Natsu didn’t friend zone Lucy!
I’ve seen lots of debate in the fairy tail tag today over whether NaLu is actually canon or not, so I wanted to share my opinion!
*WARNING: This is a long one!*
Personally, I believe NaLu is canon, but not in your stereotypical “I love you” “I love you too” confession and makeout session kind of way. Ever since Natsu and Lucy first started acting like a couple and were shipped, we know that the pair have zero experience with love. Neither have ever been in a relationship, and therefore don’t really know how to act when confronted with the idea of one. Lucy has a slim idea, after her early fantasies of a “knight in shining armour” figure, however Natsu is completely oblivious. I think Natsu and Lucy both share an idea on what love is, but neither can properly tell when they are in love unless when the moment is right.
So here comes Chapter 545! Of course Lucy got incredibly emotional when thinking back to the jobs:
Which is only natural, the poor girl has been through so much and just at the thought of going on another job brought back so many memories and tears to her eyes.
So what does she do?
The only thing she can do:
Embrace and thank the man who made it all possible; Natsu.
At this moment, with all the memories flooding back into her, Lucy is finally coming to terms with her feelings for Natsu. She loves him. She loves him out of pure gratitude for everything he’s ever done for her, and for being her first ever friend. As Lucy said herself, if she’d never met Natsu, none of her life would have been possible; she wouldn’t have joined Fairy Tail, she wouldn’t have made friends, she wouldn’t have grown stronger, and she probably wouldn’t have won the best writer award!
Of course initially he pulls his signature “o shit” face because Lucy is crying and he’s not really sure what to do.
But this isn’t necessarily a look of “o shit” because he’s uncomfortable or feels awkward. Both him and Happy look incredibly concerned, from their creased eyebrows to the bead of sweat dripping from them. So why is he pulling that face? Because he is confronted with love.
As I said before, Natsu has had no experience with love before, therefore when Lucy hugs him and tells him how much she appreciates him, he doesn’t know how to react.
Now, the next part I think is the most important:
Of course Natsu has never been one to give Lucy any form of personal space, and here is certainly no exception. But this scene is different from all the others. Natsu respects Lucy more than anyone else in the guild, therefore if he were to tease her or invade her personal space, it’s purely in a jokey scenario. This scene here though? This isn’t a joke. Natsu and Lucy are being serious. So that merely means that Natsu leaning in is not a way to tease her, he is being serious with her, a trait rarely shown by the dragon slayer unless in combat.
Now, you’d all be lying if you said you didn’t think Natsu was going to kiss Lucy on the next page, because at this point I was screaming at him to kiss her and this is the point most people believe Natsu rejected Lucy. But in my opinion, it’s the complete opposite.
As I said, Natsu has had no experience with love, so the time he is actually faced with it (right now), he’s not joking around, he’s not teasing, because he has finally realised how Lucy feels. Granted I don’t think he’s absolutely certain, and here’s why:
When Natsu leans in - I promise this isn’t my NaLu senses taking over - I believe he was actually planning to kiss her, like many of us hoped. However, I think he changed his mind at the last minute, purely because he doesn’t want to hurt Lucy. He knows she’s in a vulnerable situation, and he would hate more than anything to make her more upset and tearful than she already is. Natsu knows that he loves Lucy, and is starting to think she returns those feelings, but he doesn’t want to confess when she’s in such a state and all emotional. He doesn’t want to hurt and/or confuse her.
Now let’s discuss Lucy’s feelings towards all this. Throughout the entire Alvarez arc she’s being toying with her feelings towards Natsu, as to whether they’re strictly platonic or whether there’s something more. This is the point where she’s considering perhaps there is something more. She’s so overwhelmed with gratitude and emotions she’s finally putting two and two together and deciding she is in love with her best friend. When Natsu leans in, she thinks he’s about to kiss her. How do we know?
This. The face she makes. You can interpret this however many ways you like, I’m definitely not saying mine is the correct way, but I’ll explain my theory.
Lucy’s contemplating her feelings again when she says “Wait”, but stops in the middle of her sentence. Why? Because she’s panicking. She - much like Natsu - has never had any experience with love, never had a boyfriend, and never had her first kiss. She thinks Natsu is going to kiss her, so what does she do? She closes her eyes and leaves her mouth open. She’s waiting for him to kiss her, so she can properly decide how she feels. She wants Natsu to kiss her.
She thought he was going to do something interesting.
What kind of interesting thing were you thinking, Lucy? ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)
However, what really ties the knot, (see what I did there), about Natsu’s feelings towards Lucy is this:
He wants them to be together forever.
Natsu and Lucy wouldn’t have a stereotypical love confession because they are not a regular couple. Natsu saying he wants to be with Lucy forever just about proves that he loves her. And let’s not forget who else said they wanted to be with their significant other forever:
And who are together and trying for a baby in the final chapter?
From the words they speak to the expression they make, Natsu in no way friend zoned Lucy.
I believe he confessed to her, but in his own sweet, dense little way! He’s too inexperienced to know how to properly confess, and although he initially considered kissing her, it’d be far more like him to aggravate Lucy but confess his love at the same time. After all, he can’t resist teasing her!
Hopefully this put some of your minds at ease, let me all know your opinions and theories, I’d love to hear them! <3
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