"Lucy there's one more headed your way!" yelled Natsu, slugging another bandit in the stomach.

Lucy smiled and nodded, "On it!" She pulled out her whip just as the last thief tried running past her. She smirked, flinging the whip so it wrapped around his ankles. The bandit couldn't save himself from face planting and knocking himself unconscious. Lucy pulled the whip lose as Natsu came walking over, stretching his arms over his head.

"Well that was uneventful. I didn't even need to use my magic."

"Well it certainly was a workout. And you could use one. I think you're gaining weight," Lucy laughed, playfully smacking Natsu's stomach. She ignored the shocked look Natsu was making and tied up the remaining bandits before she started walking back to where they last saw Erza, Gray, and Happy. While the mission to capture the thieves overrunning Shirotsume was ultimately lame, they did get split up over the overwhelming number of bandits there was.

Natsu jogged back up to Lucy, grabbing her hand and intertwining their fingers. Lucy smiled as she squeezed back in response. She still couldn't believe the overwhelming joy she felt every time she felt Natsu's hands in hers. It made her feel like a schoolgirl who had finally gotten her crush to speak to her even after being together for a whole year. It was especially refreshing considering the events that led up to their relationship.

Natsu and Lucy had struggled the first few days getting used to having their original bodies back. Everyone thought it would be easy but after spending three months stuck together they missed the feeling of being one. Some nights Lucy would feel lonely in her thoughts. On occasion she would walk all the way to Natsu's house only to meet up with him halfway there to discover he was having the same problem. The issue would be resolved by sharing some tea, laughing together for an hour or two before crawling into bed and spending the rest of the night in each others arms.

Eventually everything fell back into place and they were able to behave normally again, well almost. Gray constantly teased them about how they were even closer than before even though they weren't physically stuck together anymore, but it didn't bother them. They knew he was right. They didn't expect the others at the guild to understand what they went through and that was okay. Everyone's relationships were different and theirs was certainly unique.

"I know you're going to hate me for this but we should probably hurry back to town if we want to get on the next train home," said Lucy. She could feel his grip on her hand tighten and she watched his face turn an unhealthy shade of green."

"Lushi~! Why do you do this to me?" Lucy responded with a giggle.

"You can do it tough guy. It's not the end of the world." Her gaze wandered to the path they were taking from the forest back to town. She enjoyed the smell of the fir trees and the blooming flowers. Slowly her eyes turned to the mountain range not far away. She could easily spot the peak where "Lab A" once stood.

She remembered after returning home from the lab how excited everyone was to see her and Natsu separate. They all partied for what felt like days, which was probably accurate. During one of those days' members of the Magic Council came to ask about what had happened. They raided both labs A and B and confiscated everything there. The Fioran National Experimental Health Committee had been contacted not long after and received a firm talking to. They were ashamed of the experiments Ty and Lin had done and as punishment for not taking proper precautions they lost many of their former government privileges. Lucy felt somewhat guilty considering they didn't do anything wrong other than not keep Ty and Lin under control, but there wasn't much they could do. The fusions had been going on out of their supervision.

All of the bodies had been taken away, buried in unmarked locations. Gray had given the council forms he found in "Lab A" that had the names of the people kidnapped. Many of their family members had been interviewed on the subject, though they looked incredibly uncomfortable talking about something so devastating. Lucy could understand. Natsu refused to have him or her be interviewed out of respect, but that didn't stop the press from trying to get information on all the people who had lost their lives and Natsu and Lucy's opinion.

"Luce?" Lucy snapped out of her thoughts and looked up at her boyfriend. He stared at her worriedly, squeezing her hand, "Are you okay?"

Lucy let out a tired sigh, "I'm just thinking is all."

"About what?" he asked. Lucy pushed back a strand of her long hair behind her ear.

"Just about all the people. I wish we could have helped them more," she admitted. She watched Natsu turn his attention up toward the sky. He stared up at it for a moment before breathing out.

"I do too, but I've learned over the years that we can't save them all Luce. We did what we could. At least now they are happier, wherever they are," he said in all seriousness. Lucy stared at him, flabbergasted that he could say something so mature. A tender smile graced her face.

"You're probably right. Come on, Erza, Gray, and Happy are probably waiting!" she cheered, starting into a jog with Natsu's hand still in hers. Natsu chuckled, taking the lead and dragging Lucy down the path back to Shirotsume.

"There you two are," muttered Gray as he spotted the two jogging toward him, Erza and Happy. The two were panting tiredly and laughing like a couple of crazy people, "Did you take care of you're crooks Flame-Brain?"

"I took down 15 of them," answered Natsu, "How many did you take Icicle?"

"16," Gray said proudly. Natsu's jaw dropped in shock.

"You miscounted! There's no way you beat me in beating up more guys!"

"Are you saying I don't know how to count Fire Breath?" challenged Gray, smashing his forehead against Natsu's. The two entered another one of their numerous brawls in an instant. Erza ignored them for once and turned to Lucy who was petting Happy on the head, "Did you tie them up?"

