Author's Note - Sorry this chapter took so long to be posted! Hope you all enjoy reading it! =D
Lucy ran as hard and as fast as she could through the dark forest. She had managed to escape from her captor not too long ago, and now she was trying desperately to stay ahead of him. She could hear him thrashing about in the brush behind her, and her blood ran cold as she imagine what he would do with her if he caught her. He had taken away her Spirit Keys, and so now she only had her brains and her wit to use as weapons against him. Too bad for him she knew how to think quickly on her feet. After they had emerged from the dark portal he had dragged her into, Lucy hadn't wasted any time in trying to find out just where she'd been teleported to. She just quickly jabbed her elbow hard into the asshole's gut, and then kneed him in his tender groin when he doubled over from her unexpected gut punch.
Being around guys like Natsu and Gray so much, had taught Lucy how to fight dirty when it was absolutely called for. And she couldn't think of a time more opportune than now, to use what she'd been taught.
Now she ran through this dark forest, where the portal had deposited her and her kidnapper. Lucy had no idea exactly where the forest was located; whether she was still somewhere near Magnolia or not. All that really mattered to her right now, was putting as much distance between herself and her pursuer.
Lucy quickly pushed her way through a thick section of bushes, and suddenly found herself tumbling head over heels down a small embankment. She almost bit her tongue while trying to keep any yelps and sounds of pain from escaping her mouth, as she slid all the way to the bottom. Her body was now liberally covered in small cuts and scratches, and her elbow ached where she'd smashed it against a rock on her way down.
Lucy struggled slowly to her feet, gingerly holding her aching elbow, and half-stumbled forward towards a shallow stream that was at the bottom of the small cliff she'd fallen down. She was immediately relieved to see the cool, clean water and as quickly as she could, she washed off as much of the dirt from her cuts and scrapes, so they wouldn't run the risk of getting infected. She also took a nice, cold swallow of the refreshing water and then quickly rose back up to her feet. She then stepped into the cool stream itself, and began walking through the gently flowing water upstream. If her pursuer was still close by, at least walking through the water would help throw him off as to which direction she went. If he was following her tracks, she had a 50/50 percent chance of escape, as he wouldn't be able to track whether she went upstream or downstream.
As Lucy continued to walk tiredly up the small stream, she began wishing fervently that Erza and the rest of her friends would find her soon.
She wasn't sure how much longer she could keep ahead of her pursuer.
~o~o~o~
Erza Scarlet was furious.
"He took her! The bastard waltz right into our home and took Lucy away from us!" Erza cried out in unbridled fury, as she slashed her sword down through a huge tree, cleanly splitting it down the middle with the sheer force of her blow.
Gray and Natsu scowled down at the ground, as they mentally beat themselves up as well, for so completely failing to keep one of their best friends safe. Natsu had already cut a path of destruction through the forest, that they had been able to trace the magic signature of the portal to. It was daytime, and they had been on the trail of Lucy and her kidnapper all night. They'd managed to find the spot where the portal had appeared, and found evidence of a brief struggle. Natsu had grinned at the time and crowed loudly, "that's my girl! Lucy made him regret ever laying hands on her!"
Wendy had looked worriedly around the area, while Charle had flown upwards and spotted the direction Lucy had taken off in, by the still-barely visible tracks on the ground.
"She went that way everyone! Quickly, follow me!" Charle exclaimed, as she darted through the air in the direction that Lucy had gone. Everyone quickly followed along behind her, with Erza moving straight to the front, her sword drawn and ready to taste blood...the blood of the basted who had taken Lucy away from her.
~o~o~o~
Lucy was trapped. She stood with her back pressed up hard against a rock wall, while her kidnapper Robert Fredrick Alexander The Third, walked slowly towards her with a smirk on his face.
"Well well, Lucy my darling. I will admit that your...feisty...resistance earlier took me a bit by surprise. I wasn't expecting such a fight from you. Do you know how many females literally throw themselves at my feet, just to be in my presence? And here I have you, the one female I actually want trying to run away. For shame Lucy, I expected better of my future wife," Robert stated, as he moved ever closer to a quickly panicking Lucy.
