All rights to Fairy Tail belong to Hiro Mashima.
Lucy and the rest were being dragged down the long, dark hallway and into the dungeons. She struggled the whole way, knowing that her boyfriend was still in the same room as that psycho.
Gray wasn't struggling as much, believe it or not. He knew it wouldn't do any good, but he wasn't going to give up. He knew that he had to take charge of the situation. Weisslogia was too weak to do anything, Sting was still emotionally broken from the betrayal, Rogue and Juvia were still knocked out, and Lucy, even though she has a very rational mind, might end up getting killed if she tries to do anything rash to save Natsu. Gray started to search for some way, any way, to get out of that hellhole. While he was doing this, he looked down at his captor's arms, and almost audibly gasped. He would never have thought he would be happy to see those piercings...ever.
"Metal Brains?" He whispered, making sure the others didn't hear him.
"Shut the hell up, Popsicle." The guard grumbled. "Ya might give me away." It was hard to tell that it was Gajeel because he was wearing some kind of mask over his face.
Was it wrong to be happy to hear is voice? Yes, yes it was. Did Gray care right now?
...Not at this particular moment.
"Alright, here's the plan." He kept whispering. "The guard that's holding Bunny Girl, he's my old man." Gray's eyes widened at the news, remembering Gajeel's dad, Metallicana. He was a bit of a brute, and has a crude sense of humor that only he, Gajeel, and Natsu gets, but he was still a great role model to look up to as a kid because of his strength and conviction. "And the one carrying Juvia right now is Erza." Gray thought that his eyeballs would pop out of their sockets because of how wide they were. "When we get to the dungeons, the lights will be off. We'll take care of the other three guards while you take the others down the hall and to the first left. You will see the keys for the handcuffs there." Gajeel explained, still whispering.
"How the hell do you know all this stuff?" Gray asked as they neared their destination. Gajeel just scoffed.
"Save the questions until you're outta here." Gajeel grumbled irritatingly.
They reached the tall metal door that led into the cellar. Gray's palms started to get a bit sweaty, but he knew that he had to keep himself calm if he wanted this to work.
One of the guards who was on Jiemma's side opened the large door and waited for everyone to get in. Once they were all in, Gajeel shoved Gray away.
"NOW!" He yelled.
"AHH!" Natsu screamed again as Jiemma gave another whip to his bare chest. There were gashes all over it, but none of them were too deep because Jiemma still needed him alive for a scare tactic towards the Heartfilia."Why the hell are you doing this?" Natsu croaked out, glaring at the man.
Jiemma smirked once again. "I told you boy, this is my revenge on Igneel-that bastard. If he hadn't interfered, none of this would have happened. So basically, this is all of your old man's fault." Jiemma said as he gave Natsu another whip, a harder one this time.
"Dad did what he thought was right! YOU were the one betraying our country!" Natsu spat. Jiemma dropped his whip, and raised his gigantic fists to hit the boy. Maybe it wouldn't be too bad to kill him.
Natsu's eyes widened in fear as he raised his fist. He closed his eyes, bracing for impact, but a voice stopped that from happening.
"I wouldn't do that Jiemma!" A voice roared from behind him. There, in the doorway, stood the man that both Jiemma and Natsu wanted to see, but for completely different reasons.
"Dad..." Natsu breathed.
"Igneel." Jiemma said with a menacing smile on his face.
"Leave my son alone." Igneel threatened while cracking his knuckles. "It's me you want to fight, you sick bastard. Don't drag other people into your problems."
"Oh, you're right there, but this little brat has been a pain in my side since he got here, so his whips were justified." Jiemma said, shrugging.
"There is nothing less justified than whipping a defenseless child." Natsu took a little offense that his dad called him a child, but he agreed with him wholeheartedly.
