We're so close guys, we're finally at the last chapter! Thank you guys so much for following along with me, this has been a lot of fun to write. I know it was a bit more sporadic than my last one, but I am grateful for all the positive feedback despite that.

Look forward to the epilogue coming soon. I'm still planning it out so it might be a bit, but I promise there will be one.

As always, thanks for all the love and happy reading!

Lucy gasped as Natsu turned her way, his mouth opening to reveal glistening teeth back lit by fire. "Natsu, please stop, you don't want to kill me!"

Zeref spoke as though she hadn't said anything. He tucked his hands into his pockets as he continued to walk away. "Take your time if you want, but not too much."

Lucy screamed at him, "Kill me yourself, you coward!"

Zeref chuckled. "Goodbye, Ms. Heartfilia."

Lucy tried to move, tried to lift her hand, tried to do anything but her body wouldn't cooperate. She met burning black eyes with her own teary brown ones. "Please," she whispered, her voice breaking. "Please don't, Natsu." The others standing around her began to hoot and cheer him on as he began to walk around her. They yelled at him to rip he apart, to cut her and make her bleed; to draw it out as long as possible until she died.

How, she wondered. How could people so cold, so terrible, exist? She clenched her teeth. If she could get out of this, if she could just get herself free, she'd fight all of them on her own for what they'd done. For trying to draw this out- for trying to hurt Natsu. They were all just as bad as Zeref. They didn't deserve the power they had.

A flash of light momentarily blinded her, and suddenly, she couldn't see Natsu anymore. She blinked, trying to clear her vision, only to hear the demon run passed her, roaring. Zeref was sighing loudly when she finally cleared her eyes and saw that Natsu was chasing something. The flash of light came from multiple directions, never stopping long enough to get caught, but long enough for the demon to get angry enough to chase.

When she finally realized who it was, Lucy screamed, "Laxus, don't!" The Raijū must be trying to help her, but she had to stop him. If he wasn't careful, Natsu was going to kill him!

Laxus stopped right in front of Ajeel and yipped Lucy's way. It was the longest pause yet, but he was gone again as a large blast of fire hit where he'd been. He easily dodged, but Ajeel hadn't been paying attention, so his body was completely caught in the attack. When the fire ended, Natsu dashed after the light again, leaving Ajeel stuck. Lucy saw his shocked expression behind a thick, clear barrier of glass. Maybe he had seen the attack and tried to block it, but Natsu's fire had instantly cooked the sand, like a lightning strike on a beach, instantly into glass. Ajeel fell to the ground, completely immobilized. The magic holding Lucy began to weaken, then suddenly disappeared, causing her to fall to the ground. She managed to catch herself before landing on her bad leg and then tried to crawl away.

"What on earth are you doing?" Zeref yelled. "Get back here this instant!"

Natsu ignored him, choosing instead to chase after Laxus, who continued to be too fast for him. Lucy looked around as she tried to back up. Where had Laxus come from? Where were Porlyusica and Freed? Where was Wendy? Where were her other friends?

Zeref sighed. "It seems not enough of my formula remained in his system. No matter." He glanced around at the others. "Did you take care of the others?" When everyone nodded, Lucy felt her heart clench. "Good. A couple of you grab Ajeel so we can get going. I'll handle this," he said, raising a hand towards the ball of light.

Lucy tried to move forward, to stop him, but a hand grabbed her from behind. "He'll be okay."

"Jellal," Lucy gasped, grabbing his arm tightly. "You're okay!"

"The others are, too," he whispered back. He pulled out a long strip of cloth that looked suspiciously like the shirt he was wearing earlier and began to wrap it around her bleeding leg. "Are you ready?"

"Ready for what?" she whispered back.

"To cast Prendi Magia."

Tears filled her eyes. "We can't. Gemini got hurt, and we can't cast it just the two of us."

"I think that's my cue."

Lucy was suddenly grabbed under both arms and pulled towards the woods. There was a shout, and suddenly all of her friends were back, attacking Zeref's minions as he flew up into the sky. Natsu, distracted from chasing Laxus, looked around and then flew up into the air to hover at Zeref's side when he was beckoned. The others were fighting hard, with no hesitation, no sign of exhaustion. But how? Before she could voice the question, she saw Wendy weakly leaning against the railing next to her house. She must have found them all and healed them while the others were distracted.

