Ice Fish

“Come on Lucy, you’re falling behind!”

Lucy Heartfilia cursed under her breath as she struggled to trudge through the thigh deep snow of Mt. Hakobe. How Natsu could dance around in the snow in a one sleeved coat, trousers, and sandals of all things was a constant source of irritation to Lucy.

He and other members of the guild claimed that it was because he was a fire wizard, and could keep himself warm. She didn’t dispute these claims since she’d been on enough jobs with Natsu to know this was true. But if that was the case, why did Gray’s ice magic make him cold? And she could remember other times when Natsu had complained about the cold.

This curiosity was part of the reason she had once again gone on a job to Mt. hakobe with the dragon slayer. Despite the fact that every other time Lucy had gone to the mountain it always ended up being stressful for her. From being kidnapped by a vulcanized Macao, to getting caught up in an avalanche partially caused by her own friends, and she would never forget how she, Happy, and Natsu had gotten trapped in that ice cave awhile back and nearly died.

Shivering at the memory, Lucy concentrated on the task she had set for herself. Convincing Natsu to come to Hakobe with her, alone, hadn’t been too challenging. Happy had wanted to find a way he could impress Carla and, having exhausted any advice he could get from Natsu, had turned to Lucy.

For as much as she teased the little blue exceed about his crush, she did think it was rather cute how he wanted to impress Carla. After thinking about it a moment, she had suggested that he try to convince the other exceed to go on a job just the two of them. Happy had sniggered and made some annoying comment that caused Lucy to throw him out. What the comment had been she couldn’t remember, but it was only after he left that she realized that an opportunity had dropped into her lap.

Erza and Gray were off on a mission together, Wendy was visiting Porlyusica, and Happy would be busy trying to impress Carla. Everyone else in the guild would also be busy with their own work. Natsu and herself were two of the only people who weren’t busy. It was a perfect opportunity for her to satiate her own curiosity.

It felt so awkward asking Natsu and the others about their magic while the others were around. It always made her feel like an outsider. Natsu, Happy, Gray, and Erza had all been together for years. She was the fourth (fifth?) wheel who’d been tacked on too late. Wendy and Carla joining the group had eased this feeling quite a bit. Lucy was no longer the only one who was left out of the proverbial loop.

And yet Lucy’s own curiosity never stopped. All of her friends had such amazing magic She knew all the basic aspects but she still had all kinds of questions. Like how did Erza add to her requipping armory? Did she just have to own the weapon? Know its location? Did she have to prep all of the new armor she obtained?

What about Gray’s ice make? Did he take water from the atmosphere around him to make his ice or was his ice made up entirely of his own magic? How much could he make before he was completely depleted of magic?

Lucy even had questions about Wendy’s sky dragon slaying magic. Like how she went about “eating air”. Was it like breathing or was there more to it than that?

Even Happy and Carla’s Aera magic left her with questions. From her experience if the Exceed ran too low on magic the wings would disappear without warning. But it didn’t seem to be consistent with any time. Did their magic drain more quickly if they flew too fast or if they carried too heavy a load? It seemed likely but she wasn’t sure.

It felt strange but the person she felt she knew the most about was Natsu. His magic was straightforward for the most part. Eat fire, shoot fire, punch with fire, etc. There were a few things that she had questions about, but they were things everyone seemed to wonder about. More exactly was how his magic gave him motion sickness.

After meeting Sting and Rogue at the Grand Magic Games and discovering that they (as well as Laxus and Gajeel) also suffered from motion sickness it didn’t take long for everyone to connect the dots. Wendy was the only exception but most seem to accept that that was either due to her age, her lack of experience, or simply because her healing magic prevented it. Whatever it was, no one could seem to figure out why five out of six dragon slayers were cursed with motion sickness.

Outside of that Lucy thought she knew almost everything about Natsu’s magic. Perhaps it was because they had worked together so often. Or maybe it was because he never seemed to treat his magic like anything complicated.

She supposed that that was why this one minor detail bugged her so much. It was one of the few things he seemed inconsistent about. Whether he was immune to the cold or weak to it was something that varied between cases.

That was why she had gone so far as to come back to the snowy cold Mt. Hakobe. Here she could observe Natsu on her own and, if she had to, ask him about his sensitivity to cold. If Happy had been there he would have teased her about how dumb she was for not knowing better.

