"Lucy!" Natsu calls out to the blonde, warning her of the danger. He makes it one step before the large moon smashes down hard, mere inches from him. The bottom of the moon is completely crushed and broken, leaving only the top half. Natsu's eyes widen and his mouth hangs open in shock. After a split second, Natsu starts digging through the debris to find where Lucy was crushed. "Lucy?!"

"'I'm going to kill her.' She says in fury." Natsu looks up. Sitting on top of the moon is Horologium. Relief washes over the Natsu as he helps Horologium down. "Times up."

Horologium disappears, leaving only Lucy in his place. Yuna rushes over to Lucy's side, making sure there are absolutely no damages done to her. Natsu watches with concern. "You're okay, right?"

"Not even a scratch. Thanks to Horologium, of course." Lucy replies, sending Natsu a reassuring smile. "All though, I can't say the same for the Moon."

Yuna turns to the prop and sighs. She picks up a piece of the gray prop. "Well then, looks like whoever set this up got what they wanted. We can't perform our play without the moon. And it'll take at least a month to create a new one, which we don't have time for."

"Not necessarily." Lucy says, placing a hand on Yuna's shoulder. "Maybe we can turn the full moon into a half moon. Or even better, a crescent moon!"

"I guess that could work." Yuna says, but her voice is still filled with plenty of disappointment. "I'm gonna have to get the prop committee to come take a look at it. Are you guys okay on your own?"

"Yeah, we'll search around for some evidence." Lucy looks up at where the moon used to hang. "We can start by looking up there and figuring out how the rope was cut. Natsu?"

"The ladder's behind the stage." Yuna says, making her leave. "Good luck."

Lucy and Natsu head to the large stage. As soon as the third party has left, Natsu wraps an arm around Lucy's shoulders, pulling her close. He shuts his eyes and whispers in her ear, "I got really scared there. I thought you were hurt..."

"Thanks for worrying Natsu, but I'm fine. I really am." Lucy replies. The two enter the doors leading to the back of the stage. "Right now we have to focus on the job."

Natsu nods and pulls his arm away. The two find the ladder leaning against the wall. Natsu moves the ladder against one of the ceiling beams. Lucy looks at Natsu, a little worried. Natsu moves out of the way for her. "You first. I'll hold the ladder steady."

Lucy nods and begins climbing the ladder. Natsu stands at the base, holding it as steady as possible for her. Half way up, Lucy stops. Natsu looks up. Lucy shouts, "Stop staring at my ass!"

"What?! You stopped climbing and I was concerned!" Natsu says defensively. "Although, it is kind of distracting-"

"Natsu!" Lucy says sternly. Natsu shakes his head and stares down at his shoes in annoyance. Lucy continues to climb, reaching the top of the beam. Slowly, she moves off the ladder and onto the single person spaced beam. She looks down at Natsu. "Okay! I'm up!"

Natsu climbs up quickly, not pausing for a second. He jumps from the top of the ladder to behind Lucy. The two look down at the stage and out to the crowd area. Lucy gulps. Natsu grins. "Wow! This is really high."

"Let's just hurry up so we can go back down." Lucy says, a little shaken by the height. Lucy takes quick steps towards the center of the beam, Natsu close behind. When they come across the center, Lucy moves so she's on one side of the cut rope and Natsu is on the other. Lucy crouches down and pulls the rope up. "Natsu, it looks like it was ripped, not cut."

Natsu takes the rope from Lucy. "So you're saying the moon itself did this? It was too heavy for this rope? I think you're thinking that this is a coincidence."

"That was confusing. But anyway, I didn't see anyone rip the rope dead in the center of it." Lucy examines the rope once more. "And this rope would need a heck of a lot of strength to rip. Which doesn't add up, because if the rope was so strong then why did it tear on it's own?"

"Well that moon did look pretty heavy. It's not like it was hallow."

A screech sound causes Natsu and Lucy to look towards the ladder. Lucy reaches for her keys. "Is someone coming up?"

"Oh no." Natsu says, standing up. He watches as the ladder slowly pushes away from the beam and plummets onto the stage. Natsu lets out a disappointed sigh. "No one's coming up... And apparently no one's going down."

"You have got to be kidding!" Lucy yells out in frustration. She springs onto her feet. "You placed the ladder at an angle to keep it steady! Someone obviously pushed it!"

Natsu puts a finger up to shush Lucy. His ears were picking up noises. Footsteps. Natsu's head snaps to the backstage exit. "That person is still here."

Without hesitance, Natsu jumps off the beam. Lucy reaches a hand out to catch him but misses. "Natsu! What do you think you're doing?!"

Natsu lands on his back and tumbles a few rolls before jumping up and dashing to the exit. Lucy tries to look in the shadows for the figure. The exit door opens and Lucy can make out the silhouette of a woman. Lucy clenches her fists and grumbles.

The door shuts just before Natsu reaches it. Before exitting, Natsu looks over his shoulder. "Are you okay here for a while? I'll be right back."

"No, don't worry about me. I'll just continue to hang here." Lucy says sarcastically. "Natsu I saw the silhouette, it's a woman! So if you're going to search for anyone, search for Jasmine!"

Natsu nods and exits in a hurry, leaving Lucy in the silent auditorium. Natsu looks to both sides before hearing a door slam on the left. Following the noise, Natsu runs to the prop room. His eyes land on the purple haired woman. With a low growl, he immediately approaches her. "What's your excuse this time, Jasmine?"

"Excuse me?" Jasmine asks, crinkling her eyebrows at Natsu. She lets out a huff. "Look, I don't have time for you. I'm trying to get some more workers to help with the moon so if you could just get out of my hair, that would be fantastic."

