This is an Intervention

Natsu released a swirling vortex of fire from his mouth, completely enveloping the massive vulture circling above. The monster gave a hacking "CAWW" and plummeted to the ground, sending a giant puff of dust into the air.

Natsu took in a deep breath, the remnants of his dragon's roar sizzling out in the corners of his mouth. He straightened out of his braced stance and wiped the back of his hand over his chin, vein in his forehead pulsing.

"Alright Natsu!" Happy cheered. "You got him! Now we can bring his tail feathers to that fletcher and receive our reward!"

Natsu walked soundlessly up to the bird and grabbed one of its legs. He turned and dragged it over the sandy desert towards the road once more.

Happy watched him for a second before following from the air.

"Hey Natsu," he called. "Are you alright? You've been acting kinda strange these past couple of days."

"Have not," he grumbled.

"Have too," he argued.

"How?"

"Well… you've been sulking."

"Have not."

"Have too!"

Natsu let out a huff, "You don't know what you're talking about."

"Sure I do! I don't know why, but ever since that one day at the lake, you've been acting weird. You either look really mad or really sad. And whenever Lucy is around, you can't form a coherent sentence and just mutter and blush a lot!"

"Shut up!" Natsu glared up at him, cheeks pink. "Th-that's not true! I'm not acting different! Everyone else is!"

Happy didn't reply for a moment and they continued on down the road towards town.

The sun was really beating down on their heads. The heat was pissing them both off. Maybe that's why Happy refused to drop the subject.

"Not only you, but Lucy's been acting weird too."

"Don't go there."

"It looks like she's avoiding you, doesn't it? She didn't even ask to go along with us on this job. In fact, she looked kinda relieved when you told her we were leaving."

"Shut up!"

"Did you guys have a fight?"

"No!"

Happy scowled and flew down closer to the brooding dragon slayer. "So how long are you gonna keep lying to me?"

"Until you drop it and leave me alone!"

The cat sighed, "Natsu… come on. You can tell me. I'm your best buddy! I've been by your side my whole life!"

Natsu was silent for a few seconds before he let out a grunt, "It's nothin' worth talkin' about. It's not like I bore my heart to Lucy and confessed my love to her. It's not like I mustered up all of my courage and kissed her or anything. It's not like she completely froze up and then ran away sayin' some shitty excuse about havin' to talk to Levy about something. It's not like that happened…" his voice lowered to a near whisper.

Happy gaped at him.

Natsu rubbed his eyes with his free hand and chuckled, "Oh wait, that's exactly what happened. Stupid me." He cursed under his breath, "Stupid… stupid…"

"You confessed to Lucy?" Happy said. "Seriously? You did?"

"Yeah. And she completely blew it off," he muttered. "I'm so embarrassed… I don't know what the fuck to do about it. She obviously doesn't feel the same way. I can tell by the way she avoids me. If she loved me back… then she would be happy that I confessed, right?"

"Why didn't you tell me?" Happy exclaimed. "Something big like that… why wouldn't you tell your best friend?"

"Sorry Happy, I didn't realize this was about you…"

"You're damn straight this is about me!" Happy flew down and started beating on Natsu's head with his paws, "Natsu you dummy! I can't believe you confessed to Lucy! Argh you're so dumb!"

"What the big idea?" Natsu guarded his head, glaring up at the furious cat. "Why are you so pissed?"

"Because, Dummy," he flew around him, crossing his arms over his chest. "Did you ever think about how your stupid confession was going to affect our family dynamic?"

"What the hell are you talking about?" Natsu snarled.

Happy sighed, "Boys… they just don't know anything about girls these days…"

"Get talkin' or else I'm leaving you out here to roast!"

"Alright listen," he lifted a paw. "Now is the absolute worst time to confess your love and I'll tell you exactly why that is."

"I'm listening."

Happy started beating on his head again, "LUCY'S NOT READY YOU BIG DUMMY!"

"Gah!" Natsu pushed him away, "What are you talking about? You better start making sense now or else!"

"Think about it! Lucy is having a baby out of nowhere! On top of that, she's scared that either it or she won't survive the pregnancy! Now, her best friend tells her he's in love with her and kisses her without permission? Jeez, it's like I'm talking to a rock."

"It is not!"

"You're right, because a rock is smart enough to know not to do anything stupid like that!"