But Natsu didn’t seem to think she was idiot. He didn’t make fun of her for not knowing things. At least not anymore. After they first met he wasn’t shy about showing just how irritated he was at her questions. Now, he seemed more than happy to answer any questions she asked him. Though usually it was him who was asking the questions.

Lucy was sure that as long as it was just the two of them her questions would come much more easily.

Of course now that the two of them were actually out here, all she could think about was how unsympathetic Natsu was to her plight. He would almost fly over the banks of snow ahead of her only to stop and wait for her to catch up before moving on again. It was an almost irritating pattern.

The job Lucy had picked had been another simple retrieval mission like all the others that had brought them there before. This time though she tried to pick something that wasn’t guarded by monsters or found in a magic cave with a mind of its own. And Ice Fish was just the thing.

Ice Fish were a special kind of creature that remained very much active in the Winter. In fact they actually hibernated during warm seasons like Spring and Summer, awakened in the Fall, and thrived under frozen rivers, ponds, and lakes in the Winter. They were said to have an interesting taste, and were popular in restaurants during the cold months.

They weren’t easy to get since they frequently lived in high, cold climates. Such as Mt. Hakobe.

Natsu came to a stop once again and glanced behind him at Lucy who was coming up behind. “You know if you’d just waited for Happy to get back, this would’ve been a lot easier.”

“No!” Lucy said a bit too quickly.

Natsu seemed confused by her sudden outburst. Thinking quickly she explained, “The uhm, the client wanted the fish right away. A-and besides…” she looked away. “I need rent money.”

The dragon slayer laughed at her. “Yeah right, I bet you just want to eat some fish! Weirdo.”

Lucy glared at the boy. “Don’t lop me together with you! You’re the one who constantly has food on the brain!”

“Well why not? Is Ice Fish tasty?”

Finally catching up to him she huffed. “Its supposed to be a delicacy. Of course if it’s anything like sky fish…” she grimaced.

“Ugh, gross.” Natsu scrunched up his nose in disgust. “Well if that’s the kind of taste you have Lucy-”

“Excuse me?!” Lucy flushed. “I have impeccable taste!”

“Pfft sure you do.” Natsu turned around and started walking again.

Lucy puffed her cheeks. As reliable as Natsu was, he could also be extremely rude to her. Glaring down at the snow Lucy bent down and began to push some of it together.

Without the sound of Lucy moving through the snow behind him Natsu suddenly became uneasy. He didn’t like how she kept falling behind him. If they were attacked by a vulcan or a blizzardvern it’d be bad for the two to lose sight of one another in the ensuing fight. He turned to check on her just in time to get a face full of snow.

Natsu stood frozen to the spot in shock as pieces of snow melted into water on his face.

“Pfft serves you right.” Lucy chuckled.

A huge mischievous grin grew on Natsu’s face causing Lucy to feel uneasy. He bent down in the snow and stuck his hands in it.

“Oh no.”

Natsu brought together a huge amount of snow easily five times larger than the amount that had hit his face.

“Don’t you dare.”

Standing with the huge ball in hand the salmon haired boy assumed the position.

“Don’t you dare throw that snowba-, goddammit!” A mass of snow hit Lucy in the face with enough force to knock her over. She wasn’t hurt, but she was covered in snow.

Natsu was cackling like a madman as she emerged from the snow.

Fuming Lucy tossed another ball of snow at Natsu only for him to dodge and throw another massive ball at her. Barely avoiding it the snowball fight began full force. Lucy didn’t know when she had started laughing, but she was. Natsu was laughing too even when Lucy managed to land a few good hits on him.

She couldn’t help but notice that the snow she was hitting him with wasn’t melting right away. Instead it seemed to settle on his clothes in much the same way it did on hers. But just when she began to wonder what this meant Natsu moved in close and shoved a bunch of snow in her face. He pointed and laughed as she wiped the wet frozen water from her face.

In vengeance Lucy tackled Natsu, catching him off guard and sending them both tumbling down the hill. They finally stopped at the bottom and as Lucy pushed herself up she found that she was on top of Natsu’s. He grinned up at her with that carefree smile of his.

Her cheeks grew warm, especially noticeable because of the cold. Tossing a flurry of snow into his face Lucy scrambled off of his chest. As Natsu spit the snow out of his mouth Lucy took the opportunity to see where they were.

