A lovely person by the name of Darkwarrior1010 suggested the plot of "mating season". Hopefully it's good, I've been waiting for this one to be suggested actually. Thanks for all of your reviews, follows and favorites, it makes me quite happy, and I love you all.

I hope you enjoy!

Mating Season?

"Hey, Mira..." Lucy asked the barmaid.

"Yes, Lucy?" Mira passed another mug of beer to some of the guild members and picked up a glass to clean.

"Have you seen Natsu around? He hasn't been at the guild for a couple of days."

"Lucy, are you worried because you L-O-V-E him?" She smiled sweetly, too sweetly.

"It's just weird because there aren't as many fights erupting recently, and they're usually from Natsu getting into his brawls with Gray and dragging everyone else into it. And no, I don't love Natsu."

"I guess so. Natsu is quite rowdy isn't he? But you love him anyways..." She sighed. "Unconditional love, how sweet." She ignored Lucy's last statement.

"Mirajane, I just said that I don't—"

"RUSHIIIII!" Happy cried, running over to Lucy and interrupting her sentence.

"Oh, hey Happy. Have you seen Natsu recently?" She asked.

"Something is wrong with Nachuuuuu..." He sobbed and jumped into her lap.

"What's wrong?" She questioned.

"I don't know! He won't talk to me... Does he hate me for taking all of the fish in the fridge? I'm sorry, Natsu! I didn't mean to take your fish. I was just so hungryyyy!" He whined.

"I doubt that would be why he isn't talking to you. Let's go over to see him then and we'll sort this all out." Lucy stood up and cradled Happy in her arms.

"I wouldn't do that, bunny-girl."

"Huh? Gajeel? Why not?"

"Gihi." A wide grin spread across his face. "It's Mating Season for dragons."

"So?"

"Salamander 's got the traits of a dragon and he's influenced by dragon behaviors. I guess he's finally reached that age." He crossed his arms.

"Is he going to be okay?" Lucy asked, worried.

"He'll be fine. Just give him a week or so to collect himself. Salamander won't hurt 'imself or anythin'."

"But, Gajeel, shouldn't that mean that you will be influenced as well?" Mirajane added.

"I know how to handle myself. 'Sides, I got a mate already."

Lucy's eyes shot open. "You have a mate?" She sat down once again.

"'Course I got a mate." He scoffed.

"Oh, who is it?" Mira questioned.

"That's a personal matter." He looked to the side and blushed slightly.

"My, my." Mira set her palm on her cheek and smiled.

"I guess we'll let it pass on its own. Happy, you can stay with me until this blows over." Lucy said and patted Happy on the head.

"Let's go home, then!" Lucy piped as the sun started to set.

"Aye, sir!" Happy agreed.

"Puun... Puun." Plue added, shaking like he always does. They headed out and Lucy walked on the side on the canal with Happy on her head and Plue next to her and copying her movements.

"Hey, Lucy?" Happy asked after a long period of silence.

"Mhmm?" She hummed, picking out her keys to enter her apartment. She found them and stuck the key in the hole, and twisted furiously as she knew that the lock wasn't in the best of conditions. The door finally allowed her inside and she stepped up the stairs.

"...Do you think Natsu will be okay soon?" Lucy picked Happy off of her head and set him on her bed as she prepped to take a bath.

"That goof will be fine in a few days. Just you wait." She smiled assuringly. She walked into her bathroom and sank into the tub with Plue who deflated almost immediately.

"Puuuuuunnn..."

Happy stayed out of the tub for his disliking of water.

"Ahhh... So calming." Lucy sighed and left only her nose above the water while she blew bubbles.

After her bath, she changed into comfortable pajamas and promptly fell asleep with Happy in her arms and Plue back in the spirit realm.

The sun shined in Lucy's eyes, waking her up. She rubbed her face and sat up. Once she deemed her eyes able to see things, she looked around to find the cause of the sun's unwelcome appearance. Firstly, she noticed some small bug bites on her hand. Then she found that one of her curtains was missing and the window was slightly open, letting a sliver of outside air into her apartment.

"What the—?" She quirked an eyebrow at the strange scene.

"Fiiiiiiiiiiiish~" Happy sighed, drooling on the pillow he was laying on. He swiped his paw a few times and smiled.

Lucy giggled at the blue cat and stood up to change. Once again, she found something strange. Her undergarment's drawer was open, and she remembered closing it the day before. Maybe Erza had snuck in during the middle of the night to snoop. She brushed it off and picked out a pink tank top along with a black skirt and black boots. She topped off her outfit with her red bow and woke Happy up before heading over to the guild.

