Last Time

"I'm taking her back, then I'm going to fucking burn them to ashes."

~Phantom HQ~

Lucy groaned as she slowly came to, blinking her eyes open. Her eyelids were heavy like lead, body stiff and numb. She could barely feel her legs, twitching her toes several times to see if she were truly paralyzed. The movement was slow, but she could tell her dragon side had put all that she had into repairing her spinal cord, not even halfway through healing because she had no more magic.

'You alright little me? I can't finish healing, where's the necklace?'

'Back home... Gods above, why am i so stupid? I thought that i could beat Black Steel, but now I'm here, all alone, because i wasn't thinking. Gods, I deserve all of this!'

'Shut up you stupid girl!' Lucy flinched at the harshness of her dragon side's voice.' Yes, you were being daft, but what can you do about it now? Lie down and bear your belly like a coward? No, we will get out of this. Natsu may be angry with us, he may even hate us for doing that, but we cannot change that. All we can do is get out of here alive.'

'...yea.'

"It looks like the queen is awake." A sickly voice spoke, the creak of a rusty door loud in the quiet cell. She turned to look over her shoulder at her 'visiter', and shivered at his appearance. Dark purple hair, an odd looking moustache, high arching eyebrows and dark purple lips paired with an odd costume made him stand out. He looked like he was about to go trick-or-treating." Miss Via-Lactea, it's a pleasure to make your acquaintance, I'm sorry that Gajeel had treated you so roughly. Your spinal cord is broken. The client does not want damaged goods, and he tells me that if you eat your element, you can recuperate. How would we acquire it, I would not like to miss out on the large bounty for you."

Lucy chuckled and rolled over so she wouldn't have to look over her shoulder.

"Doesn't matter if i told you, you can't get it and I'm too weak." He glared down at her but said nothing, just spinning on his heel to walk out.

"If you think you'll get out of here with your freedom, you're sorely mistaken. If you try to escape, i will kill off your guild."

"No you won't, you're too weak, Makarov could wipe you off the face of the planet, and no one's more determined than my teammates."

"You mean that fire drake, right? He'd kill himself to save you, no doubts. A source of mine says that you two are inseparable, she also wants you dead." A wave of dread washed over Lucy. Only one person wanted that.

'If she's here, we need to get out. They may want to sell us, but she wants to kill us.'

'Agreed, but how do we do that?'

'Get past him. There's scraps of magic, not enough for me to finish healing, but enough to blind him for abit.' Lucy smirked to herself, opening her mouth.

"You're just some old fool. There's no way you can get me to Heartfilia, I'd escape before you got me out of this tower." He spun again and stomped over, crouching so she could get a good look at his red face. So close, just another inch and she could blind him.

"Snivelling brat thinks that she's almighty? And how do you know who the client is and where you are?!" Perfect. Her hands flew up in a split second, the scraps of magic glowing on her palms flying into his wide eyes. He reeled back with a shriek, clawing desperately at his eyes as her magic took his sight." I CAN'T SEE! YOU WRETCHED SALAMANDER!"

Lucy and her dragon side snickered, dragging their legs behind them as they moved to the entrance. Looking outside, she realized two things. One, she was stuck in a cobble tower, like she'd guessed. Two, she was nearly a hundred feet in the air. Loosing abit of hope, she looked at the surrounding terrain, a blur of pink against the grays and browns of the rocky floor catching her eye.

"NATSU!" she screamed as loud as she could. He looked up and she smiled. As long as he was there, she was safe. Jose's footsteps were loud behind her, he would find her soon if she didn't get out of there. The pinkette was still looking up.

"Catch me!"

~~~.~~~

Natsu wasn't one for sitting around and planning. So, the second Porlyusica cleared him, he was tracking his missing partner. Her scent was going stale fast, and was mixed with the iron dragon's. If that tin can touched her, he'd burn him to ashes, then he'd make sure everyone knew to not touch his queen. Currently, he was headed in Oaktown's location, which is were Phantom Lord situated itself, against the town's wishes though. He avoided walking through its bustling streets, sticking to the bordering forest. No guild that did illegal magic would be in a crowded city. It didn't take long for the forest to turn to rocky land, small sprouts of weeds the only life you could see.

Two giant towers stood a few hundred metres away, the crest of Phantom painted across them. The closest one had what looked like a door leading inside, but he couldn't be sure with how far up it was.

"I CAN'T SEE! YOU WRETCHED SALAMANDER!" He froze for a second, then broke out into a run. He was a few dozen feet from the base of the towers when he saw a flash of gold.

"NATSU!" His partner's scream had him pause, eyes focusing on her. She looked behind her, then back at him." Catch me!" Natsu didn't even get a chance to respond before she was falling. This seemed so similar to something in his past, and he couldn't let it happen again.

