There are plenty of excuses for why I took so long to update, but I won't bore you with them. Enjoy some Natsu POV.

Disclaimer: I don't not own Fairy Tail.

Natsu's P.O.V.

"Lucyyyy, come play with us!" I whined, holding a basketball as I looked at Lucy lounging back on her beach towel. The sun shone down brightly, and the scent of the sea breeze was faint throughout the air. The sandy beach we were on stretched for miles in either direction, and a couple dozen yards away, Erza and Happy were busy setting up the volleyball net. Gray was busy learning how to ice skate on the waves of the ocean.

"No thanks! I want to relax some more and get a tan. I haven't been on a beach trip in years, Natsu," Lucy pouted. With her lower lip protruding and those huge, sad brown eyes looking up at me, I was basically helpless. She was so cute.

Well, maybe "cute" wasn't the word I was looking for. Words like "hot", "sexy", "fiery", or "fucking gorgeous" definitely seemed to fit better in that moment. She was wearing a one piece swimsuit that covered much more than what was usual for her beachwear, but the pink winter coat she was wearing over it looked very cozy. But how she intended to get a tan that way, I wasn't sure.

"Alright, well, if you change your mind, come join us!" I said brightly, tossing the basketball into the air and hitting it down the beach with my bat.

"I will," she said with a smile, opening a bottle of ponzu sauce and dabbing it around her skin to spread around. As much as I wanted to stick around and lick it from her body, the others were waiting for me.

"Hey Natsu! Hurry and bring the pogo sticks! It's time to play!" Erza called. Looking over at her, I watched as she lifted the skirt of her ballgown out of the sand and carefully removed her slippers. Beside her, Happy trilled with joy and split into three mini-Happys, which made the work of weaving the volleyball net with feathers go much faster. I started a light jog over, but Lucy's quivering voice behind me stopped me dead in my tracks.

"Natsu?"

Looking back at Lucy, my stomach suddenly dropped. The entire scene shifted, the sky darkened until everything was pitch black, and all I could see was Lucy now several feet away, completely bare-skinned and chained to a stone wall. Tears streamed down her face from her watery honey-brown eyes as she struggled and strained against her shackles. Absolute terror and rage filtered through me.

"Lucy! No!" I shouted, but when I bid my legs to move, I stayed rooted in place. "What?" I growled loudly, looking down at my legs. Between them, lying on her back and looking up at me, was Fulvia. She had a hand wrapped firmly around each ankle, preventing me from running. She licked her lips in what was supposed to be a seductive way, but I could only feel myself cringe and shiver.

"Come now, Natsu," Fulvia said in an exaggerated pout. "I'll bet you'd make a fantastic meal. Come and play with me," she said, lowering her voice into a heated tone. Everything seemed to turn on its side for a moment, and suddenly I was chained to a bed with Fulvia atop me, straddling my waist. Lucy was still chained to the wall nearby, tugging at her bindings and repeatedly calling my name. In the next moment, another figure appeared next to her from the shadows.

"Winters!" I snarled, immediately surging forward. The chains snapped taut as they held me back easily, but I struggled against them nonetheless. "Don't you dare touch her! I'll kill you, bastard!"

I could only see Winters smirk as he turned to face Lucy, and suddenly my view was obstructed by a mass of platinum colored curls. "Don't worry about them, Slayer. We can have our own fun," Fulvia drawled, placing her hand on my suddenly bare chest. Using her nails to lightly scrape downwards over my abdomen, I felt my stomach turn in disgust. I did everything in my power to turn on my flames to drive her off, but I couldn't even manage a wisp of smoke. The anxiety I felt about her touching me like that was enough to make me physically ill. I didn't want this!

"Get your hands off me," I roared, twisting every way I could to try and escape. But it felt like the more I struggled, the less my body would move. "Lucy! I'm coming! Don't you fucking touch her, Winters, you hear me?!" The cold shackles bit into my skin and seemed to secure me even more tightly to the bed. Above me, Fulvia caressed her hand even lower down my chest, her fingers brushing across the pink curls that started just below my navel. I could hear Lucy's screams grow more frantic.

