I do not own Fairy Tail, Hiro Mashima does!
Natsu wrapped his arms tightly around the blonde, dipping his head down into the crook of her neck. He squeezed his eyes shut, blocking everything out around them. But the moment was short lived as he forced himself to take a step back from her, his smile growing sad. "I'm sorry to have made you worry, but it pained me more to feel you hate me more than it did to simply leave." His eyes flinched at the memory of her shunning him, refusing to even speak with him.
"Stop making bunny girl cry, flame brain." Natsu heard from a deep voice, causing Natsu to break out into a large grin before looking over his shoulder. "You know as well as I do that her crying hurts me as much as it does her." Natsu retorted, noticing Gajeel standing a hairsbreadth away from Levy. It was common knowledge that the two had a thing for one another, even if the two pretended they didn't.
"Tsk, you don't know what you're talking about. If it was true you would never have left." The Iron Dragon Slayer said irritably. He looked down at Levy, looking down to the symbol on her collarbone, a low growl emanating from his throat, as happened every time he saw it. It enticed feelings towards the small script mage, practically forcing him to admit his primal urges towards her.
Natsu picked up immediately on the reaction and looked where Gajeel had, his mouth falling open as he spun and pointed at the two. "You claimed her!" He cried out loudly in disbelief, causing Levy to blush brightly. Natsu pulled himself together and began to laugh, his head thrown back. That was of course before Gajeel smashed him in the face with his iron fist. Before anyone knew it, the guild had been thrown into another brawl. Lucy withdrew herself from the action and went over to sit by the wall next to Levy to ask what Natsu was talking about.
"What did Natsu mean when he said Gajeel claimed you?" She asked bluntly, leaning against the wall next to the short blue haired girl. Levy blushed even brighter, her words coming out in little more than a squeak. "W-well you see… Dragon's only mate with one person… A-and w-well…" Levy's words died out momentarily, but it was enough for Lucy to get the idea. The Celestial mage turned and looked out at the fight, watching Natsu's body move fluidly between his guild mates while she processed what this could have meant for the two of them. "Does that mean you two are going to get married?"
Levy giggled gently, touching the symbol tenderly. "No… not by the usual means anyways. This is deeper than that, for the best and worst reasons… Such as I know he can never be with another and I could never be with another. The magic prevents us from feeling any sort of feelings for any other being. Whether I wanted to or not, Gajeel will be the only man in my life." Her smile split across her face and she looked over at Lucy, "But I wouldn't have it any other way. Through the mark I can feel his presence, even before I can see him… But it has me worried about what he said about Natsu and you… Natsu shouldn't be able to feel your pain unless he marked you. But the way he is acting is as if he already had."
Lucy squeaked and blushed, shaking her head in response. "N-no… Natsu and I have never been that way… You know as well as anyone what happened between us." Her voice was low, remembering the time when she had turned him down, effectively leading to his disappearance. "Plus, there is no mark on my body, anywhere. I think I would have noticed something like that appearing on me." Levy and Lucy shared a small smile before they both giggled and turned to watch as the guild's fight started to taper off.
Natsu sighed as he flopped down on the bar, not even bothering to sit on a stool. His rough landing knocked over several mugs and discarded plates. He laughed and closed his eyes, soaking in the sounds and smells of the guild he had missed over the past six years. He could only smile as the years of longing he felt came to a point and suddenly vanished. He was home indeed, and this time he didn't plan on leaving again. He hadn't moved for what seemed like five minutes when he caught the familiar scent of vanilla walking towards him. His brow wrinkled when he smelt the distinct smell of lavender drifting in from another point of the room, growing stronger to indicate it was rapidly approaching. With a deep breath he calmed himself and opened his eyes to watch the two women make their way over to him, both looking as anxious as the other, the two women's eyes darting between one another and the Dragon Slayer.
The two reached him at almost the same time, both standing on either side of him; Lucy standing with her back to the guild hall and Mirajane standing behind the bar. Neither said anything and he sighed again, knowing he needed to say something. "How much do you know about the matings of Dragons?" He said in a calm tone of voice, cutting the silence between all of them. Lucy looked up at Mirajane and then back down at the floor before she spoke. "Levy explained to me that they are stronger than anything you could compare them to, but more animalistic. And that they are for forever and neither can break it."