Now at the bottom of the hill, Lucy could see a long stretch of white ice in front of her. A frozen river. Exactly what they were looking for. Pointing it out before Natsu could begin the snow fight anew the two set to work fishing.

Lucy had only fished a few times before, but it seemed like an easy enough activity. But as they carved out holes in the ice and sat there waiting for a bite the blonde found herself growing impatient. If it had been a warm spring or summer day, or even a passably chilly autumn afternoon then she was sure she wouldn’t have any problems. But even wrapped in her long pink coat with a pair of brown leather gloves and warm fur boots she was freezing.

Turning to look at Natsu Lucy noticed that the snow that had covered him had now melted and even evaporated. He was staring intensely at the hole in the ice with an unflinching gaze. Natsu looked so focused that Lucy decided not to bother him as she drew in her line and got up.

If she could just move around Lucy was sure she would warm up a bit. And since she wasn’t getting any bites it made sense to move a bit further upstream and find a new fishing spot there. Besides Natsu didn’t look particularly interested in conversation so it was getting boring for her.

As she moved further and further downstream Lucy noticed the river widening out until finally she came to a beautiful sight. Before her was a wall of rock with a long column of frozen water clinging to it. The frozen waterfall shimmered in the dim light.

Thinking it over Lucy decided that this would be a perfect place to fish. The area was wider and this would be a perfect place for the fish to gather and lay their eggs. She moved to carve a hole in the ice, only to realize that she had left the magic cutting tool back with Natsu.

Huffing in irritation she turned around prepared to head back down stream only to see the figure of Natsu running towards her. When he got close enough for her to make out his face Lucy thought she saw a look of relief on his face which was quickly replaced by a general impassive expression.

“There you are.” he whined. “What’s the big idea of ditching me like that?”

“I didn’t ditch you!” Lucy defended. “I went off to find a new fishing spot because we weren’t getting anything on the last one!”

“You mean like this?” Natsu reached into the wicker basket he was carrying and pulled out the long white eel like body of an ice fish.

She stared at the fish in surprise. Natsu smirked and teased, “Yeah I caught it while you weren’t there. I guess the fish weren’t biting cause you were so noisy.”

“I-I’m not noisy!” Lucy protested in embarrassment. “I’ll catch an ice fish too! Just wait and see!”

“Pfft yeah right. In all the times you’ve tried fishing you’ve never once caught anything.”

Lucy bit her lower lip knowing he was right. “W-well if I keep at it I’m sure to catch a ton of fish!”

Natsu didn’t looked convinced. That only spurned Lucy further. “Yeah well…. I found this fantastic fishing spot! So I’m sure we can get more ice fish than we could ever need! I found this waterfall and..”

But Natsu had stopped listening. He had returned the fish to the wicker basket and was now staring up where the already overcast sky was getting darker. “If you’re going to catch ‘a ton of fish’ I think you should hurry up. We’ll be here all night if you don’t hurry.”

Lucy didn’t like the idea of being stuck on the mountain all night. But she couldn’t relent either. Natsu would never let her live it down. And so Lucy and Natsu sat at the base of the frozen waterfall for several hours trying to get a bite.

Every time Natsu got a fish and put it into the wicker basket he chuckled a little. All while Lucy sat just a few feet away from him with a completely empty basket and a look of frustration on her face. He made sure to laugh just loud enough for Lucy to hear him and no more. After all he wasn’t going to be the one to scare all the yummy fish away.

Lucy fumed, knowing full well that Natsu was taunting her. She wanted to get back at Natsu for all his teasing. And she still had as of yet to bring up the subject of his weakness to cold. So far he didn’t seem to be having any trouble.

Looking back over the day the only time the snow hadn’t immediately melted off of Natsu had been when Lucy had hit him with that snowball. But she was beginning to think she had just imagined it. After all he was now sitting in the middle of a frozen lake without problem.

This whole thing was beginning to look like a huge waste of time. What did it matter how weak Natsu was to the cold? It wasn’t like having that information would benefit her in any way.

Shivering, Lucy sneezed.

She sniffled and decided to give up on asking Natsu about his resistance to cold. Now she just wanted to finish this job so she could go home and take a nice hot bath.

 ==================================

Even as he teased Lucy with a feigned laugh every time he caught a fish, Natsu was beginning to get worried about her.

