You guys have NO idea how much time I've spent on this chapter just trying to write it out, let alone going back over it and fixing it up. This is definitely my longest chapter to date, although not necessarily my best (but that's up to you guys to decide)
Considering how much effort I put into it I wish I could have made it a bit better, but I just had no idea how to do that -_-
I hope you guys enjoy it all the same!
Disclaimer: *sigh* Do I really need to say it again? I don't own it!
Our Word Is Our Bond
Sunlight peeked through the curtains and once again shone on the blonde girl's face, awakening her from her sweet slumber. She moaned and her dark brown eyes slowly appeared from underneath her heavy eyelids. The first thing she saw was the unoccupied pile of blankets on the floor where her faithful lion spirit had been staying, and remembered that she had invited him up into her bed the previous night. The next thing she saw as she rolled a little more onto her side was the human arm that was draped over her waist.
Wait… Human?
Lucy quickly, but carefully, rolled over a little more to get a good look at the person the arm belonged to, and was quite surprised to find Loke finally back in his human form, lying behind her, snoring lightly as he continued to sleep. Lucy figured he must have changed back in the middle of the night while they were sound asleep.
It almost sounded like he was still purring in his sleep. He was in the same clothes he had fought Draco in, and had even miraculously recovered his sunglasses, which were askew on his face and threatened to fall off to the side. A large smile crept onto Lucy's face at the sight of her friend, and she reached out and slowly removed the sunglasses from his face. Just as she pulled them off, they bumped against his nose, causing him to stir and awaken. The young girl, slightly panicked and unsure of how to respond, quickly rolled back over and attempted to jump out of bed, but was stopped when the arm around her waist snaked around her a little more, tightening its grip and preventing her from escaping.
"Where are you going?" Loke mumbled from behind her. Lucy could feel her cheeks redden at the feeling of his warm breath on the back of her neck.
"Umm… to… get a shower?" She replied in an unsure voice.
"Ohh, why don't you stay here for a bit longer?" He lowered his head so it was touching the back of Lucy's hair.
"Loke, I don't think this is such a good idea…" She wrapped her fingers around his forearm, trying to wrench herself from his hold.
"That's not what you were saying last night." He whispered in a playful tone. The blush on Lucy's face deepened in color, and she was grateful that he couldn't see it. She tried once more to free herself, but to no avail. She sighed after once again failing to get away from him. "Please? Just for a little while." His voice had changed to that of a pleading one, and she just couldn't say no to him anymore.
"Fine…" She grumbled as she relaxed into his embrace a little. Lying there, she still felt the same warmth coming from Loke that he had as a lion. To her, it was a comforting warmth that melted her bad mood away, and she couldn't resist the sense of security it gave her.
After a few silent minutes, she was able to wriggle around in his grip to face him and place her hands on his chest, and felt her heart speed up a little when she saw the smile on his face. It wasn't one of his overly charming ones that he used when he was trying to get with a girl, but a softer, more genuine one. Lucy could recall seeing it one other time, when he was finally able to return to the Spirit World for the first time in three years and became her spirit. It was the smile she loved the most, but rarely got to see. As he looked down at her she quickly hid her face in his chest so he couldn't see the red tinge in her cheeks. There was a light chuckle before she felt him rest his head just above hers, and both of his arms wound around her tighter.
"Ahh, you can be so cute sometimes." There was another moment of silence before he added "That's why I love you so much."
It was completely out of the blue, just like the other hundred times or so that he'd said it, but at the same time it felt different somehow. It sounded much more… sincere. It was unlike those other times where it sounded like he was playing around with her heart like he always did. Lucy slowly looked up to meet his gaze and stared deeply into his glittering, green eyes, something she'd never done since he'd always hide them behind his dark shades. Looking at his eyes and his smile, and feeling the way he held her… it just made it all so easy to believe him for once. But she still had no idea what to do, and didn't know whether or not she really should let herself fall for him this time.
"Loke," she whispered softly. He gave his full attention to her troubled face. Lucy took a deep breath and thought through what she wanted to say, one last time, before she spoke up again. "Should we really be doing this? I mean, I'm just a human and you're…" She paused, as if she didn't want to say those words.
