Author's Note:

Heya! Sorry guys! I was planning to post this past Sunday, but things got busy again. 😫 My bad!

Hopefully this chapter makes up for it! ;D

As always, HUGE thanks to all my wonderful reviewers out there! Big hugs and kisses to: Natsulover89, Bookwork129, valerioux, Kinakina, Moon'n'Tide, sakshishetty3003, SistershoOk, FairyTailxFanGirl, Ferociana, stranger1999, MillennialStargazer, Byrd3-13, Copperreign12, Lucinda, Cino2K, CathJorda, Sele de la Luna, and Ninja-Turtle Charlie. You guys are all awesome!

Alrighty then! Let's get right to it shall we? You guys have been waiting long enough.

The sound of a few thumps inside made her twitch, and then she heard Natsu's voice shout, "Oi! Be right there, hang on!"

After some more unidentifiable noises, he opened the door, and a wave of warmth washed over Lucy, making her want to be in there and not out in the cold damp forest. Of course, the majority of her attention was focused on Natsu though, and she squinted up at him – her eyes having to adjust to the brightness of his house. It wasn't until right this minute that she realized just how dark it had gotten outside.

She vaguely saw his eyes widen with surprise, and his voice echoed that when he asked, "Luce? What're you doing all the way out here?"

The question actually stumped her for a second as she suddenly realized that she hadn't thought about what she was going say to him.

Of course, honesty seemed like a good way to go, and after fumbling for words, she managed to reply, "W-well, obviously I'm here to see you, idiot. After you ran out of the guild like that, I got worried."

Thanks to being a little embarrassed and flustered, it came out a bit gruffer than she'd intended… but luckily, he didn't seem offended.

Instead, he just blinked a couple of times, and then smiled and opened the door wider in an inviting way.

"Well, cool. Come on in. You'll freeze your butt off out there."

She gladly took him up on the offer, and immediately sighed with pleasure as the warmth of his house surrounded her. It had been even colder out there than she'd thought.

Her eyes automatically glanced at her surroundings, taking in the contents of the surprisingly spacious interior room. Naturally, one of the first things she noted was the tree trunk growing straight out of the floor in the back righthand corner… in front of what she assumed was the bathroom, since it was the only walled-off space in the entire house. The door to that room sat to the right of a small kitchen at the very back of the house, which seemed stacked with dishes at the moment.

Aside from that, the rest of the space appeared to be a blend of living room and bedroom. An old couch sat pushed up against the left-hand wall next to a dresser that had seen better days. Most of the drawers were partially open and clothes lay scattered around in a hodge-podge sort of way. On the other side of the room, a hammock hung from a low-hanging tree branch in front of a wall with all sorts of papers and odds and ends tacked to it. Shelves sat next to that, also stuffed full of knickknacks and things that Lucy couldn't identify with just a brief glance.

She was distracted from her short perusal though by the sound of the door shutting behind her, and she quickly looked back over her shoulder and then swiveled her head to follow Natsu as he walked around her. He sat on the couch and rested his heels on the low coffee table in front of it.

"You really don't have to worry about me, ya know…"

She shuffled forward awkwardly until she was standing near the couch, not entirely sure what to do next or what to say.

"Um… you just seemed… upset is all. When you left, I mean. So, I wanted to check on you…"

Natsu huffed a low chuckle, but the sound wasn't nearly as happy as it usually was.

"Guess ya got me there. Nah, I wasn't real happy to get that letter… but it's cool."

"If… do you think you would feel better if you talked about it? I'd be happy to listen…"

"I'm not really good when it comes to talkin' about that kinda stuff."

"That's okay! It was just an idea…" Lucy quickly reassured, not wanting to pressure him.

"Yeah…"

Uncomfortable silence fell between them for a few minutes while Lucy tried to think of something else to say, but the tension in the air was getting in her way.

Eventually, Natsu cocked his head at her curiously, and asked, "What're you doing just standing there? Don't you wanna sit?"

"Oh! Right!"