Natsu turned away from the cat and stomped over the sandy ground. "What else was I supposed to do? I love Lucy and I want to be with her forever! On top of that, yeah, we're having a baby. I know we didn't plan it and I know we didn't make it properly, but I love Lucy and I love our future baby and I want to be a family! And I want to have more kids with Lucy too. A whole mess of them! Thirty-three! I want all the girls to be as pretty as she is and I want all the boys to be as kind as she is and I want them all to be as strong and determined and funny and smart as she is. Even if they don't have any of my qualities, well that's fine because I love everything about Lucy and I wouldn't mind having thirty-three Lucy clones running around!" His voice lowered, "I just want to be together already…"

Happy gulped and flew down to him, "Hey, don't look so depressed, Natsu. It's no big deal that she didn't say she loved you back. I'm sure she was just so shocked that she didn't know what to say or how to say it. I'm sure she feels the same way about you though. How could she not?"

Natsu was silent.

"I mean, think about it. Levy said that only people with an unrivaled bond of love and trust can be affected by the fertility magic, right? And she said that even the ones with the strongest bond had to wait hours for it to work. But it worked on you and Lucy in the blink of an eye! That's gotta mean that she loves you! Or else she never would've gotten pregnant!"

Natsu rubbed the back of his neck, "I… I guess you're right."

"Of course I'm right! She's just confused right now. That's all. Soon enough she'll realize her feelings. I know it."

Natsu grinned up at the cat, "You're right! I just gotta be patient! I'll give her some space so she can figure it out faster. Then we'll be together, right?"

"Right! And we will all be one big happy family!"

"Yeah!"

"But you gotta promise you won't love the baby more than me, okay?"

"I don't think I can promise that, Little Buddy. What if it looks exactly like Lucy?"

"Well then I guess I can understand how I'd get replaced."

Natsu cackled, "Alright, let's finish up this job and get home! I wonder if Lucy realizes she loves me yet!"

"Uhm, Natsu?"

"What is it?"

Happy flew down to the ground and pointed at the vulture he was dragging behind him. "Wouldn't it be easier to just carry the bird's feathers rather than dragging the entire thing all the way back to town?"

"Oh yeah… that does sound easier," Natsu dropped the vulture's leg. "Alright!" he popped his knuckles, "Let's pluck us a chicken!"

"Aye Sir!"

"How's Lucy feeling?" Erza asked as Wendy closed the door to the infirmary behind her.

The little blunette sighed, "I think she'll be fine after she rests a little…"

"You look concerned," Gray observed.

She gulped, "Well… it's just that I am…"

"She seemed sicker than usual," Erza said. "Even after you massaged her she didn't seem to have any energy at all and her face was so pale…"

"It was different this time," Wendy admitted. "She didn't have spiritual blockages like she usually does. The baby's heart rate was incredibly fast and…" she wrung her hands. "To be completely honest… there was a moment when I almost lost them."

Erza's and Gray's eyes popped open wide.

"WHAT?" they both exclaimed, stepping close to the sky dragon slayer.

"Almost lost them? What do you mean?" Erza pressed.

Fear lined Wendy's face, "Sh-she told me not to tell anybody because she didn't want you to worry but… it was really scary! First, the baby wasn't getting any oxygen to its brain and then Lucy-san's heart stopped and…" Wendy held her head in her hands. "I was so frightened! Luckily it only lasted about a second before I managed to fix it… but…"

"Why is this happening?" Gray ran his fingers through his hair. "I don't understand. She was doing so well these past few weeks. And now all of a sudden…"

"I don't know for sure," Wendy said, "But I think it has something to do with Lucy-san's mental state."

"Her mental state?" Erza repeated, crossing her arms over her chest.

"Yes. Haven't you noticed that for a few days now she's been acting strange? Especially around Natsu-san. I think there is something that is bothering her. Her blood pressure is really high and her heart rate is elevated most of the time."

"Could it just be the stress of having a baby?" Gray wondered.

"I don't think so," Wendy shook her head. "It's bigger than that. Lucy-san's mind seems to be in complete and utter turmoil. The stress on her mind and body is equivalent to if she was expending an immense amount of magical energy. It's not healthy for her or the baby. She needs to stop. But unlike with magical energy, this kind of stress isn't something you can just turn off. It's also not something I can remedy with my healing ability or medicine. It's completely psychological and completely out of my control."

