Disclaimer: I don't own Fairy Tail!

Chapter 12: Frontline

When it's over, we can say, "Well done"

But not yet, 'cause it's only begun

So, pick up, and follow me, we're the only ones

To fight this thing, until we've won.

Lucy sat facing the rising sun with her legs swinging idly over the edge of the cliff she currently perched on. She lay awake for hours upon trying to sleep in her tent only to drift in and out of consciousness, earning her a headache and grogginess. Figuring that she would just be better off giving in to the thoughts that seemed hell-bent on impeding on her sleep, the blonde rose from her sleeping bag and came to this spot to sort through the noise in her head.

Her brown gaze fell from the horizon to the object she clutched in her hands.

Her keys had sacrificed themselves in the hopes that they would be able to save her from death and she was finally so close to getting them all back together, but the thought of seeing the same man that had pinned her to a tree made her sick.

Herule.

Erza had informed her the night before of the owner and whereabouts of her last key and it had left her terrified. She tried not to show it in front of the others but knew that she had done a poor job of this when Natsu took her hand to halt its shaking and assured her that she would not be alone this time. As a matter of fact, she didn't even have to go if she didn't want to.

Lucy sighed in frustration and set her key ring down next to her, placing her head in her hands.

She was going to go. Loke had done everything in his power to save her and she'd be damned if she didn't give it her all to save him. She knew that it would be hard and that she would be scared like crazy, but if she didn't, then Loke would be trapped in the human world forever without any recollection of the person he was before.

She began to twist the ring that connected herself to Natsu around her finger nervously as she bit her lip and gazed blindly out in front of her.

A twig snapped behind her and Lucy didn't even bother to turn around. "How long have you been there?" She asked quietly, not flinching when a warm weight settled across her shoulders.

Lucy tugged the blanket closer to her as Natsu sat down next to her, her eyes never leaving the rising sun.

"Not long." He replied, leaning back to settle his weight on his hands and flickering his eyes over to her for a split second in concern. "You know you don't have to go today, Lucy. Gray or Erza could stay here with you and the rest of us would get Loke. I promise nothing bad would happen to him—"

"No." Lucy cut in, her hands tightening their hold on the material wrapped around her. Finally tearing her gaze away from the scene in front of her, she turned her head to the boy sitting next to her. "I'm going."

The pink haired man frowned slightly and averted his eyes, "If you go, Luce, you have to know that I can't promise what I did last time."

The blonde was confused for a split second, but the memory hit her almost as soon as the words crossed his lips. He was saying that he couldn't promise that they wouldn't be split up—that they were practically indestructible.

Lucy let out a puff of air as she turned to face forward once again, "I know, Natsu. What happened before was out of your control."

He made no reply, but the girl assumed he understood what she meant by her words. Anything could happen in a battle and nothing was for certain. He could be the one to not return home the next time they encountered trouble.

The thought sent a bolt of blind panic shuttering through her. Natsu, not in Fiore? Not in Fairy Tail? Nothing would be the same. No one would be the same. Her life would be over and she knew that she would never recover. He had to stay alive. No matter the cost.

The fear just the mere thought of that happening instilled in her was enough to make her shake in terror.

The blonde swung her legs back over the edge of the cliff and tucked them under herself to sit back on her heels as the blanket fell away from her. Natsu looked at her in mild surprise before she wrapped her arms around his neck in what she was sure was almost oxygen-depriving.

"Natsu, I—" She paused and swallowed past the lump that was suddenly in her throat. The pink haired boys arms wrapped around her waist and pulled her closer as if sensing her distress.

"Natsu," She mumbled into his hair, "You do have to promise me one thing."

She pulled away from him to look him in the eye, his arms loosening slightly but never letting her go. "What is it?" He asked.

"You have to promise that no matter what, you go home safely, because…because…." She was willing to sacrifice anyone and anything for him…because she loved him.

Lucy blinked at her own thoughts. The thought was new, but the shock that she thought would follow it never came. It was like she had known it was there all along but had never acknowledged it before. Water was wet. She was in love with Natsu.

She snapped back to reality when his fingers traced the side of her face and tucked some stray hair behind her ear with an unreadable look on his face, "Because I love you." She blurted.

His hand halted halfway down her face and his breath caught in his throat. "Luce…I—I mean, we—" He choked, his face a mass of confusion as he looked everywhere but her.

"You don't have to say it if you don't want to Natsu."

