I'M BAAACCCCKKK! Did you guys miss me? Finally I finished my homework early (that's a first) and was suddenly stuck with inspiration. Hope you guys enjoy, I worked on this really hard for you :D

Please excuse any spelling/grammar errors, it's 1:30AM and after I finish typing I'm going to bed xD

He honestly though he was going crazy. Or dreaming.

Or both.

There was Lucy, leaning against the doorway oh-so-casually while smirking at him.

He blinked. Then blinked again.

And when she was still there, still looking at him with those eyes he was longing to see again, he sprinted. She hardly had time to take two steps before he crashed into her, lifting her into his arms and gripping tight.

He buried his face into her hair, choking out her name and inhaling that scent that he hadn't smelled in seven years.

"I'm home, Natsu. I'm home," she whispered, tucking her face into the crook of his neck, the side that had the scar from an accident that he couldn't remember.

They stayed that way for minutes, just standing there holding each other. Both of them asking themselves if this was real or not, afraid it was just a dream. Lucy knew it was real, but she was still afraid that she would wake up in that damn hospital room. It had happened before, only for her to blink and then all of the sudden be staring at a white ceiling. Tears would follow after; her heart aching for her loved ones.

Natsu's eyes slowly leaked tears that dripped into her honey-gold hair. He could tell the muscle difference in her body, feeling her petite but curvaceous frame thorough the camouflage decorated uniform she was wearing.

"Please… Please just tell me this is real," Natsu asked, his voice shaking as he clenched his eyes as if that would stop him from shattering.

"I hope to hell it is," Lucy smiled, happy tears making Natsu's neck wet, then running down to his shirt. "I don't know if I could go on if it wasn't."

Both of them slowly pulled apart, still holding onto each other's arms. They just stared at each other, cocoa brown vs. onyx.

"I missed you," her grin became bigger, as if it engulfed her ears and spread to the edges of the room. Her eyes shining with a happiness that couldn't be described in words, tears rolling down her cheeks only to meet at her chin and then fall to the floor below.

"I missed you too," his mouth matched hers, his unnaturally sharp canines were prominent, his eyes that could compare to obsidian spoke a thousand different languages of joy. "When did you get back?"

"Yesterday, but I wanted to surprise you at the game today. It was wonderful by the way, you played amazingly."

He was a bit sad she waited an extra day, but he couldn't dwell on it. She was here now and that's what mattered.

"You were watching?"

"Mhm," she nodded, her hair bouncing in its ponytail as she did so. "I was in the announcers booth, hiding from you mostly. It was hard for me not to track you down, but I restrained myself."

"You meanie," he chuckled. "I wouldn't have been mad if you did."

"Me either, but I wanted to wait until after words. The video was meant for you guys to think I was still overseas, and then I would surprise the shit out of you at the game."

"It worked," he shook his head, his tears being flung into the air while he couldn't help but laugh again. "I knew, you know. I knew you would never tell us if you were coming home, I knew you would just show up somewhere and scare the crap out of us."

"That's because you know me so well," she threw herself into his arms again, nearly choking him. "God Natsu, I missed you so much," she cried, her breaths turning into heaves. Sobs escaped her lips which donned the world's largest smile only a moment ago, her eyes which were laughing in pure ecstasy were now tightly shut as tears spilled from them for a different reason.

"Me too," he bit his tongue hard to keep himself from mimicking her actions, holding her as she cried out her frustrations from seven years. He hand an arm around her back, but put one hand to her head, stroking her hair to help comfort her. He was holding her up from the ground, standing to his full height. Somehow he started to sway back and forth ever so slightly, almost rocking her while humming a tune to an old lullaby song he knew.

His attempt to not crack as well was quickly defeated when he found tears pouring from his eyes faster then before, the strongest urge to scream fought his throat, which was still humming the tune.

It won.

There they were, both crying hysterically as they leaned on one other for support. The cold metal walls of the locker room echoed their voices, making their sobs ring louder in their ears. But they didn't care. They were together again after so long, they couldn't do anything but cry.

They didn't know how long it was, but they continued until their vocal cords felt like they were about to rip, their sobs dying down together until they were mostly whimpers with the occasional cry. It was like steel wool had scrubbed both of them clean, breaking down the walls they had worked so hard to put up and leaving them raw but feeling so much better.

Natsu slowly pried Lucy off of him, her arms resisting but eventually giving in. Her eyes were blood shut like his, her face was bright red from crying so hard for so long.