Erza sighed.

Gray glanced at her, "Should we have Warren contact Natsu and have him return as soon as possible?"

Erza tapped her bicep absently.

"No," she finally decided after a moment. "I'm not sure, but it seems like Natsu may be the cause of Lucy's sudden stress. Letting him see her might only agitate her condition even more. When she's rested up, I will have a talk with her. I'll see if I can find out just what it is that is bothering her. Then we will have a better understanding of what we should do next."

"Erza-san is right," Wendy nodded. "Natsu-san may not like it, but I think it's important we keep him away until we know for sure what's going on."

"Lucy," Erza said softly. "How are you feeling?"

Lucy blinked up at the redhead and then struggled into a sitting position, groaning. "Erza… what time is it?"

"Nighttime," another voice drew her attention across the infirmary.

"Uh… thanks… Elfman." Lucy moved her eyes around the room, "So… what's up? Why is the entire guild crowded in here?"

"It ain't the entire guild," Cana scoffed, leaning on the foot of her bed. "Master and the old guys and the Raijinshu and—"

"Why is half the guild crowded in here?"

"I wouldn't say it was half," Mirajane said. "Wendy, Jet, and Droy went to Porlyusica's home for a little while and Kinana is watching the bar—"

"Why are you in here?"

"Erza decided to have a heart to heart with you," Lisanna said. "Just the two of you, but then everyone else caught wind of it and wanted to listen too… and well, since everyone else was coming I figured there was no harm in also tagging along…"

"Gajeel," Levy said, glancing over her shoulder from her place to the right of Lucy's bed. "The banner."

Gajeel lifted one end of a long thin banner as Lily, in his combat form, lifted the other. Sloppy letters in bright red paint were scrawled across it.

"This is an intervention, Lu-chan," Levy said.

Cana let out a shrill scream and everyone stared at her with wide eyes.

She clutched a bottle of whiskey to her chest, breathing heavily. After a moment, she calmed and took another drink, "Oh, sorry," she slurred. "Just an irrational fear of mine."

"Intervention…" Lucy repeated, and Cana screamed again. Everyone stared until she stuck the mouth of the bottle to her lips and sucked like a baby on a pacifier. Lucy ran her eyes over the word on the banner. "Uhm… what is the inter…" Cana opened her mouth in preparation, "—the uh… thing for?"

"Your secret keeping!" Mirajane said.

"My what?"

"That's right," Gray nodded, arms crossed over his shirtless chest. "Normally we wouldn't give two shits if you were keeping something from us. But this is a special case."

"I don't…"

"You're not only hurting yourself, but the baby too," Levy said.

"I—"

"We know something is bothering you," Erza said. "Wendy told us that she almost lost you earlier."

Lucy gulped.

"If something is on your mind, you should let it out," Lisanna said gently. "Especially if it's really putting this much pressure on your mind and body. It's not healthy for you or the baby."

"We're just concerned about you," Cana said. "So stop being a secretive bitch and tell us what's wrong."

"We will help you in any way we can!" Mirajane smiled sweetly.

"Yeah!" Elfman flexed. "Helping is super manly!"

"How long do we have to hold up this banner?" Gajeel asked.

"Until the intervention—" Cana shrieked and shielded her head with her arms, "—is over!" Levy snapped.

"Perhaps this can also be seen as some kind of special training," Lily said, grinning at Gajeel.

"Gi hi," Gajeel grinned back at him. "The first to lose feeling in his arms is a pussy."

Lucy sighed, "There's really nothing that any of you can do about what is bothering me. I don't know what you expect to accomplish…"

"What makes you think that we can't help?" Erza asked, sitting down on the bed next to her.

"Yeah," Cana crawled onto the foot of her bed, crossing her legs under her and taking another swig of her whiskey, "We solve lots of problems every day! Like the problem of the missing rum cask yesterday. Who would've ever known that it was in my room, under the bed, empty, and unpaid for?" she shrugged. "The world is a mysterious place."

"Not that mysterious," Gray muttered.

Juvia approached on Lucy's left, "Lucy isn't Juvia's love rival so long as she has that baby as proof that she is not in love with Gray-sama." She sat down, "So Juvia is willing to do whatever it takes to keep that baby safe." She covered the blonde's hand with hers comfortingly, "Open up to Juvia."

