#the natsu drawing did not turn out how i wanted but we ball

[celestialulu]

happy 5th birthday.....

nalu below

[makeste]

BnHA Chapter 302: As the Todoroki Turns

Previously on BnHA: 

Today on BnHA: We have a very fun chapter in which (1) Shouto grows up lonely on account of his parents being worried that his siblings will literally try to kill him, (2) Natsu and Fuyu grow up neglected on account of not being special and/or self-destructive enough to attract attention, (3) we get to revisit all of that exciting spousal abuse from chapter 39, and (4) Touya burns to death right on cue, pretty much exactly like we expected it to happen. Thankfully since this is a shounen manga, Horikoshi finds some hope in all this misery as the Todoroki family rallies together, with Shouto getting his long-overdue credit for being a perfect sweet angel who put up with all of this shit for sixteen years and somehow came out of it strong and kind and empathetic and determined. Anyway, so that flashback was a barrel of laughs. But now that it’s over, we can put all of that angst behind us, and move on to... well I guess, probably, more angst. Look, we’re short on variety at the moment. Bear with it.

ouch. we knew this was coming, but still

A+ parenting move there. “ho boy, our eldest just tried to murder our youngest, now what? hmm how about we isolate our youngest from all human contact”

though in their defense, we probably shouldn’t have expected this rabidly strength-obsessed fire man and his wife who was groomed since childhood to obey her family’s whims to have any idea of how to raise stable, well-adjusted offspring

SERIOUSLY YOU GUYS

this is a perfect example of Enji’s tragically self-revolving viewpoint right here. just because being a hero is your entire world doesn’t mean you can just excuse yourself from anything outside of that and act like it’s out of your control. “alas, all I care about is hero stuff and my son can’t be a hero, we are doomed to inhabit two different worlds” no you jackass, it’s called having more than one hobby?? figuring out how to spend some time with your son that doesn’t involve training?? the same exact thing you were telling him to do last week, while ignoring that you’ve never done that yourself in your life??

that said, yet again we have that complexity though because it’s obvious that Enji at least on some level is aware of his own flaws, even though he seems unwilling or unable to confront them. honestly, from what we’ve seen so far, Enji’s obsession with surpassing All Might might be more accurately called an addiction. he literally can’t let go of it even though he’s fully aware of how it’s slowly destroying his life. and so in the same way that a lifelong smoker or alcoholic might tell their child to stay away from cigarettes and booze, Enji tells Touya not to follow down the same path as him, even though he himself doesn’t know how to leave that path. so yes, it’s hypocritical as fuck, but there’s also an element of helplessness there as well because Enji literally doesn’t know how not to be like this

though all the same he sure could stand to put in more than just a token effort. but it is what it is, and we already know how much he’ll come to regret it

and meanwhile Baby Shouto has frozen his sleep bubble with his quirk lmao. so I guess his quirk did come in early. that’s a recipe for chaos right there

once again Shouto is ruining every single dramatic panel in this flashback

this was so dark and intense... and then I spotted the lil bubs in the corner. Horikoshi please control yourself

“some hero you are, running away” and then all of a sudden, “FIVE YEARS LATER” lol what. OKAY THEN

(ETA: love the confirmation that eight-year-old Natsu comes from the Iida school of puberty and is basically a fully grown man, and meanwhile Touya comes from the hobbit school of puberty and has been perpetually eight for the past five years.)

“HEY BIG BRO WANNA COME RECREATE AN ICONIC FLASHBACK SCENE WITH US. WE’VE GOT THE SOCCER BALL RIGHT HERE, BUT HURRY UP OR WE’LL BE TOO LATE FOR SHOUTO TO WALK ON BY AND STOP TO LOOK”

lol and that’s literally the next three panels. but Horikoshi did add this extra bit after Endeavor starts to drag Shouto away

seriously Enji what the hell did you expect was going to happen here. “Touya went nuts and tried to kill his little brother out of jealousy, so let’s make it clearer than ever that Shouto is the important child and all the other children are just rejects. this will definitely not make the problem 100x worse, and will surely lead to Touya giving up and living a happy life, having been emotionally abandoned by the person he admired more than anyone.” good for you pal you figured it all out. no need for that plan b, “we all just go to therapy”

anyway so he’s telling Shouto he can’t play because he needs more endurance training. and meanwhile Touya’s patented Todoroki Drama Genes are going through puberty as well

definitely the face of a happy, emotionally stable child who’s not still plotting to murder his younger brother in his sleep

“WELL ACTUALLY MAKESTE” lol I stand corrected??

apparently during the five year interim Touya actually stopped blaming Shouto and realized Enji was the one at fault. good for him! a bit inconsistent, given what we know happens later, but I assume we’ll get to that in good time

anyway. “yeah man I agree that dad sucks, but it’s the middle of the night and I’m only eight and you’ve been monologuing for the past two hours bro”

LMAO

the manga is making my jokes for me, only better. fine then

looks like someone’s still miffed about that disagreement he had with his baby sister back when she was like four

“Fuyu doesn’t get properly riled up like I want her to so ranting to her is annoying.” okay but having been in Fuyu’s shoes, it really is just a different way of coping, and I can guarantee she’s not as fine with the whole situation as Touya might think. but making your peace with something is often a decision that’s made for emotional self-preservation reasons. and I sure as hell don’t fault her for trying to shut out a situation that she had no control over, and trying to make the best of it, and scrape together as normal a childhood as she could manage

and now in Touya’s defense as well, that is of course easier said than done, and I’m sure if there was a “push this button and instantly get over all of the trauma in your life” switch readily available for Touya then he would have pushed it too. unfortunately it’s not always that simple

so now Rei is pleading with Touya not to go train up on his little emo hill again, but it doesn’t seem like much has changed since he was eight

I don’t think he gives two figs about being a hero; he just wants his father to look at him again with pride. fucking hell, stop doing this to me you damn Todorokis

guh, they keep telling him the same thing over and over again

even if we hadn’t already known he was gonna go melt his jawbone off soon, I wouldn’t have expected a line like that to go over well

yep. fuck

that Todoroki puberty angst, though. nothing else quite like it

“you have a part in this too, Mom” ooooooh man

okay but look, he’s not entirely wrong. like, I’m not saying any of this is Rei’s fault at all! she’s in an impossible situation where she’s afraid to stand up to Enji (who by this point has shown that he’s willing to physically attack her if things get too heated, which is terrifying), and doesn’t really have anywhere to turn for support. her parents aren’t helping much if at all, and Japan in general is just a terrible country to be in when you’re in a domestic abuse situation. everyone’s expected to put on a brave face and deal with their problems all on their own in private. Rei is basically completely isolated at this point, and she doesn’t know what else to do, and so she’s just trying to keep the situation as stable as possible for the kids

but on the other hand, “for the kids” is also where that argument starts to break down a bit, because at this point Shouto is also being physically abused by his father, and the other kids are continuing to be neglected (emotionally if not physically), as they have been for years. so the situation really isn’t stable at all for them. and as a kid, what you end up learning in that type of situation is that you can’t rely on either parent. not the abusive one, certainly, but also not the other one who can’t protect you from any of it. even if they love you and they’re trying, they’re just as helpless as you. Rei is struggling to deal with all of this with one hand tied behind her back, and I get it, and I’m not blaming her at all. but all the same, particularly given that she’s (understandably) putting almost all her focus on Shouto, the end result is that the other kids have basically been left to fend for themselves

so yeah! a shitty situation all around. and one of those cases where it’s not really anyone’s fault (aside from Enji’s), but I can understand the resentment Touya is feeling all the same. and I’m so glad Horikoshi is acknowledging this, because it’s something I probably would have been too uncomfortable to bring up otherwise. as it is it’s still an incredibly heavy subject, and one that I probably have too many personal feelings about

anyway, so once again the whole “we’ll try talking to him and then just shrug our shoulders when it doesn’t work” parenting strategy doesn’t really pan out for the Todoroki fam

sob this boy is Anakin Skywalkering before our very eyes. all that’s missing is AFO to come and start whispering in his ear. any minute now...

“anyway so then he got taller and his fire changed from red to blue”

guess we’re getting pretty close then huh. this is the part of the flashback that I really don’t want to see, but also unfortunately the part that I’m most curious about :/

oh for fuck’s --

“WHAT DO YOU MEAN IGNORING HIM FOR FIVE YEARS DIDN’T ACTUALLY DO ANYTHING TO SOLVE THE PROBLEM” sob. back to the drawing board I guess

I thought he got taller, why is he still only like a third of Enji’s height here

oh fuck me these are armor-piercing feels. this is the heavy artillery right here

ENJI I’M BEGGING YOU PLEASE STOP AND THINK FOR ONE MOMENT IN YOUR LIFE BEFORE DOING SOMETHING YOU’LL REGRET FOR THE REST OF ALL TIME. your child just told you that he still thinks beating All Might is the only thing you care about, and that he believes his existence is a mistake unless he finds some way of doing that for you. please stop for a moment to contemplate that and choose your next words with care and grace and oh who the hell am I kidding

-- OR WE COULD JUST BLAME REI

go on and blame everyone but yourself then!! that’s a great solution!! jesus christ man I know this is Endeavor at his literal worst but still this is fucking hard to watch

POOR BABY SHOUTO IS YELLING AT HIS DAD NOT TO HIT HIS MOMMY THIS LITTLE BRAVE BOY NEEDS SO MANY HUGS OH MY GOD

AND MEANWHILE THE OTHERS ARE HUDDLED IN THE NEXT ROOM TRYING NOT TO CRY AH FUCK

(ETA: Fuyu covering Natsu’s ears cuts RIGHT TO THE CORE OF ME. Horikoshi if you’re really not gonna get these kids some therapy then at least consider giving your readers some. what is this.)

you know it’s bad when you’re starting to think the part where the kid burns to death might actually be a less traumatic thing to cut to right now

holy shit, actual Rei thoughts

“I was the one who ultimately made that choice” well there we go, wonder if that’ll put that whole argument to bed at last. I doubt it, but you never know. actually who am I kidding it’s not gonna settle jack shit lol

oh thank god, they decided it was getting too intense and cut away back to the present to narrate this next (final?) part

get ready to cue up that Alicia Keys. THIS BOY IS ON FIREEEEEEE

yeah I think that’s one thing we can mostly all agree on. neither of them had any clue what the fuck they were doing pretty much at any point. though I will say that the hypocrisy of him being all “WHY DIDN’T YOU STOP HIM” followed by him IMMEDIATELY DOING THE EXACT SAME THING is a bit rich

(ETA: and he still has this problem, doesn’t he? he froze up when Ending snatched Natsuo, and again when Dabi was attacking Shouto. he’s so afraid of doing the wrong thing that he ends up not doing anything, which of course is exactly what led to Touya’s death. damn Enji I guess you’ve still got some additional character development to unlock.)

and of course neither of them could possibly have known how badly it was going to turn out. like, the consequences here were WAY disproportionate even for the shittiest of parenting. no one expects “I didn’t know how to talk to my son” to snowball into “my son burned to death and then somehow came back as a villain and murdered thirty people”

ohhhhhhhh fuck me

LITERALLY INCINERATED THE ENTIRE HILLSIDE. fuck. and I am so not ready for the scene of Enji finding the remains of his jawbone afterwards. at least we were spared anything super-graphic (for now at least)

I feel like the timeline here is off, btw?? wasn’t Touya’s death supposed to happen after Rei got hospitalized? this might be the first actual retcon of the entire flashback. although I think it makes more sense this way tbh

I do appreciate that ten years later Enji is finally reflecting on the fact that if he’d just given up his stupid obsession he could have stopped his family from crumbling apart. that probably sounds sarcastic as fuck, but it’s not. there are countless jerks out there who would have still managed to find a way to blame literally everyone and everything under the sun except for themselves. at least he finally figured out how to take responsibility, even if it came too late to stop his son from dying and being radicalized into a villain terrorist organization

and speaking of, it seems to me we’re missing a third and final part to this little tale of woe, and one which only Touya himself will be able to shed any light on. so we’ll see how that goes

oh man seeing the other kids blaming themselves even though none of it was their fault hits hard af. Rei wasn’t kidding when she said they’d been bearing that burden of guilt far longer than Enji

SHOUTO I SWEAR TO GOD IF THE NEXT PANEL IS YOU APOLOGIZING FOR BEING BORN, I WILL... WELL I’LL BE VERY SAD, I GUESS. SO DON’T DO IT

oh good he’s just being quiet. good. it absolutely is not your fault lil bean. it’s not theirs either, but feeling guilty about things that aren’t your fault is a time-honored shounen tradition

goddammit I braced myself for the angsty Shouto panel a page too early. gotta do it all over again now lol. okay here goes

;_;

well well well would you look at that

imagine that. talking things out with your child before they make a rash decision. looks like the Todorokis’ parenting skills are finally leveling up

OH MY GOD

holy shit. this is the most quintessential moment of father/son Todoroki bonding in the entire series. for me it even tops the “nice scar” scene lol. Enji sobbing at the fact that he still has a chance to set things right. and Shouto offering his hand in what is actually the most mature and selfless gesture I’ve ever seen, and being all “we’ll stop him together” to his dad who he hates, but also doesn’t really entirely hate anymore. and all of that is incredibly moving... BUT ALSO HE STILL REFUSES TO MAKE EYE CONTACT WITH HIM AND HE WOULD LIKE HIM TO STOP BEING SO FUCKING DRAMATIC ALREADY IF YOU DON’T MIND. “WHEN YOU’RE DONE CRYING...” fkjldsk

OH MY FUCKING LORD

(ETA: wouldn’t be a Todoroki drama fest if there wasn’t somebody listening in on the whole thing in secret just around the corner lmao.)

“you think we should have waited somewhere else?” “yeah, probably.” “are you feeling a lot of secondhand embarrassment too?” “god, you have no idea.” STFU HAWKS IT’S NOT EMBARASSING TO BE MOVED TO TEARS BY YOUR FAMILY ALL COMING TOGETHER IN YOUR DARKEST HOUR TO GIVE YOU HOPE THAT YOU PROBABLY DON’T DESERVE BUT ARE NONETHELESS INDESCRIBABLY GRATEFUL FOR

and anyway you chose these guys as your found family, bucko. too late to back out now. next time go get yourself adopted by the Iidas then

AND MEANWHILE NO WORD ON THE WHOLE “HOW DID A THIRTEEN-YEAR-OLD SURVIVE A FIRE THAT COVERED HIS BODY WITH HORRIFIC SCARS AND MELTED HIS JAW OFF, AND HOW DID HE SOMEHOW THEN MANAGE TO GO INTO HIDING FOR TEN WHOLE YEARS, AND WHAT HAPPENED IN THAT INTERIM TO CHANGE HIS GOAL FROM ‘SURPASS ALL MIGHT TO IMPRESS MY DAD’ TO ‘KILL ALL HEROES TO MAKE MY DAD SUFFER’.” as if we don’t know the answer to that. but still, would it kill Horikoshi to just confirm AFO’s involvement in all of this already. at this point it’s basically just a formality

so here’s hoping next week we’ll either get that, or more Hawks action, or (DARE I EVEN SUGGEST, I’M AFRAID TO JINX IT) finally cut back to Bakugou and Deku and All Might omg. either way I’m hyped

[maprron]

Crush Culture| Ch. 1

Summary: Lucy is your average teenage girl... but she's not, it's complicated but not in a "OH I'm actually a supernatural being" but in a "OH I have to get married as soon as I turn 18" type of way. Problem #1 she doesn't like anyone and problem #2 she might have to marry her dad's friend's son... yay

Disclaimer: This story was created mainly for my friend and has no romance but they are gay so...  also like I barely proofread this so hope it makes sense :\

Lucy doesn’t need an introduction but she is getting one anyway. In all honesty if you went anywhere in this hell of a town, as Lucy calls it, and asked anyone if they had heard of her their answer would most likely be “yes”. She wanted to disappear from this world, start a new one with only herself. She wished that she could have been born another person and not the “heir” to the family business as her father likes to refer to it as. But of course her father is a misogynist so the word “heir” that he throws around so casually is actually referring to her future husband. The cherry on top of Lucy’s hellish life, of course, is that she is expected to be married by 18 and probably have a kid by 19. There is one problem with this “fantasy” world that Jude Heartfilia has in his mind, however; it isn’t how it is completely fucked up but that his daughter has never experienced love and doesn’t expect to for a while. While she would be lying if she said that she hadn’t found guys hot and women beautiful in her life, what bisexual 17 year old doesn’t, she could never say that she wanted to date these people. Long story short the idea he has in his mind of her marrying a decent man by the time she is 18 isn’t going to happen, unless of course he choses one for her which is plausible 

“Lu-Chan hurry up” Levy McGarden, she herself would need an introduction anywhere she goes. People call her forgettable behind her back but the fact they joke about her behind her back proves them wrong. She is the cliché “nerd” in any Hollywood movie. She has straight  A’s which is the only thing straight about her, she spends most of her time studying and hiding her face in a new romance novel that she seems to be reading everyday, she is most of the teachers’ favorite, she isn’t popular, and she doesn’t go to parties.

Well she didn’t go to parties but some things change, except not that much…?

Said party is being hosted by the one and only Erza Belserion because her scary mother is out of town. If someone needs an introduction to her just ask any guy in town and they will probably tell you she is “terrifying” due to the fact that at one point they have all bet that they could win in a fight against her, they were wrong. 

Erza is the definition of “sword lesbian” it is probably illegal to give a 5 year old a sword for her birthday but try explaining that to the lady who got the title of being “Erza’s terrifying mother (who is even scarier)”

“Levy, there is no need to hurry her” Lisanna Strauss, the only reason most people live. That isn’t 100% true but God she does deserve it. A lot of girls at school hate her because she was childhood friends with Natsu Dragneel and for some odd reason they were scared that she was going to ruin their chances with him. 

Jokes on them because she is a lesbian and he well… who knows?

Natsu Dragneel… how does anyone explain him? You don’t… so we are moving on

“Don’t worry Lis” Lucy giggled as she walked out of the bathroom in a blue sweater and a long white skirt “you guys ready?” Lucy giggled as she swirled around her skirt like a little kid

~~~

Erza knows a lot of people, probably too many. 

At one point Lucy got left in the corner of Erza’s kitchen. She strangely preferred it that way… being alone, not being thought of as only Jude Heartfilia’s daughter, not being thought of as the girl who has to marry a man when she turns 18. 

Guys like that fact.

But she is never alone because also standing in the kitchen is the one and only Natsu. She was honestly surprised that the same girls who attacked Lisanna hadn’t attacked her for even looking at him on the first day of school. 

She knew him not because she wanted to but because of course his father is a businessman just like her father. Their companies are close and have partnered together on many different occasions. 

This is a bad thing.

It is a bad BAD thing because that puts Natsu at the top of the list of people her father would force her into a marriage with and vice versa.

“You know it is rude to stare” he yelled to her over the loud music as he stuffed his hands in his sweatpants. 

Lucy hadn’t realized she was staring at him before and now felt quite embarrassed

“What gives? Why aren’t you drinking?” He chuckled as he walked over to her 

“I could ask you the same thing”

“I hate the taste, you?”

“Same” she sighed “why do you care?”

“I don’t, I am just surprised Erza haven’t made ya try something”

“…I haven’t seen her” she added, tucking a loose strand of hair behind her ear

“That’s a lie” he laughed at her 

“And why do you say that” she placed a hand on her hip as she shifted her weight to one side of her body

“Because she is obsessed with you, you sure you two aren’t in a secret relation-“

“WE’RE NOT!” Lucy was quick to blurt out, blushing at his words

“Now I really don’t believe ya” he furrowed his eyebrows today, mimicking her pose.

“Just drop it okay” she pushed him a little in hopes to get him to stop mimicking her “she’s like my mom, that’s gross”

“Okay…” he turned around to leave but stopped “you are awkward around me because of the whole marriage thing right?”

“Why would you assume that?”

“I don’t want to marry you either… you need to start working with me instead of against me” he grumbled, stuffing his hands even deeper into his pockets as if his hands were freezing, they weren’t because the weirdo never felt cold but still

“I’ll still have to marry someone” she mumbled, looking down at the ground

“And I couldn’t give a damn who it is, it just isn’t going to me” and with that he left the kitchen and she backed herself back into the corner this time sliding down against the wall, falling slowly against the tile.

~~~~

“I can’t believe he showed up” a group of three girls gossiped in the living room looking at the “kid” with blue hair who was curled up on the couch on their phone away from everyone 

“Did you hear the rumors about him?” One girl giggled

“Yeah, do you believe it?” Another giggled back through her words 

“I mean look at him” she pointed at said person “no man dresses like that” 

“Quit it you three” a deep yet soft voice said suddenly. The voice belonged to Gray Fullbuster

“Oh Gray we… we didn’t mean anything by it we were just uh…” one girl tried to explain 

“Get lost you three” he glared at the girls as they froze in fear before they ran off. Where they ran off to Gray couldn’t care less. 

