a fake, right? She was still 99.9% sure. So then again, there wasn't anything to lose. "Yeah, sure, alright."

"Alright!" Natsu pumped a fist into the air before an utterly serious expression overtook his face. "Okay, so just look at the little blue stone and don't take your eyes off of it, 'kay?" She nodded, fixing her eyes onto the rock. Natsu began to move it back and forth, slowly making the arc of the necklace in the air larger and larger. He hummed three notes after about a minute, and then snapped his fingers.

Lucy stared as the medallion slowed to a stop, hanging like it had before. Was she still of sane mind?... Yes, yes she was. She'd been right; this was a fake. Whew, that was a relief… Although it would really put Natsu in the dumps to know he'd been tricked.

"O-okay, Luce… are you under the spell?" He leaned forward in anticipation.

Something about telling him 'no' made her heart sink a little… and whether it was because of the fact that she couldn't stand to end the charismatic excitement he had, or because she wanted him to try it out on Gray like he wanted without knowing it was a dud, she wasn't sure, but somehow she decided that she'd go along with it, at least for as long as she could. They were in her room, alone, after all. She could embarrass herself in front of him; that didn't matter. Oh Mavis, she hoped she didn't get herself into anything too crazy.

What was his question? Oh yeah, if she was under the spell… "Yes." The smile that stretched across his face then was worth everything she knew she was about to do. Yes, seeing him this happy was something that was worth humiliation.

"Ooh, ooh, really?" He scrambled to his feet. "Okay, so the guy said I could make people do stuff or make them answer stuff or really anything…" He scratched his chin. "Okay, get out of bed."

Here went nothing. She pulled back the covers, careful not to disturb Happy who'd lost his battle with sleep and was now laying face-down on her mattress. She stepped out of bed, standing straight like a soldier and awaiting her next order.

Natsu's eyes widened. "Holy crap this thing really works!" She had a hard time keeping it together as he did a small and quite awkward-looking happy dance. If she cracked a smile he'd know she was faking it. "Lucy! Lucy! Do the chicken dance!"

Oh god.

Somewhat reluctantly she forced herself to begin flapping her arms like wings and was surprised as Natsu joined in. She moved her head like a chicken, opened and closed her hands like a beak, and clapped, and Natsu did the same. Had someone looked inside she was positive whoever it was would've thought they'd gone insane. She had no idea why Natsu was joining her in her dance, but her best guess was he was so excited he wanted to dance… and so he just figured he'd do the same thing she was doing.

He stopped a moment later, grinning ear-to-ear and laughing a true laugh, something so innocent and pure that once again she was glad she was somehow going along with this. She didn't stop; she'd played far too many "mother says" games to know that if he stopped, she was technically "still under the trance" and should keep dancing until he gave her another order.

"Luce, keep doing the chicken dance and go get the chicken in your fridge and dance with it." He started laughing again in the middle of his command and through his loud guffaws she could hardly tell what he was saying.

Her chicken? The one she'd planned on trying to cook tomorrow? How on Earthland had he even known that was in there? She'd picked it up on the way home. Man, it was like he kept constant surveillance on everything she had that was edible in her apartment. She forced herself to keep going, dancing her way over to her fridge and opening it.

She pulled out the chicken, still in its plastic casing, and held it up in front of herself. 'Just do it for his sake', she thought to herself… and slowly began her dance again, wiggling the chicken out in front of her. She was met with even louder peals of laughter.

"Lucy, Lucy no take it out of the package! Make it do the chicken dance with you!" It was even harder to understand what he was saying this time.

What?! No, she wasn't taking the chicken out! She wasn't cooking it until the next day and she was highly certain it wasn't sanitary to have a bare chicken sitting in her fridge… or to be holding –nay, dancing with one either. Luckily, it seemed he got a better idea before she could really delve into the internal conversation of how far she was going to go with this.

"Wait! No, do it with Happy!" Ah, that was easier. She put the chicken back into the fridge, closing it and dancing her way back over to her bed, picking up Happy underneath the arms and holding him out in front of her. The cat barely even stirred, his head bobbing once and a slurred 'No, that fish is too small' falling from his lips. Good thing he was a hard sleeper.

She moved his arms around then, mimicking the chicken dance she'd performed earlier, and bit the inside of her cheek to keep from smiling as tears began to spring into Natsu's eyes from his laughter. Heh, she was actually getting some satisfaction out of this too… Now she wished someone would come in and take a picture of this. She could blackmail Happy with it for as long as she wanted. He'd never call her fat again. This time it was her turn to have an evil look flash across her face.

Luckily, Natsu didn't notice, instead shaking his head as he tried to tell her to put Happy back down, hardly able to even form the words. Lucy set Happy back down on the bed and Natsu put his hands on his knees to catch his breath.

"Oh my god," he wheezed slightly. "This thing is genius!" Natsu straightened, looking at the necklace again before nodding. "Okay, now… hmmmm." He looked around her apartment. Oh goodness, what was next? She knew she couldn't speak up but she really hoped he wouldn't drag this out too long. She actually was pretty tired. "Ah, I know. Show me where your novel is!"

