Sorry for taking too long, it was hard to put this together...
Some fandoms had a lot of hopes and expectations about chapter 82 of the Fairy Tail sequel. Even if those expectations weren't met, shallow shippers kept overhyping panels featuring the characters they ship, while ignoring that standing in the same frame is not something inherently romantic.
But, one element of that unwarranted hype stood out. An emphasis on "team," which leads to the question: why is that such a big deal?
Well, what was actually the key to the development of NaLu in-universe? This panel right here answers that question:
While it's somewhat implied that Natsu never thought of making an actual team until Lucy came along, most of their relationship's build-up started after they became a team.
What does "teamwork" have to do with romantic love? Well, specialists in the matter agree that teamwork actually helps to create long-lasting relationships and marriages as it helps in building up trust, loyalty, mutual support, a sense of commitment as well as making it easier for partners to let go of resentment. Teamwork strengthens and deepens relationships
It is after the birth of Team Natsu, and a few missions together, that we later see Natsu not only coming to understand Lucy's emotional needs level, but also starting to reassure her...
...so Lucy can understand she has a new home and an actual family there. And this is just after a few adventures. Their shared experiences would later strengthen their bonds even further.
This build-up not only affects Lucy. Just remember that after her leap of faith...
...Natsu abandoned his pursuit of revenge on their current foes in favor of gently taking Lucy back to the guild. This is one of the earlier showings of Lucy actually affecting Natsu and his decisions.
Moving on, we get to see a moment I highligthed multiple times before:
Enter the sense of commitment, the willingness to compromise and work to stay together. As we could see in some translations and other analyses made here, Lucy, by her own admission, prefers to go on missions with Natsu because she feels bount to him.
So, in a way, Lucy is commiting to be Natsu's partner because being with him feels natural to her. That is how teamwork promotes unity and strengthens relationships.
There's another interesting bit; Lucy says she feels bored when not going with Natsu on adventures. Showing that not only she actually enjoys his presence, she also relishes in the excitement and fun Natsu brings to her life.
Teamwork also inspires loyalty, just think about how Lucy responded to Natsu's thoughtfulness in the omake "The Day of the Fateful Encounter"
Although it's no longer "canon" due to the messed chronology, it gives us a faithful portrayal of Natsu and Lucy's relationship. Let's break it down, one morning (after briefly discussing dating and boys) Cana predicted that particular day was a day of a fateful encounter for Lucy, hence the title.
She meets a good-looking guy in a library, and she thinks that's her fateful meeting. After spending most of the day with him, she ends up agreeing to a dinner for the evening, but finds out that Natsu and Happy had their own plans to go on a mission with her that same night, as part of special surprise for Lucy, which she mistakenly assumes it's for her birthday.
Lucy forsook her plans for a date to answer Natsu's thoughtful gesture anyway. But, it turns out the surprise was to celebrate Lucy's 1-year anniversary of joining Fairy Tail, which makes Lucy realize her fated encounter was with Natsu that day.
Take this little bit of context into consideration, Lucy chose to go with Natsu over dating a good-looking guy, with whom she had several things in common, even a shared interest in novels and writing. Instead of choosing a combination of physical appeal and commonalities, she ultimately went with the dorky and trouble-making dragon slayer. Says a lot about most shipping arguments and reasonings
The omake closes with a little bit of poetry fitting the events depicted there: "If you take time to notice, 'Fate' could be right next to you." We could say Natsu has been Lucy's fate all along.
Fun fact: the guy Lucy met ends up falling for Cana instead
However, you may realized we only disucssed the effects of this concept, as in how teamwork may strengthen a relationship. How about scenes involving Natsu and Lucy working as team? There's one special highlight of huge narrative importance: Natsu and Lucy Vs. Jacob Lessio
They're so in-sync that they can even adapt and improvise, coming up with ideas and executing them perfectly, without any need for explaining the other their plan. As explained in previous analyses, this kind of teamwork reflects how close they are so well that even Mavis herself got inspired by seeing them in action. The most compatible team unknowingly got her to create a plan based on romantic love
So, there's indeed a correlation between a teamwork and deep relationships. And even the author hightlights this compatibility, not only with NaLu; another potent (currently canon) pairing has some of this too: Gruvia
During the GMG arc, the author uses this concept to accentuate the strength of the bond between Gray and Juvia...
