Chapter Thirteen

Happy's Family

"LUCY! NATSU!" Happy screamed, awaken from his slumber. He imagined fire burning everywhere around him. A bloody corpse of a busty blonde laid out over a pile of shrapnel, and a demon looking Natsu stretched out over her. Shivers rumbled through the little blue cat's body, as he caught wind of the burning demon's eyes. "Natsu…" he cried weakly. "Natsu, don't kill Lucy. We love Lucy! Don't hurt her!" he outstretched his long claw towards the girl's cheek, carving a line down to her throat. "LUCY!"

Disgusted, pained with hot rivers of tears dribbling from his eyes he watched as his friend choked, and coughing up blood. Her eyes flickered, glancing up at her killer. Happy couldn't take it much more. "LEAVE HER ALONE!" He pounced forward, using all his might to knock the monster of his friend. But the little cat was barely a pinch from the demon.

"You're not Natsu! Natsu would never harm Lucy" the cat bellowed. "You're a monster, who kills his friends, the ones he loves and are close to his heart! You're evil"

"Evil" the demon chanted. "Yes, Evil!" he raised his mighty fist up, his eyes glowing yellow as he brought his sharp fist down to the blonde, impaling her.

"LUCYYYYYYY!"

He awoke. Sweating, crying, and worrying. His dream felt so real, like he was really there, experiencing what was happening. Natsu could never harm his friends, not Lucy, not him. They are family. Happy tried to smile, thinking of the adventures they had been on. How much of a family they really were.

He laid back on the stone he was sleeping on, imagining he was fast asleep on Lucy's comfortable bed. Beside him would be Natsu, outstretched across most of the mattress and Lucy cuddled up on the edge, groaning to herself about the amount of room both he and Natsu was taking. His saddened frown flickered as he recalled the times he would peacefully sleep on Lucy's lap while she stroked his fur, or when she would hug him tightly to console him. Lucy was special to him, and just as important as Natsu. They were his protectors, his lovers.

He closed his eyes once again, dreaming softly. Remembering memories that popped into his head. The voice of Lucy shouting, the fired up roar from Natsu or just their simple laughs and giggles made the cat feel at home. He did miss them.

"WHO SAID YOU CAN COME IN HERE AND EAT ALL MY FOOD?" Lucy shouted, raged by her two companions with mouths full of food. They pointed at each other, before gulping the food down hard. "You completely ate everything?!" she whined, staring into her empty fridge.

"Well if you think about it Lushy, we were doing you a favour" Happy sniggered. Lucy's face was stained with anger. With a grit of her teeth, she shut the door close with a thud.

"Watch it cat!"

"We are helping you out. You don't want ALL your food to go out of date now do ya Luce?" Natsu grinned proudly as he slouched back in the chair. Lucy grumbled, ignoring his question and stomping to her bedroom. She kept the door shut.

"LUUUUUSHY!" the flying cat threw himself into the woman's chest, burying his head into her bust while crying helplessly. Instantly, Lucy wrapped her arms around him, stroking his furry head as he whimpered. "Gajeel said…I'm a low life…and…I have…no…chance with Carla" he sobbed between sniffles. Lucy growled protectively, her eyes scanning the guild's main room for the metal eater. She patted his head, causing him to purr softly.

"You're not a low life Happy. You're my baby" she tickled behind his ear, causing him to purr louder. "And as for Carla, it takes time for someone to realise they love you. Give her space, let her see you in a different light" her eyes finally landed on Gajeel, who was perking up a fight with Natsu over in the corner.

Her eyes sent daggers to him immediately, before rising from her seat and keeping a tight hold on her blue cat. Angrily, motherly, Lucy stomped over to the fighting dragon slayers and with her free hand, gripped Gajeel's hair and pulled him up to face her.

"Apologise!" she snapped.

Instantly Gajeel was stunned for words as he peeped straight ahead, to stare at her chest, where the cat was huddled up. Natsu noticed this from behind her, completely unaware that he was looking at Happy, his fist went to pound the metal dragon slayer.

"WATCH WHERE YOU LOOK YOU PERV!" Natsu roared, using his flamed fist to knock him to the ground. Lucy froze by this, turning slowly as Natsu stood upright. "Um…hey Luce"

"NATSU HE DIDN'T EVEN APOLOGISE YET!" she growled.

"Wait what?"

"He was going to apologise to Happy" she span her body around, revealing the cat. Natsu blushed by this. "You idiot!"

Happy smiled in his sleep. His tail brushed by his nose and hurled round his tummy to keep warm. They were his family, Natsu, Lucy…Erza and Gray, Wendy and Carla. He purred softly, wandering deeply what his two partners would be doing at this very moment. He shuddered, feeling a sweet breeze.

"Natsu, Lucy…I hope you guys are ok" he purred in his sleep. "I miss you both"

"STOP IT!" Natsu shouted.

"JUST HOLD STILL YOU BIG BABY!" Lucy screamed. Her delicate hands reached out to him, with a damp cloth in one. He scurried past her, just as she was able to grab hold of him and pin him down to the ground. "It won't heal properly if you leave it like that"

Sting watched the entertainment of the two. Lucy had a cloth of magical fluid that made wounds heal faster, given to her by one of her celestial spirits. She was worried by the deep cut on Natsu's abs and wanted to treat it properly.

"Lucy! Get off me! Did you gain weight?!"

SLAP!

Sting smirked with amusement as Lucy perched on top of him, holding him down using her body weight. She had slapped him hard on his bare torso causing him to blubber like a baby whale.

