Set after Episode 175

Lucy was sitting up in her bed in the infirmary reading the book Levy had given her when the pink-haired dragon slayer walked in. It was dark outisde now and the beautiful city of Crocus was lit up by the moon itself. The battles of the 4th day of the Grand Magic Games had come to a stop after the Salamander's astounding victory. But, the only thing he could bring himself to smile about was that his best friend was OK after suffering Minerva's intense beating. He couldn't help the pink tinge that crawled onto his face when he remembered her words.

"Aren't you going to ask how it turned out?" He asked, coming to see her after his battle with Sting and Rogue.

"I already said, remember? I've believed in you ever since I joined the guild." Her eyes shining up at him with admiration and her cheeks were stained with pink as she spoke those words.

The blonde mage glanced up from her novel to see him deep in thought and she giggled softly. "That's strange" Her sudden words knocking him b ack to reality, "I didn't think the great Salamander could think so hard." She teased, placing her book down on the bedside table.

He gave her an angry pout then discarded the comment, waving his hand dismissively. "Yeah, yeah whatever. How are you feeling?" His face turning slightly concerned.

"A lot better, I can sit up without being in too much pain now thanks to Wendy and Porlyusica. What about yours? Did they treat you too?" Her eyes fell onto the bandages wrapped around his torso and forehead with a couple of plasters here and there.

"Yeah but I didn't have anything severe so I told Wendy to save her magic power." He flashed her a grin that she couldn't help but smile back too but his face aruptly fell from a toothy grin to a small smile, the blonde mage noticed this and her delicate face frowned in worry. But, before she could ask what was wrong, his arms were flung around her neck, pulling her gently into an embrace making sure not to hurt her but tight enough that there chests were pressing against each other. She blushed at the sudden hug the dragon slayer was giving her. 'W-What is he doing?'

Although her mind was asking tons of questions, she couldn't find the words to say anything. So she stayed quiet, wrapping her arms around his back and smiling softly into his shoulder, enjoying his warmth. She had always liked his hugs, even if she'd never admit it. They stayed in each others arms for a few minutes untill Natsu finally spoke up.

"Thank you."

His words echoed around in her head, trying to work out the meaning of his obligation. 'Thank you? What could he possibly be thanking me for?' She pushed him away slightly so she could look him in the eyes, holding him infront of her by the shoulders. There noses were almost brushing but she ignored it.

"Why're you thanking me?" The confused blonde asked, cocking an eyebrow at him.

"For believing in me. It really gave me the confidence to fight out there today." He stood up straight and grinned down at her, causing her to turn red and get all flustered but she was startled by a sudden smash of something getting thrown to the floor.

"STING! ROGUE!" A deep voice bellowed, shaking the halls of the infirmary, inturrepting Lucy before she could answer. The surge of the murderous aura that followed the voice was enough for the blonde mages eyes to widen like saucers and even Natsu felt himself tense under the extent of the power.

"WHO TOLD YOU TO SHOW SUCH A SHAMEFUL ACT? WHO TOLD YOU TO LOSE?." His voice echoed once more, the anger that was flowing out of this mans body was terrifying to the core. She could hear Rogue trying to reason with him but it was hopeless, his fury roared once again causing mages and nurses to run out of the building, she couldn't help but want to do the same.

"Jiemma.." Lucy saw her partners teeth clench as he growled out the name.

Fairy Tail's winning of the Grand Magc Games had put the guild in great spirits. They partied for weeks afterwards, getting drunk and making a hell of alot of noise for the other residents at the Honeybone inn. They were all about celebrating there huge comeback!

But back at the quild, the partys had become a lot more chaotic. Feeling the comfort of there home, everyone went into full crazy party-mode. Fairy Tail style. Even the blonde celestial mage that had never drank a sip of alcohol in her life had one sake too many and had ended up passed out under a table.

"Geez Luce, you really don't hold your Sake." The dragon slayer frowned down at his unconcious partner. "Guess I'd better take you home, weirdo."

He hooked his arm under her legs and wrapped the other around her back, carrying her bridal style. He made his way through the guild hall, dodging chairs and various other flying objects getting thrown across the room by the other members. 'What the hell?, everyone is completely wasted!' He thought as he ducked to avoid a pineapple coliding with his head. He turned and shot a sympathetic look to the white-haired barmaid, the only other person who was sober, currently trying stop Elfman from entering another drinking contest even though he was a few sips from dropping to the ground but was yelling something about being a man. She caught his look and gave him a warm smile, telling him that she would be okay. With that, he trudged back to Lucy's apartment.