Lucy nearly shrieked when she remembered the other hands on her but a hand over her mouth stifled the noise. "It's me, Lucy," came Leo's voice.

The blonde closed her eyes as a sob escaped her throat. She pulled away and then threw herself into her spirit's arms. "I almost had him back," she cried into his shoulder.

"I know, Lucy, I know." He squeezed her as Jellal kept an eye on the fighting while he finished tying up her leg. She fought to keep her tears under control and after a few seconds, she pulled back and punched Leo in the chest.

"Ow! What was that for?"

"Lying," she hissed. "We are definitely talking about that when this is over. And if you don't help me get Natsu back, I will never speak to you again," she said with conviction.

"We'll get him back, I promise." He grabbed her hands as his own began to glow. "Gemini can't come back right now, but my magic is compatible. I can help cast Prendi Magia, and since I came on my own, it won't drain any of your magic."

"Then let's do it," Jellal said, turning to face them. "We'll have to jump right into it, Lucy, or they'll see what we're doing. Are you ready?"

"Who do you think you're talking to?" she asked with a little smile. Hope, real, genuine hope, filled her for the first time in a long time.

They could do this.

"We'll need to aim at all of them," Jellal said as he helped her situate her leg to avoid hurting it even more.

Lucy wanted to argue, but she knew he was right. "Okay." Leo slipped his hand into hers and squeezed it, lending her his strength when he sensed her displeasure. She took a deep breath and then nodded. "Let's do it."

The trio finished settling in, knees nearly touching as they put their palms together. Nearby, they could hear the others fighting. Erza's battle cry far surpassed the others, and Lucy was surprised to find that she could hear Sting and Rogue in the fray as well. She forced herself not to look up, not to look at Natsu as he floated next to Zeref. With another prayer to the stars to help her with what they were about to do, she met Jellal's and Leo's eyes and they began. A golden ring appeared around them as they began the chant.

"Oh heavens above, hear these words,

For they are the will of the ones who utter them."

Zeref looked for the sudden source of light as Natsu growled at his side. He saw Lucy sitting with two others, casting the spell from earlier again.

"The land needs help, and we answer that call."

"Fools." He glanced over. "Could you take care of that for me, my pet?"

The demon grinned before letting out a roar and dipping his head to fly in their direction.

"Preserve what sustains us,

So that we may be sustained."

"I don't think so, ya idiot!" Gajeel's iron lance flew through the air, knocking Natsu into the treeline. The demon flew back into the air, finding the dragonslayer covered in his iron scales, the red of his eyes the color of dried blood in the dark.

"Take that which threatens us."

A large flower head appeared above the trio. It was made of many little bulbs, all shimmering in a different purple hue.

The iron dragonslayer hollered, "I ain't letting you go after her, ya moron! She's trying to help!" Gajeel barely dodged as a ball of black landed at his feet and created another crater in the ground.

"Eternally."

"Finish her," Zeref yelled again.

Natsu growled, aiming himself once more, only to be thrown back by a large wind. The demon screamed at the night sky as he tried to right himself among the trees. Wendy stood halfway across the yard, barely upright as she glared at the demon. "Leave her alone, Natsu!"

"We call upon the bodies, the souls, the king!"

Zeref huffed. "Enough of this!" He held out his arms as multiple orbs of black formed around him. "If I must take care of you all on my own, then so be it!"

"Take, so that you may preserve."

A bright light appeared in a coil around the trio, increasing in speed as it moved upwards towards the flower top. As the golden light disappeared, the lights of the flower flashed as they finished the spell. Jellal, Lucy and Leo released each other and raised their hands to the sky.

"Prendi Magia!"

The flower exploded, causing the purple bulbs to shoot down towards the ground. Lucy turned in time to see them land, each of Zeref's minions being hit by multiple glowing orbs that surrounded them in spinning light. They spun around each person, their pale purple turning into dark red before floating into the air and disappearing.

Zeref's cry was quiet, but audible. Lucy feared it wouldn't work when she saw him surrounding himself with a dense, black orb, but the magic continued to spin and press in until his barrier popped and it was able to sink into his body. He hissed something just before the spell ended, creating showers of red light that fell around their targets.