When Fulvia's hand reached the hem of my pants, I jerked my hips away as hard as I could. I couldn't let her touch me like that! I had to save Lucy! She was probably terrified and had already endured so much, and had experienced so much pain and abuse. She was a beautiful soul that didn't deserve any of it, and I couldn't tolerate standing by and doing nothing. I couldn't let her get hurt! I couldn't let someone else touch her again! No one had the right to touch her! She was mine.

Lucy's screams only amplified while I spent several excruciating moments struggling and straining against my bindings, to the point I had finally been completely halted in any movement. It was like my muscles were frozen in place, perpetually tensed up and unable to release. Fulvia finally took her opportunity and yanked my pants down, revealing my flaccid cock.

"Oh, dear. That won't do. We need to get you more excited, honey," she said hungrily, licking her lips and leaning down to my chest. She flicked out her tongue, licking my bare chest and starting a slow trail down over my abdomen. As Lucy's screams grew, my head throbbed as panic assaulted my senses. Fulvia's tongue only worked itself lower, swirling around my navel before dipping down even further.

"Natsu!" Lucy's cries rang over and over through my head. The sounds of everything happening, including my own yells, had steadily intensified, multiplying and bouncing through the frigid air. The echo seemed to bash into my skull, making my head pound and twisting my stomach. I had to make this stop! I had to -

My eyes snapped open as I inhaled sharply. Panic gripped me like a vice as I lay rigid in place. It took a moment for my eyes to adjust, but when they did I was finally able to see that Lucy was leaning over me, her blonde hair tousled about her head and worry etched across her expressions.

"Natsu?!" she half-yelled, her brown eyes wide and frantic. She was holding down my wrists, hovering over me in a kneeling position from the side. Her chest heaved as she saw me looking up at her, though I still wasn't able to move as I gathered my bearings.

I was safe. She was safe. It was just a dream. We were both safe in my tent, in the middle of nowhere. Winters and Fulvia were dead, so there was no way they could hurt Lucy ever again. I could finally let go of the horror I seemed to be suffocating under.

"Natsu?" Lucy asked again shakily, loosening her grip on my wrists.

My stomach lurched, and I was suddenly up and out of the tent, calling on the dragons. As my stomach voided itself of the previous night's dinner, I inwardly cringed at Lucy having to hear it. My motion sickness was one thing, but this was different.

Once I was finished and my mouth was rinsed, I crawled back into the tent to see Lucy sitting where she had been kneeling earlier, looking expectantly at me with her brow furrowed in distress. "Are you okay?" she asked nervously, extending her hand out to me. She stopped halfway, looking at her hand with a bit of guilt as she slowly withdrew it. "What happened?"

Feeling a bit weak after the anxiety and adrenaline left my system (along with my stomach contents), I half-collapsed to the floor of the tent next to her, casting my gaze downward as I ran a frustrated hand through my already messy hair. "Yeah, I'm... I'm good."

"You're not sick, are you?" she asked in concern, her soft brown eyes looking at me with worry. Turning, she grabbed her bag from behind her. "I think I have some medicine - "

"No, I don't get sick. Not like that. I just... I'm okay." I said, avoiding her gaze. I could still hear her screams faintly in the back of my mind. I was half laying, propped on one arm, but it was quivering and threatening to give. What the hell was with that dream? Why couldn't I shake it off?

"Natsu, you're clearly not okay!" she said, her brow furrowing in slight irritation. She picked up a hand as if she wanted to lay it on my arm, but she once again thought better of her actions and stopped. Straightening up her sitting position, she said quietly, "You were yelling for me in your sleep. You honestly look like you've seen a ghost. Was it a nightmare? It... Must have been pretty bad... To make you react like this."

I opened my mouth to brush off her assumptions, but I couldn't. She said I was yelling for her in my sleep. I couldn't lie to her at this point. "I... Yeah. It was just a bad dream. That's it."

