Alright, I'm calling it. This chapter hasn't been beta'd, but I'll come back and fix stuff later!

This chapter is dedicated to Sherlollylover17 (who reviews religiously, to my everlasting joy), and got accepted into college and enrolled in classes last week! I love talking with you guys when you review and hearing about your lives. It's always a joy to hear that reading my little ol' story gets to be the icing on cake-news like that! Congratulations again Sherlollylover17!

Natsu left the drugstore and turned towards Fairy Tail, stopping in his tracks as he noticed Lucy heading the same direction up ahead of him. He swallowed the urge to call out to her and lagged behind a few more steps, putting distance between them, but still monitoring her path. As shitty as he still felt, he didn't feel like he could pass up this opportunity.

She was probably headed home, and he might not get another chance for a while to find out where she lived. She already knew everything about him...so it was only fair! How was he supposed to return the favor of the nice little things she did for him if he didn't know where to send her flowers, or Chinese takeout (an infinitely better gift, in his opinion). At least that was what he was telling himself.

Which was how Natsu ended up justifying stalking Lucy all the way to Fairy Hills apartments.

But halfway there, he noticed something. Or rather, someone.

And that someone was also not so discreetly following Lucy.

At first, he thought it was just a coincidence, that the long blonde-haired wanna-be Fabio kept apace down the same sidewalk in between him and Lucy. He had actually been relieved for a block or two to have someone to make his stalking a little less obvious. But then the man had turned with Lucy. And then turned again, his ponytail waving behind him. So Natsu went into ninja mode, following the follower as he blatantly paced behind Lucy. He hid behind trees and parked cars, staying just close enough to see both him and Lucy and where they were going.

He behavior was suspicious, but it could all still be a coincidence. The guy wasn't even trying to hide the fact he was there. Maybe he lived in the same apartment building or something.

But they had all gotten to Fairy Hills (holy shit, he wondered if she knew Erza!), and only Lucy had entered. Leaning casually against the building next door, Natsu observed the blonde dude assume a similar pose and pull out a cell phone. He wished he had some kind of superhuman hearing for a second, trying to figure out from the shape of the guy's lips what he was saying. But he had always been shit at lip reading. He huffed in frustration and looked away, keeping the man in his peripheral vision as he settled in to wait.

Because no matter how awful he felt, he wasn't going to leave Lucy alone with that guy around. She could come back out at any moment. He pulled his lighter from his pocket and started playing with it, dropping his purchase on the ground beside him.

Everything about that guy had Natsu's hackles rising. He resisted the urge to confront him. His usual way of handling shit probably wouldn't help all that much, and the dull ache in his abdomen was returning. The last thing he needed was for all the pain in his poor balls to return the minute he threw the first punch. He resisted the urge to cup himself as he rememberd it and looked longingly at the heating pad for a moment.

Plus, if he got into a fight, Lucy would get suspicious. He ran a hand through his hair in frustration. But the apprehension he felt kept telling him that something was definitely not right with the situation.

Who the fuck was following Lucy?

And why?

He couldn't stand here leaning on a building forever. The guy would eventually notice him. He dug around in his pocket again, grabbing his phone. Just as he went to text Lucy, heat blanketed over him and he sighed in relief. Thank the gods for Lucy and her magical heating pad.

He typed in his message with apprehension. She hadn't wanted to talk to him...but this was important right? Wavering for only a second more, he hit send.

Levy gasped for breath as she burst through the front door of Black Steel, luckily entering an empty front room. Hopefully Gajeel hadn't had to take care of too many customers in her absence.

A minute later, Gajeel peeked his head out of the doorway, setting the curtain of steel ball bearings swinging.

"Everything alright, Shrimp?" he questioned, eyebrows dropping in concern. "You don't do late. Unless you're researching something."

"I'm...so...sorry...Gajeel!" she huffed out as she dropped her book-laden bag behind the counter and stood panting with her hands on her knees. When she was finally able to breathe again she stood up and explained, "I was with Ultear, learning about the flashbacks. I made a lot of progress, but I lost track of time. I didn't think I'd be there for more than three hours!" She gave him a little guilty smile, but he waved away her late arrival, his focus on something else she said.

"Levy, I told you I didn't like you meddling in this stuff too deep. That's what got us into this whole thing to begin with! We don't need to know anything about my past life, or whatever. That's over and done with. Whatever bastard I was then, isn't who I am now, so there's no reason to put yourself through more shit for my shitty soul." Levy wasn't sure who he was trying to convince more: her or himself.