The “kid’s” name was Juvia, but no one knew that yet

Gray didn’t say anything to her, he just smiled and walked away. No surprise. He was different from the rest, Juvia thought as she watched him walk away, but what was it?

~~~~

“Damn I know you don’t like parties but you don’t have to curl up in a ball on the kitchen floor like this” Cana laughed as she stumbled into the kitchen with Erza, the two girls quite underdressed for the weather outside as Cana wore a sleeveless crop top and Erza wore a blue bodycon party dress with only see through legging underneath.

“What’s wrong?” Erza ask as she saw Lucy lift her head up from her knees

“Nothing… I guess I am just thinking about things” she smiled weakly at two of her best friends

“Nah I don’t believe that one bit” Cana stumbled back up against the kitchen island with a hick up. 

Lucy just looked at Cana’s black Dr. Martens and her baggy blue jeans that had dumb scribbles in the cuffs from years of passing around a pin and telling people to go wild, most of her jeans are like that, one pair even being covered with drawings. She giggled at the words ‘Natsu Sucks’ written on the jeans probably by Gray or someone

“Are you okay?” Erza smiled weakly as she crouched down in front of the girl. 

“Yeah, don’t worry about me” Lucy only laughed it off

“Are you sure, love?” A new yet familiar voice entered the kitchen

The voice belonged to Mira Jane 

She walked over to the three girls. Lucy watched as her pink dress swayed with her hips and her high heels clicked along the tile. She too was probably underdressed with her dress that only went halfway down her thighs but at least this time she wore sleeves.

Lucy bit her lip, something making it impossible for her to lie to Mira. “I am fine really, I just sat down here after I talked to Natsu”

“Want me to beat him for you?” Cana blurted out as she glanced inside her cup before finishing it.

“No!” Lucy’s eyes widened as she looked up at the girl who was now hoisting herself up onto the counter to “we only talked about… about how we might have to get married because your fathers” she rolled her eyes

“Why Natsu though?” Erza thought out loud “doesn’t Gray Fullbuster’s dad work with your’s”

“He’s not my type but even if he was my dad wouldn’t allow was to marry for some reason ” 

“That’s odd” Mira said 

“Are you saying that Natsu fucking Dragneel is your type” Cana laughed as she drank straight from a new bottle that seemed to have appeared in her hands

“No” Lucy flipped Cana off while, Cana didn’t notice however through her drunken giggles

“I’m kidding” she finally stopped laughing and smiled down at Lucy. “But Mira is correct, that is…” she zoned out for a moment as she spoke “it is kind of odd.”

“Maybe he just doesn’t like him” Lucy shrugged from her place on the cold tile floor of the kitchen as she leaned back against where the wall and the end counter met.

“But why wouldn’t he though?” Erza questioned “Gray is more mature than Natsu by a longshot and your father of course… well you know” she crossed her arms over her chest as she looked back behind her, noticing Gray himself leaning up against a wall on the other side of the kitchen looking down at his feet with his arms crossed over his chest. He held a box of cigarettes in one of his hands while casually smoking one. Mira coughed a little as the smoke started to drift over to the group, the girl has always been unable to stand the smell

“He just doesn’t like me,” he said finally as he continued to stare intensely at his feet, fiddling with the small box in his hand “a lot of people don’t” he swallowed with a frown now present on his face

“Gray?” Erza whispered with concern in her voice

“Don’t worry, Erza” His frown quickly turned into a smile as he looked up from his feet as he uncrossed his arms. “Now…” he pushed himself off the wall and walked up to Erza, stuffing the box in his jean pockets before he clasped his hands together like her was Mira “I saw that Bisca got here before I walked in here, I figured you would want to see her”

“Of course I do!” she smiled as she walked with Gray out of the kitchen to go find Bisca. 

Lucy furrowed her brow together as she watched the two teens walk away together, puzzled on the meaning of his words.

[rosywaifu]

Forgiveness {Gajeel x Reader Smut}

Warnings: SMUT (fingering, oral (M/F receiving) blowjob, penetration, etc)

ALSO I AM SORRY IF THIS IS TERRIBLE THIS IS THE FIRST SMUT I’VE EVER WRITTEN I WROTE IT AT 6 AM AFTER STAYING UP ALL NIGHT ON MY NOTES APP I HAVE A FEW MORE FOR NATSU AND LAXUS AND I’M WORKING ON A GRAY ONE NOW TOO BUT IF THIS ONE ISN’T GOOD, I WONT POST THEM AHH

I was walking home from the guild late at night. I got into a pretty rousing fight with Natsu about something or another, it’s hard to keep up with him. I twisted my neck trying to alleviate the pressure, rubbing small circles in the crook. 

“Hey, short stack.” I felt his presence behind me before he even spoke. He filled my body with electricity and anger. I never really forgave him for what he did to our guild, even if it was seven years ago. I turned around to see his pierced face smirking down at me. He towered over my small frame like a giant. 

“What do you want, Gajeel? I’m busy.” I said with a frown. He let out a short huff. 

“Look, small fry, I saw your fight with flame brain and figured I should check on you or whatever.” I scoffed. 

“Yeah right, and then are you going to nail me to a tree like you did Levy?” I saw his eyes widen at my hurtful and mocking tone. His cast his eyes down, looking disappointed and upset. 

“Right. Sorry, I’ll go.” His voice was gruffer then usual but he still somehow sounded soft and delicate. I was surprised as he turned to leave. I was expecting him to put up a fight. He was always itching to go a few rounds with anyone willing in the guild. 

“What, not man enough, iron head?” I heard him growl lightly and it was a sound that went straight to my panties. It was so deep and guttural and made them dampen. 

“I don’t want to fight you, (Y/N).” I rolled my eyes. 

“What, am I too fragile? You’ll go a few rounds with Erza but not me? I’ve beaten Erza in a fight and don’t you forget it! I made the S-Class trials while you were just Levy’s partner! I could beat you with my hands tied behind my back!” I shouted, drawing the attention of a few people walking along the streets. He made no moves. Finally, I walked up to him and started punching him, hard. I hit him three times but he made no attempt to fight back. 

“Why won’t you fight me?!!” I screamed loudly, tears flowing down my face as I breathed deep and hard breaths as he slumped against a tree. 

“Why did you hurt my guild? My family?” I said finally, a little meekly. I slumped to the ground, my head in my lap. Then, Gajeel did the unthinkable. He pulled me into his lap and let me cry into his chest. I felt his strong arms envelope me, wrapping around my waist. His head hung lowly, his lips right near my neck. I felt his hot mouth let out slow, ragged breaths. 

“I’m sorry, I’m so, so sorry. I never knew what being a part of a family was like. When Metalicana left, I thought all hopes of a family were gone. Then Phantom Lord found me and gave me a home. I would have done anything to please them. Then I met all of you, and you took me in even after everything I did. You showed me that real family won’t make you do the unspeakable. (Y/N), please forgive me.” I felt my eyes tear up at his confession. My face was still buried in his warm, hard chest and I could feel his heart beat at a rapid pace. I pulled away slightly and looked him in the eyes. They were a little bleary and he had a few tears rolling down his cheeks. I instinctively swiped them away with my thumbs. Then, I did the unspeakable. I kissed him. The kiss was warm as our lips moved in sync, my tongue would swipe against one of his cold, metal piercings giving me a whole new sense of electricity. His own tongue swiped against my bottom lip but I teased him and kept it closed. I heard him let out another guttural growl has he moved one hand from my waist to my ass and grabbed a fistful making me gasp in surprise, pain and pleasure. This gave him the access he needed to explore my mouth and wrestle my tongue. We battled for dominance to which he won due to my slight moans from him kneading my ass. I felt him grin against my lips making the metal graze against my swollen lips sending a wave of pleasure. He then picked me up and I wrapped my legs around his waist feeling his arousal thick against my own. He used his dragon slayer magic to take me to his apartment. 

I hardly had time to look around before he laid me on his bed and began kissing me again. I started feeling his urgency as our kissing got a little sloppier, but he felt restrained and rigid. 

“I’m not fragile, Gajeel. I won’t break.” There was that growl again, signaling he was turned on by my words and tone, and it went straight to my core. He then ravaged my neck making unexpected moans curl out of my mouth. He pressed hot, sloppy kisses down my shoulder and across my throat until he found the spot right between my collar bone that made me gasp in pleasure. He then attacked it at full force, sucking and biting like it was his last meal. Each rough suck on my skin made me groan. 

“Ungh, oh, god!” Once he let off with a slight pop, he licked the spot he marked, soothing it slightly. By now, my panties were thoroughly soaked and by the smirk on his face, he could smell it. With little effort, he pulled the shirt I was wearing over my head and gaped at my breasts. I wore a simple black bra to cover them but they were hardly constrained. He pulled that off soon as well and began rolling my hardened nipples in between his fingers as he kissed the valley in between them following the path to my naval. Every hot and wet press from his mouth made my core ache and my mouth groan. Finally he arrived where I needed him most. He flipped up the skirt I was wearing and admired the sight before him. I was wearing simple black panties but now they were soaked in my arousal. He took a single finger and rubbed it gently against my folds through my panties making me whimper. 

“Wow, small fry, all this from kissing? You’re quite easy to satisfy.” There was a hint of playfulness in his voice as he slowly moved his finger up and down my folds narrowly missing my clit every time. I moaned deeply. 

“Gajeel, please, please-uh.”  “’Please’ what, babe?” Without even looking at him, I knew he had that trademark smirk on his swollen lips. he started moving a little faster, creating friction on my heat. 

“Uhhh, fuck - please fuck me - I want your mouth - ungh please fuck - “ hearing me moan and beg must have spurred him on because almost immediately my skirt and panties joined my other clothes on the floor and he rammed his tongue deep into my aching core. I moaned loudly. His tongue skillfully darted in and out of my pussy as his middle finger drew figure eights on my clit. I was a moaning and squirming mess. His nose would occasionally bump the little bundle of nerves and his piercing would graze my heat making my hips jump. He sucked and rubbed and tongue-fucked me until I came. I came loudly, covering my mouth as his name tumbled from my lips. 

“uh, uh, babe. You don’t hold anything back. Let all of Magnolia know how is fucking you this good, understand?” I moaned at his words in agreement. I decided to give him some fair treatment. Using my strength, I was able to flip us over and straddle him. He seemed not used to women taking charge but allowed me to do so. With a last desperate kiss to his lips, I started trailing hot kisses down his jaw and on his neck and Adam’s apple. He moaned lightly but then groaned when I found his own sweet spot nestled right under his Adams Apple. I then performed my own triage of kissing, sucking and biting until I left a large hickey that I licked with pride. I felt his groan and his arousal nudge against my core. I removed his shirt exposing his chest. He was glistening with sweat. I left sloppy, wet kisses down his pecs and pressed hot, open-mouthed kisses to each of his pierced nipples, making him groan in pleasure. I licked my way down his exquisite abs and found myself eyeing the three studs all lined up in in the center of his V. I took my time swirling my tongue around each one, and kissing it gently. I kept my eyes on his the whole time. His pupils were blown as he watched me erotically kiss his studs and then peel down his pants. I took them off swiftly along with his boxers, allowing his cock to spring free. I felt my core heat up even more as I saw him; so thick and girthy. And was that, no, yes! A metal bar in the head of his penis. I couldn’t help but be aroused at all his piercings. I couldn’t wait to get him inside me, but I had other things to do first. I quickly wrapped my lips on the head of his dick and swirled my tongue around and down the slit, licking some of the pre-cum and pressing my tongue flat against his piercing. I felt his shudder and he groaned out a light “fuck.” I took this as he liked what I was doing and decided to go even further, taking him all in, relaxing my throat. I rubbed my tongue on the underside, choking slightly. I used one hand to massage his balls making him moan loudly. “Fuck, (Y/N).” His voice was gruff and hoarse. I bobbed my head up and down quickening my pace as I felt his hands tangle themselves in my long (H/C) hair. He tugged on the strands willing me to go faster and I happily obliged. I choked some more but I felt him twitch in my mouth. he tried to pull away, but I held on and sucked harder- he was exactly where I wanted him. I bobbed faster, and ran my tongue along the vein. I felt his piercing rub against my throat making me hum. The humming sent vibrations and he unloaded in my mouth. As I pulled up off, I made sure to keep eye contact as I sucked every drop off and I swallowed the load completely. I opened my mouth showing him as I crawled back up to his neck leaving more kisses and hickeys. He returned the favor leaving a big one right in between my shoulder and neck.

“That was the hottest fucking thing I ever saw. You taking my whole cock in your mouth and the things your tongue did to my piercings. And to top it all off, you swallowed all the cum I unloaded. Watching all of that has me all geared up.” He then took his rough palm and pushed it against my hot and wet core massaging it lightly. 

“And I can see you are too.” He chuckled lowly. He flipped us over with him on top. It looks like he was done with me being dominate. But that worked for me, I wanted him to fuck me till I couldn’t think or walk straight. He held my legs apart with his hands. They were rough and hard and I could feel him leaving bruises on my thighs from how hard he was holding me but all that did was egg me on. 

“Come on, Gajeel, fuck me. Fuck me till I see stars.” And with that, he switched from rubbing the head of his cock between my folds to ramming me, completely covering his cock in my pussy. We both groaned at the pressure. With a little adjustment, he nearly slid himself out completely then rammed into me again. He went slowly at first but I began moaning for him to go faster and harder. He slammed into me hard at almost an inhuman pace. I was moaning and unable to form coherent thoughts or sentences. The only words out of my mouth were, 

“Fuck, ga-Gajeel, fuck, harder, please, ung, fuck!” And things like that. He then pulled out and flipped me over to my hands and knees. I planted my face and chest straight into the bed, my ass and pussy dangling in the air and then he pushed into me again. I heard him growling and emitting that deep and guttural growl that makes me wet. 

“Ung, Gajeel, you make me so fucking wet! Fuck you feel so good, unggg, harder!” I heard him groaning at my words and he rammed into me with new vigor. 

“You’re so fucking tight, you keep clenching around me! Fuck, so good!” He groaned in my ear. When we were almost to our peaks, I flipped us over once more. I wanted to see his face as he came. I slowly lowered myself on to his throbbing cock. I moaned as it reentered my aching heat. I began to quickly move my hips up and down and swirl them on his. 

“Unnnggg, fuck Gajeel, Fuck I’m going to come!” He then took control using his big hands to push me up and down hard and fast on his cock. I felt him twitch inside me. That little spur of movement was enough to make me come for the second time. I opened my eyes but threw my head back as I saw stars. I felt my cum leak out of me and out on my thighs. He kept pushing me up and down helping me ride out my orgasm while chasing down his own. To help him along his way, I leaned up close to his ear and licked the shell. 

“Come on, Gajeel, come for me. Come inside me. Fill me up with your dot, delicious cum. I want to lick your cum off your big cock. I want to taste you mingled with me.” And with that, he bust his load deep inside me, making me moan at the heat. As I slowly lifted off him, I groaned at the release of pressure. I then kept good on my word and licked out mixed juices off his now softened cock. I licked my lips and smiled at him. He pulled me up and wrapped me in his arms. Our bodies were nothing but sweaty tangled limbs. We gasped for breath. He looked down at me and gave me a sweet kiss, far different from the ones before. I smiled into it before falling asleep in his arms. 

The next day, I put on the outfit from the day before and quietly left his house. I wasn’t sure why, but I had a feeling this was a one time thing. Gajeel didn’t seem the relationship type. I did leave a note that said “I forgive you.” With a little heart at the end. I went home and took a swift shower before putting on some clean clothes. I hadn’t looked in a mirror before walking into the guild hall, but boy do I wish I had. 

As I walked to the bar, I noticed some odd looks and some whispers floating around me. When I reached the bar, Mira walked over to me. 

“Hey, Mira. Why are they all whispering?” She giggled and held up a mirror. Thats when I saw them. All the love bites and hickeys Gajeel left. There was at least a dozen, maybe more. I looked down in my lap and saw that my skirt didn't cover the hand prints on my inner thighs. 

“Oh no...” I groaned to Mira’s laughter. 

“Hey, (Y/N)-- woah, what happened to you? You looked fucked up.” Natsu said from the left side of the bar. 

“Oh, she was.” Mira said with a mischievous glint. I shot her a glare. 

“Is that from our fight last night? Geez, I’m so sorry, I didn’t know i’d leave you so bruised!” He sounded genuinely regretful which was quite sweet. Before I was able to tell him these weren’t his fault, someone else beat me to it. 

“Hey, step off, Flame Brain! I made those!” The whole guild gasped when Gajeel walked in with just as many, maybe even more, love bites and hickeys littering his neck and chest which was exposed due to his vest. He strode right over to me and kissed me deeply. Everyone nearly fell out of their chairs. When he pulled away, I blushed deeply. Natsu looked at both our necks with intense curiosity. 

“Did you guys get into a fight?” We both deadpanned. I guess he missed the part where Gajeel strode in here and gave me a panty-dropping kiss. The rest of the guild fell out of their chairs muttering about how dense he was. 

~The End~

Word Count: 2,874

[mamabearcat]

Fairytail Cafe - Fourth Course

Natsu made a face, wrinkling his nose and sticking out his tongue in disgust as he scraped leftover food from the plates he’d collected on his trolley into the waste bin. One more shift in this place tomorrow, and they’d be finished this job. Halle-fucking-lujah. He never wanted to see the inside of a café again, unless he was sitting at a table stuffing his own face and someone else was paying the bill. He stacked the scraped plates, glasses, cups and cutlery on the bench near the industrial dishwasher, ready to cleaned by someone else. At least he wasn’t a dish pig, stuck out here in the kitchen. The number of different smells out here was overwhelming.

He pushed his trolley out through the swinging doors, his eyes immediately scanning for Lucy and sighed in relief when he saw her cheerfully serving an elderly couple coffee. He was glad to see her smiling. It hadn’t been a great week for her.

Even though she’d been much calmer at work, walking home in the dark now that they were on evening shift had been hard for her on the first night, nervously glancing behind her, watching the shadows, even though he’d held her hand every step of the way. She’d cried when they reached her apartment, embarrassed about being scared of walking home at night when it had never been a big deal before, and he’d stayed with her. He’d stayed with her every night this week, cuddling her, purring and stroking her hair until she slept, lying next to her in her bed. He had the worst case of blue balls ever, but it was worth it if it meant she felt safe.

He hadn’t told her that he knew someone was following them that first night. What good would it do, when she was already frightened? He had a quiet word to Erza and Gray about it the next day, and ever since they’d left work in a group and all walked towards Lucy’s apartment together. They were followed every night; whoever they were had kept their distance far enough that he’d decided not to chase them down, but it was frustrating, knowing that he had made a promise to Gramps not to take the initiative.

He mulled over what he knew about the creep that had attacked Lucy. Dario Suarez, involved in local government, connected to a rich family in Crocus. He’d only moved to Magnolia a year ago, and already had connections with most of the other wealthy families around. Natsu had got Gajeel to do a little digging for him. There’d been whispers of payoffs and dirty deals, but no proof. Gajeel did find out that he had four mages working for him as body guards though, which was more than a little worrying. He wasn’t worried about himself, but if they decided to attack Lucy while she was alone…

And then there was that bastard yesterday that had demanded his money back after finishing his meal because Lucy wasn’t dressed ‘as advertised’. The manager had stepped in and smoothed it over, but he knew it had upset her, because that fake smile was back again.

He remembered overhearing a conversation that she had with Levy a while ago, talking about how she had been brought up by her father to be the ‘perfect wife’, her good looks a commodity to be sold to the highest bidder, a bargaining chip for her father’s business deals. It was only through her own tenacity that she had become so well educated on subjects her father had deemed ‘unladylike’ and had learnt to use magic and the celestial keys left to her by her mother.

He knew she had struggled with her self-confidence when she’d first joined Fairytail, only half-jokingly using her sex appeal to solve problems rather than her strength as a mage. Thankfully that had mostly stopped. She was a valuable member of their team – good at strategy, an excellent long-distance fighter with the help of her spirits, and handy with her whip when it came to close range attacks. Not as physically strong as him, Gray and Erza, but she had got them all out of more jams than he cared to count with her tenacity and willingness to make connections with people, whereas the rest of them tended to just jump into battle. It must be galling to be judged solely on her looks again. This job couldn’t end soon enough for him.

He looked at the clock. Only half an hour until their shift finished. He did a final round with his trolley, collecting dessert plates, cups and cutlery from the mostly empty tables, the exceeds helping out by collecting empty glasses. Gray and Wendy were tidying up the drinks and dessert bar, Erza was wiping tables, and Lucy was accepting payment from that last couple and saying good night. It was time to close the front doors and head home. The kitchen staff would do the final lock up.

Natsu moved over towards Lucy’s side and took her hand, caressing her wrist with his calloused thumb. “Ready to go Lucy?”

“Sure”, she smiled, squeezing his hand before letting go to take the cash box out of the register. She tapped the calculations lacrima, so it spat out a paper record of the days takings. “I’ll just take this to the office and then we can head out.” She walked out towards the back of the building, smiling cheerfully at the kitchen staff as they greeted her, giving the cash box to the manager on duty, Natsu trailing unobtrusively behind her. Once the money was safely handed over, she took his hand again as they walked back out towards the exit. “Are we waiting for the others?”

“Yup”, he grinned, swinging his arm up over her head so she was twirled in a circle, her black skirt fanning out as she spun. She giggled, drawing in close to hug him, resting her cheek against his heart.

“Natsu?”

“Hmm?”

“Why do you think they’ve been following me? They know where I live, so it’s not that.”

Natsu stiffened, then sighed and kissed the top of her head. He should have known that she would notice the pair of mages tailing them every evening.

“I don’t know Luce. I know I promised Gramps I wouldn’t go after anyone, but if they get any closer, I’m gonna thump ‘em. I got Erza to go tell that council mage working on your case about it, so she knows what’s happenin’.”

“Do you think they’re trying to gather information about me? For the court case?”

“Not sure”, muttered Natsu, placing a soft kiss in her hair again, “but we’re not gonna let them get any closer than they have been.”

“I did think about… moving into Fairy Hills for a little while”, she said softly. “You know, safety in numbers. But then I was worried about putting the other girls in possible danger. And anyway…” She turned her head and spoke directly into his shirt, her words muffled, and Natsu grinned.

“What was that Luce? Couldn’t quite hear you.” He made a show of cupping his hand around his ear. He could hear her words fine with his sensitive hearing, but he wanted to make her say them again.

Lucy stepped back from him a little, a pout on her lips, nose wrinkled. “I know perfectly well you heard what I said”, she hmphed, a blush colouring her cheeks. Natsu stroked her warm cheek with his hand.

“You’re fun to tease, you know that?”, he grinned. And then his expression softened. “Say it again for me Lucy, so I can see you say it.”

Lucy bit her bottom lip, and then took a deep breath and smiled at him. “And anyway, if I moved there, you couldn’t stay with me at night. And I need to be with you. I need to feel my dragon’s arms around me.”

“That’s my little star”, smiled Natsu. He stroked his thumb across her bottom lip with a feather light touch and breathed in deeply as her plush lips pursed to kiss it gently with the slightest flick of her tongue, her eyes fixed on his, an impish expression on her face as he rubbed his slightly moistened digit across her lip again. He leaned forward, intent on replacing his thumb with his own lips, but then drew back with an exaggerated sigh when he heard the clank of Erza’s armour heading towards them. Lucy giggled, placing a small kiss on his palm, then entwining their fingers together for the short walk back to her apartment with the others.

He swung their joined hands playfully as they walked along through the darkness in companionable silence. They hadn’t even really kissed since their mutual confession in the store room a few weeks ago, he had chosen to be led entirely by her. It was slow going at first, a few chaste kisses goodnight, holding hands as they walked to the guild. But during this last week Natsu could feel Lucy beginning to reach out to him once more, initiating hugs like she used to, wrestling him to the ground last night when she caught him trying to eat the last of the choc mint ice-cream in her freezer. She was almost like her old self around him.

They said goodnight to the others as they reached Lucy’s corner, Natsu noting that the two people following them turned back and moved into the shadows a little further down the street. He still didn’t understand what they were doing. Lucy didn’t go anywhere at night, didn’t leave her house. A sudden thought made him growl as they mounted the steps to Lucy’s apartment. Perhaps they were waiting to see if she would be alone, so they could move in. Bastards. Not on his watch.

Lucy jingled her keys, opening up the door. As she pushed the door open, she noticed a white envelope with her name on it sitting on the floor. That was weird, usually any letters would be in her mailbox downstairs next to the front door. She bent over to pick it up, but Natsu beat her to it, reaching for it and sniffing it carefully, a thoughtful look on his face.

“It smells like whatserface, the council woman who’s working on your case”, he said holding it out as snatched it back from him.

She glowered at him while she carefully slid her finger under the flap of the envelope and opened it. Natsu watched her face as she read the letter inside and then folded it back up again. He looked at her questioningly as she worried her bottom lip with her teeth, which he was coming to realise was a nervous habit. He stepped forwards and gently prised her slightly bruised lip away from her teeth with his thumb.

“What’s wrong Lucy?”

“They’ve set the court date”, she said in a flat voice. And then he held her when she burst into tears.

“Natsu, I want to ask you something.” She was sitting on his lap on the sofa, cuddled into his chest, and was much calmer now, the occasional sniff the only evidence of her previous sobs.

He stroked her hair. “Sure, fire away Luce.”

She pulled away from him, sitting up so she could look at his face. “I want you to teach me how to punch. Properly. I had one free hand when he had me pinned; maybe if I’d been better at fighting, I could have stopped him.”

Natsu considered his words carefully, swiping away the single hot tear that rolled down her cheek with his thumb. She didn’t look sad though. She looked angry, determined.

“I’d be happy to teach you anything you wanna know Lucy. You know that. But I’m not sure learning how to punch is exactly what you need.” Lucy arched a questioning eyebrow at him.

“Punching is about strength and body weight. You would have still been at a disadvantage, because he was taller and stronger, had more reach than you.” He watched her expression fall, quickly moving to stroke her cheek again.

“You gotta go with your strengths. Yours is your brain – you think quick, you’re excellent at working out a plan during a fight. You’re small, but you’re fast. Luce, I’m gonna teach you how to fight dirty. That way, if any sick fuck lays his hands on you again, you can obliterate him. Leave him retching in a pile of his own vomit. I don’t want you to ever feel that helpless again.” The brilliant smile she gave him made his heart stutter in his chest.

“Show me”, she breathed.

“Right now?” She nodded, looking more determined than ever.

“I want you to show me how I could have got away from him.”

Natsu scratched the back of his head. “I couldn’t exactly see how he had you, because his back was to me.”

Lucy sat back against his chest, placing his left hand around her upper arm, and his elbow down, so her arm was locked by her side. She moved his legs so that they were wrapped tightly around her shins, locking her legs in place. He could hear her heart rate escalating, her breaths becoming more shallow.

“Baby, we don’t gotta do this right now. We can wait until you’re feeling more calm. It’s not like I’m…”

“I want to know”, Lucy said desperately, between panicked breaths. “I froze Natsu. I froze! If I’d known what to do…” Hesitantly, she grabbed his other hand, and moved it under her skirt. Natsu stiffened, his breath coming out in a gasp. “Please, Natsu.”

Forcing back the tears that were threatening, and the thickness in his own throat, he growled out his question. “Where was your other hand?”

Lucy’s voice was a little panicked. “O-on the tray, but then I dropped it wh-when his fingers…” she shuddered in Natsu’s grasp, and he felt sick to his stomach, wanting nothing more than to drop this hold and hug her properly.

“Reach up with your free hand. See if you can feel my ear, or my eye.” Lucy reached up, and he saw how much her hand was shaking. “You’re gonna push your thumb in my eye. In a real situation you’d do it as hard as you could. Then you’re gonna slam your head back into my chin as hard as you can, and run.”

