[Disclaimer: This is a work of fan fiction using characters from the Fairy Tail world, which is trademarked by Hiro Mashima.]

CHAPTER 25

Lucy sighed softly as she kneeled next to Loke. Her eyes traveled over his damaged body. He was bruised and scuffed, with deep cuts embedded in his usually pristine skin. His glasses were long gone, and his usually full orange mane fell limply over his head. Soft sparkles of his power, tiny golden flecks, escaped from the cuts that riddled his body and floated towards the night sky. "That was a really pathetic show, Loke," she scolded him gently when her eyes finally met his gaze. He could only see her through one eye, the other completely swollen shut.

"I'm sorry, love," he endeavored to get the words through his bruised lips. He could only manage a strained whisper. Loke turned his gaze to the stars above them.

Shaking her head, she placed a hand on his chin and turned it slowly to force him to look at her. Lucy ignored the hiss of pain. "That was a rather miserable show of love, my dear lion," she told him. "I don't think you get to call me that right now."

Loke struggled with his breaths. "For- Forgive me." He closed his eyes, waiting for his gate to close. He had been waiting since the middle of the battle.

"You can't close your gate until I'm done with you," she explained, feeling his attempts. Her hands moved over his skin as she leaned over his face. She let her magic course through him, tickling the thin flow of magic that moved through him before it pulled at the magic they shared, ripping away the strength he gathered from her. Lucy sighed as he cried out in pain. "I'm so disappointed in you, Loke. You are one of my strongest spirit, and you couldn't defeat a simple little dragon slayer. How can I trust you to protect me? To fight for me?" Lucy made a show of sighing softly as she leaned forward and kissed his forehead with her old gentleness while her magic stopped its attack, causing Loke to settle with a whimper. "No matter," she continued in her usual gentle tone before he could respond, "I'll forgive your weakness for now. But, you'll need to get stronger."

Loke choked on the build-up of saliva on the back of his throat. "Tha- Thank you. I'm so sorry," he struggled as a single tear escaped his shut eye. It trailed, unnoticed by Lucy, down the side of his face and settled on the curve of his ear.

Lucy gently placed her forehead against his, careful to avoid applying any pressure to avoid causing him pain. "Rest up in the spirit world," she instructed. "Don't appear until you are called. I'll call for you."

He sighed with relief as he felt his body enveloped by the soft golden light of his gate, and the power of the celestial world started seeping into his body to give him strength. With his good eye, he caught sight of Lucy before the blinding light took over his vision, her dark eyes glassed over with unidentifiable emotion.

Shaking her head, Lucy stood and wiped her knees clean of the mud that clung to her skin. She turned and moved to the trail that led to the clearing, catching sight of Natsu kneeling at the edge of their campsite. She moved carefully down the trail with a small smile on her lips. Carefully, she leaned over his shoulder on one side and placed a hand on each of his shoulders as she looked at his face. She frowned when he didn't turn to look at her. "Oh Natsu," she soothed with feigned worry, "you're a mess. Come on, let's clean you up." Her voice was soft, dripping with concern that didn't reach her eyes.

When he didn't move, she bent over his shoulder as she let her hand graze gently over the roughness of his skin to his hand. Lucy couldn't hold back a smile when he heard him gasp as her chest pushed against the side of his head with her movement. She allowed her magic to wrap around them as she straightened and pulled at his hand. Patiently, Lucy waited as he stood and shuffled behind her, allowing her to pull him back towards the pool. Her free hand touched Virgo's key and she called out to her spirit with a soft whisper as they slowly made their way to the pool of water. "Please provide a towel, some bandages, and a change of clothes for Natsu," she directed to the spirit when she appeared. Lucy watched as Virgo disappeared, noting the look of anger the spirit directed at the dragon slayer.

They walked hand-in-hand in silence until they reached the edge of the water. The surrounding undergrowth were burnt and torn from its roots and the mud under their feet was still warm from the heat of the battle. When they reached the large formations near the gentle flow of water, her eyes caught sight of the small pile of items near the edge. With painstaking care, she helped Natsu sit on a large flat rock nearest the waterfall.

He watched as Lucy took a small rag, wet the fabric under the waterfall, and began to wipe his skin clean of his own blood. The splatter of water stuck to her skin and made her clothes cling to her body as fabric got wet. Natsu growled at the sight of her and his hands snapped to grasp at her wrist. His grip bruised her skin, and he shook as he tried to control the hunger that overtook his senses yet again. "You need to go," he intensely told her as he battled himself to maintain control.

Lucy raised a brow and stared down at the hand that kept a hot hold of her. "Don't be stupid, Natsu," she chided, "I've got to tend to your wounds."

"I can do that without you," he hissed angrily at her. Natsu kept his gaze low, purposely avoiding her eyes. The hunger raged against his body, and he felt his skin warm with the thought of her. His eyes caught the sight of water droplets on her ankles, and it forced his gaze to move up the gentle slopes of her legs. Water clung to her smooth legs, and Natsu could only imagine running his fingers up the inside of her leg with his tongue following after his touch. He bit the back of his bottom lip, the taste of blood swirling on his tastebuds as his senses flared with her proximity to his body. "You need to go," he told her. His voice cracked as he fought against his own senses. "I need you to go."

She chuckled softly at his words and her magic flared with delight as it began to chip away at his control. Shaking her head at him, Lucy placed her free hand on Natsu's hand and gently pried his fingers away from her wrist. "Don't be ridiculous, Natsu," she told him as she kneeled before him. Carefully, she placed her hand under his chin and forced him to look into her eyes. Her eyes swirled with a dark twinkle as the corners of her mouth moved up into a well-hidden sinister curl as she felt his magic quiver against her advances. "Let me take care of you, you idiot."

