i 100% believe that natsu actually thinks that him and lucy are together already hence the lack of reaction we got from him with the news that alternate universe versions of them are married in the latest chapter because there is just no way that he's that oblivious.
because Lucy acknowledges her feelings in this chapter but believes that natsu just isn't the romantic type of even the type to ever be interested in romance, which to her credit, makes sense
But listen, this is the same guy who uprooted a tree just to cheer this girl up when she was too sick to come to the festivities
Same guy who trusted her words without a second thought no matter how absurd it sounds
Same guy who's willing to help her no matter how difficult the situation is
no one will steal Lucy's future. just lucy. that's all that matters to him, to hell with the world, he knew the world had gone to shit, knew that the rest of them were probably dead but she was the emphasis on his anger. rouge stole Lucy's life right in front of him and that's what set him off
And he's the same person she relies on to keep said promise
and this last gif, the attentiveness in his voice when he asked her if something was wrong, almost bordering on fear, i think, hence the slightly tense stance he's holding clenched fists and all. I always thought he was afraid lucy would disappear too.
And there's so much more but tumblr isn't allowing me to post more media.
Lucy's the only one who's been able to calm him down repeatedly on several occasions wether it was Lucy holding him, even just the thought of her and he comes back to his senses,
him finally collapsing when he realizes that lucy is alive after his fight against gray
him snapping back into reality and calming down when lucy held him back from from killing the water dragon saying she was with him in the 100 year quest
him taking another breath when he remembered lucy during dragon cry
i could go on and on and on
BUT the point is he KNOWS he feels something besides friendship for Lucy, he knows how important lucy is to him so i think he's very aware if how he feels but thinks that Lucy isn't ready to change anything about them yet which is why he didn't say what he was going to say in chapter 545
nothing has to change, they're good as they are, healthier than most relationship even.
and for natsu? they have time, all the time in the world, they could talk about it later if they have to but right now, they both need to stay as they are, they've both lost a lot of people and time, they could wait, but ultimately they needed this sense of normality
and at the same time i think Lucy won't allow herself to be properly happy until she finds aquarius and Natsu won't be satisfied until he's surpassed his heroes, maybe he's even trying ti prove something to himself
and yeah it still fucking sucks, i wish there's st least this formal acknowledgement between them, I don't need anything to change for them, i just really want them to have that talk you know?
tangentwithtanner
snowghoul
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