Author's Note: First off, remember, kids, underage drinking is bad! On the other hand, Fiore has a distinctly European feel to it, and the drinking age IS younger there, so whatever haha X'D

Not a lot to say up here today other than thanks to everyone that reviewed last chapter! Please keep them coming so my muse doesn't starve! Cuz hey, if you don't review, who will?


One Wish

Chapter 12: Run Dry

A couple of hours later, Lucy, Natsu, Gajeel, Cana, Gray, and Happy were all still seated around the table they had claimed in one corner of the guild hall. Despite her initial objections, Lucy and every one else had wound up getting a drink. And then another. And another. And another...

With her new dragon slayer metabolism, Lucy was only just starting to feel buzzed, while Natsu was giggling uncontrollably into his beer at something Gray had said. The ice mage and Levy both seemed to be having trouble focusing, and the blue haired girl seemed to be inching closer to Gajeel with every drink she had.

Across the table from one another, the iron dragon slayer and Lucy shared a look. She raised an eyebrow at him, and he smirked in turn, which had her raising the other eyebrow in warning. A vague blush crossed Gajeel's tanned cheeks and he quickly tore his crimson gaze from her as Cana leaned in and poured them both another shot of firewhiskey.

"Man, when did Natsu become such a light weight?" Cana complained as she topped off her own drink and tossed it back casually.

Lucy snorted and looked at her pink haired friend fondly "About the time we switched magic, I assume."

"So his magic really did up his metabolism?" the card mage asked, a thoughtful expression on her face.

"Seems so. How many drinks have I had? I barely feel buzzed," Lucy mused as she sipped the firewhiskey she'd been poured. Last week she'd hated the stuff. It burned her mouth, robbed her of breath, and tasted like she was trying to drink kerosene. Now, though, it was pleasantly warm on her tongue, and went down like a dream. No wonder Natsu liked this stuff.

"Welcome to the dragon slayer club," Gajeel said with a chuckle as he raised his glass to her. Rolling her eyes, Lucy returned the gesture as Gray burst out laughing.

"Look at him, jusss pathetic," the ice mage slurred with a grin as he and Natsu faced off against one another over their drinks.

"Oh shut up, you can barely even sit up straight," Natsu objected as he started tipping dangerously to one side before quickly righting himself.

"Stu-stupid dragon. I'm gonna come over there and show you sitting up straight," Gray said cantankerously as he struggled to get up out of his seat. His legs wound up getting tangled with his chair's, though, and he toppled to the floor with a thud...then didn't get back up again.

Natsu broke out into raucous laughter, slopping his drink in the process while Gajeel leaned over and checked on the ice mage.

"Eh, he's fine," the dragon slayer said, unconcerned as he righted himself, just in time for Levy to hiccup and sag against him with a happy little sigh.

As Lucy watched, the dark haired man went ramrod straight, and glanced nervously down at the blue haired woman leaning on his arm.

The blonde giggled, and he glared at her across the table, the blush returning to creep slowly but surely across his features once more.

'So cute,' she mouthed silently at him, making him go red as a tomato.

Natsu took notice of the iron dragon slayer's complexion and asked "Oi, what's wrong with Gajeel? Looks like his head is 'bout to esplode...explode."

"Oh I don't know, what is wrong, Gajeel?" Lucy asked slyly, smirking at the man who sputtered in return.

"Y-you!"

"He liiiikes her," Happy snickered before toppling over backwards onto the surface of the table and passing out.

"Shut up, cat!" Gajeel hissed, then glanced worriedly down at Levy, only to heave a sigh of relief when he realized that, she too, had fallen asleep.

"Pffft, everyone already knows," Natsu said with a careless flap of one hand before taking a long draw of his drink, then turned to eye Lucy's "Oi Lucy, give me some of yours."

While Gajeel struggled to reign in his impulse to strangle the rose haired mage, Lucy looked at Natsu in surprise "You sure? You probably won't like it anymore," she cautioned, but pushed it towards him anyways.

The dragon slayer nearly missed catching the drink, but managed to get a hand on it before it slid off the other end of the table, making Lucy laugh. She really laughed, though, when he took a drink, only to spit it out a second later, spraying Cana with firewhiskey.

"Dammit Natsu!" the card mage swore as she clambered to her feet "That's nasty!" she complained loudly, and she headed quickly for the bathroom to get cleaned up.

"Ugh, Lucy! What did you put in this drink?!" Natsu whined, shoving it back her way.

Lucy caught it and rolled her eyes "Natsu, that's just how it tastes when you're not a dragon slayer," she said, then added as an afterthought "or someone with a really high alcohol tolerance, I guess, like Cana."