She hurried around the table and parked next to him on the other side of the couch…. But unfortunately, more tension and silence just took up the airspace around them again for a few more minutes.

Eventually, he sighed and leaned forward, taking his feet off the table so he could rest his elbows on his knees. His head dropped a bit as he looked down at the floor and sighed for a second time.

"Sorry Luce, I'm not great company right now."

…

.

…

Natsu didn't mind that she'd shown up…. He just didn't know what to do with her now that she was here.

Normally it wouldn't have made him happy for anyone to come over while he was feeling depressed and stuff, but he was actually pretty glad to see Lucy. Just being around her made him feel kinda warm and more relaxed… though it didn't help him be any less brain-dead. He was way too tired to think of something to talk about, so he just sorta ended up blanking out and staring at the floor.

After a bit, she jerked him outta that state though when she suddenly asked, "Hey, how about I play my harp for you?!"

That actually sounded like a great idea, so he didn't bother thinking twice about his answer.

"Yeah! Thanks, I'd like that a lot," he said gratefully and sent her a grin to let her know that he wasn't a total buzz kill.

She whipped out that big golden harp of hers and immediately started going at it, running her fingers over the strings and sending out super relaxing music that made his body go limp and jelly-ish.

This was what he'd needed… a way to make his head fill up with comfy cotton, and he flopped back against the couch with another big sigh.

Ever since he'd gotten that letter, his mind had been spinning in circles – which it wasn't used to, so it'd made him kinda dizzy and mentally sick. But now, all the guilt and stuff was falling right outta his ears thanks to Lucy's harp. That thing really was amazing… and he was one lucky guy to have a girlfriend with such a cool power.

'Course, it wasn't just 'cause of the harp that he was lucky – he'd also seriously hit the jackpot falling for someone who was so freakin' nice. Natsu was pretty sure that he'd given off all kinds of, 'leave me alone,' vibes back in the guild when he left, but she'd still come all the way out here to try and comfort him.

And she was doing a really good job of it, too.

After a few minutes of something that sounded kinda like a lullaby (but didn't put him to sleep), he was pretty much boneless. With another deep sigh, he tipped over sideways and landed with his head in her lap – or tried to anyways, but he ended up banging into her harp instead.

Not that he let that stop him. He just shoved his way between it and her.

There wasn't a lot of space, so it took some wiggling, and she had to stop playing and scoot the harp out a little to give him more room. But it definitely paid off when he finally parked solidly in her lap with his face buried in her belly. After smacking his nose on her harp, he'd twisted around… and he decided he liked it better that way anyways.

"Um… do you want me to keep playing… or…?"

"Yeah, sure. Go on ahead."

"Okay…"

She started up the music again, and every time she leaned forward to get to the far away strings, she smooshed his face into her stomach – which was a nice mix of squishy and firm now that she'd put on a little more weight and muscle.

That must've worried her, 'cause a couple minutes later, she paused and sorta hesitantly asked, "Are you sure you can breathe?"

"Uh-huh," he grunted into her stomach and felt her shiver a little. Maybe it'd tickled or something.

"O-okay then… if you're sure…" she mumbled and went back to playing.

Speaking of breathing, she sure did smell nice. It was pretty impossible to ignore with his nose stuffed into her tummy like this.

She smelled like soap, forest, and under all that, Lucy. It was way different than what he remembered from when he'd used Dragon Force around her… without his super sharp senses, he smelled more of the flowery stuff from her soap and outdoor smells than her actual scent. But under all that, he could still pick up a bit of her natural 'Lucy smell.'

She had a little sweetness to her that he didn't think was just perfume…. 'course right now, it was mixed with sweat too, 'cause she'djust hiked all the way to his house. That didn't bug him though. The musky, salty smell blended pretty well with all the other smells going on, and it wasn't like she was stinky or anything. Lucy was probably the kinda chick that wore enough deodorant to neutralize a fart.

She smelled good enough that he was happy to smash his face into her and take big whiffs of Lucy-air. He could get used to this actually.