"What happened?" she prodded. As soon as she said that, flashes of images burned into my brain came surging forth, filling me with anxiety all over again. Swallowing thickly, I tried, "Winters. Uh, you were... chained up again... and Fulvia was there. She was trying to... Fuck, it was just awful, I - "

"Why don't you start from the beginning?" she suggested, this time actually placing her hand on my forearm, her delicate fingers cold against my always heated skin.

"I... I don't think you wanna know..."

"Natsu," she said, pulling her hand away and placing it her lap. Giving me a half-stern look, she said, "If it was enough to shake you up this bad, then it's probably best that you open up about it. Keeping it to yourself can make it worse..."

Running my hand down through my hair and rubbing my face, I let out a heavy sigh. If she was gonna be my mate, then I supposed I needed to let her in a bit more. I was pretty much an open book, but...

I didn't want her to think I was weak.

Since I had met Lucy, I always prided myself in being strong for her and protecting her. I didn't want her to know how much the Fulvia thing actually bothered me. Fulvia had indeed touched me when she first tried to take my sexual energy. Before she realized that I had found my true mate, she had done quite a few things to try to arouse me. I easily resisted them all, but... I really did feel violated. Being molested by a fallen Goddess was not as great as it sounded. But at the same time, I felt as if maybe I was overreacting. All she did was touch me, even if it was my privates. She never did actually hurt me. As odd as it was, I was sure there were plenty of men, including some guys in the guild, who would have happily let her have her way with them. So why did I feel so disgusted and freaked out over what she did? It wasn't like me to dwell over something like that.

"Natsu?" Lucy whispered my name pryingly.

I struggled for another moment before I finally gave in.

I explained exactly what I could remember from the dream, even the super weird irrelevant beginning that I realized must have sounded really dumb. After explaining the horror of the nightmare, I felt my insides twist in anxiety but I also felt relieved. When I repeated the event out loud, it started sinking in that it really was just a dream. Fulvia and Winters were both dead. Plain and simple. Explaining Fulvia's actions in my dream to Lucy was a lot harder and more embarrassing than I thought it would be. I could feel myself trembling a bit as I told Lucy how she tried to get my body to... react.

Lucy easily picked up on my anxiety.

"So, she... you know... with her mouth?" Lucy asked, her hands clenched together as she looked at me with concern.

"No," I said quickly, shaking my head. "I woke up right before she, uh, got there. It just brings back a lot of bad memories."

"Bad memories?" Lucy asked, her words shaking slightly. After a moment, her eyes widened a fraction before continuing, "What... What all did she do to you when she carried you off from the dungeon? She said her powers wouldn't work on you because of me."

That was one of the questions I was hoping she wouldn't ask. Shutting my eyes and inhaling deeply, I opened them a moment later and hauled myself to a sitting position, with my knees bent in front and my arms propped on them. Avoiding her gaze, I looked down at my lap and more anxiety filled me.

"It's not like it matters now," I said lowly, tensing.

"Natsu..." Lucy said softly, clenching her fists. "Please."

When had I become so soft? I didn't care for it much, because I suddenly felt inclined to oblige her. "Her magic didn't work on me. But a majority of her magic worked to... arouse her victims. She naturally absorbed sexual energy, but she used her magic to get her victims going. Since her magic didn't work on me, she had to..." Fuck, it shouldn't have been so hard to tell Lucy this. It wasn't like she was going to make fun of me, but the embarrassment and shame I felt made me very hesitant. Raising my head to look at Lucy's face, I could see that she was looking at me expectantly, concern welling in her eyes. "She had to... physically try and arouse me. She, uh, she used her hands... And her breasts... And her m-mouth," I managed to grind out, shivering at the memory of the woman's mouth hungrily sucking on my limp cock. I could only feel disgust with her and myself.