"Gajeel, we're going to keep having these flashbacks, whether we want them or not! Me, you, Lucy, N-her soulmate. Wouldn't it be better if one of us could control them? Then at least we would know the full story, and stop jumping to conclusions!" Gajeel stepped closer and glared down at her, thankfully not noticing her near slip up. Lucy didn't want him to know that his good friend was her soulmate. Levy thought it was just another way to avoid accepting her fate, but that was Lucy's business. She didn't have the right to spill that to Gajeel.

"I wasn't the one jumping to conclusions! I killed Lucy in that life.. She was right fucking there, and I shot her. Like she meant fucking nothing. There was no mystery to it. I know what I did it, and I know the fucking stupid reason that I did it. How will knowing what happened next make any difference?" Gajeel's words ignited fury in Levy.

"Because your soul is in danger Gajeel! That has to be what the black in my aura is showing! Ultear said it was doing all kinds of weird things today, but it isn't gone! It's still there, popping out all over the place when I least expect it! And I want to know why! You were suspected of multiple homicides Gajeel! I want to know the truth!" she screeched, lifting herself onto her tiptoes as he glowered over her. It made very little difference.

"WHY?! It won't change anything. What if I did those things? Killed those people? What then? Isn't it better not to know? To have the chance that I wasn't a complete monster, instead of just the heartless bastard I know I was? Dammit Levy. What if you find out and can't stand to look at me? WHAT THEN?" Levy shrank away from her boyfriend as he got louder and louder, ending his tirade with a fist punched into the stainless steel countertop. For the first time, she thought he may have chosen that particular material for more than aesthetic value. The whole counter shook with the force behind his blow. But she didn't back down from her position. More knowledge was always better. Always. She tried adopting a less belligerent tone.

"Gajeel...I can't just let this go. It's important. We still don't know why this is happening to us in the first place. What if seeing our past lives is vital for some reason? What if it's like that movie we saw last week, and this is all happening to warn us that there is something coming? Like the meteor in the movie? And we just let it happen, because none of us bothered to investigate what was happening! I don't care what we find out. Because I'm with you. The now you, not the then you, and you aren't responsible for what then you did. But if your soul really is tainted somehow, and there's a way to redeem it, I want to know that too. We're destined to find each other time and time again. That much is clear. I've saw moments from almost every period in history you can imagine this afternoon, and every time we show up, we're together, with the exception of our last life, which I can't seem to see again! If this darkness means something for our future lives, because of what happened in that past, then I want to know what it is!"

Gajeel opened his mouth to respond, but the guitar riff signalled the door opening, and he clenched his jaw shut again instead. Levy knew their conversation wasn't over, but she turned to the man who had entered the shop and smiled brightly. Gajeel followed suit. They had a lot more to discuss later, but right then, they both knew they had work to do. But they both knew the conversation wasn't over.

Gray set down his phone, finishing up his texting conversation with Lucy, and turned back to the massive float he was working on touching up. Half the house was working on the hulking thing at the moment. Which, in Gray's opinion, was a huge mistake. If Jet and Droy fighting over a wet paint brush or Simon trying to punch Mystogan in the face again didn't fuck up the float, then surely Bacchus drunkenly falling off the tower would. There wasn't much even Reedus could do to fix a broken tower. Who had decided it was a good idea to let him up there in the first place?

Thankfully, a Fairy Tail house class of yesteryear had built the base for the float years prior, when they had members who actually knew what they were fucking doing. It was your basic medieval castle with a turret, built on a trailer, stable enough to hold people, and painted in layer upon layer of paint over the years. Though a beautiful flowering vine spiraling up the turret had survived many a repaint. (It was like an unspoken house rule: No one painted over the pretty float flowers.)

Every year they did the same basic thing, changing it up in little ways to keep it fresh, because...honestly, they had backed themselves into a corner with that when they named the frat.

So they dressed up a bunch of members as the Disney princes and even borrowed horses to ride next to the float. You would think that it would be hard to get a group of guys who hated wearing formal wear to force a chosen few into playing cartoon douches for the day, but the competition to be one of the chosen princes was actually fierce.

Which could have had something to do with the fact that each of those 'chosen few' were guaranteed to get laid. Pretty much as many times as they wanted. Say whatever about Disney's productions and their thinly veiled misogyny, chicks fucking ate that shit up. And all of them had secret fantasies about being swept away by their favorite prince.

Prince Eric was a particular favorite. One that Gray had played the last two years running. It paid to have naturally black hair. If Loke didn't already have the corner on playing Prince Adam (AKA The Beast) the ginger would have dyed his hair and tried to kick Gray out of the position since year one. As it was, he was pretty happy with the other favorite of the group. Prince Charming, and Prince Florian (Snow White's guy) switched up every year, but Bacchus had proudly held the role of Mulan's Li Shang for more years than anyone remembered. Sometimes, they sort of forgot that Bacchus was supposed to be a student, he'd been there so long…Gray tried for a minute to remember what he was supposed to be studying...nope. No clue.