Lucy’s breathing was coming so fast now he was worried for her, but she moved her hand and gently placed her thumb against his eye, then tipped her head back, tapping him on the chin. Then she slumped in his grasp, and he moved his hands to cradle her, rocking her against his chest. He let his tears fall.

“Lucy, I’m so sorry. So sorry.” He wasn’t sure if he was rocking for her benefit or his own. The guilt was still there, that he hadn’t stepped in sooner that day, when he knew what that bastard had said. If only he’d trusted his gut, gone over and punched him before he’d had a chance to lay his filthy hands on Lucy. He felt her twist in his arms.

“Shhhh, it’s okay”, she murmured, stroking his hair, placing soft kisses on his cheeks, on his chin, on his forehead. She moved so that she was straddling his lap, her hands in his hair tugging gently, soft lips taking away his tears. He opened his eyes to see her soft gaze full of emotion, and he stroked her fringe out of the way, so he could see them better.

“I love you so much Luce”, he murmured, his voice still gravelly from crying. She smiled at him, her lips curving upwards slowly.

“I love you too, Natsu”, she cooed. Before he had a chance to ask, she kissed him, shuffling closer so her breasts were pushed up to his chest, her soft expressive lips moving gently over his, her little pink tongue sliding over his bottom lip. A rumbling purr began in his chest and she giggled.

“Natsu”, she asked softly, “could you stay here with me tonight?”

He grinned at her teasingly. “Have you been comatose or somethin’? I’ve stayed here every night this week.”

She shook her head a little, her blonde locks shifting about her shoulders. She moved on his lap, rocking her hips against his, and he groaned. She rocked her hips again and gave him a teasing grin of her own.

“I want you to stay with me, my dragon”, she cooed, her forefinger stroking gently down his chest towards his stomach. Natsu’s eyes took on a predatory gleam as his hands drifted down her back and grasped two delicious handfuls of Lucy’s bottom cheeks.

“Whatever you say, little star.”

She giggled, wrapping her arms around his neck, and for a moment, they just gazed at each other, until Natsu moved his hands up to her waist, a serious expression on his face.

“Lucy, you know we don’t gotta do… everything tonight right? You’re not gonna hurt my feelings if you ask me to slow down, or stop, or tell me that you don’t like what I’m doin’.” He shrugged. “It’s not like I’m an expert anyway.”

Lucy smiled at him, her fingers stroking through the dark pink locks above his neck. “Okay.”

“There’s, uh, another thing I want to talk to you about. Um, you know that Igneel was a dragon right?”

Lucy giggled at him. “Yeah, that was pretty hard to miss.”

Natsu chuckled. “Yeah. Sorry. I’m not good with words, and this is kinda hard for me. I don’t wanna mess this up.”

Lucy stroked his cheek softly. “Natsu, you know you can talk with me about anything.”

Natsu huffed out a huge breath. “Okay. I’m a dragonslayer, not a dragon, but there are certain dragon characteristics that come with it. The stronger the magic, the stronger the dragonish traits. Things like sense of smell, being able to eat our element, not being damaged by our element, dragon force… you understand me so far Luce?”

“Mmm hmm”, she said, continuing to stroke his cheek. Natsu placed his larger hand over hers. “I don’t know everything about this. Igneel left when I was only young, and we didn’t get to talk much about what might happen when I’m older.”

“What about the other dragonslayers. Can you talk to them?” Natsu snorted.

“Wendy’s too young. Sting and Rogue are idiots. Well, maybe not Rogue, but Sting, definitely.”

“What about Gajeel? He’s a little older than you, isn’t he?”

Natsu glanced down to one side, a little shiftily. “We’ve… talked. He doesn’t know much more than me. Levy’s been helpin’ him though. Tryin’ to find any ancient texts about dragonslayers.”

Lucy giggled. “I knew it! I just knew something was going on between them!”

“Yeah. Not sure if he’s told her yet.” He shrugged a little impatiently, bringing both her hands down to his lap, and squeezing them gently in his. “But I don’t wanna talk about them right now. Gajeel and I figured somethin’ out, and that’s what I’m tryin’ to tell you. Dragons mate for life. Find another dragon that complements them, makes them whole. We think dragonslayers are the same.”

Lucy looked at him with round eyes. He could hear her heart beating faster, and he blurted out the rest of what he wanted to say in a rush.

“Ever since I’ve met you Lucy, I’ve felt this sort of pull towards you, and it’s only gotten stronger the more time we’ve spent together. Needin’ to be near you, wantin’ to protect you. Even when I was away from you, you were on my mind all the time; it was a struggle every day not to run home to you, even though I needed that time away to work stuff out in my head. I think there’s a reason that you can calm me down when no one else can, a reason that I fight harder when you’re there to protect. I think my dragon has chosen you.”

“Chosen?”

Natsu nodded, tilting his head to one side, trying to work out how Lucy was feeling about this. He could sense that she was nervous, but he guessed that was to be expected.

“So what does that mean, exactly?” she asked quietly, her eyes locked on his.

Natsu squeezed her hands again. “It means I love you. It means that I will never love another like I love you. Gajeel said Levy did find some texts that mentioned the word ‘mate’, but I don’t really like that word. I’m not an animal, and neither are you. But you’re special. I’ve guessed for a while now, but the first night my dragon called to you, that thing you call a purr, was when I knew for sure. The one person in all the world that my dragon feels called to, that it wants to be close to forever. My chosen.”

Lucy’s eyes pooled with tears. But before Natsu could reach up she blinked them away, and the smile that she gave him was blinding.

“I may not be a dragonslayer Natsu, but my heart has chosen you too.” She leaned forward to kiss him, at first gently and then more passionately, tugging her hands away from his and threading her fingers through his hair, tugging on the dark pink locks. He responded by picking her up, coaxing her legs to wrap around his waist as walked over towards her bed.

Natsu screwed up his eyes tight. Sunlight was shining directly onto his face, and he groaned, rolling over, and stretching his arm out, patting and reaching, then opening his eyes realising the person his arm was trying to locate was no longer in the bed.

He sat up, scratching the back of his neck, yawning and stretching. When the delicious aroma of bacon reached his nose, he was out of bed in a flash, pausing only to pick up his loose pants, stepping into them on his way to Lucy’s little kitchen.

To his disappointment, she was already dressed, busily frying bacon, eggs and sausages. A pile of buttered toast was already on the table, along with coffee for her and juice for him. She turned and looked over her shoulder, smiling at him, and then dropping her gaze. Surely she wasn’t feeling shy, after everything they did last night? Grinning, he walked over to her and dropped his mouth to the curve of her neck, blowing the loudest raspberry he could manage. Lucy giggled, but reached up behind her with one hand, her fingers stroking through his hair, her other busy turning the bacon with tongs so it didn’t burn.

“Good morning Natsu”, she said, leaning her weight back against him for a moment. He curled his arms around her waist, squeezing gently. “Breakfast is almost ready; did you want to sit down?”

“I’d rather stay here and keep you company”, he grinned, kissing her cheek. “Why’d you get up so early, anyway?”

“Just thinking”, she said. Something in her voice made him stiffen.

“Luce, you don’t… regret… what we…”

Lucy moved the pan off the heat and switched off the element, turning in his grasp to give him a firm kiss on the lips.

“Not at all, so you can get that weird expression off your face right now!” she said. She sighed. “No, I was just thinking about the court case. We should probably go see Gramps and the others at the guild this morning, to let them know what’s going on.”

Relief flooded through Natsu. Even though it had been her choice last night, he had still worried that maybe it was too soon, that she wasn’t ready. He should have known better.

“Yeah, you’re right, I guess.”

He watched as Lucy loaded up the plates with food, and then carried his own across to the table. He enjoyed eating breakfast with her in the morning, watching the way she always sniffed her coffee appreciatively and sighed dramatically before taking that first sip, the way she delicately cut up her food with a knife and fork, chewing slowly, where he piled his between toast and scarfed it down quickly as a sandwich.

There were so many differences between them, the way they had been brought up, the way they approached life, but he had never felt closer to anyone else, even Igneel. He watched her sip the last dregs of her coffee.

“Luce, I’m still hungry.”

Lucy glared at him over the rim of her coffee cup. “Natsu, you’ve officially cleaned me out. There’s nothing else here to eat, until we go shopping later today.”

Placing his hands on the edge of the table, he leaned forward and gave her a predatory grin, running his tongue over his fangs. “Nothin’ else to eat huh? I wouldn’t be so sure about that Luce.” Getting up, he watched the blush stain her cheeks as she pushed back from the table herself, her brown eyes sparkling with mischief.

“Gotta catch me first, dragon boy!” She cackled as he lunged at her and missed, running around the table and leaping over the sofa, scattering the cushions. In only two more steps, he’d caught her and flung her over his shoulder, marching back to the bedroom, laughing at the way her giggles snorted through her nose. The guild could wait.

Much later, they arrived at the guild for a well earned lunch. He watched the way everyone greeted Lucy, his heart warming at her genuine smile. He was so proud of the way that Fairytail had rallied around her. He wasn’t exactly sure how they knew, but nearly everyone had come up to her with quiet words of support, even Wakaba and Macao, whom he’d had doubts about.

They sat down at the bar, eager to see what Mira had going for lunch today. She walked over to them with a grin, polishing a glass. “So, how are my favourite lovebirds today?” she smiled, obviously amused by Lucy’s reddened cheeks and Natsu’s quiet growl. “Before I tell you what’s for lunch, I’ve got a message for you Lucy. Jason from Sorcerer’s Weekly is here to see you. He’s waiting in the Master’s office.”

Lucy looked puzzled, but got up straight away, Natsu trailing behind her.

“Natsu, wait, he asked to see Lucy privately!” called Mira, then giggled at the way Natsu rolled his eyes at her.

“This is weird”, muttered Lucy, as they walked up the steps towards Makarov’s office. “I haven’t seen Jason since I worked at Sorcerer’s Weekly when you were… away.” Natsu took her hand in his and squeezed. She smiled at him, and then knocked on Makarov’s office door. The door opened, and Natsu followed close behind Lucy as she walked in, sliding in before Gramp’s could close the door on him and keep him out.

Jason looked perturbed to see Natsu there, but when Lucy reached out and entwined her and Natsu’s fingers together, he reacted like an overexcited puppy, letting out a few exclamations of ‘Cool!’ as he reached for his notepad. Natsu’s low rumbling growl and lighted fist held under his nose had him settling down quite quickly.

When they were all seated, Jason rubbed the back of his neck, looking anxiously at Lucy, but seemingly not sure how to begin what he wanted to say.

“I’m assuming this isn’t a social visit Jason”, began Gramps.

Jason sighed. “No”, he said. He looked back towards Lucy. “Lucy, have you ever hand any dealings with Dario Suarez?” When he saw Lucy stiffen, and Natsu’s arm curl around her comfortingly, he added, “I’ll take that’s a yes.” He sighed again, leaning forward to rest his elbows on his knees.

“I had his lawyer visit me yesterday. Wanted to know about the time you’d worked for us, the photo shoots you’d done. I told him that you’d done a few swimsuit spreads for us but that you had asked if you could work on the editing team instead and that you’d been a model employee, very hard working. But then he…” Jason swallowed, looking at Natsu cautiously.

“He what”, rumbled Natsu. Already he didn’t like where this was going.

Jason closed his eyes. “He asked me if you’d done any private shoots, to get your job. Inferred that you might have offered yourself to me to get the position you wanted.” Natsu’s escalating growl filled the room.

“What did you say Jason?” asked Lucy softly.

“No, of course!” said Jason with heat, his eyes snapping to Lucy. “Lucy, I loved working with you, but we both know there was absolutely nothing like that going on between us. Especially since you were waiting for… well, um.” His eyes glanced towards Natsu, and away again.

“Then he asked if it were possible to obtain a file of the original swimsuit photos we took of you. Said his client was an avid reader of the magazine and would be happy to make a generous donation. I told him that it was impossible, that the magazine never gave copies of files to anyone.”

Jason looked at Lucy anxiously. “Lucy, I’m worried for you. Dario Suarez is a dangerous enemy to have. He’s got bucketloads of money, and a team of high-quality mages working for him. What happened for him to be going after you?”

Lucy raised her chin as she looked Jason in the eye. “I’m bringing charges against him for sexual assault.”

Jason gazed at her for a moment, his mouth open. “Bastard”, he said, giving Lucy a look of sympathy. Then he walked over to her and grinned, opening her hand and dropping a small lacrima into it. “Good thing I recorded the whole conversation then, isn’t it?”

[eburneanteen-blog]

Fairy Law — One

A Not-So Typical Beginning

Summary ⟶ Whereas our story finally begins.

Pairings ⟶ Guild Friendship, Laxus/Mirajane, Natsu/Lucy, Erza/Jellal, Gray/Juvia, Gajeel/Levy.

Tags ⟶ Fluff.

Setting ⟶ After Alvarez arc.

Note ⟶ I present to you, the (unedited) beginning!

In the town of Magnolia, just at the edge of their territory, past the Kardia Cathedral, resided the guild that was known as Fairy Tail. More specifically, the strongest, most reckless, quite fearsome, very persistent, and the most unpredictable wizard guild to ever grace the continent of Fiore.

Don’t get me wrong, that guild can also be one of the most loyal of allies one can ever hope to have.

Anyone who passed by the guild could feel the tremors of the ground from the mere clatter of their daily brawl, hear the incoherent chatter, taste the barmaid’s incredible cooking, see the different mages walking through the door, and more importantly, practically smell the destruction that was about to come.

But nobody who ever set foot in the guild hall truly knew the horrors of Fairy Tail.

A typical day for the Fairy Tail wizards entailed many, many brawls that either ended as quickly as it started or ended until the Master had a thousand Jewels or more ripped right out of his pocket.

And there Makarov sat, in his usual spot in the bar counter, as he watched the chaos wrecking every corner of his guild hall. His soul practically left his body by now, leaving a ghastly pale old man in it’s absence.

“We’re gonna–we’re gonna rebuild again, aren’t we?” Makarov choked out as he watched the plethora of chairs flying from each side of the room, tables being upturned and tossed, and walls having cracks after some wizard has been roughly tossed to the side. He prayed dearly to the First Master that he’d live through this. But the thought of the amount of Jewels that would cost him today struck him painfully through the heart.

But luckily, he still had some angels left in the guild. An angel that took form of a blue-eyed demon. Truly, what an astounding guild.

“It’ll be alright, Master,” Mirajane came up to him, sporting a sickly large bump on her head, and smiled ever so sweetly. Her dark blue eyes glittered with happiness despite the commotion behind her.

The endearing smile never left Mirajane’s face as she glanced at what was left of the guild hall. She sighed contently as she leaned on the counter, supporting her head with her palms. “It’s good to be home. I wish we could stay this happy forever. We all deserve a break. Don’t you think, Master?”

Makarov nodded subtly, his arms crossed and eyes closed. “I suppose so.” Then he slammed his fist on the surface, leaving a large dent, he stood up straightly, “But it doesn’t mean the brats should tear the guild to pieces!”

“Tch.”

The brooding interjection came from Laxus who had been bobbing along to the rhythm of his music without a care to his surroundings, his fist was glowing brightly, a clear indicator that he would join the fight. He turned to Mirajane with a devilish smirk, showing off his sparking hand—not to mention the bulging muscles that tensed under the tight shirt of his.

“Want me to take care of them for you, Mira?” Laxus teased.

Mirajane immediately whacked him on the head. She put one hand on her hip as she furiously glared at him—at certain times like this, she didn’t even need her Demon Soul—and jabbed an accusatory finger at his chest.

“Don’t you dare, Laxus!” Mirajane exclaimed, a dark and cold aura emanating from all around her. “If you were to do that, you’d wipe out everybody in the guild!”

Laxus chuckled, lowering his fists as a sign of submission. “Are you saying I’m strong?”

“No!” Within a split second, Mirajane managed to slap the back of his head yet again. “I meant that you have no control on your impulses!”

“I’ll show you how much impulse control I have tonight,” Laxus’s dark eyes glinted with danger. His large arm wrapped around her tiny waist, gradually drawing her closer until he dipped down in the crook of her neck. His nose trailed along her neck until the outline of her jaw. Laxus smirk grew arrogantly as he lightly bit the shell of her ear. “Mirajane.”

Mira blinked a few times, laying her hands on his chest—definitely not feeling the muscles underneath—since her legs were so wobbly from the intimacy. After getting her woozy head from the clouds and realizing what had just happened, she wriggled her way out his grip, staggering a few steps back.

“Laxus!” Mirajane shrieked in shock. Her hands were balled into fists, ready to unleash an attack. She couldn’t believe what actually had just happened. Stupid Laxus, she thought.

Laxus only chuckled at her frantic state. Yes, he did anticipate an attack from the She-Demon, but he was positively sure that he’d be able to take whatever she threw at him. He saw eyed her small fists, and expected a flurry of pretend punches. But as he turned his gaze away, he should have realized that doing anything half-assed was not Mirajane’s favorite thing to do.

Because Laxus underestimated Mirajane, he totally didn’t predict that he’d be graced with the presence of the demon Mirajane Sitri.

And that was how Laxus was sent flying across the room. Everyone stared in shock with their mouth agape as the wizard shot across the room. And perhaps it was the surprise of it all that they didn’t realize who was he was going to crash into.

That person, who unfortunately took the brunt of his weight, was none other than the wizard who had less luck that she claimed to have, Lucy Heartfilia.

“Kya!”

Lucy yelped out loud when Laxus slammed into her side, sending her off the barstool and flat onto the floor with Laxus beside her. Both blondes were incapacitated on the ground, though Laxus was already sitting upright after a matter of a few seconds. Lucy, on the other hand, didn’t look so good. After all, no normal human could withstand Laxus’s attacks, or literally himself in her case.

Laxus turned to the side and rolled his eyes at the sight that greeted him. He stood up, despite the pounding headache, and offered a hand to her. “Geez, blondie, you look horrible.”

Luckily, it was an overstatement. It was only her hair that got dragged into the mess. What once was a neat, high ponytail, now became loose from her elastic band suddenly snapping, resulting into Lucy’s yellow hair to fall down to her waist.

Nonetheless, Lucy accepted the hand, wincing once she tried to stand up. “Thank you. What did you do to Mira-san this time, Laxus?”

Laxus grunted, crossing his arms. “I don’t know with the She-Devil. She just attacked me when I stood there silently—”

“Laxus!”

Everyone knew that somebody would smack some sense into him—after all, Mirajane wouldn’t just attack someone unless heavily provoked—and they all expected it to be Mirajane. What they didn’t expect was Natsu interrupting him.

Natsu Dragneel stood a few metres from them, obviously taking a break from his one-on-one. His entire body erupted in flames so hot that some of the guild members began to complain. Natsu’s ebony eyes fixated on one thing.

Lucy.

“What the hell did you do?!” Natsu growled out. At times like this, he couldn’t control his emotions. The determination to protect his mate—excuse me, best friend—and mixed with the adrenaline of his precious fight both clouded his way of thinking.

Laxus, eyes dull of emotion, just shrugged. “Nothing.”

“Fire Dragon’s Claw!”

And just as Natsu’s fist collided with Laxus’s face, he suddenly stopped.

He didn’t forego with his attack because somebody covered their fist over his own, their hand acting as a comforting blanket. Because he’d been so accustomed to the warm and gentle touch of this person he immediately calmed down. It was Lucy. And she was very mad.

Lucy had an eyebrow raised, her brown eyes no longer filled with sweetness and innocence, but irritation. “What do you think you’re doing, Natsu Dragneel?”

A split second later, Natsu swept Lucy off her feet and into his arms. He had one arm supporting the back of her legs and another arm cradling her head close to his chest. He completely forgot that Laxus was in front of him, and frankly, he didn’t care. But don’t fret, he’d get his well deserved fight sooner or later.

“Kyaa! Natsu! Have you gone crazy?! Put me down! Natsu! What are you doing?!” Lucy cried out in panic.

He smirked at her, thinking that he had the upper hand now. Slowly leaning towards her, he replied ever so softly, “Carrying you, Lucy Heartfilia.”

Lucy couldn’t take everything much longer. His scent. His eyes. His voice. His warm, muscly, wide chest. His arms. Just everything about him. But she didn’t want him to see how much he had affected her—damn that Salamander.

She covered her eyes dramatically, a poor tactic but she was desperate, as she whispered, “Well, my back does hurt. . .”

Natsu nodded grimly before comically turning to his side. “Happy, translate.”

Happy then appeared, his majestic wings flying him up to Natsu’s height. He had a paw underneath his chin, eyes squinted as if he was thinking hard about something. Then suddenly he turned to Natsu, eyes gleaming with pride.

“Natsu!” The Exceed exclaimed joyously. “I think she means she wants to go home so that we can all have a delicious fish dinner!”

Natsu turned his piercing gaze back to the woman squirming in his arms, a devilish smirk gracing his lips. “Oh? Then I guess I gotta do what she wants!”

Lucy shook her hand in a frantic pace, panicking that they were already moving to the direction of the guild’s doors. “Natsu, put me down!”

Natsu paused in his steps. He clocked his head down a bit, eyebrows frowning. “What was that, Luce?”

“Oh!” Natsu lifted his head, beaming like a little child. “You want me to carry you all the way home? Alright, you naughty girl!”

“Natsu!”

Before the two couple—excuse me again, best friends—left the guild, a certain someone caught the attention of Natsu.

“Natsu, come and finish the fight, you bastard!”

Gray had both of his hands prepared to throw an attack. He gritted his teeth, still having lots of energy to spare. And he had no doubt that he would throw Lucy on the floor and come spar with him.

Unfortunately for him, he was met with a surprise.

For Natsu, there was no rivaling spending time with Lucy. He had plenty of time to beat Gray’s ass but now he just wanted to snuggle with Lucy in the most comfortable bed of all, her breas—bed.

“Goodbye, Ice Queen!” Natsu waved at him enthusiastically.

Out of impulse, Gray replied with a spell. “Ice Make: Lance!”

Now the good news is that Natsu dodged the attack and was now headed down towards Lucy’s apartment.

The bad news was that Erza happened to pass by and took all of the impact.

Erza didn’t flinch when his attacks met her flesh. She just stood there, bored eyes and stiff posture. And when the spell finally ended, she turned to Gray with the darkest of glares.

“Gray Fullbuster,” Erza said menacingly. Her body was rigid, tremoring slightly from the fury welling up within her. “Better say your last words.”

The aforementioned Ice Mage trembled slightly. His eyes widened, fearing his best friend’s wrath. And before Gray could escape her fury successfully, he heard the most terrifying words known to mankind.

“Requip!”

There she was, Titania, clad in the glory of her Heaven’s Wheel Armor, with the number of swords at her back, awaiting her first command. Erza did not waver, clearly about to join the brawl in a second. With one step forward, Erza raised her sword, “Prepare to fall beneath my sword!”

Gray paled, already feeling lightheaded from his soul leaving him. Despite knowing that Erza would at least pull her attacks a little bit, Gray still wasn’t quite sure if she was being serious—but knowing her, he knew that he was about to get concussed.

Erza let out a battle cry. She was about to run into Gray, preparing for a swordfight when she was interrupted quite rudely.

“Kyaa!”

Titania let out one of her rare shrieks of surprise. She felt herself being hoisted onto something high. Her hands landed on hard, thick muscle. It took her seconds before she fully realized.

“Jellal?!”

The cloaked wizard nodded gently, patting her bum softly, not really caring if she’d decapitate him later. “Yo.”

Erza’s armor began to fade, as well as the armor around her heart. She kept hitting Jellal’s—muscled—back whilst attempting to cover her face from her nosey guild mates. Damn it. Why was her heart beating so fast?

“Jellal, put me down this instant!” Erza commanded. Though the blush on her cheeks and the cracks in her voice made it harder to take her seriously.

Jellal only shook his head. He waved everyone inside the guild hall a respectful goodbye, as if he didn’t have the great Iron Maiden on his shoulder.

“C’mon, Scarlet. I’m treating you to strawberry cake down at the bakery.”

And with that the two lovers—excuse me, my bad, I meant childhood friends—set off into the distance.

“Gray-sama!”

Juvia’s concerned cry filled the guild hall as she ran to Gray, who promptly fainted and fell to the ground. She tenderly laid his head on her lap as she brushed the tendrils of pitch black away from his eyes.

“Gray-sama, are you okay?” Juvia poked at the pale cheek. She briefly wondered if he was out for the count.

Gray, eyes halflidded, nodded sadly. He gently caught the hand that was cradling his cheek. “Juvia. . . come closer.”

The Water Mage’s eyes practically balled out of her sockets. Her heart pounded erratically as it it would bounce right through her heart. Slowly and softly, she leaned her head down until her nose met his lips.

“Yes, Gray-sama?” Juvia asked, her voice as soft as a whisper. She couldn’t believe she was this close to him. Was she finally going to get her first kiss? Her first marriage proposal? Her first child? Her first wedding? Her first boyfriend?

“I need to pee,” Was Gray’s simple answer.

Juvia froze. Her heart stopped beating so frantically. All of her weird fantasies went down the drain. She quickly muttered a myriad of apologies before setting his head on the floor.

“Juvia is sorry, Gray-sama.” She squeaked one last apology before leaving to find Wendy, who currently was lounging about with Carla and Romeo.

“Wait!”

Gray still didn’t move from his position. He laid on the floor lifelessly. But tugging at his lips, was the most devious grin ever. He stared at Juvia, eyes clouded with something undetermined.

“I need you to carry me there.”

Once those words left his mouth, nobody thought that they’d ever seen Juvia move so damn fast.

Everyone else either stifled a chuckle or went outright stiff. Of course it was only their guild that would have the pleasure of seeing weird events in the span of about ten minutes. The silence continued for about a few minutes before Cana’s burst of laughter filled the guild hall.

“Man oh man, I said it before I’ll say it again!” Cana exclaimed from her table, raising a bottle high, her cheeks flushed and eyes half closed. “I love this guild!”

“Aye, sir!” The rest of the members cheered ecstatically.

From the Raiijinshuu table, Freed leaned back on the wall, carefully watching his guild mates, one leg crossed over the other. “It’s good to be home.”

“Do you really mean that?” Evergreen said that with a blank tone, dull eyes and arms wrapped around her chest. But behind that fan of hers, was her cheeks tinted pink. Not that she’d say but she was incredibly happy to be with her guild mates as well.

“You’re just cross because Elfman won’t pay any attention to you,” Bickslow commented a bit too freely.

For the next few minutes, only the sound of Evergreen’s fan clashing against Bickslow’s head—plus his wails of surrender but don’t tell anybody that—could be heard in the Raiijinshuu’s table.

Lisanna stretched from her spot, exhausted from serving all of the members’ hungry stomachs. She laid her head on Elfman’s side, smiling happily.

“I’m going to treasure today forever, Elf-nii-chan,” Lisanna said. She saw a lot of smiles today, and she knew instantly that this was something that she’d keep in her heart a long time.

Elfman peered at his sister fondly. He ruffled her shoulder-length hair, smiling warmly at her high-pitched protests. “You’re manly, Lisanna.”

“Nii-chan!” Lisanna pouted. She huffed and turned her head to the side. “I’m a woman, you know. I’m bound to get married soon.”

“That’s not manly!”

And from there, the two siblings bickered about marriage and boys. Unbeknownst to them that there was a couple—silly me, I meant friends— also bickering beside them.

“Gajeel!”

“Shrimp!”

Levy McGarden stomped her tiny little foot on the floor. For the past minute she was trying to tell the stubborn man in front of her that she was cross with him, but he didn’t pay any attention to her ramblings.

“Gajeel!” Levy shouted. She pushed headband back into it’s proper place before jabbing a finger at his chest. “I said leave me alone!”

Levy already turned around with every intention to leave. But before she could continue on with her dramatic entrance, somebody had put a tight grip on her wrist. She spun around to meet the intense crimson eyes of the Iron Dragon Slayer.

“Gajeel,” Levy whined. Her attempts at freeing herself failed miserably. “Let me go.”

“Never.”

Levy raised an eyebrow. She started to become slightly annoyed with his antics. She was practically drooling at the thought of his ches—she meant her books. “Stop this right now, Gajeel. You’re being a dummy.”

Gajeel only shrugged. But he did relent and let go of her wrist. But mark his words, the next time he wouldn’t be so easy to manipulate. Damn the Shrimp for having an effect on him. Damn her!

Grumpy and slightly angry, Gajeel crossed his arms, sporting a tiny pout. “I don’t know why you’re so mad, Shrimp.”

Levy’s eye twitched.

She pulled a book out her of backpack. It was soaking wet and some of the pages were missing as she skimmed through it. Levy slammed the book into his chest—his big and hard chest—with comical tears streaming down her eyes.

“This! You bastard! When you ran into me, you spilled a glass of water on my book! This was a rare copy, Gajeel!” Levy cried out like a little child. She felt her heart break just by reliving the death of her baby. No magic could revive her child now.

Gajeel chuckled, running a palm down his face. “So that’s what this was about?”