"Yeah, the police should find them up against some fir trees. What about the guys you were after?" The two girls continued to talk about the mission, completely missing Gray slip something into Natsu's pocket in the middle of the brawl.

"You left it in the inn Slanty," he muttered quietly enough so only Natsu could hear. Despite himself, Natsu smirk.

"I owe ya one Droopy." Gray smiled, shoving Natsu away. Natsu stumbled over to where the girls were and rubbed the back of his head in embarrassment. The girls waved it off, saying "Natsu will be Natsu." The team started back to their inn chatting and arguing like the friends they were. Halfway there Lucy noticed Natsu had been uncharacteristically quiet.

"Hey are you okay?" she asked concernedly.

"Y-Yeah," he stuttered, "I'm fine, I was just thinking, or considering um, well," he rambled. Lucy raised a delicate brow in confusion. Natsu ran a hand through his spiky hair.

"Actually Lucy, can I talk to you for a minute, alone?"

Lucy was baffled by his uncommon behavior, but she decided to let him explain, "Um, yeah if that's what you want."

"Yes that's what I want,' he said. He took Lucy's hand in his and guided her towards the direction of the nearby park.

"We'll just leave the two of you alone then," said Gray, smiling smugly. As Natsu and Lucy grew farther away, he grabbed Erza's arm and Happy's tail and dragged them in his own direction.

Gray took his teammates down a second street that led to the park. He smiled when he saw Natsu and Lucy walking towards a single tree in the center. Without a word he shoved Erza and Happy behind a bush before ducking behind it himself.

"Gray I demand that you explain-"

"Shh," Gray interrupted the redhead, placing a finger over his mouth. With the same finger he pointed at their two nakama a few feet away, "Just watch."

Happy snickered knowingly, frustrating Erza even further, but she obeyed the Ice Maker and silently stared at the two mages under the tree.

"Natsu what's wrong?" Lucy asked as he guided her under a sakura tree. A couple of petals fell from their perch and drifted onto Lucy's head. Lucy observed Natsu as he shoved his hands into his pockets, glancing away to avoid her gaze. She could see a blush form on his cheeks that matched the color of his hair and the flower petals. When he finally amounted the courage to look her in the eyes, Natsu straighten his back and sucked in a breath.

"Lucy, I love you," he said confidently. Lucy could feel her own face growing hot.

"I love you too. I thought you knew that."

"I do know that, I know more than anyone else could possibly know," he said, removing one hand from his pocket to meddle with a strand of his hair, "Lucy I spent three months stuck in the same body as you and to be honest, the start of it was the worst experience of my entire life."

Lucy's jaw dropped, "Where is this coming from?"

"I had to be a girl," he continued, "I had to wear a skirt, giggle like I was five, and don't even get me started on our dressing and bathing issue." Lucy glanced at the few people in the park who were now listening in on their conversation. She didn't know if she could feel any more flushed,"Natsu what are you doing?"

"But at the same time it was the best experience of my life," he said, catching Lucy off guard, "Yes we had our difficulties but we also grew together. I learned things about you that I wouldn't have known any other way, and I grew to love you even more because of them. I hope you felt the same way about me."

Lucy could feel her embarrassment slowly die as she watched her boyfriend confess the feelings of his heart. She smiled lovingly at him, though his eyes were directed to the floor, "Natsu of course I feel the same way."

"If I've learned anything from our experience Luce, it's that I can't live without you by my side." He slowly pulled a small object out of his pocket; "I don't want to live without you by my side. I can't fuse us together to make that possible, but I do know the next best thing."

Natsu slowly lowered himself onto one knee. Lucy gasped sharply, tears pricking at her eyes as they landed on the small black box in Natsu's hand. From the bushes Gray smiled when Erza realized what was happening and brought a hand up to her mouth. Natsu brought his gaze back up to Lucy who was trying her hardest not to cry but failing.

"Lucy Heartfilia," he flipped the lid to the box up, "will you marry me?" Inside the box was a silver ring with a single gemstone on it. Lucy let out a watery gasp when she saw that the jewel had two halves, a red one and a pink one, placed together to form one jewel.

"Y-Yes."

The people around them cheered with joy for the newly engaged couple. Gray laughed and wrapped an arm around Erza's shoulders, steadying her as she laughed and cried all at once. Happy flew above the two mages chanting about how Natsu and Lucy loved~ each other.

Natsu stood back up and slid the ring onto Lucy's finger. The blonde could no longer control herself and flung herself into Natsu's arms, kissing him as hard as she could. The noise around them disappeared along with all the people and buildings. As far as they knew, they were all alone.

And they were one.

Thank you all so much for supporting my story. It was a blast writing it. Like I promised I'm moving on to my spy AU "Dodging Bullets" and I hope you all read that one as well. Until next time!