Lucy awoke wrapped in a weight of comfort. She opened her eyes blurrily. The sun had risen and was shining rays of golden light into her room. She stayed that way for a moment before her world settled into clarity around her. It wasn't her blankets that held her so tightly. Her breath caught as she came to realize exactly what was happening. A thick arm wrapped itself securely around her middle, pinning her to the bed. The events of the previous day came crashing down around her. Natsu was in her home. No. Natsu was in her bed.

When she tried to escape the circle of his arms, Natsu simply pulled her in closer and nuzzled his head deeper into her pillows. With his body pressed against hers, Lucy could feel everything. "Ugh, Natsu." Nothing had changed, not really. Except maybe before he used to have less morning wood poking into her thigh. Seriously? "Damnit, you pervert. Hey. Let go." She pinched the soft part of his arm, the sensitive skin right under the swell of his bicep. That got his attention.

His head came up, his eyes came open, and his mouth fell into a displeased O of pain. "Ow, fuck—"

"Don't even think about complaining," Lucy warned. The anger helped keep the hurt at bay. She didn't want to fall into their old routine. She didn't want him climbing into her bed and snuggling up like they were so much more. She didn't want to like it. It had been a year without a word from him. A lot of shit changed in that time. "Get up and get out."

"Lucy, wait." Natsu sat up straighter, the blankets falling down around his chest. He was bare—hopefully just from the waist up. He was still close enough that Lucy could feel him pressing into her. Did he have no shame? Her whole body flushed. She inched back just a bit, trying not to be too obvious. Natsu noticed and faltered. "Um—"

"Just get out. I told you guys not to come in here," Lucy said.

"Yeah, but I wanted to talk."

"And I told you in the morning."

"It's morning now. Come on, I want to talk to you about what happened last year."

Her heart squeezed with that old familiar pain. She scowled. "I am not having a conversation with you right now. Get out."

Natsu chewed his cheek and looked away. "Just give me a few minutes." Not to spend explaining, but calming down would be nice. It was hard with Lucy so near, he felt wound tighter than a spring. Had it always been that way? Now her scowl cut into him, that meanness in her eye both compelling and saddening.

"Wow, that was fast Natsu," came a chiding voice.

Lucy found Happy staring unabashedly into her room. She flopped back on her pillows, pressing her palms into her eyes. "This is not happening."

Happy was merciless. "You don't have to be shy, Lucy, I know all about the birds and the bees."

She peeled her hand back to glower at the cat. There was something scathing on her tongue, but Natsu grabbed her attention. He was staring openly at her tracking wall, taking in all of the pictures and maps and names tagged at different locations.

"What's all this?"

"Mind your own business," Lucy said defensively, feeling her neck heat with embarrassment. How pathetic.

"Is this... is this everyone's location?" Natsu asked. It was one thing to know that the guild had disbanded and another to see physical proof that everyone had moved on. And another to know that Lucy had been looking out for them, even as they went on their way. His heart suddenly hurt. "Why didn't you join them, Lucy? Erza or Gray or something?"

Lucy winced. "It just… it didn't feel right. Erza went chasing after Jellal, and Gray… he and Juvia took off…"

Natsu took his eyes off the wall to meet her gaze. There was an intensity to him that was just slightly terrifying. "We'll bring everyone back together again," he promised.

"They don't want to come back," she said after a moment.

"Of course they do. I told you yesterday, Fairy Tail is their home. It's their family," the dragon slayer insisted.

Lucy shook her head. "Natsu, even if that were true, they're scattered across the continent."

"We'll leave them a message they won't be able to ignore," the dragon slayer promised heatedly. He pushed the blankets back and stood.

"Where are you going?" Leaving again. Lucy pushed down the thought.

Natsu said, "I'll be back. Come on, Happy."

"Aye!" the cat crowed, glad to be included.

Natsu crossed the room quickly, exiting into the living room to gather up his clothes. Lucy watched him yank his new shirt over his head and hop into his jeans. His boots came next. He didn't even bother with socks. Unsurprising.

"Don't go anywhere!" Natsu chirped, pointing a firm finger at Lucy. There was another petty and snide comment on her tongue that went something like, 'That's your MO," but she held it back. A second later she wished she didn't when Natsu went for her living room window and pushed it wide. "Come on, Happy."