It was dark as he walked through the streets of Magnolia towards Lucy's rented flat. In all the time he had known her, he had never one seen her drunk. To be honest, he didn't know why he hadn't drank anything. Usually, he would have been fighting with that ice basterd about who could drink more and it would end up in Lucy dragging his drunk ass back home. But tonight he just didn't feel like it, he didn't feel like doing anything really. He just wanted to lie down somewhere rural and get lost in his own thoughts, staring at the stars. He had been doing that a lot lately, sneaking out of his house during the night when Happy was asleep and go off into the woods to clear his head, always returning before dawn so his best friend wouldn't wake up and see he wasn't there. He didn't want to worry him. As he walked along the pavement beside the river, his mind drifted back to the 4th day of the Grand Magic Games, after he had defeated Sting and Rogue, up in the imfirmary checking up on his bestfriend. The sound of blood splattering againt the walls and the murderous screaming, cradeling Lucy in his arms as she cried in fear. Natsu hadn't spoke to Lucy about it and she hadn't muttered a word, obviously not wanting to think about it, but they had both seen everything..

-Flashback, Night of the 4th day, Infirmary-

All hell broke loose when the master of Sabertooth stormed into the infirmary room Sting and Rogue were both getting treated in. Their room happened to be right across from the room Lucy and Natsu were in at the time so they soaked in every little detail of the chaos that unfolded across the hall. They watched as he screamed at them both, telling them that he had no use for weaklings or losers in his guild and to get rid of there guild marks. The terrified celestial mage could see that Natsu was clenching his jaw and his fists were balled tightly and shaking. He was thinking about Yukino, about how this bastard was about to do the exact same thing to the dragon twins as he had done to her. 'Does he not even care about the people in his guild?!' His thoughts were screaming at him, he relt the anger rise. When she saw him start to walk towards the scene, she crawled over her bed quickly and grabbed his wrist even though the pain of her bruises jolted through her body. She pulled him closer to her and he saw the tears threatening to roll down her cheeks. "Please don't.." She asked, her bottom lip trembling. He could tell she was pretty scared so, despite his seething anger, he sat down on her bed as she leaned against the headboard so she wasn't in more pain, holding her hand to comfort her.

The screaming continued. They had heard Sting trying to shout back a few times but the anger of his master had him shaking like a timid dog "YOU DISGRACED THE NAME OF THE STRONGEST GUILD! YOU ARE NOT WORTH CALLING YOURSELF OF SABERTOOTH!" He smacked them both across the room, causing them to yell out because of there injurys. "ERASE IT! ERASE THE CREST OF THE SYMBOL OF THE QUILD!" Lucy was now crying, unable to bare what was happening. "W-What a horrible guild.." She sniffed. Natsu was mad. Very fucking mad. The only thing that stopped him from punching the shit out of their master was the fact that Lucy was now crying into his chest, wrapping her arms around his waist and also he knew she didn't want him getting involved. He held her tightly, trying with every fibre in his being to not burst into flames, the anger he felt was consuming him as he watched them get tossed around the room like rag-dolls. Rogue kept quiet, not bothering to stand up for himself or Sting, he new from what happend to Yukino that the master was not going to let this slip by. Sting spoke up to try and reason with him once again but was interrupted by a famillier voice, the voice of his furry companion.

"But master.. Both Sting-kun and Rogue-kun did their best." The brown exceed's voice was shaky because he was clearly terrified but he was going to stand up for Sting. "This time they lost, but I'm proud of Sting-kun. I believe that people can become stronger after a defeat, Sting-kun learned many things during this fight."

"Lector.." The white dragon slayer's eyes were wide as he watched his little exceed stand up for him.

"Who are you?" The masters voice thundered towards the small cat.

"Oh man, Master.. I'm a member of Sabertooth too, I have the crest right here." He lifted up his waistcoat, revealing the Sabertooth symbol on his back.

The master's eyes flared in rage. "WHY IS AN ANIMAL SPORTING THE NOBLE CREST OF SABERTOOTH?! VANISH!"

Everything that happened in that moment was a blur in Natsu's eyes. He watched as the body of the brown exceed vanished into thin air, disapearing.

He remembered hearing Sting's murderous scream, the frog-like cat crying in Rogues arms, the blood splattering on the wall.

Okay so this is the first chapter... Tell me what you think! This was pretty much just me trying to set the plot. I now it's pretty much everything that happened in Chapter 300 with a few twists but my story needs this to happen! The proper story will begin in the next chapter, where the Sticy all begins! (p.s, im sorry for any spelling/grammer mistakes, it took me ages to write this because i kept getting stuck so i couldnt be bothered reading it over!)