Also, since Laxus was back in the house again, he'd be claiming his usual spot as Hercules. Sure, he wasn't technically a prince, but if they had a guy who drew that much attention shirtless...why the fuck not? This was all just a huge advertisement to find them all on Tinder later anyway.

Pretty much every upperclassman in the house, except one, had donned the cape and boots at some point: Natsu Dragneel. There were no pink-haired princes in Disney, and he refused to dye it or wear a wig. (Despite the fact that a small but vocal underground fan club of the pinkette's had sent politely fanatical requests for him every year after his wild freshman days.) Partly because dye combined really oddly with pink hair, always making it not quite the right color, and partly because he'd been trying to get them to include a dragon as part of the float for years, unsuccessfully. If he hadn't accidentally burned down the shed his freshman year showing them the Fire Dragon Roar, it probably would have happened. But when he tried as a sophomore it had been turned down flat. No one wanted to build a new castle.

"Alright boys, how's this?"

Gray looked up to see their new master (she insisted on the change in title from house mother) practicing her wave from the top of the turret. With a female at their disposal this year, they had welcomed Cana with open arms to the float. Plus, dressed as a princess at the top of a tower, maybe they could keep her from wandering off during the parade.

"It's fine Cana, now wanna get your fine ass down here and help us touch up the scuffs maybe?" Gray replied with annoyance in his voice. Cana just smirked down at him.

"No, but don't you want to come up and say hi?" she purred at him. Gray just rolled his eyes, gave her a reluctant smile and got back to work.

"Hey, Gray, where's Natsu? Doesn't he usually help with this part?" Romeo was sponging green paint onto a few stones of the castle to make them look mossy. Gray grinned.

"Flame brain is PMSing. He gets a pass."

The guys just laughed at the insults, assuming it was all a joke. Gray laughed particularly loudly.

Oh, if only they knew the truth.

Lucy settled into her bed again with a satisfied sigh. The pain had been steadily returning as she walked home from the store, and the heating pad on her belly was already soothing away the worst of it. They really needed to make them battery powered and sew them into a hoodie or something.

She should get on that, she could make millions…

Lucy drifted into a hazy half-sleep of blessed oblivion. Maybe if she just fell asleep now, she could sleep it all away and the Bloody Horror of '17 would be over...until next month at least...

She was jerked out of her almost-sleep by her phone alerting her she had a text message. Thinking that it was probably Gray, which she could respond to later, she ignored it and settled back in.

It went off again a few minutes later. Aggravated, Lucy grabbed her phone and swiped it open.

He heartbeats doubled when she saw she had two messages from Natsu. Was he just going to be mean again, though? She also had a message from Levy, that she must have missed. She clicked on that one first.

Hey Lu! I've found out some crazy things about the flashbacks! You free tomorrow to talk?

Lucy quickly jotted off an affirmative and got to the messages she really wanted to read. She flipped over to Natsu and devoured the few words he'd written.

hey Luce. I'm sorry that I said those things. it wasn't fair to you. think you can forgive me? not talking to you totally sucks.

r u there?

As she was reading the second one, a third one popped up.

ok I get it. I'll stop bugging you. I hope you feel better soon. for both our sakes. Lucy quickly scrambled to reply.

I'm here! Sorry, I was falling asleep. She paused mid-message, trying to figure out what to say from there. Eventually, she just gave up and sent the message.

oh, well, hi there... r u feeling any better?

Natsu cringed to himself. Gods that was dumb. Like she didn't know that he could tell how she was feeling already.

Yeah, the heat helps. Thank you for the apology, btw. I really appreciate it. Trust me, if I could help it, I would not be inflicting this on you. I shouldn't have called you an asshole. He had deserved it, but she had been raised better than that. Ladies did not call people names.

naw, I was totally being an asshole.

Lucy smiled a little. It felt better that he at least admitted it. It made her generous.

Me too. Lol

Natsu responded with an appropriate emoji and ruminated on how to ask her what he really wanted to know. He glanced up again at the blonde dude standing in front of her building. He was doing something on his phone too, but otherwise hadn't moved.

hey Luce? do you know a guy with long blonde hair, in good shape, sorta creepy? I think I overheard him asking someone about you… Natsu internally patted himself on the back for finding a way to bring him up without giving away the fact he had seen and followed her. This ninja thing really wasn't that hard. Nin-nin asshole.