"This sucks," he grumbled, taking a sip of his beer again "Firewhiskey was my favorite..."

While drinking hadn't helped her forget their problems, it had at least taken her mind off of them. Now, though, looking at her unhappy friend as he stared disconsolately down into his cup, they returned full force.

"I'm sorry, Natsu," Lucy said quietly for his ears alone.

"Eh, it's fine. This beer is pretty good too."

"No," Lucy said, shaking her head emphatically, golden hair spilling across her shoulders with the motion. Though she didn't notice, Natsu watched it, transfixed "I'm sorry for all this," she tried to clarify with a vague wave of her hand "If I just hadn't made that stupid wish...we wouldn't be in this mess," she said, throat going tight with regret.

Natsu straightened and said "What? No," in a slightly slurred voice as he fought to focus on her. After a moment, he managed and continued "If I hadn't upset you, you wouldn't have had to wish anything in the first place."

Lucy shook her head, but was interrupted by Erza, who stopped by the table after overhearing their conversation, and said "Don't be absurd, you're both wrong. This is your client's fault. You heard Mirajane, he was completely in the wrong for never giving you the information you needed to do the job safely." The requip mage stared them both down sternly until they nodded meekly in agreement. That done, she turned to Gajeel and said "Help me carry these two upstairs, Gray's going to get stepped on at this rate," as she gestured to the ice mage and Levy.

"Yeah, fine. Don't want him puking on my boots," Gajeel agreed as he finished off his drink and then shifted to the side to get an arm around Levy. With some careful maneuvering, he got to his feet and hoisted her gently into his arms.

Watching, Lucy was taken aback by the tenderness with which he held her friend. However much he liked her, the girl had half expected him to toss her over his shoulder like a sack of potatoes. He noticed her looking, and flushed again, turning his eyes anywhere but her.

"I can take her," Erza said, the only one oblivious to the moment. Even Natsu was regarding the iron dragon slayer with raised eyebrows.

"No, I got it. You get Gray," Gajeel said, surprising the requip mage when he turned his body to prevent her from from laying hands on Levy.

"Alright," the red head said, blinking before turning her attention to Gray, who was snoring on the floor. Much as Lucy had expected Gajeel to do with Levy, Erza grabbed the ice mage up and tossed him casually over her shoulder, then followed the iron dragon slayer up the nearby stairs.

"He really does like her, doesn't he?" Lucy mused quietly as she watched the four go.

"Yeah," Natsu agreed, unusually on point for the conversation for once.

"I wish he'd just tell her already," the blonde said with a sigh as she finished off her drink, frowning when she looked around and couldn't spot the bottle in order to get a refill. Cana must have taken it with her.

The rose haired dragon slayer watched her thoughtfully for a moment before saying "Maybe he's just not sure she likes him back."

"Seriously?" Lucy asked, laughing as she abandoned her search and looked back at her friend "All he has to do is pay attention to the way she acts around him. It's so obvious," she said with a warm smile at the thought of her shy friend.

Natsu was quiet for a long moment, his inebriated mind struggling along a potentially cunning line of thought "Well...what should a guy be looking for to tell if a girl likes him?" he asked with careful nonchalance, looking pointedly at his drink, rather than Lucy herself for fear of giving himself away.

"Oh that's easy," Lucy scoffed "I don't know why boys can't figure it out on their own," she said, rolling her eyes. Her buzz loosened her tongue, though, and she went through the list anyways, not stopping to consider why Natsu would even ask such a question "First of all, she'll prioritize spending time with him, go out of her way to hang out with him when she can. And she'll initiate hanging out too, not just wait for him to do it," she said, ticking off one finger "It's pretty inevitable that she'll blush more than normal around him as well. Though I guess that one kinda depends on the girl. Some are definitely more prone to that then others," she admitted.

Lucy ticked off another finger, and Natsu nodded, taking mental notes. Time spending and blushing, okay. Well, he and Lucy certainly spent a lot of time together, but was that just because they were partners and friends, or because she liked him? Did she blush more around him than anyone else?

The dragon slayer's alcohol fogged brain couldn't focus well enough to come to a conclusion, so he decided to just pay attention to Lucy's list for the time being. He could compare her own actions around him to the list later, when he was sober.

"What else?" he prompted.

Suddenly suspicious, Lucy asked "Why do you want to know?"

"Well, you want Gajeel to pay attention, right?" Natsu answered quickly "So I'll, uh...tell him what to look for." Crossing his fingers under the table, the dragon slayer prayed his friend would buy it. It wasn't completely untrue. Maybe it wouldn't hurt to let the iron dragon slayer in on the secret too. After all, Levy was Lucy's best friend...maybe that could work in his favor?