All that smelling must've caused him to do a lot of huffing and puffing though, 'cause Luce stopped again to ask, "Are you sure you're okay? You seem to be breathing kind of heavy…"

"Huh? Oh…" he turned his head sideways so he could look up at her and actually talk. Lucy's belly was great for smelling but not for talking.

"I was just smellin' ya."

"You were… smelling me? What does that mean?"

"Uh, smelling something means smelling something, Weirdo. What do you mean what does it mean?"

"Okay… but… why?"

"'Cause you smell good?"

Duh. Why else would he be smelling her? She really was so weird sometimes.

She blushed – which he thought was kinda interesting, and he flipped onto his back so he could get a better look up at her.

The harp disappeared – maybe 'cause he'd surprised her or something – but that didn't really matter to him. They'd been pausing a bunch anyways. And besides, it'd already done what it was supposed to, and he was tons more relaxed.

Most've what he'd been feeling before (all the guilt and stuff) had gone away. Sure, he still felt bad for Lisanna, and he still wished she could be happy, but Lucy had reminded him that he was happy. He had her, and he loved her, and he'd made the right choices for the right reasons. So, for right now, suddenly all he wanted to do was just lose himself in her and forget about all the other painful, depressing stuff.

A chunk of hair had slid down over her shoulder and was dangling by his forehead. Kinda tickled actually… and he reached up and grabbed it, playing with it a little. Her hair sure was soft… silky and nice between his fingers as he wrapped it around them. And after a couple minutes of that, he tightened up his grip and gave a light tug.

She made a curious sound and leaned down towards him a little – which brought her just close enough that he could get nose to nose with her by shoving his elbow into the couch.

"Hey… I kinda wanna kiss you now… is that okay?"

He didn't think she'd turn him down, and he didn't think he really needed to ask or anything, but he just wanted to for some reason. So he did.

She flushed, and after a sec, she squeaked, "I… uh… sure?"

It looked like that'd really surprised her, and he grinned… 'cause her reaction was pretty fricken' cute. Which just made him wanna kiss her even more. So, he gave her hair another tug and leaned up a little more.

Their lips smushed together in a pretty interesting kiss. 'Cause of the position, their heads were way more angled than usual… kinda like they were trying to make a plus-sign with their mouths. It was nice, and he enjoyed the different feel of it – especially when he managed to get her lips open and put his tongue in the mix. He could reach new parts of her mouth from this angle that he hadn't been able to before. If he twisted enough, he could even kinda get the tops of their tongues to touch – which was a fun and weird feeling.

Up until his neck and shoulder started cramping in a stupid way… then it got kinda distracting and annoying.

When that happened, he pulled back and licked his lips while he thought about how to fix it – for a literal second. As usual, he went with the first thing that popped into his head, and a second later, he'd hitched himself up and slung a leg over her lap, straddling her. The back of the couch turned out to be a great place to put his hands and brace himself…. 'Course, that did kinda put him in a 'looming over her' position – which turned him on, but could've been bad for Luce. So, he was really glad when she didn't freak out.

Actually, she looked pretty turned on herself. She let her head fall back and rested it against the couch like she didn't have the strength to hold it up anymore. That also tipped her face up towards him, and after seeing her flushed face and glazed eyes, it didn't take him long to break and dip down for more kisses.

Her lips were even hotter this time around… or maybe it was him making all the heat… not that it really mattered. He sure as heck didn't waste any time wondering about it. All he knew was that he couldn't seem to get enough of her. This kinda stuff was turning out to be way more addictive than he'd expected, and he kept finding himself having to hold back – 'cause he wanted to make sure that she enjoyed it just as much as he was. Even though he wanted to kiss her hard and get grabby (and do all kinds of other stuff), he kept his kisses as gentle as he could and dug his fingers into the couch to keep them there.

That worked out pretty good for him, and he totally enjoyed the kiss (even while holding himself back), but eventually he needed to come up for some air and clear his head a bit.

The only problem was that he kinda forgot about the logistics of where he was and accidentally sat. And put all his weight down. On her.

