CHAPTER 1
Natsu jolted awake panting as he looked around the clearing where Erza was sleeping. He turned and found Gray standing off to the side looking at him before he turned back to standing guard. Natsu put his head in his hands as he calmed himself. It wasn't a dream, it was a memory of two weeks ago. one of the worst days of his life.
Lucy and the group had been on their 100-year quest, basically they were on the search for Aquarius' key but Natsu always made things so dramatic. They were in a battle with yet another dark guild, they had true monsters in this guild. They made the group push to their limits in order to beat them, but they were able to stop several from getting away and taking the injured Lucy with them. Natsu pushed to his feet to charge after them but his body gave out and he dropped to the ground. He, Erza, Gray and even happy were so injured it took several minutes before they could get back together to asses the situation. As soon as Natsu had the energy he went to change after the guild and Lucy only to have Erza stop him.
"You might be able to push farther than normal people but if you go running off and get into another fight even you wont make it." She said.
"I have to save Lucy." He half growled.
"At what cost?" Gray spoke up as he looked at the ground. "I want to save Lucy too but if we die just to save her what do you think she'll feel like? We need to get our wounds fixed up and then we will make them all pay and save her."
Natsu glared at them. He knew they were right, but he needed to find Lucy. "Natsu." Happy said as he moved to him, tears streaming down his face as he looked up, holding Lucy's keys out to Natsu. "Please." He cried. Natsu looked at him another minute before he sighed and pulled him to his chest.
"We'll find her together, Happy." He said as he looked in the direction the dark wizards had gone.
"We will find her." He looked over at Gray sitting to the side.
"I know." Natsu said as he laid back down and turned onto his side. Gray looked at his back. He knew his friend was strong, but he also knew there was a special connection between Lucy and him. He was lost with her missing and he was truly hurting from the loss. They needed to figure out what to do, after two weeks the path has gone cold. They needed to head back to the guild and regroup and get help from their guild mates.
"We'll figure it out." Erza said as she sat beside him. "Master will know what to do." Gray nodded at her as he stood and walked over to his sleeping spot to let her take over watch for the rest of the night.
It took two days to finally get Natsu to agree to going back to the guild, and another two weeks to get to the guild. The Master agreed to make a plan and do what they must to retrieve one of their own, but he needed to gather information and make a plan first. Natsu stormed from the guild to wander aimlessly.
"He's still blaming himself." Gray said sadly as Natsu left.
"He's taking this hard." Erza agreed.
"Harder than when we thought we lost Lisanna." Cana commented.
Makarov watched the door slam shut as the guild went silent and looked to him for what to do. "Master we have to go to war." Jet said. "We can't let them get away with any of this."
"And we won't." Makarov said as he stood up. "Mira, call all the guild members who are in the field tell them to be on the lookout and to report what they find. I'll contact the new council for their information and assistance if need be."
"Master, we're all behind you." Levy said as she wiped her tears away and stood holding her six-month-old son in her arms. "I want my friend home."
Makarov looked at her then around at the others in the room all looking just as determined, it took him back to one of the first real battles they'd had together, when Lucy had been kidnapped just like now. Only this time he had a furious and pained dragon slayer on his hands. He sighed and nodded. He had wanted to try to do this without risking families but as it seemed the guild was being filled with more and more with those families.
"Hey, old man." Gajeel stood and walked to Levy's side, their six-month-old daughter asleep in his arms. "Send us out. Salamander may have lost the scent, but all the slayers together have a better chance of finding her and saving her."
Makarov looked around as he saw every single one of the guild members ready for war. Even Laxus was ready to fight something. He knew he was defeated, there was going to be no real waiting for information. "Erza, Gray, Juvia. You will go with the dragon slayers to see what trail you can pick up. We will continue looking and any information will be relayed to you. Keep us informed on your situation." He looked over at Laxus who grinned and nodded.
"Got it old man." He said as he grabbed his jacket from the counter, sharing a smirk with Mira before he turned to meet up with Happy, Carla and Wendy. Gajeel handed their daughter to levy before he joined the others as she smiled at him.
"Let's go catch ourselves a salamander." Gajeel grinned.