The cat hurried across the room, wings coming into existence, and leapt out after his friend. Lucy didn't check to see if he caught Natsu or not. The fall to the ground wasn't that far anyway.


Lucy, breakfasted and showered, had just finished dressing when her window opened wide. She squealed, she couldn't help it. It had been a long time since someone barged in through her window. She relaxed slightly when she saw it was Natsu clambering over the sill, Happy at his side.

"Hey," the dragon slayer said breathily. His cheeks were pink with exertion.

"There's a door, you know?" Lucy asked.

"No time." He jogged past her into the living room and grabbed his pack. He came back, moving faster than before. "Come on. Hurry."

Lucy's brows knitted together. She remained firmly in place. "What's going on?"

A mischievous smile befell Natsu. "No time to explain. Come on, Lucy."

"I have to go to work," she said as firmly as possible. "I promised Jason I'd write up on the match and—"

"I told him you quit."

She blinked while his words sank in. then she fell back on denial. "No, you didn't."

"He sure did," Happy spoke up.

The anger came in a hot wash. "You asshole, what were you thinking? Damnit." Lucy hurried to her closet and grabbed a pair of strappy sandals from inside. She better look cute if she was going to beg Jason for forgiveness.

Natsu looked over his shoulder to the grounds below. "You can be mad at me later, Lucy, but we really need to get moving."

"I'm not going anywhere with you," she said hotly. Tears pressed at her lids. "I worked hard for what I have here, Natsu. It wasn't easy starting again you know? I had nothing. No friends, no money, no job. I made a place for myself here in Crocus. You can't just swoop in and mess everything up."

Natsu winced. "Lucy—"

"No."

"Natsu, they're coming," Happy said.

Lucy swiped at her eyes. "Who is coming?"

"The military," Natsu explained in a rush. He actually looked a little worried.

"Why the hell would the military be coming?"

"Natsu did something naughty," Happy said with a gleeful laugh.

"Right. And they're on their way now. If you don't hurry they're going to arrest you, Lucy, to bring you in for questioning." Natsu was right in thinking that would get her attention.

"Arrest me?"

"As an accomplice."

"I hate you." the words came so effortlessly.

"Hate me on the road. Come on." He grabbed her hand and started pulling her towards the window.

"Natsu, my apartment—my clothes—my job." More tears were coming. She dug her heels in to the carpet; it was a losing battle, Natsu was stronger than he'd been before.

"Lucy—"

"I'm not going so you can just leave me again!" she erupted.

Natsu paused at the window and turned back to face her. His mouth was in an uncharacteristically serious line. "I won't leave you again. I promise."

Lucy felt her resolve withering; Natsu recognized it too. Stooping, he slipped through the window then reached back for her hand. Lucy's grip was loose in his, but she didn't pull away. She hated herself for that, too. And for that first step she took, lifting her leg over the window sill.

Natsu looked down the street to where a platoon of armed men was rushing through. "Take her, Happy."

"Aye." The cat levitated and grabbed Lucy under the arms. She was airborne in seconds, less time than it took her to wonder what she was doing. Less time than it took her to wonder if she was making a mistake.

From on high Lucy watched Natsu drop two stories to the ground. He landed gracefully, more like a cat than a man, and took off at a run in the same direction as Happy flew, using alleys and shadows to mask his movements. In seconds he was gone from Lucy's sight. The men in the streets raised their voices.

"There they are! Stop them!"

An arrow of all things soared inches from Lucy's shoulder. She cried out, surprised.

"Don't shoot, idiot, you'll hit a civilian," one of the guards scolded. Happy soared higher and Lucy missed the responding remark.

"They tried to kill us," Lucy said numbly.

"Well, they tried to shoot us down, anyway," Happy replied.

"What the hell did that idiot do?"

Happy flew higher still, soaring well above Crocus, and turned so Lucy could see the side of the castle where 'Fairy Tail' blazed down the side brightly.

"Don't worry," Happy assured. "The letters will burn themselves out. But, the newspapers will be writing about it. News will travel fast. Natsu's kinda smart when he wants to be, huh?"