Despite what people thought he wasn’t an idiot. He knew that even though he had ways defending against the cold without superfluous layers of clothing that others didn’t. But it wasn’t something he was used to having to worry about.

The ice brained Gray was also well adjusted against the cold thanks to his training. Erza had special armor for the cold. Happy had a body of fur to keep him warm for the most part. Even Lisanna could transform into an animal with thick fur. Growing up nearly everyone he was close to had ways of defending against the cold. As a result he was never made quite aware of how sensitive most ‘normal’ people were to extreme temperatures.

At least not until he had met Lucy.

On that first trip he had taken with her to Mt. Hakobe he had been frustrated with her reaction to the extreme cold. He couldn’t see why she would come if she was so weak to it. But as time went on and he got to know her more he began to realize that he was the one at fault not her.

On the missions their team had taken together neither Gray or Erza commented on Lucy’s weakness to the cold as much as he did. Even Happy would let it go after only a few sassy comments. It wasn’t until she had actually gotten sick after a trip to Hakobe that he realized just how different his and Lucy’s bodies were.

Being a fire dragon slayer meant that Natsu could freely control the temperature of his body. He could range from average body heat to hot enough to dry off his own clothes while still wearing them. Extreme heat didn’t bother him in the slightest and if it was extremely cold he would just raise his own body temperature to match.

But Lucy couldn’t do that. Her body temperature couldn’t change on a dime, she couldn’t just grow a fur coat, and none of her clothes were enchanted to supernaturally defend against the extreme cold. Without putting on a few extra layers of clothing she was at the complete mercy of the weather.

He still didn’t understand why during the first couple of trips to the mountain she had worn nothing but normal clothing. By the third time she appeared to have learned her lesson and bought a coat. She still shivered and sneezed when she got too cold though. Which was why he was worrying about her now.

The sun was going down and the mountain would only get colder at night. Though he had to admit that he was somewhat attracted to the idea of her clinging to him for warmth on their way down the mountain. He pulled his mind out of the gutter and concentrated on the current problem.

Lucy was a stubborn girl. Once she had decided on something it wasn’t usually easy to dissuade her. No matter how much she complained. He had just been poking fun at her about the fish thing but he was afraid she may have taken it as a challenge. The last thing he wanted was for her to stay out in the cold all night.

Sure Natsu was catching enough fish for the client but if he couldn’t convince Lucy to leave before the sun had gone down…

Frowning Natsu wracked his brain for a way to convince her. Which wasn’t easy. Planning and social diplomacy were two things he was most definitely NOT good at. He would try to convince her but if she refused he decided he could always just forcefully carry her down the mountain.

The blonde girl was a powerful wizard, he knew that better than anyone. If he’d been an enemy he would’ve been terrified of her summoning one of her spirits, but as it was he and Lucy were friends. And Lucy never fought her friends. Not even in a friendly sparring session.

The closest thing Lucy had ever come to hurting him was kicking him every time she found him in her apartment. Since she wasn’t much of a physical fighter those never even damaged him. So physically removing her from the mountain would be easy.

But then Lucy would be mad at him.

He didn’t want her to be mad at him. When Lucy got angry with him, really truly angry, she would stop speaking to him all together. And whenever that happened Natsu had to struggle to get her to forgive him.

Usually she just got over it, but the amount of time that took always made Natsu depressed. Waiting day in and day out for Lucy to come up and speak to him. Never knowing if this was going to be the one time he’d gone too far. The one time he’d pushed Lucy to end their partnership.

But Natsu felt like this time she would forgive him. After all it was a matter of her personal health. If Lucy got sick he wouldn’t get to hang out with her or vice versa.

The more he thought about it the more he realized that he might as well not waste time trying to talk her into leaving, and instead just pick her up and walk down the mountain. Assuming she didn’t want to leave anyway. Lucy wasn’t competitive. Stubborn, but not competitive.

As the shadows around them grew longer, Natsu decided that it was time to go. Glancing over at Lucy he could see she still hadn’t caught anything yet. Damn. If she had just managed to catch one fish she would’ve been satisfied.

Sighing, Natsu got up and came up behind her. Just when he was about to speak the girl suddenly exclaimed. “Oh oh I think I got one!”