'You're a spirit…'
Instead she just said "There's got to be some rule or… or something against humans being… so close to their spirits." Loke stared at her for a few seconds before slowly shaking his head a few times, which shocked Lucy. "Huh? Th-there's nothing? Are you sure?"
He looked back at her, dead serious, and replied "I know the rules better than you, and I know for sure that it's never been done. Most celestial mages treat their spirits like crap, so why should we care about them any more than we need to?" The teenager closed her eyes and lowered her head to try and process the information presented to her, but looked back up when she heard her spirit's voice mutter in her ear "I guess they didn't account for someone like you." She just lay there in his arms whilst he gazed back at her affectionately. "You're special Lucy. We all love you as much as you love us, possibly even more for some of us." She really wanted to believe him, but she didn't think she could take the heartache if such a rule was suddenly put into place.
She moved a tiny bit closer to his body and shakily asked "If… if we did… fall in love…" Loke raised an eyebrow at her, suddenly more intrigued, "would they make relationships between humans and spirits against the law?" It seemed like it took him forever to reply, as the pounding of her own heartbeat in her ears almost drove her insane while she waited for him to say something.
"I'd say so, yeah." He felt her clench onto his shirt, wincing from the reply she received as she hid her face once more to hold back any tears that dared threaten to spill.
"So then… what… would happen to us after?" She asked, even though she was almost certain she didn't want to hear the answer to that question. She felt his chest rise as he took a breath and hummed before responding.
"Most likely nothing." He said nonchalantly. There was a long moment of silence before her head suddenly shot back up to look at him with bewilderment. "First case scenarios are usually an exception to the rule, except for the likes of theft, murder or manslaughter when they were put into place. And besides…" he smiled down at her once more "the Spirit King may be strict when it comes to law enforcement, but he's not heartless. Chances are he'll leave us be." Loke chuckled as he watched several emotions flicker across the face of the girl in his arms, until she suddenly clutched onto her shoulders and buried her face into his neck for several minutes. When she finally pulled away and looked back up at him she had a smile on her face that could have lit up the room brighter than his magic. Staring at such beauty, he wished that he could just remain that way with her forever and never let go.
Loke could no longer take the distance between them, so he closed the small gap and captured her lips in a gentle kiss. At that point Lucy's mind stopped working altogether. She closed her eyes and kissed him back as she wrapped her arms around his neck, letting him pull her even closer to his body as his hands moved up her back slowly. As he deepened the kiss she could feel his warmth spread to her and flood her entire body, flowing to every last inch of her and making her tingle all over. It was like something she had never felt before and she didn't want it to end.
After a few minutes they slowly pulled apart. Lucy was breathing heavily whilst Loke began trailing more small kisses along her thin jaw line and down her smooth neck. Lucy shuddered as he grazed over a particularly sensitive spot, and couldn't contain the quiet moan she let out when he nipped it gently, leaving a light mark. Her hands rose up and tangled in his ginger locks, only to find that his hair was as smooth and silky as his lion mane was.
"Loke…"
Suddenly Lucy felt the warmth fade away as he pulled away from her, ignoring her discontented whines as his gaze shifted towards the window.
Loke sighed as he turned back to Lucy and said "Natsu's coming."
"What?"
"He'll be here any moment."
The mood died that instant as Lucy jumped up and off the bed at the sudden statement, fearing what Natsu or Happy, who was bound to be with him, would think if they saw her in close proximity of her spirit. Sure enough, within a couple more seconds, the pink haired dragonslayer landed on the windowsill gracefully, courtesy of his winged feline companion.
"Hey Lucy!" Natsu waved energetically. He almost fell off his perch as a pillow hit him in the face, but was caught by Happy at the last second. The pillow, much to Lucy's relief, bounced back and landed on the very end of the bed. "Heyyy… what was that for?"
"For not using the frickin' door!" Lucy screeched. She was seriously pissed off at Natsu for interrupting her time with Loke, as well as a number of other things she still had to bring up with him… like the godforsaken mouse that had invaded her apartment! The boy in question just cocked his head in confusion.