Huh, weird. It sounds like the guy in all my classes. Total creep. Always staring at me. Did the other person tell him anything? Natsu's blood ran cold for a second. He was in all of her classes? What the hell! Who was this guy?

naw, they didn't say anything. but he sounded like the creepy stalker type that would follow you home or something, so I thought I'd let you know... Natsu cringed at his lie. Like he was any better at the moment.

Well, that's not creepy or anything...yuck. thanks for the heads up though, I'll keep an eye out. Lucy shivered despite the heat spreading steadily through her. Curious, she rolled out of bed, careful not to trip over the extension cord attached to her sanity's salvation and sidled up to the window to look out.

All she could see were the tops of trees, completely obscuring her view of the ground below. But for reason she had this terrible feeling like she was being watched. Feeling a tingle of fear crawl up her spine, she leapt back into bed and curled up under the blankets, making herself as small as possible. The adrenaline of her sudden unexplained panic spiked her heart rate into overtime. Natsu's response was immediate. Her phone rang loudly, breaking up her cycle of panic slightly. She grabbed at the phone, almost dropping it before getting it under the blankets now pulled over her head.

"Hello?" she whispered.

"Lucy, what's wrong? Why are you freaking out?!" he said immediately, his voice hushed a bit as he fervently questioned her.

"I'm fine. Really, Natsu. I'm just being silly," Lucy replied, feeling the irrational panic dissipate a bit as she admitted it to herself.

"Well, something set you off. Your heart feels like you're racing Erza to a Heart Kreuz sale."

Lucy laughed a bit at that.

"And I'd probably be losing, if the rumors about her are true. No, Natsu, it's really fine. Just a stupid irrational thing….like when you're going up stairs alone in the dark and you suddenly feel like it will swallow you up if you don't run for all you're worth? That. I just got the creepiest feeling like someone was watching me."

"I hate that feeling. Used to happen to me all the time when Igneel was on tour," Natsu said wearily, his lack of sleep finally getting to him. He glared tiredly at the blonde man, sure that he was responsible for Lucy's sudden panic. "Hey, Luce, you going anywhere else tonight? Or are you home for the night?"

"Definitely home. If I ever have to move again it will be too soon."

Natsu chuckled wryly with her. Gods did he understand that sentiment now. That morning, he was pretty sure he would just be living on their couch for the rest of his life. He scrubbed the back of his head with his hand roughly, trying to shake off the memory of his aching balls. That shit was no fucking joke.

Picking up his heating pad box, he started to move away from Fairy Hills. If Lucy was staying in, she'd be ok tonight. Plus, if the guy had been in all her classes, then this wasn't anything new. It could wait another day. Until Natsu could get some decent sleep and think over what the fuck it all meant. He started off away from the apartment complex, with a last piercing look at the mysterious stalker dude.

"Good." His heartfelt response resonated with Lucy somehow, blanketing her in calm. Like now she felt like she was safe. "Do me a favor and be careful, ok? If the creepy stalker gets to spend time with you before I do, I will be fucking pissed." He finished the sentence with a grin, but the edge of possessiveness below his words sent a thrill through Lucy.

Why was that suddenly a turn-on?! She was all about not being possessed by men, right?

Fucking hormones, Lucy thought.

"Ok Natsu. I'll stay in my nice warm bed and hermitted away from the world for the night. Fine by me. You should join me," she sighed, not really paying attention to what she was saying as she consciously worked to relax her rigid muscles little by little so she could actually get to sleep.

"Really?! Say the word and I am there! What's your-" Thankfully Lucy cut him off before he could ask for her apartment number. Fuck. It would have been a bit hard to explain how he already knew she lived at Fairy Hills.

"HEY! That's not what I meant! Go home and cuddle up in your own bed! YOUR bed! That's all I meant. Geez, you never quit do you?"

In a full warm baritone, Natsu laughed at her sudden ire, getting used to the shifting mood swings of the day. By the end of the week he'd have this whole period thing down pat. It was getting to the point where he could almost sense when she was about to flip emotions again.

"I was kidding Luce. I know, I know. You want to wait. I get it." He paused for a second, before continuing on a little softer and warmer, the weariness of his tone melting away a little as he paused to hold the phone a little closer to his mouth. "But I am totally serious. The minute you're ready, I'm there." He felt her lips curve into a smile. Which triggered one of his own.

"Fair enough," she replied lightly and a little breathlessly, desperately trying to inject some levity into the oddly heated moment before her heart, racing for a whole new reason, gave her away. "I'll keep you updated, you perv." He laughed at her again.