"I have you know, I lost a ton of weight!" she snapped, sulking. "Now stay still" she dumped the cloth onto his wound and shrieked as he instantly lifted her up using his arms and rolled her off his body.

"AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHAHHH WRAAAH!" he bit his lip, sitting up and holding his side as he felt the sharp stinging sensation work it's magic. Lucy smirked, successfully her mission was completed. Within a few minutes, Natsu calmed himself before glancing back at Lucy. "Now I'm gonna have to start sharing my food with you" he said gloomily.

"Huh?"

"You're as light as a feather, can't have that now can we? What would me and Happy tease you for now?" he laughed, slouching down while holding his side painfully.

"Where is your flying cat?" Sting questioned.

"Good point" Natsu turned his head, looking out at the two guards outside their camp. "Yo Gajeel, where did you put Happy?"

A grunt came from the dragon slayer. His arms stayed folded, his eyes looking out at the surroundings.

"He and Lily stayed with Levy and that stellar mage from Sabretooth" he said out loud. Sting's eyes lit up as did his legs jump from the rock he was sitting on.

"You mean Yukino?! She's ok?" his voice was filled with hope. "What about Lector?"

"What about Frosch?" Rogue piped up, sitting up from the hard ground he was sleeping on. Gajeel nodded, avoiding their looks.

"They were fine. Yukino had taken a beating by the looks of it" this made Lucy's colour in her face drain. "The cats were going on about something, I wasn't interested in any of their talk"

"WHAT HAPPENED TO YUKINO?!" Sting yelled, getting defensive. This time Gray, who stood beside Gajeel, turned to face the Sabretooth.

"Keep your voice down, we can't afford to be spotted" he told him wisely. "At least we know that they are safe and are together. That's all that matters"

"But she was harmed, I don't understand how that could be possible…I told her to leave" Sting mumbled. Natsu eyed him, his emotions escalated massively because of his friend. He then looked to the nervous Lucy. She was twiddling something in her hand, something gold. "You said she looked beaten, did Lector tell you why? Or what happened?" Sting questioned. Gajeel shook his head.

"Don't get angry about the situation Sting, Yukino is under good hands with Levy now" Gray piped up. "If anything, the way you're getting all upset about this is giving me a big hint on your relationship with her" he smirked, causing Sting to blush madly.

"You like Yukino?" Rogue wondered. "Actually…saying that…you was very keen to get her out of danger than the others"

"Shut up Rogue"

"And worrying about her safety like that, must mean you care for her massively" the shadow slayer continued. "Is our guild master in love by any chance?"

Sting sulked low, pouting as he avoided the eyes of everyone around him.

"No" he whined. "Me and Yukino just have the same relationship as any other. Like Natsu and Lucy over there" he pointed to Natsu, who scrunched up his nose at the long finger being firmly directed at him. "We just…care for each other. Or I do at least" he sulked lower, crossing his arms over his chest.

Natsu, again looked at Lucy.

"So you're saying…you care for her a lot?" Gray wondered.

"I care for Yukino and Lector, hence why I sent them away. Now can SOMEONE please tell me what happened to her" he begged. Instantly, Lucy stood up.

"I know" she whispered. "And it's my fault" she suddenly got teary.

"What?!" Sting jumped up, facing her. Anger boiling in his blood. "What do you mean it's your fault?!" noticing his rage, Natsu pounced up, shielding Lucy with his arm while keeping a firm wall between them.

"I took her power"

"YOU LITTLE-!"

"BACK OFF STING!" fire appeared from his arm, pushing the white dragon slayer aside. Gray and Rogue instantly got into fighting stance against each other, while Lucy cowered and stepped back from the fiery wizard. "I'm warning you, lay a hand on her and I'll burn you to a crisp"

"GUYS! Empire troops!" Gajeel interrupted. "Run now!"

The metal dragon slayer hurdled over and into the camp, dragging his comrades behind him. Sting darted, following Gajeel while Natsu swooped Lucy up and ran after their trail. Gray was close to his side, catching from the corner of his eye at Lucy who sobbed into Natsu's chest. They continued to run. Their hearts pounding.

"I need to find Yukino" Sting growled as they stopped suddenly. "Where did you last see her?" he looked to Gajeel, determined for an answer. "Please, I need to protect her"

"She was south, by the bank. That was where I last saw them" Gajeel grunted.

"Rogue, come on. We have to make sure there ok" Sting pulled his twin dragon slayer along, in the opposite direction, towards the south bank like Gajeel had said.

"Guess that leaves us, we should head towards the guild" Gray piped up.

"No, they would follow us straight to everyone else" Natsu snapped. "We need a different location"

"Tenrou" Lucy muttered. "Go to Tenrou Island"

"You heard her. Let's go"

"They can run all they like. But I will capture every last one of them, mark my words Mavis. I will pluck every wing of your little fairies…and once fairy heart is unleashed. The world will be mine"

"You could never do that" Mavis shouted from her chains. "You can never catch all the fairies"

"Well I found a few, and one wizard…Gildarts in particular" her eyes widened. "Oh he did try saving them all, but that's what you get for having all wizards hide in your precious guild hall"

"No"

"Oh yes, victory is almost mine. If only my dear brother can come out to play" the dark wizard smirked evilly. He clutched the book in his hands. "Shall I release the terror of END?"

"No, don't!"

"Because I like you begging, I'll give him a few more hours. Before he slaughters everyone in sight that is"