I managed to update within a week for once!

Been thinking about this chapter and how to do it all week, especially at work because it's so boring. Yeah, I know I shouldn't be, but my job gets kinda dull after a while without a distraction of some sort.

Disclaimer: I'm pretty sure everyone knows by now that I don't own Fairy Tail


MIA

"LOKE!"

Lucy raced through the streets as fast her legs would allow her, pushing and shoving past the people on the footpaths as she frantically searched for her missing spirit. She figured that he couldn't have gotten too far, seeing as she was only in the shop for roughly twenty minutes. It was a mystery to her how he had gone anywhere in the first place. She could've sworn she'd tied him securely to the street lamp.

"LOKE!"

She only seemed to be succeeding in attraction the attention of people she passed, looking at her with confused expressions, but she ignored them. She had more important matters to deal with. If the council found out that her 'pet' lion was wandering around on the loose again they would both be in so much trouble! She didn't even want to think about the consequences!

"LOKE!"

The teenager stopped out the front of a clothing store and leant up against the window, her hands on her thighs as she bent over and struggled for breath. She didn't know how long she had been running, and still had no luck finding Loke. How hard could it be to find a white lion in Magnolia? She felt a single tear roll down her cheek as she began to feel hopelessness overwhelm her.

"Loke…" she sobbed quietly, holding a hand up to her face so no-one could see her crying, "Where are you? You stupid idiot…"

She was brought to her senses as she could hear a faint, yet familiar, groan coming from the nearby park, the same one Lucy had taken Loke to several days ago. She could also hear the sound of children's laughter and yelling, followed by a rather loud splashing sound. The blonde mage stood up straight once more and quickly followed the sounds until she could see the lake. There, crawling out of the edge of the water was her spirit, still restrained with his muzzle and lead, which was being held by the three same boys she saw outside the shop window that Loke was tied up outside of. They couldn't have been any older than Romeo.

Loke lifted himself up onto solid ground and hastily shook his coat as dry as possible, and the water droplets flew up onto the surrounding kids, who yelped and held their arms up in front of their faces. They then laughed and tugged on the lead together, slowly dragging Loke along as he tried to resist, desperately digging his claws into the dirt, but the magical lead made it impossible for him to resist the pull. He growled and tossed his head back and forth, trying as hard as he could to back away, but with one last heave the boys managed to make him lose his balance and he fell back into the freezing cold lake. The boys could not stop laughing as Loke's head broke the surface and he gasped for breath before he paddled back to the edge of the lake, shivering as he scrambled out once more.

Lucy was relieved that she had managed to track down her feline friend, but became absolutely furious when she saw what the three children were doing to him. It was obvious he was not enjoying the torture they were putting him through, and there was nothing he could do to stop them either. Fueled by rage, but remembering who she was dealing with, Lucy stomped over to the kids, who stopped and turned at the sudden presence behind them, whilst Loke just raised his head, his ears flicked forward, and he let out a cry of delight.

"Excuse me," Lucy said calmly with a hint of anger in her voice, as she could get in trouble if she lost her temper completely with just a few children. "That is my lion and you need to give him back."

Two of the boys looked at each other, clinging more tightly to Loke's lead, whilst the third just shrugged and shot back "Finders, keepers. We found him in the street, so we get to keep him." The celestial mage's eye twitched slightly at the nerve of such a young kid.

"That's not how it works in the adult world." She said, slowly losing her patience as she pointed directly at the boy in front of her. "What you have just done is commit an act of theft. You could go to jail for that." She was surprised when he just laughed back at her, his hands on his hips, still clutching the leash in one hand.

"My dad is a policeman, I'll get off easy."

"Oh really? I'm pretty sure your father has no control over what the magic council decides." Lucy replied, crossing her arms. "And I intend to go and tell them what happened if you don't return my lion to me. After all they are involved in any magical incidents, and the lion that you have stolen is a magical one." It was then that the other two boys started as they noticed the back of her right hand.

"Mitsuo," one of them whispered, "she's a Fairy Tail mage. We could get into big trouble for this." She smirked slightly as the smile on Mitsuo's face faltered. He growled a little before he angrily threw his part of the lead to the ground.

"Tch, whatever. The stupid thing wouldn't play with us anyway." The other two boys behind him hastily dropped the rest of the lead, and the three ran towards the other side of the park, in the direction of the urban part of Magnolia. They were probably running off back home. Lucy smiled down at Loke, glad that it was so easy to get him back.

He bounded over to her and went to sidle up next to her, but she quickly jumped back and said "Ohhh no you don't! Not while you're soaking wet!" The lion spirit groaned before shaking his coat off once more, slightly drenching his owner with the water that flew off his fur. He was looking less like a majestic lion and more like a dirty, shaggy ball of fluff with dirt fusing with the wet coat and becoming slightly muddy. Lucy knelt down next to him, placed a hand on either side of his slightly brown face and said "Look at you, your filthy!" His fur wasn't soft and smooth anymore, it felt more like the hair of a rag doll. "Come on, let's go home and get you cleaned up." Loke nodded and obediently followed as Lucy picked up the end of his leash and led him down the streets, towards her home.

It took them a little while to get back to her place, and they could both feel the stares that strangers gave them as they passed by. The mud in Loke's fur had begun to solidify, and was starting to pull on the ends of his fur, becoming slightly painful. He was relieved when they finally got back home, and Lucy was very pleased, but also found it quite funny, when Loke wiped his enormous paws at the door mat, ridding them of as much grime as he possibly could to avoid dirtying the room so much. After Lucy had tossed her bag onto her living room table, the two of them made their way to her bathroom, which the lion had never been in before.