Lucy wanted to throw herself off the cliff they were next to. She was also pretty sure she was the color of a tomato.

He watched as the blonde cast her eyes to the ground and began to pull away from him and get to her feet. What was she doing? Didn't she know that he felt the same way? Why wasn't his mouth working?

"Lucy, don't go!" He hissed, leaping to his feet and catching her wrist as she turned away. "I—I feel the same way."

The blonde paused and he figured that he might as well go for it now. "I love you, Lucy. I always have."

The blonde turned to face him and he wanted the image to forever be locked into his memory. Her unkempt hair blew gently in the wind that framed the smile that was large and genuine and directed towards him as her brown eyes creased with the happiness she felt. He couldn't recall a time when she looked more beautiful than in that moment.

Pulling her in tight to his body, he locked his lips with hers and was instantly brought back to the night back at the hotel. When they parted for air, their eyes met and he knew that she was thinking of the same thing. Without a word, he followed her back to their tent, trying to only focus on her hand clasped in his or the kisses she stole on the way there because one thought plagued him until he was there with her in the tent.

It could be for the last time.

XxX

"So, how are we supposed to get into this elusive airship fearless leader and better yet, where is it?"

Erza shot the ice mage a dark look, causing the boy to slump a little further into his train seat and avert his eyes. Lucy smiled lightly at the pair across from her as Natsu shifted in her lap slightly, turning to press his face against her stomach and wrap his arms around her waist.

Erza sighed and crossed her arms over her armored chest, "I have gathered enough information from the towns that we've passed through to confirm the sighting of a large, impossible to miss," Cue sideways glare to Gray, "airship passing through town in one specific direction."

Lucy nodded and Erza continued, leaning over to pull a rolled up piece of paper from her bag and holding it out for her to see, "I've mapped out the possible places they could be going, but only one makes sense to me."

An armored finger jabbed at one certain point of the roughly drawn map, "Desierto."

Gray groaned and scrubbed his hands over his face, "I'm going to melt!"

The red head smacked him on the back of his head and shushed him. Turning her attention back to the frowning girl in front of her, Erza began rolling the map up once again, "It's the only logical place to go."

Lucy nodded and leaned back in her seat, her left hand automatically coming up to rest in the flurry of pink hair laying in her lap, "It's the only place with enough space to land without flattening an entire city and it's also isolated." She paused, looking out the window, "How close are we?"

"About twenty more hours," The red head replied, "We've already passed through Bosco and Stella, and we're about to enter Joya in a few minutes."

She settled against her seat, thought about it a moment, and then moved Gray around so she could lean on his shoulder for a more comfortable pillow than the window. "Once we get there," She mumbled, the fringes of sleep already closing in on her, "we'll need to buy new clothes and covers. Their rules are different than Fiore's, and the women's skin must be covered, which actually works to our advantage—"

Her words were cut off by a large yawn and Gray rolled his eyes, "Look, we have plenty of time to sort this out later. For now, let's get some rest."

Erza was already in dreamland, Gray closed his eyes, and Natsu was so nauseous she doubted that he'd be conscious enough to realize the rest of them were sleeping. Lucy was the last one awake; left to peer out the window as day slowly shifted to night and let her thoughts run wild.

After the stars began to shine brightly in the deep of night, the Celestial wizard tore her eyes away from the land moving around them to try and get at least a little bit of sleep. Her eyes roamed around the small cabin they shared at her companions, smiling faintly at the sight of Erza now in Gray's lap, his head lolled back against the seat he sat up in with his mouth wide open to allow the deep inhales of breath into his lungs.

Her eyes fell to her lap and her hands worked their way through the cotton candy colored locks laying there. Lucy took a deep breath and felt Natsu relax a little as her hands combed through his hair at a steady pace, her shirt riding up a little where his nose touched her belly. She could feel his breath coming in light puffs against her bare skin and let her head lean back to rest on the seat behind her, letting her eyes slide closed.

This moment with her friends surrounding her solidified her resolve to fight tooth and nail to save it. She would never allow anyone to take this away from her.

XxX

"You've got to be kidding me."

Lucy stood in front of the mirror in the shop they had arrived at in despair as she flapped her arms in vain against the drapes they called clothes billowing around her. She was covered head to toe in black; her head and hair covered in black cloth and over her nose so that only her eyes showed through.

"How come they get to wear that and we have to wear this? I'm going to die of heat exhaustion!" She wailed, pointing to the two smug looking boys in front of her dressed in loose dark golden pants that were taped at the bottom with sandals and a loose white shirt to cover their torsos.