No. No. Just… No.

She blinked, staring blankly at him. Maybe he'd think she hadn't heard him…

He squinted as she stood still. "Ah… your… book?" Did he really think the way he worded it was the problem? "You never let me look at it because you don't want me to read it." He looked a little defeated. "But now's my chance! Not to read it, but… I dunno just do something to it…"

Oh… he didn't want to read it? That was a whole different ball of wax then. Sure, it sounded a little like he wanted to burn it to smithereens, but she honestly didn't care. She had about four copies of it, stashed in different places, including one in Levy's room, so even if he did destroy it, it wasn't a big deal.

She mechanically turned towards her desk and walked over to it. Natsu seemed excited his command had resonated and skipped up beside her, letting out a happy humming sound as she bent over near her desk chair. Crap, now he'd know where she hid it… Although honestly he probably already knew, he was just wanting her to do it herself. She reached under her desk, pulling her novel out from a small little shelf that wasn't visible unless you were under the desk. One that she'd installed herself the week that she'd "Natsu-proofed" her apartment, which had also included buying locks for her fridge and window, neither of which she'd had the heart to install yet.

She pulled out her novel, dropping it onto the desk with a loud thump.

"Wow," Natsu breathed. "It's gotten so much bigger! She's really dedicated isn't she…" he looked off to the side for a moment in thought and she had to work even harder not to blush. The way he was talking was as if he were alone. Natsu shook his head, instead quickly grabbing the pen sitting on her desk, and licking one of his fingers.

He grabbed the stack of papers by the corner, ruffling them for a bit until he'd found one in the middle, and stopped, opening the page just enough to see the top fourth of the sheet. He scribbled a tiny smiley face on the top right corner and nodded before putting the papers back as he'd found them, and placing the pen back on the desk.

He snickered. "She'll never even know it's there." He sounded so mischievous. So that's what he'd wanted to do to her book? Half of her wanted to conk him on the head for being an idiot and the other half wanted to say 'awww', although she wasn't entirely sure why. "Okay, put your novel back, Luce." He nodded again, brushing off his hands as if he were just finished with a job well done.

She crawled back under the desk, setting her novel back in its rightful place and climbing back out again. Seriously, even though he'd only had her do two things, none of which were that bad, she hoped he'd tire out soon, or at least grow bored of "controlling" her.

Luckily, the gods were with her.

"Mmkay, Luce, go ahead and crawl back in bed. I gotta make sure I save the good stuff for Gray; wouldn't want to wear this thing out." He again let out a laugh that could only be described as a cackle.

She rolled her eyes when he turned his back but followed his orders, stalking back over and climbing into bed. So what did he have to do to break this "trance" anyway? He sat down beside her bed again and she leaned on her elbow to look at him, figuring that if she was under some sort of control, she'd have to look at the person controlling her for her next order. At least, she figured that's what Natsu thought.

He scratched his head. "The guy said I could ask you any question, too… and you'd answer honestly…" He cocked his head. "Was it you who ate my donut last week? The one I laid on the table?"

Seriously. That was the question he asked? "No." It'd been Erza actually, and Lucy hadn't had the guts to tell her that the donut she was eating was Natsu's.

Natsu nodded. "Hmmm, okay. What is your biggest fear?"

Woah, that'd gotten real serious, real fast. She had no qualms with telling him the truth; she knew he wouldn't make fun. "That I'm a burden, or not useful, to the team." She wasn't sure if it was her biggest, but one of the big ones.

Natsu stared at her for a moment, his eyes flickering back and forth to both of hers, an unnamed emotion steeled inside. She swallowed lightly, unsure of what he would do next. "What color do you honestly consider my hair?"

Well, there'd gone that nice moment. Although, honestly this question seemed harder than the fear one… "Salmon." After having him harp at her for so long about it she honestly didn't consider it pink anymore.

"Yes!" It looked as if he'd won… although what he was winning she wasn't sure. He fist pumped again. "I knew it! Ha! It's salmon!" A smug look overtook his face as he contemplated his next question. "Would you be willing to brainstorm with me what stupid things I can make Gray do?"

"No." Really, she was humoring him now, she wasn't going to do it again.

He deflated. "Fine. Would you ever want to have a sleepover at my house since we always sleep here? I mean, I know your bed is the best, in like, the world, but I think it'd be fun to stay over at my place sometime." He looked hopeful.

Had he wanted to do that for some time now? "Yeah, sure." It kinda sounded fun to stay at his place. She'd been there before, and while messy, it was rather homey… it smelled a lot like him too.

"Awesome!" The third fist pump of the night. "If you could be anyone for a day, who would it be?"

"Erza." Weirdly enough she'd already thought that one through.

"Rather than Erza?"

She had to think about that one. "Makarov." She'd kinda like to see a 'day in the life of a guild master'.