"Oh, but there is." Jiemma cackled evilly. "However," He started. "he would just get in the way of our fight. So I'll let him go." Jiemma said as he took out a key and unlocked Natsu's shackles. He fell the the ground, bruised and bleeding badly. "Go now boy! Go after your little girlfriend." Natsu didn't want to leave his dad alone, but he knew that he could handle himself. Lucy was his first priority at the moment. So Natsu took off limping down the hallway, just after he sent a glance to his father.
Igneel just glared at the man, which made Jiemma laugh again.
"What a horrible expression on your face. I really didn't mind letting the boy go at all. You should know by now that we are too far away from civilization to get help, and his friends can't help him because they are locked up. I'm surprised if he can even get out of this place without bleeding to death." Jiemma cackled evilly.
Igneel balled his fists. No one, and he meant no one, can talk about his son like that.
"That's enough!" Igneel barked. "Time to bring you in for your crimes against out country!"
"Ha! I would like to see you try." Jiemma replied getting into a fighting stance.
Igneel initiated the first punch.
Gajeel, Metallicana, and Erza took out the other three guards while Gray carried Juvia bridal-style and led the others down the hallway. He took the first left that he saw and, like Gajeel said, there were keys to the shackles there. Only one problem...they were locked behind a large glass case with a metal frame.
"Damn it! Now what do we do?" Gray said as he set Juvia down on the ground, who was just waking up.
"Hang on." Lucy said as she took a pin from her hair. She walked over to the lock on the small door and stuck the pin inside, fiddling with it for about thirty seconds before the lock finally came undone. Lucy mentally patted herself on the back for remembering how to pick locks.
"Wow...where'd you learn that?" Sting asked, a little shocked.
"Picked it up when I ran away." She said as she brought both of her hands up to grab the keys. "Here, Gray." She said as she handed the keys to him, and he proceeded to unlock the chains around her now-cut wrists. After he was done, Lucy unlocked everyone else's shackles right before Gajeel and the rest came, taking off their masks to show their true faces. Lucy ran to Erza and gave her a hug, which ended up hurting her head because Erza slammed Lucy against her chest with great force. Lucy was starting to believe there was armor under her shirt.
"Alright, Scrap Metal, what now?" Gray asked. Gajeel glared as his father chuckled.
"There's a door to the back entrance at the end of this hall. It's the only one that isn't guarded, but when we get to the front, no doubt there's gonna be guards there. So be on your toes." Metallicana answered for him.
"Alright, let's move." Weisslogia said.
"Wait! What about Natsu?" Lucy asked, her eyes wide and looking as if she was about to sprint back in the direction that they came from. "We can't just leave him!"
"Don't worry about it, little lady." Metallicana said, roughly patting her head. "Igneel's up there with the little runt. He'll be fine."
"But-" Lucy started.
"Bunny Girl, hate to be frank, but we ain't got time to argue. We have to go now." Gajeel said as he took her wrist and sprinted down the hall, dragging her with him. It wasn't like she couldn't keep up, but she felt as if all of her energy was drained so she couldn't run for too long. The others were following not too far behind. Up ahead, Lucy could see another door that looks similar to all of the other ones that she had passed. Gajeel literally threw the rusted door opened, dragging her outside into the bright sunlight. Before her was a dense forest, looking like it stretched for many miles. They were in a clearing right now, so he sun was blazing down on her, illuminating the bruise on her cheek that still stung her. Gajeel noticed it, but chose not to say anything.
"Come on, let's go a bit into the forest to rest." Gajeel ordered. The rest of them nodded as they ran for about three minutes into the dense jungle and then finally sat down. Weisslogia and Metallicana went a little ways further so they could have a private chat.
"Never thought I would see the day that I was happy to see your face, Iron Breath." Weisslogia joked, making Metallicana give a dry cackle. "I also never thought that you would be the one to come rescue us."
"Well, the whole base was worried about you and Skiadrum, and those bastards sent me and Igneel to come find ya. It took a damn long time too." Metallicana grumbled, much like his son. "Where is that sneaky bastard anyway?"
Weisslogia's features automatically darkened. "Skiadrum's gone." He said, his voice laced with venom.
