School has started up for me again, so updates might slow down, just warning you. (don't know if I've said it before so I'll say it now!)

So, new chapter. I love you guys, thanks for reading and subscribing and reviewing I love y'all so much.

About the fact that Tessa is a Celestial spirit and leader of a Zodiac, I used the Chinese zodiac for this concept and I know that technically the Rat is the leader (I'm a year of the rat I should know haha) But I figured it'd be nice if they were equally matched in power and status as spirits. And that explains it!

Disclaimer: I'm seriously just screwing around, I am not the owner of anything recognizable.

Enjoy!~

A.~

Previously on Key to My Heart

"You're not a tool! Celestial Spirits are not magic tools, we're living beings just like him! We feel emotions and sensations like pain. I will fight him, Tessa, I'll track him down and fight him with or without your help. All of FairyTail will hunt this man down if we have to. Spirit or not, you're a member of FairyTail and we protect our own." He practically roared. Tessa bit her lip and tears sprang to her eyes.

"Leo…. Please, just leave it be." She whispered.

"No. I won't ignore it when I can help you." With that he vanished through the gate to the human world, Tessa calling after him.

Now…

It took the rest of the day for Tessa to heal, even with Draco's help. By the time she made it back to the human world, Loke had probably told everyone about her secret she figured.

"Tessa!" She really hadn't been looking forward to coming back. She winced as she was swarmed by friends the second she stepped foot into the guild hall.

"Guys, before you say anything, you're not going and rushing off to find him, it's not happening." She huffed.

"Find who?" Lucy frowned. Tessa frowned as well.

"Leo didn't tell you?"

"Wait, are you talking about the guy that was apparently stalking you and when you refused to go out with him he beat you up real bad, so you had to go to the hospital in the town you were in for the job you'd just finished?" Kaia asked, seeming to think that's what she was talking about. Tessa had no clue but she decided to roll with it.

"Oh, um….. Yeah?"

"Too bad, give me his name! I won't let anyone mess with my nakama and get away with it!" Natsu snapped as he burst to the center of the circle.

"Natsu." Kaia said calmingly. He lost a bit of his fire, but he still looked mad.

"Hey, I'm still a little disoriented, where's Leo?" She asked.

"I'm right here." He spoke up from behind her. She whirled around to face him. "Hi." He smiled politely.

"Hi, I need to talk to you, alone." She muttered, grabbing his wrist and towing him to the guild hall broom closet. The girls tittered as they watched her drag him away.

"Maybe Loke really was helping her heal and rest up, it'd be a funny site don't you think? Him playing doctor." Kaia giggled, thinking up a little thought bubble scenario. Lucy wrinkled her nose at the spectacle.

"Poor girl, she's gonna get her heart broken if that's the case." Lucy muttered. Kaia smiled and reached up to place a hand on her shoulder.

"I dunno. I think if anyone gets their heart broken it's gonna be Loke. The dude is pretty obsessed with her." She giggled. "I haven't seen him flirt with anyone since he got to know her actually." She realized. Lucy blinked, having the same epiphany.

In the broom closet

"What are we doing in here?" Loke wondered as she closed the door behind them. Both had excellent vision in the dark so there was no need for a light.

"What did you tell them?" She demanded. He sighed.

"You didn't want me telling them, I'm still going to, just not yet. I need more information." He muttered. "But you somehow got to the other spirits before I could, even though you couldn't frickin walk." It clearly frustrated him that all of her fellow Zodiac had been tight lipped like she asked.

"Draco was a real help." She smiled with sarcastic sweetness. Loke glared at her. "I'm not letting your altruistic ass get your key holder killed." She snapped.

"I'm the altruistic one in this situation?" He scoffed.

"Damn right you are. If you found him, and got Lucy to fight him, you'd be putting not just yourself, but her as well as nine other spirits in danger. I can protect my Zodiac just fine on my own. They're perfectly safe as long as he is in possession of my key too."

"And who's going to protect you?" Loke snapped grabbing her arms, he slammed her shoulders against the shelves adjacent to the door in the process. "Who's going to keep you safe, huh!?" He nearly shouted, getting in close to her face as he glared at her. Tessa looked up at him, wide eyed at how fierce he looked, how protective he seemed of her.

