"Mistress Shelia." Wendy turned to the sound of her fake name, the action easier after all these months. Verlane approached her, everyone moving out of his way as he walked through the crowd. Wendy smiled, no longer finding it difficult to fake her emotions around him after two months. Natsu stood beside her, growing tenser the closer Verlane came.

"Be safe kid," he muttered. She winked, rolling her shoulders and adjusting her gray skirts.

"When am I not?" Natsu snorted, bumping her gently with his elbow. Wendy beamed at him. "I think we're almost there. I've been giving him hints about that stairwell and just wanting to know more in general. And he really likes me. It won't take much longer, I know it."

A few feet away, Erza smiled at the pair. Gray snorted, crossing his arms and leaning back against the wall far away from anyone else in the hall. "Wendy's turning into just as big a flirt as the rest of our guild." He grinned, remembering how awkward Wendy had been when Erza and Lucy tried to teach her how to flirt or use her beauty to her advantage when talking to men.

"That's not true," Erza argued. "Using her charms to get what we want is not flirting. Nor is it bad. Think of how many situations we'd still be stuck in if not for Lucy or I or any of the other women in our guild."

Gray raised his hands in defense. "I didn't say it was bad. Just pointing out a fact. All of you have definitely rubbed off on her. And I guess it just makes me realize how much she's grown up in just this last year." He paused, frowning as his last statement actually hit him. "Damn. We left the guild a year ago."

"And Fiore two months later." Erza sighed, crossing her own arms and wrapping her hand around her forearm, the presence of a concealed dagger comforting her slightly. "I truly don't know how much more of this I can handle." Gray nodded in agreement, and they fell silent as Verlane finally stopped in front of Wendy.

He nodded at Natsu, the Dragon Slayer returning the gesture even as his knuckles turned white. He couldn't stand the smell that lingered around Verlane or his dad, and he definitely couldn't stand the healthy cast to their skin. He really didn't know how Wendy had done it these past two months.

Verlane raised an eyebrow and held out his arm to Wendy. "Will you walk with me?"

She nodded, not bothering to curtsy but instead just placing her hand on his elbow. She shot Natsu one last look before they walked away together, ignoring the poisonous stares boring into her sides. Even all these weeks later, the other young women of the court were jealous of the girl who'd caught the eye of the heir of the manor. She wished she could tell them they had nothing to worry about. Then again, if she could, she'd want to tell them to run away as fast as they could before it all went to shit.

As they grew closer and closer to the door, Wendy's gaze locked on the blonde standing a mere ten feet away, her head down as she listened to a nobleman talk and talk and talk. Wendy bit her lip before launching into action.

She glanced up at Verlane. "Do you mind if I speak to Ashley real quick? I have something I need to ask her." Remembering the quick lesson her friends had given her three weeks ago, she fluttered her eyelashes, feeling ridiculous even as she did.

But it must have worked, because his lip quirked up in a smile and he nodded. She stepped away quickly, approaching Lucy with her chin held high. "Excuse me sir." The nobleman looked at her in brief shock and disdain before he managed to hide it. Wendy smiled, still batting her eyelashes. "I need to talk to my maid. If you'll excuse us." She grabbed Lucy's arm, pulling her away before the man could react. She led them both to the wall, aware of Verlane's gaze still on her.

Lucy sighed in relief, smiling briefly at the Sky Maiden. "Thanks. I really wasn't enjoying that." Then her smile turned into a smirk. "And look at you. You really put what Erza and I said to use."

Wendy nodded with a small smile and a blush. "If these guys want to see me as a meek girl, then let them. It only helps us, right?" Then she shrugged, glancing at Verlane from the corner of her eye. "I have to get back to Verlane, but why don't you hang around Natsu and the others? Stuffy nobles shouldn't bother you there."

Lucy flushed, hand subconsciously wrapping around her necklace while pressing Loki's key against the skin of her chest. "Uh, I dunno. I'm supposed to be serving everyone…"

"Oh come on Lucy." Wendy rolled her eyes with a smile. "It's been two months, and you're still being awkward around Natsu?"

"No!" Lucy denied loudly. She cleared her throat, lowering her voice once more. "I'm not being awkward around Natsu."

"You totally are. You two were constantly sitting near each other or talking or teasing or just being comfortable. But now you make it an effort to put some space between you or talk to other people, even when it's just us in our rooms."

Lucy fidgeted, seeing the truth in the younger girl's words. "It's just… embarrassing, I guess. Natsu's great; he's my best friend. But I know that closeness makes people think we're together, and I know there's something that Gray and Erza and even you aren't telling me." Wendy opened her mouth, but Lucy plowed on. "It's whatever. I guess I see what you mean about everything being different. I'll try to stop that. But is it so bad that I just want to prove a point? Prove that just because we're friends doesn't mean we're together?"