Metallicana's eyes widened, but didn't say anything to push it. Skiadrum had been Weisslogia's best friend, so it must have been hard on him. Granted, he was also Metallicana's disciple, so he wasn't taking it too lightly either. "What about the boy? Are you going to take care of him?" Metallicana asked, looking back at Rogue.
"He was like a son to me anyway, so yes, I'll be taking care of the boy." Weisslogia sighed. "Are you sure Igneel is going to be alright? Jiemma was one of our toughest members."
"He told me up front that he didn't want any help. And shouldn't you have more faith in your teacher?" The dark-haired man asked with a raised eyebrow. Weisslogia sweat dropped.
Lucy was staring intently at the ground, her leg fidgeting every few seconds. "That's it! I'm going back!" Lucy said as she stood up.
"Lucy-san, Juvia doesn't think that it is a good idea. You could get killed." Juvia said as she grabbed her wrist. Lucy smiled and gently took her wrist away from her grip.
"Don't worry guys, I'll be fine. I just want to know if Natsu and Igneel are okay." Lucy said. Gray looked like he was about to argue, but Gajeel and Sting shook their heads at him, telling him to let her go. "I'll be out for ten minutes, tops." She said before she disappeared through the trees as she ran back to the direction that they came from.
Lucy finally got to the building, but was a little hesitant to open it, probably because she didn't want to get caught. Get yourself together, Lucy! Natsu needs you! And with that motivation, she opened the door and entered the building once again. She should have dreaded her decision because just being there was making her shiver uncomfortably, but with the adrenaline rushing through her veins and her drive to help Natsu, she didn't have time to regret her decision.
She was nearing the handle of the metal door at the end of the hallway when it suddenly swung open. Lucy stumbled back a few feet and dropped to the ground to cradle her knees, not wanting to look up at the person for fear that it was Jiemma. She squeezed her eyes shut, waiting to be pulled by the hair or hit.
"Luce..." A voice croaked out weakly. Lucy slowly looked up to see a very worn out and shirtless Natsu. The gashes on his chest made her eyes widen and there were trickles of blood coming from his mouth. "Are...y-you al-alright?" Natsu said as he literally crashed into the ground on top of her. He stretched his neck as he gave her one bloody kiss on the side of her neck before resting his head on her chest, exhausted and out of breath. She could feel her shirt being soaked with blood, but she didn't give a damn at the moment. Lucy started to sob as she tried to get him up.
"I should be asking you that! Hang on, we'll get you outside to the others!" Lucy said, trying to control her breathing. She helped Natsu stand up as she swung one arm over his shoulders, supporting most of his weight. "Hang in there, Natsu." She breathed out before she started to walk back to the others.
It would be the understatement of the year to say that the others weren't shocked by his appearance. Gray wasted no time to strip off his shirt (which he did very professionally, mind you) and apply pressure to his wounds, and they managed to stop most of the bleeding, which was a huge relief to all of them, but in turn, Natsu passed out. Gajeel took off his shirt also to work in substitution for Gray's soiled one. Sting and Rogue just looked down at the ground, ashamed at what they had caused.
"We-we have to get him to the hospital." Lucy sobbed as Juvia and Erza tried to comfort her. Well, Erza was actually saying many...graphic ways on how she would take revenge on Jiemma for hurting Natsu, which creeped Lucy out to no extent, but it made Lucy feel a bit better all the same.
Metallicana just nodded as he carefully picked up Natsu. "Igneel..." He mumbled unconsciously. Metallicana's grip on Natsu tightened ever so slightly.
"Don't worry kid," he whispered to the unconscious boy. "your old man's gonna be fine. He's one of our best after all." He said before he took off running with Natsu in his arms. His helicopter was only about three quarters of a mile away, so he could get there in about six minutes if he ran fast enough. "You're gonna be fine Natsu." He said, panting a little. "You were always a tough kid."
