It was the fourth day in a row that Lucy left school with a smile.

It still hurt, of course, when she saw Lisanna's empty desk, or unconsciously turned around to tell her something funny, but at least now she had something to look forward to when the bell rang.

The last days had gone by in a rush.

Before she had bought the take-away-ramen (which quickly claimed number 'at least 1' of Natsu's ever-growing list of delicious earth-food) on that fateful Saturday, she had slipped into a clothing store not too far from her home. Now Natsu was in possession of a pair of grey sweatpants aswell as two t-shirts, one black and one white - and both men's wear.

He had taken a real liking to the cat-shirt though. Only when Lucy had demanded he must take it off because it had to be washed did he change into one of his new ones. He had even given the cat a nickname: Happy Junior. A strange name, but somehow very Natsu. So most of the time he only wore his beloved shirt and the sweatpants. It made him look so… normal. So human.

She wondered how she was supposed to get his clothes washed without raising suspicion, but more so she worried about the coming day. Every Friday morning, the whole house was cleaned, and she was pretty sure Spetto would suffer a heartattack if she found a boy hiding out in her room. But how could she hide him elsewhere? She'd probably have to try to smuggle him out of the house somehow. Maybe she could rent him a room in a hostel? The thought of what he might do in a world which he was not accustomed to at all made her shudder, especially since she had learned how rash and impulsive he could be at times. Most of the time. He'd probably go around in his catshirt and tell everybody he was a fairy, while innocently stealing food from supermarkets. She grinned to herself.

"Suzuki Lucy."

Lucy slowly stopped in her tracks. For a moment, she considered just walking on, but then she reluctantly turned around.

"All alone, huh? Can't your father change something about that? Well, I suppose money can't buy friends."

When the girl did not receive an answer, she went on.

"Ah, wait, he's not even your real father, eh. He picked you. Well, aren't you a lucky girl. Lucky Lucy." She drawled out the last words.

"Leave me alone."

"Ok, ok. I'll do what the princess wants." She walked towards Lucy now, her skirt blowing in the wind. Her fringe was slightly too long, and she had to keep strands of brown hair from covering her eyes every few seconds. There was enough place on the broad sidewalk, but she passed right by, brushing her arm against Lucy's. Then, sweet as sugar:

"See you tomorrow."

The rest of the way home, Lucy walked quickly, not paying much attention to the world busily going on around her.

Most people in the school simply avoided her. It wasn't that they didn't like her; they never even tried to get to know her. It was because of her father, of course, his wealth and resulting reputation, that most people forwent her.

And then there was Michiko. For some reason, she always had it on for Lucy. She had left her alone after what happened to Lisanna, but apparently, reprieve was over. Lucy scowled.

Then again, she didn't know much about her. Maybe she had a really shitty life and just wanted to take it out on someone? Of course, that didn't justify her behaviour. Somehow, Lucy couldn't hate her no matter how hard she tried. Sometimes she felt like it was a weakness of hers, but then and again she felt it was a strength. She didn't want to hate anybody, really.

By the time the traffic light turned green, her thoughts had already wandered off to different places.

She wondered what Fiore might be like. They had talked about it, of course. Lucy soaked up every tidbit he threw her way like a sponge would soak up water, but her thirst was still not satisfied.

She had told him about her world, about a home with no love and about Lisanna, and he had told her of an endless war between light and dark, a struggle with neither beginning nor end, of floating islands and cities made of light and colour.

But most of the time they talked about unimportant, small things that suddenly became not so unimportant and small at all. Natsu could do that, somehow. He had this talent of turning even the dullest of topics into an adventure.

And then there was video games.

In a desperate attempt to keep him quiet, she had remembered her old Nintendo64 and had unpacked it for him. As a kid she had loved to play, but had unintentionally abandoned it when growing up. And now Natsu got her hooked again - and was even more hooked himself.

He was a fast learner, it seemed, because he had picked it up quickly. And to her great shame, she had to admit that he was already better than she had ever been.

She turned into the street leading up the hill. The sun shone down mercilessly, its heat only slightly lessened by the small breeze. Soon, beads of sweat clung to her skin. From where she was, she could see the house, and even the window to her room.

The first night after Natsu had woken in her bed, Lucy had been scared of going to sleep. Scared of what might lurk in the darkness now that there was no one to keep her company.

After she had voiced her fears to Natsu, he had gotten contemplative for about a minute. Lucy had kept watching him tautly until he finally spoke.

"I don't think you'll be dreaming about that place again. It probably doesn't exist anymore. They build new ones for every one of us they take. And now that this one has no use anymore they should have destroyed it already. At least that's what I've been told."

Then he grinned his trademark grin.

"And even if you do, I'll be right here to wake you up and protect you!"