"It's nearly done," Jellal said. "I can feel their magical auras fading away." Lucy pushed herself up onto her knees as she sought out Zeref.

He had landed on the ground, his face a mask of anger as he glared her way. The red particles were particularly dense around him as his magic energy dispersed into the air. "You'll regret that, Ms. Heartfilia."

"You wish," she said. Straightening her spine, she looked around. "Where did Natsu go?"

"Lucy!" Leo yanked her to the side, grunting just before she felt him disappear.

"Leo!" Lucy rolled over, the pain in her shin making movement difficult, but she froze as she came nose to nose with Natsu. Those solid black eyes were staring straight at her as he opened his mouth and roared.

Jellal made a move towards her, but Lucy lifted a hand to stop him. "Don't," she said. Natsu snapped his teeth in Lucy's face, but instead of jumping, she lifted her nose and glared at him. "What on earth are you doing?"

Those black eyes blinked twice as he pulled back slightly. His mouth fell into a frown as he studied her. He's in there. I just have to reach him. Painfully, she got to her feet, hobbling when her leg wouldn't take her weight. As soon as she saw her spell finish, she shoved a finger into the demon's nose.

"Are you really going to take orders from a human like him? You are a demon, and a dragon; do you not have any standards?!" Natsu pulled back farther as he studied her and then looked over his shoulder towards Zeref.

The wizard sneered. "Don't look at me like that, you beast. Finish her!"

Ego is the most efficient way to fully activate the bond, but anger is much easier to accomplish. Perhaps she could use that other way. Perhaps with her magic being the opposite of Zeref's, being light and bright, she could use it to draw out the part of him that was kind and good- that was Natsu.

"What power does he hold over you?" Lucy asked. "Why would you possibly need to do his bidding? Why are you letting him dictate your choices? Letting him control you?"

Zeref got to his feet. "You are playing a deadly game, Ms. Hearfilia. I suggest you stop this instant. You don't know what you're doing."

"He might be right, Lucy." Jellal's whisper barely reached her. "He's a demon; you can't control him."

"I don't think he needs to be controlled," Lucy said loudly. "Do you?" she asked, cocking her head to the side as he looked at her once more. "Do you need someone to control you? Or do you think you can make up your own mind?"

There. It was faint, but she could just make out the gold returning to his eyes. If she could just talk him down, help him reel in the temper, use his brain, she could pull him back. All she had to do was get him thinking.

"Do you remember your time with Zeref? Do you remember your time as a slave in his hands? Doing his bidding, being kept from others? Did you miss it so much you're willing to jump right back into things and kill me for him?"

Angry.

Alone. Sad.

Dark.

Always dark.

"What about here?" She took a step as she gestured around. "Didn't we treat you well here? We fed you, we let you go outside, you were able to interact with others and play with the drakes." The demon scanned around him before zeroing in on the area of the woods where Lucy's old shed was with a growl.

When he turned that glare her way, it took everything in her not to flinch. "Yes, that was a bad day," she admitted, "but I was just trying to get you to behave." She felt Jellal move behind her at the same time that Natsu's eyes zeroed in on him. "We were kind to you here, weren't we?" she asked as she held her hand up behind her, signalling to Jellal to stop.

Kind. Nice.

Lucy.

Familiar.

Like it here.

Lucy continued, "We treated you with respect. We didn't hide you away and abuse you, or try to use you for our own selfish reasons. We cared about you."

He turned fully towards Lucy as she took a step forward, her hand held out. "I care about you." Her fear melted away as those black eyes slowly melted into gold.

She could do this. She could do this.

"Please, don't let him control you anymore. You are so much smarter than that." She leaned against his nose, running her hands softly against his scales. "Please. He's not in charge anymore. You are. Let's go-"

Several shouts of her name had her straightening in time to see Zeref charging her way. She tried to back up, but her leg buckled as she mindlessly put her weight on it. A gasp left her as she landed on her butt. She felt hands on her try to pull her back up, but they weren't needed.

Natsu, his eyes fully yellow and his scales swiftly changing back to red, caught Zeref before he could reach her, snapping his jaws shut on the man's torso.