The bobber had indeed been pulled under. Lucy began to pull on the pole with all her strength but to no avail. She strained as the pole began to bend until the tip was almost in the water.

“Hng, I think it’s a big one!” Lucy strained.

Natsu grabbed the pole and pulled with all of his strength. The special fishing line they had gotten was one that wouldn’t break, but even so that didn’t mean a thing if they couldn’t pull their catch out. He couldn’t remember the last time he’d struggled so much with a catch.

It was only when the ice began to crack that he knew something was wrong.

The frozen lakes ice groaned and cracked until, finally, a massive Ice Fish came busting through the ice. The end of the fishing line was hooked onto the Ice Fish’s massive back fin. With extreme force the fishing pole was ripped out of Natsu and Lucy’s hands sending both of them flying back onto the shattering ice.

Natsu managed to get his bearing back first. He picked up Lucy and tossed her back onto solid ground before moving to leap there himself. Unfortunately, just as he was about to jump the Giant Ice Fish came up right under the piece of ice Natsu was standing up sending him toppling into the freezing water.

The sudden change in temperature had caught him completely off guard. By the time he realized what had happened the cold had already sunk into his bones. And it. Was. Cold.

Pushing up to the surface Natsu gasped for breath. He was shaking so badly he could only just barely cling to one of the pieces of ice.

“Natsu!” he could only vaguely hear Lucy’s horrified voice past the sound of his own chattering teeth.

His wet hands were slipping on the ice, and the cold water prevented his body temperature from rising high enough to produce any fire. As his fingers slipped he found himself back in the water. Natsu was in trouble and he knew it. If he couldn’t get himself out he’d either drown or die of hypothermia.

Just out of the corner of his eye he could see Lucy standing at the very edge of the water. Her eyes scanning the ice until they landed on him.

“Hang on!” she screamed. “I’m going to get you out!”

“D-don’t….” was all he could manage. The ice was unstable and there was no way Lucy would be able to make it over to him without falling in herself. She was much more sensitive to the cold than he was. If she fell in… he didn’t want to think about it.

But the cold was of such intensity that it he felt his limbs growing stiff. It was becoming difficult just to hold his head above the water. He managed to make it to another piece of ice but he could feel his body slowly failing him.

When he felt something hook onto the back of his scarf he was barely conscious. He’d reached back and grabbed the fishing line largely out of instinct and held on as it pulled him through the water.

 ================================================

Lucy pulled on the long piece of enchanted thread like it was a lifeline.

Her arms felt like lead as she pulled. She had taken off her gloves to get a better hold on the line. The line slid between her fingers and cut her flesh causing pain to shoot through her hands. She ignored the pain. It was something she could worry about after Natsu was safe.

None of her spirits could reasonably be expected to help her. If the water was cold enough to freeze Natsu she could only imagine what it would do to her spirits. She could summon Aquarius but she wanted to save Natsu not drown him.

Then she’d realized she had held onto the fishing pole. And her plan had formed. She was shocked that she had managed to hook him on her first try. Holding her breath she fought the urge to pull him in as quickly as possible. She didn’t want to accidentally have the line come unhooked. Lucy wasn’t sure if she could hook him again if it did come loose.

When she finally got Natsu to the edge she immediately ran forward and pulled him completely out of the water. His eyes were closed and his skin was pale and cold to the touch. Lucy’s breath hitched in her throat.

“N-Natsu…?” she whispered shakily. “Natsu… Natsu please…”

Only when his brow twitched did she allow herself to sigh in relief.

Natsu coughed and gasped for air. Rolling onto his side he shivered harshly. “C-cold….” was all he managed.

Lucy reached out and touched his upper arm to steady him. Her stomach churned when, instead of his usual dull warmth, she felt as though she had touched a block of ice. Natsu’s entire body seemed to be like that sending Lucy into a panic as she searched around her for something, anything that might warm him.

She spotted something behind the frozen waterfall. Even though she couldn’t be sure… it looked like some kind of overhang. The sun had already disappeared beneath the horizon causing the air around them to grow even colder than before.

“C’mon Natsu.” Lucy hooked his shaking arm over her shoulder and half carried him over to the enclave. She needed to get him out of the cold wind and the overhang was as much shelter as she could hope for.

