They landed shortly after, on a small cliff that overlooked the smoking ship below.

As soon as his feet touched the soft patch of grass, the young girl pushed away from his chest.

"Explain," she demanded of the surprised boy, tears in her eyes now that they were away from any danger. "Where are the Lost Kids?" She jabbed a finger in his chest before pointing down towards the water. "Tell me how they weren't caught in that awful, unnecessary explosion!"

That's when she heard giggling coming from behind her, and she whirled on her heel to see the faint outline of four or five children farther down the hill, a ball of light fluttering above their heads.

Happy, he must have saved them in time.

Previousy:

Lucy, distracted by the boy in the treetops, accidentally grabbed hold of a branch slick with moss. It caught her off-guard and she lost her footing, crying out as she dangled by one hand several feet off the ground.

"Natsu!"

Then, it snapped under her weight.

"Natsu!"

Her eyes were clenched shut, but she knew she'd hardly fallen a foot before he was there to catch her.

"That," she said as he flew them both upwards, setting her down softly on one of the larger branches and taking a seat across from her, "was terrifying."

"I told you not to climb-" Natsu was cut off by the sound of Happy clearing his tiny throat, and the boy dropped his I-told-you-so act. He glared after the tiny, cackling Exceed as Happy flew away to give them space.

There was a beat of awkward silence before Natsu broke it, rubbing the back of his neck. "Ya know, to be honest," he said, apparently deciding the branch was more interesting to look at than Lucy. "I'm surprised you followed me. Heck, I'm really surprised you haven't asked to go home yet."

The girl frowned, cocking her head to the side. She bit her lip as she cautiously bent at the waist, trying to catch his eye. "Now, why would I do that?"

"I brought you here to have fun," he said, his shoulders slumping forward as he drew lazy circles on the bark with the pad of his finger. "I wanted you to be more of a kid, but all I've done is nearly get you killed- twice!"

"Three times, really. If you count the arrow."

Natsu clapped his hands to his face, groaning loudly. "I'm an awful protector!"

Lucy giggled at the boy's melodramatic outburst before assuring him that wasn't true. "Besides," she said, "you aren't my protector anyway."

Natsu looked up at her through the bangs that had fallen in his face. "You're in Neverland right now, which makes you a part of it." His eyes met hers as he promised, "I'm your protector."

She blinked at the intensity in his eyes, and knew that he meant it.

The girl didn't reply at first, instead choosing to look for something in those eyes that were so dark they could be mistaken for black, but the way the light was shining in them now, Lucy could see flashes of fire and gold.

"Why did you come through my window?" She asked, her voice barely above a whisper now, as if afraid of shattering something in the air. She wasn't sure why she had chosen this moment to voice the question that been on her mind for a while now, but it felt right.

Surprisingly, he gave her an answer that was rather straightforward. "I heard you crying."

"I wasn't crying."

"You were," he insisted. "I heard you. Actually," he admitted sheepishly, "it wasn't the first time I'd heard you either."

It took her a few seconds to process his words, but when it finally clicked what he meant she reached forward to slap his shoulder. "Pervert!" She hissed, to which he fervently shook his head.

"I only ever came because I enjoyed your stories."

"M-my stories?"

"Yeah," he told her, unashamed as he continued. "You read outloud so often that I couldn't help but hang out and listen until the end whenever I visited Magnolia… It was always sorta nice."

Lucy blinked, not entirely sure how to process his words, or how to handle the sudden realization that she'd had an audience all those years.

Natsu was unfazed by her going silent however, and said something else that surprised the blonde.

"Say, will you do that thing you were doing to Wendy earlier?"

She frowned, "You- you want me to braid your hair?"

"No no no, not that." He scrunched his nose and dismissed the thought. "The thing where you, like, put your fingers through her hair."

Oh, it finally clicked for the blonde. He wants me to comb his hair.

"Yeah, combing," he grinned when she supplied the right word. "I wanna know what it feels like."

She laughed, adjusting her position on the branch before nodding. "Sure," she teased, "but I think you're a little big to sit on my lap like Wendy did."

Natsu grinned, taking initiative and surprising the girl by suddenly standing, bending down to catch both of her hands in his. Carefully, he brought her to her feet with a shy grin.

"Remind me to show you what it's like to dance in the trees one day," he mused, and before she could ask, he slid an arm around her waist and kicked off from the branch, flying them to the ground.

"There," he said, flopping down on a soft patch of grass that had sprouted at the base of the tree. "Not all of me needs to be in your lap," that little, boyish grin spread across his features as Lucy sat cross-legged on the ground, where he carefully laid his head. "Just my head will work, right?"

The blonde rolled her eyes, but couldn't help the fondness that was washing over her at the sight. She slowly began to card her fingers through the thick, salmon locks that turned into loose curls at the nape of his neck. He closed his eyes as she gently ran her blunt nails along his scalp, and he nodded.

"Yeah," he mused softly, a tiny grin tugging at one corner of his lips. "I can see what Wendy meant. This is heavenly."

Lucy's cheeks warmed at his words, and she used a free hand to tuck a blonde strand behind her ear. "I guess it does feel pretty good. My mother used to do this for me when I was little."

Natsu's eyes had fallen shut, and he just hummed in response before falling silent, all but melting into the girl's touch.