Wendy smiled tightly, making sure her body concealed Lucy's as she squeezed her friend's hands. "I get it. But make sure Natsu does too, alright? He hasn't said anything cause he thinks you're mad at him or don't like him right now." Lucy blinked in surprise, stomach twisting into knots. Wendy pressed forward. "You know how thick he can be about some things. So just talk to him. Please? For me at least?"

Lucy smiled, biting her lip and nodding. "You're right. I'll, I'll be with Natsu when you get back. Be careful, alright? Happy or Carla should be nearby in case you need help. And Wendy, I know I've said it before, but if you end up in real danger, screw the quest and save yourself. Please."

It was Wendy's turn to smile at her friend. "Alright. I'll see you soon." Then she turned, returning to Verlane with the same happy smile.

"What was that about?" He questioned once she finally reached his side. Her face froze as she took his arm once more, thoughts spinning.

"Er, I just had some questions about the dress I wanted to wear tomorrow. And my dad wanted to talk to her too, so I relayed that to her. Thanks for waiting." She bit her cheek, hoping it was a good enough excuse.

Verlane nodded, and his eyes gave off the look of a man contemplating something. It didn't take her long to learn what it was. "Shelia, are you aware of the rumors that have been circulating these last few months?"

Her face heated in an instant. "Oh, I try to stay out of the gossip. Besides, what my dad does and what Ashley does is none of my concern."

He blinked in surprise. "Does it not bother you?"

"Not really." She toed a very fine line. If she said even the slightest wrong thing, he might believe that Lucy and Natsu actually were having an affair. And Lucy would be so pissed if that got spread around. She took a deep breath, cheeks still aflame. "I mean, I haven't asked them about it. If that's what they want, then, well, who am I to get in the way?"

Verlane frowned, guards pulling the doors wide open and allowing the pair to pass through to the hallway. "Yet she's only a few years older than you, is she not? I saw the both of you. You treat her like a friend, not the servant she truly is."

Wendy risked having a bit of backbone. How could she not when he was practically insulting Lucy? "Ashley has been with me my entire life. She's always taken care of me, even before my mom passed." She choked up, memories of Grandeeney crowding her thoughts. "I know things run differently here, but I could never see Ashley as any less than she is. So I don't care if she and my dad are together, even if that rumor isn't true."

"I didn't mean to offend. I… I apologize." Verlane frowned, the phrase seemingly new on his lips. Wendy dipped her head in acknowledgement, looking at her feet to avoid his stare. An apology didn't fix everything. Especially when the apology came from such a jerk.

He cleared his throat, pulling her tighter as they walked through familiar halls. She suppressed a shudder when she realized where they were headed. Directly toward that staircase that was oh so important.

"I wanted to show you something." He broke the silence as if he had read her thoughts. She finally lifted her eyes back to his, noting the excitement thrumming through him. His dark eyes shone in the candlelight and brief sunlight mostly hidden by the clouds outside.

"What is it?"

He smiled then, his face splitting in two with a rare grin. He meant it to be comforting or bright, but all Wendy could imagine was a tiger before its dinner.

"I know you've been curious about that guarded staircase. And you know that I can't take you down there, especially without Father's permission. But I thought I'd take you over, and maybe down the stairs a bit, if you'd like." His grin widened even as her eyes did, and her heart began to hammer in her chest. Did he really just say that? Was he really taking her down those stairs? Even if he didn't show her anything, that would still be more than anyone had learned so far. So she nodded with a breathless smile, tightening her fist to keep from leaping around in joy.

He didn't say much else to her until they reached the stairwell. Mak stood by the stairwell, and perhaps it was only because she was looking that she saw his face drop in surprise. He somehow managed to keep it hidden from Verlane, instead staring stoically at the far wall, knowing he would get an answer from Wendy whenever he next stopped by her room. Which might have to be tonight due to the intense curiosity in his stomach.

Verlane brushed past Mak and the second guard, pulling Wendy along with him. All sound was drowned out by the rushing in her ears as they took their first steps into that cold, empty stairwell. Then she could only focus on the brushing of her dress over the stones, her quickened breath, her shoes clicking against the stairs. They took several more steps, widening downward in silence, likely to get far enough away that the guards would be unable to hear whatever it was that Verlane planned on telling her. If that was indeed what was happening right now. God, she hoped it was.

"At the end of these stairs is a warren of tunnels." She jumped at the sound of his voice, unexpected after so long in the quiet. He chuckled slightly, and she knew his predatory grin still lingered. "Within them… well, I can't quite tell you what's down there, now can I?" Then he turned to face her, his free hand reaching up to cup her chin. She fought back a shiver at the touch. Her distaste would have been evident in her eyes, however, so she focused her gaze on the buttons of his waistcoat directly at her eye level. He snorted, raising her chin a fraction. "But it's what let my father gain control of this manor. And maybe someday, you can join me at his side."