...which ultimately gives them an edge over Lyon and Chelia, as they were so compatible their team combination not only allowed them to outmatch their opponents, but also entranced Chelia who could not help but marvel at the beauty of their "Unison Raid"
So, the story sometimes uses teamwork to highlight compatibility, closeness, and love. Which is why teamwork is a huge deal when it comes to potent and canon relationships in Fairy Tail.
And that is why shippers expected something as huge as this kind of teamwork or a "unison raid." If we think about it, we can see NaLu has the inspiring teamwork, and Gruvia is the only romantic pairing with a Unison Raid feat. So, wanting something similar for something that contradicts these two pairings is like wanting a different premise to outmatch NaLu and become an equal to Gruvia.
Fortunately, the story unfolding so far supports relationships with actual chemistry and development. As we've seen in this post, "fate" always favours consistent bonding over physical appeal and commonalities; and teamwork in this story both nourishes and highlights strong companionships growing and evolving into something deeper.
The moment when Nasha asks earth Lucy if it's her mom everyone was shocked... but the only one to get closer is Natsu, and I wondered if he didn't get closer to feel it and therefore feel his own (Natsu) and that of Lucy
After understanding that it was Edolas, and that it was therefore the daughter of Edo-Lucy, we see Lucy's reaction, all red, but in the other panels, none shows that of Natsu while the others are shown?? Why can't we see his reaction?
It's the same in the next panels, we only see him intervening to greet his double, but as soon as we learn that Edo-Natsu is indeed the father of Nasha, it's the same bright red Lucy and not reaction from Natsu
The worst part is that he knows what it is, and he understood that he was the father, he manages to remain neutral and to type the discussion with the double of his future child as if nothing had happened, as if it made sense for him
If he hadn't figured out that it was his daughter, he wouldn't have asked if she's breathing fire with a happy face... and most importantly, wouldn't have asked to take Nasha with them when they get back to Earthland
So in the end, Natsu is in love with Lucy, he's stupid but knows he will have a child with her, and we don't need to see his reaction because we know he's happy to know that, not like Lucy who is embarrassed and not yet sure about her feelings
As promised, here’s the counterpart of my last analysis. However, since this one is not a response to some detractor or shallow shipper attacking NaLu, we’ll use previous showings to put the moments into context and better appreciate the development of Natsu and Lucy’s relationship…
Technically, there are 3 timeskips. One after the Tenrou arc, a 1-year period after the Tartaros arc, and the timeskip between the Alvarez arc and the 100-years quest.
Given that the 7-years statsis in the Tenrou island wasn’t percieved as such by the A-team of Fairy Tail, this analysis will focus on everything that happens after the Tartaros incident. Also, I should remind you that this analysis doesn’t factor anime-only material or filler unless we can prove it was Mashima’s doing instead of the anime staff’s interpretation. So without further ado, let’s get started:
First stop, it’s the reunion of the original Team Natsu. We should take a look at the context…
…after the Tartaros arc, Natsu goes to train with Happy to become powerful enough to take on Zeref. Before starting this 1-year journey, he only lets one person know about his plans (Lucy) by leaving a letter to her. While she’s too late to catch him up, Lucy runs after him by stating she’ll feel lonely without him
Shortly after Makarov disbands the guild. Instead of going with another Fairy Tail guildmate like she was doing with Natsu, Lucy moves to Crocus
It’s true that she kept track of most of her guildmates movements, while searching for Natsu. But, as one perceptive reader noted: Lucy only ran after Natsu instead of Gray, Laxus, or anyone else, why? Because he was the one she was the most attached to, and this isn’t a theory or a glorified fanfiction:
Previous showings prove she already felt that way for him, just like this panel from an omake, that we previously analyzed, in which Lucy admits she wasn’t too thrilled about going on a mission without Natsu because she felt somewhat bount to him; and the next chapter, the narration gives us this little gem:
Natsu was the person Lucy wanted to see the most, the one she missed the most. But, the moments are not only on Lucy’s side…
…after getting a glimpse of all the work and effort Lucy put into finding the whereabouts of their guildmates, he got driven by her desire to get the guild back together.