"What are you talking about? I never use the door…"
"EXACTLY!" Natsu just shrugged before he looked to the side and saw the other occupant of the room, who was now sitting up against the wall.
"Oh, hey Loke! Weren't you a lion yesterday?" Loke just winced at the memory of the whole guild seeing him wearing a muzzle and knowing full well who he was.
"Ohhh, why'd you have to change back?" Happy pouted, finally plopping Natsu back on the sill so he could jump into the room. "Cats are so much better than people!" Lucy shot a glare at the blue cat, but he didn't seem to notice as he just flew over and landed in front of the lion spirit, who gently patted his head to cheer him up a little.
Natsu turned his attention back to Lucy and said "Erza sent me to pass on a message." He pulled out a crumpled piece of paper, clearly from the request board, and smoothed it out for the blonde mage to read. "We're setting off on another mission in a few hours. And she said you have to come this time since you've had more than enough time off for recovery."
"Seriously... clearing out bandits?" Lucy sighed. She didn't notice Loke as his face fell at the mention of the job.
"C'mon Lucy! It'll be fun!"
"That's what you always say…"
"That's because it always is!" Lucy shook her head at the boy's overly excited attitude. To her it seemed like he had nothing better to do with his life than go out on jobs so that he could beat people up and break more stuff. It was what he was best at, after all. She wanted to just outright say no and request an easier job, but she, along with everyone else, did not wish to get on Erza's bad side. Everyone in the room knew what kind of wrath she was capable of.
"Fine, fine… Tell Erza I'll be at the guild soon."
"Great!" Natsu slapped Lucy's back, knocking her to the floor once more, and ran back to the window. But before taking his leave he turned back to Lucy and asked "By the way, did you get attacked yesterday or something?"
"Huh?" Lucy was wide-eyed at Natsu's random question, until he pointed at his neck.
"You've got a bruise right here." Lucy slapped the side of her neck to cover the mark caused by Loke, ignoring the culprit's stifled laughter as the fire mage just stared at her with a clueless expression before shaking his head and turning back to the window.
"Let's go Happy!"
"Aye sir!" The little blue cat grabbed a tight hold of the back of his vest before sprouting his wings and taking off to carry them back towards Fairy Tail.
"See ya soon Lucy!"
Lucy groaned before picking herself up off the floor, although she had to put little effort in as Loke gently held her by her arms and lifted her back onto her feet. Before she could move again he wrapped his arms around her waist from behind, rested his head on her shoulder and sighed.
"What's up?" She asked, her hands gently holding onto his. Loke mumbled something incoherent into her shoulder. "Say that again?"
"Another mission…" Lucy's eyebrows furrowed together, wondering why he would be so upset about going on a job, seeing as it had been so long since they had gone out and done one. "It's just… ah, forget it. It's nothing." He slowly let her go and began to back away.
"No, what is it?" Lucy quickly spun around and stopped him in his tracks by placing her hands on his shoulders. "Tell me, what's wrong?" Loke avoided her gaze as he turned to face the ground, an upset look etched on his handsome face. She gently rested a hand on his cheek and turned his head to look at her. She could see a lot of hurt in his eyes. "Loke?"
"It's just… before the whole 'incident', where I changed, you never had any spare time to spend with me…"
Lucy was taken aback by his words. Before their last few missions she had noticed his change in behavior at the mention of the requests, but she could never figure out why. It wasn't like she never saw him, seeing as how he could come and go as he pleased and considering how much she needed him to fight for her on a regular basis, but when she thought back on it she had realized she hadn't taken much time off back then and hadn't paid much attention to him in the few spare moments she did get. She was pulled out of her thoughts when he continued.
"I mean, I'm your friend as well, I'm as close to you as Natsu, Gray and Erza are." His gaze shifted back to the floor once more. "I guess… I was starting to feel a little left out."