The words cut through Mirajane like a knife, a sharp gasp being pulled in. "I never knew how strong it was… but I knew that Laxus was kept from the mating, but wasn't kept from his heat…" She explained in a low voice.
Natsu's smile faded from his face and he sat up on the counter, draping a leg on either side as he thought about how to explain it to them. "I met another dragon on my travels…" He started. "That is but the basics of the matter." He looked over at Lucy and smiled gently towards her. "It is true that when a Dragon decides to mate, and claims his mate that neither of them can escape it except through death. But I learned the hard way…" Natsu had to avert his eyes and look up at the ceiling as he continued. "When the mate denies the mark, denies the ability of the Dragon Slayer to continue its lineage, the Dragon takes over and forces the mate to accept the mark so no other person may bring happiness to the refusing mate." His eyes dropped back down to Lucy, breathing her in as he stared deep into her eyes. "Is it true that you have not been able to stand any other man since I left?" He asked bluntly, his voice sounding as if he wanted to die on the spot.
Lucy only nodded, not believing she could trust her voice. Natsu's lips peeled back over his lips and glared down at her, his black eyes piercing through her. "I can feel emotion you have felt for the past six years, and the mark prevents you from caring for another man as you would a lover. But that isn't it…" He said, his voice calming and his eyes growing softer. "While I cannot blame you for your feelings towards me, I searched for another Dragon, any Dragon, to show me how to reverse it. I searched to find a way to let you out of this problem, to let you live your life as you chose on that night."
Turning to look down at Mirajane, who now stood upon shaky legs with a hand over her mouth to prevent her from crying as tears rolled down her cheeks. He reached down and put a gentle hand on her cheek, comforting her, before turning back to Lucy. "And I found it. I can remove the mark from you, or at least mask your side of it. You won't feel any pull towards me, or have any pain from looking upon another man."
Moving off the end of the bar, he rolled to the side Lucy was standing on and slid a gentle hand up her cheek to help her look into his eyes. He knew what she was about to say, her emotions flooding his senses before her mouth even opened, but he let her talk anyways. He needed to hear the words before he continued. "What if I told you I don't want you take away the mark?" Mirajane heard Lucy say shakily. "What if I wanted you to compete it and show me exactly what you wanted those six years ago?"
Mira cried out, her hand dropping from her mouth and dropping her gaze so she could scurry off, thinking she knew that he had what he wanted. As she turned to leave, Natsu spun and locked eyes with hers, effectively forcing her to stay where she was. "I need you here to hear what I am going to say. I need someone I trust to hear this." He said while still holding her eyes on his, waiting until she nodded before turning back to Lucy.
When his eyes came back to the blonde in front of him, he grew sad instead of happy. He didn't want her like this, didn't want her to feel the way she did. "You don't love me, not like you think you do. You forget that I feel everything you do. While I may not feel every thought that goes through your mind, but I can feel the intentions and the need you do. This is guilt that you feel... guilt that you think you made me leave our home because of you. What you don't realize is that you didn't, you bring me more joy than I have a right to, just knowing you are safe." He dropped his hand from her cheek and grabbed her shoulders as he felt more pain ripple through his body. "I love you Lucy, and I always will. But until you find what you really want, it won't be me."
Using his sharp fang, Natsu bit deep into his lip to feel blood drip twin trails down the sides of his mouth, only to roll down his neck. Drawing a finger through it, he wiped it over her collarbone, on the exact same spot where she had seen Levy's mark. She flinched at his touch and tried to summon the words to stop him, but as her mouth opened to speak, he growled and snapped his sharp teeth down on the spot, sucking the blood from her skin, leaving a bite mark instead. When he straightened, his eyes were clouded with pain and his shoulders shook.
Natsu started mumbling something under his breath, but neither of the two women could hear until suddenly Gajeel and Wendy were standing there. Gajeel wrapped his arms around Natsu's shoulders just as the Fire Dragon Slayer started to sweat fire, fire dripping out of his pours. In the same instant Wendy ran a hand over Lucy's bite mark, feeling the extent of what he had done to her. With a gasp, she turned to Gajeel and whispered to him, her eyes wide in disbelief. "It's gone… It's really gone." She said before she saw Gajeel smile. "All male Dragon Slayers are taught how to reverse the effects, though it would seem this idiot had to find someone else to teach him other than his father." His blood red eyes turned to Lucy and nodded to her. "Congratulations, you are now free to do as you please. But I highly recommend you leave… NOW!" He said, yelling the last part, baring his teeth.
