Natsu stepped through the door way, and promptly threw himself in the snow. "Gah! It burns!" He yelled into the cold ground.

Grey watched as Natsu ripped his shirt off and then lay in the snow, "Uh…everything alright?" He questioned.

Natsu looked up, "You thought holy light was bad? Try holy tears. Shit, that hurts!" he grumbled. He finally peeled himself away from the cold ground and sat up. The scar from the holy light Lucy had caused before was almost healed, but it still shone in the early morning sun. Above it, on his chest, were new, painful looking burns that had already begun to blister.

"Whoa, holy tears? What'd you do to the poor girl!?" Grey gasped.

"I didn't do anything!" Natsu snapped, "She was sad, and so I gave her a hug. That's it."

Grey smirked, "You're sure that's all that happened?" he teased.

"Why are you insinuating that I am some kind of pervert?" Natsu glared.

"You almost kissed an angel. I saw it, dude. You're completely in love with her, and you have a deal with the devil…"

"I am not in love with Lucy!" Natsu interrupted. He pulled his shirt back on, forgetting about the holy damp spots on the chest. "OW! Not again!" He ripped it off and lit on fire, "Think you can keep burning me, do ya?!" He said to the shirt. He watched in satisfaction as it burned. Grey hung his head and attempted not sigh.

"You're an idiot." He finally said.

"What are you talking about?" Natsu looked up from his victorious burning.

"You. Are. In. Love. With. Her." He said slowly, "It's so obvious. I saw how you look at her. I saw how you interact with her. And she is so in love with you."

Natsu froze, and then looked away, "I'm not in love with her, Grey. Do I like her? Sure. She seems cool, but I am not, and I repeat not, in love with her."

"Double negative, Natsu." Grey kept one eye on the tent, and then proceeded to make mini ice sculptures with his power. He created a mini version of Lucy, and tossed it to Natsu. Natsu held the small sculpture in his hands. Grey watched how delicately he handled it.

Natsu eyed the small figurine carefully. It was an exact likeness of Lucy. Just at the thought of her, he felt his muscles relax and his heart rate speed up.

"Look at how you react just seeing a likeness of her." Grey tried again, "You are into her."

Natsu thought a moment of all the choices he had to make. He had to go back, and kill the Conbolts, but first he had to hand Lucy over to Lucifer. She had vowed no one would hurt them while she was around, so clearly, she had to go first. And once she was handed over, and the family was collected, he and the rest of his friends would all be free to go. And on top of that, he would have Lisanna back. He would have another chance to be with Lisanna.

But Lucy. It was a forbidden love. If he made her fall, would he be allowed to catch her? Would she want to join the devil to be with him? She was an angel. Why would she give up her place in Heaven, to join him in a crumbling church?

He melted the small figure in his hands. He had too much riding on this. There was only one decision to make, and for once, he wouldn't be selfish.

"I have to hand over Lucy." He whispered. "All of Fairy Tail's freedom is resting on this. I have to free Lisanna. I have to. I can't let Lucy distract me. I have a contract to fill."

Grey nodded. He hadn't been expecting this kind of reaction, "Okay." Was all he said.

Natsu looked at him, "I'm going need your help. And if you tell anybody I asked, I will burn you so bad, your ice will turn to steam for the rest of eternity."

Grey nodded again, "What do you need me to do?" He asked.

XXXXXXXXXXX

Lucy placed the box back behind the tapestry and wiped her eyes. She spread her wings and started a slow, careful flight back to Heaven. She would speak to Mira, she decided, as well as Erza. She would find out everything she could about Mira's past, and then she would forgive her.

She took deep breaths as she neared Heaven, and tried to control her nerves. She lightly touched down, and walked towards the golden gates. They were closed. She banged on them, not caring that she was disturbing the choir. "Mira! Erza!" She called, "Please open up! I'm…I want to talk with you!" she waited a few moments before knocking again, "Erza! Mira! Levy! Anyone, please open up! I need to speak with Erza and Mira!" She called again.

The gate opened a couple of inches and the blue haired healer from before looked through, "I'm not allowed to let you in, but if you wait, I'll go get Erza!" Lucy didn't have time to answer as the gate shut again. Moments later, it opened again and a much taller angel peered through.

"Lucy!" The gate swung open, and Erza pulled Lucy into a one armed hug, "I'm relieved you came back so soon. Please, come." She spun on her heel and walked ahead of Lucy. Lucy followed her quietly to the same room they had been in only hours earlier.

Mira was seated, with her head down, but she shot up when Lucy entered, "Lucy!" She cried. Lucy had intended to be in control, quiet, and ask questions before letting go of her anger, but Natsu's words played through her mind.

She threw her arms around Mira, "I'm so sorry I reacted the way I did! I'm so sorry. Please forgive me."

Mira hugged her back, "I forgive you, Lucy. Will you forgive me for hiding my former self from you?" Lucy nodded into her shoulder.

"I'm pleased this was resolved so quickly." Erza smiled, "Now, sit down. I believe we owe Lucy more of an explanation." Lucy let go of Mira and sat across from her. This time, she was ready to listen.

"First, I will explain some things about what servants do." Mira started, "When you first sell your soul, you are granted certain powers. The first of which is usually memory manipulation."

"Memory manipulation?" Lucy repeated.