"No." Makarov said.
The group looked at him confused as Gray sighed. "I'll go." He announced. "We'll meet you at the city limit." He didn't wait for any answers before he left to find Natsu, and he knew right where to go. He made his way to Lucy's apartment. As he entered he found it still dark, he walked farther in and to the bedroom where he found Natsu sitting on the bed looking out the window.
"Go away, Gray." He growled.
Gray looked at him a minute. He knew his friend was crying. "Gramps is sending a team." Natsu didn't move. "He's sending the dragon slayers with Erza, me and Juvia. That includes you."
"You won't find anything." Natsu said softly. "I wasn't able to find a trace of her, there's no way any of them will." He said angrily.
"She's not gone." Gray said as he walked over to sit on the side of the bed. "Lucy's strong, she'll fight back. She won't give up and neither should you."
"I'm not giving up." Natsu glared at him.
"Sure seems it. Running off and hiding, not believing in our friends, in Lucy-."
"I'm not giving up on her!" He yelled at Gray as he jumped to his feet, lighting his fists, ready to beat Gray's face in. "I'll never give up on Lucy, I'll always believe in her and I'll always go after her!" He charged only to have Gray flip him and use his ice magic to extinguish the flames.
"If that were true why are you sulking in here, hiding and just hoping she'll show up?" Gray said as Natsu climbed back to his feet. "It's like you don't even care!" He yelled at Natsu.
The flames burned hotter as he looked at Gray with tears falling from his eyes. "I care more than anyone knows!" He screamed at Gray who was taken aback by the burst at first before he looked back at the furious Natsu before he dropped to his knees, flames gone.
Gray walked closer. "Did you ever tell her how you really feel about her?" Natsu kept his head hung as Gray stopped in front of him and knelt. They had always and still were at each other's throats but they were like brothers. He had seen it from the beginning and he knew the connection Natsu had with Lucy ran much deeper than either let on. He was going to help his friends, he will help his brother.
Natsu looked up at him, tears still in his eyes. "Yeah, sort of." He said as he tried to stop the tears. "When we left… I told her we would be together forever."
"That's not telling her how you feel." Gray shook his head and sighed. "I'll make a deal with you, Natsu. I'll help you find her and when we do you have to tell her. Don't ignore it, tell her straight." Natsu looked at him. "We will find her, I promise."
Natsu sat back on his legs and looked at Gray. "When did you get so know it all?" He wiped his eyes.
Gray smirked. "When I gave up and just admitted it to myself that… I love Juvia." Natsu looked at him as he shook his head with a small smile. "Just stop being stupid and trust me." He held his hand out. "Let's go get Lucy back."
Natsu looked at him a moment before he took Gray's hand. "Right."
The two met the others at the city limit. "About time." Gajeel grinned.
"We're here now, so let's go." Gray said as they set off.
Wendy walked beside Natsu as Happy laid in his arms. "Natsu… I'm sorry I wasn't there to help. If I hadn't gone back for Shelia's party…"
"Don't worry about it Wendy." Natsu gave her a smirk. "You'll be there to help bring her back and heal her." She looked up at him. "Together we'll get her back."
"Right." Wendy nodded.
"So there's nothing out there at all about her?" Laxus asked as he spoke thought the lacrima to his grandfather. "There's no way a dark guild would do something like this and be quiet about it. It doesn't make sense."
"I agree." Makarov mused. "Is there any luck on your end?"
Laxus shook his head. "No, but we'll be at the spot they fought at. From there we can follow the trail Natsu found last time and we'll be able see where to go from there."
"Let me know what you find." Makarov said making his grandson nod before they closed communication. Laxus sighed before he stood and walked out of the little tent to get some fresh air. He walked to the small cliff and found Natsu sitting on a log looking at the stars. He walked closer and watched Natsu try to hide the keys he had laid out on the grass in front of him.
"What's with the keys?" Laxus asked as he took a seat on the log. Natsu pulled them from the case slightly to reveal the gold tops looking at them sadly. "They're Lucy's. How did you get a hold of them?"