Erza threw back the curtain she was behind and appeared in the lobby area in the same thing. "I'm not happy about it either, Lucy, but that is this land's culture and we must respect it." She moved to stand beside the girl in the mirror and put her arm around the miserable girl's shoulder to pat her mockingly on the shoulder. "Besides, it will save your skin and protect your identity. What more could a girl ask for?"

XxX

Death.

That's what she could ask for.

At the moment, that sounded a whole lot better than buying camels for an over exuberant (in her opinion) amount of money, wading into the desert in the middle of the day and sweating so much she felt like she was swimming while rocking back and forth on the smelly beast that had cost so much in the first place.

"How're you doing, Luce?" Natsu asked, pulling up the reins in his hand to walk his camel right next to hers, shooting her a cheeky grin even as she gave him the most menacing glare she could muster as she melted.

"I hope you get the worst sunburn of your life." She mumbled darkly.

The pink haired man threw his head back as he laughed and opened his mouth to reply when Erza shouted over her shoulder, "I see the ship!"

Both heads snapped in the direction she pointed in and Lucy squinted against the glare the medal reflected off the sun. The colossal airship had landed in what seemed to be a bowl like dip in the middle of the desert, the top of the ship coming onto view first.

Natsu glanced at her for a split second, nodded his head forwards in a small indication to her that he was going to talk to the others. He nudged his camel forwards, not knowing that Lucy was falling farther and farther away from them.

XxX

It felt as if someone had taken a fork and shoved it into her insides and then twisted it around like spaghetti.

Lucy numbly went along with whatever order came from Erza's mouth in the moment and quickly found her back pressed against the side of the gleaming ship. Natsu paused in front of her on his way to his own position and raised his eyebrows at her, a silent question asking if she was okay. Speaking this close to the ship was unwise and she nodded and smiled at him; hoping that the face she was making looked reassuring.

Bile pushed at the back of her throat as Lucy watched him continue on his path and fade out of her sight as he and Erza climbed quietly onto the top of the ship. Her stomach was twisted in all kinds of knots as Gray gave her a nod; obviously signaling for her to do something.

Having not paid any attention to what Erza had told her, she shot the ice mage a confused look that he missed due to the fact that he was already in motion, sliding his back along the side of the ship until he came across a large enough window.

The blonde followed him quietly as she was not sure what exactly she was supposed to be doing. There was a dull roaring on her ears and her eyes and body felt tired. Lucy blinked sluggishly as the blue haired man turned to her and mumbled something she missed. What was wrong with her?

"What?" She drawled, narrowing her eyes at him in concentration.

He frowned, "I need Cancer, Luce remember?"

Nodding but not quite understanding, the blonde pulled his key from her belt and summoned the giant crab.

Gray placed his hand on the large window behind him and froze the entire thing, "Now I need him to cut along the glass as quietly as possible to make a big enough hole for us to fit through."

Lucy quickly mumbled these orders to her spirit as said red armed man completed the task. Cancer turned to her and gave her a small cocky smile before saluting and disappearing into a puff of golden dust. Lucy turned back around towards the airship just in time to see the ice mage's feet disappearing into the newly made window.

Peering into the rabbit hole Gray had disappeared into, Lucy tried to get the gist of what exactly she was supposed to be doing. Just as she was lifting her leg to shimmy in after Gray, said boy's eyes flashed in front of her, almost causing her to fall right back into the sand.

Trying to squander her scream of shock, Lucy settled for a guttural sound in the back of her throat to show her displeasure.

Her glare met with a raised eyebrow, "What are you doing, Luce? Get to the engine room and pull the wires when you get the signal."

Her blank stare must have tipped him off and he looked at her with both eyebrows raised for a slpit second longer before sighing. "You weren't listening at all were you? The engine room is around the corner of the airship. Look down and you'll see a long rectangular window. Slide into it. Use your keys to help you."

Lucy ignored his deadpan tone of voice and slid out from the window before whispering a hasty good luck over her shoulder and making her way to the basement.

XxX

"Natsu, stay focused." Erza hissed, coming close to smacking the pink haired boy in the back of his head when she turned around to check on him. Surprise, surprise he was turned around once again to see if he could still see Lucy or not.

The boys head swiveled around with a small frown on his face, "I told you, she's the farthest away from Herule than the rest of us, so stop worrying and keep watch."

