Hey, y'all. Hope you're all having a great weekend. Figured it was about time I gave this one an update. Thanks for sticking with us.

Guest: Thanks for reviewing. I'm glad you're enjoying :) It always makes my day to know that someone's reading my stories.

Guest: You're in luck! I was just thinking about this last night. I appreciate you dropping by. :)

- K. Chandler

They hadn't spoken since the day that Natsu had arrived, Natsu sticking close to Lucy, and Gray staying out of their way.

That's why Natsu was the last person that Gray expected to come charging into his office study.

"I need some lillyglove," blurted Natsu, leaning heavily against the desk, breathing hard.

"What?! Why?" spat Gray, his chair pushing back with a raucous scrape as he took an involuntary step back. He shook his head in disbelief.

Lillyglove was toxic, even in small doses. Gray could personally attest to that, having exposed himself to it a few times to start building up his immunity to it. What sort of idiotic scheme did Natsu have planned?

"Listen, man, now is not the time," said Natsu. "It's an emergency."

"What sort of emergency?" asked Gray, his eyes narrowing. "You'd better have a good explanation for what you're up to with that stuff."

"I don't have time to explain!"

"Tough. Then you can't have any," said Gray. He wasn't about to give the idiotic fire-breather something that could easily be used to take a life. While Gray didn't think that Natsu would ever intentionally do something like that, he was accident prone and careless.

"Lucy's sick," said Natsu. "Wendy healed her, but she says that she still needs lillyglove berries for the convulsions."

"Wendy said?" repeated Gray, shaking his head. "Sick? Convulsions?! What happened to Lucy?"

"Gray, please," said Natsu. There was a look of desperation in his eyes that spoke to much more than a childish prank or a bid for attention.

Gray nodded. "…One condition," he added. "I get to carry it."

Though the idea of retrieving a toxic substance made him uneasy, he trusted Wendy. The little Draghi girl was the granddaughter of the legendary healer Porlyusica, and the old lady had taught her well. And if she had a reasonable use for lillyglove berries, then that was good enough for Gray.

Gray let Natsu accompany him to the medical wing. Aside from the regular supplies that one might expect when visiting a chemist or a healer, there was a tall cabinet. With a wave of his hand, Gray released the opaque layers of thick ice that protected his dubious collection. Aside from Lyon, Gray was the only one who could access the cabinet.

Over the years, Gray had amassed a collection of various poisons and toxins, carefully stored and cataloged in this cabinet. He had only personally experienced a third of them, so he still had a long way to go, but many of the substances were similar, so his efforts would still provide him with some protection.

Gray opened the container of lillyglove berries, tipping two of them into a glass before sealing container back up. He replaced the berries in the cabinet before covering the entire thing with ice again. There was no such thing as too much precaution when it came to things like this.

Gray kept alert as he transported the poison, raising a questioning eyebrow as he offered them to Wendy.

"Do you know what these are?" he asked as he handed the container to her.

"I know what they can be," said Wendy. She mashed one of the berries against the glass, scraping a sliver of the dark blue stain to slip past Lucy's lips. Watching Wendy give Lucy even the tiniest amount of the toxic berry left Gray agitated and anxious.

But just as she had predicted, the lillyglove did help. The tremors stopped, and exhausted, Lucy fell into an exhausted doze.

"Dump that in the ashes," instructed Wendy, handing Gray what remained of the berries.

Gray nodded, disposing of the fruit in the hearth. That was probably the safest place for them. Short of Natsu eating the flames themselves, anyone who was eating out of the fireplace would have bigger problems than being poisoned by the lillyglove.

Gray eyed the destroyed room. Even without any personal trauma, this just did not seem like a relaxing place to be. Furniture was upturned. Shards of a shattered tea set littered the floor. The carpet was soaked with puddles of tea and putrid disgorge. The entire room smelled rank.

That's when Gray's eyes fell on the paintings. The portraits that he had hung to decorate the walls had been destroyed, but that wasn't the worst of it. It was the way that they were destroyed. Each one of Lucy's images were marred with angry slashes and deep gouges. Gashes were scrawled across her painted face, shredding the canvas as someone crossed her out. Next to it, another portrait of Lucy had been stabbed, the icepick dents of the sharp object tearing into her chest five or six times. The worst was one where the vandal had decapitated her, sawing her neck clear through and gouging her eyes out.