"Happy found them after the fight." Natsu said as he ran his thumb over them. They were silent, Laxus knew how Natsu must be feeling, the entire guild had seen the connection between Natsu and Lucy so they all knew how painful this was for him.
"We'll get her back." Laxus said making Natsu look at him. "I'm sure you already got some talk from gray, and I'm not for the heart to heart. Just trust all of us. We will get her back to you."
Natsu smirked and nodded as he looked back at the keys. He needed to have hope. "Thanks, Laxus."
"Sure." Laxus smirked. "It's my watch, you should get some sleep."
"I'll take watch." He smirked. "I get to see the stars." He said looking from the keys to the sky. Laxus couldn't help but smile. It was his way of feeling close to Lucy while they were separated. Laxus huffed and went to get sleep but couldn't help the smirk. he knew if it was Mira that had been taken he would be feeling the same.
The next morning Natsu walked with the others as he continued to run his fingers over the keys strapped to his hip. The others watched him, knowing that if he caught any scent of Lucy he would take off without a second thought and no one would be able to stop him. When they came to the spot Natsu stopped in his tracks.
"This is the place?" Wendy asked looking around.
"Yeah." Gray said as he watched the new comers looked around, the dragon slayers all trying to find signs that normal humans would never have gotten. He waited as Juvia stood beside him looking round, waiting for her to start asking countless questions. She gasped making him follow her sight to see Natsu standing to the side shaking, the rage pouring off him. He stomped a foot and flames surrounded his feet as he lit his fists. "Damn it. Natsu!" He yelled making everyone look over as Natsu tried to take off. Gajeel and Laxus right behind him. "That idiot!" Gray yelled.
Erza sighed and shook her head. "Love makes you do stupid things. You should know this already, Gray." She said as he looked at her. "Follow his trail, he may be an idiot but between him and the other's we will find the trail again. And we will follow them in to destroy the scum who took one of our family."
"Obviously they don't know what you did to the guild that tried to take Lucy last time." Juvia said with a small smile making the two smile at her while Wendy looked confused.
"They're completely gone." Happy said looking at the direction the three slayers had gone.
"Then we better get started." Wendy smiled as she sniffed the air and started following the trail they left behind. They caught them at the place Natsu had lost the trail last time.
"It completely vanishes." Laxus said as he and Gajeel looked around, looking for any information that could help. "No scent, no steps, no magic…"
"I searched for everything and came up empty. There was nothing here, they just vanished." Natsu said as he looked at the ground.
"They can't have just vanished into thin air." Wendy said walking to his side. "Let me see." She said as she stepped forward putting her hands together and taking a deep breath before she let her magic flow out and all around them. The wind whipped around them, getting stronger and stronger. "Got it!" She yelled as she put her hand on the ground and the wind wore away at the ground before dying down.
"What's that?" Gajeel asked as everyone walked over to Wendy.
"It's an entry. With my wind magic I can feel where the earth is worn away and altered." She smiled as she explained her magic.
"But there would be a scent trail or magic." Gajeel said.
"Unless they have someone who's able to use wind magic. There's a spell Shelia taught me that you can erase certain things. Only another with wind magic can detect it." She explained.
"You're a genius." Natsu said with a smile Erza and Gray hadn't seen since Lucy was with them. They smirked at each other as he got excited and hopeful again.
"Let's get Lucy back." Erza said with a smirk. "Gajeel can you break that open?"
Gajeel grinned before he started attacking the slab of stone. Laxus smirked before he sent electricity to slam into the stone as Gajeel attacked again making it shatter. "Let's get your girl back." Gajeel told Natsu who looked at him. Gajeel grinned as Erza led the group into the entrance. Natsu gave a small smirk then jumped in with the rest of the group following him.
They walked down steep stairs and through a series of tunnels. Natsu grinned as he caught Lucy's scent and then the scent of her blood hit him. His anger grew, and he wanted to tear apart every single one of those mages limb from limb. A hand on his shoulder stopped him from charging off. He looked over and found Gray who smirked at him before they all moved a bit faster.
"There's a light." Wendy said happily, glad to finally be making it out of the darkness. "I just hope we don't run into any trouble as soon as we get through there."
"It sure will confuse them though." Carla said as Happy nodded, both staying back, knowing they wouldn't be much help in this fight.