Lucy stared at him for a moment, and then a silly grin broke out across her lovely face "Oh my god, Natsu, are you trying to play match maker?"

"Shut up," he grumbled into his drink, cheeks coloring at the implication.

"Well alright, let's see, what else?" she muttered, lips turned up in an indulgent smile "Blushing, spending time, initiating...Oh, she'd definitely worry about what he thought of her, and be really happy if he complimented her. Like, more so than if anyone else had said the same thing," she frowned thoughtfully for a moment, and then shrugged and said "I guess that's the basics! Anything else definitely depends on the girl, really. Levy would have a hard time initiating contact, what with Droy and Jett being so protective, but I know she has in the past. Gajeel just didn't realize how important that was," she said with a roll of her eyes.

"Huh," Natsu said and nodded, wishing he had a piece of paper and a pen so he could write all that down.

"Hang on, I'm gonna go to the bathroom real quick, I'll be right back," Lucy said as she pushed her chair back and headed for the ladies room, and Natsu nodded, watching her go.

A moment later, Gajeel came back downstairs and walked past the table.

"Oi, bolts for brains!" Natsu called, making the dark haired man whip around and scowl at him.

"What was that, flame breath?"

"Come find me later when I'm sober," the rose haired mage instructed. Gajeel blinked, clearly not expecting his answer "I've got somethin' important to tell ya."

"Why can't you just tell me now?" the iron dragon slayer asked suspiciously.

"Cuz it's a secret," Natsu whispered and then snickered obnoxiously.

"Yeah, whatever," Gajeel said with a dismissive snort and turned to leave again.

"It's about Leeeevy!" Natsu called after him, grinning at the other dragon slayer as he froze, then turned and looked at him.

He narrowed his eyes and then said "Alright, fine. I'll find you later. This better be worth my time, though, Dragneel," before disappearing out the guild doors.


A little while later, Lucy, Erza, Lily and Wendy were all in the blonde's apartment, staring up at the hole in her ceiling.

The requip mage had suggested that they go back and take a look at the 'scene of the crime' on the off chance that they might find some clue as to who it was that had attacked Lucy, and the girl had agreed. Natsu had wanted to come along, but a stern look from Erza had kept him in place as she informed him that he was not welcome to come near a crime scene when he was too drunk to even walk straight.

He had huffed in annoyance and complained, but Lucy's promise to report their findings back to him later served to mollify him well enough to let them go.

On their way out, the pair had bumped into Wendy and Lily, who volunteered to come along once they told them about the attack the previous night.

"I can't believe they blew a hole in your roof, Lucy!" Wendy said, horrified by the destruction that had been wrought as she picked her way around the wreckage in the center of the room.

"It is rather extreme, considering there were two available entrances they could have broken in through," Lily mused, hovering over to the window, and then the door. Neither showed signs of having been tampered with.

"Perhaps they were going for the shock and awe approach," Erza commented as she roamed the room, looking for anything of interest. She paused occasionally to pick up a bullet casing or examine something more closely.

"Well they certainly succeeded at the shock part of the show," Lucy complained and she sat on the edge of her bed, sighing as she examined the mess before her. It was a good thing the reward from her and Natsu's last job had been a big one. She should still be able to afford rent even after paying to have her ceiling fixed, though it did mean that she'd have to go back to work sooner than anticipated.

Erza turned to look at her friend and smiled "You thought on your feet and kept yourself safe while still paying enough attention to hear what they were saying, Lucy. You did a good job."

"Thanks," the blonde said with a half-smile, the compliment doing little to boost her spirits. First the news that Makarov didn't know how to fix her and Natsu, and now she was going to have to find someone to fix her roof before the landlady returned...

With a heavy sigh, Lucy flopped backwards onto her bed, only to yelp in pain when something hard jabbed her in the spine. She sat bolt upright, trying to rub the hard to reach spot in an attempt to ease the pain.

"Lucy?" Wendy asked worriedly as Lily fluttered over, landing on the bed and feeling around with his paws. A moment later, the exceed found something buried in the mattress. With a grunt, he dragged it out, nearly falling over with the effort.

"Hey!" Lucy exclaimed, immediately recognizing the knife in the black cat's paws "That's the dagger that first psycho tried to stab me with!"

Erza moved quickly over to the bed and took the knife from Lily when he offered it up to her "It's a rather unusual make, isn't it?" she remarked as she held it up to the light, turning it this way and that so she could get a good look at it.

It certainly didn't look like any dagger Lucy had ever seen. It had no guard, and there was dark leather wrapped around the handle. The blade itself was thin, made of a matte black metal the likes of which she'd never seen on a weapon before.