"Stay away from me, you sick freak!" Lucy cried out, as she look around in desperation for something...anything...to use as a weapon. She finally saw a small tree limb and quickly bent to pick it up. She then stood with the limb held out before her to ward off her pursuer.
"Take one more step asshole, and I will gladly stick this up where the sun don't shine," Lucy growled out, as she began waving the limb back and forth before her in an attempt to keep her kidnapper away.
Robert shook his head in amusement at the sight before him, and then allowed a smirk to cross his face, as he went to put his foot forward despite Lucy's adamant warning.
"Didn't you hear her, asshole! She said not to take another step!" a male voice cried out behind Robert, and before he had a chance to look to see who was there, a flame-covered fist smashed into his face, and he went spinning sideways through the air to land hard on the ground.
"Now, Gray!" an authoritative voice that Robert instantly recognized, as the one belonging to the harlot who had 'claimed' to be Lucy's girlfriend. He spat out a mouthful of blood, and began to rise quickly to his feet to use his time-freeze spell on them again, when he suddenly found himself unable to move. He looked down and saw that his hands and feet were coated in thick sheets of ice. Then before he had time to blink, he also found his mouth covered with a thin sheet of ice. He could no longer move or speak.
The red-haired woman slowly walked forward, her sword drawn, and a murderous expression on her face as she looked down at him, as one would look down at a particularly disgusting bug beneath their feet.
"You're lucky that Natsu got to you first, you sick bastard. I would have taken off your head with my sword, instead of just punching you," Erza said in a deathly quiet voice, and Robert Fredrick Alexander The Third finally had the good sense to realize he was out-classed and beaten. A shiver of fear ran down his spine when he looked up into Erza Scarlet's dark eyes, and saw the murder for him present in them. He'd only wanted to marry Lucy Heartfilia, and bring more wealth and prestige to his own name. He didn't want to die for any female.
It was perhaps time to cut his losses with Lucy.
"Gray and Natsu, will you both see about taking this trash back to the guild house, and having the Master contact the Magic Council to get rid of it. If I have to look at his sorry face for even one more minute, I might just kill him anyways," Erza growled, as she slammed her sword back into its scabbard and turned to the one person, she would have moved Heaven and Earth to have back in her arms.
Lucy had watched the events unfolding before her with a shocked expression on her face. But she now fully focused her gaze on Erza, who was now standing before her with her arms wide open, and the most tender expression on her face.
"Lucy..." Erza said softly, as she moved forward to gently embrace the precious piece of her heart, that had been so cruelly ripped away earlier.
A soft sob escaped Lucy's lips as she moved forward quickly, and flung herself into Erza's waiting arms.
Erza gently pressed tender, loving kisses all over Lucy's hair and face, as she held the crying girl tightly in her arms.
"I'm never letting you out of my sight again, Lucy. I will never run the risk of losing you again," Erza whispered fiercely into Lucy's ear, causing the Spirit Mage to clutch even tighter to her Knight.
"Never let me go, Erza...please...never let me go," Lucy cried softly into Erza's neck, before she slowly pulled back to look up into Erza's eyes.
Erza smiled down at the woman she held and loved so dearly, before leaning down and pressing her lips softly against Lucy's. A sigh of pure contentment left Lucy's lips, as her eyes fluttered slowly closed.
Lucy and Erza never heard Happy's cheeky comment of "she got kiiiiissed", or saw Charle gently whack him upside the head for his comment. Neither did they see Gray and Natsu grinning at each other, before high-fiving one another. Or Natsu kicking their prisoner in the back of the head for making an annoyed, disgusted sound in the back of his throat. And they never saw Wendy reach down to quickly retrieve Lucy's precious Spirit Keys, from the belt of the now-whimpering prisoner.
Lucy and Erza saw none of these events, as they were too busy reacquainting themselves with each others' lips.
AN - I really hope you all enjoyed this chapter! A special thanks goes out to everyone who read my last chap, and especially to those who left a review! They really helped me find that extra bit of inspiration that I needed, when this chapter was giving me a little trouble writing ^.^
Please review! =3
