I disagree with most of the posts I’ve been seeing about the nalu interaction at the end of this final chapter. That is, I don’t think it was Lucy that “wasn’t ready” like a lot of people have been saying. I know the “blushing virgin” trope (quote a la @not-just-any-fangirl) is a popular one, and I don’t want to get into that because it’s not my cup of tea,but my point is that I don’t think Lucy wasn’t ready.
I think it was Natsu that was scared.
In my opinion, this doesn’t seem like a “wait, I’m not ready for this” it seems more like a “wait, is this really happening?” Natsu and Lucy have been through… a lot, as we all know, and at this point I don’t really see Lucy being afraid of anything that has to do with Natsu (except maybe him leaving again, which we never got a discussion about, thanks Mashima). The close up on Lucy’s face is clearly more comedic and surprised, rather than nervous
Now, we know that Natsu isn’t good with confrontation, at least, not when it comes to Lucy. Natsu is a lot of things, but he’s kind of a coward when it comes to talking about his emotions or having any kind of a conversation that could reveal what he’s actually feeling. Mashima has been very clear about that in the past.
In chapter 416 Natsu left without saying goodbye to Lucy (this is also a wonderful parallel to the Phantom Lord arc, but that’s not what this is about). Natsu, as we’ve seen, doesn’t like seeing Lucy upset, especially not because of him.
419. Lucy mentions the fact that he left for a year and Natsu clams up.
424. Again, Natsu kind of… lowkey freaks out/shuts down about being confronted.
Natsu has never dealt with change well. At least, it doesn’t seem that way. He can’t handle any type of confrontation that could potentially dig up emotions he’s buried. He doesn’t like it and often opts to joke his way out of situations because he gets scared. It’s his natural fight or flight reflex coming into play. Natsu is almost always “fight”, but when it comes to Lucy and whether or not he’s “in love” with her, he seems to go for flight.
In the manga, Natsu is only 19/20. He hasn’t matured enough to deal with what he’s feeling, but he knows he wants to stay by Lucy’s side forever, even if he does need some extra time to figure it out.
TL/DR: Lucy isn’t the one that got nervous about Natsu trying to kiss her, Natsu is just a big coward when it comes to emotions and needs a little extra time to figure it out.
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