"It smells funny," Lucy said as an odd scent reached her sensitive nose. It was vaguely sweet, with an unpleasant undertone of decay.

Stepping closer, Wendy gave it it an experimental sniff, then immediately pulling away with a grimace "Erza, be careful, that blade is coated in poison!"

"Well, I think it's safe to assume that they didn't want you, or whoever they were looking for, alive, Lucy," Erza noted darkly as she conjured a handkerchief and wrapped it carefully around the blade so no one would cut themselves on it accidentally.

Lucy paled at this revelation, jaw tightening convulsively at the memory of just how close that dagger had come to finding it's way into her flesh "Thank goodness for historical fiction," she said in a shaky attempt at humor to distract herself, running her fingers over the cover of the book she had used to knock out her attacker.

"Knowledge is a weapon," Lily added with a smile to help lighten the mood for Lucy's sake. She smiled at him gratefully, then pushed herself to her feet and started sniffing around the room for any hints about her attackers that she hadn't been able to pick out the night previous.

Wendy joined her, though no matter how carefully they combed over every inch of the room, they couldn't pick up any smells that didn't belong there.

"Shouldn't there be some trace scent left behind?" Lucy complained and Wendy nodded her agreement, a concerned frown on her face. It seemed like Natsu could always pick up something or other when he needed to!

"Even with the room left open to the air last night, there should be something," Erza nodded in agreement "If there's really nothing here, then it is possible that the clothes you described them as wearing did more than mask their appearance."

"Scent negating clothes? I suppose it's not impossible," Lily hummed as he rubbed his jaw thoughtfully.

Lucy sighed and said "Well, I guess it doesn't really matter that much, does it? I mean, they had the wrong person, so they probably won't come back, right?" she asked hopefully as Erza and the exceed shared a look.

"I don't know, Lucy. They never did say that they had the wrong person did they?" the red head asked.

The younger girl grimaced "No, just that they had the wrong intel."

"Which could mean anything, really," Lily pointed out "It could certainly be that they were looking for you, but..."

Lucy smacked her forehead with her palm as she finished for him "But I had the wrong kind of magic."

"So they might have been looking for you, but they were confused when they found you using fire magic instead of celestial spirit magic," Wendy summarized "Oh dear..."

Lily nodded grimly "And none of this explains just who these people were or what they wanted with you."

"Ugh, can we go back to my theory that it wasn't me they were looking for?" Lucy whined. Assassins were the last thing she needed after all the other crap that had landed on her plate recently.

"It is a theory we can keep on the board," Erza said with an sympathetic smile "But we definitely need to consider all of the options. I recommend that you not stay here until we get this figured out."

Lucy sighed and nodded in resignation "You're right. I still need to find a contractor to fix my roof, though. My landlady's gonna kill me if not, and I really don't want the weather getting in while I'm gone..."

"Where do you keep your broom, Lucy? We might as well clean up while we're here so the builders will have room to work when they arrive," Wendy asked the other girl with a warm smile.

"I'll go to the shop and get a tarp and other supplies to cover the hole in the mean time," Lily offered.

"I've plenty of contacts in the contractor sector," Erza said thoughtfully "I can find someone that will give you a good price for the work."

Touched by her friend's willingness to help, a wave of relief washed over the woman. However much she might have on her shoulders right now, her friends were here to help.

"Thanks, everyone," she said gratefully before turning to find her backpack "Let me get you some money for the supplies before you go, Lily."


For the next hour or two, Natsu burned time in the guild as he waited to sober up enough that Erza wouldn't come hunt him down for public drunkenness if he went out. He ate a large lunch, chatted with Macao and Wakaba, and drank two more cups of coffee while Happy snored contentedly on the table where he had passed out. Under normal circumstances it took quite a lot to get Natsu drunk in the first place, and even then, it burned off quickly, like a morning mist. Today, though, it felt as though it took forever to get down to just feeling a solid buzz.

Deciding that was good enough, Natsu left the guild and wandered down to the shopping district. Seeing as Gramps didn't have an immediate answer on how to fix he and Lucy's problem, he figured he might as well stock up on a few necessities.

First stop was blankets. There was no way he was going to spend another night cold and miserable in his own house. It wasn't even winter! Once he had picked out several that suited his tastes, Natsu went to the market for food.

Before they'd left on their last quest, he and Happy had pretty much cleaned out their cupboards. Well, maybe not cleaned out his cupboards (he was pretty sure there was something growing in at least one of them), but they had certainly eaten all of the unspoiled food. On his way out, he remembered matches at the last minute. It was hard to cook food without fire, after all.

Shopping done, Natsu decided to haul his purchases back to his house rather than bringing them to the guild.