"Yes, that would be interesting." Erza smiled as Natsu charged ahead with the others close behind. As they entered the light they stopped and looked around as Natsu searched for Lucy's scent stopping as they found blood splattered on the floor. "Is that…?"
"Lucy's." Gajeel growled as everyone felt their fear and anger grow. Natsu took off making the others follow up the stairway until they came to an atrium. The walls covered in books windows all around the top of the room to let the light flow in. the group stopped and looked around. Natsu's glare scanned the room before he was off, slamming through the walls.
"Hey!" Laxus yelled. "don't go crashing through stuff! They're going to hear you!" It was too late Natsu was still running straight through the walls. "Are you even listening?!"
"He never listens." Gray said as he glared the way Natsu had gone. "We better go after him, he's probably pulled the entire place after him." Erza nodded as they all followed them.
"Happy Carla, stay back." Erza told them and watched both exceeds nod as they slowed slightly to fly behind the group. They ran down the path Natsu had left.
"I'll burn you to ashes!" Natsu screamed as they came to the end, seeing Natsu engulfed in flames as he sent them exploding. Mages screamed as they were thrown into the air and away. Erza watched as the others immediately jumped to action.
She gasped as she caught sight of Lucy hanging, her wrists chained above her head, her clothes in tatters, covered in blood. "Happy, Carla, get Lucy." The two nodded as she joined the others fighting the mages and getting revenge for what they had done to one of their comrades.
"Lucy. Lucy wake up." They heard as the team fought on. Natsu turned and ran over, dropping at her side. Happy cried as he continued to try to wake her up.
"Lucy." Natsu said softly as the others continued to fight on. "Lucy, come on. Open your eyes. Lucy." He felt his tears falling from his eyes. "Lucy…" He pulled her tight to him, crying, begging her to wake up.
"Na…tsu…" He gasped and looked down at her as she struggled to open her eyes and look at him. "Natsu… is that…you?" She whispered.
"Lucy…" He whispered before he grinned wide at her. "Yeah, it's me."
She smiled at him. "Good." She sighed and slowly reached up to place her hand on his cheek. "I knew…. You'd come… to save me."
Natsu smiled at her and nodded. "I told you, we'll always be together. Forever."
She laughed softly, and she nodded. "Forever." She paused before she looked sadly. "My keys…"
Natsu smiled and held up the little pouch. "Happy found them." He watched as she cradled them to her chest and smiled at him. The attacks slowed down before Wendy and Juvia were at their side. "Guys…" She said before she passed out in Natsu's arms.
"I can heal her." Wendy said as she started using her dragon slayer healing magic.
"Get her out of here!" Erza called over her shoulder as more mages attacked.
"Juvia, help Natsu." Gray said as he ran farther into the fray of battle. Juvia looked at him a moment longer before she nodded and did as he had asked as she watched Natsu pull Lucy back into his arms.
Natsu stood as Happy, Carla and Wendy readied to run as soon as Erza opened the path back to the way they came. "She's as good as I can get her until we get out of this place." Wendy told him making him nod as she stood at his side.
"Let's go." He said as he tightened his grip on Lucy. Erza began the barrage on the path as Juvia and Wendy added their techniques together to hold the path open as Natsu charged through. He made his way down the stairs, and back down the halls and tunnels back to the opening. Natsu laid Lucy on the ground off to the side to let Wendy continue to heal her.
"Natsu." Happy said as he saw Natsu start back towards the opening. "Where are you going?"
"To help the others." He said as he hit his fist to his palm.
"But what about Lucy?" He asked looking back at the unconscious mess that was Lucy.
Natsu knelt and put his hand on Happy's head. "Happy, I need you to do something really important." Happy looked up at him with tears in his eyes. "I need you to help Wendy take care of Lucy. Don't let anything get to them while Wendy's healing Lucy. Can you do that for me?"
"Aye!" Happy said wiping his eyes and sniffling. "I'll keep them safe."
Natsu grinned at him. "Thanks, Happy." Happy smiled at him as Natsu started back to the opening.
