What? TWO chapters? This has to be a Christmas miracle, right?

Actually no. It's a gift to you guys for my prolonged absence. I hope you enjoy it because… it's the last chapter.

Yes, alas, we've reached the finale.

It's been a fun ride, everyone, and I appreciate you all sticking with me for this long!

I'll be working on finishing my other story, I'll Be There, that's connected to this one. So if you like my writing, and want to see more of Kale, check that out :)

That being said, onto the final chapter! *tear*

Natsu struggled against the bonds around his arms. He couldn't see them, he couldn't see anything, but he felt them there. He couldn't move himself, no matter how hard he tried, and even though he couldn't see anything, he knew Lucy wasn't with him.

Where was Lucy?

Flashes of light, flame, blue, and black swam across his eyes. Natsu's head pounded, his body ached, and although he couldn't remember much he felt like something really bad had just happened.

An image of Lucy smiling at him materialized in his mind. He reached out to her, but the image only moved away. Natsu frowned. Why was Lucy leaving him? He tried to follow, but she only moved farther and farther away, slowly disappearing into the blackness of his vision.

Natsu chased her, his limbs burning from the effort. He still felt like he couldn't move, but he also felt like he was. It was a strange limbo, but it didn't matter. He had to find her, he had to get to-

"Lucy!"

Natsu struggled upright, blinking away the sudden brightness that assaulted his eyes. The dense forest still surrounded him, muddling his thoughts with mass amounts of green.

He scrunched his face, closing his eyes to steady himself. Memories came back to him in painful flashes of distorted images.

Epense. Umbara. The fight.

Lucy.

Panic surged in his chest as he frantically tried to spin himself around, searching for her, but his head was dizzy and he nearly forced his face into the dirt below him. Apparently he'd been hit harder than he realised. Slowly, he lifted his chin, surveying the trees, his eyes darting every which way until they locked with a pair of large brown eyes, sparkling with tears in the morning light.

"Lucy," He breathed, her name leaving his lips in a relieved sigh. Lucy had seated herself just beside him, her small hands clenched in tight fists at her knees. He assessed her quickly; she was clearly hurt and tired, but it didn't look like she had any severe injuries. Natsu's heart began to slow into a relaxed rhythm.

"Natsu!" Lucy exclaimed, relief flooding her voice, "You're ok! You can see me?"

"Of course I can see you," He laughed, pulling himself into a seated position. "You're right there." He pointed just to the side of her body. Panic crept into Lucy's eyes, her mouth forming a small 'o', before Natsu adjusted the direction of his arm, grinning wickedly at her.

"Don't do that!" She groaned, pouting at him. "You gave me a heart att-"

Her complaint was cut off as Natsu reached out to her, grabbing her shoulders and pulling her against him. His arms wound around her body, pressing her into him with a subtle desperation that was almost impossible for her to pick up. She blinked, her cheek flush against the rise and fall of his chest. Lucy's lips curved into a small smile; she secured her arms around his torso, relishing in the warmth of his body.

"You're ok," Natsu whispered to himself, "You're really ok."

Lucy glanced up at him and she could see a sincere relief in his face, the kind of relief that only followed a gripping, unrelenting fear. Her stomach clenched.

"Natsu," Lucy pulled away from him slightly, casting her eyes to the ground. Natsu quirked his head to the side, resembling a curious puppy in his mannerisms and expression. "I have to apologize to you."

"What for?" He asked, bewildered.

Lucy bit her bottom lip, chewing it methodically. "I almost got you killed. If Happy and the others hadn't shown up when they did, I don't know what would've happened."

Natsu raised his eyebrows. His memories continued to return to him: Umbara sending her smoke, Lucy diving to protect him, Happy's panicked voice in the air, and then…?

Gajeel had positioned a shield of steel to protect Natsu and Lucy. He couldn't remember clearly, but he thought he'd seen Levy using her script magic to siphon the dangerous magic away from them, up into the sky.

"Levy was the real hero," Lucy offered, as if reading his train of thought. "She figured out how to negate the properties of Umbara's magic after she trapped it. It was nothing more than steam by the time she was done."

Natsu frowned. He'd have to put up with Gajeel boasting about saving his ass. Gray would never let him forget it either. "Where are they now? How did they find us?"