"Yeah!" Elfman crossed his arms over his chest. "It's super manly to wear your heart on your sleeve!"

"We aren't leaving until you tell us," Erza said. "So you might as well spill it sooner rather than later. I know you're probably hungry."

Lucy gulped and leaned back against the bedframe. "Well… okay. I guess there's no harm in telling you, even if you won't be able to help."

Everyone moved closer to the bed, even Gajeel and Lily, still holding the intervention banner high over their heads, challenging each other with their eyes.

Lucy sighed and stared down at her hands, "It's just that… Natsu confessed to me."

"EEEHHHHHHHH?" the room erupted.

Lisanna rubbed her chin, "He moved much faster than I expected…"

Lucy didn't miss her murmur, "Are you responsible for this?"

"Eh?" her eyes widened and she waved her hands, "N-no! No way!" she chuckled nervously. "I'm as surprised as everyone else!"

"I'm not surprised," Gray said. "Also," he pointed at the white haired girl, "Lisanna was the one that encouraged him to do it."

"Gray!" she whined. "Don't sell me out!"

"To be honest," Erza said, "We all had a hand in encouraging him to confess to you."

Juvia nodded, "Juvia has been planting secret love notes from you in his mail box for several months now."

"And I've been stealing his mail and replacing it with naughty pictures of you taken without your permission," Cana added, finishing off her bottle of whiskey.

Lucy groaned and hid her face in her hands, "I can't believe you people…"

"But anyway Lucy," Levy said. "What's the big deal? Aren't you happy that he finally confessed to you?"

"No!" she jerked her head up and glared at her. "It's been driving me nuts these past few days! I'm so confused!"

"EHH?"

Erza frowned, "Wait… so are you telling us that… you rejected his confession?"

Juvia's eye twitched, "What a suspiciously Love Rival thing for you to do…"

Gajeel snickered, "Dumbass Salamander. Got rejected. He's the true pussy."

"Tell us what happened," Mirajane demanded. "In excruciating detail."

Lucy sighed, cheeks flushing bright pink, "W-well… he kissed me. And then he told me he loved me."

"That's not in excruciating detail," Cana pointed out.

"That's the best I'm gonna give."

"What did you do after he confessed?" Erza asked. "Did you turn him down?"

"No… I…" she scratched the back of her head. "I froze up for a few seconds… then I got up, said I had to talk to Levy, and… well… I kinda ran away."

The entire room groaned.

"Poor Natsu," Lisanna whispered, shaking her head.

"So not manly," Elfman agreed, putting an arm around his younger sister's shoulders.

"Lu-chan how could you?" Levy exclaimed. "That's too cruel!"

"What was I supposed to do?" Lucy shouted. "I… I don't know how I feel! It was so sudden and I was taken off guard and…"

"So you're saying that you don't love him back?" Gray asked.

Juvia's eye twitched harder. "L-love r-r-r…"

"I don't know!" Lucy gripped her hair in distress. "That's the thing! I don't know how I feel! Do I love him? Do I just think of him as a friend? I have no idea!" a sharp pain spiked up from her stomach and she winced.

Erza reached out and touched the girl's shoulder, "Calm down. It's okay. Take a deep breath and explain it to us slowly."

Lucy lowered her arms and inhaled deeply. She let it out and closed her eyes for a moment, counting to ten.

"Are you calmed down?"

Lucy nodded and opened her eyes again.

"Now… tell us what you mean when you say you don't know."

She sighed again, "I mean exactly what I say. I've never been in love. I don't know what it feels like. Natsu's my best friend. My partner. I trust him more than anybody in the world. He makes me laugh and feel happy… but does that mean I'm in love with him? I love and trust everyone in this room. You all make me happy and make me laugh until tears come to my eyes… but it's not possible for me to be in love with all of you, now is it? So how can I tell the difference?"

No one answered for a long moment.

"Wow…" Gray finally said. "Now that you mention it…"

"It's harder than you think, isn't it?" Erza rubbed her chin.

"What is the difference between love and in love?" Levy murmured. "There's gotta be a book on it somewhere that I could find…"

Lucy smiled, "I'm sorry. I know I'm being difficult, aren't I? I'm probably overthinking things. Sometimes I wish my mind was as simple as Natsu's. I envy him for the way he can just decide his feelings as if they were spelled out right in front of his eyes. But… I can't. And I've been stressing out about it for the past few days. I just can't seem to sort it out though. I love Natsu. But it would be unfair of me to claim to be in love with him when it may not be the case."

