Author's note: I present to you the next chapter. We finally have some unveiling of a little plot. Yay plot! Read, review, enjoy, remember: I do not own Fairy Tail, that's some other brilliant mastermind.

Burnt Hair and Apologies

The little mouse pawed at his face. Something was wrong. His least favorite lump was missing from his cage. He remembered how the dark creature would slump with his hands wrapped around the cold thick bar for hours. He would keep exceptionally still, that is until the mouse would scurry anywhere near him and the the eyes of the lump would fixate on him. It was normal enough, but this lump's eyes in particular were cold and cruel. They looked at him as if imagining every possible way to cause him pain. The rodent always avoided that cell.

A skinny guarding stick came around a corner to inspect the caged lumps but stopped short when he discovered the empty cage. Empty for all but a small bell. It quivered and rattled lightly against the damp stone floor. The stick stepped closer to the cage dumb founded. The bell rang out again, louder this time. In his curiosity, the skinny stick got on his belly and stuck an arm through the bars to reach the bell. It was a very stupid idea. Suddenly something shifted and the stick cried out in pain, the mouse's heart beat picked up. The missing, normally despondent lump was crushing the guard's protruding arm beneath his boot. He reached over to pluck a ring of keys off the guard stick wearing a condescending smile, and suddenly he wasn't a lump anymore. The darkness seemed to wrap around his large frame as he ground his boot into the stick's arm, his cries of pain bouncing of the stone walls were incredibly raucous. The mouse scurried away in fright to hide. The shadow unlocked his door and slammed it into the guard's head to knock him out. As the shadow sauntered over to a different cell he made a point to step on the stick. He unlocked one and it creaked open slowly. It's inhabitant stepped out of being a lump and into the shadows with her head tilted to one side as if her long hair were too heavy for her neck to support. Her smile was unnaturally wide.

"It's time," the shadow's voice was ragged with disuse. The mouse crept along meekly to follow them through the maze of cages to the outside world. The red woman laughed at the sky in a high deranged pitch. The shadow just stood tall in the snow, mountain wind whipping his face. Somehow, the shadow found the little mouse. The rodent squeaked in terror, but he couldn't look away. As he lost himself in the depths of the black pupils he became swallowed by the darkness and suddenly he could think no more.

Exhausted but satisfied, the small team tramped back into the guild. Lucy spied Levy sitting at a table with Gajeel. He was talking to the blue haired girl with annoyance written in every corner of his body, but Levy only held her book up higher concealing more of her face. The man stomped away with Pantherlily at his heals. The blond plopped down next to her friend,

"What was that about?"

"Huh? What do you mean?" Levy blinked up at her.

"Oh, come on. Don't play innocent. There's obviously something between you and Gajeel." The petite girl balked. Her eyes darted back and forth.

"Excuse me? I have no idea what you're talking about," she said with incredulity. Erza had apprehended Natsu and was yelling at him mercilessly while the poor boy had no defense against her. "Oh, I wonder what that's about!"

"Levy, he probably messed with her cake or something. You're avoiding the-"

"Avoiding? I'm not avoiding anything."

"Gajeel. You're definitely avoiding him," Lucy stated bluntly

.

Levy rebounded, "It's not my fault he only tries to talk to me when I'm reading."

"That's because every time he steps a toe in the room you whip out a book before he even has a chance to spot you!"

"NATSU DRAGNEEL!" Erza bellowed through the large door frame. She sighed and started for the table where the two girls sat.

"Lucy," Erza said in her deep buisness voice. She was frightening when she spoke like that, which was honestly most of the time. "I'm afraid there was a samll mishap on you're job that you were unaware of. Apparently Natsu singed off a portion of your hair sometime during your mission."

"Eh?" It almost didn't register with Lucy. She whipped out a compact to check it out.

"It's there. By your right ear." The now burnt blond stood so quickly she over turned her chair and almost the table as well.

"WHERE THE HELL IS HE? IM GONNA KILL HIM! I'M GOING TO RIP HIS DRAGON FACE OFF HIS MOTHER LOVIN' HEAD! THAT BASTARD," Lucy roared. "Why didn't anyone tell me?" Her gaze fell on Levy,

"I can only see your left side from this angle!" she covered quickly.

"Right after I demanded for Natsu to give you an apology he sprinted out the door," Erza's voice contained contempt. Lucy slammed her head on the table in defeat.

"I doubt Cancer can even fix this damage . . . I need a bath," she groaned pitifully.

The steam swirled around two bare feminine figures as they soaped away the days grime. Lucy sighed with her eyes closed. The great crab spirit, Cancer, was able to hide her locks of burnt hair surprisingly well though it still didn't look quite right. She tried to wash away her worries by lathering the full curves of her body, water coursed down her welcoming skin. She was tired of stressing over something so menial. It was just hair. She glanced at her friend.