"Oh, Natsu," Lucy said shakily, her eyes filling with tears. She immediately reached up to try and wipe them away before they fell. "I... I didn't know. I didn't think she did anything like that. When you said her magic didn't work on you, I thought... I didn't even think she would try... another way." She sounded horrified. "It must have been terrifying. I'm so sorry, Natsu!" With that, she flung her arms around me, hugging me tightly.

"It's... It's okay," I said roughly, trying to get that lump in my throat to go away. I didn't want her to see me cry. "I'm fine."

"It's not okay!" she said, gripping me by the shoulders and pulling back to look at me. Tears streamed down her face but fury burned in her eyes. "That woman violated you! And it's obviously bothering you enough to give you nightmares."

"It's nothing," I snapped back, even though I knew she was right. It was obvious she was right.

Both of us stared at each other for several long moments, breathing harshly as the wind and snow howled outside the tent. I honestly wished she would just drop the subject. I didn't want to think about it.

"Natsu..." Lucy said cautiously, tilting her head a fraction. "Why are you avoiding this? Have you been avoiding thinking about it this whole time?"

"So what if I have?" I ground out, clenching my fists and looking back down at my lap. "I don't want to think about it. I don't want to think about what she did to me!"

"And that's okay," she said a bit more softly, "but you can't just pretend it didn't happen. Why didn't you tell me about this sooner?"

There it was. The one question I was hoping she wouldn't ask above all others. I had no intention of lying to her, but my ego was going to take a serious hit. I was supposed to be strong. I wasn't supposed to let these kinds of things get to me!

"I... was scared."

There. I had said it out loud. But I knew it wasn't enough for her, so I continued. "I'm supposed to be strong. I'm supposed to be stronger than any uneasy feelings I have over something that didn't even hurt me. We didn't have sex, so this shouldn't bother me as much as it does. I have to be strong for you. I... I didn't want you to see me as weak."

Lucy's face crumpled under my confession, he expression almost unreadable. "Natsu, I would never think of you as weak," she said, clutching a hand to her chest. "What she did - what you went through - is something no one should ever have to experience. She violated you, tried to have her way with you. Sexual assault isn't just something that happens to girls! It happens to guys, too. And it's normal to feel violated and vulnerable. But you don't have to do it alone. I... I know how you feel."

Of course she knew how I felt. She had already been assaulted three times on our mission. But I felt like that was all the more reason to keep my fears to myself. She had enough to deal with, she didn't need me to add to her problems.

I had to admit, though. It felt good to finally tell her. The lump in my throat made it hard to swallow as flashes of images from that night played through my mind. I could still feel the goddess's cold touches on my skin. I had been avoiding thinking about it for so long, I thought I had gotten over it. That nightmare told me otherwise. Cringing as I remembered feeling that creature's slimy tongue, I felt my heart grow heavier.

I couldn't speak. As pathetic as it was, I couldn't stop the tears that formed in my eyes. Lucy must have noticed, because she pulled me back into another hug, holding me tightly against her chest. Even though it was freezing cold, her hug felt so warm. I clenched my eyes shut as I grit my teeth, glad she wasn't able to see my face. Hesitantly, I brought my arms up to encircle her waist, burying my face in her hair.

I fought so hard to crush down my despair, until I heard her whisper, "I'm so sorry, Natsu. It'll be okay, though. Eventually. I promise."

With that, a single sob tore from my throat as hot tears spilled over. Trying and failing to fight the tears that fell, I could tell from the wetness on the back of my shirt that Lucy was losing the same battle. The embarrassment and fear I felt slowly eased the longer we clung to each other, and the comfort I felt in Lucy's arms made the tightness in my chest fade. While I still felt vulnerable and weak, Lucy's understanding and compassion was a huge relief. Knowing that she didn't think less of me felt better than anything else.

'God, I love this woman.'

We held onto each other for a long time, until it was no longer morning. The wind seemed to ease up outside at some point, and in a moment that surprised both Lucy and me, we saw sunlight cross over the tent. It was enough to make us separate while holding each others' gaze. Lucy's eyes were bloodshot, but she still gave me a small smile. Lucy seemed to give me confidence that I didn't know I was missing.