Still, she had went to bed with an unpleasant feeling in her stomach. The fact that he was already sleeping like a stone on his little make-shift camp on the ground didn't do much to calm her.

But Natsu was proven correct, and soon Lucy had all but ousted the threat that seemed so out of reach; so far away and otherworldly.

After fishing her keys out of her pocket, she turned them in the lock and stepped through the entrance door.

As usual, she walked straight into the living room. It smelled delicious, of fried onions, meat and something else she could not quite classify. Spetto only visited once a week, but their cook, Aed, prepared their meals every day. She could hear pans moving in the kitchen as she made her way across the room.

"Welcome home, Miss."

"Hi, Aed!"

"Lucy… did you eat all the sausages again?" An elderly man had appeared in the doorway to the kitchen.

"I, uh, yeah. Sorry. I got really hungry yesterday evening."

Damn that Natsu. That was the second time. Why couldn't he do as he was told? At least he didn't let himself get caught. A little disgruntled , she put her schoolbag down on one of the chairs surrounding the living room table, to be left there until it was time to do her homework.

"Well, I'm glad you have so much appetite lately, but next time maybe leave one, ok?"

Aed smiled at her, and she winked.

"Ok. I'll be upstairs for a bit."

Oh she would give him a piece of her mind. Taking two steps at a time as she marched up the stairs, Lucy was already kicking him against the wall in her fantasy.

She was halfway through the corridor when she slowed down. It seemed longer than usual. Probably because one of the lights wasn't working. There were no windows in this part of the house, and it always was a little gloomy.

Somehow, it made her feel uncomfortable. Had it always been this dark here?

She looked over her shoulder and noticed that behind her, the corridor seemed to swallow the light of the lamp dangling from the ceiling.

Suddenly, fear gripped her. It was irrational and deep-seated, taking over every shred of reason she was trying to hold on to.

Before she knew it, she was running. Waves of panic came crashing over her. If she could only reach the door, she felt like she would be safe. A childlike thought, probably, but she clung to it with all her might.

And then she collided with someone; her face against a hard chest.

Not Natsu. Not Natsu. If she had felt panic before, then she didn't know what this was. Her mind was screaming at her now; get away get away get away, but when she tried to pull back she found that strong hands were digging into her shoulders mercilessly, preventing her from leaving the spot she was standing on.

She clenched her teeth to keep them from shaking, and then reluctantly looked up. Only to wish she hadn't.

Dark, hollow eyes gouged into hers, and she felt like a deer in the headlights of a car. She wanted to move, to scream, to run - but she was frozen; petrified. She felt cold.

The man in front of her opened his mouth. His dark hair fell into his pale face, covering half of it whole. Faintly, she noticed he was wearing it in a ponytail, and that some kind of tattoo was etched into the skin just across his left eye.

"Natsu Dragneel."

For a moment, her eyes widened, but she shook her head, keeping her lips pressed together firmly. Of course they were after him. Now her mind was slowly beginning to reclaim its thoughts, pulling them out of the deep pit they had fallen into. Soon, it started racing.

They knew he was here, and her reaction had probably given away that she knew too. Shit. Still, maybe she could buy him some time. Had he noticed? Would he run?

When she didn't answer, the man gripped her more tightly. Lucy winced.

"W-who are you?"

"Where is Natsu Dragneel?"

"Let me go!"

Funny. She hadn't even known his last name until now. For some reason, the thought made her laugh. And that made the man very, very angry. He slammed her against the wall and raised his right hand, ready to bring it down on her.

But before it could reach her, a flash of blinding light made her lose all orientation. It was as if she had looked straight into the sun, and even after she had blinked a few times, bright blurs were still obstructing her vision.

She was still leaning against the wall, shaking and wheezing, when she finally recognized the corridor she was standing in. Frantically, she looked around - and found Natsu. With a shaky breath, she let go of the tension inside her.

"Natsu!"

"Lucy! Are you okay?"

"Y-yes, but… that guy! He still has to be here somewhere! What ha- did you do that? That light?"

Natsu nodded.

"Don't worry, he's gone. For now." He looked at his hands in wonder. "I wasn't even aware that there's magic in this world. It's very faint, but I can use it a little. It's not enough though." He looked back up at her.

"We have to leave."

"What?! Now? Just like that? I haven't even packed any-"

"I don't know when, but they'll be back, now that they know where we are. And as much as I'd love to beat the living daylight into every single one that comes our way…" He grimaced. "I don't have enough magic power here."

"O-okay. But let me at least grab a few things!"

"Yeah, yeah. We should have some time." He stretched his arms above his head lazily. "But don't blame me when they get you."

"Eek!"

He had lunged forward and she had squealed in surprise. Now he was laughing, and she just glared at him before stomping to her room.