"Hey! You're heavy!" she yelped, immediately shoving at his chest.

"Oops! Sorry, Luce!"

He popped back up on his knees again as soon as he realized what'd happened – feeling kinda bad for squashing her like that. But then, a couple seconds later, it struck him how funny the whole thing was, and he couldn't help but bust out laughing.

Somehow he hadn't realized it while they were playing tonsil hockey (probably 'cause he'd been too busy with the tonsil hockey), but the way he was straddling her sorta put him in the "girl's position" in this scenario. Not that he cared about stereotypes and stuff…. But it was still pretty funny to think about, especially since he'd actually plonked himself in her lap like that.

After a minute of him guffawing all over her though, Luce asked, "Um… why are you laughing?"

She sounded a little worried, which helped him get control over himself, and he wrestled his laughs down to a talkable level so he could answer.

"I just realized… I'm in the girl's position," he snickered, expecting her to join him as soon as he cracked the joke.

But all he got was a blank look.

"Why is that the girl's position?"

Her response immediately reminded him that she knew jack all about sex, and he groaned – trying to think of the easiest way to tell her. After one or two seconds, when he didn't come up with anything, he decided to just show her instead.

He flipped them – grabbing her by the waist and switching their positions. It was kinda awkward and required some man-handling, but he got it done in a couple of seconds. They bonked heads as he did a little leg wrestling to get her straddling him the right way, and then he sat back against the couch with a grin. This'd get the idea across for sure.

"Why do you think this is the girl's position?"

She squinted at him through one eye and rubbed her head where he'd conked their skulls together accidentally.

"I don't know… isn't the guy usually on top? And, ow, by the way. That hurt."

"Sorry, sorry," he said for the bump, and then added, "But, come on Luce, you seriously haven't figured it out? It's so obvious! Just think about it!"

'Course, he didn't actually have the patience to wait for her to figure it out – at this rate it'd take all fricken' day – so he just grabbed her knees, spread them a little more, and jerked her forward. He wasn't stupid enough to pull her all the way against him, but he yanked her a good couple inches to get the point across.

That made her look down, and as soon as she saw her spread thighs and their junk lined up, she yelped. Her face turned bright red. She also slammed her hands into his chest to make sure he didn't pull her any closer to his hard on – not that he'd been planning to.

"Chill out, I wasn't gonna pull you any closer. I was just makin' a point."

"Oh… right… yeah, I knew that…" she squeaked, but he didn't believe her for a second.

…

.

…

For very understandable reasons, Lucy was definitely nervous seeing Natsu's 'dick' in front of her privates – though luckily the position they were currently in wasn't even close to any of her bad memories. That helped to bring her spike of anxiety back down fairly quickly… but what didn't help was the fact that he was very obviously hard. She could clearly see the outline through his pants, and that made her feel all sorts of things – 'uneasy,' being one of them.

"Um… this might sound like a really stupid question, but… do you have a, uh… 'boner' right now?"

She stuttered over the unfamiliar term that he'd used before, but otherwise she gave herself a metaphorical pat on the back for getting the question out so smoothly.

"Well yeah, duh. That was kind of a dumb question," he snorted.

The way he responded made her flush even more, and she grumbled, "Yeah, yeah… I know. You don't have to rub it in."

Honestly though, his snarky reply didn't really irritate her. After all, it was obvious that he was hard, she could see it with her own eyes… but for some reason, she'd still felt the need to verify it.

Gulping, she eased back from it a little.

He obviously noticed the movement – it would have been impossible for him not to – but she didn't expect him to ask, point blank, "Does it scare ya?"

The question put her on the spot in a way she wasn't prepared for, and she honestly wasn't sure how to respond. She didn't want to hurt his feelings, and on top of that, she hated to acknowledge that she was afraid of any part of him… even to herself. It was painful and felt wrong. Despite knowing that it was completely normal and expected for her to have repercussions from a trauma as big as rape, the fact that her scars had enough power to make her scared of the person she loved had always grated on her nerves in a horrible way.