Levy wiped another year from her eye as she spun around again, this time with the utmost determination to leave him. “Goodbye!”

“Oh, no you don’t.”

Before Levy could even take another step, Gajeel grabbed her waist and hoisted her onto his shoulder. All the while his heightened hearing became filled with her piercing screams.

“Honestly, Shrimp, if that’s what you wanted, you could have just asked. C’mon, how much does that cost? Twenty books? Fifty? A hundred?”

And so, the new couple—I’ve been making a lot of mistakes lately, I meant the guild mates with a platonic friendship—headed to the nearest bookstore.

Master Makarov, formerly the third and sixth master, watched as another two of his brats left the building. He took in the disappearance of their silhouette before taking another sip of his beverage. And then he smiled.

“It’s really good to be home.”

[leal-5]

Tomb of of Time Destiny: Chapter 13

Juvia POV

Traffic on the road increased as we got closer to the town- wagons on carved wooden wheels, chickens in twig cages, small boys driving tired milk cows- but it was the towns high, red walls that captured my attention. The town looked pristine, clean, and grand. I gawked at the many towers, careful not to lean too much on my bruised thigh as I leaned back slightly.

We rode forward, ignoring the pigs and goats that were nearly trampled in our wake, as well as their irate keepers. ‘Sorry!’ I winced slightly. The people divided before us, as if they knew that we came from Fairy Tail, and on we climbed, curving up the cobblestone street.

If Lucy and Levy are here, they’re most likely in the middle of town. My heart surged with hope and excitement. It took everything in me to maintain my place in line and submit to the dull, clopping rhythm of our train. Erza looked just as anxious to race past the others and search for them.

‘What if they’re there, now? Giving up on us? Wandering off, deciding to try somewhere else?’ I shake my head to clear any negative thoughts from it. ‘No! Juvia must have hope! Stay there, Lu and Lev. If you’re here, stay there.’

“Oi, what’s wrong?” Gajeel asked, peering down at me.

“Juvia is just eager to get to the middle of town,” I said.

“Oh, we can go after we greet Ava's family,” Natsu said. “We’ll go right after.”

Erza and I looked at him in horror. “No, you don’t understand. We need to know right away if they’re there, waiting us.”

They studied us closely. “And what if they’re not?”

Not there? If they weren’t here, where could they be? I wasn’t ready to deal with the idea that they hadn’t made the jump at all. To think we were all alone here, with only each other to help figure out a way back. Natsu lets out a high pitched whistle and makes a circle motion with his finger. Gray and Jellal look at us then back to them and nod. Natsu turned back towards us and grinned. "Shall we go?"

We nod gratefully and I begin to check out every blonde I saw while simultaneously keeping an eye out for a small bluenette, but I seemed to be the only bluenette here, given how people openly stopped and gawked at my blue hair and Erza’s fiery red hair. We ignored the hushed whispers and the occasional ‘Witch..’ comment that slipped from the crowds and continued to search among the people, but all the blondes in the town were dull compared to Lucy’s bright gold-like hair. Erza placed a comforting hand on my shoulder when it  began to slump slightly.

“Don’t lose hope Juvs,” Erza whispered in english. “Maybe they’re on their way to the middle of town now, on this very street.” I nodded and sat up straighter.

##########

“Drink,” Gajeel demanded me, brooking no argument.

I blinked at him and the cup he was holding for a moment before taking it from his grasp. Tears begin to fill my eyes and my shoulders shake slightly as I swirl the cups contents absentmindedly while staring down at it. We didn’t find them in the middle of town. We searched and asked around, but no one has seen anyone that matched either of their descriptions. I grip the cup tightly in an attempt to compose myself. Erza places her hand gently over mine and squeezes it.

‘Juvia is not alone. Juvia must have hope!’  Taking a deep breath I drink the water in one gulp and lean my head back on the wall behind me.

“I take it, you didn’t find them?” Natsu said while approaching.

I shook my head. “Juvia thought for a moment she saw someone that resembled Lucy in hair and stature but it was not her. Lucy is far more beautiful than that woman I saw.”

Natsu’s green eyes widened with wonder. “I will help you all the more in your mission to find them!” he declared loudly.

Erza and I giggled nervously at his antics. I had no doubt Natsu would fall in love with Lucy, we weren’t kidding when we said she was pretty. We were more worried about her accidentally breaking his poor heart when we leave! Or, heaven forbid, he might even ask for her hand in marriage! Lucy would absolutely freak out. They did seem to wed pretty young in this dimensions age. We need to get back to the tomb with Lucy and Levy ASAP. It was our only logical way back home. But our last two encounters in the woods told we couldn’t get there alone, sword or not. We needed an escort. And that would take some serious finagling.

“Come on,” Gajeel gruffed. “We’ve delayed your introductions long enough.”

I sigh and stand up following close behind them as they lead us up a flight of stairs, to a grand salon that took up the entire length of the building on this level. Gray, Ava, Jellal, and Carmen were sitting beside a small, gray-haired man who sat in a throne-like chair, telling him tales of our journey. He frowned in fear and then clapped in glory when he heard of his daughter’s climb to safety. Ava looked up then, and caught sight of us.

“And these, these, Father, are the heroic woman who came to our rescue.” Ava rushed over to me and dragged me to him, Carmen doing the same to Erza. I felt like a giraffe next to her, being inspected by a new zookeeper. “They pulled swords from their saddles and wielded them like fierce warriors!”

He studied us, then rose and took my hand. He looked up at me. “I am indebted to you,” he said. He bent and kissed my hand, then he turned and did the same to Erza. Erza and I blushed heavily in embarrassment and struggled to respond. “My daughter tells me you have become separated from your family,” he continues. “In gratitude to you, my sole goal will be to see you reunited.”

“Thank you,” Erza said sincerely, speaking for the both of us. I was too busy trying not to cry, he was being so kind and genuine it brought tears to my eyes.

“You are exhausted. The day has clearly tired you. Someone will see you to your room, and we will speak more of it this evening, or if you prefer, tomorrow. Good?”

“Thank you,” I manage to say. Ava bent to speak in a servant’s ear, and the woman came over to me. “Come, Miss. I'll see you two to your quarters.”

We followed behind her, Erza helped me limp up the stairs, rejecting the servants offer to help. At the top, the woman pulled a ring of keys from her belt and unlocked the first along the hallway. I peered down it there appeared to be about eleven more. She opened it and gestured inward. “Please.”

I limped forward and went directly to the window of the narrow room. There two beds, a chair, a table, and this, the window, overlooking the town. I pushed open the shutter and looked down on the well. People swirled about it, but no blondes or tiny bluenettes among them.

##########

We awakened to maids knocking on our door.

“We are here to assist you with your baths.” They said. My eyes widen and Erza and I looked at each other nervously. 'Juvia is perfectly capable of bathing herself…’ But even now I could feel the dirt and grime from our trip and we were more than eager to wash it off asap, and something told me that arguing with these maids would only bring unwanted attention to us, so we followed them.

########

“Um… Erza?” I said. “What is that?” I point to the two beautiful dresses laying on our beds.

We stood there gaping for a moment before slowly approaching what I could only equate with a wedding gown. Except, the one on Erza's bed was an elegant green dress and the one on my bed was light purple. It seemed to be endless too! It just kept coming, yards and yards of fabric.

Too scared to actually touch it, I step back to marvel at it some more. It looked like the finest silk I had ever seen. But the waist was so narrow I wondered if we would even be able to get into it. Dimly, I remembered one of the servants saying something about how Erza's dress had been meant for Simon’s nuptials and that my dress had once belonged to Grays mother.

Erza turned to me, her eyes asking "Can we really wear that? I mean, they don't really symbolize the best of things..."

I was silent for a moment. "Does it matter? We have nothing else to wear to a ball and Juvia is certain they won't allow you to waltz in there in all your armored glory..."

'Besides, these dresses are so gorgeous it would hurt not to wear them.' I thought while placing a careful finger over it. Erza sighed and said. “Guess we better start working on the ten-mile run that will allow us to sweat off enough weight to wear it tomorrow.”

I eyed the narrow hourglass of a bodice and shuddered. I wasn’t going to be able to breathe all night, let alone dance. Suddenly, I wished Gray's mother had been a large matron instead, given to tent dresses rather than tight-fitting gowns designed to draw the eye of every man in the room. I shook my head in wonder. “She must have been amazing… Juvia wishes she could have met her.”

A knock sounded at our door, causing me to jump. ���Just a moment!” Erza called as we quickly put on our regular clothes.

Natsu stood there, a crooked grin on his lips. “You’ve been cooped up in this room all day!

Lets go!” he said, lifting his hand. “You can see the entire town well where I’ll take you. Also, I do believe we owe you a lesson in dancing.”

Gajeel grumbled something under his breath.

I lifted my brows. I mean, I know I asked, but I didn't think he'd actually pull through!

“Come, come,” Gajeel said in annoyance, flicking his fingers, sensing my hesitation. “I want this hour done with already. I already found someplace private where we can practice.”

I studied him a moment before grinning widely. It was far better to suffer embarrassment with him, someplace private, rather than in the middle of a ballroom floor.

Erza POV

They lead us up a narrow stair, then another, and still another, until Gajeel pulled Juvia into a large empty ballroom and Natsu lead me up another flight of stairs that lead to the rooftop. I turned, full-circle, in wonder at the view. Past the towers and the town wall, I could see miles of green rolling hills. “It is marvelous,” I said.

“Ehh, it's alright,” he grinned. He closed the door and then turned to stare at me, crossing his arms. “So, how much dance do you actually know?”

“Umm.. None?”

“Hmm. Okay then! I enjoy a challenge.” Natsu stepped forward, determined. He placed my right hand on his shoulder and grabbed my left hand.

“Okay, first bring your feet together and then step forward with left foot. Yes, like that! Now, step to right side with right foot and bring feet together again. Mmhm! Now step backwards with right foot and step to left side with left foot. Bring your feet together again aaaand let's take it from the top!”

I nodded and moved into his arms. We made it through the first three counts, and then I missed the step. He released me and then looked at me, his eyes slightly narrowed, as if exasperated, as if we had gone through it a hundred times.

“That was once! How many times were you taught?”

He cocked a brow, apparently reluctant to give me room to fail. He flicked his fingers forward. “Let’s give it another try,” he said tiredly, acting as though we’d been at it all night. “This time, close your eyes. Think only of the rhythm.”

I sighed, trying to get above my frustration. I closed my eyes and listened to the beat of the dance, along with his counting, feeling the shifts, the pause at the end, then resuming. “Good, good,” he encouraged.

On and on he went. “Ahh, yes. That is it. Perfect!” he said.

I couldn’t fight the smile forming on my face. “I’m going to release you for a moment, but keep going, as if someone else is taking my place.”

His hands left me, but then slid back in place, at my waist, but wrapping a bit more behind my back this time, as if a tiny bit more possessive.

My eyes fluttered open and encountered Jellal.

I stopped, glancing at Natsu, his profile aglow in the setting sun. He shrugged “He wanted to brush up on his dancing skills.” I looked up to Jellal and stared hard into his eyes. “He wanted to brush up on his dancing skills with sword-carrying girl with a thing for running off?” I asked.

“Tonight that is my wish,” he said, his voice strangely husky, his eyes unwavering. He began to count off the dance again, and I, apparently devoid of will, followed it.

“Has Natsu taught you this one?” he asked, raising both hands to me, palm up.

I frowned and shook my head, then glanced toward Natsu. He was gone. I sighed. I was alone with Jellal, receiving a dance lesson. This was a disaster waiting to happen. I could do nothing but place my hands in his.

“This is an eight-count dance,” he said, staring down at me with all earnestness.

He dropped my hands and counted it out, as if I were in his arms, closing his eyes, turning at the fifth count, and again at the seventh.

“Tricky,” I said, raising a brow.

“The key is following your partner’s lead,” he said, a teasing glint in his eyes. He cocked his head. “Tell me Erza, can a woman who can wield a sword find her place on the dance floor?”

“I think they’re very similar,” I said, moving toward him, placing my hands in his. “Swordplay is a dance of sorts, except that in a fight, one must take the unexpected step. In dance it is all about taking the right, expected step.”

He began counting the dance, turning me at count five and seven. I moved with him, without hesitation, and the eighth count found my left hand in his, at chest level, and my right hand above my head, facing him. Our mouths were inches away from each other. “I believe you have this mastered, Erza,” he said, still not releasing me, still staring into my eyes.

“I believe you have taught me well,” I returned, staring steadily back at him, my heart pounding in my chest so hard I swear he could hear it. We continue to stare at each other. My eyes widen as I realized the small space between us was becoming even smaller. Until.....until...

I suddenly turned away when thoughts began to cascade through my mind. Whatever I thought was happening here, could not.

It could cost a great deal. For me. For him. For Fairy Tail.

“Erza?” he asked. “Erza,” he said, dropping his tone, in such an enticing manner, I nearly turned.

“You need to go, Jellal,” I said. “Leave. Juvia and I…. We only represent danger for you. Loss. All you need is below us, in this house.”

Jellal was silent for a moment, before quietly responding. “How can you be so certain? Maybe there is something else for me. Something no one even saw coming?”

My heart pounded in my chest even more. He was speaking of me. I drew in a shaky breath. What could I promise him? A girl who would disappear into the future? No, it wasn’t fair….

Gathering my courage, and bracing myself for a life full of regret I speak.

“Jellal, I have a fiance…”

A/N: HAHAHAHAHAHA I'M SORRY I JUST HAD TO!!! AHAHAHAHAHA!!!! OK ON THE THE REAL THING:

I looked back to give him a pretty speech, some small comfort, but he was already gone through the gaping door.

I stared for a long time at that empty doorway, recognizing that I had killed any chance to be with the hottest guy I had ever run across. But it was for a good reason, a solid reason. I was being responsible.

I tried to swallow the regret that filled my throat, tried to feel assured, courageous. But I couldn’t even manage that.

My mouth was dry.

And my heart was empty.

[ackerdude]

Amity

Summary: A conversation that took place the night Natsu stayed with Lucy after he returned from his year-long training mission. 

Rating: G | Word Count: 2,635

Read on AO3 and FF.net!

A/N: I’m finally cross-posting this from AO3, it always seems more difficult to get everything right here on Tumblr. 

Support me by buying me a coffee!

~

Lucy leans on the doorframe of the threshold between her bedroom and her living room. She smiles softly at the picture before her; a rose-haired man snoring loudly on a couch much too small for him, laying on his side curled up in a ball in a way that couldn’t be comfortable. A blue cat is draped across his shoulders, tangled up in his scaly scarf, acting somewhat like a blanket to the feline.

Lucy wipes a silent tear away from her face. The fondness she feels in her heart is nearly overwhelming as she takes in the sight. She can’t even form words to describe how much she missed the two of them this past year.

When Natsu left, the feeling of betrayal was indescribable. She lost her partner, her nakama, and the one person she was supposed to able to count on no matter what.

Although he said in his letter he was going to be back, after everything that had happened with Tartaros and the dragons, she couldn’t believe he just up and left with nothing more than a note.

On top of that, she was the one who had to tell the rest of the guild the dragonslayer was gone.

Not long after, the guild disbanded.

If losing Natsu hurt, losing the guild was devastating. The loss she felt was almost tantamount to the pain she experienced when her mother died. She lost her family for the second time and there was nothing she could do about it

The sound of shuffling and a groggy voice bring her out of her thoughts. “Lucy?”

Lucy can see Natsu blinking sleepily as he tries to sit up, impeded by a sleeping ball of blue fur. He gently removes the snoozing cat from his shoulders before sitting up and placing him on the pillow he’d been using. Happy stirs for only a moment before curling back up in Natsu’s scarf and placing his head on his paws.

“What’s wrong?” Natsu stretches for a moment, and Lucy quickly averts her eyes from his flexing arms. Now is not the time to be ogling his muscles.

Lucy bites her lip as she looks away. “Nothing Natsu. I was just thinking.”

She hears him get up from the couch, the wooden floor squeaking a little bit under his weight.

She looks back at him to see he’s standing right in front of her, his head cocked to the side as his eyes roam her face. Lucy tries her best to hold his gaze, but he’s always had a way of analyzing her that made her feel like she was under a microscope. She can’t help but squirm a little bit.

As dense as he is, Natsu has always had a way of reading her emotions like a book; well, emotions that didn’t involve him. When it came to romance, Natsu had a lot to learn. Anyone with eyes could see how Lucy felt about him; even Happy made comments now and then.

And if there had been doubt in anyone’s minds before, Lucy’s reaction when Natsu left was proof enough. She had been utterly heartbroken.

Lucy can feel her heart fluttering nervously as his intense gaze searches her face. He’s close; close enough for her to feel the usually comforting heat that consistently radiates from him. She wants to lean into him, but resists.

“No, something’s wrong,” he reaches up to grip her chin between his thumb and forefinger, and brings his face closer to hers. His eyebrows furrow as he continues to look at her. “You’ve been crying.”

She tries desperately not to flush at their close proximity, but begins to feel her face warm and her eyes sting as she realizes he knows she’s upset.

She tries to turn her head out of his grip, but he moves his hand from her chin to her face, wiping an escaping tear that runs down her cheek.

Natsu’s eyes widen when her tears keep coming, and tugs her into a hug without hesitation.

Being in Natsu’s arms only makes it worse. His comfort, something she hasn’t had in nearly a year, only makes her realize how long it has been. He’s so warm, and his smoky scent makes her overwhelmingly nostalgic. She doesn’t want to let him go as she fists her hands in the back of his shirt.

He draws back a little bit, both hands gripping her upper arms. She opens her mouth to protest, but he takes her hand, leading her back in to her room. He shuts the door softly so not to wake the sleeping cat in the next room.

They both go to sit on the edge of her bed. Natsu takes her hand again, placing it in his lap. His dark green eyes plead with her before he speaks again.

“Please tell me what’s wrong, Lucy. Something about you has been off since I got here. Why are you crying?” he asks softly as he runs a thumb over her knuckles. “I hate seeing you cry.”

Lucy sighs deeply, wiping some of the tears from her face with the hand not in Natsu’s grasp.

It’s hard for her to look at him. It’s hard for her to look up into his too-innocent eyes and be upset with him. It’s too hard to hold onto her anger when she knows he doesn’t realize he is the one who caused her to get so upset.

How can she be angry when he just doesn’t know the effect he has on her?

“Why did you leave, Natsu?” The question comes suddenly and without her permission, but she can’t take it back.

“What?” he asks with a small frown. It’s clear he’s confused by the question, hadnt been expecting it.

She’s about to say ‘nothing,’ to ask him to forget it, but the sudden pull of resentment in her belly won’t let her.

“I mean,” she bites out, “Why did you leave Magnolia? Why did you leave Fairy Tail? Why did you leave your entire family behind without so much as giving them a way to contact you? Why did you leave me?”

Tears that had momentarily stopped begin to fill her eyes against her will, but like hell she’ll let them fall while she’s trying to get answers from him.

“Do you have any idea what that did to me? You left me with just a note. No real explanation, no way of knowing where you were or if you were alright. You just left.

“Why?” she emphasizes, and he leans back a little bit when she looks up at him. Tears aren’t the only thing in her eyes now. They’re filled with hurt and anger too. He’s never seen her like this and doesn’t know how to tread carefully. He takes his hand out of hers to fiddle with his hair.

“I-I-I…” Natsu stammers out, but closes his eyes and takes a deep breath in order to compose himself before trying to answer her questions. But he doesn’t know where to start. “Wh-Where is this coming from, Lucy? I don’t understand.” He truly doesn’t.

“’Where is this coming from’?” Lucy repeats, and Natsu’s eyes widen as he realizes he just made a huge mistake. He watches her take in a deep breath.

“I’ve lost everything, Natsu,” she whispers to him in a deadly voice. As scary as she looks though, Natsu can still see the tears shining in her eyes. “I lost you, Aquarius, and the entire guild, my family, all in a matter of weeks. I had my life completely ripped out from under me, and then suddenly, after a whole year, you’re back. No warning, no notice. You literally just blew up the stadium, beat up a few wizards to the point of incapacitation, and then expected to be welcomed back again like nothing happened. After all that time, you’re just here again and I don’t know what to do.”

With her final words, her head falls into her hands. She hadn’t realized how true the last sentence was. She has no idea what to do with the maelstrom of feelings whirling inside her, and doesn’t know what to do about the clueless, pink-haired dragonslayer currently sitting on her bed, staring at her with wide eyes.

All the reeling thoughts in her head have gotten to be too much; she can’t keep trying to stay composed. The pressure built up inside of her bursts as she finally lets her tears fall.

Without hesitation Natsu scoots closer to her on the bed. He places an arm around her shoulder, pulling her to him in a way that would allow him to wrap his other arm around her waist. He hugs her tightly, and after tensing for only a second, Lucy finds herself clutching at his shirt.

She lets herself cry over all of her losses for the first time since the guild disbanded.

After a while, Lucy’s sobs quiet down to hiccups. As he soothingly rubs her back, Natsu feels like she’s calmed down enough for him to speak.

“I-I didn’t know about Aquarius.”

“No,” Lucy says softly, face still buried in his shoulder. “And you couldn’t have. No one knows, I never told anyone. It was my burden to bear, no one else’s. They didn’t need to know.”

Natsu pushes her away from him abruptly and she draws in a sharp breath at the loss of his warmth. She can see fire in his eyes as he speaks.

“How can you say that Lucy?” Natsu asks fiercely, “The guild is family, family is supposed to help you through hard times! You should’ve known you could trust them when you needed the support!”

“Of all people, you can’t say that to me, Natsu!” Lucy bursts, standing up from the bed and throwing her hands up in the air. “You can keep saying you left Magnolia to go train, or get stronger, or whatever crap you said in your letter, but we both know you left because Igneel—”

Natsu stands up just as quickly, both hands finding her shoulders and gripping tightly, cutting her off.

“Don’t, Lucy.”

She pushes his hands off of her before jabbing a finger into his chest. She stands up on her toes in order to better look him in the eyes. “You were running, Natsu,” she snaps at him. “You were running away because you didn’t think you could lean on your guild mates when you needed them. You—“

“I didn’t want to burden you all even more with problems that didn’t concern you!” he all but shouts back, leaning in closer to her face.

She’s startled when she sees a stray tear fall down his cheek, but he turns so she can’t see his face. He takes a few steps away from her, and she immediately feels guilty for bringing up his father.

“What happened to Igneel…” he begins, softly this time, almost like all the fight has drained from him. “After he died, I needed space and time to think. I’d been searching forever for him, and then all of the sudden he’s in front of me, fighting, after fourteen years.”

Natsu lets out a large sigh, running a hand through his bangs before sitting back down on Lucy’s bed. Lucy cautiously sits down next to him, having calmed down a bit, hoping to every deity out there that he isn’t angry at her for yelling at him. She gently takes his hand and breathes out a quiet sigh of relief when he doesn’t pull away.

“And then, just as quickly as he appeared, he’s gone again. But this time it’s different.” He shakes his head as if trying to clear his thoughts, and Lucy tightens her grip on his hand. “This time he really is gone. There’s no more wondering what happened or searching for any clues to where he might be. He’s dead. I dedicated so much of my life looking for him, and all that time was wasted. It was completely pointless.”

He looks up at her, and this time he lets her see the anguish filling his eyes. Her heart breaks for him as she lays her head on his shoulder. She feels him place his cheek on top of her hair.

“I felt like I lost everything in that moment, Lucy. I didn’t know what to do, so I took the coward’s way out and left.”

After a few moments of silence, Lucy finally finds her voice to speak. “I would’ve gone with you, you know,” she says softly.

She feels him puff out a small exhale of soft laughter against her hair and can hear the small smile in his voice when he speaks. “I know you would have, but this was something I needed to work through on my own without someone constantly on my back about it.”

Lucy nods against his shoulder. “I understand,” she tells him, “And I forgive you… but I’m still mad at you,” she adds.

For a minute he pauses, seeming like he was just going to let the moment pass in companionable silence. But then a grin begins to take over Natsu’s face. “But Luuuucyyyy,” he whines, and suddenly he’s tipping them back; he lands on one of the pillows, and her head bonks against his chin as he brings her closer to him.

She places a hand on his chest in order to steady herself. She readjusts to where they are both laying comfortably in her bed, her head on his chest and his arm around her shoulder. His warmth seeps into her bones as he presses against her side.

“What can I do to make you not mad at me anymore?” His tone is that of a petulant child, but the way he breathes it in her ear has her heart fluttering in her chest.

“I don’t know, Natsu,” she says as she rolls over so that more of her body is pressing into him. He’s just so warm, and she’s starting to feel sleepy. “Rain check? I’ll let you know as soon as I think of something.”

He chuckles softly before burying his nose in her hair, tightening his grip around her. She can’t help but smile at the sound of his laughter, a sound she missed so much. She feels utterly content in his arms.

They are both silent for a few minutes, and Natsu is sure she’s asleep, but the low sound of her voice breaks him out of his own groggy state. He deeply inhales her comforting scent as she speaks.

“You know,” Lucy begins, and Natsu can feel her fingers tracing absent-minded circles across his stomach as she talks. “All those years you spent searching for Igneel weren’t a waste of time. I never would have met you in Hargeon if you hadn’t been looking for him. I never would’ve joined Fairy Tail, I never would’ve become your partner, and I never would have found my true family. It may be selfish, but I’m so glad you were looking for him that day, Natsu.”

For a moment he is speechless, but then a broad grin takes over Natsu’s features. He reaches to grasp the hand Lucy has on his stomach, the one with the guild mark she still bears, and holds on tightly.

“I am too, Lucy,” he says quietly, and brings her hand up to his mouth to place a light kiss on her mark.

“I can’t believe Fairy Tail is gone,” she whispers, sleep heavy in her voice. She probably won’t remember this conversation in the morning, Natsu thinks. Natsu moves her hand from his lips, placing it back on his chest. He places a soft kiss to her hair as he speaks. “I know, Lucy. And we’ll get it back. I promise.”

[chikkachu]

4 or 14 for Nalu

Happy Birthday to the beautiful @brokenangelwings83 . I was going to make this a short drabble but then I thought you love your NaLu smut and hey I already had a prompt request for it. So, I hope you like it. It’s been a while ;) Thank you to the wonderful @nalu-natic who beta-read this for me and of course the anon who sent me this prompt. 

-x-Pairing: NaLu prompt: What if they hear us?Rating: 18+ / Smut / M Genre: Period/Historical Romance

Summary: Natsu and Lucy have never been so long without seeing each other. In order to cover up their frowned upon activities, they must proceed with caution. However, Lucy has run out of patience.

-x-

Acid pumped through strained muscle as Natsu lifted wrought iron. Hard graft accelerating his heart rate and a fine sheen of sweat accumulated on his skin. The heat of strenuous exercise made his clothes tight and scratchy. Natsu hated having to wear tight garments finding them restrictive. Zeref scolded him for “inappropriate apparel” regularly; walking around in clothes fit for a beggar was inappropriate for the Dragneel lineage.

Epithets and pleasantries meant about as much as the horse shit he scrapped from the stable floor on the morn. Not that Zeref knew of that pastime otherwise the noble would have him escorted at all times.  As if it wasn’t enough being tied to the dukedom, another ball and chain would stifle his audacious nature.

‘Move it this way flame-brain or are you having trouble.’ Gray scoffed, smug banter intoning a challenge to the “pampered young master”.  They had been best friends from the moment Ur adopted the orphan and brought him to the estate. Raising him to be a stable hand with a magic touch. No one in Fiore could tame an unruly stallion like Gray Fullbuster.

Helping fix a broken carriage beat paperwork and the arbitrary tattle of the gentry. Physical work exhilarated his senses and Natsu loved the burn. Shifting the wheel, the strained linin dress shirt restricted his movement making him lose grip. Both men jumped backwards to save their toes as the sound of metal crashing against cobblestone echoed off the walls. Distressed kicks and grunts from the prized thoroughbred met his ears as he ripped his shirt from his breeches. The incident reaffirming his distaste for the fashion. Readjusting the fitted fabric on his waist, he used his shirt to wipe off excess perspiration before tossing it over a stable door.  