"So why are you avoiding Gajeel?" the blond asked gently. She began to help Levy wash her back uninvited. She felt the girl's shoulders slump.

"I don't mean to be. It's just kind of reflexive," Levy explained. "I worked, I used my magic, I read, it was simple and fun. I rebuffed my team mates romantic advances easily and I just kept going but now- I don't know what to do with these feelings. I have them, they're there, and I just, I don't know what to do. I-I've never been attracted to anyone; I knew I would be someday but- I'm supposed to fall in love with the prince charming in my books not . . . him." Lucy smirked knowingly. Gajeel was huge, rough, he dressed all in black, and he was pierced to kingdom come. He was the type to drag prince charming off his horse and steal his ride for the fun of it. Lucy thought carefully,

"I don't pretend to be an expert but I do know that first you have to give him a chance. Then you have to take a chance."

"You're right but don't think you're off the hook. I've noticed you around Natsu." Lucy froze, her washcloth stuck to Levy's lower back. The smaller mage took it from her.

"Spill." She was quiet for a long time as Levy began to wash Lucy's back.

"I didn't choose him of my own volition, these feeling just happened. You understand. The way he treats me makes me feel special because he goes out of his way to be protective and kind but that's the way he treats every one in fairy tail. I am his nakama like the rest of the guild and I love that he's so good, but I'm afraid thats the only way he will ever see me." Lucy's chest felt tight as she sat in the silence. Then Levy flung her arms around the blond while a tear snuck its way out the corner of her eye.

Lucy decided to take the scenic route home to give her more time to reach a peaceful state of mind. It was late now because she had ambled the entire way and she had poked her head into a chocolate shop to grab a taste of coco comfort. She fumbled terrible with her keys at the door, which she found terribly ironic because she was supposed to be extremely adept with keys considering they were the tools of her trade. She went strait to her room to flop on her bed when she found a dragon slayer sitting on it. Lucy wasn't even surprised anymore, but she did feel hot anger boiling up from her stomach because he was the very person she was trying so hard to forgive and he was infringing on her privacy, again. Then she saw a look of distress on his face, he had flowers in his hands.

"Natsu, how long have you been here?"

"Since I ran out of the guild."

"That was hours ago!"

He only shook his head as if it didn't matter. He looked her directly in the eyes with a bit more than his usual intensity, "I'm only a little sorry about your hair." Well this was going well. She turned around to storm out. "What I can't stop thinking about is my recklessness. I just started spouting fire everywhere just because I was frustrated and I put you in danger. I'm your nakama, I'm supposed to protect you. If I had hurt you- Lucy, I am so sorry." she saw tears starting to form in his eyes- damn! She took the flowers from him and hugged him tightly,

"I forgive you," she said over his shoulder. After she released him he positioned himself to lay on her bed with his head in her lap. The stellar spirit mage was uneasy, but she didn't kick him off because he looked so tired. She picked up the flowers and inspected them. "What are these, snap dragons?"

"Hmmhmm, I picked them from different gardens on my way here," he mumbled. She laughed. The dragon slayer probably didn't even understand why he shouldn't have done that. She pictured the faces of the gardeners when they found their flower beds up rooted in the morning and laughed some more.

Lucy started playing with the pink hair in her lap absent-mindedly.

"You know, Erza thinks you ran away when she demanded that you apologize to me."

"I really don't care what Erza thinks of me right now," Natsu mumbled. Lucy smirked.

"You won't be saying that when she kills you tomorrow."

"Hm." The blond began thinking of everything that happened that day. Her conversations with Levy, the exquisite chocolate she ate, how Happy was really the one that completed the job, her new mask.

"Natsu, how do you think that old woman knew so much?" she asked absently running her fingers over his scalp. His only response was the rhythmic rising and falling of his beautifully toned chest. His bicep twitched in his sleep and she noted it was roughly the size of a baseball. So, that was a turn on. She gently swept a lock of hair across his forehead, then traced the side of his cheek with a finger. His facial expressions tended toward the extreme. Either he was intensely serious or intensely silly, there was no middle ground. Lucy was intimately familiar with his face but seeing it so relaxed was like seeing a different person. The lines of it were so smooth. It's architecture was simple but somehow elegant. She wished she could enjoy the serenity of it more often, but she was falling asleep herself and she would be damned if they slept in the same bed together. The blond took her partners head in her hands, lifted it a few inches, then dropped it back in her lap.

"Natsu! Time to go home."

"I'm in a home."

"Your home!"

"Uuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuugh."