Chapter Four: The Light In The Rain

Today was a dark day. The sky was brimming full of charged up energy that it was just begging to be released from its thick, furious looking black clouds. Wet, fat missiles of moisture rocketed down to the earth, casting dents into the sand on the beach. It was hard to tell where the rain started and the carnivorous waves began. The wind shrieked and howled as it tore through the tree's, ripping leaves from their perches. Finally, thunder roared from the depths, and crashed into the ground, leaving vengeful scorch marks in the dirt. Lightning blasted out, brightening up the sky temporarily, before it sank back into darkness.

In the sand, Lucy and Loke were laying unconcious. The rain poured down on them both.

The Lion slowly opened his eyes, his head hurt like Hell. Lucy was in his arms.

"Lucy!?" He was worried sick, she'd been hurt. What should he do!? He went to sit up and groaned at the pain.

Was she dead? Her body was still unbelievably sore. She slowly peaked one eye open only to see her spirit looking down at her. 'Are those tears?'

Lucy touched Loke's arm and smiled.

"You saved me yet again. Don't you get tired of that?"

She managed to chuckle softly. She had forgotten about her wound and groaned in pain, pressing her hand against her stomach. She lifted her hand back up to see how much blood she was dealing with. None? What the..she looked down, although it was still sore and bruised, the wound was gone. She looked back up and locked eyes with her spirit. She saw the passion burning deep within his eyes. She felt numb now...

Loke stared at her intensely as she spoke.

He didn't answer her with words. No words could describe how he was feeling.

The lion placed his hands on her cheeks, carefully tracing his thumbs over her skin. He tilted his head to down to hers, and in response, she gazed up at him. Their warm breaths could be seen in the cold air.

Loke lowered his eyes down from hers and pressed his lips tenderly against Lucy's, and kissed her passionately in the rain.

Lucy's eyes were wider than ever before. Her stomach filled with butterflies. It seemed as if her heart raced a thousand beats per second! 'He's kissing me? Never let this moment end... '

She smiled boldly against his warm lips, and without hesitation, wrapped her arms around his neck, allowing herself to deepen this kiss. This felt so right. His lips melded perfectly against hers. She was finally, and truly happy for the first time in her life.

Her lips were a rosy scarlet colour and so desirable. She tasted sweet, just how he imagined. The cold rain was nothing but a distant memory as he found himself lost in paradise. His hand ran down from her cheek to support her back, carefully brushing through her damp hair.

This overwhelming emotion got the better of him. He parted lips with her, noticing her flushed cheeks matched his own.

"I'll never grow tired of saving you" he responded quietly, with his deep, velvety voice.

Loke took off his jacket and wrapped it over her shoulders to keep her a little drier in the rain. He slipped his arms around her and pulled her into a tight embrace.

"Just...Don't go doing that again."

He laughed softly, referring to Lucy getting herself shot and falling off the cliff.

"I don't want to lose you."

"It seems like I'm always falling when you're around..." she giggled at herself. She couldn't stop smiling. Lucy bit her lip when she looked back up into his eyes lovingly.

"And don't worry you won't lose me. I'm your girl right?" She leaned up, her lips almost pressed against his ear. She gripped his shirt tightly, and with a low, sexy like tone, whispered into his ear...

"Besides..I love you to much to leave..."

Her words chimed in his ears. That angelic voice spoke to him so gently. Did he die and go to heaven? No, he can't die. 'Stupid lion.' THIS WAS REAL. He couldn't stop smiling.

Loke hadn't imagined his week would turn out this way. Just a few days ago, he was in the guild with Lucy and the others playing a game and got slapped for being what seemed like a pervert. In reality he wasn't intending to come off as one, but Lucy felt bad for humiliating him in front of everyone she offered to make it up to him. She definitely made it up to him, alright!

He smiled down at her, his eyes watching her lips carefully.

Suddenly, He scooped her up into his arms and stood up, shirt still ripped and torn, his jacket around her shoulders.

"Let's get out of the rain"

He held her close to his chest, close to his heart - Which was beating pretty fast now.

She's his now, and he isn't letting her go. The stupid smile didn't disappear from his face as he walked across the sand.

As he scooped her up she curled her toes and wiggled her nose before letting out a small dainty sneeze, "chuu!" She covered her face and blushed.

"Haha y-yeah let's get out of here."

She looked at his bare chest and placed one hand over his heart, which was beating oh so fast. Lucy trailed her fingertips over his chest and up his neck, slowly. He shivered from her touch. "You're so perfect Loke..." she muttered. 'Wait..did I just that out loud?!'

He tilted his head down to her with a smirk.

"I try my best" he chuckled as he carried her in his arms and gave her a wink.

"Come on, Beautiful, I think I see something up ahead. " He nodded in the direction he was walking, to point out a small building in the forest off the coast.

"I don't want you catching a cold." Loke's adrenaline was slowly wearing thin, thank god he could see shelter where he could rest. He'd used a lot of magic to fight Eric and even more to keep Lucy safe by returning back to the celestial world momentarily. He was getting exhausted.

Lucy noticed how tired Loke looked. She could also tell by his tone. And god...was his sleepy voice sexy. She turned her head and saw the small building, Loke pointed out. It was small, but nice enough for them to rest. She smirked at the thought of them having to keep each other warm. 'Heh..heh.'

As they entered the building, Loke set her down gently. She looked around. It was bigger than she thought. There was a small bed big enough for two towards the left. Lucy looked back at Loke who had heavy eyes. "Go get some rest, Okay?"

Sweet glorious relief. A dry place to rest. He was soaked through, bleeding, cut and bruised and that bed looked so unbelievably soft and inviting right now. He could of returned back to the spirit world, but didn't plan on leaving Lucy alone in this forest. He stepped inside and shut the door.

"Oh, not bad." He said with a grin.

He removed the shredded shirt and burst it into golden sparkles, disposing of it. Celestial clothes are great. He walked through the dusty room, towards the bed and looked back at Lucy, seeing she was shivering from the cold rain. He held his hand out.

"I'll keep you warm if you keep me warm." His charming smile was back on his face.

Lucy sniffled from being so cold. She took off her wet shirt revealing a somewhat damp tank top. She clenched her fist and blushed when she realized her jeans were also soaked.

"Loke..C-can you turn away for a moment?"

The only way she could sleep was in shorts or just a tank top and panties.

He nodded and turned away.

"Of course."

As she looked away herself, he'd managed to change half his outfit back into his jeans. These were dry and not shredded. He decided to leave the shirt off, he didn't have the energy to change that too. His hands went into his pockets as he waited for her to tell him it was okay to look. Oh my god, was Lucy undressing behind him?! 'Contain yourself Loke...'

Lucy pulled off her socks and shoes, she tossed them to the side. Too exhausted to even care about placing them down neatly. She unbuckled her belt and inched her pants down.

"Err.."

Even though he had turned away, she was still pretty embarrassed and shy about the situation...

Finally, she kicked her pants to the side.

"Ahh...much better.." A sudden chill crawled up Lucy's spine.

"Shit shit shit!" She rushed over next to her spirit, embracing him with force. Her whole body was shaking. 'Wait...Loke Isn't wearing a shirt. Hnnnggg...'

He wrapped his arms around her quickly as her head rested on his chest. Oh he couldn't resist. He wasn't going to try any funny business but oh my god, Lucy was in her panties.

He scooped her up again into his arms with a smirk.

"Don't worry, I'll keep you warm."

He walked over to the bed, the tiredness kicking in entirely. He knelt down and laid her on top of him, cuddling her warmly, with a tired grin across his lips. He was in paradise for sure.

Lucy held her breath as he laid her down on top of him. She didn't hesitate though. She snuggled up against him. He was so warm. Almost burning hot...

Minutes past, she just listened to the rhythm of his heart beat. It was soothing. She smiled warmly. She felt so safe. Right before she was about to drift off, she shifted upwards and placed a kiss on his neck.

"That's payback from the other night..." She giggled and placed her head back against his chest. "Goodnight Loke.." and just like that, she was asleep...

Loke felt his skin shiver as she kissed his neck, no one had ever done that to him before.

'So that's what that feels like- DAMNIT! That was mean. The tease... Oh what the hell, I can't talk.'

He grinned broadly and kept his arms around her, protecting her from the cold.

"Good night, Lucy" His eyes lowered down to her eyes which had closed as she drifted off to sleep. He tilted his head slightly, then all went black. He'd fallen asleep.

This process was slow for Loke. Sleeping in the human world meant it took longer to heal up, and there was usually a sting to staying too long. Luckily for him, his stint with Karen Lilica allowed him to endure and create a slight immunity to the pain of the first few months.

The rain still poured heavily outside. It's torrent could be heard on the rooftop, the wind howled through the cracks in the windows. It was those howls that woke Loke up in the middle of the night. He glanced down at Lucy who'd managed to roll off him slightly and was lying to the side, using his shoulder as a pillow. As his eyes traced the outlines of the room, something caught his attention. He blinked a few times, trying to adjust his eyes. 'Aries?' ....