Jiemma dodged another punch from Igneel before he grabbed his arm and sent Igneel to the floor. "Losing your touch, Igneel? Ha! I always knew you were weak, but I never expected this kind of performance." Jiemma cackled evilly, even with a probably fractured jaw with blood dripping down.
Igneel wasn't always the smartest kid in school. He was Natsu's father for crying out loud and there was no way that the boy could have gotten his idiot genes from his mother because there isn't a stupid cell in her body. However, having a job in the air force for eleven years now taught him that strategy could be the difference between victory and defeat. He knew for a fact that Jiemma was an egoistic person who always has to feel that he is better than everyone else. If Igneel could give off the impression that he was a bad fighter, then he could catch Jiemma off guard later.
Pretty smart, if he says so himself.
Igneel let Jiemma kick him in the stomach, regretting it a little when he felt blood rise out of his throat. However, he's been through a lot worse, so there's no problem with taking a couple of hits. But it was what Jiemma said next that made Igneel make a move.
"Go join your worthless son in hell." Jiemma said as he positioned his leg for another kick to Igneel. However, Igneel didn't allow it, giving him a look that could kill anyone in an instant.
"Do not...speak about my son...like that!" Igneel seethed as he grabbed Jiemma's leg and literally threw him to the other side of the room. He then got up and put the man in a head lock, cutting off his air supply. Then Igneel smashed Jiemma's head into a wall, promptly making it bleed.
Jiemma grunted in annoyance as he felt a crack in his skull. He stood up slowly, facing Igneel's panting face.
"You can't stop me, you fire bastard! The Heartfilia Diamond will be mine!" Jiemma smirked, paying no attention to his bloodied features now that his head was gushing blood. Igneel just scowled at the man.
"If you think that I am going to let some sick bastard come between my son and his beloved girlfriend, then you are DEAD WRONG!" Igneel said as he pulled out his pistol that he was hiding.
"Oh, so that's how you want to play, huh? Well, two can play at that game." Jiemma said as he also pulled out a pistol of his own.
Then two gunshots were fired.
~Three days later~
Natsu woke up to the mumbling of people. He just wanted to sleep, why can't they shut up?! He tried to open his eyes at first, but he had to close them right away when a bright light intruded the darkness that he was shrouded in before.
Even though his sight wasn't functioning, all of his other senses were. He was also aware that there was a slight pressure on his arm, but not too much for it to hurt. His eyes slowly adjusted to the light surrounding him, and the first thing he did was look to his side. There, laying in this uncomfortable bed with him, was his beautiful, angelic girlfriend, Lucy Heartfilia. Her face was buried in the crook of his neck and her arm was hugging his. Natsu turned his head to the side and kissed her forehead.
It was then that Natsu took the time to notice his other surroundings. The room was boringly white, but it had a splash of color because of all of the get well cards laying at the foot of the bed. It was obvious that he was in a hospital, and that part didn't really surprise him. He looked down at his chest to see bandages wrapped all around it. When he tried to sit up, he immediately went back down from the pain his abdominals were causing him. Attached to his arms were IVs, but Lucy apparently made sure that she was not blocking any wires that were coming into his body.
The door then opened to reveal a man dressed in a doctor's outfit. "Hello, Mr. Dragneel." The doctor said as he entered the room. "You've been out for quite a while, but you needed thee rest. Okay, let's see here." He said, looking at his clip board. "Well, sir, I don't know what it was that you were doing, but most of your gashes have healed up quite nicely. There were a couple that we had to stitch, and some that would leave some scarring, but it is nothing to worry about. Are you feeling any pain whatsoever?" The doctor asked.
"...Yeah." Natsu answered simply, making the doctor chuckle.
"I think that it is best if you take more rest. If you need anything, just call the nurses." The doctor said as he got up to leave the room. He turned back and smiled at him. "That girl has barely left your side since you got here. It took one of your big, muscular friends to drag her out to eat something. I say you've got yourself a mighty fine girlfriend there." He said before he walked out the door.