"Oh, it's such a nice day." She smiled.

"Aye..." Happy mumbled, with a chunk of fish in his mouth.

"Does he have an unlimited supply of fish?" Lucy wondered to herself.

The next morning, Lucy opened her eyes and stretched. She sighed after feeling all of the cramped bones pop and fall back into their normal alignment.

She changed into comfortable clothing but found that her favorite brown boots were gone. She blinked several times and groaned. "People need to ask before borrowing things..."

Lucy woke up to the sound of Happy dreaming about fish. She rolled her eyes.

She walked over to her drawers to change, but realized that over half of her clothes were gone, even the ribbons that she put in her hair were lacking in number. "Where are my clothes going?" She asked, slightly irritated.

She arrived at the guild furiously that day and interrogated each and every one of her guild mates that were present. None had any clue what she was talking about.

"Lucy's scary." Happy noted, chewing on a fish.

A slight breeze woke Lucy up from her beauty rest.

She wasn't in the best of moods. Her belongings had all been slowly disappearing, even her little table had only one of her four chairs left! Today however, her desk had been taken along with her manuscript that she had worked on the night before for several hours and her letters to her parents. She growled. She would not stand for this any longer.

The guild members had never heard so many words of anger come out of her mouth before today.

"This seriously needs to stop. She only has two fish in her fridge now." Happy mumbled.

Lucy blinked, shocked at her position.

Lucy Heartfilia had woken up on the floor of her apartment, without her bed anywhere in sight.

Everything was gone, save for a blanket that she had covering her, a pillow that she slept on, her celestial spirit keys (she hugged them in relief), an outfit (including the shoes), a fish in the fridge, three slices of bread on her kitchen counter, and a single curtain hanging over her window.

"AHHHHHHHHHHHHH!" She screamed, scaring several birds.

-time passes-

She stomped to the guild with rage. "Who the HELL took EVERYTHING from MY APARTMENT and WHY?" She was seething with rage and was breathing heavily.

The guild members sweat-dropped or shook nervously.

Happy floated behind her with the last fish from her fridge. "I think Lucy is angry." He commented.

"Gihi."

"Don't think I didn't hear that Gajeel! Tell me, right now, what you know! Otherwise, you will only have eight fingers." She threatened, running over and throwing her hands onto the table he was sitting at. She wood started to splinter and crack.

"Lu-chan, calm down, I think you're scaring everyone..." Levy mumbled nervously, poking her fingers together.

"Salamander's decided to take a decent route and make a nest. Never thought he'd be the mushy kind 'f dragon." Gajeel started.

"Explain further or one of you eyes might disappear when you're sleeping." Lucy growled.

"Bunny girl's not much of a bunny is she?" Gajeel joked.

"Maybe I'll take some teeth too..."

"There's multiple mating habits of dragons. Typical courting, male wanting the female to take a step, aggressive mating, nesting, and a bunch of others that are too boring to explain, or don't occur often enough. Typical courting consists of the male courting the female as time progresses. Other times, a male may be too shy to claim a female so he'd wait for her to do something to show that she is interested. Aggressive mating usually occurs between dragons who are fight-oriented— like I thought flame brain might be— they fight until they come to some sort of agreement or something. And nesting, which Ash-Brain seems to be doing. Nesting is as it seems, the male makes a nest to present to the female when it's complete. The male typically takes things that the female likes and makes a nest with those items." He explained. All guild members listened closely to the dragon slayer.

Lucy blushed slightly. "So Natsu has been making a giant dragon's nest for the past week?"

"Or modifying his current house, or maybe making a new one... You never know with Fire-Breath." Gajeel added. "He is a strange dude."

"He's building a nest and stealing all of my stuff... And he calls ME weird." Lucy commented, leaning back and crossing her arms.

"This needs to stop, everything is gone from my apartment. I wouldn't be surprised if the pillow and blanket that I woke up with were gone by the time I got home. The food is probably all gone too." Lucy dug her fingers into her hair.

"Lucy. You may sleep in my room at Fairy Hills tonight and see Natsu in the morning to sort things out if you wish. Though, I'd prefer if you brought a cake with you." Erza suggested.

"Erza, you saved me! And I'll have two cakes for you, because of how sweet you are." Lucy sighed in relief. Erza blushed at the comment about her 'sweetness'.

"Happy, let's go get some cakes for Erza and a fish for you at the market." Lucy said, patting the exceed's head.

"Aye, sir!" Happy responded with glee as they headed out.