She thought she heard him mumble something under his breath about watching grass grow, but she chose to ignore this in favor of the task at hand.

The red headed woman turned around without waiting for a reply and continued to pick the lock of the door she believed to lead to the sleeping quarters.

After what seemed like hours, the sound of clicking could be heard from the door. Allowing a triumphant smile to spread across her face, Erza pushed the door open with a flourish and Natsu slinked inside.

Back to the business at hand, Natsu used his dragon senses to try and locate the room that held the key. It wasn't an easy task. Metals, especially gold, were hard to smell for him unless he had something like it already in his hand where he could catch the scent. Add that on top of smelling past closed doors and that's how long it took them to find door 254.

"This has got to be it," Natsu whispered, his nose red and tired of breathing by the time they found it. Placing her hand on the doorknob, Erza tried to open it only to have it stop less than halfway down. Sighing, she pulled out the same tools she'd used on the other door and kneeled to get a better view when she heard a huff of anger come from behind her.

"I've got a better idea that won't waste time." Natsu declared. The weapons mistress turned to raise her eyebrow at him in question and barely dodged face to fist with a flaming g hand.

With a hiss from the melting handle the dragon slayer held in his hand, the hallway was filled with the smell of burning metal and the door swung open.

This time, Erza delivered a sound smack to the back of his head.

XxX

Lucy watched as a golden glow emitted from the hidden window on the underside of the massive ship as summoned Capricorn into the dark basement first. Lying flat on her stomach and peering into the now broken window, the blonde waited for the light to dim around her Spirit and then opened her mouth to speak.

"Capricorn? Can you hear me?" She whispered.

When the goat turned toward her and nodded, she was once again thankful that she had at least one quiet spirit. "Okay. Catch me, I'm coming in too."

The celestial spirit mage shimmied into the tiny rectangular shape, having to suck in as much air as possible to slip through. When she landed safely in the cradle of her spirits arms, she smiled gratefully up at him and patted him on the shoulder, her silent way of telling him to let her down.

When her feet touched the floor, the first thing she noticed was that it was pitch black in there and hot. Really hot.

Lucy glanced down at where her black garb was in disdain and then huffed quietly as she began to tug on the material, thankful that she had opted to wear denim cutoffs and a white shirt underneath.

This sweat blanket they call clothes has to go.

Wadding up the clothes and tucking them under her arm, Lucy squinted into the darkness around her, only to see dark blobs surrounded by shadows. She sighed as she spun slowly in a circle, not wanting to run into anything.

At this rate, the only place the power would be out was in the room she was in.

XxX

And turn. And hide in the doorway. Don't let the camera see you, don't let it see you, don't let—it—see—you….! Got it!

Gray slid his back along the wall he was currently pressed against until his right shoulder hit the corner of the hallway. His next move would make him turn the corner.
The ice mage had worked too hard not to get caught to lose now and had done a damn fine job of it, if he did say so himself. As a matter of fact, he hadn't even seen or been seen by a single soul on the ship, that's how good of a mapped out planner he was.

Gray flipped over to peer around the corner with one eye to make sure there was no one coming with a confident smirk firmly plastered on his face when his gaze narrowed suddenly.

The path he was on gave him a straight shot view to the Guild's main entrance and dining hall. Where any other Guild would be rambunctious at this time of day, the Hall was completely empty. For the first time, it occurred to him that his enormous amount of luck in sneaking around wasn't so lucky at all.

Where is everybody? He wondered, pushing away from the wall, only to feel a barrel fall into place on the back of his neck.

The ice mage instantly froze and tensed, his eyes widening. He hadn't heard anyone approaching him!

A small scoff was the last thing he heard before there was a swift pain to the back of his head and his whole world went black.

XxX

"It's not in here!" Natsu growled, holding up fistfuls of men's clothes in his hands up to Erza to show her. "We need to check the other rooms!"

The dragon slayer tossed the useless clothes onto the bed with the rest of them that he had pulled from the closet and dresser. Usually, even he was a little more patient with these kinds of things, but his annoyance added along with the panic and irritation he could feel through the ring he and Lucy shared was beginning to become overwhelming.

"Are you being more annoying than usual because of that?" The red headed mage questioned, turning her head away from picking the lock on a small box on the man's nightstand and giving the ring a pointed look.

Natsu frowned and realized that he had been twisting it around his finger subconsciously. He glared halfheartedly at the requip mage, who was now comfortably back in her normal warrior gear.