Natsu nodded as if he were impressed. "Who's your best friend?"

"L-" She bit her tongue. Levy was her best friend… well, best friend that was a girl. Natsu was her best friend overall, she guessed. Maybe it was the insane amount of time they spent together or that he was the first one of the guild she'd met, but whenever she'd thought to herself about who her best friend was, Natsu was always the answer. She'd figured she'd just tell him Levy, as that was probably what he was expecting anyway, but part of her didn't want to lie, and she hadn't missed the slight twitch of his eyes, almost a flinch, when she'd uttered that first 'L'. Maybe he wanted her to say it was him… Maybe she'd been imagining things… Either way, no matter how embarrassing it seemed to tell him, she would tell the truth. "You are."

His eyes lit up immediately, his entire body straightening up in what she pegged as pure joy. Ah, she'd been right; he had wanted her to say it was him. Why?… Was she his best friend? No, that was surely Happy… Crap, now she really wanted to know.

Just as quickly as the light in his eyes had come, it faded, and with it his entire body slouched a bit. "Do you only see me as a best friend?"

What?!

No, no, he hadn't just seriously asked that, had he? Natsu didn't ask things like that. He just didn't. He was supposed to be the oblivious one and she was supposed to be the one who asked those things. This was a total role-reversal. A million emotions began to bubble up inside of her and she quickly pushed them down. No. She wouldn't answer that question today. This was not the time to deal with it. "I don't understand the question."

Natsu forced a smile. "Ah, yeah, naw, forget it. That was a stupid thing to ask anyway." He let out an awkward laugh.

Wow, the entire atmosphere had changed in the course of a few seconds. She felt the need to clear her throat to get things going again but refrained. If she really were hypnotized, she wouldn't do such a thing.

"Um, yeah, so… Who do you think is the prettiest in the guild?" He was trying to put a lighthearted tone back into the question-giving.

"Mira."

"I thought you might say yourself," Natsu snorted, and she had to try rather hard not to glare at him. He always downplayed her looks. Tch. That just brought back memories of their first job when she'd dressed as a maid. Her sexual confidence had taken a major hit that day thanks to him. "Who do you think is the most handsome in the guild?"

What was with these questions?! And he was totally transparent too! He was looking off to the side all awkward-like, easily giving away that he wanted her to say he was… Why the hell would he want that? Did he want an ego trip? Or maybe his question before about only being friends…- NO! That wasn't how it was. Again, Natsu was the one to be oblivious and she was the one to go after him. That's just the way it was. That was something that would never be role-reversed.

But she would answer honestly, even if it was… oh so awkward. Because yes, she thought he was the most good-looking in the guild, whether because she was blinded by whatever stupid feelings she had towards him, or because he really was handsome, she didn't know. "You are."

Oh god there she'd gone and said it. Maybe she should pretend to snap out of the trance and act all confused. That would put an abrupt halt to this increasingly uncomfortable question-answer situation.

Natsu coughed in surprise, his eyes snapping back to hers and once again she had to resist the urge to blush… and look away. "Really?" Maybe the ego trip had been the right answer; he sounded overjoyed.

"Yes."

He'd probably prance around now, or puff out his chest, or hold this against her for the rest of her life. The third one seemed the most probable. Great, let the gloating begin-

"Who do you love, Luce?"

WHAT?! No, nonononono, no. No. She was not going to think about those words he just said. She wasn't going to do it. She wasn't even going to let it slip into her mind that possibly he actually just said that, because she definitely had to be hearing things. She'd answer, deter him, and hopefully he'd be done with this whole hypnosis thing. She'd never seen him as excited about anything before in her life, and yes, it was worth faking it to see him that happy, but things were just getting weird now.

"My mother, my father, my teammates, Fairy Tail…" She trailed off, hoping that was enough to get him off this vein of super suggestive questions.

Natsu nodded. "D-" He closed his mouth, letting out what sounded to be a low and frustrated growl to himself. "Do you love me?" He blurted it out so fast and so loud she could tell it'd taken some courage to ask.

There he went again. Dammit. She really didn't want to ponder over the fact that Natsu might actually have feelings for her. Mainly because she didn't know if A- her heart could handle it, and B- that the undoubtedly red blush she'd have would ever fade back down to her normal skin color. And even more than that, she was absolutely positive she didn't want to have this conversation, or answer these questions, when he thought she was under some sort of spell. Although, maybe that's why he was acting so weird… Maybe he was able to ask these things if he knew she wouldn't remember them…

Crap. Now she was even more flustered. The thought of Natsu being embarrassed and afraid that she didn't love him was quite possibly the most adorable thing she could picture, and also something it seemed her brain couldn't comprehend. No. This is where she drew the line. Maybe he'd find out she'd been faking, maybe he'd think she just snapped out of it on her own, but honestly, she didn't care.

She'd do something… something to distract him, and something that would derail this entire incredibly nerve-wracking and confusing conversation. Yep, she'd pull out her trump card.

"Lucy-kick!"