This moment highlights an aspect of emotional chemistry many readers/shippers/wankers take for granted; chemistry is not measured by how much people flirt or engage in physical displays of affections, but by how both partners can affect and/or influence each other.
Here we can see how Lucy leaves such an impact on Natsu’s character, that it moved him to take action.
During their journey, they find Wendy and get her back after a little skirmish with a baddie and his forces. And when they find Juvia, we get the impression one of their friends and guildmates probably became evil; while Natsu and Lucy are on their way to find more about Gray’s whereabouts, he does something interesting…
…we learn through this arc that Lucy had been struggling with the fear of the Fairy Tail guild not coming back. But, here Natsu reaffirms he’ll get Gray and the guild back, to effectively reassure Lucy everything will be fine because he’ll make sure of it.
This is another aspect of chemistry: emotional support. It means being capable of regulating your partner’s emotions, specially in times of distress, providing hope and comfort. That keeps them emotionally stable, and strengthen the bonds that bind partners together.
Some skeptical people may think I’m making this up, but it’s not the first time Natsu gives Lucy the emotional support she needed. If we go back to the GMG. he did something similar when Lucy “lost” to Flare…
…offering relief and comfort when she needed it. This one of the strongest and most consistent points in their realtionship
Also, a wrongly overhyped scene as well as the conclusion of the Avatar arc confirms this is how their characterization goes:
After finding a seemingly evil Gray who scorns Fairy Tail and its values while claiming the guild is no more, Lucy reacts strongly to his statment…
One chapter later he apologizes because that was all an act for he was a double-agent among the bad guys at that point. While shallow shippers love to sell this moment as the result of an “itch” between Lucy’s legs, Lucy’s actions has nothing to do with “sexual tension.”
As a perceptive readers once explained, Lucy slapped Gray because of what he said to Natsu about their family bonds, their friendship, and Fairy Tail. Her tearful response reveals a fear she’s been supressing during this new journey with Natsu…
…the fear of Fairy Tail being really gone. However, she previously displayed confidence and determination, without showing fear or insecurity, why? Go back to Natsu and Lucy’s reunion. The simple fact Natsu returned was enough to reignite hope in her.
Let us go back to Natsu reassuring Lucy before reaching Sabretooth, Natsu reassured her they’ll get Gray and the guild back. Recall the underrated headpat scene…
…Natsu, both passively and actively, gave Lucy the hope and comfort she needed. In fact, Lucy’s words imply that Natsu’s declaring his intention of bring the guild back also had quite an impact on her. All of these moments are pretty important, because that’s how chemistry looks like!
Our next stop is the the 2nd Fairy Tail movie to make up for it. The fact that this movie was storyboarded by the author himself, and that one of its plot points became part of the manga sequel, means we can use it to analyze the bond between Natsu and Lucy too.
Instead of going over all their interactions throughout the movie, I’ll focus on the 3 of the most important moments:
I’ll break down one moment first to keep going with the theme of NaLu’s chemistry. After Natsu rescues Lucy, their team is led to believe that continuing their mission would mean the end to the land of the stars and its people.
That makes Lucy feel so conflicted and troubled about their actions that she couldn’t sleep that night. Natsu noticed how Lucy’s doubts and worries were eating away her resolve, so what does he do?
Earlier, Lucy said she wanted to see Stella’s starry sky, so Natsu brings her above the trees so she can see the beautiful scenary while he cheers her up. Once again, the Dragon Slayer proves to be a source of strenght and comfort for Lucy
The other moments I’d like to highlight also needs context, but they prove these showings are not one-sided. At the beginning Natsu ask Lucy a question out of curiosity: What do I look like to you?
There are some variations depending on the translation, but it’s easy to understand what Natsu is asking. Keep that question in mind, we’ll get to that later.