"My, my... It seems my ship will be canon soon." Mira noted with a smile.

"Mira, what the heck are you talking about? What do those terms even mean?" Gray questioned, unconsciously stripping his shirt.

"You'll understand one day." She replied. She looked up and to her right where her dreams resided and played out.

"A canon is what you put onto a ship, so how can a ship be canon?" Gray inquired further, disrupting Mirajane's daydream.

"Just go with it..." Mira said as she waved her hand back and forth.

Gray backed away, suspicious of Mira's ideas.

-time passes-

"Thank Mavis that I have Virgo and that she can bring me clothes from the spirit realm." Lucy said as Virgo had just given her a set of pajamas.

"You're welcome~" Mavis' ghostly voice responded without being heard.

Erza had been unable to supply Lucy with any clothing as Erza re-quipped all of her own clothes.

The two girls and exceed had fallen asleep rather quickly because Erza insisted that she keep her sleeping schedule intact.

"Alrighty, Happy. I guess we should go now." Lucy said after she changed into her clothes— provided by Virgo— for the day.

"Aye." Was the response she received.

They left Erza's room— more like rooms— in Fairy Hills and headed towards Happy's home, shared with Natsu.

-time passes-

Happy knocked on the door. "Nachuuuu. Can I come in? I brought Rushiiiiii with me. Are you okay now?" Happy asked, worried for his older-brother-father-figure-person.

A few bumps were heard around the house before Natsu finally opened the door. He looked as he normally did, however, he was lacking a shirt. Lucy looked away. "Oh, hey Happy. I was wondering where you've been for the past couple of days." He said casually.

"I was at Lucy's apartment and I had a lot of fun. She had so much fish in her fridge! My favorite kind too!" Happy said. "We also had a sleepover at Erza's room at Fairy Hills and we ate cake. It wasn't fish-flavored, but it was still really yummy. I never thought that I would be allowed in Fairy Hills since I'm not a girl, but Erza gave me a special exception! Erza is really nice sometimes." Happy rambled. "I think my favorite part about the past week was Lucy's face when she woke up. She was always so mad because her stuff kept going missing." Happy giggled. "She was so angry, and she was really scary, probably as scary as Erza even. It was really funny because she looked like a red fish... Oh, Natsu! Do you have any red fish in the fridge? I really want some right now." Happy walked into the house by weaving between Natsu's legs.

"Yo, Lucy." Natsu greeted as Happy disappeared somewhere in the house.

"Hey, Natsu." Lucy replied.

"What's up?"

"I know this is a bit weird to ask, but... Have you seen my stuff? It's been going missing recently and there's nothing left in my apartment that's mine." She asked innocently.

Natsu sweat-dropped. "That's odd. Why would someone take your stuff?"

"Where'd you put it?" Lucy questioned, crossing her arms. She raised an eyebrow at the dragon slayer.

Natsu froze. He promptly slammed the door and ran.

"Natsu, you idiot! Give me my stuff back!" Lucy smacked the door and finally opened it. She chased Natsu around his house, picking up random items and throwing them at him.

"I don't have it!" He lied, running up the stairs.

"Don't lie!" Lucy followed him, nearly tripping up the stairs.

"No!" Natsu refused, running behind a table. Lucy stood on the opposite side of the table, bending her knees to be ready for Natsu's every move.

"Tell me, Natsu. You're stuck here." She threatened. Natsu moved to his right, and Lucy, to her left. He then moved the other way, Lucy mirroring his movements. He came close to Lucy and she reached out to grab him, leaning over to do so.

"No!" Natsu jumped over the other side of the table and over the railing for the stairs.

"Natsu!" She shouted, smacking the top of the table and running down the stairs after him.

Natsu weaves in and out of rooms in the house.

"Why did you take it in the first place?" Lucy asked loudly.

"No!" Natsu responded, hopping over a pile of mission papers and out of a window.

"That wasn't a 'yes' or 'no' question!" She growled, pulling herself out of the window after dodging piles of random things.

"NO!" He yelled, running through trees.

"Natsu, you're acting like a child!"

"No!"

"You can't run forever, Natsu!"

"Yes I can!"

"No. I have Saggitarius on my side, and if I want him to, he will shoot you down!" She warned.

"No! That's not gonna happen!" Natsu climbed into a tree and onto the very top branch.

"I just want my stuff back!" Lucy looked up into the tree Natsu was in. She stomped furiously. "You know what? I'm just going to get Taurus to chop this tree down!" She pulled out the bull's key.

Natsu's eyes widened. "You can't have it!" He said before he propelled himself into another tree and started running over tree tops back towards his house.