"You better. I call first perving rights as of this moment! No one shall perv-out on Lucy before I do!" he declared to the sky, gaining odd looks from a couple walking down the sidewalk on the other side of the street. He just grinned and waved at them. Totally worth it for Lucy's reaction.

"THAT WASN'T WHAT I MEANT! Aaaaahhhh! You are so frustrating. It's like trying to reason with a child. You're just a big kid aren't you?!"

"In that I bring joy and humor into your life? Why yes, that does describe me pretty well doesn't it? Although I can think of a few parts of me that are definitely not child-sized." Natsu bit his lip after that one. He really should stop. She was still simmering on the edge of their fight from before. And he only knew some of the buttons not to push so far. But listening to her growl at him in frustration was almost worth it. It was so fucking cute.

"Gggggggrrrrrrrr, Natsu! What the hell?! That was not a compliment! And that is not an appropriate thing to say to a lady!" Lucy cringed as she realized she sounded just like Miss Aquarius. Great, now she was saying them out loud again.

Lucy's voice was angry as she screeched at him, but her pounding heart couldn't lie, Natsu decided. He was definitely getting to her. In a good way.

"Not appropriate for who to say to a lady? But I'm just a big kid, remember? Kids get away with saying all kinds of inappropriate things! Maybe we should schedule a playdate?" He cut off her sputtering protests. "Long distance obviously, since you're still insisting on keeping this glorified restraining order on me. Or maybe it's more of a leash. That's it! I'm not a kid, I'm just a big 'ol puppy in disguise! Won't you pet me, Lady Lucy?" Natsu almost slapped a hand over his mouth. What the fuck did he just say? It was like he had no control over himself anymore. With an internal groan he turned the corner to round on Fairy Tail and tried not to die of mortification. Maybe he didn't have this whole hormones thing figured out so well. It was like his mouth had a mind of its own, and it completely bypassed his own.

But he was instantly distracted by a hot flush crawling up her cheeks and across her chest. And he felt her getting slightly...aroused. He quirked an eyebrow. He knew that feeling well from her. They did shower together everyday...hehe. Maybe silly innuendos were weirdly her thing. Or calling her Lady Lucy. Maybe it was the combo. He contemplated this new bit of information as she sputtered and tried to form a sentence.

"Well, I….just...never in my life…I just...um...GODSDAMMIT Natsu! You can't say things like that…"

He grinned at her flustered response.

"Like what? Like...Can I stoke your fire with my red hot poker, Lady Lucy? Or won't you prep my rocket for take off, Lady Lucy?" Natsu busted out the silliest innuendos he could think of, gleeful at her body's obvious response. "Well isn't that an interesting little tidbit, Lady Lucy. You are a bit of a freak aren't ya?" he finished, his voice dropping lower as he teased her.

Lucy was simultaneously mortified and weirdly excited. What the hell? She didn't know if it was what he was saying, or the way his voice got sultry as he teased her, but it was majorly turning her on. Was that even normal?! Maybe it wasn't! Maybe that was why he called her a freak! Hesitantly, she tried to answer.

"Gods...I don't know...maybe I am?" she said softly, almost timidly. Was she really some kind of freak? She wouldn't have thought that Natsu would judge her. About anything. Especially given his weird vendetta with his hair, but she supposed if she really was a weirdo sexually maybe he couldn't help it. Maybe she was doomed to scare off any potential partners, even her soulmate! Lucy steadily spiraled as her hormones fueled the fire.

Natsu listened to the change in her tone, confused. One minute they were heating things up ina direction he could get behind, and the next she was shrinking away. His gaze dropped to the sidewalk disappearing under his feet as he focused all of his attention on her. She was still flushed, but she had stopped rubbing her thighs together and seemed to be trembling.

"Lucy? What's wrong? I was only teasing. Everybody's got their kinks right?"

"They do?" Lucy questioned having a huge moment of self-doubt. It wasn't exactly something Miss Aquarius or any of her other tutors had taught her. Why hadn't she done more research into this when they started doing...whatever it was they were doing? Fooling around? Why did she care this much?! Suddenly she felt like crying. What if he really thought she was a freak?! What was normal for a person sexually?! Why hadn't she thought of this before?! She scrambled to get to her computer to look it up, but abandoned the idea when she got to the end of her extension cord.

Fuck it. Nothing was worth leaving the heat behind.

"Of course they do. Shit, LUCY! No crying remember? Did you actually think I was making fun of you? Gods, why would I do that to you?" For a second, Natsu was angry, the irrational wave of emotion rearing up in him. Wait, what the fuck was he mad about? That she doubted him? This whole too many emotions thing was driving him nuts! "Luce, I'm trying to tell you I think it's hot, dammit!"