‘Showing off?’ Gray laughed, responding to the hushed whispers and giggles of maids passing through to collect supplies from the farm. Looking down he supposed he was exhibiting barbaric behaviour in front of the fairer sex. Zeref did say such nudity should be reserved strictly for the bedchambers. Not that he obeyed. Especially when it concerned a voluptuous blond that wouldn’t take no for an answer.  

‘You’re always half-naked when brother isn’t around.’ Rebuking the snarky retort, Natsu readied his hands on the iron rim waiting for Gray to position himself.

‘Damn straight.’ Gray grunted, Natsu smiled at the response. That’s why Gray understood him unlike the fake accomplices forced upon him at formal gatherings. On the count of three, they heaved the chunky wheel onto the brace. Stepping back, he admired their work. It still needed wheel nuts to securely fit it to the axel.

‘I’m going to go find some oil before we screw it back on.’ Gray said, walking off and wiping his brow, ‘otherwise it’ll break again.’

‘Sure.’ Not bothering to watch Gray slink away he decided to stretch. Bending forward his back arched allowing him to feel the pull down his thighs and calves. Natsu groaned in satisfaction as the tension left his body.  

‘Do you require help?’ He recognised that tinkling laughter and honey-dipped voice. Small hands smoothed over his rump travelling to grasp onto his hip. Bolting upright heat settled against his back, feeling lips pressing against his shoulder blade.

God, he missed her.

‘Lucy.’ He breathed, noticing her fingers tracking his waistband and tickling the sensitive skin.  

‘It’s not often one is greeted with such a pleasant view.’ She said, amusement evident as she dragged her fingertips over his abdominals in a fleeting caress. Natsu sucking in a quick breath turned in her embrace moving to grip her arms. Memories of passionate nights and heated escapades in her father’s hunting lodge filled his mind at her playful antics. Lucy’s touch is something he could never refuse but society is cruel to those who didn’t adhere to protocol. And he wouldn’t stand for her name to be tarnished.

‘We can’t, not here.’ Her determined countenance said Lucy didn’t accept his answer as she swivelled out of his grip.  A finger found his lips and he couldn’t help but track the tongue wetting her own.

‘I don’t want to hear “can’t” from the man who preaches the virtues of living in the moment.’ She said, pressing her digit further into his mouth.

‘Someone might see.’

‘No ones here now.’

‘That’s not the issue.’ He said, she laughed and dragged her hand down his jaw. Following the line of his body, making sure to drag her palm over his nipples, she continued downwards. Hooking both hands into his breeches a sharp tug caught him off balance.

Lucy Hearfilia is a dangerous woman. A woman he couldn’t refuse.  

‘You’ve never been so reluctant before.’ Her voice is sin and he couldn’t help but follow. ‘I travelled too far to wait until later.’

Natsu scouted the area as he allowed the temptress to pull him into a vacant stable. This wasn’t the first time Lucy exhibited her adventurous side. Then again in high society, they take their alone time whenever the opportunity arises. A scandal of their trysts would rock the aristocracy and ruin Lucy’s reputation. He felt guilty, but patience had never been his strong suit and their first erotic venture had been against the old oak in the Heartfilia estate. Now they couldn’t keep their hands off each other. Passion burned in his veins for the heiress like nothing he’d experienced before. Natsu intended for them to be wed. The thought of another man touching Lucy made his chest constrict.

‘Natsu Dragneel you sure know how to drive a girl crazy.’ He shivered feeling her breath tickle his dark nipple. Head resting on his chest her hands flitted over a pec setting a pace that caused his hair to rise in anticipation. Instinctually he moved to her dance, hips rising to meet her antics that wandered dangerously close to his crutch. Teasing fingers smoothed the fabric on his thighs, fingers drawing lines on the inside of his knee.

Dipping down he caught her lips in a quick succession of smooches feeling her hand move slowly up his inner thighs. The drag of her manicured nails felt wonderful despite the fabric barrier. Coming close to the straining erection he saw the devilish twinkle in her eye as she removed her hands from where he wanted them. Deciding instead to loop her arms and grab his butt for leverage. Lucy wiggled her hips creating a delectable friction over his bulge.  

‘Damn, what’s with you today.’ Not that Natsu was complaining but it wasn’t usual behaviour. Lucy commented previously that she loved to see Natsu riled up and taking control.

‘I want you to feel my frustration.’

Oh.

They hadn’t been able to meet for a long time and Natsu had decided against their last opportunity to meet. Frolicking at the King’s ball was a bit too risky even for him. Apparently, his fiery partner had revenge in mind for the elongated abstinence. Natsu gasped as he felt her hand dipped below his waistband and gripping his dick.  

‘Fuck!’ He swore, soft lips kissed along his jawline and he chocked as he felt a sharp tug. She didn’t have mercy deciding to attack his neck with open-mouthed kisses. The feeling of her hands gripping his shaft made his knees buckle. Undulating to encourage further movement he worked on undoing buttons to give her better access.

Her eyes flicked down to watch him buck into her hand, there was something incredibly sexy about his desperate movements. The sound of his laboured gasps made her nipples strain, aching for the reward of Natsu hot mouth. Before that, she wanted to have fun with the handsome man at her leisure.

Spitting in her palm she reached down to caress the head of his shaft, taking over from the hand reaching further down to cup his sack. Rolling her head to the side Natsu cupped her cheek and capture her lips in a sloppy kiss, his skill hampered by the distracting thumb brushing under the head of his dick.  He could feel her gentle rotate her palm rolling his balls in a way that nearly made him cum. The sensation of both hands on him was overwhelming. The absence of her touch for more weeks than either of them cared to be separated didn’t help his control.

‘Let go.’ Lucy breathed on his lips, dipping her tongue into his mouth. Tapping her fingertips along his base in a teasing pattern, Natsu braced his back against the walk for support. He felt her travel upwards to connect her thumb and index finger around the top of his shaft. Setting a slow pace, to begin with, he felt his abdominal clench on a particularly strong stoke.

‘Please. Lucy.’ Natsu’s plea barely came out a whisper, his hands moving from her waist to cup a weighty breast. He wasn’t above playing dirty using his thumb to roll the covered nipple. Lucy tremored, her hold on his cock faltering as she craned her neck to engage a languid role of tongues. Need pulsing in his member he covered her hand with his own. Encouraging her to use more fingers Natsu guided her on pleasuring him. Lucy got the message increasing her pace and the occasional rotation of her wrist made his thighs seize up in an effort to resist climax.  

‘Natsu?’ Gray’s call cut through the hazy pleasure they were surrounded in. Lucy didn’t stop, in fact, her eyes glinted mischievously as she proceeded to perform as a quick succession of tugs over his head. Pleasure exploding through his veins made his toes a heavy grunt escaping his throat. Natsu tried to stifle the noise hearing Gray moving around outside searching for him. It wouldn’t be the first time Gray had found them in an inappropriate situation. He wouldn’t hear the last of it if it happened again.

‘I don’t want to see your bare ass ever again.’ Was the quip Gray focused on him the next day. Lucy couldn’t look their friend in the eyes for a month. However, by then Lucy was grinding against his thigh Natsu suspected she had a thing for high-risk coupling.  The feeling of pressure at the top of his sack snapped his thoughts to the woman in front of him. She had circled the top massage the skin gently as his balls drew together. His abdomen rippled as he thrust upwards in a haphazard pattern. Head lulling, he allowed himself to breathe in her bergamot and orange scent.

‘Your hands feel so fucking good on my cock.’ Murmuring praise in her ear Natsu found himself fall from the precipice. Capturing her lips once again in a bid to silence his moans fire shot up his shaft as the pressure in his stomach released. Pulling Lucy’s body flush against him, Natsu clung to her in his vulnerable moment. Savouring the comfort of her hand that had moved to caress his back. Finding her eyes, he couldn’t help but smile. Intimacy enabled him to see her with shocking clarity. His beautiful Lucy who couldn’t keep her hands of him, a woman sporting a kind and gentle soul. Natsu knew he was a lucky man.

‘So,’ Lucy said, smiling up at him as she licked his seed off her knuckle. ‘What’s next?’

And she called him insatiable.

[phoenix-before-the-flame]

This Storm Too, Shall Pass

Hey everyone! Don’t mind me just passing through with a fic for @qwerty-top based on some of their headcanons. Hope you like it!

Lucy shivered, curling into a tighter ball under her blanket as thunder cracked against the sky, a peal louder and more bone shaking than the last. She didn’t need to see to know that Magnolia was dark, the moon blacked out by clouds that never ended. They spat and hissed and growled without mercy, winds howling in between each of the storm’s cries made her stifle a whimper, biting down on her bottom lip a little too hard. Lucy soothed it with a few comforting licks.

She hated it. The storms, the darkness, the chaos. They always made her feel sick and too small, and filled her with too much fear to do anything.

A flash of lightning tore through the darkness, illuminating the little pocket of safety her blanket provided in stark white. It felt cold, that light, and when it went everything else seemed louder. Lucy turned on her side, squeezing her eyes shut and crushing a pillow to her ears in hopes of dampening the sound of rain pounding against the glass, sounding like it’ll crack open and let the chaos inside her apartment any moment now.

Tears prickled at the corners of her eyes threatening to spill out if she opened them. It was stupid, that she knew, to be so afraid of something that couldn’t harm her, to be rendered useless by mere sounds and lights.

Lucy’d been through worse- so, so much worse, where the bright lights could actually slice through her flesh and the sounds were strong enough to make her ears ring on for hours after the fight was over.

Her grasp on the blanket tightened and fought back another shiver that threatened to wrack her whole body.

She hadn’t endured a storm for a while now and despite the tiredness pulling at her mind to go back to sleep, she knew she wouldn’t. Lucy knew better than that, with each passing moment of silence that lulled her to comfort she’d be thrown awake by the storm’s taunts for the rest of the night in an endless, terrifying cycle.

And so lucy laid there, trembling after each thunderous roar and each flash of lightning that made her heart jump to her throat each time without fail. She didn’t even notice when she started whispering, mumbling to herself nonsense words in an attempt to keep calm.

Nor did she notice the hand softly shaking her, the comforting touch registering seconds later when the blanket was gently tugged from her head. Hesitantly, Lucy cracked an eye open.

“Lucy? Are you awake?” Natsu rumbled. His voice was low but still louder than the rain against her window.

He was absolutely sopping from head to toe, hair plastered to his forehead and water dripping through his green gaze, eyebrows knitted together with concern. In fact the only thing not drenched on him was his scarf which was nowhere to be seen leaving his neck oddly bare in what little light the storm provided.

“Natsu? What are you doing here? It’s - ” She stole a glance at the clock on her nightstand, squinting slightly at its hands. A few minutes just shy of midnight. He must’ve been fresh off his last mission.

“ -it’s late. I didn’t give you a spare key so you could crash here when you felt like it.” She tried for a smile but it felt too strained and only made him press his lips in a thin line, worry marring his features.

The sky outside screamed and Lucy flinched back into her covers, instinctively reaching for the only comfort she had right now. Her fingers curled tightly around Natsu’s hand. He only squeezed back in reassurance.

“You’re scared of storms.” He replied, smoothing his thumb over her hand. “I couldn’t just go home knowing that. We had to come see and make sure you were alright.”

We…?

She raised an eyebrow at him and he chuckled, releasing her hand only for a moment to unzip his vest and carefully pull out a softly snoring Happy to put into her arms, wrapped tightly in Natsu’s scarf and looking much, much drier than him.

“He fell asleep when the train stopped but I knew he’d want to know if you were ok.” Happy sighed weakly in his sleep and rolled closer to Lucy.

She stared at him curiously with wide eyes, slight disbelief in them as he dried off. Steam rose from his clothes in soft curls that rolled in the air, disappearing like weak smoke.

“You didn’t have to do that. You could’ve gotten sick walking in the rain over here.”

“I’d be a bad friend if I didn’t. Like some rain is gonna stop me from getting to you.” He scoffed, kicking off his sandals.

“It’d be wrong of me to just go home knowing you’re up and afraid.” Natsu whispered reaching for her hand again. “I don’t think I could sleep if I did.” He rubbed at his eyes, drawing her attention to the heavy bags under them, looking unnatural and out of place on his face. Natsu stifled a yawn.

How long had he been gone for on his mission doing god knows what? When was the last he’d gotten a proper night’s rest out there? Her heart panged in her chest, hugging Happy close.

Lucy scooted back closer to the wall, opening up her blanket to him as a silent invitation, frowning when he only pulled it back over and tucked her in with a wry smile.

“You need rest too.” Lucy protested weakly, pulling at his hand.

“And you need it more than me.” He replied. Natsu shifted his position, leaning back against her bed frame. “Don’t worry I’ll kick you out of your bed tomorrow-” He chuckled at her huff “-but that’s after you’ve gotten through the night.”

“But Natsu-”

“No buts Lucy.” He pulled the blanket snug over her head with only a little space for her to peek out at him. “Get some sleep. I’ll be right here with you the entire time. Even if you wake up in the middle of the night. I promise I’ll ride this out with you.”

“I….Thank you, Natsu.” He nodded and hummed in agreement as she closed her eyes, grip never loosening on his hand.

And he kept humming, a soft wavering melody in the storm’s chaos that she latched onto. She didn’t know the tune or if there was even words to the song or if, it was really a song at all but she held onto it. The lightness of his voice and Happy’s soft snores tickling her cheek.

It was the first time she’d slept so soundly through a storm.

[cass-chan12]

Felony of the Heart (Ch 6)

Fandom: Fairy Tail Genre: Romance and Friendship Pairing: Main- NaLu. Sides- Gajevy, Gruvia and Jerza

Summary: What would you do if you were forced into a school that deals with Delinquents and young adults that have committed felonies? Lucy Heartfilia would rather chance it than going back home to being married off. What lies ahead for the blonde is unknown but she's convinced she can make it through with him by her side

Chapter five

What draws people to be friends is that they see the same truth. They share it.

-C.S. Lewis

I viciously coughed against the floor and my cheek was against the wet floor. My lungs sucking in as much oxygen as possible and my ear drum pounded from the despairing cries that echoed behind me, trying to stop desperately.

She let me out of her grasp.

It happened so fast I couldn't gather my thoughts on what just occurred and why.

All that mattered was the fact that this girl was in pain and she tried to take it out on me. I could tell from the beginning of the epidemic that she was hurting, that she tried to fight herself, that she was regretful…

Once my obstinate coughing died down I pushed myself off the wet floor and looked over my shoulder to the blue haired girl who was still balling her eyes out.

It was a shame that she had been reduced to a despairing young woman, she was well… pretty. Okay not pretty… like beautiful. That alone made me cringe at my own appearance.

Even though she was also drenched in water, her hair was a silky shiny dark blue and already started to curl at the tips. She had white porcelain looking skin and was simply flawless, her skin obviously did well in the seasons with the lack of sun and even if she would be in the sun I doubt the rays of heat would damage her skin.

Her crying started to slow down slightly and her tempest blue eyes made contact with mine and set off another fresh waterfall of tears.

I turned my body to her and used my shaky sore arms to pull myself closer to her, and see if I can comfort her somehow. Although deep inside, my mind screamed not to because she did try to drown me, my conscience told me to ease her and her weeping.

She hardly noticed I was inching closer to her since her sobs were the only thing that could be heard in the bathroom. The shallow puddles I moved through were icy cold and sent shivers from my spine to my head making me feel a little dizzy.

By the time I reached her my hand automatically reached out for her.

What exactly was I thinking?

She tried to kill me, or at the very least hurt me quite badly and I… I feel sorry for her? As if I somehow am looking in a mirror of my own despair. I could quite easily lie to myself and say that the time I've spent here hasn't been all that bad since I had new friends by my side; Erza, Levy, Gray… Natsu. Even having him next to me couldn't well subside how sad I really was.

I was sad that I was forced to be a pawn for my father, I was sad I was yanked away to be manhandled in this god forsaken school, I am sad that this school has no sympathy for its students… I am sad for people like this girl who I am about to comfort and how she was angrily crying and repenting that she forced herself to do something she really didn't want to do.

I don't know what came over me but when I was in arms reach of her I flung myself onto her in an overpowering hug.

Her cries slowly began to stop altogether and I squeezed her tighter by pure emotion. My eyes began to water and tears escaped, giving into my own melancholy.

Her body stiffened, I'm only assuming she's confused as to why I'm holding her. Her shoulders slumped though and her sniffs and cries escalated again.

She wrapped her arms around me in return.

"Juvia is sorry." She whispered. "Juvia is so sorry" she said again bursting into more tears and gripping tightly onto my shoulder of my damped shirt. Her voice was sweet and gentle, I wouldn't expect less from her appearance but her actions made her kind of contradictory.

Her sobs quieted down slowly and her body had ceased with its shaking. All I could hear now was her erratic breathing trying to even out.

"Why?" she breathed out.

My body stiffened at the sound of her serious voice, I wasn't sure what she meant though.

"Excuse me?" my voice broke asking her.

"Juvia was intent on hurting you, probably worse…" she gulped "yet… why are you comforting Juvia?" she asked pulling herself away from my grasp.

I met her dark blue gaze which was almost terrifying to look back at. I wasn't really sure how to answer her, really the only thing I could think about was my sympathy towards her… no not sympathy.

"I'm empathetic I suppose? Seeing you in pain only reminded me of myself." I said gazing at the floor refusing to look her in the eye.

"Juvia is in pain, but not in the way your in." she argued.

I laughed slightly "Pain is pain. Whatever type of pain it is, I can still overlook what just happened." I said with my voice cracking.

"No, Juvia shouldn't be forgiven. The pain Juvia is in is petty and weak."

"Petty?" I mumbled

She nodded her head "Juvia is jealous and is in love."

I lifted my eyebrow slightly "How am I involved then?"

She really looked guilty now; even her lip trembled again as if she were to burst into tears right now.

"Gray-sama." She whispered and I blinked unsure what she was talking about.

"The boy you just befriended… Juvia… Juvia loves him." She whispered before starting to cry slightly again.

"And Juvia wanted to hurt you because, Gray-sama was close to Lucy-san… and helped Lucy-san…and…Juvia is so terrible" she wept covering her face with her hands.

My heart was close to stopping, so she's in love with Gray. It didn't make much sense but I guess I understood.

What was to be noted here is that those who came to this school are psychologically unstable and that whatever crimes they committed overshadows what their lives were before. I know that's not always the case but looking at the blue head girl in front of me it's clear she needs friends.

"I'm sorry Juvia, I didn't know. For the record I don't like him." I said reassuring her.

She shook her head harshly "Juvia can't handle her emotions, reasoning doesn't work."

I was crazy for even thinking of it but it already came out my mouth "Then join our group… if you want. It's-kinda-our-own-little-pact-to-make-sure-the-teachers-don't-get-to-us-and-we-watch-each-other's-back." I said hastily running out of breath.

She stared at me astonished of what I just asked her, her dull blue eyes gained some life too and her smile was sweet as infectious.

"Really?" she asked for reassurance.

"As a good friend once told me-'We're in this together'."

Needless to say, the night before became restless as ever along with the fact Juvia and myself had to clean the bathroom without anyone noticing.

A tough task indeed since the storage room was close to Ultear's room. If she had caught us we would have been DEAD, and not to mention our stroke of luck that those horrible night guards decided to take the Friday night off to probably drink themselves rotten.

By the time Juvia and I were done we snuck into the bedroom at 4am and managed two hours of sleep. I'm just grateful I did have rest before venturing to the bathroom last night.

Still… I felt like I crawled out of a grave like from a horror film, I did look the part. With the over exertion of my body, the cruel pushing's of Kain and the bathroom epidemic, my muscles were flimsy and weakened tremendously. When the morning siren went off I winced at the slightest movement, although I managed to move without any unwanted attention from my peers in the dorm and since its Saturday we were permitted to wear casual clothes- when I say casual, I mean dull and boring. So I put on a plain white shirt along with some tracksuit pants and my worn out sneakers.

Levy and Erza must have left without me noticing, but across the room I spotted Juvia looking slightly bashful, most likely waiting for me.

I walked to her and saw Ultear inspect the room before looking at the two of us.

"How are you feeling Miss Heartfilia?" she asked in a dismal manner.

"Just fine Ultear, thank you for asking." I said back in the same dull way.

Her eyebrows dipped low almost making her look angry "Right… you two are dismissed." She said gesturing for us to leave.

We slowly passed her and I felt Juvia close behind me feeling nervous which I don't blame her for.

"Just one more thing girls…" her voice appeared again making us turn.

"If you ever stay up past curfew again, there are worse punishments than cleaning up the mess you made in the bathroom. Are we clear?" she asked darkly threating us in a way.

My body was frozen and as I felt Juvia stiffen I assume her heart probably dropped to the floor as well.

She knew? Did she know about Juvia trying to drown me too? If she did was she just going to let it continue? Or did she just know we tried to clean the bathroom without her noticing without the other important details?

I gulped "Yes Ultear." I replied cautiously.

Satisfied with my answer she walked away leaving us dumbfounded.

"Lucy-san?" Juvia called out to me softly.

Out of my daze I shook myself internally and looked at Juvia "Just Lucy, Juvia. We're friends now so no need for the honorifics okay?"

Her face told me she was shocked "Really? Lucy-san… erm sorry, Lucy wants to be friends with Juvia after what happened last night?"

I smiled "Why would I want you in our group of friends if I didn't want to be friends with you?" I laughed and she blushed slightly but then laughed along with me.

Today it was overcast but no rain fell to my and most probably to the boy's relief who had to wake up early to do chores. I'm hoping Natsu and Gray were done by now so I could thank them for yesterday and introduce them to Juvia, well… introduce her to Gray really…

Saturdays in the hall were happier than usual, even the fact the boys were busy in the early hours of the morning they seemed happier than usual. Everyone though didn't go overboard due to Kain-sensei being unpredictable.

Juvia and I grabbed some breakfast that actually looked somewhat editable since the staff tries slightly harder on the weekend. I walked towards the familiar table and I could already hear Natsu and Gray bickering over something and well, Erza wasn't pleased.

By the time I came to the table I saw Levy eating her toast and watching the scene in front of her; which were the boys on their knees in front of Erza who was scolding them.

I let out a laugh which made all four of them look to me.

"Luce! Help!" Natsu yelped while on the floor and pressing his hands together in a pleading manner and Gray just rolled his eyes at the pinkette

I looked to Erza "What happened?" I asked near laughing again.

She flipped her long hair over her shoulder and sighed exasperatingly "Bickering; which friends aren't supposed to be like."

"Like I would be friends with this stripper!" Natsu protested.

"You would be lucky if I was your friend pyro." Gray retaliated.

The boys started again and I sighed showing I've given up before I even started. I felt Juvia was still behind me which reminded me that I still had yet to introduce her.

"Speaking of friends- this is Juvia everyone!" I said pushing her slightly forward.

Her body was frozen under the gazes of everyone at the table.

"Nice to meet you Juvia" Erza smiled easing up the table.

"Yay, another Bluenette!" Levy cheered.

"Welcome Nakama" Natsu smiled.

Juvia's face was flustered at the attention but her face turned an even deeper red when her and Gray made eye contact.

"Cool" was the only thing Gray said before walking to the table nonchalantly.

Juvia's high dipped and she faced me pleadingly. My eyebrows twitched in anger toward the cold boy, it makes more sense now why he lived in such a cold region before, since he has no tact whatsoever.

"Gray…" I mumbled angrily "Can I speak to you for a second?" I pointed to the food line. Gray looked surprised at my demeanour and slowly got up.

My eyes darted to Natsu's briefly and his expression was not impressed in the slightest, I just turned my attention away from the boy piercing me with his dark green stare to Juvia instead.

"Juvia, go sit next to Levy. This will only take a second." I nudged her to the table.

She swiftly turned to me and whispered in my ear "Don't take him away, Love Rival."

Love Rival? Did I hear right?

I sweat dropped "No, no, I'm helping you out." I whispered back.

She squeaked before I nudged her to the table and Gray and I walked to where the group can't hear us. I looked over my shoulders and his carefree slash don't give a damn look was irritating me beyond belief. I turned on my heel when we were far enough and gave him a deadly look.

His eyebrows rose at my action and he shifted to lean on a nearby chair, looking uncaring again… he's really getting on my last nerve right now.

"What exactly was that back there?" I asked angrily.

"I didn't do anything, perhaps talk to yer boyfriend." He 'tched' me.

"W-what? H-he's not- that's not what I'm talking about! I'm talking about how you brushed off Juvia like nothing!"

Gray looked angry now "And why do you care? She's just a stalker of mine, so I don't see why it's your concern."

"Stalker?" I mumbled. I didn't think her obsession was that extensive?

"She's my friend that's why." I countered "Just be nice, she really likes you and I'm sure now that you're friends she'll stop… pestering you."

He gave me a deadpanned look and sighed in defeat, clearly meaning I had won this argument and early might I add.

We walked back to the table with Gray tailing me reluctantly and the first thing I noticed was Natsu's gaze on us, fierce and captivating.

The second person my gaze fell on was Juvia's and it was lovesick all over. Her eyes were widened with anxiousness and her smile reached ear to ear.

Before I gave Gray a choice I sat next to Natsu and Erza which only left space next to Juvia and Levy. I could almost feel my head burning from behind but I brushed it off without a care.

He grouchily sat next to Levy creating some space between himself and Juvia and sitting across from me at the table. Gray quietly sat where he was listening to Erza and Levy talk to Juvia.

Natsu leaned against me catching my attention and when I was about to tell him off his mouth was already by my ear. Hot and moist was his breath and sent shivers down my spine.

"Why do you smell like dirty water?" he asked gruffly.

My heart stuttered at the memory of last night which I must keep to myself or Juvia might be kicked out before she started.

My gulp was near audible but I coughed to cover it up "That's rude, the girls water system isn't perfect. I did the best I could."

He growled "Did something happen Luce?"

That's just like him, reading my mind as easily as a book and showing up at times that are near to unexplainable.

Before I could answer a shriek came from Levy's lips and Juvia smiling like a fool and fainting, hanging half off the seat. My sights turned to the boy seated across me and his shirt was off… again.

I only just wish that the cafeteria didn't make an uproar that alerted Kain-sensei. But something about watching the scene in front of me made me smile and feel happy.

Whether it is Natsu and Gray arguing over Gray's stripping habit, Erza yelling at the bother of them, Levy and myself laughing over the matter and now Juvia's fangirl ways on Gray's action.

As great as the group is in its different antics and personality traits, our little group was still incomplete.

But for now our next task is standing together as a unit tomorrow at confessionals. Even though we have been through several together, I think we have an upper hand in having eighty percent of the group on our side.

With that said… why do I still feel unsettled?

[bubblepunk99s]

Pimpslayer Lucy AU 4

Once again, continuing with the AU. Thanks for all the support and once again I don't own Fairy Tail (yipee). Warning this is a long one.

The interior of Cana's boat took Lucy completely by surprise.

For starters it was several times bigger than how it appeared to be on the outside. With a casual glance, Lucy estimated that it was about the size of her own rave floor. The carpet was a light green and incredibly luxurious, most likely enchanted to provide the person walking on it with a light spring in their step. The place was lit up by several floating balls of fire which shimmered from one color to the next. Spread throughout the room were games of every kind. Four men were crouched around one large table over which hovered multiple card arrays that changed and shifted as the players took cards out and added more in. Two other people were seated opposite one another over a large chess board while eager onlookers milled around, calling around predictions that were added on to a drawing board in shining colored chalk. Folks hooted over a rapidly changing scoreboard while glowing cocktails zoomed around on silver platters. Turning to face Lucy, Cana smirked. "Like what you see?" She asked.