Lucy continued to chew her lip. "They felt really bad about leaving us, so they followed. Gajeel sniffed us out, but got lost with the overpowering smell of bloo-" Lucy paused, choosing to move on. "Happy spotted them when he was flying, that's where he disappeared to, and led them back to us. They showed up just in time to-"

She swallowed hard, the guilt evident in the way she held herself. Natsu fought back his own guilt at not keeping her from this.

"They're gone to get help now," She answered, blinking softly. "We can meet up with them later, but right now I need to say this: I put you at risk," Lucy continued her earlier apology, her voice small and weak. The guilt was crushing her, pressing her chest in on herself. "I put myself at risk first, and you almost paid the price for that. I can never make that up to you, Natsu. I should've known better and I'm sorry-"

And then he was kissing her.

Lucy's eyes widened in surprise. Natsu's hand was warm and firm against her cheek, gently guiding her lips to meet with his. His other arm wrapped around her waist, pulling her flush against his body. A blush crept up Lucy's chest, coloring her breasts, neck, and cheeks a rosy pink.

What was happening?

She could feel Natsu's hard, worked muscles moving smoothly beneath his skin as he led her forward, leaning back into the ground they sat on.

This was shock. This is what shock felt like. It seized her into a frozen state of stiffness, unable to think or process coherent thought. Her emotions were clouding her mind and body, screaming at her until she couldn't avoid listening.

This is right

This feels right

Don't stop

Kiss him

Please don't stop

Natsu

The details of her thoughts and the position of their bodies slowly drifted away with the closing of her eyes as she succumbed to the gentle kiss.

Natsu's lips were warm and soft, delicately massaging hers into a blissful state of peace. Lucy felt herself melting against him, twirling her fingers in his wild pink hair, tugging on the locks ever so slightly without really realising what she was doing. She wanted to kiss him harder, deeper, as intensely and meaningfully as she could possibly muster, but just as her resolve settled into the depths of her heart, Natsu broke the kiss and released a contented sigh.

Lucy's eyes blinked open to find him staring at her, a brightness in his gaze she had never seen before. He grinned at her, his chest heaving in a fast paced rhythm that matched hers perfectly. Lucy suddenly became aware of their bodies; Natsu flat on his back, his hair tangled with the grass beneath them, his hands and arms holding her tightly, and her resting on top of him, her skin tingling with the contact between them. Her blush deepened.

"I need to tell you something," He said suddenly, his eyes dark with worry despite the excited flush of his cheeks. Lucy could only wait patiently, her body still in a state of shock.

"I killed Epense," Natsu whispered, although he was sure Lucy had already figured that out. "I killed her because it was the…" He chewed on the word before he said it, knowing it was wrong but not sure what the correct term was. "…right thing to do. She wouldn't have stopped, Lucy. I saw it. I saw the look in her eyes and I knew she was beyond help. If she'd gone to prison…" Lucy watched as Natsu struggled to find the words, almost like he was asking for her forgiveness for what he'd done.

"It wouldn't have been enough," He said eventually. "She was immortal. Prison can only hold someone so powerful for so long."

Lucy blinked quietly at him.

"I know this isn't something…" Natsu began, stuttered, and started again. "I know killing isn't what you wanted. But please don't feel like this was your fault, it wasn't. I chose to do this, and I chose to do this because it was the best decision I could've made at the time."

Lucy remained quiet for a long time. She could see in Natsu's eyes that he was anxiously awaiting her response. She knew Natsu had killed Epense, and she knew that if Natsu had decided it was the best course of action then it was the best course of action. She could never doubt him, even if the entire mission gave her a feeling of nausea.

"I love you, you know."

Lucy jerked her gaze back to his, not noticing it had wandered in the first place. He held his boyish grin, relaxed and happy as though he'd stated something particularly ordinary or obvious. Even still, she could see the worry behind his eyes. Lucy blinked a few times, still in a daze from the kiss. She stared at Natsu for a minute, working out her own thoughts. Finally, she sighed.

"I'm… oddly ok with that," She smiled, knowing he would understand she was talking about more than just his feelings towards her. "I trust you, Natsu. I do. Yes, it's hard, and yes, maybe I'm not overly thrilled about how things turned out but…" She tilted her head to sweep a strand of her hanging hair across Natsu's nose. He scrunched it, fighting the urge to sneeze. She laughed. "I'm just glad you're ok. I love you too, you know."