This is where Wendy came into play, grabbing the girl and dragging her away, still in disbelief of what she had seen. Lucy fought her every step of the way, trying to get back to the person she wanted to be with, the man she thought she loved. "Natsu…? Natsu…? NATSU!" She cried out towards him as his body struggled against the iron bands Gajeel wrapped around him. Every sound Lucy made, hit Natsu like a rock, effectively drawing the Dragon within him out.
It had been two weeks since Natsu had taken her mark from her, but his pain had only increased. Somehow, they had managed to hold him inside the guild, locking him into the infirmary by Gajeel's steel bands wrapped around his body and Freed's runes. A small grouping of people stood a few yards from the room, watching as Natsu fought against his binds. "It won't hold him much longer unless he takes control over himself." Erza said with a sigh. "Explain to me one more time exactly what he did Gajeel, maybe that will wake me up so I can understand why he would do this."
Gajeel sighed and leaned back against the wall, staring Erza in the eyes once more. "He reversed his mark on her." "And that means?" Erza retorted with. "And that means that he feels everything about Lucy a dozen times more than he has since he marked her originally."
"Then why the hell would he do that?" Lucy snapped, her arms snaked around her middle. "I didn't want him to… Why would he do this knowing it would hurt him so?"
Gajeel laughed and looked over at the girl. "Because the mark was forcing your feelings for him and he knew it. He couldn't force you to love him, so he took it from you. And it will keep bringing him pain until the Dragon decides that he has suffered enough for not bringing another Dragon Slayer of his kind to this world. If Igneel is really gone…" He said quietly. "Fire Dragons will end with Natsu." Turning, the Dragon Slayer walked away, grabbing Levy by the back of her collar and drug her behind him.
Two weeks turned into a month and no one knew what to think of Natsu, it looked like he had calmed down, but every time they tried to let him out, he slammed the door shut. She was all he could smell when the door was open, and it killed him to even think about her. He could already feel the anger she felt at him for doing this to himself, but he refused to do any more against her. They were no longer holding him, but he was not chancing at forcing her mark once again. His mind rounded itself at the thought of his so called mate. He smiled despite everything, he would always know how she felt, if she was safe, and where she was, and it would allow her to love again, to love someone without being forced into it. With a sigh, he stood up and walked out of the room, returning to the guild hall silently, feeling eyes watch him as he went.
He could not let it bother him, so he smiled and looked up at Mirajane, giving her a small knowing wink. "Fire whiskey?" She asked, forcing her usual bubbly personality to come out. When he nodded, she poured him a shot, taking one for herself. After they had both downed the shots, he turned to look around the guild, seeing how everyone had changed. Wendy was no longer a child, but a tall beautiful woman. One in fact, who stood next to Romeo, who had grown into a strong man once the six years had passed. He went around looking at every person around, noticing the differences of each of them in turn. His eyes finally fell upon Lucy, sitting with Erza, Gray, and Juvia off in a corner talking about what kind of job they were going to do.
"Everything okay Natsu?" He heard Mirajane ask from behind him, only realizing he had been staring at the blonde Celestial mage for longer than was proper, and spun around to look back at the white haired mage. "Honestly? No, everything is shit." He said with a sigh, "But I don't know what I would do without everyone here, their love, their presence…"
He didn't move until he felt a pair of arms wrap around him, pulling him back to them. He closed his eyes and let out a slow breath, breathing in the sweet lavender smell with a smile. "Then let me help you make it better… Let me take your pain." She whispered gently into his ear, feeling the heat radiating from his body pass through her body and stir up every emotion she felt for him.
Turning in his seat, he stared into her eyes, searching for any hint of hesitation in her. "I can only lie with my mate, yet you would still ask me such?" He whispered quietly. "I would take anything and everything you could offer…" She said with a sad smile, "No matter what that entailed, or who your love really belonged to."
Pulling the voluptuous mage tightly to his chest, Natsu leaned close to her ear, whispering softly enough that only she would hear him, not even the other Dragon Slayers in the room. "King's don't follow the same rules as the others. If they did, there would be no reason for a king. Dragon slayers are no different Mira. I am not allowed to mate with one person…" He stopped talking to let everything process for her, hoping she knew what he meant and why he had come to her the first night he had been back. "Royalty has to ensure its line, I will have my heir."
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