The room grew silent.

Lucy stared down into her lap, despair coating her mind once more. How am I supposed to answer him?

"Does Lucy miss Natsu?"

Lucy glanced up at Juvia.

The girl's dull blue eyes bored into her, "Does Lucy wish that she could spend her every waking and sleeping moment with Natsu? Does she want to hold him and be enveloped in his smell and touch? Does she fantasize about kissing and being with him in the most intimate of ways?"

Lucy's face turned red.

"Now this is gettin' good," Cana grinned and leaned forward.

"I… I… I…" Lucy stuttered. She squeezed her hands into fists and closed her eyes, "L-lust is not love!"

Cana leaned back in satisfaction, "She totally wants him."

"Lust isn't love," Juvia agreed. "But there cannot be a deep level of love without sexual attraction. If Lucy is sexually attracted to Natsu, then that means she has all of the qualifications of being in love with him. All that's missing is Lucy's agreement."

"H-h-how can I just agree? I… I don't know anything about love! I don't know what it feels like! And… I don't want to tell him that I love him without being one hundred percent sure! That way, I won't play with his heart!"

Erza glanced at Gray, "So what should we do about this?"

"Hm…" he rubbed his chin. "There's gotta be some test we can do to see if she's in love with him."

"Let's kill her," Cana suggested. "Then, at the last moments of her life, if she regrets never telling Natsu that she loves him, that'll be proof that she loves him."

"That's a terrible idea," Gray said.

"Let's kill Natsu instead," Mirajane said. "Then if she regrets not telling him that she loves him—"

"Let's think of an idea that doesn't involve anyone dying," Lisanna offered.

Lucy watched them quietly. How can I know…

"Let's lock them in a room," Gajeel said. "With a single slice of cake. If Lucy offers it to the Salamander, at the risk of starving to death, then that means she loves him."

"That idea sounds both familiar and also really stupid," Erza said.

"That's something Happy would come up with," Lily agreed.

"Let's read one hundred romance novels," Levy piped in. "If Lucy can relate to the feelings of the female protagonist or if she associates the male protagonist with Natsu, then that means she loves him."

How can I know…

"Let's have them do a lie detector test and if Lucy says, 'I don't love Natsu' and it says she's lying, then she loves him!" Elfman said. "Manly!"

"Lucy needs to hide under Natsu's bed for hours on end, thinking about her place in the universe," Juvia said, eyes glittering.

How the hell can I know…

"How about just a nice simple date?" Lisanna said. "If they date and act romantic, maybe then she will know for sure. That's the normal way you'd go about something like this, isn't it?"

"Oh my god Lisanna that's so boring," Mirajane scoffed.

"Yeah," Cana glared at the white haired girl. "Get out of here with that weak ass shit."

"I should sleep with him."

Everyone turned towards Lucy.

She glanced up at the Fairy Tail mages. "I should have sex with Natsu."

"That's a terrible idea and won't solve anything," Gray said.

"It's only going to confuse you more," Erza agreed.

"Not only that but it will also just confuse him," Levy added.

"And if in the end you realized you didn't love him, it would only hurt him more," Lisanna said.

"Worst idea that's been suggested today," Gajeel grunted.

"Don't do it."

Lucy bit her bottom lip and nodded, "I should have sex with him."

Cana let out a cheer and threw her empty whiskey bottle against the wall, "YEAH! TAKE HIM BY FORCE!"

Author's Note: Shorter than the others, but I'm satisfied enough to post it.

AAaaaaaand I'm off to my cousin's graduation. Yay! Free food at my aunt's house! (that's the only reason I'm going)

What do you guys think of Lucy's sudden decision? Do you say, "YES! DO IT! TAKE HIM BY FORCE!" or do you say, "Omg no, don't act rash, Lucy." Depending on what you guys think, I might listen to what you say in the next chapter. Heh. But I'll probably end up doing whatever the hell I want anyway in the end. So you know... whatevs.

Love love, kiss kiss, hug hug, you're the bomb diggity. There are some messages I haven't replied to, I know. I'm the worst. I'll try to reply in the next few days. Love you all! Thanks so much!

Love-Moo