Lucy took a moment to regain her composure and looked straight into Cana's brown eyes. "I'm not sure what I'm seeing but I'm sure at least 95% of it is illegal."

At that, Cana let out a cackle worthy of any witch. "Well I can't deny the interior being bigger than the exterior is in direct contention with the council-approved protocol of spacial magic that got drawn up a while back. But I assure you all games on display here are nothing more than harmless amusements-"

Her explanation was interrupted by screams of pain as the one of the men who had been playing chess burst into flames upon being put into checkmate. Within seconds the flames went out thanks to a sudden downpour of water from the ceiling, while the winner was being showered in Joule bills.

Cana paused. She then smiled at Lucy and said. "Shall we talk business over drinks? Lovely stuff."

The two of them made their way through the game house. As they did, Lucy couldn't help but notice how humid the space was. It probably had something to do with the amount of people all pressed in together, but Lucy felt a thin layer of moisture gathering on the back of her neck. The air was also unexpectedly sweet and easy to breathe in. Eventually they came to the far wall, where a green door waited for them. And a person waiting for them.

Cana brightened up upon seeing him. "Gajeel! Ready to hit the stage?"

Lucy stopped. Gajeel. Iron. Dragon. Oh Shit. The man in front of her had bronze skin (the same as Natsu) and a mane of bristly black hair. A black ring glittered on one finger. He looked up and Lucy saw an angular face with studs of metal going down the line of his nose and standing in for eyebrows. In one hand he clasped a battered guitar while the other held a wad of paper which was pouring over with red eyes.

Looking up, Gajeel said "Not quite. I thought we agreed on no Alvarez tunes." His voice had the softness of butter being churned in a maelstrom.

Cana sighed. "Look I don't decide on what's popular. Just play a few and I'll double your pay as an apology."

Gajeel grunted and spat. Instead of sticking to the floor, the droplet busted through the floor boards with the force of a speeding bullet. "Half this crap sounds like it was written by an angsty teenager with some weird fairy girl fetish. You expect me to make gold from shit?

"You are the iron dragon slayer."

Lucy (Who had been pondering how the emperor of Alvarez was rumored to have a firm grip over the arts of his nation) was suddenly jolted after her stupor by this clarification. Iron dragon slayer. Capable of eating and producing metal. This was the one who had made the circles that lined the roof of her club and, indirectly, the one responsible for her fortune.

Gajeel shook his heavy head and said "I expect it all up front." He then strode off into the throng. Lucy watched him go with a sinking feeling in her stomach. She was interrupted by Cana slipping her hand into hers.

"Let's talk why you came here, Starshine."

The room they entered in was spartan and bare. A circular table occupied the center of the room, upon which sat two cocktails both glowing dimly in the minimal light. Cana gestured Lucy to sit down.

"So" Cana began as she grasped her cocktail (a purplish blue-and-red drink with a small leaf resting lightly on the surface) "What can I do for you?"

"It's more a question of what I can do for you." Lucy replied coolly. She reached inside and pulled out the wad of bills she had been hiding. Placing it on the table, Lucy watched as Cana picked them up and casually flicked through the notes.

"You know" She said, storing them in her coat. "There's nothing dumber than freely giving away money in this business."

"I owe you." Lucy said bluntly. "If Gajeel hadn't made those discs my business wouldn't be where it is now."

"I never asked to be paid back."

"I don't see you turning the money away."

"I amend my previous statement. The only thing dumber than giving out free money is refusing free money. Well at least if you know where it comes from."

Lucy smirked at that and began to drink her own cocktail- a rainbow-colored drink that somehow tasted spicy and sweet at the same time.

"But in all seriousness, you could've just given these to Gajeel." Cana continued, her voice now having a vaguely steely undercurrent. "Why are you here?"

Lucy set her drink down. "The meet is tomorrow"

There. She said it. The meet. The meeting between all of Fiore's gangs where they would discuss territories, goods and changes to the power structures. This would be her first. She prayed it wouldn't be her last.

Cana paused, her face unreadable. "And you want my help?" She asked.

"Your advice. I'm not fool enough to ask for you to hold my hand through this."

Cana chuckled. "OK first off, you have to drop that kind of language. The bosses will be able to work out where you come from quick-smart if you do."

A line of cold terror shot down Lucy's back. Re-centering herself she mumbled "noted".

"Honestly" Cana went on. "I think the best thing you can do is just lie low and don't draw attention to yourself. You've already got a rep as a do-gooder. Like when you took out Bora last night. People have actually started calling you Pimpslayer."

"How did you-"

"Or when you took out that creep Everlue when he came to visit."

"He had a maid fetish Cana."

"Hey I'm not objecting." Cana said "Just maybe aim to be more discreet next time. If the other gangs see you have morals they'll press down on it hard. Build strength where they're not looking-"

She was interrupted by the doors being flung open. Standing there was a young man with spiky grey hair and a completely bare chest. Tendrils of white smoke were streaming off his fingers.

"Ran out of fruit at the bar." He said.

Cana sighed. "There's some more in the back, Grey. And can you put a cap on it? your magic's leaking all over the place."

Grey looked down and saw that, indeed, the mist spilling from his hands was causing a line of frost to form on the walls. He snapped his fingers and the flow of mist ceased.

"Was meant to be on top of that sorry."

"You have no clothes." Lucy commented, feeling this issue couldn't go unaddressed for a moment longer.

Grey blinked. "I have difficulty with the textures of certain clothes. Plus, my magic often causes the clothes I'm wearing to literally stick to my skin. Not pleasant I can tell you."

"That and he needed to literally sell some of his clothes to pay off his debts." Cana added

"It's not how it sounds-" Grey began.

"I know I know. Just go back to the bar. I'll be with you in five."

Gray grumbled, but nodded and left the two in peace.

Cana turned back to her drink. "Right so, where was I? Oh yeah, build up power where they're not looking and make sure your muscle's up to snuff."

Lucy chuckled, thinking of Natsu back in the loo. "I assume Gajeel is on top of his game?"

Cana laughed loudly. "Gajeel? Oh, dear you haven't been paying attention. I said build up power where they're not looking."

She downed the remainder of her drink in one gulp then said "You can come out now".

Suddenly a voice rang in Lucy's head. It said "I was here the whole time." It had an eerie quality- like it was simultaneously coming from underwater and all around her at the same time. As she thought this, Lucy felt the moisture on the back of her neck suddenly vanish, as if it had been stripped clean off. Turning around she saw a figure, made of droplets and water vapor, start to condense in the middle of the room. Within seconds, a whole new person was standing in front of her.

She was about Lucy's size. She wore a simple white-and-blue dress, plain save for a small doll hung at her waist. She also had short hair, the tips of which drifted like they were suspended in water. Her skin was peculiar as well- its shifted around, almost like the surface of pond broken by a falling stone. The only thing fixed were her eyes- grey and cold, like flint shards embedded in her face.

Cana stood up. "Lucy, might I introduce you to our head of security, Juvia Lockser."

Juvia inclined her head slightly at Lucy. She took it as a bow of respect.

"Thanks for putting out the fire on that guy." Cana said.

"Dousing him was easy." Juvia replied. As she spoke small bubbles drifted out of her mouth and floated to the ceiling.

"And maintaining the atmosphere of course!"

"Maintaining the atmosphere?" Lucy enquired.

"Juvia handles the oxygen content of the casino. Makes it easier to breath in. Induces a sense of giddiness." Cana explained "The carpets also add a spring to people's step. Throw in some quality drinks and it's fair to say people are more than happy to try their luck at the games."

Cana then laughed. "But what am I saying, Gajeel's about to start his performance. No use hanging about in this pokey room." She got up and headed out the room.

Juvia didn't follow. Instead she said "I shall return to my duties." She then dissipated, leaving behind her eyes which stared intensely at Lucy before vanishing.

Lucy just stood there. All this time she had her mind fixed on Gajeel, thinking him to be Cana's main weapon. But as it turns out her greatest power was all around her. And Lucy had been completely unaware.

All this time Lucy had seen Cana as the first step, her first true test as a leader. But standing there, she began to feel that her rivals were on a level she had never even dreamed of before.

That's all! Phew this was a long one. Hope anyone who read this enjoyed it and has a lovely day as well!

[killiansbutt]

Finding Firelight (ch.5)

pairings: nalu – mentions of albis, gajevy, gruvia words this chapter: ~5000 tagging: @natsusluce @siriusly-random (Thanks, Mary, for the beta work! It wouldn’t be the same without you! ♥) read on FF and ao3.

summary: Lucy Heartfilia has a lot of reasons for attending summer camp, but getting spooked by campfire stories and falling in love with her best friend isn’t one of them. modern summer camp au.

prev: [one][two][three][four]

Five

A bug crept up her arm, tickling her skin.

She swatted at it with a sleepy mumble and turned her head deeper into the pillow, but her fingers met warm sand instead and her brow furrowed. Slowly, she opened her eyes, blinking against the sunlight. She was curled up in a ball, face covered with sand and her back exposed to the sun.

What the hell? What was she doing outside?

Oh.

Oh.

Lucy squealed, flailing her arm long enough for the sensation of the bug to disappear before collapsing back onto the sand, a puff of air escaping her dry lips. Her hair tangled across her face where the golden strands escaped the messy remains of her ponytail and she wrinkled her nose every time the cool breeze played with it. Her body felt tingly: the beginnings of a sun burn building on her previously exposed back, a pounding headache behind her sore eyes, and a lingering ache in her heart.

She didn’t know how much time had passed, but she had hoped that the pain would’ve been gone by now. Crying and napping had always been her cure to this feeling, but… it did nothing this time. She just felt tired and cranky, but worst of all, she felt uncomfortable. The sand was in places it had no business being, really, and she flushed a little as she wiggled her bra, trying to remove it to no avail. With a huff, she gave up and dropped her hand. Removing the sand from her clothes was as fruitless of an effort as stopping the traitorous tears from welling up again.

A year should have been long enough to push away her sadness, to bring acceptance, but she had only succeeded in letting it fester like an open wound.

But no more.

No more crying, no more tears. Lucy had to accept the truth: whoever her father used to be faded a long time ago. No amount of thinking, hoping, praying, whatever, would change that.

It was easier to think about shutting off the part of her that still believed than it was to actually do it though. Bitterly, she swiped her hair behind her ears and scrubbed her face with her palms.

Stupid, Lucy, stupid.

“Hey.”

Lucy stiffened at the familiar voice, moving her hands to hide her face rather than clean it. She really hoped he hadn’t seen the hand in her shirt, but more than that, she hoped he didn’t notice the redness to her face, clear evidence of her own weakness.

The sand crunched beneath his feet as he took steady steps towards her. He avoided kicking dirt into her face and that was proof enough that he had seen – or heard – her. Any other time, he would have laughed or tackled her into the water as his usual greeting, but this slow progression towards her felt was a walk someone would make towards a friend’s sick bed.

She shifted her face away from him, pressing her fingers into her eyes as though it would pluck away her own thoughts in the process. Warm, painful tears coated her fingers instead and she pressed harder, trying to force them back. Show no weakness, Lucy, her father had said. Conceal and don’t feel. let out a shallow breath, the lump in her throat making it hard to breathe deeply.

She felt him settle on the ground beside her and she tensed, waiting for his touch, unsure of whether the part of her that craved it was stronger than the part that didn’t. A long moment passed, her sniffles and the gentle swell of the lake’s current brushing against the shore providing a lullaby. He did nothing, just sat there. She peeked at him, her face splotchy and red, a distant part of her embarrassed, but the rest sluggishly becoming numb to all else as the seconds passed.

His gaze was on the lake, the sun glittering off the water. Natsu, proving capable of reading the lines of tension in her body, kept his hands to himself, clenched around the lapels of a green backpack that rested in his lap.

“You look sunburnt,” he said suddenly, tilting his head over at her. Stubbornly, she jerked her gaze away, but not without noticing the determined narrowing of his eyes. She imagined that was similar to the look when someone challenged him and he planned on winning, but -- she peeked at him, his eyes were on her still, scrutinizing the sunburn on her left cheek – softer, somehow. Strange. She blinked slowly when he spoke again. “You didn’t bring anything, right?”

From the depths of his backpack, he produced a full water bottle. “Here, I brought you one,” he held it out to her expectantly. When she did nothing except stare at him, he sighed, rattling it. “C’mon, Luce, I’m not going to drag you back to camp if you drink this. We can stay out here all day if you want, but at least drink something. Gonna be no fun for the rest of the camp if you get carted off for dehydration, and you’ve already been out here a few hours.”

Hours, huh? At least that answered the question of how long she had been sleeping. Lucy shifted, sitting up and a cascade of sand fell from her clothes and hair, reminding her of how badly her skin itched. And how much sweat clung to her face.

Reluctantly, she accepted the bottle. The blaring heat was stronger than it had been when she arrived and when she uncapped the bottle, she inhaled most of it with her first drink while he watched on critically.

When she finished, she secured the lid and passed it over. His leash on silence broke and he promptly burst into laughter. “Wow, you’re a mess right now,” he cackled, pointing at her hair. She scowled at him, a blush on her cheeks as she took her hair down, pulling her fingers through the sand-caked strands. He stopped her, fingers pressing gently into her wrist to halt the movement. “Here, wait, you’re not helping it much, you’re not going to do much till you can rinse it out.”

She dropped her hands with an annoyed sigh and he scooted closer, rising up on his knees behind her, his knees bumping into her back. “Hair tie?” He asked, holding out his hand and snapping it onto his wrist when she handed it over. Carefully, he gathered her hair, the pads of his fingers brushing against her cheeks to draw the hair off her face and then pulled it back from her face, wrapping the hair tie around the messy ponytail with skilled fingers.

He finished with one last wrap of the hair tie and settled back on his heels for a response. She adjusted it to be tighter and then smiled tentatively. His satisfied grin almost made her laugh, but she couldn’t find enough amusement. “Wendy has long hair like you. Longer, actually. Whenever we go to the beach, she forgets to do her hair till she’s already dunked in the water.”

She nodded slowly, recalling a girl named Wendy who was as close to him as a little sister without actually being related to him.

“I could have done that myself,” she grumbled, trying not to look at him.

“I know, but friends help friends, right?”

She shrugged, unable to think of an argument and unsure why she needed one anyway. With a sigh, she dropped her chin to her chest, the breeze on the nap of her neck pleasing. She hadn’t realized how sweltering the sun was till the heaviness of her hair had been swept away. But even though her hair was less of a hot mess, it didn’t change the fact that her face certainly was. She had no desire for him to see the evidence of her breakdown.

Her heart tugged in her chest and she lifted her chin, grimacing. Her fingers rubbed the spot in gentle circles as though it would ease the ache. It didn’t, not in the slightest. Drawing her knees up to her chest, she dropped her chin on them, watching the water without another word.

He sat down beside her again, crossing his legs beneath him as he followed her gaze. There was little on the water to keep her attention, just small ripples and swaying foliage, and she imagined it was worse for him. Natsu was relentless; he climbed up metaphorical and sometimes literal mountains without pause and she wondered how he could stand to sit here with her while doing nothing more than feeling the bits of wind and the blaring sun.

“Why are you here?” Lucy asked, her words a harsh croak. She cleared her throat and continued more gently, “I mean, you don’t have to be, but you are.”

“Don’t you know, Lucy? It’s you.” She didn’t understand and it showed when he blew out a slow breath. Often people accepted his words at face value, not needing or caring to find the reasons, and she waited patiently, too tired to decipher and supply her own reasons for his words. “You’re my friend. To me, that means being someone’s eyes or someone’s ears when they need it. Or just sitting here. Whatever you wanna do.”

She studied him, trying to find a hint of his feelings in his eyes. A patient sincerity shone through them and she let out a little breath, feeling stupid for her doubt.

She leaned her face down, plucking strands of grass from the ground and tying them into knots. It eased her a little, relaxing the turbulent feelings in her enough that she could hold them down and think.

Maybe saying it would make them feel a little less heavy – and if she couldn’t say it to Natsu, then who? She might have only known him in person for seven days, but Lucy had spent an entire year talking to him through letters. If anything, this should be easier, but instead she felt rather exposed as she spoke to the ground.

“When I was younger, I really thought my parents were perfect and I never really considered that they weren’t until recently,” she started slowly, dropping the grass when it grew too knotted and plucking another. “My dad worked a lot even then, but he made time for me whenever he could and my mom filled the gaps when he couldn’t be there. His occasional absence and my mom’s sickness were kind of just facts to me.

“Then my mom—well, we knew it was coming sooner or later. She had been getting sicker and sicker as the months went by and I’m honestly surprised -- and happy, too -- that we had her as long as we did. It was the same illness every time I think, and each time she would get sick a little while longer than before. But then she would recover, even if it was only for a little while and less so each time. It was scary-- to wake up and find her gone one day. After she died, my father just... He wasn’t himself.” Understatement, she thought, chewing on her lip. “I thought it was grief, actually. I read up on anything and everything after she was gone. I just wanted to know what to expect from it. Easier to think about someone else than to think about yourself, you know?”

She tossed a look at him, half-hoping he wouldn’t be paying attention, but oddly relieved to find his attentive gaze on her. Listening, caring. Natsu did those things sometimes, how dumb of her to forget.

“He... distanced himself a lot. It hurt, but he needed to recover -- I needed to recover. I thought maybe the distance would be best. We had dinner once a week after her funeral, but after a while, he just wasn’t home to do it anymore. I saw him in passing, here and there, and it was like seeing somebody else entirely in my father’s body. Somebody who didn’t feel or think or remember anything except work. Sometimes I wonder if he got lost on a plane and they replaced him with a robot that looked the same. How else would he be so different?

“I tried pushing then. I mean, what else could I do? I didn’t want to lose him, too, but it just... wasn’t working! Everything I did, he just... didn’t notice! Didn’t care!” Her voice rose, breaking towards the end and she saw him twitch from the corner of her eyes. “And when I finally got him to look at me, it was like I was... It was like he was seeing a ghost.” Her words dropped to a whisper, her throat tightening.

People had commented on much she looked like Layla her entire childhood, but after her mother was gone, the words had become tinged with sadness. They had a walking mirror of her mother walking around all the time and their pitiful gazes on her and her father had been enough to make Lucy sick.

He didn’t interrupt her, but she wished he would. The crushing weight on her chest returned with an unexpected vengeance. Lucy tried to swallow her tears back – she shouldn’t have any left --- and failed when she felt the first drop trickle down her cheek.  

“I really thought that I would come here and something would change. But so far nothing has. It’s just the same situation, but with some distance to pretend it’s normal.” A shuddering breath left her, shoulders trembling from the force and she tried to wipe her face, annoyed with the snot and tears escaping her. A painful truth occurred to her, one that she had known subconsciously, but denied because it was easier to be angry and upset than accept why.

“I want…” Her words were little more than a whisper once more, but they cracked too much for her to finish. She shuddered, trying to choke the words passed the lump in her throat. “I really want my mom and dad back.”

With nothing left to say, Lucy held her head, giving up on holding back her cries. She felt the sand shift around her when he moved, but she didn’t look up or stop, her eyes aching and her head pounding, throat too tight to speak any longer. He pulled her close, settling her between his legs and letting her head rest against his chest. His hand ran up and down her back in large, comforting sweeps, perhaps knowing there was nothing he could say that would help. 

She leaned into him, accepting the comfort and cried more.

When the tears they finally stopped, a small weight seemed to have been lifted off her chest. The ache wasn’t gone, nor were the wounds healed, but they were covered and safe till she could confront the source. She cringed at the idea, but through the headache, another epiphany was occurring to her. Subtly didn’t work, hoping and praying didn’t work either. Maybe it was time Lucy just… confronted him. If nothing changed then at least… at least Lucy would know. She sniffled, trying to clear her nose, and lifted her head. Her fingers were clenched tight around the collar of his shirt though she wasn’t so sure when she had grabbed it.

“Sorry,” she murmured, releasing him and cringing at the sweat that clung to the side of her face, mingling with her tears. It was too hot to be cuddling with someone for comfort like that, even if his presence had made her feel less alone. She pulled away from him a little and his hand fell to the sand beside them wordlessly as she examined her feelings.

She felt… better.

Well, maybe not better, but enough that she didn’t feel as though her eyes would start leaking the next time someone mentioned her family.

Natsu said nothing still and she peeked up at him from beneath her lashes.

His pink hair was ruffled from the wind and there was a sun-kissed tinge to his cheeks, a reminder that both were setting in direct sunlight with little to no protection from the elements. As she moved away from him, he lifted one of his knees up, resting an elbow on one and watched her with a strange glint to his eyes. The strength of it made her uncomfortable; it was too knowing, too sincere, and she didn’t expect that Natsu was capable of the depth they contained.

She swallowed, looking down again, unable to handle the full weight of those eyes.

Another moment passed and she thought, perhaps stupidly given her previous thoughts, that he hadn’t heard anything she said, that it had just been a way of letting her vent, the words going in one ear and out the other. Truthfully, she wasn’t bothered if that was the truth, because now that the words were no longer building in her chest like a dam about to explode. She felt silly for her reaction. Of all her problems, her father’s absence was the biggest – but what of the people who had no parents at all, who had no money at all?

Her worries seemed trivial in light of their suffering.

He held out his hand to her, the sudden movement after such a long silence making her jolt. “C’mon, it’s hot. Let’s go sit in the water.”

“I didn’t bring in any extra clothes,” she replied, baffled by the changing topic. Natsu grinned down at her, grasping her hand between his own and pulling her to the water despite her protests, only pausing to kick off their shoes with his backpack a safe distance away. The sand was soft and warm beneath her bare feet as they made their walk towards the water, little pebbles and twigs jamming her heels. Her toes scrunched when they came in contact with the water, so much colder than the air around them, but they quickly adjusted as she sighed blissfully, relieved for a respite from the heat.

Once they were in to their calves, he dropped down into the water with a splash, uncaring of the state of shorts as he did so and she hesitated only a moment before his carefree smiled landed on her, washing away her worries. He tugged once on her hand and Lucy sighed. She flopped down beside him, a half-hearted grin on her face when the water splashed against him, slopping against his shirt. Her own shorts clung to her, the cold as it settled against the hem of her shirt bringing goosebumps to her skin, but she ignored it, sitting cross-legged beside him.

He still held her hand, thumb tracing circles in her palm, each brush making her heart flutter just a little, unnoticed by them both. He let out a breath, thumb stilling as he watched her from the corner of his eyes. “Did I ever tell you about Igneel?”

She bit her lip. “Your dad? What about him?”

“Yeah, him. When I was younger, he just left one day without a word. I was probably seven, I don’t remember. He dropped me off at Wendy’s house before work like usual, but when time came for him to pick me up like normal, he wasn’t there.

“Grandine – I mean, Wendy’s mom – let me stay with her, we all thought it would only be the night and he would let us know in the morning. Sometimes work kept him busy enough that I didn’t see him for a few days at a time, you know?” He paused, frowning. If anyone understood how much time a parent could put into work, it was Lucy and she figured that was just the few of many fundamental things they had in common. “But morning time came and still nothing. After a few days, even Grandine was worried, she sent me off to school one morning worried and when I came back, most of my things had been moved to her house. I didn’t know what to think, I was too young, I thought he was getting rid of me.”

His voice lowered, a quiet hurt there that made her heart squeeze and she twisted their hands around so that it was her stroking his palm, trying to offer a measure of comfort. He smiled back at her in thanks before he continued.

“I reckon she must have heard something about him. Kept telling me that he would be back someday, that he loved me. All that stuff that a kid wants to hear from his dad, not somebody that wasn’t him. I stayed with them for years.” Natsu laughed; it was a joyful kind, the one that brought a smile to anyone else’s faces if they heard it. “Well, most of the time. I might have run away a few times, thought I could find him all my own. But someone would just drag me back to her house again and she would give me this look, like she could freeze hell with a single glance. Probably could, too! Heh, it was frightening for the first week or so, but then I’d be off again.”

“Wow, it’s like nothing has changed,” she teased, snorting.

Natsu shook his head, a fake pout on his face. “I’m offended that you think that, I would hardly be caught now! Also, you can’t interrupt the story!”

“Sorry, sorry. Continue,” she urged, zipping her lips in compliance. If he could be silent for her story, Lucy could certainly do the same for him, if that’s what he needed from her. She could be his ears as he was hers.

“I only stopped trying two years later, when Grandine sent me off to this camp. It wasn’t as easy to run away, although I snuck into the back of one of the trucks and was halfway to Bosco before they found out I had left – actually, I think that’s why they only let people into camp once a week now, huh, I didn’t think about that, whoops. Anyway, they sent me back. They set Erza on me when I tried the second time. I guess, after that, I just stopped trying to make a break for it. I liked it here, it was fun, reminded me a bit of the time when Igneel was there.”

She hesitated to interrupt him again, but the temptation to know proved too much. “Did… did Igneel come back?” Though his story was interjected with the wisdom and humor he had discovered over the years, Lucy could see the glint in his eyes. The one that didn’t fade when he laughed, the one that came from questions to which there were no answer. She hoped he knew something, anything, rather than live forever with an open wound.

Therefore, she was surprised when a grin spread across his face. “Yeah, he did actually. A few weeks after I met you, he just came in the door one day and scared the shit out of Wendy. She was too young when he left, she didn’t know much about him except a few pictures and he wasn’t aging very well. So I punched him and – “

“You… punched him,” she repeated, startled.

“Well, yeah, he just left for years without saying anything, I wasn’t gonna let that go unsettled,” he explained with a bizarre, offended look on his face as though his reasons were both valid and understandable. She didn’t correct him, merely nodded and lifted her hands in surrender. “I think I punched him again and then he hugged me. Told me that he had some stuff to handle that wasn’t good for a kid to see. Not sure how he avoided getting me taken away, you’d think they keep track of stuff like that at whatever adoption agency he got me at, but apparently, they didn’t bother with it. I guess they would have if he had taken me along though and then we would have never seen each other again so it worked out for the best, I think.”

“And you’re okay?”

“Well, no, but you can’t change the past,” he said, shaking his head. “I could be mad that he didn’t take me, hate him and leave him as soon as I became old enough, which wouldn’t have been long since I turn eighteen next month. Or I could be happy that he’s here. Not everybody gets a second chance with family and I’m one of the lucky ones who do.”

Lucy tilted her head, examining his face for a sign that he was hiding something from himself. But nothing was there, just sincerity and happiness.

"That was probably the deepest thing you've ever said," she told him seriously, narrowing her eyes.