Lucy stared at him with worry before smiling and quietly saying "I'm sorry Loke, I really am. But that was then… and this is now." She moved forward and placed a light kiss on his cheek, attracting his attention once more. "Because… I love you more than a friend now." While he ran those words through his head again she leant up and kissed him once more, enjoying the feeling of being so close to him as his arms encircled her body. Still, she pulled back before he got too carried away and said to him "But as much as I'd like to stay here with you, I have to get ready for a mission now." Loke nodded understandingly and let her out of his embrace. "And I promise that when I'm done we can spend some time together. Same with every other mission from now on."
"You promise?" He asked hopefully. She smiled back.
"You know what promises mean to celestial spirit mages and their spirits. Our word is our bond, and I'm not going to break it." She beamed at him and was rewarded with her favorite smile in return. She reluctantly turned towards her cupboard slightly and said "Well I suppose I'd better start packing."
"I'll help."
"I don't think so." She said sharply, but still had a smile on her face as she pushed her spirit backwards, poking him in the chest. "You've been in the human world for a long time. You need to rest up in case I need you."
Loke just waved a hand in front of his face and said "I'll be fine! It was only… what, a couple of weeks?"
Lucy crossed her arms, "Don't make me-"
"What? Do a forced gate closure?" Loke interrupted cheekily, he was rather determined to stay. "Doesn't work on me."
"Oh really now?" Lucy raised an eyebrow before approaching him once more, wrapping her arms around his neck and whispering seductively in his ear "Well then I guess I'll just have to try something else then, won't I?" Being a typical male, Loke fell for Lucy's trap and was distracted by her enticing words whilst she gently slid her hands down the back of his shirt, until she was finally able to reach just between his shoulder blades. She lightly grazed her fingers down it a couple of times before she got the desired reaction. Loke's entire body jumped and then suddenly slumped backwards and crumpled onto the bed, rendering him paralyzed.
"Gah… damn it…" He groaned from his curled up position on the bed, deeply regretting the day she discovered such a horrible weakness. Lucy just giggled as she reached for the keys on her bedside table and pulled out one particular golden key, engraved with the symbol of Leo.
"So it does work on you as a human as well." She noted to herself that she would definitely remember that trick, then held his key up and waved it through the air as she chanted "Forced Gate Closure!" There was a low growl as Loke glowed and disappeared back to the Spirit World through his gate, unable to resist the pull in the state that he was in. The blonde mage giggled once more before turning to her closet and looking at the suitcase tucked in the corner and sighing. "It's only bandits this time, how hard can it be?" She yanked out her suitcase and set it out on the bed, ready to fill it up with as many clothes as possible for the trip ahead of her, since she couldn't be sure that the thick headed dragonslayer wouldn't destroy the set she would decided to wear. It was a miracle he hadn't decided to go for her luggage yet. Before she started packing her gaze drifted over to the keys that sat beside it, specifically the key of Leo which was separated from the others due to its recent use. Lucy smiled at the sudden warm, fuzzy feeling she got in her chest when she thought of Loke.
"So this is what it's like to be in love." She lightly hugged herself to contain the warmth, not noticing the faint glow that Loke's key gave off as she thought of him. She shook her head once more and hastily packed herself up in record time, not wanting to waste another minute in order to get the job over and done with as soon as possible. The faster she completed the mission, the sooner she could get home and see Loke. After quickly showering, changing and making sure she didn't forget anything, she bounded out the door and bolted towards the guild, ignoring the fisherman's warnings to her.
It wasn't like she needed to heed the warnings as much anymore anyway.
Because she knew that Loke would always be there for her, to catch her whenever she fell, to take away all of the pain and to love her endlessly.
So, we had our fill of Loke x Lucy now?
I know I really, REALLY killed the mood with Natsu (so terrible of me, even I think so…) but I just suck at writing schmut so much! Normally I'm more of an angst/hurt writer, so this was at the opposite end of the scale for me. I apologize for the sucky love scene and bad flow of the chapter! (Gotta start somewhere though, right?)
Anyhow, I figured I should probably wrap this story up before people get too bored of the plot. I mean, there's only so much I could do with it anyway and I was starting to run out of ideas. The next chapter will be my last. It's actually kinda sad :(
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~