"Wait...really?" Lucy felt the tears prickling at the back of her eyes subside a bit.

"Fuck yes. I am a guy, last time I checked," he said like that explained everything.

"What's that got to do with it?" Lucy automatically responded. Natsu wasn't sure what to say to that.

"Geez, how sheltered were you growing up? One of these days, you've got to tell me your story. You owe me some deep dark secrets. But yeah...just watching a girl get turned on will pretty much do it for most guys. If we're causing it? Shit, that's even harder to resist...and there are a lot weirder kinks than a little submissive talk. Trust me." He cringed a bit remembering some of the truly weird things he'd done with girls. He'd been totally into whatever at the time, because, duh, horny girl in his bed, but there were some experiences that did not hold up after the fact. Like the one girl with the… He was jerked out of his thoughts by Lucy's next question though.

"So, um, what are your kinks then?" Fuck. Now she was biting her lip too. He practically groaned. She didn't even realize she was fulfilling one of his now. He had a real thing for biting. And the whole feeling her body through his body just made everything more...sensitive. This was not a good conversation to have while trying to walk down a public sidewalk. Thank the gods he was almost home. He lifted his slightly blurry dilated eyes to look instinctually for Fairy Tail and froze.

There were billows of smoke rising from where his fraternity house would be.

"Shit, Lucy? I've got to go. I'm pretty sure my house is on fire!"

"WHAT?!"

Natsu didn't hear what else she had to say, pulling the phone from his ear and running the rest of the way. How had he not noticed the smell of smoke heavy on the air?

He skidded to a stop, breathing hard at the end of their driveway, joining the crowd of his frat brothers watching the conflagration in front of them.

"What...the fuck...did you guys...DO?!" he gasped, staring at the column of flames shooting into the sky. As one, without taking their eyes off the towering inferno, the members of Fairy Tail pointed at Romeo Conbolt, whose face had turned the unappetizing color of dirty snow. "Romeo? You did this?"

Romeo turned numbly at Natsu's words and nodded, swiftly returning his gaze to the blaze.

"In retrospect," came a voice from behind Natsu, "we probably shouldn't have used oil paint all those years...and left the paint cans in the tower. This shit was just waiting to happen." Gray stepped up next to Natsu and went to tuck his hands in his pockets...remembering at the last minute that he wasn't wearing anything with pockets. He had stripped out of his jeans and shirt early on. It was too damn hot for that shit. Noticing this, but unfazed at this point, Natsu just turned back to watch the beautiful fire consuming the castle of Fairy Tail, the pretty flowery vine taken over my blackened ash and soot.

"Stripper."

"PMS Victim."

"...touche."

At least they hadn't put the flags back on yet. He could see the colorful embroidered fabric, a gift from an alum some years ago, stacked far away from the flames. Well, that was something. Poor Romeo. He clearly felt terrible. It was probably worse for him because his father had helped build the thing all those years ago.

But really, in the end, it wasn't that big a deal. It wasn't like they all hadn't done shit just as bad at one time or another. No need to be gloomy.

"Hey, Romeo, ya know what we need?" Natsu barked out. But he didn't get a chance to finish, because Cana beat him to the punch. Running out of the house with the necessary supplies.

"S'mores for all!" she yelled out, laying the spread of ingredients on the hood of someone's car. "And hotdogs for dinner! Come on boys, it isn't everyday we get to celebrate Romeo's first act of arson! Bacchus, the booze, if you please!" And just like that they were having a party. Natsu couldn't help but observe to himself that she fit right in. Cana was clearly a Fairy Tail member at heart, already taking care of her boys. Granted, it would have been better if she could have prevented the fire, but that was probably too much to hope for. New house mother or not, they were still Fairy Tail.

The random neighbors who, having gotten used to Fairy Tail's antics, had come out to see what was going on now, grabbed a stick from Droy, who was whittling down branches off a tree, and started roasting. It only took moments before Romeo had been forced to down several shots and was finally looking a normal color.

Gray and Natsu just kept their places, enjoying the heat on their faces and the cool fall breeze at their backs.

"Welcome home." Gray deadpanned.

"Yeah, thanks." Natsu replied in kind.

"How's Lu-" Gray cut himself off as the blaze quieted it's crackling just enough for him to hear something coming from Natsu's phone, forgotten in his hand. Upon closer examination, they could hear yelling coming from it. Natsu hesitantly put his ear closer to the phone, a good foot away still when he could hear Lucy clearly. Gray grabbed his phone and put it on speaker phone. Suddenly her voice was amplified ten fold.