However, in the end, the most important thing was for her to be honest with him (and herself), and she knew that.

Still, it took her several minutes of starting and stopping before she finally managed to get out a proper answer.

"…. A little. But not as much as it did last week, so I think I'm getting more used to it."

He frowned and looked somewhat disappointed, which made her feel awful, and she looked away in shame.

There was a slightly tense silence for all of a few seconds, and then he quietly asked, "Is that the only thing you're feelin' right now? Fear?"

Her throat convulsed in a thick gulp without her permission – almost choking her actually – and she took a deep breath, thinking hard about the mess of emotions going through her. No, fear definitely wasn't the only thing she felt at the moment. There were plenty of other strange feelings and sensations that confused her.

"No…" she replied, risking a glance back at him. "I'm feeling a lot of things other than just nervous."

Thankfully, that seemed to perk him up, and his hopeful eyes caught and held hers prisoner.

"Like what?" he asked eagerly, but much more softly than was normal for him. It looked and sounded like he was making a concerted effort to curb his enthusiasm for some reason.

"Um… well, confused… a little embarrassed… unsure and nervous of course… curious… and uh… some other things that I've never felt before, so I don't have any names for them."

His energy amped up another few levels, and he looked even more keen than before.

"Come on… you've gotta give me more than that. Can ya describe this other stuff for me? I bet I know what it is…"

"Well, I guess I can try," she mumbled, flushing from slight embarrassment. "Um… for starters, every time we kiss I feel… warm, I guess. Sometimes very warm. And uh, maybe excited? My heart starts racing and I get out of breath sometimes, but it isn't like any excitement I've ever felt before. And…"

She hesitated, not sure how to describe what her insides did when they kissed. How her stomach fluttered and flipped around… or how a ball of tension wound tight and hot, low in her abdomen… or how sometimes something inside of her spastically clenched like a fist for no apparent reason.

His sudden, delighted laugh distracted her from wondering about it, and she blinked at him, trying to figure out if she should be offended.

"I knew it! This is great, Luce! You're turned on!"

"I'm… what?... Wait, are you serious?"

She barely even heard his energetic and emphatic, 'yes,' because she was too busy being concerned and amazed. Based on his previous explanations, 'turned on,' was essentially the same thing as, 'wanting sex' – which did not sit well with her.

"But…" she said hesitantly. "I'm not ready for that yet. So why is my body getting aroused?"

"… Huh? What're you going on about now?"

"Remember? The last time we talked about this, you said that getting aroused meant that you wanted to have sex, and I don't."

"Oh… so that's what you're freaked about…" he huffed, but Lucy almost missed his response.

She'd just realized how her last statement sounded and practically talked over him as she hurried to add, "I mean, not right now! Later… is, uh, a different matter. Once I'm mentally and emotionally prepared for it."

He snorted, thankfully not looking upset at all. "Yeah, I figured that's what you meant. But why're you worried about that, anyway? I already said we'd take it super slow didn't I?"

"But my body…"

"Is just gonna do that if something feels good or if you're thinking sexy thoughts – whether you're ready to go all the way or not. I'm pretty sure your body doesn't go asking your brain, 'Hey brain, are we really doing this thing?' before it gets aroused… it just does it."

He paused, and then grinned a grin she hadn't ever seen before… a slow, smug smirk that made her stomach do a flip.

"All it means is that you really liked kissing me. Which I ain't complaining about…"

She flushed, huffed, and lightly smacked him on the shoulder, pouting at his teasing.

His laugh was a little deeper and huskier than she was used to, which also made flutters go through her insides…. But it was still his usual happy laugh, aroused or not, and it quickly made her own lips twitch.

After a few last snickers, he settled down again and gave her knees a comforting squeeze, sending her a more affectionate smile this time.

"Like I said, stop worrying about it. I'm not gonna assume anything just 'cause you get turned on. I won't push you."

She swallowed thickly, her heart melting under his considerate statement, and a lot of her tension easing away with it.