His face twisted, eyes dropping down to where she held his hand. Their fingers were locked around the others. "Don't be weird, I have feelings too, just because I don't talk about them as much doesn't mean they aren't there," he scoffed, looking away with a dusting of pink across his cheeks. "I just think it's a lot of work to talk about them and then someone is gonna mess up and say the wrong thing. I don't wanna be punched because I used the wrong word for what I'm trying to say."

Her stomach twisted. Natsu listened to her complain about her history without comment or discomfort, wordlessly comforting her because he knew it was what she needed, but Lucy was starting to realize that she knew very little about Natsu and his own story. Their letters had never crossed that path; they were friends reaching across a vast distance, afraid to say too much in case it was the final word.

"You're right," she admitted, chewing on her lip nervously. "I mean about having feelings because of course you do. I guess I forgot sometimes -- because you're so unflinching, because you're so... Natsu -- that you have them as much as the rest of us and you just handle them differently."

An uncomfortable silence came over them. Then-- "Don't have issues explaining feelings with your big fancy words, huh?" He joked, leaning back on his free hand. She let out a breath, relieved to be stepping over her awkward stumble.

"My vocabulary is very limited when it comes to putting feelings into words, maybe if I was describing someone else's thoughts and feelings it would be easier, but even then, I struggle with putting emotions into stories," she said with a pout. "I guess big fancy words aren't useful with emotions either. A million and more possible ways of saying something and I haven't got a clue."

He side-eyed her, puzzled. "Think that's part of the million then."

Lucy shook her head. "If I want to be a writer, I need to do more than that though. How can I expect people to cry at my writing if I can't convey how the main character is wallowing in existential angst without blatantly saying it?"

"Well, I'm not sure what existential angst is, but you'll get the hang of it?" He asked, tilting his head. "What's your story even about? I thought it was about a girl realizing she had magic?"

"Existential angst is, like, someone realizing the crushing weight of responsibility and human freedom and their repercussions of one's own actions. In this case, one of my side characters -- a king -- has just realized that his persecution of wizards over the last ten years has lead to the horrible destruction of thousands of people and that it has spread around the world. So when he tries to change things, he finds that he's done too much damage and it will take years to recover. Where I left off, the king is realizing the error of his actions while the main character is questioning whether anybody can make it right if even the king can't."

Lucy stopped to catch her breath, blushing when she realized that she had been waving their joined hands around in her exuberance. She cleared her throat, face red as she studiously ignored the dumbfounded look on his face and finished with a lame, "Umm, anyway, that's what existential angst is. Kind of."

Her words had barely finished before he burst. "The hell kind of story are you writing? What happened to the girl turning into a doll and needing to get advice from a drunk fairy on how to turn back to normal? What happened to the dragon? You can't just leave it like that!"

"Well, that was just the beginning of the story," she explained slowly, scratching her cheek. "The dragon is there, he just can't help with this particular battle. It's something the main character has to confront on her own, you know?”

"Nobody should have to confront things alone," he said fiercely.

"Sometimes you have to though," she pointed out, shaking her head. "It's like taking your friend with you for a job interview, it just doesn't work."

"It doesn't sound like she's going to get a job so that means she can take a friend along with her. She should know that her friend is going to be there for her when it's all done. Wouldn't she do the same for her friend if she were in his boots? That's what friends are for!"

"You're very passionate about this."

Natsu shifted to face her, honesty written across his face that she didn't often see with such intensity to it. "Well, if you were the one in that situation, I would want to be there."

She smiled brightly, her face heating as she squeezed his fingers thankfully. "I would want you there, too. It's a lot nicer to have a friend around when things are bad than it is to face them alone." Lucy thought hard for a moment, unsure about her next words. "Your letters really helped me get through the days, I'm glad that you kept writing even when I didn't end up coming."

"You came eventually though, that's all that matters. We just got a head start on our friendship," he said, laughing. "Probably good too, because it would have been weirder to meet you after only knowing you like two weeks and having to be your friend."

"We were practically friends from the moment we met," she said, rolling her eyes.

Grinning, he nudged her side with his elbow. "Even though your dog ate one of my letters two weeks after I met you."

"I'm not going to be faulted for that when you're the one who stuck a package of ketchup in there because you wanted to find out if people were monitoring your mail," she scolded, flicking him lightly. "I've never seen a more baffled look on Virgo's face than the day she found Plue on the kitchen table, chewing on one of my letters."

"You were complaining that she was a robot."

The water splashed against his side as she lifted her knees, hiding her face from his view. "I was not!"

Natsu sniggered once, then cleared his throat and adopted a high-pitched, lilted impersonation of her voice that made her scowl from the inaccuracy. "'I thought my father could be expressionless, but the new maid my mother hired hasn't once flinched at anything. I almost considered pulling one of your pranks to see if she would react, but mom said no.' You seemed afraid of getting in trouble so I handled it for you."

She tilted her head as he spoke and then grew quite still the more he spoke. "How... how did you remember all of that?"

"I told you, I remember everything you write, especially the parts that made me laugh. I even remember the time you tried to make pasta for your dad and nearly burnt your own eyebrows off," he scoffed. "Although I remember that more because you failed at pasta with sauce. It's the easiest food to make!"

"Sorry we're not all future chefs," she retorted, recalling the memory as he said it. It had been only a few months since her mother died and it was her first attempt at breaching the chasm between her and her father -- it was also the only one to end in such a disaster, though she wouldn't technically call it a failure considering it was the only plan that worked. He might have been scolding her for a good half an hour about kitchen safety, but at least he was talking to her rather than sending Virgo to punish her.

"I wouldn't even need to be chef to know how to make pasta, weirdo."

"Guess you'll be in charge of food from now on then," she teased, snorting when he nodded seriously.

They fell into a silence, but rather than the aching one that demanded words and tears, it was a comfortable quiet. The ache of the morning seemed faraway though the memory of it lingered in her puffy eyes and sun-burnt face.

She sighed, leaning her head against his shoulder. He stiffened slightly at the unexpected contact, but relaxed into it after a second of contemplation, resting his head on hers and slinging an arm around her gently. Water dripping down against her side, making her shirt clinging to her skin, but she ignored it, inching closer to him. "Thanks, Natsu," she muttered and received a warm squeeze in response.

[kurokoros]

Omg all your drabbles are so good, I get so sad at the end when I realize it's over lol your writing is just so captivating! Can you pls do "i was so sleep-deprived after the night shift that i climbed into bed with you (and you just rolled with it)" or "you keep calling me over to get rid of spiders from your apartment and i’m pretending i don’t know you’re not afraid of them at all because i miss you too" wow most of these prompts could fit nalu so well

I was so sleep-deprived after the night shift that i climbed into bed with you (and you just rolled with it) ~ I'd love to see what shenanigans you'd have Lucy and Natsu getting into with this prompt. - @nalufever

Lucy wakes up warm and tangled beneath itchy sheets and immediatelyknows that she’s fucked up. There’s a multitude of reasons for this astuteobservation. The first being that her room should never been this warm back ather apartment considering it’s damn near the middle of winter and her complex’sheating sucks balls. By all means, she should be freezing her ass off or buriedbeneath several layers of thick blankets. Two, there’s no reason on God’s greenearth that she should be awake at—she glances instinctively to the right,squinting down at an alarm clock—nine in the morning on a Saturday, especiallynot when she finished her shift at the bar at three this morning. Third, and possiblyher biggest indicator, is the pair of arms curled tightly around her waist, herback pulled flush against a very warm, very barechest.

A chest that she recognizes without having to look.

Lips press against the back of her neck, warm breath teasingher bare skin, and Lucy shivers, groaning as she considers the appropriatenessof falling asleep in her ex’s bed. Again. With him in it. Yeah, that seems likethe exact opposite of appropriate.

“Fuck,” Lucy hisses, half-embarrassed and half just notgiving a shit. Her hands come up to cover her face, palms pressed against hereyes, and she rolls onto her back. For the briefest moment, she considersflinging herself out the window, but decides against doing so, unsure if a fourstory fall would kill her or just leave her a bit flattened.

She doesn’t have the money to pay for those hospital bills.

Beside her, Natsu chuckles, low and throaty, voice stillthick with sleep. Lucy resists a shiver, her teeth tugging at her lip almostpainfully. She’s heard that laugh countless times before, usually followed bysomething NC-17 soon after. Of course, that was back when there was a them.

He sits up on his elbow, arm still neatly tucked under herback, the other resting by her side, half-caging her to the bed. “We didn’t do that, if that’s what you’re worriedabout,” Natsu promises, nudging her with one leg when she won’t look at him.

Lucy’s hands slide from her face, eyes narrowed as they lockwith his. Natsu’s smile widens when she looks up at him, his lips pulling backto reveal teeth. His green eyes go soft, almost. There’s something weary there,almost sad, and Lucy’s lips twist into a dim smile. “Shut up,” she tells him,voice cracking slightly.

She hates this awkwardness; she hates how things aren’t asawkward as they should be.

For God’s sake, she climbed into his bed last night while hewas asleep. It’s been almost three months, this shouldn’t be happening.Moreover, he should have kicked her out already.

But Natsu’s gaze is friendly, curious and almost worriedabout her. “Long night?” he murmurs, fingers absentmindedly fiddling with thehem of her shirt, tips of his fingers ghosting over the bare skin beneath.

“You don’t know the half of it,” she whispers back, gigglingslightly when Natsu’s teasing fingers brush higher on her waist, barelytouching her ribs. He tries not to smile, but does a terrible job of it. Therehave only been a few times in her life when she’s seen that smile disappearentirely.

The last time was about three months ago.

Natsu makes a sound that’s almost sympathetic as he drags alight finger along her bottom rib. “Freed ditch you to go make out with hisboyfriend, again?” His eyes flicker, amused, and Lucy groans, flinging her headback onto his pillow and glaring up at the ceiling. Glow in the dark starsblink back at her, untouched since she last saw them. She thought he would havetaken them down by now.

“Oh, yeah.” She rolls her eyes, back arching off the bedwhen Natsu shifts beside her, tugging his arm out from under her back. Lucywatches as he hesitates for a moment, then rolls so that he’s hovering over hercompletely, hands pressed to the bed on either side of her, his knees knockingagainst hers briefly. “He disappeared for almost an hour,” she tells Natsu whenhe stares down at her, eyes searching hers for something—anything. She smilesup at him. “I’m pretty sure they weren’t just making out, though.”

He chuckles, lowering more of his weight onto her when shedoesn’t immediately shove him off. Lucy rolls her eyes, but smiles nonetheless.“What an… asshole,” Natsu breathesagainst her ear, lips pulled into a cheeky grin.

Lucy breaks into a fit of surprised giggles, not expectingthe surprising innuendo. “Natsu!” she chides, slapping at his naked chesthalf-heartedly. He just laughs. Lucy huffs, pouting as she stares up at him. “Youare so…” Something. He’s something.

Something she misses a lot.

His expression goes soft as he drops onto his elbows,hovering only an inch above her. Fingers brush along her neck, sweeping herhair away from her skin. “Remember when we used to do that?” he jokes, smileturning positively wicked.

Lucy snorts, looping her arms around his neck without asecond thought, fingers weaving through his hair easily. He sighs above her,nosing at her cheek. “Make out in the alley behind the bar?” she asks. Asurprised gasp tears from her as Natsu’s lips brush along her jaw, touching butnot quite kissing. “No,” she mumbles, tilting her chin up to let him peruse herneck. “I remember our go-to being the freezer.”

“A horrible decision really,” Natsu breathes against herthroat, placing butterfly kisses along the length of her neck. A low soundpulls from his throat as Lucy tugs at his hair, and she almost doesn’t catchit. One of his hands slips beneath her shirt, drawing nonsensical shapes fromher hip to her ribs with slow, practiced fingers.

Teeth press against her neck briefly, nipping at her andLucy sighs, eyes slipping shut as he works his way down, slow, more patientthan she’s ever seen him before. “You’re the one that always pulled me backthere,” she replies, giggling when he smiles against the underside of her jaw.

“You never said ‘no,’ ” he reminds, lips trailing down herneck as Lucy’s hand slide down his back, nails drawing thin, teasing lines fromshoulder to hip. He swears under his breath as her hands surge back up ontotangling in his hair, the other cupping his cheek gently, thumb brushingagainst his skin.

Lucy hums for a moment, considering this, then leans up topress a butterfly kiss against his chin, his stubble rough against her lips. “Ididn’t, did I,” she agrees, nipping at his chin before flopping back onto thebed. Natsu growls down at her, fingers curling around her hip bone andsqueezing.

His lips hover above hers, breath nervous and shallow. Hewets his lips and Lucy can hear him swallow, he’s so close. “Why did you comehere last night?” he breathes against her.

He doesn’t need to elaborate. Lucy knows. He’s farther awaythan her apartment. He always has been. Coming over used to be more of aninconvenience than anything else after the night shift at the bar. But he wouldalways be there waiting, giving her a tired smile when she finally walkedthrough the door, a smile on his lips and arms waiting for her to fall intohim.

“I just wanted to go home,” Lucy tells him honestly, nervousfingers brushing against his skin.

Natsu releases a shaky breath, but it seems to be what heneeded to hear. He surges down suddenly, lips sealing over hers in a sloppy,tender kiss. His nose bumps against hers, but Lucy only smiles, her griptightening in his hair as she feels Natsu’s lips moving against hers.

He jerks back suddenly, only for his mouth to go back to herneck, his teeth dragging down her neck roughly, much to her surprise. Lucysquirms beneath him, arching into his touch. “Stay for breakfast?” he breathesagainst her skin, pressing his lips to her skin in an open-mouthed kiss,sucking briefly before biting down.

“Only if you make pancakes.” She gasps, head thrown back ashis hand slips beneath her thighs, lips and teeth still working her tenderneck. He pulls away with a wet pop, smiling against her throat.

“Deal.”

[riverofmemoriesft]

. In Tenebris . 21

With his hands shoved into his pockets, Gray took a deep breath and slipped into his home. He could hear Ur on the phone in one of the rooms, voice distressed as she spoke urgently. He couldn't blame her. Out of three children, he was the last, and they both know just how likely it was that Ultear and Lyon had been taken by the very people who'd taken his friends.

"I'm home!" he called and she greeted him faintly before going back to what she was doing. He wasn't too upset. She was busy.

Scrubbing a hand down his face, Gray trampled past the kitchen and upstairs to his bedroom. He dropped onto his bed and then checked his phone.

He'd been expecting calls from Erza, Lucy, Levy, or even some other person from the tavern he hung out at.

He was not expecting a missed call from Lyon.

"Ur!" he shouted, immediately on his feet. He booked it back downstairs and into the dining room, where Ur sat with her phone to her ear. "Ur," he gasped when she looked up, dark eyes watching him with impatience. "Ur, Lyon called my phone."

She hastily bid her contact farewell. She waved him over and he scrambled to stand beside her. He set his phone on the table. "Play it," she ordered, readying a pen to make note of Lyon's words.

Gray hit the button.

The voice that filled their ears was certainly not Lyon's, nor was it Ultear's or Meredy's. It was the voice of someone Gray didn't recognize. He made sure to note that he wouldn't delete it so that Lucy or Levy could listen later, help decipher who it was.

"Greetings, Ms. Milkovich and Mr. Fullbuster," the voice said smoothly. "We are aware of your connections with what you call the dragons and other such people." Ur glanced at Gray, but he didn't remove his gaze from the phone. "Hargeon's funding is running low, you see. So we will ask something small of you: pay us a large sum of money and we will return Mr. Vastia and Miss Milkovich, unharmed. Let's say...two million five hundred thousand jewels should do. Leave the money with Miss Heartfilia and it will be retrieved. You have three days from the moment you hear this message."

A tone signaled the end of the message and Gray hunched his shoulders. "This is my fault. I knew it was dangerous, dealing with whatever Lucy and the others are doing-"

Ur gave him a sharp look. "These are the people you asked me to allow into my shop?"

Gray nodded. "The experiments themselves are good people, even if Pyro is an idiot. But...things have been rough for all of them recently. Levy got attacked earlier, and Natsu - one of the dragons - took an injection willingly to get medicine for Lucy since she's been having a lot of problems lately."

"This isn't your fault, nor is it theirs," Ur sighed. She leaned back, stretching. Gray watched his adopted mother with sharp eyes. "This is the fault of the one in charge of this all. How we'll get that much money though…my credit's so bad I can't get a loan, and I won't let you. It's too much in regards to interest."

"I can talk to Lucy about a loan," Gray suggested, raking a hand through his black hair. "Or Makarov. He's decided to fund the whole thing for Lucy and Levy so that they can help the experiments."

Ur bit her lip, looking unhappy about the idea, but not seeing much of a choice. "Do it, talk to Lucy," she decided. "I won't ask Makarov for that much money, but the Heartfilia's should have enough to help."

"On it." Gray grabbed his phone and snatched car keys up - keys he'd put away minutes before. "I'm going to go back and talk to her in person so I can show her the message."

"I'll work on one of my sculptures," Ur decided, though her eyes showed her unhappiness. "It'll give me something to do while I wait."

Ur hated that she couldn't do anything for her children.

Levy flinched as she moved her arm and it throbbed. While she hadn't received injections like the others, it still hurt a lot and there was a huge bruise on the crease of her elbow, where the needle had been forced in. She remembered Jackal's hands pinning her, his cruel face grinning as Lamy giggled-

"Levy?"

"Hey, Wendy," Levy said gently as the small dragon dropped to sit beside her on the couch. Chelia hesitantly settled onto the loveseat. "What can I do for you?"

Wendy eyed Gajeel, who'd dozed off in a chair with his head leaned back, breathing deep and even. "I wanted to ask if Chelia and I could play with that ball we used, when we were all kicking it around. Sting said he'd play with us."

"Of course." Levy gave her a warm smile. "Go ahead and take it. It's in my room, under the bed."

"Thank you!" Wendy beamed, and then lost her smile after a moment, biting her lip. "Levy...will Natsu be okay? And you?"

"I'll be fine, even if we don't know what they did yet," she reassured. "I don't know about Natsu though, Wendy. Has he not woken up yet?" Wendy shook her head. "He probably needs a lot of rest, like Lucy did. I'll have someone go outside and grab you if he wakes up while you're out, okay?"

"Kay," she murmured, climbing to her feet. She exchanged a small smile with the quiet yet friendly Chelia and then the two girls headed off to retrieve the soccer ball.

Levy watched them go and chuckled, turning her attention back on her phone. She'd been studying a language on her phone, using an app to practice. She'd found an interest in the idea of knowing several languages a few months before and now seemed like a decent time to begin learning.

Whatever had been done, things clicked much easier than they had before. Each word made sense and she could recognize them with ease. She'd always been a quick learner, she supposed, but this…

She paused when Wendy came trotting out into the split room with Chelia, Sting, and Lector at her heels, Charle in her arms and the ball in Chelia's. Levy waved and waited until they'd left before going back to work.

"Fire," she said aloud, reading the term on the phone as a box opened beneath it. Draw the word.

With ease, she scribbled the word out.

And promptly screamed bloody murder when her phone burst into flames with a small explosion. Pain singed through her as the debris struck her lap and she shot over the back of the couch, landing heavily on her back. Wheezing, she clawed her way to her feet and peeked over the edge to see Gajeel on his feet, crimson eyes wild and wide open. He darted forward to smack the flames that had sprouted on her couch out.

"What the fuck, Shrimp?" he grunted as Yukino peeked out into the room with a shocked look.

"Everything okay?" she asked, frowning at the pair.

"Yeah," Levy lied. She thought about it. "No. I may have just blown up my phone."

"How the hell did you manage that?" Gajeel demanded, eyeing the debris that was left.

She raked a hand through her tangled blue hair. "I was...I was studying a language. It said to draw symbol for the word. So I drew the word. And my phone blew up."

"...hold on," Yukino told her, disappearing. She came back a few minutes later to find Levy on the couch again, grimacing and rubbing at small burns. She shoved a piece of paper at her and then a pen. "Here, try this. Write something on this with the pen."

Levy eyed her and did just that. Gajeel leaned over her shoulder, suspicious. He glanced up when a sleepy Lucy wandered in, Happy held in her arms. "What's going on?" she demanded, but he waved her off. She came to look as well as Levy scrawled out "fire".

Nothing happened. Levy looked up at Yukino. "Try with your finger, Levy."

Levy hesitated, and then did as she said, running her fingertip over the paper. She squealed in surprise when it flared up into flames.

"Oh, my god," Lucy breathed, eyes widening in shock.

"It hurt me," she admitted, tapping a burn on her leg. She blinked blearily. "I can't...I can't believe this. I can't use my phone for words!" A pause. "Change of plans, I don't even have a phone anymore."

"I'll get you a new one," Lucy promised and then raised her chin. "My, um, dad. He, err, wants to meet with me. Here."

"Your crazy father wants to come here?" Gajeel huffed.

Yukino blinked in confusion. "Is this bad?"

"He's tried to force me into a couple marriages, was fairly rude to me for a number of years, and has tried to guilt me back into his house," Lucy listed bluntly. "But he came through when I needed him to, when Levy called to ask him to deal with Tartaros. So when he said he wanted to meet with me and all of the experiments, I figured why not? He already knows. And if I can convince him, we may have another source of funding to help everyone and feed the dragons. Bones aren't cheap."

Gajeel ran a hand down his face. "You want to bring someone who probably worked on Natsu in?"

"I think it's smart," Yukino admitted. "But you'll have two less dragons to worry about soon." Her eyes lit up. "Minerva called. She's coming to pick Sting, Rogue, and I up next week. We're taking Lector and Frosch if that's okay."

"No problem," Lucy told her. "We don't mind." She turned back to Gajeel, who eyed her hidden sad expression with suspicion. "If you're nice, he might fund your shop, Gajeel."

"I'm going to be makin' friends," he said very seriously.

Despite being a little distressed by what was going on, Levy giggled and murmured, "Who knew befriending the rich person would come in handy."

Lucy smiled a little, hoisting Happy further into her arms. "I'll go check on Natsu...where's Wendy and Chelia?"

"Outside with Sting, playing with a ball," Levy told her. "They're fine for now."

"I'll go sit with them just in case," Yukino offered and then headed for the door. "If Rogue comes looking, send him out!"

"Lucy," Levy began as she turned to leave. "Have you taken the medication yet?"

Lucy shook her head. "I'll take it with dinner. Oh! Gray texted, said he'd be stopping by about something important with us. Will you come get me when he shows up?"

"Sure," she agreed. "Erza's coming this evening to give us an update, too. Is your father coming tonight or tomorrow?"

"Tonight," Lucy admitted, rubbing a hand down her face. Without another word, she left and Levy shifted her weight onto her other hip, glancing over her shoulder at Gajeel. The dragon was watching her closely.

"Please don't offend Jude Heartfilia," Levy pleaded with him and then frowned when he narrowed his eyes at her. "What? What are you looking at me like that for?"

"Your phone," he grunted, jerking his chin at her. "It burned you."

Levy touched a burn on her thigh. "Only a little. Not too badly. I'll be okay." She flashed him a quick smile. "Thanks for your concern though, Gajeel. It'll be fine, I promise. Now." She stretched her arms carefully above her head. "How about we start some dinner?"

Gajeel eyed her suspiciously but grinned, showing off sharpened teeth that went with his draconic appearance. "What are we eating?"

Gray came shortly before dinner.

Lucy met him at the door, Happy on her shoulder and a green-furred cat tucked under her arm, scooped up after he nearly bolted outside. "Hey, Gray," she said gently, taking in his exhausted face. She waved him in. He didn't hesitate to duck inside.

"Hi, Gray!" Wendy called from the balcony above, waving down at him. Chelia peered curiously down at him beside her.

"Hey, Wendy," Gray greeted quietly, waving up at her. "Lucy," he said, addressing his friend. "What do I have to do to get two million five hundred thousand jewels from you in a loan?"

Lucy's lips parted. "Gray-"

"Someone called on my phone." He looked down at his phone. "Someone in league with those psychotic bastards took my brother and sister. Meredy, too, I'm willing to bet. Please. They promised to let them go if we gave them the money."

"Gray," she said gently, "I don't have access to the Heartfilia bank account."

He looked at her in horror. "Lucy-"

"I'm sorry. I really am." She reached out and gently touched his shoulder. "We'll get them back though, I promise you. Do you want to stay for dinner? Erza's coming by and...and so is my father."

"I can't." He shook his head. "Sorry, Lucy, I have to go home. Ur's not saying it, but she's a mess, I know she is." He took a deep breath, looking ashen. "If you can get your father...if you can get him on our side…"

"I'll talk to him," she said gently. "But Gray...that's a lot of money. Even for us. And we need to think this through. They're current ideal is to experiment and then shove at us, so...and we've got people infiltrating areas. I'm sure someone will get them out. Even if we can't pay it."

He gave her a tired look. "Lucy. I love you and I love Levy. You're family. But I can't...I can't stop thinking that if I didn't know you, that if we weren't friends, this wouldn't have happened."

Pain flickered across her face. But she understood. "I know. I'm sorry."

He shook his head. "Don't apologize," he muttered, turning to leave. "Just...do what you can. I'll talk to you later." He left without another word and Lucy suddenly felt lonely - lonely and extremely guilty.

If she hadn't insisted on helping...none of this would have happened.

But then...Chelia would still be stuck. Her three dragon friends would have starved and Sting and Rogue wouldn't be free, nor would Juvia. There was so many people that she'd helped alongside Levy-

A blast of heat washed through the house.

Lucy shot up the stairs, biting her lip so hard it bled. "Wendy," she paused to order. "Stay with Chelia and make sure that you're ready to treat more burns. Okay?"

Wendy's dark eyes shone with anxiety as she nodded, looking to Chelia.

Chelia smiled faintly. "We'll be ready."

"Good." Lucy flashed her a short smile and then raced for Natsu's room. Gajeel and Sting hovered in the doorway, Yukino and Juvia beside them. Levy hung back, wary of the flames, and Lucy could hear Rogue swearing within the room. "What happened?"

"He woke up," Gajeel grunted. "Except the bastard's lost his shit again."

Lucy peered inside and flinched as smoke made her eyes water. Thanking the heavens that the worst damage he could do was burn through the wooden floor, Lucy took in the flames whipping around Natsu, who had thrown himself into a corner, screaming.

It broke her heart to hear him.

"Rogue," Sting suddenly shouted.

The shadow dragon slid from the room, rising from Yukino's shadow with a rumbling sound. He wasn't burned, but looked flushed from the heat. "I can't get close, even like this."

"You ain't goin' back in," Gajeel warned Lucy. "He's set to incinerate."

Lucy searched her pockets, but came away with nothing useful - and then gasped as Happy slid into the room. "Happy!"

The blue-furred cat ignored her and sidled right up to the dragon that panicked in the corner. Purring, he sat a short distance away, not daring to get too close. After a moment, he yowled loudly.

The sound startled Natsu out of his panicked mood. Sharp glowing eyes snapped to the blue cat, who wiggled his body and mewed softly, flicking his ears back and then forward. Recognition flickered through his gaze and then the flames vanished and he threw his arms out. Happy bounded into his grip and rubbed against his chin, purring loudly enough that Lucy could hear him.

Their jaws dropped.

"Consider me impressed," Gajeel admitted as Natsu ruffled the cat's ears gingerly, murmuring to him. "He did better than you, Bunny Girl."

"Thank you for your support, Gajeel," Lucy said wryly.

"Natsu!" Levy said softly, waiting for a response and not daring to move into the room. His head snapped in their direction and she gave him a large smile that he hesitantly returned, though it didn't reach his eyes. Reassured, she stepped in - and then was brushed past as Wendy bolted in to throw her arms around Natsu in a tight hug.

"Wendy, I told you to stay out in the living room," Lucy scolded though she wore a look of amusement on her face as the young girl beamed at Natsu, relieved that he was okay. Natsu patted her head affectionately, ruffling her hair.

The inky marks flickered into appearance before disappearing again and then stayed away for the time being. There was no sign of his horns as he grunted and hauled himself to his feet with Happy in his arms. He shook his head to clear it, thinking cautiously, taking in each person at the door before nodding to himself, as if confirming that they were friends.