"-mind me, I'm just sitting here freaking out and worrying if you're dying in a house fire! Don't you worry about it at all! Don't bother to let me know you're ok, or even hang up the phone! With maybe a proper goodbye! Why I like you is beyond me! You're probably burning shit in the fire already! Why I'm attracted to you is beyond me!"

Natsu grinned at Gray, who raised his eyebrows back. Several of the guys waiting to get marshmallows and hot dogs wandered over to see what the ruckus was. Lucy just continued to rant, unknowing of the audience she had gained.

"I mean, there are the muscles and the hair, and the funny things you do, and the sexy body art, but, come on, that doesn't really make up for half the crazy shit you do!"

She was winding down from a yell now, returning to more of a conversational voice. Natsu wondered if she even realized she had reverted to thinking out loud.

"But then, of course there is that amazing thing you do with your fingers which makes up for a hell of a lot…"

A wolf whistle went up at that, gathering more men around the cell phone as the whistler was shushed. Loudly. Yet still Lucy carried on, oblivious to who was listening.

"Gods, I can't imagine what it would be like to actually have sex with you. According to half the junior class it would apparently be mind blowing, so there is that...but that's a-whole-nother thing! How much of a manwhore can a guy be? You've slept with so many-"

A whiff of smoke floated in their direction as she continued to complain about his previous manslut ways, causing Natsu, who had stolen the phone back finally, to cough loudly. Lucy's rant halted in its proverbial tracks. As she felt the cough she heard. Cautiously, she said in a normal tone of voice,

"Natsu? Are you there?"

Natsu leaned forward with a wink and a finger over his lips to the watching men before replying.

"Yep. I've been here a while actually." He could almost hear her swallow through the phone as he tried desperately not to laugh. He would feel bad for her, but honestly, she had gotten herself into this one. And he was having trouble stopping his grin. At least he knew she still liked him as much as he did her. The hair being a pro instead of a con was a surprise though.

"Oh?" she said faintly. "How much did you, um, hear?"

"Weeeeeeelllll…" The men around him doubled over in contained silent laughter, doing their best to remain quiet so they could hear what Lucy was going to say next.

"Oh gods this is so embarrassing!" Many of the men nodded their heads as they laughed. Yeah, that was almost the definition of embarrassing. And she didn't even know they were listening...yet.

Suddenly Romeo walked up, already tipsy from the liquor Cana had plied him with (but generally in much better mood) and glanced at Natsu's phone where it sat on his hand in front of everyone. He quirked an eyebrow.

"Lucy? Who's that? Hey Natsu, is that the chick that you confessed to at the Moon Drip party?"

Two things happened then.

First, the entire male population standing outside of Fairy Tail simultaneously recalled the video they had watched of Natsu confessing on camera, turning on Natsu and dropping their veil of silence.

And, second, as the guys all called out baiting suggestions, and occasionally advice to her, Lucy finally realized she was on speakerphone.

"Hey Natsu, why don't you show her what all those girls are talking about?"

"Yeah, use those sexy muscles! Ahahahahahahaha!"

"Why don't you ever draw us sexy body art Natsu? Don't you love us as much as you love Lucy?"

"Run for the hills Lucy! I don't even know you, but you're definitely too good for him!"

"I can second that!"

"Yeah Lucy, but I'm available for the dance this weekend just in case! Here's my number!"

Lucy sat stunned on her bed, mortified by the situation she found herself in coming to light as dozens of male voices called out their phone numbers to her. So they had all heard basically everything embarrassing she had said. Awesome. Her cheeks burned as the suggestions got more and more graphic. But, she couldn't help but smile. It was pretty funny if she really stepped back and thought about it. Gods, she would never rant to an empty phone again.

She should have just hung up and called him back. But she was so worried he'd do something stupid, like run into a burning building, that she couldn't bear to hang up. And then he had just ignored her...which had pissed her off. And she tended to rant when she was really angry.

Still, lesson learned. Definitely don't confess feelings of any kind to a phone you think no one is listening to. Noted. Ladies don't make such stupid mistakes! She flinched at Aquarius' voice in her head. Huzzah. The voice that could make her feel smaller than small was becoming a regular companion again. Great.

Finally, she heard the ruckus become dim background noise and Natsu's voice came on clear again.

"So...you like my hair?"

Lucy sat in dumb silence for a moment, before deadpanning.

"Out of everything I said, that's what you come away with?"

"Well yeah. It made it pretty high up on the list of sexy things about me, so I'm curious why it's never come up before," he teased her. A little strand of genuine curiosity floating in the question.