Natsu's hand reached up and cupped the back of her head, pulling it down so their foreheads touched. His eyelids drifted lazily closed, a smile tugging the corner of his mouth.

"I'm glad," He said, relief and amusement coloring his voice. "Otherwise that kiss would've made things a bit awkward."

"You're right," Lucy chuckled, closing her eyes as well. "Lucky for you though, there was nothing awkward about it."

.

"Lucy!"

Levy and Gajeel met up with them just outside the forest, Happy trailing along as a guide. Natsu had managed to pull himself to his feet and limp through the thin underbrush with Lucy's help. He'd need to be carried or carted back to Magnolia though; Lucy mentally prepared for the motion sickness.

"Levy!" Lucy's eyes welled as she hugged her friend, gripping her tightly. "I'm so sorry for how I acted! I was being irrational!"

"No, no," Levy insisted, giving her a watery smile. "It was my fault; I was being selfish. We should've went with you. Maybe if we had things would've gone differently… I'm so sorry."

Lucy shook her head, hugging her again. "You have no reason to be sorry-"

"Oi," Gajeel barked, gesturing to Natsu who'd grabbed onto his arm for support. "Let's just agree that we were all jackasses so we can get Salamander to a doctor, alright?"

Lucy and Levy blushed, but nodded. Happy floated next to Lucy, thanking the world that they were ok and that they'd gotten there in time.

"I don't even want to think about what would've happened!" He wailed, tears welling in his eyes. Lucy gave him a quick hug.

"There's a wagon and driver waiting for us just over the hill," Levy explained, pointing. "It's not far. He'll take us to the guild from here."

Natsu groaned in response.

"Hey Lucy," Levy tugged on Lucy's arm, pulling her just out of a normal person's earshot from Gajeel and Natsu. "Is it true? Is Kale really…?"

Lucy looked at Levy's face. Her eyes were wide with wonder and just a little bit of morbid hope, but her face was wrought with wrinkles from the intense stress they'd all endured. Eventually Lucy nodded, watching as Levy processed the information.

"I… I don't know how to feel about that, to be honest," She smiled, picking up their pace again. "One half of me still doesn't believe it. The other half is kind of disappointed I didn't get to do it myself." Her hands shot to her mouth. "Oh! I'm sorry, I didn't mean that!"

Lucy brushed her off. "It's ok." She was trying not to think about the fact that three people had died back there, even if they were enemies. This was one mission she'd be filing away for reflection at a much later date.

The sun was high in the sky now, the colours of nature bright and inviting. Gajeel helped Natsu down over the hill and into the back of a large wooden wagon, manned by an older gentleman in a blue tunic.

Lucy climbed into the wagon with Natsu, taking his hand in hers as the wagon lurched forward. Levy caught the small gesture and raised an eyebrow at her, to which Lucy responded with a deep blush.

There would be a story for them to tell when they finally returned home, and Lucy was determined to tell it. She would write it all down, not to share an amazing adventure with her friends, but to shed light on the cruelties of a monster. She would never let Kale's crimes fall into the darkness, and she would certainly never let the world forget what he'd done to two outcasts many centuries ago.

Natsu and Gajeel groaned simultaneously, Gajeel dropping his head back onto the wood of the wagon and Natsu gripping Lucy's hand just a little bit tighter. Levy giggled, offering to conjure up some water for the two of them, but both emphatically declined.

"Are we home yet?" Natsu moaned. He'd been lying down on the floor of the wagon, resting as best as he could with his nausea and multiple injuries.

"We'll get there when we get there!" Gajeel snapped, although he looked no happier about it than Natsu was.

Lucy smiled. Yes, she had a story to tell. They all did.

THE END

Well guys, that's it. This one is a bit shorter, so sorry about that. However, I do have a peace offering!

I have written an "epilogue" of sorts, which is just some fluffy and smutty NaLu stuff after this whole ordeal has ended. If you guys would like me to I will certainly post it as another chapter here! It does contain a lemon, just so you know.

Please read, review, favorite, etc. I love you guys, and thank you so much!