Gajeel propped an elbow on Levy's head and she nearly went down as her knees buckled. "Look at you, Salamander. Who needs to be watched for temper tantrums now?"

Natsu glared irritably and then looked to Levy anxiously, gaze flickering to Lucy. "Did you-"

"Yes," she reassured, amused that his first concern would be Lucy's "medicine". "I gave it to her. I don't know if she's taken any yet though. Have you taken any of those pills, Lucy?"

"I was going to with dinner," Lucy said quietly, smiling faintly. "Leo's been shouting at me not to though."

Natsu rumbled low in his throat and Lucy hastily reassured, "I'm still going to."

As she'd stated, she didn't want their suffering to be for nothing.

Natsu grimaced and touched his head, but Wendy smacked his hand away and drew his face down so that she could look. A fierce gleam in her dark eyes told him not to try and pull away. Finally, she rested her fingers over the injection site and tried to heal it.

Without meaning to, he practically threw her away, a strange pained shriek leaving his head. Wendy squealed as she hit the ground, rolling onto her back after a moment with a gasp for air, and Gajeel stormed in with a lethal glint in his eyes.

"Sorry," the pink-haired dragon whispered, quivering, pain racing through his veins. He scowled as horns shoved themselves free of his scalp, the new ones hurting more than the others. "It...hurt."

"S'okay," Wendy wheezed. "I won't try again." She scuttled over to Levy, who tucked her under her arm as Gajeel glowered, taking a protective stance in front of the pair. Lucy rolled her eyes.

"Are you hungry?" she asked, nodding at Yukino. "Yukino and Rogue made dinner. Sting...helped."

If that meant trying to steal from various dishes.

He shook his head. "Not really," he mumbled, flinching.

"That's okay," Yukino said gently. "We're going to play some slapjack after everyone leaves. How about you join us for that at least?"

He looked reluctant, not pleased with noise and entirely unsure of what slapjack was, but nodded. "Sure." He wrinkled his nose as Happy bopped at it with a blue paw. He sneezed flames and then snorted to clear his nose of smoke that pooled around his head. "Damn it," he seethed.

Gajeel cackled and Sting outright laughed.

All amusement faded, however, a moment later. All of the dragons looked aside, staring at nothing. A moment later, Gajeel grunted, "Someone's here."

Lucy sucked in a shaky breath. "I'll get it."

She pushed past them all, Natsu watching her go with tightened eyes, and felt a flash of affection for all of the dragons as Rogue slid into her shoulder, just as heavy as she remembered him to be.

When she reached the door, she didn't hesitate to open it.

She flinched at the sight of one exhausted Erza Scarlet before her.

"Lucy," she greeted almost too quietly for Lucy to hear, dark eyes shadowed, ragged hair tucked into a hasty braid. She was clothed as cleanly as ever, in sharp professional clothes, but the cloth was wrinkled.

Gone was the powerful woman that had made many tremble in their shoes.

And for some reason, that left a bitter taste in her mouth - a hollow feeling in her soul.

This was her fault, all her fault. If she'd only sent them to live outside rather than getting attached-

"You'd dismiss your friends like that?" Aquarius sneered. "I didn't take you to be someone like that."

"Shut up," Lucy seethed to herself and then gestured for Erza to enter. "Wasn't Jellal coming?"

Erza's lips quirked up a tiny bit. "He's decided to go speak with Makarov. I heard inklings of a rip in their power and chose to take advantage of the discovery. It's nice to see that you are well. How are the others? Chelia? I heard that she'd been brought in. Mira was telling me about it, and Cana."

Lucy smiled broadly. "Chelia's great. She and Wendy are-"

Words died in Lucy's throat as another car pulled up outside the house. Wild emotions streaked through her and after a panicked moment, Lucy took a breath to calm herself. Erza looked outside and smiled gently at her. "Be brave, Lucy. You have looked death in the face and lived. Your father is nothing."

Lucy liked the sound of that.

Besides. It's not like he could do anything when there were five dragons, a girl with abilities similar to Wendy, Juvia, Levy's new-found ability, and a fierce Erza to deal with. Lucy smiled at that.

Feeling braver, she ducked outside and waited patiently as Jude Heartfilia hauled himself out of the car. A breath on the back of her neck scared her, but the sheer heat of it told her that Natsu had sensed who'd arrived - and that she'd need silent backup as Erza went inside to greet the others.

"Happy?" he offered, holding his cat out.

"Thanks." Lucy bit her lip as she hugged Happy to her. She silently wondered if she should have changed, but one look at Natsu had her rolling her eyes at her own thoughts. He was a mess, stained with ash and the occasional flecks of black. He didn't even have a shirt on at the moment. His pants had been ripped and torn, and he hadn't bothered to change them or put on shoes.

She didn't even need to put her hair up if she didn't want to.

As her father approached the house, eyes wary, she lifted her chin and called, "Hello, Father."

His gaze latched onto her. So many times it had been filled with greed, with anger. Now, he was just tired. "Lucy," he said quietly, no malice in his voice. His gaze flickered to Natsu. "And you are…?"

"Natsu," he said stiffly, lifting a lip to show his teeth a little. "I'm Natsu Dragneel. I'm the fire dragon of our house."

She liked how he said that. Like he was some sort of guardian.

"Ah, Mr. Dragneel. I remember you." His gaze studied Natsu closely. "My wife was fond of you in her endeavors."

"So Momma really did take part in this," Lucy said softly before shaking her head and turning to head inside. "This way, Father. I'll introduce you to everyone else. Erza and Levy are here, of course. Gray had to skip out."

"Four dragons, a water woman, a woman of the stars, and a god, correct?" Jude listed, earning a shocked stare as she and Natsu whirled to look at him. "On top of it all, your friend Levy is no longer entirely normal, and nor are you."

"How'd you-"

He cut Lucy off. "I have been in contact with Makarov Dreyar. He has...looked past previous altercations in favor of providing me with a path of redemption."

Her jaw fell. "You're working with...you're supporting this? I thought-"

"That I'd be against you?" Jude's eyes flickered - almost sadly, Lucy realized. He was like a completely different person. "I meant what I said when I spoke with Miss McGarden, Lucy. For all of my actions, you are my daughter."

Natsu snorted softly in disbelief, but Lucy smiled just a fraction and led her father inside.

Because for the first time in his life, he was trying to redeem himself in her eyes.

What was wrong with attempting to forgive and forget?

[kemnam]

I Am Become

Summary: It’s been three years. Zeref is gone, all of his books burned. Natsu is alive, and free to marry the girl of his dreams. But fate is cruel, and Natsu cannot escape what he really is, no matter how hard he tries. If he wants to save everybody from himself, he’ll have to go back to the beginning. “Now I am become death, destroyer of worlds.”

Pairings: Typical

chapt. 9 chapt. 11

Chapter 10: Betting It All

It was still hard to breath when Lucy woke up. The black mist was gone, but the effects lingered. Though not as much of a struggle as before, it still felt like she had just run five marathons and couldn't get enough oxygen into her lungs no matter how hard she tried. Her gasps came in wheezing bursts, chest heaving rapidly. Her limbs were weak and hardly obeyed her commands. Vision was slow to return, blobby shapes fading into focus and color filling in from dark to light. There wasn't much light to discern one thing from the other, so as Lucy lay on the hard stone floor, the unfocused world around her shifted and churned. Tilting her head up slightly, Lucy could barely spy Gray out of the corner of her vision, his back facing her. It didn't seem like he was awake yet. Happy was still curled next to her, the small cat huffing but not conscious. Lucy tried to turn her head to see the others, but they were out of range.

"Are you sure he will come, Master Konza?" A deep voice managed to creep into Lucy's ears. "Just exactly how long are you planning to keep them here?"

"As long as I have to." The girl and her giant companion were both standing a couple yards away from the cluster of passified mages. Their backs were turned to her. "If he wants to see his friends alive, he'll have no choice but to face us."

The man grunted. "We've never taken hostages before. I fear we may be in over our heads. What if we bring the wrath of the entire guild down on us?"

"If the entire Fairy Tail guild is what it takes, then so be it." The girl – Konza – sneered at her companion. "When did you become such a coward, Master Marlow?"

Lucy, starting to regain control of herself, slowly reached a hand down to the holster on her hip. They hadn't taken her keys, which Lucy thought was odd but wasn't about to question it. Fingering over each one of her keys at a painstakingly slow pace so the metal wouldn't clink, Lucy was forced to choose the right one from feel alone, something she had never done before. Rubbing her thumb over the head of each key, the engravings in the enamel painted a picture in her head – one she hoped was right. When she was sure she had found the one she was looking for, Lucy gripped it tightly. Her body might have been weak, but her magic was still going strong. She just had to wait for the right moment to strike.

"This one's awake already."

Lucy yelped as she was dragged across the floor, skin scraping painfully against the rough stone. Lifted up into the air by her feet, the man with the halberd held her aloft as Konza stepped up to her, arms crossed and expression upset.

"But it's only been a few minutes. Does the curse really wear off that quickly?" Konza seemed to mostly be speaking to herself. "I suppose that's what you get when you only have half a spell."

Being upside down put more pressure on Lucy's chest and throat, making it even harder to breath. Her suddenly racing heart wasn't helping matters.

"Put… me down!" If she couldn't circulate air easier and soon, she was going to pass out again.

Marlow looked to Konza, who flicked her wrist at him. With a surprising amount of ease and care, the man placed Lucy back on the floor. Rolling over onto her back, Lucy lay gasping for much needed air. She couldn't tell if her throat was still constricted, or if her lungs were just refusing to work. Though she wasn't coughing up blood or anything, Lucy had a small fear that whatever was in that black mist might have done some damage.

Rolling over after catching what little breath she could, Lucy propped herself up on her hands and knees. One hand instinctively went to her holster once more. Konza's sudden laughter caught her attention. When she looked up, the Manticore girl had an amused look on her face, like Lucy had done something embarrassing.

"Go ahead and try, sweetheart." Her yellow teeth and pale hair stood out in the dark. "Marlow will crush you before you could get one word out, and then he'll destroy all your friends – including the one you have hiding in the trees outside."

Lucy huffed, placing her hand back on the ground in front of her. She was right. Lucy still hadn't mastered the art of summoning spirits through intent alone. Any spirits what were capable of opening the gates themselves could only do so when she was in immediate danger. Unfortunately, this situation did not qualify. The only thing Lucy could do was stall for time, and wait for at least one of her friends to wake up as well. Looking over them, Lucy's heart clenched at the sight of Juvia and Erza. Juvia, who was naturally pale to begin with, looked white as a sheet. Erza wasn't faring much better.

"Don't worry." Marlow replied to her expression. "They'll live."

"For now," Konza hissed, casting a glare to Marlow over her shoulder.

Lucy sat back on her heels, glaring at the two with as much hate as she could muster. "Who are you? What the hell do you want?"

"Ooooh, Fairy's got fight." Konza chuckled. "We are the masters of Ruby Manticore. Yes, both of us are masters. When you have a mage and mercenary guild, you need both a mage and mercenary master. As for what we want? I'm sure you'll find out soon enough."

Lucy cocked an eyebrow at the girl, unamused by her playful demeanor. A sudden cough rattled her chest, and she felt something hack up into her throat. Lucy really hoped it wasn't blood as she quickly swallowed it back down. That was when Lucy noticed the large leather tome sticking out of Konza's long black coat. Her eyes widened, heart picking up in pace.

"That." Lucy raised a finger. "Where did you get that?"

Konza's smile fell. "That's none of your business."

"That doesn't belong to you." Lucy wished her voice wasn't so raspy, then she would be able to speak with more conviction. "I know what that is. It shouldn't even exist."

Finally, Konza's smug exterior deteriorated into shock and confusion. Lucy couldn't help but grin, feeling extremely satisfied. Marlow frowned at the two females.

"I was there when he was defeated. So how about you drop the superiority act and tell me where you found Zeref's book?" Lucy snarled.

"Don't you dare speak his name!" Konza shrieked.

The girl howled, one hand lashing out and striking Lucy across the face. Lucy yelped at the harsh sting in her cheek, but managed to stay sitting up right. Straightening her jaw, Lucy looked back up to see Marlow restraining Konza, both of his large hands encompassing her arms. With a grunt, Konza wrenched out of his grasp and spun away from Lucy.

"Punishing you for your arrogance would be a waste of time," the girl huffed. "But I'm beginning to grow tired of waiting. I'm not going to let four months of careful planning go to waste over-"

A sudden cough interrupted the Master. Everyone looked over to see Wendy stagger to prop herself up on her elbows. The young dragon slayer still hadn't regained full awareness, blinking her eyes rapidly as she drew in wheezing breaths. That cruel smile returned to Konza's face, making Lucy shiver.

"Perhaps we should send a message." Konza licked her lips as she switched her gaze back to Lucy. "Isn't that what you do when you take a hostage? Demand for ransom, and send proof of life?"

Marlow stepped forward and grabbed Wendy by her hair, lifting her up much the same as he had done with Lucy. Wendy screamed, kicking her legs weakly. Drawing his halberd, Marlow thrust the sharp tip forward until it just barely floated in front of Wendy's right eye. The girl went absolutely still, tears forming in her eyes. Lucy gritted her teeth, anger rising in her chest. Nobody treated her friends like that! But what could she do? If she tried to summon a spirit, he might hurt Wendy, and the other Fairy Tail mages were still out of it.

"No, no, not an eye, you oaf," Konza sneered, her red rimmed eyes narrowing. "Pick an ear. She doesn't need two of those."

Marlow frowned, but adjusted his weapon to the side of Wendy's head. Wendy whimpered as the sharp edge of the axehead pressed behind the top of her ear. Lucy almost screamed when a small trickle of blood rolled down the side of her jaw to the tip of her chin.

Marlow pulled back suddenly, grunting in confusion as he looked to the floor. In rapid swirls, fractals of ice made their way up his legs and to his waist. When the ice reached his torso, he yelped in alarm, dropping Wendy to the ground. Lucy gasped in relief, following the trail of ice across the floor to where it originated from Gray's splayed fingers. His breathing was about the same as Lucy's, but he righted himself into a crouch with ease. He had been awake and listening the entire time, Lucy realized.

"You guys are really sadistic, you know that?" Gray growled. The ice encasing Marlow stopped just above the man's collarbones, leaving only his head untouched. "If you ever touch any of my friends again, I will kill you."

Konza was shaking with rage, fists balled at her sides and blue eyes wide with anger. Marlow groaned and strained against his icy prison, but Gray's magic was incredibly strong. In a flourish, Konza retrieved the book from her coat and held it out, finger poised along the edge of the cover. With a start, Lucy noticed that the back cover and half the pages were charred black, like it had been lit on fire but not completely burned.

"How dare you threaten me, you welp," Konza growled, glaring at Gray through the thin wisps of her pale hair. "I'll make you apologize with your life. No one can survive a double dose of Hollow!"

Snapping the book open, Konza twisted it so that the pages were facing Gray. At first, it seemed like the paper was blank, edges yellow and torn from the years. Then there was a single spot of black ink that bloomed in the center of the page. Spreading across the paper with black veins in a matter of moments, a stream of a thick, vaporous substance shot from the book. It was not the same kind of mist that they had first encountered – this was targeted, intended for one individual. Lucy cried out, reaching a hand up as the curse flew through the air towards Gray. The man seemed frozen in surprise, simply staring as the dark magic made straight for him.

In a loud crash, the ceiling of the room shattered to pieces as a large object fell through it. When it hit the floor, the impact rocked the room, causing Konza to stumble and drop the book, cutting off the attack just shy of its target. Lucy fell back on her butt trying to get out of the way, snatching up Happy as she did. The little exceed mumbled something and stirred in Lucy's hands. She was too distracted, however, by her shock at seeing the large anchor that had embedded itself into the floor, a thick chain trailing up from it back through the hole in the ceiling and into the sky. But, more importantly, to who was clinging to it.

Wasting no time, Natsu leapt off the anchor towards the nearest person. Konza barely had time to react before Natsu's fist slammed into her cheek. The force of the punch sent her sliding across the floor, where she lay motionless and stunned.

"Konza!" Marlow cried, doubling his efforts to breakout of Gray's ice prison.

Natsu stood straight and blinked, eyes adjusting to the darkness. Looking to the person he had just attacked, the dragon slayer jerked in surprise.

"Shit, I just punched a little girl!" Natsu grimaced.

"It's okay, bonehead," Gray stated as he began standing up. "She's an enemy."

Natsu spun at the sound of Gray's voice, eyes widening in surprise at the sight of his friends. Rushing over to them, he dropped down to his knees beside Lucy. Putting a warm hand on her shoulder, Natsu took in the beaten state of her and the other Fairy Tail mages, who were also starting to come around. Wendy had crawled over to cradle Carla, while Gajeel coughed as he rolled to his stomach. Elfman moaned, slowly rocking his head back and forth. Their raspy breathing filled the quiet of the room. Erza and Juvia seemed to be in even worse condition.

"What the hell happened to you guys?" Natsu looked to Lucy. Her cheek was red from where she had been slapped. "Are you okay?"

"It was a trap," Gray responded. He was kneeling on the floor, Juvia settled in his arms. She was breathing, thankfully, but a large gash on the side of her head was very concerning. "We walked right into it. They've got one of Zeref's books, Natsu."

Natsu's eyebrows knotted together. Searching the room, Natsu's eyes locked onto the closed leather book on the floor. So more than one had survived Zeref's demise? How many more were there? Lost in his thoughts as he was, Natsu didn't notice the deepening look of suspicion on the Ice-Maker's face. This was not the reaction that Gray had expected. He had thought the brother of one of the evillest wizards to ever live hearing that his demons were still around would be a little more…shocked? Before he could say anything about it, Lucy grabbed Natsu's attention.

"How are you here, Natsu?" It was hard to tell whether she was happy or angry.

"Blue Pegasus brought me here on Christina." Natsu jerked a thumb over his shoulder at the anchor. "I knew you were in Juniper Hills, but Hibiki was the one who landed me here. For someone whose calculations are based on probability, he was pretty spot on. They should be joining us shortly."

"You voluntarily chose to ride in that death trap?" Gajeel huffed as he rested on his knees, Lily sitting up in his lap. "You've got some serious guts, Salamander."

Natsu frowned, going pale at the memory. "Actually, I think I lost them somewhere over Fiore as we were going Mach 5." Turning to Lucy, he gave his fiancé a small smile. "Remind me never to do that again."

Everyone looked up as a small tink rang through the air. The slightest, hairline crack had appeared in the ice surrounding Marlow. The large mercenary was gritting his teeth in deep concentration, sweat breaking out on his brow. Natsu shot to his feet, rushing at the man with the intent to knock him out before he could break free. But he wasn't fast enough.

Shattering the ice with a massive swing of his arms, Marlow raised his halberd and brought it down upon Natsu with a roar. Barely dodging the blow, Natsu snuck under the man, where his stomach was completely exposed. The air rushed out of Marlow's lungs as Natsu jammed his fist up under his ribs. But unlike Konza, this Manticore Master knew how to take a hit, and quickly recovered. Swinging his arm, Marlow back-handed Natsu across the face at full force. Natsu was flung across the room like a ragdoll. Landing heavily on the floor, he rolled through the hit and slammed into the wall. Dazed from the impact, Natsu barely had time to look up and see Marlow directly over him, halberd raised for a devastating blow.

Elfman and Wendy cried out as they came at Marlow from the side, kicking and punching as they took him by surprise. Marlow grunted as he slid across the floor, keeping his feet under him. One hand nursed his side, a broken rib making him pause.

"We can't stay and fight," Wendy said to Natsu, voice raspy. "Erza and Juvia are in critical condition. We've already taken out the rest of the guild, so we should retreat while we can."

"As if I would make it that easy."

Konza had regained herself in the skirmish, her cheek swollen and bruised. She was kneeling on the floor with a lopsided grin on her face. On the floor in front of her was another leather bound book opened to its center. Natsu's eyes widened, the etherious pulsing with his heart. Instead of a demon or a mist manifesting from the pages, a single pulse of energy emanated from the book. It passed harmlessly through the Manticores and the Fairies, continuing on through the passageway behind Lucy and through the rest of the dark guild. When it hit Natsu, a sharp pain shot through his chest, causing him to gasp and clutch as his heart.

Lucy and Happy sat in confusion, wondering just what that pulse should have done. They were answered by a far off noise, echoes of shouts and cries coming through the hallway that lead to the main guild hall. Lucy looked over her shoulder, a sense of dread overcoming her. Gray cursed, hugging Juvia closer to him.

"We need to get out of here," Elfman shouted as he ran over and gathered Erza. "Before this entire damn guild comes crashing down on us!"

Sure enough, Lucy could already see the clamoring bodies of the rest of the members of Ruby Manticore come sprinting down the hall. But something was different about them – they weren't the same uncertain people that had greeted Erza, Gajeel, and Gray. They were ferocious, more beastly somehow as they advanced without fear. Everyone shot to their feet, Gray hoisting up Juvia bridal style. Lucy stepped forward and picked up the book that Konza had dropped. The leather was soft to the touch, the handwriting on the cover unpleasantly familiar. Natsu stepped in front of Lucy and Happy, falling into a fighting stance as he waited for the inevitable clash.

"Fear not, dear friends!"

A rope ladder dropped down from the same hole the anchor had, carrying with it Ichiya and the heart throbs of Blue Pegasus.

"We will hold off the foes while you all escape!" Hibiki proclaimed. "Take the wounded up to the ship, we'll be able to treat them! Alzac has already been collected."

Konza stared at the newcomers, hands tightening around the book in her hands. "No, no, no! This is all wrong!"

"Happy, get Lucy out of here now!" Natsu shouted to the exceed as he turned away from the oncoming horde of mages and mercs. The men of blue Pegasus rushed at them with more bravery than Natsu thought they were capable of. Instead, he settled his glare on the Manticore girl across the room.

"No, I'm not going to leave you, not like this!" Lucy stepped up next to him. Curse her raspy voice and watery breaths.

"I'll be fine, Lucy. I promise."

"Don't make promises you can't keep, Natsu." Lucy wasn't intending to sound mean, but the slight crack in her voice betrayed her worry. Natsu looked to the girl, to his best friend, and grinned.

"When do I ever? I'll be okay. Now go."

Gray handed Juvia over to Gajeel. "Take care of her. I can't run away while the man that did this is still breathing."

Gajeel took the rain woman's limp form and nodded at the Ice-Make mage. Swinging her over his shoulder, Gajeel and Lily climbed up the rope ladder below Elfman and Erza. As more and more Ruby Manticore members swarmed into the small room, the rope ladder pulled away back to the sky. Wendy and Lucy, carried by Carla and Happy, followed it. Lucy cast one last look down to Natsu before she exited.

Stepping up beside his companion, Gray focused on Marlow. The mercenary narrowed his eyes at the two Fairies, stepping in front of Konza protectively. The young girl was seething in frustration, grinding her yellow teeth as she clutched the book to her chest.

"I can't use my magic, Gray," Natsu said without looking at the other man. "But don't think for an instant that I'm asking for your help."

Gray coughed, but there was a small laugh behind it. "So I'm going to be doing all the heavy lifting, as usual. Is that what you're saying?"

Natsu smirked. But he had to admit, it was going to be hard to resist the urge to use his flames to blow these guys to smithereens. He would just have to manage – the risk was too great.

"Marlow, we're leaving," Konza hissed, tucking the book into her coat. The other master looked at her over his shoulder, nodding. Swinging his weapon in a mighty arc, Marlow blasted a hole through the wall behind them. Gray and Natsu dashed forward as Konza retreated out into the forest. Blocking their path, Marlow grunted as he quickly swept his halberd at the two men. Both of them leapt through the air to dodge, fists shooting up simultaneously to nail him under the jaw. Marlow didn't stand a chance against their combo attack. Falling backwards, the mercenary's eyes rolled up, catching the form of Konza dashing through the trees without looking back before he lost consciousness.

Natsu and Gray gave chase, a small crowd of dark guild members that managed to get past Ichiya and his men following them, but they were too slow. As the girl retreated farther and farther into the woods, the two men found it hard to keep up. Konza was incredibly fast, and the idea of catching her became out of the question. Natsu would have already thrown a fireball at her by now if he could, which only frustrated him more. Luckily, Gray was thinking something along the same lines. With a raspy shout, Gray flung a ball of ice magic ahead of him. It soared past Konza and exploded against the trunk of a tree. Rapidly spreading across the landscape, the girl lost her footing and fell forward, sliding on her stomach over the frozen ground.

"Gotcha!" Natsu grinned as he and Gray quickly caught up with her. Gray's labored breathing caused concern in the back of Natsu's mind.

Konza had a wild look her eyes, similar to one an animal might wear when they knew they had been cornered. Spinning around on her elbows, Konza scrambled backwards, away from the advancing mages. Small tears of fear formed in her eyes. In a last ditch attempt to escape, Konza shot her hand up as the two men approached her.

"Glass Make Scythe!"

Neither Natsu nor Gray were prepared. There was a shimmer in the air, then a large, crystal clear cutter with a wicked blade came swinging sideways at them both. It was too late for them to dodge. Natsu squeezed his eyes shut, waiting for the pain.

The sound of slicing flesh reached Natsu's ears, but he felt nothing. Opening his eyes, his heart nearly stopped at the sight of Gray dropping to his knees on the ground in front of Natsu. He had taken the full brunt of the blow, a large wound cutting under his arm and across his torso just below his pectorals quickly drenched his stomach in blood. Gray's eyes were wide, his husky breaths coming rapidly. The scythe shattered into a million pieces, like it had never been.

"Gray!" Natsu called out as he dropped next to Gray, letting his friend limply lean back against him. Konza, being ignored, flew to her feet and shot off into forest, living to fight another day.

"Shit, Gray, why the hell did you do that?!" Natsu sputtered as he removed his long jacket and pressed it to Gray's stomach. The cut had just barely missed the cross-shaped scar on Gray's hip – the one that matched Natsu's own almost identically on his other hip.

"Gotta make sure Lucy has a groom for her wedding, right?" Gray's voice trembled, no doubt in an incredible amount of pain. But he still managed to smile at Natsu. "She would kill me if I let anything happen to you."

Natsu gaped at Gray, slightly annoyed, but mostly touched by Gray's selfless behavior. Of all the people in Natsu's life, Gray was the only one who had repeatedly thrown himself in harm's way to protect him. What's more was that Natsu had repeatedly done the same for him. If that wasn't friendship - or even another form of love - then he didn't know what was. Natsu tried to smile back at him.

"Can't have a wedding without a best man, either."

Gray looked up at Natsu, unsure if Natsu was saying what he thought he was saying. "Are you finally asking me to be your best man?"

Natsu rolled his eyes. "Yeah, I guess I am. Whadda ya say?"

Gray smiled, his eyes growing heavy from blood loss. He barely managed to give his answer before he passed out.

"Hell no."

Natsu huffed a single laugh, knowing what Gray's real answer was. His ears pricked suddenly, the sounds of the Ruby Manticore members that had been following them growing louder. Natsu cursed under his breath; there was no time to come up with a plan. One thing he needed to do for certain was stop Gray's bleeding, and seeing as he didn't have healing magic or a first aid kit, that left only one option – he would have to cauterize the wound.

He had no choice, Natsu thought as he shook his head. He would have to use his magic. With a sigh, Natsu removed the jacket from Gray's abdomen. If he was going to risk using it at all, he decided, then he might as well go all out. It only took a few seconds for Natsu to seal the wound shut. Gray was far from being okay, but at least he wouldn't bleed to death. Tying off his jacket around the wound by the sleeves, Natsu quickly dragged Gray's body over to a tree where he would be at least partially hidden. When the dragon slayer stood back up, the first of the enemies had spotted him through the trees.

"Come and get me, you bastards!" Natsu yelled as he broke into a run.

Natsu's heart pounded with anxiety as he led the crowd of angry people away from Gray. His flames were holding for now, so at least this way he could get some distance between him and his friend before… well, before he lost it. All the things that could possibly go wrong rushed through Natsu's head as fire sparked to life on his skin and in his hair. When he felt he had gone far enough, Natsu spun and firmly planted himself to face the oncoming battle. As his fists flared with bright orange fire, Natsu gulped and readied himself. The dark energy behing his heart shuddered, waiting.

Natsu desperately hoped things wouldn't go wrong.