Gray shuddered. Whoever had tried to kill Lucy had taken the time to deface her image in this grotesque and deliberate way.

"Is it safe to move her somewhere else?" asked Gray grimly.

"That might be for the best," said Wendy.

Natsu scooped Lucy into his arms, cradling her to his chest. "I'll take her back upstairs."

Gray offered Wendy a hand, pulling her to her feet. "Are you going back to your room?" he asked.

"Actually, I think I should probably stay close to Princess Lucy," said Wendy. The little girl clung onto Gray's arm like a lifeline. Using her magic had taken a lot out of her.

Natsu shook his head. "Take the night off, Wen," said Natsu. "You've earned it."

"What about the princess?" asked Wendy. "Someone should stay with her."

"I'll—" both Gray and Natsu started to say.

Gray looked away. The place by Lucy's side belonged to Natsu. Besides, he probably needed to clean up anyways. Managing the aftermath was his job.

"I'll stay with her," said Natsu. "Bring some extra blankets, Ice Block? There should be plenty, but someone might wanna crash on the floor."

Gray nodded, recognizing the olive branch for what it was. "I'll meet you up there after I've walked Wendy back to her room."

"You know where to find me if you need me," said Wendy.

Gray let the young healer lean on him as he shuffled towards her room, keeping pace with her weary footsteps.

"What you did today… that was impressive," said Gray.

"Your collection is what's impressive," said Wendy, fixing him with the ghost of a shrewd smile.

Gray cleared his throat uncomfortably. Wendy was just a child, but there was something about her knowing gaze that made him feel exposed.

"People can't hurt you with something that doesn't work on you," said Gray tersely.

"All things in moderation," said Wendy. "Maybe, someday, you'll let me show you how to save a life with it."

"Actually, I've been meaning to talk to you about that," admitted Gray. "I have a suggestion that I'd like to get your opinion on, when you're feeling up to it, of course."

Natsu watched over Lucy as she slept, her hand tucked securely in his palm.

With his other hand, he dabbed at her face with a damp towel, gently sponging away the sweat and tears and dried spew that had crusted over her smooth skin.

This had been entirely different than anything he'd imagined. When he was first arrived at Gray's, Natsu had been furious when he heard that Lucy had gotten poisoned when she was under Gray's care.

But now… he realized just how helpless he felt, and how little he could do to fix things. He, at least, had Wendy. Gray hadn't had anybody. Gray must have felt so… frightened.

Yes, that was the word for it—for the tingling chill and the sweaty palms and sour taste in his mouth. There wasn't much that scared Natsu, but for the first time in a long time, he had been frightened.

Frightened that he'd fail. Frightened that he'd… lose her. For a brief moment, Natsu imagined a world without Lucy. Without her easy smiles and playful teasing. Without her high-strung airs and meddling big heart. Without Lucy… the idea made him sick to his stomach.

Because if he was honest with himself… Natsu sort of liked her. A lot.

Of course, he'd never told her that. He'd always been a little bit afraid of what she'd say. But wouldn't it be far worse to never get to?

He wasn't afraid now… Of course, she was asleep now, too. Leave it to him to choose this moment to find his courage!

Still, maybe he could do something now, sort of as a practice run. That wouldn't hurt anything.

Natsu bent over, leaning close to Lucy's ear.

"Lucy… You're really cool," said Natsu.

He sat back up, his face on fire. Although all and all, that wasn't so bad.

Lucy didn't stir at all, so she probably didn't hear him. Which was probably for the best, all things considered.

Natsu tried again.

"I think you're great. More than great. I sorta like you."

But that wasn't really what he wanted to say, was it?

"Lucy, I… I love you…" he whispered.

Natsu blinked, the adrenal buzz making him vaguely dizzy. It felt good to say it.

Emboldened by his success, Natsu decided to take things a step further. He leaned in again, holding his breath. He hovered over her cheek, bending over slowly to close the gap.

He was millimeters away, his breath barely grazing her skin when he heard the door open.