"We better head out," she said, tilting her head up as if she were listening for something. "With the wind stopping and the sun making an appearance, this would probably be the best time to search for Sleipnir."

"Yeah," was all I could managed. I was still feeling pretty raw, but I definitely felt better, and after everything that had happened, I was more than ready to get the mission over with.

Lucy and I packed up everything in silence, which wasn't much different than usual but we had grown accustomed to the constantly howling wind disturbing any usual conversation. When we both crawled outside into the frigid open air, we were both stunned for several long moments at the sight.

We were in the middle of nowhere, which we already knew, but for once we could actually see everything. The snow had stopped altogether, and the sun made an appearance every now and then through the clouds. Ahead of us was a long stretch of flat ground, covered in who-knew-how-many feet of snow. I could see quite a ways off, all the way to where the curve of snow dropped off. Behind the drop-off, I could see solid white mountains that rose up high and disappeared through the clouds. The freezing air fogged in front of me as I breathed, taking in the sight.

As much danger we were in, I had to admit it was beautiful.

Once we admired the landscape, Lucy and I quickly packed up the rest of our belongings and ate some stale bread before we headed out. I knew we were within the boundaries of the Arid Steppes, but the book we read didn't really give us much more information on where to find these creatures. I was sure things would be much easier since the snow had stopped. Finding any tracks in a blizzard was next to impossible, and that was quite literally what we were looking for.

I expected the blizzard to wind back up at any moment, but after several hours of traveling and searching for tracks without a single flurry making an appearance, I was happy to be wrong. Lucy suggested we head towards the mountains, which made sense. Even if we didn't find anything, mountains meant caves, which meant we could have better nightly shelter. As much as I enjoyed having Lucy's body pressed against me as we slept, it was almost physically painful to not touch her. While I was sure she wouldn't mind, I was more worried about myself. My restraint seemed to grow thinner each passing day.

By the time it started to grow dark, the clouds had already taken over once more. Snow started falling again, but it was light and was missing the harsh wind. I figured that was our cue to halt our search, so Lucy and I stopped where we were and set up camp again. I knew that Lucy hated camping, so I was honestly surprised at how little she had complained about it recently. She also complained very little about the cold (which even bothered me just a tiny bit), but I took a guess that it was the cloak I had given her. It seemed like she never took it off.

We took another measly meal of stale bread, since that was all we really had left. I was hoping to find game soon (did Sleipnir taste good?), but for the time being, we made due. If worse came to worse, Lucy could have one of her spirits bring us something. She wasn't fond of that idea, though, and it could take a while for them to come through. Time moved much differently in the spirit world.

The rest of the night was fairly uneventful, with the two of us hunkering down quickly in the darkness. The wind and snow was finally starting to pick back up outside, making the tent shudder and shake. As I began to drift off, my mind strayed back to that morning. I really hoped it was a one-time thing, because dealing with that had been exhausting.

...

It was still completely dark when my eyes cracked open. It was in the early morning hours, quite a ways off from sunrise. Just faintly, I could pick up some sounds from outside, just barely audible over the blistering wind tearing through the air and beating against the tent. Immediately on alert, I wrapped my arms around Lucy and gently moved her to the side so I could sit up and listen. It sounded like something beating on the ground. In fact, it sounded like several somethings beating on the ground. Listening more closely, I realized...

Hooves.

"Lucy! Lucy!" I said excitedly, tapping the girl on the shoulder, though she was already stirring from me moving her.

"What's going on?" she asked sleepily, though she did immediately sit up on alert.

"I hear hooves outside. Lots of them. Come on!" I scrambled out of the tent, cringing as I made it through the flap and was blasted with icy wind. Running a few feet out, my eyes strained to see the area around me. It was pitch black, damn near impossible to see a thing. But I could still hear them, and my nose picked up a strange scent I had never encountered before.