"You're crazy," she affirmed in a voice that was just a whisper.

"He really did miss you, Lucy," Happy said, turning back around and flying faster.

Lucy didn't know what to say so she said nothing at all.


Twenty minutes later, flying over the train station at the edge of the city, Happy started his descent, aiming for a little used building at the corner of the property. He landed a little ungracefully, dropping Lucy to the ground and then panting, exhausted.

Lucy looked at him with knitted brows. "This is the worst harebrained idea you two idiots could have come up with. What the hell is the endgame?"

Happy shrugged.

"Where the hell is Natsu?" Lucy demanded, frustrated. Maybe he got caught. She didn't know whether to feel relieved or not. Maybe she could plead ignorance to this whole thing and the king would forgive her. Or maybe she'd say the hell with it and break the idiot out of jail using her spirits.

Don't be rash.

"Hey, guys," came Natsu's rasping voice. Lucy turned on her heel and found him in the shade. His cheeks and neck were red from exertion, damp with sweat, his chest rising and falling quickly. In his hand he held three tickets. "Come on, we gotta train to catch."

"I suppose it's too late to turn back now?" Lucy asked.

Natsu grinned. "I guess you could, but who'd want to?"

Anyone sane, maybe.


The train chugged along at a quick pace. Jammed into a compartment that was too small, Lucy clasped a vomit bag just in case. In all the times she'd ridden with Natsu in a moving vehicle, it had only ever been ships that made him truly sick, but one could never be too prepared, especially when one only had one change of clothes.

Natsu groaned in pressed his face against the window, closing his eyes.

"Why don't you try to sleep, Natsu?" Happy asked.

"Are you kidding me?" He groaned again, face paler than talc, brow damp with sweat.

When Lucy felt a small sprig of pity she decided that it was time to get the hell up. "I need to stretch my legs. Here." She handed the bag to Happy. "I'll be back."

"We'll be here," Natsu grumbled and breathed deeply through his nose. Lucy hoped he could keep it together. They still had at least another fifteen minutes until they reached Magnolia. Turning away she opened the compartment door. The corridor beyond was occupied by a man in a uniform. He was walking up, rapping on compartments. There was a piece of paper in his hand. It looked like a telegraph to the blonde. One with a picture on it.

A bad feeling in her chest made her stay just where she was.

"Afternoon, Miss," the man said when the compartment one down from hers opened. "I'd like to see your tickets, please."

"Certainly," the woman inside said. The man took the ticket stub she offered, looked it over, then said, "Thank you. And, this picture was just wired to us directly from Crocus. Have you seen this man?"

Lucy's heart leapt into her throat. She strained to see the picture, standing on tiptoe and peering as inconspicuously as she could. Sure enough, she saw a flash of bright pink. It was Natsu in that photo, she was sure of it.

Heart crashing, she turned and opened her compartment. "Tickets," she told Natsu and Happy.

Natsu lifted his head dopily. "Huh?"

"Tickets, you big idiot, and make it fast." Lucy held out her hand. Neither cat nor man questioned her, just handed over their stubs. Lucy took them and eased back out into the hall just as the guard arrived at their compartment.

"Good afternoon, Miss." He was tall with a sharp jaw, lively blue eyes, and a five o'clock shadow. At least he's handsome, Lucy thought a little meanly. She smiled her widest, brightest smile.

"Hello, Sir."

"Just doing a ticket check."

"Of course." She held out the three. "Here you go."

He looked around her. "Can you open the compartment, please?"

Lucy sweated. "Actually, my friend is really motion sick. She would prefer not to be bothered." Oh, Natsu was going to hate her for that, but she'd rather the guard didn't think she was travelling with two boys.

"Does she?"

"Yes. She'd really hate me if I let you see her like this. She doesn't even want me in there, that's why I'm out here." She smiled again. "You must see a lot of that."

He shrugged. "I guess. I really should take a look inside, though. Protocol."

"Can't you just make an exception this one time?" Lucy begged, really laying it on thick. Her lashes had never batted so much in her life. "I would really, really appreciate it."

"I'm actually looking for an outlaw," the man explained. "He defiled the king's castle. They suspect he's on this train, so I really should…"

"How terrible," Lucy said when she could. "It's a good thing we have men like you looking out for us all here in Fiore." She touched his arm for good measure, really hamming it up. "You're so brave."