~~~.~~~

They were only twelve and thirteen at the time. Lucy, Natsu, Gray, Erza, and Lisanna had all gone on a mission to the Ash Canyons to eliminate a dark guild. They'd all separated to cage in their targets, then the fight started. Natsu lost track of her, nearly having a panic attack when they were nearing the end of the fight. He had finished off the last member with a terrifying breath attack, then broke into a sprint, desperately calling for his missing friend. Everyone was searching for her by then.

A loud cackling laughter had drawn them out of the destroyed guild hall, and they were greeted by the sight of the guild's master kicking Lucy like she were a soccer ball. He looked like he'd gone through a shredder several times, but she looked worse. Natsu would never forget the words he hissed at her as he moved to send her body into the canyon.

"You weak little bitch. You call yourself a dragon slayer?! You're useless and a hindrance to your guild! I'll kill you, then I'll kill all of them!"

They were all too far to save her when he delivered a harsh kick to the stomach, Lucy flying over the side of the canyon and disappearing over the edge. Natsu let out an anguished cry as he scrambled after his friend, a pair of cold arms wrapping around him to hold him back. The sound of fighting behind him was droned out as he struggled to free himself.

"she's gone Natsu..." Gray had mumbled. The pinkette could smell his tears.

"I hope i'm not interrupting anything." A familiar voice had the boys looking up. A man with orangish brown hair was smiling warmly at them, arms cradling a small, bloodied body. Lucy was curled up against the crash mage, shivering profusely.

"Lucy!" The dragon slayer was on his feet and beside his partner in less than seconds, tearing up as he took her from Gildarts, a determined look on his face. He'd be the one to save her next time.

'I love her...'

~~~.~~~

'I can't loose her!'

Lucy trusted him with every part of her. He would never loose that trust as long as he lived. Sure, she had her stereotypical blonde moments, but that was what made her Lucy, the light of Fairytail.

She was halfway down when he jumped, catching her body in an odd version of a bear hug, crushing her to his chest as he turned so that his body cushioned the fall. He hit a cobblestone wall and it went crashing down. The fall didn't hurt all too much, he was used to it with the amount of times Erza had thrown him from the guild after a fight with Gray.

"Lucy?" His voice sounded small to him as the woman in his arms let out a low whiny noise, curling into his body. The scent of salt was becoming heavy in the air, and he didn't even need to wonder where it was coming from. The blonde soon enough broke down, loud sobs coming from her as she cried, Natsu holding her close as she poured her heart out.

"I'm so sorry Natsu... i-i never meant for this t-to happen... i thought you were calling me weak and i wanted to prove you wrong..." he let out a soothing purr, pressing a chaste kiss to her forehead.

"Hey, I'm not mad, just upset that you thought i thought you were weak. Luce, he challenged me, and even if he didn't, you hadn't eaten since we fought Erigor."

"Black Steel challenged you, but for what?" Natsu laughed at her question. It was apparently hard to realize your partner loves you.

"He challenged me for you. He wanted to take you away from me, and i love you too much to let that happen." She gasped and looked up at him with wide eyes, and he could see the gears turning in her head." Lets make this simple. I, Natsu Dragneel, son of Fire Dragon King Igneel, love you, promise to cherish you, and promise to always protect your body, mind, and soul, Lucy Via-Lactea, daughter of Galaxy Dragon King Draco." The low, gravelly timbre of his voice had caught her attention, as well as his confession. The blonde gave him a watery smile, thin but lean arms wrapping around his neck.

"And i, Lucy Via-Lactea, daughter of Galaxy Dragon King Draco, love you, promise to cherish you, and promise to always protect your body, mind, and soul, Natsu Dragneel, son of Fire Dragon King Igneel." The pinkette smiled back at her and sat up.

"Be my mate?"

(A/N: And I've done it! He's popped the big question, after 25 chapters! We'll get more into Phantom next chappie, and maybe we'll even see a little bit of Lisanna, if i feel like being nice! Next chapter will be in Erza's pov! Now, onto the reviews!:

RedFantasies: Looks like you'll have to wait another few chapters, Nastu vs Gajeel will be in the 27th chapter!

FairyLover01: Lucy will get her legs back in working condition, if she gets enough magic in her system

Moon Stone Tiger Lily: totally agree with you, but like Natsu thought earlier, she has her 'blonde moments'

17: stubborn dragons do stupid things sometimes. Gajeel almost never is interested in guild affairs

Flamey Owl: Damn right i will! ~Natsu

Quite-a-riot: has been having a few issues lately, I'm glad you still got the chapter. I have to say, I'm liking the way I've written it too, but it could be so much better, atleast that's what my friend says...

Alright, thats all! Don't forget to vote at my poll!

Okay? Okay.

Bye)