The young blonde ran water into the tub until it was about half full, then coaxed her lion spirit to hop in. He slowly set one paw in, a little uncertain after his afternoon experience at the lake, then sighed at the welcomed warmth and lifted the rest of his body in and sat down, raising the water level up to nearly three quarters full. He gratefully shook his head and smacked his lips a few times after his master had removed the muzzle from his head, and he opened his jaws wide to stretch them since they had been clamped shut all day.

"Now, you're not allergic to lavender, are you?" Lucy asked as she reached for her shampoo. She was probably going to need the whole bottle. Loke shook his head, spraying more water from his body. He closed his eyes and lowered his face as Lucy began to squeeze the white liquid onto the top of his mane and down along his back, before setting the bottle down and lathering his coat. It quickly turned into yellow colored foam as it merged with the dirt that he had accumulated. She smiled as she watched his face, his lips turned upwards into a smile and a quiet purr rose from his throat, seemingly enjoying the massaging feeling that Lucy was making as she scrubbed his fur clean.

After she was sure she had rubbed the shampoo in enough she grabbed the rinse hose that sat next to the tub and turned it on. The sudden pressurized water startled the lion, causing him to jump, but he quickly settled down again. As the foam was washed away, Loke's brilliant white coat could once again be seen, glistening from the layer of water that clung to his fur. Once he was cleansed of all the scum, he stepped out of the bath and shook his body once more, completely soaking Lucy and all the walls of the room. She sighed, at her dirty bathroom, but shook her head as she rationalized that Loke had had a rough couple of days. She grabbed the nearest towel, which was now slightly damp, and dried off the spirit's fur as best she could before she pulled out her hairdryer to finish the job properly.

After making a half-assed attempt at cleaning up her bathroom, she led Loke out into her bedroom, where he lay down on his bed and she fumbled through her drawers until she found a cat grooming brush, which she had used a couple of times on Happy. It was his reward for behaving himself whenever he was around, which was still very rare but not as much now, and it always made his fur smooth, plus he enjoyed the feel of it. It was a little small for Loke, but she still decided to give it a try, since she didn't want his coat to become matted. She softly swept the brush through his mane, careful not to pull on his hair, and watched as his eyelids slowly slid shut. She then turned her gaze to his Fairy Tail tattoo and giggled as an idea came to mind. Feeling a little cheeky, she gently brushed between his shoulder blades. In response, Loke jumped as he let out a short roar, then his body slumped, his legs sprawled out to the sides. Lucy laughed.

"Haha, I'm sorry Loke, I just couldn't help myself!" The lion let out a moan as he glared in her direction, but didn't move an inch as she continued to brush him down. The two remained silent as Lucy continued her tedious task, whilst Loke remained unmoving on the floor, despite the fact that the paralyzing effects had long worn off. Eventually the blonde rolled him onto his back and brushed his underside, occasionally getting lightly whacked by a large paw as the giant lion stretched and twisted beneath her, letting out a deep purr once more. After over an hour, Lucy sat up and wiped her brow.

"There, done!" Loke rolled back over and sat up before her. She looked at his shiny coat for a minute before setting the grooming brush down and cuddling up to her lion spirit. She breathed in the scent of lavender that coated his body and relished the feeling of his soft fur on her skin once more. "Mmm, much better!" She felt his head rest over her shoulder and against her back as she wrapped her arms tighter around his neck. She began to feel a little drowsy and pulled herself away before she fell asleep on him again, like she had nearly done so many times before. She stretched her arms upwards, feeling tired after putting so much effort into cleaning Loke up, and was startled when she looked over at her clock.

"Holy crap! I didn't realise it was so late!" She didn't even remember switching the light on as she looked out the window and clearly saw the moon high up in the night sky. After realizing the time, she let out a huge yawn. "Man, I'm so tired I don't even feel like cooking dinner." She slowly got up, flicked off the light and clambered into bed, snuggling into her pillow. For some reason it didn't feel as comfortable as it normally did, and Lucy tossed and turned for a while before she rolled over to face the floor.

"Hey Loke?" She received a tired grunt in reply. "Do you want to sleep up here? I mean, it is kind of cold and-" she didn't even get to finish her sentence before Loke growled and happily leapt up onto the bed, just narrowly avoiding jumping on Lucy and hastily settling himself down next to her, resting one paw over her petite body. She giggled and ran her fingers through his mane once more before taking a hold of his face and whispering "Goodnight Loke," and placing a gentle kiss on the top of his nose. He purred and gentle nuzzled her face affectionately before he curled around her protectively, much like a lion would with his lioness, and drifted off to sleep. Lucy smiled contently, she felt so warm and safe with him, it was like something she had never felt with anyone before, and she just wished she could feel like that forever. She nestled her head into his chest, absorbing the warmth that emanated from his body, and dozed off to the steady beat of his heart falling into sync with hers.


I know you guys have been wanting some more stuff to go on between those two, even though I didn't really give you much this time. Who knows, maybe I'll do some more in the next chapter… maybe…

Anyways, reviews and constructive criticism are appreciated, but not necessary ^_^

No flames though, of course. I already live with a pyromaniac, so I don't need any more of those…

Thanks for taking the time to read this and hopefully I'll update soon!

~Piplup~