We now jump right into the final act, Natsu takes a lot of damage and goes down. As Lucy and Happy cry over his seemingly dying body, one Lucy’s tears falls on Natsu and then we get a montage of Natsu remembering his guildmates, and the one who stood out the most was…
…Lucy. In other analyses, I even compared this reminisce scene to Gray’s own during the Avatar arc, in which Juvia was the person who stood out the most. And as we all know, current developments confirm he’s hopelessly in love with the water mage.
So, what should we think of Natsu remembering Lucy in a similar manner? I’ll leave that to your imagination; needless to say, Natsu gets a second wind after this moment, which included a half-dragonoid superform.
After defeating the big bad, Natsu realizes his transformation made him look quite fearsome for a while. And, do you recall the question he asked Lucy at the beginning? Out of concern Natsu ask her: What do I look like to you?
When Lucy answers, with a warm smile, that he looks like “Natsu” to her, he allows himself to fall into her arms…
…unbeknownst to many, Mashima’s storyboard included a little bit of this scene that didn’t make it to the final product:
Before falling into Lucy’s embrace, Natsu smiles. What makes this moment as a whole so great is the fact it shows how much Natsu values Lucy’s perception of him, how much of an effect she has on him. Being capable of having such a profound impact on each other is an essential trait of emotional chemistry.
The next moment is not as great as the one we just went through, but at the very least it confirms what we previously saw in an OVA:
That as soon as Lucy gets drunk, she gets “frisky” with Natsu, and only with him. Something that would later pop up in some Mashima’s NaLu twitter posts featuring a drunk Lucy in increasingly steamy scenarios.
I could talk about some minor interactions here and there, but this post is getting too long, so I’ll jump right into the fight against Jacob…
…through NaLu’s dynamic we get such a solid teamwork that they not only catched their opponent by suprise, they also inspired something else. They gave Mavis the idea to defeat Zeref, something we get to know much later: use the Ankhseram curse to kill Zeref.
The way the curse works is what makes this a lot more interesting. It’s pretty much a contradiction: the more you care or hold dear life, the more you steal it away. Mavis’ plan was to use her “love” (as in “romantic love”) for Zeref so the curse would end up killing him
To put it in other words, the dynamic between Natsu and Lucy inspired a strategy based on romantic love. So, in-universe NaLu makes some characters think of “love” instead of just “friendship.”
Now we jump to one of the most notable NaLu moments in this arc: after giving a severe beatdowm to the woman who nearly maims Lucy, Natsu finally becomes END. But, what triggers his transformation?
He thought Lucy died, and the sole idea of losing her drove him over the edge. And this isn’t the first time Natsu loses someone dear to him. But, the pain and sorrow Natsu felt because of this was enough to make him go into a rampage as END with the sole purpose of killing the leader of the enemies they’re fighting: Zeref
This moment is another example of both the profound effect Lucy has on Natsu, and how attached he became to her. Needless to say, she was alive and well, and Natsu later passed out after his reunion with both Lucy and Happy.
The next moment I’ll highlight is how the only answer they came up to “treat” Natsu’s worsening condition was to give him a combination of both “human warmth” and “human emotion.” This scene got included not for the sake of the analysis, but to share something curious…
…a perceptive manga reader, a guy who also analyzed story and characters, once made a commnet about regarding this moment: “I’d question the [intelligence] of those who think any of them would end up with different people after this scene.” After all, the one chosen to give Natsu the “warmth” and “affection” he needed was Lucy, something she agreed to.
Now, back to the analysis. Years after the guild pulled out their final victory over Acnologia, we get on last moment between Natsu and Lucy before jumping into the sequel…
…after remembering all the moments she and Natsu shared, Lucy’s natural response was to throw herself into him for another hug, as she expressed gratitude for the people who changed her life so much. Once again showing how much of an effect their shared experiences had on her, and how Lucy’s answer to all of this is immediately offering “warmth” and “affection.”
The moment could’ve been much better, but fortunately, the sequel came out some time later. And with it, we got more NaLu material.
