Earthland

The guild was beyond ecstatic when Lucy returned. They had never seen the blonde go on a solo mission, so everyone missed her dearly, her team especially. It took almost an hour to convince everyone to leave her alone so she could relax at a table in the back. It took all her willpower not to go up and order the spiciest thing Mira had.

It wasn't long before Gray was sitting a little too close to Lucy with a snow cone and a strawberry milkshake. She smiled as politely as possible and pretended to take a sip. She made a big show about dropping the cup onto her lap and excused herself to the restroom.

Lucy was grumbling under her breath as soon as she left the table, not considering that other Dragon Slayers could hear her. She went down the back hallway leading to the bathrooms but instead of going in, she kept walking straight out the back door. So what if Gray would notice that she left?

As fast as she could, Lucy ran through town until she reached the forest. There, she slowed to a walk. Eventually she reached a cliff. She sighed in content as the calm breeze ruffled her hair. She reached up and took the clip out of her hair, letting it fall down. Since her counterpart always kept her hair that way, Makarov said that she should, too. That didn't mean she couldn't leave her hair down when she was alone.

Lucy walked up to the edge of the cliff. She stared down at the jagged rocks below, the stream lapping briskly around them. A lazy smile stretched across her lips. She turned around and fell back as straight as a board.

To her utter surprise, she felt someone grab her hand. In her shock, she yanked her arm back, bringing the person down with her. Turning her head to the side, she saw that the person was none other than Natsu Dragneel.

"Luce, I got you!" Natsu yelled, hugging her tight. "I won't let you get hurt!" He had to yell so she could hear him over the whooshing sound in their ears.

Lucy pushed him off of her and held her hands out. "Spice Dragon Secret Art: Vines!" she shouted the incanation. Deep russet vines shot from her hands and extended above and below them before latching onto the cliff wall, creating a pocket to catch them in.

"Woah," Natsu breathed out in amazement. He watched as tiny flames began to dance across the vines, small peppers sprouting sporadically.

Lucy wasn't paying attention to Natsu, though. She put one arm around Natsu's waist, just in case he accidently moved around, and extended the other out. All the vines began to shift up the wall, moving them along as they went. When they got to the top, the vines crept up her body until they reached the palm of her hand, dissolving in a flash of light.

Lucy turned and looked sharply at Natsu. "What exactly were you trying to do?" she asked. "I had that perfectly under control, as you can see."

Natsu snapped himself out of his daze. "Lucy?" he asked gently. He took a tentative step forward. "Is that you?"

It took Lucy a moment to realize what was happening. She was so concerned with Natsu ruining her jump that she forgot about using her magic around him. She cursed under her breath. "How did you find me?" she asked, deciding not to tell him about her situation just yet.

"I saw you spill your milkshake on yourself and heard you leave the guild," Natsu explained. He stared at the pink stain on her brown sweater. He wondered how she wasn't freezing. The early November air was chilly. It might even start snowing soon. Usually Lucy was a baby about the cold, always trying to use him for his warmth. "Are you and Gray fighting?"

Lucy walked up to Natsu and held her hand out. A small golden pepper appeared there, making Natsu look at her with awe once again. She grabbed Natsu's shoulder and yanked him to her, thrusting the pepper into his skull in the process. He was shocked at how easily it went in and that it didn't hurt at all.

"I hope you don't feel the need to tell anyone about what you saw today," Lucy said coldly. "That pepper will stop you if you try and it can only be taken out by me. No one will even be able to detect it."

"How will it stop me?" Natsu asked hesitantly. He didn't know what was wrong with Lucy, but he was a little afraid of what she was becoming. He hadn't even heard her use such a cruel tone with enemies.

Lucy smirked. She wasn't usually evil in any way to people, but Natsu was just another enemy. Even if he hadn't done anything in this world, he still had the potential to. "The pepper will add so much heat to your mouth that you will go numb. That's when my magic takes over. Any appropriate words for the situation will come out of your mouth and there's nothing you can do to stop it. I'd love to see you stop the heat, Fire Dragon Slayer."

With perfect timing, there was a rustling far behind them that became louder and louder. Within a minute, Happy came flying from the forest, landing on Natsu's chest, hugging him tight. "Natsu!" he cried. "You just disappeared and I was so worried!"