On the way, Happy caught him up, having finally woken up from his hours long, booze induced nap.

"About time," Natsu teased the cat as he handed him one of the bags full of food to carry "Forgot what a light weight you are!"

"You're one to talk!" Happy objected, making his friend laugh.

"Hey, I didn't pass out in the middle of the table," he said with a snicker as he shifted his hold on his shopping bags a bit and started walking again.

"Where did everyone else go anyways?" the exceed asked in an attempt to change the subject.

"Well," Natsu replied "Gray and Levy both passed out, just like you, so Erza and Gajeel hauled them upstairs to sleep it off. Then Gajeel went I don't know where. Erza and Lucy went back to her place to try to figure out who attacked her last night,"

Happy nodded thoughtfully, then glanced down at the bag he was carrying "So what'd you buy? You bought fish, right?"

Natsu rolled his eyes "I always buy fish, Happy," he said with a snort "Got some other food stuff, matches, blankets..."

The blue exceed regarded his friend for a long minute before asking "So...stocking up for the long haul?"

"Yep," Natsu answered shortly, knowing full well what it was the cat was really asking. He wanted to know if he was making plans to cope with not having his own magic for the long term.

"And you're...okay with that?" Happy asked hesitantly, picking his words carefully.

"Do I have a choice?" the dragon slayer asked, arching a brow at his friend, who grimaced "I'm fine, Happy, I can deal," he said firmly, then grinned and said "Like Lucy said, we're Fairy Tail mages, there's nothing we can't do when we put our minds to it."

He believed it, too. Allowing his faith to waver in that simple stricture just wasn't an option; he'd decided that the moment Makarov had spoken those three, all-important words up in the S-class lounge:

She needs you.

Lucy may have control of his physical and magical strength now, but she would still need his emotional support to get through this strange time in both their lives. If he was being frank, he needed her support as much as she did his. Natsu didn't fret over that, though. He didn't need to. He knew without a doubt that Lucy would be there for him one hundred percent, no matter how rough things were in the days to come.

Come hell or high water, it was simply what they did for one another.


After Natsu dropped his purchases at his house, he decided to head back towards Lucy's apartment to find out what they had learned. Happy, however, opted to stay and have another nap rather than flying about any more for the day.

When he arrived, it was immediately apparent that he hadn't missed his friends, as he spotted Lily up on the roof, carefully tacking down a tarp to keep the weather out of Lucy's apartment. When he saw him, the black exceed raised his hammer in greeting, and Natsu waved before entering the building.

Jogging up the stairs, the dragon slayer barged in through the door without knocking, making the three girls inside look around in surprise.

"Hey Natsu, feeling better?" Lucy asked her friend with a smile as she shoved the last bit of ceiling debris into the garbage bag Wendy was holding open for her.

"Dunno what you're talking about, I wasn't feeling bad in the first place," he told her with a smirk.

"Well, he's not slurring," Erza mused as she set aside the broom and dust pan she had been using. The carpet would still need a more thorough cleaning to get all the dust out, but it would do for now.

Wendy blinked curiously at her older friends "Why would Natsu be slurring?"

Lucy snorted at the memory, but a smile tugged at her lips as she admitted "Cana insisted that our bad news earlier meant we needed a drink." the blonde's eyes went to Natsu as she said "Turns out that Natsu's magic is a big reason why he can handle so much alcohol before he even gets buzzed."

The dragon slayer shrugged "Well, at least it's cheaper to drink now," he observed, always one to look on the bright side.

"True enough," Lily agreed as he fluttered in through the window, hammer, nails, and tape in hand. He placed them on the desk and added "It costs Gajeel a small fortune to get anything close to drunk."

"So what'd you guys find out?" Natsu asked as he plopped down onto Lucy's bed, only to find one of his hands going straight through it when he leaned back "Gah!"

"Oh, yeah, watch out," Lucy warned as he dragged his hand out of the springy depths "That's where we found the dagger," she said, pointing to the mean looking blade on her desk, currently wrapped up in a handkerchief.

Jumping right back up to his feet, Natsu went to take a closer look at the thing.

Just as he reached out to pick it up, though, Erza swatted his hand away "Don't, it's covered in poison," she warned.

The dragon slayer shook his hand painfully before her words sunk in "Poison?" he asked, looking around sharply at Lucy, who winced and nodded. Natsu's jaw tightened reflexively as both hands tightened into fists. This was the second time that week that he had nearly lost his best friend...he was starting to think he might have to tie her to him to keep her out of trouble at this rate.

"I'm fine, Natsu," Lucy said quietly, recognizing the look he was giving her all to well. It was his 'where the hell was I and why wasn't I protecting you' look. She moved closer to him, and the moment she came in range, he immediately took her hand in his, as though needing the reassurance of physical contact.

