Natsu sniffed the ground.

Lucy had slept here. Her scent was thick in these old ruins as was the smell of the rider that had taken her. He reached down and picked up a single golden hair off the stone floor. He'd been chasing this scent all day running until his legs felt like jelly and his muscles ached. Despite the righteous fury that burned within him he felt tired. His breathed heavily and wiped the sweat from his brow. His stomach growled and he clutched his belly cursing himself for not having anything to eat. He needed food, he needed sleep. But Lucy was moving farther and farther away from him with every moment. Natsu sighed and curled up on the stone ground to rest. He closed his eyes and breathed in Lucy's fading scent.

…...

Lisanna looked at the small silver key in her hand almost as if it wasn't real. She looked at the small image of the blue cone nosed dog Plue. Dozens of questions filled her mind as she tried to make sense out of this. Of all the keys Lucy could have given her why this one? Lisanna knew Lucy was attached to the small little white cone nosed dog but the same could be said about all her spirits. If Lucy was only going to save just one of her spirits why Plue?

Grabbing her ragged pants she searched through them more thoroughly completely emptying her pockets of every speck of lint until she found a small piece of folded of paper from her notebook. Carefully she unfolded the small piece of yellow notebook paper. Written in penciled were six simple bold words addressed to her.

WAIT THREE WEEKS THEN SUMMON PLUE.

Lisanna read the letters over and over again meticulously studying each letter carefully as if somehow reading them again and again would in some way alter the letters to make more sense. Give her some kind of definite answer to what Lucy was planning. The girl was smart and clearly had a plan. But it would be nice if things had been more carefully laid out for her. Why did Lucy want her to summon Plue? What would she do once she summoned the little dog? Plans didn't always play out as people intended. What if Lucy's plan didn't play out as she intended? Lisanna sighed as she pulled on the jeans Violet had lent her along with a collection of other used clothes for her to wear. She pulled on the simple black shirt and slung the bag over her shoulder. Violet seemed to have a lot of black and purple clothing.

She exited the changing room feeling like a new woman clean and refreshed with food in her belly and all the grime washed away along with her sore muscles. The cool breeze of the castle chilled her skin and raised goose bumps making her shiver and walk faster through the halls rushing through to the comfort of the room she shared with Heckler.

Dashing up the stairs and down the hall she opened the door and rushed inside shivering furiously. She turned around and gritted her teeth.

"Heckler," she growled seeing that the wounded man had moved off the bed and was sitting in the wooden chair at the side leaning back against the chair asleep dressed in some pants she supposed one of the hunters hand brought him with one leg ripped off and tied at the end where his leg was missing. Browning was sitting at his feet curled around his let snoring contently next to his master.

"Do you hate beds or something?" she said loud enough to rouse him.

Heckler opened his eyes and rubbed the sleep from them startled from her outburst. "Something wrong?" he asked looking at her.

"Are you allergic to comfort or something?" she sighed setting the bag down. "You had no trouble using the bed in your own home."

"That's because it was my bed," Heckler explained, "it was different then."

Lisanna sighed. That was right, his home had been destroyed earlier today. The one place he could retreat to for safety and comfort had been blown away. She gave him a wry smile.

"Besides," Heckler said giving her a comforting smirk, "if I hated comfort I wouldn't keep you around."

Lisanna giggled liking how bold he was acting, it seemed he'd forgone slow awkward advances and had forgotten his bashfulness towards her.

Good riddance. Lisanna thought as she stepped towards him looking indignant that'd he moved into the chair. "You should be staying in bed," she said.

"I'm not good with lying still," Heckler said putting his one hand on her waist drawing her closer. Lisanna felt the cold from her body leaving as she stepped between his knees her face level with him for a change. "You look nice," Heckler complimented catching her off guard.

"It was a good bath," Lisanna sighted contently as his hand moved to the small of her back. Heckler smiled sweetly at her and his hand moved up her back his callused fingers tracing the ridges of her spine through her shirt. Another chill ran through her body completely different from the one she felt from stepping out into the damp halls. As his hand stopped between her shoulder blades and he reeled her in bringing her mouth to his kissing her.