"Natsu!" She squealed, running again.

"No! I won't let you have it!"

"Why not!?"

"Because you can't have it!"

"I asked WHY NOT?!"

"It's not ready yet!"

"What's not ready?!"

"It!"

"What is 'it'?"

"I'm not gonna tell you because it isn't ready!" He jumped off of the tree and into the front door of his house.

Happy was sitting on the kitchen counter with a fish in his mouth when a burst of wind swept by. "Ah, what a nice day to enjoy fish..." Another followed soon after. Happy sighed, content.

"Natsu!" Lucy shouted once more.

"No!" He responded before rushing into a room and slamming the door behind him. The door swung into the inner part of the room. He leaned back against it and sank down to the floor, panting. He quickly locked the door.

Lucy pounded on the door with her fists. "Natsu!" Her shouts were becoming desperate. She kicked the door several times, but it wouldn't budge. She tried the knob, but noticed it was locked. She smacked her palm onto the door, hoping that it would open. Tears started to form from frustration. "Natsu." She yelled, her voice cracking. "Just open the damn door!" She shouted, choking slightly.

"No." Natsu mumbled, still sitting in front of the door, so even if it was unlocked, she couldn't get in.

"Stop saying no!" She punched the door.

"I said it's not ready!" Natsu yelled, breathing heavily.

"What the hell, Natsu?" She howled. She used her body weight to ram into the door, shoulder first. She tried twice more before stopping and sliding down to the floor. Lucy sat on her shins, putting her weight on the door. She slapped the door a few more times before allowing it to come back to her other hand that rested on her thigh. She leaned her head against the door in defeat. Finally, a tear streamed down her face.

"Don't cry, Lucy." Natsu said with guilt.

"You better not be reading my letters or my manuscript." She said quietly. "Levy is going to be the first to read my manuscript, and those letters are personal." Her eyebrows furrowed. "Don't read them."

"I wasn't going to." Natsu admitted.

"Good." She sighed. They stayed silent.

"Two days." Natsu said.

"What?" Lucy questioned.

"It'll be ready in two days. Just, promise me something."

"Promise you what?"

"That you won't be mad at me anymore for taking your stuff. I don't like when you're mad at me." He said quietly.

"It depends. Is what you're doing with my stuff good?"

He smiled hopefully. "I think so."

"Okay. I promise." She sat up, using the door to pull herself up. "Two days exactly. A minute more, and your head will be mounted on a wall over my fireplace."

Natsu sweat-dropped, but sighed in relief. "You won't regret it." He said.

"I better not, you stole all of my stuff." She frowned. "Where am I supposed to go now? Erza expected me to sort this out today, and I'd hate to be a burden." She dragged her fingers through her messy hair. "Maybe I'll ask to stay with Levy-chan."

"That's probably not the best idea." Natsu countered.

"What do you mean?"

"She's got enough company as-is."

"Wh—what?" She asked, shocked.

"Shit! I said too much! Metal-muncher's gonna kill me!" He said worriedly.

"Gajeel? Do you mean that Levy and Gajeel—?" She stood up straight and took in a quick breath. "And she didn't think to tell me? Her best friend?" Anger began to spill into her voice. "Levy! You've got some explaining to do, missy!" She shouted, running out of the dragon slayer's house.

Natsu let out a breath and leaned off of the door as soon as he couldn't hear Lucy's stomps anymore. He unlocked the door and peeked out to make sure no one was around. "Phew." He sat back down and looked at the room around him. He wore a frown. He still had quite a bit of work to do before it was presentable.

"Two days." He said to himself, nodding. He dropped his right fist into his left palm with a determined smile on his face. "I've got this."

DONE!

Story word count: 3,297. Phew, that is the longest chapter I've ever written for a story! Including the author's notes, it's over 3,500! Usually I write from about 700 to 2,200 words, but you know how writing stories goes. ;)

It's supposed to be a kind of cliffhanger, but the rest is for the imagination of the reader. :)

I absolutely loved writing this, so I hope you all like it at least a little bit. My favorite part was when Lucy was chasing Natsu around his house and in the forest. I think this is my favorite chapter that I've written since my beginning on this site, so I hope you all liked it. Otherwise, I'm a failure... *sobs in corner*. (Just kidding, I don't cry. Teddy bears don't cry.)

Please review with your thoughts because they always seem to make me crack a smile. Also, leave suggestions for future chapters, I'd love to see what you want next!

I hope you enjoyed and I shall see you soon!

-BloodyTeddyBear