"Thanks, Natsu…" she murmured, all of the fluffy feelings making her cheeks heat up again.

There was another natural pause in their conversation – this one much more comfortable and filled with marshmallow warmth – which, of course, he broke first.

"So… what do ya wanna do now? Wanna stop and do something else? Or keep kissing?"

The question made her breath catch in her throat, and she felt her cheeks flush even more… but she wasn't sure how much of that was from embarrassment or from the fresh wave of warmth that went through her.

Honestly, she would like to continue for a while longer…. Kissing Natsu felt good, and she was craving the emotional connection that came from touching and embracing each other. Despite the teasing and manhandling, his overall thoughtfulness had left her feeling romantic and cuddly, and on TOP of that, she found herself wanting comfort (which she felt like his kisses would provide) after the short spat of anxiety she'd experienced.

"Um… can we? Kiss a little more, I mean?" she eventually asked, feeling flustered and red.

"S'fine with me."

She started to scoot forward, then stalled and eyed his lap – wondering how to circumnavigate the situation down there. Maybe next time, she would have enough courage to actually come into contact with that part of him through their clothing, but for now, this was as close as she was willing to get to it… which meant she was going to need to utilize some creativity. Luckily, a ratty couch pillow quickly caught her attention out of the corner of her eye, and she immediately snatched it up.

"Um… do you mind if I put this here?" she asked, gingerly holding it over his lap and hoping he wouldn't be offended by her request.

"Great idea! Yeah, go for it!"

He sounded enthusiastic and completely unperturbed – which she really should have expected, given his personality. Natsu wasn't the type to take this sort of thing personally.

With his permission, she carefully placed the pillow between them and then shuffled closer so their lips could connect again – meeting him halfway as he leaned forwards. As soon as they made contact, warmth and butterflies spread through her stomach, and her breath caught for a long moment. Probably thanks to her heightened emotional state, this kiss felt even more intense than before, as if she was suddenly hyper-sensitive.

Naturally, Natsu was as eager as he was earlier, and it wasn't quite as soft as she might've preferred… but nevertheless, she was quickly swept up into the rhythm of their lips and breaths and lost track of the time. At first, the warmth of his mouth soothed her ruffled nerves like a cup of hot cocoa after a stressful day, and as she wrapped her arms around his neck, and he did the same to her waist, it felt like that wonderful warmth completely surrounded her. She enjoyed hugging him as much as she did kissing him… his embraces always made her feel safe and comfortable and loved.

Naturally though, the rosy, romantic atmosphere steadily shifted towards the richer hues of what she was now starting to recognize as passion and desire for each other. It was amazing to think that not too long ago, she wouldn't have been able to enjoy a moment like this with him… but now, she fully gave herself over the experience as his kisses began to set her on fire from the inside out. All of it, from his gentle, yet strong grip around her waist and the sensation of his warmer, slightly chapped lips rubbing against hers, to his quick hot breaths and surprisingly agile tongue as he deepened their contact, made her head spin and her heart beat quicker. Despite this being the third time, she still wasn't accustomed to the intimacy or intensity of such a deep kiss.

She had no idea how long it lasted, but they had to have been kissing for a decent number of minutes, since she was slightly out of breath when they finally parted. Their foreheads clunked together, and the air between them quickly grew humid with their exhalations, making Lucy think absentmindedly that it was a small miracle neither of them had bad breath.

They stayed like that for a moment, and then Natsu pulled away even further and chuckled.

"Well, that was fun…"

"Uh-huh…" she agreed, also giggling a little.

There was a short pause, and then he huffed and said, "So anyways… I think I'd better go take care of this."

He pointed down at the pillow now squished between them, but she knew that he was indicating what was underneath it. At the reminder – and implied request – she hurried to slide off his lap so he could get up.

"Oh… okay. Um, sure…" she mumbled, still slightly embarrassed and unsure about how to deal with his frankness.

As soon as she exited his lap, he got up somewhat stiffly and shuffled off to the bathroom – or what she assumed was the bathroom – and she was left awkwardly sitting alone on his couch.