"Luce," he whispered, his voice strained and rough from screaming so loud but somehow still gentle.

"N – Natsu," her voice was just like his, but she couldn't help the involuntary gasps of breath that shook her whole body.

She was so beautiful. Even standing there crying like a child that didn't get their way, she was beautiful. Tears flooded her eyes, snot was starting to drip from her nose, her mouth was in a tortured grimace as she heaved, her entire face rivaled Erza's hair color, but she was still beautiful. She would always be beautiful to him.

He had to tell her, but he didn't trust his voice to work.

So he did the only thing he could think of. The only thing that felt right to him.

He kissed her.

He kissed her with so much passion; she was surprised at first, but soon melted into the kiss. Love radiated from his lips, which tasted like salt from tears and the faint trace of oranges from a sports drink he must've had earlier.

His tongue found its way into her mouth, and she responded with just as must fierceness. They weren't fighting for dominance though; they were expressing their love.

Centuries later, their kiss turned from hot and raging passion to a slow and gentle but loving one, they were perfectly in sync with each other. They were apologizing, cursing, screaming, laughing, and loving each other in one gesture. They stopped a few moments later, keeping their eyes closed but pressing their foreheads together.

"I love you," he could hardly speak, but kept continuing. "I love you so much. You have no idea. Lucy, I'm in love with you."

"Natsu," her voice sounded her vocal cords were mauled, but she somehow made it louder so he could hear her. "I love you too. I've always loved you; I hated leaving you seven years ago. I'm so sorry; I'm in love with you Natsu. I truly am."

"You don't need to say you're sorry," he pulled his forehead away from hers, opening his eyes to see her brown ones watching him intently. "I was never mad at you."

"I'm still sorry. I regretted leaving you guys so much, but I mostly regretted leaving you," her voice gave out on the last word, it disappeared into the stale and sweaty air around them.

"Please don't. You did what you thought was right; you didn't want to marry someone you didn't love. I'm glad you didn't, I don't know what I would've done. All that matters is that you're home, ok?" he gave her a soft smile, which she returned with a nod.

"Let's go, I think Erza will kill me if she ever found out I knew you were home and didn't tell everyone," he put his arm around her, resting it on the small of her back, guiding her out of the locker room and towards the parking lot.

They walked towards his car, a rental SUV while he was here, Natsu guiding Lucy into the passenger seat before getting into the driver's seat himself. He started the car, pulling out of the stadium before driving off to the hotel.

He stole glances at Lucy every few moments, thinking she might dissolve into thin air or something. She held her hand out to him; he took one hand off of the steering wheel to hold it.

After a bit he pulled into the hotel parking lot, taking Lucy up to the room he was given. She sat down on the bed while he made two cups of tea, handing one to her when he was done.

She took a sip of the warm liquid, enjoying the tea soothing her sore throat. She raised her eyebrows to Natsu, who was sitting next to her, and gestured to her cup, noticing that he made it with two sugars like she loved.

"I remembered," he nodded, and then took a sip of his own cup. "I could never forget. Two sugars with black tea, one with green tea, and honey with ginger tea."

"Thank you Natsu," she spoke, founding the tea had restored her voice.

"Anytime," he smiled.

She polished off her cup a few minutes later, setting it down on the bedside table.

"I'm just – I'm just going to use the restroom," she said, making her way towards the door in the room, which could only be the restroom.

Her hands immediately found the sink, tuning on the cold water and washing her face repeatedly. She pressed her face into a fluffy towel, and then looked at her reflection in the mirror.

Other then her face still being a bit red and puffy, she looked normal. Hopefully it would go down before she saw everyone else. She walked out of the bathroom, seeing Natsu waiting for her in a pair of jeans and a red shirt.

"Ready?" he held his arm out to her, his eyes looking her over to see if she was ok or not.

"Ready," she responded, her voice a bit hoarse but strong and firm. She walked towards him, his arm taking her and holding her in a side hug before resting itself on her shoulders.

"Then lets go," he smiled at her before walking out the door with her, down the hall, to the elevator, into the car, where he drove towards the bar where everyone was partying.

Gomen, I know it's short compared to all the other chapters. But I figured that a shorter chapter was better then nothing.

So I don't know if I'll be able to update regularly, but I'll try my best.

I'm not going to do shout outs because I'm really tired, but just know that I love all of you guys! Thank you so much for your support, it means the world to me :D

Let me know what you guys think in a review!