"L-Leo…" She mumbled quietly. He shot forward and slammed his mouth down on hers, making her gasp in surprise and he took the opportunity to push his tongue passed her lips. She squeezed her eyes shut and tried to turn her head but his hands came up to hold her head still, so her hands went up to his chest, prepared to push him away before she lost the sense to fight. Her hands made it up to his chest and she gripped the lapels of his suit coat, but he growled low in warning, and she lost all will to fight at the sound. You don't refuse the king of beasts. She used her grip on his lapels to pull him closer as a small moan rose in her throat. When it slipped over her tongue he swallowed it down and let one hand stay tangled in her hair while the other wrapped around her back to grab at her ass. She grunted against his lips and he felt her nails bite into his skin through his shirt. He smirked and used his hold to lift her up higher. She wrapped her arms around his neck while her fingers curled into his orange hair.

The door to the closet opened just as another moan slipped from her mouth. They both heard a gasp and the Tiger spirit finally ripped her mouth from the Lion's as she shoved him clear across the closet in her surprise.

"Mira!" She squeaked out, her face going bright red. The white haired mage just stood there, her wide blue eyes going back and forth between them. Tessa tried to compose herself, straightening her outfit and wiping a hand across her mouth. Her hair, she didn't even bother with knowing it was probably all sorts of mussed up.

"I clearly interrupted…. Um…. Something." She tittered. "I just came to get a broom." She smiled and reached to the side of the door. She pulled out a broom quickly and then gave them a sly smile. "Carry on you two, I won't tell." She winked at Tessa and the tiger girl went red again as she closed the door. She leaned heavily against the shelves behind her and hid her face in her hands with a groan.

"So…-"

"If you think I'm continuing you'll get a mouth full of my fist, little cub." She growled. "Damn you Leo!" She hissed.

"What did I do now?" He sighed, getting used to her being mad at him for one thing or another.

"You kissed me, asshole!" She hissed.

"You seemed pretty into it." He smirked, liking to egg her on and see how feisty she got.

"Sh-shut up. I tried to push you away." She huffed.

"When?" He scoffed.

"In the beginning, when you forced the kiss on me." She growled.

"How did I force it on you?" He goaded. She glared, and then a wicked gleam came into her eyes.

"Like this." She snapped and pounced on him. He grunted as his shoulders hit hard into the shelves behind him and then her mouth was on his forcefully. He groaned as her tongue forced its way into his mouth and her fingers went into his hair. He grabbed her hips and pulled her closer but she pushed back away from him. "That is how you forced it on me." She huffed. "You don't just go around kissing a girl without warning, what if she didn't want to kiss you?"

"Did you want to kiss me?" He asked. Her cheeks flamed bright red in the dark.

"I-…. No." She grumbled petulantly.

"Liar."

"Excuse me?"

"I said you're lying. But that's okay I guess, if you're embarrassed." He said smugly.

"I swear to god, cub, I will punch that grin off your goddamn face." She warned darkly. "Now back to the original point before you decided to assault and molest me." She huffed. "I can take care of myself just fine, I don't need anyone to protect me or keep me safe, I'll be just fine." She snapped. The smirk melted into a predatory stare that pierced her. She stood, rooted to her spot as Loke stood up straight and towered over her small human form.

"And if I want to protect you and keep you safe?" He murmured gently. She gulped and blinked a couple times.

"W-well…. You'll just have to deal with it because I won't let you. I don't need to be protected." She said, her voice soft but gaining confidence and strength as she spoke.

"He broke your spinal cord and paralyzed you!" Loke snarled. "Of course you need to be protected from that. If you just make him break the contracts he has with all of you then you'll be free to give your key to whoever you want! If he dies in the process I'll talk to the spirit king, or I'll get Lucy to talk to him!" He huffed.

"No. I'll be fine, it's not like he can kill me." Tessa huffed.

"I'm not going to stand idly by while you just let yourself be tortured!" He growled.

"Fine, you don't have to." She muttered after a second.

"What do you mean, are you gonna give me his name so we can go kick the crap out of him?"

"No. I'll leave FairyTail." She murmured before vanishing in front of him.

"Wai-" He let out a growl that escalated to a roar. "Dammit!" He snarled, punching the wall.

Yeah…. So that happened. REVIEW!

UNTIL NEXT TIME MY LOVELIES!

A.~