"Zeref!"

"Boss!"

Lucy felt nauseous as she watched Zeref's legs fall to the ground, blood splattering Natsu and soaking into the dirt around them. With a growl and a few crunches, the red scaled dragon tilted his head back and swallowed his prey. He clicked his tongue as he lowered his head again, turning as he did to glare at the others. Jellal's hands tightened their grip on her arms, snapping her out of her. "N- Dragneel!" Jellal got her to her feet without a word, and helped her hobble forward to stop the dragon from attacking.

The beast nearly snapped as Lucy's hand landed on his side, but stopped when he saw her. Lucy raised a hand, begging him with her eyes as she waited silently for him to come back, to remember who she was. She could see the confusion slowly leave his gaze as he studied her, his expression warming as that big nose was finally pressed against her.

"Are you back?" she whispered. "Are you in there?"

The dragon hummed happily as he pressed more firmly against her. Tears filled her eyes as she looked around. The others had safely secured Zeref's men, and all looked like they could use a break, but first…

"Where's Wendy?"

"Right here," came a quiet response. Gajeel, not looking happy, was keeping Wendy on her feet as she slowly walked forward.

Lucy's stomach twisted. "Wendy, can you-"

"Yeah, I can." She frowned as she stumbled. "I'm sorry, Lucy. If I had known-"

Lucy cut her off. "No one knew, don't blame yourself."

"But this kind of thing-"

"Doesn't happen often," Lucy said firmly. "Neither of us had any reason to suspect that Natsu was in there, therefore, you had no reason to check him out."

"But he's a dragon," Wendy insisted.

"And you are a dragon slayer," Lucy pointed out. "Your magic is supposed to help defeat them, not heal them. So stop apologizing," she said as she reached out and clutched the other woman's hand, "and just do what you can to help him now."

"You sure you can handle this?" Gajeel interrupted. "You already used up a lotta magic to heal the rest of us."

"I can do it," Wendy assured him, "I just need help reaching him."

Lucy rubbed between Dragneel's- no, Natsu's- eyes. "Wendy can take a look at you, right?" When he merely pressed himself more firmly against her, she gave Wendy a nod.

The blue haired woman moved forward and held her hands over his neck. They began to glow and she frowned as she moved down his body. "I can't… where is…"

"Right between the eyes, Wendy."

The woman turned her head and her eyes lit up. "Porlyusica!"

The healer carefully made her way towards Wendy as Freed tried to walk at her side. Jellal released Lucy and swiftly moved to relieve the healer. As he helped Freed towards the house, Porlyusica pulled Wendy closer to the drake's head. By this time, Lucy had been gently pushed to the ground so the dragon could put his entire head on her lap. She looked up as the healer joined them.

"Are you okay, Porlyusica?"

"Of course I am," the healer snapped. "Wendy, right here." She grabbed Wendy's hands and placed them both between the dragon's eyes. He didn't even twitch as they arrived, choosing instead to press against Lucy as he purred and whined. "Just like I told you. Find it, contain it, erase it."

"I can do it." Wendy's face was set with determination as her hands began to glow once more. As she worked, the magic surrounding her hands slowly became black. The color swirled around her wrists, in and out between her fingers, and just before all the green disappeared, it stopped and began to change back.

The dragon's whine increased slightly as the green eclipsed the black, slowly shrinking the magic until it disappeared with a hiss. The dragon's entire body began to glow, and with a sudden push of air, the glow, and the dragon, disappeared.

Lucy opened her eyes to find a thin, dirty Natsu curled up against her. Her hands ended up in his hair, gently rubbing against his scalp as tears once more filled her eyes and instantly spilled over.

"We'll give you some space," Wendy whispered as she slowly moved away. Porlyusica had already left, so Gajeel grabbed Wendy's arm to help her walk towards the house where the others had all already convened, with Zeref's henchmen lined up against the porch.

For a while, all Lucy did was slowly scratch at Natsu's scalp as she gently ran her free hand over Natsu's face, his shoulder, his hand- anything she could reach.

The nightlife seemed to have returned, as crickets and owls called out in the woods once more. They didn't stop again, even when Natsu shot up, his eyes wide as he jerked his head from side to side. His panicked eyes didn't calm until they landed on her.