"Natsu?" I heard Lucy yell over the wind. I turned to see mostly blackness, but I could make out Lucy's silhouette exiting the tent. "Can you see anything?"

"No," I yelled back, taking another sweeping look around. "But I can still hear them, and I think I'm picking up their scent."

"What do we do?" I heard her yell back. "We can't leave our supplies."

Damn. She was right. Best bet was going to be following the creatures, because with the heavy snow that was falling again, any tracks would surely be covered up. And the wind would carry away any lingering scents within just a couple hours. I thought hard for a moment, not liking the difficult decision I needed to make.

"Stay here," I said finally, grimacing at my own words. "I'm gonna follow them to see where they're headed. Once I get a good idea of where we're going, I'll come back and help you pack up."

Lucy definitely looked nervous, but we couldn't let this opportunity pass, which she knew. "O-okay. Please be careful, Natsu."

I only nodded, taking off in the direction I heard the hooves heading. I ignited flames around me to help me see better as I scanned the blurry terrain. I was slowly gaining on the sounds, the noise becoming more pronounced the faster I ran.

'They're headed roughly northeast. Their smell is becoming stronger.'

I continued on my path, not stopping as I quickly closed distance between me and the creatures. Finally, after about two miles, I was able to see several large shadows running in sync through the snow-laden land with ease. With all eight powerful legs working in tandem, it wasn't hard to see why they had no trouble getting around in such a snowy region.

Since the clue said to follow them, I knew it was best if I did so at a distance so I wouldn't spook them. So, turning my fire down, I made sure to keep far enough back that they wouldn't be able to sense me as I continued to tail them. They were beautiful animals, massive (easily dwarfing even Elfman's stature), and a solid, sleek black color. And they were really fast. I actually had a little difficulty keeping track of them. I trailed them for roughly three more miles until we finally came up to the mountains Lucy and I had seen earlier in the day.

There was an opening at the base of this particular mountain, the mouth to what appeared to be a large cavern. All the Sleipnirs filtered into that entrance, and I felt a sigh of relief leave me.

So now we finally knew where to go.

My curiosity itched fiercely, demanding that I investigate the cave before I left. Every natural instinct I had was curious as hell. But that one tiny, logical part of my brain told me that I needed to get Lucy first. I almost never listened to that rational part of my mind, but as cold and dark as it was, I knew I couldn't leave her out there on her own.

Gritting my teeth, I turned and fled back towards our tent, easily following my own scent and making sure to remember my steps and turns. I wanted to be sure we wouldn't have a problem getting back to that spot on the mountain.

As I lightly jogged my way back, tired after that intense run, I thought about what might happen next. I wasn't sure how long we had until daybreak, but my senses told me we still had hours to go. If that was the case, it would be better to get back to Lucy and rest some more until dawn before heading out. We didn't know what was in that cave, and our mission didn't have a good track record of being safe.

Crack.

Suddenly, without warning, the ground beneath me fell away. Whatever I had stepped on shattered, plummeting me down through the ice and underground. The hole I fallen in seemed to be made of solid ice as well, so as I dropped, my body glided along the walls of the hole easily as I slipped through the twist and turns. Space seemed to be limited otherwise. I could feel the walls closing in the further I fell, until I could feel it pressing against my sides. After several moments, I finally hit the bottom, my lower half plunging into fluffy snow and getting stuck as my upper half was immobilized by the tight space.

'Like I'd let some ice stop me.'

I smirked to myself as I decided to put out a blast of scorching flames, determined to melt everything within several feet of me.

But it did nothing. The snow and ice didn't melt a single drop.

"What?!" I snarled aloud, trying again to blast out as much fire as possible. I tried for several long moments, but the ice didn't even glisten with sweat. I let out a long string of curse words at that.

Okay, Plan B. I started struggling, wiggling and twisting and moving in every possible way to dislodge myself from my tight spot. But my legs and hips were fully buried in non-melting snow, and in the enclosed space it was almost impossible to escape.

"Dammit! What the fuck am I supposed to do now?"

Please R&R.