"I'm going with Natsu, Gray may need me." Juvia said as she stood up, but she stopped and looked at Wendy.
"We'll be okay." She smiled before Juvia and Natsu left to help their friends finish the fight and get back out.
Happy watched as Wendy worked on healing Lucy, to keep her from dying. "Well, well, well. Look what we have here?" A deep voice rumbled making Happy and Wendy gasp and look over to a tall many with black hair and a messy white stripe in the front. He grinned evilly at them. "Looks like the pet's out of the cage and brought some new toys."
Wendy turned ready to fight but Happy stepped forward. "Keep healing Lucy." He said. "I might not have powers like everyone in the guild, but I promised Natsu that I wouldn't let anything happen to Lucy. I won't let him through."
"Happy…" Wendy whispered before Happy opened his wings and charged at the man who just laughed at him. Happy glared as he spun around the man swinging his tiny paws and hitting when he could before flying off. He knew he wouldn't do damage or stop the man but if he could just keep him away from Lucy he could give the others time to get back. Give Natsu time to get back.
"I won't let you go near Lucy!" he screamed as he continued his barrage.
It was ten minutes before two more dark mages arrived. Happy was beaten and slowly standing up again. "Happy…"
"No, Wendy, save Lucy." Wendy looked at him worried but continued to heal.
It wasn't long before Happy was thrown hard into the ground. "Now stay down!"
"No… I have to… protect Lucy…" Happy cried as the mages started towards Wendy and Lucy.
Wendy turned, sending slices of wind at the mages. "Open…" She heard making her glanced at Lucy as she rolled onto her side, trying to push up, barely managing to lean on an elbow. "Gate of the…lion."
"Lucy!" Loke said worried as he knelt beside her. "We couldn't get through using Natsu's magic and we had to wait for you to wake up. I'm so sorry." He said as he watched her lay back on her back.
"It's okay… just… save Happy. Please." She said softly before Loke looked over as one mage went to fire lightning at the injured cat. He gave a nod and was off, attacking the mages. He was able to collect Happy into one arm, but the mages started ganging up on him. "Open… gate of the maiden." Lucy whispered. Wendy turned back to her.
"Lucy, you can't-." Loke called, worried.
"Do it." She said with a smile as he and Virgo nodded before going full force attacking the mages.
"I've got a little trick of my own." One grinned as he knelt next to a puddle. Lucy's eyes went wide, it couldn't be. "Open, gate of the water barer." He said and laughed as Aquarius appeared with chains around her neck and her fighting spirit not looking as fiery.
"What did you… do to Aquarius?" She asked as she tried to get up again.
"She needed some manors." He grinned. "Now, show them those powers of yours before you make me mad."
"I'm sorry." Aquarius said before she attacked Loke and Virgo.
"Loke, you have to free her!" Lucy screamed as he shifted his stance, it was time to become even more serious. He stopped at her side and handed her Happy who had passed out.
"I will." He told her before he was off. "Virgo! Let's go!" She nodded and it was as if the two had suddenly accessed those powers of being unbound as they fought.
"Lu..cy…" Happy whined as he tried to open his eyes.
"it's okay Happy." She smiled softly. "Wendy, I'll be okay, can you heal Happy?" Wendy nodded, keeping an eye on the fight behind her. "Loke and Virgo won't lose."
After several minutes they were down to the mage with Aquarius' key. Loke and Virgo were almost at their limits as was Lucy but they all struggled to stay focused. Wendy healed them before she turned and joined the fight, but Aquarius wasn't letting anyone through the defenses with threats of being hurt even more. Wendy managed to break through and attack the Mage only to be met with a face shot of lightning making her cry out and drop to the ground.
"You can't beat me!" He roared. Loke was on one knee as Virgo struggled to stay on her feet. Lucy had curled up on her side, curling around Happy to keep him safe from any attacks that might reach them.
Another attack. "I'm sorry princess." Virgo disappeared. Another double attack and Loke was on the ground apologizing to Lucy before he disappeared. Wendy was shot with more lightning as she tried to stand back up.
"Fire." They heard. "Dragon… roar!"
"Iron dragon roar!"