Lucy counted ten full heartbeats before he finally unfroze, his face relaxing and his hands reaching for her. She didn't have to be asked twice; as soon as he began to reach for her, she threw her arms around him and buried her face in his neck, sobs forcing their way out of her throat as he murmured quietly to her.

It was finally over.

As she cried, she realized it was the first time she'd let go since he left. The entire time Natsu had been gone, she'd refused to accept that he wasn't coming back. She'd hid her worry and fear behind her certainty that he would return. She'd ignored the whispers, the stares, the rumors, everything, in an effort to keep herself together. She'd kept her head high; she'd refused to let anyone else bring her down or create doubt in her mind. She'd even ignored her own heart when it had begun to give up.

She hadn't cried, really truly cried, since she lost Plue and the others. Now though, now she was in Natsu's arms and he was safe and he was back and there was nothing that could stop her from finally allowing all of that uncertainty, worry and grief to cleanse itself from her soul.

Lucy cried so hard her head hurt, her eyes were swollen, and she could no longer breathe through her nose. The whole time, Natsu held her, his arms thin but still strong. He kept her pressed hard against his chest while he held one of her hands against his face, his own tears sliding between her fingers to soak into her sleeve. The words he uttered were nonsense, but she didn't care. Just hearing his voice soothed her in a way she hadn't been soothed in years.

It felt like hours later when she finally pulled back to wipe her face clean. Natsu refused to let go of the hand on his face, so she only had one, but that was okay. When she finally met his eyes, she saw that he hadn't fared much better. His eyes were red and tears continued to leak down his cheeks as he met her gaze. He lifted his free hand to rest it against her cheek and Lucy lifted her other hand to cover his, mirroring his opposite hand.

"I missed you, Luce," he whispered, tears continuing to spill over as he smiled at her. "I don't remember much of what happened recently, but I was aware enough the first few years I remembered you. Stars above," he said, a phrase he'd picked up from her. "I tried so hard to get back to you Luce. I swear."

"I know." Her laugh was more of a gasp as she sat forward. He met her halfway, pressing his forehead against hers. For a long time, neither said anything as they caught their breath, both moving their fingers every so often to wipe away stray tears.

Finally unable to contain herself, Lucy lifted her mouth to his. With her lips molded against his, she let him feel everything. How much she had missed him, how hard it had been to live without him, how worried she had been that she'd never see him again... How painful it had been to lose him.

She pushed him onto his back, drawing a startled gasp from him, so she could straddle his hips, her hands once more threaded into his hair as she ravaged his mouth. Lucy re-familiarized herself with his skin as he dug his fingers into her hips, pulling her closer. It wasn't until his hands tried to remove her shirt that she finally remembered where they were.

With more effort than she anticipated, she pulled away, gasping as she filled her lungs with the cool night air. "Natsu-"

He surged up, his mouth capturing hers once more. When his hands found the clasp of her bra under her shirt, she drew back once more, laughing as she stilled his arms with her own. "Natsu."

He hummed as he ran his nose along her throat. "What is it, master?" he breathed against her skin.

It took all of Lucy's self control not to succumb to his words. "We're outside."

"Wouldn't be the first time."

"You're dirty."

"Still not the first time." He carefully dragged a fang along her collarbone, drawing a groan from her.

"Natsu-"

Gajeel's voice suddenly broke through the peaceful night air. "Hey, I know it's been a while, but get a room!"

Natsu's eyes snapped open and he glared in the direction of the house. "I forgot they were there."

Lucy chuckled. "And I'm hoping you wouldn't like to share."

"Damn right," he confirmed, squeezing her close before removing his hands.

With another laugh, she began to get to get to her feet, but the pain in her leg caused her to stumble. In an instant, Natsu was standing and holding her close. "I gotcha." He held her close as he buried his nose into her hair and then sighed. "I'm not going anywhere again."

"Promise?" Lucy asked, that single word filled with every last bit of the worry and pain she'd suffered over the last six years.

He tightened his arms around her, pulling her so close, she was touching him from head to toe. Then he pulled back and kissed her gently on the mouth before leaning his forehead against her, his eyes open wide so she could see how sincere he was.

"I promise," he said firmly.