The man stammered. "Well yes, I suppose."

"Uniforms are made for men like you." She would have blushed if she weren't so nervous. Like, seriously? There was no way he was going to buy—

"You prefer to enjoy your men in uniforms?" Apparently Guard Handsome wasn't as shy as she was.

"Whenever I can," she said with a grin. The very tips of her ears were hot.

The door down the hall slid open and another guard poked his head through. "Got anything, Ackles?"

Ackles looked to Lucy, torn, then handed back her tickets. "All clear in here."

"Next one then." The man disappeared again.

"I'll be in Magnolia for a few days," Ackles said. "Come find me. I'll be staying at the guard barracks near the Thorn and Thistle." He named a moderately skeevey bar.

"I'll be sure to." She squeezed his arm once more for good measure, then released him so he could walk away, wide shoulders swaying. Only when the train door closed at his back did Lucy relax enough to go back inside their compartment.

Both Happy and Natsu were alert and watching her.

"She?" Natsu asked, predictably.

"I didn't want him knowing I was travelling with a guy," Lucy said defensively.

"Well—"

"Natsu's just mad because you made a date with him," Happy snickered.

Natsu looked too sick to really defend himself. "Are they looking for us?"

"Yeah, but thanks to me and my excellent acting skills, you two idiots weren't found out," Lucy said superiorly.

Natsu relaxed some just as a voice came over the loud speaker. "Arriving in Magnolia. Magnolia Station."

"Let's get the hell off this deathtrap," the dragon slayer said, holding onto the windowsill tightly and praying to any god that would listen while the train ground to a halt.

"We should be careful," Lucy said. "Cover your hair, Natsu."

"With what?" he asked.

"Your scarf or something, I don't know," Lucy said.

Natsu grumbled but did as she suggested, covering and tying most of his hair back. Lucy fixed it around his ears, ignoring his closeness, then stood. "Come on. And don't walk so close to me. I don't want that guard thinking I'm a liar."

"Even if you are?" Happy asked.

"Not the point," Lucy replied. She faced away from them, feeling lost without anything to carry. She had nothing, no clothes, no money, and no bathing essentials. She was going to have to start from scratch. "You're going to help me replace every single thing I left behind."

Natsu grinned sheepishly at her back. "Guess that means you're staying with us."

"Didn't really give me much of a choice, did you?" Lucy wondered.

"I'll get you everything you need, Luce. We just gotta make some money first."

Yeah. No biggy. "I don't even have any cash for food." And she was so hungry her stomach was cramping.

"We can go fishing, right, Happy?" Natsu asked. There was a desperateness to his voice that let Lucy know he was scrambling to make things right. Some of her anger eased.

"Oh, so now you want to come," the cat said a little dejectedly.

"Just make sure it's not Wing Fish, okay?" Lucy said after a beat. "Meet me by the clock tower on the platform, and don't talk to anyone." Without waiting for a reply she grabbed the door and merged seamlessly into the shuffling crowd. Natsu waited a moment then followed, already tired of hiding. Happy trod at his side, narrowly avoiding getting his tail stomped on by careless steppers.

The dragon slayer lost sight of Lucy quickly, her figure getting eaten up by the crowd. It wasn't a dynamic that he liked. "You think I should write a letter and apologize to the king?"

"Yeah, maybe, if you think it'll help," Happy said.

It was definitely better than hiding and sneaking around, wasn't it?

The doors came into sight. Beyond them, the setting sun lit Magnolia in a golden blaze. The train station was packed with people filing off. Natsu kept his head down, gaze trained to the ground as he passed the man Lucy agreed to go out with. The blonde was there, speaking with him again. She barely glanced his way. Natsu moved past her. When no one stopped him the tension in his heart eased.

"You don't think she was serious, do you?" he asked Happy when they were clear.

"About going out with that guy?"

"Yeah."

"You heard her. 'Men in uniforms.'" The cat's impression was terrible.

Natsu made a face, bowling his way to the clock tower. "She's just prickly. She'll calm down." He hoped that his best friend would agree with him, but Happy said nothing.