Finding comfort of her own in the gesture, Lucy squeezed his hand gently in hers, not noticing speculative look that Lily gave the pair of them from where he stood on the bed.

"So, who left the knife?" Natsu asked, gray eyes flicking between his friends, curious but grim.

"They left precious little in the way of clues beyond the blade," Erza said with a sigh as she leaned against the wall "They were obviously professionals, well organized, with access to clothing that went so far as to even repress their scent..."

"Do we know if it was actually Lucy they were looking for?" Natsu asked, grip tightening on his friend's hand as he asked, and she shook her head in answer.

"It's possible that it could go either way. It could be that I wasn't who they were looking for, or it might just be that they were confused by the fact that I used magic other than my own, which scared them off."

For the second time Natsu was actually relieved that Lucy had his magic instead of him. First it had allowed her to survive Bran's attack when he thought she had been crushed, and now it had allowed to her escape assassins unscathed. If he couldn't be by her side to protect her, at least his magic could.

"Either way," Erza said, dragging the rose haired mage from his thoughts "She can't stay here. Who knows if they'll show back up to try again."

"Not to mention the hole..." Lucy murmured, frowning up at her ceiling.

"Lucy, you're welcome to stay with me at Fairy Hills-" Erza began, but Natsu cut her off.

"She'll stay with me," he said bluntly.

"W-what?" Lucy stammered, surprised by his sudden announcement.

"Certainly not," Erza scoffed while Wendy hid a smile behind one hand, watching the debate unfold "You two sleeping in the same house without supervision? I won't allow it."

"I sleep over at her place all the time!" Natsu objected, making Erza stare at him, shocked "Ow!" he complained as Lucy tightened her grip on his hand painfully.

"Shut up!" she hissed warningly as the requip mage looked ready to blow a gasket.

"They won't really be alone, Erza," Wendy quickly interjected before the bloodbath could begin "Happy with be there!"

The red head blinked, then looked down at the sky dragon slayer and said "Oh, I guess you're right."

Lucy stared at her older friend for a long minute in light of the absurdity of the situation. Was she really satisfied with Happy acting as chaperon? Seriously? She started to say something, when Natsu tugged on her hand, making her look around at him curiously.

He arched an eyebrow expressively at her, and somehow, she knew exactly what he was asking.

'Do you really want to spend another night with Erza?'

Lucy grimaced at the thought. She loved her red headed friend dearly, but sleep-overs with her tended to get a little too interesting for her tastes. She'd lucked out the night before by arriving so late, but if she went with her now...

The blonde sighed and smiled ruefully at the man holding her hand, admitting defeat.

Natsu grinned broadly at her and turned to Erza, adding "Plus, we're going to be training. It'll be better to do it at my place. There's a lot less to burn down there," just to make sure that the proverbial coffin was good and nailed shut.

"Alright, alright, I get it," Erza mused, holding her hands up in defeat.

"Do you need help getting your things together, Lucy?" Wendy offered helpfully.

"No I should be fine. I've already got the bulk of it in my bag I packed from last night. I just need some more clothes," Lucy said as she grabbed up said bag from the floor and brought it over to her dresser. She was getting seriously sick of toting the thing all over creation lately, but fate seemed to be conspiring to make her continue living out of it, even now that she was back in Magnolia.

Clothes packed, the woman looked briefly around her apartment before deciding to grab a few other things, including her make-up bag and pillow. After a brief tour through her kitchen, Lucy returned to her friends, who had moved to the entryway while they waited.

"Okay, I think I'm good," she told Natsu as she slung her bulging backpack up onto her shoulder.

He eyed the bag curiously and asked, voice teasing "Sure you're not missing anything? Your bed, maybe?"

"Shut up," she said with a sniff "I went ahead and brought some of my more perishable food stuff so we can eat it instead of letting it go bad."

"Nice!" the dragon slayer said with a grin. Sure he'd just gone shopping earlier, but he wasn't about to complain about free food.

As the group left, Lucy closed the door behind them and locked it. When she turned around, Erza was there, making the blonde squeak in surprise.

"E-Erza! Don't scare me like that," she complained, one hand going to her chest, where she could feel her heart pounding.

"Sorry, Lucy," the requip mage said with an indulgent smile before placing a hand on her shoulder and saying "I just wanted to say, if Natsu tries anything at all while Happy's not looking...just let me know and I'll break both his legs."

"Erza..." Lucy said smiling in exasperation at her friend, but touched all the same "Don't worry, I can handle myself. If it comes down to it, I'll break his legs," the blonde joked, making the older woman grin.

"Oi," Natsu complained "I am right here."