"Lighting dragon jaws!" They heard before and explosion wrapped around the mage and burst outward. Lucy tightened her grip around Happy, Wendy ducked her head as the debris cleared.
"You good, kid?" Gajeel asked as he knelt beside Wendy.
"Yeah, I think so." She nodded as she winced at the pain shooting through her body. "Lucy…"
"I think she's alright." Gray said as he knelt beside her and they looked over as Natsu helped her sit up, leaning against him.
"Happy…" Lucy said sadly. "He tried to keep all three away."
"I'm sorry… I failed…" Happy started to cry.
Natsu shook his head. "No, you didn't you kept Lucy safe until I got back." He smiled. "You did good." Happy gave a small smile and passed back out. "Lucy, are you okay?"
"I'll be okay now that you're here." She said as she rested into him letting sleep take over.
"We'll let the new council take care of what we left." Erza said as everyone walked over.
Natsu looked up at Wendy who was in Gajeel's arms. "How's Wendy?" He asked concerned.
"She'll be fine after some sleep and healing once we get back." Gray said as he knelt beside Natsu and looked at Lucy and Happy. "He put up quite the fight, Wendy said." He smirked and gently took the unconscious cat into his arms.
Erza looked at the team and sighed. "Let's start our walk back to the guild. We'll stop for the night at that clearing and rest." They all nodded and started towards the last stop they had made.
Four days later Lucy jolted awake. She looked around and found the one person who took the nightmares away, gone from the circle. Over the last four days Wendy had been able to heal most of her injuries, but she could do nothing of the nightmares she was plagued with whenever she slept. She sighed in relief that once again she had awoken without waking any of the others. Slowly and quietly she climbed from her little sleeping spot and walked in the direction she knew her dragon slayer was sitting. He glanced over his shoulder with a smirk as she came through the tree line. He knew she was coming, probably from the time she climbed from the blankets.
"Hey." She said softly as she walked over and sat beside him giving a small smile seeing Happy curled up in a little blanket in front of Natsu.
"You have another nightmare?" He asked looking at her curious. She gave a small nod. "You want to talk about it?" She shook her head and he nodded. He would push and test her patience and get on his nerves, but he would never break her boundaries and force her.
She could feel his eyes on her. "Sorry." She said as she glanced at him.
He shook his head. Looking at her beside him made him remember his deal with Gray. He had made a deal with him and he wasn't going to back out after he worked so hard to help save her. "Listen, I want to tell you something." She looked at him curious, waiting for a stupid speech or some silly declaration. "I made a deal with Gray."
"A deal?" She looked confused.
He nodded. "He said he would help me save you, but I had to…" He paused looking away and she waited patiently. "To tell you… the truth." He turned his eyes back on her as she looked confused. "When we left on this quest… I said we would be together forever." He turned to face her a little more. "I really meant that." She gave a small smile as she listened patiently to him talking. "I… I love you, Lucy." She gasped and looked at him surprised as he shook his head. "I didn't have the guts to tell you, I wanted to though. And it was part of mine and Happy's plan for after that war, part of our reason for living." He gave a worried smile as he looked from the sleeping Happy to her then away, afraid of what she would think or say.
"Hey, Natsu?" He looked at her waiting to hear her shoot him down. She blushed and looked down at her hands in her lap. "I love you too." She glanced up at his shocked face. She blushed even more as she saw a tint cross his face and he grinned.
"So… you really love me?" Natsu asked.
Lucy nodded. "I love you Natsu." He looked in her eyes as she blushed even more. Suddenly his lips were on hers. She was surprised but it only took her a moment to melt into the kiss. He gently touched her cheek as she reached up touching his as they parted slightly and looked at each other. They couldn't help the bright smiles before they kissed again parting with smiles and blushes. Lucy looked over at Happy as he whimpered in his sleep.
"He had a nightmare." Natsu said sadly. "He didn't want to bother you, so he came over here." He said softly as he watched Lucy gently reach out. She carefully picked Happy up and cradled him in her arms. Natsu watched her a minute as she cared for Happy before he wrapped his arm around her, pulling her closer with a slight squeak. "You need to get sleep too." He leaned back against the log letting her lay beside him using his chest as a pillow.