"That I do, doc. That I do." He whispered to himself. Thinking that it was about time that Lucy woke up from her beauty sleep, Natsu gently shook her awake. "Hey angel, wake up." He said softly. Lucy stirred but she didn't wake up.
"Natsu...don't go." She whimpered in her sleep as she clutched onto his arm tighter. Natsu felt so touched. She was so worried about him and even risked her own health just to be with him. She really was a great girlfriend.
"Come on, Luce. Wake up." Natsu said as he started to shake her a little more violently. She started to stir again and this time she opened her eyes. She had to blink to get her eyes adjusted to the blinding light, but after she did, she saw the smiling face of Natsu. She was overcome with such shock that she couldn't even move. After three long days, which felt like agonizing years, he finally woke up. "Lucy~. Helloooo?" Natsu called. He would wave a hand in front of her face, but his arm was kind of wired right now.
Lucy didn't hesitate to literally throw herself into Natsu's arms, carefully avoiding his newly stitched areas. Natsu wrapped his free arm around her and held her close as she sobbed into his shoulder. "Why are you cryin', weirdo?" Natsu asked with a raised eyebrow.
Lucy dried away her tears. "Did you get hurt anywhere on your head?" Natsu shook his head. "Good." Lucy said as she promptly smacked the back of his head, making him wince.
"Ouch, what up with the violence?" Natsu asked.
"For scaring me, dumbass! I thought you were going to die!" She yelled at him, and he could tell that the tears were threatening to fall once again. Natsu wiped them away with his thumbs and cupped her face, leaning in for a kiss. Lucy sighed, but then giggled. "Well, I guess I can forgive you." She said as she leaned in as well.
"Flame Brain! You awake?!" Gray said as he burst through the door. No knock, nothing. Lucy and Natsu pulled away; Lucy with a blushing face and Natsu with a scowl.
"We were kind of busy, Snow Fairy!" Natsu yelled at him, and Gray smirked.
"Sorry, I'll, uh, leave you to it then."
"No, wait." Natsu called out, making Gray turn around. "The moods ruined thanks to you, send the rest in." He sighed. Gray nodded as he left to tell the others that Natsu was awake. "Stupid stripper. Always ruining everything." Natsu grumbled. Lucy giggled as he kissed the corner of his mouth.
"But you still care a lot about him."
"I do NOT!" Natsu exclaimed. Lucy had a sly smile on her face as she nodded her head.
"Mhm, yeah, I believe you." Natsu was about to retort, but then a whole slough of people came rushing into his room, cutting off his sentence as they asked if he was okay, or called him a bastard for getting hurt so badly (Gray and Gajeel). Sting, Rogue, and Weisslogia weren't there, but Natsu really didn't expect them to be.
"Is Natsu-san alright?" Juvia asked. Natsu nodded and gave her a smile, unconsciously stroking Lucy's hair.
"You've been out for way too long. Do you know how many times I had to pry Bunny Girl from your side?" Gajeel asked, a scowl evident on his face.
"You didn't have to..." Lucy mumbled.
"Yes Lucy, yes we did." Gray said as he came over to pat her on the head.
"Thanks for taking care of her guys." Natsu said. Gray and Gajeel nodded, not surprised by his appraisal considering that they were the reason that Lucy wasn't dying of malnutrition. "Hey, where's Igneel?" The room went silent.
"You see N-Natsu, I-Igneel, um, he, uh." Lucy stuttered trying to find her words. Natsu automatically thought the worse: that Igneel died.
"Luce?" He asked in a quiet voice, but Lucy had her head down.
.
.
.
.
.
.
"Oh for crying out loud! I'll tell him!" Metallicana said as he went to Natsu's bedside. Natsu braced himself for bad news, knowing that Metallicana was known for being straight forward. "Yer old man ate something bad at the café, and he ended up puking all over your girlfriend's feet. He's down the hall in the bathroom now, puking his guts out like he was on a train or something." Natsu's eyes widened, and he let out a big sigh of relief. He then looked over at Lucy to see her crimson face.