"Be quiet, Natsu, we're having a moment," Erza said, pulling Lucy in for a hug, the blonde's head hitting her breast plate with a clang.

"Ow!" Lucy exclaimed at the impact. After a moment, though, she hugged her friend back, knowing she meant well.

"Here, take one of these," Erza said a moment later when she released her grip on Lucy and turned to rummage in one of her pockets. She brought out one of Cana's call cards, though rather than having the brunette's face on it, Erza's smiled up at her from the paper rectangle "If something happens, assassins attack, Natsu gropes you...anything. Just give me a call."

"Just what do you think I plan on doing to her, woman?!" Natsu fumed at the red head, only to be ignored.

"Thank you so much, Erza" Lucy said with a warm smile as she accepted the card and tucked it carefully into her pocket. She didn't have any worries about Natsu, whatever Erza might think, but having the card on the off chance that the assassins came back...that was reassuring.

"Come on, Lucy, let's get out of here," Natsu grumped as he grabbed her by the wrist, hauling her off down the stairs and out the main door.

"Bye, everyone!" she called behind her as Erza, Lily, and Wendy were all left in the dust "Thanks so much, I owe you one!"


By the time they were most of the way to his place, Natsu was having serious second thoughts about having Lucy stay with him. Not enough to say as much, obviously, but he was starting to wonder if he hadn't still been a bit buzzed when he'd made the suggestion back at his friend's apartment.

They'd never really spent any time at his house together before, and now she was going to be staying with him for who knew how long. He was also pretty sure she was going to complain about how messy the place was too. He hadn't even thought of that when he'd extended the invitation.

Most of all, though, it was going to be strange having her in a space that had so thoroughly become his and Happy's over the years. Granted, they didn't spend a lot of time there, but it was still the one place in the world that was uniquely theirs.

"Hey Natsu?"

The dragon slayer looked around, pulled from his thoughts by Lucy's quiet voice "Yeah?" he asked, releasing her wrist when he realized that he was still holding onto it.

She smiled at him and said "Thanks for letting me stay with you. It's..." she flushed a little and looked away from him "-really thoughtful of you. The training me thing too. I just want you to know that I appreciate it." Her voice petered off towards the end, and she glanced back at him shyly.

Somehow, with those words, Lucy completely banished the man's worries about inviting her into his home. No matter how awkward it might be, he knew he was doing the right thing, so it was worth it. He and Happy could adjust "You don't have to make a big deal out of it," he told her with a cheeky smile "You have me and Happy over all the time."

"Yeah, I guess you're right," Lucy replied with a smile of her own as they walked up the path to Natsu's house from the main road.

As soon as Natsu pushed the front door open, though, the smile immediately dropped from the girl's face.

"Oh my god! Seriously Natsu?!" she demanded when she saw the mess within "It looks like a tornado ripped through here!"

The dragon slayer poked his head in the door and looked around "You think so? Doesn't look that bad to me," he mused. In fact, it looked like Happy had actually picked up a little since he left earlier.

"Hi Lucy! Welcome home, Natsu!" Happy exclaimed cheerfully, appearing from behind a pile of debris "I thought you might bring Lucy back, so I cleaned up!" the exceed exclaimed proudly.

"C-cleaned up?" Lucy stammered, aghast at the implication that the room was somehow cleaner than it had been before.

"Thanks, looks good, Happy!" Natsu said, giving his furry roommate a thumbs up.

"It-!" Lucy clamped her mouth shut as she almost shouted that it most certainly did not look anything remotely close to good. The proud look the little exceed was giving her simply wouldn't allow her to. She was forced to admit that at least Happy had tried to clean up, unlike a certain pink haired somebody.

The woman took a deep breath, and then dropped her backpack by the door as she said "Thanks for straightening up for me, Happy. You want some help finishing up?"

Natsu shot his female friend a surprised look when she unexpectedly reigned in her notorious temper while Happy nodded and admitted "Aye! Some of this stuff is too big for me..."

"Alright, lets get started then," Lucy said with a grin as she headed for the nearest pile of trash that Happy had shunted off to one side of the room.

Somehow, the fact that his friend didn't explode about the mess made the dragon slayer more self-conscious about it than anything else ever had.

Natsu followed after her, embarrassed at the state of his house for perhaps the first time in his life "Hey, Lucy, you don't actually have to help. I can do it," he offered, flushing a little at the wide eyed look of surprise she gave him.

After a moment, though, she shook her head and said with a grin "No, it's okay. You're letting me stay, I can at least help you clean up. Just don't expect me to chip in for rent this month."

Laughing, the dragon slayer nodded and agreed "Alright, that's fair I guess."