Something was different about Heckler.

His kiss wasn't as soft as the other ones she'd shared with him. This one was rougher and more passionate and full of fire. Lisanna was surprised but thrills shot through her as he mashed his mouth to hers. She closed her eyes moaning at his passionate touch and kissed him back slipping her tongue into his mouth and deepening it grabbing his bald head and running her cool fingers over the rough uneven scars feeling the jagged cuts and pocked burn marks. She had no idea what had gotten into Heckler but she was likening it. His tongue danced with hers it was rough and scratchy from smoking his pipe and it thrilled her. Even weak and crippled Heckler felt powerful and masculine to her. Already she could feel his rough stubble starting to grow back and his former strength returning.

Lisanna broke away to find her breath stolen from her. She breathed heavily and smiled at him. "What's gotten into you?" she asked opening her eyes to find he wasn't returning her smile. His face had turned hard as stone and he reached out to touch her face his fingers stroking her bangs back behind her ear. His eyes studied her as if she couldn't possibly be real.

"I thought I was going to die?" he whispered to her, "I thought I was ready to die…" he closed his one eye and a tear leaked out. "But bleeding out on that damn snowy mountain all I could think about was you," he explained leaning his head into her shoulder, "and how much I didn't want to die."

Lisanna wrapped her arms around his body holding him as tight as she dared feeling her own emotions well to the surface. "I thought you were going to die as well," she said embracing him, "I thought we were going to lose you Heckler."

"I'm just… so happy to be alive." He said squeezing her tightly.

They stayed like that for a long moment just holding each other close. Eventually Lisanna spoke up, "You need to rest," she said feeling one of his bandages. He still needed to heal.

"I'm not the only one," he said wiping one of her tears away from her face returning to his normal self.

"I'm not the one who's been shot and blown up," Lisanna said.

"No," Heckler agreed, "But we've both had a long day and I'll sleep better knowing your close."

Lisanna smiled at him, "Fine," she said stepping back a little, "flattery will get you everywhere."

She grabbed her bag of clothes and disappeared behind one of the curtains to change.

"Where'd you get the clothes from?" he asked grabbing his pipe from the nightstand and lighting it with a match.

"Violet," Lisanna answered opening the bag to find her the pajamas Violet had packed for her.

"Met her huh?" he asked puffing on his long pipe.

"Yeah," Lisanna said, "Her and Bret asked me about our relationship," she explained digging deeper into the bag trying to find something to sleep in.

"Yeah?" he asked, "What'd you say?"

Lisanna smiled peaking her head out to look at him, "I said I was your girl," she declared proudly disappearing again behind the curtain.

Heckler smiled and puffed on his pipe.

Behind the curtain Lisanna finally found where Violet kept the sleep wear. Her face turned scarlet as she looked at the lacy racy sleep lingerie packed into the bag for her wear. Even Lucy with her exotic taste would probably blush looking at these skimpy pieces of lace. Lisanna closed the bag embarrassed. Violet seemed to be assuming a lot about her relationship with Heckler. She certainly wasn't prepared to wear anything like this in front of Heckler. She didn't think she would wear anything like this in front of a simple mirror.

Deciding she'd have to clear up with Violet just what kind of relationship she had with Heckler and acquire some more chaste sleepwear. Until then she was keeping the jeans and shirt on. Heckler had already lost enough blood today and now was not the time to give him a nosebleed.

She popped out of the curtains, "I guess Violet forget to give me something to sleep in," she said trying to turn her face back to its original color.

"Hmm," Heckler said tapping out the ashes and embers of this pipe.

She helped him move into the bed and extinguished the oil lamp that burned on the table. Moving through the cool dark she found her way bay to him and slipped into the covers. She put her hand against his bare muscular chest and kissed him. She wasn't bothered by the disfigurement of his body. The rough scars and missing limbs didn't bother her. She was just happy he was still alive and with her in the pleasant dark.