"I was, too," a new voice said. Lucy already knew that it was Gray. She turned to him and smiled. "Are you okay? I had Levy check the bathrooms but you weren't there. Then Gajeel told me that he saw Natsu follow you, so I got a little worried."

"I'm fine," Lucy said cheerfully. She put her hands on his cheeks and kissed him gently.

"No!" Natsu shouted. Gray jumped back in surprise. Lucy turned to the pink-haired man with a smirk. She could see the slight discomfort on his face. Then his features softened. "I was going to say you might get milkshake on you, but I guess the stain already dried. Sorry, Lucy. I just really wanted to show you this place." The heat left his mouth and his eyes went wide, seeing that the golden pepper worked exactly as he was told.

Lucy wiped the smile on her face and put on her best frown for Gray. "Oh, shoot, he's right." She held her shirt up to Gray, showing off half her stomach in the process. His eyes drooped down then back up with much effort. "We'll have to go put it in the washer right away."

Gray put his arm around her and kissed the side of her forehead. "We'll have to," he said. He glanced over at Natsu. "Next time you try to kidnap my girlfriend, Natsu, at least have the decency to let me know, okay? You could have done something stupid like fall off the cliff and no one would have found you."

Gray left back into the forest. Happy announced that he was going to go get the fishing poles then fly Natsu to their favorite fishing spot. Natsu decided to just wait by the cliff and think about some things. And, as soon as Happy was out of hearing range, his voice came back.

"That's not Lucy," he said. "She's a Dragon Slayer. She doesn't like me. She doesn't love Gray. She's not our Lucy."

Natsu mumbled all the truths to himself until he felt his mouth heat up with Happy's return.

EdoLand

Day 8

Gray,

I miss you enough for the both of us right now. At first I was worried because we're only dating. I know I want to be with you forever, but how accurate is that? Everyone says that. Being with Laxus, though, I know exactly that with you is where I want to be. I know that we can get through this.

By the way, I'm pregnant. And I couldn't be more happy.

Love, Lucy and Plus One.

"Lucy!" Laxus called entering the small apartment.

Lucy gasped in surprise and threw the journal onto the coffee table. The book hit another that had been resting there and they both fell to the ground. She quickly ran to pick them up and set them on the bookshelf nicely. She had started keeping her journal to Gray on the shelf since it would be assumed empty that way, unlike if someone found it in her desk. She also started using another journal to write down anything that came to mind, much like she did with a journal back in Earthland.

"Hey," Laxus said, softer this time. He pulled Lucy to him in a searing kiss, one that made her a little dizzy, which wasn't hard to do lately. "What were you doing?"

"Nothing really," Lucy lied, hugging him a little closer. She winced when his hard chest pressed a little too roughly into her tender breasts.

"What's wrong?" Laxus asked. He pulled back and studied her face, trying to figure out what was wrong. He realized once again that he had trouble doing so. It seemed like he had been having a hard time reading her during the past week, something he was wondering whether or not to be concerned with. Also, she had an odd smell to her.

"Nothing," she lied again. Everything.

Laxus decided not to dwell on the matter and sat down on the couch, pulling her onto his lap. Her chest slammed into his harder than before, making her whimper. This time he knew something was indeed wrong. He demanded that she tell him.

"Will you stop?" Lucy asked sharply. "I'm fine! Pestering me certainly won't get you any closer to figure things out, either. Maybe you should start treating me like a human with feelings instead of someone you can control. Maybe then we'll get somewhere."

Lucy didn't care that she was suppose to love him. She didn't care that she could ruin her counterpart's life. She was just tired and frustrated with everything. She was pregnant with the love of her life's child and couldn't even tell him. She was stuck being with a man that was suppose to be out of her life forever. Her hormones were out of whack. She always felt like crying. She wasn't about to try to control anything so she could continue faking her love for who knows how long.

Laxus visibly flinched.

Lucy stood up so fast she swooned. Laxus stood up to help her, but she held her arm out. "Go," she said coldly.

Laxus clenched his fists. "When you stop PMSing give me a call." He left, slamming the door behind him.