Ignoring the glimmering TV, she went straight for her desk, where she kept her piggy bank. That Natsu. Scaring her like that - how dare he. She would repay him for this. Maybe she would hide his shoes? Wait, he didn't even have any. Even better - that served him right. She chuckled evilly.

"Hey, listen!"

For a moment her heart stopped upon hearing the unfamiliar voice, but then she realized it came from the screen. She exhaled relievedly.

Natsu had stepped into the room, and was now laughing at her again. Then his eyes found the game console, and he eyed the controller yearnfully.

"And I was so close to getting into that stupid water temple…"

Slowly, he inched closer to the TV.

"Don't even think about it."

He froze instantly. Damn, Lucy could be scary sometimes. He had defied years of darkness, but this right here was an altogether different kind of fear.

When he looked back at her, his jaw dropped.

"Whaaa- are you gonna take all that?!" Apparently, she had tried to squeeze every last one of her belongings into the backpack on her shoulders - or so it looked like to him. It was full, to say the least.

"Well, a girl needs her… things. I have to maintain my cuteness! How am I going to put my sex appeal to use otherwise?"

"Your… what."

"Hey!"

"I just mean, you don't-"

"I don't even want to hear it! Anyways, let's go! I have no desire to meet that guy again anytime soon."

She swung her arms determinedly as she walked past him, and he followed suit, wondering why she was so weird - and why he liked it so much.

They were almost at the stairs when she suddenly stopped.

"My key!" Lucy spun around and started dashing back into her room.

"We won't be coming back, you don't need it!"

"No…" She dropped to her knees beside her bedside table and pulled open the lowest drawer. "Not that."

Natsu had followed her and was now watching in confusion while she dug through an abundance of odds and ends. Her hand was already halfway swallowed by the drawer when she finally pulled it back, clutching a golden key. It seemed ancient.

Lucy jumped back up and and crossed the room. She wanted to push past Natsu already, but now his curiosity had been awakened.

"What's that?"

"It's mine." She paused. "It's the only thing I had on me when they found me as a baby. That and my name stitched into the blanket."

He eyed the key more closely. There was a engravure on it, finely honed and noble, definitely made by someone who knew his craft. A lion.

"Weird. It seems kinda familiar." But then, he shrugged and grabbed her wrist. "Come on now!"

She hoped she had only imagined the excitement in his tone, because this most certainly was not a situation to feel enthusiastic about. Except for him it was, apparently. When they sprinted down the stairs, she was sure she hadn't heard wrong. He was chuckling.

"Lucy, is that you? Is something wrong?"

Shit. "Sorry, I forgot something, I gotta go, bye!" she called out breathlessly, and then they were at the front door.

When Aed turned the corner, he only saw the door fall in the lock. He shook his head. "Young people…"

A little later, much further down the hill, two teenagers were gasping for breath.

"My back hurts already!" Lucy complained.

"Shouldn't have packed your whole room, then."

"Tz. What will we do now? I have some money, should we look for a place to stay the night? But, Aed, my father… they will worry if I don't come back. What are we supposed to do?! What was I thinking?"

He didn't seem to care much about her distress. In fact, he was already gone.

"Natsu, wait!"

She caught him around the corner, where he was looking around in confusion.

"Lucy, which way?"

"Which way?! We don't even have a destination!"

Suddenly, he was pressing her against the wall, hand on her mouth. First, she wanted to protest, but when she saw the look in his eyes she fell silent.

Slowly, they turned their heads to where they had come from. Someone walked past the entrance to the alley they were standing in. You could only see a silhouette, but from the shudder that travelled down her spine she knew it was no ordinary passerby. When even the last bit of his ponytail had disappeared around the next corner, they exchanged a serious look and hurriedly, but as quietly as possible, continued down the alley. When they reached its end, they started sprinting.

Their race found a quick end when they encountered a red traffic light. Lucy pulled her companion back just in time. He looked at the passing cars with disdain.

"Whatever these things are, I sure never wanna ride one." He clutched his stomach, as if the idea alone made him sick.

"Ssh!" Lucy hissed and looked around nervously. She didn't want to attract any unnecessary attention. "They're cars. Natsu…that man right now, he was the same as before, right?"

He nodded grimly. "His name is Rogue. He must be able to track us somehow. Damn, I'd really like to beat some sense into him."

"Some sense?"

"He used to be færy, you know." Anger was clouding his face now. She noticed how his hand was trembling, and for a moment she considered taking it into hers.

"What? But how-"

But people started walking as the traffic light turned green, and Natsu dashed right through them, pulling her along.

"I'll tell you another time!"

He was right. She had better things to do right now than to take history lessons. Surviving, for one. Now she started seeing threats everywhere. Every strand of dark hair, every pale face in the crowd, every person looking their direction sent shivers down her spine, and she clutched Natsu's hand tightly. They had to get away from the busy streets.

"Natsu, turn right!"