That's where the others found them much later, and Lucy wondered if Happy had led them.

Loke had smirked when he'd come up on the pair, and began to ask when it was his turn, but before he could fully articulate the sentence Natsu had chucked a pinecone at his head with an expression that read don't you dare.

Night had fallen, and Lucy was patting down the material of her sleeping bag where she'd laid it down beside Wendy's. After looking around and making sure no one was watching, the heiress pressed her hand on the thin padding, internally wincing at the thought of sleeping on the ground.

Oh well, she sighed. A first time for everything, I suppose.

"Yo, Lucy," the blonde twisted around to see Gray by the light of the fire, and he had something thrown over one arm. "You girls need an extra pillow, or you good?"

Lucy's eyes drifted across the clearing where she could just faintly make out the outlines of both Wendy and Romeo as they clapped their hands above their heads, and it took a second for her to realize they were chasing fireflies.

She smiled when she saw Natsu hovering a few feet in the air above them, trying to help. He no longer had to swipe his hair out of his eyes every thirty seconds, she noted with a sense of satisfaction; it was all thanks to the haircut she'd given him when they'd arrived back at camp.

"Hold still," she had instructed for the upteenth time, tapping the scissors impatiently against her palm as she waited for the boy to stop fidgeting. "If you keep moving, I'm likely to cut off your ear!"

"What, no!" Natsu panicked, clapping both hands over his ears. "I need these!"

"I- no, I meant," Lucy started to explain that it was a just a joke, but she noticed how the boy had suddenly gone completely still. With a satisfied smirk, the girl went back to trimming the rosy locks, deciding that she'd explain the joke some other time. For now, he could manage a few more minutes believing what he liked.

"That's okay," Lucy said, turning her attention back to the shirtless boy. "Thank you though."

Gray shrugged, "No problem. Just let me know if you guys get too uncomfortable." He used his thumb to point over his shoulder towards the small girl. "Wendy's used to sleeping on the ground, but something tells me you're not so lucky."

Lucy grinned, "Well, you're not exactly wrong."

He laughed, nodding once before turning in the direction of his own sleeping bag, but Lucy stopped him.

"Gray, if you don't mind, I do have a question that's been bugging me."

"Is it a question with a long answer or short?"

"Depends on how much you want to tell me."

Gray thought about her answer, impressed before taking a seat beside her on the ground, joining her as she watched the others.

"Go for it," he said, picking at the grass and folding one of the blades over his finger. Lucy watched him, not really sure what he was doing but decided not every question of hers could be answered immediately.

"Well," the girl began to pick at her nails before remembering that her nanny back home would scold her for it. She opted instead to sit on her hands, to which Gray raised a brow. "Why is Natsu in charge? If that's okay to ask," she hurriedly followed up, eyes widening in alarm. "Sorry if that's rude, it's just you all seem close to the same age, minus Wendy and Romeo of course, but-"

She was cut off by the boy's chuckling as he adjusted the grass blade in his hands, so that one end of it was between the tips of his thumbs.

Honestly, Lucy wondered, what is he doing with that thing?

"It's okay to have a question, Lucy." The boy smirked, "You don't have to freak out so much." He pressed the base of both his thumbs together, catching the grass between them. "As for Natsu," he shrugged, "he's been here the longest. Even he's not really sure just how long." Carefully, he straightened his thumbs to pull the blade taut, and cursed when he pulled too hard, snapping the blade in half.

"And," he continued once he'd found a new piece, "yeah, he's a pain in the neck sometimes- most of the time," he corrected himself, with a low grumble. "I gotta admit he's probably the bravest out of all of us. Some would argue stupidest, but it depends on the day. Plus, thanks to Happy, he can fly whenever he wants, so he knows the island better than anyone else." Frowning, it seemed as if he were reconsidering his own words. "Except for maybe Hook, but I wouldn't bet my dinner on it."

It was Lucy's turn to frown as the space between her brows furrowed in confusion, though she was quick to correct this as her teacher had pointed out it can lead to premature wrinkles.

"Hook?

"A mean, nasty pirate who's always trying to nab one of us. Mostly the younger kids, since us older ones are more of a pain the ass to deal with apparently. But you're new here for now, and that's sure to peak his interest, so don't go wandering by yourself, okay Lucy? There's no telling when those dirty pirates are setting up a trap."

The girls eyes widened in alarm, and she was going to ask another question about these so-called pirates when he surprised her by pursing his lips, placing them right up against his thumbs and blowing on the grass blade.

Lucy's face broke out into a wide smile when she realized he was making the grass whistle.

"That's amazing," she cooed, to which Gray laughed.

"What, this?" He asked, holding up the little blade before tossing it over his shoulder. "It's just something to do to pass the time. Natsu does it a little different from me, and I think his way is supposed to be easier." Gray placed his hands on the ground to push himself to his feet. "You should ask him to show you how to do it sometime." With a wink over his shoulder to the blushing blonde, he laughed. "I'm sure he wouldn't mind."

Lucy was left blushing, and again her eyes trailed back to the younger kids, and she smiled when she saw that Natsu was holding true to his promise from earlier, flying two very excited children around the clearing.

Standing, the heiress decided sleep could wait.

There were fireflies to chase.