"Luce, you okay?" He asked, almost chuckling at her embarrassment. Lucy nodded, still not looking at him.
"Whew!" The door burst open once again to reveal Igneel, who probably just got back from the bathroom after he washed his face. "That wasn't good..." He said as his voice trailed off.
"We''ll give you guys some time alone." Erza said as she dragged Gray and Gajeel out of there, and everyone followed suit. After they were all gone, Igneel flashed a sheepish grin at Lucy.
"I guess I gave you a pretty bad impression, huh?" Igneel said as he scratched his head. Lucy smiled and shook her head.
"It's alright, sir. It happens to the best of us." Lucy said as she waved her hands in front of her face.
Igneel grinned. "Good choice in girlfriend. I think I like her better than you." Igneel told Natsu.
"Oi!" Natsu scowled, making both Igneel and Lucy laugh.
"I must say, you look much more radiant than when we were talking over the tablet. No wonder my son has eyes for you." Igneel said as he smirked, making Lucy blush.
"Yeah, I do. So back off geezer, you have a wife!" Natsu yelled at his father.
"I wasn't hitting on her, you dumb shit!" Igneel yelled back. His features then softened. "Just so you know, Wendy and Grandine are at home making you soup, since they know you won't eat the cra-I mean food here."
"Aww, Mom and Wen are the best."
"Well, I'll leave you two." Igneel said as he walked to the door. "remember, I'm too young to have grandchildren!"
"Get out, you pervy old man!" Natsu yelled as he threw the pillow on his bed at him, but Igneel rushed out and the pillow hit the door. He then turned to Lucy. "So, what did I miss when I was out?"
Lucy told Natsu everything. She told him how Igneel and Metallicana were in charge of finding Weisslogia and Skiadrum, who had both disappeared. Metallicana went to Gajeel to ask if he knew anything, and then Gajeel tried to contact Natsu but he wasn't picking up. Then she went on about them trying to find him and then having found his phone, to which he conveniently, and accidentally, took a selfie of Sting mugging him. They then did all this crazy stuff, found out that Sting was working for Jiemma, and recruited Erza to come find them. He then told Natsu that Igneel was shot about three centimeters away from his stomach, but they were able to fix him in time so he was okay now. Jiemma is now in prison, and is sentenced for life. So in the end, basically happily ever after.
But Lucy didn't look happy at all. She refused to look at him, and he was confused why. "Come on, Luce. What's bothering you?" He asked in a gentle voice.
Lucy fingered the necklace she had on, glaring at it. "This all started because of me, because of this stupid necklace. I wish it never existed." She said with malice in her tone.
"Luce, look at me." Natsu said seriously. "None of this was your fault, alright? Don't blame yourself for something that you didn't do." He said as she buried her face in the crook of his neck, trying to avoid his gaze.
"But you almost died..." She said as she started to sob. Natsu wrapped his arms around her, not caring about the IVs he was pulling. "I understand if you don't want to be with me anymore..."
"Okay, stop right there!" Natsu interrupted, forcing her chin up to look at him. "There is nothing in this world that would make me not want to be with you! I hope you've got that through your brain."
Lucy started to sob again. "I love you Natsu."
"I love you too, Luce." He said as he kissed her forehead.
Natsu got released from the hospital a week later on Tuesday in the morning. He had never been more grateful that it was Winter Break.
The weird thing was that Lucy wasn't there. Natsu thought she was probably sleeping, considering that they were up until midnight talking and then Gray dragged her away because they had to go home. So obviously, the first thing he did was go over to her house and jump through her window, but he saw that she wasn't there either.
"That's weird..." He mumbled as he was about to do some snooping around the house. But then he saw that there was a note on her desk, addressed to him. He picked it up, and read it's contents.
Dear Natsu,
There is something that I have to do right now, and I had to do it alone. Sorry for leaving without telling you.