"You're a great actress. Working at a theater must really pay off." Natsu says before lighting his fists on fire. "I know you were the one who caused the moon to plummet, so it's ironic that you would be the one trying to fix it."

Jasmine stares blankly at Natsu before lifting her hand and striking his face. "Listen here Salamander, I've been nice enough to not kill you the moment I saw you. In fact, if I wanted to kill you, it would take absolutely no effort and I wouldn't make it an extravagant little show because you little shits don't deserve that kind of attention. Now you're accusing me of spoiling a play that I myself have spent countless hours trying to perfect? You're accusing me for the second time, and calling me a liar? How dare you! The only liar here is your girlfriend Lucy!"

Natsu pushes Jasmine against the wall by her neck and growls. "Don't you dare say that again! Speak the truth now or have your hair go up in flames!"

Jasmine raises a brow. "The truth? Hah! That's hilarious. Fine, here's the truth. Your girlfriend Lucy, the one you protect all the time and have so much faith in, yeah she kissed Ken the day she ditched you and your groupies back at the hotel."

"What?" Natsu's grip loosens. He backs away from Jasmine and turns his back to her. His head hangs low in shock.

"And I know it because I saw it all happen." Jasmine's voice comes out soft, but means menace. "So next time you start pointing fingers, point it at the right people."

Natsu makes his way out the door slowly. Once the door is shut, he slams his head against it in confusion and shock. There's no more fight left in him. Natsu's never felt so empty before.

Lucy crouches down and takes a seat, swinging her feet over one side of the beam. Lucy looks down and wonders how Natsu could jump down from there.

"It's too bad the moon didn't work..." A voice calls out.

Lucy jumps up and looks around at the empty room. "Who's there? If you have any shame at all you'll show yourself."

"Maybe the moon didn't work..." The voice continues, sounding closer this time. "But perhaps a fall on the head will?"

Without warning Lucy feels a hand push her on her side, plummeting her to the stage headfirst. The scream is caught in Lucy's throat as her body prepares itself for impact. When it doesn't come, Lucy opens her eyes to see Loke holding her. He grins proudly. "Horologium isn't the only spirit that can save you when you're in danger."

"Loke... Thank you." Lucy says in great gratitude, letting herself down from Loke's arms. "Did you see what was up there with me? Or hear it?"

Loke shakes his head. "Just had a feeling you were falling. That's how it works. We don't get to hear or see the situation you're in until we exit the gates."

Lucy bites her lip. "I guess right now I'll just have to find Natsu and Jasmine."

"Call me when you need me." Loke says, preparing to leave. "Or actually, just call me anytime you want."

Loke gives Lucy a wink. Lucy rolls her eyes. "Loke, I'm taken, remember?"

"That hasn't stopped me before." Is the last thing the lion says before he disappears. Lucy rolls her eyes again and shakes her head at the playboy antics of her strongest spirit.

Lucy runs as fast as she can to the exit doors. Looking from side to side in the hallway, she spots Natsu's pink hair, leaning against a door. Lucy shakes off her confusion and heads towards her boyfriend. "Natsu!"

At the call of his name Natsu turns his head the other way. Lucy runs to him, feeling uneasy. She places a soft hand on his shoulder. "Hey, Natsu, what's the matter?"

Natsu shrugs the hand off and heads to the opposite direction of Lucy. His voice is empty just like his face and mood. "It's not Jasmine."

"What do you mean it's not Jasmine? It has to be!" Lucy has to slightly jog to keep up with Natsu. When her question is met with silence Lucy takes a hold of Natsu's forearm and turns him to her. "What's the matter? Why are you so upset?"

Natsu shrugs and tries to pull himself away but Lucy wasn't giving up. Natsu lets out an exasperated sigh and grumbles, "let go."

"Not until you tell me what's wrong." Lucy says sternly. She moves her free hand up to touch his face but Natsu jerks his head back. Lucy feels a pang in her chest and drops her hand. "What did Jasmine say to you for you to act like this?"

"Something funny, actually." Natsu lets out an empty laugh and runs his free hand in his hair. "She told me you kissed Ken."

The air in Lucy's lungs has become thin and she's desperately fighting for more breath. Her heart pounds in her chest as loud as a drum. Her world... She can feel it crashing just like the moon. Everything she's come so far for... Her fantasy world where she was safe and happy... It was now about to snap and unleash her demons all over again.

Natsu raises his brows. "Well? come on, aren't you going to tell me it was complete bullshit? That I shouldn't believe what comes out of that bitch's mouth?"

Lucy feels the sobs wrack her body. It takes a lot to let out a single word, but she knows he's waiting for at least something. "I'm so sorry..."

Natsu bites his lip and nods his head. Even through her tears Lucy can see the little drops of water threatening to escape Natsu's eyes. Not to mention the anger, and possibly hatred that dwell in them. Natsu rips his arm away from Lucy. "Me too, Lucy. Me too."

Turning his back to the sobbing girl, Natsu walks away. Lucy covers her mouth to suppress the sobs, although she was failing. The only rope holding her to life was now ripped out of her just like the moon that threatened to crush her earlier. And all she could do was watch.

A/N: So sorry about the late update! I wasn't really feeling it up until I checked the reviews to find a couple of people (although I have a feeling it may have only been one person) asking for an update! I felt bad so here you go :) And I actually really liked reading the reviews ;)

Anyway, let me know if you guys think this was boring, not what you wanted, etc. I'm all ears. :D

I actually had a lot of fun writing this! I hope this story will finish by the end of this summer (which is September 2nd for me) so I can focus on school. (Yeah I know, I just graduated and now I'm going back -_-) *sigh*