Summary: lucy knew that everyone had inner demons, but she never knew that her best friend would be a demon, inside and out.

Series: Fairy Tail

Rating: M

Genre: Tragedy/Romance

Pairing: e.n.d/lucy, natsu/lucy

Note: I don't own Fairy Tail, nor any of the characters.

chapter one: reditum

It felt so nolgastic, being with Natsu and Happy again. Lucy had missed them both so much. She couldn't even believe her eyes when she saw them at the Grand Magic Games. And of course, they caused a scene, got arrested, and then got acquitted. Some old Natsu and Happy.

One thing that had baffle d Lucy was the fact that she was unable to sense Natsu's magic.

That was one thing irking at her. Regardless of how ridiculously strong he got, he was still Natsu, the fire dragon slayer and the son of Igneel. How could she not have known that?

But he was with her now, regardless. In flesh and blood. And they were laughing. He was telling her about this monster he beat up when they had first started their trip, just after they had met up with Gildarts, and how he had sent him flying.

Honestly, had he even changed? It would be weird after all that, him still being the same, but Lucy didn't really want that right now. She wanted to be with her best friend, she had missed him so much over the past year.

Well, she was wrong about one thing.

He had learned how to cook pretty well.

"That tasted amazing, Natsu! You need to teach me that recipe." The said boy looked up at her and grinned, patting his bloated stomach. He looked quite happy with himself.

"Do you think I'm a better cook than Mira, now? I could totally put her on the ropes!" He was still grinning. From ear to ear, the infamous Natsu Dragneel grin. She couldn't help but smile herself.

"You can't be serious. Mira-san's cooking is to die for, and I've only tasted one of your dishes. It could be a fluke." She giggled a bit and sighed rather happily, stretching out.

"Pfft, whatever. We'll see!" His grin faltered a little bit, but he didn't say anything. Maybe he was feeling insecure? Maybe he couldn't beat Mira? Well, it was Mira, anyone would be scared facing her—

"Lucy, have you seen Happy?"

"Oh," She looked around. No sign of the blue cat anywhere. She heard Natsu sniff and grumble to himself. "No. I haven't, but he's probably having a bath." He just mumbled to himself some more and tapped his fingers on the table.

Why did it suddenly get awkward? They both had tales to tell. Heck, why could she say anything? He—

Oh.

He did leave her and everyone else. She was a bit uneasy, although she had missed him and was happy he was back, she still felt a bit bitter about the entire thing. Maybe a part deep down inside of her was acting childish and didn't want to talk to him.

He was acting as if nothing had happened. Like he hadn't missed her or anyone. As if he forgot about all his friends and thought he could just come back.

She was about to speak up, but he cut her off.

"That was a dish I learnt when I was younger," He didn't need to finish. She understood. With Igneel, it was a dish Igneel had taught him. That was why he was acting strange.

There was another silence. This time, it felt uncomfortable.

Lucy looked around, her eyes darting everywhere besides him. Although it looked like he was busy drumming his fingers on the table. She followed up the rest of his arm and stopped on his bandage. He had been wearing it ever since she had seen him at the Grand Magic Games.

Well, he had disposed of the bandages he had on his legs and on his left arm, but not the one on his right.

She walked closer to him and gave him a friendly smile, resting her hand close to his own. "Say, Natsu, you've had that bandage on for an awful long time," "Do you want me to change it for you?"

She reached out a bit further, not noticing the alarm that spread out on her friend's features. His eyes went wide, and… flashed? That couldn't have been right—

He whacked her hand away, the clap echoing throughout the room. "Don't touch me!" Her hand stung as he stood up from his chair, knocking it to the ground, along with his free hand slamming on the table. Lucy stared at him in shock, her stinging hand resting close to her chest.

She hadn't noticed it, but she was shaking. She was slightly afraid, Natsu had never done something like that to her before, and he had most definitely never gritted his teeth in anger because of her.

"Tch."

Natsu turned away and stormed out of the living room, leaving the blonde behind to wonder what the hell had gotten into him. He had always gotten a bit moody when Igneel was involved, and she would have expected something like this close to his death, but not a year later.

She spoke up, and even though he heard her, he did not look up. "Natsu…?"

She gulped down, an anxious feeling fluttering in the pit of her stomach, and a sudden ache filling up her chest. Her heart was thumping against her chest so hard, she could clearly hear it drumming in her ears.

Am I hallucinating? She thought to herself, clutching onto her own hands. For a second there, I swear I saw—

There weren't anything on or behind his back now that looked again, but she swore she did see something before. It was only for a second, but it had blurred her vision. Even if it was just for a moment.

If anything, it had looked like—

Wings.

omg so i finally finished this chapter. there's at lease three chapters to the story, so expect more. but i would have finished it earlier but i have exams tomorrow (monday for me) so i've been studying. ugh. damn midterms. also, the genre might turn to M eventually.

update: since my school laptop doesn't allow me on sites like tumblr i couldn't link the artist, bit thanks to l1 who gave me the source, i can now say who the artist and the people who created the theory. the first three chapters are based on a comic from fairytailanddragonscales on tumblr - which you should all check out - but the theory is from little-dragneel and scam15o.