The wind had picked up and the clouds had grown dark. Only minutes after Lucy and Natsu had made it into the overhand a blizzard suddenly picked up. The overhang was dome shaped and protected the two from the wind.

Placing Natsu against the wall of the shelter she looked out at the blizzard. Carefully she wrapped her arms around Natsu’s cold shoulders. “Looks like we’ll be trapped for a while…” she whispered.

“Y-yeah…” he answered weakly.

Lucy tightened her grip around his shoulders. Natsu’s voice was never that weak. His wet clothes soaked into her own. Pulling back Lucy looked him over. He was shivering from head to toe. She had to warm him up somehow.

“Natsu?” she asked. “Natsu can you hear me?”

“I-I’m not…” he chattered. “I-I’m n-not deaf y-y’know.”

The response was a good sign. If he could still manage sarcasm then he wasn’t in that much of a dire strait.

“I have your backpack. Did you bring your blanket with you?”

He nodded as he shook and cracked his eyelids open. Lucy was relieved to hear that. She doubted Natsu could use his fire magic to warm himself up right away. If he could he would have done so already.

Digging through the bag Lucy located the blanket. Pulling it out she was going to put it over Natsu’s shoulders only to realize that it would do little since his clothes were wet. It was awkward but he would need to remove at least his shirt.

“Natsu you need to take off your shirt.”

He smiled at her and seemed like he was about to crack a joke but she didn’t give him a chance.

“If you leave your wet clothes on you’ll freeze to death! Now take your shirt off!” Lucy yelled. She wasn’t in the mood for his jokes right now. His health was more important.

Natsu seemed to shrink a little at that. When he didn’t get to taking off his clothes right away Lucy leant in and unzipped his shirt for him and pulled it off. She knew that when they told this story back at the guild Mirajane would imagine the situation in the most overly romanticized way possible (that woman had a seriously overactive imagination). In reality it was more like a mother pulling off her childs coat.

While she was placing the shirt aside to be dried later Natsu spoke up, “I-If I’ve g-gotta do i-it so d-do y-you.”

Lucy blinked at him and looked down at her coat. She hadn’t noticed but between the snowball fight, the breaking up of the ice, and carrying Natsu into the overhang she had gotten quite wet. Pulling off her coat she saw that her own shirt had also been soaked through.

She flushed at the idea of removing her shirt. Especially in front of Natsu. Lucy resisted up until she sneezed. At that point she reluctantly gave in. But before that…

“Close your eyes.”

Natsu’s eyebrow raised as if to ask why.

“Just do it!”

Rolling his eyes Natsu did as he had been told.

“Don’t you dare open them!” Lucy warned. Her face was completely red as she removed her shirt. Tossing it to the side along with Natsu’s.

Picking up the blanket she sat down next to Natsu and pulled the blanket around their shoulders. When it looked like he was about to open his eyes she hissed again, “Keep em closed!”

“U-until?”

“Until we can put on our clothes without freezing to death!”

“B-but th-that could take f-forever!”

“Yeah well, get used to it!”

Natsu grumbled somewhat but was too cold to protest. But with his eyes still closed he wrapped his arm around Lucy’s waist and pulled her close to him. Lucy yelped as he did so.

“N-Natsu what do you think you’re-” she began with a blush.

“Yer warm.” he muttered. His arm tightening around her.

Lucy supposed that from his perspective she was. With this in mind she didn’t protest. In fact she allowed herself to nestle into his chest. Already his body was beginning to warm. Likely because of his magic. Suddenly Lucy was reminded of her original motive for asking Natsu out on this job.

She suddenly felt atrociously guilty. “Natsu?” she whispered.

“Hm?” Natsu replied tiredly.

“I-I’m sorry.”

“Fer what?”

“For asking you out here… I-I wanted… I mean I had intended…” she stopped when Natsu’s hand wandered up to her blonde hair and held her head against his chest.

“Doesn’t matter.” He held onto her tightly.

Through this contact Lucy could feel his body warming up quickly. His steady heartbeat reverberating in his chest.

“I’m fine. So don’t worry, okay?”

Smiling Lucy rested her head on his broad shoulder. “Okay…”

The next day, when the two got back to the guild they simply said that they had had to spend the night up in the mountains. No the blizzard hadn’t affected them. Yes they were both feeling alright.

After a few more questions the two were left alone.

Only Mirajane lingered giving the two a curious knowing smile.