Natsu jerked back, his lips still tingling from the anticipation of contact.

Of course, it would have to be Gray who interrupted his first kiss.

"I hate you," grumbled Natsu.

"Tell me something I don't know," said Gray, rolling his eyes.

Natsu stood up, surrendering the chair to Gray before taking a seat on the edge of the bed.

"How is she?" asked Gray.

"Sleeping," said Natsu.

Gray nodded.

"She's a regular magnet for trouble, isn't she?" asked Natsu.

"Don't act like that's a good thing," said Gray.

"She wouldn't be Lucy if she wasn't, though," said Natsu, shaking his head fondly.

"Probably not," said Gray.

"Hey… Gray…" said Natsu. "I think I owe you an apology."

Gray blinked, taken aback. "Oh? Why's that?"

"What d'ya mean 'why?' I… I shouldn't have… When it came down to it, I wasn't any better than you were at keeping Lucy safe," admitted Natsu.

"I'm to blame for this too," said Gray. "I should have snowed in the pass. It would have kept whoever did this out. Then none of this would have happened."

"If you did that, Wendy and I would never have made it here," Natsu pointed out.

"You could have melted through it," said Gray.

"Then, so could anybody else," said Natsu. "Someone determined enough to do something this terrible."

"Maybe so," said Gray. "But I still feel responsible."

"Aw, geez. Don't tell me we're fighting over this too…" said Natsu, coaxing a tiny smile from Gray. "C'mon, man. Let's hug it out," he said, slinging an arm around Gray's shoulders.

"Get off," said Gray, shoving him back. "I know you're starved for attention, but you're barking up the wrong tree." Gray glanced at Lucy before giving Natsu a pointed look.

"W-whatever…" Natsu's face burned with embarrassment at the reminder of his aborted kiss with Lucy. "Forget it."

"Jokes aside," said Gray. "We've got other things to worry about."

"You're right," said Natsu. "The only thing that matters is protecting Lucy and keeping her safe."

"Keeping everyone safe," agreed Gray. "From this psychopath…"

Natsu nodded. "It's probably silly, but part of me was still hoping that this was all some sort of coincidence, or maybe an accident."

This whole situation was upsetting Lucy more than she was willing to let on. He had hoped for her sake that the attacks would just stop, or that they'd turn out to be something she could just laugh off later.

"Two attacks on the palace in less than two weeks? Both of them against the same person? That's no coincidence," said Gray.

Reluctantly, Gray described the massacre of the paintings.

Natsu gave a low whistle. "That's messed up."

"I think we're dealing with a really twisted person," said Gray. "And this person has a grudge against Lucy."

"I can't argue with that," said Natsu. "I think it's time for what we'd call a 'tactical retreat'."

Gray rolled his eyes. "You come up with that on your own?"

"Seriously, man. We can't stay here. We've got to move again," said Natsu.

"And go where?" asked Gray. "I still maintain that Isvan's the safest place."

"Not after this," said Natsu. "Two attacks in two weeks? Hate to break it to ya, Gray, but you suck at guarding your own castle."

Gray snorted, but he didn't argue. "You still haven't said where you're going."

"I've got the perfect place," said Natsu. "It's so different, that nobody will suspect anything."

Squee! Not quite the confession we were hoping for... but it's a start. And hopefully a nice change after all of this toe-the-line stuff.

And also, the boys are back together, fighting on the same side. Imagine how different this would have been if the first two attacks on Lucy had been with both Gray and Natsu present and on-guard. Well, now both boys are all in (as they should be), and we'll see if they can change the outcome of this.

Speaking of changed outcomes, Lucy's being alive leaves us in uncharted territory. If we remember our classic Brothers Grimm, this one ended just a little differently. So... where does that leave us? With an escalation perhaps? How much more evil do you think this wicked version of Juvia can get?

Anyhow, thanks for reading. I'd love to hear from you - it always makes me happy.

Next time, in Toxic: An angry screech emitted from Juvia's throat. She swung her scrying bowl, brushing it to the ground. It clattered as it rolled along the stones. "How is she still alive!? She's supposed to be dead!" Juvia screamed.

Stop back next Monday for the next installment, or just follow me, Karine of R011ingThunder.