The clasps of her backpack dug deep into her shoulders, but now she barely noticed. Adrenaline had set her whole body ablaze, and she could only set one foot in front of the other, running as if her life depended on it. It probably did. She had never felt so free.

After they had left behind the last crossing, they could make out a park a few blocks away, and soon the cool shade of tall trees was covering them. Their tops rustled in the wind, and the air was refreshingly clear, less polluted by smoke than the inner city. Lucy dropped her backpack onto the ground and took in deep breaths to calm her aching chest. Even Natsu had his hands on his knees and stayed slightly bent over for a moment.

Not too far away, they could hear children's laughter; innocent and free as it sounded through the midday air.

But the trees and little bushes around them gave off a sense of security, shielding them from curious eyes.

Both their chests were still heaving, but they could not take the luxury of relaxing.

Natsu stood back upright.

"We can't keep running forever. We have to get back to Fiore or the fear dearc will find us everywhere. Not that I would mind."

He smirked, and cracked his knuckles.

"I'm all fired up now!"

"You want to fight him?! But you said…"

"Pah! He's no match for me even now! And besides, I have you!"

He seemed to remember something important all of a sudden, because his face lit up like a child's on Christmas day. He grabbed her by the shoulders and shook.

"Lucy! You! Ha!"

"W-wh-whaa-Natsu! Stop it!"

He obeyed, but he was still grinning like a madman.

"Lucy, you also have magic, don't you?"

"Me? No, I'm-"

"Come on, try! You saved me back there!"

He didn't look like he would accept no as an answer. He looked like it would break his heart if she refused his great idea. So despite herself, and despite knowing better, she found herself agreeing.

Her lips turned into a thin line as she tensed every muscle in her body, focusing her thoughts only on light. She could see it in her mind's eye. Light, light, light.

"You look like you have constipation problems."

"Hey, I'm trying, ok?"

"Well, it's not really worki- hey."

While she had been concentrating, he had felt little sparks of magic bouncing off of her - but barely enough to even light a candle. It had confirmed his initial fears: even if they both had magic powers, in this world they were so weak that they most likely wouldn't be enough to transport either of them anywhere. But right now, when she had been shouting at him, he had seen something glow. From behind her?

He reached forward and, ignoring her protests, produced the key out of the backpocket of her jeans. It was shining brightly, like it was a source of light itself.

"Natsu, I said hands o- woah, what's happpening?!"

"That's no ordinary key. That's magic! Lucy, I don't care where you got it from, but you have to use it! It's yours, so you can do it!"

"B-but I'm - I'm only human!"

"I saw you use magic before!"

"Yeah, but in my dream!"

"It wasn't a dream! Come on, you have to try! I know you can do it."

She looked down at the key Natsu had placed into her hands excitedly.

With a deep breath, she clutched it tighter and closed her eyes.

It was dark behind her eyelids. Not as dark as it had been there, though. She focused on her memories, on her dreams. She remembered how she, too, had been made of light: weaker than Natsu's, but still faintly glowing. She had felt lighter, somehow, and warm. She remembered how she had felt when he had kissed her; how her power had been drawn out of her. She had felt it then: magic. Her lips slightly parted as she concentrated on the feeling, brows furrowing. She had not thought anything back then, she had just felt. So she let go, and let herself be swept away by waves of… something. Don't concentrate on it. And it worked - she could feel it now.

But when she opened her eyes, nothing had changed. Disappointment hit her like a wall of bricks. It shouldn't surprise her, but still, she felt disheartened. For a moment she had really believed she could do it; it had felt so real. She was no færy after all.

But then why was Natsu looking at her in absolute awe?

An incredulous grin had spread across his face, while she just stood there completely crestfallen. He had to point his finger for her to finally turn around. But when she did, she held her breath.

Beads of light were hovering in midair, spinning threads that formed beautiful, delicate patterns. They were moving in circles, coming together to form one big, round ball of light. It shone brightest in the middle, but somehow it didn't blind her eyes. She felt herself drawn towards it, like there was a magnetic pull emanating from its very essence. When she squinted her eyes, she thought she could see shapes on the other side. It was a gate.

She had done this? Surprised, she looked down at her hands - only to realize that they, too, were glowing now. She lifted her arms and saw that it was not just her hands. Every fiber of her being was on fire. Lucy couldn't help it then: she started laughing.

"I did it!"

Tears welled up in her eyes, but she didn't care. They were happy tears.

"Alright! Let's go!"

They beamed at each other as Natsu, too, gathered his magic and started glowing, and then he was pulling her along towards the shining light. The last thing you could hear was their loud, carefree laughter, and then the gate slowly started fading away.

Later that day, a little boy would excitedly tell his mother that he had seen two faeries in the park today, but she would just laugh and proudly tell her friends about her child's vivid imagination.