We’ll jump right into the fight against an out-of-control Mercphobia. Team Natsu is not capable of beating the dragon, until Igneel’s biological son gives Natsu a power-up to beat Mercphobia. Only one problem: the power is too much for Natsu, and he start to act more vicious and ruthless.
The first one to notice something is not right with Natsu is Lucy. But, before Natsu could cross a line, the one who stops him this time…
…is Lucy. It’s not just a cooldown hug that brings Natsu back, it’s also Lucy’s words as she, even through the pain of Natsu overheated body, reassures Natsu she’s there for him. Lucy is the one who successfully calmed down the Dragon Slayer in this moment.
Even thought, that was pretty rough experience, Lucy still shows the most concern for Natsu even after everything was calm…
…the memory of his partner going berserk still lingered in her mind, showing how that change she saw in Natsu still affected her in a personal level. In fact, Lucy only dismissed her worries when Natsu proves to be the same mischievous trouble-maker she’s so familiar with.
The next chapter, we get to know another version of the Fairy Tail cast in Fairy Nail. To make things short, Nack (Natsu’s counterpart) is pretty rough with Lucia (Lucy’s counterpart), but turns out that…
…Nack and Lucia are in an “intimate relationship.” Lucy’s reaction to their counterparts went from “stop bullying me Natsu,” to deep embarrassment at their “form of love.” But, that’s not all.
After this little event and Elsie’s trouble led them to talk about “romantic love,” we get a statement that allow us to properly contextualize NaLu’s development:
Neither Natsu and Lucy have actual experience with “romantic love.” This explains why we don’t have a proper kiss or a confession, but also shows how they’re the best partner for each other, as they complement each other, and consistently bond in a organic way without having a clear understanding of “romantic love.”
For them, building a solid emotional chemistry, and a deep emotional attachment to one another, came out naturally.
Shortly after, we get something interesting:
…we’re told that after some people were flirting with Lucy, Natsu’s response was pretty much burning the guys tried to woo his partner. In other words, he got jealous over Lucy and scared away those trying to win her affection.
Even if he doesn’t understand the concept of romantic love, he still displayed both jealousy and possesiveness, which shows his attachment to Lucy goes much deeper than some people may think.
Now, we didn’t get much NaLu during the battle against Aldoron. We maybe saw that Lucy still gets somewhat shy or embarrassed at people bring up the subject of how deep her relationship with Natsu could be, in contrast to her much more neutral response to the implication of her being with other guys
We also get a lovely reunion hug, after the battle is over
Most of their guildmates display a knowing smile. As if they’re aware of something we’re not
But, we get the biggest surprise when we go back to Edolas once again. As you guys recall, half of the guild, remained 7-years in a magical stasis in wich time stopped for them. But, unlike their Earthland counterparts, time did pass for the entirety of the Fairy Tail guild.
What happened during those extra years?
Meet Edolas’ Nasha, the daughter of this world’s Natsu and Lucy. While her embarrassment is both fun and cute, the meat and potatoes of this scene would be two scenes: After the shock of knowing her Edolas counterpart had kids with her Natsu, Edo-Lucy gives her the reassurance that just like she’s doing fine with Edo-Natsu, Lucy will be fine with his.The other one goes to show us that, while knowing Nasha is the daughter of both his and Lucy’s counterpart, his fatherly instincts kicked in and gets overprotective of her…
Just like Gray, the guy who’s in love with Juvia, got overprotective of Greige, the Edo-Gruvia son. In fact, Natsu likes the idea of having Nasha so much, that he even suggested to bring her to Earthland with them.
Last moment, by the time this analysis was made, would be Natsu enjoying a little too much having Lucy strongly wrapped around him…
…I’ll leave that one to your imagination
You probably realized there are a lot of moments, and interactions, I didn’t include in this post. But, the amount of NaLu material was so much that I found myself overwhelmed, and if I were to include everything, this post would be 10x times longer.
But, the point I’d like to make clear is that, despite their inexperience, and even their year apart, their bonding and their moments show this potent relationship can easily bloom into one memorable and well-developed canon relationship. The seeds are planted, all that’s left to see is how this tree ends up growing