XXX

"He said what?!" Lucy blanched from her seat on the couch, Happy tucked into her lap and Natsu not far from her side. The Dragon Slayer constantly switched his attention from Lucy to Wendy, wanting to focus on the information she was relaying and yet unable to concentrate with Lucy so close after so long. He'd done his best not to eavesdrop when Wendy spoke with the blonde earlier which hadn't been super hard considering how loud that room could get, but he knew that it must have had something to do with him, if only because Lucy now sat right next to him like she hadn't for weeks. He didn't blame her, not really, especially since he knew how embarrassed or over-dramatic she could get about some things. But he hadn't realized how much he really missed her closeness until she had dropped onto the couch an hour early and laid her legs across his lap. She'd smiled at him and whispered so quietly that no one else could hear, "Thanks for dealing with me." He'd grinned right back, an expression that remained even now.

He came back to the present long enough to realize that whatever Wendy had just said was apparently really shocking. The Sky Dragon flushed, fighting the urge to giggle at everyone's dropped jaws. Mak seemed the least surprised, likely because he had seen her with Verlane earlier, but Lucy and Erza definitely took the news the hardest. Gray, Evia, and Carla all seemed taken aback with no idea of what to say, while Natsu and Happy were both somehow oblivious to what was going on.

Carla was the first to recover. "Wendy, you need to stop this nonsense before he realizes you aren't who you say you are! I worry about you, child. This, this, this devil of a man has so obviously grown attached to you, and I fear what his response will be when he learns the truth."

"She's right," Gray added. "But still, we're proud of you kid. You've done more these past few weeks than the rest of us were able to do in five fucking months."

Erza glowered at Gray for a moment until he realized that she most definitely did not approve of him using those kinds of words in front of Wendy. Even though he was fairly certain the Dragon Slayer had both heard and said words just as bad. Then the scarlet warrior turned her attention back to Wendy. "It is very good news, but it also means that we need to act now. We can't let Verlane get any closer to you Wendy."

"Does he even know that you're only fifteen?" Happy asked, bringing voice to the question bothering Lucy and Carla.

Wendy hesitated for a moment before deciding to answer truthfully. "Yes. I told him I'm turning sixteen in December." Her shoulders curled inward when her friends burst out into loud disapproval. "He didn't mean like, tomorrow. I think he thinks we're staying here for a long time, even though I'm better now. And he thinks I like him as much as he likes me."

"And, if I can add?" Evia spoke up, the older woman wishing to bring some comfort to the group of children she had come to care so deeply for. "I know things in your country are different, but here in Benos, it isn't rare for a young girl to be married before her seventeenth birthday."

Lucy nodded reluctantly. "Yeah, you're right. I guess it's just strange for us to consider that." She turned a smile on Mak. "Remember how shocked I was when you asked if I was married?"

He laughed slightly. "Yes, you were taken completely by surprise. Especially when I brought up that 'Lord Drago,'" he put the name in air quotations, "would have probably had to have been married at that age in order to have a daughter as old as Wendy." Lucy smiled fondly at the memory, even if it had terrified her in the moment.

Carla still frowned with her paws on her hips. "Yes, it's not strange here in Benos. But that does not change the fact that we have no idea how old this Verlane is."

Natsu's brow furrowed as he thought about what Carla had just said. "Yeah, how old is he? I was guessing maybe like my age," Gray snorted, "but has he ever even told you?"

Wendy shrugged, twining strands of dark blue hair around the fingers of her left hand. "I don't think he has. Evia? Do you know?"

The healer inhaled deeply, trying to think. "You know, I can't be certain." She frowned, digging in deep. "I… I don't know. All twenty years I've been here, and I don't remember a single mention of his age. Or Lord Ajax's for that matter."

Erza sat up straighter, intrigued. "You mean that you have no idea how old these men are?"

"Not a single birthday party or celebration? Do you even remember when Verlane was a child?"

Gray's questions only seemed to frustrate Evia even further. She shook her head, looking to Mak for help. He shrugged as well, drumming his fingers on his thigh. "I don't know either. Whenever I try and think about how old they were when I first started, my head just gets… fuzzy." He blinked, shaking his head slightly to clear it.

Lucy bit her cheek, thinking about what this all could possibly mean.

Happy seemed to have an idea of how to proceed. He leapt off of Lucy's lap and jumped onto the coffee table, turning around to look at everyone. "Let's just forget it! I mean, it won't matter much soon. Now that we know where it is, we can destroy it, right?"