Mira nodded, "The reason Lucifer is collecting souls is to create an army to move against Heaven. In order for the souls to be battle ready, they must be full of negative energies. What a servant does is create a bond with the person. That way when they turn on them to kill them and collect their soul, the person is full of confusion, betrayal, anger and hate. That creates a stronger, more loyal soul to Lucifer. The stronger the soul is, the better powers you can trade them for."

Erza remained quiet, and Lucy looked aghast, "That…that's terrible!"

"It is. The stronger your bond is with the person the better the soul is to collect. This is done in one of two ways. There's memory manipulation, where you manipulate the memories to include yourself, and you force a strong bond to be created. It's usually strong enough after a few days of memory manipulation. Or you can have an organic bond. An organic bond is one created without the use of memory manipulation. This is why I say Natsu cannot be trusted. He is the only servant that relies on organic bonds. They are more powerful, but harder to create. For instance, the family you saved from Natsu before. He had been living with them for at least a year under the guise of being a foster child. He had 'moved out' a week before he was to kill them. He's one of the top servants because of what he's willing to put himself through to gain the souls.

Lucy nodded, a little overwhelmed with the information, "And what about you? You killed masses! You didn't create bonds, did you?"

"Fear is a very powerful emotion." She said, "And that's what I thrived on. The fear of the people I killed. I would kill hundreds of people at a time." She shuddered, "My soul count began to drop. As villages turned into cities, it became harder for me to kill that many at once. Lucifer summoned me. With Lucifer, no news is good news. If there's news, it's always bad. That is how I learned about selling Lisanna's soul. When I was summoned, he promised me he would free her. He would end my contract, and free her. All I had to do was destroy the most holy places on Earth." She took a deep breath, "My soul count hit a record high with the amount of people I had killed." She looked to Erza.

"That's where I came in." Erza took over, "We had managed to salvage the places Mira had tried to destroy in the past, but we had to stop her. Archangel Michael entrusted that task to me. We had a fierce battle. Mira was, and still is incredibly strong." Erza looked grim as she remembered the details of their meeting, "Mira was not the warm person you see before you. She was cold and angry and ready to kill." Lucy gulped. Mira looked ashamed, "We fought steady for days. I finally caught Mira off guard. I was ready to kill her for everything she had done."

"Why didn't you?" Lucy asked. She turned to Mira, "Not that I want you dead!" She back tracked.

Mira laughed, "It's okay, Lucy. I thought the same thing."

Erza continued, "When I had my sword at her neck, Mira asked me to save her sister's soul. It was then I saw through the creature she had become. She repented and I accepted her into Heaven's army. She's grown to be one of the strongest angels we have."

"I'll help you save Lisanna's soul!" Lucy declared. Mira looked at her with wide eyes, "I promise, Mira!"

Mira started to tear up, "Thank you, Lucy."

Erza smiled, "Well, Lucy. It turns out we will have to begin training you as a warrior."

"Wh…What?" Lucy sputtered, "A…a warrior?! I've only done one job as a miraculous guardian! I can't be a warrior!"

Erza and Mira smiled at eachother, "Lucy, the only difference between a miraculous guardian angel, and a warrior angel is that the miraculous guardians go out regularly to save others and warrior angels train behind a gate waiting for the big war." Erza explained.

"But…I can't be in a war! I'm…I'm just Lucy!" She waved her hands in front of her.

"Lucy, you are the strongest angel Mira has at her disposal. Let us train you to be battle ready. When we go for Lisanna, you will be prepared for whatever we may face." Erza offered again.

Lucy looked between the two angels. One was hopeful, and one was determined. "I'll do it." She agreed.

"Excellent. We will begin our training in three days' time." Erza stated.

XXXXXXXXXX

"You're sure that's what you heard?" Mikayla asked Emily.

"Yes! I overheard Grey and Natsu talking this morning, and Natsu likes me! Grey was trying to convince him he's in love with me! Love is a bit soon, but he did say he liked me!" Emily excitedly giggled.

"You guys will make an adorable couple!" Mikayla announced, "You know, it's so obvious he likes you!"

Emily's eyes brightened, "You think so?" She grinned.

"Oh, definitely. The way he's always having to move away from you because he's nervous? It's so cute." Mikayla grinned back.

"He's so cute, isn't he?" Emily sighed happily. The boys were taking down the tent, getting ready for the next day worth of hiking, and the two girls were taking the opportunity to relax a bit and gossip.

"Although," Mikayla started slowly, "I thought you liked Grey at the start of the trip?"

Emily thought a moment, "Yea, I sort of did. He's pretty cute to, but when Natsu joined us at the start…Oh yes please!" She laughed.

Mikayla laughed as well, "And how had the trip been with Tomas? He's been all over you!"

Emily frowned, "Yea, he has been. It's weird. I mean, we had a bit of a fling last month, but we agreed nothing was going to happen past that…Why's he being so weird?"

The girls thought for a moment, "I bet he's jealous of Natsu." Mikayla finally reasoned.

"Ugh, just my luck. Two boys at once!" Emily looked over at Natsu and sighed happily. Pictures of wedding dresses and pink haired babies filled her mind.

Xxxxx

"Okay, Grey. You sure your bonds are strong enough?" Natsu whispered as he tugged on the rope holding the tent up.

Grey nodded, "Yep. We can take care of this today, collect and go home."