This seemed to be turning into a repeat theme of their sexual encounters, but even though it was a little uncomfortable, she was just overall grateful that he was willing to stop and take care of himself privately, instead of pressuring her to continue. Besides, she didn't want him to be in discomfort for however long it would take for his boner to dissipate on its own – not when there was such an apparently easy way to fix the situation.

Of course, she'd like for him to return quickly… but if she was perfectly honest with herself, a large part of that wasn't because she was embarrassed… but because she was curious. The urge to go take a little peek nagged at her the entire time he was gone and made her wish he would hurry up so she wouldn't have to fight it. Of course, there was no way she would ever peep at him without asking first… but she knew that if she did ask, he probably wouldn't have any problems with her watching. Natsu wasn't exactly what one would call 'bashful.'

It also didn't help that she still felt warm all over, and there was a ball of energy inside her that hadn't gone away yet, making it difficult for her to sit still. She had to assume that she was still 'turned on' herself, but luckily it seemed to be going away on its own at a fairly steady rate – though, every time she thought about Natsu touching himself in the other room, those prickly feelings revived a bit.

However, even though parts of her seemed to think that she was ready for certain things, she really wasn't prepared to actually see his 'equipment' in person yet. Just the fact that she was interested enough to consider it was surprising (but definitely made her happy as she realized again how much progress she'd already made.) That, in and of itself, was a triumph in her book.

So, for the time being, she quelled her curiosity, and waited as patiently as she could manage for him to return.

Thankfully, it didn't take Natsu long to finish, and a few minutes later he reemerged – looking slightly flushed but refreshed, happy, and relaxed.

"Hey! So, I was thinking, how about you stay the night?"

The sudden, out-of-context suggestion made her gape and blink at him in shock.

At first, the only thing she could say in response was, "Wha-?... Sorry, but… huh?"

"I said, how about you stay over?" he repeated, which didn't help to clear up the oddity of it all, but she did finally manage to wrap her head around the concept.

"Wait a minute, you want me to stay the night? Where did that come from?"

"I dunno. I just thought it'd be fun. We could hang out… maybe watch some lacrima-vision… or I think Happy left a weird boardgame here we could try playing if ya wanted to…."

His shrug was casual, but the hopeful gleam in his eyes made her think that maybe there was more to this request than a simple whim on his part. Maybe she hadn't been a complete idiot coming over here, and her presence actually was helping him somehow. Maybe she was a good distraction… or he simply wanted some company… but whatever the case, if there was even a slim chance that she could help him feel better by staying the night, she decided that it was definitely worth it.

"Okay… I guess I could do that. But I'm taking the couch."

"Awesome! That's great, Luce!" he enthused, and his bright, grateful smile told her that she'd made the right decision.

Sneak Peek

Once her powers had risen up and filled her to the brim, she began to chant in that strange, otherworldly language that her mother had taught her. Each syllable seemed to shake her entire body, and the sound of her own voice completely filled her head until she couldn't hear anything else. It was an overwhelming experience, and one that she didn't think would ever become any less powerful….

Then, just like the first time, Lucy plunged the key into the center of her chest at the exact moment when her incantation reached its peak. Luckily, the teeth were drawn to the keyhole, so she didn't have to look or worry about accidentally stabbing herself for real in some random part of her breast, and it slid home with very little effort. The sensation made her wince a bit… not because it hurt (because it didn't) but because it was just a very strange and intense feeling. She was fairly certain that the physical key didn't actually pierce her body, but it did feel as though something had touched deep inside of her and connected with her magic.

There was a strange sucking sensation, as whatever connected to her magic drew on it with a strong tug…. and then finally, with something that almost felt like a 'pop,' the pressure released, and a magical gate burst to life in front of her. Lucy stared at it in awe for a few moments, but quickly pulled herself together and – with another deep breath – she steeled her nerves and walked through it.

Post Note:

Well, looks like we have something fun to look forward to next chapter. ;D Anyone wanna guess who's going to make an appearance?