Erza sighed and continued working on the lock in front of her, "If It is, then take it off. You need to focus and I'm sure that Lucy and all of her spirits can handle herself just fine."

The dragon slayer frowned and held his hand up to glance at the ring, which was currently glowing a soft gray color. She was stressed, but not to the point that it turned black into full blown panic. Erza was probably right and plus all of the emotions were beginning to mess with his head.

Talking himself into it, the pink haired man slipped the ring off his finger and shoved it in his pocket. There was a split second of an odd sensation of not being connected to her anymore and then his mind felt lighter; clearer.

It was at that moment that the lock Erza had been toiling over finally clicked. Natsu dashed to her side to peer over her shoulder as she opened it and both let out quiet celebratory cries.

There was the lion's golden key, resting at the bottom of the green velvet covered box. The red headed woman snatched the key out of the little chest and tucked it in one of her many hiding places in her armor.

She turned to Natsu as she began to move, "Alright, now let's meet Gray and—"move, "Alright, now let's meet Gray and—"

"Now, now," Came a voice from the doorway. Both wizards whipped around, Erza drawing her sword and Natsu balling his hands into flaming fists.

A small lithe man with slim shoulders leaned in the doorway, a bald head with multiple scars littering the top and face and a bow strapped across his back stepped into the room. His face filled with glee, he held a single finger up and wobbled it back and forth and clicked his tongue.

"Hasn't anyone ever told you not to touch things that aren't yours?"

Natsu's face darkened into an intense snarl as he felt the dragon scales already beginning to appear across the bridge of his nose.

So this was Herule.

XxX

"How the hell do they expect me to see down here?!" Lucy scream-whispered, stomping her foot on the ground girlishly just to relieve some of the anger she felt.

Capricorn sat in the corner of the room, his ankle balanced on the opposite knee with his palm cradling his hand as he watched his master fumble around in the dark. His order was to guard her, so that's what he was doing. Though what he was guarding her from was beyond him.

The blonde let out another huff of anger, "Okay, think Lucy, think. Who can you summon to help you?"

She automatically threw out the thought of summoning more than half of her spirits, because they couldn't produce any kind of light. Come to think of it, the only two that could was Loke…and Virgo.

Lucy smiled at her spirit hunched in the corner, though she wasn't sure if she could see it, and with a quick explanation, sent him back to the spirit world.

"Open! Gate of the Maiden, Virgo!" She chanted.

"Something you need, princess?" The pink haired woman quietly inquired, bowing slightly.

"Yes!" Lucy beamed. "I need light, Virgo. Any kind that we can use to light up this room. Not on fire, of course—just to see, like a lantern or something...?" She finished meekly with an uncertain laugh. The way Virgo stared at her so intently when she was talking to her sometimes made her feel nervous and uncomfortable.

The Maiden paused for a few heartbeats before nodding and disappearing into a cloud of gold. The celestial spirit mage rocked back and forth on her heels while she waited and noticed with a small frown that she could no longer feel Natsu's presence. She felt the finger on her hand and noticed that it was cool to the touch. Usually when they were connected, it felt almost as warm as Natsu.

Lucy continued to ponder this as she wobbled on her heels and almost screamed in shock when she rocked back and knocked into someone.

"I got your light." Virgo said calmly, holding up a small lantern and ignoring her flailing master as she tried to get her breathing under control again.

"Virgo! Wear shoes that squeak or something!" She whispered breathlessly, her heart beating a mile a minute.

The Spirit looked at her questioningly and Lucy waved her off for the moment, "Never mind, I'll explain later. You've got to help me look for these certain wires or a lever or something. I'm supposed to cut off the lights in the ship. It should say something above it like 'emergency shut off' or something…"

Lucy trailed off when she saw that her Spirit was already looking in a much faster manner than her and shut her mouth to look just as hard.

Just as she was about to throw herself on the ground and give up to go help the others with whatever they were doing, Virgo spoke.

"I've found it." She declared, and pulled the wires out before Lucy could say a word.

X

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X

I…know I said this was going to be the last chapter, but my options were split it into two parts, make it incredibly long (I'm talking double or triple this size), or rush everything and cram it all up and leave stuff out (like Loke and Jerza).

I figured you guys would want the full ending…

As for my absence, I'm so sorry, but I just had major writer's block. Major. But it's over now, and I hope you guys can forgive me!

Please tell me what you guys want as the last song for this story! It would mean a lot!

Review, if you still love me and my story?