"Well...I like your hair, ok? It's unique. And it looks...soft. And it goes nicely with your skin tone. And it's kinda hot, ALRIGHT? Happy? Now why the fuck did you put me on FUCKING SPEAKERPHONE!?" Natsu held his phone away from his ear again, walking another few feet away from the castle burning party behind him, gathering new participants every minute.

"That actually wasn't me. Gray stole my phone, because he could hear it was you yelling at me through the phone and put it on speaker. And then we heard what you were saying and I...sort of wanted to hear what you had to say. You have to admit, it was of particular interest to me, after all. You're not the most open person about yourself, so it was kind of fun to hear you speaking your mind. And then it kind of snowballed from there," he said with an apologetic shrug.

"Then remind me I owe Gray a kick in the shins next time I see him."

"I will definitely do that," Natsu responded, a sharky grin gracing his lips as he turned to watch the stripper trying to get close enough to the flames to roast his marshmallow without any protection on his skin. He had two raw ones shoved into his cheeks already, so Natsu didn't get why he was even bothering...until a girl next to him took the toasted mallow from him. With her teeth. Yeah, that pretty much explained that. "That bastard could use a good kick somewhere."

"So, uh, I guess this means you aren't dying, or on fire, huh?" she asked somewhat sheepishly.

Natsu laughed at her insinuation. Lucy always blew things out of proportion. Just because he said his house was on fire, didn't mean he was going to die a fiery death that instant. Although...he probably would have run into the house for Happy even if it was burning...and maybe for his keepsake drawer...ok, yeah, she maybe had some valid concerns.

"Nope. I'm fine," he finally answered her.

"Well, I was really worried. The least you could have done was call me back and tell me you were alright! Or at the very least, stay on the phone with me until you knew what was going on!"

Natsu rolled his eyes.

"Oh yeah, sure, next time I'm about to enter a spontaneously dangerous situation, I'll call and let you know what's going on first." He could hear her humpf and sigh as she realized how ridiculous that was, even if she didn't like his sarcastic tone. If he had that kind of time, it wouldn't really be a particularly dangerous situation. Natsu quickly took on a more sedate tone, and continued, "but seriously though, sorry for worrying you. And for the speakerphone thing. I'm really not earning points with you this week already, am I?" He cringed. Yeah, thinking back, it was a miracle she was still talking to him. Especially since she had a womb reminding her that being a woman fucking sucked once a month.

"Well, you'll just have to make up for it with the rest of the week then. You have five more days left of Homecoming week to make it up to me, after all."

Natsu's grin returned.

"Is that a challenge?"

"Maybe…" Lucy's voice took on a coy tone to it that he hadn't heard her use before. It did uncomfortable things to the growing situation in his pants. So he turned away and headed toward the house/ the privacy of his room before returning the favor.

"Then I'll work to fit it all in, Lady Lucy."

"Fuck you Natsu Dragneel." Lucy knew he could feel her core thrumming in response to his shameless innuendo.

"That's the idea Luce, that's the idea."

You guessed it. This chapter begins a series of six, ending on Saturday with the Homecoming game...probably...lol. So many things to watch for...Lucy with a mysterious stalker, FT scrambling to have a new float ready in time, Erza and Mystogan's meeting with Jellal, a dance that has never seen the likes of FT before, some great discoveries for Levy and Lucy, and most of all, Natsu trying to stay on Lucy's good side as they go through everything that hormones and the big bad Crimson Bitch (yep, I'm just making up my own now, deal with it) can throw at them! What's not to love in the Welcome Home arc? It will all come to a head as Operation True Freedom becomes more important than any of them thought probable, so here's hoping they come up with a plan soon! As usual, it will all probably go to hell and end up in a tornado of random encounters and FT shenanigans, but it should at least be as fun to read as it will be to write. Stay-tuned for this exciting, and probably demented six part extravaganza!

For the dazed and confused:

Wanna-be Fabio- for the younguns out there, Fabio is an Italian actor/model known for his long golden locks, which were featured on hundreds (I may be exaggerating a bit...maybe) of romance novel covers of the 80s and 90s. He was also in incredible shape in his prime, so you know, he fits the whole FT average body type! Lol. A young Fabio is sort of what I picture for our mysterious follower...or maybe a younger Ricardo Montalbán in Wrath of Khan, but with Fabio hair. Any guesses on who this creeper could be?

The movie Gajeel and Levy saw, for anyone who is curious- Your Name, a fantastic anime movie in which the two characters switch bodies for a clandestine reason, eventually falling in love. I won't say more than that, just go watch it, it's fanfuckingtastic.