Natsu grinned at his little buddy, pumping his fist into the air. "Oh yeah! Let's do it! I'm all fired up!"

XXX

Lucy lay in bed that night, mind whirling through all the important parts to the plan they had come up with over the past few hours. Her skin chilled when she thought about what tomorrow would bring. "This time tomorrow," she whispered to the dark room, "everything's gonna change."

"You're not scared, are you?" Came the reply. She turned, eyes meeting Natsu's from where he lay about two feet away. She flushed slightly, glad for the darkness and the space that separated them. It wouldn't do for him to know just how terrified she actually was of what would come if everything went wrong tomorrow. Or even if it all went right.

"Not really," she said instead, pressing herself up slightly with a propped elbow. "It's just… well, we still have no idea what we're facing. All we know is that Verlane and Ajax have something in the basement that lets them control this manor. What if it isn't even what's been sucking the ethernano out?"

"This is it, Luce. I can feel it." He mimicked her pose, leaning on his elbow and not taking his eyes from hers. Even in the blackness marred only by the faint glow of dying embers, her eyes drew him in until he couldn't move out of fear of drawing her attention away. But he grinned, wanting to soothe her fears and just happy she was speaking to him. "It's gonna work. And as soon as it does, you'll get to see all your spirits again."

She smiled back, pure joy rushing through her veins at the reminder. "You're right. And then we get to go home. Oh, I wonder how much has changed since we left. Levy probably already had her baby! I wonder what she named it…"

"With Gajeel as the dad, it's probably something stupid," Natsu muttered. She laughed, smacking his arm with a free hand. His grin widened, seemingly proud that he had made her laugh.

His happiness brought back reminders of what Wendy had told her earlier that day. Her smile slipped, and she looked down at the red sheets. "Uh, Natsu?"

He glanced over, catching the change in her demeanor almost immediately. "What's up? Everything okay?" Please don't stop talking to me again. I couldn't bear it. He frowned, thoughts taking him to the worst places.

She bit her cheek, tracing random shapes against the sheet. "I just wanted to apologize. For acting weird these past few weeks."

He snorted. "You always act weird."

"Shut up. You know what I mean." She sighed and wrapped a hand around her necklace. Natsu's own hand immediately went to his bracelet, enjoying the connection between them. "I didn't handle it like I should've. You're my friend. My best friend. And what people think about us doesn't matter, especially if they're some strangers that we'll never see after tomorrow. And staying away from you didn't do anything but hurt you. So I'm sorry."

Lucy continued to stare at the sheets for a few long moments until the silence grew too much for her. She looked up, needing to know why he wasn't saying anything. Instead, all she found was a wide grin on his face. "What's that supposed to mean?" She demanded, falling back on the bed and crossing her arms with a huff. "I give you this heartfelt apology and all you can do is just laugh at me!"

He did laugh then, poking her side until she giggled. But then she continued to pout, turning on her side and facing away from him.

"Aw, come on Luce. I didn't mean anything. You just never say things like that."

She snorted, pulling the sheets up over her shoulder. He rolled his eyes and flopped back down, head still facing her. "Thanks Luce," he whispered, unsure if she could even hear him. "I missed you."

She must have heard him, because suddenly her arms were around him in a hug. The breath was knocked out of him for a second, but his arms recovered quickly enough to hold her back. He would never get enough of the pure happiness burning through him at the press of her chest against his side, her face buried in his shoulder, her soft waist under his warm hands. He breathed in citrus, her soft hair tickling his nose.

He had no idea how long they held each other, only that her breathing began to slow. He barely dared to exhale as she went limp in his arms, falling asleep peacefully. Natsu couldn't move, couldn't think past the woman still pressed against him. Either she's really tired, he thought, or she actually wants to be here. With me. Is that crazy?

He grinned then, brushing a strand of hair from her forehead. Nah. Whether she knows it or not, she likes me. Maybe nothing more than friends… but I'll take it.

With gentle hands, he pulled her away, hating to lose her touch but knowing this was better. Better so she wasn't embarrassed when she woke up. Better so he didn't grow more attached than he already was. She moaned slightly, shifting back onto her side so her back faced him. He watched in fascinated silence as her hair cascaded down her back, revealing the smooth expanse of her neck. In her thin nightgown, he could make out both gold chains caressing her pale skin, skin he wished he could run his fingers over and memorize every inch. What he wouldn't do to kiss it, kiss her…

Squeezing his eyes shut tightly, he flipped over and stared at the opposite wall. "Shit," he whispered, scrubbing at his face. "Shit."

Ahhh things are happening! How exciting is that? I'm so ready for these next ten or so chapters, cause a crap ton happens. Is it good or is it bad? You'll find out soon enough... Until next time!