It took hours to clean things to Lucy's standard, but eventually they managed. Not without a few hiccups along the way, though.

First, Natsu had been reluctant to throw anything away until Happy and Lucy accused him of being a hoarder. Then Lucy nearly set the kitchen ablaze when she was startled by something growing under the sink and screamed fire at it. Happy was almost crushed by a toppling shelf, but was rescued when Natsu snatched him out of the way just in time.

It was certainly the most exciting cleaning job any of them had ever done.

"I don't know how, but this was even worse than last time," Lucy groaned as she flopped tiredly onto the sofa.

From his place sprawled face down on the floor, Natsu turned his head slightly so he could look at her, a puzzled look on his face "What?"

"You know, the last time I cleaned your house," Lucy said, blinking as she looked down at him. Did he really not remember?

"Lucy, you never spend time at our house, when would you have cleaned it?" Happy asked skeptically as he rocked gently in Natsu's hammock.

"Wait, you guys seriously don't remember?" Lucy asked, voice disbelieving as she propped herself up on her elbows so she could get a good look at both boys in an attempt to judge if they were messing with her. Their blank looks told her all she needed to know, though.

The celestial spirit mage dropped her head back and groaned "I can't believe you guys!" she exclaimed, then laughed, unable to hold a grudge over it.

"I think all the cleaning fumes got to Lucy's brain, Natsu," Happy said, shaking his head.

"Think so?" the dragon slayer mused as he rolled over onto his side and propped his head on his hand while he watched Lucy laugh.

"Hey!" Lucy objected, and hurled one of the couch pillows at Happy, knocking him out of the hammock with a thump. The exceed complained, but she spoke over him as she said "It was a while back. After we returned from Tenrou island, but before the Grand Magic Games. I got sick of you guys barging in uninvited at my place all the time, so I followed you home one day."

"Seriously?" Natsu asked mouth agape at this revelation. He'd had no idea that she could be so stealthy.

"Yep," Lucy said, feeling a little smug at having gotten one over on mister 'superior dragon senses' "So once I figured out where you lived, I came back the next day while you were out. I was going to wait there for you to come back so you'd know what it felt like," she explained, wrinkling her nose "But the the place was a total wreck! I wound up cleaning it while I was waiting for you to show up, though you never did," Lucy finished, shrugging casually, leaving out the part where she got sentimental over his wall of keepsakes.

Natsu and Happy's faces were twin masks of comical shock as they shared a look and then stared at her from their places on the floor.

"The cleaning fairy!" they exclaimed in unison.

"What?" Lucy exclaimed, doubling over in laughter before pushing herself upright again "You seriously thought a fairy came and cleaned your house?" she asked as she wiped tears of mirth from her cheeks.

"I...well...yeah?" Natsu stammered, suddenly struck how ridiculous the idea was. Of course it was much more logical that Lucy had cleaned his house than a fairy. Still, it seemed just about as likely at the time.

The blonde rolled over onto her stomach on the couch, her chin resting on her hands as she smiled down at him"You seriously didn't realize it was me?" she asked, the corners of her mouth twitching, threatening laughter again any moment "You couldn't just smell me?"

The dragon slayer shook his head and flopped back onto the floor, spread eagle "How about this, take a good long whiff and tell me what you smell right now."

Lucy blinked, but after a moment's thought, shrugged and decided to give it a go. Natsu was right here, he'd snap her out of it if she started doing anything weird again.

Closing her eyes and opening herself up, Lucy took a sniff, and immediately clamped a hand over her nose, gagging as she was barraged by the noxious scent of cleaning chemicals "Gah!" she cried, rolling right off the sofa as her her senses were assaulted.

Distantly, she could hear Natsu and Happy laughing. Had her eyes not been streaming, and her nose burning, she would have pummeled one or both of them. As it was, though, she couldn't.

There was the sound of the door opening, followed by the sliding of the window. A moment later, fresh air flowed around Lucy, and she felt better able to breathe, the soft scent of the night warring with that of the chemicals.

"Focus, Lucy," Natsu said, and she felt his calloused hands on her shoulders "Just shut down that part of the magic."

The blonde did as instructed, fighting to focus on reigning her sensitivity back into a more normal range. A moment later, she sagged back on one hand as she wiped at her streaming eyes with the other.

"Ugh, Natsu, that was mean!" she complained, annoyed.

"That's what you get for teasing me," he said, grinning wickedly when her eyes were able to focus on him once more.

"Jerk."


Author's Note: Thanks for reading, hope you enjoyed! Remember to leave a review if you did, they really help me keep writing! And hey, if you don't review, who will?

Also, cookie for whoever guesses what the chapter title is from X'D Hint: involves drinking lol