I'll be back by tonight (Tuesday), so don't worry about me.
I love you! :)
Lucy Heartfilia 3
Natsu smiled softly at the letter, but was curious about where she had to go without him.
Oh well, he might as well stay there then.
Lucy stared down at her mother's grave with a small smile. She gave a silent prayer to her before getting up and walking to the little house at the ed of the Zentopia graveyard. She knocked softly on the door a couple of times before it opened, revealing a man in his late thirties.
"Oh, Ms. Lucy! What a pleasant surprise." He said as he bowed.
"No, no please, Mr. Howell. Just call me Lucy now." Lucy said. The door opened a little wider to reveal a woman about the same age as Mr. Howell. She had a large stomach, probably because she was seven months pregnant with a little boy, who they both decided to name Holland.
"Oh, my dear. I almost didn't recognize you for a second. It was almost like Layla came back from the dead." Lucy laughed at that. She knew that she was the spitting image of her mother. "How are you? Would you like to come in for some tea?" She asked.
"No, it's fine Mrs. Howell. I was hoping that I could talk to your husband about something." She said, turning her attention towards the older man. Mr. Howell sighed.
"Alright. Can you please give us some time, Macey?" Mr. Howell asked. Macey shrugged her shoulders.
"I don't mind. Take all the time you need." Macey said as she disappeared back into the house.
"So, Lucy. What is it that I can help you with?" Mr. Howell asked. Lucy didn't say anything, but took out a long black box and handed it to him. Mr. Howell took it with wary eyes and opened it, his eyes widening at it's contents. "No, Lucy, no. I cannot." In the black box...was the Heartfilia diamond.
"Please Mr. Howell. You are the only person that I trust enough to keep this safe. This is the only place where it belongs, because it's with mom." Lucy said. "Please, Mr. Howell. Do it as my godfather." She pleaded.
Mr. Howell sighed. "Alright, kid. I'll keep it safe for you."
"Thank you." She said before she hugged him, few tears escaping her eyes. When she pulled away, she wiped them off her face. "I should go. I told my boyfriend that I would be back tonight." She said as she waved.
"Bless you, Lucy! And stay out of trouble!" He said as he waved back, making her giggle. She really just wanted to go back home and flop into bed. Maybe cuddle with a pink-haired boy.
Okay, never mind. She definitely wanted to cuddle with the pink-haired boy.
Lucy returned home at around eleven, and judging by how all the lights were turned off, everyone was asleep. Lucy tip-toed passed Gray and Juvia's rooms to get to her room at the end of the hall. When she entered her room, she wasn't surprised to see Natsu laying on her bed, breathing steadily. Lucy smiled as she went over to him. She bent over and gave him a kiss on the cheek before getting up and walking away to get ready for bed. Before she could, though, a hand reached out and grasped her wrist, pulling her down on the bed as she was encased in a set of arms. Natsu put her head on his shoulder as he nuzzled his face in her hair.
"One more hour. Just one more hour and I would have come looking for you." He said as he kissed the top of her head.
"I'm sorry Natsu. I didn't mean to make you worry." Lucy said.
"Well you did. So you'll have to make me a big breakfast in the morning." He said.
"I do that anyway. You and Gray have eating habits worse than pigs." She said truthfully. Natsu scowled and ruffled her hair harshly.
"So where were you anyway?" Natsu asked. Lucy shook her head.
"I'll tell you in the morning." She said as she stretched her neck to kiss his cheek. "For now, just go to sleep." She said as she tucked him in and got up to get ready.
Needless to say, that was the best sleep she had gotten in a long time.
Alright! The story is FINALLY done! I am so grateful to have all of you wonderful readers as my supporters! You make my day everyday by reading your loving comments, and I can't thank you enough. The epilogue is going to be up soon because I'm already finished tying it, but it probably won't be up until tomorrow, so just stay tuned. I really hope that everyone is having a wonderful day wherever they are! And thank you so much for the 100,000 views!