Natsu fell into the spell of her gaze, and the hunger overtook his control as he plunged deep into the sensations that overpowered his senses. He growled as his thoughts lingered on the feel of her touch on his warm skin. The scent of her surrounded him and tickled him as her magic pulsed against his. It wrapped itself around the rapid current of his inner strength, making him feel drunk with the extra surge of her own strength.

"It's okay, Natsu," Lucy soothed as she moved the wet wash cloth up his bare chest and to his neck. "You should just let go." Her hands moved slowly over the open wounds on his chest, her eyes moving over the severity of his wounds. "Loke really did a number on you," she muttered softly, her tone hiding the approval she felt for her spirit's strength despite his failure.

Natsu huffed as he kept his intense gaze focused on her, though he found himself unable to read her eyes as easily as he could in the past. "This is nothing. I easily kicked his ass," he grunted with gruff satisfaction. Silence filled the void between them, and his eyes flickered to the waterfall as she moved the washcloth under the flowing water. He watching as she squeezed the blood from the washcloth, red diluted by cold water. He hissed when she moved the cold damp cloth onto an open wound.

Lucy laughed softly. "That you did," she agreed.

He stared down into her eyes when she stopped her movements to stare up at him. Though he said nothing, the word "mine" repeated in his head to the beat of his heart. His hands moved to the top of her arms as he pulled her closer to his body, forcing her chest to press against his, and he took in a deep breath to fill his lungs with her earthly scent. His eyes floated to her lips, and he licked his own as he leaned forward. How easy it would be to claim them, to suck and to nibble, with his kisses. The hunger gleamed in delight as he neared her face. Natsu smiled when she didn't struggle against his hold. "The jackass deserved it," he muttered, his eyes never leaving her mouth.

"Oh?" Lucy replied in a heated whisper. She licked her lips and smiled as Natsu neared her face.

He bobbed his head in a shallow nod as he nearly brushed against the softness of Lucy's lips. "He tried to take something that is clearly mine," he whispered with a deep growl. His skin chilled as her magic swirled around them. It carried her intoxicating scent. As it filled his lungs, his magic ravaged against the constraints of his control. Natsu could sense the crack in his control expanding, and he couldn't fight against the pull of her.

Lucy laughed coyly but didn't pull away. "I belong to no one," she replied in the same breathy whisper, knowing his keen dragon slayer ears would hear her clearly. She felt her magic gleam with delight as Natsu's fire seeped between the cracks of his control to mingle with her own. It tickled her core, sending waves of warmth that flowed through her veins. The air around them turned hot, evaporating the water that splashed off the rocks around them.

As he neared, the rustling of the trees nearby stopped him. Natsu snapped his head up and his eyes narrowed as as three figured burst into view. "What are you doing here?!" he exclaimed with annoyance and surprise, the hunger roaring in anger at the interruption. He found it difficult to hide the contempt in his voice.

Lucy turned her head. "Erza? Gray?" she called out in surprise. Her eyes settled on the blue exceed that flew between them and they narrowed slightly at the sight of him. "Happy." She fought against the frown that wanted to make its way into her lips. She had thought the exceed was by the campfire, and the voice in her head chided her for her mistake.

The blue feline landed close to Erza's feet. "Natsu!" he cried out with tears on his eyes. "I brought help like you said!"

Lucy briefly caught Natsu's gaze, and she shared her disappointment with him through her eyes. She regarded him carefully. The voice in her head told her that he wasn't quite ready to be claimed as hers, but he was dangerously close to teetering over the edge. If only they hadn't been interrupted – no matter, she would only need to push a little harder to break the wall that protected him. The voice told her to be patient. She wiped the look away from her gaze before returning her attention to the three who were walking towards them. She stood and wiped her knees free of mud. "What are you talking about, Happy?"

Happy ignored her, flying straight to Natsu and landed carefully on his lap as he hugged his friend's abdomen.

Natsu frowned, not bothering to look down at Happy. Instead, he stood abruptly and allowed the exceed to tumble to the ground with a hard thump. He ignored the exceed's soft call of his name. Crossing his arms, he stood close to Lucy as he let his body temperature rise, annoyance bubbling just under the surface of emotions. He stared at Erza and Gray with a flat expression. "What are you doing here?"

Erza's and Gray's eyes met before they turned to the other half of their team. "We were camping nearby after finishing a mission," replied Gray, "Happy came barreling through the forest. He stumbled on our camp and said that you were in trouble. We followed him here." His eyes lingered on Lucy.

"What happened to you, Natsu?" Erza asked, her eyes floating over the wounds that riddled his body.

He shrugged. "Loke and I were having a training skirmish," he lied as his eyes settled on the exceed that had settled on floating near Erza's head. "Happy got scared and thought it was worse than it really was." Natsu's eyes narrowed on Happy.

Happy frowned. "But, it didn't look like training and Natsu told me to go get help and-"

Lucy forced a laugh to interrupt him. "Don't be stupid, cat," she teased him with controlled malice as she turned her attention back to Erza and Gray. "Why would Natsu and Loke fight for real?" She shrugged indifferently and waved to them. "Well, you two should stick around since you're here. We're finishing up the client's request tomorrow before we head back home."

Natsu stared at the three, his eyes black of its usual cheerfulness, before he turned to follow Lucy. He kept close to her, matching her steps as they walked along the pool towards the trail that led to their camp. Grumbling, he steadied his breath. The voice in his head kept him at a deadly calm. Keeping close to Lucy, her magic directed him to ease the fire that heated his skin and wanted to spark his palms into deadly flames.